• Published 20th May 2015
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Shifting Melodies - Thadius0



He's a unicorn accountant in service to a smuggling ring. She's a high-ranking Thestral in the Day Guard. Together, they fight crime. Too bad one of them's lying.

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Chapter 30 - Hangover from hell

Ledger woke up, and immediately wished he hadn’t. The pain in his skull made him think it was trying to declare mutiny and separate itself from the rest of his body. He moaned, immediately wishing he hadn’t as the noise just aggravated the headache from Tartarus, and put his forehooves up to cradle his head.

Shining would pay for that last shot. Everything got blurry after that, but the drone was fairly sure the headache could be tied to...whatever it was.

There was a quiet sound from next to him, as Scope placed a glass of water on the nightstand next to his bed, along with some painkillers.

“This should help you,” she whispered. Given her small stature and quieter voice, she had been unanimously voted as Ledger’s caretaker for today, though she felt that the votes had been rigged somehow. And why did Cadence get to vote?

Ledger mumbled something that might have sounded like a thanks as he tried to move as slow as possible, while still making progress towards his goal. Sweet relief was in his grasp...if he could only avoid moving any more blood to his head. It did not need any more help in causing him agony.

Scope rolled her eyes as her horn lit up, the glow mostly obscured by her puffy mane. She’d figured something like this would happen and chose her Unicorn form ahead of time. She lifted the tablet to his mouth first, then the glass of water. Ledger obligingly opened his mouth and swallowed the tablet, then practically chugged the water. He knew he was dehydrated and needed it badly.

“Slowly, or you’ll-” she was interrupted as he coughed from drinking too quickly, then groaned because of the intense pain that caused his head, then again because he groaned. It was an endless cycle of pain.

“Idiot,” she muttered and smiled slightly. A second glass of water floated over and into his hooves. “Slowly this time.”

The brown unicorn nodded and sipped at the water, already feeling a little better from what he’d already drank. “What...happened?” he croaked out. Two words. That was more than he thought he’d be able to handle so quickly, but they were important words nontheless.

“If I went into detail, we’d be here all day,” Scope chuckled, then lowered her voice when he winced. “Well, it was around midnight when you and the other two showed up at the palace, singing at the top of your lungs. It was all quite amusing, especially when you propositioned Cadence~”

“Did...what?” Ledger said, eyes wide.

“Now what was it again...?” Scope tapped her chin. “Something about, ‘showing her the Noble side of our race’. Or...something like that.”

“Nooooo,” Ledger groaned, amazed by his sheer stupidity and cheek.

‘Oh, this is just too easy, I just hope Cadence remembers her part,’ Scope shrugged and sighed. “Well, at least you didn’t do what Shining did.”

“What?” Ledger asked as he sipped at his water, feeling more normal already.

“Well, I believe he serenaded Cadence, which was really quite sweet...until he mixed up her name with Midnight’s.”

“She...isn’t pink,” Ledger pointed out. “How’d he...do that?”

“Apparently Drunk Shining is also color blind, and she was plenty pink after what he said,” Scope replied. That had actually happened, though Midnight had declined of course. “And I have no idea what that orange stallion was doing with that potted plant.”

“Me neither,” Ledger said as the cup was finally drained. “Okay...more water first. Then coffee. All the coffee.”

“As your Highness decrees,” Scpe said and bowed before walking off to fetch some more water. Ledger sighed and lay back down on the bed he woke up in.

Just what the bloody Tartarus had happened last night after that last shot?...

Scope eventually returned, and it was around that time that Ledger realised...this wasn’t their hotel room.

“In case you’re wondering,” she said. “We got to stay at the palace last night. Though, I still think I like my cloud-bed better.”

Ledger nodded as he looked around. “Figured that...what’s for breakfast?”

Should she?

Would the others get mad?

Would Ledger get mad?

She leaned in closer, until her breath could be felt on his nose. “You’re still hungry? Even after all the ‘eating’ you did with me last night~?”

Ledger’s breath hitched in his throat as he looked the smaller unicorn over. “I did what?”

