//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: From Equestria with Love 
// by Juntao112 
//------------------------------//

Thunderball hung his gas mask and combat suit in his locker after another long day of combat maneuvers. The locker room was empty save for himself, but the door soon opened, and the rest of his squad walked in with solemn expressions on their faces. Thunderball saluted Major Goldeneye as the squad took up positions around him.

The Major looked at him sadly. "Lieutenant, we need to talk. It's about your performance."

Thunderball was puzzled. His ranking was well above average for the regiment, and he had a clean discipline record, assuming that the army had never found out about that one incident with Cold Snap, Wind Shear, and the fruitcake shortly before deployment to Saddle Arabia. "Sir?" 

"You've done well, Thunderball. Too well." His squad began to change; their coats turned black as they grew horns and shimmering wings. "You are a threat to everything we've worked for."

Thunderball's combat training kicked in, and he caught Goldeneye under the chin with a well–placed uppercut, which splattered the pony's jaw into a green pulp. He turned with the momentum and used his rear hooves to kick Skyfall in the chest, sending the fellow airborne infantrypony into a row of lockers, which cut his body so badly that it sprayed green ichor. Icebreaker lobbed a grenade at him, but Thunderball caught it in his hooves and sent it flying back towards the sapper. It hit Icebreaker in the side and exploded, liquefying him in a spray of green gore which clung to the floor and walls of the locker room.

"You've killed us again," Icebreaker's voice taunted him as the goo stirred and began to pull together before Thunderball's eyes. "All you do is bring death to ponies. How many more times will it happen? How many more times will you let your friends die? How many more ponies will you kill?"

He looked around to see the others recovering in a similar manner. Thunderball dashed past the regenerating Goldeneye and ran out the door to seek help. He turned right in the corridor and found himself in the Golden Oaks library, where Princess Twilight and the other Bearers of the Elements of Harmony had already assembled.

"Your Highness, the changelings are attacking!"

"Yes, Thunderball, I know," Twilight said serenely. "That is why I have called the others here."

Her five friends gathered around her and began to transform into changelings, while Twilight revealed herself to be the queen.

"Hold still," she hissed, "and it will be easier for you. Resistance is futile."

Thunderball flinched as a ray of bright green light shot out from her horn and engulfed his body. He felt his skin tingling and looked down at his hooves to see that they were slowly turning black...

–

Thunderball shot up out of bed and rolled out onto the floor in a defensive position as he looked around for changelings. The cavern walls around him seemed to devour all light, and he could hear the skitter of changeling drones massing in the darkness. His eyes darted back and forth and he saw a sliver of light high up in the cavern wall, his only hope at escape. Thunderball scrambled to his hooves and bolted up the stairs until he burst through a half–shut door into the well–lit library.

Panting heavily, he leaned against the window and bathed in Celestia's glorious sun as ephemeral images of his dream swam through his mind before fading into nothingness. He shook his head and tried to remember how he had gotten back to the princess's library. Everything from sitting down to dinner at Sweet Apple Acres onwards was a vague blur of colors and sounds. Thunderball wondered if he had managed to get another concussion. His head hurt, his vision was blurry, and his coordination was nonexistent. However, the smell of alcohol emanating from his body, the foul taste in his mouth, and the dryness in his throat indicated that he had simply had too much to drink. Again.

A short time later, the stallion walked into the kitchen in search of some water, only to find Twilight standing before him cooking breakfast. Thunderball slowly backed out of the kitchen hoping that she would not notice his presence, but she turned around before he could escape and smiled warmly.

"Glad to see you're awake!" Twilight grabbed Thunderball before he could excuse himself and dragged him over to the table. "Have a seat; lunch is almost ready."

Thunderball’s stomach rebelled at the thought of food, but he miraculously managed to keep it under control.. "...Lunch?"

Twilight smirked. "Yes, the second meal of the day, commonly eaten around noon."

Thunderball caught himself before he could roll his eyes and forced himself to stare at the table. "I know what lunch is, Your Highness. But you shouldn't be..."

Twilight looked around the kitchen. "Cooking? But how would we eat if I didn’t cook?"

"Well, not exactly..." Thunderball struggled to find the right words to tell Twilight that she should not be attending him like she was a common serving mare. "Oh, never mind. Why did you let me sleep in so late? I'm supposed to be helping you, Your Highness."

