By the time we’re out of the Everfree Forest, the evening is upon us. Strangely enough, there’s no moon yet despite it being dark. Probably some trick of the seasons or something. Unfortunately, even the fresh shroud of shadows can’t be enough to cover me if we walk through Ponyville.
“Do we… walk around?” I ask no one in particular, watching the yellow dots of light all over Ponyville further ahead.
I can physically feel Eight staring daggers at One. The target changeling already filled with holes either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.
“We could sneak our way through…?” for the first time I feel like she’s run out of ideas.
“We could pretend the boss is a prisoner and princess blueberry here is escorting us to the train station. We are taking the train somewhere, right?” Four adds her idea to the mix.
“Definitely. We can’t afford to wait for a caravan in the open,” nods One, snickering, “Princess blueberry? Good one, you’re learning.”
Four beams for a moment, then immediately withers under my surprised and Eight’s intense stares.
“All of these would be a hypothetical questions,” hisses Eight, “if you didn’t cripple my King by messing with his brain, One. If he was still able to shapeshift, we wouldn’t be standing here and yammering on while Celestia herself is stewing in the castle and designing a personalized torture chamber for each of us.”
One shoots Eight an annoyed glance.
“Oh my holes, I had no idea your real talent wouldn’t be fighting, but seeing into alternative timelines and their outcomes!” she fakes a gasp, putting her hoof to her chest, “Please tell me, omniscient Eight, how will our journey end?”
Eight only growls, knowing full well that One is the only currently not drained changeling of our group.
“She does have a point, One,” I say with a hint of bitterness. To my complete shock, One frowns and looks away.
Then she sighs.
“Can you honestly tell me that after Three died you wouldn’t have run off and hidden somewhere in hopes that the hive mind would starve along with you?” her question, slow like a probing scalpel, actually hits the problem with the same surgical precision.
“No...” I’m forced to admit.
We stand in silence for some time before Ten clears his throat. We all look at Nine carrying him on his back.
“I wasn’t expecting to have to be the reasonable one here tonight...” he chuckles, “One, mind fixing me so that I can at least walk? I’ve got an idea.”
“King?” she asks, “I’m our only source of love at the moment. What are your orders?”
Yep, she really only obeys me when she wants to or when it can have amusingly embarrassing consequences.
“Go for it,” I shrug, “Any idea is better than standing here, hoping that I won’t get caught pretending to be a tree sneaking through Ponyville after dark, or being a public spectacle thanks to having a changeling being escorted by one of the royal sisters around.”
One simply puts her horn to Ten’s, transfers a small portion of love to him, and then helps him fix his burned carapace. He crawls off of Nine’s back, experimentally stomps his hooves, and then shapeshifts into a pegasus in shapes of brown.
“Damn, it itches so bad even in a different body,” he starts scratching himself and goes on for a while before realizing it and stopping, “Ehm, anyway, I’ll be back in few minutes.”
After he disappears into the shadows, we look around and sit down. From the distance, nopony will be able to distinguish me from a pony, so we can easily pass for a group of campers. Four crawls once again into my lap, which is a lot weirder this time because she’s in her pegasus disguise which certainly is an age category bigger than she normally is, although with changelings it's always hard to tell. The soft skin and coat make ponies a lot cuddlier, though.
“Do you think he’s coming back?” asks Eight when the few minutes turn into twenty and keep going.
I could check up on him, but I can feel his link which means he can’t be too far, I think. I haven’t experimented with limits of connecting to others yet. It’s time I show that I trust him, and let him do his thing unsupervised.
One nods towards Eight's necklace made from traitorous changeling horns.
“I doubt he wants to end up like that.”
Silence lingers as more time passes, and eventually we can see a solitary pony walk towards us with two bags on his back.
“Sorry it took so long,” Ten apologizes, and throws one of the bags on the grass, “Clothes for you, King. I had to stop by Rarity’s place for these. I’ve been planning this as a surprise for some time.”
Curious, I examine the pieces of clothing. White, somewhat stretchy pants. A simple shirt of the same color, and a short, sea blue jacket with buttons in front made from some tough fabric. What’s the most important is the soft, covering hood the jacket sports.
“Aside from the shirt, those are mare’s clothes, Ten,” One raises an eyebrow, “I’ve got my opinions about our King, but...”
Ten rolls his eyes.
“Rarity isn’t a botched lobotomy patient, One. If I told her I needed clothes for my stallion friend of the King’s proportions, she would have immediately asked where I stashed a previously unknown alicorn. The idea behind these is that they were supposed to be for princess Luna in case she wanted to walk around somewhat unnoticed. They’re stretchy enough to fit the King, so don’t sweat it.”