“Too easy,” she giggled as she winked at him. “You fell asleep almost as soon as you got home actually. But I have found that messing with you brings me great joy for some reason.” She gave a little twirl and headed for the door. “There’s coffee and breakfast in the dining hall when you’re ready.”

Ledger just watched her go and sighed. “Some day, that’s gonna backfire on her…” And then he grinned. “And I can’t wait for Midnight to be there when it does.”


In the breakfast hall, four mares and one resurrected zombie-stallion sat there.

“Oh do try and cheer up Shiny,” Cadence cooed lightly. “It was your idea after all. And you had fun yes?”

“Noooooooo,” Shining groaned as he buried his head under the table cloth. “My life is ruined. Just dump me in the tundra and lemme freeze to death.”

“Race ya,” Ledger said as he stumbled into the hall himself. “I don’t even know everything we did, but what I do know is embarrassing.” He looked over at Cadence, who returned his glance.

Before she blushed lightly and looked away.

‘Oh, she is good,’ Scope smirked. Ledger sighed and looked at Shining.

“Like I said, race ya.”

The four mares looked at one another and then they all started giggling, well, three of them anyway. Midnight was oddly quiet.

“The truth...” Shining rasped. “Is that they’ll...never tells us...what really happened.”

“I can guess, or we can get some of your guards to tell us what they heard,” Ledger pointed out as he made himself a cup of coffee and started drinking it. “Or they could be helpful and truthful because of the situation, but I fully expect Scope at least to milk this for all it’s worth.”

“You know me Ledger,” Scope Lens smiled like a cat that got the cream. “I already have a story for the Guards to feed you, as well as the barmaid at the place you went to. You two will never learn the truth.”

“Nothing happened. We showed up singing, and fell asleep almost the second we got back,” Flash said from the end of the table, looking surprisingly fine. “It was kinda boring, but part of the Captains song did have a rather...detailed description of the Princess.”

Cadence flushed an even deeper red, an unrehearsed one this time.

“Dammit flyboy, way to ruin my fun,” Scope pouted.

Ledger looked over to the orange pegasus and raised an eyebrow. “And how do you know this is true?”

“Because no matter how drunk he gets, or acts at the time,” Shining replied, with more than a hint of jealously in his voice. “He always remembers what happened and never suffers a hangover.”

Please tell me you’ve had a unicorn look at your brain to figure out why that is,” Ledger said as he turned more fully to the guard.

“Apparently my body just shrugs off toxins really easily,” Flash said as he finished his toast. “Oh, and Captain? Don’t forget we have the parade tomorrow for the Fair. So we gotta run drills today.”

“Buuuuuck,” Shining groaned. “Fine, gimme like...three days.”

“See you in ten minutes Cap,” Flash laughed as he left the room.

Ledger just looked at the mares and sighed. “I am too exhausted to deal with you trying to make me think I made a pass at Cadance. I’ll let Shiny do it.”

“Cady’s hot, I wouldn’t blame you,” he replied with a wave of his hoof.

“I’m...not sure how I should feel about that statement,” Cadence blinked. “While I love that you think I’m attractive Shiny, I feel as though you shouldn’t encourage other stallions to make a pass at me.”

“Too many words,” Shining moaned again. He slowly got up and winced. “An’ now I gotta yell at Guards. You should come sometime Song, it’ll be like old times.”

The retort was there, but Midnight just shrugged and ate some more of her eggs. “Sure. Sounds fun.”

“Just think about this, Shiny,” Ledger said to the captain before he left. “If they told her about herding. And if you didn’t change your tune. You could find another stallion in your bed. It works both ways.”

“I hate you so much,” Shining muttered as he left the room, Cadence giggling lightly.

“Now I wish Captain Flash ‘Fun Police’ Sentry hadn’t ruined my joke,” Scope pouted. “I could have made a great one there.”

“Too bad you didn’t think of it before,” Ledger pointed out as he began snagging some breakfast for himself from the table. “Though if you ladies do desire another stallion, let me know first? I’d rather be warned than wake up with an unfamiliar face.”

