Forgiveness
Sentinel paced back and forth, growling in the back of his throat, his wings stiffened and flapping intermittently with his steps. He held a bottle of alcohol in one hoof, and occasionally took deep swallows of it.
Raindrop sighed softly, holding her own bottle against her forehead, letting the cool glass sooth a building headache. “You’re going to wear out the floor, hun.”
The rest of the patrons of the bar were giving the angry pegasus a wide berth, and the music from the jukebox was drowning out enough noise for Raindrop to be pretty sure they wouldn’t be heard.
“She’s a bloody changeling!” Sentinel hissed, having regained enough sense to keep his voice at a low growl, so that the rest of the bar wouldn’t be privy to their conversation.
“And?” Raindrop asked, raising a brow slowly.
“Changeling,” the guard reiterated in a growl.
Raindrop rolled her eyes, and then sighed faintly. “You’re going to growl and hiss and snap and then wait a few days before finally coming to terms with the situation and forgiving her for being born like she is, right?”
“Something like that,” Sentinel growled distractedly, taking another deep swig of his drink. “She could have told us!”
“She told me,” Raindrop pointed out, a single ear perking.
“She could have told us both!” Sentinel responded with a snarl.
Sighing faintly, Raindrop shook her head again. “No she couldn’t have. Because this would have happened.”
“I need to use the toilet,” Sentinel spat, stalking away towards the other side of the bar.
Raindrop heaved another sigh and then laid her chin on the counter, staring at her half-empty bottle of beer with a sad expression.
It was a full ten minutes before Raindrop started to get suspicious that Sentinel wasn’t coming back. A quick bribe of a free drink to a passing unicorn gave her the news that the toilet was empty and the window was open.
Sentinel was gone.
Sentinel stood in the personal records room of the Canterlot Palace. Records for every employee of Equestria stood in filing cabinets on the walls. The place was deserted at this hour of night.
A single filing cabinet was opened, marked ‘hospital staff’. A manilla folder bearing the name ‘Remedy Nightshade’ stood open on the desk. Remedy’s personal information was written down there in neat lettering.
Name: Remedy Nightshade
Occupation: Nurse
Age: Unknown
Marital status: Single
Address: 25 Numoiu Lane, Ponyville
Next of Kin: None
Note: Immigrant. Orphan. Medical knowledge, though with no prior certifications in any field.
It was very little information, and none of it surprised Sentinel. Her orphan status and unknown age were to be expected as she was a changeling. The immigrant status was a nice touch, any questions could be allayed by ‘I don’t remember’ and there would be no records of her anywhere for cross-referencing.
But Sentinel had what he needed. Her address.
25 Numoiu Lane was a modest little house with wilting flowers in the garden, overgrown grass, a picket fence in disrepair, and the faint light of candles flickering in one of the windows.
Sentinel calmly leaped over the picket fence, and then stalked up to the window, peeking in it with narrowed eyes.
Remedy was sitting in the middle of the lounge room floor, looking rather unimpressed with life in general. An overturned wine glass was sitting besides her, with a small stain showing where she had spilled it. The nurse was drinking straight from the wine bottle, holding it up to her mouth with a hoof and then thudding it back down onto the floor. The bottle still had a fair amount left in it, but the nurse was quickly make inroads.
Changeling, Sentinel reminded himself, his eyes narrowing slowly as he stared at her.
She looked just like a normal pony, dealing with the date-gone-wrong. Sentinel stared at her, his hoof slowly kneading at the ground, grinding at the dirt, leaving a gouge in the overgrown grass.
He tried to think of what he would say when he walked in there. Would he open the door? Or would it be more impressive to just kick it the hell down?
Would he accuse her of being a liar? Or even make snide comments until she realised that he knew what she was?
The pegasus growled in the back of his throat, his wings flexing in anticipation as he stalked towards the front door. Trying the door handle, he found it unlocked. The door pushed inwards silently, everything she'd told them over the past few weeks. Every single thing. It was all a lie. What would Celestia say, finding out that the Element of Kindness was a changeling?
Sentinel stepped inside, letting the door close behind him, carefully twisting the handle so that it closed completely quietly. Growling ever-so-softly, he then started to stalk towards the living room, poking his head around the corner.
Now that he was closer, he could see that Remedy was crying quietly as she took great gulps of the wine, her cheeks slightly rosy with her tipsiness. Twin shining trails of tears spilled down her cheeks, and her eyes were red. She wasn’t sobbing, but the tears were fresh.
Sentinel stared at the changeling, his eyes narrowed and his tail twitched slightly back and forth. His wings were half-erect, ready to pounce out from the shadows and lay down his accusation.
“What do you want?” Remedy spat, turning her gaze towards the doorway, her expression unhappy. “Come to laugh at me as well?”
