Cleaning Up The Air
The doors closed abruptly in the faces of Captain Shining Armor and Private Redberry. The corridor in front of the office was dark and desolate, the sky visible through the tall windows beginning to light up in the coming dawn.
Shining blinked a couple of times, uneasily looking sideways at the soldier next to him. To his horror, Redberry was still missing his mouth - the smooth skin on his muzzle didn’t even hint at it ever being there in the first place.
The two sat in eerie silence, their gazes wandering around the featureless corridor. Shining’s head was only now starting to wrap around all that has transpired - for some reason, Equestria was on the precipice of war with an unknown foe. Conveniently, a traitor from that nation came along and decided to help ponykind in some mysterious way that, judging by how the regal sisters looked at one another, was not known to Luna. All this seemed suspicious, to say the least.
On his end, Chip really wanted to talk out the issue of Twilight with his superior. Apparently the stallion was very touchy about her, to the point of it being a bad touch for the soft, pony form of the changeling. He did have to admit the captain knew how to wrestle though - the brief fun they had made him remember the hive again, where such shenanigans were a day-to-day thing.
The changeling batted uselessly at his muzzle in the hopes of his mouth returning to him, but it was no use. He visibly slumped, trying to draw the captain’s attention to himself by just staring at him intently.
“Eyes forward, private” hissed Armor, puffing out his chest as the doors finally creaked open.
Behind the golden glow of Celestia’s protective bubble, the two sisters sat next to each other, beckoning them to enter.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlecolts,” sighed the older sibling, soundlessly closing the door behind them. “Princess Luna and I had some catching up to do. In the end, the plan remains unchanged - our friend here will continue his training and nightly studies. We will try and put our heads together with Twilight Sparkle to find a way in which we could quench Chip’s...special needs. Her first hoof knowledge of what the sensation is might prove invaluable.”
At the mention of his friend, the changeling began erratically scratching at his muzzle. If he could, he would be whimpering. As he was, he could only stare with giant eyes at the clueless sun goddess.
“Oh, yes, of course. Forgive me, Chip.” Celestia let her horn shine brightly, a golden appearing on the changeling’s face and running from left to right with force.
His lips finally unglued, Chip sighed with relief. “Twilight Sparkle?” he blurted out, bouncing slightly in place. “C-Could I see her? Maybe I can help?”
The Princess of the day pre-emptively raised a warning hoof at Shining Armor. “I’m sorry, Chip. You must stay here and continue your studies. As far as I can remember, you wouldn’t be given a leave for at least a month or so more. I’m sorry.”
“Oh...okay,” replied Chip, bowing slightly.
“We should get going, sister,” remarked Luna, looking through the window in the office. “It is high time you get back to our duties. I shall rest and visit Twilight later on.” The lunar mare looked at the changeling and smiled. “Chip, it was a pleasure to see you again. I wish you the best of luck on your mission. Hopefully, next time we meet, we will be given the leisure of having more time to catch up.”
With that, Luna enveloped herself in a blue halo and vanished with a small pop.
“Shining Armor? Chip?“ asked the remaining Princess.
“Your majesty?” replied the stallions, slightly puffing out their chests.
“I am sorry to have kept you up through the night. I will try and keep in contact with you as much as I can without raising suspicion. Expect my messengers delivering you verbal reports every now and then. I wish that there was more that I could do, but I’m afraid that even as it is now I am dancing on the razor’s edge. Rarely does anypony question a princess, yet there are those who scrutinize my actions for their own gains...”
“We understand, your majesty,” replied Shining Armor with a deep bow.
“I will continue my training, Princess,” said Chip, also bowing. “I-If I could, however, make one final request...”
“And that would be?”
The changeling raised his head, smiling slightly. “Could you say ‘hi’ to Twilight for me? And ask her about my letter?...”
