Stories of the Changeling War

by SparrowFae

Rainbow Dash

The wind whispered against Rainbow Dash's ears and caressed the feathers of her wings as she flew. The moonlight played over the clouds, turning them into a pale, rolling sea. She had found a strong updraft and was hanging in the current, barely having to move her wings in order to stay aloft. Everything seemed peaceful. It reminded the pegasus of the days before the war. And she hated it.

"Can we go yet?" She hissed through her headset.

"We're waiting for the signal Sparrow Three. And we're supposed to be doing it quietly," came the crackling reply.

Rainbow growled and went back to watching the clouds. Each of her muscles was tensed, ready for action. But here she was, hovering above the clouds like a snowflake. This was a waste of her time. A waste of her talents. She needed action. She needed a fight. A roll of thunder echoed up from below.

"They're starting. We have to go!" the pegasus snarled.

"Radio silence, Three."

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as another roll of muffled thunder stirred the air. This time, a few flashes of light made it through the clouds. Behind her goggles, Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "That's it," she muttered and plunged forward through the clouds.

"Sparrow three, return to your position!"

The diving pegasus switched off her headset and continued her descent. Moisture condensed on her goggles as she plummeted through the grey abyss. The only sound was the rushing wind and her pounding heart. The haze vanished abruptly as she broke through the clouds and she could see. Cloudsdale. Her home, and the site of the bloodiest, ongoing battle of the Changeling War. The pillars and arches of the city were lit by dozens of flames as the ponies and changelings clashed high above Equestria. Thousands of drones swarmed around Coudsdale's perimeter, harrying pegasi defenders. Several of the changeling behemoths were moving in, destroying a few of the outer buildings with their heavy cannons. Rainbow Dash noted that they now bore armor near their wing roots, preventing the pegasi from dropping them with a few well-placed shots. The ponies' airships and war balloons were moving to intercept the threat. Rainbow would leave them to it. There wasn't much she could do to the behemoths with only her two saddle-mounted machine guns. Instead, she veered towards the city, picking out the densest group of changelings.

Once she was oriented on her target, Rainbow pumped her wings hard, gaining speed. Her timing had been a little off last time she'd attempted this maneuver, but she learned from her mistakes. This run would be perfect. There was still plenty of distance between the lone pegasus and the changelings when she pressed the trigger, unleashing a hail of bullets from her guns. She swiveled her head from side to side, and with a whirring of gears, her machine guns mirrored her line of sight, tracking the agile drones as they jinked and zigzagged to avoid the pegasus's fire. But Rainbow Dash was an ace with more than enough combat experience to predict her enemies' movements. She ripped through the changeling formation, downing at least six drones.

A few of the creatures gave chase as she hurtled passed. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed that three drones were on her tail. Green bolts of light shot passed as the drones opened fire. With practiced motions, Rainbow unlocked her guns, allowing them to rotate down so they pointed backwards. Then, with a stoke of her right wing, she flipped over so she was looking down her belly at her pursuers. Her cross hairs jumped from one drone to the next, putting a short burst into them one at a time. Each of the three changelings went down, trailing green blood. With a smile, Rainbow Dash flipped over again and locked her guns into their forward orientation.

She wondered if the rest of her squadron was still up in the could cover. If Colonel Cyclone got his way they wouldn't spring the ambush until after the changelings were past the barricade. Every minute they waited, more ponies would die and that was unacceptable. Any plan that cost pony lives was no less than treason. Besides, it was a waste of her talents to hover around in an updraft when she could be taking the fight to the enemy.

Rainbow had initially been surprised by how well she adapted to warfare, but as the months of fighting passed, the more it made sense. Competition had always been her drive and battle was just a competition with higher stakes. Failure would mean the destruction of the country she loved. It seemed like there weren't any other ponies who understood that fact. They were probably scared. But, for Rainbow, the cost of losing just added to the thrill. Never before had she been able to cut loose, to pour everything she possibly could into a struggle. Every battle pushed her to the very limit of what her body could do and it felt amazing. This is what she was born for.

