Dawn Wings found herself lazily gliding over Ponyville in corvis form. For the first time in days, she was actually in good spirits. She had a lead on the most likely place for the ticks to be hiding. And, with any luck, she’d be able to get some more intelligence on their activities tonight when she went back. For now, she wanted to check the place out in the material realm, and maybe figure out how she was going to get in tonight.

Because she couldn’t just use the umbra to sneak in. Not with all of those banes hanging around.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of a train whistle. Looking down, she realized that she was flying over a train station of some sort.

‘Didn’t realize the ponies used trains. Eh, at least they don’t have cars.’ She thought. Yet, as she flew over the station, she saw the passengers unloading, and had to fight back a pained groan; out of the train cars poured dozens of armored stallions and mares, each wearing ornate silver plate barding.

‘I swear to Gaia and Equs, you ponies have as much subtlety as a Get of Fenris trying to start a bar fight!’ Dawn Wings wanted to scream as she watched the soldiers making their way to a mustering point. ‘Ugh, couldn’t you have just sent a few soldiers Sunbutt? Not a whole fucking platoon?’

Taking a deep breath, she composed herself as best she could.

‘Well, nothing I can do about it.’ She thought as she flew past the station. ‘If anything, this’ll hopefully keep the ticks from making a move.’

*****

It was after dark as Dawn Wings made her way back towards town. After seing the incredibly unsubtle display of the guards arriving, she’d flown by the spot where she’d seen the mass of Wyrmtaint. She’d been right in her initial assessment of the establishment: it was a general store. And, to her irritated amusement, one of the collaborators just so happened to be manning the front. A quick spiritual pulse told her none of the ticks were immediately present though.

'Why would you be working for the ticks?' Dawn Wings thought. 'Hmmm, lets find out…'

Pooling her spiritual energy, Dawn Wings sent it lancing towards the pony manning the counter. As the tether of spiritual energy struck, her mind's eye shifted.

Slowly flapping as she flew through a vast, misty woodland, Dawn Wings found herself following a narrow path deeper into the trees. Soon, the woodland gave way to a small clearing. At the center, a large, black tree stood, surrounded by a wall of thick, thorny brambles, some of its branches bearing small, silver or blue, tear shaped fruits.

Flying over the thorny hedge, the corax landed in the branches and regarded her options. There were a number of smaller fruits, but those weren't worth her time. No, she needed something bigger.

Looking to one of the branches mid-way up the tree, she spotted what she was after. A sizable, deep silver fruit. This was an older secret, but chances were that it was the one she needed.

'Perfect.' She thought as she fluttered down to the branch and snatched the fruit in her beak. Throwing her head back, she swallowed it whole. Moments later, her eyes shone with silver light, and a new vision replaced her old one.

She found herself standing behind the main counter of the store in the early evening, looking out through the eyes of the pony who's secret she was raiding. Stifling a yawn, the pony flexed her neck and sighed, before looking at the clock. From what Dawn Wings could tell, she was waiting to close up for the night and head home.

The sound of a bell caused the pony to snap her head towards the entrance. Upon seeing the pony walking in, her smile got wider.

"Barley!" She said with a warm smile as she trotted up to the golden brown, yellow maned normal pony stallion that had walked in the door. She cocked her head with confusion as she addressed him. "What are you doing back so soon? I thought you were heading to Hollow Shades for the next couple of weeks."

The one called Barley regarded her with cold, detached eyes, and a slight, venomous smirk.

"Ah, you must be Spring Leaf." The stallion said, though without the warmth Spring Leaf normally associated with him.

"What? What are you talking about Barley?" Spring Leaf said, taking a step back.

Barley didn't respond immediately, only look around the store, as if to make sure there were no other ponies present. Only after checking did he respond, his tone still cold.

"Do exactly as I say. Lock the door, turn the sign to closed and draw the curtains. After you do, we're going to the back of the store. Make any wrong moves, and Golden Barley dies. Am I clear." The stallion that looked like Barley said.

Spring Leaf's heart leapt into her throat and her irises shrunk to pinpricks. With a subtle nod and lump in her throat, she turned towards the front door and turned the latch and flipped the sign to closed, before drawing the curtains.

