//------------------------------//
// #19 - Change Is Good 
// Story: Techorse Short Stories 
// by Spirals95 
//------------------------------//


Change Is Good


Techorse series: #19


By Spirals95






A hot and bright summer day in Ponyville is the perfect time to go for a swim. The lake just outside of the town is cool, refreshing, and crystal-clear almost every single day. A recent heat wave brought on from a sudden acting up from the dragons' volcanoes in the northern sectors of Equestria had made the week's Friday too hot to pass up a chance for a swim. Knowing the heat wave was coming, Twilight Sparkle organized all her friends for a by-the-book swimming party. Some of her friends had already had plans for the day, but they had found ways around their busy state. Pinkie Pie had been tasked with taking care of the Cake twins, so she brought them with her, giving them swim diapers, as well as 4 tiny water wings on each of their legs in case they went too deep in the lake. The foals played on the shore of the azure lake with PAL, who was playing a very funny game of pretend to entertain the young ones. PAL had given each of the two a small squirt toy, made from a rubber bladder attached by a hose to a tiny yellow plastic gun. These were aimed up at an angle on a small piece of metal. The robot servant had also built a couple of sand castles by the water out of the silt, and was knocking them down with his footpads.

"Beep, Beep!" He shouted, taking a mechanical pause between each word, "I am a giant robot bent on the destruction of all of Equestria!"

The machine kicked over another pillar of sand, entertaining the foals, who giggled as the sand castles were leveled. 

PAL turned to face them, and raised his arms, "These two tiny ponies are no match for a big, strong robot! I must capture them for the master!" 

He boomed, stepping like Frankenstein's monster towards his "victims".

The foals just giggled, and each stepped with their tiny hooves on the plastic bulbs. Two streams of water shot out from the cannons, hitting PAL in the center of his metal chest. The liquid ran off the robot, and dripped onto the ground. But the machine expected this, and immediately clutched at his chest as if having a heart attack.

"Oh no!" he moaned, taking a step back, "Water! My one weakness! I am destroyed…"

PAL stiffened up like a board and fell backwards into the deep end of the lake. As he sunk into the water, he stuck one of his arms out above the surface, which added to the drama. 

Pinkie Pie skipped along the edge of the lake at this time, a smile on her face. She leaned over the edge of the lake, and asked her friend, "Having fun foalsitting, PAL?"

PAL gave a thumbs-up as his arm sank beneath the water.

"Uh-oh!" said Pinkie Pie, realizing what water did to machines. 

She looked with a bit of panic on her face at Techorse, who was swimming in the center of the lake.

"Is PAL gonna be all right, Techie?" she asked, "He just sank right to the bottom of the lake!"

The young stallion smiled back and replied, "PAL's body is waterproof, Pinkie Pie, he'll be ok. He's probably walking on the bottom right now."

"Well, as long as he's ok, I'm happy!" continued Pinkie, smiling again, "Back to partying!"

Jumping into the water, the pink pony splashed the cool liquid all over Rarity, who was sunbathing nearby. She took off her obnoxiously large red sunglasses, and coughed at the careless action.

"I just finished drying out!" she complained, taking the towel she was standing on and using her magic to run it through her wet hair.

"It's a lake party." said Rainbow Dash from the safety of the air above Rarity, "You're supposed to get wet."

Rarity glared at her and said, "Is that so?"

Her horn glowed a soft white, and a small blob of water rose from the lake, which she promptly splashed all over Rainbow Dash. Rainbow's mane clung to her body, and the soaked pegasus gave a look of disgust back at Rarity.

"Oh I'm sorry." Rarity said as she pursed her lips innocently, "We're supposed to get wet though. You said it yourself, Rainbow Dash."

"Hey, stop fighting!" asked Pinkie Pie, tracking something in the water with her big eyes, "I'm trying to catch a fish here!"

"Why would you want to catch a fish, Pinkie?" asked Rainbow Dash, "We're all vegetarians, remember?"

"I'm not going to eat the guy!" explained the earth pony, watching the fish below, "I'm going to make an aquarium for a decoration. Only the best, most flashy fish can brighten up my fishtank."

"Well, good luck catching one with your bare hooves, those things are slippery," said Rainbow, landing and rolling her eyes. 

She got a laugh out of Rarity's quivering however, when the unicorn pony was forced to think about the disgusting feel of a fish on her hooves.

Techorse, in the meantime, watched Pinkie try to snatch an aquatic pet, and said to himself, "I bet Fluttershy could help Pinkie catch the fish, if only she would get in the lake."





Fluttershy was standing at the opposite end of the pool of water, trying her hardest to get in. She stuck out a pale yellow front leg and touched the surface. Instantly she shot back her hoof and shivered, not wanting to get cold. Nearby and with a smirk on her face, Applejack had plans to help her friend succeed in her goal of going for a swim. She stepped up next to Fluttershy, her hat removed and her mane unbraided for the event.

"Having trouble gettin' used to the water, sugarcube?" she asked gently. 

Fluttershy gave a sad nod in response.

"Oh dear," said Applejack, spinning around and looking at something, "There appears to be this big, mean dragon coming along…"

Fluttershy screamed and dove headfirst into the water to avoid the made-up threat. When she finally surfaced, she gasped for breath and kicked her legs, trying to stay afloat. Eventually she found her buoyancy in the lake, and looked around. Fluttershy wanted to get mad at Applejack for the prank, but her nature denied the ability to scream at her.

"There's no dragon, Applejack," she said softly but with disapproval, "you tricked me."

"Yeah, but you're used to the water now, ain't ya?" responded Applejack, grinning.

"Oh, I guess I am!" said Fluttershy, realizing that the water wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be.

Techorse shook his head at his friend's antics, and swam over to Twilight, who was reading a book while reclining in a lawn chair.

"Hi sweetheart." He said playfully, "Coming into the water?"

Twilight looked up from her volume for a second and answered him, "I might after I finish this chapter. I want to find out what the hero does after he finally gives the antagonist what's been coming to him."

Techorse smiled as he continued to kick his legs to stay afloat. He knew that Twilight didn't like endings in which the bad guy met some horrible end at the hooves of the hero. She much preferred to see him get dragged off to prison, or have to make up for everything he did instead. The inventor thought that he might have to read the book himself later. Twilight's favorite books always had a hero or heroine who never took advantage of others or use underhanded methods to defeat the villain. These heroes were often just ordinary ponies put in extraordinary situations. When the story was finally over, the hero would return home as if nothing happened and everything was back to normal, until the sequel was released of course.

