Nature of Fate
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Nature of Fate

Nature of Fate

By Zero Zivan A.K.A. Skyjagged

Inspired by My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

“This is your last chance to leave, before somepony gets hurt. This is about more than just you.”

“I don’t care what you say. It’s not the only way.”

The room was dark, far too dark for visibility. But somehow the two voices spoke calmly, not bothered at all by the lack of visibility. If they really couldn’t see, of course.

“I already told you we can expose you, if necessary. But causing a disturbance in a town that’s being watched this closely now would be a problem for all of us. If you leave, you can lead a peaceful life elsewhere.”

“If I go where you’re sending me, I’ll die. We both know it.”

Something tipped over, making the unmistakable sound of metal scraping against metal.

“What’s that?”

A muffled gasp nearby was the only reply.

“You brought another pony here!”

“What? That’s stupid! I wouldn’t risk anypony finding out!”

“Blast it! We can’t afford to have a leak! You two, find him! …Please, by any means necessary! We have to get rid of him!”

Two days earlier…

I sat in the library, sifting through my assortment of odd books. It wasn’t my first visit, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. It wasn’t the first time I had been bored out of my wits, either, but this time was a doozy. I just couldn’t find anything to put my restlessness out with.

My name is SkyJagged. I’m an assistant leader for the weather team in Ponyville. This was a job I had only picked up a few weeks ago, and I had just been raised from the classic newbie rank of “cloud planner” to “cloud distributor”. Unfortunately, that meant that I was out of work for the next half a week. Most of that, though, was because the groups were hiring new hooves and had to make sure that everypony that joined was prepared. Somehow, the logic was that all the experienced ponies should “get out” so that there wouldn’t be anything the new hires could glean on the spot from what they saw us doing. It seemed like a terrible strategy to me, but God knows I’m not the weather manager.

“God”. At least that alone hasn’t gotten me into trouble with my peers. I have an interesting habit of using human words in conversation. I always say “anyone” rather than “anypony”, “God” instead of “Celestia”. Most ponies look at me strangely when I use the alternatives, and a few will even ask what I mean. History books have taught me a lot, so I’ve got a firm grip on things most ponies have long since forgotten. Given that, I guess I should be lucky for holding my job even when using “questionable language” around others.

I’m straying off on a tangent. The reason I was in the library that day was to find some sort of secret, myth, or mystery I could kill time looking into. I picked up one book, “Legend of the Maria: Sea Ponies of Equestria”.

Well. I was looking for something I could plausibly look into, anyway. I glanced back at my wings. The fact that I had difficulty deep-sea diving aside, Pegasus wings are not designed for prolonged exposure to water. My feathers would be ruined, and it would be months before I could get back to my job if I couldn’t fly to my station, let alone fly at all. And the nearest ocean was hundreds of miles away. I put the book back on its shelf.

Looking into secrets is kind of my thing. Granted, I’m not one to barge into ponies’ personal lives, but if there was ever some uninvestigated mystery or a myth that caught my attention, I would always go for. It’s been a hobby of mine ever since I was a little colt, and it usually got me into trouble. Of course, it didn’t help that back then I was following the direction of a stone that was shaped kind of like an arrow, or a butterfly that must have come from some unknown species because of its odd colors. Now, though, I had grown old enough to start investigating real mysteries. Unfortunately, none of my searches thus far had been successful.

I closed another book, “Ancient Relics of Equestria,” muttering about how boring old carvings and pottery were as I pushed it away. I looked up at the clock mounted on a wall, wondering how much of my spare time I had managed to kill at least by sitting in here searching for something to do. The grand total: only an hour.

I took a deep breath, preparing to let out a sigh. I was so bored, with nothing to do, and the books in the library mostly revolved around spells and history. History books which, I had noticed, didn’t include any strange stories or mysterious occurrences. Just regular old “Ponville was founded in…”

A bright shape went shooting past the window. Normally, I would have assumed it was Rainbow Dash, our weather manager. But I already knew she was in charge of supervising the new hooves in weather right now, so it couldn’t have been her. Unless she had left someone else in charge and then covered herself in clay or something for a disguised race through the streets.

I moved around my little table of books and flapped my wings to carry me over the ones that had fallen to the floor. In seconds, I had reached the door to the library and opened it gently.

Unfortunately, that was a bad move on my part. The Pegasus that had gone shooting past the window came back at top speed from the other direction, leaving in their wake a force of wind so strong that it slammed the open door back into me, squashing my lungs between the door frame and its edge. I lay there gasping for breath for a few seconds before I could recover enough to get back on my hooves. Only then, as I was nudging the door shut with my back hoof, did I see the Pegasus making loops around chimneys overhead.

“Hey!” I called out. “You, up there! You can’t do that!”

The mysterious pony heard me and stopped doing stunts, but didn’t so much as slow down as they swooped down to the ground and barreled toward me. I took a step back before they could topple me, but I shouldn’t have bothered. The pony had already started to dig its hooves into the stony road and skidded right up to me, stopping only inches away.

“What can I do for ya-” the stallion started. “Hey, wait a minute!”

“What?” I blanched, unsure of how I should respond to a pony this odd. He had already performed some dangerous stunts right over the homes of other ponies, and now he was staring at me intently.

“You’re a Wonderbolt, aren’t you? That’s so cool! I didn’t know any of you lived here!”

“Oh, that.” I shook my head, smiling a little. It had been two weeks since I’d heard that question, and before then it had kind of died off when I was small. “No,” I continued, “that’s just my coat color. Besides, have you ever seen a Wonderbolt outfit this bright? Or with the hooves showing?”

My coat has often been the cause of many a shocked stare, ever since I was young. It even turned ponies’ heads when I first showed up in Ponyville looking for a job. Ponies had been amazed that a young colt like me could possibly join the Wonderbolts, and the manager, Rainbow Dash, had put the interview on hold to ask if there were any tips on “getting in”. It didn’t annoy me in the slightest; after all, it was kind of funny to see their reactions. What annoyed me was whenever I explained myself, and the given pony would always say “oh” and pretty much ignore me.

This one was no different. “Oh.” He stepped back and started stretching his wings. “Well, anyway, what did ya want me for? Can’t stay and chat, ya know. I hafta find me a place to stay.”

This colt was a lot more like Rainbow Dash than just the daredevil recklessness. Right down to the fancolt “I love the Wonderbolts” behavior and the way he was talking, this guy could be her brother or something. If he has anything else in common with her, I might have to kick him out of town, I thought, smirking. We would be so doomed if we allowed anyone else into Ponyville that was as competitive as that mare.

He looked the type, too. Although he was far from being as colorful as her, given the pale peachy coat and dark mane, his style fit the profile perfectly. His mane was slicked back over his head, looking almost like the spines of a lizard. And the smile he was giving me practically radiated the self-confidence of a thousand ponies.

“Well, no offense, but if you plan on living here, I think you missed a big rule we have in town. Ponies aren’t allowed to fly so close to the ground at those speeds.” I pointed up to the house he had come down from. “And we can’t go gliding around rooftops like that.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, dude.” The colt waved a hoof at me impatiently. “I’m just practicing, okay?"

“Seriously, don’t do that around here.” I rubbed a hoof against my face. “You’re just lucky Rainbow Dash is away right now.”

“ ‘Rainbow Dash’? That’s a dumb name. But whatever. Would you lay off my case, pal? I just want a little exercise.”

“Hey, I’m only trying to help! I got in trouble my first day here because I was showing off. I’m sure the mayor doesn’t want a repeat-”

“Showing off?” the colt interrupted, chuckling. “What, didja crash into something?”

“No. The argument was that I could have. We were going way too fast-”

“Boy, you must have a bad reputation here if they thought you could crash into something.”

“What?” I paused, trying to figure out what he was trying to say. When I finally understood, I burst out, “I just told you it was my first day in town! Are you even listening to-” I slowed my breathing, forcing myself to calm down. After all, I hadn’t just come outside to yell at him. “Look, you just can’t go racing down the streets like that, okay, buddy? I just wanted to let you know.”

“I’m not racing. And don’t call me ‘buddy’, we’re not friends. The name’s Leech. Don’t forget it.” On that note, the colt puffed himself up and made a showoffish pose, like he thought some sort of swirling colors were going to appear behind him. While he was trying to improve his image, though, I was personally wondering about his character. And he thinks Rainbow Dash is a stupid name? Man, no wonder his parents named him that. He is such a drain on my sanity!

