A Canterlot Invasionby SmithawitsChaptersA Soldier's StoryThe Beginning of the EndLights OutOne Last RunA Soldier's StoryCelestia's morning sun shone brightly in the cool, blue sky; birds were happily chirping away in the trees, and most of the ponies of Canterlot started to go about their morning routine. Some, however, decided to sleep in, including one pegasus mare who would occasionally giggle at her dream. Suddenly, the radio on her alarm clock sounded."Goooood morning Canterlot!" A voice on the other end said excitedly as a song was ending. "The time is now nineteen after ten in the morning, and it looks like it is going to be an absolute gorgeous day today! Hey, if you're just tuning in with us, I am your morning host, Mic the Microphone; join me later today for an exclusive interview with the beautiful Vinyl Scratch who, as you may know, has just won her twenty first Grammy in a row! We're going to find out more about the famous DJ-PON3 and just how she did it all! That's coming up in a half hour! Oh, and before I forget, Happy Memorial Day everypony!"A new song started to play as a white foreleg reached up and clicked the alarm clock off. Soon after, a white pegasus with a straight blonde mane sat up on her bed with a small smile on her face; the mare's name was Surprise.Surprise yawned, then stretched her legs and wings with all of her might. After she wiped the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hoof, she hopped off of her bed and headed towards her door. She paused when she noticed her reflection in the bedroom mirror; her hair, while still nice looking, was straight and lifeless. Surprise stuck a hoof in her mouth and blew. With a noise that sounded like a balloon inflating, her mane and tail quickly poofed up and became a tangled, yet somehow beautiful, mess. She checked her cutie mark to make sure it was ok; still three purple balloons, perfectly normal. Surprise nodded at her reflection in approval and headed for the kitchen.* * * *Surprise trotted happily into the kitchen; she quickly made her way to the cupboard, brought out a bowl and set it on the kitchen countertop. She then turned and headed for the fridge to get some milk; as she did, she passed by the pantry."Good morning mom." Surprise said as she passed the pantry. Almost immediately afterwards, Pinkie Pie poked her head out if the pantry."Hey! How did you know I was there?" Pinkie Pie said dumbfounded.Surprise giggled as she set the milk next to the bowl, "you may be the best at throwing parties, mom, but I am the best at surprises! It is impossible to sneak up on me! Can you pass me the cereal please?"Pinkie Pie turned back into the pantry, then jumped out a few seconds later with a box of Derpy-O's in her hoof; she then tossed it to Surprise, who then proceeded to pour the contents into the bowl. Surprise then tossed it back when she was finished."Well then," Pinkie said as she grabbed the box and put it back in the pantry. "I guess I'll just have to try even harder to surprise you!"Surprise giggled as she put the milk back in the fridge, "yeah, good luck with that." Surprise took her bowl of cereal and sat down at the dining table."So," Pinkie Pie began. "What do you have planned for today?""Oh pfell U'm gowna go ofer moo da-" Surprise started to say with a mouthful of cereal."Surprise," Pinkie interrupted. "Remember, don't talk with your mouth full silly.""Oh yeah," Surprise swallowed and continued. "Sorry, I said I was going to head over to the War Memorial today, I bet it looks really nice considering it's Memorial Day.""Oh! That sounds like fun!""I think so too! Do you want to come with me?""I'd love to! But I gotta open up Candyland for our holiday special," Pinkie said with a tone of disappointment as she gathered her saddlebag.Surprise took another bite of her cereal and swallowed, "that's ok, I'll come by afterwards and help!" Surprise said reassuringly. "We will spend the rest of the holiday together!""That sounds great! When do you plan to leave?"Surprise drank some of the milk in her bowl, then looked back up to Pinkie, "I'll leave here in a few minutes.""Alright, I'll see you later then!" Pinkie called back as she headed for the door.Surprise downed the last of the milk, "alright, goodbye mom! Love you!""I love you too!" Pinkie Pie shut the door behind her and was soon happily trotting through the streets of Canterlot. Meanwhile, Surprise put her bowl in the sink and went upstairs to shower and get ready to start her day.* * * *The sun had risen a bit higher in the sky; it's rays reflected off of water in a canal, and a cool wind brought a sense of peace and refreshment throughout the city. Near the canal was the Canterlot War Memorial, where several dark colored marble walls were lined in a row with many names engraved on both sides. Several ponies could be seen slowly walking through the aisles and stopping when coming across names that they would recognize; one of them was a Pegasus in his seventies named Swiftwing. He had a dark blue coat, white hair and was wearing an officer's uniform. Swiftwing was sitting in the 'Invasion of Canterlot' section of the memorial and stared at one of the names."Hawkeye!" Swiftwing coughed as he struggled to breath. "Hawkeye, where are you!?" Swiftwing leaned against a support beam and violently coughed; his body trying to evict all of the unwanted dust from its lungs. He was able to catch his breath slightly and continued on."Come on, answer me! I can't-" Swiftwing let out a few more coughs before calling out again. "-I can't see anything!"Swiftwing continued climbing over debris until he saw what looked like his friend silhouetted in the dense dust cloud."Hawkeye!""Um, sir?""Hawkeye!""Sir?""HAWKEYE!!!""Hello, sir?""Hmm?" Swiftwing was brought out of his memories, he looked to his side to see a white Pegasus with a blonde mane and tail looking at him. "Oh, hello!" he said."Hi," Surprise said with a smile. "Are you ok? I saw that you were completely zoned out for a few minutes."Swiftwing chuckled, "yes, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern miss...?"A wide smile broke out on Surprise's face, she loved it when ponies asked her name because of the hilarious pun she would say immediately afterwards."My name is Surprise!""Surprise?" Swiftwing smirked at the unusual name.Surprise giggled, "yup! Isn't that....'surprising'!?"After a few seconds of silence, Swiftwing let out a hearty laugh, "yes, yes indeed it is!"Surprise squeed at the fact that she made somepony laugh."It's a pleasure to meet you, Surprise," he said as he held out a hoof. "My name is Swiftwing; I'm a retired sergeant."Surprise held Swiftwing's hoof and gently shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well!""You know" -Swiftwing said as he brought his hoof down- "you look familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?""Probably, I mean I've been somewhere before!""Ha! No, no, I mean have we met before?""Hmmm....nope! Don't think so! I'm not as good at remembering ponies like my mom is.""Your mom?""Yup, her name is Pinkie Pie!"Swiftwing's eyes widened, "that's why you look so familiar! You're the splitting image of your mother! She owns that famous candy shop doesn't she? What's it called? Sweet and Elite...Candy Crush?"Candyland!" Surprise said loudly."That's it, Candyland! I went to that place with my grandfoals; that place is incredible! Let's see, you had a candy store, a bakery store, a toy store, and an ice cream store all in one building!""Don't forget the costume store!" "Oh yeah, that too! Isn't it hard overseeing so much?""At first, but it's pretty fun after a little while!"Swiftwing shook his head in awe, "I don't know how you guys do it." He said as he turned towards the canal."Well we don't do it all by ourselves, we have several ponies working there to help us."Swiftwing simply smiled.Surprise became uneasy from the silence, "I can go if I'm bugging you."Swiftwing quickly turned his head, "oh no, you don't have to. I was just simply enjoying the scenery."Surprise looked out across the water, "they did a really good job this year for the memorial.""Indeed they did. It's incredible how quickly they cleaned everything up after The Invasion.""My mom has told me stories about that.""She was in the palace right? With the Changeling Queen?""Mhmm," Surprise nodded."You know, I was here during The Invasion as well; except I was on the ground instead of the palace."Surprise turned her head quickly, "you were in the city during the invasion!?" she asked excitedly."I was.""Could you tell me what it was like? I mean, my mom has told me stories about what happened in the palace, but I've also been wanting to know what happened in the city!"Swiftwing chuckled, "are you sure you want to listen to an old pegasus' story?"Surprise nodded excitedly."Well, alright then. What would you like to know?" "Everything!" Surprise said excitedly.Swiftwing smiled, "Alright then, let's see; I was just a guard back then, and been serving for a little while. It was about my eighth year when I met my best friend named Hawkeye.""Hawkeye?" Surprise asked."Mhmm, but that wasn't his real name. I just called him that because of his superb observation skills.""What was his real name?""It translated Ickwing.""Ickwing? That's a weird name.""For an Equine, yes; but not for a Changeling.""Wait, you mean that..." Surprise's voice trailed off."That's right. Hawkeye, my best friend, was a changeling." The Beginning of the End"You mean they allowed changelings to be a part of the Royal Guard back then!?" Surprise asked. "No, but we did use them as messengers and decoders.""Wow, how many changelings did you guys have.""Not very many.""Why did they switch sides?""They all had their reasons. I believe Hawkeye's reason for switching was that he was an outcast among his own because he couldn't fly; he had wings, but,for some unknown reason,they could never keep him in the air for more than a few seconds. He also looked different from normal Changelings. You know that most changelings have a bluish green color?""Yeah.""Well, Hawkeye had a deep, blood red color. It made him look fierce; but he was almost as harmless as a fly.""Wasn't it hard for the Changelings to live in Canterlot?""Oh yes, they were instructed by Celestia herself to stay in an assigned disguise at nearly all times; they were only allowed to be in their true form in their private rooms. They were also under constant watch by the guards; that's actually how Hawkeye and I met; I was assigned to watch over him.""Was it weird to befriend Hawkeye?""Actually, he's the one who befriended me. It was awkward being around each other at first, but we quickly became close friends. My story starts two days before the invasion, at his room."* * * *"Hey, Hawkeye! You in there?" Swiftwing said as he knocked on the door. His question was followed by a faint 'come in' from the other side and he entered the room.Hawkeye was in his Changeling form and laying on a couch with a paper and quill in front of him. "Hel-lo Swiftwing," Hawkeye said in a broken Equestrian. "Hey, Hawk." Swiftwing looked down at the paper in front of Hawkeye. "What are you writing?""I am writ-ing a let-ter to my brother.""Still trying to get him here in Canterlot?""Yes I am.""Have you made any further progress with Canterlot security?"Hawkeye folded his ears down slightly, "yes, but he won't be a-ble to come for a while lon-ger still.""I'm sorry, Hawk. I hope you can get him here soon.""Me as well. So, what brings you...here?"* * * *"Hawkeye had a brother?" Surprise interrupted."Indeed he did; a twin. Hawkeye showed me a picture of him. He, like Hawkeye, was different than normal Changelings; while Hawkeye had a deep red color, his brother had a deep yellow.""What was his name?""Goodness me...if I remember right, his name translated as...Lightingbug...maybe? His name was hard to translate."Surprise giggled. "Changeling names are funny.""Well remember, our names probably sound just as funny to them.""Yeah I guess so. What was Lightningbug like?""I don't know; I was never able to meet him, but according to Hawkeye, Lightningbug was gentle, but a strong leader. Hawkeye also told me stories about how Lightningbug would often stand up for him whenever he was being picked on by other Changelings.""Oh I see! Ok, go back to your story."* * * *"Me as well. So, what brings you...here?"Well, I'm off duty for the rest of the evening so I thought-" Swiftwing started to say but was interrupted by Hawkeye who was chuckling. "What's so funny?" Swiftwing asked."You said...doo-ty." Swiftwing let out a sigh. "That is probably one of the most overused jokes in the history of jokes.""Over-used, but still funny," Hawkeye said with a toothy grin.Swiftwing smiled,"Yeah, I guess it is. Anyway, I'm off for the rest of the night. Do you want to do something tonight?""Like what?""I don't know, let's go have fun; my sister has gone to Manehatten for a business trip so it's a colt's night out! Let's go paint the town...something."Hawkeye tilted his head in confusion. "Paint the town?"* * * *"Why did he talk so funny?" Surprise interrupted again,"I thought the Changelings knew our language.""Hmm? Oh, they knew our language, but some had trouble speaking it; Hawkeye was one those who had trouble. In most cases, it was easier for him to speak his language so, to make it easier for him, he taught me a little bit of his language; not enough to where I could speak it fluently, but just enough so I could understand him.""Was it difficult learning?" Surprise asked."At first, but once you get their alphabet and basic sentence structures down, it's fairly easy.""Oh I see. I asked if it was difficult to learn because I have this friend named Gentle Breeze who is trying to learn another language but she is having a difficult time choosing which one so I decided to try to help her and-""Uh, Surprise?""Yes, Mister Swiftwing?""Mind I get back to my story?"Surprise blinked,"Oh yeah! Sorry about that."