//------------------------------// // Outlet // Story: The Odd One // by theOwtcast //------------------------------// “So I’ve been thinking,” Sunburst said to me the next morning when we sat down to begin with the day’s lesson, “have you considered trying any hobbies?” “No. Why?” “You’ve been here for a while now and all you’ve done is wrestle obstacles in trying to fit in. You haven’t made as many friends as I thought you would and that’s what you came here for! Not that you haven’t tried, but with Shining’s attitude, it’s hardly surprising that a lot of ponies would exercise caution around you. None of that’s your fault, of course, but it’s not exactly an encouraging and supportive environment, is it?” I shrugged. “It’s better than what I had in the hive…” “No offense, but that place is a very poor criterion for quality of life. It’s just ‘work, fight, and get punished for insubordination for every slightest thing’, isn’t it? Not to mention the lack of appropriate nourishment!” “More or less. But what’s your point?” “My point is that you’re constantly stressed out, and you might not even realize it because you’ve been stressed out all your life and you probably think it’s normal. But it isn’t! It could be the reason why you’re having nightmares so often!” “They’re not that frequent,” I countered. “I only woke up screaming twice in my time here! Or was it three times?” “Twice by my count. Tonight, which happened after Shining questioned you, and if I’m not mistaken, the first time was the night after you returned from prison, or maybe the night after that one. Which was the third by your count?” “On the night I spent in prison, but I’m not sure whether or not I woke up actually screaming. What I do know is that I had a nightmare and the guards were looking at me weird when I opened my eyes.” “Either way, the worst nightmares you’ve had coincided with a traumatic event. If I may, I’d suggest that it was more than a coincidence; they were likely triggered by those events.” “Now that you mention it, there were certain similarities- But you said ‘the worst’ nightmares. Did you mean that I might have had nightmares that were less bad?” “Don’t you remember any?” “No, not really.” “I hear moaning and whimpering from your room on most nights. I wasn’t sure at first that I’m not imagining things so I asked the guards and the ponies who live in the rooms next to yours, and they’ve been hearing the same.” I stared at him blankly. “Don’t you know about it?” he asked. “No… I’m sorry! I haven’t realized I’ve been keeping you up every night!” “You weren’t really. It isn’t so loud that I can’t tune it out, and I didn’t think much of it at first. I must have assumed it was normal changeling behavior, but now I’m starting to think you had nightmares on those nights too and they simply weren’t horrible enough to make you scream the whole castle awake. Which, again, is understandable because life hasn’t been easy for you.” “If you’re right, it could also explain why I was having nightmares so often in the hive, too,” I mused. “So what are you suggesting?” “You should find a hobby.” “Aren’t they a waste of time?” “No! Who told you that?” “...I guess that’s how the hive would see it,” I shrugged. “It doesn’t contribute to anything the Queen wants and might distract the drones from their duties, so…” “We’ve already established that the hive isn’t a nice place to live in. This is only part of the reason why.” “So how would a hobby help me?” “It would allow you to relax.” “Isn’t that what sleeping is for?” “Sleep relaxes your body. It might relax the mind, too, but not if you’re having a nightmare. What I mean is, you need an activity that would relax your mind and help you stop thinking about the bad things that keep happening to you and get you to realize that there are plenty of good things in the world and that they aren’t beyond your reach! And it should be something you enjoy doing or it won’t have the desired effect!” “Makes sense when you put it that way,” I agreed. “So, which hobbies should I try?” “What would you like?” I pondered this. Indeed, what would I like? I’d spent most of my life in an endless circle of trying to stay out of trouble, getting in trouble, and recovering from injuries before the next incident of trouble. And even when I wasn’t in trouble, there had always been some errand that needed to be done or some order that needed to be obeyed because failing to do so would result in more trouble! Such a lifestyle had left little room for wondering about enjoyable activities - in fact, my idea of ‘enjoyable activities’ was something along the lines of ‘anything that didn’t get me in trouble’ - and even less for hoping for some peace of mind. But those days had ended, and aside from looking for friendship, I still had no idea what I could do with my life! I had very few skills I could use to benefit my new home, and I’d never thought to ask myself whether or not there was something else I could do, something I might like to do! “I’m not sure,” I said. “What do ponies do as a hobby?” “Lots of