//------------------------------//
// Part 9 - Captive 
// Story: Lone Wolf: A Halfling Side Story 
// by Dee Pad 
//------------------------------//

The citizens of Canterlot were just going about their day as though it were no different from any other.  The sun was still shining, children were frolicking in the streets, and adults were heading home from work.

All of them blissfully unaware that one of their own was missing.

Guise stared down at the city below.  His face had been contorted into an unsure grimace for the past couple of hours.  This vantage point reminded him of when he'd first arrived at Canterlot, using the very same cave he called home for a while to scope the place out and slowly put his plans together.

He threw his head back with a groan, dragging a hoof over his face and through his mane.

What the hell am I supposed to do now?

When he had first come here, he was able to take as much time as he needed to figure this out, to piece everything together so there would be as few roadblocks as possible.  He still expected there to be a few hiccups along the way, but nothing so major that he couldn't come up with a quick and effective solution.  But this wasn't just a minor hiccup, this was a serious fuck up.  Guise didn't have the luxury of time in this instance.  If he didn't come up with something fast, it wouldn't be long before the people started to notice that something was wrong.

Guise was starting to think he'd gotten too complacent, too cocky.  One lapse of concentration and now he had suddenly found himself in dire straits.  He found himself a little flustered in the face of this issue as well, which only made trying to think straight a more difficult task.  This wasn't just something he could explain away.  He needed to come up with something to ensure that he could get back on track, but as for what that was, he hadn't the foggiest.

A quiet moan caught Guise's attention.  He glanced over his shoulder and into the cavern behind him.  On the floor inside, an unconscious mare finally began to stir from her fainting spell.

Tapioca rolled over, as though she were trying to get comfortable and get some more sleep, but was unable to find a position that suited her.  Clearly frustrated by the rough, stone floor digging into her, she finally propped herself up and opened her eyes.  She was obviously a little confused to find herself inside a shallow cave, looking around to get her bearings.  Her eyes were quickly drawn in the direction of the sunlight pouring in from the entrance, where she also spotted the silhouette of somepony else standing there, the blue of his sclera practically glowing in the dark and making the blood red of his irises more pronounced.

If adjusting to the sunlight hadn't narrowed her pupils enough, the sight of the changeling shrunk them to needle points.  Tapioca began to shake, and her lips started to tremble fearfully.

Guise turned toward her with a commanding glower.  "Do not scream."

Tapioca immediately clamped her hooves over her mouth, clearly afraid of what would happen to her if she found herself unable to control her voice.

"Alright, listen up, and listen good," Guise began, walking over to the cowering mare.  "I don't plan on hurting you as long as you can behave yourself.  I just need you to sit there quietly so I can figure out what to do about this.  Got it?"

Tapioca nodded rapidly.

Guise narrowed his eyes at her skeptically.  A bead of sweat rolled down her face and she whimpered into her hooves under his gaze.  He hadn't really been sure if he could trust her to fully comprehend the gravity of her situation, but the fearful look in her eyes was convincing enough.  Satisfied that she could be a good girl and sit still for the time being, Guise traipsed back over to the cave entrance to continue trying to work this out.

The minutes ticked by, a thick silence pervading the dank cavern as Guise wracked his brain and Tapioca supposedly wondering what was going to happen to her.  It was difficult to come up with any reasonable way to clean up this mess without leaving any loose ends.  There were only two clear cut solutions Guise could come up with on such short notice: The first was to simply abandon Canterlot and start over somewhere else, but he'd put too much time and effort into this to give up now.  That would have to be plan C.  Plan B would be to fall back on his original contingency plan of asking Shade and Chamella for help.  This little kidnapping wasn't planned, so they might actually be willing to help him out.  But after his conversation with Chamella, he didn't have a lot of faith in them anymore.  If even Chamella couldn't give him the benefit of the doubt, then it would seem he couldn't rely on them after all.  He could try, but going to them so soon after his talk with Chamella would likely only convince her that she was right not to trust him.  And Guise wasn't about to give her that satisfaction.  Devising plan A would have to be his foremost priority, but that was proving to be troublesome.  He just needed more time.

"Um..."

Guise groaned, pressing a hoof to the bridge of his nose in exasperation.  Apparently being quiet for even a few minutes was simply too much for her undeveloped brain to handle.  He could have lashed out at her and put the fear into her, but right now, he simply didn't have the energy to scold her.

He looked over his shoulder, making sure the annoyance in his expression was evident.  "What?"

Tapioca stared at him, the fear in her eyes accompanied by an odd look of curiosity.  "Are...  Are you really Crimson?"

Guise stared back at her in silence.  She was obviously scared and confused, and probably had a lot of questions.  He had already said he wouldn't hurt her, but maybe if he answered a few of her queries, she'd be a little more willing to cooperate and stay quiet for more than three minutes.

"Basically, yes."

Tapioca tilted her head.  "'Basically'?"

"There is no person named Crimson Neon.  I made that name up.  But the guy you knew as Crimson was me the whole time, if that answers your question."

"Oh..."  Tapioca was quiet for a few moments as she wrapped her mind around that information.  She then spoke again with more curiosity.  "So...  What's your real name?"

Guise scowled at the question.  "What does it matter?"

"Well, if your name's not Crimson, then what I am I supposed to call you?"

"You don't have to call me anything.  You're just supposed to sit there and keep your mouth shut like I told you."

She hung her head slightly, but didn't take her eyes off the changeling.  It was evident that she was having difficulty following his simple instructions given her alarming and unexpected circumstances, so Guise decided to cut her a little slack in the hopes that she'll at least stay calm.

"Any other questions?" he asked reluctantly.

Guise's question seemed to lift her mood slightly, the fear and worry in her eyes fading a bit.  She glanced around at her surroundings.  Her face did go a little pale when she noticed the bones of small animals littered around.  "Wh-Where are we?"

"In a cave near the top of the mountain."

Tapioca cautiously walked over to the entrance, stepping out onto the narrow, grassy ledge outside.  She stopped cold and took a quick step back when she looked down on the city below them.  "W-Wow...  W-We're pretty high up."

"Yeah, you can basically call this my first apartment.  I was living here for a few weeks before I moved in with Mint."

"How'd we get up here?" she inquired, looking around and spotting nothing but sheer cliff around them.

"Hello?"  Guise buzzed his thin wings to answer her question.  "I can fly.  I just carried you up here, which wasn't easy, by the way.  You ponies are pretty heavy."

Tapioca balked in offense.  "Are you calling me fat?"

Guise stared at her, bemused.  "I'm not dignifying that."

Feeling a little uncomfortable near the cliff side, Tapioca opted to instead return to the relative safety of the cave.  She turned back to Guise with another question.  "So...  Why'd you bring me here?"

"Why do you think?" he growled.  "I can't exactly have you walking around now that you know I'm a changeling.  Speaking of which, why the hell were you even following me?  You were supposed to be working."

Tapioca's ears drooped and she hung her head.  "I felt bad about you and Minty, so I was gonna follow you home so I could apologize."

As weird as that reasoning was, Guise could understand why she'd do that.  If she had asked to accompany him in the mood he was in, he would have certainly turned her away.  And it wasn't like she was a stranger to skipping work without repercussions.

