“Venom, dude, you really gotta stop doing that!” Cricket Cluster scolded his little brother as he and the others finally managed to catch up to the blue-schemed changeling, who merely rolled his eyes at the annoyance he was greeted with. “Just why were you leaving us behind again?”

Venom rolled his eyes bitterly. “You really expected me to stay in that house any longer?” he mumbled as he lowered his head, ears drooping.

The other four siblings all fell silent at that reply. And after a moment of that silence, Cricket walked over to the changeling, his expression growing more somber as he rested a hole-infested foreleg on his brother’s shoulder. “Venom,” he said, “are you still think about your—“ Cricket turned around at Flutterwings, Scorch, and Spiny, who were all rapidly shaking their heads at him, a gesture that clearly read, “don’t bring that thing up, man.”

“No, Cricket, I am not,” Venom responded, regaining the green-schemed changeling’s attention. “I just, uh—“ his azure compound eyes shifted a bit “—I just can’t withstand another second of sitting in that dusty old room!” the blue-schemed changeling exclaimed, sticking his tongue out in disgust. “I just cleaned out my holes last week! And I am not gonna risk getting any dirt in them, okay?!” he said, stamping a foreleg on the ground, before walking away with his nose in the air.

“Is he always like this?” Thistle asked after the group took the time to watch Venom strutting away from them. “And what was that about the house we were just in?”

“You see, Venom has usually been quite... vain. At least as far as I’ve known,” Spiny commented as he watched Venom repulsively shake his hind leg after stepping in a puddle. After a moment, however, he added, “It took us a while to realize it, but the vacant house we were just in was just five houses across from the clock tower. That means the house we were just in was also the same house that—“

The teal-schemed changeling paused his sentence as soon as he caught a glimpse of Venom stopping dead in his tracks and shooting him a cold, hard glare from behind.

Shuddering, Spiny then forced a grin as beads of sweat had begun to trail down his face. “I’ll... stop talking,” he managed to say.

“For the last time, Venom Stinger, you are not to be taking the role of Head of Patrol,” General Scarab said to the protesting teenage changeling.

“Aw, come on Scarab!” Venom complained to him. “We just lost yet another drone after we lost like, three of them no less!”

The general then let out a heavy sigh. “Look, kid. As much as I know how badly you want to contribute to our hive’s development, you’re just not fit for the job. It’s still too dangerous for any changelings your age.”

“You’ve seen me kick ponies’ rumps! I know you did.”

“Well, even if we did need a new Head of Patrol, we wouldn’t want one that would be screaming his fangs out whenever he gets his holes dirty,” Scarab responded dully with a roll of his eyes.

“Well, I’d do it for the hive!” the blue-schemed changeling shot back.

“Isn’t being Head of Patrol Pharynx’s job anyway?” a random drone asked upon entering the room.

Venom glowered at the drone, almost as if he was about to pounce and tackle him. “I don’t care about that punk! For the past two days, he’s been moping about his stupid brother!” he snapped, causing the drone to gulp as he cowardly shrunk away from him.

“Okay, speaking of Pharynx.” Scarab trotted up to the two, trying to change the subject. “How’s he doing?”

“Not well. We can all tell that he has been seriously broken up about Thorax’s disappearance—not that he’d admit it though,” the drone explained to the general.

“As much as I admire Pharynx for his aggressiveness and combat skills,” Scarab said, causing Venom to snarl inaudibly, “I never had faith in that brother of his. Not even for a second.”

“What kind of ‘Head of Patrol’ even worries about his brother?” Venom muttered. “My siblings can fend for themselves at least decently.” Unfortunately for him, no matter how deep his comments were buried under his breath, they did not go completely unheard.

“Admit it, Venom.” Scarab turned to him again. “You’re just jealous.”

“Jealous? Pfft.” Venom only rolled his eyes at the general. “Puh-lease. Is it considered ‘being jealous’ when all I want is—“

“You’re not getting that rank kid,” Scarab cut him off. “Now zip it.”

Venom’s brow furrowed. “Fine!”

And with that, he headed out of the room

“Guys, get down!” Cricket Cluster whisper-shouted, and the Chang Gang immediately crouched down behind a nearby row of shrubs, quickly pulling Thistle Thorn down with them.

They had gotten much closer to the Canterlot castle; well, they still had a long trek ahead of them, but the journey was once again abruptly halted when the Change Gang took notice of the group of Royal Canterlot Guards that were patrolling the area.

The Change Gang then lifted their heads to peer from behind the shrubs they took cover in. From that spot, they got a good view of the crowd; There were white earth ponies and white pegasi, as well as gray unicorns, all wearing the signature golden armor that made the Royal Guard itself recognizable. That wasn’t all they saw, however. Making his way towards that crowd of guards was a rather tall, dark cyan changeling. Despite his darker colors that were more easy on the eyes, like his violet carapace and his persian red antlers, the Change Gang was easily able to tell that he was one of those reformed guys. Bleugh.

