The rule of Discord... a dark period of time, during which the spirit of chaos and disharmony did whatever he pleased with whoever he wanted. Cruel jokes that often crossed the line of psychological torture, brainwashing ponies into insanity... Forest felt nervous whenever he (or she) read about that guy - he was more powerful than Nightmare Moon and Mercer combined!

Still, she shook her head and tore her gaze from the cover of the history book, returning to her magic one.

She remembered asking Twilight about it... only for her to go into a rant about the difference between entities like Discord, Nightmare Moon, and the Windigos and the spirits of superstition - with a side of 'negative effect enchantments' versus 'curses'. Quite academic, but not something she was terribly interested in.

She had to steer the conversation towards the inner magic system...

Even after getting some samples from the large quantities of lost hair and/or feathers and incorporating them into herself, she could not progress very far; each step forward was matched by a stumble. Understandable, given that it was not quite the same as muscular or skeletal structure; it was highly individualized and fluid. She could gain structure and shape, but merely the part obtained at birth, without the development gained from training, growth, study, or cutie marks (the pair discovered many interesting things about them); even Twilight's jackpot-winning-lottery-ticket of magical genes meant that the increase of capacity was awkward to even find, hold, and had actually shot her control and made most spells take longer due to risk of an over-channeling.

And the increase to raw power, while not as large as expected, still meant that overloading a spell was painful due to her untrained meridians (or mana coils, or ley lines, or ether pathways, or whatever). An unkind comment to Dash and her timing was involved.

Oh well, she could feel that there were other little things floating around in her system, but being a changeling at the least gave her control of what she wanted to activate.

With a sigh, she closed her book. She would have to take a couple of days off from magical activity, let her body fill to capacity, then test it.

She knew she had gotten stronger, even if she merely stole some hairs from Twilight's bathroom - the little run through town with all of those effects active confirmed it, but she had to be sure.

After a shrimp omelette breakfast, of course.

*****

Luna was unsure about what course of action to take.

Grumbling and scowling was a tempting one, but was quickly losing ground to giggling.

Celestia was simply radiating happiness as she groomed her little sister's tail! It simply wasn't fair! Her smile could melt the coldest ice and her humming would topple the thickest walls of the mightiest fortress! How could Luna protest that?! It was cute!

Granted, receiving the same treatment every day was a factor in the souring of the activity, but...

Celestia had cried after the first night.

"You're still here." She had whispered, hugging her.

It was a glorious dawn.

Celestia said she had an idea, which she would surprise her with after breakfast.

"Come, dear sister." Luna said, while Celestia still beamed sunshine ('How does her face not ache from hours of smiling?'). "What does your 'idea' consist of?"

"It was born from our meeting with our secretive friend."

An... idea from a changeling? What could that be?

Soon enough, they entered the throne room.

There were several dozens of ponies, most of them foals.

Their eyes fell on them, and they were filled with great awe.

"Hello, my little ponies!" Celestia greeted the crowd in a very motherly way, even craning her neck to bring her eyes around the level of theirs. "This is my sister, princess Luna... and she wants hugs from all of you!"

Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria, princess of the night, guardian of dreams, one of those who ended the Chaotic Era, great user of dark magic that could match that of King Sombra, vanquisher of great horrors, victor of many wars, was defeated instantly by a stampede of squealing colts and fillies no older than six.

*****

Unbeknownst to either party, Forest Benedict Riddle, a Blacklight being with powerful shapeshifting abilities, with the raw strength to pound rocks into gravel before obtaining earth pony-style magic, was in a similar situation about roughly that same moment.

One comment from Rainbow Dash - a simple, innocent, and perfectly valid question- and she had every colt, filly, and parent in the park looking at her expectantly.

'You like acting, huh? Do ya know any neat stories?' And the answer was 'Yes'.

So now she had Rainbow trying to get her to share a few.

'Dash, I don't think letting me around foals is a good idea.' She thought, staring impassively at the gathering - not that she'd mean them harm in any case, but being aware of how many people she had killed and having them inside of her head... well, it was awkward.

