Decoy

Luna stomped around Thorax’s office. “Of course they faked their own death!” she shouted. “That is what they do!”

“Well, they sure did a really good job of it this time,” Thorax said. “Kludgetown still has their head up on a spike.”

“And how closely are they watching it?” Luna asked.

“Last I heard, there was a whole pack of grubs throwing rocks at it,” Thorax said frowning. “It’s completely irresponsible! Who would raise their children in Kludgetown?”

“Somepony’s going to lose their job over this,” Luna said.

“Not me, I hope!” Thorax said, with a silly smile. Luna did not smile back.

“This is unacceptable,” Luna said, stomping some more. “I will not have my justice mocked!”

A pale cream changeling hovered at the doorway, staring at the angry princess, a clipboard hovering in her magic. “Is this – this is a bad time. I’ll come back later.”

“You!” screamed Luna, pointing at her. “I haven’t seen you around before. What’s your name?”

“Um… Surprise?” the changeling said.

“That’s not a real changeling name!”

“I asked Thorax to rename me,” she said, taking a step back.

Thorax moved to stand between Luna and the newcomer. “A lot of changelings want to cut ties with their past,” he said. “This straggler came in just yesterday – can you believe a changeling went this long without rejoining the hive? It was certainly a surprise to me.” He smiled nervously, and presented her with a hoof. “So… Surprise?” He took the clipboard from her and looked it over. “I have her in charge of inventory. We never really had things before, so we didn’t have anyone keeping track of –”

“You!” Luna said, bowling Thorax over and looming over Surprise. “Change back this instant!”

Surprise squeaked, and ran for her life, Luna right on her tail.

Thorax sighed and sat by the window. A few minutes later, he watched a whole swarm of identical cream-shelled changelings flying in formation, Luna close on their trail. They scattered, laughing and cheering as she swooped around going after one and then another until she screamed with frustration and teleported away.

“She really thinks I’m that poor changeling that died,” Surprise said, quietly stepping back into the office. She’d dropped out of the chase early, not being the strongest flier, especially with her wings still sore from the long flight to the hive.

“It doesn’t matter,” Thorax said. “In the end, she’s on our side. And the protests are quieting down, since nopony wants to look like they’re supporting such a brutal murder. This’ll all blow over.”

“I hope so,” she said, looking down at the floor glumly. “I came in because I was afraid that I’d be next… I didn’t mean to lead the trouble back to the hive.”

Thorax smiled, and pulled her into a hug. “Even if you did, it’s okay. Sending out a decoy to lead the trouble away is too much like the old hive. I’d rather face the trouble together.”