After slipping away from everyone, I refuse to use the term everypony, I found myself in a clearing in the woods, which I highly suspected was the Everfree Forest; a place renowned amongst the pastel pony folk of Equestria for being a tad risky to adventure. After waking up in a bed of Poison Joke, I came to the conclusion that there was indeed a risk factor that should be noted by anybody wishing to live a long and happy life. How long does an adult changeling even live anyway? Hopefully a tad longer than most insects back home....

       I had slung my kitbag over my neck awkwardly and emptied the contents onto the floor of the clearing, trying to see what would be of use. My tablet would be impossible to use with gloves on, let alone with arms and legs made of chitin… useless. Not to mention I would probably have to update my facial recognition features. How about my Hexi Burner and Hexi? I don't have any means of opening the fuel packs and setting up the little standard issue stoves I'd accrued during my time as an officer cadet, so not useful in my current situation, but maybe at a later date. Standard wilderness gear including a multi-tool, a jet lighter (Groovy little things that use lighter fuel at an astonishing rate, but are almost impossible to put out in the wind, and don’t give off much light) which again would be hard to use in my current state, but was worth keeping hold of, a compass that I doubt actually worked and finally my sleeping bag, cover, and roll mat; all things that could probably be useful to me at a later date.

        Being the genius I was, I had brought many of my rations with me into the airport as hand luggage; this led to the security staff taking me to a special room and questioning my motives as well as my lifestyle choices and ultimately confiscating my rations. Everything else was just plain useless now, like my clothes, shoes, and kit bag itself. How annoying; my once nice items were now useless to me.

       I remember hearing that; not all of us had been changed and one human remained. I thought about giving him my clothes, but remembered how tall he was at 6’7”. Christ, I had been 6’2” this time yesterday and I had never really felt short until I shook this guys hand as I got on his plane. It looked as if it were held together by nothing more than hopes, dreams and Gaffa Tape. We were lucky; we got off as lightly as we did when we came down hard, I thought. I cached my gear in the branches of what looked like the only willow tree situated on the bend of a river’s meander, a site I hoped I could remember and find quite easily.

       It took me a few hours to come to terms with my new condition, and by “come to terms”, I mean work out all the basics as best I could without help. It turns out when you suddenly go from one species to another, you don't get any sort of instinctual knowledge regarding one’s own ability to fly or use of what could only really be described as magic, so anything I couldn't do before I was a changeling, I wouldn't be able to do as a changeling. Not, at least, without a little bit of practice, and practice I did.

        Flying is difficult- No, it's impossible. At least, that was my initial attitude when I was attempting to beat the little insectoid wings on my back at any speed. All I accomplished after my first few tries was making myself tired and generating a lot of noise. The same noise that a mosquito in your room makes while it flies around your ear, except this one would be about 3 ft tall and would be cursing at his shortcomings. I got it into my head; baby birds jump out of trees to teach themselves how to fly, so I climbed the largest tree I could and threw myself out of the branches. It did not end well; all I managed to do was slow my very rapid descent.

       After a few hours practice, I managed to get to the point where I could fly about as well as a chicken; poorly. I was able to use my wings to augment my jumps somewhat and took great pride in doing so, I mean, I had only been a creepy bug monster for the better part of an afternoon now and I was happy with my progress. It was during a particularly pathetic jump into a tree that I came across my first citizen of Equestria. A diminutive zebra and one that I was pretty sure I could guess the name of. This was the first time, and not last, that I would bury my face into my hoofy-handy-leggy things and curse this strange place that, until today, had existed only as a television show.

       When I pulled my face out of my... hooves, (Seriously, what is the deal with changeling anatomy) the Zebra was looking in my direction, and I ended up staring back at her. I really had no idea how to break this stalemate and did all I could think of, which at the time was forcing myself to smile and wave. It was at this point that I realized that a changeling has very prominent fangs and I may not be conveying 'friendly’ and ‘approachable’ monster too well. She looked back at me a little bemused, like this was not ordinary changeling behavior. I mean, as far as she was concerned, I had been jumping around like a lunatic and had tried to hide myself behind my own forearms when realizing that somebody else was in the clearing. Thinking back on it, I had been acting like some sort of mentally deranged changeling... Which was sort of true, I suppose.

