After Twilight came back from the washroom, having thoroughly washed and healed the scratch left on her cheek by Discord, she headed to the hall and invited her eagerly waiting friends, Spike included, to come upstairs.

As they all reached the study's door, she started explaining the upcoming procedure.

"Alright girls, and Spike... Now, Discord already told you about Hika and the tragedy that has fallen upon him and his village, along with his family and friends... and I tried to briefly explain it to you all as well... so I'm asking you all to try and forget about what has happened earlier, when we brought him in, and try to not let your anger get the best of you, if you are still feeling some."

Each of the mare had a distinct expression on their face, along with the alicorn's little dragon assistant. Both Fluttershy and Rarity were trying to contain their tears from only the little they had been told by Discord, as Rainbow Dash and Applejack seemed to be holding in a mix of intense anger and sorrow, having but one idea in mind; stopping Queen Chrysalis from her evil schemes. Pinkie Pie, on her end, was completely silent and forced herself to appear cheerful despite the situation, trying to mentally prepare for when she'll be talking to Hika herself, if she could. Spike, him, was staying not far behind, looking more frightened than anything, being unable to get the horrible things he heard out of his head. Perhaps the draconequus should have made sure he hadn't mentioned them, for his sake.

"Any of you who wishes to speak with him will go in one at a time, as me and Discord will be there to supervise and just... hope that nothing bad happens or that anypony gets offended. Is that alright with you all?"

All the ladies nodded, even though the jewel cutiemark mare still looked upset about the sinister equine's behavior on her.

"Alright, who wishes to go first? Remember; you do not have to if you do not wish to. Hika is ready to talk to you all, but only if you are feeling like it. No need to make anyone uneasy." The bookish mare swept her eyes across her friends. "Oh! That's right, I forgot to mention..." Everybody lifted their heads toward her. "...Hika has thankfully accepted to join us in our mission, wishing to never go back under Chrysalis's control that already caused him horrible amounts of pain. So if you are not wishing to discuss with him at this very moment, you might have your opportunity later on. It is as you wish." She concluded, giving one last overall look at her companions.

They all remained silent for a few seconds, not knowing what to answer or what actions to take. They were all feeling a part of guilt for misjudging Hika, but at the same time, they couldn't knew anything with their only lead being their first impression until Discord spoke with them.

Applejack be the first to break the silence. "I think I'll go first, sugarcube." She stated to her alicorn friend, then turned to the others. "And if there's anythin' y'all would like to say, but can't seem to find the guts to do so, just tell me; I'll try speaking in all of our names... that's if my own guts don't go down shut themselves..." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, trying not to let her emotions take the best of her. "So... anypony wishing to say something? Just whisper it in my ear... I'll try and transmit the best I can."

Nothingness flew through the air once more as nopony had any idea how to even explain what they were thinking without breaking into tears or anger.

"Alright... I'll just say my part and try to talk for the rest of us as well..."

"Applejack, wait." Rarity interrupted as she slowly approached the cowgirl, trying to keep her blurry eyes from shedding their tears. "Here is what I would like for you to say..." She closed in on her earth pony friend's ear and started whispering.

A few seconds passed, the two of them focusing on each other, then the glamorous unicorn stepped back, showing a small smile as drops started flowing down her cheeks.

"....Alright dear. Thank you very much. I'll say it, promise." The cowgirl responded to her amethyst maned friend, then she took one last look over the others. "...Anypony else?"

As her last call reverberated across the crystal and stone walls, not another stepped forward to follow Rarity's action.

"Okay..." She turned to Twilight who had been carefully watching over the scene. "I'm ready Twi." Her addressee nodded and started unlocking the door to the study, before slowly walking in, carefully closing it behind them.

The draconequus greeted them with a head gesture, leaned back on one of the drawers with his arm crossed. The room was still dimly lit with half consumed candles, the chestnut drapes still shut over the windows.

The pastries basket along with the remaining semen jar was still in visible sight, Hika still grimacing from Discord's force feeding, a few minutes ago.

"Mister Hika, this is my friend Applejack. She would like to speak with you." The lavender pony announced, leaving the lead to her friend.

The fluorescent green eyed creature slowly nodded, his mind having moderately settled from the previous events.

"Ah... hello, sir. I'm a... I'm Applejack, and I... ah... wish to apologize for our behav... well... more my friends' than mine and Pinkie's, but still... I speak on their name to say sorry for what happened earlier. We be not used to yar kind of... ah... speakin' 'round here..." The changeling rolled his eyes and chuckled, making the ponytail mare frown a little, but continuing nonetheless. "... and... well... after hearing from Discord and a bit of Twi what's happen'd to you... we..." She paused, trying to gulp down her sadness for him. "...I don' think there's any kind of sympathy tha' could suffice to ease your pain, but we humbly present them to you and... that last part is from Rarity, you know the one you called..." Hika turned his sight to her, looking unimpressed yet feeling definitely concerned. "... hum... never mind. She says... that we can't let you down, not after everything you've been through and that we'll gladly assist you in... trying to get your family, friends and everypony back and try to defeat... that horrible Chrysalis once and fo' all..." She crossed her heart and bowed before him, her actions speaking of her bestowed element of honesty.

As the pitch black equine creature felt uneasily moved by her words, she approached him slowly, staring him in the eyes, him not moving a single inch, then as she got barely a foot close to his face, still not leaving his sight, she promptly hugged him as hard as she could with all of her emotional sincerity.

The changeling gasped in surprise and was about to try and get away when he abandoned his struggle and hugged her back, his eyes filling up with tears. They stayed like this for several seconds, silent.

He gradually began to sob and then cry abundantly, as he felt another rush of freeing relief going through his entire body, beyond happy that he had been forgiven and that support was offered to him.

As they heard Hika's liberating sorrows, the rest of the mares silently entered the room, one by one, to witness the very emotionally charged scene, making a few of them let go of their tears they had been painfully keeping in.

