Integration - Part Two of A Changeling's Story (Cancelled)

Chapters

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Turn to face the strange
Rebound
Rescue (Allons-y)
Of Chivalry and Changelings
Moving - Or How to Beat Writers' Block
The Trouble with Changelings
On Changeling Biology
An Enemy Revealed
A Shoe to the Face
Field notes on Changeling Female Bonding
Prejudice
Their Hearts May Still be Won

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Echo stormed out of the front door in a rage and galloped for Filthy Rich's house. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears in time with the thumping of her hooves on the dirt, and to her, it was like the drums of war thundering through the air over a battlefield. Her wings buzzed and her teeth clicked as she cursed in her native tongue. She skidded to a halt in front of the gate to Filthy Rich's house. The front door was still some distance away. There was a buzzer next to the gate, but Echo was in no mood to wait for the pompous rich snob to decide whether or not to let her in. She fired up her wings and landed directly in front of the door before knocking with a bit more force than she probably should have used.

“Filthy Rich,” she shouted, “I demand to speak to you this instant!”

The door clicked open, and an elderly pony who was very sharply dressed in one of Rarity's tuxedos regarded Echo. “I'm sorry, ma'am, but Master Rich is not seeing visitors at this time.”

“The hell he isn't,” she said, charging past the butler, “where is the slimy bastard?”

“Ma'am, I must ask you to leave. At this point, you are trespassing.”

“My daughter was beaten to a pulp yesterday because of something your slave driver told his daughter. I am not leaving until I speak to this pile of -”

“Right here, changeling,” Filthy Rich stood at the top of the staircase in the center of the room, clad in a bathrobe. “Now, what do you hope to achieve by talking with me?”

“I hope to achieve,” she stated mockingly, “an understanding that if your daughter continues to harass Scootaloo, I will be forced to take more drastic measures to defend her.”

“Oh? What exactly makes you think you have the right to defend her, let alone to take more drastic measures against my family to do so?”

“I'm her mother, Filthy.”

“That's Mister Rich to you, changeling,” He sneered.

“Like hell,” Echo sneered right back.

“Oh, shall I call the police then? You are trespassing, after all.”

Echo considered beating the snot out of him, but remembered that as of this point, she was still on a probationary period. If she got in some serious trouble, the princesses might decide that a lengthy period in the dungeons was a more fitting way to reform her – changeling dietary restrictions notwithstanding. “Fine, Filthy,” she said, “I'll leave, but let me get one thing straight. If your daughter continues to harass mine, I will not hesitate to use every method at my disposal to stop it.”

“Get out of my house, you disgusting changeling trash.” Filthy Rich sounded profoundly frightened, which was Echo's goal, and left her feeling quite satisfied as she stepped out of the door, which slammed shut behind her. She took to the air, and flew home leisurely.

As she stepped inside the door, Scootaloo came bounding down the stairs, her eyes still red from crying. “Mom,” she said, “where did you go?”

“Just to take care of a little business, Scoot. Don't worry, everything's okay.”

Scootaloo didn't say another word, but climbed up onto Echo's back and hugged her around the neck. Echo smiled that soft smile that a proud mother does, and carried Scootaloo back upstairs to her bed.

“It's late, Scoot,” she said, “and you have school tomorrow.”

“I don't want to go.”

“I know, but you have to. Everything will be okay, I promise,” Echo lifted Scootaloo off her back gently in an aura of magic, and placed her back into her bed, “I made sure.”

Scootaloo rolled over onto her side and pulled the covers up over herself. “Okay,” she said, obviously unsure, “thanks, Mom.”

Echo turned out the lights and closed the door quietly. Still smiling softly, she started down the stairs. As she turned into the living room, she stifled a gasp. Through the living room she could see the kitchen, and there, rummaging through her cabinets, was none other than queen Chrysalis. “What are you doing here, Mother?” Echo fluttered over to the kitchen. She looked up at the queen, who looked down at her without tilting her head.

“I'm getting a snack.”

“I mean, why are you in my home?”

“Please, Echo, don't patronize me. I'm sure that every changeling for miles heard you shouting obscenities about Filthy Rich, and I have a vested interest in the well being of that filly upstairs. After all,” Chrysalis paused to chuckle, “she may inherit the throne some day.”

“Oh, shut it, Mother.” Echo scoffed, though she giggled as well. Changeling humor was very biting, and Echo didn't have the same fondness for it that her mother did, but on occasion her sensibilities were more classically changeling. “We both know that I'll be the one overthrowing you, if you ever even manage to regain your title.”

“While my subjects may be divided, I still have about half of the Empire under my control, child. Don't mistake me as helpless.”

“Says the mighty changeling queen whose magic was crippled by a single unicorn.”

“All joking aside for a moment, if you want me to run that snob or his maggot of a daughter through with my horn, I'd be more than happy to.”

“I think that would be an exceptionally enjoyable but remarkably stupid idea, Chrysalis.”

“Indeed, but that pegasus is as much my subject as you, now, and I will defend her as such.”

“She isn't your subject, Chrysalis. She wasn't born into the hive, and she isn't a changeling.” As Echo said this, a scream could be heard from upstairs. The queen's expression didn't change, but Echo flew so quickly up the stairs that paintings fell from the walls as she went by. She opened the door and found her daughter hiding behind the shower curtain. Echo looked around with her horn alight and saw nothing. “What is it, Scootaloo?”

“I was just sitting here trying to go to sleep, and I started to think about what it would be like to...” she trailed off.

“What are you talking about, Scootaloo?” Echo said as Chrysalis appeared in the doorway behind her. Echo reached out to pull the blanket from her daughter, but Scootaloo snatched it back and put it over herself. “Scootaloo, let me see you.”

“No.” Scootaloo insisted.

“Child,” the queen's voice boomed, “show some respect to your mother.”

Scootaloo squeaked. “I'm not trying to be disrespectful.”

“Enough of this,” Chrysalis rolled her head along with her eyes, and ripped the blanket from the bed with her magic. In response, Scootaloo put her pillow over her head, but she couldn't conceal her entire body.

Echo stared at her daughter's back in shock. Her wings were gone. “Scootaloo, where are your wings?”

“I don't know. I was just sitting here and I was thinking about unicorns and what it must be like to have magic and then there was all this fire, and when I saw my shadow, my wings were gone and I …”

Echo looked around for any scorching, but saw no signs of fire. A quick sniff of the air didn't turn up any signs either. Echo reached out and pulled the pillow from Scootaloo's head. She cried once quickly and covered her eyes with her forelegs. From her forehead, a unicorn's horn had sprouted.

“Well,” Chrysalis said with a smile, “isn't this interesting?”

Echo knocked on the library door with such force that even she thought she might knock it down. Her daughter followed closely, looking around with a nervous glance now and then. Chrysalis stood behind them, a grin of mild amusement plastered on her face. Slowly, the door cracked open, and Twilight rubbed her eyes.

“Echo,” she murmured, “what is it?”

“What is happening to my daughter?” Echo said desperately.

Twilight looked at Scootaloo. “What do you mean? She looks okay to … me.” Twilight's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. “Oh my gosh. Come on inside, you three.”

As Chrysalis walked in, Twilight sputtered, “wait a minute, what were you doing outside? I didn't say you could go outside.”

“Don't talk to me like that, you little whelp!” Chrysalis all but roared, “I am still a queen, whether I am in your charge or not, and I will not be treated as a child.”

“We can have this argument later, Chrysalis. Right now, there's something else that demands our attention,” Twilight sighed as she rubbed her eyes. “Now, Scootaloo. Can you tell me what happened? Did you step in poison joke?”

“No, I was just sitting in my room and thinking about what it would be like to be a unicorn when there was this big flash of fire – and my wings were gone – and I had a horn – and I'm really scared, Twilight, please help!”

“Okay, okay,” Twilight tried to calm Scootaloo down. “Wait here. You can read any book you want. I'll be down in the lab. If you need me, just call out. Echo, Chrysalis, follow me please?” They walked in complete silence to the lab in the basement. Echo felt like her heart might leap out of her chest, and she fought every urge she had to lash out at Twilight. When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs, Twilight continued, “All right, you guys, this probably isn't a big problem.”

“Not a big problem? My daughter – a pegasus – is now a unicorn. That's not a big problem?”

“No, Echo, it isn't. She's still a pony, she's still aware of who she is, she's not in any danger. She might get some weird looks from other ponies, and maybe have some tough questions to answer, but she's not in danger, and that's why it's not a big problem.” As much as Echo wanted to scream at Twilight, she knew that the unicorn was right. “Now, if we can just figure out what happened, we should be able to fix it.”

Just then, Scootaloo called again from upstairs. “Oh no, what is it this time? I have wings again, am I back to normal?”

Twilight was first up the stairs this time, and gasped as she reached the precipice. Echo and Chrysalis followed, and the former reiterated Twilight's gesture. In front of them stood a pegasus, seeming very upset, that was the spitting image of Daring Do. The adventurous mare looked at her own flank, and was suddenly very excited.

“I got my cutie mark,” she exclaimed, “I finally got my cutie mark!”

“Fascinating,” Chrysalis remarked.

“Scootaloo, is that you?”

“Well, yeah. What, did something else change?”

“Okay, what happened, Scoot?”

“I was up here reading Daring Do when the fire happened again, and now, I have my CUTIE MARK!” Scootaloo jumped into the air and fluttered her wings. Her hooves stiffened in preparation for her return to the ground, and she twitched when the sensation she expected didn't come. She looked at her wings, which flapped slowly. “I can fly! Oh my gosh, I can fly!”

“Twilight,” Echo said, “What exactly is going on right now?”

“Scootaloo,” Chrysalis called as she stepped forward, “do me a favor. Think very hard about Rainbow Dash.”

“Okay. Oh my gosh, I can fly!”

“Scootaloo. This is important. Focus on Rainbow Dash.”

Scootaloo returned to the ground and sat on her haunches. “Okay,” she said as she closed her eyes. Slowly, her hooves were licked by green fire that crept slowly at first up her legs. As it moved farther up her body, its pace and intensity increased, until a pillar of flame stood in the center of the room. When it cleared, Rainbow Dash sat in the middle of the room with her eyes closed.

“Oh my Celestia,” Twilight said quietly.

Scootaloo opened her eyes and quickly seemed concerned by the expressions of the others in the room. “What is it,” she cried, “what happened?” She glanced at her hooves and gasped. She spread her wings and looked over her shoulder at the span. At the same time, she saw her cutie mark. “I'm Rainbow Dash? Oh my gosh, I'm Rainbow Dash!”

“Well,” Chrysalis said with a grin as she turned back to the two gobsmacked mares behind her, “isn't this wonderful?”

While Scootaloo clambered about excitedly at her new visage and Twilight was pursuing this new line of inquiry, Echo chittered to Chrysalis in their native tongue, “how could Scootaloo be a changeling? This doesn't make sense, Mother.”

“Indeed, Echo,” Chrysalis chittered back. “The fact is that while the means of her transformation escapes me, you saw it yourself - that was changeling magic.”

“How is that possible? Wouldn't she have known that she was a changeling?”

“Yes, you would think so. Isn't it wonderful, though? Now my granddaughter truly is one of my subjects.”

“You are unbelievable, Chrysalis,” Echo's wings and teeth were aflutter, and her face contorted in rage, “she may have something seriously wrong with her, and you're concerned about adding to the swarm?”

“I am the changeling queen, Echo,” came the reply. An extra click at the end signified the queen's seriousness.

“I really should learn to speak that language,” Twilight called out, “or at least to understand it.”

“We finish this later,” Echo said to Chrysalis in the normal pony language before turning to Twilight, “It's definitely changeling magic. Mother and I can both tell that much.”

“Yes,” Twilight agreed, “and every test I performed on her seems to reinforce the idea that she is a changeling. I just don't understand how this could be possible.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Scootaloo said with a slight tremor of fear.

“Scootaloo, can you try something else for me?” Echo tried to sound calm. “I need you to relax. Quiet your mind, and let your muscles relax themselves.” The filly obeyed, and Echo continued, “Good, now breathe deeply and slowly.” Again, the filly obeyed. She continued this for a few minutes, when again, flames began to lick at her hooves and creep up her body. When they cleared this time, a shining black carapace greeted them. The insectoid wings of a changeling flittered reflexively as they showed themselves for the first time, and a long, curved horn sat on her brow. When her eyes opened, they were a solid purple color. She was about her normal size, though.

The filly's eyes widened again at the expressions of the others in the room, and she began to ask for a mirror. Twilight levitated one over to the filly, who grabbed it in her own magic without even realizing it. She turned her gaze to the mirror and dropped it as she gasped. “I... I look...”

“Scootaloo,” Echo tried to console her, fearing that she would be distraught, “it's okay, don't worry.”

“I look like you,” she called out, staring into her mother's eyes, “I look just like you, Mom! How is this possible?”

“I think I have an idea,” Twilight resounded. “When you went to the hospital after that horrible incident with Cluster, Echo gave you some of her blood. While your body accepted it as your blood type, it seems that it also had some unintended effects. Scootaloo,” Twilight knelt next to the filly, “it looks like you're a changeling now.”

“What? I don't know the first thing about being a changeling! I barely know how to be a pegasus, or a unicorn, or even an earth pony!”

“Oh dear,” Chrysalis sighed with a hint of mocking in her voice, “if only you had family who could teach you how to be a changeling. Oh, wait, what about your mother and your grandmother? Do you suppose they could help? No, I suppose not. They aren't changelings, after all, are they?”

“Mom is too a changeling,” Scootaloo protested, “and you're my grandma.”

Chrysalis chuckled a low, mischievous laugh. “You're sweet, but not too quick, are you?”

Suddenly, realization dawned in Scootaloo's face. “Oh, you mean I need to have changeling lessons from you and Mom?”

“Basically, yes,” Twilight added.

“I'm sorry, Scootaloo,” Echo said, “you must be so scared.”

“Are you kidding? The one thing I wanted more than anything else was to be just like you! You're my number one hero, Mom! I always wanted to change my shape like you, and have eyes like yours, and be brave like you,” as Scootaloo went on, she suddenly flashed green again. When she was visible again, Echo thought for a moment that she was staring into a mirror. Seeming not to notice, Scootaloo continued, “and to talk like you, and be able to fight like you, and … why are you staring at me like that?”

Chrysalis laughed a great, hearty laugh. “It looks like your wish came true, child!”

Echo was about to say something when the library door opened. Nopony had realized just how much time had passed, but the bright morning air shining through the library door told the tale. Fluttershy stepped through. “Good morning, Twilight. I'm here to pick up Echo for our day out. I was wondering if you -” she stopped dead as she looked at the two iterations of Echo. “Oh my. There are two of you now.”

“Scootaloo, think about Fluttershy!” Chrysalis barked.

A ring of green fire began to form around one Echo, who looked at her hooves and sighed, “oh, here we go again.” This time, the flames disappeared to reveal a perfect Fluttershy. Scootaloo stared awkwardly into the real Fluttershy's eyes for a moment.

Without another word, Fluttershy sank low to the ground, turned about, and exited the library.

“Well, that went wonderfully,” Chrysalis smirked, “your skills are already improving.”

Turn to face the strange

“Okay,” Twilight huffed as she came back into the library, “I managed to find Fluttershy, and I explained the situation. She said that she understands, given the circumstances, Echo.”

“That makes things easier, Twi,” Echo sighed, “thank you. Did you apologize for me?”

“Yes, Echo, she understands.”

“I don't see why you should have to apologize,” Chrysalis said, “it was a wonderful display of her powers.”

“Chrysalis, Scootaloo doesn't have control over her transformations yet. It was mean of you to scare Fluttershy like that!” Twilight was getting upset again, and Echo decided that she should stop the confrontation from escalating.

“Here's an idea, ladies. Why don't Chrysalis and I spend some time teaching Scootaloo about what she's going to have to deal with?”

“That sounds fine to me. Let's begin,” Chrysalis smiled that half-evil smile that she sported all too often, and Echo was quick to interrupt.

“Not here, Mother. I was hoping that Twilight would know some place we could go where we wouldn't be likely to draw any attention, or to … you know, make important things explode?” Echo nodded to the books around them.

“I agree!” Twilight squeaked, eyes wide at the thought of her precious books exploding. “Why don't you try Zecora's place out in the Everfree?”

Scootaloo, still in Fluttershy's body, shuddered at the thought. “The Everfree? That's kind of dangerous, isn't it?”

“How remarkably in character, Scootaloo. Maybe you'll be better at this than I expected.” The queen was having far too much fun with this. “Here I thought you were just a chicken, with a beak and feathers and those little three-toed legs. With bravery like this, though, you're much more of a rooster.”

As Scootaloo contemplated the queen's description, her demeanor changed. She was about to lash out when another flash of green flame erupted from her hooves, and dissipated to reveal a rooster sitting in the center of the room.

“MOTHER,” Echo had finally had enough, “STOP IT, NOW.”

The changeling queen didn't hear her enraged daughter through her own cackling. She had rolled over onto her back and was wiping tears from her eyes as she laughed. Echo made a split second decision and fired a quick blast of magic to the queen's rear end. The monarch yelped in pain, and then, infuriated, stood tall and shouted in a voice that rivaled the Royal Canterlot Voice, “HOW DARE YOU!”

A green glow worked its way up the queen's horn, but once again purple sparks flew as it was about to crest. The queen fell unconscious in the center of the room.

“Hey, Twi,” Echo chuckled, “do you have any red ink?”

The two mares and the rooster giggled as Echo dipped the feather end of the quill into the well of red ink. With great wide strokes she painted the queen's face. Her snout was turned a bright red, and she bore rings of red around her eyes. Her lips had been colored as well, as though to imitate lipstick.

Echo was beginning to work on the fine details when the first stirrings of consciousness returned. Echo discarded the quill and everypony pretended that they didn't notice the changeling queen returning to her senses.

“Child,” the queen growled, “you have no idea how lucky you are that Sparkle has put this damnable spell on me.”

“Oh, you're awake. Good. I was just talking with Twilight about where we might be able to give Scootaloo her lessons.”

The rooster bawked happily, and then became visibly annoyed at the sound which escaped its throat. Its eyes closed and it nestled down into a sitting position. After a moment, it changed in a flash back to Scootaloo's changeling body. She still sat in the center of the room breathing rhythmically.

“Scootaloo,” Twilight cooed softly, “you changed back. You can stop now.”

“Huh?” Scootaloo's eyes shot open and she looked at her hooves, “awesome, I did it!”

“Way to go, feather-duster,” Echo laughed, “anyway, Twi, you were saying?”

“Yes, I was saying that I believe Zecora would be willing to give you the use of her facilities until Scootaloo has her powers under control.”

“Excellent,” Echo beamed, but her smile disappeared as she realized something, “who's Zecora?”

