Chapter 7: Lost Causes
Rainbow Dash rushed through air, flying with just as great sense of urgency towards Ponyville as she had towards Smokey Mountains earlier in the day. It was taking some time, too much time. Flying all the way to the western borders of Equestria and back within the same day was a daunting feat for any pegasus. At least if they didn’t want to collapse out of exhaustion right after landing. She could of course do better than any other pegasus. But, it still wasn't fast enough.
To her annoyance, it was already late afternoon. After a quick mental calculation, Rainbow Dash estimated she would arrive in Ponyville by early evening at this rate. Hopefully Twilight and others had made some sense of this mess while she had been away.
Rainbow Dash tried her best not to think about what Tree Hugger had said to her. Usually it was pretty easy for her not to concentrate on fine details, but it wasn’t working this time.
Fluttershy had not sent a letter. She had boarded the train to return early. So, either she had been ponynapped directly from the train and replaced by a changeling, or that creepy thing had really been Fluttershy, as impossible as that sounded.
Rainbow Dash didn’t like either option, although the former was what she wanted to believe in out of the two. She didn’t want to contemplate the possibility that Fluttershy had somehow been turned into a changeling during the train trip, or that she had been a bug all along. If that was true, all of this became complicated real fast.
Changelings were evil monsters, so you kicked their flanks when you saw them. That was all there was to it, nice and simple. Rainbow Dash didn’t like second-guessing herself. But, after hours of flying and having nothing else to do besides going through the day’s events in her head, Rainbow Dash felt more and more uncertain. The changeling in the cottage had acted strange. As in, strange for a changeling impostor.
Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head. More she thought about all this, more tangled it became. It was best to keep things simple. It didn’t matter what Fluttershy was or looked like. If that thing was the Fluttershy she knew, Rainbow Dash would have her back, regardless of what anypony else said.
Also, since by the looks of it no other changelings were involved, it felt more and more likely that this really was just something strange going on with Fluttershy instead of some convoluted conspiracy to replace all princesses and prominent ponies in Equestria with changelings or something.
Rainbow Dash’s train of thought was suddenly interrupted when a sickly green ray of magic whirled past her, grazing her wing as she barely avoided it by twisting to her left. Only after avoiding the danger did the newest wonderbolt’s brain processed what had just happened.
She was under attack?
Rainbow Dash quickly looked around her, not slowing down and changing her flight path from a direct line to erratic zigzags as she observed her surroundings, ready for more attacks.
Down from the treeline below, a dozen changelings rose up and sped up towards her, horns glowing with unreleased magic. This didn’t worry Rainbow Dash too much. A dozen changelings? That was a piece of cake, she could kick their flanks with one hoof tied behind her back! You would need a lot more to have even a chance of catching the Rainbow Dash in the air.
Suddenly, one of the nearby clouds scattered to pieces, another group of changelings abandoning their hiding place to join the ambush. On her opposite side, a third group did the same. The sound of buzzing wings filled the air as what was now almost thirty changelings surrounded Rainbow Dash, approaching her from every direction.
If changelings expected fear or hesitation from their target, they got none. Instead, Rainbow Dash smiled, smashed her hooves together enthusiastically and charged at the closest group of changelings before others had time to close the distance. Before the changelings had time to react, she was at them in a flurry of hooves, punching, kicking and slamming into them one after another. By the time more changelings joined to the aerial brawl, six of them were already falling down towards the forest below.
There was no need to solve confusing mysteries now. All she needed to do was to beat up these changelings and get her answers from them!
Rainbow Dash didn’t drop her smile even as more and more changelings filled her vision, surrounding her in a cloud of hissing jaws, black chitin and flashes of emerald magic.
Fluttershy walked in the dark, cramped corridors of the hive, deep in thought. She no longer felt like her heart could burst any moment, but she still felt tense and like the walls of the tunnel were falling on her. She needed some peace and quiet. Alone.
Which was proving difficult, because every time she walked into another tunnel or cave, every changeling on sight turned to look at her before quickly turning away again with a guilty look on their faces. Fluttershy got a distinct impression that they tried to ignore her but just couldn’t help themselves. Was this how Princess Celestia felt when surrounded by other ponies?
First Captain didn’t help, silently shadowing her every step. The changeling captain looked just as uncomfortable and nervous as Fluttershy felt, awkwardly following her while also trying to keep a respectable distance.
This was getting her nowhere. She needed some fresh air. Of course, by this point, she had no idea where she was or where the closest entrance to the hive was.
Well, that was easily solved since her aunt had so graciously given her an escort.
Fluttershy turned around and walked to First Captain who blinked in surprise and just stood there as she approached. Fluttershy took a deep breath and then spoke, trying to use that same tone Chrysalis used that ridiculed the very notion of disagreeing with it.
“I want some fresh air. Lead me outside, now.”
First Captain gulped, looking first at Fluttershy before glancing back from where they had come and back to Fluttershy again, nervously shifting his hooves.
