//------------------------------//
// Emulation Armageddon, Act 3 
// Story: The Changeling Chronicles 
// by Shadow Beast 
//------------------------------//


The Changeling Chronicles


Book 3:  Emulation Armageddon


Author:  Shadow Beast


Act 3:  An Eye for an Eye

Chapter 1:  Calm Before the Storm
Midnight and Hunter, accompanied by a few guards, trotted into the throne room.  The guards had barely recognized them, especially since Midnight lost his saddle in the transformation.  The armed ponies had to introduce the changelings, and finally they would be able to tell the princesses the good news... and the bad news.  Before they made it halfway into the throne room, the Colonel caught them for a quick debriefing.
“What’s the situation, changelings?”  The Colonel completely ignored the guards escorting them.
“Our mission...” Hunter started.
“...was successful,” Midnight finished.  “I have the Queen’s location.”
“Good work, soldiers,” the Colonel responded, his voice lacking the expected enthusiasm.  “How’s the rest of the team?”  He floated the map over to Masquerade.
“Well...” The changeling took his time to respond as he marked the coordinates of the Cave onto the map.  “Shark and Stripe have returned with few and no injuries, respectively.  Unfortunately Jet, Hurricane, and Blue were... killed in action.”
“That’s only five out of the six I sent with you,” the Colonel noticed.  “What happened to the other unicorn?”  It took him a moment to remember the name.  “...Shroud?”
“I can’t say for certain,” Midnight lied.  “But the ‘Shroud’ that came with us was really a highly trained and very skilled Executioner.  I eliminated him after--”
“Is he dead?” the Colonel asked, interrupting Midnight’s thought.
“What?  I just said the Executioner is dead.”
“I meant Shroud,” he sternly clarified.
Masquerade sighed.  “Yes.  He’s dead.”
“Thanks for the intel, I’ll let the princesses finish this debriefing.”  The Colonel trotted back into the crowds, probably to leave the room.
The changelings trotted a few paces deeper into the throne room and finally reached the end.  The princesses sat patiently; the changeling’s entrance had succeeded in silencing the masses as they made room for them to approach.  The six heroes still stood in formation, ready to strike when the time came.  As the changelings passed, the pink pony acted frustrated once again.  Perhaps the new manecut had ruined her song for the second time.  Hunter and Masquerade approached the thrones and bowed to Celestia and Luna as the guards introduced them and retreated as well.
“Our mission was a success; we have given the Colonel all the details,” Midnight said.
“Very well done, Midnight,” Celestia congratulated.
“How will we be eliminating the Queen?”
“My faithful student and her friends hold the key to that,” Celestia answered, looking toward the six heroes.
“An escort mission?” Midnight asked, keeping his eyes on the princess.  “If the Queen finds out we’re coming, she  might give us a very lethal welcome party.”
“Did somepony say ‘Party?!’” the pink pony exclaimed from behind.  The only thing more alarming than her outburst was a loud bang resulting in confetti... all over the changelings.
They turned to see that the mare had manned a customized cannon, slightly less effective for combat by her exchanging the heavy ammo for party favors.
“Can we take her at least?” Hunter asked  Midnight.  Both were surprised by the mare’s potential for combat.
Midnight’s emotionless head turned to his smiling friend.  “As long as she can handle herself in a fight.”
“We all can!” the pegasus of many colors bragged.  She turned to find her fellow pegasus low to the ground, shaking in Fear at the thought of combat.  “Well... most of us can,” the mostly light blue pony corrected.
“Sounds like another team of six to accompany us then...”  Midnight’s hoped these heroes wouldn’t follow the same fate.  Things always seem to go horribly wrong.

Chapter 2:  The Ground Below
The door creaked open, awaking the two ponies on the other side.  The Sun had risen less than an hour ago.  As Midnight entered, the room’s format and rather strong scent assured him that this was the same hospital to which he was admitted so many months ago.  For once he was happy to find ponies aware of his presence.  He trotted over to the bed of the cream colored occupant.  Blue hairs poked out from behind his bandages.
Midnight broke the silence.  “What a coincidence; we can barely recognize each other!”  The changeling chuckled awkwardly.
“You lose your wings?” Thunder asked sternly.  His voice was at full strength despite his injuries.  
“Yeah, I had a little bit of a growth spurt,” Midnight said, crooking his head over his shoulder in a difficult attempt at seeing the stubs on his back.  After barely getting a glance, his head came back toward Sword, but tilted down to comfort his aching neck.  “It’s not like I was using them anyways.”  The changeling sighed, and corrected his head so he could see Thunder.  “How bad are your injuries?”
“Pretty bad, but still beats dying.  The doctors say I’ve gone through the worst of it; I should be out of here in a few days.”  The cream pegasus rolled his shoulders.  “I won’t be flying  for a few more weeks after that though.”
“Well at least yours will heal,” the changeling noted in an attempt at encouraging his friend.
“You know... I remember the Assassins being strong, but I had no idea they could take a pegasus out with one blow.”  Midnight looked over his friend’s bandages.  “You’re either really lucky, or really strong.”
“I’d say luck, personally.  If it weren’t for my squadmate, the assassin would’ve finished me off.”
“Luck is the kind of thing that got my pegasi and unicorn squadmates killed in action.”
“The mission was a success?” the winged pony asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“Of course.  I managed to--”
“Then they died with purpose.”  Sword leaned his head back on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling.  “We aren’t growing a garden here, Midnight; this is war, and in war... ponies die.  There’s no way around it.  The Colonel would say that all that matters is the objective; the outcome of the mission determines the tolerable number of losses.  I don’t think that’s it at all.”  The pegasus shook his head, his bandages stretching and shrinking as they tried to keep up.  Finally resting, the pegasus continued.  “Do you know why the Princess didn’t have you executed when you came crawling back in your depression?”  He turned his head to look directly into the green eyes of the changeling.
