"I missed you, Angel Bunny!"
Fluttershy was home, at last.
The wedding of princess Cadence and Shining Armor did certainly not go as planned, but in the end, all's well that ends well.
The white bunny, not knowing what happened to his owner during those fateful two days, was surprised by a heartfelt hug from Fluttershy.
Yet, seing her in this state was not unusual: he was used to such antics. Plus, while he would never admit it, he did actually like to be held in such a way by the pegasus, to comfort her. After all, he was the most important thing in her world, was he not?
Fluttershy then started telling him everything that happened about the wedding ceremony and the changelings invasions. It was almost a ritual by now; every time she came back home from her adventures, she would thoroughly detail everything that happened to Angel Bunny. It helped her coping with the stress, and it satiated the bunny's burning curiosity.
When she was done, it was already late; Luna lowered the Moon hours ago.
Ready to go upstairs, Fluttershy was startled by a strange noise from outside. It sounded like a cry of pain, but it was cut short.
An almost loud "Eeeeeeeep!" later, her first reaction was, of course, to go hide under the table.
"Did... did you hear that?"
Angel's only answer was to look non-plussed at her. He did not want to miss on sleep time just because of some noise from outside.
"What do you think it was?"
He did not bat an eye.
"Do you think... it was a monster?"
He could only roll his eyes at that question.
The cry was heard again. This time, it was clearly a whine of distress.
Realising her mistake, the pegasus did not loose time and left from under the table. She would not let an animal in need without assistance.
Angel Bunny, irritated by the situation, did not want to leave the house.
Changeling #32481 was having the worst night of his, admittedly young, life.
Blasted away a few hours ago by a powerful spell made up --- of all things --- of pure love energy, he landed in that cursed forest.
The remaining love and his hard chitin carapace softened the impact, but he was still badly bruised.
After regaining his senses, his first priority was to get back to the Hive.
Or at least, that was the intention.
He was no scout, and had no idea where to find his comrades from here, much less the Hive.
He was no fighter either... He quickly found out why this forest was off-limit by Royal order.
Who in their right mind would have thought trees could grow teeth?
By all accounts, he should not have made it alive.
After having been used as a chew toy until the timberwolves tired of him, he was dropped there, discarded like a broken dolly.
Thank the Queen again for his hard chitin...
At least, they left him near the outskirts of the woods.
Somehow, he managed to crawl out of the forest, getting himself one more scratch on his carapace and letting a pained cry escape against his will --- he did not want to attract anything else that might hunt him.
But a few meters later, safety almost in front of him, he was blocked by a fence.
A stupid fence, like those used by the ponies to keep small animals in it.
A stupid fence he would have jumped over and over again would he have been in a better shape.
A stupid, stupid fence that dashed what little remained of his hopes.
He could not help but start crying...
Her chicken were restless.
Fluttershy thought Elizabeak was having troubles sleeping again, but she heard somepony sobbing near the fence.
She approached slowly, not wanting to frighten them, until she saw a dark shape in the night.
It was a young pony, probably not older than her, crouched near the fence, crying.
"Hey there, can I help you?"
Although she spoke softly, the pony heard her and looked in her direction.
That's when she saw it was not a pony. That was one of those creatures that attacked them the day before in Canterlot.
The lost changeling turned his head to see a frightening sight: out of nowhere, a pony appeared. Not just any pony, but Fluttershy herself. An Element of Harmony, protector of Equestria. One of the six mares who stood against his Queen, and won. She was said to have turned down a dragon and stared off a cockatrice.
He tried to crawl away in fear as fast as he could.
Fluttershy ran away and hid behind a fence picket. She was trembling, her hair in front of her eyes, and hoped that the changeling will just forget about her if she stayed hidden long enough.
...
After some time has passed, she was still safe and whole.
The sounds she had first thought were the changeling following her was still heard, though.
He... was not in a hurry. It sounded like... cries of pain?
Hoping that she was still safe where she was, the pegasus slowly took a peak behind the picket to see what was happening.
The changeling was crawling towards the forest, obviously in pain.
Afraid, Fluttershy still decided to go and see what was happening: he was obviously not attacking her, and his cries of pain made her feel too guilty to stay there.
The more she approached, the worse it looked. Even with his chitinous carapace, the changeling's battered body was obviously in bad shape.
When she was close enough to see him clearly by the moonlight, a gasp escaped her lisps.
"Oh my..."
Inch by inch, the changeling was approaching the forest again.
He should not have left it in the first place.
He knew his chances of escaping her were very slim, but he had to try. He had to!
She still didn't catch him, so maybe, just maybe, he could...
*Gasp*
Looking at the noise behind him, he saw the dangerous pegasus open her eyes wide, then run fast towards him.
He was done for.
She was saying something, probably taunting him, but he fainted before she could finish.
The combined effects of the shock and the adrenaline wear off took their toll.
"Oh poor little one, what happened to you? Stay still, you should not move in that state!"
Fluttershy was trying to comfort the wounded changeling as best as she could.
His wounds were so bad it hurt just to look at them.
When he fainted, she feared for his life; thankfully, he was still breathing.
Changeling or not, she could certainly not let him here, he needed help!
