Chapter 2 - I'm a Huge Fan

Thorax had to fly a bit slower than usual for little Thorii to keep up on their journey back to the Changeling Kingdom; it certainly didn't make it easier that night had already fallen since their tea party with Spike and Twilight lasted much longer than they expected.

It all went downhill when Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped by to say hello, and she decided she would invite the rest of the Mane Six over for tea as well. It was nothing but chatting with the six heroes of Equestria and the famous icon of the Crystal Empire from there.

"Ugh! Fly slower, Thorax! I can't go fast enough like this!" Thorii whined while struggling to keep up with Thorax.

"Do you wanna get back home safely or not?" Thorax argued with a sneer.

"Yes, I do!" Thorii grumbled and crossed her arms.

"Then stop complaining—unless you want to blow your cover, Princess Thorii."

"A true queen should never be addressed as anything lower—especially when such a title reminds me of those dreaded Alicorns princesses, who always get in my way!"

"They are sickeningly sweet and colorful, aren't they?"

"And just think! If a Changeling were to take their place, the love of their subjects for them would make them unstoppable!"

"But until then, we need to be careful and you need to pull yourself off as a Changeling princess."

"Your Highness!" Thorax and Thorii halted in midair when a lower ranking reformed Changeling came darting through the sky towards them. He stopped in front of them, huffing before bowing his head to Thorii. "Permission to speak, My Queen."

"Permission granted," Thorii simply replied.

"The drones you sent to Canterlot have successfully infiltrated the royal guard."

"And the captain?"

"Killed and replaced, My Queen."

"Good work, Soldier," Thorax added with a satisfied grin.

"Thank you, General," the drone quickly responded, respectfully bowing to Thorax as well.

"Continue to monitor the city of Canterlot, and be careful not to let a single Changeling get caught," Thorax ordered.

"Yes, General. But what should we do once the royal guard is completely taken out?"

"Move on to working closely with the royal pony sisters and monitor the entire city. Once Canterlot is under full surveillance, begin assigning spies to any surrounding towns and villages."

Vinyl Scratch was returning home from another late night party, a very late at night party. She never minded staying up far past midnight, but she knew this was ridiculous; Octavia certainly wasn't going to be happy with her.

"Wait!" Vinyl turned around when she heard a scratchy voice in the distance, and she was sure no one was following her, especially since she lived far outside of Ponyville.

But to the white Unicorn's surprise, it was a Changeling, which Vinyl was definitely shocked to hear that they were reformed.

"You're Vinyl Scratch, right?" the Changeling asked with a bright smile.

Vinyl nodded.

"Cool! Even when I was still a bad Changeling, I LOVED you're music!" Vinyl couldn't help but smile and blush. "Can I please get your John Hoofcock?"

Vinyl nodded once more, reaching a hoof out to take a quill and paper. "O-oh, I'm sorry! I didn't bring anything to write with or write on! Silly me!"

As the Changeling sheepishly laughed and scratched the back of his head, Vinyl politely smiled and shrugged to signal that she didn't mind.

"Guess I'll have ta go with the next best thing." Vinyl's smile disappeared when she didn't know what the Changeling meant. "I'll just take these!"

Before the DJ pony could react, her trademark sunglasses were engulfed in a shiny green aura, and they were quickly pulled from her eyes and placed over the Changeling's.

The Changeling suddenly took the form of Vinyl before she could ask what he was up to. "I'm a Changeling, Dummy. Deceiving is what I do."

The next morning, Octavia slowly rose from her bed and stretched a bit, yawning as she approached her bedroom mirror.

"Oh my Celesta! My hair is atrocious!" The brown Earth Pony was not amused with the sight of her messy mane, and she immediately grabbed her hairbrush to get to work on the rat's nest atop her head.

But as she ran her brush through her mane, she heard familiar hooves slowly walking down the hall outside. "You're up early, Vinyl!"

Vinyl Scratch froze in her tracks, completely forgetting who was calling her name for a split second. But she quickly recalled that it was just her roommate, and she walked into the doorway and smiled while waving a hoof.

"Didn't you come home past four last night? You're never up this early, especially after one of your 'nightly raves'," Octavia explained with a confused look, putting air quotes on the last part.