"Who are you? What have you done with my brother?" Spring Leaf said with a shaking voice as she turned to the stallion.

"You'll find out soon enough. Come with me." He said as he headed towards the back of the store and towards the basement storage space. With only a moment's hesitation, Spring Leaf followed.

As the two descended the stairs in silence, Spring Leaf kept glancing at the fake Golden Barley, desperate to figure out what was going on. Yet, as soon as they were in the basement, he turned and regarded her. Moments later, sickly green flame flashed across his body, revealing the smooth, black carapace of a creature she'd only ever heard about in legends: a changeling. The creature must have seen the mounting panic in her eyes.

"Make a sound, and your brother will die. And it won't be a swift death." The creature hissed, "No, it will be a slow, drawn out and agonizing death. Do I make myself clear."

Slowly, numbly, Spring Leaf nodded.

"Good." The changeling hissed. "I will get straight to the point. We have your brother. He is alive, for the time being. Cooperate, and he lives. Resist, and he dies. Am I understood?"

Another nod.

"From now on, you work for us. We will be using your store as a base of operations, and you will aid us in maintaining our cover in Ponyville." The changeling said as it approached Spring Leaf, who backed up until she ran into a shelf. "Others will be arriving soon, and we will be making some… additions to your store. You will continue with your daily life, as you always have, but you will tell us of any odd goings on around town, and help us keep track of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Attempt to betray us, and your brother will suffer. But, so long as you cooperate, we can guarantee his safety. Do you understand?"

Spring Leaf sobbed once before tearfully nodding.

The changeling smiled wickedly.

"I'm so glad." He said with a sweet yet venomous sneer. "Now, we're going to go upstairs and let a few new friends in the back. After that, you can go home. I will be there shortly. Remember, try anything, and Golden Barley will pay the price."

"Why are you doing this?" Spring Leaf managed to whimper.

A cruel smile worked its way across his face as a flash of green flame engulfed the changeling, and was replaced by the fake Golden Barley.

"You don't need to know that. Now, lets get back upstairs, big sister…"

Dawn Wings' mind returned to her body as the secret she learned finished playing back in her head. Regarding the mare behind the register, the corax felt both seething rage and nauseated revulsion, tempered by pity.

'So they're threatening you.' She thought as she regarded the pony. 'You don't want to be helping them then, do you? Hmph, I'll have to let the princesses know about this. Maybe they can help you find your brother.'

Pushing what she just learned aside, she regarded the store. Now, more than ever, she needed to get inside, and she needed to do it quietly. Taking to the air, she began to scout out potential entrances to the building. As she flew around the back, she found one: a small, open awning window that lead into the back room of the store. Smiling, she hoped that the Spring Leaf wouldn't close it at night.

After surveying the building, she headed back towards the farm, flying out over the orchard to find a private place to change into her equus form before heading back to the farmhouse. When she arrived, she was greeted by Anaretechusho. The filly seemed eager to help cheer her up, and had all but dragged her to the kitchen and handed her a large mug of what Dawn Wings could tell was apple cider and a few more of the apple pastries from earlier.

Dawn Wings found herself smiling a little at the filly’s efforts, placing a hoof on her shoulder and smiling warmly. She had to admit, the kid was growing on her. In a lot of ways, she reminded her of one of her own chicks, her third successfully fledged daughter Mountain Breeze.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the Anaretechusho doing chores around the farm, and eventually helping put together dinner with the other members of the family. Dawn Wings was still not entirely used to the herbivorous diet she found herself eating with the ponies, but she made the most of it.

After dinner, she helped with the cleanup, and excused herself to her room. After that, it had been simple to close the door and step sideways into the umbra. Shifting to her corvis form, she made her way back towards town, and what she hoped was the tick’s nest.

*****

It was now well after dark. Having flown high up into the sky and stepped sideways back into the material world, Dawn Wings alighted on the tree near the general store. As she’d expected, the store was closed for the night, and from all appearances, locked up tightly.

