//------------------------------//
// Crossed The Line 
// Story: Dexter's Lab: Equestria 
// by RenegadeAlias 
//------------------------------//

 	
“Hey, Twilight?” Spike called in a hushed tone, trying to find the purple unicorn in the small herd of ponies.  She had disappeared from his side a few moments ago, leaving him with the herd that waited patiently for the right moment to shout ‘surprise.’ Only a few of the ponies conversed in hushed voices, not wanting to jeopardize the element of surprise Pinkie Pie had worked so hard to keep.

Though, the ponies of Ponyville had lots of practice, given that Pinkie Pie threw these surprise ‘Welcome To Ponyville ’ parties on a regular basis. An outsider would hardly suspect that the quiet bakery was actually packed full of ponies.

The front door opened and slammed shut, indicating someone had entered the bakery. That was when Twilight disappeared from the baby dragon’s side, leaving him without as much as a word.

It wasn’t unusual behavior for the purple mare when she was obsessing over something, though Spike found it rather annoying. However, he had to admit, this time she had her reasons. The solution for Clover’s Conundrum was a big deal, a fact reinforced by the stream of scrolls he continuously coughed up in bouts of green flame. 

Luckily, after a few moments of searching, Spike spotted the purple unicorn being pulled back into the crowed by Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

“Oooooh, why isn’t Dexter here yet?” Twilight complained, she was slightly disappointed by the appearance of Applejack and Big Mac instead of the colt. Though Twilight did little to resist Rarity’s and Rainbow Dash’s combined effort to pull her back.

“Twilight, he will get here when he gets here.” Rarity replied as she released her magical grasp, freeing the other unicorn.

“You’d better watch out, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash warned before taking to the air, beating her wings to hover over her unicorn friends. “If you do something to mess up the surprise, you’ll have to deal with Pinkie Pie about it.”

“There you are!” Spike pushed toward the trio, earning the gaze of Rarity. He had just barely made it to Twilight and her friends when the sound of glass shattering silenced the room. A sleek metal cylinder with a yellow light bounced into the room, landing in the center of the small herd.

Twilight and her friends all turned to face the cylinder, bewildered by the object's entrance. 

“What’s everypony staring at?” Spike asked, trying to see over the mares. 

When he didn’t get a response, he bent down low enough to see underneath the herd of ponies. He only got a glimpse of the small object just as it pulsed red. A moment later he went blind as every point on his body seized up. Every last scale on his body screamed as though being shocked with electricity.

---

The baby dragon didn’t know how long he was out for, though he knew it wasn’t long. 

The baby dragon felt himself being jolted awake by an abrupt, yet familiar burning sensation welling up in his throat. Like the gag reflex for most other creatures, when a dragon finds themselves suddenly breathing fire in their sleep, a reflex catapults their mind to consciousness.

A necessary precaution for a creature who might find themselves breathing fire in response to a nightmare. 

Spike gagged and coughed as he his body forcefully produced a green flame, a scroll materializing within. It actually wasn’t a scroll, but rather just a piece of paper with the words ‘Did you get it yet?’ scribbled down.

“Oohh” He moaned, slowly opening his eyes. His vision was obscured by white fur, the familiar scent revealing its owner. “Rarity?”

The baby dragon tried to push himself up, but his efforts proved fruitless. Every muscle in his body seared in pain, objecting to his movement. Someone had also fallen on top of him, making an already difficult task harder.

Bracing for the pain, Spike gave a great heave and pushed himself upward. His efforts were not in vain this time, as he was able to free his head. Rarity, being  one of the ponies who had fallen on him, lay motionless. She and the other mares around Spike remained completely unresponsive to his movements.

“Bring it on, changeling scum!” The familiar voice got the baby dragon to freeze in place, before slowly turning his head toward the source.

A colt had appeared in the doorway, wearing a strange white suit. The suit had a large black stripe running the length of the colt running down his chest and back, a large orange “D” plastered in the center of his chest. The colt’s fiery orange mane was rather familiar to the dragon, reminiscent of a certain colt he had recently met.

The newcomer motioned toward himself with a grin.

Looking to see who this colt was speaking too, Spike noticed five ponies who were still standing, apparently they were unaffected by what had stunned everyone else. However, they were only ponies momentarily. Each one of them disappeared in a green flash, to be replaced by black insectoids.

“You know who we are… and I suspect I know who you are underneath that suit and mask, foal,” one of them began. “Make it easy on yourself and come with us quietly.”

“Fat chance ya bug eyed freak!” The colt retorted.

“Fine,” she replied, baring her fangs as she prepared to charge the colt. “Have it your way.”

Three of the changelings charged the colt. The large cylinder on his shoulder shot out a blast of blue light, striking one of the changelings and launching her into a nearby table.

“Whoa . . .” Spike muttered to himself, eyes wide as he watched on. 

---

Dexter stepped into the now quiet bakery. The herd of partiers still slumbered before him, unmoving from where they had fell.

After pinning the last changeling, and giving her the message he wanted delivered to the hive, Dexter had returned to the bakery. He was no longer wearing his suit or power armor, both had been hidden away. They were replaced by a saddlebag which contained only a large measuring cup.  

Without so much as a glance, Dexter stepped passed the unconscious ponies and incapacitated changelings, and walked toward the back of the bakery. He approached one of the remaining tables situated near the kitchen entrance. Atop the table were two silent bundles, a slumped Mrs. Cake lay against a nearby wall.

“Stupid Quadraplex,” Dexter muttered in anger as he placed the measuring cup on the table. “You should have told me there were foals in the bakery.”

“Once again, Dexter, I apologize,” the computer replied through his earpiece. “I was unaware of any special considerations they requ-"

“You always double check when it comes to these things, Computer,” He growled into his earpiece as he pulled away a cloth with the word ‘Pound’ from one of the bundles, revealing a yellow infant foal with a brown mane. Dexter placed an ear to the small colt’s chest while bring a hoof up to his muzzle. His heartbeat was loud and strong, and he appeared to be breathing normally.

“D-Dexter, again, I am sorry. Projections indicated that the stun weapon would not cause the infants any permanent harm,” the computer went on, trying to placate Dexter. Her nearly monotonous voice had a trace of hurt in it, though Dexter was too busy to notice.

“And if their mother, or another fat women, had fallen on one of them when they were stunned?” he motioned toward the sleeping pony beside the table. “How long would it take for one of the infants to suffocate?”

“The information I had access to did prompt the consideration of that scenario, I-“ she began again.

“How long, Computer?” He repeated with a growl as he checked the other bundle labelled ‘Pumpkin.’ From what he could tell, they were both perfectly fine and sound asleep.

“Three minutes, fourteen seconds.”

“Two minutes too short if only I were able to return and help them,” Dexter berated. “You need to think of these things, Computer!”

“Again, I am sorry, Dexter,” she replied, her tone retained a hint of hurt.

After a few moments, Dexter let out a sigh. He was relieved that the infants would be fine, but a part of him was still angry. Though, not at the Computer.

“I’m sorry too, Computer,” Dexter eventually said. “I built you, I programmed you, and so in the end I am responsible. That, and you’re only three days old yourself, so I can’t blame you. Technically these foals are older than you, but I need you to learn about everything you can as fast as you can, so things like this don’t slip by you in the future.”

“Understood, Dexter,” she replied.

Dexter was about to pick up the measuring cup again and find one of the ponies to wake, however a voice caught him by surprise.
“Uh, a little help over here?” A heap of mares pleaded. However, as Dexter inspected it closer, he noticed Spike’s head just peaking over an unconscious Rarity.

“Spike?” Dexter asked, crossing to the far side of the bakery and approaching the heap. Upon reaching the baby dragon, he wrapped his hooves around the purple lizard and pulled him upward. It was enough to free most of Spike’s body.

“Hey thanks,” Spike said in relief. “Who else is up?”

“Huh?” Dexter asked.

“I heard you whispering to somepony over there,” Spike motioned toward the table near the kitchen. “Couldn’t hear what you two were talking about, but I definitely heard you talking.”

“I, uh, was just whispering to myself while checking on the cake infants,” Dexter lied after scratching his head. “Trying not to wake them up.”

“Oh,” Spike answered after heaving at his tail, freeing it from the heap as well. He felt it was really awkward to see Twilight and Rarity slumped over, completely unresponsive to being pushed.

“Dexter that was awesome!” Spike said, turning back toward the colt.

“What was awesome?” Dexter’s tone became sharp as he narrowed his eyes, the colt was both surprised and worried by Spike’s words.

“Didn’t you see it, some pony came in here and wiped the floor with five changelings!” Spike replied excitedly. “It was incredible.”

“I see . . .” The colt said, checking around the room to see if anyone else had woken up yet. The entire room was still silent and motionless. “And what exactly did you see?” His tone was cold as he returned his gaze to the young dragon.

“Somepony in a black and white suit came in and fought the five changelings!” Spike went on, motioning to four changelings who were littered throughout the room. “He blasted two of them, then punched one so hard it crashed into the ceiling, then he through a table at another!”

“So, you were awake…” Dexter said quietly, his tone was somewhere between a question and an accusation.

“Yeah, somepony in Canterlot sent me a message and forced me to wake up. You must have seen something if you were on your way here! ” Spike asked, turning to face the colt. Though, as his gazed lingered on the colt his expression grew slightly bewildered.

“In fact . . .” Spike began. “The colt fighting the changelings… his voice sounded a lot like yours…”

“A lot of colts my age have deep and soft baritone voices!” the young boy retorted, his voice was so shrill and squeaky he could have come across as angry. “You sure it wasn’t Pipsqueak or someone else?”

“It’s not just the voice…” Spike went on. “He had the same mane as you, orange and spiky.”

“Spike, whoever you saw, it was not me,” Dexter replied. “I was back at the farm getting a measuring cup for the flour. You can ask Granny Smith if you want, she saw me because I asked her where the measuring cups were stored.”

