//------------------------------// // Kevin (Applejack, OC; Sad) // Story: Anthology of Graybles // by Str8aura //------------------------------// In a bar at the edge of Ponyville sat a Changeling in a jester costume. The changeling was unreformed, wearing black chitin with clear signs of age and scratches from various periods across his life. Similarly, the costume was raggedy and torn, falling apart in several places and clearly procured out of a costume store- it even still had a price tag hanging off the collar, never taken off despite how long it had been apparently used unwashed. The changeling hunkered over his drink, tapping his chin and humming as he watched the door, seemingly oblivious to the bargoers around him, including more than a few reformed and much brighter-looking Changedlings. He finally perked up at the bell over the door clinging as it opened, seemingly no different from the others save the one whose arrival it announced- a middle aged orange mare with a faded bandanna around her neck, a well cared for Stetson, and a three-apple cutiemark. "G'morning, Applejack." He raised his glass in greeting brightly. "G'morning, Kevin." Applejack nodded kindly at him as she approached. "Grabbing a drink, I see. Mind if I join you?" Kevin shook his head, spreading his forelegs invitingly while glancing at the stool next to him. "Not at all, please, take a seat." Applejack obliged, and Kevin took another contented sip, noticeably more cheerful at the company despite how Applejack nervously rubbed the edge of the bar. "It feels like a long time since we've run into each other." She decided to open with. "I'll say! You're looking different. I like the new bandanna." Kevin pointed out. "This?" She looked down at herself in surprise before sheepishly settling back down. "Oh. Yeah, I guess it's new." "How's your family? Still holding the farm together all by yourself?" Kevin joked. "Shoot, feels that way sometimes." She laughed sullenly. "Naw, I got a little extra help. Dash moved in recently, looks like my brother's about to get hitched- Sis' old enough to start helping me with the more laborious stuff, Celestia knows my body's gonna be shot from all these years of work soon enough." "Your brother? Ain't that a surprise? Good luck to the happy couple!" He jabbed his glass in her direction. "What about your dear old grandma?" "She's... well, she's been dead for a while. I told you that, Kev." Applejack reminded. Kevin looked blank for a second, staring in confusion before shaking his head with a brrrrrr. "Aw, hell. I must've misremembered- I swore it was your Dad who passed. Shit, I didn't mean to dig up bad memories- here, let me buy you a glass. Cider, I assume?" He raised his hoof to the bartender. "That... would be lovely." She took the glass when it was offered and seemed to struggle to find a new point of conversation. "You're wearing the costume, Kev." Kevin started, glancing around and lowering his tone. "Hell, keep your voice down! Now, you know I gotta be a pony when I'm out fraternizing in public. Can't have my cover blown, now can we? Imagine their reaction, knowing they've got a Changeling among them." Applejack sighed. "Can't begin to imagine. I guess I just thought- Aw, nevermind." "You mentioned Dash. You're living with the old girl now? Never got to know her all that much. Hell, aside from back at the wedding. I ever tell you that one?" "You might've mentioned it a few times." "Shit, feels like yesterday." He smiled, glancing askance wistfully. "Back at Chrysalis' first invasion- on the front lines, of course. The girl punched me upside the face, out clean in a single hit- that takes some real strength, to knockit a Changeling. That was shortly before I got deployed out here, when she decided she wanted more eyes on this town a while back. But don't you be telling that to others, you hear?" He jokingly reminded, seeming unbothered despite the apparent secrecy- even his voice was back to a normal volume, once again forgetting he was supposed to care about who heard him. "You get, ah... you get any word back from Chrysalis at all? About your spying mission?" Applejack prompted. "Oh, not in... months? When was the last one... Ah, she's got busier things to deal with. When she needs information here you know exactly who she'll call up first- The Hive's Finest." He swelled proudly. "Feelin' like it's been a while since her last message to you." Kevin slowly shook his head as if pitying her. "Listen, I respect you a lot, but I can't go expectin a pony to understand Changeling matters. Our queen knows what she's doin." "About that... Changeling matters." Applejack shifted her seat towards him, looking him in the compound eye. "You trust me, right?" "Course I do." He confidently answered. "You've kept my secret this long, ain't you?" "Wouldn't dream of giving you away, but... you ever wonder, you know, what would happen if you took off the costu- Err, shapeshifted back?" "Oh, I shapeshift back." He calmly missed the point. "Don't like sleeping in a body that ain't my own." "I mean... in public. Like, y'know... revealing yourself?" "To ponies? Shucks, that would be the most flagrant violation- why, the Queen would execute me on the spot!" He growled, uncharacteristically losing his temper. "C'mon, Applejack, don't joke about those kinds of things." "I guess you're right." She sadly noted. "Ain't nobody but you know about my mission, and don't you go telling your friends about it- not even Dash. Why, if Twilight knew the spawn of her arch nemesis were living in her town... I'm lucky I haven't run into her in so long. Speaking of Dash, you know she punched me upside the head at the wedding?" He smiled, glancing askance wistfully. "You've mentioned it a few times." Applejack quickly changed the subject, setting her hooves on the table. "Listen, I gotta be going. Farm still needs my help, but... you know you can visit me any time you want?" "Ah, you know I wish I could, but I ain't leaving town limits until my mission is complete. Sweet Apple's just a wee bit too far off- You know where to find me, though, eh?" He raised his glass in toast as the pony stood. "Of course I do. Here, tab's on me." She fished out a few bits and set them on the table in front of him. "You take care, alright Kevin?" "You too, AJ." As she headed for the door, he called out to her again. "You're a good friend, you know that?" Applejack smiled sadly. "I try to be." Kevin returned to his drink as she left, blissfully unaware of anyone else in the room.