I was in the throne room only briefly before Twilight teleports both me and Ocellus elsewhere. Where we appear next is a fairly small room with a single bed, study desk, and bookshelf with a moderate amount of books strewn across three out of seven of those shelves. Exotic decor is hung on the walls which looks like various bug parts, hanging vines, and several kinds of crystal gems on miniature shelves. I also see a tall oval mirror on the door which is surrounded by an iron frame that is shaped into a vine and leaf-like pattern. The room also has a peculiar scent that I cannot identify yet.

“You should stay here for the moment while I take care of the . . . other you,” Twilight tells me moments after arrival.

“What about Button Mash? He's still lost in the forest,” I remind in concern.

Twilight shakes her head as she says, “We need to take care of the other you first and find out what's going on. Besides, I get the feeling there is more going on here than meets the eye.” Twilight looks out a window in this room with a spooked expression. “That forest did have eyes and they were looking right at us menacingly.” She looks back at me. “Nothing is confirmed, but I think this situation warrants some extra caution. I don't want to invite a foal and a young changeling into that forest again if the threat level there is higher than usual. We may be working against an intelligent force here and that's so much worse than a random hostile encounter. Organized plans may be set in motion against us. I don't like how your apparent body was abandoned like that amidst changeling goo. It's as if we were meant to find it but that was a last-minute change from this dastardly villain.”

“But Button . . .” I moan sadly as tears start to rise in my eyes. I can't believe what I'm hearing. I never thought we'd abandon a foal like that.

“Like I said, I think a little investigation is in order,” Twilight tells me. “On that note, did you happen to see the cutie mark she was wearing?”

As I blink in surprise, my tears dry up a bit. I then say, “No. What's that got to do with anything?”

Twilight leans her head down as she tells me more emphatically, “That body we found did not have your cutie mark on her flank. Instead, she had Button Mash's.”

I gasp in shock.

“He does have a D-pad cutie mark, doesn't he? We saw it on the Cutie Map before we moved to investigate that forest,” Twilight informs.

“A copy of Sweetie Belle which has Button's cutie mark?” asks the perplexed changeling beside me. “What is going on here?”

Twilight lifts her head straight as she says, “As I said, we're going to find that out.

“In the meantime, the two of you stay here. I mean it,” Twilight instructs.

“But where is . . .” I begin but trail off when I see Twilight teleport away. I pass the same questioning look I had in Twilight's former direction and redirect it to Ocellus beside me.

“We're in my room,” Ocellus explains. “At least the dorm room I'm staying in while I remain here in Ponyville.”

“Oh! Neat!” I exclaim in delight as I take another sweeping look across the room. “So this is your room.”

“Yes,” Ocellus agrees simply and a little shyly.

“What is all this stuff on the walls?” I ask her.

“What do you mean?” she reflects.

“All of this,” I answer. “The bug parts and vines and crystals.”

“Oh. That's just mementos from my homeland,” she answers.

I sigh as I realize I can't take my mind off the mystery we just encountered in the Everfree Forest. I'm still very worried about Button Mash but I'm equally confused. We looked for him in that forest and, instead of finding him, we find a copy of myself except she has Button's cutie mark? What's going on here? Is it perhaps a false clue meant to lead us off the trail? Maybe the evil changeling found the perfect bait to lead even the Cutie Map off Button's true trail.

“I can't stand this! I need to see her!” I decide with irritation in my voice.

“Who?” Ocellus asks.

“The other me,” I answer her. “They are going to take her to the hospital. That might be my true body there but something is wrong with it. I have to find out what's going on.”

“But Twilight told us to stay put,” Ocellus complains with a worried cringe. “Besides, you'd attract too much attention wandering around Ponyville in a form like that. Especially in broad daylight.”

“There is an easy fix for that,” I reply with a cunning grin. “Go to my sister's shop and borrow a long cloak. The color does not matter too much. Just make sure it's something that does not draw too much attention.”

“Borrow?” Ocellus reflects with a squint of suspicion at me.

“Yeah. I mean it,” I reply sincerely. “I'm going to return it. I just need it for the time being.”

“But Twilight told us to stay put,” Ocellus reminds. “I could get into trouble, too, if I'm seen wandering about town.”

“Ocellus,” I say as I apply a hoof to her shoulder, “you're a changeling. You can disguise your form if you want to hide in public. You can do that better than most.”

Ocellus gives me a frown and an uncomfortable squint of her face at me. She looks like she was aware of that point but had hoped I wouldn't bring it up. Shortly later she says, “This still isn't a good idea.”