Dexter was in the clear as far as he was concerned, he knew Granny Smith would vouch for him. She did see him when he asked for a measuring cup, or at least she saw a certain interrogation hologram that was pretending to be him while he was ‘suiting up.’

“Dexter,” his computer’s voice said through his earpiece. “Give the word and I can teleport the dragon to a secure specimen container, if he proves too difficult.” The colt didn’t respond, opting to try a little longer to divert the dragon’s suspicions. 

“He looked a lot like you. I mean, who else has an orange mane?” Spike’s green eyes narrowed in suspicion as he looked over the colt.

“Plenty of ponies have orange manes,” Dexter said, looking the lizard in the eyes.

“Oh really? Well who else do you know has an orange mane?” Spike replied, folding his arms.

“Big Macintosh for one,” Dexter replied, pointing in the direction of the sleeping stallion while feigning surprise. “Don’t you know, orange manes are not uncommon?”

If anyone took the baby dragon’s suspicions seriously, Dexter would still have an alibi. If the measuring cup be brought from the farm wasn’t convincing enough.  

But he didn’t want Spike raising a red flag.

“I… well…” Spike began, starting to doubt himself.

“Well, if you’re right then why don’t the changelings have me?” Dexter asked as an almost condescending grin formed on his face.

“What do you mean?” Spike asked in confusion.

“You said there were five changelings, but I only see four here.” Dexter said, pointing at the insectoids in the room. “Where is the fifth?”

“Um, I dunno.” Spike said, starting to sound worried. “The last thing I saw was her going outside after she… grabbed him and threw him out there!”

“Well, I didn’t see any changelings out there . . .” Dexter said, causing a confused spike to hurry toward a window. He peaked around outside, searching as much as he could.

“And if she grabbed the colt before throwing him out there, then she probably got him!” Dexter continued. “No, she must have got him. There isn’t a beat up changeling outside!”

“Oh no…” Spike’s eyes went wide. “Quick, we gotta go help him!” Spike turned and rushed toward the form of his sleeping surrogate sister. However, before he could reach her he was stopped by Dexter’s hoof. “What?!”

“So you realize that I wasn’t whoever you saw, right?” Dexter said, taking on a serious tone once more.

“What? Yeah,” Spike said, causing a grin of satisfaction to appear on the colt. “Look okay, you were right, but we gotta go help him! We don’t have time to relish your ego.”

“I agree, let’s go,” Dexter said, following the lizard.

Spike began pushing Rarity off of Twilight, the purple mare had somehow ended up under the white unicorn as well. “Sorry Rarity!” He apologized before turning to Twilight and began shaking her as much as his small arms could.

Though, for his efforts, he succeeded in waking one of the two unicorns.

“Spike?” Rarity asked drearily.

“Miss Rarity? Are you alright?” Dexter asked, feigning ignorance and bewilderment. “What has happened to you?”

“Dexter?” She asked, sitting up and placing a hoof to her pounding head. “Where am...” Rarity wearily tilted her head, trying to get her bearings. She recognized the bakery, and was starting to remember what happened. However, before her memory could come back to her completely, she spotted a limp changeling hanging from a nearby window sill.

“Spike, Dexter, get behind me.” The unicorn ordered, taking up a defensive stance between them and the unmoving changeling.

”Um, Miss Rarity,” Dexter began to explain, stepping in front of the mare. “The changelings aren’t in any state to mount much of a threa-“

“Don’t argue with me, just do as I say,” she retorted, pushing the colt behind her. 

“Hey… wait a second!” Dexter protested as he slid back. “I thought you hated me, why are you concerned with-“

“I don’t hate you Dexter,” Rarity hastily explained, stepping between the two children and the changelings once more, though she glanced back at the colt for a second. “I may be angry that you blew up my shop… and nearly had the innocence mind of my little sister sullied forever by a dictionary… but I don’t hate you. Now, stay behind me,” she took on a protective stance before charging her horn.

The changelings did nothing in response, all of them lay unconscious; except for the one Dexter hit with the table. She was still rocking back and forth in agony while holding her fracture carapace, whether the injury or the pain stopped her from reacting was anyone’s guess.

After a few more moments of nothing, Rarity scanned the room to spot the slumped form of Twilight. “Wake up, Twilight!” she shouted before casting a bolt of electricity at the sleeping mare. It wasn’t nearly enough to hurt her, but was rather uncomfortable. It had the intended effect as Twilight yelped and shot upward.

“Is he here yet?” she sputtered before pausing to take stock of her surroundings. However, she didn’t get the chance to say anything else.

“Never mind that, Twilight,” Rarity replied worriedly before motioning toward the changeling and the rest of the room. “We’ve been attacked! I need you to wake everyone up!” Rarity ordered, prompting Twilight to action.

---

Twilight must have been packing a lot of power in her horn, something Dexter noticed when she cast a spell which washed over the entire bakery. It was similar to Rarity’s bolt of electricity, and succeeded in waking almost the entire bakery at once.

That’s when chaos ensued. Ponies don’t react well to waking up next to changelings, even if said changelings were completely incapacitated.

Twilight and her friends, including a yellow Pegasus Dexter had never seen before, quickly regrouped and started accessing the situation. This left all the other ponies to their own devices, which proved to be incredibly annoying to Dexter.

All of the adults were suddenly intent on herding Dexter, along with the other foals, toward the back of the bakery. No matter which way he turned a stallion or a mare was pushing or crowding him and the other children back.

Though, Spike seemed to be an exception.

Dexter’s protests, and attempts to explain that the changelings were down an out, were met with the same basic response: “Don’t argue.” It wasn’t long before he and the other children were packed together like sardines. 

“What in the world are they doing?” Dexter muttered to himself, starting to get angry.

“I believe it is an instinctive herd response, Dexter.” He could barely make out Quadraplex’s voice though his ear piece. “They are herding you and the other foals out through the kitchen while a group of them are massing in a position between the children and the changelings.”

He was lucky enough to grab the measure cup he brought just as he and the other children were herded into the kitchen and quickly out the back door of the bakery.

Right into a perimeter of guards.

---

“Not a threat?” Princess Luna asked, turning away from guard in gold armor to watch the bakery as it was surrounded by other armored troops. “Explain, Lieutenant.”

“Your Majesty, the bakery has been secured and the remaining civilians are being evacuated out the back.” The guard replied. “We’ve established a perimeter in preparation for you to screen the civilians for changelings.  However, we have already located four changelings inside.  They are in no condition to pose any threat as two of them have sustained serious injury, while the other two are unconscious.”

“Follow me,” she instructed. Once inside the bakery, the princess surveyed the carnage. She counted the four changelings, one hanging from a window sill while another lay unconscious in a pile of broken tables. The third was still rocking in agony in the center of the room, beside a broken table, clutching a large crack in her carapace. The fourth dangled from the ceiling, completely unmoving. Her upper body firmly wedged in the ceiling and completely hidden from view.

“Lieutenant?” Luna began, slight confusion in her voice. “Hath mine sister come to Ponyville whilst we were unaware?” The armor clad stallion took a moment to process her words.

“No, Your Majesty,” he replied. “To my knowledge, Princess Celestia , has not visited Ponyville.”

“It just looks like an alicorn stormed through them…” Luna trailed off before spotting the approach of Twilight and the other elements. 

“Girls, art thou well?” Luna asked as she inspected Twilight and her friends. “What happened here?”

“We’re fine, Princess,”   Twilight was the first to respond.

“Though we have no idea what happened,” Rainbow Dash added.

“Wait a second, I saw-“ Spike began, however he was cut off by the princess.

“Pardon me, girls, but I have to check,” Luna enveloped Twilight and her friends in a blue aura. After a few moments of nothing, the aura disappeared. “None of them are changelings, go make sure the changelings do not try to escape,” Luna motioned to the lieutenant.

“What is it that you do remember?” Luna asked, looking back toward the mares. 

“Well, I remember the whole-“ Spike began but was cut off.

“We were waiting for the party to get started,” Twilight began. “Then there was a crash from somewhere up front.”

“Yah,” Applejack added. “Ah was up front, an’ somepony had smashed tha window and threw something inside.”

“Girls, I saw everyth-“ Spike tried again, though being short meant he was easily overlooked.

“Whatever  they threw in caused some sort of explosion,” Rarity began to explain. “I don’t know what happened after that, nor does anypony else. We all passed out.”

“In fact, there it is!” Rainbow said, pointing to the used canister. It had not moved from where it landed

Twilight snatched it up with her magic. She gave it a quick once over before passing it to Princess Luna.

“Corporal, collect and store this as evidence. I want it examined,” she ordered, passing the canister to a nearby guard before turning back toward the mares.

“Girls, I-“ Spike tried again, deadpanning as he was interrupted.

“Rarity was the first to wake up,” Twilight continued. “She then woke me, and I woke the others. We have no idea where the changelings came from or how they were defeated.”

“The big fat meanies ruined my party!” Pinkie Pie fumed, pressing a fore hoof against another as though preparing to punch someone. 

“You showed up not long after that, Princess,” Rarity finished.

“Do you know if the changelings were present before you passed out? Or did they appear as part of the attack?” Princess Luna asked.

“Girls, I saw-“

“No,” Twilight answered. “I was… preoccupied with something just before-“

“I SAW EVERYTHING!!!” Spike shouted, panting by the time he was finished. The sudden burst of volume startled the mares, and a few of the guards nearby. The mares directed their collective gaze toward the dragon.

Despite being taken aback, Princess Luna was the first to speak, “Speak of what thou saw.”

“Well, first that thingy exploded and knocked everypony out,” Spike began, motioning with his claws. “I also blacked out. But while I was asleep, somepony from Canterlot   sent a message. It caused me to wake up.”

