Tears of a Changelingby Monsieur-FlattererChaptersAwakeningIsolationDoubtAwakeningHope’s eyes opened slowly, a soft grunt leaving his lips as he reached one of his hooves to rub his forehead. He shook his head slightly and slowly got up, glancing around. He had no idea where he was, the whole place was dark and ice cold. Hope walked forward slowly, until his head bumped into some bars with a loud clung. The changeling yelped and backed off. “This isn’t Canterlot...” Hope muttered, glancing around and trying to see anything in this dark, cold room. He gulped as he heard a grunt to his left, but looking over in that direction didn’t help much, he couldn’t see a thing. The person over there started to mutter, while sounds of shifting were implying the person was getting up. “Who’s there?” Murmured Hope, backing away slightly. “I-It’s Flash.” The changeling responded. Hope let out a sigh of relief, until his hoof pressed on to someone else. That changeling let out a grunt as the hoof bumped against him. “Stark? Is that you?” Hope whispered. “Yeah...” The changeling responded, grunting as he started to get up. “What’s happening, where are we?” He asked. “I have no idea...Just some dark room.” Hope responded. He reached out to Stark and felt him, sighing. “Weren’t we in Canterlot moments ago?” Flash muttered. “Yes, we were...Did something happen? Are we imprisoned?” Stark asked. Flash gulped and walked back to the bars, touching the cold metal. “I... I think we are.” He said softly, sighing. “Those ponies caught us.” Flash gulped, sniffling slightly. “I knew this would happen. I just knew it! The whole thing was a failure from the beginning! Look at us, we’re trapped in some sort of dark room with absolutely no awareness of time and place! We’re probably going to starve to death or end up eating each other!” Flash yelled, before suddenly being pulled away from the bars by his shoulders and given a soft hug. “Calm down.” Hope said, gulping. “Stark’s smart, he’ll get us out of here in no time,” Hope told Flash, who nodded slightly and pushed himself out of the hug. Stark was just feeling around in the dark, sighing. “I can feel some bedrolls lying around, but that’s it. And we’re in some sort of cage, inside a larger room. But I have no idea what kind of room.” Stark said, sighing as he kept feeling around. Flash, however, was reaching out of the metal bars to see if he could find something. But he just ended up cursing and slamming the bars. “We’re probably going to get executed, or worse.” Hope muttered as he sat in the middle of the cage. “Shut up and stop with those bad thoughts, Hope, You’re not helping anyone!” Stark yelled. “Calm down, Stark, we’re going to get out of here. We’ve been able to get out of every situation we’ve encountered so far!” Flash said. “Not this time! We’re stuck in a metal cage in Chrysalis-knows-where!” Stark yelled back, but they all fell silent as the lights of the room suddenly sprung on. They were blinded, at first, but as they got used to the sudden bright light, they could finally see what they were stuck in. They were in some sort of laboratory, containing a few tables with vials and pictures, together with tools. In the middle was a metal table with straps and some metal arms suspended above it. That cage was just in front of the cage. The three changelings gazed at their surroundings in fear and disgust. Who would do this? Celestia? Some sort of crazy scientist? No, the culprit was on the other side of the room, where the only door was. There stood a purple unicorn with a dark purple mane, a pink streak going through the hair. She gazed at the Changelings, seeming as unsure and scared as them. She slowly trotted inside, placing a saddlebag on the metal table as she stopped in front of the cage. She looked up into one of the corners, to some strange device. The changelings followed her gaze, it looked like some sort of suspended photocamera, but judging by the fact a not working lightbulb was on it, they guessed it was off. “Red eyes...” Twilight muttered. She gazed at Hope, gulping. “I’m Twilight Sparkle... If you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the red eyes?” She said softly, but the changelings kept quiet as they cowered away from the unicorn. “Look...You’re probably wondering what’s happening he-” “Probably?” Stark muttered sharply. “Okay, You’re wondering what’s going on here...” Twilight said. “This is my laboratory. I’m ordered by the Equestrian government to research changelings. Your behaviour, feelings, anatomy...” Twilight explained. “After the Canterlot incident...They found you three unconscious in one of the houses. The forcefield probably slammed you into a wall instead of properly banish you from Equestria. So they assigned you three to me.... For testing. You will be fed on time 1300 and 2000 every day and the nicer you three are to me, the nicer I will be to you... Respect is really important right now. If you ever want to get out of here, you will have to obey. And I promise, you will get out of here, but probably not soon. Now...I’m running behind on my agenda so...” Twilight sighed and looked down to the floor, guilt visible in her eyes. “If it matters, I’m really sorry for this...” She said, reaching to flick a switch on the wall, activating the device in the corner. The unicorn stepped back as her horn started to glow, the same glow surrounding the metal arms above the table. The arms moved to the cage and unlocked it, opening the door. They couldn’t escape, for those same metal arms were blocking the exit. Suddenly, one of the arms reached for the Stark. He cursed loudly as the arm grabbed his hind leg and started dragging him out of the cage. “Stark!” Flash exclaimed in panic, while Hope was still cowering away against the wall of the cage, his eyes locked on Stark. Flash wasn’t just going to let this happen. He jumped and grabbed Stark’s hooves, trying to pull him back in. “Flash, you idiot!” Stark yelled out. “Just let me go!” “No!” Flash responded as he pulled on Stark’s hooves. The arm slowed down because of the force it suddenly had to endure, but it was still successfully dragging Stark out. Twilight frowned at these actions, she didn’t expect them to be so lively. She squinted her eyes and put more force onto her magic. “Hope, help please?” Flash yelled. The silent changeling gulped and jumped up, grabbing Flash’s waist and pulling on him. The arm had stopped now, the force of three changelings pulling on it too much. However, Twilight wasn’t stupid. Her magic moved to the cage door, which suddenly slammed shut and smacked Flash and Hope back in the cage. Flash smacked on to Hope, who groaned and squirmed from the impact. Twilight winced at the sight of this, hurting them wasn’t really her first intention. The two changelings whimpered in defeat, as Stark was lifted on to the metal table and strapped to it. Twilight pulled on a lab coat and sighed, locking the cage door again. “Let’s see...test subject 03...” Twilight muttered, crossing something on her clipboard as she leaned on the table. “My name’s Stark.” The changeling protested, tugging on his restraints lightly. Twilight sighed, looking at the changeling with a saddened gaze. “Of course... Let me change that...” She said silently, while scribbling something quickly on the small board. “Uh, today we’re going to test reactions...” Twilight muttered, lifting a bottle with vinegar out of the bag and opening it. “I need to see how you react with certain types of edibles, pains and actions.” She explained. This caused Stark to frown and gaze at the vinegar, but his eyes went wide. Before he could protest, the bottle was forced into his mouth, and was quickly filled with vinegar. Twilight pulled the bottle back out and placed a hoof on Stark’s lips, forcing him to swallow it down. Stark tried to spit it back out, but he saw himself forced to gulp the disgusting liquid up. Once his mouth was empty, he let out a groan of disgust, gagging slightly. “Why?” He blurted out, almost throwing up. “Would you like it if I force fed you vinegar? It’s disgusting!” He yelled out. Twilight merely shook her head, noting the results down with a smile. Stark was getting to get rather mad, tugging on the restraints more forcefully. “Yeah, don’t forget to note down that you’re heartless, what kind of sick bastard experiments on other living beings!?” He spat at Twilight. Twilight looked up from her clipboard, her gaze more saddened than insulted. She leaned down and gulped, her lips only inches away from his ear. “I’m sorry...I have no choice...” Twilight whispered. She stood properly again and looked behind her, to the small device hanging in the corner of the room. When she put her concentration back on Stark, she gained a confused look from him. “There’s no reason for all of this!” Flash yelled from his cage, while Hope was still recovering behind him. “What did we ever do to you?” Flash yelled at Twilight, tugging on the metal bars of his prison. “Aside from trying to conquer our entire country and drain us of love and friendship? You ruined my brother’s wedding, almost killed Cadence, made my princess and tutor look like a fool who can’t protect herself and wrecked Canterlot.” Twilight responded to Flash. “You’re an idiot.” Hope muttered to Flash. “Hey, I’m trying to stand up for us!” Flash yelled at Hope, staring into his eyes. “Next.” Twilight said, lifting some salt out of the bag and getting a large pinch out. Stark forced his lips shut, glaring at the unicorn. But Twilight shook her head, the metal arm lowering again to pinch Stark’s nose shut. The changeling tried to hold his breath for as long as he could, but he suddenly gasped for air. Just as he did, salt was thrown in his mouth. Sounds of gagging and cursing emitted from the changeling. “Oh dear Chrysalis my tongue’s drying up!” He yelled, squirming as he coughed. “Water, please!” He begged. But Twilight nodded and noted things on her clipboard. “What kind of stupid tests are these? How is this contributing to your research in any way?” Stark yelled. Twilight sighed and shut Stark’s mouth by forcing a bottle of water on it, so he would stop complaining. “Smart words for a changeling...” Twilight muttered, sounding rather impressed. “We’re looking for emergency defense weapons found in the everyday home.” She paused to look up from her clipboard. “In case you ever decide to attack us again, of course.” “Pfft, smart words for a changeling? Stark is our leader! He outmatches you in every way!” Flash yelled from his cage. “Shut it, Flash!” Hope mumbled. “Mark