Mask
"Excuse me. Sorry! Coming through!" The clip-clopping of hooves heralded the arrival of Wolfe. "Hey, Mask," he said as he caught up, barely out of breath.
I shook my head in amazement. Giving a quick glance back to the crowded hallway behind us, I asked, "How do you do that? Are you secretly an alicorn?"
He started laughing.
"Come on," I pleaded. "You can tell me. What's your secret?" Somehow this just caused him to laugh harder.
I was convinced that Wolfe had unicorn ancestors and some magical abilities. There was simply no way someone could move as fast as he did, through large crowds, or up walls, without bumping into anypony or thing. Not without using his wings, a teleportation spell, or at the very least some type of charm.
"I keep telling you, you come out training with me..."
"I think I'll stay on the sidelines. You're going to need someone to pick you up when you break a leg."
"Ha ha," he said sarcastically.
"Did I miss something?" I asked. "You caught up in a hurry, even for you."
"Well," he said. "Tempest, Click, and I thought it might be fun to grab a bite, since school lets out early today. We thought it would be a great way to end off the week. You wanna join us?"
I thought for a moment. I'd been a bit upset that my last class of the day would be cancelled. I'd started to really enjoy my drama lessons. But I definitely wouldn't mind leaving school nearly an hour earlier than normal.
"Sure," I said. "Not much else to do." Mom, as usual, would be working late. And Dad had started working overtime for the week.
"Any ideas where?" I asked.
He shook his head. "That's part of the fun. We usually get lost anyway, so it's more entertaining to just head in one direction until we find something."
"It has nothing to do with finding things for you to climb up or jump off of?" I asked, grinning.
"Complete coincidence." He turned his head away for a moment, poorly concealing a smirk, giving me enough time to roll my eyes.
"Anyway, we'll meet in the front of the school after flight class," he told me. We walked into the nearly full gymnasium just before the bell rung. "Just under the juniper,"
"I know the one," I responded as we started our pre-flight stretches. The two of us eventually drifting apart as Wolfe's competitive nature took over. Meanwhile, I did enough to push myself, but not enough to tire quickly. However, Coach Abs giving me the stink-eye was a great motivator to ramp it up.
Wolfe
"I'll meet you guys after I run to my locker," Mask shouted.
"Cool," I yelled back, trying to make my voice heard over the ponies excited for the slightly shorter day.
The throng pushed me out the door, and almost down the steps, of the school. I split off and headed in the direction of our usual meeting place. I found Click waiting, curled up next to one of the large roots of the tree. Still typing away on his laptop, as usual. I tried to peek at some of his work, but he immediately snapped the device shut.
"Come on," I begged, reaching a hoof towards the computer. "Just a little read?"
He held it out of my reach, coating it in a field yellow magic. "You know my rules, Wolfe. No one reads—"
"Anything you write until you're absolutely 100% done," I finished, sitting on my haunches, disappointed. "I know the spiel."
When he was satisfied that I was done trying to read over his shoulder, he resumed typing.
"What if I became your editor?" I asked.
He looked at me over the monitor, his hooves never ceasing in their movements. "We both know how bad you are with deadlines, Wolfe."
"I'm not bad," I pouted. "I just like to work at my own pace,"
"Well an editor needs to be able to work at good pace. Not a snail's pace."
"Alright, alright. I'll just sit around for two years, waiting for the next chapter."
He didn't respond, so I busied myself with looking out for our mutual friends. "Is Brainy a definite no show?" I asked after a few minutes.
He nodded. "Says the test is too important to leave to chance. She's gonna spend the night studying. And Spot's out sick."
"Again," we said in unison.
I sighed. Spotting Tempest, I waved him over.
"Ah well, we can have fun with just the four of us."
"I take it that Mask is going to join us?" Tempest asked as he sat down.
I nodded. "Actually..." I looked back towards the doors, the few usual stragglers were leaving. "He said he was just going to his locker," I said worriedly. "He should have been here by now."
After another minute revealed no sign of the changeling, I decided to go check on him.
"I'll just see what's keeping him," I said as I began walking back towards the school. "Stop giving me that look, Tempest," I threw over my shoulder. The muffled snicker that followed further proved my friends teasing. "I'm just checking on him. He said that he wouldn't be long, and we've been waiting for a good bit."
"I remember when I lied to myself."
Instead of defending myself, I simply shook my head and continued on my way into the school.
Mask
I all but lunged around another corner. My hooves scraping against the floor, heart pounding in my chest. They were close, really close. I kept running. Just barely able to stay out of reach of magic.
