My plan was to feed off of Pinkie Pie when she came to visit so I could try to use the levitation spell Twilight told me to learn, but there was one problem: I had no idea when she'd arrive. So, I had to find a way to pass the time. Luckily, Twilight had brought four textbooks I could read to do just that. History, science, biology and chemistry… Why did she only bring me educational books? Oh well; it's either this or nothing. I guess I'll start with history; knowing Equestria’s past could be useful.
I leaned over the side of the bed and picked up the books one at a time, placing them on my lap. Using my right foreleg, I opened the history book and began to read. I started as far back as the book went, which was more than a thousand years ago, when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated the spirit of chaos known as Discord.
After that the Equestrians made them their rulers. Some time later, Princess Luna became jealous of Princess Celestia and attempted to bring eternal night to the world only for Celestia to defeat her and imprison her on the moon for a thousand years.
My reading was interrupted when I smelled something else in the room: it was food of some kind, accompanied by nervousness. I looked up and saw an earth pony nurse standing in the doorway. She had white fur and nurse clothes, a yellow mane and tail, and a tray of food on her back. Her nervousness was increased by me looking at her.
“In case you're wondering, there's already someone with the job of ‘Door Guard.’ Though I don't know where he went,” I said noticing that Striker was still off his post. Maybe I should tell Princess Celestia about his slacking off. “So are you supposed to be bringing me breakfast or something?”
“Oh, um, y-yes,” she stuttered nervously.
“Scary being in the same room as a changeling for you?”
“Um, a-a little.” She slowly started walking towards the bed.
“Well, if it’s any comfort, I'm not planning on hurting you.”
“How… how did you get inside Equestria?” the nurse asked after placing the tray next to the bed.
“I'm not sure,” I replied turning back to face her. “I've been told I most likely crashed after the changelings were repelled from Canterlot.”
“How?”
“I don't know. Maybe I'm just a bad flyer.” The nurse chuckled awkwardly at my joke.
“Hi, Fragment!” said a sudden, familiar voice.
“Hello, Pinkie Pie.” Excellent; now that she’s here I’ll be able to feed and― Wait, who’s that? I thought as a certain candlestick wielding unicorn entered the room with Pinkie.
“Good morning, Fragment,” she said.
“Rarity? What’re you doing here?” I asked as the nurse left. Well, crap; should I still feed off of Pinkie Pie with Rarity around? I don’t think she’ll be comfortable with the idea…
“Well, I still feel a little bad about hitting you and I wanted to see how you were holding up.”
“For the most part I'm still in bad shape, but I'm doing better than I was yesterday.”
“Good to hear,” Rarity said with a small smile.
“Hey, Fragment, guess what I brought you!” Pinkie Pie said with enthusiasm.
“Um… pancakes?”
“Nope! Cupcakes!” she said pulling a small brown paper bag out of her… mane? She keeps stuff in her mane?
“I made them myself!”
“Thank you.”
“So how have the ponies here been treating you?” Pinkie Pie asked as I took a bite of my first cupcake; It had vanilla cake, and green mint frosting with chocolate sprinkles.
“Good; they don't feel comfortable around me, but there're still helping, so I can't complain.”
“Where's Striker?” Rarity asked.
“I have no idea. He left about twenty minutes ago.”
“He didn't say anything to you?”
“No; he doesn’t do much talking at all.”
“That's odd,” Rarity said as she rubbed her chin.
If I'm going to learn to use that levitation spell then I need to feed, but Rarity is here too. I'm sure if I asked, Pinkie Pie wouldn't mind letting feed off of her, but Rarity however... It's now or never.
“Pinkie Pie, I need to ask something of you. And Rarity, there's something you need to know,” I said as I set my cupcake aside.
“What is it?” They asked.
“Rarity, before I was brought here, I fed off of Pinkie Pie's happiness.”
“You did what!?”
“IN MY DEFENSE, she offered.”
“Is this true?” Rarity turned to Pinkie Pie.