* * *
Redberry didn’t show up in the barracks that morning and Captain Shining Armor was late to his morning drill. He looked really tired and was cutting the soldiers extra slack. Rumors about him having an exhausting night with his fiancee spread like wildfire, courtesy of an anonymous stallion who no one really knew.
“Oh, there you are!” said Butterscotch, dropping down for his pushups next to Redberry. “You don’t look so good. I didn’t see you in the barracks this morning. Did something happen?”
“I just needed to take a walk,” murmured Chip, straining against the bags on his limbs and rising nausea.
As he predicted, the ill emotions he drank halted his hunger, but he wasn’t any better for wear because of that. At least now Butterscotch and the rest would be safe. For a while.
“Captain Shining Armor giving you a rough time again?” sighed the pegasus, resting on the ground for a second or two before switching to wing-ups. “I heard a rumor he was being so antsy up until now because his fiancee...you know...didn’t ‘do him’.”
“Do him what?” groaned the changeling, adjusting his tempo to that of Butterscotch.
“Well, you know...Colt-mare stuff?” The pegasus’ face turned red, his head shifting around to make sure no one else heard.
Chip whipped his head to the side, noting a tinge of embarrassment in the pony’s mood. “Oh. What would that be? Kissing?”
The crimson on Butterscotch’s cheeks deepened, his wings struggling to keep working. “A-Are you serious? Y-You know! The thing t-that special s-someponies do together?”
“I have no idea. Tell me!”
“Stop p-pulling my leg! J-Just because I-I d-don’t feel comfortable...”
“I’m not touching you,” remarked Chip, scooching to the side a bit for emphasis. “So you’re not going to tell me?”
“He means sex, private Redberry,” said a voice from behind the two.
Butterscotch’s wings whipped painfully to his sides, making the pegasus fall down and meep in distress. Redberry looked around to see the bloodshot eyes of Shining Armor.
“Now that we have that out of the way, I guess you colts will be happy to hear that I’m letting you run laps around the training grounds till everypony else finishes breakfast. Understood?”
“Yes sir, Captain Shining Armor sir!” meeped out Butterscotch, darting away from the ground and trotting full speed ahead.
“Yes sir, Captain Shining Armor sir,” sighed Chip, picking himself up and strutting to the course.
* * *
Chip slipped into Shining Armor’s office without a sound. The captain was sprawled on his desk, several open books laying around his face.
As gingerly as he could, Redberry approached the sleeping figure and poked his muzzle. It took several more nudges to elicit a drawn out groan.
“Five more minutes,” snored Shining, smacking his dry lips.
“Okay,” nodded Chip, gluing his eyes to the clock on the wall.
The changeling wasn’t feeling all that well himself - this wasn’t the nice kind of tired he yearned for. It was a constant throbbing and aching in the spent muscles, topped with some drowsiness. His stomach kept churning and groaning, unsatisfied by the meal he had the other day. His mind kept orbiting around his mission, the Princesses and Twilight’s answer to his little note.
At this point, he wasn’t even sure that he wanted her to read it. Back when he wrote it, it was still a possibility that they’d continue their research together. Right now, he would lose a lot of his time in this army business, then probably even some more monitoring Silverline. If only that wretched pony hadn’t shown up, he could have probably enjoyed some more quality time with Twilight…
“Redberry,” groaned Shining. “That you?”
“Yes sir,” replied the private, snapping out of his musing. It was about time to wake up his superior anyway.
After some groaning, yawning and stretching, Armor’s horn lit and enveloped the room in a purple shield, giving them the luxury of dropping their acts.
“So. History again, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Where were we again?”
“Bright Stalk’s rebellion and subsequent brief rule over the independent city-state of Neighton. How does sex feel?”
Shining Armor took a while to process the question. The dots didn’t quite connect, forcing the captain to muster up more consciousness from his reserves. He wiped his eyes with a hoof, giving the changeling a quizzical look. “What is what?”
