Never the Same

Chapters

An Old Friend Returns and Things Get Interesting
Did I Just Get Sent to Prison?
An Unexpected Awakening

An Old Friend Returns and Things Get Interesting

Barley stepped right back, abandoning his intimidating approach, "How do you know my name?"

Flash didn't reply, bouncing a cheerful circle around his friend, "Ohyesohyesohyes! Ohmygoshohmygoshomygosh!" He broke off from his excited ranting, stopping to wrap his hooves around Barley in a tight hug.

"Get off me!" The older colt growled, shoving Flash away, "Changeling scum!"

The changeling frowned, looking down at his dark, Swiss-cheese hooves, "Oh," He sighed, "I-I guess you wouldn't remember me like this, would you?"

Barley stomped angrily, jabbing a hoof into Flash's chest, "What in the name of Celestia are you talking about? You're mad, crazy!" He punctuated those last words by waving an arm at the sky.

Flash's horn glowed with green energy as he was about to change forms, but the threatening voices of the crowd before him caused Flash to stop himself. He was hungry, tired and emotionally drained, only wanting to snuggle up close with his family by a warm fireplace. Could it happen? Yes. Would it happen? No, not for a long time. Maybe never. Maybe Flash would simply be driven from town and forced to be separate from everyone he knew and loved. Everyone and everything, it would all go down the drain...

Flash smiled, masking the turmoil of worried questions buzzing in his mind, "I missed you."

At those three, simple words, the changeling lifted himself up, turned around, and with a heavy heart, began to walk. He walked through the crowd that seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and everything seemed to take on a surreal, peaceful appearance. Flash felt light-headed with hunger and exaustion, but still he walked. Soon, he began to stagger, coughing and struggling to stay on his feet. Flash felt a stabbing pain in his chest, as though a sliver of ice was being driven deep into his insides. His vision blurred, the ground rushed up to meet him, and then Flash saw only darkness.

Flash cried out as he opened his eyes, seeing only jagged black rock under his hooves, and a warped, smoggy cyclone spiraling into the sky above him. Everything, the void above the unnatural storm, the cracks between the rocks, and a strange shaped mark on the rock under his hooves, glowed with eerie green light. A tall pedastal of dark rock towered above him, and atop it, a mysterious changeling stood. The royal-looking changeling's dragon-like green eyes glinted with a deranged light, long fangs bared in a crooked grin. It towered higher than even the already tall Flash, a jagged black crown resting on its head. A swarm of dark, red-eyed silhouettes flew down from the cyclone, engulfing everything in blackness.

A crazed and distorted voice feverishly chanted over and over, echoing through the endless darkness,

We are coming,

We must feed,

Devour the throne,

He is the ever-hungry,

He is the Devourer,

His reign of hunger will bring power to us,

The ice in your soul,

Is only his power,

We are one of the Venomer's reign,

We are one,

WE ARE ONE!

Flash let out a shriek, "MAKE IT STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE! MAKE IT STOP!"

The changeling colt felt a dull, throbbing pain in the back of his head. He didn't open his eyes, but felt cold floorboards pressed uncomfortably against his spine. Flash let out a moan, and felt his mouth move in time to the deranged voice still pounding in his ears. Then he realized he was the one who was chanting aloud, it had been him all along. As soon as his sluggish mind processed the realization, he snapped his eyes open and let out another shriek, cupping his Swiss-cheese hooves over his mouth, this time the panicked wail only a noise rather than feverish begging to some strange figment of his imagination.

"Flash?" It was Twilight, he could tell. "Flash!" Twilight repeated, this time an edge to her voice, "What does it mean?"

The changeling blinked, taking in his surroundings. He was in a modest bedroom, on the floor in front of a side table, a sagging bed sitting next to him. One wing was tangled in star-print blankets, and a candle on the table cast a dim glow into the otherwise dark room. Books could be seen everywhere, in neat piles stacked across the floor, and carefully organized in ceiling-high shelves that were built into the walls of the room. Flash could see the circular outline of a window, the green-tinted sun throwing a weak, sickly light through the glass pane and into the room, the sturdy wooden crossbeam supporting the window casting deep shadows across the bed and floor.

"I... I'm in the library," Flash whispered hoarsely to no one in paticular, "And he keeps repeating..."

"Excuse me? I didn't quite catch that."

Flash continued to stare blankly up at the ceiling, "No," he said, his voice growing

louder and stronger, "Why?"

Twilight's eyes were wide, "You need help!"

His wings fluttering and legs working hard as he tried to get up, Flash muttered, "...Don't need help...."

"Princess Celestia! I need backup please!"

There was a flash of golden magic, and Celestia materialized next to Twilight, "What is it? How is he doing?"

Twilight nodded, her purple wings fluttering in anxiety and frustration. "He was talking in his sleep, and even awake he asked me 'why'. Just 'why'."

Flash felt sick, his stomach knotted in anxiety. A burning cold had filled his body, and with wide eyes, he untangled himself from the blanket and tossed it up on the bed. He managed to stagger to his hooves, trembling with effort. Despite the urge to bolt for cover and find somewhere warm to be alone, Flash let out a deep sigh and faced the Princesses. Luna had appeared out of nowhere, it seemed, or maybe she had been there the whole time. It was hard to tell. Still shivering, Flash dipped his head to each Alicorn in turn.

"W-what happened? He managed to choke out through his chattering teeth as he fought the urge to retch, "H-how did I g-get here?"

No reply. The three Alicorns simply watched him with wide, wary eyes. Twilight finally cleared her throat, breaking the awkward silence, "You," she paused, looking Flash over one more time, "You, uh... Passed out from exaustion. We brought you here to rest up."

"About that," Celestia cut in, "When's the last time you got a proper sleep?"

Flash shifted nervously, wondering if his answer would upset the Princesses. "Weeks," he replied hoarsely, lowering his gaze, "I've managed to grab a few quick naps in between, but you're not expected to sleep at the hive."

"Here," Luna said warmly, a corked bottle of pinkish, bubbling liquid in her outstretched hoof, "This is synthetic love, it's meant to keep changeling prisoners alive for long-term interrogation, as well as to restore those that have been fed on by changelings. I know it's probably not as good as the real thing, but it's all we have."

Flash smiled gratefully as he took the strange potion, holding the glass bottle between both hooves and pulling the cork out with his teeth. The changeling took a quick swig of the liquid, feeling a pleasant, tingling warmth replace the burning cold that once dominated his body, "Thank you," he said softly, "It means a lot."

Luna opened her mouth to reply, but a loud crash from outside cut her off. Almost immediately, the acrid stench of smoke found its way into Flash's sensitive nostrils. He let out a cry, bursting through the door and into the open, not bothering to pull up a disguise. A nearby mare screamed at the changeling's sudden appearance, minty-green coated, darker mint white-streaked mane, and lyre Cutie Mark. Unicorn. Lyra. Another changeling smashed into the ground in a bubble of green energy, leaving a fair-sized crater at its hooves. The changeling hissed viciously and gave chase, gaining quickly on the defenseless Unicorn mare. Flash snarled, charging at the changeling with all his force. He roared savagely, leaping onto the changeling's back, sharp hooves scrabbling frantically at the carapace of the other changeling's back. Flash wrestled the helpless changeling to the ground, shrieking in rage as he slammed his forelegs into the changeling's side over and over. Electric sparks flew from his hooves, scorching the changeling's coarse hair. Crack after sickening crack sounded as bones broke under his hooves. Even after the changeling stopped screaming and twitching, Flash continued to maul it over and over, blood coating his face, chest and hooves.

"Please stop!"

Flash whirled around with a snarl, but quickly relaxed as he saw Lyra trembling before him. "L-Lyra," he choked, "I didn't mean to..."

"How do you know my name?" Lyra stepped forward fearlessly, despite the quavering note to her voice. "Why did you help me?"

Flash blushed, "It's complicated."

Lyra shook her head, not understanding what was happening, "How complicated? And why can't you tell me?"

A scream from behind them caught the pair's attention, a young colt being closed on by a half-dozen or so changelings. Flash let out a shrill wail, and all six whirled around to the source of the noise.

"What do you think you're doing?" Flash demanded, his eyes glowing dimly green in his rage. The changelings didn't respond, blinking in confusion. Flash sighed as he realized that there were young drones, and that they'd speak in Drone Code. Flash stepped closer to the changelings, and using the Drone Code spoke, "What do you think you're doing?"

The insect-like clicks, hisses and rattles coming from the other changeling before him morphed into words in Flash's ears, "We're destroying the ponies' town?"

Flash snarled with a flurry of rapid, alien clicking, "On whose orders?"

"We did it on our own to impress the Queen before she anoints her successor," one changeling confessed in a series of rattling hisses.

"To gain her favor," another added with a set of clicks.

"Too bad," Flash hissed, "Because I am her successor, the Prince of the changelings! So, I order you and anypony else you may have brought to leave this town. Ragtag bands like you will disrupt the progress of our plans!"

Each changeling nodded in turn, waving and calling to their companions to leave, and fluttering away into the forest, and likely into the 'hive,' that was merely a war outpost rather than the main city of the changelings, which was located within the wastelands just between the Everfree and the border of Zebrica.

Flash let out a relived sigh as the changelings flocked away, horn glowing as he transformed into his pony self.

"Flash?"

The transformed changeling jumped at the sound of Lyra's sharp-edged voice, "Lyra!"

"What just happened? Humans? Why are you all bloody? Why are you here? You were captured, right? Why'd the changelings leave? Or are you a changeling?"

Flash narrowed his eyes, "Please stop, Lyra. I-I... You're right, I am a changeling."

The Unicorn mare took a step back, "So you were the one who killed the other changeling. I should've known..."

"I know," he said softly, "I killed it... I just... Couldn't stop... I saw you, in danger... I just lost control..."

Lyra shook her head, "I don't understand," she admitted, "You're not acting like a changeling, in fact you're acting just like the real Flash. He was-”

"Your coltfriend, I know. I am."

