//------------------------------// // CH 20 (realisation) // Story: Accepting Change // by drFraud //------------------------------// Patchwork   The next morning, I was setting up my bed when Night Light wabbled in with a gigantic smile and a visible blush. I was watching him for a few moments trying and failing to suppress a laugh. To me, it was obvious what happened by both the smell, and his wobbly walk. “Shut up. Nothing happened.” He still had that smile on his muzzle as he went to the bathroom. “Just remember to take a quick shower, or you’ll get it.” I heard a quiet curse from the bathroom before the shower was turned on. … I was looking straight ahead. Stiff Edge was trotting between us, making sure that we all were looking as stiff and immovable as statues. Our ears were the only thing that was allowed to move, and even that was in a jerky, robotic manner to give off an impression of stillness as much as possible. “Block!” Came the sudden order and I unfurled my left wing. Next to me, Slow Wing did the same with his right. We nearly clipped Stiff Edge, but by the nod he gave us, that was the whole idea. Bright Sheath in front of me moved with Edge, effectively blocking his pass, and getting a nod as well. “Return!” I retracted the wing, noting the unicorn shields flickered out, and earth ponies went back to their original position. I only half followed what was going on around me, letting my natural multitasking skill take over by instinct while I was thinking. How do I fix the situation I put myself in? Tomorrow I am going on a small picnic with Velvet… and I am looking forward to it. As is Velvet apparently. Out of all the options I have so far, breaking up with her is the most logical one, but also the most painful. “Block!” My wing went up, but poor Wing was a second too slow. “Slow Wing, I know that is your name, but you don’t have to actually be slow! On the ground, count it out, fifty!” I mean, I like the mare, the problem is that after our interaction so far, I really like her. She has this pep that I always found attractive in women. And her daredevil attitude only made her more attractive. She is also very good looking. “Night Front, are you paying attention!?” Stiff Edge was in my face yelling, and it took me a moment to come back to my senses. “I said on the ground and give me fifty.” I got into the pony variation of a push up (which would be very awkward for a human), when suddenly an additional weight was added when Edge decided to stand on top of me. No rest for the wicked I guess. … Muzzles are totally a thing as a guard. You need permission from a superior, and an agreement from your squad mates as well as a written form after the fact, but you can muzzle an individual. They are rarely used these days, but it still has their uses depending on the situation. Especially since thestrals, griffons, abyssinians and some other creatures of this world have a powerful bite. Powerful enough that muzzling is considered. There is, of course, the other side of the whole thing, and according to the history book, Celestia has been trying to squash any such uses. This is why any unauthorised use of a muzzle is severely punished. Which makes me wonder how Impulse continued to do his job at the academy. Was he even punished? Would they even be able to punish him? After all, I am supposed to be an unknown. And opening that can of worms would probably cause issues for everyone involved. And of course, it would open the changelings to the public, probably causing a backlash that would force the changelings into a worse situation which would… “Hey, are you okay?” Asked Night Light from my left. “Yeah, just remembered something,” I answered, swallowing thickly. I refocused on the class and ignored the worried look he gave me. It did sting a bit that he wasn’t punished, other than a broken nose, but I guess, all things considered, maybe I’m just not informed well enough. … “Swing left!” I twisted my neck to the left, the dull sword in my mouth making a sound as it cut through the air. “Swing right!” I hated this exercise the most. The handle of the sword was in my mouth, its taste of dust and cloth all but permeating my nose and lungs. “Stab!” But we had to learn how to do this in case we needed it. “Night Front, front and centre.” Came the order from Stiff Edge. Twisting my neck and sheathing my sword, I walked to the front of the group, spotting trainer Impulse not far off with a scowl on his face. “What did you do?” Whispered Edge. I shrugged my shoulders and approached Impulse Strike. Before I closed in on Impulse, he lifted a scroll and unfurled it in front of me letting me read my own letter before incinerating it with his magic. I showed no emotion. “Listen to me, and listen to me