//------------------------------// // The Truth Revealed // Story: Changeling No More // by Breaking News //------------------------------// This was about the last place Cloud Breaker thought he would be when the day began. In the course of about ten hours he had gone from attacking Canterlot with the rest of the changeling swarm, more than willing to directly face the Elements of Harmony themselves, to a lone pegasus about to face the wrath of the only two ponies in Equestria he could really count as friends. Serenity locked the door behind him after Cloud slowly trotted in. To be honest he was more afraid as he walked into Sunny Rays’s kitchen than he was when he’d dive-bombed Canterlot earlier. Sunny Rays was already at the table and the yellow mare had a look of anger on her face that could only come following an hour of misplaced sadness. The pink stallion took a spot alongside her as Cloud positioned himself across from them. He saw the now-opened package he sent the day before on the counter. Apparently the mail service had been oddly fast today. “Why couldn’t that ditzy grey one have been working,” he thought. Maybe that way his package would’ve arrived later. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the time for laughs. Cloud didn’t grow up in anything resembling a pony household but he imagined this was what it was like to face angry parents. “Well you’d better have a good explanation for what happened today,” Serenity said. “The extra bits are nice but I’d rather know what in the world is really going on." “I have an explanation but I don’t know if you’d believe me if I told you,” Cloud responded timidly. “I’ve had a bit of a rough day.” “So did we after that letter arrived,” Serenity said. “We were worried sick for a few minutes before your story unraveled.” “We got your package just after lunch,” Sunny said. “I cried for 15 minutes, just wishing I’d get the chance to see your smiling face one more time, before the facts shot holes in your story. I noticed that your package was postmarked yesterday, so you must have mailed it before the attack even started. You somehow knew the changeling attack was coming ahead of time, and you didn’t warn anyone?” “I couldn’t. I had to keep it a secret,” Cloud said. “Why?” Serenity asked. “They take some member of your family hostage or something?” “No,” Cloud responded. “I- I just couldn’t tell anypony." “We could have stopped them, Cloud,” Sunny said. “Nopony got hurt, but that’s just short of a miracle. If you’d spoken up we could have gotten the word out and stopped the attack. My cousin Best Defense is a member of the Royal Guard, and Canterlot could have been even more prepared.” Cloud had no answer. Could he tell them the truth? “There were other issues with your story in the letter,” Serenity said. “Before I moved to Ponyville I interned with the Canterlot weather team for a year and I still have my city directory.” Cloud’s impulsive goodbye letter was digging him in deeper by the second. He definitely didn’t bank on them being that familiar with Canterlot and he knew what was coming next. “There’s no Flowery Meadows funeral home and nopony named Final Goodbye there,” Serenity said. “Your saddlebag that you mailed to us was mint, too. There wasn’t one tear or speck of dirt on it, and that makes it seem unlikely that changelings beat you down.” “You mailed it in Jerkwater, too,” Sunny added. “The Ponyville weather office services Jerkwater. I’ve been twice this month on business. It’s not on the usual flight path to Canterlot or Neighagra Falls. It is on the path to Cloudsdale, though. Why were you headed there?” “I wasn’t,” Cloud said. “I was going to hook up with the others in the Unicorn Mountain Range before going to Canterlot.” “What others, Cloud?” Sunny asked. “Were your friends with the entertainment coming from Cloudsdale?” “No, they weren’t,” Cloud replied. “Then where were they from?” Serenity asked. It was all or nothing now. If he could really save this friendship he may as well tell the truth. “The changeling hive,” Cloud responded. The visual response from Sunny and Serenity expressed both a bit of shock and a subtle confirmation of their suspicions. “I sent you that letter because I was never going to be able to come back and I didn’t want you to worry about your friend Cloud,” he said nervously. “Because Cloud was just an identity I cooked up, I never had any plans to come back and I would never have been able to write you like I said I would.” “Why did you lie?” Serenity asked. “If you aren’t Cloud Breaker then who exactly are you?” Cloud swallowed hard and decided that he really was going to do this. Deception had only dug him deeper into trouble over the last few weeks. Why not try the truth for once? “I am Cloud Breaker now,” Cloud said. “But the real, complete truth is that up until today I was Drone 9417. When we met in Ponyville I was doing some research on the Elements of Harmony. I wasn’t a high-ranking changeling and my work wasn’t a vital part of the invasion. The focus of the invasion was Queen Chrysalis’ imponynation of Princess Cadence.” “If you’re a changeling, then lose the pony look and let’s see the real drone,” Serenity said. “I… can’t. I’m not a changeling anymore,” Cloud said. “Yeah right,” Serenity said. Sunny wouldn’t believe his story, either. “I wasn’t aware that being a changeling was a temporary condition,” she said. “It isn’t. Not normally,” Cloud said. “I lost my powers. During my time in Ponyville I took some chances I really shouldn’t have. Staying as Cloud Breaker all the time so I could stay here with you two overloaded my transformation magic. After everything in Canterlot this morning it burst and turned me back into Cloud for good. My exoskeleton crumbled and left me this way. I can’t transform into anypony else ever again. I’ve lost my species, my home, and any semblance of my previous life over the past several hours. You’re the only ponies I know well enough to turn to. I need help and you’re the only thing resembling friends that I have.” “Yeah