//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: The Changeling, The Thestral, and The Moon // Story: Classroom Changeling // by Someguy458 //------------------------------// Rove and Osmond sat atop the Empire State Building, bathing in a tub of peanut butter. The sun in the distance was crying, but that didn't concern the two at the moment. "Beware which way the wind blows," Os stated. "Seek that which isn't lost, and you shall forever lose what is," Rove replied. The two inched closer, taking each other by the hooves as a ninja played the pan flute. "How long have we waited for this moment," Os asked, with a twinkle in her eye. "Eleventeen days," Rove reminisced, running his forked tongue across his lips. The sun's cries intensified, and for a moment, the moon on the opposite horizon glowed an intense white. Then the moon opened its eyes. "Something has gone wrong," its silky voice cried out, "and there is little time to fix it." Os and Rove did not pay attention; they were too lost in each other's eyes. "Rove, Osmond, listen to me." That caught their attention. Both of them blinked out of their trance, turning towards the moon. "The link is growing," Moon began, "and with it, the changes." "Uh, what's going on?" Rove asked as he became more lucid. "I dunno..." Os replied, recognizing the oddities of their situation. Moon simply continued, "There is but one chance for your world: find your Bearers." "Bearers?" Os asked. "You mean, Bearers of the Elements of Harmony?" "That is correct," The luna nodded. "Gather them where the change began, and combine power to stop the merge before it becomes too late." "What is even happening right now?" Rove couldn't make sense of any of it. "Am I dreaming, or what?" "How will we find them?" Os asked, not paying attention to her confused friend. "I am out of time," the moon stated as she began to fade, "but you are not. Follow your instincts, and you will succeed. "Now GO!" I let out a strangled gasp as I snapped awake, a cold sweat running down my exoskeleton. It took a moment to calm my racing heart, which also gave me time to reflect on that crazy dream I'd just had. "What the heck was that about?" I mumbled under my breath. "And why can I remember it so clearly?" 'Okay, let's go through that play-by-play. It started with Os and me in a tub of peanut butter atop the Empire State Building, while a ninja played a pan flute... I feel like that's a reference, but I'm not sure to what. 'The sun was crying, which could mean several things... 'Os and I started speaking gibberish about the wind and losing things... either really symbolic or utter nonsense. 'Then it seemed like we were getting ready to...' My face heated up. "Okay, just gonna file that away until later..." 'But then the moon... it said something about finding bearers and fixing the problem? Then Os mentioned the Elements of Harmony — are those from that pony show?' I winced as my head throbbed. "It's way too early to be thinking this hard," I muttered to myself. Glancing at the clock, I noted the time (5 AM), then settled in to try and fall back to sleep. But the worries wouldn't go away. *Beep! Beep!* "Good m— ow." Bea's usual morning wake-up call was abruptly stopped by her inability to open my door, causing her to run straight into it. She shook it off, then tried her darndest to grip the knob, but it was far too smooth to acquire any purchase. "Uh, Rove? Mind getting the door for me?" I groaned as I got back up, having failed to get any more sleep. My horn lit up, and the door opened to reveal a grinning Bea. "Morning, Rove!" she chirped (both figuratively and literally). "It's Wednesday, and you know what that means?" My groggy mind couldn't come up with the answer, so I shrugged. "No, what does it mean?" "It's time to call Dad!" Oh fuck. My eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets as I suddenly snapped wide awake, all thoughts of the strange dream being pushed back for the moment. "Oh no, I completely forgot!" My family has a sort of tradition where, every other Wednesday while he's deployed, we give him a video call and catch up with him. It'd been such a hectic week that I completely forgot that this week was the one we were supposed to call. I leapt to my hooves and began to frantically pace around. "What're we gonna do, what're we gonna do?!" Bea seemed oblivious to the problem. "What'll we do about what?" To answer, I pointed a hoof at her, then at myself. It took her a moment, but it clicked for her. "Oh, right," she wilted, ears folding back slightly. Seeing Bea become sad like that managed to snap me out of my panic, and I took a deep breath. "Okay, it's not that big a deal; we can just stay off-screen while Mom talks." "AAAAUGH!" Both of us whipped our heads around at the sound of Mazarine screaming. I bolted out the door and ran into her room, followed by Bea. I couldn't believe my eyes. Mazarine had transformed overnight, but she hadn't simply become a normal Changeling. She was much taller than either of us; her blue eyes were slitted like a cat's; instead of our pale, fin-like manes, she had fiery red hair that fell in strands all around her head; and her horn was very long and curved, with a hook at the back of the base. She was sitting upright in her bed, staring at her own hooves, a million thoughts running through her head. And for some reason, Bea and I could faintly HEAR those thoughts. "M-mom?" I finally found my voice, drawing her out of her catatonic state. She looked up, her breathing just above normal. "I'm not ready to be Queen..." With that, she fainted.