Filament was falling towards Canterlot. And there was nothing he could do about it.

He smashed into a pile of garbage and heard something break, and felt something sticky cover his stomach and chest. Filament groaned and sniffed the air. Were those...strawberries he smelled? The dazed changeling licked the red substance off his chest and found that it was in fact strawberry jelly and not blood. What a relief.

Filament had to find somewhere to hide before somepony came to investigate the noise. And as luck would have it, there was an open window on the second story of the house adjacent to the changeling.

Perfect, Filament thought as he flew up to the window, finding a bed and a few articles of furniture placed around the room. The only logical place to hide for an extended period of time was under the bed...unless the room belonged to a filly. If that was the case, you were screwed.

Filament climbed through the window and under the bed just in time to hear hoofsteps approaching the room. The door creaked open and a unicorn colt trotted tiredly (but happily) into his bed. But not before checking underneath it for monsters.

The unicorn screamed.

His dad stumbled into the room.

"Papa, there's a monster under my bed!" The colt cried.

The changeling went stiff as a board and stared up at the springs, not daring to breath.

"Mint, what've I told you about the monsters? There are no monsters under your bed!" Mint's dad sighed.

The little unicorn pouted,"Can you check for me? Just in case?" Filament accepted the fact that he was going to get caught. There was no way out of this one.

"Alright, sport. Now, I'll prove to you that there..." His hoof connected with Filament's tail,"...are no...monsters?" Filament yelped as the stallion tugged on his tail, exposing him to the family. The changeling's expression changed from one of surprise to one of horror as he realized what happened. His mouth flapped a few times without making a sound as he tried to say something.

"What were you doing under my son's bed!" The stallion exclaimed.

"N-Nothing! Well, hiding...but that's it! I swear!" Now, Mint's mother arrived at the scene.

"Glide, what's going on here...?" She inquired. Multiple things happened at once.

Mint started to cry. Filament started pleading not to be killed on the spot. And Glide explained what happened. After fifteen seconds of pleading, Filament realized that nopony was watching him. He took this oppurtinuity to sneak back under the bed.

He wasn't the smartest of changelings when it came to hiding and stealth. After three or four more minutes of hiding, the talking stopped and a voice called to the changeling.

"You can come out now, changeling."

"No." He answered flatly.

"And why not? We promise we won't hurt you if you explain how you got into my house."

The changeling in question stuck his head out from under the bed.

"Long or short version?" He asked. Filament hoped they wouldn't say the long version.

"Um...short...but don't leave out any important details. Got it?" The father said. Filament nodded and pulled himself out from under the bed and into his hooves.

"Well...it started a few days ago when I fell asleep during my shift. You see, falling asleep at work normally means a death sentence, but because I had a perfect record before the incident I was granted a less severe punishment: banishment! Then I was promptly catapulted here, landed in a pile of garbage, flew into the window and under your kid's bed." Filament took a deep breath and looked expectantly at the trio of ponies in front of him. They exchanged glances.

Surprisingly, it was the colt who spoke first.

"You were banished because you fell asleep?" He asked, obviously very confused. Filament nodded. The parents regarded the changeling with looks of...a mix of emotions.

"Does this mean you don't have a home to go back to?"Glide asked.

"That's what banishing means."

"Does that mean he gets to stay with us?" The colt said excitedly, looking between his two parents.

"Um..maybe if-" Mint's mother started to say, but stopped once she saw her son show their unexpected visitor around his room.

"I think the descison's been made already." She whispered to her husband, who nodded in response.

Glide cleared his throat,"Well, it seems you'll be staying with us for a while-" he was cut off by a tackle hug from the changeling, who then proceeded to thank them more than was nessecary.

"So do you have a name?" Glide's wife, Frost asked.

"Yeah, Filament. Or Phil. Whichever's more comfortable." The rest of the questions went smoothly enough.

Finally, the hour grew late enough that the filly had fallen asleep on the floor, and Phil was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"Well, it's getting late, and we need to find you a place to sleep. We have a guest room..." Frost said. The changelings shrugged.

"That's better than nothing." He said. to a couch in the next room, where he immediatly collapsed on the cushions and fell asleep.

In their room, the parents discussed the future of the newest addition to their family.

"Do you think he can stay with us? I mean, he is a changeling..." Glide said.

"I don't see why not, he hasn't done anything to harm us, and he doesn't really act like the changelings that invaded. Plus, Mint likes him." Frost countered. Glide shrugged, it wasn't worth it to argue if his wife and son agreed.

"Goodnight, honey."

"Goodnight."

Author's Note

Welp. Here ya go.