"I might just have to read it myself, Twilight," said Techorse, "then we can spend next weekend talking about it."

The lavender unicorn pony closed the book as she finished the last page of the chapter and replied, "That sounds like fun! But for now, let's see if my air spell won't let us have a nice swim near the bottom of the lake."

"Are you sure you've practiced that spell enough?" asked Techorse, unsure of the magic's success, "You told me that you just started working on that spell yesterday!"

Twilight jumped into the lake right next to Techorse, splashing more water all over his face. When she resurfaced, her horn was already glowing with energy.

"I'm sure!" she said, tipping her head towards him, "Now hold still!"

Then, with a tiny spark of magic, the energy left Twilight's horn and formed a small purple-colored glow around Techorse's mouth. Twilight repeated the spell on herself, and then encourage Techorse to dive under the water with her. The colt trusted his marefriend, and went down into the cold lake. Once they were a good 10 feet under the water, he took a deep breath of fresh air. Techorse figured that the spell provided a barrier of energy which performed hydrolysis on the water around his mouth, providing breathable oxygen. The two ponies swam together underneath the surface of the lake, exploring the sunken objects, including several boulders, an abandoned rowboat, and even PAL, who was simply hanging out at the bottom of the lake. The spell didn't provide the two with the ability to talk, so they just waved to the robot as they swam past him. PAL followed them at a slow pace on foot, jumping sometimes to clear a log or stone.

Twilight spotted what she thought was a shiny piece of glass trapped under a nearby slab of flagstone, and paddled with her rear legs to reach it. Carefully, she removed the object with her front leg. It was a small sapphire, which must have been trapped inside one of the stones for a very long time. Twilight thought that the gem might make a nice treat for Spike, since it was way too flawed for Rarity to have any use for it. While she looked over the stone with Techorse, Pinkie Pie swam by the two, wearing a snorkel, and holding a large net between her front hooves. She was chasing a small school of sunfish, desperate to get away from her and not end up as her new pet. Once this had happened, Techorse and Twilight decided to surface. After reaching the top of the lake and the warmth of the sun again, Twilight dispelled the magical breathing.

"See, I told you it would work!" she said, "Wasn't that amazing?"

"It really was, Twilight!" He agreed happily, "Thanks for talking me into it."





The rest of the lake party went as planned. Everyone had a good time, whether they were sunbathing like Rarity and Spike, or playing games in the water like the others. Eventually though, the day was starting to end, and it was becoming a little overcast as planned for the end of the day. A rain shower was planned to keep local crops from getting parched, and the other on-duty weather pegasi had given Rainbow Dash full notice about this. 

When she saw the rainclouds approaching, she warned the others, "Ok guys, the rain storm we need for this week is coming in soon. We should probably think about going home."

"Okie dokie lokie!" said Pinkie Pie cheerfully, as she held her new fish proudly in a plastic bad tied to her side. The small lake trout seemed rather eager to go home with her, probably wanting to avoid the larger predators in its old home.

"Oh, wait!" she said, turning around, "I need to take the foals with me too!"

Both of the Cake siblings had fallen asleep in PAL's arms despite how immensely uncomfortable they must have been resting on his armored body. The robot seemed to have some sort of feeling, which despite normally being impossible for a machine, seemed perfectly within his programming.

"If it's all the same, Miss Pie," He said quietly, "I'd like to take them back myself. You should help the others get their things home."

Pinkie gave the robot a thankful look and said, "Great idea PAL. Thanks!"

PAL then turned to Spike and curled a metal hand at him to indicate he should tag along. Still biting down on the sapphire, the dragon agreed and followed the machine away into Ponyville. The remaining seven friends headed back for town in a different direction to return their towels and beach toys. As they walked together, they mostly talked about the week ahead and their plans. While they were walking, Fluttershy noticed a figure moving among the trees that marked the way back to Ponyville. Most of the area leading to the lake was open otherwise, but these could provide cover for some creature, so she tried to point out the movement to the others.

"Um, girls..." she said quietly. 

No response came from her friends, who talked over the top of her.

"Girls!" she repeated again, looking up from the ground and speaking slightly louder.

"What is it Fluttershy?" asked Pinkie Pie as she reversed direction. Normally she would hop on her way to her destination, but she didn't want to harm her aquatic passenger.

"I saw something moving behind the trees!" she said with fright, "We're being watched!"

"Relax, silly!" said Pinkie Pie, "It's probably just a badger or something! They're more afraid of us than we are of them."

Fluttershy looked beyond her friends and noticed that the shape had darted out from the woods, and now hid behind a small pile of rocks, just a few feet away from where they were going to walk. The timid pegasus said nothing, but took a deep breath and hoped that Pinkie Pie was right about it being a harmless creature. Every step the group took closer to the stones made Fluttershy even more and more nervous. When the team finally reached the cairn, a dark figure jumped out from behind it and landed in front of them, silencing the team.

In front of them was a male changeling, trying his hardest to smile at them without coming across as creepy. His eyes were a nice light blue in color like many of his kind, and his small fangs protruded over his lower lip. His wings vibrated gently, creating an occasional buzzing noise as he tried to keep himself calm.

"Hello..." he said in an insecure, but serpentine sounding voice.

Fluttershy shrieked loudly, and fainted at the sight of the familiar enemy. Rarity dropped behind to her rescue, and propped up her friend's head to restore the blood flow.

The changeling pointed at Fluttershy with a porous front leg and tried to say, "I'm terribly sorry…"

But he was cut off by Applejack jumping in front of her friends and landed on the ground in front of them. She scraped the dirt with her front left leg, and lowered her head, prepared to charge.
"Were you plannin' on doing us in, changeling?" she asked accusingly, "Because you're gonna lose a few teeth if ya try!"

"Easy, Applejack." said Techorse, stepping up and putting a leg over her shoulder.

"Ya want me to go easy?" shouted Applejack, turning her head, "Tech, do you have any idea how much trouble these little gnats cause us ponies?"

"Twilight told me about them a while ago, but I don't make generalizations," explained Techorse, wanting to be fair, "I have to go on a case by case basis with everyone, even changelings."

Twilight stepped forward and asked with a mistrusting tone, "So what are you here for anyways? If you don't want to fight us, what do you want to do?"

The changeling tried to get an answer out, "I just want a chance to get into Ponyville."

