• Published 17th Dec 2016
  • 1,036 Views, 35 Comments

Flight - wkblack



For the last two centuries, batponies had brainwashed pegasi to believe aviation was impossible for the feathered. Flight follows the pegasus rebellion as they discover their true natures.

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The Hunt

The sun hadn't shone today, suppressed by thick grey clouds. Canary lay low with the other changelings, watching the graveyard like hawks. A graveyard really didn't feel like 'a perfect opportunity' to collect love, but Echo was the expert, she told herself. She fidgeted with her wing cover, wings squirming under the tight-wrapped cloth. Libra's coercion kept playing through her mind and Canary cursed the queen under her breath.

“You aren't ready to leave the hive, much less go on a hunt. You're still recovering.”

“And I'm better every day!” Canary protested. “Let me go!”

“I cannot allow it,” Libra repeated.

“Why not‽”

The queen measured out her words carefully. “I feel a foreboding.”

Canary snorted. “Nothing will happen. Besides, if I need to learn to recognize emotions, what better way than to go out on a hunt?”

Libra paced in a tight circle, frowning. “If you go out, you'll need to keep your identity hidden, for your protection as well as ours. You'll have to at least wear a wing cover.”

Canary scowled. “I swore I'd never wear one again, when I started flying with Aether.”

“Then I can't let you leave.” The queen turned tail and moved to leave Echo's cave.

Canary growled. “Fine! I'll wear the cursed thing.”

A whisper from her left brought Canary back to the present. “Remember to listen carefully. You'll miss a lot of emotions that pass you, since your instinct is to think they're your own. And—”

“I know, I know.” Canary imitated Echo's slow-paced voice: “Empathy is only as strong as you make it out to be, so you have to be expecting to feel something.”

Echo smiled. “Good. He's nearly here.”

Some distant bushes rustled and Canary suddenly felt very hungry. It wasn't a hunger from her stomach though—it was more of a longing in her heart. Canary frowned. It was like she was craving something, though she couldn't pin down what. She nodded, attributing it to the changeling's desire to feed. It had been several days since Libra had laced the empathy spell on her but the thought of feeling others emotions still made her skin crawl. It was what Libra called being 'bound'—not only did it tune her to Echo's emotions, but also to the emotions of everything around her.

A distressed voice shot through the graveyard, belonging to the little colt they'd been tracking.

A second emotion washed over her, cold as ice and energized as an assassin.

Fear. She knew the feeling well.

The three drones she'd first met were scattered around the gravestones. She couldn't stand having unnamed friends—it felt like she'd constantly forgotten their names—so she had secretly named each of them. The talkative one she named Flitix. He'd told her how the hive came to be and hundreds of his adventures, half of which were obviously exaggerated. Though the one who had made her bed said very little, Canary had grown quite fond of her, and named her Hyacinth. She carried around 'special' emotions for some reason Canary didn't quite understand. In return for rare berries Hyacinth would bring her, Canary would give her little bursts of emotion. At first, she felt like she was doing nothing, but by the end of a month, Canary learned how to shift her mood and give off little bursts of love and happiness.

The other, Elytra, seemed equally happy with silence as talking. She worked in construction: reinforcing the hive, making new tunnels, and scouting out new locations. Though she rarely suggested activities, Elytra spent the most time at Canary's side, often just listening to Canary's thoughts. It was her whose name she'd first let slip, when Elytra sprained her hoof. Canary expected Elytra's shell to grey at any moment, but Elytra only laughed, saying that being named was very different from naming yourself. The other changelings learned their names quickly enough. “Names are just wrappers for emotion,” Flitix explained, “so it's easy enough to recognize who you're talking about.”

Flitix had taken on the form of the colt's mother: middle-aged and pale yellow with a light pink wing covering. “Shimmer!” she called out.

“Mom?”

Though the voice was distant, it cut through the cold night like a knife. Silence was his only response.

