//------------------------------// // New orders[R] // Story: Shifting Priorities // by FaelaArts //------------------------------// As the trees thickened with the wind that blew through the street, a few ponies gazed out of their cottage like houses before shivering and closing the windows and heading inside. Skid assumed a storm was coming, and glanced toward the sky and saw a few Pegasi frowning at the clouds rolling in from the forest. "So Skid, where did you learn to speak fancy?" Skid blinked and returned his eyes to the purple mare in front of him. Looking back in the direction they were heading, he shrugged. "It helps to know the ‘language' when travelling to Canterlot." The wind picked up, and Twilight shivered, gaining his gaze again. Spike merely folded his arms and gave a shudder, Skid didn't notice the cold. As they walked his eyes moved to a tree they were approaching, very big and very old. It had windows in the trunks and a balcony on the right hand side. The door had a candle on the top part, and the bottom had two lower sections. Blinking, he realised Twilight was making a beeline for it, and the opened the door and moved to the side to let him and Spike in. Spike walked in and headed into the kitchen, Skid paused outside and glanced to the sky. The clouds had come over so quickly, and he flinched as some rain hit his face and hurried inside, Twilight closing the door behind him. "So here it is, Ponyville Library. Now the Maps are over…" Twilight trotted over to a bookshelf and began levitating books off and glancing at the cover before tossing them over her shoulder. Spike walked out carrying a gem and looking very pleased for himself, and right into the path of a flying book. Spike dropped his gem as it slaped him in the face, and it clattered to the floor, luckily still in one piece. He pulled the book from his face and growled at it, before tossing it away. The book would go on to commit suicide later on by suffocating itself. Twilight would eventually manage to perform CPR and bring the book back to life, and it was currently in counselling. Spike picked up his gem and sighed at Twilight. "Twilight, it's not a book it's a scr-"Skid flinched as her voice cut him off, dashing for a small shelf filled with scrolls and charts. "Of course, I forgot that it was only a reference to a chart I have in the library." Spike merely rolled his eyes, and headed upstairs to do what dragons did with gems in peace. Skid wasn't entirely sure, he spoke the dragon language, but he didn't know much about their habits. Musing interrupted by a Twilight rolling out a parchment on the table nearby, he slowly walked over and blinked at the very detailed map of Equestria in front of him. It only took him a few moments to get a good idea of where he was and more importantly, where his home was. It was simply labelled ‘Bad Lands', and it was fitting in a sense. Every now and then dragons would camp on the fringes, but they usually left changelings well enough alone. Skid then focused on the nearest town, knowing Twilight would never accept him living in such a wild place, seeing as he was a pony. "Dodge Junction, that's where I need to go." Skid turned and smiled at Twilight, who frowned and shook her head. "Trains only go there in the morning, and mid afternoon. You've missed the train." Skid blinked and nodded, realising he would have to find a place to sleep for the night. "I can wait a day; I'll hop on the train tomorrow." Skid smiled, pleased with the plan. Suddenly a loud bang sounded and he jumped in mild shock and glanced to the window. Shivering once, he was glad to finally be inside and not out in that weather. "That's strange, there's no storm scheduled for today." Skid frowned, scheduling a storm? "You didn't notice, they flew in from the forest." Twilight turned her gaze from the window to him, blinking in shock. "From the Everfree!?" nodding, he frowned. They both jumped as a rapid knocking sounded at the door, and a voice cried out. "Twilight let us in!" Twilight quickly jumped to action, opening the door with magic and two sodden ponies entered the room. Skid gazed at them, and even through the grime and dirt on the two he recognised them. One was rainbow, the other was orange. "Applejack, Rainbow Dash what's going on what happened?" Twilight quickly grabbed her shivering friends a towel as they began explaining. "The weather just suddenly came outta the Everfree. Normally they'd stop at the edge and dissipate but for some reason they blew right into Ponyville. Their clouds are hard to control, and the entire weather patrol is struggling to even clear a single patch of sky. Our boss ordered us to go home for the night, and to wait and see if it dissipates overnight." Skid could tell this rainbow pony wanted rest, and a little hurt. However even as he saw that she raised her head took a deep breath and instantly regained the steel look of a strong pony. Twilight gave her two friends a towel and Rainbow Dash began rubbing herself down, soon enough she was no longer wet. Dry mud still caked her mane, but a hot bath would fix that. "So why is Applejack here?" The two shared a sheepish glanced before Applejack busied herself drying off. "Well I kinda got caught in a stray gust and crashed into her." Skid frowned at the two of them, and then turned to the map and busied himself with glancing over it. This wasn't his business, and he didn't really want to get involved. "Well ah was heading home when Dash crashed into me, so I suggested we find somewhere to weather the storm, and your library was the closest." Twilight nodded and smiled "Well you're welcome to stay the night, I'd hate for you to go out in this weather, will the farm be ok?" Applejack mused for a moment before nodding. "Ah reckon so, we've weathered worse than this." Twilight nodded, giving a relieved smile. It was then, to Skid's annoyance, Twilight remembered him. "Oh Skid I'm sorry!" Skid waved his hoof, signalling it was alright and Twilight introduced her two friends. "Rainbow Dash, Applejack, this is Skid. Skid meet two of my best friends; Applejack and Rainbow Dash." Skid