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// Magician's Eye 
// Story: The Coming Swarm 
// by lola2901 
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	The attack on the town began within the hour. There were no announcements, no proclamations of a successful conquest. No one gave word that the princesses had fallen, but they all knew.
Ponies locked their doors a boarded their windows as a black storm of insect-like creatures spread from Canterlot, like an ever growing thunder cloud, swallowing out the sky. From outside her cart, Trixie could hear the crashes of wood and stone being smashed, even catching the faint hiss of the invading creatures, the changelings.
She swallowed hard as she fasted her cloak tight around her neck, pretending the screams were of an excited audience, rather than a fearful crowd of victims. Taking a deep breath, she flattened her hat, tucking it away. She was sure they could here her heart pounding in her skull, smashing and pounding like a runaway train. But as she peered out the cracks of her door, she saw nothing.
Turning, she took one last look around the small wheeled room that had been her home for the past year. Her cot lay askew, each of the stumps of all eight candles lay out where she left them, crooked and unlit. The drawers upon drawers lay open, as chaotic and disorganized as ever, half empty. She’d taken as much as she could, but the hidden pockets of her star-spangled cloak could only hide so much. She’d be back. The safety of Equestria was threatened almost weekly, and things always got better. They had to get better. Cold and dark thought it was, this was home.
She’d be back. Soon.
Taking one last firm deep breath in, Trixie unlocked the door, leaping out quickly. She didn’t bother to try and be stealthy, only ran, galloping as fast as her hooves would take her. There was no sight of the changeling creatures on the street she ran on, or even other ponies. But she could hear their voices echoing, seeing the distant flashes of green light coming from behind each building.
She didn’t know where she was going, not really. But wherever it was had to be far from here, somewhere safe, untraceable, a place she could hide until it was all over. Even without a destination in mind, she moved with a determined urgency. She leapt over a fallen fruit stall, smashed apples spilt across the pavement. She paid no mind to the screaming, the screaming, oh Celestia there was so much screaming. She couldn’t afford to care. They were strangers, and they wouldn’t have stopped for her either. And if she did, she’d only go down with them.
Just down the street, a small filly raced out of one of the buildings. Her pale violet and pink mane was muddied, and there were faint streaks of blood on her white coat. The young unicorn stumbled slightly, falling.
The girl was in her path. It wouldn’t take too long to help her stand and start running again. Biting her lip, Trixie swore at herself silently as she approached the young filly, helping the small one to her feet. “Trixie thinks you should keep running,” she told the filly, moving to start off on her own again.
“Please!” the filly interrupted. Her voice squeaked slightly, breaking with fear. When Trixie turned, she saw the girl’s soft green eyes were wide with fear. “I-I-I can’t find my sister or my parents and there are so many changelings, p-please, don’t leave me!”
She was too small. Trixie knew the filly would slow her down, and then neither of them would escape. It wasn’t even a question. The filly couldn’t come. It wasn’t even an option.
The filly couldn’t come.
“Fine,” snapped Trixie angrily, glaring at the small pony. “But keep up. If you fall behind, Trixie won’t help you again. Got it?”
The filly’s eyes watered, but she sniffed hard, clearly trying her best to look brave. She did her best to keep pace as Trixie started running again, although she clearly wasn’t the lightest on her hooves. “Y-you’re name’s Trixie?”
She rolled her eyes in frustration, focusing on the street as they ran. “Yes, Trixie already said her name. Now keep your voice down.”
There was a pause before she spoke again. “My name’s Sweetie Belle. I’m looking for my b-big sister. She’s a unicorn, she looks like me but with purpler hair, and blue eyes, and bigger,” she said, tripping slightly.
“Trixie doesn’t care about your life story, now will you please keep it down!” she snapped. Her ears pricked. Her eyes went wide as she stopped, skidding to a halt. Now that her hooves were still, she could hear the buzzing clearly. Slowly, so very slowly, she turned around.
When she first met her first changeling, she thought they were a black pegasus, just another pony fleeing from danger. But their eyes were too blue, too blank. Their wings shone in the sun, reflective and thin like a dragonfly’s. Dark spines cut a jagged outline across it’s body, and it’s expression was predatory.
This was what a changeling was.
“Kid,” Trixie said slowly, swallowing hard. She didn’t speak to Sweetie Belle as she spoke. The changeling was the only thing she could see, the only being she would look at. “Listen to me. You’re going to start running. And you’re not gonna stop.”
Before Sweetie could protest, Trixie reached inside her cloak. She flung the small clod of black powder hard at the ground, summoning a small spark with her horn. The powder caught fire, swirls of gold and blue smoke bursting into the air.
She could still hear the buzzing wings of the confused creature, even hear it coughing. Gritting her teeth, she dove through the smoke. Her mark was perfect, and she tackled the changeling to the ground. She smashed her hooves into it’s face, hitting it as hard as she could. It hissed fiercely, rearing back before it bit her.
Trixie swore as she fell off, nursing the bite. The blood had a faint green tinged glow, as if some sort of magical poison. It leapt at her. She twisted, kicking her back hoof out, smashing hard against it’s jaw. Reaching deep in her cloak, she used her magic to pull out a long knotted rope of magic silks, quickly tying the creature to a lamp pole before it could strike again.
Turning, she ran. It wouldn’t take long before the changeling tore itself free. She had to get Sweetie Belle and herself to safety. But apparently the kid had taken her advice after all. And yet, Trixie had a strange uneasy feeling.
The foal was no where to be seen.