"Did you die!?" Surprise asked with wide, concerned eyes.
"I'm sorry?" Swiftwing said.
"You didn't die, did you?"
"Wha....I...n-no, no I didn't die."
Surprise breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok, good. I would've thought that, after the ambush in Hawkeye's room and then getting knocked out, they would've killed you right on the spot."
Swiftwing looked at Surprise completely dumbfounded.
"Um...Surprise-" Swiftwing said, finally able to get his his brain working again, "-if I died, how could I be here telling you the story?"
"Well that's a silly question, of course you couldn't be here if you died! What made you ask that?"
"But...you....j-just a few seconds ago you asked-"
Swiftwing looked at Surprise's happy, yet absolutely clueless face.
"You know what," Swiftwing said, "I'm not even going to question it. Shall we get back to the story?"
"Yes please!" Surprise said excitedly.
* * * *
Swiftwing groaned as he started to wake up; the pain in his head was in perfect sync with his heartbeat.
"Oh, look, "a voice said." "He's finally waking up."
"Just in time too," another voice said.
Swiftwing slowly lifted his eyes open to see two ponies silhouetted against a small torch behind them "Wha.....where...."
"You're in the deepest part of Canterlot's dungeon."
"We were beginning to think you wouldn't wake up in time for the show."
"H-huh...?" Swiftwing said, slowly regaining his senses.
The two ponies stepped into view, both Changelings; one was wearing Swiftwing's armor.
Swiftwing growled at them as he tried to move, but his forelegs were cuffed together and held above his head, chained to the wall. The two Changelings chuckled at his struggles.
"Don't bother," the armor wearing Changeling said. "You know that those chains were meant to hold back the strongest prisoners; you're never breaking out of those."
Swiftwing landed on his rear and leaned his back against the wall.
"So why keep me alive..." Swiftwing said quietly.
"Beg pardon?" The armor-less Changeling asked.
"Why keep me alive? You had me right where you wanted me. Even now I can't defend myself. Why am I alive?"
The armor-less Changeling simply nodded to the side. Swiftwing looked and saw five green cocoons sitting neatly in the corner; a sudden chill went up his spine.
The armor-wearing Changeling walked over to inspect them. "You're alive," he started to say as he looked into each pod, "because we need you to be alive; you see, it's rather difficult-impossible, actually, to feed off of love from dead hosts. You would've been in a pod already, but we’re a little crunched for time at the moment; so those chains will have to do for now. But don't worry, you'll get your own pod aaalll to yourself after the invasion is finished."
Swiftwing squirmed as another chill went down his spine at the thought of being inside one of those cocoons.
"Alright!" the other Changeling said. "Suit up! The swarm will be here any minute."
With a flash of green, the armor-less Changeling turned into one of Swiftwing's friends and the armor-wearing Changeling turned into a perfect copy of Swiftwing.
Swiftwing tried to attack again but the chains held him back.
"Now, now," the doppelgänger Swiftwing said as they started to leave, "don't hurt yourself. We'll be back before you know it."
With a loud, grinding, sound the door slammed shut, leaving Swiftwing alone. After waiting a few minutes to make sure they left, Swiftwing started yanking at the chains to try to get free.
"Well Swiftwing," he said to himself, "You wanted proof? How about being ambushed in your best friends room? Or chained to a wall, is that proof enough for ya? Oh Hawkeye, I'm sorry I should've listened. Where-woah!" Swiftwing was interrupted by his hoof slipping a bit out of the cuff.
Swiftwing looked up at the cuff and saw that it wasn't attached properly, which caused his hoof to slip. He suddenly got an idea; he twisted around, making the chains into an 'x'. He stood up and pulled, but no matter how hard he pulled, his hooves remained stuck. Eventually, his hind hooves started slipping against the floor.
Not willing to give up, he jumped up and pressed against the wall with his hind hoofs.
"Come on.....come on....." he said as his right hoof started to slip out of the cuff. With a lot of effort, he was able to pull his hoof free. The sudden momentum caused him to lose balance and fall on the floor.
