//------------------------------// // CH 23 (first contact) // Story: Accepting Change // by drFraud //------------------------------// Patchwork   I was prancing down the snowy street, on my way to a café where I was to meet Celestia in disguise. I wanted to invite Velvet as well, but Celestia wanted to keep today on the down-low. Not that I mind, but after four months together with Velvet I kind of wanted to remove at least one level of secrecy between us. Vel did not mind my secrets, but she did mention that I have a whole mess of them. I casually stuck out my tongue catching a few stray snowflakes, chuckling to myself all the while. I was about to make a turn when something caught my attention. There, on the other side of the street, was a pony waving at me. I knew I was the target, there was no one near me. I double-checked just to be sure. The pony then waved me over and disappeared into a rather foreboding alley behind them. Shrugging my wings, I checked how much time I have left for the meeting by checking the sun’s position. Flying over the street and landing near the entrance of the ally I started to psyche myself up just in case it was something dangerous. I wasn’t worried much though. Shield Strikes original training, plus the last four months of enhanced training I requested made sure that I can at the very least survive a scuffle even as a faux pegasus. Entering the alleyway, it took a solid minute of walking until I spotted the terrified stallion checking every which way, making his head turn like a swivel. The side alley was deserted with only a few large trash bins lying around. “I can’t buzzing believe it,” he finally turned around and I was shocked that I felt a void standing in front of me, “you are just prancing in the open acting like a fool. Didn’t you learn anything as an infiltrator?” Then it clicked for me; he’s a changeling! “Hey! Are you listening to me, newbie?” He asked while approaching me. Without warning, he flashed into his changeling self and I audibly gasped. He looked like less of a pony and more like an insect, with holes and cracks spreading throughout his chitin. No part of his body was safe, not even his fins which were missing bits and pieces in some cases. He looked like my old self, his chitin covering the whole of his body, leaving only small gaps here and there for mobility. His midsection wasn’t colored though so the only color on his body were the eyes (the false eyelid) and the large elytra on his back which was indigo colored. The whole time during my examination his face went from angry, to worried, to angry again. I had mere seconds to decide what to do now. Checking my resin levels, I flashed into my changeling self as a distraction. The other ‘ling’s eyes bugged out when he saw me, and I used those precious seconds to do three things: first I aimed a wad of resin at his horn, preventing any magic from being cast, his head snapped back from the force of impact; secondly, I threw two giant wads of resin at his front hooves gluing him to the ground and thirdly I threw a powerful right hook to his face causing him to stagger and fold dropping to the ground. He wasn’t unconscious, but the stun gave me plenty of time to make sure he did not move or that he wasn’t calling for help. “Now…” I shook myself changing back into Night Front, “what do I do with you?” … “And then you came looking for me, correct?” Asked Celestia as we were using a scrying orb to keep an eye on the locked-up changeling, while I was summarising the thirty minutes. The role reversal left me feeling weird about it. “Yep, could have done without the teleport though,” I confirmed, rubbing my sore stomach. Short-range teleports I can do, long-range ones are where nausea comes to play. Lifting my head I took stock of the area we were in. We were in a spartan room deep in the castle's dungeons. The room was small enough that it wasn’t cramped but that was about it. Next to the door were two short chairs and on my left was a room-spanning table. Under the table were some drawers and that was the extent of the décor. Looking back at the scrying orb our changeling captive was currently lying on his side on the floor. He wasn’t talking, raging, or doing anything. I think he took my ‘betrayal’ rather poorly. “What do we do about him, though?” I asked no one in particular. “Why, we talk to him, of course!” Celestia announced in a chipper tone while moving to the door. “Wait, what?” I scrambled to follow her, “Don’t we need a game plan here? We can’t just talk to him like this.” I buzzed my wings in light annoyance. “Oh please, don’t be so dramatic, my dear. How do you think I approached you in the first place?” She