While a congregation of Canterlot ponies continued to fixate on a certain slender gangly pegacorn, countless jet black figures were ramming themselves into the colossal force field protecting the kingdom. Many of them snickered and laughed sadisticly as their constant battering began to weaken the magical barrier to the point of shattering. Within moments, their efforts were rewarded with a thundrous boom as Shining Armor's spell finally gave way. Free to invade the capital city, the changelings began their ferocious assault. Many started harassing the equine inhabitants while others swarmed and overwhelmed the guards scattered throughout the city.
In the midst of all the chaos and panic, trios of changelings were searching the city outskirts for ponies attempting to flee and any hidden threats that were overlooked by the attackers. Before the scouts could find anything suspicious, however, the attackers managed to capture six particular ponies at Canterlot Tower, signaling the completion of the mission given to them by Queen Chrysalis. Thinking that there was nothing left to keep them from taking Canterlot, most of the scouts then joined the attackers in their malice and wanton destruction. One, however, decided to keep to the task assigned to him, unconvinced that the dangers were gone. The contrary soon proved to be the case.
A bright flash of pink caught Zearou's eye as his gaze passed the balcony where his queen stood. Realizing that the glow was intensifying at an alarming rate, he shrieked as loudly as his lungs would allow him as he dashed to the nearest alley he could find. Just as the changeling braced for whatever was about to transpire, he heard the thunderous blast from the wedding hall as the earth rumbled beneath his feet. Before he knew it, the magic blast struck his protective chrysalis he had just encased himself in. Despite his efforts to fortify it, the blast tore through the hardened shell and sent Zearou flying into another alley, smashing him into a brick wall.
As Zearou's limp body fell from the newly created impression of his body in the wall, his mind filled with distress and overwhelming pain as he collapsed facedown on the dirt. As he struggled to maintain consciousness, he heard the shrill cries of his Queen and comrades fading into the distance. When the screams and screeches of changelings were soon replaced by the cheers and neighs of ponies, Zearou then knew that he was in grave danger: he could not stay for long, for the Royal Guard would eventually find and arrest him or worse, kill him on sight if he did not escape.
At the same time, however, Zearou was in no shape to even leave Canterlot. Even if he could disguise and try to walk out of city, the guards would notice his limping and imbalance. Attracting attention and arousing suspicion would make any chance of escape slim. Despite the bleakness of the entire situation, Zearou mustered whatever strength he had and painfully crawled towards the pile of trash bags that was conveniently obscured by the side of a grimy dumpster. Zearou quietly buried himself in the refuse, resting against the dumpster and slowly groping the bags for objects that might prick him. Zearou was no stranger to being surrounded by filth, but if he wanted to survive, he would need to reduce the possibility of contracting disease—his bruised body was enough to worry about.
Meanwhile, guards were patrolling the streets and Zearou's sensitive ears could hear the voices of two armor-clad stallions. The younger guard asked, "Do you think they'll come back anytime soon?" The older guard replied, "There's always the possibility they might, but I doubt they will right now. None of them escaped that blast, but regardless you and I have to make sure the real wedding can go on without anymore surprises. Just because we saw them all go flying into the distance doesn't mean the danger's over." "Then what should we do if we happen to find one of those things?" Zearou grimaced as he lay still among the garbage. "The same as we always do with criminals. Restrain it, arrest it, then throw it in the dungeon. If it tries to attack, we knock it out, but if it attempts to kill us, we kill it before it has a chance to hurt anypony else. Simple as that."
"Over my dead body," Zearou thought. He had no intentions of being locked away, possibly for the rest of his life, but nor did he have any reason to pick a fight with members of the Royal Guard. They had the upper hoof, and he could not afford to jepardize his chances of escape, let alone his survival. The sound of approaching hooves prompted him to bury himself deeper but re-emerged as the pair of guards continued down the streets. Hours passed as Zearou prayed desperately that nopony else would begin searching the alley. His prayers were answered as the sun eventually vanished half-way behind the horizon and the bustling activity of nightlife returned to the city.
Slowly, he climbed out of the pile of malodorous sacks and flexed his limbs and wings, making sure that nothing was broken. His flesh, though covered with green bruises and minor scrapes, was mostly still intact and his headache had all but reduced to a mild discomfort. A quick glance at the back wall left Zearou half-shocked: the imprint of his body was several inches deep and a tall fissure beginning from where his head struck reached upward, dividing the wall in two. Despite the force of the impact, he was still standing and breathing. Did the magic blast somehow spare his life, or was it simply a miracle that he did not perish?