* * * *Hawkeye tilted his head in confusion. "Paint the town?""Don't worry about it," Swiftwing said as he shook his head. "It's just an expression.""Oh, o-kay. That sounds real-ly...uh...good! How about we-" before Hawkeye could finish, a fax machine in the room clicked to life. The two watched as the message typed out and glided onto the floor."What's that?" Swiftwing asked. Hawkeye levitated the paper and held it up to him."It is a cod-ed message..." after studying the symbols for a little bit, Hawkeye levitated a small leather-bound book, which he used as the decoder, off of an end table and onto a desk along with the message, a new parchment of paper, and some quill and ink. He then sat down and began to decipher the message. Swiftwing walked up behind him and watched."I was always amazed at how intelligent Hawkeye was. There were some messages we had that would take the other guys hours to crack, yet he could do it in nearly no time at all. The same was true with this message; after he deciphered most of it, he turned to me and gave me his 'worried' look. I looked down at the message; I didn't know a whole lot about coded messages, but I knew enough to tell that this wasn't good.""Cel-es-tia must know about this!" Hawkeye said."About what? What is it?" "It is a threat against Can-ter-lot!""Well I kinda figured that, but what kind of threat?""What do you mean 'what kind,' how many types of threats are there? Look, we just need to tell Cel-es-tia about this, and then I'll tell you later. Come on let us go!"Hawkeye started to gallop out of the room, when Swiftwing spoke."Wait..." Swiftwing said in a monotone voice."What is the matter?" Hawkeye said as he slid to a stop."Your disguise..."Hawkeye blinked a few times, "Oh yeah!"With a flash of green, Hawkeye went from his changeling form, to his disguise which was a brown unicorn stallion with light brown hair, and a scroll for a cutie mark. The two then galloped to Celestia's chambers."After we had delivered the message, Celestia immediately ordered Shining to bolster Canterlot's defenses; after getting more guards posted, I watched as the, back then, young Captain of the Guard casted a magical shield over Canterlot that only he could perform. Then, Celestia and Luna began taking turns watching over Canterlot; Celestia would keep watch over the day, while Luna would keep watch over the night.""What happened to Hawkeye?""He left soon after we had delivered the message; he had done his job so it was time for him to go back to his room. I wasn't able to see him until the next morning at the local cafè. When I saw him though, he looked a bit off.""Hawkeye, are you alright? You don't look so well." Swiftwing said as Hawkeye at down."I am...up-set," Hawkeye replied."About what?""It is Cel-es-tia, have you...heard that she deci-ded to continue with the wed-ding between Prin-cess Cad-ence and Shin-ing Armor?""Really? Awesome!""Awe-some!?" Hawkeye said dumbfounded. "This is not awe-some!""Sure it is Hawk! Think about it; a wedding between a Princess and The Captain of the Royal Guard, means it's going to last a while; which means there will be lots of wine; which also means that there will be even more pretty young mares there if you catch my drift." Swiftwing said with a wink."You are so...uh...." Hawkeye stopped to think of the right word to use; finally, it popped into his head, "immature! Now is not the time for a wed-ding; now is the time to pre-pare for an att-ack!""What are you talking about Hawk? We did prepare! We are prepared.""Not-good-enough.""What do you mean 'not good enough' we're plenty prepared! Look outside." Hawkeye looked and followed where Swiftwing was pointing."You see up there? That's the overwatch, the highest point on the castle; that's where the Princesses raise and lower the sun and moon each day and night; can you tell me who is up there right now?""It is Cel-es-tia.""That's right; she and Luna have been up there constantly on the lookout for any trouble. Now, look up in the sky; you see that big shield around Canterlot? That is to guarantee that no unauthorized ponies get inside. It is unbreakable, Hawkeye. And you know what I heard today?""What?""One of my friends was posted on guard at the train station; he said he saw the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony arrive just this morning, so even if something does go wrong, we can just use the Elements! Nopony would dare attack Canterlot right now; we are too well prepared."Hawkeye shook his head, "still not-good-enough."Swiftwing sighed and sunk into his seat."Why do you think it's not good enough Hawk?"Hawkeye took a quick glance around to make sure nopony was watching them. He then leaned towards Swiftwing and quietly spoke in his Changeling language. "Because I have been analyzing that message more and-" Hawkeye was interrupted by Swiftwing immediately sitting up and shushing Hawkeye by holding his hooves over Hawkeye's muzzle."Hawkeye, shut up!" Swiftwing whispered as he quickly glanced around the cafè. "Remember, you're not in the palace, do you know how the ponies around here would react if they knew your secret!?""I am sorry Swiftwing, but I need to tell you some-thing real-ly im...por...tant."Swiftwing took one more casual glance around before leaning towards Hawkeye."Alright," Swiftwing said. "Go ahead, but keep it quiet.""As I was saying," Hawkeye whispered."I have been analyzing that message more and have been doing some research; I found something really disturbing.""What is it?""It's the Changelings, Swiftwing; they plan to attack Canterlot and they are going to use the wedding as their way to do so.""Really. You think that you own race would do that." Swiftwing said sounding unconvinced."Yes. They've changed since I left; they've become more aggressive than usual, especially since Queen Chrysalis took the throne.""Alright, but how are they going to attack? We've turned Canterlot into locked safe that can only be opened from the inside. How do you think they are going to invade when there is literally no way for them to get in?"Hawkeye's tone quickly turned grim, "no, Swiftwing. You don't understand. They've already invaded.""Huh?" Swiftwing asked completely confused."For months now, Changelings spies have been undercover, hiding in plain sight; watching and studying us. Canterlot isn't going to be invaded; it has been invaded, and now the time has come to strike. We've been in the calm before the storm, Swiftwing. Now the storm is on Canterlot's very doorstep and nopony can see it.""And you came up with all of this from a message," Swiftwing said still sounding unconvinced. Hawkeye quickly nodded his head.Alright," Swiftwing said. "Let's assume that you're right and the Changelings plan to attack. Who would you go to? You can't get to the either of the princesses; they said to not disturb them unless it's an absolute, immediate emergency because they've been so busy making sure everything is on lockdown and watching over the town.""What about Shining Armor?""He's been too busy with his job and trying to help plan out his and Cadence's wedding. Your best bet for help would be going to Cadence herself and hopefully she-""No," Hawkeye said bluntly."What?""I said no.""Why? Are you worried about her finding out about you?""No it's not that..." Hawkeye lowered his voice even more. "I just don't trust her."Swiftwing's eyes widened with disbelief, "I'm sorry, say that again.""I said I don't trust her.""Why not!?" Swiftwing shouted out which caused several heads to turn towards their direction. Hawkeye noticed this and stalled until the other ponies turned back towards their own business."Because," Hawkeye started,"she has been acting strange; ever since that night she vanished. Do you remember that? A few nights ago, nopony saw her for about an hour." "Yeah, so? She said she needed some time to herself; who can blame her? She has a wedding coming up so she's probably really stressed and nervous, so she needed some time alone.""But I've been reading reports from the servants and from other various individuals about her, and they say that she doesn't remember a lot of important things; from what I understand, she's been to Canterlot several times so she should know this city, but from what I've been hearing and reading about her, she doesn't remember a lot of her favorite places to hang out; she doesn't even remember some of the ponies she used to know.""Again, she's probably just really distracted with her wedding. Have you ever planned a wedding, Hawkeye? They are stressful! And now she has to deal with this whole threat-on-Canterlot interrupting the best day of her life."Hawkeye opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated."What are you getting at, Hawkeye; you think that Cadence is planning something?"Hawkeye took a long moment then finally spoke,"yes, I do believe that Cadence is up to something, and I believe it has to do with the attack on Canterlot."Swiftwing's expression grew angry. "Now that's going too far, Hawkeye," Swiftwing snapped at his friend. "It's one thing to suggest an attack on Canterlot; but it is another thing entirely to suggest that Cadence, the Princess of Love, is planning it. Nopony is going to believe you.""I know, that's why I need your help.""I'm sorry, my help?""Yes, I can't go to either of the princesses without you with me because of security protocol; but if you come with me, I'll have a greater chance of getting an audience with them. Plus, you are respected among the Canterlot guard, so there is a better chance of Celestia, Luna and Shining Armor listening to you.""Absolutely not, Hawkeye. This is too dangerous and too...well...crazy. Hawk, I'm telling you, nopony is going to listen to you even if I do stand with you.""Swiftwing, please," Hawkeye pleaded. "I need you with me on this.""No, Hawkeye...I'm sorry.""We sat there in silence for several minutes before I finally got up and left.""I have to go report for duty." Swiftwing said as he got up to leave. "Hawkeye, even if I was crazy enough to go with your theories, you need absolute, solid proof to present to the Princess. Do you have any?"Without looking up, Hawkeye slowly shook his head."That's what I thought. If I were you, Hawkeye, I would just drop these ideas of yours and not worry so much. I'm sorry to say this, but you're a messenger, not a soldier; leave the fighting to the professionals.""And with that, I walked out, leaving Hawkeye alone. Today, I look back on what I said and regret every word I said at that meeting; especially that last part. I thought I was giving good advice, but I was young and brash back then. If it wasn't for Hawkeye, I wouldn't be alive today." Lights OutCelestia's sun was about to reach the highest part of the day as Surprise and Swiftwing made their way to a nearby bench, each holding an ice cream cone. After the two sat down, Swiftwing took a small bite of his ice cream while Surprise took a much bigger bite out of hers. "Good gracious!" Swiftwing said, shocked. "You nearly ate the whole thing at once!""Mhmm!" Surprise muttered with her mouth still full of her chilly treat."Aren't you worried about brain freeze?"Surprise swallowed and tilted her head, "brain freeze? What's that?""Never mind, I get the feeling you're immune to it." Swiftwing took another lick of his ice cream and looked at it. "You know, I just remembered. I was never much a fan of chocolate ice cream.""You don't like chocolate?"Swiftwing shrugged, "eh, every now and then I have some. It's just not my favorite.""What is your favorite flavor then? Is it Vanilla? Strawberry? Rocky Road? Rainbow? Chocolate Chip? Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough? Strawberry-oh wait I said Strawberry didn't I..."While Surprise continued to name off flavors, Swiftwing took a few minutes to try to think clearly before he finally remembered. "Orange Sherbet! That's my favorite!""Aww, I was gonna say that next! Good choice by the way!"Swiftwing chuckled and took another bite, while Surprise ate the rest of hers. "Now let's see..." Swiftwing said. "Where was I with our story?""Uhhh, I believe you had just left the café.""Ah yes, that's right. Well, all day long I kept repeating what I said to Hawkeye in my head, and I kept feeling more and more guilty. I was finally able to apologize to him late in the evening. I wanted to apologize earlier, but due to that threat Hawkeye deciphered, Shining had us working around the clock.""That and the wedding was the next day right? So he probably needed some help setting things up" Surprise said."That's right. Princess Cadence, well as you know the fake Princess Cadence, dealt with most of the wedding preparations, but, whenever he could, Shining would help and also get some of us to help him.""That sounds really stressful.""Oh yes, I've never seen the Captain of the Guard that stressed, but he seemed to hold together quite well. Anyway, that night I made my way to Hawkeye's room to apologize."* * * *"Um...h-hello? Hawkeye?" Swiftwing said as he knocked on Hawkeye's door. "Hawkeye, its me." Swiftwing tried to turn the doorknob, but it was locked. "Can you let me in? I just want to talk is all."Swiftwing stood there for a few minutes waiting for an answer, but no answer came."You're going to make me stand out here aren't you?"Swiftwing pressed his ear up against the door to listen, but couldn't hear anything."Fine then, have it your way. Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I said earlier today. I was completely out of line when I said that you're not a soldier...well, you're not but....look, you're on our side, so that's good enough for me. Honestly, you're one of the smartest stallions that I know. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to decipher that threat until it was too late. You're very loyal to Celestia and I'm sorry for brushing you off like I did and...and..." Swiftwing tried turning the doorknob again, but it was still locked. "Alright listen up, Hawkeye, I can't talk to a door. Can you please let me in so I can apologize to you in person?"Still no response; this caused Swiftwing to become frustrated. "Alright, fine!" Swiftwing said as he took out some keys. "If you're not going to let me in, then I am letting myself in!" Swiftwing stuck his key into the lock and unlocked the door."You know, it's not like you to give anypony the cold shoulder" as he opened the door, he noticed that the lights were turned off."Well...now I feel stupid; I actually was talking to a door...wait a minute...if you're not here, then where are you..." "I turned on the lights and froze at what I saw...his room was completely ransacked. It looked as if somepony took his room, shook it upside down for a while, and then set it back down. I stood there for what felt like hours before I finally started searching the room for clues as to what happened. I shut the door and looked all around trying not to disturb too much of the room; while I was searching, I noticed that his fax machine was completely destroyed and his little leather-bound book was missing as well. I was about to leave to report this when I heard a noise, that sounded like something falling onto the floor, come from the bedroom. I froze, listening for any other movement. I then turned, and entered the hallway as quietly as I could; listening for any hint of sound.""I finally arrived at his bedroom, and stood perfectly still at the doorway; I even held my breath so that I could hear better. The silence was deafening. From the doorway, I looked around, but didn't see or hear anything else out of the ordinary. I stood for a few more minutes, stuck where I was. I wanted to leave, but a voice inside me was screaming that I was missing something that was right in front of my face; that turning around would be the worst mistake of my life...I wished I had listened to that voice.""Not hearing or seeing anything unusual, I turned to leave and almost immediately afterwards, was tackled by somepony. I tried to fight back, but whoever tackled me knew what they were doing; my attacker punched me hard at the base of one of my wings, disabling it."* * * *"Wait," Surprise said, completely absorbed into the story. "You can ground a pegasus just by punching its wing?""Yup, it's almost like punching somepony unconscious. When you do, you briefly disable the connection of neural pathways from the brain, to the rest of the body; that small gap is what knocks you out. It's the same for the wing, and any part of the body for that fact. If you hit just the right spot, you can disable any limb of an opponent; but you have to be 100% accurate.""It's not permanent is it?""No, the limb is just temporary disabled. It will be usable again, but not for several minutes.""Wow. So, you were pinned to the floor with a disabled wing..."