It didn't took long for the small ink jet equine to notice their presence, which only amplified his appeasement, and as he did, so did Fluttershy, who surprisingly, being the most affected of all by his told past experiences, came forth before the others to add her reassurance.

She paused for a few seconds, carefully looking in his flooded glowing eyes, and embraced him as well. "I forgive you, Hika. Please let us help you." And as soon as these words were spoken, in a single silent wave, all the remaining mares, including little Spike, slowly approached the changeling to offer their forgiveness and friendly empathy.

In the next few minutes that followed, all cried their hearts out. Trying to feel, live, the pain of their new companion and maybe, just maybe, try to ease it or make it disappear for a brief moment, forgetting all about it and only focus on the warmth of friendship that was shared among them, all aimed toward Hika.

* * *

"Alright ladies, mushy time over. You'll have plenty of time for that once Chrysalis is gone for good." Discord brought, starting to feel impatient.

"Discord!" Twilight blared.

"It's alright, Miss Twilight. I'm more than alright, now." The pitch black equine calmly responded as all the mares, and the young dragon, let go of their comforting embrace. "...I don't know how to thank you all for... for what you just did..." Guilt and shame took hold of him. "... When Discord and Miss Twilight caught me... I sure as hell didn't look like it, but I was freakin' scared, because I knew what would happened if words of me getting captured got around to Bitc... I mean, that... hag, Chrysalis... so I tried to be as obnoxious as possible, hoping that if I didn't cooperated, you softy ponies wouldn't be able to bare me... but... when I got interrogated by miss Twilight here... I don’t know... it's like a super tiny ray of lost hope appeared and... and I took a chance, knowing the other option that waited for me was... was... " He stammered, tears building up in his eyes once more. "... So I confessed... I told EVERY FUCKING THING that had happened to me and what was going on with that... that beyond evil horrible witch! I was thinking that if I was going to... to die... anyway... I might as well spit it out so maybe you guys could do something about it... but I was sure I had already screwed that up by being a jerk to you all... And yet... here you are... all you dumb... friendly... incredible ponies... forgiving me and making me feel like I had a freakin chance to live..."

He wiped his eyes as a grateful smile appeared on his face. "I don't think I've ever felt so... happy to be alive... It's been like... forever..." He then stepped forward, turning to Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and little Spike, then, after looking at every single one of them, bowed in his most sincere respect and gratitude. "I thank you all... so very… very much..." He faced the other way and bowed once more. "Thank you, Miss Twilight... You too, Discord."

"Watch yourself, Hika. Softness doesn't suit you too well." The draconequus retorted.

"Hey, shut it, Dis. I used to be like them at some point, you know that..." The bug-like pony chuckled.

"You mean you used to be a pony?" The butterfly cutie mark pony asked him in her quiet tone.

"Well... yeah. Didn't he told you all about it?" Hika replied, surprised.

The mares all shook their heads in negative response as the changeling looked up at Discord, lifting an eyebrow, slightly discontent.

"I guess I must have accidentally left it out." The chimera responded, seemingly careless.

"Well..." The ink jet creature brought his sight back to the timid mare and her friends. "...yes. I used to be a Pegasus who lived in the small village of Neighlor, about... 200 miles from Ponyville, I think."

"Oh! I read about that village. Its population tends around 150 ponies, if I remember right. Well... hum... tended..." Twilight brought up, feeling kind of disrespectful, after consideration.

"That... is correct." Hika answered. "I'm surprised you know of our small suburb, Miss Twilight." He added as memories from his previous peaceful life begin to arise, starting to make him uneasy, but he quickly shook his head to get rid of them. "Anyways! Now's not the time to be screwing around... I mean, getting distracted... I'm really grateful for your support, but what are you guys' plan?"

"Easy! We find that psycho Chrysalis and force her to change you back!" The tomboy mare exclaimed as the Spike burped a scroll and promptly unrolled it, the others going silent and focused as he began reading.

"Dear Twilight,
I knew you would try and take the best course of action in this situation. I have faith in you and your friends, as well as Discord, however his still mischievous personality may be.
I have unfortunately not gotten any further news about your brother's condition. I also do not know the whereabouts of the second hive yet, considering the lack of response from the squadron I have sent. I will try to solve this matter as quickly as possible even though we are starting to have more than our hooves full with Chrysalis’s minions beginning to spread across Canterlot. Be of great caution down in Ponyville.
I will stay in contact with you through Spike if anything else gets to my notice.
I leave Ponyville in your care, although I will deploy guards to assist you in the protection of the town.
May the outcomes of your decisions be greatly successful. Keep well, all of you.

~Princess Celestia"

"That's all it is..." The purple dragon silently declared.

Silence stood across the study as everyone considered the content of the letter, reminding them of their objectives and what might be necessary to accomplish them.

On her hoof, Twilight was getting lost in thoughts, worrying about her lost brother and what might have happened to him, hoping he was alright and that they'll be able to rescue him.

"Are you okay?" Spike asked her alicorn friend.

"Wh... what? Oh sorry... I was just..."

"Thinking about your brother, sugarcube?" Applejack interrupted.

"Yes... It's alright, now, though." She blinked a few times. "Okay. A plan... What was it again?" She brought her right hoof to her forehead, having lost focus on what was going on before the letter arrived.

"We could split up, maybe?" The cowgirl unsurely inquired.

"Well... it depends what we are wishing to do first." The studious pony replied. "I believe our very first objective was to look out for changeling activities... and that is why we required Discord. My brother may have gone missing, but... knowing him... I think he'll be able to hold himself out for a while... I hope... So we would need to secure Ponyville before departing... and... We... will need to actually get rid of the changelings... in some way..."

"Oh! Oh! I know, I know!" The baby dragon rose his tiny arm.

"Go ahead Spike." Twilight nodded.

