Chapter One: Find your Buddy

“Okay, everypony! If we could all gather around!”

After a couple of moments of silence a certain farm-pony cleared her throat “Uh, we're pretty much already gathered 'round, sugarcube. Ah mean, it's mostly just us.”

“...Fair point.” Twilight said with a nod. Shuffling her note cards a bit with her magic, the young princess had to resist the urge to clear her throat “Right. So, I'm fairly sure we all know what we're here for-”

A quiet squeak from her side brought Twilight's attention to a certain adorable, yellow pegasus “Yes, Fluttershy?”

“Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you, Twilight...” Fluttershy quietly replied, while ducking into her mane a bit.

“It's alright, Fluttershy. Was there something you wanted to ask?” Twilight prompted in a kindly tone.

Straightening up a bit at the question, Fluttershy gave a quiet swallow before continuing “Well, it's just...I'm not really sure what's going on and-”

“You aren't? Didn't Rainbow Dash explain what was happening when she got you?” Twilight asked, her gaze drifting towards the hovering blue pegasus who was now trying to avoid meeting said gaze.

“Oh. Well, I'm sure Rainbow Dash meant to and must have just forgotten on her way over...” Fluttershy quietly offered in defense of her athletic friend.

Rainbow Dash gave a nod of her head at that “Uh, yeah. I kinda figured you'd do a better job explaining all that stuff anyway, Twi. I mean, there was a lot of stuff you wanted me to say and I don't have any of your, like, charts and whatever...”

Looking to one corner of the Golden Oaks library, where Twilight and her friends were situated, would actually reveal a rather large collection of charts, graphs, scrolls, preliminary schedules, revised itineraries, and maps. Looking about the rest of the cozy library would reveal party decorations and snacks.

Twilight found herself glancing between the two pegasi for a moment, before raising a hoof to her forehead “But, Rainbow Dash...did you explain anything to Fluttershy before bringing her over?”

“I figured I'd just end up scaring her if I tried to explain it.” The hovering mare replied with a shrug.

“What? What would I be scared of?” Fluttershy blurted out, suddenly a bit concerned.

“See?”

Before Twilight could address that point, Rarity took a step forward “And is that perchance why you also couldn't bother to explain yourself before dragging me from my store, Rainbow Dash?”

“...Sure?” Rainbow Dash replied with another shrug.

The purple alicorn had to struggle to contain the sigh that she felt trying to escape.

“Don't worry, Twi-Twi! I definitely know why we're all here! Why else would I have a brought all these party supplies?” Pinkie Pie helpfully chimed in from atop a bookshelf-ladder, as she added in a few more streamers here and there.

“Are we having a party? Why would I be scared of a party?” Fluttershy asked again.

“Ah think Ah got the gist it from Pinkie here, but how 'bout you just start from the beginnin', Twi?” Applejack offered, before things could go on much longer.

Looking between her friends once more, Twilight eventually settled for putting her notes to one side. After visibly thinking it over for a moment she turned her attention first to the still befuddled Fluttershy “Ok. To start with, there isn't any reason to be worried. That being said, we're not here to throw a party-”

“I made some more nachos, Pinkie! Where do you want me to put them?” Spike called out, as he backed his way out of the kitchen, his claws taken up with the task of carrying the prepared snackfood.

“Over there on the table with the punch, Spike!” Pinkie easily replied.

“...Okay, so Pinkie might actually be here to throw a party.” Twilight conceded, while rubbing the bridge between her eyes. Setting her hoof back down, she re-focused back upon Fluttershy “So...Uhm, Fluttershy, do you remember those animals I left in your care a couple of weeks ago?”

“Oh, yes!” The butter-color coated mare happily exclaimed, always ready to gush about any of her little animal friends “Oh, they're doing so much better, Twilight. I managed to find a little space to set aside in my closet and they just love it in there now. I'm still not quite sure what they're eating in there, but Mr. Glowy seems especially happy. He's just the sweetest little nightlight.”

“Right, Mr. Glowy...” Twilight nodded, recalling the oddly bulbous, insect-like creature that she'd left to her friend to take care. She couldn't say she had the best of relationships with the bio-luminescent creature. She had accidentally scared the creature when she unintentionally screamed in its face, and it had released a cloud of smelly musk in her face, in response.

Twilight was fairly sure the little bug still held a grudge over their first encounter...

Shaking those thoughts away, Twilight started broaching the key topic “And, Fluttershy, do you remember where I got Mr. Glowy?”

“Hm? Didn't you find him and his little friends on your trip to the-...Oh.” Fluttershy seemed briefly perplexed by the question, but it was visibly apparent when she made the connection. Twilight cemented the conclusion for her friend with a nod and an encouraging smile.

“Oh my...” The shy pegasus blurted out, otherwise at a loss for words.

Briefly startled, Fluttershy glanced to her side to see Rainbow Dash setting down and extending a hoof out to her “It's really not all that big of a deal, Fluttershy. I mean, I wasn't sold on the changelings at first either, but they're actually pretty cool.”

Twilight nodded at that, lending her support to the cyan pegasus' claims “There really isn't anything to be afraid of. All we're going to be doing is-”

“Why would Fluttershy be afraid, Twi-Twi? They're great!” Pinkie Pie suddenly interjected, swinging down from a length of streamers to land in front of Fluttershy “Oh, oh, oh, you know what you should do, Flutters? You should do a musical number with them! Nopony can be scared after a musical number!”

“But I'm not scared of the changelings.”

“...What? Really?” Rainbow Dash blurted out, turning at this unexpected declaration from her normally very fretful friend.

Suddenly put on the spot, as her friends all shared various stares of surprise centered on her, Fluttershy had to resist the urge to shrink away “Well, I mean, I'm not anymore scared of changelings than I am of anypony else...”

“Uhhhhhh, come again?” Applejack posed the key question in that moment.

Fidgeting with her hooves a bit, Fluttershy ducked her head at the question “Uhm, I don't think changelings are all that scary?”

Rainbow Dash found herself rubbing the back of her head at this “How exactly did that happen? I mean, you seemed pretty intimidated by Chrysalis that one time.”

“Uhm, well...she is kinda scary. But I don't think all changelings could be that scary.” Fluttershy elaborated, recalling the meeting they'd had with the changeling monarch not too long ago. Glancing to one side, the butter-coated pony steadily seemed to gain a more wistful look “I can't imagine anypony that could raise such a sweet and lovable little glowbug like Mr. Glowy being too scary.”

“...Isn't that the bug that sprayed stink-gas in your face, Twi?” Rainbow Dash queried a mildly embarrassed purple alicorn.

Twilight gave a shake of her head at that “That's not really the most relevant thing at this very moment, Dash.”

“Exactly so, Twilight. I think we all need to give more mind to just how well Fluttershy has come along.” Rarity interjected, before turning her attention to her shy friend “I have to say I am very proud of how maturely you're handling this, dear. Why, not so very long ago, you'd catch a fright from just seeing your own shadow.”

“Sometimes it's kinda hard to tell if it's your shadow or not...” Fluttershy quietly pointed out, trying to explain the sense behind her caution with shadows.

The fashionista gave an encouraging nod at that, even as she settled a hoof over Fluttershy's withers “Even so, I think we can all see that you are more than capable of handling some changeling-related news. Right, Twilight?”

“I guess so.” Twilight replied with a smile, before retrieving her notes. Raising a hoof to her mouth, as she cleared her throat the young princess started over “Alright, girls. I think it's safe to say that you all recall the meeting we had with Princess Celestia and Chrysalis, before Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and I took our trip to meet Chrysalis' changelings.”

A chorus of nods and sounds of agreement from her friends was briefly interrupted, as Pinkie Pie turned her attention from adjusting her party cannon to call over “When did that happen, Twilight?”

“...Uhm, right before we went to meet with Chrysalis' changelings?” Twilight hesitantly repeated herself for her pink friend.

“Oh, right!” Pinkie casually replied before focusing back upon her improbable artillery.

Shaking her head at this, Twilight decided to just move on “As I was saying, I'm pleased to say that our visit went really-...mostly, very well.”

“Uh, mostly?” Applejack asked with raised eyebrow for the word-swap.

“Yep...Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie I think will agree that the changelings probably won't be causing any problems if they move to the Crystal Empire.” The purple alicorn continued on, avoiding the scrutinizing gaze of the apple farmer. Sifting through her notes, she quickly brought out a very formal looking piece of documentation “And now that we've gotten Cadance's approval, with some stipulations and restrictions of course, we're now looking at the next stage of bringing about peace between Changelings and Ponies.”

“...Which would be?” AJ prompted a moment later, still openly studying her alicorn friend.

“It's time to get the Changelings to the Crystal Empire.” Twilight declared.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at that “Okay. How we supposed to do that then, Twi?”

“Mostly by train.”

“Huh. Well, that sounds simple enough. Just gotta git somepony to pony up for all those train tickets and Ah guess we're set then.” The farmpony observed.

“Oh, Princess Celestia is taking care of the expenses already, but...there's another issue. One that I was hoping to have some help with.” Twilight hedged a bit.

“And what might that be, dear?” Rarity asked with a tilt of her head “If I'm understanding the situation correctly, it seems everything is very much in order now, yes?”

Twilight gave a nod at that, before explaining “Everything is in order for the Changelings to resettle in the Crystal Empire and we have a means of transporting them all. But, the problem lies with actually getting them all together to actually transport there.”

“Ah'm not sure I'm followin'.” AJ admitted.

Rainbow Dash darted down a bit from where she was hovering before Twilight could respond “I think what she's getting at, is that there are a whole bunch of changelings hiding all over Equestria.”

“That would be a part of the problem, yes.” The princess agreed.

The apple farmer gave a look at that “How's that a problem? Can't they all jus' go about gittin' on different trains? And...wait a sec. Jus' how many changelings is a whole bunch?”

Twilight cleared her throat at that question “I don't have any exact numbers, as Chrysalis was a bit tight-lipped about that, but...over two thousand?”

Applejack went a bit goggle-eyed at the number her friend just cited “Wha? How do ya mean there's two thousand changelings out here? Where are they all at, that so many a'them can be hidin'?”

“Oh, come now, Applejack. That's not so big a number when one considers how big Equestria is. Ponyville alone probably counts for a couple of thousand ponies and our little town isn't so very large. Right, Twilight?” Rarity reminded for her startled friend.

“I would have to check the latest Equestrian Census data, but-” Twilight began.

“And they are changelings, you know? So, it's not exactly like you could tell if you did see one.” Rainbow Dash helpfully pointed out.

“Well, Ah suppose that's true.” AJ conceded.

“Yeah! I mean they could really be just about anypony, you know?” The cyan pegasus continued.

“Ah get it...”

Grinning a bit too herself, Rainbow Dash started putting on a spooky voice “They could be any~where!”

Applejack gave her pegasus friend a wry look “You don't say?”

“Maybe even I'm a changeling!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed while using her hooves to make a creepy facial expression.

She was interrupted, by the orange hoof that lightly pushed her away.

“Somehow, Ah don't think Ah'm that lucky, Dash. If Ah was, you'd have a one-way ticket to the Crystal Empire.” Applejack noted with no small amount of humor.

Rainbow Dash gave a lackadaisical shrug “Just sayin'. You never know, right?”

“Somehow, Ah think Ah could tell. Ah don't think you could keep something like that to yourself for long, before tellin' everypony you knew about you bein' the fastest changeling alive or some such thing.” The orange Earth pony observed.

“You got me.”

That managed to earn a round of laughter from the gathered mares.

Shaking her head and letting her amusement settle, Twilight gave a nod in Rainbow Dash's direction “Actually, Rainbow Dash has kind of settled on the main problem left to deal with for all of this to work. There are a lot of changelings-in-disguise all around Equestria and we need to help them on their way.”

“Well that's all well-and-good, Twi, but Ah'm still not seein' the problem. Can't they all just hop along themselves or somethin'?” Applejack pointed out.

“Well, Chrysalis has some concerns about that. Concerns I kind of think have some merit.” Twilight admitted, while using a hoof to push her bangs a bit out of the way “There are still quite a few ponies that might become worried or frightened at the thought of changelings, even if it's been made clear that they don't mean any harm. And vice-versa. That's part of the reason the general public hasn't been told yet.”

“I suppose there's a certain sense behind that.” Rarity noted with a gesture of her hoof.

Applejack gave a shake of her head at that “Sounds a bit underhoof-ed to me. Ah mean, it seems like a lot of our problems are caused whenever folks try to keep secrets.”

“I get that, AJ. Which is why Princess Celestia is going to let everything be known after everything has been settled. We just don't want anypony or changeling doing anything rash or panicking in the middle of this move.” Twilight explained to her friend.

“Is that why Princess Luna sent her guards down?” Fluttershy quietly asked, referring to the two bat-ponies keeping watch just outside of the entrance to the library.

The young princess gave another nod at her friend's question “Kind of. The plan is to quietly gather up all the changelings in town here before sending them up to the Crystal Empire. They're here to help keep the library closed-off and assist us if we need it.”

“Well, that was quite generous of her, sending us a bit of extra help like that.” Rarity observed.

“Princess Celestia thought that we would be able to take care of Ponyville without too much help. Apparently, Luna wanted to come to Ponyville herself, but Princess Celestia convinced her that she could do more good elsewhere.” The purple alicorn explained, relaying the information passed on to her via her mentor's letters regarding this undertaking.

“Ah suppose if it's Princess Celestia that thinks this is a good idea...” AJ began.

Twilight gave an understanding smile at that “If it helps, I have spoken with Mayor Mare about all of this and she's pretty much agreed to what I've laid out. As soon as the changelings are safely on their way, she plans on making an announcement to the rest of the town.”

Applejack let out a sigh finally “Fair enough, Ah guess. As long as you guys are sure the changelings are stickin' things out on there end, Ah'm on board.”

“You worry too much, AJ. You gotta trust me when I say these changelings aren't anything to worry about. A bit weird, but they're cool.” Rainbow Dash noted from above.

“Ah get it. No big deal. Ah mean, how many changelings can there possibly be in a little town like Ponyville?”

“Actually...I'm not really sure.” Twilight sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

“Pardon?” AJ blurted out.

“Uhm, well, Chrysalis neglected to actually tell me how many changelings she had in Ponyville.” The young princess elaborated, even as she shuffled her note cards once more.

“Twilight...might I ask just how Queen Chrysalis expected us to go about this task?” Rarity politely broached for everypony.

“Sorry about this, girls. She did say that she would let all of her changelings know...some how. And that one of her changelings had orders to meet with me.” Twilight explained, her wings twitching a bit as she did so “Chrysalis has been really tight-lipped about all of this. I honestly think she's still kind of nervous about all of this-”

“Could of fooled me.” Rainbow Dash chimed in.

AJ nodded at that “Ah'm not sure that she has ever had a nervous bone in her body, frankly.”

“Do changelings actually have bones?” Fluttershy quietly asked, clearly earnest in her curiosity.

“Okay. Maybe not nervous.” Twilight conceded. She seemed ready to continue back on the original topic, before pausing to turn towards Fluttershy “And, uhm, I'm not really that sure about their bones. It never occurred to me to ask, but we might try to check with them today. If everything goes alright, that is.”

“Oh, that's good. I mean, it would be good to know if any changelings ever get hurt, so we could help them.” Fluttershy cheerfully noted.

Twilight couldn't help but smile at her friend's earnest concern for all living things.

“So, Twilight, am I to understand that we might be waiting for a little while for our mysterious changeling caller?” Rarity asked, refocusing the conversation.

Shaking her head a bit to refocus, the purple alicorn gave a nod towards her elegant friend “I'm afraid so. I've got their arrival penned into the schedule for the next couple of hours, but that's really just an estimate. Err, well, not even really an estimate. But I'm at least hoping-”

“Wait. Twi...did you still write-up a schedule for all of this?” Rainbow Dash interjected.

Twilight glanced at that “Hm? Oh, Spike helped me plan it all out and did the actual writing, but-”

“Don't you think that might be a bit...optimistic, dear?” Rarity politely asked.

“...How so?”

“Cause we're waiting on someone that may or may not arrive within the next couple of hours to help us meet with an unknown number of changelings, who may or may not be super nervous and unready about all of this?”

“...Yeah, what Pinkie Pie just said.” Rainbow Dash said with a gesture of her hoof towards the pink pony that was still going about decorating the library.

“Also, something could go wrong with the train.” Pinkie Pie added a moment later in a chipper tone, as she swung down on a large collection of streamers. After a brief pause, a thought visibly occurred to the pink pony “Oh, oh, oh! Or somepony could find out about all the changelings and panic and-”

“That's enough, Pinkie Pie. Thank you.” Rarity interrupted, as politely as she could manage. She didn't feel there was a great need for the pink Earth pony to contribute to another of Twilight's freakouts.

Twilight found herself frowning a bit about that, before glancing to one corner of the library. Quietly using her magic to put her perhaps overly optimistic schedule chart away, the young princess cleared her throat before responding “Right, so it maybe that a schedule might not be...necessary, but I do still have a plan. I mean, it's still most of a plan without the timetable-”

Rarity stepped forward at that moment, not willing to leave her friend fretting for too long “I'm sure you've prepared a lovely plan, dear. And I'm quite sure we're all ready to play our parts. Right, girls?”

Everyone quickly chimed in with their agreement, all sending supportive smiles Twilight's way.

“Well, that's a relief.” Spike suddenly spoke-up, startling the gathered ponies as he made his way across the room, his little arms laden with snacks “Twilight kept me up half-the-night trying to come up with that plan.”

“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight replied, sporting a wry smile for the little drake.

“I mean, the parts of the plan that I was awake for sounded good.” Spike added, as he set the the platter of snacks on a nearby table.

Not letting her smile diminish, Twilight turned back to her ever supportive friends “Uhm, well, if you guys still want to hear my plan, I can...”

Warmed by the fact that her friends still seemed ready to hear out her maybe-not-entirely-going-to-work-out plan, Twilight cleared her throat before starting “Alright, well the first thing to see to is-”

“Oh! Twilight, oh! I know, Twilight! I know! Pick me!” Pinkie Pie suddenly started dancing on her backhooves, as she waved one of her forehooves to gather the princess' attention.

“Alright, Pinkie Pie, you can-” Twilight began to offer to her excitable friend.

“I get to throw a PARTY!!!”

“Never would have seen that one coming, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash observed, pointedly glancing about the very apparent party decorations, balloons, and food that had been laid out.

Twilight gave a rueful nod to the rest of her friends “I kind of felt that it was going to happen anyway, so...I figured I'd just make the Pinkie Pie party a part of the plan.”

“Seems prudent.” Rarity added with a nod.

“I'm sure it's going to be a lovely party, Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy added in a kindly tone towards her pink friend.

“I know! I know! It's going to be great!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed right in the butter-coated pegasus face, leading Fluttershy to awkwardly try to lean back from her friend.

Twilight's smile became a bit strained as her pink friend's enthusiasm made things awkward for the shy pegasus “Right, yes, Pinkie Pie is going to be managing the party here to hopefully help the changelings stay relaxed when they get here. In fact, I was actually rather hoping that Rarity-”

“Question!” Rainbow Dash jumped in again, holding out her own hoof to get Twilight's attention.

Blinking in momentary surprise at the blue hoof being waved only a short distance from her face, the princess turned her attention to her hovering friend “Yes, Rainbow Dash?”

“Do those two guardponies outside know that you have a plan?” RD bluntly asked, pointing a hoof towards the door the two bat-ponies were standing outside of.

“Hm? Oh, yes. Spike helped me take care of that last night too. It took a little while, but we managed to put together some guidebooks for them to go over.” Twilight cheerfully explained, clearly proud of the work they had put into that project.

“Guidebooks?” Rainbow Dash asked with a skeptical look for her scholarly friend.

“Mm-hmm.” Twilight again nodded, her mood not diminished in the least.

The pegasus stared for a few moments, before trying again to make her point clear “...Guidebooks?”

Just outside...

“These guidebooks are great!”

“Mm-hmm...”

“I mean, where does a princess even find time to put together something like this?” Sea Breeze asked, holding the small booklet up for Star Shade. He barely had the time to glance towards the mare, when a sheaf of papers unfolded from the collection of papers “...Horseapples, did I just break this thing?”

“It looks to be a foldout map.” The older stallion pointed out, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his fellow bat-pony's antics.

Sea Breeze regularly proved to be the talkative sort of guardpony, something the older bat-pony had not been particularly enthused about upon first meeting her. But, after a heart-to-heart talk or two and some assurances that the mare would at least maintain the proper decorum when in the public eye, he'd started to relax his standards.

And, admittedly, the conversation was a welcome addition to the normally dull work of being a guardpony. It certainly helped keep his mind busy and staved off boredom.

Granted, there was the occasional headache that came with dealing with a pony like Sea Breeze, but he tried to stay calmer about things.

“Oh. Well, that's neat...” Sea Breeze exclaimed as she used a hoof to bring the section up for closer inspection “Huh...In the event of UAMAPs (Unforeseen Appearances of Magical Apex Predators) take this route to...is that a thing? Do ponies have to worry about that kind of thing around here?”

“I'm sure Princess Twilight is just being thorough in preparing for any unlikely eventuality. I hardly think a quiet place like this has too much to worry about.” Star Shade quietly argued, casting his gaze across the area in front of the Golden Oaks Library.

“Please note, UAMAPs have been known to share some overlap with CMC-related incidents. For proper cataloging...CMC? That sounds familiar...” Sea Breeze noted to herself, before quickly flipping to the back of the book “Oh, nice. A glossary. Let's see...”

“If you could put that down for a few minutes, I'd like for us to refocus our efforts on spotting the...foreign liaison.” Star Shade called over, careful not to mention the word 'changeling' out in public. If the whole goal was to get the changelings out of Ponyville without causing a fuss, it seemed like discretion would be imperative to that.

“The foreign-what now?” The mare asked back, a raised eyebrow at the precise term her superior officer had chosen to use.

The stallion had to resist the urge to roll his eyes a bit “Liaison. The individual that is supposed to be arriving soon?”

Visibly pondering it for a moment, Sea Breeze spared a glance for the door leading into the Golden Oaks Library “...I'm pretty sure all of Princess Twilight's friends are already inside.”

Star Shade gave a mildly-sour look at that remark “Don't be obtuse.”

“Would you rather I were more acute?” The mare responded with a self-satisfied grin, as her commanding officer let his head drop in exasperation.

“...I should demote you for that.”

“When you're right, you're right.”

“Please. Stop.” The stallion requested, a hoof brought up to his brow.

Sea Breeze gave a shrug at the request “What? Princess Luna likes puns, so I thought-”

“Princess Luna is from a different time. She doesn't understand how terrible they are.” The older bat-pony sternly countered.

“I guess I can't help but-”

“I will relieve you of your post, if you make a pun about straight angles.” Star Shade quickly interjected, leading to Star Breeze abruptly snapping her mouth shut.

After several seconds of silence, the mare gave a tilt of her head as if considering something “Okay, but what about-”

“Geometry-based wordplay of any kind is off-limits.” He quickly added, with a light stomp of his hoof for emphasis.

“...You mean for today? Or like...forever? Sea Breeze hesitantly asked.

He was briefly tempted to leave it as a standing order, but eventually let out a quiet sigh “No more line-puns until we've spotted the-”

“Liaison. Right. Got it.”

“Correct.”

“And is there like a password, that they're going to be saying or something? So we know it's them.”

“...I'm not sure.” Star Shade hesitantly admitted, himself a bit stymied by the lack of information that had been provided on the issue of the changelings. Princess Luna had been quite adamant about maintaining some trusted eyes and ears in Princess Twilight's proximity during this undertaking. While certainly honored by the notion that the Moon Princess trusted him with this task, he couldn't help but wonder if his Princess was operating out of anything more than mild paranoia. Star Shade would certainly stay vigilant for any changeling funny business, but he really had no idea what to look for.

Unfortunately, despite Princess Twilight's most earnest efforts, he didn't even know what it would look like if the changelings were on the up-and-up either.

Not that he could let his junior officer think he was anything but certain.

“I'm quite sure that we will know our contact when we see them.” The stallion eventually added with as much confidence as he could muster.

The mare at his side seemed apparently skeptical “But...isn't their whole thing ponies not knowing them when we see them?”

“Yes. But this change-...contact will no doubt be looking for ways to make it apparent. We merely need to be on the lookout for anyone approaching this building.” Star Shade pointed out.

“Yeah, but isn't this a public library? What if some regular pony approaches this building looking for a book or something?” Sea Breeze pressed.

“...Just stay watchful for anypony that seems abnormal.” The stallion eventually settled, realizing that he really couldn't offer up anything more specific than just staying alert. He was given some pause as a thought occurred, before turning back towards Sea Breeze “For that matter, keep an eye out for anypony that seems too normal, as well.”

“...Too normal?” The mare asked, her eyebrow arching at the seemingly contradictory guidelines.

“Exactly.”

Sea Breeze had to give a shake of her head at that, before casting her gaze off to one side “Too normal...Okay, I'll keep an eye out for- I don't know- someone that's really- someone that's really-...really, really handsome.”

“I'm sorry?” Star Shade blurted out at the seeming non-sequitur.

“Don't be.” The mare muttered, even as she continued to send gooey-eyes and a slightly lopsided smile down the street. Turning his own attention in that direction, the stallion made quick work of following her gaze to its apparent target.

A rather healthy looking red-coated stallion leading a cart of apples down the street towards the oaken library, clearly intent on making his way for the building.

Briefly turning back towards the library in consideration, before glancing back to the apple-themed stallion making his way over, Star Shade brought a hoof to his chin before muttering “Hm, must be affiliated with Lady Applejack in some fashion.”

“Uh-huh.” The dazed Sea Breeze absently replied.

Letting an eyebrow steadily rise at the mare's uncharacteristic response, the older bat-pony had to stomp a hoof to get her attention “Professionalism, Sea Breeze.”

“Wha's tha'?” Sea Breeze blurted out, sending a quick look of confusion Star Shade's way. A shake of her head and she quickly made a point of standing up a bit straighter “Oh, right.”

Now both standing at attention, the two members of the Night Guard waited by the door, watching as the large farmpony went about unhitching himself from his apple cart. A few moments later, Big Mac was making his own steady approach over.