* * * *"I triedto ignore the pain as much as I could and fight back. I then felt him try to punch out one of my hind legs; thankfully he missed. Before he could try again, however, I was able to leap backwards and crash on the floor, letting my attacker take the brunt of the impact. It did the trick as my attacker let go just enough for me to break away. I stood at the doorway while my attacker got up near the bed. I could barely believe my eyes; it was a Changeling glaring back at me. To myreliefand somewhat horror, it wasn't Hawkeye.""Normally, I would've stayed and fought, but if a Changeling was here, that means there were more all around, and inside the castle; I quickly glanced back at the exit, which was closed, and then back at the Changeling. If I could just get outside, I could find some help and warn others. The Changeling seemed to know what I was thinking, after I looked back at him, he glared, took a step toward me and whispered in an eerie voice""Try it, I dare you.""I took his challenge. I made a mad dash for the exit; I tried to fly out, but forgot that my wing wouldn't work. Even without my wings, I'm sure that I could've made it; however my enemy didhave wings, so he quickly overtook me. Just as I started to open the door, he grabbed my hind legsand threw me across the room; I was tossed into a bookshelf and then crashed onto the floor. The sudden shift in weight made books fall off the shelves, and then made the bookshelf itself fall on top of me. Reeling with pain, I crawled out just in time to see my enemy kick the door shut with one of his hind legs. He then started walking towards me and spoke again in a voice that just sent chills up my spine""You're not getting out of here alive" he said with an evil sharp toothed smile."Thinking fast, I lunged at him. Thankfully, it caught him off guard and I was able to pin him to a wall. We stared at each other face to face.""Where's Hawkeye!?" I shouted."That traitorous weakling? Disposed of," He said with a smile."He then slammed his forehead into mine; I think he miscalculated though, because both of us were reeling in pain for a few seconds. Unfortunately, he was able to recover faster than I could. He pounced on my back and startled to strangle me with his foreleg.""I tried my best to not panic, but not being able to breath has a tendency to make you panic regardless of how much training you've had. I grabbed at his foreleg, trying to pull it away. I was able to get a good grip thanks to the holes in his leg, but he held firm; my vision soon started to fade.""In a last ditch effort I elbowed him in the gut. I heard him grunt and he loosened his grip slightly, which allowed me to breath a little. Thanks to that little amount of breath, I was able to thrust backwards and slam him against a wall; he let go. I quickly recovered and kicked him in the gut as hard as I could with myhind legs; he fell back and crashed into a fish tank, which shattered and spilt several gallons of water over him. Some of the shards of glass even cut part of his chitin. The dazed Changeling looked up at me.""Now, I kicked him as hard as I could; I'm pretty sure I caused some internal damage and broke some of his bones, but that still wasn't enough to keep him down. Somehow, he quickly got up tackled me again. I'm not exactlysure what happened during that part of the fight, but I remember it ended with him overpowering me and shoving my head towards the shattered remains of the fishtank.""I tried to fight back as hard as I could, but he was much stronger than I had anticipated; that frail body of his was very deceptive. Closer and closer he pushed my eye towards a shard of glass; it eventually got to the point where I could barely focus on the tip of the shard because it was so close. One slip-up then it would've been all over.""Fortunately, I felt around and grabbed onto another shard that was laying on the floor. With all of my might, a flipped over and sliced his stomach with the shard. While he was holding his wound with his hoof, I pounced on him and brought down the shard straight for hiseye. I would've gotten him too had he not kicked me off. I landed next to the door.""I was about to quickly leave and get help, when two other guards came bursting through the door.""Guards, arrest this Changeling!" Swiftwing said. "Send word to Celestia and Luna at once: Canterlot is under atta-" Swiftwing was interrupted by one of the guards hitting him on the side of his neck.Swiftwing fell to the floor, barely conscious."It's...about time you two came..." the changeling said as he staggered to his hooves."What's the matter? Can't handle one simple guard?" One of the guards said with a mocking tone as he stepped over Swiftwing."Shut up..." the Changeling said, panting for air. "This one was...more slippery than..than Ickwing.""I don't know," the guard said as he looked around. "It looks like Ickwing was a tough one for you as well. Hope you aren't losing your touch."Swiftwing groaned in agony."Aww look," the second guard said. "He's still awake.""Not...for long," the Changeling said as he staggered towards Swiftwing. "The last thing I remember seeing was the Changeling raising his hoof right above my head and then-"WHACK!"Lights out." One Last Run"Did you die!?" Surprise asked with wide, concerned eyes. "I'm sorry?" Swiftwing said."You didn't die,did you?""Wha....I...n-no, no I didn't die."Surprise breathed a sigh of relief."Ok, good. I would've thought that, after the ambush in Hawkeye's room and then getting knocked out, they would've killed you right on the spot."Swiftwing looked at Surprise completely dumbfounded. "Um...Surprise-" Swiftwing said, finally able to get his his brain working again,"-if I died, how could I be here telling you the story?""Well that's a silly question, of course you couldn't be here if you died! What made you ask that?""But...you....j-just a few seconds ago you asked-"Swiftwing looked at Surprise's happy, yet absolutely clueless face."You know what," Swiftwing said, "I'm not even going to question it. Shall we get back to the story?""Yes please!" Surprise said excitedly.* * * *Swiftwing groaned as he started to wake up; the pain in his head was in perfect sync with his heartbeat."Oh, look, "a voice said." "He's finally waking up.""Just in time too," another voice said.Swiftwing slowly lifted his eyes open to see two ponies silhouetted against a small torch behind them "Wha.....where....""You're in the deepest part of Canterlot's dungeon.""We were beginning to think you wouldn't wake up in time for the show.""H-huh...?" Swiftwing said, slowly regaining his senses.The two ponies stepped into view, both Changelings; one was wearing Swiftwing's armor.Swiftwing growled at them as he tried to move, but his forelegs were cuffed together and held above his head, chained to the wall. The two Changelings chuckled at his struggles."Don't bother," the armor wearing Changeling said. "You know that those chains were meant to hold back the strongest prisoners; you're never breaking out of those."Swiftwing landed on his rear and leaned his back against the wall. "So why keep me alive..." Swiftwing said quietly."Beg pardon?" The armor-less Changeling asked. "Why keep me alive? You had me right where you wanted me. Even now I can't defend myself. Why am I alive?"The armor-less Changeling simply nodded to the side. Swiftwing looked and saw five green cocoons sitting neatly in the corner; a sudden chill went up his spine. The armor-wearing Changeling walked over to inspect them. "You're alive," he started to say as he looked into each pod, "because we need you to be alive; you see, it's rather difficult-impossible, actually, to feed off of love from dead hosts. You would've been in a pod already, but we’re a little crunched for time at the moment; so those chains will have to do for now. But don't worry, you'll get your own pod aaalll to yourself after the invasion is finished."Swiftwing squirmed as another chill went down his spine at the thought of being inside one of those cocoons."Alright!" the other Changeling said. "Suit up! The swarm will be here any minute."With a flash of green, the armor-less Changeling turned into one of Swiftwing's friends and the armor-wearing Changeling turned into a perfect copy of Swiftwing.Swiftwing tried to attack again but the chains held him back."Now, now," the doppelgänger Swiftwing said as they started to leave, "don't hurt yourself. We'll be back before you know it."With a loud, grinding, sound the door slammed shut, leaving Swiftwing alone. After waiting a few minutes to make sure they left, Swiftwing started yanking at the chains to try to get free."Well Swiftwing," he said to himself, "You wanted proof? How about being ambushed in your best friends room? Or chained to a wall, is that proof enough for ya? Oh Hawkeye, I'm sorry I should've listened. Where-woah!" Swiftwing was interrupted by his hoof slipping a bit out of the cuff.Swiftwing looked up at the cuff and saw that it wasn't attached properly, which caused his hoof to slip. He suddenly got an idea; he twisted around, making the chains into an 'x'. He stood up and pulled, but no matter how hard he pulled, his hooves remained stuck. Eventually, his hind hooves started slipping against the floor.Not willing to give up, he jumped up and pressed against the wall with his hind hoofs."Come on.....come on....." he said as his right hoof started to slip out of the cuff. With a lot of effort, he was able to pull his hoof free. The sudden momentum caused him to lose balance and fall on the floor.Swiftwing got back up and this time started flapping his wings as hard as he could. Slowly, but surely, his other hoof started sliding out. With another hard and painful yank, he was able to pull his other hoof out of the cuff.Swiftwing held his hoof in pain as he hovered; he made his way to the pods and looked in them; he recognized each unconscious guard trapped inside. He tried to open the pods, but the sealant kept it closed tightly."Don't worry guys, I'll come back for you."Swiftwing made his way to the door, thankfully the Changelings didn't bother locking it, and flew through the halls of the dungeon, trying to find his way out; he paused as he passed by one particular cell which had several green pods. He looked in and saw a few more guards and also some civilians."Just how many Changelings are already here..." he said quietly. Suddenly, Swiftwing heard some chains rattling behind one of the pods; he held his breath as he slowly hovered over to the last pod as quietly as he could, picking up a broken piece of wood with his mouth for a weapon. Most likely it was a prisoner, but he couldn't take any chances.Swiftwing rounded the pod ready to swing, but dropped his weapon as he gasped at what he saw.It was Hawkeye. He was chained to the wall, just like Swiftwing had been, except Hawkeye was also blindfolded, gagged and looked as though he was beaten; he was was taking short deep breaths as he struggled to breath."Hawkeye!" Swiftwing said as he moved towards him."Mmmm!?" Hawkeye suddenly perked up and tried squirming away, not knowing who was with him.Swiftwing took off Hawkeye's blindfold, Hawkeye's reaction instantly went from fear to relief."Mm-mmm!" "Hang on a second Hawk, let’s remove this thing..." Swiftwing untied and took Hawkeye's gag out of his mouth.Hawkeye lulled his tongue in and out repeatedly, trying to get his mouth moist again."Are there keys around here Hawkeye?""Yes....ov-er there...on that ta-ble," Hawkeye motioned over to a table in the corner near the entrance of the cell. Swiftwing wasted no time in grabbing the keys and un-cuffing his friend. Hawkeye landed on the ground and rubbed his wrists."Been here.....hours....." Hawkeye said as he tried to stand. Swiftwing gently pushed him back down."Take it easy Hawk, don't try to move. Take it easy.""I was am-bushed in my room.""Yeah I figured. I got ambushed as well." "I re-ceived another mess-age.""Let me guess, the invasion happens today?""Yes.""And that they plan to take over Canterlot and harvest all the love in the land, right?""Yes! And that Princess Ca-dence is actually Queen Chry-sa-lis!"Swiftwing froze, "ok, that I didn't know...""Yes, Princess Ca-dence has been pony-napped!""Did the message say where she was?""No, it didn't, just someplace in Canterlot, that is very secluded.""Ok, we'll go to Celestia and try to warn her, there may still be some time.""But what a-bout the proof?""Forget about the proof Hawkeye, we'll shout it in the throne room if we have to!"Hawkeye quickly stood up, "then what are we doing down here, come on let's go!""Hawkeye, Hawkeye wait! Don't forget about your disguise!" Swiftwing shouted as they made their way out of the cell.Swiftwing and Hawkeye, who was in his disguise, burst out of the dungeon's entrance."Where are we...?"The old dungeon; the one that isn't used very often..." Swiftwing sighed "...the one that is quite a ways away from the palace.""Where are all of the guards?""Most are at the wedding, probably. Come on! The palace is this way!""There wasn't much time before the invasion. The two of usstarted galloping to the palace as fast as our hooves could carry us. We were about halfway to the palace when suddenly-""Look up there!" Hawkeye said as he slowed to a stop with wide eyes."I looked. At first I didn't see anything; I thought Hawkeye was just seeing things...but then my eyes adjusted. I saw hundreds, possibly thousands of black dots all around the shield that was protecting Canterlot; the swarm had arrived. Ironically, the color and height of the shield made it difficult to immediately notice them.""Come on...." Swiftwing said as he nudged Hawkeye. "Come on we gotta move!""Once again we started making our way towards the palace, but we didn't get very far when the shield suddenly shattered; the black dots moved immediately and started getting larger. Next thing I knew, there were green explosions happening all around the city as The Swarm attacked.""I wish I could say I did something heroic or brave right there; that I kept my cool under extreme events. The truth though is that I gave up; I sat down right there in the street, staring at the damage and hating myself for failing to protect the city. Hawkeye soon nudged me in the shoulder.""Come on, Swiftwing, we have to go!""Why Hawkeye? Look around you! It's too late to warn anypony!"As if on cue, there was an explosion as a Changeling landed not too far away."Yes, it is too late to warn anypony-" Swiftwing turned the other way and hung his head."