"No."

Flash frowned, his ears splaying back against his skull, "It's true," he insisted, "I was captured, and I am Flash Lightning. I always was. Since I was born, I was and always will be Flash Lightning!"

"You mean," Lyra drew closer, "They changed you."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Me too."

"What now?"

"I hope I wasn't seen."

"And?"

"And if I was seen, I try to explain."

"If that doesn't work?"

"I run back to the hive and probably never come back."

Lyra frowned, breaking off from their brief, one-sided conversation. The Unicorn mare looked up as a group of royal guards galloped into the square.

"What's happened here?" One guard demanded. The firey brown eyes were unmistakeable - the same guards that raided Flash's home, hot on the trail of his changeling magic.

"Changelings, Sir," Flash said softly, "We... Drove them off, to say the least."

The brown-eyed guard from before narrowed his eyes, "I am Clear Glass," the Unicorn announced, "And you are?"

Flash dipped his head submissively, "F-Flash Lightning and Lyra Heartstrings."

"I see." Glass came closer to inspect Flash, "Have I seen you before?"

"N-nnn..." Flash stuttered, stepping back as the guard aggressively came forward, "No! I've n-never seen you before!"

Glass seemed to have backed off, thinking that Flash wasn't actually a changeling. He smiled warmly, "Well," he sighed, "I've gotta go and translate that Drone Code, or so it's called."

As Flash heard Glass say that, he felt his stomach lurch with guilt and suspicion. A slight hiss escaped him in his nervousness, making Flash quickly bite his lip and mentally kick himself for being so careless,

Why am I so stupid?

Flash snapped back to reality as he realized the Princesses were approaching. He sunk into a respectful bow, the bow he'd forgotten back in the library.

A cold, warped female voice cut through the silence, "Rise."

"Chrysalis," Flash snarled, whirling around to find the source of her voice, "What did I do this time?"

Chrysalis revealed herself, stepping out of an alley, green eyes glowing in triumph, "I just wanted to tell you something, Venom."

Flash narrowed his eyes at the changeling Queen, "And what's that?"

"You are King, Venom. It's all yours, except the perfected appearance of changeling royalty, but you'll get that soon enough."

"MY NAME IS FLASH LIGHTNING!"

Chrysalis' eyes were actually wide with fear as white-blue tendrils of electricity crackled at Flash's hooves. "Y-You wouldn't use it on me!"

"Would I?" Flash growled, electricity forming a shell around his body with its thin, swirling strings, "I WOULD!"

Flash set his stance as the field of electrical energy around him grew, a thunderous roaring of the energy filling the air as Flash's rage grew. He gritted his teeth in strain, letting a huge bolt of lightning erupt from him, expelling all of the electricity that had been gathering within him. Chrysalis screeched, collapsing as the lightning struck her flank.

"What was that?" Lyra cried, "Please tell me!"

Flash smirked cockily, "My name isn't Flash Lightning for nothing!" He reached down with a hoof and tapped his flank and Cutie Mark that depicted a thundercloud with a shockwave of lightning around it.

"I-I'm sorry," Chrysalis' thin voice cut in, "I really am," Though painful, the scorch mark on her flank wasn't fatal. "It was selfish of me," she admitted, "I took you away for my own purposes, and in doing so, ripped away the perfect, happy life you should've had. I'm sorry."

Flash's hard gaze softened, "I... I'm sorry too."

Chrysalis smiled weakly, "Who would you like to become leader of the changelings?"

"Misty," Flash immediately replied with a smile, "Misty Skies. She'd be brilliant!"

"Very well," Chrysalis said, spreading her wings, "I shall send the word, and good luck."

"Flash! Flash!"

The changeling turned around, yellow eyes wide to see a changeling filly running towards him, "K-Kara?"

The filly nodded, hopping up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "You're gonna leave me?"

Flash's ears splayed back against his head as he watched tears well in Kara's pale blue eyes, "No," he began, "No. You always said you wanted to go to school?"

"Yes?"

"You're gonna get your wish!"

Kara jumped off of Flash, bouncing happily up and down, "Ohyesohyesohyes!"

Flash grinned, "Every bit I possess will go to-"

"I'll pay for it," Celestia interrupted, "It's the least I can do for all this trouble. And speaking of, you need to catch up on your schoolwork as well, Flash. Seventh grade is a big year."

"But Princess," Flash insisted, "What about the cloud-thing?"

"I'll take care of that as well. Everypony get some rest, the moon was due to rise an hour ago, and it would've if Luna's magic hadn't been intercepted by the changelings."

Flash nodded, picking Kara up onto his back. He spread his black-tipped wings and hopped into flight, flapping up to the cloud formation that held his home. The moon was rising, the warped cyclone dissipating, all seemed to be on it's way to being back to normal. Flash was sure thing would only get harder, a lurking fear growing inside him, a wave of cold nausea washing over him. Maybe it would get better if he got some sleep...

A loud, metallic clanging filled Flash's ears as he slowly opened his eyes. Flash blindly reached sideways, pressing the button on his alarm clock, and the ringing ceased. He rolled off his bed, landing on his hooves and trotting to the bathroom. After he washed his face and otherwise woke himself up and prepared for the day, Flash stumbled downstairs, still somewhat asleep. He rubbed his eyes, feeling more alert, and entered the modest, cloud-furnished kitchen.

"Morning Ma," he said cheerily, grabbing a bowl and pouring himself some cereal, "Is Stormy awake?"

"Good morning, Flash. Yeah, she's out in the park with your father and that Kara you brought home."

Flash nodded, opening the refrigerator. He didn't expect to see several large bottles of synthetic love. "What?"

The mint-coated mare smiled, "They came in the mail this morning, it says they're a gift from Princess Luna."

"Really? That's so generous! I don't know what to say!"

"You, speechless?" His mother teased, "That's new."

Flash chuckled, pulling out a bottle and pouring some it into his cereal. "Very funny."

"Now," she warned, "Don't use too much. We don't want to waste it."

"Don't worry, Ma. I can explain to you how changeling love intake works, if that makes you feel better." He levitated a spoon up to his mouth, taking a mouthful of love-cereal.

The mare smiled, lifting up a set of packed saddlebags with a lightning-bolt shaped buckle. They were tattered and worn; the strap looked like it had been replace at least thrice, the bottom corner of the left bag was stained slightly, and several patches dotted both bags.

"Eat quick," she said, "You've still got to head to school."

Flash nodded, "I know." He lifted up the mostly-empty bowl, pressed it to his lips and drank the liquid left over from the bottom of the bowl. Hopping to his hooves, Flash grabbed a simple blue vest that had been hanging on one of the chairs, slipping it on. He then smiled, taking the bag from his mother and pulling the strap over his lanky shoulders.

"Bye," he called, "See ya later!"

"Have a good day," his mother replied as her son glided down from the clouds. Once on solid ground, Flash began to trot in the direction of the schoolhouse. It wasn't a paticularly special school, a squat brick building with lots of windows squashed between the town hall and a field of tall golden grass. There was at least one old, abandoned-looking storage shed sitting in the field, dusty and alone. Flash couldn't say he'd sympathize with the average, not-so-one-of-a-kind shed that only came along about a thousand times in a general week. Maybe millions in a wierd, stereotypical lifetime, but who had one of those?

Flash took a deep breath, opening the door and stepping into the school. There was only silence. The nervous rasping of Flash's hoarse breathing was unbearably loud, each click of his hoof against the hard floor felt the tiniest noises were screaming for trouble. The changeling slowly made his was to his locker, punching in his old combination and tucking the bags and vest inside. He shuddered, shifting his wings in anxiety.

"Hello?"

Only silence replied. Not that Flash would've expected a reply when the halls were so disturbingly empty. There was a sound of crackling electricity, and the lights flickered out. Flash didn't mind, his changeling eyes seeing more than fine in the dark. His sharp ears swiveled as a whimper sounded in the darkness, his dimly glowing eyes sweeping for the source of the noise. Flash channeled energy into his magic, casting a dim, greenish glow from the tip of his horn. Before long, his energy faded, and that light, too faded out. The changeling sighed, closing his eyes. Maybe everyone had hidden from him. Maybe they were going to ambush him. Flash didn't know, but he picked himself up and trudged further down the cold hallway. As he made his way to the empty homerooms, he saw traces of green slime on the ground. The traces grew to a trickle, that grew to a cascade of opaque, green, changeling mucus. The reek of blood and rot reached Flash's nose, and he recoiled. Despite the revolting smell, Flash continued onward, wading through the normally sticky substance with ease. The outline of a pony could be seen, standing solemnly at the end of the hall. It shied away as the changeling's hooves clicked on clean tile, and Flash's ears swiveled forward in eagerness at seeing a potentially friendly face.

"Hello?" He repeated, fluttering his wings nervously.

A voice called back, hoarse with fear, "W-Who are you?"

"Barley?" Flash ventured, taking a cautious step forward, "Uh... Barley Crop?"

"How do you know my name? Who are you?"

Flash took a deep, nervous breath, trotting out into the dim light that emanated from the hallway ahead of him. He kept his head low, avoiding Barley's blue-eyed gaze. The colt's burnt orange coat was dirty, his dark brown mane an unkempt mess. His wide blue eyes were scared, so full of fear and hate and confusion. That was definitely Barley.

"I'm a friend," Flash transformed into his pony self, "I can help you."

Barley narrowed his eyes, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "No! You're a changeling, even if you did help us, I'm sure there'd be a catch, am I right."

Flash stomped a hoof in annoyance, a sinister edge cutting into his voice as he continued, "I do have some... Alternate motives," he hissed, "But I feel they would benefit us both. Besides," he reasoned with a slight smirk, "I could kill you instead, if you prefer."

Barley suddenly was unsure. The changeling that called itself Flash did bear a striking resemblance to the lanky yellow-eyed colt he'd known, but the incredible contrasts in personalities could easily dismiss such similarities. Going from gently hopeful to disturbingly malicious in the blink of an eye was not something the old Flash would normally do.