smiled at the two ponies and they smiled back. Shaking hoofs, they quickly turned to the next subject. "Skid, do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" Skid flinched, and his ears flickered as he gave a smile, closing his eyes and trying to look happy. "Of course I do, I'll just uh-"his eyes opened and he glanced around. "Find a hotel?" Skid wasn't the best liar even at the best of times, which was surprising because his entire cover was one fabricated lie, but he assumed it was different. All three raised an eyebrow, and Twilight rolled her eyes. "We can tell you're lying, and there aren't any hotels in Ponyville." Skid turned his gazed on her and ‘oh'ed. He looked to the ground, his ears lowering and falling beside his head. "Alright fine, I don't have any money and I don't have a place to stay, I was hoping I would be out of this town today." Twilight nodded, as if she had suspected it. Skid growled inwardly, why make him say it then? When she glanced to her two friends they nodded and she smiled at him. "Well I'm sure you can spend the night here if you like, you'll have to sleep on some cushions." Skid blinked in shock, his ears flicking up in surprise. He was literally inside the enemy's home, and they would be sleeping soon. Skid began to tear up, but quickly wiped it away. "Thanks Twilight, that's awfully kind of you. If it's ok with you, I'd like to take up your offer…" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, and Twilight's smiled grew slightly. "Of course Skid, I'll set the cushions up for you. Rainbow Dash and Applejack is sharing the other bed ok?" Skid glanced to them, and they both nodded. He felt a little jealous her friends got the bed, but they had asked earlier after all. As Twilight began preparing the beds, her friends offered to help and she brushed them off. So Applejack went in search of an Agriculture book, assumedly for her farm, as Rainbow Dash went for a fiction book with a picture of a pony of similar build to herself on the cover. Skid decided it wouldn't hurt to look around, and picked up a random book and began reading somewhere around the middle. He quickly became absorbed in it, and soon enough Twilight had finished setting the beds. "Alright girls, and Skid" she giggled and he raised his head from the book. Placing the book down and closing it, a picture of a phoenix decorated the front. As the three of them headed over to Twilight, she continued speaking. "It's still early, how about we have an early dinner and then play some inside games before heading to bed?" Skid opened his mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by Rainbow dash yawning. "Actually Twi, I'm kinda tired, mind if we take an early night?" Twilight mused, and nodded before heading into the kitchen. "Ok Rainbow Dash, let's have something to eat and head to bed." Skid relaxed slightly, he wanted sleep too. Waking up in the forest in pain, finding where he had to go, he just wanted to settle into sleep. As Twilight vanished from view, he turned his gaze to the other two mares in the room and looked them over. Applejack seemed the type that was mostly down to earth and level-headed. Rainbow Dash seemed more prone to quick judgement and yet also held a sense of pride round her. Skid didn't entirely understand it, so he left it. "Do you mares mind showing me where the toilet is?"Skid asked finally, and Applejack smiled and motioned for him to follow her upstairs, where she motioned to a door. "Thanks" he spoke, heading for the door. "Think nothing of it Skid." Skid turned his green gaze toward her back as she left, before opening the door and closing it behind him. It was time to contact his queen. Skid sent his link toward home, and quickly found the mind in chaos and stumbled, almost losing the link before managing to grasp hold and steady his fragile cable. " Silence"all changelings flinched as their queen issued the command. As the hive quickly became silent, he was finally able to pick out certain minds, and their locations. Brute was only a few days away, while the queen had launched clear over their home. After a few moments of gathering the locations of all her subjects, she began preparing to regroup. "Take a disguise and find the quickest route to return home, we need to review our plan. Once we are all-"her voice trailed off as she focused on Skid, he flinched under her mental gaze. "Actually, I think a change of plans is in order. Spawn 666 correct? 666; gain as much information on the elements as you can while all forces congregate to your place. Don't kill them, yet…" Skid felt her gaze seep into her subjects before returning to him, and he mentally bowed. "Yes my liege, but how will I feed?" Chrysalis paused, and her voice spoke to him, warning him. "Ok fine, you may drain love from the ponies around you, but do not make a habit of it. Only commanders have that privilege for a reason." With that, the meeting came to a close and all changelings slowly began disconnecting. "Don't abuse the power" were her last words to him and he blinked, surprised there was a touch of tenderness in her voice. "Yes my liege." Skid headed downstairs and ate a small dinner with the three mares. They talked between each other, and he was content just sitting here, munching on the sandwich, absorbing his own meal. Eventually, they all finished talking and Twilight showed him his bed. While the three mares and the dragon shared a room, he would be sleeping on some cushions layed out in the library. "Thanks again Twilight, this was really nice of you." Skid smiled at Twilight, and she grinned, liking the praise. Skid had his orders now, it meant he had to attempt to get to know more about these ponies, and the other three. "No problem Skid, goodnight." Twilight headed up the stairs, and the house descended into darkness. Skid turned his gaze to the window, watching the rain washing down, before hopping on to the cushion and pulling the blanket around him. Ensuring no one coming down early would be able to see his body while he slept, he cocooned himself in the blanket and slowly began drifting off to sleep. "Goodnight…"