“Okay then, ‘Leech’. Just don’t get into trouble, okay? The ponies here are used to a quiet town.”

“Well then, maybe somepony needs to spice things up around here!” Leech looked around, searching for God-knows-what to mess with. When he looked back at me, though, his face fell. “Oh, come on, dude, I was just kidding! …Seriously, stop staring at me like that. …Look, I promise not to cause trouble, okay? I’ll go practice with the clouds or something.”

I looked him over for a few more seconds to make sure he wasn’t going to change his mind as soon as my back was turned, then offered a short reply. “Good.” With that out of the way, I turned and reentered the library, returning to my studies.

Early the next morning, I rolled out of bed feeling overly rested. Sleep is good for a pony, yes, but the profound lack of things to do had made me go to bed early last night. Nevertheless, I couldn’t fully wake up without a good washing, so I made my way down to the second floor of my cloud home and stepped outside. Right next to my door was a bath that circulated its own water up to the second floor, where it condensed, naturally repurifying itself and trickling right back down into its pool. Those were the perks of having a cloud home, after all. I stepped into the water and let the small stream flow over my back and legs, then spread my wings to let it wash them out. The cool liquid felt great, instantly killing the tension I’d built up in my sleep. I stretched my legs and wing joints to get the last kinks out, swiveling and twisting.

A pony nearby cleared their throat. I opened my eyes and turned toward the voice. It was odd to have a pony at my home at all, much less so early in the morning, and lesser still while I was showering. But, despite the unlikelihood, there was a dark-coated Pegasus standing right in front of my door, off to my left. I stepped out of the pool of water, away from him. “Pardon me,” I said, unabashed, and started to shake the water out of my wings, mane, and tail. While the human world wasn’t something that was entirely strange to me, I had to admit that some things still confused me. For example, being seen in the shower by other ponies didn’t strike me as something shameful or embarrassing. Maybe it had something to do with how humans didn’t have a coat.

I finally got the last drops of water out of my mane and addressed my visitor. “Can I help you?”

“I am looking for a colt by the name of Leech.” With how businesslike the Pegasus stallion was behaving, I almost expected him to don a pair of glasses or a tie, but he wore nothing at all. His coat was a dark, almost black gray, complemented by his black-feathered wings and mane and tail of a brighter gray. Even though he was trying to look unimpressed and indifferent, though, I could tell from his eyes that he was waiting intently for an answer.

I frowned, wondering about his choice of topic. “Yeah, I ran into him yesterday.”

The dark-coated colt nodded, unsurprised. “I’ve learned that you were his first contact since arriving here.”

Of course, it had to have been Leech’s first day in Ponyville if he didn’t respect the rules of the air. Then again, it would have been his first day anywhere if staying away from other ponies’ homes was something he wasn’t used to. “Has he done something wrong?” I asked, noticing a strange tone in the colt’s voice.

His voice dropped to an even darker shade. “That colt is an enormous danger to this town. I am searching for him in order to prevent any further threat.”

I had to assume the guy was talking about that same style of reckless flying yesterday. “If this is about his dangerous ‘training’ yesterday, I already talked to him myself, and he…” I paused, searching for a way to phrase the encounter lightly. “He seemed to understand.”

“This goes beyond his style of flight, Mr. SkyJagged. There is very real risk that he will cause the destruction of this town. I believe he may cause an invasion.” He didn’t seem very interested in my reaction, because he pressed on even while I was staring in open-mouthed astonishment. “Here is my identification. I am an investigator visiting here to ensure the safety of Ponyville.”

Stunned by the blatant claim that Ponyville might become a war zone, I silently accepted the card and held it up in my hoof. It identified the strange pony as Haze Catcher, criminal investigating agent. I’d never heard of any sort of police force that didn’t operate from inside the Royal Guard, but of course, I wasn’t educated in the ways of the crime division in Canterlot.

I finally found my voice. “So, you’re saying that Leech wants to… attack Ponyville?”

“No. But his presence here is drawing the attention of outside dangers. Leech is the type of pony who makes many enemies, and I want to prevent him from attracting them to this town. I intend to take him into custody before others come here looking for him.”

“Oh… so his attitude has gotten him into trouble before.” It made sense now that I thought about it, but somehow it just didn’t feel right. Unless Leech had stolen from a dragon’s hoard or mocked a group of minotaurs about their strength, I just couldn’t see how he could make an enemy violent enough to attack an entire town to get to him.

“Correct. His problems are very likely to follow him here. That must not happen, sir. I’m sure you agree.”

“No, I mean, of course I do.” I nodded and reached out, offering the card back to him. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about him other than his appearance and behavior, though. I can’t help with an investigation.”

“I have a description of him right here,” Haze Catcher answered, producing a notepad from under one wing. “ ‘Bright tan or peachy coat, blue eyes, with mane slicked back in spikes’. Does that match?”

“Yeah, that’s him, all right,” I answered. There was an awkward pause while I stood there, still offering the card back. Then he finally noticed it. “Keep it,” he said. “If you can find any more information on him, my temporary office is listed on the card. And, please be careful. Approaching Leech could be very dangerous.”

With that, Haze Catcher spread his wings and dived off the edge of my cloud, heading toward Ponyville below.

I watched until he landed and disappeared into a building near the center of town, then leaned back on my rump and wondered what I should do next. Leaving this whole thing alone would be the best option for me, if I wanted to keep out of trouble. But then, there was a good chance that not doing anything would put Ponyville at risk. Haze Catcher had specifically said, after all, that Leech being here could attract trouble. And even if that wasn’t true, it would mean that Haze himself had something against Leech, which meant he was the trouble. Repeating my earlier thought, I had no idea if I could actually trust that card he’d pushed at me. I looked it over again.

The small piece of laminated paper had no stamps or markings on it; it had just been printed on and then waterproofed. It was completely possible that Haze’s behavior was all a ruse. I lowered my hoof and thought back to my encounter with Leech. While he had been a little egotistical, he really didn’t seem the type to push a pony’s attitude to the extreme. If he had gotten into trouble with someone, he must have done something worse than just annoying them with words.

So, what should I do now? I wanted to look into this without choosing sides, but where should I start? I had no idea where Leech lived. Obviously Haze didn’t have any information yet, either. What I did know was that all newcomers to Ponyville had to register their names with the Mayor’s office before they could buy a home. But if Haze had an office here, surely he knew that. So, why this investigation with me? It was obvious he could get more information from the Mayor than me. Unless…

Maybe Leech hadn’t registered with the office yet. Or, more likely, she wasn’t willing to give a pony’s information away to a common pony. But that would mean that Haze’s credentials really were fake. No, not necessarily. A separate police force from the Royal Guard had never been heard of. Even real credits would be unrecognizable without a letter from the Princess herself confirming their authenticity. But then, that should have been obvious. So if the Princess hadn’t sent a letter with him to confirm his identity, maybe Haze really was pretending to be something he wasn’t.

This was making my head hurt. Sitting there on my cloud and trying to figure things out without getting answers from someone else was getting me nowhere. Next stop, the Mayor’s office.

I spread my wings and jumped from the edge of my cloud, diving toward the edge of town. When it was clear that I was coming too close to clipping the side of a house, I twisted my wings, swerving away from it. I circled into a corkscrew landing and set my hooves on the stone road. It was an easy maneuver, one that I used all the time in landing. Leech’s skid method was sloppy and risked disaster way too often, which was why it was hardly ever used unless a pony was in danger or had to make an appointment. The corkscrew was elegant enough to remain safe, but still include a few twists to keep a Pegasus’ wings in shape.

I trotted toward the Mayor’s office as calmly as possible, but the questions were swirling around in my head as I walked. I had to gather my thoughts and make sure I asked my questions with tact, especially in front of the town’s public official. When I reached the warm brown and pink building that was the mayor’s office, I pushed the door open gently and stepped in.

The room was lit brightly by lamps in each corner of the front room, and two more which marked the sides of a visitor’s couch. The pattern of the cloth looked like pink, red, and blue vines struggling to cover the bark of a tree. The lamps were gold-stalked and covered by angular lampshades. In all, the room gave me the impression of visiting my grandponies’ house. In retrospect, that was probably exactly what she was going for.