-But that does not mean that we can not help!"Swiftwing perked up. "Help?"There was another explosion as another Changeling landed nearby."Yes!" Hawkeye said with a hint of impatience in his tone. "You are a guard of Can-ter-lot! It is your du-ty to help!""But I failed to protect this city because I was being to stubborn to listen to you! If I had warned Celestia, this invasion wouldn't have happened!"Another landing, this time, closer."You do not know that!" Hawkeye said as his tone got more worriedly from the explosions. "This was going to happen re-gard-less! Even if you had warned Cel-es-tia or Luna, there was no way anypony could have been pre-pared for this!"I sat there. Hawkeye was right; I wasn't able to warn either of the Princesses, but I could still help wherever I could. If anything, I could make up for my ignorance and neglect.""Alright, Hawkeye," Swiftwing said as he stood. "Let's go; one last run."Hawkeye's face brightened. "Where to?""Let's go to the palace. Maybe we can help somewh-"Swiftwing was interrupted by several Changelings crashing violently around them. They crawled out of the small craters with evil smiles and some were cackling maniacally.Swiftwing and Hawkeye backed up against each other the closer the Changelings got."Psst...hey....Swiftwing." Hawkeye whispered. Swiftwing acknowledged by turning his head slightly, but keeping his eye on the enemy."How many?""At least twelve," Swiftwing whispered back."A-bout the same here.""Plan?""I will take the ones in front of you, and you take the ones in front of me.""You sure? You've only had basic training.""I know en-ough. We will switch on my go.""Sounds good...be carful.""You as well....One..."Swiftwing tensed up."Two..."Swiftwing glanced back with his eyes, looking for his first target."Three..."Swiftwing quickly unfurled his wings and Hawkeye lit up his horn. This caused the surrounding Changelings to stir and crouch, ready for them to make the first move."Go!""At that moment, time seemed to slow to a crawl. We turned and leapt in opposite directions, which took the Changelings off guard. The next few minutes were a blur mixed with overwhelming amounts of adrenaline as I beat my enemy within an inch of their lives.""What about Hawkeye?" Surprise asked. "Was he ok?""Indeed he was. For just receiving basic training, he was doing surprisingly well. I remember looking over and seeing his horn going into overtime as it glowed a bright green with each spell he cast.""I thought you said he was harmless.""I did. Except for when it came to defending himself and his friends. When push would come to shove, he would fight back relentlessly.""So what happened next?"Swiftwing was the first to finish; he was on his way to help Hawkeye when he was suddenly tackled through a display window of a nearby store. Standing over, and pinning Swiftwing to the ground was...himself. It looked as though the doppelgänger had been through some fights; he had a few bruises and cuts, including one on his eyebrow which leaked into his eye, forcing him to hold it shut."I knew....it was a mistake...to keep you alive..." the doppelgänger said as he panted for breath. As Swiftwing was struggling to get free, the doppelgänger dropped his disguise to his Changeling form. "QUIT SQUIRMING!" he shouted right before he head butted Swiftwing, which sent him into a painful, blurry haze. The Changeling's horn started to glow, "You were supposed to be one of the easy targets...but no....you couldn't just go down quietly could you? You had to go and try and be a hero...." his horn glowed brighter. "I am going to enjoy killing you..."Before the Changeling could finish casting the spell, out of nowhere, Hawkeye tackled the Changeling and kicked him into a wall. Without wasting any time, Hawkeye fired a beam at the ceiling, causing it to collapse and bury the Changeling under pounds of rubble."Are you o-kay, Swiftwing?" "Yeah...yeah I'm good." Swiftwing said as he stood up and shook off his disorientation.The two exited the building and looked around. It seemed as though more Changelings were filling the sky."What do we do?" Hawkeye asked."We get to the palace as fast as we can!" Swiftwing unfurled his wings."Swiftwing, I can not fly!""I know! Hop on!""What?" Hawkeye asked, confused."Hop on my back! We can make it there if I fly the both of us!""I braced myself, but to my surprise, Hawkeye was lighter than I thought. My eagerness caused me to take off almost as soon as I felt Hawkeye's hooves wrap around my neck. He almost slipped off when I took off.""Wow you must've been going really fast!""My name is 'Swift-wing for a reason," he said with a smile. "Anyway, we were getting close when suddenly a green beam of energy shot past us.""Be-hind us!" Hawkeye shouted.Swiftwing glanced behind them to see several Changelings flying after them. "Hold on!" Swiftwing shouted, then tried doing barrel rolls, flying low to the ground and taking tight turns to try to lose them, but nothing worked; the Changelings kept right after them and continued to fire. Then, one beam of energy found it's mark on Hawkeye's side; the pain made him lose his grip and fall off.Swiftwing dove and caught his friend in mid air by his hooves. As he tried to pull up, the Changelings behind them shot again and hit one of Swiftwing's hind legs, making him lose control. Swiftwing started swerving wildly, and the two ended up crashing into the fourth floor of a badly damaged five-story tower. The two tumbled onto the floor and lay in agony for several seconds before Swiftwing forced himself to stand."Hawkeye..."Hawkeye was quivering in pain, barely able to keep his disguise up. Swiftwing limped over and examined his wound."I think you'll be ok....it doesn't look that serious...""What...a-bout.....you..."Swiftwing couldn't help but smile. Even though he was in a lot of pain, Hawkeye was still concerned for his friend rather than for himself. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. Let me uh...let me see if I can find you medicine...." Swiftwing started to limp his way over to a bathroom to hopefully find a first aid kit. He didn't get far before Hawkeye spoke up."No...wait" Hawkeye said with a groan as he looked out the window and started to stand."Hawkeye, what are you doing?"Hawkeye continued looking out the window, "we should....go....""Why, what's wrong?"Hawkeye's look suddenly became grim and pointed at the palace. "We need to go...now!"Swiftwing looked to see a pink glow coming from the palace. "What's the big deal Hawk?" Hawkeye fearfully lowered his head and ears and slowly backed away, as if he was being disciplined or yelled at."Hawkeye, what's the matt-"Swiftwing was interrupted by a sudden explosion of magic coming from the palace; a pink force field engulfed the palace and quickly spread throughout the city, smacking into and repelling any Changeling it came across."I barely had any time to react, thankfully, the shield didn't do anything to me. Hawkeye on the other hoof.....I turned just in time to see the shockwave rip off Hawkeye's disguise. Then when the shield hit him, it flung him up against the wall. If he was outside....the shield would've just flung him out of the city...but he was inside and....and there was nowhere for him to go. I had to listen to him shout in pain as the shield was forced to pass through his body...the pressure of the shield made his chitin crack and bleed in several places. When it finally passed, Hawkeye fell to the floor, barely conscious.""I was going to go check on him, but suddenly the already damaged tower started shaking, not being able to handle any more abuse. I remember theentire room cracking in two and falling down; I was on one side and Hawkeye was on the other. I remember, as the tower collapsed, I fell out the window and slammed into the ground so hard, that I bounced. Everything went dark after that. I awoke, what I assume was a few minutes later, half-buried in debris. I tried to fight the haze in my head and gather my thoughts.. Everything was blurry and the surrounding air was so thick with dust; it made it hard to see and breath. I finally came to my senses, unburied myself and started searching the rubble for Hawkeye.""Hawkeye!" Swiftwing coughed as he struggled to breath. "Hawkeye, where are you!?" He leaned against a support beam sticking out in the rubble and violently coughed; his body trying to evict all of the unwanted dust from its lungs. He was able to catch his breath slightly and continued on."Come on, Hawk! Answer me! I can't-" Swiftwing let out a few more coughs before calling out again. "-I can't see anything! There's too much dust...."Swiftwing continued climbing over debris until he saw what looked like his friend silhouetted in the dense dust cloud."Hawkeye!" Swiftwing shouted as he tried to get closerThere was no answer."Hawkeye!"Still no movement or response."HAWKEYE!!!"Finally, Hawkeye tilted his head and ears towards his friend. Swiftwing breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his friend was still alive. Hawkeye was half buried as well, and laying flat on his back, looking straight up; his chitin was severely cracked and bleeding in several areas."Don't worry Hawkeye, I'm here....you'll be alright." Swiftwing said as he started to dig his friend out.Hawkeye didn't answer, instead he kept staring straight up."Alright Hawk, I'm going to pull you out of there alright?" Swiftwing grabbed under Hawkeye's arms and started to pull. Hawkeye grimaced and gave a yell in pain which caused Swiftwing to stop suddenly.""Hawkeye, what's wrong? What is-""I stopped and noticed that Hawkeye was tightly clutching his forehooves together over his chest; there was also quite a bit of blood coming from underneath his hooves. I slowly lifted up his hooves...and that's when I saw it. Swiftwing took a few seconds to gather himself. There...s-sticking about an inch and a half out of his chest, was a small metal pole used for supporting the tower....he.....he had....been impaled..."Swiftwing gasped in horror and started to shake. Hawkeye continued to look up, trying to peer through the dust cloud to the sky."D-Don't worry Hawkeye," Swiftwing said as he started to stand. "I'll go get help, just hang in there and-" Hawkeye interrupted and grabbed Swiftwing's hoof."No, no...." Hawkeye said with a small, peaceful smile. "Too late..."Swiftwing lowered his ears "no...it...it can't be..."Hawkeye's grip grew tighter."We....kicked a lot of....flank....to-day...."Swiftwing smiled as tears leak out of his eyes, "yeah....we did. They'll know better next time won't they..."Hawkeye smiled. "I.....I did good....yeah?""Yeah...yeah you did very good. That other Changeling from earlier had me pinned and was going to kill me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."Hawkeye sighed happily and looked back up. "I've...al-ways...liked the sky here...didn't....have a...sky like this one...back home..."Swiftwing looked up; the dust around them was beginning to settle, which allowed the bright blue sky to peek through.Hawkeye sighed and closed his eyes as the sun shone on his face. His breathing soon became more and more shallow."I feel....very warm," Hawkeye said. He then smiled peacefully and gave one last breath.* * * *Surprise stared at Swiftwing, ears down and a hoof over her mouth."You mean," Surprise said. "Hawkeye...died?"Swiftwing nodded, "he did.""That's....really sad...""Mmm...anyway, a few minutes later. A rescue squad came and found us. Thankfully, the ponies who found us knew Hawkeye. They took me away for medical care...and that's all I have to say about that.""Did you ever send the letter?""Oh yes. As soon as everything calmed down, I asked Celestia for her help.""How did that work; Hawkeye being able to send letters to his brother who was still in the Changelings home country.""I honestly have no idea; but Celestia made it work.""Do you ever think about him?""Yeah, even to this day, I want to go to his room to tell him about something funny I saw or heard; but then I remember he won't be there."Surprise lowered her ears, "oh..."Swiftwing looked up into the bright blue sky. "But don't worry, I'll see him again...someday..."Surprise gave a small smile and blinked away a few tears that threatened to overflow."Surprise, thank you so much for letting me tell you my story. Believe it or not, it really helps.""Oh, anytime! If you want to tell me more stories, we can meet up here again! Oo, I can even bring my mom! She'll love your stories!""That sounds wonderful! How about-""Um...excuse me..." another voice inturrupted.Swiftwing and Surprise turned to see an older looking earth pony stallion smiling."Hello there! I'm Surprise!""Surprise?" the stallion said. "Well that's-""Surprising, I know!" Surprise said with a giggle."My name is Swiftwing.""Yes, I uh...I know who you are.""You do? Well then forgive me, I think I may have forgotten your name.""Well, we've never met face to face, but I've heard of you.""Oh, well, it's nice to know I'm famous!"The stallion chuckled."I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but I just could help but listen to your story."Swiftwing smiled. "I don't mind at all. I hope you enjoyed it.""I did indeed. Listening to my brother being a hero tends to be enjoyable to listen to." The stallion said with a wink."Yeah listening to family members being a hero is...wait...what did you say?""I'll probably get in trouble for this..." the stallion said as he looked around.Before Swiftwing or Surprise could say anything else, the stallion took a step closer to them, getting out of plain sight. Then, with a sudden flash of green, the stallion disappeared and standing in his place was a Changeling with a deep yellow color. Surprise stood in shock, unsure of what to do. After a few seconds of silence, Swiftwing spoke up."You...you're Hawkeye's brother....""I am."A big smile grew on Swiftwing's face. "It...it is a huge honor to meet you!""Believe me, the honor is mine. It's so great to finally meet you.""How long have you been living here?""A long time. I moved here a few years after the Invasion.""Why haven't you tried to find Swiftwing before?" Surprise asked."I wasn't allowed out of the palace. They still allow Changelings to serve, but ever since the Invasion, the process is much harder and we're no longer allowed to leave the castle.""So what are you doing out here?" Swiftwing said with a sly look.The Changeling smiled, "breaking protocol...well...with a little help from Celestia."Surprise broke out into a smile and flapped her wings excitedly, "this is so exciting! We'll spend all day together and tell each other stories and maybe we can even have a reunion party and even-""Actually," the Changeling interrupted. "I only have the afternoon off, and I spent most of it listening to the story "I understand," Swiftwing said. "But before you go, I have one question for you.""Yes?""What is your name?"The Changeling let out a hardy laugh, "To hard for you?"Swiftwing blushed, "I just-can't remember how to pronounce it.""It's alright my friend. In your language, it would be translated as: Casurus Ochre. 'Casurus' meaning 'fall' and 'Ochre' meaning the yellow pigment color.Surprise burst out laughing, "That wasn't anything like what you were thinking Swiftwing!"Swiftwing blushed from embarrassment."What did you think my name was?" Casurus asked."Oh nothing really I-""He thought your name had something to do with Lightning!" Surprise interrupted.Swiftwing blushed harder as Casurus laughed again."Well I'm glad you two find my mistakes so amusing," Swiftwing said."Oh, I'm sorry," Casurus said as he started to calm down. "It's just I've never heard that before!""I can tell," Swiftwing said. "Anyway, I suppose you need to get back to the palace?" Swiftwing said with a hint of sadness."I do. If you ever want to visit, just ask Princess Celestia for me. I would love to tell you all about Hawkeye and me when we were younger.""That sounds great! I would also like to tell you about what we did here in Canterlot!""That sounds really nice!" Casurus said as he turned. With a flash of green, he then turned back into his disguise. " I must be going now. Farewell Swiftwing!""Farewell!" Swiftwing said as the disguised Casurus trotted away.Swiftwing and Surprise stood in silence for a few seconds before Swiftwing spoke up."Well Surprise.""Yes?""I believe I need to be introduced to Pinkie Pie?"Surprise smiled happily, "of course I'll introduce you to her! She should be at Candyland right now! It's this way!"Swiftwing happily followed Surprise down the street and listened to her as she started babbling about the most random of things.Along one of the dark stone walls of the memorial, etched into the stone was the engraving:Hawkeye:A Messenger for CelestiaandA True Hero of Canterlot