Drawing to a pause in front of the duo, Big Mac took a few moments to glance between the two bat-ponies in apparent curiosity at the positions they had taken up.

Clearing his throat, Star Shade took a step forward to meet the larger stallion's approach “I'm afraid the Golden Oaks Library has been closed-off from the general public today, sir. Until Princess Twilight's business is concluded, only-...certain invited individuals will be allowed entrance...”

Big Mac blinked as the bat-pony stallion trailed off.

“...However if you happen to be one of these certain invited individuals...?” Star Shade hesitantly offered, wondering if perhaps this farmpony was a changeling in disguise.

It only took Big Mac a moment before shaking his head at the implied question “Nnnope.”

“I wouldn't mind inviting him to a-” Sea Breeze suddenly piped up.

Only to be silenced by a stern look from her superior.

“Uh, I jus' need to have lil' chat with my sister, AJ?” Big Mac offered, trying not to pay any mind to the exchange between the two out-of-towners.

Sparing another moment to send a look of warning to his more junior officer, Star Shade turned his focus back to the Apple stallion “You need to speak with the Lady Applejack? I would need to check inside with Princess Twilight, before I can allow you in. Is that alright, sir?”

Big Mac gave an easy nod.

“Very well. May I have your name?” The older member of the Night Guard asked, as he turned to the door leading into the library.

“Big Macintosh.”

Star Shade nodded in-turn. Opening the door, the bat-pony gave a shake of his head towards Sea Breeze as if to preemptively tell her 'no' once more, before heading in.

Big Mac could have given voice to his curiosity, as he scrutinized the bat-pony mare standing in front of him, as she watched the wooden door slowly close behind her fellow guardspony. But, he wasn't really given the opportunity, as the moment the door clicked shut she immediately whipped her head around to face the bemused farmpony.

“I'm totally cool with it if you're a changeling.” Sea Breeze quickly blurted out.

“What?”

“What?” The mare swiftly responded, even as she affected an innocent look of confusion.

Big Mac couldn't help but let his eyebrow climb upwards at the odd exchange, letting his skepticism and confusion become apparent.

Sea Breeze didn't seem at all bothered and made a point of taking in their surrounding while taking in a breath of fresh air “Sure is a nice day. Fresh air. Plenty of sunlight...And I'm completely fine with dating outside of my species.”

“Eee-...” The stallion slowly began, unsure how to respond.

“Or inside my species. You know? Just, whatever....Has anyone ever told you how tall you are?” The mare added a moment later.

“...-yup?”

A few seconds of awkward silence later, Sea Breeze's ear gave a visible twitch towards the door, signaling the moment she re-assumed standing a very professional seeming posture.

Before Big Mac could give a voice to any of his unanswered questions the door to the library swung back open to reveal Star Shade once more.

Taking in the sight of the bewildered Big Mac and the almost too well-behaved Sea Breeze quickly lead to the male bat-pony narrowing his gaze a bit and pursing his lips.

Sea Breeze was briefly tempted to start whistling in a stereo-typically inconspicuous manner, but quashed the urge before she could give herself away.

“Right...” Star Shade muttered, before turning back towards the big farmpony, all business once more “If you will come with me Mr. Macintosh, I will show you in to your sister.”

Resisting the urge to edge away from the curious mare sending him the gooey-eyes, Big Mac gave a quick nod before cantering after his fellow stallion “Eeeyup.”

Turning her attention back to the street, as the doors closed behind the two stallions, Sea Breeze couldn't help but smile to herself.

Though it was a only a few seconds later that a thought occurred to the mare.

“Hmm...hope his sister isn't the protective-type.”

Inside the Golden Oaks Library...

“Alright, now that's the route we'll be taking if we have to pass through the market. Which hopefully won't come up, but if we consider the number of ponies that move through there at peak business hours, it is statistically reasonable to expect a changeling or two to be there.” Twilight explained to her mostly attentive friends, even as she used her magic to manipulate her ink quill over the map spread out over the table they were all examining.

“Uh-huh...Twi? How many more o' these routes do ya got planned out?” AJ chimed in, letting her gaze wander over the numerous inklines winding across the map of their town.

“Hm? Oh. Uhm, let's see...where are we on the checklist, Spike?” The young princess asked of her assistant, not picking up on the mild mental exhaustion overtaking her friends.

“Wha?” Spike blurted out around the mouthful of nachos that he'd been sneaking into while everyone was distracted. Quickly swallowing down the cheesy-snack, he quickly pulled out the checklist he was supposed to be running down “Uh, right...which one did we just do, Twilight?”

The purple alicorn had to let out a light sigh at that “Spike, you're supposed to be checking these off as we go through them.”

“With what?” The little drake replied in a clearly confused tone.

Blinking at this seemingly odd question, Twilight gave a quick shake of her head “With wha- Check marks, Spike. You know that. You check things off of a list with check marks.”

“Well, yeah. But how am I supposed to do that when you're using our last quill for your maps?” Spike easily countered.

“The last- Spike! How can this be our last ink quill? Didn't you say you were going to be ordering more?” The young princess asked, utterly thrown by this turn of events.

To her mild annoyance, Spike couldn't help but roll his eyes before responding “That was last night, Twilight.”

Twilight blinked several times at this, before bringing a hoof to her chin, suddenly overcome by embarrassment “Oh, right...”

“Yeah, we went through like four of them when we were doing the maps. And then we had to do all those checklists.” Spike helpfully reminded.

Twilight nodded again “Right. Sorry about that, Spike. Uhm, just- I guess next time you go out make sure to place an order for another case.”

“No problem. We need to pick up some groceries soon anyway, what with Pinkie throwing a party and everything.” The young dragon easily replied, used to Twilight letting these kinds of things slip her mind.

Especially after an all-nighter.

Frowning once more, Twilight floated her last remaining feather quill closer, she couldn't help but note how frayed and ragged the the tip was starting to become “I suppose we'll just have to ration this last one to see us through everything else...”

“And just how much is left to go through, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash pointedly asked.

Sparing a glance for her friend, the purple princess sent an inquiring look back towards Spike “Uhm, where were we on the checklist, Spike?”

“Uhhhh, you just finished up with the market, right? That just leaves...Applejack's farm, the mayor's office, the train station, the Everfree Forest-...” Spike started trailing off, as he made his was further down the list.

Applejack ended up raising a hoof to forestall Spike from listing off anymore items “Hold on a sec. Twi. Jus' what would any changelings be doin' in the Everfree Forest?”

“Hm? Oh, well, like I mentioned earlier-” Twilight began.

Only to be interrupted by the sound of the door to the library opening, something which quickly grabbed everypony's attention, as everypony wondered if this signaled the arrival of a changeling.

It'd be a bit rude to say that they were disappointed to see Star Shade standing there, somepony that most of them were fairly sure was not a changeling.

“I beg your pardon, Princess Twilight, but there is somepony here to meet with Lady Applejack.” The stallion formally relayed.

“Applejack?” Twilight blurted, a bit surprised by that.

“Don't you mean Lady Applejack, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked around her own snickers, very much amused by the insistently polite and formal manner the bat-pony referred to the farmpony. The annoyed look being sent her way did little to deter the airborne pegasus, to no one's surprise.

But the light telekinetic-pinch, by way of Rarity's magic, put an end to Rainbow Dash's antics and even elicited a surprised yelp from her.

Applejack gave a quick nod to the fashionista in quiet thanks, before focusing back upon the member of the Night Guard “So, you're sayin' there's someone to see me, that right? Think ya can tell me jus' who it is?”

“A pony by the name of Big Macintosh, who is claiming to be your brother, is waiting just outside.” Star Shade calmly relayed, not paying much mind to the antics between the group of friends.

“Oh, shoot! Why didn' ya just say so?”

“I did.”

AJ admittedly had to concede that point “Uh, right....So what exactly is it that Big Mac is needin'?”

“I'm afraid I haven't yet asked, Lady Applejack.” Star Shade explained, even as Rainbow Dash struggled to contain a snort of a laugh at the 'Lady' part “Given today's proceedings it seemed prudent to check on whether or not you actually had a brother by that name.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Cause o' the changelings.”

“Shall I bring him in?”

Give a moment of pause at the question, Applejack turned to Twilight “Uh, that alright with you, Sugarcube?”

“Hm?” The young princess glanced up, having been scrutinizing her last quill a bit too intently. The moment Twilight's thoughts managed to catch up with the question was quite apparent, as she refocused back upon her farmpony friend “Oh, right! Uhm, sure. We haven't really started yet, and I think I might need to adjust some parts of my presentation to account for-...I think we could all use a short break.”

“Shall I take that as an order to escort the Lady Applejack's brother inside, Princess Twilight?” Star Shade reiterated for the young alicorn, while pointedly ignoring Rainbow Dash's continued snickering at his formal manner.

Taking a moment to consider just what he was asking of her, Twilight gave a quick nod “Uhm, yes. Yes, please. If you wouldn't mind.”

The bat-pony gave a light bow at this, before turning and making his way back out the door, presumably to retrieve the Apple stallion.

“Thanks, Twi. Ah'll try not to go holdin' up things too much.” AJ replied with a tip of her hat.

Twilight replied with a smile and a shake of her head for her friend “It really isn't any trouble, AJ.”

“All the same, Sugarcube. And Ah'll check and see if perhaps Big Mac brought any quills with him.” The Earth pony offered.

“I'd appreciate it. And it doesn't have to be quills. Really, any sort of writing implements would help.”

“Sure thing.” Applejack replied with a nod, before turning her attention to the doorway where her brother was being let in. Giving a nod of thanks to Star Shade, as she was trotting over to the waiting Big Mac “Now jus' what's the problem tha's got you comin' all the way down here, big brother?”

Letting Applejack and Big Mac step to one side to discuss whatever issue it was that needed discussing, Star Shade turned back towards Twilight “Is there anything else, Princess Twilight?”

“Ink quills.” Spike supplied before Twilight could answer, as he ambled past the bat-pony having returned to the task of putting out party foods. Sparing a glance for the little drake, Star Shade sent a questioning glance towards the alicorn.

Giving a slightly apologetic smile for the bat-pony, Twilight gave a nod of agreement “If it's not too much trouble...?”

“Not at all.” Star Shade quickly affirmed.

Twilight smile turned a bit radiant, relieved as she was that her quill shortage could be facing a swift end “Great. If you can go just down the street, there's a Quills and Sofas shop.”

The bat-pony gave a tilt of his head at the idea of a shop specializing in writing implements and lounging furniture, but otherwise held his silence.

Which was fine, as Twilight didn't notice the stallion's bemusement “Mr. Davenport there knows us, but if you'd like I can have Spike-”

“Uh, Twilight? I still got those little quiches waiting in the oven.” Spike interjected. After a few moments of thought, he pulled the checklist from earlier back out “Also, I still got this thing.”

“There is no need to burden Mr. Spike, Princess. I'm sure there won't be any problems.” Star Shade assured before Twilight could ponder the issue anymore.

“Oh. Well, thank you again.” Twilight reiterated, as the bat-pony made his way back out.

“You're quite welcome, Princess Twilight.” Star Shade replied, as the door closed behind him.

Turning back towards the rest of her friends, Twilight didn't mind letting her relief show through “Well, I guess that little quill shortage disaster has been- Rainbow Dash! What are you doing?!”

Looking up in confusion from where she was hovering over the map, Rainbow Dash had to take a moment to swallow down a mouthful of cheesy-nachos before responding “What?”

Her hooves clopping on the floor, as she ran back over to the table holding all of her materials, Twilight quickly tried to ascertain the amount of damage she might be dealing with “You're dripping cheese everywhere, Dash!”

Indeed, there were now several very large globs of cheesy sauce occupying the Apple family farm and the outskirts of the Everfree forest. At least, according to the map there were.

“Oh...” Rainbow Dash cleverly replied, as she took in her unintentional contributions to the map. Setting aside the platter she was eating from, the pegasus quickly retrieved several cheese-free nachos, before returning to the map “Don't worry, Twilight. I got this.”

“What are you-”

As if to answer the very question the young alicorn was about to pose, Rainbow Dash leaned in with her nachos and began scooping the offending mess onto her chips. After only a few seconds of sliding and maneuvering, the polychromatic pegasus held up her now cheese-covered nachos for everypony to behold.

“See? Problem solved.” RD noted, before happily flipping the snack into her mouth.

“Not to be too harsh a critic, darling...” Rarity calmly interjected, as she pointedly let her gaze wander over the sections of the map that now had cheese haphazardly scraped across them. Which was now only one of several issues, as several spots now featured smudged ink, bits of the map torn up, and a number of broken nacho remnants.

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash replied before taking a closer look at how her solution has turned out. “Guess I'm gonna need a few more nachos...”

Twilight, unable to truly be upset with her friend, ended up sagging forward and resting her head on a clean portion of the table “Oh, I spent all night working on that map...”

“Hold on, hold on! I got this!” Rainbow Dash quickly reassured, as she quickly landed on the table and leaned over the biggest problem spots she had created. A few seconds of rushed work and the pegasus took back to the air “There! Good as new!”

“Don't worry about it, Dash. It probably doesn't-...” Twilight started to say, before drawing to an abrupt halt, having just spotted what her friend had done “...Uhm, Rainbow Dash? What is that?”

“What's it look like, Twi?” The pegasus easily countered.

“...It kind of looks like a changeling drawn out of nacho cheese.”

There was, in fact, a pile of melted cheese now shaped to crudely resemble a changeling on the remains of the map.

“I like the little smile you gave him, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy helpfully volunteered.

“Yeah, see? Didn't even need any quills.” The pegasus noted, even as she scraped some of the nacho cheese from her hoof.

Both Rarity and Twilight were sporting the same bewildered expression at this artistic/culinary creation. It was the purple princess that managed to respond first, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof “Rainbow Dash, that-...that certainly is one way to fix things. I guess.”

“Heh, yeah. I bet if we brought some more of those nachos over here, you won't even need anymore quills to finish your thing.” Rainbow Dash proudly proclaimed.

“Princess Twilight?”

Snapping her attention towards the voice revealed Star Shade waiting by the door, another stallion at his side. Twilight quickly recognized this second stallion as the proprietor of Sofas and Quills by his brown coat and slicked back mane and started cantering over.

“Mr. Davenport! Your timing is perfect!” Twilight exclaimed, relieved that her precisely drawn out maps and charts would be escaping their messy fate.

“It is?” The stallion slowly replied, too busy letting his gaze wander across the party decorations and snacks that had been laid out.

“Well, maybe not perfect, but it's still quite exceptional.” Twilight conceded after a moment of thought. Shaking her head, she soon focused upon the matter-at-hoof “Anyway, I really appreciate that you came as quickly as you did.”

“I do have my orders.” Davenport pointed out.

“Oh. Are there a lot of ponies waiting on their orders? I didn't mean to take you from your store.” Twilight was quick to apologize. She was, admittedly, a bit surprised that he was so busy today.

The brown-coated stallion openly stared at the young princess for a few moments, letting one of his eyebrows climb upward as he did so.

Sensing some awkwardness growing between the two of them, Twilight's smile grew a bit strained “So...I'm guessing you'll want to be getting back to your store...I'd really appreciate some quills, if you can spare them...”

“I'm afraid I didn't bring any quills with me, Princess Twilight.” Davenport stoically replied.

Furrowing her brow and frowning with confusion, Twilight gave a tilt of her head at that “Are you out of quills too? Is there a shortage of some sort?”

Star Shade, reluctant to let this continue on any further, cleared his throat to garner the purple alicorn's attention “Princess Twilight. I think you're misunderstanding the situation.”

“How so?”

Rarity took this moment to canter up alongside the young princess “Twilight, dear, I think what he is trying to say is...this is the individual we're supposed to be meeting today.”

“You mean...?” Twilight could almost feel her mind kicking into proper working order, processing the facts laid out before her, as she turned her attention back towards Davenport.

The stallion took in a deep breath, before slowly letting it out “My Queen mentioned that you would probably have some questions for me...”

“Oh.”

"...and she mentioned that there would likely be a list?"

Chapter Two: Plan your Route

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“So...questions?”

“But, I-...how?”

“How what?”

“I've known you for years!”

“...And that's not really a question.” Davenport, or rather the changeling that looked like Davenport, pointed out to the young, bewildered princess.

Twilight couldn't help but use her hoof to rub the back of her head, embarrassed by her outburst “I-...sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to-”

“It's fine.”

Twilight shook her head for a moment, before composing herself “Sorry. It's just, I never even suspected that you were-...”

“A what? What's goin' on here, Twi?” Applejack called over, as she stepped away from her big brother to investigate.

“Applejack, dear, you remember Mr. Davenport, yes?” Rarity interceded for Twilight, trying to set the tone for the coming conversation.

“Sure do.” AJ easily replied, giving a tilt of her head towards the stallion “Hard to forget the day ya had us movin' in that fancy couch of yours all over your place.”

“Well, not that it matters, but it was a divan.” Rarity corrected, before giving a shake of her head “In any event, it seems Mr. Davenport is the representative we've all been so eagerly waiting upon.”

“Come again?”

Sparing a pointed glance for Big Mac, who was now making his way towards the door after having finished his conversation with his sister, the fashionista put on a smile for her friend “Like I said, Mr. Davenport is the representative we've been waiting for today.”

Turning first to look to Davenport, then to Rarity, Applejack finally decided to settle back upon the stallion once more, sending him a questioning look.

After a few moments of this, Davenport pointedly turned his attention towards the library's main entrance. Watching as Big Mac took his leave, he waited for the door to close before turning back to Applejack. Only then, did he settle for giving a simple shrug and a nod of affirmation to the apple farmer.

“...Well, how in Equestria did that happen!?” Applejack eventually blurted out.

Rainbow Dash took that moment to float over, visibly scrutinizing Davenport “Probably by doing that thing that changelings are kinda known for doing?”

“I don't think that's what she meant, Dash.” Twilight pointed out.

“Yer darn tootin'! If this fellow's a changeling, then where exactly is the real Davenport?” Applejack demanded.

Davenport visibly rolled his eyes at this question, as if he'd been waiting for it “And here we go.”

Taken a bit aback by his flippant response, Applejack narrowed her eyes in annoyance “Listen here. I don't know who came up with the idea, but you can't go abductin' ponies like this.”

“AJ.” Twilight tried to intervene.

“Ah mean, first you guys went and grabbed Cadance that one time.”

“Applejack, dear. I think-” Rarity made the next attempt.

But Applejack was on a bit of a roll now “And now you're off grabbin' up ponies out of their homes like-”

A roll that came to an abrupt stop that coincided with the moment Rainbow Dash chose to land between the irate farmer and stoic changeling.

“Hey.”

Some what nonplussed by the sudden interruption, Applejack had to shake her head for a moment “Dash? Just what in tarnation are ya doin'?”

“Not much. Just letting you know that you're probably going to be feeling kinda dumb in the next few seconds.” Rainbow Dash cheekily replied.

“And what's that supposed to mean?” AJ countered.

“It means nopony was abducted.” Davenport supplied, leaning around the pegasus as he did so.

This seemed to do more to stem Applejack's temper than anything, giving the Earth pony some brief pause. Even so, she wasn't so ready to relent “What are ya talkin' about? Ya just said-”

“I never said anything about abducting anypony.” The changeling pointed out.

“Our guest has yet to really say much at all, thus far.” Rarity pointed out, gesturing a hoof towards the stallion.

“Errr, well...Ah guess that's kinda true.” Applejack conceded after a moment, before taking a step around the interposed pegasus and pointing a hoof towards the stallion “That still doesn't quite explain what ya did with the real Davenport.”

“Here it comes.” Rainbow Dash noted, earning a brief look of confusion from the farmpony.

The stallion let out a long sigh, before facing the Earth pony directly “I am the real Davenport.”

“How's that now?” AJ replied, one eyebrow shooting upwards at that.

“Or, at the least, I'm as much the real Davenport as there ever was.” The changeling clarified, before being taken briefly by a thought “Well...myself and a couple of other changelings that would substitute in for me when I needed a break.”

Shaking her head at this for a moment, Applejack held out a hoof as she tried to parse this apart “So, wait...you're sayin' that you've always been Davenport?”

“Again, I occasionally needed time-off. But, yes.”

“But...how's somethin' like that even possible? Ah mean, you've been livin' here since-” AJ tried to respond.

“Since I inherited the Sofa and Quills shop from my Uncle Bridgewater? The same Uncle Bridgewater that left town after he sent away for me, prompting me to move to Ponyville and take over the family business?” Davenport supplied in a somewhat tired tone “The same Uncle Bridgewater that was also a changeling?”

“And that would mean-” Twilight started.

“That when Uncle Bridgewater inherited the store from his mother, Feathery Soft, she was also a...?” Davenport again prompted, leading everyone present to the obvious conclusion.

“...”

“...Huh. Well that kinda explains why a store would only ever sell sofas and quills, I guess.” Rainbow Dash observed.

“How does that explain anything?” Rarity posed, confused by Rainbow Dash's comment.

To that Davenport could only give a shrug “As I understand it, the changeling behind that decision might have been sent out into the field a bit prematurely...We've tried to make the best of it.”

“So...you folks have just sorta been livin' here this whole time?” Applejack finally asked of Davenport.

The changeling seemed to think about it for a moment, tilting his head one way and then another “More or less.”

The Earth pony had to stare a moment, before abruptly turning towards Rainbow Dash with an annoyed look “Well then, why'd you have to go and let me make a damned fool of myself like that?”

“What? I warned you.” The pegasus countered a bit defensively.

“After Ah'd already gone about assumin' and accusin' that they'd kidnapped some poor, helpless ponies. Why couldn't you have just told me from the beginnin' what was up?” AJ pressed, pursing her lips a bit as she posed her question.

Rainbow Dash had to roll her eyes and cross her forelegs at that, taking to the air again to do so “Uhhh, maybe because I didn't know what was up?”

Shaking her head in befuddlement at this argument, Applejack seemed to struggle to come up with a response “But...didn't you know about Davenport when Ah was makin' an idiot outta myself?”

“No?” Dash replied with a raised eyebrow.

Twilight eventually took this moment to step forward, extending a hoof towards her hovering friend to prompt her “Rainbow Dash...what did you know?”

At this the pegasus had to let an exasperated puff of air out “I don't know...Just that changelings don't bother with that sort of thing very much. Cause it's totally risky or something like that?”

“So ya didn't know that there feller was a changelin'? AJ asked.

“Not really. I just figured that he probably hadn't abducted anyone like you thought.” Rainbow Dash replied with a mid-air shrug.

“Huh.” Applejack eventually noted, sparing a brief look towards the oddly stoic Davenport before turning her head down in mild shame “So Ah'm thinkin' it's a bit of an understatement to say that Ah owe ya an apology?”

Having been placidly watching the interactions between the group of friends, the changeling seemed briefly surprised by being addressed “You are asking me if I think you should apologize?”

“Uh...well, Ah suppose Ah'm not really askin'...” AJ admitted a bit sheepishly, using a hoof to adjust her hat for a moment “...s'more like Ah'm outright sayin' Ah owe you an apology.”

“If you say so.” The stallion calmly replied.

The Apple farmer had to blink at this mild response “Are ya thinkin' Ah don't or are ya-”

“There is no point in apologizing for what we are.” Davenport evenly interjected. Seeing the bemused looks coming from Applejack and her friends, the still disguised changeling gave a shake of his head “I am a changeling and I behave as a changeling should. You are a pony and likewise do the things that ponies do.”

Pursing her lips for a moment, AJ head turned to give a cockeyed look towards the changeling “And...jus' what are ya saying that ponies do, exactly?”

“Distrust changelings.” Came the incredibly blunt response.

“Now hold on there! Ah might have-” The Earth pony began.

Before things could follow their most obvious course, Rarity took the opportunity to interpose herself between Applejack and their changeling guest “And I think we can all agree that it is our very noble goal to start changing all of that today. Isn't that right, Twilight?”

“Uh, yes!” Twilight quickly blurted out, having been shaken from her discomfort and uncertainty by her friend's prompting “That is- I mean...”

The alicorn found herself trailing off as her mind worked to figure out a way to disarm the situation, her gaze bouncing between her irate friend and the seemingly unbothered changeling.

She rather doubted it was intentional on everyone's parts, but Twilight couldn't help but feel the pressure of everyone looking to her for a way to move this conversation part. All of her friends, the changeling that she once knew as Davenport, the largely forgotten Star Shade looking on from the side, Spike...

The purple princess had to spare a moment to take in a deep, calming breath...

…

…situations like these were why Twilight put so much effort into planning and making her checklists.

She kind of felt like it was her own fault for not taking the lead on this from the get-go, letting herself lose control of the discourse. Admittedly, it hadn't taken very long for things to start going off-the-rails. And it's not as if Twilight had a lot of information to work with going into this whole endeavor.

And in the course of a few moments of calm, the young alicorn felt a semblance of confidence coming over her mind.

Twilight was actually kind of impressed with herself. Maybe all of these incredibly stressful changes and situations she found herself slipping into as of late was steeling her nerves a bit.

Looking around the library once more reminded her that she still didn't quite know what to say, however.

“Uhmmm...” Twilight hedged for a moment, eliciting a quirked eyebrow from Davenport.

She idly wished that Starswirl the Bearded's assorted time-manipulating spells were more useful, as Twilight could certainly use another go at all this.

But she had to be realistic.

They couldn't just start over.

'Then again...why not?'

“I think we should start over.” Twilight declared. And rather abruptly at that, if the confused looks everyone was sending her was any indication.

“Uhm, what is it we're starting over, dear?” Rarity posed.

Swallowing down any consternation she might have held for herself, Twilight straightened out her posture before clarifying “We're going to start everyone's introductions over.”

Rainbow Dash glanced from one side to the other before leaning over, while gesturing with her hoof “How do ya think we're gonna do that, Twi?”

Glancing to the side, momentarily stymied, Twilight had to clear her throat before responding “We're just going to do it.”

“And we can just do that?” Rainbow Dash followed up with a tilt of her head.

“...Yes?”

To which the pegasus just shrugged “Alright. That's good enough for me.”

“Thanks.” The young princess responded with a slightly awkward smile. For a moment there, she was actually kinda worried about how trying to really assert her theoretical authority might have gone over.