Twilight levitated a hearty vegetable stew onto the dining table. He thought it smelled surprisingly good despite his tender stomach. "Well, I figured you needed to sleep off all the cider you drank last night."

Thunderball wanted to slap himself in the face for making a spectacle out of himself in front of royalty. "I don't remember...How much did I have?"

"I can't say. Rainbow says she found you passed out on your way back from the outhouse." Twilight laid a large salad next to the stew and pulled out a chair. "Come on, eat."

Thunderball remained standing. "After you, Your Highness."

Twilight sat herself down and helped herself to a generous portion of the salad. "Now will you please sit down and eat something? You need to rehydrate yourself after drinking alcohol. Ethanol interferes with the body's production of vasopressin, which is a hormone that restricts blood vessels and retains water. (That is, incidentally, why the blood vessels dilate and bladder fills up while drinking.) The ensuing dehydration results in a headache and thirst."

"You don't say?" Thunderball was still trying to adjust to the fact that a princess was serving him lunch.

"Oh yes! And the metabolism of ethanol in the body produces acetaldehyde as a toxic byproduct. Fortunately, it's then quickly converted into acetic acid, but it's still pretty bad for you. And processing all that ethanol drains your body of vitamin B6, since it's a cofactor in the amino acid metabolism of ethanol."

Twilight stared him down with a look that would've made his mother proud. "So eat."

"Yes, Your Highness." Thunderball obediently helped himself to a bowl of stew. Maybe it would help him feel better.

Twilight massaged her temples. "I really wish you'd stop calling me that. Did you ever give Celestia this much trouble?"

Thunderball looked up from his stew with a slight grin on his face. "Actually, there was this one time…"

_

Thunderball cantered into the throne room as M, the black unicorn mare who directed the Secret Intelligence Service, called him in to deliver his report to Princess Celestia. He walked into the room and gave a respectful bow to the alicorn on the throne before him, followed by a salute to the intelligence officer.

Celestia regarded him from on high with interest. "So am I to understand that the changelings are planning something?"

Thunderball stood rigidly at attention as he answered his diarch. "Yes, Your Majesty. I was there when we took out a cell in the Foal Mountains. They had maps of Canterlot and a list of key ponies, including Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadenza."

Celestia remained calm, though Thunderball could see concern in her eyes. "Then we must move to secure Canterlot — though it will be difficult with the upcoming wedding. It looks like we'll have to call in MID–05 to oversee security."

M nodded nonchalantly. "I have every confidence that the Internal Security Service is up to the task. Meanwhile MID–06 will move immediately to counter the threat abroad. I am sure the SAS would be willing to second us some troopers for this operation if we required more horsepower."

Thunderball saluted stiffly. "The regiment stands ready to serve, Your Majesty. MID–06 has been searching for changeling hives for years now, and we have a list of possible locations in hoof. My squad is ready to attempt an infiltration and uncover more information at the source."

Celestia smiled and filled the room with radiant warmth. "The Crown appreciates your devotion, but I assure you, you can stop addressing me as 'Your Majesty,' Lieutenant."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"...Incidentally, my sister and I require a discreet stallion to service us this evening. Would you be willing to oblige us?"

"Of course, Your Maj—" He blinked. "What?" 

Celestia's grin flashed as brightly as her solar namesake. "Got you!"

_

Twilight stared at Thunderball and looked utterly scandalized. "Celestia did not say that."

Thunderball shrugged and went back to his stew. "If you say so. Your Highness."

There was a tap on the window. Twilight and Thunderball looked over to see Rainbow Dash waving at them. "Morning, Twi! How's my favorite princess doing?"

Twilight telekinetically opened the window to let Rainbow in. "Slightly exasperated, but I’ll live. What brings you here today, Rainbow?"

Rainbow proudly puffed up her chest. "I'm here to help Thunderball find Bon Bon. Gotta help him apologize for ruining her night at the Gala, right?"

Thunderball frowned. "I might not remember much about the Gala, but I recall it being an utter disaster because of what some other ponies did. Ponies in Canterlot were still talking about it when you crashed the Garden Party. You should have heard what some of them were saying about you."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Say, what was an office jockey doing at both the Garden Party and the Gala, anyways?"

Thunderball downed a good mouthful of stew briefly before answering. "...Paperwork."