"AHA!" shouted Rainbow Dash, "You want to break into town so you can leech off of our emotions!"

She darted from her place, and tackled the shocked creature to the ground. Rainbow Dash was now on top of him, pinning him to the ground with her rear hooves. She lifted a cyan leg up, ready to bring it down on her enemy's face.

"I say we squash this bug!" said Rainbow, ready to knock him out, "Just tell me when, and I'll kick his tail!"

Techorse looked at the panicked changeling, squirming on the ground to avoid a horrible end. He knew that what Rainbow Dash was doing wasn't right in his heart, and despite the risk, had to at least ask a few more questions.

"Let him go, Rainbow Dash." He ordered, "If he acts up, then we can do something about it."

"Ya can't be serious!" protested Applejack, "We can't trust this guy!" 

Turning to Twilight Sparkle, she added, "Can we?"

Twilight thought about it for a moment, and sighed deeply before agreeing, "Well, if his goal was to ambush us, he failed. We should at least let him explain himself."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, and stepped off of the changeling's torso. He sat up and gasped for air, his teal colored forked tongue darting out once.

Applejack said to him nastily, "Go on, say something!"

Eventually, he cleared his throat and stood up on all four legs. He introduced himself as calmly as possible,
"My name is Razor. I was hoping to make up for some things."

"You have a lot to make up for," said Rarity bluntly, still holding Fluttershy, "Trying to take over all of Equestria's not exactly a small crime!"

"Please, hear me out!" begged Razor, "Not all of us wanted to make that attack on Canterlot. I was one of the reluctant ones. Honest!" 

Noticing Pinkie Pie, he said, "You! You saw me; I was bored out of my mind during the fight."

Pinkie Pie dashed up to the dark creature and said curiously, "I don't remember you at all. But then again, I don't remember much about fighting, just about the parties afterward! Man they were a blast!"

Razor said to her, "See if this helps."

He then cleared his throat, and attempted to make a mocking reproduction of Pinkie's voice,
"Ooh, do me next!"

A flash of green energy swirled around the changeling as he disguised himself as Pinkie Pie. She instantly recognized her compliant rival.

"Oh, it's you! How are things in the hive?" she asked, "Let's catch up over some cake or something."

"Some other time." said Razor as he shifted back to his normal appearance, "Anyways, I would have simply tried to befriend you later, but I was mowed down by you and the purple one before I could get the chance."

Twilight grinned sheepishly, and hung her head a bit in shame. She had never thought that perhaps there were changelings who didn't want to cause harm. She only knew how to defend herself and her friends.

"That still doesn't explain why you decided to help with the attack anyways," said Techorse, stepping up to Razor and staring at him, "If you can't explain why you didn't want to fight, I'm going to think you're still a spy for Queen Chrysalis."

"You don't understand!" Razor replied, stepping back and frowning, "The queen threatened us all if we didn't help! I tried to tell her I really wanted to stay home instead, but…" 

He shut his eyes and nearly cried as he remembered the words she had told him.

"But what?" demanded Rarity.

"She threatened to cut my wings off in front of everyone!" he sobbed, tears hitting the ground beneath him. 

Rainbow Dash held her wings tightly against her body, understanding how scary of a threat that was. Pity also gripped Twilight, and she walked over to Razor. To Applejack and Rainbow Dash's disgust, she gave the poor changeling a little hug, and tried to get him to stop crying.

"It's ok, Razor. I believe you."

"Are you really going to trust this… thing?!" protested Rainbow Dash, hovering in the air and crossing her front legs in anger, "We should at least turn him over to the guards or something!"
"No, we're not going to do that," responded Twilight, letting Razor go, "We're going to be the bigger ponies and show some decency."

Techorse stepped next to her and asked Razor one last question, "So, why are you trying to get into Ponyville anyways?"

Razor explained his plan, "I was going to try to earn the love and respect of some ponies, so that they would give me the energy I need! I don't want to have to leech off of anyone, anymore."

Applejack lightened up when she heard that. Sure, Razor was a changeling, but he was a changeling trying to earn an honest living now. That changed almost everything in her mind.

"That actually sounds believable!" She said, "I'm sure there's plenty of ways a changeling could come in handy 'round Ponyville."

Razor smiled,"I just want to remind our species that we used to always do things that way. Until Chrysalis, we never had to leech emotions. We got them from being around those who cared about us!"

The proverbial lightbulb seemed to go off over Twilight's head. She realized that if she could successfully get Razor to merge with pony society, then the rest of the changelings could be rehabilitated as well! One more enemy of Equestria would become an ally instead!

"So, what will you need?" asked Twilight, "I'm sure princess Celestia would love to hear about a changeling who wanted to be good! I can write letters about your progress once a week, Razor, and see what she thinks."

Razor said, "Well, I just need a place to stay for a little while."

"Done!" said Techorse, "You can stay at my castle with me. PAL's going to flip his lid, but I'm sure he'll eventually warm up to you."

"Not so fast," said Rainbow Dash, moving in front of Techorse, "I want to set some ground rules first."

She turned to Razor and shoved her face against his, "First, no pretending to be somepony else. Either take some original shape, or stick with this one. Second, no leeching no matter how tempting it gets! Third, don't use the fact that you are a changeling to scare ponies into doing whatever you say. Break any of these rules Razor, and I'm finding the biggest newspaper I can to flatten you!"

"Rainbow Dash, that's quite enough!" scolded Rarity, "It seems Razor wants to be a true gentlecolt. Don't make his life any more miserable than it already is." 

Rarity turned her attention back to Fluttershy when she noticed the pegasus was finally waking up.

Razor beat his wings quickly to join Rainbow Dash in the air, "I hope someday I can win your trust too, Rainbow Dash."

"It's gonna take a while." She muttered.





Techorse took Razor back to his castle, some of the trip ended up being in the rain. When they made it back to the stone fortress on the edge of town, the owner stepped up to the twin wooden doors and entered a combination on a nearby keypad. A recent invention he had made, the keypad was simply there in case he accidentally locked himself out, and PAL wasn't in to open the door. Slowly, the two wooden doors ground open, indicating a need for an oil change. Motioning with a hoof, Techorse hinted at Razor to walk inside. The changeling tried to lose his look of awe, and return his solid-colored eyes to their normal size. Entering the stone hallways of the building, he scraped his legs gently on the carpet before continuing down the hall after the green colt in front of him.

"PAL, I'm home!" called out the inventor, "Slice some mushrooms for some sandwiches."

