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Chapter 1: Rendezvous3,671 words
Chapter 2: Gone with the Wind4,522 words
Chapter 3: Traps3,406 words
Chapter 4: Forks and Crossroads4,628 words
Chapter 5: Nightmare, Dream or Reality?4,494 words

Chapter 1: Rendezvous

Chapter 1
Rendezvous

Ponyville was as lively and busy as ever. The grown-ups were out and going about their daily lives while the foals were at school. Everything would have been routine, but with new ponies coming in every few days or so, the townsponies were meeting and greeting like there was no tomorrow. It just so happens that another new face was making his way through the market stalls.

Everypony was greeting Black Frost, the newest arrival in town, and by far the friendliest. He was a larger-than-average unicorn with a dark grey coat and a wind-blown mane. Frost waved in return to the ponies who greeted him and continued to walk three steps before being stopped again by another greeting pony. This went on of for, well, quite a while. He was starting to get irritated since his progress was slowed to a crawl as everypony went to greet him. Since Pinkie Pie was still away in Canterlot for the royal wedding, the ponies in Ponyville must have taken it upon themselves to greet the new comers.

At this point, his face was hurting from smiling too much, and he was feeling a bit on edge. Was everypony here this... creepy? Sure, it's nice to be treated like a friend even though you're a complete stranger, but this is just ridiculous! Ugh, ponies and their... interesting ways. He thought, I guess this makes it easier for me to blend in. Can't complain anyhow.

=====

Meanwhile...

Inside the dark Everfree forest, a lone tree was shaking it's crown without the presence of the wind. It shook once, twice, and thrice before something dropped down with a sickening thud on the wet ground. It was a changeling! Covered in utter darkness of the shadows, he shook a little before using his front hooves to prop himself up. He slowly rose up to stand, but a sharp pang of pain sent him to his knees.

The changeling locked his jaw, trying to conquer the pain. It appeared that his right shoulder was dislocated. He vaguely remembered being flung off by some heart-shaped force field and landing on top of a tree after flying for what felt like an eternity. All the while his body was frozen from the residual magic that sent him flying in the first place. The impact must have caused the dislocation. At least it wasn't anything too serious. "No way am I gonna survive with this. Here goes nothing..." He reluctantly stepped on his right hoof, taking a deep breath. If only there was another way of fixing this. With clenched teeth, he forcefully pulled his right shoulder up while his other hoof held his foreleg in place, which caused the shoulder to make a popping sound as well sending a pulse of pain through his system.

"AAAHHHHGGG!!!" The pain burned into his back, causing him to collapse on his knees again. His shout echoed throughout the forest. Startled birds scrambled to the skies in alarm. For the third time, the changeling rose to his hooves but made sure to keep off his injured foreleg. That needed a day's rest before it would be any good as a limb.

He limped over a tree to just lean back and get his bearings. "Okay, so I'm lost, wet, cold -" his stomach growled as if it wanted to join in on his monologue, "-and hungry... Okay, first thing's first, stop talking to yourself!" It wasn't like anyling was there to hear him talk to himself, but then again knowing his own kind, they could be hiding there as a tree or a rock.

First step: Changeling calls. He shook his body a little to loosen up, took a deep breath to clear his mind. This call needed a focused mind, and a calm body. Slowly he huffed once more and exhaled his voice in a controlled manner. "IS THERE ANYLING HERE?!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, causing another round of startled birds to take off. The changeling's ears scanned every direction, only to be greeted with silence. "Well... that didn't work. Hmm, I should get going, no point staying around here."

The changeling flapped his wings and found that he couldn't lift himself off. Upon close inspection, he saw that his wings were wet from when he fell face-first into the puddle. He looked around to get an idea where to go. Just to his right was a path that lead towards a darker part of the forest. Opposite to that was another path that lead to another darker part of the forest. Great. Which ever path he took, he'd end up in a darker place.

The canopy overhead was too thick to let light through, so he couldn't determine whether it was night or morning. Where was he anyway? It was cold, damp, and dark. Similar to where the hive was hidden, except the air felt... fresher? That only told him that there weren't any hives nearby. But this place did have a creepy aura to it, so that wasn't so bad. At least he'd feel right at home.

