Infiltrator

by Phonyyx

A Changeling In Our Clubhouse

Back in their clubhouse now, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle looked at the unconscious changeling. After the alpha timberwolf ran away, the changeling fell over exhausted. It had taken them nearly ten minutes to get him back to and in the clubhouse. Scootaloo had a slightly distant look, and her breathing was heavier.

"So, should we tell somepony? Maybe Applejack? Or Rarity? Or Rainbow Dash?" Sweetie Belle spoke up, her front hooves crossed in a manner of uncertainty. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at her.

"We can't tell Applejack. She'd go crazier than Big Mac and Miss. Cherilee on Heart's and Hooves Day," Apple Bloom declared.

"Well, definitely not Rainbow Dash. She dreams of fighting changelings again," Scootaloo said without looking her friends in their eyes.

As Apple Bloom and Scootaloo discussed what to do with the changeling, Sweetie Belle caught it moving out of the corner of her eyes. The changeling groaned and its head moved somewhat, but otherwise, it was motionless and soundless. Sweetie Belle spoke again up, "Uhh, girls." Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at their friend. "What are we going to do if it wakes up?"

Apple Bloom was confused. "It?"

"I don't know if that's a guy or a girl. And I'm not checking."

Placing her hoof on her face, Apple Bloom groaned. "Look it's late and we're all tired. We can talk in the mornin'." A murmur of agreement sounded and the three fillies each went their ways home.

Scootaloo quietly opened the window to her room. She pulled herself and her scooter through the window and closed it behind her. I should check on mom. She opened her door and snuck down the hallway towards her mother's room, taking great care not to make any loud sounds. Peaking in she saw the sleeping form of her mother in her bed. The bed sheets were lying haphazardly on the floor. Scootaloo quietly picked up the bed sheets and placed them on her mother. Scootaloo made her leave, turning off the bedroom lights and closing the door on her way out. Returning to her own room, Scootaloo passed by some family photos hanging in the hallway.

Her mother in the hospital, holding a baby Scootaloo in her hooves, with her father smiling in the corner of the photo.

Her father teaching her how to ride her scooter for the first time. Scootaloo herself was covered all over in protective gear at her mother's insistence. She could hardly move enough to control the scooter.

Her parents dropping her off for her first day of school, back when Scootaloo had a longer mane and tail. She remembered being nervous that day.

For Fathers Day, her father's jaw-dropping and her mother's overly-dramatic, horrified look at Scootaloo's cut mane and tail, now identical to her father's.

A photo of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and her performing their talent show with the award for best comedy act on the table beneath the picture frame. Her mother couldn't stop laughing until they both got home that night.

Sweetie Belle popped her head over the window and scanned the room. Her sister was passed out asleep next to a half finished dress. Sighing, Sweetie Belle muttered quietly, "Over exerted yourself trying to get another custom set of outfits for your clients. Again." Sweetie Belle focused her magic, lifted the window lock, and raised the window just enough of her to squeeze in through. After re-locking the window, Sweetie Belle moved all sharp and delicate objects away from her sister and onto a table. She took her sister's stitching glasses off and put them in their container.

She trotted up to Rarity's room and yanked the sheets and a pillow off the bed. She placed both on the floor beside Rarity and spent the better part of fifteen minutes trying to roll her sister over onto the makeshift bed without waking her up.

Something's missing. Wait, I know. After ransacking Rarity's room again, Sweetie Belle returned with Rarity's sleeping mask and placed them over Rarity's eyes, upside-down of course.

Sweetie refilled Opalescent's food and water bowls. The white cat took a minute to purr and rub her fur against Sweetie Belle's hoof before turning her attention to the bowls. Sweetie Belle yawned and smiled. It was far past the usual time for her to go to bed.

Apple Bloom opened her eyes, the rooster crowing just outside her window and the early morning sun shining in her eyes. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she yawned. Applejack's voice called up, "Apple Bloom! Breakfast! Hurry or you'll be late for school." Hopping out of her bed, the filly walked to her room's window. Opening it to let the smell of fresh apples fill the room and her nostrils.