Ten’s absolutely right. Without waiting for anyone else’s opinion, I start putting the clothes on. It takes forever, considering it’s my first time, but eventually I’m tightly wrapped in the airy but covering fabric.
“Surprisingly… comfortable,” I turn my head to observe the result. One is staring with her jaw dropped, Ten is nodding with a smug smile, Four is circling around me, poking and tugging at various bits, Nine is… being Nine, and Eight…
...is standing there, blood dripping from one of her nostrils.
I wave my hoof.
“Are you okay, Eight?”
“Ok- wh- you-” she stutters, “Nnngh.”
One covers her muzzle.
“Me Eight, me not smart, me smash, me hunt, me see mate, me snu snu,” One stops when Eight, red as a tomato, turns her head so fast her neck cracks.
“Disguise universally approved then?” Ten raises an eyebrow, grinning more and more.
I’m confused. They seem to be fine with my clothes, and by my standards they look covering enough.
“Yes,” I nod, “Let’s go. There’s an alicorn princess on our backs, and it’s not the one watching us with an amused smile.”
I was surprised One’s venom could keep control over an alicorn for so long, but I guess that’s why it took her so long to drain enough love to prepare it before joining the battle in the first place. Thankfully, the moon princess doesn’t seem to have any intention of resisting at this point, and she follows us as we finally gather enough courage to enter Ponyville.
All of the lucky stars shining on the world tonight must be on our side, because aside from few glances our way and some happy waving at Luna who smiles and waves back no one tries to stop us during our trip to the train station.
One studies the train schedule.
“Hmm… Appleloosa,” she looks at the late evening train that is mostly empty, but is carrying a lot of tree trunks, coal, and other natural goods in the back wagons, “Alright, everyone. Get on, I’ll go grab the tickets.”
“Do we really want to go to that dry hole?” asks Ten, “I know it’s close to the hive, but at this point do we really want to find some other organized group?”
“Get on!” One repeats sternly. Everyone’s eyes turn to me.
Wait, since when am I the actual authority?
As soon as I nod, Four darts inside, followed by the others. We wait in the hallway while I have a quick look from One’s eyes.
“Six tickets to Appleloosa, private coupe,” she says to the salespony behind the counter who smiles and simply gives them to her without asking for payment. Turning to leave, she blows the pony a kiss, smiling as he crumbles into his chair.
She stops by Luna cautiously watching her.
“Stay here until your sister finds you, and hopefully we won’t see each other again. Our King isn’t Chrysalis, and we’re not your enemy unless you make us be one. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about the drone your thugs killed, but the others loved him. I don’t think I’m capable of that after living for so long. I’m happy when things are stable, and I’m happy when I’m in control. It hurts me when you hurt them, though.”
To my and One’s surprise, we see Luna smile.
“Part of love is giving up total control, building peace together, and sharing the pain even if it’s not yours. You’re in love, changeling, you just need to admit it. And from what I’ve seen of your group, you and the strong one got it hard.”
One freezes. I feel her go completely blank, which has never happened before.
”One, get on! The train is leaving.”
My order is the only thing inside her head as she rushes off towards the open door. Without a word, or a thought for that matter, she hands me tickets.
“Uhh, Ten?” I show him the pieces of paper, "These are important in some way, I suppose?"
“There’s a number on those, we’ve got to find it. Come on,” he trots off.
I’m still mesmerized by the idea of One so completely stumped that she allows herself to be led with the smallest mental touch. Sadly, I don’t have the time to explore this new powerful and strangely docile infiltrator, because Ten calls me via his link and shows me the way to our coupe, and by the time we sit down onto the padded benches the gears in One’s head gradually resume turning.
“So, Appleloosa...” Ten sighs, “Far from the princess, far from anywhere, really.”
“Oh cheer up,” One waves her hoof, plops her back on the floor, and traces few lines in the air with her hoof, “It’s a hole where everyone knows everyone, worse than Wet Soil. Not a good place for us. We’ll go there and then catch a train to some real place. The only reason I chose this one was because Luna was with us, and I didn’t intend to mess with a head holding hundred times more memories than I do. Only to save time, of course, not because I couldn’t craft an illusion that would confuse an alicorn,” she adds. Funny, I believe her.
“So, what now?” I ask.
“Well, that’s up to you, really,” One shrugs, “But my suggestion is to scout out the train in case of trouble, and think about a much better place where we could disappear.”
“Hmm...” I’ve got an idea, “One, Ten. Can you two put together a map of Equestria and the knowledge you’ve got about various cities and share it with us? That way we can all come up with ideas about different places.”