“May I help you?” A bright gray mare asked from behind the desk at the far end of the room.

“Yes,” I answered, walking forward. The desk was just close enough that I didn’t feel like I had to walk a long corridor to reach it, but not so close to seem completely on top of the visitor’s couch. It was the perfect length; offering privacy to visitors, but not seeming too distant. “I’m looking for a colt by the name of Leech. He’s a Pegasus who just showed up in the afternoon, yesterday.”

“You want to file a complaint?” The mare asked, looking up expectantly. She had already set a piece of parchment in front of her and held a pencil in her teeth.

“No, of course not,” I said. “I was just curious about something and wanted to talk with him. Could I get the address of his home?”

“I’m afraid not,” the secretary replied. “There isn’t a pony by the name of Leech in our records.”

“Nothing at all?” I asked, frowning. “Shouldn’t he have at least checked in at a hotel or something?”

“If he has, it wasn’t here in Ponyville. You’re the second colt to come in here looking for him, sir, and he hasn’t been seen before or since then.”

If I hadn’t seen the comment coming from a mile away, I would have done a double-take. “Okay,” I said instead. “I guess I’ll just go look for him myself.”

“Good luck, sir,” the secretary called politely as I turned and headed back to the door. “I hope you find your friend soon.”

At the moment, he’s far from being a friend, I thought, pushing the door open and stepping back out into sunlight. Haze is hiding something, so Leech probably is, too. I can’t confront someone as cold and calculating as Haze, so I’d better start with Leech. I looked up. The question is where to look.

Well, there were no new house-clouds in the sky. Scratch that option. Leech wasn’t in a hotel, and he was new here. Haze was certain that I had been his first contact, which meant he had no friends to share a house with. That got rid of option number two. Unlikely as it seemed, that meant that if Leech wanted to stay in Ponyville, as he had said yesterday, he had to have made a house for himself from scratch, and it had to be outside of town.

I spread my wings and took off, circling Ponyville in careful arcs as I searched the outskirts for any kind of ditches, tarps, or holes that indicated a makeshift home. There was absolutely nothing around the borders. I widened my search a little bit every revolution, going in wider and wider arcs, until I had finally reached the mountains that led to Canterlot.

My search was coming up empty, and now my wings were sore. I flew down for a landing, giving myself the time to sprawl out on the rock shelf I had found and take a good, long breather. I’m not sure how long I was lying there, but eventually the heat of the rocks was overpowering, and I had to force myself to get back up and take off again. I spread my wings again, and started to turn.

I hadn’t realized that I had landed right in front of the open mouth of a cavern. The rocks I was standing on had been worn flat for a reason, apparently. This cave opening wasn’t all that large, but it was big enough for two ponies to walk in, side by side. Completely by chance, I had found a cave that might very well be Leech’s hiding place. If nothing else, it was a nice, shady place to get out of the sun and rest some more.

I took a few hoofsteps into the cave, trying in vain to make out anything in the darkness. “Hello?” I called. My voice echoed off the walls far into the back of the cave, eventually becoming strange and distant. It had been a long time since I’d heard my own voice echo back at me, and never like that. It was a little creepy, but I enjoyed it, too. “Hello!” I called again. “Hey, Leech, I know you’re in here. Come on out, I just want to talk.”

It felt like I was trying to play a joke on myself; I really hadn’t expected an answer. Technically, I didn’t get one. Something plowed into me from the side and pressed a hoof over my muzzle to silence me. The other leg pinned my right wing. “SHHHHH! Shut up! Come on, idiot, I don’t want anypony to come in here!”

I had to struggle. Whether or not this was even Leech, it was annoying to be blindsided and gagged just because someone was being paranoid. I pushed against the hoof with my own and tried to order the colt to let me go, but all that came out was a jumble of muffled sounds.

“Shut up. Seriously. You wanna talk? Fine. Just follow me.”

The mysterious pony got off of me and stepped back. I could hear the hoofsteps from one side as I got back up and folded my wings back into place, shaking off the dirt in my feathers. “Leech?” I hissed. “Can’t see you.”

“That’s the idea,” Leech responded. It was definitely his voice. “This way.”

Obviously, he wasn’t going to hold my hoof and guide me through the dark cave, so I had to rely on my hearing to track him. That didn’t stop me from bumping nose-first into the rock walls all over the cave several times. When Leech’s hoofsteps finally stopped, I was convinced that he had intentionally lost me. And that my nose was thoroughly bruised.

“In here.” I felt a hoof on my shoulder and jumped a little. Leech didn’t care; he just pushed me gently forward. Following the direction he was aiming me in, I walked forward a few steps and stopped. I turned around to face in his direction and said, “Come on, man. You live in here? How do you get anything done? No food or bed, or anything?”

A gentle glow appeared around the edge of the room, forming a ring of small green lights. The room had an eerie look now, but at the very least, I could see. The room was barren, devoid of anything a pony could possibly want or use in a home. The only thing that wasn’t cave rock was the pile of hay which Leech must have used for a bed. I looked up, and noticed him pulling a big rock into place, blocking the exit.

The lights continued to brighten until I could see the entire room clearly. It was anyone’s guess where those things were or how they worked, but right now I had a more pressing question to ask. “Leech, what the heck are you doing out here? This is a terrible home.”

“What I use for a house is my business,” Leech growled, turning to face me with an unhappy snarl on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here looking for you. Some guy tried to pass a story about you over me. I’m not sure which of you is more trustworthy, but since I’ve known you longer, I decided to find you first.”

“Stories about me? That’s seriously what you’re here for?” Leech shook his head. “Celestia’s sake, dude, you flew all the way out here to ask me about gossip?”

“Shut up!” I snapped. “I’m not in the mood for a repeat of yesterday. Listen to me, and then you can talk. There’s a Pegasus named Haze Catcher looking for you.” I paused for just a second, and saw Leech’s face turn cold. Before I could continue, Leech spoke up.

“Looking for me? What did he sound like?”

“Well, he was dark and his mane was cut back-”

“I didn’t ask you what he looked like,” Leech interrupted, glaring at me intensely. “I asked you how he talked.”

I frowned back, annoyed by his accusing stare. But I was kept at bay by the odd question. For some reason, Leech was more interested in the colt’s voice than his appearance. Maybe he could have disguised himself…? I’d never heard of a pony doing that. “…Fine. He was kind of dark, not very outspoken, like he had a lot of secrets. He sounded like an official of some sort, but I’ve never heard of anyone in that position being so outspoken.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, he said something strange. He said that you were a danger to Ponyville. That you were going to lead an invasion.” I steeled myself and stepped forward. At first, Leech didn’t budge, but I kept coming, and he gave way, backing up to keep from letting me brush up against him. “That’s why I’m here before I go to him. The both of you are very suspicious characters, and before I go and report in to him, I want to hear this story from you. Who is that pony, and what does he want with you? Who are you, and why are you here?”

“Ease up,” Leech growled. “I don’t have to tell you squat.”

“And I don’t have to tell him where you are,” I replied, squinting harder. We were staring each other down now, neither willing to budge. “But if you won’t give me answers, I’ll be willing to report to him.” It was probably a lie; I might not go off to this “Haze Catcher” at all. But if I didn’t try to press Leech, I would never find out what was going on until it was too late. My worst suspicions at this point were that Leech was in trouble with the law, and that Haze wanted to exact capital punishment on him. Outside of the law. Until I knew I could trust them, I wasn’t going to offer any help to either one.

“What makes you so sure I won’t be long gone by then?” Leech asked, calling my bluff.

This was the critical point. I had to be as firm as possible. I stretched my legs, trying to loom over him. “Because of the way you reacted when I mentioned him. You act like a daredevil who doesn’t have a care in the world, but when I brought him up, your good mood came crashing down. You don’t like him, because he’s a threat. Whether or not you’re gone when I report to him is irrelevant. He can catch up to you. And that’s something you don’t want. We both know it. So drop the act. I want to know everything.”

Leech glared at me for a few seconds. Then his pride gave way, and with a sigh, he closed his eyes and waved a hoof. “Sit down,” he ordered.