Looking over the orchid as she always did before heading downstairs, she saw something move in the clubhouse. "What in tarter sauce could that be? Oh, wait! The changelin'!" Hurriedly, Apple Bloom brushed out her crazy case of bed mane and bed tail and rushed downstairs with a red bow tie in her mouth. Without stopping, Apple Bloom worked towards tying the bow on her head at every chance she got.

Arriving downstairs in the kitchen, Apple Bloom looked around the room for her big siblings and Granny Smith. Apple Jack was cooking pretty much every kind of apple related dish, Big Mac was hauling multiple small sacks and small bags filled with fresh apples and Granny Smith was folding family heirloom blankets on the smaller table.

Apple Jack spotted her little sister and spoke, "There ya are Apple Bloom. I've made-" Apple Jack turned to each plate of food, pointing them out as she announced it, "-apple pie, apple critter, pancakes with apples in 'em, a salad filled with apples, apple..."

Apple Jack would have continued down the row of apple related foods if Apple Bloom hadn't spoken so soon. "Thanks, big sis, but ah can't stay to eat, ah'm gonna be late for school." Apple Bloom ran past her big sister, grabbing a slice of apple pie, a small bag of apples, and one of the blankets Granny Smith was folding and, for all intents and purposes, flew out the front door.

"Now what's gotten in her mind?" asked Apple Jack. She looked at her older brother. "Any clues, Big Mac?"

Big Mac answered with his trademark, "Nope."

"Ah reckon she's off to have a picnic with her friends. Hoohhheheh. Ah remember in the olden days, me and yer cousins would....zzzzzzzz." Granny Smith talked herself to sleep before she got any further into her story.

Apple Bloom tiptoed closer to the clubhouse, trying her best not to be spotted. The changeling inside it may have saved her and her friends lives, but it could have done so for reasons Apple Bloom did not yet understand. At the base of the clubhouse tree, Apple Bloom tried to toss the sack of apples and the blanket into the tree house, but she couldn't make it to the window with any toss she made. Gulping, Apple Bloom creaked up the wooden stairs and opened the door a tiny amount, just enough for what she needed.

"H-Hhey. Here are some apples in case ya get hungry." Apple Bloom placed one of the bags inside the tree house. Her eyes darted across the room but she couldn't see the changeling. Beads of sweat ran down her face as her head moved from each side of the clubhouse, trying to spot the changeling that she couldn't see. Then she saw it, its entire body was a darkish brown to blend in with the shadowed wood it stuck against in the back of the room. Its lime green eyes seemed to pierce into her body. "And here's- a- a blanket. In case ya get co-cold." Apple Bloom placed the blanket beside the bag, the changeling's eyes not once leaving hers. "Ah'm going to school now, Ah won't be back until later this afternoon. Don't let mah family see ya, or they'll try and get ya and Ah doubt mah sister's willin' to talk to a changeling."

The changeling gave no audible or visual response. The only things were its eyes. The only reason Apple Bloom hadn't run out of the clubhouse, screaming for her life was because of those eyes. They weren't hostile or angry. Instead they the look of childlike curiosity in them and -just as prominently- the same fear that was making Apple Bloom's legs rattle.

Apple Bloom slowly closed the clubhouse door and backed away from it. In the side window, she could see the changeling still watching her. When Apple Bloom was finally on the ground, she bolted away from the tree house and slammed behind a tree. Her breathing was quick and shallow. She spent a good two or three minutes taking fast breathes. Bringing a hoof up to her chest, she felt her heart beating quickly before slowing down to a responsible pace. She wiped the sweat from her brow and finally headed off towards school. The changeling watched her curiously the entire time.

