//------------------------------// // CH 11 (beginnings of a solution) // Story: Accepting Change // by drFraud //------------------------------// Shield Strike We watched as Patchwork did his advanced magic practice today. Sunshine was sitting next to me, sipping on her leaf water, her wing over my back. I was drafting up some orders with my hoof (‘love that little trick’). Normally we would be in the office, writing this up, but Sunshine said that she is interested in bug-colt’s progress. I have to say, since his last ‘molt’ two months ago the bug-colt has been galloping on full tilt. Going through all of my training and tests without a hitch, learning how to change into impressive stuff (‘I saw him change into a teenage dragon a few days ago, looked very cool’), and trying to learn new moves with his changeling magic. He’s a bit taller now, almost adult size, with a good physique. His muscles could use some more work, but I’ve already put him through the wringer yesterday. No point in burning him out when he’s got so much on his plate already. I hear a soft clink. I turned my ear to Sunshine and twitched it to let her know I was listening. “You know, my dear…” “No, I don’ts.” That got me a gentle tap with her wing. I could see her shaking her head from the corner of my eye. I stretched my neck and gave her a soft peck on her cheek, receiving a happy hum and a nuzzle as a reward. “I am reconsidering his request to be accepted into the guard.” I shook my own head and dropped the quill I was holding. “I don’t see why ya’ can’t just accepting him…” “Accept, dear.” “Whatever…” I rolled up the finished report and wrapped it with a golden-yellow strip. “And I cannot just accept him simply due to both his situation and him being a changeling…” “Hybrid, and that’s all a load of horse apples. I have everything from Minotaurs to Abyssinians in my guard, one changeling ain’t gonna makes things worse or different in any way.” “Maybe not for us, my dear, but some of the nobles would certainly raise a fuss over it.” She sighed. We both raised our heads to look at the hybrid. He was animatedly talking to Armoured Saddle pointing at his mouth with one of his claws. I remember him saying something about an ability he was sure would work, but I wasn’t paying attention at the time. My eyebrows shot up when I saw him belch out a gout of blue flame that sparked. My second was silent for a moment and then two of them started practically vibrating with excitement. I shook my head at the two foals. “He’s guard material, I tells ya.” Looking at my wife, I saw her sipping her tea again with a thoughtful look on her muzzle. “Oh sure, he ain’t as fast, strong or as good with magic, but he’s got a good ‘ead on him. I swears Sunshine, he’ll do fine.” I can feel her eyes on me as I focus back on the paperwork in front of me. As I told her, he may not be as fast, as strong, or as magical as a pony, but he has a good average on all three. He’s more durable than a unicorn, he can fly, and he can do magic, so he’s got a huge advantage. As an added bonus, he can change and shift to other forms, and I’ve seen him wrestle during sparring practice two days ago. He shifted and changed so fast the earth pony he was up against was down on the ground before he even knew what happened. “You seem to be developing quite an interest in his progress,” I heard her say in between sips. “You have been spending so much time here I’m starting to wonder, my dear.” “Hah! You’re one to speak. Needs I remind you, honey, that youse come here twice a week ta’ talk with ’im.” I stood up, shaking myself from head to tail. Hunching over the papers made me feel stiff every time. “I have not, nor will ever deny that I have vested interest in him.” “Tha’s one way of puttings it.” I lifted my head to see Patchwork blast out two more impressive fireballs, each one creating stronger sparks. I couldn’t hear what Armoured and he were talking about, but I about jumped out of my fur when he suddenly shot a bolt of lightning out of his mouth, hitting the nearby wall, causing an impressive crack to appear. Celestia did a spit take, which I would normally find funny, but I was too busy staring in awe at Patchwork’s new trick. “Sun above, he’s turning himself into a weapon.” I heard my wife mutter with distaste. She used her magic to clean the spilled tea as well as to dab her fur with a napkin. “Tha’s tha real problem, ‘innit? Not that ‘es a Changeling, but tha’ them nobles will flip when they sees him. A powerful individual tha’ ain’t a pony, becoming a guard or something more.” I saw her mutter something under her breath before she turned to me, “It’s not that simple, honey…” “It’s plenty simple, Celestia.” I saw Patch pant heavily as Saddle offered him water. I turned to my wife and puffed out my chest. “The colt wants ta’ be a guards, he gets ta’ be a guard. I’ve mades it clear ta’ them years ago tha’ it’s MY guard, and MY decision and youse agreed.” She opened her mouth, but I cut her off. “Iffn’ ya don’t wants to see the bug-colt hurt, I gets ya, I’m OK with tha’. But don’t go making me a liar in front of ‘im.” She looked ready to protest, but Celestia kept her muzzle shut, a deep frown looking at me. I knew what the real problem was. I knew that she was worried about a host of things when the hybrid leaves this room. He’s endeared himself to her, and she, the mother hen that she is, ate it up. I have to say, the bug-colt is everything I want in a guard, loyal, protective, kind, and capable. Spending time with him got me to care for him as well. Especially since he keeps acting like a teenager instead of an adult he’s supposed to be… Makes it extremely easy to like him. There is also the threat of the other of his kind that keeps looming over our heads. There is little doubt in my mind that the moment changelings find out about him that they will try to either ‘free’ him or worse. In either case, none of us wanted that… But Celestia needed to remember that this IS an adult and that this adult is becoming very capable with his abilities. Celestia gave off a loud ‘hmm’ which shook me from my thoughts. