Chapter 2

"I think he's waking up," the purple blur said in a deep distorted voice.

A few more colorful blurs came into the changeling's view as he looked up from his comfortable position. He smiled a little with his eyes only half open. He liked pretty colors. Pretty colors were always a good thing, even if they did have funny voices.

"Why is he smiling?" the white and blue blur asked.

"Probably the drugs," the purple one offered as an answer.

"Something tells me he wont be so happy when he sees what we did to his leg."

"It had to be done. There was no other option."

A third blurry figure came into view. It was yellow and pink, but it remained quiet. He didn't know how, but he could feel it staring at him. He sensed the flavor of concern coming from it. That was nice. Nice to see that something was concerned about his well-being. The other blurs didn't seem to share this feeling. The worry was there, but it was different. It was more of a cautious kind of worry. That was alright though. There was nothing to be worried about. Pretty colors always meant things were okay.

The changeling turned his head to the side to see yet another blur. It wasn't as colorful as the others, but it seemed more familiar somehow. It was black with a slight amount of blue on it. He liked this blur the most of all. He didn't know why. He just felt like he shared some kind of connection with it. He offered another weary smile.

He wanted to watch the pretty blurs shift and move around some more, but he felt way too tired. So very, very tired. He closed his eyes and relaxed back into the soft, but surprisingly firm cloud under him. Soft things were nice. He liked soft things.

Just as quick as the changeling had woken up, he found himself drifting back into sleep. He could play with the pretty colors later. For now, he just wanted to rest.

The changeling opened his eyes again and found himself staring at a wooden ceiling. That was strange. Usually you would expect a jail cell to have a concrete ceiling. And what was this he was covered with? A blanket. Upon further inspection of his surroundings, he found that he was also lying on a couch. The room he was in wasn't a jail cell at all. This looked like somepony's home.

He tried to sit up, but pain shot through his body as he tried to do this causing him to moan slightly. He gave up and sank back into the couch, but not before removing the blanket to take a look at himself. He fully expected to see injuries, but instead he saw that he was covered in bandages and gauze. Why had somepony helped him? Who's house was he in? Why hadn't he been hauled off to a prison for interrogation? He had just been captured by ponies after all. Right? He looked himself over some more. Everything seemed fine, except for one major detail. His eyes widened as a realization shook him to his core.

Switchback was a changeling, Ponyville's only changeling. He had been living in the small town for about two years before Pinkie Pie actually convinced him, as unlikely as it sounds, to go out and try to make friends. He never did figure out how she knew he wasn't a pony even though he always kept a disguise on and rarely left his house. It didn't matter to him though. She was a good friend and never told anypony about him.

It had now been a year since he revealed himself at Matilda and Cranky's wedding with the help of Pinkie Pie. It went a lot better than he expected. Even the princesses themselves accepted him for who he was and not what he was, which was incredible to him. He'd never forget that night.

The only problem was that being a changeling could sometimes attract unwanted attention. It also meant that he didn't really get along with Shining Armor, naturally. Shining scared him half to death so he was glad that he wasn't currently here.

Right now, Switchback was in Fluttershy's kitchen, helping her put up the last of the medicines that they had used on the injured changeling that now lied in the living room. Most of his injuries were cuts and gashes that tore through his exoskeleton, except for his left hoof, which was nearly torn off when Twilight and Armor had found him in the woods. Unfortunately, there was no way that they could repair it and they were forced to amputate, a process that nearly made Switchback lose his lunch all over Fluttershy's floor.

He had just finished putting a box of bandages in a shelf when a loud thud came from the living room. This could only mean one thing. Fluttershy tried to make her way to the doorway that connected to the room that the changeling was in, but Switchback held her back with a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

"Hold up, Flutters," Switchback said, stopping her before she could go any further. "I think I should go in first. I can let him know what's going on so he doesn't freak out when her sees you."

"Oh, good thinking. I would hate to startle him after all he's been through."

There was a yelp of terror that caught both of their attention.

"I'll call when I think he's ready," Switchback informed, taking off into the living room.

The other changeling was breathing heavily, looking at where his left hoof should have been in horror. He didn't even notice Switchback rush in. "Wha wha, ah?!?" He was so panicked that he couldn't make words between his short exasperated breaths.

Switchback approached slowly, careful not to catch him too much by surprise. When the other changeling did notice him though, he desperately tried to back away, still struggling to catch his breath. "Get away," he managed to choke out.

