“Relax your body. Free your mind.”
I nodded and closed my eyes, straightening my posture as I nestled into my meditation stance in the middle of Trojan’s living room. Legs crossed, interlocked claws resting on my lap, I pushed any previous thoughts I had out of my mind and forced my body to stay loose and unwind.
“Breathe in slowly. Release peacefully.”
Once I found my emotional center and focused on it. I no longer felt the sticky sweat that clung to me after all of today’s drills, nor the pain from all the nicks and small cuts I got from Trojan’s serrated knives if I messed up a technique or failed to dodge an attack properly. I didn’t even feel any remote stress from dealing with both Flash’s exhaustive body conditioning and Trojan’s intense training methods on the same day, as I'd been doing every day and night since I became Trojan’s secret student.
“Focus only on your breathing. Embrace the natural state of the universe around you.”
The direction of her voice never stayed in one place. Her silent movements gave me no clue as to where she was standing at any point. I learned quickly to not worry about where she was standing, as she punished any attempts to break my own meditation, whether I did it by accident or she did it on purpose. I simply needed to clear my mind of distractions and focused on the peace of mediation.
“Good. Just like that.”
I smiled. Her calm and soothing voice was a far cry different from the jovial tone she usually carried when around other ponies. It always helped me get to that ‘zen’ state faster whenever she guided me through meditation. I was amazed at how peaceful I felt once I truly nailed down how to meditate.
For a few minutes there was only the sound of my breathing. The wait was always the hardest part. Sometimes I was barely given more than a minute to meditate. Sometimes she would make me stay in meditation for hours. It was never consistent. Every time I found myself getting restless or fidgety from the lack of movement she would whisper something to calm me down or massage a muscle that instantly made me relax. Despite her being strict and unforgiving at times, she was always attentive and kind.
“Now,” Trojan started, “let’s recite the shadow’s creed.”
That was my cue. By now I remembered the verse completely, even if I didn’t really understand the meaning or significance of it.
I am the guile mind. Knowledge is my weapon.
I am the strong body. Health is my core.
I am the brave soul. Courage is my shield.
I am the noble heart. Love is my life.
We are legion. We are victory. We are shadow.
We fell silent for a beat. I couldn’t explain why we did. It simply felt right to let those words settle before we got started.
“Today’s lesson is practical application of foundation,” she said. “Every story began with a word. Every castle started with a stone. To truly understand the way of the Changeling, the way of the shadow, you must learn to embrace the sources of strength we draw from. Without it, you are a dull and brittle blade, only fit to be broken. Understand?”
“Yes, Trojan.”
“Good. Our foundation is made up of four cornerstones: The guile mind, the strong body, the brave soul, and the noble heart. Sound familiar?” I nodded. Trojan continued. “Each one is just as vital as the other. If one fails, the others are soon to follow.
“The guile mind seeks as much information as possible while denying the enemy information to stay ahead. The strong body must always be in peak physical condition to maximize survivability. The brave soul knows how to lead others and commits to every action, as every second of hesitation puts you and others at greater risk. The noble heart must utilize their wit and charisma to inspire affection and disarm suspicion and hostility.
“Outside the factors you can’t control, your survival is dependant on your ability to uphold each of these foundations to their fullest. Each one has many layers of knowledge that could take a long time to master, but you can’t learn to walk without learning to crawl first. It takes patience, natural ability to learn, and most importantly, dedication.
“For your first lesson of foundation training, we shall start with my personal favorite: the noble heart. Are you ready for your lesson?”
This lesson sounded easy enough. Until now, everything I had been learning from Trojan was methodical and, at times, cold. How to walk. How to talk. How to express and suppress expressions and reflexes. Details upon details of intricate techniques that had to be learned on a subconscious level. At times I would rather be crawling my way through mud with Flash than go through these intense trials. Learning about being charismatic and witty seemed right up my alley.
“I’m ready.”
“Perfect. Now open your eyes.”
I did. My jaw dropped.
