Scootaloo stretched out along the floor of the clubhouse as she watched the sun set over Ponyville. It was a satisfying conclusion to yet another fun–filled day of crusading for her cutie mark. She looked at her blank flank wistfully, yearning for the day she would get her own — if that was even possible. To be honest, she was starting to have her doubts, but she still had hope that she would discover her special talent.
There was a gentle thud of a pony treading on the steps outside, and Scootaloo shot up in alarm. If anypony found her here, it would lead to uncomfortable questions. She grabbed her scooter and made for the window, only to find Rainbow Dash blocking it. "Hey Squirt! How's it going?"
"Oh, um...Hi Rainbow," Scootaloo said cautiously. "What brings you to the clubhouse? Are you here to help me find my cutie mark?"
Twilight stepped into the clubhouse, followed by a stiff–backed Thunderball. "No, we just want to ask you some questions."
Scootaloo's pupils shrank as she looked between Twilight and Thunderball. "Q–Questions?"
Twilight looked around the clubhouse. "Scootaloo, what are you doing by yourself here so late in the evening? Shouldn't you be at home?"
Scootaloo giggled neriously. "Oh! Ha ha, yeah, home. I was about to head back there. I just came by to pick up some things I left behind earlier. You know, while I was with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Forgot my scooter, can you believe it?"
Rainbow sighed and put her hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. "Kid, you don't have to lie to us. Can't you tell us pony to pony why you're not at home?"
Scootaloo's eyes darted between the window and the door, as if calculating her chances at escaping.
"What's the matter, Scootaloo? Don't you trust me?" Rainbow asked quietly.
The pegasus filly gulped nervously. "No, it's not that. I just didn't want you to think I was uncool."
"Come on, Squirt. What could possibly be uncool about your parents?"
Scootaloo bit her lip. "I...I don't have any."
Twilight looked shocked. "Scootaloo, a filly like you just can't be living all by herself. It's too dangerous! Why didn't you tell anypony you were an orphan?"
"Maybe she isn't," Thunderball growled as he advanced on Scootaloo. His iron horseshoes clanked menacingly as he stalked towards the filly. "How does a filly enroll herself in school? You need an adult to handle the paperwork."
"I don't understand," Scootaloo whimpered, crouching down on the ground.
Twilight’s horn began to glow with magic. "It's alright, Scootaloo. One spell will sort this all out."
"Rainbow! Don't let her cast another spell on me!" Scootaloo shouted as she dived behind her idol. "I still have nightmares about the 'want it, need it' spell."
"Okay, fair point," Twilight conceded as her horn lost its magic.
"Excuse me," Thunderball growled, "but what happened to your parents?"
Scootaloo looked down at the floor. "I never knew my dad, and my mom was always yelling at me about how useless I was because I couldn't fly, so when I was old enough to ride my scooter I just...left."
Twilight looked puzzled. "Then how did you enroll in school?"
Scootaloo scuffed her hoof on the clubhouse floor, mumbling something about Miss Cheerilee helping her.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Cheerilee? Well...I suppose we should pay her a visit and clear this up."
The trip to Cheerilee's house was quiet except for the buzzing of Scootaloo's wings as she rode her scooter. Rainbow Dash in particular seemed deep in thought over the revelation that Scootaloo was a runaway. Ten minutes later, they were standing outside Cheerilee's house. The schoolteacher answered the door with an apron on her waist and a frown on her face. "Can I help you, Princess Twilight?"
"Sorry for coming so late," Twilight said. "But I was wondering, could you tell me how Scootaloo was enrolled in your school? We just found out that she doesn't have any parents."
Cheerilee looked around nervously. "Perhaps we should talk about this inside?"
Thunderball stepped forward and fixed his stare on her. "Just answer the question."
Scootaloo walked up and patted Cheerilee on the leg. "Miss Cheerilee, it's ok. They're not going to throw you in jail or anything."
Cheerilee took a deep breath before releasing it slowly. "Alright. When Scootaloo first showed up in town, I talked to her and asked her why she wasn't in school, and she told me about her home situation. I couldn't leave her alone, so I enrolled her in the school so at least she'd have an education and the chance to meet some friends."
Twilight was completely unsatisfied with the answer. "But you never called social services? Scootaloo needs to be in school, but she also needs a family. A filly can't just live on her own."
Cheerilee stamped the ground in agitation. "I tried, but each time they said they'd get back to me and never did."
"Let me get this straight," Rainbow Dash interrupted with her usual lack of sensitivity. "You decided to leave Scootaloo out to fend for herself just because Ponyville Social Services is a bureaucratic nightmare? Even if there was nothing stopping you from taking her into your home?"
Cheerilee held back a stream of tears at the accusation. "I do let her stay. But my house is so small. Scootaloo spends a lot of time sleeping over with her friends and sometimes in the clubhouse when it's warm and she needs some time to herself. I'm honestly doing everything I can."
Rainbow Dash dropped to her knees and hugged Scootaloo. "Alright, from this moment on, you're staying with me, Squirt."
Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash with adoration in her eyes. "R–Really? I get to live with you?"