my words, Twilight, our queen will come for us, I’m sure of it! She loves all her changelings!” Stark said to Twilight, just after he spat the empty bottle out. Twilight then opened her saddlebag, taking out various types of foods like a lemon, some bad milk, a raw piece of chicken, an egg, et cetera. Stark started his complaining once more, telling Twilight how stupid these experiments were and that she’s not right in the head. But Twilight continued her research without bothering with Stark’s complaints and insults too much. All the food disappeared down Stark’s throat bit by bit, with the necessary gagging and complaining. it was a wonder that Stark had the stomach to hold all the things he was forced to eat. Meanwhile, Hope and Flash were watching. “She’s going to end up killing us... Hope muttered, sighing. Flash winced, still holding the steel bars as he watched the experiments. He sighed and placed his forehead on the metal bars, his wings keeping him in the air. Flash was not the brightest of the bunch. He’s not a complete idiot, but he could be pretty stupid sometimes. But, he was the fastest flyer in the hive. He used to impress the others with his tricks and he had always been Hope’s guardian angel. Flash had protected Hope as if he was a child of his own. The bond between him and Hope was an unbreakable one. They’ve been through thick and thin, have avoided every obstacle thrown at them, but they could’ve never done it without each other. Once Twilight was finished she placed the saddlebag on the floor. She gulped as she checked the clipboard, wincing slightly as a hammer suddenly floated in front of her. Stark’s squirming and protesting grew again, but Twilight slowly and reluctantly ticked the hammer on one of Stark’s wings. Stark frowned and looked down. “T-That’s it?” He muttered. Twilight nodded and gulped, gazing up in Stark’s eyes. He could see desperation in it. He could just read it off her face. The unicorn gazed back at her clipboard, before shaking her head and placing the hammer away. “Physical testing is over.” She muttered. She loosened Stark’s restraints, before a metal arm grabbed him and placed Stark back in the cage. Twilight turned the device in the corner off and sighed, leaning against the cage and gazing at the three changelings. “I’m sorry...” She whispered, trotting to her saddlebag and pulling some bread and butter out. She placed it in the cage, together with a bottle of water. The unicorn then took a seat in front of the cage. “I’ll need to ask you three some questions...remember, work well with me and things will improve...” Twilight said softly. She turned to the changeling with red eyes, who was the most interesting to her. “Do you have a name?” Twilight asked softly. Hope nodded and softly muttered his name. Twilight noted it down and sighed. “Tell me about yourself...I’m really interested in your eyes...” Twilight spoke gently. “Umm...” Hope muttered, looking over to Flash, who was nodding, then to Stark, who was shaking his head. But he slowly shifted closer to Twilight, sighing. “Normally, all the changelings are alike...e-except for me.” He said softly. “I’m the only changeling so far to be ever born with these...eyes... Some say it’s a birth defect or an error in my genes, but either way they’ve made it so I’ve always been an outcast in the hive... It’s exactly because of that that I mostly keep to myself. S-Stark and Flash are my only friends, they were always with me. I’m really happy they’re here. If I would’ve been locked up with other changelings they’d probably blame me for the whole situation and beat me to death...” Hope told, gulping as he finished his story. Somehow, it felt good to get it off his heart, but why he trusted Twilight enough to tell her, he didn’t know. Twilight was gazing at Hope, not really believing that changelings could have this much of an emotional value. She turned to the next one, Flash. “What about you...?” Twilight asked. Flash looked around. “I’m Flash...I’m just a normal changeling, I guess. But I’m a great flyer! I’m in the flying club of the hive!” He chuckled, Hope and Stark giving Flash a disapproving look for his enthusiastic nature. Flash gulped and sat down. “Also...Hope’s my best friend...” He muttered. Twilight was noting almost everything down with a smile. She then turned to Stark, who glared at Twilight. “You forced me to eat the most disgusting stuff. Don’t think I’m going to say anything to you.” He growled. Twilight sighed and wrote down. “His name’s Stark...” Hope muttered. “Hope!” Stark yelled, causing Hope to whimper slightly. Twilight sighed and stood, looking at her clipboard. “That’s all...” Twilight muttered, reaching for the switch to turn the device in the corner off. “I’ll see you three tomorrow.” She said softly, picking up her saddlebag and moving to the door, reaching for the lightswitch. “Can you keep the lights on...please?” Hope muttered. “I-I don’t want to be in the dark...” He said softly. Twilight looked back to Hope, and nodded, leaving through the door. Stark sat back in the corner of the cage, holding a hoof on his stomach. Flash took a piece of the bread, slowly eating it, before suddenly stating the harsh truth. “We’re test subjects...” He whispered, gulping as he looked up to Stark and Hope. “We’re stuck here...to be researched...” He said softly. Hope merely nodded and sighed, looking over at Stark. “I’ll find something...” Stark reassured. “But right now...I’m having difficulty digesting that disgusting stuff she fed me..” Stark muttered, his stomach letting out a protesting grumble. “At least we’re still together...” Hope said softly, still blankly staring at the floor. He looked up to the table, gulping. “But for how long...?” None of them said anything for a while. IsolationHope lay on his bedroll, looking up at the ceiling as he let out a soft sigh. He looked over to Stark, who was clutching his stomach and gagging slightly. Hope then turned his head to Flash, who was sleeping on his own bedroll. Hope looked back up and sighed, not really being able to sleep. He was worried about what would happen to them. If Twilight would keep to her promise that, if they acted and behaved well enough, they’d be free. But the tests seem terrible, he had no idea if he would be able to go through with those. Stark was still complaining about what he had to endure and he didn’t feel good at all. Hope looked back to Stark, who gazed back into Hope’s red eyes. “This is your fault...” Stark muttered, sniffling. Hope’s eyes went wide and he sat up, his breathing increasing in speed. “You told us to go inside...In that cottage... Look where we are now..” Stark grumbled as he slowly stood. “Now we’re test subjects... We’re objects in their eyes and if they succeed, we’re the key to figuring out how they can defeat the hive, defeat our queen...” Stark told Hope, approaching him. “You red-eyed bastard... Flash always told me you were something special, but no. You’re just a defect egg!” Stark yelled, his hoof suddenly raising and slamming across Hope’s face, causing Hope to yelp and roll over, quickly standing up. “Stark, stop!” He yelled, backing away from him, but he stumbled on the sleeping Flash and fell over him. Flash woke up and glanced around, rather confused. “What’s happening?” He mumbled, looking over at Hope, then at Stark. “This is all your fault!” Stark yelled. He grabbed Hope’s hind legs and dragged him closer, raising his hoof again. The hoof punched down on Hope’s nose, causing the red-eyed changeling to scream in pain. “Stop!” Hope yelled, receiving a smack across his cheek. Hope covered his face with his hooves, looking over to Flash, who was just watching with a confused stare. He whimpered as Stark pulled on his hooves, making Hope’s face free. His hoof raised up again...and rushed down. “Don’t!” Hope yelled as he woke up, jolting up from his bedroll. He panted heavily, sweat dribbling from his forehead as he looked around in panic. Stark was in the corner, clutching his stomach and squirming in pain. Flash got up and frowned. “Hope, are you okay..?” He muttered. Hope merely nodded, thanking Chrysalis the whole thing was just a dream. They both looked over at Stark, who was trembling in the corner. Hope approached him and placed a hoof on his forehead. “You’re cold..” Hope whispered. “Yet sweating...” He added. With a soft sigh he lay down next to Stark. he gazed in his eyes, Flash approached from behind to check on Stark too. “She fed me raw chicken and raw eggs, Hope...” Stark said, gulping. “It’s natural that I feel terrible right now,” He told him, looking back at Hope. Flash sighed, staying silent. They just sat there, watching each other. Flash looked around and moved to the bars, inspecting all the walls. “No clock...How do we know if it’s night or not?” He mumbled. he looked back to Stark and Hope. “Twilight said she feeds us at 1300 and 2000. The only way we’ll actually know what time it is, is when she feeds us.” Stark said. But he suddenly stood up and frowned. Hope looked up at him, looking rather worried as he knew what was about to come. “I’m going to throw up...” Stark muttered. Flash looked over at Stark, wide-eyed. “What? Where! There’s nothing to throw up in!” He yelled in panic. Stark shook his head and rushed over to the other side of the cage, poking his head out of the bars and gagging slightly. Hope covered his nose as Stark released his sick. The sounds of splashing and Stark gagging made both Hope and Flash wince. Flash grabbed the bottle of water given to them before, which was already half empty. He walked over to Stark, fighting the stench of Stark’s sick as he gave the bottle. Stark mouthed a soft “Thank you” before taking a large gulp of water, coughing slightly. Both Flash and Hope were still holding a hoof in front of their noses. Stark flew up slightly and started flapping his wings fast, trying his best to send the stench into another direction. “Why did she even make you eat that stuff?” Flash asked with a disgusted grunt, turning away from the vomit and walking over to where Hope was, the other side of the cage. Stark took another sip of water and snorted slightly. “Because she sees us as a completely new species.” Stark replied. “She never heard of changelings until now. She doesn’t know what we do or how we work. She thinks feeding us everyday household edibles will have big effects on us, while it doesn’t.” Stark replied, coughing slightly. “How do you know?” Flas asked, sitting down next to Hope. “I guessed, judging by her actions...And I also had a bit of a peek on her