I jolt awake, startled, when I hear a knock on the door. I also notice I awaken to the feeling of cold sweat.

“Sweetie Belle and Ocellus, darlings, come down to the main floor of my shop right away,” I hear my sister urge us through my bedroom door.

“Wha . . . what's going . . . on?” I ask while my mind is still trying to unfog. I notice, as I raise my head from my pillow, that my pillow is now a bit shredded. Something has been tearing holes into it. At first I am mystified until I notice tiny shreds of cloth hanging from my longer and more crooked black horn on my head. Apparently the edges and sharp angles of the horn have been tearing the pillow apart. This is also a sign of frequent tossing about and friction.

“What's going on Professor?” Ocellus, who crawls off the bed along with me, asks through the door with a bit of concern in her voice.

“Princess Twilight is here,” Rarity answers, still speaking through the door. “And she wishes to see you two right away.”

“The princess is here? Are you sure?” I ask my sister.

“Yes. Of course I'm sure. I just saw her a moment ago, darling. She's waiting for you two downstairs.”

“Then we'll be right down there,” I reply to my sister.

“Don't dawdle,” my sister tells us before I hear her trot off.

“Princess Twilight is here,” I muse aloud. “This is getting serious.” I look over at my former bed companion for a moment then sigh before crawling off the bed. “Come on. We had best get moving.”

“Wait! Before we go, I want to ask you something,” Ocellus requests.

“Uh . . . sure,” I reply with a bit of a mystified tone. “What's sup?”

I see Ocellus bite her lower lip in a gesture of slight discomfort for a moment before she shakes her head, looks right at me, and asks, “Last night you were tossing and turning a lot. You were also moaning a lot, too. You sounded really afraid. Is that common for you?”

I did?

I think back. Upon doing so, I realize I don't recall what dreams I had last night, but this does sound like the reaction I have with many of my dreams lately. If anything, they seem to be getting worse, more or less.

“I didn't used to,” I eventually answer her. “But lately . . . I have been having lots of bad dreams, but I didn't think much of it.”

I see Ocellus widen her eyes slightly as she asks me, “When did they start? These bad dreams, I mean?”

“I, uh . . . I'm not sure,” I answer lamely as I rub the side of my head with a hoof. “Nearly a year, I think.” I focus on Ocellus as I add, “I do know it was sometime after Princess Twilight's coronation.”

I see Ocellus grow deeply thoughtful for a moment. As this continues, I start to grow very curious if she's figured something important out so I ask her, “Why? Why do you ask? Have you figured something out?”

“I'm not sure yet,” she answers. “It's just a hunch, but I get the feeling this is important.”

“Huh.” I blink at her. Moments later I realize something. It prompts me to ask her, “That reminds me. I have another question about changelings.”

“Shoot,” Ocellus invites as she looks back at me.

I tilt my head at her a bit as I ask her, “Do changelings dream normally? Is that something your species commonly do too?”

“Oh yes,” she replies a bit brightly. “There are a few times I even received special dreams. For example, I remember this one time I shared a dream with my friends. At first we wondered why until we encountered the spirit of the Tree of Harmony. It said it needed our help, so we visited it a short while later. Oh, and that was after King Sombra destroyed it.”

“You actually saw the spirit of the Tree of Harmony?!” I ask in awe. “What was it like?”

“Well, uh . . . it kind of looked like Twilight except it was a bit transparent and she sparkled a lot. Also, her voice was a bit different. It echoed somewhat, and I think I vaguely heard other voices speaking in complete unison with her. She was kind of melodic when she spoke. Her voice swam through the air.”

“Wow!” I marvel with wide eyes. “That's so cool!”

I see Ocellus smile fondly as she replies, “Yeah. It was.”

We share a brief moment of silence before the other changeling shakes her head and says, “Come on. We best get moving. We shouldn't keep the princess waiting.”

“Right,” I agree.

After I come downstairs, along with Ocellus, I briefly lose myself to my excitement when I see Princess Twilight. It is enough to cause me to exclaim, “Princess Twilight!” When I said that, I notice my voice very briefly squeaked for just a moment. It was so brief it only occurred for exactly one syllable of that sentence, but during that moment, it actually sounded like my own real voice.

Lost in the excitement, I attempt to race down the rest of the stairs.

Bad idea! I end up tripping over my own hooves because of my sudden rapid pace combined with the fact that I'm still unfamiliar with this new body’s equilibrium, the width of my hooves, and my center of gravity.

Fortunately for me, Princess Twilight's reflexes are fairly acute. Before my head trips down into the stairs, I get suspended in mid-air as my body is enveloped by a purple aura. As usual, my body starts stinging and tickling whenever I'm picked up using that method which is why unicorns rarely do that to themselves aside from the fact they typically don't have the magical strength to do so. Fortunately again, it does not last long. Twilight quickly but also gently sets me down at the base of the stairs.

