The World is Cruel

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Stolen
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Deceptions
Reunion

Stolen

"I have gathered you all today," the queen spoke clearly, the sound running through the giant room, "for the joy of trusting some new drones of our with their first responsibility."

All eyes were on the queen as she was speaking. All, that is, except for two pairs. "I bet you'll get your responsibility, Kui," one of them whispered, nudging the black figure sitting beside him.

"Shut it, Hux," he smiled at him, "we both know you'll get yours. You'll also be the first drone to ever lose his responsibility in the first five seconds."

"That would be," the changeling Hux willed his body to change shape, transforming into a yellow pegasus with a heavily done up mane, "an academy record."

The two laughed, Hux changing back to his normal body. Many of the changelings around them shushed them to no avail.

"The first responsibility we will be handing out is the nursery carer, which will be given to," the queen pulled out a slip of paper from a large bowl, unfolding it near her face, "Luhen!"

The audience cheered. Getting your responsibility in the Hive was a big step and most appreciated receiving it. That didn't exactly pertain to Hux and Kui. They saw it as a burden and often joked about it. They had survived three years without being drawn, eighteen drawings of the queen not reading off their names.

"The next responsibility will be Hive maintenance, which will be given to," she drew another name from the bowl, "Kui!"

As the audience cheered, Kui looked towards the ground, speaking softly, "shit."

Hux, being the good friend he was, nudged Kui and said, "man, what a great job! I wish I could get that!"

"The next responsibility is the lucky position of Hive chef," she pulled yet another name out of the bowl, "Yut!"

The audience cheered, a slightly rambunctious Yut jumping and waving her legs in the air in enjoyment. She was one of the youngest drones in the Hive and was often annoying.

"Next will be foraging, which goes to," she drew a name, "Hux!"

Hux looked towards the ground as Kui lifted his head up high, nudging Hux and speaking even louder, "congratulations, forager!"

The audience cheered, and Hux looked up and mouthed, "shut up."

Kui laughed and looked back towards the queen, Hux following his example. The raffling went on for a much longer time, the queen giving out many new responsibilities. The audience cheered every time of course, giving praise to the "lucky" drones who received janitor, plumber, and even bathroom cleaner, who didn't look exactly happy with the job she had gotten.

After the queen read off the last few responsibilities, she motioned for the drones to exit. They did as she pleased, most of them giving pats on the back to the drones who had gotten their responsibilities. Hux and Kui stayed near the back of the exiting group, giving them time to talk.

"So, forager huh?" Kui looked at Hux for an answer.

Hux put a smile on his face, retaliating with, "better than maintenance."

Kui nodded and the two sulked out of the room, theirs being the last footsteps to ring throughout the room.

With their new jobs under their belt, the two friends were no longer allowed to sleep in. Kui had to get up early to get all of his equipment on, and Hux had to get up early to consult the head forager which area he was foraging from. So on this day, the first day of their responsibilities, Hux and Kui exited their rooms and headed their own ways, waving to each other as they grew further apart.

Hux made his way through the crowded halls of the Hive, the click clack of hooves on the stone ground making their ears twitch. Hux lived near the top of the Hive next to Kui, which mean't that he had to travel down about thirty floors to reach the main entrance to the Hive. Once he reached his destination, slightly earlier than he needed to, he started talking with Reth, the head forager. Reth was a bulky changeling and his stare could make anyone think twice about something.

"Mornin', Hux. First day of foraging is always a little boring, but trust me," he put on a smile, "it gets better the more you do it."

"Yeah," Hux spoke sarcastically, "gets better."

The two sat in silence for a while, allowing time for the other drones to make their way to the entrance. Once they were all there, Reth pointed to a map of the surrounding Everfree Forest and indicated the points of interest, which were mainly a long ways away from the town the ponies called Ponyville, in order to avoid detection. It took the queen a long while to regain a mighty Hive, and she was still working on the Hive military. The changelings at the moment were not ready for an attack, especially from the six friends.

"Alright," Reth spoke over the murmur of the group, "our main areas for today are near this river to the left and over to the right near this hill. Scouting groups were sent out and they came back with knowledge of some good resources, including food and metal."

"Yes sir," the group responded.

Reth sectioned off the groups for each foraging area. Hux was assigned to the area near the river, so he was mainly going to be getting food. The groups had a few moments of rest before heading out, each lead by one drone to the destination.

When Hux and the rest of his group landed near the river, the sound of flowing water reaching their ears, they were then sectioned off into three groups. One took across the river, the other two groups went either up or downstream. Hux was assigned across the river.

Hux was in a group with four other drones. Lok was the leader of this group, and they had to follow his orders. You never know what will try to kill you in the Everfree. Lok had an injury on his hip from a past foraging mission, where he returned bleeding from a cut, the cut being delivered by a chimera.

The group took across the river, staying low to the ground to avoid being seen by any hostiles. The group made their way both up and downstream, finding plenty of mushrooms, edible plants, and even some rabbits, which they killed. Sure, love was their main food source, but they were able to live off of physical food as well.

"Hux," Lok spoke loudly to make sure he heard, "go forage over there." Lok pointed in a direction even further from the river. He also separated the rest of the group, sending them in several different directions.

Hux made his way Lok indicated, traveling for a while without seeing anything salvageable. All the mushrooms were poisonous and all of the rabbits and deer made their way out of his sight fast enough to avoid being killed. He hated this job already. There was nothing to do but walk and walk and walk and maybe, just maybe, find something to pick up. He started to kick a stone along with him. It was at least some entertainment. He eventually even got bored of that, and instead kicked the stone hard, sending it flying out of the tree tops, sailing for a time before going out of sight.

A click reached his ears. The stone he had kicked had his something, something big. He headed towards the sound, eventually reaching a clearing where, in the center stood a cylindrical building made of varying sizes of stones. Windows wrapped around the structure, and an arch was chiseled into a side as a door. If something built this, then there had to be stuff inside, right? Hux saw that there was nothing else to do, so he trotted inside the cylinder.

Inside, it came to the first floor. It had a high ceiling and torches were lit around the room. There was a chest that sat on the opposite side of the door, and it was shaded by a winding staircase that wrapped along the wall to the ceiling where, supposedly, another room sat. Hux walked over to the chest and opened it.

His eyes grew with excitement. The chest was filled with gold, and a lot of it too. This gold could come in useful in the Hive. He reached his hoof in, the gold entering the holes in his leg. He quickly pulled it out, though, when the sound of chatting reached his ear, he focused and tried to make out words.

"-tia said that there was supposed to be a tower over here that is somehow connected to Star Swirl the Bearded!"

"Yes, Twilight, we were there when she said that."

"Can it, Rainbow. Yer' bein' just as annoyin'."

Hux realized they were heading his way. He had to hide. If they were connected to anypony important and they saw him, he could be done for, him and all of the Hive. He quickly willed his body to change. He disguised himself as a pony he had seen when they were attacking Canterlot. Hopefully they wouldn't get too suspicious.

"Oh my," a new voice spoke, "it looks hideous."

"Well, it has been here for hundreds of years, Rarity. It would be weird if it didn't look a little rough around the edges."

"True, true." The group advanced forward and circled around the tower. "There is an entrance, right?"

"I'm not sure."

"It's right here!" This pony was obviously a very eccentric pony, yelling for finding a hole in a wall.

The group made their way to the entrance and walked in, met with the sight of another pony with a blue coat and an hourglass as her cutiemark. A purple pony spoke, "Minuette! What are you doing here? Don't you live in Canterlot?"

Hux spoke, a new voice exiting his mouth, "y-yeah, I just came for a visit and s-stumbled upon this." Hux forced his mouth into a smile.

