//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Traveler's Exile // by Niaeruzu //------------------------------// “Being nice is very, very easy,” Summer said, leading Traveler and Bravery through the streets of Canterlot. “But before we start, I want to see how good you are.” She grabbed Traveler and turned him to face Bravery. “Show me!” Traveler raised an eyebrow. “I don’t get it. Show you what?” “Show me how nice you can be,” Summer said. “Ask Bravery how he’s doing, and about his day.” “This is ridiculous,” Traveler grumbled. But if ridiculous was going to give him freedom, then ridiculous it was. Rolling his eyes, he deadpanned, “How’re you doing, Bravery? How’s your day? There. I—” A sudden, sharp pain on his muzzle interrupted him. “Ow!” Summer spat out the ruler she was holding in her mouth. “Wrong!” “What was that for?!” Traveler complained, rubbing his sore muzzle. “And where’d you get that ruler?” “I keep one on hoof, just in case,” Summer said. “But that’s not the point. You didn’t even let poor Bravery answer! And you could’ve been a bit more enthusiastic.” “Yeah, Traveler.” Bravery smirked. “You really hurt my feelings.” Traveler narrowed his eyes at the guard. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Bravery shrugged. “Telling you that isn’t part of my job description.” “Now, now, Bravery,” Summer said. “Be nice to Traveler. He needs a good role model.” “What? Why me?” Bravery sputtered. Summer picked her ruler up again and glared at the royal guard. “Okay ma’am,” Bravery meekly said, cowering ever so slightly. “Now then, Traveler.” Summer stowed her ruler in her tail. “To be nice, you have to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. You have to let ponies talk, say what they want, and most importantly, you have to be interested.” Traveler stared at her. “I think you’re going a bit too fast here. Do what now?” “Better idea,” Summer said. She fetched a little bag out of her tail and gave it to Traveler. “We’re almost at the market. Once we’re there, you can use this money to buy something. When you do that, try to be as nice as possible to the salespony, okay?” Traveler slowly nodded. “Alright, but… How do I do that?” “I’ll tell you once we’re there,” Summer said, walking towards the market. “Come on,” Bravery said, following after Summer with Traveler in tow. “All the other changelings can do it, so I’m pretty sure you can, too.” “I’m absolutely sure,” Traveler said. “That is, if I don’t decide it’s stupid and quit at some point.” “I’m sure you’ll find it’s worth it,” Bravery said, chuckling. A couple of seconds later, the trio found themselves in the marketplace. It was pretty much the way Traveler remembered it: crowded, filled with many, many different stalls and ponies, and the sweet scent of Sweetheart’s stand filled the air. Even though Traveler wasn’t hungry, the smell made him crave love crystals. “There,” Summer said, pointing at a simple fruit stand. “You should try that stand. I know the owner, she’s very nice.” “Okay,” Traveler said. “So what do I do?” “Ask her for a box of cherries,” Summer said. “Be courteous. Let her speak when she wants to, say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, and don’t forget to smile!” She gave Traveler a push towards the stand. “Now just go try it out!” “O-Okay,” Traveler said, taking the last few steps himself. The stand was simple enough, made up of a little counter with various fruits on top, and a drab, green tent standing over it. Behind the counter was a bluish-green unicorn mare with an orange mane and tail and brown eyes, wearing a cream-coloured apron. “Hello, sir! How may I help you?” “Uh, one box of cherries,” Traveler said. “Please?” He thought for a second, before remembering to add a smile. He did so, curling up the corners of his mouth the best he could. The salespony took a step back, a look of horror on her face. “Uh, okay, one second.” She hastily turned around and grabbed a box of cherries, throwing it on the counter. “That’ll be three bits.” For some odd reason, she still held her distance. Traveler raised an eyebrow. He was pretty sure this wasn’t how salesponies were supposed to act, but okay. He took three bits out of Summer’s bag and put them on the counter. “Tha—” “We appreciate your patronage, now please move along as there are other waiting customers!” the salespony said, cutting Traveler off. Traveler looked around. There wasn’t even anyling there, let alone customers. The stall was absolutely deserted aside from himself and the salespony. “Err, okay,” he said, dropping his smile. While he wanted to argue with the mare, it probably wasn’t the nicest thing to do. He took the bag of bits in his mouth, and the box of cherries in his hooves, and flew back to Bravery and Summer. “So, how’d it go?” Bravery asked. “She looked at you kinda weird.” Traveler gave the bag and box to Summer. “I don’t know,” he said. “I was just doing what Summer told me and she became scared.” “Okay, so… When exactly did she become scared?” Summer