“Oh, I keep forgetting that you haven't met Zecora. She's a zebra that lives in the Everfree. She can be a little scary at first – ” Twilight paused when Echo raised an eyebrow, “– right, stupid statement – anyway, she's really nice and I'm sure she'd be willing to help you three out.”

“Excellent, a strange zebra, whom I have never met, living in isolation in the middle of a hostile forest. What could go wrong?” Chrysalis said flatly.

Twilight turned to Chrysalis to say something, but had to stuff her hoof into her mouth to stifle a laugh at the sight of the queen's clown-ish makeup.

“What?” Chrysalis glared at Twilight, “am I funny now?”

“No,” Twilight struggled, “not at all. Why don't you go see Zecora. Here's a map.” She levitated a map from a desk in the corner of the room and into Echo's saddlebag.

Echo gave Twilight a crimson smile and said, “thanks, Twi. We'll be back soon.”

Twilight squeaked and nodded her head, taking care not to look at the flabbergasted queen.

“Wait, Mom,” Scootaloo called, “I look like a changeling. What if I scare somepony?”

“That's right. You should probably pick a disguise, Scoots.”

“What do I choose?”

“That's up to you. You could just be Scootaloo, if you want,” Echo smiled softly.

“Or you could exercise your power as a changeling and be anypony you want.” The queen said, sounding quite aloof.

“I – I think I'd rather just be Scootaloo.” The filly said demurely.

“Of course, hon,” Echo sat on her haunches in front of her daughter, “just think about the way you looked back then. Think about that orange coat, and that awesome purple mane that looks just like Rainbow Dash's.”

“I still think she should exercise her rights as a superior being,” Chrysalis stated plainly. She glanced at Twilight, who gave a dirty look from the corner of her eye, and finished, “no offense.”

“Just relax, Scoot,” Echo continued softly, ignoring her mother's heckling, “and think about it.”

The filly breathed deeply a few times, and just like before, the green flames began to encircle her. They licked up her sides as though Scootaloo herself were physically on fire, but they emitted no heat. As they reached halfway up her body, she began to lift off the ground slightly. “Mom?” Scootaloo called through her trance, “mom, what's happening?”

“It's okay, Scoot, just relax!” Echo said as calmly as she could. In truth, she had no idea what was happening. A wind began to come from some unseen source, whipping the new changeling's membrane-like mane and tail into a flurry. The flames formed a sphere around her, and they crackled and sizzled in a crescendo with the roar of the wind. The entire room was bathed in a green luminescence, and the roar died down as the flame dissipated. Scootaloo came floating gently back down to the ground, her usual orange coat and purple mane restored. She opened her eyes, and they were the solid purple eyes of her changeling self. The color dissolved from the sides of her eyes slowly and reverted to her normal pony eyes.

“I don't understand,” Scootaloo said, looking at her hooves and her wings, “I just changed back. That never happened to me before. What was it?”

“I don't know, Scoot. That's never happened to me.” Echo admitted.

“I think I know, Scootaloo,” Twilight gasped. She moved up behind Scootaloo and put a foreleg around her neck. She smiled warmly and said, “look at yourself a little more closely.”

“What do you mean, Twilight?” Scootaloo looked herself over again, from her hooves, to her forelegs, to her wings, her mane, her tail, her blank flank – which was not blank. Where once there was nothing, there was now the image of a single red primary feather. She had gotten a cutie mark. “Oh my gosh, I got my cutie mark!” Her excitement seemed to be unbridled, but was dampened as a thought occurred to her. She turned to Echo with dejection in her eyes and asked, “Mom, how can I have a cutie mark if I'm a changeling? How do I know that it's real and not just me being a changeling?”

“Scootaloo, sweetheart, I have never seen anything like what just happened to you. So, either you have already discovered and mastered a power the likes of which neither myself nor my mother have ever seen, or you just got your cutie mark.”

Her enthusiasm resuscitated, she bounced around the library. “I wonder what it means? A red feather. I wonder if it means that I'm good at flying? I wonder why it's red? I thought I'd know what my cutie mark meant when I finally got it. Oh, who cares, I got my cutie mark!” She stopped in her tracks and gasped. “But what about the girls? The other Crusaders! What will they do now that I have a cutie mark? Will we have to break the club up?” Tears started to fill her eyes as the thought of losing her friends crossed her mind, “what if they don't want to hang out with me anymore? What if they get mad at me because I got my cutie mark before they did?”

Echo was about to step in and comfort Scootaloo when Chrysalis walked over and knelt down in front of her granddaughter. Her eyes held a softness that Echo had never seen before as the queen spoke, “Scootaloo. You are, I think, the sweetest changeling who ever lived. You're kind at heart, you're generous of soul, you are loyal to your friends, honest with yourself, and you certainly make your mother happy. I'd venture to say you've got some magic in there, too. If your friends desert you because of this, then they were no friends to begin with. Your power is not to be understated. It isn't the same raw power that your mother or I possess, but it's true and strong. Don't worry about losing your friends. They aren't that stupid.”

Although her speech finished on a distinctly changeling tone, Echo couldn't help but be floored by the queen's outburst of emotion. Her jaw dropped in astonishment, and fell farther as the queen wordlessly pulled Scootaloo in close and hugged her. After a few moments, the queen released Scootaloo and returned to her regal attitude. Twilight stood on the opposite side of the library from Echo, sharing her astonishment at what just happened. Scootaloo stammered as she sat on her haunches.

“What,” the queen said in her usual mocking voice, “have I rendered you all mute? Let us go on to see this 'Zecora' mare.” Without another word, Chrysalis moved to the door and walked ahead, not waiting for her company.

Used to the changeling attitude, Echo followed. As she passed by, she picked her daughter up in a soft green glow and put her, still stammering, on her back. The queen opened the door just as Echo had trotted up next to her, and a tomato flew past Echo's ear close enough that she could feel the wind from it. Outside the library there was a congregation of ponies, all seeming enraged. They shouted various profanities at the changelings in the library's door. At the head of the pack was Filthy Rich.

“You changeling filth! You should just leave that poor filly alone and stop trying to indoctrinate her into your horrible ways!”

“If I may,” queen Chrysalis said, unaffected by the hostility, “to what ways are you referring?”

“Your barbaric love-stealing and pony-killing. The way you behave is monstrous, and that makes you no better than monsters yourselves! You're raising that poor innocent pegasus to be a monster, too.”

The queen stepped forward calmly and stood in front of Filthy Rich, looking down at him without tilting her head whatsoever. “Are you implying that my granddaughter is going to be a monster if left under the charge of my daughter?”

“I should think so!” Filthy Rich stated simply, showing remarkable bravery in standing up to the queen.

“Oh, well, in that case,” the queen began, “I should think that you would be grateful I cannot use my magic to tear your limbs from your body and beat you senseless with them, since under any other circumstance, that would be your position at this point.” She said these words with the same tone that one might order food at a restaurant.

Filthy Rich swallowed once before he puffed out his chest, “Get out of our town, filth!”

“I find it ironic that you, Filthy, are calling us filth.”

Just then, a unicorn came out of the crowd holding a pitchfork in the glow of his magic, and thrust it toward the queen.

Barely casting a glance from the side of her eye, the queen ripped the weapon from the unicorn's grasp and incinerated it. “Oh, look at that,” she said cheerily, “I can still use combat magic against non-living things. Lovely!” Without even looking at it, she set Filthy Rich's tie aflame. In the ensuing chaos, she called to Echo telepathically, “fly now, while they're distracted.”

The three set off in the direction of the Everfree. As they flew away, Echo could hear Filthy Rich's cursing. “You're all trash, and you don't belong here! You're poison, do you hear me? Poison!”

Zecora's hut was nestled in a relatively peaceful part of the Everfree. Scarcely any predators were ever found in the area. Zecora said this was because any predators that came near her quickly learned that her magic was not one to be underestimated. Despite lacking a unicorn's horn, her pyrotechnic displays could make timber wolves shake the bark from their hides and cockatrices wish they could turn themselves to stone. Her ability to defend herself was rivaled only by her ability to rhyme all of her words. So, when two changelings arrived in her clearing carrying a single pegasus filly, she rushed to rescue the helpless child.

“Stop right there, take another step if you dare! Leave that filly on the ground, or in the morning your heads will pound.”

“She's a queer one, isn't she?” the queen said idly.

“Zecora? Twilight sent us. She said you would be willing to let us use this space to teach my daughter, Scootaloo.”

“Daughter, you say?” Zecora began, “I never thought I would see the day! Very well, if Twilight sent you, then the use of my home is within your purview. However I will observe, for although I trust you this situation does disturb.”

“Yeah,” Echo mumbled to Chrysalis, “she's a bit odd.”

“One more thing, the effects of those flowers might sting. I do not know how it will affect you changeling folk, but the plants upon which you tread are poison joke. It would seem as though for you,” Zecora motioned to Chrysalis and giggled, referencing the ink on her face, “to its name the plant has been most true.”

“What are you talking about, you strange little mare?” The queen seemed irritated at the Zebra's constant rhyming, and even more irritated at the laughter that Echo and Scootaloo were repressing.

“Unless you are a clown, I fear that your reflection will make you frown.” Zecora pointed to a pond that was on the edge of the forest. “Go on, look down.”

Chrysalis walked over to the pond and stared down. Her body tensed for a moment, and Echo was sure that she was about to knock herself out again in an attempt to cause some form of harm to her. However, to Echo's great surprise, the queen began to laugh heartily.

“Joke's on you, Echo” she said, “the poison joke just made me go blind!”

Rebound

“I HATE YOU!” Scootaloo was screaming at the top of her lungs through the pillow. It was muffled, but loud enough to hear. “I HATE YOU BOTH. HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?”

“Scootaloo,” Echo blinked and rubbed her head, dazed from the display of raw power that she had just witnessed, “that isn't them. You know that.”

“I DON'T CARE, I HATE THEM.”

“Hon, don't let yourself say that. They're your best friends, and you know that they don't actually think that.”

“You aren't a monster.” Scootaloo lifted her head from the pillow, her chitinous face streaked with tears. “You're not.”

“I know, and neither are you,” Echo pulled Scootaloo closer, “and to prove that, we need to help Sweetie and 'Bloom. Something isn't right in Ponyville. Whatever it is that's driving these ponies insane, it doesn't seem to be affecting any of the Elements of Harmony.”

“So what do we do?”

Echo thought about it. Everypony in town hates us. They want us gone, they don't want to see us, they don't want to help us... which Element is the polar opposite of that? “Fluttershy. We have to find Fluttershy.”

“Fluttershy, seriously?” Scootaloo was beginning to sound like her old self again. “I don't think Fluttershy could scare a fly, let alone fix whatever is going on here.”

“She doesn't need to. She just needs to put some cracks in the shell. If she can weaken the spell enough, and we can find out where it's coming from, we can end this.”

Scootaloo looked at the ground for a moment, and then nodded her head succinctly. They made their way downstairs and headed out the door. Nopony was around as far as Echo could see, so they galloped in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage. When they got there, the sight that greeted them filled Echo with dismay. Around the cottage, a mob had formed. They were shouting and screaming, but they hadn't yet noticed Echo and Scootaloo.

“Scoot,” Echo knelt and whispered, “I know this is going to be hard, but you need to get a disguise. We're going to have to get close enough to the cottage to convince Fluttershy to let us in, and we can't get through that mob if we look like this.”

Scootaloo heaved a great breath and nodded. She looked around a couple of times, and then her face distorted with the strain of thought. Slowly, her chitin dissolved away, and in its place was blue fur. Her wings flared as they formed, and the prismatic colors of her mane and tail materialized.

“How's this?” Scootaloo said in her best Rainbow Dash voice.

Echo smiled and nodded. “Good job. Hold on to it, okay? I think we have the best chance of getting 'Shy to talk to us if we're both disguised as Elements of Harmony. Let me think...” Echo closed her eyes for a second, then shot them open again. “I've got it!” One flash later, Applejack stood next to Rainbow Dash, sans hat. Echo crossed her legs in her best imitation of the farmer, and said “Let's go, sugarcube.”

Scootaloo kept her eyes glued forward, determined not to let anything distract her. Slowly, they made their way through the mob. Echo heard some of the phrases being shouted, including “release the monster”, “you're a traitor”, and “harboring fugitives is against the law”. The crowd separated enough to let them through as they turned around to see two of the Elements.

“Oh, boy,” said somepony, “AJ and Dash are here to talk some sense into her!”

“Now just hold on a cider-squeezin' second, y'all, and tell me what's goin' on here?” Echo tried her best to imitate AJ without hamming it up too much; impersonation was never her strong suit.

“Where have you been for the last hour?” Came a familiar voice. It was Filthy Rich at the head of the pack. “Fluttershy is harboring one of those damn changelings.”

Scootaloo grunted as she tried to keep her focus on the facade. Echo fought the urge to buck Filthy's face into his skull, and turned instead to the door of the cottage. “'Shy,” she began, “it's me. Can you let me in to talk?”

“Oh, Applejack?” Fluttershy sounded hurried, but hushed. “Just a moment. You have to tell everypony to back away from the door before I'll open it. I'm terribly sorry, but I have to be firm on this one.”

“I get it,” Echo said. She turned to the crowd and barked, “you heard the girl, back off y'all! Elements of Harmony business!” Do they say that? Can they say that?

Echo assumed that they could, since the crowd obeyed, though their eyes remained fixed on the door. Scootaloo stared blankly at it, intent not to focus on anything other than her disguise.

The door clicked open and Fluttershy's hoof beckoned the two changelings to enter. They did so, and Fluttershy quickly shut the door behind them, locking it. Immediately, the shouts of the mob renewed. Echo looked to Fluttershy.

“I'm sorry about this, 'Shy, but we had to get in here somehow.” Echo dropped her disguise, prompting a slight gasp from Fluttershy.

“Oh, it's you, Echo! I'm so glad to see you, Maybe you can help me?”

“Funny thing,” Echo chuckled a forced laugh, “I was about to ask you for the same thing.”

“Rainbow Dash, are you okay?” Fluttershy looked over at Scootaloo, who was focused on a clock hanging on the wall. Her jaw was clenched in determination.

“Scoot,” Echo nudged her, “you can let go now. We're safe.”

Scootaloo's eyes widened as she made eye contact with Echo, and in the same instant, her disguise fell. “Thank Celestia.”

“Fluttershy, what's this the crowd is saying about a changeling in here?”

Fluttershy pointed to the back of the room, where a changeling with chitin as black as charcoal and eyes the color of a full moon's night sky. He leaned against a wall, silently looking at the two mares and filly in the center of the room.

“Interesting,” Echo squinted. Out of military habit, she stood up straight and walked over to him, holding her wings taut against her back. “What's your designation?”

“If you're asking my name, I'm Rebound. Don't you remember me?”

“Should I, soldier?”

“I'm not a soldier. Not anymore. I've been here in Ponyville for quite a while now. At least as long as you have. I found out about you pretty quickly. On that note, you're not too great with the whole 'disguising yourself' bit of being a changeling, are you?”

Echo felt her temper rise. With ponies, she gave them leeway to speak informally. As a changeling, though, she was a high ranking officer. This kind of disrespect was unheard of in conversation with a superior. “AWOL, then?” She asked.

“Not exactly, but if you want to call it that, go ahead.” The changeling stretched his wings and yawned.

Intolerable. “Where do you get off treating me like this, buddy?”

“Get off? Well, I never. In front of the filly, too?”

“Fluttershy,” Echo asked, electing not to remove this changeling's head from his body until his purpose had been established, “why is this changeling under your protection?”

“Well, I mean, he is a little rude,” Fluttershy whispered, “but those ponies outside would kill him, and I can't let that happen. I just can't.”

Echo sighed and nodded. Rebound continued to lean against the wall, and a smug little smirk crossed his lips.

“I'm more useful than you realize, Your Highness.” He said flippantly.

“That isn't my title, unit.”

“Well, 'unit' isn't mine. What would you rather I call you?”

“I'd rather you didn't, but if you must address me, call me ma'am or General.”

“Ma'am, this little one is adorable, ma'am. Permission to ruffle her mane, ma'am? Eh, screw it, I'm gonna do it anyway. Court Marshall me or something,” he ran a hoof over the filly's mane and after a pause added, “ma'am.”

In a rage, she fired up her wings and zoomed up behind him. She wheeled around, kicked up her hind legs, and bucked him in the back of the head. He fell flat on the ground, wings buzzing reflexively.

“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy squeaked, “is he going to be okay?”

“Believe me,” Echo grumbled as she laid her wings against her back again, “if I didn't want him to be okay, his head would be on the other side of the room.

As if on cue, Rebound stirred as he came back to consciousness. “Okay, so it's definitely you. I hope you understand,” he began, “I had to be sure.”

“Sure of what, unit?”

“There you go with that 'unit' crap again. Call me Rebound, would you? Anyway, I had to be sure that it was actually you, and not some other changeling. You can never be too sure.”

“Excuse me,” Scootaloo said, “I've got a few questions. Who are you, what do you want, and who do you think you are calling me 'adorable'? I'm awesome, not adorable.”

“You're right, Scoot, you're not adorable,” Rebound chuckled, “you're absolutely precious!”

Scootaloo growled as Rebound laughed, and while he wasn't looking she wheeled around and bucked him in the chest. Fluttershy gasped in shock, and Rebound coughed as the air was knocked out of his lungs.

“Sweet Chrysalis,” Rebound hacked, “are you sure that she isn't a blood relative, Echo?”

“Sometimes I wonder that myself,” Echo smiled slyly at Scootaloo, who still stared at Rebound with loathing.

“Ugh,” he struggled to catch his breath, “what did I do to deserve getting beaten up like this all the time?”

“Before we get back to business, unit,” Echo began again, “why don't you fill me in on exactly who you are?”

“Yeah,” he said as he transformed, “remember me?”

In front of Echo stood a tan stallion with a black mane which had some light gray highlights. It only took her a moment to remember where she had last seen this stallion. It was at her welcoming party. He had said that he wanted to 'talk' to her. Echo thought she had seen through his ruse, and had grabbed his foreleg, whipped him around, and hit him on the back of the head, before screaming at him to 'buzz off'. She looked at him more closely and noticed a purple puzzle piece for a cutie mark. His eye color matched his mark.

“You mean that you were...”

“Yep. Actually trying to talk to you.”

“So the reason I didn't get any energy from you was...”

“Changeling,” Rebound buzzed his wings and bowed flamboyantly, “at your service, ma'am.”

“In my defense,” Echo was quick to include, “you were behaving awfully flirty.”

“Shame on me for being attracted to a female.”

“Oh, you son of a -” Echo was about to buck Rebound in the face again when Fluttershy stepped between them.

