Ponyville used to be a great tourist spot for travelers all throughout the land, known as the friendliest town in all of Equestria. Now that Lucifer is in charge, his Shadow Knights always patrol the town day in and day out. Because of a lack in business from the tourist seasons due to the youngest soldier's actions, many shops had gone out of business, unable to pay their rent to keep their stores open. With the guards stealing supplies, even robbing some stores blind of their bits, many ponies were living in poverty. Thankfully, with Sweet Apple Acres still running without any problems since this farm was founded by the Apple family a century ago, they were able to ration out their apples to those who were starving.

It was a shame for the Apples to lose Granny Smith, passing away peacefully in her old age, leaving the farm up to the Apple siblings to keep it running. With their family extending to the next generation, Applejack and Big Mac got some help from their children, helping pick up some of the apples that didn't fall into the buckets once they've been bucked. Out in the fields, Applejack wiped her brow after bucking hundreds of trees, taking a small break as she watched her son, Apple Seed, struggling to push a full bucket of apples to the barn. He had the same coat as hers, but his mane was brown and as short and messy as his Uncle Big Mac.

"Careful, sugarcube," Applejack said. "Don't wanna exhaust yourself too much."

"Urgh! I can...do it, mama!" Apple Seed said, still trying to push the heavy load. He eventually exhausted himself, collapsing on his belly as he tried to catch his breath. "Ok, maybe not."

Applejack laughed, always amused by her son's attempts to prove he can do things by himself. "Maybe when ya get a little bigger, you'll be able to carry three full barrels of apples."

"Really?" Apple Seed asked.

"Of course." Applejack picked up the bucket on her back, heading back to the barn with her little colt walking next to her. "Ya just might rival your uncle in strength with enough hard work."

"Yeah! Ah wanna beat Uncle Mac in a hoof wraslin'!" the little colt exclaimed.

"Applejack!" From the direction of the farmhouse came Applejack's little sister Apple Bloom, though she wasn't quite so little anymore. She was now a fully grown mare, replacing her red bow with a red stetson, her cutie mark a shield with an apple in the center and a heart inside the apple. She had a piece of parchment in her mouth as she ran, skidding to a halt next to her sister and nephew. "Applejack, we got a problem! Spike just sent us this!"

Applejack took the note, reading the quickly written warning message from Spike. "Oh horseapples. Ah gotta get the others. Apple Bloom, Ah'm gonna need ya and Big Mac to do some more work while Ah'm gone."

"Ya mean Solaris needs to fight Lucifer now?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Afraid so." Applejack made sure to keep the note away from her son's eyes.

Before she was able to head into her home to get her things ready, she noticed her athletic friend and rival, Rainbow Dash, flying toward the farm, skidding across the ground hard after flying at the speed she was going. She nearly rammed into Applejack, getting them both injured nothing they can afford at the moment.

"AJ, we got a huge problem!" Rainbow said, both really worried and irritated. "Guess who decided to make a little appearance for his public!?"

"Is he really in Ponyville again?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah. He has an important announcement for everypony in Ponyville." Rainbow fidgeted, greatly worried about what Lucifer has in store. "I have a really bad feeling about this. You think he finally found Sol?"

"Ah hope not." Applejack turned to her sister. "Apple Bloom, you stay and watch Apple Seed while Ah see what his Highness has to say to us."

Apple Bloom nodded, taking her nephew down to the orchard to help her with some more chores. Rainbow and Applejack quickly made their way to the square, where everypony had shown up to hear the unfortunate news their tyrant had to give. As they met up with the rest of their friends, they noticed the unicorn was covered in blood, a large bag placed near him as he looked at the town from the stage set up for him. As soon as he saw a good number of the citizens around to hear him, he began his announcement.

"Attention, Ponyville!" Lucifer said, his voice echoed as he used a spell to amplify his vocal chords for everyone to hear. "After fifteen long years, one of your ex-princesses, Twilight Sparkle, had spoken of some hero who would try and stop me! Finally, as I had searched for these fifteen years, I have seen him...and he is nothing but a foal, who had somehow managed to strike me! It is a feat I should commemorate if it didn't anger me to no end!"