SNAP! A twig snapped in the area behind him, causing the changeling to jolt to a blind run towards the left path all the while screaming his lungs out.

"GOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAY! CHRYSALIS SAVE ME!"

=====

Back in Ponyville, Frost was with one of the newer ponies who arrived three days ahead of him. She was an earth pony who had a maroon coat, a golden mane that reached to her knees, and her tail was almost touching the ground. They had been talking for a while now and looked be getting intimate.

"Let's go to my place, we'll have more privacy to talk there." The mare started off and Frost followed close beside her. Small talk were plenty between the two. The topics ranged from their foalhoods, to the weather, and finally to how they ended up here in Ponyville.

Golden Belle opened the door of a simple two-story cottage. The inside was furnished with simple things like a sofa, a coffee table, and a few vases full of flowers. "Over here slowpoke!" Frost followed the mare upstairs into a dark room. The windows were covered by heavy curtains and the room was filled with the sweet aroma of lavender.

"I didn't expect to run into anypony like me. Or should I say-" Golden Belle was suddenly engulfed in bright green flames which subsided as quickly as it came. "-anyling else." Where the once beautiful earth pony stood, another creature took her place. She now had a body of black, holes in her hooves, a horn, a pair of transparent insectoid wings and a dark blue shell on her back.

Unfazed by the sudden transformation, Black Frost followed suit and was engulfed by the same ring of green fire, illuminating the room for a second time in the eerie glow of the flames. Another changeling stood where Frost was previously.

The two changelings standing there looked identical to one another. At first glance, the only noticeable difference between the two was the size between the male and female of the changeling species, with females being generally smaller and softer in comparison. The only other noticeable difference was that Frost had a slightly crooked horn.

This might not be important to other species, but to the changelings, this noted a higher rank.

"What's your designation, soldier?" Frost started, seeing as he was an officer and the other one was a subordinate.

Golden shifted in her spot, embarrassed because she had insulted a hive officer by calling him a slowpoke. "I'm Zulu. Scout of team 5."

Frost nodded. "The name's Ghost. Commander of team 2. Can you tell me where you landed after that force field threw us off? I'd like to know how scattered we are."

Zulu opened her mouth to answer the commander's question, but the sound of her front door busting open interrupted her. There was no time to react before a pony came to her room. "Golden! They found... a changeling... in Everfree!" he said between gasps of air. "They-" The pony suddenly realized that Golden wasn't in the room, but instead there were two changelings.

Without hesitation, Ghost bucked the pony in the face, knocking him to the floor, unconscious.

"Well that was a close one." Ghost wiped off the sweat on his forehead.

Zulu pushed the changeling officer out of her way and rushed to the downed pony. "Why would you do that? Oh Chrysalis, please be alright."

Ghost tilted his head. "Are you telling me this in another changeling?"

"Well no, he's just a regular earth pony. Its just..." She checked to make sure the pony didn't have any concussions.

"Wait, don't tell me you actually care about this pony."

Zulu was silent as Ghost just blankly stared.

The changeling commander walked to the end of the room, shaking his head. "I don't believe this. Did you tell him that you were a changeling?"

"No, of course not! Well... maybe a little..."

Are you crazy! Do you want to get yourself caught? Ghost's eye was twitching from frustration. He wanted to let his thoughts explode all over the room, but he couldn't risk losing his only changeling contact. How could a changeling break the most basic rule of insurgency? It was the most basic of the basic. Why on Equestria would she do such a thing? She will hear from Chrysalis about this... As soon as I find her. The changeling stormed out the room.

Zulu looked up at Ghost, but he just passed her without a word. "Where are you going?"

"To find the other changeling that pony mention. Where was it, Everfree or something?"

"I'll come along."

"No!" He didn't mean to scream, but the frustration just slipped out. He made a deep sigh before saying anything else. "Make sure he's alright." He pointed to the limp pony before turning himself back into Black Frost. "And don't be going around telling everypony that you're a changeling. They wont be too friendly after that failed invasion." He cringed at the thought. How could their queen be that careless?