right,” Serenity scoffed again. “If you’re a magically-cured changeling then I’m Princess Luna. If you were into something illegal in Cloudsdale or lying about being invited to the wedding you can just admit it.” Sunny had an inquisitive look on her face. Serenity was less amused. “I’m not lying, I was a changeling until just a few hours ago,” Cloud said. “So you spent the last several weeks living in our house under false pretenses,” Serenity noted, “And you came back asking for help expecting us to be cool with that? Life’s not that simple, drone man. You deceived us that long so why should we believe you now?” “I was lying then but I’m not lying now,” Cloud said. “I’ve lost everything. Look, I can prove it.” Cloud reached under his wing and pulled out the only remnant of his former life. Even though the couple was trying to act stoic, Serenity and Sunny both showed a little shock when he dropped his changeling horn on the table. He then turned his head back and pulled out a feather from his green wings and dropped it next to the horn. “When a changeling mimics a pegasus we don’t copy the wings. We just use a little magic to put up the illusion of feathered wings over our insect-styled one,” Cloud said. “My old wings didn’t exactly survive my, err, career change.” “You could have gotten that horn anywhere,” Serenity countered. “There’s no telling how many changelings crashed and burned after the attack. Maybe you pulled it off a ‘comrade,’ nabbed that feather from a pony in the attack, and you’re still faking it.” Sunny pulled the horn closer to her with her left hoof. It was intact right down to the base. With no damage the horn itself meant nothing and she focused on the little piece of the base that remained, instead trying to see how it broke off. Serenity and Cloud noticed her deep concentration and paused to watch her inspection. Sunny continued to look at the edges as she spun the horn. One side was rather jagged and uneven, bending slightly upwards. It looked like somepony had stomped on that side, but the other was smoother and cleaner. It looked familiar. “Did you break this off, Cloud?” Sunny asked. “First my face section split in half and fell off, but yeah,” Cloud responded. “I crunched that section underhoof afterward to retrieve the horn. I thought I might need it for something later.” “Perhaps he deserves the benefit of the doubt, Serenity,” Sunny noted. “Take a look at this, the left side of the base is rough, like he deliberately broke it off. But it doesn’t carry over.” Sunny pointed to the right side of the base. Cloud had a bit of a smile on her face. Maybe they would believe him. “That’s a much cleaner fracture, all nice and smooth,” Sunny noted. “Remember when those guys in the hail division at the Cloudsdale plant froze that water pipe solid last year by mistake? The expansion of the water inside broke the pipe.” “Yeah, wasn’t your sister Merry May on the inspection team that wrote them up for it?” Serenity asked. “She was, and she talked about it in detail,” Sunny responded. “That crack isn’t quite identical to this one, but the premise is the same. That’s a pressure crack from the inside out and not an impact one. If Cloud says that it just broke off that might back it up a bit.” Cloud had a smile. Sunny always was a bright pony. “So you don’t think he’s lying?” the stallion asked. “I can’t confirm either way, I’m not a medical expert,” Sunny said. “I think we should contact one, though. If Cloud’s a real pony now a DNA test would confirm it.” “I’ll submit to one,” Cloud said, not knowing exactly what one would entail. “I’ll get in touch with Doctor Stable and schedule one,” Sunny said. “So just because you think he might be a pony now you’re going to give him a pass on four weeks of deception and committing a terrorist attack against the capital?” Serenity sputtered. “I never said that, but for now it’s possible he’s just a pegasus. No one would believe us if we turned him over to the authorities,” Sunny noted. “We’ll deal with it after the tests. Until then Cloud, you are welcome to stay the night, use the couch again please.” Cloud perked up with a legitimate smile at that. “BUT if the tests reveal you are still a changeling we are going to turn you over to the authorities,” Sunny said. “If you’re a pony then we’ll help you get back on your hooves a tad but there are still going to be consequences for your actions in Canterlot.” A little of Cloud’s enthusiasm subsided. Still, he knew this was his only chance. “Thank you both,” Cloud said. “If you want anything to eat I got half a buttercup, lily and tulip sandwich in the fridge,” Serenity said. “You’re welcome to it.” Cloud’s face lit up once again at that. “You don’t know how much I’ve been craving one all day,” Cloud said. “And it’s odd because taste is rather new to me.” As Cloud raided the fridge for the sandwich, Serenity and Sunny left the room. “You really think it’s best to let him stay here?” Serenity asked. “Even if he’s a pegasus now, he was a changeling.” “No doubt much of his friendly nature before was trying to feed off our love,” Sunny noted. “But even if he spent the last three weeks feeding on our emotions he took no malicious action against us. He only pushed us in the direction we were headed anyway.” “I’m still iffy on it,” Serenity said. “Trust is earned, not given, and he blew most of ours.” “What do you want to do, throw him out?” Sunny asked angrily. “You were complaining last week that there were too many ponies collecting welfare from the Princesses. He’s got to stay somewhere; we’ll get him tested and then see where it goes from there. It’s not very Equestrian of us to bail on a pony in need.” In the living room Cloud eyeballed the flowery BLT before digging in. As his first real meal since becoming a pony, it didn’t take much for it to be the best thing he had ever eaten. He felt his wings flip out involuntarily. “Oh my goodness,” Cloud said to himself, enjoying the taste of the simple sandwich. Maybe this whole pony thing would work out after all.