The mares were slightly worried, knowing that Lucifer had found Solaris. At least the teen had given him a good hit, everyone able to see his cheek was swollen.

"At least we know that he's able to hit him through that cheap barrier he always has around him," Rainbow noted, the others holding in their snickers as they enjoyed seeing the unicorn king in a bit of pain.

"He has disappeared from my sight, and if my soldiers didn't stand around like hoof sucking foals-" Lucifer leered at his troops he decided to bring, a mistake he won't make ever again. "-I would have killed him when I had the chance...However, I didn't go away empty-hooved. Somepony, or should I say some-dragon, had him hidden away from me all this time. And this is the result of his crime for harboring that child."

Lucifer opened the bag, pulling out the chopped off head of the dragon everyone in Ponyville had known ever since Twilight first came here. Everypony gasped in utter shock, muttering to each other in fear and disgust. One pony, however, screamed in absolute horror, sobbing heavily as she shouted Spike's name over and over in distress. Rarity was held back by Applejack and Rainbow, not wanting her to do anything reckless while Lucifer was up there, holding the dragon's head like his trophy.

"Sick bastard," Rainbow said under her breath, having lost yet another friend and being unable to do anything to help again.

"Let this be a warning to all of you and everypony across this kingdom!" Lucifer exclaimed, throwing Spike's head out into the crowd, hearing them scream as the body part was flung at them. He kicked the rest of the dragon's body off the stage, falling out of the body bag. "Anypony who dares to help the alicorn stand up against me will die by my hoof! If you so much as see him, you had better alert any of my soldiers to the last place you found him! I want him dead!"

Lucifer stepped down and prepared to head back to Canterlot, feeling some slight satisfaction as he instilled fear in the ponies. As soon as he was out of sight, everyone who knew the dragon mourned for their loss, Rarity especially. The Elements were glad Solaris was safe, probably in the Everfree Forest at the ruins of the old castle. But with Rarity in the state she was in, they had no idea if they should leave her behind until she was calm, which would seem impossible since she and Spike were close friends. They certainly didn't want to leave Solaris by himself in a forest as dangerous as the Everfree.

Deep in the Everfree Forest, some of the heavy shrubs low to the forest floor shuddered as something slunk through the wild foliage. Through the leaves and branches, a pair of green eyes looked around, scoping for predators and prey. The figure poked its head up to get a better look, its body black and solid, almost like the carapace of an insect. A pair of thin, see-through wings fluttered from its back, swooping into a new bush to hide in.

As the strange bug creature crept through the forest, its ears perked up when it heard the sound of crying nearby. It made its way to the noise, peeking through the leaves, finding the remains of the castle across a rickety wooden bridge. It quickly flew over the crevice, its figure revealed for only a moment in the rays of light shining through the branches of the tall trees. It had a long, flowing green mane, a black crooked horn on its forehead, and there were holes in its legs. After making it across, the strange bug pony hybrid hid behind one of the decayed walls, peeking around to find the source of the sobs.

Solaris had been crying for the past hour, beginning to calm down, knowing that nothing will be solved if he was always upset. The guilt of getting his uncle killed still weighed heavily in his heart, but he had to try and stay focused on what his destiny had in store. If only destiny didn't have a sick sense of humor, where he would have someone sacrificing themselves just to protect a chosen one, the only hero who can stop the villain.

"What am I gonna do?" Solaris questioned. He looked around, having no clue where in the forest he was, and was told to stay put until his aunts arrived. He just now realized that Spike had placed a pair of saddlebags on his back when he was being rushed to escape earlier. Taking off his bags, he noticed a map, unrolling it to see the entire map of Equestria. There were circled marks in different areas on the map, but Solaris had no clue what they meant. "Well, now I know how big the kingdom is. It doesn't help that I have no idea exactly where I am and what forest I'm in!"

Solaris sighed in frustration, hoping his knowledge on the survival novels he read would help him survive in the forest. The problem was he had no idea what plants around here are good to eat or poisonous. Finding food was going to be difficult if he had to go with trail and error.

The creature hiding behind the walls grinned, showing its sharp fangs gleaming in the little sunlight. It began crawling up to the distracted alicorn, completely unaware of its presence. Licking its lips, it crouched low to the ground, ready to pounce on its prey.