clipboard when I could,” Stark explained, staying close to the bars and still flapping his wings. “And you two...especially Hope... Don’t talk to her.” Stark grumbled. “She said that if we work with her, she’ll let us go.” Hope said, looking up at Stark. “That’s exactly what she wants, Hope. She wants us to tell her everything, so she can scoop out our weak points.” Stark said. “We’re giving ourselves away to the enemy. Flash was revealing there’s a flight academy inside the hive! Next time she’s down here, you say nothing to her!” Stark yelled. Hope sighed and nodded, while Flash simply leaned back against the cage. Stark stopped flapping his wings now, still clutching his stomach as he joined his two friends. Flash took a good look around the room, memorizing what was inside it. Tables with tools and vials, the large metal table in the middle. But only now he noticed that there was a cabin in the corner, not far from the door that leads out of this room. He started wondering what the cabin could contain. He also started wondering what the time is, again. With the lights constantly on, he had no idea if it was midnight or eight in the morning, and he hated it. He didn’t like having no awareness of the time at all. Flash kept looking around the room, examining everything. The metal arms, the vials, the tools. Surely , this lab had been used before their arrival? Flash sighed and stepped back from the bars, sitting down on one of the bedrolls. He wanted to go back to the hive, but then again, he was pretty sure Hope and Stark had the desire for the exact same thing. Flash looked over to them. Hope was just playing with his own hooves, sunken in thoughts, while Stark was also just looking around, one hoof resting on his stomach. He slowly brought the bottle back to his lips, taking a sip, before looking back at Flash. “I’m going to try and get some sleep.” Stark said. “My stomach’s better...slightly...” He added, crawling on to one of the bedrolls. He lay down and sighed, closing his blue eyes in an attempt to sleep. Hope gazed at Stark and sighed, but he smiled slightly as Flash sat down next to him again. “What did you dream about?” Flash whispered, gazing at Stark. Hope gulped and also looked at Stark. “I...Nothing...” Hope whispered softly. He rubbed his hooves over each other, occasionally rubbing the tip of a hoof over one of the holes in his leg. He wondered why those holes were there, really. It wasn’t really practical, they can get stuck easily and it slows them down while flying. It bothered Hope to the account where he suddenly lifted his hoof and asked Flash why they were there. but Flash saw this as an attempt at changing subject, so he slowly pushed Hope’s hoof down and sighed, asking again what his dream was about. Hope sighed and gulped, staring at Stark. He seemed to be asleep while letting out grunts every now and then. “I...” Hope muttered. “Stark was getting mad at me... He was blaming me for this whole situation and then he started beating me up and you didn’t do anything about it...” Hope muttered, letting out a slight whimper. He sniffled and looked at Flash. “Stark wouldn’t do that... And this is not the fault of any of us...” Flash said. “Stark realizes that, and we all know that if we want to get out of here, we’ll need all three of us.” Hope stared at the slightly smiling Flash, merely nodded and sighed, going back to examining the holes in his hooves. He was rather bored, in this cage. Even though it wasn’t the main problem, Hope would like something to keep himself busy. But he suddenly gasped and looked up, blushing slightly. “Uh...” He muttered. “I...uh...” “What is it?” Flash asked with a frown, noticing how Hope is shifting and squirming slightly. His hooves went down hold themselves on his private area. “I need to...pee...” He whispered. Flash groaned and slapped a hoof on his face, a bit more painful than intended. “We don’t have anywhere to dispose of it..” Flash whispered back. Hope gulped and squirmed. “Can’t you hold it in?” Flash whispered. “For how long? I don’t know when she’ll be back...” Hope replied as he bit his lip. He gulped slightly as he held his hooves on his crotch. “T-The bread was in a bowl...” Hope said softly. Flash frowned and looked over to their food. Half a loaf of bread was left and it was indeed resting in a bowl. Flash moved over to pick it up, lifting the bread out of it. “Is it going to be big enough?” He asked, showing the bowl to Hope. “I sure hope so.” Hope said, grabbing the bowl and moving to a corner. He sighed and looked at Flash, blushing slightly. “Can you turn around please?” Hope said sheepishly. Flash sighed and turned around, while Stark was still asleep. The sound of a stream of liquid splashing in a bowl and filling it up echoed through the room. Flash sighed, but frowned as he heard Hope squeak. Once the sound of the stream stopped, Flash turned around. His eye twitched slightly as he saw most of Hope’s urine had spilled over. “This cage is getting unsanitary fast...” Flash mumbled. “Now she’ll think we’re dirty animals.” lash sighed. Hope blushed and looked down to the bowl. “It’s really hard to aim in that...” He said softly, walking back to Flash. Flash sighed and sat down. “Lets just hope she’ll clean this mess up tomorrow...or today... Well, ever.” Flash grumbled. They were only stuck for a few hours but the limitation of having no knowledge of time was driving Flash crazy. He couldn’t bear it. It was so annoying for him that he started tapping his hoof on the floor nervously. It created a rather annoying tick. Hope wasn’t really bothered by things like this, because he mostly keeps himself distracted and busy. Stark, on the other hand, is quickly annoyed with repeating sounds. This time was no exception. The ticking made him wake up and he grumbled. “Flash, will you stop it? I need sleep!” Stark complained. Flash sighed and stopped the ticking with his hoof, glancing around once more. Stark sniffed slightly and looked over to the bowl, grunting. “Who pissed in our food bowl?” Stark sighed, looking over to Hope and Flash. Flash pointed to Hope, who on his turn gained red cheeks and made himself a bit smaller, letting out a rather nervous chuckle. “Hope, for Chrysalis’ sake, did you really piss on the bread?” Stark yelled. “No! Flash took the bread out.” Hope said, while Flash waved half the loaf of bread in the air. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep it in.” Hope muttered, sighing as he dragged his hoof over the floor slightly. Hope felt rather embarrassed that she had to perform such things in front of his friends. Stark sighed and lay back down, trying to resume his sleep. And then the silence came again. Each changeling was minding their own business. Stark was asleep, Flash was inspecting the room and Hope had resorted to counting how many holes were in his body. But the room started getting rather cold and Flash was the first one to start shivering from it. Then Hope felt his body cool down and soon the cold woke Stark up. “It’s getting really cold in here...” Hope muttered. Flash and Stark nodded. “Maybe if we get close, we can warm each other up?” He suggested. Flash and Stark gazed at Hope, both frowning. Hope blushed slightly. “It’s just an idea...” He muttered. “Alright then...” Flash mumbled, not sounding too enthusiastic as he moved close to Hope. Stark sighed and did the same, and soon the three were snuggled close against each other, with Hope in the middle. “Hmm...this actually works.” Flash said, smiling slightly. Doubt“What are you thinking about Flash?” “I’m thinking we’re stuck here and this place smells awful.” “Yes, thanks, I really needed a confirmation of the obvious. besides, the odor is kind of our fault mainly. I was just wondering if you had any escape plans or… or anything!” “Escape plan? Are you serious? If you’re strong enough to bend these bars then I might have an escape plan, which includes going straight from point A to point B, point A being this horrible place and point B being the hive!” “Alright, alright, chill out… We’ll probably have to wait for Chrysalis to come get us.” “Stark… Chrys… Uh, nevermind. Hope! Wake up!” With a grunt and a slight buzz of his wings the red-eyed Changeling rolled onto his side. One of his hooves made a little twitch before he properly stood up. “What happened?” He muttered, seeing Stark and Flash sit at the bars, looking about and examining the lab. Flash peeked at him over his shoulder. “You got a little too cozy when we were sharing our warmth and you fell asleep again.” He answered, looking back out into the lab. “We’ve been looking around here in mean time.” Stark added, before sighing and turning around with a shrug. “We don’t see an immediate way out, but don’t give we’re not giving up hope yet.” “I might hope not.” Hope answered, going to the bars and glancing out sleepily. And there couldn’t have been a better timing, as the heavy metallic door opened right then and there, showing a purple unicorn who immediately curled her nose at the smell coming from inside. She held a hoof in front of her nose and sighed. “Shoulda thought of a waste disposal…” She muttered as her horn showed a faint purple glow, bringing a few mops and buckets filled with water and soap in action. The equipment started cleaning up the mess the Changelings had made immediately. Once it was all spick and span again, Twilight just emptied one of the buckets and slid it into the cage. “There, do your business in that, not… In THAT.” She stated, pointing at the food tray. The trio had found nothing better to do during the clean-up than to continuously glare at their captor. Stark had a look on his face that could cut like a blade, his features stern and aggressive as always. Flash was baring his teeth to come out as aggressive, the fangs gleaming in the light of the laboratory. Hope was less successful in seeming ticked off, his facial features were a lot more soft and the red eyes made him exceptional, it was more like he was just staring at Twilight, not glaring. Once all that fuss was over and the Changelings still hadn’t said a word in some sort of silent protest, Twilight was getting the metallic bed in the middle of the room ready. She had a clipboard floating next to her, and was even slipping on a surgically mask. Flash got nervous seeing this, and his teeth were covered by his lips again. Hope effectively backed up a little, but Stark seemed unphased. Or at least pretended he was unphased. “So for today…” She started as she approached the cage. “...You’re going to force-feed ridiculous