"Good morning everyone! It's time for the next chapter of our lives to begin! Just think of the adventures that wait for us in the barren waste…"
"Shutup!" yelled Chrysalis, Cutter, and Stacked all at once.
"Hmp, nobody likes spoilers," Wordsmith said petulantly. "That's what you are: a bunch of spoilers."
An unfamiliar zebra mare chose to chime in then. "You cannot expect all to be happy with such a morning report, and I suspect you meant to call them spoiled sports."
"I meant what I didn't say."
There was a small round of chuckles that I suspected came from the zebra. I on the other hoof was in the spoiled sport camp. It was too early for this.
I opened my eyes to the sight of a big light brown blur. 'She must've restored the illusion after I went back to sleep.’ I rose my head then rolled myself to the nearby pink and white blur. If I was going to be up at the crack of dawn without coffee, then I was at least getting breakfast. Formica fortunately had the sense to use one of the bottles instead of feeding me directly. I didn't want to see them try to explain that.
As I carefully slurped down the disguised beverage, the dark green blur that was Surehoof came into view. "What's her name?" His voice was firm and level, much like a more monotone Big Mac.
The lack of a smooth southern drawl made him more intimidating. The way Formica stiffly held me close meant that she shared my opinion. I could feel her trying to form a response, trying being the operative word.
I could hear his hoof shifting in the dirt, but I couldn't see if it was the nervous circling or aggressive scrapping. "Good question Onyx Steel. What is the name of this lovely little filly?" asked the off white stallion with a hoof wrapped over Surehoof's back. "All little ponies need a name. A character without a name might as well not exist, and no one should be treated like nothing. ”
'Wait, what is my name?' In all the time I've spent in my new life, I've never been addressed with anything more than princess. 'Will I even get a name?'
"She doesn't have one," said Chrysalis from behind Formica, who immediately relaxed at the presence of the Queen.
"No name! How could you have not given her a name yet?!"
"Stop your infernal yelling "
"Okay," he said sitting down.
" I already said that this is too ear…ly!" It took a moment to process how easily Wordsmith agreed to her demands. She growled at him as if not completely convinced that he would stop.
"Still, she must have a name. If you want, I could lend my services."
"I will name her!" Chrysalis growled out with a stomp.
"Soooo, I'll take that as a maybe."
"It is a no!"
"Don't worry one bit. I won't disappoint," he said smacking his chest with a hoof, cupping his mouth with that hoof, then turning to his left, "isn't that right Banana?!"
"His ability is sound, without bound; from highest cloud to lowest ground." The Zebra's voice sounded young and sharp compared to the others.
"Cloud didn't rhyme!" Sky Cutter yelled with a jeering singsong.
"To speak in lyric takes time and skill!" snapped the same mare that admonished Wordsmith for his wakeup call. "Let's see you try without a single spill."
"Akua!" said a elderly voice that found the perfect balance between firm and soft. "Never again speak words so cruel. We sing our wisdom to be heard with mind and heart. Words are a beautiful and wondrous tool. Causing harm with them is a habit you should never start."
"Omba msamaha Faraji."
"Very well. Hate cannot win if you counter its spell with the calm within."
"Can we please get moving?!" yelled Stacked Bits. "We've wasted time on this every morning. Is it too much to ask for everypony to just get ready! Time is money, and I'd rather get paid in this lifetime."
"She's right everyone!" yelled Wordsmith, "we're burning daylight!"
"You're the one that gets them started every morning! If you do it again, you're pulling the cart today." Rather than a confirmation, I could hear Wordsmith responding with exaggerated hums of thought. "No!"
"What! I'm just wondering if it would be worth it. What would my incentive be to remain quiet during my punis…"
"Okay, okay. Can we just get these shaman to Canterlot before the end of the season."
"Aye aye Captain Pay Day!"
And with that, all the sounds that followed were limited to hooves shuffling across dirt and clipped conversation too distant to make anything specific out. This didn't last long until all but two of us took a central position near the cart. The strong scent of many unique herbs and chemicals assaulted my nasal cavity. It made sense a group with so many zebra shaman would have access to the types of ingredients they would use in their alchemy, but it also brought to mind the most obvious question.
"Why are you getting paid to escort five zebra shaman into Equestria?" Chrysalis asked to my approval. I turned my head to see her asking the green blur that was Surehoof her question.
"Don't know. They're pay'n for shaman and escorts get a cut."
"It's a mystery with what I bet is one heck of a story behind it. What kind of event could drive Equestria into paying well beyond the services of a skilled shaman. I must know why."
Chrysalis scoffed loudly as an obvious show of her opinion. "If that is all you know, then I have no idea why I bothered to ask."
"You were curious. What more reason do you need?" Wordsmith said as if it were absolute fact.