Zearou had no time to ponder this, for the gravity of his situation returned to haunt him. A purple-coated mare carrying a bottle of wine had stumbled into his hiding place. He darted into the shadows of the alley and lied close to the ground, hoping that his body was black and dull enough to blend into the darkness. Although that the mare was alone and clearly drunk to the point of collapsing, Zearou did not take his eyes off of her. After the mare muttered some slurred comments about stupid, giant, four-legged insects trashing her wine stand and smashing her precious stash of barrels, she passed out in front of the trash bags.
Zearou slowly approached the drunken mare to make sure that she was indeed fast asleep. Just as Zearou stood right next to her, he felt a growing urge to devour her emotions. He hadn't eaten anything for quite some time and his favorite and most coveted delicacy was right in front of him. He could easily feed off of her with little trouble, yet something in the back of his mind told him that it was not the time and place to do so. Was it a defensive instinct or was it, perhaps, his conscience? Given the situation he was in, it was probably both. Giving a second thought about what to do with the fruity mare, a smug little smile appeared on Zearou's fanged muzzle as a brilliant idea came to him. Even though there were still risks involved, it had a better chance than what he was planning to do earlier.
The changeling then disappeared in a quick flash of emerald flames and was replaced by a female pegasus, looking down at the earth pony before her. "Zea" then wriggled herself underneath the intoxicated mare and positioned the poor thing on her back. Zea picked up the wine bottle with her mouth, making sure not to spill any of the precious drink. From the scent of the wine, Zea could tell that it was from a very successful batch, which probably went to waste when her comrades attacked the city. The mare on her back clearly wanted to drink her sorrows away with whatever remained of the fermented fruit.
Zea was rather strong for a mare in spite of her injuries from earlier, which were now hidden by her white, equine coat. As she walked out of the alley and down the streets in a confident manner, she shuddered slightly as she felt something wet beginning to sap the warmth from the back of her neck. Zea looked behind to find the purple pony drooling while her head partly rested on Zea's sky-blue mane, which boasted a boyish hairstyle matched by her long tail. Zea let the mare be as she continued to meander through the city and towards the gravel road leading out of Canterlot.
Once Zea was clear of the magestic gates, she unfurled her wings and began to fly along the path while making sure not to let her "girlfriend" slide off her back. Although her little act in the city worked, Zea had to continue playing her part until she could find a way to safely ditch the drunk mare. Zea could have easily dumped her at the base of a tree just outside of Canterlot, but she did not want to risk ending her charade too quickly. Several Canterlot ponies had given her glances and some of the guards on the streets questioned her on the way out. If any of them had the slightest suspicion about her, then the possibility that somepony was watching her every move was anything but remote.
Zea carried her passenger higher into the air until both their hooves began grazing the swirly tops of the moonlit clouds in starry sky. The invasion apparently did not impact the beautiful night that Princess Luna had brought forth. If it weren't for Zea's situation, and the earth pony's snoring, this flight would have been more relaxing. Zea darted her eyes constantly as she searched for a safe place to leave the slumbering pony. As Zea passed by the Everfree Forest, she spotted one place that was sure to take the earth pony in: Ponyville Hospital.
While the most of the lights in the building were off overnight, the nurses and doctors were still awake tending to the needs of their patients. Thankfully, the sliding doors to the lobby were still open and Zea's entrance was greeted by a pink, pudgy mare. Zea slid the purple one onto the array of cushions and laid her on her side. "Goodness! What happened to her?" Zea set the bottle on the receptionist desk. "I found her passed out on the ground from drinking. She's still breathing, but I brought her here for safety." "We'll take good care of her. Before you go, please fill out this incident report for me while I have the doctors check her. If you have somewhere to go right now, just leave the form on the desk when you're done."
Zea hesitated for a moment as a clipboard was thrusted into her front hooves. She glanced at the instructions and captions lining the boxes and lines as she took the pen from the clip. Although the form had asked for her contact information, she left much of it blank but was brave enough to leave her three-letter name at the top before hastily completing the rest of the report. After placing the tablet down on the counter, Zea trotted out and past the security guards outside the hospital before anypony could stop and ask her more uncomfortable questions.
Once out of sight, Zea took flight once again and headed towards the dirt path leading into the Everfree Forest, quickly noting the layout of the town as she glided above the rooftops. With nopony else to bother her, Zea landed before the trees and began her cautious trek under the dark canopy of the lush forest. As Zea's silhouette faded into the dark, thick cover of fog, sickly green flames enveloped her body and the smoldering figure of a changeling emerged to take her place.