If there was a way to paint the very concept of hopelessness, odds are that painting would resemble Bait in the care of the changeling medics. Holding a blanket tight around his shoulders, he nursed the small cup of coffee he’d been granted and forced back a choking sob.

“Easy there, son,” the Praetorian beside him whispered, his custom-fit armor clanking as he lifted a hoof to pat his back. “You been through a lot.”

“Yeah,” Bait sighed, taking another sip of his coffee. “Most of it my own stupid fault, though.” Surprisingly, the Praetorian gave his back a light pat before trotting off. Bait looked up to watch him go, then went back to staring miserably into the black drink sloshing around in his hooves. A shiver raced up his spine, and definitely not from any cold. The horror they’d nearly dodged, how unthinkable it was, he couldn’t even describe it.

His gaze drifted to the small bundles being taken up by changeling nurses; the hatchlings being carried to safety. An entire generation, nearly crushed by his own gullibility. Still, to think that anypony could be capable of trying something so evil, of trying to kill an entire nursery full of hatchlings…to think that Pinkie could be capable…

His heart wrenched. He didn’t want to believe it, yet there it was. The nursery, a shattered ruin of what once was. An arm of the Party Cannon Mk. II remained outstretched from under a massive slab of rock, covered in burn marks. Apparently, she’d tried to fight once it became clear the Praetorians were going to block her escape. But after that, to think that she would try to destroy the nursery as a distraction, it was unthinkable!

“They’re lying!” Bait cringed at the high-pitched voice that rose over the din of rescue personnel and rallied guards. He didn’t want to look. Tried to force himself to keep from looking. Then, his chin lifted and he looked. Just across the way Pinkie and the rest of her friends, horns and wings covered in goop and hooves all shackled in a long line, were being led away by a full-strength squad of Praetorians. Five of the ponies held themselves low, keeping their eyes on the ground. Only Pinkie still fought, straining at her chains.

“They’re lying!” She gasped. “Let us go! Let us go now!”

A large shape glided up to Bait’s side, then plopped itself down beside him. He didn’t need to turn to know who it was. “Damn, we messed this up, didn’t we?” Switch chortled, but Bait heard the way his voice wavered.

Bait rested a hoof on his friend’s side. “Dude, no need to front. It hurts. I know.”

There were a few moments of silence, then the dribble of tears pattering to the floor. “I thought…” Switch sniffled. “I-I thought…”

“I know, man, I know,” Bait pressed into his friend’s side.

“We’re innocent!” Pinkie kept yelling, forcing Bait to cringe even further. “We were set up! They don’t know what really happened here, they’re lying!”

“Oh?” The massive frame of Queen Chrysalis sailed overhead, her wings beating in syncopation with the private guards around her. She landed beside the train of imprisoned ponies, the guards only stopping to salute her. Her eyes glared an emerald green at the captured group, her fangs baring. “Then what, pray tell, did happen here?” She asked, her voice a dangerous, low hiss.

The whole group of ponies cowered back, Pinkie among them. But always the leader, Twilight managed to step forward. She shivered where she stood, and as she spoke the fearful quiver only became more obvious, but still, she spoke: “Chrysalis…your highness…while our two races may not have ever gotten along on the best of terms, we would never harm an infant, regardless of species. We’re supposed to be paragons of virtue, for Celestia’s…” she gulped at the slip of her tongue. “…for goodness’ sake!”

“Oh? So my Praetorians, my elite guard, my most loyal and trusted soldiers, are lying to me?” Chrysalis waved a leg out over to the small group of elites gathered nearby, watching their every move. “You’re saying the flames and destruction weren’t purposefully triggered by you? That the collapsed tunnel we found coated with destruction runes bearing your magical signature wasn’t your fault!? That the robot bearing the pink one’s cutie mark amidst the debris is a plant!?”

“No…no, not all of that…we…” Twilight shook her head, her eyes tearing up. “We didn’t want to hurt anypony.”

“That’s right. Anypony,” Chrysalis spat. “That means changelings are just free game, huh?”

“N-no…that’s not…” Twilight trailed off.

Chrysalis spat at the mares’ hooves. Her voice trailed out in a low hiss. “I’ve heard enough. I knew we were hated by your kind, but to go to such lengths to hurt us...to attack a nursery with fire…”

She trailed off, turning away from the group. “Get them out of my sight before I do something permanent.”

Twilight said nothing, her head bowing as the train of guards picked up with another series of hisses. Pinkie seemed to be the only one unwilling to simply go with it. “Wait, no…” she gasped, scanning the cold, harsh eyes around her. “We wouldn’t…it’s not like that!”

Still suppressing tears, Bait knew the smart thing would have been to turn away, to find something else to do. Still, he couldn’t help keeping his eyes on her for every moment he could, knowing exactly why and cursing himself for it. He wanted to turn away before that pink gaze fell on him, wanted to duck out, but there was no avoiding it. He shrank back as she finally found him. “Bait, Bait!” She gasped, galloping to the end of her chains, not even minding the spear-wielding guards who prodded their weapons against her back or the shackles that dug into her fetlocks.

Bait shook his head, trying to turn away, head lowered.

“This isn’t us! You know that! Please! We wouldn’t do this!” Pinkie shrieked. She bit her lip, tears brimming in her eyes. “Baity! Tell them! Tell them you believe us!”

Something dark and ugly reared up in his heart. “I did believe you,” he replied, his muzzle wrinkled and his fangs bared, his eyes not lifting to meet hers. “Once.”

Her face fell, the tiny gleam of hope in her eyes fading as her mane swiftly deflated. “No…Bait…” she gasped, finally going limp in the guards’ grasp and allowing herself to be carried away.