"What are these 'a-alternate motives,' and how can they benefit me?" Barley cut in with a less pleasant consideration, "What if you're lying? You could just want to make me feel safe so you can kill me at just the right time!"

The changeling rolled his eyes, "We're gonna kick some changeling Queen flank! I can take care of the other changelings, and Chrysalis will no longer a threat to Equestria!"

Barley smiled slightly, a mischievous smile. "You're sure you're not gonna kill me, Flash?"

"I'm glad you're finally starting to trust me," Flash said with a smile, "Now, let's evacuate the others! It won't be safe for anypony to stay here if we end up fighting."

"Aye," Barley agreed with a nod, "You're right about that!"

With a final, silent pact of friendship confirmed, the two colts went onward, Barley in the lead as they headed in the direction of the gymnasium.

Finally, Flash thought, Barley and I can be friends again, like old times. The changling felt his stomach lurch, guilt washing over him. Just like old times...

Did I Just Get Sent to Prison?

Barley sighed as they stopped at the wide double-doors of the gymnasium. They were both covered with the green slime from before, dirty and most likely sticky.

"What're-" Flash whispered, cutting himself off and starting again, "What's the plan?"

As the changeling blinked expectantly at Barley, the colt nodded, "Disguise yourself," he whispered, "and stand guard by this door. Don't let any changelings in, and make sure they're not changelings before you let anypony in. Clear?"

Flash nodded, "Aye-aye, Captain." He smiled slightly, "I've got your back."

Barley shifted nervously, watching his friend slip from changeling to pony in the blink of an eye. With a final nod, the colt pushed the door open slowly. He walked in, tense and clearly unsure whether his friends would be there, or a swarm of bloodthirsty changelings.

"Hello?" Barley's voice echoed eerily through the large spaces as he called out, "It's me, Barley Crop!"

A pair of blue-gray eyes could be seen, reflecting the dim light and seeming to glow. "Thank Luna you're here," she whispered, her voice quavering and urgent, "Somepony... Shining Prisim was poisoned by a changeling of some kind. We don't know what to do over here, and he's not doing well."

Barley felt his stomach lurch as a sickening snap sounded from behind him. Spinning around to face whatever was there, he set a stance. A pair of yellow eyes glowed dimly from the shadowed face of what appeared to be a Pegasus. It was Flash. The colt relaxed as Flash came forward. "I think," he replied, turning to Flash, "I know somepony who can help.

There was a scraping sound and a crackle, and a Pegasus mare could be seen holding a lantern, freshly lit. Her coat was a dull blue, just a bit darker than the shade of her blue-gray eyes. Her short medium brown mane was streaked through with paler tans, and both her mane and tail were tied up in messy ponytails. Locks of her bangs had fallen into her eyes, and her wings were ruffled with stress. She was shaking like there was no tomorrow, tears pouring from her eyes in a rushing river of salty water.

Flash frowned, rushing forward. "Take me to him, and I'll do whatever I can!"

"T-thank you," she whispered in reply, beginning to walk farther into the eerily dark gymnasium. The mare's voice grew stronger as she continued, "Nopony wants to help, even if they knew how. They're all afraid of being 'infected,' whatever that means."

Flash chuckled humorlessly, "'Infected,'" he mused, "I guess that means it's too late for me. What's your name?"

The mare seemed somewhat disturbed by Flash's last comment, but managed to answer with the guise of being fine with it, "Ink Drop," she said, tapping her flank. Her Cutie Mark was of a quill dipping into an ink-pot with swirling designs of ink behind said quill/ink-pot. "You?"

"Flash Lightning," he replied, feeling safe with a friendly face so near. He stopped short when a group of ponies could be seen, all insectoid, changeling instincts screaming for him to attack, bolt, feed, or all of the above. He quivered, battling hard, desprerately trying to keep his fangs from baring. "Nnnn...gah!"

Ink Drop flinched as her companion shook uncontrollably, each whimper sounding more and more like a changeling's snarl, hiss, or screech. Tears rolled down his cheeks, the flow never ebbing or stopping. "This... This is what's happening to Prisim!"

"That means..." Flash choked, feeling his concentration slip and disguise beginning to fade, "He must be a changeling!" He stumbled, trying to get to Shining Prisim before he did something stupid, "But... He's fighting it!"

"Fighting it?" Ink Drop echoed, not comprehending, "What is he fighting? What are you fighting?"

Flash whimpered, "Everything!"

At last the changeling's concentration failed, and his disguise dropped. Now that he was no longer investing precious energy and concentration into his disguise, Flash could concentrate on not killing everypony in the room. Never before had these instincts affected him this way, usually showing themselves as a curled lip baring fangs, a constant jittery alertness, or sharp, nervous movements.

Ink Drop was too scared to scream, standing rigid as the oblivious changeling trembled and whimpered. A chilling, animalistic wail ripped the air, accompanied by the panicked screams of ponies.

The source of the wail was a pony, coat a pastel yellow and spiky mane streaked with blue, red and purple. Clearly a colt by his build, the pony opened his mouth, another shriek escaping him. It was Shining Prisim. Prisim snarled and rattled, baring long fangs that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. His legs slowly became riddled with holes as his blue eyes glowed and yellowish froth gathered at the corners of his mouth.

Ink Drop saw the rabid colt running towards her, enraged and feral, but she did nothing. Too scared to scream or run, her first instinct was to freeze, and freeze she did, eyes wide and tears gushing.

Another noise ripped the air - a hoarse shout that resembled a battle cry. A dark, pony-like shape slammed into Prisim, knocking him off his hooves. Ink Drop smiled hopefully, wishing for Barley or another of her friends to emerge from the dust, but it was a changeling that she thought was Flash that was running towards her. She screamed.

Tears still ran down Flash's face as he tried to resist his instincts. He couldn't help twitching or constantly sniffing and swiveling his ears about. He was losing control, letting jerky, insectoid movements slowly take over him until he'd be no better than Prisim. The changeling stopped before Ink Drop, unable to control himself as saliva welled up under his tongue.

"You're alrrr..." He choked, unable to resist growling and instinctively baring his fangs. Mentally kicking himself, he shook his head, "You... a-alright?"

Ink Drop nodded, "I..." Her eyes went wide as she thrust out a hoof, "Behind you!"

Flash snarled, whipping around and facing the rabid colt charging at him. He rushed forward, meeting Prisim in mid-leap, shoving him back and turning around. "Go find help... Nnnn..." He hissed and twitched as the mare hesitated, "NOW!"

Ink Drop obeyed, running away in the direction of the group of other ponies that had been trapped in this school.

Flash dodged another charge by Prisim, taking advantage of the colt's momentum to trip him, getting on top and pinning him down. His horn glowed with green light, washing over Prisim. When it was over, Flash felt like himself again, though he was gasping for air and exausted to the point of dropping, he was himself. Prisim blinked in confusion, spitting out gobs of bloody foam.

"What? What happened? Where am I?"

Flash sighed, holding out a hoof and helping the colt up, "It's a long story."

Prisim edged away, trembling with realization, "Ch-CHANGELING!"

"Sweet Luna's moon! Relax!"

"Oh Celestia," Shining Prisim continued, oblivious to Flash's exasperation, "Look at its eyes!"

Flash arched an eyebrow, "My... Eyes?" He turned around, shifting until he spotted a puddle of dirty slime-water sitting in a hole in the floor. With further inspection, Flash confirmed that they were actually in the gym, rather than some random spacious room by the peeling tape stripes that marked boundaries for games. The familiar details calmed him and made him feel safe, but now he had to see what the big deal about his eyes was. Stooping over the puddle, he bit his lip as he saw the reflection staring up at him. A single red drop disturbed and stained the still water - his own blood. His eyes were dragon-like, the same as Chrysalis, but somewhat different. The 'white' of his eye had been replaced by a void of bright yellow, and a toxic-green iris encircled a dagger-shaped black pupil. Flash forced himself to stop biting his lip, the coppery, bitter taste of blood filling his mouth as he let go. He blinked in surprise, and as he opened his eyes again, all he saw were yellow changeling's eyes staring back at him, as normal as they'd ever been. Interesting...

Prisim was staring blankly down at his Swiss-cheese hooves when Flash turned around. "You okay?" Flash asked, concern glittering in his yellow eyes, "You're a changeling, right?"

"Yeah," Prisim replied, voice shaking, "I'm fine." He sighed and finally put his hooves down, and with a crackle of green light was a full pony once more. "They tried to turn me into a changeling," he confessed, tears beginning to roll silently down his cheeks, "But I didn't cut it, I was 'incomplete,' so they threw me out into the woods. I was able to turn into myself and find my way back to Ponyville without anypony finding out..." He paused, quivering, before letting out a choked sob as he wrapped his hooves around Flash, "I didn't want anypony to find out!" He cried, "Everything was fine before the Canterlot siege!"

Flash, though still confused by his own rapidly changing appearance, hugged Prisim as the colt cried on his shoulder. He felt guilty, though he wasn't sure why. Flash sighed, "Oh, Prisim, I'm sure your friends can keep the secret. I've had more than one attempt at showing-"

Prisim abruptly broke away from the hug, knocking Flash over, "You what? It's suicide!"

"Maybe it is," Flash admitted, "but I've exausted all other options. I have no choice." He shifted nervously, flicking an ear. "But I have one more question," he said.

"What's that?" Prisim asked, leaning forward in interest.

Flash fanned his wings anrgily, "WHAT THE HAY JUST HAPPENED HERE?"

"Oh dear..." Prisim sighed, "According to my hypothesis, there had to have been some kind of third-party magic waves interfering with our own magic and brain waves, causing us to feel strangely disoriented, unable to think straight, followed by our bodies going into panic-mode and resorting to our most basic instincts to ensure our survival-"

"The instincts of changelings." Flash was glaring icily down at his hooves. "We became what we are in the most primal part of our cores, mindless animals with no fear, no mercy. No love. Just rage. Hunger, and rage and hate. I'd never wish that on even my worst enemy. It hurts."