“Yeah. I asked him if something was wrong and he told me he needed to feed, so I asked if I could help.”
“So you let him feed off you?” Rarity asked seeming to almost not believe us.
“Yeah,” was all Pinkie Pie said. Rarity paused and thought about what she had just learned.
“And… how exactly did he feed?”
“He kind of just, inhaled.”
“It didn't hurt or anything, did it?”
“No, I just got kind of lightheaded.”
“She almost passed out,” I corrected.
“WHAT?!”
“It's fine, Rarity. I'm okay, aren't I?”
“Well… as long as you're okay.” Rarity sighed and relaxed a little. “Thank you both for your honesty, but why are you bringing this up now, Fragment?”
“Well, that’s the other thing I wanted to talk about. See, Twilight brought me this spell book and said that I should learn the levitation spell that's in it. When I tried to use it, I felt it drain the happiness I took from Pinkie Pie, which tells me love is needed for my magic as well as my life, so…”
“You want to feed off her again?” Rarity asked, her eyes widening slightly, to which I merely smiled sheepishly.
“I’d really help me out. So, uh… please?”
“Well, I suppose as long as Pinkie is okay with it,” Rarity sighed.
“It’s fine by me. Feed when ready,” Pinkie Pie said while saluting me, for some reason.
“Okay…” As I began to feed, green mist from before began flow from her into my mouth. I tried not to lose myself in the feeding like last time, but still the feeling was overwhelming; the transformation of happiness to power was incredible. I kept my eyes open to help maintain control. I could see Rarity watching closely, monitoring my actions and Pinkie Pie’s responses. Though Pinkie had tried to reassure her, she was still wary. So was I.
After a few seconds, Pinkie Pie wobbled a little and winced. Taking that as my cue, I stopped feeding, causing the mist to dissipate.
“Thanks,” I said with an unsure smile.
“No pro― whoa…” she said as she wobbled back and forth a little.
“Are you okay, dear?” Rarity took a step closer to Pinkie Pie.
“I-I’m fine. Just a little dizzy,” Pinkie Pie said with her smile returning in an instant.
“Let's hope I won't need to feed a lot if I'm going to be using magic,” I said as Pinkie Pie regained her balance completely.
“Would you like any help with trying to learn that spell?” Rarity asked.
“No thanks. I think it'd be best if I tried this on my own; I can’t be too reliant on others helping me.”
“If you say so. Well, I do hate to leave so soon, but I must be home when the contractors arrive; make sure they get everything cleaned up and repaired,” Rarity said as she turned to leave.
“Hey, Rarity, what's your place called?”
“The Carousel Boutique. Why do you ask?”
“Because I figured I should know what the place I crashed into is called.”
“I see. Well, I really must be going. Get well soon, Fragment.”
“I'll try.”
“I should probably go too. See you tomorrow, Fragment,” Pinkie Pie said with a goodbye wave as she left.
“Goodbye,” was all I said as they left. I owe them a lot. Despite Rarity hitting me with that damn candlestick she got Fluttershy to help me while Pinkie Pie has fed me her happiness twice. No to mention those pancakes. And then there’s Twilight sending the letter to the Princess, someone who I still have no idea what she wants with me. All I can do is hope it's nothing bad.
After finishing my thought, I opened the spell book again and began reading. It was some time later, just when I had gotten back to the levitation page, that I heard the door opened. To my surprise it was Striker finally back on his post. He had a small smile on his face, but it looked like he was trying to hide it.
“Where've you been?” I asked as he took his seat.
“No where.”
“Sure, I believe you.”
“I don't need to tell you anything, changeling,” he said aa a glare replaced his smile.
“I do have a name, in case you didn't know,” I said returning the glare.
“As far as I'm concerned, your name is Changeling.”
“Go fuck yourself,” I said, turning back to the spell book. Fuck! I lost my spot! I should probably use those bookmarks I got. I thought as I started looking for that page again. Just as I found it, the doors opened again. I looked up and saw a nurse enter.