"But, darling, why are you in the Everfree? Canterlot is," the white pony with a purple mane pointed away from the tower, "that way, is it not?"

"Yeah, it is." Hux said a little more calmly, knowing they were buying the disguise. "I just felt like going on a trip in the forest."

"Hey, uh, Twilight," a light blue pony asked.

"Yes, Rainbow?"

"I'll, uh, fly back to Canterlot and tell the princess that the tower is here."

"Sure thing."

The pony, supposedly Rainbow, flew off towards the towering city, making a turn out of view.

"Well, Minuette, is there anything here," an orange pony with a hat asked.

"Not really. The chest is empty and upstairs is just a plain room."

"Oh," Twilight said, "okay. Well, catch you back at Ponyville."

The group waved and Hux waved back. The group left the tower and went out of view. He had survived the encounter and hastily removed the disguise. It took a lot of energy for a changeling to cloak like that if all they are going off of is memory. As he removed the disguise, a green vortex enveloping him and then fading away, he heard a voice behind him say, "I had a feeling something was wrong."

Hux quickly turned around to see the one pony, Rainbow, standing on the stairs. "Look, I don't-"

Rainbow called out, "Twilight! It's a changeling!"

The group reentered the tower, supposedly coming from behind the tower. The purple one spoke, "what are you doing here?"

Hux was too much in shock to say anything. He stood there, his lips quivering. What would these ponies do to him?

"Not gonna speak, huh? Rainbow," Twilight motioned, "take him away. We will get the information we need out of him."

Hux spun around to see the one named Rainbow dash over to him, wrapping his wings and legs together with a rope, which was apparently from the room above.

The group prodded him on, taking him to a place where he didn't know what would happen.

The world is cruel, very very cruel.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading!

Options

The group walked along a gravel path covered with a thin layer of leaves in a variety of reds, oranges, and yellows. The leaves crunched under the weight of the ponies, creating a chorus of dry snapping. The leaves above the group rustled in the wind. Hux had a hard time walking as his front legs were tied together, making him walk in more of a limp. After about an hour after leaving the clearing, Hux finally spoke his case.

"Okay, look," he said aloud over the sound of the crunching, "I didn't want any conflict. It was merely a coincidence we met at that... thing."

Twilight, who was walking beside him, looked at him, obviously not believing his remark. "That thing was a tower that is supposedly connected to Star Swirl the Bearded. I bet you queen-"

"I don't even know who that is," he said, turning to meet her eyes.

The group was silent yet again, allowing the crunching and rustling of the leaves to take over. They continued down the path. Hux admired the scenery since this was most likely going to be the last time he would see the beauty of nature. He started to linger, receiving a push from an eager Rainbow.

"Don't dilly dally." Hux turned to look at the prodding pony, meeting her glaring eyes.

"Calm down," he said, "it's not like I'm gonna try and escape."

"That's what I'm worried about. You things are sneaky."

Hux rolled his eyes, returning his attention towards the direction they wandered. Did he have a chance of escape? If he tried to run, he would probably be caught soon enough. He might as well let the ponies lead him along. It didn't take him long to notice the yellow pegasus walking beside him sneaking peeks at him. From what he could tell, she was the most held-back of the group, refraining from speaking when it is almost necessary.

He turned to look at her peeking eyes, "if you have something to say-"

"Shut it, changeling."

Hux looked back at Rainbow again, this time glaring at her. If he was being taken prisoner, then he deserved the right to speak. Turning his head back to Fluttershy's, he said, "if you have something to say, just say it. Don't let these ponies hold you back."

Fluttershy lifted her head up, turning it fully towards Hux. "These ponies are my friends." She looked annoyed.

"You see," Rainbow spoke, "she doesn't want to talk to you."

Fluttershy turned to Rainbow. "I never said that, did I?" She turned to look at Hux. "I feel like we are treating him worse than we should be. If he was going to try and escape, then he would have tried already."

Hux smiled a little and Fluttershy returned the gesture, returning her attention towards the ground. Rainbow rolled her eyes and spoke to Pinkie, who had been looking up towards the tree tops the entire time after they left the tower. "You see anything, Pinkie?"

"Nopey dopey!"

"Me neither. Twilight, we should be in the clear for a while."

"Okay, thanks Rainbow."

The group returned to silence, but only for a moment, as Fluttershy broke the silence by asking, "what is your name?"

Hux immediately thought about giving a fake name, but it's not like it would do him anything good, so he pushed the thought out of his mind. "It's Hux."

Fluttershy pondered the name for a moment and then said, "that's a nice name. Hux." She smiled. "Pretty unique, too."

"Thanks." He looked around at the group surrounding him. "What are your names? I know Rainbow and Twilight, but the rest of you are basically a blank to me. If I am being taken captive, don't you suppose I might as well know your names?"

The white pony in the front of the group looked to Twilight, who gave a small nod. Rarity returned the nod and proceeded to start the name chain. "I'm Rarity."

The pink pony turned her entire body to Hux, forcing her to walk backwards. "My full name is Pinkamina Diane Pie, but my friends call me Pinkie."

Hux nodded, now turning to Fluttershy. She noticed him looking at her, and she took a deep breath in. "I'm... Fluttershy."

Hux smiled. "That's a nice name."

Fluttershy revealed a weak smile before turning her head away from the group to conceal it. Hux then looked to the orange pony walking in front of Twilight. He waited, and waited, and waited, but to no avail.

"And you?"

"Now, listen here," she responded as she looked to meet Hux's eyes looking in her direction, "I ain't got to tell a changelin' like you my name." They stared at each other, eyes neither blinking nor looking away, until the pony broke the line and looked forward again, pulling her hat over her eyes.

"That's Applejack. She kinda has a grudge on your," Twilight pondered for the word, "kind."

"Why? For the attack on Canterlot?"

"Yes! What else would I be holding against y'all?!" Applejack stopped, the group stopping along with her. "You things almost ruined Twilight's life!"

Hux backed away. "Our queen was just trying to get us food."

"Well, I'm guessing you haven't had any love since then?"

"No, but-"

"So why was it so bucking important to get love?! You things seem to be doin' just fine without it!"

Silence overtook the group, all except Hux and Applejack turning to look away from the pair, Rainbow rubbing the back of her neck. "I don't know why she did it," Hux responded, smashing the silence, "but she must have had a good reason."

"What kind of reason?!"

"I don't know..."

She stared at him, eyes blazing with anger. She lowered her head, eyes still pointing at Hux. "This is why I hate you things. Never fess up when ya' did somethin' wrong." She turned back down the path, leaving the group behind. The ponies looked at each other as Hux stared at the slowly fading pony.

The group got started up again, soon catching up with Applejack. They continued in silence, the leaves crunching beneath their hooves and the leaves above rustling in the wind.

Hux sat alone on a hard bed, deep within the basement of a crystal castle. The room was lined with crystal walls with bits jutting out, sharp enough to cut into somepony. The bed he sat on hung out from the wall on a crystal pedestal, covered with a mattress and sheets not even thick enough to block out the light coming from the torch hanging above the door, which was shut and locked. Boy, was he in a predicament.

As he sat there, he had been hearing slivers of conversation from outside the room, the sound coming from the six ponies who had escorted him and another pony that had joined the conversation after his imprisonment. He had considered putting his ear up to the door to try and listen in on the conversation, but had decided against it. Where would eavesdropping get him? Knowing when he was being executed or thrown into the gates of Tartarus?