"Right away!" responded the machine from inside the castle's central computer, "How many are you going to want?"

"I'll probably have two," He answered, continuing to walk down the halls. Turning to Razor, he asked,
"How many do you want, Razor? You don't just eat feelings; you eat food too, right?"

Razor shot him a look that indicated his lack of amusement. Techorse laughed a bit at his own joke before becoming serious.

"But really, do you want any sandwiches?" he asked, smiling.

"I guess I'll try one. It's been a while since I've had anything but plant sap and nectar," he answered, trying to shrug off the joke.

"Great. You'll love the mushrooms, they come from the woods right behind my castle. All I did was research them and figure out which ones are poisonous or not, then go out and pick them. They're really great roasted, cold, or fried."

PAL entered the hallway from the kitchen door, carrying a tray of the mushroom sandwiches. Each one was made from wheat bread, and was cut in half perfectly on the diagonal. A machine can always cut a sandwich perfectly, and even remove the crusts without leaving a single molecule of bread attached to them. Razor saw the 6-foot tall machine, and became a little worried. It's not that PAL had a menacing look about him, it was just that he was big, metal, and his mechanical head and jaw made him a little uncanny looking for someone who had never heard of or seen a robot before.

"Razor, this is PAL, my robot butler," said Techorse, introducing the two.

PAL took a few seconds to process the fact that there was a changeling in front of him, and said, "Hello there, Mr. Razor. Please go and have a seat in the dining room, it's the opening in the hallway in front of me, on the left."

Razor said nothing, still awed at the machine's scale in comparison to him, and headed into the dining room. PAL then set the tray of sandwiches down on a nearby lamp stand, and knelt onto the floor of the castle to talk to his master. He put his two armored hands on the sides of his creator.

"Master, that's a changeling!" he quietly, but with obvious panic, "Don't you realize you've let a dangerous animal loose in the castle!"

Techorse assured him, "Razor's not an animal. He's actually trying to learn how to live in normal society without having to suck the life out of everything to survive."

"Did you even think for a moment that perhaps he tricked you so that he could infiltrate your castle, steal your weapons, and drink every last drop of blood in your body?!" urged the machine quickly, trying not to raise his volume.

"Changelings don't drink blood. That's not what those fangs are for, according to what Twilight told me about them," said Techorse with frustration, giving PAL a stern look, "Now knock it off. Razor is our guest, and I want you to treat him as if he were any other pony visiting. Don't show off weapons to scare him, and no spying on him."

PAL continued to give reasons to kick Razor out, "Master, I'm just worried about what the others will think!"

"The others are in on this and they think it's a great idea. I don't judge others based on labels, it's not right. Now go prepare a room for him to stay in," ordered the pony, stomping his hoof on the ground.

"Yes master..." complied PAL with frustration in his voice, walking back into the depths of the castle to ready a guest room.

Techorse stuck out his neck, and moved the tray onto his back, carrying them carefully into the dining room. He found Razor sitting patiently in one of the chairs, giving him a little hope for the socialization of the changeling. If he had manners, he was that much more likely to be accepted by the ponies.

"Ok Razor," said Techorse, moving the tray onto the table with his side, "PAL's going to make up a bed for you. Let's get some dinner in before we head off to bed."

The spine on Razor's head created a small strand of green energy, which reached out and picked up the top sandwich half on the plate. He tried to move it to his mouth, but before taking the first bite, put it down on the plate in front of him.

He said to Techorse as the inventor took his seat at the table, "I just wanted to thank you again, for everything. If it wasn't for you, Rainbow Dash would have probably swatted me back there."

"Nah, Rarity wouldn't have liked to see that, and Pinkie Pie would have thought that's no fun," he answered, grabbing some food with his hooves, "I'm just the one giving you a place to stay while you learn to fit in."

"It's just that, I've never been treated this nicely in my entire life." Continued Razor, "I've had to sleep in a pod and raid villages to live. Life's been cruel for changelings ever since our new order.  Or at least, some of us think so.  It's pretty sick to think about it, but most of my kind want that kind of raiding lifestle."

"Well Razor," said Techorse confidently as he took his first bite, "This week we're going to fix that.

We're going to provide a way for changelings to have a real life, and it's all going to be thanks to you, buddy!"

Razor fought back a tear of joy, and turned his attention back to sharing a meal with his new friend. Perhaps there was hope for his species yet!





"And so, we believe we can rehabilitate Razor the changeling, and show that they can be turned into well mannered citizens of Equestria! Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." 

Twilight Sparkle finished writing the last stroke of the letter with her quill. She gently floated the feather back to the inkwell on her desk, and dropped it in carefully with her magic. Spike came and took the scroll from her, rolled it up, and ignited it, sending the message on its way to Canterlot.

Spike said to Twilight, "Wow, this really is something, isn't it? You're really being nice by giving a second chance to these guys, after all they've done."

The unicorn pony smiled, "Well, I think we have a chance here, since they haven't exactly done much since my brother's wedding. Learning to forgive and forget is a very important part of friendship, and I'm glad the girls were able to forgive Razor."

"Except for Rainbow Dash," mumbled Spike, crossing his arms, "I heard she was going to squish him."
Twilight's happiness faded from her face, "Yeah, she was. I hope Rainbow Dash will learn to accept Razor someday. She has trouble showing a little mercy."

"She'll shape up!" comforted Spike, running his hand through Twilight's mane once, "Rainbow Dash is too lazy to crush Razor anyways. She'll let Applejack do it."

"Spike!" scolded Twilight.

"I was kidding!" he said, shrinking back, "I don't want to see Razor get mushed!"

"Well, he won't. Nopony's going to want to hurt him anyways, once he shows how nice he can be!" said Twilight, "Tomorrow we begin the socialization of the changeling!"





Several miles away, in Canterlot castle, princess Celestia's throne room sat empty. The moonlight shone through the glass windows lining the hall, and the beams scattered on the red carpet leading up to the throne. The room was abandoned because the princess had decided to step outside to enjoy the warm summer breeze with her sister. Of course, someone had to watch the room at all times, and Captain Arbiter had drawn the short straw amongst the guards. The white stallion sat dutifully next the empty thrones, just to make sure no one came in uninvited. Twilight's scroll formed over his head, and the piece of rolled parchment landed on him gently. The captain stared at the letter, and knew who it had come from. Boredom encouraged Arbiter to read the letter, even though the princesses would be upset if he did. So, deciding just to skim it for any juicy details, he unrolled the message with his front leg, and read the text with his one good eye.