Scope filed that one away for later use. Meanwhile, Midnight stood up as she placed her empty plate on the table. “I think I’ll go and exercise. Alone,” she said. She gave a polite bow of her head to the Princess and then promptly left.

“I will admit,” Cadence started to say. “That I have not known Miss Song for very long...but that behaviour struck me as...unusual.”

“Ah know!” Cider said. “Ah haven’t heard her make one remark about mah curvy flank, or yers Princess.”

“Something’s up,” Scope muttered. Ledger sighed and left his breakfast alone. The painkillers and water had done their work, so with a gulp of coffee, the changeling followed after his disturbed mare...discreetly, of course.


Out in the stadium, Shining Armor was busy running his troops through tomorrows drills. Though some had their eyes on the beautiful Thestral that was currently running laps around the edge of the arena. Hurdles and other obstacles had been set up as she panted lightly, avoiding each and every one with precision and finesse. Ledger watched from a distance, keeping his self obscured so that she didn’t know he was here. He hoped that something, anything, might reveal whatever it was that was bothering her.

There was one thing he noticed though. Not twenty feet away, was a parade of the finest flank that the Crystal Empire had to offer...

And Midnight was ignoring them completely. Not even one had her eyes drifted, focusing solely on the course in front of her. When she finally stopped to get a drink of water, two stallions from the Guard approached her.

“Hey there,” one said in a tone that could melt chocolate. “Been watching you work out. You’re quite the mare.”

“Some of the guys are gonna go out a bit later,” the other said. “Maybe you’d like to come with?”

Midnight stood up, her steely gaze made them flinch slightly.

“Not. Interested,” she said cooly and resumed her running. Ledger had an idea as to what..might have happened now, and sighed. He knew he told Shining about her...behavior while under the influence. So clearly he’d been intoxicated enough to share it before the last shot. Maybe she got him...to tell her?

Well this was a pile of trouble with his name written all over it. With a sigh, the brown unicorn walked out from where he’d been hiding to stand next to the water the three of them had just been at and waited.

He wasn’t going to force her to come to him. He’d let her choose. There were other places, after all. He just happened to be next to this one.

He didn’t have to wait long before he was on the receiving end of a batpounce, the giggling Thestral nuzzling him.

“Levvy! Are you feeling better?”

Ledger just fixed his mare with a Look and said the four words nopony in a relationship wanted to hear. Especially in the tone he used to deliver them.

“We need to talk.”

“Hmm?” She tilted her head and frowned lightly. “Uh, okay... did you do something perverted to Scopey again?”

“Not here,” Ledger said as he motioned to the spot he’d just been hiding in. “The others don’t need to hear this.”

Okay, this sounded...bad. Wait...she’d heard these words before...

“Yeah, well...let’s go then,” she sighed. Ledger led the way and when they arrived, he turned toward the mare and sat on his haunches.

“Okay, so what happened last night?” Ledger asked. “What did I say to you? I can’t recall, and Flash wasn’t there for everything.”

“Is that what this is about?” she said, exhaling the breath she was holding. “Don’t scare me like that! I thought you were gonna break up with me.”

“Never,” the unicorn protested. “But something clearly happened last night that you didn’t like. And don’t try to play it off,” the changeling said. “I can tell. Even Cadance could tell, and she hasn’t known you as long as I have!”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she smiled. “Just...became aware of a few things. So it’s you who doesn’t have to worry okay?”

The unicorn sighed and put his forehooves on Midnight’s withers, looking her dead in the eye for about ten seconds. Then he spoke up. “You can tell me. What. Happened?”

“Nothing happened,” she said, not meeting his gaze. “I know what a pain I’ve been to you. So that’s gonna change. You won’t have to worry about my ‘wandering eyes’ anymore.”

“I said that, did I?” Ledger sighed. “Okay, quick recap Midnight. Who did I fall in love with?”

“Me, and Cider...and maybe Scopey,” she replied. Ledger smirked.

“You were first for a reason. I fell in love with you for you. I love your quirks, I love your loyalty, and I love the way you’re willing to kick flank for my safety. Does it annoy me when you look at others the way you do when we’re in the bedroom? Yes,” he said with a shake of his head.

