//------------------------------// // The Beginning of the End // Story: A Canterlot Invasion // by Smithawits //------------------------------// "You mean they allowed changelings to be a part of the Royal Guard back then!?" Surprise asked. "No, but we did use them as messengers and decoders." "Wow, how many changelings did you guys have." "Not very many." "Why did they switch sides?" "They all had their reasons. I believe Hawkeye's reason for switching was that he was an outcast among his own because he couldn't fly; he had wings, but,for some unknown reason,they could never keep him in the air for more than a few seconds. He also looked different from normal Changelings. You know that most changelings have a bluish green color?" "Yeah." "Well, Hawkeye had a deep, blood red color. It made him look fierce; but he was almost as harmless as a fly." "Wasn't it hard for the Changelings to live in Canterlot?" "Oh yes, they were instructed by Celestia herself to stay in an assigned disguise at nearly all times; they were only allowed to be in their true form in their private rooms. They were also under constant watch by the guards; that's actually how Hawkeye and I met; I was assigned to watch over him." "Was it weird to befriend Hawkeye?" "Actually, he's the one who befriended me. It was awkward being around each other at first, but we quickly became close friends. My story starts two days before the invasion, at his room." * * * * "Hey, Hawkeye! You in there?" Swiftwing said as he knocked on the door. His question was followed by a faint 'come in' from the other side and he entered the room. Hawkeye was in his Changeling form and laying on a couch with a paper and quill in front of him. "Hel-lo Swiftwing," Hawkeye said in a broken Equestrian. "Hey, Hawk." Swiftwing looked down at the paper in front of Hawkeye. "What are you writing?" "I am writ-ing a let-ter to my brother." "Still trying to get him here in Canterlot?" "Yes I am." "Have you made any further progress with Canterlot security?" Hawkeye folded his ears down slightly, "yes, but he won't be a-ble to come for a while lon-ger still." "I'm sorry, Hawk. I hope you can get him here soon." "Me as well. So, what brings you...here?" * * * * "Hawkeye had a brother?" Surprise interrupted. "Indeed he did; a twin. Hawkeye showed me a picture of him. He, like Hawkeye, was different than normal Changelings; while Hawkeye had a deep red color, his brother had a deep yellow." "What was his name?" "Goodness me...if I remember right, his name translated as...Lightingbug...maybe? His name was hard to translate." Surprise giggled. "Changeling names are funny." "Well remember, our names probably sound just as funny to them." "Yeah I guess so. What was Lightningbug like?" "I don't know; I was never able to meet him, but according to Hawkeye, Lightningbug was gentle, but a strong leader. Hawkeye also told me stories about how Lightningbug would often stand up for him whenever he was being picked on by other Changelings." "Oh I see! Ok, go back to your story." * * * * "Me as well. So, what brings you...here? "Well, I'm off duty for the rest of the evening so I thought-" Swiftwing started to say but was interrupted by Hawkeye who was chuckling. "What's so funny?" Swiftwing asked. "You said...doo-ty." Swiftwing let out a sigh. "That is probably one of the most overused jokes in the history of jokes." "Over-used, but still funny," Hawkeye said with a toothy grin. Swiftwing smiled,"Yeah, I guess it is. Anyway, I'm off for the rest of the night. Do you want to do something tonight?" "Like what?" "I don't know, let's go have fun; my sister has gone to Manehatten for a business trip so it's a colt's night out! Let's go paint the town...something." Hawkeye tilted his head in confusion. "Paint the town?" * * * * "Why did he talk so funny?" Surprise interrupted again, "I thought the Changelings knew our language." "Hmm? Oh, they knew our language, but some had trouble speaking it; Hawkeye was one those who had trouble. In most cases, it was easier for him to speak his language so, to make it easier for him, he taught me a little bit of his language; not enough to where I could speak it fluently, but just enough so I could understand him." "Was it difficult learning?" Surprise asked. "At first, but once you get their alphabet and basic sentence structures down, it's fairly easy." "Oh I see. I asked if it was difficult to learn because I have this friend named Gentle Breeze who is trying to learn another language but she is having a difficult time choosing which one so I decided to try to help her and-" "Uh, Surprise?" "Yes, Mister Swiftwing?" "Mind I get back to my story?" Surprise blinked, "Oh yeah! Sorry about that." * * * * Hawkeye tilted his head in confusion. "Paint the town?" "Don't worry about it," Swiftwing said as he shook his head. "It's just an expression." "Oh, o-kay. That sounds real-ly...uh...good! How about we-" before Hawkeye could finish, a fax machine in the room clicked to life. The two watched as the message typed out and glided onto the floor. "What's that?" Swiftwing asked. Hawkeye levitated the paper and held it up to him. "It is a cod-ed