(More exploits of Quill. Enjoy, and be sure to leave a comment to let me know what you think.)
Most of the rest of the day was spent putting all of your belongings in their appropriate locations. You took your time with this, since you were expecting to be here for quite some time, barring any catastrophic events. Through your sorting you came across a small leather bound tome in one of your suitcases. The brown leather of the cover was well faded with time, and several small gouges along the cover helped to show that this book was older than you by quite a bit. Still, it had passed to you from your mother, and you had dutifully kept it. With little else to do for the day, you settled down in one of your newly purchased armchairs, and you cracked open the book, taking a deep breath of the musty smell that escaped the book. There was a different scent present on the book, but you were unable to place it. With a shrug, you continued, knowing full well that a Changeling’s nose wasn’t the best in the world.
You skipped past a good portion of the book, Chrysalis’ rise to power holding no interest to you at this time, since she had told you, and your immediate siblings, the tail many a time. No, you were interested in some more recent events, specifically, the events that had put you at odds with the rest of Equestria in such a large way. When you saw the change in writing style you knew that you were getting closer. When you finally saw your own writing you couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the scrawled, barely legible, writing that had marked your first entry.
The following entries quickly grew in legibility, and complexity, until you started to lose yourself in the memories presented. Then, your page turning stopped as you reached the beginning of the events that would mark the beginning of the end of the Changeling race.
---- /\/\/\/\ One Year Before the Royal Wedding /\/\/\/\----
“Mother, I don’t think that I’m the best choice for this. I make mistakes all the time when I am in disguise. My voice falters, or I say something wrong. Why can’t Entropy do this?” The queen walked before you, leading you through the depths of the hive. She strode down the hall with all the authority of a god, and every drone you passed dutifully stepped aside, offering a bow to both their Queen, and their Prince.
“Because, my son, you are the heir to my throne, since ancient custom dictates that a son comes before a daughter, no matter the age.” The queen stopped abruptly, turning to face you. Unlike her usual mask of either disgust or disinterest, she looked compassionate for a moment. “And I want my son to be strong when he claims my throne.” The look only lingered for a moment before she turned and continued moving down the hall. When she spoke again it came with the same air of superiority with which she always spoke. “And all four of your sisters will be along to aid you. But I dare not reveal who they will be masquerading as, lest their covers be revealed.”
A set of double doors opened before the queen as you entered the main throne room. Its high vaulted ceiling was nearly lost to the shadows, as the small flames near the bases of the massive pillars were insufficient to fully illuminate the massive chamber. Up at the throne, standing on either side, were the two eunuchs that acted as the Queen’s Blood Guard. They are, or were, the only other males in the entire hive. A male, when born into the hive, is judged immediately for potential abilities, and their bloodline. If the blood is close enough to the current rulers blood line, they are deemed acceptable for breeding, and so they are taken to the appropriate locations for doing their task. Males that are too divergent from the blood line of the ruler are castrated, and trained as personal guards, loyal to the leader till death. And, in some magical cases, even beyond death.
Both guards eyed you suspiciously for a moment, nearly barring your way as you followed the queen. Matricide was a known way for ascending to the throne, but was an often ill advised path, simply due to the fact that it would lead to a massive, if temporary, destabilization of the hive.
“My son.” Your attention was quickly brought back to the Queen as she addressed you. “You must realize that I am not asking you to do this. I’m telling you to do this.” You bowed, albeit stiffly, as the queen turned away. After a moment of silence, you turned to leave the room, and you only just stopped at the door as the sound of a throat being cleared grabbed your attention. “You’ll be heading for Canterlot soon. It’d be best if you began making preparations.”
As you exited the throne room you couldn’t keep the frown from appearing on your lips. You begin making your way through the winding halls of the hive as you trudge towards your chambers. As you reached your room you heard your name echo down the halls you had just traversed. You turned slowly, to see Entropy and Impulse coming down the hall, both with smiles on their faces.
“Brother, we were just told that you would be joining us to infiltrate Canterlot. I’d love to tell you who I’ll be taking the role of, but mother forbids us from telling you.” Entroy’s smile only grew as her sister spoke. You felt a small smile come to your own face as she began going on and on about how much fun it would be to become the rulers of Canterlot, and all of Equestria. They both followed you into your room as you entered, and soon the two of them were looking at you expectantly.
“Is there something you require, sisters? I do like to spend some time by myself.”
“Yeah, but mother asked us to make sure you were alright.” Impulse nodded in agreement as Entropy continued. “We both know your views on the ponies, and what we have to do, but it’s a necessity. We can’t integrate-”
“But we could! Think about it! We steal emotions from them, to feed ourselves. But, if we shared with them, I think they’d say yes. It would take time, but I know that we could do it.”