Swiftwing got back up and this time started flapping his wings as hard as he could. Slowly, but surely, his other hoof started sliding out. With another hard and painful yank, he was able to pull his other hoof out of the cuff.
Swiftwing held his hoof in pain as he hovered; he made his way to the pods and looked in them; he recognized each unconscious guard trapped inside. He tried to open the pods, but the sealant kept it closed tightly.
"Don't worry guys, I'll come back for you."
Swiftwing made his way to the door, thankfully the Changelings didn't bother locking it, and flew through the halls of the dungeon, trying to find his way out; he paused as he passed by one particular cell which had several green pods. He looked in and saw a few more guards and also some civilians.
"Just how many Changelings are already here..." he said quietly. Suddenly, Swiftwing heard some chains rattling behind one of the pods; he held his breath as he slowly hovered over to the last pod as quietly as he could, picking up a broken piece of wood with his mouth for a weapon. Most likely it was a prisoner, but he couldn't take any chances.
Swiftwing rounded the pod ready to swing, but dropped his weapon as he gasped at what he saw.
It was Hawkeye. He was chained to the wall, just like Swiftwing had been, except Hawkeye was also blindfolded, gagged and looked as though he was beaten; he was was taking short deep breaths as he struggled to breath.
"Hawkeye!" Swiftwing said as he moved towards him.
"Mmmm!?" Hawkeye suddenly perked up and tried squirming away, not knowing who was with him.
Swiftwing took off Hawkeye's blindfold, Hawkeye's reaction instantly went from fear to relief.
"Mm-mmm!"
"Hang on a second Hawk, let’s remove this thing..." Swiftwing untied and took Hawkeye's gag out of his mouth.
Hawkeye lulled his tongue in and out repeatedly, trying to get his mouth moist again.
"Are there keys around here Hawkeye?"
"Yes....ov-er there...on that ta-ble," Hawkeye motioned over to a table in the corner near the entrance of the cell. Swiftwing wasted no time in grabbing the keys and un-cuffing his friend. Hawkeye landed on the ground and rubbed his wrists.
"Been here.....hours....." Hawkeye said as he tried to stand. Swiftwing gently pushed him back down.
"Take it easy Hawk, don't try to move. Take it easy."
"I was am-bushed in my room."
"Yeah I figured. I got ambushed as well."
"I re-ceived another mess-age."
"Let me guess, the invasion happens today?"
"Yes."
"And that they plan to take over Canterlot and harvest all the love in the land, right?"
"Yes! And that Princess Ca-dence is actually Queen Chry-sa-lis!"
Swiftwing froze, "ok, that I didn't know..."
"Yes, Princess Ca-dence has been pony-napped!"
"Did the message say where she was?"
"No, it didn't, just someplace in Canterlot, that is very secluded."
"Ok, we'll go to Celestia and try to warn her, there may still be some time."
"But what a-bout the proof?"
"Forget about the proof Hawkeye, we'll shout it in the throne room if we have to!"
Hawkeye quickly stood up, "then what are we doing down here, come on let's go!"
"Hawkeye, Hawkeye wait! Don't forget about your disguise!" Swiftwing shouted as they made their way out of the cell.
Swiftwing and Hawkeye, who was in his disguise, burst out of the dungeon's entrance.
"Where are we...?
"The old dungeon; the one that isn't used very often..." Swiftwing sighed "...the one that is quite a ways away from the palace."
"Where are all of the guards?"
"Most are at the wedding, probably. Come on! The palace is this way!"
"There wasn't much time before the invasion. The two of us started galloping to the palace as fast as our hooves could carry us. We were about halfway to the palace when suddenly-"
"Look up there!" Hawkeye said as he slowed to a stop with wide eyes.
"I looked. At first I didn't see anything; I thought Hawkeye was just seeing things...but then my eyes adjusted. I saw hundreds, possibly thousands of black dots all around the shield that was protecting Canterlot; the swarm had arrived. Ironically, the color and height of the shield made it difficult to immediately notice them."
"Come on...." Swiftwing said as he nudged Hawkeye. "Come on we gotta move!"
"Once again we started making our way towards the palace, but we didn't get very far when the shield suddenly shattered; the black dots moved immediately and started getting larger. Next thing I knew, there were green explosions happening all around the city as The Swarm attacked."
