//------------------------------// // Something Incredible // Story: The Royal Audience: A Mole Cricket Story // by Bucking Nonsense //------------------------------// "You've put me in something of a bind." Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Cadance to one and all, looked at Cricket in a way that was, if not one hundred percent friendly, then was far kinder than the first one she had given the changeling when the audience first started. Cricket cleared his throat, and asked, admittedly a little nervously, "A bind, your highness?" Cadance nodded, and with a small smile, she said, "Yes. The purpose of this audience is to determine if you are worthy of becoming a citizen of Equestria, in spite of your past, and the fact that you are a member of a species currently considered an enemy of Equestria. I think that the last hour has shown that you are worthy of a great many things, but citizenship, I really can't say." The princess held up a hoof, before anypony, or anybuggy, could say anything. "I'm not saying that you aren't an exceptional individual. However, here is what we have to consider, Commander." "Citizenship means a great many things, Cricket," the princess said, her expression now neutral. "It means that you would have all the rights of any other citizen in Equestria, as well as all of the responsibilities. You've definitely demonstrated that you are a responsible individual, having taken it upon yourself to try and free your species from enslavement to the descendents of the ones who first betrayed them. In many ways, your becoming a part of Equestria would be nothing but beneficial to ponykind as a whole. You've certainly impressed both myself, as well as my fellow princesses. However, there is still something that we have to find out today, something very important: What do you, Mole Cricket, have to offer Equestria?" Cricket was shocked, stunned, to hear that question from the princess, but perhaps more worrying, he didn't have an answer. What could he offer? His skill as a military commander? Equestria had plenty of capable generals to lead it's armies. His skill as a soldier? While perhaps not as physically capable as changelings, the soldiers of Equestria were far more disciplined and better trained than he was. His skill set, as a career soldier, was... narrow. He was a capable leader, perhaps, but in Equestria, who would willingly follow a changeling? Commander Mole "Seven Tricks" Cricket realized, to his mounting horror, that in spite of all of his prowess, his skill, his ability... he wasn't good at anything that Equestria couldn't find elsewhere. Taking a deep breath, he looked down at his hooves... then smiled. This was a shot in the dark, but if there was one thing that Cricket was known for, it was a willingness to leap into the unknown. Cricket cleared his throat, then asked, somewhat formally... "This Is My Question: Who Is The Scariest Monster In The World?" The princesses looked surprised at Cricket's response, and then, as the gem flared to life, a familiar tingle ran through the changeling's skull, and a window appeared above his head... ... Cricket was really, really grateful for the meds he was on. Given the amount of damage he had taken when he arrived in this strange city, he should have been screaming in pain, but instead, he just felt a dull tingle. He was in traction now, three out of four limbs rendered unusable for the time being. It was boring, but he could deal with that. He'd have to let his body heal naturally: he couldn't know when he could next feed, and while he had enough love to last him for weeks, even months, if he tried to speed up the healing process, he'd burn through it very quickly. The one drawback was, his meds made him sleepy... really, really sleepy. He found himself nodding off during the day, which wasn't good: a changeling has to be awake to maintain an illusion. He could sleep all he wanted at night, but going to sleep during the day meant that he risked exposure... Which was what he faced now. He'd just opened his eyes, and was shocked to see, of all things, a little griffin girl with snow white fur and feathers, and big, blue eyes, staring at him... and him without a disguise on. His secret was out! If she screamed... Suddenly, the little chick (or is it cub? It's so hard to tell) climbed up onto the bed, curled up into a little ball on Cricket's lap, and immediately fell asleep. It was... strangely adorable. A short time later, a nurse checked in and found Cricket, properly disguised, with the little birdbeast still sleeping soundly. The nurse was quite surprised for one very simple reason: this was the first time that she had seen the little one sleeping peacefully in weeks. It didn't take long to get the full story out of the nurse. Apparently, a right jerk of a