>As you and Twilight make your way through the Everfree Forest, you can't help but feel like you're being watched.
>You nudge Twilight as the both of you walk along the barely discernible path through the forest.
“Psst... Twi... Something doesn't feel right...”
>Twilight looks to you and offers a reassuring smile.
>”I... I'm sure it's nothing, Anonymous. It's probably just some wild animal.”
“If you say so...”
>You sigh. You knew she was just trying to make you feel better, but you could tell she was nervous as well. Her eyes were darting everywhere, you could see the slightest bit of trembling... She was probably just as freaked out as you were.
>You sigh, and place a hand on her head, and stroke her mane, causing her ear to twitch, and her trembling to cease.
>Damn, you were good.
>As you continue to focus on Twilight, you don't even notice the pair of purplish-blue compound eyes staring at the both of you as you exit the forest.
>It is silent as it observes the both of you, its black, chitinous body blending in with the darkness of the Everfree Forest.
>When you and Twilight are no longer in its sight, the creature blinks.
>Then, it smiles, revealing a mouth full of pointed teeth, perfect for biting into its prey.
>With a flap of its decrepit looking, yet somehow still functional insectoid wings, it takes to the skies, its body gleaming in the still-rising sun's light, that hungry smile still upon its face.
>It has found food.
>The Queen would be pleased.
>VERY pleased.
 
>A week's passed since then.
>Twilight's resumed her lessons, and you've been learning at a frightening pace.
>You've been learning so fast, in fact, that Twilight's actually been running out of things to teach you.
>Right now, she's been trying to turn teaching you a teeth whitening spell into a one hour lesson.
>She wasn't exactly doing too well.
>”And by influencing the ultraviolet spectrum, we can... Erm, we can...”
“Twilight, maybe we should take a break? Y'know, take a walk around town?”
>She looks up from the blackboard she had been writing on, and blinks.
>”A walk? Uh... Sure, that sounds nice. Think we could bring Spike? I'd hate to leave him alone on such a nice day...”
“Sure, why not? We could visit the ice cream parlor on the way back to the library, too.”
>At the mention of the words “ice” and “cream”, the aforementioned purple and green dragon poked his head out of the kitchen.
>”Ice cream? For REAL? Awesome! When do we leave?”
>Twilight chuckles at her assistant's enthusiasm for the frozen dairy treat, and smiles.
>”We can leave at any time, if you two would like to.”
“Sounds good to me. Let's get going, then.”
>Spike nodded in agreement, and dragged Twilight out of the door without a second thought.
>The three of you step outside, breathing in the fresh summer air. Today was a good day; not too hot, a slight breeze, and not a cloud in the sky.
>Though, it seemed you were the minority in this aspect. The town had become somewhat lethargic this past week.
>At first, it was just a few ponies, but the next day, the numbers doubled, then tripled... The numbers climbed until roughly half of Ponyville's residents were practically zombies.
 
>Fortunately, Twilight's friends were exempt from this phenomenon.
>Or so you thought.
>You and the others make your way to Applejack's stall, your stomach craving some of her delicious apple turnovers.
>When you arrive, you find her looking rather depressed, which was a first for her... Well, to you it was, anyway.
>Twilight was the first to talk to her.
>”Applejack, are you okay? You don't look too good...”
>She looks at the three of you, and smiles, barely.
>”T'be perfectly honest, sugarcube... No, Ah'm not. Ah've been worried about mah brother, Big Macintosh... He's been seein' that schoolteacher mare, Cheerilee again. He seemed fine at first, but recently... he's just not had as much energy as he used ta; Can only get about half as much done as he could before...”
“That's disturbing... Any idea what could be causing it?”
>She shook her head.
>”None at all, pardner. It's a veritable... whatcha call'em... cannondrum?”
>”I think you mean 'conundrum', Applejack.”
>”Bless you.”
>”What?”
>Oh god damn it, were they really doing this?
>As you wander off from the apple stand, leaving Spike at the mercy of the two mares, you find yourself drifting towards Bonbon's candy stand.
>You grin; Bonbon sure did know how to make a good lemon drop, after all.
>But beyond that, you never really interacted with her.
>Of course, if you had to guess, her current, less-than-sunny disposition wasn't normal for the the mare with the pink and purple mane.
“Hey Bonbon, you okay? You don't look so hot.”
>”Well...”
>Before she can say anything else, she's herded away by a very angry looking Lyra.
 