“Please, Ocellus? For me?” I beg her. “I have to know what's going on with that other me. I also want to find out what happened to Button Mash. Admit it, you're curious too. Just imagine how I feel right now.”

“Okay, okay,” she agrees irritably. “Stop twisting my leg. I'm going.”

Ocellus heads off to the exit of the room. Along the way, I see a rising shimmer of magic shoot up from the ground and sail a few feet over her head. When the column of light vanishes, I notice Ocellus in the form of a tall yellow earth pony mare with a straight, long pink mane. The form kind of reminds me of Fluttershy but without the wings. When she turns her head to face me, I notice it's more elongated compared to Fluttershy. She also has brown eyes instead and freckles on her cheeks. Once I get a better look at her, I realize the apparent age of this new form isn't quite high enough to be considered an adult mare yet, but it's close.

“I'll be back soon,” Ocellus informs me in a voice that is a little deeper. “Stay here until I get back with the cloak. I'm trusting you because I know you're the real Sweetie Belle now.”

“Thank you, Ocellus,” I tell her gratefully.

“Sure,” Ocellus accepts a little bitterly. She was about to turn her head back towards the exit until something else occurs to her. She looks back at me and asks, “Come to think of it, wouldn't your sister's shop be closed and locked at this hour? Rarity should be at the Friendship School instead by now.”

“Oh! Shoot!” I realize with bitter shock. “That might be a problem unless you get the keys from Rarity.”

“No.” Ocellus shakes her head. “That would tip the others off to our plan.” She sighs as she looks back at the door. “It's okay. I'll just morph into something small enough to fit through the door cracks.”

“You can do that?” I ask her with a surprised blink.

“Sure,” Ocellus answers with a bit of flattered delight in her voice.

I grunt before saying, “I really wish I could do that right now. If I could master this body's inherent morphic qualities, I wouldn't even need the stupid cloak.”

Ocellus shrugs as she reminds me, “It should come off as natural instinct. I think I heard you emulate your own natural voice a couple of times. Other than that, I don't know what else to tell you.”

I sigh then wave her off with a hoof dismissively as I say, “Well . . . whatever. Hopefully I figure it out soon. In the meantime, get me that cloak.”

Ocellus does depart which leaves me alone with my disturbing thoughts for a while.

It didn't take long for Ocellus to return to me with an adequate deep purple cloak with crimson velvet lining. One side of the cloak sparkles with glitter. I decide to wear that side in the interior because I don't want to stand out too much right now.

Feeling more secure with my new borrowed prize, Ocellus and I make our way to the Ponyville Hospital. Before entering, I instruct Ocellus to disguise herself as my mom. In response, she rolls her eyes but cooperates with my instructions because she agrees it should make it easier to get an excuse to see my unconscious body in the hospital.

While talking to the nurse at the reception desk, I notice sympathy instead of surprise upon seeing my “mom”. I inwardly breathe a sigh of relief because it means my real mother probably isn't here, or else this nurse would be confused why my mother entered the building twice without seeming to leave once. In response to a question of who I am, Ocellus replies that I am a concerned relative. I inwardly nod at this and applaud Ocellus's answer because it's technically true. I love it when I can claim the moral high ground as much as I can.

Without further hesitation, the nurse directs us to the room number my other body is stored in. She also adds that Princess Twilight and Starlight followed that patient to the room. I get the distinct impression we are told this so that we're aware we need to engage the situation with some royal etiquette.

We make our way to the indicated room. We do our best to avoid the other ponies along the way. I don't even attempt to make eye contact which is something I would not normally do, but these are trying times.

I reach my hoof up to the correct door but Ocellus applies her own hoof on top of my own, which is still disguised as my mother, as she warns, “You heard what the nurse said, right? Princess Twilight and Starlight are in there. Maybe now isn't the best time to enter. At least now we know which room number it is.”

I still find it eerie to see and hear Ocellus talking to me in my mother's voice. Seeing her disguised as a stranger I found fascinating, but this form is familiar enough to me to make the situation feel awkward and borderline creepy even though this was my idea.

“I don't care,” I say back firmly, then amend with a softer voice, “Well, I take it back. I do care, but not enough to stop me. I have to find out what's going on. That might be my real body in there. I deserve to know what is happening.”

Ocellus lowers her hoof from on top of mine as she says, “If you're right, then your mind somehow got pushed into the body of another changeling. That probably happened before Starlight cast that spell using the Cutie Map.”

I nod as I say, “Which is why it was a factor in place that Starlight couldn't account for. Not even I knew that.”

