Twilight was still curious about the attack earlier, but she put it in the back of her mind and continued her research on ancient Greece, still convinced it was tied to Equestria somehow.

"Hey Theresa, are you going to help me finish my research?" she asked, seeing the girl walk by.

"What?" a confused Theresa asked "I mean, oh yeah, that. Maybe later, I've got something else I have to do," she added, before walking away.

That's odd, for a moment there, she acted like she didn't know what I was talking about Twilight thought well, I can't worry about that for now. I have to get this done; I just wish somepony would help me.

Twilight poured over the books she had, but found no connection "ugh! Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it is just a coincidence," she said.

"Studying Greek history are you?" a voice said from the book "ahh that takes me back."

A confused Twilight looked down in her book and was surprised at whom she saw there.

"What in the…Discord? What are you doing here?"

"Oh come now Twilight, do you really think there's anywhere I can't go?" the spirit of chaos asked her, before emerging from the page of the book "oh, I do so hate coming out of books like that; it leaves me all crinkly," he added, before he appeared full of creases and started moving up and down, making accordion noises as he did.

"So you came all this way just to toy with me, is that it?"

"Not at all," Discord told her, restoring himself to normal "Celestia mentioned you were traveling to different worlds, trying to foil an evil plot, and I figured I'd do a little sightseeing," he added, before producing a tablet and taking a picture. "I was hoping for something with a little more scenery."

"Well, as glad as I am to see you, which is very little, I'm in the middle of something here," Twilight told him.

"Ah yes, your study of the gods of Mt. Olympus," Discord commented "Not a fan; they can be such buzzkills. Well, except Bacchus, now he knew how to party," he said, before appearing in a toga with a noisemaker "although his parties could be a little...extreme; once, I went to one, and when I woke up, I was in the labyrinth of Crete. The Minotaur there was not happy to see me either, let me tell you."

"Wait a minute, how do you know the Greek gods?" Twilight asked.

"Only because they're the reason I ended up in Equestria in the first place," Discord told her.

"What? How is that possible?"

"It was just a little misunderstanding; seems there already was a being of Chaos, some girl called Eris or something, and I guess they didn't like having two creatures of chaos on the loose. And yet there's not one god for everything, is there? I mean, Hermes represents like, three things, and they didn't bother him!"

"Could we get back on topic please?"

"Yes of course; anyway, I tried to convince the gods that I should represent chaos, not Eris; but her uncle was Zeus dad or something, so I got banished. It's all politics up there. Anyway, I ended up in Equestria, and, missing my old Greek home, created facsimiles of the mythical creatures I knew back then."

"If that's the case, why isn't any of this in the official history of Equestria?"

"Well, as they say, history is written by the winners, and I didn't exactly have a victory, now did I?" Discord said, turning briefly back into his old statue form.

"I don't know…" Twilight said warily "I want to believe you, but you have been known to stretch the truth a little."

"My dear Twilight, I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Discord said, as he stretched a rubber "Truth" between his hands.

"Uh huh," Twilight replied, giving him a disbelieving look.

Discord noticed her look and nervously tossed the "Truth" away where it landed with a dog bark. "I am shocked that you could possibly believe that I would make this up; and here I thought we were friends," he said, now adorned in a t-shirt featuring Twilight and holding a picture of the two together.

"We are, but you have been known to, how can I put this nicely…" Twilight began "mess with ponies for your own amusement."

"True, I do enjoy confusing ponies, but I can assure you this is absolutely true" he said "scouts honor," he added, now appearing a boy scouts uniform and roasting marshmallows over a fire.

"Well, thank you Discord,"

"You're quite welcome; ooh, look at the time," Discord replied, looking at a large hourglass he created "well, this has been fun, but I do have places to go, ponies to see. Haven't seen Fluttershy in a while, think I'll pop by and see what she's up to; toodles."

Before Twilight could ask him anything else, the chaos spirit disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"I suppose Discord could have been telling the truth about what he said," she commented "but there's only one way to know for sure."

