Hello. My name is Zack Catcher. I’m a Changeling, but there is no need to be frightened. We're not the same as we used to be, and I am not the same as other Changelings.
Many things happened the day the hive was reformed. This story will tell you what happened to me during this time. The month after I was born, some sort of shockwave blasted me away from my hive. I don’t remember what exactly happened, but it was said that the queen’s throne blew up and that the shock wave carried me.
I wouldn’t say I was unlucky, because that day changed my life forever. The shockwave sent me flying straight into the Crystal Empire, and I landed inside the royal garden where a rose bush broke my fall. When I came to my senses, I got scared because I didn’t know where I was or how I got here, so I began to cry. At least I think I did that day. Is not that clear in my head, anyway? After a while, I heard some pony trotting in coming toward me.
As the sound came closer, I quickly got up and ran as fast as I could. I ran down the hallways and through corridors, trying to find somewhere safe to hide. Eventually, I saw a door that was left slightly open, so I ran inside without a second thought. Once I got inside, I closed the door, locked it and took a sigh of relief. Suddenly, I heard a sound coming from behind me. I noticed a crib in which I saw a baby girl lying on her back, looking at me with a smile. She has light pink fur, and purple hair with cyan highlights, and her eyes are bright blue.
She crawled over to the side of her crib looking at me, giggling and giving a warm smile. I gave a small smile back to her before I tried to climb into the crib, but ended up falling over and landing on my back instead, causing her to laugh. I smiled before laughing as well. Suddenly, a loud thud came from the door, causing me to get scared and run under the crib.
I curled up as much as possible and hid under the crib, shaking in fear. I managed to look under the crib to see two ponies walk into the room. They walked toward the crib, but they didn’t see me. After a few minutes, they left the room, closing the door behind them.
Sighing, I crawled out from under the crib, then I looked into her crib to see if she was still there, and there she was, sleeping. From that day forward, I knew I wanted to be with her, protect her, and keep her company.
After a while, I got to learn that her name is Flurry Heart, from overhearing her parents. I also learned that their names are Cadence and Shining Armour. I knew I shouldn’t have stayed there, but I couldn’t help it. No matter what, I wanted to be with her.
A few years passed, and I was still with her. I and I haven't left the room. Every time I get close to the door, I get a rush of fear that causes me to hide and try to calm myself down. Every time I do, Flurry rushes over to me and hugs me, calming me down instantly.
Eventually, I stopped trying to leave the room. I didn't really see a point. Being with Flurry made me happy. I enjoyed being with her and she seemed to enjoy me being with her.
After a few years, when Flurry could speak, she said to me,
"Hey, I don’t think I ever got your name. Do you mind telling me what it is”
I opened my mouth to tell her what my name was, but I froze, realizing that I didn't know my name. I knew nothing before I came to the empire. I don't remember how I got here. I didn’t even remember where I was born. The only thing that I know is that I was born in some place called the hive.
I looked at Flurry Heart and said, “I don’t remember what my name is.”
She said, “What do you mean?"
I replied, “I don’t know my name or who my parents are, nor am I completely sure of where I was born. The last thing I remember is waking up in the royal garden.”
Flurry looked at me feeling a bit concerned before she replied saying, “Maybe you’ll figure it out eventually, but until then let’s just think of a name for you”.
I looked at her and gave a smile as I nodded. After that, we thought of different names.
We started pitching names such as Flutterfree, Snowflake, Cherry Blossom, Starlight, Frosty, Fairy, Snowflake, Frosty, Cinder, Fledglow, Starlit, Icefire, Fledgling, Cherry Blossom, Snowwhite, Snowflower, Fling. Then Flurry jumped to her hooves and said, “I got it! What about Zack Catcher?”
I replied, saying, “I love it, thank you Flurry” I gave her a big hug, and she smiled as she hugged me back saying, "You're welcome, Zack Catcher”.
After we stopped hugging, we said good night to each other and headed to bed. During the night, Flurry woke me up by saying,
"Hey, Zack, are you awake?“ Looking a bit shaken up, I slowly opened my eyes and said,
"Ya, is everything ok, Flurry?”
She replied, saying “I had a nightmare”
I sat up looking at Flurry so we could talk before saying, "Do you want to talk about it?”
She nodded her head and explained her dream.
She said, “So basically the nightmare was about you, at least I think so. The pony in the nightmare looked like you but had red glowing cracks on the left side of his face down to his front left leg. He tried to attack me multiple times, but every time he got close to me he would stop like something was actively stopping him from hurting me. But after some time he got closer and closer until he got me and I woke up
I felt bad for her, so I pulled her into a hug and asked if she was ok.
After calming down, she said “Ya I’m ok but is it ok if I sleep next to you for the rest of the night, in case I get another nightmare”, I agreed as I jumped in Flurry’s bed and laid down next to her, Flurry snuggled up close beside me, I smiled before we both fell to sleep