//------------------------------// // I Don't Need a Passport // Story: Cheesecake and Changelings // by Dropbear //------------------------------// “Midnight, Midnight wake up,” the Nocturne mare stirred as the soft voice called her from sleep, Midnight not wanting to get up just yet. “Five more minutes…” she mumbled sleepily in reply, clutching whatever she was laying against tighter. Midnight smiled when she heard a sigh of defeat, the mare winning her battle to remain in the comfy state. “You know,” the voice once again said, “I’m not opposed to the whole hugging thing but do I have to live the rest of my life fearing that I’ll wake up being spooned by you every morning?” This got Midnight’s attention, the mare opening her eyes only for them to be filled with the sight of a smiling changeling. Midnight looked downwards and her hind legs were indeed wrapped around the changeling’s torso from the side, the mare quickly removing them as her cheeks flushed red. All embarrassment was forgotten however as she remembered the reason that she left the bed, Nigel fidgeting a bit when Midnight practically smothered him with her embrace. “I was worried about you last night! You just wouldn’t stop trembling and I didn’t know what to do! I don’t want you to go away and I was just so, so scared…” Midnight’s voice lowered until it was barely audible, sobs wracking her body as she relived the night before. She felt smooth chitin wrap around her, Nigel returning the hug which she had forced on him. “Hey, calm down okay. Look at me.” Midnight did as he asked, the changeling still maintaining the smile that he always seemed to have. “See?” Nigel continued once he had Midnight’s eyes on him, “I’m still alive and kicking, there’s no need to get so upset.” The mare stopped her sobbing, Nigel seemed to be incredibly calm about the situation. “Why did you start to shake so badly though?” Midnight enquired, using a wing tip to wipe away her tears. “Oh, those just happen from time-to-time. No biggie, they stop eventually” The changeling replied casually as he looked towards the window, sunlight visible through the closed curtains. “If it happens again just wait and the twitches will pass, no permanent damage happens and when I wake up everything is better.” Midnight was a little surprised that Nigel cared so little about what appeared to be a serious condition, the mare concerned for the changeling’s safety. “You act like you’ve know about it for a while, wasn’t anyone able to help you?” Nigel let out a small chuckle at the mare’s question earning him a confused look. “You don’t think they’ve tried? I’m not a very good patient you know, hell, I even seduced one of the therapists and while she wasn’t able to fix the old noggin she certainly made up for it in other ways,” Nigel stared off into space at the memory, “ah Pauline Simmons, that was a great month.” Midnight let out a snort of disapproval, the mare turning away from Nigel as she heard this. The changeling smiled, looking at the mare with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “What’s wrong Midnight?” Nigel questioned as the mare tried to act hurt. The fact that she still kept her forelegs around him however only encouraged Nigel’s teasing. “Are you… jealous of Pauline Simmons?” he taunted. His grin growing wider as Midnight froze for a second, the mare spluttering as she faced him. “N-no, why should I be?” she asked, her expression stating the opposite, “it’s not like your still seeing her… right?” “No, I’m no longer her patient so you don’t have to worry,” Nigel reassured, Midnight letting out a sigh of relief. “She had to move to another sector so I went and got a new therapist.” Midnight’s breath caught in her throat, Nigel enjoying how easy it was to mess with her. “His name is Carl; I must admit that his stress management advice has really helped.” “Nigel, that’s not funny” Midnight said with a small grin, finding it difficult to stay mad at the jocular changeling. “Yes it was, the look on your face when I said Carl was almost worth the trip to this planet!” Nigel laughed, the mare removing one of her forelegs from around the changeling to give him a mock hit on the shoulder as she giggled along with him. Both beings leaned up against each other as they shared their mirth, the laughter taking a few moments to die down. They both sat back against the wall, all the drama from the previous night forgotten. Midnight looked at the curtained window, the amount of sunlight indicating it was quite late in the morning. “What do we do now, Nigel?” she questioned as she turned to him, “We can’t leave in daylight and we’ve got the rest of the day to wait out with nothing to do.” Midnight began to circle one of her hooves on Nigel’s chest, the changeling appearing to not notice as he looked towards the ceiling in thought. “I was thinking that I should work on my movement and all of that, I’m still not fully confident in this body.” “What do you mean? You’re walking fine from what I can see” Midnight responded, slightly disappointed that Nigel did not pick up on what she was alluding to. The changeling unwrapped his forelegs from around the mare’s body and he held his front limbs out in front of him. “It’s not about the walking,” he answered, “I’m not sure that if I get into a brawl I’ll be able to fight with full effectiveness. I want to be certain that if I’m attacked then I will be able to defend myself to the best of my ability.” Midnight could see his point; after all if she was in his place trapped in the body of a creature hated by most of the known world then she would be worried about how well she could defend herself just like he seemed to be. While she was still a little dejected that the Changeling didn’t share her ideas of how the two could pass the time Midnight did conceded that his idea was probably a little more useful for the pair. Not by much though. Nigel smiled as he received a nod from the mare; he certainly dodged a bullet on that one. Chalmers fully knew what Midnight was getting at, the mare’s strong feelings for him obviously growing as they spent more time together. This was getting to be a real problem, Nigel resolved that he would just try and ignore it for now to focus on the task of getting her back home. As soon as she was back with her family all of his responsibilities for the mare’s well-being would be lifted and he could resume his quest to get back home. ‘But what if you don’t want to leave her behind?’ Nigel grimaced at the thought, granted Midnight was enjoyable to be around and he had to admit that he did think she was rather cute but he just couldn’t see it working out well. Midnight was staring at him in concern. “Nigel why are you frowning, did I say something wrong?” Midnight asked with a hint of panic in her voice. Chalmers looked back into her golden eyes, shaking off all thoughts and concerns about the mare’s affection for him. “No, nothing like that,” he replied as he stood up, stretching his legs to limber them up. “I was just thinking about how difficult this practicing will be and speaking of which I better get to it.” He finished, walking into the centre of the room which was cleared of all furniture. Midnight watched him with a worrying frown as she got up to follow him. For some reason she got the feeling that the changeling was bothered by something but what it was she couldn’t figure out. Maybe when they arrived in Nocturnia he would be willing to talk to her about it. “God damn it!” Midnight sighed as she watched Nigel attempt to stand on his hind legs, the changeling making it half-way before toppling over. ‘He just figured out how to walk on four legs a few days ago,’ she thought to herself as she moved to help him. ‘Why does he want to try to walk on two already even though he knows he’s going to get hurt?’ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ As it turns out, practicing un-armed combat techniques while standing on a hard wooden floor is not the best idea. Nigel winced as he rubbed the side of his face with a hoof, the bruise that occupied the space throbbing as he touched it. This particular one had been earned when Nigel had attempted to stand on his hind legs and box with both fore-hooves., resulting in him colliding with the end corner of the bed. From then on Chalmers realised that he would just have to make do with four legged combat, something that annoyed him greatly as it meant that he would only be able to attack with one leg at a time. He kicked a pebble with a hind leg as he sat on the rock awaiting Midnight’s arrival, his blue cloak shrouding his body. The day had passed quickly and painfully, Nigel having left via the room’s window as soon as the last rays of daylight were snuffed out by the night. More bruises had been gained on the trip down but his escape had gone undetected which was worth it in Nigel’s opinion. Midnight was to leave ten minutes later and meet him, the Equestrian border so close that it would only take an hour of walking until the pair was off Equestrian soil and free. From the border the city of Nocturnia was three hours of traveling away, meaning that Nigel and Midnight would hopefully reach the city while the night was still young. The changeling heard the clopping of hooves, Nigel dropping behind the boulder as a single pony approached. While he was expecting Midnight he could not afford to be lax, it was already a stroke of luck that not a single guard had been sighted since they had fled the capitol. “Nigel?” Chalmers relaxed as Midnight’s voice called out, the changeling stepping out from behind the rock waving a hoof to get the mare’s attention. Midnight saw him straight away, the mare galloping over with her bag jingling around her neck. “Did everything go like it was supposed to?” Nigel asked, remaining still as Midnight nuzzled him with a smile on her face. At his query she backed off, her wings fluttering as she stretched them out in the cool night air. “It sure did, the innkeeper didn’t suspect a thing,” Midnight answered, moving to walk beside Nigel as the changeling started to move down the side of the road. “He was very nice though, he didn’t even charge me for that table you broke.” Nigel shuddered as he remembered that incident; even with heightened pain resistance colliding into a wooden table with one’s groin was not a pleasant experience. “He bought the whole ‘I placed my bag on it and the leg just came off’ without question?” “Yep! He said that a few of the tables had broken that way so it wasn’t a big deal, apparently he was going to re-do all of the rooms soon anyway” Midnight responded as she trotted along merrily. While watching her friend hurt himself attempting to figure out how to fight in his new body was hard for her she had to admit that his antics were kind of funny in a way. Why he had decided to attempt a jump from the bed over the table she still could not figure out. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ “Ha ha! Come get me now you fat sun-arsed bitch!” Midnight watched on as Nigel jumped back-and-forward over the border, a sign next to the road stating that the pair was now in the country of Lumina. The changeling was in incredibly high spirits, over-joyed that Equestria could no longer pursue him. The fact that Lumina would be one of the last places the Equestrians would even think of to search was also a huge blessing. She smiled as Nigel crossed the border one last time before he continued walking down the road, Midnight moving to trot beside him. “Only a few hours of walking left,” Nigel stated with a grin still on his face as he walked along. Midnight’s mood soured a little at this, the reminder that she would soon have to face her family an unwelcome one. Nigel noticed this, the changeling turning his head to face the mare who was looking at the ground in front of her hooves. “Still worried about how they’d react to the news?” “Yeah,” Midnight replied as she nodded her head, “I don’t think they’re going to be that welcoming, considering that I’ve lost my job, my honour and the only thing I’ve gained is a foal. My mother will probably be the only one happy to see me, my sisters will either ignore me or mock me and father…”Midnight shuddered as she imagined what her father’s reaction would be. As a member of the Nocturnia police force he was over-joyed when his daughter was selected to be a Lunar Guard. It was the one time that Midnight felt that her father appreciated her. “I’m sure they’ll treat you fine,” Nigel reassured, “plus I wasn’t planning on it but would you like it if I… helped you break the news to them?” The changeling had stopped as he asked this, Midnight halting as well. “You’d… you would do that for me?” Midnight questioned, incredibly touched that Nigel offered to face her parents with her. “Of course I would” the changeling answered, Nigel’s mind screaming at him to explain why he just offered to meet the mare’s parents. To be honest he didn’t rightly know, maybe if they saw who Midnight was traveling with then they would be more inclined to take her back in leaving Nigel free as he’d always been. Yes, that was the sole reason and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was actually enjoying his time with her. Midnight embraced Nigel in a hug, her wings fluttering as she balanced on her hind legs. “Thank you, this means so much to me Nigel” Midnight said as she nuzzled the changeling before dropping back down. “Eh, I’m sure it’ll all go smoothly” Nigel responded as the two resumed their journey. “I’m a highly trained military intelligence officer and it’s only your parents, nothing I can’t handle.”