A Soldier's StoryCelestia's morning sun shone brightly in the cool, blue sky; birds were happily chirping away in the trees, and most of the ponies of Canterlot started to go about their morning routine. Some, however, decided to sleep in, including one pegasus mare who would occasionally giggle at her dream. Suddenly, the radio on her alarm clock sounded."Goooood morning Canterlot!" A voice on the other end said excitedly as a song was ending. "The time is now nineteen after ten in the morning, and it looks like it is going to be an absolute gorgeous day today! Hey, if you're just tuning in with us, I am your morning host, Mic the Microphone; join me later today for an exclusive interview with the beautiful Vinyl Scratch who, as you may know, has just won her twenty first Grammy in a row! We're going to find out more about the famous DJ-PON3 and just how she did it all! That's coming up in a half hour! Oh, and before I forget, Happy Memorial Day everypony!"A new song started to play as a white foreleg reached up and clicked the alarm clock off. Soon after, a white pegasus with a straight blonde mane sat up on her bed with a small smile on her face; the mare's name was Surprise.Surprise yawned, then stretched her legs and wings with all of her might. After she wiped the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hoof, she hopped off of her bed and headed towards her door. She paused when she noticed her reflection in the bedroom mirror; her hair, while still nice looking, was straight and lifeless. Surprise stuck a hoof in her mouth and blew. With a noise that sounded like a balloon inflating, her mane and tail quickly poofed up and became a tangled, yet somehow beautiful, mess. She checked her cutie mark to make sure it was ok; still three purple balloons, perfectly normal. Surprise nodded at her reflection in approval and headed for the kitchen.* * * *Surprise trotted happily into the kitchen; she quickly made her way to the cupboard, brought out a bowl and set it on the kitchen countertop. She then turned and headed for the fridge to get some milk; as she did, she passed by the pantry."Good morning mom." Surprise said as she passed the pantry. Almost immediately afterwards, Pinkie Pie poked her head out if the pantry."Hey! How did you know I was there?" Pinkie Pie said dumbfounded.Surprise giggled as she set the milk next to the bowl, "you may be the best at throwing parties, mom, but I am the best at surprises! It is impossible to sneak up on me! Can you pass me the cereal please?"Pinkie Pie turned back into the pantry, then jumped out a few seconds later with a box of Derpy-O's in her hoof; she then tossed it to Surprise, who then proceeded to pour the contents into the bowl. Surprise then tossed it back when she was finished."Well then," Pinkie said as she grabbed the box and put it back in the pantry. "I guess I'll just have to try even harder to surprise you!"Surprise giggled as she put the milk back in the fridge, "yeah, good luck with that." Surprise took her bowl of cereal and sat down at the dining table."So," Pinkie Pie began. "What do you have planned for today?""Oh pfell U'm gowna go ofer moo da-" Surprise started to say with a mouthful of cereal."Surprise," Pinkie interrupted. "Remember, don't talk with your mouth full silly.""Oh yeah," Surprise swallowed and continued. "Sorry, I said I was going to head over to the War Memorial today, I bet it looks really nice considering it's Memorial Day.""Oh! That sounds like fun!""I think so too! Do you want to come with me?""I'd love to! But I gotta open up Candyland for our holiday special," Pinkie said with a tone of disappointment as she gathered her saddlebag.Surprise took another bite of her cereal and swallowed, "that's ok, I'll come by afterwards and help!" Surprise said reassuringly. "We will spend the rest of the holiday together!""That sounds great! When do you plan to leave?"Surprise drank some of the milk in her bowl, then looked back up to Pinkie, "I'll leave here in a few minutes.""Alright, I'll see you later then!" Pinkie called back as she headed for the door.Surprise downed the last of the milk, "alright, goodbye mom! Love you!""I love you too!" Pinkie Pie shut the door behind her and was soon happily trotting through the streets of Canterlot. Meanwhile, Surprise put her bowl in the sink and went upstairs to shower and get ready to start her day.* * * *The sun had risen a bit higher in the sky; it's rays reflected off of water in a canal, and a cool wind brought a sense of peace and refreshment throughout the city. Near the canal was the Canterlot War Memorial, where several dark colored marble walls were lined in a row with many names engraved on both sides. Several ponies could be seen slowly walking through the aisles and stopping when coming across names that they would recognize; one of them was a Pegasus in his seventies named Swiftwing. He had a dark blue coat, white hair and was wearing an officer's uniform. Swiftwing was sitting in the 'Invasion of Canterlot' section of the memorial and stared at one of the names."Hawkeye!" Swiftwing coughed as he struggled to breath. "Hawkeye, where are you!?" Swiftwing leaned against a support beam and violently coughed; his body trying to evict all of the unwanted dust from its lungs. He was able to catch his breath slightly and continued on."Come on, answer me! I can't-" Swiftwing let out a few more coughs before calling out again. "-I can't see anything!"Swiftwing continued climbing over debris until he saw what looked like his friend silhouetted in the dense dust cloud."Hawkeye!""Um, sir?""Hawkeye!""Sir?""HAWKEYE!!!""Hello, sir?""Hmm?" Swiftwing was brought out of his memories, he looked to his side to see a white Pegasus with a blonde mane and tail looking at him. "Oh, hello!" he said."Hi," Surprise said with a smile. "Are you ok? I saw that you were completely zoned out for a few minutes."Swiftwing chuckled, "yes, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern miss...?"A wide smile broke out on Surprise's face, she loved it when ponies asked her name because of the hilarious pun she would say immediately afterwards."My name is Surprise!""Surprise?" Swiftwing smirked at the unusual name.Surprise giggled, "yup! Isn't that....'surprising'!?"After a few seconds of silence, Swiftwing let out a hearty laugh, "yes, yes indeed it is!"Surprise squeed at the fact that she made somepony laugh."It's a pleasure to meet you, Surprise," he said as he held out a hoof. "My name is Swiftwing; I'm a retired sergeant."Surprise held Swiftwing's hoof and gently shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well!""You know" -Swiftwing said as he brought his hoof down- "you look familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?""Probably, I mean I've been somewhere before!""Ha! No, no, I mean have we met before?""Hmmm....nope! Don't think so! I'm not as good at remembering ponies like my mom is.""Your mom?""Yup, her name is Pinkie Pie!"Swiftwing's eyes widened, "that's why you look so familiar! You're the splitting image of your mother! She owns that famous candy shop doesn't she? What's it called? Sweet and Elite...Candy Crush?"Candyland!" Surprise said loudly."That's it, Candyland! I went to that place with my grandfoals; that place is incredible! Let's see, you had a candy store, a bakery store, a toy store, and an ice cream store all in one building!""Don't forget the costume store!" "Oh yeah, that too! Isn't it hard overseeing so much?""At first, but it's pretty fun after a little while!"Swiftwing shook his head in awe, "I don't know how you guys do it." He said as he turned towards the canal."Well we don't do it all by ourselves, we have several ponies working there to help us."Swiftwing simply smiled.Surprise became uneasy from the silence, "I can go if I'm bugging you."Swiftwing quickly turned his head, "oh no, you don't have to. I was just simply enjoying the scenery."Surprise looked out across the water, "they did a really good job this year for the memorial.""Indeed they did. It's incredible how quickly they cleaned everything up after The Invasion.""My mom has told me stories about that.""She was in the palace right? With the Changeling Queen?""Mhmm," Surprise nodded."You know, I was here during The Invasion as well; except I was on the ground instead of the palace."Surprise turned her head quickly, "you were in the city during the invasion!?" she asked excitedly."I was.""Could you tell me what it was like? I mean, my mom has told me stories about what happened in the palace, but I've also been wanting to know what happened in the city!"Swiftwing chuckled, "are you sure you want to listen to an old pegasus' story?"Surprise nodded excitedly."Well, alright then. What would you like to know?" "Everything!" Surprise said excitedly.Swiftwing smiled, "Alright then, let's see; I was just a guard back then, and been serving for a little while. It was about my eighth year when I met my best friend named Hawkeye.""Hawkeye?" Surprise asked."Mhmm, but that wasn't his real name. I just called him that because of his superb observation skills.""What was his real name?""It translated Ickwing.""Ickwing? That's a weird name.""For an Equine, yes; but not for a Changeling.""Wait, you mean that..." Surprise's voice trailed off."That's right. Hawkeye, my best friend, was a changeling."
The Beginning of the End"You mean they allowed changelings to be a part of the Royal Guard back then!?" Surprise asked. "No, but we did use them as messengers and decoders.""Wow, how many changelings did you guys have.""Not very many.""Why did they switch sides?""They all had their reasons. I believe Hawkeye's reason for switching was that he was an outcast among his own because he couldn't fly; he had wings, but,for some unknown reason,they could never keep him in the air for more than a few seconds. He also looked different from normal Changelings. You know that most changelings have a bluish green color?""Yeah.""Well, Hawkeye had a deep, blood red color. It made him look fierce; but he was almost as harmless as a fly.""Wasn't it hard for the Changelings to live in Canterlot?""Oh yes, they were instructed by Celestia herself to stay in an assigned disguise at nearly all times; they were only allowed to be in their true form in their private rooms. They were also under constant watch by the guards; that's actually how Hawkeye and I met; I was assigned to watch over him.""Was it weird to befriend Hawkeye?""Actually, he's the one who befriended me. It was awkward being around each other at first, but we quickly became close friends. My story starts two days before the invasion, at his room."* * * *"Hey, Hawkeye! You in there?" Swiftwing said as he knocked on the door. His question was followed by a faint 'come in' from the other side and he entered the room.Hawkeye was in his Changeling form and laying on a couch with a paper and quill in front of him. "Hel-lo Swiftwing," Hawkeye said in a broken Equestrian. "Hey, Hawk." Swiftwing looked down at the paper in front of Hawkeye. "What are you writing?""I am writ-ing a let-ter to my brother.""Still trying to get him here in Canterlot?""Yes I am.""Have you made any further progress with Canterlot security?"Hawkeye folded his ears down slightly, "yes, but he won't be a-ble to come for a while lon-ger still.""I'm sorry, Hawk. I hope you can get him here soon.""Me as well. So, what brings you...here?"* * * *"Hawkeye had a brother?" Surprise interrupted."Indeed he did; a twin. Hawkeye showed me a picture of him. He, like Hawkeye, was different than normal Changelings; while Hawkeye had a deep red color, his brother had a deep yellow.""What was his name?""Goodness me...if I remember right, his name translated as...Lightingbug...maybe? His name was hard to translate."Surprise giggled. "Changeling names are funny.""Well remember, our names probably sound just as funny to them.""Yeah I guess so. What was Lightningbug like?""I don't know; I was never able to meet him, but according to Hawkeye, Lightningbug was gentle, but a strong leader. Hawkeye also told me stories about how Lightningbug would often stand up for him whenever he was being picked on by other Changelings.""Oh I see! Ok, go back to your story."* * * *"Me as well. So, what brings you...here?"Well, I'm off duty for the rest of the evening so I thought-" Swiftwing started to say but was interrupted by Hawkeye who was chuckling. "What's so funny?" Swiftwing asked."You said...doo-ty." Swiftwing let out a sigh. "That is probably one of the most overused jokes in the history of jokes.""Over-used, but still funny," Hawkeye said with a toothy grin.Swiftwing smiled,"Yeah, I guess it is. Anyway, I'm off for the rest of the night. Do you want to do something tonight?""Like what?""I don't know, let's go have fun; my sister has gone to Manehatten for a business trip so it's a colt's night out! Let's go paint the town...something."Hawkeye tilted his head in confusion. "Paint the town?"* * * *"Why did he talk so funny?" Surprise interrupted again,"I thought the Changelings knew our language.""Hmm? Oh, they knew our language, but some had trouble speaking it; Hawkeye was one those who had trouble. In most cases, it was easier for him to speak his language so, to make it easier for him, he taught me a little bit of his language; not enough to where I could speak it fluently, but just enough so I could understand him.""Was it difficult learning?" Surprise asked."At first, but once you get their alphabet and basic sentence structures down, it's fairly easy.""Oh I see. I asked if it was difficult to learn because I have this friend named Gentle Breeze who is trying to learn another language but she is having a difficult time choosing which one so I decided to try to help her and-""Uh, Surprise?""Yes, Mister Swiftwing?""Mind I get back to my story?"Surprise blinked,"Oh yeah! Sorry about that."