extended her wing and drew me in for a half hug. The dungeon guards didn’t acknowledge it, but my face still lit up in embarrassment. Approaching the cell, I grumbled my answer, “I was in the cell for six hours.” “Yes, well, we were afraid. I won’t pretend that we could have approached your situation better in the first place.” The cell was luckily not far down the hallway. Arriving there we noticed that the changeling hasn’t moved at all. His head was at such an angle that I wasn’t able to spot the a-m ring on his horn. “Could you tell us your name, please?” Asked Celestia in a gentle but commanding tone. How she did that I had no idea; guess that centuries of ruling gives you such experience. The changeling snorted but said nothing for a few minutes. I fidgeted the whole time. “Mantis,” he answered after what felt like forever. “Mantis, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Celestia, and this is Patchwork. We are here to talk with you.” “Yo,” I greeted but without any enthusiasm. The silence that followed was long, and I again started to fidget.  I was about to speak when Mantis started getting up and turning towards us. “How did you do it? How did you manage to make something like him?” He pointed a hoof at me. “Hey!” I protested but a gentle wing on my back kept me at bay. “I can assure you that we did not ‘make’ Patchwork in any way, shape, or form. He simply came to us like this.” Mantis looked at me as if I had the answers, but I did not know what Celestias’ goal was, or if she even had one. Just talking did not give us the answers. “Don’t look at him for answers,” She tittered, “after all his appearance in our world was beyond his understanding for the most part.” My left eye started to twitch at that proclamation, and I wanted to shout at her, but her wing on my back tightened letting me know that I was to keep quiet. I still thought that this was a ludicrously stupid idea. “‘Appearance in our world’? Is he like an alien or something?” Mantis asked. “Something like that yes.” My eye continued twitching. “Yea, right. The Queen did say that you are insane, but this takes the bug out of it.” Mantis shook his head in disbelief, “I mean, what kind of interrogation is this in the first place. I expected to be tortured, and not sold whatever kind of dung this is.” “Whether you believe it or not, she is telling the truth. Although why she would tell you this is beyond me.” I muttered that last part. “This is not an interrogation my dear, I said we are here to talk.” She stated calmly. “Well, we are talking, what do you want? Either get to the point pony or leave me alone.” “I am sorry if we are making you uncomfortable; I will get to the point of this conversation though.” Said Celestia. “You see,” I interjected, “both I and Celestia would like to help changelings.” “Help us? How? By turning our own against us! I didn't buy your first story what makes you think that I will buy this one?” He shook his head angrily. “How can you be this stubborn?” I asked, “We are trying to offer you help and you won't even consider it? I...” I started feeling annoyed. “I’m not stubborn. None of what you said makes any sense. Ponies are the reason we are starving in the first place!” He buzzed in agitation. “We are responsible?” Questioned Celestia. “Young one, I don’t know where you heard that. Besides, I am willing to offer so much to help you, why would I starve you?” “Offer? What exactly could you offer?” I saw Mantis’s expression go slack and his mouth drop when Celestia summoned one of those stars forsaken love pills. I could already feel myself drooling even though I had barely any need for love nowadays. Mantis on the other claw was making a pool of saliva and I could see that it took significant willpower to get himself under control. He was visibly shaking. “What,” he swallowed, “what is that?” “This, little one, is a condensed love pill my researchers were able to make thanks to Patchworks' help.” “So, you not only betrayed us, but you also sold our secrets out!?” He screeched at me. “I was starving, and they wanted to help me. I had no prior affiliation with changelings in the first place, so I had no idea how things worked.” I clarified. He can screech at me all he wants, I did not care. “And let me guess, that pill is poisoned?” “Not at all,” Celestia tried to soothe the, now shivering, changeling. It looked like he was barely keeping himself in check and I understood his pain. “How about this: I swear to you, as a Princess of Equestria that everything we said is nothing but pure truth. I will also give you this pill and give you until tomorrow to think once you are no longer starving.” Celestia pushed the pill with