//------------------------------//
// 37-Pain 
// Story: The Life of a Non-Brony 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

We make it back to Ponyville later that night.

Comet still has her forelegs around my neck, holding on to me for dear life as we exit the train station. From her light breathing I can tell that she's asleep. Neither Cheerilee nor I are saying anything. Not sure what the heck you say to being forced to see your deepest fears. I rue that it's too late for taxis to be around. I don't really want to walk through Ponyville with all of our luggage. Cheerilee has some of it on our back, but between Comet and the other suitcases, it's kind of an awkward walk. That's the least important thing right now, though.

After a twenty minute walk, we make it back to Manderley. Oswald yawns and flies up to his room. He slept on the train ride over, too. The rest of us did not sleep after we woke up. We just silently left the Empire, right as the Crystal Fair was going on. I do kind of regret that Comet and Cheerilee didn't actually get to go. Maybe other years. Not for a long time, though. The Crystal Empire is not a happy place for me.

I set our suitcases down by the front door. I'll get to them tomorrow. No need to unpack right then and there. Cheerilee and I both go up to Comet's room, where I gently pry her off of me and set her on the bed. She groans and holds onto my hand, but I slide it out of her grip and pull the covers over her. She nuzzles into her pillow and moves her hooves around, looking for her stuffed timberwolf. She finds it after a few seconds and squeezes it close to her.

"We love you, Comet," Cheerilee whispers, stroking our daughter's mane. "We have never regretted having you for a daughter for a single moment."

Comet nuzzles Cheerilee's foreleg and mutters something that sounds like "momma." I smile lovingly and ruffle her mane as her light breathing resumes. I take a deep, quiet breath before Cheerilee and I leave the room, leaving the door cracked open slightly so we can hear Comet if she wakes up. With that settled, we go into our own room and collapse onto the bed. I slide my shirt off and Cheerilee leans against me, rubbing her hoof on my chest.

"That wasn't right," Cheerilee whispers. "Nopony should have to see anything like that."

"No. That was..." I shake my head. "I can't believe it happened at all. One thing I can guess is that it was not an accident. Somebody opened that up hoping somebody would go down there. I'm not sure if it was meant for me specifically, but with everybody else out setting up the fair, I'm not sure who else it could be."

"So are we being followed? Spied on?" Cheerilee uneasily glances out the window as if expecting to see some monster appear. "Are we safe here?"

I smile comfortingly at her and wrap my arms around her, holding her tight. "Yes, of course we are. Nothing is going to get us here. Celestia is looking into it. I'm sure that she'll have it all figured out in a few days and we'll all be totally fine. It might have even been a misunderstanding or an accident of some kind."

"You're a terrible liar, but thanks anyway." Cheerilee closes her eyes and nuzzles into my chest. "I'm sure you're right about nothing happening to us, though. If some enemy from your past has come to get us, they'd have a hard time finding you in Ponyville."

"You see? Nothing is going to happen." I begin running my hand through her hair, and after a few seconds, I can hear her light snoring. I smile lovingly down at her.

However, even I can't help myself from uneasily glancing out the window too.


*  *  *  *


"So did they find anything out?"

Twilight shakes her head as she re-shelves a few of the books. "Not that I know of, TD. We're not sure why the floor opened up like that."

"Well, somebody had to do it, so that's a start. It didn't just open up on its own. You told me it takes dark magic to open up, right? How many ponies could do something like that?"

Twilight grimaces and moves  to another stack she has beside her. "I don't know. Whatever the answer is, it's not good. Sombra is the pony that comes to mind first, but we don't even know if he's still alive." Twilight briefly blushes before continuing on. "That and you killed all of your old enemies, right?"

Now it's my turn to be a little uneasy.

"Yeah, I guess so. It's not like one of the griffin dukes would have snuck into the Crystal Empire and done something like that. They're kind of easy to notice and they wouldn't use tactics like that." I shrug. "Besides, if they wanted to kill me, and I'm not sure why they would, they'd just send somebody to poison me or something. Nothing too elaborate."

