Author's Note

ATTENTION

Despite not appearing in the tags, the rest of the Mane 6 will play several key roles in the story as well, just not as much as Twilight, Fluttershy, and Lyra. Consider the "Other" tag as the hint of several other characters playing important roles as well.

Tainted Memories - Changeling Invasion!

"Miss Heartstrings?" a male's voice echoed through the other side of an opening door. A mint-colored unicorn mare with a bright mane and tail trotted into the room with a nervous look on her face. As soon as the door closed, the others in the waiting room could read "Doctor Soothing Voice" on the nameplate.

When Lyra stepped into the office, she took a seat on the comfortable chair on the other side of the desk. A tall, thin earth pony stallion with a brown coat, blue mane, and emerald green eyes smiled at her and bowed his head respectfully. She returned the gesture and weakly returned a smile of her own, though only briefly, until he began to sort through the paperwork on his desk with his forehooves.

"It's good to see you alive and well, Miss Heartstrings. Would you care for an apple? Fresh from Sweet Apple Acres, in fact," the doctor offered, motioning towards the bowl of apples on the outer-left corner of his desk.

Lyra waved a hoof dismissively before shaking her head. "N-no thank you, Doctor Voice. I've already eaten on my way up here... thanks, though... f-for the offer, that is."

The doctor nodded his head and looked back at his paperwork once again. "Now, I've been hearing several reports that have all lead towards the same thing, but I've been trying to avoid bringing you into it, considering how close you were when it happened."

Lyra tilted her head confusedly. "I'm sorry, but... when what happened?"

The doctor sighed before looking at the door and nodding his head. When Lyra turned around, she saw a tall orange stallion with a blonde mane and tail, a suit jacket, and a pair of shades over his eyes, reach one of his forehooves towards the light switch. As soon as Lyra saw what he was doing, however, her pupils shrunk into pinpricks, her horn quickly glowed, and she instinctively pushed the stallion's hoof away from the light switch.

In a completely horrified tone, she screamed, "N-NO! DON'T TURN THAT OFF!"

The stallion raised an eyebrow confusedly before turning towards the doctor, who closed his eyes and nodded his head sagely. The stallion nodded his head in return before placing his hoof back on the floor and motioning towards the doctor for Lyra.

She gulped before looking back at the doctor once more. Her formerly ordinary expression was now one of sheer terror. Her mane, despite being slightly combed earlier, was now a mess, and she was breathing heavily now. Her hooves were shaking, and her eyes were quickly starting to water up.

Then she slammed her head into the desk, covered her eyes, and began to cry as horrific memories began to fill her mind. This made the doctor sigh, close his eyes, and adjust the papers with a troubled expression on his face.

Finally, when Lyra was no longer crying, he told her, "Please, Miss Heartstrings, take deep breaths. It will help ease your mind."

Lyra nodded her head and did as instructed. She started off breathing deeply, but in quick secession. Then, once she began slowing her breathing down, her heart rate began to normalize, and her shakiness was losing its frequency, until she was sitting still again.

"Now Miss Heartstrings... I understand that you do not want to go through with this, but you were there the longest, and your roommate was the runner up. She's already spoken with us about what she knew, but to get to the bottom of this, we need your input as well," He blinked once before leaning closer to her with a serious expression on his face. She was avoiding eye contact as he did so. "It would not only help us get a better understanding about the events... but it'll also help us learn more about what it is that we're dealing with."

Lyra shook her head and continued looking down with her eyes closed. The doctor noticed this, but said nothing. Then he leaned into his chair again and rested the lower end of his snout into his forehooves, his eyes unmoving, and attached to Lyra's scalp.

They sat there for about two minutes, silently listening to the grandfather clock on the side of the room. The doctor cleared his throat and asked, "Miss Heartstrings... what is the thing that we're dealing with, exactly?"

Lyra remained silent for another few moments. The doctor sighed and leaned back into his seat when Lyra finally mustered up enough courage to speak again. "Something you shouldn't be dealing with... something that you shouldn't even think about, lest it haunt you even more..."

The doctor and the stallion guard raised an eyebrow confusedly before inching closer to her.