But thanks to the encounter that Venom’s siblings had with this feisty fellow, they were also able to tell that this was Pharynx. Double Bleugh. Or at least, in Venom’s case.

“You sure that’s Pharynx? And how did you guys know he was here out of all places?” Thistle scratched her head in disbelief.

“It’s a long story,” Flutterwings answered. “I mean, why else would he be taking the Iron Worm?”

“Iron...Worm?”

“Yeah! Iron Worm,” the purple-schemed nymph repeated. “Or whatever they call that big thing that goes on the track thingies. Either way, me and my brothers—Spiny, Scorch, and Cricket—tracked him down and tried to kick the carapace off him—“

“And you failed, didn’t you?” Thistle rolled her eyes.

“...Yeah, they did,” Venom said, before quickly adding, “but only because I wasn’t there.” He put a hoof to his chest with a sneer. “Because if I was there, I would’ve grabbed him, ripped the antlers off him, uppercut him in the jaw, tore his wings off, punch him in the face, throw him on the ground, and kick him in the—“

Before the blue-schemed changeling could vocally ascend into a full-volume rant, Thistle slapped a hoof over his mouth, instantly cutting him off.

“Hey, did any of you guys hear something?” they heard one of the guards say. At that very moment, none of the changelings uttered a word.

“Hm. Nothing.”

”Huh. Must’ve been hearing things.”

“Man, that was close,” Scorch said quietly.

“Nice work, Venom Stinker!” Thistle hissed in a hushed voice, as soon as she withdrew her hoof. “You almost blew our cover!”

“Almost,” Venom admitted in a whisper, before shooting back. “But you better cool off, Miss Hissy Fit! Or you’ll ‘almost’ blow a gasket!”

As the two spent the past few moments volleying insults, Scorch leaned over to his other siblings, whispering. “I dunno about you guys, but I’m gonna get a better peek at those guards... Somewhere quiet.” He then shape-shifted into a crimson-colored bird started to fly towards a nearby tree branch.

“We’re right behind you, Scorch!” Cricket whispered back. He, Spiny, and Flutterwings also transformed into birds, each of their respective colors—green, teal, and purple—and joined their older brother to perch on that same tree branch. From that spot, the four siblings were indeed able to get a much clearer viewpoint of Pharynx and the group of guards.

“Are any of them changeling guards?” Flutterwings asked her brothers, peeking out from behind them. “You think they’re disguised or something?”

“Come on, Flutterwings, even if there were changeling guards with those ponies, they’d just be the typical rainbow glitter-bugs that are unappealing to the eye,” Spiny stated.

“Right.” Flutterwings stuck out her tongue and gagged.

“Guys! Shh!” Cricket whispered. “They’re talking again!” The four changelings were all-ears as they carefully listened to the conversation that Pharynx was currently having with the guards.

“So, Pharynx... What happened?” A guard had asked.

“...Pardon?”

“To your brother?”

“...” A heavy sigh was heard.

“...That toxic gas.”

“That...What?”

“The doctors have said that it affected his lungs,” the voice of the prince replied. ”Badly.”

“But... Who did this to him?” came a voice of another guard, followed by another pause of silence.

”It-it had to be Queen Chrysalis and her subjects. It had to.”

“...They stank up your hive?” Then came the sounds of a few stifled chuckles.

“This isn’t funny!” Pharynx’s voice raised. “My brother could be dying at this very moment! He probably wouldn’t be if he—! he— AARGH!”

Silence. Save for the heavy panting of the changeling prince, who was trying (and failing) to pull himself together.

“I’ll...” There was one last heavy sigh from Pharynx. “I’ll see you guys inside.” The audibility of hoof-steps descended as Pharynx left the small cluster of guards.

“...Of course!” Spiny slapped a hoof—er, wing—against his forehead, berating himself for being so forgetful. “Queen Chrysalis sent the guards out to handle those guys! With the poisonous gas!”

“How could we forget that?” Cricket whimpered shamefully.

“I dunno, but we should probably get back to Venom now,” Flutterwings suggested.

The other three agreed. Within a few flashes of light, the four siblings shifted back to their changeling forms—

C-R-A-C-K!

The changelings jumped as soon as they heard that noise. Before they could realize what was going on, as well as what was happening to the branch beneath them—

SNAP!

“OOF!”

WHUMP!

...Yeah.

The siblings groaned in pain a few moments after they had collided with the hard, unpleasant ground. Scorch (who was, unfortunately, on top of the pile,) was then able to notice Venom and Thistle rushing towards the group, most likely having seen the breaking of the tree branch.