stuff to us again.” Stark interrupted. Both his comrades pulled wide eyes at him. “No… To-” “Because really, how stupid of an experiment was that? What were you hoping to conduct out of it? How much rotten food I need to have my stomach implode?” “Stark, don’t engage her!” Flash hissed on the side. The self-proclaimed leader of the bunch turned his head to Flash. “I’m asking because I want to know.” Stark said, turning his head to Twilight again. “So why are you doing this exactly huh? I thought you ponies were supposed to be peaceful.” “Stark, cut it out! Don’t piss her off!” Flash yelled, while Hope was just following the conversation, sunk back in the background. He noticed how Twilight was noting things down, not even interfering. “What is she going to do, put us in a smaller cage?” Stark asked. “Feed us broccoli?” “She might put you down because you’re a nuisance, yeah!” Flash answered, until the purple one finally interrupted them. “So, today’s a medical examination.” She finally said, looking between Flash and Stark, before settling her eyes on Hope. “Starting with you.” “W-Woah… Why me?” Hope asked. “Because you’re special.” She answered, the contraption hanging from the ceiling behind her springing to life, as well as the camera in the corner. Three metallic arms reached towards the cage as the door opened, two of them holding Stark and Flash down, while the third one gripped Hope around the neck, starting to pull him out. In struggle, the red-eyed Changeling buzzed his wings and dragged his hooves over the floor. He found, however, that doing that caused the arm to grip tighter, closing his air pipe. Hope was quick to give up the struggle, not wanting to choke. His friends, however, were unaware of this. As Hope was dragged by them, both grabbed hold of one of Hope’s hooves and started pulling desperately. Hope felt the metal grip around his throat tighten up, and he let out a gagging sound once his air pipe was closed off again. Nonetheless, Flash and Stark didn’t give up their hold on Hope. The captured Changeling couldn’t say a thing or warn them. Twilight, however, corked a brow. “You might want to stop that…” She told the two, who just glared at her. “We’re not letting you experiment on him!” Stark yelled, giving Hope a good tug back, causing another gagging sound to come from him. Flash, however, heard the gagging and found it strange that Hope hadn’t said a thing since that han grabbed him. So, he let him go. “Stark, let him go!” He yelled to the other, but Stark shook his head and kept holding Hope. “You’re choking him you idiot!” Flash yelled, kicking at Stark. Stark was hit by a hoof and a moment of realization as he looked up and noticed that Hope was starting to stop moving, as well as some tears dripping down his face. The Changeling immediately let go, letting the arm take Hope out of the cage. Twilight just stood there watching and noting things down. With a smack Hope landed on the metallic table, the arm releasing its grip on his throat. The Changeling gasped for air, writhing around slightly. The other two were let go as well, and the cage door shut and locked. Flash and Stark just sat down and looked at Hope through the bars. “Alright, sit up.” Twilight said to Hope. The bug did so, slowly. He had bruises lining around his neck, it was a pretty close situation. His chest was going up and down as he gasped for breath, his throat feeling sore. Escape, or desperate attempts at flying away didn’t even strike his mind, he felt too weak and he didn’t trust that camera filming every little movement. He was sure Twilight wouldn’t be the only obstacle to get out of here. Before Hope had fully recovered from the experience a tongue depressor was shoved into his mouth, pushing his tongue down while a torch was aimed into it. Twilight checked out his teeth, tongue, and anything oral. After that happened the depressor was pulled back; and Hope let out a few coughs. A thermometer was the next thing to be placed in Hope’s mouth, it’s at that point it struck him that this was probably going to be nothing more than a simple doctor visit. He twitched away when something was pressed onto his ear. He frowned and looked at Twilight from the corner of his eyes. She was squinting while checking out his ears and was soon to switch to the other one. After all this happened in silence, she decided to break that silence when she removed the thermometer. “So, what’s your name again?” She asked, placing the thermometer aside while she shined a light right into Hope’s eye, which made him wince and squint a little. His other eye was soon to fall victim to that handling. “Uh… Hope…” He answered, shuffling back on the metallic table while Twilight noted a few things down on the clipboard. “That’s… A surprisingly nice name for a Changeling.” She commented, wrapping something around Hope’s arm. He frowned at it while it started tightening up, the wrap connected to some sort of small device. Instead of questioning the statement ‘for a Changeling’, he decided to just explain things a little. “Well, I was actually called ‘Bug-Eye’ when I hatched…” He muttered. “My friends just called me Hope to lighten my mood…” He told her. There was a grunt of surprise from Twilight, a grunt of disapprovement from Stark and a grunt of pain from Flash, who had stubbed his hoof against one of the bars. Hope recognized that grunt from Stark, and decided to shut up. The wrap around his arm loosened up again and was removed, however he let out a gasp when something cold pressed onto his chest. Twilight had put on a stethoscope, and was placing the other end all over Hope’s chest, asking him to take deep breaths. Not wanting any further trouble, Hope just did as told. Once that was over, Hope was asked to stand. He hopped off the table, but the contraptions on the ceiling came to life again, to be used as a failsafe if Hope would make an attempt to flee. The Changeling saw measuring tape float across and over, taking his measurements, and he was then nudged onto a scale to take his weight. Last was an eye test. Twilight pointed to a board at the other end of the room, containing various letters ranging from big to really small. Hope managed to read out all of them, showing that his eyes were in perfect condition, despite being red. Not wanting an unfortunate event with the metallic arms like last time, Hope returned to his cage without a fuss. He sighed in relief once he was in, no horrible experiments this time around. Twilight pointed at Flash next. Of course, he resisted at first, but when he saw the arms coming he pinned his ears down and neatly walked out of the cage, to the table. Stark had to be held down again, or he would have certainly stirred up trouble. Flash underwent the exact same treatment as Hope, getting everything checked and measured. He was asked his name and he answered honestly, but other than that didn’t say much. He showed the same results as Hope, even though he seemed to be somewhat lighter than his red-eyed friend. Twilight also discovered that Flash couldn’t read; because the eye test was an absolute disaster. Either that, or he was blind, which she doubted. Without much of a hassle Flash was let back into the cage. Next up was Stark. Twilight made sure the arm was holding him at all times. This didn’t stop Stark from being the most difficult of the three, however. When she put the thermometer in his mouth, he spat it out and broke it. When she wanted to check his ears, he jerked his head away. He also ignored every question asked, and purposely read every single letter on the eye test wrong. After some struggle, Stark was promptly thrown back into the cage. The door was quickly shut and locked again, as Stark was charging for it. He slammed into the cold metal bars, groaning out. “Good, I think that’ll be it for today, I need to examine this data and research it. Your lunch will be brought in about one hour.” Twilight said, walking out of the room. The metal arms folded up and the camera deactivated, the three Changelings were left alone again. There was a silence between the three, until Stark spoke up. “None of this makes sense… Her methods are all confused…” He muttered. “No offense but… you’re no doctor, what do you know?” Flash spoke in, looking over at Stark. “I don’t need to be a doctor to know that I wouldn’t pick Hope first because he’s special. If all, he should be picked last to see if he differs from normal Changelings other than the eye color.” Stark explained. “I also don’t need to be a doctor to know that force feeding someone disgusting crap BEFORE a medical check-up is a stupid idea! Something just isn’t right!” The only responses were two sighs. Hope lay back down and shut his eyes for a nap. Stark examined the room around him some more, desperate for answers and escape routes. Flash was sat in the corner, muttering things to himself. He had a frown on his face, a concerned one. After an hour of no words told to one another the door to the lab opened again. Twilight slid in with the lunch, which consisted out of a loaf of bread and a single bottle of water. She carefully slid it into the cage, looking at the Changelings without a word. It was only when she turned around that Stark spoke up again. “Hey. HEY!” He yelled at her, Twilight turning around to look at him. “Do you really think what you’re doing here is ethical, huh? Trapping three beings in a cage and using them for experiments?” He asked. “I do it for Equestria.” Twilight answered, Stark squinting at her. But Hope spoke up this time around. “And Equestria approves of this?” He asked. Twilight’s gaze changed to Hope; and Hope found something… sad in that gaze. “You don’t know what it’s like up there.” Twilight promptly answered, before heading out. Those words struck all three with confusion, and Stark yelled at her again. “Hey, what does that mean? DON’T RUN AWAY!” He yelled, smacking his hoof against the bars once the door closed behind Twilight. Flash stared at Stark, his jaw dropped slightly. “Stark… What happened after we got knocked out?” Author's Note Hello and welcome y'all. I know it's been more than a year and a half since the last chapter and I know most of you deemed this thing dead. I've had a lot of issues since the making (and believe it or not, BECAUSE of the making) of this fanfic. I will be trying my best to finish this now, because I hate to leave it unfinished. I can't tell you at which speed I will throw chapters out. I can't tell you when they're coming out either. I'll write and publish when I have the time. I thank you for being patient with me. Fond regards, Mr. F.