“She had forgiven me,” Midnight explained.
“She never had to...”
“Well, it was her choice...”
“If it was the Colonel’s, you would have been recruited.  If it was yours, you would have been executed.  So why is it that Celestia simply forgave you, do you think?
“She cares about her subjects?”
“You’re not her subject... you’re just some changeling from the Moon.” Despite the harsh comment, Midnight couldn’t smell any anger from his friend.
“Why is it, then?” Midnight asked, growing impatient.
“Visiting hours are over!” the nurse chimed in from the other side of the room, next to the door.  She held it open as Masquerade turned from his friend.  As he trotted toward the nurse he turned his head back toward Thunder.
“I’ll hear the answer when this is all over.”
The changeling could tell that the pegasus was smiling underneath the pain.  He trotted out the door and stopped at a window as he made his way to the staircase.  His black hooves opened the window, allowing him to peek his head out.  His snout turned down as he stared toward the ground below.  The wind blew through his mane as he wondered where this next objective would take him.  His mind went back to his talks with Princess Luna.  She had returned to him on that balcony to tell him to go to the Archives, among other things.  It was as if she had outlined the beginning and the end of his journey.  He breathed in the fresh city air with his mouth and nose.  A loud exhale marked the end of his meditation. He turned from the window, closing it with his magic.  He trotted toward the stairs, the fastest way out of the hospital mapped out in his head.  His new squad was waiting.

Chapter 3:  The Ancient Cave
The six heroes and the two changelings trotted through the Everfree forest without any trouble.  The Cave wasn’t too far from the civilized area, and was located within Midnight’s old area of enchantment.  The beasts must have learned to avoid this part of the forest.  The Cave was within view, just a short trek up a hill and the eight ponies were there.  It was quiet at the summit.
“You mares wait here,” Midnight said after sniffing the air.  “Hunter and I will scout out the Cave.  We’ll call for you when we’ve cornered the Queen.”  The two changelings trotted into the dark cave alone.  
“I guess my senses are weak,” Hunter said, turning to Midnight.  His voice was the only source of noise beyond the sound of their hoofsteps.  “I don’t smell any other changelings.”
“I don’t either,” Midnight admitted.  “That’s why we’re scouting ahead.  If the heroes were to fall into a trap, we probably won’t be able to win the war.”
The Cave wasn’t nearly as big as the two changelings thought it would be.  They reached a dead end quickly and were forced to turn around.  Their two pairs of changeling eyes shone in the darkness, meeting a separate set of green changeling eyes.  A green glow illuminated a somewhat twisted horn.  A spell shot out to the ceiling behind the third changeling, breaking up the rocks and causing a landslide to block the exit to the Cave.  Another spell hit a crystal near the top of the Cave, illuminating the area.  Midnight recognized the third changeling immediately.  The fallen Executioner stood there, smiling.
“You?!”  The confusion left Masquerade almost breathless.  “I... How?  What?! ...I saw you turn to ash!”
The Executioner laughed.  “All that you burned was wads of goop attached to my snout and legs!  I simply teleported before you could ‘eliminate’ me.”  
“Isn’t that stuff supposed to inhibit magic?” the confused Hunter asked.
“Nah, you’re thinking of a special form of teleportation that engulfs the target,” the Executioner explained.  “It is merely the element of surprise that stops any unicorn from escaping changeling goop.”
“Why trap us in an empty cave when we can just teleport out?” Midnight said, attempting to exploit the weakness in the changeling’s plan.
“You think you’re clever?” the Executioner asked with stern condescension.  “Your friend’s missing his horn and I will stop any of your attempts at teleportation.  In all honesty, Midnight, there’s no chance and no point in escaping.”
“No point?” Midnight asked, part of him wondering why he was even playing along.
“As we speak the Queen and her armies march toward Canterlot.  The Breeders will see to the Royal couple, and the protection spell will shatter once again.  Without their precious Elements of Harmony there will be no chance of them winning this time.”
Midnight had enough.  He charged the changeling, who simply dodged the attack.  
“You’re going to have to do better than that if you hope to beat the Queen!” the Executioner mocked.
A swift kick from behind sent the Executioner to the ground.  He turned to see Hunter standing over him.  He rolled away and hopped back onto all fours.
“O, Hunter,” the changeling with both wings and horn condescended.  “I never knew how strong you are.  Maybe there’s some hope for us...”
“What?  If you think I’m going to join you, then you’ve got another thing coming!”  Hunter trotted toward Midnight.  “My allegiance is to Mask!”
“O, so naive!”  The Executioner laughed.  “I don’t want you to join the Queen’s army if that’s what you’re after.  I’ll have you know I was excommunicated from their little sideshow invasion.”
This revelation confused the horned changeling. “Then why are you here?  And wouldn’t Chrysalis have you... executed?”	
“I have you to thank for that, Midnight.” The ex-Executioner chuckled.  “I faked my death so well that even you believed it!”  A smirk creased the right side of the changeling’s face.  “But maybe I’m giving you too much credit...”
Midnight charged at him again, but the changeling spread his wings and flew into the air.  A bright green protection spell lit up the small cavern, and stopped Hunter from intervening.  Unlike Shining Armor’s famous protection spell, this one seemed a bit unstable as green bands of magic marked its existence rather than a solid bubble.  The bands shifted in an eternal cycle, sending the changelings’ shadows into constantly shifting shapes.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?  I love a good scintillation.”  The hovering changeling laughed.  “Don’t think you can ambush me so easy... there’s a reason I’m called Foresight!” 