With a defeated nod, Zulu uttered something similar to "Good luck" before tending to the pony.

Closing the door with a sigh, Frost went around town to see if he could find directions for Everfree.

"Excuse me." He tapped the shoulder of a grey pegasus with a messy looking mane and tail. She was carrying bags full of paper and envelopes.

"Oh, hi! How can I help you?" She turned to Frost, staring at him at two different points.

Okay... a wall-eyed pegasus mare. Don't see that everyday. "I, uh..." He was too distracted by the mare's eyes to structure a sensible sentence.

"Hey! It's rude to stare you know!"

"Huh? Oh! I'm really sorry! It's just..." you look weird "Um never mind. Can you tell me where to find Everfree?"

"What? You mean Everfree Forest?" The mare looked at him funny - well, funnier that before. "Why would you go there? It's a very dangerous place."

Frost raised an eyebrow. A very dangerous place? Aw come on, a changeling can handle any "dangers" there are in that forest, but it seems like he needed to convince the mare first before he could get anything from her.

"Well you see, a friend of mine told me that he was going to Everfree, but forgot to tell me where it was."

"But it's dangerous to go there alone!" The mare protested, flapping her wings as if to emphasize the word dangerous.

"All the more reason why I need to find him quickly to... make sure he's alright."

The mare scratched her head before finally giving in. Pointing to a cluster of trees covered in what looked like a blanket of darkness. It was visible through the gaps of the houses. "It's that way."

Frost shook the mare's hoof and darted for the forest, throwing a "Thank you!" at her. Gah, all this sappy goodie goodie stuff is making me sick.

=====

"Come on, Rook! You gotta find a way out of here. Where did those ponies run off to? I'm sure they came running down this way. Dang it, stop talking to yourself!" A few moments ago, Rook was running for his life after something snapped a twig behind him. He even almost completely forgot his sore shoulder from the fright.

As he was running he crashed into a couple of ponies. They didn't stay long though. As soon as they saw him, they sort of just ran off like two streaks of lightning bolts, screaming. It was then he realized that he forgot to put on a disguise.

Live and learn I guess. Rook kept trotting in one direction, keeping off his sore limb which now started to hurt a lot after his mad dash. I'll find my way out of here eventually. He reassured himself.

He decided to sit down for a breather. Where ever those ponies were, they're long gone now, so might as well rest up, right? "This isn't so bad, I mean sure it has bugs, ticks, leaches, spiders, and centipedes... but every forest has that, right?"

He leaned back on a tree and just let himself relax. With his eyes closed, he could hear the peaceful racket of the forest. The chirping birds, the growling wolves, the changeling language drifting through the - Wait!

His ears perked up as he jumped to his hooves. Did he really hear that right? A few moments of silence later, he could hear wings buzzing, accompanied with verbal clicks. He recognized it! It was the changelings' language!

Excitedly, he buzzed his wings in response. A few clicking sounds could be heard in reply. Translated, it said, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm glad you're here." was Rook's response in the insectoid language. "I'm over by the tree." Yeah, completely helpful Rook! It's not like there's only one tree here.

The buzzing from the other changeling grew louder as he approached. Rook almost jumped for joy when he saw the form of another changeling.

"Designation?" The other changeling asked. Now that he was closer, Rook could see the other changeling had a larger and a slightly more crooked horn. An officer! he thought.

"Rook. Squad 4."

"Ghost. Squad 2 commander. You look hurt, are you alright?" Ghost pointed to Rook's foreleg.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rook's stomach growled for the second time. "Although a bit hungry..."

"Okay, we'll have to get back to town and regroup. How long were you in here?"

"I'm not really sure. I remember getting blasted off by that force field thing, -which rudely interrupted my meal by the way- and next thing I know, I fell face first into a puddle, starving." Rook extended his wings to show that they were soggy. "I've been wandering for a few hours."

Ghost raised an eyebrow, being a bit skeptical of his story. "You mean to tell me, you've been up in that tree for a week?"

A week!? Rook stammered for words. Was he really out for a week? That would explain why he was starving.

"We'll worry about it later. For now we have to regroup and get you fed before you turn insane and kill us all."

