//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Explanations // Story: One's Past is Another's Future // by Masked_Frenchman //------------------------------// Chapter 9: Explanations In the morning, Neon woke up from the sounds of birds chirping right outside his window. He stretched out and looked towards Random, who slept soundly, his chest slowly rising and falling with a small smile on his face. Neon smiled down at him as he quietly got up and walked up the stairs to get some coffee. When he got upstairs, Twilight and Spike were already at the table, sipping on coffee. “Well good morning, I believe you have some explaining to do,” Twilight stated, watching Neon approach the coffee pot. He smiled and looked back over towards Twilight. Before he could say anything, Twilight saw all the marks and wounds from his adventure last night. “Oh my Celestia, what happened to you?!” Twilight asked worried as she rushed over to him. Neon was confused for a second and looked down at his chest. “Oh this, yea, this was from last night, I guess I have a lot to explain to you, huh?” Neon asked playfully, slightly chuckling to himself. “I’ll get Fluttershy over here to help you out, stay here!” Twilight instructed in a panic as she teleported away. Neon stood there shocked as he held the coffee pot over his cup. “Did. . . . . did she just. . . . teleport?” Neon asked baffled. Spike chuckled to himself from Neon’s reaction. “Yea, she can do that. She is really good with magic,” Spike explained with a proud smile on his face. “So, what is your role here? Like are you her boy friend or something?” Neon asked curiously. Spike turned to him with a disturbed look on his face. “No, of course not. I am her faithful assistant. I help her with whatever she may need help. Although most of the time that just means I keep the place clean and do errands now and then,” Spike explained with a smile. “What’s the pay then?” Neon asked quickly. Spike looked at him confused for a moment. “Well, I get to live here and I get fed. Twilight has raised me since I was a baby, so I kind of owe her,” Spike explained calmly. Neon looked at him confused now. “Wait, so she slaves you around and you get food and shelter in return? That just sounds like slavery to me,” Neon stated, fixing his coffee and sitting down at the table slowly, wincing at the soreness from yesterday. “What, no, I am not Twilight’s slave. I serve her willingly!” Spike exclaimed, trying to defend his master. “Look, I am not saying Twilight’s a bad person, oh sorry, pony, but I remember that in my history class, and what you described is slavery. When you do work and not get paid fairly. Slaves would do all the chores of a household, run errands, and do anything and everything he or she says without question in return get everything they need to survive. Isn’t that what she is doing to you? I mean I do not know if dragons have rights in the social world of ponies here, but that sounds kinda wrong to me,” Neon explained. Spike thought about that for a minute till he realized that he was right. “Yea, I guess that is right, but she isn’t mean or anything, she is really nice to me!” Spike spoke up. Neon smiled as he sipped his coffee. “Look, I am not saying she is a bad per- pony. Just talk to her about. You should be getting some sort of payment. Yea, food, water, shelter, thats good and all but you deserve more than just the basic of survival,” Neon continued to explain. “Yea, you’re right! Maybe I should talk to her about it, later when she isn’t so busy,” Spike said with some confidence in his voice. Twilight Came through the door with a blond pegasus with a pink mane following close behind her with a first aid kit on her back. “Over here Fluttershy, he looks like a bomb set off right in front of him,” Twilight explained as she walked over to Neon. “What kind of bomb? Like a party bomb or like a BOOOOM bomb?” asked a all too familiar hyperactive voice from outside. Pinkie Pie came bouncing in full of energy, as always. “Please tell me Pinkie Pie isn’t gonna operate on me!” Neon exclaimed nervously. “Pinkie Pie? No, Fluttershy will be caring for you,” Twilight explained. Fluttershy slowly walked up to Neon slowly and pulled down the first aid kit on the table and looked over Neon quickly. “Umm, hi. My name. . . is, uhh, Fluttershy. Do you mind if I help you? I mean, if it’s not too much trouble, but I need you to lie down, if it’s ok with you,” said Fluttershy quietly. Neon almost didn’t hear her. “Sure, no problem,” Neon replied, he finished his coffee and laid down on the floor onto his back. Fluttershy looked him over, examining his chest. “It looks like metal shards were in his chest, and burns marks in some spots. By the looks of it I would have to say that a small bomb exploded in front of him. Any stronger and he might not have made it,” Fluttershy explained as she pulled out a sowing kit and got