“Sex. The thing you do with your special somepony. I read what it is, and how it is supposed to work, but no one ever told me how it felt.”
Very slowly, the captain blinked at Chip, his face void of any emotion.
“So, Bright Stalk, yes?”
“Sir?”
“His reign lasted half a year, during which time it was obvious he was a tyrant. The tax rates were high, and nopony was allowed in or out of the city without a special permit...”
* * *
Much to everypony’s disdain, Shining Armor was back to his regular self the following morning. The routine resumed it’s regular course, with Redberry being smacked around slightly more than usual.
Chip’s training cycle continued, the changeling steadily growing hungrier with each passing day. His nausea was wearing off, the enticing smells of pony emotion prodding his body into high alert.
Butterscotch was the biggest problem of them all for the shapeshifter. The pegasus stuck to him like glue, assaulting him with strong emotions of trust and friendship. At times the weary changeling could swear there was more under the surface - whether it were his senses trying to fool him or the pegasus developing feelings for him, he could not tell.
Shining Armor never got back to Chip on the topic of pony coitus. Each night at some point the changeling would try and pick the subject up, ending up ignored time and time again, as if the question was never asked.
* * *
“We got a message from the Princess,” declared Shining Armor, finishing the protection spell around his office. “Apparently, Silverline is recovering well and should be up and about in around a week. That gives us still a bit more time before he will start looking for recruits. My sister, Twilight Sparkle...” He paused, noting with a furrowed brow how the colt’s features brightened suddenly. “...says that she has some theories that she’d like to test. We will receive instructions in a day or few, so the Princessess asked that you ‘hold out a bit longer’.” He paused again, frowning slightly.
“Anything else?” asked Chip.
Shining sighed and shook his head. “No, that’s all. I just...it’s so hard to believe that you are...what you are. I have to keep reminding myself that you’re not a pony.”
“Oh,” sighed the changeling. He didn’t have to have changeling senses to tell the captain was apprehensive. “But I’m on your side, right?”
“That’s what everyone believes,” huffed Shining, turning his gaze back to the book. “Anyway. Heavy chainmail was replaced with lighter plates around-”
“You don’t believe I’m your friend?”
Armor went silent, his hoof frozen over a passage from the history of armaments. “It doesn’t matter,” he concluded with a single blink.
“It does to me,” pressed the changeling, standing up. “It’s hard to focus with the ponies around me as it is. Having to sample your apprehension is not something I wish for on top of that. What’s wrong? Did I ever give you a reason to distrust me?”
“No,” admitted Armor, closing the book and sliding it to the side. He put both hooves on his desk and looked his protege in the eyes. “But as far as I know, your kind isn’t known for it’s honesty, or good-will towards ponies.” He took a deep breath, releasing it a few seconds later. “You know, the northern borders were always a weird place. Nopony wanted to be stationed there. Lots of disappearances, the heat, Everfree right up their backs. And now you and your kind.”
Chip remained silent, not dropping his gaze.
“It’s hard, you know? A guard’s life isn’t exactly an easy one.” He picked himself up heavily, opening a drawer and looking down into it. “Of course, on the surface it looks all nice and simple. Just stroll around a corridor, wave your spear a few times and you’re off to see your loved ones. But the higher you are, the bigger the picture becomes. The more you realize that you’re actually a soldier, and when push comes to shove, you have to be out there to stop it. That you have to leave with only a promise that you’ll come back.”
Gingerly, the captain placed a scrap of paper onto his desk. Chip felt a shift of emotions in the pony - it was delicious love, wrapped up in bubbling uncertainty, tinted with fear. The changeling stretched his neck to look at the item.
“Is that a photo?” he asked, cocking his head. “Is that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?”
“Yeah,” sighed the guard affectionately. “A real beauty. Caring, tender, always bringing love and peace wherever she goes.”