“Wha-hey! Lyra, what're you doing?!”
>She looks at you with what looks like CONTEMPT of all things, and snorts.
>”I'm taking Bonbon back home. She's far too sick to be out and about right now, and she needs somepony to... take care of her.”
“Er... Okay then...”
>You walk away from the stall, sufficiently weirded out by Lyra's behavior. Normally, she would have taken at least a minute, maybe two to just stare at your hands. Today, she didn't even spare them a glance!
>Oh yeah, her possessiveness towards Bonbon was not normal either... You think. But then again, you didn't know either of them too well, so you were probably just grasping at straws.
>You glance back in the direction of Bonbon's stall, now vacant. You scratch your chin, deep in thought. There was something else about Lyra that rubbed you the wrong way...
>Weren't Lyra's eyes yellow, not green?
>You shrug, and make your way back to Applejack's stall.
>Fortunately, they seemed to have sorted out their little word problem, and all eyes were on you.
>You sigh, and shake your head.
“Something weird's going on here, guys... I don't like it.”
>”Yeah... Lyra was acting way different from normal. She didn't even look at your hands once!”
“I know, right?”
>Both Twilight and AJ facehoofed at your observation, and Spike looked sheepish enough for the both of you.
>”Aaaanyway...” began Twilight, glancing around to her left and then her right. “It might be a long shot, but I'm starting to wonder if this  whole situation is being caused by the changelings...”
 
“Changelings? You mean those bug pony things you and Spike told me about during my transformation lessons?”
>”The very same.”
>Applejack shook her head, and smiled at Twilight.
>”Now sugarcube, let's not get too ahead of ourselves, here. It might be those varmints, or it could be sumthin' else entirely. Ya'll know what they say about assumin'.”
>”I know, I know, when you assume, you make an ass out of 'u' and 'me'.”
>”Darn tootin'. Now you three jes' run along, you hear?”
“Will do, AJ. You have a nice day, alright?”
>”Ah'll try, Anon. Let me know if ya'll figger anythang out, okay?”
>You smile at Applejack as the three of you head away from her apple stall.
“You'll be the first to know.”
>She smiles, and you turn around, catching up with Twilight and Spike as they wander through the market.
>As soon as you're out of sight, however, the smile disappears, replaced with a scowl to match Lyra's.
>She is surrounded by ponies wearing similar expressions, and in a voice that is most definitely NOT her own, speaks to them.
>”The targets are becoming suspicious. We must inform the queen of this development, and if necessary, go into phase two of the plan.”
>Meanwhile, your eyes widen as you feel your arm tingle again. Twilight and Spike see your expression, and the two of them are at your sides almost immediately.
>Twilight looks at up at you, worry evident in her face as she speaks in a low whisper.
>”Its your arm again, isn't it?”
“Yeah... We aren't safe here... We need to get back to the library.”
>For a moment, Spike looks like he is about to protest, but the moment passes, and he sighs in defeat.
 
>”So... No ice cream, then?”
>You fight back the urge to groan, while Twilight just shakes her head and sighs.
>”Tell you what, Spike.” she says as the three of you return to the library. “After this blows over, I'll treat you to a Triple Fudge Banana Split Sundae with sapphire sprinkles and a ruby on top. That sound good?”
>Spike didn't say anything, but the dopey smile and giggling fits were enough of a confirmation for the both of you.
>God, he was easy to please sometimes.
>Eventually, the three of you make it to the library.
>Twilight immediately starts casting protective charms on the windows and doors, which used the natural magic flowing through the library as an energy source.
>Theoretically, as long as the runes were in place, or were left intact, the charms would still be active.
>With that in mind, the three of you go to sleep, although sleep doesn't come easily for any of you.
>As you feel yourself drifting off, an eerily familiar laughter reverberates throughout your mind.
 >When you next open your eyes, you find yourself in the middle a that same blasted ring of fire, but it's only you there, or so it appeared.
“Alright Discord. Show yourself. I'm not in the mood for your mind games.”
>”Oh, you're no fun anymore, you know that?”
>In an instant, the chaos-borne creature materializes in front of you with a burst of multicolored light.
>You are not impressed.
>”Jeez, what is WITH you, kid? Everyone loves a good light show!”
“Yeah, well, I'm not everyone. Now spill it. The only reason you could possibly have for showing up now is if you had something to do with this.”
>”You're real perceptive, you know that? It's downright annoying sometimes...”
 
>Discord grumbles for a bit before he's finally ready to speak again.
>”Alright... I MAY have had something to do with this. You know about Chrysalis, right? The Changeling Queen? Turns out she and a large portion of her forces ended up in the mountains beyond Ponyville. I went ahead and visited her in her dreams, and I MAY have told her that she could find food over the mountains.”
“Anything else?”
>”No! I swear! I don't know what she's been planning since then. Last I saw of her, she was driven mad by hunger and revenge. Of course, I like 'em a little crazy but that's just m-dsfgsd”
>You don't even give Discord any time to finish his sentence before to grab his mouth with your fist, crushing it shut, which was surprisingly easy in your dreams.
>Of course, that doesn't stop Discord from putting a thumb to his mouth and inflating his jaw back into its original shape, much like a cartoon character. Rubbing his snout, he shoots you a dirty look.
>”Jeez, if you wanna be that way, I'm not gonna tell you that you're about to be kidnapped.”
“Wait, what?”
>Before you can say anything else, your eyes snap open, coming face to face with a vaguely pony shaped figure, though the shiny black exoskeleton and the compound eyes told you that this was most DEFINITELY not a pony.
>It doesn't even give you any time to scream before its eyes flash a sickly green and you find yourself falling into a dreamless sleep.
>Above you, the spectral form of Discord trails the changeling drone as you're carried outside, wrapped up by a black, webbing-like material.