AwakeningHope’s eyes opened slowly, a soft grunt leaving his lips as he reached one of his hooves to rub his forehead. He shook his head slightly and slowly got up, glancing around. He had no idea where he was, the whole place was dark and ice cold. Hope walked forward slowly, until his head bumped into some bars with a loud clung. The changeling yelped and backed off. “This isn’t Canterlot...” Hope muttered, glancing around and trying to see anything in this dark, cold room. He gulped as he heard a grunt to his left, but looking over in that direction didn’t help much, he couldn’t see a thing. The person over there started to mutter, while sounds of shifting were implying the person was getting up. “Who’s there?” Murmured Hope, backing away slightly. “I-It’s Flash.” The changeling responded. Hope let out a sigh of relief, until his hoof pressed on to someone else. That changeling let out a grunt as the hoof bumped against him. “Stark? Is that you?” Hope whispered. “Yeah...” The changeling responded, grunting as he started to get up. “What’s happening, where are we?” He asked. “I have no idea...Just some dark room.” Hope responded. He reached out to Stark and felt him, sighing. “Weren’t we in Canterlot moments ago?” Flash muttered. “Yes, we were...Did something happen? Are we imprisoned?” Stark asked. Flash gulped and walked back to the bars, touching the cold metal. “I... I think we are.” He said softly, sighing. “Those ponies caught us.” Flash gulped, sniffling slightly. “I knew this would happen. I just knew it! The whole thing was a failure from the beginning! Look at us, we’re trapped in some sort of dark room with absolutely no awareness of time and place! We’re probably going to starve to death or end up eating each other!” Flash yelled, before suddenly being pulled away from the bars by his shoulders and given a soft hug. “Calm down.” Hope said, gulping. “Stark’s smart, he’ll get us out of here in no time,” Hope told Flash, who nodded slightly and pushed himself out of the hug. Stark was just feeling around in the dark, sighing. “I can feel some bedrolls lying around, but that’s it. And we’re in some sort of cage, inside a larger room. But I have no idea what kind of room.” Stark said, sighing as he kept feeling around. Flash, however, was reaching out of the metal bars to see if he could find something. But he just ended up cursing and slamming the bars. “We’re probably going to get executed, or worse.” Hope muttered as he sat in the middle of the cage. “Shut up and stop with those bad thoughts, Hope, You’re not helping anyone!” Stark yelled. “Calm down, Stark, we’re going to get out of here. We’ve been able to get out of every situation we’ve encountered so far!” Flash said. “Not this time! We’re stuck in a metal cage in Chrysalis-knows-where!” Stark yelled back, but they all fell silent as the lights of the room suddenly sprung on. They were blinded, at first, but as they got used to the sudden bright light, they could finally see what they were stuck in. They were in some sort of laboratory, containing a few tables with vials and pictures, together with tools. In the middle was a metal table with straps and some metal arms suspended above it. That cage was just in front of the cage. The three changelings gazed at their surroundings in fear and disgust. Who would do this? Celestia? Some sort of crazy scientist? No, the culprit was on the other side of the room, where the only door was. There stood a purple unicorn with a dark purple mane, a pink streak going through the hair. She gazed at the Changelings, seeming as unsure and scared as them. She slowly trotted inside, placing a saddlebag on the metal table as she stopped in front of the cage. She looked up into one of the corners, to some strange device. The changelings followed her gaze, it looked like some sort of suspended photocamera, but judging by the fact a not working lightbulb was on it, they guessed it was off. “Red eyes...” Twilight muttered. She gazed at Hope, gulping. “I’m Twilight Sparkle... If you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the red eyes?” She said softly, but the changelings kept quiet as they cowered away from the unicorn. “Look...You’re probably wondering what’s happening he-” “Probably?” Stark muttered sharply. “Okay, You’re wondering what’s going on here...” Twilight said. “This is my laboratory. I’m ordered by the Equestrian government to research changelings. Your behaviour, feelings, anatomy...” Twilight explained. “After the Canterlot incident...They found you three unconscious in one of the houses. The forcefield probably slammed you into a wall instead of properly banish you from Equestria. So they assigned you three to me.... For testing. You will be fed on time 1300 and 2000 every day and the nicer you three are to me, the nicer I will be to you... Respect is really important right now. If you ever want to get out of here, you will have to obey. And I promise, you will get out of here, but probably not soon. Now...I’m running behind on my agenda so...” Twilight sighed and looked down to the floor, guilt visible in her eyes. “If it matters, I’m really sorry for this...” She said, reaching to flick a switch on the wall, activating the device in the corner. The unicorn stepped back as her horn started to glow, the same glow surrounding the metal arms above the table. The arms moved to the cage and unlocked it, opening the door. They couldn’t escape, for those same metal arms were blocking the exit. Suddenly, one of the arms reached for the Stark. He cursed loudly as the arm grabbed his hind leg and started dragging him out of the cage. “Stark!” Flash exclaimed in panic, while Hope was still cowering away against the wall of the cage, his eyes locked on Stark. Flash wasn’t just going to let this happen. He jumped and grabbed Stark’s hooves, trying to pull him back in. “Flash, you idiot!” Stark yelled out. “Just let me go!” “No!” Flash responded as he pulled on Stark’s hooves. The arm slowed down because of the force it suddenly had to endure, but it was still successfully dragging Stark out. Twilight frowned at these actions, she didn’t expect them to be so lively. She squinted her eyes and put more force onto her magic. “Hope, help please?” Flash yelled. The silent changeling gulped and jumped up, grabbing Flash’s waist and pulling on him. The arm had stopped now, the force of three changelings pulling on it too much. However, Twilight wasn’t stupid. Her magic moved to the cage door, which suddenly slammed shut and smacked Flash and Hope back in the cage. Flash smacked on to Hope, who groaned and squirmed from the impact. Twilight winced at the sight of this, hurting them wasn’t really her first intention. The two changelings whimpered in defeat, as Stark was lifted on to the metal table and strapped to it. Twilight pulled on a lab coat and sighed, locking the cage door again. “Let’s see...test subject 03...” Twilight muttered, crossing something on her clipboard as she leaned on the table. “My name’s Stark.” The changeling protested, tugging on his restraints lightly. Twilight sighed, looking at the changeling with a saddened gaze. “Of course... Let me change that...” She said silently, while scribbling something quickly on the small board. “Uh, today we’re going to test reactions...” Twilight muttered, lifting a bottle with vinegar out of the bag and opening it. “I need to see how you react with certain types of edibles, pains and actions.” She explained. This caused Stark to frown and gaze at the vinegar, but his eyes went wide. Before he could protest, the bottle was forced into his mouth, and was quickly filled with vinegar. Twilight pulled the bottle back out and placed a hoof on Stark’s lips, forcing him to swallow it down. Stark tried to spit it back out, but he saw himself forced to gulp the disgusting liquid up. Once his mouth was empty, he let out a groan of disgust, gagging slightly. “Why?” He blurted out, almost throwing up. “Would you like it if I force fed you vinegar? It’s disgusting!” He yelled out. Twilight merely shook her head, noting the results down with a smile. Stark was getting to get rather mad, tugging on the restraints more forcefully. “Yeah, don’t forget to note down that you’re heartless, what kind of sick bastard experiments on other living beings!?” He spat at Twilight. Twilight looked up from her clipboard, her gaze more saddened than insulted. She leaned down and gulped, her lips only inches away from his ear. “I’m sorry...I have no choice...” Twilight whispered. She stood properly again and looked behind her, to the small device hanging in the corner of the room. When she put her concentration back on Stark, she gained a confused look from him. “There’s no reason for all of this!” Flash yelled from his cage, while Hope was still recovering behind him. “What did we ever do to you?” Flash yelled at Twilight, tugging on the metal bars of his prison. “Aside from trying to conquer our entire country and drain us of love and friendship? You ruined my brother’s wedding, almost killed Cadence, made my princess and tutor look like a fool who can’t protect herself and wrecked Canterlot.” Twilight responded to Flash. “You’re an idiot.” Hope muttered to Flash. “Hey, I’m trying to stand up for us!” Flash yelled at Hope, staring into his eyes. “Next.” Twilight said, lifting some salt out of the bag and getting a large pinch out. Stark forced his lips shut, glaring at the unicorn. But Twilight shook her head, the metal arm lowering again to pinch Stark’s nose shut. The changeling tried to hold his breath for as long as he could, but he suddenly gasped for air. Just as he did, salt was thrown in his mouth. Sounds of gagging and cursing emitted from the changeling. “Oh dear Chrysalis my tongue’s drying up!” He yelled, squirming as he coughed. “Water, please!” He begged. But Twilight nodded and noted things on her clipboard. “What kind of stupid tests are these? How is this contributing to your research in any way?” Stark yelled. Twilight sighed and shut Stark’s mouth by forcing a bottle of water on it, so he would stop complaining. “Smart words for a changeling...” Twilight muttered, sounding rather impressed. “We’re looking for emergency defense weapons found in the everyday home.” She paused to look up from her clipboard. “In case you ever decide to attack us again, of course.” “Pfft, smart words for a changeling? Stark is our leader! He outmatches you in every way!” Flash yelled from his cage. “Shut it, Flash!” Hope mumbled. “Mark my words, Twilight, our queen will