The true story.... Of Little Cloud.

The young changeling was driven far, past so many landmarks, even past cities and towns. The hive had driven him so far away, that in his panic for surviving the swarm, he literally did not know which way he was headed 90% of the time. No doubt away from the hive, but that was not what was on his mind.

Even in their chase, the entire swarm was horrifyingly deceptive. No pony ever noticed the swarm,  even as they moved by the flock around city and town. While they stayed hidden themselves, were able to surround the youngling at every opportune moment,keeping him on the run at all times.

They allowed him neither pause nor rest. Changelings needed not to sleep, unless it was to hibernate and conserve energy. Clearly not a priority that was permitted to the youngling.

They 'travelled' for five days straight, until the swarm knew the youngling wouldn't  stop on his own. He knew that the hive would always whip him on his way anytime he attempted to stop. However once this was the case, they didn't need to return to him every night. It was time to return to the hive, knowing the youngling would keep running for a while before even thinking of stopping.

・・・(and now we *finally* get to our main characters Point of view! )・・・

He ran.... And he ran.... No stopping... Just running. He didn't keep track of how long it had been. He was driven from his home, and he was pursued, and still was, as far as he knew. His wings ached badly, and yet he still had to go on. If he stopped, they would hurt him more than they already had.  He had to keep moving, ignoring his pain.

It was only on... The seventh day?.... That he noticed there was no trace of the swarm.  Perhaps he was well hidden in the forest he was located in. Realizing his exhaustion, he stopped and spread out on the ground, hoping not to be found by the swarm. He stayed still, and waited, expecting a number of drones to rise from the shadows and drive him forward.

He stared into the darkness of the forest, watching for any movement. Nothing came out to attack him.  He continued to stare for another hour, until he was convinced he was safe, and that the chase was over. The youngling sighed, in both relief and exhaustion. He was finally safe from the swarm.

Of course, other problems still arose, and he knew it as soon as he felt the subtle pain of hunger in his stomach. It would only get worse as time went on, but for now, he had time before it would overwhelm him.  Until then, his concern was to find a source to feed from, as well as learn his whereabouts.

Easier said than done. There was no indication of where he was. From what he knew, ponies had always set up signs saying where a path led, or what a city or landmark was called. Speaking of locations.... He had to find a city or town, and blend in, he realized. It would provide a source, a place where he could get his food. No longer being a part of the hive meant it was in his best interests to settle in a single town and live as normally as possible.

He pondered the thought in his head, only to remember where he was.  He needed to get out of the forest first. Even though it was dark in the forest, it would get darker as night came. He wasn't attacked by animals  to this point because of the swarm lurking in the shadows themselves, their numbers invoking fear.  Being chased by the swarm actually protected the youngling from predator attack, No matter how undesirable their company was.

He was alone now, and he knew that by nightfall he would be hunted by the monsters living in the forest. He had to move quickly, and at least get as close to the exit as possible before then.  He got up from his sprawled position, no longer tired, and chose to keep moving, an at a steady pace in the same direction he had been fleeing for the last week. At this point, he could figure out where he was once he exited, without looking back to see blue eyes glowing, warning him not to pause, even just to read.

It was time to keep moving.

Not for long after he started moving again, he heard voices. Young voices... That were coming towards him! He quickly jumped up and waited for the sources of the voices to show themselves

As they came into view, he saw that they belonged to  two young foals walking around the forest. One was an earth pony filly with a purple coat and a darker purple mane. The other was a brown pegasi colt with a dark grey mane.

'What are they doing here?', the young changeling wondered. 'Do ponies have a settlement somewhere in this forest?'

He quickly concluded that to be no. If they lived here , they would know the dangers of being alone in the forest. They weren't supposed to be here...

"Did you hear something, Sweet Rain?"   The colt said, looking around.

The young changelings eyes grew wide. Had he been heard? Was he discovered? He sat still, hoping not to cause any more noise then he possibly had....

Suddenly, an adult, white mare with a violet mane, styled into a bun, emerged from the shadows in the same direction as the foals did. Both of the foals turned around in surprise, and the filly lowered her stature in a mixture of fear and embarrassment.

The mare stopped In front of the foals, and looked at them angrily.... Yet the primary feeling coming off of her was relief.

"Sweet Rain, and Swift Wind, I've been looking all over for you two! You didn't come home after school, and you weren't by Sugarcube Corner, either!" She said, and at this point, the colt also took the same posture as his friend.

"This is, what? The fourth time you've run off into the Everfree Forest together?!  I want you to turn your flanks around and get back home! Now!" She ordered, and once they turned around and sulked away, the mare followed them.

So the Everfree Forest..., the young changeling thought, now knowing where he was. He was also pleased that he was right in continuing to move forward. With that thought, he continued forward, but carefully, with the possibilty there would be more ponies nearby.

As he approached the edge of the forest, he saw the town. Now was as good as a time as any to take the form of a pony... He just wanted to go for something simple. All changeling magic was green no matter what form they chose.. So a unicorn would be a bad idea.... He didn't want to be an earth pony, due to them being so limited. There were at least 10 NAMABLE reasons  as to why he couldn't keep both his wings and horn. That left one option. A Pegasus pony.

He thought back to the way the mare dealt with the foals. Nothing severe, they were actually sent home as a punishment. The changeling assumed that foals were treated lighter than grown ponies, so if he wanted to blend in, it would be easy for him to maintain his size upon transformation, and pass himself off for a young pony, which in terms of age he truly was.

The best disguise is the one that is not a disguise.

He finished thinking of his disguise. He lit up his horn, and in a flash of green fire, he was no longer a changeling.

In its place stood a young, pegasi colt with an Orange Coat and a Red mane.

The young colt inspected himself, looking at his new form. All this colt now needed was a name. He thought back to pony naming patterns. He had to create his own identity.... He was a Pegasi, so an appropriate name could be......

'Cloud'..... No. It needed a second word to be more believable..... Cloud Rain?..... Little...

Yes! Little... Cloud! Little Cloud!

So now he had a name.... In fact, his only name, the only one he'd ever had... He wasn't even assigned a number the way a drone would have been...... So this was Little Cloud, the Pegasus, as well as Little Cloud, the changeling.

Yes. This was the story... Of Little Cloud.

End of Prologue. The story begins.