* * * *Hawkeye tilted his head in confusion. "Paint the town?""Don't worry about it," Swiftwing said as he shook his head. "It's just an expression.""Oh, o-kay. That sounds real-ly...uh...good! How about we-" before Hawkeye could finish, a fax machine in the room clicked to life. The two watched as the message typed out and glided onto the floor."What's that?" Swiftwing asked. Hawkeye levitated the paper and held it up to him."It is a cod-ed message..." after studying the symbols for a little bit, Hawkeye levitated a small leather-bound book, which he used as the decoder, off of an end table and onto a desk along with the message, a new parchment of paper, and some quill and ink. He then sat down and began to decipher the message. Swiftwing walked up behind him and watched."I was always amazed at how intelligent Hawkeye was. There were some messages we had that would take the other guys hours to crack, yet he could do it in nearly no time at all. The same was true with this message; after he deciphered most of it, he turned to me and gave me his 'worried' look. I looked down at the message; I didn't know a whole lot about coded messages, but I knew enough to tell that this wasn't good.""Cel-es-tia must know about this!" Hawkeye said."About what? What is it?" "It is a threat against Can-ter-lot!""Well I kinda figured that, but what kind of threat?""What do you mean 'what kind,' how many types of threats are there? Look, we just need to tell Cel-es-tia about this, and then I'll tell you later. Come on let us go!"Hawkeye started to gallop out of the room, when Swiftwing spoke."Wait..." Swiftwing said in a monotone voice."What is the matter?" Hawkeye said as he slid to a stop."Your disguise..."Hawkeye blinked a few times, "Oh yeah!"With a flash of green, Hawkeye went from his changeling form, to his disguise which was a brown unicorn stallion with light brown hair, and a scroll for a cutie mark. The two then galloped to Celestia's chambers."After we had delivered the message, Celestia immediately ordered Shining to bolster Canterlot's defenses; after getting more guards posted, I watched as the, back then, young Captain of the Guard casted a magical shield over Canterlot that only he could perform. Then, Celestia and Luna began taking turns watching over Canterlot; Celestia would keep watch over the day, while Luna would keep watch over the night.""What happened to Hawkeye?""He left soon after we had delivered the message; he had done his job so it was time for him to go back to his room. I wasn't able to see him until the next morning at the local cafè. When I saw him though, he looked a bit off.""Hawkeye, are you alright? You don't look so well." Swiftwing said as Hawkeye at down."I am...up-set," Hawkeye replied."About what?""It is Cel-es-tia, have you...heard that she deci-ded to continue with the wed-ding between Prin-cess Cad-ence and Shin-ing Armor?""Really? Awesome!""Awe-some!?" Hawkeye said dumbfounded. "This is not awe-some!""Sure it is Hawk! Think about it; a wedding between a Princess and The Captain of the Royal Guard, means it's going to last a while; which means there will be lots of wine; which also means that there will be even more pretty young mares there if you catch my drift." Swiftwing said with a wink."You are so...uh...." Hawkeye stopped to think of the right word to use; finally, it popped into his head, "immature! Now is not the time for a wed-ding; now is the time to pre-pare for an att-ack!""What are you talking about Hawk? We did prepare! We are prepared.""Not-good-enough.""What do you mean 'not good enough' we're plenty prepared! Look outside." Hawkeye looked and followed where Swiftwing was pointing."You see up there? That's the overwatch, the highest point on the castle; that's where the Princesses raise and lower the sun and moon each day and night; can you tell me who is up there right now?""It is Cel-es-tia.""That's right; she and Luna have been up there constantly on the lookout for any trouble. Now, look up in the sky; you see that big shield around Canterlot? That is to guarantee that no unauthorized ponies get inside. It is unbreakable, Hawkeye. And you know what I heard today?""What?""One of my friends was posted on guard at the train station; he said he saw the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony arrive just this morning, so even if something does go wrong, we can just use the Elements! Nopony would dare attack Canterlot right now; we are too well prepared."Hawkeye shook his head, "still not-good-enough."Swiftwing sighed and sunk into his seat."Why do you think it's not good enough Hawk?"Hawkeye took a quick glance around to make sure nopony was watching them. He then leaned towards Swiftwing and quietly spoke in his Changeling language. "Because I have been analyzing that message more and-" Hawkeye was interrupted by Swiftwing immediately sitting up and shushing Hawkeye by holding his hooves over Hawkeye's muzzle."Hawkeye, shut up!" Swiftwing whispered as he quickly glanced around the cafè. "Remember, you're not in the palace, do you know how the ponies around here would react if they knew your secret!?""I am sorry Swiftwing, but I need to tell you some-thing real-ly im...por...tant."Swiftwing took one more casual glance around before leaning towards Hawkeye."Alright," Swiftwing said. "Go ahead, but keep it quiet.""As I was saying," Hawkeye whispered."I have been analyzing that message more and have been doing some research; I found something really disturbing.""What is it?""It's the Changelings, Swiftwing; they plan to attack Canterlot and they are going to use the wedding as their way to do so.""Really. You think that you own race would do that." Swiftwing said sounding unconvinced."Yes. They've changed since I left; they've become more aggressive than usual, especially since Queen Chrysalis took the throne.""Alright, but how are they going to attack? We've turned Canterlot into locked safe that can only be opened from the inside. How do you think they are going to invade when there is literally no way for them to get in?"Hawkeye's tone quickly turned grim, "no, Swiftwing. You don't understand. They've already invaded.""Huh?" Swiftwing asked completely confused."For months now, Changelings spies have been undercover, hiding in plain sight; watching and studying us. Canterlot isn't going to be invaded; it has been invaded, and now the time has come to strike. We've been in the calm before the storm, Swiftwing. Now the storm is on Canterlot's very doorstep and nopony can see it.""And you came up with all of this from a message," Swiftwing said still sounding unconvinced. Hawkeye quickly nodded his head.Alright," Swiftwing said. "Let's assume that you're right and the Changelings plan to attack. Who would you go to? You can't get to the either of the princesses; they said to not disturb them unless it's an absolute, immediate emergency because they've been so busy making sure everything is on lockdown and watching over the town.""What about Shining Armor?""He's been too busy with his job and trying to help plan out his and Cadence's wedding. Your best bet for help would be going to Cadence herself and hopefully she-""No," Hawkeye said bluntly."What?""I said no.""Why? Are you worried about her finding out about you?""No it's not that..." Hawkeye lowered his voice even more. "I just don't trust her."Swiftwing's eyes widened with disbelief, "I'm sorry, say that again.""I said I don't trust her.""Why not!?" Swiftwing shouted out which caused several heads to turn towards their direction. Hawkeye noticed this and stalled until the other ponies turned back towards their own business."Because," Hawkeye started,"she has been acting strange; ever since that night she vanished. Do you remember that? A few nights ago, nopony saw her for about an hour." "Yeah, so? She said she needed some time to herself; who can blame her? She has a wedding coming up so she's probably really stressed and nervous, so she needed some time alone.""But I've been reading reports from the servants and from other various individuals about her, and they say that she doesn't remember a lot of important things; from what I understand, she's been to Canterlot several times so she should know this city, but from what I've been hearing and reading about her, she doesn't remember a lot of her favorite places to hang out; she doesn't even remember some of the ponies she used to know.""Again, she's probably just really distracted with her wedding. Have you ever planned a wedding, Hawkeye? They are stressful! And now she has to deal with this whole threat-on-Canterlot interrupting the best day of her life."Hawkeye opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated."What are you getting at, Hawkeye; you think that Cadence is planning something?"Hawkeye took a long moment then finally spoke,"yes, I do believe that Cadence is up to something, and I believe it has to do with the attack on Canterlot."Swiftwing's expression grew angry. "Now that's going too far, Hawkeye," Swiftwing snapped at his friend. "It's one thing to suggest an attack on Canterlot; but it is another thing entirely to suggest that Cadence, the Princess of Love, is planning it. Nopony is going to believe you.""I know, that's why I need your help.""I'm sorry, my help?""Yes, I can't go to either of the princesses without you with me because of security protocol; but if you come with me, I'll have a greater chance of getting an audience with them. Plus, you are respected among the Canterlot guard, so there is a better chance of Celestia, Luna and Shining Armor listening to you.""Absolutely not, Hawkeye. This is too dangerous and too...well...crazy. Hawk, I'm telling you, nopony is going to listen to you even if I do stand with you.""Swiftwing, please," Hawkeye pleaded. "I need you with me on this.""No, Hawkeye...I'm sorry.""We sat there in silence for several minutes before I finally got up and left.""I have to go report for duty." Swiftwing said as he got up to leave. "Hawkeye, even if I was crazy enough to go with your theories, you need absolute, solid proof to present to the Princess. Do you have any?"Without looking up, Hawkeye slowly shook his head."That's what I thought. If I were you, Hawkeye, I would just drop these ideas of yours and not worry so much. I'm sorry to say this, but you're a messenger, not a soldier; leave the fighting to the professionals.""And with that, I walked out, leaving Hawkeye alone. Today, I look back on what I said and regret every word I said at that meeting; especially that last part. I thought I was giving good advice, but I was young and brash back then. If it wasn't for Hawkeye, I wouldn't be alive today."
Lights OutCelestia's sun was about to reach the highest part of the day as Surprise and Swiftwing made their way to a nearby bench, each holding an ice cream cone. After the two sat down, Swiftwing took a small bite of his ice cream while Surprise took a much bigger bite out of hers. "Good gracious!" Swiftwing said, shocked. "You nearly ate the whole thing at once!""Mhmm!" Surprise muttered with her mouth still full of her chilly treat."Aren't you worried about brain freeze?"Surprise swallowed and tilted her head, "brain freeze? What's that?""Never mind, I get the feeling you're immune to it." Swiftwing took another lick of his ice cream and looked at it. "You know, I just remembered. I was never much a fan of chocolate ice cream.""You don't like chocolate?"Swiftwing shrugged, "eh, every now and then I have some. It's just not my favorite.""What is your favorite flavor then? Is it Vanilla? Strawberry? Rocky Road? Rainbow? Chocolate Chip? Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough? Strawberry-oh wait I said Strawberry didn't I..."While Surprise continued to name off flavors, Swiftwing took a few minutes to try to think clearly before he finally remembered. "Orange Sherbet! That's my favorite!""Aww, I was gonna say that next! Good choice by the way!"Swiftwing chuckled and took another bite, while Surprise ate the rest of hers. "Now let's see..." Swiftwing said. "Where was I with our story?""Uhhh, I believe you had just left the café.""Ah yes, that's right. Well, all day long I kept repeating what I said to Hawkeye in my head, and I kept feeling more and more guilty. I was finally able to apologize to him late in the evening. I wanted to apologize earlier, but due to that threat Hawkeye deciphered, Shining had us working around the clock.""That and the wedding was the next day right? So he probably needed some help setting things up" Surprise said."That's right. Princess Cadence, well as you know the fake Princess Cadence, dealt with most of the wedding preparations, but, whenever he could, Shining would help and also get some of us to help him.""That sounds really stressful.""Oh yes, I've never seen the Captain of the Guard that stressed, but he seemed to hold together quite well. Anyway, that night I made my way to Hawkeye's room to apologize."* * * *"Um...h-hello? Hawkeye?" Swiftwing said as he knocked on Hawkeye's door. "Hawkeye, its me." Swiftwing tried to turn the doorknob, but it was locked. "Can you let me in? I just want to talk is all."Swiftwing stood there for a few minutes waiting for an answer, but no answer came."You're going to make me stand out here aren't you?"Swiftwing pressed his ear up against the door to listen, but couldn't hear anything."Fine then, have it your way. Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I said earlier today. I was completely out of line when I said that you're not a soldier...well, you're not but....look, you're on our side, so that's good enough for me. Honestly, you're one of the smartest stallions that I know. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to decipher that threat until it was too late. You're very loyal to Celestia and I'm sorry for brushing you off like I did and...and..." Swiftwing tried turning the doorknob again, but it was still locked. "Alright listen up, Hawkeye, I can't talk to a door. Can you please let me in so I can apologize to you in person?"Still no response; this caused Swiftwing to become frustrated. "Alright, fine!" Swiftwing said as he took out some keys. "If you're not going to let me in, then I am letting myself in!" Swiftwing stuck his key into the lock and unlocked the door."You know, it's not like you to give anypony the cold shoulder" as he opened the door, he noticed that the lights were turned off."Well...now I feel stupid; I actually was talking to a door...wait a minute...if you're not here, then where are you..." "I turned on the lights and froze at what I saw...his room was completely ransacked. It looked as if somepony took his room, shook it upside down for a while, and then set it back down. I stood there for what felt like hours before I finally started searching the room for clues as to what happened. I shut the door and looked all around trying not to disturb too much of the room; while I was searching, I noticed that his fax machine was completely destroyed and his little leather-bound book was missing as well. I was about to leave to report this when I heard a noise, that sounded like something falling onto the floor, come from the bedroom. I froze, listening for any other movement. I then turned, and entered the hallway as quietly as I could; listening for any hint of sound.""I finally arrived at his bedroom, and stood perfectly still at the doorway; I even held my breath so that I could hear better. The silence was deafening. From the doorway, I looked around, but didn't see or hear anything else out of the ordinary. I stood for a few more minutes, stuck where I was. I wanted to leave, but a voice inside me was screaming that I was missing something that was right in front of my face; that turning around would be the worst mistake of my life...I wished I had listened to that voice.""Not hearing or seeing anything unusual, I turned to leave and almost immediately afterwards, was tackled by somepony. I tried to fight back, but whoever tackled me knew what they were doing; my attacker punched me hard at the base of one of my wings, disabling it."* * * *"Wait," Surprise said, completely absorbed into the story. "You can ground a pegasus just by punching its wing?""Yup, it's almost like punching somepony unconscious. When you do, you briefly disable the connection of neural pathways from the brain, to the rest of the body; that small gap is what knocks you out. It's the same for the wing, and any part of the body for that fact. If you hit just the right spot, you can disable any limb of an opponent; but you have to be 100% accurate.""It's not permanent is it?""No, the limb is just temporary disabled. It will be usable again, but not for several minutes.""Wow. So, you were pinned to the floor with a disabled wing..."