"I'm not so good with foals..." She said, her apprehensiveness quite clear even to the foals.

"C'mon! Nopony is asking ya to be a foal-sitter; just tell a story!" Dash countered, supported by pretty much everypony.

The town had gotten over the threat of a stampede in a couple of minutes, and, had the earth not trembled under her hooves, and had stared at the bovines, she would have thought it a day as normal as any other.

"Alright." She sighed, curious as to how did she get beaten. "What kind of story do you want?"

"Mad scientists!" "Something with princesses!" "Dragon slaying!" "Action!" "Fairy tales!"

There was one... well, the degree to which the worlds overlapped was scary at times - some of the old myths and legends matched too well to be simple coincidence, and she could only attribute it to some weirdo magical phenomenon from the space between dimensions. She did find a creature perfectly fitting the description of the chimera less than half an hour in, and ate a roc bird and even a manticore after a few days!

"Alright, this one is from the lands of the east. It's the story of the qilin god of storms and the eight-forked giant snake!"

One thing Forest really liked about the ponies: Stories and media were not 'sanitized' to hell (rather, 'heck') and back in an attempt to avoid 'offending sensitivities' - the ponies understand that a foal hearing the words 'God' (capital 'G' or not), 'death', 'drunk' and 'blood' won't cause them to suffer a total breakdown of their psyches or anything like that. Sure, within reason, as with anything, but she could talk about the hero cutting off a head (or eight) without having dozens of parents getting on her case.

Her description of the monster drew gasps of surprise. The town's foals were both hardy and imaginative (she could get away with scarier things), and with the proximity to the Everfree it made playing to their wonder and fear even easier to the empathic sense.

Oh! Speaking of getting on somepony's case, some societal issues could be talked about more openly, at least with friends.

Thunderlane was listening more intently than his... little brother? She heard 'bro' once or twice in there.

"Now, the story is old, and from another country, so a few details sound odd: Some say he used his magic powers to turn the maiden into a comb, then hid her, while others say he disguised himself as the maiden so that the monster's minions would let him through."

Subtle hoof movements complemented grand sweeping gestures, while carefully-placed emphasis aided her brief-but-intense eye-contact. She had the crowd enraptured, eating out of her hooves, mesmerized, and all-around fascinated.

She wound up being loved by the foals... more attention to herself, but being a changeling meant she didn't have many choices.

*****

"Are you crazy!?" Twilight shouted, which was not entirely unexpected... save for the fact that the unicorn had quite the set of pipes.

"Shouting kind of defeats the point of doing things in secret, you know?" Forest deadpanned. She had to test the receptivity of the idea of the possibility of using the Everfree as a way to obtain privacy when eating or obtaining meat not from fish. Despite the books, there were many unknown... things in the Everfree, and showing up with unexplainable knowledge was bound to raise uncomfortable questions.

"You don't have to... well... whoa, I don't think anypony has ever been this concerned about me..." Forest's ears drooped, well, her parents did get worried, but the most would be that time Forest had gone to a friend's home for a late night study session. "I've had to deal with things on my own for a while, and I guess that with all of the training I just don't see the danger the same way as you do."

"You are not alone." Twilight said, wrapping her in a big hug. A few days ago, the prospect of hurting Twilight in any way was out of question because Celestia could be watching, but now... now the idea left a bad aftertaste, for some reason. Maybe she just got used to her presence?

"But neither am I frail, Twilight. I had to cross the Everfree to get here, and I can assure you that, outside of stepping on a sleeping monster by mistake, the only ways I could be surprised by creatures would be from anything faster than an arrow and teleports." The changeling group... the second stepped on the chimera's tail, causing it to breathe fire on the first one.

She placed a hoof on the unicorn's withers. "I know you think of me as a friend like any other, but... I'm not like any other. I am a predator, and - well, this sudden change in lifestyle is brutal! No- wait, don't pout! This new life is the best thing that has happened to me, but Ponyville still weirds me out, and I cannot allow myself to get too relaxed - remember, there are things working against us in the background... and I don't think they will be too happy with me."