"Like I'm supposed to believe that," Rainbow said with an amused smirk. "I'm the Element of Loyalty, not Gullibility." She circled around him slowly. "Does the military spend all its time filing reports? That would explain why I haven't seen the army around much when we've had emergencies."

Twilight cleared her throat. "Actually, the Equestrian army is busy suppressing bandits, hunting down dangerous magics, watching the borders, securing important locations, guarding the royal family, fighting dragons, and repelling changelings and other threats."

Rainbow's eyes lit up. "You fight dragons? Like the one that smogged over Ponyville, or the big purple one that attacked the village a few months ago?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed dangerously. "That last one was Spike! And he was just going through a phase."

Thunderball quickly shifted the topic to a less unpleasant one. "Actually, fighting dragons is how I got my first bravery citation. I drop–kicked a dragon right between the eyes. Blinded him with a flash of lightning, too. I'm pretty sure the thunderclap deafened him as well."

Rainbow leaned in excitedly. "And did that take him down?"

Thunderball shook his head. "Oh no, it just made him angrier. He flung me into a barn and set it on fire. My hair didn't grow back for a month."

Rainbow slapped his back approvingly. "We're not so different, you and me."

Thunderball wanted very much to disagree with her, but decided that the conversation would be over faster if he remained silent and ate his stew.

Twilight took the opportunity to start a new line of conversation. "So RD, how well do you know Scootaloo?"

Rainbow leaned back in her chair. "Well enough. She hangs out with me all the time!"

"Good. Then can you tell me something about her parents?

Rainbow slowly drew herself up in the chair. "Come to think of it, no. I don’t think I’ve ever actually met them. Why do you ask?"

Twilight levitated a sheaf of papers over to the table from her study. "Well, I was going over Ponyville census records yesterday afternoon, and I noticed some anomalies. There was an unusual increase in population two years ago, around when Scootaloo arrived. Records show Scootaloo was enrolled in school shortly after, but I can't find any trace of her parents. At all. It's like they don't exist."

Rainbow raised her eyebrows. "Are you saying that Scoots is a changeling?"

"Either that or there is something terribly wrong with Ponyville's recordkeeping department."

Thunderball looked alarmed. "Your Highness, Scootaloo knows I'm an SIS agent. We should move immediately to take her into custody for questioning."

"Missing records aren't proof of wrongdoing, Thunderball," Twilight said sternly. "Let me handle this matter; you go about your business, and I'll let you know when I need help."

Thunderball looked at her skeptically. "If you say so, Your Highness. Come on, Rainbow, show me where Bon Bon lives."

The two pegasi left with Thunderball's apology gift in tow, while Twilight wrote a letter to Princess Celestia. Spike sent it off in a puff of green smoke while Twilight called for Owlowiscious. "I hope you're ready for a special assignment, Owlowiscious. How do you feel about shadowing Scootaloo?"

"Who?"

Meanwhile, in Ponyville...

"You really don't like changelings, do you?" Rainbow  observed as the two pegasi walked towards Bon Bon's house.

Thunderball kicked a rock in the road hard enough that it flew into a grove of trees thirty feet away. "Who does? You were there when they invaded Canterlot."

Rainbow proudly drew herself up to full height. "I was in the thick of the fighting. Got captured and treated to a front row seat when Shining Armor kicked Queen Chrysalis and her minions out of Canterlot. What about you?"

Thunderball kicked another rock into the grove. "I woke up in a full body cast three days after; I don't remember anything, but they say a tower collapsed on me at some point during the fighting."

Rainbow winced sympathetically. "Ouch. Guess that explains why we never saw you kicking flank. Hey, were you around for Discord as well?"

Thunderball grimaced as he remembered the chaos Discord had unleashed. "Cactus. Don't ask."

"You know, you're not so bad once you start talking," Rainbow chuckled. "Now all we need to do is to get you to loosen up around Twilight."

The suggestion drew a sigh of exasperation from the stallion. "Look, Rainbow Dash. I know you mean well, but when one pony's obligated to take orders from another, friendship is out of the question."

"So? That's no reason for you to act like you're always on duty, especially around other ponies."

Thunderball looked away. "Sometimes it's easier to be your job than yourself."

Thunderball stopped talking after that, and Rainbow led him to Bon Bon's house in silence. She rang the doorbell and was greeted by Lyra.

"Oh, hello Rainbow Dash!" Lyra waved enthusiastically. "What's up?"

