Legend Brought To Life

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: A book to relieve boredom
Chapter 2: Change Is Good
Chapter 3: Fanfilly
Chapter 4: Warm Sunshine and Literacy Issues
Chapter 5: Uh Oh!
Chapter 6: Can't We All Just Get Along?

Prologue

Prologue

Lyra yawned from her quilted bed and blew out her reading lamp. She had been reading for several hours past the time she should have gone to bed, and knew that she was going to regret it in the morning, but in her opinion, it was worth it! Just as Rainbow Dash was addicted to the adventure, mystery, and action-filled Daring Do series, so too was she addicted to a story series of her own: the Icarna series. It was this series that had captured her affection for literature more than six years ago, and the author was still going on strong, churning a new book out of her head almost without fail every year.

The Icarna series was centered around a fictional race of creatures from an ancient myth living on a large island out somewhere in the world's ocean that walked on two legs rather than four, and where their front hoofs should been instead there was an odd appendage similar in shape to that of a Gryphon or Dragon, except they lacked claws or scales and instead of talons they had 'fingernails' which though they could be used for fighting, were not really good for it.

They had no tails, had a limited color-spectrum for their skin, which either lacked fur entirely or had very little save for their mane, referred to as 'hair', and could not use magic, nor fly without use of a machine or balloon of some type.

Squashing the urge to release a foalish fanfilly squeal at the end of the escape scene she'd stopped at as well as the urge to keep on reading Lyra sighed and set the book down on the dresser next to her bed and pulled sheet that she normally used as a covering up to her chin. First breakfast, then work, then come home, then MORE ICARNA! She kicked her back hoofs excitedly and then closed her eyes and began trying to relax her mind.

__ __ __ __ __

Meanwhile, outside her window a pair of green eyes lacking pupils watched her silently, clinging to the wall next to her window as easily as a spider. The eyes were attached to a creature with a black chitinous body with a pair of wings resembling a dragonfly's. This creature was another mythical being, only far more real than the ones in Lyra's book, as Ponykind had recently discovered the hard way. This creature was a Changeling, and it had just finished gorging itself on the positive emotions radiating out from the minty Pony dozing off in the bedroom on the second floor.

Had it been permitted to do so, the energy it had just gained would sustain it for three days and nights. Unfortunately it was not just it alone. There was never truly any 'being alone' in a Changeling hive. Even if you were the only Changeling or living creature within a fifty miles, so long as you were within one hundred and ten miles of the queen or another Changeling of the same breed you could always feel a presence in the back of your mind. This Changeling was within that distance, and it could sense the rest of its retrieval group nearby.

This one would return to the group and divide the energy it had gathered amongst the others, as surely as they all would. Once they all were level on their energy stores, they would return to the Hive, and give half of it to their queen, and the next day go out and do it again.

The Changeling let go of the window and began quietly buzzing its way back to their meeting place outside of the town.

Gathering sustenance this way might not always be as efficient as taking it directly, but it made for an easier escape should they be discovered, and there was already one of their hive inside the house concealing itself as the minty-Pony's house co-owner. She fed off her during the day, and then the Changeling that we are now following along with would come during the later hours when Lyra was reading and feed off her then.

But their hive was careful, and rather than steal love as another hive had done (and they paid for it when their queen became greedy), the green-eyed drones were only sent instead to collect what emanated from their targets like a flower taking in the sun's light. In this manner, they avoided detection from both the Ponyfolk and from other hives, and got all the food they needed with little risk.

The returning Changeling reached the meeting place first, and sat down on a large and still-warm flat stone to wait. With its task being complete, it now had a few moments alone to itself. Or rather, as close to alone as a Changeling could get. It turned its multifaceted eyes to the sky, taking in a few dozen images of the same thing: the crescent moon, hundreds of stars, a few stray clouds, and for a brief moment, a shooting star that streaked across the sky for two and a half seconds, and then was gone.

It knew what the shooting star really was, of course. Every member of 'his' hive did due to a few of them having impersonated a local star-gazer or two at one time or other. Their transformations did not grant full knowledge of the being they impersonated, but there were enough 'memory echoes', as their queen called them, to be able to piece together the language over time, and then read what was written in books and such.

The Changeling ceased gazing at the sky as a buzzing sound he knew all too well reached what was their equivalent of ears and stood once more, not bothering to look in the direction it was coming from. On 'his' left landed another of his group, followed shortly by two more, and lastly, a younger Changeling that had only recently grown its wings. It was still rather small, and often took to replacing some of the young in the town they'd been assigned to.

Sustenance sharing began immediately, with each of them having a mist the same color as the night sky extending from each of them and meeting in the middle of them. The mist continued to gather in the center until all five of them were left feeling weak, and then five streams extended from the mist mass in the middle and flowed back to them until once more the space between them was empty and they all ceased feeling pangs of hunger and the weakness in their bodies faded .They turned as one and left the ground, heading north-east to where their hive had been burrowed into a small hill.

Being collectors rather than thieves also meant that their hive was rather small in comparison to the four of the five others, but of the five others, one had been decimated by a tropical storm that had flooded out their burrow, a second (and the largest of them) had tried to conquer Equestria and was defeated, leaving them weakened, and being the reason that their race needed to be more cautious. The other three were located in other parts of the world, with one in Gryphon lands, one lived in a desert, and the last on the other side of the ocean, the last one being the largest with a population as large as Manehatten given that there was no competition on their feeding grounds, and the locals of that continent knew of them already and had decided they had more to gain by allowing them to stay than trying to kick them out or exterminate them.

Their group landed five hours later and entered their hive, making their way directly to their queen, who was currently hanging several egg sacs from the ceiling. When they arrived they stood and waited for several minutes before she was done, and then approached her and knelt. She nodded and took their daily offering, and then dismissed them.

They were worker drones, and so they worked. This was their job, this was their life. When their job was complete they would be allowed to rest or pass along their knowledge and experiences to the others. It had always been this way, and as far as any of them knew, always would be.

The Changeling that had been masquerading as Bonbon however needed to leave and return to Ponyville immediately in case the co-owner of the house should awaken and notice her friend's absence. The journey back was uneventful, and in short order 'Bonbon' was once again snuggled beneath her bed covers and sleeping soundly.

Her collection team would not return until the following night, and Lyra would performing at a local diner in the morning, which meant that, for a time, she would have the house all to herself.

Chapter 1: A book to relieve boredom

'Bonbon' yawned and blinked, Celestia's sun shining light against her curtains and filling the room with a soft light rather than the harsh glare that it otherwise would cause. The room was still cool from the previous night's air, but that would soon change.

Pushing the covers down her body, 'Bonbon' rolled to one side of her bed, and slid off it to the floor, her back hoofs striking the wooden floor first followed by her front. Briefly she drank from the cup on her night stand to quench her thirst, and then walked sleepily to the dresser and mirror next to her door and took a brush in hoof with some difficulty, then cast a hesitant glance at her door. There was a brief flash of dark purple light and both her mane and tail were instantly neat and tidy again.
I bet the real Bonbon wishes she could do this! She smiled in the mirror and the reflection smiled back, a brief green twinkle in her eyes that a Pony might have mistook for a trick of the light. She was ready to take on the morning.

Discarding the brush Bonbon opened her door and exited into the hall and entered her half-bathroom.

Even though a Changeling was not a Pony, their anatomy in several ways was similar. Some had wings, some had horns, all had four legs, one mouth, two eyes, as well as a few internal organs that were the same as well. The bladder was one such organ.

One flush of the toilet later Bonbon was once more out in the hall and made her eay down the steps and passed the hat post next to a closet that they used for storage, and entered the kitchen where Lyra was contentedly munching on a piece of buttered toast at the table with a fried egg and some strawberries on the plate in front of her, and once more reading from her silly Icarna book. Or rather, the actual Bonbon thought it was silly. Bonbon the Changeling had no idea if it was any good or not.

“You're still reading that silly book, Lyra?” Bonbon asked indignantly. Lyra swallowed her mouthful of toast and frowned at her briefly.

“Good morning to you too, Bonbon. You sleep well? I should think so, the way you were snoring! I could hear you from the other side of the house!”

“I do not snore!” Bonbon objected loudly. The actual Bonbon did not, but Bonbon the Changeling did. That did not mean that she wanted to admit it, though.

“Like a hibernating bear!” She poked a hoof at her with each syllable to add emphasis.

In the back of her mind other Changelings from her hive that were nearby were laughing at her. Ignoring them, Bonbon forced a smile to her face and tried changing the subject. It worked.

“So, leaving soon for your performance?” Lyra nodded and partook of her last piece of toast. “Well, enjoy yourself. And don't forget about your meeting with the book club this afternoon.” Lyra nodded and set her own book down on the table.

Bonbon the Changeling walked to the cupboards and nudged one open with a hoof to reveal eat-ware. She took down a plate and set it on the counter, then checked the others for something other than the simple salads that the actual Bonbon normally ate and settled on a peach and a frog full of blackberries.

Settling in front of the table as well just as Lyra finished her her egg and two of the strawberries, stem and all stil, Lyra lifted the last four and ate them as well. Her meal finished, she trotted to a small polished wooden case and lifted it with her magic, then headed for the door to the outside world.

“I'll see you later, Bonbon!” She waved before opening it. Bonbon waved back and Lyra trotted out. Two seconds alter she briefly stuck her head back in. “Oh, and my books aren't silly. You might even like them yourself it you'd just give them a chance.” Then her head was gone, and the door swung gently shut.

Bonbon the Changeling returned her focus to her solid meal, which, though she got little to no nourishment from, was quite tasty!

Two and a half hours later she was lying on the couch below the window staring at the ceiling and grimacing. So boooored!

Normally she would just tune into what her brother and sister Changelings were up to, but for the most part nothing interesting was happening with them either other than the younger Changeling pretending to be Dinky, Derpy Hooves' daughter, who was well aware of her double's existence, though believed her to be one of what her mother called an 'imaginary friend'.

This situation had been done over and over again many times with foals and even some young adolescents; an amazing secret friend unlike any other that could transform at will to look and sound like anypony or creature they'd ever heard of! To their hive's knowledge, no other hive had utilized this idea yet.

But that was hardly what she would call entertaining, given that she herself had done this when she was younger.

I suppose I could clean the house...or go out around town and gather nourishment from Bonbon's other friends...

Or you could stop announcing your complaints over our mental connection to one another! Another Changeling suggested, feeling annoyed and allowing his feelings to flow across their connection. Just go ahead and clean the house. Bonbon would probably do that anyway.

Bonbon the Changeling rolled off the couch, gathered a few cleaning supplies, and then set to work scrubbing the floor with a soft sponge and soapy water. Most of the house was carpeted, however, which made for a very short floor-cleaning session. Next came the counters, the sinks, the toilets, and finally, using a different sponge, the dishes. All in all, it took about two hours and forty minutes. It would have taken longer, but she'd cheated a little and had morphed a scrubby patch of hair onto the bottom of her hoofs when the first sponge proved to be too difficult to keep under a hoof for more than a few swipes with it.

The house now clean, she trotted to the one window that opened into an alley between the houses and dumped the latest batch of dirty water out of it. She then rinsed the bucket, and emptied the contents again, then returned the bucket to its place under the sink, and the dirty sponge to the garbage can. House is clean and Lyra's not back again yet... She sighed and then once more headed back to the living room where the couch once more awaited her. On the way out of the kitchen however, a strong breeze blew in through the window from outside and Bonbon the Changeling heard the rustle of dry paper. Paper? Oh, right. The book. She stopped and looked back at it. Hmm...Is it really a silly book? She trotted back to the table and picked it up, examining the front and back covers.

The front showed the image of an island with a large stone city in the middle of it and below the island was what seemed to be a Dragon's hand with an odd stick-figure depicting something either standing on two legs with two arms or else lying down in the hand's palm. Hmm...

The cover read:

Icarna Island: Book 6

The Sea Kings

Why not? A chapter or two can't hurt... Bonbon shrugged and placed the book on her back and carried it to the couch where she laid the book with its front cover open, and then hopped onto the couch herself and began reading.

Two hours later Bonbon the Changeling stared at the pages four inches before her snout, eyes rapt in attention, eagerly jumping from one word to the next.

It seemed that the Icarna series did not link so much as one to the next, but rather as six stand-alone books with several themes and locations and one or two characters in common that enriched the Icarna universe as a whole.

“Man your posts!” The captain shouted to his men. 'It's back!'” She read aloud in a whisper. The sailors ran first to the armory for their iron spears and razor-sharp axes, and then to the mast to secure their lifelines. They had learned from their first encounter, and the survivors of that encounter would not be so foolish as to neglect it this time!

Off the port side of the ship a fin longer than their ship was cut through the waters and then sank beneath the churning sea as it passed beneath them once again; it would come soon for them, and their ship would not survive another of the same beating it had taken before. “Steady! Steady, men!” The captain turned his attention to the cannon crew, who were even now filling their weapons. “Ready the shatter-shot this time, men! The thing's big, but it's skin is soft! If we must die this day, then by God, it will too!!!” The captain shouted for all to hear, his voice determined. His mood was infectious to most of the crew, and they cheered and gripped their weapons tighter, waiting and watching the seas eagerly for their foe to reveal itself once more. She turned to the next page to reveal an incredibly well-drawn and colored image of these creatures, these Humans standing on the wooden deck of their ship.

The wood was common brown and unpainted. Their clothing was worn in some places, and had holes here and there even on the captain's outfit. None of eight depicted men wore anything the same save for their work boots, which were also brown in various states of wear. Some had red manes, others brown, and the captain himself had white hair, though his age for Humans was not yet considered old by their standards.

Muscles tensed as they clutched their weapons, and some wore grim smiles while awaiting the landing of the dice that Fate had tossed them this day.

A dip of the moving ship and the wind had blown a spray of seawater in front of the captain and the sparkling droplets floated before and around him. The right side of his face (the only side depicted) had a red scar that ran down from his nose to his throat, and his blue eyes were sharp and piercing, even if only a picture.

