Chapter 16: What's In The Past
“What’s going on?” Tia asked. Luna was lying back on her pillow, taking in everything. Red, which is what I decided to call the unknown Pegasus, was holding an ice pack to his head. “Who is this?” Tia motioned to Red, “And what do you mean that’s Smith?” she said as she looked Smith over again. He just sat there with his head down, ashamed.
“Oi.” I rubbed my head. “I feel like all I’ve done since I got here is talk, talk, talk. Just give me a moment.” I sat my head down on the table.
Smith raised his head a little. “I… I think I should be the one to explain everything.” I looked up to see the Changeling smiling at me and I smiled back.
“Alright,” I said. “Just don’t stray off topic like you usually do.”
Smith smirked. “I’ll try but I’m not making any promises.”
Red smiled and elbowed me. “Yeah, can’t expect him to contain all that awesomeness, can you?”
Smith and I chuckled. Smith glanced at the princesses and stopped. “Well, I guess it’d be quicker to start with this guy over here,” he pointed at Red. “Apparently we were switched in the storm. As for who he really is…” Smith raised a brow at Red. Wait, Changelings have brows, right?
Red shrugged. “I have no idea. In my head, as far as I’m aware, I’m still Silver Smith the Changeling, but in a different body.”
I sighed and decided to help out. “This is why I said I was sorry earlier, Red.”
“Red?” Everypony but Luna asked. She was still staring at the ceiling, but I could tell she was listening.
“Well, since he’s technically not Smith, and we have no idea who he is, I decided to call him Red for now.” They nodded and I continued explaining. “Anyways, I said sorry because if what Tia said about your minds being identical is true, whoever Red once was… is probably lost forever.” Red frowned.
“So, I basically took his body and replaced his mind with my own?” Red asked.
“Simplistically yes, but remember,” I said, “this is Sombra’s doing. You are not at fault here.”
Red nodded. “I guess, but… whoever this pony was… he had a life! He probably had friends, family, a job.” Red looked at his flank to see his cutie mark which was comprised of three blue stars of various sizes. “And now… now he’s dead.” Red lowered his head and sighed.
“What? No he’s not, silly!”
Everypony looked around at the sound of a mare’s voice. Even Luna sat up in surprise. That voice… I know that giddiness any-
My thoughts were cut off by a pink blur leaping up on the table. “P-Pinkie?! What are you-”
She cut me off again and jumped at Red, hugging him with a huge smile on her face. “If you were Smith and not Red, my Pinkie Sense wouldn’t have told me that there was somepony completely new nearby at the train station this morning,” Pinkie suddenly started vibrating random parts of her body and grinned some more, “or right now! So give Pinkie a smile!” She used her hooves to pull the corners of Red’s mouth up and he chuckled. “That’s more like it!”
“Uh, Pinkie?” She looked at me. “Did you follow us?”
“Of course, silly! I needed to find the new pony, and I realized that my Pinkie Sense was the strongest when I was close to you guys, but I thought to myself ‘I’ve already met all of them’ then I gasped and was like ‘What if one of them isn’t the real them?’ So I snuck on the train when nopony was looking and followed you guys here, and I was like a hidden detective, so none of you noticed me. By the way, that Sombra guy sounds like a real meany pants. Anyways, I overheard what you guys were talking about in the throne room and started to feel bad for Not-Smith, but then I remembered that Not-Smith really was not Smith, but another pony that looks and acts like him, so maybe there’s a chance to get that other pony out and throw him a party since he’s new!”
Everypony just stared at Pinkie Pie. I, on the other hoof, smiled at her and chuckled. “I think we should hold off on the party until we can get all of this straightened out.”
Tia blinked a few times and shook her head. “So if… Red… is still in there somewhere, how do we find him?”
“Oh that’s easy!” Pinkie said. “We just find somepony or something to jog his memory!”
“But we don’t know who I am,” Red said. “How are we supposed to find somepony in all of Equestria?”
“I guess we just start asking around,” I suggested. “Since Pinkie doesn’t know you, you’ve obviously never been to Ponyville.”