wizard, Sombra, had kidnapped a bunch of children from various lands, and was holding them ransom. The villain had vanished suddenly, but now there was a problem: the city they lived in, the Crystal Empire(!), was isolated at the best of times, and the evil wizard's first act had been to cut off all ties with the outside world. It would be quite some time before the parents of the little ones could be found... and because the little ones had been so frightened by the thought of King Sombra coming back, they weren't sleeping. When they tried, they had terrible nightmares. Of course, everypony was having nightmares like that, but at least they had their families to rely on. These little ones didn't have that luxury. Cricket decided to take a risk: he told the nurse that if any of the youngsters wanted to stay in here, he didn't have a problem with it. The nurse smiled, the first time Cricket had seen anything but terrible melancholy from anypony here, nodded, and left. A short time later, more than twenty youngsters of various species were led into the room. The nurse also brought with her a book of stories. She mentioned something about how it would be kind of boring just sitting and watching him here while he recovered. The youngsters, wide-eyed, watched in awe as Cricket did something forbidden: once the nurse left, he dropped his disguise. It was dangerous, of course. An insane risk. If any of them screamed... Instead, there was a chorus of "Wow"s, as a pegasus suddenly changed into a bizarre-looking bug-pony. Cricket smiled, cracked open the story book, and began to read. A little while later, the little griffin, who introduced herself as Alex, woke up, and was delighted to see the big, scary monster read to her and the other little children. After he finished the story he was reading (he started over once he saw that she was awake, just to be nice), he asked her why she'd decided to take a nap right there, right on top of his lap, even after she saw what he was really a scary monster. The little griffin said, with the kind of brutal honesty available only to small children, the elderly, and complete jerks, "You're not scawy at all. I've seen the scawiest monstah in the wohld, King Sombwa, and you awen't anything like him. You looked like the stwongest, bwavest, most gweatest knight in the whole, wide wohld." With that, the griffin hugged him, then curled up and went right back to sleep. That... stunned Cricket. All his life, he'd been told, and he had believed, that changelings inspired nothing but fear in others. That it was impossible for any creature to ever willingly love a changeling. And yet, right here, right now, a little trickle of love was coming from the little griffin snuggled on his lap, directed right at him. It was small, but it was steadily growing. And as he went back to reading to the little ones gathered around him, he realized that more was coming in. While certainly not a massive ocean of affection, he had, just being himself, earned their love. And it felt far better than stealing it ever had. With a smile, he dove right back in, reading to the youngsters with enthusiasm, and the children, for the first time in a long time, were able to forget the world around them, and just be happy children again. That night, he dreamed... He found himself standing in an open field. It was serene, but that serenity was threatened. A storm was coming in on the horizon. It followed a herald: a pony, a unicorn in fact, tall, well built, with an ash gray coat, black tail and mane, with mad red eyes. A crown set upon his head, a regal cloak upon his back, and armored boots upon his hooves, he looked ever inch a king, but not the type any would willingly bow to. This was a conqueror, not a leader. He looked... unspeakably dangerous. He spoke, and his voice was made Cricket, who had fought countless battles since he was born, shudder with fear. "Your coming here is unexpected. However, you can serve a purpose. My purpose. Take my hoof. Join me. In exchange for a single service, I will give you all that you desire, and more. You wish to be healed? I can restore you this very instant. You wish to be a pony? The curse upon you is easy for me to remove. You wish for power? At my side, you will become the second most powerful being in the world. You wish for... a certain somepony? I can provide her for you. Whatever you wish for, simply name it, and it shall be yours." Cricket looked the pony in the eyes... and smiled. And spoke the one thing he desired, at this moment, more than anything else in the world. "I wish... to punch you in the face." "Very well," the unicorn said, "I can... wait, wha..." and that was as far as he got before Cricket punched King Sombra right in the face as hard as he possibly could. Who says that wishes don't come true? It