things. Reading, playing games, playing music, dancing, gardening, sports… you name it! Anything you like doing can be a hobby!” “Well, I already read…” “You read textbooks, mostly,” he said dryly. “That falls under learning to fit in around ponies.” “What about Daring Do? Those aren’t textbooks!” “Yes, that would count as a hobby of sorts… but just because you already have one hobby doesn’t mean you can’t develop any others!” “Hmmmm.” It sounded intriguing, and I believed him when he said it might help me overcome my fears and worries, but what to try? “I still don’t know what I might like! What if I choose wrong?” “Then you stop trying that and try something else!” “Just like that?” “Of course! It’s not like anypony will supervise your progress, or think any less of you for abandoning one thing in favor of another, or anything else along those lines! It’s not a job!” “...this will sound crazy, but having so many choices isn’t making it any easier. It could be ages before I find something I’ll like! How do I decide what to try first?” “Good point.” He stroked his goatee. “You think watching others practice their hobbies might give you an idea whether or not that hobby is worth trying?” “Maybe,” I shrugged. “But wouldn’t that be intrusive?” “Not necessarily. We could take a walk through town and see what ponies are doing. Something might catch your interest!” “And they won’t mind me taking a closer look?” “They shouldn’t, but if they do, we’ll deal with that when we get there.” He got up and started towards the door. “Aren’t you coming?” “Now? What about our lesson?” “You’re doing fine. Nothing bad will happen if you skip a day or two!” He chuckled. “Besides, I’ve been cooped up with my books for so long that I could use some physical activity.” “Well, my friend, pick a direction,” Sunburst told me when we got out of the castle onto the clearing below. I looked around. Most of the streets looked similar. And Sunburst had said I could find ponies engaging in a hobby in each of them? How, then, was I to choose where to go first? I was looking for ponies, but a building caught my eye. “What’s there?” I asked. “That’s the stadium. It’s where the last Equestria Games took place. Hasn’t Spike shown you? It’s where he saved the Empire the second time!” “He mentioned it, yes, but I think we approached the stadium from elsewhere.” “Ah, right. The entrance is from Onyx Street. Want to go there? There might be some training sessions going on!” “Well… it’s as good a place to start as any, I guess,” I shrugged. “Might as well, though I don’t really think I’m a sporty type.” “Because you flunked military training?” Sentinel interjected. “That doesn’t have to mean anything! Soldiers and professional athletes train much more intensely than would ever be expected of somepony looking for a little fun in their spare time! Uh, some changeling looking for a little fun, in this case.” We’d barely made a few steps into Obsidian Street when I got uneasy, almost to the point of hyperventilating. “What’s wrong?” Sunburst asked. “This street seems vaguely familiar… I don’t know why, but I don’t like it very much…” Sentinel slapped her forehead. “We’re fools! The city jail is on the far end of this street! Shining would have carried you through here that day and you must have been too dazed from his spell to consciously notice any details! Of course you wouldn’t like this street!” “And on my way back, I was so dispirited that I had my eyes fixed on the ground most of the time… I can’t believe I failed to notice the stadium and I walked right past it!” “It only shows how much you need to get your mind off things,” Sunburst added. “Come on, let’s double back and get there via Morganite Street. It’s about the same distance anyway.” They’d been right. Morganite Street was much better! It wasn’t that different from Obsidian Street, but my subconscious mind must have noticed enough details to decide it didn’t have to warn me about possible dangers that awaited here. I wasn’t sure how it worked, but Sunburst surely would, or at the very least he’d know a book that explained it! The stadium was open, but the sight of something that I could best describe as some sort of a half-assembled fence left me puzzled. Sentinel chuckled at the sight of me eyeing it with a degree of caution. “Let me guess,” she said. “You’ve never seen automated ticket control booths, have you?” “I guess not. What are they for?” “Like the name says, they’re used to clip tickets at events where there are too many attendees to have a pony assigned to clipping tickets. When active, there’s a horizontal bar that blocks a pony’s path until a ticket is presented, then it retracts or swings aside so the pony can pass to the other side and returns to its original position so only one pony can pass at a time. A security guard is usually present to keep the ponies from leaping or flying over unless the booths are designed to prevent it, and to make sure unicorns go through the booths that block their magic temporarily if such a thing is necessary.” She pointed to the taller booths at