//------------------------------// // Confessions // Story: The Changeling War // by Captain Morgan //------------------------------// It was a ten minutes drive from the Pharmacy to where the door was on the highway. The sun had almost set behind the horizon as stars started to appear in the night sky. No one said a single word on the way there, not even Luna. A few times I would glance at her, but only to see her looking out the window. I had a strong feeling that she would give me a talking to for constantly ignoring her question. The bus came to a slow stop and when I looked out the front window, I saw that only 150 feet in front of us was the wall of the Dead Zone, more importantly, where the door was located. “Were here,” Will announced as he got up from his seat and walked up to the front with Shift right behind him. “Now, all that Shift is gonna do is activate the door so that we can leave this place, for good. So, I want everyone to stay here. Morgan, you wanna come?” Will asked as he looked towards me. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I replied as I stood up from my seat and followed them off the bus. As we walked towards the wall, I glanced at Shift walking beside me. I had a question I wanted to ask her, and it’s been buzzing around in my head ever since we left the church in Saint Paul. “Shift, I wanna ask you something,” I asked as she looked at me with those light blue eyes of her. “Why did you join us in the first place.” “W-what do you mean, I joined your group because I wanted to help you on your journey and that I didn’t want to be seen as a scared Changeling anymore.” She replied, but I didn’t buy it because I could hear a hint of nervousness in her voice. “Shift, I know you’re lying, but whatever your reason is, you can tell me,” I said softly in a reassuring voice. “A-alright.” She replied as she hung her head and sighed. “The truth is, I wanted to come with you because I… I… I have a crush on Evan.” She finally said with a defeated tone. “Ever since I helped guide you to your Uncle’s, I started having feelings for Evan. He’s kind, smart… h-handsome, I see him as the kind of person to spend the rest of my life with.” “So why not tell him that you’re in love with him?” I asked. “I want to, Morgan, I really want to. But I have thoughts that if I tell him how I feel, he’d rejected for what I am: A Changeling.” She explained, a tear running down her cheek. I knew exactly how she felt, having feelings for someone but you're too afraid to tell them. “Shift, I know how you feel.” I started as she looked at me with tears welling up in her eyes. “I… I have a crush on Luna and I to am afraid to tell her my feelings. I fear that she will reject me the same way and right now, she is starting to catch on about how I feel about her.” I explained. Shift’s wings started to buzz as she took off from the ground and hovered in front of me so that she was at eye level with me. “I guess we have something in common then, huh?” She asked, looking at me with soft eyes. “Heh, Yeah… I guess we do.” I replied with a sigh. This was the first time I have ever told anyone about my feelings to Luna, but talking with Shift, it felt like a great weight was lifted off me. “Ahem!” We turned and saw William standing a few feet away from us with his arms crossed. “If you two are done talking about whatever, we still have a job to do.” He said, reminding us of why we were out here. “Oh, sure,” I replied as we continued walking towards the wall. Once we had gotten close enough to the wall, Will looked down at Shift with a smile. “Alright, Shift. You’re up.” He stated. She smiled and nodded in response as she took a few steps forward towards the wall until she was at a certain distance from the wall. She then closed her eyes as her horn started to glow and shot a concentrated beam at the wall for a few seconds before she stopped and stepped back towards us. What I saw next, amazed me. The entire part of the wall started to shift itself and rise up off the highway like a garage door. Once the wall had stopped shifting, I saw that part of the wall had risen itself off the highway by thirty feet. I couldn’t help but stare at the sight with my mouth slightly agape before turning to look at Shift. “Nice job, Shift,” I said, getting a smile from Shift in return. We then turned and saw the bus drive up alongside us and as the bus doors opened, we saw Kenny looking at us from the driver’s seat with a smile on his face. “Next stop: anywhere other than here!” He announced as Shift, Will and I got back on as the bus drove out of the Dead Zone with the door closing behind us. We were finally home free. ******* We had stopped for the night in the parking garage of the old Mall of America with a few camping lanterns illuminating the ground floor from where we were staying. Ever since we had settled into our temporary camp, the others were off doing their own thing. CJ and Sarah were making dinner on a few hot plates that we brought with, Brandon was on the top floor, watching out for any Changelings, Kenny and his family were take a walk around the area with Chris watching over them, Evan and Kyle looking over Celestia’s leg and the rest of us sat around next to the bus, talking about our pasts. “So you joined the military when you were only eighteen years old?” Rainbow questioned. “It’s the honest truth kid,” Will replied. He had just finished