“Enough!” She shouted at a volume that was, for her, deafening. “I will not allow any more of this violence in my home, do you three understand? I promised I would never use that stare on any of my friends, but if you don't stop fighting, I won't have any choice.” Fluttershy closed her eyes, fighting back tears. Confrontation was obviously extremely difficult for her.

“Stare? No offense, 'Shy,” Rebound chuckled, “but I've been bucked in the face by Echo before, and I'm still alive. I don't think that a little stare could -”

Fluttershy's eyes widened as she turned her gaze toward Rebound. He looked into her eyes, and terror crept across his face. In his fright, his disguise fell. He sank lower and lower to the ground, his mouth widening in fear with every inch he dropped. Just as Rebound's belly was about to touch the floor, Fluttershy relented and softened her gaze. “I promised I wouldn't use that on my friends. I've kept my promise, since you aren't my friend yet, Rebound. Please don't continue to aggravate things.”

“Yes'm.” Rebound squeaked.

Echo let her formal facade drop and laughed openly at his dramatic change in demeanor. Fluttershy turned to face Echo and made eye contact with just enough intensity and for just long enough to quiet her.

“Now,” Fluttershy sighed, “I think we have a problem to deal with, girls.”

“'Girls'? What about me?” Rebound complained indignantly.

“Keep up the whining and I'll see to it that everypony in the room really is female,” Echo growled before turning back to Fluttershy and replying, “Yes, we do. Whatever it is that's making everypony in town hates us and every other changeling, even Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were affected by it.”

Rebound gasped, “Sweetie and 'Bloom? No way.”

“Unfortunately, it's true. Fluttershy, I think we need Twilight's help on this one. There's some kind of magic here that I've never seen.”

“Of course. How do we get her here, though? If I leave, they'll just break in. If they do that, they'll kill you!”

Echo sighed as she realized what she had to do. “Okay, 'Shy. Stay here and watch Scootaloo and the other one. I'll go get Twilight.” She returned to her Applejack disguise and moved toward the door. “If you try anything funny, guy, I swear that I'll -”

“We'll be fine, Echo,” Fluttershy interrupted, exasperated, “I promise.”

At that, Echo stepped back outside and began to work her way through the densely packed mob of ponies. She fought the urge to shove them aside and instead, keeping in character, begged each of their pardons as she squeezed by. When she had finally escaped the horde, she took off at top speed for the library.

She came to a screeching halt in front of the door and knocked urgently. After a moment, there was a rustling on the other side, and the door clicked as Spike opened it.

“Applejack? Oh, hi! Twi's upstairs studying something. She wouldn't say what. I can get her for you.”

“That'd be great, Spike, thanks.” Echo stepped inside and gasped for breath.

“Would you like some water, AJ?”

“No,” Echo said, allowing her disguise to drop, “I'll be fine, Spike. It's me, Echo.”

Spike's eyes widened, and then narrowed. His brow furrowed. “What are you doing here, changeling?” Oh, not you too Spike! “I should go get the guards to take you away!”

Spike turned and ran for the door, and Echo just sat on her haunches in dismay. Just as the little dragon was about to turn the knob on the door, though, he was enveloped in a purple aura and put into a closet, the door to which was shut and locked magically. Echo turned to look around, and saw Twilight standing on top of the stairs with an expression of determination in her eyes. She walked wordlessly over to Echo and stood with her muzzle about half a foot from Echo's. She stared intently into Echo's eyes, and Echo stared right back, fighting tears.

“Echo,” Twilight started firmly. Oh, Chrysalis, not Twilight. “We're going to fix this. You and me. Together.” Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Echo's neck and pulled her close. The startled changeling gave a quick gasp and tensed up for a moment before she melted into the hug. Her stoic facade melted away, and she buried her face in Twilight's shoulder as she sobbed.

Rescue (Allons-y)

Echo stayed in Twilight's embrace for what felt like hours before there was a loud smashing sound on the library door. Twilight turned a quizzical gaze to the door and made a motion to open it when it came crashing in off its hinges. Laying in the resulting pile of debris was one miss Derpy Hooves.

“Sorry, Twilight,” she said, “I just don't know what went wr – Oh, Echo. Hello.” In a flash, Derpy transformed into Chrysalis, who stood up and brushed the dust from her chitin. “I didn't expect to see you here.”

“Chrys –” Twilight stuttered.

“Yes?”

“You –”

“Spit it out.”

“You just destroyed my door and half of a bookshelf! Why did you do that?”

“Well, I had to stay in character, now didn't I? Derpy doesn't knock, per-se.” Leaving Twilight stuttering at the ruined entrance to her library, Chrysalis turned to Echo and chittered in Changeling, “What are you doing here?”

“We're going to need Twilight's help to fix whatever is going on in this town, Mother,” Echo chittered back, “and you destroying her property certainly isn't going to help.”

“Oh, relax, Echo. Considering what I've done to these ponies and gotten away with, they'll probably just scold me for a moment and let me continue on with my rampage.”

“Oh for the love of – do you care about anything but yourself, Chrysalis?”

“You mean there's more to life than me?”

“Sometimes I really hate you, do you know that?”

“No hate for me, please, thank you. I'm on a diet.”

“Okay,” Twilight had managed to recover from her shock, “ignoring for now the wanton destruction that you have obviously been wreaking, Chrysalis, we have urgent matters which require our attention.”

“Which would be?”

“Well, the fact that nearly everypony in town is homicidal, for starters.”

“Hmm. I suppose that is a bit out of the ordinary for you ponies, isn't it?”

“Yes, Chrysalis, VERY.” Twilight sputtered incredulously.

“Very well. What do you propose?”

“Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were knocked unconscious when Scoot lost her temper,” Echo began, “Maybe you could try to change them back, Twilight?”

“Maybe,” Twilight mumbled as she rubbed her chin.

“It would mean the world to Scootaloo.”

“Yes, I don't doubt it, but the problem is that this spell becomes almost impossible to break whenever the pony you're trying to disillusion becomes cognizant of your efforts. That's why Spike is in the closet.”

“Your baby dragon is in the closet?” Chrysalis snickered, “What ever will Rarity think?”

Fed up, Echo snapped, “Can it, Chryssie.”

“Excuse me?” The queen's eyes narrowed. “Did you just say 'can it, Chryssie'? The fact that you would tell me to 'can it' alone is enough to incite my wrath, but calling me Chryssie? That's the last straw, girl.”

“Oh, what's the big bad excommunicated changeling queen gonna do? Execute her own daughter?” Now that I think of it, probably so, yeah. Echo realized with a gulp.

Chrysalis' eyes glinted as she stared her daughter down. A smile crept over her lips, and she sunk low to the ground. Echo thought that she looked like a cat getting ready to – pounce. Sure enough, the changeling queen launched herself at full speed straight into Echo with a growl. Echo buzzed her wings in an attempt to get out of the way, but wasn't fast enough. The queen slammed into her side and knocked her to the ground. Having pinned Echo, Chrysalis' horn began to glow. It cast a shadow down over her face, making the grin she sported seem exceptionally malevolent.

“Chrysalis,” Echo began, “Don't, you'll just knock yourself out!”

“Oh, I'm not using combat magic,” Chrysalis giggled. A bolt of green lightning shot from Chrysalis' horn and made contact with Echo's exposed underbelly. Echo twitched, expecting pain, but suddenly found herself writhing and laughing uncontrollably. She's... tickling me?

“Mother, stop, please,” Echo heaved through her bouts of laughter, “this is so undignified!”

“This spell never gets old,” Chrysalis laughed maniacally, a predatory stare still glossing her eyes.

“Chrysalis, that's enough!” Twilight stamped her hoof. “Let Echo go, we have things that we have to do.”

“Yes, and who says that I can't accomplish those goals while I restrain her?” The queen said with a Machiavellian grin.

“I do! I do!” Echo hollered.

“Shh, you don't count,” Chrysalis replied dismissively.

“THAT'S ENOUGH!” The normally demure Twilight bellowed, her eyes glowing solid white. “We have very important things to deal with right now, Chrysalis, and if you cannot behave like an adult, then I'll just have to tell the Princesses that you couldn't be reformed.”

Chrysalis sneered in shock, obviously preparing a retort, but softened her gaze begrudgingly and released Echo. Returning to her usual stoic gaze, the queen regarded Twilight. “I must admit, you've got quite the spirit in you, purple one.”

“CAN WE PLEASE,” Twilight accentuated each word with a stamp of her hoof, “get back to solving this problem?” She sighed, exhausted.

“I've got an idea,” Echo puffed, catching her breath, “why don't I go and grab Sweetie and 'Bloom? They're probably still unconscious on the floor of Scoots' bedroom. If you can't break the spell on them when they're awake, maybe you can do it if they're unconscious.”

“Maybe, though I suspect it'll be a bit more difficult than that. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are as good a place to start as any though, since they would mean the most to Scootaloo.”

Echo nodded, and started for the ruined door. She could just hear the beginnings of an argument between Chrysalis and Twilight as she donned a disguise and took to the air.

After only a few minutes of flying, she saw a column of smoke rising up in front of her. Oh, sweet queens of the past, it can't be!

Another few seconds of top-speed flying realized Echo's fears. A good half or so of the angry mob had migrated outside of her home, and had set it aflame. The door was engulfed, and flames were licking up to the second story. Echo didn't hesitate another second. She charged at full speed toward Scootaloo's window. When she was about to make contact, she pulled her wings in tight and craned her neck so that the hardest part of her skull would strike the glass. She felt a sharp twang of pain as she broke through, and the sound of glass breaking echoed through her daughter's room, followed by a scream. She coughed through the smoke and huddled low to the ground, where she quickly located Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, huddled in the corner, crying.

“Girls,” She shouted over the roar of the flames below, “jump on my back! I'm going to get you out of here!”

“Who are you?” Sweetie Belle asked with terror in her voice.

“That doesn't matter, we don't have time. Just get on my back and grab on to whatever you can, okay?”

Sweetie Belle was quick to oblige, and grabbed on to Echo's mane with her teeth, wrapping her forelegs around Echo's neck so tightly that Echo almost couldn't breathe. Apple Bloom, though, was more cautious.

“Now wait just an apple-pickin' minute. I ain't ever seen you around before. How'd you even know we were in here?”

“'Bloom,” Echo reprimanded, “I will be happy to answer every last one of your questions just as soon as we are no longer in danger of burning to death. How does that sound?”

Apple Bloom opened her mouth as if to retort, but closed it again quickly. Her eyes widened, and she nodded succinctly before climbing onto Echo's back and gripping her midsection with all four limbs.

“Alright,” Echo chimed, “Hold on tight!” With a powerful flap of her wings, she was off through the window again. She glided back down to the ground softly, and both fillies climbed off her back quickly with several words of thanks.

“Oh my Celestia,” said one pony in the mob, “were those two in that house?”

“Yes, they were,” Echo tried to restrain her rage, but the volume in her voice increased with each word, “and you lot started a fire right underneath their hooves. You nearly KILLED two innocent fillies. How does that make you all feel, huh?” By this point, Echo was roaring. The entire mob had migrated to the side of the house, where Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

“Good show, miss! How did you know they were in there?” A brown stallion with an hour glass cutie mark asked, stepping forward with a smile on his face.

“Uh...” Echo stammered. “Lucky guess, I suppose?”

“I doubt very that luck had anything to do with it.” Said one pony in the mob, who stared at Echo with eyes narrowed.

“Well,” the brown stallion said, drawing out the first word, “that depends on what you mean by luck. What one pers – pony calls luck, I might call the proper utilization of a T.A.R.D.I.S.”

“Tar what now?” Echo looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

He turned to her and whispered just loud enough for her to hear, “Just smile and nod. Listen to what I say, and everything will be okay, I promise. Trust me.”

“You know something, come to think of it, who are you?” Filthy Rich's voice came out of the crowd again, as he stepped forward. “Are you a changeling, too?”

“Changeling? No. Time Lord? Yeah, absolutely.”

“I think you're crazy.”

“Mad ma- pony - with a box, that's me.” He smiled at the crowd and whispered over his shoulder, “Echo, pick up the fillies and get ready to run.”

Echo nodded and obeyed. The two fillies were too exhausted to protest.

“Put those fillies down!” Filthy yelled.

“No, I don't think so.” The mysterious stallion said, still smiling.

“This is your last chance...” Filthy growled as he stepped forward.

“Oh, well, in that case,” The stallion whipped around on his hind legs, “RUN!”

Echo didn't question the strange stallion. She followed in his wake, galloping as quickly as her legs could carry her. He giggled as he ran, clouds of dust billowing up in his trail as he skidded around corners and bounded over barrels. She struggled to keep up, but managed to follow his hoofsteps precisely. Abruptly, he slid to a stop in the middle of an alley and slumped down against a wall. He struggled to catch his breath for a moment before he stood back up and extended a forehoof.

“Hello, Echo! I'm the Doctor. Pleasure to meet you!”

“Doctor?”

“Mmmhmm,” the stallion still smiled broadly, “that'd be me. The Doctor.”

“Okay... so why are you helping me?”

“Well, that was incidental really. Something's odd in this town -”

“Yeah, you.”

“No. Well, yeah, but no. Something else is odd, and I'm here to fix it.”

“... okay, and it has something to do with these ponies wanting to kill me?”

“Maybe. Probably not, but maybe. I've been spending the past few days following a signal that sounded an awful lot like the Sontarans – and boy I tell you if they made it here, ponykind is in for quite the ride – but what's happening in this town isn't much like them. Nah, I'm thinking most of what's happening in this town is just good old fashioned magic.” The Doctor chuckled. “Magic, innit? Imagine me, talking about magic like it's something real. Well, I suppose it is real, isn't it? Least in this universe. Dimension? Quantum fluctuation? Here, anyway.”

“You really are insane, aren't you?”

“Yep, bonkers.” As he said this, something beeped in a small saddlebag he was carrying. He reached around and with his mouth grabbed a strange looking device with a flashing blue tip. “Eeh, ook et at!” He mumbled through the device before putting it back in his bag. “Seems I've got to go now, Echo! Pleasure meeting you and all, but I've got a signal to follow. Don't worry, shouldn't be related to your problem, and I'll make sure to take care of it. If all goes according to plan, you won't even know it happened. Keep on going to wherever it is you were going, I doubt that mob has followed us this far. I'll be seeing you around!”

“Wait, how do you know my name?”

“Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey, I really haven't got time to explain. Allons-y!” With that, he had bounded off through the alley and turned a corner.

Echo stayed in the alley for a moment longer before she dared to move even a single hoof. As she was about to continue on her trek back to the library, she heard Sweetie Belle's voice on her back.

“Echo, is that you?”

“Yes. I realize that probably makes you want to kill me now, doesn't it?” Echo fought tears. My home has been destroyed. My life is being uprooted. I suppose I deserve this after everything I've done in life.

“What? Why would we want to kill you?”

“Because I'm a changeling.”

“Well, duh, you're a changeling. We've known that for a while now, Echo.” Apple Bloom chimed.

“Wait, you don't remember wanting to kill me and Scoots?”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gasped. “Kill you and Scootaloo?” They said together.

“I'm pretty sure we'd remember wanting to kill you, Echo,” Apple Bloom stammered through the apparent shock, “and why would we want to kill our best friend?”

“Because she's a changeling too. Do you really not remember any of this, girls?”

“Scootaloo isn't a changeling. She's been a pony for as long as we've known her. Isn't that right, AB?”

“Yep. Pegasus through-and-through, even if she can't fly yet.”

They don't remember. “Okay, girls. Look, we need to get to the library now. Don't tell anyone we meet on the way who I am, alright?”

“Can you explain what's happening, Echo?”

“I'll be sure to explain it to you as soon as I figure it out, Apple Bloom. Let's go, okay?”

They walked together in silence back to the library. They were all three covered in soot, and every now and then a black cloud would release itself from one of their coats, dissipating slowly into the air. Echo's mane – or rather, her disguise's mane – was a tangled mess with bits of glass lodged in it. All of their eyes were reddened – the fillies' by the ash that had infiltrated them, and Echo's by the emotional strain that the past few minutes had placed on her shoulders. As they approached the library, Echo could make out a glowing purple replica of the library's normal door. Obviously, this was a creation of Twilight's to serve as a stand-in for the door that Chrysalis had obliterated. Echo raised a hoof hesitantly, and knocked. Her hoof met resistance that was just like a door's, but her knock didn't create a sound. She tried again, knocking harder, but it was still silent. Only Twilight could create a door that can't be knocked on!

In no mood to shout, Echo instead dropped her disguise and plunged her horn through the door. A pulse of green energy disintegrated the door, and Echo stepped inside bearing her most bemused expression. “Leave it to you, Twilight, to make a door that won't let me knock.”

“Echo,” Twilight sighed, “that door was really hard to make! Ugh, can you changelings ever just enter some place without breaking something down?”

“What fun would that be?” Chrysalis laughed from somewhere else in the library.

“UGH!” Twilight grumbled as she set herself to fixing the door.

“Do you notice anything, Twi?” Echo asked, motioning to the slightly confused fillies behind her.

“Yes, yes, hello Apple Bloom, hello Sweetie Belle.” Twilight remained focused on the door.

“Twilight. They're back to normal.”

“Excellent. Good. Wonderful. That's great.” She plastered on layer after layer of magic as she rebuilt the door. “That's outstanding.”

“She'll be back,” Chrysalis' voice came from behind Echo, “she did the same thing to me the first time she build that door. Wouldn't respond to a thing I said. I even tried telling her intimate stories about her brother's performance in the bedro –”

“MOTHER! Fillies, remember?” Echo nodded to the young ones in question, whose faces bore confusion.

“Yes, well, at any rate, I can assure you that she won't respond until she's finished with that door.”

“Great. How long?”

“Twenty minutes or so.”

“Good. Watch the girls and wake me when Twi's done.” Echo walked over to the couch and collapsed, falling asleep immediately.

Of Chivalry and Changelings

Echo came out of the haze of sleep just in time to hear Chrysalis' wings buzz furiously as the queen flew down the stairs and hid herself under the couch on which Echo was sleeping. From elsewhere, Echo could hear Sweetie Belle's voice counting down from 30. Apple Bloom came bounding down the stairs giggling, and opened a cupboard in the kitchen. She hid herself within and closed the door.

“Mother,” Echo asked through the pounding headache, “what is going on?”

“Shh. The white one is hunting me.”

“You're playing hide-and-seek with them?”

“Nonsense! This is a very serious exercise meant to train their abilities in locating enemies.”

“Well, then, you might want to pull your tail under the couch. It's a bit of a giveaway, don't you think?”

Without a word from its owner, the queen's tail zipped under the couch. Echo stood up and walked over to Twilight, who was still staring intently at the door. It seemed to be just about finished.

“Twilight,” Echo said, “are you there?”

“Mmm.” Twilight still stared at the door she was building.