the side. “Those are over there.” So Chrysalis wasn’t the only one who had an object that could suppress magic! “Interesting. Does it work on changelings?” She blinked and stared at me blankly for a moment. “...I don’t think anypony has ever checked,” she admitted eventually. “It probably wouldn’t make a lot of difference to any changelings trying to get into the stadium because they could simply take the form of a non-unicorn and switch to a different disguise later if necessary,” Sunburst mused. “But it might have applications elsewhere if it works. I hate to ask this of you, Thorax, but would you consider being our test subject? It doesn’t hurt and the effect only lasts a couple of hours… well, at least that’s what it’s like for unicorns. I can’t promise it’ll have the exact same effect on you, but it’s been designed to not cause discomfort or any lasting effects, so you should be fine. I think.” “You think?” Sentinel asked. “I’m not comfortable with pushing Thorax into something we can’t predict how it’ll affect him!” “I’m not, either,” he agreed reluctantly. “I could study the blocking spell and-” “I’ll do it,” I said. “You will?!” they asked in unison. Sunburst continued, “I mean, are you sure you want this?” “Look, now that we’ve started this line of discussion, Sentinel will have to tell Shining about it in her next report, or at least she’ll have to tell him we were here and he’ll remember these booths. He knows about them, doesn’t he?” She nodded. “Yes, he’s the one who had them installed.” “There you go. And even if we hadn’t come here, with his attitude toward changelings, I’m sure he would have thought of trying this sooner or later regardless, and I’m the most available changeling he’s got. So let’s get it over with... With any luck, he might see it as a sign of my good intentions and loosen his grip on me.” “Good point. But what if it hurts or disrupts your magic permanently? Or both?” “Sunburst, I’ve spent half my life in pain. I’m used to it! And shapeshifting is pretty much the only spell I’m capable of, and the use of it is restricted anyway, so no big deal if I get stuck in the same form forever.” “Except that it would also leave you stuck in the Crystal Empire forever, or at least until the rest of Equestria learns to be comfortable with a changeling among them, which could take decades! Not to mention that it would only make it easier for Chrysalis to find you!” “Right. I hadn’t thought of that.” I shrugged. “Well, being stuck in the Crystal Empire is still better than letting Chrysalis find me…” “You think if you enter the field in disguise, there’s a chance it’ll leave you stuck in disguise rather than in your own form if you do end up unable to shapeshift?” Sentinel suggested. “It would help against Chrysalis, and you could still travel… unless you prefer your own form or have to be able to return to it for whatever biological reason…” “I could try that.” I became Crystal Hoof. “We’re really doing this, are we?” Sunburst muttered. “I guess we are,” Sentinel replied, activating a booth. A bluish aura filled the air between the posts. “I’ve activated the no-ticket-required mode. Whenever you’re ready.” I braced myself. “Okay, here goes…” With gritted teeth and eyes squeezed shut, I walked into the field. It tingled on contact with my body, and I had a vague feeling that I was stretching it a little as I passed through, but like Sunburst had said, it was entirely painless. I wouldn’t exactly call it pleasant or fun, either, but so far, there were no noticeable effects on me. After a few more steps, the tingling stopped, and I opened my eyes cautiously. Sunburst and Sentinel weren’t giving off any cues that something might be wrong, neither through facial expressions nor through a disturbed love aura, so I looked myself over. Still Crystal Hoof! “Well, how do you feel?” Sunburst asked. “Fine. It didn’t hurt, and it didn’t feel like it was messing with my disguise. It just tingled a little. Is that normal?” “Yes. Can you shapeshift?” “Let’s see…” I allowed my disguise to collapse, and it did without a problem. “I guess it works. Do I look the same as normally? No subtle changes? Or obvious ones?” They looked me over. “No, I think you’re good,” Sentinel said. “At least as far as I can tell.” “Can you re-disguise yourself, now that we’re checking things?” Sunburst asked. “Just to be sure it didn’t mess you up.” “Sure!” I turned into Crystal Hoof again, then into Sunburst, and into Spike, a rock, a bird, and a flower bush, then reverted to myself. “Works fine. Looks like we have nothing to worry about after all!” “Except that we can’t use this to detect changelings,” Sentinel interjected. “Well, like Sunburst said, this thing is pretty big and obvious and any changeling looking to remain undetected would find a way around it, so unless the spell, design, or technology can be modified somehow, it wouldn’t have worked anyway.” “I bet Shining will want me to research our options in that regard,” Sunburst mused. “Anyway, we came here for a different purpose, and I think I see a few ponies