"I wish I could say I did something heroic or brave right there; that I kept my cool under extreme events. The truth though is that I gave up; I sat down right there in the street, staring at the damage and hating myself for failing to protect the city. Hawkeye soon nudged me in the shoulder."
"Come on, Swiftwing, we have to go!"
"Why Hawkeye? Look around you! It's too late to warn anypony!"
As if on cue, there was an explosion as a Changeling landed not too far away.
"Yes, it is too late to warn anypony-" Swiftwing turned the other way and hung his head.
"-But that does not mean that we can not help!"
Swiftwing perked up. "Help?"
There was another explosion as another Changeling landed nearby.
"Yes!" Hawkeye said with a hint of impatience in his tone. "You are a guard of Can-ter-lot! It is your du-ty to help!"
"But I failed to protect this city because I was being to stubborn to listen to you! If I had warned Celestia, this invasion wouldn't have happened!"
Another landing, this time, closer.
"You do not know that!" Hawkeye said as his tone got more worriedly from the explosions. "This was going to happen re-gard-less! Even if you had warned Cel-es-tia or Luna, there was no way anypony could have been pre-pared for this!
"I sat there. Hawkeye was right; I wasn't able to warn either of the Princesses, but I could still help wherever I could. If anything, I could make up for my ignorance and neglect."
"Alright, Hawkeye," Swiftwing said as he stood. "Let's go; one last run."
Hawkeye's face brightened. "Where to?"
"Let's go to the palace. Maybe we can help somewh-"
Swiftwing was interrupted by several Changelings crashing violently around them. They crawled out of the small craters with evil smiles and some were cackling maniacally.
Swiftwing and Hawkeye backed up against each other the closer the Changelings got.
"Psst...hey....Swiftwing." Hawkeye whispered. Swiftwing acknowledged by turning his head slightly, but keeping his eye on the enemy.
"How many?"
"At least twelve," Swiftwing whispered back.
"A-bout the same here."
"Plan?"
"I will take the ones in front of you, and you take the ones in front of me."
"You sure? You've only had basic training."
"I know en-ough. We will switch on my go."
"Sounds good...be carful."
"You as well....One..."
Swiftwing tensed up.
"Two..."
Swiftwing glanced back with his eyes, looking for his first target.
"Three..."
Swiftwing quickly unfurled his wings and Hawkeye lit up his horn. This caused the surrounding Changelings to stir and crouch, ready for them to make the first move.
"Go!"
"At that moment, time seemed to slow to a crawl. We turned and leapt in opposite directions, which took the Changelings off guard. The next few minutes were a blur mixed with overwhelming amounts of adrenaline as I beat my enemy within an inch of their lives."
"What about Hawkeye?" Surprise asked. "Was he ok?"
"Indeed he was. For just receiving basic training, he was doing surprisingly well. I remember looking over and seeing his horn going into overtime as it glowed a bright green with each spell he cast."
"I thought you said he was harmless."
"I did. Except for when it came to defending himself and his friends. When push would come to shove, he would fight back relentlessly."
"So what happened next?"
Swiftwing was the first to finish; he was on his way to help Hawkeye when he was suddenly tackled through a display window of a nearby store. Standing over, and pinning Swiftwing to the ground was...himself. It looked as though the doppelgänger had been through some fights; he had a few bruises and cuts, including one on his eyebrow which leaked into his eye, forcing him to hold it shut.
"I knew....it was a mistake...to keep you alive..." the doppelgänger said as he panted for breath.
As Swiftwing was struggling to get free, the doppelgänger dropped his disguise to his Changeling form. "QUIT SQUIRMING!" he shouted right before he head butted Swiftwing, which sent him into a painful, blurry haze.
The Changeling's horn started to glow, "You were supposed to be one of the easy targets...but no....you couldn't just go down quietly could you? You had to go and try and be a hero...." his horn glowed brighter. "I am going to enjoy killing you..."