asked. “When I smiled,” Traveler said. “Like this.” He flashed the other two the exact same smile he gave the salespony. Bravery reared up in surprise and took a step back. “Holy moly, that’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen!” “Please stop doing that!” Summer kept her eyes shut tight, waving a hoof in Traveler’s direction. “It’s awful!” “Uh… Wow.” Traveler quickly dropped the smile, returning to his usual scowl. “So, don’t do that again.” “Yes. Please,” Bravery said, gasping for air. “Never do that again.” “It’s that bad?” Traveler asked. “It can’t possibly be that bad.” He searched for the nearest reflective surface. On the other side of the street was a shop with tall windows, which would suffice. Traveler went over and put on his smile, looking at his reflection. He had to quickly look away, as his reflection looked like a monstrous abomination, straight out of Tartarus, with wicked, curled lips, a horrible grin and eyes that pierced one’s very soul, obliterating it piece by piece. It was, without a doubt, the most horrifying thing Traveler had ever seen. “See?” Summer asked. “You know, I think it’d be nicer of you if you didn’t smile at ponies.” “Oh come on, it’s not that…” Traveler trailed off, carefully considering what he just saw. “Okay, it is pretty bad,” he said, turning back to Bravery and Summer. “What now?” “We’ll try it without smiling,” Summer said. “Just your language. You did say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, right?” Traveler nodded. “Well, I tried thanking her, but she cut me off before I could. Which, strangely enough, isn’t very nice, is it?” “No,” Summer said, “but you did show her the scariest thing ever.” “I guess you’re right,” Traveler said. “So, what now?” “Let’s try this again,” Summer said, “but this time, without smiling, okay?” She looked around the market for a moment, pointing at a pink and white stand after a while. “How about that one over there?” Traveler shrugged. “Might as well try,” he said, accepting Summer’s bag of bits again. As he walked towards the little stand, he thought it looked quite familiar, but he couldn’t say why. A few moments later, it was abundantly clear, as the stand’s owner popped up from under the counter: a changeling with a messy, pink mane. “Hi there!” Sweetheart said, waving at Traveler. “Can I help you with—” As she noticed Traveler’s scarf, she trailed off and grimaced. “Oh, ouch. Sorry.” Traveler stared at her for a moment, then looked at his scarf. “What, this?” he said, absent-mindedly touching it. “You know, noling noticed it before.” “Really?” Sweetheart asked. “That’s awful. You okay?” “As okay as I can be right now, I guess,” Traveler said. “Thanks.” As soon as the word left his mouth, he looked at Sweetheart, eyes wide. “Uh, I mean, I… It’s—” Sweetheart giggled. “Don’t worry. Being treated nicely sometimes makes you say weird stuff.” She ducked behind her counter, reappearing a moment later and sliding a love crystal towards Traveler. “Here, you can have this.” Traveler looked at the bag of bits he was holding in one hoof. “Actually, I wanted to buy a box,” he said. “Er, please.” “Coming right up, sir!” Sweetheart said, quickly diving under the counter again. After a few moments of hesitation, Traveler spoke up. “Hey, tell me something. Why do you live here?” Sweetheart popped back up. “Why do I live here?” She looked up for a moment, tapping a hoof on her chin. “Because my house is here.” “No, I mean, why did you decide to live in Equestria, instead of the hive?” Traveler asked. “Oh!” Sweetheart said. “At first, I was just checking out the rumours. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live with a free lifetime supply of love within hoof’s reach?” Traveler shrugged. He had to admit, that would entice many changelings, himself included. “Anyway, that’s why I decided to come here and take a look,” Sweetheart continued, “and I actually made some pony friends, and from one thing came another. After a while, the all-you-can-eat buffet doesn’t really matter anymore.” “How so?” Traveler asked, raising an eyebrow. As far as he knew, feeding was the most important thing to any changeling. After being a good servant to Queen Chrysalis, that is. Sweetheart raised a hoof, ready to answer, but she quickly withdrew it, instead pensively tapping her chin with it. “Hm. Never really thought about that. It’s kinda complicated, too.” “Complicated?” Traveler repeated. “How?” “After hanging around ponies for a while, I just felt… different,” Sweetheart said. “Yeah, that’s it. Different.” Traveler gave her a deadpan look. “Yeah, I got that you guys are different, all right.” Sweetheart giggled. “No, not like that. The way of life here is just much more different. Instead of doing and saying as you’re told, which is best in the hive, it’s better to do and say like you feel is best.” “So, you mean, not thinking like a changeling?” Traveler said, raising an eyebrow. He was doing his best to understand what Sweetheart was saying, but this