The night was quite long. Jack was awoken several times throughout the night for a variety of reasons. Mostly it would be the occasional manticore roar, or timber wolf howling. The one time he was not awoken by a beast, he was awoken due to a memory of his past. He saw a few familiar faces, of both friends and family alike. He felt so happy to see them again, crying to himself quietly in the dark. What made him so upset was his memories were fading, as if the world he had previously existed in never actually existed. The greatest of his childhood memories, he couldn't seem to find. His first roller coaster ride, his first new friend after moving, even the house he had lived in, seemed to have escaped his memory. He was sad that he missed so much, but he didn’t really know what he missed. Weeping silently in the night, he eventually managed to re-gain his sleepy state.
>---<
Morning came swiftly, and even through the thick mass of trees sunlight managed to pierce through the hut's window. Jack gave a grunt of disapproval; he was so used to sleeping through the day until he was content enough to awaken himself. However, Celestia's sun lingered through the air, as if it was forcing him to rise. Looking at his surroundings, Jack found the Zecora to be nowhere in sight. Slowly, he arose from the bed compartment, neatly folding the blanket back on top. His observation skills were being tested - he knew Zecora had potted the plant he 'needed' but he needed to find it first. He also remembered Zecora saying something about going into the forest to get some manticore venom. It sounded pretty dangerous, but he assumed she had some sort of sleeping potion or powder she could use.
'Where is that stupid plant. I can't just leave it here, that would be going completely against what I told Zecora.' Jack thought.
Wandering around the hut for a minute, he found a small pot with a tight lid near the doorway. It was the same blue shade as the larger pot with the plant growing inside of it, but this one was roughly a quarter the side, and lacked the red stripes. There was a tight seal on top, since carrying the plant with his mouth would make him inhale it. If he were to inhale it, he would end up in water for who knows how long.
'Well, I think this is right... But how do I pick it up with my mouth if it's sealed?'
Jack took a seat, his light blue coat glistering from the sunlight. He couldn't just pick it up with his mouth, especially since there was nothing he really COULD grab on to. After staring the pot down for roughly two minutes, he finally approached it and turned it around.
'Wow I'm so stupid sometimes...'
The pot had a handle on the other side. Clearly it had been used before as well, there were a few teeth marks on it.
'As gross as this may be, I don't really have an option...'
Bending over slowly, Jack inched his mouth closer to the pot handle. Before he had finally grasped the pot with his mouth, the door just beside him swung open making him jump a little. Standing in the doorway, was a familiar zebra.
"Oh hey Zecora, this is the pot you put the plant in last night, right?" Jack inquired.
No response.
"Zecora, you there?"
He waved a hoof in front of her face. She blinked, but nothing else.
"Wait... you're not Zecora. I remember who you two are!" Jack exclaimed, remembering the changelings from the other night. "But um... Where's the other guy?"
A face slowly appeared at a nearby window. Another Zecora.
"You have to be kidding me..." Jack mumbled to himself. "You two do realize that you CAN'T be the same pony? Well zebra in this case but that doesn't matter! You'll easily get caught, especially mimicking somebody so... unique"
Both faces simply stared at him. Apparently neither of them were talkers, and when they did spoke it was only to get an important message across, really. But, Jack knew that he couldn't get the other changelings caught for two reasons. The first one being that Queen Chrysalis would be notified should they show up at the Hive again. The second being that if they were to be caught following him, the other ponies would assume that he was a suspicious subject as well. So what could he do?
>---<
After carefully explaining to the changelings what they could and couldn't do as a pony, they simply responded with a blink. Not even a nod to ensure if they had understood what he had just told them. More than likely the two had understood what he had said and just didn't care; otherwise they had no idea what he was talking about. The two Zecoras continued staring at him blankly, now with both of them in the doorway.
"Can you at least stop staring at me like that? You don't have to be watching me ALL THE TIME!" Jack exclaimed.
It was getting annoying, constantly having four of the exact same eyes staring at you, watching what you do. The response of the changelings was another blink.
'Great. I have two completely oblivious changelings following me. Jack thought.
Without further notice, they suddenly changed into two mares he had never seen before. Wings now had a light purple coat, on the verge of being pink, with a dark red mane. On his flank rested a small icon of darker purple grapes. Biggs was the opposite of Wings, his coat was dark red and his mane was a vibrant light purple. His cutie mark was identical to his partners, however his was a lighter purple.
'Well that was unexpected.'
"In that case, I guess we should head over to Ponyville now, seeing as that's where I'm supposed to be." Jack said, as he slowly brushed past the two changelings. "But of course, you do understand that you can't really talk to anybody, and you need names."
Jack paused for a minute. He had almost forgotten about naming the two. He needed names that would be suitable for mares, and that would be appropriate for grape cutie marks. Remembering about the different wines he had tried before, despite being under-aged, he thought of a few names.
'Mara, Cienna, Pais, Domina, Ruby Cabernet, Rubired...'
"Okay, I thought of a couple names. Remember them in case anybody asks." Jack said.
He then pointed at Wings, the one with the purple coat.
"You can be Cienna." Jack said, swiftly adjusting his hooves direction towards Biggs. "And you can be Domina."
'Those names should pass, they made sense for two mares, right?' He thought.
Without much response, simply another blink from the two 'mares', he continued on trotting right past them. Assuming they would follow him, Jack continued on into the forest, following the rough dirt path along the ground. The forest was a little scary, but at least there were some rays of light that managed to pierce through the trees. Wandering carefully down the path, through the maze of winding trees and flora, Jack found himself with a view of Ponyville once again.
>---<
Before Jack would have a chance to continue, he knew he would have to make his own disguise. Colgate would be around town somewhere, and he didn't want to risk being caught again. Pausing for a moment, just before the daylight creeping through the gap between the trees ahead, he began to think of his own creation.
'A red coat... No wait that would be too close to the other two... How about an orange one? But then what would my mane color be... Jack pondered.
He never really was a fashionable sort of fellow; he mostly put on whatever he determined not to be ugly. His clothes tended not to clash with each other, well most of the time anyways. Coming up with a final decision, he decided to have a light grey coat with a black mane and tail. Ensuring to prevent the mane and tail from getting too long, he gave them a rugged appearance. His cutie mark was an ink pot and quill. He may have not looked like the kind of guy that would have a writer's type of cutie mark, but he had his reasons. In his past experience, he was a great note taker. The new Jack, with his new body, made him feel more at ease. Stepping out of the shadows of the Everfree forest, he took a step back onto the dirt path and began walking towards Ponyville, with both 'Cienna' (Wings) and 'Domina' (Biggs) following him. With his head high in the sky, he felt like he would finally be accepted into the place he always wanted to be.