Before the Changeling could finish casting the spell, out of nowhere, Hawkeye tackled the Changeling and kicked him into a wall. Without wasting any time, Hawkeye fired a beam at the ceiling, causing it to collapse and bury the Changeling under pounds of rubble.
"Are you o-kay, Swiftwing?"
"Yeah...yeah I'm good." Swiftwing said as he stood up and shook off his disorientation.
The two exited the building and looked around. It seemed as though more Changelings were filling the sky.
"What do we do?" Hawkeye asked.
"We get to the palace as fast as we can!" Swiftwing unfurled his wings.
"Swiftwing, I can not fly!"
"I know! Hop on!"
"What?" Hawkeye asked, confused.
"Hop on my back! We can make it there if I fly the both of us!"
"I braced myself, but to my surprise, Hawkeye was lighter than I thought. My eagerness caused me to take off almost as soon as I felt Hawkeye's hooves wrap around my neck. He almost slipped off when I took off."
"Wow you must've been going really fast!"
"My name is 'Swift-wing for a reason," he said with a smile. "Anyway, we were getting close when suddenly a green beam of energy shot past us."
"Be-hind us!" Hawkeye shouted.
Swiftwing glanced behind them to see several Changelings flying after them.
"Hold on!" Swiftwing shouted, then tried doing barrel rolls, flying low to the ground and taking tight turns to try to lose them, but nothing worked; the Changelings kept right after them and continued to fire. Then, one beam of energy found it's mark on Hawkeye's side; the pain made him lose his grip and fall off.
Swiftwing dove and caught his friend in mid air by his hooves. As he tried to pull up, the Changelings behind them shot again and hit one of Swiftwing's hind legs, making him lose control. Swiftwing started swerving wildly, and the two ended up crashing into the fourth floor of a badly damaged five-story tower. The two tumbled onto the floor and lay in agony for several seconds before Swiftwing forced himself to stand.
"Hawkeye..."
Hawkeye was quivering in pain, barely able to keep his disguise up. Swiftwing limped over and examined his wound.
"I think you'll be ok....it doesn't look that serious..."
"What...a-bout.....you..."
Swiftwing couldn't help but smile. Even though he was in a lot of pain, Hawkeye was still concerned for his friend rather than for himself.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. Let me uh...let me see if I can find you medicine...."
Swiftwing started to limp his way over to a bathroom to hopefully find a first aid kit. He didn't get far before Hawkeye spoke up.
"No...wait" Hawkeye said with a groan as he looked out the window and started to stand.
"Hawkeye, what are you doing?"
Hawkeye continued looking out the window, "we should....go...."
"Why, what's wrong?"
Hawkeye's look suddenly became grim and pointed at the palace. "We need to go...now!"
Swiftwing looked to see a pink glow coming from the palace. "What's the big deal Hawk?"
Hawkeye fearfully lowered his head and ears and slowly backed away, as if he was being disciplined or yelled at.
"Hawkeye, what's the matt-"
Swiftwing was interrupted by a sudden explosion of magic coming from the palace; a pink force field engulfed the palace and quickly spread throughout the city, smacking into and repelling any Changeling it came across.
"I barely had any time to react, thankfully, the shield didn't do anything to me. Hawkeye on the other hoof.....I turned just in time to see the shockwave rip off Hawkeye's disguise. Then when the shield hit him, it flung him up against the wall. If he was outside....the shield would've just flung him out of the city...but he was inside and....and there was nowhere for him to go. I had to listen to him shout in pain as the shield was forced to pass through his body...the pressure of the shield made his chitin crack and bleed in several places. When it finally passed, Hawkeye fell to the floor, barely conscious."
"I was going to go check on him, but suddenly the already damaged tower started shaking, not being able to handle any more abuse. I remember the entire room cracking in two and falling down; I was on one side and Hawkeye was on the other. I remember, as the tower collapsed, I fell out the window and slammed into the ground so hard, that I bounced. Everything went dark after that. I awoke, what I assume was a few minutes later, half-buried in debris. I tried to fight the haze in my head and gather my thoughts.. Everything was blurry and the surrounding air was so thick with dust; it made it hard to see and breath. I finally came to my senses, unburied myself and started searching the rubble for Hawkeye."