A blue unicorn towered over me with a long red mane that I had never seen before. Half-lidded emerald eyes stared back at me as I found myself lost for words, Her face was dangerously close to mine, a mere shift of my chin would have my lips meet hers. Whoever this pony was supposed to be, she was downright stunning.
“First rule, keep your jaw properly aligned. Strong composure shows confidence.” Trojan’s hoof lifted my chin and closed my mouth. “It also makes you look more attractive,” she added with a husky tone.
I gulped.
“Eye contact is also important. Shows respect and attentiveness. The effect is doubled if the other pony also enjoys looking into your eyes. Just be careful not to get too lost in them. You might miss out on something important.”
“Gah!” I jumped as I felt something sharp poke at my side. When I looked down, I caught the sight of a blade in Trojan’s hoof, almost poking me hard enough to draw blood.
“Or dangerous,” Trojan added firmly through narrowed her eyes.
I take back what I said earlier: I was totally not ready for this.
“What kind of disguise is this one?” I asked once I found my voice.
“We call this a ponysona. Disguises are serious business with changelings, but we try to find humor and entertainment where we can, such as creating what we would consider our pony selves had we been born a pony. Mother was not a big fan of the idea at first, but she eventually let it slide once she deemed it was harmless.”
Perhaps it was due to the proximity, but I caught a slight drop to her smile at the word 'mother'.
Now that I thought about it, Trojan had called Chrysalis ‘Mother’ once before. I didn’t think much of it at first, as it was generally believed Changelings had a similar system to other insects where majority of them were born from the same queen. After the initial meeting with Chrysalis and her Changelings back in Canterlot, I spent countless nights helping Twilight dig up what little material there was. I couldn’t get it out of my head that there was something important about it, but I didn’t know enough about them to guess one way or another.
Then again, here was a friendly Changeling standing in front of me who I could just ask.
“Do all changelings call Chrysalis ‘Mother?’”
Had I blinked at the wrong time, I would’ve missed her frowning before the grin was back on her face.
“I could answer that question for you, but you need to make me want to answer your questions, Shortcake.” I jumped at Trojan’s touch as her hoof made small circles on my chest. “You have to be very persuasive to get me talking. Although, if you can get me to talk by using my lessons to its fullest potential,” her hoof slid up my body and cupped my cheek, staring at me with a level of intensity that turned my brain to mush, “who knows what else you could get me to do?”
I didn’t know whether to feel terrified or take a very cold shower. Never before had I experienced predatory pressure in such a strange way, nor did any of my fantasies involving a certain fashionista made my body feel this warm. Were we still having a lesson, or was Trojan trying to do something really weird to me?
The sharp poke at my side answered my question, making me yelp.
“Stop losing focus,” Trojan admonished.
“I-I-I can’t help it! You’re being all intense and weird!”
“Is that right?” Trojan raised an eyebrow, smirking, “And how am I being weird?”
“You’re getting all close, and giving me those eyes, and saying weird things that're making me think of...um...w-well…” I faltered. I couldn’t tell Trojan how deep in Tartarus my imagination wandered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about," said Trojan as she shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve just been talking about the lesson this entire time. Sounds like your imagination got the better of you.”
“What? But this whole time you just… just…”
That’s when it suddenly dawned on me. Nothing was directly mentioned, but just from her sultry tone, subtle touches and suggestive phrasing, I was completely at her mercy.
My face must have gave it away, because Trojan dropped all pretenses as her features softened and she smiled at me. “It’s amazing what a little boldness, clever use of wording and body language can do. Having charisma and charm is good and all, but a little bit of bravery and guile went a long way to get the precise response I desired. Having a hot body certainly added spice to the recipe.”
“Hehehe, it certainly did… I-I mean…!”
“Oh relax,” she giggled airily, “it doesn’t take a genius to know what was going through your mind. You’re a growing dragon who's been stuck with a bachelorette bookhorse who's practically your sister for your entire life. I’d be surprised if you could hold any resistance to the charms of a charismatic master such as myself. By the time I’m through with you, there will be no living being who could resist the charms of Spike, the Brave and Glorious.”