"Easy," Switchback said calmly. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm a changeling like you, see?" He quickly changed into his unicorn form that he used before the wedding a year ago and then changed back. "Take a deep breath and try to relax."

The other changeling tried to do as he was instructed. He could barely do anything. His lungs burned and his chest ached from the several covered up gashes that caused his bandages to be stained blue. Switchback tried to take a few steps toward him, but he held out his stub. "Stay ri-right ther-re." Not seeing his hoof in front of him as he extended what was left of his leg only served to remind him of what was happening to him.

Switchback sat down where he was. The best thing he could do was not make any sudden movements. This changeling was already jumpy and if he tried to do something he could only hurt himself worse. "You're going to be fine," he assured.

The injured changeling began to calm down as he concluded that whoever this was in front of him, wasn't a threat, surprisingly enough. "Where are we?" he asked as he tried to relax back into the sofa he was laying on. "What happened to the ponies? Did you manage to get rid of them?"

"What do you mean?"

The changeling held a hoof to his head, suppressing the migraine that pulsed into his brain as he tried to remember what had happened. "There were two ponies in the woods. They tried to help me, but why? Why would they do that?"

"It's a long story," Switchback explained. "The short version is that I've been living among them without a disguise and as it turns out, they're not as bad as Chrysalis had us believe."

"But how?" the changeling questioned. "They just accepted you? That cant be right?" He thought for a second. "This is some kind of trick isn't it?"

"No, really it's not," Switchback assured. "One of the friends I've made is here right now. Her name is Fluttershy and I promise she wont hurt you." He looked back and motioned for Fluttershy, who had been peeking in the doorway, to enter.

Fluttershy entered slowly, not wanting to scare the changeling with her presence.

The changeling tensed up, causing his muscles to ache. He wanted to get up, back away and keep his distance from the pegasus mare, but his injuries prevented this. All he could do was watch as she walked towards him. As he did though, he noticed something. He could sense something in the mare, but it wasn't any kind of hostility. She practically radiated with a sort of kindness and compassion that he hadn't felt sense he was very young.

"Fluttershy's the one who helped treat your wounds," Switchback explained.

"Um... hi," Fluttershy said nervously, not sure how to introduce herself. She sat down on the floor next to Switchback, only a foot away from the one they had rescued.

He didn't offer a reply. Instead, he just laid there, motionless, with his eyes fixed on the winged pony. To think that his race had once been convinced that the only way to survive was through the conquering of hers. Maybe Chrysalis was wrong. He felt like he could trust this Fluttershy, which felt good. Being able to trust somepony for the first time in months was refreshing and made him feel like he wasn't alone. And it wasn't like Chrysalis was still alive to prevent him from doing so. He held out his remaining hoof cautiously after a few moments of silence.

Fluttershy smiled and returned the gesture. This was good. They were actually getting somewhere.

"Spike!" Twilight called out as she walked through the large crystal halls of her not-so-humble home. "Spike! Where are you?!" she called out again. Her voice echoed through the castle.

Before the echo could stop, one of the large doors within the hallway opened and Twilight's number one assistant slipped out to greet her before quickly shutting the door behind him. "Hey Twilight," Spike said nervously. "Um... you're back early. I thought you were going out to lunch with Cadence and Shining Armor." There was a loud crashing noise behind him.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Uh... what was that?"

"Nothing," Spike shot back, obviously trying to hide something.

Twilight dismissed the disturbance. Whatever kind of trouble Spike was getting into could wait. There were more important things to take care of. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. She couldn't help but be concerned about what was possibly being damaged behind the door. She shooed the thought away. "I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia. It's urgent."

"Yeah sure. I can do that," Spike said, all too eager to change the subject. After catching a levitated scroll in his claws, he held it up and blew out fire to send it on its way. "Anything else?" There was another crash that made him jump.

Twilight couldn't ignore this any longer. "What's going on in there?"

Before Spike could come up with something to say to hide the fact that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were... well, crusading, he belched loudly. Green fire shot forward and a scroll materialized in the air. Twilight quickly caught the scroll and began to read.

"What's it say?" Spike asked.

Twilight took a second to finish reading before answering her friend. "Princess Celestia wants me to come to Canterlot for diplomatic matters of some sort."

"Diplomatic matters? What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but she wants Switchback to come along as well, so I have a few ideas of what this might be leading to." Twilight stopped for a moment to collect her thoughts. "I should start packing. Who knows how long I might have to stay. Do you think you could watch over the castle while I'm gone?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem." Another crash sounded from behind the door. Spike gave an innocent smile. "I should probably go take care of that." He disappeared behind the door.