“If all of this is true, who is the changeling you're currently inhabiting? If that body used to belong to another, I wonder who he was.”

“You came from the hive,” I remind Ocellus. “Don't you recognize this body at all? Even a little?”

Ocellus, still wearing the form of my mother, shakes her head before saying, “No. Not that I'm aware of. We, changelings, do indeed have an uncanny sense for changeling identity despite how similar we look to each other unless we deliberately hide it behind another disguise. That said, I can say with reasonable confidence that this body,” she gestures to me, “doesn't seem familiar to me in the slightest.” Her hoof returns to the floor. “That's a very disturbing thought because, if I'm right, this changeling was unaccounted for.

“What if he's not the only one? Perhaps he's one of many secret sects that hid themselves in an effort to avoid detection and reformation. Maybe they more dogmatically stayed faithful and loyal to Queen Chrysalis.

“More and more, I'm growing increasingly concerned about leaving King Thorax in the dark about all of this. Unaccounted evil changelings, a possible secret sect hiding in the shadows, one of them possessed by you for some reason while your real body lies unconscious in this next room.”

Ocellus looks at the door we're about to enter as she asks, “What if that is not your real body either? What if it's yet another changeling in disguise?” She looks at me. “That could explain why that body has the wrong cutie mark. It might be an issue of misinformation.”

“But the Cutie Map led us to that forest,” I remind Ocellus. “I concentrated on Button Mash as hard as I could.”

“Agreed, but there still is a chance for misdirection here,” Ocellus warns. “Maybe Button really is in that forest, just like the Cutie Map said, but he's still in there. And, instead of finding him, we picked up a decoy that was meant to throw us off track as well as invite a spy into our midst.”

I frown as I look down. That thought had not occurred to me but, now that it is, I have to admit that is plausible. I feel disturbed upon realizing that because that not only means Button remains unrescued but we picked up a fake on top of that. A fake who may cause us serious harm later on.

I jolt, startled, when the door before us suddenly opens. Beyond it, we see Starlight Glimmer giving us both a deadpan expression.

“If you two wanted to be sneaky, you could learn to be a little more quiet,” Starlight scolds us.

“Sorry,” I apologize while nervously shuffling my hooves.

“And you,” Starlight says to Ocellus directly, “get out of that form now. You weren't given permission to take it.”

“Sorry,” Ocellus echoes before changing her form back to her natural form.

“Well . . . come in, you two. If you're both going to sneak out of the dorm rooms just to be here, you might as well get something out of it,” Starlight invites as she steps aside so we may enter.

“Thank you, Starlight!” I express very gratefully as I practically bounce into the room just like Pinkie Pie. Furthermore, just like the physics-breaking pink mare, I actually freeze in mid-air for a few seconds as I behold, with strong surprise, the fact that Cream Heart, Button's mom, is also here.

“Uh . . .” I say with a blank expression of shock while I gradually float back down to the ground. “What are you doing here, Missus Heart?”

“I should be asking you that same question,” Twilight tells me with an annoyed expression on her face towards me and Ocellus.

“Well, to be honest, I'm not sure myself,” Cream Heart replies to my previous question. “I should be looking after my son.”

“Um,” I look at the other mares in the room nervously. “Does she know about me and who I am?”

“I may have mentioned a few things,” Starlight confesses as she trots to the foot of the bed where my unconscious body is lying. “She took it fairly well considering everything else that's been happening.”

“Yes. I'm sorry what happened to you, my dear,” Cream Heart tells me. “I'm confused too. After all, if you're Sweetie Belle with current appearance to the contrary, then who is this?” she asks as she nods to my unconscious body. “Also, why does your body have my son's cutie mark? None of this makes any sense.”

“I have a good hunch what's going on,” Starlight says. “But I won't know for sure until our patient here rouses. The doctors say it should happen at any moment now. When that happens, hopefully we'll get some answers to this mystery.”

“I agree,” Twilight concurs. “Whatever answers we get from her now may dictate our next course of action.”

“I hope it's occurred to you all that this might be another changeling in disguise,” Ocellus warns as she moves further into the room. “If that is the case, be on your guard. This one might not be a nice changeling.”

“Even if that's true, this little one isn't faking being unconscious,” Starlight tells us. “The doctors also said she's a bit malnourished. Furthermore, there is evidence that she's been in a state of suspended hibernation for quite some time, but it's hard to estimate exactly how long.”

Ocellus nods as she informs, “That is consistent with what I know of victims stored in changeling slime. We used to use that method to store our food for gradual consumption.”

