Changed

by Dream Seeker

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Changelings, Original Character, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Main 6
Length: 40320

Star Watcher Is captured and turned into a Changeling. The Changeling Hive, on the brink of starvation, is attacked by one of its own.

Star Watcher was an ordinary unicorn living in Canterlot. Three nights after the Changeling Invasion, he is kidnapped and turned into a Changeling. Meanwhile, The Changeling Hive is on the brink of starvation after the failed Canterlot Invasion. One of the Hive's own members turns against them, forcing more Changelings to go abroad in order to survive.

Cover Art by Shady Dark

Published 2014-06-26 08:20:03 UTC
Last updated 2017-04-02 01:38:32 UTC

Changing

Star Watcher was just an ordinary unicorn, studying the stars. His cutie mark was a telescope. When the Changeling Invasion happened, he was safely hidden away at home, away from the danger. He had been stargazing that night, and he had seen the first Changelings gather outside the shield. Instead of alerting the guards, he ran cowardly. He survived the Invasion without a single scratch, apart from the splinter he got from the wooden door when he crashed into it by mistake. He always hated wood anyway. That night he slept on a pile of damp hay in his stone basement, wondering what was going on above him as he heard muffled cries and one, final, explosive sound like a powerful spell going off. It sounded like the kind of spell that could have saved the entire city... or doomed it. He slept roughly that night, and awoke shivering, terrified that he would open up the door and find Canterlot overrun. As he worried and wondered what he was going to do, he heard a crash at his door, and a voice.

"Royal Guard! Open up!"

"Of course, sir! Did you beat the black things off?" Star Watcher responded eagerly.

"The Changelings? Yes. A few are in hiding around the city, and we need to check every possible location for them."

Star watcher hesitantly opened the door, and sighed in relief when he saw the patrol of Royal Guards around him. As he moved to leave, a guard stopped him.

"Sir, I'm afraid we must first check to be sure you are not a Changeling."

"Isn't it obvious?" Star Watcher chuckled nervously. "I'm not a black bug thingy."

"Don't you know?" the guard asked, suspicious. "Changelings can transform into anypony they want."

"They can?" Star Watcher asked, tapping a hoof to his chin. "Then how do I know you're not a Changeling?"

The guard shifted uncomfortably. "The spell to reveal Changelings... Which I guess you have no proof exists..."

Star Watcher screamed and bolted past the guards to the castle. A moment later, the guards followed. As Star Watcher ran, he barely avoided strange craters in the earth, presumably caused by the Changelings' invasion. He saw ponies sobbing over destroyed houses, smashed goods and injured family members. He was the only one who was truly unscathed. While he was busy looking at these ponies, he stumbled and fell into one of the craters. Unfortunately, this one was deep enough to get stuck in. As the guards caught up, he sobbed and curled into a little ball, afraid that they would turn into Changelings and eat him. A moment later, he fainted and everything went dark.

Changelings gathered around a well-lit wooden table, their black carapaces glossy and clean.

"Well?" one of them asked. "How is your little project going?"

"We've found a few good candidates, one of which we're sending a party out to capture soon, for Phase 2." replied another.

"Good. No relations of importance who the candidate could talk to?" asked the first one.

"No. He'll have no choice but to accept." smirked the second.

"We cannot risk being discovered. Our entire species is at stake here. I suggest caution," responded a third.

"The benefits outweigh the risks. The project should continue to Phase 2. Should we succeed, we will not only survive but prosper," a fourth suggested. "Let us take a vote: All who support advancing the project say Aye!"

"AYE!" shouted the vast majority of the Changelings present.

"Then it is settled. Phase 2 is go."

Star Watcher awoke, shivering. He was lying on his bed, still worrying about what had just happened. He then had a thought, it was all a dream! I'm saved! As he stumbled out the wooden door, he saw destroyed buildings and a pockmarked road...

"Maybe it wasn't a dream!" he gasped as he reentered his house, slamming the door behind him. He sat there, blocking the door and panting for a moment before he risked peeking out again. He closed the door more carefully this time, and retreated to his bedroom. When he got there, he thought he saw an extra shadow flicker as he entered. Just a trick of the light, he thought to himself. I'm really stressed, I need some sleep.

Silent Whisper dodged out of the way, just in time. He was almost seen by his target! As he watched, his target seemed disoriented and paranoid. When his target's breathing began to slow as he entered sleep, Whisper snuck into position. He charged his horn with a neon green glow. When he released, the target tensed up for a moment before relaxing.

"Candidate 1, it's your turn!" Silent Whisper whispered silently. He carried Star Watcher, his target, over his shoulder. This was the primary candidate for saving his entire species, the Changelings. His horn lit again, and he vanished in a flash of green fire. In a moment, he was in a nearby cavern. A green but empty chrysalis hung nearby. He levitated Star Watcher into an opening in the chrysalis, then sealed it. Star Watcher began glowing slightly green.

Star Watcher awoke groggily. For a moment, he could only see green. He blinked a couple of times, and saw where he was through the translucent shell of the chrysalis he was trapped inside. He fainted instantly. A few minutes later, he awoke again. He felt rather calm all of the sudden. What he didn't know was that the cocoon was full of a liquid that would pacify him slightly, so he wouldn't panic too much. He began kicking at the inside of the cocoon, trying to break it open. He looked down at his hoof, and thought it looked a little darker than usual. And was that a hole in his leg? He shook his head to clear what was obviously a hallucination. He kicked harder and harder, before hearing a slight crack. He fluttered his wings in anticipa- wait, since when did I have wings? he thought for a moment, scared. Am I going insane? he wondered. With just a few more kicks, his leg broke through. Glowing green liquid began leaking through the crack, and he continued kicking. In just a few minutes, he had broken a hole large enough to escape out of. By this time, enough liquid had drained from the cocoon to see his body for real. He stared for a moment at the black, chitinous leg with holes in it. His screams made Silent Whisper, who was waiting concealed inside the cave, wince in pain. A dull thud came next as Star Watcher fell out of the broken cocoon. Silent Whisper sighed as he examined the once again fainted Star Watcher. It might take a while for him to adjust to this, thought Silent Whisper. I just hope we can make him understand.

Star Watcher felt water slosh over his body. He shuddered as the liquid passed through the holes in his body. His eyes remained closed for a few seconds before blinking open. Whatever I see, I will not faint or scream. Whatever I see, I will not faint or scream. he repeated in his mind a few times. He saw a black pony-shaped bug before him, and was about to scream, when he remembered his mantra. I will not faint or scream. I will not.

"Hello there." said the Changeling.

"H-h-hello." said Star Watcher shakily. "What do you want? What happened? Why-" his questions were stopped by the Changeling's well-placed hoof to his mouth.

"Let's take this slowly, there's a lot for you to take in. My name is Silent Whisper. What do I want? The survival of the Changeling species. What happened? You were turned into a Changeling. Why? Because you are the one who is most likely going to save us. We live off emotions. Our usual source is ponies. Now, about 90% of our Infiltrators, who gather emotions for the rest of us to live off of, died in Canterlot. You could help save us, because you already know how to infiltrate, because it's what you've been doing all your life."

"W-w-why would I save you?" asked Star Watcher. "Why shouldn't I just go and report you to the guard?"
Silent Whisper grinned eerily. "You're a Changeling now. Who would believe your story? How would you get off without being caught?"

"My fam..." Star Watcher began, his voice trailing off.

"I'm sorry, but... that's actually one of the reasons you were picked," Whisper said sorrowfully. "With no living family, and nopony to run to that you can truly trust, you're left with us. As much as you wouldn't like to admit it, we're your best hope at learning how to live your life from now on. You need our help as much as we need yours. A former pony, like you, is very experienced at being... well... a pony. You can teach some of us about the finer points of a pony's life. In addition, some of the energy you gather is expected to go to our Hive. In exchange, you'll be taught how to be a Changeling. You will live as an Infiltrator, which will allow you to remain among ponies most of the time. As an Infiltrator, you would gather energy by essentially living a good life. Your energy would allow you to cast magic. Changelings have magic that can't be used by other pony races, and one of the benefits to being a Changeling is that there is no maximum amount of magic energy you can have. In other words, all you need to cast any spell you want is to save up energy. In fact, another reason we picked you is that you often wished for the ability to perform higher magic. As a Changeling, you now have this opportunity!"

"I..." Star Watcher's voice trailed off. "I guess that's not so bad... I just have a few questions about Changelings."

"I'm sure they will be covered in the whole orientation we have planned out for you, and if not just ask me afterwords," Whisper smiled, and held out a hoof. "Welcome to the Changelings." Star Watcher bumped the offered hoof, smiling.

"I might actually enjoy this." Star Watcher replied with a grin.

Author's Note

This is my first Changeling-foucused story. (By that I mean the first story with a Changeling as the main character)

Orientation

Star Watcher grinned happily as he walked along behind Silent Whisper. For some reason, he just felt... good. Everything was going to be fine. They exited the cave through a fairly small entrance hole, and he saw Canterlot illuminated beautifully by the sun.

"You should watch this for a while. If all goes well, you'll be back here in a couple of days. However, if anything bad happens you might not be able to see a sight like this for months." Silent Whisper commented, stopping.

"Thanks. I may be a Changeling now, but I was a Canterlot pony first. I'd like to stay for a few minutes. It's beautiful."

Star Watcher and Silent Whisper watched the glorious sunrise for a few minutes, then resumed their trek. To Star Watcher's surprise, they angled close to Canterlot. They followed what appeared to be a deer trail, taking seemingly random turns. Soon, they were at the waterfall. Silent Whisper immediately plunged through, as quickly as he could. Star Watcher recoiled in fear.

"Are you all right?" he asked nervously.

"Perfectly fine. Come through, there's a cave on the other side!" called Silent Whisper.

"Ok, here I come!" shouted Star Watcher as he plunged through. He was greeted by a smiling Silent Whisper, accompanied by two other Changelings.

"Ready for your orientation?" asked one of the accompanying Changelings.

"Ready as ever!" replied Star Watcher.

Star Watcher was slightly nervous, but he didn't show it. He knew that it was important to make a good first impression, especially if he would be living with them for a long time. He followed as they showed him first to the Changeling barracks. He gazed around at the green, almost glassy substance that the bunks were made out of. He couldn't help but ask,

"What are the bunks made out of?"

"Good question." replied one of his guides, giggling slightly. "Excrement."

Star Watcher recoiled in disgust. "Excrement? Isn't that unsanitary?"

"Maybe pony excrement, but for Changelings it's a valuable resource. It's actually an antibiotic, so it is quite sanitary. We can use it to clot and clean wounds, as it not only clots well and is an antibiotic, it also acts as a light antidepressant. If we dry it with sunlight or a spell it makes a good building material, because it's fairly soft on our hard carapaces, and we even make cocoons out of-" his guide's mouth was suddenly clogged by Silent Whisper's hoof, but too late.

"You mean... I was buried in excrement?!" shouted Star Watcher in horror. "And that excrement made me feel better?!"

"Yes... Anyway, we should continue the orientation." said Silent Whisper, trying to change the topic.

"Of course. Next, we should go see the Queen, she'll be waiting for us. Think of her life you thought of your Princesses."

"T-t-the Queen? She's here? Oh, I'm so nervous... What will she be like?"

All of the Changelings within earshot winced noticeably. "Uh, she'll probably be just as nervous as you, maybe more. She's new, our old Queen didn't make it through the Invasion." said Silent Whisper. "Please be nice, she's really nervous that you'll hate her, because she agreed to the plan to turn you into a Changeling."

Star Watcher grinned. "I'm ready. Take me to your leader."

The group walked along, the Changeling nervous about how the upcoming encounter would go, and Star Watcher grinning and waiting to see their reactions to his plan. Soon, they passed through the last eerily lit hallway and reached the throne room. When they reached the appropriate distance, they all bowed, including Star Watcher.

"Rise, my little Changelings. Rise, Star Watcher." the Queen said, sounding a little uncertain.

"Hello, my Queen. I just wanted to say, thank you. I might not have agreed to this, and I probably wouldn't have beforehoof, but I actually look forward to being one of your Changelings." Star Watcher said, smiling.

"T-thank you." said the Queen, slightly shocked. "I am Queen Phantasma. Come back here once you have completed learning about how to be an Infiltrator for your first assignment. I will see you then."

"Thank you again, Queen Phantasma. I'll be back when I am ready."

They bowed once more before leaving the throne room. As soon as they passed back through the entrance, Silent Whisper gave a sigh of relief.

"Well, that went surprisingly well." he said, smiling. He stopped smiling when the Changeling on his right whispered to him, "You owe me 10 Bits." Silent Whisper coughed, blushing before stammering, "Y-yes, now, let's go on to the training grounds."

They walked for a little while until they came into a large cavern filled with Changelings practicing hoof-to-hoof combat.

"Why are none of them practicing magic?" asked Star Watcher, confused.

"Well, we need love energy to perform magic, so because there's not enough love to go around, we can't afford to waste it. Think of it like taking extra bathes during a drought so severe that not everypony can even drink every day."

The Commander of the Changelings walked over to meet them. "So this is the Star Watcher we transformed?" he asked bluntly.

Star Watcher smiled. "Yep. I can't wait to not only serve Queen Phantasma, but the Changeling species as a whole."

"You'll do very nicely." the Commander smiled. "I'll introduce you to my army. EVERYBODY, WELCOME STAR WATCHER!" he yelled.

"WELCOME STAR WATCHER!" his army yelled back.

"As you probably know, he was a pony who we turned into a Changeling. He'll be joining a few classes, and teaching a few once he learns how to write our language. Treat him like any other Changeling, don't go too easy or too hard on him. Now get back to work."

"YES SIR!" his army yelled.

"I look forward to seeing you later, Star Watcher. Goodbye." said the Commander as he walked away.

"Now, time to get back to the bunks and get some sleep. You'll be woken up in the morning by Silent Whisper, he'll be the one to ask if you have any questions. He has a copy of your schedule as well."

They walked along the dimly lit corridors in silence, and when they reached the barracks they parted ways. Silent Whisper stayed with Star Watcher, getting into the bunk above him. Star Watcher was staring at him, amazed. In a moment Silent Whisper realized why.

"Oh, yeah, we can climb on walls and the ceiling. So, goodnight, see you in the morning. Gook luck tomorrow."

"Good night!" said Star Watcher, smiling. His glassy, green bed was comfortable, and he drifted off within seconds.

Author's Note

Somehow this story has more favs than likes... Are people favoriteing this story without liking it? How does that work, is it the "Oh, I don't like this story, I love it!" cliché?

To Learn

"Wake up!" yelled Silent Whisper. "We don't want you to be late for your first day!"

"W-what?" asked Star Watcher groggily. "First day doing what?"

"Why, learning to be a Changeling of course!" grinned Silent Whisper. "First stop, mess hall!"

Star Watcher shook his head and blinked his eyes, before sitting up too quickly and banging his head on the bunk. "Oww..." he said glumly. "I'm not a morning pony."

"Of course you're not: You're not a pony at all!"

"I'm not a morning Changeling, then."

"Doesn't matter. Would you prefer to miss breakfast?"

"No... fine, let's get on with this."

Star Watcher and Silent Whisper walked silently down the hall, other Changelings walking beside them. When they reached the mess hall, there were no tables but crystals in the wall. Very few Changelings were talking, and Star Watcher could see that many of them looked half-asleep. Silent Whisper showed Star Watcher where he should stand, right next to the wall.

"Time for your first lesson: Feeding on crystalized emotion." whispered Silent Whisper cheerily.

"How do I do that?"

"Touch your horn to one of the crystals. Feel the energy, and draw it out. It feels a little like telekinesis."

Star Watcher gently pressed his horn against the closest roughly cut gem embedded in the wall. He closed his eyes and felt with his magic, finding the energy inside. He began drawing it out, and found that it did feel kind of like telekinesis. When he opened his eyes, he saw his glowing horn reflected by the tinted green walls. When the glow from his horn ceased and he couldn't feel any more energy inside the crystal, he pulled back.

"That was... interesting. What now?" he asked.

"Now, pull the stone out of the wall. Don't use telekinesis, it would waste energy." Silent Whisper said.

Star Watcher pulled at the stone unsuccessfully a few times before asking, "It doesn't come out. How do you loosen it?"

Silent Whisper chuckled. "Spit will dissolve the wall slightly, enough that you can pull the crystal out."

Star Watcher spat on the wall a few times, rubbing it around the edges where the crystal met the wall. He pulled once more, hard, and fell over when the wall hardly resisted at all.

"Good. Now, bring it over there, where they will be refilled by Infiltrators." Silent Whisper pointed with a hoof.

"How come there are so many spares?" asked Star Watcher curiously after placing his now empty crystal on the rack.

"With so few infiltrators, we can't replenish the used energy fast enough. There was a time when every crystal was full, and then some."

"Was the one I ate from not full?" Star Watcher asked.

"Not even close. That one will barely sate you through the day. Despite that, we still have problems feeding everybody. We have to ration our food, they didn't get to eat today." Silent Whisper pointed to some hungry looking Changelings. "Now, let's go to your first lesson before you're late."

"Welcome to Emotions 101, the first class all Changelings must take. While most of you have recently been born, we do have one pony who was turned into a Changeling joining us today." all heads turned to Star Watcher as the teacher made this announcement. Star Watcher waved nervously at the unblinking stares of the young Changelings. "I am your teacher today. You may call be "Sir", or "teacher". Is that clear?"

"Yes Sir!" the class said in unison, including Star Watcher.

"Good. Now, we should begin. First off, does any of you know how our emotion draining works?" the teacher asked. None of his students raised their hooves. "No? In that case, we should begin with that. Our emotion draining works two ways, passive and aggressive. Passive draining will cause no harm to the target, while aggressive draining can permanently damage them. With our passive draining, anypony who has any sort of positive emotion directed at us will feed us. The stronger the emotion, the more energy we will get. Aggressive draining is where a complex spell can be cast that actively drains energy out of our target, and into ourselves. We will not learn aggressive training here, it is not suggested because it will harm the target permanently and will prevent them for generating more positive emotions for us to use. If we have a surplus of emotion, we can transfer the energy into crystals or our own excrement. You all know how to eat. Putting energy into crystals or excrement is much like that, only it works the other way: we put the energy in instead of taking it out. Any questions?"

Star Watcher raised his hoof. "Sir, if we can store emotional energy in excrement, why don't we just use our beds or the walls instead of crystals?"

"Ah, that is a good question. As a pony, you had perishable food, correct?" the teacher asked and Star Watcher nodded. "That is why we store it in gems: Energy put into excrement will degrade over time, until none of it is left. On the other hoof, energy put into gems remains relatively stable and can be kept in storage for a long time. Infiltrators usually put energy into excrement for transport back to the Hive, and transfer it into gems when they reach the mess hall."

A young Changeling raised his hoof. "Sir, how do we get ponies to like us? I thought they hated us."

"Another good question, and it brings us into our next topic: Transformation!" replied the teacher, smiling. "What makes Changelings special is their ability to transform into other creatures. Today, we will be doing our first transformations. It is best if they have about the same size and mass as the creature they're transforming into, because it uses less energy. To transform, close your eyes and picture a pony close to your size. I know you've all seen us transform into ponies, so you know of at least one. Think about everything that makes that pony who they are, from their voice to their cutie mark to their size and shape. Now, imagine your body changing to be that pony."

With that, Star Watcher blinked his eyes back open. He saw green fire around him that died down after a few moments. When he looked down, he saw very familiar hooves... He had his old body back! He had transformed! He looked around the classroom, but it looked like none of them had transformed successfully yet. His gaze caught the teacher's eye, who stared in surprise.

"Well, I guess it was only to be expected that you transformed so easily. After all, you know your body better than anybody! Now, I have a challenge for you. Change the color of your mane, to neon green." replied his teacher.

Star Watcher closed his eyes, focused, and green flames watched over him once again. When he opened his eyes, his mane was a neon green. Getting the idea, he changed his body color to a dull orange and his cutie mark to a leaf. "Is this good?" He asked smiling.

"Very!" his teacher answered, also smiling. "You'll be an Infiltrator in no time!"

By this time, other Changelings were starting to succeed. The teacher ran off to focus on teaching each one about the parts of the disguise that they missed, many of them had forgotten to hide their horn or wings. Star Watcher began planning backstories and names for different characters. It was easier than he thought it would be, and he surprised himself with his creativity. Before he knew it, class was over, and Silent Whisper picked him up to take him to his next class.

"How was class?" asked Silent Whisper. "Learn much?"

"Oh, I learned a lot!" Star Watcher claimed enthusiastically. "Watch!" Star Watcher turned into his pony self a flash of green fire later. "I can do others, too!" he exclaimed, changing forms.

"Don't do that too much though." Silent Whisper warned. "It'll drain your energy."

Star Watcher frowned and reverted back to Changeling form. "I thought the teacher said that changing didn't take much energy?" he asked uncertainly.

"Staying in changed form doesn't take much energy, but changing your form does. Actively altering your body is quite different form keeping your current form stable. Anyway, now for the second to last stop in our day: the Training Grounds."

Star Watcher followed behind Silent Whisper, keeping up as they traveled to the Training Grounds. He could feel a slight hunger, brought on by his rapid transformations. In only a few minutes, they had reached their destination, and right on time too. The class was only just about to start. He hurried to his place in the class, Silent Whisper leaving him with a promise to show him the way to his final class after Star Watcher finished his current one.

"Welcome, everybody. To the Training Grounds!" roared the Changeling Commander. This was accompanied by a few cheers from overly enthusiastic Changelings. "This is the first time any of you has stepped into this field, with the exception of Star Watcher." this was accompanied with a point, and the named pony-turned-Changeling shifted uncomfortably. "Time to begin your first lesson. Call me Sir when you address me, never talk over me, and never injure a fellow Changeling. These are our only real rules. First, I want each of you to find a partner, and spar with them. Don't permanently injure your partner, but otherwise anything goes." with that, each member of the class found a partner, including Star Watcher. His partner looked strong and powerful, to the point of looking stronger than any other member of the class. Star Watcher wouldn't know it, but his partner had chosen him because she had assumed that already having visited the Training Grounds meant that he was already extremely well trained. With almost no idea of how to fight, the first three matches ended with Star Watcher panting on the ground, the female Changeling above him not even breathing hard.

"Can you actually try?" asked the female Changeling, annoyed.

"T-t-this is me trying!" Star Watcher gasped out. "I've never fought before in my life!"

The female Changeling raised an eyebrow. "Then how did you get to enter the Training Grounds early? And why are you so much bigger than the rest of us hatchlings?" (Note: a hatchling is a young Changeling)

"I was turned into a Changeling, I used to be a pony. I-" Star Watcher's story was interrupted by the Changeling Commander.

"Less talking, more sparring!" he roared. "I want everybody to be in prime fighting condition by the end of the year!"

After class, a very bruised Star Watcher panted as he slowly stumbled towards Silent Whisper. He was taken to a quiet, slightly brighter than usual room, a welcome change from the dark, loud cavern that was the Training Grounds.

"What are we doing in here?" Star Watcher asked, still shaking slightly from sparring.

"You need to learn how to read Changeling writing. It may look like scribbles, but it's supposed to. When ponies see it, none of them recognize it as a language, making it easier to send secret messages. Today, you should look at the alphabet."

----------One Hour Later----------One Hour Later----------One Hour Later----------One Hour Later----------

Star Watcher snored softly in bed. After learning a good portion of the Changeling Alphabet, he was exhausted from the long day he'd had. But just before he slept, after thinking about how well his day had gone compared to how it could have gone, and how much he enjoyed being a changeling, he had a very dangerous thought.

What can possibly go wrong?

Author's Note

I really didn't feel like inventing a new language today, especially one with new letters. By popular vote, however, this can be overturned, and I will create a bonus chapter about Changeling language, written and spoken.

I should compile a list of uses for Changeling excrement sometime. It's quite useful stuff.

If you're still wondering about him liking being a Changeling, remember: He sleeps on the stuff that makes him fine with it. As soon as he leaves his nice, comfortable bed on his first mission...

Back from vacation! See you next chapter.

The First Quest

Star Watcher awoke to a voice in his mind. This is Queen Phantasma speaking through the Hive Mind. This is a Class 4 emergency, and all able-bodied Changelings are required to report to the mess hall immediately. That includes you, Star Watcher. Silent Whisper apparently heard the same message from above him.

"You hear that? We have an emergency on our hooves." Silent Whisper stated calmly, but with a trace of worry in his eyes. "You'll probably be sent out as well as the others. Emergencies are rated on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 in minor and 5 is 'apocalypse is coming, we're all screwed'. A four means if quick action is not taken, we will all be wiped out."

Star Watcher's eyes widened in alarm. "You mean that after only a single day of being a Changeling, I'm probably going to die?!"