Prisim blinked, pawing nervously at the ground. "Well," he began awkwardly, "At least it's over. We'll never have to feel that way again."

Flash chuckled humorlessly, an icy, cruel sound that ricocheted around the large space of the gym. "'We'll never have to feel that way again,'" He echoed, voice high-pitched and mocking, "I'm sure it'll happen again, brainiac, don't forget it!"

The butter unicorn cast his gaze down at the floor, "I-I didn't mean to upset-"

"I don't care!" Flash hissed, eyes glowing, alien and draconic once more as he bared his fangs and raising a hoof to strike Prisim, "You little-"

"Flash!"

The changeling spun around, eye twitching and teeth clenched, "What?" He growled, irises and pupils contracted to hardly more than pinpricks in his rage.

It was Ink Drop, her pale blue eyes glittering with concern. She was biting her lip, ears splayed back against her skull in submission. "Please, Flash. Just calm down and I can help you!"

"Help me?" He echoed flatly, a mocking note ringing in his icy voice, "I don't need your stupid pity!"

"But I do," Ink Drop replied, her confidence growing.

Flash twitched again, "'You do' what?" He demanded, any bloodlust fading from his demeanor, though the fevered agression remained burning in his toxic-green irises.

"I do pity you. Maybe it is stupid, but I do."

"Raaagh!" He snarled and advanced on Ink, his previous prey forgotten in his newfound rage. He pounced forward, pinning her to the floor, once again raising a hoof to slam down on her exposed soft belly.

"You idiot!" Ink hissed at him, squirming in his iron grip, "Snap out of it!" She swung her hoof up at his face, slapping him hard across the cheek, hard enough for the sharp tip of her hoof to have drawn blood.

Flash stumbled back, rubbing his cheek, blood mixed with tears dripping down his face. He blinked rapidly, shaking his head. His eyes had reverted to the usual golden-yellow they were supposed to be, and they were wide as he stared at Ink Drop. The blue-coated mare bit her lip, shifting nervously at his wild-eyed gaze. She jumped as another mare advanced angrily on the stunned changeling, shoving her aside, spinning around and bucking him in the boyloin. (We all should know what that means - his private parts.) He whimpered helplessly up at the new mare, clutching his crotch and rocking back and forth as he lay on his side. The mare had a lilac coat, a messy long mane of neon green and pink, and a Cutie Mark of three cupcakes/muffins, all with pastel blue, pink, or yellow wrappers. Her wings were fanned out angrily, green-blue eyes glaring triumphantly down at him.

"I'll teach you to mess with my boyfriend!" She growled, kicking Flash in the stomach again for good measure.

"Color Splash! That's no way to act!" Ink blurted out, drawing several raised eyebrows and shocked expressions from the group of ponies that had returned from their hasty retreat.

"And why not?" Color Splash scoffed, "He tried to kill you too, didn't he?"

Ink sighed, "No, you're right. He most definitely deserved that, but he's not our enemy, not yet. Why? Because he's our only hope of getting out of here, and he's also willing to help us!"

"And how do you know you can trust him?" Color Splash insisted, eyes narrowed and wings still fanning. "Huh?"

"Dear Luna help me..." Ink muttered, "Color, you're my sister, right?"

Color Splash rolled her eyes with a sigh, "Yes, Ink Drop, I am."

"So trust me for once!" Ink grabbed Flash and heaved him up to his hooves, "Trust him!"

"Fine."

Flash collapsed again as soon as Ink let go of him, hugging her leg and crying into her hoof, "I'msosorry," he whispered, speaking so quickly that he could hardly be heard, "Ididn'tmeantohurtanyponyitwasChrysaliswhomademedoit," he sobbed, "shecancontrolanyofuswhenevershefeelslikeitohpleasedon'thatemebutIwouldn'tblameyouifyoudidandohLunaIcanneverforgivemyselfI'mamonsterandIalwayswillbe!"

Ink lifted her hoof, Flash still clinging to her. "'Mind saying all that again, but slower?"

The changeling took a deep breath, sniffling a little as he got up. He rubbed tears away with one hoof and began to speak in a quavering voice, "I-I'm so sorry," he said, staring at the ground, "I didn't m-mean to hurt anypony, it was Q-Queen Chrysalis, she m-made me do it. She c-can control any of us, w-whenever she feels like it! When converted, she casts a s-special spell, just in case we're 'd-defective'..." He looked up, his voice growing stronger, "P-please don't hate me. But I-I wouldn't blame you if you did, so... It's okay if you do. Oh..." Tears began to roll down his cheeks again, the torrent growing as he leaned forward and hugged Ink, "I'll n-never forgive myself! I'm a m-monster!"

Ink patted his back, "Shh, shh, shh," she murmured, "It's okay, it'll all be fine. You don't need to apoligze, because I bet it was Chrysalis who made Prisim go nutty, too. It could've happened to any of us..."

A voice cut through the air, angry and warped, "But Venom," it crooned, "I'll need you back at the hive, won't I?"

Flash shoved Ink Drop away, screeching in the general direction of where the voice was coming from, "THAT'S NOT MY BUCKING NAME!"

"That's exactly the point, my little soldier. It's really quite amusing how it bothers you so." The voice laughed cruelly, and Chrysalis' tall figure came into view, strutting proudly from the darkness. "I came to discuss the nature of the pet name you've come to so dislike. You're Cyclone now, sweetie, I feel it aligns much better with your... unique range of talents."

The changeling queen's jagged horn glowed green, levitating something from the darkness. Flash blinked, trying to see what it was, he screeched in surprise and fear as he saw it was a teal-coated Pegasus filly with a dark green mane and tail and wide rose-pink eyes. Storm Lily.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Flash snarled, quivering with rage, "I'll r-rip your head off!"

Chrysalis grinned, levitating Storm Lily up to the ceiling. Her insect-like wings buzzed, and she flew up. With green slime excreted from the holes in her hooves, she stuck the Pegasus filly to the nearest beam, by her left hind leg, upside-down. "I can do what I want," she replied smugly, "At least until you obey me!"

"Gah!" Flash rattled, low and threatening as Queen Chrysalis cackled triumphantly, "You! I..." He realized that Storm Lily would be killed if he didn't submit, or worse - converted. "F-Fine," He growled, "But I have conditions!"

"And what would these conditions be?" Chrysalis inquired casually as she pushed Storm Lily, watching with amusement as she swung back and forth.

Flash raised his head, "First, let my sister go! Now!" He grinned smugly as Chrysalis obliged, rushing up to embrace his sister. "Go with Barley and the others, you can be free! Stay with them, and find Ma and Da, tell them I love them okay?"

"But why?" Storm squeaked, "You do care, right? You do love us, so why do you have to leave?"

"I do love you," Flash replied solemnly, "But, Stormy, I don't want them to greive over me, because... I don't know if I'll ever be able to come back. I love you." He turned to Chrysalis, gently pushing Storm Lily over to Barley, Prisim Ink and the others. "My second condition is that you release all of them, unharmed. Do you agree to my terms?"

Chrysalis seemed to ponder the conditions for a moment before nodding, blasting a large chunk of the wall away with her magic. The large hole revealed the broken remains of a teacher's office, with an emergency exit on the far side. Several burly changelings could be seen blocking the exit, though. "I agree." At her signal, the changelings moved off, letting the ponies pass forlornly through the battered door.

A changeling bowed respectfully to Chrysalis, and at her nod of cold acknowledgement it spoke, "What of the traitor, my Queen?"

Chrysalis grinned cruelly, "Lock him up, for the time being. In the highest security cell we have to offer. Tomorrow, I shall prepare him for rehabilitation."

At that, she buzzed her wings, signaling to the changelings to follow her. Strong hooves grabbed at Flash, but he did nothing to struggle. His world was spinning, vision blurring and deep pain stabbing at his insides with each breath. He walked mindlessly along with the changelings as they lead him into the Everfree, abandoning the school they had destroyed for the nearby hive. It was war, and Flash knew it. He was the reason for it.

The procession trekked through the forest as darkness began to blanket the land, Luna's sweet moon rising in the distance as the setting sun cast orange, red and purple beams of light across the land, said beams of light casting deep shadows across the faces of the changelings, the leaved brush of the wooded glen they passed through, and the thicker thorny brambles that grew tall as they neared the hive. Flash couldn't help but gasp as he saw the many brambles that towered up around the hive's body, curling into the dusky sky and dripping with green slime. His chain of thought was interrupted by a sharp pain in his ribs as a changeling shoved him against a thorny bramble-growth. The thorn sent searing pain through his body, and Flash realized it had to have been some kind of poison. His vision blurred, grogginess filling him, and a dull, throbbing pain pounded in his skull. He couldn't take it, and the world went black.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The steady dripping of water or possibly slime filled the space as Flash awoke. He was aware of something cold and hard pressing against his skin, at all four hooves. At first he was confused, but as his blurry vision cleared, he saw heavy shackles at his rear legs, and his forehooves were manacled to a slimy stone wall. His wings felt sticky, and when he tried to flutter them, they couldn't move. He cocked his head to see thick, dark green slime coating his sides where his wings were folded, pinning them down against his sides. Flash struggled weakly, but a sudden bout of dizziness ceased his efforts. He was tired and hungry, cold and weak in some obscure changeling dungeon - this wasn't going well.

"Hello? Anypony?" He called out hoarsely, voice harsh and foreign to his own ears. Despite the feeling of the cold shackles chafing against his skin as he struggled, Flash felt strangely numb, and it scared him, maybe more than anything else in this world. "Somepony? Anypony? Help me!"

"Why're you down here?" A soft voice asked Flash, humming with the underlying buzz typically posessed by changelings.

The colt jumped, pressing his flank against the slimy wall as he squirmed in his bonds, "Who's there?"