I circled over to the “door” he had sealed the room with and slowly lowered my flank to the rocky ground, making sure to block his exit if he was trying to play me for a fool. Leech didn’t seem to notice it, though, and started to explain. “His real name is Hollow. Short and simple. He and I used to work together, doing some pretty nasty stuff. We never hurt anypony, of course. …Not physically, anyway. But we pulled some pretty nasty tricks to get what we wanted.” As I had expected, Leech was a troublemaker. What I hadn’t expected was to hear him bringing Haze into the same boat.

“About a month ago, I got sick of the stuff we were doing. Me and Hollow… and, well, just about everpony I’d ever known, stopped seeing eye to eye. They didn’t mind hurting ponies to get what we needed to stay alive. But me? Pfff.” He scoffed angrily. “I couldn’t stomach it. Playing with ponies’ emotions, and then leaving them broken… it’s sick. I know there’s a better way to live than that. So I left them all behind. I wanted to lead my own life.”

He turned his head to look out a window, watching the horizon, where the sun would be setting soon. “I flew for days. I could only stop for food and rest. Luckily, I could find some good eating in the towns I stopped at on the way. But I couldn’t stay in any of them. If I did, I would be found out. So I kept going. When I was just too weak to go on, I stopped at Canterlot. I managed to pick myself back up after a few days, and I decided I’d live there. But then I noticed how many of the folks from my family were living there. They didn’t recognize me, but I couldn’t stay, or it’d mean trouble. Besides, everypony there’s too stuck-up for my taste. So I worked up a plan to move away quietly and slipped in here after a month’s planning. And from what I see so far, this just seems like the right place for me. And it’s far enough – or maybe close enough – that nopony from my old home could find me. Or at least, I thought so.”

“So, then… the reason he’s after you is he thinks you’ll rat him and the others out to the Royal Guard. Right?”

Leech shook his head. “I think it’s more because he’s worried that my behavior will get me caught, and lead other ponies back to our whole family.”

I cocked my head. “Wait… you two are related?”

“Sort of. I guess… you could call him a cousin. A very distant cousin.”

I frowned. But there was nothing important about that claim, anyway. There was something more pressing for me to ask about, anyway. “All right, then I have a more important question. Your name is Leech, and his is Hollow. And you’re a family. What kind of a pony would give their foals those kinds of names? Did your parents hate you or something?”

“Watch your mouth!” Leech snapped. “Our names are signs of respect! Our parents loved us, just as much as any other pony could love their foals! That’s just how we live. It’s common knowledge! If you’re gonna judge my whole family on my name-”

“Okay, okay. I didn’t mean anything by it. But, still… that doesn’t make any sense. If your parents loved you so much, why did you have to resort to stealing from other ponies? Or did…” I paused, wondering about the implications of what I was about to say. But I had to keep going. “Or does your entire family do this? Stealing and hurting other ponies to get what they need?”

He went quiet very quickly. As quick as he had been to become enraged by my question about his parents’ love for him, he had gone very somber with this next question instantaneously. He stared at the floor, wearily. “Maybe you’ll learn, someday,” he murmured. “Not all ponies have good hearts like you do.”

A long silence passed between us. Then Leech looked up, his face drawn. “So, what happens now?”

I looked up, surprised by the question. I really didn’t know myself what action to take next, but the answer came to me as easily as flying. “I’m not going to tell anyone about this,” I answered. “If I try to report Hollow, then you’ll come under questioning, too. And if I go to him to compare your stories, he’ll undoubtedly come up with some scenario that makes you the bad guy and him the good-natured savior.”

“Well, how do you know I’m not lying?”

“That’s easy,” I answered, although it was far from being so. “You just incriminated yourself in front of me. Not a single pony would admit to hurting and stealing other ponies unless they were telling the truth, or insane. You’re not foaming at the mouth, so this whole thing is the truth.”

Leech got up warily. “Okay… so, what are you going to do? Nothing?”

I got to my hooves and approached him. “You trusted me, Leech, so I’m going to trust you. I’ll be keeping an eye on you, because I want to make sure that everything you told me is on the level. If you stay out of trouble, I won’t call you out. There’s just one thing I want in return.”

Leech grimaced. “I can’t pay you anything. Blackmail’s pointless.”

“I don’t want money, and I’m not blackmailing. I just want help. If Hollow is as dangerous as you say, then I can’t just let him roam free. If you want to make sure ponies don’t get hurt anymore, you’re gonna help me keep an eye on him.”

He blinked. I don’t think he could have possibly expected me to bother helping him. But admittedly, I did have an ulterior motive. Ponyville was my home as much as it was his. I wasn’t about to let the ponies here be put in danger. Leech, at the very least, knew what to look for if Hollow ever started anything. Maybe things would go over a lot easier if I just had Leech and Hollow both leave Ponyville, but the idea didn’t sit right with me. Leech clearly wanted to get away from his past, and if he was sincere, I wasn’t going to turn him away because of something he truly regretted.

“Even after everything I told you, you’re going to just let me off the hook?” Leech was astonished. I had never expected to see that look on his face, and while I would have loved to see it yesterday, when he was being so full of himself, now I only wanted him to cut it out.

“I believe you, Leech. I think you’re a friend. But for that to happen, you have to trust me, too. And, more importantly, you have to do the right thing. I want you to face Hollow. If you need help, I can go with you-”

“No!” Leech shouted. The outburst made me jump a few hoofsteps back, wings spread automatically in case I needed to take flight. “N-no, that’s okay, um… dude,” he said, apparently trying to collect himself. I folded my wings again as he continued, “Thanks, but no thanks. If you went with me, Hollow wouldn’t go for it. Even if he were the kind to accept, you would learn something that… no, never mind. I just… You already trust me. I don’t want to risk breaking that trust. If I go up against Hollow, I have to do it alone.”

I felt my eyebrows lower over my eyes again. “You’re still hiding something.” It wasn’t a question. He had specifically said he didn’t want me finding out something else about him.

Leech scuffed a hoof against the floor. “I’m trying to be honest with you, dude. Yeah, I’m hiding something. But talking about it won’t help either of us.”

“If you don’t tell me everything, I can’t trust you.” I snapped my wings out and folded them again, using the feathers against the wind to emphasize my point. Leech just stood there in silence, watching me. When he spoke, his voice was more sincere than I’d ever heard before.

“Do you know about bat ponies?”

My nose bunched up and my eyes narrowed as I tried to figure out how he could possibly think skirting my question with such a lame topic would work. “You’re not a bat pony.”

“No, I’m not. Do you hate them?”

I shook my head. “Leech, what in the name of-”

“Answer the question. Do you hate them?”

“I’ve never met a bat pony. I don’t have any to hate.”

“You know about them, though. Do you hate them for what they are? They sleep in the day, their wings are different. They eat a specific flower. They’re different. Do you hate them?”

I’d read about bat ponies several times before. They were essentially nocturnal Pegasi, creatures that slept through the day and fed on a very rare flower that often caused food poisoning for 'normal' ponies. Their ears were tufted, probably a physical representation of their sensitive hearing. The easiest way to tell a bat pony apart, though, was their wings. They were featherless appendages that were bone and flesh, but worked no differently than Pegasus wings. Their colonies were apparently growing scarce, from the information I found in those books, and most ponies who found one were basically chased away immediately. Frankly, I would have loved to meet one. So, to answer his question…

“No. No, I don’t hate them.”

“Even though they’re different? They live differently from you, and eat things that are unhealthy to you. You don’t hate them?”

“That’s a stupid question. By that logic, they should hate us for eating hay, and having feathers. No, I don’t hate bat ponies. Now, enough with that. What are you hiding?”

“I’m just like the bat ponies. I come from a world you ponies can’t understand. The way my family lives, what we have to do to survive… it’s beyond you. It’s just a simple fact that if we didn’t have other ponies to take from, we would die.”

“Assuming you don’t mean stealing, that’s not any different from what we do here. We buy from and share with each other to support ourselves. Ponies can’t live without other ponies; it’s pure and simple.”

“But we can’t be like you. We can never be like you, because we’re just not built the same way. The only reason I can live here and not feel guilty is that I can buy and share what I need to survive. What separates me from my family is the fact that I’m willing to give and take. My family is only good at taking. They don’t know how to give.”

“I don’t know if generosity is something that can be taught,” I said, “but, fine. Maybe if you set the right example, they can learn it from you.”

“I really hope so.” Leech stared at a wall, distantly, seeing right through it and into another world. “But right now, all I want is some time to myself. If they find me here, they’ll just start hurting the ponies who live here, just like they’ve always done.”

