Ugh... did anyone get the number on that tank? I swear, I've never hurt so much in my life. Well, I guess there was that one time I actually got run over by a car, but that's another story. Back then, I could tell what hurt. This time, I can't even feel my fingers or toes, and it felt like I had several bones or body parts dislocated, or sticking out of my body. Hell, if it weren't for the fact that I could still feel my body, I'd be inclined to believe my spine was split it half and torn part way out of my back.

Wait a second... somethings not right. Sure, the pain comes with the feeling of your body parts being forcibly rearranged, but... shouldn't I be bleeding?

...I'm not bleeding. That's... I don't even... what? Okay, I need to check this out. I opened my eyes... only to immediately shut them. GOD that hurt! Seriously, how is it so bright!? I should at least be able to filter some of that light in through my eyelids, but that isn't happening. Now I really had to see what was up with my body. I tried to move my arm in front of my face to shield myself from the inevitable light, but I found myself struggling with my motor functions.

Now I was scared. This has never happened before. When I got hit by that car, I could at least move what I wanted, how I wanted, but now my arm doesn't seem to remember how to move the right way anymore! It's like some stupid troll went and remapped all the controls in my head to be backwards. I decided to forgo the remapping of my mental controls and simply opened my eyes. It hurt, but I had to see what was going on.

I blinked through the sunlight, making out small details at a time. I registered a tree. Then the foliage of a forest. Then the forest itself. I could just barely see the edge of a forest. There was what looked to be a cottage nearby, but it seemed inactive at the moment, aside from a borderline horde of little animals going in and out of it. It was kind of weird, but I could care less at the moment. I had to see what was up with my body.

I turned my head to look down at my body, a little freaked out by the fact that my neck felt longer (At least I could move THAT right...), and I froze at the sight that greeted me. This wasn't my body. The stump-ended hooves and black chitin hide, coupled with an orange thorax, or whatever it is on my barrel was evidence enough to that conclusion. I moved my tongue to feel my teeth and found two large fangs protruding from my mouth.

I'm... a changeling... though strangely, I was missing the holes in my legs, and I could feel that I still had hair, despite it's unfamiliar positon resting on my head. Now I had greater interest in my surroundings. If I was a changeling, I'd better not let anyone see me. I could feel that I was lying in a bed of some kind. I looked around at the forest around me, but I didn't see anyone. I looked at the cottage, and the lights were on, but I couldn't have heard anyone inside over the noise the animals were making.

As I looked around, I didn't notice a little white bunny hop over to me and promptly kick me in the face. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to get my attention. I stared at his scowling face for a few moments, too stunned to begin to interpret what he tried to tell me in charades afterwards. There was only one bunny I knew who had the balls to simply go and kick someone like that. Angel Bunny.

Seeing I wasn't paying attention, he kicked me again. Thanks, Angel. You just stopped me from panicking. "Sorry, what?" I asked. I almost winced at the slight buzz in my voice, but that hardly mattered. Usually if something shocking happens, I have to force my mind into either a state of analysis, or ignorance to ensure my sanity, but with Angel there, there was no chance of me remaining in Ignorance Mode.

"I said, it's about time you got up, ya lazy bug!" I heard a voice say irritably. I also felt the irritation the bunny was radiating... I blinked. It appears as though communication with animals is possible for changelings, though with shapeshifting powers, I suppose it's only natural. "Come on! Fluttershy said she needed to see you when you got up!"

"Okay, just hold your horses. It's not every day you wake up in a body that's not yours." I pretended to snap at him. He needed to be taught some manners, and one way or another, he will learn.

And thus began the marathon of tumbling changelings and laughing bunnies. By that, I mean I spent about an hour getting laughed at by Angel whenever I failed to get my motor functions working properly. It was like playing QWOP, it was so frustrating! It was about as hilarious to the bunny watching too, but I managed to get it right after a while or so. My controls weren't fully remapped, but at least I had a full range of motion to go with. After getting mastery over my motor skills, I moved on to my next order of business.

"Alright, time to learn shapeshifting!" I proclaimed to my audience.

"Shapeshifting? How are you supposed to do that? Isn't that powerful magic or whatever?" Angel questioned. I felt his confusion as he asked.