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, scratching my tattoo with my right hoof. “Maybe not a changeling then…” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully with her primary feathers. “They are going to find out eventually,” I stated, dropping my fake accent. “Yes they are, but it will give us time to organize a few things around, surround him with ponies all of us can trust.” “Pulling a lot of strings for ‘im, ain’t ya?” I snickered. “You can consider it payment rendered for all the information provided. He has helped us tremendously; I may as well reward him.” Yes, he helped indeed. Three ponies were recently found and saved from the changelings, by using this newfound knowledge. It means less food for them, but I try not to think about it too much. My job is to protect the ponies and other creatures that rely on us to keep them safe. The Changelings are… were an enemy. Now though, they are a problem. A problem we can manage better, but the side effects may be… troublesome. I heard from Sunshine that she may have a solution in the works, but so far I haven’t looked too deep into it. Hopefully, it can help everycreature. We kept watching as Patchwork continued his practice and development. I had plans for the bug-colt, but for now, they will stay as plans only. —---------------------------------- Celestia I have been going over the recent reports my spymaster brought me regarding the search for changelings in Equestria. We have had success after success at locating them and returning the ponies they have captured. In return, we left them a couple of bottles of pure love I got from Patchwork. He doesn’t know why I asked him to keep making them, but then again, he did not ask why either. I think he may have an idea, though. Chrysalis has not been making any moves to change this as of yet, which is worrying. She should be getting an idea that not everything is going according to her plans, whichever those are. Which makes her lack of movement all the more concerning. But I may be jumping to conclusions too soon. The Badlands aren’t nearly as close as one would think, and our successes have been fairly recent. I wrote down a note for my spymaster to keep an eye on the changelings leaving Equestria, and I will hope for the best, whilst preparing for the worst. If Chrysalis finds out about Patchwork, it will put him in great jeopardy. And I can’t have that. He does not deserve the trouble this situation could bring upon his head. Putting the changeling reports to the side I picked up a stack of reports regarding the recent noble activities pertaining to our secret little operation. So far, other than Shields’ cousin Impulse no other nobles caught a whiff of my project, and Impulse wisely decided to keep his muzzle shut. My Shield probably had something to do with it, but I will not question good providence. There have been a few curious prods into it by some overly nosy small noble houses, but my contingencies have held thus far. I will have to ask my wife to go through her ‘darker’ connections, as I have no wish to use them myself… yet. Three sharp knocks on my office door snapped me out of my thoughts. “Come in,” I raised my voice slightly, cleaning up my desk to some level of decency. My spymaster entered with a toothy grin. “We found one that would fit all your needs, your Highness.” Shaded Wing is an old thestral war pony, now just a year away from his retirement as the captain of Night Guard. His indigo-colored fur and his pitch-black mane and tail were stripped with greys. His golden-slitted eyes were still bright and filled with life, carrying over a century’s worth of experience in them. It would be painful to see him leave my service, but his successor, Shadow Step, is proving to be quite the mare herself. “That was impressively fast, my friend. Who did you find?” I asked, crossing my forehooves in front of me. Thankfully, my desk was just the right height for it not to be uncomfortable. “Just a member of a small noble house. He recently applied at a recruiter to join the Guard.” Shaded reported, approaching the desk with a skip in his step. “He is everything you need: a stellar family record, curious, kind, and studious. The Night family has regularly stood for protecting non-ponies and were your staunch supporters over the years.” He stated, dropping the rolled parchment with the pony’s information in front of me. I unrolled it, reading the name written down: Night Light. —---------------------------------- I was looking through the scrying orb at Patchwork. I had a brief break from my usual duties and wanted to check up on him during a small break. I was chewing on a simple, but delectable meal, giggling at his antics all the while. Patchwork, a now nearly fully adult stallion, a fairly capable changeling shapeshifter, is currently playing with a ball. It must have been enchanted as it hasn’t been punctured by his horn the few times he hit the ball with it. He was kicking, shuffling, pushing, throwing, and even pouncing and playfully biting on it. It was such an adorable spectacle that I caught myself ‘aww-ing’ at it a few times. I even requested a small extension to my break so that I can marvel at his foalishness. “Hun, have ya’ seen ma’ pills anywhere?” I head coughing behind me. Looking over my shoulder I spotted my wife exiting the bathroom of my private bedroom, coughing a blue sparkly mist all the while. A frown touched my face as I quickly magicked her pills in front of her, causing her to stumble into them. “Ah, thanks.” Was a quick reply before she went back into the bathroom. I shook my head morosely, dispelling the scrying orb and getting up from my comfortable pillow, ignoring the few leftover morsels of my brunch. I knocked on the bathroom door and entered without waiting for a reply. My beautiful wife was hunched over in the