The pegasus rocketed through the battle, making short work of any changeling unlucky enough to cross her path. The creatures were no match for the agile flyer. Most didn't even see her coming, and each one was a little victory. One less bug.
One less of the Tartarus-spawn to threaten her country.

A flash of green to her left gave her a moment's warning, allowing the pegasus to veer upward before the changeling's fiery projectile streaked through the space she had just occupied. The black, chitinous form of a changeling whizzed by underneath her, arcing to come up behind. A bug with an attitude huh? Rainbow thought, Better teach him a lesson. With a wolfish grin, she pulled up into a barrel role, flaring her wings to bleed even more airspeed. It was a simple maneuver, but the bugs fell for it every time. In the blink of an eye she would be behind her opponent, in the perfect position for a kill. As she went inverted, Rainbow glanced down, expecting to see the changeling shoot out ahead of her, but there was no sign of the creature. Had he broken off? In confusion, the pegasus looked down her belly past her tail and was surprised to see the changeling executing his own barrel roll and hot on her heels. As if this changeling's flying talents weren't disconcerting enough, Rainbow caught a glimpse of the thing's face. Instead of the blue-green of normal changeling eyes, this one glared at her with orbs of a deep red.

The pegasus was expecting the hail of fire as both she and her opponent leveled out. She wasn't expecting how well the creature led her as she peeled to the right. She lost a few feathers as she jinked wildly to avoid the fire. This bug was a cut above the rest. Not that it was any match for her, she would just have to pull out all the stops. The thought of having a challenge for once was actually kind of exciting.

Rainbow decided to start with her usual trick for dealing with an enemy on her tail. Again, she unlocked the mechanism on her guns, allowing them to rotate. Then she rolled over and fired backward at the red-eyed changeling, but it reacted quickly, breaking off and diving below her guns' field of fire. Instead of flipping right side up, Rainbow somersaulted forward, allowing her momentum to bring her guns back into position and resume her straight flight without losing speed. A quick glance behind her showed that she had gained some distance on the changeling, but it was still tracking her every move. It wouldn't be hard to simply outrun the creature, but Rainbow hated the idea of leaving this bug to terrorize the other pegasi. No, this one was her's. But first she needed to get it off her tail.

That was proving to be a difficult task for the rainbow-maned pony. She tried every maneuver she knew to force an overshoot. She even tried coming to a dead stop, but that only gave the changeling an easier target. It was like the creature knew what she was going to do before she did it. Frustration was forming a tight pit in Rainbow's stomach as her every attempt to turn the tides failed. It was easy enough to dodge most of red-eyes' attacks but every once in a while he got pretty close. Sooner or later, he'd probably get lucky.

With a growl, the pegasus forced herself to calm down and think. Creativity had never been her strong suit, but if she didn't come up with something, she would have to disengage. The thought of anypony seeing her running away from a fight was unbearable. Another bolt of green fire shot past. Rainbow feinted to the right then swerved left, buying a few seconds to look around for anything she could use to her advantage. After swiveling her head frantically for a moment, she found herself staring up at the overcast that had been put in place to veil the pegasi ambush and an idea sprouted in her mind. Any of her friends would have called it absolutely crazy, but it was the only thing she could think of.

With a grunt of effort, she pumped her wings, pulling into a steep climb. The sudden maneuver gave Rainbow a few second's respite from the changeling's relentless firing, but another glance over her shoulder confirmed that the bug was still following. Perfect. The relative darkness of night was replaced by utter blackness as she plunged through the chilly, moist cloud layer. The dark was disorienting, but Rainbow knew it wouldn't last long and after only a few seconds she emerged into silver moonlight. The pegasus stilled her wings, letting her inertia carry her a bit higher as she nosed over then dove straight back the way she had come. Rainbow gritted her teeth. This was going to hurt.

The changeling broke through the clouds, giving Rainbow and instant's glimpse of its face as its red eyes widened in shock. Then they collided. Rainbow managed to transfer most of the impact to her forelegs as her hooves smashed into the changeling's carapace and the two flyers plummeted back into the pitch black of the clouds.