They were tall creatures, most of them at least as tall as the Equestrian royalty, though one in the picture was quite a bit shorter and only reached a little taller than the average Pony. This one carried an odd metal and wooden weapon that was was hollow and could launch lead balls from the metal tube by utilizing black powder, which was commonly used for their much larger, and much more powerful cannons. His weapons could shoot farther, though. His weapon was longer than both his arms combined, and much heavier, as the book described.

Most of them also had a strange facial hair that often covered most of their faces. A few only had this hair under their nose or only on their chins, but most had both. The book had called them a mustache or a beard, the mustache being the patch of hair under the nose, and the bear everywhere else.

Two members of their crew were of dark skin tone, close to her own natural body color, and these had one spear and one ax, and stood closest to the railing of the ship, their mouths open and seemingly shouting a challenge to the sea monster.

Wow! She thought.

Stop admiring the picture and keep reading it, Echo! Came the insistant thoughts of many of their young back at the hive, as well as a few of the adults here in town.

Echo blinked and then realized that she'd been so into it she'd been broadcasting the book by accident.

“Oops!” She chuckled, embarrassed, and then obeyed the many insisted demands of her hive mates.

Another hour later Echo jumped as the door opened and quickly shut the book, to the disappointed displeasure of those that had been listening in on her reading. Echo trotted back into the kitchen and set the book back down on the table while Lyra placed her instrument case on the counter, looking quite unhappy.

“What's wrong, Lyra?” Echo asked. Then she saw. Lyra was sopping wet, and smelled heavily of lemonade. Her fur was also a little more green than usual.

“Oh, a few passing colts decided it would be hilarious to fill water balloons with lemonade and then hit the manager and instrument player with them!” Her voice was filled with barely-controlled anger. “Now I'll need to buy new strings, as well as take a bath before my hair and hide start clumping together!”

“'Hair'? Don't you mean mane or tail?” Echo asked, recalling that the word 'hair' was an Icarna term for the mane on a Human's head, as well as any fur they might possess on the rest of their bodies.

“'Hair' covers both, Bonbon. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a bath!”

Lyra stomped across the roof to their first-floor bathroom and shut the door a little harder than necessary. A minute later the water was running.

Echo cast a quick glance back at the book, and with the egging on of her hive opened it again and continued reading where she'd left off.

It was not until twenty minutes later when Lyra tapped her on her shoulder that Echo realized that she'd become too engrossed in its pages and allowed herself to fail to keep watch for Lyra, who knew all too well the disdain that the real Bonbon had for her liking (or maybe obsession was a better word) of the mythical race of Humans.

“Read any good books lately?” she asked, a smirk on her face.

Resisting the urge to jump, Echo snorted and shut the cover.

“While the story itself isn't bad, the inclusion of those Hoo-mans-”

“He-you-men.” Lyra corrected, sounding it out for her. “Human.”

“Whatever! It makes it ridiculous; creatures that walk on their hind legs- pah!”

“What about that Minotaur that came to town a few months back? He walked on two legs, and he had hands.”

“But he was a real creature! Humans are just a story.”

“Like Nightmare Moon was just a story?” Lyra countered. Echo had no argument for that, and Lyra knew it. Lyra was still smirking as she lifted her book from the table and trotted away, to the disappointment of Echo's younger hive mates.

For the sake of keeping up the image of being Bonbon Echo rolled her eyes and began writing up a shopping list for tomorrow.

__ __ __ __ __

Later that night, after nearly every Pony and the five of their group was on their way once more back to the hive, one stray youngling sneaked out of bed while his queen was distracted during her feeding with his head abuzz with new images, and smells from it's elder brethren setting the fictional scenes to the best of their and their predecessors' combined knowledge and experiences.

His other hive mates knew he was where he shouldn’t be, of course, and what he intended to try, but they all had tasks of their own to complete, and left his punishment for misbehavior up to their queen to decide. Besides, him being scolded directly by the queen would leave a more memorable experience for the other younglings when he shared it with them.

Now outside in the cool night air he took a deep breath and called to mind the picture that Echo had looked at during the daylight hours, as clear and vivid as she herself had seen it, and concentrated on the smaller of the group next to the railing; the one that held the boom-stick. With it firm in his mind purple flames washed over his body and he fell flat forward to land flat on his sensitive new face. Putting his front hoofs-

No, not hoofs anymore He blinked a few times as his new eyes adjusted to the darkness. did it work? Completely?

This had not been his first attempt at transformation, though it had been for this form. His previous attempts had been less than successful, to say the least, and often he was missing a limb or had become distracted by an adult trying to teach them mental discipline for the times in which their queen was too busy to directly control them so they could maintain their identity without a loud noise startling them into reverting to their true state.

The young Changeling turned his new head and looked at his lower body and frowned. He'd goofed again, and where the waistline and two legs should have been he instead had his ordinary body from the base of his original neck down.

Concentrating on his lower body, he pictured the desired image in mind and once more purple flames washed over him, but once more, as with before, the form was incorrect, as he'd been briefly distracted by a passing bat. Now the basic frame of the form was complete, however it now also possessed a large pair of bat wings and fuzzy ears on the top of its head rather than the odd rounded ones of the sides.

Meh, close enough! the young Changeling decided, and began the difficult task of rising up to stand on only two legs, which proved to be more difficult than he'd expected. Pushing himself up to his knees was simple enough, but without something to hold onto for support so he could pull himself up it was proving to be quite the challenge. Okay, so I can't stand yet. He looked at his fingers. Can I move these? He manged to get them to twitch, but they would not bend in the ways the book described. Now what did mother Nymph say about moving new limbs for the first time? He reached out with his mind for the information and drew a complete blank. Hmm? He raised a now-fuzzy eyebrow and tried again. Still nothing.

Puzzled, he tried to contact another member of his generation, whom he knew would still be awake. Still more nothing. Now a little worried, he ran his tongue over his soft lips and performed what would be the equivalent of a mental shout. Complete and utter silence answered. Suddenly afraid that something either wrong with him, or with the rest of his hive, the youth allowed his concentration to break completely and he quickly reverted to his original form.

Not two seconds after he did several older Changelings all came buzzing from the grassy trapdoors that concealed the entrances to their underground hive and surrounded him.

Feelings concern and curiosity bombarded his brain, quickly turning to relief and then to agitation, though the curiosity still remained. When it was determined (within two seconds) that he was no illusion and that there was no danger present he was surrounded and marched back to the hive where he received the reprimanding of their queen, followed by a thorough memory search.

“Why is part of your mind blocked?” She asked, agitated, and curious. “Did another queen pass by our hive and try to control you?” He shook his head. “Then why can I not read the memory of the time you spent on the surface? Were you enchanted by a Pony out for a late-night stroll?” Again, he shook his head, and visual memory from those she sent to look for him confirmed this; there had been no trace of any four-legged creatures other than themselves present. “Were you unconscious?” He hesitated and recalling a similar happening she asked a subject-related question. “Did you taste something growing on the hill?” He did not react, but his emotions were of something similar to embarrassment. She rolled her eyes.

All too often the younglings chose not to indulge in the collective knowledge their hive had access to, preferring to experience the world around them in person first, sometimes with fatal results. This was another reason their hive was the size it was. This particular incident had not been the first time a youngling had eaten a Snooze-bloomer, and would likely not be the last during her lifetime either. “Go to bed, youngling, and next time, refrain from eating that which we gain no nourishment from unless your are concealing yourself as a Pony.”

The youngling nodded, and exited, once more escorted, though this time, to bed.

She couldn't touch the memories I had of being in that form... He thought as he began to doze, the buzzing of his escort's wings echoing in the room as they left. I wonder...why that... He never finished the thought, and slipped into as near a state of dreaming as their race got.

@ @ @ @ @

The Purple-eyed queen turned her mind from her now-asleep subject (or child), still curious. She had known he had tried to trick her, but he would learn better than to try that soon enough, and would likely be begging her pardon when he did. Even so, there was still the issue of his locked experiences.

What form was he thinking about? Certainly it could not have been one of the Ponies, or the Diamond Dogs. Regardless of what species or breed's form they took they always had that mental connection with one another. Whatever he'd become, however, severed the connection as easily as a sharp knife cut into cheese, and as her servants' own memories told her, there was no trace of any other creature but their own anyway which meant it had to have been something he'd done.

The mental link had been restored when he'd reverted, so there was probably nothing to worry about, but it was their mental connection that would enable them to be alerted should a rival hive decide to knock off some of the competition for food. If that hive should discover that currently unknown form and used it properly they could get inside the hive before her and her brood could be alerted!

I'll just watch him for now. If I can't watch him through his mind, I'll use the eyes of another. Such a tactic might one day be useful for us should another hive become ambitious, or if the Ponies figure out how to tap into our minds.

Chapter 2: Change Is Good

Echo yawned and blinked at the dark blue ceiling above her and shortly after yawned again, rubbing one side of her face. Apparently she'd banged the side of her head against the backboard, though she had no idea how she'd managed it.

Due to her mocking Lyra's hobby the previous day she'd collected a bit less energy than she had the days previous to that one, and due to this she had been sent back to the house early rather than returning to the hive. Because of this she had awoken a little earlier than she normally did and the sun had not yet risen more than just enough to begin lighting up the world.

Seeing an opportunity to get an early start in her collection Echo got out of bed, glanced at herself briefly in the mirror, and then headed for her door, and down to the kitchen to make breakfast for Lyra before she could be up and about.

Halfway through preparing a batch of Prench toast Lyra came into the kitchen with a small plushie floating next to her that vaguely resembled the female main character from the third Icarna book. Lyra herself looked less than half awake and lazily stuck her tongue out and licked her lips several times without actually looking interested in anything and blinked her eyes very slowly. Her mane and tail both hung where they were not tangled or knotted and her ears were drooping.

“Good morning, Lyra!” Echo greeted cheerfully.

“Mmix naffer ghin malleck...” She said in perfectly fluent gibberish, and slowly blinked again.

“We're having Phrench toast for breakfast today.” Echo continued, pretending not to hear Lyra's failed attempt at communication. “Would you like strawberry jam with it, or just cinnamon this time?”

“Cinnamon” She mumbled and yawned, her mouth opening as big as it could, revealing her pearly whites and her tongue and part of her throat as well. She made a 'snit snit' sound with her mouth as she ran her tongue against the roof of her mouth, and then pulled out one of the two benches that Bonbon and Lyra normally kept underneath it. She climbed onto it and sat down in normal Pony fashion and stared blankly ahead of her.

“One piece, or two?”

“One's fine.”

“Fork and knife?”

“Sure.”

Echo lifted Lyra's portion onto a plate along with two kiwis and then carried it to her and set it down before her.

“You sleep well?” Lyra shrugged and grunted.

“I'll let you know when I've actually woken up.” Echo smiled in response. It was most likely that since Lyra had today off that she'd stayed up until the early morning hours reading again, or perhaps trying to draw a scene the book talked about. It would not be the first time.

With the last of the syrup-soggy toast now cooked Echo turned off the flame-stove and carried her own plate to the table and sprinkled some cinnamon of her own on it. Also taking a fork and knife, Echo cut off a piece of her materiel breakfast and also partook.

When Lyra finished her meal she smiled and rubbed her stomach, and then belched loudly.

“Lyra!” Echo objected, genuinely annoyed.

“Oh come on, Bonbon!” Lyra rolled her eyes. “It's not like there's anypony here other than us! Lighten up!”

When Echo finished her part of the meal she gathered up both her plate and Lyra's, and then put both in the sink and ran some water over both. Taking a glass from one of the cabinets Echo held it under the faucet until it was half full and then shut the sink off and drank her water. Finding herself still thirsty, she refilled it, and drank again while Lyra joined her and retrieved a glass of her own.

After they'd both satiated their thirst, Lyra stated that she was bored and asked Echo what her schedule contained. Echo pulled her list out from a drawer in one of the counters and looked it over.

“I need to make a few dozen candies for the shop down the street, but other than that, nothing really. Why?”

“Because I heard a few days ago that Cheerilee's students were going to be putting on a play today and I didn't feel like going alone. How long do you think it'll take you to make those candies?” Echo looked at the cuckoo clock on the wall and then hummed a moment while she considered.

For the actual Bonbon, given that her special talent was making candy it probably would not take her long at all. Echo on the other hand, though she had access to the experience of other Changelings that had done it had not participated in it herself. Knowing how to do something and knowing how to do something were two different things. She could at least give an estimate, based on what she currently knew, though.

“At least three hours. There's several different things that need to be made, and if I run out of one ingredient or another I'll have to go out and buy more. What time is the play?”

“Four-thirty-ish. It depends on how long it takes for all the children to arrive.”

“Then I should be there in plenty of time so long as things go alright here. Would you like to try helping?” Lyra made an embarrassed expression and shook her head.

“The only subject me and candy get along on is that candy is meant to be eaten.” She laughed. “I could be helpful if you need a taste-tester, though!” Echo smiled and shook her head.

“I think I can handle it, Lyra. Why don't you go for a walk or something while I work?”

“A walk for three hours? To where?” Echo shrugged.

“I was just making a suggestion. You could wash the dishes, you could read your book some more, you could-” Lyra's face lit up and she grinned.

“Great idea!”

“You washing the dishes for me? Why thank you, Lyr-”

“No!” Lyra hastily interrupted. “My book! The next one is due to come out in a week! I've got to finish book six!”

Lyra practically galloped up the steps to her room and left Echo in the room alone who looked at the dishes and frowned.

Why does nopony ever want to wash the dishes?!

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The youngling Changeling was being specifically watched by his hive, and he knew it. It wasn't hard to tell, really, given that he'd been followed everywhere he'd gone today by one of the caretakers, but it gave him no time to practice the new form he'd discovered, to his annoyance.

