Dreams of Humanity

I woke up. Another dream about being one of those strange ape things. Smiling, I watched as more ape things got off of a large metal bird thing. It was a piece of technology, like what the ponies make, but much more advanced. "Large metal bird thing" was the closest thing I could say to describe it. A particular ape thing stood out, and my mind told me it was familiar. I couldn't for the life of me place how it was familiar, however. It walked up to me, and smiled. I smiled back. We hugged.

I opened my eyes.

The sun was setting. Another night of scavenging, of hoping I'm not caught. A caught Changeling is a dead Changeling, they taught us. I exited the alley I was in and onto the stone road, and looked around. Canterlot. A huge, beautiful city. Everything about it was stunning. The view from the high towers, the sparkling roads, the pristine buildings.

What was especially stunning, however, was how filthy the alleyways were. They were cleaned once every month, as per minimum requirements from the city. I've been living in them for what has to have been at least five months now, and every day I'm thankful that most of the nobles making the laws never visit the commoner's area of the city. They have no idea how filthy they can get in just a month; The perfect hiding place.

I took a left, heading for a nearby bakery. There was nothing special about it from the outside, but if you focused, you could pick up the scent of fresh bread, regardless of the hour. I could only imagine how strong the scent was on the inside. I stopped as I approached, noticing a light on inside of it. I ducked into the alleyway, and peeked out.

After about a minute, a light brown mare with a slightly darker brown mane with dark blue highlights stepped out. Blueberry Muffin, I think her name was. She headed down the road. A nice, hardworking mare, always staying late to make sure that she left the bakery in top condition. I felt a pang of sadness. She's the reason I'm still alive, even if she doesn't know it. I wanted to thank her, but I couldn't. Not without a disguise.

Once she was out of sight, I trotted over and into the alleyway to the left of the bakery. I looked to the right, and saw my goal: A dumpster. I climbed into it, and began sorting through the trash for my next meal.

Twilight Sparkle walked down the street, smiling softly to herself. I haven't been down these roads since I was a little filly, she thought, looking around. She didn't visit these roads often in her foalhood, but she remembered them fondly. Moondancer's 6th birthday party. Twilight's parents had forced her to go, but she ended up enjoying herself when she found that Moondancer's favourite books was one of Twilight's as well. They had become something close to friends back then, but it never really blossomed.

I wonder if Blueberry Muffin still works at that bakery. She was just about to continue, when she heard a very faint sound, similar to when Spike takes out the garbage. What's that? Getting slightly nervous, Twilight looked to the source of the noise. An alleyway. More specifically, a dumpster in an alleyway. What could anypony be doing in an alleyway, rummaging through trash? More importantly, why? She walked into the alleyway, lighting up her horn in a violet light.

"H-Hello? Is anypony there?"

I froze. I then noticed that the area was illuminated by a faint violet light. A unicorn. Damn it! Just what I needed after doing so well. I thought about my options.

I could turn into a pony. Why would a pony be sifting through trash? I could teleport out. I barely have enough energy to come out and scavenge. Pony food doesn't work as well as love! I could fight the unicorn. And probably get murdered, or get a bounty on my head. Plus, I don't want anypony's blood on my hooves. I could let it catch me. That's the worst idea I've ever-

The light tripled in intensity. I felt a searing heat on the back of my head, then saw only blackness.

I KILLED IT! No, no no no no no. This is not good. I murdered it! Celestia would have my hide if she heard about this! The potential knowledge we could have learned, we could have learned - What am I thinking?! I took it's life away and I'm thinking about Princess Celestia?! She was hyperventilating. It was scavenging! It was probably dying, you could have saved it! "Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Unjustified Murders!" I'll be- The Changeling twitched. She noticed.

It's still alive? It was only then that she noticed that the Changeling was still breathing. It's still alive. She looked closely at it; You don't really get a good chance to look at something trying to kill you, after all, and Twilight wanted to look at it.

It wasn't as threatening without it's fangs bared, or snarling. In fact, if it wasn't for the scorch mark on the back of its head, it'd look almost peaceful. The fish-like fin on the back of it's neck was down. I wonder what that means, all the ones back in the invasion had it up. Maybe they go down when the changeling's asleep? Maybe they have a use, and it goes down when not in use? The Changeling groaned.

"Uhm, sorry for shooting you.. Are you okay?" A minute passed. The Changeling made no response, verbal or otherwise. Of course it's not okay, you knocked it out! It needs medical attention! With that in mind, she - gently - levitated the Changeling onto her back. Charging up her horn, she teleported to Canterlot Castle.