Instead of heading to her bedroom to start packing, Twilight started for the front door. She needed to get Switchback and tell him about what was going on first. She would also need to let Shining Armor and Cadence know that their visit would be cut short.

Twilight reached Fluttershy's cottage and knocked on the door. After only a few seconds of waiting, the yellow pegasus opened the door and welcomed her in. Almost everypony, with the exception of Shining Armor, was sitting in the living room with the changeling who was now awake. He looked a little uncomfortable though, as if he didn't like all these ponies around him.

Cadence was sitting on one of the sofas to the left of the one that the changeling was lying on and Fluttershy took a seat next to her. Switchback was sitting on the floor just in front of his brethren, doing his best to keep him calm.

"Twilight," Fluttershy began. "This is Crawlway. He's from the same hive as Switchback."

"Hello," Twilight said carefully. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight if you'd like."

Crawlway didn't offer any form of reply. He just laid on the couch, staring at where his old hoof used to be. His eyes seemed to be concentrating on something a million miles away, or maybe that was just how changeling's eyes were. It was hard to tell. How in Equestria could this happen to him? Why did it happen? He was going to have to live with this for the rest of his life. Life wasn't fair. Why him?

Every sorrowful thought was shown through Crawlway's expression. He didn't seem to be entirely "in the moment."

"Um... Crawlway?" Fluttershy piped up after a few moments of silence. "Could you please tell us what happened to you? It's very important." It really hurt her heart to see him like this. So broken on both the outside and the inside.

Crawlway looked up at Fluttershy and remained silent for some time before looking over at Twilight and then to Cadence. "You're Princesses?" he said in a slightly shaky voice that brought just a little pain to his chest. "Rulers of Equestria? Alicorns?" He had never seen alicorns before so Cadence and Twilight were quite fascinating to him.

"Yes," Twilight answered. "And we'd all very much like to hear what you have to say."

"Not me!" Shining Armor yelled from the kitchen where he was currently sitting in order to avoid the changelings.

"Just ignore him," Cadence said. "He has some problems." She whispered the last part so Armor wouldn't hear.

Crawlway looked down at his missing hoof and then back at the alicorns before him, then back at his hoof and at the alicorns again. Then he looked at Switchback, who gave a nod that signaled for him to go ahead. He sighed tiredly. "What do you want to know?"

"Can you tell us what happened to you?" Twilight asked. "How did you obtain your injuries?"

Once again, Crawlway looked back at his hoof before finally answering. "Competition over food," he answered. "I've acquired most of my scars over the course of a few months, but after searching for food outside of the hive, I was attacked and left for dead. I don't know how long I wandered before you found me."

"You mean the famine is still happening?!" Switchback shot up from the floor. "How is that possible?"

"No one really knows. Things have just been getting worse and worse," Crawlway explained. "After the invasion failed, Chrysalis's generals began questioning her and chaos ensued." Crawlway coughed, which was painful and nearly caused him to gag. He cleared his throat. There was a lot to say. "Everyone started fighting over what was left of the hive, food, territory, even exits were fought over. Chrysalis wasn't able to control it, and with very little progress made, she died. No doubt by the hooves of those who sought to over throw her."

Everypony was silent. What they had all been told was something that none of them could have ever imagined or expected. How in Equestria could they have been so blind to this? Why didn't Chrysalis try and seek aid? How could this happen?

"I'm... I'm so sorry," Twilight said. She didn't much like Chrysalis, but after everything that had happened in the last year, meeting Switchback, becoming friends with him, having study sessions with him, and learning about his race, she had a slightly different view. To think that an entire nation of sorts could go into utter chaos only to have its only form of stability ripped away. It was all a little overwhelming.

"It's alright," Crawlway assured. "Chrysalis had some extreme methods that were frowned upon by many. There was talk of rebellion long before this damn famine. I guess she paid the price for her arrogance, just not in the way any of us expected."

"What happened after that?" Switchback asked. "That invasion was a while back."

Crawlway sighed. "Do you remember Chrysalis's younger sister?"

Switchback was the only one to nod.

This peaked everypony's curiosity. Even Shining Armor was now standing in the doorway, listening to Crawlway's story. It was just enough for him to feel a little sympathy. Only a little though. He still didn't trust this changeling.

"Chrysalis had a sister?" Cadence asked. "Why have we never heard of her?"

"Yes," Crawlway answered. "Much like your monarch's sister, she is much younger and shares some differing ideas. She's never tried to bring about eternal night though."