I discovered it, and I want to know how to use it properly before I show it off to everyone! He inwardly grumbled. But I won't be able to do that with him watching my every move! Not that he was mad at the caretaker himself. It was likely that queen-mother was merely making sure that he did not try to eat or do anything else that might bring him to harm. To a degree he was grateful for her concern, but again, it was preventing him from experimenting. So, since he could not practice with the new body, he instead chose to review what Echo had read earlier, and searched about to see if anyone else in his hive had managed to acquire some of the Icarna books.

He brushed one mind after another and watched for a few seconds through their eyes, but found not what he was hoping for and instead considered taking Pony-form and trying to check out one of them from the local library himself. A stern warning-thought for the attempt from the queen-mother herself quickly squashed this idea. She then sent a series of images that depicted what might happen if he were to lose focus and get caught. The images were not pretty and he required no further persuading. He also needed no further proof that he was being observed and endeavored to follow his day as normally as possible, which was for the most part helping the fully-grown workers to expand their tunnels down deeper and outward into the ground by pulling the dirt by cart to the underground river that flowed through their hive and let the current carry the dirt away. Had they been in a more remote location they simply would have piled the dirt outside like a colony of ants, but they were not.

The task was simple, if tiring after several hours of doing so and only got more difficult the further and further the workers dug due to the increased distance and more-frequently discovered rocks and occasional old bones from animals long dead. He did not see a reason for them to be doing so given that their hive was so small compared to the others, but as the elders frequently told him it was not his place to question their queen's commands. After all, she had been around more much longer than any of them had.

She had not been alive nearly as long as the Equestrian rulers, but unlike the Alicorns, Changeling queens were not immortal, and once every thirty years had the option of producing an heir. If the queen at the time decided that one was not needed or wanted, she could simply bury the egg in the ground until a later date and recover it later. So far as they knew, there were only six hives, which meant that no other queen had decided to produce an heir yet either, though it was simple for for anyone who knew the reason to understand why.

When a new queen was hatched and reached its adolescent years it would gain the ability to produce and control a hive of its own, and also became extremely rebellious, or territorial. This event almost always in their race's history had led to a war pitting mother against possible-successor daughter, with the daughter normally being the one to die. Unless their queen were to leave their current home behind to her heir when she came of age the only option was for her to simply not produce one.

A small rock struck the youngling on his head as he returned to the tunnel he'd been helping to excavate with the cart and for a moment lights flashed across his vision and he had a brief headache. Blinking his eyes several times in the hopes of clearing his vision he stared at the mound of dirt before him where a part of the tunnel had collapsed in front of him, blocking the entire tunnel as well as his way to the Changeling he'd been accompanying. Frowning at the loose soil and stones that had fallen he once more began filling his cart to clear the tunnel and then trudged back the way he'd come again.

At the river he locked the cart's wheels and began shoving the dirt and other debris into the current when the ground lightly vibrated and some dust and grains of dirt and sand fell from the ceiling and he looked around, wondering what the problem was.

Cave-in? another of his generation inquired, not aiming the thought at a particular target. Several 'yes' answers replied from more of their kind in several different locations, each one coming from the same general location, and sending images of where they were so others could render assistance when available.

Casually (or at least he hoped she would think it casual) he glanced at the queen-mother's mind to see what she was doing, and then he withdrew and looked around him visually as well as mentally. No one was paying any attention to him at the moment, and he smiled. Finally!

Picturing once more his transformational target, the dark tunnel briefly flashed purple and then was once more dark. Too dark for him to see anything at all with his changed eyes.

Grunting as he once more fell onto his front he tried moving his fingers again and had a little more success than he had last time, but not by much. He could fold his fingers over, but that was of little help when he could not yet move his arms or legs to push himself up to his feet.

Drat this body! No wait...drat me. Okay, relax first... He took a deep breath, and exhaled, emptying his mind as best he could. and don't think. Just do. Your body knows how to move. Let it. This was a lesson that was told to them every day that they were to practice shape-shifting. It was a simple lesson, but not easy when you were excited, as his messed-up transformation yesterday and just now had proved. Okay. Pushing myself up with my front hoofs- er, arms...don't think, just do like I normally would for my own body. He sighed. Even though my own body has such a different frame!

Several more attempts later he managed to move first one arm and then his other next to his torso. Okay. Next step, prop them up, and place the flat of my hands on the ground... The lower half of his arms slid drunkenly toward his head and again after a few minutes he succeeded. ...and push! This time he body reacted much faster than he'd expected and his upper body rose into the air with ease.

“Woah!” He exclaimed at the almost-instant reaction, and in his surprise he fell back to the floor again. “Oof!” Need to be a little more careful next time!

@ @ @ @ @

He's doing it again! The queen realized almost at once. Part of her wanted to investigate, but the more responsible part was busy coordinating the rest of her hive in freeing their trapped brethren after the cave-in.

Cave-ins were not out of the ordinary, especially in soft earth like the soil they had made their home in, but this did not make them any less serious. While she could replace them fairly easily in terms of numbers their colony was not one like true insects. Bees did not have individual minds and simply worked. Her children could form their own plans for a situation and act on them without her needing to get involved directly, which made managing the hive as a whole much easier on some points as long as they weren't trying to do something that was foolish. While she doubted that what the youngling was doing was truly dangerous, it was distracting, as when his mind vanished from the link it was like one of her children dying, which on their mental connection to her felt like being kicked; not really painful, but definitely distracting.

The queen joined her children at the site and examined the roof for a possible secondary cave-in. It would not do if they too were buried in the attempt at rescue. Finding it to be at least acceptable, she gave the command and her offspring rushed at the pile shape-shifting as they went into a smaller and more canine-like breed of Diamond Dogs for their digging capabilities. In less than an hour the others were freed, and she was free to investigate the youngling personally.

__ __ __ __ __

Aaaand...uprigh-

“Oof!”

The youngling banged his head on the gritty dirt roof of the tunnel that was too small for his increased height and lowered it again to rub it with a ill-aimed hand and instead rubbed his left ear. He had not been able to properly judge the distance without his sight, and now was hunched uncomfortably over in the darkness. He also had soon begun to feel chilled without his exoskeleton to keep him insulated from the cool air of the underground and occasionally rubbed his bare skin for warmth. Maybe trying this down here wasn't really the wisest choice. I should have gone outside again first, or at least into a larger area! Hind-sight could be a funny thing, but with his growing discomfort this was not one of those times. Alright, I've had enough for now. Goodbye blindness, hello warmth!

He let himself revert and began to feel warm again almost immediately. He also felt the queen's presence as she approached the tunnel and panicked and quickly began filling his cart with dirt again.

“Don't bother trying, youngling. I know that you've been up to whatever it was you were really doing last night!” She called down the tunnel ahead of herself. He dropped the head-sized rock he'd been carrying and sat on the ground to wait. Thirty seconds later she joined him and looked him over. After a little more than a minute of neither delving into his mind nor saying anything she spoke and asked him quietly why he was trying to keep a secret from her. “I will find it out sooner or later, youngling. Why not just tell me now?”

“Because I found out that we could turn into-” He hesitated half a second, then finished his sentence. “that form!” His tone was objective and a little whiny. “I want to learn how to do it myself before everyone else starts using it! It's-” he hesitated, and then said in a soft and non-whiny tone “it's mine!” The queen raised a hairless eyebrow and tilted her head.

“'Yours', you say? Well then tell me, little one, what would you have done if a cave-in had happened to you and you were still blocked from communicating with the rest of us, hmm?” He opened his mouth to reply, but she was not done. “You likely would have been injured. Our bodies are tougher than most other creatures with exception to Dragons, but if 'your' form that you took did not have the same hard shell we do you might have even died!” The youngling said nothing. “Therefore, for your own safety you are henceforth forbidden to perform that transformation, whatever it may have been, ever again unless you are being supervised.” She looked him directly in the eyes. “I cannot access the memories you create while you are in 'your' form, but that does not mean I don't know when you are doing it. If you try it again without being watched by someone I will take it to mean you no longer wish to be a member of this hive and you will be permanently disconnected from our mental collective and thrown out to fend for yourself.” Without another word she straightened and turned her back on him and left him in the tunnel alone.

* * * * *

Echo rubbed her head. The happenings back home had not escaped her notice, and in fact had distracted her to the point where she had caramelized the peanut butter fudge she'd been preparing by accident and needed to start over again..Oh well. she sighed, pouring the contents of the silver saucepan into a ceramic bowl with a rubber lid. At least it can be used as an ice-cream topping. Perhaps the Cakes will want to buy it. It was more likely that Lyra would find it later and use some for a bowl of ice cream herself. Actually, that sounds pretty good after making all this junk food! She groaned and resisted the urge to raid the freezer, and then resisted peer pressure from her hive mates as well, some of whom had never tried ice cream before and wanted to know what it tasted like. NO! she shouted mentally. I don't have time for that, and I don't think the real Bonbon would appreciate me devouring her sweet, cool...smooth...chocolatey- She began to drool a little, and then shook herself and quickly sucked it back into her mouth. -no! she repeated, this time to herself, and with a little effort returned her attention to what was normally Bonbon's job and what for today was her own.

As she had predicted earlier that day Echo finished preparing the last of the candies and other sweets around ten o'clock and began wrapping them up in either plastic or wax paper. Another thirty-three minutes later she finished that bit as well and separated them into bags according to their type. Finally, she placed all the bags into her saddlebags that she'd earlier placed onto the kitchen table and placed the dirty dishes, saucepans, and utensils she'd used into and next to the sink to be cleaned later.

Now time for ice cream? Drifted a hopeful thought along the back of her brain from another Changeling, to which Echo rolled her eyes and ignored her disappointed sibling in favor of getting the saddlebags on her back for delivery to the shop down the street.

The small silver bell above the door to the Candy's Delights and Deserts shop jingled as Echo pushed open the door and entered. Candy herself was nowhere in sight.

“Hello?” Echo called, walking further in.

The shop was small compared to the Sugarcube Corner, but the SC was more than a simply shop and often was also a gathering place for the town's youth. Candy's shop was built specifically for the making and selling of specially-requested treats and so was quite a bit smaller.

The floor's tiling was a creamy white and red checkered similar to the colors that were normally attributed to Hearts and Hooves day decorations in tribute to one of the days that she got the most business. A single low round cherry wood table with five seats around it was in the back-right corner and a small potted tree was next to the door she'd just come in through. To her left was the checkout counter on which a register machine sat unattended and a paper cup of what smelled like grape juice, also unattended, rested next to it. The counter had about thirty inches from the opposite side to the back wall for somepony to walk along it from the doorway that led into the back where the small kitchen and underground storeroom was. The counter also had a glass display case underneath the also-cherry wood counter-top that housed several of Candy's wares. Wares that once more made Echo's sweet tooth ache.

Echo called again into the shop, this time a bit louder and still received no response in turn. Curious, Echo set the saddlebags on top of the counter and then headed behind the counter and into the back room. There she found Candy snoozing over the kitchen's cutting-counter island with a whisk under one hoof and her face lying in a small pool of carrot cake batter that she'd apparently fallen asleep on and tipped over.

Taking pity on the snoozing Pony Echo retrieved a rag from the sink and soaked it and began cleaning the mess around Candy, taking care not to disturb her. A few of her brethren were laughing at the silly position that Candy had gotten herself in, and Echo rolled her eyes and returned to the sink to rinse off the cloth.

“Mm? Who'zare?” Candy mumbled from her batter-splashed place.

“It's me, Candy. I've got your orders made and delivered.” Echo answered.

“Aah!” Candy exclaimed, realizing where she was and rising form the mess, causing the bowl to tip back up and rock in place a little before coming to a stop standing once more. “I dozed off while cooking! I don't have time to sleep! I have too many orders to fill, I-” Echo placed a hoof on her mouth.

“Don't tell me you stayed up all night again, Candy. You run this shop almost entirely by yourself; you're not Celestia, you know. If you get tired, then rest. You won't be doing yourself any favors if you set your shop on fire because you dozed off while baking something in the oven.”

“But-” Candy objected from the corners of her mouth.

“But- nothing. Go clean yourself up and go take a nap on that cot you keep in the cellar. I'll finish up here.”

“Really?! I mean,” Candy cleared her throat and wiped the eager and desperate expression from her face. “Are you sure? You've already finished your part, you know...” Echo smiled and nodded.

“We're friends, aren't we?” Bonbon's your friend. I'm not...not really...but she'd offer to help you. “I've got nothing to do until quarter 'til four. Go ahead.” Candy sighed and gave Echo a hug, and then slowly made her way to the steps that led into the cellar.

When she was gone Echo looked at the cork-board that Candy kept on one wall. There weren't many orders left to do, but all of them were of things that would take a bit of time to complete. It's just as well. No doubt I'll gather a lot of nourishment from this, and I do have a lot of time to kill until the play.

No. No, no no NO! Echo mentally shouted over the din of insistent siblings all talking to her at once, and all of them saying the same insistent thing: just one taste! Or a spoonful...or a mouthful...please? No! I'm working right now, and these treats aren't for me! Or for Bonbon! If you want a treat for yourselves, go to town when you're free, and buy some yourselves! Echo gritted her teeth and rubbed her head with her hoofs.

The bell above the door of the shop jingled and Echo removed the pair of what Ponies called gloves even though they had no fingers and landed set herself down on her back hoofs again and trotted out into the shop-proper.

“Ah, good! I was afraid that no one was here today!” A tan earth Pony with dark brown hair and an hourglass Cutie Mark said, smiling at her. “Hello, I'm here to pick up two large blueberry muffins and a small box of croissants. It should be under either Derpy Hooves, or The Doctor.” Echo gave him a puzzled look.

“You do know that this is a sweet shop and not an actual bakery, right? We sell mostly candies, candied nuts, and chocolates here. You must be thinking of Sugarcube Corner.”

“I am? Oh blast, I suppose I am! So sorry, miss undercover-Changeling, I'll just leave you to it, then!” He turned around and trotted out again, the door swinging shut behind him before Echo realized what he'd said and her eyes bugged-out and her jaw dropped.