telling us about his life, how he signed up to fight in Vietnam back in 1972 and how he went on multiple tours in the middle east. But with everything he had witnessed in his life, he thought about retiring, but the day he was going to retire was when the Changeling War started. Since then, he’s been fighting for his life against any Changeling that came across him. “And once I heard about the Remnants building an army, I packed up my shit and traveled south to find them.” He finished. “Speaking of the Remnants,” Twilight spoke up. “If they have been building an army for the last few years, How large is their army now?” She had a point. If we were going up against a Changeling controlled city, then we were gonna need an army large enough to outmatch them. “Ah, I don’t know, add up the number of Humans and Changeling rebels being part of the militia… I’d say almost two thousand.” He replied plainly. This number surprised us. “two thousand!” I exclaimed “Now ah see why yer Uncle thought finding these Remnants was a good idea.” Applejack stated. We continued talking about our pasts and learned more about William’s group. CJ was a barista from Fargo, North Dakota, Kyle was a full-fledged doctor from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Brandon and Sarah both worked in a restaurant in Rapid City, South Dakota. All these people, they used to have normal lives but were quickly ruined because of this war. It was sad that they had lost so much from it. It was then we noticed Celestia, walking up to us with a slight limb with Evan and Kyle walking beside her. “How’s your leg, Celestia?” I asked. “It’s still sore, but it’s nothing to worry about.” She replied as she sat down next to me. “So… now that we are out of the Dead Zone, what happens now?” She asked. “Well, I’m not saying we should,” Will spoke up. “But the Remnants have an ally who turns vehicles we’ve found over the years into war machines. If we stop there on the way to Albert Lea, he’d be willing to make the bus more battle worthy.” “And who is this ally, exactly?” Twilight questioned. “His name is Daryl Grossman, he was a mechanic before the war.” He replied. My eyes widening as I heard the name I was all too familiar with. “You gotta be kidding me. The old man still lives?” I exclaimed in an excited tone. “You know of this Daryl person?” Celestia asked. “Know him? He was close friends with my dad since before I was born! They’d go to the gun range together, check out old cars from their childhood, the man's practically part of the family!” I explained before looking back at Will. “He’s still living on that farm of his, right?” “Indeed he is,” Will replied with a nod. “His farm has been made as a small outpost for the Remnants, so if we get there, we’ll be greeted with a few soldiers.” I nodded in understanding and turned to Celestia, Twilight, and her friends. “You guys don’t mind if we made a stop on our way south, do you?” I asked. “It’s fine, Morgan. We don’t mind at all.” Celestia replied. “And Besides, If this vehicle is going to be our means of transportation during our stay here on your planet, it’s gonna need to be a bit more durable,” Twilight added, gesturing to the bus behind us. “That's good to hear,” I replied. That’s when it came to me, if we were heading to Daryl’s, we would be passing by the one place that I hadn’t been to since before the war. My old home. “Your mind needs closure and your home is the only place where you can achieve it” I remembered Luna telling me. She wasn’t wrong, if I were to ever get past these emotions, I had to visit the place that I used to live. “Will, one more thing. If we’re heading to Daryl’s, there's a place I need to visit on the way there.” I stated. He looked at me with a concerned look as I told what was on my mind. Once I finished, he looked at me with soft eyes. “I understand what you’re going through, son. During my second year as part of the Remnants, I went and visited the remains of my home. Even though there was nothing left of it, it didn’t stop me from honoring my old life. If that’s what you want, kid, then I think my team and I can oblige on your request. That is if your friends are okay with it?” He replied with a sad smile. “Unless you guys are okay with it, otherwise we don’t have to make the stop at my old home,” I stated. Honestly, we didn’t have to stop by my old home, but if we did, it would relieve a lot of pressure that has been pressed down on me for so long. “We have nothing against your request, Morgan. If you wish to pay a visit to your old home, then we will accompany you.” Celestia replied with a soft smile. “You’re a saint, Celestia,” I replied. I would’ve thanked Luna as well for persuading me to visit my home, the only problem was that she wasn’t here at the moment. When we decided to make camp here for the night, Luna had told us that she was going out for a fly, just to clear her mind. I could tell that she was still upset at me for constantly ignoring her question. Celestia was the only one to notice her behavior and asked me if I something happened on the way back to the Pharmacy. All I did was lie to her, saying that we had a small argument and that it was nothing to worry about. But since then I’ve regretted lying to her, and I couldn’t tell her the truth either about having feelings for her sister as I’m still afraid of what would happen after if I did. “Hey, Morgan?” Sarah