//------------------------------// // CH 35 (mistakes were made) // Story: Accepting Change // by drFraud //------------------------------// Patchwork Celestia was talking. She was giving me pointers and I nodded when I was supposed to, but I felt numb all over. Velvet was hurt, I panicked and teleported to the only place that made sense, a hospital… Looking like a changeling… in a public place. I’m such an idiot. The news spread like wildfire especially since I teleported in front of the damn door making me visible to everyone outside. Now, two days after the incident, I had to go through an interview with several journalists (handpicked by Celestia of course) and I would be put through the wringer with various questions. We already had a valid story that we would go with, namely that I was an exiled prince that sought asylum a while ago looking for help against Chrysalis. I spent years being studied while Celestia worked behind the scenes to ‘assist’ me when the time came. We were hoping that the story would be able to set everyone's perspective of changelings into something positive to start with in order to help the situation when Chrysalis is removed from power. The few that already knew about ‘lings would just have to keep their mouth shut, that included me. Of course, nopony so far knew about Night Front outside of a small number of ponies making the whole situation at least a little bit more manageable. We did not have to do too much to keep it out of the public’s eye. I also had a chat with Vel’s family introducing them to me, officially, and it went better than expected which I am glad for. “Patchwork? Patchwork!” Celestia raised her voice and I shook myself out of my thoughts. “Yes?” I spoke in a monotone; it was the only way to keep my voice steady as otherwise, the panic I was currently feeling would take over. Celestia sighed with a shake of her head, and I was ushered into the room with over twenty ponies waiting on me. I swallowed hard and stood next to her on the podium. Velvet Opening my eyes and rolling onto my left side I winced at the pain radiating from my foreleg. I couldn’t move it due to the cast but with the pain, I wouldn’t even want to, it was bad. Gently rolling to my right I reached with my magic and rang the bell that was on my nightstand. Only then did it register that I am still in the hospital; It’s been almost a week. The room I was in was fairly simple, a single bed, a nightstand next to it with a pitcher of water and a small bed, a cabinet, a table with two pillows under it, and a small side room with a toilet and a shower. Raising my head when the door opened I saw the nurse coming in, Sweetheart I think. An older earth pony mare with a pale pink coat. Her long pink mane was tied in a bun as was her tail but in a much looser one. “My dear, it’s four in the morning, what’s wrong?” She approached the bed with a happy smile but her eyes were constantly darting to the far corner of the room. Looking over to what had her worried I spotted Patchwork curled up but facing the door. ‘He’s finally asleep,’ I smiled. “He still hasn’t left your side; did he even eat?” The nurse shook her head and I giggled. “He tells me he does,” I looked back to Sweetheart who was a bit more relaxed now. “Don’t worry about him, he’s harmless.” “Hard to agree to that when he looks so… dangerous,” She shivered a bit, before focusing back on me with a smile. “Now, what did you need, my dear? Let me guess, the pain woke you up?” I sheepishly nodded my head. I got a nod back with a smile and after a quick ‘I’ll be right back’ she left the room. Patchwork didn’t even stir but I could see him opening and closing one eye, stubborn stallion. Over the last week, I got to see the reaction other ponies had when they faced him. I was told by Patch that all of them were fairly afraid of him, but I never understood why. Other than the claws he hardly looked that different from us ponies, and always had this warm aura around him. He did say that it has something to do with him being a predator or something along those lines, but when I asked him to explain he just laughed it off. He shifted a bit in his corner and one of his eyes opened again, quickly closing it when he saw that I was looking at him. “Patch?” I raised my voice slightly. “Hmm?” “If you don’t sleep in the next five minutes I will be very cross with you.” Grumbling all the while, he got up and went to the door opening it with a huff which got me to giggle. I couldn’t hear what he was talking about or with who, but when he got back into his corner I could see a guard enter along with the nurse. The guard took his place next to the door looking over the entire room, and while I was slightly uncomfortable about it, the feeling quickly ebbed away. The guards were a new addition when it became obvious that Patch wasn’t leaving my side even if, in his own word, Equestria