Eek! How could he know that?! Her mind in a state of curiosity majorly overshadowed by panic at being found out she ran out of the shop and looked around for him, but he had vanished. Somepony in town knows that I'm a Changeling! But how?! I was careful, wasn't I? Wait, what if he tells the rest of the town?! Oh no, the play! At least half the town will be there! If he talks- I've got to find him!

Almost thoroughly terrified of discovery and her mood spilling over into the mental network that linked her hive's minds together, also freaking them out, she galloped back indoors, shut off the cooking equipment so the shop wouldn't catch on fire while she was out, scribbled a note of apology to Candy, and then tore out of the shop in search of this 'Doctor'.

Chapter 3: Fanfilly

Fear was not a bad thing, nor was it a good thing. It simply was a survival instinct, and was often very good at keeping those that experienced it alive. Panic however, was another story, and in a hive's mental network it was an even worse situation, especially for the queen, who was fighting the bombardment from all her children at once in order to stay calm herself. Finally, she shouted one word both mentally and vocally:

“ENOUGH!”

Beyond her voice echoing through the tunnels leading away from her personal chamber and breathing there were no sounds. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it, observing the frozen, staring Changelings around her. Strains of worry still floated through the mental network, but for the moment the sudden shock of their displeased queen making her displeasure known had them paying strict attention to her.

“The earth Pony gave no indication that he was at all upset, did he?” she asked addressing her subjects before her, as well as Echo.

No, he did not seem worried or afraid or angry in the slightest. Echo replied.

“Then he may be a Changeling from another hive that does not care that we are here, or he may be a more open-minded Pony. Either way Echo, you are drawing too much attention to yourself by running frantically through town and you panic is affecting the entire hive. Slow down, catch your breath, and calm yourself.”

Calm?! How can I be calm when-

“Because I told you to be calm.” The queen interrupted, frowning. “Now. Be calm.” she repeated, using a bit of direct control on her subject and making her own eyes glow briefly.

Echo's emotions shut off completely and she slowed to a stop. Ponies in town were staring at her, so the queen made her look around for a clock-pole, and then approach it at a quick canter and look up at one side of it.

“Oh thank Celelstia! I've still got plenty of time!” Echo's mouth said, with her body producing the sounds but the queen saying the words. Echo's body sighed in relief and then at a normal pace began trotting back to Candy's store.

“Now that I've saved you from looking like you've lost your mind, 'Bonbon',” the queen said as she released her hold on Echo. “go back to the shop, finish making the orders, throw out the note, and then go to the play like you said that you would. The possibility of that stallion revealing who and what you are is indeed a possible threat, but not one that you need to worry about. I shall send several other Changelings to search for him while you are doing that.”

Returning her attention to the rest of her hive, she summoned the diggers to her and tasked them to take the form of Pinkie Pie (as it had been observed before that she could somehow be in several places at once) and search for the stallion that Echo had seen. “If you find him, find a way to lure him away from every nearby witness, and then interrogate him to find out how he knows what he knows. Do not harm him unless absolutely necessary, and do not reveal yourselves to him.”

Her workers nodded, and dispersed to head to the surface.

“And youngling?” There were several younglings that were leaving with the diggers, but there was only one she was talking to, and he knew it and halted before placing more than one hoof into the tunnel. He looked back at her. “No you may not stop into the sweet shop that Echo is working in to 'try one bite of everything'. You're too young to eat many sweets as of yet.” She gave him a knowing smile and he winced and nodded.

__ __ __ __ __

Hmm...where could he be? a short Pinkie Pie wondered as 'she' trotted down three street, passing by several bewildered townsponies who had obviously seen several other Pinkie Pies in other places already. The youngling already been through his assigned section several times and not seen the tan stallion they'd been tasked to find, nor talked to anypony who had, although he had seen several ponies both male and female that had an hourglass for a Cutie Mark. None matched his description, though.

He had a brief scare when he ran into the actual Pinkie Pie, but she'd only cheerfully greeted him and the bounced away singing a song with the chorus words including 'we are family'. Having luckily avoided being found out he once more searched the area and then frowned and plopped his pink plot on the ground. This is a waste of time; he's not here! He blew a breath through his lips without actually bothering to open his mouth first and looked at a clock pole that was nearby. The clock read that it was nearly three-thirty-five, and counting.

Another Pinkie-clone trotted by, this one fully-grown, ignoring him completely and startling a few local Ponies that obviously had not yet seen the increased number of Pinkie Pies that were roaming the town. Thankfully nopony shouted 'Changeling!', which meant that they'd simply taken it as a Pinkie-thing and had moved on.

Your highness, he's not here. He stated, trying to not let his mild annoyance slip through as well.

But he might be later should one of your brothers or sisters miss him. Remain where you are. He sighed.

As you command, Queen Nymph.

Thirty seconds before four o'clock, and still no sight nor sign of him, and the youngling was growing hungry, as he had been ordered out of the hive shortly before the daily time that she would distribute some of the energy that she'd been given from the collectors amongst those of the hive that worked within the burrow itself and performed none of the collecting themselves.

“I need food...” He glanced at a group of chatting Ponies walking by discussing the play they were going to. They were in a rather cheerful mood, and the urge to tail them and leech a bit of the positive energy off them was very tempting. Still, his hunger was only recently realized, and for the moment he could ignore it.

I see him!!! came the sudden shout from another Changeling. He's walking with a gray Pegasus and a pinkish-gray Unicorn child! The child is dressed in a costume, so they're probably heading for the school house's play. There are too many witnesses around and I cannot get close to him without drawing to much attention. What shall I do, my queen?

There was a moment of excited silence, and then she replied that the majority of the Pinkie-army were to return to the hive burrow for feeding and returning to their previous duties. Several were instructed to remain, the youngling among them, to his increased annoyance, though it was diminished when he was ordered to take a new form and head to the play along with the three nearest Changelings, one of them Echo in the form of Bonbon, who was on her way with Candy. Both of whom would be setting up a small stand outside the theater for selling the candies and chocolates that Echo had made earlier that day

The youngling perched himself on one of the crossing support beams above the audience, as had several other of the younger Pegasi that had not wanted to sit or stand with their parents. The play had not yet begun yet, but already the air was thick with positive excitement from the audience, as well as nervousness from the children standing behind the red curtain.

Seeing a window leading to the outside and several Ponies near it he drew in some of their good mood and satiated his hunger, smiling as he felt it fade away. He was not the only one.

Below him the tan earth Pony that they'd been assigned to follow was chatting with the local librarian on historical topics while the gray Pegasus and young Unicorn whom he'd arrived with were nowhere to be found. Most likely the Unicorn was behind the curtain as well getting ready for the upcoming performance and the Pegasus was trying to calm any nerves she might be suffering from.

Several minutes later a handful of adult ponies began sliding the curtains shut and the audience quieted and faced forward towards the curtain. A female tan pony with gray hair and glasses came out from behind the curtains and went through the vocal presentation of what was to follow in the play. The story was a re-enactment of the defeat of Nightmare Moon two years ago as described by the living Elements of Harmony, complete with special effects from a handful of local Unicorns as necessary.

The audience ooh'd and ahh'd and murmured for a few moments until the mare raised a hoof and then were silent once more.

“But first I'd like to thank our locals heroes once more for their part in fending off the Changeling attack on Canterlot. Were it not for your efforts, our kingdom would surely have fallen!”

The audience stomped their hoofs several times in agreement, but the purple librarian as well as several other others present quickly tried to wave their gratitude away, saying that it was not them but rather princess Cadence and a Unicorn named Shining armor who had defeated them.

“Aaand on that note!” the earth tan Pony said in a loud voice over all the others, drawing attention to him. He trotted up to the stage and climbed up onto it rather than use the steps.

Ack! Echo's thought of panic returning and zapping the minds of those Changelings present. He's going to say it! The earth Pony brushed his chest off, trotted next to the confused mare and winked at her before turning back to face forward. “Mares and stallions, fillies, colts, and any foals that may be out there somewhere,” He continued, still loudly, and still smiling confidently into th econfused Ponies watching and listening to him. “May I begin by agreeing that defeating queen Chrysalis and her Changeling swarm was indeed a job well done, and I must say that you Ponies are astounding at saving your country over and over no matter how insurmountable the odds!” His choice of wording was noted which started a bit of discussion in the crowd. “But Chrysalis' Changelings are hardly the only mythical race out there, and certainly not the only queen of her race. I'm sure you all-”

He continued talking to them, but the local Changeling queen nor her subjects were not really listening anymore and Echo had excused herself and was in the mare's restroom anxiously asking their queen what to do.

This is far from good, and with him being in front of everypony we cannot simply replace him and say that it was a joke in poor taste. However, his words open an opportunity to deflect attention away from us. Turning her attention for the moment away from Echo, she spoke to another of their number. Youngling!

His ears perked reflexively and he blinked from the crossing support beams above the increasingly puzzled or anxious audience.

Yes, queen-mother?

That creature you turned into- can you walk in that form?

I can stand and use its arms and hands a little, but I haven't tried walking yet.

Close enough. Transform into that creature in one of the Pony restrooms, and then return to the main room and get their attention.

How? he asked, already leaving the roof support beams and hovering through the building with his feathery wings.

It does not matter! She answered, agitated. Start a fire! Trip over a few of the Ponies in the back of the audience! Announce that you're an explorer and you got lost! But do something!

“This is what I get for wanting to keep something new to myself! I get to be a sacrifice!” the young Changeling grumbled as he stood in toilet stall and waited for the only other Pony in it to leave so he could transform with less risk. When he finally dried his hoofs and exited it, leaving the youngling alone once more. A brief flash of purple filled the room and then was gone, leaving a creature twice his height in the stall. A creature that could not rise to its full height due to the proportions of the constructed room, and a creature that did not know how to walk yet.

The wooden door banged open as the young Changeling fell forward while trying to take his first step onto the cool tiled floor.

“Oof!” Knowing how dire the situation was he pushed himself back up to his feet, grabbing hold of and using the basin of one of the sinks for support and balance. I haven't even grown old enough to receive a name yet!

Once more he made it to his feet, and, gripping the walls as best he could for balance as well as to support his legs, slowly made his way back to the performance room where the tan Pony was still prattling away. Several members of the audience had grown bored of him now and chatting amongst themselves instead. Once more he fell to the floor, but this time he also fell onto a purple pony holding an uncorked bottled drink, which spilled onto both himself and the Pony. The understandably unhappy Pony turned and glared at him, her eyes a little bleary.

“Hey! Watch it, you-” she gasped at this new unknown figure and backed up a few steps, bumping into three more Ponies who at first turned to tell her to look where she was going but then also caught sight of the newcomer and let out gasps of their own. Of those three, one was a Unicorn and the other two were earth Ponies. Of these three, two knew exactly what they were looking at, and all three gaped

“Sorry!” he said loudly. “So sorry!” he apologized, once more pulling himself up to his full height. These creatures have such poor balance!

The Unicorn suddenly began grinning ear-to-ear and bouncing on her hoofs and grabbed the earth Pony standing closest to her and shook her body until the poor earth Pony's eyes began bouncing in her sockets like rubber balls.

Wait a minute, he thought as he watched the proceedings. Cream-colored earth Pony with a blue and pink mane and tail...isn't she Echo?

__ __ __ __ __

“BON-bon-bon-bon-bon-bon!!” She near-shouted, squeeing in excitement. “Look at him, Bonbon! It's one of them! They're real!”

“Stop sha-yay-hay-king me, Ly-ra!” Echo begged, her forelegs, mane, and head waving helplessly in the air. Finally Echo remembered that she had back legs as well and gave Lyra a kick in the side.

“Ow!” Lyra exclaimed, now frowning at Echo. “What was that for?!” Echo grabbed both sides of her head and closed her eyes, given her head one last shake. When she opened them again she frowned right back and began smoothing her mane.

“I can see he's a human, Lyra, chill.”

“Chill?! A real, live human is here in Ponyville, and you want me to chill?! Do you know what this could mean?!”

The commotion Lyra created had the exact effect that queen Nymph had hoped for, and in less than a minute the entirety of the theater was staring at them, including the two tan Ponies on the stage, one of those with gaping eyes and mouth, the other with a smile and a nod as if what had happened was exactly what he'd expected.

Echo had not seen this, however, and nor had any other Pony. Instead some backed away from the new creature while others, who had heard and understood what Lyra had said crowded in closer for a better look.

Lyra left Echo's side and ran to the human's side and began asking him question after rapid-fire question, grinning all the while, while Echo tried and failed several times to speak to the as-of-yet unnamed Changeling youngling to try and fill him in on some of the information she'd read from the book earlier given that most younglings, herself included from when she herself was younger, chose not to perform a bit of research before acting. But as her queen had found before her, there was nothing to connect to and it was as if she'd struck a brick wall, or that she were trying to communicate with the dead.

Echo tilted her head to one side and frowned slightly. Clearly he was alive and well, so why could she not speak with him? She could communicate with the bare handful of other Changelings in the room in their Pony forms, but he was the exception.

Then again, his body is very different from this one, and our own. Perhaps that difference is what causes it? Echo pondered as she also walked forward to stand next to Lyra, who had moved on from questions to examinations. As Echo came to a stop next to her Lyra lifted one of his new arms and ran her hoof along it, eliciting a chuckle from the youngling.

“Oooh! You're ticklish!” She rubbed his arm again, this time a little swifter, and the youngling pulled his arm away and frowned at Lyra.

“Stop that!” He said, sounding annoyed but still snickering, and began pushing himself up to his feet again. As he rose up to his full height which was not much taller than the Ponies surrounding him) the Ponies surrounding him backed up slightly. He brushed himself off and then pointed at Echo with one hand, and then a thumb at Lyra with his other. “Is she your friend?” he asked as Lyra, who had not been among those to retreat, began taking measurements using one of her legs.

“Yeah.” Echo replied. “You'll have to excuse her, she's been a fan of a book series that centers on your kind as main characters for several years. To actually see one of you in person is like her birthday or something.”