I flushed at the use of my awesome title, but did my best to show some sense of backbone with a confident smirk. If I was going to learn these techniques, I couldn’t keep falling for her tricks. Besides, those knives of hers really hurt.
Speaking of which, those knives were a perfect topic switcher to get myself a break to recover from… whatever the heck that was earlier.
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Those knives, how are you hiding them like that?” I asked.
She paused to ponder the question. At first, I thought she was going to make me try to get her to answer the question, just like the last one she dodged, but shrugged after some thought. “I’ll show you. Just make sure to keep it between you and me.”
Trojan ignited her horn, releasing a cascading green aura over her hoof. After a few seconds, several black straps of thin leather suddenly appeared. I counted four sheathed blades tucked away on her hoof straps. She then recast the spell to make them invisible again. “If you prove yourself, I may be willing to give you weapon training and tell you more about these stealth blades.”
As cool as that sounded, the thought made me uneasy. I’d always pictured myself being a valiant knight with a shield and sword fighting to protect the innocent. Hay, that’s part of what made me want to train in the first place. But… this was different.
“Worried about hurting somepony, Shortcake?”
I sighed. No point hiding that one from her. “Yeah. I mean, I wanted to learn how to fight so I can protect everypony and stop the bad guys. Never thought about actually using weapons to really hurt somepony.”
“You mean kill them?”
I cringed.
With a sigh, Trojan sat on her haunches and regarded me seriously. “So no matter what, you would never want to seriously injure somepony?”
“What? Never!”
“Even if they were trying to kill somepony important to you?”
“I…” The hesitation was brief, as I shook the doubt out of my head the moment it entered. “N-no! That’s just wrong!”
“Letting somepony die is no different than killing them. You either dirty your hands, or let somepony else dirty your hands for you. Are you saying you’re willing to let another pony die if it means you don’t have to kill? Does your conscience mean more to you than somepony's life?”
I couldn’t help but stare blankly at her. There was no hesitation or even a hint of concern or emotion in her voice. Cold calculation went into that line of thought. It was unsettling to hear her talk like that. “I never said I was willing to let anypony die. There’s always a way to save somepony.”
“There are times you may be able to save a single pony, but there’s no way you can guarantee that you can save everypony every single time."
I glared at her hotly. "But—"
"You are free to prove me wrong," she continued. "In fact, I want you to try your hardest to prove me wrong. It would mean the world to me if you can prove to me that such a thing exists.”
“I will, Trojan! I will show you that you can save everypony if you do your best! That’s why I’m doing this!”
She smiled warmly. “Good. Don’t lose that determination. We’re all going to need it for the harsh days ahead of us. Now then, I believe we’ve distracted ourselves long enough from the lesson. Let’s get back to it.”
As my lesson continued, I kept replaying our last conversation in my head. Trojan seemed awfully convinced about killing, which really got to me and made me think. What happened to make her think like that? What kind of life did a pony have to live to be so cold? Did all changelings think like this? Once the questions began flooding my mind, I couldn’t get them to stop. There was so much I wanted to know.
This lead me to the most pressing question: Who exactly was Trojan?
That one question plagued me for the next hour as my lesson played out similarly to how we started; she would introduce a concept, force me to adapt and learn through example, and occasionally give me a brief lecture or make me practice the techniques. It was one thing to nail down a technique or figure out the trick behind something, but another to pull it off under pressure, whether Trojan did something to break my concentration, throw me off, or would keep sticking those sharp knives in my side.
Just as we started wrapping up today’s training session, Trojan’s ears suddenly perked up. Her hoof moved to rub the base of her neck. “Just great,” she scowled, “Prince Charming is phoning in.”
“Prince Charming? Wow, I haven't seen him since my last visit to Prance. Say hello to him for me.” I said. Trojan gave me a really odd look. “What?”
“I'm talking about Shining Armor.”
“Oooh, I get it. You meant that sarcastically.”