was really confusing. “No, no,” Sweetheart said, before pausing for a second. “Well, yes. A little. I still think like a changeling, but I do what I want to do, not what I’m told to do. More freedom, and a better life to boot. I do have to find out a whole lot of confusing stuff by myself.” Traveler gave her a blank stare. “You’ve lost me. How can not being guided by Queen Chrysalis improve your life? She always strives to give everyling the best lives possible.” Sweetheart shrugged. “I dunno. All I know is, living among ponies is different, but I prefer it above living in the hive, to be honest. So far, I’ve just been going with the flow. Maybe I can give you a better answer some other time.” “Maybe,” Traveler said, a wry smile crossing over his face. “But then I’d have to come talk to you again.” Sweetheart gave a huge grin. “Hey, that sounds like a good idea! Come back tomorrow, and I promise I’ll be able to tell you what you need, okay?” Traveler stared at her. That wasn’t exactly the answer he had expected. He briefly glanced back at Bravery and Summer. Maybe going along with this would help him be ‘nice’, or at least being viewed as such. “Are they your friends?” Sweetheart said, nodding in the direction of Bravery and Summer. “I’m sure they’re nice.” Traveler briefly looked back at Bravery and Summer again. Were they? It didn’t feel like it. “I’m… not sure,” he said, turning back to Sweetheart. “So far, they do seem to have… not entirely bad intentions. Or at least, that’s what they want me to think, I think.” Sweetheart giggled again. “Don’t be so suspicious! They don’t have anything to hide from you. And if they do, it’s probably some weird secret about being really scared of confetti or something.” Traveler raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s… awfully specific.” “Uh, I know a stallion,” Sweetheart said, giving a huge, fake grin. “Yup. A pony stallion has that. I definitely heard it somewhere.” She paused, the grin slowly disappearing from her face. “Don’t judge me, okay?” Traveler opened his mouth to retort, but reconsidered as he did so. Normally, going with changeling standards, he’d tell her she’s ridiculous, a terrible excuse for a changeling, and definitely not worth being around. But on the other hoof… “You know, I’ve seen some weird stuff lately. I’ll just pretend you didn’t say anything.” Sweetheart let out a sigh of relief. “Great. You know what?” She reached under the counter and set a box of crystal hearts in front of Traveler. “This one’s on the house as well, because you’re such a cool changeling.” Traveler stared at the box, then at the sack of bits in his hoof, and then at Sweetheart. “That’s… very generous of you. Thanks.” He stared at the box again and narrowed his eyes. Maybe a little bit too generous. “I know what you’re thinking,” Sweetheart said, “but no, I’m just doing this because I like you, okay? No ulterior motives or complicated schemes or anything.” She pushed the box towards Traveler. “Take it!” Traveler gave her one last suspicious look. “Well, okay…” He switched the sack of bits to his mouth and grabbed the box. Seeing as talking to Sweetheart any further would only accomplish dropping what he was holding right now, Traveler just nodded in her direction. “No problem!” Sweetheart said, waving at him. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” The only thing keeping Traveler from giving a weary sigh was the bag of bits in his mouth. “Oh, by the way, you never gave me your name,” Sweetheart said. Traveler rolled his eyes. Figures. He took the bag of bits out of his mouth, now awkwardly juggling his hooves between holding two things and attempting to keep his balance. “They call me Traveler.” “Huh, that’s weird,” Sweetheart said. “I called a pony that yesterday. Oh well. My name’s—” “Sweetheart,” Traveler finished. “I know. It’s on your sign and everything.” “Oh, right,” Sweetheart said, giggling. She leaned over the counter and looked up. “Hey, wait, I forgot to put it up today!” Traveler looked up. She was right, the sign was missing. “I, uh… I walked past your stand yesterday, when you didn’t forget it.” “Ah, that explains,” Sweetheart said. “Though I don’t think I’d have missed you walking around, with such a… noticeable scarf.” “Maybe you were looking the other way,” Traveler said. “Because I definitely didn’t talk to you, I just passed by.” Yes, that’s correct. Amazing save there. If this kept up, Traveler wasn’t going to keep his job as an elite, and would probably be demoted to hive janitor, or something. “I’ll get going now,” he said, quickly putting the bag of bits back in his mouth and hurrying towards Bravery and Summer. “Hey there, champ!” Summer said as soon as the awkward changeling approached. “Looks like that went much better, huh?” Traveler quickly gave both the bag and the box to Summer, who somehow managed to store both away in her tail. “Yeah, it did. How can you tell?” “It’s pretty obvious,” Bravery said. “Because of this.” He pointed at his own mouth. “And also this,” he said, pointing at his forehead. Traveler raised an eyebrow. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Bravery sighed and rolled his eyes. “You know, for an elite, you’re surprisingly slow on the uptake.” He grabbed Traveler and shoved him in front of the same window he checked his reflection in earlier. “This is…” Traveler said. In contrast to his earlier reflection, which had made him looking an abominable, horrifying monstrosity, this one was a lot more pleasant. His frown was gone, for starters. On top of that, the corners of his mouth were angled slightly upward, showing a little bit of his teeth. A soft, pleasant smile. Sadly, it quickly faded, giving way for a look of confusion. “Weird,” Traveler finished. “But it looks pretty good, right?” Summer said, gingerly flying above him. “Much better than a frowny face.” “I don’t know,” Traveler said. He tried putting on a frown again, like usual, but that turned out to be surprisingly hard. His mind kept wandering to his conversation with Sweetheart, trying to find out what made him smile like this, which in turn made the smile reappear on his face. “I guess it’s not too bad.” “Yay! See?” Summer said, making loops and corkscrews while whooping with joy. “I knew you’d like it! You’ll fit in in no time at all!” “There’s more?” Traveler’s mouth fell open. “I thought this was it!” “Well, no,” Summer said. “There’s a whole lot of other things, such as…” She paused, hanging completely still in the air, only flapping her wings. “Uh…” Her legs and head drooped. “I dunno.” Her mood made another one-eighty, as she quickly perked up. “I just need some time to come up with the rest of our lesson plan!” “It better not take too long,” Traveler said, scowling. “I’m on a tight schedule here.” “Now, now,” Bravery said. “Be nice to her.” He added a big grin. “And no more frowning.” Traveler groaned. “Fine, fine.” He lifted his eyebrows a little and raised the corners of his mouth, although it now looked more like a particularly pained grimace. “Happy now?” Bravery shrugged. “Eh, that’ll do for now.” “Let’s just call it quits for today. You made a lot of progress, Traveler!” Summer said. “I’m proud of you.” “Proud?” Traveler parroted. “That’s a strange choice of words.” Summer flew to eye level and raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Why?” She briefly looked at Bravery. “Proud is good, right?” “A bit exaggerated maybe, but it’s fine,” Bravery said. “I just think our changeling pal isn’t used to it.” “No,” Traveler said. “No, I’m not. It sounds weird. And it makes me feel weird, too.” “Well,” Summer said, looking back at Traveler. “Weird is also good.” Traveler mulled it over for a while. ‘Weird’ was really the only way he could describe it. An entirely new feeling, but it was sort of pleasant. Though it was also confusing and somewhat unsettling, but that was likely because of the newness of the experience. He sighed. Maybe he was overthinking everything. What was it Sweetheart had said earlier? Go with the flow, or something like that. Seeing as stubbornly resisting was currently getting him nowhere, it seemed like a good idea for Traveler to take that advice to heart. Just a little, though. He couldn’t risk getting all sentimental. “You know, that reminds me,” Bravery said. “I think it’s something changelings often say when they’ve been in Equestria for a little while. ‘Friendship is weird.’ Don’t know where they got it from, though.” “So you’re saying that this feeling is friendship?” Traveler shivered. To think that he, of all changelings, would become this sappy! “Yeah!” Summer said. “Don’t you like it?” “Of course n—” Traveler started, but something made him reconsider. A nagging little feeling, somewhere in his chest. Rationally speaking, the feeling of friendship was utterly useless. Nothing could be gained out of it, other than wasted time. And Traveler wasn’t very fond of that. On the other hoof, it did feel nice. And when was the last time he felt genuinely good? He couldn’t even remember. Ultimately, only a dissatisfied grumble left his throat. “I don’t know.” “Well, that’s better than a ‘no’,” Bravery said. “But hey, it takes every changeling some time to adapt.” Traveler shrugged. This was all getting too confusing. Taking a little break from being paranoid and going with the flow definitely sounded like a good idea right now. “Whatever. So, what’s on the schedule for tomorrow? Going back to the market would be convenient, because I have to meet Sweetheart again.” “Oooh, you’ve got a date?” Summer said, her eyes suddenly growing to enormous size. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!” She swept Traveler up in a gigantic hug. “This is so amazing!” She suddenly dropped Traveler, gasping. “You need to get her a present! How else can you be the perfect nice gentlecolt?” She took a quick glance at Traveler again. “Err, gentleling. What do you guys call it?” Traveler picked himself up from the ground, grumbling while wiping the dust from his body. “How should I know? And it’s not a date like that. She was just offering to explain to me why she’s living here. She couldn’t right now, so I’m heading back tomorrow.” “So what you’re saying is, you have a gal-pal,” Bravery said, grinning. “Don’t worry, buddy. Your secret’s safe with me. Nopony’s gonna know the big bad elite has a soft spot.” Traveler groaned. “Yes. Fine. If I admit, can we get a move on?” “Yeah, yeah,” Bravery said, chuckling. “I’m just kidding. We’ll go back here tomorrow. Let’s just look at it as part of your lessons in niceness.” “It kind of is, isn’t it?” Summer said, landing on the ground. She pensively tapped a hoof on her chin. “Talking to her already helped a lot, maybe you’ll make another step forward, Traveler.” “Maybe,” Traveler said. He was more looking forward to finally hearing some reason as to why changelings would stay in Equestria, though. He felt like Sweetheart could give him a satisfying answer, though he didn’t know why. “Traveler, we should go back home,” Bravery said. “It’s getting late, and I don’t want Glitter scolding me because I’m late for dinner.” After a second or two, he muttered, “Again.” “Sure.” Traveler nodded. Not like there was anything left to do on the market. “I suppose dinner would be… fine.” “I should be getting home, too,” Summer said. “I got a lot of things left to do! Water the dishes, wash the plants, stuff like that. Err…” She became lost in thought for a moment. “I think I have those two mixed up. I never water the dishes before I wash the plants.” Bravery gave an awkward grin. “Sure, you go do that, we’ll head back home. We’ll meet up here tomorrow afternoon, okay?” “Yes, sir!” Summer said, giving a salute, followed by a giggle. “Bye Bravery! Bye Traveler!” She quickly jumped up and took off, heading towards a different part of the city. Bravery watched her for a few seconds, until she disappeared behind the various buildings of the city. “She sure is odd.” “Tell me about it,” Traveler said. “I sometimes can’t make up my mind about who’s crazier. Ponies, or the changelings living with them.” “We’re all equally crazy,” Bravery said, heading off towards his home. Traveler quickly followed after him. So far, Bravery was right. The boundary between crazy ponies and crazy changelings was getting more and more vague. The only thing he hadn’t seen yet was a pony acting like a changeling. After a few moments, Bravery suddenly stopped and turned to Traveler. “Okay, stop. You’re not going to address this at all?” “Address what?” Traveler said, raising an eyebrow. “This morning, you were furious,” Bravery said. “Grumpy, short fuse, aggressive, that kind of stuff. But now, you’re completely different!” Traveler raised his other eyebrow. “I am?” Both of his eyebrows jointly went down, forming a frown. “You’ve got to be wrong. I didn’t change anything.” “Yeah, you did,” Bravery said. “After you talked to Sweatheart, or whatever her name is, you suddenly mellowed out. What did she say to you?” Traveler growled. “There’s nothing different about me, okay? And her name’s Sweetheart!” “Aha!” Bravery said, prodding Traveler’s muzzle with a hoof. “I thought you didn’t like changelings having names?” Traveler took a step back, confused. “Well, that’s… Yeah, but I… I have my reasons, okay? She just said… That she was sorry.” Now, it was Bravery’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Sorry? For what?” Traveler looked down, glumly raising his scarf. “This. She was the first to notice this.” “Oh, that thing,” Bravery said. “It’s the symbol of your exile, right? That’s gotta feel terrible.” Traveler nodded, but didn’t look up. “Worst thing in my life. Her just noticing it, and not pitying me felt… liberating. Like this dumb piece of cloth wasn’t there, for just a short moment.” Bravery sighed, then went over to Traveler and put a hoof on his shoulder. “I don’t understand it completely, and I can’t even imagine how painful it must be to be exiled, but for what it’s worth, you’ve got my support.” Traveler slowly looked up at Bravery. He was expecting many things, but not this. A rough dismissal at least, even a scolding would’ve been fine, but this surprised him. “Thanks, Bravery. And I’m sorry for the way I acted. I’ve always stuck to the rules of the hive whenever I was there, so I think I can obey pony laws for as long as I’m here.” “You’re getting along just fine, given the whole exile thing,” Bravery said. “Deep down, you’re pretty okay. There are ponies out there who are worse than you.” Traveler snorted. “Really? I doubt that.” Bravery sighed. “Oh, you wouldn’t believe it. Some nobles…” His voice trailed off, ending in a low growl. “But enough about that. We should get home.” “Of course,” Traveler said. “Lead the way.” As the two of them continued, Traveler couldn’t help but remember one thing, if only for a very short time. He was taking these lessons in being nice so he could get rid of Bravery sometime soon. But against all expectations, that didn’t seem like such an admirable goal anymore.