"It wasn't just some creature... it wasn't just some monster... it must've been a demon! It... i-it was ruthless! It killed them... all of them... and didn't even blink! It showed no emotion, no mercy, no... n-no... it wasn't a demon, either! T-this thing... it... it w-was worse than a demon! Worse than anything that could ever even exist in this world!"

"Lyra?" The doctor began to grow more worried for her. "Lyra, we don't understand what you're saying. Please, though, start from the beginning, so that we could. We need every little detail that you could remember."

Lyra sat there silently for a moment before slowly nodding her head. "O-okay... I... I'll t-try..."

The doctor nodded his head and lifted a pencil up to a notebook, then began taking notes as Lyra began her tale.

Ponyville, One Month Ago

The ponies of Ponyville were either relaxing or celebrating the recent marriage of Princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor from outside in the town center. There were several different stands with an assortment of food items and other miscellaneous goods. The town's DJ was standing at the back of her turntable, bobbing her head with the beat of the music, wearing her signature purple shades, and smiling widely as the crowd danced to her music.

Amongst the crowds, Lyra and her cream colored earth pony friend/roommate, Bon Bon, sat on a bench, enjoying themselves to a few of the delicacies that were being served. Bon Bon, being one of the town's candy makers, was on break for a short time until the end of the song, which was halfway through.

As usual, Lyra was sitting in a strangely different position. Instead of sitting with all of her hooves folded below her belly, her forehooves rested on the bench, while her hind hooves stretched off of the bench, hovering in the air, with her rear relaxed on the back side of the bench.

At first Bon Bon felt confused and slightly embarrassed about the way Lyra sat down. Over time, however, she grew used to it, and eventually accepted it as one of the things that makes Lyra "Lyra".

As the lights from the distant mountainous city of Canterlot filled the sky, they couldn't help but watch as the lights began filling Ponyville as well. It was the wedding day for one of their three princesses, after all.

The lights filled the streets in several different colors, giving the atmosphere of the entire town a clubhouse feel. The ponies inside were enjoying the party, dancing and bobbing their heads.

Little did they know, however, that several glowing blue eyes were starting to shine from around the illuminated town. One pair of those eyes quickly closed, and a green glow illuminated from between them, revealing the crooked horn of the changeling.

The DJ was so caught up in her music that she didn't even notice the green ball of energy quickly headed her way. When it hit her directly in the forehead, she flew backwards and collapsed on the ground, unconscious, but still breathing. Due to the loud music, the loud ponies, and the bright lights, however, nopony noticed until after the song that was playing came to an abrupt end.

Some of the ponies stopped moving and looked towards the turntable, only to find the DJ missing. If it weren't for the lights still going on, they would've spotted her unconscious form behind it, but alas, it wasn't until the next song failed to play when the rest of the ponies began to grow curious.

Bon Bon turned towards Lyra and asked, "Lyra, did you happen to catch where Vinyl Scratch went?"

Lyra shrugged her shoulders before replying, "Eh, she must've finally decided to hit the hay. She was in Canterlot just an hour ago, after all, so two parties in one night might've been her limit."

Bon Bon shook her head and replied, "No, that can't be right... she would've at least said something on the speakers! I'll go look for her. Just try to stay out of trouble, okay Lyra?"

Lyra waved a hoof dismissively at her and closed her eyes. Then she yawned with a feint pop in her jaw before turning to Bon Bon and smiling at her. "Kay... though to be fair, I'm probably going to be headed home soon myself. If I'm not here when you get back, just check the house."

Bon Bon nodded her head and trotted off towards the turntable. Considering that she and Lyra were close friends to Vinyl, they were given permission to put on the next tracks should such situations occur.

After giving the microphone a gentle tap to test it, Bon Bon cleared her throat and said to the audience, "Sorry for the delay, folks! Just a couple technical difficulties, is all... I'll throw in the next track for you, though!" With that, she slid the next record into the machine and moved the needle in place before trotting away from the table.

Before she could take one step from the back, however, she felt something solid under her left forehoof. When she looked down to see what it was, she gasped as Vinyl Scratch's signature shades lied there, cracked from either her hoof, or from the impact on the hard wood surface.