Sending out a spirit pulse, she was displeased to sense two threats within the building, but further down underground.

‘So, the ticks are hiding in the basement. That figures.’ She thought as she recalled what she'd learned from Spring Leaf's secret. With renewed focus, she took back to the air and flew around the back of the building. Much to her relief, the window was still open. It would be a tight fit, but she was sure she’d be able to squeeze through. Flying up to the awning window, she squeezed and wriggled her body under the open panel and into the room.

‘Alright.’ She thought as she landed on a stack of crates, her neck slightly kinked from the effort ‘where to now?’

Pushing spiritual energy into her eyes and focusing her will into the gift, she augmented her vision to allow her to see in the darkness of the unlit room. Thankfully, the door leading out was simply on a hinge without a doorknob, probably to facilitate moving merchandise in and out of the room. Landing, she pushed the door open with her head and made her way into the main storefront of the shop.

All around her, short shelves of knicknacks, basic supplies, and small luxury items were displayed in a simple yet functional way. Looking towards the front of the store, she could see the large picture windows had been covered with a pair of curtains, presumably to keep ponies from looking in after hours. It was basic security, but the town didn’t strike her as needing much more. It certainly made her job easier.

Surveying the room from the top of one of the shelves, she spotted what the way downstairs: a second door on the opposite end of the wall the first storeroom door. Unlike the first, this one was equipped with a handle. Taking to the air and softly landing near the door, Dawn Wings regarded it for a moment before calling on the change. Muscles and bones rapidly expanded as she shifted into crinos form, and, carefully grasping the handle, opened the door.

The hinges creaked a little as she pulled the portal open. Beyond the door there was a small landing and a staircase leading down into the earth. Stepping through as quietly as possible, she pulled the door closed behind her and shifted back to her corvis form. Hopping into the air and gliding down, she found herself in a second storeroom, this one clearly holding more valuable merchandise than the first, considering that most of the boxes in this part of the store were wooden crates with padlocks.

As she landed on another stack of crates, a familiar chill ran up her spine. Turning in the direction of the sensation, she spotted another door with light pouring out from underneath.

‘That wasn't in the memory I saw. Looks like the "improvement" the ticks were planning. ’ She thought as she fluttered over. Powering up her Wyrmsight, she could sense two pools of Wyrmtaint behind the door. ‘Two of em back there. Not great, but not terrible.’

Looking around the room, she considered her options to get through the door. She couldn’t just enter like she’d done upstairs. Instead, she had to draw the ticks out and sneak in when their backs were turned. Looking around the storeroom, she spotted a smaller case on top of one of the shelves that looked light enough for her to knock off. Nodding, she fluttered over and, pressing her side to the wood, she pushed with all her might. It took a minute, but eventually she shoved it off the shelf.

The crate hit the floor with a heavy crash and the sound of breaking glass. Taking to the air, she heard the ticks come rushing to the door, the sound of a deadbolt unlocking coming from the other side. She barely made it back to the shelf next to the door in time for the two ticks, each of them disguised as ponies, to come rushing out.

‘Taepate iletoma canata chae lathata.” She heard one of the bark to the other.

‘Laceta.’ The second replied.

‘Well well well, hello there.’ Dawn Wings hummed as she watched the two of them head into the storeroom to investigate the sound, because she recognized the tick’s voice. It was the lead tick. Smirking at her luck, she quickly glided through the door and into the room.

Whereas the previous room was normal and mundane, this one was straight out of some of the less pleasant places Dawn Wings had entered when on assignment. The walls were coated in a black, resinous material, with dozens of small, glowing tubercles filling the space with sickly green illumination. From the ceiling, there were nearly a dozen pods hanging from strands of the resin, each one ending in a large sack that contained a comatose pony suspended in green, glowing slime. She could see the slow, gentle rising and falling of the pony’s chests in the slime, indicating that somehow they were being kept alive by the fluid, though they looked somewhat emaciated.

It matched what she remembered princess Luna had told her about tick feeding pods.

At the far end of the room, there was a large cart, filled with two smaller sacks, each filled with swirling pink mist, waiting at the mouth of a long corridor leading deeper into the earth, its walls covered in the same disgusting resin and glowing tubercles as the room they were currently in.