started burning to ash. They changed in shifts and I was never able to tell which is which. There were two of them at all times in front of the door, except, well, now. Hopefully, this will get Patch to actually sleep. He hasn’t gotten a wink since I ended up here. The nurse got to my bed carrying a small flask full of red liquid in her left hoof, looking at my coltfriend, who was circling a spot, with a frown. “I thought he was asleep.” “So did I, but he’ll do it now, don’t worry,” I took the offered potion and downed it without questioning. A brief worry overcame me that the potion might be poisoned, but my Patch was here, I had nothing to worry about. “Good,” the nurse took back the empty flask and began fixing my sheets, “now, why don’t you try to get some more sleep. The potions we gave you are still working and the doctors are going to sort it out in a few days. You will need your rest.” I nodded my head feeling the pain slowly receding, surprisingly enjoying the rocking from the bed as she straightened the bed sheets. Closing my eyes, I wiggled a bit to get more comfortable and by the time the nurse left and the door closed, I could feel the sleep take over again. … I flipped the page with a frown, almost throwing the newspaper away with disgust. “Oh, that is not a good face, my darling, you need to relax,” My mother spoke next to me. She was visiting me today along with my sister, but Bright got bored at some point and left the room for a bit. Mom was sitting on her personal pillow next to my bed and was currently reading a magazine ‘The Canter-Wonder’. A boring little magazine that follows the regular Canterlot rumour mill and its trends. My mother is not much for gossip, but one of her best friends is an author of one of the columns so she reads it regularly. I was bored out of my mind and took up the ‘Equestrian Daily’ that was offered but that turned out to be a mistake. “How can I relax when they are writing such dirt on Patch?” I did throw the damn thing, making it hit the wall and explode with paper falling everywhere. My mother looked at me with a frown making me wince, but it did not deter me, I would have thrown it again. I did apologize though. “I’m sorry mom.” She got up and started cleaning the mess I made, “I know, that the Daily likes to write its ‘pieces’, but…” throwing the disheveled newspaper onto a nearby table she got back to her pillow, “You need to look at the situation from their perspective.” Still frowning I rolled my uninjured hoof letting my mom know to continue. She liked to let us show if we wanted the subject to continue. “Patchwork belongs to a race that barely anypony knows anything about, and suddenly he appeared, carrying my injured daughter to the hospital. How do you think the public would react to that?” She raised an eyebrow at me and I grit my teeth. “That doesn’t give them the right to…” “I know it doesn’t,” Walking over to the newspaper she opened it to the first page and the headline made my blood boil again. “Changeling called Patchwork, a precursor to an invasion, or something else?” My mother read out loud. “You know yourself how ponies are. That got me to snort, “Yes, well, what about our family then?” We had to tell the truth to my family after the incident. Both of us were afraid of it, but we felt it was the right thing to do after Celestia told us how much trouble Patchwork's‘ appearance’ caused. Better that they find out about it from us rather than a newspaper. My father was reserved about it, opting to talk to Patch in private afterward (saying that he is satisfied after the talk), but my mom was ecstatic skipping around and bombarding my coltfriend with questions. My sister already didn’t like ‘Night Front’ very much so her opinion wasn’t changed (I expected some hate), but she did thank Patch for saving me, which is a win in my book. There was a bit of an episode with her when Patch told her that Night Light knows about him; I think I saw smoke from her tail. “You know that our family was always a bit… unique,” She giggled and I joined in. Hearing the sound of the door being opened we both turned our heads. Patchwork entered the room with his head down and I got the sudden urge to leap over and hug him, but I had to settle for waiving him over and hugging his neck to the best of my current ability. “What happened?” I asked him after he let go of the hug. “Got into an argument with Celestia. It was… bad.” “What was it about Patchwork?,” Mom was curious. Patch looked at my mom at first like she had grown a second head only to shake his own. “Jesus Christ, I’m sorry ma’am I didn’t notice you there,” Mom shook her head with a small smile but I was confused. ‘Who is this Jesus, this isn’t the first time I heard it?’ “Is this about the newspaper?” I spoke up in between the silence. I’ll bother him about this Jesus later. “What news?” I pointed my hoof at the discarded newspaper that was on the table. Patch ignited his horn and brought the paper close to him with his blueish magic.  “Oh that,” He casually tossed the news behind him getting a glare from my mom and a giggle from me, “that’s a load of nonsense. Everyone is worried and scared and these kinds of news are expected. Don’t pay much attention to it.” I could feel my cheeks heat up in embarrassment and I could also feel my mom’s smug grin behind me. Huffing I looked away getting some laughter from the two of them which got me even redder. “Anyway, I can’t tell all the details,” he sat down next to the bed on my right, “but it has something to do with the changelings and this attack on Velvet.” Both my mother and I rolled our hooves prompting him to continue. Patchwork rolled his eyes at us, “Suffice to say that there is a plan but I am not… pleased with how long it would take to get it moving.” “Well, I'm certain that the princess has it all well in hoof,” Patchwork opened his mouth to probably argue but my mom was already moving towards the door. “In either case, I shall leave the two of you for a few moments. I am rather parched and the water here is stale. Would the two of you like anything?” She asked picking up the pitcher  I shook my head and Patch probably did the same because mom left with a nod. “So, what actually happened between you and Celestia?” I turned to Patch who curled up in his corner looking over the entire room. He snorted loudly before speaking, “Like I said, she has a plan to deal with the changeling situation, but some recent events made her add some changes.” “That doesn’t sound so bad,” I tilted my head to the side. “The problem,” He got up and started pacing, “is that it will take almost a month to make a move with the current developments, and by that time Chrysalis could come after me or, stars forbid, after you again. I do not like the idea that we are simply waiting while that cunt gets to do whatever.” I flinched a bit at his language, but Patch was always crass when he got frustrated. “Isn’t that why we have the guards here? To make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again?” “It’s not enough. I don’t like this waiting,” He sat back down in his corner with a huff. I couldn’t approach him for a hug or some cuddles (with my leg getting in the way), but I knew that the conversation was over… for now. Making myself comfortable on the bed, I opted to just focus on some positive and loving memories hoping he at least understands that while not physically I am with him in spirit. I saw him relax after a deep breath and I got a reward in the form of a quick wink. I winked back at him while blowing him a kiss and that was the extent of our interaction until mom came back along with Bright.   Patchwork Can’t sleep, and it's three in the morning. Velvet was breathing softly on the hospital bed, completely relaxed after the pain removal potion did its work. They are fixing her leg tomorrow and after that, she will be home free. I will have to look into some medical magic, as I was completely lost when the doctor tried to explain it to me this morning. From what I managed to understand, when it comes to breaks, they set the leg (or any other broken part), then give a few potions in order to promote the body’s ability to heal and some vitamins and minerals to provide the body with the stuff needed. After that, the pony’s body does its own magic by naturally healing and strengthening the broken connections. Only after all of that do the spells come into play speeding up the process and healing the damage. It’s a slow process, but still much faster than anything humans could come up with yet, and it allows the body to create the necessary proteins and defenses for the future. I did ask them why not just use the spells from the get go but the doctor looked at me like I have grown a second head. Apparently direct spell work could interfere with the healing process, at least that’s what I got out of it. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath I opened them up again expanding my senses. I could immediately feel my blood boil as I sensed a pit of void I wasn’t familiar with walking around the corridor. While changelings exude no emotions of their own (even though we have them) the feeling when sensing a changeling is… unique in its own right. Like touching someone’s thoughts in a sense. Slowly getting up and walking towards the door I sat in front of it, waiting for the changeling to get closer. She patrolled the corridor twice without alerting the guard before I decided to make my move. Transforming myself into the nurse that was here half an hour ago (Red Cross, fully white, young pegasus mare with a red cross as a cutie mark) I opened the door and entered the hallway, closing the door behind me. The two guards looked at me for a moment, their eyes widening before I gave them a quick