While Twilight continued her search for answers, at the dorm of the school, Jay was working out when he felt a familiar set of arms wrap around him.

"Oh hey Theresa, what's up?" he asked.

"I missed you Jay, did you miss me?"

"How could you miss me, you didn't go anywhere," Jay noted.

"Shut up and kiss me," Theresa replied and kissed him as hard as she could. Though he had kissed the redhead several times, Jay felt weird this time, as though something was different.

"Whoa, hang on Theresa," Jay said, pushing her back.

"What's the matter Jay? Don't you love me?"

"You're just being a little more aggressive than usual, that's all," Jay told her.

"Well that's because I love you so much," Theresa told him, grabbing him closer "and I want to spend all my time with you. Don't you want the same?"

"Of course, yeah…" Jay said nervously "but, I just remembered, I promised Herry something. Can we take a raincheck?"

"Of course, I'll be waiting for you," Theresa told him as he ran off. Once he was out of her sight, her smile turned into a wicked smirk.

"I'm telling you, Theresa was all over me," Jay explained to Archie, who he had run into the hallway.

"Hmm, that's weird, Atlanta was being unusually affectionate towards me too," Archie told him "saying how much she loved me and whatnot."

"That doesn't sound like Atlanta."

"Yeah, no kidding," Archie replied "it took all my will just to get away from her. And even then, I still had a hard time leaving."

"I don't like this," Jay said "something seems off."

"So you don't think it's because they think we're handsome?" Archie asked.

"No; I hate to say it, but I think something more sinister is at work here."

"Sinister? Like what?"

"I don't know," Jay told him "but we'd better talk to the others about this."

Meanwhile, back at the headquarters of Cronus, he and Chrysalis were discussing the results of their recent schemes as they made their way through the base.

"I must admit Chrysalis, when you first proposed your plan to me, I was skeptical," the time controlling god said "but everything is working as you planned."

"And with any luck, those fools won't suspect a thing until it's too late," Chrysalis said.

"And you two will have front row seats for when that happens," Cronus said, stopping and looking down in front of him

Lying on the ground sat Theresa & Atlanta; both girls had rope securely bound around their wrists and ankles, as well as secured around their chests, to anchor their arms to their sides. Both also had a cloth tied in their mouth to muffle their protests.

As they struggled against their restraints, Theresa recalled what led to their current predicament…

"Okay pal, you might as well give up," Atlanta said, as she and Theresa cornered Lord Hater in a nearby alley "there's two of us and one of you."

"And we're not letting you out of here," Theresa added, her nunchucks at the ready.

"Oh please girls, spare me!" Hater said, throwing himself face first on the ground "it wasn't my fault. The other villains made me do it!"

"Yeah right, like we're gonna believe that," Atlanta said, unconvinced.

"I just don't wanna get hurt, so you can take me in."

"Gee, that was easy," Theresa commented, as both girls approached the prostrate Hater.

"Yeah, some villain this guy turned out to be," Atlanta added "come on, let's get him and take back to the others."

But, as the girls approached him, Hater jumped to life and grabbed one of their ankles "psyche!" he said, delivering a mild current through their bodies, enough to knock them unconscious.

That was the last thing she remembered; after regaining consciousness, she discovered herself and Atlanta bound & gagged and the two had been trying to free themselves ever since. Seeing Cronus caused both girls to give their captor an angry glare.

"Terribly sorry the accommodations aren't to your liking," Cronus said mockingly "but then again, your comfort is the last thing on my mind."

He reached down and pulled down the gags on both girls.

"You won't get away with this!" Theresa shouted.

"Foolish girl, we already have," Chrysalis told her "your friends have no idea you've been replaced."

"So you must be Chrysalis," Atlanta said "you're even uglier than Twilight described you!"

"You should hold your tongue, you little brat!" Chrysalis replied "well no matter; it will be over soon for the both of you."