"Time to take my first vic-" - The creature stepped forward, but tripped on a rock - "-TIM!"

It fell flat on its face, the smack echoing the area, alerting Solaris to the predator. He quickly got up on his hind legs, ready to defend himself, staring at the bug pony groaning in pain. It sat up, rubbing its face, surprising the alicorn when he saw its facial features seemed feminine. He examined the strange mare, the holes in her legs, her crooked horn, thin insect-like wings, and the small fangs showing from her mouth.

"What in Equestria...?" Solaris's voice alerted the mare, getting a good look at her emerald green eyes. They both stared at each other, neither making any sudden movements. "...Uhh, hello?"

The strange bug pony quickly got to a crouching position, hissing at him as she tried to pounce him again. As she leapt, she didn't realize she had been standing on her own tail, causing her to yelp and tumble forward, rolling to a halt on her back, looking up at the stallion. Solaris raised a brow, wondering what was wrong with her. He was about to help her up, but was smacked by a strange glob of webbing the mare hacked up from her mouth, covering his face and slightly blinding him.

"Ahh! What the hay is this stuff!?" Solaris tried to scrape off the green webbing with his hooves, unable to do so. The mare got back up on her hooves to try attacking him again, only to leap back in shock as the alicorn breathed heavily in frustration, breathing out a small plume of green fire that incinerated the webbing off his face. "W-What the...!? Did I just breathe fire!?"

Taking the momentary distraction of Solaris's weird discovery, the bug pony mare leapt on the alicorn's back, hissing angrily as she tried to choke him, which was hard to do with those holes in her hooves. Having enough of this madness, Solaris managed to shake her off, grabbing her by the neck and slammed her into the wall. Completely dazed, he took the momentary break to get a better look at her, though keeping his face away from hers in case she spat up that webbing again.

The mare shook her head, snapping back to reality, being held by the stallion she tried to hunt. She was about to hack up more webbing to distract him, but Solaris quickly pressed a hoof against her mouth, keeping her from pulling off that same trick twice.

"Spit that gunk at me again, and I'll knock you unconscious," Solaris warned. Thankfully, she swallowed the webbing, already defeated by her prey. "Now, I'm going to remove my hoof, and you will tell me what the hay you were gonna do to me, and...what you are supposed to be."

He lowered his hoof, but he got a strange look from the mare. He thought she would try to escape again and attempt to attack him, and fail yet again, but she didn't.

"What, have you been living under a rock?" she said, sounding annoyed. "You seriously have no idea what I'm supposed to be?"

"...A pony?" Solaris asked.

"Close, but not that close." As she huffed, she looked down, still being held by the neck by Solaris. At least he wasn't choking her to death, sparing her life for the time being. "...Uhh, do you mind letting me go? I don't want you to try and crush my windpipe when I'm obviously giving up."

"Oh. Right." Solaris backed off, though made sure she didn't try to elude him. "Don't even think about running?"

"Who would run from a handsome stallion like you?" Her sudden compliment made Solaris blush, making her giggle at his reaction. "Wow. That was way too easy."

"C-Can you please just explain who you are?" Solaris stammered, already falling for the mare's charms, even after he tried to attack him.

"Fine, fine," she said. "If you must know, since your masculine brain can't fathom beauty like my own, I am what is called a changeling."

"A changeling?" Solaris asked. "What's a changeling?"

The changeling nearly stumbled over at Solaris's cluelessness. "Are you kidding me!? Come on! Changelings!? Creatures that feast on the love of others!?" Solaris raised a brow, still having no clue. "...We transform into other ponies, disguising ourselves to steal said love?" More silence. "A kind of succubus that doesn't bed their victims and kill them after they're done with them?" Solaris shook his head, still not aware of her kind. She facehooved, feeling a headache coming on. "Wow. It's like you lived in a cave all your life, and not one like my hive."

"...Actually, I had been raised in a cave all my life," Solaris said.

The changeling's jaw dropped, not really expecting that answer. "...Ok then..." She scratched her head, staring at Solaris in wonder. She finally noticed he had both a horn and wings, pupils shrinking as she realized she was about to attack a male alicorn. "Oh my gosh! You're an alicorn!"