She lifted the shades and eyed them carefully, along with the area directly behind the turntable. There, she noticed a few small strands of neon blue hair. One was still emitting a small flame on the tip... a small green flame.

Bon Bon's ears splayed back as the sudden realization hit her... her friend was abducted. Not wanting to cause a commotion, she quickly lifted the hairs and trotted towards the nearest doctor. If they could get a reading on the foreign magic, then she would be able to find the culprit.

...

Doctor Voice sat patiently as Lyra paused for a brief moment. She looked down, closed her eyes, and began taking deep breaths, recalling her nightmarish memories of the events.

"Miss Heartstrings, we've heard most of that part from Bon Bon. Can you tell me what happened during that time on your side, though?"

Lyra nodded her head and continued once her breathing was back to normal.

While Bon Bon headed out, Lyra's eyelids began to grow heavy. Despite the loud noises from around the town, she ended up falling onto the bench completely. Instinctively, her hind legs found their way underneath her body, and her forehooves crossed underneath her snout. In mere seconds, the sounds of the party, the music, and the ponies chatting amongst themselves, all faded into nothing.

She was woken up by somepony screaming nearby. Her eyes shot open and she let out a startled gasp before turning towards the source of the screaming.

A mare was rushing away from a group of shadowy figures with glowing blue eyes... the same kinds of blue eyes that caused her to feel a surge of panic; the same surge that caused her to leave the wedding early.

Lyra quickly leaped up and scanned the area around her. Fires were starting to form from nearby houses, as several changelings began rushing from multiple corners. She began to breathe heavily as several changeling eyes focused on her, and the owners of the eyes hissed once they saw her.

She didn't waste another second before kicking dirt off the ground, and galloping towards the area with the least amount of changelings grouped together.

She ran for a minute before turning around to see how many changelings were after her. Thankfully they all didn't target her, but unfortunately, she was still outnumbered eight to one.

No matter how fast she ran, they were gaining speed on her, almost as if they didn't even have lungs. Eventually she felt one's fangs even snap at her tail, and she was able to feel the impact of the fangs clattering together.

She was barely able to see the borderline to the Everfree Forest when she saw a green flash coming from behind her. Then she heard the crackling sound of magic being cast... and following that, agony on her right hind leg. The pain was enough for the changeling directly behind her to tackle her to the ground and hiss, as its face inched closer to her own.

The doctor nodded his head and hummed to himself. "Indeed, that does sound like a nightmarish experience. Changelings have been known to have that effect after absorbing the love from somepony."

Lyra shook her head and began to shiver. This made the doctor tilt his head confusedly before inching closer towards her. "Lyra... do you need to take a break?"

She shook her head again before looking up at him. Her eyes were now covered in tears once more as she continued to shake. "N-no... you don't understand! They never could get any love out of me!"

Doctor Voice raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh? How come, if you don't mind me asking?"

Lyra had to take a few deep breaths again before she could reply. "B-because... the nightmares begin after that moment..."

As the changeling inched closer to her head, her life began to flash before her eyes. The day she was born, her first birthday, up to five months ago, on her eighteenth, the gala, her friends she made in her life... everything. It all happened so fast.

The changeling's fangs were mere inches from her snout when a strange rattling sound began to fill the air from the Everfree Forest. The rattling sounded almost like iron chains being dragged through the ground, in a rocky environment. Along with it were strange beating noises, somewhat similar to hoofsteps, but at the same time, far more different... padded, and louder. The fact that the steps came in pairs must've meant that whatever was making the noise was bipedal.

The changeling looked up and glared at the source of the sounds. Then it leaped from on top of her and lowered its head in an aggressive snarl as the unknown figure moved closer. Lyra took this chance to look towards where the changeling was looking... but she instantly regretted it once she did.

Slowly walking from the Everfree Forest was a huge bipedal figure, standing four to five times as tall as an average earth pony stallion, or twice as tall as Princess Celestia herself.

The figure wore a thick black hooded jacket, thick black combat pants, a pair of pitch black boots, a pair of long, black padded gloves, and a pair of iron shackles on its heels with small broken chains dragging from the back sides of the shackles.