exercising there. Let’s take a look!” Sentinel deactivated the booth and we followed Sunburst to the playground. More ponies were there than could be seen from the entrance. Some galloped in circles, some were doing push-ups, and some were lifting weights. A little further away, half a dozen of them were shooting arrows at targets, another half a dozen were throwing spears at more targets, and on the far end, a group was engaged in what looked like a fight to the death for one single ball. I cringed at the sight. “This is sport?” I asked, dumbfounded. “As in, ponies do this for pleasure?” “Yeah, why? You sound like there’s nothing to be enjoyed in it!” “It reminds me of the things I had to do in basic training when I was a nymph.” “Okay, I get the running and push-ups and weapons usage,” Sentinel said. “That was part of my training too. But hoofball?” “That’s what that it’s called?” “Yes.” “It’s similar to prey-catching drills for beginners. They’d give us a small and potentially tricky animal such as a rat - we weren’t much bigger than rats ourselves at the time - and whichever nymph catches the animal is the winner. It was more than just catching the animal; we also had to-” Two ponies in the hoofball field collided and one fell onto the ground, wailing his tongue off. “-watch out for other drones who could hurt us,” I squeaked, grimacing at the sight. “Is he going to be alright?” “Yeah, sure. Definitely! He’s fine! Nothing wrong with him,” Sentinel rambled unconvincingly as a pair of medics rushed to the field and moved the injured pony onto a gurney. Now that he’d been moved, his leg looked twisted in a way it shouldn’t be, even from this distance! “C’mon guys, we’ve seen enough.” We headed for the exit, where the medics rushed past us and I saw the injured pony up close. I recognized him as one who had yelled some pretty rude things at me in my first days here and grumbled some marginally less rude things at me more recently; he saw me standing there and that was the first time he’d skipped the insults and grumbling. It could have been simply because our encounter was too brief this time, but even if it had been longer, his leg was twisted badly enough that I was sure he didn’t care about voicing his opinion of me under the circumstances. His aura of love supported that conclusion: it was murky with fear and pain rather than ice-hot with hatred. All three of us winced at his condition as he was carried away, though I probably winced more visibly than my friends. “...oh, well,” Sunburst sighed once the medics and the injured pony were out of the stadium. “That could have gone better.” “Yeah, he won’t be playing hoofball anytime soon,” Sentinel agreed. “Sorry you had to see that, Thorax. I was kind of hoping you’d like sports so we could train together sometime, but after this, I’m guessing you won’t be so eager to try.” “I don’t think I would have tried it anyway,” I said. “Remember those prey-catching drills I mentioned? I had one of my legs broken on the first day, and another leg twice more, and my wing got torn once, so this accident was hardly a surprise.” “You… had a broken leg three times,” Sunburst said, staring at me incredulously. “In that drill, yes. If we add a few different drills, and working accidents, and bullying, and punishment… Gee, I’m not sure anymore! Could have been around twenty or thirty times altogether.” Now they both stared at me wide-eyed. “Um, it wasn’t the same leg every time,” I added. It did nothing about their stares. Sentinel recovered first. “Okay, I don’t know what baffles me more: that you were injured that many times, or that you talk about it as if it’s no big deal,” she stated. “Why would it be a big deal? Yeah, it hurts pretty bad, but it happens to everypony sooner or later, doesn’t it?” They stared at me again. “Doesn’t it?” I repeated, getting a feeling like something wasn’t right. “Most ponies never break a leg. Sprain, maybe, but fractures aren’t that common. I know I never broke anything. You, Sentinel?” “I broke a wing once, but that was a training accident in the Wonderbolts Academy. I flew full-speed into a wall. My own fault for not paying attention to where I was going.” I glanced at my forelegs as if I was seeing them for the first time. Most drones got injured in training at some point - even Pharynx had been once or twice - and noling thought much of it! I’d thought my frequent injuries were normal for a weakling! But a world in which it was normal to never get injured? How much pain growing up in such a world could have spared me! How much pain it could spare many others! Sunburst and Sentinel had given me a lot to think about! “Hey Sunburst,” Sentinel said. “I’m thinking Thorax could do with a less injury-prone hobby, don’t you?” “Yes, yes of course. Let’s see… I think there’s a music shop in Jade Street. Maybe we could try that?” “Sounds good to me. You up for it, Thorax?” “Yeah, sure, I guess.” “Then let’s go!” The music shop was nearer than I’d expected. A glance at the window revealed several instruments on display, as well as a few