Granted everyone still seemed more confused than anything. Including Davenport. Although, continuing to think of the stallion as Davenport didn't seem quite right at this point.

There was a thought.

“Would you mind dropping your appearance?”

“Excuse me?” The changeling replied with a tilt of his head.

“If you don't mind, I mean.” Twilight clarified with a smile.

Sparing a moment to cast his gaze about the room, before settling his attention back upon the purple princess, he was very clearly curious about what this would lead to. In the end, the changeling gave a slow nod “As you wish, Princess Twilight.”

A burst of magical green fire briefly lit up the room, before dissipating just as quickly, leaving behind a somewhat bemused changeling staring back at Twilight and her friends.

A few moments of silence lingered over the gathering, as everypony was struck by the reality of what they were doing.

“Eeyup...he's definitely a changelin'.” Applejack observed.

“Was that in doubt?” The changeling asked, his voice noticeably different now. It certainly still sounded male, but deeper and possessed of the same resonant quality that all changeling voices seemed to have.

“Ah guess not. It's just-”

“You're here! Oh my gosh! You're here, you're here, you're here! Twilight...They're here!” Came the rapid fire exclamations of an excited pink blur.

“Pinkie, he's been here for a-”

“Oh my gosh! This is so exciting! Do you like streamers? Balloons? Cupcakes? Green cupcakes?” Pinkie Pie continued, sending a barrage of questions towards the impassive changeling “Oh, oh, oh! Do you want to try on your party hat now? And when we yell 'Surprise!' do you think we should do like a countdown or-”

“Hello, Pinkie Pie.” The changeling-formerly-known-as-Davenport calmly intoned.

The pink Earth pony gave an excited gasp at his greeting, quickly raising her front two hooves together to clap them together “Oh my gosh! He knows my name!”

“Yeah, apparently he's been living in Ponyville for years, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash supplied.

The changeling gave a nod at this “And there is no one, pony or changeling, that doesn't know who you are, Miss Pinkie.”

“Awwwww! That's so sweet of you!” Pinkie replied, holding a hoof to her chest and clearly moved by the innocuous remark.

“It's really more a statement of fact...but feel free to enjoy it.” He replied, not unwilling to let the pink party pony feel flattered by his comments “We actually inform all changelings being newly assigned to Ponyville to be ready for your Welcome-Parties.”

“Oh my gosh! I'm famous!?” Pinkie blurted out.

The changeling visibly hesitated for a moment, before giving a small nod “That is one way you could look at it.”

“Heh. I bet Twilight would have loved to have had that kind of info when she first got here. Right, Twi?” Rainbow Dash observed, giving a nudge to the princess' side with her hoof.

“There were a lot of things about Ponyville I wasn't really aware of, but it's not like I really minded the party. I was just a bit more focused on an impending crisis at the time.” The alicorn defended, avoiding her friend's gazes for a moment.

“I would say that it all worked out in the end. Wouldn't you agree, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity chimed in, putting the pegasus on the spot.

“Well, yeah. It all turned out alright. Just kinda funny thinking that this guy's been living here longer than Twilight has.” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“I've been living in Ponyville longer than you, as well.” The changeling patiently pointed out to the hovering pegasus.

“Huh. Yeah, I guess that's true.” Momentarily thrown by this, Rainbow Dash brought a hoof to her chin as she thought about that “Yeah, now that I think about it, you would have been here before Fluttershy and Pinkie then too, right?”

The changeling simply nodded.

Rainbow Dash let out a laugh at that “I guess that means we should be the ones introducing ourselves, huh?”

Another shrug was his only reply to that thought.

“That's actually a good idea, Dash.” Twilight pointed out, as she stepped over, ready to get everypony's introduction back on track. Clearing her throat as she approached the changeling, the Pony Princess extended a hoof out towards him “My name is Twilight Sparkle and it's nice to finally meet you. Properly, I mean.”

“...I'm assuming you want my real name?”

“If that's not a problem?” Twilight replied, a slightly awkward smile forming as she continued to hold out her hoof.

“Phyll.” The changeling, Phyll, calmly replied. A moment later he extended out his hole-filled hoof and tapped it against Twilight's in a hoof-bump.

“Phyll?” Twilight blurted out, a bit thrown by the name.

The changeling just nodded, before reaffirming his name “Phyll.”

A certain pink pony was at the changeling's side almost immediately “Hi, Phyll! You can call me Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's Party pony! Hey! That was kind of fun to say! Ponyville Party Pony Pinkie Pie! The Pinkie Pony-”

“I know. All of that.” Phyll evenly interjected. A few moments of scrutiny for the eccentric Earth pony led to the changeling clearing his throat “We had a short conversation about my knowing who you are just a minute ago?”

“Oh, right! So whatcha doin' around here, Phyll?” Pinkie Pie posed, briefly confusing the changeling again.

Before he could answer, the sound of a stallion clearing his throat brought everyone's attention back to a certain forgotten bat-pony. Star Shade, still standing off to one side, turned towards Twilight “Pardon my interruption, Princess Twilight. But if our special guests are going to be dropping their disguises, I might suggest that we pull the curtains and shutters on the library's windows. To ensure privacy.”

Twilight blinked at that, as her mind quickly parsed the suggestion apart, before agreeing with it “Oh! That- that would probably be a good idea wouldn't it? Give me a second and-”

“Don't worry yourself, Twilight. You continue with this and I'll take care of covering up the windows.” Rarity calmly intervened, even as she started to move towards the nearest set of windows, her horn already glowing.

“Thank you, Rarity. I really appreciate it.” Twilight replied, sending a smile towards her friend. Her attention was brought back to the member of the Night Guard, as he once again cleared his throat.

“If that's the case, Princess Twilight, I should probably make a quick circuit around the building. To ensure that nopony has spotted out guest yet.” Star Shade evenly offered, supplying the still relatively inexperienced royal with some direction.

“That seems fair.” Twilight conceded, leading to the bat-pony stallion giving a respectful nod before heading towards the exit.

“Well, anywho...” AJ began, drawing everypony's attention as she approached Phyll “Ah guess- Look. Ah just wanna say Ah'm sorry about thinkin' you'd gone and-”

The Apple farmer was brought to pause as the changeling raised up a hoof to hold her from going any further “Somethin' wrong?”

Phyll gave a nod of his head toward Twilight before speaking “Princess Twilight has called for us to start over. There's nothing left to apologize over.”

“Ah'll be beggin' yer pardon, but Ah feel like I should. Ah can admit when Ah'm let my assumptions get the better of me and there ain't no shame in apologizin' for that.” AJ countered, quite intent on owning up to her accusations.

The changeling openly scrutinized her for several seconds, his faceted eyes wandering across her face. Briefly glancing to the side, then towards the onlooking ponies, the changeling eventually faced Applejack once more before extending a hoof out to her.

“I'm Phyll.”

It took the orange Earth pony a bit to take in what he was trying to communicate, but before long Applejack settled for bumping hooves with the changeling while sporting a ruthful smile on her face “And Ah guess you can call me Applejack.”

Setting his hoof down, Phyll gave a nod at that “And I can understand where the previous misunderstanding came from.”

“Well, Ah can honestly say Ah don't care for that Queen of yours one lick. But it weren't right a'me thinkin' that says anything about all of ya.” AJ replied, taking the opportunity to mend bridges, even as she missed the frown her remark earned from the changeling. Taking a moment to tilt her hat upwards, Applejack held out a hoof towards Phyll as she continued “And Ah know we're puttin' that all behind us- even that sneaky invasion that-”

Rainbow Dash had to roll her eyes before lowering herself between Phyll and her farmer friend, holding out a hoof for the expected hoof-bump “Hey. Rainbow Dash. You've probably heard of me.”

Another bumping of hooves took place.

“So, hey, you're a changeling. I'm guessing you probably know the twins, right?” The pegasus continued on, not letting AJ get another opportunity to say something sour about a certain Changeling Queen.

“I know of those two, but I don't interact with them very often.” Came Phyll's knowing response, seeing through what Rainbow Dash was striving to achieve.

“Well, how about that. We'll have to compare notes sometime. You mind if I borrow AJ for a sec?” The pegasus flippantly asked without waiting for any sort of response before dragging her Earth pony friend off to one side.

“Jus' what do ya think yer-”

“You guys just keep doing your hoof-bumping thing.” Dash called back, as she continued making her way across the library with Applejack in tow. Indeed, she was nearly half-way to the kitchen by the time AJ grew fed up with this and finally dug in her hooves, bringing their journey to an abrupt stop.

“Rainbow Dash! Just what in tarnation are ya doin' here?” The Earth pony demanded.

“What? You got angry the last time I didn't stop ya from saying something.” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

Shaking her head at this vague response, Applejack had to cradle her head for a moment in annoyance “What are ya talkin' about now? Just how do ya think Ah was makin' a fool of myself now?”

“I don't know if you noticed or not, but they really don't care for folks dissing Chrysalis.” Rainbow Dash countered, crossing her forehooves once more.

“Come again? Hold on. Are ya sayin' that fella's gonna get all ornery if Ah badmouth that overgrown varmint?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Applejack gave into the urge to do a double-take, her gaze darting over to where Phyll was still greeting the rest of their friends, then back to Rainbow Dash, only to settle finally back upon the changeling “And yer tellin' me Ah oughta just bite my tongue about their Queen?”

“Yeah?”

“You know Ah can't just do somethin' like that, Dash! Phyll here might not be any sort of menace, but I haven't even heard a single apologetic word comin' from that Queen of his.” Applejack denied.

Infuriatingly enough, Rainbow Dash didn't give anything more than a shrug “Eh, she's not that bad. Kinda moody and snarky, but she's alright.”

“More than just kinda moody. Ah can't just pretend that Chrysalis hasn't done all kinds of things Ah can't condone.”

“Why not? I do it all the time.”

Applejack couldn't help but scowl at that “Oh? So ya just don't care that she went and abducted Twilight, hypnotized Shining Armor, and-”

“Huh? No.” Rainbow Dash interrupted, clearly confused by Applejack's remarks. Setting down on the floor, she gestured with her hoof “I'm talking about with Princess Celestia.”

“...Pardon?” AJ blurted out, utterly bewildered now.

“Yeah, well...look, I'm not saying that things don't usually workout when Princess Celestia is calling the shots. But there's some stuff she's done that I still don't really care for.” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Ah- well, Ah'm not sure quite what yer talkin' about. What's this got to do with anything?” The farmpony demanded, not seeing how this tangent was relevant.

The pegasus let out a puff of a sigh at this, before responding “I mean-...like I said, things usually work out pretty much alright, okay? But there's stuff like not telling anypony about Luna coming back or making Twilight think she needed to deal with that Sombra guy all on her own.”

“Dash. Ah'm sure Princess Celestia had her reasons for makin' those decisions.” AJ pointed out.

“You're probably right. But it's not like I ever got to hear those reasons, so it makes me wonder sometimes. I mean, did she really need to keep Twilight or us in the dark about some of this stuff?” Rainbow Dash eventually asked. After a few moments without a response, the pegasus let out a sigh before continuing “The point is, I'm not sure I like all the choices Princess Celestia's gone with. But I don't go telling that to Twilight.”

“But if ya gotta problem with her, shouldn't ya-”

“What's it gonna do, AJ? It'll just upset Twi and then she'll go on about how she has faith in whatever Princess Celestia does and it's just gonna make everypony sour.”

That gave Applejack some pause, as some part of her mind conceded to the plausibility of such a scenario.

“And I figure it's the same with the changelings.” Rainbow Dash continued in a more relaxed tone “They believe in Chrysalis the same way Twilight believes in Princess Celestia.”

The Apple farmer let her face slip into a frown, her lips pursing and her brows furrowing “Okay...let's say that's all true, yer still basically tellin' me to lie about how Ah feel, Dash.”

“I'm not saying you gotta lie about her. Just don't bring her up when you're talking to changelings.” The pegasus easily advised “Doing that'll make things that much easier for Twi. And we are here to help her out, right?”

“Yeah, Ah suppose so.” AJ conceded.

“Great.” Was all that Rainbow Dash bothered to say before moving to re-join their friends.

Furrowing her brow once more, Applejack made a quick canter to catch-up with the pegasus “Hold on a second, Dash.”

“Yeah?”

“Ah gotta ask, when exactly did you get this keen understandin' of the changelings, hm?” The farmpony asked, clearly more curious than anything else.

“Uh, duh!” Rainbow Dash had to quirk an eyebrow at that “When we went on that trip to see the changelings. I mean, that was kinda the whole point.”

“Yeah, Ah get that. It's just Ah kinda figured it'd be Twilight piping up with all of these penetratin' insights into their ways.” Applejack explained.

Rainbow Dash thought about that for a moment, before giving a shake of her head “I think that was the plan, but Twi ended up spending all of her time hanging out with Chrysalis.”

“Come again?”

“Yeah, she pretty much spent the whole trip chatting up the Queen of Mean. Apart from this thing where she ended up chatting up Chrysalis' mom.” The pegasus casually elaborated.

“Queen Chrysalis has a mom?”

“I know, right? Turns out she's kinda crazy. And super-old. And crazy.”

“Ya said crazy twice.” AJ pointed out.

“Super-crazy. Like tried-to-attack-Twilight's-brain crazy.” Rainbow Dash relayed, before quickly realizing how her farmpony friend might take that “And before you freakout, it wasn't Chrysalis' idea.”

“Really now?” AJ asked, clearly skeptical.

“Yep.” The pegasus casually replied “I'm pretty sure Chrysalis ran to her rescue when she figured out what was happening. And Twilight seems to believe her on all this, so...”

“Okay...Ah'm not really sure Ah know how Ah feel about any of this.” Applejack finally said, raising a hoof to massage her forehead.

“Yeah. I'm pretty sure Twilight doesn't know how to feel about any of it either.” Rainbow Dash added, before taking another few steps back towards their friends “Probably best not to think about it too hard, unless it actually becomes a problem. That's what I do.”

The farmpony frowned at that, but couldn't really think of a proper counter “Ah guess we just gotta deal with what's in front of us.”

“Sounds good.” She replied before cantering back over to the others.

AJ spent a few moments letting her eyes follow Rainbow, still a bit thrown by just how much thought her normally brash friend seem to be putting into everything.

Giving a shake of her head, Applejack briefly double-timed her steps to catch-up with her and rejoin their friends.

It seemed the introductions had moved on to Rarity's, with the fashionista loudly chatting up the changeling envoy “I honestly don't know what we're going to do without you in Ponyville. Before you go, you simply must tell us your secret.”

“My secret?” Phyll asked, giving a tilt of his head at this request.

“Yes, dear! I'm simply dying to know how it is you always seemed to know just where to find such lovely furnishings.”

Phyll still seemed a bit thrown by this “I could provide you with a list of contacts before our departure?”

Rarity seemed to light up at the offer “Oh, that would just be divine! And now that I think about it, Twilight might have a need for-”

“Hey.” Rainbow Dash calmly interjected, sidling back up to the rest of the group.

Blinking in surprise at this mild interruption, Rarity quickly turned to the returning pegasus and Earth pony “Oh, Rainbow Dash. I take it the two of you have finished up with your little chat?”

“Somethin' like that.” AJ supplied as she stepped up a few seconds after Rainbow Dash.

“May I ask what it was you were chatting about?” Phyll calmly asked, his own attention going towards the returning duo.

Before AJ could give a reply, Rainbow Dash waved off the the question with a hoof “Nothing much. Just pony stuff.”

“Pony stuff?” The changeling repeated.

“Pony stuff.” RD reiterated with an easy nod.

Twilight herself seemed a bit curious about her answer, sharing a look of uncertainty with the changeling “Uhm, Dash? 'Pony stuff' could refer to just about anything.”

“Uh-huh.” Rainbow Dash quickly agreed, giving another nod.

“...Okay?” Twilight eventually replied, a small frown forming on her lips, as she pondered this vagueness.

Clearing her throat, Rarity once again took the lead, having noticed their declining momentum “Well, your timing couldn't have been better, as we were just about to wrap up everyone's introductions.”

“Sweet. So we can get out of here then, right?” The blue pegasus inquired, eager to get a move on after all the talking they had already sat through.

“In just a moment, Rainbow Dash. We still have one more introduction to finish.” Rarity explained, stalling her friend for a moment.

“Yeah? Who's that?” Rainbow Dash asked, giving a jut of her chin to emphasize the question.

This was the cue for a certain butter-colored pony to lean out from behind Twilight. Her face still framed by her mane, Fluttershy lightly lifted a hoof to give a wave before speaking up “Uhm, it's nice to meet you.”

Phyll blinked at this quietly uttered greeting, clearing his throat for a moment before standing up a bit straighter “Err, likewise, Ms. Fluttershy...That is, even though I've met you before- That is to say while it was nice meeting you previously, I never-...introduced myself...”

Everypony, apart from Fluttershy, had to stare for a few moments, as Phyll's calm, direct demeanor fell into a halting, stumbling mess.

“...Properly. I never introduced myself properly.” The changeling finally clarified for Fluttershy, once more clearing his throat.

It took Fluttershy a few moments herself to parse apart just what Phyll was alluding to, but it was a visible event when she began to understand “Oh! I'd almost forgotten in all the excitement. You come every week for eggs, right?”

Phyll gave a quick nod at this, before hesitantly adding “Well...I came as Davenport. And I-...obviously, I won't be needing anymore eggs after this.”

“Did you need eggs before?” Twilight chimed in, a bit oblivious to the awkwardness that had overtaken the conversation. Using her magic to sift through some notecards, the princess frowned a bit, as she failed to find what she was looking for “I don't recall ever hearing anything about eggs being a key part of the diet of changelings before now. How many would you say-”

The changeling had to close his eyes briefly, as he reasserted his sense of composure “Adult changelings have no particular need for any sort of pony food. The eggs were for the sake of appearances.”

“Oh...” Fluttershy quietly uttered.

Though not so quietly that Phyll failed to turn his attention back to her “Something wrong?”

“Hm? Oh, I'm sorry. It's just, I hope the eggs didn't go to waste.”

“No, no! Not at all!” Phyll quickly blurted out, startling the soft-spoken pegasus. Looking briefly sheepish, the changeling soon resumed in a more measured tone “Rest assured, Ms. Fluttershy, none of the eggs went to waste. They were excellent eggs and they went to proper use.”

Fluttershy gave a smile at that “That's such a relief. Elizabeak and the others can be very temperamental about their eggs. I'm sure they'll be glad to know they're being appreciated.”

“Uh, yes. They were very fine eggs, indeed. With-...very lovely shells and yolks.” The changeling added.

“Oh? Well, if you'd like, I could arrange to send you off with one last basket?” Fluttershy happily offered.

“Pardon?”

“I mean, since you'll be leaving soon, you won't be able to come by each week for more. I'm sure I could convince my little feathered friends to make a few extra.” Fluttershy clarified.

The changeling gave a slow nod at this “Right, because I won't be able to visit anymore...for eggs.”

“And this way you'll be able to enjoy them when you get to the Crystal Empire.” The pegasus' cheerfully added with a nod.

“That's right. Because I do enjoy eggs very much...having them and eating them and all of that.” Phyll slowly agreed.

Fluttershy gave a tilt of her head at the changeling's sunken demeanor, before leaning in a bit “Uhm, is everything alright?”

To which the changeling quickly nodded and seemed to force himself to smile a bit “Yes. My apologies, Ms. Fluttershy. I was just-...I got very used to visiting you for all of my eggs. I suppose, I'm going to miss that...the eggs.”

“It's okay, Phyll. I'm sure that they have plenty of eggs in the Crystal Empire.” Fluttershy added in a very compassionate tone, smiling for the sake of trying to reassure him “And I'm sure that when everything's settled, you'll be able to visit Ponyville in the future. And I promise there will always be some eggs waiting for you.”

From the sidelines, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but stare at the two of them, one eyebrow hitched up high and a look of befuddlement on her face “...So, this is kinda weird.”

“Ah gotta agree with ya there, Dash.” Applejack quietly replied, before adjusting her hat “If Ah didn't know better, Ah'd say that-”

“Now that's enough out of both of you.” Rarity discreetly shushed the two of them, shaking the two of them from their obvious gawking “It's certainly not our place to judge.”

“I'm afraid I have to agree with Rainbow Dash on this one, Rarity.” Twilight quietly added, as she too sent a scrutinizing eye towards the changeling “Phyll does seem oddly preoccupied with Fluttershy's eggs for a changeling...”

Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all turned away from the curious pony-changeling dialogue to send newly bewildered looks towards the young princess.

Glancing between her friends and feeling a bit self-conscious now, the young alicorn cleared her throat before quietly replying “I suppose, it could just be a general fixation on eggs...”

“...”

“...Yeah. So is anyone gonna say anything or-” Rainbow Dash started.

Rarity held up a white hoof to forestall the pegasus from continuing “I think it best if we shelved this conversation for later.”

“What conversation?” Twilight asked, frowning as she glanced between her friends. The purple princess resorted to holding up a hoof, feeling a bit defensive now “I'm not suggesting that there's anything wrong with liking eggs.”

“Okay. We're going with Rarity's idea.” Rainbow Dash abruptly declared, leading to the alicorn's lips pursing a bit, as her frown deepened.

Before Twilight could give voice to her frustrations, the blue pegasus quickly zipped through the air, before stopping over Fluttershy and Phyll “Okay, you two. Break it up, cause we got stuff to do.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep everyone.” Fluttershy, after getting over being startled by her friend, was as quick to apologize as ever for any perceived misdemeanor.

Shaking himself from his own distraction, Phyll once more had to clear his throat before re-focusing on the matter at hoof “It is no problem, Ms. Fluttershy. There's still plenty of time left in the day, more than enough to accommodate my schedule.”

“I hope everything goes according to your schedule then.” The yellow pegasus added.

To which the changeling nodded, before responding “As do I.”

“Alright, great! So where to first?” Rainbow Dash interjected once more, clapping her forehooves together to put things back on track.

“I'm sorry?” Phyll asked, giving a quirk of his changeling brow as he did so.

“I think what Rainbow Dash means is, what's our first stop for collecting your fellow changelings.” Twilight soon took over, cantering over to rejoin in the conversation. The alicorn's horn flared its magic for a moment, signaling the moment her collected maps and notes began floating over “I think you'll be pleased to find that we've already got a number of optimized routes through town already arranged.”

“That won't be necessary.” The changeling replied with a shake of his head and upheld hoof.

Twilight gave a confused blink at this, before responding “Did you already have some planned routes or-”

“I mean, that I won't be needing any assistance, Princess Twilight.”

“Oh...You want to-” Twilight began, looking a bit disappointed by this turn of events.

“Nope. Sorry bud.” Rainbow Dash easily denied, as set down to one side of Phyll. Casually leaning on the changeling's shoulder, the pegasus gestured a hoof towards her alicorn friend “Turns out Twilight's already got a plan. And that plan involves us hanging out with ya for most of the day.”

Giving a befuddled look at this, Phyll turned a skeptical look to the purple princess “Is that so, Princess Twilight?”

“Err, well, I wouldn't refer to it as simple hanging out, but-” Twilight began.

“Very well, then.” The changeling simply stated with a nod.

“What, really?” The young princess blurted out.

“Queen Chrysalis gave very explicit instructions.” He clarified.

Twilight couldn't help but give a skeptical look at that, recalling how the Changeling Queen so enjoyed teasing and tricking her “What were these instructions exactly?”

“To defer to your orders and trust in your judgment in the course of facilitating this move.” Phyll explained matter-of-factly.

“She said that?” The Pony Princess asked, a bit floored by this. Shaking her head for a moment before trying to restate her question “Chrysalis trusts in my judgment?”

“Is that a problem?”

“No! No. It's just a bit...unexpected.” Twilight explained.

“Heh. Told ya she thought you were cool, Twi.” Rainbow Dash crowed from the side.

Twilight had to clear her throat at that, unintentionally mimicking Phyll's own nervous tic, as she tried to avoid giving into her unexpected sense of embarrassment.

“Are you sure everything is alright, Princess Twilight?” Phyll reiterated.

“Uhm, yes. I was just-...where do we start?” Twilight eventually asked, looking to move on from this topic.

The changeling spared only a few more seconds for scrutinizing the purple pony, before giving a shrug “As you say, Princess Twilight. When you and your friends are ready, we can set out.”

“And where are we setting out for?”

Before responding, the changeling was engulfed in green fire, as he re-assumed his Davernport persona. Speaking once more with the stallion's voice, he gestured a hoof to the door “First, we must pay a visit to one of the most important institutions in all of Ponyville.”

“Oh...” Twilight slowly responded, before pointedly glancing about their surroundings “Uhm...I think this is the only library in town, though.”

Rainbow Dash loosed a loud snort of laughter, as she visibly struggled to contain herself.

AJ had to roll her eyes at her friend's reaction, even as she strived to contain her own amusement “Somehow, Ah don' think he was talkin' about the library, Sugarcube.”

“Oh...” Was the only reply Twilight could muster, looking a bit put out by this.

“Indeed not. We will be paying a visit to a place of much greater importance to changelings and their safety.” Phyll continued on, back to being unbothered by everything around himself.

“Oh my, that does sound important.” Rarity observed from one side, before extending out a hoof towards the disguised changeling “Pray tell, where exactly is it you're going to be taking Twilight?”

“The post office.”

“...What?”

Chapter Three: Watch for Strangers

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“So, are you always a huge sourpuss or something?”

“Only when I'm not pretending to be a pony.” Phyll, disguised as a stallion once more, calmly retorted to the low flying Rainbow Dash.

Though, once again, the resident changeling didn't seem bothered by the remark, Twilight still had to send a mildly disapproving look towards her pegasus friend.

Unsurprisingly, this netted little more than an unapologetic shrug from the airborne speedster. Giving a shake of her head at this, Twilight settled for turning her attention back to disguised changeling at her side. Briefly inclined to make an apology on the behalf of her friend, the young alicorn couldn't help but be stymied by the impassive expression being sported by the normally familiar face of Davenport; it really was quite apparent just how different a changeling could be from their assumed persona.

Really, it was altogether unsettling.

“Ya ever think that you might be part of why folks sometimes seem so sour, Dash?” Applejack chimed in from the back of their little group, sending her own mildly reproachful look towards the pegasus.

“Nope.” Came the easy reply.

