//------------------------------//
// The Courtship of General Synthe 
// Story: Sunset Eclipsed 
// by EldritchNexus 
//------------------------------//

Sunset Shimmer was led into a chamber that could suffice as a dining hall. There were various dinner plates lined up on the tables, that General Synthe had the servants prepare for his guest.

"Well. I can't say that you don't have manners, general." said Sunset.

"Oh, it is no problem at all, my dear." said Synthe, when the two were seated next to each other. "So...would you like anything in particular?"

He began to inhale hard from his breathing-device.

"Well, I would sure like to talk to my mother." said Sunset.

"It can wait." said Synthe. "Just tell me what you want to eat while we talk. I have quite a selection from our inventory."

"Okay." said Sunset Shimmer. "How about a glass of strawberry lemonade, and a lettuce-and-tomato sandwich?"

"No bacon?" asked Synthe.

"I'm a vegetarian." said Sunset, flatly.

"Right." said the Changeling general. "I didn't think you ponies liked eating meat, anyhow. Sigma, get her that food!"

"Yes, sir! It'll all be good 'n done, 'en!" said Sigma, who flew away.

After a few minutes, he came back with a platter. He served the food to Sunset, who quickly guzzled her meal down.

"Why does he talk like that, anyway?" asked Sunset.

"Well, he apparently had some brain damage a few years ago." said Synthe.

"Ouch. Sounds pretty bad." said Sunset.

"Apparently, it happened when he was scoping out Trottingham, when he was impersonating a local there. Apparently, he really liked the accent." said Synthe. "Or maybe it was in Manehatten. I don't know, I wasn't even with Lord Umbriel when that happened."

"Funny, he sounds exactly like this one guy I knew in the human world." said Sunset. "His name was Ziggy."

"'Ziggy', huh?" asked General Synthe. "Well, that happens to be Sigma's nickname. And what occupation did he assume?"

"Well, he was a friend of your counterpart in the human world." said Sunset. "And seemed like a very nice guy."

"So, you say I have a counterpart in this other world?" asked Synthe. "And tell me what he is like."

"Oh, boy. Where to begin..." hesitated Sunset Shimmer. "Well, he seemed like a cool guy, too, when I first met him. A little stalker-ish, maybe. But still, he seemed like a gentle, caring guy. Almost reminded me of my brother. He was comforting, and sweet, and--"

"Yes, I bet he was very special." said Synthe, flatly.

"But as it turns out, he's actually a terrorist, and he had a man try and kill me when he found out that I was a pony!"

"Well, that is...certainly unfortunate." said Synthe. "But it sounds very personal."

"He was my boyfriend." said Sunset.

Synthe began to choke.

"You...dated my counterpart?" asked Synthe.

"Well, he was very close to my age." said Sunset.

"Can't say the same about me, though." said Synthe. "I'm even older than Queen Chrysalis herself. So forgive me if you don't like older men."

"How much older, Craw?" asked Sunset. "I mean, I'm twenty years old. It should matter too much for me."

"Well, I was in my late teens when I first joined the Changeling Royal Guard." said Synthe. "And that was when Queen Chrysalis was still a young princess. You know, I never got that with you ponyfolk; Why is it that you have so many princes and princesses, but no kings or queens? I mean, the only pony off the top of my head that actually called himself King was Sombra of the Crystal Empire, and he was a tyrant."

"Because there are so many princes and princesses out there now--alicorn or otherwise--that can just as easily claim to rule Equestria, that it wouldn't be fair to single any of them out as a monarch or regent or whatever." explained Sunset Shimmer. "It's just a shame I never really got to be one of them."

"Unlike me." said Synthe. "I actually got to be named King of the Changelings. At least for a while."

Then he growled in frustration.

"But then that accursed alien took it all away from me!" he continued, bitterly.

"At least you got to be a ruler at all!" said Sunset. "I only got the power to be a princess for not even five minutes, before Twilight Sparkle and her buddies pulled the plug on me with their Elements of Harmony."

"The Elements of Harmony, huh?" repeated Synthe von Craw III. "You know, I tried stealing the power of the Elements myself."

