It was a nice and sunny day in Ponyville. The sky was bright blue, the birds where singing in harmony, and cream pony with blue and pink hair was walking over to her best friends house. Her reasons for going over however weren't as jolly. Bon Bon had thought revealing her secret past life as agent sweetie drops the monster-hunter two days ago was difficult, but this she felt was going to be even more difficult.
Bon Bon knocked the door to Lyra's house. A moment later a mint green unicorn with yellow eyes opened it.
"Bon Bon! What brings you over"
Bon Bon walked in and sat at the kitchen table.
"Lyra. We need to talk"
Lyra sat in the char next to her.
"Is this about the green hair dye I put in your shampoo bottle again?"
"No this isn't about that which I will have my horrible revenge for when you least suspect it, this is about your little house guest"
The pare looked up to the other end of the table to see the Changeling with its muzzle in a bowl eating left over stew very loudly. The black creature stopped noticing that it was being watched and looked up, licking any stew from around its mouth.
Lyra was the first the brake the silence. "What's wrong with having him around the house?"
"Lyra! He was AT the wedding!"
"Say wha?"
"I just past the playground at the school when I overheard some of the kids talk about seeing a Changeling sitting in a char at Crankys wedding!"
Lyra looked over at the Changeling. He looked away and tapped his hoofs together looking embarrassed.
"Lyra why was he out of the house?"
"I don't know? Maybe weddings are like all you can eat buffet's to them or something?"
"Yes. We all are very aware of how much Changelings looooove weddings"
"Look nopony got hurt, he's not dangerous just...well...I just can't see him being a monster, I still remember when I first met him almost a month ago...
Lyra was just leaving the hall where Princess Cadence's wedding was when she felt something vibrate in her saddle bag. Her mobile phone was on silent so as not to panic anypony. She answered it knowing who it was going to be.
"Hi Bonnie"
"Lyra where are you?"
Bon Bon was one of the only other ponies she had given one of her phones to. She sometimes wondered how much she would get off the patent of it. It wasn't her invention, but no pony in Equestria knew that.
"I'm in Canetlot trying to find the hairpin I lost at the wedding"
"As in the wedding where you where kidnapped and replaced with a Changeling and Shining Armour narrowly avoided getting married to a large bug with legs that looked like Swiss cheese"
"That's the one"
"...I don't remember seeing you with a hairpin?"
"Well I wasn't wearing it! I just had it with me"
"Couldn't you gust get another one?"
"Nope, I got it from my dad"
That was all Bon Bon needed to know. If it was from her farther then Lyra would go though heaven and earth to find it. She never told her much of him despite the fact that he worked in a very exclusive field, but she could tell that he was practically her hero, it also might be the cause of some of her more peculiar behaviours and gifts. The phone was just one of many things Lyra had showed her, but she did admit it was one of the most useful.
"And you think it's somewhere there?"
"Yep! I had it before I was knocked out by Chrysalis and her guards and haven't seen it since"
"Fine! Just don't do anything stupid like go into the underground cave system"
"Oh come on its me your talking to"
"Exactly!"
Lyra paused for a moment to think of a response. "Well on this particular occasion you don't have to worry, I will see you with my hair clip later"
Lyra turned off the phone and put it back in her saddlebag and looked around her surroundings, it was a good thing Bon Bon couldn't see that she had already made her way to the caves wile talking.
"Now which cave was I thrown into again?"