“Hollow doesn’t seem to want that,” I pointed out. “He says he wants you to leave.”

Leech snorted. “He probably just wants me gone before I can give anypony here a warning. Make a note of it, dude. Whether or not I stay, this town is still in danger until you can guarantee that Hollow won’t say a word about this place to the others.”

“All the more reason for me to go with you.”

“For the last time, no. If you come along, Hollow won’t compromise. That’s it.” He rubbed his mane, thinking about something else. “Besides, you can’t see us like that. Nopony should see us like that.”

“What if he tries to hurt you?” I asked.

Leech chuckled. “Heh. If he tries something, I can take him down myself. No worries.” He was smiling, the same way he had been yesterday. But it looked forced, hollow. I got the feeling he was trying to look brave in front of me, but it wasn’t working. “Anyway… Thanks for coming here… dude.” Leech started walking toward me.

“It’s SkyJagged,” I said. “If it’s too much for you, just go with Jag.”

“Well, thanks, Jag. I’m glad you came to me first. And… thanks for understanding. It feels good to finally be able to get this off my chest.” He moved up next to me and started pushing me toward the door.

“Hey, no problem. That’s what I do. Uh, I listen. I like to help.”

“Yeah.” Leech pushed the stone away from his doorway and pushed me the rest of the way out. “Well, anyway. Thanks.”

I turned back. “Leech, you really don’t have to do things alone, you know.”

He nodded. “ ‘Bye, Jag.”

With that, he sealed off his room again, leaving me outside. Alone.

I turned and walked away, feeling secure, but a little discouraged. Leech clearly still wasn’t prepared to accept help. But I wasn’t the kind of colt who forced decisions on my friends. And, if he was sure that my being near them during the confrontation would make Hollow less than willing to listen, then maybe it was the truth. If the whole story wasn’t true, and Leech skipped town, all I had to do was tell Haze. Easy solution.

Besides, there was still something odd I wanted to look into. Leech had said his family’s naming process was “common knowledge”. If that was true, the old history books in the library might have some references to his family’s history.

It took around five minutes to follow that green light out of the caves and get to the library, and three more to dig up an old naming book that was really designed for an excited new couple to name their foal. The names I found under “H” and “L” were typical pony names, though. Ones that described fitness or attitude. Not a one that seemed off in the pages. Of course, the book couldn’t possibly list every potential name in recorded pony history. It would span hundreds of volumes, in that case. Unfortunately, this one was no help.

I sighed and put the book back on its shelf, deciding to return to my old stack of books from yesterday. The stack started with “Sentient Races of Equestria.” Page 1: Alicorns.

Ooh, ooh, I know, teacher! Pick me! Leech and Hollow are really Alicorns, and just like the princesses, they get strong by stealing from other ponies! F minus. No, F double-minus.

Next page; Buffalos. …Yeah. Leech was definitely not a buffalo. Just the fact that he could fly proved that, not to mention his size. No buffalo could possibly disguise themselves as a pony. Diamond Dogs? Not a chance. I started to sift through the pages, glancing over the titles and then turning to the next. Donkeys. Nope. Dragons. “No magical ability”. Griffons. “No magical ability”. Pegasi, Minotaurs, Sea Serpents, Unicorns, Zebras. All through the book, nothing. My best bet was to assume that Leech was a unicorn, and had used magic to give himself wings. It was a very likely theory, after all. Magic had been the field of study for unicorns since the dawn of their existence. In all those years, how could they not have a spell for wings? Besides, the next page just said “Extinct / Endangered Species”. I started to fold the cover back into place, but then stopped myself as I turned over the words in my head again.

“Endangered”, of course, meant a breed that either hadn’t been seen in some time or was limited to one very small area. Leech had said he wanted to get away from his family, and that I “could call” Hollow a cousin. A “very distant” cousin. Plus, I’d never heard the names Leech and Hollow before that day, but apparently they were fairly commonplace among his kind. “Endangered Races”, then. I turned to the first page in this new set. “Bat Ponies” were the first creatures on the list. Leech had already said that his breed wasn’t the same, but I decided to read over the page just in case. Unfortunately, yet again, there was no mention of magical powers. Although, in the paragraph where abilities were normally mentioned, the page did say that their ability ofability of using sound waves to see in dark places – “echolocation”, as I remember the word – could also be used in a higher frequency to stun or deafen other ponies. Interesting, of course, but not what I was looking for.

Page two: Draconequui. “Use their abilities with magic to create chaos and dysfunction in pony communities. The only known specimen is Discord, Spirit of Disharmony.” That seemed to fit Leech’s description of his family’s troublemaking. Not to mention, those odd green lights in Leech’s home had started me thinking. Maybe they weren’t actual fixtures at all. Come to think of it, I was certain that had been the work of magic. But, what kind of creature had wings and control over magic? I looked at the image in the book. The creature in the picture had wings, all right, so Draconequui did, apparently. Was there anything in the book about Draconequus disguises? “…Discord did not use his powers to change himself, instead tampering with the emotions, thoughts, and behavior of other ponies.” Well, maybe there wasn’t much of a connection here. Besides, while Discord’s name was odd, it matched perfectly with his description. “Discord, God of Chaos, Spirit of Disharmony”. Leech’s name, though, described a parasite that fed on the life force of other creatures. Not quite the same. I was certain there was a connection between his name and race. I might come back to this one later, but for now I turned the page.

Or started to, anyway. Then I noticed that my clumsy hooves had made me skip a page that had been stuck to the back of this one by the corner. I slipped my feathertips into the crevice between the pages and used my wings to gently pull them apart, and then finally got a look at the traitorous page.

The image offered me a shot of a beetle pony with insect-like wings and sharp fangs. The character looked like it had been chewed up by some animal, because its legs were full of holes. What kind of creature was this?

“Changelings,” I read. “These creatures are insect-like in nature due to their ability to operate as a unit and their way of life in a hive setting. Changelings are rarely ever seen in their true form, because they thrive on love and use disguises to live in places where it is available.”

Finally, I was making progress. Not only was this the only page to describe a race of beings that disguised themselves, but the Changeling in the picture clearly had a horn and wings. That would probably be elaborated on in a book this precise, so I kept reading. “They are equally as adept in magic as Unicorns, and share the flying skills of most Pegasi, making them extremely dangerous foes in combat. This scenario is unlikely, however, because Changelings prefer to survive by living as their food sources do, blending in to their surroundings. Recorded reports of Changeling sightings involve the Changeling sabotaging a love relationship and then attempting to repair it. Scientists theorize that this is because the reunited couple will produce more love as a result. If a Changeling is discovered, they may become violent. It is unknown whether they have the ability to alter the memories of ponies through magic.”

This whole thing fit perfectly. Leech had gone whizzing by me when we had first met, using his wings expertly to avoid a crash. The lights in his cave-room could only have been created by magic, which Changelings had control over. And, most importantly, he had specifically asked about Haze Catcher’s – though now I was convinced his name really was Hollow – behavior, and not his appearance. On a more subtle thought, one that involved looking between the lines, I noticed he had talked about “playing with ponies’ emotions”. Here, the book said that Changelings might break up a relationship and then try bringing it back together to create more love, which they needed to survive.

It all fit, then. Hollow really was looking for Leech, probably to bring him back to the hive. But he wasn’t trying to protect the town from an attack; he wanted to keep other Changelings from settling in here. An invasion that would likely cause chaos in any emotional relationship ponies had here, friendship included. One thing will always lead to another, after all. But, knowing this information, what should I do? I had no idea how much love a single Changeling needed to survive. How was love relative to measurements, anyway? Not to mention I had no idea how the Changelings fed on it. Did they have to be in close proximity to a pony couple, or something?

All of this stemmed from one all-important question: could I allow Leech to stay? He seemed to have good will, but I couldn’t possibly know if he would never resort to relationship sabotage. If successful, after all, that kind of thing didn’t hurt the ponies involved and made their bond stronger, a win-win situation that would justify the Changeling causing it. But if it failed, not a soul would benefit. It was a risky and unfair thing to do, messing with another pony’s love life. If there was even a single chance that Leech or Hollow would do such a thing, I had to run them out.

I folded the cover of the book back into place and made my way to the door again. I had no idea where or when the two of them were meeting, but since I knew everything, the best place to start was to confront them separately, in their own homes. If I risked them teaming up on me to keep me quiet, I was doomed.