"How'd that go?" asked Sunset. "Did they turn you into a psychotic fiery creature, too?"

"I didn't even get the chance to wrest their power from their bearers." said Synthe. "But I did manage to take the six ponies captive."

"Really? All six of them?" commented Sunset. "That's quite the accomplishment, if I do say myself."

"True, it wasn't too difficult for me." said General Synthe. "Although Rainbow Dash was something of a handful."

"Oh, tell me about it." said Sunset. "I've known the human counterparts of Twilight's friends for years. I even managed to dismantle their friendships for a while, before Twilight herself showed up to set them straight and brought them all back together to turn the tables on me."

"And I was doing alright, myself." said Synthe. "Before Queen Chrysalis summoned that alien champion to break me apart, and end my rightful rule. And I was so close to permanently beating that useless witch of a queen to the curb. Not even her little brother, Prince Embryo, could've done anything about it."

"I'd say we're quite the pair, you and I." commented Sunset.

"If you're trying to group me with yourself, then don't." spat the Changeling general, frustrated. "You and I are very different. We are two separate islands in two separate oceans. I don't know what the relationship is between my human self and you, but it wouldn't be the same at all between the two of us!"

He sighed quietly.

"Though, I do like to toy with this idea:" he added. "If we met a couple of years ago, perhaps around the time you first decided to overthrow Princess Celestia, I think you and I could've made for great partners."

"Well, I didn't really want to overthrow Princess Celestia." said Sunset. "I just wanted to be a Princess just like her, and was frustrated that she didn't make me one. She said I wasn't ready yet. I wanted to prove her wrong."

"...By going to a world where you would be unable to use magic." said Synthe. "...When you could've just as easily gone out to find some magical artifact that could give you the power you required."

"Well, I didn't know that going through the Crystal Mirror would render me unable to use magic!" said Sunset. "In fact, I didn't even know what kind of world was on the other side of that mirror until I already crossed over! I thought that the mirror was some magical artifact that could give me the power I needed to become a princess. In a way, it did. A princess at a high school dance, sure, but a princess nonetheless."

Then General Synthe guffawed.

"How cute." he chuckled. "And yet, so pathetic at the same time."

"Well, what else was I supposed to do, go back to Princess Celestia and be punished?" asked Sunset. "Of course, I do realize in hindsight that it wouldn't have been as bad as I thought!"

"It is still laughable that you would choose to stay somewhere while denying yourself an ability you were born with!" said Synthe.

"Hey, you can't really use magic right now, yourself." said Sunset, sticking her tongue out in mockery. "At least I could potentially go back to Equestria and use it again. You can't use magic at all, because your horn's broken! So there!"


"How dare you mock me?!" growled Synthe. "Yes, you can use magic but I can't! Yes, I was closer to achieving my goals then you were. But it doesn't really matter to me. All I know is that my life has been one of absolute misery right now."

Sunset stopped grinning, and put on a straight face.

"Your rulers may be forgiving, and have given you a chance to redeem yourself." the Changeling ranted on. "And they may have welcomed you back with open arms...but I can't even think about saying the same for myself! I mean, just look at me! I'm barely recognizable as what I once was! And Umbriel keeps me on such a short leash as it is! He's done nothing to make sure I get better than I already was, he's forced me to watch over his ensemble of misfits and outcasts--would you believe even Changelings have them?!-- and he's blackmailing me to make sure things stay that way! If Queen Chrysalis found out who I really was, I would be deader than dead!"

"But why did you even agree to live as you do now?" asked Sunset. "Surely, you'd think dying with dignity would be better than living as Umbriel's chew-toy! I saw how he treated you in Fillydelphia! He does not look like an understanding or benevolent ruler."

Then General Synthe bowed his head.

"Because I am afraid to die." said Synthe. "I nearly did so once, but I couldn't bring myself to come close to that experience ever again."

He turned his face to look into Sunset Shimmer's eyes. Tears began to stream down the exposed, scarred half of his face.