was a good, solid punch, one that would have laid out most wizards, who are notoriously squishy. However, Sombra was more solid than the average mage. Which was good: Cricket would not have been satisfied at this moment with just laying him out with one punch. Sombra tried to gather himself, growling, "How dare you..." Cricket, moving with the speed that helped him earn the nickname "Seven Tricks", was on the king in an instant. "NO!" he roared in his opponent's face, "HOW DARE YOU?" He pulled Sombra close, to where their faces were a bare inch apart, and said, "With how I look, and the life I've been forced to live, no one, and I mean NO ONE, would blame me if, instead of trying to be at least halfway decent, I decided to be something like you. After all, a love eating bug monster has every excuse to be evil, especially if he was born that way." Hefting the unicorn up in the air, rising on his own hind legs, Cricket roared, with a lifetime of repressed fury, "BUT YOU! YOU'RE A PONY! FOOD GROWS OUT OF THE GROUND FOR YOU!!! THE SUN AND MOON SHINE DOWN ON A WORLD MADE JUST FOR YOU TO HAVE A PLACE TO BE HAPPY!!! YOU ARE GIVEN EVERYTHING THAT A CHANGELING COULD WISH FOR, COULD HOPE FOR, COULD DREAM OF, AND COULD NEVER HAVE! AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO CHOOSE EVIL OVER GOOD?" Cricket would be a little bit ashamed of what he did next. It was showy, excessive, and it was a move that you really shouldn't perform unless you're a professional wrestler: A Tauren Suplex. He flipped his opponent around, grasped him around the middle, and then slammed King Sombra headfirst into the soft ground with all the strength in his body. King Sombra, his head now buried in the ground, struggled to uproot himself. Cricket got up, backed up a bit, then started running towards the king. Just as King Sombra got his head loose, Cricket launched into a flying kick that caught Sombra right in the face with both hooves. The king was launched a long ways back. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, skidded a ways, then rose up, completely unharmed. Of course. This was a dream. While all of that was showy, impressive, and cathartic as anything you can imagine, it wasn't real. However, the king seemed to understand that his offer wasn't going to be accepted. Ever. "Very well. Then I shall reclaim my kingdom on my own. Just remember: I offered you a chance to serve me, and you rejected it. You will have none to blame but yourself for the destruction that I rain down upon you when next we meet. Enjoy your life as a monster. Fool." And with that, Cricket woke up. A few days later, the youngsters were gathered around, and he read to them from the big storybook. By mid afternoon, he reached the end of the last tale. The youngsters looked disappointed, and when Cricket was about to suggest that one of the older ones go get a new book, he saw something outside the window to his room, something that terrified him: the sky flickered, and he saw a monstrous black shadow... one that looked all too familiar. Worried for the youngsters, he told them to gather around close, because he had a special story to tell all of them. Certain that their attention was focused on him, instead of the drama unfolding outside, he began. "Once upon a time, there was a monster. A scary monster. The scariest monster there ever was. However, while most didn't know it, he was only a monster on the outside. Inside, he had a kind and gentle heart. He went on many adventures, and saw many places, and everywhere he went, he only found doors that were barred to him, walls built to keep him out, and soldiers trained to keep him a long, long way from their homes. This was because he looked just like the other monsters that threatened those places, and many of them weren't as nice as he was." Whatever it was that was keeping Sombra out finally failed, and the dark king began to advance upon his former subjects. "The monster was envious of the creatures of the world. Why should he be forced to live like that, when they had all of the good things in life. He never chose the kind of life he lived. Then one day, he was badly injured by some of the creatures who thought he was just as much a monster on the inside as the outside. Lost, hurt, and alone, he fell asleep..." The great shadow took the form of a pony, and began rising up a jagged black crystal towards the palace, and something that seemed to be falling from it. "...And he woke up in a strange place, surrounded by little ones like you, who didn't think he was scary at all! It was the most amazing thing. After all this time alone, he had friends who didn't care what he looked like! However, there was one who lived in this strange kingdom, an evil wizard, one who looked normal on the outside, but was a terrible monster on