The most threatening feature of the creature, however, was the mask that it wore over its face.

The mask bore two large, pitch black, emotionless circles where its eyes would be, and its snout appeared to have a third circle with a strange, thick disc attached to its snout's left corner. In a way, it almost looked like a metallic insect, only taller and much more menacing.

It continued to approach them, evermore emotionless, giving them an increasingly ominous feeling about it. Lyra couldn't, for the life of her, tell whose side it was on, but the way how the changeling was reacting, it was clear that it wasn't on their side. The fact that she's never seen it before, however, has left it in a more suspicious light, though.

As it slowly walked towards them, she tried to move, only to find that her hind legs were disabled from the spell that one of the changelings cast on her. This left her with no choice but to watch the creature approach.

When it was past the bridge that separated the forest from the peaceful lands where a lone cottage rested, the changeling decided to blast a green fireball towards the creature's head.

Once it struck, the creature looked up and stopped moving due to the recoil of the spell. Then the changeling began to slowly move towards it, only to stop when the creature looked down again, unfazed by the spell, and walk towards them once again.

The changeling tried firing at it again, but this time it hit the creature's left shoulder, which only acted as a weak shove. The creature didn't even bother to stop moving this time, though.

Again the changeling tried firing a third time, aiming at the stranger's stomach. When the blast hit, the stranger flew backwards a couple steps then fell onto its back. This bought the changeling enough time to rush towards it to investigate.

The changeling's movement was hindered once the behemoth stood back up and continued walking towards it, not showing any signs of injury. This infuriated the changeling and caused it to lower its crooked horn towards the figure and charge head-on.

As soon as it reached the figure, it was caught by surprise when the creature's left hand wrapped around its horn and stopped it from moving completely. The changeling tried slapping at its arm, but to no avail, as the creature slowly lifted it into the air.

The changeling's wings began to flap rapidly, but the creature's strength was far too much for the changeling to even think of escaping from.

The figure then held the changeling up towards its face, almost as if the creature were examining the changeling for something. The changeling, in turn, tried snapping at the creature's face, and let out an aggressive snarl.

Finally, the figure stretched its left arm outwards, giving the changeling about a meter of distance away from it... for whatever reason, Lyra couldn't understand...

Not until it reached its right arm over its left shoulder, that is. When its hand caught a hold of something from behind it, another metallic sound filled the air that caused Lyra's hair to stand on end; the sound of a blade sliding from a scabbard.

"Don't tell me that's-" she began to think, only for her train of thought to be interrupted by the sight of a huge machete that appeared to be the size of a fully grown stallion... one forth the creature's height.

The changeling's eyes shot wide open at the sight as it began to furiously bash its forehooves on the figure's left arm. Its wings continued to flap, but with more speed, as sweat drops began to fall from its forehead.

Then the figure raised its right hand into the air, with the machete hovering behind its shoulders. At this point, the changeling began to hiss even louder, alerting the changelings to try and do something... but like Lyra, the rest of the changelings were staring at the stranger in horror.

And then... the blade swished through the air at a rapid pace, and sliced directly through the changeling's neck, filling the air with a brief agonizing screech from the changeling, the clinging of a blade onto a chitinous figure, the pound of an insect's body landing on the ground, and the sound of liquid rapidly dripping onto the dirt.

The changeling's head remained in the creature's hand as it lifted the twitching limb up to examine it once more. Its mouth remained open, and its lips weakly formed a frown while its lower left eyelid closed half of its eye off.

The changelings began to slowly approach the figure as it continued to stare at the dismembered head. Lyra, however, was frantically trying to wake her hind legs up so that she could escape the brute. Unfortunately, though, the spell on her legs was too strong for her to disable.

Even so, she wasn't able to cast magic at this point. It would be impossible for anyone to focus after witnessing what she just saw! Considering the fact that the changelings were approaching the creature cautiously, yet head-on, it was clear that they were no longer able to focus, either.

Finally, two of the remaining seven changelings dashed towards the figure with their horns aimed forward. The figure, however, just stood there staring at its first victim's head. Then, once the changelings were close enough, they lunged forward, only to narrowly miss as the creature stepped to the side.