‘That must be the collected love the lead tick’s been skimming off of.’ She thought as she landed on top of one of the pods. Hearing hoofbeats coming from the other room, Dawn Wings did her best to hide herself from sight by landing on top of the pods. Moments later the two ticks came back in, their disguises dropping in a burst of green flame.

‘Taepate etele caletheta rawata osalae.’ The lead tick said to the second one.

‘Vaare, elaebala raetana.’ The second said.

‘Cael manilata pateya lechama.’

‘Maera etasalo.’

Dawn Wings watched as the two of them approached the cart. Pulling out a small ledger from the back with his magick, the lead tick inspected the contents of the cart, before using his magick to jot something down in the book. Passing the book to the other tick, he waited as his subordinate checked the numbers and nodded, before signing the document and passing it back.

‘Naeclea palase tema.’ The lead tick said as he hooked himself into the cart's harness. ‘Lepoeca neteva.’

The other tick nodded and headed to the door leading back to the basement. Now alone, the tick began to make his way down the corridor. After a minute to give her a safe following distance, Dawn Wings leapt off the pod and began to follow. Chancing a look back, she felt a twinge of guilt for leaving the ponies trapped in the pods, but knew that she couldn’t free them. Not yet. Best to let Captain Ropeman take care of them once she passed the intel off to him.

Dawn Wings carefully continued to follow the tick, making sure to note any side corridors, twists, turns or whatnot. There was a very real likelihood that she might have to find her way back this way at some point.

After what felt like around ten minutes of walking, the tick and its cart came to a stop. Thinking quick, Dawn Wings landed and hid behind a raised ridge of resin jutting from the side of the corridor. Peaking around, she spotted the tick checking behind him, before unhitching himself from the cart and approaching the wall. Pressing his hoof on one of the glowing tubercles, Dawn Wings heard a soft click. Instantly, the resin on the wall drew back like an iris, and revealed a small alcove.

Inside there was a small container with a long hose hooked to the top, the other end of which was tipped with a long, stinger-like needle. Grabbing the hose in his magick, the tick drove the needle into the side of the storage container, and drew off a small portion of the swirling mist. He repeated the process with the other container, until the small container was filled.

Returning the hose, he pulled the ledger from the cart and slipped it into the alcove, before pulling a second ledger out with his magick and jotted down a new set of numbers. Dawn Wings then saw him forge the second tick’s signature, and drop the new ledger into the back of the cart.

Dawn Wings couldn’t help but smile as the tick pressed the same tubercle again, causing the wall to close up. Hooking himself back into the cart, the tick resumed his march down the corridor. This was too good to be true. She’d have to come back later and see if she could get her beak on that ledger.

Waiting for the tick to put some distance between them, she flew over to the spot where the tick’s hidden stash was. Eyeing the wall, she made sure to memorize exactly which tubercle the tick had pressed to open and close the chamber. Satisfied that she’d got it memorized, she took back to the air and continued her pursuit.

*****

After a little while, the resinous coating on the walls faded away, and gave rise to smooth, natural stone. Now without the light of the tubercles, the tick lit his horn with green flame to light his way. Thankfully for Dawn Wings, she didn’t need such things to see. Not with her gift empowering her sight.

Another long walk through the tunnels ensued, until they came to a large, open cavern. Dawn Wings dropped to the ground and hid behind a stalagmite. Waiting in the center of the cavern were two more, undisguised ticks. Walking closer, Dawn Wings could barely overhear them holding a conversation. Peaking around the stalagmite she was hiding behind, she saw the lead tick hand over the second ledger to the other two, who inspected the cart and nodded, before signing the document and magicking it back.

With a nod, the lead tick unhooked himself from the cart and, stepping out of the way, allowed the other two ticks to transfer the pods to their own cart, before turning around and heading back in the direction he came. The other two nodded to one another before heading towards one of the cavern exits.

Once both set of ticks had left, Dawn Wings took back to the air, following the pair that were currently leaving with the cart.