"Hawkeye!" Swiftwing coughed as he struggled to breath. "Hawkeye, where are you!?"
He leaned against a support beam sticking out in the rubble and violently coughed; his body trying to evict all of the unwanted dust from its lungs. He was able to catch his breath slightly and continued on.
"Come on, Hawk! Answer me! I can't-" Swiftwing let out a few more coughs before calling out again. "-I can't see anything! There's too much dust...."
Swiftwing continued climbing over debris until he saw what looked like his friend silhouetted in the dense dust cloud.
"Hawkeye!" Swiftwing shouted as he tried to get closer
There was no answer.
"Hawkeye!"
Still no movement or response.
"HAWKEYE!!!"
Finally, Hawkeye tilted his head and ears towards his friend. Swiftwing breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his friend was still alive. Hawkeye was half buried as well, and laying flat on his back, looking straight up; his chitin was severely cracked and bleeding in several areas.
"Don't worry Hawkeye, I'm here....you'll be alright." Swiftwing said as he started to dig his friend out.
Hawkeye didn't answer, instead he kept staring straight up.
"Alright Hawk, I'm going to pull you out of there alright?" Swiftwing grabbed under Hawkeye's arms and started to pull. Hawkeye grimaced and gave a yell in pain which caused Swiftwing to stop suddenly."
"Hawkeye, what's wrong? What is-"
"I stopped and noticed that Hawkeye was tightly clutching his forehooves together over his chest; there was also quite a bit of blood coming from underneath his hooves. I slowly lifted up his hooves...and that's when I saw it. Swiftwing took a few seconds to gather himself. There...s-sticking about an inch and a half out of his chest, was a small metal pole used for supporting the tower....he.....he had....been impaled..."
Swiftwing gasped in horror and started to shake. Hawkeye continued to look up, trying to peer through the dust cloud to the sky.
"D-Don't worry Hawkeye," Swiftwing said as he started to stand. "I'll go get help, just hang in there and-" Hawkeye interrupted and grabbed Swiftwing's hoof.
"No, no...." Hawkeye said with a small, peaceful smile. "Too late..."
Swiftwing lowered his ears "no...it...it can't be..."
Hawkeye's grip grew tighter.
"We....kicked a lot of....flank....to-day...."
Swiftwing smiled as tears leak out of his eyes, "yeah....we did. They'll know better next time won't they..."
Hawkeye smiled.
"I.....I did good....yeah?"
"Yeah...yeah you did very good. That other Changeling from earlier had me pinned and was going to kill me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."
Hawkeye sighed happily and looked back up.
"I've...al-ways...liked the sky here...didn't....have a...sky like this one...back home..."
Swiftwing looked up; the dust around them was beginning to settle, which allowed the bright blue sky to peek through.
Hawkeye sighed and closed his eyes as the sun shone on his face. His breathing soon became more and more shallow.
"I feel....very warm," Hawkeye said. He then smiled peacefully and gave one last breath.
* * * *
Surprise stared at Swiftwing, ears down and a hoof over her mouth.
"You mean," Surprise said. "Hawkeye...died?"
Swiftwing nodded, "he did."
"That's....really sad..."
"Mmm...anyway, a few minutes later. A rescue squad came and found us. Thankfully, the ponies who found us knew Hawkeye. They took me away for medical care...and that's all I have to say about that."
"Did you ever send the letter?"
"Oh yes. As soon as everything calmed down, I asked Celestia for her help."
"How did that work; Hawkeye being able to send letters to his brother who was still in the Changelings home country."
"I honestly have no idea; but Celestia made it work."
"Do you ever think about him?"
"Yeah, even to this day, I want to go to his room to tell him about something funny I saw or heard; but then I remember he won't be there."
Surprise lowered her ears, "oh..."
Swiftwing looked up into the bright blue sky.
"But don't worry, I'll see him again...someday..."
Surprise gave a small smile and blinked away a few tears that threatened to overflow.
"Surprise, thank you so much for letting me tell you my story. Believe it or not, it really helps."
"Oh, anytime! If you want to tell me more stories, we can meet up here again! Oo, I can even bring my mom! She'll love your stories!"