the inside. This wizard thought that such a wonderful place should be his, and his alone. He offered to give the monster everything he could ever want, if he would help him take over this paradise. He even offered to make it so that the monster wouldn't look like a monster anymore." Something snatched the falling object before Sombra could catch it. The king did not look pleased. "The monster told the wizard to get lost. He wouldn't trade the friends he had made for anything in the whole entire world, and if the wizard wasn't willing to share such a wonderful place with others, he didn't deserve any part of it." Somepony familiar now had a heart made of crystal in her possession, and was rallying the ponies around her. The heart began to glow. "The wizard tried to conquer the kingdom anyways, and was promptly defeated. And while the monster would spend his whole life looking big, mean, and scary, he didn't mind. After all, no matter what happened, no matter what he looked like on the outside, as long as he had friends who loved him, he could never be a monster on the inside." A brilliant flare of light erupted from the heart, and a pulse of pure, radiant energy enveloped the kingdom. King Sombra was defeated, shattered to pieces and thrown to the wind. The ponies, and the city they lived in, was flooded with light and shone brilliantly. And when the light reached Cricket, the most incredible thing happened... He changed. The holes in his legs, which he'd had his whole life, vanished. His exoskeleton changed to the fuzzy body of a pony. Instead of the insectoid wings on his back, he now had those of a pegasus. He even sprouted a mane and tail! But most incredible of all... he shone. As though his body was made of gemstones of the highest quality, and was illuminated by a light from within. For a moment, an incredible, impossible moment, he was a crystal pony. And then, just as quickly, it was gone. He was a changeling again. Oh well. Nice while it lasted. It seemed it took more than that to break Sombra's curse... The looks on the faces of the children were a sight to see. They realized that something had happened. Something incredible. Cricket changed quickly into disguise mode, hearing hooves thunder down the hallway, as nurses and doctors came to deliver the good news: The king was no more. Long live the princess! And Cricket was filled with hope: hope that one day, Sombra's curse would finally be broken, not just for himself, but for all of changelingkind. He felt love, impossible amounts of it flooding the city, enough to sustain him in the meantime. Even if he could never find a cure for Sombra's curse, he could live here, in peace, for the rest of his days, so long as he was careful. And that, he felt, was the most important thing: no matter what he looked like, he would never be a monster on the inside, like Sombra was. ... "Your highness," Cricket said, as the display ended, "I can't tell you specifically what I have to offer you, or Equestria. I have no idea what I can do to enrich the kingdom the four of you govern. All I have are my hooves, the strength of my back, and a great deal of experience crammed into a small number of years. However, I can promise you this: if it takes all the time I have left in this world, however long or short that may be, I will find something to offer. And I can promise you this, as well: I will certainly do a better job of being a subject of Equestria than King Sombra ever did." Cadance smiled, the brightest, most radiant, most wonderful smile that Cricket had ever seen. "Now that," she said, "Was exactly the answer that I was looking for. I have no further questions for you, Commander. We'll need a little time to talk, the four of us, before we give our ruling. I don't think we'll be too long, though," she finished with a wink. The four princesses looked at one another, smiled, nodded, then cast the spells necessary to unlock the room. Once that was done, the four asked Cricket and Shining Armor to leave the room while they discussed whether or not Cricket should be granted citizenship. Before he had taken ten steps outside the room, however, he was called back in. Princess Celestia spoke formally as she announced, "We've decided. By the power invested in we four, as rulers of Equestria, we have decided to grant you, Commander Mole Cricket, sometimes known by the nickname, "Seven Tricks", probationary citizenship in Equestria. There will be conditions, of course, that you will have to abide by, during the year that shall follow. It may not be easy for you, and for that, I apologize. However, if you do follow those rules, and show as much courage, determination, and heart as you have today, I have no doubt that in one year's time, you will be the first changeling to gain full citizenship in Equestria."