“I met her once, while I was still being investigated,” confessed Chip. He felt a small shift in Shining’s attitude. “I had another disguise back then. She was a really nice mare...and now that I think about it, she did mention that she was meeting some stallion. I assume that was you?”
Shining froze for a few seconds, not sure whether to tell the truth or lie. He tried keeping his fiancee pretty much a secret - they both wanted a quiet celebration with only their closest friends, not a full blown the-Princess-is-getting-married wedding that would put a spotlight over them and encourage rumors of him trying to crawl into a royal bed.
“I can tell you love her,” smirked Chip, taking a pleasurable whiff. “Lucky you. You have no idea how strongly she feels for you. Anyling could live a month from the love she had in her heart back there.”
The stallion gulped, scooping the photo and pressing it to his chest. The changeling seemed to be really close to the mares he cared about. Too close for comfort.
“Sorry, I guess that’s not something you wanted to know, sir” he said, blushing slightly, his ears pinned to the back of his head. “But please, do understand. I don’t have any ill will towards you. I want to get to know you, be your friend. I want to be friends with ponies. I want to spend time with the Princesses, my friends, Twilight-”
“Why Twilight?” piped up Shining, depositing his photo back in the drawer and closing it shut with a slam. “What do you want from my little sister?”
“I...I really like her,” replied Chip, observing the maelstrom of emotions that churned in Shining. “You care about her. I do too. She’s kind of weird, even for a pony, but there is something about her. Something I can’t understand. I really enjoyed our research together, even though we fumbled a lot,” he chuckled.
“You care about my sister? Is your kind capable of doing that? Do you understand what it means to worry about someone, their safety, their health-”
“I do,” butt in Chip. He tried to remain calm in the face of Shining’s building irritation and anger. “I care about a lot of ponies. Do you think I would still be here if I didn’t? Would I be trying to please you, endure this treatment and most of all, fight the constant hunger that claws at me every waking moment? Do you know what hunger is? You can ask Twilight, she can tell you how horrible it is to crave something so much. How terrifying is the thought that it would only take a flick of a horn to drink a pony dry, take away their happiness, love, compassion? Leave an empty husk?”
Shining Armor just stood there, looking dumbfounded at the changeling.
“I am doing everything that goes against my nature as a predator to fit in here. To be accepted for the pony inside, not the...the monster I was born as. I am defying the teachings of my own mother, who told me that ponies were but prey, weak creatures who deserved to be fed on. I didn’t believe that. I saw past your emotions. Why can’t you look past this?”
With his last words, he reverted back to his original form in a haze of green flames. The captain took only a single step back, taking in the black form in front of him. It was alien, daunting, a body much stronger than his own, capable of superior speed, strength and probably even magic or flight. Yet, the eyes the creature had...they were nothing like the rest. They looked kind of sad. There was thought and complexity behind them. A pony that was born something else, now striving to be accepted. Somepony who didn’t belong in his own kind.
Shining Armor gulped, stiffly going around his desk. The blue orbs of the changeling traced his every move. There was no ferocity or malice in that stare, only a yearning. They were tired. He stood right before Chip, a head shorter than him.
“I’m sorry,” muttered Chip, looking away. The motion was stopped by a hoof, turning him to look the captain back in the eyes.
“I can’t say that I understand. I can only imagine how it is to be in your skin,” said Shining in a serious voice. “I should be the one apologising for my behavior. I should not be treating you differently than before. You are still the Redberry who I swore to shape up for a very important mission. Your look and origins...it was stupid of me to assume the worst,” he sighed, smirking as he remembered something. “I should have really learned better from Cadance - judge a pony by their heart, she’d always say. I guess it’s a lot easier if you can peer into the hearts of others.”
“She can do that?” asked a surprised Chip.
“It’s a figure of speech,” chuckled Shining. “But yeah, she has a gift. She can tell when a pony is good. I mean, she did look past my...heh.”
The changeling observed the shifting currents around Shining. It was a relief to see the tension evaporate - the pony was settling down.