I look at Ocellus in surprise as I say, “But you told me that . . .” I trail off as I realize I was about to accidentally break a promise of a secret I was meant to keep, so instead, I divert my next sentence too, “I, uh . . . didn't know you changelings do that.”

“There is a lot of things we did that I'd prefer not to talk about,” Ocellus says uncomfortably.

It could be because of all the noise we're making in the room, I am not sure, but I see the face of my body on the bed squint before she squirms in discomfort. As I behold this, it dawns on me how utterly weird it feels to behold my own body from an outside perspective. I've seen myself plenty enough times in the mirror but the reflection usually follows my movements.

I can't help but notice little flaws on her, too, like her still matted mane. I have to struggle to resist the urge to move forward and correct it. That's probably Rarity's influence in me. She taught me to have a keen eye for detail and to care about such things. My eye for detail isn't nearly as keen as my sister's but I still feel self-conscious about obvious flaws.

But what if this isn't my body? What if Ocellus is right and this is yet another changeling in disguise? In that case, it would be pretty rude to approach and correct somepony else’s appearance. Right?

“Hello there, Sweetie,” Starlight calls to the other me as she continues to squirm and gradually rouses. “Can you hear us?”

There is no obvious response. Because of that, she looks at Cream Heart and requests, “I want you to talk to her. Something tells me you'll provoke a greater response from this one.”

Cream Heart looks taken aback as she asks, “Why? Shouldn't her parents be here instead?”

Starlight shakes her head before pointing at me and says, “No because that is the real Sweetie Belle.” She nods to indicate me while still looking down at my rousing white unicorn body. “Whoever this is is somepony else.”

Cream Heart looks shocked as something dawns on her. For a moment she struggles to say something but she ends up just moving her lips. In the end, she fails to say anything before the little filly on the bed beats her to it.

“Mom? Is that you?” we hear the filly on the bed groan in my voice. “Where are you? I can't see . . .” She trails off as her vision gains greater clarity. She focuses on Cream Heart in the room then smiles fondly. “Oh. There you are.”

Stunned silence crashes into the room, broken first by the same filly.

“What's going on? Why are you all standing here? What am I doing here?” My other self looks startled to see Princess Twilight. That only serves to deepen the mystery for her. “What is . . . and why am I . . .” She chokes then attempts to clear her voice before asking, “And what's wrong with my voice? Why do I sound like Sweetie Belle?”

“Buh . . . Button Mash?!” Cream Heart asks with stunned awe.

“Of course, Mom! Who else would I be?” the filly on the bed asks as she looks at Cream Heart. She grows more frightened as she asks, “What's going on? Why am . . .” She trails off again when she beholds her own hooves. This causes her to widen her eyes in deep and sudden shock. Seconds later she spares another moment to check out the rest of her body then lifts her mane and brings it forward enough to look at it. She freezes for several seconds as she looks at it. After a few seconds, she starts hyperventilating.

“Calm down, Button,” Starlight urges when the filly starts to panic. “You're okay now. Everything is going to be okay.”

“WHY AM I SWEETIE BELLE?!” Button screeches in panic in my body. “Mah . . . Mom-mmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!” She dissolves into a panicked cry.

Despite how stunned she feels, Cream Heart bends down and hugs the little filly on the bed out of pure nurturing instinct. To me, she appears nearly on the verge of crying and/or panicking herself, but she set that aside for the moment to take care of her foal.

“So it's true,” Starlight figures. “Button Mash's consciousness was transferred to Sweetie Belle's body when I performed my magical experiment. That also explains why his cutie mark and magic are missing from his native body. Apparently that magic got drained and transferred to this body instead.”

“But why?” Twilight asks. “This doesn't make any sense.”

“It might if Sweetie Belle was already inhabiting a changeling body without her knowledge,” Starlight explains. “I can't explain how and why that transfer occurred in the first place but . . . if it was already true before I started my experiment, it might serve to reveal how unusual magic was already in place.” She looks at her old teacher directly. “I submit the possibility that Sweetie Belle was already in the body of another changeling. When she got tied up in my magic spell, it didn't transform her into a changeling. Instead, it accidentally revealed her true form. A form that she didn't know about herself.

“As for Button Mash, he was the target of the spell. Somehow there was a chain reaction where there was a feedback loop between Sweetie Belle and her body . . . maybe. Button got caught in the channeled flow of magic too and somehow that transferred his consciousness to Sweetie's body.” Starlight looks at me. “Notably, your true body.” She shakes her head as she looks back at Twilight. “I don't think this one is a changeling. Not this time. Instead, you are beholding the body of the true Sweetie Belle. One who got ponynapped and replaced some time ago.”