signal with my ears. ~Target. Close. Wait for the signal. ~ The left guard, a unicorn, was a bit more experienced as all I got was a nod of the head before he stood straight again. The other one, a pegasus, had a suspicious look on his face but didn’t challenge me. The ‘unicorn mare’ passed me by without speaking a word, looking through a stack of papers, but I could see her eyes flicker towards me for a moment. The corridor was L shaped as we were close to the edge of the building with the corner being immediately on my left. Turning left I waited for the changeling to make her move while signaling the guards of my ambush. A quick jerky nod was all the answer I got and that’s all I needed. Standing about two meters away from the edge of the corridor I sat down in wait while doing something I was told by Dicty should be nearly impossible: I was projecting my own emotions. We managed to discover this ability several weeks ago and we surmised that it stems from my hybrid origins. I cannot do it for long, only a few minutes as it actively eats at my mana but I can do it. We found out about it by accident while we were practicing my sensing ability. I thought it useless until now and didn't get much practice with it, but I hope it would trick the ‘ling. I kept the flow steady, imitating Velvet's current emotions but it seemed to have done the trick. The changeling made her way to the door and entered. I immediately dashed out of my hiding place, transform into myself, and gave a sharp whistle to the guards teleporting me to Vel’s room. I was a bit winded but I had enough strength for the confrontation. The first thing I noted was that I am an idiot, almost telefragging myself into the wall, but I was luckily out of the danger and to the right of the changeling. The changeling, looking like herself, hissed at me, before trying to make a dash to the window. She got clipped by the opening door though, throwing her off course and allowing the unicorn guard to fire a stun spell dazing the ‘ling. This gave me enough time to restrain her horn with a wad of resin and pounce on her pinning her to the floor. She started trashing but a quick smack to the head and clamping her neck down with my claws got her to calm down very quickly. Velvet didn’t even stir. “Get me something to restrain her,” I whispered and the pegasus guard pulled out a length of rope from his inner armor pocket. The rope was quickly tied around her body by the unicorn securing her legs and elytra allowing me to get off of her. She did not look pleased with the situation or make any sound beyond a grunt. “I’ll take care of her, sir,” The pegasus spoke up, lifting the ling into the air and securing her on his back. “And tell them to bring some detectors when you come back, Icicle, it seems we will need them,” The unicorn piped up making sure that the ‘ling wasn’t moving. Icicle gave a quick salute and dashed out the door. “Good job, sir, thank you for assisting us. She must have entered through one of the side windows and we will look into it tomorrow,” The unicorn gave me a salute and smile leaving the room and closing the door behind him. I was left alone with Vel, or so I thought. Mantis was looking through the open window and I could hear a flap of leathery wings in the distance. “I am always shocked at how effective you are,” he spoke up entering the room. I just nodded my head and made my way to my usual corner. I could feel his eyes following my every move though and when I turned around I saw him sitting not far from me at the foot of Vel’s bed. “What’s wrong?” He kept his voice lower to not wake my girlfriend. I doubted she would wake anyway as she slept through the ambush. “This is the second time they tried to get her to get to me,” I mumbled loud enough for him to hear, “and I am starting to severely question Celestia’s plan to ‘wait’. What is going on there in the first place for her to extend the wait time?” “It is a good plan though,” He idly scratched his chin shrugging and I growled. He knew more than he let on and it only pissed me off even more. “It can be the best damn plan on the planet, but it won’t do us jack shit if this continues,” Velvet stirred, mumbling incoherently but didn’t wake. “It’s obvious Chrysalis is trying to get a reaction out of you.” “Well, it’s working,” I huffed. “I need to do something Mantis, waiting will only make things worse.” Mantis frowned, “Listen Patch if you do something stupid, you could put everything in jeopardy. The plan, the ponies, the changelings, everything.” “Maybe, but the worst-case scenario is something I cannot live with, even as a possibility,” I laid down on my belly, curling myself up, and closing my eyes looking away. I suddenly felt defeated. Mantis was with us for a few more minutes before snorting loudly and walking away. “I need to report this,” I heard him mutter before leaving through the window.