'I'm pretty sure she only cares about information she can use, at least as far as ponies are concerned. I shouldn't consider that a surprise with how everypony sees her character.'
"Speaking of characters..."
"What?!" Chrysalis yelled at the exact same instance I thought it; her because of how random his segue was, and me because of the timing.
"What kind of character do you think that little filly will have?"
There was a pause as Chrysalis thought about the question I already knew the answer to. "She will be clever. She will be strong. She will be a leader."
"Yes, yes. What about being honest, showing kindness, having generosity, filled with laughter, or practicing loyalty."
Chrysalis couldn't have scoffed with more derision if she tried. "What good is honesty when none want to hear your truth? What good is kindness when others would rather hurt you? Why should I be generous when I have so little I can afford to offer? How can I laugh when I can find no joy?! Where should I place my loyalty…" Her breath hitched and she stopped with everypony else following suit. I felt Formica's shoulders sag deeply, but I couldn't guess why. "Where should I place my loyalty when those I risk everything for betray me at their first chance?"
'That, that's...' I didn't know what to think. I knew full well why Chrysalis said what she said, but hearing her dismiss the elements for a good reason was more than I could process. 'We've never given them a chance. Some princess of friendship I am…was.'
"Seriously! You just had to be a Miss Melodrama!" All heads turned around to look at the red pegasus hovering in the back. I knew none of them approved. "And here I was…"
"Enough!" came Wordsmith's sharp voice as he stepped between the disguised Queen and Sky Cutter.
"You think I'm going to listen to you?! I've been trying to tune you out since you joined us."
"You've said enough Sky Cutter." There was no ice, no force in his voice. There was no frigid wind or oppressive pressure, but everypony else froze just the same. I could see Chrysalis looking around in confusion and felt Formica doing the same. "There are rare times when tearing into someone's character is necessary so they may progress, but this isn't it. So shut your poisonous trap. Would. You. Kindly."
Only a few seconds ticked by before Wordsmith performed a sharp 180 and began moving ahead of the group. As he slowly blended into the background, the pressure that truly wasn't there lifted. Without the sound of hooves against dirt, the wagon's wheels, and wind against dry grass, there would be absolute silence.
Hours passed before even whispers could be heard around me. Chrysalis took this as a signal to begin her own hushed meeting with Formica. "Keep your guard up around Wordsmith. I do not trust anypony that can control others with only words, nor do I trust anypony that holds those accursed elements in high esteem. Try to stick to the green earth pony. His affection for you will serve us well if this ends in conflict."
'Wait, Surehoof has a crush on Formica?!' The biggest surprise in that revelation was remembering that they all thought she was a pony. Once I could disconnect from my preconceived knowledge, it was easy to see why he was interested. Pure white coats with a mane that matches one of the colors of Celestia's are highly desirable. Formica didn't have a bad personality either. Knowing the only way it could end was disheartening to me.
I eventually decided to let myself fall further into the role of a mindless infant. It was little more than, eating, sleeping, and listening to Chrysalis' nightly overview of each day.
Through the passage of each day, I formed my own observations on our companions.
I focused on how the group we joined behaved and interacted. My most prominent thoughts were on Wordsmith. It only took him a day to return to his jovial behavior, but he never returned to using fake names for Sky Cutter. The Zebra never received alternative names, but he always rhymed with them. Chrysalis and Formica were often on the receiving end of character analysis and fantastical speculation that was only a little off from a bullseye.
Stacked Bits was a no-nonsense sort of mare who was motivated by the bottom line. She spoke like a capable leader, but I wouldn't feel comfortable putting her in charge of more than a dozen ponies.
Sky Cutter continued acting like the stereotypical brash pegasus, but he would always clam up when Wordsmith talked to him. Otherwise he lacked the filter that kept others from hearing his negative opinions. At least Rainbow Dash would whisper under her breath.
Surehoof, an earth pony judging by the name, seemed like a stallion much like Big Mac except rougher around the edges and hard to read. If it wasn't for Chrysalis explaining his intent, I would've felt like he was a bit creepy.
The Zebra were mostly similar to each other, with how they rhymed being their most distinctive traits. The twins Zamora and Zamire often spoke together, finishing each other's rhymes. Akua rhymed normally but had a more confrontational personality. Banana spoke in rapid fire rhymes, but often used words that sounded similar. Faraji was the eldest, and it showed in anything he said and in how he spoke in A-B-A-B verse.
Chrysalis' nightly updates revolved around planning how they'll capture the one she targets and on who that target will be. When she wasn't plotting, she was complaining about either Wordsmith or Sky Cutter: Cutter because he was obnoxious and Wordsmith because he never missed an opportunity to confuse and/or irritate her. Him clearly doing it on purpose was a good source of amusement for me and the only reason Chrysalis hadn't attacked, if parts of her ranting were to be believed.