“Oh? And jus' why don't ya think that's the case?” The Earth pony pressed, giving a skeptical tilt of her head at that.

“Because she's awesome.”

“Hah! This guy gets it!” Rainbow Dash crowed, as she darted over to the changeling, clearly pleased by the blandly delivered remark “How could anypony be feeling sour when there's this much awesomeness in the world?”

“Heh. That or he just knows enough about ya to know exactly what ya would say.” AJ smugly countered.

“That would be it.” Phyll calmly agreed.

“Pfft! Sure it is.” Rainbow Dash replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

Again, without sparing a glance for the pegasus, Phyll gave his carefully measured reply “It is.”

Applejack's own quiet snickering at this earned a wry look from the pegasus, while Twilight made a point of matching the pace being set by the changeling. Furtively glancing towards Phyll once more, the young princess once more found herself internally sorting through the long list of questions she wanted to ask the changeling.

It was a list she had yet to make much progress on so far.

After Phyll's curious declaration concerning post offices, he had been rather insistent on setting out quickly. Presumably, he had a schedule that he too intended on keeping on this particularly unusual day; why his schedule was leading him, and by extension Twilight, to the post office was a mystery that had yet to be unraveled. Along with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, they were now making their way through the slightly dusty streets of Ponyville. True to his word, Phyll didn't offer any objections to their accompanying him or really anything that Twilight had asked of him. Not that she had been terribly willing to ask too much of him, as his standoffish demeanor seemed to stifle attempts to interact with him. Even though he had resumed his appearance as Davenport, the changeling very much did not seem inclined to continue acting like the normally affable stallion.

It was rather off-putting.

It turned out to be a rather fine reminder for Twilight, that there was a great deal more to most ponies than surface appearances. And also indicative of how much effort the changelings must put into blending into pony society; it was no wonder that investigations following the Canterlot Wedding incident didn't actually uncover any hidden changelings.

The young princess wasn't sure if the changeling had failed to notice her scrutiny or if he just didn't care, but she couldn't help but be eager about finding out more. Just how did the changelings infiltrate Ponyville so long ago? Surely they had to deal with things like paper trails, right? How did Phyll come up with the pony known as Davenport? How were they dealing with the issue of feeding without going noticed? Why were the changelings even in Ponyville? What was so important about the post office?

Sparing a glance behind her, Twilight quickly confirmed that AJ and Rainbow Dash were chatting amongst themselves, teasing one another and posing questions to one another.

Facing forward once more, Twilight took in a breath before slowly letting it out. Turning towards the disguised changeling, careful to keep one eye on where she was walking, the young alicorn briefly cleared her throat to get his attention.

“Excuse me, uh-...” Twilight was given some brief pause, as she recalled that they were currently in public right now. Glancing about quickly confirmed that nopony was within earshot, but the purple pony still made a point of lowering her voice a bit “-that is. Can I ask you a few questions, Phyll?”

“Of course, Princess Twilight.” The changeling responded, sparing a brief nod for the pony at his side.

“Great! Err, I mean, thank you.” Twilight quickly corrected, briefly concerned by how her little outburst of excitement could have been construed. Clearing her throat for a moment, Twilight channeled a small amount of energy down her horn, causing a notepad and the worn down quill from before to appear in a magical pop. Taking a hold of both with her magic, she briefly brought the quill to her chin in thought “Alright, where to start...?”

“The beginning?” Phyll calmly offered.

Blinking at the suggestion, the princess briefly glanced skyward as she mulled the thought over “That seems fair. So, what is our starting point?...Oh! Is it alright if I ask why exactly it is that Chrysalis sent you to Ponyville?”

“That will take some explaining, but yes.” The stallion nodded, before focusing his gaze back upon the road.

“Alright, so...” Twilight eagerly prompted.

Giving a brief glance glance her way, Phyll briefly cleared his throat before speaking “Well...originally I came to Ponyville just as a matter of routine. When it comes to our long-term arrangements, we make a point of rotating out the personalities we have hiding amongst ponies. And it was about time to retire Uncle Bridgewater.”

Twilight nodded along, as she used her magic to take a few notes “I see. That makes sense, but what exactly is the point of these long-term arrangements? Are you collecting energy or-”

The disguised changeling cut-in with a shake of his head “Not usually, no. That sort of thing is reserved for our more-...short-term infiltrators. They're the ones that make the forays out to collect energy to take back.”

“Uhm, what exactly does that entail?” The princess asked, frowning a bit at the shift in topic. It wasn't that she wasn't intrigued, but it was a topic that basically framed ponykind as a source of sustenance to another species.

“Usually it entails them breezing into a town, being very charming and affable, and then breezing back out of town. Meanwhile, those in my position go about providing them alibis and-...” Phyll trailed off for a moment, before looking to one side “...-we point out ponies that might be receptive to being fed upon.”

“I see...Uhm, I-...I understand that feeding can be stressful on a pony?”

“Correct. Good health is something we usually look for when pointing out ponies to love-collectors.” The changeling nodded, apparently intent on powering through any awkwardness “They come into town, usually claiming to be only there for a short while, and sweep up the targets in an exciting friendship or a whirlwind romance and then...leave.”

Twilight had to furrow her brow at this matter-of-fact explanation “It sounds like you've got this sort of thing down to a science.”

Phyll merely shrugged “You could say that. Anyway, once they've gotten close to a pony they can then collect what they need and return back to our home. In the end, most ponies simply attribute the negative side-effects of the feeding to depression from their departure.”

“I suppose that makes-” Twilight began.

“So, what yer sayin' is that not only are ya drainin' ponies dry, yer also-” Applejack abruptly interjected, sidling up between Phyll and Twilight.

Before she could carry on, the changeling came to an abrupt halt, so that he could hold up a hoof to stop her “We do not drain them dry. Overfeeding could lead to all kinds of severe problems. The kind of severe problems that are much more noticeable than a pony being mopey and lethargic for a couple of weeks.”

“Alright, I get that. But what Ah'm hearin' is that you folks have basically made a policy out of lovin'-and-leavin' ponies. Or am Ah misunderstandin' something here?” AJ demanded, not dissuaded by Phyll's reply.

“It's not always a romantic interaction, but yes. It's what we do. What we've had to do to survive.” The stallion firmly replied.

That gave the farmpony some brief pause, as she was reminded that the rather unsavory practice was somewhat vital to the survival of their species “Ah-...well, Ah suppose you do have to do what ya gotta do. Just kinda comes off as a bit...cold.”

AJ's own abrupt turn around in attitude did seem to have a brief effect on the disguised changeling, with Phyll briefly glancing to the side before using his hoof to brush the back of his head “Yes, well...it's been said by some changelings that a certain amount of callousness is needed too.”

“Pardon?”

Phyll let out a sigh at that “Quite a few love-collectors are perfectly aware of the effects they have on their targets. But they know that if they don't do their jobs their fellow changelings will suffer even worse fates. So they find their own ways to keep doing it...”

An uncomfortable silence overtook their small group, as everyone present came to a pause in the middle of the street, each one parsing over what had just been said. Twilight, in particular, was struggling not to fidget overly much, as she was reminded of what she had learned about changelings and what happens when they starve; Chrysalis had made it quite clear, that to starve as a changeling was to feel your own body slowly dying all around you.

Applejack had to tilt her hat back a bit, as she turned her gaze towards her own hooves for a moment “Well, shoot. That's gotta be a heavy burden for any-”

“Princess Twilight?”

The young alicorn had to keep herself from jumping in surprise, as she was overtaken by anxiety at the possibility of somepony having overheard their conversation. Turning so quickly she almost tripped over her own hooves, Twilight soon recognized the pony that had approached her unseen “Ms. Cheerilee! So nice to see you!”

“Uhm, it's nice to see you too.” Cheerilee hesitantly replied, a bit thrown by Twilight's shouted greeting.

“Sorry, I-” Twilight brought a hoof up to her mouth, before clearing her throat “Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, Ms. Cheerilee.”

“Well, it's alright, Princess Twilight...Is everything alright?” The local school marm asked, clearly confused and concerned by the purple pony's responses.

“You can still just call me Twilight...Oh, and everything's fine with me- I mean, us.” Twilight quickly replied.

“Smooth, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash called over, earning an annoyed glance from the young princess.

Still rather skeptical, Cheerilee leaned to one side to take in the sight of her companions now “Is that Mr. Davenport with you?”

“...Yes?” Twilight slowly replied.

It was at this moment, the supposed stallion decided to step forward “If you don't mind my saying so, Ms. Twilight, I don't think it will harm anything if we let Ms. Cheerilee in on your little secret.”

“You don't?” Twilight blurted out, her eyes going a bit wider.

To which Phyll, or perhaps Davenport, nodded before replying “Certainly. I don't think Ms. Cheerilee is the sort to go about ruining the surprise for everyone.”

“What kind of surprise? Is there something going on?” Cheerilee asked.

“You could definitely say-” Rainbow Dash began to mutter, before being given a nudge by Applejack.

Being used to those kinds of antics in her classrooms, Cheerilee easily spotted this subtle interaction “I'm not quite sure what's going on here, but-”

Davenport, once more, interjected himself into the conversation “There's nothing to be concerned about. Ms. Twilight is just trying to make some preparations for her friend's upcoming birthday.”

“I am? I mean, I am!” Twilight quickly agreed, as she realized that Phyll wasn't about to reveal himself to the cherry-coated mare.

Cheerilee blinked at that “Oh?...I would normally think Pinkie Pie would be handling that kind of thing.”

“She will be. But, for Ms. Rarity's birthday, Ms. Twilight wanted to get her something special. So, she came to me to look into acquiring a new fainting couch.” Davenport easily explained.

“Oh. Well, that's very kind of you, Twilight. I just hope Mr. Davenport here is giving you a good deal; we can't have him taking our newest Princess for a ride.” Cheerilee teased, content to accept this explanation.

“Of course! Nopony's going to find a better price outside of my store, of that I can assure you.” Davenport affably replied. Stepping a bit closer, before gesturing with his hoof “And you can be certain, that if anypony is getting a good deal with me it's going to be my most reliable customer.”

Cheerilee smiled at that “Alright you, no need to pull out the full sales-pitch.”

While that was going on, Rainbow Dash leaned down towards Applejack, before covering her mouth with her hoof “So...when exactly is Rarity's birthday?”

AJ quickly gave a sour look at that question, before lightly pushing the airborne Rainbow Dash away with her hoof.

“What? I just wanna figure out how many bits I'm gonna need to save up!...I gotta get her something cooler than a couch!” The pegasus tried to defend.

Cheerilee let out a laugh at the antics carrying on in the back of the group, before turning back towards Twilight “Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and check in on everypony. You all seemed a bit down there for a moment.”

Twilight gave a smile at that “Rest assured, there's nothing to worry about.”

“But if you could, do try to keep this between us. We wouldn't want Ms. Rarity finding out early.” Davenport added a moment later.

“No need to worry, Davenport. She won't hear a word from me.” Cheerilee genially replied, before turning to continue on her way “I'll just be on my way then. This is just about the only time I can get away from the school house and take care of my shopping.”

Just as Twilight was about to let out a sigh of relief at the school teacher's departure, Cheerilee's voice again called back “Wait...isn't your store in this direction, Davenport?”

The young princess's mind stalled for a moment, as part of her started to panic at the notion that their ruse had been uncovered.

“It is, Ms. Cheerilee. But I don't have the exact couch Ms. Twilight here was looking for in stock. We were just heading down to the post office to make arrangements for it to be shipped here.” The disguised stallion explained, while gesturing a hoof in the direction they had been heading in.

“Oh, that makes sense. Take care then.” Cheerilee easily conceded, before turning back to head down the street.

“And you, as well.” Phyll called after her with a wave of his hoof. Once the mare was out of earshot, the stallion's whole posture reverted back to his earlier, less approachable stance, before turning towards his temporary traveling companions “We should be on our way.”

There was a brief pause as the ponies marveled at the abrupt shift, one that was soon broken by Rainbow Dash “Huh...that was actually pretty smooth. Smoother than Twilight anyway.”

“Thank you.” Was Phyll's brief reply, before he started once more marching down the street, evidently expecting the three mares to follow.

Twilight had to go in to a brief canter to catch up, but found herself openly staring “That was-...how did you manage that?”

“Manage what?”

The young princess briefly struggled to put her thoughts to words “I mean, it's just so-...you seemed so different a moment ago.”

“Yes?” Phyll hesitantly agreed, not understanding Twilight's point.

To be fair, Twilight herself was having a hard time articulating her point without sounding foolish.

AJ took this moment to step forward, adjusting her hat as she openly scrutinized the changeling “Ah gotta say, Ah'm seein' where Twi is coming from here. Talkin' to Ms. Cheerilee like that, you seemed completely different. Ah mean, ya looked and sounded the same and all, but it's like someone threw a switch or something inside ya.”

“This is what I do.” Phyll replied with a shrug.

“Ah guess it is.” Applejack conceded after a moment

“Incidentally...” The disguised changeling said, before turning his attention towards a certain pegasus “...you still have a few weeks left before her birthday.”

Rainbow Dash gave a confused stare at this for a moment “What?...Oh, right. You mean Rarity.”

“Indeed.”

“Uh, well, thanks...I guess.” RD haltingly replied.

“Ah still can't believe you can't be bothered to remember a friend's birthday, Dash.” Applejack admonished.

“Oh, come on! I just let Pinkie Pie remember that kinda stuff. Then whenever she starts talking about planning a birthday party, I know I gotta go pick up a gift. It's not like I don't care.” Rainbow Dash huffed out, a bit annoyed that she was being criticized over this kind of thing.

“And what exactly is so hard about rememberin' few days out of the year, Dash? Ah mean, he seems to have managed it just fine.” The farmpony pointed out, while gesturing a hoof towards the bemused Phyll.

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms at that, before muttering aloud “Pfft! He's probably more interested in remembering Fluttershy's birthday anyway.”

Twilight tilted her head at that “What? Why would he-”

“I know all of your birthdays and major anniversaries.” Phyll exclaimed, demonstrating a mild amount of annoyance for the first time.

“How's that now?” AJ immediately chimed in, cantering a bit to drop up alongside the changeling.

Closing his eye briefly, Phyll let out a light sigh before re-opening them “...Part of my role here in Ponyville is to monitor each of you.”

“Monitor us? Why?” Twilight asked from his other side, one of her eyebrows arching up at that revelation.

“Because you are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”

Applejack blinked at that simple response, before giving a shake of her head “Alright...how 'bout before Ah go assumin' there's something sinister about that, you explain why you're keeping tabs on us?”

Phyll had to turn and give a look at the Earth pony's question “Is there someone else that could have stopped the likes of Discord or Nightmare Moon?”

“You're...here to protect us?” Twilight asked, putting the pieces together fairly quickly.

“Not just myself. The overarching orders for every changeling in Ponyville is to ensure your continued health. Both physically and emotionally.”

“Since when?” Rainbow Dash demanded, as she darted a bit ahead to lean down in front of the changeling.

Briefly pausing, as the pegasus obstructed his path, Phyll easily sidestepped her before responding “Since before Princess Twilight arrived.”

“How's that now?” Applejack asked, clearly as skeptical and dumbfounded as her hovering friend.

At that question, the disguised changeling came to a pause, before pointedly glancing down both ends of the street they were walking down. This quickly lead to the ponies present to take note of the other pedestrians that were now in-sight along their path. His point made, Phyll abruptly turned and started walking towards one side of the street, making a beeline for the shady area beneath a tree there. Glancing amongst themselves briefly, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack soon followed, each apparently intrigued enough by recent revelations to hear this out.

Phyll stopped for a moment before speaking, watching as the three mares stepped under the shade of the tree “This should help limit any casual eavesdroppers.”

“What? Standing under a tree?” Rainbow Dash queried, as she landed beside Twilight.

“Actually, yes. Here, we're clearly engaged with one another and seeking a degree of privacy.” The changeling replied with certainty. Seeing the doubtful look he was being sent by the pegasus, he let out a sigh before elaborating “On the street, anypony passing by might listen in. Most would ignore such conversation, but with you three so tense and clearly focused on what I'm saying, passersby will assume we're talking about something...juicy. You don't look casual.”

“That makes sense, Ah suppose...But what's sittin' under a tree gonna do? Can't anypony that's curious just sneak up and take a listen?” AJ reiterated the point of Rainbow Dash's question.

Phyll gave a shake of his head “They could, but they won't. Most ponies want to ferret out gossip, but don't want to be accused of such things. Eavesdropping on us here would mean going out of their way to listen in. Plus, we're clearly speaking privately here and most ponies feel uncomfortable intruding on the space of others without good reason.”

“Huh...You guys have actually got this stuff down to a science.” Rainbow Dash noted, leaning back a bit in surprise at the in-depth answer.

“Yes, we do.” The changeling easily agreed, as he moved to stand in front of the three mares. Clearing his throat briefly, he looked back up before speaking “Now, as I was saying...Yes, we've been here since before Princess Twilight's arrival, on the look out for you all.”

“Uh, right. So, what's that about?” Applejack supplied.

Nodding briefly at AJ's question, Phyll gestured with his hoof as he explained things “Our Queen knew about Nightmare Moon's return through Princess Celestia. She presumed that, upon her return, she would gravitate towards familiar grounds, the most likely of which being the Castle of the Two Sisters. So, our Queen assigned extra changelings to the towns bordering the Everfree forest in preparation for Nightmare-”

“Luna.” Twilight suddenly interjected. Giving everyone some brief pause, Twilight briefly swallowed before speaking again “Princess Luna.”

AJ and Rainbow Dash raised their own eyebrows at this, before turning expectant looks towards Phyll. For Phyll's part he seemed only momentarily off-balance “...in preparation for Princess Luna's return. We were to monitor the situation and provide assistance, discrete or otherwise, if we thought it could tip things in your favor.”

“So...wait a second. Did Chrysalis actually know that we were the ones that were gonna find the Elements?” Twilight eventually asked, giving a tilt of her head as she did so.

“No. Our Queen presumed that you would be involved somehow, Princess Twilight, but other than that we weren't certain who the eventual bearers would be.” Phyll clarified.

Rainbow Dash pursed her lips at that, before taking to the air to cross her forehooves “Kind of annoying that Chrysalis knew all that, but we didn't know squat.”

Applejack gave a pointed look towards her hovering friend, but Phyll spoke up before she could say anything “We were operating on a lot of unknowns at the time. In any event, I was already stationed in Ponyville before all of this, so I stayed in the area. As we got more information on the six of you, more changelings were assigned to Ponyville long-term to keep an eye on you and...here we are.”

“Huh. And that Queen of yours has you watchin' us because...?” AJ prompted once more.

“Because the Elements of Harmony are the most powerful defenses against chaos and darkness known to anyone. And because, as far as we know, without their chosen bearers they are useless...so we have some fairly good reasons to make sure you and they are safe.” Phyll tiredly explained.

The farmpony just shrugged at that, picking up on how perturbed the changeling seemed “That's all fine, Ah guess. Just didn't feel like yer folks were all that concerned about our good health during that whole invasion business.”

“Were any of you hurt?” The changeling pointedly asked.

“Er, well...Not really. Except that Queen of yours did pull a number on Twilight, which Ah'm still a bit-” AJ began.

“She imprisoned Princess Twilight and ordered you all captured, yes?” Phyll reiterated.

“Basically.” Twilight agreed a moment later, defusing things before they could tense up again.

The disguised changeling gave a nod at that “And despite the fact that the Elements of Harmony could have been turned against us, no changeling was ordered to steal them away or hide them, yes? Rather they remained securely in their vault.”

Rainbow Dash hovered down a bit lower, waving her forehooves back-and-forth to bring a pause to the proceedings “Hold on! Hold on, hold on, hold on...You're telling me all those changelings were going easy on us during that whole thing?”

“I suppose so. I wasn't there myself.” Phyll replied, leaning back a bit from the pegasus as he did so.

“Awwww, you've got to be kidding...And I here I thought we had kicked all kinds of flank.” Rainbow Dash griped, bemoaning the thought of one of her accomplishments being undermined.

“In any event, that is the sum of it. More than anything else, we were sent here to make sure the six of you were kept healthy. You and your immediate associates.” The changeling summed up for the mares.

Applejack raised a hoof to her chin, as she parsed it over “Well, Ah suppose there's a certain amount of sense there...But if you folks have been lurkin' around all this time, why haven't we ever seen ya helpin' out? Not like there haven't been cases where we couldn't use the help.”

“Hey, yeah! There's a bunch of times you guys could of lent us a hoof!” Rainbow Dash quickly seconded.

The stallion briefly glanced between the two, before letting out a sigh “Well, frankly, you six tended to solve most of your problems before we could begin to help.”

“How do you mean?” Twilight queried, leaning in a bit.

Phyll visibly thought about it for a few moments, before gesturing with his hoof “There is a certain...balance we try to maintain here. If we can render assistance without exposing ourselves, that is considered ideal. And if there's reason to believe we can't render helpful assistance, we don't bother taking the risk of exposure.”

“So, what? You're just gonna let the end of the world-” Rainbow Dash began.

“No. Our policy is to offer whatever help we can in those instances, preferably without revealing ourselves. But if it was required we would have.” Phyll quickly interjected, seeing the direction they were starting to go down. Stepping to one side, the changeling seemed a bit restless as he continued “But in all but the most immediately pressing issues, we try to plan accordingly before acting. And it just so happens that you and your friends tend to address the issue before we can put our plans into motion.”

The purple princess of the group visibly thought that over for a moment, before turning back to the changeling “What kind of plans have you made in the past?”

“Off the top of my head...you recall the Flim-Flam brothers?” Phyll asked of the apple farmer to his side.

Applejack blinked at the question, apparently surprised by it “Ah- Ah mean, yeah. But what do those two snakes have to do with what we're talkin' about?”

“Well, at the time, we had already received reports of their...reputation and that they were on the way towards Ponyville. Given that Cider season was starting and that they were riding what was explicitly a cider-making machine, we suspected an incident might take place.” The changeling elaborated easily enough.

“Okay. So what exactly were you guys gonna do about it?” Rainbow Dash prompted.

“We weren't sure, initially. Their reputations preceded them, but we didn't know what form the problem would take...then you agreed to that wager.” Phyll explained, before turning to the farmpony again.

For AJ's part, she certainly looked sheepish at the reminder of that foolish bet, but cleared her throat and pressed on “Alright. Ah'm followin' so far.”

“We suspected you wouldn't be able to legitimately win against their machine- not to say that you and your friends did not perform admirably.” Phyll interrupted himself, holding a hoof to forestall the expected objections from AJ and Rainbow Dash. Seeing that they seemed placated for the moment, he lowered his hoof to continue “By the time the contest started, we thought the best means would be to simply turn the town against them.”

Twilight furrowed her brow at that, before taking a step forward “But...the whole town did turn against them.”

“Indeed. The Flim-Flam brothers did a lot of the work themselves, but your supporting the Apples helped stir the emotions of quite a few of the townsfolk. At that point, we just needed to ensure that their cider got some loud complaints and things took care of themselves.” Phyll eventually concluded.

“Hold on. I thought you said that you guys never got a chance to help us.” Rainbow Dash reminded the changeling.

“I didn't say that, though in that case our help was minimal. I said that we often aren't needed.”

“Huh. Well, can ya offer any examples of when ya couldn't help out?” AJ prompted.

Phyll thought about it for a few seconds “There really wasn't much we could do about Discord.”

“Yeah, that doesn't really count though.” The hovering pegasus pointed out. Dash gave a wide gesture of her hooves, as she spoke “I mean, there wasn't much anyone could do about Discord.”

“Fair enough. Then...I suppose Trixie's return is a better example.” Phyll conceded.

AJ tilted her hat back up with her hoof at that name “That was a pretty dicey situation, Ah'll be the first to admit. What were ya plannin' on doing for that varmint? And why didn't ya?”

“Put simply, we didn't have the means to separate her from the amulet she had acquired. We were looking into ways to sneak in some changelings that were practiced in mind magic, but Ms. Trixie had made that rather challenging.” The changeling explained.

“You were going to use magic to alter Trixie's mind?” Twilight abruptly asked, visibly concerned by the idea.

If Phyll noticed the Pony Princess's discomfort he didn't show it “If we could get the changelings. We didn't really have anyone with the level of expertise needed already stationed here. It was a serious enough situation that we were concerned that we would have had to have left it to our Queen or Princess Celestia.”

“Alright, but just how were you planning on altering Trixie's mind?” Twilight pressed, thinking of her own past experiences with mind-altering magic and changelings. Considering the effects that were already influencing Trixie's mind at the time, she couldn't help but worry about what the mingling of those magics could have resulted in.

Phyll considered the question briefly, tilting his head one way then the other “We probably would have used flattery and subservience to get them close to Ms. Trixie. At that point, it would be up to the changeling in question. But I would imagine that they would plant whatever idea they had in casual conversation, something that would have appealed to her anyway, then used a bit of magic to nudge her into disregarding her suspicions.”

“They'd nudge her?” Twilight asked, still not convinced.

The disguised changeling gave a shrug and a nod “I understand that it tends to work better when the subject thinks it's their own idea. It's all rather moot at this point, though.”

“Right...” The young alicorn unenthusiastically agreed.

Letting Twilight trail off for a moment, Phyll spared a glance for the other two mares before giving a tilt of his head “So...are there any more pressing questions you have for me? Or can the rest wait?”

There were several seconds of silence as the mares glanced among themselves, before Rainbow Dash raised up a hoof “Hey, yeah! I just remembered!”

“Yes?”

“What's up with the post office? Why are we heading there of all places?” Rainbow Dash asked, her question also managing to break Twilight from her own thoughts, having recalled that to be something she too wanted to ask about.

Phyll thought about it for a second, before turning away and starting to make his back to the road “Very well, we can talk about that on the way.”

“Hold up! Aren't ya worried about somepony overhearin' us?” AJ quickly asked, as she trotted alongside the changeling.

Phyll gave a shake of his head at that, as he was about to set hoof down upon the dusty road again “Talking about the post office garners far less attention than talking about world-ending threats, conspiracies, or changelings.”

“Or all of the above, am I right?” Rainbow Dash lightly joked.

AJ just gave a shake of her head at her friend, before focusing back on the disguised changeling “Alright. So Ah guess go ahead spill the beans then.”