come for us, I’m sure of it! She loves all her changelings!” Stark said to Twilight, just after he spat the empty bottle out. Twilight then opened her saddlebag, taking out various types of foods like a lemon, some bad milk, a raw piece of chicken, an egg, et cetera. Stark started his complaining once more, telling Twilight how stupid these experiments were and that she’s not right in the head. But Twilight continued her research without bothering with Stark’s complaints and insults too much. All the food disappeared down Stark’s throat bit by bit, with the necessary gagging and complaining. it was a wonder that Stark had the stomach to hold all the things he was forced to eat. Meanwhile, Hope and Flash were watching. “She’s going to end up killing us... Hope muttered, sighing. Flash winced, still holding the steel bars as he watched the experiments. He sighed and placed his forehead on the metal bars, his wings keeping him in the air. Flash was not the brightest of the bunch. He’s not a complete idiot, but he could be pretty stupid sometimes. But, he was the fastest flyer in the hive. He used to impress the others with his tricks and he had always been Hope’s guardian angel. Flash had protected Hope as if he was a child of his own. The bond between him and Hope was an unbreakable one. They’ve been through thick and thin, have avoided every obstacle thrown at them, but they could’ve never done it without each other. Once Twilight was finished she placed the saddlebag on the floor. She gulped as she checked the clipboard, wincing slightly as a hammer suddenly floated in front of her. Stark’s squirming and protesting grew again, but Twilight slowly and reluctantly ticked the hammer on one of Stark’s wings. Stark frowned and looked down. “T-That’s it?” He muttered. Twilight nodded and gulped, gazing up in Stark’s eyes. He could see desperation in it. He could just read it off her face. The unicorn gazed back at her clipboard, before shaking her head and placing the hammer away. “Physical testing is over.” She muttered. She loosened Stark’s restraints, before a metal arm grabbed him and placed Stark back in the cage. Twilight turned the device in the corner off and sighed, leaning against the cage and gazing at the three changelings. “I’m sorry...” She whispered, trotting to her saddlebag and pulling some bread and butter out. She placed it in the cage, together with a bottle of water. The unicorn then took a seat in front of the cage. “I’ll need to ask you three some questions...remember, work well with me and things will improve...” Twilight said softly. She turned to the changeling with red eyes, who was the most interesting to her. “Do you have a name?” Twilight asked softly. Hope nodded and softly muttered his name. Twilight noted it down and sighed. “Tell me about yourself...I’m really interested in your eyes...” Twilight spoke gently. “Umm...” Hope muttered, looking over to Flash, who was nodding, then to Stark, who was shaking his head. But he slowly shifted closer to Twilight, sighing. “Normally, all the changelings are alike...e-except for me.” He said softly. “I’m the only changeling so far to be ever born with these...eyes... Some say it’s a birth defect or an error in my genes, but either way they’ve made it so I’ve always been an outcast in the hive... It’s exactly because of that that I mostly keep to myself. S-Stark and Flash are my only friends, they were always with me. I’m really happy they’re here. If I would’ve been locked up with other changelings they’d probably blame me for the whole situation and beat me to death...” Hope told, gulping as he finished his story. Somehow, it felt good to get it off his heart, but why he trusted Twilight enough to tell her, he didn’t know. Twilight was gazing at Hope, not really believing that changelings could have this much of an emotional value. She turned to the next one, Flash. “What about you...?” Twilight asked. Flash looked around. “I’m Flash...I’m just a normal changeling, I guess. But I’m a great flyer! I’m in the flying club of the hive!” He chuckled, Hope and Stark giving Flash a disapproving look for his enthusiastic nature. Flash gulped and sat down. “Also...Hope’s my best friend...” He muttered. Twilight was noting almost everything down with a smile. She then turned to Stark, who glared at Twilight. “You forced me to eat the most disgusting stuff. Don’t think I’m going to say anything to you.” He growled. Twilight sighed and wrote down. “His name’s Stark...” Hope muttered. “Hope!” Stark yelled, causing Hope to whimper slightly. Twilight sighed and stood, looking at her clipboard. “That’s all...” Twilight muttered, reaching for the switch to turn the device in the corner off. “I’ll see you three tomorrow.” She said softly, picking up her saddlebag and moving to the door, reaching for the lightswitch. “Can you keep the lights on...please?” Hope muttered. “I-I don’t want to be in the dark...” He said softly. Twilight looked back to Hope, and nodded, leaving through the door. Stark sat back in the corner of the cage, holding a hoof on his stomach. Flash took a piece of the bread, slowly eating it, before suddenly stating the harsh truth. “We’re test subjects...” He whispered, gulping as he looked up to Stark and Hope. “We’re stuck here...to be researched...” He said softly. Hope merely nodded and sighed, looking over at Stark. “I’ll find something...” Stark reassured. “But right now...I’m having difficulty digesting that disgusting stuff she fed me..” Stark muttered, his stomach letting out a protesting grumble. “At least we’re still together...” Hope said softly, still blankly staring at the floor. He looked up to the table, gulping. “But for how long...?” None of them said anything for a while.
IsolationHope lay on his bedroll, looking up at the ceiling as he let out a soft sigh. He looked over to Stark, who was clutching his stomach and gagging slightly. Hope then turned his head to Flash, who was sleeping on his own bedroll. Hope looked back up and sighed, not really being able to sleep. He was worried about what would happen to them. If Twilight would keep to her promise that, if they acted and behaved well enough, they’d be free. But the tests seem terrible, he had no idea if he would be able to go through with those. Stark was still complaining about what he had to endure and he didn’t feel good at all. Hope looked back to Stark, who gazed back into Hope’s red eyes. “This is your fault...” Stark muttered, sniffling. Hope’s eyes went wide and he sat up, his breathing increasing in speed. “You told us to go inside...In that cottage... Look where we are now..” Stark grumbled as he slowly stood. “Now we’re test subjects... We’re objects in their eyes and if they succeed, we’re the key to figuring out how they can defeat the hive, defeat our queen...” Stark told Hope, approaching him. “You red-eyed bastard... Flash always told me you were something special, but no. You’re just a defect egg!” Stark yelled, his hoof suddenly raising and slamming across Hope’s face, causing Hope to yelp and roll over, quickly standing up. “Stark, stop!” He yelled, backing away from him, but he stumbled on the sleeping Flash and fell over him. Flash woke up and glanced around, rather confused. “What’s happening?” He mumbled, looking over at Hope, then at Stark. “This is all your fault!” Stark yelled. He grabbed Hope’s hind legs and dragged him closer, raising his hoof again. The hoof punched down on Hope’s nose, causing the red-eyed changeling to scream in pain. “Stop!” Hope yelled, receiving a smack across his cheek. Hope covered his face with his hooves, looking over to Flash, who was just watching with a confused stare. He whimpered as Stark pulled on his hooves, making Hope’s face free. His hoof raised up again...and rushed down. “Don’t!” Hope yelled as he woke up, jolting up from his bedroll. He panted heavily, sweat dribbling from his forehead as he looked around in panic. Stark was in the corner, clutching his stomach and squirming in pain. Flash got up and frowned. “Hope, are you okay..?” He muttered. Hope merely nodded, thanking Chrysalis the whole thing was just a dream. They both looked over at Stark, who was trembling in the corner. Hope approached him and placed a hoof on his forehead. “You’re cold..” Hope whispered. “Yet sweating...” He added. With a soft sigh he lay down next to Stark. he gazed in his eyes, Flash approached from behind to check on Stark too. “She fed me raw chicken and raw eggs, Hope...” Stark said, gulping. “It’s natural that I feel terrible right now,” He told him, looking back at Hope. Flash sighed, staying silent. They just sat there, watching each other. Flash looked around and moved to the bars, inspecting all the walls. “No clock...How do we know if it’s night or not?” He mumbled. he looked back to Stark and Hope. “Twilight said she feeds us at 1300 and 2000. The only way we’ll actually know what time it is, is when she feeds us.” Stark said. But he suddenly stood up and frowned. Hope looked up at him, looking rather worried as he knew what was about to come. “I’m going to throw up...” Stark muttered. Flash looked over at Stark, wide-eyed. “What? Where! There’s nothing to throw up in!” He yelled in panic. Stark shook his head and rushed over to the other side of the cage, poking his head out of the bars and gagging slightly. Hope covered his nose as Stark released his sick. The sounds of splashing and Stark gagging made both Hope and Flash wince. Flash grabbed the bottle of water given to them before, which was already half empty. He walked over to Stark, fighting the stench of Stark’s sick as he gave the bottle. Stark mouthed a soft “Thank you” before taking a large gulp of water, coughing slightly. Both Flash and Hope were still holding a hoof in front of their noses. Stark flew up slightly and started flapping his wings fast, trying his best to send the stench into another direction. “Why did she even make you eat that stuff?” Flash asked with a disgusted grunt, turning away from the vomit and walking over to where Hope was, the other side of the cage. Stark took another sip of water and snorted slightly. “Because she sees us as a completely new species.” Stark replied. “She never heard of changelings until now. She doesn’t know what we do or how we work. She thinks feeding us everyday household edibles will have big effects on us, while it doesn’t.” Stark replied, coughing slightly. “How do you know?” Flas asked, sitting down next to Hope. “I guessed, judging by her actions...And I also had a bit of a peek on her clipboard when I could,” Stark