“I don't understand ponies. You're weird, and you have this infectious happiness. It creeps into a changeling's mind like poison, and it twists around the way that we think. What's worse is that I don't think it's wrong. It feels right, like I should have been this way all along. It looks like it's even affecting Chrysalis!”

“Mmm.”

“Normally, if everypony in a town decided that they hated me, I'd just pick a different disguise and move on. Now, though, I actually care about what they think. I actually want them to like me.”

“Mmm.”

“That's weird, for a changeling. We're used to being hated. So why can't I get used to it again?”

“Mmm.”

“Huh,” Echo mumbled, “Chrysalis wasn't kidding. You really can't have your concentration broken, can you?”

“Mmm.”

Sweetie Belle's countdown finished, and she came bounding down the stairs. “Ready or not, here I come,” she shouted, her voice cracking on the last word. Echo watched with a melancholy smile as the little unicorn searched the library. She jumped on top of the couch and chimed, “come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Suddenly, Echo heard a muffled pounding sound from the door, followed by Rebound's voice. “Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Only you, Twilight! Open up, come on!”

“Mmm.”

“Okay, sorry Twi, but it's too dangerous out here.”

With a flurry of green sparks, Rebound's horn penetrated the inside of the door, and the door began to dissolve. Twilight snapped back to her senses in an instant.

“No!” Her face contorted with strain as she fought to keep the door together. At the same time, she whipped it open with her magic, pulling the helpless Rebound in with it.

He dangled from the door and glared at Twilight. “Gee, thanks, Twi. Care to get my horn out of this thing, please?”

“Why can't changelings go anywhere without destroying things?” Twilight lamented as she worked to free Rebound from the door. “I'm sorry if I hurt you, Rebound.”

“It's fine, Twi. I just wish that your concentration was a bit easier to break!”

Twilight giggled as she pried his horn from the corporeal magic of the door. “What kind of unicorn would I be if I lost my concentration from every little thing that got in my way?”

“The kind whose sensibilities aren't impaired every time she's casting a spell.”

“Gee, thanks, Rebound,” Twilight said, bemused.

“Any time,” he said with a wide grin as he rubbed his horn. “I brought a couple guests, too.” He motioned behind him, and Echo was suddenly made aware of the presence of a trembling yellow ball of fur on the ground outside the door.

“Oh,” Twilight said, “hello Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy lifted her head and said something softly that Echo couldn't quite hear. Just then, Fluttershy's mane jumped up, and Scootaloo's head poked through. She had her disguise on and looked just like she had before the change.

“Hey, Mom!” She said excitedly. “I hid in Fluttershy's mane.”

“So I can see! Come on in, you two.” Echo motioned inside.

“Oh, is that Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle's voice rang out.

“Scoot-Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom's muffled voice came from the kitchen, followed by the sound of a cupboard door slamming. The little yellow filly came around the corner and barreled full-force into Scootaloo, who yelped as she was thrown from her hooves.

“Don't kill me!” Scootaloo cried, covering her face.

“Why would I -” Apple Bloom was cut off as Scootaloo's concentration broke. Her fur slowly dissolved away to reveal her black chitin. “You're a changeling? Where's Scootaloo?”

“Please don't kill me!”

“Wait a minute, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle's voice chimed as the white unicorn trotted up to the still-cowering Scootaloo. Sweetie looked the changeling over from horn to hooves. “This isn't a normal changeling. She's small, like a filly!”

“Scootaloo,” Echo cooed, “It's okay. They're better now.”

At that, Scootaloo shakily moved her foreleg away from her eyes.

“Whoa!” Apple Bloom shouted in surprise. “Those eyes are the same color as Scootaloo's.”

“Oh my gosh, I think this actually is Scootaloo, AB.” Sweetie said softly.

“Y-you mean you guys don't m-mind anymore?”

“Anymore? You say that like we'd care at all. If you're actually Scootaloo,” Sweetie said happily, “then you're a Cutie Mark Crusader, and our friend!”

“Seriously?” Scootaloo chimed excitedly. Her wings buzzed and she floated an inch or two off the ground. “Oh, yeah... I can fly now.” She beamed.

“Okay, are you sure this is Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom squinted.

Scootaloo returned to the ground and pleaded her case, “Yes, I'm Scootaloo! Look, the first time I met you two was at the Summer Sun Celebration, the same year that Twilight came to town. Nightmare Moon showed up and we were all terrified, and we huddled together. I didn't know you very well then, but that's when I met you! Remember? If I weren't Scootaloo, would I remember that?”

“How do we know you didn't use some kinda changeling magic on Scootaloo to steal her memories?”

“Girls, there is no such thing.” Echo said sternly.

“Unless you're me.” Chrysalis added, leaning her head between the fillies before zipping back under the couch.

Echo gave the queen a stern glance and chittered, “You're not helping, Mother.”

“Well, I think it's safe to say that Scoots isn't Chrysalis, since Chrysalis is right here.” Apple Bloom said, motioning to the towering black figure that stood next to her. “I know one way to find out for sure, though.” The little yellow filly took a few steps up to Scootaloo and stared her straight in the eye. The little changeling flinched, and her wings stood straight up. “Is it you, Chicken Little?”

Scootaloo's eyes widened, and her wings began to vibrate. “I, am not, a CHICKEN!” Her voice cracked on each word as she strained to be as loud as possible. She stood in a rage, huffing through gritted teeth.

“Eeyup,” Apple Bloom imitated her brother, “that's Scoot.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom burst into laughter as Scootaloo assured them that it wasn't funny. While the fillies argued, Echo turned to Rebound.

“How could you do this? Bringing Scootaloo here was ridiculously dangerous! You're insane!”

“Oh, I'm so TERRIBLY SORRY that I rescued your daughter from a horde of homicidal ponies. I'll just pick her up and take her right back there.”

“That's not what I meant.”

“Look, we can talk about this later, okay? The point is that I rescued her.”

Echo considered a retort, but somewhere deep down she knew that he was right. He had just risked himself to get Scootaloo away from that angry mob, which was a distinctly selfless act for a rogue changeling. She couldn't, however, bring herself to thank the brash changeling, settling instead for a small grunt as she turned back to her daughter for a hug.

“Oh, look at that,” Rebound said smugly, “you're so cute with the little ones, Echo. Why didn't you decide to have one of your own?”

“What the hell kind of a question is that?”

Rebound's eyes widened, and he took a step back. “Whoa, I didn't mean anything by it, seriously.”

As Echo was about to knock Rebound's block off his shoulders, Twilight called out triumphantly, “It's done! The door is finished!”

Echo turned to see the finished work of art, a softly glowing purple materialization of Twilight's magic, pulsating faintly. Her cutie mark had been engraved in the center of the door.

“Wow, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, “that's really impressive!”

“Thank you,” Twilight said in a very self-satisfied tone, “I thought so too.”

Just then, the sound of hoofsteps could be heard outside. Everypony rushed to the windows and watched as the mob of ponies went trudging through the streets. They passed by without incident, but their continued presence was concerning to Echo. It occurred to her in a sudden sinking moment that she didn't have a home anymore, and it was because of those ponies. They'd kill me if they got the chance, she thought to herself, or worse yet, they might kill Scootaloo, and it might come to the point where I have to kill them first.

“Hey, Twilight,” Echo started meekly, “Scoot and I are kind of out of a home right now, would you mind terribly if we stayed here in the library for a while?”

“Oh, of course not,” Twilight said, waving a hoof dismissively, “considering how CRAZY everypony is right now, it's totally reasonable that you'd not want to go home for a few nights.”

“It might take a bit longer than just a few nights, Twi. They kind of burned our house down.”

“They what?” Scootaloo's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Tears started to well up in her compound eyes as she continued, “You mean that they burned the room that Rainbow Dash decorated for me?”

“Scoot, honey, I –”

“How could they do that?” She started to shake. “How could they burn our house down?”

“I know you're upset, but –”

“It's not fair!” She started to bellow. Just like before, she started to float a short distance off of the ground. A wind whipped everything up into a storm. Twilight gasped as books were ripped from their shelves. “THEY SHOULD ALL PAY!”

“Scootaloo, calm down! They're going to hear this!”

“GOOD,” she screamed, “LET THEM COME! I WANT TO TELL THEM EXACTLY WHAT I THINK!”

“Child,” Chrysalis called, coming out from under the couch. Her face bore the expression of a concerned parent, and she walked up to the floating changeling filly, looking her dead in the eye, “calm yourself. I understand your anger, but your power is too strong to control when you're upset. You have to calm down, or you might hurt your friends, or your mother. Calm yourself.”

“No, I can't! They destroyed my home! They want to kill me!”

“Listen to me. You have to control yourself. You're my granddaughter, that means you're part of the changeling Royal Family, right? So act like it. You wouldn't want to disappoint gramma, would you?”

“I... I'm sorry!” In a sudden flash, the wind disappeared, and all the books and other debris that had been swept up fell straight to the ground. Twilight groaned and winced as the books spread themselves around on the floor. Scootaloo fell limp to the ground, crying. “I don't want to disappoint you, or Mom. I'm sorry.”

“Scootaloo, stand up. Come on,” the queen extended a hoof, “pick yourself up, show some pride.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo sniffled and grabbed Chrysalis' hoof, wiping her nose with her other foreleg.

“There you go.”

Chrysalis stood smiling down at the filly, and Scootaloo returned the smile meekly. They stood like that for a few moments before a series of knocks echoed through the door.

“I made knocking work.” Twilight beamed.

“Come on out, we know you're in there!” Somepony from the mob shouted. “We heard the commotion, and there's no way that was you, Twilight. That sounded like the little changeling freak to us!”

In an instant, Chrysalis, Rebound, and Echo all changed into their disguises. Scootaloo squinted as she tried to change, but only managed to spit a small ring of fire from her horn.

“Come on, Scoot,” Echo said quietly, “you can do it!”

“If you don't open this door in five seconds, we're coming in!”

“I can't do it, Mom!” Scoot cried

“Keep trying!” Echo encouraged.

“Three!” The mob shouted.

“I can't!”

“You have to!”

“Two!”

“I'm sorry!”

“It's okay!” Echo moved and stood in front of Scootaloo, dropping her own disguise.

“One!”

“What are you doing, Echo?” Rebound asked.

“Protecting my daughter!”

Boom. The door crashed inward, and a flood of angry ponies rushed in. One of them made eye contact with Echo. “There's one! Get her!”

What ensued was a quick, bloody fight. Echo's military training allowed her to protect her daughter with frightening proficiency, and her maternal instincts made her a force to be reckoned with. The others stood by the side of the room in shock as Echo twisted around delivering perfectly timed and placed blows to the faces, knees, bellies, and occasionally the unmentionables of ponies that tried to get too close to Scootaloo. Echo didn't expect any help from Chyrsalis or Rebound. Chrysalis was barred from using her combat magic, and wasn't terribly skilled in hoof-to-hoof combat because of her lanky stature. Rebound was an impudent little shit, and probably wouldn't lift a hoof to help Echo if her life depended on it.

Funny thing, Echo thought as she delivered a buck to somepony's chin, it actually might.

Echo had probably incapacitated ten ponies before she was overwhelmed by a group of three who attacked her and Scootaloo at the same time. Two of them stood on Echo's limbs, immobilizing her. She struggled, but couldn't beat the brute force of two Earth pony stallions. She spat profanities at them, and they just stared down at her and laughed.

A unicorn had found Scootaloo, and now lifted the trembling changeling filly in a soft blue aura of magic.

“Look what we've got here,” the mare said with a sneer, “ how do you think she'd like it if I stabbed her with my horn?”

“No! I'll murder you!” Echo screamed.

“Colgate, what are you doing?” Twilight cried.

“I'm ending this thing's suffering.” Colgate said coldly as she angled her head for a charge.

In a quick flash, Rebound – still disguised – bucked Colgate in the side of the head and caught Scootaloo on his back. “I don't think so,” he said as he turned to face the two ponies who were restraining Echo. “Let the lady go, assholes.”

“That's not going to happen,” Filthy Rich's voice came from the crowd, and he stepped forward to stand next to Echo. “You see, this thing is a disgrace to our town. It lives among us, it eats our food, and it even corrupted that poor child.”

“Ah, Filthy Rich, I presume?” Rebound said, taking a few steps forward. “You're the ringleader of this mob, aren't you? I've heard a great deal about you in the past few days.”

“Yes, I am Ponyville's protector. An advocate for the return to a pure, pony society. Just who do you think you are?”

Rebound took a few more steps, stopping just about a head's length from Filthy. “I think you know me as Puzzle Piece. At any rate, I've got something to give you.” Rebound craned his head backward, reaching out as though he were going to grab Scootaloo.

“You son of a bitch!” Echo screamed. Filthy laughed contentedly as he watched Rebound reach for the filly.

Green fire erupted from the ground at Rebound's feet, and he changed back to his true form instantaneously. He whipped his head forward and dragged the sharp point of his horn across Filthy's face. The stallion screamed in pain as he backpedaled. Rebound's horn glowed with a green fire, and his voice boomed forward with an intensity that Echo had never heard before. “Let that be a lesson to you. Don't treat mares and foals like this, or some gentlecolt will put you in your place. I will absolutely fight to protect these two.”

“You're forgetting,” Colgate said, coming back to her senses, “There's only one of you, and a whole lot of us.”

“You're right. Let's fix that.” Rebound's horn flared for a moment, and five pillars of flame erupted from the ground in a crescent formation around him. When they cleared, there were five identical copies of Rebound standing in the center of the room. “Let's see how well you all can do against six of me.”

Moving - Or How to Beat Writers' Block

What ensued was a show of unbridled brutality. Arms were broken, horns were snapped, wings were twisted, and with frightening efficiency, the angry mob was forced to retreat. Amidst the chaos, though, Rebound had managed to capture one prisoner - Filthy Rich. He was huddled in the corner on a badly injured hoof, with a very angry changeling baring her teeth at him. Echo had staggered up and limped over to him, despite Rebound's protests.

"What's your game, Filthy?"

"I'm not going to answer questions from you. You'll have to kill me."

"Suits me well enough." Echo reared back to run her horn through his throat, but Twilight stepped between them.

"No, Echo," she said, "I won't have any of this... killing... in my library."

Echo whipped around, letting out an exasperated groan. "Why, Twilight? Why are you defending that pile of filth?"

"Because, Echo, even though he may be a horrible pony, he's still a pony. Do you really want Scootaloo to see you acting like that?"

At that, Echo's eyes softened, and she looked around at the still scared filly who was cowering on the ground.

"You're right, Twilight," she said, "It's not right. It's the kind of thing changelings would do, but not ponies - and I'm not living with changelings anymore. We can't stay here, though... not with these ponies still acting the way they are."

Twilight paused and nodded her head at that. "We should get you out of Ponyville, for Scootaloo's sake. I'm sure Rebound will be more than willing to help me with my experiments," she glanced and smiled at the now-terrified changeling, "and I think I know someplace you'll be safe... but you might not like it."

"I already don't," Echo assured Twilight, "but it can't be worse than here."

* * *

The carriage to Canterlot rocketed through the sky. The Princesses, upon hearing of Ponyville's trouble, sent an expedited Royal carriage to pick up their friend's charge and bring her and her daughter safely to the castle. Twilight had repeatedly assured Echo that there was no safer place in all of Equestria than right under the Princesses' gazes.

"Thus were we delivered unto our doom." Chrysalis said, matter-of-factly. Echo was inclined to agree.

"Twilight wouldn't send us to be executed. Just don't cause any mayhem like before and I'm sure you'll be all right. We're almost there." She tucked Scootaloo's sleeping form under her foreleg.

The ride lasted only a few more minutes before the carriage pulled up to the gates of the castle. Echo put Scootaloo on her back before she and Chrysalis stepped off, thanked the guards that had carried them this far, and began to trot toward the enormous double doors. Chrysalis took it on herself to knock rather forcefully, and slowly, the gate opened.

"Oh," Chrysalis groaned as it became apparent who had been sent to greet them, "of course. Long time no see, Cadence."

"Not long enough, I promise you." The Princess turned around and started to walk off. "Please follow me. Celestia and Luna are waiting to see you."

"She's just mad because I got the first go at her hubby." Chrysalis cooed into Echo's ear, prompting a laugh.

After a little more walking, Cadence stopped outside another set of double doors. "Court is in session. When these doors open, you may enter. Try not to destroy anything." She sighed heavily and trotted off down the corridor. Echo was fairly sure that she stomped each hoof down with a bit more force than was natural.

As soon as Cadence was out of sight, Chrysalis said, "I wait for nopony," and promptly threw the doors open. The two guards adjacent to the door swung around and pointed their spears directly at her face. She smiled and looked past them at the Princesses and their terrified royal consults. "Pleasure to see you two again."

* * *

Echo had just sat quietly at the back of the room while the Princesses reprimanded Chrysalis. At every turn, Chrysalis took the opportunity to be indignant.

"You two may be Princesses, but I am a QUEEN. Don't forget that."

"You are not a queen here, Chrysalis," Luna stood up from her seat, "and you are expected to give due respect to the Throne of Equestria!"

"Or what?" Chrysalis blew a raspberry.

The room grew cold and dark as Luna began to flap her wings. Her voice boomed forth at a deafening volume, "Our gracious allowance of your continued stay in Equestria can be revoked with a moment's notice, and perhaps you can be sent to the moon, or the sun, until you feel you can be respectful!" Chrysalis held and unimpressed glare while Echo cowered in the corner, covering her still-sleeping filly. "I will not suffer this insolence any longer! Begone!"

Through the dark fog that had filled the room, a white hoof laid itself on Luna's shoulder. The room cleared almost instantly, and Luna sat back down, clenching her eyes shut.

"My sister is right, even if she has trouble controlling her temper. It is decidedly not regal behavior to speak to the leaders of another sovereign nation with such disdain. Wouldn't you agree, Chrysalis?"

Echo's mother scoffed. "I didn't exactly choose to come here today, you know."

The eldest sister smiled softly. "I know, but given the circumstances in Ponyville, Twilight and I both think having you three stay here is the safest choice for all of you. Believe it or not, Chrysalis, we want you to be safe."

"I can take care of myself."

"I'm quite sure, but would you decline our help?"

Chrysalis sighed and glanced over her shoulder at Echo and Scootaloo. "I suppose not," she sighed.

"Excellent. I will show you to your new quarters. Please, follow me." The Princess rose to her full height, Just a hair or two short of Chrysalis'. As she strode out of the room, Chrysalis turned to follow, and kicked the door shut behind her after Echo had left, leaving Luna alone.

* * *

Their quarters in the solar wing of the castle were spectacular. Each of them had a room to themselves that was 1000 Square Hooves of space divided into two stories. Echo could scarcely conceive of a single room having two stories, but there it was. Chrysalis, for her part, remained unimpressed, preferring rather to lay on her bed and complain about there not being enough green in the color schemes. Scootaloo was the polar opposite. She bounced from wall to wall in her room, happy to have space enough to practice flying.