"You do know our friends are going to realize we're missing," Theresa told them.

"Quite possibly," Cronus told her "but, by then, Chrysalis' Changelings will have done their work."

"Changelings?" Atlanta asked.

"Even as we speak, two of my Changelings have taken your place," Chrysalis explained "they have been ordered to seek out your boyfriends and drain the love they have for you from them."

"I suspect your friends will eventually learn the truth, but by then, they'll be far too weak to fight," Cronus added "thus allowing me to easily rid myself of them and the rest of your accursed friends."

"That's it? That's your big evil plan?" Atlanta asked, slightly mockingly "Oh man, that is literally the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Maybe, but Jay & Archie are still boys," Theresa reminded her.

"So?"

"So, if they think we're being extra nice to them, they won't be thinking straight," Theresa explained "it could take them a long time to realize that we've been replaced."

"Oh yeah; that actually makes sense."

"Yes, your human relationships will turn out to be your downfall," Cronus commented, then replaced both girls' gags before they could say anything else.

"Enjoy the rest of your stay here," he told them "because once your friends arrive, the two of you will only live long enough to watch me destroy them."

With that, he and Chrysalis left the room, leaving the two teens to struggle for all they were worth.

Meanwhile, back at Olympus High, Twilight was hoping to get answers to her question by asking someone who had all the answers.

"Yes, the creature named Discord did exist in our time," the queen of the gods told the young alicorn, as she tended her garden.

"So he was telling the truth," Twilight commented.

"Yes, from what you've told me, it seems you and your friends have managed what even we gods could not do; to tame his chaotic impulses," Hera replied "perhaps if we had tried, we would not have been forced to banish him."

"At that time, we believed nothing could ever curtail his desire for extreme chaos, and so we had to do what we could to protect the human race," Hera continued "but perhaps it was for the best; now Discord has learned the error of his ways and has embraced friendship."

"Wow, this answers a lot of questions, but raises even more," Twilight said.

"That is often the way of the gods," Hera told her "perhaps those other questions are ones you will find the answers to one day. For now, I believe you are needed elsewhere."

"Yes, I should check up on my friends." Twilight said "plus, Chrysalis hasn't made a move yet, and that worries me. Thank you for the help Miss Hera, it will be extremely valuable to Equestria."

"I hope so," Hera said, as Twilight trotted off.

"So let me get this straight; Theresa is being extra affectionate with you, and you think something's wrong with her," Neil asked Jay "are you sure there's not something wrong with you?"

"Joke all you want Neil, but I could tell something was off," Jay told him "it's weird, but everytime we kissed, it felt like she was sucking energy out of me, you know? Even now I don't feel right."

"That's how kissing is supposed to feel," Neil pointed out.

"No he's right, I feel weird too," Archie told him "and besides, Atlanta's not really known for being all affectionate like that."

"Well, if you want, I could hook up a computer program that could scan both their biorhythms and check for any anomalies," Odie suggested.

"Thanks, but I think we'll just have Twilight give them a quick check with her magic," Jay told him.

"Oh sure, why bother with an expensive computer program when you can just have a magical princess pony do it for you?" Odie replied, in an angrily sarcastic fashion as his friends walked off.

"It's cool Odie; next time there's a problem, we'll do your thing," Herry assured him.

"So you say she's been acting weird, huh?" Twilight asked, after meeting up with Jay and the others "hmm, come to think of it, she did seem distracted when I talked to her earlier, almost like she didn't know what I was talking about."

"And earlier today, I asked Atlanta if she was ready for our race, and she had no idea what I was saying," Rainbow added.

Twilight thought "I'm sure this is tied into that battle we had earlier," she said "it seemed too easy, almost as if they wanted to lose. And why hasn't Chrysalis made any attempt to destroy us yet? I wonder..."

"What is it darling?" Rarity asked.

"I want to test a theory I have," Twilight replied, "bring the girls here."

A few minutes later, everyone was gathered in the main room of the school.