After ten days of travel, Wordsmith decided to begin telling stories each night, and even convinced Chrysalis to join with the thought that I should have a bedtime story. She complained about that case of manipulation for half an hour.
The first genre was adventure. Wordsmith spun a tale of a green knight who was forced to leave his forest home to search out ancient relics so he could reach a powerful artifact before it fell into the hooves of a dark king that fooled everyone else into thinking he was a friend. He found the relics, only to have his achievement stolen at the last moment. It was very Daring Do like with more monsters and gadgets, but got far more interesting in its second half.
The following night was a comedy story following a deadbeat father that, after being forbidden to interact with his foals by their mother, disguises his self as an elderly mare babysitter just to get close to them. The jokes were spot on, the voice he used was a joy to hear, and the familial lessons learned were heartwarming.
The third story was an action/romance with a setting that wouldn't be out of place in one of Spike's comics. It was about two young superheroes who kept their identities secret even from each other. The romantic twist was that the mare had feelings for the stallion when they were out of costume while the reverse was true when in costume. The action didn't appeal to me as much, but I found the near random nature of the mare's special ability intriguing.
I intended to go to bed imaging the myriad of ways the two could be revealed to each other only for Chrysalis to kill my good mood. "Tomorrow's the night. Those stories helped open up their emotions enough to fill up a few days sooner. I want to capture either Surehoof or Wordsmith. What do you think?"
Formica averted her gaze and fidgeted. My heart went out to her. I could tell that she was having difficulty deciding between her loyalty towards Chrysalis and her newfound fondness towards the group. For the whole week, I'd hoped that she'd try to convince Chrysalis not to follow through with her plan, but I thought that, just maybe, it being her last chance would be enough to convince her to try. "I, I…I think that I don't know how to choose."
I sighed softly in disappointment, just quietly enough not to draw too much of their attention. "Very well," said Chrysalis. "We shall make our move on Wordsmith when they go to sleep after his next story."
'Then I know when I need to scream.'
Even with the following day crawling by at a snail's pace, evening came much sooner than I would've liked. We all gathered in a half-circle with Wordsmith sitting at the opening. "Okay everyone, I'll decide on the genre this time, and I'm feeling like a horror/tragedy this time around, one that flips the script."
The story that followed confused me by opening with a young filly that fell into an underground world filled with monsters. Except for one that chose to be the filly's new mother, every monster attacked her and was defeated. Only after tricking the motherly monster was the true monster revealed.
Suddenly, the monsters had names and true individuality. My heart broke when a silly, puzzle obsessed skeleton was cut down for offering redemption, and still believed in her. Fear gripped my heart when a kid who reminded me so much of Scootaloo was nearly killed, but was saved by a heroic knight.
The hope the knight gave me was killed when she killed the filly, because she had the power to try again endlessly. The knight eventually fell, her final words revealing how truly horrific that filly was.
I completely zoned out until the end, just in time for the final horrific twist. For showing her first sign of goodness ever by defying the thing that was guiding her the entire way, her soul and the world were destroyed.
Wordsmith seemed to smile at the group, seemingly the only one unaffected by the story he just told. "Well, pleasant dreams everyone."
A small but understandable silence pervaded the air before everypony made their way into their preferred grouping. We as in Chrysalis, Formica, and I left the group for a distant piece of flat ground. Once they wrapped me tightly and had me out of view, the illusion was released.
"You know," Chrysalis said with uncharacteristic hesitation, "that was an interesting story. I never thought anypony would tell a tale where the only pony was the villain. I'm curious…maybe he has stories that don't portray changelings as the monsters ponies see us as. They refuse to understand that we need their emotions to live. I've decided that we'll ponynap Wordsmith." I went rigid at the sudden reminder of Chrysalis' plans for the night. Wordsmith's story completely wiped the thought from my head. "He is the most emotionally open and I am interested in him. We strike in two hours."
'And I'll be counting the seconds.' I was fully prepared for a tiring stakeout, a battle of will versus my own boredom, but it was only one minute until Formica spoke up. "Your Majesty, do we have to?"
I watched as Chrysalis slowly rose from her prone position and fixed Formica with a glare that held a hint of curiosity. "What are you asking?"
She gulped nervously but slowly forged the look in her eyes into steel. "Do we have to hurt them? We're both as full as we can hold, we even filled those bottles we kept. We don't have to put anypony in a pod. If we're not monsters, then why can't we prove it?"
Chrysalis's eyes slowly widened and relaxed. I could see the thoughts running through her head, as if trying to reconcile what Formica just told her with everything she's known and thought for as long as she's known. It wasn't the kind of decision that anypony could come to terms with in one night, and she fortunately understood that. "I'll think about it. Regardless of my decision, we will leave tomorrow night. Be ready."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
'Yes, thank you.