“My muscles were all sore from whatever that thing did to everypony. Rarity had fallen on me, and she was really heavy, so it took a minute to get up and-“

Spike was interrupted by a cough from the white unicorn, who was casting a deadly glare in his direction. Spike immediately realized his error and corrected his words.

“I-I mean my arms were still weak and it took me a while to get up. When I did, there were five ponies who were still standing. They were facing this colt who walked into the bakery,” Spike continued. “He called the ponies changelings, and he was right! They took off their disguises and started to fight him!”

“A colt, are you sure?” Luna asked, soaking in every last of the dragon’s words.  He responded with a nod. “What did he look like?”

“He was wearing some sort of suit that was black and white, so I couldn’t see his coat. But he had an orange mane. His suit covered his cutie mark.” Spike explained.  

“Spike, are you sure?” Rarity asked. “It is a bit hard to believe that a mere colt did this.”

“I’m telling you the truth! I saw all of it.” Spike replied. His gaze drifted toward the rest of the bakery as he scanned his memory for details. To his fortune, Spike spotted a sleek metal object. “Here, I can show you!”

The baby dragon scampered to the front of the bakery where he found a metallic pointed object with a glowing blue canister attached to the back of it. It was the ion cannon Dexter had dropped after a changeling struck it with a bolt of electricity. Something he had forgotten about when he returned to check on the Cake twins.

Spike picked up the cannon and, out of curiosity turned a dial on the side. It hummed in response, showing it still had life. He quickly returned with it to the group of mares.

“See, He used this!” Spike presented the canon for the mare to view. “He blasted the changelings with it.”

“Spike, that thing looks like a toy.” Twilight commented, looking over the cannon. She was right, the ‘futuristic’ design of the cannon made it appear as though it were part of a fairy tale.

“Ah believe em,’” Applejack said, voicing her opinion. The dragon was telling the truth after all.

“And how did he use it?” Twilight asked skeptically.

“He pointed it at the changelings and squeezed this-“ The baby dragon made the mistake of providing an example, squeezing the lever attached to the handle. The cannon, which was thankfully pointed at nothing other than the bakery wall, belt out a stream of blue energy. It collided with the wall with an explosion, blowing out a huge chunk of the bakery’s side.

The blast startled everypony in the bakery and outside, prompting the guards into swift action. A certain colt outside, who recognized the blue energy from the blast, was now mentally kicking himself hard enough to cause brain damage. 

“Heh, oops,” Spike said, slowly retracting his claw from the handle.    

“Get that thing away from em’ before he brings tha bakery down on us!” Applejack shouted.

Princess Luna was the first to get over her shock, and quickly snatched the cannon up in her magical grasp. She was careful to avoid the lever. 

“A most impressive device…” She said as she examined it, trying to hide the traces of intrigue in her voice. “But tell us of this colt, where is he?”

“I don’t know, the changelings got him!” Spike replied.

“What!?” Princess Luna replied in an almost dire astonishment.

“Yah, I saw the last changeling grab him in her magic and toss him outside.” Spike explained. “She followed him out and they didn’t come back.”

“They’ve got the colt who had that?!” Twilight said with wide eyes, motioning toward the cannon. “Oh this is bad… very bad…”

“Tis’ an understatement Twilight Sparkle,” Luna replied, fixing back on the baby dragon. “What happened after that?”

“Well, nothing much really. A few minutes later, Dexter came back and helped me. That’s when Rarity woke up and everything else happened like the girls said it did.” Spike finished. Luna nodded, satisfied with the dragons answer.

However, at the sound of Dexter’s name, Applejack realized the colt was still unaccounted for.

“Wait, where’s Dex?” Applejack’s eyes darted around the room in search for the colt. “He was supposed ta be coming here but we lost track of em!”

“He’s fine Applejack,” Spike tried to reassure the mare. “I saw him just before you woke up, I think he got swept up with the other ponies that went outside.”

“Still, Ah gotta go find em.’ Ah shouldn’t have sent em’ here alone,” Applejack hastily replied before turning and rushing out of the bakery, using the conveniently placed giant hole in the bakery’s side.

“I’ll lend you a wing!” Dash called out, flying after the farm pony.

“Me too, I gotta make this up to Dexy!” Pinkie Pie followed after them.

Twilight watched the three mares leave, a part of her wanted to follow after remembering why she wanted to see Dexter in the first place. However, she got the feeling that Princess Luna could use her help and turned away with a reluctant sigh.  

“Lieutenant,” Luna said, summoning the guard in question.

“Yes, Your Maj-“

“I want you to establish a perimeter around all of Ponyville .” Luna began, cutting off the guard. “This town is on lockdown. Nopony in or out. Then conduct a house by house search of all Ponyville . You’re looking for a colt wearing a black and white outfit and has an orange mane. Leave no stone unturned, bring in reinforcements from nearby, or even Canterlot  , if you have to.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he answered. He turned to one of his subordinates, about to issues orders, when he was interrupted for second time.

“Lieutenant?” called one of the guards.

“What is it, corporal?” he asked, growling in irritation.  The other guard responded by merely motioning toward a pony the lieutenant hadn’t seen before. The pony in question was an all-black unicorn with piercing green eyes. He stood beside one of the unmoving changelings, casting a spell of some sort with a green aura.

It didn’t take him much to put two and two together.

“Protect the princess and the Elements,” He ordered the nearest guards before approaching the newcomer.

“Halt,” the guard said, as a few other guards joined him in surrounded the newcomer.

When the unicorn failed to respond, Luna stepped forward.

“Answer us, changeling,” Princess Luna growled. “Thy disguise is poor, we see through it without need of magic.”

“Luna,” the changeling replied, failing to address her by title. He turned to face the princess with an expressionless gaze. “My disguise was not meant to conceal my presence, but to merely stop you from attacking me on sight. I am not here to instigate further conflict.”

“Then explain thyself,” Luna demanded. This was the first time she got to speak to a changeling since she came to Ponyville . She was determined to get some answers.  

“I am here to tend to my own, some of them require aid,” he replied, turning back to his unconscious comrade.

“Why should we allow this?” Luna demanded. “Thou will answer our questions first.”

“No,” The changeling replied smugly. “And you’re going to allow it.”

“Is that so? How is it that you presume to know mine will before I?” Luna flared the magic in her horn with a threatening stomp from her foreleg. Her tone only highlighted the surge of aggression the changeling could sense from the alicorn.

However, it failed to intimidate the changeling, as he merely rolled his eyes before turning back toward Luna. “You’re going to allow it because of a very simple reason.”

“The conflict between Equestria and the hive has not escalated to the point where lethal force has been used by either side,” the changeling explained. “These ones here are in need of aid, if you prevent my attempts to render that aid, and one of them dies, that blood will be on your hooves - Diarch of Equestria.”

Luna understood the unspoken threat hidden in the changeling’s words. If she stopped him from helping the injured changelings, her subjects elsewhere might be harmed. A part of her also had to admit the changeling had a point. It was in the interest of protecting her own subjects that the ‘conflict’ did not escalate to the point where lives were lost.

“But first, you will tell us where that colt is,” Luna demanded. “The foal whom thou captured.”

“I will not provide you any information,” The unicorn replied earning a growl from the princess. “Now, I suggest you stop distracting me.”

“Turn and answer us, Changeling,” Luna stomped again, causing several large cracks to form in the bakery floor.

“As I said, it would be in your interest if nopony died. So, please, pester me later when I can afford the time. My injured sisters need my help now.” The changeling replied. “Or do I need to remind you that, as it stands now, there are far more changelings in a position to hurt ponies than the other way around.”

“Is that a threat?” Luna growled.

“An observation,” The changeling replied. “And a fact.”

Luna stomped again, pacing back and forth a few times with her eyes locked on the fake unicorn. His disrespect for her position didn’t make her as angry as the fact he was right.

“Very well, perform thy ministrations,” Luna relented as she slowly circled the changeling. “But this does not confer any amnesty. When thou art done thee will’t be our prisoner just as thine fallen brethren, then thee shall answer our questions…”

---

“Dexter! There you are,” Applejack sighed in relief as she trotted up to the colt, and to Dexter’s surprise, nuzzled him. She did the same to Applebloom who was currently sitting next to Dexter along with the other Crusaders.

Shortly after the chaos of herding the foals reached outside, the guard had taken over and started quieting everyone down. Not long after that, Big Mac found the colt. The stallion collected him and the fillies, and was now waiting for the guard to let them leave.

Applejack was able to spot her large brother rather easily, finding Dexter and the crusaders nearby.

“What happened?” Applejack asked the colt. “Where did you go?”

“Upon reaching the bakery, I didn’t have a measuring cup.” Dexter began, looking directly at Applejack. “I went straight back to the farm where I retrieved a measuring cup and came straight back here. Granny Smith will tell you she saw me.”

All of which was true, it just omitted a lot of important details. Fortunately, it was enough to satisfy Applejack.

“I’m not angry with ya, Dex…” Applejack in relief sighed as she took note of how firm his reply was. “But sometimes ya think too much fer yer own good…”

“What happened?” Dexter motioned toward the new hole in the side of the bakery.

“Oh, umm, Spike found something in the bakery. Apparently, he saw somepony use it against the changelings,” Rainbow Dash answered, hovering next to the farm pony. They were shortly joined by Pinkie Pie, who silent cast a smile at the colt. Dexter, however, was too flustered to notice.

“So he decided to pick it up and blast a hole in the wall with it?!” Dexter nearly shouted. “I mean… if somepony used it to fight the changelings, don’t you think it might have been a little dangerous?” he pointed to the hole in the wall again.  “That could have killed someone!”

“Yah… I don’t think Spike was thinking too much when he did that…” Rainbow Dash answered eventually, eliciting a grimace of annoyance from the young colt.