It was really everything they'd dreamed, but Echo constantly fought with the feeling that they had just swept a problem under the rug. She knew somewhere deep inside that the only way she would feel at peace again would be to restore Ponyville to what it once was. Before I arrived. She kicked herself for thinking so negatively, trying to take everyone at face value and realize that she was, in fact, welcome. No amount of wishful thinking could override her gut feeling though, and so she just smiled wistfully as Scootaloo enjoyed her freedom. Celestia was just finishing up her introductions to the castle's accommodations.

"... so if you need anything, don't be afraid to ask any of the guards, and they will see to it your needs are met."

"Uh-huh. My hooves could use a filing." Chrysalis said, glancing passively at her forehooves.

"There's one more thing," Celestia ignored Chrysalis' demand, "somepony from Ponyville has been assigned to help rehabilitate you while Twilight works on the problem in Ponyville."

"Oh, fantastic. Who is it this time?" Chrysalis continued to examine her hooves.

Celestia simply smiled and stepped to the side, revealing a small, trembling yellow ball.

Chrysalis' head perked up and she stared at the new arrival. "What is that? A tribble?"

The princess smiled and nuzzled the trembling ball of yellow, prompting it to raise its head and peek from under a fluffy pink mane. Fluttershy squeaked and returned to her little ball.

"I see. So she's supposed to be in charge of me?" Chrysalis snickered a bit.

"Yes, Chrysalis. She is. I believe in you, Fluttershy."

The small pep-talk from the Princess was enough to bring Fluttershy to her hooves, though she still trembled.

"I... I'll try, Princess." She squeaked, barely audible.

"HEY FLUTTERSHY!" Scootaloo buzzed in front of her, inciting a yelp.

"H... h... hello, Scootaloo. Hi, Echo, and..." she yelped quietly, "... Chrysalis."

"Now, I'll leave you all to get comfortable," the Princess said happily as she turned around and nearly bounced out of the room, "so be good, okay?"

"Yes, Princess!" Scootaloo chimed, coming down to the ground and sitting with a proud smile.

Echo smiled and walked over to Fluttershy. "So, what shall we do first?"

Chrysalis smiled with mischief in her eyes, and ignited her horn, pulling all the blinds down and making the room dark.

"Mother!" Echo shouted. She ignited her own horn to illuminate the room, and Fluttershy screamed loudly. Chrysalis had planted her face mere inches from Fluttershy's and bared all of her fangs. There was a gentle thud, and the blinds all shot back up, flooding the room with light again. Fluttershy lay unconscious on the ground a few hooves in front of Chrysalis, who laughed maniacally.

"THAT is supposed to rehabilitate me! Can you believe it?"

This is going to be a long visit.

The Trouble with Changelings

Belch. Poof. A letter arrived in the Ponyville Library. A purple glow enveloped it as it floated over to Twilight, who opened it eagerly and began to read to herself.

Dear Twilight,

I hope you don't mind me calling you Twilight. I'm sorry, maybe I should just start over.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

In the past three weeks, I've been keeping a very close eye on Chrysalis, just like you asked me to, and I'm starting to think that she might

There was a large scribble on the page that Twilight was fairly sure started its life as the letter a.

I'm sorry. That was Chrysalis. She was the quill. I had to find a new quill. Also I had to stop crying. What I was going to say was that I'm starting to think that she might actually be starting to change. She can actually be kind of sweet sometimes. I've seen her playing with Scootaloo and teaching her things about being a Changeling, and she's actually doing really

Another scribble that Twilight surmised was originally a letter w.

I'm sorry. That was Scootaloo. She was my chair. I had to find a new chair. Also stop crying again. I'm sorry. This is my only piece of parchment, so I can't start all the way over.

The letter continued in that fashion for the duration of the scroll.

"Well, Spike, at least there's some progress over in Canterlot. I think." She scrunched up her nose before shrugging and going back to cataloging books.

* * *

"Chrysalis, I don't think that -" Fluttershy tried in vain to be heard.

"That's it, Scootaloo, that's perfect!" Chrysalis shouted jubilantly.

"Silence! We will not be interrupted! A thousand years upon the moon has made us extremely butt-hurt, and we have issues with our sister that we must take out on other ponies!" Scootaloo stood in the center of the room, as Princess Luna, while Chrysalis sat on the chandelier above.

"Scootaloo, it's not very nice to pretend to be the Princess, I don't think she'd like it if she found out."

"Silence, Fluttershy! Thy Princess is speaking."

"Oh. Okay." She sank low to the ground and crawled out of the room into the adjacent one. "E... Echo, are you in here?" Fluttershy looked around. "Oh, please don't be disguised as something." She ventured further into the room, darkened by the green film that Echo had put on the windows. Suddenly, a door opened and light flooded the room. Fluttershy squeaked and bolted under the bed in the center.

Echo tossed the towel down onto the sink's counter as she finished drying herself. These royal bathrooms are nice. That was the best shower I've ever had. She fluttered her wings and plopped down onto her bed, which proceeded to squeak. That's odd. My bed never used to ... oh.

"Fluttershy," she called, "it's just me, you can come out."

"I... I'm okay under here, thank you."

Echo rolled her eyes and hopped down off the bed with a flit of her wings. "Fluttershy, we're friends, right?"

"R... right..."

"Do friends hurt each other?"

"No..."

"So am I going to hurt you?"

"No..."

"So will you come out?"

"No..."

Echo sighed and flopped onto her back. "Fine. I'll talk from here. I want to go home. The palace is nice, but I miss my own house in Ponyville."

"Me too..."

"I just don't understand why everyone is acting like they are towards us. Everyone here in Canterlot has been really nice so far!" She put her hooves in the air and flailed them as though trotting.

"Uh... Echo... your mother has been -"

"Ugh. My mother has been a nightmare! She acts like a hatchling who's just figured out how to shapeshift!"

"Yes, I know, but she's -"

"Not to mention how she's been treating you! It's awful!"

"I know, but Scootaloo is -"

"Learning about things ALL the wrong way! Why can't mother just let me teach my own filly?"

"Princess Luna isn't going to like what -"

"Celestia isn't going to like the way that Chrysalis treats Scootaloo either! Neither of the Princesses are!"

"Yes, but Scootaloo is pretending to -"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Princess Luna's voice boomed from the next room. There was a flash of green light from under the door, and a little black blur flew into Echo's room and directly under the bed. A few seconds later, Princess Luna stood, fuming, in the doorway. "Impersonating a Princess is a VERY serious offense!"

Echo rolled to her hooves. "Princess Luna, good morning!"

"Yes, well, it is evening for me, and I am extremely tired! Where is Fluttershy? It is time for her weekly report on Chrysalis' rehabilitation."

A small squeak came from under the bed as Fluttershy cleared her throat. "She's fine, thank you, I'm sorry."

The Princess stared at the bed with her bottom lip sticking out slightly. "I see."

There was a faint flash of light behind Luna, and Celestia trotted in behind Luna. "Good morning, LuLu." Celestia smiled.

"Tia? I have asked you not to call me LuLu in front of our subjects..." Luna's ears flattened.

"Now, now, LuLu, run along and play, I will get the report of Chrysalis' rehabilitation."

"I am not a filly, Tia."

"Hush. Go on now."

Luna huffed and stormed out of the room. As soon as she was gone, Celestia was surrounded by green flame, and a cackling Chrysalis was left standing in her place.

"Oh, Mother," Echo groaned, "we're going to catch Tartarus for this..."

* * *

All four of them stood in the throne room in front of both Princesses. Everyone but Chrysalis and Fluttershy had their heads bowed. Chrysalis stood straight up, yawning periodically, and Fluttershy mostly just cowered. Luna fumed as Celestia talked. The elder Princess spoke calmly and kindly, but with all the firmness of a mother disciplining her foal.

"Chrysalis, encouraging Scootaloo to behave the way she did is inexcusable," Celestia said as Chrysalis yawned, "and Echo, you should be more present for the lessons your daughter receives. You are as much responsible as Chrysalis."

Echo bowed her head and her ears flattened back.

"Now, Scootaloo," the Princess continued, "you should have known better than to impersonate my sister, and referring to her as 'butt-hurt' is wholly unacceptable." Celestia fought a smirk while Luna grumbled. "I recognize your newfound powers may be tempting, but please, try to control yourself."

Echo raised her head. "Princess?"

"Yes, Echo?"

"I would like to return to Ponyville."

"Twilight hasn't found a solution yet, it isn't safe for your family to return." Celestia said solemnly.

"I don't want my whole family to return yet. I want to go back to Ponyville. I want to help Twilight fix this. I think ... that is to say, something tells me that I'm going to be needed there."

At this, Celestia paused. "It could be extremely dangerous, you know."

"Your Highness," Echo started, "I was a member of the Changeling military since the day of my hatching. I have lived danger, and even thrived on it. Were it not for Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, my efforts would have led to the capture of this very city. I believe I can handle the dangers that Ponyville presents."

The Princess paused again for a minute before she nodded her head. "I suppose that is true, isn't it." She smiled brightly. "Very well. You may return to Ponyville and assist Twilight while Fluttershy remains here to oversee Chrysalis' rehabilitation."

Fluttershy squeaked again as Chrysalis and Scootaloo grinned at each other.

"Now," Celestia continued, "I'll set up a carriage to take you back to Ponyville. The driver will meet you at your room." Celestia rose from her throne, Luna followed suit, and the two trotted off to their respective wings of the castle.

"Well," Chrysalis beamed, "This is FANTASTIC."

Nobody noticed the small ball of yellow fur slink out the door in the direction of her room.

* * *

"Rebound!" Twilight called out from the library's basement room. "Down here please, it's time to start."

"I don't really want to." Came the meek reply from upstairs.

"Rebound." Twilight chided. "Now."

"Fine!" He groaned. The basement door swung open and Rebound slinked downstairs with his ears plastered to his head.

Twilight bounced hither and thither with excitement. "This is wonderful," she lauded, "I've studied Echo and Chrysalis, but this is the first chance I've had to study a male changeling!"

"How come you never asked me to do this before?"

"Because Echo and Chrysalis were both here, and that would have spoiled the environment. I know you, Rebound. Save for me, you're never the same pony - erm, changeling - around females."

At that, Rebound had to concede. He did get around a bit, but wasn't that just proof that he was VERY good at being a changeling? Or maybe it just proves that I have my head between my flanks.

"Fine," he said, "where do you want to start?"

"Well," Twilight tapped a hoof, "most ponies have trouble telling male changelings from female changelings. Do you suppose you could tell me how you tell the difference?"

"Well how do ponies tell the difference?"

"Females tend to keep their manes longer, we're more slender, we're usually smaller, and our facial structure is different."

"Right, well, it's kind of like that for us, except I think it mostly has to do with the pattern of holes in our hooves. The females tend to have fewer of them, but they're larger, whereas males tend to have more of them, and they're smaller." He twirls a hoof around to show what he was talking about.

Twilight examined his hoof. "I... don't see any differences between this and Echo."

"Gee, thanks. You basically just said I look like a mare."

"Sorry." She winced. "I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay." He sighed. "How much longer is this going to go on?"

"I just have a few tests I'd like to run. If you could please stand on this scale?" She motioned to a piece of equipment in the back of the room, and Rebound walked over onto it.

"Now what?"

"Just stand still." She began to take measurements. "Fascinating. You're actually lighter than Echo is!"

"Yeah, of course. She's a female."

"Fascinating! Sexual dimorphism. Why are the females heavier?"

"So they can support the weight of the male on top of them during mating."

Twilight blushed heavily and began to scribble on her parchment.

"Twi, that was a joke. Truth is I don't know."

"Well, why didn't you just say that to begin with?!" She scratched something out, and as she was about to continue, a knock came on the door upstairs. "Stay here, Rebound. I'll answer it." She trotted up, shutting the basement door behind her. As she was approaching the door, Spike came bounding downstairs, waving a scroll.

"Twilight! This just came for you, it's important!"

"Not now, Spike, there's a guest at the door." She reached out and opened the door.

Candlelight, Echo's disguise, smiled. "Hi, Twilight. Miss me?"

On Changeling Biology

"Oh, Echo... I... didn't expect to see you. I presume Chrysalis and Scootaloo are still in Canterlot?"

"Of course they are, but I couldn't just leave my friend hanging out here alone, could I?" Echo stepped into the library and dropped her disguise. "So, any progress?"

"Well, Rebound told me that female changelings are heavier because you have to bear the weight of the male when he mounts you for mating, but it turns out that was a lie, so I don't really know how much of the information he gave me other than that backed by empirical evidence can be trusted, but I've been lea-"

Echo clapped a hoof over Twilight's mouth, blushing. "I meant with the bizarre behavior of everyone in town."

"Oh." Twilight laughed nervously and blushed some more. "Of course. Of course you did, yes. Uh, no, no news. Sorry."

"That's okay." Echo sighed. "I expected as much."

"I'm thinking that -" Spike began to whack Twilight on the flank with the scroll he had received a few minutes ago. "- Spike, it's rude to interrupt."

"Twilight, it's URGENT from the PRINCESS."

"Okay, Spike, give it here, I'll read it in a minute." She took the scroll in her magic and plopped it on her back as Spike trudged off.

"Aren't you going to read that?"

"Not right away, it was probably just her trying to tell me you were about to arrive."

"Okay... well, do you need any help?"

"Yeah, sure. If you'd be so kind as to head to Ponyville Jail, maybe if you disguise yourself, you can figure out what's going on with Filthy Rich. I think Colgate is a good idea for a disguise. She seemed to be privy to a lot of his scheming."

"I agree." She changed in a flash. "Consider it done."

"Thank you, Echo. I eagerly await your report." As Echo left, Twilight unrolled the scroll.

My Faithful Student,

I am writing to inform you that as of about ten minutes prior to sending this message, Echo is en-route to Ponyville from the castle in Canterlot. Please prepare for her arrival.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

Twilight groaned. "Spiiike! I told you to bring me letters from the Princess AS SOON as they arrived!"

"I did, Twilight!"

"That's not possible. This says she left about ten minutes before it was sent, and it's at least an hour's ride to Canterlot. I don't like it when you lie to me Spike."

"I'm not lying!" The little dragon stared at his tail and rubbed his claws together.

Twilight groaned and stomped her hooves, unsatisfied by the Dragon's dishonesty. She turned and went back to the basement.

"Welcome back," Rebound said with a slight grumble, "what's next on the agenda?"

"Well, Rebound, given your more candid nature, I was hoping that you would be more receptive than your female counterparts to the discussion of the manner in which the antecedent generation's processes of meiosis coorelate to the expectant gender of the resulting generation; given your inherent ability to change your shape and even your basic genetic structure, I imagine the genetics of a changeling zygote are complicated at best."

Rebound gawked.

"Right," Twilight face-hoofed, "What I mean is... Chrysalis and Echo didn't want to talk about it, but I think you'll be a bit more willing. I was curious how changelings' offspring have their genders determined. Since you can change your sex at will, how does that affect reproduction?"

Rebound nodded slowly. "Well, first off, we can't change our sex at will. That's a myth. We can change our physical bodies, sure, but a male changeling can't produce eggs if he's impersonating a mare, and the same is true for the inverse."

"I see! So shapeshifting is a transmutation spell?"

"Not... quite. Transmutations are like... a hermit crab moving into a new shell. Changeling shapeshifting is more akin to remodeling a house. Just like remodeling a house, though, some things can't be changed. A house's support beam needs to stay in place, and a changeling's gender needs to remain concrete. I can pretend to be you, for example, but I can't go so far as to bear foals with your genetic structure -- or bear foals at all, for that matter."

Twilight blushed a bit again. "I see. Echo was able to give a blood transfusion to Scootaloo, though. She imitated her blood perfectly."

"Yes, well, they're both female, aren't they?" Rebound sat on the sofa.

"Ah. Yes. Okay, I see. One more question..." Twilight began to blush more before she sat down as well, and scooted a bit closer to Rebound.

"Go ahead..."

"How does... well, how does romance work between changelings?" She stared at him intently.

"To be honest, I never really understood that myself. It always looked to me like two changelings just decided they didn't hate each other, got together, had an egg, and moved on with their lives. I know we are capable of love, but ..."

"... yes?" She tilted her head.

"Well, the thing is that in order for one changeling to receive love from another, he has to give some from a finite reserve. So, it's a draining process. I've heard that a long time ago, when the hive was more prosperous, romance was actually very common, but with the famine... I think we just forgot it existed."

"That's... so sad..." Twilight mused solemnly. "Oh, Rebound, you poor thing."

He chuckled. "You act like I miss romance. I've never really known it, so how can I miss it?"

"Aren't you in the least bit curious?" She recoiled slightly.

"Nope, not really."

Twilight grunted a bit and picked up her parchment again, writing roughly.

"Twi," Rebound asked, cocking an eyebrow, "are you all right?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be, what made you think I wasn't all right, do I not look all right to you or something?"

Rebound took a step back. "Okay. Geeze. Anything else your highness?"

"No."

"Okay. Oh, one more thing."

"What do you want?"

"You never told me who was at the door." Rebound ignored her suddenly curt demeanor.

"Believe it or not, that was Echo."

"I don't believe it."

"Believe it or not..." Twilight reiterated.

"No... you see, changelings have certain amounts of telepathic connection to one another. That gets exceptionally strong if we know that changeling. I know Echo. I've known her since we were both hatchlings. I lo--" He chokes on the word and shakes his head. "Just trust me. Echo isn't here."

"Then who did I just... If Spike is telling the truth... what in Equestria?"

Rebound jumped to his hooves. "There are only two answers. Either Echo is under some kind of mind-control spell -- which I highly doubt, knowing her -- or that was some other changeling pretending to be her."

Twilight ran upstairs as quickly as she could and stepped out the Library's front door. She looked around frantically, but saw nobody. "Stars help us..."

An Enemy Revealed

Luna's sky was a dark purple sea, speckled with thousands of fireflies, twinkling away as the called to each other in some language known only to themselves. A few clouds drifted lazily through the air, bringing with them a sense of tranquility; the hustle and bustle of the world below was inconsequential to a cloud. Unfortunately, that tranquility was shattered as a pair of chitinous wings sliced through the cloud, dispersing it into a pale blue mist.

The air was filled with a foreboding buzz as the changeling flew toward his goal off in the distance. The pearly white city clung to the edge of a mountain - the object of a failed invasion - the city that crushed an empire. This time, though, his goal was different. It was not the city, but two of its inhabitants.

Sparkle was definitely a useful tool. The first thing she did was tell me exactly what I needed to know! He mused as he flew along, doing a few rolls to either side here or there. As he approached the castle, he faced a decision. The Sisters would undoubtedly have Scootaloo and the former queen in either the Solar or Lunar wings. Now, which to choose...