"Not if you're sent out." Silent Whisper reassured him as they set off for the mess hall. "If you're sent out, you're safe as long as you find enough love energy to keep you alive. We didn't have the chance to go over advanced Changeling love-magic, so I can't really explain to you how much love you need to survive, you don't have a way of understanding it in the pony language."

Star Watcher and Silent Whisper joined the group of Changelings, conglomerating around the Queen. As he looked around, Star Watcher noticed that there were much fewer gemstones in the wall this morning, and half of what were left were empty, but not taken out. He pointed this out to Silent Whisper, but before Silent could respond the Queen began talking.

"We have a Class 4 emergency: Somebody has stolen about a quarter of our gems, and half of our love energy. If we continue with the same pattern of rations, we now only have a few weeks left before starvation sets in. As a result, I am sending in half of our population." murmurs were heard after this announcement, it seemed like many Changelings were not happy about this development. "If we send out half of our population," the Queen continued, "we will not only halve our consumption, but double our output."

"And the chances that we're caught!" a Changeling yelled from the crowd. The Queen winced at that.

"I know it is less than ideal, but it is necessary. In order to survive, this is our only hope."

"I, for one, am willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the Changelings." Star Watcher said determinedly. "Even if I must risk my life to do so." he gazed at the crowd, with a look that would book no arguments. "I have only been a Changeling for a few days. Are those who have been a Changeling their whole lives more scared of being discovered than one who barely knows how to disguise himself?" he asked boldly. "If you are to cowardly to risk your lives for the survival of your family, when a former pony is willing to risk his life for your families, say aye." Not a single one of the crowd made a noise after that. "Then our Queen's plan should go on."

"Thank you for that, Star Watcher." Queen Phantasma said smiling. "Now, come here for the specific location of your infiltration, and where to exchange information and love with messengers once you get there. Single file, please."

The crowd broke up, and Silent Whisper stared at Star Watcher in awe. "What, you didn't think I was capable of that?" Star Watcher asked with a pleased smirk, before frowning and dropping his tone to a whisper. "I didn't either. The truth is, I'm terrified, but I would prefer my new extended family to stay together. I know first hoof how bad split families can get..." he shuddered. "Now, let's go get our assignments."

Silent Whisper followed behind Star Watcher in line. Now, that is a Changeling with natural leadership skills. he thought to himself. I wish I could make a speech that was half as good as that one. His assignment was to stay with Star Watcher, helping him learn the ropes of being a Changeling. They would be stationed in Ponyville, a relatively innocent small town close by Canterlot and the Hive, an ideal location for a budding Changeling to learn... right?

Author's Note

Emergency alert. This brings in many problems for Changelings in Equestria, including a rapid increase of competing 'predators', an increase in the number of Changelings caught, a decrease in trust between Changelings, a decrease in trust between all ponies as more and more Changelings are outed, and more consequences further down the line. These include better immigration laws, due to the sudden influx of ponies immigrating from all around, according to each Changeling's faux backstory.

Kind of short, compared to the last chapter, but after long chapter must come a short chapter... next chapter should be over a thousand words again.

Ponyville

Ponyville: a town close enough to Canterlot and the Hive that if any trouble arose, escaping would be easy. A town large enough that a newcomer or two probably wouldn't be noticed, yet small enough that a new pony could meet and befriend every pony in town, with no unfriendly faces. An ideal town for a budding Changeling, such as Star Watcher. This is what Silent Whisper and Queen Phantasm thought, not knowing the truth about the town: It was probably the single most dangerous town for a Changeling to be in. It had Pinkie Pie and her uncanny senses, and a new pony acting strange would be noticed quickly by the Princess's student, who was overly paranoid due to her very own brother being subjected to a Queen's mind-altering magic and her sister-in-law being replaced by the Queen herself...

Star Watcher nervously walked along the path, toward Ponyville. Silent Whisper stood by his side, standing tall. Silent Whisper was impersonating a middle-aged Unicorn mare named Petal Blossom, moving to Ponyville with her Unicorn daughter who was just out of school, Rose Bloom. ~~Star Watcher~~ Rose Bloom was nervous. Not only was this ~~his~~ her first assignment as a Changeling, but her current pony form was a female. She was not used to being female, and was just worried in general that she would be caught in general... It was a good this that ~~Silent Whisper~~ Petal Blossom was so confident, and had even accounted for Rose Bloom's nervousness beforehoof and given her a backstory of being shy and nervous. They passed by a few carefully grown apple trees, and soon reached a barn. They were walking past, watching the owners of the farm work the fields, when one of them came close.

"Hey there!" said the pony with a smile. "How's it goin'?"

"Great! We're planning to move to Ponyville, actually." Petal Blossom smiled. "A nice change of pace from Canterlot, where we used to live."

"Ah. What made yew wanna move? The invasion?" asked the mare. "Oh, where are mah manners? Ah'm Applejack."

"Hello, Applejack. I'm Petal Blossom and this is my daughter, Rose Bloom." Petal Blossom pointed a hoof at Rose Bloom. "We did move because of the Invasion. It no longer feels safe in the city."

"Ah, I'm sure it's not that bad." said Applejack. "Ya shouldn't give up on yer hometown that quickly."

"Oh, but it's a nice to see new scenery as well. Also, I heard that it's good for a pony's mind, changing location. Helps with work."

Applejack chuckled. "Ah'm sure many will agree wi'you, but ah'm content ta stay at mah farm. Ah tried livin in Manehatten a spell, didn't go over too well. Anyway, if ya plan on movin' in, ya should try some of mah apples. On the house." Applejack hoofed each of them an apple, before continuing. "Anyways, ah better git back to applebucken. These trees don' buck themselves, ya know!" she smiled before going back to her job.

Petal Blossom and Rose Bloom tried their apples, to find them delicious! "I thought that Changelings couldn't eat." whispered Rose Bloom to Petal Blossom.

"We can't get nutrition from it, but we can still taste it. Imagine, if a Changeling tried to fit in, yet was never seen eating anything, how would ponies react? They would clearly see the difference. As for why we have taste buds, well... If a pony eats fine delicacies, versus horrible food, they could clearly taste the difference. If a Changeling couldn't, they would have no chance understanding what wine was fine, or what wine was disgusting. They're necessary." Petal Blossom whispered back. "Now, no more talk about Changelings. All it takes is one word for us to be discovered. Only talk about it when necessary, and even then at home."

"One last question: I noticed that all the answers you gave were some form of the truth. Why is that?"

"The truth is easier to remember than excuses. If you come up with a mound of excuses, forgetting even one can cause major suspicions. If a pony suddenly forgot where they were supposed to have come from, wouldn't that be strange? Also, that there is the most major threat to Changelings: Applejack, Element of Honesty. She knows when you lie. Because every answer I gave was true, she didn't notice a thing. All we have to do is keep her from mentioning Changelings directly, and we'll be safe. Now, enough. Let's go to the Mayor, she must know where to rent a house."

"I'm very sorry, but there are no available houses for rent. I'm afraid I can't help y-" Mayor Mare was cut off.

"Oh, I have room!" a cheerful purple pony with stars for her Cutie Mark. She turned to Petal Blossom and Rose Bloom. "There's plenty of room with me. I live in the public library, so there might be some traffic in the bottom floor during daytime, but if you need a place to stay..."

"Oh, but how many bits would it cost?" asked Petal Blossom. "Excuse my manners. I am Petal Blossom, and this is my daughter Rose Bloom."

"I'm Twilight Sparkle. It would be free! I'd never leave a pony without a place to stay if I could help it." Twilight smiled.

"Really? Thank you!" Petal Blossom smiled. "I was getting worried that me and my daughter would have no place to stay!"

"No problem! Come to the library tonight, I'll have the guest room cleared out for you by then."

A Few Hours Later

Petal Blossom and Rose Bloom slowly opened the creaky wooden door to the Library. It was dark, and the lights seemed to be off. "Hello?" asked Petal Blossom softly. "Is anypony there?"

Rose Bloom shuffled nervously. "I don't think anypony is ho-" she was cut off by a loud cry as the lights turned on.

"SURPRISE!" what looked like all of Ponyville shouted, at the top of their lungs. Petal Blossom and Rose Bloom just stood there, mouths hanging open, in complete and utter shock, frozen in place, before a pink blur appeared in front of them.

Author's Note

How was AJ's accent? I'm not that good at it, so if anybody has any corrections to make...

No Alicorn Twilight this time. It wouldn't make a huge difference either way, really.

EDIT: looking back, Alicorn Twilight would break canon at this point... I might have Alicorn Twilight later, though.

Party Time

"Surprise! Were you surprised? Oh, you must be surprised! I'm Pinkie Pie? What are your names? Do you like playing pin the tail on the pony? What about cupcakes?" the pink blur, evidently named Pinkie Pie, said almost to quickly to understand.

"I'm Petal Blossom, and this is my daughter Rose Bloom." Petal Blossom responded. "Yes, I like playing pin the tail on the pony. I also like cupcakes, especially ones with lots and lots of frosting."

"I also like pin the tail on the pony." Rose Bloom added nervously. "I like cupcakes with hot sauce. It's kind of a weird combination, but..." she trailed off.

"Oh, I love hot sauce cupcakes! They're delicious!" Pinkie said, bouncing.

"Who's this party for?" asked Petal Blossom. "Twilight, or does some other pony live here?"

"Sillies! This party is for you! After all, you also live here now!" Pinkie giggled. "I have to go play pin the tail on the pony, see you later!" Pinkie bounced off to another corner, where a game was starting.

"A party for us?" Petal Blossom said thoughtfully. "We just got here, and there's already a party for us? This seems like a wonderful place to live."

"It sure is, sugacube." Applejack said, snapping her out of her trance. "Ah think we already met. Ah just wanted ta introduce you to mah lil sister, Applebloom."

"Hi, ah'm Applebloom." a filly standing next to Applejack smiled. "Pleased ta meet ya, Mrs. Blossom and Rose." she turned to Applejack. "Can ah show Rose the party?" asked Applebloom with a hopeful smile.

"Ask her mother, is she says yes, sure you can." Applejack replied.

Applebloom turned to Petal Blossom. "Can I? Please?" she asked with a cute smile.

"I don't know. Rose, do you think you can handle it?" she asked her daughter.

"I-I think so." Rose said softly.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Applebloom exclaimed excitedly. "I'll introduce you to my friends!"

Applebloom and Rose ran off to go find Applebloom's friends, while Petal Blossom said her goodbyes with Applejack. Petal Blossom found a nice beverage to drink while she looked over where she would be living. Between the wooden walls and books, it looked like the entire tree-shaped building was flammable, which worried her. She quickly found Twilight and asked her about the flammability.

"It's not just built to look like a tree, it actually is a tree!" said Twilight cheerfully. "It's still alive, making it harder to catch on fire, and in addition everything that goes in here is fireproofed with a useful spell I can teach you and your daughter. Including the tree itself, of course. Wouldn't do much good if the house burnt down around the books." she grinned sheepishly. "I almost made that mistake once..." The two talked for a while.

Meanwhile, Rose Bloom was being led to Applebloom's friends. They were... under a table? They all sat down in a circle to welcome Rose Bloom.

"I'm Scootaloo!" a pegasus with stunted wings smiled.

"I'm Sweetie Belle!" a white unicorn said.

"Ah'm Applebloom!" Applebloom said.

"And we're the..." they all said, taking a deep breath. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"

Rose Bloom was deafened for a moment, and she could have sworn that the room shook somewhat. A book fell off of its shelf, and some punch sloshed out of its bowl. She cleared her ears and asked, "What do you do, as Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"Hey, she doesn't have a Cutie Mark! Scootaloo said excitedly. Rose Bloom froze and covered the missing piece with her tail.

Uh, oh... How could I forget something so important? Everypony has a Cutie Mark! I've been discovered, what do I do now? she asked herself mentally.

"Ah know! She can be a Crusader too!" Applebloom said, smile growing. "Rose, don't worry! We havn't gotten our Cutie Marks yet either! That's what Crusading' is for! We try all sorts of new things we haven't done before, and try to get our Cutie Marks from it!"

Rose unfroze, realizing that she was not, in fact, caught. "Okay. Why not?" Rose smiled. She reasoned that their friendship would give her some energy. Also, she hadn't had fun in years. As Star Watcher, the last time he had fun was graduation party from college. She felt a warm feeling creep through her, warming her and reducing her hunger. By this point, the party was wrapping up, so Applebloom left with Applejack, Sweetie Belle left with a white unicorn with a purple mane, and Scootaloo left with a pegasus with a cyan body and a rainbow mane. After the last ponies left, Twilight began cleaning up the mess. Petal insisted on helping her, and Rose decided to help as well. Afterwards, Twilight showed Petal and Rose to their room, before leaving to get some sleep herself.

"How was today? Was it really that bad?" Petal asked with a smile, once the door was closed and a spell was put up so that nopony could listen in on their conversation. It could be potentially disastrous for a pony to overhear their conversation.

"It was pretty good. I made friends with some fillies without Cutie Marks, they were willing to let me into their club because I forgot mine..." Rose said sheepishly.

"You forgot yours?! Oh well, at least you're still of the right age to be still looking for one. Still, try to figure out what you'd like a Cutie Mark in, so we can stage you getting yours." replied Petal. "I know a spell that can replicate the flash caused by getting your Cutie Mark, if you use it while transforming a Cutie Mark it looks realistic."

"Good. Now, I have one question: How do we tell what emotions ponies are outputting?" Rose questioned.

"Here, I'll show you the spell, and then we'll sleep until the morning, we find jobs tomorrow. The spell takes very little energy to set up, and it will continue running until you cancel it. We have fairly stable sources of emotion now, so I can start teaching you magic. First, you have to..."

Author's Note

For the purposes of this story, the CMC are one year from finishing school. Rose is just finished, so the age gap is a paltry one year, meaning the CMC are comfortable with her because she's so close to their age. She would be a helpful studying buddy as well...

I had to remove the Twilight tag in favor of the CMC tag, as they won't let me have all the tags I want. Twilight will still be used the most out of the Mane 6.

Mane 6 met: Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie
Mane 6 to meet: Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash

Yes, I Rainbow is Scootaloo's adopted mother.

See you next chapter: the big freakout is coming. It might take me a while to write a realistic one.

Work First

Rose Bloom awoke hyperventilating. Why didn't I have a problem with this before?! It goes against everything I've ever learned! Lying, stealing, hiding what I am... What am I doing?! he asked himself, angry and confused. I need to turn myself in, and the location of the hive, and tell them everything. Maybe they'll lessen the punishment if I do. she opened her mouth to scream, alerting everypony in town, but a hoof covered it.

"I thought this might happen." Petal Blossom sighed sadly. "In the Hive, your bed has certain... chemical properties. Remember? Nod if you do."

Rose Bloom nodded, her mouth still covered by a hoof.

"That prevented this freakout. I was hoping it wouldn't come, that you had fully adjusted already, but it was too much to hope for. Now, first of all. I have cast the spell to prevent sound from leaving this room. If you told them, you would die." Petal Blossom removed her hoof from Rose's mouth.

"They would never kill a living creature on purpose!" Rose insisted with an angry glare.

"Not on purpose, no. Where would you get your food from? You'd starve to death until you begged them to release you from this world." Petal laughed mockingly. "They would, I've seen it. Changelings rescued from prison, rescued from starving to death. And ponies wonder why Chrysalis did what she did. We were starving to death, and she kept us going. Her methods may have been wrong, but any other path would have taken far too long to get results from. Nopony will love a Changeling within a day of meeting them. They're all afraid that we're life-sucking monsters that kill for fun. We would have starved before we could show them the truth. Now, I'm not asking you to immediately be okay with Changeling life. However, for both our sakes, you should not reveal yourself. Anyway, there is no way to turn you back. You're stuck as you are, would you rather make an enemy out of your only potential supporters, or attempt to befriend ones that will more likely kill you accidentally than help you?"

"I-I guess... When you put it that way..." Rose mumbled, looking at her hooves. "Fine. I'm not happy about it, but I don't want to die, especially not of starvation. What's planned for today?"

Taking down the spell preventing noise, Petal explained that today was for getting jobs. They went downstairs, and found Twilight already awake and... a dragon cooking?!

"W-what's a dragon doing in hear?" Petal asked fearfully. Not even Changelings were fearless.

"Oh, he's Spike, my assistant." Twilight said happily, not noticing Petal's scared tone of voice. "He's much better at cooking breakfast than I am..." she muttered. "Anyway, today I'm going to my friend Rarity's house. She asked me to enchant some gems for her, to make dresses that have various abilities. It seems she took it to heart when I told her that clothing based on function could be a big hit."

"Enchanting gems? I thought it took multiple unicorns to do that." Rose asked questioningly.

"Oh, it does usually! I'm surprised you've heard of it. Most unicorns aren't very interested in magic, especially at your age." Twilight beamed. "Princess Celestia gave me a gift on my birthday recently, a gem that splits channeled magic into two flows, allowing you to enchant a gem with only one unicorn! It even came full of energy, so any energy I put in is doubled when it is split, so-"

Rose interrupted her. "So you don't have to put in double the amount of magic when using it! That's genius! But it takes quite a bit of magic to fill up a gem. I would assume that both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had to enchant this gem, then? As a joint present from both of them?"

"Exactly!" Twilight looked quite pleased. "You're quite well-versed in magic for one so young. Barely out of school, and already deep into high enchantment theory! You remind me of myself when I was your age." she frowned. "I needed to go out and make some friends. Do you have many friends?"

Rose shifted from side to side a little. "I didn't have any before coming here, actually." she began to smile. "But at that party yesterday, I met some nice fillies, named Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo! They're going to make me into a-" she began inhaling deeply, and Twilight, knowing what was coming, quickly cast a spell to muffle the sound that reached her ears. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER!" Rose roared, shaking the room slightly. Caught unprepared, Petal did not have her sound-proofing spell up. Her ears were sent ringing, and a few books fell off of the shelves. Twilight winced, some of the sound bled through her hastily-cast spell.

"H-have fun with that..." Petal said weakly and winced, her ears throbbing. "I'll be looking for a job. Twilight, do you know of any good jobs I could get?"

"Uh, I'm not sure, but you could get a position as my library assistant. Pay would be a small gem every day." Twilight said amiably.

"Just know that I'm her number one assistant!" Spike grumbled, receiving a hoof to the head from Twilight for his complaint.

"I'll look for a job, and if I don't find one that looks better, I'll be Twilight's assistant. Not number one assistant, though." she added, noticing Spike's frown.

"Can I go down to Applejack's farm to see what Applebloom and the other Crusaders are up to?" Rose asked excitedly.

Twilight frowned. "I think that school's in right now. However, I have a lot of magical theories and ideas that I'd like to be able to bounce off somepony. While they're in school, can you maybe help me? If you don't know what I'm talking about, I have some books that can help." she added.

"I guess I don't have much better to do. I might need to read a few of those books, but I'd like to help where I can!" Rose said with a smile.

A Few Hours Later

"But if I redirected the magic through a Thaunaumic Core, and transferred the power through iron wires-" Twilight said.

"You would need tier 3 or higher wires, like bronze-" Rose interrupted.

"Bronze, right, through the visible rune-wired spell matrix, then I could direct the power into the gems-"

"You'd need at least 500-"

"Unless we directed the power through local houses and the floor. We could have a functional shield spell that would protect the Crystal Empire from dragons trying to eat the houses!!"

"And powered by the natural energy fields outputted by Crystal Ponies!"

Twilight stopped, her jaw dropping in amazement. "Did I really just have this conversation with a pony barely out of school?" she asked.

Rose blushed furiously. "It wasn't that hard to understand, I just needed to read the books you asked me to."

"College level books!" Twilight insisted. "You're really good at this!"

"Maybe I can get my Cutie Mark for it!" Rose's eyes brightened.

Twilight smiled. "I think you might be right!" she encouraged. Her face dropped. "Uh-oh, I'm late for my meeting with Rarity!" then she grinned. "Wanna come? I'd be proud to cast some enchantments on gems with you!"

"I'm sorry." Rose smiled apologetically. "I promised the Cutie Mark Crusaders that I'd go Crusading with them."

Twilight's grin grew serious. "Okay, just... Try to keep them safe. They have a long history of disasters and accidents... Now, I'll finish up by sending my letter to my brother and Cadence. They'll be pleased to know that their dragon problems are over! And I'll be sure to mention you." Twilight smiled again. "See you later!"

Meanwhile, Rarity was pacing back and forth. It wasn't like Twilight to be late for something so important! She heard the bell on her door ring softly as the door opened to admit a potential customer. Rarity sighed and collected herself, repeating her mantra to herself. The Customer Comes First. she reminded herself. She walked to the door, about to introduce herself, when the visitor spoke first.

"Hello? I'm Petal Blossom, the new pony in town. I was wondering if I could get a job here?" the pony asked, exhausted.

"Of course! Are you... okay? You sound... a little less than well." Rarity asked, trying to get her point across without seeming rude.

"I'm probably not." Petal Blossom blushed. "I've spent the last few hours rushing everywhere, bucking apples off of trees..." her voice drifted off.

"Let's go to the spa, then. We can talk about getting you a job there."

"Oh, but I can't afford it." Petal said softly. "I'm out of bits, that's why I need a job."

"Nonsense!" Rarity insisted. "I'll pay! I have plenty of leftover bits from my last order. I'll just have to reschedule my trip to the spa with Fluttershy from later today to now. We can all go to the spa together!" Rarity smiled.

"Okay. Thanks a lot!" Petal smiled. "I really need to slow down and relax for a while."

"Hey Rarity?" a young pony asked from the stairs. "Can I go Crusading with my friends?" she asked. "We made a new friend yesterday, her name is Rose and we want to give her a Crusader cape!"

"Of course!" Rarity said, smiling. "Have fun!" she called out as Sweetie left in a hurry, carrying an extra Crusader cape in addition to the one she was wearing.

"Rose? She's my daughter!" Petal exclaimed in shock.

"Is she? What a coincidence!" Rarity smiled. "Now, let's go to the spa." she paused. "One moment, I just have to leave a note in case Twilight comes to enchant the gems I wanted enchanted."

"Isn't that important?" asked Petal.

"I can just reschedule it to another day." Rarity said. "It'll be fine. Let's go pick up Fluttershy."

Author's Note

Did anybody understand the talk about the 'Thaunaumic Core', 'visible rune-wired spell matrix', or redirecting the power through gems? Because that spell matrix would actually work, according to the way I'm making magic work. I have a bonus chapter that explains all of this in my story New Reign. At least, it sort of explains it. A little bit. If anybody has specific questions about this, ask away! I have created fully-functioning magic systems.

I'm going to assume in this story that between S2 EP25-26 and S3 EP1-2, there's only about a week. The Mane 6 have only just returned from defeating Sombra.

Then Play

Rose Bloom ran to Sweet Apple Acres, hoping to arrive on time to go Crusading. Her childhood as Star Watcher had been boring, and filled with study sessions, magical training, and parents who wouldn't let her go outside for a break, even when she completed all the work she needed to do by the next day. She sprinted to the farm, not looking where she was going, when she hit something with a thud. She blacked out a moment later.

Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had met at Sugarcube Corner to finish refining the process by which a Cutie Mark Crusader was made. Afterwards, Scootaloo began pulling them to the farm at high speeds with her scooter.

"Hey, is that Rose? Stop!" Sweetie Belle said. "We're going to hit her!"

With a thud, the cart impacted Rose when Scootaloo couldn't stop in time. The Cutie Mark Crusaders gasped, and stared in shock as Rose's body dissolved to black chitin, the black horn on her head cracked and oozing a strange yellow fluid. Quickly, they put her in the cart and took her to their treehouse.

Star Watcher awoke, feeling something off. She opened her eyes, and above her she saw Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle staring at her nervously and curiously. "What happened?" he asked groggily, his eyes widening when he realized that his form had reverted. Instantly she scurried to the corner, curling her body into a ball.

"Are you ah... Changeling?" Applebloom whispered. Her face turned fierce. "What have yew done with tha real Rose?" she asked angrily.

"I am the real Rose!" Star Watcher said nervously. "I arrived yesterday, at the party! We talked, and I was headed here when something happened."

"We, um... Sort of hit you with a wagon, accidentally?" Scootaloo said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head with one hoof.

Star Watcher tried to transform, only to feel a sharp pain in his horn. "OW! What happened to my horn?" he gasped out.

"It's cracked." Sweetie Belle said.

"Now I'm ruined! I'm going to starve to death!" Star Watcher wept miserably.

"How would yew starve ta death?" Applebloom said curiously.

"Without being able to transform, I can't collect love! I'm doomed!" Star Watcher cried.

"Why did you even come here?" Scootaloo asked.