* * * *"I triedto ignore the pain as much as I could and fight back. I then felt him try to punch out one of my hind legs; thankfully he missed. Before he could try again, however, I was able to leap backwards and crash on the floor, letting my attacker take the brunt of the impact. It did the trick as my attacker let go just enough for me to break away. I stood at the doorway while my attacker got up near the bed. I could barely believe my eyes; it was a Changeling glaring back at me. To myreliefand somewhat horror, it wasn't Hawkeye.""Normally, I would've stayed and fought, but if a Changeling was here, that means there were more all around, and inside the castle; I quickly glanced back at the exit, which was closed, and then back at the Changeling. If I could just get outside, I could find some help and warn others. The Changeling seemed to know what I was thinking, after I looked back at him, he glared, took a step toward me and whispered in an eerie voice""Try it, I dare you.""I took his challenge. I made a mad dash for the exit; I tried to fly out, but forgot that my wing wouldn't work. Even without my wings, I'm sure that I could've made it; however my enemy didhave wings, so he quickly overtook me. Just as I started to open the door, he grabbed my hind legsand threw me across the room; I was tossed into a bookshelf and then crashed onto the floor. The sudden shift in weight made books fall off the shelves, and then made the bookshelf itself fall on top of me. Reeling with pain, I crawled out just in time to see my enemy kick the door shut with one of his hind legs. He then started walking towards me and spoke again in a voice that just sent chills up my spine""You're not getting out of here alive" he said with an evil sharp toothed smile."Thinking fast, I lunged at him. Thankfully, it caught him off guard and I was able to pin him to a wall. We stared at each other face to face.""Where's Hawkeye!?" I shouted."That traitorous weakling? Disposed of," He said with a smile."He then slammed his forehead into mine; I think he miscalculated though, because both of us were reeling in pain for a few seconds. Unfortunately, he was able to recover faster than I could. He pounced on my back and startled to strangle me with his foreleg.""I tried my best to not panic, but not being able to breath has a tendency to make you panic regardless of how much training you've had. I grabbed at his foreleg, trying to pull it away. I was able to get a good grip thanks to the holes in his leg, but he held firm; my vision soon started to fade.""In a last ditch effort I elbowed him in the gut. I heard him grunt and he loosened his grip slightly, which allowed me to breath a little. Thanks to that little amount of breath, I was able to thrust backwards and slam him against a wall; he let go. I quickly recovered and kicked him in the gut as hard as I could with myhind legs; he fell back and crashed into a fish tank, which shattered and spilt several gallons of water over him. Some of the shards of glass even cut part of his chitin. The dazed Changeling looked up at me.""Now, I kicked him as hard as I could; I'm pretty sure I caused some internal damage and broke some of his bones, but that still wasn't enough to keep him down. Somehow, he quickly got up tackled me again. I'm not exactlysure what happened during that part of the fight, but I remember it ended with him overpowering me and shoving my head towards the shattered remains of the fishtank.""I tried to fight back as hard as I could, but he was much stronger than I had anticipated; that frail body of his was very deceptive. Closer and closer he pushed my eye towards a shard of glass; it eventually got to the point where I could barely focus on the tip of the shard because it was so close. One slip-up then it would've been all over.""Fortunately, I felt around and grabbed onto another shard that was laying on the floor. With all of my might, a flipped over and sliced his stomach with the shard. While he was holding his wound with his hoof, I pounced on him and brought down the shard straight for hiseye. I would've gotten him too had he not kicked me off. I landed next to the door.""I was about to quickly leave and get help, when two other guards came bursting through the door.""Guards, arrest this Changeling!" Swiftwing said. "Send word to Celestia and Luna at once: Canterlot is under atta-" Swiftwing was interrupted by one of the guards hitting him on the side of his neck.Swiftwing fell to the floor, barely conscious."It's...about time you two came..." the changeling said as he staggered to his hooves."What's the matter? Can't handle one simple guard?" One of the guards said with a mocking tone as he stepped over Swiftwing."Shut up..." the Changeling said, panting for air. "This one was...more slippery than..than Ickwing.""I don't know," the guard said as he looked around. "It looks like Ickwing was a tough one for you as well. Hope you aren't losing your touch."Swiftwing groaned in agony."Aww look," the second guard said. "He's still awake.""Not...for long," the Changeling said as he staggered towards Swiftwing. "The last thing I remember seeing was the Changeling raising his hoof right above my head and then-"WHACK!"Lights out."
One Last Run"Did you die!?" Surprise asked with wide, concerned eyes. "I'm sorry?" Swiftwing said."You didn't die,did you?""Wha....I...n-no, no I didn't die."Surprise breathed a sigh of relief."Ok, good. I would've thought that, after the ambush in Hawkeye's room and then getting knocked out, they would've killed you right on the spot."Swiftwing looked at Surprise completely dumbfounded. "Um...Surprise-" Swiftwing said, finally able to get his his brain working again,"-if I died, how could I be here telling you the story?""Well that's a silly question, of course you couldn't be here if you died! What made you ask that?""But...you....j-just a few seconds ago you asked-"Swiftwing looked at Surprise's happy, yet absolutely clueless face."You know what," Swiftwing said, "I'm not even going to question it. Shall we get back to the story?""Yes please!" Surprise said excitedly.* * * *Swiftwing groaned as he started to wake up; the pain in his head was in perfect sync with his heartbeat."Oh, look, "a voice said." "He's finally waking up.""Just in time too," another voice said.Swiftwing slowly lifted his eyes open to see two ponies silhouetted against a small torch behind them "Wha.....where....""You're in the deepest part of Canterlot's dungeon.""We were beginning to think you wouldn't wake up in time for the show.""H-huh...?" Swiftwing said, slowly regaining his senses.The two ponies stepped into view, both Changelings; one was wearing Swiftwing's armor.Swiftwing growled at them as he tried to move, but his forelegs were cuffed together and held above his head, chained to the wall. The two Changelings chuckled at his struggles."Don't bother," the armor wearing Changeling said. "You know that those chains were meant to hold back the strongest prisoners; you're never breaking out of those."Swiftwing landed on his rear and leaned his back against the wall. "So why keep me alive..." Swiftwing said quietly."Beg pardon?" The armor-less Changeling asked. "Why keep me alive? You had me right where you wanted me. Even now I can't defend myself. Why am I alive?"The armor-less Changeling simply nodded to the side. Swiftwing looked and saw five green cocoons sitting neatly in the corner; a sudden chill went up his spine. The armor-wearing Changeling walked over to inspect them. "You're alive," he started to say as he looked into each pod, "because we need you to be alive; you see, it's rather difficult-impossible, actually, to feed off of love from dead hosts. You would've been in a pod already, but we’re a little crunched for time at the moment; so those chains will have to do for now. But don't worry, you'll get your own pod aaalll to yourself after the invasion is finished."Swiftwing squirmed as another chill went down his spine at the thought of being inside one of those cocoons."Alright!" the other Changeling said. "Suit up! The swarm will be here any minute."With a flash of green, the armor-less Changeling turned into one of Swiftwing's friends and the armor-wearing Changeling turned into a perfect copy of Swiftwing.Swiftwing tried to attack again but the chains held him back."Now, now," the doppelgänger Swiftwing said as they started to leave, "don't hurt yourself. We'll be back before you know it."With a loud, grinding, sound the door slammed shut, leaving Swiftwing alone. After waiting a few minutes to make sure they left, Swiftwing started yanking at the chains to try to get free."Well Swiftwing," he said to himself, "You wanted proof? How about being ambushed in your best friends room? Or chained to a wall, is that proof enough for ya? Oh Hawkeye, I'm sorry I should've listened. Where-woah!" Swiftwing was interrupted by his hoof slipping a bit out of the cuff.Swiftwing looked up at the cuff and saw that it wasn't attached properly, which caused his hoof to slip. He suddenly got an idea; he twisted around, making the chains into an 'x'. He stood up and pulled, but no matter how hard he pulled, his hooves remained stuck. Eventually, his hind hooves started slipping against the floor.Not willing to give up, he jumped up and pressed against the wall with his hind hoofs."Come on.....come on....." he said as his right hoof started to slip out of the cuff. With a lot of effort, he was able to pull his hoof free. The sudden momentum caused him to lose balance and fall on the floor.Swiftwing got back up and this time started flapping his wings as hard as he could. Slowly, but surely, his other hoof started sliding out. With another hard and painful yank, he was able to pull his other hoof out of the cuff.Swiftwing held his hoof in pain as he hovered; he made his way to the pods and looked in them; he recognized each unconscious guard trapped inside. He tried to open the pods, but the sealant kept it closed tightly."Don't worry guys, I'll come back for you."Swiftwing made his way to the door, thankfully the Changelings didn't bother locking it, and flew through the halls of the dungeon, trying to find his way out; he paused as he passed by one particular cell which had several green pods. He looked in and saw a few more guards and also some civilians."Just how many Changelings are already here..." he said quietly. Suddenly, Swiftwing heard some chains rattling behind one of the pods; he held his breath as he slowly hovered over to the last pod as quietly as he could, picking up a broken piece of wood with his mouth for a weapon. Most likely it was a prisoner, but he couldn't take any chances.Swiftwing rounded the pod ready to swing, but dropped his weapon as he gasped at what he saw.It was Hawkeye. He was chained to the wall, just like Swiftwing had been, except Hawkeye was also blindfolded, gagged and looked as though he was beaten; he was was taking short deep breaths as he struggled to breath."Hawkeye!" Swiftwing said as he moved towards him."Mmmm!?" Hawkeye suddenly perked up and tried squirming away, not knowing who was with him.Swiftwing took off Hawkeye's blindfold, Hawkeye's reaction instantly went from fear to relief."Mm-mmm!" "Hang on a second Hawk, let’s remove this thing..." Swiftwing untied and took Hawkeye's gag out of his mouth.Hawkeye lulled his tongue in and out repeatedly, trying to get his mouth moist again."Are there keys around here Hawkeye?""Yes....ov-er there...on that ta-ble," Hawkeye motioned over to a table in the corner near the entrance of the cell. Swiftwing wasted no time in grabbing the keys and un-cuffing his friend. Hawkeye landed on the ground and rubbed his wrists."Been here.....hours....." Hawkeye said as he tried to stand. Swiftwing gently pushed him back down."Take it easy Hawk, don't try to move. Take it easy.""I was am-bushed in my room.""Yeah I figured. I got ambushed as well." "I re-ceived another mess-age.""Let me guess, the invasion happens today?""Yes.""And that they plan to take over Canterlot and harvest all the love in the land, right?""Yes! And that Princess Ca-dence is actually Queen Chry-sa-lis!"Swiftwing froze, "ok, that I didn't know...""Yes, Princess Ca-dence has been pony-napped!""Did the message say where she was?""No, it didn't, just someplace in Canterlot, that is very secluded.""Ok, we'll go to Celestia and try to warn her, there may still be some time.""But what a-bout the proof?""Forget about the proof Hawkeye, we'll shout it in the throne room if we have to!"Hawkeye quickly stood up, "then what are we doing down here, come on let's go!""Hawkeye, Hawkeye wait! Don't forget about your disguise!" Swiftwing shouted as they made their way out of the cell.Swiftwing and Hawkeye, who was in his disguise, burst out of the dungeon's entrance."Where are we...?"The old dungeon; the one that isn't used very often..." Swiftwing sighed "...the one that is quite a ways away from the palace.""Where are all of the guards?""Most are at the wedding, probably. Come on! The palace is this way!""There wasn't much time before the invasion. The two of usstarted galloping to the palace as fast as our hooves could carry us. We were about halfway to the palace when suddenly-""Look up there!" Hawkeye said as he slowed to a stop with wide eyes."I looked. At first I didn't see anything; I thought Hawkeye was just seeing things...but then my eyes adjusted. I saw hundreds, possibly thousands of black dots all around the shield that was protecting Canterlot; the swarm had arrived. Ironically, the color and height of the shield made it difficult to immediately notice them.""Come on...." Swiftwing said as he nudged Hawkeye. "Come on we gotta move!""Once again we started making our way towards the palace, but we didn't get very far when the shield suddenly shattered; the black dots moved immediately and started getting larger. Next thing I knew, there were green explosions happening all around the city as The Swarm attacked.""I wish I could say I did something heroic or brave right there; that I kept my cool under extreme events. The truth though is that I gave up; I sat down right there in the street, staring at the damage and hating myself for failing to protect the city. Hawkeye soon nudged me in the shoulder.""Come on, Swiftwing, we have to go!""Why Hawkeye? Look around you! It's too late to warn anypony!"As if on cue, there was an explosion as a Changeling landed not too far away."Yes, it is too late to warn anypony-" Swiftwing turned the other way and hung his head."