books, one of which was open on a page with peculiar… writing? I’d never seen such symbols before! “Are you sure, guys?” I asked tentatively. “This looks a bit too complicated for a hobby…” “I know,” Sunburst chuckled, “but it isn’t that hard to learn the basics. I tried it as a colt, and it was fun for a while, but I abandoned it eventually when I realized my interests lay elsewhere.” “But how do I learn? Are there any instruction manuals or do I need somepony to show me?” “A little bit of both, actually. There are ponies who teach a particular instrument and most new musicians start learning from them, which speeds up the process of getting acquainted with the instrument considerably compared to just trying to figure it out by yourself or with the help of a book, except for the rare ponies with extreme talent. But the teacher isn’t enough, at least when you’re a beginner. You need some musical sheets to practice with before you can move on to the good stuff.” I must have looked confused because Sunburst decided to get into full teacher mode right then and there. “See those books stacked next to the violin? They’re musical sheets, and you can see what a composition looks like on that open page. The symbols are called notes, the lines are called a staff, the swirly thing at the beginning of each row is a clef, a treble clef in this case, and there’s a bunch of other symbols that you don’t need to recognize at the beginner stage. This particular one is a pretty advanced piece and I must admit I don’t recognize all the symbols, but you might if you find enough appeal in playing music to pursue it for long enough to reach advanced levels. The notes themselves are the most basic symbols you’ll need, and though they all look similar at first, the exact appearance of a note and its position on the staff determines which sound to play and how-” “This is all great, Sunburst,” Sentinel interrupted him, “but can we move things along? You’re busting your hump to explain something when you don’t even know if he’ll like it enough to need any explanations!” “Right. Sorry.” He glanced into the shop. “A few ponies are in there trying out instruments, so this is a good opportunity to hear what an instrument sounds like, and I’m sure you can ask some questions if you have any.” “Okay,” I said. “I’ll be outside,” Sentinel announced as Sunburst and I entered the shop. The interior was a bit darker than I’d expected, but not too dark, and I assumed this was an aesthetic choice. A salespony was nowhere to be seen at the moment, but like Sunburst had said, a few ponies were playing what sounded to me like random notes, each pony on a different instrument. They weren’t loud, but I assumed the salespony could still hear them wherever he was, otherwise he or she wouldn’t have left the shop unattended and risked an instrument getting stolen - and judging by the prices displayed, it would have been a considerable loss to the shop! Speaking of prices… “Uh, Sunburst?” I whispered. “I don’t think I have enough money to buy anything here!” “Relax, music schools sometimes let students borrow an instrument until they can afford their own, and used instruments can sometimes be found on sale at a much lower price than a new one. Besides, I’m sure Cadance won’t mind giving you a little extra money for this kind of thing! I’d certainly be willing to lend you a few bits of my own!” “If you say so…” “Now, which instrument would you like to try first?” I looked around for a minute, unsure which of the many instruments I found most appealing. A few had an interesting appearance, but wasn’t it more important how an instrument sounded than what it looked like? Not to mention that I had no idea how easy or how hard it would be to learn to play an instrument and whether or not some were easier to master than others! Oh well, since I didn’t know, it probably didn’t matter much if I was to just try them out. I picked up the one that was the closest to me. None of the ponies in the shop were playing another that looked exactly like it, but it looked like an elaborate battle horn, so I assumed it was used in the same way. I blew into it and an ear-shattering shriek of a possessed timberwolf filled the room. The other ponies dropped their instruments, covered their ears, and looked at me as if I’d spat in their faces. I was about to apologize to them, but got interrupted. “Hey! Get your filthy fangs off that flugelhorn!” The command had come from an elderly pony who had only just appeared behind a cash register; that had to be the salespony appearing to put a stop to my unfortunate attempt to meddle with something I clearly had no business meddling with! “Sorry,” I stammered and got my filthy fangs away from the… flugelhorn? Had I gotten the name right? “Put that back where you found it!” I tried, but in my urge to do it quickly in a hope it would lessen the red-hot flavor of the salespony’s aura, I got clumsy and nearly dropped the thing. Thankfully, Sunburst was there to catch it in his magic before it hit the ground and replace it safely on the