When they regained their footing, the left changeling, the closed to the figure, lunged again. Rather than dodge it, however, the figure sliced its machete towards it, cutting its body in half, but badly slanted. When it landed, its hind hooves slid a little less than the rest of its body. It screeched loudly as its intestines barely hung loosely outside of its now exposed insides. Then its eyes rested on the figure approaching it with the entirety of the other changeling's head now firmly grasped in its left hand, rather than just the horn.

With every step the figure took, the halved changeling's forehooves tried sliding itself back two more... but the figure's height made it clear that it was futile to try to run now. It lifted the first changeling's head into the air with its horn facing downwards. Then the changeling screeched one last time before the creature shoved the horn through the eyes of its next victim.

The third changeling tried rushing towards the figure in a feeble attempt to save its comrade, but by the time it was within reach, the figure stretched the machete forward and just held it there as the changeling's own speed became its downfall. With its mouth pried open, the changeling's skull was pierced open by the machete, and its glowing eyes quickly dimmed down as its hooves began swinging with the wind.

The figure lifted the machete and the changeling corpse effortlessly before eying the changeling curiously. Then the creature shrugged its shoulders carelessly, firmly gripped the changeling's throat, and twisted the machete in a circular motion. With a loud snap, the changeling's body was no longer attached to the head, and fell to the ground. Its head, however, was still attached to the blade.

The last five changelings continued to stare in horror as the figure lifted the blade in the air again and slung it towards them, flinging the head off the blade, and sending it rolling closer to them.

Two of them crouched onto the ground, ready to pounce, while two more took flight, and prepared for an aerial assault. The fifth, however, was staring at the eyes of its fallen comrade with Lyra.

In unison, the four changelings charged towards the figure and prepared to hopefully land a hit on it. When they were within reach, the aerial ones dived towards it from the air while the ones on the ground tried striking it from behind.

In one fluid motion, the monster stabbed the machete through the skull and the stomach of the two flying ones, and rotated enough for their bodies to clash into the first grounded one. The second one that was running, however, managed to dodge the strike and bite into the creature's right arm.

As it continued to plunge its fangs into the creature's arm, however, it made a stunning realization... there was no blood. In fact, all it could taste was metal.

Its eyes widened in realization while the three limp bodies of its comrades slid off of the creature's blade. Then it gripped the changeling by the throat, pinching the sides of its jaw to pry its mouth open.

It stared in horror as the figure held it into the air with its left hand, while its right hand rose up once again, the blade of the machete hovering behind its shoulders.

This time, however, once the creature swung the blade, it swung it much lower. In a split second, the changeling's hind hooves fell to the floor, and following that, the rest of it.

It tried crawling away, but the figure quickly stepped on its wings, gripped its forehooves, and lifted it up again, snapping the wings clean off.

As blood spurted from its back, it continued to struggle as the monster lifted it up to its head, seemingly peering into its soul. The changeling only continued to struggle, which made the monster turn its head to to the side, almost like it was thinking on what to do.

Finally, the figure straightened its head out again and placed the changeling's left hoof in its right hand, binding them both together. Then it lifted its machete up once more before slicing the changeling's forehooves clean off.

As the changeling's legless body fell to the floor, it screeched in agony as its head shook madly, feebly trying to find a way out of the danger it was in. Then, once it saw the figure step closer to it, its cries intensified.

The figure lifted its right foot in the air, and hovered it over the changeling's head, causing it to sweat profusely and try moving out of the monster's foot's reach. Then, as it cried one final time, the creature's foot smashed the changeling's head into a bloody, chunky puddle. Little giblets of brain matter, little skull fragments, fangs, and even one of its eyeballs stuck to the creature's foot when it lifted it back up.

Slowly, the figure turned towards the last remaining changeling and lifted its machete into the air.

Unlike its brethren, though, this changeling quickly turned around and attempted to fly away, only for the figure to throw its machete into its left hind leg, and pin it to the ground.

The changeling tried and tried to lift the machete from its leg, but to no avail. Then it gulped as the creature's shadow began to cover it.