message..." after studying the symbols for a little bit, Hawkeye levitated a small leather-bound book, which he used as the decoder, off of an end table and onto a desk along with the message, a new parchment of paper, and some quill and ink. He then sat down and began to decipher the message. Swiftwing walked up behind him and watched. "I was always amazed at how intelligent Hawkeye was. There were some messages we had that would take the other guys hours to crack, yet he could do it in nearly no time at all. The same was true with this message; after he deciphered most of it, he turned to me and gave me his 'worried' look. I looked down at the message; I didn't know a whole lot about coded messages, but I knew enough to tell that this wasn't good." "Cel-es-tia must know about this!" Hawkeye said. "About what? What is it?" "It is a threat against Can-ter-lot!" "Well I kinda figured that, but what kind of threat?" "What do you mean 'what kind,' how many types of threats are there? Look, we just need to tell Cel-es-tia about this, and then I'll tell you later. Come on let us go!" Hawkeye started to gallop out of the room, when Swiftwing spoke. "Wait..." Swiftwing said in a monotone voice. "What is the matter?" Hawkeye said as he slid to a stop. "Your disguise..." Hawkeye blinked a few times, "Oh yeah!" With a flash of green, Hawkeye went from his changeling form, to his disguise which was a brown unicorn stallion with light brown hair, and a scroll for a cutie mark. The two then galloped to Celestia's chambers. "After we had delivered the message, Celestia immediately ordered Shining to bolster Canterlot's defenses; after getting more guards posted, I watched as the, back then, young Captain of the Guard casted a magical shield over Canterlot that only he could perform. Then, Celestia and Luna began taking turns watching over Canterlot; Celestia would keep watch over the day, while Luna would keep watch over the night." "What happened to Hawkeye?" "He left soon after we had delivered the message; he had done his job so it was time for him to go back to his room. I wasn't able to see him until the next morning at the local cafè. When I saw him though, he looked a bit off." "Hawkeye, are you alright? You don't look so well." Swiftwing said as Hawkeye at down. "I am...up-set," Hawkeye replied. "About what?" "It is Cel-es-tia, have you...heard that she deci-ded to continue with the wed-ding between Prin-cess Cad-ence and Shin-ing Armor?" "Really? Awesome!" "Awe-some!?" Hawkeye said dumbfounded. "This is not awe-some!" "Sure it is Hawk! Think about it; a wedding between a Princess and The Captain of the Royal Guard, means it's going to last a while; which means there will be lots of wine; which also means that there will be even more pretty young mares there if you catch my drift." Swiftwing said with a wink. "You are so...uh...." Hawkeye stopped to think of the right word to use; finally, it popped into his head, "immature! Now is not the time for a wed-ding; now is the time to pre-pare for an att-ack!" "What are you talking about Hawk? We did prepare! We are prepared." "Not-good-enough." "What do you mean 'not good enough' we're plenty prepared! Look outside." Hawkeye looked and followed where Swiftwing was pointing. "You see up there? That's the overwatch, the highest point on the castle; that's where the Princesses raise and lower the sun and moon each day and night; can you tell me who is up there right now?" "It is Cel-es-tia." "That's right; she and Luna have been up there constantly on the lookout for any trouble. Now, look up in the sky; you see that big shield around Canterlot? That is to guarantee that no unauthorized ponies get inside. It is unbreakable, Hawkeye. And you know what I heard today?" "What?" "One of my friends was posted on guard at the train station; he said he saw the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony arrive just this morning, so even if something does go wrong, we can just use the Elements! Nopony would dare attack Canterlot right now; we are too well prepared." Hawkeye shook his head, "still not-good-enough." Swiftwing sighed and sunk into his seat. "Why do you think it's not good enough Hawk?" Hawkeye took a quick glance around to make sure nopony was watching them. He then leaned towards Swiftwing and quietly spoke in his Changeling language. "Because I have been analyzing that message more and-" Hawkeye was interrupted by Swiftwing immediately sitting up and shushing Hawkeye by holding his hooves over Hawkeye's muzzle. "Hawkeye, shut up!" Swiftwing whispered as he quickly glanced around the cafè. "Remember, you're not in the palace, do you know how the ponies around here would react if they knew your secret!?" "I am sorry Swiftwing, but I need to tell you some-thing real-ly im...por...tant." Swiftwing took one more casual glance around before leaning towards Hawkeye. "Alright," Swiftwing said. "Go ahead, but keep it quiet." "As I was saying," Hawkeye whispered. "I have been analyzing that message more and have been doing some research; I found something really disturbing." "What is it?" "It's the Changelings, Swiftwing; they plan to