"Up here," the voice replied, and Flash looked up into the darkness that somewhere arched into the ceiling. A pair of pale blue eyes glowed down at him, slit-pupiled and curious, along with the outline of a pony-like face outlined in the dim light.

Flash cocked his head cautiously, "Who are you?" He asked, "And how'd you get up there?"

The creature rolled its cyan eyes, "I'm a little stuck up here. Y'know, slime and all that."

"Oh," the colt nodded, squinting as he tried to see exactly what was up there. "Well-"

"Your magic's intact, y'know," the creature interrupted.

Fladh blushed slightly, feeling up his horn as best he could. Huh. His horn was unbound, perhaps because he was trapped in a solid stone room, and there were probably wards, so even if he escaped these bonds, he would be unable to escape the room itself. He channeled his strength into his magic, disintegrating the slime that held his wings. Then, he used his magic to break the locks on his shackles, stretching out once he was free.

"I can't really see up there," he said, "what do you think I should do?"

The eyes blinked thoughtfully for a moment before returning their attention to Flash, "Um... Just shoot that disintegrate-y spell in my general direction, and we should be fine here."

Flash sighed, charging his magic. The blast of green energy shot into the darkness, hitting something with a small 'pffft' sound, accompanied by a pained whine. There was a blur of green and blue and gray, a loud thud, and another whimper. It was a changeling, coated in slime and disoriented, but still a changeling. It was of fairly average build, though somewhat delicate and feminine, clearly a mare, slit-pupiled blue eyes being the only off thing about her. Her insectoid wings were buzzing, short, slightly elegant tail wrapped around one Swiss-cheese leg as she groaned and rolled over. Her pointed ears swiveled in Flash's general direction and she turned its head to him as she tried to get up. She had no styled fringe such as the one that Flash posessed, rather a small fin rising up her neck like any natural-born changeling. Her fangs were small and delicate-looking, slit-pupiled blue eyes lolling in their sockets before refocusing on Flash.

"You alright?" Flash asked, helping the changeling up, and taking notice with some suprise that she had no horn.

"Yeah, thank you," she replied, rubbing the upper part of her foreleg. "So, like I said; what'd you do to get in here?"

Flash shrugged. "I dunno, treason or something. What about you?"

The changeling blushed and chewed her lip, reminding Flash of somepony though he couldn't place exactly who or where. "Oh... I'm supposed to be reconditioned for individualism, I think." A trademark whirl of green flames flashed around her head, leaving a Swiss-cheese-y mane-fringe such as the one Flash had, short and messy, but Flash still couldn't place where he'd seen her before. His chain of thought was once again interrupted, "Y'know, being to bold or distinguished, I guess is a bad thing among us natural-borns," the changeling sighed. "So I was stripped of my name, numbered, and sent down here for said reconditioning."

"My name's Flash," Flash said, "what's your number or name?"

The changeling nodded dully, "I'm 38-12," she replied sadly, "and as of right now, I have no name, so just call me 38-12."

"Oh," Flash said softly, "I'm sorry, 38-12."

38-12 seemed to brighten a bit, "Nah, it's not your fault, and even if you were involved, noling defies the word of the Queen."

Flash arched an eyebrow, "'noling?'" He echoed, "I've never heard that term before."

"Oh yeah," 38-12 replied with a shrug, "I think it's kind of a thing going around the hives, because ponies have their terms, so I guess someling decided we should have ours."

Flash nodded, "Seems to work."

"Sure does!" 38-12 replied cheerily, still reminding Flash of somepony. It was too perfect - a completely healthy and strong changeling appears in his prison chamber, seeming to be willing to help him, claiming to have only a number and not a name, constantly reminding him of somepony, or he supposed, 'someling' he'd had to have seen sometime before. It was suspicious, so maybe it was time to do a little snooping - at least the most snooping one can do when trapped in a solid stone room with the object of said snooping - this would be good.

An Unexpected Awakening

The dark haze that once enveloped Pale Clouds' vision cleared as she regained consciousness. The first thing she noticed was that she was upside down. Next she realized she couldn't breath, and frantically tried to uncurl her uncomfortably twisted body. Pale Clouds' feathery Pegasus wings hysterically fluttered, but the strange cocoon containing her prevented them from opening to their full span. She jerked her head about, panic rising in her, and a loud sound, halfway between a sickening squish and a tear reached her abnormally sensitive ears. Pale tumbled messily from the strange cocoon with a shower of the green sludge-goop.

'What? What is this? How did I get here?'

Pale clouds looked down at her hooves, still sticky with the fluid, but recognizable as a medium blue-tinted gray, darker than the soft pastel blue they should've been. Her lighter gray, slightly wavy mane draped over her right eye, the same as it always was, but Pale felt it part differently, messy from the fall. She reached up with a hoof, deciding the color change was just a trick of the light, her heart jumping and torn, feathery wings fluttering with the realization - she had a horn. Sitting back on her haunches, she lifted her other hoof and felt along the fairly long, slightly curved horn protruding from her forehead. She opened her mouth to cry out, but quickly silenced herself with little more than a whimper, realizing her teeth were long and fanged.

'No! Oh no!'

Pale Clouds' thoughts were cut off as clopping hoofbeats and a strange buzzing sounded in the cavern ahead of her, making Pale realize that she was in a complex honeycomb maze of tunnels, full of the strange cocoons. She longed with all her heart to disappear into nothingness, but she knew her wish would never come true. Not now. As the approaching noises grew louder, Pale recognized the buzzing as the sound of quick changeling wings, spinning around in panic. She barely noticed the pale minty green carapace covering her own back, dancing about frantically, ready to fight if need be.

".... That's just it, Boulder," a changeling's voice echoed towards Pale's broken cocoon and the quivering grayscale shape in front of it, "... I heard some noise down here. If one of the ponies hatched, I hope they're complete. We have too many premature hatchings in the conversion cocoons, you see."

The long shadows of the approaching changelings were clearly imprinted against the floor and wall, cutting through the eerie green light emanating from the caverns before Pale. "I understand, Flash, I saw one, once."

Pale tensed, still trembling as the pair of changelings grew only a few yards away. One was taller, but thinner, the other slightly shorter and stocky. The tall one stopped short as his odd yellow eyes met Pale's, and the disoriented mare could swear on Celestia's mane itself, that changeling blushed.

"Boulder," the tall one said softly, "I... I can handle this."

The shorter changeling Pale identified as Boulder nodded to Flash, "I trust you, Flash."

Pale Clouds' breathing grew shallow and panicked as the skeleton of a changeling approached, towering over her as his golden-yellow eyes glowed menacingly. Pale flinched with a whimper as he raised a foreleg riddled with holes, but to her surprise, he brought it down gently and slowly stroked her soft gray mane.

He bent down to her level, and though Flash's fangs were long and threatening in the dim glowing of his eyes, his slightly cracking voice was soft and soothing as he murmured to her, "Don't worry," he whispered, his voice growing hushed and urgent, "Just act like you're one of us, even if your physical conversion isn't complete," Flash pressed his curved horn against Pale's forehead, and a rush of knowledge seared through her mind. "This'll help," he said softly, pulling Pale to her hooves.

"Thank you," Pale Clouds murmured in the tall changeling's ragged ear, and Flash's sensitive nose picked up the sweet, earthy scent of her breath, it was such a smell no one had even the slightest chance of whiffing in the hive. No wonder the ponies loved to live in the flowing fields of the valley beyond the forest...

Flash nodded, "Don't worry, Boulder," he called, "her physical conversion isn't complete, but her mind is one of ours and loyal."

"Alright," Boulder replied, uncertainty lacing his deep voice, "You're the boss." His expression brightened, "Well, you're not the best in magic for nothing!" Boulder turned to Pale Clouds, "What was your name?"

Pale's mint-green eyes examined Boulder, "My name was Pale Clouds," she replied, her voice mimicking the even, mechanical manner in which the changelings spoke.

"We'll call you just 'Pale,' then. Ponies and their annoying last names..."

"Now Pale," Flash said, "You should come with us, and the General will give us our orders when the time is right." The tall, thin changeling had a frightening appearance, somewhat like the 'Slendermane' that fillies and colts would talk about - though only an local legend - but his gentle, kind demeanor countered his threatening appearance.

Pale did little more than nod, taking her place between the two changeling stallions as they traversed the winding corridors of the hive. The information Flash had telepathically shared with her shed some light on how changeling life went on, but Pale was sure it was only the tip of the iceberg as to what went on inside their heads. As the trio walked, Pale couldn't help but notice that Flash's wings weren't so insect-like, rather resembling a paticularly ragged set of Draconic wings, with shorter feathers at the edges, making Pale wonder if he too had been a pony like herself with an incomplete conversion.

Keeping the question to herself, Pale Clouds obediently followed the changelings until the trio stopped in front of a larger tunnel, adorned with carved stone doors depicting images of changelings running, flying, or fighting strange shadowy shapes that must represent ponies. Two burly changeling guards barred their way with crude spears, but once they saw who it was, they nodded their approval in unison and lifted their weapons away.

Flash and Boulder bowed to a purple-hued changeling wearing dark, jagged battle armor as they entered the room. Pale followed suit, knowing someone important when she saw them. An aura of power and lust buffeted Pale's mind in waves, all emanating from the single, battle-scarred changeling. It looked like a General.

The changeling dipped its head in acknowledgement, "What have we here?" It asked, clearly female by the sound of her slightly haughty voice, "Is this one for conversion patching?"

She pointed at Pale as she spoke, and as Pale studied her armor more closely, she could notice every single groove and scratch in the gear with frightening clarity. She reminded herself that she was part changeling now, and they probably just had stronger senses than ponies - it was nothing to worry about.

"No," Flash replied, his tone cool and relaxed, "I am simply here to ask if I could help her with shapeshifting, as she is only recently converted, and unable to completely control her abilities. So, may I?"

The General twitched a torn ear in Flash's direction, "Do as you wish, I only ask that you bring her outside the hive, into the forest so you don't disrupt anyone else's training or studying. Is that clear?"