“That’s your name?” Hunter said in a slightly condescending tone.
Foresight turned to Hunter, “Not that anypony wanted to know.”  He turned quickly back to Midnight.  “Right?”
Masquerade’s patience was finished a while ago.  He fired a beam of magic toward the enemy, only to have it bounce off the bubble, then off the wall, then off the ceiling, then off another wall, and almost hit Hunter but strike the ground instead.
“Careful, now!” Foresight warned in hindsight.  “The walls of this cave deflect most spells...”
Suddenly there was a voice from above.  “Do they deflect this?!”
Hunter had flown to the top of the cavern and was now hovering next to the illuminated crystal.  He bucked it with both hooves, causing it to break off and fall toward the flying changeling.  The sharp edge of the luminescent rock pierced the changeling’s shield, shattering it and throwing the winged creature aside.  He hit the ground and found Midnight standing over him.  Seeing his defeat crystal clear, he pleaded for his life.
“Midnight Masquerade... if you spare me, I will help you!”
“No.”
Foresight teleported to the rockslide before the enraged changeling could finish him off.  He dodged the spell that was immediately flung his way, allowing it to instead destroy the blockage and open up the exit.
“The path is open!” he exclaimed, trying to calm Midnight down.
Midnight readied another blast, as Hunter flew toward the enemy to flank.  As it was fired, Foresight jumped out of the way, and the beam struck the reflective rock behind and immediately collided with Hunter.  The winged changeling fell to the ground in agony.
“Hunter!” both of the other changelings exclaimed in worry. 
Midnight reached his fallen friend first, and began checking the wound.  He wasn’t sure if he had enough magic left to do one of his signature healing spells.  Foresight approached them.
“Step away, Midnight,” he said with no emotion in his voice.
“I have to help him...” Midnight pleaded with Regret.
“You have to save your magic.  There’s a great battle ahead of you.  You need your strength.”
“Not without Hunter!”
“I can help him.  Just give me some space.”
“I know a really good spell--”
“You don’t have the strength.  Let me do this.”
Masquerade finally backed away, giving Foresight plenty of room.  The changeling’s horn lit up and performed Midnight’s signature healing spell.  Perfectly executed, the wound on Hunter’s side disappeared and he rose up from the ground with no pain.  The horned changelings looked into each other’s eyes and smiled, as if sharing a kind of understanding.  Foresight turned toward the light, and saw the six ponies entering the Cave.  
“What’s going on in here?” the leader asked, confused by the small space and three changelings.
“We have to get back to Canterlot!” Midnight said, remembering his objective.  “The Queen’s taking an army there!  There’s already troops inside and we need to be there before the city falls!”
“Who’s your friend?” the pink pony asked.
“Don’t mind me.  I’m gone,” Foresight said just before using a teleportation spell to disappear.

Chapter 4: The Event
The ponies galloped through the trees of Everfree, rushing toward Canterlot and hoping they could get there in time.  Hunter was just as surprised as Midnight by his fast recovery.  It was clear that Foresight had somehow been able to get a hold of the enchantment spells that Masquerade once used on a regular basis.  Both of the changelings shrugged it off, since Foresight wasn’t going to help them much anyways.  The group looked into the distance beyond the trees to see the protection spell fall.
Finally, they found themselves in civilization.  Their hooves beat against the paved city streets as they galloped their way to the castle.  The lack of panic in the eyes of the citizens would show that they are unaware of the invasion, which is probably for the best.  Finally, the castle gate was in sight, heavily fortified by guards.  They were let in quickly, but a terrifying, familiar noise followed them.  Thousands of changelings descended upon Canterlot while its shield was down.  Explosions and screaming echoed throughout the city.
The eight ponies pushed past all the guards and made their way to the throne room.  The soldiers, scholars, and generals that had been crowding the room for so long now pushed against the team as they all tried to find a way to the fight... or a place to run away to.  The eight ponies reached the throne room at about the same time as a crowd of enemy changelings.  The royal guards, their captain included, fought back against the waves of the Swarm.  Spells flew in all directions as Hunter and Midnight joined in the fray.  They managed to reunite with the royal guard and the princesses, but now everypony was completed surrounded by changeling forces.
Silence fell over the throne room as the wounded were pushed from the changeling crowds into the small circle of pony survivors.  Midnight, Hunter, Shining Armor, the six heroes, the two princesses, and a few guards were still alive and in fighting condition.  A dozen more were badly injured and even more were... worse. 
“What are you mares waiting for?!” Midnight questioned.  “Use the Elements!”
“No,” Celestia said in a solemn voice.  “Wait.”
Several Breeders took their places around the ponies as the Queen herself trotted into the throne room, protected on both sides by multiple Assassins and an Executioner or two.  
“Ah, my little Executioner!  I’m so glad you could make it.”  The Queen raised her forelegs.  “None of this would’ve been possible without you!”  She happily confirmed, with one hoof back on the ground and the other pointing directly at Midnight.  
His rage built up inside.  His front right hoof took a step forward.  Another hoof placed itself on his shoulder.  Midnight turned and his eyes met Hunter’s.  At first, he stared right through him, but as his body failed to shake the hoof off he saw his friend’s face.  Alive.  Then he looked beyond him, to all of the six heroes.  Everypony in this room were surrounded, but the fear, the hate, and the anger had left him.  Finally, he turned his head up to meet the eyes of the Changeling Queen.
“I can’t say I’m sorry.”
Chrysalis’s speech suffered from her confusion.  “W-what?!  Do you mean to switch sides?”
“Not for that,” the horned changeling explained.  “For this...”
“Now!” Celestia proclaimed.