a needle ready. “What happened?” Twilight asked concerned and slightly confused. Neon took a deep breath and looked over towards her. “You might want to sit down, it’s a long story,” Neon explained. Twilight looked at him with a puzzled look but sat down in a chair next to him and Pinkie Pie followed suit. Neon explained about the crazy adventure that him and Random had chasing down the book and all the unique ponies that they met. Once finished, Twilight was shocked and Pinkie Pie stared in amazement as she ate some popcorn. “Wow, it seems that you guys had quite the adventure yesterday then. I am surprised that you even managed to get back here alive, but I am so glad you guys were able to get back here safely. What that pony said that you fought thou, what did he meant?” Twilight asked curiously. Fluttershy was finishing up at this point, almost done with the stitching. “We are not sure, all we know is that this Kid pony was searching for answers about it and it seemed that he heard it before. I have no idea what it means thou,” Neon replied. “I will have to look it up at some point. A lot of this doesn’t make much sense. Also, what do you mean that Random has changed again?” Twilight asked puzzled. As if on cue, Random walked out from downstairs and looked around tired, stretching out and spreading his wings out. Twilight looked at him with her jaw to the floor. “Oh my Celestia, how did you do it?!” Twilight asked as she teleported over to him. Random wiped the sleeping seeds out of his eyes as he looked at Twilight. “Oh, morning Twi,” Random said lazy. “Morning Random!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, waving her hoof at him happily. “Morning Pinkie- Pinkie Pie!” Random exclaimed as he rushed over to her with a sudden burst of energy. “I will never understand that guy,” Neon whispered to himself. Fluttershy finished up and put everything away. “Umm, I’m done, you can get up if you want,” Fluttershy said as she backed away a bit from him. Neon jumped up and moved around a bit. “Thanks Fluttershy,” he thanked as he walked back over to the kitchen table. Neon picked up the newspaper and started reading it when Random bounced over to him. “Hey Neon, I noticed something confusing,” he said. Neon looked up from the newspaper with a raised eyebrow. “And what might that be?” Neon asked back. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie started talking about what everything they heard might mean and about all the interesting ponies that Neon and Random have met during their journey. “You know in the main page of the website, about the categories?” Random asked. Neon put the paper down, now confused. “What? What are you talking about?” he asked puzzled. “You know, when you go and edit a story, you can give it categories of what the story is and all of that,” Random explained. Neon looked around and back to Random. “Are you talking about the story that we are in?” Neon asked quietly. “Yes, exactly!” Random exclaimed. “Dude, we are not supposed to know about that, you know that right? The writer might be catch wind on it, you know?” Neon asked cautiously. Random laughed. “Who cares? Anyway, you know the categories for the stories? Well I noticed the categories for our story, but then I noticed that I have my very own category!” Random explained with excitement. “No way, really?!” Neon exclaimed back, now getting excited himself. Random nodded back in return. “Yea, come on, look!” Random exclaimed. He leaned out of the screen a little and grabbed my mouse, moving it over to the editing screen and scrolled down. Aiming the cursor towards the word ‘Random’. “See?!” he almost shouted. Neon looked over and saw the word himself. “Well holy crap, you’re right for once! Wait a second, what are these?” Neon asked in confusion as he read the categories. “Romance? That’s not very fitting, I haven’t even gotten laid yet,” Neon said, chuckling to himself. “Just like always,” Random added, snickering. Neon glared at him. “I will throw you down this web page, I swear!” Neon threatened, looking back at the categories. “Comedy, yup, that fits alright. Adventure, hell yea! Alternate universe? What do you think that means?” Neon asked. “Not sure,” Random quickly replied. “Human? We are the only humans here. This one is such a lie!” Neon exclaimed. Random glared at Neon this time. “Exactly! WE are the humans,” Random replied. “Oh,” was all Neon could say for his stupidity. Random rolled his eyes as he took the mouse again. “Let’s get rid of ‘ alternate universe’ and put random, cuss I am so in this story!” Random exclaimed as he removed that category and added ‘random’ into it. “Hey, can I have my mouse back?” I asked. Random blushed slightly and let go of it. “Yea, sorry about that,” Random said as he back up back into the screen with Neon. “Any way, besides the 4th wall breaking, how are you doing this morning?” Neon asked. “I am doing pretty good. Good sleep for once,” Random explained. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Twilight walked up to it and opened it up with her magic. Standing there was Celestia and Luna side by side. “Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna! I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were coming over!” Twilight exclaimed as she rushed around to clean up the place, which Spike joined in. After a quick moment, Twilight teleported back towards the door and let the two princesses’ in. They bowed respectfully and walked in. Celestia looked towards Neon with concern and Luna looked horrified. “Neon, what has happened to you?” Luna asked worried. Neon shrugged. “Rough night,” he said quickly. Celestia looked over towards Random confused and puzzled. “I could have sworn that you were an earth pony Random?” she asked him. Random looked up from his coffee cup towards Celestia. “Morning Princess. I was yes, but then I was a unicorn and now I am a pegasus, that’s the term, right Twilight?” Neon asked as he leaned towards Twilight, she nodded in return. “I see, Twilight, I see I have much to hear,” Celestia said calmly as she tried to contain her interest. They sat at the table and Twilight talked about everything that happened with Spike bringing every pony tea, and made sure to to miss a single little detail. She told her about the first time Random changed, the apple cider, Neon getting his cutie mark, Neon and Random’s trip to Detrot and everything that happened there. Once done,Celestia and Luna looked at the two slightly shocked. “Oh my, it appears you two have been having quite the adventure lately,” Celestia said in a sympathetic tone. “I am glad to hear that you made it back safely from Detrot. Not every pony were as fortunate,” Luna explained. Celestia sipped some more of her tea and looked at Random. “I see there is much to learn about you. Never has there been a pony who could change his race like you could. Are you aware on how you are doing it yet, Random?” she asked. Random stared down at his cup of tea and shook his head. “I can’t really control it, it just happens,” Random explained. Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a moment and looked back. “When you changed into a unicorn, what was going through your head?” Luna asked curiously. Random put his hoof to his chin and thought about that. “Well, I was in my ‘I’m gonna kill everybody who looks at me’ sort of phase and Neon said something, I can’t remember. I remember being really angry with him. Then I felt this change as a horn grew from my head and I felt kinda powerful,” Random explained. Celestia thought to herself for a moment after hearing that. “Alright, what was going through your head when you changed into a pegasus then?” Luna asked, leaning forward a little bit towards him. “Well, we were fighting that strange pony. While fighting him it just seemed like we didn’t have a chance to beat him, I was scared, I mean like really scared. I wanted to take Neon and get out of there as fast as I could,” Random explained. Luna nodded her head to this and smiled. “I see, it seems that it is controlled by your emotions. That is how a lot of magic is done, but I see that you change depending on your situation, fueled by your emotions,” Luna explained. Celestia nodded to her and looked at Random. “It appears that we have learned a lot today about you two, we will return to Canterlot and we shall look into these measures. Twilight, try to see if you can have him do that again, and maybe try to see if he has a possibility to control it. Me and Luna will try to find answer about this ‘Admiral Cluster’ and his master,” Celestia announced. “And as a warning, we have had reports that a changeling has infiltrated Ponyville. As far as we can tell, it is only one. So keep an eye out for anything suspicious,” Luna added. Neon and Random looked at each other for a moment, trying to think why that sounded familiar and then they remembered. “Oh yea, that is our-” Random started. Neon placed his hoof into Random’s mouth to get him to stop. “Yes, of course Princess”. We will keep on the lookout for anything out of place and will report anything that happens!” Neon exclaimed as he gave a crisp salute. Luna giggled as she looked at Neon. “Very well then, we shall count on you to protect Ponyville,” Luna said playfully as she gave a salute back. They both let their hooves down and started laughing, Neon keeping his other hoof in Random’s mouth as he continued to try to speak. “Well, we shall be off. For now on, send me a report whenever you learn of anything. I will be looking forward to your letters as always,” Celestia explained with a kind smile on her face. Luna kept her eyes on Neon as she bowed to him and Celestia bowed to Twilight as they left. When they left, Celestia turned to Luna. “Now tell me sister, why do you look at Neon like