Trojan rolled her eyes, mumbling something along the lines of ‘stupid ponies and their stupid names’.
“Might as well see what he wants.” Dropping her disguise, Trojan’s horn glowed and sparked a purple glow that appeared around her neck in the shape of a thick metallic choker. I knew Flash and Trojan used those things to communicate with Shining Armor, but I never actually got to see it in action.
“Is Trojan with you?”
I nearly jumped at the sound of Flash’s voice in my mind via Dragon Whisper. While it was disappointing to not hear our usual vox speak, there was a sense of urgency in his tone that made me worry.
“Uh, yeah. I was just hanging out at her place and decided to take a break.”
I still felt guilty for not telling Flash what I had really been doing with Trojan, but I promised not to tell anypony I was training with her, and planned to keep that promise.
“Good. Keep her there and don’t let her get away. We have to talk.”
I did not like where this was going.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“You knew the entire time that Twilight thought I was in love with her, didn’t you?!”
Oh crap. Flash figured it out. And boy did he sound pissed.
“U-uh...y-y-you see, Flash, what had happened was…”
“Stay there until I get there. We’re all going to have a nice long chat about this.”
“Uh, Flash? Don’t be mad. We were only trying to help… hello? Uh, hello?”
Yep. Flash was really mad at us.
I was about to tell Trojan what happened when I noticed the pink, transparent projection of Shining Armor appearing in the middle of the room. Small streaks of light beamed from Trojan’s choker towards the lifelike image.
“Whoa!” I gasped.
It was enough to immediately grab Shining’s attention as he whirled around to look at me. The shock on his face lasted a few seconds before he beamed at me. “Spike! Long time no see, buddy!”
“Uh, h-hey, Shining! It’s great to see you… er… sorta see you again!” Still worried about the impending doom that was Flash, I forced a smile. Trojan’s eyes flickered towards me for a moment before looking back at Shining Armor.
“Yeah, yeah, salutations and brohooves around. Whaddya want?” Trojan asked disdainfully.
I’d never seen her get this miffed with anypony except Flash, and that was just whenever Flash did something to get under her skin or make a crass comment at her. Shining Armor was a pretty great guy, and I couldn’t stand letting her treat him like that. “What gives, Trojan? What did Shining ever do to you?”
“It’s okay, Spike,” Shining Armor waved off calmly with his fetlock, “if Flurry Heart taught me anything, it’s that all insecure foals require patience and understanding to deal with.”
Oh snap.
That sting made Trojan’s nose flare up in a snarl. I wanted to be sympathetic to Trojan and say something in her defense, but considering how much often she always seemed to get under somepony’s skin or insult them, I couldn’t help myself.
“I think Twilight has some aloe at the palace to take care of that sick burn.”
I squeaked when her heated glare intensified and shifted at me.
“Can it, or I will turn you into a belt.” She snapped, completely red-faced.
“You know, Trojan,” Shining began with a sly smirk, “it’s never too late to invest in building a bridge so you can get over it.
Her attention swung back to Shining, glaring daggers. “What. Do. You. Want?!”
Instantly Shining’s expression went serious. “To share some new developments that occurred. I tried to contact Flash, but he wouldn’t answer. I want to share this with all of you together. Do you know what he’s doing at this moment?”
Uh oh. “Flash is on his way here, actually.” I answered hesitantly.
Shining Armor, oblivious to the problem at hoof, smiled widely. “Great! Any idea how long until he gets here?”
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!
Oh boy, here we go.
Shining’s smile fell. “If that’s Flash, something’s got him riled up bad.”
“Knowing him, it’s probably something silly,” said Trojan as she transformed into her Sassy Love disguise. Probably a good idea in case that wasn’t Flash. “Who is it?” she called out.
“It’s Flash.” There was something disturbingly cheerful about his tone. Had I not spoken to him earlier, I would have mistaken him for being in a good mood.
Shining’s frown deepened. “That is definitely not good. Haven’t heard this kind of dreading tone from him since one of my sergeants conspired with Cadance to set him up on a blind date.”