Twilight bit her lips, hugging her tightly; the flood of sensations was like that critical moment back in the castle...

"I promise I will stay safe, alright? I'm not going any deeper than I can find my way out, and if I find any indication of creatures I can't handle, I'll turn the other way and get out." And it was true! She was just neglecting to mention just how much she could handle. "Remember, while I may look like a unicorn, I am a changeling. My spells may be lacking, but remember where my specialties lie."

"But what use is hoof-to-hoof in the Everfree?" Twilight's worry was making her feel strange, even more so that she was looking at her straight in the eyes with her voice barely above a whisper.

"What I am not using in magic, I can use it in strength; that is much more than what you think; not only that, I am also good at passing unnoticed. Look, Twilight, I know you are concerned and want to help, but I know not to overestimate myself." That incident with Nightmare Moon had been completely accidental, but she knew that just once was enough. "I have the knowledge and some experience." Stolen, mostly, but she didn't need to know that. "And I am not going to be daunted by a forest, no matter how spooky it is or how violent its creatures are. I won't get around the world if I let that happen."

"Wait, around?! Are you crazy?!" Twilight repeated herself, though at a much more controlled volume.

"You already asked that." Forest smirked. "And why is it so surprising? I am not going to let a little bit of uncontrolled weather scare me. Even if I were not a changeling, there is magic for that, no?"

"A litt- we are not talking about just a heavy rain!" Twilight stomped in irritation. "Magic and weather have a delicate relationship, and the Major Leylines could make storms large enough to wipe Ponyville off the map without slowing down! It's the reason the placement of the could countries is so helpful for the stability of the rest of the world!"

"Ah, yes, the weather dilemma; I still think it's not anything a... wait, one of the countries involved in the current mess is the Republic, no?"

"Don't try to change the topic!" Twilight stomped again, scowling fiercely at the fake unicorn.

"Just hear me out, will you? They are a credible treat, right?"

Twilight nodded, still not relenting in her glare.

"I found something during my studies... if they are so dangerous because of their mobility, making it impossible to actually separate them from their weather factories..." Books like 'History of Cloudsdale' had a neat comparison due to some confrontations with Diamond Dogs. "Why not just nullify the magic in the clouds?"

Biology books had to have at least a small section on magic, being so integral to pony anatomy.

"The Major Leyline next to them makes that an exercise in futility." Twilight responded in a way that warned Forest that she was about to slip into 'Lecture Mode'.

"But if fighting does happen, they would not be anywhere near one." Forest observed.

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but didn't make a sound. Her mind conveniently forgot everything else, being presented with a new problem.

Sometimes, a storm outgrew the capacity of a weather team to handle - completely normal, local-level teams hardly had the kind of experience, maneuvers, or size required to handle region-level weather. Solution? Either call a larger, more experienced team, or get a powerful unicorn unit to forcibly disrupt or even dispel the thing.

The later was, obviously, the harder of the two. Twilight could name each of books in the library that had information about how normal unicorn magic affected the weather (mostly in unpleasant, difficult-to-handle ways) and all of the hows and whys of weather related magic.

She pursed her lips as she thought of various spells... there was the wind spell she used to direct balloons, could she modify it to do other things?

"Twilight? Are you there?" Forest waved a hoof in front of Twilight... no response. It would be a long day...

*****

It took nearly the rest of the day, but Forest managed to get Twilight to agree to something about the Everfree: The place could not be ignored nor dismissed as a possible point of access for changeling spies. Due to past experience, Forest would make occasional checks 'close', searching for likely campsites.

In reality, all she had to do was ask the manticores if they had seen or smelled anything. Easy! Well, it seemed that there was somepony actually living in the forest, but it appeared that that pony was just a hermit.

Albeit one that knew how to handle the forest, if the way Kimba was holding his nose while turning an impressive shade of green was any indication.

"Alright, Aslan, do you understand?" She asked.

The manticore let out a confused growl.

"I know, I called you Simba the other day... it's just the name of a fictional lion." She said, but noticed with mild amusement the manticore's tiny frown. "Wait, you mean to say you liked being called 'Simba'?"