He let out a shivering breath, almost falling against Switch, still watching the rapidly-deflating shock of pink mane as it trotted away. “Still can’t believe…” he choked, the tears finally breaking through the dam. “Still can’t believe they…”

“S’alright dude,” Switch said, his own tears flowing as he scooped the smaller changeling up and started carrying him down the opposite hall. “I know.”

As they wandered off, one changeling broke away from the rest of the crowd. “Mr. Bait, sir!”

Bait looked up from his friend’s grip. The newcomer cleared his throat awkwardly, raising one hoof in salute.

“I...know this isn’t a good time, but I was sent to let you know that the interrogators in the lower levels will be finishing up soon. You will be expected to make your investigation soon.” The changeling said, keeping one leg up in salute.

“Wha-oh, right, the investigation,” Switch sighed. The other ‘ling was right, this was a bad time. Right then, Bait just wanted to curl up in bed and try to sleep for a week. But he knew he’d never get the time. “Just…let’s give it a few days, alright? I need to settle a bunch of stuff after today’s...incident.”

“Sir!” The changeling thrust his chest out. “Your majesty also wishes to know if you’ve selected any other members for your special investigation team!”

After a moment’s thought, a thin smile crossed his muzzle. He prodded the bigger changeling’s chest. Switch managed a chuckle as he rolled his eyes. “I think I could free up some time, yeah,” he muttered.

“Yeah, I’ve got one other guy selected for my squad,” Bait chuckled back.

“Excellent!” The newcomer finally lowered his hoof and started trotting away.

“Um, before you go,” Bait called after the changeling. “Do you know what’s gonna happen to those mares? The ones that were captured just now?”

“Sir!” The changeling swiveled around, snapping back into a salute. “The prisoners will be kept in stasis pods in the dungeon alongside the princess! However, the plan is for them to be transported to the Hive following the successful evacuation of the Empire in preparations for their trial in the Badlands!”

“A trial in the Badlands,” he muttered, shaking his head. “You hear that, Switch? Looks like they’re comin’ with us after all.”

“Wooh.” The bigger changeling murmured, looking away with dead eyes and a quivering lip.

After a moment, however, another changeling galloped up and whispered into the newcomer’s ear. He somehow managed to stand even straighter. “Sir! As the Swarm’s top investigator, we thought it might interest you to see the things we uncovered in the rubble!”

Bait looked up, his face an exhausted deadpan. “Eh...sure. Might as well.” He said, shrugging off his blanket and standing to follow the recruit through what was left of the nursery. Switch galloped up beside him, staying perfectly in step without a single word needing to be exchanged. Bait felt a blooming of the same gratitude he felt upon seeing the larger changeling take on a manticore for his sake, but said nothing.

“You can always tell who the greenhorns are, eh?” Switch chuckled as he motioned to the recruit trotting just ahead of them.

“Oh yeah,” Bait chuckled back, throwing his hoof up in mock salutes while whispering: “Sir! Sir! Sir! S--”

His and Switch’s laughter faded as soon as they walked through the door and into the nursery. A gaping hole allowed sunlight to stream through where the roof had collapsed, already partially sealed-over with goop and highlighted by a scorched pile of shattered crystal. The burnt and scattered remnants of wood and goop that had once been a series of cribs filled Bait’s eyes and forced a slight twist into his heart, reminding him how close they had all come to total disaster. At his hooves, he gazed down at a burnt corner of blue fabric, once a colt’s blankie.

He took a seat amidst the ashes, trying very hard not to cry. A moment later, Switch sat next to him.

“Sir!” The rookie stated with another quick salute. “We found something over here!”

“Yeah?” Bait pushed himself to his hooves. “Sure, what’s that?”

“We were hoping you could identify this,” as the rookie spoke, he pointed to a massive stone slab, currently hoisted up in a large block-and-tackle system. Underneath, a series of ropes and a pile of scrap wood lay crumbled. Bait recognized it immediately. It was hard to forget a ten-foot robot that shot you in the face, even with the cockpit crushed and all four limbs amputated down to shattered, wooden stubs.

“Yeah,” he said finally, breathing in a large amount of dust as he looked at it. “I know what it is.”

“What would you like done with it?” The recruit snapped up another ramrod-straight salute.

Oh, Bait knew what he wanted done with it, alright. He wanted it blown to smithereens, then have the smithereens blown to smaller smithereens, then burn the whole thing over with fire, then pack the ashes into dog food to be fed to timberwolves, then blow up the timberwolves. Every moment he drank it in, from its pink paint job to the three-balloon cutie mark emblazoned on its side that he’d spent at least one night getting to know all-to-well, was like a thorn pricking into his heart, and he should have just turned around with a casual “Destroy it” tossed over his shoulder.

Except when he raised his hoof to give the order, no words came out. He tried to force them out, to no avail. His vision doubled, then quadrupled as he realized he couldn’t do anything against her, not even a representation of her. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Even after betrayal, even after something so monstrous, he just couldn’t.

“Have it brought to the kitchen,” he finally said, quietly. “I need to figure out how this was assembled.”

“Yes sir,” the recruit nodded, snapped off a final salute for good measure, then marched off to ensure Bait’s will was done. He let out a long sigh of relief, even as Switch cleared his throat beside him.

“You sure that’s...” he coughed. “That’s such...a good idea to...”

“No,” Bait said, sparing himself the rest of the sentence. “But it’s all I can do right now.”

There was a moment of silent understanding. “Got it,” Switch confirmed, returning to staring straight ahead. After a while, he stood up and wandered off, followed closely by Switch, neither knowing the whole time they’d been watched by the Praetorians in the room, who shared a single, silent nod and carefully-hidden grins as they walked away.