“Anyway, enough about me. This is about you. We need to complete your training and make you the best damn candidate for Silverline to pick.”
“Sooo...does that mean we’re friends?” carefully tried Chip.
“Maybe,” chuckled Armor, again opening the armaments history book. “We could be if you could tell me when the light cavalry stopped using bronze lances in favor of spears. And once you get your...disguise back on ya.”
“Do friends share information about the sensation of coitus, perchance?” asked the shapeshifter with a glint in his eyes.
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Oh good greif, Chip is in real trouble now, the lads will be trying to give him the cucumber and melon speech next.
Oh Chip, you cheeky bastard!
lol What a way to end the chapter. Nice update, once again.^^
4841230 4841167 4841164
Yaaay, happy Wingie
Stealth Grammar Nazi attack!
Tut tut! It should be 'Princess Luna and I" or "I and Princess Luna".
Remember to think how the sentence would read with only the personal pronoun.
Incorrect: Me had some catching up to do.
Correct: I had some catching up to do.
I think you mean the Southern borders. North of Equestria is ice.
Hmm... I wonder...
*Alondro lets changelings suck out the happiness, love, and compassion of some humans to see what happens. They all join ISIS.*
I knew it... Cherngelerngs are behind it all!
This, this is good stuff so far. Fine, job, mate. Keep 'er up.
source for cover image?
4841595 He doesn't need a source because his father made it for him.
It's... It's beautiful....
Nice. It's good to see that Chip is back to his usual awkward self. Though that hunger is starting to worry me.....Something tells me there will be consequences for letting it go this long. His chitin isn't healing at the rate it should be, who knows what else is breaking down.....
4841400
Freedoms of an AU, brah. Since the beginning of the story the changelings have been from the north of Equestria. In his world their country is apparently south of the equator instead of north of it.
4842453 I'm trying to picture the geography, and with the mention of the Everfree's relative position included, it really is confusing.
4842959
What I picture is just take that whole icy/frozen area where the Crystal Empire is, chop it off and replace it with a giant desert canyon full of changelings. If you assume that Equestria is in the southern hemisphere of their planet and that canyon is right on the equator (or there about) it works.
4841380
Duly noted, thanks! Always appreciate the friendly grammar nazi scrutinizing
4841453
4841718
Yay! *drinks in the love* That will keep me writing for some time
4841400
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4842959
4843182
This whole mess is due to the fiction having started before season 3 was even a thing. It was during the period between seasons, and I went on the tangent of the changelings being blasted towards a rather dry looking place in the final seconds of the love-splosion Shining and Cadance shamelessly blew in their faces
I don't like how the geography is chopped up because of that, so please expect some rearranging on my part - I'll most likely have to put the Crystal Empire (since naturally it will be an important element in the next book) somewhere more up north or maybe even change the mechanics of it entirely.
I know this is hardly any excuse, but please bear with me - 2 years ago we had no real map of Equestria and I had to wing it, so to speak
4842776
Thanks! I totally forgot about that Gustav.
Iiiiidea!
4843334
It's hardly the most drastic change I've seen to the canon map of Equestria, so do what you want with it, man. As long as everything has a place and you don't suddenly have the Crystal Empire appear in the middle of the changeling canyon or something, we'll be k with wherever you put it, lol.
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4843411
Oh dear.....
His persistence is admirable, even if the naivety makes me facepalm repeatedly.
Good story so far though, I am enjoying where this is all going
4844576
Let's face it, he's just a kid in a giant, armored and fit body 
4844750
4843407 And so, the Crystal Empire appears in Iraq...
I see what you did there, Monty Python
I like Dagaal his funny
He's nothing if not persistent.
This has been bugging me for a while. All maps I’ve seen show Ponyville south central Equestria and north of the Everfree. North Equestria is colder; central and southern regions are hotter.
Unless the author is using an inverted map?