shelf. “Now get your disgusting face out of my shop!” the salespony yelled. “Excuse me, sir,” Sunburst protested, “there’s no need to treat my-” “Out!” he bellowed, pointing at the door. “Both of you!” “Okay, okay, we’re going,” I said and rushed out. Sunburst followed. “Well, so much for music, huh?” Sentinel asked. “Unless you want me to sort out his attitude?” “No, leave him- Wait, you heard that?” “I think the whole town heard, Thorax. It was louder than your nightmare-induced screaming, if that’s even possible!” I plopped onto the ground and let out a frustrated moan. “Hey, don’t worry about it,” Sunburst patted me on the back. “I’m… sure we’ll think of something else…” “You don’t sound very convinced,” I said dryly. “Well, I was looking forward to getting to know your musical side, but…” He shrugged. “Let’s just walk on through the streets without specific ideas and expectations and see what comes of it, shall we?” Sentinel suggested. “It might at least avoid major disappointments!” Sentinel’s idea had sounded good, but after hoofing it through half the city, we were still nowhere near a solid idea. A few marginal opportunities had presented themselves along the way but nothing much had come of it. First, Sunburst had stopped by at a pharmacy on the corner of Ruby and Tourmaline Streets to restock his alchemy supplies, and had asked me if I’d like to try brewing something, but then we realized I’d need way more training than I already had - which was next to nothing - until I could show any worthy results, and it hadn’t sounded very interesting anyway. Then, in Turquoise Street, Sentinel had pointed out a boutique to me, and I’d copied a few gowns in the shop-window onto myself flawlessly, but when prompted to come up with an original design of my own, the result had drawn a cringe from Sunburst, a raised eyebrow from Sentinel, and snickers and disgusted groans from the ponies passing by. Lastly, two ponies playing a board game in an outdoor section of a café in Pyrite Street had caught my interest, but they’d immediately expressed their unwillingness to have changelings observe the game, to explain the rules to random strangers, and even to say what the game was called. By the time we reached Quartz Street, all three of us had had enough of walking around like idiots, and since it was nearing lunchtime, we decided to return to the castle and decide later whether or not there was a point in trying again. From the looks of it, I might not find inspiration in town like we’d hoped, and I was beginning to come to terms with having to either think of a hobby on my own or to give up entirely. We were nearing the castle when a poster on the doors of one of the buildings caught my attention. “Pablo Pegaso,” I read aloud. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but where had I heard it before? “It’s an artistic exhibition,” Sunburst explained. Of course! Cadance had mentioned it that time when she took me for a walk! She’d asked if I wanted to visit, hadn’t she? “It’s still ongoing,” Sentinel mused, reading the rest of the poster. “Guys, you thinking what I’m thinking?” “I’m thinking lunch can wait a little longer,” Sunburst said eagerly. “You think you might be an artistic type, Thorax?” “Maybe... I secretly crafted myself a few dolls when I was little, if that counts as artistic.” “Why didn’t you say so? It does!” he replied. “But why secretly?” “Because the other nymphs found the dolls pretty quick and things went about as well as you might guess, and good thing Pharynx was close enough to intervene when it happened or… nevermind.” “Ahem. Right. Anyway, let’s see the paintings!” The tickets were priced reasonably, and though the museum had the no-weapons-allowed policy like a lot of other places I’d been to, Sentinel was allowed access anyway. I assumed it had something to do with her being a Royal Guard, which she later confirmed, so I found it weird why such exceptions weren’t routinely made elsewhere too. Oh, no matter. Time to look at some paintings! I could ponder weapons policies later! The exhibition stretched across several halls, most of which were moderately crowded, and some of the ponies stood around in groups with a guide. Most visitors were too busy looking at the paintings or listening to the guides to notice a changeling among them, but the few that had noticed me didn’t seem to mind. I hadn’t realized until then that I’d half expected to be welcomed with disapproval or protests or to be outright thrown out! Maybe things were starting to go in my favor after all! Regardless of that, I opted not to join any guided groups, despite Sunburst’s suggestion that it might be a good idea if I wanted to learn more about the artist. I figured I could do that later if I wanted to; for now, I preferred to view the paintings at my own pace. The first few halls left me largely unimpressed and somewhat disappointed. The paintings here were either mostly bluish or mostly in red and orange hues, and depicted ponies in various settings. Nothing really wrong about any of them, but I’d