//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Changeling Classes! // Story: A Frozen Rose: The Nightmare War. // by Selene Moonlilly //------------------------------// By the time we reached the road that led to the Everfree Jungle, I had calmed down enough to come to the conclusion that Edge was right. Even if Queen Chrysalis couldn't help me I could at least prepare before meeting with Discord. After all, it wouldn't matter what I found out if I couldn't act on it because I lost my mind again. ‘Damn, I hate it when Edge is right.’ I thought as I got up and lightly kicked the dresser across from me in annoyance. Edge’s head popped in as the wagon came to a stop. “We are at the crossroad leading to the Everfree, so what did you decide lass?” He asked worry still on his face. I crossed my arms and muttered my answer. “I’m sorry lass, I didn't quite catch that,” he said as he moved into the wagon. “I will be returning to Ashenvale with the group,” I replied with a bit more volume. “Speak up lass. I can't hear you.” Edge said while cupping his right ear with his hand. “I said that I am returning to Ashenvale with the group,” I said in a huff. I was about to say more when I was interrupted by Stygian’s voice from outside the wagon. “Rose, we have an incoming group of pegasus knights from the northeast. They are about an hour away from here. I can also feel someone in the group using tracking magic so it is more than likely that one of Empress Celestia’s seekers is with the knights. As they are flying straight toward our position I believe that they are tracking us. So I have the rest of the group preparing for a fight. ” Stygian said. I looked towards Edge and gave him a nod. As he left the wagon to get himself ready I pulled out my book of wind spells and noticed that it was almost out of charges. ‘Damn just three uses left? Nope, not going to cut it.’ I thought as my eyes fell onto the small box on top of the dresser. The lid of the box had a stylized snowflake carved into it. ‘Maybe I should use one of those? If I did we would definitely be able to win a battle against Arcadia’s Sky Guard with no casualties.’ I slowly brought my right hand to the lid of the box and just as I was about to open it I changed my mind. ‘ No we are not desperate enough for me to seek help from any of them. I will just have to put my faith that my companions can fight the pegasus knights off if it comes to a battle and focus my efforts on healing any wounds that occur.’ I berated myself for having even thought of the idea of using what was in the box. I then picked up my mend staff and the obsidian dagger. I then left the wagon and proceeded to walk over to where Edge and Stygian were standing. I noticed that Stygian was wearing his dark mage robes with the hood pulled up over his head. The robes instead of being black with red trim like most dark mage robes was a deep purple with a silver trim and on the back of the robes was the symbol of our guild. Edge was in his leather armor and had his sword and shield out and ready. Once I got to the pair I took the time to look around at the group getting ready to repeal the pegasus knights if they decide to attack us. I saw the red and white-haired Summer Moon dressed in light leather armor readying her longbow while keeping an eye on the group of captured bandits that were tied up to the second wagon. Standing next to her was Angel in his Taguel form. I suddenly felt an impact against my midsection followed by the sensation of arms wrapping me in a tight hug. I looked down and there holding onto me was the orphaned wolf laguz girl. She then looked up into my eyes and I could not only see the fear and uncertainty that lay in them but also the trust underneath those. ‘Yep she definitely imprinted me as her new pack leader.’ I thought. “Stone Edge where are you?” I called out. I then felt someone tapping on my shoulder from behind. “Right here Rose.” The long brown haired myrmidon said with a smile. Stone was dressed in a gray leather tunic and pants with pieces of green plate mail over his chest, arms, and legs. Over all of that he wore a gray overcoat. Belted to his side was a katana. “What do you need?” At his sudden appearance the wolf girl hugged me tighter. I let a sigh and answered. “ I need you to guard the young one here. I want you to take her to my wagon and watch over her when I am not able to until we get back to Ashenvale.” Stone nodded his acceptance of my request. I then looked back down at the wolf girl. ‘Really need to get her name.’ I then untangled myself then held her at arm's length. “Okay I need you to stay with Stone here and listen to what he says. Do you think you can do that for me?” I asked the girl who just stared at Stone with uncertainty. After two minutes of looking from me to him she nodded yes. “Good girl.” I said as I ruffled her hair being careful to not touch her ears. She grumbled a bit and let Stone led her to my wagon. “Well now that the drama is over how do you want to handle this Rose?” Stygian asked drawing my attention back to him. “I want to see what they want first. No need to make an enemy out of the Arcadian Empire if we don't have to.” I answered. “Okay that being the case I think Edge should act the leader and be the one to talk with the commander of the pegasus knights.” Stygian said. “Yes I know that Arcadians follow a matriarchal way of life where females are the warriors and soldiers, but since we are a licenced guild acting on the behalf of queen Chrysalis we will be fine. The alternative is to risk them finding out about your full manakete heritage then being obligated to take you to their Empress by force if necessary.” He explained. “Edge and Stone will be fine as they are only half manakett as can be clearly seen with their less prominent ears.” “You will play the part of one of Queen Chrysalis’ consorts. As such you are going to have to dress the part.” He said to me with a smirk as he pulled out a black colored disk with green runes on it out of his robes and then hands it to me. “Wait is this what I think it is?” I asked as I gave the disk a once over. “Yes it is indeed a class seal. One that was given to me by Queen Chrysalis herself in case of such an eventuality. She told me that it will only react to your magical signature and once activated it will disguise your magical signature as a changeling’s.” He answered. “Then why didn't she give it to me directly or even tell me about it.” I questioned him as I continued to look at the seal. “Well with it being a one time use and with your insatiable desire to acquire new skills, she felt that you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from using it as soon as you found out about it, wasting it. Kind of how you are doing right now.” He said with a raised eyebrow as I was bringing the hand holding the seal towards the center of my chest. I stop my hand and looked away from him my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It didn't help that Edge decided to laugh at me. Without breaking stride Stygian continued his explanation. “Now as a consort you are expected to be next to the commander of any unit you are assigned to in case Chrysalis wants to talk to them. Having you dress as an consort will give the impression that Chrysalis is listening to any conversations happening. As to what to do if they do attack well I would like you to cover Summer as she tries to cull their numbers down with her bow.” “Now any questions?” He asked me to which I shook my head no in response. “Good now I need to go make sure everyone is apprised of the plan so they can act accordingly.” He said as he walked off in Summer’s direction. I then took the seal in my hand and brought it to the center of my chest activating it. There was a bright flash as information flooded my brain. I saw myself with ten other young girls in a classroom listening to an adult changeling tell us that we ten have the highest potential out of our hatch group and as such have been chosen to be part of Queen Chrysalis’ own private spy group. The changeling goes on to explain that in the next nine years we are going to learn not only the different methods of collecting love like any consort but also how to act in a court setting and how to defend ourselves and others from attacks. Over the next eight minutes, I was shut out from the rest of the world as my mind sorted through nine years worth of someone else’s memories. When I came to I noticed that Edge was staring at me. “Why are you staring at me, darling?” I asked in a more refined voice. “Well, your wings are showing lass.” Edge said while pointing behind me. I looked over my now bare left shoulder and sure enough, there was a blue scale covered wing there. “Well, this is an unanticipated Development. ” I replied as I looked myself over to make sure that there were no more surprises. After I had determined that the wings were the only new addition to my human form I took five minutes to look at the changes that happen to my clothes. I was wearing a red trimmed white dress that parted in the front at waist height and fell to just under knee level at the back. Underneath the dress, I had a midnight blue colored unitard. Adorning my arms were sleeves of the same material that came halfway up my upper arm. To finish my look was a pair of midnight blue colored stockings that came up to just past my knees with a pair of white shoes. “Well, at least these clothes are aesthetically pleasing,” I said. “ Nevermind that, won't your wings give you away?” He asked. “I cannot ascertain how you came to that conclusion as changelings are shapeshifters. As such, they can appear however they please.” I answered with a raised eyebrow. “Hey lass, why are you talking like that? Did something go wrong with the class seal?” Edge asked in poorly disguised worry. It took me a bit to figure out what he was talking about, but when I did I let out a groan. ‘Well, at least it only messed with my speech patterns this time.’ I thought as I forced myself to talk regularly. “ Oh right, you have never observed the use of a class seal before have you?” I asked as I moved about to get a feel for my new clothes’ range of movement. “Class seals are created by copying and storing an individual’s memories and experiences related to the class. When someone uses a seal they are absorbing those memories and experiences directly. Naturally, there are some side effects associated with class seals like taking on different personality traits from the original owner of the memories. These are not permanent but the duration of the side effects depends on the number of experiences absorbed versus the number of experiences that the user has.” I answered then noticing the lost look the Edge was wearing I sighed. “Look all you need to know is that the older the user the shorter the duration of the side effects. So in my case, it only lasts a couple of minutes, while on someone who has only lived for twenty years would be stuck with them for days.” I simplified as I finished testing my range of movement. I looked to the northeast and spotted seven figures in the distance that were rapidly approaching. “Looks like our company is almost here, time to put on a show.” The pegasus knights flew over our group, made a U-turn and landed forty feet away from us. The leader got off her pitch black pegasus and made her way towards us. She was wearing a white tabberd with the image of the sun on it over a set of gold colored chain-mail. Her gold helmet trimmed in white had strands of blue hair coming out of it. Jutting out from her back was a spear with a red colored blade and hanging from her belt was a red colored spellbook. When she was fifteen feet away she stopped and addressed us. “I am knight-commander Firefly of the Arcadian sky knights. I request to speak with your leader. If you would be so kind to get her I would appreciate it.” She said in a tone that suggested that we comply or else. By this time Stygian had made his way back over. “I am Cutting Edge the leader of this group.” Edge responded and held out his hand as I practiced a skill that I was sorely lacking in, shutting up. Edge’s response took Firefly aback. She then looked at me her eyes widened at the sight of me pointed ears. She looked about to say something when she made a quick look over my outfit and seemed to think better of it. After a minute of silence, she regained her composure and turned her attention back to Edge. “Ah, so you hail from the badlands. In that case, may I ask what your business in the empire may be. It must be fairly important for such a small group to warrant the presence of a consort.” She said as she took Edge’s hand in hers and shook it. “Well, we were hunting some bandits that took to killing and skinning laguz. The queen takes such actions against her subjects seriously. And before you ask yes we did stop at the border station and got a permit to operate in the empire.” Edge said as Stygian handed over the mentioned permits to Firefly. “Well, everything looks to be in order.” She said after she had looked over the papers. She handed them back. “Oh, by the way, you wouldn't know happened at the old fort a days travel to the northeast of here would you?” “Northeast? Nope sorry the bandits we were hunting were held up to the northwest of here.” Edge responded. “Are you sure you know nothing about what happened?” She asked in skepticism. When Edge answered with a no she let out a sigh. “Well, early this morning Empress Celestia felt a power that she said she hadn't felt in over six thousand years. A power that she had been hoping and dreading to feel again. So she bid me to find the source of the power and bring it to her at all costs. I tracked the power to the fort where I found the inside covered in ice and bandits were frozen solid but no source. I then followed the power's signature southwest until it disappeared right as your group can into view.” She retorted. After letting the implications of what she said sink in she continued. “ So I am afraid that I must have everyone here scanned to make sure that they are not hiding in your group with a disguise or an Illusion.” She said as she made a gesture with her hand and one of the other knights came forward. She was of smaller stature than the rest. Instead of armor she only wore a white and gold habit with a golden sun at chest level. Her pink hair hung down the left half of her face obscuring it from view. She acted shy but from the twinkle in her right magenta colored eye, I saw that it was just that an act to put us at ease. “You called commander?” she said to Firefly in a surprisingly informal tone. ‘Something is not right here.’ I thought. “Yes Sunny Days, as a seeker you are better at sensing magic than me. So I want you to perform a scan on everyone here even the captured bandits. You can start with the consort.” Firefly answered. A couple of red flags went off in my mind as the now named seeker nodded and approached me. ‘Crap, why does this feel wrong?’ I thought as she came up to me and apologized for having to scan me before starting the spell. I then felt a familiar tingling sensation as her magic went over my body. “Okay, she definitely has changeling magic and is not under an illusion besides her natural shapeshifting ability as a changeling. Though I did detect large amounts of mind magical residue in her psyche. Enough for several thousand years of altered memories. As weird as that sounds.” Sunny said as she finished. “You have my sympathy.” she said to me and held out her left hand to me. I take her hand in mine and felt a piece of paper being pressed against my palm. I take the paper as we finished shaking hands and slip it into a pocket of my dress. Sunny checked everyone else and not finding anything she and Firefly made their apologies for disturbing us and left with the rest of the pegasus knights heading back to the northwest. Once they were out of eyesight I pulled out the piece of paper and opened it. “What have you got there lass?” Edge asked when he noticed me looking at the paper. “After Sunny was done scanning me she passed off this note to me,” I answered as I read the note the contents making me groan. Dear, Queen of Winter I have asked Sunny Days to pass this note to you on the off chance that she finds you and you happen to be in your right mind. I know that you did not perish from the attack by the pillars as it was not their intention to harm but to heal your broken mind. In fact, I spent the first hundred years after looking for clues as to where you went. Most were dead ends until I came back to the Crystal Kingdom. There I noticed that the crystal heart was still active and drawing power from its link with you. While not enough for me to trace it was sufficient to tell me that you were alive. Now on to business, In my search, I found some things that belong to you and wish to reunite you with them but I need something from you In return. Now if you wish to meet to discuss this burn this paper in any fire and I will send a date and place to meet. Sincerely, Celestia Empress of the Sun. “Well, crap!” I said as I hand the paper to Edge and Stygian for them to read. After reading it Stygian looked to me and asked, “So, trap?” “Yep, definitely a trap,” I responded as I felt a migraine come on. “ But it is one that we don't have to trip right away. I'm still stumped on how she knew that I am the one that they were looking for?” “ Really?” Stygian asked with a skeptical look. “ She practically laid it out in front of you with the serval thousand years comment. You know how most people only live to a hundred if they are lucky and that includes Changelings, so for you to have more than a thousand...” “I would have to be a dragon and there is one one with my coloration. Damn, why didn't we think of that?” I finished as I finally got what he was getting at. “Let's just get back on our way home. I will deal with this once I have had some time to de-stress. If anyone needs me I will be in my wagon with the pup.” I said with a sigh as I felt the migraine come on in full. Not feeling up to dealing with any more problems I walked back to the wagon. I gave Stone a quick nod of acknowledgment upon seeing him standing at guard next to the horses hitched to the wagon as I passed by and entered the wagon. I found the wolf girl fast asleep on my bed so I sat on the stool next to it and thought back to the encounter unsure of why the seeker didn't out me to the commander. Something about the whole thing felt off, like someone was playing me for a fool. We crossed the border with no problem and continued on till it started to get dark and we had to stop for the night. We soon found ourselves in front of a small abandoned fort. It was one that was in fairly good shape and had served us as a shelter before. While all of the wooden gates were gone as it only had two entrances it was easier to secure than two wagons in the middle of the forest. It also happened to have still functioning prison cells. So we set up for the night and chose who was going to do the first shift of watches for the night. Since I had slept away most of the day I volunteered to take first watch at the smaller of the two entrances. While I waited for my watch to be over I went over the new memories in my head. ‘So the original owner of these memories was trained for court life and was well versed in the backstabbing that constitutes as politics in most governments.’ I mulled as I went over the training for that before another memory that was attached to it floated to the surface causing me to blush and try to think of anything else. ‘ My god why would Chrysalis put these in the class seal, I could have done without those images in my brain. I thought that mating as a female dragon was weird but that holds no candles to what this changeling did to harvest love. Seriously why would anyone want to mate with a female version of themselves let alone do those other things?’ I thought with a shudder. Just that moment I heard some voices coming my way. ‘Oh good a distraction.’ I thought happily. “So you are sure that they are in this fort?” I heard one voice ask from a distance away from my manakete hearing. “Yes, I can feel the life force from your missing comrades from inside the fort. Now I have upheld my end of the bargain and I expect you to hold yours.” Another voice answered. “ Yah Yah. I got it; if we see a female manakete we are to capture her and bring her to our base of operations to await you to pick her up in a week. Now if you excuse me I need to get the boys ready to attack that fort.” The first voice said then faded away. “Forgive me for what I have put in motion my queen but for you to remember your true self you must be made to suffer. I only hope you will forgive the sins I must commit to bring about your ascension.” The second voice said as it too faded out of hearing range. ‘Well so much for anyone getting any sleep tonight. Time to wake the others and get ready for the attack.’ I thought as I turned around and walked back into the fort.