Determined, she grabbed him securely around his waist and flew back home.
Angel was still moping in the sofa when he heard Fluttershy at the door.
He was hopping in her direction with the intention of making it clear how unhappy he was, when he noticed the changeling.
He wanted to hold his grudge, yet, he was curious. What was this black creature? It looked like a cross between a pony and a bug.
From the looks he got around, he was not the only one to wonder about it. Even Harry the bear did not recognize it, and he travelled a lot into the Everfree.
Hoping to get a peak, Angel came closer. But his face quickly turned green when he saw the changeling's wounds.
He decided to wait until Fluttershy was done treating its... awful... wounds...
Angel dashed to the bathroom.
Fluttershy was tired. As soon as she came home, she saw to the changeling's wounds.
The steps were almost automatic for her, she was used to tend to her animal friends' injuries, and while it was the first time she did so with another pony, it was not so different.
Well, almost pony...
Now, her living room was a disaster area: strange, green blood covered most of her sofa, used gaze was laying around, soiled towels were out of place.
But she was way too tired to take care of that now. She needed to go get some sleep.
The changeling was safe now, and probably not going to get up soon, so she decided to go and call it a night.
The midday sun shining on his head, #32481 was slowly coming back to consciousness.
At first, he wondered if he was alive or dead. But the pain soon rushing to him in waves made that clear.
He then opened his eyes, thinking about what he...
He quickly shut them off.
"I did not see that. No way."
He slowly took a peak again and did, indeed, still see a wild bear looking straight at him.
This time, he also noticed a lot of small critters nearby, not afraid of the bear in the slightest.
"I must be dreaming..." was all he could mutter.
A small, almost timid voice was heard.
"Oh, you're awake. How do you feel?"
He didn't dare let the bear out of his sight, so he answered without even looking at her.
"I don't know... Where am I ? What happened after..."
Things clicked together in his mind. He *knew* what happened after the events of yesterday.
That was a pet bear. He was in Fluttershy's lair!
He slowly turned his head towards the voice, colour draining from his face.
He was speaking with *her*. He was speaking with *Fluttershy*.
He tried to move back a step, but was blocked by the back of the sofa, which startled him.
*Yikes!*
He crouched low, his hooves over his head, shivering in fear.
"Oh my... Is there something wrong ?", Fluttershy did not expect that.
"Please don't kill me!", #32481 answered without removing his head from under his hooves, so the sound was a bit muffled.
Yet, Fluttershy heard them. She retreated back a few steps, not understanding why he thought she would... she could... do something so awful!
Her hair again in front of her eyes, she looked at her animal friends. They were as surprised as she was. That gave her some courage.
"No. No, no, of course not!"
#32481 was still too terrified to even look at her, but Angel Bunny was not having any of this.
With a swift kick on the changeling's right hoof and some gestures, he clearly told #32481 that he was not allowed to hurt Fluttershy's feelings like that.
Some more gestures later, and he knew he had to look at the pegasus when she was speaking, too.
Trembling, his head hung low but at least not under his hooves anymore, he looked at her.
"Look, Mister changeling. I'm a care taker. I'm not going to hurt you.", Fluttershy said.
#32481 did not answer.
"I brought you here yesterday because it was too late to go to the hospital. But if you are able to move, we should go now; I know how to help my animal friends, but I'm not used to heal ponies... or changelings."
"Please, no!", his reaction was much quicker this time, it even scared Fluttershy a bit.
If she was really a care taker, too, and not just a warrior, he now understood why he was still alive.
He already witnessed such behaviour back at the hive.
Some care takers are so engaged in their work that, when there are no larvae to take care for, they report their duties on anyone they can find, changeling or not.
But if he was sent to an hospital... the local overseer would kill him on the spot!
He didn't understand how a renowned warrior like her could *also* be a care taker, but ponies were known to be strange.
Staying with her offered little chances of escaping alive, but it was still better than nothing.
Fortunately he didn't have to invent an excuse for his refusal.
"I'm... I'm not able to walk."
At his words, Fluttershy quickly went from afraid to concerned.
"Oh my... Let me check your legs. Does it hurt if I poke here? Or there?", she poked the changeling in different places to see his reactions.
"Ouch! Not here! Please, it hurts!"
Now knowing where to look and not afraid of waking him up anymore, Fluttershy examined the changeling's leg.
"You have a broken rear-leg, and... Where did you get all those claws and bite marks?"
#32481 was still terrified of her.
But now, he knew how to act; and while it was the first time he was near real ponies, he was still a changeling, and he has been trained for that.
If she wanted to care for a poor little hurt "animal friend", he will be a poor little hurt animal friend.
"I landed in that dreadful forest. There are *monsters* there!", he shuddered, not needing to act that part.
"A pack of... moving trees --- with teeth! --- found me. They clawed at me! They bit me! It was awful."
"Oh poor little one!", Fluttershy said, moisture in her eyes.
"*Shh*... It's okay now...", she put a wing around the changeling to calm him.
#32481 didn't understand.
A changeling being comforted by *The* Fluttershy.
The mere thought was alien to him, yet it was happening.
It was frightening, but he had his act to play...