She eventually caught up with the pair, keeping back far enough to watch them and memorize their route without being noticed. Several twists and turns through the caverns later, and they emerged from the underground and out into the woodland west of Ponyville.

Landing in the branches of an ash tree, Dawn Wings watched the ticks head off through the woods. She considered tracking them, but decided against it for the time being. She didn’t know how long it would take to follow them to their destination, or if they would even reach it tonight.

No. She’d gathered enough intel for now. She needed to get back to town and send a report.

*****

Judging from the position of the moon, it was probably close to midnight by the time Dawn Wings arrived at the Golden Oaks Library. While she was sure that she could send her report in the morning, she didn’t want to wait. Not with what she learned.

Much to her relief, she saw light still coming from one of the upper rooms. Landing on the balcony, she peered in, spotting Vinemana and Tlectalae sitting on a bed, both reading; Vinemana a large tomb, Tlectalae a comic. She noted that Vinemana looked much better, though still somewhat harried.

Fluttering over to the window, Dawn Wings approached the glass panes and tapped her beak against the surface. Instantly, both occupants of the room looked up and saw her peering in. Vinemana’s horn lit up with magick as she stared at Dawn Wings, before visibly relaxing. Horn still lit with her magick, she pulled the window open, allowing the corax to enter.

Fluttering in, Dawn Wings landed at the foot of Vinemana’s bed and looked at the two occupants, before using her beak to tap out the cypher code for critical information, immediate, and changeling nest. Vinemana looked at her curiously, while Tlectalae's eyes went wide and got to his feet instantly.

“Caletaema Tlectalae.” Vinemana said.

“Nealeca mecheca vahena co ulalema Xelanota.” he replied.

“Lemaca?”

Narrowing her eyes, Dawn Wings tapped her beak on the foodboard to get their attention. Gesturing her head in the direction of the door, she pointed her beak at Tlectalae. As he nodded, she fluttered over to the door.

Looking back at Vinemana, he uttered a small, apologetic noise, and hopped down from the bed. Opening the door, he ushered her out, with Vinemana staring after them. Fluttering up to the banister, Dawn Wings watched as Tlectalae headed down to the study, before gliding down and swooping into the room.

Grabbing several dozen sheets of parchment, Tlectalae set them on the desk. Dawn Wings landed on the desk, before gesturing for the lizard to exit the room. He gave her an irritated look, but with a shrug, exited. Once he was out of the room, she shifted into crinos and began to write her report.

*****

Twenty or so minutes later, Dawn Wings, after returning to corvis form, called out to Tlectalae. Moments later, he arrived in the room, and saw her indicate the stack of papers she wanted sent to Celestia. His face betrayed a fair bit of irritation, but he complied, sending her report along with a burst of fire. Nodding and smiling at him, Dawn Wings followed him out of the room, then flying up and landing on the banister at the head of the stairs. As she waited for him to climb to the top floor, she regarded Vinemana.

She looked a little better than this morning, but she still had a distant, haunted look in her eyes.

'Sorry to put you through this star-butt. But its a much kinder fate than you ending up dead or stuck in the tick's love sacks.' Dawn Wings thought as sympathy welled up in her chest at the sight of the unicorn's continued distress.

Soon, Tlectalae arrived, and the two of them entered the bedroom. Flying over his head and landing by Vinemana, Dawn Wings regarded the unicorn. Slowly, Vinemana looked at her. Seeing she had her tutor's attention, she tried to convey concern for the unicorn with a tilt of her head and a low croak. With a tired sigh, Vinemana nodded, though her face was still strained, she managed a small smile.

Extending a wing, Dawn Wings reached up and pressed her primary feathers against the side of the unicorn's face, trying to offer comfort.

Vinemana smiled a little more genuinely at that, before nodding. Withdrawing her wing, Dawn Wings hopped up to the windowsill and looked at the unicorn. Nodding, she used her magick to open the window. With one final look, Dawn Wings took off. Once she was far enough into the night sky to avoid any prying eyes, she stepped sideways and headed back towards the orchard.

Author's Note

More information gathering. And the noose is slowly tightening on the changelings.