Oh shit.
Tranquus smiles at me. “You had me convinced for a second. I'll admit that you’re very skilled. I’m surprised I didn’t catch you at first. How did a my guards not detect a changeling the second one walked in?”
Oh shit.
“I thought all the changelings were dead. Either killed in Canterlot or blasted to who knows where. How did you survive?” She says. I don’t answer. She sucks a breath in. “Ah. The silent treatment. I thought that was a stallion’s thing.” She lightly hits her forehead with her hoof. “Oh, but you can be both. I forgot about that.” She walks behind the counter. “Would you like a drink? It will be your last, so choose wisely.”
“How…?”
“How did I find out? Easy, my friend. You stopped walking. I know a lot about your species and body language. Your sudden lack of movement was the first hint. Then I saw your face. Your face betrayed you.” She pours a drink. “All changelings make the same expression when they can’t identify emotions.” She downs the drink with one sip. “You know, you aren’t the first changeling I’ve talked to.” Her smile is absolute pure evil. “You will be my last.” Tranquus sets the glass down. “Please, follow me, changeling. If you don’t, I’ll have you know that my father had my mother executed for disobeying him. I’m not as forgiving as my father.”
I force myself to follow her. I need to get out of here. I could jump out a window and fly towards Canterlot. I’m certain her guards would shoot me down with their crossbows. “...How did you know what I was thinking?”
“Your body language is incredibly easy to read. I might as well have been reading a book.” Tranquus replies without looking at me. “Don’t let it get to you, changeling. It's a common trait of your species. I guess it’s a fault of not being able to speak.” She stops walking for a second and looks upwards at the ceiling. I stop behind her. “But you’re in pony form… I guess your movements don’t change as a pony.” She starts walking again. "Tell me, changeling. What are you, really?" She waits for an answer. I don't give her the satisfaction of hearing my voice. Tranquus frowns. "You're a stranger. You're a changer. But you aren't a danger."
I just look at her. I can't think of anything to say to her. My heart starts to beat rapidly. It's late to the realization of just what's going on.
"Don't make an attempt to fight me, changeling. I see that you're a fighter. There's no doubt about it. If you want to stay alive, I suggest doing what I say." She continues. She pours me a drink and slides it to me. I look at the glass. "You said you're thirsty. Drink up, changeling." She looks at my wings, then lightly taps her head against the desk. "I'm sorry about that. Let me take care of that." She takes the glass in her magic and floats it towards me. I drink it all in one sip.
"I hope you enjoyed that. That will be your last drink." Tranquus says without any hint of a smile. She looks to the side slightly. "Unless I decide to give you another, I mean. I don't plan on it. But who knows what'll happen?"
"Could you just get on with it?" I say. I'm getting sick of her going off on tangents like that.
"Sorry. I do that sometimes." Tranquus lets out a sigh. "Tell me, changeling. Are you familiar with equisetum?”
I've never heard that word before. “No. Do I want to be?"
“Equisetum is an incredibly deadly poison." She says, ignoring my response. "It’s... Well, as the writers say, ‘show, don’t tell.’ Follow me, changeling.” I follow Tranquus out of the room. I need to find a way out this place without being killed. Tranquus hasn't posed that threat directly yet, but I'm absolutely certain she will. "Equisetum is incredibly rare in Equestria." She continues. "I've traveled the globe for decades prior to forming my business, changeling, and I've collected it for just as long."
"What kind of business do you even have? Selling anarchist cookbooks?"
"As I've told you, I'm not a damned anarchist." She snaps at me. There's a lot of agitation in her voice. I smile internally. She hates being called an anarchist. I'll have to keep that in mind. Tranquus lets out a breath. She's probably trying to calm herself down. "This is a clothing business. Manufacturing and shipping. There's a lot of business around Canterlot. But, that's not important right now." She stops at another door further down the hall and opens it.
Inside the room are a few ponies armed with primitive looking spears. In the middle of the room is a pony with a bag over their head. He doesn't feel any fear. The only emotion I sense from him is pure burning hatred. The guards aim their spears at my throat. "Don't worry about her. She's with me." Tranquus says. The guards return to their original stance. She walks to the other side of the room and returns with a small toolbox.