explained, staying close to the bars and still flapping his wings. “And you two...especially Hope... Don’t talk to her.” Stark grumbled. “She said that if we work with her, she’ll let us go.” Hope said, looking up at Stark. “That’s exactly what she wants, Hope. She wants us to tell her everything, so she can scoop out our weak points.” Stark said. “We’re giving ourselves away to the enemy. Flash was revealing there’s a flight academy inside the hive! Next time she’s down here, you say nothing to her!” Stark yelled. Hope sighed and nodded, while Flash simply leaned back against the cage. Stark stopped flapping his wings now, still clutching his stomach as he joined his two friends. Flash took a good look around the room, memorizing what was inside it. Tables with tools and vials, the large metal table in the middle. But only now he noticed that there was a cabin in the corner, not far from the door that leads out of this room. He started wondering what the cabin could contain. He also started wondering what the time is, again. With the lights constantly on, he had no idea if it was midnight or eight in the morning, and he hated it. He didn’t like having no awareness of the time at all. Flash kept looking around the room, examining everything. The metal arms, the vials, the tools. Surely , this lab had been used before their arrival? Flash sighed and stepped back from the bars, sitting down on one of the bedrolls. He wanted to go back to the hive, but then again, he was pretty sure Hope and Stark had the desire for the exact same thing. Flash looked over to them. Hope was just playing with his own hooves, sunken in thoughts, while Stark was also just looking around, one hoof resting on his stomach. He slowly brought the bottle back to his lips, taking a sip, before looking back at Flash. “I’m going to try and get some sleep.” Stark said. “My stomach’s better...slightly...” He added, crawling on to one of the bedrolls. He lay down and sighed, closing his blue eyes in an attempt to sleep. Hope gazed at Stark and sighed, but he smiled slightly as Flash sat down next to him again. “What did you dream about?” Flash whispered, gazing at Stark. Hope gulped and also looked at Stark. “I...Nothing...” Hope whispered softly. He rubbed his hooves over each other, occasionally rubbing the tip of a hoof over one of the holes in his leg. He wondered why those holes were there, really. It wasn’t really practical, they can get stuck easily and it slows them down while flying. It bothered Hope to the account where he suddenly lifted his hoof and asked Flash why they were there. but Flash saw this as an attempt at changing subject, so he slowly pushed Hope’s hoof down and sighed, asking again what his dream was about. Hope sighed and gulped, staring at Stark. He seemed to be asleep while letting out grunts every now and then. “I...” Hope muttered. “Stark was getting mad at me... He was blaming me for this whole situation and then he started beating me up and you didn’t do anything about it...” Hope muttered, letting out a slight whimper. He sniffled and looked at Flash. “Stark wouldn’t do that... And this is not the fault of any of us...” Flash said. “Stark realizes that, and we all know that if we want to get out of here, we’ll need all three of us.” Hope stared at the slightly smiling Flash, merely nodded and sighed, going back to examining the holes in his hooves. He was rather bored, in this cage. Even though it wasn’t the main problem, Hope would like something to keep himself busy. But he suddenly gasped and looked up, blushing slightly. “Uh...” He muttered. “I...uh...” “What is it?” Flash asked with a frown, noticing how Hope is shifting and squirming slightly. His hooves went down hold themselves on his private area. “I need to...pee...” He whispered. Flash groaned and slapped a hoof on his face, a bit more painful than intended. “We don’t have anywhere to dispose of it..” Flash whispered back. Hope gulped and squirmed. “Can’t you hold it in?” Flash whispered. “For how long? I don’t know when she’ll be back...” Hope replied as he bit his lip. He gulped slightly as he held his hooves on his crotch. “T-The bread was in a bowl...” Hope said softly. Flash frowned and looked over to their food. Half a loaf of bread was left and it was indeed resting in a bowl. Flash moved over to pick it up, lifting the bread out of it. “Is it going to be big enough?” He asked, showing the bowl to Hope. “I sure hope so.” Hope said, grabbing the bowl and moving to a corner. He sighed and looked at Flash, blushing slightly. “Can you turn around please?” Hope said sheepishly. Flash sighed and turned around, while Stark was still asleep. The sound of a stream of liquid splashing in a bowl and filling it up echoed through the room. Flash sighed, but frowned as he heard Hope squeak. Once the sound of the stream stopped, Flash turned around. His eye twitched slightly as he saw most of Hope’s urine had spilled over. “This cage is getting unsanitary fast...” Flash mumbled. “Now she’ll think we’re dirty animals.” lash sighed. Hope blushed and looked down to the bowl. “It’s really hard to aim in that...” He said softly, walking back to Flash. Flash sighed and sat down. “Lets just hope she’ll clean this mess up tomorrow...or today... Well, ever.” Flash grumbled. They were only stuck for a few hours but the limitation of having no knowledge of time was driving Flash crazy. He couldn’t bear it. It was so annoying for him that he started tapping his hoof on the floor nervously. It created a rather annoying tick. Hope wasn’t really bothered by things like this, because he mostly keeps himself distracted and busy. Stark, on the other hand, is quickly annoyed with repeating sounds. This time was no exception. The ticking made him wake up and he grumbled. “Flash, will you stop it? I need sleep!” Stark complained. Flash sighed and stopped the ticking with his hoof, glancing around once more. Stark sniffed slightly and looked over to the bowl, grunting. “Who pissed in our food bowl?” Stark sighed, looking over to Hope and Flash. Flash pointed to Hope, who on his turn gained red cheeks and made himself a bit smaller, letting out a rather nervous chuckle. “Hope, for Chrysalis’ sake, did you really piss on the bread?” Stark yelled. “No! Flash took the bread out.” Hope said, while Flash waved half the loaf of bread in the air. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep it in.” Hope muttered, sighing as he dragged his hoof over the floor slightly. Hope felt rather embarrassed that she had to perform such things in front of his friends. Stark sighed and lay back down, trying to resume his sleep. And then the silence came again. Each changeling was minding their own business. Stark was asleep, Flash was inspecting the room and Hope had resorted to counting how many holes were in his body. But the room started getting rather cold and Flash was the first one to start shivering from it. Then Hope felt his body cool down and soon the cold woke Stark up. “It’s getting really cold in here...” Hope muttered. Flash and Stark nodded. “Maybe if we get close, we can warm each other up?” He suggested. Flash and Stark gazed at Hope, both frowning. Hope blushed slightly. “It’s just an idea...” He muttered. “Alright then...” Flash mumbled, not sounding too enthusiastic as he moved close to Hope. Stark sighed and did the same, and soon the three were snuggled close against each other, with Hope in the middle. “Hmm...this actually works.” Flash said, smiling slightly.
Doubt“What are you thinking about Flash?” “I’m thinking we’re stuck here and this place smells awful.” “Yes, thanks, I really needed a confirmation of the obvious. besides, the odor is kind of our fault mainly. I was just wondering if you had any escape plans or… or anything!” “Escape plan? Are you serious? If you’re strong enough to bend these bars then I might have an escape plan, which includes going straight from point A to point B, point A being this horrible place and point B being the hive!” “Alright, alright, chill out… We’ll probably have to wait for Chrysalis to come get us.” “Stark… Chrys… Uh, nevermind. Hope! Wake up!” With a grunt and a slight buzz of his wings the red-eyed Changeling rolled onto his side. One of his hooves made a little twitch before he properly stood up. “What happened?” He muttered, seeing Stark and Flash sit at the bars, looking about and examining the lab. Flash peeked at him over his shoulder. “You got a little too cozy when we were sharing our warmth and you fell asleep again.” He answered, looking back out into the lab. “We’ve been looking around here in mean time.” Stark added, before sighing and turning around with a shrug. “We don’t see an immediate way out, but don’t give we’re not giving up hope yet.” “I might hope not.” Hope answered, going to the bars and glancing out sleepily. And there couldn’t have been a better timing, as the heavy metallic door opened right then and there, showing a purple unicorn who immediately curled her nose at the smell coming from inside. She held a hoof in front of her nose and sighed. “Shoulda thought of a waste disposal…” She muttered as her horn showed a faint purple glow, bringing a few mops and buckets filled with water and soap in action. The equipment started cleaning up the mess the Changelings had made immediately. Once it was all spick and span again, Twilight just emptied one of the buckets and slid it into the cage. “There, do your business in that, not… In THAT.” She stated, pointing at the food tray. The trio had found nothing better to do during the clean-up than to continuously glare at their captor. Stark had a look on his face that could cut like a blade, his features stern and aggressive as always. Flash was baring his teeth to come out as aggressive, the fangs gleaming in the light of the laboratory. Hope was less successful in seeming ticked off, his facial features were a lot more soft and the red eyes made him exceptional, it was more like he was just staring at Twilight, not glaring. Once all that fuss was over and the Changelings still hadn’t said a word in some sort of silent protest, Twilight was getting the metallic bed in the middle of the room ready. She had a clipboard floating next to her, and was even slipping on a surgically mask. Flash got nervous seeing this, and his teeth were covered by his lips again. Hope effectively backed up a little, but Stark seemed unphased. Or at least pretended he was unphased. “So for today…” She started as she approached the cage. “...You’re going to force-feed ridiculous stuff to us again.” Stark