“Scorch! Did you... did you...?” Venom struggled to find his words.

“Did I what?! I didn’t do anything!” Scorch snapped defensively.

Venom took a gaze at the broken branch on the ground, before glancing at the red-schemed changeling. “...Did you get fatter?”

Thistle looked at Venom, raising an eyebrow in bafflement. “Fatter?” she asked, noticing his word choice.

“What?! No, I—“ Scorch protested, but before he could even make up an excuse as to why the tree branch had crumbled under their weight...

“I heard shouting!” a white pegasus guard exclaimed as he charged into the scene out of nowhere. “What— AAARGH!” he screamed as soon as he made eye contact with the six changelings.

That was when other guards rushed up to his side, glaring coldly at the Change Gang. “Back off, beasts!” one of them demanded, as he and the rest of the guards held up their spears. “We don’t want to hear any threats from any of you guys!”

For about a moment or two, the Change Gang merely stood there in a sea of dead silence, their eyes and mouths agape. At least, up until Scorch broke the silence as he pointed a hoof at Venom; “He started it!”

“Get ‘em!” the guards shouted as they started galloping towards the Change Gang.

“Watch out, guys!” Flutterwings exclaimed. She and the other five immediately scurried away before the guards could pin them against the tree. The guards didn’t give up then and there, however. In fact, most of them had started running right behind the six changelings; save for one guard who ran smack into the tree when the Change Gang swiftly dodged the incoming attack.

As he was being pursued by a white earth pony guard, Venom decided to stop abruptly to buck the stallion in the chest at the correct timing. After getting hit in the forehead with a pegasus guard’s spear, however, he just decided to pounce on his attacker outright.

Cricket, on the other hoof, cowered as a gray unicorn came charging towards him. This, somehow, ended up tripping the unicorn. Then, as Cricket looked up to see him galloping at high speed for a second attempt, Thistle and Spiny worked together to knock the stallion off his hooves before he could pounce on the green-schemed changeling.

Scorch was handling himself pretty well for the most part. He was uppercutting, punching, and even head-butting the guards away, no matter how many times they keep getting back up again. Unfortunately, he didn’t last long enough either; several stallions were able to restrain him as a unicorn guard aimed his horn at him, grinning as he charged his horn.

“Guys, look!” Flutterwings pointed to the guard that was about to blast Scorch. Venom frantically glanced at Spiny, Thistle, and Cricket—who were still trying to handle other stallions—then back to the unicorn who was about to release his attack on the red-schemed changeling...

SPLAT!

The unicorn’s eyes bulged as a purple, slimy substance was now oozing all over his horn, thus halting his incoming assault on Scorch. The other guards gazed to see Flutterwings continuously shooting her purple slime at them. This gave Scorch enough time to knock the guards off him, therefore being able to free himself.

“This way, Gang!” Venom Stinger beckoned the others to hide behind a couple of bushes, right before the guards had gotten the slime out of their coats.

“Nngh... Everyone okay?”

“Yeah, I think so... Ugh, stupid changelings. They probably got away.”

“We must inform the princesses about this matter immediately! Quickly now, to Canterlot!”

The sounds of frantic galloping descended as soon as they started. After a minute or two, the Change Gang peered above the bushes.

“A-Are they gone?” Cricket Cluster stuttered out.

Venom carefully stepped out of the bushes, checking his surroundings. “They’re gone alright. I think,” he called out to the other five changelings. “Now, if you guys excuse me, I need... a moment.” The blue-schemed changeling steadily trotted away with his nose in the air.

“This should be good...” Scorch said with a sneer.

Upon reaching the nearby river, Venom saw a stray green leaf floating in the otherwise crystal clear water. That leaf was steadily floating over his reflection in the water, therefore covering his reflection’s horn.

Venom glared at the leaf, inhaled, and sharply blew it away from his personal mirror. Once that was taken care of, he got a closer look at his horn and then—

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH....”

There it was. And it was still going by the time Venom’s siblings walked up to his side, clearly unsurprised by his little “moment.”

“I’m staying out of this one...” Thistle mumbled with a roll of her bright pink eyes.

“Okay, Venom, what is it this time?” Spiny asked his brother, persuading the blue-schemed changeling to turn his head, revealing a bruise that was just a few inches away from his curved horn.

“...Venom, I don’t think it’s actually that bad—“ Cricket attempted to console his brother to no avail.

“Of course it’s bad!” Venom screamed back, clearly showing no signs of cooling down. “I came this close to getting my horn just-just chopped off!”

“Dude, get ahold of yourself! I mean, no one back at the hive would notice—“ Scorch’s attempt wasn’t so successful either.