“We all know that it doesn’t quite work that way. When we take emotions by force we leave behind no connection. When we share emotions, emotions given willingly, a bond is formed; a bond that can kill the changeling if the emotions begin to waver. Mother told all of us this. We can’t take just one source, or we become dependent on it.”
---- /\/\/\/\ Present /\/\/\/\----
A knocking upon the door to your home startled you out of your recollection, and you quickly marked your page, and closed the journal. With a brief sigh you pulled yourself out of the comfortable chair, and you made sure that your disguise was looking acceptable. The trip to the door was brief, and within moments of the first knock you had opened the door, revealing the grayish colored stallion on the other side. It took you a moment to recall where you had seen him, before you remembered that he gave a speech at the festival.
“Taupe, was it?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” You looked him over for a moment before you let out a small humorless laugh. “Yeah, an original name, I know. Anyway, I know you’re new in town, and that Pinkie usually throws a party for ponies who are new in town, so she’s asked me to secretly invite you over. Without, of course, telling you about the party.”
You raised an eyebrow, and the stallion just shrugged. “Well I can distinctly remember when I first got here I was most certainly not interested in the surprise that awaited me. Now, are you going to come along willingly, or do I have to drag you there?”
“No dragging is necessary. Although I don’t think you’d win if it came down to a match of brawn. Even without my magic I’m a formidable opponent.” The stallion just shook his head a bit before he half turned away from the house.
“Well, let’s get going. I told them I wouldn’t take long, so we’d best go. I don’t like to look like a liar in front of my mare.” You followed him outside, and as you left you made sure to close and lock your door. No sense in giving an easier target to whoever it was that was trying to get to you, or your belongings. As you made sure it was locked the stallion raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
You followed a half step behind the stallion as you tried to get some ideas about who he was. He seemed more than a bit familiar, and you had to stifle a gasp as exactly who he was came back to you. The scar along his face, the bandages still wrapped around his body, the color of his coat and his cutie mark were all the same. You watched this stallion die, and now he was back.
A gentle magical probe revealed nothing different about the stallion, save for an inner drive that manifested itself inside of his body. A drive so intense that it was almost a magic all its own. Other than that, though, he was as ordinary as anypony else. As you began to near the edge of town Taupe stopped for a moment to chat with a pair of ponies. You didn’t really pay all that much attention, though. You were still new enough in town that they didn’t know who you were, but they still both introduced themselves.
After the brief interlude Taupe elegantly excused both himself and you, claiming another appointment. As you walked along you felt it polite to inquire about the two ponies. If you had any hope of accomplishing the mission you’d been given you’d need to know far more about this little town.
“That was Berry Punch and her coltfriend Rain Chaser. The two of them have been together for quite some time, but only recently did they hit their current peak. I’ll admit, I had some doubts about whether Berry would be able to fully commit to the relationship, but I’m glad to be wrong this time.” As you turned down a dirt road towards the Apple family’s farm you noticed Taupe looked to the ground for a moment before he let out a quick snort, his pace accelerating just a tiny bit.
You kept up his pace, and soon enough the two of you arrived at the barn. Taupe shot you a quick smile before he placed a hoof on the barn door. “Do me a favor, and at least try and act surprised.”
To say you were surprised is a bit of an understatement. While you had been expecting to see a couple of ponies other than Rarity and her immediate friends, you certainly didn’t expect quite this many ponies. And their collective shouts of surprise put you into a low defensive crouch expecting some form of creature to follow up with that kind of a roar. As your brain slowly caught up with the situation, though, you felt a blush come to your cheeks as a good number of ponies began laughing at your reaction. It wasn’t mean spirited, as you could tell from the emotional make up of the room, but it was still at least slightly embarrassing.
Shortly afterwards, though, your embarrassment was forgotten as you quickly became involved in the party. There was plenty of food and drink to be had, and still more things to do. Many of the ponies present introduced themselves, and soon your head was swimming with the names of all the various ponies at the party. Once you had been introduced to everypony you finally got a few moments to yourself to see about finding Rarity, or perhaps one of her friends.
This was a task far easier said than done, though. Before you could find any of the ponies you were looking for Ditzy found you. “Hey, Quill! What do you think of your party? Pretty shnazzy, huh?” (A/N: I am bringing back shnazzy. Deal with it.)
“Yeah, Ditzy. Shnazzy is the word I’d use for this. Or perhaps groovy.”
“Glad you think so.” The mare looked around quickly, taking advantage of her wandering eyes. After a moment, though, they both focused on you. “Quill, you need to take a look into Ace. He’s… different, somehow.” Her voice was quieter than normal, and you had to strain to make it all out.
