The New Neighbors

by White Dragon

Chapter 3: A Royale Dinner

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        “What?” I asked with a snarl at the rainbow haired pegasus. She backs up a bit before standing her ground. I can still sense a shiver of fear from her. But, I still am quite surprised to see her not visibly shaking.

        “I said, I want to to train me, please.” Rainbow Dash says while it looks like she is swallowing her pride.

        “You want a CHANGELING to train you?” I said to her with a surprised and incredulous voice, “even with what happened to you and your friends at the royal wedding?”
I question her. She slowly gains a look of realization on her face. Her fierce face comes back with a sharp smile,

        “Yes.” You are shocked by the simple word because it was not a question, it was a statement, she truly meant it. You start to chuckle then laugh and it turns into full out laughter. Rainbow looks on in concern before you stop laughing, and just chuckle before you walk over to her and put your leg around her neck and walk towards the weights.

        “You have to be the bravest mare I've met except for my wife, so shall we get started?” I say to her as she realizes what I just said, she gains a goofy grin before, getting out from under my leg and flying about yelling ‘Yes!’ It was quite funny to see when see bonked her head on the ceiling and fell into the pool before I teleport her to the edge, hoping she didn't get concussed, but she rose started shaking from the cold air in the basement. “I thought that pegasi were resistant to cold?” I ask interested.

        She shakes a bit before answering, her jaw jittering, “we are, b-but no-t when the-re is water und-er our feth-ers.” she keeps jittering while she walks towards the door that leads to the stairs to go back upstairs. I quickly pick her up in my magic while she gives a loud yelp and starts to struggle as I lead her over to a steaming room and shove her in as I follow and close the door. I use my magic to open a side door and grab a bucket of water and a ladle as I set the bucket down and use the ladle to put water on the hot rocks in the middle of the room as Rainbow lets the steam get to her. I float her over a fluffy white towel, which I wrap around her and her wings.  

“You good?” I asked the visibly relaxing pegasus. Rainbow just nods her head.

-----------------------------------------------------Outside Gym-----------------------------------------------

I’m visibly shocked at White's anger, wait I’m calling the changeling by its name now? Ugh… Wait, this is the first contact I've had with a changeling that is not bent on killing me, or others for that matter, on the other hoof this changeling could be dangerous. So I should probably send a letter to Celestia and Luna to alert the Royal guard. Star and Dawn are probably under a mind control spell! That has to be it! No normal pony would want to have a changeling as a dad.

I quickly turn around and gallop back to the steps to back upstairs. The second I reach the top of the steps I bump into Star who had a tray of snacks in her magic. I see her eyes scan me and she sighs and sets the tray down on the side of the table next to the couch. She then sits down on the couch and she motions for me to to do the same. I stand rigid as afraid of what she wants.

“Sit down Twilight,” she says in a tone that leaves absolutely no room for argument. It surprises me how compelled I felt to follow what she said. “You are not a very trusting pony are you twilight?” Star asks me while grabbing a hay sandwich of the tray on the table while she levitates one over to me. I take it in my magic and I get the same chill I got when I picked up Dawn to bring her inside. It was the subtle feel of changeling magic. Star scans me again with her eyes and gives a long drawn out sigh as she munches on her hay sandwich as I do the same.

“You think that both me and my sister are under White’s changeling mind control, don’t you?” Star said with blatant disappointment in her voice. I start to choke on my sandwich and I start to cough but it eventually goes down the right pipe. I start to stay say something but, I get cut off by Star again. “My dad isn't the only changeling in this house you know,” she says in a tone that confuses me until I process what she says. My eyes widen as I think rapidly about ways to escape and scream for my friends my lips get sealed by purple magic, as I see Star frowning. A few minutes I just stop struggling and just sit there. “Are you going to calm down now?” I give her quick nod yes and she releases my mouth. “Now, ask your questions without all the freaking out please,” Star asks in a quiet sad tone that makes this sound like she has done this before.

I cough into my hoof, before I start to try to clear the discomfort in the room. “So you are a changeling?” I ask a bit scared of the response. As I finish my question, Star gets a tiny grin on her face.

“No.” She says with a definitive tone, that confuses me, didn't she just…

“No? But didn't you just say that you were?” I ask now with more questions than before.