"This was my first mission. Somebody stole a lot of the love from our storerooms in the Hive, so almost all the Changelings were sent out to gather love so we don't starve." Star Watcher moaned. "Now, I won't even live to see the end of my first mission as a Changeling!" Star Watcher curled up tighter.

"Now look here, Rose." Applebloom said.

"It's Star Watcher, actually. Rose is just the name of the pony personality I created." Star Watcher interrupted.

"Star Watcher. Ah don' know if ah can trust you completely yet, but if we care about ya, will ya be able to survive on that?" she asked with a smile, and Star Watcher stopped crying.

"I can't really tell, I can't cast the spell to detect emotions with a broken horn. But, if you honestly feel pleasant emotions for me, I think so." Star Watcher said hopefully.

"What did you mean, your first mission as a Changeling?" Sweetie Bloom asked.

"I was a unicorn first, living in Canterlot. I was turned into a Changeling after the invasion, and now I work with them to survive." Star Watcher replied.

"Wow! I didn't know Changelings could do that!" Scootaloo exclaimed in awe. "What's it like, being a Changeling?" she asked.

"Well, you have to trick ponies into liking you to survive, learn to lie really well, it's not that fun. The only cool part is being able to be any type of pony. I always wondered how it felt to fly." he commented wistfully, buzzing his insect wings gently. His horn felt better already, for some reason. He also felt hungrier.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders gasped. "Your horn! It's fixing itself!" Sweetie cried.

Star Watcher gasped in amazement. "It must be leftover love from the welcome party!" he smiled, then frowned. "But that's making me hungry."

"Now that you're horn is fixed, can you transform into Celestia?" Scootaloo asked, smiling.

"Sure!" Star Watcher smiled, closing his eyes and picturing Celestia. In a flash, he transformed. Casting his love-detecting spell, he noticed the friendship that the ponies felt for him, and how impressed they were with his powers, especially Scootaloo. "Can we go Crusading now?" she asked with a heavenly smile, a smile so beautiful that mortals felt joy welling up inside themselves to behold. Then, it was gone and Celestia shrunk back down to a blank-flank Rose Bloom.

"Of course! First, we have to make you a Crusader." Sweetie Belle said, before pulling out the Crusader cloak she had gotten from Rarity's house. The Cutie Mark Crusaders began their ceremony.

----------Petal Blossom----------

Petal Blossom smiled as she walked with Rarity and Fluttershy. They had just picked Fluttershy, and were now on their way to the spa. Twilight met them along the way, gasping for breath. "I'm so sorry, Rarity!" she gasped. "I was held up creating a spell to prevent dragons from entering and eating the Crystal Empire!"

"It's quite all right, Twilight. Do you want to join us? We were just heading for the spa now. You look like you could use it. Afterwards, we can enchant the gemstones I wanted."

"Okay, Rarity." Twilight finally got her breathing under control. "Let's go."

Soon they reached the spa. Before they could relax, however, there was one more matter to settle.

"I'm paying. My treat." Rarity announced.

"Oh, but I couldn't possibly..." Fluttershy's voice trailed off as Rarity insisted. "Oh, all right." she said in a quiet voice.

"I'm paying for myself." Twilight said, not willing to ask Rarity to pay for so many ponies, especially when she could afford it herself.

"Darling, you don't have to." Rarity said. "Consider it my payment for enchanting the gems later."

"I missed my appointment, and you know that I didn't and won't ask for any payment for doing you a favor."

"And you know that I would insist on paying you anyway." Rarity smiled. "If you accept this now, I promise not to force you to take any payment later."

"Oh, all right." Twilight grumbled.

The group of ponies walked inside, talking while the spa treatments began. "So, what's the deal with this new spell?" Rarity asked, closing her eyes as cucumbers were placed gently on them.

"Petal's daughter Rose helped me. It was amazing! Never before have I seen a filly with that much knowledge of magic structure." Twilight gushed. "She helped me design a spell that will protect the Crystal Empire! It draws power from the crystal ponies and uses it to power the spell! I sent a letter to Shining and Cadence, giving them detailed instructions on how to create it."

Petal cursed under her breath. Rose clearly hadn't been thinking when she had done that, it could have given the whole game away! Petal didn't pay much attention to the conversation, and it didn't swing her way very often. Usually just a question or two for her to answer about her past. Otherwise, the spa visit was relaxing and uneventful. Petal sighed as she relaxed, enjoying the treatment immensely. Afterwards, she headed back to the library while Twilight and Rarity went to the boutique, and Fluttershy returned to her cottage. When Petal returned, she found Rose, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo there... Stuck to each other and covered in tree sap, with a medium-sized log next to them?

"We can explain!" Sweetie Belle said desperately, a dripping hoof waving about until it got stuck on Rose's belly. Petal levitated them all upstairs where a bath was, and began cleaning the dripping sticky sap off.

"You had better have a good reason for this." Petal said, growling.

"We sort of do." Rose said sheepishly. "It all started when we began Crusading..."

----------Flashback----------

"Today we planned to get our hang gliding Cutie Marks!" Scootaloo said, smiling.

"Do we have hang gliders?" asked Rose skeptically.

"Not after last time..." Sweetie Belle mumbled.

"So let's make em!" Applebloom suggested.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HANG GLIDER MAKERS YAY!" the fillies shouted.

----------At Rarity's Boutique----------

"I think this will work... Right?" asked Rose nervously. She had just put the last piece on the hang glider, but it looked like it would fall apart at any moment. A moment later, it did. The whole thing collapsed into a pile of wood and fabric. "Does any of you actually know how to build a hang glider?" Rose questioned.

"Not... really..." Applebloom muttered.

"Why don't we go to the library to find out how to!" Sweetie Belle suggested.

----------At Twilight's Library----------

"The door's locked! How do we get in now?" Scootaloo moaned.

"Let's knock it open!" Applebloom suggested.

"I don't know if we should..." Rose said nervously, shifting from hoof to hoof while looking down.

"It'll be fine!" Scootaloo said.

"Yeah! Come on!" said Sweetie Belle.

"All right..." Rose sighed, as the others looked at her expectantly. "What? What do you want me to do?" she asked, before her eyes went wide as she realized. "No. Not out here. With everypony around me? That would be suicide! We're going to use a battering ram. To the Everfree Forest!"

----------At The Everfree Forest----------

"Are ya sure this is a good idea?" Applebloom asked skeptically.

"Sure! If anything dangerous comes along, I'll protect you." Rose suggested.

"All right then... Let's go!" Applebloom said, still slightly nervous but not willing to chicken out.

"How about this one?" asked Sweetie Belle, finding a medium-sized piece of wood.

"Perfect!" replied Rose. "Back to the library!"

----------At Twilight's Library----------

"Ready? Run on three." Rose said. "One... Two... Three!"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders rushed at the door, holding the piece of wood they had found. With a sudden bang, the door gave way, and they all tumbled inside... onto the piece of wood they had been using, which was beginning to leak tree sap...

"Uh, oh..." said Sweetie Belle, her hooves sticking to Applebloom's body.

"Here, I'll get it off of you." Rose said kindly, grabbing Sweetie Belle's body and Applebloom's body before pulling at both of them... only to find that she was stuck herself. "Oops." she blushed.

"I got this!" said Scootaloo, moving quickly at them... before getting stuck herself. Suddenly, the library door that had swung shut again opened and let Petal Blossom in.

"We can explain!" Sweetie Belle said desperately.

----------End Flashback----------

"And that's how we got stuck here!" Rose said.

Petal shook her head, sighing. "That story is so ridiculous it must be true. I can't think of a better explanation. Anyway, it's almost bed time. We should sleep now."

"Aww..." the Cutie Mark Crusader whined, giving their best 'please' faces, but Petal closed her eyes.

"That doesn't work if I can't see it." Petal said smugly. "Go to your houses. However, I will let Rose play with you again another day if you go immediately."

When Petal opened her eyes, nothing was there. Walking to her room, she heard Rose's snoring. Smirking, she realized that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had all gone to bed. She kissed Rose's head, before going to her own bed, smiling. "Goodnight." she whispered, gazing at the moon before entering her bed.

Author's Note

I'm not sure how to refer to Rose/Star when she/he is in the past vs. the present. Should I always use whatever gender term she/he is at the moment, or when in memories should I use the gender she/he was at the time of the memory? Comment your opinion below. Which would be less confusing? Can you even understand what I'm asking you, or is my explanation to confusing?

After work, comes play!

The CMC know the secret now. Can they keep quiet? Or will they spill? To Be Continued...

Running Errands

Twilight smiled at Rose over breakfast. The news she had received from her brother excited her.

"Guess what, Rose? The spell we created yesterday worked!" she said, grinning from ear to ear. "Also, Shining and Cadence want to meet you! You get to meet the Princess and Prince-consort of the Crystal Empire!"

Rose froze. A moment later she relaxed, smiling. She knew that this could turn out very, very badly for her, but she didn't want to give it away. "Great!" she said, smiling as well. "I'd love to go! When can I go?"

"Tomorrow. I'm heading there myself, you can come along. Petal, do you want to come?" Twilight asked politely.

"No thank you, I have to get started with my work. Rose can tell me about it when I get back." Petal smiled as she rejected the offer. She would rather not meet the ponies responsible for nearly committing genocide, especially as they would kill her if they found out. Rose, on the other hand, was more experienced with being a pony and more likely to survive an encounter.

"Look at this." Twilight said frowning as she levitated her newspaper to Rose and Petal. "They've caught some Changelings in Hoofington. They're imprisoned for now, it says that Princess Celestia will choose what to do with them once she gets advice from ponies close to her."

Rose and Petal gulped. Their very lives could depend on the verdict. Who even were these ponies Celestia consorted with, they wondered. The results could vary from a nation-wide Changeling hunt to an alliance, depending on who Celestia listened to. Suddenly, Spike burped and released a scroll. He coughed into his hand before reading it aloud.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle, I regret to inform you that Changelings have been caught in Hoofington. I am still unsure as to what I should do with them, and I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter."

Twilight's mouth dropped. "She wants me to help the her, the immortal Princess of the entire nation, decide?"

"Of course she does!" Rose said, smiling. "You're her personal prodigy!"

"Well, I have a question." Twilight said nervously. "Will you... becomemypersonalprodigy?" Twilight blurted, blushing and looking down.

"I'd be delighted to!" Rose said.

Twilight smiled with joy. "Thank you! The first thing I would like you to help me with, is deciding what I should tell Celestia!"

Rose froze again. If she said the wrong thing, it could reveal who she was. If she said the right thing, it could influence Celestia towards being nice to Changelings, so when she was discovered herself she would be safe. "I think that before Celestia does anything to them, she should talk to the discovered Changelings. What's their side of the story?" Rose said carefully.

"I never thought of that." Twilight said, her eyebrow raised. "What if they have a reason to do what they're doing?"

"You'll never know until you ask them." Rose replied. "That's what I think you should tell Celestia."

"What if they're lying?" Twilight asked.

"Use a lie-detector spell." Rose replied.

Twilight smiled cheerfully. "I'll keep that in mind while I talk to my friends about it. Afterwards, we can study some magic together!"

"I look forward to it." Rose smiled. "In the meantime, I can run errands for you while you're talking to your friends and my mom is at work."

"I have a list ready. Thank you so much! I was going to get behind on my schedule, and then I might even have had a breakdown..." Twilight shuddered, whispering, "I remember the last time that happened..." before smiling again, "Thanks again!" and levitating her checklist and quill over to Rose, where her green Changeling magic took over for Twilight's magic. "See you!" Twilight smiled as she trotted out the door.

Petal smiled. "You handled that wonderfully, Rose." she said.

"Not for you or the rest of the Changelings." Rose growled. "I'm still mad about you forcing me to do this."

"You'll grow to like it." Petal replied. "Now, I'm going to work for Rarity, you can go run Twilight's errands. I think I see money in the list, it looks like she keeps the necessary amount of bits with the list. Clever, really. Remember not to break character."

"Okay. See you!" Rose replied as Petal left. Rose finished her food, before picking up her saddlebags and leaving the house to complete her chores. Walking to the market at the center of town, Rose saw Twilight talking to Applejack out of the corner of her eye. She could guess what they were talking about. Rose put the life-or-death situation out of her mind, reaching the first stall she had to go to, and began buying groceries. Next on Twilight's list was cupcakes, to be found at Sugarcube Corner. Rose smiled, humming to herself, and a pony standing near her's eyes widened. The pony motioned to an ally, where nopony was. Confused, Rose shrugged and went down the ally.

"What happened?" the pony asked Rose.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, uncertain.

"Look, we're both Changelings, it's safe to tell me. Only part of your message was in your song." the pony, now known to be a Changeling replied, sighing.

"What message?" Rose asked, clueless. The Changeling facehoofed.

"Have you not learned the Changeling humming language yet?" the Changeling asked.

"There's a Changeling humming language?"

"Yes, and I'd think that anybody who was sent out would know it! It's designed to allow Changelings to communicate without alerting anypony to their presence."

"The Hive had a large supply of emotional energy stolen from it, and now everypony capable has been sent out. Did you not get the messenger?"

"Mine must have defected, I haven't had a message in months."

"Ah. In that case, you probably wouldn't know about me either. I am a pony who was turned into a Changeling."

"Willingly?"

"No. Forcefully."

"That's not right." the Changeling said, frowning.

"Everybody expects me to just go along with it, and I have to for now, but still. I wish it didn't have to be this way." Rose sighed.

"Well, that's not good. If anything happens, here's my contact information. I'll help." the Changeling replied. "See you!"

Rose walked out of the ally, back to Sugarcube Corner. She promised herself never to hum again, until she knew this 'Changeling humming language', despite her pony upbringing that made her want to hum all the time. After purchasing the cupcakes, she left the building, waving to Twilight as they passed each other, presumably Twilight was about to ask Pinkie about the Changeling dilemma. Rose purchased some quills from the Sofas and Quills store, wondering why they only sold Sofas and Quills. Especially because the Sofas were out of stock. Soon, Rose had finished the errands, and to her surprise some bits were left over, with a note:

Thank you Rose, for helping me. It wouldn't feel right to get free work out of you like this, so I left ten bits for you. Save it, spend it, it's your choice!

Your Teacher, Twilight Sparkle

Rose smiled at Twilight's generosity, electing to save it for now. Maybe I can buy something in the Crystal Empire! she thought to herself. Exhausted, when she returned to the Library she slept. Soon after, everypony else returned from their day. Petal smiled as she saw Rose already asleep, and Twilight wrote a letter to Celestia, one that determined the very fate of the Changelings...

Crystal Empire

Rose woke up, and walked out to the kitchen where breakfast was already cooking. Remembering yesterday, she needed to know what Twilight's response to Celestia's message was.

"Twilight, what did you say to Celestia?" Rose asked, trying to keep emotion out of her voice. "How do you think she should treat the Changelings?"

"I thought that your idea was the best. After consulting all of my friends, we unanimously decided that before doing anything we might regret, we should at least see what their side is." Twilight replied, smiling. "Now we have a trip to the Crystal Empire to prepare for!"

Rose sighed in relief, but as Twilight reminded her of the trip to the Crystal Empire, the sigh caught in her throat. All of her worries about being caught flooded back, but she banished the thoughts from her mind as she ate her breakfast and began packing. There wasn't much to pack, as the only things she really had were saddlebags and the ten bits from yesterday.

"Can I have some books to bring with me?" Rose asked Twilight hopefully.

"Of course!" Twilight smiled. "But I hope you realize that you should go out any see the sights while you're there! For many, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Rose gulped, realizing that it could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. Because her lifetime might be shortened considerably by her visit.

----------The Crystal Empire----------

Rose and Twilight got off the train, taking a cab to the castle in the center of the city. Entering the range of the Crystal Heart, Rose's eyes opened wide in surprise. The sheer amount of love in the air was staggering! Just by passively draining, Rose felt herself fill up with more energy than all the energy she had ever felt as a Changeling combined. Breakfast during her first day at the hive was almost nothing compared to this! Entering the castle, Rose felt her nervousness increase. If anypony could stop her, it was the rulers of the Crystal Empire.

Misinterpreting Rose's nervousness, Twilight attempted to cheer up her student. "It'll be fine! Shining and Cadence are very kind and compassionate rulers. They don't bite."

Rose and Twilight entered the throne room, Rose gazing in awe at the crystalline structures around her.

"Presenting Twilight Sparkle and Rose Bloom, Celestia's personal prodigy and... Celestia's personal prodigy's personal prodigy?" the guard announcing the titles said, confused.

Cadence giggled. "Twilight! So nice to see you!"

"Sunshine, Sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" Cadence and Twilight chanted, simultaneously doing the motions that went with the words.

"Twily!" Shining Armor said, giving his sister a noogie.

"And you are Twilight's student?" Cadence asked Rose, smiling.

"Yes." Rose said quietly, head down and shuffling her hooves.

Cadence bent down to look Rose in the eyes. "You saved many ponies. On behalf of the Crystal Empire, I thank you. Twilight is my sister-in-law, and you are her student. I'd say you're already part of the family. Don't be afraid."

Rose looked up at Cadence, and smiled. "Thank you. I've never met royalty before, I was nervous."

Cadence chuckled. "Technically, Twilight is royalty. She's related to me and Shining."

Rose contemplated that. "I've never thought of that before."

"Anyway, I heard you helped Twilight help Celestia decide about the Changeling situation."

Rose blushed. "Yes, but I just gave my opinion. It's not like it matters much."

"On the contrary, Celestia decided to use your suggestion. You might even be able to ask the Changelings some questions!"

On the inside, Rose winced. The interrogation would probably ruin everything. On the outside, Rose smiled. She couldn't let Cadence know that she was a Changeling. "Wow, really? What will you ask them?"

Cadence thought about that for a moment. "Well, I'll start by asking them their names. Then, I'll ask a few questions about home, maybe make them feel a little more comfortable. I'll bet Twilight will ask them about various science knowledge they may have that we don't, and Celestia and Luna will probably ask about why they live in secret and attacked us. The one pony I don't know as well as I would like that will be asking questions is you. What will you ask?"

Rose thought about that for a moment. "I'll ask them if they enjoyed being a pony, even if temporarily. Maybe a few questions about their life in disguise?"

Cadence smiled. "Good choice. I don't think anypony else would have thought of that. You think differently from everypony else, but that's often a good thing. Don't let anypony tell you otherwise."

By this time, Twilight and Shining had finished their discussion, and Cadence and Shining had work to do. Twilight and Rose were given a tour guide, so Rose could see the sights around the empire. Twilight had already seen it, but asked the tour guide to do the throne room last. She had something to show Rose there at the end.

Crystal Empire showcase montage!

"-and that's the tour!" the tour guide finished. "Any questions?"

"Nope!" Rose said.

"Then that's all! Goodbye." the guide said, leaving.

"Rose?" Twilight said carefully.

"Yes?"

"Don't tell anypony about this. I mean anypony. Alright?"

"Sure." Rose said slowly.

Rose watched in awe as Twilight's eyes went green, and shadowy smoke appeared around her eyes. A spell was cast, and it revealed a giant staircase going down.

"What was that?" Rose asked, surprised.

"Dark magic." Twilight replied grimly.

"Dark magic exists?" Rose asked excitedly.

"Yes. However, overuse of dark magic can twist you in ways you don't even want to think about. I rarely use it. Jump off, I have a spell to cushion the fall."

Rose gulped, looking down. Closing her eyes, she jumped, Twilight following soon after, her horn alight with magic. They landed with a dull thud, Twilight's cushioning spell worked so well the ground felt like a pillow. Twilight grinned. "Now for the fun part!"

Twilight used a powerful magic beam to open a door, and they both stepped through. Twilight cast an reverse-gravity spell, allowing the two of them to slide up the stairway. Soon, they reached the top, where Twilight turned gravity back to normal. They walked to the center of the spire.

"This is the tallest point in the Crystal Empire." Twilight said, smiling. "King Sombra hid the Crystal Heart here a long time ago. It's such a beautiful view, isn't it."

Rose gazed out across the Crystal Empire, amazed. "It looks like a spiderweb." she commented.

"I noticed that too, when I first came here."

The two of them sat there, watching the sun set over the beautiful city, the crystals reflecting the red glow of the sun. Finally, it was over. "Time to go back." Twilight sighed.

"Thank you." Rose smiled. "I'm very glad you showed me this, it was amazing."

Rose and Twilight travled back across the stairs, glad that they didn't have to climb up and down them manually. Reaching the throne room, they met up with Shining and Cadence.

"Where were you?" Shining asked, concerned.

"Oh, I was just showing Rose some places in the castle that the tour guide couldn't reach." Twilight replied, smiling.

"We were worried." Cadence replied.

"Sorry, I guess I should have told you." Twilight blushed sheepishly.

"It's alright." Shining replied, giving Twilight a hug. "Now, I have a few guards to guide you to your guest rooms."

"Of course." Twilight said. "I'd like to visit more often, by the way. Maybe you could arrange that?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure!" Cadence replied. "We'd love to have you over more often!"

"Goodnight." Twilight called softly, as she left the room with Rose. Guards took them to their respective guest rooms, and they slept soundly until next morning.

----------The Next Morning----------

"Good morning!" Twilight said to Rose as they met up in the throne room. "We have to get going, or we'll miss the train!"

"Wait!" Rose called. "First can I get a crystal as a souvenir?"

Twilight smiled. "I was wondering what you would do with the bits I gave you! We have an hour, I just like to be early."

"An hour?!" Rose exclaimed, aghast. "That's ridiculous!"

Twilight blushed. "I missed a train, once. Only once. Never again will I repeat the embarrassment. Everything I do reflects on Princess Celestia, so I have to be careful. Last time I missed an appointment with her, she sent out a third of the guard to go looking for me! They found me reading in bed. I lost track of time."

"I promise I won't make you late!" Rose said, determined. "In fact, I'll probably find a good store while we walk to the station!"

"Then let's get going!" Twilight smiled.

A few minutes later, they were down the street, opting to walk instead of taking a cab so they could stop to shop if they saw something they liked. As they were passing a store, Rose turned her head and stopped.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"That... crystal..." Rose breathed, looking at a store window.

"You mean, the big one in the center? The one that costs, a thousand bits?" Twilight asked, reading the price tag. "I don't think you can afford that. I don't think I can afford that!"

"No, not that one. The other one!" Rose said, pointing.

"You mean, that little one, that costs 12 bits?" Twilight asked. "You can't afford that either."

"Then I'll have to bargain." Rose said, determined to get it. She entered the store, to talk to the clerk.

"Eight bits for that!" she said, pointing.

"Eleven." the storekeeper said calmly.

"Ten." Rose declared. "It's all I have."

"Deal!" the storekeeper exclaimed, hoofing it to her as Rose passed her the bits. "Come again soon!" she called, as Rose left.

As they boarded the train, Rose held her crystal carefully. It more than a hunk of crystal, it was a memory of good times, of a sunset over the Crystal Empire. She studied it, feeling its every surface by the time they reached Ponyville. Exiting the train, Rose and Twilight noticed that for some reason, everypony looked miserable. Noticing Pinkie passing by, Twilight stopped her for a moment.

"What happened?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Petal Blossom died." a normally chipper Pinkie Pie replied, sobbing. "She was hit by a wagon!"

Author's Note

Suspense! What is up with Petal Blossom? Any guesses?

Death?

Rose gasped in alarm. Petal was dead? How would Rose learn now? Giving out a half-real sob, she questioned Pinkie. "Where is she? How did it happen? Who hit her?"

"Just outside Twilight's library, and the body hit something flamable and caught on fire afterwards. We don't know who hit her, but even though the body has not been recovered, we think the body was charred to a crisp. There's nothing left." Pinkie said sadly.

"That's quite astute of you." Twilight replied, blinking in surprise.

"I don't have time for silliness right now, it would only hurt. The sooner she cries out, the sooner I can make her feel better." Pinkie replied in a dull monotone.

Rose burst out crying. "She's dead. Who will I live with now? How will I survive?"

Twilight hugged her gently. "You can still live with me. I'll pay for everything you need."

Rose hugged her back. "Thank you..." she whispered quietly.

"Now, time for bed. Everything will be fine." Twilight whispered back, ushering her to her bedroom.

Rose sobbed on the bed. Who could teach her how not to get caught? Who could bail her out if she needed it? She picked up the pillow to sob into, and found a note beneath it.

