My encounter with them is a very unexpected one as I suddenly learn that my closest and longest friend has been one for her entire life and has been able to hide it until the day before the attack. As soon as I learned this, I wondered how many ponies have been changelings this entire time but everypony was oblivious to that fact. I don't think I can trust any of my other friends much more than I used to.

"YOU CAN'T BE!! YOU WERE JUST A STORY MY PARENTS MADE UP!!" said Lyda. She was still in shock from learning that Chrysalis was not just a story.

"There is no denying the fact about it. I am very real. Now listen here and you listen well," said the queen. "As you are aware, the wedding is tomorrow. And your parents have told you that we feed on love."

"Yes I am aware of that. But what does the wedding have to do with me?"

"Don't interrupt," she commanded. "I was getting to that. Because you are changeling like your parents and their ancestors, you have a choice."

"What choice?" asked Lyda. It was then when she realized that the odd feeling she's been getting was because Chrysalis was impersonating Princess Cadence. "What do the changelings besides you have to do with the wedding?"

"When the time is right, I will unleash the changelings upon Canterlot. From there, they will help me conquer Equestria. Your choice is to either join me and be with the rest of your kind, or refuse and lose with your friends along with that royal guard."

"You can't conquer Equestria if the Elements are here."

"All six of them, but there are only five at the current moment. Twilight, the Element of magic, is trapped. Never to escape."

"Where have you been all these years?" Lyda responded harshly. "Every time Twilight has been attacked, she has found a way to get back on track with what she has to do."

"But this time, she won't. Now what is your choice?"

"I think we both know the answer to that. So why don't you just leave me?"

"You're making a very big mistake," responded the queen. Upon saying that, she turned around, and walked into the shadows, disappearing from Lyda's room.

Terminal woke up to a loud, frantic knocking at the door. He lazily got up from his comfy chair and stumbled over to the door, which wasn't too far away from him (Thank Celestia).

"I'm coming. Keep your hooves calm," he said very tiredly.

"I can't. This is important to the fate of Canterlot!" yelled a familiar voice through the door.

"Lyda? Is that you? What makes you say it's important enough to Canterlot?" he asked. Although the tone in her voice may have convinced him to know it was about Canterlot, he still wanted to make sure. For all that he knew, she could just be saying that.

"This is about me as well now open up," she told him in a hushed voice. "Unlock all those locks of yours on this door and let me in. Please."

How does, oh right. She's been in and out of my house it's impossible to not know about how many locks I have. he thought to himself. He unlocked them and looked at her in amazement about what she had told him. If she sounds that serious through the door, that I'll be amazed at how serious she is inside.

"I heard that you know," she said upon entering his home. Once she said that, her looked at her in even more amazement as to what he keeps hearing. "Close that mouth already. I'm getting tired of seeing it today. Yes, I can read ponies' minds, but that's only part of what I'm about to tell and show you."

"Wait, show me? Why do you need you to show me something?" he asked in a surprised tone. Never had he heard a situation like this. Especially one from his best friend. He was still in shock from learning that there was a wedding the next day after weeks, he doesn't need to be shown something else that will change his day AGAIN. He wishes he could just get a break from all the weirdness today. "Can't you just tell me first and then show me?"

"What? Oh no. The telling comes after the showing. It's an explanation and I'd rather show you first," she explained to him. "Now please, step back a little. It's too dangerous to stand close while I show you."

"What are you talking about? What in the name of Celestia is going on?" he asked as he walked backwards. He knew he was only a few steps away from the wall, but he continued walking backwards.

"Just keep going. Good! That's good enough," she said. "Well. Here goes nothing." Once he stopped going backwards, a green ring of flames suddenly engulfed her. The roar of the flames was enough to make Terminal's ears pop. It was even enough to make his ears hurt, so he got down and covered his ears with his hooves. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to block out the sound of the flames.

"Lyda! How much longer is he going to take?! This is really hurting my ears!" he yelled as loud as he could. He heard no response. He didn't care anymore. He just wanted the scenario to end. He couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to just jump in there and push Lyda out to end the flames' roar, but he thought about the consequences of it, so he went against the idea. Sadly, this meant more ear pain for him.

Lyda had been used to this sequence. She had done it several times as a filly (that is, if you could call her that since she has been a changeling her entire life, not a real pony).

She heard a faint voice coming from outside the flames

"Lyda! How much longer is he going to take?! This is really hurting my ears!" She decided not to answer. As much as she wanted to, she wouldn't want to answer his question. It was true that Terminal couldn't handle loud noises, and the flames did bother her a little, but she pushed past it and kept going.

Slowly, with a little pain, every fiber of her body changed it's appearance one by one. Starting with her legs, up to her body, next her wings, and last her head. Once it had finished, the flames slowly died down, revealing a changeling, looking similar to Lyda. What stood there now, was a pony-shaped creature with an orange coat that was darker than Lyda's pony form, holes in the legs, insect wings instead of pegasus wings, a mane and tail that are also a darker shade with holes in them, pupils that had turned from big black balls to slits, and a small, curved horn sprouting from her forehead.

As she just stood there, Terminal was on the ground with his mouth wide open in shock going all the way down to the floor. She knew from day one that some day, she would have to break her promise to her parents, and show a friend her true form for the sake of Equestria. She just didn't expect it would be in front of a guard a day before a very important event.

"So. What exactly am I looking at here? Is this a prank?" he asked. "OK. My mistake. I know it's not a prank. I had to ask." He knew that the seriousness in her voice when she was at the door showed that there was no prank.

"What you're looking at is a changeling," she responded a little rudely. "Changelings used to be things of Equestrian myth. Black creatures that could take the form and voice of another pony. You heard of the myth?"

"No idea. This is all very new to me," he said reluctantly. "So how long have you guys been here? In Equestria? And what does this have to do with Canterlot anyways?"

"We've been here since it was created. The point is that Princess Cadence isn't the Princess."

"Then who is she then? If she's not who she really is, why is it a problem?" he asked. He was severely confused at the moment. He wasn't good at processing things in his brain really quickly. He was still trying to get over the fact that his closest friend was a changeling the entire time and he has never known until now.

"She's the Queen. The changeling queen, Queen Chrysalis. This is all part of her plan. She did something to Cadence and she took her place," she explained to him. "She's going to release an army of changelings on Canterlot so she can begin her conquest for Equestria there."

"What about the Elements of Harmony? They stopped Nightmare Moon. Why can't they stop her?"

"That's it there. She trapped Twilight to keep her from stopping her plan. They don't work without one of the Elements."

How does she know all this in only a small amount of time? he asked himself.

"She came up to me in my room and told me all this," she told him as if on cue. "It seems as if you forgot I can read your mind."

"So you do you think we should do? Go up there and say 'Hi how are you doing Celestia? Sorry to bother your wedding but Princess Cadence is a changeling queen in the progress of starting her plan to conquer Equestria from you?!'" he said in angry sarcasm. "I mean come on! As if they would believe us! This wedding has been around for weeks and nopony's going to believe that!"

"Actually, that's kind of similar to what I was thinking," she told him. "What we should do is go to Canterlot and wreak havoc on 'Princess Cadence' before it starts."

"I hope this works. Because if it doesn't, I'm blaming you for all the damage."

"Come on. I know this will work. Changelings change back under times of severe stress," she reassured him. "Pack your armor." She walked over to the window facing Canterlot's direction. "We're going to Canterlot."

"That means I can say this: ALLONS-Y!!!!"

Author's Note

Yes this chapter goes all over the place but that's how I originally had it planned. That includes the "ALLONS-Y" at the end.