Never the Same

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.