"Hmm. So..." Twilight paused for a moment, a book floating beside her as she thought. "What about Chrysalis? Princess Celestia said that you didn't kill her permanently, right? She could have regained her strength and is coming after you now."

I frowned at the idea. Chrysalis. Yeah, she made the most sense. She could have snuck in and opened up the door while nobody was looking. Still, it wasn't a perfect fit. "How would she even know that it was down there?" I asked. "It's not like you printed it in a newspaper or anything."

Twilight shrugged and resumed re-shelving. "It's possible she found out somehow back when Sombra was still in power. Princess Celestia told me that her and Sombra were in talks to become allies before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated him."

"Hmm." I lean back a little in my chair. "I don't like the implications of that."

"Neither do I," Twilight admits. She finishes shelving the last book and turns back to me with a smile. "I'm sure that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will have things settled in a few days. They'll find whoever did that and life can go back to normal."

I smirk as I stand up. "Yeah. Normal in Ponyville. Right."

Twilight chuckles and picks up another stack of books. "Normal for us, then. I'll see you later, TD. Let me know if there's anything else I can do."

"Will do." I give her a two-fingered salute. "See you later."

I put the library books I'd checked out under my arm, then left the library to get back home. Maybe I could continue my second book a little more. Comet was at a friend's house, Cheerilee was at a meeting at the school, and Oswald had gone off to regenerate. I had the house to myself for at least the afternoon.

I walked into my house and put the books on the entryway before making my way up the stairs. Just before I reached the top, I heard my wife's voice behind me.

"TD?" I turn around and smile at her.

"Hey. You're home early."

Cheerilee shrugs. "It didn't take as long as I thought it would."

"Unusual, don't you think? You're always talking about how the superintendent drones on for hours."

Cheerilee sticks her tongue out and walks up the stairs to meet me. "I think he had somewhere to be. He wanted to make it quick and just give us the rundown."

"Us?" I frown. "I thought it was a private meeting."

"I thought so too. Guess he wanted to call in a few more teachers from the high school."

I shrug. "Eh, wouldn't be the first time he changed plans on you."

"Nope, and it probably won't be the last." Cheerilee grins seductively at me and nuzzles against my leg. "Since we have the house to ourselves for a little while..."

I grin and pick Cheerilee up before making my way to the bedroom. "Yeah, that sounds like it could be a fun idea. I was going to get some writing done, but this feels like a much better way to spend the afternoon."

I carry my wife over the threshold of our room and throw her down on the bed. She sits up and pulls my shirt off before going in for a kiss. I frown and pull back just before our lips meet. Cheerilee gives me a pouty face as she lays back down on the bed. "What's the matter lover boy?" She grins and flicks her tail aside. "Don't you want some of this?"

"Uh yeah, I do. I really do." I raise an eyebrow. "Shouldn't we get the bracelet first?"

A brief look of confusion crosses Cheerilee's face so quickly I thought for a moment I'd imagined it. It's quickly replaced by another seductive smile as she reaches for the button on my pants.

"We can use some toys if you want, sure." She licks her lips once she undoes the button. "You are going to have the time of your life this afternoon."

"Cheerilee, hold on." I back away and button my pants back up. "What's gotten into you? It's the bracelet." I motion to the drawer we keep it in. "You know, the one thing that allows us to have sex with each other?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah." Cheerilee scoots up to the pillows and rests her head on them, her legs still spread enough to give me a good view of everything. "Yeah, get the bracelet."

"Cheerilee..." My eyes narrow. "When we were on our honeymoon and we went into that alley, what happened next?"

Cheerilee shrugs. "I don't know. That was, what, five or six years ago?" Her seductive look returns. "I was too busy doing you to remember what else we were doing."