The first moments of their struggle weren't much more than a flailing of limbs as each of them tried to gain the upper hand. Mostly they just succeeded in tangling their legs together. By the time they were back through the clouds, they were in a gut-wrenching spin. The changeling hissed, the muscles of its neck bulging as it pulled against strong g-forces to try and bring it's teeth to bear. Rainbow remembered the effects of the changeling venom on Princess Celestia. That was definitely something she wanted to avoid. With a growl, she wrenched one foreleg mostly free and struck at the creature in the jaw. The forces of the spin robbed her strike of most of its power, but she managed to keep her opponent's menacing fangs away from her flesh. Another jerk freed her limb completely and she immediately started scrabbling for the trigger lever on her gun. The barrel of the weapon bounced around between the struggling flyers as Rainbow finally caught hold of the trigger. The changeling struggled desperately, trying to stay out of the gun's line of fire, but the pegasus had the upper hand. With a final twist of her hips, she brought the weapon's tip just shy of the changeling's chin. One more push and she would have it.

A bright flash of green forced Rainbow to look away, but as she turned back, she managed to wedge her gun into place. But the changeling was gone. Where its blood-red eyes had been an instant earlier, now there were glistening, blue eyes staring back at her, full of fear. And around those familiar eyes was a familiar pink face wreathed in a familiar pink mane. In her mind, Rainbow Dash knew that this wasn't really Pinkie Pie. She knew that the changeling was trying one last, desperate trick. But it didn't matter. It was the perfect image of her best friend, and for one crucial second, she her heart and her brain were conflicted. It was all the changeling needed. In the blink of an eye, the false Pinkie lunged forward, its face contorting as fangs sprouted from its mouth. With a yelp, Rainbow Dash kicked out, pushing the changeling away. At the same time, she tapped the trigger and her gun barked out a short, two-round burst. The bullets tore into the changeling's shoulder and foreleg and the creature let out a screech as it reverted back into its grotesque form. It lashed out with one of its perforated hooves and struck Rainbow across the face, knocking her goggles askew. The rush of air from their rapid descent quickly dislodged the pegasus's eye-wear and Rainbow had to squint against the wind.

By now, the two of them had fallen so far that the threat of crashing into the ground forced them both to abandon the grapple. Rainbow wasn't sure she could have held onto her enemy after taking such a blow anyway. And now she really had the advantage. The changeling could still fly, but it's injury would greatly hamper its speed and agility. It would be a piece of cake for Rainbow to finish it off.

As they broke apart, the pegasus slowed her descent, easily maneuvering behind the changeling. She took her time lining up the final shot. So long, bug. Rainbow pressed the trigger, but just before her guns flashed to life, the changeling spun to face her in a perfect imitation of the blue mare's roll-over trick. But, instead of unleashing one of its fiery projectiles, the changeling opened its mouth and spat out a gob of venom which quickly expanded into a green cloud. There was no time for Rainbow to react before she flew straight through the venom cloud. She cried out as the poison filled her eyes. The pain was so intense that she could feel it in her gut.

It was suddenly impossible to keep her wings flapping in sync and in the space of a breath, the pegasus was tumbling wildly through the air. Rainbow wasn't sure how far she was from the ground, but she knew it was close enough that she should be trying to decelerate. It took a few tries, but eventually she managed to turn her spiraling fall into something resembling a controlled descent, and without a moment to spare. Despite her best efforts, the impact was still enough to knock the wind out of her. She ricocheted off the ground, hurtling another several feet before striking the earth again. After the second impact, Rainbow tried to curl her limbs in, bracing for the next time she hit the ground. But the next time she came down, instead of packed dirt, she found herself plunging into ice cold water.