Eventually he decided that his best choice was to check the Solar wing first, since its princess would more than likely be sleeping. He clung to the gold dome atop the eastern tower before swinging down to the facade. He began to methodically check windows. His ears swung like radar dishes, listening for any sound that might give away their location.

"I swear," he heard a guard say, "she kissed me! Celestia kissed me."

"I don't buy it," another said. The changeling moved on to the next window.

"I'm telling you, Grandma, the look on that guard's face when he thought Celestia had kissed him was priceless!" Scootaloo's voice rang out with jubilance. That was his cue.

Inside the room, Chrysalis looked at her granddaughter with slightly apparent but quite abundant pride. She opened her mouth to say something when one of her ears twitched toward the window. She had barely enough time to react. She dodged out of the way in a blur as a green bolt of magic whizzed through where she had just been standing. "Scootaloo," she shouted, "hide, NOW!"

She charged a pulse to her horn and readied herself to end somepony's life, when a small chitinous form buzzed in, clinging to the wall opposite her. His wings buzzed angrily.

"You've had it!" He chittered.

She stared at him unflinchingly and chittered right back, "I think you overestimate your position."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing," he dropped to the ground and began to strut over to her. He was a good head shorter than a fully grown changeling should be. "Do you remember me, your highness?" he spat out, voice dripping with hate.

"Can't say I do." She lifted him and pushed him against the wall with as much force as she could muster. He stood quickly, brushing it off.

"My name is Mirror. You killed my father. Prepare to die." He lunged forward with his horn, and Chrysalis pushed him aside with a hoof."

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Mirror. You killed my father. Prepare to die." He lunged again, and Chrysalis repeated her earlier action.

"I could swear I've heard that before. Was it in a play?" She deflected another blow. "At any rate, who was your father? I've killed many changelings over the years, to be honest."

"A general in your armies. Cluster."

"Oh." Another deflection. "Him. Well what did you expect?" She performed a riposte, stabbing with her jagged horn. Mirror leaped into the air with a buzz of his wings and landed behind her. She whipped around. "He did try to kill my daughter and granddaughter."

"You had him captured, defenseless!" Another stab, this time nicking the queen's lower right foreleg, eliciting a slight hiss of surprise and pain from the queen. "You didn't have to kill him!"

"Would you have done differently if your child were being threatened?"

"I would have stayed true to the changeling ways and not gotten involved to begin with!"

Chrysalis stopped, glaring at the small, rage-consumed changeling colt. "I've made a few mistakes, sure. I'm not above admitting that." In a flash, her horn reignited and pinned him to a wall. She held her horn to his throat. "What do you hope to accomplish, though?"

"I want them to know the pain I've endured!" He all but sobbed. "I want them to feel the loss I feel."

"Well, allow me to end your suffering." She angled her horn and prepared to strike.

"Grandma, no!" Scootaloo's voice called out from under the bed where she had been hiding. She galloped out to stand in front of Chrysalis. "Killing more changelings isn't the answer."

"Child, you don't know what you're ta-"

"Look at what it's done to him. If you could just --"

There was an explosion of force from the young changeling, sending both the queen and her granddaughter flying. He floated over on his wings, charging another spell to his horn. "Now, Chrysalis, you're going to know what it's like to lose someone you care about."

Just as he was ready to strike, the door to their chamber burst open, flooding the room with blinding white light. The heat coming from the door was nearly unbearable. The small changeling shielded his eyes before flying out of the window in fear, and the light began to die down. As it subsided, Celestia stood in the doorway. Her eyes, normally gentle and soft, were alight with the fires of anger. She looked at the two changelings left in the room. She levitated a scroll behind her.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes," Chrysalis said with a bit of a strain in her voice, "fine. Thank you."

"I think we have a problem." The solar princess said plainly.

A Shoe to the Face

The hall resounded with the chattering and hoofsteps of the guards. Many were griping that they weren't even supposed to be on shift, and that the on-duty guard should have been enough for almost anything short of an active invasion, so why did they need to be torn away from their families? All of the chatter stopped, though, when the wide double doors flew open and both princesses strode in with neither one nor two, but four changelings. The silence had completely replaced the activity of the last moments, replaced by a stoic and orderly procession. All the guards had snapped to attention and filtered into their appropriate ranks. The Lunar Guard took their places on the western side of the room, and the Solar Guard on the eastern side. The princesses and their entourage strode through the crowd of guards and up to the fore of the room, raised a hooffull of steps above the main floor. The group turned to face the guards, and the Princesses clapped the ground once with their hooves in perfect unison. The guards immediately relaxed from full attention, but still stood attentively as Celestia cleared her throat to speak.

"Thank you all for coming. Many of you were involved in defending Canterlot from the recent Changeling Invasion, and some of you suffered tremendous loss," Celestia paused as some of the guards' expressions shifted slightly, but she continued as they composed themselves, "which is why I must warn you all. At this point in time, the Nation of Equestria is facing a terrible enemy. It seems that our conflict with the Changeling Empire is not quite at its end. A new leader, named Mirror, is at this army's head."

Instantly, the room was in uproar. Echo couldn't help but feel a twinge of shame that she played such a pivotal role in causing this fear. After a few moments, Celestia stomped a hoof gently but firmly on the marble floor of the hall, and all fell silent.

"My dear little ponies," she said with the sweet, motherly tone she always seemed to use with her subjects, "trust me when I tell you that all will be well. More than that, trust yourselves."

"Beside the fact," Luna interjected, "Equestria has a new advantage. The changeling queen, Chrysalis, has -- in a manner of speaking -- defected."

"So, I recognize that this will be a difficult mission for some of you, but I'm afraid I am forced to ask you to work past it. Ponyville is under a grave threat at the moment, and I am placing all of you under the temporary command of Queen Chrysalis and her Heiress and General, Echo. I am still at the head of your chain of command, but for the time being, you are to obey the Queen's commands, save for situations where they would be obviously against the best interests of Equestria." Celestia shot a quick glance out of the corner of her eye, to which the Queen scoffed. "Thank you for your loyalty, my little ponies, and please... be safe."

"Night guards," Luna began, "you, too, are placed under the same chain of command. You and the Solar regiment will have shift changes exactly as you would normally. With that, I pass you along to the General." Luna smiled and nodded.

Echo's military training kicked in again as her honorary commission was issued; she stood up straight and saluted. To her surprise, the entire hall full of guards returned the salute. It felt good to be in command again. It was her element. "All right, stallions and mares, let's move out. Staggered formations. Pegasi will fly ahead of unicorn and earth ponies; that means you'll be responsible for holding the town down until the rest of the regiment can arrive. Dismissed!"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

There was a regular, steady stomping as the guards marched out of the room in perfect step. It set Echo's blood boiling, and the Queen placed a hoof on her shoulder. "It's good to see you back in the role you were born for, Echo."

"Actually," Echo admitted, "It's nice to be back. I understand this." The guards had halfway filed out of the hall. "I can work like this. Military regiments, military decorum. I know this."

"It's almost scary, but not quite. What's it called?" Scootaloo watched in awe.

"Intimidating." Rebound's eyes were wide. "They're quite well disciplined."

"Thank you," Celestia smiled, "I take immense pride in them."

Echo took off and flew over the herd of guards. "I will be flying with the pegasi. Maintain a steady march along the road; stop for nothing and nobody." She buzzed away to join the pegasi preparing to take off.

________

Rebound, to Echo's chagrin, had caught up with her and the pegasi shortly after they had taken off. The flight would be another twenty minutes if they kept up this pace. "This is pretty impressive, Echo," Rebound said, glancing around, "I have to admit that I didn't really think you had it in you anymore. No offense."

"Offense taken."

"Naturally." He sighed, a bit crestfallen. "Listen, I know we don't always get along too well --"

"Astute observation."

"-- but I want to let you know that I care about you, okay? I'm coming along because I won't let anything happen to you."

"I can take care of myself, I don't need your help."

"I know that, I want to give it to you."

"Why?"

"Because! I --" He sighed again. "I just do, okay?"

Echo shrugged. "Not my problem. Do what you want, just don't get between me and the future of my family."

"Can't I be a part of that future?"

Echo turned her head to look at Rebound and cocked his eyebrow up. "Are you asking me on a date?"

"What if I said yes?"

"I'd tell you that you're insane and I'm not really interested in any stallions."

"Wow, I... didn't know you actually preferred the company of mares."

"You dolt!" She actually seemed embarrassed for once as she continued, "I mean I'm not interested right NOW. I'm not ... like that. I prefer the company of stallions." She shook her head and looked back toward the front of the formation. Ponyville was almost in sight.

"Could have fooled me."

"THAT'S IT!" She shouted as she broke formation and grabbed him in midair. The rest of the formation followed orders and continued on their path as Rebound and Echo fell toward the trees below. "I'm going to beat you senseless!"

"Echo, let go, we'll die if we hit the ground at this speed!"

"Only one dying is going to be you!" She snarled.

Rebound's wings buzzed as fast as they could to try and stop their descent, but it was to no real avail as the canopy approached. He gritted his teeth as he made his decision. "ECHO!" He shouted, and slapped her on the right side of her face. For a moment, pure rage was all he could see, before she realized what was happening.

She joined in, buzzing her wings. It was enough that when they hit the canopy, it was only the third most painful experience of Echo's life. They separated as they hit, and bounced off of limbs and through branches as they fell. Finally, they came to rest about a meter apart on the forest floor.

Rebound stood up and knelt next to Echo. He shook her softly. "Come on, wake up." One of her forelegs was draped over her face, and he gently moved it aside. For just a moment he looked at her and thought that maybe ... like in fairy tales ... if he kissed her, she would -- he decided against that train of thought as she moved a bit, her eyes opening.

"Ow."

"You brought that on yourself, you know."

Echo looked at him, their muzzles just a few inches apart, and then slapped him silly. "Don't do that again!" Her wings buzzed and she took off like a bullet through the trees, leaving Rebound sitting on his haunches with a big, muddy hoofprint on the side of his face. She rejoined the formation a few minutes later, nodding at the pegasi that noted her return. Ponyville was just on the horizon. The smoke from her house hadn't yet died down, and it nearly sent her back into a blind rage. "All right, fan out. I want a heavy presence all over the town. If, at the end of this day, I can go twenty feet without seeing a guard, you're not doing your jobs, so let's get it done! Pass it along." She barked at the pegasus flying next to her, who nodded with a short "yes Ma'am" before passing the information down the line. Slowly, squads broke off, then further into their contingent parts until individual soldiers were dispersing through the town. Echo made a bee line for the Library, and knocked on the magical door which -- thankfully -- now resonated as though it were corporeal and not ethereal. It creaked open slowly and Twilight peeked around.

"E... Echo? How do I know it's really you?"

"You know me Twilight, you experimented on me all the time, remember? Can I come in before somepony sees me?"

"Y... yes... I guess that's a good idea. I'm so sorry, Echo," she nearly sobbed, "I'm so sorry that you were attacked... it's all my fault."

"It really wasn't. Changelings are good at deceiving ponies. No shame."

"I wish that were true. Is Scootaloo still doing okay?"

"Yeah."

"Where's Rebound?"

"About three kliks inside the Everfree with my hoofprint embedded in his face-chitin."

"Well... you've been busy."

"Not nearly as busy as I fear we're about to get."

Field notes on Changeling Female Bonding

One would have hoped that with the presence of Canterlot royal guard in such numbers, the insanity plaguing Ponyville would have died down, but one would have been disappointed. The residents of Ponyville fought against the representation of their governance, and they fought hard. Whatever magic was deluding their minds was obviously deluding their judgment as well. Powerful mind-control magic was at play here, and Echo did not like it. Rebound had recovered from his beating and arrived at the library shortly after Echo. Twilight excused herself from the conversation to tend to his wounds, which actually were bleeding slightly.

"Ow. Twilight, I'm okay, honestly."

"No, you're not. You're bleeding, which means you're the opposite of okay."

"It's a scratch."

"A scratch? It's a laceration! You've been practically vivisected!"

"Okay, not quite sure what that means, but I AM sure it's an exaggeration."

Finally, though, Rebound decided that the best course of action would be to just sit back and let Twilight tend to the little wound. If it satiated her need to do something, who was he to stop her. The alcohol's pungent aroma wafted from his cheek to his nose, and he scrunched up a bit, yet something seemed sweet, somehow.

"Twilight," he asked, "what's in that stuff?"

"It's just isopropyl alcohol. Changelings aren't allergic to it or anything, are you?"

"No, I don't think so, but something in it smells sweet... like peaches."

"You're smelling something else." Twilight stated matter-of-factly.

Rebound, however, knew that he wasn't imagining things. Eventually, it hit him, and without thinking he blurted out, "Twilight, you love me, don't you?"

Twilight's eyes widened and she blushed, facing away. Echo's ears shot up and she whipped her head around.

You've got to be kidding. Rebound? She thought quietly to herself as she watched the scene unfold. Moreover, in the middle of a serious situation, they're having a moment? She shook her head with a grunt and left the room, not feeling like being involved.

"How long, Twilight?"

"... hush, you're still hurt."

"Twilight."

"It's inappropriate anyway. We work together; I'm basically your manager."

Rebound stopped himself from feeding as the energy poured out of her. "This is why you got so upset when I said I wasn't interested in romance, isn't it?"

"Rebound, I do not know what you are talking about so please stop talking about it now let me help you with these wounds." A run-on sentence? She doesn't just love me, she's gone mad. After a few more minutes, Twilight was done. She packed up the medical supplies and tucked them away in a cabinet before turning back to Rebound.

"Why don't you go see what Echo wants you to do?"

"I think she made it very clear that she doesn't want me to do anything at all, Twi."

"I... suppose she did, didn't she? Well... can you at least bring her back here so I can find out what she wants me to do?"

"Yeah, sure." He turned, inhaled deeply, and shouted, "Echo! Get back here, Twilight wants to talk to you." There was no reply, just the sound of hoofsteps as Echo turned the corner.

She glanced at Rebound and nodded. "I'm back. Also... I'm sorry I hit you so hard. I meant for it to hurt, not to harm you."

Rebound nodded back in response, and Twilight started to speak, but Rebound decided he wasn't quite done.

"You know what, Echo? No. Apology not accepted. I've done nothing but try to help and you've done nothing but assault me. I saved you AND Scootaloo from being killed, and what have you done? You've kicked me, you've smacked me, you nearly killed BOTH of us! Your ego is out of control... or maybe you've just lost your mind."

"Rebound --" Twilight tried to intervene.

"Twilight, stay out of this. Echo, I don't know what's wrong with you, but I've known you for longer than any of these ponies and I've done more for you, too. I've gone out of my way because -- for some stupid reason, maybe I'm a glutton for punishment -- I care about you. A lot."

"Rebound, I know you --" Echo was cut off.

"No. Shut up. I'm the one talking now. It's actually not quite accurate to say that I just care about you a lot. I love you, Echo. For some stupid reason, I love you. Yet you continually ignore me -- or ASSAULT me -- and brush me off like you don't want my help. Guess what, TOUGH. I'm going to help you and you're going to like it."

"Rebound -- "

"I said SHUT UP. I've put up with you mistreating me for so long, ignoring me, and for the next few minutes, you're going to pay attention." He trotted up to her, stopping a few inches in front of her face. She seemed shocked. "There's something special about you. I don't know what it is, but you've got a strength of spirit most changelings never have. Somehow, it's gotten to your head, and you think you're BETTER than us. You're not. You're spoiled because you've got good looks and friends in high places. Your bloody mother is the queen, Echo, and even if you didn't know it for most of your life, THAT'S how you always got such great luck. Stop acting like you're Chrysalis reincarnated. You aren't the Queen, even if you are her daughter." He sneered a bit before he whipped around and walked upstairs. "She's all yours, Twilight."

The two mares left in the room sat on their haunches, mouths agape at what just happened.

"He said he loved you," Twilight stammered.

"Sounded like he meant to say hated." Echo finished. "We... have work to do, though, don't we?"

"Y... yes, of course... I... uh. Wow. I was thinking that we would try some spellbreakers on Spike. Think you can grab him out of the closet?"

"Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard. It's not a very big closet so he can't be very far in there." Echo chuckled to herself as she walked over to the door, flung it open, and grabbed the angry, flailing baby dragon by the scruff of his neck like a belligerent kitten. She dragged him, literally kicking and screaming, into the middle of the room. Twilight had set up a chair and tied the little dragon to it with a length of rope.

"Spike," she said, "what's gotten into you?"

"There's a changeling in the library, Twilight! Don't you see it, right there? How can you stay so calm?"

"You knew Echo was a changeling before and you never did anything about it!"

"It was some kind of mind-control... she's got you under it too! Changelings tried to take over Equestria! They're evil, Twilight."

"Princess Luna used to be evil when she was Nightmare Moon."

"She was still a pony though. Ponies can go back to being good, but changelings? They aren't ponies, Twilight."

"Neither are you."

"I was raised by a pony, though. I grew up as a pony. Dragons aren't evil like changelings!"

"Okay. Well, let's see..." Twilight pulled over a book and flipped through the pages. "Let's try this one." She charged a spell to her horn and cast it over her assistant. He winced, and continued on about how evil changelings were. "Wow, that was the strongest spell I had to break mind-control."

"Actually," Echo said, "I have an idea. If it is changeling mind-control, maybe it needs a changeling spell to turn it off?" Echo tapped her chin. "The only problem is that I never learned any of those spells; it was never my duty to infiltrate."

"Maybe Rebound...?"

"Ugh. I hate to admit it, but you're probably right." She sighed deeply and called upstairs, "Rebound? We need your help."

"Well would you look at that. I thought you didn't need my help." He started down the stairs. "If you insist, though. What do you need?"

"I need a changeling who knows a bit more about mind control than I do. Any way you can try to dispel whatever's affecting Spike?"

The dragon squirmed. "No! Don't kill me! You're going to kill me!"

"I'll give it a shot." He walked over to Spike and put a hoof on his forehead. Immediately, he stopped moving and his head lulled forward. "First things first. It's easier to work with a subject who's knocked out." His horn glowed, and a green aura surrounded Spike. "It's definitely mind control, but it's rooted pretty deep... I think I can get it, but it's going to take me some time to figure out."

"How much time?" Twilight asked.

"Ten minutes?" Rebound shrugged. "Maybe more. I don't really know for sure."

"Well, it's all we've got." Echo sighed.

Rebound grunted in acknowledgement.

"So what do we do now?" Twilight asked.

"Beats me," Echo sighed.

"Why don't you go do some ... girl thing or another?" Rebound huffed as he worked on curing Spike's malaise. "Do each other's hooves or manes or some such thing."