"A changeling in Ponyville?" he thought to himself, "Oh, this is not good! Changelings are dangerous little creatures, and Twilight Sparkle has foolishly let one into town. They're outlaws, and there's no way one could learn to be good. I have to do something!"

Suddenly, the locks on the throne room doors were heard opening. Arbiter quickly rolled the letter back up, stuck the seal on as best as possible, and rolled the paper in front of the throne just quickly enough to avoid being caught. Princess Celestia entered the throne room, flanked by Jools and Jops.

"Arbiter," she said, "did anything happen while I was out?"

"This letter arrived," He answered gruffly, "I suppose it's from Miss Sparkle."

The princess picked up the scroll with her powerful magic, and said to Arbiter, "Very good, if that's all then, you are dismissed."

"Thank you your highness, have a great night!" said the Captain, smirking. 

He exited the room, moving his head left and right at Jools and Jops to get them to follow him. The two blue-haired guards obeyed their superior, and soon he led them out to the cobblestone courtyard outside of the castle.

As soon as they were outside, Arbiter turned, his blue cape swished in the wind as he spoke, "Jools, Jops. That letter says that Twilight Sparkle has a changeling loose inside Ponyville."

"You read the princess's mail, sir?!" said Jops in horror. Jool's mouth fell open in shock.

"Oh come now, you honestly think that's going to hurt anypony?" laughed Arbiter, "I have never had any problems reading Celestia's mail at all."

Arbiter's expression went to disgust when he added, "That will last until the princess decides to go for a suitor, I guess."

"Sir, what else did the letter say? My brother and I have both been injured by changelings in the past. If there's one in Ponyville, it could really cause a lot of panic and harm to the civilians." Jops asked, giving Arbiter a look of desperation.

Arbiter straightened his neck, and then relaxed, "Quite simply, Twilight Sparkle seems to believe that changeling can be made good. I know much better than her. That creature is dangerous, and has to be brought to justice for what it did. I'm sure she'll understand, considering the stress it put on her family."

Jools said, "We'll have to get permission to go to Ponyville first."

"I'm sure Princess Luna could grant us that." Arbiter said to his soldier, "All you two have to do is accompany me."

"You have our support!" said Jops firmly. His brother nodded once in agreement.

Arbiter spread his wings, and flew to the top of the castle wall, where he had stood a year ago. 

He looked down at his two stallions and said, "Then pack your bags, boys. We're going to Ponyville!"





The next day, Razor set out from the castle on his mission to earn love and respect from the residents of Ponyville. He planned on simply showing up as himself, and trying to find ways he could volunteer to help the hardworking ponies. Walking through town accompanied by Techorse, they tried to find anyone who would be willing to let a changeling help them out with their work. Twilight joined them just before they got into the center of town.

"Hello guys!" she said, eager to start the day, "Let's get started, shall we?"

Razor noticed the looks he was getting from the residents and said, "We'd better prove I'm harmless fast, it looks like your friends in town want me out of here."

"I'm sure they'll warm up very quickly." Assured Twilight, petting Razor on his dark head, "We just have to find the perfect place for you."

"So what sorts of interests do you have?" asked Techorse, swishing his tail to get a fly off of him.

"Well, I sort of like plants," he said, "I could never grow any when part of the hive, but I'd like to help take care of them."

Twilight turned her head to a nearby gardening tool cart and said, "Great! Let's get you a watering can, and you can re-hydrate the flowerpots around Ponyville. Despite last night's rain, they really could use another drink."

Twilight's horn started to glow a soft purple, and the watering can was lifted from the cart. She moved it over to a nearby water pump, which Techorse used to fill it. The golden-colored watering can sat in front of Razor. Moving over to it, Razor tried to use his own magic to lift up the can and give a nearby pot full of marigolds a refreshing drink. He tipped the can, and the water started to come out over the flowers.

"While Razor works, let's go talk about that book!" suggested Twilight to Techorse. 

They walked off together, leaving the changeling alone to his work.





Razor continued to water all of the plants around town, refilling the can with the pumps scattered throughout Ponyville. But as he watered a lovely petunia near the city hall, he noticed the mayor of Ponyville giving a speech to some of the fillies who attended the local school.

"Just remember that being a citizen of Ponyville is more about what you can give, rather than what you can get!" said the mare, smiling softly at the class.

It was obvious that they were rather bored by the "motivational" speech the mayor was giving. Razor saw that the schoolfoals were getting tired of hearing the mayor go on, so he snuck up behind the mayor, and waved gently to the young ponies. Their eyes grew wide at the sight of the blue-eyed creature behind their mayor. The gray-maned pony didn't seem to notice their looks, and continued to lecture with Razor right behind her back. Taking advantage of the monologue, Razor disguised himself as the mayor in front of the foals and started to mock her. He copied every motion she made during the speech, waving his legs, and moving his mouth identically. This entertained the audience so much, that they laughed and pointed at the antics of their mayor's clone. The mayor caught on soon enough, and she turned. Razor frowned through his disguise when he saw her face him. Before he could even say anything to explain himself, the mayor screamed, and ran as fast as her legs could carry her down the streets of Ponyville.

Razor undisguised and said, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare her."

"She'll get over it," said Diamond Tiara, making sure Razor didn't catch on that he was helping them duck class, "What you did was pretty cool there."

"Are you sure? I'm trying to build a good image of myself."

"You're doing just fine," Silver Spoon said, pushing her glasses up her nose, "Keep up these jokes, and everypony's going to think you're great."

And with those words, Razor knew what he was going to do to win everyone's approval. He was going to be the best comedian Ponyville had ever seen.





Techorse and Twilight were back at the castle, talking about the book Twilight had finished the other day, when the doorbell went off. Techorse got up and left his library to go answer the call, and when he opened the front door, he found Jools, Jops, and Arbiter waiting for him. Arbiter stood in the middle, his smirk indicating he knew something he shouldn't.

"Well hello Techorse!" He said rather mockingly, "What's Ponyville's mad scientist up to today?"

"I'm spending the afternoon with Twilight." he answered. Looking behind Arbiter, he said, "Hey Jools, Jops."

The two guards lifted their chins in greeting, but remained silent.

Arbiter continued to speak, "Would you mind if we stepped in for a moment? The stallions and I here are just visiting here in Ponyville, and we thought a stop by Techorse's castle should be on the top of our to-do list. After all, you do have the best home in Ponyville."

