Changing Tides

It was midday, and the Library was bustling with movement

"What do you mean, you don't know who you are?" Fluttershy asked, Alarmed by the information she had just heard.

"I don't know, okay!" Trachnid exclaimed, driven frantic by the recent events. "I don't know who I am, where I've been, or who my friends are!" At the last word, he deflated, growing a more sorrowful tone. "I just don't know, okay?" Rarity, who had overcome her initial fear, felt only spite towards the Changling.

"And how do we know you aren't lying, you vile miscreant!" Rarity said, showing off her Vocabulary. "You Foul, uncouth..." her barrage of unneeded expletives was halted by Fluttershy, by placing a hoof over her mouth. Rarity looked at her friend in disbelief, then found that her friend was pointing to the Changling.

"Rarity, you're frightening him" Fluttershy pointed to Trachnid, who was cowering before the violent white unicorn. "Its okay, there's nothing to be afraid of." Trachnid seemed to be calming down, but would be wary of Rarity from now on.

"Yeah, he better be frightened" Rarity mumbled, keeping a keen eye on the changling, still doubtful about his amnesia.

"I think I know how we can tell if he has amnesia" Twilight interjected. "I was just reading a book about Possible Pony Plagues." She cantered up the stairs and retrieved the book. All the while, Rarity was giving Trachnid a Vile look. "Aha!" Twilight exclaimed as she had located the book. Rarity turned her attention to the stairs as twilight walked down, carrying a book with her magic.

"So, how is a book going to help us again, Twilight?" Rarity asked with a hint of poison in her voice, looking at the Changling with spite.

"I can look at his mind to gauge any mental trauma, or in short, I can detect, and if possible, cure his amnesia." Twilight explained while flipping through the book. "I don't know the differences between Pony and Changling anatomies, but they can't be that different, right?" She flipped to a certain page and began reading. Before long, she found what she was looking for.

"Alright, this book says this spell is really taxing on the caster, so if I pass out, please catch me, okay?" at this, Applejack and the Crusaders stood around Twilight in preparation in case she did pass out. "Hey, you ready?" She walked in front of the changling, and prepared herself for the spell.

"As ready as ill ever be, if that means anything." He said, looking unsure of himself. As he prepared, he squeezed his eyes shut as if alcohol were to be poured on his wounds. She charged up her horn, it's brightness increasing to a blinding degree, and she let loose a beam of energy that struck Trachnid in the forehead. Everything Flashed white and slowed down and the last thing they heard was her friends calling her name.

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Trachnid stirred, and he opened his eyes to and empty library. no one was there, not even the lavender pony who tried to cure his amnesia. He now, at least, knew his name. The amnesia "cure" only partially worked, as became aware to Trachnid. He remembers his name and how he had gotten to the cottage of the light yellow Pegasus, but no farther back. He looked around the room and listened carefully. He heard noises from upstairs.

So that's where they all went

He guessed that when the lavender one passed out, they completely forgot about him. he went to stand up and noticed that there was a blanket over top of him.

Well, I guess not all of them are heartless ponies

He grabbed the blanket in his mouth and pulled it off of himself, and stood up. As he stood up, he stretched his leg muscles to an extent. He didn't want to reopen any of the wounds, and he also didn't want any of them to notice he woke up.

He crept over to the window and peered out, but he didn't see anything. Feeling assured, he slowly leaned back to a standing position, as to not overextend anything. he went to the door and slowly cracked it open. the dry night air felt enticing, and he opened the door just enough so he could get out. As he opened the door he heard a clopping of hooves above him, which only made him open the door faster than he normally would have. When the door was open enough, he slipped out and turned to shut the door. The next few moments were a blur to Trachnid. He heard something in the bush beside the library, and from the sounds of it, it was something big. He turned to his left to check out the bush, and as he did so, the door was pushed open, and the edge of the door hit him where the majority of the bandaging on his left side was. Just so happens, the wound where the manticore tail pretty much impaled him was on that side. as the door impacted, he yelped in pain, which told the person on the other side of the door where he was at. he leapt into the bushes, only to meet resistance

The noise he had heard earlier wasn't his imagination, but was a Royal Guard on watch. They were lying in wait, and he fell right in the trap. As lithe as a cat, the guard in the bushes leapt onto Trachnid, pinning him to the ground. Trachnid looked up to the door, only to see the one pony that he hoped he wouldn't find. There, standing in the doorway, was Princess Celestia herself. Accompanying her was the librarian, Twilight. As she saw Trachnid there, pinned on the ground, her expression turned to one of smug content. "See, just as I predicted." She smiled and looked at Celestia, who kept a flat expression throughout the conversation. "Now, what do we do with him, Princess?" Twilight looked up to Celestia, waiting for a response. Celestia looked to the guard who had Trachnid pinned and nodded her head. The guard nodded back, and whacked Trachnid in the back of the head, knocking him out cold. By her command, the guard carried Trachnid to the royal carriage and packed him on.