"Yeah," Rainbow said as her wings wrapped tightly around the foal. "Can't have a filly as awesome as you living by herself. You're with me now."
Cheerilee and Twilight both smiled at the news, but Thunderball's frown deepened.
"We still don't know if Scootaloo's telling the truth," the agent pointed out.
"The truth?" Cheerilee looked outraged. "Why would a filly run away if she wasn't suffering?"
"Maybe she wasn't running away," Thunderball growled. "Maybe she was sent."
Twilight shot him a stern glance. "Thunderball, that's enough."
Scootaloo looked from Thunderball to Twilight in bewilderment. "Sent? By who?"
"‘Whom,’ dear," Cheerilee corrected reflexively, to Twilight’s approval and Rainbow Dash’s incredulity.
"Never mind." Thunderball walked away from the ponies rejoicing over the fact that Scootaloo had found a new home, too wrapped up in his own thoughts to be happy for the runaway. When he reached the street he noticed Bon Bon pulling a cart towards the town square.
"Hey." He waved casually. "How were the muffins?"
Bon Bon smiled nervously. "Muff...? Oh! They were really...good!"
There was a brief pause in the conversation as their eyes locked. Thunderball moved towards her without breaking eye contact. "You know, I could have sworn I gave you cupcakes."
Bon Bon panicked at the look of hatred in Thunderball's eyes and ditched the cart with a panicked whinny so she could run down the street at full speed. Thunderball flew into her and bowled her over so that she landed on her back.
"Your Highness!" he shouted as he seized her in a headlock. "I've got one!"
Bon Bon struggled against his iron grip. "Let me go! I'm not a changeling!"
"Then how did you know I was looking for changelings?" Thunderball snarled, tightening his hold.
Twilight rushed over to the two. "Hold her still! I've got the spell ready!"
A beam of purple light hit Bon Bon, and the pony glowed briefly before turning into the exact same pony she was before. Thunderball released her in shock.
"Ugh. I t–told you," she said dizzily.
"But if she's not a changeling, then that means...Oh no!" Before Twilight could stop him, Thunderball took off into the air.
It took him less than two minutes to reach Bon Bon's house. He kicked down the door and ploughed through the house until he reached the bedroom, where he saw Lyra tied up on the bed and Bon Bon's doppelganger standing over her with a whip. Thunderball reflexively charged "Bon Bon" hard enough that he knocked her through the bedroom wall.
Outside, the changeling Bon Bon kicked Thunderball in the head, which loosened his hold. Green energy flickered around her as her coat turned black. Holes grew in her legs, while a jagged horn and insect–like wings appeared on her body. She stretched her new wings and took off towards the sky to freedom. Thunderball shot above her like a lightening bolt and dived down on her like a hawk. A pair of iron horseshoes crushed her wings in a maneuver intended to shatter an opponent's shoulders and wing sockets.
The force of impact carried them down through the branches of a tree. Thunderball grabbed the changeling the moment they hit the ground and turned her up to face him.
"Start talking," he snarled. "How many more of you are there?"
The changeling whimpered in fright, and he raised his hoof to strike her. Something hard and metallic hit Thunderball on the back of the head just before he could land the blow. He rolled with the hit and turned around to grab his assailant, pinning her to the trunk of the tree as he brought his free hoof up.
He stopped when he saw that he had caught Scootaloo.
"Run child!" the changeling shouted in a rasping hiss as she struggled to get up. "Save yourself!"
Thunderball lashed out at the insect with his rear hoof and swept her legs out from under her as he dropped Scootaloo. The changeling flailed around in panic and scrambled away from him the best she could despite her injuries before collapsing on the ground.
"Wait! Don't hurt her!" Scootaloo pleaded. She tried to hold Thunderball back, but a rainbow–colored blur swept her up and carried her away before she could reach him.
"Everypony just calm down!" Twilight shouted as she encased the entire group in a force field. "Thunderball, you can let me handle this now."
Thunderball continued advancing on the changeling as if he had not even heard her, with murderous intent in his eyes.
"Thunderball!" Twilight's shout penetrated the adrenaline clouding Thunderball's mind, freezing him in mid–step as he looked back and forth between Twilight and the changeling, unsure of what he should do. "Stand down!"
The order tore through his hesitation like a sonic rainboom, and he reluctantly backed away from the changeling.
Twilight approached the changeling and lowered her head to speak with it. "Alright. First thing's first, how badly injured are you?"
"I am...intact," the changeling rasped as she rolled onto her stomach. Twilight could see her wings shifting about as the broken bones rearranged themselves. "I will be fine."
Twilight ignored Thunderball’s look of outrage and helped the changeling to its feet. "Now, why don't you tell me what you're doing here? Are you working for Queen Chrysalis?"
The changeling shook her head. "The queen does not rule us."
Thunderball could restrain himself no longer and snarled. "All changelings have to obey their hive queen."
Twilight scratched her chin. "Actually, I think they can become independent if they've been separated from the hivemind for a prolonged period of time. Once their empathic bond with the queen is severed, they no longer feel her desires as strongly and are free to develop their own personalities."