"Uhh, yeah. I am," he said. "Are...changelings some kind of mutated alicorn?"

"No! I just told you we're not exactly ponies like you are." She grabbed Solaris's head, shaking it to try and jumpstart his brain. "Shake those cavepony cobwebs out of your head!"

"Hey! Cut it out!" Solaris swiped her hooves away from him, feeling his skin crawl just looking at those holes in her forelegs. "Do you have a name, or should I call you 'Bug Mare', cause this is the most awkward meeting I've ever had in my life."

"Don't you know its rude to ask for a lady's name before a gentlecolt introduces himself?" She said, almost flirtatiously.

"You attacked me first," he said, getting very annoyed with her evasions.

"...Right." She flicked her hair back, giving Solaris a better look at her. "I am known as Trill, Princess of the Changelings."

"A princess?" Solaris asked. "I thought princesses were supposed to be...regal?"

"Pth! Not changelings," Trill said. "Being 'giant pony bugs', we do have a colony, ruled by a queen, which happens to be my mother." Solaris rolled his eyes, obviously knowing how insects work in large groups from his science books. "Now, I gave you my name. Yours is...?"

"Solaris," he said.

"Solaris. Well, a pleasure to make you my prey, although I'm not exactly going to succeed, seeing as you're able to throw me down just by looking at me." Trill slowly circled Solaris, getting a better look at him from every angle, taking notice of his markless flanks. "How old are you exactly?"

"I just turned fifteen yesterday," Solaris admitted.

"Really? What a coincidence! My birthday's in a few months!" Trill exclaimed, acting more like a five year old than a teen in the alicorn's eyes.

"Great." Solaris looked back at the map, getting back on track with where he was and figure out where to go. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to figure out exactly where I am. I don't want to stay in this forest for too long if I have to wait for my aunts to find me."

"Oh, that's easy." Looking at the map, Trill pointed at the forest with one of the marks on it. "We're right in the middle of the Everfree Forest."

Solaris's eye twitched, the name of the forest echoing in his head. From his books, he knew that the Everfree Forest was dangerous, but he didn't know that there were castle ruins in these overgrown woods.

"I'm where!?" He pounced Trill, knocking her on her back, his muzzle squishing against hers. "Please tell me you're joking! Tell me we're not in the most dangerous landmark in all of Equestria!"

"...You gonna buy me dinner, big boy? I didn't think you wanted to jump me," the changeling teased.

Solaris shook the mare, getting tired of her flirting. "BE SERIOUS! My aunts told me stories about this place! Do you know what live here in these woods!?"

"Well, there's timber wolves for one. I even saw a sleeping hydra down near the bog a mile to the east of this area. Although, somepony in my hive spread a rumor saying there was a creature called a 'hoo-man' that lives here, but it's just a dumb rumor." After Trill explained a few possible creatures, she looked back at Solaris, not amused at her smart alecky comments. "...What?"

Groaning in frustration, he walked back to the map, staring at the Everfree Forest's location. From his first experience outside, the forest he saw must have been the Everfree, finding the mountain range that was his home not too far on the map. If he was able to get his bearings without the trees above him covering the sky, he could use the stars during the night to map out his directions...if only he had a map of the stars to do that.

"This is gonna be impossible," Solaris sighed, finding his survival instincts harder to hone in only a short amount of time. "How am I supposed to do all of this on my own? I can't do all this by myself."

"You have me," said Trill.

Solaris looked back at the changeling princess, giving him a cheeky grin, baring her fangs. "I only just met you, and I think I'm regretting not throwing you a mile away."

"Aww. You're just saying that cause you can't admit you enjoy my company," Trill said, hearing Solaris sigh.

While his back was turned, she decided to pull a little prank on him, her body shrouded in green flames as her form changed.

"Trill, if you're trying to say we're friends, I think we're a long step away from-" Solaris turned around, but instead of staring at a changeling, his jaw dropped at what he saw in her place. "-that?"