“All my birthdays for the last ten years!!” Lyra said, hopping in place for a moment, still being loud and still grinning. “Is it true your kind can eat animals? And that your hair color is the same all over? All over? And what about swimming? And how did you get here, and-”

“Lyra!” Echo scolded. “The guy fell over when he got here, so he's probably very tired! Let him rest awhile before you start interrogating him!”

Seeing an opportunity to get out having to give answers for questions he did not have answers for, the youngling-turned-human allowed his knees to buckle a bit and placed his hands on Lyra's back for support.

“Woah, sorry!” he apologized again. “She's right, I'm exhausted. Just give me a minute and-”

“A minute?” Lyra repeated. “If you're tired, then you should go lie down somewhere!” Lyra looked pleadingly at Echo with puppy-dog eyes, non-verbally asking if she 'could keep him'. Echo rolled her eyes.

“No, Lyra! We only have two beds, and what's more, he's a complete stranger! Heck, he's not even the same species as us! How do we know he won't try to eat one of us while we're asleep?” That question added more muttering from the crowd, some of it nervous.

“Easy, Bonbon!” She pulled at the sides of his mouth with her hoofs while he gave her an unsure look. “Look at his teeth! Do you see any fangs?” Echo saw no fangs. She also saw no individual teeth as the picture in the book had depicted for the taller humans. Instead she saw one solid curved white wall of bone on the jaw, and one on the roof of the mouth above the lower. She supposed at a distance nopony would be able to tell (and thankfully Lyra had not actually looked at them herself yet) the difference, and really, the humans in the book were fictional. Who was to say that the 'real thing' did not have 'teeth' the exact same way?

“And your point would be? Ants have no teeth at all, and they eat dead animals.” Lyra released the sides of his mouth and his lips slapped against each other. When they did he leaned away from her a little.

“We're both grown mares, Bonbon. I'm pretty sure we can take care of ourselves, and besides, he's not very big. I doubt he's anything we'd have to be afraid of.”

“Well...” Echo fake-hesitated. Really if he was going to stay with anypony in town, she would rather it be with her or another Changeling so his true form could be better concealed, but knew that the real Bonbon would be against it and so had argued. With her argument for the sake of staying in-character having been made though, there was no real need to continue saying no.

“Pleeeeease Bonbon?” she begged. Echo sighed.

“Fine. But don't expect me to house-train him. If he pees on the floor I'm not cleaning it up!” Lyra's face went from begging-cute-puppy to giddy-child, and without waiting to ask him what he wanted, proceeded to drag him out of the theater.

Face-hoofing, Echo followed.

Meanwhile Mayor Mare blinked and the 'Doctor' cleared his throat.

“Well, that was certainly an interesting development!” He stated as if talking about the weather. “I now leave the starting of tonight's play in your capable hoofs, Mayor Mare!” He patted her on her back, making her jump from the unexpected contact, then smiled and trotted offstage, leaving her, as he said, to get the play underway. Nopony seemed inclined to pay her much heed after what had just transpired, however.

Chapter 4: Warm Sunshine and Literacy Issues

Chapter 4: Warm Sunshine and Literary Issues

“And this is our house! Feel free to make yourself comfortable!” Lyra offered cheerfully, pushing her door open and trotting inside before her and Echo's guest. His eyes swept across the room, noting the familiar setting from when he and several others had watched through her eyes when waiting (impatiently) for her to restart the reading of the the previous day during the time in which Lyra was showering.

“Cozy.” he said, entering as well, followed shortly after by Echo, who was breathing a little heavier from her faster pace.

“Over here's the couch!” She trotted next to a two-seat green couch beneath a window with cotton-stuffed back-cushions. The wood itself was made of common pine. “And over here-” She trotted to a set of steps. “are the steps that lead up to our half-bathroom and Bonbon's bedroom, as well as a closet for the rare occasion that we wear anything!” It was with those words that something that otherwise would have been very obvious occurred to her. “Hey...you're naked! I thought that humans were supposed to wear clothes most of the time?”

Seeing potential for a problem Echo pointed out that her information on humans as she knew them had come from a fictional book.

“Humans turning out to be a real creature does not mean that everything you read in that book is also true. A lot of the stories told about Nightmare Moon weren't true.” Echo looked him over. “Though to be honest, I can see why they would wear clothes. He'd probably get cold very easily, and his hoofs-”

“Feet.” Lyra interrupted and corrected.

“-feet do not look like they're good for walking over rocks or much of anything other than dirt or grass. At the very least he should get some kind of footwear.”

“I'll be fine.” the youngling said, shrugging. “I made it this far without them.” He yawned suddenly.

“We'll talk about this later.” Echo said, turning to Lyra. “In the meantime, where did you intend for him to sleep?”

“I can use the floor,” the youngling volunteered. “I don't mind.” Lyra shook her head.

“You're our guest! It'd be rude if we made you do that! You can use my room, if you like.”

Nah uh. Echo thought. Him being as young and inexperienced as he is he might revert while he's asleep. Can't risk it.

“If he uses your room he'll never get any sleep from your constant questions, Lyra. He can use my room, and I'll use the couch.”

“Please, Bonbon. He may not be a Pony, but he's still a guy and a stranger. It would be indecent for me to share the same room with him.” Lyra said, rolling her eyes. “I was going to use the couch.”

“Oh. Alright then. Shall we go back to the theater to catch the rest of the play while he takes a nap? I doubt we've missed very much of it.”

“Sure, why not.” She looked back at the youngling and asked him if he'd be alright. He nodded and Lyra pointed to a short hallway next to the steps. “My room is down that hall. Make yourself comfortable, and we'll be back in an hour or so.” He nodded and made his way to her room, and the girls left.

@ @ @ @ @

The queen sighed, relieved that her distraction plan had worked, and already was planning out what to do next, which was not as clear as Echo made it out to be. With the citizens of Ponyville thinking that a figure from myth had just stepped out of the fog of mystery and into the real world, this presented an opportunity like no other so long as certain events were set up to occur in the correct order.

Of course they'd have to conjure up a story as to where he'd come from and tell him what to say in answer to several expected questions. Perhaps she'd even replace him with another Changeling that was more experienced with acting so as to make it more believable. Certainly it would have to be one that could at the least stay changed during its sleep, but until he changed back to his true form she'd be unable to give him orders and information, which meant she would have to send another Changeling to tell him in person in case the opportunity to safely change back never came. And, of course, we'll have to make up a name for his form. One of those Icarna books should be able to help with that. I'll send someone to retrieve a few copies from the local library.

Returning her vision from seeing through Echo's vision as Echo left the house once more to that of her own, queen Nymph looked at the three Changelings that she normally kept nearby in case she required something. Selecting the youngest of the three (the other two being old in terms of the lifespan of a non-queen Changeling), she sent him to Ponyville in the guise of a mail-Pegasus that normally did not come to Ponyville except during holidays to relay her commands to the youngling should he not revert. He was recalled shortly after when the mind link reestablished, but when queen Nymph tried to contact him she discovered he was asleep, and as with before his memories that were formed whilst in human guise were shielded from her probing. It was irritating, but, she supposed, unavoidable...or was it? What if I turned into one of them as well? Would I be able to read his memories and communicate mind-to-mind then? She considered, this for a bit, and then decided against it.

Normally the premature death of a queen drove the rest of the surviving hive insane. Given that his transformations felt to her on their mental network like he was dying, her changing into one of them just might have the same effect on her entire hive, which would be a disaster. Perhaps she might try it after much preparation and after making her hive aware of her intentions, but not right now.

Instead she began crafting the youngling's story.

* * * * *

The next morning the youngling awoke to being nudged by another changeling. Believing himself at first to be back at the hive, he greeted her by asking for five more minutes of sleep and then pulled the pillow over his head.

Wait...a pillow?

Yes, a pillow. Echo confirmed. “You're not at the hive. Now quick, change back into the human before Lyra comes knocking! As if on cue, the shut and locked door was met with several taps and both of their heads turned to look at it.

“Wakey-wakey! Time for breakfast, Mr Human!” she rattled the handle. “Hey! Locking me out of my own room isn't nice!”

“Lyra will open it with her magic in just a few seconds.” Purple flame washed over her body and once more she took the form of Bonbon. “Now hurry, change back!”

The youngling nodded and transformed two seconds before Lyra opened it and trotted in. She stopped when she saw 'Bonbon' standing next to the bed and then gave her a critical look.

“You know, if I was a dirty-minded Pony, I'd have to wonder what you two were doing together in my room with my door locked. But given that you don't trust him and that my sheets are perfectly dry I don't think I have anything to wonder about.”

The youngling cocked his head to one side, not having a clue what Lyra was talking about. Echo knew though, and she frowned and looked disgusted. “Anyway, like I said, breakfast is ready. You two should come eat it before it gets cold.”

Breakfast was a treat for the youngling, who had not as of yet tasted much of anything and had up until now lived off of the energy that the queen gave them. He tried each new thing slowly, savoring the sensations that seemed to explode into existence in his mouth, and ate his meal in smaller bites than that of his hosts so as to preserve the flavor-fest a little longer.

When he finally finished he looked up from his plate to discover that both Lyra and Echo were watching him with expressions of amusement.

“You'd think he'd never eaten anything before, Bonbon!” She chuckled.

“It could just be that the food he's used to is different, you know.” The youngling/human nodded.

“Really?” Lyra asked. “What do your people usually eat?”

A knock at the door interrupted the newly-born conversation and saved the youngling from having to make something up. At first no one moved, and they traded glances. Finally, Echo volunteered and stood.

“I'll get it.”

When the door was unlocked and opened the sleepy yet smiling face of Mayor Mare greeted Echo.

“Good morning, miss Bonbon,” she leaned her head to one side to see around Echo's head. “miss Heartstrings, and of course, Human.”

“Hello Mayor Mare! What brings you here?” Echo asked.

“Oh, just doing my duties as mayor and trying to look out for my citizens. Would you mind if I asked your guest a few questions?”

“Not at all.” Echo replied, though that was a lie. Their queen was still working on the back-story behind the youngling's new form, and other than telling her to tell him to make up a name for himself she had given no instruction should he be questioned. But unfortunately she had not had the time to even tell him that before Lyra had woken up, and now it was too late. He would be on his own.

Echo stepped to one side and allowed the mayor inside. Mayor Mare thanked her and walked into the room, stopping on the youngling's right side and looking him up and down.

“Greetings to you, stranger.” Mayor Mare began. “What brings you to our fair town, and from where do you come from?” The youngling drank the last of his juice first to buy himself a little time to think, then replied while still trying to think of other things to add. It was not easy, as he was too used to having his hive mates offer him information or suggestions when he needed it.

“Curiosity brought me here, ma'am, and I-” He thought back to what the book had said. “-come from the west across the ocean. I cannot tell you from where exactly, though.” The mayor looked him over as well, meanwhile Lyra's eyes sparkled.

“Why not?” The youngling-turned-human shrugged.

“Because I don't know. Our maps are probably different from yours, and we had got lost in a storm that lasted for what felt like days. During the storm a huge wave washed over us and I was washed overboard. When I woke up I was on the seashore by myself. From there I walked inland looking for food.”

Excellent! Echo thought while keeping her face blank. Now we can have others get him out of here by coming in disguise as humans, too!

“How many others were you with?” His eyes rolled up a little as he thought a bit as if searching his memories.

“Six others, not including our captain. Our ship was built for speed, not for carrying stuff.”

“So seven, then.” He nodded. “Where were you headed?”

“If there was an actual place the captain had in mind for us to go she did not tell us. As far as I knew, we were just trying to fill in another blank patch of map.”

“I see.” she looked him over again. “From what I've been told Humans normally wear clothes. Why aren't you?”

“Who told you we wear clothes?” He responded, trying to buy time while he made up a reason.

“A handful of Ponies from a book club who are rather fond of a book series that has your race for many of the main characters.”

“I'm a member of that club!” Lyra added, still excited. “Book six comes out next week!”

“Yes, I am aware.” Mayor Mare said, looking at Lyra and rolling her eyes. “Your fellow club members asked me if I could perhaps force you to give custody of him to one of them instead, miss Heartstrings. I told them that your guest was a being, not a toy or a pet. They were rather disappointed, but asked- all of them, mind you- that I tell you they said for you bring him to your next meeting in two days.”

“I can keep him for two more days?!”

“No Lyra, that's not what she said!” Echo corrected, frowning. “Besides, what if his crew come looking for him to take him back home with them?” Lyra gasped, her eyes twinkling again. She pressed hoofs together and stared off into space.

“Then there'll be more of them! Maybe they'd be willing to take me back with them!” Echo face-hoofed and several of their hive laughed.

“Well if other Humans do come here looking for him we can't be putting this one on display like something out of a Freak Show. That would almost certainly send the wrong sort of message.”

“Oh of course we'd not do that Mayor Mare!” Lyra scoffed. “That'd just be rude! No, no obnoxious staring, only requests for a signed book, or maybe to be in a picture with him, or-”

The Mayor listened for another five seconds as Lyra talked a mile-a-minute as Pinkie Pie often did, then turned to Bonbon/Echo as she refilled her own glass with some pulpy orange juice.

“Well, regardless of whether or not they actually wear clothing I don't really have the time to make sure he's not mobbed by overzealous fans of that book series who think he's a wish come true. If his people do come looking for him and see him surrounded by shouting Ponies, however, they may react badly.” She leaned in a bit closer. “While this could indeed be the discovery of the century I'd rather not also have it become an international incident. Can I count on you to keep miss Heartstrings in line and make sure he's looked after?”

Echo nodded and looked at Lyra, who had retrieved her copy of the book and had begun giving him a summarized version of what she'd read so far. Him having been one of those that had listened in while Echo had read it earlier, was paying rapt attention. Echo looked back at the mayor and nodded.

“I'll try.”