“And that, and that alone will change,” she replied. “You just said it annoys you, so I’ll stop. I have you and Cidey, I don’t need anypony else.”

“Ap!” Ledger said as he put a hoof to her mouth. “That being said! Your flirting? Your way of complimenting everypony else? Your jokes? They make you fun to be around. And you’re killing that about yourself. All I ask...is that you not follow somepony else home, or bring somepony else home for the bed. And I’m not even scared of that, because I know you’re loyal.” He then drew the thestral into a hug. “I fell in love with you for you. Don’t become somepony you’re not for me.”

“So, the changeling is asking somepony not to change?” she giggled, before kissing him deeply. Once she broke it, she smiled. “Fine, just know what you're getting yourself into Ledgie~”

There’s the Midnight I know,” he said, brushing a hoof along one of her cheeks. “Where’ve you been hiding, huh?”

“Took a nap,” she smiled. “Bleh! Being serious all the time is boring. How on Equestria do you do it?”

“Practice,” Ledger said as he kissed her lightly. “So. You feeling better?”

“I guess, I’m still sorry I caused you to worry though.”

“You came back, that’s all that matters,” the unicorn said as he finally let go of her. “Now if you don’t mind, I have a breakfast to snag and mares to reassure that you’re back to normal for you. Catch you at lunch?”

“If you think you can catch me~” she giggled as she flew off. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a parade of fine flank for me to ogle.” Ledger smiled as he watched the flight of the batpony.

“It’s good to have you back,” he said, wondering when she’d remember he was a changeling and could become that fine flank one night. With that, he turned and walked back to the palace.

Breakfast was probably cold by now, but he was hungry, dammit!


Princess Cadence still had princess-y things to do, so Song and her group couldn’t hang around the palace all day. Plus, all their stuff was still at the hotel. Apple Cider had headed back to the farm she was acquiring her tree from, to make sure all the paperwork was complete and to confirm shipping and delivery details.

That left Scope and Midnight to entertain Ledger.

May the creators have mercy on his poor soul.

He took the chance to read the daily paper rather than force any interaction with Scope. He knew how it would end if he did, and he didn’t think he could handle her snark right now.

That wasn’t to say he read it in a different room. He also wanted her to know the option to actually act like a sociable, polite being was there.

Too bad she took that option, swallowed it and spat the resulting loogie out of the window. She hovered around Ledger, not literally as she was still a Unicorn, but even so.

“Ledger, watcha dooooin?” she sang.

“Catching up on current events,” Ledger said as he turned the page. “Yesterday left me in quite a state, and I failed to do so then.”

“Events in a city we don’t live in?” she rocked back and forth before sighing loudly. “Mistress? Ledger’s being boring. So, pick one. Option One, Two or Three.”

Midnight poked her head up from polishing her armour. “Huh? Um...Two?”

Scope’s smiled widened. “Oh...I was so hoping you’d pick that one!”

“I get the feeling I won’t like this,” the larger unicorn said as he continued to read the paper.

“Maybe, maybe not~” she sang again. “It’s aaaallll up to you whether you enjoy this or not~”

Ledger paused at that and looked over his paper at the smaller unicorn. “Just what are you up to?”

“Aww, you don’t wanna play with me~?’ she pouted adorably. “But I wanna play with you.”

“Your definition of ‘play’ has been dubious in the past,” Ledger said as he returned to the paper. “All I ask for is clarity.”

“Just a game,” she cooed, before her horn lit up and Ledger’s paper disintegrated. “Me, you and Mistress are gonna play a card game. Winner gets to do whatever they want with the losers. Sound fun?”

“...why do I get the feeling Cider will complain about missing out?” Ledger observed before smirking. “I’m game. Midnight?”

Said Thestral was already dealing out the cards. “Bring it on little bugs.”

Ledger took a seat and looked to Scope. “And the name of the game is?...”

“Well, given our home, lets go with good ol’ Appleloosan Hold ‘em,” Midnight said as she dealt the cards. “And to spice things up, cheating is not only allowed, but encouraged. But getting caught will lead to a penalty.”

