An off-white earth mare fell out of the fridge and into Fluttershy's forehooves. Her body shook under the sudden weight. "I didn't do it!," she cried whipping her head towards the shocked group. "Can someone help me, ple-" her strength gave out, and both ponies collapsed in a heap on the floor.

The group rushed forward. Pinkie helped Fluttershy up, and the rest examined the cook. Tied to her hoof with a handkerchief was one of the gems- the diamond-shaped one. A faint purple glow could be easily seen coming from within it. Twilight ran some tests, including checking the cook's eyes- they had rolled back into her head, and were a pale grey.

She turned to the others, giving the prognosis, "She's in midst of memory transfer. This time, the memories are definitely going," she tapped the gem lightly, "into here." Fluttershy's eyes were still wide, and she clung to Pinkie as she asked, "Who would want to attack the cook?" Pinkie Pie gave her consoling pats on the back, replying, "Dinner wasn't that bad."

Rainbow flew over to them, shouting, "How can you joke about something like this!?" She turned away as the two flinched, and Fluttershy began to whimper. She instead scanned the room, trying to make some kind of connection. Seeing Rarity in her elaborate dress and jewelry, she remembered something.

"You were given that gem, weren't you, Rarity?," she asked, flying close to her face. Rarity scoffed, looking offended. "Don't you dare accuse me, Rainbow! I dropped that gem after I drank the water. Any of you could have used it!" Rainbow turned away, groaning, "Sorry."

A forlorn moan brought the group's attention to Key Keeper, who was leaning against the wall. "Oh, I can't believe this could have happened to Coco! This isn't what I intended! Oh, Luna help me!" He sat in the corner and buried his face in his hooves.

Applejack approached him. "What do you mean, 'not what you intended'?" Pinkie suddenly gasped. "He's not the butler- he's an spy! He's gonna convict us!" She shrieked and dove into a cutlery drawer, somehow fitting in and closing in while she was inside.

Key Keeper chose to ignore…whatever just happened and answered questions. "I'm not THE butler, but I am A butler. If fact, I used to be QC's butler." Twilight, after looking at a few notes, asked, "If this is his house and you work for him, why did he arrive late?"

Key Keeper gulped. "I invited you. This was all my idea." He stood up quickly. "Now, if we return to the Study-" "Hold on just a minute!," cried Rainbow. "I am not running back and forth through this house just so you can tell us a story. You're going to tell us everything here and now," she finished as she pushed on his shoulders, making him sit back down.

He coughed. "Very well." After fixing some wrinkles Rainbow had made in his suit, he sat up and began the tale.

Quivering Chassis was named that due to a rare genetic defect. His chassis was "loose" on his body, so to speak, and at random times would "quiver" and shake, producing an odd rattling sound.

This wouldn't have been more than a minor annoyance, if it didn't happen to ruin any disguise or form he took. And a changeling unable to disguise themselves was useless in the hive run by Queen Chrysalis.

Unable to collect love for the hive, he needed to prove that he had some worth. And so Chrysalis sent him into Equestria for two months, to see how he could support the hive.

It didn't take long for him to figure out money went far in Equestria. So he took the fastest means to get plenty of it- thievery, embezzling, forgery, and yes, blackmail. He gained prominence in several mob and mafia groups, and could be found exchanging rare items in black markets.

Chrysalis was quite pleased with his developed skills. She allowed him to continue his work, with a simple exchange each month. At the determined time, be would return to the hive, to give his queen a cut of the money. In return, he was given love to sustain himself on.

QC eventually earned enough to buy a mansion on the outskirts of his main practice of shady deals- Canterlot. He hired ponies part-time to do labor, but mostly so he could feed off of their emotions, to make his stored love last longer. Due to his appearance and personality, that emotion was typically fear.

When the changelings shared love and rebelled, he did not just refuse because of his ideals, but because he had no love of his own to share. He had "digested" the love he had last received, and he had no love of his own for anything. He felt loyal to the Old Hive, but had no love for them, and practically detested them after they rebelled. He considered them as he did the ponies- weak, spineless, pastel powderpuff prey.

So he did not change. The hive offered to let him return, even offering to give him love, but he refused. He continued to live in his mansion, continuing shady practices to gain bits, and spending more on part-time staff he could feed on.

Changelings can feed on emotions, and consume some physical food to nourish them. But love is the staple part of their diet, and other emotions can only go so far without any real food to support it.

But a few days after the rebellion, QC refused to eat any physical food, saying a true changeling would only eat emotions. He became somewhat malnourished, since his only food was fear, anger, and irritation, and began to suffer mentally because of it.

He became obsessed with gaining more bits, but slipped up often in his dealings. He kept hiring the same ponies several times, which was odd. He normally hired a pony once, then never contacted them again, if he could help it. Sometimes he seemed to think he was still working for Chrysalis.

But for a few years, he continued to blackmail and swindle, hiring ponies so he could feed off emotion. And that's how it's been until this fateful night.

The ponies gawked at Key Keeper. "Wait," said Twilight, holding up a hoof, "How did you know all that?"

Key Keeper sighed. "I'm a butler and organizer for hire. QC regularly requested me, especially after he became…less mentally sound." He magiced away a smudge on the floor. "Most of that I learned from rants he would sometimes go on."

He stood up. "To make a long story short…" "Too late," mumbled Rainbow. "Anyway, I learned about how he had been hurting you innocent…well, mostly innocent…ponies, and decided that he should face justice." He sighed, "My plan was just that I would inform you of everything and have him arrested, but I didn't expect him to bring the artifacts. I especially didn't want for Miss Pommel to be involved."

Silence took over the group for a second before he clapped his hooves together. "Well, let's take her back to the Study and figure out what happened." "Why?," questioned Pinkie, leaning forward, looking him in one eye. Unfazed, he replied, "Working or no, I prefer to keep kitchens tidy."

He been to lift her with his magic before Twilight shouted, "Wait!" They all looked at her. "We need to be extremely careful with the used gem. If it breaks, according to my calculations, there's about a eighty percent chance the victim goes into a coma, and twenty percent that they die."

And so she took the mare in her own aura, positioning her so her back was straight and her front hooves were folded over her chest. The gem continued to glow brighter. The group headed slowly back to the Study, following Twilight's lead.

But when they got to the door, she shrieked and dropped the cook. Rarity and Sugar Belle both reacted with a burst of magic that let her float semi-gently to the ground. Well, it wasn't all that gentle [i]or[/i] floaty, and the cook landed on the floor with a loud thud, but at least the gem didn't break.

Twilight turned to the ponies, her eyes wide. She cried, "QC's gone!"