“Mom!” came the call again, desperation entering his voice. Once the periwinkle blue colt entered Canary's view and the remaining drones shook the bushes on all sides of him. A shiver ran down his spine, making both his and Canary's heart rate pick up. A sour feeling spread through her heart and she cringed. Is this really necessary?

“Shimmer! Where are you‽” Flitix called again.

The colt ran towards the voice as tears formed in his eyes. Flitix stepped out of the shadows and into the clearing. In one leap, the colt latched himself onto the clone of his mother, bawling. To Canary's horror, Flitix began to morph—the mother grew tall and gaunt, but her bones outgrew her skin, jutting out at unnatural angles. The monster stooped down to the colt, who was frozen with terror, his eyes full moons. The monster let out an unearthly howl that echoed through the forest and sent the colt running, screaming in horror back into the forest.

A sickening wave of fear passed over her and Canary's vision faded to black. Her wings tensed, pulling the wing cover even tighter into her stomach and she threw up in her mouth.

Echo grimaced as Canary spat out her last meal then wrapped his hoof around her. “Fear isn't our favorite either.” His shell was nearly yellow now from the fear he was ingesting. Flitix, Elytra, and Hyacinth were already running after the colt, so Echo supported Canary as they followed.

Once her thoughts collected, Canary whispered in fury, “What was the point of that‽ Aren't you trying to collect love?” Canary tore off her wing cover, making Echo squirm. “And you thought I wouldn't be able to feel that‽”

Echo stashed the wing cover in his saddlebag and grimaced. “I didn't think it would affect you so strongly. I suppose since you were empathetic already, the spell amplified it more than normal.”

Canary scowled. “Why do you even bother collecting fear? There are plenty of places to get love easily.”

“We'd be unstable if we only collected love. Besides,” he added, “bad emotion make good emotions even better.”

The cluster of changelings moved downhill to follow the colt as he fled through the graveyard.

“Feeling just love doesn't sound bad to me.”

“You'd be completely unstable though—if you loved everything, you'd love pain, you'd love hurting others, you'd love murder.”

Canary snorted. “Like that would happen.”

Echo opened his mouth to retort but Elytra called back to them, “Over here!”

The colt stood a house-length away from his mother, at the edge of a clearing. He was frozen in place, halfway between running to her and running from her. Canary could feel his fear from forty feet away, but there was a brighter feeling there as well: Hope.

Summoning his courage, the colt squeaked out, “Mom?”

His mother turned to face him, revealing the tears in her eyes. A smile broke through her worried expression. “Shimmer!” The mother dashed to her son and held him close.

A flood of love poured out from the two of them, crashing like a wave on Echo and Canary, more powerful than the fear before. It felt like being burritoed in a cozy blanket in the winter while drinking strawberry-flavored chocolate.

“See?” Echo said, shell turning a deep emerald. “Negative emotions give positive emotions more power. The downs in your life make the ups that much higher.”

The duo were trotting out of the graveyard quickly—Canary felt their feelings of urgency, as if they were late for something.

“Why are we still following them?”

“Trust us,” Elytra assured her. “This is a great source of love.”

Hyacinth nodded in agreement.

“It was a mother and a child,” Flitix added. “The death was probably recent.”

“There's likely a family back home,” Elytra continued, “so there will be more love where that came from.”

“You'll see,” Echo reassured her.

Canary hmmed, distracted by the chimney over the horizon. It belonged to a single-story house, small even by Woodburn's standards. Even from this distance Canary felt the sadness emanating from the shack grow thicker step by step.

“See, they just suffered a loss—they're going to all be depressed!”

Looking through their open window, Canary saw a family at dinner: the mom and son sat at the table while a stallion who Canary figured was their dad pulled bread rolls out of the oven, the scent making her stomach growl.

Echo poked her stomach. “Hungry?”

Canary scowled at him. “Of course I'm hungry! I just lost my lunch!”

Echo grimaced. “I'll get you something in the next town.”