“Yeah, I know. I’ll see if I can get some time alone with him to figure out exactly what it is. And if I can do anything about it.” You motioned over to the snacks with your head and the mare quickly got the hint. She followed close behind you as you reached the table, and soon she was right beside you, gawking at the arrangement of muffins on the table. “I don’t know what I can do, though. I’ve never seen anything quite like that before.”
The mare picked up two different muffins as you spoke, and soon she was looking between the two, a look of concentration on her face. “Quill, which-”
“Chocolate chip. You told me once before that you liked chocolate chip more than any type of berry. And since the two you have are chocolate chip and blueberry…”
“Right! Chocolate chip it is. And as far as Ace goes, just do what you can; and if you need a letter sent to the Princesses, to see if they know what to do, let me know. I can get it there as fast as possible, with no distractions or delays.” You turn to face the mare, and then you let out a snort. “Alright, fine. Tops one muffin break.”
You smile at the mare, and then you look back at the crowd of ponies as some dance to the music, and some just socialize, chatting with their myriad of friends. Through the crowds you manage to spot Rarity’s uniquely styled mane, and so you quickly excuse yourself from Ditzy’s company before you start making your way across the barn. As you head over you hear Ditzy say something, but her words are lost to the crowd and the music.
After a few moments, and several muttered excuses, you reach the alabaster unicorn. She’s talking with Twilight and Rainbow Dash, both of whom seem quite interested in what Rarity has to say. You trot up to them with a smile on your face, and the conversation quickly stops as you approach. Rainbow Dash just glares at you, albeit slightly less intensely than normal. Twilight gives you a smile, and Rarity smiles as well. “Oh, hello Quill. Are you enjoying your party?” Twilight is the first to speak, and so you look to her as you answer.
“I am, actually. I wasn’t expecting this many ponies though. When Taupe…” You slowly brought a hoof to your face and then you continued. “He didn’t tell me there would be this many. And now I told all of you that Taupe told me that I was coming to a party. Just, don’t tell him, okay?” The mares share quick glances before they agree. After your brief mistake things went much more smoothly, with the mares continuing their conversation about who they thought might be a good match for Fluttershy and Pinkie, seeing as how those two were the only ones who didn’t have a stallion of their own.
When you realized just what they were talking about you quickly excused yourself from the conversation, realizing that not only did this not interest you, it was probably something that you shouldn’t know, since you’d already found that keeping secrets wasn’t your forte now, just like all those years ago. Instead, you searched for some stallions to keep company with. As luck would have it, you spotted Storm a short distance away, chatting with a simply massive red stallion.
At your approach the two looked at you, and then they shared a quick glance before they both looked back at you. “Hey, Quill. This is Big Macintosh. He and I were just about to head out back to see if we could maybe do some things a bit more masculine in nature.” You raised an eyebrow before Storm continued. “Ya’ know, drinking some cider and arm wrestling. Generally acting like mules until our respective mares come to collect us.”
“Ah. I see. Well, then I suppose I can join.” You reflect on your brief visits to the bar back in your old home, and then the faces of the opponents you’d seen Tumble crush beneath his immense strength. “But I think that I’ll watch before I decide to pit my strength against your own. I doubt I’m quite as tough as you.” Storm smirked before he motioned for you to follow. You allowed yourself a smile as well. Many of the opponents that had gone up against Tumble had first taken you, claiming that a weakling unicorn stood no chance.
How wrong they all were. You and Tumble had made quite a few bits claiming that they could beat you. As a unicorn, or at least by looking like one, it was often felt that you’d be quite weak, since you had magic to do all the hard stuff for you.
As you reached the back of the barn you saw that there was a table, as well as two stumps next to it. There was already a small group of stallions surrounding it, and a few shot curious glances your way. Storm approached the group first, and then he began to speak. “Alright, gents. We’ve got ourselves a nice little group here, so I suggest we get started. Ten bits buys you in, and winner takes all. Rounds last till a hoof hits the table. We play best two of three rounds, and we play right hoof only. Loser of each round has to bring back the cider. We all clear?”
A round of affirmatives sounded out, and then Big Mac approached the table, standing next to it, but not taking a seat. “Since we all know that we can’t top Mac, he’ll be judging. First up… Taupe, and Ace. I’ve been dying to see you two go at it.” The two stallions quickly approached the table, and then they glared at each other for a moment before smiling and shaking hooves. You smiled as well, all but certain that you’d just won yourself quite a few bits.
(I came absurdly close to having the reveal be this chapter. But then I decided that I'd make you wait a bit longer. When will it happen, you wonder? I'll be honest with you. I don't know just yet.)
(Also, vote for who you want to win. Taupe, or Ace.)