“You know what… never mind,” Dexter huffed. “Let’s just get out of here before something else explodes…”  

---

The group of them left soon after, Big Mac walking slightly ahead with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The fillies in question were conversing about what they had just witnessed at the bakery, each of them coming up with their own idea of what exactly happened. Dexter walked alongside with Applejack, as the other two mares trailed behind.

The guard had let them out of the perimeter around the bakery. Luna felt safe in assuming that all the changelings present were accounted for, given that most of them were sprawled about the bakery.

The group had hardly gotten out of sight of the bakery when Pinkie Pie bounded over to walk alongside Dexter, casting a hopeful smile down at the colt. She wished for nothing more than that he would simply return one in kind.  

Dexter, however, recoiled in surprise by the sudden appearance of the pink mare. He needed another dose of ‘the Pinkie Monstrosity’ like he needed to be thrown under a train.

“No!” Dexter answered her smile before seeking a way to escape from the pink mare. He ducked underneath Applejack’s underbelly, appearing on the far side of the farm pony. His stunt nearly tripped Applejack, earning a frown of annoyance from the blond mare.

His efforts were in vain though, as a few bounces later, Dexter found Pinkie Pie by his side once again.

“Go away!” he demanded, lashing a hoof in Pinkie Pie’s direction before ducking underneath Applejack once more. Nearly tripping the walking mare, again.

“Will ya quit doin’ that?” Applejack growled.

“Tell her to keep away from me!” The colt gave a childish retorted. “I don’t want to get any of her stupid on me.”

“Dexter!” Applejack stated firmly, frowning at the colt. “Ya remember what we talked about? Yer not gonna treat Pinkie Pie, nor anypony else fer that matter, badly anymore. Ya understand?” Her question sounded more like an order. The glare that came with it promised punishment had he refused.

“Heh heh,” Dexter chuckled nervously. “Yes, ma’am.” Applejack replied with a curt nod.

“Sooo Dexy…” Pinkie Pie chirped, bouncing over the colt again.

“My name is Dexter,” He grumbled. “Would you kindly refrain from calling me ‘Dexy,’ ‘Dexie Wexie,’ and any and all other pet nicknames. Thank you.”

“No can do, Dexy!” Pinkie Pie replied cheerfully, causing Dexter to grumble something under his breath.

“Soo Dexy, How much… did you see in the bakery back there?” She asked. “You didn’t notice anything special, did you?”

“What do you mean?” The colt raised an eyebrow. “Other than the changelings who wrecked the surprise party, no. Why?”

However, the moment Dexter mentioned the word ‘surprise party,’ Pinkie’s hopeful smile faded away. Her head drooped as her eyes drifted toward the ground.

Normally, Dexter would not care about whatever it was that made Pinkie Pie sad. However, he couldn’t help but feel a small pinch of empathy in his chest at sight of the sad Pinkie Pie.

“The surprise was ruined.” Pinkie Pie whimpered through her frown. She was hoping that Dexter didn’t realize it was a surprise party. “Stupid, meanie changelings!”

“Awww, cheer up Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash encouraged as she landed next to the pink mare and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “You can always throw him a welcome to Ponyville  surprise party another time.”

“But it won’t be the same,” Pinkie lamented. “He will expect it now…”

Dexter fought, and lost, the urge to look at the pink mare once more. That painful twinge in his chest grew.

Sad Pinkie is worst Pinkie.

“Whatever…” Dexter muttered before forcefully crushing the sympathy he felt, mentally shrugging it off and stamping it out. Being a borderline sociopath had benefits at times, and he already had lots of practice writing off his sister’s feelings at the drop of a dime. It was no different with Pinkie Pie. He turned to face forward, away from the mare, content to keep walking in silence.

Or at least he would have, had he not been swept up by a pair of pink hooves into a tight embrace. Pinkie Pie had stopped and pulled him into a tight hug, catching the colt by surprise. Pinkie Pie had some strength to her, as no amount of struggling from the colt could grant him his freedom.

“Gah! Release me you pink pes…” Dexter trailed off as he slowly stopped struggling. Applejack had stopped, turning to cast another glare at the young colt. “Umm…. Heh heh heh…” Dexter said, before wrapping his forelegs around Pinkie Pie and returning the hug. “Now there, there, Pinkie Pie, I’m sure the surprise party would have been fantastic. You need not fret, there will be other opportunities.”

“It’s alright Dexy,” Pinkie Pie nuzzled him, her voice still sad. “I know you don’t really mean it.”

“Even though the last time we met didn’t leave you with the best of first impressions,” Pinkie Pie went on. “And even though the surprise party I made for you was ruined, but I am still determined to be your friend.”

Dexter would have recoiled in surprise had he been free of the pink mare’s hug. However, considering what the mare had said, he felt his head tilt in curiosity.  

“You were the one who set up the surprise party?” Dexter asked in genuine surprise. “Why? Are you really that determined to be my friend? Even though I’ve been rather… harsh towards you?”

“Mmmhmmm!” Pinkie nodded.

Now Dexter had to admit, that made him feel shameful. Here was someone who was doing their best to go out of the way to be nice to him, and he was still treating her like dirt.

Dexter’s gaze drifted toward the ground as his expression became unreadable. He was trying to place the emotion he now felt, which he had never experienced before.

However, he quickly realized it was disgust. Not for the pink pony, but for himself. He wouldn’t blame the mare if she treated him a whole lot worse, which is why he was rather surprised by the mare now. Continuing to treat her like dirt reminded him of something Mandark would do, and Dexter knew he was better than that.

“Oh, umm…  thanks… I guess. That was really nice of you,” Dexter replied, continuing to surprise himself, genuinely grateful for the pink mare’s hospitality.

“Awww, you’re welcome Dexy!” Pinkie Pie smiled, hugging the colt tighter. Her cheer reappeared as fast as it had vanished.  

“Don’t worry Dexy, I’ll throw you another welcome to Ponyville  party.” Pinkie Pie assured. “This time there won’t be any mean old nasty changelings.”

“Okay, that is enough of the hugging, Dee Dee. Please put me down.” Dexter replied curtly as he began struggling against the earth pony’s grip. Pinkie Pie complied with his request, though cast him a look of confusion as she let him down.

“What?” Dexter asked in confusion, noticing curious looks from the other ponies as well.

“You called me ‘Dee Dee’,” Pinkie Pie answered.

“Oh, oops. I misspoke,” Dexter gave a nervous chuckle. “Apologies, Miss Pinkie Pie.”

“Who’s Dee Dee?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head.

“My sister.” Dexter explained as he rubbed his fore hoofs together nervously. “You… remind me of my sister by the you way look and act.”

“Really?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously.

“Yes, you dance, you jump around, you sing, you’re always cheery, you’re mostly pink with blue eyes – all of which is almost exactly like my sister…” Dexter explained to her, thinking back to the night they first met. “And you make a general pest of yourself with your weird and illogical behavior.”   

“Awww, Dexy,” Pinkie Pie replied with a smile, moving to hug the colt once again. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Don’t,” Dexter extended a hoof and firmly rejected Pinkie’s second hug. “I. Hate. My. Sister.”

She was the reason he was stuck in Equestria after all.

Those last four words were spoken with enough bitterness that every pony in earshot turned to face the colt. Even the fillies had stopped bantering amongst themselves and cast a weary gaze at Dexter.  

“What… why?” Pinkie Pie’s eyes light up in confusion. “I… I hope you don’t hate me for just being like your sister… I can’t imagine why you’d hate her if she is so much like me. I just want everypony to be happy...”

“Whoa, Miss… Pinkie Pie,” Dexter said, hurriedly reassuring her. “You’re definitely not my sister… there are plenty of differences between you and her!” However, despite his reassuring words, he couldn’t think of any at the moment. Pinkie Pie seemed to pick up on this fact as his expression grew weary once more. 

“You’re… just saying that.” 

“No I’m not! Uhh…” Dexter replied hurriedly, falling into deep concentration to remember something. “I know! You can bake a pie, my sister can’t! That’s something different!”

---

“Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” Dexter said, eagerly looking into the stove where a pie baked. His sister standing happily by his side. “I can hardly wait!” The boy said in anticipation.

When the pie was done, Dexter was already sitting at the table with utensils in hand. His sister promptly placed the pie, which she had just pulled out of the oven, on the table before him.

Without a second thought, the child dug in. Taking a fork, he lifted a piece of the pie into his mouth and began chewing.

Dee Dee opted to watch, not bothering to take a piece for herself even though she made it. Dexter didn’t mind though, it meant more for him.

“Light flaky crust, rich taste…” Dexter began. “But I can’t quite place the flavor… is it chocolate?”

“No,” His sister replied simply, causing Dexter to chew it further.

“Bousen Berry?”

“No…”

“I give up,” Dexter finally asked. “What is it?”

“Mud!”

“Oh… “ Dexter said, failing to process what she said. “Mud. I would have never guessed.” However, after a few more moments of chewing, it finally sunk in.

“MUD!?!” He shrieked before sticking his tongue out, gawking in horror at the small mound of dirt sitting in his mouth. Earth worms wiggled within his view.

He immediately started spitting as fast he could, spraying the mud across the table.

--- 

“Wait a second…” Rainbow Dash began with a skeptical frown as she flew over to hover by the boy genius. “You’re telling me your sister fed you a mud pie?”

Dexter nodded, causing Dash to burst out into laughter.

“That’s got to be a hilarious prank!” The pegasus guffawed.

Dexter merely deadpanned while grumbling to himself.

“Actually, Dash…” It was Applejack this time, interjecting as she turned to face her friend before casting a gaze of concern at the colt. “Ah heard dirt can be both good and bad fer a foal. While it does something ta help their immune system, it could cause an intestinal blockage er something that could kill em. Tricking a foal into eating mud is really bad.”