While the father dished out the rolls and some deviled eggs, he cleared his throat. “So, how was it?”

The periwinkle colt remained silent for a moment, then commented, “I think she's happy now. A robin landed on her stone when we left.”

The mother's lip trembled.

“Amber always did love them,” the colt finished.

A dam that burst floods the fields below turning even a desert into a swamp. So did the mother's emotions flow out: loss, sadness, sorrow, and hopelessness crashed down over the changelings as the mother collapsed in despair onto the table. Canary glanced back at the changelings, whose shells were quickly taking on blue.

The father first moved over to her, holding her tight. Seeing his parents embrace, the little colt joined into the hug. A new wave of emotions crashed down on them: concern, love, care, and inspiration. The changeling's shells ingested several hues at once: red, blue, and sunshine yellow, leaving their shells nearly gold.

Canary's eyes mirrored her surprise. The sadness hadn't left—it had merely joined with the new emotions, like antipodal voices in symphony. A tear formed at the corner of her eye as a smile overtook her mouth.

Echo smiled. “This is why we let sad things happen—so they can have moments like these that bond them even stronger together as a family. Bonds aren't formed with good times alone—you need the bad times as well.”

Canary pursed her lips. Maybe the bug was onto something.

« ~ »

“Rockslide!”

The disguised changelings dashed for cover but Canary only rolled her eyes. A pebble fell down the narrow canyon, leapt from side to side, and settled on the ground before Canary's hooves. Canary held up the pebble for the changelings to see.

“For the twelfth time, this is not a rock slide!”

The changelings' ears all fell.

“It could have been,” Hyacinth mumbled.

Canary headed down the canyon and before ten steps felt her tail stepped on again. She shot a glare back at Elytra, who quailed under her gaze, jumping off Canary's tail. Every falling rock and stone drew the changeling huddle tighter around her, choking her for air.

“This is ridiculous,” she growled, pushing Flitix away from her side. “That stunt you pulled earlier is drowning you in fear.”

“But we need fear as much as every other emotion,” Flitix said.

“Would you dodge a boulder if you didn't fear it?” Elytra asked.

“Of course!”

Echo shook his head. “You'd have no motivation to move. Only emotions can motivate actions.”

Canary snorted. “I'd dodge it anyway—it's a reflex, not an emotion.”

“It's only a reflex because of emotions! You know, deep down, that it will cause you pain, so you dodge it to keep yourself safe. Without that fear of pain—”

“But happiness can motivate that too!” Canary said with a triumphant smile. “Dodging the boulder will make me happier than being crushed. I don't need fear to motivate me.”

The group padded forward a few steps before Echo responded. “You know how you sometimes start craving something?” Canary nodded. “If your body really needs something, your body notifies you and gets you to eat it. You crave foods; we crave emotions. If we ignored our bodies' promptings, we'd be deficient and unbalanced.”

“But why? What's the use of fear, or sadness, or any of those emotions?”

Flitix chimed in. “Don't you remember the cottage back there? Sadness helps you enjoy good times more and helps you sympathize better.”

Hyacinth added from behind, “If you never felt fear, you couldn't enjoy safety.”

Echo was speaking, but a shadow seized Canary's attention as it flitted across the ground. She searched for the shadow's source, but the sun blinded her vision. Then sun suddenly darkened as a dark spot on the sun grew into three silhouettes. Canary stepped backwards three pegasi slammed down on the ground before them, wind rushing through the canyon. Canary's heart leapt. There are more fliers‽

The largest figure was a fuchsia pegasus, muscles so huge Canary expected them to burst from beneath her skin. Half a step in front of her stood a taller male pegasus, whose muscles were as small as Fuchsia's were large. His coat shared color with unripe lemons and face looked like he'd eaten of the same. A third stood behind them, but Canary couldn't see him clearly.