As a final attempt for backup, its horn started to glow as it prepared to cast an emergency firework spell. Once the figure was in reach, the spell was complete, and the changeling quickly fired it into the air... only for the figure to catch the glowing green ball with its right hand.

The changeling had no time to react before the figure pried its mouth open with its left hand, punched the glowing green orb into its mouth (cracking, removing, and dislocating several fangs in the process), and just stood there while the changeling screeched loudly. Then the spell detonated, and chunks of brain, skull, and even its lungs and its heart shot out of the back of the changeling's head, and halfway down its spine.

The figure then stood back up and turned towards the last living figure in the area... Lyra.

Her breathing grew at a frantic rate as the creature pulled its machete out of the ground and began to slowly approach her. What's more, as it was close by her, she saw it lift the machete up once again. She closed her eyes and braced for impact...

Before anything else could happen, a cream-colored blur flew right past Lyra and crashed into the monster before it could strike. The creature flew back several meters and fell to the ground as the blade to its machete pierced the dirt road.

Lyra opened her eyes again and gasped as she saw none other than her friend Bon Bon standing to guard her.

"LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU BIG MONSTER!" Bon Bon shouted at the top of her lungs.

The figure merely stood back up and began to approach her. Lyra quickly shook her head and turned to Bon Bon with a frightened expression on her face.

"BONNIE! RUN! DON'T LET THAT THING GET A HOLD OF YOU!"

Bon Bon shook her head and turned to her friend. "I'M NOT LEAVING YOU TO DIE BY THIS THING, LYRA!"

Lyra closed her eyes and shook the tears from them. "BUT THEN YOU'LL DIE!"

Bon Bon then turned towards the figure as it approached, then eyed the machete that was grounded next to her. She then kicked the blunt end of the blade forward, causing the rest of it to fall into the dirt before reaching down and gripping onto the handle.

Unfortunate for her, however, the machete was unbelievably heavy. She couldn't even make it budge!

Repeatedly, she tried lifting it up, only for it to remain on the ground. She was so focused on it, in fact, that she didn't notice the shadow looming over her until it was too late.

With a yelp, she felt the figure's left hand grip onto her throat and lift her into the air while its right hand lifted the blade with ease. She started choking as her forehooves held onto the figure's arm. Then it lifted her up to where they were face-to-face.

Time seemed to freeze for her as she peered into the pitch black eye sockets of the monster before her. For the first time since she could remember, she was powerless, and through the sockets, she could only see herself suffering in the hands of the monster that she stared at.

This creature appeared to not even have a soul. No sane individual would do the things that this monster has done.

And yet, it hasn't cut her down yet. Instead, it tilted its head, examining her while she struggled. Her vision began to blur as tears fell from her eyes, which began to drift towards Lyra.

The figure straightened its head back before raising the blade up. Bon Bon closed her eyes as she braced herself for the impact. Then, the sound of the blade hitting the dirt caught her attention.

She opened her eyes again, and beheld the blade lying at the creature's right, and its right hand opened widely. Its grip on her throat loosed a little, giving her enough room in her throat to at least breathe again. The pain of the pressure built on top of her jaw, however, was still present.

The figure then slowly brought its right hand behind her head and brought its fingers together. It kept the pose for a short while while she began to catch her breath.

Finally, in a blurring motion, its hand lashed towards the back of her neck, causing her ears to ring, her eyes to shoot open, and her vision to quickly blur. Then her muscles relaxed, her hooves fell limp, and everything around her faded into darkness.

Lyra's jaw dropped and her eyes widened at the sudden turn of events. She stared in horror as the figure released her friend, who limply fell onto the ground and lied there motionless.

"BONNIE!"

She tried crawling up to her friend, but due to the spell on her hind legs, she was greatly slowed down. Then she paused as she saw the shadow of the figure loom over her. She didn't even bother to look up, but rather she tried to make a u-turn so that she could get away from the monster. Regardless, though, the shadow remained over her the entire time, trapping her in the darkness, and forcing her to close her eyes and await the inevitable.

She fell to the ground on her back and cried as she brought her forehooves up to her face to flinch. She knew that all was hopeless, and that she would be the next victim.

