Changeling Theory - Chapter 6 Preview

It's been a while since I've updated Changeling Theory, and the new chapter is coming along slowly. I am already seventeen pages into it, and there's no end in sight yet. Not just that, but there might be some scenes that I'll either have to veto or rewrite. I want this upcoming chapter to be executed perfectly because it will be the end of the first Act I. After that, I hope to take a break from Changeling Theory for a little while to focus on pumping out a few one-shots for the sake of writing other stuff.

In the meantime, to keep you invested in the story while you wait, I decided to share a scene from the current draft. Please note that upon publishing anything within it might be changed.

"Want one?"

Sandbar scowled at the cigarette in Gallus's hand. "Where did you get that, dude?"

Gallus shook the pack of Cherry Delights: Classic in the pony's face. "Smolder sold it to me. The school regulates it for her because the smoke helps her respiratory system. Her words were, 'Something something dragon anatomy slash shitty cigarettes help my immune system since pony air is too clean.' Sounds like BS to me. I think she stole them."

He held the cigarette in his other talon out toward Sandbar and repeated, "Want one?"

"We're in the library, bro," the pony bit.

Gallus held both of his foretalons up defensively. "I didn't mean you have to smoke it now. You can wait until we're at the Treehouse.”

Sandbar shook his head in disapproval. “No. I don’t want one. Put that away before somepony sees it.” Normally, he tried his best to use the “somecreature” pronoun in place of the common “somepony” pronoun, but all concerns for punctuality went out the window the moment contraband was shoved in his face. He had a right to be concerned. Even holding a cigarette on school grounds was an offense worthy of suspension. Gallus, however, recognized that he was stretching the line.

He slid the cigarette back in its packet and stuffed it beneath his sweater. He laid both of his talons down on the table in front of him. They were in one of the cozier parts of the library. It was sectioned off by four bookshelves that surrounded it. While Gallus playfully tapped his claws against the table’s surface, Sandbar slouched back in the beanbag chair he was sitting in in the corner and sighed loudly. 

“Why aren’t you upset, dude?”

Gallus stopped tapping. “Eh.” He shrugged. “It happens. We can try again during the break, probably.”

“What if she wants to go home during the break? I don’t think Silverstream wants to be cooped up at the school all year long.”

“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t mind staying for a little while longer.”

Sandbar raised his head up from the beanbag chair. “And if she does?”

“So she doesn’t want to stay at the school for the break. No biggie.” 

“I think it is a biggie, my dude. You just asked her out and you two are already about to be separated for two weeks. Why don’t you try going with her to Mount Aris?”

“I barely wanted to travel to Ponyville. You think I want to travel across the country to a place that’s surrounded by the ocean? I can’t even swim! Besides, it’s too cold to leave town. I’d rather go during the summer.”

Sandbar sat up, his face scrunched into a stark scowl. “You have a lot to learn about this relationship thing.”

Gallus stopped tapping. “What do you mean?” 

“You can’t just do whatever you want anymore. You have a girlfriend. You do what they want, now.” 

Gallus scratched at the neck feathers below his beak. “I don’t get it.”

Sandbar reeled his head back and groaned toward the ceiling. “Look,” he said, uprighting his head again. “You’ve seen how Yona and I are, right?” 

Gallus nodded. “Yeah.” 

“Relationships are a full-time thing, my dude. If you go off to do your own thing, she’s going to get tired of you pretty quick.” 

This time it was Gallus’s turn to groan. He rubbed the back of his neck, letting out the sound from his beak for several long seconds and shifting in his pillow uncomfortably. “Nocreature told me that was part of the agenda.” He placed both talons on the surface of the table in front of him and began to inattentively drum against it.

“Where is she now?”

Gallus stopped drumming. “In her room. We broke off after we hit the school. She looked pretty depressed.”

“So you left her alone, then.” It wasn’t a question. It was a simple acknowledgement that…

“I fucked up, didn’t I?” Gallus asked. 

Sandbar responded with a slow yet very curt nod.

Gallus groaned again, laying his face against the table, both talons clenched into fist alongside his head. “I’m gonna have to talk to her, aren’t I?” 

“Yep,” Sandbar said casually.

Gallus sat back up. “Right,” he said. “I think I’ll go do that now.”

He stood up and turned, but as he made his move to leave, Sandbar called, “Wait! Dude, we were supposed to talk about how we were going to get to the castle for movie night, remember?” 

They had thought that the snow would die down by now, but then Ponyville Weather Station announced a forecast of snowfall for the rest of the week. That made transferring his grandfather’s old sixteen-millimeter projecting system very difficult.

Gallus turned his head slightly, acknowledging the pony’s presence but still clearly distracted by his own current agenda. “Yeah, yeah, there’s a shortcut in the caves beneath the school. We can move the equipment through there.” 

The griffon immediately disappeared behind a bookshelf after that.

“Wait, dude!” Sandbar called for him again. “What happened to Professor Oinkals?”

When he realized that he wasn’t going to get a response, he leaned back into his beanbag chair and sighed.