The sounds stopped outside, and the click of hooves on the stone floor could be heard coming closer to him. It advanced, stopping right outside the door, where the jingle of keys could be heard, followed by the turn of a tumbler and the chain on the door loosened and dropped to the floor. The door opened, pushing the chain inside the room, and Fluttershy walked in.

"They're ready for you, Hux."

"Uh," he responded, "could you close the door for a minute?"

Fluttershy studied him quickly, and then stepped inside and shut the door.

"I just wanted to say thanks for your friendliness back on the way here. You were the only one who didn't give me glaring looks behind my back."

Fluttershy smiled a little. "It's no problem. Thanks for getting me to speak my mind."

Hux nodded and pushed himself off of the bed, stretching after the long sit. The motion was followed by a succession of cracks. He watched as Fluttershy opened the door once more and motioned her hoof to lead him out of the room. She lead him down the hall into a room with seven chairs, one empty, which he assumed was hers. He was surprised that crystal carried sound that well, considering he thought the group was right in the hall outside his room.

The chairs in the room wound around a small circular table halfway, leaving a full half circle just for the "guest of honor." On the table sat many plates topped with treats and cups, each bellowing steam. Twilight sat at the end opposite of Hux. To the right of her was the empty seat belonging to Fluttershy, then Rainbow Dash, proceeded by Rarity. To the left sat the pony he didn't recognize, the one that most likely joined in during the conversation, then followed by Pinkie and then by Applejack. All of them gave him emotionless looks, all but Applejack, who still looked at him with anger and mistrust.

"Just take a seat right there," Fluttershy said, pointing to the chair on the other half of the circle. The chairs weren't grand, especially this one, the most elegant looking one being occupied by Twilight. He scooted the chair out, creating a high pitched squeak. He stopped pulling and lifted it up instead, "sorry." He took his spot in the chair, all eyes on him.

"Before we get started," Twilight spoke, her tone reminding him of his queen, harsh yet nice, "I would like to introduce you to Starlight Glimmer, a new addition to our group."

The pony raised her hoof off of the table and waved at him. He didn't wave back.

"So," Twilight continued, "who wants to start this off?"

"What exactly are we doing," Hux asked, completely in the blue about this situation.

"Well," Starlight started, "we will basically tell you different options we have come up with for what to do with you and you will either take one willingly, or you can tell us why we should choose a suggestion of your choosing."

Applejack turned to face Twilight and Starlight. "Can't we cut that option out, considering he is, you know, a changeling?"

Twilight looked at Applejack appallingly. "We can't just take away that option. It is the system we all agreed on and we got it signed by Celestia and Luna."

"Well," Applejack retorted, "we can take the option away. We are the ponies, at the moment, with the most power. We can do whatever we want."

The group turned to face her, each one not even considering her proposal. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Hux, a hoof supporting her moping face. Hux looked at her, guiltily smiling inside.

"So, returning to the conversation at hand, who wants to start it off."

None raised their hooves, not even Applejack. Eventually, a certain pony spoke up.

"I guess I will," Fluttershy said.

Twilight nodded, turning back to look at Hux.

Fluttershy cleared her throat, then said, "our first option is to keep you locked down here for a while, holding weekly interrogations."

"Would I ever be set free?"

Fluttershy froze for a moment, probably considering the question. She turned to Twilight, who took the hint.

"Once we have all the information we need and it is proven to be true."

Applejack pointed her head down further. Hux nodded.

"Next one," Fluttershy continued, "is to... ex... execute you."

Hux nodded, scrunching up his face to the fact that that was even a considered "option."

"And, finally," Fluttershy said, "would be to put a spell on you and technically use you as an inside spy for us."

The group was silent, Hux considering his options. He didn't have many good choices. Either be a prisoner, be a spy, or be killed. Execution was out of the question. He did not want to die on account of his first day of his responsibility. Being turned into a spy was also out. He would rather die than turn against his hive. Always. And lastly, he truly didn't want to be held down here as a prisoner anyways.

Twilight broke his chain of thoughts. "So, Hux, you can either take one of those options or fight for your own option."

Hux looked around the half-circle of ponies, considering his chances of his option going through. "I want freedom."

"No." Applejack looked up at Hux. "No."

"Now Applejack," Twilight spoke, trying to persuade the orange farm pony, "let's consider this-"

The ring of a hoof smacking crystal rang through the room and the halls as Applejack beat the table. "Twilight, we can't just let him go and tell his friends to attack us!"

"Applejack! This is how it works!" Rarity, the only one who could easily oppose Applejack, stood up on her hind legs, her body supported by her hooves planted on the table. "We have to consider anything that gets spoken about here!"

Applejack turned her nose up to Rarity. She stared at her for a moment, then stormed off, leaving the group one member short.

Rarity, eyes still full with anger, lowered herself back onto her chair, calming down as she did so.

"Can you plead for your option of freedom?" Twilight looked like she would actually consider it, so he took his chances.

"From what I can tell, you ponies didn't want conflict back at the tower, same as me. If I leave, I will take it happily, knowing that you are the ones who let me leave. I will tell my comrades to not attack your civilization further."

Twilight looked at her friends, who didn't give an opinion on his case, so she let out a breath and spoke, "no. I can't allow that. With the problems you have given us in the past, I will not let it happen, at least not right now."

Hux looked down, knowing that that was his only good choice. He knew he would have to choose one of their options.

"What if," Fluttershy spoke, voice full of passion, "we give him time to let us trust him. If he passes, then he can leave willingly. If he fails, then we can keep him here as a prisoner." She obviously didn't like to say that word, as she said it much more softly.

"And how do you propose this, Fluttershy? We can't learn to trust him if he is down here. Are you saying, like, do trials down here-"

"I am saying let him wander in Ponyville. It is hard to let him do that, I admit, but it is the best way to test our trust in him."

The group was silent, the only voice breaking the awkwardness was the voice coming behind Hux.

"I agree with Fluttershy." Hux looked around his chair, spotting Applejack leaning in the door way. "I don't like you, Hux, I'll admit. That is all the more reason, though," she walked towards him, standing beside his chair and looking Twilight in the eye, "to make me learn to like you."

She perched back on her seat, staring at Hux with a different, slightly less mad, look.

"This raises a new problem," Twilight said, "the town will riot if they learn we let a changeling wander freely."

Fluttershy looked at Twilight, "you realize he is a changeling, right?"

Twilight looked at Hux, "can you hold a disguise for a day at a time?"

"Depends," Hux responded, happy to have somepony standing up for him, "I can hold a disguise longer the more recently I last saw them."

"Wait," Starlight spoke, "you can shape shift?"

"Have you never seen a changeling before?" Hux was holding back a laugh.

"She had been holed up in a town in the desert for a long time." Twilight looked to Starlight, a smile on her face. "Plenty of things happened there."

"So," Starlight spoke, "who are you going to take the form of? It has to be one of us, otherwise things could get nasty."

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Applejack.

"He can be me for a while. There is no better way for me to trust him than letting him be me. Just let me tell ya', Hux," her eyes pinpointed on his eyes, "if anything happens to my friends or family, or my farm fer that matter, then you better be praying for execution."

Hux nodded. No matter how much she hated him, she was starting to grow on him. After the conversation was over, the group headed up back to the main room of the castle, where the exacts were worked out. Hux would be Applejack for five days, visiting the castle every night at midnight to see Applejack again. Hux was not allowed to leave Ponyville. He didn't care though, because he was the luckiest changeling in the world.

He was the only changeling to receive a chance to prove themselves.

Deceptions

A cool wind swept over the crystal laid castle, sending the flag perched at the top flapping in a pin pointed direction. The blades of grass that laid in the open fields went waving, creating a wave of green and brown. No pony in particular set hoof on the gravel streets of the town, for most were inside, wrapped up in a warm blanket. Fall was approaching fast, sweeping summer to the side.