I uneasily chuckle. No, I'm just reading into things. This is weird. Usually she goes for the bracelet before I do, and she's never tried to kiss me when we're not the same species since our first date. But maybe she's just... really into it right now. Not thinking clearly. I lay down next to her on the bed.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." I put my arm around her shoulders, and she leans into me, her hoof slowly rubbing down my leg. "Hey, remember when I got back from my trip around the world?" I tighten my grip on her shoulders. "I don't think I've ever seen you so happy to see me."

"Well why wouldn't I be?" She nuzzles my chest. "That moment you knocked on my door and I saw you again... it was one of the greatest moments of my life."

"Yeah." I move my arm up and wrap it around her neck. "You're not my wife."

With one swift motion I grab the thing pretending to be Cheerilee and slam it against the wall. It claws at my hand in a vain attempt to escape my grasp.

"TD," it wheezes. "What in Equestria has gotten into you?"

"You're not my wife!" I roar, slamming it against the wall again. "You haven't gotten a single thing right about her since I've seen you! What the hell have you done with her?!"

The thing sighs and rolls her eyes. "I wanted to do more research, but no, we were ready." With a burst of green fire, the thing changes back into a changeling. With an unholy screech, it slams its hoof right in my elbow joint, causing me to falter in my grip. It takes the opportunity to wiggle out and sink its fangs into my hand. I scream in pain and out of instinct shrink back to put pressure on the wounds that I'm sure will leave nasty scars. The changeling lets out a hiss of a laugh and spreads its wings. Before it can do anything, I grab Reginald from my bedside and swing it at the changeling, colliding with its head and sending it flying into the opposite wall.

Using my advantage, I grab one of the knives from its hiding spot in my bedside table and rush toward the bug, completely ignoring the pain in my hand. It tries to stand up, but I smash Reginald into its skull again. I stomp on the changeling's chest, preventing it from getting up before grabbing one of its wings. With one swipe I sever it completely. It screeches in pain as a small trickle of green blood pours from the wound. Ignoring the bug's cries, I smash Reginald into its head one last time, knocking it out cold.

A changeling had replaced my wife.

A changeling had replaced my wife. I take in a few deep, shaky breaths as I think of what to do next. Is Cheerilee still at the meeting or have they taken her? If they have taken her, are they keeping her somewhere or had they... killed her?

No, they hadn't done that. They didn't need to. They needed to use her as bait to get me if I tried a rescue operation. I nudge the changeling and it groans in pain. Good. I hadn't killed it. Yet. I needed to get information out of it first.


*  *  *  *


Twenty minutes later, I walk back into the library with a large bag over my shoulder. Twilight, still re-shelving her books, turns to me and smiles.

"Oh, hello again, TD." She tilts her head. "What's in the bag there?"

I toss the bag on the floor and the thing disguised as my wife instantly pops out, its eyes wide. It sees Twilight and instantly crawls over to her.

"Oh Twilight! Thank goodness you're here!" It grabs ahold of one of her forelegs and points an accusing hoof at me. "I don't know what happened, but TD has gone crazy! He hit me and knocked me out!"

Twilight's eyes widen and she tries to back away. "I don't--"

"That's a changeling, Twilight." I stomp over to the thing, which tries to crawl away. I grab it by the tail and pull it back over to me so I can slam my foot into its back, keeping it in  place. "This thing took my wife!"

"I have no idea what he's talking about," the thing moaned. "TD, just let me go and w-we can get you some help!"

Twilight bites her lip and alternates looks between the two of us. "Um... yeah, so..." She clears her throat. "I do kind of have a spell to check for that."

"Twilight, it's me, Cheerilee!" the thing says. "You don't have to cast any spell, just help me with TD!"

"Yeah, not happening," I growl. I reach into my pocket and pull out the severed wing. "Unless you think that I just picked this up while hiking somewhere."

Twilight grimaces and lights up her horn, sending a spell directly into the thing pretending to be my wife. Its disguise instantly fades, leaving a snarling, thrashing changeling on the floor, still missing its wing. I point down to it. "See?"