“Yes, please do. Why is it the post office that's considered so important?” Twilight added, her own mood restored, as she gave an ear to the explanation.

Phyll gave a nod at that, before speaking “There are a number of factors, the foremost being that a lot of information passes through the postal system. Information that can be quite important.”

“So, more spying?” Applejack summed up.

“Not just spying.” Phyll replied with a shake of his head, before giving a brief pause in his gait “It also serves as an excellent way for us to pass our own information and messages to one another and back to our home.”

Twilight gave a nod to that before giving a tilt of her head “That makes sense, I suppose. But don't you run the risk of exposure if you're passing message along that way.”

“All of our correspondences are encoded. We make sure that, without knowing what to look for, nopony would be able to discern anything unusual about them.” The changeling explained.

“You use ciphers? Cryptography?” The princess quickly asked, which earned a nod from Phyll.

Applejack ended up pursing her lips at this, glancing between the changeling and her alicorn friend “Uh, what exactly is he trying to say, Sugarcube?”

“Oh. He means that the letters they send look like normal letters, but if you read them in a certain way they make up a different message.” Twilight explained for her friend.

“Well, that's kinda neat, I guess. Still sounds mostly boring though.” Rainbow Dash observed.

Phyll gave a tilt of his head at that, as he resumed his earlier pace “It is. And I would say that's another reason for why we find working in the postal system is so appealing.”

The athletic pegasus gave a skeptical look at that “Wait. You guys hangout there because it's boring?”

“Boring is good. Boring is safe, predictable, and calming. Stable routines, a hallmark of the postal system, give an easy start for those of us that are still not used to life in Ponyville.” Phyll asserted without looking her way.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but let her face twist up at that, almost entirely incapable of reconciling those ideas with how she liked living her own life “That's just...weird.”

“Also true. For some reason, ponies expect a certain amount of weirdness from postal ponies. Not sure where that comes from personally, but it does help too.” The changeling again agreed with RD, eliciting a wry look from the hovering pony.

“So, the post office is a good place for blending in and gathering information, is what your saying?” Twilight supplied, before Rainbow Dash could add anything else.

“Also, for magazine subscriptions.” Phyll added with a tilt of his head.

“...Are you joking?” The princess had to ask, her brow furrowing as she looked his way.

“No.”

“...Alright. Was there anything else about post offices that change- your kind likes?” Twilight asked, quickly correcting herself while glancing about to make sure nopony overheard her almost slip.

The changeling visibly thought about it for several moments, before looking towards Twilight “It's good a way to inconspicuously meet a lot of different ponies in a given day.”

“And that's considered a positive?”

“It is when you need to discretely spread out your feeding to avoid notice.”

“Hold on a sec, Ah thought you said y'all didn't collect love while you were here?” AJ interjected.

Phyll gave a shake of his head “We don't collect energy for taking back to our home, but we do need to take in a bare minimum for our own sustenance. And diversifying who we take from minimizes the most of the side-effects.”

“So, taking on roles that let you regularly meet with many different ponies...” Twilight supplied.

“Let's us support ourselves without revealing our presence or causing lasting harm.” Phyll finished.

“Well, hold on. If y'all can get by on this bare minimum why don't you and yours just all live among ponies?” Applejack continued.

“We have to spread out our feeding on a lot more ponies to meet that bare minimum without causing too much harm. And keeping to that bare minimum means not over-exerting ourselves, using magic, flying, recovering from getting hurt, having children-”

“You need to feed on ponies to have...babies?” Applejack interrupted, a bit taken aback by that one.

Phyll came to a full stop, before turning and nodding towards the farmpony “It takes quite a bit of energy for us to reproduce, and more still to actually raise them. It's part of the reason we are so careful about controlling our population.”

“I, uh-...Ah didn't know that.” Was all that Applejack could manage to bring herself to say.

To that, he just shrugged “There aren't many ways you could have known that...In any event, any more questions will have to wait.”

“What?”

“We're here.” Phyll replied, gesturing with his hoof to draw the attention of the mares to the nearby building. And, true enough, they were standing just outside of the Ponyville Post Office, a surprisingly tall wooden building with a larger section around back for storing mail and packages. Looking up would reveal a small, open tower meant to serve as a quick landing and take-off point for any pegasi making deliveries, from which one could easily spot the nearby train station with the naked eye.

“Huh...you know it's kinda easy getting all caught up in these weird conversations.” Rainbow Dash observed.

“Yes, well, any further conversations will have to wait.” Phyll reiterated, before turning and starting to make his way to the front door of the building, passing under the post office's sign as he did so.

Rainbow Dash naturally darted after him, slipping in through the open door as he passed through it, while Applejack and Twilight trailed along at a more sedate pace. They were both given a brief moment of pause, as they realized that Phyll was holding the door for the two of, though they were both quick to give nods of appreciation.

“So, what exactly are we here for anyway? We gonna meet up with a bunch of changelings or something?” Rainbow Dash rather loudly asked, as she cast her gaze about the inside of the building.

Giving a rather noticeable frown at the pegasus' lack of discretion, Phyll let the door close behind them before speaking “Not exactly, no. We are here to meet someone however.”

“Pfft! Good luck with that! No one's even here.” Dash pointed out. And, indeed, there was not a soul in sight, neither postal worker or customer.

“That is a bit odd. Or is it?” Twilight asked, turning to the back of the group to address Phyll.

“It'll be more quickly explained if we just head up to the counter.” The disguised changeling said, before pointing a hoof to the also quite vacant counter.

Twilight shared a brief, questioning look with AJ before they both shrugged and started a trot towards the counter, with Rainbow Dash following through the air. Approaching the counter didn't seem to reveal much more than what they had already seen, until Applejack caught sight of a note laid out on the counter.

Carefully scooping it up with her hoof, the applefarmer quickly perused the missive “Let's see here...Our apologies...and-...huh. Apparently, everypony's out with the flu or somethin'. Tells us to just ring the bell and someone'll be along as soon as they can.”

Hearing that, and recalling the topics they had discussed earlier, the three mares all turned back to look to Phyll for some guidance on what they were supposed to do.

Returning their looks briefly, the changeling didn't speak, but instead settled for nodding towards the counter and the bell.

“Welp, that's good enough for me.” Rainbow Dash declared before flying over the counter and slapping her hoof across the bell, sending out a loud chime through the room. Glancing around briefly, RD looked back to the bell before hitting it again. Then again. And again. And-

“Ya havin' a good time there, Dash?” AJ asked while sending a wry look the pegasus' way.

“What? The note said to ring the bell.” Rainbow Dash countered.

The Earth pony rolled her eyes at this, before focusing back upon Dash “Might help if ya waited a few seconds between rings. Ya know, give'em some time to actually hear it?”

“Fine...” The pegasus replied with a puff of air, before looking around the room again. After a scant few seconds of patiently waiting, Rainbow Dash flung her hooves up in the air “Guess they didn't hear.”

What followed was a rapid fire series of chimes, as RD repeatedly slapped down on the button that sounded the bell.

“Dash! There's no need to-” Twilight began.

“Just a second! I'll be right there! Please don't leave!”

Rainbow Dash sent a self-satisfied grin towards Twilight “See? Now we got somepony that can-”

Before she could really lean into her gloating, a door on the other side of the counter slammed open, startling the three mares. Their surprise was all the more complete by the sight of what appeared to be an ambulatory pile of brown boxes and letters. A moment later, they all collectively leaned back as this moving collection of packages fell forward, sending it all toppling into a small avalanche.

“...Ow.” Came a mare's voice from the haphazard mail pile.

“Oh my goodness!” Twilight exclaimed, before taking to the air and flying up and over the counter. A moment later, the princess was using her magic to carefully lift away packages in an effort to free the presumably trapped pony “Are you alright?”

“I'm alright, just trying to move these packages up front...” The mare called out from the heap. A few letters and envelopes shifted revealing a grey hoof waving about now.

Twilight gave a rueful smile at that, as she re-focused her efforts “You really should be more careful. You could have been really hurt trying to carry such a load.”

“Sorry. It's just with so many ponies out today, I- Oh! Princess Twilight!” The buried pony exclaimed, as a hefty brown package was levitated away, clearing her view of the one lending her help.

“Ditzy?” Twilight blurted out immediately afterwards. Giving a shake of her head, the young alicorn used her magic to finish freeing up the mare, before lending her a hoof up “I wasn't expecting to find you here today.”

Pulling free of the pile, the wall-eyed mare gave a smile at that and a laugh “Yeah, we're kinda working on a skeleton crew today, so Exact Postage called me in for the day...Oh! And I'm sorry, but you haven't gotten any new mail.”

Twilight blinked at this change in the conversation “Uhm, that's alright. I'm actually-”

“And I made sure to double-check all of our incoming stuff for anything from Ms. Trixie, but we still haven't gotten anything new.” Ditzy explained in an apologetic tone.

“Er, why would ya be gettin' any mail from Trixie, Sugarcube?” AJ asked aloud.

Glancing between her curious friends and the bemused mailmare in front of her, Twilight looked a shade embarrassed “Uhm, well, I've been..exchanging letters with Trixie...for a while now.”

Applejack gave a tilt of her head at that revelation “Err...why's that, Sugarcube?”

“I-...well, I wanted to kinda keep tabs on Trixie, after last time. She ended up writing me back and-” Twilight began to explain.

Before Twilight could explain the long-distance, sort-of friendship that had taken root with the traveling showmare, Rainbow Dash darted down while crossing her forehooves “Hold up, Twi. Not that I'm not super-curious about all of this, but I don't think anyone's here to talk about Twilight's private mail.”

“Agreed.” Phyll clearly called from across the counter.

At that, Ditzy leaned to one side to look past the purple princess standing in front of her, before letting out a smile “Phyll! It's good to see you.”

“Likewise, Ms. Doo.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at this, before setting down and gesturing with her hoof “Right. Everyone's said hello to everyone now, so do you mind maybe going somewhere else, Derp-...”

The brash pegasus drew to a pause, as she went over the most recent bits of conversation in her head. Clearly struck by a thought, Rainbow Dash turned towards the disguised changeling, a questioning look on her face, that failed to elicit a response from the stallion.

Looking back towards the Ditzy, she saw the grey mailmare smile and give her a wave of her hoof.

“Wait...did you just-” Rainbow Dash blurted out.

Only to be brought to a pause by an orange hoof settling over her shoulders. That hoof was connected to the very healthy Applejack, who was now sported a very pleased grin on her face “Let me stop ya right there, Dash. Ah think ya might be about to say somethin' kinda dumb.”

Twilight hadn't failed to notice what had just happened either, though her reaction was a fair bit more measured. Looking back to the stoic changeling on the other side of the counter, she asked the most pertinent question “Ditzy knows your real name?”

Phyll easily nodded.

This lead Twilight to turn back to the upbeat, grey pegasus “So, that would mean that you're...”

Ditzy Doo gave a slightly embarrassed look, before using a hoof to rub the back of her head “Uhm, I'm gonna need a few minutes before I can lend a hoof...Kinda falling behind on things around here.”

Chapter Four: Share the Load

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“You're a changeling!?”

“What?” Ditzy blurted out, while staring at the bewildered Rainbow Dash.

For Applejack's part, she was busy using a hoof to rub one of her ears, even as the other ear folded flat against her head “Ya mind tonin' it down there, Dash? Before Ah go deaf, perhaps?”

“But she-” The pegasus began.

“And Ah don't see what the big problem is. Just earlier today, you were tellin' everypony about how 'cool' ya are with changelings.” The Earth pony reminded her friend, before readjusting her hat.

“This is Derpy!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, while gesturing with both hooves towards the bemused mailmare. Shaking her head for a moment, before setting down and bringing a hoof to rub her head “I mean, it's like- it's like-...I don't know! She's too weird to be a changeling!”

“What?” Ditzy again had to ask, as she furrowed a brow and gave a questioning look at that.

“Rainbow Dash, I really don't see what the problem is.” Twilight eventually spoke up, stepping forward so as to garner her athletic friend's attention “I mean, when you think things over, it does make a certain amount of sense. Especially after Phyll's explanation about the post-”

“Twilight...she can't be a changeling!”

“Uhm, I'm not.”

“...Huh?” Rainbow Dash blurted out, as she turned towards the frowning Ditzy Doo.

“I'm not a changeling.” Ditzy reiterated for the pegasus, giving a tilt of her head as she did so.

“Yer not?” AJ followed up in a more sedate, though no less surprised manner than anypony else.

The mailmare actually sighed at this point, before nodding “I'm pretty sure I would know if I was.”

“So...just pretty sure?” Rainbow Dash slowly inquired, openly scrutinizing the grey mare up-and-down, evidently still doubtful “I mean, you are sure that you're not, like...forgetting that you're a changeling or something?”

“What.” Ditzy flatly replied.

RD gave a shrug at that, before tilting her head “I'm just saying, you did forget which way was South that one time.”

At this, the grey mare furrowed her brows, as she gave her fellow pegasus a very pointedly annoyed look. One that Rainbow Dash entirely failed to decipher, as she blankly stared back at Ditzy “Are ya trying to remember if you're a changeling or not?”

“I'm not a changeling!!!” Ditzy eventually loudly exclaimed, before settling into an agitated pout.

“She really isn't.” Phyll agreed in a much more measured tone.

Applejack trotted over at that, tilting her head in consideration for a moment, before glancing towards the mailmare “Well...Hold on a sec. If Ditzy here ain't a changeling, then just how is it she happens to know that you're...you?”

“It does kind of raise more questions than it answers...” Twilight admitted, rubbing her chin with her hoof as she considered things.

The three friends all turned as one towards Phyll, all sharing fairly similar questioning looks for the disguised changeling. Letting out his own sigh, the changeling turned his own gaze towards Ditzy Doo “...It's really not my place to say.”

“Wha- why is everypony looking at me?” Ditzy blurted out as everyone's collective attention turned towards her, distracting her from her earlier agitation.

At that, Phyll cleared his throat before gesturing a hoof to himself “Is is not my place to explain how you are acquainted with changelings.”

“...'Kay?” The grey mare replied with a tilt of her head.

The changeling let out a breath at that, as he prepared to elaborate “While it is not my place, it could be your place to explain things, if you so chose.”

“Oh...Oh! You're saying- Wait. Am I allowed to talk about that?” Ditzy asked of Phyll.

Phyll nodded “With the level of trust that has been placed in you, you may speak of anything you deem fit.”

The mailmare blinked at that before raising a hoof to rub her chin as she mulled that over “Huh. That sounds like I should take it pretty seriously...”

Rainbow Dash interrupted this with a loudly huffed out sigh “Will someone please explain what's going on?”

“Okay, okay!” Ditzy exclaimed, while holding a hoof to forestall anymore from the cyan pegasus. Pausing for a moment, as if preparing to speak, the mailmare gave one more look towards Phyll “You're sure I'm allowed to-”

“Derpy!”

The grey mare ducked her head in embarrassment at that, before bringing a hoof to the back of her head “Sorry, I-”

“Ms. Doo is doing precisely what she was entrusted to do, Ms. Dash.” Phyll abruptly interjected, while sending a harsh look towards Rainbow Dash.

A bit surprised by his tone, RD has to lean back with uncharacteristic uncertainty “I, uh-”

“It's fine, Phyll.” Ditzy interjected before Rainbow Dash could give any sort of response to the changeling's words. Bringing the hoof that was rubbing the back of her head to her chin, the mailmare turned towards Twilight “So, uhm...it's kinda hard to explain.”

Briefly glancing between everyone present, the young alicorn settled for giving an encouraging smile to the mailmare “It's alright. Just try explaining it in any way you can.”

“Right, so...I'm kinda like a friend to the changelings.” Ditzy haltingly explained. A few moments later she gave a tilt of her head as a thought occurred to her “Officially, I mean. Like, I'm officially a friend to the changelings.”

Everypony there stared for a few more seconds, most everypony expecting her to elaborate on that, before AJ stepped forward with a gesture of her hoof “Uh, Ditzy? Ah'm not quite sure we're gettin' what yer trying to say.”

“Oh! It's- well, I kinda helped out some changelings before and they really appreciated it and thought I was very, uhm- what's the word-...virtuous? Yeah, virtuous. And their Queen liked my virtues.” The wall-eyed mare explained, with a noticeable lack of detail.

Rainbow Dash ended up rolling her eyes at this, earning another look of annoyance from Phyll, before she gestured with her hoof for Ditzy to continue “Alright. Virtues. What else?”

“What do you mean?”

Before Rainbow Dash could answer, Twilight stepped forward, intent on approaching things in a more mature manner “When exactly did this happen? How is it you actually found out about the changelings?”

Ditzy gave a nod at that, understanding now what was being asked “Oh, this was years ago. Before I had Dinky and came to Ponyville.”

“I see?” The Pony Princess prompted.

“This all happened when I traveled down to the Featherscale Jungles in Zebrica. I used to be a private courier, you see? And-” The mailmare started to explain.

“Did you just say the Featherscale Jungles?” Rainbow Dash blurted out.

Ditzy gave a confused blink at that “Yeah?”

“The Featherscale Jungles? Like in the latest Daring Do book! You've been there?! It's real?!” The cyan pegasus exclaimed, going from confused to incredibly excited in a few seconds.

The grey pegasus had to frown at that “I guess...Wait. She didn't write about all of that, did she? I mean, they already didn't like her-”

“Uh, hold on a sec. What's goin' on here and what's the big deal about some jungles?” AJ spoke-up, not being quite so familiar as her friend with the Daring Do serials.

Twilight was the one to volunteer the needed context, giving a gesture of her hoof as she did so “Daring Do is a series of books that Rainbow Dash and I read a lot of. The latest one mostly took place in the Featherscale Jungles.”

“Huh.” Applejack replied simply, before giving a nod towards their blue friend “So, what's that got to do with anything?”

“It's probably just a coincidence.” Twilight confidently replied, before turning towards the disguised changeling still at her side “Right, Phyll?”

Phyll merely let an eyebrow climb upwards, as he turned towards the purple princess. Before Twilight could question this, Rainbow Dash took to the air before settling in the airspace around Ditzy Doo.

“So, you've actually been there?! What's it like? Did you get to see the Living City of Golden Beasts? The Wandering Flower Groves?..Oh my gosh! Tell me you saw Serpent Temple Plateau! Please tell me that's an actual place!” Rainbow Dash demanded, as her fanatical devotion to the series compelled her to ask every question that came to mind out of sheer excitement.

For Ditzy's part, the mailmare only stared at the hovering pegasus with bemusement and growing concern “Oh...that's not good at all.”

“What? How can any of that not be good? It's soo~ooo awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Yeah, but...I don't think she was really allowed to write about any of that.” Ditzy hesitantly explained. Leaning away from RD to look towards the changeling at Twilight's side “You don't think they'll be angry with her?”

“I couldn't say.” Phyll said with an apologetic shake of his head.

Twilight gave her own shake of her head at this exchange “Are you talking about A.K. Yearling? Did she-”

“Oh My Gosh! You know A.K. Yearling?! The A.K. Yearling!”

Directing one of her eyes in a look of confusion for the excited Rainbow Dash, Ditzy gave a tilt of her head “Who?”

The aforementioned hovering blue pegasus spent several seconds staring blankly. Briefly raising a hoof as if she were about to say something, she let it drop before she could get any words out.

“Are you-” Ditzy began.

She didn't get to finish her question, before the mare she was addressing was replaced by a polychromatic blur trailing its way out of the post office. It took everyone a moment to register the accompanying 'whoosh' of sound and realize that Rainbow Dash had just abruptly flown off.

“Uh, where is Rainbow Dash goin' in such a hurry?” Applejack asked of everyone present.

“I haven't the foggiest clue.” Phyll replied, as he watched the rainbow trail fading away. Turning back towards the others, he gestured a hoof for the door “But perhaps it's for the best if we go ahead without-”

Before he could finish his thought, the door to the post office was burst open again by a similar rainbow trail that quickly resolved itself into the form of Rainbow Dash. Before anyone could comment, Dash pulled out a book that Twilight recognized, as she opened up the cover and presented it to the bewildered Ditzy Doo.

Pointing a blue hoof to the picture on the inner jacket of the book for Ditzy's benefit, the high-speed flyer declared “That is A.K Yearling. Who's only the greatest writer that ever lived! Author of the Daring Do series and all-around the most awesome egghead around!...No offense, Twilight.”

Twilight gave an annoyed look at that “Why would I-”

“I didn't know she had a nom de plume.” Ditzy observed, before taking the presented book in her own hooves. Looking over the picture herself more closely, the mailmare peeked her nose over the top of the book “Why is she dressed so frumpily?”

“She's not frumpy! She's just-...uh, help me out here, Twi.” Rainbow Dash called over to her friend, who responded to the request with an annoyed pout.

“Uhm, so...she didn't write anything about any changelings in this book, did she?” Ditzy asked, drawing both Twilight's and Rainbow Dash's attention back towards her.

“Why would there be anything about changelings in there?” The young princess asked.

“Rainbow Dash did mention all that other stuff earlier. I'm guessing that all shows up here in this book, right?” The grey mare asked.

“Well, yeah. What's that got to do with any changelings?” Rainbow Dash asked the obvious question.

“Uhm...Am I allowed to talk about this stuff?” Ditzy again asked Phyll with a tilt of her head. Seeing the changeling give another nod, Ditzy nodded in turn before once more facing the expectant Rainbow Dash “Well...the changelings are the ones that took us to all those places.”

“Wait...they took you?” Rainbow Dash blurted out, goggle-eyed at the statement.

To which Ditzy gave a nod “Yep. This was after they caught us though and demanded that we help them catch that strange, blue cat-fellow.”

“Ahuizotl?!” Rainbow Dash blurted out.

“That's the one.” Ditzy replied with a point of her hoof.

While a certain blue pegasus was hovering mid-air for several seconds, trying to process this, Twilight stepped between them to address the mailmare directly “Ditzy...When you said 'us' who did you mean?”

“Me and Daring Do, of course.” The grey mare responded easily.

“Daring Do is real!?!?!?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

Ditzy, after having flinched back from that loud exclamation, blinked as a thought visibly occurred to her. Bringing a hoof to her chin, the grey pegasus furrowed her brow in thought “Oh, wait...I'm not sure I was allowed to talk about that either.”

“Wha- But, how could- and the- with-” Dash gibbered for several seconds, gesturing wildly with her hooves at the bemused Ditzy.

A bit more in control of herself than her friend, Twilight managed to settle for just swallowing down the majority of her questions for the moment “Ditzy...you were there, in the Featherscale Jungles with Daring Do, when you were captured by changelings?”

"Kinda.”

“And you helped them chase Ahuizotl, who is also real, to the actual Living City of Golden Beasts to stop him from harnessing its power?”

“Well...he wasn't ever going to be able to harness that place, since only the original residents could control it. We were just trying to stop him from re-awakening the place before it could go on a rampage...But, he didn't know about that part.” Ditzy casually explained. Pausing for a moment, she gave a tilt of her head before adding “...at first.”

Twilight was now in a similar state of shock to the hovering Rainbow Dash, having read the same book as her friend and being familiar enough with the contents of the story to recognize them.

Cue Applejack pursing her lips, as she observed the strange reactions from her two friends. Resisting the temptation to hang her hat off of the stock-still Twilight like a coat-rack, AJ turned towards the unassuming Ditzy “So, uh, ya did all that and that Queen Chrysalis decided to let her changelings know that you were a friend and all that?”

Ditzy gave a shake of her head at that “Oh, no. I've never even met Queen Chrysalis.”

Broken from her own stupor by the ongoing conversation, Rainbow Dash gave a vigorous shake of her head before setting down “Wait! Didn't you say something about Chrysalis liking your virtue or something just a minute ago?”

“Nope. That was Queen Vespi.”

“Queen Vespi?...She's the one that decided that changelings should trust you?” Rainbow Dash repeated.

Ditzy gave a nod at that, before pursing her lips in thought “Well...Queen Vespi did have to run it by Hyacinth too. She's the other Queen down in-...Oh, wait. I'm definitely not-so-sure that I should have said that.”

Phyll just shrugged, before gesturing with his hoof for her to go on.

Twilight turned her head from Ditzy to Phyll and then back to Ditzy “So there really is more than one Changeling Queen?!”

“Uhm, yes. Technically, there's more than two more, I think. Cause there's three.” Ditzy pointed out.

Rainbow Dash again got the mailmare's attention, when she re-landed in front of her “So, not only is Daring Do real, she's friends with two Changeling Queens?!”

“What? No. No, they don't like Daring at all.” Ditzy quickly denied.

“What?! Why wouldn't they like her?!” RD demanded, bewildered and outraged at the very notion.

Leaning back a bit before tilting her head from one side to the other, her eyes shifting about in different directions, Ditzy looked back towards the three ponies “Uhm, do we really have time for all of this?”

“What?” Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash blurted out.

“It's just, we're already behind on our work here and I've still got to deliver all of those messages for Phyll. Right, Phyll?” The mailmare explained, before giving a tilt of her head towards the quiet changeling.

“If it's not too much trouble.” The disguised changeling agreed with a nod.

“Not after all of the favors you guys have done for me.” Ditzy replied with a big grin. Turning back around and clambering over the pile of packages, she started making her way towards the backroom “I just gotta let Exact Postage know I'm heading out to do my route.”

“By all means.” Phyll replied with a patient nod.

“I'll be right back.” The mailmare replied before ducking away.

Both changeling and Earth pony watched as the wall-eyed mare disappeared, before turning their shared attention to the still dumbstruck faces of Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Clearing her throat briefly, Applejack leaned over towards Phyll, before using her hoof to cover her mouth “So, uh...ya think they're gonna be alright?”

“We can leave them here, if not.” The changeling sagely noted.

AJ gave a tilt of her head at that, before turning fully towards the stallion “So...Ah guess Ditzy knew about you guys the whole time?”

“Pretty much.”

“And there's other Changeling Queens out there?”

“Quite evidently.”

“And Ditzy's been on all kinds of crazy adventures?”

“Just the one, as far as I know.”

“And whoever that Daring Do character is, she's real Ah'm guessing?”

“Yes.”

“Huh...that's all pretty neat, Ah suppose.” Applejack noted with a nod, pursing her lips as she turned back towards her friends “Kinda wishin' she mentioned some o' that stuff before now, but what are ya gonna do?”