The castle itself was cool as well, the blue crystal lining the walls storing the crisp air in it's cracks and crevices. The windows were fogged up a little, carrying many small drops of dew on it's clear smoothness. Inside, the halls were warm, the heat being brought about by the torches mounted upon the wall. The light glowed, reflecting off of the icy ground and walls. They were filled with the sound of a conversation, one voice being the clear and concise voice of Applejack, the other the raspy, vibrating voice of Hux, who were both in a room leading off of the main area where the thrones sat.

The room they were in was, like the rest of the castle, a crystal lined room, certain points of crystal jutting out of the main wall. The room housed a small, circular table, along with two chairs. The room itself had no torches, so the only illuminating glow coming from a small, white candle which sat upon a golden base. It was lit, diverging a plethora of oranges and reds around the room. The orange country pony had taken off her hat and hung it on a hook that protruded from the door on the inside. The two sat, looking around the room to avoid each other's eyes. Applejack broke the silence that had lingered for a moment.

"So," she spoke, "you know what you are supposed to do, Hux?"

Hux looked at the orange pony, "yeah, I think so."

"Wanna' relay it one more time?"

Hux nodded. He only had one chance to prove to these ponies that he was trustworthy, and he didn't want to screw it up due to one tiny mistake.

"So, for five days," she lifted her hoof up to her chest which showed only slightly above the table, "you will act and look like me. We have not told anypony about this, so you mess anything up and they will think it is me."

"Wait," Hux pondered, "doesn't your family know?"

Applejack closed her eyes and swayed her head back and forth. "Nope."

Hux scrunched up his muzzle. "Oh jeez. You guys really are putting a lot of trust on me."

"And I hope," Applejack said, "that you can return the feeling of trust to us. We truly don't want to do anything bad to you Hux, but you have put us in between a rock and a hard place."

Hux nodded, taking a gulp. "You really don't like changelings, do you?"

Applejack stared, unflinching. "Not particularly. I do hope, though, that you can change my mind set. You seem good enough, Hux, though, whether I believe it or not, my gut is not giving me a good feeling."

Hux shrugged, "I guess it's just your instinct. Changelings and ponies have been at each other's throats for a long time."

The two sat in silence, digesting what had just been said, until Applejack spoke out again.

"Okay, so you will be me for five days. We will not have any eyes on you, Hux, so do as you please within the town. If you leave, it won't exactly help your cause."

"Got it."

Applejack nodded slightly. "And, if you leave," Applejack spoke, trying to lighten the mood with a slight smile, "keep my hat here."

Hux returned the smile. "Sure thing."

Applejack raised her hooves to the table, scooting her seat away from the table that separated the two. "Well, best be goin'."

Hux copied her, his making a slight screech that rang down the halls and through the rooms. He winced, the sound hurting his ears a little. "Sorry."

Applejack ignored the apology, sliding off her chair and clopping to the ground. Hux followed her to his feet, looking at her as he touched down.

"Thank you again, Applejack, for giving me a chance."

She stopped and looked at the ground, her eyes wiggling as she scanned the reflections. "Just don't make me regret it. I won't like being trapped in here anymore than you would've, so it would be a waste if you ruined this."

"I'll try not to, Applejack. I understand how hard it must be, giving up your life for five whole days."

She nodded and stood still for a few moments, eventually lifting her head back up to it's normal height. She reached for her hat which laid against the door but put her hoof back down after realizing that she wouldn't even have her hat with her here. She motioned for him to grab it, to which he complied.

He slid the hat on top of his head, then willing his body to be enveloped in a green vortex of energy, his bone structure and muscles warping to fulfill the role as the country pony, making an almost exact copy. The green energy faded into the air, small wisps hanging on to existence longer than the others, but they too dispersed in time.

Applejack scanned Hux's new, orange body. She looked to his eyes and nodded. "Looks good."

"Believable?"

"Hopefully," she responded, "it is kinda' necessary for it to be."

Hux nodded in agreement, turning away for a second and then returning his eyes to his partner in the room, the pony who was giving him a chance despite her hatred for his kind. He had to reassure her some how, he had to try to remove those wisps of doubt in her eyes. "I'll make sure to keep your family safe."

Applejack looked at the ground yet again, a shininess laying across her eyes. "You better."

The silence enveloped again, neither of them talking. Hux didn't want to stay any longer, in fear that Applejack would change her mind. He opened the door and trotted his way out through the main door of the castle, leaving a tearing up Applejack alone in the room. A single tear trailed down her nose and lost it's grip at the tip of her muzzle, hitting the ground and distorting the reflected image of the room.

"You better," she said, a shimmer of sadness in her quivering voice, "you better."

Twilight sat near the entrance leading to the path which in turn lead to the castle. She was levitating a book, studying the inscription upon the paper. She had decided, along with the rest of the group, to not be in the castle while the two conducted their business. They understood that Applejack was a really family dedicated pony, and they understood giving them up for five days was probably the most stressful thing she had ever had to do. Especially with her hatred of changelings.

The book that was shimmering with a purple aura was a blue, leather bound book, the papers a slight tinge of yellow from the old age. She had had this book sitting on her bookshelf, never actually giving time to reading it. The cover and back were a blank blue slab, the spine reading The Golden Ages of the Changeling Species, under it reading Transcribed by S. S. Bearded. She had taken a particular interest in page 347, where a graph was drawn out. The graph showed a steadily decreasing line that sometimes jutted up or down in spastic intervals. The x axis was labeled "Years after ponies and changelings met" and the y axis was labeled in turn as "Changeling population." The graph's title read "Changeling Population After Ponies Made Contact."

She ran her eyes across the words under the picture, but stopped as she noticed the blob of orange making it's way towards her down the gravely path, the crunching of her hooves hitting the small stones reaching it's way up to her purple ears. She forced energy to her horn and returned the book to the bookshelf with a simple poof. She outstretched her wings, flapping and sending the wind under them clashing into the ground. She raised into the air, pointing towards the orange pony, and made her way over to her.

The orange pony stared at the ground as she trotted down the path, sending pebbles flying the opposite way. She stopped once she heard the flap of wings and the churning of the air. She looked up to meet the eyes of the alicorn descending in front of her. "Hey, Twilight."

"Hi," she winked, "Applejack."

"So, uh," Hux spoke, Applejack's voice escaping his new lips, "where do I live?"

Twilight pointed her hoof, "that way. You live on a farm named Sweet Apple Acres."

"Okay, I'll head there."

"By the way, Applejack," Twilight said, stopping his stride, "you need to have an accent. You are a country pony after all."

Hux rolled his eyes and left the purple pony standing on the gravel. Twilight lifted off once again, catching up to Applejack where she then touched ground and trotted along at the same pace.

"You want any information, like, about the town or anything?"

Hux nodded after pondering, "who all is in my family?"

Twilight looked towards where the pair was walking. "You have your brother, Big Mac. He's a big red stallion, strongest on the farm except for maybe you. You can't miss him. Then there's your little sister, Applebloom, a real sweet heart, loves you to bits. Then, finally, there's Granny Smith. She's a bit old so she might talk nonsense at times. Real wise though, so try your best to act exactly like Applejack."

Hux nodded, his new blond mane swaying in the cool breeze. "Where should I go if I get hungry? I am actually not a big fan of apples."

Twilight looked to the pair's right, nodding towards a building that stood two stories high, white popping out along some of the decorated areas of the building. "That's Sugar Cube Corner, the best place to get sweets in Ponyville. It's owned by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, two really nice ponies. They have been serving treats since before I moved here."