The Elements of Harmony activated, creating a swirling beam of many colors that rose into the air.  But Chrysalis would not admit defeat so easily.  She charged her horn as her changelings moved in to assassinate the heroes.  Hunter grabbed Midnight and pulled him into the air just in time to dodge an Assassin’s charge.  They flew towards Chrysalis, whose spell was slowing down the Element’s influence.  Masquerade charged his horn and fired a spell at the Queen.  Nothing happened.  An Assassin knocked the changelings to the ground.  Midnight told Hunter to stay down as he put up a deflection spell, the same kind used by Foresight.  Multiple Assassins surrounded the bubble and fired their spells.  Midnight quickly manipulated the deflected spells into a single beam which flew toward the Queen.  It missed.
The horned changeling looked around and saw the few remaining guards falling left and right as they attempted to protect the heroes.  The Elements of Harmony themselves could not get past the Queen’s power.  She must have absorbed all the love in the Everfree forest; the lunar changelings must have given her more intel than Midnight had realized.  Fear came back.  Regret, Hatred and Anger soon followed.  He soon realized that Chrysalis would be more powerful than anything a changeling could do.  A Breeder broke through the shield, throwing Midnight to the left and Hunter to the right.  Gunk soon covered the horned changeling’s limbs, but Hunter was still able to fly and dodge subsequent attacks.  The changelings’ eyes met, and Masquerade realized that this would be the end.  His mouth still free, he screamed his last words toward the Changeling Queen:
“CHRYSALIS!”  The Queen’s eye turned to see him in her peripheral.  “YOU DID THIS TO ME!  I...”  An Assassin approached the ensnared changeling.  “I FORGIVE YOU!” 
A few moments passed in silence as he realized what he had said.  Even Chrysalis was thrown off guard.  The colors of the rainbow struck the Queen.  Her helpless followers merely watched a white light engulf their leader.  A wave of energy destroyed the gunk around the changeling’s limbs, but now a new force pulled him closer inch by inch toward the light.  Silence was replaced by a thousand screams.  He turned to his friend, who had already landed on the floor.  Every changeling that had been flying was now sucked into the vortex where the Queen once stood and every other changeling was now holding on... poorly.  Even the Breeder and Assassin were gone now.  Hunter slipped, but was caught by Midnight.  He once again released a deflection spell to resist the spell’s pull.
“What’s going on?” Hunter asked, barely audible over the noise.
“It’s the Elements of Harmony!”  Midnight took a short glance at the raging vortex.  “It’s just like what happened with Nightmare Moon.”
“...but Nightmare wasn’t defeated.  Just imprisoned on the Moon!”
“Not the Moon!  The Hive!  The Hive is where they call home.  That is where they are being sent!”
“But the Hive is just a couple days away!  They’ll just come back!”
“I don’t know... the Elements usually do something extra.”
“We can’t take that chance!  It’s now or never, Mask!  We have to finish this!”
Midnight contemplated the situation, and realized his friend was right.  More than that, he trusted him.  The changeling released the spell, and the two friends were almost immediately sucked into the vortex.  It is said that once all the changelings in the room were gone, the vortex turned to a pillar of light which fell quickly into the floor in a small explosion. There was no sign of the changelings... not a single one.

Chapter 5:  Harmony
Midnight Masquerade found himself falling down a pit.  The screams of thousands of changelings made it difficult to hear anything, but his sight told him that this “pit” was the Hive.  The ground loomed closer and closer, and the changeling charged his horn, impacting the ground like a meteorite.  His hooves lifted him out of the crater, but he realized something was very different about them.  He got up on his hind legs to examine his forelegs; they were purple and without any impurities.  The Elements had once again turned him into a moonicorn.  As he listened to the screams of the changelings, a whistling sound caught his ear.  He instinctively rolled out of the way just as the Queen’s hoof impacted the floor, cracking it.  The Elements had done nothing to her changeling form, and Anger poured from her body as her horn began to glow.  The crown was missing from her head, and she was almost exhausted from the attack.
“This is where you die, Masquerade!” she screamed, firing a blast from her horn.
Midnight was barely able to dodge such a large beam, and soon realized it was only a matter of time.  Suddenly a shadow caught the moonicorn’s eye and he looked up to find a familiar green pegasus.  Hunter dived in just in time to help Midnight avoid another of the Queen’s spells.  The purple pony climbed on top of his winged friend, and they began to fly toward the entrance at the top of the hollow mountain that was the Hive.  Another beam from below, swiftly dodged by the pegasus, missed its target and hit the ceiling of the mountain.  The result was the impending collapse of the entire Hive as rocks and boulders began falling as quickly as the changelings.  Hunter was able to dodge the spells, while Midnight used his horn to break apart the boulders speeding towards them.  Soon they were able to reach the entrance, and the unicorn leaped off of his friend who was too busy flying to notice.  A quick teleportation spell reunited the friends at the entrance, bringing Hunter to his left side.  The two changelings had finally escaped the Hive.  Out of breath, they turned from the darkness and looked at each other.  Smiles creased their pony snouts, and the sound of wings did not bother them.  
A large stone hurtled towards the pegasus, hitting him in his weak side and knocking him to the floor.  Midnight saw his friend fall, but as he turned to see the culprit a strong spell hit his right eye.  He found himself on his side, with one eye and one unconscious friend.  With his left eye he saw the Queen hovering at the entrance.  With a rough stomp to the ground, the rock beneath her began to crack.  Midnight’s left eye rose from her hooves to the entrance above her.  He fired one last spell at her, which missed as planned and struck the loose rocks above her head.  She jumped back and down into the Hive, which began to collapse with the entrance.  As the boulders slid down around them, Midnight rushed to Hunter’s side.  A force knocked him to the floor, and he turned to find that the cliff they were standing on was becoming separated from the rest of the mountain.  The crack grew until the ponies found themselves sliding down the side of the Hive on their broken ground.  Midnight tried to get Hunter to wake up, but before he could make sure that he was still alive their platform had collided with another cliff, and threw both of the ponies to the ground below.  Midnight landed painfully on his back.  His left eye barely open, he saw a large boulder rolling down the side, hitting the cliff, and bouncing toward him.  The shock was so much that both of his eyes opened wide as the giant rock came closer and closer.  Suddenly the rock stopped, glowing in a green aura, and slowly moved to his side and landed harmlessly a few inches away from him.  A changeling flew in and landed on top of it, with a grin that showed both pairs of fangs he had.
