//------------------------------//
// Forget the Secrets 
// Story: Displaced Blood 
// by Mewaponny 
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    I looked around, alarmed at my surroundings. When I woke up, I was in a large (quite cold) cave, starring at a white unicorn with a two-toned blue mane with tears in my eyes. I quickly blinked them away, more confused than sad. What had that man done to me? After buying the collar, a black fog had consumed me. Despite my screaming and crying, no one seemed to notice the fog or me. My body now seemed to feel strange, yet familiar at the same time. Everything felt like it was in the wrong place, stretched in some places and shrunk in others. I had a foreign yet familiar feeling on the base of my spine and... past it? There was some weight back there, and my hips felt distinctly different. I felt like there was something in the corner of my vision, so I crossed my eyes, and found something other than my pale nose there.

I had a muzzle. And it was black. What?

"Umm... Sang?" SangpasttenseofsingMelodynooneelseheremustmeanme

"Yes?" Okay, so the unicorn can talk. Maybe... yes, he has a cutie mark, and a familiar one.

"Can you remember anything?" Shining Armor asked me. He seemed uncertain, like he didn't know how to treat me. I could understand, after all- I was just as uncertain about the position I was now in.

"Well, I don't think I forgot anything. But you're calling me Sang, so unless you decided that name for me on a whim, I probably forgot something important," I snarked. Great, Melody, insult the locals. That'll surely make him want to help you. Honestly, I probably would either have been nicer or freaking out more if I hadn't been freaking internally. My thoughts were racing at a thousand miles per hour, but I had to squash them down. Priorities, after all- myself, then my situation. I was clearly not human anymore, based on the new face I had. I looked down and backwards, trying to figure out exactly what I was. My ears were folded back slightly, I could feel their position on my head. So they move... I looked down and saw paws with absurdly large claws- not a pony, so that'll make this harder, not to mention the predator part. I looked back and saw sloping shoulders and a tail that swished back and forth. I had a comfortable weight on my neck, but I was naked except for the fur as far as I knew. I was definitely feline, just like the cats in the Warriors series- hold on.

I facepawed. Sang was also the latin root for blood, and aptly so- I had become the previous leader of Bloodclan.

Scourge. Well, at least I looked cool. Speaking of looking... my face darted up, embarrassed. Yep, definitely male now. With my bodily assets checked, I felt slightly less insecure. I was in a sitting position, but it felt more like squatting. I looked up towards Shining Armor, a little more ashamed of myself for snapping at him. He was standing near the exit of the cave, lightly smiling, and had been quiet the entire time I had explored my body with my eyes.

"So, um..." I trailed off, trying to figure out how to fix my earlier slip up. "Do you know what's going on? Or where I am? Because other than Equestria, I have no idea."

He sighed, and looked like he was getting slightly impatient. "I only have what you told me, and even then, I don't think I understood everything. My wife, Cadance, is probably missing me, so we should head back to the Crystal Empire. I guess I'll explain as much as I can on the way..."

I straightened my back legs and tried to walk over to him, but ended up landing on my face after a few steps- my front legs were working slower than my back. I either needed practice, or to do something different. I got into the squatting position again, but instead of straightening my hindquarters I leaned onto them. It was uncomfortable, and I felt like I was tip-toeing, but I could at least waddle this way. It'd have to do.

After Shining gave me a strange look, we both walked outside into the snow. I'd have given just about anything for warm clothing right then- the wind was freezing, even if it wasn't actively snowing. The fur coat helped a little. I wonder what'll happen once we get-

"Bucking REALLY!" Shining Armor's swearing broke me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I panicked a little. "Is there a storm coming or something?" I ducked down, ready to draw back into the cave if need be.

"No, I just..." He sighed, "The thing that took me here took about an hour and a half to travel from the eastern side of the Empire and now... we're maybe fifteen minutes away from the west entrance. I don't get it." He looked at me like he expected me to agree.

I just looked at him confused. "It makes perfect sense to me. Whoever did it probably didn't want to be followed." How did I figure that out? BOOKS!

He looked at me with something that almost seemed like regret. "We should get going. Here's what's happened so far..."


=^=^=


The Crystal Empire was amazing. Everything seemed to shine, and I could feel my mood improving the moment I had waddled in. Of course, we had to take some backways in order to get to the Palace because of the whole 'death god' thing, as Shining Armor explained to me. We had to avoid the crystal ponies because- despite the amnesia- I could have been recognized and we didn't anypony to freak out. I had to wonder if I had been intentionally vague when talking to him, or if he was leaving some things out- probably a bit of both, he did explain to me that I had been fairly dramatic during the entirety of my story. I almost didn't believe it.

Thankfully, once we were found it was in the Palace courtyard and by a normal pony guard instead of a crystal one. Cadance had, in fact, been looking for Shining Armor and told the guard to defect him towards her if they saw him. I managed to follow him (miraculously) without being spotted, and we made our way to the throne room where Cadance was waiting.

As Shining opened the doors to the room, I could hear Cadance speak up. "Shining, where were you? You were gone for so long, I thought something may have- is that what I think it is?" Her gaze locked on to me. I had gone though the halls on all fours, trying to get some practice in, and now seemed more a giant cat than anything else. Her face seemed to hit a switch from concerned to elated.

"You got me a cat?"The way she asked sent shivers down my spine. She cantered up to me, almost running, and was very much in my face. "Oh my goodness, I didn't know there were cats this far north, especially so big! Hi, kitty kitty! You're so cute, yes, yes you are!" She was petting me like a dog. My ears slid back in embarrassment, and my tail flipped back and forth in annoyance. And then she hugged me. "Ouch!"

Both surprised, she pulled out of the hug to look at the collar I was wearing. The tooth that was attached to the tag ring had poked her in the shoulder. She glared at it. "Seriously, Shiny, what kind of collar is that?" Bitch you'd better not insult my collar- the thought took me by surprise, and scared me a little. But not nearly as much as the next words out of her mouth.

"Imma' take it off." Her blue glow surrounded the collar and pulled- terror filled me as I realized I'd been silent far too long at this point.

"Wait, NO!" My voice startled her, and the collar came off with a snap- PAINnocollarpanicgetitbackneeditcan'tlivecan'tdiegetitback getitback GET IT BACK!