Flash nodded, bringing his head up slightly, "Yes Ma'am, I shall take Pale outside at once to begin honing her skills of shapeshifting."

The General gave one last nod of approval and Flash got to his hole-covered hooves, gesturing for Boulder and Pale to do the same. He turned around and began walking out of the chamber, and as he did, Pale noticed they weren't all entirely insect. No, she thought they were closer to ponies than she knew. Yes, they each had a hard, leathery carapace over their backs, but the fringe along the back of their necks and replacing their tails looked suspiciously like hair, and was styled similarly as well. Flash's spiky fringe would have made quite an attractive manestyle, had he been an actual colt at the time. Flash abruptly turned into a side corridor, and Pale's hooves slipped, bringing up loose rocks from the cavern floor as she scrambled to keep up with Flash's increase in pace.

Pale heard him exchange a few muffled words with Boulder, though it was too faint to make out what they were saying exactly. Either way, Boulder nodded to Flash and broke off, trotting away into another tunneling corridor. As they took another sharp turn, Pale winced slightly as the bright sun momentarily blinded her, shining through a hole in the ceiling. Flash snapped his tattered wings down, hopping quickly into flight, his lithe frame easily twisting through the hole and out of view.

Pale wanted to try another approach. Groping for the magic implanted into her mind, Pale concentrated hard, feeling around for the right spell. Her horn crackled briefly with green light, there was a slight 'pop,' and she disappeared. On the top of the hive, beside the hole, she reappeared with another 'crackle-pop' and a slight flash of light.

The tall, yellow-eyed changeling before her arched an eyebrow, smiling in awe and admiration, "Was that your first time using magic?"

"Yeah," Pale replied, grinning sheepishly, "It was."

"I am very impressed," Flash continued, "I won't be the expert in magic here for long," he said with a laugh. As he saw the expression on Pale's face, he cut himself off and blinked. Pale didn't have to say anything for the message to get through. "Oh," he said softly, "I see. You don't want to stay."

Pale shook her head, "No I don't... I have friends and family to look after."

The changeling's yellow eyes stared blankly at her, but soon Flash's dull expression brightened, "Why don't I come with you?" Green flames sprung up around him as his curved horn glowed. The fire died as quickly as it started, and a medium blue-tinted gray-coated stallion stood where Flash was. His mane was a pale green-gray, shot through with darker teals, fairly short, and spiky, though some draped down and covered one yellow eye. His tail was fairly short as well, and the same color. Flash's new body sported a pair of muscular Pegasus wings, the tips of his feathers fading into a darker charcoal color. His cutie mark consisted of a black thundercloud with a shockwave of lightning around it.

"Is that," Pale began, "Is that a new body?" She narrowed her eyes, "Or do you plan on replacing somepony?"

Flash arched an eyebrow, - it seemed to be a habit of his - and smiled slightly, "It's me," he replied, "The... Old me..."

Pale's green eyes widened, "You mean? You were..." She trailed off, staring in shock at the now normal-looking colt before her.

"My name was - or is -Flash Lightning... Just call me that when we're in town, okay?"

Pale nodded, "Alright, Flash..." She forced a slight smile, trying to change the subject, "How old are you, Flash?"

The transformed changeling smiled as well, though only slightly, "I'm fourteen years old, Pale Clouds. You?"

"I'm twelve, Flash. Before we go into town, will you help me shapeshift into what I used to look like? I can just stay in the disguise of myself and we'll all be happy!"

Flash Lightning smiled, and Pale noticed his teeth were still slightly fanged, and his tongue was the blue-green of a changeling's. "Sure, just concentrate," he replied, "And I see you noticed the spot I missed," he said, and slight flickering of green flames around his snout making his teeth flat and tongue pink. "Anyway," Flash continued, "you just need to feel it. Remember what you saw before, and imagine yourself becoming it. You can do this with a new, custom disguise, but that drains a lot of energy, so you should only use it in desprate timed of need. It really shouldn't take to much thought - you don't study, or practice, or even think, you just do it."

Pale nodded, closing her eyes. Before long, green flames sprung up around her, and as they quickly died, a Pegasus mare stood where she was. Her coat was a pastel blue color, her mane still the same light gray it was before. Flash couldn't help but notice, that though shorter, Pale's manestyle quite closely resembled that of Fluttershy, the shy caretaker of animals in her cottage near the edge of the woods. Pale's horn was gone, but no other differences made Flash realize just how premature her hatching was, and he was glad for it.

"How are we going to go about doing this?" Pale asked, "It doesn't seem like we can just stroll into town. Everypony will ask where I was, and I assume you have relations in Ponyville, right?"

Flash nodded, "I have a sister, and she saw me get taken away. She's only a filly, hardly that Apple Bloom's age, I bet my coming back would be a shock..."

Pale frowned, "Well, my cover story is that I'd been clearing the sky - How long was it since those winds came in from Everfree?"

"'Round a week," Flash replied.

Pale nodded and continued her plan, "I'd been clearing the sky further down, and it caught me by surprise. There was a big gust and I was blown into the forest. I sprained my wing pretty bad, so I rested until it was healed enough to get back."

"That's good," Flash said, "But my sister, Storm Lily, she saw me getting taken away by the changelings, my whole family was there. We were picnicking near the woods, and Boulder jumped out of the bushes and grabbed me, and we disappeared in the blink of an eye. There was nothing to be done... I could say I escaped..." He shook his head, "I'll know what to say when I see them, so I shouldn't worry now. Let's just go."

"Who should we go to first?"

"We can go find your family first."

Pale nodded, spreading her wings and gliding down from the dark, rocky top of the hive, which she realized actually tunneled inside a barren, stony hill as she spiraled up and over it. She hovered for a moment as Flash took off, but was forced to fly at top speed as he suddenly rocketed over the woods. A white-blue trail followed the grayish blur, resembling lightning as he zipped around and up in the clear sky. He slowed abruptly, remembering Pale behind him. They flew over the dense, thorny canopy of trees that was the Everfree, seeing the tall clocktower of Ponyville in the distance. Flash stiffened his wide wings as they grew closer, gliding down to the road-sign that marked the entrance to the town. Pale followed suit, skidding on the dusty dirt road next to Flash, keeping her wings open for balance.

"We made it," she sighed, folding her wings and beginning to walk into the town, "That was a bit of a workout, eh?"

"Yeah, it was," Flash replied, winking slightly, "Just make sure you don't strain that wing anymore for the next week. It needs to heal completely before you do any strenuous flying, okay?"

Pale nodded, flexing her left wing experimentally, hoping her acting skills were as keen as those of the changeling next to her, "Alright Flash, you're the boss."

The pair crossed through the center of town, easing over to a modest house, squashed between Twilight's library and another random house. Pale knocked on the door with a hoof, shifting nervously as she waited for a reply.

"One moment,” a voice replied. The door swung open, and a cream-coated mare with a purple-pink streaked mane opened the door, "Hi, can I help you?"

"My name's Pale Clouds," Pale began awkwardly, "I'm looking for my family... Their supposed to live here... They were a few days ago..."

"Oh," the mare exclaimed, "They went up to Trottingham for a little vacation. They should be back tomorrow, or maybe even later today, if the traffic's good. Why aren't you with them?"

Pale shifted, "Three days ago, there were some rogue drafts that rolled in from Everfree, right? Well, I got blown down into the forest, and I sprained my wing pretty bad, had a bit of a concussion. My friend here," she gestured to Flash, "Had been looking for Zecora's hut when he found me, so he took me in until I was healed enough to go home."

"I see," the mare said, seeming uncomfortable.

"I'll just come back tomorrow, then..."

The mare smiled, "Alright, and have a nice time. I hope your wing feels better!" The mare waved at the pair as they trotted away, and Pale turned around, waving back. Flash shifted nervously, giving a shy little wave as he turned back around to keep walking.

"Let's find my family, how about? Don't feel bad about it, it'll be fine."

"I'm not worried," Pale replied, "I think they were a little traumatized about my disappearance, and they probably would have wanted to get away from it all for a while."

Flash nodded, spreading his gray wings, "Let's head up to Cloudsdale," he said as he flapped, "If you want, you could stay the night until your parents come back."

Pale blushed slightly with a smile, "Thank you, Flash. I'd appreciate it."

The gray-coated colt took a deep breath, gliding up to the floating cloud formation that was Cloudsdale. He landed on the fluffy clouds, trotting along them until he came to a group of 'stepping stones;’ a series of clouds within hopping distance of each other leading to a detached cloud-island with a house of white clouds. Flash skipped across each cloud with practiced ease, while Pale chose to fly over instead. The changeling colt's still-long, thin legs easily spanned the distance between each cloud as he finally stopped at the beginning of the cloud island. The cloud-walled home before him was average, with the typical pillars and high roof of most Cloudsdale homes, a thin waterfall of Rainbow Water tumbling down a group of carefully arranged clouds into nothingness. Flash steeled himself for the shocked faces of his family, taking a deep breath. He walked slowly to the door.

"Should you tell them?" Pale asked, before Flash could knock.

The colt lowered his foreleg, "I think it's for the best," he replied, "that they know the truth."

With that decided, Flash knocked gently on the door, tears welling in his eyes as a young filly's voice called, "I'll get it, mommy!" The door swung open, and a teal-coated Pegasus filly with a dark green mane and blank flank was revealed. Her jaw hung open in shock, pink eyes wide, "Flashie?"

"It's me, Stormy!" Flash spread his wings wide, wrapping them around his younger sister in a loving embrace.

Storm Lily drew away, "But a changeling got you! It grabbed you!" she protested, "How'd you escape?"

"It's..." Flash paused, "It's a long story, and I want to tell it with you and Mom and Dad, okay?"

"I'll go get them," she squealed, overjoyed at the knowledge that her brother was home, "You and your friend wait right here!"

Flash chuckled slightly, sighing in contentment at seeing his sister happy. He took a deep breath, his breathing, shaky from nerves and emotion, slowly began smoothing out. He seemed to become stronger by the minute.