“Consider that your reward for not letting me get trapped in there!” Foresight shouted from the top of the rock.
Midnight’s right eye hurt ever since he opened it, but for some reason he could still see through it just fine.  However, the pain made it difficult for him to think.  “Foresight?... Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about Hunter, he’s fine.  He’ll wake up pretty soon with a bad headache.”
“You... found him?”
“He’ll find you.  Don’t worry.”
“How do you... know that?”
“I told you already, I’m Foresight.”  The changeling smiled and looked into the distance for a moment before continuing.  “Well, I must be going.  There are things I still need to attend to, but we will catch up when our deeds are done.  Good luck finding your way back home, Midnight.  I know you will make it.”
“How can you be so sure?” Midnight asked, starting to get up off of the ground.
The changeling just stood there and smiled.  “Because I am.”
With those last words he turned the right side of his face to the changeling, winked, and disappeared in a burst of green teleportation magic.

Chapter 6:  Everfree Once More
Midnight picked himself up.  His back and limbs ached, but that was nothing compared to the pain in his right eye.  Without a bandage or an eyepatch, he was forced to cover it with his own hoof.  It was a good thing that normal ponies don’t have holes in their legs.  Stumbling forward on three hooves, he managed to trot around the boulder that the mysterious changeling had been standing on.  He looked for Hunter around every piece of rubble that he could maneuver around, but there was not a single green feather on the ground.  Then there was the sound of small rocks hitting the ground.  He turned to find the source of the movement, and found his green friend staring back at him.  
“You okay, Hunter?” the worried moonicorn asked.
“Yeah.”  He shuddered from pain and lifted a hoof to his forehead.  “Just a bad headache and a broken wing... but I’m fine, Mask.”
As they began trotting back toward Canterlot, Midnight decided to withhold the information that Foresight had given to him.  There was something just wrong about that creature, and he was somewhat glad that he never hangs around too long.  He wasn’t sure what “catching up” the changeling was planning, just as he wasn’t sure whether to be excited or scared.  Foresight knew too much about Midnight... even for somepony who had read his “fiction.”  He shook himself out of his thoughts and found himself trotting on three hooves with the Everfree Forest in sight.  
“So...” Hunter asked, with the slightest trace of pain in his voice.
“What?” Midnight answered, finding it very difficult to make eye contact with his friend was on his right side.
“How’s your eye?”
“It hurts a lot...”  Pain was much more noticeable in his voice.
“Can I check it?  Make sure it’s still there?”
“I’m sure it’s still there... but sure.  Why not?”  
Midnight tentatively lowered his right hoof, and opened his right eye.  What he saw was a horrified look on Hunter’s face.  The green pegasus shuddered, shook his head, and wiped his eyes.  The look of horror turned to sadness as he realized that what he saw was not an illusion brought on by his head injury or any pain from his broken right wing.
“How bad is it?” Midnight asked, unsure if he wanted to know.
“It’s... pretty bad.”
“I don’t doubt it... not with this much pain.”
“Not like that...” the pegasus muttered.
“What?”
“You need an eyepatch.”
Midnight chuckled, despite the pain.  His right hoof covered his eye once more as they trotted closer and closer to the threshold of Everfree.  As they continued to trot through the grass and fallen branches, Hunter took a few steps ahead.  After a few moments, he found a river and brought Midnight closer to see his reflection in the water.  What the moonicorn found as he lowered his hoof was a black hue where purple once was around and on his eye.  Upon opening his eye, he saw its natural green color.  The areas where his changeling eye met his pony face was glowing in an eerie green light.  The lit borders hurt to the touch, but then again his entire eye was hurting from the attack.  
“That’s your... changeling eye!  How can that be your changeling eye?!” Hunter asked, out of breath and confused.  “I thought we had been cured!”  
“There’s no cure for what we’ve become.”  Midnight sighed from a mixture of sadness and pain.  “The Elements of Harmony will mask a good changeling, but that’s it.”
Masquerade closed his right eye, and focused power in his horn.  Fire consumed his pony form for a brief moment.  He looked into the water with both eyes open again; his changeling eye was still visible.  He had to sit down from the confusion that rattled his brain.  He looked up from the stream and saw a Zap Apple tree in the distance.  
“I’m gonna need an eyepatch...” he said as he surveyed the tree from afar.  
The branches bore leaves, and several rainbow-colored fruits were suspended from above.  It was beautiful.  He trotted parallel to the water until it was shallow enough to cross.  Finally, he was able to gallop toward the crooked tree and almost left Hunter behind; it would’ve been easier if he didn’t still have a working wing.  Finally the two changelings reached the foot of the tree.
“What was the rush?” Hunter asked, almost out of breath.  “I thought you didn’t eat solid foods.”
“Exactly.”
Hunter stood there, still confused as the unicorn put his hooves to the bark.  He looked up at and past the fruit, horn aglow.  A large leaf the approximate size of his eye floated down in green magic.  It floated down and attached itself to the changeling’s eye.  With a gentle push from a purple right hoof it was securely in place.  The moonicorn trotted to the river to check his reflection once again.  The form was too torn by the spell for the leaf to cover up completely; three streaks of green light were still visible.  It looked as though he was mauled by some kind of enchanted beast.
