"A CHANGELING?!" Applejack cried out in surprise.
"Yes, a changeling," Thorax confirmed. "He was a year or so older than me, and was a former bully of mine back in the hive. He quit once he was actually certified as an infiltrator, but as you can imagine, he didn't have any remorse for what he did, to me or to the ponies he's drained over the years."
"So what did you do about him?" Twilight asked.
"I didn't really do anything, honestly. He was actually working there just to get a few bits so he could move on somewhere else. Of course, just because I didn't do anything, doesn't mean that he didn't do something."
I was setting up my cot on the first day, putting sheets and pillows on it. I didn't really have any possessions besides that necklace Little Strongheart gave me, so once I finished, I went to find Braeburn to see what needed to be done.
That's how I ended up face first in the dirt with a sore muzzle.
"Whoopsie," I heard above me, turning to see "Fuzzy Peach" standing above me. He sneered when nopony was looking and trotted off, satisfied with his little taunt of me.
I got off the ground and rubbed my nose, examining my hoof and seeing no blood on it. I didn't see where he went off to, so I just left it go and went to the orchard so I could start working.
I spent the day working there and getting a decent haul compared to the other, more experienced ponies. By mid day, I filled the cart that took the apples back to the barn for sorting about halfway full. When lunch was called, I went in with the others, but saw Earwig with a mare just barely out of fillyhood. They went off to another part of the orchard, and I knew right away what was happening.
When I next saw them, the filly looked quite tired, and kept rubbing at her temples. Ultimately, she asked Braeburn if she could finish early due to her current state, and he agreed, seeing she wasn't in the best condition, even commenting that several ponies seemed to be feeling that way as of late.
I frowned, but didn't say anything. Ratting on Earwig would've blown my cover, and I didn't want to risk getting ran down by Braeburn or another pony and hauled off to a prison or a dungeon, so I tried to think on what I could do to discourage him from feeding.
Being honest, I probably would've had better luck bathing a cat.
That evening, as I was asleep, I could hear a pony having what sounded like a nightmare. When I looked up to see what was happening, I could see a pink glow in the room. That glow told me enough about what was happening, and I elected to confront him before he could do more harm.
"Earwig."
The changeling, hearing his real name, stopped and looked at me, his eyes glowing blue and glaring at me.
"Beat it, grub!" he hissed. "This one's mine!"
"No, it's not."
"You gonna fight me for it?"
"No, I'm not."
"Then get lost!" he ignored me and resumed feeding, the pink glow emanating from the pony, who reacted with their moans indicating another nightmare.
"Earwig, stop! You're gonna call attention to yourself like this!"
He cut off the flow and glared at me again. "Do I look like I care what you think, grub? What are you even doing out here? You never completed infiltrator training!"
"I have my reasons."
The glare he had widened upon my saying that. "Your reasons? I didn't know the queen superceded giving orders and let changelings act of their own volition."
"She didn't."
"You left the hive?! You damn traitor!"
He moved to attack me, but I closed the distance and stopped him.
"You really wanna start a fight in here and expose us both?"
Earwig considered what I'd said for a moment, and then backed off, returning to his bunk a little further away. Before he got under the covers, he shot me one last glare, and a warning.
"Better grow a pair of eyes in the back of your skull, Thorax. You're gonna need 'em."
"That sounds awful," Fluttershy said while shivering.
"Yeah, that's totally not cool," Rainbow chimed in. "Tell me you did something the next day."
"I didn't,” Thorax replied. “It wasn't that I didn't want to; I just wasn't sure how to let him know without blowing my cover."
"Would blowin' yer cover really ah been that bad?" Applejack asked.
"At that moment, it would have. I know what I said about wanting to be friends with ponies in my natural form, like I have been for a little while now, but at that time, it wouldn't have been a good idea, especially with Braeburn."
"Aw, it couldn't have been that bad." Pinkie commented.
"It was that bad. When I even slid mention of changelings in conversation, his mood soured faster than a glass of milk left out on a hot day, and he told me there was a special spot in the orchard he would bury "them dang varmints that tried ta hurt mah cousin"."
Applejack shivered upon my perfect impersonation of her cousin's voice. "Yeah, that was probably a good idea ya wasn't so forthcomin' about what ya is. I ain't exactly a fan of lyin', but I know that tone ah voice. Mah cousin wasn't jokin' none when he done said that."
"Yeah. Even without being able to sense his emotions, I could tell he was serious."
"So what did you do?" Pinkie asked.
"Well, nothing happened for a few days, but then there was a day when Braeburn assigned Fuzzy Peach, myself, and another pony to work in a part of the orchard further out. What happened... wasn't good."
"Fuzzy" volunteered to work on the set of rows furthest out, and the other pony with us decided to do the middle rows while I took care of the ones closest to the main house and barn. I made an argument about taking the middle rows, and ultimately convinced the pony to take the ones they wanted me to do originally.