well, insect; you are here by the mercy of her highness and nothing else.” I stared blankly in front as he growled, “I find you trying something as stupid as bothering her again with your nonsense I will make sure you are out of the academy, and if you are lucky I will only kick you out, are we clear?” He snorted in my face; his face twisted with malice. Sensing his emotion, I found nothing good, but it did not affect me this time. I was in control. Only then did I look at him. “Your muzzle is crooked.” “What?” Came the seething question. “I said your muzzle is crooked, sir.” I then came closer to him, almost touching him; I kind of expected him to pull back, “I’m not afraid of you... Have a good day.” I turned around and walked away. I expected a rebuttal of some sort, but it never came. Approaching Stiff Edge, I explained to him the situation and, after some scolding from him, I re-joined the team with our training. He did promise to get in contact with Shield Strike for me though. …   “What happened there with Impulse, Night Front?” asked Slow Wing. I looked up from dinner, and the notes I was writing down, spotting the usual team around the table: Slow Wing, Bright Sheath, Night Light, Horn Point, and a newcomer to our table (still part of our team) Advent Hoof, a blue earth pony stallion with a swirly mane and tail. The swirl pattern was in three colours: blue, white, and orange. I also noticed that some of the other tables of our team had their ears trained on me. I decided to make up a lie on the spot. “I applied for further training with Impulse Strike but was denied.” “Wait, you wanted to leave us?!” Was Star Falls accusation. “I wouldn’t say leave, I just wanted some extra training.” I went back to my dinner and notes, hoping the matter to be done. “Aren’t they already pushing you hard enough?” Asked Bright. “Oh please, Front has been gaining and passing us ever since he got here. Give him a few more months and he’s going to be ahead of us by a landslide.” Horn Point added his own two bits. “Do you want to be an officer?” I looked at Advent and was about to retort, but I stopped and thought about it for a minute. Being an officer meant a higher paycheck, better facilities, more time to put into me as well as deal with the whole changeling thing. It would also put me closer to Shield Strike and Celestia. But then, why don’t I aim higher than that? “Hm, maybe he wants to be the next Shield Strike?” Came from the table next to us. “As if, he’s good, but not that good.” “She is going to retire eventually. What with her illness and all.” “Shield Strike is ill!?” The table next to us looked at me. “Yeah, you didn’t know?” Asked the pegasus stallion next to Horn Point. Light blue fur and hair, by the name of Blue Dive. He shook his head at my shocked expression. “She has the ‘mega mana’ syndrome.” “Oh? I did not know that.” I noticed that Night Light was finished with his meal and was packing up to leave. I hastily finished my own, cleaned up after myself, packed my notes and ran after him after saying good night to the rest of our team. “What is ‘mega mana’, Light?” I asked him as we were making our way back to our room. “Mega mana, or ‘Blue’s burnout syndrome’, is when a pony’s core develops an instability.” We got to our dorm and entered. “Essentially a body produces so much mana it starts oversaturating and damaging the organs of the pony. There is no known cure for it, but with proper medication, you could live your life in some level of normalcy.” “What do you mean.” I flashed back into myself and buzzed up to my bunk. “The pills burn away excess mana, but that is it. I mean there are some ‘good’ things that come out of it,” he used his hooves as quotation marks, “like stronger body or stronger magic, depending on what race you are, but ultimately the body and the pills cannot keep up with the burnout. Earth ponies deal with it the best since their bodies are naturally stronger, but even then they don’t live as long as they could. It’s extremely rare though, like less than one percent rare.” There were a few moments of silence before Night Light spoke. “Why the sudden interest in something like this?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. “You never showed interest in the medical side of things before.” I was about to answer when I saw it click in his head; his pupils widened, and he gasped. “You worked with Shield Strike for two years.” “Yeah, and I never noticed that she was ill.” I was upset at myself for it too. I had a great deal of respect for Captain Shield Strike, and finding out now that she carried a burden like this… I did not like it, I was slipping. “Well, nothing to it now,” He took his calendar and ticked off a day and scribbled some lines on the bottom. “I suggest you don’t worry yourself too much about it, she would have mentioned it if it was important.” “Yeah, you may be right.”   