shower, breathing heavily as the water cascaded down her powerful form. I shamelessly admired her beauty before I entered the shower, regalia, and all. I nuzzled then kissed the top of her head sighing worriedly. “Honey…” “Oi, none of that, you hear!” Was her immediate reaction. She raised her head up along with mine and gave me a kiss on my lower jaw. “I got at least a decade left in me. Plenty of time to get sick of me.” She laughed. “I can never get sick of you, my dearest.” I sighed again, hugging her tightly with both my hooves and wings. She squirmed in protest but stopped after I used my magic to remove my regalia. “But if you remove that tattoo of yours I will be inclined to keep you a tad longer.” “HA! Not happening.” She laughed, coughing stopping her halfway. I held her tightly until her cough’s stopped, the mist slowly dissipating until nothing came out. She then relaxed, and I began the slow, but enjoyable process of washing her. “Ya keep spoiling me like this Sunshine and I’ll never leave your room, ya hear me.” She lazily threatened. “You protest and threaten me with such wonderful promises, darling, but you never go through with them. It is quite unladylike to tempt me like this, you know?” I kissed one of her hooves after I washed it. “So long as it tempts ya…” A sharp knocking on the door interrupted our moment, “Your highness, I am really sorry, but Lord Beak is getting rather unamused.” Came the meek voice of my assistant, Parchment. I sighed before looking at my wife, who surprised me with a nice kiss on the lips. “Go, my Sunshine. The worst of it done with, I can handle it from here,” Was her assurance. “Okay then.” I kissed her one more time before I removed myself from the water. With a quick burst of magic, I dried myself and donned my regalia again before looking at Shield over my shoulder. “Just remember to wait a few minutes before going outside. Remember what happened last time you coughed near one of my plants.” “Yeah, yeah.” She waved me off with a hoof a twitch of her tail. —---------------------------------- Armoured Saddle I entered Patchwork’s small apartment, dropping the saddlebags I carried on the coffee table for easy reach. “Give me one moment, sir, I’ll be right there.” I heard from the toilet before the sound of heaving reached my ears. “Take your time.” I sat down on the sofa and started removing the books from the saddlebag. Patchwork came out of the toilet, carrying four bottles filled to the brim with a pink glowing liquid. He put them on the coffee table, near the bags, and promptly sat down on the couch. “So, what is all this about, sir? And what’s with the books?” I pulled the, now empty, saddlebags towards me and put the glowing bottles of love into them. Turning to him, I pushed the five books in his direction on the table. “These five books will be your study material for the next couple of months.” He looked at them with concern and I shared his pain. The books were fairly large, and it took me months of study just to barely pass the exam. “I know how you feel, but if you wish to pass the written exam for the Guard, you will have to go through them.” “Written exam?” He asked, using his magic to put the books on the bookshelf. “Yes,” I nodded, “the entry to the Guard goes through three exams: first the written one, then the physical, and lastly a sparring match.” I shifted a bit on the sofa making myself comfortable. “The exams are more of a test to see where the individual needs improvement during the course, but you are expected to pass at least the first two.” “That is a rather strange way to test ponies, sir.” He pursed his lips. “It may seem that way to you, yes, but we prefer to separate the good from the bad during the course, rather than before it.” He raised a shaky eyebrow looking very suspiciously at me. “I understand how you may feel about it. But some ponies do not perform as well during such stressful exams but improve and even excel over the course of the training program.” “Okay… But wouldn’t that prove that said ponies cannot work in a stressful situation in the first place?” I laughed at his worrying expression. “You needn’t worry, Patch,” I shook my head, “There is a minimum requirement for the exams in the first place, and secondly you will be put through plenty of ‘stressful’ situations during the training phase.” That seemed to mollify him as he relaxed a bit, but still carrying an air of suspicion about him. We never asked about the military of his world. We should rectify that before the course starts. “In either case, Patch, you have months before this whole thing begins and the recruiting is done year-round. You just focus on the books for now and training as they come.” “Sounds to me like I’ll have quite a bit of pull entering the Guard training. I'm not sure how I feel about it.” He rubbed his forelegs anxiously. I understood his feelings, I felt the same first time my father practically rigged the tests in my favor. It took years before I felt worthy of the armor I wore, but that’s in the past. “You may feel that way, Patch. But keep in mind that you are a complete unknown in the Equestria and its legality. Even if the other changelings found you, you would not be recognized.” He shifted uncomfortably but didn’t contradict me. “Right now, Princess Celestia is working not only on creating you a good cover-up but also a birth certificate, creating a cover story for your past, etc, etc. Trust me, you will need all the help you can get when entering the Guard.” He nodded his head dejectedly and I got up from the sofa. I put the saddlebags with the bottles on my withers and walked closer to him, putting my hoof on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t let this get you down. You will be tested plenty when you DO enter. For now, just focus on the stuff that comes along, the rest will come after.” I saw him give a sheepish smile and I nodded my head with a smile of my own. After that, I took my leave after a bit of small talk.