Instinctively, she clamped her eyes shut, but the sudden searing pain prompted her to open them again. The pain eased slightly as the chilly water washed some of the venom out. Frantically, the blue mare forced her eyes wide. At first the coldness was uncomfortable, but that soon gave way to merciful numbness. Rainbow held her head beneath the water until she had to come up for air. The night around her was no more than a dark blur, punctuated by the flash of explosions from the battle above. Her eyes felt tight, as if they were covered in plastic wrap. It was another several minutes before she could see clearly again.

By then, the flashes from Cloudsdale were beginning to fade. Rainbow Dash looked up, squinting against the intermittent flare of gunfire. The changelings were backing off. Their retreat seemed reluctant, but they were definitely giving ground. The battle was over. The ponies had won, yet again. But Rainbow could only feel defeated as she hauled her soaked, aching body out of the lake she'd landed in. That red-eyed changeling had beaten her, and damn near made sure she would never fly again. Fear began to creep up the blue mare's spine, and she shut it down the only way she knew how. With anger. She would find that bug again, and when she did, she would kill it.

* * *

"What in Tartarus' name were you thinking!?"

Rainbow dash stood silently in the debriefing room as Colonel Cyclone paraded back and forth, berating her in his usual pompous windbag manner. By now the pegasus was used to it. Her commanding officer might have an impressive set of lungs, but it was just scolding and empty threats. He would never ground his best flyer.

"You jeopardized the entire operation with your glory-seeking stunt," Cyclone blustered, "If you'd been any slower the changelings would have seen where you'd come from and we'd have lost the element of surprise. The entire ambush would have been ruined."

"There was no chance that I would have been too slow, sir," Rainbow said, meeting her commander's eyes.

"No one doubts your abilities, Sparrow Three. But you left your squadron. You put us all at risk. That kind of disloyalty is dangerous."

Rainbow's vision went red with a sudden burst of rage. Disloyalty! He wanted to sit around in updrafts while ponies died and he was lecturing her about disloyalty?!

"What did you just say?" the mare said, her voice quiet and strained as she tried to keep her anger in check.

Cyclone stopped his pacing and squared his shoulders. "Disloyalty, Three. That is what your insubordination has amounted to. You've been disloyal to your squadron, to the pegasus command, and to your country. And I'm afraid--"

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT LOYALTY!" Rainbow exploded, "You want to sit around planning ambushes while the ponies on the front lines are getting slaughtered! Every second we aren't fighting costs lives! I'm doing my job!"

"You are hindering our ability to act as a unified force!" Cyclone shouted back, "One renegade soldier can wreck an entire campaign! You have talent, but you damn near threw that away too! If you hadn't landed in that lake, the changeling's poison would have damaged your eyes beyond repair. You are a danger to yourself and every other pegasus in Cloudsdale. Therefore you are being discharged from Sparrow squadron and suspended from duty until further notice."

Rainbow's blazing anger was quenched by an icy numbness at her commander's words. "Y-You can't do that. I'm the best flyer here. You need me!"

"You're a liability, Dash." The Colonel seemed to deflate somewhat. "I've already cleared it with command. Return to your quarters and please, don't make trouble."

Rainbow Dash was still for a moment, absorbing what had just happened. She felt tears threatening to burst forth, so she turned hastily and swept out of the small debriefing room. She walked back to the barracks in a haze. She was lucky enough to have one of the only single-pony bunks in the hastily built cloud-structure. Cyclone's words still rang in her head as she re-sealed the walls of her small quarters.

Glory-seeking. Disloyalty. Did he even know who he was talking to? Rainbow slammed one hoof against the wall. There was a tiny, unsatisfying poof as the surface benignly absorbed her strike. She supposed it was probably good that there wasn't anything in her room that she could break, or anything on which she could break herself. With a snarl, the pegasus threw herself onto her bed. The cheaper cirrus material wasn't as cushy as the nimbus that had made up her bed in Ponyville, but Rainbow had grown accustomed to the harshness of war. Besides, it wouldn't feel right to be comfortable while others were stuck in even worse conditions. The earth ponies on the front lines would be lucky if they got to sleep in a cot.