"It is the biggest, but I wouldn't say it's the best. This place is gloomy compared to Rarity's," said Techorse, laughing in embarrassment. 

In truth, Techorse was questioning Arbiter's motives, only making small talk to avoid having the captain pick up on what he was doing. He had a feeling he knew why Arbiter was at his front door.

"But Jools and Jops here have seen your castle, and they say it's wonderful! Are you really going to deny me a chance to see it just because of our past?" asked Arbiter, giving Techorse as look of sadness.

"All right Arbiter, what are you really here for?" asked Techorse impatiently, finally fed up.

Arbiter grunted, and said, "Well, now that you mention it, we've received word at Canterlot that there is a changeling here in Ponyville. Now, you and I are on good terms now Techorse and I'd hate to see you lose that by harboring a dangerous criminal."

"So, you're after my new friend?" said Techorse, becoming angry, "We're trying to turn him into something of value to Equestria. You won't be able to bring a single charge against him."

"I'm allowed to bring in any pony, changeling, or other creature who participated in an attack on Canterlot," said Arbiter, laughing at Techorse's mistake, "I know the law a bit better than you, lad!"

"Even so, he never wanted to participate in the attack, Arbiter. His motives are pure."

The captain laughed, and shook his front hoof in contempt at the green pony in front of him, "That's rich! Techorse, you're probably aware that Celestia received a letter about this. Do you think she'd send me here if she wanted to spare the changeling? The princess has no intention of giving that thing a second chance!"

Techorse noticed that Jools and Jops were frowning and looking at each other. Something was not right about what Arbiter had said, but he couldn't tell exactly what.

"So I don't know the law perfectly," admitted Techorse angrily, "but I do know you can't come in here without a search warrant.  Goodbye!"

The colt stepped back, and slammed the half of the castle door hard, sending a wave of dust into Arbiter's face.

"All right, fan out. Try to find the changeling!" ordered Arbiter, spinning around, "If we can't find him, we'll get the warrant and be back here." 

Jools and Jops went off in two different directions into Ponyville, while Arbiter took off and flew overhead.





Back inside the castle, Techorse galloped into the library.

"Twilight!" he shouted, desperation in his voice.

"What's wrong Tech?" she answered, dropping her book onto the table beside her comfy chair.

"Captain Arbiter is here!" he said, "He's after Razor. Apparently, the princess can't trust changelings still, and has ordered Arbiter to jail him."

Twilight got up from the red chair, and said with panic, "Oh, I can't believe this! I thought princess Celestia would have loved to see a changeling turned good!"

Techorse suggested, "Maybe we can just be Razor's lawyers. We can prove that he wants to be good."

"I'm afraid that isn't going to work." Answered Twilight sadly, "If Arbiter has direct orders from princess Celestia to deal with Razor, it's much worse than jail for him."

Techorse's throat went dry as he exclaimed, "What?!"

Twilight nodded and continued, "I've read enough Equestrian law books to know that if a dangerous creature, not a citizen, is ordered to be dealt with by the princesses, then the law says Arbiter has the right to do whatever he wishes to him. He's not going to capture Razor…"

The unicorn pony's purple eyes filled with terror from the realization and she said, "He's going to send him to changeling heaven!"

"Not while I'm still around," said Techorse angrily, "Let's get to the lab and grab a couple of gadgets. We can still stop Arbiter before it's too late."

"Don't you understand?" asked Twilight, "Princess Celestia ordered this, it's treason if you go against Arbiter!"

Techorse shook his head, "Somehow, I think it's a lie that princess Celestia ordered that. Jools and Jops looked rather disappointed in Arbiter when he said Celestia ordered this. Besides, Arbiter's the most violent stallion around. He probably was only asked to bring Razor to Celestia, not hurt him, and he's taking the order and running with it."

Twilight thought about it, and perked back up, "You know, given all that we know about him, Arbiter's just looking for a fight, isn't he?"

Techorse said, "Exactly. Twilight, I want you to use your magic to steal Arbiter's weapons the first chance you get. That way, the worst he can do is drag Razor away, he can't hurt him. I'm going to look for Razor while you do that."

"That shouldn't be too hard. Arbiter won't be able to will himself against my telekinesis," said Twilight, gaining confidence.

Techorse took Twilight to the front door of the castle, and faced her. He stared into her eyes, and said,
"I love you Twilight. Be careful."

Twilight got closer to him, "I love you too. Bring Razor back safe."

They kissed quickly, and then opened the front doors and rushed into the daylight.





Razor had finally gotten everything he had wanted. He was standing on a small stage in front of the clock tower, a microphone on a stand projected his voice onto the crowd. Many ponies had gathered to watch the comedy show he was putting on, and they were laughing and stomping their hooves at his jokes. The cardboard sign in front of the setup read, "Razor – The changeling with a razor-sharp wit!"
Razor had dressed up by wearing a red bow tie, provided by Pinkie Pie, to put on this comedy routine. She was standing across from him on the stage, and served as her way of telling longer jokes.

Currently, they were in the middle of a sketch

"So, that dumb stallion stole my wife." said Razor, pretending to be sad.

"Oh, that's just horrible!" said Pinkie Pie, saying her lines in the sketch. She was pretending to be a passerby interested in providing a helping hoof to the down-on-his-luck Razor.

"And then, he blasted me with a fire hose!”

"Really?  What's that like?” Pinkie Pie mused, playing along.

Razor pulled out a bottle of seltzer and said, “Why, just like this!”

Razor then squeezed the trigger, squirting Pinkie Pie with a cold stream of plain soda. She screamed, pretending to be drowning in the liquid. The crowd howled in laughter at response to the slapstick humor. And so, Razor and Pinkie Pie continued this sketch, with Razor describing something his “enemy” would do to him, and Pinkie trying to avoid asking about it.  Razor would then approach her again, and hit her with the described prop. When it was all over, the crowd cheered, and the two took a bow in front of them. As the ponies left to go back to their homes for the evening, Rainbow Dash lifted up from the crowd, into the air, and hovered in front of Razor.

"That routine was awesome, Razor! You're really funny, for a changeling." She said, flapping her wings energetically.

"Thanks Rainbow Dash." He replied, joining her in the air with his own wings, "I'm glad your finally starting to think I'm a decent guy."

Rainbow Dash realized her mistake in showing her soft side and said, "Hey, I haven't decided on that yet. I just said you were a good comedian, don't let it go to your head."