Despite being stressed, annoyed and starving, Fluttershy felt bad for him and sighed, her expression softening. “Please. I just need some space for myself. There is no way I could navigate through that thicket by myself anyway.”
The changeling captain considered this for a moment and nodded reluctantly. “Yes. This way, my Queen.” First Captain pointed towards one of the seemingly identical tunnels around them.
Fluttershy flinched at the sound of her new title, but just sighed and didn’t comment on it. It wasn’t difficult to guess how the conversation would go if she tried to make him call her just Fluttershy.
It took surprisingly little time for them to make their way to the entrance of the hive, First Captain navigating effortlessly through the numerous tunnels and caves. Once they finally made their way outside, Fluttershy gave a sigh of relief. The thick canopy above didn’t allow much sunlight to seep in, but the difference from the cramped, dark tunnels below was still breathtaking.
She walked a bit more until the underground entrance was no longer visible and sat down, closing her eyes. It still wasn’t completely silent, this was a forest after all. Birds, insects and other critters filled the silence, not to mention the wind rustling leaves and tall grass.
But those were all natural sounds of the forest. Fluttershy had felt adrift and lost all day, everything turning on its head, one shocking revelation after another. Almost nothing felt real anymore.
But the forest was still the same. To the nature surrounding her, this day was exactly the same as yesterday. Fluttershy used that thought to reassure herself yet again that nothing had really changed. She knew more about herself, but it didn’t change who she was.
Chrysalis could talk about the natural order of things and the true nature of changelings all she wanted, Fluttershy refused to accept it. She was Fluttershy. She was a changeling too by the looks of it. But she wasn’t a monster.
Animals hunt other animals for food. It is not evil, it is part of nature. Why feeding on love feels so good if it is unnatural? Chrysalis said it herself, you have always been doing it. The only difference between you two is that she is more honest about it.
Fluttershy’s blood froze and she gulped. The young changeling queen didn’t know was this voice echoing inside her head some strange part of her, or just her own doubts and fears, but she refused listen to it all the same.
You have always fed from Rainbow Dash and everypony else. You are a parasite.
“No! I would never…” She couldn't finish her sentence, feeling nauseous again. There was a nasty, unpleasant sound ringing in her ears, blocking out everything else besides the voice.
No wonder your parents and brother are so spineless and docile. You have fed from them all your life, sapping all their willpower and determination from them.
Fluttershy screamed aloud, trying to drown out the voice echoing in her head, covering her ears with her hooves.
If feeding on love is evil, you were evil from the start.
“Um… are you alright?”
Fluttershy’s eyes snapped open and she turned to look at First Captain who was standing next to her, his expression a nervous frown. It brought her back to her senses, the ringing noise fading out. The real world returned, soothing sounds of the forest surrounding her.
She stared at the helmeted changeling for a moment and took a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders. It took some effort, but she managed to smile. “Yes, thank you.” It wasn't true, but maybe if she repeated it to herself enough many times she could believe in it.
First Captain didn’t look convinced either, but didn’t press the issue and stepped back. A sarcastic voice at the back of Fluttershy's mind wondered if the changeling captain was used to standing next to a changeling queen who screamed and yelled at empty air, but she quickly discarded the thought. She wasn't sure would it be better or worse to know that Chrysalis was mad in addition to being ruthless and cruel.
Fluttershy looked at the helmeted changeling for a few seconds longer and after yet another pang of hunger remembered what had happened when Chrysalis had tempted her with that cocoon.
“Why did you look away when I was about to...to...”
Fluttershy’s words choked in her throat but First Captain understood her meaning all the same and looked even more awkward, shifting his gaze on the ground instead of her. He was about to answer, but hesitated, staying silent instead.
Fluttershy was getting better and better at reading expressions on the faces of changelings and frowned at the mix of embarrassment and fear on his face, her own problems forgotten, at least for a moment.
The changeling captain looked afraid, ashamed. He nervously glanced around them and even after making sure that they were alone, it still took almost a minute of awkward silence before he spoke.
“I...I hoped that you could prove to her that there is another way.”
Fluttershy blinked in surprise but stayed silent, allowing the helmeted changeling to continue, his voice weak and uncertain.
“I...I knew a certain changeling, once. His name was Thorax. He was always the odd one out. He didn’t want to feed on ponies either. I didn’t understand him, nopony did.” First Captain shuddered but continued, his voice gaining a bit more strength. “He wanted to share love, not to steal it. But none of us knew what that meant, not even him.”
Fluttershy thought that for a moment, and it did bring her some hope. Not all changelings shared Chrysalis’s view of the world. But the way how First Captain spoke of this Thorax in past tense didn’t bode well. “What happened to him? Where is he now?”
The helmeted changeling sighed and shrugged. ”Nopony knows. He disappeared after the wedding. Maybe, he is still out there somewhere.” The last words didn’t sound very hopeful.
Fluttershy wanted to flinch at the hopelessness in First Captain’s tone, but instead turned the discussion to what his words were implying, curious about what he had meant. “Do you know now what it means?”
