//------------------------------//
// Chapter 61 
// Story: To Be a Changeling 
// by PlagueRat 
//------------------------------//

It was midmorning by the time the express from Canterlot reached center city Fillydelphia. From her window seat Sassy Saddles watched as the train crawled to a stop under a glass and steel canopy, alongside a platform of grey tiled stone.

“We are now arriving at Currycomb station!” the conductor called out as he traveled down the aisle, “Please be sure to collect all of your belongings before disembarking!”

Rising from her plush first class seat the pale cerulean coated unicorn used a touch of magic to smooth out her favorite dress, a dark purple number with golden saddle and complementing accents. From under her chair she retrieved her saddlebags, personalized to match her outfit, and levitated them gracefully onto her back.

Using the time she had to wait for the aisle to clear of her fellow passengers, the tall unicorn took out a small compact to inspect her brilliant vermilion and light amber mane for any out of place hairs. Next she checked her purple eyeshadow to see if any touch ups were required. Finding her overall appearance satisfactory, the mare smiled to herself, clamped shut the compact with an audible click, returned it to her bag and then headed to the car’s exit.

Stepping out onto the platform, Sassy carefully weaved her way through the herd of ponies waiting to board the train. Once clear of the crowd the unicorn spotted a large map of the building, conveniently framed on the wall, with directions to all the different services located within the station. When her orange eyes focused on the marking for a café, she couldn’t help but lick at her lips while thinking about a tasty hot latte; and after reviewing an adjacent clock, she decided there was more than enough time to get one before the meeting with her employer.





“It’s such a nice day out and it's still early,” Sassy said to herself, “I think I’ll just skip taking a cab and walk.”

While taking a long sip of her latte, the mare levitated a map out of her bag and unfolded it like an accordion.  

“Let’s see, Distaff Lane…” Sassy repeated over and over again as she peered over her map of the city. “Distaff lane… is here, in west Fillydelphia; and I’m on Hackamore Street, so I need to go… this way.”

The map was refolded with a snap and stowed away; and the tall unicorn trotted off down the sidewalk with the elegant grace of a Canterlot native.

As Sassy traveled along her ears twitched at the distant sound of rumbling wheels and galloping hooves. She spotted the cause once she reached the next street corner and the road where stallions raced along, transporting cart loads of various cargo. One of them noticed her, a colt just reaching his adult years it seemed, and he appeared to be so enraptured that he started to absently drift magnetically in her direction. His cart veered dangerously close to another stallion running not far behind him and there was a loud shout of ‘hey, watch it buddy!’ The poor colt was snapped back to reality and since no one got hurt, Sassy didn’t feel bad about the smirk she could barely restrain.

In a way, that was a nice compliment to her appearance. Continuing along with head high and a little more bounce in her step, the remainder of the mare’s walk was uneventful; save for a group of foals that almost collided with her while chasing after a large ball.

But then she spotted the distressed looking filly.

Near the entrance of an alley, the young alabaster pegasus paced around fretfully. Her pearly purple tail flickered erratically behind her and each time she peered into the break between the buildings she would nervously fidget her wings. When the filly noticed her approaching, the young pegasus quickly trotted over and Sassy slowed to a stop to greet her.

“Can you help me?” the filly asked, her violet eyes pleading for assistance, “my puppy chased a rat into the alley and it’s really dark in there.”

While Equestria in general was a very safe and hospitable place, alarm bells went off in Sassy’s mind when she looked into the shadow cast alley. As a native to Canterlot, Fillydelphia was a foreign city to her and the possibility of being robbed or something worse made her cringe internally.

“Miss?” the young pegasus pressed, drawing the unicorn’s attention back to the filly and her shimmering emerald eyes. “Please help me get my puppy.”

‘Green? Weren’t they purple?’ thought Sassy as she found herself peering deeply into the youth’s shining irises.

“I’m too scared to go there alone,” the filly said, her voice echoing softly in the mare’s mind, “but you’ll go in with me, right?”

‘It wouldn’t be right to just ignore her or make her go in there alone,’ Sassy found herself thinking as she turned and faced the ally; ‘and I can easily cast a light spell to see.’

“Sure, I’ll help you,” the unicorn said, a friendly smile on her lips as her horn began to glow a soft orange.

The little filly giggled as an orb of tangerine light flickered into existence above her head and she reached for it with one of her front hooves. It danced away to hover just ahead of Sassy’s horn and a mental nudge from the unicorn was all it took to send the ball into the murky gloom between the buildings.

Lengthy shadows were cast off the half-filled trash cans, soggy cardboard boxes and other discarded refuse as the illuminating sphere traveled along. It reached a tall wooden fence about half way down the alley where the missing terrier puppy was revealed, stuck halfway through a hoof-sized hole at the bottom of the fence with only its rear legs and tail visible. Nothing else appeared to be in the alley, leaving Sassy feeling relieved and allowing her to toss aside her previous worries as she trotted up to the unfortunate pup.

Then she felt something sting her back leg.

A sharp gasp escaped the unicorn’s mouth and she pulled her pained leg up against her barrel whilst turning her head to look down at the limb. There she found two small puncture marks, only visible because of the minuscule dots of blood that beaded up through her fur to divulge the injury. Glancing back farther, Sassy couldn’t locate anything that might have been the cause, other than the filly, who must have followed her into the alley.

“I think something bit me,” the unicorn said, setting her hoof back down and testing her weight on the leg, “did you see anything?”

The pegasus filly tilted her head slightly and shrugged.

“Well it…” Sassy’s voice drifted off and she staggered backwards under a sudden bout of vertigo.

As if she just stood up from a spinning office chair while on a ship trapped on choppy seas, the unicorn stumbled sidelong until one of the alleys brick walls caught her. Weakness filled her limbs next and she shakely lowered herself onto her belly in the hopes that becoming stationary would alleviate the awful feeling. When that failed and the dizziness increased, Sassy rested the side of her head against the cool ground while trying to take a few calming breaths through her nostrils.

“Miss? Are you okay?” inquired the filly who trotted closer and crouched down to match the mare’s current eye level.

Sassy was only able to manage a slight shake of her head before she had to close her eyes, trying to shut out the image of everything spinning around her. This was reminiscent of the time when she overworked herself and ended up dehydrated. Growing more and more tired, the unicorn forced her eyes open again, hoping to see the filly running off to get help. What she saw instead made her pupils shrink to pin pricks.

The filly loomed above her, eyes now more similar in appearance to a cat’s than a pony and glowing a brilliant green. Next to the pegasus sat the puppy, somehow freed from the fence and silently studying the unicorn with an air of intellect unlike any animal she’d ever met before.

Leaning closer, the young pegasus experimentally sniffed at Sassy and then looked over to the pup beside her. When the dog gave a single nod, as if giving the filly permission to do something, the unicorn’s blood ran cold.

Now only inches away from the unicorn’s muzzle, the filly opened her mouth wide, revealing a set of sharp glistening fangs. A ribbon of pink energy coalesced before Sassy’s eyes, wafting through the air between them; and it took her exhausted mind a few heartbeats before she realized she was the source of it.

Shuddering with revulsion as the pegasus began to deeply inhale the mist, Sassy felt the weight of unconsciousness overtake her. Up above, the little ball of orange light went out as the mare closed her eyes.