“Definitely.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Then please do it tomorrow. Now, though, I think we need some sleep.”
“What about the train safety?” One starts getting up.
“No, we’ve been through a lot and we need rest. Go to bed, that’s an order, One.”
“E-hm!” Ten opens his other bag, and tosses a bedroll on the floor, “Who is sleeping where?”
“I’m fine with the floor,” I say.
“Over my hollow chitin,” he shakes his head, “I may have spent far too much time with Rarity over past few days, but those clothes indeed are a work of art. Since you can’t take them off in case of ticket check, you’re not sleeping on the dirty floor.”
“Then I’ll take the bedroll,” I shrug.
“And obviously, because stuff can happen while you’re sleeping, you’ll need additional protection, King, just in case. I volunteer,” Eight sits down next to the bedroll.
“Of course, and because not even this pile of muscles here is big enough to cover you completely with anything other than her ego, I’ll take the other half,” One rolls over, sits up, and crosses her forelegs on her chest, challenging the gaze of Eight’s narrowed eyes.
Shaking my head, I just lie down on the bedroll. A moment later I’m being crushed by two vice grips from both sides.
“FULL COVERAGE!” a third, smaller body lands on us, Four’s chest fluff now obscuring my vision.
“Should I join too?” asks Nine.
Oh dear holes no!
He’s still the huge, and most importantly very heavy, dragonpony. Not that him changing back into a changeling would help whatsoever.
“Nnngmmhmmh!” my objections are muffled by Four’s coat.
“Heh,” I head his single chuckle before the bench creaks as he stretches all over it.
All I feel from Ten is a faint transfer of love to me.
”I got a little bit in Ponyville just in case. Share it with the others, King, it’ll help everyone recover while asleep.”
Well, everyone did their job, so I guess it’s time I do mine. Now, what is the minimum amount everyone needs to get better? I siphon off a little bit here, add some there, and before I know it everyone’s breathing slows down, and the rhythmic thudding of the train sends us to sleep.
***
It’s noon the next day, and I’m certainly happy that Rarity’s clothes are light and despite being rather tight they don’t add to the searing dry heat everywhere around.
We’re sitting inside a bar, or a saloon, in Appleloosa, nursing a glass of water each. One is reading the train schedule, Eight is keeping an eye on the door, Four is chatting with the bartender about this place while being linked to us, Nine is looking menacing in case someone was trying to listen in on us, and Ten is helping One think of our next stop.
“Port Stripes?” One asks casually.
“Do we want to sail south and go hide among zebras? The paladins wouldn’t chase us there,” Ten sighs, “It could work, but the chances of me ever sorting things out between me and the princess would go down the drain.”
“No, too hot, too dry, too… tribal. Would be easy to take over even for us, but not worth it. I prefer proper civilization and cities, although zeebs do have one huuuge advantage on ponies.”
”What is it?” asks Four, listening to us while taking in the bartender’s tale about previously angry buffalos now being friends of the Appleloosa citizens.
I don’t catch the One’s answer, but Four does a spit take, spraying her drink over the bartender, and saving the situation by a quick, choked:
“They tried to stomp the entire town?”
Thankfully, the bartender has no clue that Four’s outburst has no connection to his story, and keeps going.
”THAT big?! I’m not sure I would want that...” Four’s shaky mental voice is accompanied by her shock resonating through our links.
”Then what DO you want, Four?” asks One, fluidly switching to mental speech. No one skips a beat, although to any observer, if there was one, we look as if we’ve all suddenly gone quiet.
”I… I dunno. I kinda like things as they are, although I miss Three a lot. You’re all here with me. I don’t know what I could want more.”
One smirks, jabbing her hoof into the printed out copy of the train schedule.
”Well, I think I’ve found just the right place where you can find out. Aaand maybe where even our King wouldn’t have to hide… eventually.”
“Oh?” I can’t contain my curiosity, “Is there actually a species that doesn’t want to wipe us out?”
“Probably not, we’re parasitic, backstabbing assholes physically invested in world domination. Anyway, there is a place where we could be an interesting novelty, though,” snickers One, suddenly chipper.
She points to a name on the list, and pings a city on our mental map of Equestria.
”Las Pegasus?” I tilt my head.”Is that where pegasi live or something? What does Las mean?”
One just snickers. As I look around to gain any semblance of understanding, I see Ten rubbing his chin.
“Hmm… now that IS an interesting idea. It’s possible it will fail spectacularly, but if there’s a place where we might have a chance, that’s it. However, we will need gold. Lots of it. That place is expensive.”
”Who needs gold when you’ve got mind control?” One waves her hoof.