That caught my attention. Even Trojan got curious.
“A blind date?” Trojan echoed.
“Long story. Might as well let him in and see what happens.”
As much as I didn’t want to face Flash after hearing such foreboding words from Shining, I knew it would be far worse to let Trojan answer it. I swallowed and summoned my courage to face the music.
“I-I’ll answer it.” I went to the front door and, bracing myself for a harsh tongue lashing, opened the door and prepared some mixture of greeting and apology.
POMF!
Before air could reach my lungs to speak, I was blindsided by something white and fluffy that smashed my face and knocked me back. I blinked and looked up at the offending source that just smacked me on the nose.
Flash glared down at me with the most terrifying face I’ve ever seen as he kicked the door behind him closed. On his back were two saddlebags stuffed with… pillows?
POMF-POMF-POMF!
I was slapped silly by a barrage of pillows and forced back until I fell next to Trojan. Any call for help or mercy were snuffed out by the fluffy menace known as Flash Sentry.
Trojan, who was stunned speechless for a moment, bristled. “What in the world is going— OOF!” She was quickly silenced by an expertly thrown pillow to the face. Just as she ripped it off, three more found their mark.
“You two,” Flash breathed heavily through his nostrils as he glared at us, “have got some nerve to tell Twilight I was in love with her!”
The look that dawned on Trojan’s face matched my exact thoughts; what in the world did we just unleash?
“Whoa, slow down Buttermilk. Let’s just calm down for a second and— ACK!” Trojan gasped as another pillow crashed into her face, stunning her.
“I don’t want to hear it!” Flash shouted as he stormed up to the dazed changeling. “I can take being mocked. I can take being the butt of your jokes and teasing. I can even take your insufferable attempts to put me in uncomfortable and embarrassing situations. What I won’t stand for is having Twilight’s feelings, or mine, be toyed with!”
Before we could make an argument, Flash proceeded to beat the stuffing out of us. We tried to slip away and escape his wrath, only for us to be pulled back into the line of fire and beaten savagely by a flurry of feathered pillows.
Interestingly, whether it was due to blind rage or pure hindsight on his part, Flash had yet to show any notice to the pink hologram of Shining armor, who simply observed the situation with a raised eyebrow.
The attacks ceased after what felt like an eternity. Trojan and I gasped for air, struggling to stay on our hooves and feet respectively thanks to our pounding headaches. I never thought I would see the day where I felt threatened by a pony wielding weaponized pillows who wasn’t Pinkie Pie
“Now then,” Flash huffed as he towered over us, “you two are going to think about what you did, find a way to clear up this confusion, and you’re going to do it now.”
“No can do. Not if you want to keep our cover.” Trojan sat on her haunches and met Flash’s glare with her indifferent stare. Knowing what I knew about Trojan now, I could tell she was getting annoyed whenever she wiped off any emotion on her face
“What do you mean?”
“You make for a great distraction for getting her mind off things. It worked especially well since her friends were around to pester her about it. Considering that you live in her castle and your bedroom is merely a door away, ignoring you will be impossible. I could care less about what do you with her as long as you keep her focused on you and only you.”
Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed. Not good.
“If it was only about keeping Twilight focused on me, then you could’ve simply told me what was going on! I would’ve been able to keep her in the dark without resorting to such a foolish plan!” Flash barked.
I moved in to intervene and step between them before things got any uglier. I’d come to like both of them and hated it whenever they fought each other.
“Hey, calm down, you two. I know what Trojan said to Twilight was very manipulative, but we were in a tight spot. Twilight was bound to catch on that something big was going on and investigated more thoroughly had Trojan not said something.”
Flash’s anger fizzled somewhat, but the disappointed look he gave me made me feel small. “Spike, I’m even more surprised and disappointed with you. All this time you could’ve told me what was going on. I really thought I could put my trust in you.”
Ow. That was a low blow.
But could I really blame him?