“Um, Fragment, I need to change your wings' bandages.” She seemed to be uncomfortable near me.
“Okay,” was all I said as she walked up to the bed.
“Lean forward, please.” I did as told while she took my left wing out from behind my back. I felt her start to unwrap my wing, but once the last of the bandages come off, I heard her gasp.
“What is it? is it worse? Is it infected?” I asked in half panic.
“It's healed!”
“What?” me and Striker asked at the same time. Without another word she went straight to the door and called to a doctor, who quickly made his way to the room.
“What's the matter?” the doctor asked as he entered.
“His wing is healed.” she answered.
“Already? That's impossible; those injuries should have taken days to recover, not hours,” he said as he approached the bed. I spread out my left wing so he could see. I noticed that it didn't hurt to move.
"How could your wing have healed so fast?" He said in more of a thinking out load way then really asking me anything.
“Is it possible that changelings heal faster than ponies?” the nurse asked as she stood next to the doctor.
“Based on the tests we've done, his biological setup is ninety-nine percent identical to a pony, it's unlikely that changelings simply heal faster, but that's the only reason I can think of that explains this…” the doctor said as he went around the bed and unbandaged my other wing, which also didn't hurt to move.
“What are you thinking?” the nurse asked.
“I think we should run some more tests on him and see if anything else has healed or shown any signs of doing so.”
“Striker, would you mind helping me move him?” the nurse asked Striker.
“Not at all,” he sighed as he took his place on the right side of the bed and started helping the nurse move me.
I wonder if feeding made a difference in my recovery rate. I guess I'll just have to wait to find out. I thought as I pushed the books off the bed before they began moving me to another room.
Before I knew, I was in yet another machine and more tests were being run, This time was faster than yesterday as yesterday was about five hours and today was only about two. When the last machine was turned off, I was brought back to my room and Striker took his usual post.
“Your lunch should be here in a minute,” the nurse told me as she started to leave.
“When will the test results be back?”
“In a few hours. Doctor Hoofman will let you know what the results are when they come back.”
“Thank you.” Now let's see about learning that levitation spell. I thought as I reached for the books. I felt my hoof touch the floor where the books should’ve been, so I looked over the edge of the bed and saw the books were about seven inches further away from where I would’ve been able to place them.
You have got to be kidding me. I tried to reach the books, stretching out my right leg as far as it could go, my reach ended with the books less than an inch from my grasp.
“Problem?” Striker asked after I pulled myself back into bed. He had a smile on his face. I sniffed to sense his emotions which consisted of satisfaction.
“You moved the books, didn't you?” as I glared at him.
“I may have moved them while they were scanning you. But hey, I stacked and alphabetized them for you!”
“Is it posible that I can get a less douchey guard once we get to Canterlot?” Striker chuckled to himself and leaned back in his chair. I looked toward the books and thought.
Well, I can either give up or try harder than before. Try harder of course. And with that, I leaned over the bed trying with all my might to get the spell book, which was on the top of the pile in an almost taunting way. I could just barely touch the spell book, but I couldn't move it.
“What are you doing?” a female voice asked. I turned to the door and saw a nurse, but not just any nurse, the nurse that Striker was talking to a few hours ago. She had a tray of what looked like my lunch on it on her back.
“I'm trying to get that book,” I said as I tried again to get the book, but I still couldn't reach it; seems the books didn't get any closer while I wasn’t looking. A hoof pushed the pile of books closer to me so I could reach them. I looked up and saw that the nurse had done it.
“Thanks,” I said as I pulled the spellbook up the side of the bed's frame and onto the bed. I heard Striker let out a sigh of disappointment. The nurse turned to Striker with her scent becoming one of anger.
“Striker, can I speak to you outside please?” Striker's scent went from the disappointment to fear.
“Uh… I, uh need to watch the changeling,” he said avoiding her eye contact.