@ @ @ @ @

Queen Nymph buzzed down from the ceiling of her hatchery after finishing inspecting the last cluster of eggs she'd laid and suspended two to a cocoon, content that they were developing as they should be. The eventually-to-be young within them had not as of done more than develop a basic body outline, and would not actually hatch for several more months. When they did they would not yet have been connected to the mental network that all hives shared with their members. She would have to go to them herself and establish it. If she did not, then should another queen somehow make her way into the hatchery she would be able to link with them instead, and steal queen Nymph's offspring for her own use. If she were allowed to hatch, a hive-princess could also do this gain enough drones to challenge her mother in a shorter time than if she laid the eggs herself.

Queen Nymph also checked the earliest non-hatched egg cocoons, commonly know to what races knew of them as egg sacks, though the term was inaccurate on several points, and smiled warmly when two pairs of faintly-glowing green eyes turned her way and her children inside squeaked and pressed their still-developing chitinous hoofs against the side. Nymph placed her on fore hoofs against her offspring's own and received several more excited squeaks.

Although Changelings laid eggs as spiders did and housed them in a materiel that was also similar to what some spiders and insects used, their young did not actually leave the cocoon after first hatching from their eggs, and instead remained within them until their exoskeleton and wings had finished developing, upon which time they would try to chew their way out. With spiders the exoskeleton was already finished when they hatched, even if it was not fully hardened yet.

After a minute's time queen Nymph removed her hoofs from the hanging cocoon and observed the others. To her disappointment and mild sorrow one of the cocoon's young were dead, and she set to the task of cutting it down to be removed from the hive and buried elsewhere. It was sad that some of her young had died, but she still had others to care for both inside and outside of the cocoons. Her sorrow might have been more severe, had she not already gone through this more than a dozen times before. Though she was not yet considered old amongst her kind she was no longer a queen in her youth, and had seen her fair share of death of both her brood, and that of other races and animal species. This was not to say that she did not mourn when her kind died, but it was not nearly as hard on her as it had been in her younger years.

Nymph notified a hatchery worker of the dead offspring and delivered them to it before taking one last look at the rounded stone chamber and wishing those that remained a pleasant rest.

Now what to do about the 'Human'? she wondered as her hoofs clacked on the stone flooring of one of the few natural underground cave tunnel formations in this region and echoed both ahead and behind her as she walked. Given that, from the observations she'd made through Echo's eyes, Lyra seemed unable to let him out of her sight for more than a few seconds, which meant that Echo might never get around to telling him what his back-story was to be. The easiest and probably safest thing to do would be to have several more of ours become additional Humans and have them retrieve him and bring him back. She reviewed the reaction of the mint-green Unicorn as well as the statement from the mayor of the book club's enthusiasm concerning their resident Human. They were rather excited. Fanatically so, almost. I have to wonder how they would react to more arriving in the company of a few Changelings and claimed them to be pets. Oh wait, no I don't. She rolled her eyes.

Most likely the locals would freak out and those that had magic would start slinging objects from all directions at them to get rid of them. Still, there was nothing to prevent others from coming in along with them disguised as Ponies who were ever-so-generously leading them from some outer-edge settlements near the sea to the nearest Pony-town. That would be sure to cause a greater stir than just the youngling's arrival, and possibly the amount of positive emotion energy collection would be quite high as well. Still, a little back-story ahead of time for them as well will be in order, otherwise they'll be no better off than the youngling is, though at least that might change for him in the near future if Echo ever has a chance to talk to him alone for more than a few seconds.

Nymph passed by a single shaft of sunlight four inches in circumference that illuminated the immediate area where it shone. She paused and looked up to see a small patch of blue sky through it. What she assumed to be a bird flew by, temporarily blocking the light for half a second, but the light returned afterward. I'll have to get that plugged up. On lands as flat as those above a really bad rain storm might cause a bit of flooding down here. She sent the message to a burrower, who acknowledged her command, and then returned to his previous task.

She nodded, though it was not necessary as there was no one to see it, and continued along the tunnel until she reached the next fork, at which time she took the route that led up to the surface and pushed up one of the hidden doors and looked around. Flowers bobbed in the breeze, and the grass wavered, looking like green waves of the land. A lovely day, by most species' reckoning. She sniffed the air, taking in the scents of the field that surrounded their home. Pleasant.

Queen Nymph rose out of the shaft that led into the hive and landed on the ground in front of it, shutting the door behind her with her magic and stepped forward on the soft ground, which sank a bit under her weight, for the first time in over ten months. After all this time it feels strange, but not in a bad way. Nymph thought as she glanced down at the green blades of grass and occasional flower directly in front of her. Satisfied, she laid down on it and smiled a little.

Now that I'm comfortable, I can better better think!

She performed very little thinking, however, and instead fell asleep with a smile of her face shortly after in the warm sunlight, several of her hive coming out of the hive and taking up positions of protection around her while she began to lightly snore.

__ __ __ __ __

“So what do you think?” Lyra asked her new favorite sapient being, wearing an eager grin and looking up as their trio strolled out of a local clothing shop.

“I think we've spent entirely too much money for what we bought!” Echo grumbled as the door swung shut behind her. They had, really. All the tailor essentially did was take two long pieces of cloth twice the Changeling-Human's height, sew their edges together to make it wider, then folded it over, cut a hole in the top for his head. He then had the Human hold his arm up and out to both sides and sewed up until there were six inches of open-spot below his armpits. In other words, he'd made something close to a toga. “Twelve bits for something we probably could have bought from Rarity for less than half of that, or even made ourselves!” she huffed.

“If my clothing is really as expensive as it sounds you could just take it back. I don't really need-” Lyra interrupted the youngling before he could go any farther with his objections.

“You're our guest, and even if you don't need clothing, a certain part of your anatomy has been drawing stares from the Ponies we've passed in town.”

“Really?” He asked. “Which part?” Lyra coughed and looked at Echo, who sighed and answered for her friend.

“The part of you that makes it obvious you're male.”

“Oh.” He said simply, realization dawning, but not dawning enough for the metaphorical sun to rise. “Why are they staring at it? Haven't they seen them before? I mean, it's not like you all wear clothes that I've seen.”

“We have, but it's not so...obvious on them. You see, your...equipment is located in the same place, but since you walk upright it's always in plain sight. With our males, it's not.” As an example she pointed at a fat brown earth Pony that was setting up a fruit stand. Nothing that resembled the Human's 'equipment' was visible.

“Huh. I see.” Really, he didn't, but got the feeling that this was an awkward subject for Lyra (and probably would have been for the original Bonbon) and decided to let it end at that. At least for now. Certainly an earth Pony or a Unicorn's 'equipment' would be less noticeable, but what about the occasional Pegasus flying overhead? From what of the Pegasi in general he'd seen, very few, if any of them wore anything resembling clothing except one flying gray mail mare carrying a bag full of what he assumed to be letters and perhaps small packages. And that hid nothing! He thought with a roll of his eyes. Maybe they're not as bothered by it in her case because there's so many females here anyway.

Briefly their trio stopped outside of a large tree with several windows and a red door in the front of it.

“I'll be right back!” Lyra declared, and then entered the tree without knocking.

“Library?” The youngling asked, making sure his memory were correct. Echo nodded.

“Knowing Lyra she's going in there to see if the release date for her favorite book series has been changed.” She sighed. “Really, I don't understand why she tortures herself like that.”

“Maybe she's hoping that I'm a sign or something.” Echo laughed a little.

“Colt, would she be wrong! Oh, that reminds me,” Echo lowered her voice a little. “queen Nymph has made a back-story for you, as well as a name pulled from one of the earlier books.” She threw a quick look at the as-of-this-moment-shut library door. “I doubt I've got the time to tell the whole thing to you, so for now I'll just tell you your first name; it's Thomas. She also said that the last name doesn't matter and you could pick it yourself.”

While 'Thomas' only nodded in response, he was unable to stop a smile from breaking out on his face shortly after. A name! I've got a name! True, it was only for his Human form, and it was one of the strangest names he'd heard, but still!

Echo raised an eyebrow at his reaction, then realization dawned.

“Ah, you didn't have a name at all before now, did you?” He shook his head. “Well, congratulations then! Once we get you out of here we'll see you get a proper name and-”

The door swung open again and Lyra came back out levitating a thick paper bag with several long rolled up papers and books stuffed in it.

“Umm...Lyra?” Echo started and stalled out, staring at the bag.

“Hmm?” Lyra looked at Echo, and then where Echo was looking. “Oh, my bag?” Echo nodded. She levitated a book out of the bag and showed it to her, at which point Echo frowned and reminded Lyra that the mayor had asked them (though not directly) to not extort their charge. “But there's only like, five books, and the rest are all maps of the world as we know it. Besides, I'm not intending to sell them.”

“Okay, but why the maps? Oh. Never mind.” She intended to see if anyplace looked familiar to their guest. “So what, then? You're going to have him sign your new collection and put them in a glass case to pass down to your children?”

“No, silly! I'm going to have him sign them, and then I'll donate them to the book club!”

“And then,” Echo added. “if what the mayor told us earlier is any sort of warning against such an action, they'll declare war on one another for ownership of just one of them! Do you think before you plan anything, Lyra?” Echo asked, face-hoofing. Lyra frowned.

“Of course I think things through! I'm not just going to hand them over! I'm going to tell them I've got them, then I'll set up a raffle, and those whose tickets I draw will get a book!”

"Well...I guess that isn't so bad." Echo slowly nodded.

“Um, girls?” Thomas asked. “There might be one little problem with that.” Lyra and Echo looked up at the conversational newcomer. “I can't read, and I don't know how to write.”

Lyra's left eye twitched.

Chapter 5: Uh Oh!

Bonbon smiled at the sight of her home in the distance from a bend in the train's railway path. She had been gone for almost a week, and originally had intended on staying in Manehatten longer, but her sister had caught a cold while she was visiting and had not wanted to give it to her. After a short friendly argument that ended with a gift of cough medicine Bonbon packed her things, picked up a snow globe souvenir and then boarded the afternoon train destined for Ponyville.

On the way, the train had broken down and those in charge of running it took an additional day to repair it, but now they were steaming merrily along and would be arriving in town at the latest by sundown so long as nothing else happened.

“It'll be nice to be able to sit down on my own couch-” she shifted in her spot on the bench she sat upon. “eat my own food-” she grimaced at the memory of her sister's cooking. “and enjoy some-” a foal started wailing at the top of its lungs...again...and Bonbon covered her ears. “peace and quiet.” And perhaps best of all, Lyra had joined a book club two months before and now for the most part saved her 'Icarna infatuation' for them, which meant other than the occasional excited outburst from one passage in her book or another, it really would be quiet. “Just a few more hours, and I'll be home again!”

* * * * *

Echo felt a shiver run down her spine, though she had no idea why; the weather was warm and there was no wind.

Lyra had gone back to her job at the cafe after dropping her things off at their house, walking stiffly. It would seem that news that Thomas could not read or write had snapped something in her brain! Echo thought, checking the door to make sure that it was locked and then turning to the windows to close the curtains. Hopefully it would send the nosier Ponies the message that they did not wish to be bothered for the time being.

Once she was done she went back down into the kitchen where Thomas was eying a bowl of fruit, his mouth watering a little.

“You're drooling.” Echo said, and he hopped in his seat, startled. “Jeeze, acting like that, you'd think you'd never had fruit before!”

“But I haven't-”

“I know that, and you know that, but eventually somepony is going to find that a little fishy. You should at least pretend that you've had one kind of fruit or another. There are places in the world that have fruits that aren't here and the other way around, but sooner or later someone or somepony either from the general area you're supposed to be from or at least knowledgeable of it might show up and then you'll be in trouble.”

“Well what can I do about that? I'm not connected to the hive anymore!”

“That's exactly why I shut the house up.” Echo walked to the couch where Lyra had dumped her books and maps and took the maps and spread them out on their table in the kitchen, using empty cups to hold down the corners. Most of them were of Equestria's shores and the towns or smaller settlements nearby, but a two of them were also maps of the known oceans. “Have a seat. We're going to pick a place for you to have originated from, but we're not going to do it alone.” She let her disguise fall away and pointed a holey hoof at him. He hesitated and she raised an eyebrow. “Well?” Thomas nodded and shifted back as well. He fell forward, and then fell onto his face as all the minds he'd been isolated from for the day and a half bombarded him with questions or began looking through his memories directly, trying to find out what it was like to be what he had been. It was so deafening he could not hear his own thoughts, and for a reason he was not sure he understood, it made him afraid.

“Stop it!!!” He shouted both aloud and in his mind, clamping his fore hoofs to his head.

@ @ @ @ @

The queen's eyes popped open at a sudden frantic shout and looked around for the source. Seeing nothing through her eyes, she reached her mind out to her children and found that the youngling- Thomas, now- had been the one to shout. Apparently most of the minds of her hive rushing into his own all at the same time had frightened him.

Her nap abruptly ruined, she grumbled a little but decided to observe Thomas actions. If this was just a one-time thing, fine, but if being in Human for for extended periods was going to have this effect every time, perhaps it would be better to abandon her plans for using it beyond getting Thomas out of the Pony town.

__ __ __ __ __

The pushing of the many linked minds quickly retreated in surprise. Breathing heavily, Thomas rose to his hoofs and looked at Echo, who also looked at him with surprise all over her face and posture. Thomas took a breath.

“Just...give me some time to re-adjust first.”

Confusion and concern washed gently over him from the minds of his hive mates, as well as renewed curiosity. Why had he reacted like he had? Thomas was unsure. Never before had the minds of his hive mates bothered him, but then, he'd not had almost the entire hive pouring into his head at the same time before, either. At the most he'd had five looking in on him at the same time, and only two of them were actually actively routing through his memories. The others had only observed his actions and thoughts. Maybe it was from me only having my own thoughts to listen to for a day?