"Yeah, uh... this is a problem." Twilight rushes over to a nearby table and writes out a quick letter to Celestia, I assumed. "Hold on a second while I..." She rushes off into another part of the library. "Spike! Spike I need you to send out a letter to Princess Celestia!"

The changeling tries to maneuver under my foot so that it can bite me again, but I grab its head and slam it onto the floor. Any other thing I'd worry about doing some brain damage, but not this thing. Rage courses through my body and I smash its head on the ground three more times until it stops wiggling. I can see the green blood underneath the changeling's head, but as long as it lives long enough to tell us where Cheerilee is, I don't care how much I hurt it.

Twilight runs back into the room after a few more seconds. "Okay, I've sent a letter to Princess Celestia, so she should be here soon. I..." Her eyes widen when she sees the groaning changeling and the blood. "TD, what did you do?!"

"It was moving around. I stopped it from moving around."

"TD if you kill it then we can't ask it anything!" Twilight sits down in front of it, careful to avoid any of the blood, then begins casting a few spells. "This isn't what Cheerilee would want you to do, TD. Just... calm down and we can figure this out."

"Calm down? Calm down?! This thing could have hurt my wife! If anything hurt one of your friends or Spike, would you stay calm?"

"Probably not, TD, but freaking out isn't going to get us anywhere." She sighs and stands up, running a hoof through her mane. "There. I healed it enough that it should be able to tell us anything once Princess Celestia gets here. I also cast a freezing spell on it. It's not going anywhere right now."

"No it isn't." I kneel down next to it and grab the back of its head. "It's not going anywhere anymore, is it? Wonder what Celestia's going to want to do to you once we get everything we need?" I change my hand into an eagle's claw and gently run one of the talons down its neck. "I hope she lets me have you."

"TD, you don't want to do anything like that!" Twilight insists.

"Oh yeah?" I look up at Twilight and smirk. "You're talking to the guy who beat Chrysalis to death just for vaguely mentioning that she planned to hurt Cheerilee's class at some point in the future. Now I'm married to Cheerilee and she's taken her." I press into its neck a little more, relishing the whimper it gives. "What do you think I should do now?"

"Nothing!" Twilight grabs the changeling in her magic and yanks it away from me. "TD, this isn't like you! We'll talk about this when Princess Celestia gets here. I get it: you're scared and upset and you don't know what's going to happen, but torture and planned murder isn't going to get us anywhere!"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure it'll just tell us all of its plans if we ask nicely." I scoff and shake my head. "No, this isn't going to be pretty."

"TD, if you hurt it then Chrysalis or whoever else is doing this might hurt Cheerilee in return. You don't want that."

Before I could answer, the door to the library bursts open, and Celestia and Luna rush in.

"You said you found a changeling?" Celestia says, stopping beside me.

I motion to the thing. "Yeah, it impersonated Cheerilee. Caught it when the damn thing just about tried to rape me." My fist tightened and I had to hold back from wailing on the thing while Celestia and Luna could stop me. "I think it might have taken her."

"Very well," Luna says, moving to my other side. "We shall determine what is behind all of this." She glares at the changeling. "And it will tell us."

The thing hisses in laughter again, grinning at Luna. "I look forward to seeing what you think you can do."

That does it. I rush over to the thing and slam my fist into its head. "What did you do to her, you bastard?!" I roar. "I'm gonna rip you to pieces once--"

Celestia encases me in her magic and yanks me back, stopping me just before I hit my head on the floor. I begin thrashing to escape her. I won't let her stop me. I'm going to make sure the thing tells me everything before I kill it.

"TD, that is enough!" Celestia commands, tightening her magical grip on me so I won't thrash around as much. "I promise you that we will find out what happened to Cheerilee, but hurting it will give us nothing!"

"We must request that you go home now, TD," Luna insists.

"Oh no you don't. You're not going to make me just stay out of this!"

