The Foundling's Tale
Runt
Weakling
Useless
Outcast
“This isn’t like her. She’s shy, but put enough pressure on her and she’ll stand up for herself.”
“I wonder, perhaps she discerned out intent, and it turned out to be the thing she fears most.”
“Begging your pardon Majesty, but what does that mean?”
“What is this? Are you mocking me?”
“I… I just…”
“How can sound like her? I thought… for a moment I actually thought she was…”
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
“Get out. Get out!”
“So yer tellin’ me ye did this just because ye realized she doesn’t have her cutie mark?”
“I did make it clear that my intention was to help you all get to know each other better.”
“Well, I can’t fault that Princess, but you Trixie, you agreed to this? I thought ye knew us better than that. Thought we were shipmates.”
“Well, looks like Twilight Sparkle’s had a hoof in saving Equestria again.”
“Twilight? Oh, that one mare you’re always gabbing about. From Ponyville, right?”
“Correct. Look here. It seems that big wedding between the captain of the Royal Guard and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was almost ruined when the queen of a race of monsters called Changelings kidnapped and impersonated the bride.”
“Hmm.”
“Have you ever heard of these Changelings before, Captain? Just out of curiosity.”
“Uh… nope. Never heard of ‘em.”
“Of course we’re ‘shipmates’ Barnacle; that’s why we did it this way.”
“To use my love of storytellin’ to lull me into not realizin’ what ye were trying?”
“I’m stuck! Barnacle, I… I can’t… And you…”
“Shh… shh. ‘Tis ok lass. I won’t let anything happen.”
I trusted you Barnacle Salt. But I should have known. It couldn’t last forever.
Cabbage shifted slightly in her hiding place, hoping the subtle misdirection hanging around her would hold until the group gave her an opening to slip away. It was taking longer than expected; everyone was still in the park checking around bushes and trees. Cabbage could have been long gone by now, back into a life of hunger and dark alleys. That was better than bringing grief to ponies who had done her no harm; better to slip away than be discovered and chased off in a cloud of betrayal and pain. However, she’d never been part of a group like Trixie’s Thespians, all of them accepting of her and now with royal connections! Crouched down to make herself as small as possible, she watched and listened, fearing that, perhaps, her leaving hadn’t prevented the damage from occurring after all.
“Barnacle, you’re jumping to conclusions,” Trixie said.
“Am I?” Barnacle asked in chagrin, “Ye realized Cabbage is a little strange and that ye don’t actually know ‘bout her past, and then ye set up this little story-telling contest? If she hadn’t run off one of ye would’ve started pressing her to tell what she doesn’t want to tell. Particularly you, Quin.”
“Hey,” Harlequin said defensively, “I wasn’t even aware she didn’t have her cutie mark until a few seconds ago! I’m an innocent pawn in this.”
“There wasn’t going to be any pushing,” Trixie cut in, “If she didn’t want to talk about why she’s hiding a blank flank, fine. I, for one, would have been satisfied with anything that would’ve helped me understand her better as a pony. We’re a troupe; we’re supposed to be able to trust one another with our troubles and secrets over time. Although I guess we did end up pushing too hard as it is…”
“That ye…” Barnacle began, but then trailed off with a guilty look. “No, ‘twas my fault,” he said, “I should’ve left the story of how we met fer Cabbage to tell. She told me once, once I really had her trust, that there’s nothing in her life before that she wants remembered.”
Because if they knew, nopony would want me around.
“It must have been absolutely horrible,” Maggie Pie said, “Since she barely talks, is fearful of strangers, and slow to trust… I shudder to think what could have led to her being in that trash bin.”
“All the more reason to find her then, I think,” Luna said, “There is little that proves you care and are worthy of trust than seeking out a runaway.”
Cabbage sighed sadly. She could feel how much they all cared and suspected that there was truth in the Princess’s words, but none of them knew her truth and she couldn’t risk revealing it. That had never ended well for her.
The search party finally began moving out of the park, giving Cabbage an opening to slip away. She made it out onto the streets and headed in the opposite direction as the group. She kept her head down and her aura of attention avoidance around her, intending to find a dark alley to hide in until she could disappear properly. She was so focused on the street right in front of her – the better to avoid making eye contact – that she walked right into Twilight Sparkle without seeing her. Twilight was staggered by the collision, and she turned around with a sharp reprimand that died on her tongue when she saw the small sea-green pony. “You… you’re Cabbage Patch, right?” Twilight asked.
Oh no, no, no! Cabbage bolted, boiling over with panic as Twilight called out after her, full of confusion and concern, and loud enough to attract the entire street’s attention. Cabbage ran into the alley between two shops at a full gallop, hoping she could lose any pursuit through narrow, twisting paths behind the buildings. A shadow passed overhead, and she slid to a halt as Princess Luna alighted in front of her, cutting her off. She turned around, only to see that Barnacle Salt was landing behind her, boxing her in. Soon, the rest of the troupe and Twilight had caught up, and Cabbage had curled herself into a quivering ball, refusing to respond to the protective embrace Barnacle wrapped her in.
It was a good long time before Cabbage could be calmed and coaxed into speaking, and by then the troupe had retired to a private room in the palace, Luna had had time to see to the closing of the royal court for the day and return, and Twilight departed to her own business with some reluctance.
“Now then, Cabbage Patch,” Luna said, every inch the regal co-ruler of the land, “by your behavior and the implications surrounding the tale of how you and Barnacle Salt met, we judge your early life has accustomed you to rejection and abuse.” Her expression softened as Cabbage flinched and dropped her eyes, and Luna continued, “Take it from me, little one, the best and only way to overcome such negativity is to speak of it to those who care for you and allow them to help you overcome it. You confessed to Barnacle once, did you not?”