The mental silence he'd possessed whilst in Human form had been a strange sensation, though not unwelcome. There had been several times when he thought of something (such as an observation that their queen was getting a little overweight) and soon after wished that he had a way to truly hide it from the rest of his hive. To a degree, his thoughts were his own private thing, but if the queen decided that she wanted to know something that he did, there was nothing he could do to stop her from finding out (and she'd been none too pleased to discover that he thought she was getting fat, which, in reality, she was).

Thomas slowly took several deep breathes (as at some point another hive member had found this to be a good way to relieve stress, so he used it too), and then said that he was okay now, but to please not all rush in at once. Cautiously his hive mates moved in again, a bit slower than before, and found the same blank wall that their queen had when they tried to access his memories. Once they'd discovered this 'wall' they instead began asking him personally what his new form was like. He explained in reply as best he could, including (and adding emphasis to) the sensation of taste. Many of his hive whom had already matured recalling their own 'first taste' experience nodded appreciatively, or chuckled from the elaborate and enthusiasm in the description he gave.

As to balance and the handiness of- well, hands- those of his kind that spent most of their time as regular Ponies or Pegasi and had difficulty holding things could certainly appreciate his hands, but none of them were particularly comfortable with the idea of walking, let alone standing on only two legs, and found his statement that it was easier than it looked to be somewhat dubious.

After twenty minutes of him recounting his day in Human form queen Nymph's voice entered the conversation and ended all others.

So then you are doing well. She stated.

“Yes.”

“That is good. I am planning to have others from our hive come to get you, but until I have selected them and had them practice a Human form of their own for at least a day you'll have to be patient. In the meantime, Echo will be telling you what your back-story is so that you don't trip yourself up. Learn it, burn it into your memory, and use it.”

After hearing it and practicing with Echo multiple times he changed shape again and they reviewed several more times to make sure that he still recalled it.

Thomas was a sailor under the employ of his captain, who was named Christina Hills. Christina was a name stolen from one of the first few books. In that book, Christina had been a gardener that was only mentioned twice in book two, and queen Nymph hoped that nopony would recall the name because of that. Her ship was called the Seafire, and possessed a wooden statue at the front of it carved in the shape of a phoenix in flight. Thomas' favorite homeland fruit was a pineapple (though other than a picture that he'd been mentally shown as a Changeling he had no idea what that was), and his job was making sure they got the food supplies they needed for a journey and stowing it away.

His queen hoped to have several of their hive ready to enter town and retrieve him within the next three days. Until then, he just had to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible, and stick to his story.

Stay out of the spotlight. He rolled his eyes and sighed. Right.

“Well, at least if anyone asks you about your occupation you can answer!” Echo said, trying to be optimistic.

“But what about what my 'home' looks like? Do I live on a mountain? Near a sandy or stony beach? A forest? Do Ponies live there, or only us and regular animals? Queen Nymph has had over a day to think over that, and my job was the best she could come up with?” Thomas clapped a hand over his mouth as he realized that he'd just insulted his leader and mother, and Echo's expression quickly changed to annoyed and walked over to him and kicked his shins, to which he yelped.

“If you think you can do a better job, child, feel free to make up your own story!” Echo said in a deeper and very familiar voice. “Unlike you, I also have to oversee our entire hive, as well as worry about preserving your ungrateful hide!” Then Echo blinked a few times and shook her head form side to side.

“You made her angry, Thomas. And she's right, you know. All you've really had to do since you got here was just play along and put up with Lyra's enthusiasm. You've gotten free food, a place to stay, free clothing, and even your own personal fan club!”

“Yeah, but who was the one that got me stuck here to begin with?”

“You.”

“Huh?”

“You were the one that decided to experiment by taking the form of a fictional character. If you hadn't done that, queen Nymph would never have decided to use that form as a distraction, and you'd be back home helping to dig out more tunnels.”

“And then we'd be being chased out of town by a bunch of panicked Ponies.”

“Is that a complaint?” Thomas hesitated.

“Well no, but-”

“Then tell me your story again. If you want to add something to it, go ahead.”

__ __ __ __ __

Lyra picked up a clean dish rag and began polishing her lyre while she waited for the town's lunch-time rush. It did not really need to be cleaned, but she liked it when it caught the sun's light and shone like a golden jewel. The lyre was only gold-plated and not made of actual gold, but it was not as if she could currently afford one in a gold lyre's typical price range anyway.

She plucked a few of the lyre's strings with the edge of a hoof, savoring the angelic plink they made.

What would it be like, I wonder, to play this with fingers instead of magic or my hoofs? She plucked another string before her lyre was covered in a shadow. Lyra looked up to see the president of the book club staring hard at her with narrowed eyes and a small frown on her face. She jabbed a hoof at Lyra and said

“You.”

“Me.” Lyra replied, a tiny bit confused but suspecting she might know what her literature leader was displeased about. “How you doing, Page Turner?”

“Oh, I'm fine. We're all fine, miss Heartstrings. There's just one” she poked Lyra with her hoof. “little” she poked her again. “problem.” and one last time. “A certain somepony is keeping a certain someone all to herself!” Yep, she knew, but decided to play dumb.

“If this is about your ex-coltfriend, I had nothing to do with-”

“You know fully well who this is about, Lyra!” Page stomped her poke-hoof in the packed dirt like a pouting child. “You and your room mate are keeping the Human all locked up and hidden in your house where none of us can see or speak to him!”

“Locked up and hidden? What are you talking about? Bonbon may be willing to tolerate him, but she's not happy he's there. She's not so uncaring she'd just throw him out without a good reason, but even with the mayor telling us to not make a spectacle of him to say she's hiding him is just silly.” A thought occurred to Lyra and her own eyes narrowed. “Unless, of course, you've been hanging around outside o four house like a creepy stalker. You haven't been doing that, have you?”

Page Turner cleared her throat and then coughed, both of which sounding forced.

“Well I was not, I can assure-”

“You were, weren't you? I knew I saw a camera bulb's flash outside my window when I went to greet Thomas!”

“Thomas?” Page Turner raised an eyebrow, confused for a second, then she emitted a soft gasp as realization dawned on her face and she leaned forward until she was invading Lyra's personal space. “You found out his name! What else did he tell you?! Tell me! Tell me! It is your obligation as a member of the book club to share your findings with the rest of us!”

Lyra gently pushed Page back a few inches, now sporting a frown of her own.

“First of all, I'm working right now, and second, if you want to ask him a bunch of questions you'll need to speak to the mayor mare first to get permission. She's afraid that if more of his kind come looking for him and see a bunch of us surrounding him that they may not react well to it.”

“We don't want to mob him, we just want to know how much of the books are fiction, and how much is- hey, waaaait a minute...” Page trailed off as an idea struck her and turned her head to one side and stroked one side of her chin with it. “He's not the only source! I can ask the author directly!”

“Ask the author?” Lyra asked, raising an eyebrow and shifting on her stool to make herself more comfortable.

“Didn't you hear? No, I suppose not, I only found out an hour ago.

“Twilight Sparkle sent a letter to princess Celestia last night about what happened at the theater, and the princess sent a letter of her own to the Icarna author asking her if she knew her 'fictional characters' were in fact, real beings. This morning the princess wrote back to Twilight that the author would be coming here to see him for herself! Isn't that cooler than ice?! I can have both the author, and a creature from the series sign it!”

Page Turner's voice had grown steadily louder as she explained her realization to Lyra, and by the time she'd finished she was nearly yelling, which drew curious stares and frowns from the waiter and the patrons who had sat down at the cafe to enjoy casual conversation and lunch. The waiter, upon the completion of Page's excited explanation trotted over to her and asked her to either lower her voice, or else leave. Page chose to leave, now that she was in a better mood and, in truth, had forgotten the reason for her agitation at Lyra for the moment.

Lyra in the meantime was prodded by the waiter to begin playing and Lyra did so, though the strings she strummed and plucked were done more through motor-memory than any actual will to do so, which was good, because at the moment she was too busy running possible scenarios through her mind as to what might happen when her two current favorite people met.

Later, as the sun had begun to set the cafe owner closed his restaurant, paid Lyra, and bade her good night.

Lyra made her way home, whistling a tune that she often heard Pinkie Pie singing in the Sugarcube corner and about halfway when she saw a tired Bonbon heading her way. Thomas wasn't with her. Curious as to why this might be she waited for her to reach her and then asked.

“Thomas? Who's Thomas?” Lyra made a face.

“What do you mean, 'who's Thomas'?! He's only been staying with us for about a day, now! You know, he's about my height, brown hair, walks on two legs, has hands?” Bonbon rolled her eyes.

“Lyra, is this another one of your silly Icarna things? Did you make a life-size model of one of those characters while I was out of town?”

“Uh, no. Seriously Bonbon, did you like, hit your head or something? You never left Ponyville!”

“What do you mean I never left Ponyville?!” Bonbon asked, incredulous. “I left you a note on the refrigerator a few days ago telling you that I was going to be out of town for a week visiting family! I came back a little early, but that was because my sister got sick before I got there. 'Did I hit my head?' Did you hit yours?”

Lyra was filled with confusion for a few moments, as conflicting information clashed and made war in her brain, but then the battle ended with one conclusion: Either she was speaking to a Changeling right now, or she had been living with one for the past few days, and she'd just left one of the most important living discoveries in history in the company of one!

Lyra had asked Bonbon a very personal question, one that only the two of them new the answer to (after telling Bonbon her theory) and now the two of them were galloping back to their house, though Bonbon was still doubtful that Lyra had seen an actual Human and figured it was part of some sort of mental illusion that the alleged Changeling must have created so that Lyra would be distracted and therefore less likely to notice anything different about 'her friend'.

Lyra slid to a stop outside of their house and tried the handle to discover that it was locked. Suddenly worried she turned her attention to a window on the side of their house. Just as Page Turner had complained, the curtains had been pulled shut and the window itself was also locked.

Oh no! What could she be doing to him?! Or what has she done?! Lyra turned back to the door and readied a burst of telekinetic power aimed at the door's lock. Bonbon saw the look on her face and took a few steps back.

“Um, Lyra? What are you-” Her unfinished question was answered as Lyra unleashed her magic on the lock and then pushed down on the handle and practically tackled it open. Indoors Thomas was fine and was sitting on their couch, but sitting next to him, as she'd feared, sat a shocked Changeling!

“Get away from him!!” Lyra yelled and charged the creature, which just barely regained the presence of mind to hop into the air and fly towards the open door, but seeing what was now inside their house (both of them) Bonbon jumped into the air and slapped it with a hoof, knocking the intruding creature to the floor, whereupon Lyra used her magic to pin it to the ground. Lyra looked at her friend and told her to go get a town guard while she held it in place. Bonbon nodded and galloped out of the house.

Chapter 6: Can't We All Just Get Along?

“Hey!” Thomas objected loudly, getting off the couch and glaring at Lyra. “What do you think you're doing?!” Lyra threw him a look of disbelief.

“Okay, you must not know what this thing is. This creature-”

“Is called a Changeling. Yes, I know.” Thomas interrupted and finished. “Why did you attack her?”

“I was protecting yo- wait, her? How do you know it's a she?”

“The same way you can tell your genders apart. Plus it helps when you're neighbors to them and have grown up around them.” Lyra's jaw dropped.

“You live around Changelings back home?!” Thomas nodded.

“Don't you? I admit that I didn't think you had them at first because all I saw was your kind and not one of them in their natural forms, but then, they can fly, and I've seen several birds here that I know from home too, so-”

“They walk around in this form all the time?!”

“Well no, but they normally only changed their shape when they needed a different body shape to pick something up or if they wanted to go swimming, or-”

Their conversation ended abruptly when Bonbon, a guard, and the mayor mare came back and the guard tromped in with hoof-cuffs dangling from his mouth. His eyes narrowed hatefully at the Changeling on the floor and immediately set to work cuffing her legs together. The Changeling on the floor whimpered pitifully, and Lyra couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of pity for it. Still, it had come into her home, impersonated her best friend, and-

And what? Her mind whispered. She talked to the Human. So? She didn't hurt you, she didn't steal any of your possessions, and she didn't hurt him or Bonbon either. She shook off that line of thought. It was possible that the Changeling being dragged away by the guard had put some kind of spell on him to make him say those things...or worse, (and this idea she hated to consider) he himself might have been replaced by a Changeling while she was out, or could have been one all along!

It was not a thought she liked to consider, but a necessary thought for caution's sake, given what had almost happened during the last Changeling incident. It's getting late, but I'm going to have to pay Twilight Sparkle a visit before I go to bed tonight. I have to know first!

@ @ @ @ @

Hrm. It would seem that Echo was careless and has gotten herself captured. The queen thought as she watched Echo being dragged away from Lyra and Bonbon's house by the guard through Echo's own eyes. Yet another thing for my plate.

“Assemble, my children!” She called to the Changelings nearest to her. “I need five volunteers to take on Human form and learn how to use it.” Sooner or later they're going to try testing some sort of transformation-detection spell on Thomas. When they do it will be too late to help him, and once two Changelings have been found in town they'll probably conduct a full-village sweep for more. I can't let that happen.

__ __ __ __ __

Lyra rapped a hoof on Twilight Sparkle's front door and waited.

“Who is it?” Came a male's voice. Given that Twilight Sparkle lived alone with the exception of her baby Dragon assistant and to Lyra's knowledge had no coltfriend, it was probably Spike.

“It's Lyra Heartstrings. Is Twilight home?”

“Yeah, but she's showering right now. Do you mind waiting?”

“Not at all. May I come in while I wait?”

“Sure. Hang on.”

The sound of something being pushed across the wooden floor grated through the window nearest to her, and after a few short seconds the door's latch clicked, followed by more grating. Finally, the door swung open, revealing a small purple and green Dragon with a stepping stool behind and to the right of him. Lyra walked in, and Spike shut the door behind her. After a brief look around and seeing that it looked pretty much the same as it had the last time she'd been inside the library, minus the owl being missing, took a seat on the floor and asked Spike how his day had been. He replied that it had been busy as usual, but nothing that he could not handle. “So what brings you here so late?”