”Those who have to pay taxes and rent. Money and invoices don’t just disappear,” Ten cools her down, ”Or… am I wrong in assuming we want more than just hide in a cellar somewhere and hunt in Las Pegasus' numerous night clubs after dark?”
”You’re absolutely right, Ten,” I nod, ”This time we want to build something. If possible, something that might eventually show ponies there’s no need to fear us… if they’re on our good side. I have no idea what, but that’s why I’ve got my trusted advisors who actually do have some experience with the world.”
One finishes her drink, stretches in her chair, and pulls few coins she stole on the way here out of now her own fresh saddlebag.
“Hey, bartender, another round, will you?”
“Sure thing, ma’am!” the earthpony calls out before apologizing to Four, “I’ll be right back. Business calls.”
”The train leaves in the evening, and it’s a three day ride. This time we’ll really need to scout out the area and drain ponies on the way. Has anyone done anything like this before - changing targets, limited time, close quarters, groups of ponies knowing each other well?”
A chorus of negative answers from everyone but Ten is her, well, answer, so One continues:
”Listen up then. Mommy One’s gonna teach you some fun tricks...”
***
“What in the actual hole is this…?” I whisper, not daring to step off of the train onto the platform in Las Pegasus.
“‘Ey, buddy, ya blockin’ tha door ‘ere!” a fat, aging earthpony shoves me out, and barrels past me. Barely keeping my balance, I convert my fall down the short steps into a hopefully graceful guided… walk. All that while keeping my hood drawn over most of my face.
That can’t be enough, there are bright lights everywhere.
“I could have that fatass disappear and his family hanging in a cocoon in few hours,” Eight growls into my ear after jumping straight to me with a flap of her wings, “Just say the word.”
A quiet ‘tap tap tap’ followed by a gasp and an influx of wonder coming through Four’s mind link shows her reaction is similar to mine, only with more amazement and less annoyance.
“Uhhh… the word is a resounding ‘no’, Eight,” her offer along with the rude pony’s pushing finally break my stunned stupor. However, the fact that Las Pegasus is completely over the top remains. I was… completely wrong when I thought from the name that this would be just some pegasus city.
We’re on the train station, which is the only place where the sanity of a normal world still holds against the crashing waves of thousands of tourists, horrible musicians, and street spectacles. Ponies are everywhere, rolling in droves towards massive buildings in shapes I haven’t seen in Canterlot nor Ponyville.
Like seriously, I can see a giant pyramid the top of which has been made into a pony head in the distance. If we’re looking for some oddity a little closer, then there’s a pony painted white standing on his hind legs nearby, pretending to be stuck in an invisible box. Why?
I dislike this place instantly, but I clearly understand why One and Ten thought this would be a good idea. While we’re somewhat easy to notice in the crowd due to how tall compared to normal ponies I, Eight, One, and especially Nine are, we’re not the flashiest spectacle around by far.
At least that’s what I think until two spears cross in front of my face, a duo of stern looking Royal Guards examining me as I try to exit the train platform.
”One, Eight?”
“Please take your hood off, sir,” says one of the guards politely, but his tone leaves no wiggle room for any excuses.
”Damn, your legs, boss,” I hear Four, “There’s nothing covering your fetlocks, and the stretchy pants sag a little into your holes. Why didn’t we notice it before?!”
Hmm, that backfired quickly.
Even hmm-er, I’m not panicking. We can deal with two Royal Guards easily, the problem is what comes next. Do we hide, or do we take the first train away from here?
The guards grow slightly impatient when I slowly reach for my hood. From their glances at my legs, I know they know.
My hood is forcibly drawn back, and I turn my head in horror at One scowling at the gasping guard duo.
“Thank you VERY MUCH, you royal idiots,” she walks between them, and whispers loud enough for only two of them to hear in the chaos, which translates to her just slightly lowering her voice, “for ruining the surprise of our new Canterlot-based attraction. Don’t worry, it’s just a costume made from well worked silicone and latex. I understand why you did it, good eye, colts, but if you don’t piss off right now we will sue the armor off of your asses for damages!”
As much as I’d like to monitor One’s progress in stopping us from being mobbed with torches and pitchforks, I’ve got my own set of problems with the gasping and yelping ponies everywhere around.
“-a changeling!”
“-a big one-”
“-what is it doing here-”
“-don’t be an idiot, it’s not a real changeling-”
“-looks terrifying-”
“-the eyes and teeth-”
“-can I ride him, mommy?”
“-what? No no no no, get back here! Sonofabi-”
Wait, what was the last one?
I look down at a filly tugging on the hem of my jacket with her mouth. The tiny cream coloured pegasus’ eyes go wide, and when she sees me notice her she stops chewing my clothes and drops to all fours.