“Daring Do is real!?!?!” Rainbow Dash abruptly shouted, finally breaking her silence while wildly gesturing her hooves in the direction Ditzy had gone.

Twilight, after jumping in mild fright at her friend's sudden yelling, gave a shake of her head to reorient herself “You don't need to shout, Rainbow Dash. And I'm as surprised as-”

“Twilight...It's Derpy! How is this even-” Rainbow Dash began.

“Could you please stop using that.” Phyll sharply interjected.

“Huh?” The pegasus cleverly replied, before landing.

Now very apparently frowning, the disguised changeling furrowed his brow before speaking “That name. You don't need to understand it, but Ms. Doo has earned the trust and respect of changelings as a whole. And my tolerating your little nickname for her is failing to adhere to that.”

“What are you- It's just a-” Rainbow Dash began, before coming to a brief pause as she noticed the failure of both Twilight and Applejack to leap to her defense. Indeed, both seemed a bit hesitant to look her way. Giving a vigorous shake of her head and a gesture of her hooves “It's just a goofy little nickname! I mean, it's not like I mean anything by it! It's just, you know...a friendly-”

“Rainbow Crash.” Phyll sternly uttered, his eyes narrowing slightly.

There was a visible effect upon Rainbow Dash, as she briefly tensed up, before sagging as she grasped the implications of what the stallion had just reminded her of. Apparently distressed for a moment, the pegasus briefly looked down, before bringing a hoof to the back of her head “I-uh...I never meant-”

“Ah was gonna try to bring that up with ya, Dash. Like when we had a second...” AJ admitted, looking a bit sheepish herself.

RD gave an upset grimace at that, before stepping a bit closer to Phyll “You don't think she-”

Before the conversation could be carried on any further, everypony's attention was drawn to the backroom by a loud series of crashes and thuds.

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! My hat slipped down and-” Ditzy's distressed voice called out.

Only to be cut-off by the gruff, long-suffering voice of a stallion “It's fine. Just get on your route. It's fine.”

“Are you sure, Postage? I didn't mean-”

“It's fine. I hadn't really sorted that pile anyway. Just go on your route.”

“Alright then! I'll be back in a couple of hours!”

Cue Ditzy Doo backing out through the doorway waving a farewell to the unseen Exact Postage. She was now sporting a rather snazzy dark blue postal uniform, completed with shiny bronze buttons, a mailbag on each side, and a round cap the same color as the uniform sitting atop her head.

Turning around with a cheery smile, Ditzy made a point of adjusting her postal saddlebags, patting them with her hoof before turning back to the waiting group “Okay! Everything's ready, Phyll. I've got all of your special messages right here.”

The disguised changeling nodded, before taking a step forward “Excellent. But, before you go, there is one more point I need to mention.”

The mailmare looked up at that, plainly curious “Hm? What's that?”

“You know Pinkie Pie, yes?” Phyll asked, waiting for a nod before nodding in turn. Giving out a sigh, he gestured a hoof in the general direction of the library “Well, as it turns out, she's throwing some manner of party for all of us. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, but could you-”

“Warn them? Sure. I'm actually way ahead of you.” Ditzy replied with a smile before tapping her hoof against her saddlebags again.

Blinking at this turn of events, Phyll gave a tilt of his head as he responded “How so?”

“Well, Pinkie Pie stopped by here this morning with this package here.” The mailmare explained, as she dug out a simple parcel out of her bag. Setting it down revealed that it was already open and filled with colorful, glitter-specked paper cards “She was really hoping I could get all of these delivered today anyway.”

“Are those...party invitations?” The changeling asked.

“Yep!” Ditzy replied, before taking one in her mouth and presenting it to everyone present.

It was Applejack that trotted forward and took the card in hoof and began reading it aloud “Let's see here...Time to Pony-Up and Party Down at the totally non-Secret Goin'-Away Party fer Nopony Cause Nopony is Goin'-Away Party...Wink-wink. Get ready fer fun, snacks, and games, even though nopony is definitely goin' away, cause it's a secret and we can't tell anypony about it, even though it's definitely happenin' at the Golden Oaks Library...And there are definitely not going to be any changelings there. Wink-wink.”

“Pinkie managed to fit all of that on one card?” Twilight blurted out, bemused by the long, meandering message. Pausing for a moment as another thought occurred to her, the young princess leaned into look at the card “And did Pinkie actually write out that she was winking?”

“Yep. Pretty subtle by Pinkie's standards, Ah gotta say.” AJ admitted, turning the card in her hooves to look it over.

Phyll let out a sigh, before turning and pointing a hoof to the box of invitations “And am I to assume that Pinkie Pie brought exactly enough invitations for every changeling in town? Even though it should be impossible for her to know how many she would need?”

“Uhm, counting yours? Yep.” Ditzy replied, while pointing a hoof towards the invitation that the others were still scrutinizing. Pausing for a moment, the grey mare brought a hoof to her chin “Hold on...I think I might not be allowed to talk about that...”

“What?” Phyll asked.

Ditzy was clearly trying to ponder something apart “Well...she did make me make a Pinkie Promise that I wouldn't ruin the surprise for everyone. But, hold on...wouldn't the invitations kind of ruin the surprise? So, how would I deliver the invitations without anyone finding out about the party?”

“Huh...maybe what Pinkie meant is that them finding out some way other than through an invitation could ruin the surprise for them?” Twilight offered.

“Maybe...” Ditzy hesitantly replied.

Phyll briefly had to look up to the ceiling before taking in a deep breath “Well, if that's not the case you can assign myself any of the blame. As curious as I am about this, we may as well use Pinkie's invitations.”

Stowing the package away back in her saddlebags, Ditzy Doo used a hoof to adjust her mailmare cap again, before taking to the air “Alright then, well I'll be off then. Shouldn't take me too long to-”

“Hold on!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, as she flew up to block the grey mare's flight path. Setting back down, after forestalling Ditzy's exit, the blue pegasus cleared her throat before turning to the others “Maybe, somepony should go with her. To, you know, lend her a hoof if something goes wrong or something?”

“Uhm...I'm not gonna get lost, Rainbow Dash. I do this route every week.” Ditzy pointed out, looking a touch defensive at the idea of needing help with this, to her, simple task.

Dash actually cringed a bit at that remark, having an idea of how Ditzy thought she had reached that conclusion “No, wait. I mean, I'm just saying if you need any help with finding the changelings-”

Pulling out a small list from inside her uniform, Ditzy held it up for all to see “I've got a list for all of them, with their names and their addresses on it. Plus, I know most of them anyway.”

“I, uh-...huh.” Rainbow Dash sputtered to a halt, her ears drooping a bit at being stymied so easily.

Seeing her friend looking down at this, Twilight spared a glance between the two pegasi before clearing her throat “Actually, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea if Rainbow Dash went with you, Ditzy.”

“What?” The mailmare replied with a furrowed brow.

“I mean, I'm sure you'll have everything well-in-hoof, but this is a somewhat stranger day than normal. If somethings does go wrong, it might be good if there's someone there that can come let us know while you take care of things.” Twilight offered to the grey mare.

“Plus, with Dash going with ya, ya don't have to be worried about gettin' slowed down on yer route.” AJ added a moment later, picking up on what her purple friend was attempting.

Ditzy still gave a small frown, clearly still thinking it over, before turning towards Phyll “Well, if you think it's a good idea, I guess she could tagalong...”

Before AJ or Twilight could attempt to send any pleading looks towards the changeling to help them with this, Phyll gave a shrug “I can see no problem with it.”

“Okay, then. I guess.” Ditzy replied, before looking back towards Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be trying to put on an enthusiastic smile for the mailmare “Uhm, we don't really have any spare uniforms, so-”

“That's okay! I mean, I've never really been one for uniforms anyway.” RD quickly reassured.

The grey mare furrowed her brow at that and pursed her lips “I thought you wanted to be a Wonderbolt? Don't they wear uniforms a lot?”

“Well, uh- yeah, but...Off we go then! Can't keep those changelings waiting.” Dash quickly declared before flying towards the door and opening it for their departure. Ditzy just shrugged before flying at a more sedate pace out the door, with Rainbow Dash following a few moments later, letting the door close behind them.

Turning back to the changeling at her side, Twilight gave a thankful look his way “Thanks for letting Rainbow Dash have that chance.”

“Seemed easier than arguing.”

“Oh.” Twilight replied with a bit of disappointment at the cynical response.

AJ just shrugged “Well, he's not wrong. So then, Ah'm kinda wonderin' how many changelings that leaves us to talk to?”

“Ditzy's mostly taking care of those that work here anyway or who could otherwise easily beg off from work today. It's about a sixty-fourty split at this point, leaving about a dozen for us.” Phyll calmly explained as he made his way towards the exit.

“So, we'll be visiting the rest of them personally then? Is that the plan?” Twilight asked as she trotted after the changeling. The princess briefly came up short before turning back towards the post office's counter and the pile of packages left behind it. Letting her horn glow for a moment, her magic engulfed the pile and saw to stacking the numerous parcels in a fairly neat manner on the counter over the course of several seconds. She didn't know the proper method for organizing all of those deliveries, but she could at least pick them up off the floor.

Briefly letting an eyebrow climb upwards, as he watched Twilight neaten things up, the stallion gave a shake of his head “More or less. Quite a few changelings are kept quite busy here in Ponyville and are a bit harder to coordinate with.”

“You guys must really trust Ditzy to be having her help with all of this.” Twilight noted.

“That's been established.”

Twilight gave an awkward chuckle at that “Right. It's just...more of a surprise than I was entirely ready for.”

“Seems like the right day for that sorta thing. Ah gotta say, based on what Ah've heard, Ah didn't really think you changelings could think of so well of somepony.” AJ chimed in.

“It's an older tradition.” Phyll noted, as he moved to the post office's exit. Holding the door open for the two mares, the stallion gave a gesture with his hoof “It's not something a Changeling Queen declares often. But when it is, it's expected that others listen.”

AJ nodded at that, before stepping through the door, while Twilight briefly stopped, curious about the subject still “How often is not often?”

Phyll briefly cast his gaze upwards, as he visibly thought about the question, even as he continued to hold the door “There are perhaps...three individuals that I know of that carry that status these days.”

“Ditzy, obviously.” The young alicorn noted, before bringing a hoof to her chin as she pondered recent events “And I'm guessing Princess Celestia too?”

Phyll just nodded.

“Okay. Can you tell me who this third pony is? Or is that not allowed?” Twilight asked as she stepped over the threshold, her attention still on the changeling.

“It's allowed, or it might as well be at this point. But it's not a pony.” Phyll said as he moved to follow Twilight, letting the door close behind them.

“Oh?”

“There's this donkey...”

“So...this is what you do every day?”

Ditzy glanced back to take in the sight of a bored looking Rainbow Dash hovering over the street, the blue pegasus sending a skeptical look her way. Rolling her good eye a bit, the mailmare slid another letter into its rightful mailbox before giving a flap of her wings “No, not everyday. Just on days that I do the Ponyville routes.”

“And when you're not doing that?” Rainbow Dash asked, as she trailed through the air behind Ditzy, her hooves hanging limply in the air.

Adjusting her cap for a moment, Ditzy took a turn down a street before responding “Mostly I just help sort things at the post office.”

“Huh.” The poly-chromatic pegasus grunted.

“And Exact Postage will sometimes send me on some of the long-distance courier stuff when he thinks-” Ditzy began.

Rainbow Dash immediately perked up at that, as she recalled a part of their earlier conversation “Hey, yeah! Didn't you mention something about being a courier when you met Daring Do?”

The grey pegasus gave a heavy sigh at that, having expected their conversation to lead back to this “I was a private courier then, but...yeah.”

“I, uh-...Right. So...” Rainbow Dash hedged for a few moments, frowning at the somewhat less than enthusiastic reaction her question had earned. Scratching the back of her head a moment and glancing to the side, RD had to take a moment to restrain herself “...So, I guess it must be pretty weird working at the post office these days?”

“What?”

“You know, what with you and that Postage guy being the only ponies there.” RD clarified.

Ditzy gave a confused glance at that, as she dropped off her current parcel “Uhm, we're not the only ponies that work there, Dash.”

“Err, wait. So, then why wasn't there anypony else at the post office?” Rainbow Dash asked, giving a tilt of her head.

“Because there's a flu going around? Didn't you guys see the letter?” The wall-eyed mare replied, giving a skeptical look to her traveling companion.

“Oh...I thought everypony was just faking it or something. Cause they were changeling or whatever?”

“Nope.” Ditzy gave a shake of her head, before flying off once more, leaving Rainbow Dash to follow after her.

Following behind her for a few moments, Rainbow Dash frowned to herself, as she tried to figure out how she wanted to bring up the topic she needed to address. She had to admit to being a bit embarrassed with herself; a pony as awesome as herself should be able to just come out and say what she wanted. No muss, no fuss.

It's not like she hadn't already learned her lesson about judging others too quickly. But thinking about that in the context of Derp-...Ditzy was just plain weird. And it wasn't like she disliked the grey pegasus and it wasn't like it was the worst nickname in the world to-

Rainbow Dash let out a heavy sigh, as she realized how she was trying to make herself feel better about all of this.

“Hey, Ditzy? What I really wanted to-” The blue pegasus began, letting her head hang a bit, as she decided to just be awesome and clear the air.

Which was why it was unfortunate that Ditzy was nowhere in sight.

“Uh, Ditzy?” Rainbow Dash asked aloud, before giving a flap of her wings to get a bit of altitude. Darting about for a few seconds, looking to and fro, her eyes finally landed on the uniformed postal mare a ways down the street.

Zipping down, before settling on the street again, Rainbow Dash trotted up behind the mailmare “Like I was saying-”

“What?” Ditzy blurted out, before turning to send a curious glance Dash's way, revealing the mailbox that had previously been holding her attention.

The Wonderbolts wannabe had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at this “What exactly are you even doing over here?”

Raising an eyebrow curiously at that question, Ditzy gestured her own hoof towards the mailbox and its contents “My job?”

“...Oh, right. That.” Rainbow Dash cleverly replied, as she recalled that they were out there for a reason. Tilting to the side and sparing a moment to take in the sight of the open mailbox, the blue pegasus had to blink is surprise, as she noticed a glitter-covered party invitation. Looking up and taking in the sight of the small, simple house in front of her, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but blurt out “Wait...a changeling lives here?”

“Yes?”

“...Huh. Kinda didn't think it would look so normal.” Rainbow Dash noted, pointedly glancing to the not dissimilar buildings on each side of this simple home “You know? Like it would be kinda more obvious when you knew what to look for or whatever.”

Ditzy gave a shrug at that “I guess not.”

“Yeah...” Dash slowly replied, feeling the conversation dragging down once more, as things were overcome with awkwardness again. Swallowing a bit, as she tried to figure out how to take a hold of things from here, RD found herself tapping her hooves a bit anxiously.

“Uhm, was there something you wanted to ask me about, Rainbow Dash?” The wall-eyed mare asked, sending an inquiring look Rainbow Dash's way.

“Er, yeah. Actually, I did.”

“Is it about Daring Do?” Ditzy asked, already seeming like she was fairly sure what the answer was.

“I, uh-...” Rainbow Dash trailed off at that question, as she tried to process just what that question meant to her. After all, it wasn't like it wasn't true that she had dozens of different questions buzzing in her head about Daring Do being real that she wanted to ask. But that was almost definitely not why she decided she needed to talk to Ditzy. Right?

Sure, Ditzy suddenly seemed almost a hundred times cooler than Rainbow Dash had ever thought before now, but it's not like that was the only reason she wanted to be there. She was there so she could apologize for how un-cool she used to think Ditzy was and-...

...Oh.

“Dash? Uhm, are you in there? Hello?” Ditzy asked, leaning in and waving a hoof in front of Rainbow Dash's face to get her attention.

Shaking her head to clear away the tangle of thoughts that had taken root, she had to push her multi-colored mane out of her eyes before responding “Uh, yeah, I-...sorry about that. I was just sorta thinking and- uh...”

“Is everything alright?”

“I-...uh, no. Not really.” Rainbow Dash admitted, eliciting a concerned look from the grey mare. One that RD quickly tried to disarm with a self-deprecating laugh, while sweeping her hoof through her mane “Don't worry about it, Ditzy. I just, uh, thought of something and I'm feeling kind of embarrassed about it.”

Ditzy furrowed her brow at that, before off-hoofedly adjusting her cap again “What are you feeling embarrassed about?”

“It's just...I've known you for years now and it's pretty obvious that I don't really know anything about you. We've never, you know, hung out or anything.” Rainbow Dash explained.

“I didn't think you wanted to hang out or anything.” Ditzy replied with a frown, clearly a bit skeptical of this. Glancing to the side for a second, she focused one of her eyes back on Rainbow Dash again “I mean, I can just tell you about Daring Do now, if you-”

Rainbow Dash gave a vigorous shake of her head at that “Nah. Forget about Daring Do...I mean, not literally, cause I would totally love to hear everything about her. Just, you know, some other time.”

“Oh. Well, okay, what did you want to know about me?”

RD gave a shrug at that, before responding “I don't know. Just whatever. Like...I mean, you're a mom, right? That's a thing.”

“You want to know about Dinky?”

“Sure. I hang out with Scootaloo all the time, so it's not like I don't like kids. Or we could talk about you and the changelings. I bet that must have been a pretty weird day, right?” Rainbow Dash continued on, intent on trying to learn more about Ditzy now. Even the less than super-awesomely amazing stuff.

“I guess we could talk about that...I mean, they are all moving now.” The mailmare mused.

Rainbow Dash gave an encouraging nod at that, before gesturing with a hoof to continue “Right? I'm guessing you were pretty freaked out, when you started noticing all of these guys lurking around Ponyville, huh?”

“Not really.” Ditzy easily replied, turning to head down the street now. Rainbow Dash was a bit pleased to note that the grey mare still seemed interested in talking, instead of darting off without her noticing “I kind of think they might have been more nervous than I was.”

“Really? I can see that, I guess.”

“Yeah. Especially when they ended up abducting me.” Ditzy casually added.

“Wait...they what?!” Rainbow Dash suddenly exclaimed, immediately drawing the attention of several other pedestrians going along this particular street. Smiling for the benefit of the curious onlookers, the blue pegasus gave an awkward wave before zipping up into the air. Turning around in mid-air, having reached an altitude where they could talk in relative private, Rainbow Dash soon found herself waving for Ditzy to come join her.

Flying up at a more sedate pace, the mailmare tried holding up her hooves to forestall what was coming “I know what you're going to say.”

“They abducted you?!”

“Just a little bit.” Ditzy replied, bring her two forehooves together to demonstrate.

Rainbow Dash had to blink at that and shake her head “How do you abduct somepony just a little? And I thought changelings didn't do that sort of thing?!”

“It wasn't really all that bad. They were just worried that I was going to reveal them, so they showed up at my house.” Ditzy calmly explained. Taking a moment to shift her saddlebags about and tip her cap back a bit, she turned back to the still somewhat bewildered pegasus in front of her “I mean, they weren't really sure how I found out about them. So, I think they wanted to take me away while they figured out things.”

“Take you away?”

“Yeah, it was kind of awkward at first, mostly cause they had gagged me at the time. Then it got just a bit more awkward when Dinky came home from school that day.” Ditzy calmly explained.

“...Dinky saw them trying to abduct you? How are you so calm about that? Shouldn't you have been freaking out?”

“I guess. Really, it was Phyll and his friends that were freaking out. Mostly cause I don't think they wanted to freak out Dinky. Honestly, you should have seen their faces!” The mailmare exclaimed before letting out her own string of titters. Smiling up at the bemused Rainbow Dash, one eye gazing off to the side, but still cheerful “I mean, it can be kinda hard reading changelings, but they were definitely on the verge of panicking.”

“So...Dinky knows too.”

“Mm-hmm. But it's never been a problem, I don't think. She's very mature for her age.” Ditzy added with a touch of pride. Shaking away her maternal delight “Anyway, I managed to get the gag out when everyone was staring at Dinky.”

“And I'm guessing you didn't start calling for help?” Rainbow Dash queried.

The mailmare gave a shake of her head at that “Nope. I let her know that I was just having a chat with some of mommy's friends, and then I sent her into the kitchen to get her after-school snack and to start on her homework.”

“And that worked? Didn't they still have you tied up?”

Ditzy ended up tilting her head one way and then the other, as she considered how to answer that, almost dislodging her cap in the process “Yeah, but I think Phyll decided to go along with what I was saying for Dinky's benefit; I don't think he wanted to drag me off when a little filly was home.”

“Really?”

“Yep. And once Dinky was in the kitchen, I mentioned the whole thing with Cinthi and Vespi naming me a friend to changelings and that pretty much fixed everything.” Ditzy explained a bit more, before being given some pause, as a thought occurred to her. The wall-eyed mare pursed her lips in thought, before giving a nod of her head “Well, not quite everything. After that, Phyll did spend a good ten minutes chewing out poor Ditto, for forgetting about Dinky.”

Rainbow Dash again found herself staring, her mouth a little bit agape.

“Anyway, once they heard me say that, it didn't take them long before agreeing to find out if I was telling the truth. I mean, they still weren't quite ready to let me go...but it was kind of a nice vacation.” Ditzy noted.

“Vacation?”

“Yeah. Zebrica's pretty far off, so it took them over a week to get word back. I ended up just staying home the whole time, while Phyll had someone filling in for me.” Ditzy explained in that same entirely too casual manner of hers. Giving another cheerful smile at those memories “Like I said, it was actually a pretty nice week overall. And Dinky got along great with the changelings Phyll had staying with us.”

Rainbow Dash had to close her eyes for a few seconds, bringing her hooves to hold her head. Letting her forehooves drop and focusing back on Ditzy again “How? How is it I didn't know about any of this?”

Ditzy blinked at the question, taking a moment to use her own hoof to rub her head, before shrugging “Uhm, I'm not really sure, Dash.”

“It's just- I mean, I've never even heard of this stuff.” Rainbow Dash eventually asked, managing to articulate the overriding feelings she's had since the post office “It's like there's all this stuff going on with you and it's just...you, you know?”

“Uhm, not really.” The mailmare replied, looking a bit embarrassed. Looking down for a moment, as she thought it over, Ditzy eventually focused one of her eyes back on Dash “I guess everyone's got their own stories, huh?”

“Huh. I guess so...” RD noted to herself, even as she lightly chewed the inside of her cheek in thought. Before she could ponder that over for too long, Dash found herself briefly dropping through the air, as she suddenly felt some new burden on her back. Correcting herself in the air, she quickly turned back to see that Ditzy had taken advantage of her momentary introspection to toss a set of saddlebags over her back “Uhhhh, what are you doing?”

“Well, I think we might be kinda falling behind a bit, so I figured we'd split up the workload.” Ditzy cheerfully explained, as she tightened the straps on the saddlebags. Adjusting her own shoulder bag, the mailmare pulled out a piece of paper before handing it to the bemused Rainbow Dash “Here's a list of the addresses for these deliveries. Just put all the parcels with the same address in the mail slots and it should be fine.”

Hesitantly taking the list in hoof, the blue pegasus glanced back up towards the wall-eyed mare “Uhm, Ditzy? I'm not sure that I-”

“Oh right!” Ditzy exclaimed before fishing a hoof about in her shoulder bag once more. After rooting around for a few seconds, she pulled forth another slip of paper. Fiddling with it in her hooves for a moment, she then turned and pressed a hoof to Rainbow Dash's chest without warning “There we go!”

“What are you-” The blue pegasus started to blurt out, before looking down. Rainbow Dash was brought to a pause, as she noticed the sticker that had been stuck to her, sporting what looked to be a stylized pegasus foal in flight “Uh, what?”

“I now dub you an official Junior Postal Courier!” Ditzy happily declared.

“What?”

“Just take your time and I'm sure you'll do fine.” The now-senior mailmare helpfully advised.

“...What?”

“Alright then. We'll meet back up at the post office as soon as we're both done.” Ditzy added with a smile, before abruptly turning and flying back down towards town.

This left Rainbow Dash staring after her, not really sure what she was supposed to do now. Frowning to herself, she cast her gaze once more to the sticker now adorning her front. Idly brushing a hoof against it, trying to pull the paper from her coat, she quickly realized her efforts were to no avail.

“Huh...that's on there pretty good.”

Chapter Five: No Horsin' Around

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“This-...this can't be the right place.”

Twilight couldn't help but purse her lips and furrow her brow, as she saw her changeling guide give a tilt of his head and trot over to one side of the road.

Glancing from the site of her dismay and back to Phyll once more, she gestured a hoof towards the waiting stallion “I-...what are you doing?”

“I assume you have questions? It seems prudent to get them all settled here, before we head in.” Phyll casually replied, gesturing back with his own disguised hoof.

“This is the Silver Estate!” Twilight exclaimed in a slightly shrill voice, before abruptly slapping a hoof across her own mouth. There weren't many other places it could be, on this side of town. The Silvers seemed to favor their privacy, something that she could appreciate after her near outburst. Forcing herself to calm down a bit more, she steadily lowered her hoof and once more tried addressing the issue at hoof “This is the-”

“Silver Estate, yes.” Phyll patiently nodded.

“It sure is.” Applejack noted from Twilight's side, making no attempt to hide her scrutiny of the opulent estate. Pursing her own lips in thought and giving a tilt of her head, the farmpony turned towards Phyll “Is it just me? Or has this place gotten bigger since Ah was last here?”

“Correct. They added a conservatory along the East wing.” Phyll bluntly responded, before gesturing to the addition in question.

“Uhm. Can we circle back around to the part of the conversation about how this is the Silver Estate?” Twilight asked, with just a touch of bemusement at the tangent.

Phyll tilted his head up and stood a bit straighter “Of course. What about it?”

“...It's the Silver Estate.” Twilight slowly reiterated.

“And you're inferring that this means that the Silver family is comprised of changelings?”

The young princess considered the question for a moment, before glancing downwards slightly “I'm...I was somewhat concerned about the possibility, yes.”

“They aren't changelings.” Phyll easily assured.

Twilight nodded at that with just a bit of sheepishness “Right, that-...that would actually be pretty unlikely, now that I think about it.”

