Chapter Five
The changeling took the opportunity to glance around the room, attempting to sneak a cursory peek at how surrounded he was without giving away his intention. He took a drink of the soup in front of him. It tasted bitter, just as most normal food did, but it made him look casual and thoughtful, so it was a good charade. His large blue eyes studied his surroundings in a wide lens, yet masked where he was looking like a large pair of sunglasses. Just from this position, he could count four pairs of guards, each one flanking an exit to the room and looking straight forward with a steely gaze and stiff unmoving bodies. Intimidating would be an understatement.
With a sudden panic, the changeling realized he’d held the spoon to his mouth for a bit too long, and when he returned his attention to the princess in front of him, he was met with a pair of cold eyes. Slowly, he lowered his foreleg to the table, the spoon tied to it coming along for the ride. The princess nodded once and took a large bite out of the sandwich in front of her, having not eaten for the past day out of fret and worry.
She managed to look noble even with the large snack stuffed so she could barely chew. Whether it was natural or practiced, the changeling didn’t know; perhaps pony princesses were just born with unmatched grace. Even in these past few days he’d had to observe her actions, he had to admit she was just as much a mystery to him as she had been when they first met.
He’d told her he lacked any memory of anything, but... well... that hadn’t helped his situation. He supposed that, if the dark whispers and sideway glances meant anything, he couldn’t really blame her. From what he had managed to gather, he was a changeling, and changelings had attacked the ponies, and the ponies had taken great emotional and mental damage as a side effect despite their victory in the end. So, really, a changeling showing up in your capital claiming ignorance would be hard-pressed to find people who would so much as delay a lynching in their name, let alone treating them as the ponies were now.
A clatter rose up from the other end of hospital cafeteria, and pony and changeling turned to see. A stallion had shot up from his seat, dislodging his plate as he did so, and was now staring heatedly towards the changeling, fire and rage burning and crackling just under his irises. But that fire quickly smouldered away, hiding itself inside the stallion’s heart once again. Turning, the changeling looked to the two other ponies who had taken up positions by his side, two large guards standing at either side of him and looking towards the stallion with a deadening glare that could crack glass at close range.
Slowly and still full of burning rage, he sat back down and looked towards his plate. The guards stood by the changeling for a moment before they went back to their post. Curious, he looked back to Luna, who was carefully chewing her sandwich, unamused by the minor disturbance. When at last she swallowed, he prepared to ask his question, but she answered it before it could even leave his lips.
“We are here to protect you, not imprison you. Not until my sister makes her judgement, at least.”
Some might say it only raised more questions, more than it answered, but those people would be exaggerating for the purpose of a story. Truth was, it only brought up one question, one as large as it was open ended, and he feared it. It towered over him ominously, casting a long dark shadow that felt like it would choke him to death.
An answer would smite the beast, admittedly, but what then? What would fill in the space? And what would stop it from falling on him? The changeling’s eyes moved quickly to the table and soup, almost eager to let the thought of bland, bitter food choke his curiosity. He sat there, eyeing his food, letting an unsaid threat bind his tongue with silence.
Luna nodded slightly, knowing the feeling well, and not just from her past. She could feel its familiar grip on her heart, and as much as she wanted to tell him he didn’t need to worry, she didn’t feel like lying at the particular moment. Because, as she had learned and learned again, he really did.
She took another bit of her sandwich and looked out the nearby window, the glass showing a pristine world high above the throng of ponies that ebbed and flowed with the normal work hours. She suspected they would give up in a few days, but their feelings would not, and that was her utmost concern.
“Who’s Hendrick.” The tone was slightly demanding: not as a question, but as a command, a statement, as something he wanted answered. It was the tone of a ruler, a leader, or a tyrant, and it was a tone she had thought she would never hear in Canterlot ever again. He didn’t seem to register how forceful his words had been, continuing his shy lunch as if he hadn’t spoken to her as a superior.
Luna looked deep into the blue eyes of the changeling, but they hid the truth far better than the eyes of ponies, as if his face was covered in a dark and tinted shadow, like a gambler’s face. She couldn’t get any read on his feelings, or his intentions. Luna looked at the nearest guard, who kept his steely eyes forward, and saw the fear hidden just under his lens, the emotions that this intruder of her realm lacked in his.
After a moment of silent examination, Luna turned her mind to the ‘question’ that had been posed to her and found it hard to answer for herself as well. Hendrick was different things to different ponies, just like everypony else, but he wasn’t easily described. Not to her anyway, not now. Hero… didn’t sound right. He was less than that, but only by his own admission. Hero’s were the stuff of legends, the north mark on a moral compass. But for all their acts of selflessness, they always felt fake, and fake was something that Hendrick wasn’t.
“He’s…” She felt the word slip out of her lips unbidden, but now found herself on the spot to finish what she was going to say. “...A friend.” She dipped her head shallowly in shame and picked her sandwich from the table to take another bite.
The changeling was confused by how vague the princess had suddenly become. It was splayed all over his face, even in his far away eyes. “A friend?” The words felt heavy as they fell out, and they felt even emptier. He didn’t understand what that was supposed to mean. Just a friend? From everything the changeling had heard of him, that was all Luna would tell him? Why? Did she not trust him enough to tell him everything?