“Are you a real changeling, sir?” she asks.
”Agree!” I feel One’s voice in my head.
“As real as it gets, little filly.”
“Woooooooooow! Do you really eat ponies-” she can’t finish the dreaded question before a mare who is clearly her mother scoops her away with one foreleg and gives me an extremely nervous smile.
“Eheheh, we’re really sorry for bothering you-”
This time she’s interrupted by Eight who takes a step towards her and clears her throat.
“The changeling ride isn’t open yet. You’ll have to wait few days before you’ll get your turn,” she narrows her eyes, staring the mare down.
“The… ride?” the mother asks. The filly, using the moment of her mom’s surprise to wiggle out of her grasp, darts towards me, presents a small pouch with bits, and says with a pleading pout:
“I got twenty bits, sir.”
From the corner of my eye, I see a hungry smirk appear on Eight’s muzzle.
“ALRIGHT!” she yells out loudly all of a sudden, “THE PREVIEW OF THE BRAND NEW AND UNIQUE REAL CHANGELING RIDE IS OPEN RIGHT NOW FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY! TWENTY BITS A POP,” she slaps my flank, “BE A GOOD BUGPONY AND HISS FOR THE NICE FILLY!”
*Hisssss!*
I transform my saliva to sizzle when it hits the ground, making the nearest ponies back off. However, while the more mature ones are still confused, the foals are rushing towards me in droves.
“Alley-oop!” Eight scoops the filly up with her wing, and accompanied by the buzzing of the mare’s own small set she puts her on my back.
“Whoooah, it’s so hard and smooth!” she squeaks, poking my neck. Mentally shrugging, I walk around in a circle and stick my tongue at everyone, making sure to show as much teeth as possible.
“I wanna ride him too!” an earthpony colt yelling from his father’s back and swinging a rather well done cardboard sword tied to his foreleg, “I’ll tame the big scary toothy changeling!”
One, seemingly done with the Royal Guards, leans to the colt.
“Riding a stallion, eh, little one. Isn’t that more for the mare-” Eight’s hoof inside her mouth stops One’s totally inappropriate comment, much to the thankful sigh of the father.
“Hey, filly, your time’s up, we’ve got a second customer,” she winks at the slightly blushing dad who presents the required bits.
“Yaaaay!” the young earthpony jumps down from his original ride and tries vigorously to jump atop me with no success.
I raise my eyebrow at him.
“I thought you were strong enough to tame the terrifying monster, or was I wrong?” I hiss. He pouts, then bounces up again. This time I’m ready to bend my knees a bit and allow him to grab my neck and crawl his way up. Rarity’s clothes are getting absolutely ruined by the dirty small hooves, but I realize something…
...I’m filling up.
They are scared, both the foals and the parents…
...but they’re loving this.
Pretending to struggle against the colt’s attempts at keeping me still, I sense surprise and a sudden surge of pleasure from Eight.
Her foreleg is still inside One’s mouth, but through her I can clearly feel One’s tongue licking and teasing the frog of her hoof. Eight quickly pulls out with a wet pop which One answers with a playful wink.
Hah, I’ve got an idea. Give me a sec, and keep doing the rides, One trots off.
Not three minutes later, she returns with the duo of guards, and whispers to them again:
“So, boys, as we agreed. You make this look more official, and it’s five percent from the profit for each of you.”
They nod, and start walking through the crowds.
“Official business, everypony!” they stay nearby, making sure not to push any interested tourists away, “If the monster goes wild, we’ll be sure to take care of the situation. Go and have fun while we’re looking after you!”
The does it. Even the parents are now trying to poke me, feel my chitin, or fight one another to see me up close.
I could have never expected things to work out like this. EVER.
“See? Now nopony will dare say that you are NOT a changeling out loud in fear of disappointing their foals, but they know it’s true… for a given value of true,” One laughs inside my head. I’m so used to it at this point that I find her presence comforting.
“EVERYPONY! WE’RE OFF TO THE PROMENADE, WHICH OF COURSE DOESN’T MEAN THE EVENT IS OVER! LET’S GOOOO!” Eight roars, spurring cheers from the tourists waiting for their turn.
Some careful flailing later, I shake the disappointed colt off, and bare my fangs at him.
“Maybe you’ll tame me next time, earthpony! HA HA HA HAAAA!” with as evil of a laughter as I can conjure up, I let another foal on my back, and accompanied by my group and the Royal Guards we head off to the main promenade leading through the entire city.
”Pimping your King out, Eight, I didn’t think you had it in you.” One laughs again.
I can almost feel Eight blush.
”Shut uuuup!”