Fellowship is Madness

by Imperator Chiashi Zane

A Change of Pace, Part 2

Ga’el looked back over her shoulder, trying not to make it obvious. She was slightly afraid. Not because she thought she might get caught, no. It was because she had actually liked that Griffon, and she had just made him forget her, forever. He would never be able to even talk to her again, nor even see her. It was a side effect of the Changeling’s mind-wipe. It was not truly erasing their knowledge, merely locking it away and actively preventing them from seeing the Changeling ever again. It did tend to make those who were wiped frequently, by many, kind of senile. Especially when their brains simply removed every Changeling around them in a hive.

Tears formed at the edge of her eyes, “Father, why couldn’t I simply make him my minion?”

“He was a native. Ponies would notice if he was missing.”

“Would they? Could we not leave behind an infiltrator in his place?”

“No. Not a Griffon. If he were a pony, I would let you keep him, but Griffons have a way of Knowing. If their True Steel does not contain their familial pattern, it would give them away.”

“But he was young. That would not be for years!”

“Honey, I already told you, no.”

The Griffon kit scowled and took to the sky again, leaving her father behind as she took a seat on a slow moving cloud.
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Strawberry Punch fled from the crowd of moving Changelings when she spotted the young Griffon flying towards the treehouse. Something suspicious, of course. She would investigate. The kit flew wobbly, but clearly fully in control of himself as he dipped down into the trees, and she took off, running after him as fast as she could manage without changing form again. She slipped through the trees and caught up just in time to see the fluff at the end of his tail slipping through the open window. Her magic grabbed the door handle, and she slipped inside, shutting it behind her. The kit was sitting on the floor, and turned to look at her, “Oh, Hey Strawberry.”

She scowled, “What were you doing out there?”

“Spying. They’re Changelings. I got to mark a new species in my ‘Species of Equus Bingo’.”

Her jaw slid up and down, churning air, “What?”

“Yeah. They were totally doing a horrible job. You were out there too. Intel gathering, right? You used that wing spell to make them think you were a Changeling.”

Strawberry paused. He didn’t know yet. If she was lucky, she could enthrall him now, make him her mindless servant. Her eyes started slitting, preparing to guide his mind away from thoughts of Changelings. Of course, that meant she had to drop her default form, go full Changeling. The red flames licked down her back and out to the tips of her wings, “Look into my eyes.”

“Doesn’t work. That cute filly on the clouds tried it already.”

“Huh? You shouldn’t have been able to resist being enthralled. And you certainly don’t smell enthralled.”

The Griffon laughed, “Immune. Haven’t you ever wondered why Griffons are so much harder to enchant?”

She said several words that would have made her sister shove a bar of soap in her mouth, then pushed him against the wall with her hoof, “Explain. Why isn’t this working?”

He gave her a smug grin, “Griffon Magic. It’s why our wings are so much longer than a Pegasus. They only need to manipulate the magic pervading every cloud and breeze here. We, well, can’t directly manipulate the natural magic. Only the Forge can. Likewise, natural magic can’t affect us directly. So, no enthralling. No mind wiping.”

“Uh…”

“My turn. Where are they going, Changeling?”

“Canterlot. Three months trot.”

“Shouldn’t you be getting out there then, joining them?”

“I’m not going with them.”

“Well you certainly can’t keep pretending to be my friend, Strawberry. When two of her start showing up around town, ponies’ll get suspicious.”

She stared at him. When he had thought she was herself, he had referred to her as such, but as soon as she had gone full Changeling, he had started treating her as an infiltrator. That wasn’t a big issue, except that she would have to trick him into thinking that she was leaving, when she wasn’t. Or she could just tell him outright and see how he reacted. After all, her sister had revealed herself to that Zebra librarian, and he was alright with it. Maybe Cuuper would be too.

“Well, are you going to go now, or do I have to drag you out to the tail end of the line?”

She sighed, “Ok, fine, Cuuper. Here’s the truth. I am Strawberry Punch. Blueberry Punch is my older sister.”

“I saw the documents. And I know Strawberry. She isn’t a Changeling. Neither is Blueberry. I can tell the difference. You smell like a Changeling.”

Strawberry snorted, “What does a Changeling smell like?”

“Soot and lies. You should know. It’s rolling off you in waves.”

She sniffed her elbow, and focused for a moment, “Ok, what about now?”

“Er…Lilacs? Strawberries? What are you doing?”

“Changing my scent. Like every member of my family, and any infiltrator ever. You think that a Changeling family would go anywhere without concealing their scent?”

He stared, “Is that why she smelled like a Griffon? I thought that was just perfume?”

She nodded, “Yeah. Duh.” She let him drop to the floor, and barely managed to follow as he shot out the window, screaming into the sky, “Shit. Come back here!” She darted out after him, wings churning through the air, “Don’t go out there!”

She barely caught up to him before he dove down towards the female kit. He rolled over and glared at the Changeling holding him, “What do you want, Strawberry?”

“Don’t do it. If they catch you, it’ll be bad for both of you. Trust me on this. Unless you TOLD her that she didn’t have you mind-wiped, she thinks you’ve forgotten she exists. Let me handle this.”

He hissed, “No. I have to do this.”

She slugged him in the wing-root and threw him onto a cloud, red fire searing across her carapace. As a near-perfect duplicate of Cuuper, she dropped down and eased into a glide above the other Changeling, “Hey. I have a message for you.”
The Changeling turned to Strawberry, “From who?”

“Your Thrall.”

Ga’el locked up, “I told him to unenthrall himself and forget I existed.”

“Uh huh. Anyway, he told me he still likes you, and thinks you smell like perfume. So, whenever you come back, he’ll be here waiting for you.”

“Thanks…I think?” Failure to make a Thrall obey was pretty high up on the list of things a Changeling should never do.”