called out as she walked up from behind the bus. “Would you be so kind and let my brother know that dinner’s almost ready?” She asked. “Sure,” I replied with a smile as I got up. “I’ll be back in a bit,” I announced as I walked off to the top floor where Brandon was. As I walked up the ramp toward the top floor, I couldn't stop thinking about Daryl. Ever since the war started, I thought that he was dead, along with every other friend, and family member that I knew. But I shouldn't be surprised that he's still alive, before all of this, he was a doomsday prepper. He had himself a bunker built under his property, always stocked himself up on food, water, and all the weapons and ammo you could possibly think of. As to how he had the money to pay for that stuff, well one: he had a successful auto body shop going on his farm and two: he won a 750 million dollar Powerball back in 1997. For years he's put blood and sweat into building his bunker while people kept telling him that it was a waste of time, money and his life. They thought wrong when Chrysalis and her army announced themselves to the world. Once I had made it to the top, I saw Brandon standing at the edge of the lot, looking out into the darkened horizon. “Hey Brandon, Dinner’s ready.” He slightly looked over his shoulder at me, saying nothing before he turned his attention back towards the horizon. “Come over here.” He said calmly. Though I was skeptical at him for wanting me to come closer, I complied and walked up next to him. I stood next to him for about half a minute until he spoke again. “I gotta hand it to you kid, you did a good job at getting us outta that hell hole, And now, everyone is looking up to you, including William. But just because you saved our asses, doesn’t mean I trust you because of it.” I scoffed at this. “Funny, I was kinda hoping that it would,” I replied sarcastically. “Don’t be a wiseass, kid,” Brandon warned as he looked down at me. “The last person who pissed me off had his face beaten to a pulp.” “So I’ve been told,” I stated plainly, in which earned a sigh from Brandon. “Sarah told you about that, huh? I shouldn’t be surprised.” He said with a solemn tone “Brandon, I’m sorry with what you two went through back then, but for the love of God, you have to understand that not every single man in the world wants to hurt or have sex with your sister. I may have the last name from that goddamn sex book, I do not, I repeat, do not have any sexual thoughts about your sister, nor do I want to have sex with her, ever!” I ranted as I looked at him with eyes of concern. “I respect that you have pledged yourself to protect her from the horrors that this world throws at us, but she doesn’t want your protection all the time. She would give anything for you to lower the sword and shield act and allow her to talk to men.” His eyes softened a little as he allowed my words started to sink into his head.  Knowingthat he was thinking about what I said, I placed my hand on his shoulder. “Sarah told me herself that she’s stronger now and that she is not affected by what she went through in the past. But you, you need to stop acting like her bodyguard and start acting like her loving and caring brother. Can you do that for her?” I questioned. A few moments had passed before the only reply I got from Brandon was a slow, silent nod. “Alright Morgan… I can do that. But I want you to promise me something.” “Okay, what is it?” “You convinced me to stop being overprotective around my sister, but… I-I still want to be sure that nothing will happen to her in the future. Just… just promise me that you’ll watch out for Sarah, Be at her back when you’re cornered by Changelings, Bandits or more goddamn Changed, Let her know that she has you and your pony friends by her side when things get tough. Can you do that for me?” He asked hopefully. I was slightly taken aback by his request, that he wanted me to look out for Sarah, but I didn’t see a problem with it. Besides, I am the one taking care of our equine friends, so what’s the worst that could happen. “Sure, Brandon. I promise to watch out for her” I replied, accepting his request”  With that said, we started making our way back to the others, with our differences put behind us. ******* It was peacefully silent that night as Everyone slept soundly, not one thing awakening them from their slumber, though there were a few who were still awake at the time. Brandon and Sarah had volunteered to stand watch for Changelings patrols during the night, Kenny stayed awake to watch over his family as they slept, and then there was me, laying down in my sleeping bag located between two abandoned cars, my eyes staring at the concrete ceiling. I had tried falling asleep a few times, but I just couldn’t get the one thing that kept me awake out of my mind. Luna. Ever since my dream last night, Luna has repeatedly asked me if I had feelings for her, but I couldn’t tell her as I was still frightened by the outcomes. I could tell that she was still upset with me for ignoring her question as she still hadn’t returned when we arrived at the mall. Celestia was worried about her absence but was able to keep her calm when she remembers how well she handled being in Saint Paul when she followed me to my Uncle’s house. This was embarrassing to me, I’m supposed to be the brave one in the group, I’m surviving in a war-torn America, in charge a small group of