He nodded, and Forest raised an eyebrow.

"O... K... Alright, Simba, understood?" She chuckled at the idea of naming each one of them as cats from books and movies... she might just do it anyways. After a nod of agreement, she said. "Well, let's go on a hunt, alright?"

Simba growled at another manticore (that one would be Aslan), and the trio decided to go look around... who knows? Maybe she would actually cook the prey instead of simply consuming it.

*****

Somewhere in the Mountain Kingdom, a griffin was pacing about.

The next step, although minor, was still a worrying danger. Word had arrived of Celestia upping security through the country, thankfully slowing down the plan to the point that something could be done during the wait. It would begin within a few weeks, and standing idle was not an option.

Neither was moving before the time was right, though.

Two weeks. A move would have to be made in two weeks time. No sooner, for fear of making General Grimhildr... Mom... suspect anything. Not too much later, for fear of not arriving in time to deliver the warning.

That lazy prismatic blockhead better keep herself safe until then.

*****

"Remind me, why did you want to come with us?" Spike asked, pulling the chain that controlled the balloon's burner. It wouldn't be long before they arrived in Canterlot, the balloon being much faster than taking the winding road around the mountain, or even the train, and didn't need to stick to any other schedule than the weather's. A perfect mid-morning to go see the princess, by the way.

"Other than it was 'suggested' I came over? Because I need to pick up some specialized supplies." Well, a few foals' set of magic training supplies was simply too embarrassing for her to purchase in such a small town, for starters, but was looking more and more necessary to build up the required skill.

Didn't help that pure rote explained jack s-squat about what she was actually doing. Why did Chrysalis think it was a good idea to make a team with so little magic support? Oh, right, magic encourages certain types of thinking that the crazy bi-witch could not risk in her clueless supporters, and would not even risk sending somepony with real magic along lest they accidentally learn any.

'"Magic is for the most trusted of my ranks" my tail.' And that was a phrase she never would have thought would ever cross her mind.

Oh, and pick up some spices and exotic ingredients. Searching for a job took her to the notice board at Town hall, which made her see that restaurants in Ponyville needed additional help to handle the load... maybe, if she took advantage of her abilities in foreign cuisine, she could make a food stand of her own.

Hehe, ponies eating ramen... for some reason, it was hilarious.

"Nopony is forcing you to do anything; you can say 'no'." Twilight had flinched at Forest's sarcasm, and turned to her with a look and voice of compassion. Forest was wearing a regular saddle and skirt, for a change (still a changeling disguise, though).

Forest's lip twitched. "Celestia wanted to see me. I... I don't want to displease her."

Twilight didn't know what to think - true, she, too, hated the idea of disappointing her mentor ever since she was a filly; scared, even... and yet, for all the times she whine-complained to Spike about how her life would be over if she didn't turn in her work in time, mostly as a reason to why she would attend this or that social event... she had never, ever reacted like Forest.

"I'm sure she'd understand." Spike said with a knowing tone, rolling his eyes, thinking of Forest's nervousness as being similar to Twilight's.

"When you have the attention of those greater than you, you do as they say." Forest answered, staring impassively towards Canterlot.

Twilight didn't like that gaze; it was empty and weak, that of a pony that had given up, marching towards a grim future that made death alternate between a certain punishment and a mercy.

"The princess isn't like that." Twilight weakly argued.

"I know!" Forest said through gritted teeth, the blank look changing into one of anger. "I know! I was there! I was there when she did that spell and with Luna and- and- AGH!"

She huffed, closing her eyes to regain her composure.

"I felt her sincerity and kindness, but she knows my identity, and she's just so powerful!" Forest shivered, gulping down her nervousness. "I think I can keep it together if she's present and I can feel it, but otherwise? Everything my life has taught me screams to me to just bow my head and do anything they ask..."

"Anything?" Spike asked, feeling a little down; he didn't know about her changeling status, but he had been told she was an orphan from some far-away place, taking what shelter she could find.