Minutes after Apple Bloom left, the changeling look back at the bag of apples she had left. She brought food for me? And warned me to hide if anyone but she came here. Why? He was a changeling, a creature that tried to take over their land, yet she was helping him. Sniffing the bag, the changeling determined they weren't poisoned apples; in fact, he couldn't smell anything at all. With his curiosity driving him, he nudged open the bag to find not apples but a pile of books. School books to be specific. ......

Apple Bloom rushed to the schoolhouse, getting into the room seconds before the bell for the first period rang. She got into her seat waiting along with the rest of the class for Ms. Cherilee to start the school day.

"Psst."

"Huh?" Apple Bloom liked over towards her friends. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were waving her over.

Apple Bloom walked over to her friends and was rained on by a series of questions. "How was that you know what? Was it still in the clubhouse? Did you see it? Did it try to run away?"

"Girls, girls. Stop." Apple Bloom did her best to keep her voice down, the last thing they needed was for the entire school to know that they had a changeling in her farm. "It was still in the clubhouse, I don't know how it was, it didn't speak, and it didn't try to run away. I went to go check on it and to warn it to hide if mah family comes to the clubhouse. And Ah gave it a bag of apples and a blanket."

"Um, Apple Bloom, I'd hate to burst your bubble but that's not your schoolbag. It's full of apples." Scootaloo pointed to the bag on Apple Bloom's back.

"What are ya talkin' about? Ah just got it this.. morning'...." Apple Bloom stared at the bag filled not with her school supplies but with apples. "Tarter sauce. Um, ya girls wouldn't mind if Ah borrowed yer books for today?" Apple Bloom asked.

Sweetie Belle shook her head in comical exasperation. "Of course. Here, use mine. Scoots and I can share." Sweetie Belle levitated her books to Apple Bloom.

"Alright everypony, to your desks; class is in session." Ms. Cherilee said tapping her hoof on her desk, getting her students attention. Apple Bloom returned to her seat and open Sweetie Belle's book. She also reached into her own bag and pulled out an apple, giving it a big chomp.

All throughout the day, the three crusaders only three-fourths paid attention to the lessons. Instead, they were constantly thinking about that changeling. Mostly spent thinking up something to call him.

"How about Carapace?" Apple Bloom suggested.

"Carapace?" Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom funny.

"Yeah, Carapace. It's the shell on the back of an insect."

"I know what a carapace is. It just doesn't sound good."

"Yeah, it doesn't roll off the tongue very well," said Sweetie Belle.

"Ahh! Fffff-" Apple Bloom paused as she remembered where she was, in a classroom. "forget it. Mimic."

"That's just what it does."

"Well, ya two shot down: Holey, Pincer, Green Eyes, Bugs, and now Carapace. So its the only thing Ah can think of."

Sighing, Scootaloo relented. "Fine. Mimic it is."

"There, done with that now."

"Wait, what if it already has a name?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Then we will have wasted six hours tryin' to think of a name."

The three crusaders slowly and fearfully walked up the steps to the clubhouse, all of them holding onto each other for dear life.

"What in tarnation are you three doin'?"

All three stopped in their tracks and looked up to see Applejack in the clubhouse. Both fear and nervousness climb their ways up each of the three crusaders' spines. "He-hey AJ, whatcha doin' in the clubhouse?" Apple Bloom asked. Did she see the changeling? Does she know about it and is tryin' to guilt us into admittin' it?

"Well after ya took off in such a hurry this mornin', Ah thought Ah'd take the time clean up ya'll's clubhouse for yer picnic. And let me tell ya, hooo-weee! Ya wouldn't believe what Ah found hiddin' in there."

Oh no. This is it!

Applejack placed down a bag on the window off the clubhouse with a loud thud. "Aside from it being an absolute mess; yer schoolbag Apple Bloom. Ah guess yer were in such a hurry to not be late that ya forgot it in the clubhouse."

"Oh yeah. She accidentally brought a bag full of apples instead," said Sweetie Belle. "Oh, don't worry. I let her borrow my books for the day."