expected… what, exactly? A more elaborate style? Different motifs? A moment of epiphany? I didn’t know, but whatever it was, I wasn’t finding it here! And ponies were flocking around to see this? I considered giving up and leaving, but didn’t want to disappoint Sunburst and Sentinel, who had gone in for my sake but seemed to enjoy the exhibition so far, so I decided to view the rest of it and voice my opinions later. And not a moment too soon had I changed my mind: the next hall or two featured paintings made in a different style, one that sparked my interest again. They were still mostly portraits and a few landscapes, but the thing I found so intriguing about them was that they reminded me of decorations I’d seen in a zebra’s hut in the Everfree Forest during my journey! I checked: yes, this was still the same painter! Was Pegaso a zebra with a counterintuitive name? Was the name actually an alias, something like how I called myself Crystal Hoof when in disguise? I was starting to regret not having joined a guided group, but there were none around at the moment! The paintings got more peculiar in further halls, and another check revealed this was still Pegaso’s work. The ponies and objects still had a bit of resemblance to the zebra style, but now they were distorted, almost as if viewed from multiple angles at once or as if they’d been taken apart and reassembled in a different way! “I’ve never seen anything like this,” I muttered to myself, fascinated by this new discovery. “It’s Pegaso’s signature style,” Sunburst explained. “How did he come up with it? I never realized such, well, chaos for the lack of a better term, could be considered art!” He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not really an expert on the subject, but I know the point of art is to explore and challenge one’s perception of reality rather than to simply copy a scene. A lot of modern artists prefer to make a statement with their art pieces; idle viewing isn’t enough for them.” “I see what you mean,” I said, pointing to a painting we’d just arrived at. This one had to be my favorite yet! It was a portrait of a mare, painted in the same distorted style that dominated this hall, and she was crying. No, to say that she was crying would be a pale understatement; though I imagined that a more realistic version of the painting would be gloomy enough, the grotesque distortions of this style augmented her tears and pained grimace so intensely that the painting screamed crushing despair by its visuals so loudly and unmistakably that I didn’t need to taste the mare’s love aura to feel every bit of her pain! “Take this mare here,” I told him. “If she were sitting in the next room with her world falling apart, this is how I’d paint her love aura with my eyes closed.” “And since you’ve gotten all poetic,” Sentinel called, looking through the gate into the next hall, “you might want to see the final exhibit!” I went to join her. The next hall contained only one enormous painting that was partially obscured by a large group of ponies standing in front of it, but what I saw of it was enough to make me stop in my tracks and stare dumbfounded. Was I seeing it right? No, it couldn’t be… I hovered above the crowd to take a better look. The painting was mostly black and white and stretched across the better part of the wall, and a multitude of ponies were portrayed in various poses and distorted shapes that evoked a strong sense of suffering and utter defeat… and among them was an equally distorted but unmistakable form of a rampaging changeling. “What is this?!” I gasped. “Chaotica,” Sentinel told me, hovering closer. “Pegaso’s most famous work. It was inspired by the invasion of Canterlot and painted as an anti-war message. Maybe I should have prepared you for it!” “It’s alright,” I said. “But how is it anti-war?” “A lot of ponies demanded retribution after you guys invaded Canterlot. Purging of any and all lingering changelings, invasion of your land… the ideas were crazy, to say the least. But others, Pegaso for instance, believed it would be pointless and only cause more pain and deepen the wounds without a chance to really solve anything, so he painted this as a reminder of  the horrors that the ponies had endured and a warning against putting themselves in the same situation again if they underestimated their enemies. In a broader sense, it’s also a plea not to allow ourselves to lose focus of what is right and resort to blind violence because, in doing so, we’d become no better than the changelings that the ponies as a nation have come to hate and despise so much.” I nodded, understanding. Sunburst had already said that artists strived to make a statement with their work, and what a statement this was! I’d thought that the whole point of art was to beautify one’s surroundings, and undoubtedly that was true, but today, I’d discovered a whole new kind of beauty, one that spoke to the soul so much more than it did to the eyes! “Guys?” I asked as we were leaving the museum. “I don’t suppose you know where I can get some painting equipment?”