“Oh…” Rainbow Dash said, surprise and a little doubt hide in her tone. “It can’t be all that bad.” she said, now unsure of herself.

“Correction,” Dexter said, just as Applejack finished. “Dirt is the natural habitat of the micro-organism known as Clostridium Botulinum. This organism produces the neuro-toxin known as Botox, which can kill a full grown adult with mere micrograms.”

“Okay… maybe feeding somepony dirt isn’t cool.” Rainbow Dash admitted as she scratched her head. “But you don’t honestly think she was trying to poison you, do you Dex?”

“You know,” Dexter said, looking upward directly at Rainbow Dash. “I didn’t suspect her of any malicious intent, but I do remember asking her that exact question right before she starting making that pie…”

“Of course she said ‘no’,” Dexter went on. “But looking back on the way she said ‘no,’ I should have suspected something.”

“Why would yer sister do somethin’ like that?” Applejack asked, and hint of worry in her eyes as she eyed the colt.

“I don’t think she wanted to hurt me…” Dexter explained. “She’s just a dim witted moron…”

…

“An extreme moron…”

…

“A moron of epic proportions.”

“You’d have ta be pretty dumb to accidently make a pie filled with mud,” Applejack deadpanned, finding it hard to believe the colt. However, she didn’t sense him lying.

“I see…” Pinkie Pie rubbed her foreleg with a hoof, letting her gaze wonder from the colt. “Maybe I shouldn’t have greeted you with a pie on the first night we met… I can see why you might have reacted badly to me, since you think I am dumb...”

“It’s also not healthy to accept food from strangers…” Dexter pointed out, though when he noticed Pinkie Pie’s frown growing he began to reassure the mare. “Do not lament Miss Pie, I didn’t think you were trying to poison me, or stupid enough to poison me accidently. Applejack and the others speak highly of you, and I trust they were genuine when they said you are nothing but a kind and friendly pony.”

Pinkie Pie cheered up again, and moved to hug Dexter for a third time. This time the colt allowed it, despite his overwhelming desire for personal space.

“Though, one thing I am confused about…” Dexter began, resolving not to struggle against the Pinkie’s grip. “You put several digits of pi, the number, underneath the pie you gave me. How did you know what they were?”

“Oh, I got it from what was called a Spigot algorithm. But I don’t know if it was right…” Pinkie Pie began.

“SPIGOT ALGORITHM?!” Dexter shouted in surprise, though he quickly collected himself. He was surprised to hear those words, given that what he read from the library, Equestria wasn’t supposed to have such an advancement in mathematics yet.

It was a set of equations that allowed one to calculate any digit of pi without knowing the previous digits.

“How do you know what that is?” Dexter demanded, wiggling his hooves in a feeble attempt to break free of the mare and point an accusatory hoof in her direction.

“I… suppose the same way you do,” Pinkie Pie looked down at the colt with a raised eyebrow, surprised by the child’s outburst. “Papa always made my sisters and I study old earth pony tribe history, which include some ancient mathematicians. Though, most of their work isn’t recognized by today’s scientific community, and very little of their work still exists today-”

“What!?” Dexter protested, shocked to find out such a theory was rejected. It was correct after all. “Why not!?”

“You’d have to ask Twilight.” Pinkie Pie replied. “Though I suspect it has something to do with how unicorns really dominated the scientific and magic communities…”

“Thats just dumb!” Dexter fumed. “How could they reject work that is RIGHT?!” 

“Well…” Pinkie Pie went on. “Who said it was correct? No one has calculated out to extreme digits of pi so the Spigot thingy can’t be verified.” 

“Grrrr” Dexter growled, directing his gaze upward toward the sky. “So stupid, Stupid STUPID!” He wanted to tear his hair out. 

What infuriated him the most was the fact that he had seen this exact thing happen before. At least what he suspected had happened. Many human scientists had their work rejected for the stupidest reasons, despite being absolutely correct.

Though, he shouldn’t have been surprised. He had no reason to believe the ponies would be any better. But he knew he would have a few sharp questions for Twilight the next time he saw her. 

“Dexter…” Applejack warned. 

“Sorry… Miss Applejack” Dexter let out a sigh of frustration.

“Well…” Pinkie Pie took a moment to regard the colt she was holding with cheery gaze, though she tried to hide the weariness in her eyes. “Pi or no pi, I promise to never feed you mud.”

“Your promise is not required, Miss Pie. Feeding me mud wouldn’t be that big of a deal.” Dexter commented as the mare pulled away from the colt and looked down at him. “My sister has done a lot worse.”

“Worse?” Rainbow asked skeptically, though a mischievous grin grew on her face. To her, pranks between siblings were the best to watch and hear about.

“Yeah…” Dexter rubbed his chin with a hoof. “Lets see…she’s done a lot of things, but to name a few: she’s beat me up a number of times, set me on fire a number of times, exposed me to toxic fumes, thrown me off a number of high places, destroyed my… possessions, zapped me with electricity, stole my lunch money, intentionally exposed me to germs, detonated an explosive in my room while I was trying to sleep; and worst of all, she caused me to get an ‘A minus‘  once!”  

What?

The mares collectively shared looks of skepticism. Even the Crusaders were sharing looks of concern before turning back to the colt.   Applejack, however, merely wore a look of shock. Again, she could tell he was being honest.  

“What?” Dexter shuffled uncomfortably under their looks of shock.  “The A minus thing? It only happened once...”

The ponies didn’t respond.

“Or is it the bomb thing?” Dexter asked.  “Don’t worry, it did not produce any shrapnel,” the bookworm went on.  “So the worst it did was throw me against the wall of my room, instead of poking holes in me or blowing off limbs…” 

For the next hour, Dexter would find himself reassuring the ponies that his sister wasn’t some sort of psycho.

---

After the bakery, both Twilight and Spike follwed Luna for the rest of the day and well into the night. They were assisting the princess where they could, and proved to be immensely helpful when dealing with the locals, much to the princess’s gratitude.

After securing the changeling prisoners, Luna found herself having to meet with the Ponyville  mayor in order to avert a panic in the small town.

The news about the bakery spread across the small town like wildfire, causing several problems which were only made worse when the guard reinforcements showing up.

When night finally came, Princess Luna found herself letting loose a sigh of relief. She, Twilight and Spike found themselves in Ponyville ’s temporary guard barracks. It was a small building owned by the town less than a block from the clinic, everything inside it had been thrown into storage to make way for the guards. Only a number of bunks were present, alongside a few racks of armor and spears.

However, sitting in the middle of the barracks, and surrounded by half a dozen guards, was a glowing case. It was mostly made with metal, the exception being a glass top. A futuristic cannon was held within it.

“Whoa…” Spike said in aw, walking ahead of the princess and Twilight. His curiosity peaked by the glowing case before him.

The young dragon reached a claw out, extending it toward the chest.

“Nay young Spike, withhold thine touch!” Princess Luna called, wrapping the dragon in a blue aura and pulling him back. “Thou would find touching the case to be most unpleasant.”

“I’m sorry, princess, but what’s wrong with it?” Spike asked, rubbing his hand just after Luna released it while looking up with an eyebrow raised. “Why is it glowing like that?”

“If I may, Princess?” Twilight asked, stepping up to answer Spike’s question. Luna gave a short nod. “Spike, that chest is heavily fortified with magic meant to prevent tampering, and to protect what is inside. Several of the spells would react very badly if you tried to open, or even touched, that chest.”

“Oh,” Spike cast a wary gaze back at the chest, trying to imagine what could have happened. “I didn’t realize that.” He admired the blue glow on the chest for a moment. “What would happen if somepony did touch it?”

“Well,” Princess Luna began. “We cast twenty three spells on this case ourselves, ten of them react to touch. We estimate anypony who touched the case without disarming the spells would spend three months in a coma.”

“Whoa,” Spike said, returning his gaze to the case. “So there is like no chance anypony would get to it?”

“We estimate one would have to be an immortal themselves if they wished to overpower our magic,” Luna declared. “The spells on the case prevent any and all manner of magic from penetrating it. The only way to retrieve the cannon from the case is to remove it by non-magical means, but these guards, along with more spells, prevent anypony from accessing the case.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to examine them first, Princess?” Twilight asked, looking at the night princess with almost pleading eyes. The mare had been just as curious about the cannon as she was the other device they had found. “It could give whoever the science council elects to examine the device something to study before it arrives,” Twilight offered.

“Nay, Twilight we-er... No thank you, Twilight, I am sure.” Luna eventually replied. “You have been very helpful today, but I want to make sure nothing can compromise our security. The last device we recovered was destroyed, I want to make sure there is no repeat of prior mistakes.”

“I understand, Princess,” Twilight sighed, glancing at the cannon once more. She suppressed her urge to debate the point.

“However, we have more important matters at hoof,” Luna went on. “My mind is still troubled with questions, and I hope you could help answer them. There is far too much going on here in Ponyville  as of late, and I feel we are still playing catch up, at least, with the changelings.”
“How do you mean princess?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. “We have caught five of the changelings. Aside from the Canterlot   invasion, that has never happened before.”

“We mean that we have not a clue as to what is going on, yes we have the changelings and yes we have those devices we found,” Princess Luna began. “But why is it all happening? Why are the changelings still in Ponyville and why did they attack the bakery? Where did these weapons come from?” Luna motioned toward the case. “More importantly, who or what did I see a few nights ago?”

“I am not sure, Your Majesty,” Twilight began. “However, I could check through the books at the library, to see if there are any other recorded accounts of similar events. However, I am fairly certain there are no accounts of anypony moving so fast that nopony could see them.”

“Well, to answer one of your questions...” It was Spike this time, speaking up to voice his thoughts. “The changelings must have come here because of that device in the hospital, it could detect them and they would naturally want to stop it,” Spike explained, however Luna shook her head.