“Careful Sweetie Belle,” Twilight cautions me. “You almost tripped and fell. I don't want you to get hurt.”

“And, aside from that, a proper lady does not rush down the stairs like a bumbling oaf,” Rarity scolds me with indignity. “She must be patient and dainty. To do otherwise would be improper and she could ruin her dress in her haste.”

“You . . . you called me Sweetie Belle!” I exclaim in a deeply touched tone as my eyes shine at Twilight. “You said my name! You said my name!”

“Well of course, Sweetie Belle!” Twilight tells me with her bright, trademark friendly smile that most definitely reaches her eyes. “What else would I call you?”

“Well, you . . . I don't exactly look like myself these days,” I mumble with regret in my still disgustingly manly voice.

“Regardless how you look, you are still Sweetie Belle on the inside,” Twilight replies. “And that is the only part that matters to me. As for the rest of you,” she waves across me with a wing before refolding it behind her back, “that's what I'm here to address. When I heard the news from Starlight after I received her letter, I realized one of my dear friends is in trouble so I had to rush in and help her. Her meaning you, my dear.”

“Is Spike here too?” I check with rising excitement, but I grow a bit despondent when I see Twilight shake her head.

“No,” Twilight replies. “I've assigned him to look after some of my duties while I'm away. I've empowered him to be able to grant some decisions and others he'll just write down so I can review them later.”

“Well . . . it's still nice to see you again!” I emotionally bounce back brightly. “I missed you so, so much!”

Twilight smiles again as she replies very brightly, “Why thank you, Sweetie Belle! It's good to see you too.” Her bright expression sinks to a bit of an awkward look at me up and down as she adds, “Sort of.”

Rarity looks at her purple alicorn friend as she asks, “Twilight, darling, whatever you have planned for my baby sister today, does it involve me? I do have classes today but this is quite a bit more important to me. If you need me for anything . . .” She trails off as she leaves that thought lingering.

“Nah. That's okay, Rarity. I can take it from here,” Twilight tells her white friend.

“Oh!” Rarity exclaims as she realizes something, then refocuses on Twilight as she says, “I just remembered, I haven't had a chance to prepare breakfast for any of us yet.” She closes her eyes as she lifts a hoof before lecturing, “A proper lady does not neglect one's diet for she needs to maintain her complexion.”

“I'll take care of that for them later as well,” Twilight promises as she continues to regard her friend. “But there is something else urgent I want to take care of first. Don't worry, Rarity. I'll make sure to take good care of your baby sister. I promise.” Twilight lifts a hoof to her chest then proceeds to cross it as she adds, “Cross my heart, and hope to fly-”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Rarity dismisses with an impatient wave of a hoof to her purple friend. “All of that silly nonsense. I trust you, Twilight. No need to get theatrical about it so early in the morning.”

“Theatrical?” Twilight asks while she looks taken aback. “You're one to talk, Rarity. Usually you're the one with enough drama on her hooves to require a fainting couch.”

Rarity shrugs with a look of haughty dignity as she fluffs her mane while saying, “What can I say? I matured.”

“Um, Princess,” I mention nervously. “Have you heard what happened to Button Mash?”

First Twilight's eyes look at me followed by her face before she replies, “Yes, I have, and that is why I consider this issue very urgent and it's also why I need you.”

“What for?” I ask with a confused blink. “What can I do?”

“I need you to help me use the magic Friendship Map to locate Button Mash again,” Twilight answers.

Rarity gasps, then asks, “Are you sure it's safe? Using that map is how she got into this mess in the first place. Also, why not ask his mother to help you? She cares for him too.

“Oh, and one more thing. Starlight's horn still hasn't recovered. She can't cast the spell.”

Twilight unfurls her right wing then uses it to lift a single feather as she says, “First of all, you're absolutely right about Starlight which is why I will be casting the spell this morning.” She lifts another feather from her wing. “Secondly, I've already reviewed that spell and have determined it to be safe. I've even tested it with a few castings myself before now.” She lifts another feather. “Thirdly, while Button's mother would suffice for this spell, she is busy, at her own insistence, to remain in the hospital and look after her son.”

Twilight refolds her wings behind her back as she says, “Besides, involving her would mean explaining to her an incomplete story of what's going on around here. Until we have a better understanding of what is going on, I don't want to stress her out any further.

“Also,” Twilight closes her eyes, turns her head to her side, and lifts the same wing but this time using it to make a halting gesture. “before you point this out, let me just say that we're not one-hundred percent sure of Button's current whereabouts.”

Twilight refolds her wings, opens her eyes, and looks back at Rarity.