She felt the hand wrap around her throat... but she wasn't lifted all the way off the ground, and the hand didn't grip her firmly. Its thumb traced down her jawline, until its entire hand was rested on the back of her head, hovering it over the ground by a few inches.

She briefly opened her eyes, only to find the soulless creature staring back at her with its emotionless mask. It tilted its head again, which forced her to close her eyes once more and sniffle as the tears fell down her cheeks.

Finally, she felt the creature's right hand trace over her scalp... but then she felt something unexpected... a gentle, soothing stroke after another behind her left ear.

She weakly opened her eyes again, and found that the creature was gently petting her... almost like it was trying to comfort her.

Its right hand trailed down her face and it gently wiped the tears from her eyes. Then it gently rubbed her left cheek and trailed its hand to behind her mane.

Finally, the creature stopped petting her and removed its right hand from her head. Her breathing, despite the recent events, was normal again, at least.

Suddenly, a sharp pain built up from the back of her neck. Like Bon Bon, her eyes shot open, her muscles loosened, and everything around her began to fade away. The last she could see before losing consciousness was the creature's mysterious, masked face.

Doctor Voice's Office, Present Day

"And I'm sure you know the rest. I woke up two days later in a hospital bed, with Bonnie in the bed next to me, awake and happy to see me alive. And according to the news, the... the thing went through the town, and somehow managed to kill all of the changelings that were in Ponyville. The survivors, however, were rescued the following day when the Bearers of Harmony returned, and called for the guards to arrive."

Doctor Voice nodded his head and tapped the pencil onto the last sheet of paper, giving it the closing period, before looking at Lyra with a strained smile on his face. "It's good to see that the survivors who I've already interviewed stated similar things on their sides. Thanks to this proof, I've finally gathered the information that was needed."

He then stood back up from the back of his desk and trotted around it while Lyra stood from the seat and began heading towards the exit. She bowed her head respectfully to the door stallion who opened it for her, and he, in turn, bowed his head in response.

Before Lyra left the room, however, she turned to Doctor Voice and asked, "By the way, what are you trying to learn about it?"

He shrugged before replying, "I'm mostly just doing this for Princess Celestia, to be honest. She wanted to know more about this figure once the news reached her. She may be able to rest easier when she hears what I've discovered, though... and I'm sure you'll be able to rest easier, also."

Lyra tilted her head curiously before asking, "Oh? What is it, then?"

Doctor Voice smiled and replied, "As it stands, he more than likely doesn't kill ponies!"

Canterlot, Midnight

A noble mare trotted through the marble stone road, happily humming a simple tune to herself that she recently heard in a restaurant's radio system. She held an umbrella over her head, due to the scheduled rain for the night.

As she trotted towards a certain corner, however, something peculiar caught her nose. She smelled an unfamiliar stink coming from the nearest alley. When she looked towards it, she could've sworn she saw a stallion lying down in an odd angle. Curious, she decided to go through the alley to investigate.

Sure enough, she saw a strangely familiar stallion sitting on the floor with his hind legs stretched out and his forehooves tucked into the hoodie that he was wearing. His head was covered in his hood, though, so she wasn't able to get a good look at his face.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you alright?" the mare asked concernedly.

The stallion didn't reply. He merely sat there motionlessly, causing her curiosity to get the better of her.

She slowly trotted towards him, only to notice the foul odor get stronger the closer she got to him. Then she noticed that he was sitting in a red puddle, with a few hints of the red liquid staining the lower half of his jacket.

"S-sir? Sir?" She finally decided to try nudging his right shoulder.

As soon as she put pressure on his shoulder, however, his upper body fell over, while his lower body remained still, revealing several insects eating the insides of his midsection, where he was cut in half.

The mare gasped and backed away, speechless, and downright terrified at the sight before her. Then a single bolt of lightning illuminated the alley that she was standing, revealing the shadow of a tall biped looming over her, wielding a machete in its right hand.

She gulped and began to breathe heavily as the realization that she wasn't alone in the alley dawned upon her. Then, once she turned around, she saw the masked figure standing right in front of her with its machete over its shoulders.

Finally, without any other choices in the matter, she screamed at the top of her lungs.