“Alright, girls,” said Twilight. “Stand back. I’m going to try this and I don’t know for sure what’s going to happen.” The other five ponies backed away in the darkness of the cell and a feeble green light began to flicker around Twilight as her horn began emitting sparks and weak flashes. The pulsing green light began to pick up frequency and strength until it became a solid glow. That glow brightened until they could all see the inside of the cell and a little way beyond the vertical iron bars that made up one wall. Applejack noticed with interest that there appeared to be no guards in the hallway.
“Excellent!” exclaimed Twilight. “With changeling magic I should be able to break us out of here.” With that, Twilight blasted the bars, thereby opening a hole through which they could escape. Rainbow Dash immediately went through the gap, ready to fight any guards the changelings may have left, and her shoulders slumped with disappointment when she found none. The other five ponies followed a bit more cautiously, and they all gathered outside the cell.
“What’s the plan, Twilight?” asked Applejack.
“We can’t stay here and expect to escape, so the only option is to start moving. Hopefully, we’re somewhere near the surface.”
“Can’t you just teleport us out?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I wish it were that simple. I don’t know much of anything about changeling magic, and trying to teleport with it without even knowing the starting location would be extremely dangerous.”
“Well, then, there aint time to waste. If the only choice is to get moving, I say we get moving,” said Applejack as she suited her words. Once she reached the edge of the green circle of light, she looked back and gave the other five a flat stare. “You comin’?” With that, Twilight took the lead and the remaining four fell in silently. Eventually they came across a guard station, where Twilight easily incapacitated the guards, and after learning from the guards’ orders that they weren’t to be replaced for another week, the six ponies laid down to rest.
***
“Alright, girls,” said Twilight. “Stand back. I’m going to try this and I don’t know for sure what’s going to happen.” The other five ponies backed away in the darkness of the cell and Twilight slowly managed to light her horn in the green of changeling magic. Pinkie didn’t quite understand the details of what Twilight said she was doing, and the others probably didn’t either. Pinkie just giggled at how everypony else just bobbed their heads and pretended that Twilight’s technical jargon made sense. She started bouncing up and down in excitement for her friend’s success as the green light gained strength.
“Excellent!” exclaimed Twilight. “With changeling magic I should be able to break us out of here.” With that, Twilight blasted the bars, thereby opening a hole through which they could escape. Rainbow Dash crouched down, ready to defend her friends if anypony came. Pinkie could see why she hadn’t gone out into the hall, though she was clearly eager to fight changelings; there was more room in the cell. Pinkie bounded through the hole after a moment, followed soon after by her friends.
“Why do yall reckon they’re not guarding us?” asked Applejack.
“M-maybe they’re waiting for us,” squeaked Fluttershy.
“Or maybe Princess Luna showed up and defeated them already, but didn’t know where we were,” said Pinkie Pie.
“They definitely haven’t been defeated, Pinkie. I can still feel them suppressing my pony magic, so they must be nearby.”
“Well, there’s no point in waiting around here. If they’re waiting for us, that doesn’t mean we can’t surprise them.” With that, Pinkie started bounding ahead, and the others were forced to follow. She told jokes all the while, and soon everypony had a smile on their face. At the others’ urging, she fell silent when they approached the guard station until Twilight had the changelings knocked unconscious. When they stopped to rest for the night, the six ponies laughed themselves to sleep.
***
The changeling that was impersonating Twilight rose quietly from the group, careful not to wake either of the actual ponies sleeping nearby. It felt for the hive telepathically, and found that the real Twilight had in fact managed to incapacitate the changelings in one of the other guardhouses. Impressed, it quickly made its way there through the secret passages strewn throughout the labyrinth. Finding the unconscious guards in their barracks, it cast a spell to revive them. How did it go for your group?
The mage in the group responded with a snarl. It was a fellow changeling who knocked me out. It could have just pretended.
You know we have to keep it as realistic as possible. We don’t want the ponies figuring out that we’re feeding on their friendship, and if that means some of us have to take knocks on the head, so be it, responded the Twilight impersonator.
They have no love for me. What do I get out of it? I haven’t had a decent meal in months!
That’s part of the reason I’m here. I’m to share the love I’ve been getting from my ‘friends’ with the lot of you, so stop complaining. The Twilight impersonator once again lit its horn, and the other changelings drank in the love it fed them. That’s all for tonight. There will be more tomorrow night, and every night thereafter. None of us will go hungry again. It then left the others and went back to its group through the secret passages. It laid down between Fluttershy and Applejack, taking care to wake neither, and went to sleep.