“Rarity and I have found some info about them in the library, after you got poofed out of it by Discord." The green spine reptile proudly stated.

"And I believe I could be of some help on that matter as well, Spike." Hika added.

"Oh! Yes you can! Actually, want to start first, Hika?" The addressed happily asked his new friend.

The changeling, still a bit surprised by the young dragon's enthusiasm, lightly blushed. "Hum... ok. Sure." He looked over the others, all giving him a comforting smile. "Hum... let's see... What would you like to know? F...friends..."

"Well... how about... what was your name, as a Pegasus, darling?" Rarity first pronounced.

"My... name, as a Pegasus? Wh... Why would you want to know that?" He blushed. "Weren't we going to talk about what I know on changelings?"

"Oh... yes... Sorry." The glamourous mare looked down, feeling a bit silly.

"No no no! It's alright, it's just... I... didn't thought it would matter... maybe. My name was... ahm... my last name... was... was..." He frowned. "... I... I can't seem to remember... It's been... too long since I was asked or... even saw my last name... I didn't even get to keep my first name when I got captured and changed... All I had was a number... yeah... that's what we were... numbers... Worthless puppets... under that... THAT..." He closed his eyes, and breathe in. "I'm... I'm sorry, R... Rarity. I can't remember... I'm lucky enough to be able to remember my FIRST name..."

A grey Pegasus with a black mane trotted in. "His name is Hika Thunderhead, and..."

"PAAAAATTTTT!!" All of a sudden Pinkie Pie bounced off the ground and lunged herself onto the newly arrived pony, giving him an overly tight hug, attracting the attention of all the others, including the especially shocked changeling.

"Who the..." The pitch black equine cut his own words as a flash of vibrant memories rushed through his head. "You're... you're... my cous-... YOU'RE MY COUSIN!" At those exclaimed words, Hika sprinted toward his relative, his eyes instantly starting to flow with tears as he embraced him, the pink puffy mare quickly stepping away, her eyes widening. "PAT! PAT THUNDERSNOW! THANK CELESTIA YOU'RE SAFE!"

"Augh... not with the mushy, again." Discord quietly slipped out.

"It's good to see you too, Hika, even if as a changeling." The cousin comfortably said. "Let me guess... Chrysalis?"

"N... NO SHIT, SHERCLOP!" He answered, as he continued heavily sobbing in his relative's shoulder, not having loosen his grip.

The silvery pony hugged him back. "You know, these bug wings don't look all that bad on you, actually."

"Sh... SHUT UP, you..." The changeling looked him in the eyes with annoyance, but as soon as he saw them, the tears immediately began flowing again. "NOT FAIR!!! YOU STUPID... I'M SO FREAKIN GLAD YOU'RE SAFE!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Pat asked, lifting his left eyebrow.

"B... because..." Hika's sobbing suddenly softened. "W... wait... HOW are you... here? Why are you in Ponyville? And not in Cloudsdale? Hasn't Cloudsdale been targeted by Chrysalis, yet?"

"Not that I know. I moved here a while ago and got engaged to Pinkie Pie." The Pegasus clarified.

The bug-like pony slowly withdrew his embrace, his crying having abruptly came to a halt, as he slowly looked over at the puffy maned mare and the others who were all showing bright blurry eyes, except for the usual unfazed draconequus. "You... " He then brought back his sight to Pinkie Pie. "YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED, COUSIN?! HOLY CRAP!!! THAT IS AMAZING! CONGRATULATIONS, DUDE!!!" The embrace resumed. The changeling now almost squeezing his relative breathless with happiness, every signs of sadness seemingly gone.

"OK! Sorry to interrupt this unexpected family reunion, but every minute we spend riding the FEELS boat, is another minute Chrysalis's minions are continuing their mischiefs... and judging from my ability to sense their auras... I'D SAY IT'S ABOUT TIME WE GET MOVING!" The impatient chimera impatiently growled.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh, Discord. That's why I came here for, anyway. To help you guys out." Pat said.

"YYYAAAYYYYY! Oh wait, I already knew about it, YAY ANYWAY!" The bubble gum party pony exclaimed, as the rest of the mares and Spike wiped off their eyes and all focused to discuss a strategy.

After a few seconds of silence, Twilight stepped forward "Well, as we indeed mentioned before, I think splitting up will be a good idea. There will be two groups: one lead by Discord, and the other, led by Pat and Hika."

"Fine, but I don't want to be on Discord's team..." Rainbow Dash grumbled.

"Oh, come on Rainbow Dash it'll be... Actually, no, this won't be fun. Chasing after some flimsy oversized bug pests and..."

"AH-HUM!" The bookish mare interrupted, sneering at the draconequus then tilting her head over to the pitch black equine.

"Aww... don't you worry Twilight, little Hika doesn't fret about what an old master of chaos like me dares to say about anything. Don't you, deeeaarrrr?" He mockingly intended on the changeling, who looked back at him with mild annoyance.

"Think I'll enjoy NOT being in your group, Dis." He turned his head to the alicorn, standing near one of the window. "He's right, though. Some of Chrysalis’s OFFICIAL minions, or... completely corrupted ones, can be quite the pain to handle, that is, if you don't know how to do it."

"Um... I'd like go with Discord." Fluttershy timidly brought into the discussion.

"Alright. Well... let's decide the teams first, then we'll discuss about how to get rid of them." Hika declared. "So... Pat and me are definitely going to be on the same team, although, it might be more effective to organize the teams in functions of the different sectors to cover in Ponyville. I mean, we will need to also prepare for our departure, after taking care of the matter going on here." He turned to the orchid mare. "Twilight?"

"Yes Hika?" She asked.

"Do you have a map of Ponyville and the surroundings we could look at, to figure out who's going to cover which part?" He inquired.