"This is crazy, there's nothing wrong with me!" Theresa protested angrily "so maybe I was a bit more affectionate than usual, is that wrong?"

"That's what I was saying," Neil chimed in.

"And excuse me for not remembering about some stupid race, but I've got other things on my mind," Atlanta added.

I think I'm right, but I'd better make sure... Twilight thought before she addressed the girls "you're right, it was wrong of them to accuse you over such flimsy evidence," she said "there is obviously nothing wrong with you."

"Thank you," Atlanta said.

"Oh, Theresa, do you remember the discussion we had earlier?" Twilight asked.

"Um…discussion?" Theresa replied nervously "oh yes, right, that discussion about…something…um, magic, right?"

"Wrong!" Twilight replied and fired a blast of magic at the girl.

"Twilight, what do you think you're doing?" Jay asked.

"You guys were right, the girls were acting strange," Twilight explained "because they're not the girls, they're Changelings!"

Everyone looked as the magic beam transformed Theresa back into her true Changeling form.

"Ew!" Neil said.

"What the heck is that thing?" Odie asked.

"One of Chrysalis' servants," Twilight explained "they have the power to take any shape and use it to feed off someone's love for that person."

Seeing the jig was up, the other Changeling switched back into it's true form as well.

"Aw man, I was kissing that?" Archie asked, disgusted.

"All right you bug thing, where's the real Theresa?" Jay asked "and you'd better tell the truth, or…" he added, getting his sword at the ready.

"Your friends are prisoners of our queen, and you'll never find them!" it said, before transforming into Jay and running off, with the other one turning into Herry and also retreating.

"After them!" Jay ordered, but Twilight held out her hoof.

"No, let them go; I can use my magic to track them back to their lair," she explained "I guess my hunch was right, but I still don't understand what's going on. Why send only two Changelings and why disguise them as the girls? What's the ultimate plan here?"

"We can ask them when we get there," Jay said, before he grabbed his head and slowly went to his knees.

"Uh Jay, you feeling okay buddy?" Herry asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a little fatigue," he replied "I'll work through it. In the meantime, get everyone ready. I'm sure Cronus knows we're coming, and I doubt he'll let us in with open arms."

Soon, the magic trail led the heroes to the large stone wall, that served as the entrance to Cronus' lair.

"Okay everypony, prepare yourselves," Twilight said "we have no idea what awaits us in there."

Jay meanwhile, slumped down to his knees, with Archie joining him.

"If you two guys aren't up for this, you can just wait here," Odie suggested.

"It's fine," Jay said "I don't know why, but I feel so weak all of a sudden."

"You probably should take something for that Jay, you wouldn't want to fall asleep during battle, now would you?" asked a familiar voice.

"Cronus," Jay said, seeing the rogue god nearby "let the girls go."

"Why don't you come over here and try and make me?"

"With pleasure," Jay said, running into action, but suddenly, he felt weird and fell to his knees.

"What's the matter Jay? Feeling weak?" Cronus asked mockingly "that's not going to be much good for fighting."

"In case you haven't noticed, there's still a lot more of us," Herry said, punching his fist into his hand.

"And there's us as well," Twilight noted, as her pony pals showed they were ready for battle.

"Oh indeed," Cronus replied, "but you really didn't think I'd come unprepared, did you?"

Suddenly, the band of villains surrounded the heroes; Twilight and her friends moved to act, when something grabbed them.

"Hey, put me down!" Rainbow yelled.

"Unhand me you uncouth ruffian!" Rarity shouted.

"Whee!" Pinkie said happily.

"Ugh, can't move…" Twilight grunted, before she noticed she and her friends were being held tight by several, oddly colored giants.

"Ahh Twilight Sparkle, so nice of you and your friends to join us…for your doom!" Chrysalis said, as she emerged from the shadows.

In the final chapter, Twilight plays a trump card of her own, and a surprise move helps turn the tide of battle.