'Is he absorbing her love for him?' Pale thought, 'I wonder, if a changeling is actually in a relationship that involves love with somepony, they could feed off their own love for that pony?'

A blue-coated Pegasus stallion came ran up to the door alongside a paler green Pegasus mare. The stallion had a squared gray mane and tail, while the mare sported a spiky yellow mane streaked with dark green. Their eyes were full of shock and love and happiness.

"Flash Lightning," the mare said softly, her voice thick with emotion, "Is that really you?"

"It is, Ma! It's me!" He tightly hugged his mother and father in turn, "Oh how I've missed you!"

The stallion gestured with a welcoming hoof, "Please, you two, come inside and tell us everything!"

Pale nodded shyly, feeling awkward amongst the abnormally welcoming strangers. Nonetheless, she followed Flash into the cloud-furnished living room. At Flash's nod of approval, Pale settled down on the couch, smiling at Storm Lily. Flash's parents sat in chairs made of clouds across from the couch, on the edge of their seats - literally - with their eagerness to learn what happened.

The filly was hopping up and down witch excitment, "Flashie, tell me, did you kick changeling flank?"

The older colt shook his head, "No. I was sneaky and I tricked the changelings," he replied, "They aren't very smart."

"How'd you do it? Tell me please!"

"Well," Flash began, "I made friends with one of the changelings. I told him I'd help him take down some important pony so he could be in charge, and in exchange, he'd grant me my freedom."

"Is that what you did," Storm Lily interrupted, "Did you take that very important pony down and get out?"

Not at all bothered by the interruption, Flash shook his head, "No, Stormy," he replied, "I pretended to be out getting 'healing herbs' that'd help the very important pony's stomachache," he said, telling half the truth, "And I told the changeling I made friends with that I'd get him some poison plants to use on the very important pony, you see. But, instead, I ditched him and ran for it. On the way, I freed Pale Clouds here, 'cos she'd been captured as well. We went looking for her family, but they weren't there, so here we are now."

Just as Flash finished the story, a loud rapping at the door caught everone's attention, "I'll get this one," Flash's father said, worry glinting in his eyes as he trotted to the door, "Yes, can I help you?"

The now-opened door reveal around a half-dozen Royal Guards standing at the door, three Unicorns and three Pegasi, "Yes," a taller Unicorn replied, obviously the leader of the group, "We have detected dangerous amounts of changeling magic in our sweep of the town. We've tracked it from the entrance of Ponyville to a small home just within the main body of Ponyville, and from there, it led here. There may even be more than one changeling here."

"P-please come in," Flash's father stuttered, "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. My son has just escaped from a group of changelings that tried to capture him. He freed this mare as well, so I'm sure it's only traces left behind from the changelings that touched them."

The guard nodded, his voice grave, "I certainly hope that's all it is."

The entire group of guards filed in, while the leader's horn glowed with a blue light. A shockwave of blue energy expanded from it, and with it a piercing noise. It couldn't be heard by pony ears, and being only part changeling, Pale wasn't really effected, but Flash shrieked and clutched his ears.

Flash's mother cried out, "What are you doing to my son?"

Ignoring the mare's frantic shouts, a guard held Flash Lightning down while another's horn glowed as they blasted a beam of energy at Flash. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, but green flames began to envelope the transformed changeling, crawling up his hooves and making their way up his torso. As the bottom of the flames disappated, the dark, hole-filled hooves were exposed. It was now up to Flash's neck, his spiky, changeling-hair tail revealed and his dull yellowish carapace glinting slightly in the light of the magic. With a final glowing crackle, the flames disappeared entirely, leaving Flash's mouth wide open as he gasped for air.

Though she at first cowered at the sight of the changeling's fangs, Storm Lily lept on Flash's back, kicking and hitting as she screamed, "I WANT MY BROTHER BACK NOW!!!"

Tears streamed from Flash's yellow eyes as he shook Storm Lily off, stepping back and staring helplessly at her. "Nothing... I can do!" He sobbed, collapsing to the ground and covering his face with his hooves.

The closing guards abruptly stopped as they realized what was happening, "Shut up," one snapped, "Stop it and get up, you useless changeling scum!"

"No," Flash pleaded, "I'm still Flash Lightning! I'm a little different, but I'm still him!"

"What have you done with my son?" Flash's mother demanded, "Tell me now!"

Flash wiped away a tear, "I-I am your son, Ma! I never wanted you to see me like this, not this way! It was the ch-changelings, they have these things... They put ponies in them and turn them into changelings themselves!"

"He's telling the truth," Pale Clouds put in, "If it weren't for him, I'd still be rotting in that cocoon!" Paler green flames enveloped her, and as they died, a darker-coated replica stood, the only difference was the curved horn protruding from her forehead. "If I was in any longer, I'd be what he is now!"

Flash seemed to be growing weaker, he turned to Pale, levitating her over in his magic. His grip wobbled halfway between the two of them, and Pale fell to the ground. Flash staggered to his feet, instead swinging to Storm Lily. His ragged wings hung limp as he hugged her, but as Storm Lily slumped lower in his grip, his own wings settled into their usual place, he stopped shaking, and his eyes glowed green with rage. Gently setting Storm Lily's shaky form down, he turned and hissed at the guards. The disoriented filly seemed weak and sick, trying to stand but tumbling back down.

"Fix her now!"

Flash narrowed his eyes with a hiss, "Give her some rest and something to eat, she'll be fine! Remind me to thank her for all this love!"

"I'll do that," Pale said somewhat sarcastically, levitating Storm Lily gently onto her back and trotting alongside Flash's mother in the direction of the kitchen.

"Leave us alone," Flash growled, fanning his feathery wings in protection of his father, "Or maybe having a taste of your love wil do the trick?"

Before the guards could run away or fight, Flash used his magic to hold them in place, touching his curved horn to the forehead of each one before changing back into his pony-self form. As he did so, they all dropped to the ground and Flash nodded to his father.

"What happened?" One guard said to no one in paticular.

"How'd we get here?" Another added.

Flash picked one up, "You were chasing a changeling," he said, his voice full of mock concern as he helped each guard to their hooves, "It flew away, and it must've cast some kind of sedation spell on all of you. If I were you, I'd go home and take a good rest. Some of the other soldiers can handle this hunt."

"He's right," a guard agreed, "We'll need time to recover before we're in shape to fight a changeling as powerful as this one seems to be."

"Would you like to stay for a while, rest up?"

The guards' leader shook his head, "No, but your offer is appreciated. We should get back to the Princess with this news."

The guards filed out, waving and apologizing for any trouble they may have caused, but once they were out of earshot, Flash let out a chuckle, "Oh the looks on their faces!"

"What are you?"

Flash silenced himself, his amusement only shown by a slight smirk, but that too disappeared as he saw his father's face. "You know it," He frowned, his narrowed eyes briefly flashing green with frustration, "I'm a changeling!"

The blue-coated stallion that was Flash's father stepped menacingly closer, "No, because I know exactly what you are!"

Flash stepped back, dropping his self-disguise, "What, then? What the BUCK AM I NOW?!?!?"

Pale Clouds and Flash's mother galloped into the room as fast as they could without getting hurt, "What's going on here?"

Flash, still in his changeling form simply sat and pouted, risking a venomous glance at his father. He stuck one hole-riddled hoof out, pointing at the somewhat stunned, blue-coated stallion.

"Yup," Flash's mother sighed, "That's our Flashie."

Flash Lightning got to his hooves, sticking his blue-green changeling tongue out at his father as he did so, "Told you so," he crowed, bouncing triumphantly up and down, "Told you so!"

"Shut up," his father snapped angrily, "I'll never trust changeling scum like you!"

The yellow-eyed changeling only glared, "If you wanna be that way..." He muttered indistinctly to himself before crackling into the shape of Queen Chrysalis, proceeding to stick out his tongue and do a little dance - not different from the 'evil enchantress' dance that Pinkie had done during the time she'd been Poison Joke'd and unable to speak.

Flash's mother giggled playfully, "Very funny," she said, trying to keep her voice even and not burst out into laughter, "But go back into yourself before somepony sees you."

Flash obliged, and with a quick burst of green flames, he was his original pony self. "What now?"

"Please tell us," The mint-coated mare insisted, voice suddenly grave, "Why are you like this? Why did they do this to you? How did they do this?"

The transformed changeling looked away, his ears splaying back against his skull, "I don't wanna talk about it..."

"Tell me," Flash's now-desprate mother demanded, "And don't sugar-coat it, we want the whole truth. I want the whole truth!"

With a frustrated hiss, Flash lowered his head, "When they took me," he began, his voice flat and emotionless, "They brought me to the hive. It's a huge complex of tunnels and chambers inside a great, barren hill. There are drones who gather love, others look after hatchlings, and some are new," he made quotation marks in the air with his hooves to accompany his next statements, "Products of 'the greatest blessing,' when useless ponyfolk receive the greatest gift of all. Blessing!" Flash curled his lip with a slight hiss, a very strange thing to do for a pony, but it was to be expected that the changelings had rubbed off on him. "Gift! Chrysalis can choke on my-"

"Calm down, Flash," his mother's soft voice interrupted, "It won't help anything to swear."

With a soft mutter, Flash continued his story, "Anyway, as soon as the changelings brought me to the hive, they took me to their Queen Chrysalis. She wrapped me up in some kind of cocoon, or well, chrysalis. I blacked out after that, and when I woke up, I was upside-down, and the cocoon was full of this weird green stuff. Before I realized anything was happening, the cocoon popped open and I was free..."

"And then what?"

"And then I forgot."

Pale Clouds cocked her head, breaking the long silence she had been keeping, "What did you forget? How? Why?"

Flash waved a hoof at his family, "All of you, my life as a pony in general. The only thoughts in my head were in praise to the Queen, to serve and protect the hive with my life... But," he continued, "Chrysalis said she saw promise in letting my original mind resurface itself, because she'd seen from my many attempted escapes before the cocoon, that I'm apparently quite clever. But, when I was myself again, I was scared when I saw myself, when I felt myself, when I saw and felt and heard who I was with and where I was."