First Captain looked at her for a moment and then shook her head, his shoulders sagging. “No. What is different is that back then I dismissed him, thought that he was weak. But now...” The changeling captain looked past her, frowning. “It doesn’t feel right anymore. More I spend time in Ponyville, more I hope that I could just be another pony and live there.”
First Captain rose his hooves and took off his helmet, lowering it on the ground in front of him, turning to look at its curved design. “You have friends, you don’t hide who you are. You are nothing like we are.”
Fluttershy thought about those words and frowned. “Changelings don’t have friends? At all?”
The changeling captain shook his head again, staring at his own reflection in the surface of his helmet. “Why would we? Being somepony’s friend means you give them some of your own love. We are always starving for love, giving it away…” First Captain shook his head again. “All of us hoard what scraps of love we can gather for our own survival.”
That did sound bleak. And to Fluttershy, it made changelings sound even more pitiable. Ponies thought changelings as a swarm of locusts, united in all ways. Twilight had once theorized that they might not even be their own individuals and that Chrysalis just controlled them all like puppets through some sort of hive mind.
In truth, all changelings were alone. They cooperated, they worked together, but sharing meant weakening yourself.
But something was strange. Changelings she saw today in the hive acted friendly. They smiled and laughed. It was just bits and pieces, but flickers of love moved in the air freely.
Fluttershy rose her head to ask about it, but First Captain apparently had read her mind and answered before she could voice the words aloud.
“It is because of Ponyville. It was gradual, but somehow we are not losing as much love as we normally do. Maybe ponies just have too much of it.” The changeling captain turned his head to look behind them at the entrance of the hive, hidden behind tall grass. “That hive there is different from every other hive I have ever lived in.”
Fluttershy smiled. It wasn’t much, but it hinted that maybe there was another way after all. She was about to say something encouraging when First Captain frowned, still looking at the hive’s entrance.
“That is probably why Queen doesn’t trust us anymore. She was just as surprised as you when she first arrived. She hasn’t said anything, but I think that in a few days she is going to send us all back to Changeling Kingdom.”
Fluttershy grimaced. Something so unique and hopeful was happening in this hive, something that hinted that maybe a peace between changelings and ponies was possible, and Chrysalis’s immediate response was to disband it?
“I won’t let her.” Words were out of her mouth before Fluttershy realized it, but she meant what she said.
First Captain gasped in surprise and after a moment of confusion gave her a puzzled look. “How? Why?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I’m going to do it anyway.” Fluttershy rose her head and looked at First Captain, determination clear in her voice. “She has no right to just impose her beliefs on all of you like it is a law.”
The changeling captain stared at her for a moment longer and then smiled, chuckling and picking up his helmet as he rose to stand. “I don’t know what make of you, Queen Fluttershy. It has been so long since there has been more than one queen that none of us know how to behave.”
Fluttershy smiled too and rose to stand, blinking in surprise when First Captain lowered himself down and bowed down to her. “But I’m touched by your kindness and compassion towards us. I hope you can do what Thorax tried to achieve and find this other way you both believe in.”
Fluttershy felt strength returning to her hooves and stood straight, sighing in relief. This was just a start, but with First Captain’s help, maybe she could convince other changelings to disobey Chrysalis as well and they could all return to Ponyville and find a peaceful solution!
Suddenly, a loud thunk rang in the air and First Captain’s eyes widened in shock as he fell limply on the ground, the metal helmet clattering on the ground as it rolled forward, gently tapping against Fluttershy’s hoof.
Before Fluttershy managed to do more than stare at the now unconscious changeling captain lying on the ground with a nasty bruise already forming on the side of his head, a hooded pony was suddenly next to her. Dirt and vegetation covered the zebra’s cloak, making it almost impossible to tell her apart from the bushes and tall grass around them.
“Fluttershy, come quickly! We must leave swiftly!”
Fluttershy was still too stunned to react, so Zecora didn’t wait for an answer and grabbed her, half-leading, half-dragging the young changeling queen away, both of them quickly disappearing from sight.
My cliffhanger bag was almost empty this time around, have to do better next time. 
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Thorax... So there is hope after all.
Nice to see this update again
and her is the friend that was close enough to strike, but not close enough to hear what was said.... always had a pet peeve with that. Great chapter anyway!
7696402 Bro(ette). Chill. Writing good stuff like this takes time. Take as long as nessecary, as quality will always trump quantity.
7697958 i was mostly joking, but im usually shitty at it
7698043
I understood it was a joke, don't worry about it.
And I have been slow, the next chapter will come out much faster.
7698445 my jokes are usually just stale memes, that people laugh at so i dont feel bad.
I thought this was going to be roughly the same as the story change where twilight was revealed to chrysali's daughter and chrysalis turned out good but here chrysalis is truly the aggressor.
I like it so far I just her friends don't end up hurting fluttershy too bad.
OH COME ON ZECORA U HAD TO GET HER AT THAT MOMENT!
You just had to get that in there, didn't you?
8738040
Shots were fired
RIP changelings.
Dammit Zecora!