"There you go, unicorn." he sniffled. "If you've ever wanted to see a Changeling cry, here you go! Go ahead and mock me! Kick me while I'm down! I don't care! I'd still welcome it over death!"

He began to moan sadly, laying his head down on the table. He even seemed to be sobbing a little.

"Craw, what's the matter?" Sunset asked, in a friendly tone.

"Why would you care, pony?" asked Synthe. "My gripes don't concern yours. And if you're wondering, I'm not crying because of remorse or pity. Changelings don't feel such things! If we did, we wouldn't even need to steal the love of others to feed us!"

"Then why are you crying?" asked Sunset.

"Fear, my little pony." said Synthe. "Fear. I'm afraid to die."

"Why, though?" asked Sunset. "I'm not gonna kill you!"

"No, but I've already said too much as it is, without even getting all the information I wanted." said Synthe. "Any number of Changelings will have overheard us! And if Lord Umbriel finds out about this, he may tell Queen Chrysalis about me! And that happens, I know for sure that I won't be forgiven! I'm afraid to die! I can't believe I'm admitting it to a pony, but I'm afraid. Very, very afraid!"

Synthe sobbed more audibly. Sunset felt her own eyes shaking, and she placed a hoof on Synthe's scarred back.

"Shhh, it's going to be okay, Craw." said Sunset. "Please, pull yourself together."

"I would if I could, unicorn." said Synthe, steadily. "But I can't, now can I?"

"Just, you know, ease up!" said Sunset. "I may not have known too much about what you were like before you turned against Queen Chrysalis, but I'm sure you were a lot more dignified than this!"

"I was, yes." nodded Synthe. "But those days are long since over! If I even tried to act like I did before, I would be as good as dead. Don't try to sympathize with me, Sunset Shimmer. I don't deserve it!"

"You might be or able to--or want to--like me, but why can't I feel sorry for you?" asked Sunset.

"Because I'm a Changeling!" said Synthe. "I feed off positive emotions of others! It's what we're known to do! If you tried anything with me, it would only do more harm than good to you!"

"Ah-ha!" exclaimed Sunset Shimmer. "So if you don't want anything like that to happen to me, then you must care about me, even a little!"

"Don't push it, pony!" said General Synthe.

"Just admit it, will you?" asked Sunset.

"Fine, fine." said the Changeling. "I'll admit it. I do harbor some kind of...concern...for you."

Sunset couldn't help but blush a little.

"But not like that, Sunset Shimmer." said Synthe. "In fact, if I were at my physical peak, we wouldn't even be having this conversation at all!"

"And yet, here the two of us are!" retorted Sunset. "So we'd might as well keep talking with each other!"

"No, we will not." said Synthe. "In a minute, I will have you escorted to the nearest holding-cell."

"C'mon, honey!" said Sunset, nudging against the Changeling. "Don't be like this! You've clearly got a lot on your mind! And it's very unhealthy to keep it all bottled up!"

"That's a good point, which I'll admit." said Synthe.

"Now, I would really like it if we were more honest with ourselves." said Sunset. "I'd like to see your whole face, in its entirety. Craw, how long can you go without that mask on?"

"A few minutes." said Synthe, as he unclasped his mask.

When the covering was removed, he shuddered slightly. Sunset expected to see a large amount of scarred tissue on his face, but to her surprise, there were less disfigured features on that side than they were on the exposed side. This made Sunset not only comfortable to be able to look into the eyes without being distracted by his scars, but his face bore an uncanny resemblance to the human Craw's, albeit in a darker, equine shape.

Sunset couldn't help but nuzzle against her human boyfriend's equine counterpart. There were even a couple of tears streaming down from her bright green eyes, but she didn't care if Synthe noticed them or not. But Synthe just stood there. completely still like a statue. Gradually, Synthe began to breath at a normal rate. He even felt more strength in his vital organs, particularly the stomach and lungs. Reluctantly, he clasped one of his plated hooves around Sunset's back, and looked down at her with a grin on his face.

"Don't fret, my little pony..." thought Synthe von Craw III, in a calculating tone. "I actually like this as much as you do. Just...not in the way you might imagine."