"When'd you move here?"

"About five years ago," Twilight smiled, recalling all of the memories she had had in this town, "I moved here by my own will and the acceptance of Princess Celestia. I was her student at the time."

"Is Celestia the white one with a sun on her butt?"

Twilight looked over at him, annoyed. "Yeah, that's her. The one your queen-"

"Look, don't go into that. After talking with y'all for a while I realize how bad I feel for that. I don't know why we attacked, but I know it wasn't right."

Twilight looked forward again. "If you need anything else you might want to ask quick. We're almost there."

"Aren't you leaving before I get there?"

"I think I can make this a little easier for you and get them to keep you in bed for a few days."

"How?"

"Take off your hat for a minute."

Hux had actually almost forgot that he had on her hat. It was quite comfortable, after all. He removed the hat with his orange hoof. "What now-"

A sharp pain rang through the back of his head, filling his new nerves with a feeling of agony. He lifted his hoof up to the back of his neck before falling to the ground, the hat gliding down softly onto Hux's side. "Sorry, didn't mean to hit you that hard. It'll work anyways, though." Hux opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, for all of the wind had been knocked out of his lungs. His vision started to diminish, the color fading from the scene and being replaced by a dull black, leaving the orange pony knocked out on the road only a mile from the farm.

Twilight quickly looked around to see if anyone saw what she had done to the orange pony, but no one was around so she suspected she was in the clear. She put will into her horn, lifting the pony, hat and all, into the air, trotting along with it the rest of the way towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Hux opened his eyes once again, having to blink to remove the white spots from his eyes. As his vision returned, he inspected his new surroundings. He was covered up in a bed, the white sheets doing little to keep him warm. He was in a room with red walls and a white ceiling. One the wall to the right of him was a door, hinged to the wall by golden hooks. There was a hole in the wall where, supposedly, somepony had opened the door too hard. On his left was a window where rays of golden light hit the floor, giving the room most of it's light. There was also a bed side table, painted green with red apples painted on the front. On the table sat a white envelope and a bowl of soup, still steaming.

As he tried to sit up, he finally felt the bandage on the back of his head where he had been punched by that purple jerk. He winced as he applied pressure to the lump that had formed. He finally managed to sit up all the way, after which he reached over to pick up the envelope. His eyes grew as he realized that he wasn't orange anymore, and his legs were once again filled with holes. Hopefully no one had seen him like this.

He reached again for the envelope, hitting the white bowl which staggered, eventually tipping off the side of the table. It hit the ground with a crash, the noodles and bits of apple spreading out in the pool of tan liquid. The spoon clanked to the floor last, sending a ring throughout the room. He winced, hoping no one heard that. He reached and finally grabbed the envelope.

He tore the seal, flipping the top up, revealing a yellow card inside. He slid it out and inspected the card. On the front it said "Get Well Soon" in red letters, a slight amount of glitter being glued to the front. He flipped the card opened, revealing a plain white inside with black scribbles on the right. He read it out loud, making sure his voice still worked and that it hadn't been ruined by the knockout.

"Dear Hux," he started, "I am sorry I punched you. Just look on the bright side, though, you will most likely be out for a day or two, though with how hard I punched you it might be longer. When you get this, find a way to get out of the farm and make your way back to the castle. We need to refresh your brain of Applejack's appearance. Signed, Twilight Sparkle."

He waved his eyes over the writing again, making sure he didn't miss anything. Hux loved to read, the art being one of his favorite pass times. His eyes were drawn off of the card as he heard steps nearing the door. They were big hoofsteps, making him think that it was probably that Big Mac that Twilight was talking about. He hoped his memory was fresh enough, and willed his body to change again, once again being enveloped by the green energy.

The door burst open, a cloud of dust from the old wood flapping into the air, making it hard to see the pony that made it's way into the room.

"Why, Applejack," a male voice spoke, "is that you?"

He spoke, his throat feeling a little dry from the dust making it's way into his throat. "Is that you, Big Mac?"

"Oh, no, of course not!" The figure stepped out from the dust cloud. It was a tan pony with a blue and white button up on, his cutie mark being an apple with a small cut in it, a piece being cut out from it. The figure wore a straw hat, a well made one at that, and his mouth was covered by a mustache of red. "It is me, your old friend Flam!"

Hux squinted. He did not remember being told about somepony named Flam. He didn't know exactly what situation he was in, but he did not like it, not one bit. "Oh... right."

"I was just talking to Granny Smith the other day-"

"About what?"

Flam looked annoyed at being cut off, "about the whole feud we had a while back. You do remember that, don't you?"

"Uh," Hux tried to act natural, not knowing what could come out of this, "oh yeah. What about it?"

"Well, Flim and I realized that we actually did win. The whole bet was about who could make more barrels, not better tasting ones. So, in reality, we are the new owners of this farm!"

Hux opened his eyes wide. He was in a hole, a very deep one. "That was a long time ago," he tried to act like he knew what he was talking about, "it doesn't matter now, does it?"

"Well you see," a new figure said, stepping into the room, "Flam crashed the Super Duper Cider Squeezy 6000 into a ditch, so we are kind of in a dilemma. We had nothing, but then we realized that this whole feud we won! So, we went from having nothing, to having everything!" The pony, supposedly Flim, spread his arms, looking into the sky. He went back down to all fours after a moment, though.

"That is not how it works," Hux spoke.

"Oh, but Applejack, it does," Flam said. "So I guess this gives you two options: leave our farm or stay here working for us for free for the rest of your lives. I don't think you guys want to be called in for trespassing, do you?"

Hux slid out of the bed, the white sheets returning to their flat state on the mattress. "This is our farm, you freaks. We are not letting you have it."

"Applejack," Flim spoke, lowering his eyes on Hux, "you don't want to go to jail, now."

"Shut it and leave."

"Applejack," Flam said, "this is our-"

"No it ain't!"

Flim put on a scowl, making his way over to Hux. He slapped him hard enough to go flying into the wall, a sharp pain going through him as the lump on the back of his head hit the wood. Flames writhed in Flim's eyes. "Do not talk to us that way, young lady!"

Hux spit in Flim's face hovering three inches away from his, hitting him directly in the left eye. He backed up, hooves over his eye. Flam now made his way towards him, lifting his hoof up. Hux quickly kicked at the stallion making his way towards him, colliding with his knee, which made an ungodly snap as it broke from the strength of his kick.

Hux got to his hooves, running out of the room. He emerged into a hallway, the right side leading to a dead end. He made his way down the left side, the floor creaking under his weight. He continued, eventually reaching a flight of stairs. He took them down, leading him to an open room, the floor covered in hay and the corners of the room being occupied by stacks of hay barrels. He spotted the door, galloping towards it and reaching a hoof out to push it open. He was instead met with a metal door, not even budging from his advance. He looked up the stairs where he came from, where Flim stood, holding a remote in his hoof.

"No where to run, Applejack!"

Hux stood where he way, preparing for a charge towards the tan pony.

"Oh, go right ahead, Applejack."

Hux pushed off with his legs, racing towards the unflinching pony. He ran faster and faster, about to hit him when...

The sound of a gun shot rang into his ears, a splitting pain racing through his side. He fell on his side, blood oozing from the hole. It spilled over his orange coat, creating a pool on the wooden floor. His vision started to fade, once again being clouded by darkness.

Flam, gun in hoof awkwardly walked on two legs over to Hux, still disguised as Applejack. The smoke still rose from the silver revolver in his tan hoof, the revolver that had released the bullet. Hux tried hard to not fall unconscious again, fighting to withstand the pain. He clenched his teeth at the blackening sight of the pony who had shot him, who in turn stared into his eyes.