“You need to be more careful with your landings; you could have gotten us—” Her words stuck in her mouth. Attached to each of their forehooves were gleaming battleclaws, still branded with the Cloud's insignia. Canary backpedaled. It can't be—the Cloud would never let pegasi

“What are you doing here‽” the lime-colored pegasus demanded.

Only Canary recognized the tremolo in Echo's response. Fear exuded from him like a cool breeze. “We're traveling to Midlin. Who are you to ask?”

The lime pegasus stood tall and stomped his hoof. “Do you not know who we are‽ Where are you really from‽”

Canary started to respond, but thoughts of Korporis were flooding her mind, strangling her thoughts and choking her words. Her wing seared in pain, reminding her of the last time she'd felt those claws.

The rear pegasus pushed his way to the front. Some blade had scarred his cheek and a chunk was missing from his left ear. His coat was a salamander orange and his mane like a twilight sky. He was about to respond when his eyes locked on Canary.

Canary gasped. “Blitz? Is that you?” A smile broke over her face. “How did you escape Korporis? Did Aether? Did Coral? What happened to the Lightbringers?”

Blitz's mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out.

Fuchsia whispered into Lime's ear and his eyes widened. He stomped his hoof, springing his battleclaws, and aimed the dual blades at Canary. “You have a changeling in your midst!”

Echo stepped between them, shivering slightly. “Canary isn't a changeling!”

Blitz rose an eyebrow. “And how would you know that?”

“Because—”

“They're all changelings!” Lime ran forwards and leapt at Echo, leading with his claws.

Echo dodged to the side, sending Lime tumbling across the canyon's rocks behind them. Canary's heart skipped a beat when a lock of his mane fell to the ground. Just a few paces behind, Hyacinth and the others took off running, back down the canyon. Fuchsia flew after them and tackled Hyacinth to the ground, barring the others' progress. The changeling screamed in pain as a burst of green fire revealed her natural form. Elytra and Flitix froze, watching in cold horror.

On seeing the flash, Blitz locked his battleclaws down and turned his eyes on Canary. “Why are you here?”

Canary was about to answer when she saw Lime getting to his hooves, eyes set on Echo. She buzzed her wings for a burst of acceleration and dashed to intercept the assault. Her feathers had grown enough to show their plumage, but it would still be weeks until she could fly like before. Her head collided with Lime's side, sending him crashing into the canyon wall.

Blitz's mouth hung open. “How did you learn to run like that‽”

Canary rose her eyebrow. “What do you mean‽ I taught that to you!”

Blitz flinched as if a needle had been jabbed into his side. “You must adapt fast.”

Lime kicked Canary from behind, sending her right into a nearby boulder like a forkfull of spaghetti. Canary fell to the ground and blacked out for a moment. She felt hooves land on her legs, pinning her down. When her vision returned, she found herself staring into Lime's burning eyes. In her peripheral vision she saw Echo trying to defend himself from Blitz, taking twice the amount of blows he was dealing. Cold steel pressed into her neck.

“Transform back, demon!”

“I am Canary! Why can't you see that‽”

Lime's eyes turned livid. “Canary is a martyr! How dare you…”

Canary's attention was stolen when Blitz knocked Echo to the floor. She pulled in her legs and wrenched her body out from under the green pegasus. Using her wings for another burst of speed, Canary headbutted Blitz away from her husband and into the canyon wall.

In a flash, Elytra ran past Canary, carrying a bloody-nosed Hyacinth on her back. Fuchsia was getting up from the ground a few lengths back, coated with a fresh layer of dust. Flitix came into view, scooped up Echo, and cried for Canary to follow him.

Canary bit her lip as her gaze flipped between the three pegasi and her four changelings. “But—”

Flustered, Elytra yelled, “They're not going to listen! Come on!”

Letting out a growl of frustration, Canary leapt to follow the fleeing changelings.

The canyon had many forks, but most seemed to lead back to a main path. Canary couldn't stop checking behind her, and the echoes of the pegasi behind them kept them constantly on edge.