her magic through the bars and close to the poor ‘ling that looked like he would try to pry them open with his hooves alone. He greedily grabbed the pill and with a final act of incredible will, he gave us one last look before nodding his head. After that, he skittered under the bunk bed and that was it. Celestia and I left shortly after, talked for about an hour, and made a deal to meet here tomorrow with a note for Stiff Edge excusing me from the rest of the day of training. I would have to do some catch-up, but it would be worth it in the end. I was also to keep this a secret from Vel and that made me feel a little sour. Still, I was looking forward to tomorrow. … “Please… Please, please, please, please, puh-lease let me come with.” Begged Velvet and I just wanted to give in and be done with it. “I told you, Vel, Celestia wants this to be kept a secret, I cannot just break her order like that.” We were nearing the castle gates, that’s how long I had to endure her begging and pleading. “Oh, come on, you have so many secrets piled up I’m not even sure who I’m dating sometimes. Please, love, I just want to know what took so much of your attention yesterday,” she frowned. She was right, I did spend most of the day yesterday thinking about Mantis’s situation… probably too much. I opened my mouth to object when I spotted Princess Celestia standing at the gate and talking to one of the guards. Velvet must have spotted her too because she went very quiet and pressed herself closer to me. I extended my left wing and pulled her even closer assuring her that things will be okay… to an extent. “Oh, Patchwork. I see you brought a guest.” Celestia smiled at us, and I could feel Velvet shiver slightly under my wing. “Good, I am glad to finally be able to meet this mystery filly you keep talking so much about.” “You talk about me with the Princess?” Questioned Velvet with an embarrassing whisper. Celestia decided that I needed to be embarrassed as well because she tittered in delight. “Oh yes. He is simply smitten with you. Patchwork just cannot stop talking about you.” I sighed with my cheeks heating up when I caught what Celestia has been calling me the whole time. What’s worse, Velvet had caught it too as she mouthed the name while looking at me. Celestia has been staring at us after that with an unreadable expression while I tried to come to grips with this current predicament. “You haven’t told her anything, have you?” Celestia asked me and I grimaced at the disapproving tone in her voice. “I thought I should keep it a secret until I talk to you about it.” I felt Velvet pull herself from under my wing with a pained expression that quickly disappeared. Suddenly she turned to Celestia with an impish grin. “So, he can tell me his secrets? He has your permission?” She hopped a few times in place with glee, happy that she gets to finally learn a bit more about me. I, however, dreaded that talk for several reasons. “He always had my permission… To a degree.” This got Velvet to stop bouncing and settle down a bit. Celestia continued, “Patchwork is a bright colt, and I don’t think I need to explain to him that there are things that he needs to keep to himself. And, of course, I need you to understand, my dear,” Celestia ducked her head to look into Vel’s eyes, “I need your promise that what Patch tells you will be kept a strict secret from others, even your parents. Are we clear?” “Yes, Your Highness. I swear I will keep his secrets between the two of us.” Velvet bowed deeply but she still had a grin on her face. “Good. Now,” Celestia raised her head, “While I do not mind guests, miss Velvet, what myself and Patch will be doing today is between us. So, if you wish, I can provide you with a room until we finish, or you can go home and wait for your beloved there. It was a pleasure to meet you,” She turned around and started walking towards the castle leaving me and Vel alone. “I think I’ll head home.” Vel turned to me, and her smile faded just a bit, “This sounds like it will take a while, and while I would like to see the castle I can do that later.” Approaching me she gave me a quick peck on the lips, “I will see you later, Patch. And then we will talk, okay?” I stiffly nodded my head causing her ears to wilt, but she said nothing. Just as she was to leave I extended my wing and gently stopped her. “Look, Vel… I’ll-I’ll talk, but… Just give me a chance, please.” I fumbled my words trying to explain the importance of this and failed. “Night… Patch, I will always give you a chance. Nothing will change how I feel.” She smiled at me, and I returned it half-heartedly. I strolled into the castle hoping that at least one thing today will go right.