The pegasus rolled over, hating everything about the situation in which she suddenly found herself. For her entire life she had been a pony of action. Whether she was defending a loved one or serving her own ambition, she could always rely on her wings and her hooves to get the job done. Now she was stuck in a tiny cloud chamber while her country faced annihilation. I could just leave. . . . That was a dangerous thought. Desertion was treason. If she was caught, it would mean jail time. A lot of jail time. How is that any different from where I am now? Everyone would think she was a traitor. They think that already. Cyclone said it himself. She would never join the Wonderbolts. That doesn't matter anymore. The war changed everything. I don't even want to join the Wonderbolts anymore. That realization startled her for a moment, but she tucked it away as she continued to consider her decision.

The one thing that might have stopped her was the idea of what her friends would think. Their's were the only opinions that mattered at all. But she had done some pretty stupid stuff before and their feelings toward her had never once wavered. There were even a few times she knew she was being a blockhead and was pretty sure anypony with a brain would have walked away, but her friends never left. Besides, this decision is really important. I'm sure if I just explain why I had to do it, they will understand. Rainbow closed her eyes as her resolve pushed aside what remained of her anger. She would leave in the morning to fight the war on her own terms. Nopony was going to stop her.

* * *

Rainbow had thought she wouldn't be able to sleep, but evidently she had been wrong. She found herself coming awake to the sound of shouts and running hooves. She stumbled out of bed and whisked open the cloud wall that sealed her quarters. She was met by a scene of chaos as pegasi sprinted up and down the narrow hallway outside her room.

"Hey!" she called, stopping a tan stallion, "What the hey is going on?"

"There's a changeling armada heading for Cloudsdale. Bigger than anything we've ever seen! Princess Luna is leading the defense herself."

The stallion pushed past her and dashed off. After a moment, Rainbow's tired brain finally processed what he had said. An armada. Bigger than anything they'd seen. From the beginning of the war, the changelings had kept up a non-stop offensive against the cloud city. Rainbow had personally witnessed fleets with thousands of behemoths and countless drones. Cloudsdale had enough problems dealing with the current level of fighting. If this armada was as big as that stallion made it seem . . . It looked like going AWOL is going to have to wait. The blue mare ducked back into her cabin to grab her sidearm before rushing outside.

Rainbow Dash tried to blend in as she hurried out of the barracks, no easy task for a mare with six colors in her mane. Luckily, it seemed like nopony was terribly interested in keeping an eye out for recently discharged pegasi. The cloud platform outside the barracks was equally chaotic. Pegasi were landing and taking off, usually passing within a hairs breadth of one another. Rainbow watched as a heavily armored royal guard clipped his wing on another pegasi and landed hard in a puff of mist. The armored stallion didn't look as if he'd registered the crash as he sprang up and went running into the barracks.

From the looks of it, most of the ponies already had their orders. Squadrons of pegasi flew in formation overhead, all of them heading to the south. That was weird. Usually the changelings attacked from the north. Something wasn't right. Rainbow frowned, suddenly aware of how much she had relied on the briefings before each mission. She needed information before she decided what to do. After a quick glance around to be sure no one was paying attention, the blue mare kicked a small hole in the clouds below her and dropped down. She gathered some of the soft, wispy material around her as she fell, concentrating as much moisture as she could to make it as opaque as possible. Once she was satisfied with her camouflage, she drifted into a wind current, hoping all the other pegasi were too preoccupied to deal with a stray bit of cloud.

The potent high-altitude breeze soon carried her to the outskirts of the city. Once there, Rainbow let her tiny rain cloud disperse and shot straight up into the pre-dawn sky. She didn't have to climb very high before she saw them. There were so many they looked like a black amoeba moving across the brightening sky. The roiling mass of glistening, black chitin looked as if it could swallow Cloudsdale whole. And that was only the drones. Flanking the massive swarm came the lumbering behemoths. The low, oscillating buzz of their immense wings pressed against Rainbow's ear drums. The pegasus let out a low whistle. "I'd better find the Princess."