Rose, this paper is enchanted so anypony other than you touches it, it will vanish. That includes contact of magic. I have faked my death. This was because in the event that you were caught during your little outing to the Crystal Empire, I would be found out as well. This allows me to have a fresh start, so if one of us is caught, the other remains safe. Downsides to this include me not being able to help you learn to be a Changeling. For this purpose, a Changeling named Bugze will be able to help. Bugze has a condition that prevents him from keeping disguise for too long, so he will leave notes for you at dead drops. The first dead drop is just outside of Ponyville, under a rock. The picture of said rock is included below. Bugze should be able to help you learn to be a Changeling, but a word of warning: He's quite eccentric, and has a lot of stories about distant relatives. However, I would not have put him in charge of training you if I did not trust him. Listen to him, he will (usually) know better than you. My new name is Tulip Bulb, contact me if anything comes up. Use Bugze to contact me under most circumstances, I don't want our contact to be discovered if one of us is caught. Good luck.

Rose raised an eyebrow quizzically. This, she was not expecting. She moved her precious crystal to a shelf, and quickly burnt the letter with green fire. She sighed, cursing the fact that she would now have to act mournful for Petal, despite Petal still being alive, just in a different body. Rose supposed that she could try weeping for the death of the character Petal, but it felt like crying over a book. It wouldn't be easy, but it was all she could do. She slept soundly, dreaming of her crystal and the time spent with Twilight.

Rose woke gently, Twilight using her magic to shake her awake.

"It's already 10:00. Even Spike's up." Twilight whispered.

Rose lept out of bed. "Oh no, I slept in! Do you have breakfast ready? I need to start studying!" she panicked.

Twilight chuckled. "Spike made breakfast, and we'll start studying later today. Don't worry, I planned on you getting a late start. It will be fine."

Rose sighed in relief. "Thanks. I was worried I would be... Tardy." she said, shuddering before she smiled. "What are we doing today in class?"

"Mostly working out a schedule. Without an organizational system, I wouldn't be able to get any work done!" Twilight said.

"Great! I can't work well without a schedule either." Rose commented as they walked down the stairs to the stairs to the kitchen.

"Hey Rose, you're finally up." Spike said as he delivered several plates of pancakes to the table. "I was beginning to think you'd sleep all day!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Spike, I've seen you actually do that." she muttered audibly.

"Hey! That was once, and you had kept me up really late the night before!" Spike yelled, blushing.

"So what are you doing today?" Rose asked Twilight curiously, in between bites of her pancakes.

"I've got to finish enchanting gems for Rarity." Twilight replied. "That should keep me busy until class starts. Remember, today is scheduling only."

Rose smiled. This was perfect! She could go out, train with Bugze, and come back before class began!

"See you tonight!" Rose waved as Twilight trotted out the door.

"You too!" Twilight waved back.

Rose waited a few minutes, finishing her stack of pancakes, before getting up to leave. "Bye Spike!" Rose waved after finishing breakfast. "I'll be back before class!"

Spike scowled. "Oh no you don't! Twilight told me to come with you if you left."

Rose hummed thoughtfully. If Spike came with her, she couldn't meet with Bugze without revealing her Changeling nature. "How about I bring you a gem every day I leave while Twilight is gone, and in return you tell Twilight I stayed inside reading?"

Spike's suspicious glare turned into a greedy grin. "Fine by me!" he smiled, waving. "Pleasure doing business with you. See you around!"

Rose walked out the door and through Ponyville, finally coming to a halt near the Everfree, where she saw the rock pictured in the note Petal left for her. She was about to lift the rock to search for a message underneath it, when she heard a tune whistled. Startled, she stepped back and faced the forest. A Changeling emerged, whistling the tune once more.

"And that is how you say, 'Hello, I am a Changeling too' in Infiltrator." the Changeling said. "By the way, I'm Bugze. I presume you're Star Watcher, disguised as Rose Bloom?"

"Yes." Rose replied. "So you're the Changeling in charge of teaching me? What's Infiltrator?"

Bugze's face turned panicked for a moment as Rose stepped forward, causing him to declare,

"Don't move! I've set traps all around the perimeter so nopony can catch us here!"

Rose froze in place and looked around in worry as she asked, "You do know where all the traps are, right? Right?"

"Uh... Yes! Totally." Bugze said uncertainly, "Relax, I know this place like the back of my hoof. Now, let me come over there and guide you through the web of traps safely-*click*"

Bugze took a few steps forward before he heard a small click, and his eyes widened in alarm.

"Curse you Lady Luck." he commented just before a net came out of seemingly nowhere and hung him from a nearby tree.

Rose giggled. "So you know this area like the back of your hoof, huh?"

Bugze rolled his eyes. "Laugh it up while ya can, I'll be down in a moment. Coincidentally, I don't see the back of my hoof particularly often."

Bugze's horn glowed and the net opened and fell down, causing him to land on his face with a dull thud. He groaned and rubbed his injured face before saying,

"To answer your earlier questions; Yes, I will be training you and Infiltrator is how disguised Changelings communicate without blowing their cover." Bugze replied. "I'll begin teaching it to you today. During the second half of today's lesson, I'll teach you how to make a flamethrower out of a few bottles of alcohol and a roll of duct tape." he said with a grin.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Why would I need to make a flamethrower?" she asked.

"You never know when it might be useful! Why, my Grandbuggy told me about this one time when he used a flamethrower to stop a horde of Timberwolves from overrunning an entire town." Bugze replied.

"I guess it could be useful." Rose conceded, not wanting to waste too much time in a pointless argument. "How exactly does Infiltrator work?"

"Infiltrator uses a series of pitched tones to represent words. This way, if somepony overhears Changelings conversing they'll just think that it's regular humming."

"Interesting."

Bugze began to translate useful words into Infiltrator, and Rose caught on quickly. Ponies have a strange affinity for music, and Rose had kept her instinct through her transformation. After Rose could say a few sentences in Infiltrator, and had learned how to best make a flamethrower, she began walking back to the library, making sure to avoid any place Twilight might be. Only steps away from the door, she realized that she had forgotten to get a gem for Spike! Casting a spell she had learned years earlier, she found one embedded in the ground just in front of the library door. As she walked in, she hoofed the gem to Spike and began to re-read a book she had read years earlier. If Twilight asked her questions about it, she would already know the answers, and her cover would not be blown. Only a few minutes later, Twilight arrived, opening the door with her magic.

"Ready, Rose?" she called out as she levitated two schedules and a quill with ink out of a drawer.

"Yes!" Rose smiled as she closed her book. "I was wondering, what would go into a schedule other than our magic lessons?" she asked curiously.

Twilight grinned. "I'm glad you asked!" she said enthusiastically, a too wide smile on her face. "Everything from breaks, errands, playtime with friends, reading time, study time, lectures, quizzes, tests, bedtime, mealtime, practical magic lessons and magic theory lessons, what to do if something unexpected comes up, and anything else we can think of!"

Rose gulped, her smile fading. Even when she was in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, her schedules weren't that intense. She was beginning to understand why Twilight had scheduled scheduling for an entire day.

"Tomorrow, we will be doing preliminary testing. I want to see your maximum magic power." Twilight said, writing on both calendars simultaneously. One calendar said 'Twilight' above the month, and the other said 'Rose'. That was how the exhaustion that was Twilight's version of scheduling began.

Rose flopped into bed, exhausted. Nothing could have prepared her self for the sheer intensity and detail required in Twilight's scheduling. She went out like a light, falling instantly into a deep slumber.

Author's Note

Did any of you predict Petal faking her death?

Bugze belongs to Down With Chrysalis (DWC) in the story The Life of a Wanted Changeling (Comment Driven Story). Thank him and read his story!

I learned how to use the horizontal lines!

I am back, finally!

Testing

Rose awoke, looked at the calendar Twilight had made for her, and immediately tensed up with nervousness. Today Twilight would be testing Rose's magic capacity. She would have to pretend like her maximum amount of magical energy was less than it was in reality. If she tested to high, her cover could be blown. If she tested too low, Twilight might think there was something wrong with her.

"Breakfast is ready!" Twilight called from the kitchen. "Wake up, Spike, Rose!"

Rose got out of bed, rubbing the Crystal she had gotten in the Crystal Empire for luck. She walked slowly down the stairs, toward her potential doom. At the bottom, her meal was waiting. Twilight had made a nice breakfast soup to nourish her body, while Twilight's growing love for her fed her magic. Rose savored every sip of her soup, knowing that this could be the last time she ate good food for a while. If she was found out, she would probably be banished. Then imprisoned in the place she was banished to! Rose shuddered at the thought.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked, concerned. Rose's anxiety was clearly visible.

"Just nervous about the test today." Rose said truthfully.

Twilight smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry, there is no passing or failing score, this just determines how much time we need to spend solely on training your magic capacity vs. actual spell casting."

Rose had finished her soup by this time. "Okay." she said, gulping nervously. "Let's begin."

"Follow me." Twilight said, leading Rose to the basement. Rose turned her head as they walked through the basement, staring at several complicated machines before finally stopping at one that had a metal horn-shaped cone, with adjustments of angle, length and width so any horn could fit comfortably. Rose shuddered in fear, the metal machine looked ominous.

"Just put your horn in there, and I'll adjust the machine to it. When I say, channel all your magic into your horn." Twilight instructed.

Rose gulped, and closed her eyes as she inserted her horn into the metal device. She could feel it changing shape to fit her horn, and she finally heard the dreaded words. "Begin channeling your magic now."

Rose began channeling magic. When she reached the level of what she felt a talented young filly, like she was supposed to be, she stopped adding magic to her horn.

"2317 Maguns." Twilight announced, pleased. "Well above average, higher than 92% of fillies and colts your age."

Rose winced. She was going for higher than 75% of fillies and colts her age, but at least it didn't look like Twilight suspected anything. She let out a long sigh, greatly relieved that it was over. Nothing bad was going to happen to her, she was safe. Just then, a knock was heard on the door, accompanied by a familiar voice. "Can Rose play now?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Yeah! We haven't seen her in, like, days!" Scootaloo added.

"One moment!" Twilight called, heading for the door. "Rose can play now, we just finished up for today."

"What about actual magic lessons?" Rose asked.

"I need to finish our schedules first, now that I know what your magical capacity is. You can go play with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, unless you want to do some more scheduling with me?" Twilight asked, grinning. She wanted to encourage Rose to be more social than Twilight was at Rose's age, and she knew that Rose didn't enjoy thorough scheduling.

"No thanks, I'll go play." Rose said quickly, rushing out the door as if a pack of Timberwolves were chasing her.

"Yay!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders cheered.

Rose followed her friends to the wagon, which they brought with them. Scootaloo began driving them to their clubhouse.

"What's the plan for today's crusading?" Rose asked.

"We wanted to learn more about Changelings!" Sweetie Belle said.

"Keep your voice down! Somepony might hear you!" Rose hissed. "I don't actually know that much, I was a pony originally."

"You weren't?" Scootaloo asked, excited. "Oh yeah, now I remember! Does that mean that I could become a Changeling too? Not that I'm going too try." She added hastily, almost suspiciously.

"Well, yes..." Rose said slowly. "But why would anypony want that?"

"Because they're like Alicorns that can change their shape to anypony!" Scootaloo said excitedly.

Rose rolled her eyes. "I guess." she conceded. "But that doesn't take into account all of the downfalls of being a Changeling." Rose was about to go on, but somepony was approaching.

"Excuse me, but can you tell me where I might find Petal Blossom?" the pony asked.

Rose had a suspicion, and whistled a familiar tune, the one she was taught that meant she was a Changeling. Recognition flared in the pony's eyes, as his question was answered by one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"She was hit by a cart yesterday." Sweetie Belle said, downcast. "She's no longer... with us."

"I'll be right back." Rose said, and left the cart to talk to the Changeling.

"She had to change forms, 'Petal Blossom' was in danger of being discovered. She's now known as Tulip Bulb." Rose told the Changeling. "Who are you?"

"I'm her messenger. What happened that threatened the disguise?"

"I visited the Crystal Empire after becoming Twilight's personal prodigy."

The Changeling let out a low whistle. "How did you manage that? And how did you avoid being caught?"

Rose blushed. "It wasn't that hard, you know how I was a Pony before I was a Changeling? Well, I studied magic in school, so Twilight currently thinks I'm a genius due to my filly form. As for not getting caught, that was easy, they never even scanned me. Paranoia is at a minimum."

"This could be useful for the Hive. Anything else?"

"Well, Celestia caught two infiltrators, she wants Twilight's help to decide what to do with them, and Twilight wants me to help her make the decision of what to tell Celestia, so I indirectly have partial power over what happens to them." If you hadn't forced me to become one of you, I'd just tell her to kill them all on sight. Rose thought mentally. The only reason I haven't revealed everything is fear that I will be in trouble from the Princesses of Equestria.

As it turned out, Rose's fear was well founded. While Celestia wanted to talk to the Changelings captured, Luna wanted them killed. If she tried, Luna could easily convince Cadence and Shining Armor that killing them was the best method, and she could convince Twilight that she could learn a lot scientifically from the autopsies. The only reason Luna didn't do this was love for her sister. She wouldn't undercut her sister's decisions, but she would attempt to convince Celestia that she was right. The only thing keeping the Changelings from being killed was Luna's love for her sister.

Rose rejoined her friends. "That was a Changeling, he was Petal's messenger from the Hive."

"How can you tell?" Scootaloo asked.

"Did you hear that tune I whistled? That means, 'I am a Changeling too', so if a Changeling hears that they know who is a Changeling so they don't get mixed up." Rose said. "Quite useful."

"What else can Changelings do?" Applebloom asked.

"We can sense emotions with a spell, we can drain them actively or passively, but I only know passive draining so I can't teach you about that, we can- obviously- change out forms to look like other ponies, we have better precision flying than pegasi but we can't go as fast. Of course, if we transform into a pegasus than we can fly almost as fast as the original. However, transformations do not completely capture the magic of a pony, so if I turned into Rainbow Dash I couldn't do a Sonic Rainboom."

Scootaloo deflated at that, but then perked up a bit. "But I could still look like Rainbow Dash, and fly fast?"

Rose looked troubled. "Theoretically, but don't become one. It's not a good idea."

"Yeah, yeah, okay." Scootaloo said, but it didn't sound like she was listening.

"We also are hunted down at every opportunity, constantly have to worry about food, and I was forced from my old way of life." Rose said sharply. Even if my way of life wasn't to great in the first place, at least it was mine.

"Why don't we build disguise costumes out of fabric from my sister's shop?" Sweetie Belle asked excitedly. "It would be a great crusade!"

Applebloom, who had appeared disinterested before, suddenly perked up. "Yeah!" she smiled. "Great idea!"

Scootaloo looked disappointed for a moment, before smiling also. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS DISGUISE COSTUME MAKERS!" the four friends yelled at the top of their lungs, before Scootaloo began driving the cart to Carousel Boutique.

"We can explain!" Rose said desperately, as she hopped on one hoof towards a disappointed looking Twilight. Her other hooves were stuck to Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom- who in turn were also on one hoof, their limbs stuck to each other. The four ponies, trying desperately to walk with one hoof from each of them, suddenly collapsed on the ground. Twilight levitated them off the ground with a sigh.

"Why are you all wearing bad disguises and stuck to each other? Where did the tree sap even come from?" Twilight asked, perplexed.

"Well, it all started with the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders Disguise Costume Makers'. We traveled to Rarity's Boutique, and then..."

"We should make costumes of our close relatives!" Sweetie Belle suggested. "Rose, yours could be of Twilight!"

"Wait- you're supposed to be disguised as me?" Twilight interrupted. "With only a purple fabric? How did it get pasted to your body? And what's up with the bucket on your head?"

"SHH! LISTEN TO THE STORY!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders insisted.

"Sounds great!" Rose said, excited. They went upstairs, to where Rarity kept her spare fabric. "But, does any of you know how to sew?" she asked, enthusiasm dropping slightly.

"I do! Sort of..." mumbled Sweetie Belle. "Watch. First..."

After Sweetie Belle finished making the disguises... if they could even be called such... the ponies attempted to put them on, but the stitches promptly burst. "I know how to fix this!" Applebloom declared. "Tree sap! Applejack uses it as glue when things fall apart sometimes."

"I don't know..." Rose mumbled. "Are you sure that would work in this scenario?"

"Of course!" Applebloom said excitedly. "My sister even keeps a bucket of spare sap in the barn!"

"Let's go!" Scootaloo declared, and the other Crusaders hopped into the cart. Scootaloo began driving it.

Sweet Apple Acres

"Tree sap, just got to put it in the stitches... Why not pour it on the clothes?" Applebloom suggested.

Rose's eyes widened, seeing where it was about to go wrong. "Wait!" she said, rushing over to try to stop Applebloom from pouring the sap all over herself. She hit Applebloom, and the bucket landed on her instead. "Just great." she muttered, trying to get the bucket off her head, but it was stuck fast. Luckily she could still see, the bucket had landed mostly covering the back of her head.

"Rose has the right idea!" Applebloom said excitedly. "But I think we can make due with one bucket for the three of us. Next time, don't hog the sap Rose." she lectured.

"Nooooooooo!!" Rose said as the other Crusaders poured the sap on themselves, throwing the bucket away. In hindsight, it really was impressive that Rose managed to speak at such a volume that demanded two exclamation points.

"Uh, oh..." Sweetie Belle said as her hoof wouldn't move from Applebloom. Her other hoof was stuck to Scootaloo. Scootaloo and Applebloom tried to pull away, only to find that they were just as stuck. Rose walked over to them.

"Here, let me help." she said, pulling at the ponies. Unfortunately, this stuck her hooves as well. While flailing, Rose managed to get her third hoof stuck, and Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle got all but one of each of their hooves stuck as well. Rose sighed. "At least we still have four usable hooves. Let's try to walk to the library, hopefully Twilight can help."

After much struggling, and falling on their faces, the Crusaders managed to finally get to Golden Oaks Library, where Twilight stood looking at them disappointedly.

"Really?" Twilight deadpanned. "Rose has only played with you three twice and not once but both times have you all gotten stuck together with tree sap. Bedtime for all of you." Twilight cast a special spell she had created just for times like this with the Crusaders. After the last misadventure they had, Twilight had finally finished a sap-removal spell that could solve this problem easily. "Next time, you have to wash it out yourself." Twilight threatened. "Come in Rose, it's almost bedtime."

Rose stared at the setting sun. Time had passed so fast! Checking her internal stores, she measured that she now had more Maguns than she had as a Canterlot Unicorn. This was impressive, as she was a very competent magic-user before becoming a Changeling. She entered the library that had become her home, walked upstairs to her bedroom, and smiled at the crystal she had gotten from the Crystal Empire before getting an idea. She had learned to store Maguns in crystals in the hive, and the crystal she had in her possession was useable. Rose began charging the crystal, putting half of her energy into it, and was pleased to see that it began to glow with a dim green light. She then frowned, realizing that she would need to hide it. Sticking it under her pillow masked the dim glow, and Rose soon fell asleep.

Author's Note

Next chapter is from Silent Whisper's (Petal's, Tulip's) point of view. Any of you wondering what he/she's been doing?

I'm going to be updating more or less weekly from now on. With school approaching, I'm looking into stockpiling chapters so I can update on a regular basis, even if I have little to no time to write. Any opinions on that? Anybody want me to just continue updating whenever I write a chapter, which will probably end up in bursts of 1-3 chapters, then an inactive period of 1-3 weeks?

I can't draw for my life, but if any reader wants to draw an image of Rose, Star Watcher, or Silent Whisper, I could use it as the cover art for my story.

Responsibility

Petal was ready. She had made her plan this morning. If Star Watcher was caught, she would be caught as well. This was the only solution. As a cart drove by she leapt in the way, casting a light shield spell to decrease the impact to survivable levels. She was flung back into a building, where she began phase two of her plan. Placing a hoof on the wood, Petal created a Changeling emotional fire: The green fire Changelings create that needs emotions to be powered. The fire immediately began to consume the wood, which was full of love. It was really weird how much ponies loved their homes. Immediately a panic began as authorities were called, but Petal was gone. Shifting into a new disguise, Tulip Bulb, she carefully walked out of the inferno into a place where nopony was looking. Quickly she acted like she had just entered the town as a whole.

"Fire!" she screamed. "There's a fire!"

Immediately ponies began rushing out of their homes to help put it out. Nopony loved water, so when the Changeling emotional fire was doused, it couldn't burn the water. Tulip felt a little sorry for the pony the house belonged to, but it was to save her life. She would do what she had to. In minutes, the fire was out. Tulip still wanted her job at Rarity's, though she would have to wait until Rarity got over Petal's 'death'. In the meantime, Tulip wandered around town, frowning when she realized that she now had no place to stay in Ponyville. That meant that her best option was to stay in the Everfree, as bad as that sounded. She walked out to the forest, wishing her disguise had a horn or even wings she could use to protect herself. Just when she was about to enter the forest, Tulip thought she heard a small cry from behind her. When she turned around, she saw Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness.

"W-why are you entering the Everfree? It's dangerous to go alone. I-if you don't mind me asking." Fluttershy stammered.

Tulip gave a sad smile. "I have no money, no place to stay in Ponyville, no job. I need to sleep somewhere tonight, so I was going to look for a nice spot in the Everfree."

Fluttershy returned a horrified gasp. "You can always stay with me! I wouldn't drive a pony into the Everfree."

"You would really do that for a pony you just met?" Tulip asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Of course! Follow me, my house is close by."

Tulip followed Fluttershy across the edge of the forest, surprised. Most ponies wouldn't trust strangers at all, let alone into their house. So far, two of the Elements of Harmony were willing to help when she was homeless.

"Is there anything I can do for you to repay you?" Tulip asked.

"Oh, you don't have to, but if you really want I could use some help taking care of animals."

Tulip smiled. "Of course I can help. Just show me what to do."

They soon arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. Immediately Fluttershy showed Tulip around her home, and then to her little animal friends. Fluttershy then began teaching Tulip how to feed her animals, what frequency they needed to be fed at, and what each one needed to be fed.

"That's all for tonight, it's getting late." Fluttershy remarked. "All my little critters are going to bed too, and we wouldn't want to wake them."

Tulip sighed as she walked to her bed, worrying about Rose Bloom. Without the guidance of a senor infiltrator, how would Rose know what to do? Tulip had to remind herself that Rose was a pony first, and would know how to live as a pony. But not how to conceal her identity as a Changeling... After a few more tosses and turns, Tulip accepted the fact that she couldn't sleep and walked just out the door and sat there, watching the moon shine brightly in the night sky. When she felt a tap on her shoulder, she almost jumped up in shock, but instead turned to face Fluttershy.

"What are you doing out here?" Fluttershy asked gently.

Tulip sighed. "I can't help but worry about my daughter. She's all alone right now, surrounded by strangers. What if something happens to her? I'm too far away to help her."

Fluttershy let out a small smile. "I worry about my animal friends every day, all day long. What if a mean creature hurts them when they go into the forest? What if they have a disease I didn't notice? Over time, I have learned to trust them to take care of themselves."

"But my daughter doesn't have enough experience to know how to take care of herself."

"Then she'll learn. If she's having trouble, I'm sure somepony will be nice enough to help her."

"But... but..." Tulip sighed. "I guess I'm just nervous. Taking care of any living creature must be stressful."

Fluttershy giggled. "It can be, but it can also be rewarding. It feels so good, knowing you've saved a life, or made a living being happy."

Tulip hugged Fluttershy, a few tears slipping from her eyes to land on Fluttershy's soft yellow coat. "Thank you." she whispered. "I've never had to take care of anypony before, and even when I had to take care of my daughter she's never been away from me for longer than a night. I wasn't used to the responsibility, and now that she's gone, I can't stop worrying. I could never forgive myself if she got hurt and I wasn't there to help her."

"She'll be fine. Everything will be fine. You don't have to worry." Fluttershy said, hugging her back.

"Thank you..." Tulip replied.

"You're welcome." mumbled Fluttershy, blushing. "Do you think you could sleep easier now? We have to wake up early in the morning to feel the animals, if you want to."

"I'd like that." Tulip said softly, releasing Fluttershy from her hug and walking slowly back into the house.

Fluttershy stayed outside for a few more moments, staring softly at the bright moon that illuminated the night, smiling. "It always feels wonderful helping another living being..." she whispered softly, before walking back to her room.

Author's Note

At several points in the story, I have found points where I reintroduce something in the story because I forgot that I had already introduced it. I need a specific type of editor to go back and find out if I accidentally reintroduced any plot points before I publish a chapter. Anybody?

Flight

"I am very sorry, but I cannot stay in Ponyville. Family business, something came up." Tulip Bulb told Fluttershy.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

Tulip bowed her head. "My mother died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Will you be all right?"

"Yes. I hope to visit you sometime, afterwards." Tulip Bulb looked up with a smile. "You're the kindest mare I've ever met."

Fluttershy blushed, waving a hoof. "I'm just doing what feels right. It's not much."

"Ah, but the fact that such kindness comes naturally to you is what makes you truly great." Tulip added with a wink. "Good day, I hope to meet you again some time."