“That’s a good look for you,” Hunter said after getting a break from the rushing around.
“Thanks,” Midnight replied.  
For once his “new look” had nothing to do with becoming a Manipulator, but then again he was practically there.  As an independent changeling, it would only be a matter of time before his entire mane would be blue underneath his pony form.  He shrugged this thought off as the two ponies turned from the river and began trotting even deeper through the forest.
“...Midnight?”  Hunter’s voice almost seemed timid, as though he was afraid what his friend had to say.  He hid Fear’s scent well.
“What is it?” Masquerade replied calmly.
“I just noticed... the Elements gave me my pony form back, so is this purple unicorn what you looked like before you changed?”
“This?”  The changeling shook his head.  “This is the body of my first blood.  It was this form that allowed me to become the first Executioner in the Changeling Army.”  
“Really?”  Hunter’s head tilted slightly.  “That seems kind of weird for the Elements to give you that form.”
“Not exactly... you see, when I was on the Moon--”
“Excuse me?” Hunter interrupted.  Midnight had forgotten that Hunter wasn’t at the campfire that night.
“You heard me,” the changeling said, unwavering.  “I went insane on that Moon and I believed that I had made up this form.  From the red highlights to the crescent moon cutie mark.”
Hunter’s eyes grew wide and the slightest hint of Fear grazed Midnight’s snout.  “Then... why is your cutie mark a Telescope?”
“What?!”  The purple head twisted around to see that his crescent had been changed.  He had no idea how long this new cutie mark had been there.
“Why would it change your mark?  I didn’t think any kind of magic could do that...”
“The Elements of Harmony are the strongest magic known to ponydom.  More than that, they seem to have the ability to discern Good from Evil.”  
“Really?  But... you were an Executioner.”
“But I didn’t know I was one until...”  The changeling stopped as he contemplated the question some more.  “Well... the first time I was exposed to the Elements, I wasn’t aware of my past evils.  Then when I did find out, Celestia forgave me.”
“But isn’t going insane and forgetting just like cowardice?  Wouldn’t the Elements consider that evil?”
“I don’t know... all I know is that I’m standing right here.”
“Isn’t magic just astounding?” a familiar voice called from further up their path. 
“You again?!”  Midnight had not expected to see Foresight so soon.  “What happened to those ‘things’ you had to attend to?”
“Unforeseen consequences,” Foresight admitted.  “The things weren’t where I remember seeing them... or foreseeing them.”
“Just can’t stay away from me too long, can you?” Midnight said with scorn in his voice.
“Rest assured, Midnight, as your nemesis there is nothing more I’d like to see than your destruction.  Of course, in times of war one must often make sacrifices... as that is what loyalty requires.”
“Stop using my words against me, you abomination!”  
“Oh, you and your naive concepts of context!”  The changeling took a moment to laugh as Midnight attempted to swallow his rage, in futility.  “Oh, don’t be that way, Midnight.  If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it a long time ago.”
“I don’t think--”
“May I accentuate:  A LONG time ago!?” the changeling interrupted, getting his point across.   
“Wait a second,” Hunter started, realizing there was something a miss.  “If you’re really not out to kill us, then why don’t you have a pony form?”
The changeling’s eyes blinked three times fast and he looked down at his hooves that were riddled with holes.  “If the Elements do know the difference between Good and Evil, then they must have had a field day with me!”
“You’re not in a pony form, so you must be evil,” Hunter answered smugly.
“Things aren’t just black and white or... plum as it were.”
“Plum?”
Foresight turned to the moonicorn, “‘Dark purple’ is not the color of your coat.  Anypony with a sense of color knows that it’s plum!”
“Do you look this stuff up just to irritate me?!” Midnight said on his last nerve.  “And weren’t we talking about your coat color?!”
Foresight just smiled.
“Don’t just smile, answer me!”
“Plum.  It will be plum.”
“You’re going to take my form?”
“You will see when we get time to catch up.”
“I’m sick of your cryptic messages, just say a Yes or No!”
“Yes.”  Foresight remained calm.  “That is the plan... it has always been the plan as I have foreseen it.”
“Answer me just one question without any nonsense!”
“I will, but don’t ask me here!”
“Why not?!”
The changeling rolled his head and stretched his neck, preparing for a short speech.  “I’m obligated to answer one simple question with crystal clear honesty.  There will be a time in the near future... you will follow me, you will look me in the eye, and you will ask me the simplest of questions.  I will smile, and I will say, ‘Midnight Masquerade... now you are ready to destroy us,’ but you will falter, and there will be even more wars and death than you can imagine!”  
Foresight found the breath to laugh at his plum-colored foe, which only irritated him more.  Midnight charged Foresight, who once again managed to dodge seamlessly and fly into the sky.  
“Don’t look so jealous!  Your wings will grow back... in a few hundred years!”  A quick flutter of the wings pulled the changeling away from the blast of magic that destroyed his previous position.  “Look on the bright side!  Changelings are frozen in age!  Only starvation and our enemies can kill us!”  Foresight dodged another blast, then lit his own horn in the same shade of green that had attempted to strike him down.  “Let us meet again, and I will explain a bit more of our heritage... if you only knew how much you’ve forgotten.”  With a green spark of his teleportation spell he was gone again.
“He’s gone,” Hunter said turning in all directions... almost expecting to find those green eyes watching from afar.  He turned back to his friend, “Are you okay, Mask?”
Midnight once again began trotting toward Canterlot.  “Let’s just get out of this forsaken forest.”