Luna wasn't hard to find. She was using a small gunship in the Wonderbolt's old arena as a command post and using her royal canterlot voice to direct the defense. "Ah, Rainbow Dash, there you are," the alicorn called, "I sent a guard for you but you were not in the barracks. Your commanding officer was most displeased."

Rainbow winced. "Ooh, right. About that--,"

Luna held up a hoof to silence her. "Your discharge does not concern me. In fact I had intended to relieve you of duty myself."

"What? Why?" Rainbow asked defensively.

"It may not be obvious now, but I believe the tides of this war are about to change," Luna said, "Even now, Twilight Sparkle is about to strike directly at the source of these creatures' power. You and your Element of Harmony will be needed when we deliver the final blow."

"Aw yeah!" Rainbow exclaimed, "It's about time we took the fight to the bugs!"

"This battle will be the beginning of the end for the changelings," Luna agreed, turning to walk back towards the gunship.

"I wanna be at the front," Rainbow said eagerly, "Just lemme grab my guns and--"

"No," Luna cut her off, "We must withdraw with the rest of our forces."

Rainbow Dash froze in her tracks. "What?" she murmured.

The Princess didn't even look back as she said, "We are leaving the city. Come, I will explain."

"No! We can't abandon Cloudsdale!"

Princess Luna turned at the pegasus' sudden outburst. "I assure you, Raibow Dash, I do not make this sacrifice lightly. But we have a singular opportunity now, to cripple the changelings."

"But we fought so hard!" Rainbow growled, gritting her teeth for fear that her voice would crack, "So many ponies died to keep Cloudsdale safe."

"They died to afford us this chance," Luna's voice was way too calm, "We have expended so many resources to defend this place, the changelings will never suspect that we plan to destroy the city ourselves."

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her ears. Destroy Cloudsdale? "But what about the weather factory? How are we gonna make rain for the farms?"

"Our farmland already lies in ashes. And any new cultivation is immediately overrun by those vermin. Our only hope is to end this war. Now come, the weather engineers have already set the core of the weather factory to overload. In five minutes, the reactor will detonate and the changelings will be hear well before that. We must leave now."

"You go!" Rainbow spat, "Cloudsdale is still my home, and I'm going to protect it." With that, the pegasus wheeled around, unfurling her wings.

"Rainbow Dash--" The blue mare didn't wait to hear what Luna would say, in the blink of an eye she was streaking toward the rainbow factory. Besides a few straggling pegasi, the entire city was deserted. It was eerie, like Cloudsdale was already dead, just an empty shell, resigned to its fate. To make things worse, the buzz of the swarm had grown to an ululating roar. Rainbow could see the swarm over the building tops now. It spread like a living shadow, moving to engulf the cloud city. No you don't. Once the Princess sees that the factory didn't blow, she'll bring back the fleet. You're not taking Cloudsdale! The pegasus pumped her wings, coaxing as much speed as they could deliver.

She could hear sirens blaring from within the factory as she alighted amidst the ancient columns of the entrance. The only time she had ever seen the reactor was during a field trip back when she was in flight school. It was in a large chamber deep within the heart of the factory. There was only one set of stairs and only one corridor leading to the core chamber. Cloud buildings didn't lend themselves well to elaborate corridors and complex floor plans. It was a good thing too. There were only a few more minutes before the detonation.

Inside, the dark bowels of the factory were illuminated only by red, flashing lights, adding to the surreal quality of the deserted building. The sounds of the alarms grew dimmer and muffled as the blue mare made her way down the sloping hallway. All of the speakers must have been on the main level. Rainbow just hoped that the factory's rainbow core wasn't much different than the one that had powered her home in Ponyville. She was mentally reviewing all of the safety protocols for rainbow reactors as she approached the central chamber.

"Vhat do you tink it meanssss?" came a high pitched, hissing voice from within the room. Rainbow pressed herself flat against the wall, pulling her saddle pistol out of its holster. The weapon wouldn't be as useful without its harness. She would have to use both of her fore-hooves to pull the trigger, but the pegasus could still use her wings to move while she fired. Cautiously, she crept forward to peer around the corner into the room. A royal guard in golden armor lay between two control panels, still grasping his lance. Behind him were two changelings, who were regarding the rainbow core as it pulsed inside the industrial-grade containment unit.