"Of course!" The studious pony opened one of the drawer and levitated a large scroll out of it. She then unrolled it and carefully placed it on the study's wooden floor. "There you go. It dates from about 5 years ago, but nothing much has changed since then... Well... maybe a few additional buildings, but... the overall is still the exact same."

"Thanks. Ok, let's see..." The bug-like pony examined the map carefully. "Do you... also have like... a translucent scroll or something we could put on top to scribble on? I don't think you'd like ink to get all over that map, not being able to wash it off, afterward..." He requested.

"Translu-what?" The tomboy mare asked out of ignorance.

"Ah... let me thin- OH YES, I DO!" Twilight lightened up. "I'll be right back!" She hurried out of the study's door and upstairs.

"What the hay does translucent means?" Rainbow Dash persisted on knowing.

"It's a surface that's not quite transparent, like a window, but that you can still see through... There was a unicorn artisan in our village that used to make see-through paper sheets with her magic and some special ink. Well... see-through is a big word for it, but it was still transparent enough that if you put it on top of another that had stuff written or drawn on it, you could still see it. That was very handy for map-making in large quantities, since all that had to be done was to copy the lines and drawings from the one underneath... We even had a map maker in our little village. Both of them were working together to try and make a few bits to live... and fu... I mean, boy did it worked well." As he finished his explanation, the alicorn came rushing back down with nothing seemingly apparent in her levitation magic.

"There you go, Hika. I found it." She smiled.

"Ah... found what? There's nothing there, Twi." Applejack remarked, confusingly looking at the empty magic aura.

"You... ARE YOU FREAKIN SERIOUS TWILIGHT?! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!" The changeling suddenly exclaimed.

"Wh-wh-what?! What is it?" Spike joined in.

"Hehehe. Princess Celestia is the one that provided me with that superior quality ink so I could make those." Twilight happily grinned as she laid down over the map what sounded like a piece of scroll, but with nothing visually apparent to be seen.

"Wow... that is... incredible." The ink jet equine said, still looking very much impressed.

"Ok! Can somepony PLEASE tell me what the heck is going on?! What are we even looking at? There's nothing there!" The rainbow maned Pegasus demanded.

"Relax Rainbow Dash. It's what Hika asked for. Well... actually; even BETTER than what he asked. It's a 97% transparent paper scroll painted with the highest quality paper pigment reducer ink. In other words: when you paint that ink onto a piece of paper or scroll, it becomes visually invisible. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Dear me... that is indeed very fantastic! How come you never told us about this, dear?" Rarity added to the surprised reaction of the group.

"Well... that ink DOES come as very much expensive... and only small quantities are available at a time, so... it isn't something to happily use on an everyday basis and..." The lavender mare trailed on.

"Oh, FOR CHAOS'S SAKE! CAN WE PLEASE GET ON WITH THE PLAN!? You may STILL not be aware of this, HOW I don't know, but EVERY MINUTE we are wasting blabbering about irrelevant subjects, I can sense one and another dark aura floating around in Ponyville! SO GET A MOVE ON, ALREADY!" Discord burst with restlessness.

"Already on it, Dis." Hika retorted. "Alright, so... where do each of you girls live on that thing?"

"Ouh ouh ouh! I live at Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie Pie bounced over to the map.

"Okay... and where's that?" The changeling asked.

"RIGHT THERE!" The puffy pink maned mare tapped her hoof on the south-west part of the town.

"Ok. Twilight, can I borrow a..."

"And here's where Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Spike and Twilight live!" She carried on before the bug-like equine could even finish his words.

"...feather and ink... please..."

"Sure. There you go." The alicorn handed him the materials. "Want any help?"

"Sure!" Hika agreed.

"Hmmm... How about..." She took hold of the feather and started sketching on the transparent surface. "Pat and Hika's team take the area from Sugarcube Corner to Sweet Apple Acres, and around like this..." The entire group, including the draconequus looking over them, gathered closer. "... And... The other team will cover the rest, including Fluttershy's cottage, Rarity's boutique and Rainbow Dash's private cloud shack."

"Hihihi. What you drew looks like a puppy, Twilight. Or maybe a tamir? OH! A fox! What about a tiger with very short legs? OH, I KNOW..."

"PINKIE!!!" The rest of the mares shouted.

"Wait... let me look at this..." The tomboy pony took a closer look. "...AW, COME ON! That means I'm going to be on Discord's team!"

The referred chimera teased her in response, ruffling her mane, to which she grunted and left the group to go pout at one of the windows.

"So... Okay... That means the two teams are going to be..." The changeling scrolled over the sketching. "Me, Pat, Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie on the team to cover that part... and Discord, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash..."

"AAAAUUGGGHHHHHH!!!!" The named mare loudly sighed.

"...and Rarity for this one. Does this seem alright with everypony?" The pitch black equine asked aloud.

"NO!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, unamused, as all the others nodded or replied positively.

"Excellent! And if needed, I'll ask some guards to help us out." Twilight added.

"Good! Now... HOW to exactly take care of the changelings when we find them... THAT might be an issue." Hika thought.

"Oh! That. Pff... Easy-peasy. Not to worry." Spike brought up.

"Well... I wouldn't say SO easy, but we do indeed have an idea that could perhaps work." Rarity added as the others looked at each other in wonders.

"We still haven't told you what we found out about changelings in your library, Twilight. And I think we found out something that could help us get rid of them." The small dragon said with a proud smile.

"Oh Spike! That's wonderful! Thank you!" The lavender pony rushed to hug her little scaly friend. "So what did you find?" She let him go, everybody else listening closely.

"Well, ah-hum..." He cleared his throat. "...as I read a part about the changelings' origins, I came across a very interesting paragraph. It says that the first changelings were created from the metamorphi... metamorphost..."

"Metamorphosis, dear." The glamourous mare intervened.

"Ah! Yes! Metamorphosisezzseh... Ah..." He blushed as the mares giggled silently. "ANYWAYS! They were born from a carnivorous plant that grew from a rotten acorn that fell into a magic pond under a cemetery. There!" He proudly finished as Rarity continued.