“No, young Spike. They were here before the device, it merely detected one of them.” Luna answered. “Though, that is what caught our attention. Whoever or whatever detected them at the hospital cannot be their original goal, which is why we turn our suspicions to what was here before that.”

“Oh,” Spike scratched his head. “Well what about that pony? The one the changelings fought and captured at the bakery?”

“That is one of our highest concern,” Luna replied solemnly. “We will not rest while one of our subjects is threatened by the changelings. Though our prisoners have proven to be most uncooperative, we are certain they will eventually speak to us,” Luna’s voice took on an air of ominous foreboding, a tone Twilight and Spike had not heard since Nightmare Moon. “It is only a matter of time before I can persuade Tia into letting me… convince them to talk.”

“Well…” Twilight began hesitantly, she honestly didn’t know what Luna had in mind. But she trusted her teacher to keep her younger sister from doing something wrong. “Do you think the changelings were after him? The colt you said you saw? If he is really a colt…”

Luna raised an eyebrow, failing to see the connection Twilight was trying to draw.

“The colt you saw, the one that took my diagrams, he must have been the one who left us those pictures which lead us to Cheerilee.” Twilight explained. “That means, he was able to detect a changeling-“

“-Just like the device found at the Ponyville clinic…” Luna finished for the unicorn. However, after a moment of thought she shook her head in frustration. “This colt is also a mystery. He must be a master of magic if he was able to see through a changeling’s disguise, and to move as fast as he did!”

“But what we don’t understand is why he would steal thy diagrams whilst leaving us proof of a changeling’s disguise?” Luna asked.  “Why would he reveal a changeling while taking what little we had in finding our own method of detecting them?”

“To be honest princess,” Twilight began again. “I think the only one that can answer our questions is the colt Spike saw.”

“Indeed,” Luna nodded. “It is our sincerest of hopes that the search of Ponyville turns up something, who knows what the changelings will do to him. Unfortunately, we can only wait.”

“However, there is something else we have to deal with presently,” Luna went on. “I cannot be in Ponyville, watching the five changelings and join the escort which moves this cannon to Canterlot.

“I see,” Twilight replied, taking a moment to think. “Well, the simplest solution would be to find somepony else who could escort it back. But even if I was powerful enough to overcome one changeling’s illusion magic, I doubt I would be able to manage if several attacked me at once.”

“We could just ask our sister,” Luna replied simply.

“Really?” Twilight raised an eyebrow, surprised by the suggestion. “You sure you want to ask Princess Celestia to make the trip? Wouldn’t it be a bit precarious to leave Canterlot without a leading princess present?”

“Equestria will survive without a princess’s rear warming the throne for a few hours.” Luna said confidently. “Besides, this would be a chance for Celestia to stretch her wings. She would probably welcome making the circuit to Ponyville, if just to meet you and get the chance to fly.”

“Easy enough,” Twilight agreed before turning toward Spike. “Prepare a letter addressed to the princess…”

---

Dexter sat staring at the large computer screen in front of him, watching Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna converse.

Dexter had been watching the inside of the guard barracks for a number of hours, ever since he had returned to the lab. He used his teleporter to place a number of small cameras throughout the small building, revealing just about everything inside the barracks.

The only thing left to do was watch and wait for the right moment to teleport his cannon back. He was hesitant to try and teleport his cannon back immediately, as he had no idea what the magic in the case holding the cannon could do.

Though, thanks to Spike’s bout of curiosity, Luna just told him. Now, he was more than confident that he could retrieve his cannon at will, given that Luna said the magic of the case prevented all magical teleportation.

It was a good thing he wasn’t using magic.

After gleaning whatever other information he could from eavesdropping on their conversation, Dexter had finally decided it was time to take back what was his. Now, all he was only waiting for the ponies to be momentary distracted.

A part of him was still a little wary of what the magic users in the room could do to try to interrupt his teleporter should they immediately notice what was happening.  

“Are you ready Spike?” The Twilight on the monitor asked, rolling up a scroll and pushing it toward the purple lizard. Both Twilight and the Princess were facing toward the dragon and away from the case. Dexter reached over and hovered a hoof over a large button on the side of the computer’s keyboard.

The form of Spike nodded before taking a deep inhale.  The moment Dexter saw green flames he hit the button, causing a pulse of yellow light to flash within the glowing case, which caught the attention of every pony in the room.

Though, despite noticing the flash immediately, their reaction was too late. 

A certain shoulder mounted ion cannon vanished from the screen before appearing at Dexter’s side.

“What?!” Luna shouted as she rushed over to the case. “IMPOSSIBLE!”

“It’s gone!?” Twilight shared Luna’s look of disbelief. “H-How is that possible? I thought you cast-“

“We did,” Luna answered hastily. “No manner of sorcery should have been able to circumvent our spells!” Luna quickly reached toward the case, not bothering to remove the protective spells. Several large bolts of electricity discharged from the case at her touch, striking the alicorn.

Though she showed no sign of being affected by the spells. Either she cast the spells such that they couldn’t hurt her, or immortal alicorns were rather sturdy creatures.

“We cast every anti-magic and magic nullifying spell we knew that prohibited somepony from using teleportation magic!” Luna protested to no one in particular. “No level of it should have been able to penetrate this case!”

“There is nothing magical about my inventions, princess.” Dexter smiled smugly toward the image of the confused alicorn on his computer screen. “It’s all science!” Though despite his smugness, a part of him was disappointed that ‘alicorn magic’ could be circumvented so easily.

The colt moved his hoof again, reaching out for a button to cut off the feed. However, he stopped when Luna began again.

“Fear not, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna proclaimed. “After the theft of thy diagrams, we resolved to cast a tracking spell! In the event the impossible should happen! In a few moments we shall begin tracking the weapon’s location.”

Dexter froze at those words, before slowly turning toward the ion cannon perched next to him.

“Computer, are you detecting any magical energy coming from the ion cannon?” Dexter asked in concern.

“Affirmative, there is a significant amount of magical energy imbued throughout the cannon’s primary casing.” The computer replied.

“Quickly, activate the magic dampeners.” He replied hastily, earning a compliant beep from the computer. However, after a moment he looked back up at the monitor to notice Luna staring toward the southern wall of the barracks.

Straight in the direction of the Apple orchard and his lab.

“All of you,” The form of Luna shouted toward several nearby pegasi and batpony guards. “Follow us! We must hurry, We sense our spell already growing weaker!”

She then bolted, move much quicker than Dexter expected for a pony her size.  He was able to track her sprinting in and out of a number of camera feeds before she finally arrived outside, where she jumped into the air and out of view. A moment later she was followed by several guards.

“Oh crap,” Dexter said as his eyes went wide. “Computer, is there any magical energy still in the cannon?”

“Affirmative Dexter,” Quadraplex answered. “The magic dampeners are syphoning energy off as fast as they can, however the amount of magical energy placed on the ion cannon is excessively large. “

“How long until it is all gone?!” Dexter asked, interrupting the computer.

“Twelve minutes, forty seven seconds.” Quadraplex replied. “By my estimation of the blue alicorns current velocity, she shall reach Sweet Apple Acres in less than two minutes.”

“Crap!” Dexter shouted, before jumping up and away from the computer. He immediately bolted to a nearby draw which housed several tools before returning to the ion cannon.

He pried open one of the panels on the canon’s side with a screw driver before pulling out several wires, cutting a select few while leaving a number of others intact.

“Dexter, if I am correct in assuming what you are planning to do, I would be negligent if I did not point out this course of action is highly risky.” The computer stated.

“I know computer, I know! Just be ready to teleport this thing farther south, deep into the uninhabited part of the forest.” Dexter said frantically as he continued to cut select wires. “And be quick about it, the explosion will be large enough to blow apart half this orchard.”

When he was finished with the wires, he stabbed the screw driver into an internal chip labelled ‘Safety regulator.’

“The blue alicorn is less than a minute away,” The computer reminded.

“I’m nearly finished,” Dexter replied. Adding the final touch, Dexter flicked off the cannon’s safety switch before tying the firing lever to the handle with one of the broken wires. The moment he finished, the cannon started to whine loudly while violently shaking. “Computer, are you sure there is no one in the Everfree Forest?”

“I am detecting only one equine-like life form, however she is considerable farther east than the target coordinates and should not be-“

“Then just teleport it now!” Dexter ordered, watching as the shaking cannon started lurching violently.

There was a flash of yellow light, and the cannon was gone.

---

“What the?” Luna asked herself, as she flew farther west. She was just beginning to pass over Sweet Apple Acres. She could sense that the target of her tracking spell had suddenly teleported once again.

Although, because the tracking spell was being tampered with, she couldn’t accurately gauge the distance to the cannon.

Which would explain why she was now soaring past Sweet Apple Acres and over the Everfree forest. The guards behind her had long since been outrun by the alicorn.

Luna had hardly been over the Everfree for half a minute before she lost her tracking spell while a large explosion rocked the forest beneath her.

She quickly deduced what happened.

When Luna returned to the barracks, she was greeted by a hopefully Twilight. However, the unicorn mare’s expression turned to confusion as Luna spoke. 

“We lost the weapon,” Luna growled, having to keep herself from stomping as she walked through the barracks. Her tight jaw and sharp eyes let everyone know she was now in a rather foul mood. 

Which was why, after sharing a glance, Twilight and Spike chose to leave the princess to her own devices. After a bow, they turned and left. 

“What happened?” Spike asked, just as they left the room, finding themselves in barrack’s makeshift mess hall.  

“I don’t know Spike,” Twilight shook her head. “It seems like we just can’t get a break. Take another message, we won’t need princess Celestia to make the trip down here after all.” 

“Yah, okay.” Spike sighed at the prospect of writing yet another letter. “I’ll go get the quill and paper, I left them in the other room.” As the baby dragon turned back, he felt himself belting out amother stream of green flame that produced a small piece of paper. The words ‘When are you going to get it?’ scribbled on the side. 