"Suuuure." said Razor sarcastically, smiling and landing back on the stage.

Some of the ponies in the crowd tried to give Razor some bits for his efforts in entertaining them.  Razor appreciated receiving some money, but more importantly, he could feel the warm, loving energy in the air that he could soak up to keep his metabolism going.  By winning support, he'd be able to live his life away from Queen Chrysalis and still eat well.

Captain Arbiter had reached the stage at this time, and saw the changeling standing next to Pinkie Pie, "So, you must be the changeling! You're under arrest for crimes against Equestria!"

"Arbiter?" asked Rainbow Dash, spinning around and staring at the swordspony.

Some of the ponies who hadn't left yet gave Arbiter looks of confusion. To them, it was odd that the princess's Captain of the Guard had left the castle just to go after this one changeling.

"What crimes, he was just putting on a show!" said one of them.

"That's what you think." Arbiter continued, "This changeling was one of the ones who participated on the attack on Canterlot. He may be behaving himself now to win your trust, but just watch! An entire swarm of these guys will follow him, and wreck Ponyville!"

"Is this true?" asked Colgate, who was still a part of the crowd. She looked a Razor sadly, in disbelief that such a friendly, funny changeling could do such a thing. Razor looked back at the blue unicorn pony, and hung his head in shame.

"Yes, it's true. I was there during the attack."

"Well, you plead guilty then!" shouted Arbiter, "So when do all your friends show up?"

"Razor didn't lead any other changelings here, meanie!" said Pinkie Pie, dashing up to get into Arbiter's face, "You leave him alone!"

"Sorry Miss Pie, but this monster's a threat to society. I must bring him down."

Rainbow Dash knew a fight was imminent, so she soared away from them to go get help. Looking back at Razor as she gained altitude, the pegasus secretly hoped he'd be okay.

Pinkie Pie was fed up with Arbiter's cruelty, and reached behind herself, "Arby, Razor's innocent!" she said, pulling something in front of her, "Don't make me use this on you!"

Arbiter frowned in surprise as he realized he was now staring down the barrel of Pinkie Pie's party cannon. She stood behind the tiny blue artillery piece, and put her front leg on the trigger button.

"Hey, careful with that!" Arbiter said nervously, backing up. 

Pinkie pushed her cannon forward as he backed up, making sure the barrel was shoved into Arbiter's chin. The white stallion was panicking from the thought of the pink pony using the cannon on him. Even though the party cannon was a firework launcher and not a real gun, the Captain was well aware that a single shot from it at this range would leave him unconscious on the cobblestone street.

"So, are you going to leave Razor alone, or are we going to have to do this the not-so-fun way?" asked Pinkie menacingly, preparing to shoot.

"Wait," said Razor, stepping down from the stage, "Arbiter needs to take me to court. I can just prove I'm innocent there. Don't shoot him!"

"You're lucky this time, Arby!" said Pinkie Pie, stepping back and moving the cannon away from the frightened stallion's face. 

As soon as the weapon wasn't aimed at him, however, Arbiter jumped over Pinkie Pie, and landed in front of Razor.

"What a foolish girl," he chuckled, looking back at Pinkie with his remaining brown eye. 

Arbiter's gauntlets dropped out from under his black cape, and the metal hands unsheathed his longsword from the wooden blue hilt tied around his side.

"Wait!" said Razor, looking scared, "I thought you wanted to arrest me!"

"I have my duty to stop you from causing harm by any means necessary." Said Arbiter plainly, "Goodbye, Razor."

Arbiter swung his blade horizontally at the changeling's neck. He ducked the blow and gave a shout of horror, before taking off into the air with his wings. Arbiter shed his cape and hilt, and gave pursuit in the sky. He flapped after Razor, holding his sword in his magical floating steel fists, and chopped away at him. Although Razor was a good flier, eventually Arbiter's swordsmanship outdid this, and the Captain got a small cut on one of his insect-like wings. Razor yelped in pain, and realized he could no longer fly with the wound. He fell down to the streets, barely managing a safe landing by crashing into a pile of hay on a cart. Razor jumped out of the hay and ran at full pace down the main street, with Arbiter fast behind him.

"Come back here changeling, and get what's been coming to you!" shouted Arbiter, his one remaining eye expressing his anger.

"HELP!" screamed Razor, "This crazy guy's about to chop me to pieces!"

The townsponies gave not a single look of pity as the changeling was pursued. They trusted Captain Arbiter more than they trusted him after what Razor had said about helping the changelings attack Canterlot castle. Soon, Arbiter had managed to corner his wounded quarry in a back alley of Ponyville. The changeling had backed up against the stone wall, spreading his hole-filled legs on the back of the stones.

"Wait, please!" he said, nearly in tears, "Don't do this to me sir! I'll do anything!"

Arbiter stepped slowly towards Razor, sword still in one hand.

"I'm only doing my job," he said plainly, "Perhaps the other changelings will learn from your example, and stop listening to Chrysalis."

"But that's why I came here, to show the others we don't have to follow her orders!" explained the trapped creature, his blue eyes filled with terror, "You have to believe me."

Arbiter stopped just two feet from Razor, and seemed to have a momentary minute of thought. The white stallion stroked his gray mane back with one of the magical gauntlets, and considered what his enemy had said. He carefully went over the consequences of striking down Razor in his head, and what sort of effect it would have on Ponyville. Then, Arbiter threw all of these thoughts out the window and returned to his original plan.

"I can't take the risk." He said, "Now shut your eyes, monster."

Razor did exactly that as Arbiter grabbed his sword with both gauntlets again, and raised them up to deal the blow. The Captain then gave a shout, and tried to bring the sword down. Arbiter's eye opened when he realized his blade hadn't moved an inch in the past ten seconds. Looking up, he noticed that his sword and fists were surrounded by glowing purple energy, keeping the weapon from moving.
Twilight Sparkle, who was standing on top of one of the buildings forming the alley, swung her horn to the left, removing the sword from Arbiter's grasp and tossing it into the air. A second later, a series of yellow bolts of energy struck the blade and the gauntlets and destroyed them. Burned pieces of sword and steel rained down on Arbiter.

"Techorse, Twilight Sparkle!" he shouted, looking up, "Interfering with justice are we?"

"I'd say you're the one not interested in any justice, Arbiter!" retorted Twilight, glaring at him, "Razor is an innocent changeling, and look what you're about to do to him."