"So, maybe aside from the magic pond and all, the essential is that they were created from a carnivorous plant. Therefore, we thought that this could give us a hint as to how to get rid of them."

"Ohhhh! You're right!" The alicorn lighted up. "If the changelings still retain the properties of that carnivora sunt herba to this day, a chemical composition resourcing its values in a counter-productive process could very well work in order to suppress their metabolism!" She gasped and grinned with enlightenment as the others all shown interrogative and/or confused faces.

"Um, you don't mean... kill them, do you?" Fluttershy asked, worried.

"OH! Nonono, Fluttershy! I'll try to come up with something to simply slow down their metabolism so that they fall in a very deep sleep; a bit like hibernation, if you'd like. What to do with them, next... that I am not sure." Twilight pondered. "Best I can think of would be to imprison them... I guess we could leave that to the guards of Canterlot, once they're put to sleep. We would have to signal Princess Celestia beforehand, though."

"Actually... I could do that... Guess you guys don't know this yet, but she's my great aunt from over 1000 years ago." Pat said on a humble tone.

"WHAT?!" Most of the mares and Spike shouted as Rainbow Dash seemed unaffected. "Yeah, RIGHT!" She replied.

"Making such a claim would be an easy thing, but I can assure you all this is true. It HAS been a while since she last saw me, since I was just a filly last time it happened, but I'm one of the great over 1000 years grandson of... well... the THIRD daughter of Celestia and Luna's mother."

"Wowowowowow... THAT is impossible, Pat!" The studious mare stepped forward. "I have about every single history books and articles and... well... EVERYTHING about Equestria's entire chronology, and NEVER, EVER, have I read or heard of a THIRD alicorn sister among Celestia and Luna! Why are you saying that?! Who told you so?!"

"Well... You know... I read a lot like you do, and... while making a trip to the families archives of the great Canterlot library, I decided to take a look at the most complete family tree of my generations, out of curiosity and... When I found it... under Queen Galaxia, Celestia and Luna's mother, there also was this third one; Vitalia, and the branches of the tree went all the way down to my mother... I was surprised at first, but when I went to find her highness and shown it to her, she looked away for a moment, but then back to the tree and confirmed that was indeed her sister, who went missing about 250 years after they were born... I tried to ask her for more information, but she evaded my questions and tried to change the subject... I haven't talked to her about this again ever since." The silvery Pegasus concluded.

"I... I NEVER READ ANYTHING ABOUT THAT!!! WHAT THE HAY IS THIS?!? BE-DJE, EH, HUH?!?" She paused as she began walking frantically in a circle. "Nonononono... There must be a mistake! That can't be! My brain can't take it! So many questions! So MUCH KNOWLEDGE LACKING ALL OF A SUDDEN! I'M GONNA-" A closed zipper suddenly appeared on her face in place of her mouth.

"Ahh... much better." Sighed Discord in relief, before calmly speaking. "Now, Twilight Sparkle, I know this new addition of information must cause quite the tantrum in that little head of yours, but PLEASE..." A surge of annoyed impatience escaped from his goat mouth. "...can we keep this to the 'ESSENTIAL' subject of what we are gathered HERE for? HMMMMM?!"

The zipper still closed on her mouth, all the orchid colored pony managed to answer were muffles.

"I didn't heard that, could you please just give me a nod if you understand that you mustn’t... and that goes for ANY OF YOU, let ANYTHING ELSE distract you for as long as we haven't concluded that plan! UNDERSTAND?!" The draconequus forcefully emphasized.

They all hesitantly nodded or looked away silently.

"Perfect..." He removed the zipper from Twilight's mouth.

"Discord, was that really necessary?!" The alicorn shouted, furiously looking up at the chimera.

"The plan, Miss Twilight Sparkle. Let's carry on with it, if you please." He looked her back in the eyes, very much unamused.

"Hum... Twi?" Applejack carefully intervened.

The bookish mare took a deep breath and let it out. "Understood... but Pat..." She turned to the black maned stallion. "...you WILL have to tell me more about what you said, later. I would really like to hear more about it."

"For sure, we indeed have things that we need to get started, right now." Pat confirmed as they all focused back on the map.

"So... let me make a list of what needs to be done." The purple pony brought out another scroll and began scribing on it. "Okay. Now... Have two teams scouting out Ponyville and the surroundings; check. Making a potion that will put the changelings asleep; not done, but on its way... and, Pat warning Celestia about our plan; will be right on its way too." She read what she wrote once more. "Hmmm... Anything else?" She openly asked.

"What about me, Twilight?" Spike asked, feeling left out.

"As always, I know you want to help, Spike, but giving the situation..."

"I should stay somewhere safe while you guys face danger... I know, I know..." He sighed, looking unpleased with the idea, as he looked down from his alicorn friend.

"That doesn't mean you won't be able to help, though. I'm sending you over to Celestia. Something tells me she will be needing your assistance with something." She tried to cheer up her small purple assistant, as she looked over to the silvery Pegasus. "Pat, would you take him with you to Canterlot?"

"Of course, Twilight." He laid down. "Come on, Spike. Climb up on my back."

The young dragon sighed once more before clumsily getting onto the grey pony.

"Don't look so down. You know you'll be of use to her." Twilight said as she opened one of the study's windows.

"...Be safe you all." Spike unhappily answered before they flew off out of the castle.

"Thanks. You too, my number one assistant." The lavender mare silently said as she saw them getting away.

"Well then... Shall we continue, then?" Discord brought.

"Yes, let's split off into our groups now." The studious pony responded.

"Actually, you might be forgetting something, Twilight.” Hika interrupted. “You didn't asked Pat to ask Celestia to send us some guards to capture the changelings once they're asleep... and you haven't even made that potion of yours, yet... and where do we meet up after we're done?"