Twilight looked at Echo and shrugged. Echo gave her a stare in response. "I... guess?" Twilight finally said. "I think I have a book on that kind of thing somewhere.

"Oh for the love of Chyrsalis, Twilight, you need a book to brush somepony's mane?"

"I don't have a mane," Echo pointed out.

"So give yourself one, you're a changeling."

"What's the point?"

"Well, I read a paper not to long ago that detailed the importance of mutual grooming in female-to-female bonding among ponies. Basically, doing each other's mane and hooves makes our bodies release endorphins, among other hormones, that stress a bond of friendship between the two of us. It's actually quite fascinating."

"Among ponies. I'm not a pony."

"You're right!" Twilight gasped. "I can write a paper on the effects of mutual grooming as a bonding mechanism between a changeling female and a pony female! This is a huge opportunity! You have to do this for me, Echo." Not giving Echo any time to retort one way or the other, Twilight grabbed her by the hoof and dragged her upstairs, leaving Rebound alone with Spike.

"You and me, Spike. We're the only sane ones in this library, and you're knocked out under a mind-control spell. Also you're a baby. Also a dragon." He sighed. "Yep. Here I am, standing by myself, talking to myself. This is madness."

______

"Twilight, you're kidding me, right? In what world is this appropriate?" Echo struggled as Twilight grabbed her forehoof to paint it a bright shade of red.

"In a world of profound scientific curiosity! The world must know, and I can tell it!" The machines that monitored both of them were clicking and whirring periodically, running tests on an automated schedule.

"I don't want my hooves painted."

"That's beside the point."

"How long have we been at this?"

"About twenty minutes."

"Rebound?!" She called downstairs, "Are you done yet?" There was no reply. "Horseapples."

"See? Now we can pass the time."

"Why are we painting my hooves?! They're just going to get dirty."

"Only if you go running around in dirt!"

"Ponyville's streets are dirt, Twilight."

"Ponyville's streets aren't safe for you right now anyway."

There was no arguing with Twilight Sparkle when she got an idea in her head. Chrysalis was right. My sweet merciful stars, Mother was right about something. Echo groaned and rested her chin on her free hoof.

Another ten minutes passed, and finally Twilight was done painting all four of Echo's hooves. "There," she said happily, "now let's take a look at the results..." She walked over to one of the machines and started to look over the readouts. "Fascinating! This isn't what the previous paper would have suggested." Twilight beamed up at Echo. "If I had to guess, this says you hated every minute of it!"

"I could have told you that and saved us all that time." Echo waved her hoof in the air as if to try and get the paint off. Eventually she got up and walked downstairs. Her heart nearly stopped when she reached the bottom. Rebound was laying on the ground, and the chair was empty. The rope was in a coil on the ground. "Rebound!" She ran over next to him and shook him lightly. He didn't respond. "Twilight! Quick! It's Rebound! Spike is gone!"

Twilight nearly flew down the stairs. "What happened?"

"I don't know!"

"He said he was going to take a nap," came a familiar voice from the kitchen, not too far away. Echo looked and saw Spike standing there with a glass of milk. "I kind of know how he feels." As if on cue, Rebound's prostrate body emitted a loud, almost earth-shattering snore.

Echo rolled her eyes and let Rebound's head fall softly. "Spike? Is that you?"

"Yeah, do you know any other baby dragons?" He laughed as he laid back on the couch.

"You don't hate changelings anymore?"

"Honestly? You scare the horseapples out of me, but I don't hate you. Never did. Why?"

Twilight beamed at the unconscious changeling and hugged him. "You did it!"

Prejudice

Echo's head throbbed as she woke up. Three weeks had passed since she had been the donor in her daughter's life-saving blood transfusion, but one thing that experience had taught her was that changelings don't regenerate blood as quickly as ponies. I suppose we can't have flight, magic, and strength, can we?

She staggered on to her hooves and fumbled her way downstairs, nearly tripping as she reached the bottom without really looking where she was going. The shock was enough to bring her completely to her senses, and she snapped out of the morning's haze. Her horn lit up as she began to rummage through the cabinets in the kitchen. She grabbed a bowl, some milk, and a box of cereal, and began to make breakfast. She plopped a spoon in the bowl after the cereal had been prepared, and called up the stairs, “Scoot-Scootaloo! Breakfast.”

From upstairs, a grumble could be heard as the filly awoke, and a loud thud resounded through the ceiling as she rolled from her bed. Echo raced upstairs to make sure her daughter was okay – it had only been a few weeks since she had nearly died from blood loss, after all, and Echo couldn't be too certain of the little pegasus' health. If only she were a changeling, Echo thought to herself, I'd be able to tell whether she needed help or not. She opened the door to Scootaloo's room and found her rubbing her head.

“Are you okay, Scoot?”

“Yeah, Mom, I'm fine,” came the hazy reply.

“All right, your breakfast is downstairs.” As Echo turned around to walk down the stairs, she heard a knock on the front door.

“Echo, hurry,” Rainbow Dash shouted, “it's important!”

Worried that some new disaster was imminent, Echo took to her wings and bolted to the front door. She opened it with enough force that she almost thought it would come off its hinges. On the other side, Rainbow Dash was beaming. Her wings fluttered as she hovered half a yard off the ground.

“Dash,” Echo sputtered, “what's the big hurry?”

“I realized something this morning. You've never actually met Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash's face was dominated by an enormous grin. From behind the pegasus, Echo heard a small squeak.

Seeing that there was no impending doom, Echo silenced her buzzing wings and sat on her haunches. She raised one eyebrow and stared at Rainbow Dash in disbelief. “You nearly knocked my door down and gave me a heart attack to introduce me to one of your friends? Why are all of you ponies so insane?”

“Hey,” Dash started, “the only insane pony I know is Pinkie Pie! Well, I suppose that Surprise is kind of crazy too, and Rarity does have her moments. Then there's Applejack, and she's pretty nuts. Twilight's completely cuckoo, and … okay, point taken,” she conceded, “but the point is that there's a pony you haven't met yet, and if you're going to be living here in Ponyville, you have to meet everypony at least once. So, here's Fluttershy!”

Rainbow Dash flittered off to the side, revealing a ball of yellow fur and feathers trembling on the ground. The nondescript fur ball slowly raised its head to reveal two enormous blue eyes which looked at Echo for a fraction of a second before slamming shut again. Fluttershy squeaked a little more.

“Charmed,” Echo said.

“Morning, Rainbow Dash,” came Scootaloo's still drowsy voice from behind Echo, “how's it going?”

“Goin' awesome, kid! You?” Dash stepped inside and sat at the table next to Scootaloo. As Dash walked away, Fluttershy slowly rose to her hooves and left without a word. Echo didn't try to stop her, but stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Ugh, ponies. What is it with these ponies?

Echo walked up behind her daughter and nuzzled her slightly. “I hate to interrupt your conversation, chicken-feather, but you'd better eat up before you have to go to school.”

“Yeah,” Dash chimed, “your mom's probably right. I should get going anyway. Twilight said she wanted to see me at the Library. Actually, that's part of why I came here, Echo – she wanted me to bring you along.”

The two of them moved toward the door as they talked. “I'll have to stick around here for a bit to make sure that Scoot gets herself ready for school and heads out on time, but after that, I'd be happy to join you,” she said, opening the door. As it opened, Dash looked around.

“Hey,” she said, “Where's 'Shy?”

“She walked away when you went inside.”

“Oh, man, Twilight wanted her to come along, too. I'll go get her. See you at the Library in a few minutes, Echo!” With that, the pegasus disappeared in a prismatic flash of light.

“These ponies,” Echo thought aloud, “they're always hustling to and from, but they never seem to have anywhere in particular to go.”

Echo returned to the table and sat next to Scootaloo.“You hear me, bird-brain? You ponies are all weird.” She smiled and ruffled the filly's mane.

“Yeah, well you changelings are creepy.” Scootaloo stuck out her tongue, and Echo made a snapping motion with her jaws, making sure to show off her fangs a little bit for dramatic emphasis. “Can't scare me like that, Mom, I know that you don't eat meat.”

Echo sighed, “There was a time when you would have run in fear at the mere sight of me. What happened to those days?”

At that, Scootaloo sat up straight and puffed out her chest. “I would never have run away from you. I'm the bravest kid around!”

Echo nodded, “Mmhmm. That's why you ran screaming when we first met in the Everfree, right?”

“That was different,” she stated matter-of-factly, “I thought you were a monster when that happened.”

“Oh?” Echo tried to sound surprised, “what happened to change your mind?”

In response, Scootaloo jumped over to Echo and clung to her. “You changed.”

Echo's mouth dropped for a moment before she returned the hug and hummed, “I'm good at that.”

They shared the embrace for a few moments longer before Echo got up. “You need to get going, feather duster.”

“All right, Mom,” Scootaloo groaned as she put on her saddlebag, “see you later.”

“Have a good day, sweetheart,” Echo said sweetly as she stepped outside with Scootaloo. The filly returned the sentiment, and they separated as they went to their respective destinations. The walk through town was as awkward as always. Echo had resolved to resist the urge to disguise herself in public. These ponies were going to accept her for who she was, or they would just have to deal with her being there. Some ponies seemed okay with her, and even gave her a smile and a nod. Others seemed indifferent to her presence, and others still seemed wary and frightened.

Echo came to the library's door and knocked. She heard some shouting from the basement downstairs where Twilight did her changeling research. It sounded like two voices, Twilight's and Chrysalis'. The shouting match came to a crescendo, and then abruptly ended. After a few moments more, the door clicked open.

Twilight smiled, “Oh, Echo, you're here early! That's great. Maybe you could come talk to Chrysalis for me?”

“I doubt it,” Echo began, “what's going on?”

“Oh, she just doesn't want to try going out without her -”

“I mean why did you call me here, Twi?” Echo interrupted. The walk over had strained her nerves.

“Oh, right. I'll wait until everypony is here before I get too far into that. In the mean time, why don't you come and wait downstairs with Chrysalis and me?”

Echo knew that this was just Twilight's attempt to get Echo to talk with Chrysalis about whatever it is Twilight wanted them to talk about, but couldn't find a polite reason to decline. She came to the bottom of the stairs into the room full of whirring, clicking instruments to find the changeling queen passed out in the middle of the room.

“She did it again, didn't she?”

“Yeah,” Twilight sighed, “she never seems to remember that trying any kind of offensive magic will knock her out cold. Her recovery time, though, is improving.” Indeed, as Twilight said this, the queen began to rouse.

“I hate you,” she growled to Twilight.

“I know, Chrysalis, and that's part of the problem! We'll have to conclude this discussion later, though. Echo's here.”

“Oh, hello Echo. Your friend here was just trying to convince me to commit suicide. Of course, that conversation can wait until nopony is here to tell her how stupid that is.”

“Chrysalis, all I said was that you should try going outside without a disguise. If you're going to reform, ponies need to feel comfortable around you.”

“Twilight, they can't feel comfortable around Echo. How do you think they'll feel around the changeling queen?”

Echo's mouth dropped open as she considered a retort to her mother's cruel words, but it quickly shut again when she realized that Chrysalis was right.

“Chrysalis,” Twilight began, “that's not true. Ponies like Echo, and they'd like you too if you'd give them the ch -” A knock came on the door upstairs, interrupting Twilight's sentence. The unicorn sighed dramatically. “Chrysalis, you should wait down here. Echo, come on.”

The pair walked upstairs, ignoring the changeling queen's shouting behind them.

Twilight reached the library door and opened it a crack. “Just a minute,” she said to whomever was outside as she turned around to address Echo. “You should probably put on a disguise. It would make things easier.” Echo sighed and went back to her old disguise as Candlelight, the white unicorn mare with fiery colors in her mane as Twilight turned back to the door and opened it completely. “Come on in,” she moved to allow Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy entrance.

“Hey, Twi,” Dash said.

“Hello, Twilight.” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Hi, girls,” Twilight responded. She motioned behind her to the disguised changeling and said, “this is Echo.”

“Oh yeah, I remember this. 'Candlelight', huh?”

“Umm, excuse me?” Fluttershy said inaudibly,

“Why are you in that disguise, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked inquisitively. “Are you hiding from somepony?”

“Pardon me,”

“Who is it? Do I need to teach 'em a lesson?”

“I'm sorry, but excuse me?”

“Just give me their name, and I'll teach 'em not to mess with my friends!”

“Rainbow Dash,” Echo almost shouted, “Fluttershy has something to say.”

At that, the yellow pegasus squeaked and sank low to the ground. “Well, yes, I do want to sa -”

“I didn't hear her say anything. Did you have something to say, 'Shy?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, we're all waiting to hear it,” came a regal voice from the staircase. Everypony turned their heads to see queen Chrysalis. “Spit it out, yellow one.”

Fluttershy's words caught in her throat, and her legs began to tremble. “Q-Q-Q-Queen Ch-Ch-Chrysalis. It's Q-Q-Queen Chrysalis!”

“Really?” The queen looked around herself as if trying to find the elusive queen in a crowd of ponies. “Oh, I never would have guessed.” Her face immediately dissolved into an expressionless gaze. The queen walked gracefully over to the group and extended a hoof to Fluttershy. “Charmed.” Fluttershy stared at the queen's extended hoof in abject terror, and made no move to return the gesture. “Well, aren't you the rude one?”

“Chrysalis,” Echo said, “you're scaring her senseless.”

“What would you rather I do?” Chrysalis' voice boomed through the library, “take the form of a mute little bunny?” A tower of flame licked the ceiling as the tall, majestic queen transformed into a small white rabbit, sitting in the center of the room.

“Oh my, yes! That's perfect.” Fluttershy zoomed over next to the disguised queen and picked her up. “You're so adorable! This makes it much easier to talk to you.” The rabbit's mouth dropped open and her brow furrowed. The queen began to push away from the pegasus, and when she was finally free, she stepped a few yards away and shifted into a vicious-looking bear. “Oh, that works too! You're so big and fuzzy. I think I have some berries in my saddle bag, would you like some?”

The bear that was Chrysalis looked as though it might maul Fluttershy, and Twilight took that as an opportunity to stop the madness. “Perhaps we could get along to the reason why I called you all here today?” Everypony silently agreed, and Twilight continued. “Excellent. The purpose of this meeting today is to try to facilitate the integration of these two changelings into Ponyville's society. I have developed a plan to begin this process, and it involves you, Fluttershy.”

“Me?” Fluttershy nearly leaped out of her hide. “Why do I have to be involved?”

The bear began to growl and rumble, then changed back to Chrysalis in a flash. “Indeed, why does she have to be involved in this?”

“She's the Element of Kindness, Mother,” Echo explained, “which makes her uniquely suited to putting up with you, in lieu of an Element of Patience.”

“You know, Echo, that kind of sarcasm only works when I do it.”

“You would think so, wouldn't you?”

“Anyway, Chrysalis,” Twilight interjected, “I want Fluttershy to accompany you around town today, and

no shapeshifting.”

“Suicide,” the queen stated.

“Tomorrow, I'd like for you to accompany Echo, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy looked at Echo, who smiled falsely. The truth was that Echo was terrified. She didn't know how to interact with any ponies outside of her friends or Scootaloo. At any rate, she agreed.

Fluttershy coughed a little as she spoke, “okay, Twilight. I'll do my best. Come on, then, queen Chrysalis. Why don't we go back to my cottage where we can sit quietly for a little while and work up the courage to talk to ponies.” She began to lead the changeling queen out the door.

“Is that how everypony prepares for their days?” Chrysalis inquired as she stepped outside.

“No, but it's how I do.” The door closed, and Echo was alone with Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

“I really don't know about this, Twilight.” Echo said.

“I know,” Twilight responded, “I'm not entirely sure about it myself. If you're going to be living in Ponyville, though, you should probably learn to get along with ponies rather than just have them tolerate your presence.”

“I suppose you're right,” she said as she shifted back to her normal form, “what could go wrong, right? Ponies are a pretty accepting type.”

“You'll be fine, Echo,” Rainbow Dash insisted, “you're totally awesome, everypony'll love you.”

“Yeah, and pigs will fly.” Echo chittered to herself in the changeling language, which consisted of very specific buzzes of the wings and clicking sounds from the mouth.

Dash laughed, “what was that?”

“Nothing,” Echo smiled as she left the library. “I'll see you guys around, I've got to get to work at the boutique.”

“Alright, Echo,” Twilight called from the door, “have a good day.”

I'll try, she thought, but this is a bad idea all the same.

The hours crawled by as Echo worked on a commission for a very prestigious client in Canterlot. She found herself starting to botch stitches, and Rarity took notice.

“Darling,” the fashionista said, “are you quite all right? You're normally so careful in your work, I can't help but think that something is bothering you.”

“No, I'm fine, Rarity. I just need to focus a little bit more. I was daydreaming, which I shouldn't do while I'm at work. I'm sorry.”

“It's fine, dear. The day's nearly over, I can probably handle the rest of these stitches. Why don't you head home and get some rest? I'll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Okay, Rarity. I'll see you tomorrow. Sorry again.”

“Honestly, it's fine. Good night, Echo.”

Through the walk home, she still felt accusing eyes glaring at her. She tried to tell herself that ponies were a very accepting type, and that they didn't mistrust her, but still she felt their judging gazes burning her. Finally, she arrived home. She saw Scootaloo's saddlebag thrown carelessly against the wall. A note was pinned to it on a small yellow piece of paper. She pulled it off and read,

Miss Echo,

I'm sorry to inform you that your daughter got into a fight with another student at school today. Because of the circumstances surrounding the incident, she is not in any serious trouble, but I would like to have a talk with you and Scootaloo about what happened. If you could arrive to pick her up after school tomorrow, that would be an excellent time to talk.

Thank you,

Cheerilee

“Oh, no,” Echo said aloud. She walked upstairs to her daughter's room and found the door closed. Listening carefully, she heard Scootaloo crying softly. Echo knocked gently on the door. “Scootaloo? Scootaloo, honey, are you all right? May I come in?”

“Yeah, Mom,” came a muffled reply, “come on in.”

As Echo opened the door, she saw a lump under the covers on her daughter's bed. She sat down next to Scootaloo and rubbed her back through the covers. “Scoot, what happened?”

“It was Diamond Tiara. She kept telling me how her dad, Filthy Rich, told her that you were an evil monster. She said horrible things about you, like that you drink blood, you can't feel love, and that you were only using me for food.”

“Scoot, you know that those things aren't true.”

“Yeah, that's why I bucked her in the face. Then she bucked me back, so I bit her, and she bit me, and we kept fighting until Miss Cheerilee broke it up and I'm sorry, Mom.”

Echo withheld any criticism or compliment and simply asked, “are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just a little bruised.”

Echo lifted the covers back and saw her daughter curled up in a ball, looking at her through a big black eye. Her fur was matted in places and her mane was a mess. Her eyes were red from crying.