“Then she is . . .” Twilight says with wide eyes as she looks at me.

“She is Sweetie Belle too,” Starlight assures, “but just her mind this time, not her body.”

“Then what happened to the consciousness of that original body?” Twilight asks Starlight. “Was it transferred to somepony else?”

“Now that is where my theories draw a line,” Starlight informs. “I don't know what happened to the original consciousness of that body. It might still be in there, ready to awaken like a sleeper agent.”

I widen my eyes in shock. Out of the corner of her eye, Starlight apparently notices because she focuses on me next and asks me, “What is it, Sweetie Belle? Did you realize something?”

“That's Sweetie Belle?” Button asks over the shoulder of her mother. “Then, um . . . if she is the real Sweetie Belle then what am I doing in her body?

“More importantly, can somepony dispel this awful nightmare I'm suffering from right now?”

“We'll explain everything soon, Button,” Starlight assures the young filly. “As soon as we gather more answers ourselves.” She focuses back on me. “What is it, Sweetie? Tell me anything you know relevant to this situation.”

“You think I've been replaced and relocated in this body for quite a while?” I check with Starlight.

She nods at me then says, “That's the working theory so far.”

I apply a stunned hoof to the side of my head as I muse aloud, “I wonder if the switch coincides with the awful dreams I've been having for almost a year.”

“Awful dreams?!” Starlight asks with rising alarm. “Tell me more!” she insists.

“For almost a year now I keep getting chased by somepony or something in my dreams,” I explain to everypony in the room and Starlight in particular. “There are many variances to the dreams but I'm always being chased by what feels like a malevolent force, and I'm pretty sure it's a he. He often whistles casually as he chases me. The whistle itself seems innocent enough but, given the fact he keeps chasing after me, it takes on a sinister twist. Sometimes I call out to him but he doesn't answer other than a short pause sometimes as if he's using my call to zero in on my position. I rarely see him outright. Instead, he just keeps closing in on me. Getting closer and closer while ever continuing that haunting whistle.

“During the rare times I do encounter him, I usually see him in some other form. Of those, a raven is the most common.”

“A raven, you say?!” Twilight gasps in my direction then transfers that startled look of realization to Starlight. “Like that raven we saw in the Everfree Forest?”

“It might be just a bird, but we can't dismiss the possibility it was something else,” Starlight partially agrees, then she shudders. “I really did get sinister vibes from that little bird. The form itself seemed relatively innocent enough but . . . there was just something off about that bird. Maybe it was the menacing way he just kept staring at us.”

“It probably was a changeling in disguise,” Ocellus proposes. “If so, he saw me with you all in my true form so he knows you're working with a changeling too.” She looks at me. “Or I guess two changelings now.”

I break down into a cry as I think about those awful dreams and how frightening it is to realize there might be some true sentient and sinister force lurking behind it all along. All that time I was in true danger! Could he actually kill me in my dreams? And, if so, what will happen to me? What will happen to my friends if he wakes up in this body instead of me?

I sit down on the ground and squash my ears on my head with my forehooves as that haunting whistle returns to my head except, this time, that cold and empty feeling returns along with it. Hunger deepens in my system which makes me feel cold and lifeless. It feels like I'm drowning in a dark abyss.

“Sweetie Belle, stay with me!” Ocellus insists when she sees that look of horror and despair start to sink into my face. During this time she is before me and applies both of her forehooves firmly on my shoulders. “Look at me, Sweetie!” I do so. “Keep looking at my face. Hear the warmth in my voice. Smell the love and caring of everypony in this room. Keep reminding yourself that you are Sweetie Belle, and that you are a lovely and lovable filly who always deserves deep affection.”

I do so. I breathe deep. As I do so, I smell this intoxicating scent of . . . Well, I don't know how to describe it but, whatever it is, it is a very pleasant scent. The scent soothes me and sends warm feelings deep into my chest like drinking a warm cup of chocolate milk. My breathing eases as this soothing sensation fills me and yet it also makes me glow with internal giddy affection. By smelling that, I feel so loved.

“We need to deal with this issue right away,” Starlight says in a very serious voice. “Somehow, I think the culprit is listening in on every word we say through her.” She nods to indicate me.

Author's Note

A show of hands. How many of you saw this coming?

The "gender-bend" genre tag now has an extra layer of meaning, and Button Mash is now more officially part of the story. Yet another promised main cast steps up to the plate.

In this case, a little unwillingly.