Michael
"I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME! THAT'S WHY-" my phone blared loud enough for my non-existent neighbors to hear. I quickly slapped my hand onto it to shut it up and let out a disgruntled yawn.
"I fucking hate myself," I mumbled as I slid to the side of my bed. I wasn't a morning person, and waking up at 7 didn't help. I needed a glorious eight-hour sleeping session to feel at least somewhat good.
An expected tingle ran through my nose before I started dispelling my demons. "Achoo," I let out. Sneezing was part of the reason I hated mornings. Every time I awoke, I would have to let out the occasional sneeze until my nose decongested.
I slipped on a simple pair of shorts and made my way to the kitchen to really start my morning. There laid my salvation, my glorious coffee maker. Coffee didn't help me to wake up, but it did clear up my nose.
I pressed the 'brew' button expecting the machine to start but was greeted immediately with the finish sound. "God dammit," I sleepily mumbled. Normally, I would've already prepped the machine before I went to bed. Must've slipped my mind, I thought.
The annoying process of preparing the machine was agonizing. A sneeze here and there interrupting the process. Once the machine was ready I started it and sat down, letting out a chain of sneezes.
Once it was all over, I heard a feminine voice speak nonsense to me.
Cadence
I groaned as light streamed into the room. "Shiny, shut the curtains." I attempted to nudge my husband and found he was plusher than usual. Turning and opening my eyes, I was greeted with a pillow.
It took a moment for everything to click and remember the previous night. Without the adrenaline from shock, a pit formed in my stomach. I wasn't home!
My mind was filled with thoughts of how the empire was doing. Did they even know I was gone? What about Shining, how was he taking this? How would I get home?
Deep breaths. Deep breaths, I thought as I began my breathing exercise. "Ok," I said aloud as I became grounded.
I pushed the bed's covers off of myself and went to a nearby window. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear, except for the clouds over the forest.
On auto-pilot I opened the window with my magic to smell the morning air. Mid-way through a realization struck me, my magic was back! A few experiments informed me that I only had little, enough to interact with the world through telekinesis.
I got a little antsy wondering what to do next. I was a little hungry, but I didn't know where the kitchen was and I didn't know if our host would be okay with me perusing his kitchen.
"EY DON'T 'AVE INEETHING THAHTS RELLY IMPOORTAHN' TO MEE! THAHTS WHY-" rang throughout the house causing me to stiffen up in surprise. I waited and listened. The walls of the house made it difficult to hear anything through them, but If I focused I could hear movement somewhere and what sounded like sneezing.
Quietly, I crept to the door and peeked out into a hallway. The hall was tight and had five rooms attached to it including mine, two on each side and one at the end. I watched as the door at the end opened and out stepped Salvare.
He was mostly unclothed, save for his waist. It was clear he had just woken up as I watched him slowly walk down the hall. The memory played in my head of what Chrysalis said about him. I doubted that she was right, but I wanted to be careful, so I watched and followed him from a distance quietly.
My stalking didn't last long, as I got distracted looking at the pictures that hung on one of the walls of the hallway. They were photos of creatures similar to Salvare except some were obviously of foals.
There were four creatures featured. A young colt and filly with mocha skin. A slightly older colt who had darker skin like Salvare. And the last was a grown mare who also had mocha skin.
The photos were ordered in a way that showed the foals growing up, interlaced with the occasion family photo. It was always those four, where was the father?
Eventually, I came to the last family photo, except it was different. The mare from earlier was missing-in her place was a far older, elderly mare. The foals all had a distant look while the elder mare had a barely hidden scowl.
The last picture was the three foals years later, fully grown up, the elderly mare missing. It was now clear that the older colt had been Salvare.
My ears twitched as I heard a shrill sound coming from down the hall. I went and investigated to see Salvare messing with what looked like a coffee maker. When he was done he sat down and started sneezing.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
His head snapped up to look at me, saying something in surprise. We stared at each other in silence, neither of us knowing what to do.
*grumble*
My stomach decided to make itself known, getting a chuckle from Salvare. He said a few words and then pointed at the coffee maker and what I presumed to be the fridge.