The suggestion was greeted with a great deal of hostility from Thunderball. "I think you're getting real life confused with Star Trot. We can't trust a word she says. She needs to be locked up along with her friends."
Rainbow Dash hugged Scootaloo possessively. "Yeah! Those things are dangerous! Scootaloo, why'd you even think about getting involved?"
Scootaloo looked nervously down at the ground. A green glow slowly enveloped her as she reverted back to her true form. "I'm sorry I didn't tell anypony I just...I just wanted to fit in."
Rainbow dropped Scootaloo scrambled away from the newly revealed changeling. "Who are you? What did you do with Scootaloo?"
Scootaloo started crying from Rainbow’s rejection. "Nothing! I just disguised myself as an ordinary filly so that I could live here!"
The confession earned hear an angry flare from Rainbow Dash. "So that you could feed here, you mean. Is that the reason you've been trying to get close to me? Just so you could have a free meal?"
"No, Rainbow Dash! I really think you're the coolest pony in Ponyville, I just didn't want you to hate me! Please don't hate me!"
Rainbow Dash looked at the foal–sized changeling sobbing on the ground. After several agonizing seconds, she put her hoof on Scootaloo's head. "No, I don't hate you, Squirt. I'm disappointed that you didn't tell me, but I don't hate you."
Scootaloo hugged Rainbow Dash with both hooves as she turned back into a pegasus. "Does this mean we can still live together?"
Rainbow embraced Scootaloo with hooves and wings. "Sure thing, Scootaling."
"Absolutely not," Thunderball interrupted in outrage. "Those things are a threat to Equestria."
"Thunderball," Twilight said, her voice sharp enough to cut through the stallion’s ire. "I've known Scootaloo for years. She's no threat to anypony."
He turned towards Twilight and growled like an animal, his wild eyes full of fury and of fear. For a moment, he resembled a timberwolf more than a pony. "You don't know what they're capable of!"
Twilight stood her ground and responded calmly. "Yes, Thunderball. Yes I do. Not only was I there during the invasion of Canterlot, but...Celestia sent me your file."
Thunderball’s voice rose almost hysterically as he stamped his hoof into the ground. "Then you know what they did! They've attacked our friends, subverted our government, kidnapped ponies, and worse! They can't be trusted!"
The older changeling on the ground looked like she might pass out from her injuries at any moment, but she managed to stay awake. She eyed Thunderball cautiously, took in a deep breath and called his name. "Thunderball..."
Thunderball turned on her, his eyes blazing with hatred. "WHAT?"
"I...My brother...He told me so many wonderful things about Equestria," she said in a softer voice. "About how all ponies loved each other and lived happily. And...he told me about you."
"Your brother was a spy and an assassin," Thunderball snarled. "He killed Skyfall!"
The changeling's voice trembled. "Yes, he was...and he did. When Chrysalis sent him out, he listened to her every word, but the friendship he saw changed him. If he wanted to kill you, would he have saved your life?"
Thunderball's hair slowly stood on end as he stalked towards the changeling with murder in his eyes.
"Thunderball, stop."
He looked over to see Twilight's hoof on his shoulder. Thunderball closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe as memories of Skyfall came flooding back into his mind. He saw them diving for explosive mines in full scuba gear. He saw them racing through cramped caverns with gas masks on as their instructors flooded the air with noxious gas. He saw the great hive disappear into the horizon as he escaped the changeling ambush, only to see his best friend’s dead body slowly turn into the black, chitinous form of the enemy.
"Your friends were an important part of your life. You should never forget them or their sacrifices for you, but that doesn't mean you have to live in the past. They would have wanted you to have a rich and fulfilling life. You need to rediscover that happy pony who joined the army so long ago."
Thunderball's voice choked up with anguish. "I...I think he died with his friends back in the Badlands."
"I know it is hard to lose friends, and healing can be painful, but you can't live life alone." She nudged him when he refused to meet her gaze. "Thunderball, look at me."
Thunderball opened his watery eyes to see Twilight looking at him kindly. Her soft violet eyes shone with more compassion than he could bear.
"I ask you this not as your princess, but as a fellow pony: will you let me be your friend?"
Thunderball turned towards Twilight and rested his head on her shoulder. Tears rolled out of his eyes and onto her wings as his breathing became ragged.
"You are not alone," Twilight whispered. "You will never be alone, as long as you have ponies..." She looked at the two changelings near them and quickly added, "...friends, who care for you and support you, no matter who they are."
"I'm sorry too," the adult changeling whispered. "Princess Twilight, we never meant to cause this much trouble. If you will allow it, we...we would be willing to leave Ponyville and go elsewhere." She held back tears as she made the offer. "It might be best for everypony involved."
"Let's not make any rash decisions here," Twilight said. "Can we all talk this over tomorrow, at the library? Bon Bon, er..."
"Lyra and Bon Bon call me Bonling," the changeling replied.
"Bonling, could you bring your changeling friends to meet me there? I would like to talk to you all and see if we can reach a compromise."
Bonling nodded. "I will convince as many to come as I can."