Prodigy

by Sable Tails

Versus

“Rise and shine, lad!” The elderly unicorn roared. “One! Two! Three!”

But this time Stasis was not caught unawares. Curl up, cast masque, check masque, gracefully slip out of bed and onto the creaky wooden floor below, careful to avoid any greedy, grasping sheets and coverlets. He gave Star Swirl a victorious, if tired smile.

The unicorn had tried vegetables, chores, beds. Stasis had overcome them all, and he would not, could not be defeated by simple sleep-deprivation torture. He was unbreakable.

As if sensing his thoughts, Star raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Bound and determined to deny an old stallion his morning fun, eh, lad?” He sighed. “Oh well. Just have to try again tomorrow, I suppose. Anyway, go ahead and make your bed and then come meet me downstairs for breakfast.”

Star Swirl started to turn, but then seemed to notice Stasis’ expression. He sighed again. “Of course. Silly old Star, thinking you might actually know how to make your own gosh-darned bed.” Turning around, he continued, “Alright, well, watch closely lad. I’m only showing you once.”

This particular custom – yet another thing which his pony training had not prepared him for – was perhaps the most ridiculous yet. What was the point of ‘making’ one’s bed when you were just going to mess it up again that night? Who was he trying to impress?

When he pointed this out to Star, however, the old pony just told him that it was good practice for all the other useless things he’d have to do when he grew up, such as cutting his lawn every once in a while so that the neighbors didn’t keep bellyaching about sinking property values. This explanation just left Stasis even more confused, though.

Following Star downstairs for breakfast, he suddenly realized that he no longer had an entire night’s buffer between him and school. He began to feel concerned.

Sure, he could fool one half-blind crazy old pony, but what about colts and fillies his own age? The fact that he was far too magnificent to be a mere pony child should be glaringly obvious. It was certainly obvious to him.

The question, really, was not whether they were stupid…but were they stupid enough? The thought began to weigh heavily on his mind.

“Nervous about school today, lad?”

Stasis blinked. The unicorn had paused at the bottom of the stairs and was looking at him with a quizzical expression. The changeling gazed back at him suspiciously.

How did Star know that? Did he have some kind of emotional telepathy as well? Some kind of privy pony powers that Stasis was not aware of? The universe must really hate Stasis if Star had learned mind magic before he did.

The old pony’s voice was unusually soft as he said, “It’s okay to be nervous, lad. Most everypony is, their first day of school.”

It may be okay, but Stasis didn’t want to be nervous. He used the puppy eyes. “But…but can’t you teach me instead? You’re so smart and old and wise…surely you’d make a much better teacher than anypony at that stupid school!”

Star Swirl smiled down at him, and Stasis smiled back.

“No. Nice try though.”

Stasis pouted. That was the last time the stupid old pony got any flattery from him….

“For one thing, lad, I do have other things to do besides babysit you all day. For example, today while you’re at school, I’m going to be helping organize the recovery, and however dull you might think your day is, I promise you that time with me supervising reconstruction and interfacing with bureaucrats would be much, much worse.”

Stasis rolled his eyes. Star’s day was going to suck, so he was going to make sure Stasis’ day sucked too. Typical pony behavior.

“Also,” the old unicorn continued, “it’s not good for you to be hanging about all day with nopony but me to keep you company. You need friends your own age, and school’s the best place to find them.”

“Friends?” asked Stasis, confused.

Star looked surprised. “Yes, friends. You do know what friends are, don’t you lad?” He sounded concerned.

“Yes….” Stasis answered hesitantly. Of course he knew what friends were…ponies had them all the time. They were sort of like family; you formed symbiotic relationships with them for mutual protection. He just wasn’t sure what he needed friends for…especially pony friends, for Discord’s sake. What was he supposed to do with those, anyway? He had only met the one pony so far, and that one was really only useful for his house and potaters.

The not-particularly-useful pony continued, “Well, it’s definitely important for a little one like yourself to learn mathematics, science, magic, and whatnot. It’s even more important that you learn how to work hard, discipline yourself – the heavens know I’m not going to keep doing it for you – and set and follow through on goals. Those things, they’ll let you follow your dreams, no matter where they take you.” Star raised a hoof emphatically. “But the most important thing in life are others, lad. Friends and family will get you through.”

Stasis laughed and laughed and laughed. Then, noticing the old pony’s expression, he realized that Star hadn’t been joking. Which didn’t make it any less funny, but now it was kind of sad too.

“You’ve got issues, lad,” Star said matter-of-factly. Stasis wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean.

Still…one aspect of the old pony’s statement left him confused.

“So where are your friends and family?” he asked. He suspected that the wizard didn’t have any; after all, who would voluntarily want to know or be related to somepony as heartless and cruel as Star? Not Stasis, that was for sure.

Star frowned, his wrinkles making him seem even more ancient than usual as his gaze grew a bit distant. After a few moments of uneasy silence, Stasis began to grow afraid that he had said something to upset the old pony more than was safe. He didn’t want to get teleported again; that had been scary.