Michael
The coffee maker beeped. "Once I've got my coffee, I'll fix you something, Pink," I said. She looked at me curiously with those big eyes of hers.
I grabbed two cups and got to work. Pink didn't look too tired like I did, but it didn't hurt to share. Grabbing creamer from the fridge and sugar from a cabinet, I fixed up two perfect cups of coffee. I went back over to my chair and sat down, placing Pink's onto the kitchen table, pushing it towards her to indicate it was hers to enjoy.
I lifted my cup up to my nose and the moment the coffee's aroma hit me, my nose started to clear. A greedy gulp allowed me to finish the process, my airways now free of mucus.
Hope Pink enjoys coffee too…wait she doesn't have hands, I thought.
"Sorry, Pink, let me…help
…you?" I trailed off. Pink's cup was somehow floating in front of her inside of a blue aura.
I stared as she downed the drink in one go. She said something cheerily and then noticed my staring.
"That's…okay then," I said. The cup floated in front of me and Pink spoke. I didn't know what to do or think. This—creature (for a lack of specifics) was apparently telekinetic. Why she wasn't using her supernatural powers last night, I didn't know, but I did know things just got more complicated.
She shook the cup and pointed towards the coffee machine.
"You want more?" I asked slowly, still processing the revelation. She presumably said yes so I got to work on another cup.
Once I refilled Pink's cup, I thought that Black might enjoy some coffee too. I did wonder why she wasn't awake, but soon realized she probably couldn't get out of bed.
With a third cup prepared, I walked to the room I left Black in, Pink following behind.
Chrysalis
Changelings are masters of stealth and infiltration. Millennia of evolution to create beings that could hide no matter the situation. While most creatures would let out some form of alarm when shocked, a Changeling was biologically programmed to assess a situation in milliseconds and choose the best course of action-—purely on instinct.
That was what happened to me. When an infernal noise had awoken me from my slumber, I did not yell out in fear like an inferior creature. My body took everything that was happening the instant I opened my eyes.
I was in a house, on a bed, in a room I did not remember being in specifically. There was a loud noise somewhere in the house. I was alone. Conclusion: I am safe, stay quiet and hide.
Automatically, my horn gently threw off the covers that entombed me. My legs began to lead me off of the bed, however, a sharp pain ceased that action. A creature like a pony would've cried out in pain-—I remained perfectly quiet.
I was immobile. The best I could do was observe and listen. The sounds of movement, one-no-two creatures outside this room. An assortment of noises and then…talking. Cadence and that sickly-looking minotaur-—thing.
Time passed and then I heard movement outside my room. Is that coffee? I smelled. One of them knocked on my door and then opened it.
"Moornin'?" I heard 'Salvare' say.
I looked him in the eyes and asked, "What? What do you want?"
He looked at me, unsure. "Cahfi?" He said as he held out a cup.
We sat in an awkward silence, until the arrival of Cadence. "You have to try it, trust me," she said.
Hesitantly, I took the cup out of his hand with my magic and sniffed it, it smelt like coffee. Salvare looked at me strangely, but I ignored him.
I slowly and carefully rose to my haunches to avoid agitating my back leg anymore. I tasted the coffee with a dip of my tongue—didn't taste poisonous.
I pondered whether should I risk it and accept this 'gift'. The benefits were good, I would be able to manipulate the creature more later, among other things. But if it was poisoned, I was dead, plain and simple.
If he wants me dead, he could do it anytime, and he knows that. Fuck it. I thought as I sipped the liquid.
There were a few times I had gotten to drink coffee during missions. If you had asked my opinion of it, I would say, "It's a drink." This…was the best coffee I had ever drunk. I took another, slower sip to savor the flavor even more.
"Your queen is pleased with this offering," I told him. The creature didn't do much in acknowledgment.
"Really? You can just say it's good," Cadence chastised. "I don't even think he understood you."
I took a long sip to annoy the pony. "It matters not. He will come to know where he stands in comparison to me. You as well."
Cadence scoffed. "The nerve!"
Salvare left the room, leaving me and Cadence alone.