Trill transformed herself into a unicorn, her coat green while her mane was red. Her eyes remained the same emerald grin, fluttering her lashes as he stared dumbly at her new body. She slowly approached him, swaying her hips, his eyes trailing her curves, exactly how she wanted him to react. As she circled him, she brushed her body against his, teasing his muzzle by dragging her tail against it, tickling his nose with her scent.

"Like what you see?" she whispered in his ear, feeling his body shudder as she brushed her tail against his. Trill nuzzled Solaris, making him blush heavily and causing his wings to flare out. "Do you want me so badly that you'll do anything to make me yours?"

"I-I-I uuhh..." he stammered, swallowing the lump in his throat from his growing nerves.

Solaris tried to speak, only for Trill to shush him, gently pressing her hoof to his lips.

"Don't speak. I know what you want. Close your eyes, and you'll get a big surprise." The alicorn's heart beat heavily in his chest, closing his eyes and awaiting what surprise she had in store. Trill waved a hoof in front of his face, muffling her giggling when he really kept his eyes closed. She changed back to her original form, silently gathering up more of her webbing through her mouth. She spat at his face, making him yell in surprise as he scrambled to wipe off the green webbing off. "You are so gullible!"

Trill laughed, unable to stand as she fell on her back, rolling on her back and clutching her sides. Solaris remembered his new fire breath ability, breathing out more flames as he burned off the webbing for a second time, glaring at the guffawing mare.

"Why did you do that!?" he yelled.

"B-Because...it was hilarious!" Trill began laughing again, not realizing that her little joke was getting Solaris upset.

"Well it wasn't funny to me!" Solaris grabbed the map, shoving it back in his saddlebags as he struggled to keep his emotions in check, failing as he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. "I'm already having a bad day as it is, discovering my mother was killed since I was a few months old, watching my uncle die by the hoof of a madpony who wants to kill me, and now I'm being manipulated by some giant cockroach who thinks it's funny to mess with somepony's emotions!"

Trill stopped laughing, looking at the upset stallion packing his belongings. "But it was just a joke. I thought it would make you laugh."

"Spitting that disgusting web in my face after seducing me isn't funny! It's disgusting and makes you a heartless monster!" He headed deeper into the castle, wanting to get as far away from Trill as possible. "If you changelings eat love, then I'm sure you don't even have a heart at all!"

Trill wanted to stop him, but after knowing he was able to breath fire, having no idea how that was even possible, she didn't want to risk getting burned. She sighed, not knowing he had a rough time in the last few days.

"Great. Now I feel like an ass..." Trill transformed, turning into a female mule. "Now I am one..." She turned back to normal, her own humor not helping her in the slightest. "Ok, even that didn't make me feel better."

Solaris roamed around the castle ruins, struggling to contain his emotions. He has spent the last hour trying to calm down, but it didn't help him with everything that had happened to him in the last couple days.

"Stupid changeling," he muttered. "Stupid life. Stupid everything!" Solaris slammed his forehooves down, cracking the tiles of the once regal castle. He panted heavily, steam huffing out of his nostrils as he felt his gut burning as he grew more frustrated. "Is this supposed to be a joke on my life!? I find out my mother is dead, I get my uncle killed, and now the world falls on my shoulders to stop some dark magic using tyrant, who also wants to kill me!? WHAT GREAT POWER OUT THERE IS TOYING WITH MY LIFE!?"

As Solaris shouted, flames spewed out of his mouth, his overwhelming emotions making him writhe in pain as they gave him the worst migraine he ever had. The guilt for getting Spike killed overwhelmed him, the stress of Equestria's future resting on him making him panic, the idea of failing making his anxiety worsen, and the one pony, or creature, he had met for the first time outside of the cave infuriated him. Trill had attacked him, then acted all casual like it never happened, kept flirting with him, confusing his mind as his hormones tried to take over, and tried to seduce him in a different form, teasing him, then humiliating him by spitting on his face with that disgusting webbing, laughing at him like it was supposed to be funny for the both of them.

He didn't want any of this. Solaris wanted a normal life, where he would be raised by his mother, living in a castle where he wouldn't have to worry about anything, having a good time and have fun. Instead, he was kept in hiding with his dragon uncle, never told about his mother being dead for fifteen years, no information on who his father was, and to make things worse, he was destined to save everyone from Lucifer, while suffering from the guilt of getting Spike killed because he didn't listen to him.