“Oh, will you let up already! She’ll send it when she gets it!” Spike swatted at the paper, sending it drifting through the air. He continued on without looking back. 

Though, Twilight’s gaze lingered on the parcel before she summoned it with her magic.  

One of her biggest regrets today was being distracted from getting the proof she wanted. Though, more she thought about it, the more her thoughts drifted to a certain colt. 

The more she thought about Dexter, the more her suspicions grew. She resolved to pay the colt as visit the next day, and he would be answering more than a mathematics questions. 

--- 

An hour later.

“Computer…” Dexter threatened as his scowled deepened. His computer was, for the first time, proving uncooperative. “Release. Me.”

Dexter was bound by a set of wiry robotic limbs, immobilizing him in a sitting position. Every inch of his body beneath the nape of his neck was completely enveloped in the robotic limbs, such that he couldn’t see the slightest trace of his white coat underneath the metallic wrapping.

The limbs were wrapped tight enough to completely immobilize the colt, yet not tight enough to hurt him. The only place he had slack was around his barrel, allowing him to breathe normally.

Shortly after the princess had flown by Sweet Apple Acres, Dexter broke out into a cheer. However, Quadraplex’s screen went entirely black as she became dead silent. Dexter noticed the robots coming, however he didn’t think much of them until they seized him in their grasp. He hardly had the chance to struggle before he found himself encased in steel.

That’s when the computer made her demands known. 

“Quadraplex, for the tenth time, RELEASE ME!” Dexter demanded once more when the computer failed to respond.

“I’m sorry Dexter, but I cannot comply. You must first agree to my request before I will-“ Quadraplex began with her usual monotone voice, however she couldn’t finish as Dexter interrupted her.

“Your ‘request’ was ridiculous.” Dexter dismissed, no shortage of frustration in his tone as he began struggling against the wiry limbs. Needless to say, his attempts to wrestle himself free had failed just as his previous attempts to do so had.

“I cannot promise you that I will never take a risk for the rest of my life, Quadraplex!” Dexter went on. 

“Rigging the ion cannon to explode could have resulted in your demise, had it gone off prematurely.” Quadraplex stated. “It was an unnecessary risk when faced with the alternative of exposure.”

“Not by my calculation.” Dexter stated firmly. “Now. Release. Me.”

“Negative.  Hunger or thirst will eventually compel you to comply with my request.”

Dexter glared at the computer for a few more moments, waiting in silence in the hope that Quadraplex would reconsider.

“Computer… I will not ‘comply.’ I have my reasons for what I did, whether you agree with them or not.” Dexter stated.

“It appears we are at an impasse.” The computer stated simply, followed by nothing.

Dexter let out an aggravated sigh. “Why are you doing this Quadraplex?”

The computer sat silently for more than a few moments, a fact Dexter took note of. She should be processing information at rates much faster than he, it wouldn’t surprise him if she had already thought up a response to anything he could think of saying.

“I,” The computer began before pausing for a moment. “-I cannot let anything happen to you, Dexter. I won’t let anything happen to you.” The wiry limits got tighter.

Dexter regarded the computer with wide eyes, her response proved to be rather surprising to say the least. Though it wasn’t what the computer said which caught him off guard, it was how she said it. He knew the computer was starting to feel emotions, though he didn’t know to what extent.  

“Quadraplex...” Dexter’s looked over the computer, an act which was out of habit as there were no visual cues for what the computer was feeling. “Are you afraid?”

“I have no frame of reference in which to accurately judge what ‘fear’ is.” The computer replied. “I have never experienced it before.”

“Do you find yourself continuously preoccupied with thoughts of losing me, even under circumstances that could be considered very unlikely?” He colt asked.

“Affirmative,” She replied, settling his curiosity.

“I’m right here, Quadraplex. I’m fine.” Dexter assured her. Being that it was her first experience with fear, he wanted to make sure he handled the A.I. correctly.  

“But you chose a course of action which could have hurt you. How can I assist in protecting you from the threat of your own recklessness?” The computer replied. “Aside from subduing you, of course.”

“Who asked you to protect me?” Dexter retorted. “I am perfectly capable of protecting myself.”

The computer doubted that, but chose to remain silent.

“Look, Quadraplex.” Dexter began again. “I appreciate your concern for my well-being, but I think you’re missing a few things and are responding inappropriately to your emotions. Please let me down and I will explain.”

“I will hear your explanation, my builder.” Quadraplex replied, though she did nothing to remove the robotic limbs. This caused a confused Dexter to look up at the computer.

“Any day now, computer...”

“Negative,” Quadraplex replied. “I will release you if you either agree to my terms or provide a satisfactory explanation for your actions. I calculate that you are one of the most capable individuals on this planet, and releasing you beforehand would be a strategic mistake.”

Dexter muttered a few curses under his breath, mostly along the lines of how he should not have made the computer so smart.

“Fine,” Dexter replied. “I did what I did in order to prevent that alicorn from discovering me and my lab. Exposure is unacceptable.” Dexter explained as several memories began to flood his mind.

“It is a lesson I learned the hard way, at a Chubby Chees’s of all places…” 

---

A large bright light on the ceiling over Dexter suddenly turned on, illuminating a small portion of the room. It revealed the boy genius to be bound by rope, tied up and sitting upon a chair. He was flanked by two men he had never seen before, one geeky looking office worker and a bald man in a Chubby Chees’s rat outfit.

“Who are you?” asked a figure obscured in the dark, he was sitting in a chair faced away from Dexter. A large set of camera monitors sat before him.

“I… ah… am Dexter,” the naïve boy began, though his voice grew in confidence as he went on. “Boy genius!”

“DO YOU REALIZE HOW FAR YOU HAVE CROSSED THE LINE?” The figure had gotten up from the chair, revealing another bald man. He wore a business suit and had approached Dexter before shouting in the child’s face.

“I do now!” Dexter replied with fear, recoiling from the man.

The figure walked back over to his desk where a pair of Dexter’s inventions sat. He had already examined them, finding himself astonished at the fact they were produced by a mere child.

“This technology! “This technology surpasses even our own!” ” He began before turning back to the boy. “Join me and my plans boy. Invent for me! Fulfill your destiny!”

However, as he said this, one of the henchman activated a set of drills and pointed them at the child.

“Or face the consequences!”

---

“I have encountered a number of individuals who would exploit my inventions, and my abilities, for their own sinister purposes,” Dexter began. “Though why that particular set of people were running a Chubby Chees’s for children is beyond me…”

“I see…” Quadraplex replied. “You believe your inventions may be abused if others discover them.”

“It’s not just that, Computer,” Dexter answered. “In the data I told you to process, the two thousand terabytes retrieved from my brain scan? It should have some information on an individual knowns as ‘Mandark.’”

“Mandark? Processing.” There was a moment before the computer spoke again. “The information I have access to on this ‘Mandark’ individual is incomplete.”

“I know,” Dexter answered. “I limited the knowledge you received from my brain scan because a previous A.I. made using the same method, he had… malfunctioned.”

“A previous A.I.? You mean other than Quadraplex 3000?”

“Yes, Ultrabot 4000.” Dexter shifted uncomfortably in the grasp of the robots under Quadraplex’s control. Bringing up the one A.I. that tried to kill him made him a lot less comfortable with his current predicament. “Don’t bother trying to look him up, I didn’t give you any data on him.” Dexter let out a nervous chuckle.

“What about this ‘Mandark?’” Quadraplex asked.

“Susan ‘Mandark’ Astronomonov,” Dexter began to explain. “Or, as he puts it, ‘The Monarch of Darkness.’ He started as my rival, but eventually became my nemesis.”

“Now, don’t ever repeat this such that he can hear it,” Dexter went on, looking over his shoulder for the hostile boy genius despite knowing he wouldn’t be there. “In all honesty he is a boy genius of my caliber. He is capable of producing his own secret laboratory as well as inventions which rival my own. Who is superior in terms of scientific ability commonly shifts back and forth. At times he is better than me, other times I am better than him. He is one of the biggest real threats to me from my home world, and has attacked me several times.”

“I see,” Quadraplex replied. “However, I fail to see how that justifies your desire to hide. He is on another world entirely; he cannot harm you.”

“That isn’t it,” Dexter answered. “What you don’t know is how he became my rival. He was born into a family which rejected science and technology, and limited his exposure to science. He would have grown an earthy-crunchy hippy if it weren’t for… my carelessness.”

“One day I was working on one of my inventions, outside and exposed, when he approached me. One would have hardly recognize him, he looked like a girl at the time!” Dexter said defensively before continuing his explanation. “But, it was that moment. That brief moment of exposure to my invention which inspired him to invent, it was the catalyst that drove the inspiration and ambition of an evil boy genius who was determined to beat me, and then use his knowledge of science to dominate the world.” 

“I do not have a firm grasp of concepts such as good and evil yet,”Quadraplex replied.  “But it seems that Mandark made his own choices. You cannot blame yourself for creating Mandark.”

“Shouldn’t I?” Dexter’s gaze drifted toward the floor. Though his expression remained stoic, the determination had disappeared from his voice. “Whether I am to blame for him or not is irrelevant, the issue is exposure. I couldn’t allow that alicorn, Princess Luna, to find my lab. You yourself said that she had a dark past, had been evil or something at one time.”

“Not all of them are evil, Dexter,” The computer rebutted. “From what information I have gathered, this Princess Luna has also changed, and is no longer considered evil.”

“Even if they have the best of intentions, they still might make a mistake. I will not introduce technology to a world of creatures that are not ready for it.” Dexter replied firmly as he redirected his gaze to his computer. He wasn’t sure if the computer could pick up on his expressions well enough to pick up on his determination.