Tulip walked to the train station, where she bought a ticket to Canterlot. Canterlot was the best place for Changelings to meet each other, as long as they knew how to get in.

Rose grinned. Today, according to Twilight's schedule, she was going to read up on magic theory while Twilight did some errands. That meant Rose got to go learn from Bugze in secret! Rose walked out the door, almost running in to Scootaloo who was just about to walk in.

"Oops, almost didn't see you there!" Rose said, still grinning.

"Rose, we need to talk." Scootaloo said seriously, ruining Rose's good mood. "Where we can't be overheard." she added, glancing around.

"Follow me." Rose said seriously, her grin fading as she led Scootaloo away. Soon they were at the Everfree Forest, close to where Rose was to meet Bugze. "What is it?" Rose asked.

Scootaloo transformed back into her Changeling form. "I found King Silent Whisper, I asked him to turn me in to a Changeling."

"Why? Don't you see that now you have to live a lie?" Rose shouted, enraged. "Do you realize what you have done? If you're caught, they might kill you!"

"I don't see why this is living a lie. I'm still the same Scootaloo I always was, but now I can use my wings and cast magic. Also, I really don't think they would kill a Changeling if they caught them."

Rose sighed. "They might. About a week ago, a few Changelings were caught by ponies. The Princesses are going to question them, possibly killing them afterwards."

"The best thing you can do for me now, then, is to train me so I don't get caught!" Scootaloo said cheekily. "Whisper told me that Bugze could train both of us together!"

"I guess. Come over here, this is where I meet Bugze." Rose said, trotting over to the rock and whistling the Changeling tune. With an afterthought she cast a spell, revealing gemstones in the area. She quickly levitated one out of the ground and set it on her back.

"What's that for?" Scootaloo asked, curious.

"I have to bribe Spike to let me out." Rose said sheepishly. "One gemstone every time I leave. It really helped when Twilight showed me a gem finding spell."

Bugze walked out of the woods, and Rose transformed back into Changeling form. "Ready?" Bugze asked with a grin, and Star Watcher nodded. "Who's the new bug?"

"I'm Scootaloo! I got turned into a Changeling yesterday."

"So do I have to start with the basics again?"

"No, I taught her." Star Watcher said sheepishly. "We can continue where you left off."

"Ah, yes! Today, I show you how to make a rocket launcher out of a few rubber bands, a pipe or two, and two bottles of gunpowder! My grandbuggy showed me this when I was your age, and I accidentally set fire to a house or two... But that's a story for another time. First though, I will teach you to fly"

Star Watcher sighed. He had learned not to question Bugze's logic by now. He sat down and prepared to learn another pointless skill that couldn't possibly be useful in his life. Then he heard the him mention flying, and he perked up.

"Flying as a Changeling, then flying as a Pegasus. There is a difference." Bugze added.

"What's the difference?" Scootaloo asked, excited.

"Changelings have to buzz their wings, while Pegasi flap."

"You mean like this?" Scootaloo asked, buzzing her wings like she usually did when attempting to fly. To her surprise, she shot up in the air. "I'm flying! I'm flying!" Scootaloo laughed historically. "I'm actually doing it! I'm flying!"

"Steer, Steer!" Bugze called out, lifting off. "It should be instinctual. You don't have to twist your body like Pegasi do, rotate your wings!"

Scootaloo felt the air, twisting her wings as she buzzed them to travel in the direction of her choosing.

"Changelings have better mobility than Pegasi, but Pegasi can go faster." Bugze added.

Star Watcher was beginning to feel left out, so he buzzed his wings as best he could. Flight for him was shaky at best, but it worked. "I'm flying!" Star Watcher grinned. He'd always wanted to fly, ever since he was a filly, but he gave up on his dream when he learned that only Pegasi could fly. Now he had another chance to make his childhood dream come true. He rotated his wings instinctually, steering himself well but not as good as Scootaloo or Bugze. But it didn't matter, he was flying! Star Watcher laughed as he felt the wind over his back, going in to a spiral as he approached the ground. He landed safely, still grinning. "How do you fly as a Pegasus?" Star Watcher asked as Scootaloo and Bugze landed next to him.

"First, transform." Bugze instructed as he turned in to what looked like a Royal Guard without armor. Scootaloo transformed in to Rainbow Dash and Star Watcher turned in to a yellow Pegasus mare with a pink mane that he had seen once in Ponyville.

"Why Fluttershy?" Scootaloo asked Star Watcher.

"So the pony I'm being is named Fluttershy? Thanks." Star Watcher replied. "As for a reason, I don't know. I just, couldn't think of any other pegasus to be."

"Now, flap your wings once, hard." Bugze said. Star Watcher flapped and found himself in the air already. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, kept accidentally buzzing her wings. She'd been buzzing them for so long she forgot how to flap them regularly! Star Watcher, meanwhile, was soaring through the sky, angling his wings with perfect precision, the wind blowing across his wings.

It's all I ever dreamed of and more. Star Watcher thought, smiling contentedly. He hadn't felt so good since he aced that one really hard test back when he studied magic in Canterlot. He swooped around the clearing, laughing as he went. It felt so good to fly!

"Why can't I do it?" Scootaloo grumbled. Her wings' buzzing was hard to slow, she had gotten so used to it. With great effort, she managed to flap her wings once, lifting her off the ground. However, once in the air, her wings began buzzing again and she landed on the ground. "I think I'm going to stick with Changeling flight for now." she called up to Bugze and Star Watcher, gazing in the air as the two pegasi performed simple tricks as Bugze taught Star Watcher the basics.

All too soon, it was time to leave. Star Watcher transformed back in to Rose, and headed back. A gemstone lay forgotten where it had fallen in the grass.

Twilight returned home to find Rose waiting for her, reading her book, just like always. "Today, I want to show you how to Teleport." Twilight smiled.

"Are you sure I'm ready?" Rose asked nervously. "Teleportation is hard."

"You've sat in the library for hours each day, if you close your eyes you should be able to visualize it. For your first teleportation, you can keep your eyes open though."

Rose gulped nervously. She didn't want to admit that she hadn't been staying in the library like she was supposed to, but she didn't want to get stuck in a wall or the floor. She focused magic through her horn, and prepared to teleport. To her horror, a green fire flickered to life around her body and she cancelled the spell, leaping back in shock. "W-what was that?" she asked, scared.

Twilight looked confused. "I've never seen anything like it... But I guess there must be something wrong with your horn. If an imperfection in the spirals on the inside on your horn had magic channeled through it... Ah ha!" a look of clarity graced Twilight's face. "There are spirals on the inside of your horn, one of them is misshaped. That could create the fire, there have been several reports of spontaneous combustion that stemmed from horn damage." she frowned. "That means I can't teach you teleportation, however. It's too dangerous."

Rose suddenly realized why the inside of her horn was 'damaged'. When she transformed into Rose, she didn't know about the inside spirals of her horn and hadn't created them, leaving whatever spirals Changelings had in place, which caused the green fire! She didn't say it, though. Twilight would take her away and banish her or lock her up if she knew. "What will we do instead then?" Rose asked, wanting to distract herself from the fear of what could happen to her.

Twilight hummed, placing a hoof on her chin thoughtfully. "I guess... We could play a game in our unscheduled time! At least, that's what my schedule says!" Twilight said with a grin, levitating said schedule and pointing to 'play a game', which was under 'unscheduled time'. Rose rolled her eyes, how do you schedule unscheduled time? Somehow Twilight managed it.

"Sure, why not. How about Battleship?" Rose suggested, getting a good idea.

Twilight set up Battleship, placing her ships in an organized attack position. Rose, on the other hoof, made her ships as random as possible.

"3B!" Rose said, getting the first shot off.

"Nope!" Twilight said with a grin, but Rose felt the emotions behind her poker face. Twilight's nervousness meant that it was close, but not quite a hit. "8E!" Twilight responded.

"Nope!" Rose replied, marking the spot where it had missed with a white peg. It wasn't even close. "3C!"

Twilight flinched. "Hit!" she replied, her nervousness telling Rose that it was a big one. "4A?"

"Nope! How about 3D?"

"Hit." Twilight sounded subdued, almost like the game was already over. But if Rose had only hit one ship, how could it be? "4G?"

"Nope. And, 3E?"

"Hit. 5B?"

"Hit. 3F?"

"Hit. 6B?"

"Miss. 3G?"

"Hit."

"Not sunk?" Rose asked, confused. That was five hits in a row!

"Nope." Twilight said, starting to laugh. That's when clarity hit Rose.

"You... You hid all of your ships next to each other!" Rose said, chuckling.

Twilight's laughter grew until she fell out of her chair, a tear slipping down her face. "I thought it would work!"

Rose fell out of her own chair now. "My sides ache..." she groaned, still laughing.

The two of them panted on the floor for a while, recovering breath. "I guess I lost, bed time now." Twilight said once she finally regained enough breath to talk.

"Aww..." Rose whined, getting up. "But that was fun! We should do it more often."

"Yes, we should." Twilight replied with a contented sigh. "Good night."

Rose poured her excess Changeling emotional energy into her crystal before passing out on her bed. The crystal's glow illuminated the pillow slightly, giving it a green tinge.

Spike scowled as he went to bed. Rose had forgotten to bring him his gemstone! He decided to have a good night's sleep before telling Twilight about how Rose left the library without him. He fell asleep while thinking about a way to word it where he didn't sound guilty for letting her leave.

Author's Note

Any bets on which happens first: Rose's crystal is noticed by Twilight, Spike tells on Rose for not giving him the gemstone, or something entirely different reveals that Rose is not what she seems?

Revealed

Rose felt Twilight shake her awake. She opened her eyes and prepared to ask Twilight what she was doing today, but stopped when she saw Twilight's frown. "You have some explaining to do." she said, and Rose shrank in fear. Did she know Rose was a Changeling? How did she find out?

"Spike says that you snuck out yesterday and worried him sick! What if something happened to you? What if we couldn't find you? That's why I needed you to stay with Spike!" Twilight's voice rose throughout the lecture. "What were you thinking?!"

Rose flinched. "I... I..."

"Now, we have work to do today. Today, you learn to solidify your magic." Twilight's voice was cold as ice, retaining none of the joy that she had when training her previously. "Come down stairs."

Rose followed Twilight, head down. The only way she could see that could get her back in to Twilight's good graces was to perform better than she expected in her magic lesson.

"Feel your magic, and release it. However, hold it back as you release, so it gets trapped outside your horn but not outside your natural magic field."

Rose did as instructed, feeling much of her magic release, but only forming a small amount of solid magic. She wasn't content with such a small piece of magic to use. It wouldn't be enough to impress Twilight, and make her proud again. She strained, trying to use as much as possible.

"Rose?" Twilight's cold voice thawed with worry. "Is something wrong?"

More magic came from Rose's horn, but when she tried to cut off the flow, it didn't work! Too much was flowing out too fast! Rose opened her eyes wide in panic. "I can't stop it!" she yelled.

"Hold on!" Twilight said, forming two special forcefields. These forcefields were set to block magic, and one was placed around Rose's leaking green magic and the other was around Rose's body itself. All of Rose's magic was gone and she felt the flow stop. Rose sighed in relief, glad that nothing worse would happen, when all of the magic that had leaked exploded with a bang! Rose flinched away, whimpering, until the explosion cleared.

"Rose?" Twilight asked, staring at her through the thinning smoke as she released the barrier.

"Yes?" she replied, feeling something weird in her voice. Suddenly her eyes widened in horror, her disguise was gone! Twilight could see that Rose was a Changeling! Star Watcher panicked, rushing to his room and hiding under his bed. Twilight rushed after him, charging her horn with a spell, when she noticed the green glow from the pillow. She lifted the pillow, and found a glowing green crystal that she recognized as the crystal Rose had bought in the Crystal Empire.

"What have you done with Rose?" Twilight practically screamed. "Did you take her yesterday, when she was alone? Where is she!"

Star Watcher jumped out of hiding, grabbed the crystal that held the love he so badly needed, and smashed out of window. He landed with a thud, wincing as he felt at least one bone break, and sprinted off to the Everfree, not looking back to check if Twilight was following him.

Heart thumping, Twilight wrote a letter to Princess Celestia informing her of this new development. Immediately after getting Spike to send it, she raced outside to talk to her friends. Maybe they could help her find out when she had been replaced by Changelings.

Star Watcher practically ran in to Bugze as he fled, absorbing some of the emotion from the crystal as he went.

"What's wrong?" Bugze asked, stopping him.

"It's all ruined. I've been found." Star Watcher sobbed.

"You can live in the Everfree with me for now." Bugze suggested gently. "The first discovery is always the worst."

"Everything was going so well!! It was all perfect, and now it's ruined..." Star Watcher curled into a ball, crying at his loss and hugging the slightly glowing green crystal.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Bugze said softly. "I remember when I was first discovered. It was miserable, but just a few days afterwards I was already far away as a different pony. You learn a lot from discovery. I've never made the same mistake twice."

Star Watcher looked up. "L-let's go, then."

Star Watcher put the crystal on his back before taking off, wobbling unsteadily in the air as he followed Bugze. A gust of wind knocked him off balance, but he recovered quickly. The crystal, however, was knocked off of his back. Star Watcher didn't notice, and it landed with an almost musical note as it hit Fluttershy's door and bounced on the ground. Fluttershy emerged from her cottage and picked up the crystal, marveling at the dim green glow. She glanced around, looking for its owner, but upon seeing nopony around Fluttershy went back inside and stored it in a safe place. When its owner came back, she could give it to them.

Twilight rushed to gather each of her friends. Finally she stopped at Fluttershy's house, the rest of her friends accompanying her.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight called, knocking on the door. "We all need to talk, I have the rest of our friends!"

Fluttershy opened the door. "Are you the pony that dropped the crystal? The one that was glowing slightly green?"

"No. But I know who did." Twilight replied, entering the house.

"Who?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"A Changeling. Rose was replaced!"

This statement was met with a commotion.

"Do you know when she was replaced?" Rarity asked.

"No. Her magic was always green as her eyes, so we can't use that as an indicator. I think maybe yesterday, though. She left on her own, Spike was supposed to accompany her but she snuck out without him."

"That doesn't sound like her." Rarity commented. "From Petal's description of her, that doesn't seem like something she would do. Maybe she was a Changeling before that?"

"Exactly why I needed all of you. With our combined efforts, we may be able to work together to find out when she was replaced!"

"Excuse me..." Fluttershy said quietly. Immediately everypony turned to stare at her.

"Yes?" Rarity asked.

"Does it matter? Why don't we just use a tracking spell to find her, and she can tell us herself?"

Rarity gasped. "Fluttershy, you're brilliant!"

Twilight was already shaking her head sadly. "We need something of hers, an object she had an emotional attachment to, that she was around a lot." she muttered. Suddenly, her head popped up. "The crystal! Fluttershy, we need that crystal now. It was Rose's, she got it at the Crystal Empire." Twilight's smile widened. "She was going to have a chance to visit captured Changelings! Once the Changelings discovered that, they must have replaced her with a highly experienced Changeling to convince us to let them go!" Twilight's smile dropped. "If only I could have seen it before."

"Lighten up, Twi. Like you said, this must have been an experienced Changeling! That's why you couldn't tell her apart from the original!" Rainbow reminded her. "Now we can use the tracking spell and find her!"

"You're right!" Twilight exclaimed, glancing at the sky. "I think it's too late now, though. We should rest, we can find Rose in the morning."

Star Watcher sniffled once before curling up on the pile of leaves that would be her bed tonight. Bugze had been living in a cave in the Everfree, with only leaves to sleep on. Star Watcher tossed and turned, unable to find a good position to sleep in. He was used to sleeping in a nice, warm, soft bed. He moved to hug his crystal again. When his hooves met empty air, he gasped. The crystal! He had lost it! He relapsed into sobbing. The one precious thing in the world, he had lost. He cried himself to sleep.

Bugze frowned. He could hear Star Watcher's sobbing, but was unable to help. Every Changeling experienced it, the feeling of loss. It felt like dying. After being revealed, you couldn't go back. Your friends, your family, your home... Gone. All gone. Nothing could make that feeling go away except for getting a new life. Until then, Star Watcher would have to wallow in misery.

Author's Note

Nowhere near done yet, we've still got a long way to go.

Regrets

Twilight cast the tracking spell. Immediately, the crystal tugged ever so slightly towards the Everfree Forest. For the sake of convenience, Twilight had created a small hole in the crystal and put it on a piece of string, so she could wear it around her neck as it guided her and her friends. "Come on, let's go!" she said excitedly to her friends as she followed where the crystal was leading her. She levitated a previously written note on the table to tell Spike where she had gone just before she exited the door. Soon they were treading deep into the Everfree, and Twilight was glad she brought a map to guide her back out after she got Rose back. She had to miss the interrogation of the Changelings because of it, but Twilight didn't mind. All she wanted was her apprentice back.

"Greetings." Celestia said coldly to the Changelings as she entered their prison cell. Luna and Cadence followed her entrance, each just as upset as Celestia. Luna's face was livid with rage, while Cadence hid her emotions behind a cold, unfeeling mask.

"We have a few questions to ask." Cadence said. "First of all, a pony named Rose Bloom is believed to be taken by Changelings. Do you know anything about that?"

The Changelings sat thoughtfully, before one of them remembered. He snorted. "I remember."

"Where is Rose being held? Why did you take her?" Luna asked.

The Changeling who remembered whispered into his partner's ear, and they both burst into laughter.

Celestia's eyes lit up in anger and her horn began to glow. "Where is she?"

The Changelings sobered up at that. "Princess Celestia, there never was a pony named Rose Bloom to the best of our knowledge. A Changeling was sent into Ponyville with that as his alias, however. His mentor who was sent with him used the alias Petal Blossom, but he was forced to create a new alias due to the possibility of discovery. Changelings Star Watcher and Silent Whisper. That is all we have clearance to know, if any more is known about them you will have to ask a higher ranked Changeling."

The Princesses' eyes opened wide with shock, and Celestia's horn stopped glowing. They had not expected this. "How do we know we can trust you?" Luna asked.

"Well, considering we are captives and at your complete mercy, and there is no reason for us to lie right now, why would you think we would lie?" the Changeling reasoned.

"This could be a ploy by your Queen." Celestia commented.

"It couldn't be, for reasons we are not at liberty to speak." the Changeling replied.

Cadence raised an eyebrow. "Why can't you say? After all, you are completely at our mercy. What harm could it do?"

"We would rather die than let the rest of our Hive be destroyed!" the Changeling snapped. "If you were captured by another race who was hostile to Ponykind, would you reveal sensitive information about your leader and Equestria?"

The Princesses looked shocked at this. "What makes you think we would destroy your hive?" Cadence asked, concerned.

"You of all ponies should know, Princess Cadence! Remember the shield at Canterlot? What do you think happened to Changelings who were shot off at a high velocity? When they hit the ground..." the Changeling fell silent and the Princesses stared, horrified at what the Changeling implied.

"We... Didn't think about that..." Celestia said weakly, her face growing slightly green. She screwed her eyes shut, desperately trying not to picture the Changelings' impacts. "I need to use the filly's room. I'll be back shortly." she said, exiting the room as her face grew still greener.

"Let's... Switch to a different topic." Cadence suggested, her own face gaining a green tinge. "We'll believe that Star Watcher is Rose Bloom for now. Why did you hide in secret?"

"We've always hid like that. We need emotion to survive, and there have actually been several instances of Changelings revealing themselves in an attempt for peace. The ponies' reactions have always been negative, either they are afraid or angry or horrified. At one point there was even a program trying to find ponies who would be accepting of Changelings. Queen Chrysalis, may she rest in peace, stopped this program because it posed a threat to the lives of infiltrators."

Cadence and Luna understood what he meant by 'may she rest in peace', and it made them feel sick. Cadence and Shining Armor had killed their very Queen. The Princesses were surprised that the Changelings hadn't started an all-out war because of it!

Celestia reentered the room, and Luna whispered the developments to her. "I would have vouched for peace, if you had come directly to me." Celestia said.

"But how would we know that? We thought you were just like the rest." the Changeling replied. "If not worse! Often the subjects of a nation try to act exactly like their leaders would."

"We would be willing to begin negotiations for peace now, if you would like."

"You would have to let us go then. We could take the message to our Queen."

Celestia nodded slowly. "Yes. I will send Twilight a letter immediately about Rose always being a Changeling as well. You are free to go."

Celestia levitated the key into the lock on the door and twisted. The door swung open, and the Changelings looked surprised.

"You're not... going to send any guards with us to make sure we tell the Queen or something?" the Changeling said tentatively.

Celestia smiled. "I trust you. I will inform the guard that Changelings in their natural forms should not be captured any more as well."

The Changelings flinched noticeably. "That... Isn't a good idea, but I'm not at liberty to say why."

Celestia frowned. "I'm guessing at least one Changeling is going against the Queen's wishes. How about we document every Changeling you bring us, and if a Changeling enters with another Changeling known to be good we let them, but if an unknown or multiple unknown Changelings attempt to enter we stop them."

The Changelings smiled. "Good. Thank you!" They walked free, ready to deliver the message to the Queen.

Spike woke up groggily. Twilight had let him sleep in today, something was up. He stumbled downstairs, finding the note on the table. "Yes! Twilight's gone!" he cheered. "I can eat all the ice cream I want and Twilight will never know!"

Just then, Spike felt a message from Celestia coming. He burped it up, and read it. "Oh no! Rose was always a Changeling?" he cried, shocked. "That means I let a Changeling go free in Ponyville multiple times! Who knows what he did when I was supposed to be watching? Also, how will Twilight learn that? She's looking for Rose in the Everfree! What if this 'Star Watcher' does something bad to her?" Spike sat nervously, wondering what would happen

Star Watcher awoke to the sound of familiar voices. "The tracking spell says that Rose is in here." Twilight said.

"Wake up!" Star Watcher whispered, shaking Bugze back and forth. "We've been found!"

Bugze woke up. "Are you sure?" he whispered back, listening for a few seconds. Hoofsteps against the rock floor of the cave confirmed. "Well, my old grandbuggy always said, if you're about to be caught and you really really really don't want to be, either hide or hit them with a rocket launcher. And we've all out of rocket launchers."

"... So we hide?" Star Watcher raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly!" Bugze grinned. "Behind a rock, or use an invisibility spell, or transform into an insect, or something!"

"Why don't we fly out as insects while they enter?" Star Watcher asked.

"Good idea!"

Bugze and Star Watcher transformed into flies, flying under Twilight and her friends. "They're in a cave below us! They're moving her!" they heard Twilight panic. "Her connection to the crystal should wear off if she hasn't touched it in several days, so this might be our last chance to find her!"

Star Watcher and Bugze managed to escape the cave, but Twilight's level of stress over Rose haunted Star Watcher. I wish I hadn't forgotten that gem for Spike... No, I wish I had never had to be trained by Bugze... No, I wish I never became Twilight's... No! I wish I had never run away from those guards! I shouldn't be a Changeling right now, hiding and running for my life... I did have some fun times though. The Crystal Empire with Twilight, being her apprentice, flying as a pegasus... Star Watcher sighed. I don't know what to think now.

Bugze and Star Watcher transformed back into Changelings. "We can't stay still for long." Bugze noted. "Twilight will find us."

Star Watcher sighed. "Now what?"

"Now we invent new lives, send the info to the Queen, act like this never happened."

"But I can't just forget this!" Star Watcher objected.

"You're right, we can't forget this. However, the rest of the world can't know that we had any correlation to Rose Bloom, apprentice to Twilight Sparkle."

"So after all that, we just move someplace else, leave everything from our old life behind and start anew?" Star Watcher said disbelievingly.

Bugze sighed. "This is the way it's worked since the dawn of time. Every time we try to reveal ourselves, the ponies freak out and the Changelings get imprisoned and die of starvation. Or they're executed."

"It's just... Everything was going so well. Then I had to forget to bring a gem back for Spike, which made Twilight get mad at me, which made me try to outdo myself, which made me reveal my Changeling form..." Star Watcher sighed.

The sound of approaching voices made Bugze and Star Watcher start moving again. "Where are we headed?" Star Watcher asked.

"Manehattan. Large city, plenty of ponies go in and out every day, we won't be noticed. I'm going to be Lucky Charm, a unicorn. You choose your own name and race."

"Sky Slicer, pegasus." Star Watcher replied almost instantly.

Green fire surrounded Star and Bugze, replacing their black carapaces with fur as they approached the city. Tall buildings loomed overhead as they came within eyesight of the entrance... which was being guarded by two unicorns who were scanning ponies as they entered with what looked like a Changeling-detection spell.

Author's Note

All Twilight has to do is go home to learn what has happened to Rose. All Star Watcher has to do to go back to Twilight is talk to a guard and stay still. Unfortunately, those actions would be considered 'giving up' to both of them. Neither wants to give up.