Unfortunately, I forgot about the Stormbringer.
He rammed into me from a side hallway, tossing me at the wall of lockers. For a moment the world spun, causing me to stumble in my steps as I tried to stand. I felt the back of my head slam against the metal again, a cold grip squeezing around my throat. I fought back, trying to use my own magic to pry his aura's grip from my throat.
He let his magic waver for a moment, letting me fall to the floor. Before I could think of retaliation, I was lifted up and slammed painfully against the ground. In desperation, I charged up a quick magical burst, hoping that it would knock my attackers back and give me an opening to escape. When they stumbled from the force of the blast I turned to run, crying out when I felt the vice-grip that clamped around my leg.
I twisted and fired a quick shot at the offending horn, breaking the unicorn's hold on me. By now, Stormbringer's and his other accomplice had caught up to me. Stormbringer blocked my exit, forcing me to stop and face him. Which left the perfect opening for the earth pony to tackle me. He tried to pin me, but I forced him to back off with a swift kick to the gut.
Stormbringer took that moment to ram me into the lockers again, holding me up with one foreleg. Through the spots that danced in my vision, I could just make out his silhouette. His hoof poised to meet my muzzle. My body was too exhausted, both my magic reserves and my stamina were at zero. I pushed feebly at his arms, my head still swimming.
An instant before his hoof would have smashed against my face, a blur came from nowhere, picked up Sormbringer, and took him down the corridor.
"Back off!" was the only thing I heard. Followed by a very loud thud.
"What the hell!" The unicorn shouted.
I didn't waste a second. I launched myself from the wall and rammed into him, shoulder first. As he fell, I turned towards the earth colt and let loose another quick shockwave, knocking him off of his hooves.
I had to duck as the two pegasi came back down the hallway. Fighting like hawks, wings flailing, each trying land as many blows as they could on the other.
"Wolfe?" I called in shock.
Unfortunately, my confused shout distracted him long enough to take a solid hit to the muzzle. The blow sent him reeling backwards, but he righted himself mid-fall and glided back down to the ground. I supported him with my shoulder, just long enough for him to clear the dizziness from his head. When we looked up again, Stormbringer and his two cronies had fled.
Wolfe stomped the ground in angrily. He spread his wings, ready to give chase, but I held out a hoof and shook my head. "It's not worth it."
"The hell it isn't!" he yelled. He pointed a hoof down the hallway. "That was assault, on school property. More than enough to get those—"
"And who do you think a court would believe?" I interrupted irritably. "Who would the guards believe? A group of three ponies or one changeling? I'll give you three guesses."
He opened his mouth to retort, but I cut him off again. "It would be our word against theirs. And the word of a changeling means next to nothing around here."
"But you couldn't have instigated a fight," He reasoned. "The guards know about the charms." He indicated the necklace I wore.
"These things?" I laughed bitterly, flicking the medallion that had stayed around my neck despite the fight.. "As far as the guard is concerned, changelings know every possible way to get around these charms. Sure they can tell when and if we remove them. But no one cares about that. All anypony cares about is making sure that the 'changeling threat' is kept completely underhoof."
I laughed. "You know what's funny? I keep hearing ponies call us bugs, insects, and even parasites. Well that's what it feels like. We're small bugs next to the pony giants. We need to watch our step every second of the day or else, SPLAT!" I ground my hoof into the tiled floor for emphasis. I hadn't even realized that I'd been shouting until I'd opened my eyes and saw Wolfe's shocked face.
I felt like apologizing. But I knew I couldn't take back what i’d just said. And I realized that I didn't want too. "Just..." I turned away, feeling too empty to keep arguing. "Just let it go, Wolfe," I said as I began to walk away.
He followed me until we got to the exit. Before I could leave, he stepped in front of me. His muzzle an inch away from mine. Had I not been completely drained of emotion, I might have been afraid, or even confrontational. Instead I settled for an stoic stare.
"Alright," he said. "I get that you don't want the royal guard involved or anypony else getting involved. So I won't say anything, this time."
I felt some weight relieve itself of my chest. I was glad I didn't have to try to convince him.
"But I want you to do something for me."
I blinked. "What?"
"I know you're upset. I'm furious right now. You want to go home and sulk. Lay in bed and yell at the ceiling. But what's that going to accomplish? Nothing. Shove it in their face by having a good time despite them. Carpe Diem!"