When I was with Trojan and collaborating with her story at the time, it seemed harmless and, admittedly, I was caught up in Twilight’s shocked response to think about how messed up creating such a misunderstanding might be. I’d considered telling him, but Trojan convinced me to keep it secret. Seeing the hurt on Flash’s face, I was beginning to regret that decision.
Thinking on it, Trojan had been convincing me to do a lot of things without telling anypony since day one. Seeing how mad Flash was because of what she did, and knowing that I played a part in it, I had to wonder how many things I was doing were actually a bad thing. Not to mention poor Twilight. I haven’t been spending a lot of time with her or considered her feelings on the matter. It’s no wonder Flash was so upset; I’m a bit angry at myself for letting the stress of the situation blind me to what was important.
Suddenly, I felt Trojan’s hoof push me out of the way and she strode up to Flash’s face, their noses barely an inch away. I caught a brief glance in her eyes, an emotion passing through them I couldn’t identify, before she shot a dirty look at Flash. She spoke at a low, threatening tone.
“I made Spike promise not to say anything, so don’t you dare try to guilt trip him. If you have a problem with something, say it to my face.”
That caught all of us by surprise. Trojan defended me, showing more emotion now than I had ever seen. I made a mental note of the use of my name outside a sarcastic context and tucked it in the back of my mind for later.
“That’s enough.”
We all froze and turned our heads to Shining Armor. For all the fire and fury that was in Flash for the last several minutes, the moment he witnessed Shining’s admonishing glare, his pupils shrank to pinpricks like a colt who got caught with his hooves in the cookie jar. Even Trojan couldn’t ignore the heavy atmosphere generated by Shining’s presence.
“Captain!” Flash hurriedly stood in salute, sweating bullets. “I, uh, ahem, sorry about that display, sir! I was just—”
“Stall it, soldier. I heard enough and have words for all of you,” Shining declared as he gave us all a withering look. “From what I’m seeing, everypony here is at fault in some shape or form. My sister has changelings targeting her, Ponyville citizens are at risk of being caught up in the crossfire, and rather than spend all of that energy trying to solve that problem, all you can think about is yourselves.
“Spike,” I stiffened the moment Shining’s eyes fell on me, “I understand a lot has been thrown on your shoulders, and some lines of morality can be blurry at best. I applaud your efforts for taking the initiative and lending your hand to help us in this crisis, but you have to always keep in mind what’s important not only for the mission, but your teammates. From what I’ve heard, I can see why you felt keeping such a thing secret might’ve helped, but keeping such secrets that affects a member of your squad can be fatal. Remember to always keep your wits about you and do the right thing when you can, even if it’s not the easiest thing to do.”
“Y-yeah, you’re right, Shining. I’m sorry.” I apologized.
Shining Armor smiled at me. “It’s okay. You’re still learning, so it’s inevitable that you will make mistakes. I will discuss this in detail at a better time.
“As for you two,” when Shining’s eyes moved between Flash and Trojan, his expression hardened, “I will be having separate conversations with both of you later tonight about this mess in detail. There will be no attempt to dodge this communication and the situation involving Twilight will be put on hold for now, or else there will be severe repercussions, especially for a certain hard-headed changeling.” A pointed look was sent at Trojan, who merely shrugged. As nonchalant as she tried to look, I noticed a few beads of sweat rolled down her cheek. Flash was in far worse shape, looking visibly sick.
Shining held his glare for a few moments before letting his features soften. “Now, getting back to the main reason I wanted to start this meeting. We have a special guest that wants to meet you all, and has something very important to share with us. I’ll let him speak for himself.” He looked to his side and motioned for somepony to come to him.
Another image materialized next to Shining. The moment the figure’s image was clear, we all took a collective gasp and gaped at the so called ‘special guest’.
The figure anxiously rubbed his black hooves together, gossamer wings fluttering nervously as his pale blue eyes searched us.
“Um, h-hi. M-m-my name is Thorax. It’s a p-p-pleasure to meet you.” The changeling stammered.