But that didn't mean he was okay with it, especially considering what ended up happening as a result.  Guise stomped over to her, glaring sternly into her eyes.  "Well, do you see what you've done now?  Now I'm in this dumb predicament because, once again, you acted without thinking!  Now Mint doesn't have a job, and I've got to figure out how to deal with this wrench in my plans."

Tapioca flinched under his accusatory words, a guilty look on her face.  "Wh-...  What are you gonna do, then?"

Guise groaned, turning his back to her and walking back over to the entrance.  "I don't know yet.  That's what I've been trying to figure out, but it's hard to think when I have to answer your questions."

The cavern went quiet after that.  Hopefully Tapioca understood her situation well enough to listen to him and stay silent for a while to let him think.

"Do you guys hate me?"

Guise looked back at her again.  The expression on her face was pitiable.  She looked to be on the verge of tears.  And of all things that could have brought her to that stage, it wasn't the fear for her own well being, it was the worry that they hated her?

"I just wanted to apologize for calling her a bitch..." Tapioca sniffled quietly.  "I didn't want to cause you any trouble."

Against all odds and all the things that Guise had told himself, he actually felt a little bad for her.  She had good intentions, just bad timing.  Guise inhaled a long breath through his nose, speaking to her a little more sympathetically.  "Look, I can't speak for Mint here, since she's known you longer than I have, but 'hate' might be a strong word.  You have no work ethic, no common sense, and your flirting is frankly repulsive.  That last one is more of a personal thing, but all of it adds up to you being annoying.  Would I say I hate you?  Technically, no.  I have a short list of people I hate, and I don't think it's worth putting your name on it considering what the other people have done to get on it."

Tapioca finally managed a smile in spite of her circumstances.  "That does make me feel a little better," she giggled, walking up to Guise.  She looked him over analytically, now finally taking the time to size up a changeling up close and grinning with intrigue.  "Even if you look different, Crimsy, you're still a—"

Guise held up a hoof to silence her.  "Don't say it.  I'm already sick of hearing it."

"So, does Minty know you're a bug pony?" she asked innocently.

"Changeling."

"Whatevs."

"No, she doesn't.  Nopony does.  Which is why I have to take this development seriously."  Guise groaned, dropping to his haunches in defeat.  "And Mint was actually ready to turn lemons into lemonade, too.  Getting fired actually gave her the motivation to want to open her own place, but instead of helping her out, now I have to deal with this shit."

"She wants to open her own ice cream place?"

Guise raised an eyebrow at her.  "What, she never mentioned that?"

Tapioca shook her head.

Guise stood up again, starting to feel a little curious himself.  "You two really never talk about stuff?  You've known her for three years."

"I try to talk to her, but she just gets all huffy.  I was kinda hoping if you and me became friends, she might start being nicer."

Guise grimaced.  "You're not going to convince me that that's the reason you keep flirting with me."

She blushed with a bashful grin.  "Nah, I just think you're kinda hot.  Speaking of..."  She leaned toward him, batting her fake eyelashes.  "What, uh...  What are you gonna do with me now that I'm your 'helpless prisoner'?"

The changeling shuddered at her insinuation, nudging her back to put a little extra space between them.  He looked her dead in the eye with an irate and incredulous glower.  "Seriously, what is your problem?  Do you not understand the gravity of the situation you're in?  I'm a changeling.  You're supposed to be afraid of me."

Tapioca backed off a little when Guise snapped at her.  "But you said you weren't gonna hurt me."

"Maybe, but if this had happened a few months ago, I probably would have killed you by now and been done with it."

She gulped nervously.  "B-But... you seemed so nice."

"That's a combination of your own obliviousness and my acting skills.  Of course I'm gonna be nice, I'm trying to worm my way into pony society without people looking at me like I'm some kinda monster, which I am.  For the record, I'm not a good person.  I've tried to kill people, I've brainwashed a pony, I tore out another changeling's wings once.  I even spent the last two years of my life locked in the dungeon of the changeling hive because I planned to usurp the throne.  What I'm trying to say here is, I'm not your friend."  Guise groaned loudly, stomping over to the cliff in a frustrated huff.  "And now I've got to fix this mess somehow.  I can't just have you walking around knowing what I am."

"I-I can keep your secret.  Promise!" she pleaded.

Guise glared skeptically.  "Look, I do not trust you to not blab about this to anypony.  You can't keep your yap shut for five minutes, let alone the rest of your life.  So I'm not about to put my trust in you while you also have this information to hang over my head."

"So, what, you're just gonna keep me here?  For how long?"

Guise shrugged.  "Who knows?  Could be a few days, could be a few weeks."

"What?!" Tapioca shrieked.  "You can't do that!  How am I supposed to reapply my makeup?!  My mascara's already starting to clump!"

"Pretty sure you have more important things to be concerned about than your makeup," Guise deadpanned.  "Nopony's gonna see you for awhile except me anyway, and I don't give a shit what you look like."

"I mean, that's sweet of you to say and everything, but I don't wanna live in a cave.  There's no bed, no carpet, no air conditioning..."

"And if you hadn't followed me, we wouldn't even be in this situation!" the changeling spat.

Tapioca shrunk back under his harsh glare.  "So...  Wh-What are you gonna do?"

Guise sighed in frustration, scratching his head.  "I'm still thinking about that.  This isn't an easy thing to fix.  If you're gone too long, people will start to take notice and get suspicious."

"What do other changelings do?"

He raised an eyebrow at the odd question.  It almost sounded like she was trying to help him, but considering her circumstances, that was probably in her best interest.  Guise didn't expect her to throw out any useful advice or suggestions, but that question did get him thinking.  "Hmm...  Usually a changeling would kidnap a pony for the purposes of taking their place."  Guise tapped his chin in thought.  "I suppose I could just take your place for the time being until I can figure out something better."

Tapioca tilted her head in confusion.  "How are you gonna do that?"

Guise stared at her, bemused and a little dumbstruck.  "How do you think?"  He answered her question by shapeshifting, replacing his chitinous body with a coat of creamy white fur and a bouncy, strawberry pink mane.

Tapioca gazed in awe at the spitting image of herself now standing before her.  "Oooh, it's like looking in a mirror."

"A mirror with fifty I.Q. points over you maybe."  Guise suddenly shuddered, shaking his head uncomfortably.  "Yeesh, how do you put up with this voice?  It feels like there's a cat scratching the inside of my skull."  He quickly transformed back to save himself the torment, also now feeling a tiny bit reluctant about this plan knowing the pain and indignity he'd have to endure.

"So, you're just gonna pretend to be me?"

"Pretty much, I guess, though that's gonna come with its own complications.  Being you means I'd have to do your job at Rocky's, though from what I've seen, you don't really do much, so it shouldn't be difficult.  The real issue is my own job.  I'm not gonna be able to balance two jobs.  As extreme as it may be, in order to maintain appearances, I might have to quit my job and focus on yours."

Tapioca breathed a sigh of relief.  "Well, that's good.  I need my job.  Daddy said he's only gonna pay for my apartment as long as I have a job, so if I get fired, he's gonna cut me off."