-But that does not mean that we can not help!"Swiftwing perked up. "Help?"There was another explosion as another Changeling landed nearby."Yes!" Hawkeye said with a hint of impatience in his tone. "You are a guard of Can-ter-lot! It is your du-ty to help!""But I failed to protect this city because I was being to stubborn to listen to you! If I had warned Celestia, this invasion wouldn't have happened!"Another landing, this time, closer."You do not know that!" Hawkeye said as his tone got more worriedly from the explosions. "This was going to happen re-gard-less! Even if you had warned Cel-es-tia or Luna, there was no way anypony could have been pre-pared for this!"I sat there. Hawkeye was right; I wasn't able to warn either of the Princesses, but I could still help wherever I could. If anything, I could make up for my ignorance and neglect.""Alright, Hawkeye," Swiftwing said as he stood. "Let's go; one last run."Hawkeye's face brightened. "Where to?""Let's go to the palace. Maybe we can help somewh-"Swiftwing was interrupted by several Changelings crashing violently around them. They crawled out of the small craters with evil smiles and some were cackling maniacally.Swiftwing and Hawkeye backed up against each other the closer the Changelings got."Psst...hey....Swiftwing." Hawkeye whispered. Swiftwing acknowledged by turning his head slightly, but keeping his eye on the enemy."How many?""At least twelve," Swiftwing whispered back."A-bout the same here.""Plan?""I will take the ones in front of you, and you take the ones in front of me.""You sure? You've only had basic training.""I know en-ough. We will switch on my go.""Sounds good...be carful.""You as well....One..."Swiftwing tensed up."Two..."Swiftwing glanced back with his eyes, looking for his first target."Three..."Swiftwing quickly unfurled his wings and Hawkeye lit up his horn. This caused the surrounding Changelings to stir and crouch, ready for them to make the first move."Go!""At that moment, time seemed to slow to a crawl. We turned and leapt in opposite directions, which took the Changelings off guard. The next few minutes were a blur mixed with overwhelming amounts of adrenaline as I beat my enemy within an inch of their lives.""What about Hawkeye?" Surprise asked. "Was he ok?""Indeed he was. For just receiving basic training, he was doing surprisingly well. I remember looking over and seeing his horn going into overtime as it glowed a bright green with each spell he cast.""I thought you said he was harmless.""I did. Except for when it came to defending himself and his friends. When push would come to shove, he would fight back relentlessly.""So what happened next?"Swiftwing was the first to finish; he was on his way to help Hawkeye when he was suddenly tackled through a display window of a nearby store. Standing over, and pinning Swiftwing to the ground was...himself. It looked as though the doppelgänger had been through some fights; he had a few bruises and cuts, including one on his eyebrow which leaked into his eye, forcing him to hold it shut."I knew....it was a mistake...to keep you alive..." the doppelgänger said as he panted for breath. As Swiftwing was struggling to get free, the doppelgänger dropped his disguise to his Changeling form. "QUIT SQUIRMING!" he shouted right before he head butted Swiftwing, which sent him into a painful, blurry haze. The Changeling's horn started to glow, "You were supposed to be one of the easy targets...but no....you couldn't just go down quietly could you? You had to go and try and be a hero...." his horn glowed brighter. "I am going to enjoy killing you..."Before the Changeling could finish casting the spell, out of nowhere, Hawkeye tackled the Changeling and kicked him into a wall. Without wasting any time, Hawkeye fired a beam at the ceiling, causing it to collapse and bury the Changeling under pounds of rubble."Are you o-kay, Swiftwing?" "Yeah...yeah I'm good." Swiftwing said as he stood up and shook off his disorientation.The two exited the building and looked around. It seemed as though more Changelings were filling the sky."What do we do?" Hawkeye asked."We get to the palace as fast as we can!" Swiftwing unfurled his wings."Swiftwing, I can not fly!""I know! Hop on!""What?" Hawkeye asked, confused."Hop on my back! We can make it there if I fly the both of us!""I braced myself, but to my surprise, Hawkeye was lighter than I thought. My eagerness caused me to take off almost as soon as I felt Hawkeye's hooves wrap around my neck. He almost slipped off when I took off.""Wow you must've been going really fast!""My name is 'Swift-wing for a reason," he said with a smile. "Anyway, we were getting close when suddenly a green beam of energy shot past us.""Be-hind us!" Hawkeye shouted.Swiftwing glanced behind them to see several Changelings flying after them. "Hold on!" Swiftwing shouted, then tried doing barrel rolls, flying low to the ground and taking tight turns to try to lose them, but nothing worked; the Changelings kept right after them and continued to fire. Then, one beam of energy found it's mark on Hawkeye's side; the pain made him lose his grip and fall off.Swiftwing dove and caught his friend in mid air by his hooves. As he tried to pull up, the Changelings behind them shot again and hit one of Swiftwing's hind legs, making him lose control. Swiftwing started swerving wildly, and the two ended up crashing into the fourth floor of a badly damaged five-story tower. The two tumbled onto the floor and lay in agony for several seconds before Swiftwing forced himself to stand."Hawkeye..."Hawkeye was quivering in pain, barely able to keep his disguise up. Swiftwing limped over and examined his wound."I think you'll be ok....it doesn't look that serious...""What...a-bout.....you..."Swiftwing couldn't help but smile. Even though he was in a lot of pain, Hawkeye was still concerned for his friend rather than for himself. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. Let me uh...let me see if I can find you medicine...." Swiftwing started to limp his way over to a bathroom to hopefully find a first aid kit. He didn't get far before Hawkeye spoke up."No...wait" Hawkeye said with a groan as he looked out the window and started to stand."Hawkeye, what are you doing?"Hawkeye continued looking out the window, "we should....go....""Why, what's wrong?"Hawkeye's look suddenly became grim and pointed at the palace. "We need to go...now!"Swiftwing looked to see a pink glow coming from the palace. "What's the big deal Hawk?" Hawkeye fearfully lowered his head and ears and slowly backed away, as if he was being disciplined or yelled at."Hawkeye, what's the matt-"Swiftwing was interrupted by a sudden explosion of magic coming from the palace; a pink force field engulfed the palace and quickly spread throughout the city, smacking into and repelling any Changeling it came across."I barely had any time to react, thankfully, the shield didn't do anything to me. Hawkeye on the other hoof.....I turned just in time to see the shockwave rip off Hawkeye's disguise. Then when the shield hit him, it flung him up against the wall. If he was outside....the shield would've just flung him out of the city...but he was inside and....and there was nowhere for him to go. I had to listen to him shout in pain as the shield was forced to pass through his body...the pressure of the shield made his chitin crack and bleed in several places. When it finally passed, Hawkeye fell to the floor, barely conscious.""I was going to go check on him, but suddenly the already damaged tower started shaking, not being able to handle any more abuse. I remember theentire room cracking in two and falling down; I was on one side and Hawkeye was on the other. I remember, as the tower collapsed, I fell out the window and slammed into the ground so hard, that I bounced. Everything went dark after that. I awoke, what I assume was a few minutes later, half-buried in debris. I tried to fight the haze in my head and gather my thoughts.. Everything was blurry and the surrounding air was so thick with dust; it made it hard to see and breath. I finally came to my senses, unburied myself and started searching the rubble for Hawkeye.""Hawkeye!" Swiftwing coughed as he struggled to breath. "Hawkeye, where are you!?" He leaned against a support beam sticking out in the rubble and violently coughed; his body trying to evict all of the unwanted dust from its lungs. He was able to catch his breath slightly and continued on."Come on, Hawk! Answer me! I can't-" Swiftwing let out a few more coughs before calling out again. "-I can't see anything! There's too much dust...."Swiftwing continued climbing over debris until he saw what looked like his friend silhouetted in the dense dust cloud."Hawkeye!" Swiftwing shouted as he tried to get closerThere was no answer."Hawkeye!"Still no movement or response."HAWKEYE!!!"Finally, Hawkeye tilted his head and ears towards his friend. Swiftwing breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his friend was still alive. Hawkeye was half buried as well, and laying flat on his back, looking straight up; his chitin was severely cracked and bleeding in several areas."Don't worry Hawkeye, I'm here....you'll be alright." Swiftwing said as he started to dig his friend out.Hawkeye didn't answer, instead he kept staring straight up."Alright Hawk, I'm going to pull you out of there alright?" Swiftwing grabbed under Hawkeye's arms and started to pull. Hawkeye grimaced and gave a yell in pain which caused Swiftwing to stop suddenly.""Hawkeye, what's wrong? What is-""I stopped and noticed that Hawkeye was tightly clutching his forehooves together over his chest; there was also quite a bit of blood coming from underneath his hooves. I slowly lifted up his hooves...and that's when I saw it. Swiftwing took a few seconds to gather himself. There...s-sticking about an inch and a half out of his chest, was a small metal pole used for supporting the tower....he.....he had....been impaled..."Swiftwing gasped in horror and started to shake. Hawkeye continued to look up, trying to peer through the dust cloud to the sky."D-Don't worry Hawkeye," Swiftwing said as he started to stand. "I'll go get help, just hang in there and-" Hawkeye interrupted and grabbed Swiftwing's hoof."No, no...." Hawkeye said with a small, peaceful smile. "Too late..."Swiftwing lowered his ears "no...it...it can't be..."Hawkeye's grip grew tighter."We....kicked a lot of....flank....to-day...."Swiftwing smiled as tears leak out of his eyes, "yeah....we did. They'll know better next time won't they..."Hawkeye smiled. "I.....I did good....yeah?""Yeah...yeah you did very good. That other Changeling from earlier had me pinned and was going to kill me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."Hawkeye sighed happily and looked back up. "I've...al-ways...liked the sky here...didn't....have a...sky like this one...back home..."Swiftwing looked up; the dust around them was beginning to settle, which allowed the bright blue sky to peek through.Hawkeye sighed and closed his eyes as the sun shone on his face. His breathing soon became more and more shallow."I feel....very warm," Hawkeye said. He then smiled peacefully and gave one last breath.* * * *Surprise stared at Swiftwing, ears down and a hoof over her mouth."You mean," Surprise said. "Hawkeye...died?"Swiftwing nodded, "he did.""That's....really sad...""Mmm...anyway, a few minutes later. A rescue squad came and found us. Thankfully, the ponies who found us knew Hawkeye. They took me away for medical care...and that's all I have to say about that.""Did you ever send the letter?""Oh yes. As soon as everything calmed down, I asked Celestia for her help.""How did that work; Hawkeye being able to send letters to his brother who was still in the Changelings home country.""I honestly have no idea; but Celestia made it work.""Do you ever think about him?""Yeah, even to this day, I want to go to his room to tell him about something funny I saw or heard; but then I remember he won't be there."Surprise lowered her ears, "oh..."Swiftwing looked up into the bright blue sky. "But don't worry, I'll see him again...someday..."Surprise gave a small smile and blinked away a few tears that threatened to overflow."Surprise, thank you so much for letting me tell you my story. Believe it or not, it really helps.""Oh, anytime! If you want to tell me more stories, we can meet up here again! Oo, I can even bring my mom! She'll love your stories!""That sounds wonderful! How about-""Um...excuse me..." another voice inturrupted.Swiftwing and Surprise turned to see an older looking earth pony stallion smiling."Hello there! I'm Surprise!""Surprise?" the stallion said. "Well that's-""Surprising, I know!" Surprise said with a giggle."My name is Swiftwing.""Yes, I uh...I know who you are.""You do? Well then forgive me, I think I may have forgotten your name.""Well, we've never met face to face, but I've heard of you.""Oh, well, it's nice to know I'm famous!"The stallion chuckled."I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but I just could help but listen to your story."Swiftwing smiled. "I don't mind at all. I hope you enjoyed it.""I did indeed. Listening to my brother being a hero tends to be enjoyable to listen to." The stallion said with a wink."Yeah listening to family members being a hero is...wait...what did you say?""I'll probably get in trouble for this..." the stallion said as he looked around.Before Swiftwing or Surprise could say anything else, the stallion took a step closer to them, getting out of plain sight. Then, with a sudden flash of green, the stallion disappeared and standing in his place was a Changeling with a deep yellow color. Surprise stood in shock, unsure of what to do. After a few seconds of silence, Swiftwing spoke up."You...you're Hawkeye's brother....""I am."A big smile grew on Swiftwing's face. "It...it is a huge honor to meet you!""Believe me, the honor is mine. It's so great to finally meet you.""How long have you been living here?""A long time. I moved here a few years after the Invasion.""Why haven't you tried to find Swiftwing before?" Surprise asked."I wasn't allowed out of the palace. They still allow Changelings to serve, but ever since the Invasion, the process is much harder and we're no longer allowed to leave the castle.""So what are you doing out here?" Swiftwing said with a sly look.The Changeling smiled, "breaking protocol...well...with a little help from Celestia."Surprise broke out into a smile and flapped her wings excitedly, "this is so exciting! We'll spend all day together and tell each other stories and maybe we can even have a reunion party and even-""Actually," the Changeling interrupted. "I only have the afternoon off, and I spent most of it listening to the story "I understand," Swiftwing said. "But before you go, I have one question for you.""Yes?""What is your name?"The Changeling let out a hardy laugh, "To hard for you?"Swiftwing blushed, "I just-can't remember how to pronounce it.""It's alright my friend. In your language, it would be translated as: Casurus Ochre. 'Casurus' meaning 'fall' and 'Ochre' meaning the yellow pigment color.Surprise burst out laughing, "That wasn't anything like what you were thinking Swiftwing!"Swiftwing blushed from embarrassment."What did you think my name was?" Casurus asked."Oh nothing really I-""He thought your name had something to do with Lightning!" Surprise interrupted.Swiftwing blushed harder as Casurus laughed again."Well I'm glad you two find my mistakes so amusing," Swiftwing said."Oh, I'm sorry," Casurus said as he started to calm down. "It's just I've never heard that before!""I can tell," Swiftwing said. "Anyway, I suppose you need to get back to the palace?" Swiftwing said with a hint of sadness."I do. If you ever want to visit, just ask Princess Celestia for me. I would love to tell you all about Hawkeye and me when we were younger.""That sounds great! I would also like to tell you about what we did here in Canterlot!""That sounds really nice!" Casurus said as he turned. With a flash of green, he then turned back into his disguise. " I must be going now. Farewell Swiftwing!""Farewell!" Swiftwing said as the disguised Casurus trotted away.Swiftwing and Surprise stood in silence for a few seconds before Swiftwing spoke up."Well Surprise.""Yes?""I believe I need to be introduced to Pinkie Pie?"Surprise smiled happily, "of course I'll introduce you to her! She should be at Candyland right now! It's this way!"Swiftwing happily followed Surprise down the street and listened to her as she started babbling about the most random of things.Along one of the dark stone walls of the memorial, etched into the stone was the engraving:Hawkeye:A Messenger for CelestiaandA True Hero of Canterlot