"This could've gone a different way, Applejack, but you made us use force. Now say goodnight." Flam, now balancing on only one hoof, kicked Hux in the muzzle, blood splashing on his eyes before they went completely black.

He thought about Applejack as his consciousness faltered, Applejack and her family. He hope they would be alright.

He truly hoped they would rise above these two ponies.

Reunion

The room was dark and silent, the only sound invading the space being the slight sound of breathing. Dirt fell from the ceilings through the crack in the planks. No sunlight made it through into the room. The only things that occupied the room, besides the bucketfuls of dust were three ponies; a stallion, a filly, and an old mare. They were silent for a while, but the filly finally broke into it.

"Granny," Applebloom spoke, her voice quivering, "how long are we gonna be in here?"

Granny Smith sat, staring at the floor, though it was unbeknownst to the other two occupying the room due to the blackness. "I aim't got a clue, Applebloom. I guess until Applejack settles this with them two brothers."

"How is she gonna settle this? Flim and Flam will only put her in here like us anyways." Applebloom blinked the dust out of her eye. She tried to move her hooves to scratch her muzzle, only to feel again the soft, prickly rope binding her legs together.

"Hopefully," Big Mac spoke finally, interrupting the conversation, "she won't even try to reason with them and will instead just chase 'em outta here."

"The less trouble she causes," Granny responded, "the better chance we have of getting out of here. She most likely don't even know where we are," Granny looked around only to see a constant black, "wherever we actually are."

"Do you think they found her in the room she was in?"

"Most likely. Knowing them brothers, they probably searched the entire farm already to see exactly what they were dealing with."

The group became overtaken in silence once more, allowing them to hear a clinking from above. It sounded like metal scraping against itself, along with a squeak. The three looked up to where the sound was coming from, finally seeing a smudge of light seeping through the cracks. As they stared, a section of the ceiling got lifted up, flooding the room with light. They also saw two faces that they really did not want to see.

"Well, hello there Granny and others!" Flim took off his hat and did a small greeting gesture, returning the hat to his head after he did so.

The three ponies didn't respond. That is, until Granny spoke up.

"Are you lettin' us go?"

Flim and Flam looked at each other, holding back a laugh. "Why," Flam said, "of course we aren't. Why would we do that?"

Big Mac responded first. "Probably because you don't have the right to keep us down here. You don't even have legal ownership of the property!"

Slim mocked Big Mac with his hoof, waving it up and down as if it were talking. "Don't have legal ownership." He set his hoof down as Flim and Flam broke out into laughter. "Screw legal ownership! It's not like anyone will find out anyways!"

"They will," Granny once again spoke against the two stallions, "once Applejack escapes and warns the princesses."

"Well," Flam spoke, "You seem to be out of luck with that one." Flam exited view for a few seconds, allowing the fluffy whiteness of the clouds to take his place. When he returned, he threw a limp, lifeless Applejack into the room, the body hitting the ground with a smack. The three stared in awe at the sibling who sat there, not even a twitch running through her eyelids.

"You murderer! You'll pay for this" Granny said, tears welling up in her eyes. Applejack didn't deserve to die, but those monsters had done the act anyways.

Flam shrugged, showing absolutely no remorse for what he had done to the poor mare. He walked away, leaving Flim to replace the section in the ceiling, just before using his hoof to kick Applejack's hat in, the last glimpses of the light catching on the soft, brown leather.

The three sat in silence once again, the only thought running through their heads being the hope that Applejack was, in fact, not dead in front of them. It had been at least three hours since the two stallions had visited, without a single stir from the orange mare. Applebloom was, yet again, the one to break the silence.

"Is she really dead?"

Granny contemplated what she had seen of her body when the light was there. "Most likely. The bullet wound was still bleeding fast, and from what I could tell, it had been dragged along the ground. If the blood loss doesn't kill her, then the disease will."

Minutes went by, still without a single sound from the limp body. Hope was not on their side anymore, faced with the reality that Granny had proposed.

Until, that is, a green light started to spark into existence in front of the three. It was small at first, but grew quick in it's infancy. The ball of light soon extended, turning into a small tube that dispensed a faint light into the room, once again illuminating the dusty walls. The tube continued to envelope the body that was now slightly visible. The light grew and grew, starting to spin, as the three others sat there, mouths agape. The light continued into a column, now moving the wind around fast enough for it to blow the threes' hair backwards.

The light started to fade, some wisps hanging into existence longer than others, but eventually dispersing. The three and the room were again plunged into darkness, the three wondering what they had just witnessed. Silence stood strong, but was interrupted by the sound of hoof against wood, as if somepony was dragging one of their legs. The three stood silent, waiting to, hopefully, hear a grunt from the pony in front of them. When they finally heard one, though, it was not the one they were expecting.

The voice was slightly raspy and vibrated intensely. It was not the voice of their dear Applejack. Though they did not know it yet, that was instead the grunt of Hux, the changeling that was barely clutching to his life.

As he opened his eyes, they stood out in the room, like a cat's eyes in the dark. They were a slight blue color, not bright enough to give off any light. He blinked a few times to get the dust out of his eyes. The eyes moved as he got up and turned to the three ponies. Changelings have impressive night vision, so he saw them bright and clear.

The three noticed the eyes staring at them, and Granny asked him a simple question. "Who are you?"

Hux looked at his hoof, noticing the holes in them and how they had returned to their black hue. He returned it to the ground and looked back at the three. He looked at them for a few moments, Granny prodding him for an answer.

"You're not Applejack, so who are you?"

"I... I'm, uh..." He couldn't work his mouth the way he needed to. He probably looked like a complete idiot to the three in front of him.

"Who. Are. You?"

Hux let out a deep breath. Though he truly wanted to prove himself to Twilight and all the others, he was sure they would understand. "I'm Hux, a changeling."

"And what are you doin' here, Hux?"

"That doesn't matter right now." Hux looked around the room, scanning the dusty wood walls to find anything that would let him know where he was. "Where are we?"

"We aren't too sure ourselves. All we have been able to figure out is that the only way out is through an opening in the ceiling."

Hux squinted, trying to make out any indication of an opening, when he spotted a metal rectangle attached to the ceiling. From what he thought, that part of the ceiling in the center of the rectangle pushed up to open. "Ah, got it." He flew up, his wings making an annoying buzzing sound that overtook the entire room. He lifted his way up to the rectangle, planting his hooves on the wooden planks. He pushed with all the strength of his forelegs and the force of his wings to no avail. He he stopped pushing, small particles of dirt fell through the cracks.

"Slow down there, changeling. Can you help us get out too?"

"I can hoist you up once I'm outta here-"

"I mean that our hooves are kinda tied together."

Hux looked at the three, a little embarrassed. "Whoops, sorry." He lowered himself down to the three and took a look at the rope that bound their hooves. It was thick, easily three inches, though a thicker one was tied to the hooves of Big Mac. Hux studied the knots, an intricate zig-zag of rope going in every which way to form a tight ball. "Jeez, they really go all out don't they?"

"You don't even know," Granny said, reminiscing over the other times the brothers had been trouble on the Apple family. "You have no idea."

"I kinda do," Hux said, working his hooves on the knot, "after all, I am the one they shot with a bullet just for trying to leave. After all, they gave me the option."

"Well, did you actually take the option?"

Hux thought it over. "Not really. I wasn't going to let them just take over this place."

Granny nodded. "And why is that?"