“Oh... yes. You're right. Sorry. A bit out of focus here, due to all that's going on through that head of mine right now.” She chuckled while approaching back the group.

"Well... we could meet at my house." Fluttershy said.

"That's... actually a good idea. As we need to investigate the Everfree Forest, afterward. Making sure Zecora is alright." The alicorn agreed. "That reminds me... Hika." The changeling turned his head away from the map. "I never DID asked you about Queen Chrysalis's plan. What are her intentions, not for us, because you've already told me, but for the rest of Equestria?"

"Well, from what I know, she intends to take over Equestria from the inside out... and the better strategy she came up with was to try and first aim for its military resources." The bug-like pony answered.

"And... she will do that by changing all the ponies, not only soldiers, into changelings... like she already started doing... with those who went missing, already..." Twilight considered the discouraging thought for a few seconds, before straightening herself. "Well... we'll do everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen." She turned to the rest. "Alright, everypony! I want you all to follow me to the laboratory, in the basement. I will need your help making that potion!"

"Do you know how long it'll take, sugarcube?" The farmer mare inquired.

"I... I've got no idea Applejack. Maybe... an hour?" The purple mare unsurely answered.

"AN HOUR?! Oh... OH NO! I am not sticking an hour in here waiting for your 'slumber' potion to be ready, Miss Twilight! I'm going to take matters into my own hand until you're done! And if any of you who are supposed to be on my team want to join me, YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO DO SO!" Discord furiously responded.

"Discord, please calm down. The potion takes time; you just got to be a bit patient." The timid mare said as she kissed him on the cheek, to which the draconequus blushed and silenced, the rest of the mares giggling to his reaction.

This actually only made the chimera shake his head off in stubbornness. "NO! I will not have it this way. I'm going out and beginning my OWN part of the job with those changelings! I'm the Master of Chaos, for crying out loud! I can definitely take care of a few change-dings!" He stepped next to the opened window. "See you all in an hour, GUUURRRLLLS..." He mocked, looking very much unamused, before promptly taking off.

"I know he wants to help, but for Celestia’s sake... he needs to work" The bookish alicorn sighed, as she opened the study's door to head downstairs.

"I... I'll go after him." The butterfly cutie mark Pegasus hesitantly said.

"Go with him then, Fluttershy." Twilight answered, chuckling and smiling. "You're pretty much the only one he really listens to."

Rarity turned around. "Well... I doubt he will use any kind of unnecessary force on the changelings he will find, so I actually will go with them, if that is alright, darling."

"Might as well. You'll get a head start on your part." The lavender pony replied, then looking over at Rainbow Dash who was still pouting, as they began heading down the stairs. "What about you? Want to join them?"

"Aaauuugghhhh... I hate Discord’s guts... but I hate waiting doing nothing even more, so... I GUESS I will..." She rolled her eyes.

"Thank you girls." Fluttershy nodded to her friends.

"Go right away, darling; don't lose track of him. We'll be right behind you." The jewel cutie mark mare added, to which her gentle friend nodded and left through the study's window.

"Is there anything else you'd like us to do while we're gone for that short period of time, Twilight?" The glamorous unicorn asked, looking back.

"Well... not necessarily. Just make sure to come back to get the potion once it's ready. I'll still have plenty of hooves to help me out and I think I got all the necessary ingredients down in the laboratory. You girls can go right ahead."

"Roger!" The tomboy mare saluted her alicorn friend, Rarity kindly nodding in response, before they began rushing downstairs and out of the castle.

"BYE BYE! TAKE CARE! HAVE FUN!" Pinkie Pie shouted, waving at them.

"Oh! That's right! Applejack?" Twilight lightened.

"Yes Twi?" Her cowboy hatted friend answered.

"I'd like you to go look for a patrol of guards and tell them that I request a team of O.C.C.C., Ominous Creatures Control of Canterlot, with as many dark magic-proof imprisonment carts as they can provide, and to meet me at my castle." The studious mare instructed as she wrote her orders on a scroll that she officially signed.

"Got it! So I just show them your letter and that'll be enough?" The freckled earth pony last asked.

"Yes. They shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm thinking Celestia has already sent about 20 or so patrols down here." The orchid colored pony nodded in confirmation and handed her friend the letter.

"Understood, Twi. I'll be off right away. See ya later!" Applejack saluted before galloping down the stairs.

"Aww... couldn't I have gone with her, Twilight?" The bubblegum maned mare asked a bit disappointed.

"It's alright, Pinkie. Besides, since I'm making a potion, I need someone who can easily look for ingredients and mix them together, and I think you'll fit that role perfectly." Her alicorn friend reassured as they continued heading to the basement.

"Anything I'll be able to help you out with, miss... I mean, Twilight?" Hika added to the conversation.

"Help out Pinkie Pie with whatever she will be needing, but mostly, just..." Twilight moved in closer to the changeling’s ear, lowering her voice. "...keep around her so she doesn't lose focus on what she's doing. She's quite talkative and tends to go off track of her work when it's... not enough stimulating for her brain, but if you keep her entertained by talking to her, she'll stay focus. You got it?"

"Got it. I actually wanted to get to know her a bit more, being my cousin's fiancé and all. She's part of my family, now and she seems like a very nice pony." The changeling whispered back.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" The party pony in question asked as they reached the bottom floor, turning to the right.

"Hika here's going to keep you company while you help me out making the potion." The purple mare replied, putting on a grin.

Pinkie Pie gasped. "REALLY?! OH MY GOSH! IT'S GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN! AND EVEN MORE, since you're my new relative and all. IT'S GONNA BE A BLAST! HIHIHIHIIHI!!!" She tightly hugged the ink jet equine, clinging her face against his. "OH! Maybe I could show you how to make cupcakes, sometimes! Pat and me LOVE cupcakes. We make some every day! Well, not every day, like, today we don't make as much; since there's trouble and all, but we usually like make DOZENS of them, and we have so many flavors and all. Like there's this one with lemon and cherry..."