        "Hey there," I blurted out the first thing that came to mind to stop this agonizing silence. "I'm having a bit of an identity crisis. I don't suppose you could give me a hand? Or hoof, whichever you respond to."

       She was visibly taken back. I'm sure she fully expected me to fly away or attack her and to be honest, if I knew how to fly, I probably would have.

       "Well, if it isn’t a changeling I see, what is it that you want from me?" Yep, I was pretty sure I knew who this was. Her forced rhymes confirmed it. But still, she was offering help and I wasn't about to turn it down.

       "Couple of things, actually. Firstly, I don't suppose you could fill me in on the current view of changelings in Equestrian society?" I hopped over the river that separated us. "Are we hated for that little event up in Canterlot, or is it all water under the bridge? Secondly, I don't suppose you have any idea which plants I can eat and which will poison me? I've been trying to fly all day and it has left me pretty hungry. I'd rather not eat some poison berries. Bonus question; do you always have to rhyme?"

       The zebra just stood there, looking at me. After a moment, she let out a sigh.

"After what your Queen did, somewhat vilified your species have been." She stopped for a moment and continued "… And rhyming is just something I try to do in front of the ponies. Adds a bit of the mystique around everything I do, and I enjoy that. Now, if it is food and more knowledge you are after, then follow me home, little changeling, and I will teach you what you need to know." The zebra turned her head to one side and looked me directly in the eyes. "But tell me first why your brood did not already tell you this? Why are you unable to even fend for yourself or find food to eat? Why you were not disguised as something other than a changeling? And what if this is all just some changeling trick; why should I trust you?"

        "Fair shout, Zebra lady. Fair shout." I stepped back from her gaze and took a deep breath, preparing to explain my situation.

       "WELL! I was not actually born, or hatched, or whatever process makes a changeling, a changeling. I am from a different plane of existence altogether. I mean to say I'm not of this world. My companions and I, or rather companion that I was babysitting, had noticed strange phenomenon that could not really be explained; large rainbow rings in the sky. don't ask me for details, as I really have no idea what they could have been. If everything had gone my way, then I would still be in Florida, just about getting ready to head to Michigan. When our party passed through one of the rings, we were transported here and our craft came down in the forest. We all awoke after the crash, having been transformed into ponies. Well, everyone except two of us. From what I could tell by their shouts. one guy was still a human, and yours truly was turned into a changeling. Why? I have no idea. So I've actually only been a changeling for a few hours, and have very little life experience here."

        Wow, that sounded rather far-fetched. I chose to leave out the whole 'I saw you in a television program' bit as it might sound a fair bit creepy. Anyway, I was after hearts and minds here, not lynching and alienation.

       To her credit, the zebra had taken it all quite well. I think she sort of believed my story after I dragged her over to my cached gear and showed her the tablet. Hilariously, she could use her nose to act as an input, so I said she could keep it. She accepted all of this and took me back to her hut, introducing herself along the way as Zecora, the Witch Doctor. I did feel as though I was in good hands; I assumed Zecora would have a fairly decent knowledge of changeling lore, but also being an outsider herself, she could sympathize with me and my situation. When we arrived at her home, she told me the plan.

       "Okay, I'm going to head into town tomorrow and try to find out if anypony has heard about your friends, but it is probably best if you stay in the forest and not stray too far from the hut." She moved to a cupboard and pulled out a basket full of fruits, placing it in front of me. "The ponies of Equestria have been cracking down on changelings as of late and Prince Shining Armour was in the area yesterday. As you can understand changeling, he is not too fond of your kind after the changeling queen tried to take over Equestria."

       I bit down on an apple. "Well, what do you suggest I do to stay safe?" I asked.

       "That is easy," she said, smiling with her eyes closed. A trait of creatures in this world is that I could never, not see as them trying to be overly smug.  "You must find a changeling colony and ask if they will take you."

“And this colony would be where, exactly?”

“Through the brush and leaves, you see, after leaving the Everfree way behind,

You’ll see the hive of changelings around you; they may or may not be so kind.”

“I thought rhyming was unnecessary?”

“Meh, old habits die hard.”

“So, how long is the journey?” I ask, wondering just how big the Everfree forest can be.

“About a four-day walk. Given you don’t get eaten by Timberwolves.”

        “Great… just bloody brilliant.”

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