"Don't get any delusions about this," Guise told her tersely.  "Any bits I earn while disguised as you I'm keeping for myself.  Me and Mint can't survive on just one paycheck."

"Huh?!  But I need money, too!  How am I supposed to buy groceries and makeup and stuff?!"

"You don't need that stuff while you're here," Guise reminded her sternly.  "Your dad's paying your rent for you, so your financial situation is handled.  All I really need to do is make sure I know exactly what to do at Rocky's and make an occasional visit to your apartment building so nopony notices that anything is amiss.  To that end, I'm gonna need you to fill me in on all the stuff you usually do at work and where you live."

Tapioca crossed her forelegs in a huff.  "As if.  If I don't tell you anything, then you can't do any of that, and you'll just be forced to let me go, right?"

Guise smirked, a little amused by her defiant attitude.  "Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought you were.  But you know what?  I have a more preferable method of getting information out of you that doesn't involve having to listen to your grating voice."

Guise suddenly stepped closer to her, leaning forward until their faces were a mere inch apart.  Tapioca was startled by their closer proximity, her face flushing red as Guise stood intimately close to her.

"Wh-What are you doing?" she breathed, sounding both worried, yet oddly curious.

"Just hold still and look into my eyes," he commanded quietly with an assertive smirk.

Tapioca's blush deepened at his order, her heartbeat practically audible as it pounded against her rib cage.

Guise's eyes started to glow green, and Tapioca's soon did the same.  Her face contorted uncomfortably, but she maintained eye contact, although looking as though she were fighting sleep.  Guise concentrated on the spell for a few minutes, rooting around in Tapioca's memories for the information he needed.  He tried his best to get in and get out as quickly as possible to avoid having to stick his proverbial hoof into that mess for any longer than he needed to and hopefully avoid anything unsanitary, especially involving himself.

He eventually released her from the spell, shaking his own head as he was learning that it was equally uncomfortable for him as it was for his victim.  Tapioca stood woozily, wobbling a little as her senses gradually came back to her.  She blinked rapidly to refocus her vision.

"Whoa...  Wh-...  What was that?"

"It's a modified spell I picked up from another changeling.  It lets me poke around in somepony else's memories.  The simplest way to describe it is essentially as a mind-reading spell, but I still haven't quite gotten used to it yet.  I've only really been able to practice on Mint's cat, and he gets pissy every time I try."

"Wow, that's kinda cool," she commented, impressed by his ability.  She rubbed her temple, wincing slightly.  "Feels kinda weird though.  Kinda like something's crawling over my brain.  But it's... a good weird, you know?  Can you do it again?"

Guise stared in befuddled disgust at the strange request, her innocent and intrigued smile both confusing and off-putting.  "Not unless I need to, and right now, I don't need to, nor do I want to—especially if you're gonna be a weirdo about it.  But I have the info I need.  Now I just need to make sure I can juggle my personal life and your job without raising any suspicions."

He wandered over to the cliff side, flittering his wings as he prepared to take off.

"Wait!" Tapioca called out in panic as she ran over to stop him.  "You're really just gonna leave me here?!"

"We've been over this.  Yes, I have to," he repeated with an exasperated groan.  "Look, I'll bring you food when I get a chance.  But right now, I need to get home.  Mint is probably wondering where I am.  Oh, and one more thing..."  Guise turned around staring her down with a furious intensity that caused her to take a step back.  "Don't even think about screaming for help while you're up here, or I'll make sure you regret it.  Get me?"

Tapioca nodded fearfully, backing up into the cave again and sitting herself down quietly like a trained dog.

"Good.  Now, just sit there and be quiet.  I'll stop by again tomorrow after work."

Guise finally took off to return home, leaving Tapioca behind to wallow in isolation while he tried to figure out where to go from here.


*****     *****     *****


The door of the apartment swung open lazily, making way for its disguised changeling resident.  Guise was mentally exhausted.  Having started the day with a painful hangover, then dealing with Rocky's infuriating attitude, and now inadvertently finding himself the culprit in a kidnapping because somepony couldn't mind her own business.  Needless to say, this wasn't a great day for him.

Guise's face was hot with frustration and stress, and it wasn't until now that he noticed just how much he'd been sweating.  A shower sounded pretty good right about now.

Taking a cursory glance around the apartment, he noticed that Sweetmint wasn't home.  Persimmon was sprawled out on the couch by himself.  If Sweetmint had been in the bedroom or something, he doubted she'd be without her furry stress ball by her side in these circumstances.  She must have stepped out for some reason, maybe finally working up the will to go talk to Rocky herself, or figure out where her boyfriend has been for the past couple of hours.  He'd make up some crap to cover his tracks when she got back.

Guise made his way to the bathroom, turning on the shower, shedding his disguise, and stepping underneath the light spray of water before it had a chance to heat up.  The cold water felt refreshing as it ran down his smooth, chitinous skin, alleviating the heat in his face, though the low temperature elicited a shudder as it invaded the holes and crevices of his legs.

Of course, it wasn't like a little cold water was going to completely cleanse his stress.  He couldn't afford to put the whole thing out of his mind just yet.  The plan he'd come up with was off the cuff and was only going to be a temporary solution to a major problem.  Guise was not chuffed about having to imitate a pony like Tapioca.  It was irritating just to be in her presence, but now he was going to have to act like her himself.  He fancied himself a good actor, but even he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stand hearing her voice coming out of his own mouth, or having to act like a complete simpleton.  Thankfully, it'd only have to be during work hours at Rocky's, then he could go home and have an intelligent conversation with Sweetmint to cleanse his palate.

But how long was he going to have to keep it up?  Taking Tapioca's place didn't solve anything; it was only to buy time until he could come up with a permanent solution.  But how exactly could he fix this?  Any way he sliced it, letting Tapioca go was a liability.  There would be no way to stop her from snitching on him, so he couldn't just put his trust in her.  He needed more time to figure this out, and a few minutes in the shower wasn't going to provide that.

Guise turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and giving himself a once over with it.  As he dried himself off, he heard the door to the apartment open.  Sweetmint must've been home now.  He reapplied his disguise and went out to meet her.

Sweetmint seemed like she was a little stressed herself, a weary look in her eyes as she breathed a long sigh, though that was very understandable.  She appeared to be carrying a newspaper in her magical grasp.

The mare looked up to see her boyfriend approaching from the hall.  "Oh, you're home."

"Where were you?" Guise asked, eyeing the newspaper within her pink aura.

She held the paper up.  "Just went down to the bookstore to grab today's newspaper.  Need to check out the classifieds.  I was only gone for a little bit.  I must've just missed you when I left."  She dropped the newspaper on the table and turned on the coffee pot.  "What took you so long anyway?  You were gone for a few hours."

Guise knit his brow in frustration.  The honest truth was probably the most believable excuse.  "Rocky was being a complete douchenozzle, so I took a walk around town to cool my head."

"Been there," Sweetmint grumbled.  She poured up her coffee and sat down at the kitchen table.  "I'm guessing that means you had no luck."

Guise grabbed himself a mug of dark brew and joined her, shaking his head in response to the assumption.  "Sorry.  And you wanna know the worst part?  Turns out Tapioca's not the one you should have focused your anger on."