“He seems to be in the hospital but something is wrong with him there, and Starlight told me how his cutie mark got moved on the map. It moved somewhere in the Everfree Forrest. We need to ascertain if we'll get the same results if we cast that spell again while most of the same circumstances are in place.” She shrugs. “I also can't dismiss the fact that casting this spell again might undo what happened before. Even if we never get an explanation on how this happened in the first place, I still won't complain if repeating this spell fixes all of these problems somehow. Furthermore, one can't ignore the fact that Button's cutie mark has indeed disappeared from his flank. Starlight does have some talent relocating cutie marks, as I'm sure you recall, but she assured me she cast no such thing. I believe her, and besides, I read the spell she cast. I also cast it myself. What has happened really shouldn't have happened. This is a mystery we urgently need to get to the bottom of both for Sweetie Belle's sake as well as Button Mash.”

“And Button Mash might be in greater danger,” I say with worry. “My circumstances might be very unsettling but at least I'm suffering it in the relative safety of this town.” I shake my head. “Button Mash might not be so lucky. He's a foal who might have been lost in the Everfree Forrest for over a day now.”

“I cannot ignore that grim possibility,” Twilight promises firmly. “So we have to act right away.

“Sweetie Belle, I'll teleport you straight to Starlight's Castle myself. There is no need to march you through Ponyville in broad daylight while you continue to look like that. Hopefully we'll find a solution to all of this mess today.”

“And me?” Ocellus inquires. “Starlight put me in charge of looking after her. I don't wish to let her down.”

Twilight nods at Ocellus as she says, “You too, Ocellus. I'll teleport you to the castle as well. After all, you may yet have some valuable insight into what's going on. One way or another, it seems changeling mischief is ahoof. If that's the case then I'd prefer to have a changeling of my own by my side to make sure we're properly informed what's what.”

“I'll do my best for you, Princess!” Ocellus promises as she straightens her back and wears a firm, dutiful expression on her bug-like face.

A fond and confident look sinks into Twilight's face as she says, “I know you will, Ocellus. The Tree of Harmony chose you, and your friends, to champion its cause, just like it once did for my friends so I trust you.” After she says that, her expression cracks with a bit of worry as she adds, “That said, you are very young and a foreign student. I don't want to see you harmed nor do anything to provoke a diplomatic incident. As such, I invite you to accompony me on the condition that you immediately obey any request I give. If I tell you to leave, for example, you do it right away with no hesitation because, chances are, I'm only requesting it with your safety in mind.”

Ocellus nods as she says, “Understood.

“Um,” now it looks like the changeling is about to change the subject, but she looks a bit nervous and/or shy.

“Go on,” Twilight invites with a kindly voice.

Feeling encouraged, Ocellus presses forward by asking, “Speaking of international incidents, have you told Thorax of these recent developments? Sweetie Belle has been transformed into a changeling. Maybe that's temporary but we still don't know why this is happening. We also can't dismiss the possibility that another changeling might be involved somehow. If so, there is a distinct possibility that it could still be an evil changeling. I guarantee you that Thorax would take that news very seriously.”

Twilight turns her head a bit to the side as she now wears a look of uncertainty. After a moment she replies, “I am seriously considering informing him but I'm not sure when I should do it.” She focuses back on Ocellus. “One way or another I do intend to eventually include him in the loop but, for now, I'm also tempted to delay it until I have better answers for him. After all, I don't want to start a panic unnecessarily. There is also the fact that, if an evil changeling is involved, there's a chance we risk tipping him or her off if I inform Thorax. Perhaps he has a spy lurking among his pack. Changelings have been known to be quite good at that. Right now it seems prudent to me to limit the spread of information until we have something more concrete to report.”

Ocellus looks a bit down, puts a hoof to her bottom chin, squints her eyes, and thinks about what was just said before she nods to herself and looks back at Twilight with a look of agreement. Then she says, “Okay. That sounds prudent for the moment but that also means my role in this affair is all the more important. I highly recommend you keep me around as much as possible to at least bear witness to these events because I'm a source of information King Thorax will trust. I can convince him that you had a good reason for delaying the spread of this information to him. But, if I'm also there every step of the way during this investigation, he'll eventually know you weren't trying to hide anything from us in the long run.”

Twilight strongly nods in agreement as she says, “That sounds like an excellent plan as long as you follow my orders precisely and immediately, for I also don't want to give King Thorax any impression that I endangered one of his younger pack members unnecessarily. He trusts me too and I have no intention to let him down.”

Now it's Ocellus's turn to nod, then she says, “Agreed.”

“Then let's delay no further,” Twilight decides. “Sweetie Belle and Ocellus, gather around me. I'll teleport us to Starlight's Castle right away.”

Author's Note

So the story continues to build more momentum. What will happen now that a new ally has joined the fray? Find out next time on the same Bat time and same Bat channel.