Avix

by xXLostChangelingsXx

Chapter 2

The next day I go in early to wash up all the dishes that didn't get cleaned yesterday. Boss doesn't ask about my limp, and I don't offer up the information. In fact, I tell him nothing, and he says nothing in return.

It's an okay show that I'm dragged to, but I appreciate the free food and the companionship radiating from Light Holly's circle of friends, but I can't shake the feeling that somepony's been following me all day.

"I'll see you later, Trip!" Holly calls out as I start to wander off after the show.

"See ya, Holly," I yell back, waving a hoof as I go around to see if I can spot whoever's been following me all day.

In my wandering, I come across an impromptu stage of boxes and crates in the center of a small square. Lots of ponies are gathered around the speaker, so I take to the skies to see if I can find out what's going on. Nopony looks disgruntled as I settle for hovering above the crowd.

"We mustn't let these changelings take over our lives! It's been only a month since they've begun living amongst us, and already they've been signing up to join the Royal Guard, and there's already ones who have infiltrated the Guard! This is insanity, even if it is coming from our beloved Princesses!"

Oh, it's one of those anti-changeling rallies. I wrinkle my nose at the poor arguments used. Insanity? Really? "Is that really your argument? Insanity?" I find myself calling out. "Nopony's actually been attacked by any of them since they came out!"

"And what would you know about the lack of attacks? Plenty of ponies are still claiming that they've been attacked by changelings!"

"I don't expect you to know this, since you're so high and mighty, but all those stories are fake. I know every single pony who's made a claim like that and they're all homeless and desperate for bits, and you can get a good sum for turning in a changeling. How many of those searches even turned anything up? None of them. But the pony gets the bits, and they couldn't care less that they just did that!"

"Oh, and how am I supposed to believe that?"

"How am I supposed to believe an argument that their being honest is 'insanity' and we should go back to having them lying to everypony?"

Now all of the ponies are watching me bicker with the stallion on the boxes, who's now looking so frustrated his face is turning red. Somepony in a dark hoodie, hood pulled up to hide their face, turns and leaves. Suspicious, but I brush it off as I watch him struggle to come up with an answer.

"He's right, though. The pegasus. I know a homeless pony who admitted to fibbing about a changeling encounter to get the bits."

"Yeah, I know somepony who did the same thing. Maybe he's right, and the changelings really aren't attacking."

"But I was attacked just last night. Some changeling came up and started feeding off of me."

Everypony turns to look at the now-embarrassed mare as she ducks her head. There is a scratch on her neck, but she's otherwise uninjured. I can't sense any emotional trauma when she looks back up at me. "How do you explain that?"

"Are you sure it attacked you? You could have mistaken it for an attack. Could have panicked, assumed the worst."

"Well.... I wasn't expecting to see one, so I'll admit I was surprised, but.... No, I'm pretty sure it was an attack. It showed its teeth, and it made clicking noises at me. When it stepped toward me, I panicked and ran."

I nod. "See? Could have been a misunderstanding. Maybe it didn't know Equestrian, and it was just asking for directions."

"Have you ever met a changeling who couldn't speak Equestrian?" she shoots back, her violet eyes glaring angrily at me.

This one's a risky question, but I answer honestly. "Yes. I have. He had companions who could translate for him, though. Changelings naturally speak using those clicks and chittering noises. I think they have to be taught Equestrian from a young age, like foals."

"Show us some proof!"

"Yeah, proof!"

"I can't show you proof. Where am I going to get a changeling that doesn't know Equestrian in the middle of Equestria? I sure can't just track down whatever changeling she saw."

"No, but you can find one who knows."

I turn in midair to spot one of the large reddish changelings. He's wearing Guard armor, and I assume he's on duty, if the other two Guards behind him are any indication. He's the only one out of the three Guards that's a changeling. At least, an undisguised one. "Oh, um. Are you taught Equestrian, then?"

He nods, walking forward. The silent crowd parts before him and his companions. I'm thinking they were originally there for crowd control, but I'd just roped in their muscle. "All changelings who are expected to leave the hive are taught Equestrian from the moment they hatch. Our native tongue is imprinted in our minds, so it isn't necessary to be taught that."

"There," I say, turning back to the mare. "Misunderstanding."

As she grumbles in grudging agreement, something nails me in the back of my head, and I go down, tucking into a roll before I hit the hastily-cleared area in front of me. I stumble to my hooves and glance around, feeling a little woozy from the hit and seeing blurry doubles of everything. Something dark red appears in front of me, and I feel a steadying hoof on my shoulder, holding me in place. Whoever it is yells something, but I can't hear it properly. Colors blur as I feel myself get lifted off my hooves, and I feel a little light headed, getting dizzier with the lack of ground beneath me. I struggle to keep conscious, but there's a tingle of magic and I collapse into darkness.

---

Silence is the first thing I hear. I can't move my body at first, but I can wait. I have a pounding headache, which makes me wish I was unconscious again.

"How is he?"

"He'll be fine. Did anypony see him change?"

"No. I'd gotten him here before it happened. He's good, I'll give him that. Unconscious for nearly half an hour and he only loses it when I drop him on the bed."

I blink. The light above and around me is bright and white, but I see two silhouettes on the other side of a curtain. One looks like a changeling. Taking a deep breath, I sit up, feeling stiff and sore. Yawning, I rub my eyes with a foreleg, then pull that leg away in confusion. It's dark orange and riddled with holes. Crossing my eyes, I see that my muzzle's the same color. Turning to look at my back, I see my thin, transparent wings, and buzz them a little bit. Being a pegasus kept them from locking up, thankfully.

"You're awake."

Facing forward again, I hear a slight click escape my throat. It's the changeling that backed me up at the rally. Did he take me here? Wherever here is, of course. He's smiling at me kindly, though, so I relax. I'm not in trouble.

"I'm glad that you're okay. I was worried when you got hit by that brick."

"Brick?" I ask, rubbing the back of my head gingerly. It does hurt, but I assumed it had been a rock, not a brick!

He nods. "It was pretty heavy, too. I'm surprised you stayed conscious like you did."

"Oh. Did you find out who threw it?"

"Sadly, no. But we know what you are now, so we were able to properly treat you. And don't worry. Trip Line can still be an Equestrian citizen and we won't say anything. Everypony assumes you're just being patched up, now."

I nod slowly so I don't get another nasty pain. "Okay. Does anypony else know?"

"I told the Princesses, but you should be okay. They've seen Trip Line around being a good citizen, so I don't think they'll expose you just because you've been hiding for years." He gives me a sympathetic smile. "Hard habit to break, huh?"

"Among others. What about--"

"Is he awake yet??"

Confused, I turn my head to where the voice came from. It sounds vaguely familiar. Whose voice is it? It sounds excited and curious, so I try and sit up a little better. My head has different ideas, though, and I lay back down with a groan, putting my hooves to my face in an attempt to block out the world. It doesn't help at all.

"Princess, I don't think--"

"Oh, I'll be careful, Doctor. Don't worry. I just want to ask him a few questions, and I'll be gentle about it."

There's the sound of the curtain being pushed back, and the changeling next to my bed making some sound I'm unfamiliar with, and somepony's hoof touches my shoulder. A soothing wave of magic softly pushes away my pain enough I can open my eyes. A purple unicorn-- no, alicorn, since she's got wings and a horn-- is staring at me intently. An involuntary squeak escapes and I feel myself curl up a little bit, though it does nothing to hide me under the thin hospital sheets.

"It's okay. I'm just here to ask you a few questions as head of Changeling Research. Nothing too hard, I hope. Oh, and I'm Twilight Sparkle, although I guess you kind of already know that."