Sweetmint arched an eyebrow.  "What?  What's that mean?"

"The reason she's been getting special treatment isn't because Rocky has a thing for her, it's because Chips does."

She blinked uncomprehendingly.  "Wait, what?  How's that work?"

"Rocky doesn't spend a whole lotta time at his own place of business, does he?"

"Not really.  He's usually there in the mornings to give us a rundown of what we're doing for the day, or close to closing time.  Why?"

Guise scowled as he thought about everything he'd learned.  "He's been basing his decisions on what his little brother has told him.  Which means that Tapioca's ass was receiving a lot of high and unjust praise, and Rocky evidently doesn't bother to fact check his brother's claims."

"That little shit!" Sweetmint cursed, pounding a hoof on the table and causing a drop of coffee to splash from her mug.  "Are you serious?!"

"Heard it straight from the horse's mouth.  So it would seem that because you treated Tapioca kinda poorly, the kid didn't have nice things to say about you."

"Shit, really?"  Sweetmint held a hoof to her face remorsefully.  "Fuck, now I really feel bad for Tapioca."

"Don't get me wrong, Tapioca is still a moron and more than deserving of derision."  Guise thought for a moment about the situation and some of the things Tapioca had said.  "But it seemed like she legitimately wants to be your friend.  She told me to tell you she wants to apologize for calling you a bitch."

Sweetmint sighed.  "I guess I've been a little harsh with her.  I should probably head over there tomorrow and apologize properly."

Guise nodded and took sip of his coffee, but the moment the brew started down his throat, he suddenly remembered that there was a problem with that.  He choked on his coffee, coughing loudly as his lungs tried to force the hot liquid back up and down the correct pipe.  If she went down to Rocky's tomorrow, Tapioca wasn't going to be there—at least, not the one she was expecting.  It would probably be easy to fake an apology and get it over with, but Guise really didn't want to chance having a conversation with Sweetmint while disguised as Tapioca; things were going to be stressful enough for him for awhile, so he didn't want any more potential complications to make it even more difficult.

"Uh, you sure about that?" Guise asked, trying to keep his voice level to hide the mild panic.

The green mare quirked a quizzical brow.  "Why?  What's wrong?"

"Well, given what I just told you,  we don't exactly know how you'll react to seeing Rocky and Chips again, right?  Those two are the reason you got treated like crap while you worked there."

Sweetmint scratched her neck with a grimace.  "Fair point."  She shrugged.  "Eh, it's not like I ever have to see Tapioca again anyway.  Maybe if I bump into her on the street someday I'll apologize.  No point in going out of my way, especially when I've gotta use that time to find another job."

Guise exhaled a sigh of relief at having dodged that bullet.  And he now had a convenient segue to change the topic.  "Speaking of which, I'm guessing you've had no luck on your end either."

Sweetmint pulled the newspaper over to herself, flipping through it to the classifieds.  "I'm weighing my options right now.  I know I need a job as soon as possible, but I don't want to go in half-cocked.  I'd like to have a job that I can at least tolerate.  Who knows?  Maybe there's something out there I'll actually like.  Not getting my hopes up though.  And not every place is gonna post ads in the paper, so I might have to make the rounds and keep an eye out for 'Help Wanted' signs."  She took a sizable swig of coffee, an odd look of amusement in her eyes.  "You know, I haven't been on a job hunt since I lived in Manehattan.  Tomorrow's gonna be a weird and probably awkward day."

Guise couldn't agree more, but for different reasons.  While she was out searching for employment, he was actually going to be quitting his own job to work as her former coworker for the time being.  It wasn't exactly something he was looking forward to, but at the very least it would make for an interesting experience.


*****     *****     *****


"You know you're never going to forgive yourself for this, right?"

That's what Guise's reflection was saying to him as he stared into the mirror, his own eyes staring judgmentally back at him.  And he understood.  Appropriately, the voice of his reflection reflected his own feelings.  He needed to take a little time this morning to come to terms with what he was about to do.

For the first time since he'd gotten a job, he chose willingly not to show up to work, effectively meaning he had quit.  He doubted his superiors, given how stuffy and ill-tempered they were, would be as lenient about tardiness as Rocky.  He'd essentially crossed the point of no return now, so even if he still had reservations about it, there wasn't really anything he could do about it now.  All he could do was mentally prepare himself for the indignity he was about to put himself through.

Guise stared into the bathroom mirror of the café that he and Sweetmint frequented, taking just a few more moments to stare into his own eyes.  He could feel the self-judgment, reminding himself of the words that his ego had been repeating to him since he woke up.  He glanced down at the half empty cup of coffee he'd bought.  Even though he told himself that he'd try and avoid getting drunk again in the future, a part of him wished that he had something a little more potent than coffee to help him get through this day.  But this was going to have to suffice.  He threw his head back, downing the last of the bitter brew in the hopes that it would do something for him.

With a sigh, Guise closed his eyes.  A flash of green light filled the empty bathroom, and when Guise opened his eyes again, it was no longer him that was staring back at him from the mirror, nor was it his Crimson Neon persona.  It was the feminine face of Tapioca, makeup and all.  The only indication that it wasn't actually the same simple-minded mare was the disgruntled grimace on her usually peppy and oblivious face.

This was like an exercise in humiliation.  It didn't matter that nopony would know the difference.  He knew, and that was enough.  Guise had only just put on his costume; he hadn't even gotten into character yet and he already hated himself.  Just standing there and seeing the gross eyeliner and mascara on his face, and recalling the ear-scraping sound of Tapioca's voice coming from his own mouth was revolting.  A part of him just wanted to keep his mouth shut all day so he wouldn't have to suffer the experience of acting and talking like her, but that would be uncharacteristic of the pony he was imitating.

Just get it over with...

Guise dragged himself to the door and out of the café, too disappointed in himself to even care about the people raising eyebrows at the mare walking out of the stallions' bathroom.  He begrudgingly crossed the street, stopping on the opposite sidewalk.  He turned his new, powder blue eyes up at the sign over the entrance of Rocky's Road.  He just blinked slowly, hoping that this was all just a bad dream and that he was about to wake up.  No such luck.  With a long sigh and no lack of trepidation, Guise finally bit the bullet and stepped inside.

As expected, Frosted Chips was already present.  The few extra minutes he'd spent reluctantly building up toward this moment had caused him to be a little behind on Tapioca's shift, though he presumed that neither Chips nor Rocky gave a shit since she apparently had a penchant for showing up fashionably late—or not at all on some occasions.

Guise had to will himself not to cast an incensed glare at the greasy stallion.  Knowing that Frosted Chips was the very reason why Sweetmint was treated so poorly at work made it difficult not to sock him in his dumb face and give his vacant expression some extra features.  Guise figured he'd feel the same way when he saw Rocky, though the bulkier stallion was nowhere to be seen at the moment, likely in his office.