“I noticed! I just did! Just! Now!”

“Will you guys just shut up so we can keep going?!” Thistle snapped. “You can continue your ‘moment’ once we get back to the hive!”

Not knowing what else to proclaim about his appearance, Venom merely let out a huff as he and the others continued their trek to the castle, internally putting the blame on the guards for ruining his looks.

Stupid, stupid ponies... Venom Stinger thought bitterly.

After what felt like a hundred miles of journeying, plus a long flight to top it all off, the Change Gang gazed up in amazement at the elegant palace in front of them; they have finally reached their destination.

“We made it!” Venom exclaimed before turning to the others. “Okay, guys, let’s sneak in the back of that crowd over there!” He pointed to the cluster of reformed changelings, with a few ponies in the mix, that was just visible enough to spot, mostly thanks to the bright colors they almost always had.

After shapeshifting into spiders, the Change Gang scurried into a tiny corner of the that was furthest away from the chattering mob that had been settled in front of the grand staircase in the middle of the room. They watched as a certain tall, slender white alicorn approached the crowd, alongside a shorter, dark blue one.

The white alicorn cleared her throat before calmly speaking. “Citizens of Equestria, and subjects of King Thorax,” she said solemnly. “We strongly appreciate your concern for the changeling brothers that have worked alongside each other in leading the changelings to a better life.” The reformed drones’ faces started to waver, and many of them started to tear up as she continued. “And I’m sure Thorax would appreciate it as much as we do. Maybe even more. But Thorax’s possible fate currently remains—“

“Princess Celestia!” A pair of guards rushed into the scene, trying to catch their breath once they stopped in front of the alicorn.

“C-Changelings... Attacked... Our guards... Want... Thorax...” One of them, a unicorn, panted heavily and even coughed raspily.

“I’m sorry, what..?” Princess Celestia stepped down to the stallions, hoping to get at least some form of clarification on what had happened.

“What he means,” the other guard, an earth pony, said as he helped his partner up, “is that we have heard about some of the royal guards having a rough encounter with a group of changelings.”

“Y-Yes! They told us!” the unicorn said. “And in case you were wondering, they have not changed like the changelings we have accepted and loved today.” As if that wasn’t enough bad news for any of Thorax’s subjects to handle, he also added, “It’s possible they’ve come for Thorax...”

The crowd gasped at that possibility. Just what were those things going to do to poor Thorax...?

“What...?” Celestia’s eyes widened in shock. “But that’s...” She looked at her sister, who exchanged the same expression of concern. “Thank you for telling us,” she said to the guard. “We’ll make sure to extend our securities and defenses as soon as possible.”

“Yes, your highness.”

That was when Luna spoke up next. “In the meanwhile, we would like all you to do one favor for your leader,” she said to the crowd of changelings. “Never lose hope for him... Thank you.”

The alicorn sisters lead the now-dreary crowd down a hallway, to what the Change Gang assumes to be their temporary living quarters. Because surely, they were not willing to return home without their leader.

It had took a while for the room to be completely free of anyone other than the Change Gang. Once the coast was clear and the lights in the room were out, they returned to their regular forms. (And thank Chrysalis they weren’t on another freaking tree branch.)

“Hey, Spiny?” Flutterwings got her brother’s attention. “How much information do we need to gather?”

“Well, we were given seven days to get the task done...” The teal-schemed changeling tapped his chin.

“Seven days for some gritty information, huh?” Scorch huffed. “If I were given seven days to bring back at least something... I’d bring back something bigger.”

Spiny agreed with that notion. “Yeah... Perhaps something more useful.”

“What do you think, Venom?” Cricket looked at his brother, who was facing away from the other five. “...Venom?”

Venom turned around to display his expression; his deep blue eyes looked like they were trying to burst out of his head. He was also grinning from ear to ear.

“Uh-oh, guys,” Flutterwings commented. “He’s making that face.”

“Come on, dude, spill!” Scorch shook the blue-schemed changeling back and forth.

“...Pfft. Information, information,” he finally said after a while. “Why bring back some information...” he paused abruptly.

“...Yes?” the five changelings beckoned him to continue, the silence clearly eating at them.

“...when we can bring back the King of changelings himself?” Venom’s grin broadened.

“WHAT?!”

Author's Note

Whew! That was a tough one. And it was truly longer than I expected.(Still not as long as the prologue though, I’ll admit that.) But I couldn’t let this part drag on too much, ya know?

Either way, I’m actually glad with how this chapter turned out. It’s probably my best one so far. But hey, we all know that won’t last long when I post the rest of the story, right?

Because by the end of the next chapter, things will get a bit crazy.

Okay, a bit craziER, actually.