"It's actually the innate ability of changelings. I just need to figure out how I'm supposed to do it..." I trailed off as I mentally went over the number of theories I'd read in fanfictions. One of them said all you had to do was imagine the pony you wanted to be, and that's it. I knew that couldn't be right, because it was too simple. Besides, the changelings actually use magic to change. That much I'm sure of. The question is, though... how do I access my magic reserves?

I did some searching through myself, and soon enough I found a sort of energy in my head. Not knowing how I was supposed to approach such a thing, I simply gave it a mental poke. I was thrown off my hooves by the recoil of the magic blast that was sent out of my horn. Luckily, it passed the trees without so much as scratching them.

"Okay... note to self: don't poke the magic." I said, as I continued to stare after the quickly vanishing green dot in the distance. I could feel the fear from the many animals around me as I sat my head on one forehoof in thought. Maybe I needed to mold that energy. I just need to keep it away from my horn while I work with it. Okay, here it goes.

I pulled my magic away from my horn, and molded it into a pony shape. As soon as I did that, the impression of a character creator popped into my mind. There were presets of all the ponies I already knew, and then there was the "custom" option. I went and selected the Fluttershy preset and pushed my magic into my horn. A flash of green fire crossed my vision, and I saw Angel's look of shock.

"How do I look?" I asked Angel in Fluttershy's voice.

"Like a unicorn version of Fluttershy." Angel responded. I raised an eyebrow, but I remembered a fact from that one story where Applejack was always a changeling. She'd said to become an Earth Pony, she had to push her magic into her hooves... maybe I need to do that. Push my magic into whatever body part that corresponded with the race. It'd certainly make disguising a bit harder, but I can deal with that.

I took the magic from my horn and pushed it to my small, insect wings, and another flash of green later, I could feel large feathery wings at my sides. "How about now?"

"Now it's a perfect copy! But can you act the part?" Angel asked, a hint of a smug tone in his voice. I nodded confidently.

"Yes, I'm sure I can. Where's Fluttershy, by the way?" I asked. Angel shrugged.

"Probably with that stupid bird band or whatever. Nowadays, she's always out, helping with preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Hardly has enough time for us anymore. That's okay, though. I'm always here to watch over everyone." Angel said.

"Summer Sun Celebration, huh?. Wait, didn't you say Fluttershy would want to see me when I got up?" I said to distract myself from the fact that I'd shown up during the very first episode of the show.

"Oh yeah." Angel replied blankly. "Let's go then. Wouldn't want to keep her waiting." He said while hopping away.

"Hold up. Wouldn't want to spread confusion at there being two Fluttershy's walking around would you? I'm going to make a Custom Pony." I explained. I closed my eyes in concentration and used the Character creator feature of my magic. Luckily I knew just what I wanted, so I didn't dwell too much on the options. After about a minute, I was a light orange coated unicorn mare with a flame colored mane and tail and emerald green eyes.

Summer Dash, at your service! Backstory and cutie mark prepared in advance! "Alright, let's go." I said before departing with him. He led the way first through the cottage, then on the path to town. Meanwhile, I fell into deep thought. From the info I'd gotten from Angel, nopony knew what a changeling was yet. I also learned that the Summer Sun Celebration was coming up, and the only time you hear about that in the show is in the first episode. So, by logical conclusion, I'd landed in Ponyville the day Twilight shows up.

Yep. I'm screwed. Oh well, best to live it out before Nightmare Moon comes to plunge Equestria into eternal night.

"Hey, who's that?" I heard Angel ask. I followed his gaze up to follows a chariot of royal guards delivering a certain purple unicorn to Ponyville.

"That," I answered with a false smile, "is the personal protege of Princess Celestia. She's here to oversee the preparations to the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Whatever. Come on, Fluttershy's just this way. I can already hear those birds." Angel said irritably. I snorted at his attitude and just followed him again. A minute later, and Fluttershy was within sight.The second I saw Fluttershy, Angel spoke up.

"Alright here she is. Now I'm outta here. I can hardly stand to be around such noise!" He whisper yelled before taking off for the cottage. I merely chuckled and shook my head at his antics. Then I carefully approached the shy pegasus while she directed her bird band. I sat there and appreciated the music as she directed it. As soon as she stopped the birds to correct the off-tune one, I stepped forth.