But after a few more moments, Star sighed, and his voice was cool as he said, “I suppose that’s enough sermons from me for one morning, lad. Come along. Let’s fix breakfast.”

Relieved and ravenous, Stasis trotted after the large pony.

After they had fixed and eaten breakfast – which included plenty of boiled asparagus, yum – they swiftly washed the dishes and proceeded to the main room. The ‘living’ room it was apparently called, bringing to mind images of slowly shifting walls, wheezing windows, and a fire in the hearth which pulsed with some silent heartbeat, which was all exactly how the little changeling would have imagined the room back when Star was a terrifying warlock and not just some grumpy old geezer who liked to boss Stasis around. The not-terrifying unicorn gestured to two large saddlebags, beside each of which was a small mountain of pony junk.

“Those are your school supplies,” he said. “We need to leave soon if we’re going to get you to school on time, lad, so pay attention while I show you what does what.”

“School supplies?” Stasis queried.

“Yes. You will be carrying them to and from school five days a week.”

Stasis looked at the mounds of miscellany looming before him, and then up at the old unicorn. “Are you sure?” he asked with a hope born of desperation.

“Yes. Now pay attention.”

Star proceeded to explain about pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, liquid glue, stick glue, construction paper, poster paper, lined paper, blank paper, graph paper, scissors, paper clips, highlighters, colored markers, permanent markers, staplers, staples, and all the other things a studious little pony needs. There were notebooks, textbooks, and carefully labeled folders for each and every subject from world history to basic thaumaturgy. Star even threw in an abacus, a sextant, and an astrolabe, ‘just in case.’

By the time the last item went in the bag, Stasis felt as if his education had progressed immeasurably. He now knew how draft ponies were made, for one, and he suspected he knew how the royal guard kept their bodies so strong and their moods so dour.

Despite the changeling’s narrow frame, he was quite strong, especially compared to soft city ponies like these. Nevertheless, he found his legs quivering slightly at first under the incredible burden of all this knowledge.

“Are…are you sure I really need this much stuff?” Stasis asked, breathing slightly labored as he grew used to the weight. “I mean…do all the other ponies carry this much stuff just for school?”

“Not at your age, no,” Star replied. “But most ponies your age are in the first grade. You, on the other hoof, will be attending the fifth grade.”

Stasis’ eyes nearly popped out of his head. “What? But…but…but….”

The old pony’s tone was firm as he said, “No buts, lad. After three days with you, I feel it safe to say that you would be bored out of your skull in the first grade. The fifth grade will be much more of a challenge.”

Stasis had found that being challenged was less fun than one might think. Thinking quickly, he said, “But…the other ponies will be –“

“Nearly twice your age, aye. But I have faith in you, lad. You can handle it.” Star started walking towards the door, bells jingling. “Now come along; we have to leave now if we’re going to get to your school before class starts.”

Left with no other choice, Stasis shifted the saddlebags into a more comfortable position and followed after the large pony, out the door, past the gate, and into the city for the first time since he had been separated from his family. After a few minutes, pony houses made way for the taller, plainer buildings of the downtown area, like a forest of square, lifeless brick-and-mortar trees that towered above the little changeling.

But he would not be so easily intimidated by such things, nor by the crowds of innately hostile ponies that surrounded him on all sides, despite how alone he now was. He just had to remember what things were like before, when these selfsame creatures were weeping and screaming and fleeing from him and his family. They were prey, and if he could manipulate a powerful wizard like Star Swirl, he could certainly deal with the like of these.

But then he saw two alabaster unicorns marching slowly down the center of the street, golden armor flashing in the morning sun, faces of stone but eyes sweeping inexorably back and forth, inspecting every pony in sight, searching for something, someone. Few of the surrounding ponies so much as looked at the pair, so obviously out of place in this would-be peaceful place, instead parting wide around them as a river is parted by a rock. Every few seconds one of the two would settle his gaze on one pony in particular and his horn would glow for a few moments, casting some silent spell before he would turn his scrutiny on somepony else, continuing his hunt.

Stasis felt his heart hammer in his chest. He experimentally tried to beat his wings inside the masque, but the left one still hurt, still wouldn’t work right. If he was discovered here, in the heart of Trottingham, there would be no escape.

Almost without thinking, he drew up alongside his escort, keeping the large pony between himself and the royal guards. He was so close that Star Swirl nearly tripped over him several times, but the old unicorn said nothing, simply continuing his languid pace. As they passed the soldiers Star nodded at them and, peeking between the large pony’s legs, Stasis was surprised to see the guards actually nod back respectfully before returning to their mission. If they noticed the little pseudo-pony at all, they gave no sign.

After seeing several more pairs of unicorn guards patrolling the city, it was a relief when they finally arrived at the school. A low, rectangular brick building, it was somewhat incongruous, appearing old and worn compared to the surrounding construction. Around it stretched an actual yard, with real grass and everything, a rarity in this part of the pony town. Behind the building he thought he could make out what must be a playground, something he had only heard stories about.