Vinyl just shrugged, making Octavia sigh. "Oh, well. As long as you don't have trouble waking up in the morning, I suppose I shouldn't complain. But allow me to go to the restroom, and we'll start making breakfast, alright?"

The white Unicorn smiled and nodded at her best friend, moving out of the doorway to allow Octavia to get to the bathroom. But when Octavia closed the door behind her, Vinyl removed her glasses with her magic.

"How does she see through these things?" Vinyl growled in annoyance, her voice mildly scratchy and her red eyes flashing green when she squinted to adjust her vision.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were leisurely hanging out together in their clubhouse one peaceful afternoon, as a certain thought kept coming to the mind of the only Pegasus amongst the three fillies.

"You know what still confuses me: Changeling wings."

"What about 'em?" Apple Bloom questioned with great curiosity, especially considering how random Scootaloo's question was.

"And isn't that a bit of a, um…I don't know…racial subject?" Sweetie Belle asked reluctantly, unable able to shake the feeling that there was somehow a Changeling nearby to hear this conversation.

"I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm just saying. Before now, their wings were really small for their full grown size, and even when flapping so fast there were holes in them, too. I'm no expert on mathematics or aerodynamics, but I'm pretty sure flight was impossible for them until now," Scootaloo explained and then shrugged, "I dunno, I'm just curious."

Suddenly, there was a few knocks at the clubhouse door, and the three fillies exchanged confused glances.

"You expecting anyone?" Sweetie Belle asked Apple Bloom.

"No. You?" Apple Bloom asked Scootaloo.

"Nope," Scootaloo replied with a shrug and trotted up to the door, revealing a rather surprising guest.

"Speak a' the devil," Apple Bloom muttered under her breath when she saw none other than a reformed Changeling at their door.

"C-can we help you, Sir?" Scootaloo finally spoke, also hoping this Changeling didn't hear their previous conversation.

"Oh, please, call me Antennon," the Changeling politely corrected, "I was told that I could find a young Pegasus named Scootaloo here?"

"Th-That's me, Mr. Antennon," Scootaloo replied sheepishly, and then pointing a hoof back at her two friends, "These are my friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"Nice to meet you all," Antennon added with a smile.

"So, why'd ya come lookin' fer Scootaloo, anyway?" Apple Bloom inquired.

"Oh, right! Sorry! See, ever since Rainbow Dash epically beat me up during our invasion during Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's wedding, I realized how awesome she was and I became a total fan—even if she was still my enemy at the time. Point is, now that I can actually get to know her without, ya know, angry mobs constantly chasing me, I started asking around for the biggest Rainbow Dash fan. And all suggestions lead me to you, Scootaloo! Now, I can learn even more about her with an even bigger Rainbow Dash fan! Whaddya say?"

"U-um…" was all the young Pegasus could muster, so she looked to her friends for advice. Both of them signaled her over, and she quickly joined them in a huddle.

"Again, not to offend anyone or anything, but am I the only one getting the creeps from that guy?" Scootaloo whispered.

"Oh, c'mon, he's reformed like the others," Apple Bloom quietly protested.

"And besides, the we've never worked with a Changeling before, so this could be our chance to learn more about them and help them with any finding-you-true-talent problems, like we did with Gabby," Sweetie Belle explained with excitement.

"Well…" Scootaloo hummed in deep though before smiling, "I guess it would be pretty cool to have a Changeling in our Rainbow Dash fan club."

With that, the three fillies broke up their huddle and headed to the door, where Antennon had been waiting in awkward silence the whole time.

"Well Antennon, we've decided to help you," Scootaloo proudly announced.

"Awesome!" Antennon cheered and pulled out a quill and notepad, "Start with Rainbow's beginning."

Scootaloo nodded and grabbed a stool, pulling it up under her to begin the story of her idol. "Rainbow Dash was born in the cloudy and weather center of Equestria, Cloudsdale, where her parents, Windy Whistle and Bow Hothoof, raised her during her entire childhood…"

It seems there are a lot of new fans, but it does raise a red flag that they're all Changelings, does it not?

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!