The Friendship Initiative

by Jatheus

Enemies

Scootaloo took a deep breath, the hot summer air stifling her within and without. Alongside her stood a tight group of royalty and guards, most notably Princess Twilight Sparkle and Queen Chrysalis. Each had a bit of sweat forming on their brows, but the guards must have had the worst of it, clad as they were in arming pads and plate steel.

Outside the ring of heavily armed guards were members of the media packed together in a bit of a circus. There were hundreds of them with cameras and note pads at the ready, sure to not miss a single detail. Scootaloo mused that they secretly hoped for some outburst of violence or changeling insurrection to erupt in what were planned to be peaceful proceedings.

Not that all papers and reporters put out such gloom and doom, but the pegasus had seen so much of it in the months since the armistice was declared that she had found herself much happier after taking a break from reading the news.

Scootaloo scratched her sweat-soaked neck, wishing that somepony had thought to order cloud cover for the occasion. She resigned herself to exercising patience.

The keen instincts of the reporters and their sudden perking up made Scootaloo’s focus shift to the iron gate that lay ahead. One of many hastily constructed prisons across Equestria to house changeling prisoners of war, the camp at Dodge Junction was unremarkable. The facility was little more than a fenced dormitory, with the exception of hundreds of guards to keep the residents contained. They were EUP soldiers who had been so assigned until they were no longer needed, a day that promised to be just over the horizon.

Scootaloo felt herself stand a little straighter as a lone guard escorted a single changeling toward the royal party. As the pair reached them, they halted. Princess Twilight spoke first.

“Thank you for taking care of of this brave warrior. You are free to return to your other guests.”

The guard nodded, returning the way he’d come. Scootaloo didn’t miss the overly polite language the princess had used. ‘Prisoner’ would be far more accurate than ‘guest’, but if everything went well, they would all be released before long.

Queen Chrysalis stood tall and addressed her kin, “Brave warrior, my blood, Ash Eater, I welcome you.”

The haggard changeling bowed low, not losing his balance despite his missing hind right leg. The red dog tag he wore dangled from his neck; it served to identify at a glance that he was a former soldier and not permitted to be without an escort.

“I live to serve, my Queen. You need only command me.”

“I have made a peace with the ponies,” Chrysalis continued evenly. “It is my will that nothing jeopardize that peace.”

A look of horror widened Ash Eater’s eyes.

“We are not defeated. I have made this decision for the good of the hive.”

Reporters scribbled down her words at a fevered pace. Scootaloo was certain that the bit about being undefeated would no doubt lead the front page.

“You will respect the pony princesses and obey them as you would obey me. The business of the war is to be forgotten, and you are to be set free.” Gesturing at Scootaloo, she continued, “You will go with this pony, follow her, study her, learn their ways.”

“Yes, my Queen,” Ash Eater spoke through gritted teeth.

His expression became harder after he’d locked eyes with Scootaloo, and his general disposition seemed to grow more foul by the moment.

“You, in turn, will teach her ours. You will at all times wear your identification, you will instigate no violence against the ponies, and you will not use your powers to change your form without orders from me.”

“I understand and obey, my Queen.”

“Depart, my faithful servant.”

Ash Eater made a low bow to Chrysalis, and then a second to Twilight Sparkle. He then turned to Scootaloo, a fire of hatred in his eyes. She felt herself swallow a lump that had formed in her throat as she turned and the guards escorted them away from the prison and the reporters.

She was sure she’d seen a pain fill Ash Eater‘s face for a moment when Chrysalis mentioned shape shifting. During his first battle with a squad Scootaloo was part of, his horn had been broken, crippling his magical abilities.

Questions began bombarding them from the news makers, but Princess Twilight had previously coached Scootaloo to ignore them. She and Chrysalis stayed behind and answered while the others made their escape.

The party drew stares from several of the townsponies who were unaccustomed to seeing changelings walking freely, the armed escort notwithstanding. As planned, they made their way to the saloon where a room had been prepared. Most of the guards waited outside, and the final two didn’t enter the room.

Finding herself alone with Ash Eater for the first time, Scootaloo couldn’t help but feel nervous. She supposed that was only natural, as they had on so many occasions tried to kill each other. The two stared for a time, lavender eyes locked with blue. So far as she could tell, he was not nervous at all. He seemed to be seething with anger directed at the pegasus.

“Are you thirsty or hungry?” she broke the silence. “I can have something brought up.”

“No,” he made a low growl.

He continued to stand rigidly, almost in a combat stance. Scootaloo could feel the hair on the nape of her neck standing on end. She wanted to diffuse the tension, though she doubted it would be easy.

A knock at the door distracted them both, and Scootaloo called out, “Come in.”

A guard entered, followed by Princess Twilight Sparkle and Queen Chrysalis. The orange pegasus sighed with relief.

“Sorry to have left you two alone like that.”

Scootaloo let out a nervous laugh.

Ash Eater bowed low, “My Princess, and my Queen.”

“Rise,” Chrysalis answered.

“I’m sorry we didn’t have a chance to better prepare you for today,” the alicorn added. “We’ve just been so busy.”

“I’ll survive,” Ash Eater replied with forced calm.

Twilight Sparkle frowned.

“Indeed you shall,” Chrysalis answered. “For the sake of all our people, it is my will that you thrive, if you are able.”

The changeling queen stared a moment at her subject, “They have assured me that we will continue the process of releasing the others until they are all free, but any trouble from us could slow the process.”

“I understand, my Queen.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Twilight said cheerfully. “Not that there won’t be some bumps along the way; there always are in cultural exchanges.”

Scootaloo felt herself smile as she remembered a hoof-full of incidents that had popped up between their griffin and zebra allies during the war that had simply been misunderstandings.

Ash Eater seemed steadfast as he replied again, “If there is any trouble, it will not be me that starts it. This I swear.”

Chrysalis nodded, “Very well.”

Scootaloo couldn’t help but admire the devotion Ash Eater showed to his monarch. She wondered whether her loyalty would appear as overt were their places reversed.

“We’d best get going,” Twilight said. “We’ve got to get back to Canterlot. In a few weeks, after the press has died down a little, we can really get to work releasing the rest of the changelings as planned.” She regarded Scootaloo for a moment, “Try and keep a low profile if you can.”

“Absolutely,” the orange pegasus agreed. “The last thing any of us need is a bunch of attention.”

Given the circumstances, Scootaloo had serious misgivings that she actually would be able to keep that promise.