“A Changeling was impersonating Bonbon for the last few days.” Spike's eyes bulged. “But when we found it, it was talking to Thomas and he to it like it was nothing out of the ordinary. I wanted to ask Twilight if there was a way to see if he'd had a mind-spell cast on him, or if he himself is a Changeling. When it- she was being dragged away, he spoke against our actions. I just want to be sure.”

“Yikes! Do you know where the real Bonbon is?” Lyra nodded.

“That's how I found out that a Changeling was impersonating her to begin with. Bonbon had gone on a trip, but came back earlier than she'd planned, and we ran into one another on my way home.”

“Who was impersonating who, now?” Came Twilight's voice from the other side of the room.

Twilight Sparkle, a lavender-bodied Unicorn, entered the room while still toweling her mane off. Her tail was a frizzy mess, and her hide was at the moment a bit fluffy from being toweled off, which made her look a bit comical in Lyra's opinion. Spike explained the situation. “Oh my!” Twilight set the damp towel on her back and let it hang. “I think I might have something to help you test if he was, or still is spell-bound, yes. As for detecting a Changeling, I'm afraid I don't know how to do that yet, if there even is a way. I suppose I can ask the princess, but it's kinda late right now.”

“Thanks, Twilight. I appreciate it. I remember being spellbound by a Changeling before, and it wasn't fun.”

“Oh, it's no problem; I know how you feel.” At Lyra slightly puzzled expression, Twilight elaborated that her older brother had also had his mind tampered with a bit and then told Spike to retrieve the yellow spell book on shelf 2B. Spike nodded and headed for the stepladder, then pushed it where he needed it to be, then retrieved the book and brought it to the librarian Unicorn.

“Here you go, Twilight!”

“Thanks, Spike.” She replied, smiling at him before returning her attention to Lyra. “On page forty three you'll find the spell you want. I must caution you on something first though, so you know not to jump to any conclusions. That spell will only tell you if his mind has been tampered with. It won't say who or what did it, or in what way. The more advanced version of that spell is in a book that's currently out on loan, and I haven't read it yet myself because I haven't had a lot of free time recently.”

“I'm sure it will work just as well, Twilight.” Lyra said, accepting the book in her own colored telekinetic magic cloud. “I only wanted to know if something had been done to him anyway. Thanks again, Twilight, and good night.”

“Good night, Lyra.” Twilight bade the mint-green Unicorn.

“Night!” Spike said simply in a friendly voice before he shut the door.

Lyra arrived back at her home to see Thomas sitting on the large stone step outside her door with his chin resting on a fist and the rest of his body sitting like she (and many other fans of the Icarna series) normally did with his back against her mailbox. He gave a half-hearted wave as she trotted a stop in front of him and asked him whilst wearing a puzzled look on her face what he was doing outside.

“Bonbon kicked me out.” He replied, sighing. “She told me I smelled funny, looked creepy, and that I'd 'encourage your fanfilly tendencies', and then she told me to leave at once. I left the house, but...” He shrugged looked down the main road and shrugged. The road kept going onward until it left town.

“But you have nowhere else to go, really.” Lyra finished. He nodded. Lyra sighed and told him not to go anywhere. “I'll have a talk with Bonbon. If she still refuses to let you stay I know a few of my friends who'd have no problem with you staying with them.” Of course they'll probably try to keep him, and I still don't know if he's a Changeling or not, but he's done nothing to start trouble or to harm me so far. If he is a Changeling he's at least a friendly one. Or a very good actor, but Lyra wanted to give him the benefit of a doubt. After all, not all Ponies were the same, so surely not all of the shape-shifting critters were the same either.

Lyra walked inside, and Thomas stayed on the step as he'd been instructed, but sadly the real Bonbon would not allow Thomas to stay. She too, had seen him sitting on the couch with a Changeling, and in her mind that was proof enough that he could not be trusted. Lyra tried arguing that his mind might have been tampered with and she had gone to Twilight's to see if that was indeed the case, but Bonbon argued back that this was an even greater reason to not let him stay. If his mind had been tampered with and Twilight's book of spells could not reveal what specifically had been done to him how could they know that he wasn't a living time bomb just waiting to go off?

“But Bonbon-”

“No. Buts. He can't stay here.”

Lyra tried her cutest puppy-dog face on Bonbon, but Bonbon, predicting she'd try exactly that, closed her eyes and turned her head away, and Lyra's 'attack' failed.

“You only met him yesterday, Lyra. Even if his mind hasn't been messed with you have no idea what kind of Pony-”

“Person.” Lyra automatically corrected. At Bonbon's frown and eye roll, Lyra gave an apologetic smile.

“-what kind of person he is.”

“And I'll never know if you throw him out!”

“You're being over dramatic, Lyra. I'm sure the other members of your little fanbase would be more than happy to take him under their roof, and I've heard you talking with a few of them here in town several times. Let them.”

And that was it. She'd lost and he'd have to stay with somepony else. It's not the end of the world, but it is a disappointment. Lyra sighed and exited her house to where Thomas was still waiting on her steps. When the door opened he looked up expectantly and Lyra shook her head and told him he'd have to stay with somepony else. He nodded, looking a little disappointed on his own, but replied that this was what he'd expected.

“I am a stranger to her, after all.” He shrugged. “So, any ideas where I could go now?”

“A few, if you're willing.”

“Sure, why not?”

Lyra led Thomas around town looking at the windows of several houses in hopes of still seeing lights glowing in the windows of Ponies she knew and might be willing to lend him a place to stay. Most did not, but there were two houses with a light in their windows. The first house had sounds coming from the windows that led Lyra to blush and quickly walk away pulling a confused Thomas along behind her, but the second door opened to a sleepy-eyed Pegasus with a splotchy color scheme. Most of her hide was a very dark blue that was almost black, but the splotchy parts were a bright yellow. Her mane and tail bright pink. Her parents, masters of stating the obvious, had named her Color Clash. Because of this, she had been made fun of a lot more in school than most others had when she was younger.

“Yeah, Lyra?” She said while yawning. “What do you need?”

“I don't need anything, actually. It's Thomas here,” Lyra pointed a hoof at her short Human friend. “who needs a place to stay. Bonbon kicked him out.”

“She did, huh?” Color Clash asked while she looked him over. Color Clash enjoyed the Icarna series, but she didn't go nuts over like several other members of their club did. She might have shown a bit more enthusiasm had it been still daytime, but when Lyra had knocked on her door she'd been just about to go to bed. “If you trust him and it's only for a day or two, I suppose he can.” She yawned again. “Have you already eaten dinner?” she asked, but did not wait for an answer. “I hope so, because I was getting ready to go to bed and I'm not going to be cooking anything else tonight. If you want anything I've got some pears on my table in the kitchen. If you're not hungry you can sleep on my couch.” Turning back to Lyra, Color asked how long he'd be needing a place to stay. Lyra replied that she didn't know.

“Well just to warn you, in two days I'm going to be leaving on the twelve o'clock train and will be out of town for the next few days on family business. If he hasn't found a new place by then he'll be on his own. I don't mind having guests, but I'm not leaving a stranger in my house by himself.”

“That's fine, I can get another club member to house him when that time comes." Color Clash nodded.

"Good night, Lyra, Thomas.” She yawned and sleepily made her way to her bedroom. Lyra meanwhile turned to Thomas and bade him good night as well, apologizing once more for him having to move.

“Oh, don't worry about it, Lyra. I don't blame you for it, and given the differences in our cultures concerning Changelings I can't really hold it against Bonbon either. I don't like that Echo was imprisoned, but-”

“Echo?” Lyra interrupted.

“That's her name. Echo. That one is a common name among Changelings back home, so I'm not really surprised to hear it here too.”

“Well, do yourself, and me a favor, and keep that piece information about your homeland to yourself, okay? Changelings, as I'm sure you've noticed, are not well-liked around here.” Thomas nodded. “I'll see you later tomorrow, okay?” Lyra said, turning herself around but still looking at him. “Good night.”

“Good night.” He repeated back. Lyra shut the door, and went home.

First thing the next day Lyra plopped the spellbook down on their breakfast table and began to study the page that held the spell she'd wanted. While she was doing so Bonbon entered the kitchen, mumbled hello and went for the coffee machine, her eyes sporting several wrinkles beneath them. When the smell of fresh coffee filled the room Lyra sniffed a few times and looked up. Seeing her friend looking just as tired as when she had come home, she asked if Bonbon's sleep the previous night had been lousy. Bonbon gave her a 'are you nuts' look.

“Sleep?! how can anypony sleep knowing that there could be Changelings hidden all over town?! Hay, how can you sleep when you were one of those that were mind-controlled by them at the Canterlot wedding? I would have thought that you'd be more freaked out than I am!”

“So...that's a 'yes' then?” Bonbon frowned and poured herself a cup three quarters full of the dark foul-tasting liquid and poured in two tablespoons full of sugar, and filled the rest of the free space with cow milk before stirring it and placing a straw within from which to drink it. While she tasted it Lyra shrugged. “I guess that I'm just more used to weird stuff happening from living here. I mean, this is the town Pinkie Pie lives in. Even without the Ursa Major that stomped through and the return of Nightmare Moon this place can be more than a bit crazy sometimes.”

Several other incidents ran through her mind including, but not limited to, the Parasprite swarm, a masked and caped vigilante that had briefly adopted their town as its patrol zone, an Ursa Minor that the village idiots had lured into town on purpose, Applejack's older brother hauling an entire house and its contents halfway across town, and of course, their town's latest resident. 'Normal' in Ponyville was the opposite of normal almost everywhere else.

__ __ __ __ __

Given that there was little else to do, Echo paced in her cell, occasionally stopping to either glance out of her one barred window, or to briefly gaze at the two Ponies standing guard by her barred door. Ponies that glared at her every time they noticed her watching them. This time one of them spit at her, his saliva landing on the floor a meter away. Echo blinked once, and then continued to pace, her face expressionless.

Hm. I should have asked one of my hive mates to keep an eye out for Bonbon in case she came home early. These Ponies aren't golems, after all. Not everything they do happens according to their intended schedule. Though one particular purple Unicorn in town certainly tried to have her life run in such a way.

Echo sat down on her backside. I wonder how 'Thomas' is doing. Obviously he wasn't caught or else he'd be in here with me, but he's still young. He hasn't had much interaction with Ponies when they're stressed. If he allows their emotions to infect his own he might panic and lose his form. Such things had happened among their brood before. Because of this the young ones often were kept hidden away until they could be trained both mentally from the experiences of the previous generation, and in the here-and-now. Due to recent events, however, this obviously could not be done in Thomas' case. He'd just have to manage until the queen arranged for him to leave. She'd never abandoned her children before unless the rescue would lead to loss of life, and normally the worst the Ponies would do was escort them to the badlands, which was the only vague location of a hive they knew of, and deposit it there.

Echo made a face. I'd rather not have to explain my presence to Chrysalis and her brood. While I doubt she'd actually kill me, she might try to add me to her hive in order to learn where our hive is hidden. The free will her mother had granted her would amount to very little if a queen tried to exert its will on her when Echo was outside of her mother's mental range. It'd be swept away like a sandcastle with the rising tide. Granted, she'd have to focus her mind on overriding my thoughts on my every waking hour lest I try to escape or assault her, but that would hardly be an issue for a queen of many hundreds of children.

Her own hive was not even close to numbering half of what Chrysalis had amassed over the last decade. Less offspring meant less chance of being discovered, and less mouths to feed. Less offspring also, unfortunately, meant that if a rival queen got it into her head that she thought that she wanted their feeding grounds for herself, that they'd be hard-pressed to keep them away. Especially with a hive as large as hers. Even with having been weakened from their defeat they still outnumber us, and we operate more on stealth than strength.

“Looks like it finally got tired. 'Bout time.” One of her guards said as her companion, one of the few males in town that had not been born there (most of them that visited from outside of town found the place to be too be a bit too girly for their liking. Given that the place was, for the most part populated by females, what did they really expect?), rolled his eyes.

“'Finally got tired'? Wow, I'd have never guessed that without your help. Thanks.” he muttered under his breath. The mare gave him a sharp look, but he stared straight ahead and pretended he'd not said anything.

“I heard that, Smart Cookie!” Smart Cookie gave her a quizzical look.

“Heard what, Keen Sight?”

“You know darn well what!”

“Hmm....” Smart tapped a hoof on his chin while his twin sister glared at him with her red eyes. “Nope! Not a clue!” He declared with a grin, meeting her glare with his mismatched blue and gold eyes.

“You- you pest!”

“I love you too, little sis!” He replied, still grinning.

“We're twins, you ox! We're the same age!” Smart waved a hoof in front of his sister and shook his head, no longer grinning, but kept a smile.

“Same hour, yes. Same time, no. I was the braver of us two!”

"And yet you scream like a foal when a mouse runs by!”

Smart's smile dropped and became a frown, to which Keen's face became smug.

Freaked out from just a mouse, eh? Echo thought, a plan beginning to form.

A very girly scream pierced the relative calm of the town, followed by a full-grown stallion running out of the town's small jail followed by a mare trying to get him to come back into the jail.

“You idiot! It's not real! It's the Changeling!”

“GIANT RAT! GIANT RA-HA-HA-HAAAT!” He screamed, the end coming out sounding like a despairing whine.

Meanwhile, back in her cell, Echo's giant rat form burned away and was replaced with a foal that could have been Fluttershy's if she'd had offspring, and squeezed through the bars and let herself out, smirking.

She snickered, followed by the snickers and laughter of her hive mates in the back of her mind as she made her escape into an alley, and the approval of her queen for her cleverness and once more changed her shape. This time she became Diamond Tiara, whom had a habit of skipping school and would not really be noticed other than by disapproving adults.

Well, I haven't yet discovered how the 'author's note' thing works yet, but that aside, I'M BACK!
It took freaking forever to get through the mental blockage, but now It's almost completely gone, and I can actually sit down and write again! *Squee!*
For all of you that patiently waited, you're awesome!