"And?"

He narrowed his yellow eyes, flashing green with slight annoyance, "I'm getting to it!" Taking a deep breath and composing his thoughts, Flash continued his story, "I lied to the changelings, acting to be mostly brainwashed with their beliefs, and they allowed me to stay myself..."

"Did it hurt? The..." Flash's father took a deep breath as he shakily clarified, "The... Uh... Conversion, I mean?"

"N-no," Flash stuttered, caught off-guard by the question, "Of course not! I j-just don't wanna talk about it!"

"Don't lie for us," his father insisted firmly, accompanied by a respectful nod of agreement from his mother, "Because we need to know everything the changelings are capable of - we'll call an attack on the hive!"

Even more shocked that before by the suggestion and blinded by rage, Flash let his disguise drop with a shriek, "Are you insane?!?!?" He demanded, yellow eyes pulsing with instability, "Get me found out? Get you all killed?"

"Flash, we can explain your situation to the Princesses, and I'm sure they'll accept you and keep it a secret."

The changeling hissed disagreeably, but otherwise made no move to counter his parents' idea, "Fine."

A tiny voice suddenly cried out with fear, "Mommy! Mommy! Why is a changeling here? It'll take us like it took Flash!" The panicked filly was dancing about in fear, her fearful pink eyes fixed on Flash's wild yellow ones.

At this, the mint-coated mare that was her mother picked Storm Lily up, cooing soft words to sooth her, "Please relax Stormy, we'll explain everything."

Flash's icy glare immediately softened as he saw his younger sister, and with only the slightest wave of green energy, he transformed into his original pony self. "Don't worry," he said softly, his yellow eyes suddenly full of love, "It'll all make sense soon, and we'll fix you up. It looks like I-"

"Don't talk to me!" Storm Lily wailed, shying away from the transformed changeling's gentle wing that was outstretched to embrace her, "You're just like the others!"

Flash's slight, gentle smile faded, "... It looks like my magic's induced a slight short-term amnesia, of sorts." He reverted back to his changeling form, muttering thoughtfully as he closely examined his younger sister, "Okay... Eeyup. Just what I thought..."

"What are you thinking?" Storm's soft voice asked, "Are you going to hurt me?"

Flash smiled warmly and held out a ragged, not-quite-changeling wing, "Feel my wing."

Though frightened, Storm Lily slowly reached out with a blue-green hoof, drawing it over the fuzzy surface of Flash's wing. Seeing how the dark gray color of all changelings slowly faded into a darker black color at the tips of each thin feather, Storm realized; this changeling was her brother - the signature fade on his wings and gentle yellow eyes were unmistakable.

She said only one word, "How?" Though the question may have seemed vague, Flash knew exactly what she meant. "Tell me, Flash! How?"

The changeling slowly drew away, tucking his wing back against his scrawny body. He bared his fangs ever so slightly, and Storm quickly shied away from the gesture. Before she could retreat further though, Flash brushed the tip of his thinly feathered wing down Storm's back and onto her wing, tracing the patterns of each feather he touched.

"You'll understand when you're older," he said, a note of fear ringing in his soft voice, "It doesn't matter, anyway."

The filly opened her mouth to make a heated retort, but quickly closed it again when she realized what he meant. It wasn't just some stupid, overused excuse that grown-ups used to avoid a talk - no, it was genuine. It was real because it would hurt Flash to talk about it, hurt their parents, hurt her.

"I'm sorry," she finally whispered hoarsely, "I didn't realize it was like that."

"Flash?" a firm, motherly voice reached the changeling's ears. It wasn't anyone in the room with him. It was coming from outside. "Flash," the voice repeated, "I'm coming in."

Flash hissed frantically, quickly pulling up his disguise. "Uh... Okay?"

The door swung open, and a white hoof came into view. Soon, the tall figure of Princess Celestia was visible, her pastel-striped mane flowing gently and her regal wings delicately folded against her sides. She was alone, her purple eyes seeming to burn straight into Flash's soul, peeling away any and all layers of deception to reveal his true nature. He wanted her to see him, spellbound by those burning eyes and elegant power of the Sun Princess. Still, he knew he couldn't let his disguise fall, snapping out of his awestruck trance and dropping into a bow, deep enough that his muzzle nearly brushed the fluffy clouds of the floor.

As the others followed Flash's example, dropping into respectful bows, Celestia frowned, "Please," she said gently, "You needn't bow for me, not now. I insist."

"P-princess," Flash stuttered, his eyes wide, "With all d-due respect - why are you here?"

"A reasonable question," she replied with a slight smile, "and I will answer it - I came to see you."

"M-me! Me?" The transformed changeling almost dropped his disguise, so great was his fear. Now trembling, he went on, "Why me? Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Celestia said softly, gently reaching a swan-like wing out and wrapping it around Flash, "I came to say I know."

The changeling blinked up at her, realizing what she'd meant. Tears began to stream from his yellow eyes as he let his disguise drop and began hugging Celestia's foreleg, "Please don't take me away! I haven't hurt anypony! Please!"

Celestia's gaze softened, and she crouched down to Flash's level, "I haven't come to take you away," she murmured soothingly, "I just need to help you find a safe way to get a reliable source of love."

Flash sniffled, wiping away a tear, "H-how did you find out?"

"Twilight told me," she replied, voice and eyes still gentle, "But she was careful to make a point of telling me that you haven't hurt anypony." Her gentle gaze hardened, "But, that doesn't mean you won't, whether it's your intention or not. So, I came here with an arrangement for you."

Flash cocked his head slightly, "An arrangement, Princess? A-and how'd Twilight find out?"

Celestia smiled slightly, "A bit of a slip-up with your disguise. You still had those holes in your left hind leg - you're lucky nopony noticed."

"Oh," Flash said, blushing and chuckling weakly, "I am lucky."

"Anyway," Celestia turned to the pair that were Flash's parents, "Do you mind if I borrow him?"

The yellow-green maned mare stuttered awkwardly, "Oh, y-yes of course!"

The regal Alicorn dipped her head in acknowledgment, "I'll bring him back soon, and you have my thanks."

"Of course, and we thank you as well."

At Celestia's signal, Flash Lightning disguised himself in his pony form, waving to his family and trotting obediently after the Princess. As soon as he left the house, Flash remembered something; "Wait, Princess," he said softly, "Pale Clouds was captured too. She's not a full changeling, but she had a horn and can use magic. Oh... And she has a bit of a carapace as well..."

The Princess nodded to him, "Don't worry, if those are the only changes the changelings made, we don't really need to give her the problems of being exposed. On the other hoof," she paused, thinking of the right words to use, "Being discovered as a nearly full changeling without me to help you wouldn't end well."

"I see," Flash's voice had a slight edge of nervousness to it, but if Celestia heard it, she paid no notice.

Flash nodded once to Storm Lily before following Celestia out the door, hoping that the others would take his revalation well. Once outside, he noticed a harsh bite to the air, his breath creating clouds of mist that slowly drifted upwards until they disintegrated. The sky was covered in murky gray clouds, the light of the sun hardly able to filter through the unnatural veil that was suddenly cast over the land; only a sickly greenish glow made it through the smog. As the pair glided gracefully down from the cloud formation, Flash shuddered as an icy wind whipped relentlessly at his hair and made him want to simply fold his wings around himself and drop to safe warmth. He didn't though, continuing to obediently follow his Princess down to Ponyville. A crowd had gathered in the main square of town, pointing up at the warped sky, talking and shouting. Almost at once, everyone turned to face Celestia and Flash as they landed, bowing respectfully to her and ignoring Flash altogether. The transformed changeling didn't mind, hoping that his revelation would be discreet and subtle.

"Thank you," Celestia said, dipping her head, "I'm sorry to interrupt, and I know that you are all worried about the strangeness of the sky," She paused, closely examining the faces of the crowd, "But I have a friend here who may know why."

Flash's yellow eyes widened as she turned to face him, "Me? I-" he stopped himself as the realization crashed over him like a tidal wave. "Right..."

A voice rang out from the crowd, "Say it already!"

"Should I show them?"

Celestia nodded, "Please," she said loudly, "Do not be afraid of what this colt is about to show you. Though it is unusual, I can assure you that all his loyalties lie with us."

Nervous mutters could be heard at Celestia's words, but Flash stepped forward anyway. He took a good, long look at the group nearest him, seeing the fear spark in their eyes as he met each wide-eyed gaze. Taking a deep breath, Flash closed his eyes and let go of the magic that held his disguise. A wash of green flame-energy swept over him, revealing the styled fringe along the back of his neck and head, the ragged ears splayed back against his skull, his two prominent fangs that could be seen as he clenched his teeth. Then the not-quite-changeling wings tucked tightly against his spine, a scrawny, shivering flank, the fringe-tail projecting from his hindquarters, and the long, Swiss-cheese looking limbs that bore the changeling's weight. He was seen, exposed. There was nothing else to do but hope.

Flash shuddered, cracking a yellow eye open, "I..."

The nearest ponies stepped back and cowered as they saw the alien yellow orbs staring at them, no longer the large, round-pupiled eyes of a pony, but the coldly glinting, cloudy eyes of a changeling.

"Oh no!"

"Why is it here?"

"They say the colt it was disguised as was kidnapped!"

Flash stood, eyes wide and staring and breathing quick and shallow. He cringed as an older colt stepped forward menacingly. Flash whimpered as the colt stepped even closer, crouching down submissively. The colt seemed familiar, maybe a year or so older than Flash was. There was nothing paticularly interesting about him - a rich, orangey coat, messy dark brown mane and tail, and a Cutie Mark of a bundle of wheat. Until Flash heard his voice.

"What have you done with my friend?" The colt demanded, "Tell me!"

Flash opened his eyes, flicking an ear to make sure he'd heard right, "B-Barley Crop?"