“We do not mean to seem insensitive,” Luna said, “but We would very much like to hear about…” she lightly motioned to the Changeling’s body, “this.” Smith immediately frowned and looked away.
“Sure,” I said. “Pinkie, would you mind keeping this a secret? Not just Smith, but everything you’ve heard today.”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie went through the motions.
Red and Smith looked at each other, and then back at us. “What does that mean?” they asked together.
“It’s called a Pinkie Promise,” I explained. “They are very sacred and breaking a Pinkie Promise is the quickest way to lose a friend-”
“FOREVER!” Pinkie popped up between the two stallions, causing them to jump. Haha, I’ve always wanted to try that.
Once Pinkie was sitting next to me again I motioned for Smith to start his story. “And try to keep it brief. You can give the detailed version later, but we should really be focusing on Sombra.”
“Alright,” Smith nodded and looked at the princesses. “I’ll start by saying that I have always been Silver Smith, since before you two ever met me.”
“That said,” I cut in, “knowing what he is now does not make him any different from who he’s always been.” Tia nodded in understanding, but Luna didn’t look so convinced. “Not all Changelings have bad intentions. In fact, Smith came here with only the best intentions in mind.”
Smith nodded. “My hive only wanted to kill and conquer, but I wanted no part of that, so about four years ago-” Smith thought about it for a moment, “Well, 6 A.D. I mean, I fled to Equestria, the new land, in hopes of starting fresh. On the way here…” Smith paused and rubbed his neck, “I kinda got lost in the Everfree Jungle. I’ll skip some of the excruciating details, but basically a pack of six Timberwolves, at least twice as large as the ones in the Everfree Forest, trapped me.” Tia’s eyes widened a bit, but she kept her composure. Luna and Pinkie gasped. “Long story short,” Smith continued, “A guard on patrol nearby heard me scream and helped me fend them off, but not without the both of us getting injured. Luckily I was already in disguise when he had found me, but we did have to go to the hospital for a few weeks.” Smith chuckled. “Flare and I became friends after that. Anyways, once I was released, I joined the guard under the name Silver Smith and have been there since.”
Everypony was quiet for a few minutes. “Well,” Tia asked, “what about nourishment? You feed off love, correct?”
Smith shook his head. “Not entirely accurate, at least for my hive. We can feed off any strong emotions. Although love is the most potent, I could still survive off others like fear, happiness, or sadness, all of which Royal Guards see a great deal of.” Tia nodded in understanding but Smith opened his big mouth and continued anyways. “I mean, I was beginning to be a little malnourished after a year or so, but I was lucky enough to catch the admiration of a pretty mare.”
Luna blushed but looked insulted at the same time. “So… I was just food to you?”
“What?” Smith panicked. “No! Nonono, you probably did save my life, but I almost instantly returned those feelings.”
“So you knew I liked you for nearly three years and never said anything?” Luna looked hurt.
Smith rubbed his leg. “I just… As a Changeling, you don’t ever really fall in love or develop your own relationships, so I was nervous about getting to close to you.”
I heard what sounded like muffled whispering and Luna frowned. “What, were you afraid that if things between us went sour that you’d lose your only real source of food?” She was looking angrier by the second. What was that sound?
“No! I- I just-” Smith stuck his holed hooves up in surrender. “You know what? I’m not going to lie to you, Lulu. You deserve better than that. I’ll admit that that was one of my concerns with going out with you originally-” Luna huffed and turned away from him. “BUT, I was more concerned about losing the first mare I ever liked.”
Luna’s expression softened a bit and she looked at Smith again. “You really care for me?”
Smith nodded. “With all my heart. I wanted to tell you about-” he motioned to himself, “this, but I was scared for the same reasons, that I might lose you.”
“He was planning to tell you,” I added. “He was talking to me just the week before we vanished about how he should reveal it. He really loves you Luna. Even though you know what he is, it doesn’t change who he is or his feelings for you.”
Luna smiled at Smith, but them quickly frowned and bit her lip. “Just… give me a moment to think.”
“Take all the time you need,” Smith said. She nodded and flashed out of the room.
Silence took over again, but as usual, Tia broke it. “So when did you find out about this?” she asked me.