"Anything. Take down her enemies, heel, beg, bow down and raise my tail, whatever."

Twilight hung her head. She was still getting used to the idea of having a changeling friend that was literally fed by their love, so the fact that Forest wasn't even from Equestria had yet to register properly; when she spoke like that, it was a harsh reminder that Forest had lost everything - that the reason she thought so little of travelling the world was because she had nothing to return to or hold her down... it was the reason why the changeling queen Chrysalis- no...

A chill ran through her body, and her blood was replaced by ice water. 'She wouldn't! That's too-...!'

"Did... did You-know-who do... something...un-untow-...?" Twilight was scared, scared to ask, scared to know, her tremors and the lump in her throat made it had to form words.

"Hmm? Oh, no... she was rather sincerely cordial for one so crazy; even if she weren't... well, more flies with honey and all that." Forest said, thinking that Chrysalis was rather genuinely concerned about the survival of her 'hive' city; it was just that she was insane and looking at things wrong. Honestly, she could be a weird parallel to certain dictator from the World War era; the main difference being that she paid attention to all things that transpired in her domain, big and small, and reacted with genuine compassion, going as far as taking in wandering changelings and promising them a place in her 'golden future' just the same as any of her original citizens.

"But her I can hide from." Forest slumped in the basket, as the remaining distance dropped below a third of the total. 'And the only way she could pose a danger to me would be if she were to absorb a lot of energy and stored it, instead of distributing it to her subjects. Should she ever go through with her invasion plan and meet me, I hope I'll be skilled enough in magic to tell if that's the case.'

"Once Celestia laid her eyes on me, and knew my secret... she might as well have branded me. I can picture it, even." Sitting on her haunches, she chuckled. "Spike, cover your ears..."

Spike didn't question it.

"I can see it, seared on my chest, written in flowery script: 'Celestia's bitch'..." She trailed off after gesturing with her hoof over her chest, not paying attention to Twilight's flinch or discomfort as she began to laugh, creating a sick, twisted fantasy as her emotions entered a downwards spiral. "And- and sun emblems everywhere, too! In case anypony has doubts who the bitch belongs to when she parades me by the collar on my neck!"

Her hollow laughter was stopped suddenly as Twilight embraced her tightly around the neck, and even Spike's warm draconic body was pressed against hers.

Around the neck. A thought came to her.

She could... it would be quick. There wouldn't be any evidence left, and she would gain much power and greatly advance her mastery of magic. Yeah, Celestia would want answers, possibly seek her out if she suspected of her survival or involvement, search for a shapeshifter... but her viral powers would throw a wrench in that plan, just by making her an entirely different changeling, or even a pony - an earth one, to disguise her enhanced strength and the fact that she did not need any love to use it.

"She's not like that." Twilight whispered, and something wet fell on her; it was warm and calm, relaxing... another one feel, and Forest could feel how the warmth soothed her.

Oh, right! Twilight was crying, and for her, too. The spiral was cut from the root, and Forest sighed inwardly as only now she recognized yet-another empath trap she had fallen into.

Her status as a changeling had been one of her trump cards against the princess, and it didn't last a full day! Now she had to thread lightly. Back in New York with Mercer, at least, they were all the same: Viral beings. Her... his life had gone to hell already, and options for survival were getting scarce... here? Forest was alone - alright, she could infect others; big deal, the minute somepony says 'monster' the fire would rain from the skies.

Celestia had eyes through the country, and she was completely at her mercy. There was only staying in her good graces now, and, unlike Mercer, Celestia had little reason to give her real self a chance.

"I know, Twilight, I know. It doesn't make it any easier." She quietly returned the embrace...

It didn't make it any easier.

It still did not change the fact that Celestia all but owned her now.

Author's Note

I almost named them 'Grand Leylines' and I was all like "Wait a minute, that sounds familiar... where have I heard something like tha- oh... right."

Question, would anyone be interested in reading about the kind of weird things a mind addled with magics it wasn't prepared to handle thinks up? For some reason (alright, I know all of the reasons) it involved lots of bondage.