Lyra searched the caverns. Memories of that even went back and forth though her head. Memories of blurred black shapes littering the cave, some in the sky and some on the ground, a messy pink shape with black ones surrounding it, a blue shape near the end and a larger shape with big blue eyes that would always come near her. Lyra shook her head out of that thought and went back to reality. The cavern she had wandered into was the same one in her memory, the one she was put in before being rescued. The cave was empty except for a few shadows and...something moved behind her. Lyra heard the soft yet clumsy sound of something limping over to her behind her back. Slowly Lyra turned her head over too her left side to see the thing in the darkness coming over to her. As the shape became more defined Lyra could clearly see them. The blue empty eyes, the tattered insectoid wings, the sharp white fangs, the black chitin skin, the legs full of holes like Swiss cheese, there was still a Changeling down here, and it was heading right to her. Lyra spun on her back hoofs to meet the creature eye to eye. Instinctively she stepped back away from the black being heading towards her. Lyra's retreating pace slowed down however when she noticed that the Changeling was clearly injured, it was covered in cuts and bruises, it's skin was cracking in places, the wings where clearly unable to grant any lift let alone flight, and judging by the way it was walking two of its legs, the right back leg and left front leg, where in some way broken as each step on them obviously hurt. Lyra looked back up and realised that it had gotten right up to her face wile she was taking in all its wounds. Instantly she jumped back as the Changeling reach over its side later to bring the hoof forward towards her. In its battered hoof was a bright dark pink and yellow flower shaped hair clip, the same hair clip she had been looking for. Looking at the Changeling and back at the clip several times, Lyra sheepishly reached over the extended hoof and quickly took the clip from it in fear of the creature grabbing her.
"Ummm, thank you?"
The Changeling nodded, and the fell over on its left side. The struggle to walk over and cope with the pain had obviously been to much for it.
Quickly Lyra began to walk around the black body never taking her eyes off it. "Well ok. Take care. Buy!" Lyra sprinted to the entrance of the cavern, slowed down as she past it, and finally stopped a third of the way trough the tunnel. She looked down at her hoof again, at the hair clip that the Changeling had returned to her. Why? Why had it given this back? Why was it here? Was it trapped here after the invasion? Lyra looked back at the unconscious form behind her. The love explosion should have sent all of them flying, but this one was right here, underneath everypony, the caves would probably have hold the love like an echo, but not enough to properly live on. Lyra turned her body around to the direction of the cavern. She thought back to the time she was trapped here, one of the Changelings had stayed close to her and, she remembered the feeling of a wooden dish placed by her lips and cold water going down her dry throat. Lyra also remembered that the Changeling had several times touched her butt, and anyway why would this one be the same one as back then, and why would it stay here waiting for her to come get her hair clip back. Lyra was silent for a minuet before sighing in defeat. She walked back in the cavern putting the clip in her saddlebag and taking out a canteen of water she had bought. Carefully she put her hoof under the creatures head and pored the water into its open mouth. The Changeling slowly opens its eyes that shon like blue opal gems in its black head and looked at her.
Lyra looked away for her pride as a pony if anything "I...I'm just paying you back for the hair clip...and that time when..."
This was stupid she thought, like there was any way this could be the same Changeling as...she stopped when she noticed something squeezing her rump.
Lyra sweated the hoof away "at least I know I'm not doing this for a stranger" she said to the injured being in her care. Looking closely at the creatures eyes, Lyra close her next words very carefully.
"Look! I'm grateful for the water and the hair clip, but don't think that this makes us square, your a Changeling and I'm a Pony, I think it would be best if you just got out of here and didn't come back, I mean it's easy for you to transform into a guard or something and..."
She stopped! Lyra looked carefully at the Changeling, a sudden realisation struck her.
"You can't can you!" She said at last "your to beat up to stand let alone turn into anypony"
Lyra looked at the eyes of the Changeling again. What was once cold and empty to her where now full of sorrow and self pity. She could just leave it she thought, forget it was ever here and get on with her life, it was a monster that invaded Canterlot and crashed a royal wedding, others would understand. She looked back down at the sad creature half closing its eyes in exhaustion. But she wouldn't, she would always remember, every time she sees an injured animal, a dragonfly or even a blue gem, she would remember the time that she left somepony, even if it wasn't a pony, cold and alone to die in an empty cavern. Her mother always taught her to care for others no mater the species, and this was a prime example. Half reluctantly, she put the Changeling back on the ground and walked over to the wall of the cave to pick up a large brown sheet that had been left there years ago. Slowly she rapped the now sleeping Changeling until it looked like a role of old carpet. Lyra gently placed the hidden Changeling on her back and begun her way back to the surface.
"Boy, I wonder what Bon Bon's going to say about all this"