But now that he was there, something occurred to him.  Chips started eyeing him rather intently the moment Guise stepped inside.  This wasn't a factor he'd bothered to take into consideration when he decided to do it, but he was now impersonating the object of the kid's affection.  That meant that Chips was now going to spend the majority of his time staring at Guise's backside.  That thought sent an uncomfortable shiver down his spine.  No part of him wanted a creepy weirdo like Frosted Chips ogling his hindquarters, even if it wasn't his own butt on display.  But, unfortunately, Guise had never noticed Tapioca objecting to the way the kid stared at her, so he was just going to have to do his best to ignore him.  But, on the bright side, he also never noticed Tapioca ever really interact with Chips either, so that was a plus.

Guise wasn't given much of a chance to acclimate himself to his new workplace before Rocky came out of the backroom with a smile on his face.  He immediately set his sights on "Tapioca," his smile widening further.  "Ah, good morning, Tapi!" he greeted enthusiastically.

Guise sighed internally.

Here we go...

He plastered a big, doofy grin on his face, mustering up his best chirpy, singsong voice.  "Morning, Rocky~!"

Just kill me...

"So, um..." Rocky began, looking a little hesitant as he scratched his cheek.  "Listen, Tapi.  I appreciate everything you do around here, but since we're down a pony now and I've got to pick up Mint's slack, I'd like it if you would try and show up for work on time from now on, yeah?  Oh, and be a peach and let me know if you plan on clocking out early.  We can all be eager to get home after a long day, but you kinda just disappeared on us yesterday.  I know it was a slow day and all, but let's not make it a habit, 'kay?"

"Sure thing, Rocky," Guise agreed, his fake smile already hurting his cheeks and his pride.

"Oh, and you were in such a rush that you left your bags here.  You gotta be careful you don't forget your keys and lock yourself out of your apartment."

"That'd be pretty stupid of me, huh?  Good thing I forgot to lock my door yesterday."  It may have been an easy lie to make up, but Guise could honestly see Tapioca as the kind of pony to forget to lock up before leaving for work.  And he'd have to remember to grab those bags before he left since paying brief visits to Tapioca's apartment was going to be part of keeping up appearances.

Rocky laughed heartily.  "Alright, then, let's get started, folks."

And so began Guise's first day in Tapioca's shoes.  He already felt like this was going to be a cakewalk.  Even if Rocky was deciding only now to tug on Tapioca's leash, he did so very passively.  He might not have had a romantic interest in her as Sweetmint had originally believed, but he obviously held Tapioca in high regard anyway.  Of course, Guise knew why that was: Rocky's little brother.  Whatever lies Chips was feeding him, Rocky was blindly going along with it, to the point where even when he was trying to be stern, he came off as a total pansy.  Apparently, Tapioca had no idea just how much power she had within this establishment.  And that could be something Guise could use to his advantage.

But for now, Guise decided to simply observe the goings-on around the shop.  He'd gotten a pretty good idea of what a day in the life of Tapioca was like when he browsed her memories, but there was only so much he could learn with that spell until he could perfect it.  Thankfully, it seemed that the place was pretty easy going.  Rocky handled the making of the ice cream, and Tapioca's job was only to serve it to customers and help clean up at the end of the day.  Chips just bused tables and washed dishes throughout most of the day—at least when his eyes weren't glued to his coworker's behind.

But there was a minor complication that Guise hadn't considered until now: Tapioca's favor was a result of Chips's input, but now that Sweetmint had been fired, it meant that Rocky was going to have a more prominent presence.  It was possible that he might get to see how little Tapioca actually did.  Although, it wasn't Tapioca at the moment, so Guise could work around that and actually put the work in to keep up appearances.

Of course, that would only come into play if the place was busy.  As the hours passed and the day progressed, Guise was starting to notice a distinct lack of customers.  It had always seemed like things were pretty steadily paced at Rocky's when Sweetmint worked there, with the occasional slow days and infrequent busy days, but it felt to Guise like things were exceptionally slow.  They were only getting a couple of customers an hour, but maybe that's how things usually went around here.  Guise would need more time to get a feel for a typical work day at Rocky's.

About halfway through the day, the shop's three staff members were really just sitting around doing nothing.  Even Rocky was just leaning on the counter, tapping his hoof in boredom.  So, since things were pretty slow at the moment, and there wasn't much work to actually do, Guise decided now may be a good time to exercise his borrowed leverage.  Rocky may not have been willing to listen to Crimson Neon, but maybe if Tapioca sweet talked him a little, he could perhaps convince him to turn around his decision to fire Sweetmint.

Guise approached the counter, making sure to do so with a dainty gait.  "Hey, Rocky?"

Rocky lifted his head at the sound of the feminine voice addressing him, his perky smile coming back in full force at the prospect of striking up conversation to stave off the tedium.  "What's up, buttercup?"

"So, um...  I know you had that talk with Crimson yesterday.  You know, about Minty," Guise started, attempting to act demure to hopefully soften Rocky up.

"Yeppers.  What about it?"

"Are you suuuuuure you can't reconsider bringing her back?" he asked, adding a bat of his fake fake eyelashes and curling his bottom lip into a sad pout.

Rocky smiled sympathetically, which Guise didn't take as a good sign.  "Now, Tapi, it's super nice of you to feel all remorseful for her and everything, but I think you of all people should have more reason to be glad that she's gone than anypony else."

"But wouldn't you rather have somepony else make the ice cream while you focus on managing and junk?"

"It's not like I don't plan on hiring somepony to replace her.  I just gotta put an ad in the paper.  I'm sure somepony'll answer it lickety-split."

"You think you'll find anypony better at it than her?"

Rocky chuckled, giving Guise a light tousle of his strawberry pink mane.  The changeling had to force back a disgruntled grimace.  "You're a doll for caring so much, Tapi, but you know what they say: nice guys finish last."

Guise was more than familiar with that mindset, though he wasn't fond of having it thrown back at him.

"If I go back on my decision, that'll make me look bad.  She'll probably just think that I'm a pushover and that she has complete control around here.  It might make her even worse than she was before.  Besides, this was a long time coming.  Shoving you was the straw that broke the camel's back—and it could've been your back.  You should be thankful that you weren't hurt worse."

Guise sighed in disappointment, mostly as one last play to try and sway him, but there was definitely veiled contempt behind his regretful eyes.  It was going to be hard to convince Rocky to change his mind, if not outright impossible.  Rocky believed that he was in the right after all.  Besides, it may have been better to delay such pursuits until he managed to figure out what to do with Tapioca.  It wouldn't put him in a great position if he did manage to convince him to rehire Sweetmint while he himself still had to impersonate Tapioca.  That might get weird, and it'd throw an additional variable into the mix that he really didn't need right now.

"Okay..." Guise whimpered to try and earn sympathy, though Rocky seemed like he wasn't going to bite.  "I just wanna throw out there that I think she deserves another chance.  I said some things I shouldn't have, too."  And that was true.  Tapioca had said herself that she wanted to apologize to Sweetmint.

Rocky smiled, but didn't say anything for a few seconds.  Guise stared at him with a little hope, as the large stallion seemed to be mulling something over.  "Tell you what: if Mint comes down here and apologizes to you personally—no boyfriends to do her talking for her—I'll consider giving her another shot."

Guise's eyes widened in surprise.  He honestly couldn't believe that Rocky had suddenly done a one-eighty like that.  "Really?"

"You betcha."  Rocky's smile suddenly became a lot more smug, not dissimilar to when Guise had talked to him yesterday.  "But she'll have to beg me for it."