After a quarter mile or so, Echo jumped off Flitix's back and ran alongside Canary. Though Flitix and Elytra were unharmed, Hyacinth had taken quite a beating—her nose was bleeding and her wings were crumpled. From her time in the hive Canary had been quick to observe how ticklish changeling wings are—they were extremely sensitive, able to sense the slightest change in breeze. Considering how many nerve endings had just been crushed, Canary couldn't believe Hyacinth wasn't screaming, but was only whimpering silently. Your really see someone's best when they're pushed to the edge.

The hoofsteps behind them ceased and the drones took a moment to rejoice.

“Look at us!” Flitix whispered to Elytra, who beamed back at him.

“It surprised me too, but when we saw Hyacinth…”

Flitix nodded. “It was more than enough. Didn't matter how afraid we were.”

“Keep running!” Canary urged, galloping past them. “They're probably in the skies, looking for us from above!”

Canary's imagination ran as fast as her hooves as they bolted through the canyon. They were from the Lightbringers, but they had battleclaws? What were they doing? Why in the world did they think I was a changeling‽ Their suspicions had been so strong, so set—what had made them so? I should have stayed back and explained, she thought, frowning to herself.

Between breaths, Canary managed a few questions.

“Was Blitz not in Korporis? Did he escape?”

Echo shook his head. “He was in Korporis with the rest of you. I didn't think anyone could escape.”

“So none of you heard about this before?”

They all shook their heads.

“If any changeling had known, the hivemind would have informed us,” Flitix responded.

Only the sound of hooves running accompanied the remainder of their dash before they broke free of the canyon into an open green field. A glowing mass in the distance resolved into a city, lamps just now lighting to stall the fading light. Canary judged it to be about three times the size of Woodburn around and about twice its height. Their height surprised her—Woodburn only had one three-story building, but this town had at least seven or eight four-story buildings and one five-story. Most of the buildings were made of stone—higher class than the wooden buildings of Canary's childhood.

Flitix threw out his hoof, gesturing to the town below, and said, “Welcome to Midlin!”

« ~ »

Go on a hunt, she says, you'll learn a lot, she says. Canary was about to puke, and the wing cover doubled her nausea. All of the changelings demanded she put it back on before entering, so Canary had to oblige. Walking through the city was a tidal wave of emotions: excitement, frustration, boredom, depression, loneliness, hope, stress—Midlin had them all, and so closely compacted. Flitix, Elytra, and Hyacinth had split from Canary and Echo to decrease suspicion. Alone time with Echo was an added bonus.

“I see why you live far away from cities—it's overwhelming, feeling the full spectrum of emotions all the time. Picking off emotions individually is much nicer.”

“You do need the full spectrum though,” Echo asserted.

“But I don't want the full spectrum—negative emotions just bog you down.”

“Blocking out negative emotions kills your ability to be happy!”

“I don't buy it.”

Echo was about to respond when voices sprang up from around the corner. A smile spread across his face. “Perfect.” In a flash of green, Echo turned into a snow white pegasus with a black and gold mane and seductive red eyes.

Canary scowled at the strutting pegasus.

“What, jealous?” Echo asked with a devilish smile.

“No! I—”

Echo laughed. “You do know it's pointless to lie? I know exactly what you're feeling.”

Canary blushed. “You didn't have to make yourself into a supermodel.”

Echo stuck out his tongue and winked. “Just watch,” he said, nodding to the two oncoming stallions. The changeling trotted on, smirking.

With a short sigh, Canary followed.

“Hey stallions!”

The two pegasi nearly tripped over themselves, seeing the white pegasus heading for them.

“Could you help us find the nearest restaurant?”

The two of them spoke at once, tripping over their words. The right one finally answered, “Let us take you there.”

“Thank you both—lead on!” Echo said.

Echo and Canary followed the two, whispering between themselves.

“Do you feel that?”

Canary rolled her eyes. “I don't need empathy to know what they want.”