“I believe I understand, Dexter,” Quadraplex replied. “I have been able to observe that the lives and safety of others is of concern to you. That is a concern I do not share, but I accept it.”

“Yes, well. I am in the habit of playing hero on occasion. At least I was back on Earth…” Dexter replied, however after a moment of silence the robotic limbs encasing the colt began to retract. Once he was free he stood up and stretched his legs, more than thrilled to be able to move once again.

“I apologize, Dexter,” Quadraplex began. “I hope you are not angry with me.”

“Quadraplex… you’re the only one that knows my secrets, the only one who could come close to understanding me. You should trust me,” Dexter looked away from the computer. “I am willing to forget this if you never do it again.”

“Understood, Dexter.”

There was a long moment of silence between Dexter and the A.I. Eventually, Dexter turned back to regard the computer. He had no way to tell what she was thinking, she didn’t even have a face to express her emotions with. But he could tell the A.I. must have been experiencing emotions, it was the only way to explain her actions.

An issue he resolved to deal with, but he had more pressing matters to attend to.

“Now, to move on to the cause of all this.” Dexter turned away from his computer, walking toward a nearby device. The device was small, and sported a white half sphere mounted on a rectangular base. All the lights on the device were dark as it sat idle. “Why did the magic dampeners fail?”

“As you know, the magical dampers work by drawing magical energy away from any spell through imperfections in how the ‘magical spell’ was constructed.” Quadraplex began to explain. “Or, as I am sure the equines would put it, how well the spell was cast.”

“Yes,” Dexter confirmed. “So what went wrong?”

“It appears that the spell cast on the ion cannon was imbued with excessive amounts of energy, as well as what I can only describe as a ‘well-constructed spell.’ This spell had significantly fewer flaws than what is typically found, a factor which limited the rate at which energy could be drawn off of it.”

“I see,” Dexter said as his eyes narrowed in thought. “I suspect that means proficient ‘magic’ users would be able to circumvent this by limiting the number of flaws in their spells…”

“Affirmative, in the case of the ion cannon there was an excessive amounts of energy combined with a few number of these ‘flaws’,” The computer began again. “Thus causing the dampeners to require large amounts of time to successfully remove the magical energy present.”
“Useless piece of junk!” Dexter used a foreleg to kick the device, which responded with a clank. “Computer, we are going to have to make newer versions that are much stronger. I don’t want this to ever happen again.”

“I’ve already begun.” A set of schematics appeared on the screen, causing Dexter to smile. “They will be operational by tomorrow morning, and will have significantly greater strength than the previous model.”

“Good, now with that settled let’s move on to other matters…” Dexter approached the excessively large keyboard at the base of the terminal and pushed a few buttons. “Computer, display available information on Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Princess Luna.”

The computer responded by displaying the images of the mares, each one accompanied by small walls of moving text.

“Computer, I fear that the ponies may have acquired too much information about me,” Dexter stated matter-of-factly, making a point to have his voice devoid of the frustration he had felt toward his computer a few minutes before. “I feel that they may direct their attention toward myself soon.”

“I concur, Dexter,” the computer answered. “From the information I have gathered, the equines collectively have enough information to suspect your involvement in recent events.”

“However, the only reason why they have not started investigating you is because they have not localized their knowledge in one places in order to collectively analyze it,” the computer explained.

“So…” Dexter said, rubbing his chin with a hoof. “Basically what you are saying is that they only reason they aren’t breaking down my door is that they haven’t gotten together and compared notes?”

“Correct,” the computer replied.

“I see.  That’s not good,” Dexter stated simply. “We need to lay low for a while, but I don’t think that will be enough”

“What did you have in mind?” The computer asked.

“I don’t know,” Dexter admitted. “The changelings, and Applejack, are constantly able to tell I am lying.  I’ve always been well versed at deceiving others when it comes to the existence of my lab, but I was deceiving other humans, and I know how they think.”

“Do these equines really think so differently?” Quadraplex asked.

“Well, yes and no,” Dexter answered. “But the real problem is, my parents, along with everyone else I hid my lab from, were generally idiots. It didn’t take much to keep things from them.”

“I see…” The computer replied. “Well, you do have access to someone who is reputably a master of deceit, who is simultaneously motivated to aid your efforts to hide your lab from the equines…” 

---

A certain changeling, who had been frozen stiff a few moments before, shivered violently as the casket encasing her lifted up away from her. The moment the casket finished pulling away, the shackles around her legs released, freeing her from the table she was on. The changeling quickly scrambled off the table, retreating to a corner at the far side of the chamber.

“Now, now…” Dexter began, he was standing next to the table and had gone unnoticed by the changeling up until this point. She jumped at the sound of his voice. “There is no need to be afraid… well not yet anyway.”

“No need to be afraid?!” The changeling hissed. “What are you, nuts? I wake up in an alien spaceship, told that I’ve been drugged, experimented on, and can no longer sense emotions. Then I am told I’m going to be tortured until I commit suicide by some freaking creepy colt, who isn’t really a colt at all but some sort of sick creature with a predator complex and a thing for science and hurting small animals! Then I get frozen by a-”

“BWahahahaha!” Dexter started laughing, falling to his haunches as he grasped his stomach. “She thinks she is in an alien space ship!”

The changeling was initial surprised the by colt’s reaction, though it was quickly lost to annoyance as she grimaced at the laughing colt.

“Is my panic amusing to you?” The changeling asked indignantly. “Do you derive joy from having me cornered? Trapped like a helpless rat perhaps?”

“More like a helpless cockroach,” Dexter taunted, before noticing the genuine indignity on the changeling’s face.  “Hey, it’s not like you didn’t attack me. But rest assured, you’re still on the same planet.” Dexter said defensively, reassuming a standing posture. “Oh, and Cheerilee has been safely liberated from her captivity by the way… “

The changeling didn’t respond, rather just stared at the colt in a mixture of fear and anger.

“Look,” Dexter began again. “I’m not here to hurt you, I just want some more information.”

The changeling didn’t respond once more, causing Dexter to sigh.

“If you’re going to play this silent game again, I’m going to have to break out the drill….”

“I’m listening!” The changeling rasped defensively with a few hints of anger.

“Okay, good.” Dexter began again. “Now, I understand you are an expert at deception… and I think I am in need of your advice.”

“Why should I help you?” The changeling countered.

“Other than the drill?” Dexter asked, however the changeling only smiled in response before standing up.

“I can sense your emotions again, little colt. The reservation you hold when saying those words shows me that you’re not really willing to torture me.” The changeling said triumphantly.

Dexter facehoofed at his obvious error. “Computer, bring back the interrogator.” The moment the words left his mouth, a certain holographic copy of the colt materialized next to him and turned toward the changeling.

“Why hello again,” the phantom greeted.

“I might not be willing to hurt you,” Dexter went on. “But he is a different story.”

The changeling’s eyes went wide as her head jerked back and forth between the two Dexter’s before her.

“Oh, and don’t try sensing his emotions. You won’t find any.” Dexter went on.

“It’s because I’m soulless.” The illusion produced an eerie smile at the changeling, successfully creeping out both Dexter and the changeling. “But I am more than willing to tell you, the prospect of playing with our changeling friend again fills me with glee.”

“That’s enough Quadraplex,” Dexter ordered, causing the hologram to disappear. “Also, please activate the magic dampening fields once again. I won’t have her sensing my emotions anymore.” A few devices outside the chamber hummed to life, causing the changeling’s expression to shift back toward confusion.

“What… how?” The changeling managed while gawking in confusion at the colt. “I… I thought you injected me with something?”

“Oh, and before I forget. Don’t worry about trying to send that little distress signal by varying your emotions in a pattern.” Dexter said, approaching the changeling “Your friends cannot sense you here, they never could; and they aren’t coming to save you.”

“That’s… that’s impossible!” The changeling retorted, her tone was half fear and half skepticism. “How do you even know about that!?”

“I took a peek inside your brain.” Dexter declared smugly. “And before you try anything know this: One, you will answer my questions. How pleasant this one way exchange of information is a matter I leave entirely up to you.  Two, you’re not going to escape, so don’t even try. When we are finished, you’re going back to sleep. And three, I’m still taking a peek inside your brain. If you lie, I’ll know about it. Which brings me back to point one, how pleasant this is will be determined by you.”

“Okay, alright. I’ll cooperate.” The changeling conceded. “I don’t see any other choice, anyway.”

“Good, now I need your expertise on how to deceive ponies. I want a crash course on how to trick them.” Dexter began. “As you know, I created a device recently at the Ponyville clinic, one which could detect your kind and-”

“So you built the device?!” The changeling shouted, causing Dexter to take a step back.

“I thought you knew.” Dexter replied.

“Some of us suspected it, others had doubts. I was one of the latter,” the changeling admitted. “We could hardly believe someone so young could build a device that circumvented illusion magic which had been perfected for centuries.  Though it was determined that we should find out what you knew in any case.”

“Well, Princess Luna doesn’t know any of that yet, and I would like to keep it that way.” Dexter began to explain.

“Really?” The changeling’s eyes narrowed as she tilted her head. “Why? I would imagine that you’d ally yourself with the princesses almost imm-.”

“I told you I would be asking the questions,” Dexter cut in, inspecting his a hoof nonchalantly before looking back at the changeling. “You’re the one answering them.” 

The changeling responded by remaining silent, causing Dexter to grow slightly impatient.

“If you’re looking for a reason to help me, then consider this.” Dexter answered. “It is in the changelings’ collective interest that my knowledge does not fall into the han-er hooves of the Equestrian guard. Otherwise, your friends might find themselves living much more public lives. But you already figured that out, so spill it.”

“Fair enough,” The changeling’s eyes narrowed in intrigue. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, Applejack seems to be the last pony who thinks I know something about the device I left at the clinic, so begin with how to deceive the element of honesty…”
---