Trill wandered about the ruins, following the screaming and shouting coming from the alicorn. When she finally found him, he was flailing about, slamming his forehooves into the ground and walls, spitting fire with each yell he let out. She could practically feel the overwhelming amount of emotions struggling to take control. He was even suffering from a nosebleed with how much emotional pain he was going through.

As she approached him, Trill had to be careful of his flailing hooves and fire breath. She rolled Solaris on his back, gently pressing her horn to his forehead, the appendage glowing a lime green. As her spell was cast, he began to calm down, his eyes opening and glowing green, almost fixed in a trance. His muscles relaxed and his mind felt empty, his worries, fears, anger, and sadness being absorbed out of his consciousness, though the memories still remained. After his emotions were finally calmed to a standstill, Trill moved her horn away, her body shuddering as she stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"No wonder mom told me eating other emotions besides love was bad news." She spat at the ground, saliva this time, seeming unable to get the taste out of her mouth. "It's like a cocktail of garbage and dirty laundry."

Solaris groaned, rubbing his head, feeling his headache going away. He felt drained, like something had tried to suck out his soul, leaving his limbs slightly numb. He looked up, finding Trill brushing out her tongue with her hoof, still unable to get the horrible emotion meal taste out of her mouth.

"W-What did you do to me?" Solaris asked.

"Bleck." Trill spat, regretting ever absorbing other emotions. "I saved you from your tormenting migraine you were experiencing. Probably karma for me after that dumb prank I pulled."

Solaris got up on his hooves, shaking slightly as feeling slowly returned to him. As he rubbed his head, he felt something wet on his nose. Rubbing his snout, he wiped off the small bit of blood, which thankfully wasn't as worse as it seemed.

"...Thanks, I guess," he said. Though he was calm now, he still didn't want to be anywhere near Trill. Unfortunately, since he had to stay here until his aunts arrived to help him out, he had no choice. "Why did you help me?"

"Because I wanted to apologize," Trill said. "We changelings can feel emotions from other ponies, only when they show it or when they try to hide it. Your mind was spiraling out of control, and you were having a panic attack." She pawed at the ground, still guilty over the dumb prank she pulled. "I didn't realize you went through a roller coaster through Tarterus a while ago. It's not a good idea to keep everything bottled up, you know?"

"I only just met you an hour ago and you expect me to open up to someone don't even know?" Solaris asked.

"I'm not saying you should tell me everything now," she said. "Maybe you could have said 'I'm having a bad day,' sooner, so I could shut my mouth before I said something stupid."

Solaris stared at her, the changeling princess seeming apologetic. As much as she annoyed him, Trill didn't seem all that bad, as long as she didn't act like a jokester all the time. And she did help him with his anxiety attack, even if it left him slightly drained.

He sighed, accepting her apology, though only wanting her around so he wouldn't be alone. "Fine, then. I accept your apology."

"Good." Trill held her hoof out to him. "Want to start over?"

"...I guess." Solaris took her hoof, but as they shook, his grip on the changeling's hoof tightened, making her wince, unable to pull away. "Don't ever trick me like that again, and we're good. Got it?"

"Yes! I get it! Please let go of my hoof!" Trill pleaded. He let go, the mare clutching her hoof, amazed at how strong his grip was. "I'm lucky my skin wasn't flesh. You could have rearranged my whole leg with that much strength!" After the pain died down, Solaris sat next to the stairs that once lead up to the thrones, pulling out the map, scoping out the locations that were marked. Trill sat down next to him, staring at one area with a mark, which was out in the wastelands. She ignored it, wanting to strike up a conversation to break the silence. "So, what do you like to do?"

Author's Note

Ever have that problem with a laptop where you're in the middle of typing, your hand accidentally touches the touch pad, and it somehow thinks you double clicked in the written area, highlighting everything, and as soon as you hit anything on the keyboard, it erased everything and you didn't save your work?

That happened to me. Hopefully this turned out ok, since I had a somewhat better version that was deleted. Curse the technological gods and curse the use of hands!

Oh well. I'll remember to shut the thing off while I type from now on. More chapters to come!