skilled men, killed a Changeling general and maimed his friend, snuck into a Changeling controlled city undetected, and yet I don’t even have the strength to share my feelings with a pony Princess who I only met two days ago. The sound of wings flapping caught my attention as when I sat up, I saw Luna landing next to the bus. I noticed her head turning towards as she started walking to where I laid. Once she had gotten closer, I could see that her eyes were slightly glaring at me with her brow furrowed. Yeah, she was still upset with me. “Good evening, Luna.” I greeted with a casual tone as I tried to hide the nervousness in my voice. “Morgan.” She greeted back, her eyes still glaring at me. “We need to talk.” “Luna, I understand that you want to know what I’m hiding from you, but can’t we talk abou-” “No, Morgan Grey, We shall not talk about it later!” She announced, raising her voice but not loud enough to wake up everyone. “Whatever you are hiding from us, it has been eating away at you, and we deserve to know what it is. So if you do not tell us now, we will pry it from your mind ourselves.” I gave a defeated sigh, I couldn’t continue this any longer. The more I kept this a secret from her, the more I would drive her away, And besides, she was bound to figure it out eventually. “Fine,” I replied as I patted the ground next to me, gesturing for her to sit. She walked around me and laid her body down next to me, still staring at me with intimidating eyes. “Well? I’m waiting.” Luna said impatiently. I took a deep breath before answering. “Luna, the truth is… t-the truth is… I-I’m in love with you.” I replied as I hung my head in embarrassment. “You… you’re in love with me?” She asked, her eyes softening as he heard this. I nodded in response. “Before the war, I always wanted to meet the girl of my dreams. Someone who was kind, caring, had beautiful long hair, gorgeous eyes, and you Luna, you meet the requirement, right down to that cute giggle of yours!” I explained as Luna’s cheeks turn slightly red when I commented on her giggle. “But why not tell me this before, when we were in your dream or when we were hiding in the pharmacy?” She questioned. “Why? WHY?” I exclaimed, keeping my volume down. “I kept this a secret from you because I was scared, alright. I was scared of the answer that I would receive. I was scared that if I told you how I felt, you would reject me or something. I mean, you are an alicorn Princess from another world for God’s sake, and I’m… I’m just a twenty-two-year-old kid whos been surviving in a hell for the last five years.” I sighed as I finished telling her everything. I’ve never felt so humiliated in all my life. I just wanted to dig myself a grave and curl up inside it, hoping that all of this would just be forgotten about. “I understand if you don’t feel the same way, Luna. It was stupid how I thought that a nobody like me could get into a relationship with a Princess like you. It would never work out anyway.” I stated glumly as I sat there, still hanging my head. “You can go now, Luna. I’ve wasted enough of your time as it is.” I just sat there in silence, my head still hung down in embarrassment. I figured that Luna had gone as she hadn't said one thing after my confession. Why did I even think that I could actually hook up with her in the first place? God, I'm such a stupid- “Morgan, look at me,” Luna said. Hearing her voice, I looked up to see that she was still laying down next to me with a small smile on her face. “You have saved our lives numerous times, you helped guide us when we didn’t know where to go, and you go through all the trouble just to see us safe from the dangers of your world. You are the bravest being that I have ever met in my existence. In fact, my sister and I consider you are Guardian because of what you have done for us. Morgan, I feel honored that you have feelings for me.” “You really mean that?” I asked hopefully. “I do, Morgan Grey. With all my heart.” Upon hearing this, I couldn’t help but pull the Alicorn into a hug, which she happily accepted. “But, Morgan. Do you really mean it when you said I have a cute laugh?” She asked, her cheeks turning red again. “It’s absolutely adorable,” I replied softly as I felt her bury her muzzle into my neck. I honestly never thought this would happen, that Luna would accept my love for her. I just wanted to scream to the world that I had finally found the love of my life, but I decided against it as I just wanted to quietly savor this special moment. We continued the hug for another moment or so until I gave a deep yawn. “Why don’t get some rest, Morgan. We’ve all had a long day.” Luna stated. I nodded in agreement and laid myself back down in my sleeping bag. I was about to rest my eyes when I felt movement to my right. I opened them slightly to see Luna setting her sleeping bag down next to me and laying atop it. Once she had gotten comfortable, she then extended her wing over me until it covered my torso like a blanket. “Thank you, Luna. ” I said with a tired voice, followed by another yawn. “Your welcome, Morgan. Sleep well.” She said as I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to take over me. Even though today ended up being a pain in the ass for all of us, getting trapped in the Dead Zone and encountering the monsters that lived within it, I got the one thing that I wanted all my life. A lover, and a close friend.