“True, but also false,” she says, while that even conf- “I am a pony and a changeling.” So with that my brain stops for a few seconds trying to figure out what that means,

“But! What? Hun… How is that possible? I ask trying to figure out the logic behind the statement.

“Well when a pony and a changeling love each other very much, they do it. Then nine months later a filly or a colt pops out.” She manages to get through before laughing. I stare at her shocked. After awhile she calms down, and gets serious again.

“So that means that, your mom was a pony and White is actually your dad?” I asked shocked at the statement, so a pony and a changeling actually liked each other?  Star sees or senses, I guess, the skepticism in my voice.

“Here,” she leans her head forward, I still sit there confused at what she wants me to do. “Go inside of my head, look yourself if you think that I am lying.” I am still confused so I just think of the spell I need and launch it at Stars head, then I get a rush of information. To not intrude on her privacy I only pick out what she told me so far, and to my surprise, it’s all true.  I dissipate my magic and sit back on couch more relaxed than I was minutes before. Star offers me another sandwich, which I take and start munching on after saying a small thank you.

“So where is your mom?” I ask her, she just flinches, and hiccups a bit,

“She a… she isn't here anymore,” Star says while nibbling on her sandwich. I look at her weird. If a mom just had a filly and a loving family, and left, then she left for something else or she… my eyes widen and I gasp, while Star gives a sad nod, yes. I then drop the topic as fast as I can.

After sitting for awhile AJ and Pinkie comeback into the house saying they moved all the boxes inside which Star thanked them greatly for, after chatting for awhile Rarity and Fluttershy come down from upstairs, while commenting on what a lovely, cozy house it is, when Star admitted that her dad picked it out.

“Hey AJ, did you see Spike outside at all?” I ask concerned for my number one assistant.

“Well, Twi’ I don’t know what to tell ya, I for sure didn't see him. What about you Pinkie?” AJ says turning to the pink mare beside her that was devouring the hay sandwiches one after the other.

“I dwht tee im!” Pinkie exclaimed with her mouth full of hay sandwich. Star looks at the clock on the wall.

“Oh, crap! I have to get dinner started,” she quickly grabs the tray and starts to head towards the kitchen, while AJ and Pinkie get up.

“We’d like to lend a hoof if that's ok, partner,” AJ asks wanting to help while Pinkie just wants more sandwiches, Star blushes and nods. They follow her into the kitchen.

“Girls I am going to go look for Spike, I’m worried about him.” I say while getting up and heading towards the door, I hear a quick ‘Oh!’ from the kitchen, I turn back around to see Star poking her head out of the kitchen doorway.  

“Dinner will be ready in a hour or so so come back then and my dad might have some gems for Spike,” Star says before pulling her head back and arguing with AJ and Pinkie over something. I turn and leave through the door closing it behind me as I step out into the late afternoon sun. Now time to look for Spike, he can’t be in that many places right?

-----------------------------------------------46 Minutes Later------------------------------------------------------

        I have looked everywhere, I looked at the park, the CMC clubhouse, Fluttershy’s Cottage, the town hall, and the only place left to check is the library…. where I should have checked first. I about to head into the library when I see Spike’s message smoke burst from an open window. Wait… why did Spike send a letter? I rush inside of the library slamming the door open. The loud sound causes Spike to jump up and run under a table before he recognizes that it is me. I then get knocked over by an overly happy sobbing baby dragon.

        “Spike what’s matter?” I ask confused at the reason he is sobbing.

        “You were captured by a changeling!” Spike yells weird-ed out that I was fine with the current situation. I give him a confused look before a sudden look of realization, and then alarm.

        “Spike! I wasn't captured! White is a nice changeling! What was in that letter you sent and who did you send it too?” I ask hoping it wasn’t sent to, the pony I think it was sent to. Spike suddenly gets very nervous. He runs his claw over the fins on the back of his head.

        “Ah, oops. I… a… kind of said that all the girls were captured by a changeling force, and I sent it to… Celestia?” Spike says winching at what that means. I process this till I realize what that means. Celestia is going to think that White ponyknapped the girls and she will try to take us back. I quickly grab Spike in my magic, set him on my back, and am out the door in a matter of moments. I run through the town ignoring the greetings i'm getting from other ponies. It takes me 10 minutes to get to the road outside the house, but when I get there I am horrified by what I see.

