The Lost Changeling: Taken it Back

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to...

I lose track of the beginning of a speech, suddenly finding myself in a somewhat similar setting- okay yeah, this is town hall. It’s a good thing that it looks like all of the same ponies are present.

Hey! How’re you doin’? Twilight, right?!? Yeah, teh, I’m Pinkie Pie. Y’know, finally I get some screen time. I mean, pff, what gives? I happen to be one of the main characters...

That’s definitely not Pinkie Pie from my memory. He doesn’t even sound like her. Whoever that changeling is, he must’ve been raised in Equestria. Maybe I’m in some sort of alternate present where Chrysalis was never dethroned.

Oh, um, hi there.

Wait, is he talking to me? And how did his voice get deeper there?

Who are you?

Swing and a miss. He is. Well, no sense in rolling down the cliff.

“I’m just Carve. Are you, uh, looking for someone?”

Yeah. I was looking for Queen Chrysalis. I seriously need to talk to her.

“Why? Does she know you?”

Yes. Now where can I contact her?

Well that was weird wording.

“Well, the hive.”

Thanks. Bye.

...and the changeling weakly mimicking Pinkie Pie leaves.

Gee. I wonder what that was all about. That changeling had somehow gotten into my dream, which I only thought was possible by changeling kings, alicorns or, though less likely, unicorns. If Pane can fly to protect her hooves from getting cut on her adventures, I bet a unicorn can theoretically go into others’ dreams if they incline on psychology.

Oh well, I’m now in my own zone in the Town Hall, behind a field filling crowd. All in silence.

...us realize how much better they would’ve fared without that...

Huh, what I’m hearing right now must be Princess Luna. Thankfully, whatever I hear is isn’t much.

Suddenly, a string of magic comes into my field of view, growing along the way. The next thing I know, I may just’ve teleported to the hive, since it now looks familiar. In fact, I’m in Crater Hall, the most infamous hall known in the hive. Looking all over, I see the crater and the note.

Sad, isn’t it?

“Huh? Correal? Is that you?”

On the center of my line of sight descends a pro-Chrysalis changeling, landing just in front of the crater.

Yes. I’m glad you remember me, Carve. Just because you led my calling doesn’t mean you’ll never see me ever again. So, uh, what’s been going on lately?

“Since you left the hive? I don’t know. Say, uh, did you happen to see a changeling that was sloppily imitating Pinkie Pie around?”

Pinkie Pie? Who’s Pinkie Pie? And no, the only other changeling I’ve seen in the past couple of hours was just you.

“Oh, uh, well then. It must have been just me. He said he needed Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis, huh? She’s back?

“Hell yeah, she is.”

So, what’re you doing in Ponyville then?

“I wanted to talk with Twilight, but she’s busy at the moment, so I thought I’d sleep while she’s doing her thing.”

Busy with what?

“It’s about Thorax. She’s probably going to be talking about him in the form of a speech, from what I can tell.”

Huh. I did see Thorax just yesterday, so I guess that means I have someone to talk to consistently.

Suddenly, I end up flashing through my invasion years, occasionally seeing a cameo from Correal. Back to my previous state of mind, Correal looks kind of confused.

“Correal... do you remember the times I helped with the changeling invasions? When I was just an eroder?”

Correal nods.

Yes.

“You had many changelings to talk amongst. Even me. Now, you can only talk to certain changelings when they’re-”

Asleep? Well, Thorax and I have it lucky since changelings instinctually sleep when the sun’s down. At that time, we can talk to whoever we want, and we don’t even have to worry about a single thing otherwise.

“Correal, if you found somewhere to live that you’re comfortable with, I’m happy for you. But that place could’ve been anywhere in the world. I’m glad you found a place where there’s no worry. I’m glad that you have someone to talk to. I... I just wish you let me know earlier than you did. I may never see you in the waking world anymore, but if I can accept one of the place I visited most undergoing demo, I can accept being visited from time to time by past changelings.”

Correal wipes her eyes.

But Carve... what about the other changelings? What’s happened with them?

“Don’t worry about them. Chrysalis has a stand-in queen by her side for when she has to leave. And it’s the same changeling that will go urbex with two ponies.”

Alright. I see, Carve. Good luck with your adventures throughout Equestria in the future. I see you’re about to wake up soon. Lomenalada.

“Wait, Correal. If you see Queen Areola, tell her I said hi.”

Will do.

“Lomenalada.”

And with that, Correal walks off, her body entering an invisible door that is making her invisible.

…Carve...

Wait, another visit?

Carve?

By two changelings?

;=;

“Heheh, she’s probably dreaming about Thorax, Shining.”

“Carve! Are you aw-”

I yawn, interrupting the second voice.

“Oh, wha...”

“Hey, Carve. You seem to’ve dozed off during the princesses’ speeches.”

Looking at my hooves, they’re still green, meaning I’m still in my pro-Thorax disguise. Then I look at the two ponies in front of me, one of them I saw earlier and met.

“Oh, Shining Armor. It’s you. And uh, Cadence, right?”

She nods.

“I don’t think we properly met though.”

“Well, that wasn’t really on my mind, to be honest. I was here to talk to Twilight. I ran into Spike, so that kind of helped with finding her. Is she currently in one of the balconies?”

Shining Armor nods.

“Yep. You know where to look, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Also, you said you’d talk more about Carina after the whole Thorax thing, right?”

“Yeah. I did.”

“Well, Cadie and I have some time before we go. Let’s hear some more.”

“Actually, Shining Armor, are you going to be staying here in Ponyville for a while? If you are, I’ll be able to talk to you about Correal later. I need to get the whole Twilight thing out of the way first.”

“Oh, o-okay. We’ll just... leave you to that then. Princess Cadance and I have a few hours to kill here anyway.”

“Good. Then I should be able to talk to Twilight perfectly fine.”

“So, where do you want to meet me and Shining Armor then?”

“Probably in front of the large castle nearby.”

“So, Twilight’s place?” Shining Armor inquires.

I nod.

“Yep.”

“Alright, Carve. Bye,” Cadence waves, walking off with Shining Armor in tow.

Suddenly, I hear yet another voice, this time, pretty familiar. I turn around to see Twilight.

“Oh, Carve! I thought I saw you during the service. What’re you doing here?”

“Uh, I wanted to talk to you about what’s been going on at the hive.”

“That sounds alright with me. Let’s go to the castle first though. Okay?”

I nod.

“Okay.”