"Can't be ssssure. Vhe had better go tell zhe sssswarm master," one said.

"Yeh," trilled the other one, "Vhe ssssshould go."

Rainbow Dash didn't wait for them to turn around. With a smooth, practiced motion, she leaned around the corner, lined up her first shot, and squeezed the trigger. The bark of the weapon echoed painfully through the enclosed space, drowning out a small cry of alarm from the second changeling as gore erupted from the first one's throat. Rainbow had already taken her second shot as the creature turned to see her. She didn't wait for it's body to hit the ground before surging into the room, clumsily trying to get her pistol back into its holster. First, she knelt to check the guard, holding a hoof to his neck to feel for a pulse. Nothing. Rainbow sighed and stood up, shaking her head, and examined the two control panels. The set up was a bit more complicated than her domestic model had been, but she thought she could figure it out. She rushed over to the closest panel where a screen was flashing WARNING! in bright red letters.

"Ah!"

"Woah!" Rainbowdash shouted, leaping up and backwards, fumbling for her pistol.

"Sorry!" came a quivering voice from under the control panel, "I thought you were another changeling." A slender, yellow pegasus peaked out from her hiding spot.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to sneak up on ponies?" Rainbow shouted. Her heart was still hammering as she put away her weapon a second time. The other mare cringed away from her yelling. "Sorry. You just sca-- startled me. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I forgot some important documents here during the evacuation. I came back to get them, but. . ." the yellow pegasus eyed the changeling's bodies with a sick look.

"Good thing I got here when I did then, huh? A few more minutes and you wouldn't have been able to make it out before the core exploded. Say, do you work here? Maybe you can help me shut this thing down."

The other mare paused for a moment. "You want me to stop the core from detonating?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know the Princess wants to let the core overload to destroy the swarm, but Cloudsdale is my home and it's home to a lot of other ponies too. So I don't care if she's Princess or not, she doesn't have any right to blow up this city."

"I suppose you're right. . . But I don't usually work with the core directly. I'm not sure how to shut it down." Across the room, the containment unit began to shake slightly as the core's pulsing grew more intense.

"Well, it's actually pretty simple. You just have to vent the extra power. Check that console. There should be a lever labeled 'emergency vent' or something." As the yellow mare moved to study the other console, Rainbow looked back at her own. There were various knobs and buttons, most of them labelled with numbers. There was probably some pattern to them, but Rainbow had never been any good with this sort of thing. If only Twilight were here.

Without warning, the core stopped shaking. A hissing sound emanated from the pipes that ran along the floor at the edge of the ceiling and the pulsing of the core began to slow.

"Hey, you figured it out! Now let's get out of--," Rainbow Dash turned and found the other mare's face a few inches away from her own. "Uhhh. What are you--,"

The yellow pegasus smiled, revealing two long, twinkling fangs. Before Rainbow could react, the mare grabbed her by the shoulders and lurched forward, sinking her fangs into her shoulder.

"Gaahhh!" Rainbow Dash cried, more in alarm than pain. The changeling tore her fangs free of the pony's flesh and kicked her viciously to the ground beside the dead guard.

"Ssso nice to ssssee you again," the creature said. In a flash of green flame, it reverted back to its original form, replacing its sparkling pony eyes with orbs of deep red. A gnarled scar stood out on the changeling's shoulder.

"You," Rainbow croaked. "How did you . . . I shot you." It was painful to speak. It was painful to breath. But a tingling numbness was slowly spreading up her neck. That can't be good.

"Foolish pony. Vhe have more power zhen you know. Alzhough I mussst sssay, I'm impresssssed. I've killed hundredsss of poniessss, and you're zhe only one to ever vhound me."

"I'll. . . do more than. . . that!" Rainbow gasped. She tried to stand, but her head was beginning to spin.