The guard blinked at that, deflating instantly at being found out so easily. His ears splayed backwards as he meekly stepped out of the doorway and then stared at the nurse. “Why would I laugh at you?” he asked blankly.
The nurse snorted at that, looking away, seeming to realise something. “I... it’s nothing.”
Sentinel realised then, that Remedy had remembered that he didn’t know she was a changeling. Or so she thought. “Firebrand was... she knew that the movie would insult me. That I wouldn’t like it. But she still took me there. She just wanted to make fun of me. I thought she liked me... but she was just being mean in a stupid, petty, underhoof way... she knew that movie would insult me!”
Because you’re a changeling! Every fibre in Sentinel’s being told him to yell the words at the nurse. It was the perfect opening.
Rather than shout the accusation though, Sentinel found himself quietly say: “Firebrand lied for you.”
Remedy blinked at that, sniffling once and placing down the wine bottle. "W-what?"
“She lied,” Sentinel stated matter-of-factly. “I caught her in the lie.”
“B-but... Firebrand doesn’t lie...” Remedy stated quietly, her ears splaying back.
“Firebrand seems... very clumsy with the whole dating thing,” Sentinel said with a wry smile.
Remedy didn’t respond, sighing faintly and then taking an even larger swig from the wine bottle. “Screwing everything up...”
Sentinel gave an awkward sound at that, shrugging his shoulders helplessly.
“So... you’re telling me that she liked me enough to lie for me and I went and threw my drink in her face and ruined her gorgeous dress for absolutely no reason? She probably hates me now...” the changeling trailed off, staring down at her hooves and giving a faint whine, tears building in her eyes again.
The guard winced slightly, cringing, before he awkwardly stepped closer to the nurse and wrapped his hooves around her in a soothing hug, beginning to gently rub his hoof through her mane. “I’m sure you’ll be able to talk it out,” he said reassuringly. “If she likes you enough to lie, then she’ll understand, right?”
Remedy splayed her ears backwards, leaning into the hug slightly and staring down at her hooves. Sentinel was struck by how different she accepted hugs to Raindrop. Raindrop sort of clung to him, Remedy just sort of... leaned.
“I... I guess you’re right,” Remedy murmured, rubbing her hoof against her nose and then wiping her tears from her muzzle. “Gotta stop being so emotional...”
Sentinel nodded gently, pulling back and then peering at the nurse for a long moment.
"What did you come here for anyhow?" Remedy asked after a moment, looking up at him with red eyes.
"I... it doesn't matter," Sentinel said with a shake of his head, giving a wry smile and then rising to his hooves to leave. "I might tell you some other time."
The nurse snorted once at that, sniffling again and rubbing at her nose, and then calling out to Sentinel before he could leave, "I... thank you, Sentinel."
Sentinel paused in the doorway, looking back at the nurse, before he slipped out the door into the darkness.
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He's such a mare.
Quite nice, keep up the good work.
"was quickly making inroads". C:
1750882
mare......super mare is more like it...
1751599 Is this appropriate?
Oh wait, it's nowhere NEAR feminine enough.
that just felt a bit rushed...
he's like that one friend of yours that you just give a strange face and then slowly but akwardly ask "are you gay". and then he surprises the hell out of every one by banging an acceptibly hot chick and goes back to acting like a women.
lol Sentinel, you mare
XD Wewt! ANYONE think it's ironic for SENTINEL to be giving REMEDY RELATIONSHIP advice? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
/\ he's sick sir, I think Raindrop found that he bailed on her to chase another Changeling
Short, but sweet. Hope to see more soon!
1755120
I think so..
Since Remedy is a changeling...
and they appears don't have any indication of the difference from the male & female and a Changeling can disguise into a colt AND a mare...does the Remedy X Firebrand is consider a lesbian one ?
1755120 Now you bring it to my attention...She'll have to pay him money.
But seriosly, Guards (To my knowledge) are meant to be badasses.
Also he forgave Raindrop right for being part changeling? Why can't he forgive a full changeling who is trying to help pony society?
-Shadow Flare
Oh Sentinel, you have no idea what you're doing, do you?
1755120 my thoughts exactly.
And has anybody noticed that whenever Sentinel acts like a stallion, a chapter comes up making him look more like a mare? On a completely unrelated note. How do you reply to a comment using a username instead of numbers?
1758377 Shhhh! You'll give the author's secrets away! <.<
1755964
Remember, he already knew what Raindrop was from the start. Due to that he was able to overlook it after some time. Remedy on the other hand deceived him and is a changeling who became a pony not a pony with a sudden onset of changeling genes. He obviously has a deep seated hatred for changelings, for a good reason to say the least, so Remedy fits the role to well of what a changeling does which further angers him. So even while Remedy may not be purposely doing anything wrong, Sentinel feels betrayed. He may question if she fed on his love with Raindrop. (Can a changeling feed off a part changeling?)
Did anyone else think Sentinel was going to charge for that advice?