“His name is Fragment,” the nurse said with a slight growth in anger. “And something tells me he's not going anywhere.”
“But I―”
“Now, Striker,” she said as she started walking out of the room with Striker hesitantly following her. After they left and the door was closed, I could hear them begin talking. I leaned forward and tried to eavesdrop but couldn’t manage to understand what they were saying. After a few minutes of talking, they came back in, Striker's head hung low in what smelled like shame.
“I believe Striker has something to say to you,” the nurse said as she looked at him. With a sigh he brought his head up and looked me in the eye.
“I'm sorry I moved the books out of your reach,” he said. His scent was honest. I was quite surprised by this and wondered what exactly she had said to him. Regardless, my senses told me he meant what he said.
“Apology accepted.”
“Now, I need to get back to work. I trust you'll try harder to get along, Striker?” the nurse said with a small smile on her face.
“I promise,” Striker said returning the smile, they shared a quick kiss and then she left. I could smell the love for the other they had as she left. With the smell of love in the air, my hunger to consume it awoke while I tried my best to ignore it.
“Is she your marefriend?”
“Yeah. Her name is Lightheart. We grew up here and started dating three years ago. I hardly ever see her because of my job, so it's difficult for us to be together. We stay in touch and I come here to see her as much as I can…” he told me ending with a sigh. He smelled of regret and love.
“Do you regret joining the guard?”
“Sometimes, like now…” he said frowning slightly
“Why did you tell me all of that?” He looked deep in thought for a moment then answered.
“I don't talk to other ponies that much; I don't have friends in the guard and the friends I do have are here like her. So I guess I wanted that off my chest”
“I hope it goes well for the two of you.”
“Thanks,” he said with another sigh.
Deciding that our conversation was over, I opened the spell book yet again, finding the correct page faster than before because of remembering roughly where in the book it was; about a headache from the back to the front, and a pain in the ass from the front to the back. Looking over the instructions again, I prepared myself to use the spell. ’Imagine yourself moving the object and let the power flow through your horn and do the work’...
I reviewed in my head as I focused on the history book. I felt the happiness from Pinkie Pie turn into power and that power grow in my horn. As it did, I heard a static hissing sound. I opened my eyes and saw some dark green light emanating from my horn, the same light enveloped the book as well. It started to move towards me slightly while Striker watched me carefully. I kept my eyes on the book and pictured myself picking it up, the book slowly lifting into the air with my thought.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, I'm doing it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it! I thought excitedly while trying to keep calm so I could work. Slowly, the book kept lifting into the air and towards me, but I could feel my magic draining, my strength with it, so rather than keep screwing around with the spell, I brought the book straight to me. With the book now on my lap thanks to the use of the levitation spell, I was incredibly giddy.
“Look, look, look! I did it!” I said with an oversized grin on my face, showing my sharp teeth.
“Um… good for you?”
“I know, I know! It's great!” I sounded dumber and dumber as I kept talking. “This is awesome! I have got to learn more magic!” I said as I went back to the spell book.
“Shouldn't you be conserving your strength so you can recover?”
“Probably, but I'm too excited not to do another spell,” I said looking through the book. “Mess Cleaning, Basic Ward, Teleporting, AHA! Invisibility on other objects,” I said with a grin.
“What kind of spell is that? What would you do with it, turn somepony’s door invisible to mess with them?” I ignored Striker’s question.
I began to focus on the book after going over the instructions with the intention of turning the book invisible. I felt the flow of power again with the static hissing from before, I focused on the book with my eyes open and saw that the book was turning transparent.
When the book had turned completely invisible, I felt massive pain in my head. The book became visible again as I brought my right foreleg to head.
“Son of a bitch,” I groaned as the pain grew slightly.
“What did you do?” Striker asked looking at me with an annoyed expression.
“I think I used too much magic, now my head is paying the price,” I replied as I rubbed my head.
“Too excited not to try to use magic now?” he smirked.
“Not anymore, but at least I'm making progress.”