On another note, I'm running out of my stockpile of chapters.

Manehattan

"We can't go in that way!" Sky (Star Watcher) hissed to Charm (Bugze). "They'll capture us and we'll starve to death!"

"Stay calm, we'll find another way in." Charm replied confidently. "After all, Lucky is my first name!" he added mischievously.

Sky rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha. Now, what other way in could there be?"

"The sewers."

"You've got to be kidding me." Sky deadpanned.

Sky followed Charm down a dark, smelly tunnel. He heard a squelching noise with every step forward and he winced. He didn't even want to think about what he was stepping in. Every twenty or so yards, a bit of light would shine through from the grates in the road, dimming slightly as ponies trotted across them. With no light, bad smells, an icky floor, and the discusting squelch of hooves on... 'unknown materials', the only thing Sky couldn't complain about was the secrecy. Sky wasn't sure it was worth it though.

"Are we there yet?" he grumbled for what must have been the fiftieth time.

"Not long now." Charm sighed back... for the fiftieth time.

"How do you even know where we are?"

Charm brightened at that. "Oh! A story to pass the time! Well, my grandbuggy lived with me in Manehattan for a while, and he showed me the sewers one day! He told me, 'Bugze, if you ever want to get in or out of a city without being caught, always know your way around the sewers. Now come on, I want to see the looks on those ponies faces when I back up their toilets!' From then on, I memorized the sewer plans for all the cities I went to. Backing up the toilets of ponies I didn't like was a nice benefit!"

Sky stopped and stared at Charm for a moment, not certain whether he should be disgusted, amused, or impressed. Then he continued walking, thoughts occupied with all the fun things he could do from the sewers. Backing up toilets was the least of the city's worries...

"I'm sorry!" Sky yelled to Charm over the sound of rushing water as they sprinted as fast as they could. "I didn't think this would happen!"

"Next time, ask before pressing shiny red buttons! They usually do something bad!"

"But... Button!"

Charm groaned and facehoofed, somehow managing to do so safely while running. "You just flushed all of the city's water supply for today down the sewers, nearly killing both of us in the process, and you did it all because you couldn't resist hitting the shiny red button surrounded by 'do not touch' signs?"

Sky sighed. "Can we just get out of here? I never want to deal with sewers again."

Charm grinned. "How do you think we're going to get out of here?"

Sky groaned. "Just kill me now." he muttered.

A lone grate lifted seemingly be itself in a dark ally. A beggar pony stared as two filthy ponies emerged, looking around wildly. Wisely, the pony retreated, promising himself that he wouldn't sleep near a grate again.

"That was the most horrible experience I've had in my life." Sky groaned. "Now I need a shower, too."

Charm chuckled. "I've been worse. Now we're just a block away from the nearest Changeling outpost, when we get there we might have to mobilize their forces. I'm pretty much right below the top of the Changeling hierarchy, I should be able to command them."

"I was wondering... How does the Changeling hierarchy work?" Sky asked as they started walking.

"Glad you asked. Highest class is the Queen or King. They get more love, can command any Changeling, and can use the Hive Mind to broadcast messages to the other Changelings. The Queenship or Kingship is either passed on when the current ruler dies or retires, in which case the next highest ranked Changeling becomes the next ruler, or when the current ruler is killed by another Changeling. The Changeling who killed the ruler becomes the newest ruler."

"Why do Queens or Kings look different?"

"The excess love changes their natural body. When the ruler passes on the title, most of their energy goes with it. That's why a new ruler can be recognized as a King or Queen only minutes after becoming a ruler. Next is the... Oh, I guess we're here already. I'll tell you later, it's not too important. At least, not for a Rank I Changeling like you." Charm said with a grin. "You're Rank I because you've completed one infiltration mission that qualifies as a success. There is no upper limit to the Rank a Changeling can have, but any Changeling with an actual title beats any Ranked Changeling." Charm stepped inside an ordinary-looking building, whistling a tune that had become very familiar to Sky over the past week.

A few lights went on, illuminating the room. A few ponies walked over to Sky expectantly. He whistled another tune, and the ponies' eyes opened wide in surprise. "Ah, King's Friend. Welcome." one of the ponies, or rather disguised Changelings, said. "We will prepare food and a bed for you and your companion."

Charm grinned as his disguise flickered and failed. "My disguise is Lucky Charm, and my companion's disguise is Sky Slicer. Are there any higher ranked officers here? Also, I'd like a copy of your weekly report."

"There are no officers your rank or higher present. Your copy of the report will be delivered to you as well." the disguised Changelings dipped their heads to Charm and left, presumably to inform the rest of the outpost of the new arrivals.

Only a few seconds later, an undisguised Changeling walked into the room. "I will take you to your rooms now." he said. "Your food and the weekly report will be up shortly."

"Why are some Changelings disguised and some not?" Sky asked curiously.

"The disguised ones are greeters, they're in charge of greeting any ponies or Changelings who enter. If a pony entered and they saw a Changeling, the whole outpost would have to be closed down." Bugze replied. "They didn't take off their disguises when I was confirmed to be a Changeling because with the amount they have to answer the door, it would drain their magic more if they disguised repeatedly than just keep the disguise on the whole time."

"Your rooms." the Changeling guide them said, dipping his head than leaving.

The two rooms sat next to each other, with no windows and no doors. They were identical, except for a strange marking on one door that Sky recognized to be part of the Changeling written language. Any ponies who entered, however, would not think it was anything other than a few scratches from some long-ago accident.

"This is actually pretty nice." Sky commented. "I was expecting something... well..."

"Dirty? Damaged?" Bugze finished with a chuckle.

Sky blushed sheepishly. "Well... yeah. Maybe flickering lights too."

"We're not that scary, are we?" Bugze's laughter rose.

"I guess not, but maybe a little creepy. I mean, come on! Secret agents that can change shape at will? Think of all the government infiltration you could do! Heck, if you wanted you could probably destroy Equestria within a year!"

Bugze raised an eyebrow. "We've never really gotten into politics. Too confusing and pointless for us. But you say it could be useful?"

"Really useful! If you had a Changeling as an artist, then had several Changelings in high-level politics endorse them, the artist Changeling could become popular throughout the whole nation, maybe even the world! The Changelings who were in politics might not get as much love energy on their own, maybe respect and admiration but no close companionships, but they could be instrumental in helping other Changelings get lots of love." Sky replied. "Also, Changelings could run a business. If a pony wanted a vacation but couldn't take time away from work, just hire a Changeling to go to work for them while they get the time off! Think about it. Princess Celestia has been ruling Equestria for millennia with no recorded breaks! All we would need is one Changeling disguised as Celestia for a single day. Everypony loves Celestia!"

Bugze smiled. "Now, this is why we need a pony on our side. At least, a former pony. We can do that later, first we have to prevent our extinction." Bugze's smile flipped upside down. "The situation is grim. The Royal Guard has been increasing security all around the city, to the point where ponies who enter government buildings are scanned. Including banks. There are rumors that the guards will be doing a 'door-to-door purge'. We could confirm this, but it would probably result in Changelings getting caught. Already the Changelings who were government officials have stepped down, claiming one reason or another. If we don't evacuate soon, we may not be able to. I suggest tomorrow."

Sky frowned. "Tomorrow already? If we keep moving like this, we won't be able to get any love at all!"

"We're going to have to find a city where we can safely stay, or wait until it all blows over. This couldn't have happened at a worse time." Bugze sighed. "I'll alert this outpost, you go take that shower you wanted. We leave first thing in the morning."

Author's Note

I wrote the second half of this in Germany!

I can't think of anything else to talk about... Except for shiny red buttons. Don't press shiny red buttons. Ever. And the sewers suck.

Denial

Sky woke up and sighed. He didn't want to go through the sewers again. A few moments later Bugze came through the door.

"Wake up Sky, time to go down the sewers again! Oh, I see, you're already awake. Everything's organized and arranged, let's go!" Bugze grinned down at him.

"Let's just get this over with. No, I won't press any more shiny red buttons." Sky groaned.

Sky got up and followed Bugze out the door. As they walked by, all the Changelings snapped to attention. Bugze transformed back into Charm before giving the waiting Changelings a nod. They all assumed their disguises and followed him into the sewers. Sky sighed, he wasn't looking forward to another stay in the sewers.

"What's the plan for when we get out?" Sky asked Charm curiously.

"Hopefully, we find a place where we can infiltrate without being caught." Charm replied. "I'll probably pick up Changelings from other outposts as well."

"And if we don't?" Sky questioned.

Charm's smile turned to a grim line. "We'll do what we must. My grandbuggy taught me how to make a rocket launcher for a reason... I think."

Another pony walked up to Charm, surprising the Changelings. "I have been sent by the King," he snapped. "I am taking over this establishment."

"Can't he only do that if he's higher than a King's Friend?" Sky asked, confused.

The new pony glared at Sky. "New to this, are you? I have my orders from the King himself, which means I trump all but those with newer orders from the King."

"I have deemed this city too dangerous for Changelings to inhabit. We are in the middle of evacuation." Charm said.

"Convenient. I was sent to evacuate this settlement, and attempt to find a way for us to survive. Anything else I should know?"

"This 'new Changeling' is Star Watcher, a pony who we turned into a Changeling."

"Ah, yes. I was on the council for the project. I voted in favor," the Changeling turned to the disguised Star Watcher. "I hope you enjoy your life as a Changeling. It has it's perks. Got off on the wrong hoof with a mare? Come back the next day, as a different pony," the Changeling chuckled. "I'm Dark Claw."

Star Watcher eyed Dark Claw warily. "Nice to meet you," he replied. "Now are we going to go or not?"

"Let's go," Dark Claw announced. "I hope to find a place to stay by sunset."

Twilight frowned as she was about to enter the city the crystal had been leading her to. It looked like they were on the move once again, but the signal was coming from underground.

"The sewers! Of course!" Twilight exclaimed, shocking her friends.

"What?" Rarity asked.

"They're taking Rose out through the sewers!"

"What can we do about that?" Rainbow asked.

"We can follow them above ground, and when they come out we can free Rose!"

Sky Slicer emerged from the tunnels, blinking as the daylight temporarily blinded him. Lucky Charm and Dark Claw emerged behind him, and the rest of the Changelings followed him.

"Stop right there!" Sky heard a familiar voice call. "Where's Rose Blossom?"

Sky's heart sank with dread as her vision cleared up. In front of him stood Twilight and her friends, looking determinedly at the disguised Changelings.

"Wait... What?" Twilight's face turned confused as she noticed that not a single one of the ponies in front of her appeared to be a Changeling. She blushed, believing it to be her error. "Sorry, my spell must not be working right." she muttered to Sky, who flinched back slightly.

Bugze's disguise chose that exact moment to fail. "CURSE YOU LADY LUCK!!!" Bugze yelled as Twilight noticed that he was, in fact, a Changeling. One spell later, and all of the Changelings' disguises were revealed. The Changleings were left temporarily stunned as a side-effect of the spell, and Twilight followed the pendant to where Rose should have been. Her eyes widened with shock as the pendant bumped an undisguised Star Watcher.

"Oh, no. The Changeling must have done something to the pendant, drain Rose's love from it or something. No, what if he stored love in it?" Twilight's eyes widened further. "It could override Rose's love! Now I'll never find Rose!"

"Wait up!" Rainbow Dash cried as Twilight ran off into the forest. Twilight's other friends followed her as well, leaving the temporarily impaired Changelings behind.

A few minutes later, Star and Bugze snapped out of their stun. Immediately they reapplied their disguises, thankful that Twilight had been too distraught to capture them.

"Let's go." Dark Claw said, once all the Changelings had snapped out and reapplied their disguises. "We've got to find a good place soon."

After a whole day of fruitless searching for a city without Royal Guards, Bugze and Star were left standing in a field by the side of the road. Dark Claw was furious.

"Not a single city along the whole darn road without a guard! I'm afraid to say it, but I don't see what we can do." Bugze sighed.

"First, we need to create a temporary camp." Star Watcher said. "We can sleep the night here. Maybe we'll find someplace tomorrow."

"I guess we have to," Dark Claw said stiffly, upset at the failure. "We're setting up camp here for the night!" he announced to the rest of the Changelings. "Tomorrow we can look again!"

The Changelings made a collective sigh, and got to creating the camp. They worked quickly, and finished before the moon had risen a quarter of its journey through the sky. The Changelings set up groups of tents, with six Changelings per tent. There were 43 Changelings, so Dark Claw claimed the single tent. They all slept the night, fervently hoping to find food the next morning. If they didn't get food soon...

Shady Dark hurried to the throne room. He still had no idea why Princess Celestia had summoned him. Had he done something wrong? Was the Princess upset at how he had handled his last job? Shady swallowed his fear and entered the throne room in front of him. Princess Celestia sat on her royal throne, smiling gently down upon him.

"I have a special job for you," Princess Celestia smiled benevolently. "But only if you are willing to accept it."

"But of course, my Princess! What is it you ask of me?" Shady asked nervously.

"I wish to help peaceful Changelings to join into society safely. In order to do so, I need a pony I can trust to manage any complaints from both Changelings and ponies who are facing difficulties getting along, as well as help Changelings get oriented and learn what life in pony society is like. It won't be easy, but I know I can count on you to get the job done. If you accept, of course."

"Of course!" Shady puffed his chest proudly. "I'll do it!"

Princess Celestia smiled, relieved. Her little ponies were always strong enough to complete the tasks she gave them, even if they didn't know it. The hard part was often convincing them that they were good enough.

"I'm sure you'll have it well in hoof."

Star Watcher and Bugze woke up to the sound of hooves trotting along the path. Instantly they dawned their disguises and left the tent, seeing Dark Claw do the same. They saw three ponies trot along the path, stopping when they came across the tents.

"Hello. Who are you?" one of them asked amiably, seeing Star Watcher and Bugze in their disguises, Sky Slicer and Lucky Charm.

"We are a group of ponies looking to settle here." Lucky Charm smiled. "The tents are temporary, of course, but we intend to start constructing more permanent housing soon."

"Ah. We are travelers, crossing this well-worn road. This is a wise place for a town, many ponies pass through every day." another said.

Dark Claw raised an eyebrow. "Really? I was not aware that this was a popular road."

"Oh, very popular. If you did not know, why did you settle here? If you forgive me asking!" the third hastily added.

Dark Claw's eyes flicked and gave an unseen signal to three disguised Changelings behind the travelers. Instantly, the Changelings simultaneously brought their hooves down on the ponies' heads, knocking them unconscious.

"Dark Claw! What was that for?" Star Watcher asked angrily. "You could have just said that you didn't want to tell them, or that you had your own reasons and they would have left!"

"Yes, but then we would be starving." Dark Claw replied. "I will do what I must for our survival. Changelings, prepare a draining cocoon."

"A WHAT?!" Star Watcher asked angrily.

"A draining cocoon." Dark Claw replied calmly. "They can be used to drain the emotion from ponies."

"But then they're not renewable! And what happens when they're empty?" Star Watcher responded.

"We discard them. They're empty," Dark Claw's voice was neutral. "I wish there was another, more renewable way, but it looks like this is it. If we don't do this, we can't survive."

Something inside Star Watcher snapped. "You can't do this! A life for a life is not fair."

"One pony can save our entire settlement for days."

"NO! I refuse! This is where I draw the line," Star Watcher protested angrily. "I will not take part in this. I will find my own way to survive. Goodbye."

Bugze and Dark Claw stared in shock as Star Watcher stomped out of the camp, before running off into the nearby forest.

"After him!" Dark Claw said angrily, pointing to a few Changelings. "We can't let him get away, he'll ruin everything!"

A squad of four Changelings raced after Star Watcher, trying to catch up to him before they completely lost sight of him.

Author's Note

I have finally finished a base planning for the rest of the story! That should increase my speed. Probably. School is counteracting my efforts to write quickly!

I'm trying to get rid of my bad habit of double-spacing. I could use somebody to help there...

Shady Dark's reward for drawing cover art is getting his OC in this story. I'm considering making a whole side-story about him helping Changelings get new lives now, actually...

I was planning on making the next chapter and this chapter one, but I decided that this chapter was late enough as it was...

When the going gets tough...

Star Watcher tore through the forest frantically. He had long since lost his disguise; there seemed no point keeping it up when there were no ponies around to catch him. The Changelings tailing him were an entirely different problem. Star Watcher had tried everything he could think of to lose him, but they were seasoned trackers. It seemed like nothing could shake them. A pack of Timberwolves came out of the forest just in front of him, and Star Watcher gulped and slowed down. How could he get past this? A desperate idea came to mind. Star Watcher lit his horn and transformed into an Alpha Timberwolf. The pack of Timberwolves stopped and stared, before their Alpha came out in front. It growled a challenge, and Star Watcher nodded before dropping into a defensive crouch. Something in the transformation allowed Star Watcher to understand the Timberwolves' speech, and reply in kind. Time slowed down as Star Watcher saw the Alpha Timberwolf leaping for him. He lunged to one side, dodging the attack, and clawed the Alpha's crown. The Alpha turned to Star Watcher and lunged, ripping at his shoulder before latching on to his neck. Star Watcher clawed desperately at the Alpha's chest, hoping to hit something vital as he felt tree sap drip from his neck. A particularly large stick in the Alpha's chest snapped, and he stopped moving. Star Watcher freed himself from the non-moving jaws, watching in fascination as what appeared to function as the Alpha's spine glowed green and began repairing itself. When the green glow stopped and the Alpha could move again, it bowed low to Star Watcher. He felt exhilaration flow through his wooden bones as he realized that he had just defeated the Alpha in single combat!

One Timberwolf spoke with a voice like wood scratching on wood, which was probably because that's what created it's voice. It roughly translated to, "Hail the new Alpha. What are your commands, Alpha?"

"Several Changelings will be passing this way shortly. Stall them, but do not engage," Star Watcher ordered. "I must leave soon. I leave the former Alpha as your regent to rule when I am away, but my orders take precedence. When I return, I am still in command. Understood?"

The Timberwolves nodded, showing they all understood. The defeated Alpha perked up at the news, and barked out a command to the nearest four, telling them to stall the Changelings. Star Watcher heaved a sigh of relief as he stalked off, towards Canterlot. Now the Changelings wouldn't be able to catch up. When he was out of eyesight and earshot of the Timberwolf pack, he transformed back into his Unicorn form of Star Watcher and walked towards Canterlot. It was visible now, and he would reach it before nightfall.

Twilight sobbed in the forest, surrounded by her friends. "No! It can't be! She couldn't have been a Changeling! She couldn't have!"

"Well, ah dunno. She never lied, I can tell you that much." Applejack replied.

Twilight sat up straight. "So she couldn't have been one!"

"Well, she and Petal were hidin' something. Ah could tell." Applejack said uncertainly.

Twilight turned to her other friends desperately, tears in her eyes. "You believe me! Don't you?"

Her friends shifted uncomfortably, not willing to share their doubts.

Spike grinned. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? "C'mon Peewee, let's go!" he cried in glee as he rode the now fully-grown Pheonix. Twilight had given him an enchanted necklace years ago that always pointed towards her, so he could find her if he got lost. The necklace now hung around Peewee's neck, guiding him to Twilight. Spike glanced around, seeing Manehattan and what looked like a new settlement being built on the nearby road.

"Twilight! Twilight!" Spike called as he approached her. Twilight looked up at him and stared.

"Spike? What are you doing here? Why are you riding Peewee?"

"Twilight, Celestia sent you a really really important message!" Spike handed said message to Twilight.

Twilight read it, and gasped. "Rose was always a Changeling!"

"Yes, and the Changelings aren't all bad," Spike added.

"I have to go apologize!" Twilight announced as she rushed off again, casting a spell to locate lost objects and picturing Rose's gem.

"Wait up!" Rainbow Dash cried as she flew after Twilight, her other friends coming soon after.

"Hey! I'm not as fast as you!" Spike yelled as he raced after them, leaving Peewee forgotten in the forest. Peewee shrugged and started flying back home, glad to leave the drama behind.

Bugze frowned. He wished he could just leave like Star Watcher had, but Dark Claw didn't trust him. Four Changeling guards surrounded him, preventing him from leaving to help Star Watcher. If he didn't do something soon, everypony would be doomed! Countless lives lost, war of ponies vs. Changelings, and poor Star Watcher caught in the middle of it all, both sides out for his blood. Bugze couldn't let it happen.

*snap*

Author's Note

I don't think it counts as gore if it's tree sap and branches. What did you think of that Timberwolf scene anyway? They will actually serve a purpose later, they weren't a one-use random occurrence.

*snap*
Oh god, all you fans of 'Life of a Wanted Changeling' seasons 1 and 2 know what's coming...

Sorry for delay, and the short chapter, I've been coordinating with Kersey (the editor for Life of a Wanted Changeling) for help with Bugze, both fixing/improving previous scenes to make his character a little closer to what it originally was, and for help with scenes in the near future. I've been having real-life problems slowing me down, a lot.

... the tough get going!

Star Watcher heaved himself over the next ledge, groaning in agony. He was almost to Canterlot, and cursed his lack of foresight.

"I should've taken wings instead of my horn..." he groaned.

After a few more steps, he felt an armored hoof grasp his. "Are you okay, citizen?" the Royal Guard asked, clearly concerned.

"I'm... fine..." Star Watcher panted. "I probably should have taken a train, is all."

"How far have you walked?"

"From the Everfree." Star Watcher muttered. "Longest walk I've ever done."

The Royal Guard frowned. "You need to get hydrated. Here, I have a canteen you can use."

Star Watcher guzzled the water, grinning. "Thanks, I needed that. I'll be on my way, then!"

"Where are you off to?"

"I have to see Princess Celestia. It's an important issue, if it goes right I could stop a war." Star Watcher said seriously.

The Royal Guard cracked a grin. "You, stop a war? Please, I think that's my job... Rose."

Star Watcher looked up in astonishment. "B-but... How do you know?"

"I'm Silent Whisper!" the Royal Guard said with a larger grin. "The best place to hide from Celestia is under her own nose!"

Star Watcher laughed. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see you. Fecal matter has hit the industrial cooling device!"

Silent Whisper smirked back. "Oh, you have no idea. I've been trying to track down that traitor of a Changeling who stole all the love, under cover of course. The guard corps thinks I'm investigating a series of petty thefts. He's come that close to catching me from behind, as well."

"So you're making progress, I presume? I'm here to stop an entirely different war from breaking out, between the Changelings and the Ponies. Thanks for the help here, if a real guard were here they would probably reveal me as a Changeling." Silent Whisper chuckled nervously. "I thought I was a goner before I found out who you were."

Silent Whisper nodded slowly. "What do you plan on doing to Celestia?"

"I plan on talking to her," Star Watcher said seriously. "If I can convince her that Changelings can live in harmony with Ponies, she'll help us. I'm sure."

"Are you sure that will work? I don't want you to be killed if you fail."

Star Watcher stared Silent Whisper in the eyes. "If I don't try, the war will kill not only me but countless ponies and Changelings. I die if I don't, I might die if I try. Good enough for me."

Silent Whisper frowned, but nodded. "You have my blessing. Come back alive, please. Many would hate to see you dead."

Star Watcher nodded back and entered the city, marching through his old city with new determination. He traveled through the familiar streets to Canterlot Castle, entering the magnificent building with a confidence he'd never had before becoming a Changeling. As he strode into the hall, he realized just how much he'd changed over course of a few short weeks. Princess Celestia sat in her ornate gold throne, looking down on him with a warm smile.

"Star Watcher," she said. "I've been expecting you."

Bugze grinned at the four Changelings guards surrounding him, as he pulled a makeshift smoke bomb from a hole in his leg.

"Insert One-Liner Here!" Bugze yelled as he threw it into the ground, escaping in the resulting dark cloud that billowed up from not just the bomb, but the dirt surrounding it. He sprinted towards Dark Claw's tent, stopping to pull a hidden flamethrower and a gas mask out of a tree.

"Are you my mummy?!" he screamed as he entered Dark Claw's tent, flamethrower blazing.

Dark Claw teleported out of the way with ease, only for the entire tent to collapse on the two of them. Bugze dropped his flamethrower, only to unsheathe his hidden blade replicas from Assassin's Creed: Ponyhood. He clawed his way out of the fabric and stabbed down at Dark Claw, only for the blade to deflect off his hard carapace. Dark Claw chuckled, green flames surrounding him as he stood up. The flames consumed the fabric as he grew, larger than even the Queen or King, until he was larger than an Ursa Minor.

Bugze scowled. "Oh come on, is this some sort of three-part boss battle?"

Dark Claw drew out a long sigh. "Of course not. If you hadn't spent all your time sneaking away to the arcades and the movies, you just might have turned into a decent soldier, you know."