Hux tried to find the right answer. Knowing the history between the changelings and the ponies, his answer would probably not be trusted. He found a way to avoid the question as the first of the knots came undone. He quickly moved along to the other two, now getting them off with relative ease.

The three stood up with some trouble, their legs not being exactly awake after the long sit. They regained their balance quick, though. Hux, after making sure the others were okay, returned to trying to forcefully remove the panel from the ceiling, again to no results.

"Are there no locks on it," Applebloom asked.

"Not from what I can tell," Hux spoke, eager to get out of the musty room, "all I know is that this thing is either connected somehow or it is really heavy."

The three stood, thinking of what could be the problem, as Hux continued to push his weight against it. Granny's eyes grew wide as she thought about what she was able to make out. "Hux, knock on the panel real quick."

"Uh, okay," Hux smashed his hoof against the panel, nothing so much as shuddering as dirt fell from the cracks yet again.

"Hmm," Granny mustered, "so far, a lot of dirt has fallen from that opening."

"How does that help us?"

"Well," Granny said, recalling what her siblings had said long ago, "I do remember that, at one point in time, there was an underground storage area for storing some apples for winter. Over time, we have grown to not use it. Is there a possibility that-"

Hux caught on to what she was suggesting, "it got covered over by a layer of dirt? There is a possibility. How would those brothers know about it, though?"

"Beats me," Granny said, "though there is an extensive history about this farm in the Schoolhouse and such. They probably did research, considering I doubt they did all of this without planning."

"I guess that makes sense," Hux said. "That doesn't get us any closer to escaping, though. We know that there is probably a layer of dirt, yes, but what do we do with that knowledge in hand?"

Applebloom spoke up, "can't you just do some, like, magic and get us out of here?" She made a gesture with her hooves to imitate a spell.

"Changelings don't exactly work like that." He smiled at the young filly. "So, the question still stands."

Granny set her hoof to her muzzle in thought, lifting it in the air as she came up with an idea. "You have wings, particularly strong ones, correct?"

Hux lowered his eyes to half way, extending his wings openly, but put them away quickly as he remembered that they didn't have the sight to see at the moment. He cleared his throat in embarrassment and meekly said, "yeah, so?"

"So, can you blow the air in a way to clear away the dirt?"

Hux thought that over, nodding slightly. "I can try." He flew up to the panel and hooked his hooves into the planks in a way that held him suspended. He started his wings, slowly at first and then gaining speed. The buzz of his wings filled their ears as dirt got dislodged and fell to the floor. It seemed like forever, but Hux eventually blew away most of the dirt, making a sort of pocket above the hatch. "I think that should do." He unhooked his hooves and pushed again with all his might, moving the panel up slightly. It was still really heavy, too heavy to lift all the way. He stopped pushing, the panel returning to it's resting state.

He landed back on the ground, lowering himself to the ground with a bend of his knees. He quickly extended his legs, starting up his wings as he did, making him fly into the panel at incredible speed, lifting the panel just enough to rest it on the ground around it. Light once again entered the room, causing the three ponies to blink profusely to clear the spots from their eyes. "Aw yeah, freedom," Hux screamed in excitement.

"Keep it down, Hux. We don't want to alert them."

"Right," Hux conceded, bringing his hiss down to a whisper, "sorry."

Hux looked at the three ponies in the hole. He started to think in a way he didn't want to, thoughts of abandoning the defenseless ponies crossing his mind. With a shake of his head, he wiped the thoughts from his mind, returning his attention to finding a way to get them out of there. From what he could tell, he was one of the weakest changelings in the Hive. He would have trouble lifting Granny and Big Mac, and maybe even struggle to raise Applebloom off the ground. He quickly whispered to them, cautious of being noticed, "do you guys have a ladder or something here?"

"It should be leaning against the barn. A silver one, about ten feet tall."

Hux looked to the barn. The red paint was chipped away slightly, and the sun warmed it up. It was a beautiful building, but he couldn't just stand here and admire it. For once, somepony was counting on him, and he wasn't going to let them down. He scanned the wall they were closest to for a ladder, catching a glimpse of the sun bouncing off of it. It leaned in between two windows, one to the room he was in, the other being a room he had not seen. He walked his way towards it, afraid that flying would attract too much attention.

As he made his way to it, his hooves getting covered with a layer of dew. Once in a while, he would get a small pinch from the bullet wound on his side. It had mostly healed, though he didn't know why, and had stopped bleeding. From what he could tell, changelings didn't have an awesome regenerative ability, so he was at a loss for an explanation.

He finally reached the ladder looming above him. An average changeling was only about four feet tall, so it stood above him plenty intimidating. He extended a hoof to touch the ladder, eager to not make a single sound on this "mission." He propped himself up on his hind legs, both forelegs on the silver ladder. He pulled with his back to lift it up, to no avail. He looked at the ground, where the feet of the ladder were intertwined with grass. He yanked harder, only succeeding in pulling it too far as it came falling towards him.

He dodged it as it hit the ground, a sharp ring speeding through the open air. Hux clenched his teeth, hoping no one heard the sound. Unfortunately, someone had heard the sound, and had opened the window of the room Hux hadn't recognized to investigate.

"What's that," Flam asked, extending his neck out the window, his mustache catching in the wind. He scanned the ladder now laying on the ground and then the side of the barn, seeing nothing of interest. He let a quick grunt escape as he pulled his head back in and shut the window.

Hux tiptoed his way from the other side of the barn, happy he didn't get caught. The last thing he needed was to be seen by the pony who tried to capture him, though he probably would react differently to his true form. He tried to quickly untangle the grass from the foot of the ladder, finally releasing the black rubber feet. He lifted the ladder onto his back and walked his way towards the hole in the ground.

"Hey!" Hux turned to the source of the sound, seeing the mustached face yet again, now staring in his direction. "What are you doing there?!" He looked over Hux, spotting the uncovered hole in the patch of dirt that sported no grass. "Flim! Get me the gun! We've got an intruder!"

Hux made his way quickly to the three ponies still stuck in the ground, who had in fact heard the whole situation. "Nice goin' Hux," Granny said, slightly ticked, "getting yourself noticed was just what we needed."

"Hey," Hux said, laying the ladder in the hole and propping it up against the side of the opening, "I'm getting you guys out, aren't I?"

The three made their way up the ladder, the sound picking up in the air of hooves on metal. Hux looked back to the barn, where an angry Flam was making his way towards the group, a gun levitating in front of his eyes as he aimed. A splitting crack sounded as a bullet made it's way towards Hux's face. He ducked out of the way, the bullet colliding with a tree and sending splinters through the air.

"Get behind the trees," Hux leaded, "and hurry. Make your way deeper into the orchard to try and lose him."

The three ponies complied, racing into the orchard, sending leaves and sticks flying as they ran. Hux took one last look at the barn and followed the three, ducking behind every tree he could find. After they had ran for a few minutes, each of them stopped behind a tree, propping their back against the scratchy bark. The orchard was silent, the only sound being heard by each of the ponies was the rustling of the leaves and their own heavy breathing. They waited, and waited, and waited for what seemed like forever. For what could have been hours, each of them stood, back against the tree, deep in thought.

"Hey," Hux said after a while, lowering back onto four hooves, "where are you?"

The three stooped out of their hiding spots, each breathing a sigh. "Thanks for all the help back there," Big Mac said, speaking for the other two as well. "We woulda' been goners had you not come along."

Hux smiled, raising a hoof to his chest. "I try to do all that I can."

Granny looked towards Big Mac, waving her head in Hux's direction. The stallion advanced on Hux, backing him to a tree, where he moved Hux's legs around the tree and held them stiffly there. Hux winced in pain as his arms stretched around the bark. "Now," Granny spoke, "we have some unanswered questions."

