Switchback has been living in Ponyville for three years now, with little knowledge of what has been happening back at his home hive. That all changes when a changeling, severely injured from the conflicts that have been taking place, is found wandering aimlessly through the Everfree forest. Believing that the changelings' situation creates an opportunity for peace, Celestia asks Switchback to go back home, not as a returning runaway, but a representative of Equestria who could forge a bridge between their species. Nopony, is prepared for what they will find.

This story is a sequel to Changelings Like Weddings, but reading that story is not necessary to understand this one.