"I have to agree. Maybe you could bring that volume down a bit too. You're over powering the other voices." I said softly to avoid scaring them. Fluttershy turned in surprise, but she didn't leap up or squeak in shock. She was frightened, but not massively so. I gave her a kind smile, which she returned in kind.

"Oh, hello. I didn't see you there. Who are you? Um... that is, if you don't mind me asking..." She asked. I waved off her concern.

"It's fine. I'm Summer Dash. What's your name?" I asked, allowing my voice to raise a bit. I felt the animals become a little unsettled at the rise in my voice, so I decided not to allow my voice to rise any higher.

"Oh, um... my name is Flutter..." she introduced, trailing off at the end. I raised my hoof to shake hers.

"Nice to meet you Fluttershy." I said with a smile.

"You heard that?" One of the birds nearby asked incredulously. I never even bothered to react to him. Fluttershy took my hoof and shook it, saying it was her pleasure.

"Guess I'll see you around, Fluttershy. See you at the Celebration?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. I'll definitely be there." Fluttershy said, waving goodbye. I waved back and then trotted off. My next destination was around the library, where I knew I'd find Twilight. I picked up my pace, heading towards the massive tree in the center of town. I took the road that lead straight there, and somehow, I managed to avoid bumping into Pinkie Pie as I passed Sugarcube Corner. Though I did see her… right by Twilight, where the chariot had landed. I waited for Pinkie to gasp and dash off, before trotting up to her.

“Hehe… Don’t mind her, she can get a little crazy when it comes to new ponies. That was Pinkie Pie, and she knows everypony in town.” I said in a friendly manner.

“That seems to be an understatement…” Twilight muttered. I rolled my eyes but giggled anyway.

“Yeah… and so is claiming her to be absolutely impossible. If you see her do something that, really in all honesty should be impossible… for the sake of your sanity, do not question it.”

That certainly got her attention. She raised her eyebrow at me in curiosity. “Why?” I chuckled at her, before settling on the simplest explanation I could give her.

“You’ll see. In any case, you’re here for the Summer Sun Celebration, right?” I switched topics real quick. “To oversee them, as per the Princess’s instructions?”

“Yeah… how’d you know?” she asked, curious, and most definitely suspicious. I shrugged with a bit of a smile.

“I know a lot of things I shouldn’t, thanks to a certain cinematic show back where I come from.” I hinted at my knowledge. That did nothing for her suspicion, so I did something to try and quell it. “And no, I’m not a spy, or anything. I’m more like.... An Oracle, I guess, cause I know one version of the future. And it is one hell of an extensive future I know.”

“....Riiiiight.... I’m just going to… go.” I could tell she didn’t exactly believe me. I rolled my eyes at her as she started trotting away.

“Alright, fine. Don’t believe me. But feel free to find me when you learn that saving the world from Nightmare Moon really does rely on you making friends.” I called out after her. I started trotting in the opposite direction, but I kept a count in my head. 3… 2… 1…

“This town is full of crazy ponies!” ...Damnit, I was hoping she’d turn around and start sending me a barrage of questions. Ah, whatever. I just know now she’ll come looking for me after the whole thing’s over.

After a while of walking aimlessly through town, I sighed. There was no way I was gonna skip out on getting myself into the Mane 6’s story, not when I was already involved to some degree. I was gonna face Nightmare Moon with them, whether I was actually a good help or not. Hehe… maybe I could help fight Nightmare Moon, like stall for time or whatever… Ah, it’s hopeless. I can’t help them now, not in as useless a state as I am now. I… I need to train up, get my body working at peak capacity before I go anywhere with Twilight… Maybe I could find another changeling in town to help me out. There has to be somebuggy. I could probably find a changeling by looking for background ponies that are also helping with the Celebration’s preparations.

Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Looks like I’ve got my own mission now. Confidently, I trotted onwards, hoping to find changelings in disguise. Hehe…. If all else failed, I could just stand in the middle of the market and drop my disguise there. I’d definitely get a changeling’s attention then.

I suddenly get distracted from my thoughts by a strange smell. It was sweet… like sugar, but not only that, it was somehow familiar… and absolutely intoxicating. Wondering what the hell it was, I turned and followed the smell like a moth to a flame… and considering what happened next, I’d say that’s an accurate description of my trance.

“Hmph… can’t believe they sent a newbie after me.” was all I heard before I was suddenly overtaken by a massive pain in my skull, followed by darkness swallowing my mind.