Shield Strike   “I want’s ta make tha’ bug-colt tha’ next Captain.” Armoured said nothing but nodded, and Sunshine was looking at me like I have grown a second head. “H-honey, are you sure about this, after all, he isn’t even officially a guard yet.” “Neither was Saddle when ‘e was chosen,” I stated. “True,” Saddle confirmed. Celestia looked at Armoured, then at me and back at Armoured, “That is completely different, he comes from a military family with a long martial history.” “Also true,” he again agreed. “Fines then, how’s about mah’self as an example: I come from a family that has nothing to do with the military.” “Indeed.” Nodded Saddle. This time both I and my wife looked at Armoured, who was doing some paperwork while we were arguing. “While true,” Celestia kept an eye on my second, “you were a guard trainee of high promise when you were chosen. Patch only just started his journey.” I opened my mouth to retort but Saddle again did his thing. “Mhm,” he nodded his head without even looking up from the parchments. “Okay, I’m done.” I turned to my second. “Do YOU have anything to add Saddle, or are you just keeping a tally on us?” “Both.” We waited for a moment, but nothing came. “And?” Asked my wife. Armoured rolled up the parchment and sealed it before looking at both of us. “While I agree with your selection, Captain,” I hoof-pumped at that, “I also agree with the Princess that it may be too soon.” I faltered a bit. He picked up another parchment from the pile and started scribbling on it. “Stranger choices have been made for the position before so him being a changeling won’t, well, change anything. "But he is also a complete unknown to the rest of the world, and other than the false identity we made he doesn’t have anything to his name.” He lifted his head and looked at each of us in turn. “I suggest we wait and see how his training is progressing. Right now, he is doing exemplary, so he has that going for him, which is nice.” He then went right back to paperwork. “I agree with him.” “OH C’MON!” I threw both my forelegs in the air, “The sooner I starts tha’ train ‘im tha’ sooner I can ‘ave a competent replacement.” Celestia said nothing and has left the room with a smug look on her muzzle, and I was left with the traitor. ‘I should check up on bug-colt,’ I thought with a sigh   Patchwork    ‘Am I seriously doing this again, why?’ I asked myself as I was now double-checking the picnic basket. My thoughts were swarming angrily as I was trying and failing, to figure out a way out of this date. Tartarus it was only the second date, why couldn’t I just man up and break it off. I triple checked everything again. Two juice bottles: apple and orange; sandwiches and some cookies for later. Night Light helped me as I was woefully unprepared for equestrian cuisine. Sugar, while welcome, simply isn’t as readily eaten as much as I could. So, I asked Night if he could help me make something simple. After making sure everything was ready I looked around. I was standing near a statue dedicated to Celestia, smack in the middle of a large square in the second plate. The Celestial Stone Square wasn’t far from a large park that ponies regularly used to relax with a picnic as it offered a magnificent view of the countryside. ‘Why am I doing this AGAIN!’ I growled out in my mind. Then I spotted her. She walked slowly, which changed into prancing when she spotted me. Ears forward, her tail swishing from side to side and a large happy grin on her face. There were butterflies in my stomach, and I knew exactly why I was doing this again: I liked Velvet. On our first date we spent several hours just chatting and getting to know one another, and thanks to Night Light I always knew, due to Sparkle, how Velvet felt about me. Ponies don’t take long to make a connection with one another, and I got that with Velvet. After the first date, she kept bumping into my mind like a pinball, even when I wasn’t thinking about how to get out… and let’s be honest here, I barely tried. I just couldn’t be the heel I knew I needed to be, and even if I was, I already messed things up irreparably by bumping into her on the day I left my ‘prison’. “Heya Front.” She bounced over to me and gave me a peck on the cheek that send all sorts of tingles down my spine. I need to talk to Celestia. She needs to know how much I screwed up. “Hi Vel.” I decided to peck her back and was revelling in the redness of her cheeks, and the giggle that came with it. “Ready to get this show on the road?” “Am I ever, lead the way handsome.” She took the basket from my hooves and offered hers. I took it and we slowly made our way over to the park.