"That sounds wonderful! How about-"
"Um...excuse me..." another voice inturrupted.
Swiftwing and Surprise turned to see an older looking earth pony stallion smiling.
"Hello there! I'm Surprise!"
"Surprise?" the stallion said. "Well that's-"
"Surprising, I know!" Surprise said with a giggle.
"My name is Swiftwing."
"Yes, I uh...I know who you are."
"You do? Well then forgive me, I think I may have forgotten your name."
"Well, we've never met face to face, but I've heard of you."
"Oh, well, it's nice to know I'm famous!"
The stallion chuckled.
"I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but I just could help but listen to your story."
Swiftwing smiled. "I don't mind at all. I hope you enjoyed it."
"I did indeed. Listening to my brother being a hero tends to be enjoyable to listen to." The stallion said with a wink.
"Yeah listening to family members being a hero is...wait...what did you say?"
"I'll probably get in trouble for this..." the stallion said as he looked around.
Before Swiftwing or Surprise could say anything else, the stallion took a step closer to them, getting out of plain sight. Then, with a sudden flash of green, the stallion disappeared and standing in his place was a Changeling with a deep yellow color. Surprise stood in shock, unsure of what to do. After a few seconds of silence, Swiftwing spoke up.
"You...you're Hawkeye's brother...."
"I am."
A big smile grew on Swiftwing's face. "It...it is a huge honor to meet you!"
"Believe me, the honor is mine. It's so great to finally meet you."
"How long have you been living here?"
"A long time. I moved here a few years after the Invasion."
"Why haven't you tried to find Swiftwing before?" Surprise asked.
"I wasn't allowed out of the palace. They still allow Changelings to serve, but ever since the Invasion, the process is much harder and we're no longer allowed to leave the castle."
"So what are you doing out here?" Swiftwing said with a sly look.
The Changeling smiled, "breaking protocol...well...with a little help from Celestia."
Surprise broke out into a smile and flapped her wings excitedly, "this is so exciting! We'll spend all day together and tell each other stories and maybe we can even have a reunion party and even-"
"Actually," the Changeling interrupted. "I only have the afternoon off, and I spent most of it listening to the story
"I understand," Swiftwing said. "But before you go, I have one question for you."
"Yes?"
"What is your name?"
The Changeling let out a hardy laugh, "To hard for you?"
Swiftwing blushed, "I just-can't remember how to pronounce it."
"It's alright my friend. In your language, it would be translated as: Casurus Ochre. 'Casurus' meaning 'fall' and 'Ochre' meaning the yellow pigment color.
Surprise burst out laughing, "That wasn't anything like what you were thinking Swiftwing!"
Swiftwing blushed from embarrassment.
"What did you think my name was?" Casurus asked.
"Oh nothing really I-"
"He thought your name had something to do with Lightning!" Surprise interrupted.
Swiftwing blushed harder as Casurus laughed again.
"Well I'm glad you two find my mistakes so amusing," Swiftwing said.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Casurus said as he started to calm down. "It's just I've never heard that before!"
"I can tell," Swiftwing said. "Anyway, I suppose you need to get back to the palace?" Swiftwing said with a hint of sadness.
"I do. If you ever want to visit, just ask Princess Celestia for me. I would love to tell you all about Hawkeye and me when we were younger."
"That sounds great! I would also like to tell you about what we did here in Canterlot!"
"That sounds really nice!" Casurus said as he turned. With a flash of green, he then turned back into his disguise. " I must be going now. Farewell Swiftwing!"
"Farewell!" Swiftwing said as the disguised Casurus trotted away.
Swiftwing and Surprise stood in silence for a few seconds before Swiftwing spoke up.
"Well Surprise."
"Yes?"
"I believe I need to be introduced to Pinkie Pie?"
Surprise smiled happily, "of course I'll introduce you to her! She should be at Candyland right now! It's this way!"
Swiftwing happily followed Surprise down the street and listened to her as she started babbling about the most random of things.
Along one of the dark stone walls of the memorial, etched into the stone was the engraving:
Hawkeye:
A Messenger for Celestia
and
A True Hero of Canterlot