“Yes,” Cabbage whispered, still staring at the floor.
“And he did not turn you out,” the princess said. “In fact, I gather he’s grown more attached and protective of you over time. How has that made you feel, Cabbage?”
For a long moment, Cabbage was silent, and her head drooped lower. Then, all of sudden, she looked up into Princess Luna’s eyes with steely determination and said in a strong voice, “I want your solemn promise that you won’t treat me any differently if I tell you the truth, no matter what.”
“You have my word,” Luna replied with a chuckle.
Cabbage looked around the room at each of her fellow entertainers, receiving an encouraging smile or a nod from each of them, and then closed her eyes and cast away all her defenses in a flash of sickly green fire.
Once upon a time, a Changeling was born, but she wasn’t like other newborn Changelings. For one thing, she was much smaller than normal. For another, her eyes were different – yellow with round pupils, and because of this many thought she was destined to become a Queen despite her initial weakness.
As time passed, however, it seemed unlikely that she was royalty in the making. Although she grew, she never caught up to her peers, whereas a Queen should quickly outgrow other Changelings. Her talents seemed to be unequally skewed: she could mimic any voice she heard perfectly almost from the time she could speak, and she was not unskilled in the misdirection magic Changelings use to hide imperfections when they take other shapes, but when it came to disguising herself as a pony, she simply couldn’t alter her size to match and never got the cutie marks right. Worst of all, her heart was soft and compassionate, which meant she couldn’t take part in kidnapping and replacing ponies without feeling guilt. The young Changeling was nothing but burden to her hive, especially when they were finding it more difficult to find new sources of food.
The Changeling Queen was confused by the young Changeling’s shortcomings because no other Changeling in her generation, or even in the entire hive, was anything less than ideal for their roles. The Queen ordered that an explanation be found, and it was soon discovered that the odd little Changeling had been conceived when her mother had become too… comfortable in a role she had assumed within a group ponies.
The Queen was not pleased by this revelation and banished the young Changeling, cruelly telling her to seek out her father and live as a pony from thenceforth. Young, innocent, and pony-hearted as she was, the little Changeling was saddened to be kicked out of the hive, but did not yet realize just how cruel that command truly was.
Once she found him, her sire turned out to be a hard, emotionally unstable pony driven to depression by the loss of the mare he’d loved and being fed upon by the Changeling that had replaced her. He took the banished Changeling in, but without knowing her true nature or about her relation to him. It was not a nice or easy life, but the Changeling convinced herself she was where she belonged and that she was content with it.
But then, one day, the Changeling tried to help the stallion out of a particularly deep depression by imitating the voice of his lost love, thinking to bring happier memories to his mind. Instead, he was driven into a rage and forced the little Changeling to flee for her life.
She wandered the land alone for what felt like years, frequently on the verge of starving for both food and love. Whenever she met a pony, they would usually take pity on her only to reject her later when she did something to show her true nature as a Changeling, or when her feeding on their love began to make them sick or violent. She learned to fear growing close to another creature even as she was driven by the need to form bonds of trust and love in order to survive.
One day, a seafaring pegasus crossed her path and… well, you know the story from there.
Except, why is it that the Changeling with a pony’s heart stay with this pegasus for so long? What made their relationship different? Perhaps his affection for her is given more freely than most, even after learning the truth about her. Maybe something he encountered on the sea protects him from being drained when she accepts his love. Who can know for sure?
The room was silent for a long time, as everypony digested the facts they had just been struck by. Finally, the Changeling known as Cabbage Patch stood up and, with a visible effort, resumed her disguise of a small sea-green earth pony with a blue mane, golden eyes, and a glamor of inattention instead of a cutie mark, and then started for the door.
“I’m sorry I hid this from you,” she said in her usual near-whisper of a voice, “I’ll leave now. I wish you the best of luck in the future.”
“Avast there,” Barnacle Salt said, moving quickly to her side, “Ye won’t be going anywhere without me lass. I promised to not ever let ye go drifting through life alone again, remember?”
“Nopony’s leaving,” Trixie said resolutely. “I’ve given up too much putting this troupe together to allow it to break apart just because one of us has a dark secret.” She then gave Harlequin and Maggie Pie a meaningful look.
“I don’t have any objections,” Maggie said. “You’re a nice enough, uh, filly no matter what you look like.”
“Hey, just imagine if we advertised we have a tame Changeling in our possession!” Harlequin said. “We could be the envy of every traveling show out there!” Barnacle, Maggie, and Trixie all gave him a flat look and he backpedaled quickly. “O-only if she’s up to it of course,” he said with a nervous grin.
Cabbage Patch, however, was now only paying attention to Princess Luna and did not hear the assurances. The Princess of the Night was wearing her unreadable royal expression again, gazing down from her full height upon the small, disguised Changeling. “I have but one question,” she said once Harlequin fell silent, “and that is whether you played any part in the Changeling invasion of Canterlot on Princess Cadance and Shining Armor’s wedding day.”
“No,” Cabbage answered with quiet sincerity, “I was banished long before that.”
Luna’s face brightened immediately, her smile as soft and bright as the full moon. “Then I don’t see any difficulties in keeping my promise to you, Cabbage Patch,” she said.
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For a story this good it has a terribly low amount of readers...seriously.
There's the full secret finally, interesting.
I'm curious about what Luna would have done if Cabbage had revealed that she'd taken part in the invasion.
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She'd have kept her word not to treat Cabbage any differently, but done so with reluctance and a little frustration at being outmaneuvered like that.
You, good sir just made my evening. I saw the title and had to stifle a good bunch of laughter, cause my dad just recently knows i'm a brony, and we went to canterbury last summer, where we went to the museum about the canterbury tales. Anyway, great story, my dad likes it too