interrupted. Both his comrades pulled wide eyes at him. “No… To-” “Because really, how stupid of an experiment was that? What were you hoping to conduct out of it? How much rotten food I need to have my stomach implode?” “Stark, don’t engage her!” Flash hissed on the side. The self-proclaimed leader of the bunch turned his head to Flash. “I’m asking because I want to know.” Stark said, turning his head to Twilight again. “So why are you doing this exactly huh? I thought you ponies were supposed to be peaceful.” “Stark, cut it out! Don’t piss her off!” Flash yelled, while Hope was just following the conversation, sunk back in the background. He noticed how Twilight was noting things down, not even interfering. “What is she going to do, put us in a smaller cage?” Stark asked. “Feed us broccoli?” “She might put you down because you’re a nuisance, yeah!” Flash answered, until the purple one finally interrupted them. “So, today’s a medical examination.” She finally said, looking between Flash and Stark, before settling her eyes on Hope. “Starting with you.” “W-Woah… Why me?” Hope asked. “Because you’re special.” She answered, the contraption hanging from the ceiling behind her springing to life, as well as the camera in the corner. Three metallic arms reached towards the cage as the door opened, two of them holding Stark and Flash down, while the third one gripped Hope around the neck, starting to pull him out. In struggle, the red-eyed Changeling buzzed his wings and dragged his hooves over the floor. He found, however, that doing that caused the arm to grip tighter, closing his air pipe. Hope was quick to give up the struggle, not wanting to choke. His friends, however, were unaware of this. As Hope was dragged by them, both grabbed hold of one of Hope’s hooves and started pulling desperately. Hope felt the metal grip around his throat tighten up, and he let out a gagging sound once his air pipe was closed off again. Nonetheless, Flash and Stark didn’t give up their hold on Hope. The captured Changeling couldn’t say a thing or warn them. Twilight, however, corked a brow. “You might want to stop that…” She told the two, who just glared at her. “We’re not letting you experiment on him!” Stark yelled, giving Hope a good tug back, causing another gagging sound to come from him. Flash, however, heard the gagging and found it strange that Hope hadn’t said a thing since that han grabbed him. So, he let him go. “Stark, let him go!” He yelled to the other, but Stark shook his head and kept holding Hope. “You’re choking him you idiot!” Flash yelled, kicking at Stark. Stark was hit by a hoof and a moment of realization as he looked up and noticed that Hope was starting to stop moving, as well as some tears dripping down his face. The Changeling immediately let go, letting the arm take Hope out of the cage. Twilight just stood there watching and noting things down. With a smack Hope landed on the metallic table, the arm releasing its grip on his throat. The Changeling gasped for air, writhing around slightly. The other two were let go as well, and the cage door shut and locked. Flash and Stark just sat down and looked at Hope through the bars. “Alright, sit up.” Twilight said to Hope. The bug did so, slowly. He had bruises lining around his neck, it was a pretty close situation. His chest was going up and down as he gasped for breath, his throat feeling sore. Escape, or desperate attempts at flying away didn’t even strike his mind, he felt too weak and he didn’t trust that camera filming every little movement. He was sure Twilight wouldn’t be the only obstacle to get out of here. Before Hope had fully recovered from the experience a tongue depressor was shoved into his mouth, pushing his tongue down while a torch was aimed into it. Twilight checked out his teeth, tongue, and anything oral. After that happened the depressor was pulled back; and Hope let out a few coughs. A thermometer was the next thing to be placed in Hope’s mouth, it’s at that point it struck him that this was probably going to be nothing more than a simple doctor visit. He twitched away when something was pressed onto his ear. He frowned and looked at Twilight from the corner of his eyes. She was squinting while checking out his ears and was soon to switch to the other one. After all this happened in silence, she decided to break that silence when she removed the thermometer. “So, what’s your name again?” She asked, placing the thermometer aside while she shined a light right into Hope’s eye, which made him wince and squint a little. His other eye was soon to fall victim to that handling. “Uh… Hope…” He answered, shuffling back on the metallic table while Twilight noted a few things down on the clipboard. “That’s… A surprisingly nice name for a Changeling.” She commented, wrapping something around Hope’s arm. He frowned at it while it started tightening up, the wrap connected to some sort of small device. Instead of questioning the statement ‘for a Changeling’, he decided to just explain things a little. “Well, I was actually called ‘Bug-Eye’ when I hatched…” He muttered. “My friends just called me Hope to lighten my mood…” He told her. There was a grunt of surprise from Twilight, a grunt of disapprovement from Stark and a grunt of pain from Flash, who had stubbed his hoof against one of the bars. Hope recognized that grunt from Stark, and decided to shut up. The wrap around his arm loosened up again and was removed, however he let out a gasp when something cold pressed onto his chest. Twilight had put on a stethoscope, and was placing the other end all over Hope’s chest, asking him to take deep breaths. Not wanting any further trouble, Hope just did as told. Once that was over, Hope was asked to stand. He hopped off the table, but the contraptions on the ceiling came to life again, to be used as a failsafe if Hope would make an attempt to flee. The Changeling saw measuring tape float across and over, taking his measurements, and he was then nudged onto a scale to take his weight. Last was an eye test. Twilight pointed to a board at the other end of the room, containing various letters ranging from big to really small. Hope managed to read out all of them, showing that his eyes were in perfect condition, despite being red. Not wanting an unfortunate event with the metallic arms like last time, Hope returned to his cage without a fuss. He sighed in relief once he was in, no horrible experiments this time around. Twilight pointed at Flash next. Of course, he resisted at first, but when he saw the arms coming he pinned his ears down and neatly walked out of the cage, to the table. Stark had to be held down again, or he would have certainly stirred up trouble. Flash underwent the exact same treatment as Hope, getting everything checked and measured. He was asked his name and he answered honestly, but other than that didn’t say much. He showed the same results as Hope, even though he seemed to be somewhat lighter than his red-eyed friend. Twilight also discovered that Flash couldn’t read; because the eye test was an absolute disaster. Either that, or he was blind, which she doubted. Without much of a hassle Flash was let back into the cage. Next up was Stark. Twilight made sure the arm was holding him at all times. This didn’t stop Stark from being the most difficult of the three, however. When she put the thermometer in his mouth, he spat it out and broke it. When she wanted to check his ears, he jerked his head away. He also ignored every question asked, and purposely read every single letter on the eye test wrong. After some struggle, Stark was promptly thrown back into the cage. The door was quickly shut and locked again, as Stark was charging for it. He slammed into the cold metal bars, groaning out. “Good, I think that’ll be it for today, I need to examine this data and research it. Your lunch will be brought in about one hour.” Twilight said, walking out of the room. The metal arms folded up and the camera deactivated, the three Changelings were left alone again. There was a silence between the three, until Stark spoke up. “None of this makes sense… Her methods are all confused…” He muttered. “No offense but… you’re no doctor, what do you know?” Flash spoke in, looking over at Stark. “I don’t need to be a doctor to know that I wouldn’t pick Hope first because he’s special. If all, he should be picked last to see if he differs from normal Changelings other than the eye color.” Stark explained. “I also don’t need to be a doctor to know that force feeding someone disgusting crap BEFORE a medical check-up is a stupid idea! Something just isn’t right!” The only responses were two sighs. Hope lay back down and shut his eyes for a nap. Stark examined the room around him some more, desperate for answers and escape routes. Flash was sat in the corner, muttering things to himself. He had a frown on his face, a concerned one. After an hour of no words told to one another the door to the lab opened again. Twilight slid in with the lunch, which consisted out of a loaf of bread and a single bottle of water. She carefully slid it into the cage, looking at the Changelings without a word. It was only when she turned around that Stark spoke up again. “Hey. HEY!” He yelled at her, Twilight turning around to look at him. “Do you really think what you’re doing here is ethical, huh? Trapping three beings in a cage and using them for experiments?” He asked. “I do it for Equestria.” Twilight answered, Stark squinting at her. But Hope spoke up this time around. “And Equestria approves of this?” He asked. Twilight’s gaze changed to Hope; and Hope found something… sad in that gaze. “You don’t know what it’s like up there.” Twilight promptly answered, before heading out. Those words struck all three with confusion, and Stark yelled at her again. “Hey, what does that mean? DON’T RUN AWAY!” He yelled, smacking his hoof against the bars once the door closed behind Twilight. Flash stared at Stark, his jaw dropped slightly. “Stark… What happened after we got knocked out?” Author's Note Hello and welcome y'all. I know it's been more than a year and a half since the last chapter and I know most of you deemed this thing dead. I've had a lot of issues since the making (and believe it or not, BECAUSE of the making) of this fanfic. I will be trying my best to finish this now, because I hate to leave it unfinished. I can't tell you at which speed I will throw chapters out. I can't tell you when they're coming out either. I'll write and publish when I have the time. I thank you for being patient with me. Fond regards, Mr. F.