His trot turned to a gallop.  It wasn’t until nightfall that the gallop turned to a trot, then  a climb.  Finally the two exhausted ponies found themselves taking refuge in the same cave that they had met Foresight.  The monster was nowhere to be seen, so they both slumped over and fell asleep.

Chapter 7:  To Die a Changeling
Sunlight shone into the cave, bouncing off of the crystals scattered throughout and somehow sticking in the plum moonicorn’s eye.  His snout was stretched by a yawn, and he rose from the floor of the cave, involuntarily knocking his hind hoof into the side of his friend, who was still trying to sleep.  Now aware of the light in the cave, the pegasus rose as well and stretched his wings.  They were almost home.  
The two friends trotted out of the cave and saw the towers of Canterlot in the distance.  They galloped down the side of the mountain and then trotted back into civilization.  Soon the two ponies were back on paved roads and headed straight for the castle.  The guards didn’t even recognize them in their pony forms and were suspicious as to why the “purple one’s wearing a leaf” as they referred to his makeshift eyepatch.  Midnight insisted on seeing the captain, aware that Shining Armor would be able to recognize his pony form.  His plan worked, and they were finally admitted entrance to the throne room.  
The princess was just as surprised to see the changelings in their pony forms as Armor was.  Celestia explained that the heroes had already left for their homes in Ponyville and Luna had taken the few Lunar Guard and left to bring order back to the Moon.  When her side of the tale was done, the two friends soon found themselves explaining the fall of the changelings, and the Elements’ effects.  The princess had a few questions when their story was finally complete.
“So if this ‘Foresight’ character was able to escape, then maybe there are others as well?” Celestia asked.
“As long as the Queen is buried beneath the rubble... well, even if she does get out I doubt she’ll try anything against us again,” Midnight assured.  
Suddenly the Colonel burst in, “I came as soon as I heard...” was all that could escape his snout before he had to catch his breath.   He looked the two ponies over.  “Thank you both for your sacrifices.”  He turned to Midnight.  “If you were actually enlisted in my army I’d give you medal for that,” he said, gesturing toward the leaf that was poorly covering his scar.  He turned to the green pegasus, “and you, Hunter!  I’ve got something special in mind for you!”
Hunter couldn’t help but grin as he heard the Colonel’s offer.  Midnight just rolled his eyes, though the princess only saw him roll one.  
“It was very nice to see you both again,” Celestia said, interrupting the short conversation between Hunter and the unicorn.  She turned to the latter.  “Colonel, could you escort our friends to the doctor’s?  We should make sure they’re both in good health.”
The Colonel obliged and took the changelings outside of the castle and across the city of Canterlot until they found the local hospital.  Hunter passed the physical examination with no major problems as his wing turned out to be bruised, not broken.  However, Midnight’s eye required further examination.  The plum moonicorn was taken admitted with some of the soldiers who had been hurt in the battle the day before.  He sat on the hospital bed, unsure of how a mattress would solve the problem with his eye.  Before too long, a familiar pink nurse trotted in to check on him.  A quiet “wow” escaped her snout, and she tried to cover it with a cough as she approached.
“Midnight?”
“Candy?  I didn’t know you worked here...”
Stripe chuckled a little.  “No... the military took quite a few lickings, so they’ve called in for some extra help.”  The smile on her face dissipated quickly.  “What happened to your eye?”
“I was struck by one of the Queen’s spells,” he said as he removed his leaf.  “It went right through my pony form.”
“I didn’t know spells could do that,” Stripe said, poorly hiding her shock at the glow of the wound.  
“Neither did I,” the changeling said, wincing as the nurse’s hoof felt the bright green borders of the spell.  “That kind of hurts...” 
Her hoof immediately pulled back.  “I’m sorry.”  Her gaze turned to the Zap Apple leaf.  “Does this hurt to wear?” 
“Fits pretty comfortably, actually,” the changeling answered.  A frown formed on his face, despite his resistance.  “I prefer this over an eyepatch... if that’s alright.”
“An eyepatch would better cover the wound and would be more secure.”
“But I can’t see through a common eyepatch...” the moonicorn stated, unsure if it would make a difference.  It didn’t.  Midnight spent the next few moments rubbing the outer edge of his eyepatch to check if it actually covered up his entire scar.
“So you know how the executioner just sat around doing nothing when we were out in Everfree?” Candy asked, reminding the plum cyclops.
“Ugh... yeah.  What about him?”
“Well I went back and checked Shroud’s medical files; makes me wish I hadn’t volunteered last second!”  
Midnight’s right hoof went back to his side.  “What did you learn?”
“Well, the first thing I saw was his time of death... they found him in his bedroom the day after we left.  Cause was cardiac arrest.  The door was locked, too... they suspect that the executioner got in through a window or vent and scared the pony to death.”
“So he never actually attacked the unicorn?”  This whole conversation was confusing Midnight.  Was Foresight just trying to scare him the entire time?
“It gets weirder,” Candy said, interrupting the changeling’s thoughts.  “He still had both eyes in his head, virtually unharmed.  Did the changeling that attacked you have just one eye?”
“No... he had both of them.”  Midnight wondered why things just couldn’t be simple when it came to that... thing.
Candy chuckled a bit.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh... well,” Candy started, a bit embarrassed.  “It’s really stupid, but I thought for a moment that he could have been mocking you... but that couldn’t be it.”
Midnight laughed with her.  He withheld the fact that Foresight was still alive and could somehow predict the future, despite the fact that changelings don’t have those kind of powers.  