Guise felt a vein in his temple pulse.  "What?"

"And I mean on her knees, pleading me to give her her job back.  I need to know that she understands who the boss is around here, and she can't just push me or my employees around.  Figuratively, or, in your case, literally."

It took a great deal of willpower for Guise to keep his facial expression even.  Anything more than a pout would seem uncharacteristic of Tapioca, let alone the venomous sneer Guise wanted to shoot at Rocky right now.

In an instant, Rocky went right back to his happy-go-lucky grin as he stepped out from behind the counter.  "Welp, seeing as we've hit a teensy lull, I'm gonna take this opportunity to do some paperwork.  Tapi, think you can handle taking orders if a customer shows up?"

Guise unclenched his teeth long enough to answer the question.  "I'll try my best," he said, though it was hard to keep all of the venom out of his voice.

"Atta girl!  Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Rocky exited into the back room, finally giving Guise some room to breathe.  He was actually going to take a page from Tapioca's book and slack off now that Rocky wasn't around; it wasn't like Chips was going to tattle on him.  Besides, Guise had more important things to think about than work, but he wanted something to chew on in the meantime.  If Sweetmint's comments in the past were any indication, it wasn't uncommon for Tapioca to help herself to free samples of ice cream; something else that Chips likely never included in his "reports."

Guise scooped himself a small bowl of strawberry banana and took it to one of the tables.  The moment he took his first spoonful, he had to pause.  Rocky had admitted himself that Sweetmint's ice cream was better than his, but it was only now that he was actually tasting Rocky's for himself that Guise realized how wide the gap really was.  Sweetmint's ice cream was always oozing with flavor and was a treat for Guise's otherwise meat-loving palate.  Rocky's ice cream barely had anything that could be described as flavor.  The strawberry banana that he was currently eating tasted like it was made with unripe fruit.  How did that guy get a cutie mark for making ice cream?  Or perhaps Guise had been spoiled by superior ice cream, so anything he tried now tasted like dirt.  Either way, Rocky had to realize how much of a detriment losing Sweetmint was to his business.

But it wasn't like there was any hope of her getting her job back.  Rocky really must've had it in for her to be so stubborn and apathetic about it, but Guise knew that was mostly Frosted Chips's doing.  But the ultimatum he'd issued didn't inspire any confidence either.  There was no way in hell that somepony like Sweetmint would stoop so low as to beg for her job.  And even if Rocky had chosen to be a little more lenient, it seemed like Sweetmint was intent on leaving the place behind out of spite anyway.

Guise finished his bowl of bland ice cream, setting aside the bowl for Chips to clean later.  And as the day rolled on, Guise just got more and more bored.  He was having difficulty coming up with a half-decent solution to his Tapioca problem, and there weren't a lot of customers showing up to help him fight the tedium.  Most of the ones who did didn't seem to stay long, though given how Rocky's ice cream tasted, he couldn't say he blamed them.  It also played against Sweetmint's theory that Tapioca's good looks were part of the draw of this place.  Guise had seen for himself that customers—particularly of the male variety—tended to linger just to chat and flirt with Tapioca, but that was mostly just because she initiated and was a chatterbox herself.  Guise wasn't going to go so far as to actively flirt with every customer since Rocky was really the only one he had to fool, and he presumed Chips would be too distracted by his ass to care about how he was acting.  If nothing else, this was certainly easier than his previous job, though he'd eventually have to think about what he was going to do if and when he sorted everything out.

Once the end of the day approached, Rocky burst out of the back room with a zealous grin.  "Alllllright, folks, closin' time!  I trust you two know the routine by now.  Ah, who am I kidding?  You two know the routine better than I do.  I know it was a slow day today, but good hustle anyway.  So, I'm gonna trolley on home and leave you guys to it.  Chips, I'll see you at home.  Tapi, I'll see you tomorrow.  Toodles!"

Guise watched as Rocky trotted exuberantly out the door.  He seemed pretty enthusiastic about calling it a day, and as much as Guise despised the guy now, he could relate to that at least.  But Guise's day wasn't over quite yet.  Once he was done here, he needed to make a trip up the mountain to check up on his "prisoner" before he could head home himself.  But before that, he had to clean the parlor.  He sauntered off to the back room to grab a broom and drop off any dirty bowls to be washed, then returned to begin sweeping the place for a few minutes.

"You're not Tapioca."

Guise nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of a quiet, nasally voice coming from seemingly nowhere.  His eyes darted around in search of the voice, thinking that they had maybe forgotten about a customer who had been blending into the walls.  But no matter how hard he looked, Guise couldn't see anypony in the relatively small building.  The only people still present were himself and...

Guise's eyes fell on Frosted Chips, who was staring at him with a knit brow.  The changeling blinked, dumbfounded.

Was that him?  Holy crap, he can talk.

Guise paused briefly.

Wait...  What did he say?

"Excuse me?" Guise asked, unsure if he'd heard correctly.

"You're not Tapioca," Chips repeated.

Guise could only stare back in equal parts shock and anger.

You've got to be kidding me...

There was no way this lazy, inattentive weirdo could have seen through his disguise.  Maybe he hadn't been acting as flirty as Tapioca, but that was hardly grounds for accusing him of being an impostor.  Guise could get around this.  It shouldn't be any trouble to convince him otherwise.

"What are you talking about, silly?" Guise responded with a feminine giggle.  "Who else would it be?"

"I don't know, but you're not her.  You're different," he argued adamantly.

Guise was already fed up with this, but he had to keep insisting, flicking a hoof dismissively.  "I'm just having an off day, that's all.  It's been pretty boring around here today in case you didn't notice."

"That doesn't matter.  Tapioca is always a joy to be around, always smiling no matter what."

Guise forced back a grimace.  What fantasy world did this kid live in?  "So you think I haven't been acting like me?"

"It's not just the way you act, but the way you move."

The changeling quirked an eyebrow.  "Huh?"

"Tapioca's mane has a particular bounce due to the way she walks, she flutters her eyelashes more when she talks to people, her questions have a stronger upward inflection, and her flank sways rhythmically when she moves, side to side like a metronome without missing a beat."

Guise could only stare in utter bewilderment.  It was one thing to mimic a person's voice and basic, everyday behavior, but copying little details like those was a much more demanding endeavor.  Most people wouldn't even notice such minute intricacies, especially somepony who daydreamed as much as Frosted Chips.  Then again, what did Chips spend most of his time daydreaming about?  Tapioca.  Guise knew that the only thing that occupied the greasy kid's mind at any given time was her, but he had assumed that that was just him being a pervy little weirdo.  But it seemed like Chips may have been more deeply enamored with Tapioca than he'd presumed if he noticed tiny mannerisms like those.

For as confrontational as Chips was trying to be, some slight fear filled his eyes.  "Are you... a changeling?"

Guise could argue all day, but this kid appeared to be far too stubborn to believe him, and if he started telling people that there was a changeling around, that could be troublesome for him.  He needed to nip this in the bud.

Guise stomped up to Chips aggressively.  "Alright, listen up, you little shit stain," he snarled, forcing Chips to take a step back in surprise at his sudden shift in tone and attitude.  "If you value your personal health, you won't breathe a word of this to anypony.  I've come too far for my efforts to be ruined by a greasy turd like you."

