Patriots of Equestria, Part 1

When the word that Hopper had been spotted in Ponyville began to circulate, guardsponies were going from house to house to order the inhabitants to lock their doors and not come out until further notice. For the first time since Tirek's rampage, Ponyville was deserted with only the guardsponies canvasing the streets, searching for any sign of Hopper, who by now, was very much weakened by the pain in his back. For the next few hours, Hopper continued to hide in any available space he could find, knowing that the guards were getting closer. Now, the strength in him was draining and the injury he had sustained from Starlight was starting to greatly hurt him.

"No, no this can't be," he whispered to himself while silently growling like a wounded bear. "Blast that Starlight Glimmer! Well, if this is the end, then I won't be taken alive!"

Once he saw that the coast was clear, Hopper left the hiding spot he was in and proceeded to reach down and grab a medium sized hunting knife that had been left on the ground. He wanted to end it all now and be spared being a prisoner of his kind's mortal enemies. The sun was going down and Hopper felt that the darkness would at least protect his identity for a little bit.

Suddenly, he approached the lake and saw what appeared to be a large boat covered with a blue tarp and felt that if he was going to die, he would do it quietly and without fear. At that moment, the guards felt that their search was coming to an end.

"He most likely have gotten away," grunted one guard, frustrated with how he could not find the wanted Changeling. "What do we do now? We've searched the entire town."

"Did you look at the Castle of Friendship?" asked the other guard. "It's a possibility that he might have gone there."

"Good idea," answered the guard. "Gather a few guards and tell them to meet me at the castle."

A little while later, the guards all ran over to Twilight's castle and pushed the large doors open, gaining them access.

"Search every room but do not touch anything, is that clear?" barked the guard in command and his fellow guards nodded in reply. "Spread out!"

Going through every room of the castle, they all carefully looked through every nook and cranny. Finally, it appeared to be all for nothing until they came to the throne room, which had been unscathed except for some defacing with a bad drawing of one of the ponies on Fluttershy's throne.

"Shh!" hissed one of the guards when a strange noise was heard. "Listen! I can hear something!"

"What do you hear?" asked another guard. "I don't hear anything."

But, the noise continued and at that moment, the noise was heard again, this time from up in the Golden Oak chandelier.

"Up there!" shouted one of the guards, raising his magic aura to increase the light. The rest of the guards then noticed what appeared to be a strange creature hiding in the Chandelier's trunk. It tried to get out, scraping against the side only to fall out and onto the hard ground below.

"STOP! FREEZE!" screamed the guards, trying to subdue the creature as it growled and hissed at them. "YOU WANT TO LIVE? THEN STOP MOVING!"

But, the creature continued to fight and one of the guards flash his horn at the creature and it was revealed to be a Changeling.

"Is this him?" asked the lead guard. "Is this one of the Changelings who carried out the assassination attempt against our leaders?"

"No, you idiots," snarled the Changeling. "I've been hiding here for several days and…."

"Then you can tell us where your ally Hopper is," retorted the lead guard, picking him up and throwing him hard on the throne room's map and clutching his throat. "Or I will choke every single bit of air out of your disgusting, pathetic body. Where…is…Hopper?"

Despite the fact that he was being treated in this manner, this Changeling was just like all the others: defiant and determined to keep their loyalty to Chrysalis strong and their mission to restore her to her rightful place.

"Somewhere where you can't find him," the Changeling laughed, spitting in the lead guards' face. Furious, the lead guard placed his right front hoof on the Changelings' chest and began to press down hard on it. This made the Changeling stop laughing and gasp for air.

"You want me stop?" cried the lead guard, his eyes glowing with fury. "You want me to stop? Then tell me where he is going, you prick!"

The Changeling continued to gasp loudly and for a while, it seemed like he was going to be lawfully executed right there in that room. Then, he finally gave up.

"He...is…going…" he tried to say, gasping for air. "He…is…going…"

"Yes? We're listening," cried the lead guard. "Where is Hopper going?"

"He…is….going…" replied the Changeling, who was clearly running out of air. "To…end…his…life."

"What are you saying? What do you mean?" cried the guard, shaking the Changeling violently. "Tell us now!"

…

While the Changeling continued to struggle to breath as a result of the more than shabby treatment he was receiving, Hopper climbed into the boat and without making any sudden noises, reached out to aim the knife right at his chest.

"Gods of the Changelings," he thought to himself. "Receive my spirit!"

At that moment, the lockdown order had been lifted and the citizens of Ponyville were allowed to leave their homes. Hondo Flanks, the father of Rarity and Sweetie Belle walked out of his home and at that moment, he heard what appeared to be loud moans and growls coming from his boat.

"Cookie Crumbles?" he called to his wife, who was in the kitchen with her young daughter. "Keep Sweetie Belle inside! There is something moving in the boat!"

"Be careful!" cried Cookie Crumbles and the medium sized pony with three footballs for a cutie mark carefully approached the boat and what he saw next was very shocking and surprising.

"What in Equestria?" he thought to himself and saw red blood trickle out from the side of the boat and then something even more shocking appeared, causing him to jump in fear. "Oh no, no, it can't be!"

Using his magic, Hondo pulled back the tarp and let out a loud scream when he saw a horrific sight before his eyes.

"HELP! SOMEPONY HELP US!" screamed Hondo and the screams alerted several guardsponies who were nearby. "HELP!"

Hondo darted outside and the guardsponies were quick to respond to the frightened pony.

"What happened?" they cried. "What is going on?"

"The Changeling you are looking for," replied Hondo Flanks, his stomach turning along with his face. "He is hiding in my boat and he is covered in blood!"

Reacting to this news, the guardsponies followed Hondo into his backyard and there they saw the blood on the side of the boat. Knowing that they couldn't possibly do this alone, they both set off lights that caught the attention of the guards who were interrogating the Changeling who was hiding in the Friendship Castle.

"What's going on?" asked one of the guards while the lead guardspony watched for a brief minute before turning back towards his comrades.

"I think the Changeling that we have been searching for has been found," answered the lead guardspony. "We'd better get over there at once. As for the Changeling in question, we'll arrest him for breaking and entering."

Doing as they were told, the guards placed the captured Changeling in chains and they all carried him out of the castle, heading towards Hondo Flanks' backyard. By this time, several Ponyville citizens were already witnessing the chaos that was taking place. From inside the boat, Hopper watched weakly as guardsponies surrounded him and attempted to carry him out of the boat.

"Get an ambulance!" shouted one of the guardsponies and one did arrive quickly at the behest of several other guardsponies, an ambulance did come. Soon, Hopper was loaded and taken away from the scene, heading towards Ponyville Hospital, while crowds of ponies cheered and sang The Heart Carol loudly along with Equestria's national anthem, Equestria, the Land I Love.

"Well, we appear to have the other bomber," sighed the lead guardspony. "But, I am afraid that this is only the beginning of things to come. Send a note to Instant Justice, soldier."

"What should I tell him?" asked the young guardspony.

"Tell him that from this moment on," answered the lead guardspony while the young guardspony wrote out the note to Instant Justice. "He will decide whether this Changeling dies by his injuries or in accordance to the law of Equestria or he lives out the rest of his days in Tartarus."

…

Yes, the hunt was over, but the whole story was much far from being over. For a new part of it was about to begin and it involved Equestria's four princesses who, like Discord and Trixie, were also being transferred back to Canterlot to recover from their injuries…