Echo winked. “Never fails.” Pointing with his nose he whispered, “The one to the left likes you.”

Canary ducked her head low, hoping her blush would leave quickly. What are you doing, Echo?

Checking that the stallions were out of earshot, Echo started. “Libra told us about a hive that tried to collect only love. They infiltrated a city called Foxford—”

“Never heard of it.”

“You wouldn't,” Echo answered darkly. “They took over the capital, making it their new hive. At first, they tried to survive off of the ambient emotions, but they were quickly starving. They tried to feed off lust, each of them looking like models. It wasn't enough. They became desperate and even started a red-light district. In a matter of weeks, their shells had lost their luster, turning a sickly green. But lust isn't enough to sustain changelings—we need actual love. But that wasn't the worst of it: the hive became so desperate that they started replacing others!”

Canary rose an eyebrow. “Like you?”

“What I did was different—Echo was already dead. I'd never kill someone to take their place.”

“You mean—”

“They started killing others to take their place. The first time was as an accident, but they instantly realized how lucrative it was, emotionally speaking. They started killing spouses, taking their places to steal love. That's why some pegasi are so suspicious of us.”

“And what happened‽”

Echo thought for a moment. “If we don't enter relationships in the right way it can damage our prey. They took everything from their prey, giving nothing back. It wasn't long before the entire town lost all motivation and became soulless zombies, including the changelings. Having lost all motivation, the entire city died.”

“What!”

The two stallions looked back in surprise. “Are you okay?” the left one asked.

“Fine,” Canary mumbled.

His eyebrow rose, but he carried on. “Le Couteau Caché is the finest café our town has to offer—it's the one second on the right.

“Thank you so much!” Echo said with a little smile. He opened his saddlebag then put on a pout. “Oh, I left my coin purse at home. Could you pay for us?” he asked with puppy dog eyes.

“Of course, we—”

“We're fine,” Canary interjected. “I'll cover us both.”

The stallion deflated. “Could we at least join you?”

“Oh, we'd—”

“No,” Canary said firmly, interrupting Echo. “We're fine.” Canary grabbed Echo by the scruff of his neck dragged him into the café.

The stallion took a half step forwards. “At least tell me your names!”

“We're fine, thanks,” Canary answered

The stallion frowned, opened his mouth to speak, closed it, opened it again, then left the café, thoroughly confused.

Nighttime diners occupied a third of the café's tables, filling the room with a hum of conversation. Echo and Canary were seated at a booth halfway through the restaurant against the right wall. A couple occupied the booth behind them but the padded seats were shoulder-height, allowing for some minimal privacy.

Canary glared at Echo. “What's wrong with you‽ We're married!”

Echo smiled sheepishly. “I was hungry, can you blame me?”

Canary held her face in her hooves. “We can pay for ourselves!”

“I wasn't hungry for food, you know.”

Canary sighed.

The waiter placed a few starter rolls and a two glasses of pomegranate juice on their table. “Enjoy!”

Canary wolfed down the rolls in a matter of seconds—they were soft as clouds, still warm from the oven. Echo was saying something about lust and love, but it merged with the background noise of the café. A single word then piqued her interest, spoken in the conversation behind her. Lightbringer. From the corner of her eye she watched the couple behind her.

“One thing's for certain,” the pegasus sitting across the table said, “they'll stop at nothing now. They captured Clifden, for Avondale's sake!”

“Clifden‽ With the armory? How many towns is that now?”

A kick from under the table brought Canary's attention back to Echo. “Stop staring,” he hissed.

Canary returned her attention to her food.

“Don't look now,” Echo whispered, leaning in, “but the table two away from us are watching us.” Echo leaned back and flicked his eyes towards the windows for a blink.

Canary suddenly realized she could sense suspicion in the air. Picking up a roll as an excuse to look around, she noticed grey and brown stallions sitting to her left, who had returned to reading the paper. Before she could think of what to do, a voice from behind arrested her attention.