“Well, it was about three months after I appeared, not long before I told you two about my past. Basically Smith was too close during one of my transformation experiments. I casted that spell I used earlier on them to reverse any transformation magic used on somepony and, well, he happened to be sitting nearby in my study. When I saw he was a Changeling, I made sure to keep calm-”
“You screamed like a little filly,” Smith corrected.
“-and think things through rationally.”
“You dived out your window,” Red deadpanned, “which was nearly 20 meters in the air.”
“I had to quickly change back and save your dumb flank,” Smith said and jabbed my shoulder.
“Anyways,” I continued, “after he dropped me back on my study’s hard floor instead of the pillow that was less than a meter away,” I glared at him, “we found out that my spell had some… side-effects.”
Tia tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“Watch,” Smith said and was immediately engulfed in green flames. A second later, it faded and Silver Smith’s monochromatic self sat in his place.
“I don’t see-” Tia started, but stopped when she noticed a small green flame on Smith’s mane. It gradually worked its way down and spread out as it burned away his skin, leaving the undisguised Changeling in its place.
“Knight’s stupid experiment screwed up my changing ability, so I can’t disguise myself on my own anymore,” Smith explained as his hooves and tail reverted.
“I said I was sorry!” I looked back at Tia. “So Smith explained to me what he just told you, and after a small internal debate, I decided that he was still my friend, so I helped him out.”
“And that’s how you remained disguised?” Tia asked Smith and he nodded.
“I used my in-progress transformation spell on him to keep him disguised,” I explained, “and it worked for the most part.”
“The most part?”
“Well, we did have that issue about a month later,” Smith explained.
Tia thought about it for a moment. “Oh! That changeling sighting was you? You two are the ones responsible for the Changeling Lockdown right after New Year’s?” Smith and I both slowly nodded. Tia rolled her eyes. “I should have figured.”
“It was really because of that that I decided to tell Luna,” Smith said, “but I wasn’t so sure how to break it to her, you know?” Tia nodded.
“Awww!” Pinkie squeed. “The all-powerful Princess of the Night and a foreign Changeling in love!” Pinkie nudged me and smirked. “Typical romance novel if you ask me,” she giggled.
There was a flash of light and Luna reappeared on her cushion near Smith. “I thought about it and I still have a few questions.”
Smith nodded. “Please, ask away.”
“Where did the grey Pegasus come from?” Luna asked. “Don’t Changelings typically copy somepony else’s appearance?”
“That is mostly because Changelings try to take somepony’s place, usually one in a relationship, to get food. But most Changeling drones lack the creativity to invent a look. Otherwise we may end up looking something like this.” Smith’s fire consumed him again and he was turned into… What the hay is that suppose to be? Smith was taller and had a large black and yellow mane that had a curved bright purple horn sticking out and a ridiculous tail to match. His body was a weird gradient going from purple near his head, fading to dark green at his hooves and his wing tips. His eyes were nearly every color of the rainbow and he had a white lightning bolt going down his side right beneath his wing. He honestly looks like one of those ‘Do-Not’ OCs used to explain what not to do in creating your own pony. I shuddered a little.
“Oh! It’s Mr. Awesome van Coolstein!” Red exclaimed. What? Smith nodded and hoofbumped Red as his flame tore away the unsightly pony, making them both chuckle. Was… was that Smith’s OC? Remind me to keep him from writing Fiction.
When Smith had returned to his normal Changeling self, he looked around to see Pinkie laughing on the floor in tears and the princesses in shock. “See? Not very good at fitting in. So I came up with the most basic concept I could imagine. That’s why I don’t have any color on me, aside from my eyes.” Smith shrugged. “It still wasn’t perfect though. I mean, how many Pegasi blacksmiths do you know? Most are either tough Earth Ponies or precise Unicorns.”
“Haven’t you ever wondered why he was a hoof soldier instead of working in the armory?” I asked them. “I asked him about that my third day here!”
Tia and Luna both nodded. “And why a Pegasus?” Luna asked.