Well, Leech was, by what I saw of the guy, a meathead. Despite the faith that he seemed to have put in me, he had clearly, if not understandably and as honestly as possible, kept his origins a secret. If I confronted him about this bombshell of a discovery, he might feel like I was threat, and consider his hooves forced. Besides, I had only just made the flight back to Ponyville, and my wings were tired. I might as well pay a visit to Haze – Hollow – this time around.

I used the business card, which I had been keeping tucked safely between my feathers, to locate Haze Catcher’s office at a rental building near the eastern edge of town. Unfortunately, when I reached the address, I found that the office was closed, according to the sign on the door.

It was time to make a new plan. Sitting back on my haunches, I raised a hoof to my chin and pondered my next move. Flying out to Leech’s cave home again would take time, and ultimately, it wasn’t going to do me much good. There was no way I could tell whether he was bluffing or not if he tried to explain how feeding on love works, and if he attacked me, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to hold my own. In retrospect, I had been prepared to show my whole hoof of cards to Haze and expect him to spill the beans, but now I knew that was just as bad a move. Once I found him, I needed to subtly fish information out of him, using indirect questions. Of course, I had to find him, first.

“Is there something wrong?”

I turned to face the mare who had spoken. It was a bright pink pony with a yellow mane. Even if I couldn’t recognize her from that alone, the lily pinned under her left ear screamed her identity. It was one of the flower shop owners across the street, named specifically for the flower she always had with her. “Not really,” I said. “I’m just looking for Haze Catcher. He wanted me to visit if I had something to talk to him about, but he’s not here.”

“Oh, the Pegasus stallion who lives in there? He only just left, a few minutes ago.”

I turned around to face her. “Can you tell me where they went?”

“No, not really. Rose said that she noticed another stallion pushing a letter through his mail slot, and then he and two others left the office in a rush a minute later. I have no idea where exactly they were going, but they all flew off that way.” She pointed to the left, down the path that led out of Ponyville on the northwest side.

“Great. Thank you!” I took off, propelling myself into the air and following the path out of Ponyville. The way Lily had pointed out was actually a railroad line, but for a Pegasus like me it was easy to follow the same trail in midair. Now it was only a matter of finding out where in the trees surrounding the track the four ponies were hiding out.

I was sure the pony who had pushed a letter through Hollow’s mail slot was Leech, otherwise I don’t think Hollow would have responded so quickly. The letter was probably a request to meet in a specific place. Given this place, it certainly made sense. No one would come out along this path unless they were trying to take shelter from a threat to the whole town, and even then they would only stay in one place, because the only secure place was –

In all fairness, it should have been the first place that came to mind for a secret meeting. I swiveled my wings and aimed for the steel structure nestled just on the forest’s edge, outside of the cave tunnel. The bunker, which for the life of me I could not remember the name of, was a building designed to protect ponies from any grave threats, including but not limited to a buffalo stampede or dragon attack (as if those things were likely to happen in a place so close to Canterlot). It was ideal for a secret meeting because most of the ponies in Ponyville had probably forgotten about it in all the years of peace Ponyville had lived through. Those who did were unlikely to care about traveling there, because for one, most of the ponies in town were unicorns and earth ponies, which meant they would have to travel here on hoof or find a train whose conductor was willing to make an unofficial stop near the place. Second, the only things in there were stored food supplies and maybe a few precautions like collapsible fences and tents. It was a place that few would visit in a hurry. Unless they had some shady business that they didn’t want to be seen.

I landed in front of the compound as lightly as possible. Testing the door with one hoof, I found that there was no getting inside this way. The door was locked.

Which, of course, meant that there were ponies inside. The only other entrances I could think of were the backdoor hatch and the windows overhead. The windows would be a last-ditch effort, because I really didn’t want to make my presence known to Leech and Hollow at this point. As I circled around to the side of the compound and located the old basement-door entrance, I thought about my priorities. Right now, I knew that there were at least four ponies in there, and I couldn’t be sure that any of them were unwilling to hurt me to keep their secret safe.

I climbed into the passage and closed the doors behind me. Normally, as far as I knew, the power in the building kicked on once a big creature like a pony came in. Either the power had burned out long ago, or one of the Changelings had killed the power. I had to assume the latter. Walking around in the dark was pretty spooky for me, but at the very least I knew no one knew I was here. That much was obvious from the faint voices up ahead.

“…only trying to do what’s best for all of us. You know that.”

The voices echoed off the walls as if I were in a cave. That first voice wasn’t all too familiar, but I was pretty sure it was Hollow talking.

“Since when have you ever cared about me? This is all about you and them. I could go rot, for all you care. And the town’s the next step.”

That, of course, had to be Leech. The voices changed as I kept moving, becoming louder and more clear. I started to watch my hoofsteps, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

“Call it what you will. This is your last chance to leave, before somepony gets hurt. This is about more than just you.”

“I don’t care what you say. It’s not the only way.”

The room was as pitch-black as it had been down in the corridor. But somehow Leech and Hollow, up ahead, spoke calmly, not bothered at all by the lack of visibility. Of course, the book hadn’t mentioned whether or not Changelings could see in the dark. I started to circle left, desperately trying to stay subtle, but I needed to use my wings and all four hooves to see in the dark, feeling for anything that I might trip over. My wing brushed up against a crate, and I carefully moved around it.

“I already told you we can expose you, if necessary,” Hollow said. “But causing a disturbance in a town that’s being watched this closely now would be a problem for all of us. If you leave, you can lead a peaceful life elsewhere.”

“If I go where you’re sending me, I’ll die. We both know it. Neither of us can live in solitude.”

My front leg bumped against something I hadn’t felt as I moved sideways, and the piece of steel slid across the crate it had been leaned against. I grabbed it up quickly with my wings, but it was too late; the sound had already spread around the room.

“What’s that?” Hollow asked. Hooves clicked against the ground as he and Leech turned, searching the room. I had already ducked behind the traitorous crate. The metal in my wings, though, was less than agreeable, and caught on a few of my feathers as I moved, yanking them hard. I stifled a groan of pain, but the sound came out through my teeth anyway.

“You brought another pony here!” Hollow snapped.

“What? That’s stupid! I wouldn’t risk anyone finding out!”

“Blast it! We can’t afford to have a leak! You two, find him!” There was a short pause for some reason, and for a second I thought maybe Leech had already taken care of the other two Changelings with Hollow. “Please!” Hollow continued. “By any means necessary! We have to get rid of him! Or the Queen’s wrath will be on us!”

Two sets of buzzing wings made themselves heard in the room. Now they knew I was here. But, at the very least, I could hear where they were, and could hide myself accordingly until I could get to Leech for help. Assuming he was still on my side. But for that, I had to resort to a basic philosophy: “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Leech was clearly against Hollow, and if Hollow was against me, our best chance to get out of this was to work together, at least for the time being. I almost snorted in disgust at the irony. Leech had been so insistent to keep me out of this confrontation because he was convinced it would hurt his reputation with me and probably get him into a lot of trouble with the Royal Guard. But now, I was here. And I was in way more danger than he had been.

“Where’s the light?” I yelled, trying to sound like a little filly. I couldn’t be sure that the fake voice tricked anyone. I was even less convinced when I heard Leech say “no way” in disbelief.

The light I had desperately been hoping for fired up in the center of the room, illuminating the chamber in a dull green. At last, I could see my nose in front of my face, and lots more besides. I jumped behind the crate nearby, trying to stay hidden. Leech probably saw me first, because he called out, “Hold on, guys! I know that pony! They’re cool.”

“Nopony is supposed to be here other than us!” Hollow snapped. “Your friend is trouble, Changeling or not. Get him!”

I stayed behind the crate, waiting for any movement. Two dark shapes went flying over me and out of sight behind the walkway overhead. They must have thought I was hiding upstairs. Probably more crates up there for me to use as cover. I decided to keep that in mind as peeked around, saw no one watching, and crept over to a set of crates piled on top of each other.

Something tapped my shoulder. I almost jumped out of my skin, turning to face the attacker. But it was Leech who stared back at me. “Easy, easy, it’s just me,” he murmured, gesturing to stay calm.

