Bah...I can survive for a few more hours, right?

A few hours later...

     Wrong. You're going to die.

     The voices in your head rage on, but you can't hear them due to the ringing in your ears. Oh sweet Chrysalis the ringing! Why won't it stop!?

     Your body shakes wildly during the chilly night. You don't have enough energy to keep yourself warm...you're about to die. Yes. Yes, you're going to die...

     The muscles in your legs collapse under your weight, and you fall to the ground. Your stomach is throbbing, you feel like your intestines are starting a riot, and you just want to go home. Home, the hive, so far away.

     BOOM!

     You shiver and shake wildly as you look up toward the source of the explosion.

     There's nothing there.

     BOOM!

     There it is again, so powerful it overrides the ringing. Where is it!? Over there?

     BOOM!

     No, over there, right? No! What is that-

     BOOM!

     sound!? It's like...what's happening right now isn't happening! It's like you're hearing things! It's like you're in a dream!

     BOOM!

     You start to foam at the mouth, your joints twitch, your ears are ringing, you can't feel your insides, and you just want to die. Oh sweet Chrysalis-

      BOOM!

     -you just want to die.

     BOOM!

     Your thoughts pulse around your brain like a clothes dryer full of bouncy balls. Your eyes have reflexively slammed shut. If you could just...open...them!

     ...you don't hear any more noises? Are those...words, maybe? Are you dead? No, you don't see that secretary anywhere, and you still feel the pain.

     Utilizing all of your strength, you pry open your eyelids, if only for a moment.

     ...a hoof...right next to your head. Were those noises hoofsteps?

     "Please...help...me..." is all you can manage to say.

     Sputtering and gasping for air, you slowly fade into unconsciousness. This is the end for you, I'm afraid.

The end

     ...you're not...you're not dead? Are you stuck in limbo or something? Bah! Chrysalis damn it all, you're stuck in limbo again!

     Great, just great. You need to find a phone booth to call the lord of the dead. He'll straighten things out. Wait, does Limbo even have a phone booth?

     Oh, wait, there's a light...a dim light...you're opening your eyes...oh, phew, for a minute there, I thought you were a goner.

     You jolt up instantly...only to be greeted by a pounding migraine. Oooooh sweet Chrysalis that hurts, you slowly lay yourself back down...

     Splash!

     "Gah! Coldcoldcoldcoldcoldcold" you shriek as you instantly hop up.

     You shake your head...you were just splashed with cold water. You look around...you're in a jail cell. Ow. The beds here aren't comfortable.

     Oh, yes, right, the water. You notice a guard looking at you impatiently with a dripping bucket in hoof. Looks like you've found the culprit.

     Another pony stands next to him. He is a slender, tan-coated pony with a streak of grey in his greasy mane. He wears a shaggy brown suit and holds a book at his side with the title Equestrian Law.

     He clears his throat, "Thank you, Sir, I'll need to talk to my client for a moment if you could just wait over there"

     The guard responds by sighing and slowly shuffling across the room. Oh, I'm sure he loves his job.

     "...what happened?" you blink, unsure of what to make of the situation.

     The stallion opens his book and starts to read, "Hello. You were apprehended by the Royal Guard at approximately 11:30pm, or 2330 hours, last night. Due to the Sentient Creature Act, article III subsection B, you are entitled to a fair trial at the nearest courthouse, presided over by a county-elected judge. Though the trial may be brief, we expect your full cooperation, as the consequences of your crime may be severe. You will be appointed a lawyer-"

     He straightens his tie, "-that's me, by the way-"

     "-to defend you in your trial" he continues, "You have been charged by the local authorities with the following crimes: unwanted energy absorption, stalking, attempted murder, and loitering"

     "...loitering?" you raise an eyebrow...oh, wait, you don't have eyebrows.

     "Er, you were found on private property" he shrugs.

     He sighs and flips through the pages of the book quickly, "Aaaaand...blah blah blah...yeah, that about covers all of the formal stuff. Your trial will be in two hours. Look..."