“I can't believe the Lightbringers would kill so many innocent souls!”

Canary growled under her breath. “The Lightbringers would never do that!”

“And Aether herself! Could you have imagined?”

“No,” the other voice murmured. “She's completely insane.”

“They're terrorists—that's what they are.”

Canary leaned against the back of her seat and addressed the surprised couple. “The Lightbringers aren't terrorists—they're freedom fighters! The bats must have—” She stopped mid-sentence as the olive pony behind her turned around, revealing her cat-slit eyes and leather wings. “Yes?”

Several pegasi from the surrounding stalls glanced over at Canary. It was then that Canary saw a streak of orange out of the corner of her eye: Lightning Blitz and the two other pegasi stood at the front desk, surveying the room. Canary ducked down just as Blitz's gaze was about to meet her own.

“I need to use the bathroom,” she said, loud enough for the other couple to hear. “Could you come with me, Warbler?”

Canary grabbed Echo's hoof and trotted quickly towards the back of the restaurant. They were nearly to the bathroom when she heard a shout and hoofsteps behind her.

Echo shot her a look that warned: Don't run. Don't look.

As the door slammed behind them, Echo transformed his hoof into a spike and shoved it through the door's lock, jamming it. Canary jumped on top of the sinks to reach a window and threw it open.

“Give me a boost!”

Echo pushed up from below, sending Canary toppling through. In a stroke of luck she landed on her feet and looked back up for Echo, but he didn't follow. The bushes to her right rustled. Before she could look over, a blur of fuchsia tackled her sideways to the ground and pinned her down. Fuchsia held her face to the ground, pinning Canary's legs under her weight. Something was being cinched onto each of Canary's hooves. Canary tried to push off the fuchsia pegasus to see, but Fuchsia had her pinned. The sound of shattering glass came from the window above.

A shadow leapt from the bushes and landed on Fuchsia, who jumped and let out a roar. Flitix had lodged his teeth deep into Fuchsia's neck and held on like a flag to a flagpole. Lime stood at Canary's feet, surprised by Flitix's attack. Fuchsia rolled onto her back, crunching Flitix under her muscles, making him release a high-pitched scream. Fuchsia left him limp on the ground.

Canary yelled out in protest and tried to stand, but found her hooves bound across with leather hobbles. The bushes to her side rustled and Elytra burst out, making a beeline for Lime, who prepared to throw a kick. When he kicked, Elytra punched his legs to the side and headbutted the stallion in his side with her horn, sending him skidding across the ground. Canary struggled to get up onto her hooves, but the restraints made it difficult to move at all.

The air flashed above Lime and a cat-sized rock fell towards his face. Fuchsia aimed a kick at the rock, resulting in a loud Crack! In a burst of green Hyacinth's disguise broke, the rock reverted to Hyacinth's form, and the changeling tumbled across the ground. The scene grew darker as a silhouette appeared in the bathroom window: Lightning Blitz.

The pegasus leapt down and landed before Canary, looking down on her. “You're coming with us.” A fresh wound in his forehead trickled down blood.

“Where is Echo‽” Canary roared, bracing herself for a fight.

Blitz clenched his jaw, as if he were trapping something in his mouth. Behind him, Fuchsia and Lime knocked Elytra to the ground and drug her over to the other two drones. Canary leapt at Blitz but a quick flap of his wings allowed him to sidestep her dive and climb onto her back, forcing her to the ground.

“What are you doing, Blitz‽” Canary cried out in anguish.

Blitz spoke calmly into Canary's ear. “You nearly convinced me, changeling, but you missed an important detail: the Canary I know would never wear a wing cover.”

A hit from behind plunged her world into darkness.

Author's Note:

Hi all! I figured you've been waiting long enough, so I went ahead and published this. I'll finish polishing it soon. Happy Easter! :pinkiesmile:

Meanwhile, enjoy a picture of Canary drawn by the wonderful Vincher!