"Less talking, more killing!" Bugze yelled, galloping forward. "Falco, PUNCH!"

Shady Dark walked into Manehattan, ready to meet with his first client for his new job: Cocoon, of the changelings. Shady went over his notes on her one last time before meeting her.

Changeling Name: Cocoon
Disguise Name: Golden Waves
Disguise Race: Pegasus
Disguise Cutie Mark: Wave

Notes: Cocoon/Golden Waves is intelligent, but funny, as well as willing to do what needs to be done, regardless of the personal consequences. You should have no trouble finding her a spot in the accounting industry. The trouble will come, of course, with the ponies who will try to throw her out, or deny her a job. You have my permission to crack down hard on racism wherever necessary, in whichever means you think would work best. I look forward to seeing how you handle this first job.

-Princess Celestia of Equestria

With that last glance at the info sheet Princess Celestia had given him, Shady Dark entered the building in front of him. He sat down at his desk, quickly rearranging things to better suit his organizational methods before sitting at his desk, hooves crossed, staring at the clock. He wanted to make a good first impression.

Author's Note

Special Thanks to Keresy for helping with Bugze!

Shady Dark, your job has begun!
:trollestia:

I decided that It's been too long since I updated this story (sorry for the wait) and I'm leaving you all on a cliffhanger for the next chapter (which should be coming out soon) so that I could send you this one sooner. Really, it's more of a 3-part cliffhanger. I want to know which cliffhanger you're most interested in finding out about...

Well, we're nearing the end. Several simultaneous plot lines converging. Awesomeness awaits. Alliteration always adds additional awesomeness!

Preparations

Cocoon burst through the doors, ducking to avoid a tomato that flew in overhead. She closed the door and looked up to see Shady Dark sitting in the office chair, his unamused face covered in tomato that was dripping down his suit and onto a very important-looking document bearing Princess Celestia's seal.

"Oops... I'm so sorry-" Cocoon began but she was cut off.

"It's quite alright. I'll be back in one moment, I have some trash to take out." Shady said, marching to the doors. He picked the remains of the tomato off his face, flung open the doors, and hurtled it back at the growing angry crowd outside before calmly closing the doors again and picking up a nearby napkin.

"Let's start over." Shady said as he cleaned his face. "I am Counselor Shady Dark. It is my job as the Changeling-Pony Relationship Management, or the CPRM, Counselor to improve the relations between the local ponies and the incoming Changelings. I take it you are Cocoon, also known as Golden Waves?"

"Yes. You can call me Goldy."

"Okay, Goldy. Nice to meet you." Shady held out a hoof.

"Nice to meet you too, Counselor Shady Dark." Golden took the proffered hoof.

"You can just call me Shady, I don't care." Shady chuckled as they shook hooves. "Now, on to business?"

"Of course." Golden replied.

"I've been looking around at potential jobs for you, and I think I found a nice spot as an accountant at a nearby bank. Does that sound good?"

"Yes, thank you. However, I've been having trouble finding a job that will accept me due to my Changeling nature..."

Shady Dark grinned. "That's what I'm here for. There is no law preventing a Changeling from getting a job, and I have Princess Celestia's full permission to do whatever I have to in order to destroy racism. I intend on doing just that. Now, let's go!"

Invigorated with new confidence, Golden threw open the door, ready to march into a new future, only to find the way blocked by the mob that was still sitting outside. Shady Dark just scoffed at them. "Seriously, it's like they think that there isn't another way out of here. Of course Princess Celestia knew this would happen. Follow me."

Shady led Golden down a secret passage behind a bookshelf, through an underground tunnel to a stairwell, where they stopped.

"Okay, Goldy. We walk up this stairwell, across the street and we're at the bank. Don't mention that you are a Changeling unless they explicitly ask. Ready?"

Golden just nodded and started forward, emerging from the staircase at street view. She crossed the street, dodging the various cars and impatient ponies rushing about their lives, before arriving at the bank. Walking forward to the pony sitting at a desk labeled 'questions', she opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted,

"Have you come to apply for the job?" the desk pony said, her voice a cross between bored and annoyed.

"Yes, I have." Golden replied.

The mare at the desk pressed a button that buzzed in response, opening a door. "Go in there, the manager can talk now."

Golden entered the room nervously. The rest of her life could ride on this job. "Hello? I've come for the job." Golden said.

The manager turned in his swivel chair slowly, almost ominously. "I've been expecting you." Prince Blueblood said, clapping his hooves together. Somehow he made the normally pleasant sound appear frightening, and Golden shivered.

"Hello, I'm Golden Waves and I've come to apply for-"

"No." Blueblood interrupted. "My sources know what you are, bug. You can forget about ever getting a job anywhere, too, I'll make sure of that."

Golden felt a combination of horror and fury come over her, but she hid it behind her disguise. Now she was never going to get a job!

"I believe that is where you are wrong." Shady Dark's voice interrupted. A moment later, he walked out of a shadow in the corner of the room, ending some sort of invisibility spell. "I have just recorded your statement. That is all I will need to get you convicted in court."

Blueblood sneered. "I own the court, and they know it. Nothing will ever be proven without my permission. Celestia herself could not stop me."

Shady Dark smirked. "Princess Celestia gave me explicit permission to do anything I feel necessary to stamp out anti-changeling racism. ANYTHING."

"You wouldn't dare do anything to me. I'm her nephew." Blueblood said arrogantly. "These bugs aren't even a race. They are no ponies. There are only parasitic monsters who eat emotions."

Shady Dark's smile turned deadly. "Say that again."

"These parasitic bugs are hardly alive. These love-sucking vampires don't deserve to scrape the mud from the streets. And there isn't a thing you can do to stop me from doing as I like."

Shady strode across the room in three paces, before delivering a bone-shattering blow to Blueblood's crotch. "How about that?!" he roared as Blueblood impacted the wall, coughing and crying as he screamed in pain.

"I, Shady Dark, speaking with the highest authority of Their Highnesses Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, do declare that you, Blueblood, be stripped of your title as Prince as well as your property and all of your capital. All of your property legally belongs to the Crown. You are hereby sentenced to one year of community service for Crimes Against Equanity, High Treason, Corruption, and Abuse of Status."

Blueblood whimpered once more and Golden stared in awe as Shady spoke.

"Guards, come out. Take this criminal to a medical institution."

The guards who were hiding just outside the room entered and carted Blueblood away, making sure to jostle the stretcher they carried him in as painfully as possible.

Shady turned back to Golden Waves. "Thank you for giving me the chance to take out that bastion of corruption that Blueblood kept safe. He'll soon tell us of everypony involved." Shady began to walk out the door before turning his head. "By the way, Goldy? You've just been hired as a junior accountant for this bank."

Golden stared in shock as Shady left the room, before breaking out into a huge smile. "YES!" she yelled, pumping a hoof.

Princess Celestia and Star Watcher sat together in a room, sipping tea.

"I hope you have been well?" Princess Celestia asked.

Star Watcher just chuckled, "Depends on your definition of 'well'. I've been changed into another species, walked across Equestria and back, traveled the sewers of Manehattan and made a few friends."

"I'm glad that you finally took my advice." Celestia smiled warmly.

Star Watcher looked confused for a moment, before realizing. "You did ask me to make friends, many years ago. I had forgotten."

"Never underestimate the magic of friendship."

"I won't, trust me," Star Watcher laughed. "It tastes like a warm crepe. Crepes are delicious."

Celestia smiled back. "It is certainly interesting that different emotions would have different flavors like that, but I am afraid we have more important problems at hoof. Recently I have heard rumors that there is a rogue Changeling running loose."

Star Watcher sobered up immediately. "Indeed. He stole love from the Hive, driving us out and starving us. We are dying."

"We can't have that happening."

"You're going to help, just like that?" Star Watcher asked, surprised.

"Of course. You are still one of my little ponies, after all." Celestia said fondly.

"Then there's no time to waste! A bastion of starving Changelings, maybe all there are left alive, are on the road near Hoofington. They plan on capturing ponies and draining them to survive."

"We will depart as soon as I gather the guard. In the meanwhile, I will send you ahead." Celestia hoofed Star Watcher a scroll with a seal on it. "Write on this scroll and break the seal to send me a message. However, it only works once, so use it wisely."

Star Watcher nodded, understanding its importance as he deconstructed the horn on his body and replaced it with a pair of wings, the transformation covered by a green flame. He then shot out a nearby open window, heading for the Changeling camp.

Twilight and her friends rushed through the forest, panting as they went. "Are we close yet?" Rainbow asked Twilight.

"I don't know, but I think so," Twilight replied. "It can't be much further than this."

Almost in response to her words, the trees thinned out and a camp appeared, causing Twilight and her friends to halt. In one corner of the camp, a violent fight appeared to be taking place between two Changelings, one larger than an Ursa Minor. Unnoticed by the six friends, several Changelings creeped up on them from behind and simultaneously struck their heads. Twilight and her friends were knocked out cold. The Changelings took them to a room where they would be encased in a cocoon to be drained of emotion.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS EVIL CHANGELING HUNTERS YAY!"

"Follow me!" Scootaloo said to her friends as they trotted off into the woods. "I know a shortcut!"

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle followed Scootaloo through the forest.

"Ah'm sure glad ya told us about the Changelings," Applebloom said as they walked.

Scootaloo smiled. "What, you think I would be able to stop myself from telling you that I can fly now?"

"I'm really sad about the evil Changeling who's been stealing all the Hive's love though," Sweetie Belle said.

"That's why we need to stop him! Come on!"

The three friends ran through the forest before being stopped by a pack of Timberwolves.

"Uh oh..." Scootaloo said, wincing in fear.

Suddenly, a large Alpha Timberwolf came out of the woods behind them, growling something in its language. The other Timberwolves stepped back submissively, before the Alpha turned to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"We ain't afraid of you!" Applebloom said defiantly.

The Alpha chuckled, a sound similar to claws across a chalkboard. "You have no reason to be," he growled. "I'm Star Watcher."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders' jaws dropped. "You can turn into a Timberwolf? Why didn't you tell us, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle said indignantly.

"I didn't know..." Scootaloo replied, amazed.

"What are you doing here?" Star Watcher asked.

"We're going to battle!" Scootaloo replied.

Star Watcher shook his Timberwolf head. "You're too young. You'd just get in the way. Go home."

With that, Star Watcher took off, Timberwolf pack behind him.

"We're following him, right?" Applebloom asked.

"Totally," Scootaloo agreed.

Star Watcher entered the Changeling camp, followed by a stampede of Timberwolves.

"Attack the Changelings," he barked to his escort. "Except the next three I will appear to be."

Star Watcher transformed into Bugze, then into Scootaloo, then reverted to his normal form. Those were the only Changelings he knew he could trust. "Obey their orders as if they were my own."

With the Timberwolves battling the evil Changelings, he turned around. "You can come out now," he called. It was only a guess, but...

"Aw, he's got us!" Scootaloo said as they walked out of the trees, submissively.

Star Watcher sighed. "Well, you're all here, and you all disobeyed my orders. I need you to stay safe."

"But-" Sweetie Belle objected.

"But nothing," Star Watcher replied. "Don't think you won't be useful, though. Somepony needs to free the trapped ponies."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders' eyes brightened at that. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PONY RESCUERS YAY!"

As they rushed off, Star Watcher turned to the battle at hoof. Bugze appeared to be holding off the giant Changeling that appeared to be Dark Claw. How did he get so much love? Star Watcher wondered, before realizing. He must be the traitor! With no further ado, Star Watcher leaped into battle, chuckling as he realized that Bugze was using several inventions from his Grandbuggy in the fight, inventions that Star Watcher had proclaimed 'useless'...

"Come on, girls, let's find the next tent!" Sweetie Belle said as Scootaloo finished dissolving the cocoon off of the ponies who had been trapped. Most ponies remained dazed for a minute after being removed from their cocoons.

"Let's go!" Scootaloo responded. They went to the next cocoon storage area, when they saw Spike, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy in cocoons! Applebloom bucked the cocoons, breaking their connections to the roof, while Sweetie Belle levitated them down, and Scootaloo dissolved the casing around them. They coughed and panted for a moment before recomposing.

"What are you all doing here?" Everypony in the room asked simultaneously.

"We're saving trapped ponies," Applebloom said.

"We came to find Rose," Twilight replied.

Scootaloo brightened. "We can tell you about him!"

"Her," Twilight input.

"Him," Scootaloo insisted. "His real name is Star Watcher, and he's really nice! He was kind of upset after you found him out, but he's a good Changeling and he's trying to beat up the meany Dark Claw. He's here now."

"What?" Twilight asked, trying to process this information. "He's here? Trying to fight off an evil Changeling? We've got to help him! Come on, girls!"

Twilight and her friends rushed off, leaving Spike behind. "Wait!" he cried. "What about me?"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had already left to save more cocooned ponies, leaving a dejected Spike behind.

"Phooey," he muttered, walking around. "They never let me help."

Spike kicked a crystal as he walked, before stopping as he realized. "A crystal? Food!" he joyfully announced as he picked it up and consumed it. He belched and a large green fire emerged from his mouth, and for some reason the ground appeared further away. A few awkward steps later, he realized that the ground wasn't moving... He was growing!

Twilight and her friends rushed towards the main fight, not stopping to question why a hoard of Timberwolves were fighting off the Changelings. Soon they reached the battlefield, where the Ursa-sized Changeling was fighting two Changelings.

"Star Watcher! Rose!" Twilight cried, rushing towards them. The rest of her friends just shrugged and headed for Dark Claw.

"Twilight?" Star Watcher asked, turning away from the fight for a second. Immediately he was hit by a hug from the sobbing pony.

"Rose, Star Watcher, I'm so sorry. I never considered... I didn't know..."

"It's all right, Twilight." Star Watcher said gently. "It's alright. Now, we have to defeat this giant Changeling. He's been stealing love from the Hive, and now he's extremely powerful. Are you up to it?"

Twilight broke the hug, a determined look in her eyes. "As ready as I'll ever be. Rose, Star Watcher- What should I call you?"

"Call me Star Watcher," he replied. "It was my original name, after all. I'll tell you everything once we've won."

They returned to the fight, where Bugze was dousing Dark Claw in fire, Rarity was pelting him with sharp gemstones, Rainbow Dash was impacting him relentlessly, Applejack was bucking him, Fluttershy had her animal creatures swarm him, and Pinkie Pie was blasting him with her party cannon, each of whom retreated when Dark Claw attempted to focus on them, making it impossible for him to hurt any of them.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!" Dark Claw roared. "FEAR MY FINAL FORM."

Dark Claw once again was covered in green fire, glowing as he grew still large, not stopping until he was larger than an Ursa Major.

Everypony gasped in horror. The battle had seemed hard enough when he was the size of an Ursa Minor, but now? It looked impossible! Suddenly, green fire rose up from the other side of the other side of the encampment. This green fire rose up until it almost matched the size of Dark Claw. The green fire receded, and the form of the creature was clear. It was-

"Spike?!" Twilight gasped.

Author's Note

I've been planning that Blueblood and Shady scene for at least two months...

Yes, I'm going with EVIL BLUEBLOOD here. It just made for the best chapter...

This chapter was loooong.

Final Battle: Mane 6, Star Watcher, Bugze, Giga-Love Spike... How could it get any better?

I expect next chapter to be the last. Or second to last. I might make a sequel...

Final Battle (Revised)

"Woah!" Spike gasped as he looked down at the village some way below him. It swayed in and out of focus as he adjusted to his sudden growth spurt. Was this how a full grown dragon saw the world?

"That's a long way down," he gulped.

"What is this madness?" Dark Claw growled, voice laced with fury, breaking Spike from his stupor as the rogue Changeling spotted him. "How are you so large?"

"Well, I ate a glowing gemstone..." Spike said. "And then, I got really big! I have no idea what just happened."

Dark Claw snorted derisively, the dragon must have eaten a love-infused gemstone!

"It doesn't matter, because you won't be big for much longer!"

As he spoke, Dark Claw swung a sharp claw with lethal-looking spikes on it in a deadly arc towards the newly-enlarged dragon.

"Hey!" Spike yelled as he stepped back, feeling a whoosh of displaced air as the dangerous weapon cleaved the air in front of him.

Twilight gasped, heart twisting in worry. Spike was going to be killed! She wouldn't see it happen, by Celestia!

Quickly she teleported onto his ear, where she could talk to him relatively safely.

"Spike!" Twilight said.

"Twilight?" Spike asked, looking from side to side. "Where are you?"

"I'm on your ear. You've got to beat that giant Changeling! He's the evil one who's been going against their leader's orders!"

"Okay!" Spike said, determined. His green eyes blazed with determination "You can count on me, Twilight!"

Gathering up his strength and a big gulp of air, Spike let out a gout of green fire, the super-heated flames scorching Dark Claw.

"Raaagh- Why you little-! I'll rip you apart!" Dark Claw snarled, seething silently, even as he recovered swiftly.

Okay Spike, you can do this! The dragon reassured himself, tensed for the counter attack, which gave no delay in coming.

Blood roiling in anger, Dark Claw slashed at Spike, only for Spike to quickly dodge and reply with an attack of his own. Twilight felt a surge of pride for her little assistant, even if he wasn't so little right now!

Spikes claws flashed like knives as he lunged at his opponents face. Forced to drop his attack and quickly retreat backwards, Dark Claw fumed. NO measly dragon would make HIM fall! Not now!

Meanwhile, Twilight's friends, Star Watcher and Bugze, fought from below, injuring Dark Claw's legs and slowing him down as much as they could. Hearts and minds united in one goal; defeat this crazed changeling!

"Impossible!" Dark Claw roared. "I cannot be beaten by a meagre assortment of ponies and Changelings!"

He stomped down, only missing Applejack because Twilight teleported her to safety. A huge cloud of dirt arose from the impact so strong it left a crater in the ground.

"Hooee, thanks Sugarcube!" Applejack hollared, resuming her efforts with gusto!

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew out from the cloud and smashed her front hooves into Dark Claw's face, richoeting off and out of reach in a perfect arc, creating a Sonic Rainboom in the process. The blazing light made Dark Claw recoil in agony, the searing kaleidoscope of colours blurring his sight!

As he gave a guttural roar of anger, several diamonds sliced through the air, their razor-sharp facets gleaming, directed by Rarity at Dark Claw's legs.

Applejack bucked at his foot, using bone-breaking force, putting every ounce of strength her hard working life had given her into each kick.

Pinkie and Bugze had teamed up to piece together a Party Cannon filled with shrapnel, fire, and other dangerous materials for devastating effect! The words 'Master Blaster' had been daubed on the cannon's side in pink paint!

Together they slung a new round into the cannon, hitting the firing pedal, shooting another blazing round into Dark Claw. The air around them was heavy with acidic smoke, but they'd planned for this. Nodding at one another, Bugze and Pinkie tied handkerchiefs over their faces, the material scented with some perfume from Rarity's collection!

Twilight shot beams of magic from her place on Spike's ear. However, it all seemed no use. Dark Claw was simply too big.

With a roar of laughter, he kicked out at the ponies below, too fast for Twilight to step in and help.

"EVERYPONY!!" She cried, her heart pounding in fear. She took a shaky, hiccupy breath, pleading wordlessly with them to be alright...

She and Spike stopped and looked at the cloud of dust the attack produced in horror, watching as their friends bounced out, defeated. Twilight felt a tear of relief plop down her face, followed by a few more before she steeled herself, this fight wasn't over!

Dismissing the uncrushed ponies below, Dark Claw turned his attention back to the Dragon and his little pony rider.

Twilight seen a blur of movement and cried out, but too late. With one kick to the gut, Spike vomited, spitting up the partially digested gemstone. Cut off from the source of energy, he began to shrink to normal size, Twilight falling from his ear. They hit the cracked and broken ground, sending up a puff of dirt.

Twilight groaned groggily, reaching a hoof out to a shivering Spike, drawing him towards her soundlessly. The small dragon held onto her, coughing painfully..

Above them Dark Claw was revelling in his perceived victory "I have won!" he roared. "Nothing can stop me now!"

Unseen by Dark Claw, a seal was broken, a message writ, and the special scroll evaporated into green smoke, taking a message to the source of the only possible salvation for the battle!

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and their troops, all fully armed and armored, flew in the vague direction of the battleground. They didn't have the precise location of the battlefield, but they knew it was close.

Green smoke approached the party, and Princess Celestia called a halt. After reading for a moment, she looked up with a burning fire in her eyes. A new determination filled them, and Luna felt it surge through their bond.

"This way," she called out, directing the army in the direction the smoke had come from. "We must hurry, it may already be too late!"

Oh Twilight, please don't be hurt, The Alicorn sun Princess prayed, feeling a worried throb in her heart for her always-prized student, even if Twilight had long surpassed any class she could ever teach!

Only a few minutes later, Dark Claw was in sight, still roaring in manic laughter. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sent their troops to flank him, while flying into battle at top speed, hearts steeled for what lay ahead!

"HALT!" Luna cried. "THOU CANNOT HOPE TO WIN! SURRENDER NOW AND WE MAY YET SHOW MERCY!"

Celestia flew along side her, a fierce glare upon her face.

"AS IF!" was Dark Claw's reply. "I SHALL DESTROY YOU AND ALL YOU HOLD DEAR! WATCH NOW, CELESTIA, AS YOUR WORTHLESS STUDENT IS CRUSHED!!"

Time slowed down for Celestia as Dark Claw raised one foot and, with a grin wrought of nothing but hatred and sickening delight, stepped down on Twilight.

Not Twilight! Celestia thought. You will not take one of my dearest friends from me!!

Even as this thought tore through her mind, Celestia rocketed forward, eyes and trajectory set on her student.

"Sister!" Luna cried, already knowing what was going to happen, but helpless to stop it..

Celestia created a Sonic Skyboom as she flew, the speed and power of the Princesses flight breaking the sound barrier! With an ear shattering blast, a brilliant disk of light exploded behind her, but she pushed herself still faster. A palpable golden contrail followed her as she pushed the very limits of her abilities as an Alicorn, enhancing her movement through the air not only with Pegasus magic, but with Unicorn magic and Earth Pony magic as well.

All she could see was Twilight below, her wide purple eyes filled with a mix of pain and fear, but as they focused onto Celestia, they gained a measure of hope and love too..

Celestia's wings beat stronger, the air shaped itself before her, bending to her sheer speed and force of will. She pulled herself forward with levitation, and time itself felt as if it had slowed down, as Celestia's speed approached that of light, until she reached Twilight. Landing on the crumbled earth, she quickly reached out to shove Twilight out from under the falling foot. A nanosecond was spared to lovingly brush twilights bangs from her face, then she was pushing her beloved student away, out of the range of the attack.

With a painful sound, the foot landed on Celestia, just barely missing Twilight. All was quiet.

"PRINCESS CELESTIA!" Twilight screamed, cutting through the terrible silence. Tears began to flow unashamedly from her eyes. This couldnít be real...

"I cannot be stopped. Even your beloved Princess was powerless against me," Dark Claw claimed calmly. "There is no hope for you pathetic wretches!"

He reached down and picked Star Watcher from the ground.

"You, Changeling, have caused me quite a bit of trouble. It is time for your punishment!"

Dark Claw began to squeeze Star Watcher, watching him gasp for breath as he slowly choked to death, a perverse smile on his face at the Changeling's suffering. He could feel the Changeling's heartbeat slowing, like a butterfly battering against a paper shade. But his crowing over Star watchers end was cut short, as suddenly Star Watcher's horn began to glow! In a flash of burning green fire, Star Watcher appeared on Dark Claw's head, doubled over, forcing air back into his lungs.

"I cannot let you win! I WILL NOT LET YOU!" Star Watcher wheezed. "I cannot allow you to destroy both of my species. No matter what it takes, I will NOT let you win this fight!!"

Dark Claw chuckled. "Fool! As if you could even stand a chance against me!"

"HE DOTH NOT FIGHT ALONE!" Luna roared, the mace she wielded clanging against Dark Claw's face as the princess of the night, heart aching for her sister, turned this emotion into a strength that dealt a painful blow. "ATTACK, MY GUARD! FOR EQUESTRIA!"

The Royal Guard roared together, and Dark Claw took a step forward. Twilight immediately levitated Celestia away from the danger of battle, now that she was no longer under Dark Claw's foot.

"T-t-twilight!" gasped Celestia. "I-I-I'll be alright. I've had worse-," she tried to flex one wing and felt a pain that made her eyes prickle with tears, and her heart catch in her throat, "Okay, m-maybe not, but still. I'll be f-fine."

"Princess!" Twilight sobbed, pressing her cheek to Celestia's, wishing only to heal her teachers pain... Please...

"T-Twilight." Celestia's voice grew stronger. "You must tell Star Watcher... Tell him to remember the class I taught in... Tell him to remember the lesson on parasitism... He'll know what to do."