Smith shrugged again. “I never learned more magic than the basic absorption and transformation, so anything with a horn was out the window, but I really enjoy flying, so it was entirely a matter of preference.”
I heard that whispering again. “What about your past? Before you wanted to come to Equestria.”
“What about it?” Smith asked. “For most my life, I was another mindless drone, ruled by a queen who only wanted to conquer other hives and settlements. I eventually grew a conscious of my own and left.”
More whispering. “But what did you do over there?” Luna asked a little more forcefully. “What were some of the things required of you?”
Smith shifted a little and looked away. “I’d… rather not talk about it. I did some things that I regret and they’re what made me realize what I was doing wasn’t right.”
“But what?” Luna asked a bit louder.
“Please, Lulu. I’d rather not talk about it,” Smith pleaded.
“Sister, calm down,” Tia said. “We’ve all done wrong things in our past. There’s no need to pick at old scars.”
Luna suddenly remembered what had happened to her recently and calmed down. “I’m sorry,” she told Smith and hung her head.
“It’s fine,” he said. “It’s just a really sore topic. I’m sure we’ve all got a few of those.” Everypony nodded, even Pinkie Pie.
It went quiet for a few minutes, until I heard the whispering again coming from Luna. I looked around at everypony else. Seriously, can nopony hear that? Luna looked up at Smith again. “What was your name?”
“Huh?” Smith asked.
“I said, what was your name?” Luna repeated. “Before you became ‘Silver Smith’ you had to have a name. What was it?”
Smith rubbed his leg. “Please, I’d rather not.”
Luna frowned more. “Why not? I’m not afraid to tell somepony that I was once ‘Nightmare Moon’ since that is all behind me. Why can’t you just tell me what you were called?” Her volume was increasing.
“Because it doesn’t matter who I was before.” Smith said, trying to keep his voice level. “All that matters is that I’m Silver Smith now, the stallion that loves you!”
“But I don’t see what the big deal is!” Luna was getting angrier. “It’s just an old label. Why should you care if we know it?”
“Because I don’t want you to!” Smith yelled and immediately regretted it.
“Fine!” Luna huffed and teleported away in anger.
Everypony sat in shock for a moment. Smith hung his head and I could almost see him tearing up. I facehoofed. Why can’t anything go smoothly for us? “We should give her some time to cool off,” I said. “Hopefully she’ll feel better with a little space to think.” Everypony nodded in agreement and I looked at Pinkie. “So… how should we start with Red over here?” Pinkie immediately got a grin that made me regret the question. Oh, Goddess…
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The whispers are out to get you...
3267022
... The whispers are in your soul...
Hmmm I sense that Silver's past name has much significance to it.....:
Orrrrr I'm over thinking things again
But any who, great chapter.
3268745
No, overthinking is a good thing! You are correct in that Smith's past has a bit more significance than he let on.
Nice catch.
Luna just can't get the hint of dropping a certain topic, the mare just keeps going on and on.
3267058 the whispers are in your mind
is sombra whispering like nightmaremoon in luna's ear
3644658
Probably. I mean, I assume that was the entire point of this little charade - to get close to Luna, somehow. Everything else can play itself out however it does, it doesn't matter - he already succeeded, whether he wanted to plant himself in her thoughts or just reawaken Nightmare Moon to do his dirty work for him - and everything else (including there being two Silver Smiths, or the reveal) is just basically noise at this point...
It's actually kinda interesting, getting to know how that kind of a person thinks about the world, or others... Thinking about other people (ponies) as nothing more than tools opens up some really interesting methods and options, to be honest - and you don't even need to care about your tools once you're done with them. Especially things like this, where you essentially leave behind a ticking time-bomb, which is going to serve you by distracting your enemies no matter what it does...
These issues usually get worked out, in the end - often through some huge fight between our stalwart heroes - but they end up doing exactly what they were meant to: cost time. And it's not like you can ignore an issue like this for too long, because if you do (and some might argue that, for the greater good, you should), you may end up in a version of the future that falls under "was it worth it, hero?" You may have saved the world, sure, but at what cost? So yeah, these plans usually work, because it'd probably take someone like Sombra himself to avoid the loss by simply cutting the person off...