"I thought he was going to attract the entire hive back to Ponyville!" protested Arbiter, "I thought he had tricked you all into thinking he was good!"

Techorse retracted his laser cannons back into his saddle and shook his head, "Arby, Razor promised not to do that. Yesterday, Rainbow Dash had him pinned to the ground, and threatened to beat him up if he tried anything funny. Do you honestly think that anypony would backstab Rainbow Dash successfully?"

"Well…" said Arbiter, looking down.

"Razor is just looking to earn love rather than having to steal it," said Twilight.

Her horn glowed for a moment, and she teleported herself and Techorse down to where Arbiter was standing. The Captain of the guard looked up again at them, and breathed a sigh of shame.

"I think I may have overreacted," he said, "I just wanted to make sure there wasn't another changeling invasion. I figured there was no way to do that except to scare them off by disposing of Razor."

"I was willing to go to jail to prevent that," added Razor, "And I still am, if you really think that'd stop Equestria from getting invaded again."

Arbiter turned down the offer, "No, it's all right. It's simply that I haven't had the chance to bring in a troublemaker in a long time. I was looking for some problem to solve, and I let my imagination run wild with what one changeling could do to Ponyville."

Techorse smiled and extended a robotic arm out. 

He gave Arbiter a pat on the back, "Come on, Captain. Let's get you back to Canterlot."





They walked Arbiter back out to the edge of Ponyville facing the capital city, after meeting up with Jools and Jops. As they were about to send him off, however, they could see in the distance a golden flying object. Princess Celestia had arrived in her chariot, along with some of Jools and Jops' friends to pull it. Arbiter winced, he knew he was in deep trouble for the mayhem he had caused in "the name of justice." Once the chariot had landed, the alicorn princess stepped out and approached the group. Most of the individuals present bowed, except for Techorse, who gave his usual military salute.

"At ease, Techorse!" said Celestia, smiling. Techorse's salute was cute to her, and always gave her a kick when she needed one.

Twilight stepped up to Celestia first and said, "I can explain everything. Captain Arbiter mistook your order to capture Razor for an order to attack him."

Celestia stopped her, "I'm not here because of Arbiter's antics. I learned from my sister that he had left for here, and I knew he'd read my mail."

The princess glared at Arbiter in disappointment and added, "Again…"

Her multi-colored hair flowing in the breeze, Celestia turned to Razor and lifted a hoof at him, "I'm here for you, changeling. Step forward."

Razor took a breath, and walked in front of Twilight. He was now right before Celestia, having to crane his neck to look her in the eyes.

"I'm going to give you what you deserve!" Said Celestia, squinting. 

The others backed away from Razor, and Twilight quietly whispered, "Oh, no."

Razor watched as Celestia charged up a powerful spell. Her horn sparked furiously with white-colored magic, sending a small ball of light above her. Razor knew what was coming, but refused to look away from the princess. It was better to accept his fate than to run away and be considered a coward. With one last spark of magic, Celestia ended the spell, and the ball of light exploded, revealing a large scroll. The paper was brought down to Razor, and he looked at the scroll like a filly looking at a present belonging to her.

"Read it," said Celestia softly. 

She smiled gently at the changeling, who nodded and opened the scroll with his own magic. It was a letter, with the royal seal stamped on the bottom of it, along with two big signatures.

Razor read the contents, "For his noble attempt to earn an honest living, and his desire to make amends for what he has done, we hereby pardon Razor for any and all past crimes he may have committed. - Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

"A pardon?" asked Twilight, her ears perking up, "You're going to pardon Razor!?"

"Yes!" said Celestia, "Razor has demonstrated just how good a changeling can be, and neither my sister nor I wanted to punish him for his past.” 

We also heard from a recent letter that Chrysalis threatened to remove his wings unless he helped to invade Canterlot. Razor had no choice but to obey, so we felt as if he deserved to be free."

"Great job Twilight!" said Techorse, hugging his marefriend, "You saved Razor!"

Twilight accepted the hug, but admitted, "Thanks, but I didn't write the letter, Techorse."

"Then who did?" he asked, letting go of her.

"That'd be me!" said Rainbow Dash, landing on the ground next to them. She walked up to Razor and said, "Ok, I'll admit it. You're not such a bad guy after all, Razor. I was just holding a grudge against the changelings. But I really didn't want to see you get all hacked up by Arbiter! What kind of a hero would that make me?"

Celestia glanced at her Captain, who smiled and waved back with a front hoof. He knew he was in for a chewing out back at the castle.

Razor said to Celestia, "Thank you, your majesty! Now I can help teach the other changelings that we used to always be this way, earning the love we need to live."

"And I'm sure other changelings will follow you someday," she responded, "Keep up the good work, Razor, and stop by my castle if you want to give me updates on how your mission is going."

"I'll be sure to!" he said happily, "As long as I can get by the guards!"

"Arbiter will be thrilled to let you in!" said Celestia, a slightly amused tone in her voice. Arbiter just rolled his eye in disgust. The others laughed at the Captain's misfortune and bad attitude about the whole situation.





So, within the hour, Celestia had gone back to the castle along with Arbiter, and Twilight and her friends had gathered back in front of the library. They were about to send Razor and Techorse back to the castle for the night. Sadly, Razor had announced his intention to leave Ponyville the next morning, to go bring his comedy to other towns, and to try and bring other changelings to their place in society.

Fluttershy said to Razor, "I'm so glad you really were nice after all. Maybe now, ponies won't have to be afraid of changelings anymore."

"You really are something special." added Rarity, "Don't forget us!"

"I won't. I'll visit sometimes, I promise!" assured the changeling.

"Stop by the farm anytime for some grub if ya need to!" offered Applejack, winking at him.

"And remember," Finished Twilight with a swish of her mane, "You can always write letters to keep in touch!"

Razor approached Pinkie Pie, who was silent in her sadness that her newest buddy was going to leave.
"Sad to see me go?" he asked.

Pinkie Pie nodded in response, her normally happy overtone was gone. Razor looked her in the eyes, and a tornado of green energy swirled over him. He disguised himself as Pinkie Pie one more time, and smiled at Pinkie Pie through his new form. She started to giggle at the joke, and soon was laughing again. Razor dispelled the costume, and turned away from the group with Techorse. He looked over his shoulder one last time, and saw his new friends waving back at him. The changeling returned the sentiment, waving his porous leg back, and then walked into the night with the inventor. For the changelings, the future was looking very bright.