Hika kept on a big unsure smile, as he glanced over to the bookish alicorn, happily smiling back to him.

"Alright. We're here guys." Twilight announced as they stood before an empty wall, in one of the main hallways, the other two looking rather confused. "Oh... just a little more security to protect my researches and experiments." She used her magic to open a secret panel to her right, the imprint of a hoof revealing. She put her hoof in it, making a keyhole appear where she inserted a golden complexly carved key.
A heavy thud was heard and the wall began to move, priory forward, then sliding to their left, exposing a narrow marble staircase going down into the basement, illuminated by a row of hanged candles on the right wall.

"Watch you steps!" The lavender pony warned as they went down, the wall slowly closing behind them.

* * *

Meanwhile, Fluttershy continued fastly dashing after her draconequus friend. "Discord! Please wait for me!"
The master of chaos faintly heard her voice and turned around. He stopped his flight and descended onto the ground.

"Yes? What is it, Fluttershy?" He answered, looking fairly grumpy.

The gentle mare promptly hugged Discord with a sweet smile on her face. "I know you're worried about our safety, but Twilight doesn't want to harm the changelings in any brutal ways, so that's why she opted for making that potion." She explained, softly.

"Oh, Fluttershy, dear. I wouldn't have really 'brutally' harmed them myself. Just make them inoffensive with a few magic tricks." He showed a light smirk. "Oh oh oh! Speaking of which, I think I'm sensing one right now. A little pip-squeak of a change-bling-bling... probably a scout... Hehehe... Where AAAREEEE YOOOUUUU?" He mischievously giggled as the light yellow Pegasus rolled her eyes, following him close.

"Discord, please... do take it easy." She incisively suggested.

* * *

"CAN YOU SEE THEM FROM UP THERE, RAINBOW DASH?!" Rarity shouted, running after her Pegasus friend up above, as they searched for their two friends.

"NOPE! NOTHING AT ALL! *Can't believe they were fast enough to escape me! Shoot!* THEY CAN'T BE FAR, THOUGH! I think..." The cyan blue Pegasus answered.

"I hope we find them... more for our sake than theirs, although I am indeed worried." The glamourous mare talked to herself. "I don't think I could properly defend myself against a bunch of those creatures all at the same time... Rainbow Dash might, but without Discord's power, we can't even sense them approaching if we ever get ambushed..." She looked back up. "UNDERSTOOD! LET'S KEEP ON LOOKING!"

* * *

"OH! What's that you say, Changy-Bling? You don't like being a doll? *NO! I HATE IT! GRRR GRR!* "OW OW OW! HEY! Don't you do that to uncle Discord! YOU HEAR?!" *GRRRRRR....* The impish chimera acted.

"Hum... I am thankful that you did not hurt him, Discord, but... seeing you tease him while he's in that form... it's making me uneasy." Fluttershy told as she looked at the doll the draconequus was playing with.

He looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. "...Alright. I indeed shouldn't go against my own words when I said we should hurry. Let's move on."

"Oh! Could we stop at my cottage? I need to feed the chickens and tell Angel about what's going on." The butterfly cutie mark mare brought up as Discord made a present box appear and put the changeling doll in, then gave it to a clone of himself, who looked fairly unamused by the gift.

"Oh... yes yes. We sure can. I'm sure we'll find some more new FRIENDS on the way." He giggled as he poofed away his clone and kept the box hovering next to him as they headed for their destination.

* * *

"Come here, my dears! Lunch is served!" Fluttershy happily said as a group of chickens came out of the henhouse. The sound of seeds pouring onto the earthy ground quickly drew them together as their master carefully leaned down the burlap bag. "I should be done in about fifteen min, Discord!"

"Oh... ahm... alright, dear." The master of chaos hesitantly answered, feeling a source of dark energy nearby. "Hum... Fluttershy?" He shouted from the other side of the fence, near the house's front door, but seeing the chicken clucks were too loud for her friend to understand, he decided to head toward the back to find the source of what he was sensing. 'Probably another harmless changeling I can get my hands on. What am I gonna do with it? Hmmm... OH! Ohohoh! I got it, yes that'll be... Wait a sec... Did it just get... stronger? WHAT?!' Noticing the flux of energy the draconequus made haste to find it. 'Oh... oh dear... that's DEFINITELY not the darkness of a scout changeling... and... It's coming from the Everfree Forest...' He transformed himself into a bird and carefully flew toward the source that only seemed to grow more significant for every meters he took. 'Oh... oh no. If that is what I think it is, I better take care of it as quickly as possible. Fluttershy and the others could be in REAL danger if that thing ever shows up.' He looked behind him, taking one last glance at the cottage before covering more ground. 'Come on... Almost there... Wait... WHAT?! It's still further?!'

And so, after about two minutes of flight, the track finally came to an end.

"That... that CAN'T BE RIGHT! It's gotta be around here somewhere! There's no way I can let it escape. There is WAY too much risks..." He continued searching around, Fluttershy's house now barely visible in the distance.

* * *

"Alright... next I need to feed the pigs. Oh! And I got to talk to Angel too." The smiling Pegasus said to herself, not noticing Discord's absence. "Now where did I put the buckets, again? I think I saw them behind the house last time." She headed in the back while happily humming a soft melody. "Oh! Discord! There you are. Would you help me carry the buckets to feed the pig, please?" She picked one up as she turned around to head toward the pigs' pen.

"I think there might be something ELSE I could help you out with, little one." A dark and deep voice sounded from the words, instantly startling the pale yellow mare.

"Di-discord?" She turned around to witness a most shocking sight. Before her, her draconequus friend transformed into an imposing and bulky changeling. "H-ah-AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" She screamed as she tried to fly away, but the mighty beast quickly caught up to her and easily pummeled her to the ground. "GGGAAAHHH!!"