Chips seemed taken aback, though that was pretty understandable; it must have been pretty jarring to him to see "Tapioca" acting and talking like that, even if he knew it wasn't really her.  Whatever the case, any bravery he exhibited had quickly gone out the window.  However, he managed to stand his ground, furrowing his brow again.  "Wh-Where's Tapioca?  If you hurt her, I'll—"

"You'll what?"  Guise took another step forward, his challenging expression once again causing Chips's resolve to falter.  "You think you're tough enough to take me?  You think you're her white knight?  Please.  A stiff breeze could give you a bruise.  But if it makes you feel any better, I haven't laid a hoof on her.  She's fine."

"How...  How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You don't, but you don't really have a choice, do you?"

Chips looked to be getting increasingly worried, no doubt concerned for his crush's safety.  "I...  I'll just tell the royal guards."

"Go right ahead."

The wimpy stallion raised an eyebrow at the challenge, suspicious of the changeling's implication.

"But just remember that Tapioca's at my mercy."

Chips's pupils narrowed in fright at the threat.  Guise smirked.  The kid was too easy to read.  He knew the best way to keep Chips in line was the prospect of his beloved coming to harm.

Guise leaned forward with a malicious grin.  "You wouldn't want that, would you?  If I found out that you tattled on me, I might have to hurt her.  Would you be able to live with yourself if you knew that you were the reason I had to hurt her?  How would she react if she knew it was your fault?"

Chips practically began to tremble at the thought of it, but Guise wanted to drive the point home harder.

Guise lifted a hoof to his forehead daintily, feigning distress as he mimicked Tapioca.  "'How could you?  I can't believe you would be so heartless and let this brute mar my pretty face.  You're, like, the most awful, despicable, selfish pony I know.  I never want to see your totally horrible face again!'"  He ended the scene with a smug smirk.

Chips said nothing in response.  He could only cowardly lower his head in defeat and reluctantly obey the changeling's order.

"Good boy.  Now, you just keep doing what you've been doing and keep your trap shut.  I don't want to have to hurt her any more than you do."  With that, Guise sauntered casually to the back room to grab Tapioca's forgotten bags before preparing to leave Rocky's entirely.  He paused briefly at the front door to look back at Chips.  "Oh, and be a dear and clean this place up, 'kay?" he requested, once more mocking Tapioca's tone of voice to rub salt in the wound.

Chips straightened up in surprise.  "Huh?  B-But we're supp—"

"Ah ah," Guise interrupted.  "You really wanna push it?"

The brown pony shrunk back, unable to find the will to argue.

Confident that Chips was firmly under his hoof, Guise took his leave, letting the greasy kid do all his work for him.  Under normal circumstances, Guise would have been in a panic over yet another pony finding him out, but this was Frosted Chips, and he just happened to have the perfect deterrent for him.  And Chips was a really quiet guy to begin with, so Guise felt like he wasn't in any real danger.  It was also rather cathartic given that that turd was the source of a lot of Sweetmint's problems, so this was karmic justice as far as he was concerned.  It might cause some unwanted complications later on, but with everything else he had to deal with at the moment, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.


*****     *****     *****


Guise touched down outside his old cave home.  He could see Tapioca sitting off in the far corner, looking a little sickly.  It wasn't that she was physically unwell, but she seemed rather off-put by the collection of animal bones scattered about, no doubt uneasy about the implication that it was her captor that had killed and eaten them.

But her mood seemed to lift instantly the moment she noticed Guise return.  One wouldn't expect a prisoner to be relieved to see their captor return, but Tapioca immediately stood up to meet him halfway.  "Oh, thank Celestia, you're back.  I was worried you forgot about me.  I'm staaaaarving."

Guise rolled his eyes in annoyance.  "It's been twenty-four hours.  I get you're hungry, but 'starving' is overstating it."

"Please tell me you brought food," she pleaded, her stomach growling loudly in desperation.

The changeling held up two brown paper bags he'd brought with him, tossing one onto the ground in front of her.  Tapioca took one look at the red and gold horseshoe logo and blanched in disgust.

"Ew, Hayburger?  I can't eat that.  That stuff's, like, über greasy.  It'll ruin my figure."

"You're not exactly in a position to be picky," Guise reminded her apathetically.  "If I'm gonna have to dip into my savings to feed you, I'm gonna go with the cheapest available option.  If you've got a problem with that, there's grass right outside."

Tapioca followed his pointing hoof to the short ridge outside covered in green grass, then glanced back at the bag.  With a reluctant and unenthused grimace, she cautiously opened the bag with her powder blue magic as though it were a container of hazardous chemicals.  She removed an object wrapped in thin, yellow paper, peeling it away to reveal the burger within.  She stared with disgust at the meal her captor had decided to torture her with: a pair of sesame seed buns sandwiching some deep fried hay, pale, shredded lettuce, a couple of moist pickle slices, and far more ketchup than was reasonably necessary.  She refused to touch the thing with her hooves as it was bleeding an unappetizing mixture of ketchup, pickle juice, and fryer grease.  Tapioca looked like she was on the verge of puking, but she'd need something in her stomach first in order to vomit.  She slowly opened her mouth, taking a slow, deliberate bite and forcing herself to chew.

She swallowed her first bite, her face showing disgust and shame.  "Bleugh...  This is gonna go straight to my flanks..."

"Tough it out, sister," Guise said, sitting against the wall and opening the second bag of takeout.  He didn't waste any time digging into his greasy burger.  "Take it from me, it could be way worse.  When I was locked up, I was lucky to get a piece of rotten fruit or half-eaten mushrooms.  Most of the time I was just waiting for random bugs to crawl into my cell through the cracks in the walls and drinking dirty water that dripped from the ceiling.  Compared to that, you're living in the lap of luxury."  He removed a cup of cola from the bag and took a long slurp on the straw.  "I don't even know what you're complaining about.  This is probably among the tastiest pony food I've had.  Just a notch down from instant noodles, and two from Mint's ice cream."

"It's super unhealthy.  And this is all I get to eat for the whole day?  How am I supposed to survive on just one meal a day?  The least you could do is bring me some breakfast in the morning."

"The 'least I could do' is leave you up here to rot like the rest of these animals, but I don't exactly want to have to imitate you for the rest of my life."  Despite how undesirable the notion was, Guise managed an amused grin.  "Although, having said that, being you does have a few perks.  I actually didn't have to pay for these meals.  I was able to convince the cashier to pay for me thanks to a little 'tactical flirting.'"

Tapioca balked at the insinuation.  "Wait, you went into Hayburger disguised as me?!  Augh!  Now people are gonna think I like going to dives like that!  And that I have a thing for greasy fry cooks!  You're gonna ruin my reputation!"

Guise shrugged indifferently as he took another bite of his burger.  "Not my problem."

She shot a disgruntled huff through her nostrils.  "Spoiling my image...  It's not enough that you're taking my money for yourself?"

"I'm doing all the work right now—and more work than you ever did, might I add.  I had to quit my job to make this work, and I need some income to support me and Sweetmint, especially since she's unemployed now."