"Please," Hux said, not nearly as intimidated as the first time he was cornered by ponies, "I need to go talk to some other ponies. It's very important-"

"Why are you here," Granny said, cutting Hux off.

"Look," Hux said, "if I tell you, you probably won't believe me anyways."

"Why are you here," Granny repeated, prodding him for an answer.

"I can't tell you."

Granny leaned in close, engaging in a staring contest with the changeling, the game being run by intimidation. She studied him closely, both his body and his eyes, which portrayed fear and determination. "Alright, next question. Who sent you here?"

"I can't tell you that either-"

Granny scooted closer to his face, her eyes almost staring into his very soul.

Hux conceded, spitting out the words, "Twilight Sparkle."

"Liar."

"It's the truth! I swear, I don't want any trouble. I just need to go talk to her and Applejack about what is going on."

Granny stood still momentarily, but then closed her eyes and nodded slightly. She backed away from him, giving him room to breath again.

"Anything else?"

Granny squinted, looking over him once more, but then said, "let him go, Mac."

Mac released Hux's black legs, walking back to the side of the green senior. Hux pulled his legs in front of him, rubbing where they had been impacted upon the tree. "Am I free to go now?"

"Yeah, get goin'." Hux started to stand as Granny then said, "Applejack won't be very pleased with this."

"I had a feeling."

Granny stared him in the eyes still. "She'll blame it on you, y'know. Just know that this wasn't your fault, no matter what points she makes."

Hux nodded and stood, still staring into her eyes. "Thanks. I hope you guys can run these guys out of town. They don't deserve to be here."

Granny nodded in return, motioning her head parallel to the line of the orchard's beginning area. "Y' better get goin'. Make haste, Hux. The sooner Applejack gets here, the better."

Hux nodded once more towards the pony, and then started to make his way towards the fence lining the orchard. Once he was clear out of view of the group, he willed his body to change, his black coat changing into the orange one of Applejack, when he realized that he had left the hat down in the hole. He was about to go back when he remembered what Granny Smith had said. Applejack would get it when she cleared all this up. He hoped she would clear this up, at least.

The crystal castle laid silent, no sound running through the halls. Twilight and all the rest were perched at their respective thrones surrounding the map. Each was doing something different, but all of them were thinking. Twilight had not yet told them how she had "tried to make the task easier for Hux," but she figured she would tackle that problem when it had arisen. The torches mounted on the wall cast an eerie glow throught the room, throwing dancing shadows around the room that seemed to move and claw at their own existence.

They had stayed silent for some time, being easily startled when Applejack walked in the door. Applejack stood in front of the group and removed the disguise in a fiery green vortex, Hux's coat becoming it's original black shade. His face held an expression of worry and anger, his eyes seething with things to say.

"You okay, Hux," Fluttershy asked, her voice carrying a wisp of worry.

"Not particularly. Look," Hux spoke spastically, "I need to talk to Applejack and Twilight real quick. It's really important."

"Slow down there, Hux," Starlight said, "we're all in this together, whatever this is at the moment. Just tell all of us."

Hux took a quick breath and then turned towards Applejack. "Some ponies are at your farm trying to basically take it over. Apparently you've had trouble with them in the past."

Applejack took a blank for a few moments, raising a hoof to her muzzle. When she took a hint of who Hux was talking about, she slammed her hoof on the table, the sound ringing through the halls like a wild fire. "The Flim Flam Brothers?!"

"I think so," Hux admitted, "I don't know why they're there, but they're saying that it's theirs because of some bet you made in the past-"

"And you just let 'em waltz into my barn?!"

"About that," Hux said, now turning to Twilight, "someone knocked me out, saying it would 'help the situation.'"

Applejack whipped her head around to face the purple alicorn, "why the hay would you do that?! This was a chance for Hux to prove his trustworthiness and you tried to help him succeed?!"

"Well, yeah. I think I speak for most of us here in the fact that we wanted to see Hux succeed," she looked around at the other faces, recieving many nods of approval, "so I thought that giving him an easier way to complete the task was a way to show our thoughts about him."

"So why did you knock him out?!"

"Applejack, darling, take it down a notch," Rarity spoke out, trying to make the situation a little more easy to handle, "no one n Yakyakistan needs to hear this argument."

Applejack complied, taking two breaths in. When she spoke, it was less angry but still held a twinge of hatred in the voice. "Why did you knock him out, Twilight? This whole feud did not require endangering my farm with this nonsense."

"Well how was I supposed to know that those two nut jobs would make their way back into town?!"

"Hold that thought, Twilight," Applejack said, now turning to Hux, "why didn't you try to stop them?"

"I did, Applejack. For god's sake, I broke one of their legs! It's not my fault I couldn't make it out of there before getting shot!"

"Oh goodness," Fluttershy gasped, "they shot you?"

Hux turned to reveal the wound. "I don't know why, but it healed real quick." He returned to his stance and looked at Applejack once again. "I really did try, Applejack."

"Uh huh, whatever. What about my family?"

"They're on the run in the orchard at the moment. Granny Smith told me to get you out there as soon as possible. There's no doubt that they're sending ponies out there to intercept them, so you better hurry."

"Did they see you like that?"

"Apparently, when I was unconcious after the whole shooting, I was still disguised like you. When I changed back, I was in front of your family,"

"Great, more ponies dragged into our dangerous schemes. I think we've anonymously decided that you've stayed here long enough."

The group murmured after what she had said, neither in acceptance or declination. "You guys didn't decide anything," Hux said, "you didn't even give the others a chance to talk!"

"I don't care, Hux. You might as well leave, seeing as you've caused enough trouble to both my family and my farm."

"Look, it's not my fault. Can't we just settle this in a democratic-"

"I don' have time for this!" Applejack pounded her hooves once more on the table for effect, then stormed out of the room, her walking ringing back into the room along with the squeak of the front door.

"Applejack! Get back here," Twilight screamed, her voice carrying no effect in the outside wind as it scattered among itself. "Oh god, what has this turned to?" She nestled her face in her hooves.

"Look, we can still fix this. Those two ponies can be run out, and I can help. The thing we have going on, that doesn't need to end just because of this."

"No matter what we think," Starlight said, stepping up to the lead plate, "one of our own will never accept you. Without that, our group could turn to turmoil, and we can't have that."

"So, are you just suggesting that I walk out of here with things still left undone? With Applejack still hating me and my kind?"

"It does seem like the best course of action, dear," Rarity spoke, not helping Hux's cause. "I don't adore the thought of you going back to your Hive untrusted, but it seems like Applejack thinks you've outstayed your welcome."

"Please," Hux said, "this is the first time I've ever been given a chance," Hux's eyes started to fill with tears, "don't take that chance away from me."

"I'm sorry, Hux, but it's the only option we have left."

Hux looked down, one tear leaving his his cheek.

He had a chance, and he lost it.

Hux knew when to give up, and now was the time.

Author's Note

Well, needless to say, this is going to be the longest chapter in the story. I hope I kind of gave Hux some of his character again, because I know I kind of made him stone dry in the last chapter. I really hoped you liked the chapter, and thanks for reading!

Also, let me explain something that some of you might comment about. They are not forcing him to leave because they think he caused this. They are kicking him out because they know that, with Applejack's hatred towards him, the group would fall into complete turmoil if they let him stay there. Just wrapping that up before you write a comment. I tried to make it clear in the actual chapter, but I don't know how I did.

(By the way, when it is in the crystal castle, I kind of wrote that part on my Ipad so there might be some errors.)