“To everyone.” Both looked to the guard nearby, who had spoken while keeping his gaze and face unaffected by any kind of emotion. “A friend to everyone, especially those in need of one… and more than that to some.”
The changeling pondered the question, but before too long, he restarted his staring contest with the table. “Even me?”
“Well,” Luna stated simply, “he did save your life.”
“That only proves he’s a good stallion, one who would risk their life for a stranger. It doesn’t mean he’s a friend to me.” Luna and the guard shared a glance, both of them unable to find a rebuttal to that statement.
“Well hey, we’ll be your friends.” The voice was Octavia’s, the other mare who would come to guard the room during the nights, even though she always brought a female unicorn guard with her to help. Octavia would spend most of the night writing frantically on a sheet of music, only occasionally remembering to look up at the bed. The female guard would just stand in front of the door, looking everywhere except at the changeling. Regardless of how busy she was, though, Octavia would always find time during her visits to chat. And often times, she would try, and fail, to include the silent guard in their conversations.
Today, she approached with Vinyl by her side and her ever bouncy child who led the way pridefully. Their trays were being held aloft by Vinyl’s magic, but it was only for a short period of time before they landed on either side of the Changeling’s own. He snuffed and rolled his eyes at the act, but the trio sat around regardless, a small act that made him happy despite his outward appearance to the contrary.
“Why would you want to be friends with the changeling? Aren’t you worried you’ll be shunned for being weird?”
Vinyl snorted a laugh in response. “What? Really?” She coughed suddenly, knowing full well that Octavia was about to smack her, despite her blindness. “I don’t think you need to worry about us being weirdos for being your friends, Changey. We’re already ‘those lesbian mothers who adopted an at needs child despite their tragically different personalities.’” Her voice grew snotty as she said this, adding a silly tone to the words and making Moon Light laugh. A fair distance away, a mare huffed angrily and left the room.
Vinyl felt a hoof smack across her skull, rattling her thoughts and leaving her stunned by the unexpected attack. “You can’t make fun of ponies in public, Vinyl. It’s in bad taste.” Octavia took a sip of her tea, adopting a frown onto her face from the bad taste of it. “No matter how true it might be.”
Vinyl’s smile regained its full strength, but remained silent. Moon Light stifled a laugh. ‘Changey’ let the corners of his lips turn upwards as well. “Thanks, but I thought I asked you to stop calling me ‘Changey’.”
“Oh yea, you did,” Vinyl said, passing it off as it were nothing. “But you still haven’t decided on a name, so I need to call you something.”
“Everypony else just calls me ‘it’.”
“Well everypony else is an idiot.” Vinyl had but a moment to process what she had just said when another hit struck her. “Including me,” she added after the blow landed.
The changeling snickered in response. Octavia looked at him with a raised eyebrow and drank another sip of her tea, the combined effect giving her an air of power and strength that killed the snickers immediately. “Well, I don’t know what I should go by. I mean, you guys are the only ones who’ll use it anyway. Why don’t you just pick one.”
“I still vote for ‘Changey’, then,” Vinyl added immediately, ducking another swing from Octavia, who was beginning to laugh despite herself.
“I wanna call you ‘Blue’,” Moonlight added nonchalantly, “after your eyes.”
“I change my vote,” Vinyl announced, “I wanna call him ‘Blue’ as well.”
“It’s a respectable enough name, I think. And if he agrees, then I would have no quarrel with using it.”
Everyone looked to ‘Blue’, awaiting his response. It was almost immediate. “I like it. Let’s go with ‘Blue’ then, for now. If I decide I don’t like it, I can always change it later.” A smile crossed Blue’s face as he turned to look across the table. “What do you think, Princess…” His voice died away as he saw the empty seat.
“How long has she been gone?” He asked, turning to the guard.
“She left a few minutes after Octavia, Vinyl, and Moon Light arrived. She’s been waiting for a free moment to talk to Hendrick, who’s been seemingly avoiding her for the past few days.” The changeling was about to ask why he had gotten all the other information when the guard realized he had said a bit too much. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”
Blue and Octavia shared a glance. “Riiiiiiiiiight.”
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That clears things up... a bit anyways. Enjoyable read at any rate, good job.
Mysterious.....
Now I really want to try a salad sandwich... they sound delicious.
3649771 dude, you have never had salad on your sandwich?
I tell you, it's fucking delicious.
I so fucking excited!
I really think that this is gonna be something really, REALLY good and I can't wait to read more! *squee*
Now I'm hungry for a sandwich salad...
Please don't wait as long on the next chapter. I mean, it's fine if you do, but it would make me sad. I'd definitely still read it, though, because you're an excellent writer.
more, more, more please!
I can't believe a sandwich was the most interesting thing in this chapter.
3650161
You put far too much stock in my writing skills.
Thanks, though.
good story. keep up the good work
3654115 shut up and take it you magnificent bastard
WOOO UPDATE!!!
Gotta say Blue is cool for a changeling. I kinda wanna hang out with him he's so cool.
*looks at comments*
*everyone talks about eating flor-wich*
makeameme.org/media/created/What-dafuq-.jpg
What the fuck , people. How can you digest something like that...?
That's it, im making a salad sandwich. Will report later with results.
7648055
And Vaalintine was never heard from again.