---------------------------------------------------10 Minutes Earlier-------------------------------------------------

        
        I called up from the training room with Rainbow for dinner. The girls are in the kitchen helping set the table, I turn to head upstairs to grab dawn when I hear a knock at the door. I grab my amulet and put it around my neck turning into the normal pony version of myself. I open the door to see two royal guards in full armor with at least a battalion behind them. I quickly lose any enjoyment I had as I walk out and close the door behind me.

        “Can I help you?” I ask trying to be polite. The guards look at me strangely before feeling angry. They shift their weapons, before the one on my right talks.

        “You and any other being inside that house that is not an Elements of Harmony, are getting arrested and put in jail, Changeling,” the guard says before spitting at me. I slowly wipe the spit off of me, before giving the guard on my right an uppercut that sends him flying in the air and landing on two other ponies behind them knocking all three out, and before the other guard can react I spin kick, knocking him out while he flies off to the side. Many of the guards stare at me wide eyed before I take my amulet off and crush the ruby in the middle that causes a light blue bubble to come into existence around the house, soundproofing and protecting the house.

        I then get rushed, and things start to slow down, kick here, shield to stop magic there, neck chop here, and onward. The waves upon waves of ponies stop and I see the destruction around 500 ponies on the floor knocked out. I then see a sight that makes me slightly more scared. Celestia is angry, VERY angry. Her mane and tail are bright orange and red and is whipping around her like she is in a tornado. I quickly make my way towards an open field next to my house, so if she tries something the house won’t get damaged. As I get there I see Twilight coming up the path, with Spike on her back, worry in both of their eyes. I see the girls in the windows of the house as I stand in the field with Celestia facing off against me. I feel the heat in the air as I see a yellow light forming at the tip of Celestia’s horn, the grass around us browning and catching fire. I know what see is about to do and think of the one spell I need, my one transformation, the reason my last name is… Dragon.

---------------------------------------------------Inside the house---------------------------------------------------

        The girls and me are shocked to see what is happening outside 500 royal guards laying, out cold, on the ground. Minutes ago we were in the kitchen when we heard a yell of pain from outside then all noise got cut off. We all ran to the window to see my dad kicking plot. In a manner of minutes all the guards were knocked down and out with only a VERY angry Celestia facing off against my dad. While they start to walk away I rush to the front door, hitting a button on the wall that dispels the bubble. When me and the girls get outside and meet up with Twilight who keeps saying sorry, because Spike sent a letter to Celestia. Then boom, in the distance we see a huge amount of light, in the sky and a wall of heat washes over us. We start to run in the direction when the light stops and a large white shape flies over head as if thrown. It crashes into Celestia’s carriage throwing up a huge cloud of dust.  

        The girls rush over there thinking its my dad when I know that it’s not, before the girls get to the crash site they see Celestia stand up, looking a lot less hot than she did before. Her mane and tail had wood splinters in it, and she had a nasty looking bruise on her side. She gasps before raising a shield to stop a HUGE torrent of fire coming from the trees, after the fire stops, my dad walks out his white chitlin, turned to soot covered dragon scales and tiny streams of flames coming from his nostrils. He lets loose pillar after pillar of hot flames at Celestia her shield getting weaker and weaker all the time. Eventually White gets up to Celestia’s shield and with a swing of his hoof her shield shatters and she gets blown back landing in the rubble of her carriage, while no one notices the sun setting and the moon rising. I turn back to my dad who, is drawing in all the fire around then and forming them into a giant blade of fire. He swings the blade all the back and add more fire to it as it starts to swing forward towards Celestia’s neck, but the second before he gets to her neck he stops, then shakes his head, as he raises it up again as me and the girls start to run towards to Celestia to help her and me to help my dad.

--------------------------------------------------------The Rubble--------------------------------------------------

        This being in front of me, beat me? I don’t know how to react to this. I got the letter from Spike saying that all the girls got ponyknapped by a force of changelings, so as quick as I could I assembled a battalion, got into my carriage and went to Ponyville, but we were utterly defeated. I stood in awe and shock as my guards were knocked out one by one, as my anger at this changeling grew and grew till I finally attacked him, I poured as much fire as I could at him. But, when it ended he just stood there as nothing had happened, I didn’t even see him move when he was suddenly on me punching and kicking me so fast I couldn’t keep up. All I felt where the taps and when the final uppercut hit me I went flying, till I crashed into my carriage when all those little taps finally hit me, they racked my body with more pain than I have felt in a long time. And now he stands over me with a huge sword made of fire. He has has become my executioner. I see the girls and a unknown mare galloping towards me.