He put a hoof on my shoulder. "This is supposed to be a really inspiring way of saying that I want to make sure you're okay. And I'd rather not leave you alone to get jumped again."
It finally clicked what he was yammering about. "You still want me to come with you guys?"
"Well it's either that or I follow you home. And I know that you'd hate to make me miss lunch with Tempest and Click."
"Are you guilt-tripping me?" I asked incredulously.
He shrugged. "Maybe a little."
I opened my mouth, ready to give him every argument that I could think of. Then I deflated, my brain spent. "Fine," I sighed. "A few hours, then I'm heading home. Deal?"
Wolfe
I looked around. Searching for a good spot to begin. It couldn't be too high, and it needed to be somewhat close to something comfortable for my friends to rest on.
By now, my friends were used to our misadventures. And we would start them as randomly as possible. Back in our first year, we would plant to go out to restaurants or cafes, but we never made it. Most of us had a horrible sense of direction, or bad memory, and we'd find ourselves nowhere near where we meant to end up. It got to the point that we would just decide to go on adventures through the city until we got hungry. Adventures that I sometimes led them on. I smiled back at the others as we walked. Click and Tempest were having a conversation about classes. With Tempest griping about the teaching method used in the technology course being too much explanation and not enough hooves-on work. Mask trailed along more slowly, making it easy to tell that his mind was hardly on the bag of food he held in his mouth.
I waited for my friends to sit down in the nearby grass. Taking the time to size up the spot I'd chosen. A couple of walls, stairs, guardrails, a ramp, and a nice abstract build to top it all off. I nodded in satisfaction. It was perfect.
After a quick stretch, I set my eyes on my starting point; the lowest and narrowest of walls. I took a breath, and lifted my hooves. The stress of a few hours ago slipped away. All that existed was the present and immediate future. I leaped, my hooves clicking against the stone wall as I landed. My wings flared, aiding me in keeping my balance before I tucked them away again. I ran forward, my head bobbing with each step.
I leaped, front legs out, back legs trailing behind me. I landed smoothly on the next wall, this one being much wider than the other, and began galloping again. I aimed my sights at the ledge of a higher wall. I leaped at it, landing on the vertical surface hooves first, and kicked downwards, my hooves propelling me up the surface and allowing me to grab the top. I pulled myself up, spreading my wings again for balance.
I flashed a confident smirk down to my friends. Tempest merely waved, a somewhat cheeky grin on his face. Click raised a nacho in acknowledgement. And I could see Mask’s jaw dangling just above the ground. I grinned wider.
If he likes that... I looked over the drop, setting my sights on the narrow guard rail a few feet beneath me.
He’s gonna love this, I decided, taking a few steps back to allow myself a running start. I could see the bar in my mind’s eye, and kept it’s location fixed in my head. I took a breath, steeling my nerves, and took off at a quick trot. I waited until I was a few inches from the ledge before leaping. Mid-air, I twisted my body, moving my back legs in front of me. I landed hooves first, and used my forelegs to steady myself on the bar as it rattled from the force of my drop.
“Geez,” Tempest exclaimed, startling me for a moment. “That’s the most intense you've ever been.”
I chuckled, only then realizing how hard my heart was beating. “I've got energy to burn.” I explained.
“You alright?” he asked. “I know how you get when you’re ‘in the moment’ or whatever you call it.”
I rolled my eyes but gave my body a quick check anyway. Everything was still attached, nothing was broken, and there were minimal scrapes on my four legs.
“Hey, Wolfe?” Click called. “I think you broke Mask.”
Mask
“You do know that he likes you right?”
That question still burned in my head. When Temporal told me that, I’d thought it was a joke. But what he said next erased most of my doubts.
“I've known Wolfe for a long time. Long enough to know when he’s crazy about someone. Just look.” He had indicated Wolfe just after he had finished stretching. (A sight that I will admit was nice to see.)
“In all the time Wolfe’s done these stunts, I've rarely seen him so utterly focused. And only when he’s got something to prove.”
I was captivated from the start. I didn't even know how to describe what or how he did what he did. All I knew was that it was amazing.
When I tried to ask Temporal what he was talking about, he clammed up. He said that it was close to dark territory. Territory that he couldn't talk about right now. I accepted that answer without complaint. I had enough to think about already.
Of course I knew he was attracted to me. I’m a changeling, even with this stupid charm on, I could taste it. But I didn't realize that the attraction was more than physical. I guess I’d become so used to it, that I didn't even notice a shift. Thinking about it though, it would make sense. I could have died earlier. Wolfe could have walked the other way. No one knew he was there. I wouldn't have even thought about blaming him. But he chose to put himself in danger to make sure I was safe. He was ready to finish the fight for me.