Tranquus opens it. Her horn lights up. A plant resembling bamboo with pine needles floats out of the box. Is this equisetum? I was expecting some sort of pill or something in a syringe. With the plant still in her magic, Tranquus removes the bag on the pony, revealing a unicorn stallion. He immediately locks eyes with Tranquus. "I'm not telling you anything."
"I'm not asking for anything else. I'm here to show a friend of mine something for demonstrative purposes." She gestures to me with her head.
The stallion doesn't look my way. "Fuck you, Tranquus."
"Ooh, naughty language. I'll have to punish you for that." Tranquus floats the equisetum towards the stallions mouth. He locks jaw. Tranquus forces it open with her magic, still holding the Equesetum in the air. The stallion is visibly injured by that. I wouldn't be surprised if his jaw was just broken.
Tranquus forces the equisetum into the stallion's mouth and down his throat. She doesn't even bother making him chew. The stallion swallows the plant. The magic surrounding his jaw dissipates. He glares up at Tranquus. If looks could kill, she'd be in meaty chunks. I'll make sure she ends up like that. "Now stand up. Walk." Tranquus commands. The unicorn does, but keeps his eyes locked with hers.
Shortly after he stands up, his knees nearly buckle. He catches himself. He takes a step towards Tranquus. The look on his face alone tells me he wants to kill her in the most violent way possible. If I didn't have a mission, I'd help him with that. The stallion staggers and falls to the floor. He's breathing heavily. He turns to me and looks into my eyes. His eyes widen, then his body starts to convulse.
I can't take my eyes off him. I'm watching a pony having a seizure, but I can't do anything about it. Even if Tranquus wasn't here, I don't think I even could. I don't know how to save a pony from this.
The stallion stops moving. He's still breathing. Barely, but he is. He lifts his head up and looks at Tranquus. She grins and the stallion's head falls back to the floor. The sudden silence from his emotions is deafening.
Tranquus looks up from the corpse. “I’ll have you know this process usually lasts a week or two. The magic I used on him was more than to keep his jaw in place.”
"Who was that?" I ask.
"A soldier." She replies simply. "His name didn't matter."
“What kind of terrorist are you?”
She chuckles. “Who said I was a terrorist? I’m simply a mare with ideas. A mare with dreams. And dreams are magic proof.”
“You’re a monster.”
“You're wrong about that. I’m a pony. You’re the monster. You’re just a thing. You shouldn’t even be considered a changeling. You ran off from home. If you ever return to your birth nation, you’ll be killed.”
She’s right about that last part. Changelings know scents very well. They’d know I’ve lived with ponies. They’d know I’ve worked with ponies. But every other part? Every single part? They're all lies.
I look into her eyes. If looks could kill, she’d have been a corpse long ago. “I’ve got a family. Changelings aren’t my family anymore. They’re all dead.” I bare my teeth. “You’re the monster. You killed a defenseless pony. I’m going to kill you, Tranquus. I’m going to rip off your head and feed it to the dogs in Canterlot. I’m going to have them tear your corpse limb from limb.”
“That’s a little severe for you, don’t you think? I thought you didn’t like to kill ponies anymore.” Her voice is calm. It’s like she’s used to hearing death threats.
“I won’t be killing a pony. I’ll be killing you.”
“Make it later. I have plans for your Princesses.”
“You can’t kill an alicorn.”
“I can and I will.” Her voice suddenly turns sharp. Tranquus glares into my eyes. “I have been collecting equisetum for years. I’ve bought as much as I could from other species. I have enough to kill seven alicorns. I will use twice as much as necessary for Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. Twilight will have only get enough to kill her one time over.” She smiles. “You’d like to see that, wouldn’t you? Twilight dying like this?” She continues. Tranquus looks at the unicorn's corpse again. I don’t reply. I'm not the closest of friends with the Princess of Friendship, but that doesn't mean I want her dead. “You aren’t any fun when you refuse to speak. I’ll see if you do in my jail.” Tranquus nods to something behind me. I feel an impact on the back of my head. My vision quickly fades to black.