In a sudden moment of clarity, I realized that Hollow had specifically said “Changeling or not”, which meant that the four other ponies in here were all Changelings. That, in turn, meant that this might not be Leech I was talking to at all, but one of the other three copying his disguise. “Prove it,” I muttered. “Tell me something only I would know about you.”

‘Leech’ frowned. “What?” he asked. “Uh… I didn’t tell you anything nopony else would know.”

I heard something hissing nearby. Glancing back quickly, I saw only a pair of sharp white fangs. That was all I needed to see. “Nice try!” I yelled, grabbing the pony in front of me and swinging around, tossing him into his companion. Both ponies hit the floor squealing, leaving me the time to take cover elsewhere. Flying was out of the question, at least for now, because I knew that at least three of them would start trying to shoot me out of the air. That left only ducking for cover and trying to make an exit. The front door was locked. The secret entrance in was a straight corridor up until the end, which would make me an easy target. The windows upstairs were my best bet, but until I was close enough, I didn’t want to risk flying up there.

The nearest cover was along the wall on the opposite side of the room. Unfortunately, as I looked up, one of the other Changelings was scanning the room from a darker corner, trying not to be seen. If I wanted to keep hidden, I would have to do the same. So I crept back until I felt my side against the cold steel wall and slid alongside it. When I had finally circled far enough, I ducked behind the cylinder of hay next to me.

Something soft brushed against my hind leg, and I swung back, ready to throw a good punch. It was another pony disguised as Leech, of course. I was just wondering how they could possibly have made such a keen impersonation on a detail as vague as “spiky mane”. This particular Leech didn’t so much as talk; he just waved me down like the last, patting his hooves toward the ground. “Prove it,” I hissed my challenge again.

“Easy,” he hissed back. “Bat ponies.”

It took a second for me to understand the meaning of those two vague words, but once I did, I knew that the pony I was talking to was the real Leech. “Stay close,” I muttered. “I can’t tell you apart if you wander off again.”

“Can’t do it, Jag. The only way you’re gonna get out of here is if I’m distracting them.”

“Leaving you here. Can’t we con--”

A green flash lit the area near us, followed by a girl’s voice. “He’s here!”

In response, Leech did the one thing I hadn’t expected. He transformed right in front of me, and in an instant I found myself looking at a flawless copy of myself. Then he jumped into the air and flew off, yelling at the Changelings: “If you’re gonna make me fight, then fine!”

The distraction worked. I heard a noise like flies buzzing overhead, following him away. It gave me enough time to fly up to the next level and slip under a stack of boxes holding God-knows-what. But the question remained “what to do now?” Leech was in even more trouble now than before, because they were willing to kill him under the assumption that he was me, and that I would go and talk about this whole thing - which actually seemed to be the best move right now. But, that would leave Leech at the hooves of the Royal Guard. Besides that, at top speeds it would take a half-hour just to get the message to Canterlot, and maybe a little less for the troops to fly out here. A brilliant waste of time.

Fighting, then, was the only option. But the limitations were still too high. They were prepared to kill. Leech was being sent to his death under some kind of threat, and they were prepared to shut me up to keep their presence a secret. I, on the other hoof, have no pretense of taking another pony’s life unless another pony is in direct danger. Maybe I could find some leverage…? Right! I could catch one of them off-guard, and hold them as a hostage! But I had no idea how Changeling loyalties worked. If Leech could turn his back on an entire hive, then how could I know that my keeping prisoners would make a difference? I mentally cursed the writers of that book for not getting more details.

Well, the next best option was to knock these creatures out and then get Leech’s help figuring out a plan. As a shelter, this place had to have some decent weapons lying around. I poked my head out from the shelter of boxes and looked around.

Another Changeling hissed in my face, forcing me to back up so fast that my head hit the edge of the flat cover overhead and tipped it onto the floor. The resulting clatter made so much noise that I could be certain the others had heard it. Before I could watch my back, though, I had to deal with the Changeling with the glowing horn right in front of me. I had to think fast, so I grabbed the traitorous box cover and lifted it in front of me, just in time to block a blast of magic.

I had grabbed a shield, which had been left unsealed in the room. Remarkably, the steel was so tough that the magic wasn’t affecting it! …Or else, the spell that Changeling had used was just meant for hitting things. Either way, I finally had a better defense than just run-and-hide.

And it wasn’t necessarily just for defense. I decided to take the initiative in the fight and charged forward, wings outstretched to hold the shield in place as a battering ram. The strategy worked pretty well, because when I hit something, it squealed in surprise. Drawing back the shield, I found a dazed black pony lying on the floor.

Another green light struck the floor near me. Whirling to face the danger, I found one of the other two Changelings, this one also in its true form. And it was shooting at me. I brought up the shield again to brace for another attack. And it came. I was barraged with bursts of arcane energy, the onslaught coming so fast that it was literally pushing me back along the floor. My leg bumped against the other Changeling. I felt breath at my heel, and I made sure to kick at that area hard. My hoof hit home, and the Changeling stopped breathing on me. In the time that little confrontation had taken place, I noticed that the other Changeling’s attack had started to slow down. In fact, it was nearly nothing at all, now. In only a few more shots, the magic assault had stopped completely. I decided to stick with better judgment and stay behind my shield, but the attacks never picked up again. Something hit the floor with a gentle thump in front of me. In one peek, I found that it was indeed the other Changeling.

For lack of a better place to keep it, I dragged the unconscious Changeling over to the one I had kicked and laid them up next to each other. “Uh… hey, Leech?” I called to no one in particular. “Two of them are unconscious.”

“Let them go!” another voice yelled back. It was Hollow, of course. And his voice was coming from off to my side…

It was too late for me to react to the blast of energy Hollow had directed toward me. I started to go for my shield, but by then the green arrow had already reached me. I felt my heart stop for a second…

A dark shape darted in front of me, taking the hit from the blast. I heard a pony grunt in pain, and then the dark shape hit the floor and slid along to the wall. It was a Changeling. Given the tally, it could only have been Leech. The hole-filled legs and insect wings moved for a second, struggling to push their owner back on his feet, but then crumpled to the floor again.

“Hey!” I shouted, turning back to Hollow. I found myself suddenly filled with a deep rage. So far, I had been the only pony to hurt anyone, if unintentionally, and seeing it happen to a friend was not a pleasant feeling. “You do that again, and I’ll break them! So help me, I will!”

The Changelings in question moved behind me again. Without a glance, I reared up and kicked with both of my hind legs, and again the two Changelings groaned and then went quiet. My rage had taken me beyond the point of hesitation.

“Stop!” Hollow reached out a hoof and stepped toward me, then hesitated at the fire in my eyes and stepped back again.

“They are only foals,” he said, suddenly quiet. “Please.”

Leech groaned again. “You brought… hatchlings here?” he asked. “You’re in way over your head…”

“This is not about them!” Hollow snapped at him. “It’s about you.”

“The queen’s never going to forgive this…”

“Shut up!” I yelled. Hollow obediently refocused on me. I had already decided how to end this, and they were going to listen. “Look, Hollow. This is really about your foals, right?”

“They aren’t his…” Leech growled.

Hollow cut him off. “Yes. They wanted to leave the hive with me, and I obliged. If they are hurt, I will pay the price. We will be going home after this.”

With that one claim, I knew the whole story. Leech spoke up at the same time I did. “Lies,” we said. After a glance at the limp body in front of me, I continued, “the three of you aren’t going home, any more than Leech is. I heard what you said. The Queen is going to punish you. And these two are the cause. You would never have left the hive knowing that, unless you never planned on going back. Am I right?”

Hollow just glared at me in silence.

“I have a proposal, then. You leave us in peace, and we won’t go and blow your cover. You three can go and find a new town to live in. Leech stays here.”

“How is that a good idea?” Hollow asked. “He will only cause trouble here.”

“Really?” I asked. “Have you?”

“Don’t compare me to him,” Hollow snarled.

“Suck it up. Clearly, you don’t cause trouble where you go. Other than this little fiasco here, anyway. Leech just wants a nice place to settle down, away from other Changelings. I don’t know why you want him to leave, but it’s not going to happen.”

“Fine. Assuming he won’t cause trouble himself, what about the hive? What happens when they come looking for him?”

“The only one who found him is you, and that’s because you were on a close lookout for other Changelings. That, I’m sure, is because you wanted to make sure you would never be caught. I guess Leech is supposed to be some kind of peace offering?”