Do I feel the same?
I stopped at the door of my apartment. Seriously pondering the question.
What was Wolfe to me?
At the very least, a friend, I affirmed as I opened the door. That much was obvious. He’d been one of the few ponies to give me a chance when I’d first arrived. And he’d gone out of his way to make me feel welcome. And he continued to extend the invitation whenever he could. if that wasn't a friend then I didn't know the first thing about friendship.
Best Friend? I wondered as I hooked my saddlebag on a chair. Well, we insulted each other, argued about the stupidest and most mundane things. I’d been over to his place so often I was considered a second son, with food privileges. And he’d come over to my home enough times for me to feel a bit jealous of how my parents treated him. And a bit annoyed; he and Dad would sit for hours discussing enough technical jargon to spin my head a hundred different ways.
Do I like him?
The question caused me to pause momentarily. I had never really thought about it before.
He made me feel happy. And safe. He’d been there for me since the beginning. I wasn't saying I wanted to marry the guy, but I definitely wanted to give it a shot.
Tomorrow then, I decided. We'll test the waters tomorrow.
Feeling pleased with my decision, I made myself a celebratory glass of apple juice. I took a quick glance at the calendar as I closed the fridge's door, and facehooved.
"The one time," I muttered. "The one time I want to go to school and it's a weekend?"
I raised my head to the ceiling. "Thanks, Universe!" I shouted, taking another sip of juice. "Thanks a lot!"
Changelings! And they are not depicted as mindless monsters! Now this I have to follow!
5116602
Yeah, she's still new to the whole princess game. Gonna make a few mistakes here and there.
As if it won't be already? Changeling father and pony daughter is sure to stir up quite a bit of trouble alone. But in Canterlot? This isn't the last we'll be hearing of Intel.
5116860
Well, different species of animals can have children together. Hybrids, yo!
True, but pegasi allow towns to set up pretty much everywhere. Ponies don't have to worry so much about weather in certain regions because they can alter it enough to make it survivable.
But it's known that she fed off of his love. She said so when battling Celestia. I use the term battle loosely because it was about 4 seconds.
Buuuuuuuuut!!!! The stallions outside aren't wet and smexy. And it's so warm and steamy inside. And showers are considered an intimate time.
5116951 Well it still has to be 'like and like'. Donkeys can do it with horses, and they create mules, but they're both part of the 'equine' species.
Changelings are insectoids. At least, that's how I percieve them. Unless reproduction works in a way that's completely different to real life, I don't think they and ponies can procreate.
... I haven't even started on the first chapter. I just saw this and needed to throw in my two cents. Off to start now, though I've got a minor prejudice against M/M stories (trying to get rid of it, but that doesn't make it not there).
Nothing special, I did that all the time at his age. I called it crowd running. I still do it when the situation calls for it.
5116682 Hey! I'm noticed!
"Battle""4 Seconds" I'm convinced Celestia feeding Chrysalis gave her a 'channel' she later used to overpower Celestia much easier. Celestia effectively made herself vulnerable by feeding her.
That's not fun. I never grew up in a big city so maybe that's the norm.
My high school(talking about myself a lot this chapter, not good) had this tree out front we called The Schweaty Nut Tree. In late July, early August, it would drop these green, fuzzy nuts to the ground, and the smelt god awful. We would rub them on each other, "Fear my schweaty nuts!" and all. Good times.
I'm getting a real 50% Off vibe from these four. I'm expecting Click-Clack to crank call the Royal Guards trying to sell cocaine.
Two guesses at to where his eyes were.
Sounds like best friend to me.
Some are tech support.Okay! Okay, Twilight.
On a serious note my youngest sister was adopted from China, and she seems to be getting along great with everyone. Then again my parents live in New Hampshire, no-one gives a <squee> about racism. Don't complain about the weather patterns and we'll all get along.
It's the weekend tomorrow, but can't he just go visit Wolfe? He knows where he lives, and that certainly would send the message he wants to send right?
All in all not too shabby. Still think you doing too much preaching in the Authors Notes, but that is the place to put them. Not into M/M shipping, but whatevs. Keep it interesting and I'll follow.
5116682 Nightmare Moon shows up and her first reaction is to defeat her. Nightmare Moon, a legitimate Princess in the diarchy was defeated in an act of rebellion by Twilight Sparkle. She acts out of fear too often. Smarty Pants, remember that?
