I wake up some time later with a terrible headache. That guard has a strong hoof. If he didn’t hold back, he could have easily taken off my head.
I rub my aching head. After a few minutes, I notice that I’m no longer in the form of that one guard.
I manage to crawl to my feet. The room I’m in is barely lit. It’s something resembling a warehouse. I’m in a smaller room that looks like it’s been half built. Maybe half destroyed. Either way, I can tell it’s where I’m supposed to train.
“Changeling.” A voice echoes through the room. “This is your training area. Run as fast as you can through here.”
Just a running test? There’s probably something more to this. Judging from what my mission will be, I’m guessing there’s somepony in there for me to fight.
I run through the strange obstacle course. It’s not much different from any other obstacle course I’ve ran.
I finish the small course in less than five minutes. At the end, I’m not even breathing heavily. Unlike my expectations, there wasn’t anypony in the obstacle course.
“Congratulations, Changeling.” A pony in a white lab coat says to me. Her cutie mark is a magnifying glass. “You pass with flying colors.” I see a smile on her lips. “We already know you’re very skilled at combat. From your time with Doctor Pavlov, we know that you’re skilled at stealth, too. I assumed that you were, seeing as how you are a changeling.” She says like I don’t know what my own species is. “All that’s left are some loyalty tests. We need to know if you’ll stay on the Equestrians’ side and won’t hide out in Saddle Arabia.”
I should have seen that coming. I know they don’t trust me and want a reason for me to fail. If they really want this Toma stallion dead, they should just send me to Saddle Arabia and find him. And a loyalty test should have been obvious, but I didn’t see it coming. After all, isn’t one of the Elements of Harmony called Loyalty?
“Please, come with me. I’ll show you to your test.” She says. I follow her down a long hall and into another room. She opens the door and gestures for me to go in. “Your test is in this room.” When I enter the room, the door immediately closes. That’s not a good sign. Part of the room is darkened. I don’t like where this is going.
“Congratulations, Changeling. You’ve made it this far.” A stallion’s voice from somewhere in the room says. I notice an opening on the wall, like the room I was in when I accepted this mission. “Your next test is a loyalty test, as my assistant should have told you. This loyalty test may be difficult for you. Your objective is to… Kill Doctor Pavlov.”
The lights turn on, revealing an unconscious Pavlov strapped to a table. His limbs are spread out. There’s a box next to the table.
They want me to kill somepony I barely even know? From what I heard, Pavlov is one of Equestria’s greatest doctors. There’s something wrong about this. They want me to kill their greatest doctor… Maybe with a great offense, there’s no need for doctors? With the way these ponies’ minds work, I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually thought that.
I decide to play their game and open the box. There’s a scalpel inside. Since I’m not a cruel bastard like most ponies think I am, I don’t go for his torso. I instead slit Pavlov’s neck. To be honest, I briefly hesitate to kill him.
After I do the deed, his body starts to shift. Back into its original body.
I didn’t kill Pavlov. I killed a changeling.
I hear the door open. “Congratulations, Changeling. You pass again.” This isn’t the voice of any of the testers from before. This is Princess Celestia.
I turn to her, then glare at her. I shift into Princess Luna’s appearance. “You made me kill a member of my own species.” My voice is soft, but powerful enough to break down Celestia’s wall. “You still expect me to work for you. You want me to kill that pony. You want me to because you’re too weak minded. You can just sit in your throne all day and bark orders because you’re too weak to fulfill them yourself. I’ll do your job, only because I have no home left. I’ll do it because I’m strong enough to.” Celestia looks like I just slapped her across her muzzle. “Let me know when I’m going. Make sure it’s soon. I don’t want to see your face ever again, but I know that I will. While I’m gone, please, go fuck yourself.”
I drop Luna’s appearance and walk past Celestia.
The next day, the Prince wants to talk to me. He doesn’t want to be restricted to the reins of the castle, so we head out into Canterlot. A few guards follow us so nopony tries to kill us. During the meeting, I take the form of a stallion from a picture the Prince had. “So where are we going?” I ask. I’m still pissed after the events of yesterday, so the poison in my voice is unintentional.
The Prince doesn’t seem to care, though. He just looks tired. “The bar. I want to talk to you about something.” The walk to the bar, The Fermented Apple, is short and silent. The guards sit outside.
We enter the bar. “Hey, Shining.” The barkeep says to us. “Who’s your friend?”
“Someone to get drunk with.” The Prince replies simply. We sit down at the stools. “Get me whatever will put me on the floor the fastest. Get him-” he gestures to me with his head, “-anything he wants.”
“What d’ya want, kid?”
I don’t know any drinks the ponies have, much less any alcoholic ones. “Surprise me.” I say.
The barkeep doesn’t respond and studies me. After a second, he rubs his muzzle. “You seem like the scotch kind of stallion. And a whiskey for Shining.” He looks to the Prince. “On the rocks, maybe…”
The barkeep leaves and comes back to us shortly later. “Leave us alone. I’ve got to talk to him in private.” The Prince says. The barkeep leaves again. “Changeling, I just want to say… I’m sorry for treating you badly the other day.” I turn to him. Where is this coming from? Did the bitch Princess Celestia set him up for this? Is she too weak to apologize to me personally? No… The prince is releasing a feeling I’ve barely had experience with. Forgiveness. “I was just out of my head.” He takes a drink. “After the wedding, I’ve just been… Paranoid? I don’t know if that’s the word. I’ve felt like everyone just wants to ruin my life.” The Prince takes another drink. “I haven’t even told Cadence about this. Cadence…” He stares into the now-empty glass. He sighs, then leans over the counter. He grabs an entire bottle of whiskey.
“You sure you want to do that?” I ask.
“I don’t even care if I am.” He refills his glass and sets the bottle next to him. “I just… I can’t believe I almost married a changeling.” The Prince takes a big drink. “It keeps me up at night. What if I… What if I did? What would have happened? Would I even still be alive? What about Equestria? I don’t like thinking about it, but it’s… It’s impossible.”
I actually feel sorry for him. He treated me like an insect, but I still feel bad
for him. I’ve never been good at helping out things that aren’t changelings, but I have to do my best. I put my hoof on his shoulder. “Just let it out, Shining.”
He looks surprised that I said his name and am actually trying to help. I am, too. “What would my family think of me if that actually happened? Mom wouldn’t like it. Dad’s would disown me at best. Twily… Celestia, what would Twilight think about it? I know she knew about the changeling I almost married. She’d probably be depressed that I actually fell for that damn trick. The changeling would have probably killed her.” Shining takes another drink. “I should have listened to her.”
“Be glad you didn’t have to kill one of your own.” I blurt out.
“That wasn’t my idea!” He shouts. “It was Pavlov’s idea.” So Pavlov thought of that. When I see him, I’m going to break his jaw. “He’s a damn psychotic. He’s insane. I don’t like him.” His words start to slur. He’s starting to get drunk. “But you, changeling? I like you. I’m sorry for whatever I said when we met. I was more than a little pissed. Can’t think straight when pissed.” He rests his head on the table and closes his eyes with a sigh.
“It’s alright, Shining.” I tell him honestly. “I’d be pissed off, too, if I was in your hooves.” I take a quick drink. I almost spit it out. It’s terribly bitter. This is what ponies drink for fun? I set the glass aside. I notice that Shining isn’t moving anymore. I tap him with my hoof. He shifts a bit and lets out a snore.
I get the guards to help me drag him back to the castle. For a second, they think it’s my fault. I tell them that he got drunk, which they believed. That truly surprised me. I think these two guards are starting to get used to me.