attack Canterlot and they are going to use the wedding as their way to do so." "Really. You think that you own race would do that." Swiftwing said sounding unconvinced. "Yes. They've changed since I left; they've become more aggressive than usual, especially since Queen Chrysalis took the throne." "Alright, but how are they going to attack? We've turned Canterlot into locked safe that can only be opened from the inside. How do you think they are going to invade when there is literally no way for them to get in?" Hawkeye's tone quickly turned grim, "no, Swiftwing. You don't understand. They've already invaded." "Huh?" Swiftwing asked completely confused. "For months now, Changelings spies have been undercover, hiding in plain sight; watching and studying us. Canterlot isn't going to be invaded; it has been invaded, and now the time has come to strike. We've been in the calm before the storm, Swiftwing. Now the storm is on Canterlot's very doorstep and nopony can see it." "And you came up with all of this from a message," Swiftwing said still sounding unconvinced. Hawkeye quickly nodded his head. Alright," Swiftwing said. "Let's assume that you're right and the Changelings plan to attack. Who would you go to? You can't get to the either of the princesses; they said to not disturb them unless it's an absolute, immediate emergency because they've been so busy making sure everything is on lockdown and watching over the town." "What about Shining Armor?" "He's been too busy with his job and trying to help plan out his and Cadence's wedding. Your best bet for help would be going to Cadence herself and hopefully she-" "No," Hawkeye said bluntly. "What?" "I said no." "Why? Are you worried about her finding out about you?" "No it's not that..." Hawkeye lowered his voice even more. "I just don't trust her." Swiftwing's eyes widened with disbelief, "I'm sorry, say that again." "I said I don't trust her." "Why not!?" Swiftwing shouted out which caused several heads to turn towards their direction. Hawkeye noticed this and stalled until the other ponies turned back towards their own business. "Because," Hawkeye started, "she has been acting strange; ever since that night she vanished. Do you remember that? A few nights ago, nopony saw her for about an hour." "Yeah, so? She said she needed some time to herself; who can blame her? She has a wedding coming up so she's probably really stressed and nervous, so she needed some time alone." "But I've been reading reports from the servants and from other various individuals about her, and they say that she doesn't remember a lot of important things; from what I understand, she's been to Canterlot several times so she should know this city, but from what I've been hearing and reading about her, she doesn't remember a lot of her favorite places to hang out; she doesn't even remember some of the ponies she used to know." "Again, she's probably just really distracted with her wedding. Have you ever planned a wedding, Hawkeye? They are stressful! And now she has to deal with this whole threat-on-Canterlot interrupting the best day of her life." Hawkeye opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. "What are you getting at, Hawkeye; you think that Cadence is planning something?" Hawkeye took a long moment then finally spoke, "yes, I do believe that Cadence is up to something, and I believe it has to do with the attack on Canterlot." Swiftwing's expression grew angry. "Now that's going too far, Hawkeye," Swiftwing snapped at his friend. "It's one thing to suggest an attack on Canterlot; but it is another thing entirely to suggest that Cadence, the Princess of Love, is planning it. Nopony is going to believe you." "I know, that's why I need your help." "I'm sorry, my help?" "Yes, I can't go to either of the princesses without you with me because of security protocol; but if you come with me, I'll have a greater chance of getting an audience with them. Plus, you are respected among the Canterlot guard, so there is a better chance of Celestia, Luna and Shining Armor listening to you." "Absolutely not, Hawkeye. This is too dangerous and too...well...crazy. Hawk, I'm telling you, nopony is going to listen to you even if I do stand with you." "Swiftwing, please," Hawkeye pleaded. "I need you with me on this." "No, Hawkeye...I'm sorry." "We sat there in silence for several minutes before I finally got up and left." "I have to go report for duty." Swiftwing said as he got up to leave. "Hawkeye, even if I was crazy enough to go with your theories, you need absolute, solid proof to present to the Princess. Do you have any?" Without looking up, Hawkeye slowly shook his head. "That's what I thought. If I were you, Hawkeye, I would just drop these ideas of yours and not worry so much. I'm sorry to say this, but you're a messenger, not a soldier; leave the fighting to the professionals." "And with that, I walked out, leaving Hawkeye alone. Today, I look back on what I said and regret every word I said at that meeting; especially that last part. I thought I was giving good advice, but I was young and brash back then. If it wasn't for Hawkeye, I wouldn't be alive today."