"My friend wants to talk to Bon Bon." Rainbow gestured to Thunderball, who nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let me just call her over." Lyra went back in the house and came out with Bon Bon. Thunderball immediately recognized her as the same mare he had run into yesterday.

"Ooh, what's this about?" Bon Bon said as she caught sight of the box of cupcakes. "Did I get a package?"

"Sort of." Thunderball opened the box to reveal 13 chocolate cucpakes nestled neatly against one another. "I thought I'd buy you some cupcakes as an apology."

Bon Bon took the cupcakes, but looked confused. "For what?"

Thunderball blinked. "You...Didn't you run into me yesterday? We had a conversation about how we met in Canterlot last year at the Gala."

"Oh yeah! Sorry, I was a bit distracted." Bon Bon grinned as she put a foreleg around Lyra’s neck. "I was busy making plans with Lyra that night."

Lyra blushed and kicked Bon Bon in the leg. "You don't need to tell everypony about that, Sweetie."

"I...see." Thunderball's expression was blank as he backed off of their doorstep. "Well, enjoy the cupcakes anyways. Sorry to bother you."

He walked back towards the library at a brisk pace, leaving Rainbow Dash to explain things to the confused couple. When she had finished and caught up with him, she could see that he was sweating.

"Hey! What was that about?"

"Either Bon Bon is a changeling, or I ran into a changeling impersonating her yesterday," Thunderball whispered. "We need to report this to the Princess immediately."

The agent broke into a brisk trot and did not stop until he reached the library. Rainbow opened the door from the inside and beckoned him in. "Come on, Twilight's waiting for you."

Thunderball blinked. "How did you...?"

Rainbow flapped her wings.

"Right," he said. "Let's go."

Thunderball raced into the study and voiced his suspicions without any preamble. "Your Highness, Bon Bon has been acting suspiciously around me. Yesterday she recognized me and said we had met at the Gala, but today she did not recognize me at all. I recommend we detain her and her partner immediately until we can confirm that they are ponies. We should establish a quarantine of Ponyville and begin testing its inhabitants right away."

Twilight stared at him in surprise, her quill hanging out of her open mouth. "Thunderball, do you have any idea how many ponies we'd be rounding up? Not to mention the fact that it would be completely illegal and a violation of privacy?"

Thunderball’s nostrils flared. "This is an emergency. You can invoke changeling security protocol 23 and initiate—"

Twilight drew herself up to her full height and stared Thunderball straight in the eyes. "I will do no such thing. Yes, we have a changeling problem, but I will not start a witch hunt. Leave it to me to sort it out."

Thunderball gave her a long, hard look. "As you wish, Your Highness. What, then, is our plan of action?"

Twilight pulled out a chart stand from out of nowhere and set a large chart on it. "I'm glad you asked. Sit down and be ready to take notes; the presentation begins now."

Two hours later...

"...And that is how we can safely identify and capture the changelings," Twilight finished. She looked around the library to see that Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep in her chair, while Thunderball's eyes had glazed over as his mouth took notes on autopilot. "Err...Did you get all of that? May I should start over again."

"No!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she sprang awake. "I mean...I understood everything."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Then maybe you can tell me what Owlowiscious is doing?"

Rainbow began to stammer. "Well, um, he's obviously out on a daring, super secret, and totally awesome mission to..."

Thunderball sighed and decided to toss her a bone. "Follow Scootaloo."

Rainbow nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! So we can learn..."

"Who her parents are."

"And find out why they haven't been paying taxes!" Rainbow concluded dramatically.

Thunderball facehoofed. "If they are changelings or not."

Rainbow blushed. "Uh, yeah! That too!"

"Well, I'm glad somepony was paying attention," Twilight nodded with approval. "Any questions?"

Thunderball shook his head. "No, none at all, Your Highness. Although...Might I suggest we rest up in preparation for tonight's activities?" Thunderball slumped down in his chair, his jaw creaking as he tried (unsuccessfully) not to yawn. "We'll need to be...wide...awake..."

"Yeah." Rainbow did not even trying to hide her yawn. "Gotta...be alert...changelings."

Twilight levitated a couple of blankets and covered the two pegasi as they drifted off into a deep slumber.

"Well, at least I'll have plenty of time to practice my anti–changeling spells!" she said cheerfully as the room filled with the sound of ponies snoring.