"Ssso persssistent. It isss cute," Red-eyes let out a soft laugh that was a mix between the purr of a cat and the death squeal of a rabbit. Then it fixed Rainbow with a piercing gaze. "Before you die, I mussst zhank you. Vhizhout you, zhe swarm vhould have been desssstroyed. You have done changelings a great sssservice. Such a shame zhere are not more ponies like you. Vhe could use more traitors."

Everything froze on the changeling's last word. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Rainbow's pupils constricted as rage welled up behind her eyes. Her gaze was fixed on the changeling's leering face. She didn't know when she had grabbed the dead guard's lance, but she barely had to realize that she was holding it before she jammed it into the changeling's mouth. The tip of the weapon erupted from the back of the creature's head. The last thing Rainbow saw before her vision blurred was the look of surprise on the changeling's face while she toppled over, letting out tiny, gurgling noises. The light faded from her scarlet eyes and everything went dark.

Rainbow Dash came awake again to the sensation of flying. She opened her eyes and saw Cloudsdale stretched out below her, illuminated by the soft light of dawn. Changelings swarmed around and through the city, which was rapidly growing smaller and the pegasus realized she was gaining altitude. The wind rushed over the feathers of her limp wings. Well this is new, she thought sluggishly, then decided not to think about it too much. She was in the sky. Right where she was supposed to be. The changelings below weren't her problem anymore.

She was about to close her eyes again when it happened. A flash of light, right at the center of Cloudsdale, and then a wave of color swept out in a dome. It was so bright, but Rainbow couldn't look away. After a few second's delay, the sound of the explosion pounded her ears in a long, rumbling roll of thunder. And then it all faded, leaving a smoking scar in the clouds. Cloudsdale was gone. Rainbow Dash's vision blurred once again, this time with tears.

* * *

Sunlight fell across her face. It must be almost noon. Twilight would be mad at her for being late clearing the clouds, but she was the only one in Ponyville who ever cared about the schedule. Rainbow rolled over, away from the window. Wait a minute. Isn't my window on the other side? With that realization came the rest of the memories of the past year-and-a-half. She sat bolt upright and every muscle in her back spasmed in an instant cramp.

"Woah there nelly!" An orange hoof came to rest gently on her shoulder. Rainbow looked over to see it belonged to a familiar face.

"Applejack? What're you--"

"Easy partner," the earthpony said, "You've had a rougher time than a slow clown at the rodeo."

Rainbow leaned her face into her hooves. "Where am I?" she muttered.

"Canterlot Hospital. Ya'll have been here fer nearly a week."

"What happened?"

"Well, once Luna got the fleet all sorted, she came lookin' fer ya. Then she set that rainbow doohicky up to explode and beelined it out o' there faster than a jackrabbit. Blew a hole right through the ceiling, as ah hear it." Applejack paused to take a deep breath. "Ya'll know Cloudsale is gone?"

"Yeah."

"Ah'm sorry."

"Not your fault." Rainbow's voice was starting to waver. "What are you doing here?" she asked, hoping to keep her friend talking so that she didn't have to.

"Keepin' ya company o' course," Applejack said.

"I mean what are you doing in Canterlot?" Rainbow said, glaring at her friend.

"Luna's orders. She want's ta use the Elements o' Harmony, so we're gatherin' up the whole crew. It'll be a good ol' reunion."

"Right . . . What about Fluttershy?"

The orange mare beamed. "Apparently she's still alive somewhere. Twi is off lookin' for her right now."

Rainbow grunted. She knew that she would should feel happy at that news, but happiness seemed to be a hard thing to feel right now. Another question came to her mind. The only question that had an answer likely to make her feel something other than empty. "When are we going to the changeling nest?"

Applejack's smile faded. "Soon," she said.

"Good." Rainbow Dash replied, "They've taken enough. It's payback time."

Comments

[SparrowFae]

Finally! Jeeze, how long has it been? Two months? Well, it's about time then. I know I say this a lot, but the next chapter shouldn't take so long. Hope you all enjoy!