5116951 They are hybrids, yes, but hybrids themselves can not reproduce.
And there is no need to mentions buts in the shower room, Mask is thinking of those already. What does it say that my favorite shower scene in a movie the the shower scene from The Rock(1996), ya know, they got into the prison fifteen minutes ago, it was intense, hard to watch.
About the last two chapters I am a bit confuse, for my taste it has advanced very fast and given big jumps. But for the rest it is okey and I still finding it interesting :)
About the point that you expose in your comment, well the world is too complex to try to understand everything so the human mind have to simplify and make assumption. Some people only use this prejudices as only point of reference. I think it is sad because behind of this use to be fear.
I find curious that there still so much racism in the states when it was supposed to be the land of freedom. Here, racism agains black people... Well i only can talk for myself, so in my case I dont feel that Way: is just a skin color, i have to reason to hate anybody for that. Funny is that here most of the, so called, racist quotes come from the movies and the shows from the state ^^U
"Don't let them in, don't let them see, be the good girl (changeling) you always have to be~."
Lucky Asians. They get the good prejudice. And the British one seems pretty classy. I have no idea what that Australian one is.
5117257 Cookies for you!
5117052 A lot of people within the changeling side of the fandom consider changelings to be mostly equine. Still would be pretty rare though.
And I commend you for at least giving the story a chance and working to get rid of your bias. That's more than can be said for most people.
And I thank you for the criticism. Definitely some things that I need to go back and work out. I think I get a bit better in the later chapters but that's all a matter of opinion.
That was fun. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
I like you more now...
5117303 Have your pick of cupcakes from the table on the right please.
5118184 I love cookies! Thanks
5119113 What'd I do?
5116951
Alternatively, you could go the Eberron-Type Changeling route where changelings can breed with everyone, and the offspring has a 50/50 chance of being born either a changeling or the other parent's species.
It could get weird pretty quick too. Like a griffon and a changeling who are actually twins kind of weird.
5121444 True. Though from the relationships we have so far I don't think pregnancy is a major worry.
5117195 I just want to point out that some hybrids can reproduce.
5117195
A legitimate princess who was banished to the moon for trying to take over the world. Who spent a thousand years trying to get back to take revenge on her sister.
Plus, she did attack the royal guards and Celestia, said that she wanted to shroud the land in eternal night, and she did try to kill Twilight and the others at least three times.
And as for Smartypants, like I said, she makes mistakes sometimes.
5120265 The author`s note...
5122019 I know. World-building tidbits like this are the best part of fanfics though.
5123951 In that case...
Everyone is pregnant!!
5117168
But if I did that, how could I make sure you'd come back. Also, they don't have cell phones. And showing up to your friend's house completely unannounced and asking for a date is probably not the best way to get one.
*Edit: Though I could have him send some type of romantic message... Hmm. Probably not on the first date but that does give me an idea. Thanks bud.
Ah, so we time skipped, must have missed that part.
Keep going! :)
5125273 Aw right aw right! Waiting for Lon Cheney to make his move! I'm calling him that now. Silent film star, Man of a Thousand Faces, drama student, Changeling, it works.
5137576
Do you...
Mind if I use that somewhere? Please?
5138089 He is/was a celebrity. Go ahead.
Hehe, Fun Fact: His son, Lon Cheney Junior's(another actor, black and white movies) claim to fame was the Original Wolfman. Any idea when the next chapter will be out?
5138206 Like father like son, eh?
I want to say withing the next two weeks. That's what I'm planning for. I'll send out an update if seems like it'll take longer.
5138715 5117292
Those are words to live by. And now here a song video about stereotypes:
5121444 If it was two eggs released then that would happen. But, if it was only one egg then they would be the same species.
Ah... gotta love that Author's Note.
5161156 Robin Sight came about because a friend of mine recently began asking that he be referred to as male.
I think Robin was kind of my way of accepting the situation. But I definitely admit that it kinda comes out of left field. I also admit that I have no idea what I'm doing.
However, I do think it's a little necessary because it forces people to think. And that's one of my main goals with this fic.
And I don't know if you thought this, but Robin hasn't gone through any procedures or operations.
I may go back and try to make the lead in a bit better.
Great story, I love it. Keep up the good story. Not enough mm fan fics out there let alone enough changeling fanfics that portray them as regular ponies.
I look forward to reading more.
Your insight is very inspiring! Impressive!