"Yes we will," Celestia says calmly. "This is not the first enemy we have interrogated, it helps nopony if you're here yelling at it and trying to harm it." She slowly eases her grip on me. "Return home, TD. You still have a daughter to take care of. She will need her father to help her while we locate Cheerilee."

At the mention of Comet, I stop trying to get out of Celestia's grasp. I take in a few shaky breaths while she completely lets me go. "Yeah. Comet." I slowly get to my feet and run a hand through my hair. "Comet. Yeah. I'll..."

"We shall inform you of the results soon, TD." Celestia gives me a comforting smile. "Do not worry yourself. We shall return your wife to you unharmed."

"You can't promise me that and you know it," I growl. "But yeah, I'm going to get Comet. Just..." I close my eyes and shake my head. "Just get me my wife back."

Without another word I leave the library.

They'll get her back. They have to. I can't lose another family. I can't do life without Cheerilee. I have enough money to raise Comet.

No, I can't think like that. We'll get her back and in a few days we'll all look back at this as a stressful time, but one we all got through okay.

Was Cheerilee hurt? Scared? Not even sure what's happening? Or is she snarking at her captors and repeatedly assuring them that I'd come to kick their plots into next year? I manage a small smile at the thought. Yeah, that one sounds right. She'll come back and we can laugh and joke about what happened. No worries.

I take in a shaky breath and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. We'd get her back. We'd get her back.

I flinch back a little bit when something lands on my shoulder. I look around wildly until I notice that it's just Oswald, freshly reborn. I give him a shaky smile and move my hand up to rub his back.

"H--" My voice cracks and I clear my throat. "Hey, buddy. Doing good?"

Oswald says something in phoenix-speech and rests his head on mine. I manage a weak chuckle as my house comes into view. I want to grab a knife and Reginald before I go to get Comet. I don't want to be unarmed if something happens along the way. I open the door to the house and walk inside.

"Hey, Dad!" Comet bounces up to me and nuzzles my leg. "How are you doing?"

"Uh..." I blink in surprise. "I thought you were still at Apple Seed's."

"Yeah, but her Mom had something to do so she dropped me off here." Comet grimaces. "It's fine, though. We can always hang out tomorrow."

"Yeah." I reach down and ruffle her mane. "Yeah, sounds good."

Before either of us can say anything else, Oswald lands on the railing of the stairs and hisses at Comet, igniting his wings and flaring them out to their full extent. Comet flinches back before running behind my legs.

"Dad, what's going on? Why is your phoenix mad at me?"

No. No, I'm reading into things too much. It's fine. Oswald is just...

"Not sure," I whisper. I clear my throat and run my hand over Oswald's head. "It's okay, Oswald. I've got everything under control." I look down to Comet and smile at her. She smiles back and nuzzles my leg again. "He's just being a goof."

"Oh, that makes sense." Comet's smile widens a bit. "So, do you want to do anything today?"

"Yeah, totally." I sit down on the stairs and pat the spot next to me. Oswald follows Comet with his eyes, glaring at her.

It's fine. Oswald is just irritated with her because she, I dunno, moved my backpack out of his room. I wrap my arms around Comet and pull her close.

"Hey..." I gently stroke her mane. "I know this is gonna sound weird, but I've been reminiscing. Thinking back to when we adopted you."

"Oh yeah, that day was awesome!" Comet nuzzles my chest. "I'll always be glad I met you and Mom."

"Yeah, me too." I chuckle as I think of something. "I remember when we met Celestia and Luna after the adoption. What... what was it you called Luna again? I forget."

Comet frowns in thought for a few moments before shrugging. "I don't think I remember either. 'Your Majesty' maybe? Sounds about right."

"Yeah. That's right. I might be thinking of something else."

Without another word I grab its jaw and twist, instantly breaking its neck. Green flame engulfs it as it falls to the ground, revealing the changeling pretending to be my daughter.

All I can do is stare ahead, my mind utterly blank.