that?” she asked curiously as they started making their way towards their chariot. Luna looked at Celestia confused. “Whatever do you mean, sister?” Luna asked innocently. Celestia smiled towards her. “Luna, you look at him with much love and care, and I know you have been trying to watch over him at night while he sleeps. You have been acting like this since the very first day they came here. Are you building up feelings for him?” Celestia asked. Luna looked at her shocked, but did not say anything for a moment. “Well, I must say, he is very kind, and they have been through so much that has made them strong. I admire their bond, but Neon himself. I can fathom it sister, but I feel so strongly attached to him. I just do not know what exactly the feeling is,” Luna tried to explain. Celestia stopped and placed a hoof on her confused sister’s shoulder. “It is fine, dear sister. Love is never easy to understand. You will understand soon enough. I promise,” Celestia insured. Luna looked at to her and smiled. “Very well. I shall see what time will tell me,” she said confidently. They exchanged smiles as they got into their chariot and flew back to Canterlot. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  Neon watched as the two princess’ closed the door behind them as they left. Neon sighed and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hoof. He pulled his hoof out of Random’s mouth. “What did you do that for?” Neon asked annoyed, shaking his hoof around to get the saliva off. “That’s what you get for putting your hand in my mouth, I mean your hoof in my mouth,” Random corrected. “Well I had to, you were about to rat out one of our friends and then get us into some HUGE trouble!” Neon exclaimed, but lowered his voice so that Twilight or the others wouldn’t be able to hear. “Wait, do you mean Cypher?” Random asked in disbelief. “Who else could it be?” Neon asked. “Well, he said it would be weeks before he could come over,” Random pointed out. Neon thought about that for a moment. “Good point. Let’s take a look around then. If he can change his form, then we won’t be able to see him, but he will see us,” he thought out loud. Random started getting excited. Neon turned to Twilight with a smile. “Hey Twilight, we are gonna go for a walk, be back in a little bit,” Neon called out as they started going towards the door. “Ok, just please be careful, changlings are dangerous. Keep an eye out, alright?” Twilight advised. “Can and will do,” Neon replied as they left the door and closed it behind them. Neon and Random started looking around as soon as they left the tree house. “Ok, where should we start?” he asked puzzled. “Hmmm, maybe we should split up?” Random offered. “Yea, when has that ever worked,” Neon said sarcastically. “Scooby Doo?” Random asked. Neon thought for a moment and realised he was right. “Gosh dang it, fine, you go that way and I’ll go this way,” Neon instructed. With a nod, they went their separate ways. Neon rushed down towards Sweet Apple Acres while Random started to run for the center of town. Random reached his destination as he looked around with a serious look on his face. “Alright, we will not stop till we find him. We will search day and night to find him and bring him to safety. I will not stop *sniff* until *sniff* oh my god that smells good,” Random started as he followed the faint scent. he found a stand where he found the cutie mark crusaders were selling cookies. “Hey, whatcha doing here?” Random asked, looking at the cookies. “We are selling cookies to save up for a class field trip. This year we are going to Canterlot so we are trying to raise money,” Sweetie Belle explained with a chirpy smile. “Well that is a good cause, how many have you sold so far?” Random asked curiously. “We sold 13 cookies so far, but we still got plenty of time till the field trip,” Scootaloo answered with a confident smile. Random reached over to his saddle for some bits but noticed he didn’t bring his saddle. “Oh crud, I forgot it. Do you girls mind waiting a moment while I go back and get my saddle?” Random asked. “No problem we will be here all day. See ya later,” Applebloom replied, giving him an adorable smile that made Random’s heart explode. He burst into a full fledge sprint as he dashed back home, leaving a figure of dust of where he was standing. The three cutie marks crusaders stared in amazement at where he was standing. “Wow, he can run pretty fast,” Scootaloo finally said. “Uhuh,” Applebloom added. To Neon, he was walking around aimlessly as he got himself lost. “Oh crud, I could have sworn that that alley way was a short cut,” Neon said to himself as he walked around. “Halt! Who are you?” called out a strong voice from behind Neon. He turned around to see a pegasus guard standing before him, looking down at him with a stern look on his face. “Oh, hi, my name is Neon Rave,” Neon explained to the guard. “What