With their business taken care of, Midnight convinced Candy that he was perfectly fine and trotted out of the hospital.  Most of his day had been spent in that hospital and the clock read that it was about four hours into the afternoon.  An envelope floated down from the sky and landed at the plum pony’s hooves.  He looked up to see nothing but the sky growing darker gradually.  Midnight opened the envelope, which was blank on the outside, to find a letter written in a somehow familiar hoofwriting:
“Dear ‘Shadow Beast,’
I foresaw your concern of my one-eyed Shroud and wrote this note after also foreseeing how aggravated you would become upon seeing me yet again.  We have the same problem.  Despite my title of Executioner, I can’t actually make a perfect form of any of my prey... it’s just one part of the curse that I endure.  The other part has been following in your shadow for the longest of times.  Soon I see a time of freedom for me... and agony worse than death for you.
From your greatest nemesis,
‘Foresight’”
“Hey, Midnight!  What are you reading?”  Thunder Sword’s voice pierced Midnight’s concentration   He looked back at the note and threw it into the street to be blown away by the wind.
“Nothing,” the plum cyclops answered emotionlessly.  “Wait... aren’t you supposed to be in the hospital?”
“Just got out.  Won’t be able to fly for a while, but I get some time to spend with the family,” the cream pegasus said, smiling. 
“And then it’s time to ship out again, right?”  Midnight’s eyes turned back to the sky as it slowly went dim.
“Exactly.”
Midnight turned to make eye contact with Thunder but instead managed to catch Foresight staring back at him from the top of the hospital.  Sword turned to see the source of the shock in his friend’s eye, only to see the green spark left over from Foresight’s teleportation spell.  He was gone.  
“Changeling?” Thunder asked, not turning back around.
“Yeah...” Masquerade answered, with an almost sad tone.
The pegasus turned back to his friend.  “Are you alright?  The war’s over now, thanks to you and those heroes.  Hunter’s getting promoted for his help!  You should be proud.”
“I should be... but there’s just something about that one changeling that keeps stalking me.  He’s making me regret so much about my life here in Equestria.”
Hunter trotted into view from across the street.  He galloped to meet his friends, stopping next to Thunder.  They followed Masquerade to a balcony, unaware of his intentions.  He stopped on the edge and looked to the rising Moon.  Luna’s words rang through his head as he look down from the balcony and to the streets below.  
“What are you thinking about, Midnight?” Thunder asked, slightly concerned.
The moonicorn turned from the view.  “I’m thinking about my life here in Equestria; it’s not working out.  Everywhere I go it seems like disaster strikes, and now there’s that thing following me...” Midnight’s voice trailed off as he turned from his friends and back to the hard ground below.
“Midnight... what are you planning?”
“I’m leaving...” he answered solemnly.
“What?!” Hunter asked, confused by his friend’s change of heart.
“Goodbye, my friends.”  The moonicorn’s horn began to glow, both from the light of the Moon and the most powerful magic the changeling could muster.
Suddenly a bright green flame erupted from Midnight’s horn, consuming his form and body.  The fire and screaming lasted only a short while before they both died down into silence.  Ashes fell toward the ground below, and blew away with the wind.  There was nothing left.

Epilogue: The Truth Concealed
The Lunar guard captain lead the new worker to his quarters.  The unicorn had barely passed his tests and was now ready to work in the Animal Enchantment Wing.  They approached the once condemned workstation, and the captain felt the need to explain the room's dark past.
“You know, this room was the work station of the first changeling discovered in Palomoono.  If you'd prefer a different station--”
“I’m not scared,” the unicorn sternly interrupted.
“As you wish.”  The captain tentatively unlocked the door, gave the key to the worker, and left the brave pony alone.
The unicorn trotted into the station.  Its contents seemed untouched after all this time.  He went straight to the work desk, opened the drawer with his hooves.  It was empty.  The changeling scrolls must have been confiscated when the place was condemned.  A kind of sadness came over the unicorn.  Then came the headache... the pony turned his head to the right, the door was unlocked.  He galloped to the door and locked it in fear of prying eyes.  Nopony needed to know this unicorn's secret:  He had perfect 20/20 vision.  He took his eyepatch off and opened his right eye.  Green flames erupted from his body, revealing the changeling's true form.  A light blue mane with black highlights took the place of his black and red one; his red eye replaced with green.  He trotted to the telescope, barely able to fit his curved changeling horn into the hole.  With a burst of green magic, it connected with his target.  The voices chatted in his head:
“Is this working?”
“Yeah.  It hurts... but yes.”
“How's the Moon?”
“A bit more dusty than I remember... how's the SRC?”
“A bit more difficult than I imagined...”
“Sounds about right.”
“Well... I've got a mission in the morning.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“You should come planetside sometime, Midnight...”
“Goodbye, Hunter.”
“Yeah... goodbye.”
The voices stopped and the headache disappeared as Midnight Masquerade pulled his horn from the slot.  A knock on his door turned the changeling's head, reminding him of the cost of such magic as he looked at the door through his blue and black mane.  Green flame covered his form, concealing 98% of his body in pony, the one gap in his defense being his right eye.  The one-eyed moonicorn opened the door to find a package waiting for him on the other side.  The box had been addressed to  “Shadow Beast” and dropped without anypony signing for it.  He took it inside and hesitantly opened it.  Inside were many blank scrolls, several ink containers, several quills, and one large Zap Apple leaf.  “Luna knows me too well...” he mouthed as he looked over the items.  He put the leaf on and was able to see clearly once again using his old trick.  He sat down at his desk, green magic took over a quill, and he began to write “Shadow Beast” on the package to check the ink quality.  He looked twice at his own handwriting, but shrugged it off.  With the ink working, he moved the pen to the paper and wrote “The Changeling Chronicles” at the top of the scroll.  He paused, thinking over the events he would have to write about.  He looked up at Equestria.  Laughter escaped his snout as he realized that it was going to be labeled as “Fiction” and he didn’t care.  After all, Truth is stranger than Fiction.


The End