"I... I'll do it, Princess. For you." Twilight replied, tears dripping down her cheeks. Celestia raised one hoof shakily, patting Twilights forehead again, mustering a fond smile.

"Good," Celestia replied with a sigh, closing her eyes. "Now, I don't think I can stay awake for much longer. However, after resting for a few hours, I'll be able to go back to Canterlot on my own, and after a few weeks of good sleep I believe I will make a full recovery. Do NOT worry about me Twilight! You're strong, you're brave, and right now Star Watcher needs your help!"

Twilight nodded once more, stowing her fear away.

"Don't forget! Tell Star Watcher. He is the only one who can save us now..."

With that, Celestia dropped into a deep slumber from magical and physical exhaustion, her first since the fight with Nightmare Moon over a thousand years prior. Twilight teleported away to rejoin the battle, but not before transmuting Celestia a bed to rest on, far away from the dangers of battle. She didn't even have to call out, as one of the guards banked mid-flight, settling beside the injured princess. He saluted Twilight, who gave a teary eyed smile in return before vanishing in a flash of purple!

Star Watcher pounded away at Dark Claw's head, knowing that he could only serve as a nuisance to the giant Changeling, but still trying all the same. Hope and sheer determination went into every blow he struck, the images of Twilight and the others serving as his strength. Love for your friends could be just as powerful as what they gave you, he realised..

Princess Luna, fully garbed in her war armor, swung repeatedly at Dark Claw, engaging in a desperate battle from which there could only be one conclusion.

With a clang, Luna failed to dodge one of Dark Claw's powerful swipes and fell from the sky, impacting the ground at high speeds. The guards had been long since defeated, their valiant efforts come to a halt.

Only the one guarding Celestia, hidden from Dark Claw's peripheral vision, was left awake. When he seen Luna felled, he felt a surge of anger. He served the Princesses until his last breathand he had to save Luna!

With a deep breath he kicked off from the ground, streamlining his body as best he could, eyes fixed on Luna. He glanced up, seeing Dark claw was preoccupied by the one stomping on his head, and swiftly gathered up Luna, holding her with his hooves as best he could. With her armor on, she was heavy, but he put every bit of energy he had into his wings, beating the smoke-filled air and using momentum to fling them both across the ground, the smoke blurring his eyes and tearing at his throat.

They hit the floor by Celestia's bed, and he used the little strength he had left to nudge the Princess of the Moon onto the bed beside her sister. Then he crumpled to the floor, watching the battle hazily, praying Twilight Sparkle and the others could save everypony..

It's over...

Star Watcher could feel his, and the rest of the world's, inevitable doom coming. It was almost palpable; the taste unlike anything he'd ever known. It was a sicking sensation. And yet, he soldiered on. Blow after blow, harder and harder on Dark Claw's head.

A sickening crack filled the air, and pain coursed through Star Watcher's hoof. He cried out in desperate pain, stumbled, and fell forward as one of his limbs refused to hold his weight. He began to roll off of Dark Claw's head, but another thud was heard, and his ribs flared in agony as he crashed into Dark Claw's horn near the edge, keeping him from falling but adding further injury.

Still, he refused to give up. With his still functional hooves, he kicked at the horn, giving Dark Claw a light itching sensation. Suddenly, a flash of purple made Star Watcher look back to the top of Dark Claw's head.

"Star Watcher!" Twilight called. Her mane was in disarray and tears still sparkled fresh on her cheeks, but her eyes were fill of a strength and determination that seemed to light them from within. With the suns light behind her she cut a strong figure in the midst of battle, "Princess Celestia has a message for you!"

A message? For me?

"She said, 'Remember the class I taught on parasitism!' Does that mean anything to you?"

A light went on in Star Watcher's brain, remembering a distant lesson at the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, a lesson on parasites, in which he asked an unusual question.

Why don't parasites feed off of each other? Because the parasite that feeds will take the other parasite's nutrients...

Celestia, you remembered! he silently thanked the Alicorn. His hope sparked afresh with this new idea, Star Watcher lit his horn and began to channel a spell he thought he would never use: the Changeling spell to drain all emotions from a target. Touching his horn to Dark Claw's, he began to steal back the love that belonged to the Changelings. It was like a flower blooming in a midnight field, petals like ivory, and glowing with the light of love and magic!

"WHAT?" Dark Claw growled, turning his head left to right. "NO! WHERE IS MY POWER GOING? WHAT WRETCH DARES-"

Even as he screamed out, Dark Claw closed his eyes, feeling for growing power with the emotion detecting spell. Noticing it's location, he quickly swiped at the location of its owner, hatred blinding him to all common sense.

Star Watcher, having healed his hoof from the absorption of energy, quickly dodged, eyes gleaming with renewed fervor. Dark Claw's slash missed him, crashing instead into his own head.

"Argh!" he snarled, vision blacking at the edges. The attack's purpose succeeded, however: Star Watcher's spell, now broken, ceased draining his power.

Star Watcher, realising the spell had broken off, immediately rushed back to Dark Claw's horn to drain more power. Dark Claw's next swing was towards Star Watcher came horizontally, so as to prevent Star Watcher from dodging. Twilight teleported to safety when it neared her, heart pounding as she watched her friend racing to resume the spell!

With a quick burst of energy, Star Watcher jumped over Dark Claw's leg, which came crashing down... onto Dark Claw's own horn. With a splintering crack, the great horn broke in two.

Dark Claw screamed in anguish, a spasm of pain ratcheting through his head down to his hooves. He began shrinking rapidly, as the stored emotional energy was released into the nearby area.

Twilight dove in and grabbed Star Watcher, transporting them both to the relative safety of the ground, where they watched in awe, the release so concentrated that the leak was visible to unaided eyes. It filled the air with a veritable spectrum of colours, all shimmering and swimming in and out of each other. The other ponies looked over, feeling their hearts lightening as they watched the display.

Finally, Dark Claw finished shrinking to the size of an ordinary Changeling, sobbing and pawing at his broken horn.

"I was right." Bugze said gravely, surprising Twilight and Star Watcher.

"About what?" Twilight asked curiously.

"He was a three-stage boss fight!"

Twilight and Star Watcher facehoofed simultaneously, accompanied by Bugze's whooping laughter.

"WE DID IT!" Pinkie whooped suddenly, a delighted laugh breaking through her tiredness, like sunshine through clouds!

"Awesome as we wanna be!î"Rainbow hugged Fluttershy as the shy Pegasus let out a slightly louder then normal "Yay!".

"Kickin'... flank, and takin'... names..." Applejack wheezed to Rarity, who nodded then flopped back onto the ground with a great big sigh of relief, declaring she was "Exhausted, darlings!".

Luna, her body seeming to be one giant ache, forced herself to open her eyes, the memory of the battle rushing back. Celestia-?

She realised she was lying on a bed, and somepony was there with her. It was Celestia, breathing steadily, in a deep magical sleep. Luna gave a great sob of relief and nuzzled her sisters nose, whispering that she was right here.

"The battle..." a weak voice spoke up. Lifting her head she seen a guard, wings hanging limply to the ground, their feathers clogged in dust, pulling himself to a sitting position by the end of the bed. She realised he must have saved her, as the last she recalled was falling towards the ground, then nothing.

"Is it over..?" Luna asked, he nodded.

"That thing...is gone..." he announced, gathering his strength to salute her, which meant he lost balance and toppled over.

"We will see to it you get the biggest promotion we can offer, for protecting us!" Luna declared, then blacked out once more. The guard nodded weakly, looking over at where Twilight and the others stood...

Author's Note

I hope the fight was epic enough. I really tried here... Really hope you guys like! I hope it was worth the wait as well. My original fight scene kind of fell flat, but with a bit of work, and a bit of Magic (The kind that comes from friends, in this case from Pixel_Spark) I think (hope) that this chapter met- and exceeded- expectations.

Additional help prereading from Flecdorbee

Next chapter: The Epilogue. Probably.

Epilogue

Star Watcher smiled happily as he oversaw the construction of the city of Changelings, which had quickly gone from a hooffull of tents to several small buildings, and was rapidly growing still larger. While Silent Whisper remained the leader of the Changeling race, Star Watcher had been placed in charge of the new city that was being created, as the first true 'city' in the Changeling Empire. Located exactly where the battle against Dark Claw had been only a few weeks ago, the Changelings had quickly put up a few tents and began construction. A few groups of ponies had arrived as well, intending on living in the new city, and more had come every day. Between Star Watcher's advice and the love Dark Claw had released, the Changelings had very quickly returned from a state of starvation to normalcy, and were even doing better than before. Already, Changeling businesses both legal and... less than so, were booming. Several Changelings had taken an interest to politics, (which Star Watcher just could not understand), and had already improved Changeling-Pony relations massively, some as Changeling politicians and some disguised as 'Pony' politicians. Changeling artists and actors were already becoming known through at least some cities of Equestria, and were quickly gaining in popularity. Changeling actors were in especially high demand, with their disguising magic allowing for a perfect depiction of any pony without the use of expensive cosmetics. Shady Dark's work as the Pony Changeling Relations Manager had boomed after Dark Claw's imprisonment, and very quickly he found himself overwhelmed with optimistic Changelings looking for work. Within the first week, he had needed to hire a small office of workers. By the second, he had become the head of a large and widespread organization. After Blueblood's example, however, they faced fewer difficulties than they had expected, and thankfully, few cases required as personal of an intervention as Goldy had.

Star Watcher's gaze drifted to the clock, noticing the time approach midday. He waited a few more minutes before calling a halt for lunch break. He trotted off quickly, grinning as he entered one of the first-built buildings: the school.

"There you are, Star Watcher," Twilight smiled. "It's time to continue our next lesson. Do you have enough energy?"

"I've always got plenty these days," Star Watcher chuckled. "Between you, Princess Celestia, and all of the happy ponies around, there's never a time when I don't have enough."

"That's good, because today we're moving on to spells that require a larger magical capacity than you had before becoming a Changeling."

Star Watcher's simle widened. This was exactly what he wanted. Everything he'd dreamed of and more.

Shady Dark sighed. As rewarding as his work was, it was equally tiring. For every Changeling he helped to find suitable work for, it seemed that several more filled their place. A virtual mountain of paperwork sat on his desk, meaning that it was probably time to hire a new layer of secretaries to deal with the influx. Although his business was the fastest growing in all of Equestria, he predicted business to slow down once the initial population of Changelings finished integrating with Equestria. He looked forward to that day. On that day, he'd surely be able to retire happy.

"Counselor Dark, another important case for you," a secretary said as they passed by his office. "Necessary information is in the usual area."

Shady Dark groaned once again, his head hitting the table with a distinct 'thunk'. He hoped this one was as easily resolved as some of the other cases he'd already dealt with.

Celestia smiled. The CPRM was only the first step in her goal of eventually eliminating all racism from Equestria. Once the Changelings had finished integrating, she could repurpose the already-made company to stop racism against Zebras, Griffons, and all of the other grossly mistreated races in Equestria. Hopefully, eventually, her dream of a utopian society could be fulfilled. She just hoped Shady Dark could live up to her grand plans for the future.

Luna frowned as she swooped through the dreams in the night. As she had promised, the guard who had steadfastly stood protecting both Princesses during Dark Claw's attack had been raised to the head of her personal guard, for his bravery in the face of danger. All that was left now, was to attempt to repair the damages done to those who had been injured by Dark Claw. The physical side had been mostly handled by the prestigious Medical centers in Canterlot, all expenses paid by the Crown, but the mental injuries remained. As Guardian of the Night, it was Luna's sworn duty to protect her little ponies from their own mental demons, helping them overcome the fears brought on by Dark Claw's attack.

In addition, Luna planned to step the Military up a notch, in hopes that next time a similarly dangerous event occurred, the Royal Guard could handle it on their own. A wing of Changeling guards, which Luna had been planning to introduce, would do wonders for reconnoissance missions and intelligence-gathering operations, in addition to being fearsome fighters with the ability to shape their own body parts into weapons. Her sister may be an idealistic long-term planner, but Luna always worked to make sure that the 'now' was safe from all dangers.

Bugze grinned, wielding a can of WD-40 in one hoof and a roll of Duct Tape in the other. For the the past week or so, he'd found himself a nice job fixing anything that broke, or creating new devices out of junk to solve a problem in a nice, out-of-the-way town called Appleoosa. He lived relatively close to the new Changeling city, which he visited on the weekends to check up on Star Watcher, and teach him more about Changeling society.

Dark Claw growled. There was nothing to do in this accursed prison. He pawed at the broken fragment of the horn stuck on his head. The only reason he was still alive was because Princess Celestia had required his survival and imprisonment in Tartarus as a condition of the alliance with the Changelings. If there was one thing Celestia would never do, it was to kill an intelligent being, even an evil one.

At least Celestia was stupid enough to get the Changelings to feed me enough love to survive on.

Dark Claw smirked. He was subtly directing part of the love he was receiving for his survival into repairing his broken horn.

One day... I'll be free. And when that happens... Nopony will be able to stop me.

Author's Note

Well, I hope this wraps up everything.

Sequel: Drafting in progress
Side Story: Possibility

There's just so many places I could go from here. Before I start publishing anything else though, I've learned one important thing: DO NOT WRITE TOO MANY STORIES SIMULTANEOUSLY. It doesn't end well, and updates get spread too far apart. So, before I start the sequel or side story (if I ever do) I'm going to close up some of my other stories. If you specifically want a specific Sequel or Side Story, be sure to mention it in the comments or PM me! If a specific idea gets enough love, either from readers or from me personally, I'll most likely write the story.

April Fools Chapter

Star Watcher groaned, stretching after his magic lesson with Twilight. "You know, it may have only been a few hours, but that felt like... I don't know, 22 months or something."

Twilight merely chuckled in response. "Same time next week?"

"How about the next time I feel up for it? Like, in a week or two, once I've finished the other things I have to do?"

"If you keep telling yourself that, you'll never come back!" Twilight rolled her eyes.

Pinkie unexpectedly burst into the room, "I know, right! Then he'd be just as bad as the Author."

Everypony stopped and stared strangely at Pinkie for a moment.

"I thought we weren't supposed to break the fourth wall in this story?" Twilight asked confusedly, before using her magic to withdraw a scroll titled 'Script'.

"Yes, but this time it's an April Fools chapter so I can do whatever I want!" Pinkie grinned, bouncing.

"CUT!" A pony shouted from offscreen. "What was that?! We're going to have to do that whole take all over again. This would be so much easier if you all would just follow your scripts. This is supposed to be a historical peace on the introduction of Changelings to Pony society, not... Whatever this circus-act is!"

"Well, it's not my fault that Pinkie keeps replacing my lines with her own improvisational touches," Star Watcher muttered. "It feels like she's trying to make references to things that don't exist, and she's the only one who gets them!"

Pinkie giggled happily.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is, it just matters that we finish this production! I don't know how long we've been working on this, but we still haven't even finished our first segment!"

Princess Celestia dropped in rather suddenly behind him. "It's quite alright. I wasn't expecting much from this production, anyway." Celestia :trollestia:'d.

"Ooh, are we doing that now?" Pinkie :pinkiehappy:'d. "But wait, I have so many? How can I possibly use them all? Oh! I've got it!" Pinkie :pinkiegasp:'d "I'll just have to make all of the faces!" she :pinkiecrazy:'d. ":pinkiesad2: in advance, everypony. Wow, doing this so much makes me feel :pinkiesick:"

"What... are you doing? Are you alright?" Twilight asked, a little bit scared. "Or should I just not ask?"

"Thanks for the concern :pinkiesmile: But I'll be fine. I just needed to do that one! Now this story can really be :moustache:"

"Uh..." Spike said, confused. "I thought that one was mine?"

"Sorry, Spike. I just needed to borrow it! You can have it back now," Pinkie grinned.

Bugze burst through the door, coolaid-man-style. "Why don't Changelings have any? Come on, we need them! They're awesome!"

Luna arrived through the top floor, destroying it in the process. "Why doth not one with us exist?!?! We deserve to be respected!"

"Uh, I'm just going to back away now..." Star Watcher whispered, edging away.

Star Watcher sprinted away as fast as he could, not understanding what could have possibly happened. Since when was a production happening? What was everypony doing and talking about? It just made no sense at all. With a start, Star Watcher realized he had accidentally sprinted straight off of Ghastly Gorge, and was running on thin air! As he started to fall, Star Watcher closed his eyes in fear as the ground approached quickly.

Star Watcher awoke with a start.

"Owwwwww," he groaned. "What even...?"

He looked to his right at where he'd put his plate down after eating last night, and stared. The half-eaten casserole stared back.

"Twilight warned me about the casserole... I knew I should have listened," Star Watcher sighed, collapsing back into bed.

The casserole collapsed back onto its plate.

Author's Note

Happy April Fools, guys! Dropping by to remind you that I'm still trying to write this sequel... But I still can't give a release date. :ajbemused: I know it's been ~~ten~~ What? That chapter update says 2015? Twenty Two whole months since I finished this story, but it's really not easy writing the sequel, especially because I really want it to be longer and more in depth than this story was. Here, we jumped from plot point to plot point; I want to see if I can slow down the action a bit without just adding pure filler.

And another thing- I intend on adding an extra few paragraphs at the beginning of the first chapter with a more detailed version of the Celestia-Star Watcher scene mentioned in the final battle; because in hindsight, it would have been a heck of a lot better and made more sense for the story as a whole if I did that. I'll release a blog post when that's ready.

But anyway, have fun! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Transformation

Scootaloo walked swiftly and silently, secretly following the pony in front of her. She had just heard that pony hum a familiar tune, one that Rose had taught her only yesterday. Scootaloo had found a Changeling. Soon they were in a dark ally between slightly damaged houses, and Scootaloo made her move.

"Hello, Changeling." Scootaloo said. The pony in front of her stiffened in shock, before stopping and turning around. "I know what you are. I have learned the basics of Changelings, and wish to become one."

"Why?" the Changeling asked softly.

"Many reasons. I have a deformity in my wings that makes me unable to fly, which I could fix as a Changeling. I want to see what it is like to be an Earth Pony or a Unicorn, even if I don't want to be one all the time. I am an orphan adopted by Rainbow Dash, but before I was adopted I was starving on the streets. Everypony cares for orphans, if I was a Changeling I wouldn't ever have to starve again. I currently have a source of emotion from my friends, who would accept me even if I was a Changeling."

"Then I wish you luck. You will be the first pony to willingly become a Changeling. Follow me, and I will take you to a place where I will make you one of us."

"Thank you, but I was wondering... What is your name?"

The Changeling smiled, fangs flashing in the dim light of the morning. "My name is Silent Whisper, but my disguise is Tulip Bulb."

Queen Phantasma panted as she ran. She wasn't used to running, especially not long distances. Behind her was a Changeling that had once been her own, now chasing her down. Spells whizzed by her head, and Phantasma felt rage build up at the needless waste of energy that could have been used to save lives. The Changeling chasing her was the traitor, the one who stole love from the Hive. Thanks to the traitor, several Changelings died of starvation, and now the Queen herself would die. Running around the corner, Queen Phantasma stopped to catch her breath. She knew what she had to do. Closing her eyes, Phantasma sent out a message to the Hive.

The Traitor has struck again. I am about to die, the only thing I can do is relinquish the position as leader of the Hive to the next in line. Silent Whisper, you are now the King of the Changelings. The Hive has been lost, do not return.

That was all Phantasma had time for. The Traitor had caught up. Phantasma felt her form shrink as her power as Queen left her, and looked down to see claws tear her own body apart. She gave a last, shuddering breath, and died. A smile lay frozen on her face, she had protected the Hive to her last breath. The Traitor gave a snort, angry that he hadn't been able to kill the Queen before she gave her power away. He sucked the last emotional energy she had out of her body, the feelings of happiness and pride that she had impeded him, before turning and walking away.

Rose woke up to the sound of the Queen Phantasma talking over the Hive Mind, and shuddered. That love-sucking monster had stolen more love and killed the Queen! Listening to the rest of it, Rose shot up in bed. Silent Whisper was the new King? That was unexpected. Twilight walked into the room, smiling happily.

"I see you're already awake. Ready for today's magic lessons?"

Rose smiled back. "Yes! What do we have today?"

"Today I'm going to teach you how to make a basic shield, then go on to show you different types of shields that have different abilities. Come on, let's have breakfast."

Rose walked downstairs, already forgetting the bad news from earlier as she prepared to learn.

Silent Whisper smiled. This pony willingly agreed to become a Changeling! Her smile turned to a frown as he remembered the pony's words. 'I have learned the basics of Changelings' meant that one of the Changelings had shared important information with ponies! His frown deepened as he received the Queen's broadcast. This changed his priorities, he had to find a new location for a Changeling Hive. In addition, a new character change was in order. Now that he was King, the Changeling messengers would all report to him, he needed to be a pony everypony should know to not look suspicious when so many ponies visited him. For now, he decided to take a nap and wait for the pony to be fully transformed into a Changeling. With a chuckle, Silent Whisper realized he hadn't even gotten the pony's name.

Scootaloo woke up inside the green cocoon Silent Whisper had told her would turn her into a Changeling. She looked outside the translucent fibers and saw Silent Whisper himself, this time in Changeling form. It looked like he was waking. Scootaloo felt the fibers of the cocoon, and noticed that they seemed to break at her touch. She gave it a kick, and it burst open. Scootaloo looked down at herself, taking in the black carapace, noticing that the patterns of holes in her body were different than Silent Whisper's. Noticing that Whisper was fully awake, she decided to ask.

"Why do we have different patterns of holes in out bodies?"

"It's part of how Changelings tell each other apart. I guess your information about us wasn't complete. Who did you get it from?"

"Rose Bloom. She met us earlier."

Silent Whisper had a sudden shock when he remembered her. "You're Scootaloo, right?"

"Yeah. How did you know my name?"

"I was Petal Blossom. Rose's 'mother'. Why did she tell you about us?"

Scootaloo looked sheepish. "I accidentally hit her with my cart, her horn broke and her form reverted to a Changeling."

"You WHAT?!"

Scootaloo lowered her head and scuffed the dirt with one hoof. "It was an accident! I apologized anyway."

Silent Whisper sighed and shook her head. "It is what it is. We can't change that now. While you were in the cocoon, the old Queen of the Changelings died. Before she perished, she gave the last of her power to me. I am the Changeling King now."

Scootaloo's eyes widened. "What does the Changeling King do?"

"The ruler of the Changelings, whether it is a King or Queen, commands all of the Changelings. The King or Queen is more powerful than other Changelings, and can use the Hive Mind. If a King or Queen is killed by another Changeling, that Changeling becomes the new King or Queen. Alternately, a King or Queen can give their powers freely to another Changeling. The previous Queen didn't want the Changeling who killed her to become the new ruler so she gave me the power."

"Who killed the Queen?"

"A rogue Changeling who betrayed the Hive and stole love. The Hive is now destroyed, and there is no love left in the stores."

"Are you in danger, then? If the rogue Changeling wants to become the new ruler?"

Whisper frowned grimly. "I believe so. I cannot let my location be known."

"But then how can you rule if none of your subjects know where you are?"

Whisper's frown deepened. "Therein lies the problem. I need a way to remain hidden, yet still communicate with the rest of the Hive."

Scootaloo smiled enthusiastically. "Oh! I know! If you have a few trusted Changelings communicate with you, they can keep your secret hiding place secret while you rule through them!"

Whisper's eyes widened in surprise. "That's genius! How did you think of that?"

Scootaloo blushed modestly. "I thought of it a while ago, when me and my friends were doing Cutie Mark Crusaders Crime Lords! You see, we were running an underground smuggling ring, but then the Royal Guards were trying to find us so we had only our most trusted underlings communicate with us and the rest would obey them." Scootaloo frowned. "Then our most trusted underlings were captured and imprisoned by the guards, so we had to abandon the whole project." Scootaloo's frown morphed into a grin. "We still made tons of bits, even though we had to hide them so nopony would ask us about where we got them."

Whisper just stared at her. Becoming a Crime Lord as a filly? And getting away with it? I'm glad she's on the Changelings' side now. "Uh, anyway, thanks for the suggestion. I can't really take care of you for now though, so you should probably just stay as the pony you were before you became a Changeling. If you have any questions, ask Rose. She'll be able to answer some of your questions, and the ones she can't both of you can learn from Bugze. Bugze is the Changeling in charge of teaching Rose, he can teach you also. Just tell Rose next time you see her. Goodnight."

With that final word, Silent Whisper vanished to prepare for the upcoming Changeling War.

Author's Note

The Cutie Mark Crusaders' crusading hasn't always been legal... I'm considering writing a story about the Cutie Mark Crusaders Crime Lords.