"Princess Luna was caught in a trap of her own emotional turmoil," Shining Armor scoffed. "How she felt back then can't be held against her and Equestria has forgiven her for her crimes. You'd do good to remember that."

"Forgive me," Crawlway said. "I meant no offense from this." He didn't know who this stallion was, but he irritated him. He didn't waste anymore time on him though. Instead he turned back to the kind ponies who were actually making him feel welcome.

"Her name is Cicadia, Queen Cicadia now actually. She's the only one with a legitimate claim to the throne, but so far she's only been able to secure a small portion of the hive, the royal palace and the district that surrounds it. All remaining territory is known as the husklands. I was a digger there, but I was sent out to find food when we ran into a shortage of able soldiers. You know the rest."

"Is there anyway we could get in contact with Queen Cicadia?" Twilight asked.

"Last I checked, she was still in the palace, trying to provide leadership for the few who were willing to follow her," Crawlway said. "To get to her though, you would have to traverse the husklands, and ponies like you wouldn't survive there."

"Is that a challenge?" Shining Armor asked, but Crawlway didn't pay him any mind, instead choosing to ignore him.

"Why do you want to talk to Princess... I mean Queen Cicadia?" Switchback asked. He had an idea of where this might be going. One part of him liked it, while the other half was terribly scared of what he thought Twilight was implying.

"I wrote a letter to Princess Celestia, asking what the current status of changeling attacks were." She looked to Crawlway. "I suspected that you may have been a casualty from a second invasion attempt. The princess replied with a letter stating that there had been no reported changeling attacks and asked me to join her in Canterlot as soon as possible. She wants me to bring both you and Switchback along."

Both changelings froze. "Canterlot?" they both asked in unison.

"I don't know if that's such a great idea," Switchback said nervously. "I mean, it is the capital of Equestria and where my kind tried to take over. I think ponies seeing a changeling there would lead to some problems."

"Don't worry about that," Twilight said. "We'll have an armed escort. A chariot will be arriving in the morning."

An armed escort. That particularly caught both their attention. Something big was going to happen and it looked like they were going to be in the center of it.

After a few more minutes of discussion, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadence said their goodbyes and left. They were going to try and continue on with their original plans as best as they could before heading back to the castle and packing for the trip tomorrow. Switchback and Crawlway on the other hoof would be staying at Fluttershy's.

"Fluttershy, do you mind if I stay the night?" Switchback asked. He had already been planning on helping Fluttershy plant her garden for the rest of the day and figured he might as well stay with Crawlway.

"Why of course," Fluttershy answered. "I would love it if you could stay over. It's been forever since anypony's stayed in the guest bedroom and I know a great recipe for pancakes in the morning."

"Thanks Fluttershy."

For the rest of the day, Crawlway rested on the couch, still trying to recover from what had happened to him. The entire time, he couldn't stop staring at his missing hoof. The most unsettling part of it all was the phantom pain that he would experience from time to time. Every so often, he would doze off before jumping back awake in a cold sweat.

If it hadn't been for how kind these ponies were, Crawlway would really be hating life right now. He didn't know how to feel about all of this though. Many times he would ask himself why they couldn't have just let him die and be done with the pain, and at the same time he would ask himself how he could think something like that. He had after all been given a second chance.

When night finally dawned, neither Switchback nor Crawlway could get to sleep. They both lied awake in their beds thinking about the morning, about Canterlot. Switchback was not a part of the invasion so he had never been to Canterlot, therefore he didn't know exactly what he should expect. Crawlway had been to Canterlot though. He was at that invasion and remembered all to well the great defeat that occurred.

They both wondered what the morning would bring. While Crawlway's head was still clouded and hurt, preventing him from thinking clearly enough, Switchback had a single idea and it scared him half to death. If Princess Celestia wanted them to come to Canterlot, then it had something to do with the hive. He was already afraid of returning to the hive after all these years, and Crawlways description of what had happened only served to embed that fear deeper into his mind. He feared that this is exactly what he would be doing. Equestria was going to try to make contact with the hive and they would need a guide.

Switchback wasn't entirely certain whether his idea was correct or not, but he did know one thing. He would find out exactly what was expected of him in the morning.

Author's Note

The name Cicadia is really just the word cicada with an extra "i" at the end. Here is a link to a list of bug related words for anyone who wants to name a changeling character. I found that you can take several words and change them just slightly to make some interesting changeling names. I hope this helps some of you guys in the future.