“Why do I get the feeling we should have defined what constitutes cheating before starting this?...” Ledger said as he watched the others warily.

“I have no idea what you mean Levvy,” Midnight winked as she looked at her cards. Letting her shuffle was the first mistake, not seeing Scope stack the cards beforehand was the second.

“And another thing,” Ledger noticed as he discreetly peeked at his cards. “What do we do when we notice somepony cheating? Call them out, or wait to catch them when it’s more pertinent?”

“You could try if you think you have proof,” Midnight replied. Her cards weren’t...great. She shot a brief glance at Scope as she put two and two together. “Maybe I should have ruled out magic at least. Gives me quite the disadvantage against the two of you.”

“I promise not to use my magic to cheat,” Ledger said, noticing his cards hadn’t been too bad, in theory. Plus, he’d said nothing about his natural abilities. Like shapeshifting, or emotion sensing. Now if only he could use them better than Scope in a situation like this one...

Scope’s face was a blank slate. She could sense that Ledger lacked his usual confidence, but he was optimistic at least. She’d break him soon enough.

Midnight though, why couldn’t she read her... that cheating little-!

“So I’m ready to play,” Midnight said, her sparkling eyes dancing with mirth. Ledger nodded as well, noticing the rather interesting mental playing field.

Game on, then. He wrapped himself in his usual tumult of emotions simply: by thinking about working for Toll again, like any other day before Midnight. His thoughts were consumed with day-to-day survival and devious planning against his former boss.

‘So emotion-reading is off the table,’ Scope thought as her eyes shifted to her opponents. ‘And anything too direct will get me caught... Ideeaaa~’

Under the table they sat at, she shifted her leg to replicate Midnight’s, before gently caressing Ledger’s thigh. The drone stiffened a little bit...before glancing at her.

“Y’know, if you’re gonna distract me, at least try to hide the direction it’s coming from,” Ledger said with a smirk. “Good try, though. By the way, that was your freebie.”

“You...” Scope frowned as Midnight giggled. Oh, this was gonna be fun.

“Hmm, is something wrong Ledger?” she cooed. “Is little Scopey up to no good?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Scope replied in a flat tone.

“That defines half the time we interact,” Ledger said as he finally noticed a critical lack of something. “Where...are the chips we intend to use to bet with?”

“Oh, there are no chips in Double Dare Hold ‘em,” Midnight nodded. “We bet with dares. When someone wins, they collect dares from the losers to use against them at a later date.”

“Hmm,” Ledger hummed, looking between the mares. “Care to give me an example? I’m unfamiliar with how this game works.”

“Okay, so before we start, we all state a dare we will do. I guess you could write them down or something. The winner gets to keep those dares and use them later.” She tapped her chin and smiled.

“My first dare is that I will kiss somepony of the winner’s choosing.”

“Hmm,” Ledger hummed, getting an idea of what he had to do, but motioning for Scope to go ahead first.

“Hmm, I guess...” She had to think for a second. “I will follow Mistress. I will hug somepony of the winner’s choosing.”

“And I,” Ledger said with a smile. “Will become something of the winner’s choosing...for one minute.”

“Ooh, that’s a good one for my next dare,” Scope nodded. “Okay, so we have our ante. Let’s go.”

Midnight nodded and looked at her hand again. “I’ll raise,’ she said. “Oh, if you raise, you increase the terms of your dare. For me, I’ll include the rule of the one daring gets to decide what kind of kiss I give.”

“Mine seems to be pretty all-inclusive as it is,” Ledger noted aloud. “Perhaps I should simply increase the amount of time, or...no, the one daring gets to tell me to do one simple action, no matter when, in the minute, and I will do it. That will do. Call.”

“Well, why not, I’ll throw in a small kiss then,” Scope nodded as she looked at her heand and grinned. “Call.”

“Well okay then” Midnight said as she lay down her cards. “Three of a kind, read ‘em an weep little buggies~”

“Oh no,” Scope gasped as she placed her cards on the table. “What ever will I do with my Flush that I have?” She smiled as she revealed her ace, ten, five, eight and two.