"Why did you do that, Princess! He hasn't done anything wrong yet." Twilight asked, looking up to Celestia with confusion in her eyes.

"That doesn't mean he wont attempt to do anything. If what you said is correct, he could prove to be a valuable asset." She looked down to Twilight. "I'm just going to test him to see if he may be a threat. If he passes, he may return."

"But what if he doesn't?" Twilight asked urgently, wanting to know the possible fate of the Changling. All Celestia did was look up to Luna's night, with a sorrowful expression, and turned to her pupil.

"If he doesn't pass, I leave him to the judgment of Captain Shining Armor." At this she boards the carriage and sits down, Trachnid being in the floorboard of the carriage. The carriage takes off in direction of Canterlot, leaving Twilight staring after the carriage.

"Please be merciful, Big brother." Twilight turns around and goes to give the news to the girls.

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Trachnid awoke bound to a wooden chair in a dark dungeon, The only illumination in the room was a light on a ghastly set of tools, to which he hoped was only to intimidate him. He inspected the room closer, but nothing was of interest to him. Since nothing was of interest, he observed the tools once again. One was a pair of blood-stained needle-nose pliers, a tarnished hammer, a chisel, and an array of scalpels and knives. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he began to notice things that evaded his view until now.

On the floor, there were bloodstains everywhere, and of varying degree's of size. One was even larger than his wing. He noticed, to his horror, that there was a big pile of what looked to be pieces of Changling Carapace piled into the corner, along with a few Insectoid wings. His heart started racing as he looked at the hammer and chisel again, with a newfound dread creeping into his mind. He was startled out of his loop of dread when he noticed a dark form creeping in the corner. His eyes adjusted, and he saw the form of a Stallion before a hoof reached out for the light, tilting it at Trachnid.

"Well, look who finally woke up." The stallion, as he was talking, he walked into the light. He was pitch black with a fire- like mane. He was a big stallion, with a deep, husky voice. He walked over to Trachnid and began speaking. "When I ask you a question, you answer it, Got me?" He was blunt, but got is point across. "Otherwise, you will end up like the rest, he motioned to the piles Trachnid noticed before. "Now, Why were you in the Everfree when you were found?" He practically barked the question at Trachnid, who flinched and shrank in the wooden chair, ears laying flat upon his head.

"I don't know!" Trachnid explained, "I've been trying to tell everyone, I don't know what I was doing in the forest!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, wrong answer." He walked back to the table, and grabbed the pair of bloody pliers and the hammer. He walked back to Trachnid, and put the hammer against Trachnid's foreleg. "Now, tell me why you were in the forest, or you will regret it." He tapped Trachnid on the foreleg.

Trachnid got the hint, and he tried to pull his leg out of the bonds out of instinct, but the leather was taut around the limb. He looked up at his persecutor, Innocence gleaming in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you want!" He looked down at his leg and tried to pull it out again, unsuccessfully. "Please, why do you have to do this?" Trachnid closed his eyes and looked away, in preparation in what was about to happen.

The Stallion just huffed, and lifted the hammer menacingly. He aimed the hammer, and he swung. the hammer stopped about an inch from Trachnids leg, and he slightly opened one eye to see what had occurred, and he saw that the hammer was almost frozen midair. He turned his head and opened his eyes fully to inspect the anomaly. the Stallion had frozen mid-swing, as if time had stopped, but he still had the look of malice in his eyes. and looked around, noticing that everything had stopped moving, even the insect that was buzzing around just a minute ago was frozen in suspended animation. Then the entire room glowed a bright white, making Trachnid turn and hide his eyes. once his eyes adjusted, he looked and saw a Midnight blue Alicorn, with Stars seemingly swirling in her flowing mane, standing not that far from him.

"Don't be alarmed, I'm not here to hurt you" She said, in a soothing voice. "You have passed the test my sister set before you, and you are free to do as you wish." She said, with a happy look. Trachnid looked around, completely caught off guard by this turn of events. "Oh, you must me wondering what happened." She walked over and used her magic to undo the bonds. "This was all dream, one of my many talents" she stepped back over to where she originally was. "I have dominion over the dream world, so I can control the dreams of all living things." She motioned to the spot next to her. "Come, sit next to me and I will take you back to the realm of the living."

Trachnid got up out of the chair, sore from the position he was sitting in, and walked over to the Midnight mare. He sat next to her, and looked up to the princess. She looked down, and with a calming look, she lowered her head and put the tip of her horn against his forehead. Her magic flashed a deep blue, and the world around Trachnid started to Fade around him. He felt the essence of sleep creep up on him, and he closed his eyes.

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