Hollow was quiet for a few seconds. “If I turned him in, they would be less likely to come after me. The Royal Guard would be on the search for danger from Changelings, which would make the Queen unable to search for us.”

“The Queen isn’t looking for you.”

Leech’s wings fluttered in the air. Hollow stepped forward again, his blue-white eyes wide in shock. “How can you possibly know that?”

“Leech here was in Canterlot for at least a month. In that time, his behavior was off-the-charts suspicious. No one could possibly be living there without respect for authority unless they were from a distant town. Any one of the Changelings there probably knew what he was. But none of them approached him. Maybe they’re all keeping to themselves.”

“They’re planning something?” Hollow asked.

“You tell me. Leech said they were all over the place. Maybe the Queen’s decided that she has too many mouths to feed, and is moving to the big cities. Given that, I don’t think three or four less mouths to feed is going to bother her.”

“That’s kind of a cold way to look at it…” Leech muttered.

“And you’re sure of this?” Hollow asked.

“Honestly.” I turned and grabbed the two recovering Changelings to push them toward their ‘father’. “Take your foals and get out. We won’t stop you, and we won’t talk. That will only get us into trouble, too.”

Hollow looked at them, and back to me. “What will I do if you’re wrong, and they come looking for us? Proving that Changelings are near is the only way to make sure we are safe.”

“I can do that.” The answer was readily available in my mind. “All I have to do is write an urgent message to Canterlot and relay what you told me in a different sense. I can tell them I overheard two suspicious ponies talking about how they’re in control of the town. All I have to do is say I heard them calling themselves ‘change’, and I’m sure the Guard will get the message. I know one of them myself, and Basilisk is no idiot.”

“That seems like a very feeble plan,” Hollow challenged as he helped the first of the two Changelings to their feet.

“I have the contacts to get the message out without live proof, and I just knocked out your foals, who you don’t want to see getting hurt. I think there are no better options available.”

Hollow glared at me. “You will send that letter?”

“Yes.” I stood my ground. “I promise.”

He glanced from me, to Leech, to his two foals. Then he sighed. “All right, I’ll trust you. You won’t hear from us again.” After a brief once-over of his youthful companions, who he poked gently to check for injuries, he gave one last order. “Let’s go.” The three of them flew down to the bottom floor, unlocked the door, and walked out. Probably in fresh disguises, though the sudden lighting blinded me to anything but silhouettes. Then the door closed again behind them.

With that threat finally out of the way, I leaped forward and leaned over Leech. “Leech, what’s the matter? Why can’t you get up?”

Leech started to breathe deep, but choked and coughed instead. “Ugh… I think he broke something. Can’t get up without any pain knocking me down…”

“Just lie down, then. Save your energy.”

He smiled, showing off his front fangs. “Can’t do that. I gotta keep the light up so you can see.”

I looked up, only just noticing that the room was still filled with an eerie green glow. “That?” I asked. “I don’t need to see anymore, Leech. Cut the lights and get some rest.”

“If you’re sure you can get to the door…” he trailed off as the lights dimmed, leaving the room black.

I paused. “Leech?”

“I’m still here. Could you get a splint or something?”

“Better than that. You just wait right here, I’m getting help.” I spread my wings and jumped over the balcony to the first floor, watching my hooves to make sure I didn’t alight on the edge of a box and fall over.

“Whoa, bad idea! Wait a minute!” Leech called. “I can’t let anypony see me like this!”

“You can sleep in disguise, can’t you?” I asked, rubbing my hooves around the wall in search of the door.

“Yeah…?”

“Then you do that. I’ll be right back.” My hoof touched the handle, and I pushed the doors open once again. The sunlight was a welcome sight to the gloomy old shelter, but for the moment I still had work to do. Spreading my wings once again, I took off at high speed for Ponyville’s hospital.

It was a few hours between my reporting the accident and Leech’s admittance into the hospital before visiting hours started, but by then the operation had already been carried out. The doctor had told me that Leech had suffered from several broken ribs. He had been surprised that Leech hadn’t suffered worse damage. “If he wasn’t hit that hard, then it was probably a dirty prank by some punk foal.”

That had made me shiver. I had no doubt that Hollow was putting every bit of strength into that attack, because he was defending the foals. It was probably Leech’s hard shell that had saved him from worse than a lot of broken ribs, which meant it could have done a lot worse to me. “Have you thought about reporting this?” the doctor asked.

Of course, the report would be given in full. Even a sighting this obscure, as I had decided to call it, couldn’t be waved off by the officials. It had to be reported to the Royal Guard. That, at least, had been something to do with my time for the three hours of Leech’s operation and recovery time: filing a report to the authorities. Just as I had left, I had even seen the interrogator hoof over the report to a blonde-maned Pegasus mare with crossed eyes. Hopefully, that warning would get to Canterlot as soon as possible.

Now, though, everything had wound down, and it was time for me to make the last stop of the day at Leech’s room. Near the end of the hall, I found the room I was looking for and turned into the doorway. Sure enough, there was Leech, back in his Pegasus disguise, lying in a hospital bed with a bandage around his chest.

“And there he is,” he said, flashing a grin. “The colt who saved my life.”

“Hey, Leech,” I said, smiling back. “You feeling better?”

“Oh, kinda sore, but that’ll go away when the bones heal.”

“Yeah.” I thought back to that moment, the split second it had taken for him to make a choice between me and freedom. He could have run while all eyes were on me, but instead he had decided to take a potentially deadly attack himself. “Leech… why did you jump in front of me like that?”

Leech turned his head back and stared at the wall, seeing once more into his own past. He breathed deep and exhaled in a gentle sigh. “Because I’ve already wasted my life on selfish ambitions and greed. If there’s a chance for…” he raised his eyes, and I assumed he was trying to look around to see if there were any other ponies listening. “…for my kind to become better than what they are,” he continued, “I have to start myself. Letting you get hurt so that I could have a fighting chance at proving myself is as bad as messing with other ponies’ lives with my own two hooves. It was more important to let you live and help other ponies, the way you helped me.”

“That’s… very insightful, Leech,” I said, looking him over curiously.

“Yeah, just don’t expect any more philosophies from me.” He offered another weak smile. “I’m not that smart. Just do what I can to get what I want done.”

“Which in this case meant giving up everything for someone else.” I smiled. “But I think you realize by now, what you have in generosity, I make up for in loyalty. I wasn’t quitting on you in that storage shed, and I’m certainly not giving up on you while you’re lying in the hospital bed that I paid for. So fix up those ribs, and fast. There’s a weather manager in town who wants to meet you, and job openings close at the end of the week.”

Leech’s eyes widened, revealing a pure sky blue like the world outside his window. His eyes darted back to me. “What?”

“Oh, please,” I scoffed. “You think you’re gonna fit in at Ponyville if you have no home and no job? Besides, I can’t be home all the time to entertain you. So you’re just going to have to share cloud control with me.”

Leech just stared at me. A few seconds passed in silence. Then he finally said, “You didn’t have to do that.”

I just turned and paced toward the door. “Like I said, you get out of that bed soon, and I won’t have to worry about it being a waste. You have a higher standing than the other candidates because I put in a good word for you about your wingpower. She says she’d love to meet a pony who’s as fast as me. Don’t disappoint us.”

Well, actually, what she had said after I had put in that he was “even faster than me” was that she would love “a real challenge”. But, I decided as I left the hospital, better to let him feel like I’m a rival, and not a pushover. God forbid he hold it over me after I saved his flank.

I learned that day that while outlooks may be bleak at first, there is always a chance at freedom. No matter where you are born, and no matter what kind of life you are expected to lead, a pony’s fate is determined by only one: themselves. Leech was raised by other Changelings, expected to feed on the love of others in secret, at a distance, and to interfere with the relationships of others if food was becoming scarce. He chose to believe, though, that he could be better than that idea.

When he realized in that split second that he had the decision to escape once more from the life of the hive or to save me and give up everything he had struggled to gain, Leech was truly able to feel free. Just as I learned that no life is predetermined, I think he learned something too: that the one thing still missing in his life was the willingness to give up what little he had left to help another. He accepted that sacrifice is as necessary in living a full life as taking charge of it yourself. Because of that, he finally, truly has hope.

…Then again, maybe he didn’t get all that.

Leech is a slow learner.

The End