She had to refrain from ducking her head, as she admitted to letting her thoughts run away from her like that. While the Rich family was certainly more well-known throughout Ponyville, anyone with any familiarity with the subject knew that the Silvers were the wealthiest family in the whole town. And they were vieux riche at that. Old money. The kind that could track its roots to before Nightmar-...Luna's banishment; the sort that even the upper echelons of Canterlot society couldn't turn their collectives noses up at...

While Twilight had gained a sobering appreciation for the ability of changelings to infiltrate pony society, pulling off something like that would have been beyond implausible. That possibility chased from her mind now, she turned her attention back to Phyll “So, if the Silvers aren't changelings, I suppose that would mean-”

“Family doctor.” The changeling supplied. Leaning back for a moment, the stallion bowed his head forward for a moment “My apologies. You were going to ask if the changeling in question was an employee of sorts, correct?”

“Uhm, yes. And it's alright. That's sort of exactly where I was going.”

“Again, my apologies for rushing you.” Phyll replied with another nod, before gesturing a hoof towards the estate “Anyway, I believe you would know her as Honest Care. She should be still be here if my estimates are correct.”

“Hold on. Did you say Honest Care?” Applejack piped up at that.

The disguised changeling opened his mouth for a moment before pausing, as he visibly considered why AJ might be speaking up “...She's the one that picked the name. I'm fairly sure she didn't mean it ironically.”

“Ah-...Ah suppose it's not really important or nothin'...just kind of an odd choice, all things considered.” Applejack relented after a moment.

“She was always rather empathetic. Probably would have been happier staying back at the hive as a caretaker.” The stallion noted.

“If that's the case, how'd she end up here?” Twilight asked, genuinely curious.

Phyll shrugged “Excellent bedside manner, good at putting ponies at ease. And many of our own healers and caretakers learn their ways by learning them from ponies, in the field...and we wanted more eyes and ears in Ponyville.”

“Because of us?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. To which Phyll only shrugged, not even bothering with denying it. Frowning slightly at that, the princess' attention was quickly drawn to the friend at her side “Is everything alright, AJ?”

Visibly shaken from her thoughts, Applejack looked over “Huh?...Oh, right. 'Course, Sugarcube. Just-...just was thinkin' 'bout the time Applebloom took that tumble. Honest Care was the one that ended up taking a look at her leg and settin' her aright...”

“...Is that alright?” Phyll quietly asked, before Twilight could think to.

Applejack blinked at that, before giving a tilt of her head “Huh...Guess it kinda is. Ah suppose it just feels- she sorta struck me as a nice sort.”

“Still is.” The changeling easily replied.

“Well...alright then. Time's a-wastin', isn't it? Got a lot of changelings to meet-up with, right?” AJ asked, shaking off her sudden bout of introspection and setting a brisk trot down the cobblestone path leading on to the estate. After sharing a brief glance with one another, Twilight and Phyll wasted no time in following after.

There was actually a fair bit of walking left for them, as they left the packed dirt of the road and started trotting up the cobblestone path that would eventually lead them to the front door. While Filthy Rich's own home was luxurious enough to have its own swimming pool and staff of live-in servants, the Silver mansion was sprawling; there were even side paths branching off the main path that circled off to other parts of grounds. It made it feel to Twilight like she was the one paying a visit to royalty, instead of the other way around.

Picking up her pace briefly, to draw alongside her friend, the young princess quietly cleared her throat to gather AJ's attention “So...I can't say I've ever had the pleasure of meeting with the Silvers.”

“Hm? Oh, you don't got nothin' to worry about, Sugarcube. Ah mean, shoot, yer a princess now, right?” The farmpony quickly reassured.

Twilight nodded in turn, before tilting her head towards Applejack “I suppose it's a bit much to say that I'm really worried...I just can't ever recall ever meeting them. I mean, I've seen their filly here and there, but I don't really think I know anything about them.”

“Well, Ah guess you could say they're real straightforward about things, if that's what yer wonderin' about. Not a lot of bandyin' about between the two of them...Filigree can be a bit forceful.” AJ supplied with a shrug.

“Filigree?”

The farmpony gave a nod at that. “Yup. Silver Filigree and Pewter Pick, her husband. Pretty upfront about everything Ah'd say, all things said-and-done.”

“Hm.” Twilight chewed the inside of her cheek lightly at that. Glancing to the set of doors they were steadily approaching and then to Phyll, still lagging a bit behind the two of them, the purple pony leaned in closer “And...is everything alright? You seemed a bit bothered a few moments ago.”

AJ blinked at the question before giving a chuckle and wave of her hoof “You don' gotta worry about me, Twi. Not that Ah don't appreciate it. Ah just got a lot on my mind is all.”

“Oh. Well, if you ever need to talk...”

“Ah might take you up on that, after things have settled down a touch.” Applejack replied with a small smile.

A smile that Twilight was all too happy to return “Anytime you need-”

“I can still hear both of you.”

“I'm sorry?” The purple princess blurted out.

The disguised Phyll trotted up alongside the two “Not that I mind. But if that was meant to be a private conversation, I could still hear the both of you quite clearly from back there.”

“Oh...” Twilight slowly replied, drawing to a brief pause.

Applejack gave a shake of her head at that, before giving a quiet huff “T'wasn't nothin' being said that needed to be kept quiet about. Ain't no secret that Ah can't talk to Twilight if Ah need to.”

“Fair enough.” Phyll easily replied, as he sidled up along the oaken double doors that marked their intended destination. Looking back to the two mares, he gave a tilt of his head to the heavy doors “Would either of you like to knock, or shall I?”

Twilight found herself staring for a moment at the question, before looking between AJ and the still disguised changeling “Uhm...well, I suppose it should be me, shouldn't it?”

“Seems appropriate.” Phyll replied, which was met with a supportive shrug from Applejack.

Swallowing down some small amount of anxiety, Twilight soon shouldered through it and stepped up to the large double doors. Spotting the metal plaque on the door within easy reach of the average hoof, she lifted her hoof. Taking one last breath, she beat her hoof against the knocker with three even thrusts of her limb.

Everyone gathered waited idly, as the loud, knocking noises died down, eventually leaving them in relative silence. Glancing to the side as the seconds wore on, the young princess cleared her throat for a moment, before looking to her two escorts “So...how long do you think I should-”

Naturally, one of the oaken doors took just that moment to creak its way open, leading the purple mare to turn her attention back and stand up a bit straighter “Hello! I'm so sorry to bother-...”

Twilight drew to a sudden pause, as she found herself staring at empty space, having expected to see somepony at the door.

“Uhm...Is there anypony-”

“Wha? What's somepony sorry for?” A slightly tired voice rasped out, leading everyone's gaze downward.

“O-oh! You're Silver Spoon, right?” Twilight quickly blurted out, as she realized that it had been the little gray filly that answered the door, and not one of her parents.

Still dressed in what seemed to be some rather wrinkled, and probably expensive, silken pajamas, the young filly hazily lifted her glasses to rub at her eyes before letting them drop back down “Ms. Twilight? What are you doing here?”

“I-...are you just waking up?” Twilight hesitantly asked, furrowing her brow, before pointedly turning her gaze to the lovely Summer day the filly seemed to be missing out on.

“I've been awake for a while...” Silver Spoon pitifully replied, as she idly rubbed at her cheek with a hoof. Loosing a mighty sniffle, before trying to swipe at her nose with the same hoof, only to loose even more sniffles “I don't think I've been sleeping much...Been feeling- been feeling-...I've-...Ah, ah...”

Twilight blinked at that strange response, before leaning in with concern “You've been feeling...?”

“Uh, Sugarcube? You might want ta-”

“I-I've been feel-...” Silver Spoon cut the farmpony's warning short, as she abruptly took in a sharp breath.

“Is everything al-”

“Aaacchhhh-Choooo!!!”

Both Applejack and Phyll ended up stumbling backwards a few steps, intent on avoiding the splash-zone of the mucus and spittle laced expulsion. AJ had more than enough experience dealing with a sick little sister to have seen what was coming and the disguised changeling seemed to have picked up on the Earth pony's caution.

Twilight wasn't so lucky.

“...Eh....ehhh...” The purple princess quietly gasped out, as she stood stock-still, some part of her thinking that standing still might make the situation less gross. A more logical part of her realized it was far too late...

Giving another sniff and bringing a sleeve up to wipe at her face once more, Silver Spoon awkwardly adjusted her glasses back into place, before she finished croaking out what she meant to say “...I've been feeling a bit...under the weather...”

“I-...I'm sorry to hear that.” Twilight managed to awkwardly reply. Forcing down the urge to shiver in disgust at the film of-...the purple pony stopped herself from thinking about it too hard. Leaning back and closing her eyes as she tried to take in a deep breath, she stopped herself, as she was reminded of the approximate locations of certain...fluids.

She was pretty sure a small amount of the filly's mucus might have actually gone into her mouth.

“You alright there, Twi?” AJ asked from the side.

“Yep...yep. Yep.” Twilight quickly replied, her eyes still closed. A moment later, her horn was set aglow with the power of her magic. Feeling her magic sliding over her face for a moment, she peeked an eye open to catch sight of the scraped away mucus that was now hovering in the air in front of her. Trying not to make a face at that, she let the gathered up goo fall to one side of that cobblestone path they were still standing upon.

“If this is about that book I checked out, I can go get it, Ms. Twilight...” Silver Spoon quietly offered, before giving a light shake of her head. Turning to one side, the gray filly gestured inside absentmindedly “I jus' have to go back up to my room...”

Frowning at the obviously unwell pony, and having shaken off most of her shock over being sneezed on, Twilight gave a quick shake of her head “Oh, no. No, no, no, I'm not here for that. You're not even late yet, I don't think you- I can certainly have Spike waive any fees-”

Applejack took that moment to trot closer to the ailing filly, before tipping her hat back and leaning closer “Uh, you sure you should be up-and-about answerin' doors, darlin'?”

“I'm not that sick...” Silver Spoon replied with a quiet whine, that would tell most adults that, yes, she was that sick. Loosing a quiet cough into her hoof, the gray filly looked to one side before muttering “It's jus' a stupid cold...”

Applejack had to roll her eyes at that, more familiar with these kind of antics from a foal than Twilight “Alright. Yer not foolin' anypony like that, darlin'. And Ah'm pretty sure yer Ma and Pa aren't goin' to be happy seein' you out of bed.”

The gray filly let out a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a whine at that, before giving a deep frown “But Tiara promised that she'd come over...”

“I'm not so sure visits are a good idea, right now. You wouldn't want your friend getting sick too, would you?” Twilight gently pointed out, as she tried not to think about the odds of her catching this cold now.

“...What are you even doing here anywa-any-...ah. Ah-” Both Applejack and Twilight snapped back quickly from the filly, as she started breathing in, the two of them sharing in the knowledge of what was about to occur “...Ah!...Huh...Accccchhhhooooo!!!”

This time Twilight was a bit more prepared, her horn taking on its trademark glow half-a-second before it was too late. Blinking in momentary relief and surprise, as she watched the mucus and spittle splattering against the translucent magical barrier that had popped into existence in front of her, Twilight soon found herself snapping her attention to something small and blue whipping upwards through the air.

Quickly letting the barrier drop, after the worst of the sneeze had passed, the princess focused her magic on the task of gently plucking the object out of the air before it could make its way to the ground.

“Ugggghhh...I'm sorry, I didn't mean-...uh, wait...” Silver Spoon muttered, as she again tried to rub at her nose with her sleeve, only to draw to a pause. Blinking in tired confusion for a moment, the filly squinted upwards at the trio of figures in front of her “I-...no, no, no. I think my-”

“No worries. I managed to catch them.” Twilight quickly reassured. Leaning in, the princess used her magic to gently float Silver Spoon's glasses back into place. Smiling for a moment as the filly gave a few blinks as the corrective eyewear found their proper place once more, the purple mare let her expression slip into a small frown “Uhm...I think you might have a bit of...mucus on your-”

“Don't worry about it.” Silver Spoon raspily replied, waving away the older pony's concern with her same snot-covered hoof she'd just wiped her nose with “They- they've been like that all day. I don't even notice anymore...Uhm, thank you.”

“No problem.” Twilight responded, her smile creeping back into place.

Giving another sniffle, before clearing her throat and adjusting how her glasses sat upon her nose with her hoof again, Silver Spoon glanced back up to the small group “So, like...why are you all here again?”

“Might be best if we talked about it with yer parents, darlin'.” Applejack supplied with just a touch of awkwardness.

The little filly furrowed her brow at that, a touch suspicious at the response “Uhm...am I in trouble for something?”

“What? No, no, no.” Twilight replied with a shake of her head, before gesturing a hoof to the stallion at the back of their group “It's just that-...Mr. Davenport needs to speak with someone and we thought they might be here. You're not in trouble.”

“Oh...aren't you the one my mom bought that big green couch from?” Silver Spoon absently asked the supposed pony.

After a few moments of visible thought, he gave an easy nod “I do believe so. I hope she's still satisfied with her purchase?”

“It's really scratchy...” Silver Spoon muttered, before giving a shake of her head. Looking back up to Twilight “If you need somepony, we can ask my mom...She keeps track of pretty much everypony here.”

“If it's not too much trouble?” Twilight asked with a tilt of her head.

Silver Spoon gave a shrug at that “It's fine.”

“I really appreciate it. We can just wait here if-”

“MMMOOOOOMMMMM!!!!”

All of them gave a startled jump, Phyll included, as the little filly abruptly put her surprisingly powerful lungs to the task of getting her mother's attention.

Silver Spoon, apparently not thinking much of it, gave a series of small coughs, before taking in another breath. In an only slightly quieter voice from before, the gray filly soon added to her previous exclamation “Ponies at the door for you!!!!”

Still trying to settle her breathing from the mild fright Silver Spoon had just given her, it took a moment for Twilight to take note of the filly clearing her throat again and looking back up towards her “Mom should be here in just a sec...”

“Uhm, thank you...” The princess stiffly replied, her ears still pinned down flat against her head.

Applejack, once more rubbing her over-stressed ears this day, turned to the side for a moment before muttering to herself “Forgot they did that...”

Phyll merely settled for closing his eyes for several seconds, as he brought his own breath under control. Peeking one eye open and looking towards the distracted filly, the disguised changeling did briefly clear his throat before speaking up “I meant to say...sorry for the scratchy couch.”

Silver Spoon blinked at that, before shaking her head absently “It's fine. We've got a lot of couches anyway...”

Before that line of discussion could be picked at any further, their collective attention was caught be the sound of steadily approaching hoofsteps. Silver Spoon herself tiredly glanced upwards, as a mauve-coated mare sharing her same silver tresses came to the doorway.

Pursing her lips and furrowing her carefully maintained eyebrows, the older mare peered down upon the ailing filly through the pair of half-moon spectacles resting upon her nose “And just what are you doing out of bed?”

Looking to one side, as many children did when being chastised, Silver Spoon looked back up to her presumed mother “There was somepony at the door, and I was already up, and I thought-”

At seeing this, Twilight ducked her head a bit, feeling somehow responsible. Clearing her throat, the purple mare took a step forward, holding up a hoof “Uhm...I think this is really more my fault than anypony's. I'm sorry for causing any trouble, but we were hoping that-...uhm...”

Twilight found herself trailing off, as the older mare turned her attention towards her. Taken aback by the unwavering look being sent her way over the pair of lens, she briefly found her thoughts taking her back to the days when she would take lessons from the sterner, more intimidating teachers, that Princess Celestia occasionally assigned her.

“...I'll just wait here.” Twilight eventually finished, earning a curious raising of an eyebrow from the wealthy Earth pony. It was, thankfully, a short-lived moment, as the older mare quickly turned her attention to the gray filly in front of her once again.

“Now...just what was it you were thinking, Silver Spoon?”

Ducking her head briefly, the filly glanced up before giving a sniffle and replying “I thought it might be Diamond Tiara visiting...”

“We've already discussed this, we can't have you-”

“I know. It's just...Ms. Twilight needs something...” Silver Spoon eventually trailed off, as she made a poor attempt at changing the subject.

The older mare gave out a long sigh at this, before raising a hoof to the bridge between her eyes. A scant moment later, she lowered her hoof before turning to the gathered ponies at her doorstep “You'll have to forgive me my rudeness; my nerves are somewhat frayed at the moment.”

Twilight gave a quick shake of her head at that “It's no problem. I can completely understand how you might be more focused on Silver Spoon here.”

“I appreciate your understanding.”

“I've had to look after Spike from time-to-time, when's he become sick. I really do understand what it's like to be worrying about someone in this condition.” Twilight quickly added. A moment's thought later, she quickly realized that she'd become a bit distracted, before holding out a hoof “Sorry about that. We haven't met yet, I don't believe. I'm-”

“Princess Twilight, yes.”

The purple princess blinked at that momentarily “Oh-oh...You would probably already know I am, wouldn't you? I mean, not that I necessarily expected it from anypony. But, I suppose it's not like it's a secret or anything-”

Twilight was abruptly brought out of her somewhat self-conscious rambling, as the mauve mare in front of her tapped Twilight's outstretched hoof with her own with a hoof-bump. Giving a tilt of her head that deftly shifted several silver strands of her mane back into place, the older mare set her hoof back down “Silver Filigree. And let me again apologize.”

“Uhm. What for?” Twilight asked, a bit thrown by the apology. So much so, it took her a moment to remember to lower her own outstretched hoof.

“Well, I certainly should have come forward to congratulate you on your rise in status before now. It's hardly appropriate to let such an accomplishment go unrecognized for so long.” Filigree calmly explained, gesturing with her hoof before letting it settle across her daughters withers.

“Oh. That's really- I really wouldn't have even known how to respond to that.” Twilight quickly admitted.

“I did assume that your time would have been rather taken up by other, more important matters.”

The princess gave an awkward smile at that, before giving a shake of her head “It really is fine. We hadn't even been properly introduced yet, so it's perfectly understandable...And I have been kind of busy lately.”

“So, I can see.” Silver Filigree nodded at that, before turning her attention towards Applejack and giving a nod “Ms. Applejack. It's good to see you're still in good health.”

AJ rose a hoof to give a tilt of her hat at that, before responding “Thank ya kindly. Hope the rich life's still treatin' you and yours alright.”

“We somehow manage. The hardest part is avoiding Spoiled's little get-togethers without leaving her feeling too insulted.” The older mare replied with a shrug and surprisingly casual tone. Turning her attention to the last member of their little party, Filigree gave a tilt of her head at the stallion's presence “And Mr. Davenport...Color me curious.”

The disguised changeling gave his own shrug at that “It's something of a curious day.”

“I see...So, tell me how I might help you, Princess Twilight.” The older mare eventually asked, focusing her attention back upon Twilight.

“Yes. Well...we were actually hoping to find a certain somepony.”

Filigree gave a tilt of her head at that “Somepony?”

Phyll took that opportunity to step forward “Yes, we were hoping that Honest Care might still be here? I understand she was coming down to check on your daughter.”

The older mare briefly exchanged looks with her own bemused daughter, before letting an eyebrow creep upwards “And may I ask what it is you needed her for? Princess Twilight?”

“It's a bit difficult to explain. You see, Mrs. Silver, Honest Care is a-...going on a trip.” Twilight eventually offered.

“A trip? Now? This is hardly the best of times for her to be leaving Ponyville. If Silver Spoon's condition worsens-”

“I'm not that sick, Mama.” The gray filly at her side groaned, before turning to the side and coughing lightly into her hoof.

To which Filigree only rolled her eyes, before turning back towards Twilight “Honest Care's very nearly the only pediatrician in Ponyville that I trust to manage my Silver Spoon. When is she supposed to be leaving?”

“Uhm...today?” The princess shrank a bit, as she offered up that presumably unwelcome news. And sure enough, the older mare's expression hardened into a rather stern frown, as she processed this news. Taking her hoof from her daughter's withers and raking it across her silver coif, Filigree took an agitated breath before using that same hoof to adjust her own spectacles.

“Well. I suppose I will need to fetch her quickly, won't I?” Silver Filigree seemed to be asking more of herself.

“I'm sorry?” Twilight hesitantly offered.

Silver Filigree pursed her lips at that, openly scrutinizing the purple alicorn at the same time. Lightly adjusting the frames of her eyewear once more, she slowly let out a breath before nodding “Well...let me see if I can't fetch Honest for you, Princess Twilight. We need to have this all sorted out...”

“Thank you...And you can just call me Twilight, Mrs. Silver.” Twilight replied with a smile and a nod. Blinking for a moment as she thought about her words, she quickly cleared her throat before leaning back and gesturing with her hoof “I mean, if you like. You don't have to...But if you do, I'm perfectly comfortable with it...That is, even though I'm a princess now, you-”

“Take a breath, Sugarcube. She ain't gonna bite if ya don't want her callin' you 'Princess', Twi.” Applejack eventually interjected, giving her purple friend a light tap of her hoof to get her attention. Getting a word in edgewise, the farmpony turned back towards the older mare “She's still gettin' used to all this, Fil.”

“Fair enough. I have enough of Spoiled's friends trying to kiss my hooves all the time, so the change of pace would be welcome.” Filigree replied with a shrug, before turning back towards Twilight “So, Twilight...I believe we both need to have words with Honest Care?”

Before Twilight could respond, the mauve-coated mare turned back inside, her intent apparent. Clearing her throat for a moment, Filigree turned and gave a tilt of her head back towards Twilight “Honest Care should still be with Pewter. If you'll give me just a moment...”

“Of course.” Twilight brightly said, happy to have seen things calmed down ever so slightly. Taking her eyes off of Filigree, she spared a hopeful look back towards her two escorts. And while Phyll still looked rather impassive about all of this, she soon found her mood dampening again as she noticed AJ pinning back her own ears suddenly...

“Uhm, AJ? Is something-”

“PEEEWWWTTTTER!!!!”

Twilight felt only a brief moment of relief, as her jaw snapped shut in surprise, that she didn't accidentally bite into her tongue. This small consolation was almost completely overshadowed, as she jolted ever so slightly into the air. Her wings fluttering of their own volition for a few moments, the young princess again found herself settling her frayed nerves.

Giving a shake of her head, as she fully processed this little...quirk of the Silvers, Twilight spared a glance for AJ. Twilight now had a better grasp of why the farmpony's ears had been flattened now, as well as the apologetic look she was now receiving. Turning back towards the home's occupants again, she was given a moment's warning when she saw Filigree taking in another deep breath, now knowing what it portended to.

“Please bring Honest Care to the front door!!!!” Silver Spoon's mother called back into the large house. Taking a moment to adjust her glasses once more, Filigree turned her own ear deeper into the mansion, apparently waiting on a response.

Clearing her throat awkwardly, if quietly, Twilight took a moment to glance back towards her own wings and their now ruffled feathers.

'...Dash is probably going to have something to say about proper wing maintenance, when we get back...'

Frowning briefly, at the strange places her mind could take her at times, Twilight was shaken from those thoughts by her own ears quirking on their own. Bobbing her head a bit, she gave a listen to the sound that caught her attention...

“...One moment, sweetheart...”

Giving a nod at that, Silver Filigree brushed her mane to the side before turning back to her guests “Well...that should be that, I suppose.”

Resisting the urge to rub at her ears, Twilight gave an apologetic smile to the matron of the family “I really am sorry about bringing this up on such short notice.”

“Why ever should you be sorry, Ms. Twilight? It's not as if you are part of the reason Honest Care has to leave, correct?” Filigree asked, as she looked over her glasses to the young princess.

“I-...It actually kind of is my fault she has to leave so suddenly, I'm sorry to say.” Twilight said in an apologetic tone, even as she failed to notice Phyll's attempts to get her attention.

She couldn't help but have her attention drawn by how the sunlight seemed to catch the lens of Filigree's glasses, obscuring her eyes for a moment “So...I take it you do know why my pediatrician has to leave then?”

Twilight's lips buttoned up at that moment, even as Phyll cringed a bit “I'm sorry?”

“If you think this is somehow your fault, Ms. Twilight, that would suggest you played some part in all of this? Or am I misunderstanding?” Filigree pressed, even as her daughter gave a bored yawn from her side.

“Well...No. That's accurate.” Twilight conceded.

“So, may I ask you just why it is Honest Care needs to be going on this trip?” Filigree asked, adjusting her spectacles once more.

The young princess found herself freezing up at that question for a moment, even as it occurred to her that the older mare might have lead her into this little trap.

“Uhhh, Fil?” AJ abruptly stepped forth, not sure entirely how she could help, but very aware that Twilight was floundering a bit “Ah think that what Twilight here was tryin' to say here was-....Uhh, that is to say...”

“It's official business!” Twilight quickly blurted out, even as Phyll abruptly facehoofed.

“Official business?...As in, official 'princess' business?” Filigree asked with a tilt of her head.

“Yep! That's right. Ah guess we really shoulda lead with that. Eh, Twilight?” AJ asked a bit nervously.

Twilight gave a quick nod before bowing her head “Sorry. I probably should have mentioned that.”

“So, if I'm understanding this correctly, my daughter's pediatrician needs to go on a trip. And this somehow is of such importance, that it necessitates the presence of an Alicorn Princess to see it through in an official capacity?” Silver Filigree evenly summed up, with an elegant eyebrow arching up ever higher as she did.

And suddenly the young princess realized, there was no good response for that.

“And...somehow, Mr. Davenport is involved in all of this?” The older mare asked with a raised eyebrow for the stallion. For his part, the disguised changeling didn't bother looking up, quite content to not contribute anything else to do this dialogue.

There were several moments of silence, as the threesome tried their best to not too obviously share looks of uncertainty with one another. It was eventually Applejack that turned towards Twilight with a sigh.

“Us square dancin' around the truth is startin' to feel like the wrong way ta do this. If we jus' explain things...Ah'm really startin' think we oughta just come clean on this one, Sugarcube.” AJ offered, extending a hoof towards the young princess.

“Come clean about what?”

Twilight could certainly see how the mingling of genes had played out between little Silver Spoon's parents, as she caught sight of the stallion that surely had to be the filly's father. He didn't quite match Big Macintosh in terms of size, but the fellow was pretty far from scrawny, as he easily filled the rest of the doorway with his approach. Unsurprisingly, given his daughter, he had a coat of fine gray fur and shared in the family tendency towards corrective eyewear. And just above those round glasses, a neatly trimmed dark blue mane.

