Hidden in Plain Sight

by ShadowGear

Chapter 1: Still Alive

Sclerite woke up and saw tree branches above him, he was back in the Everfree Forest. Was it all just a dream? Hopefully it was and the invasion hadn't happened yet. There was no way the Equestrians could have stopped them just like that. Sclerite stood up "Hey! What ha- argh!" he suddenly felt a sharp excruciating pain on his back and got up to a sitting position. Sclerite looked back to see his left wing had been deformed ripped apart but still in one piece. His right wing wasn't as bad but it had a large cut in the middle. There wasn't a Changeling in sight, it was no dream, he's been stranded.

Sclerite decided it was best not to stay put and stood up. He hadn't spent any time feasting on love during the attack and there was no way he could last long enough for his wings to heal. If he could just find some love then this would all be over. The first order of business would be getting out of the forest.

A few hours of walking passed before Sclerite finally exited the forest. In the distance he could see a settlement and based off of the buildings it looked to be a pony settlement. It was probably the best thing he was going to get, if he was ahead of the news of Canterlot this shouldn't be too hard. Now all he needed to do was blend in.

Sclerite thought back on the lessons of Equestrian society Queen Chrysalis had taught him. The first and most important lesson was not to get caught. He knew that if he failed that they would no doubt beat him to death without pity or remorse.

If he was a Unicorn he could use his magic, it's not like being a Pegasus would help much if he couldn't fly, and an Earth Pony had neither. It was a difficult decision but a Unicorn was the best choice out of all three. Sclerite engulfed himself in green flames and reappeared as a gray Unicorn with green eyes that matched his magic. His mane was dark blue and his cutie mark became a test tube with green liquid.

Now all Sclerite needed was a name. He looked himself over, especially at the new cutie mark. It was green so acid... and it's opposite... base, Acid Base, it'll have to do. Time to put the plan into action.

He stepped out of the woods towards the town. There weren't that many ponies on the streets and when there were, they mostly ignored him. It was a good start but he needed to do more. He could find two lovers and replace one of them, that would certainly be easier than-

Sclerite was suddenly knocked down from behind, an attack! He quickly got up and looked around for his assailant but the only thing he saw was a crashed scooter with three dazed fillies. Consisting of a yellow Earth Pony, a white Unicorn and an orange Pegasus.

The Unicorn filly was the first to recover. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay? We're so sorry!"

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine. Just be careful," was all Sclerite could think of saying. He had a mission and this was just a minor inconvenience. No use dwelling on that.

"Wait ya not from around here are ya?" stated the yellow Earth Pony.

"Yeah," Sclerite responded, he wasn't exactly sure where here was.

"Hey! Maybe we can earn our cutie marks in being tour guides!" suggested the orange Pegasus and the others nodded.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TOUR GUIDES! YAY!" they all shouted causing Sclerite to jump.

"Welcome to Ponyville! I'm Sweetie Belle! That's Apple Bloom," she pointed at the yellow Earth Pony. "And that's Scootaloo," she then pointed at the orange Pegasus. "What's your name?"

Now's the moment of truth. "I'm Acid Base," Sclerite answered. He immediately started thinking about what he would do if they didn't buy his name. He could run away, find a new town where he could adopt a new disguise.

"Nice name," Apple Bloom said.

Sclerite calmed himself and responded, "thanks,"

"Apple Bloom!" an orange Earth Pony came rushing towards them.

"Applejack!" Apple Bloom called out.

"Ah saw you and the girls crash and ah came here as fast as ah could," she looked at Sclerite. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh yeah, that's Acid Base, he's new to Ponyville," Apple Bloom introduced.

"Well then howdy Acid Base!" she immediately grabbed Sclerite's hoof and shook it violently. "Ahm Applejack! Ah run Sweet Apple Acres here in Ponyville! You should stop by some time if yah looking for some work!" she then let go of Sclerite's hoof and he continued to shake. It took a minute before he recovered. That was when he noticed something about this pony's name.

"Applejack? Aren't you the element of Honesty?" Sclerite remembered her from the briefing. She was one of the six ponies to look out for because of their connections to the elements of harmony.

"Yes ah am. How do you know me?"

"Well... saving Equestria a few times tends to draw some attention," it wasn't a complete lie. He wouldn't have heard of her if the spies didn't reported the use of the elements of harmony a few months ago. Though on that day the night seemed to have lasted longer than it should have.

"Alright then!"

It would be best for him to get moving before he does anything that draws attention. If Applejack is here then no doubt the other elements would be here as well. "Anyway it was nice meeting you but I have to go. Hope to see you soon," Sclerite said and began to away. He might have better luck if there was somepony he could isolate and cocoon to drain instead.

Comments

[GSandSDS]

"Hidden Plain in Sight" and "A Stampede to remember" a both supposed to be sequels to "A Changeling's Test". In what way do they correlate to each other? Are the alternative sequels or is "Hidden Plain in Sight" in truth a sequel to "A Stampede to remember"?

[ShadowGear]

8042053 In truth "A Stampede to Remember" is actually a prequel to this story. I didn't mark it as such because I wasn't sure if I wanted it to actually be a part of the story. They both take place in the same universe in the same storyline.