"Haha, very funny sir." He chuckled, but Ghost remained expressionless. "Wait... you mean I'm going to go insane?"

Ghost was covered by green fire and when it subsided, Black Frost took his place. "Call me Black Frost. You do have enough energy to shape-shift, right?"

"You bet!" After being engulfed by green flames, Rook turned into a simple beige colored unicorn pony with black mane and tail. His mane was short and messy while his tail was about mid length and also a bit messy. "Just call me Rook. I've never been so good with making up names."

Frost rolled his eyes. "Now I know why they call you 'Rook.' Okay, lets move."

The first few minutes were completely silent, until Rook asked a question. "So what's the story of your cutie mark? I mean I know it's not real, but what do you tell the ponies when they ask about it?"

"It's a snowflake, does it need to be explained?"

"Of course! I mean a snowflake can mean anything between making snow, turning into snow, controlling snow, you know. Just look at mine." Rook gestured to his flank. "I'm naturally good at chess so I picked the piece with the same name as me. That way I wouldn't have to stammer when they ask me out of the blue."

That was actually a good idea. This grub might have a future as a strategist. Ghost thought. "I can make it snow, is that good enough?" With a spark from his horn, a tiny cloud appeared above Rook's head. A short while late, tiny snowflakes fell on the aforementioned pony's head.

"Whoa, I never knew changelings could do that. Where'd you learn it?"

"Natural talent. An' a bit of practice."

"Yeah, that's great an' all, but can you get this could off of me? I'm starting to freeze here! AH-CHOO!"

Ghost couldn't help but laugh as Rook was apparently already blanketed with snow. "Sorry about that."

=====

The sun had already set when the two changelings-turned-ponies arrived. The streets were lit up by oil lamps. Not a single pony came into view, but the lights inside their homes betrayed the deserted village feel.

"So, where are we headed?" asked Rook. "Kinda running on fumes here."

"Relax," Frost said, "we'll get you some love, then we'll meet up with Golden."

"Hold up, I got this!" Rook suddenly jumped between an alley where he transformed into a white, cotton tailed bunny.

He winked as he hopped off to a mare which was late in closing up her flower shop.

"Aww, aren't you a cutie pie?" The flower mare took the bunny in her arms and hugged it.

"I guess that's one way of doing it." Frost commented. In truth, he never really thought about doing what Rook just did. He's a sharp one, I'd give him that.

The mare put Rook the bunny down and he hopped back to the alley where he returned to being Rook the pony. "Well I've had my fill." He looked around before turning to Frost again. "So, where were we headed again?"

"To Zulu's place."

"I thought we were going to Golden's"

Frost drove his hoof directly to the center of his face. "That's her pony name."

"Oh, why didn't you say so?"

The rest of the walk towards Golden's cottage was full of silence. Frost knocked on the door and was promptly answered by the buzzing voice of the mareling, "Coming!"

The door opened to a dark room. "Why is this place so dark?" Frost asked.

"Slate has a nasty headache and complained that the light hurt his eyes." Zulu responded.

"Slate? Oh right, the pony."

"Don't worry, he's sleeping soundly. Let's go to upstairs, nopony can see us there." Zulu lead the way, with Frost and Rook following close behind.

Once the door was closed, Frost and Rook reverted to their changeling forms.

"Okay," Ghost started, "can you tell me exactly why you weren't in a disguise just now? I mean, do you want these ponies to lug you into a jail cell?"

"I know, I'm sorry! It's just I'm not used to walking around like a pony."

"We'll have to do something about that pony. We can't have him slipping up and accidentally telling everypony that you're a changeling." Ghost scratched his chin. He did his best to make his sentence as respectable as he could manage, given that the mareling had fallen for the earth pony, genuinely.

"I... took care of it with a memory spell." Zulu sighed with a hint of regret.

"Really now?" Frost gave her an impressed look. Honestly, he didn't think that the mareling had that much sense in that skull of hers.

"Yeah. Felt like the best thing to do." Zulu turned her attention the new member of the group who had been idly standing there by the door. "So what's your name?"

Author's Note:

Whelp, first chapter of my first ever fanfic.

Tell me what you guys think so far.

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