“We've got quite the social event forming on our front door, don't we?” The stallion noted in a robust tone, as he took in everyone's presence.

“So it would seem...” Filigree noted with a scrutinizing look towards her guests, before turning towards her husband “Did you bring-

“Honest Care is right here, Fil.” The stallion, Pewter, interrupted with a gesture toward the sheepish looking mare that seemed to be ducking behind him “May I ask what's going on?”

A mighty sniffle came from Filigree's side, before Silver Spoon decided to chime in again “I think Honest Care might be in trouble...Or maybe, like...Ms. Twilight, I guess? I'm not really sure.”

“Oh...So, you think it's one of these two that's landed into some trouble, do you?” Pewter asked his daughter in a knowing tone, to which the filly had the good sense to look abashed. The corner of his mouth briefly twitched upwards at this, before he turned his attention to the gathering “So, what exactly is going on here?”

“It seems, Twilight and Applejack are here to take Honest Care away from us...I'm still a bit uncertain as to Mr. Davenport's involvement.” Filigree noted, turning a pointedly appraising look towards the other stallion. For his part, he settled for clearing his throat uncomfortably.

“It's kinda hard ta explain, Fil.” AJ admitted, taking a step forward to draw the couple's attention. Taking a moment to tilt her hat back, AJ found herself glancing to the side “That is, Ah can't honestly say quite how much we're allowed ta-”

“It's my fault.”

Everypony turned their attention towards Honest Care, as she stepped out from behind Pewter, only to duck her head back down at all of the gazes landing on her.

“That is-...” She trailed off for a moment, occasionally glancing towards the disguised Phyll, as she shuffled on her hooves. The awkward silence came to an end, as Silver Spoon gave another mighty sniffle at Filigree's side, before breaking out into a fit of coughs. Snapping from her apparent discomfort, Honest Care almost immediately started to move towards the coughing filly before digging her heels in.

"I, uh- I have some lozenges right here. I meant to-...” Honest Care began, nodding her head to her saddlebag for a moment, before ducking her head. Visibly flinching a bit, as Silver Spoon gave another raggedly cough, she couldn't stop from looking towards Phyll in a silent request for permission.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” Filigree abruptly snapped, startling Honest Care into action before the disguised Phyll could really convey anything. Quickly trotting over, she turned towards her saddlebags before reaching in and pulling out a small baggy. Pulling open the bag with her teeth, she quickly fished a couple out, before proffering it to the filly.

Taking a moment to adjust her glasses and focus her gaze on the hoof held in front of her, Silver Spoon cleared her throat before rasping out “Th-...Those aren't gonna taste as terrible as the other stuff?

“No, no. This will just help ease your throat a bit. Just let it melt in your mouth like a hard candy.” Honest Care easily explained.

“Oh...What flavor is it?” Silver Spoon asked a bit suspiciously.

Honest Care smiled at that, before dropping the lozenges she had already retrieved back in and holding the open bag out for the filly to inspect “All kinds. You go ahead and pick.”

Blinking at that, the filly reached a hoof into the bag before fishing one of the cough drops out and scrutinizing her pick “...Purple usually means grape, right?”

“Is that alright?”

“...Yeah. Thank you.” Silver Spoon easily replied before clearing her throat for a moment and popping it in.

“Remember, just let it melt in your mouth. That should help with the coughing.” Smiling to herself now, Honest Care took back the bag. Turning back to Filigree, her apparent good mood quickly withered away, shrinking down as she offered the bag to the older mare “I, uh-...If she-...you can just give her another when she starts coughing again...”

“I'll keep that in mind, thank you...Now if you could tell me why...” It was Filigree's turn to trail-off as she turned her attention back towards her others guests. While they recovered as quickly as they could, it wasn't hard to catch both AJ and Twilight staring.

“So, a princess, a farmer, and a shopkeeper show up on our doorstep and...what am I supposed to take away from this?” Pewter chimed in again, glancing between everypony present with an upraised eyebrow.

“Right. Sorry. I suppose-...” Twilight began, earning the stallion's attention, before faltering. Clearing her throat for a moment, she looked back to the waiting family, and holding up a hoof “If I could just have one moment?”

“Of course. By all means.” Pewter replied with a nod, before his wife could object. This did lead to Filigree sending a look his way, that Twilight didn't think she could readily translate.

Taking a couple of steps back, the young princess turned towards Phyll, before leaning in “...Phyll?”

“Yes?” Phyll replied, stepping to the side a bit to allow room for AJ to join the conversation.

“...I think Applejack might be correct. It may be best to simply try to explain the situation honestly with them.” Twilight admitted to the disguised changeling, as she gestured to her friend.

“Ah can't say Ah disagree with that in the least. 'Sides, Ah kinda think Fil's already onto something here anyhow, ya know?” AJ offered to Phyll, in the hopes of persuading the changeling.

“You're probably correct. It would be pretty hard to believe that she isn't suspicious at this point.” The changeling agreed, leading Twilight to duck her head in momentary embarrassment; the young princess had given away quite a bit more than she intended. Although, that could be attributed to Filigree's shrewdness thus far.

It seemed like the older mare wasn't the sort to let any stray comment go un-scrutinized.

Clearing her throat, Twilight turned her attention back to Phyll “So...I think it may be best if I explain the full situation to the Silvers.”

“...As you say.”

Twilight blinked at his easily acquiescing to her decision, before reminding herself that the changeling had made it pretty clear that he was ready to follow her lead. Taking in a deep breath, she stepped forward once more, earning Filigree's and Pewter's attention once more “Sorry for before. I think everyone here is in agreement that we should just be honest with you about what's happening.”

“Oh? Were we struggling to come to that decision?” Filigree asked with a somewhat sour look on her face.

Before Twilight could even really duck her head in embarrassment at the question, the older mare's attention was drawn to her husband, as Pewter laid a hoof over her withers.

“Let's go easy on her, dear. I'm sure Ms. Twilight is already under a great deal of pressure as it stands and I'm sure she has her reasons.” The stallion soothed in a steady tone, before taking a moment to adjust his glasses. Gesturing his hoof back to the waiting group “We should let them say their piece, before we judge.”

“...Fine, fine. Of course, you're right about this, Pewter.” Filigree soon relented, letting out a puff of air and raising a hoof to massage the bridge between her eyes. Lowering her hoof, she nodded towards Twilight before tilting her head towards the meek Honest Care to her side “Please, Twilight...What exactly is it that Honest Care has done?”

“Oh. Well-...she hadn't exactly done anything. Certainly nothing wrong, that I know of. It's just she-...that is...” Twilight steadily trailed off at that, a bit put out by Filigree's seeming presumption about Honest Care's possible guilt. Looking past the older mare, it was hard not to notice how uncomfortable and shame-faced she was. It seemed rather unkind, at that moment, to leave the changeling in that position to the young princess.

“Perhaps...Maybe it would be best if Honest Care was the one to-”

“I'm a changeling!”

It would surprise no one to know, that this elicited some stares from everyone present.

“...Oh! Sweet stars above! That felt good to say out loud...” Honest Care opined, raising a hoof up to her brow before sliding it down her side. Taking in a deep breath, before exhaling it giddily “Seriously, you have no idea how- how-...Oh.”

It was at this moment, she finally noticed everyone staring at her and it sunk in just what she had done.

“...Eeeeep! Eeeee-I mean-...That is to say, Eeeeee-it would be a very weird thing to- I am so sorry Phyll. It's just, it's been so long and then when Twilight was about to say-...which is to say I'm not a changeling...My mistake.” Honest Care started babbling anxiously, looking anywhere but back towards her audience. Snapping her lips shut for a moment, she briefly looked ready to burst out of sheer nervousness.

“It's alri-” Phyll almost began.

Before he could finish though, Honest Care gave out another loud squeak before raising her hoof and beginning to gesture wildly “Oh no! No, no, no, noooooo! I didn't mean to say all of that! It was just a joke. Please don't tell Queen Chrysalis, Phyll!...I mean, don't listen to that! You have to tell Queen Chrysalis! It's your duty! You can't betray the swarm! I never should have asked that of you! I am so, so-”

“Toma. It's not a-”

“Oh no!...I didn't say any of that. Nobody remembers any of that. It's fine. Who's Phyll? I don't know anyone by that name. I don't know anyone, bunch of strangers. No way anyone here could know about our Queen- Their Queen! That is the Queen of the Changelings, which we are not. Changelings. And if we were, I still wouldn't know you, Phyll...I mean, Davenport...Mr. Davenport- I mean...who are you?”

“...Are you finished?” Phyll eventually asked, after it seemed she had eventually come a halt.

“...I'm sorry.” Honest Care, or Toma, eventually squeaked out, as she turned her head down to stare at her fidgeting hooves.

"There, there now. Ain't no use cryin' over it now. You clearly had a lot you needed to get off your chest there.” Applejack chimed up in a kindly tone, trotting a couple of steps over before setting a hoof over Honest Care's withers.

“Really?...I mean, what? I don't- I have no idea of what-...Hi, Ms. AJ.” The flustered changeling eventually settled for, before again turning her eyes to her shuffling hooves.

“Huh...” Silver Spoon noted from the side, before giving another sniffle. Turning towards her mother and garnering her attention with a tap of her hoof “Hey, can I tell Diamond Tiara about Ms. Honest being a changeling?”

Filigree had to blink in confusion at the odd question, before leaning down “And why would you need to do that?”

“Cause she'd totally be jealous.” The little gray filly replied, before swiping at her nose again with her pajama sleeve. Clearing her throat a moment, she gestured with her hoof “I mean, DT's always bragging about how she has her own Prench maid...”

“I'm not sure I understand. Why would you want to make your friend jealous?” Twilight couldn't help but chime, starting to lean in, before remembering the earlier incidents.

“Not, like...really jealous. Just sorta jealous. Like it's cool and stuff.” Silver Spoon elaborated a bit.

“You want her to think its cool?” Twilight asked with a tilt of her head.

“Totally. I mean, she'd be all like-...” Silver Spoon trailed off for a moment, before blinking and rubbing at her nose. Seeing this, Filigree quickly fished out a handkerchief before pressing it to her nose.

“Blow.”

The little gray filly groaned a bit, before eventually giving in. One phlegmy expulsion later, and her mother was rolling up the soiled cloth and tucking it back away.

Giving a shake of her head, Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses again, before looking back up to Twilight “It's just like...cool, you know? Like how you get to live at the library. And how you're, like, a princess now or whatever.”

“You think its cool that I live at the library?”

“Yeah, kinda. I mean, you get to borrow all the books you want and they're like...already there, right? So there aren't even any late fees. That's kinda cool.”

There were several seconds of silence on Twilight's part, before her face was split with a huge grin for Silver Spoon's words.

“Are you alright, Ms. Twilight?” The little filly eventually asked, looking up with curiosity at the princess.

“What? Oh, yes!” Twilight quickly blurted out, shaken from her brief moment of glee. Giving a nod of her head, before leaning down a bit with an awkward smile “It's just...nopony has ever really noticed before. It is really, really cool and I'm just glad somepony else thinks so...If you want, I could bring over a few-”

“Ahem.”

Twilight jumped slightly, as Silver Spoon's mother pointedly cleared her throat. Having reacquired the purple princess' attention, the older mare gestured back towards Honest Care “It might be best, if we finished addressing the matter at hoof.”

“Oh. Oh, right. I'm sorry about that.” Twilight quickly apologized, sparing a smile for Silver Spoon as she focused back on why she was there in the first place.

“Of course, it is your royal prerogative, Ms. Twilight. But there remains the pressing manner of why my daughter's pediatrician needs to be dragged away?” Filigree prompted in an even tone.

“Uhm...did you not hear?” Honest Care sheepishly asked from the side.

“Yes, yes. You're a changeling. Apparently Mr. Davenport's a changeling. Everypony's a changeling.” The older mare said with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

“Well, perhaps not everypony...Though this does explain the Quills and Sofas shop, just a bit.” Pewter noted, with a nod towards the still disguised Phyll.

“Just to be clear, that was established well before I came here.” Phyll pointed out.

“I stand corrected.” The gray stallion said in a pleasant tone. Giving a tilt of his head and holding out a hoof towards Phyll, Pewter continued "May I ask, what is your part in all of this, Mr. Davenport? Or...what was it she referred to you as?”

“That'd be Phyll.” AJ quickly supplied for the still disguised changeling.

“I see.”

“Uhm, hold on a moment. Is Honest Care being a changeling really not that big of a deal for anyone?” Twilight finally managed to ask, putting to words her apparent bemusement at their downplayed reactions.

“Why should it be?” Filigree asked in a mild tone.

“Because...I'm not who I claimed to be?” Honest Care supplied.

Silver Filigree gave a small roll of her eyes at that “My dear, hardly anypony is exactly who they claim to be.”

“Speaking of which, can we presume that 'Honest Care' isn't your real name?” Pewter asked, with a gesture towards her.

“Uh, no...” Came the hesitant reply, before she turned towards Phyll questioningly. Her ears perked up just a bit, at the nod of approval from her superior, for her unspoken question “It's Toma.”

“Very well, Toma. You've already been serving as my daughter's pediatrician for years, have you not?” Filigree asked.

“Yes?”

“That would mean, that before now I had already entrusted you with my only daughter's health up until this point?”

“...Also, yes?”

“And have you done anything but provide for Silver Spoon's health while serving in that capacity?”

“Oh, no, no. Not at all.” Toma quickly replied with a shake of her head, as she held up her hooves against the very idea of it.

“So then, I see no point in changing my estimation of you. Now...” Filigree said with a nod towards Toma, before turning back towards “...we were just discussing why she needed to be dragged off.”

“...Huh. Well whad'ya know.” Came AJ's simple exclamation. Bringing a hoof up to tip her hat to one side, before glancing to Toma “Ah gotta say, Fil here makes a pretty good point. Ah mean, ya never steered us wrong before with Applebloom.”

“Uhm, yes, well...It's not that we're trying to drag Toma away or anything like that.” Twilight quickly supplied, waving away the notion with a wave of her hoof.

“It's a pre-planned move. Organized by Princess Twilight, Princess Celestia, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and our Queen.” Phyll eventually supplied, apparently not bothering with denying anything.

“Oh? Must be rather complicated, to involve so much royalty.” Pewter noted.

“It really isn't, I promise. And it definitely isn't anything nefarious.” Twilight quickly reassured.

“Then what is it, exactly?”

“We-...we found a way that the changelings can live up in the Crystal Kingdom without needing to feed upon ponies for sustenance. But for it to work, all of the changelings need to relocate.”

“...I'll admit, that's markedly less complicated than I thought it would be.” Pewter conceded a few moments later. Turning towards his wife, before gesturing towards Toma “Well, you heard her, dear. We shouldn't keep them any longer than we already have; I'm sure...Toma? I'm sure she still has quite a bit of packing to do.”

“Now hold on. There are still some matters we need to settle.” Filigree objected, with a somewhat indignant look for her husband. Gesturing a hoof back towards Silver Spoon “If you'll recall, Silver Spoon is still quite sick and-”

“I'm not that sick!” Silver Spoon groaned, before again giving another sniffle. Wiping at her nose with her pajama sleeves again, she then pointed towards Toma “Ms. Honest Care totally said it would even be alright if Diamond Tiara came over.”

Toma immediately ducked her head at that, once again being fully put on the spot in front of Filigree “I-...I didn't exactly say that, ma'am. What I meant was that is seemed like she was no longer contagious...”

The older mare pursed her lips at this.

“... And that, as long as Silver Spoon got plenty of rest it...might not hurt if she had a visitor or two?” Toma eventually finished.

“...Well, fine then. I suppose I'll need to go pay Spoiled a visit.” Filigree eventually conceded.

“You mean it?” Silver Spoon asked hopefully.

“If...you get yourself off to bed right now, missy.” Pewter added from the side. Trotting over and beginning to usher his daughter off with a hoof “You heard Ms. Toma quite clearly, I'm sure. If anyone's going to visit you, you need to get plenty of rest.”

Filigree took a moment to rub at one of her temples with her hoof, before letting out a sigh “It's going to be like pulling teeth I'm sure...”

“Perhaps try finding her au pair. She seems like a sweet sort.” Pewter suggested.

“That's Maddy. The Prench maid I told you about.” Silver Spoon chimed in.

“So, uhm...is everything alright?” Twilight eventually asked of the increasingly peculiar family.

“Not quite, Ms. Twilight. We'll still need to discuss the question of whether Honest-...Toma will be allowed to continue serving as our pediatrician.” Filigree said with a shake of her head, as she trotted past her visitors.

“Oh, well, I can certainly bring up the-”

“You worry too much, sweetheart.” Pewter easily assured his wife from the doorway. Gesturing back inside with his hoof “I'll start looking into some investments we can make in the Crystal Empire. We corner a few markets here-and-there and it shouldn't be too much to put a bit of economic pressure on them. Their economy is still something of a fledgling at this point.”

“What?!” Twilight blurted out with a bit of alarm.

“We'll talk about that later, Pewter.” Filigree quickly waved away the stallion's words. Turning towards the purple princess on her way out “If we have time, we can discuss it when you next come over. We'll have dinner. Invite your friends.”

“Uhm...”

“I trust you'll put Silver Spoon back to bed?” Filigree abruptly asked.

“Of course, right after she's gotten herself a bath.” Pewter replied with smile and a nod for his wife.

Hearing that, Silver Spoon tried to dig her hooves in a bit at the thought “I'm just going to get dirty again. Everytime I sneeze, I-”

“Tut-tut. Off you go, young lady.” Pewter interjected before his daughter could go on, giving her a nudge to the behind with his hoof to get her moving.

“So...just to be clear, no one here minds that she's a changeling? And it's alright if she has to leave?” Twilight asked again, gesturing a hoof to the equally bemused, and still disguised, Toma.

“We can discuss that at length at a later time, Ms. Twilight.” Pewter replied in an easy tone, as he began to shoo Toma out the doors. Starting to pull the door large double doors closed “Oh, and it was nice to finally meet you face-to-face, Ms. Twilight.”

“Uhm, likewise.”

“We'll need a means to stay in contact with Toma, if anything does come up however.” Filigree added from the side. Brushing her mane to the side for a moment, she pressed her lips together for a moment “And...naturally, I apologize if we made you uncomfortable, Ms. Twilight. It's just that this is all a lot to take in.”

“It's no problem. I completely-...I kind of understand.” Twilight admitted.

“Yes, well...our offer does still stand. I should expect you'll be joining her, Ms. Applejack, when she does decide to visit.”

“Sure. Wouldn't miss it.” AJ quickly affirmed.

“Excellent. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go arrange a playdate.” Filigree declared, before giving one final nod to them all and turning to march towards the road that lead into town.

Everyone watched as the older mare marched off to do her task, allowing a slightly befuddled silence to fall over them all.

“...They-...they took that better than I thought they would.” Toma eventually mentioned.

“Fil's always been the sort that when somethin's settled, it's settled. At least, as far as she's concerned.” Applejack commented, before giving a shrug “And Mr. Pewter's always been a pretty easy goin' sort. Ah can't say Ah'm too surprised by how it went.”

“Still, that one thing he said about manipulating the Crystal Empire's economy...”

“Awww, don't worry about that, Twi. That's just his was of bein' funny, you'll find.” AJ was quick to reassure her friend.

“If you say so...And I suppose, things are going petty well so far.” Twilight eventually admitted in a more hopeful tone. Smiling to herself, before turning towards Phyll “What do you think, Phyll?”

“It took a bit longer than I was hoping.” The male changeling noted, before taking note of how the words might impact the young princess “But, overall, things are proceeding smoothly enough.”

“Right. Well, you still make a good point though. We've got a lot of work ahead of us.” Twilight conceded with a nod.

“Should...should I introduce myself or-...I thought it was just going to be Phyll?” Toma admitted, glancing between everyone questioningly.

“Change of plans. The new rally point is at the Golden Oaks Library.” Phyll quickly explained.

“Oh...why are we going there?”

“Well, Pinkie Pie's throwin' y'all a party for one. Be a right shame to disappoint her, Ah'd say.” AJ supplied.

“She's throwing a party?...So, she's glad we're leaving or-”

“Oh, no, no, no! Pinkie's actually really happy to get a chance to really meet everyone, that's all. It's just a normal Going-Away Party.” Twilight explained. As if waiting for his cue, Phyll trotted up to his fellow changeling, before offering the brightly-colored, glitter-covered party invitation.

“Oh. Oh, that looks neat.” Toma noted, as she took the invitation in her own hooves.

“Yep. We're gonna be deliverin' these all over town, as it turns out.” AJ added.

Twilight gave a nod at that, before bringing a hoof to her chin, as a thought crossed her mind “I just hope things are going as well for Ditzy and Rainbow Dash...”

With Ditzy Doo...

“Alright, take care now, Lichen! Be sure to write!” Ditzy Doo cheerfully proclaimed, as she waved after her departing changeling friend.

Letting up on the flapping of her wings, she set down on the road, before turning her attention to her postal bag “Wow! This is going so well, I'm over half done! I might even have time to come say goodbye to everyone at the party!”

With Rainbow Dash...

“Alright. So, I'm looking for 202 Farm Road and...197, 198, 199 and...600?” Rainbow Dash came to a halt as she quickly glanced between the written down address and the number posted on the roadside mailbox.

“Wait...what? How can that-” Stopping, she glanced behind her, just to be absolutely sure that she hadn't been miscounting. Finding the infuriating truth to be that, no, she hadn't miscounted she again gawked at the mailbox “Wha-...How in the world did it skip that far ahead? This is- I mean this is Farm Road and-”

“This is actually Celestia Boulevard, ma'am.” A passing stallion commented.

“What? Since when?” Rainbow Dash abruptly demanded of the passerby. Visibly frustrated when the stallion just shrugged, before continuing to march on “But-...but this barely even counts as a boulevard! And it was Farm Road just a second ago.”

Frowning in annoyance, as she again glared down at the address written down on the invitation, she soon gave a flap of her wings “Alright, we'll see about this...”

A few seconds later, and she had already zoomed down to the end of this street and was laying her eyes on the waiting street sign “...Celestia Boulevard...Wait, how is it intersecting with Farm Road?! I was just on Farm Road!”

Sure enough, according to the sign, she was officially standing at the intersection of Celestia Boulevard and Farm Road.

Staring in disbelief, Rainbow Dash almost didn't notice when a mare walked up “Uhm, is everything alright?”

“What? No! How can this Farm Road intersect with Celestia Boulevard?! I mean, it turns into Farm Road going that way and-”

“Oh! This road eventually loops back in on itself.” The mare easily supplied.

“What?...But that doesn't explain-”

“Yeah, they re-named this part of the road after Princess Celestia some time back.” The mare elaborated.

Rainbow Dash had to stare in disbelief for a few seconds “So...wait. What you're telling me is-”

“Celestia Boulevard used to be Farm Road.” The mare agreed with a nod.

“...Huh?” The blue pegasus cleverly replied, with an arched brow. Giving a shake of her head, she was about to to hold up the address to the passing mare, only to see them start to leave “Hey, wait! I just-...and she's gone...”

Looking back up at the street sign once more, before turning to look down what was apparently the continuation of Farm Road, Rainbow Dash had to scratch at the back of her head in thought.

“So, I guess I can just go this way, right?” She asked herself before trotting down the intersecting street. Rainbow Dash didn't get far, before she found herself digging her hooves in “What?! Oh, come on! How can it already be in the 6000s?!”

Taking to the air for a moment, so she could free up her forehooves and bring them to her face, RD let out a huge puff of air in irritation for the bewildering street she was on.

“Everything alright, miss?”

“No! I can't even- These streets don't even make sense! I was just looking for 202 Farm Road and now I'm in the 6000s?! How does that make sense?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed again. A moment later, she sagged in mid-air, all of her energy briefly leaving her after that little outburst “...Sorry, sorry. Just...just ignore me...”

“You're looking for 202 Farm Road?”

“What?...Yes! Do you know where it is!?” Rainbow Dash asked, her hopes restored, as she took the confused stallion's face in her hooves.

“Err...well, yeah. It's on the other side of town.” The stallion eventually explained, gesturing with one hoof in the general direction he meant.

“...What.”

“Oh yeah. Farm Road used to be the main road going through town. But they kept chopping it up and renaming different parts of it. It's kind of a mess really...” The stallion explained.

Giving a brief flap of her wings to back up, Rainbow Dash brought her hooves back up to cover her face in sheer despair at the bizarre layout of her hometown.

“Uhm...do you need directions?”

Lowering her hooves, RD took in a deep breath, before letting it out “Yes, please.”

“Alright, well what you do is you turn down Celestia Boulevard here. Go down about three blocks. Then you take a left and take the Tunnel-”

“Ponyville doesn't have a tunnel.”

“Tunnel Avenue. There was supposed to be a tunnel, but they decided to scrap the whole thing and- It's not important. Take Tunnel and then you'll be back on Farm Road. Then you take a right on Luna Lane. That used to be Farm Road too, before they-”

“They renamed it too, I got it. Listen, are you sure you actually know where 202 Farm Road is?” Rainbow Dash eventually asked, holding up the invitation again in her hoof to again look for any hints she might have missed.

“Oh yeah. That's where I live.”

“...What.”

With that the mystery stallion, deftly leaned forward before snapping the invitation up from Rainbow Dash's in his own hoof. Giving a great, cheeky grin for the confused pegasus he gave a shrug “The twins wanted me to say 'hi' by the way.”

“Wha-...wait a minute! Was that you before too?!” Rainbow Dash demanded, referring to the two earlier passersby.

“Yep! Sorry about that. But I wanted to have a little fun with you, before I have to leave.” The stallion, now revealed to be a changeling, explained in a gleefully unapologetic tone.

“But-”

“You remember all of those pranking sprees you would get up to?”

“...Huh.”

“Yeah.”

“So, wait a minute...who are you exactly?” Rainbow Dash eventually asked.

“Heh. If I told you that, you'd just try to prank me again.” The stallion replied with a shake of his head.

“...Yeah, probably.”

Field Trip

by dungeonguy88

Chapter One: Find your Buddy

Chapter Two: Plan your Route

Chapter Three: Watch for Strangers

Chapter Four: Share the Load

Chapter Five: No Horsin' Around