Earwig couldn't have cared any less. If the pony took the rows, that was a chance for him to drain that pony and come after me with as much magic as he wanted, and with me taking the middle rows, he could take care of me and have the pony for dessert. I figured that if I took the middle, I could kick up enough fuss for that pony to get away.
We set to work, going to our individual rows. Earwig gave me a sinister smile before disappearing behind some of the trees he was meant to work on. The other pony moved towards the house and the rows they agreed to take care of. I set up my baskets and got to work, but kept my head on a swivel, looking around me and watching in the trees to make sure I wouldn't be ambushed.
Things were okay for about an hour or so. I got full baskets and put them onto the cart, and would occasionally see the pony out helping us. She was a mare, and a fairly large one at that. Sky blue coat with silvery-white mane and tail pulled back into a ponytail and had a cutie mark of a pie with whipped cream on top.
We would talk occasionally, commenting on the heat and whatnot, but never said too much. She would offload her baskets and then go back with empty ones. I'd do the same, but when I came back the last time, I saw her there putting her baskets onto the cart, but they didn't look nearly as full as they should.
"You doin' okay?" I asked her as I walked up.
The response I got was for her to turn around, her eyes black as night and her mouth full of sharp teeth.
I jumped backwards and fell, letting out a shout as I did. I ended up leaned back against the tree behind me, where I felt something drip on my head. I looked up and saw the mare inside a cocoon, disguised just enough by the canopy that I didn't notice it before.
"I told you you should've grown eyes in the back of your skull, grub!" Earwig shouted as he pounced at me. His yell gave me enough warning to roll out of the way and make a break for it, calling out to the house and barn for help.
Earwing tackled into me from behind, hitting me hard enough to lose my breath momentarily.
"Not today, you turncoat!" he spat at me, rolling me over to look me in the face. "Those ponies aren't gonna help you, not after I expose you for what you are."
He was pressing down hard into my chest, making it hard to breath. I struggled against him, trying to think of a way to get him off of me. When I felt my hoof hit against a tree, I got an idea. With what strength I could muster, I gave the tree as hard a shot as I could.
A flurry of apples rained down on Earwig, hitting him hard enough to distract him. I quickly pushed him off of me and got to my hooves. With only one chance and little time to act, I reared up and shot my legs back with as much force as I could.
I felt the contact and heard how hard my kick connected. Then, I heard a thud, followed by a series of additional thuds. Turning around, I saw Earwig laying on the ground, unconscious and covered in apples.
"What the hay is goin' on over here?"
I looked to see Braeburn come running up. Thinking quickly, I came up with a story, which was mostly true.
"A changeling tried to attack me! He wrapped up Dessert in a cocoon in one of the trees and turned into her, then he tried to get me!"
Braeburn saw Earwig and scowled. "I guess I should get some ropes on that varmint and turn him into the sheriff. We'll have to find out where he stashed Fuzzy Peach."
"If there is a Fuzzy Peach," I countered. "I've heard of changelings coming up with original pony identities and backstories before."
"Have ya?" he says to me with a suspicious look.
"Yeah, they have. I think it's because they're afraid of not copying a pony good enough to fool their friends. You know, like how that queen didn't do a good enough job pretending to be Princess Cadance and got found out by that Sparkle pony?"
Braeburn thought on it for a second and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that sorta makes sense. Well, I'll deal with this one. You see if ya can get Dessert outta the tree and we'll cut her out of that thing."
"We got Dessert down and out of the cocoon,” Thorax concluded. “Unfortunately, when she came around, she was feeling really weak, so I knew that he took some love out of her before he wrapped her up. Braeburn caught him coming to, and..."
"And what?" Rarity prodded.
"Let's just say that place in the orchard Braeburn was talking about almost got its first permanent resident."
Each of the mares shivered at the implication.
"He didn't hold back, did he?" Applejack asked, as if she knew the answer.
"I don't think I've ever seen a changeling that was happy to see royal guards. He didn't even fight when they took hold of him to put him in the cart to haul him off to jail."
"I never heard of a changeling submitting like that," Starlight commented.
"Normally, they don't, but with the state he was in, Earwig didn't have much choice in the matter. From what I've heard, the guard has to offer medical assistance to prisoners, regardless of their personal feelings."
"They do," Twilight confirmed. "So, what happened after Earwig was taken away?"
"Dessert was laid up in bed for a day or two, but when she finally recovered enough, she told us what happened. According to her, Earwig disguised himself as a basket and attacked her when she went to pick it up. After he drained her, he said about 'finding that traitor' and cocooned her. Braeburn wasn't sure what the traitor comment meant, but figured it meant there was another changeling about. I stuck around until the harvest was done with and collected my pay, and eventually made my way out of Appleloosa and further into Equestria."
"I didn't have anything significant happen to me for a few weeks, but that changed when I got to a big city in the western skies."
"Big city in the western skies?" Rainbow repeated in confusion. After a few moments, her eyes went wide and she looked at me in surprise. "You mean...?"
"Mhm. I ended up in Las Pegasus."