“Oh my goodness,” Echo said as she pulled Scootaloo close.

“Please don't be mad at me Mom,” Scootaloo said, “please don't get rid of me.”

“Scootaloo, why would I get rid of you?” Echo had to fight back tears.

“Because I let you down. I lost the fight. I'm not strong, I'm not brave, I'm nothing like you. I couldn't even keep you safe from words, but you fought off three hungry timber wolves for me. I'll never be like you, and why would you want a daughter like m-”

Echo put a hoof over Scootaloo's mouth as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Don't you dare say that. Don't you dare ever say that. You survived what that monster, Cluster, did to you. That takes a lot of strength, and a lot of bravery,” she struggled to speak through the quiver in her voice, “and that you would think that I would get rid of you because you lost a fight is hurtful.”

Scootaloo cried, “I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't mean it. I'm just scared.”

“It's okay, Scootaloo, I'm scared too. I think we're going to have some nasty things said to us while the rest of the town gets used to me and Chrysalis being here. There might be some very ugly moments, but don't let it get to you. I promised you that I would be strong for you, and I want you to promise the same thing to me.”

“Okay, Mom,” Scootaloo sniffed, “I'll be strong for you.”

Their Hearts May Still be Won

Zecora led the blinded changeling queen off toward her hut, taking care to have Chrysalis bow her head before going through the door. Echo and Scootaloo followed in tow, giggling softly at the plant's effects. As they all settled into the bath, Scootaloo's eyes started to shift nervously.

“What is it, Scoot?” Echo asked.

“It's just – those ponies back at the library really hated you and Chryssie –”

“That isn't my name,” the queen interjected, unnoticed by Scootaloo.

“– just because you're changelings. I don't understand it. Why do they hate you?”

“I wish I knew, Scootaloo,” Echo sighed, “they don't seem like themselves, do they?”

“No, they don't. All my life I've been taught that everypony deserves kindness, even if they aren't a pony. I mean, Nightmare Moon tried to overthrow Celestia and plunge Equestria into eternal night, but then she was reformed by the Elements of Harmony, and now she's a princess. Nopony hates her, even though she did awful things, because she changed.”

“It is an intriguing point, Echo,” Chrysalis remarked, “unless the ponies have suddenly grown backbones – which I find unlikely – I believe that something else is afoot.”

“Mind control magic? Wouldn't you have been able to detect that, Chrysalis?”

“Normally, yes, without even thinking about it. Unfortunately, I have not fully uncovered all of the effects of Twilight's restraining spell. It's possible that it has dampened some of my natural abilities in addition to my combat magic,” the queen dunked her head under the water, rinsing the ink from her face, “and words cannot express how infuriating that is.”

“The only pony in Ponyville who could possibly use that kind of magic is Twilight,” Scootaloo said, “but why would she do that?”

“Indeed, Scootaloo,” Chrysalis said, “I think your new found changeling status has augmented your cognitive abilities.”

“What?”

“Or not. At any rate, you're right. The only pony in Ponyville that could do that is Twilight. Perhaps some perversion of the 'want it, need it' spell.”

“Aren't you forgetting another possibility, Chrysalis?”

“What would that be?”

“Changeling magic would allow for that kind of mind control.”

The queens eyes widened, “yes, but that would require a remarkably powerful changeling – one who matches my power.”

“So, then,” Scootaloo rubbed her chin, “either Twilight is secretly trying to get rid of us while she helps us, or there's a really powerful changeling hidden in Ponyville.”

“Or Twilight is a really powerful changeling hidden in Ponyville,” Chrysalis laughed.

“Regardless,” Echo tried to ignore Chrysalis, “there's something going on that's like nothing I've ever seen.”

“Well, should we start my lessons, then?” Scootaloo's wings buzzed in excitement.

“I think not, young one,” Chrysalis said quietly, “it's getting late, and you'll need all the energy you have for the training to come. Neither your mother nor myself are inclined to be gentle teachers.”

Though Echo would have liked to contradict her mother, she knew that thanks to her life spent as an officer in the changeling military, it was likely that her hoof was going to be quite firm under the new time pressure that this unseen force presented. “I'm afraid I have to side with Chrysalis on this one, Scoot. We should all get some rest.”

“Now that you mention it,” Scootaloo yawned, “I'm pretty tired. Hungry, too.”

“Well, that presents a slight problem, doesn't it?” Chrysalis rubbed her chin. “You can't really survive on pony food alone anymore, but you can't feed on love from another changeling without stealing their energy.”

“You mean I don't get to eat tonight?” Scootaloo started to whine, “I'm so hungry!”

“I know. You aren't the only one,” Chrysalis mocked the filly's whining. Suddenly, her eyes softened, and soft green trail of light came from the tip of her horn to meet the tip of the changeling filly's. “I have enough to spare, I think.”

“Wait,” Scootaloo said, “I thought you said I couldn't feed on the love of other changelings.”

“Not exactly. I said you can't feed on the love energy of other changelings without stealing it from them. Whatever energy you gain, the changeling from whom you take it loses.”

“Take it back then, I don't want you to starve!”

“Please,” the queen scoffed, “I've been worse off than this, before. When I was a filly – which was not so long ago as your expression would indicate you think it was – I watched the former queen's empire nearly destroy itself as half of the population descended into madness from starvation. It was the horde of insane changelings that killed her and finally allowed me to assume my rightful place as the next queen. Though, I suppose that is a pleasant story for another time. The point is that I have suffered much lower levels of energy, and you are a growing changeling. You need every drop of love you can get.”

Echo watched with a warm smile on her lips as Chrysalis and Scootaloo talked. For the first time that Echo could remember, Chrysalis was smiling, and nopony nearby was suffering in any way. It was an honest smile, a loving smile. They talked to each other and they laughed, they told jokes, they told stories, they made fun of ponies – well, Chrysalis made fun of ponies. Scootaloo just kind of laughed awkwardly at those jokes. She doesn't have a grip on changeling humor. Maybe that's for the best.

As the minutes went by, Scootaloo gradually migrated over to the makeshift bed of straw that Zecora had been kind enough to make. She laid down and stared at the ceiling wistfully. Chrysalis was by her side.

“Chryssie, what am I going to do? Everypony hates changelings, but now I'm one of you. What if my friends hate me now?”

“You're a changeling, now, Scootaloo. It is your inborn skill to make due with what you have, even when that is almost nothing.”

“I'm just worried that my friends won't want to be friends with me if they know what I am. I grew up with ponies that were always telling me to be myself and not to change who I am for anypony else. How can I do that if who I am is going to be hated by everypony?”

“Scootaloo, anypony who wants to hate you is going to be in for quite the struggle. I think they'd actually have to consciously try. Look at me – I can't stand ponies, but you somehow managed to worm your way into my heart. Say, there's an idea,” the queen tapped a hoof against her chin, “maybe I'll make you an infiltrator when you grow up.”

“Sure thing, Chryssie,” Scootaloo yawned, falling asleep, “I can't wait until I can tell all my friends.”

Chrysalis looked down at the half-awake filly with sorrow in her eyes and a smile on her lips. She sighed, and began to sing softly,

That day is going to be painful,

The kind of day that you'll lament for years to come.

Everypony may come to you,

Say 'how I love you, Scootaloo,'

But the fact is they don't know your troubled heart.

For despite your lack of friends,

You mustn't yield to make amends,

Or bow, to appease a fearsome foe;

Though reconciliation might be quite the provocation,

The fact is you must fight for what you own!

No, their friendship is not true,

To you, poor dear Scootaloo,

but their hearts may yet be won

through time.

Echo walked over to her mother's side and looked down at Scootaloo. Her eyes were closed and her chest rose with each breath. A faint wheeze could be heard with every breath. She was asleep. Echo looked over at Chrysalis and had to stifle a gasp at what she saw. A single tear ran down the monarch's face.

Chrysalis looked at Echo and said simply, “It isn't fair to her.”

Echo threw caution to the wind and clasped her forelegs around Chrysalis' neck, pulling her in for a hug. “I know it isn't, but you said it yourself; 'their hearts may yet be won through time', right?”

Though Chrysalis seemed at first to be shocked by the gesture, she didn't move away. Gradually, she rose her own foreleg to return the hug. “She doesn't deserve this trouble.”

As the two separated and found their ways to their own beds, the moon peeked through the trees of the Everfree. A moth flew quietly through the forest, cutting swatches out of the pillars of light. It was the picture of peace, until, in an instant, the moth was incinerated in a silent plume of green flames. From the darkness of the forest, two solid blue eyes watched the light in the hut snuff out.

Sweetie Belle stood in front of Echo, smiling broadly. “I did it,” she shouted, “I changed into Sweetie Belle, and I remembered her horn this time!” As she reveled in her success, a rock flew into her side. She gave a shout of pain and turned to rub her ribs. As she did, there was a green flash, and she reverted to her changeling shape. “That hurt, Chryssie!”

“You have to focus, Scootaloo. Changeling magic is centered around control of oneself. If you lose your focus, even for a moment, your disguise may falter. To master shape-shifting, you must master your own mind.”

“I can't do it, Chrysalis,” Scootaloo pleaded, “surprise rocks can't be that common, can they?”

“No, but imagine that you're disguised as somepony, you turn around, and the somepony whose shape you're taking is staring right at you. There is no worse time to lose your disguise than at a moment like that.”

“That's different than pain, though,” Scootaloo whined.

“Fine. Change back,” Chrysalis commanded.

Scootaloo obliged. “Hey,” she said, “did you see how quickly I managed that? Lickity split, like Rainbow Dash! Woo!”

“Look out, it's a cockatrice!” Echo shouted, pointing behind Scootaloo.

“Where?” The filly whipped around and once again reverted to her natural form.

“There's no cockatrice,” Chrysalis said, “but you lost your focus again.”

“UGH!” The filly stomped her hooves in frustration. “Being a changeling is hard!”

“Yep,” Echo nodded, “it is.”

“How do I learn to keep my focus when crazy stuff is happening?”

“Well, at first it's going to take a lot of effort on your part. Eventually, though, it will become second nature. You won't even think about it.”

Scootaloo kicked the ground and buzzed her wings. “Mom, this is crazy. Why do I have to be disguised? Why can't everypony just accept me for who I am?”

“I don't know, Scootaloo. We're working on that, remember?”

“Fascinating,” the queen said, astonishment in her voice. She went unnoticed by the other two.

“Why can't we work on that at home instead of out here in the Everfree?”

“Because,” Echo's teeth clicked sternly, “I'd rather not blow our home up!”

“I haven't blown anything up out here, yet!” Scootaloo's wings buzzed furiously, her fangs clicking against her bottom jaw.

“Pardon the interruption,” Chrysalis interjected, “but do you recognize what's happening right now, Echo?”

“What do you mean?” Echo buzzed.

“You aren't speaking the pony language. You and Scootaloo are speaking Changeling.”

Echo suddenly became conscious of the fact that all of her communication just then had been with the buzzing of wings and clicking of teeth, and that her daughter had been doing the same.

“How... how is that possible?” Echo asked, astonished.

“I don't know,” Chrysalis beamed, “but Scootaloo managed to learn the language without being taught.”

“I've only ever heard it once or twice,” Scootaloo's eyes widened, “and I've never understood a word of it.”

“What a wonderful development, don't you think?” The queen's wings and teeth chittered.

“It's fascinating,” Echo admitted, “but it's also immaterial. The fact remains that we can't go home to practice this.”

“Please, Mom,” Scootaloo begged, “I want to go home and see my friends. I want to go back to school. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight instead of on a pile of straw.”

“I understand that, but it isn't a good idea, sweetheart.”

“Fine,” Scootaloo's wings buzzed as she took to the air, “if you won't come home with me, I'll just have to go alone,” and like a bullet, she was gone.

“Oh, hell,” Echo growled to nopony in particular, “this filly is getting wildly out of hoof.”

“That transfusion must have given her a little of your spirit, Echo,” Chrysalis laughed, “she's acting like you.”

“Gee,” Echo groaned, “thanks. I'm going to go tell Zecora that we're off for now.”

“Very well,” came the zebra's voice from inside the hut, “if you need my help another day, do not hesitate to come my way!”

“That solves that problem,” the queen yawned as she changed into a gray pegasus with blonde hair and wall-eyes, “let's get going!”

Echo took on her old disguise of Candlelight, but rehashed to be a pegasus instead of a unicorn. “Interesting choice of disguise, Mother.”

“I thought I could have a little fun knocking over mailboxes,” she shrugged as she took off, "I'll catch up with you later."

Echo took off immediately after, and made a beeline straight for home. Fortunately, Echo was still a more skilled flier than Scootaloo just by virtue of experience, and caught up to the filly quickly. Below, ponies shouted in dismay as their mailboxes, fruit stands, and other property were destroyed by a certain wall-eyed pegasus.

“Look,” Echo said, “I get it. You want to see your friends again. Can you at least do me a favor and stay inside? I can go get them and bring them over, but I don't want you out alone until we get the shape-shifting under control.”

“Whatever.”

They landed together at the front door to their home, which was thankfully untouched. Echo opened the door and let Scootaloo inside. “I'll be back in a bit, okay?”

“Whatever.”

She's too young for the whole teenager-like behavior. Hell, I'm too young to deal with it, Echo thought as she took off toward the crusaders' clubhouse. The flight over was uneventful, and she landed in front of the door with a slight thud.

She knocked on the door, and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom called out from inside simultaneously, “Who is it?”

“It's me, Echo.”

“Oh. You. Where's Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle said.

No 'hello'? “She's at home. She wondered if you'd come over.” Echo heard some mumbling behind the door, but couldn't make out what was said.

After a pause, Apple Bloom's response came, “sure, I guess. We'll be there in a few minutes.”

Echo took off homeward again. 'Sure, I guess'? What is going on with those two?

She landed back at home and walked inside. There was no sign of Scootaloo, but Echo heard rummaging upstairs in Scootaloo's room. She walked upstairs and knocked on the door lightly before opening it a crack. “Scoot,” she asked, “are you alright?”

She saw her daughter's chitin gleaming on the bed, her face buried in her pillow. “I don't understand what I am, Mom,” Scootaloo sobbed, “I don't know who I am. I got a cutie mark, but I don't even know if it's actually my cutie mark or just me being a changeling. I know you've never seen anything like it, but that's not much comfort, you know?”

“I understand, hon,” Echo said as she sat on the bed next to her daughter, “but your friends are coming over soon, and they won't want to see you like this.”

“I don't want to change. I want them to know who I am.”

“You don't have to change. I meant they wouldn't want to see you crying.”

“Oh. Yeah, you're probably right,” Scootaloo raised her head and wiped the tears from either side of her face. “I guess it's a plus that changeling eyes don't get bloodshot, huh?”

Recalling many a night when she had nearly cried herself to sleep over Scootaloo, Echo nodded, “Yeah, I guess that is a good thing.”

“How do you deal with it, Mom?” Scootaloo asked, her shoulders dropping. “How do you deal with the fact that some ponies hate you just because you're a changeling? How do you keep yourself from just RUNNING YOUR HORN THROUGH THEIR THROATS?”

Echo's eyes widened at her daughter's outburst. “Scootaloo,” she coughed, “what has gotten into you?”

“I don't know, maybe this whole 'being a changeling' shit?”

“HEY!” Echo nearly roared, “Watch your tongue, missy! I'm still your mom, and I won't hear you talking like that.”

“I'm sorry,” Scootaloo started to cry again, “I don't know what it is, but I keep getting angry, then I get sad, then I get angry again, and I never know which one I'm going to be!”

As Echo was about to respond, a knock came on the door. “I think that would be your friends,” Echo mumbled, “if you want to wait here while I go let them in, you can try to get into a disguise so you can talk to them.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo wiped the tears away again and sat on her haunches, “I'll try.”

Echo nodded to her daughter and then turned around to start downstairs. Another knock came, and she called out, “coming, just a second.”

She opened the door, and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stepped in. “Where is she?” Apple Bloom asked without even making eye contact with Echo.

“She's upstairs,” Echo said, “hello to you too.”

Echo swore that she could see a sneer on the corner of Apple Bloom's mouth as the filly went up the stairs. Echo followed, and watched as Apple Bloom knocked on Scootaloo's door.

“Scoots? Are you okay in there?”

“Yeah. Come on in.”

The door creaked open, and the two fillies and the changeling entered. Sitting on her bed was Scootaloo, looking like her former pegasus self.

“I don't know how long I can wait, you guys, so I have something I want to tell you,” she said, getting straight to the point, “or show you, actually.”

“What is it, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Well, this.” Scootaloo closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and was quickly enveloped in green flames. They cleared to reveal her in her natural changeling state, and her friends gasped.

“You... you're a changeling?” Apple Bloom stammered.

“You're one of them?” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo mumbled, “it just happened. Apparently it has to do with the blood I got from Mom.”

“You mean she turned you into a monster?” Apple Bloom screamed, pointing at Echo.

Echo's jaw dropped in shock, and Scootaloo stood up on her bed, “What do you mean, monster?”

“You're a changeling!” Sweetie Belle yelled, “you're a monster now, and it's because of her!”

“You never should have come to Ponyville! You should have just stayed out in the everfree with the rest of the monsters!” Apple Bloom shouted.

Echo felt her eyes begin to water at the harsh words that her daughter's friends were slinging.

“Now wait just a minute you guys,” Scootaloo pleaded, “she saved my life!”

“No she didn't. Scootaloo died when she turned into a changeling. You're just some monster that has her memories, and it's all because of her!” Apple Bloom pointed again at Echo, who by this point was on her haunches sobbing. “We should go get the others and have them take you both to jail!”

“No,” Scootaloo mumbled.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle chimed with Apple Bloom, “maybe they'll put them in the zoo so we can come and throw peanuts at them!”

“Or maybe they'll kill them and stuff them for an exhibit in the museum!” Apple Bloom smiled.

“NO!” Scootaloo's voice shook the walls. Echo turned to look, and saw her floating a few feet off the bed, her eyes glowing purple as bright as though they were on fire. Her horn was alight with green magic, and once again, a wind began to swirl around her. “STOP IT. JUST STOP IT. I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE SAYING THESE THINGS, BUT STOP IT!”

“She's going to kill us!” Sweetie Belle screamed as she covered her head.

“THAT'S ENOUGH!” The glow around Scootaloo's horn intensified, until it flashed with blinding intensity and a deafening bang. When Echo's sight returned, Scootaloo still floated in the center of the room, her face contorted in rage, and her two friends lay unconscious on the floor. Slowly, Scootaloo returned to the bed. As the fire in her eyes died down, her gaze softened, and she buried her face in her pillow again. The muted sound of Scootaloo's sobbing was the only thing that could be heard as Echo looked at the scene in front of her. What on earth is happening to these ponies?