"Well, thats real kind of ya Sweetie Belle. Now Apple Bloom, check what's in the bag yer grabbin' before ya run off. Okay?"

"Okay Applejack. Ah will."

Applejack ruffled her little sister's mane affectionately. "Ya got some great friends to look out for ya, Apple Bloom. Don't forget that."

Waiting until Applejack was out of eyesight and earshot, the CMC ran into the clubhouse. All three looked around but saw nothing, nothing but a newly cleaned clubhouse. "Look closely girls, the changeling can make itself look like anything behind it." Apple Bloom waved in the air where the changeling was hiding that morning but it was just empty air.

There was a creak of wood above them and Scootaloo looked up to see something in the clubhouse's rafters. "Uh, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom."

"What?"

The two fillies followed Scootaloo's hoof pointing up at the rafters. There it was, the changeling, crawling through the wooden rafter beams. Its skin was a shade of brown that perfectly matched the color of the wood around it. Its holey, chitinous hooves stuck to the wood roof and walls as it crawled down to the floor. As it got lower, its skin slowly changed from brown to jet black, like an octopus. "Is she gone?" whispered the changeling.

"Yeah. She's gone," Scootaloo responded. "Wait."

"You can talk?" asked all three crusaders in unison.

The changeling reared its head, a bit taken aback. "Of course I can talk. Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"Then why didn't ya talk earlier when Ah was leavin' ya the bag and blanket?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I was afraid. I thought you might scream or run if I did speak."

"Oh."

Sweetie Belle spoke, "Um, Mister Changeling, Do you have a name?"

"Yes, I do. It's-... It's... Umm.." The changeling scratched it's head for a bit before it suddenly dawned on him. "I can't remember my name."

Queen Chrysalis stared at the orb in front of her. The orb showing her what the changeling saw. She had spent months ironing out every single minute detail. And it all was derailed by a pack of timberwolves terrifying Kore'kel away from his destination, and three fillies who took him even further from the destination. She was dumbfounded. "Well, two of those fillies are sisters to an elemental bearers. That could lead to Kore'kel reaching Princess Twilight that way."

A single messenger changeling approached the queen of the changelings. "My Queen."

"What is it drone?"

"Da-. The traitor is awake now."

Chrysalis' eyes filled with a sadistic glee. "Good. Let's see if that traitor will be cooperative today." The orb floated up and was placed into a chandelier of countless other orbs- all of them currently active Infiltrators. Chrysalis buzzed her way down to the prison in the lowest depths of the cave system. Inside hung hundreds of cocoons, each one holding a pony from which to draw a supply of emotional energy from. But she wasn't here for any of those. Instead, her target was a single changeling chained to a wall. He was tall but still shorter than Chrysalis and he had a short green mane and tail. "Well well well, it seems the little thief has awakened." Chrysalis bent down and placed a hoof beneath the changeling's chin, pushing it up to face her. "Tell me, have you decided to stop being stubborn and finally give me what I ask for?"

The changeling narrowed his eyes and spit right on her face. Enraged, Chrysalis hit the changeling as hard as she could muster. "INSOLENT FOOL! How dare you insult your queen in such a manner!"

The changeling spat to his side, blood and spit covering the ground beside him. He turned back to the much larger changeling and spoke calmly. "You are not my queen."

"I AM YOUR QUEEN!" Chrysalis stood to her full height, intentionally towering over the changeling as much as she could. "And you would be wise to do as I say. Now, you somehow wormed your way into the heart of a certain somepony in Canterlot. What is their weakness'?"

"You won't get anything out of me."

"Very well then." Chrysalis turned and spoke to the changeling standing guard. "Take this traitor to the room."

Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

Well, you can still work your way up the association chain. Wonder how quickly he can get the CMC in on the mission...
It's kinda weird their sisters weren't concerned at their late returns, curfew rules notwithstanding.
Keep going! ;)