        “Girls stay back! He is too dangerous to fight!” I yell at them trying to get them to stop, they do what I ask but the unknown mare continues to come towards the changeling, “Stay back!” I yell at her to try to save her. The mare stops a few feet from the changeling and starts crying. Which leaves me confused,

        “Dad… stop please,” says the unknown mare, which makes me think in surprise that this monster is actually a father.

        “Why!? Why should I Star? If I do this, nopony with ever try to attack our family..” says the changeling above me, lowering his flame sword more and more.

        “Then what would Dawn’s life be like,” say Star, in a quiet voice that I don’t catch. While the changeling above certainly heard it, the second that his daughter finished her sentence the sword stopped dead. I could see the conflict in his eyes. When that conflict ended I gave a sigh of relief as the flame sword dissipated into the wind. The changeling sighed and lowered his head. Which suddenly shot up as he ran over to his daughter, stood beside her and held a hoof out catching my Luna who just appeared out of a sonic boom. To my misfortune my sister was then thrown at me, while the changeling saying in his gruff voice,

        “Calm her down.” Which I certainly did as fast as I could, by cuffing her upside the head, my sister just looks at me bewildered,

“But sister, he is the changeling that ponyknapped the Elements of Harmony, is he not?” Asks Luna with a tilt of her head. I shake my head, as I figured that she found the letter.

“It was a misunderstanding, and he is also the changeling that could have easily killed me but stopped,” I say in a ashamed tone, with a quick spell I transport the troops back to Canterlot and the ones that needed it to the hospital. I try to cast a quick healing spell but, with my drained magic all I could do was make my walking a bit easier. I then feel great as I see the changeling’s horn light up light blue and I feel a wave of healing spells wash over me and I see Luna getting the same treatment. I then see him sigh and walk inside the house motioning us to all follow him. As we get closer to the door I call Twilight over,

“Twilight mind telling me who your new friend is?” I ask her kind of concerned for our safety. Twilight still looks shook up at seeing her teacher getting thrown around like a rag doll.

“We-ll, his name is White Dragon, he is a changeling, and the biological father of Solar Star the mare you just saw and Dawn Pusher who is hopefully still sleeping upstairs,” Twilight says calming down, one thing she says doesn’t feel right though,

“You said biological father correct?” I ask her again for confirmation. She then nods yes, which makes me think, “so are Star and Dawn changelings as well?” Twilight shakes her head no,

“Star and Dawn are both pony and changeling, they are a mix,” Twilight says trying to get off of the topic. I drop it for now, but I am going to bring it up later. As we get into the house I see White, head up the stairs on the side of the hallway. As me and Luna take a seat on the cushions on the floor near the fireplace as Star brings us out some lemon tea. White comes back down the with a bundle of cloth in his magic, Luna and I lean forward to see a pure white filly with a light pink mane and sleepy light pink eyes. The little filly gives a tiny yawn, and squirms to get out her father’s magic. White sighs and unwraps her and sets her on the couch next to Celestia, who is on the cushion on the ground. The second Dawn gets up on her hooves, a little unsteady, but straight enough, but one look at me and Luna send her scurrying behind her father with her mane turning yellow. White looks confused, but just sighs with a small smile and picks up Dawn in his magic as she reaches out for her father’s face.

“Why did her mane change color?” I ask, wondering as everybody else does, as well. White sighs and sits down on the couch with Dawn curled up in his lap, napping again.

“She is part changeling stuff like that happens, Dawn’s mane changes color depending on what she is feeling, and Star can change her voice, magic color, as well as eye color.” White says making me wonder what he can do. After all he is colored white instead of black like other changelings. But before I can ask we get called into a very nice dining room. A large assortment of food is on the table including, a large rosemary salad, hay sandwiches, and other assortments I wasn’t very familiar with. As we start to dig in I see Luna raise her head and open her mouth but close it in thought.

“Say, whatever you want to say, depending on the question, I may or may not get mad,” said White who was cutting up a hay sandwich for Dawn, who giggled happily before eating her hay sandwich.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you survive my sisters fire? Its as hot as lava.” Luna asks one of the same questions that I was going too. White sighs and sets down his silverware.

“Its all very simple, I killed a dragon.” White said while walking away from the table.