Tapioca grumbled begrudgingly as she took a sip of soda.  She was attempting to use her disgruntled pout to guilt Guise, but that obviously wasn't going to work.  However, there was a distinct look of curiosity in her eyes.  "So, um...  How...  How was it, then?"

"How wuz wad?" Guise responded with a mouthful of burger.

"Work.  You're not gonna ruin that for me, too, are you?"

"If anything, I'm going to make you look good."  Guise grimaced as he thought about everything that pissed him off about the place and the people who worked there.  "Not that you ever had to really do anything to be treated well there.  But I did already hit a minor snag."

"What kinda snag?"

"Namely, Chips."

Tapioca arched an eyebrow in confusion.  "Who?"

Guise just stared at her in silent awe.  "Frosted Chips."

She blinked vacantly.

"Your coworker.  The weird kid that never talks."

A light bulb seemed to finally switch on in Tapioca's brain.  "Ooooh, you mean Rocky's little brother."

"Yes.  Are you really that ignorant?" Guise chided in annoyance.

Tapioca turned her eyes up in thought.  "I guess I never learned his name.  Honestly, I kinda forget that he's even there," she giggled.

"How can you not notice?  I know he's quiet, but the guy spends the whole day just staring at your ass."

Tapioca held a hoof to her chest and smiled.  "Aww, really?  That's so sweet."

Guise grimaced, bemused by her reaction.  "If you think harder, I'm sure you'd actually find it creepy."

"So, what, you don't like him staring at your butt when you're pretending to be me?"

"Well, no, it's disgusting, but that's not exactly the problem.  He managed to deduce that I'm a changeling."

Tapioca tilted her head.  "How'd he do that?  He must be a smart cookie."

"I wouldn't give him quite that much credit.  It's more so because he has a massive crush on you.  He's memorized all your mannerisms down to the finest details.  I consider myself a good actor, but even I don't notice imperceptible shit like that."

Tapioca blushed bashfully.  "Aw, that's, like, so romantic.  I never knew I had a secret admirer."

"I think 'stalker' might be a more appropriate term, but I guess I'm not in a position to judge on that front given the research I had to put in before making a move on Sweetmint."

"What are you gonna do about him?  Are you gonna bring him up here, too?"

"That's not really an option.  I can't impersonate two people at once.  It's not a big deal anyway," Guise said with a dismissive flick of his hoof.  "The kid's a wimp.  All I had to do was threaten to hurt you and he clammed up pretty quick."

Tapioca gulped nervously.

Guise rolled his eyes.  "Relax, I'm not actually gonna hurt you.  I just had to put that out there to keep him from telling anypony."

"Would it really be that big a deal if people knew you were a changeling?" Tapioca inquired.  "I mean, there's those two changelings in Ponyville, right?  They're friendly.  I actually met one of 'em the other day."

"I know, I was there, remember?" Guise reminded her.

Tapioca's eyes widened slightly as she remembered that she was still essentially talking to Crimson Neon.  "Oh, right."

"And it's not as simple as that.  I'm not like them.  I told you about the things I've done.  Even if I came clean, there's no way anypony would give me the same treatment as those two.  I'd basically be a criminal on parole at best.  And besides, I'm in too deep now.  If anypony realized how long I've been deceiving them, they'd never be willing to trust me—especially Mint..."

Tapioca noticed the sullen look on Guise's face as he listlessly chewed his food.  "You really care about her, huh?" she said sympathetically.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Guise corrected her.  "Mint's essential to my overall plan.  I need her for love, that's all."

She tilted her head, puzzled by the explanation.  "Uh, isn't that what everypony wants from a relationship?"

"For changelings, love is a source of power.  Now, I'm not saying that I plan on taking over Equestria or anything, I just want to be able to enjoy the taste of it, the sensation that it gives you.  It's simply a luxury, but I need somepony to get it from.  Mint just happens to be the best option available."  He sighed, running a hoof through his mane.  "Or she would if I could actually get any from her..."

"She doesn't love you?" Tapioca presumed with a frown.

"I don't know..." Guise mumbled uncertainly.  "She might, but she mightn't."

The mare only tilted her head further, clearly befuddled by the whole situation.

"All things considered, I have more important things to focus on right now," he said, casting a glance in Tapioca's direction.  "And so does she.  I can't really be pressuring her into loving me right now when she's got so much on her mind."  Guise threw his head back with a groan.  "Everything's just spiraling out of control...  This was supposed to be quick and easy, but now all this shit is happening."

Tapioca's ears drooped remorsefully.  "If it means anything, I'm sorry I ruined everything for you, Crimson."

Guise looked back at her.  He could have taken the opportunity to take his frustration out on her.  Up until now, he had blamed her for this, but was she really responsible?

The changeling breathed a long sigh, leaning back against the stone wall.  "This isn't your fault.  You were right from the start."

Tapioca blinked uncomprehendingly.  "Huh?  About what?"

"About what you saw at the café.  As far as any outside observer was aware, I was there talking to Mint."

"You were?!" the mare gasped in shock.

"It was actually Chamella.  I had to lie about it when you and Mint started arguing to avoid suspicion.  And that just started a chain reaction.  Mint got fed up and took it out on you, she got fired, I went to talk to Rocky, you felt bad so you followed me...  And here we are...  I can't exactly fault you for feeling sorry—you ponies can be sappy like that."

Guise hung his head in defeat, resigning himself to the truth of the matter.  "This is my fault...  I'm the one who fucked everything up.  Funny to think that it was all because I decided to have a friggin' conscience.  Now I'm up shit creek, and Mint's gotta concentrate on getting her life back in order so she can open her own place, and I can't really even help her in my current predicament."

"I'm sure you'll think of something.  You're a smart guy," Tapioca said quietly with a soft smile.

He scowled slightly in response.  "Why are you trying to comfort me?  You're my prisoner, remember?"

"Um, I dunno," she admitted sheepishly.  "I know you said you did bad things, but I still think you're a nice guy.  You're thinking about Minty and everything."

"For my own selfish purposes."

"But she's still happy, right?"

Guise sat quietly as he ruminated on her simple perception of his situation.  As much as he could easily throw her comments out as naïve optimism, he had heard similar words before from a much smarter pony.

He exhaled a quiet breath through his nostrils.  "I'll try and figure something out.  I don't want to have to keep you here."

Tapioca smiled hopefully.  "Does that mean you'll let me go now?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," he snipped with a furrowed brow.  "I still don't trust you to keep this information under wraps."  His expression softened a little.  "I just want things to get back to normal."

"Well...  Good luck.  I hope it works out."

Guise stared at her.  He really didn't know how to react to her optimistic smile.  He couldn't understand why she was still being so nice to him.  It could have been that she was just trying to guilt him into releasing her, but he didn't believe that she could fake it that well.

Guise finished his burger and drink and tossed the garbage to the side, standing up as he prepared to head home.  He glanced over his shoulder at Tapioca one more time, who was still smiling at him.  He stared at her for a few silent moments before speaking up quietly.  "I'll bring you something for breakfast tomorrow morning."

Tapioca seemed surprised by the offer, a light blush tinging her cheeks, but she didn't get a chance to respond before Guise took off.