     He shifts uncomfortably, "...I can't see us winning. I've dealt with a little over 50 changelings cases this month alone, and, well, yours is about as cliche as it gets. I really, truly sympathize for you, but...you're probably going to be executed"

     ...great. Just great. You think you're going to die, you wake up, and...you're going to die. Lovely.

     "...how did you stop me from starving to death?" you ask, confused about your full stomach.

     "Synthetic care tranfusion packs," he states matter-of-factly, "it's how we keep changelings alive for their trials. Pretty standard stuff, really"

     "Now," he claps his hooves together and puts his book in a briefcase, "I've been told that you have a visitor"

     You raise an eyebr- Er, something above your eye, "Visitor? Is it another changeling?"

     "I don't really know who it is...she passed the changeling magic tests, though" he shrugs as he starts to walk away.

     After such a long shpeal, you're finally aloud to think about everything that's on your plate.

     Wow.

     Loitering? Seriously? You know that if you ever wanted to be executed, you would want it to be something cool, like being some terrorist hiding away for a few years before being assassinated by a group of highly trained aquatic mammals. Loitering is just adding insult to injury, really.

     "You've got five minutes" a deep voice booms.

     You look up. The guardpony from before is standing next to two mares.

     One is pink in both coat color and mane color, but her poofy mane is just a few shades darker. She wears an almost disturbingly cheery smile considering what's about to happen to you. The other is a cyan-coated pegasus pony with a rainbow mane and a significantly less cheery demeanor.

     "...Hi!" the pink one starts the conversation.

     "Um, hello?" you respond, "Who are you?"

     She smiles, "My name's Pinkie Pie, and this is Rainbow Dash! We found you last night and you were all twitchy and foamy and then you went all 'please help me'-y and then I went all gaspy and then we called the police and they got you and-"

     Rainbow sighs, "...ignore her, she's always like this. How are you feeling?"

     ...what's that...what's that feeling in the air? It feels kind of like love...it has the same density, but not the same taste.

     Oh. It's sympathy. Inedible, but...appreciated in such a dark time.

     You rub your head, "I have a throbbing headache, but...other than that, surprisingly good"

     After an moment of silence (And Pinkie Pie rambling on about lemons, of course), you speak again, "...why are you two here? I don't think I know you...do I?"

     "We feel a little..." Rainbow's voice trails off.

     Oh. Oh, all that sympathy is for you.

     You smile, "Sympathetic?"

     Rainbow chuckles, "Yeah, actually, just a little"

     "Yeah!" Pinkie reenters the conversation, "And we wanted you to have a friend for your first time in town!"

     First time in town? What does she think this is, some kind of vacation?

     And...the word friend. That strange, strange word. Changelings don't really have friends per say, just...trusted allies.

     That being said...you're not gonna mention it. It's nice to know you'll have a friend before you die.

     "The doctors told us you were going to die of starvation when we found you. They say it's a miracle you survived...and now you're going to die, so we just wanted to tell you how sorry we feel for you" Rainbow sighs.

     "...I see..." you sigh, taking everything in.

     "What I really wanted to know, though, is why you were starving yourself. I mean, I don't know how you guys work but there HAD to have been enough love around, right?" she asks, with a slight unsureness in her voice.

     After a long pause, you sigh, "There were a few opportunities, yeah, but they were all kind of..."

     You aren't sure what to say. You can't expect ponies to know what changelings go through, can you? Oh sure, they might understand guilt, but they probably don't know changelings well enough to know that changelings usually don't feel guilty.

     "Um...they were all kind of bad. You see, changelings don't really feel love, but sometimes we feel...sympathetic" you lie.

     If these are your first...friends...you don't want them to think that changelings are all bad.

     Rainbow raises an eyebrow, "Then how do you eat?"

     "The nicer of my kin mostly feed on relationships that probably won't go anywhere. I don't really like to mess with love between family members or pets because those can have permanent damage on a pony's life" you answer honestly.

     The guardpony walks over to you, "One minute left"

     She smiles, "We'll be at the trial...say, what was your name again?"

     You shrug, "Changelings don't really have names"