“Full house,” Ledger said, revealing three sevens and two fours. “Not a great one, but I believe I win.”

“You...how?” Scope blinked and even Midnight stared at him. It would seem that their deck stacking had backfired famously as both mares hung their heads. “Unbelievable,” Scope sighed.

“Well, round one goes to Ledger I guess,” Midnight said as she dealt more cards. “So, what dares do we have this time?”

“I think I’ll follow your lead from last time,” Ledger said with a wink. “A kiss.”

“Hmm, and no stipulation on who, when or how,” Scope smirked as Midnight dealt the cards. “And I’ll go with Ledger on the transformation thing. Three minutes.”

“I can’t compete with weird changey powers,” Midnight pouted. “Hmm, I guess...a massage?”

“I could use one,” Ledger observed aloud. “If we’re all set?”

Song looked at her cards and nodded. “Call.”

Scope looked at hers, then to Ledger. “Raise,” she said. “Two basic actions.”

“Oooh,” Ledger smirked. “Two kisses, with tongue. Call.”

“Winners first,” Scope smiled as she played her cards face down. Ledger followed suit and looked at Midnight expectantly. The Thestral rolled her eyes and unveiled her cards, another set of three of a kind.

“Darn,” Ledger said as he revealed his two pair. “Guess somepony’s getting smooched.”

“Whoo! Eat it!” Scope cheered as she pulled off her straight. “Oh, this will be...entertaining~”

“You haven’t won yet,” Midnight said as she shuffled and cut the cards. “There’s still one more round, and I could make it a tie-breaker you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scope said. They’d seem to have forgotten, but Scopey was cheating like all get out now. “Deal the cards Mistress.”

Midnight just shook her head as she threw the cards onto the table. “Bets?”

Scope nodded, wondering if she should entice the others. “Okay then,” she looked at ledger and winked. “For one minute. One whole minute. I will do whatever the other says. No holds barred.”

Ledger looked at his cards and was...oddly calm. Reminiscent of Midnight, really. “And I, for the rest of the night, will do what I am told,” he said simply.

“Ooh, gutsy moves,” Midnight giggled. “Okay, same for me, but you get a whole day.”

Scope reached up and scratched her head. “Well, I guess we’re going all in for this one. Unless Mistress ties then we’ll have to go bigger.”

Ledger looked at Scope and raised an eyebrow. “We’re going all in,” he observed.

Scope frowned as she looked at him. “Well what do you want out of me, I’m not a part of your little pervy-party. I think a minute is being generous.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger shrugged. “Ladies first.”

“Nu-uh, I think you have a point there Ledger,” Midnight smiled wickedly as she looked at Scope. “I say we get an hour. Or is the little nymph afraid of losing?”

“I am not afraid of anything!” Scope said, being reeled in hook, line and sinker. “Fine, an hour. Call!” she slapped her cards down on the table.

Midnight beamed as she lay her cards out. “Mmm, I have a bad hand so I fold. Guess it’s down to you two.”

Scope beamed as she looked at Ledger. “I win drone, Full Hou...wha?” she looked at the cards she turned to reveal... four Jokers. “That...that’s not right. I should...”

“Have the cards I saw you slip into your mane earlier?” Midnight grinned evilly. “I saw that, but you didn’t see me swipe ‘em back and replace ‘em.”

Ledger just smiled as he revealed the four aces. “And it looks like I win myself some fun for an hour at least....at least, if I were mean. I dunno...Midnight, do you think I should be mean?”

“Well, she did cheat to try and win...” Midnight mused. “On the other hoof, she also showed us a game we could beat Cider at hooves down. So that’s gonna be a thing later~”

Ledger smirked as he thought about playing the farmpony at this game. “All right then. Let’s get to the bedroom, we can work out our bets there.”

With that, the stallion got up and turned to the door, looking back at the mares as he reached it. “Coming?”

“I just know I am going to bucking regret this,” Scope sighed as she followed. Midnight bounced after her, glomping the stallion was she bounded into the room.

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