do you think you are doing here?” the guard asked harshly, taking a step towards him. “Well, I sorta got lost while looking for a friend,” Neon explained again. The guard continued to stare him down, taking another step towards him. “And who might that be, this friend of yours?” the guard asked, his tone less harsh. “Is he a changeling?” he added. Neon’s eyes opened wide in fear, taking a step back. “Oh, it seems I am right. Now, why don’t you come with me and we shall discuss this ‘friend’ of yours,” the guard instructed. At the point the guard chuckled to himself and his voice changed completely. “I am sorry my friend, I couldn’t help myself,” the guard said in a raspy but familiar voice. Neon stopped and stared at him with a confused and puzzled look on his face. “What, is that you Cypher?” Neon asked. The guard smiled and raised his front hooves in a shrug. “Got me,” he said. Neon smiled and came in for a hug, which Cypher returned the favor. After a quick embrace, they parted to look at each other, Neon looking over his new form. “Wow, so what happened to this fellow? You didn’t like kill him or anything, right?” Neon asked. Cypher chuckled. “No, that’s not how it works. I just need to see the pony and I can transform to look exactly like them,” he explained. “So, no one is questioning why there are two ponies that look exactly alike?” Neon asked. “Nope, this pony, Sargent Gold Spoon, is in the Crystal Empire for a few weeks vacation. I just say I decided to postpone the vacation and he gets a bigger paycheck. Every pony wins!” Cypher explained cheerfully. It was weird to see a guard happy and stuff, even if he knew the guard was actually his new friend, Cypher. ‘So why are you here? I thought you were gonna come down in a few weeks?” Neon asked slightly puzzled. “Well, you see. My hiding place was found out, and some changelings chased me out. So I came down early, I hope you don’t mind,” Cypher said slightly sad, looking down at the ground. Another never before seen sight, a guard looking at the ground sad. “it’s no problem man. I think I have an idea, do you know the area?” Neon asked. Cypher looked back up at Neon nodded his head. “Good, then bring me back to the center of town, I can find my way back to Twilight’s from there,” Neon explained. With a happy nod, Cypher led the way. At a certain point, Neon was able to remember his surroundings and took lead as he told Cypher about his friend, Twilight. On their way there, they saw Random with four large bags and a cookie poking out of his mouth. “Random?” Neon called out, he turned to them and smiled, trotting over to him happily. “Hey `eon,” Random greeted, letting the cookie go completely into his mouth and started chewing. “Random, This is Cypher, our friend from Detrot who we were gonna help out, remember?” Neon asked. Random finished his cookie and smiled at the guard. “Hey Cypher, long time no see, how are you doing?” he asked cheerfully with a comforting smile. “Good, thank you,” Cypher replied. “Now Random, I have a plan for him to live with us for a while, but I am gonna need your help here cuss it is a bit of a risk,” Neon explained. “Do you think Twilight is gonna be ok with a changeling living with us? It looks like they aren’t really friends here,” Random asked, making a good point. “This is true, but I think I know how to convince her,” Neon assured. He whispered something in random’s ear out of Cyphers ear shot and Random smiled and nodded. “I think that might work actually!” he exclaimed. “Good, then let’s go!” Neon exclaimed back. They all headed back to Twilight’s house. Once there, they walked in to see it being just Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy seemed to have left. Twilight looked up at the door with a smile but it faded when she saw the guard. “Oh my Celestia, what did you guys do now!” she called out, looking towards them with a stern look on her face. Neon looked at her confused and turned to Cypher as he closed the door behind him. “Oh, right, haha. Anyway, we have a favor to ask of you Twilight,” Neon started. Twilight stopped half way and looked back confused. “What is it Neon? What’s going on?” she asked worried. Neon took a deep breath. “It’s kinda hard to explain,” Neon stated as he took a deep breath. “You guys met a changeling by the name of Cypher and promised to help him out cuss you wanted him to have a safe place to live. So you told him to meet you guys up here in Ponyville and he took the form of a guard in the Crystal Empire so that none of the other guards would question it and without causing any pony any trouble with is the guard that is standing right behind you guys, who is actually Cypher and you planned on falling toy our hooves and knees to beg Twilight not to rat him out and to let him live with you guys till he can find a job and find a new place to live,” Pinkie Pie explained in one breath. Once done she took a deep breath to get back all the air she used up to do that whole explanation. Everyone stared at her in disbelief. “Who in the nine circles of hell do you keep doing that?” Neon asked stunned. Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulders but Random stepped up first. “Just a huntch,” he said before she could. “Exactly!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed cheerfully. After Twilight gathered her sense, her eyes glared down at the guard. “Show me your true form then!” Twilight ordered. Cypher took a step forward and bowed his head, allowing the glamour to fade away, showing his changeling form. Twilight stared in amazement and fear as she looked at him. He was easily the biggest changeling she has ever seen, even bigger than queen Chrysalis, taller and more bulk. “Here I am,” Cypher said simply, his voice betraying his attempt to be brave as he started to shake in fear. “Well then, why are you here?!” Twilight said harshly. Cypher shuddered by her threatening tone, a single tear running down his cheek from fear. “I just want a place to call home,” Cypher said weakly. Twilight’s glare eased off as she saw the changeling quivering. “Twilight, I don’t think he is all the bad,” Pinkie Pie stated as she approached Cypher. “I know, but that’s what they do best is deceive ponies. how do we not know that isn’t what’s gonna happen here? If I do that, and he starts acting up, not only will I get in trouble, but the whole town could be in trouble. Remember the royal wedding? Every pony thought that Cadence was just stressed and that’s why she was acting different when she was actually Queen Chrysalis. I don’t want anything like that happening again,” Twilight explained. Neon knew this wasn’t looking good. “Well, just keep an eye on him, never have him leave your sights,” Neon tried to plead. Twilight looked to the side and rubbed her arm nervously. “I don’t know, I don’t really like the idea, I mean I don’t have a good history with changelings,” Twilight explained. Neon tried to think of something else to convince her then Random stepped up to her. “Twilight. You know of changelings as ruthless killers, right? all about war and taking over Equestria. Here you have a changeling, bigger and tougher than most, standing there shaking and quivering in fear hoping that you will accept him unlike everypony else who simply tried to kill him. His own kind his hunting him down and everyone is too scared of him to give him a chance. Make the first step,” Random pleaded. Twilight looked as if she wanted to say yes, but as if something was stopping her. ‘Alright, last push!’ Random thought to himself. “And besides, you have the opportunity of a lifetime. You have the chance to study changelings up close safely and be able to give out that information to Celestia. Think about how impressed and proud she will be to hear that from you,” Random explained. Twilight took a moment to think about that and finally a smile formed on her face. ‘Ok you guys, we can keep him,” she finally said. Random, Neon, and Pinkie Pie jumped around in circles around Cypher who started crying with a huge smile on his face. He teleported to Twilight and hugged her, taking her by full surprise and shock since he had to lean down a bit. “Thank you so much Twilight, thank you so much for doing this for me, you have no idea what this means to me!” he exclaimed as he hugged her firmly but gently. Once he let go, he ran up and danced with the others. “By the way, I’m Pinkie Pie, and I would love to be your friend!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly as she bounced around. “My name is Cypher, and I would love to be your friend!” Cypher exclaimed back. Neon jumped up in the air and spread out his wings to keep himself in the air and started to fly around the room. “Are you sure about this Twilight?” Spike asked slightly worried. “Yes, even though I have my doubts, I feel like I can trust Neon’s and Random’s judgment. Besides, Random’s right, I can now study changelings in case of another changeling attack, we can be ready for them. I think we can learn a lot from him being here, not just his background and his culture, but maybe something else, who knows,”Twilight explained while looking down at the young purple dragon. He looked back up to her and then smiled. “Well, if you’re ok with it, then I am too!” Spike exclaimed. Twilight looked at Cypher who was getting bombarded by questions from Pinkie Pie about favorite foods and activities. “I just hope I am not making a huge mistake,” Twilight whispered to herself. She could hear a voice coming from outside of her house and a small commotion going on from her window. As she approached her window, the others stopped and quieted down to hear what the noise was when Neon and Random heard a somewhat familiar voice from the noise that was talking. “Art is, an explosion!” the voice cried out.