"Oh sorry, little fluff ball. Did that hurt?" Without hesitation, he brusquely turned her around, so she faced up, nailing her wings down to the ground with his very strong front hooves.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" She yelled in pain and she felt her bones getting crushed underneath the hit and weight, her eyes instantly filling up with tears.

"HEY! Look here, you little pony CUNT!" Though the words were harsh and clear, Fluttershy was too afraid and in pain to focus. "I SAID..." He leaned down and grabbed her mane with his teeth, brusquely pulling on them and forcing her to look up to which she screeched feeling the nerves of her skin almost ripping from the haul. "There... that wasn't so hard. Now... wanna guess what I’m gonna do with you?" He softly said in a very sleazy and menacing tone.

"F... fuck me?" The scared stiff Pegasus asked.

"Tempting, but no. We do have some policies to follow. NO IMPREGNATING OF THE CHOSEN SIX OF THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY OR MAY YOU ENSUE THE DIRE CONSEQUENCES BY ORDER FROM THE QUEEN." He saluted, lifting his left hoof, then putting it back down, hitting the poor mare's wing again. "Oh... ohoh..." He leaned in closer to her mouth. "NOT sorry about that, dear. By the way, I'm Sergeant Major Krutch. Nice to meet ya, little girl." He then promptly engulfed her lips into his, forcing his tongue into her mouth and roughly giving her a deep throat kiss as she heavily cried and choked.

The sight made the changeling sergeant fairly aroused and it didn’t took long before the completely submitted Fluttershy felt something stiff and fleshy poking and pulsing on her belly. "HMMMMGGHMMMNNNNN!!!"

After a few seconds of mouth ravaging, Krutch lifted his head to reveal his impressive foot-long and two and a half inches wide solid member to the completely frightened Pegasus. "NNOOOOOO! HEEEEEELLPPP! DISCORD! DISCOOOORRRD! HEEELLL-" She got interrupted as the sergeant quickly forced his fully erected member into her mouth.

"Fuck you're one annoying little pony bitch! SHUT THE HELL UP and feel my manwood in that whining mouth of yours, so I can corrupt you already!" He spat at the helpless mare, still heavily sobbing as her breath became more and more difficult to maintain.

"HHHHGHHMMMHGHGH?!!??!" She muffled in shock.

"Oh yes... Guess you weren't aware of it, yet, hmmm?" He slowly began thrusting his equinesque dong in his victim's delicate buccal cavity. "Know what our queen found out that made her plan to rule over that land of yours so much easier? Hmm? DO YOU?!" He gave one hard thrust down Fluttershy's throat, then continuing on with his slower paste, noticing her sobs beginning to silence as she started lacking air.

"Changeling seeds... In other words, their semen. Guess that would explain how we are so easily reproductive, eh! But get this... if getting in contact through skin, sexual intercourse, injection, or... in your case to be, ingestion AND fucking oral sex, all of this with OTHER life forms... they become changelings too, now isn’t that neat? Wouldn't you SAY?!" He began literally fucking her face, spurts of precum escaping from the tip of his throbbing cock.

"You see... gnngh... changeling cum is VERY easily absorbed by the organic system of the home body to be... Blood vessels just can't get enough! HGNNHHNN!" He increased his thrusts speed. "And it only... only takes about THIRTY MINUTES for a regular dumbtard p... pony to become a full-fledged changelIINGGGHGHGH! OHHHH! IT'S FUCKING CLOSE, NOW!" He humped as hard and fast as he could, the pale yellow Pegasus completely as his mercy, having almost stopped breathing. "WHAT'LL HAPPEN IN YOUR CASE...? THAT I DUNNO, BUT WHAT I DO KNOW, IS THAT I'M GONNA GET ONE HECK OF A FUCKING PRAISE FROM OUR QUEEN! AHAHAHHAHAHAH! AAAAAHHAHAHHAHH!!!!! GHGHGHHMNNNHHHGGHHNNNHGHGGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OHHHH YEAAAAHHHH! TAKE IT YOU FUCKING PONY WHORE!!!!!"

And with those words out, massive gushes after gushes of changeling cum exploded into the barely conscious and miserable mare. Being forced to swallow every single ounce, her belly quickly filled up and the rest of the erupting man milk overflew from her throat, mouth and nostrils, then down her chin and onto her chest.

After a minute that seemed like an eternity for the poor girl, Sergeant Krutch removed his empty horse-like penis from her buccal vicinity and gave her one last kiss on her fluid covered lips. He then satisfyingly licked his own, before flying off, evilly laughing as dribbles of cum still oozed from his balancing member.

Down on the ground, the completely ravaged Fluttershy tried to move, but as she did, the pain, exhaustion and entire throat, filled with semen, caused her to finally lose consciousness.

Only several minutes too late could the draconequus be seen coming back from is unfruitful search.

"That was very much unusual... Where could it have gone too? There's no way it- WAIT! What is- THAT'S COMING FROM THE COTTAGE! AND IT'S THE SAME ENERGY I SENSED BEFORE... FLUTTERSHY!!!"

Rushing toward where his inner energy radar was telling him, he kept on screaming his dear friend's name. "FLUTTESHY!!! ANSWER ME! 'Oh NO NO NO! THE ENERGY IS GETTING STRONGER!' FLUTTER-..." Has he reached the back of the house, he witnessed the immobile body of the fragile mare, lying face up with her eyes closed, her mouth over dripping with white liquid and her wings visibly trampled.

"No no no NO NOOOO! DAMN IT!!!" He instantly dashed toward her, fearing the worst.

Author's Note

coauthored with http://www.fimfiction.net/user/UrmiCharpstin

Thanks for reading.

MLP characters belong to Hasbro.
Hika Thunderhead and Pat Thundersnow belong to me, Penguinbrony24.