Star Swirl paused a few paces in front of the entrance and looked down at the little changeling. “Now, lad, do you remember the way we got here?”

Stasis blinked. “Um…yes?” It had been almost a straight shot from the old unicorn’s house to the school. As strange as this city was, he was pretty sure he couldn’t get lost if he didn’t stray from the main road.

Star nodded, the tip of his beard brushing the gravel walkway as he did so. “Good. You’ll be making that trip twice a day, five days a week, so you’d best not forget it.”

“What? You mean you won’t be taking me yourself?” An hour ago he might have jumped at the unexpected liberty, but now the thought of having to go back and forth truly alone in a city infested with those golden butchers made his heart quicken again.

The bearded pony nodded. “Aye. But don’t you worry, lad. Recent events notwithstanding, this is one of the safest cities in the safest country in the known world. You’ll be fine.”

“But….”

“And if anypony should stop you – and I doubt they will – then tell them that you’re under my care and protection right now, and then they should leave you alone. Today and maybe tomorrow I’ll be spending the morning at city hall, and I should be back at the house before school’s out. Most days I’ll be at the house all day. If for whatever reason you ever get lost, you can ask pretty much anypony and there’s a good chance they’ll know how to get to my house.” Star raised an eyebrow. “Do you understand, lad?”

“But…but what about the guards?” Stasis asked desperately. He wasn’t sure what spell those unicorns had been casting on ponies, and he really, really didn’t want to find out.

“Don’t mess with them,” Star responded, tone serious. “Our constabulary was nearly wiped out in the attack, and Princess Celestia was kind enough to loan us quite a few of her own royal guards until we can train new ones. But the guards are some of the most elite troops in the world, and they have more important things to attend to than one mischievous colt. You’re not to speak to them for any reason. Do you understand?”

“Yes Sir….” Stasis responded glumly. He would sooner gnaw off his own hind leg than have anything to do with those guards, or their goddess.

Star nodded. “Good. Come along then; I’ve got to speak to your teacher before I go, so I’ll take you to your class.” The elderly pony opened the door and walked into the school, Stasis following close behind.

As soon as they entered, a mare whom Stasis assumed was a receptionist looked up from her book and gasped. “Mr. Swirl! I…um…is there something I can do for you?” She quickly slipped the hardcover under her desk and put on a strained smile, fidgeting.

Like a mouse in a trap, Stasis thought, chuckling darkly to himself. He suddenly felt better about getting bossed about all the time by the cranky old pony. At least he put up a fight, unlike this mare.

If Star Swirl noticed her discomfiture, he didn’t show it. “Aye,” he said. “I’m here to drop off my ward. If you’d tell me where the fifth grader’s room is, I’d be grateful.”

“Fifth…grader?” She looked at Stasis and blinked. He gave her a predatory smile in return, showing lots of teeth. She drew back slightly.

“Aye. That’s what I said,” Star replied gruffly.

The receptionist’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them for a moment. “Okay…um…the fifth grader’s room is just down the hall there, last room on the right.” She pointed towards the rear of the building.

“Thank you, Miss,” the old pony replied, already walking in that direction. Stasis gave the receptionist one last wink before trotting after his guardian.

By the time they reached the final door, however, the little changeling’s mood had sobered again, and his nervousness returned in force. As much as he had come to dislike the old pony’s tyrannical attitude, Star had become something of an anchor for him in this mad pony world, and now he was about to be left by his own again in the midst of his enemies, a thin masque all that stood between him and destruction. Most changelings weren’t supposed to carry out their first solo infiltration until they were adults, and as a prince his training was purely in case of contingency; yet the contingency had come, and here he was, in the belly of the beast, one little Stasis against a pack of vicious pony children twice his size. As the old unicorn opened the door and entered the room, Stasis held back, reluctant to cross that final threshold.

The teacher – a yellow earth pony with a thick white mane and a smiling sun as a cutie mark – paused in midsentence, looking startled.

“Oh! Mr. Swirl! What a…delightful surprise!” She turned back to her class, most of whom were watching the bearded pony with wide eyes.

“Class, this is Mr. Star Swirl, personal protégé to Princess Celestia and one of the greatest conjurers in history. Say, ‘Hello, Mr. Swirl!’”

Personal protégé to Princess Celestia?

A few students mumbled hello’s, but most still looked to be in a mild state of shock at the sudden appearance of the apparently-famous pony. Star just mumbled, “One of the greatest?”

The teacher, now wearing a smile which seemed much more authentic than the receptionist’s, turned back to the old unicorn and said, “Please, Mr. Swirl. What can I do for you?”

“I’m not here to give a speech or anything, Miss. Just dropping off my ward on his first day of school.”

The mare blinked. “Ward? I’m sorry, I don’t….” It was then that her – and the rest of the classes’ – eyes were drawn to the little changeling-turned-pony who stood just outside the room, his snout peaking inside the door. He drew back quickly.

“Yes, my…wait, where…?” Star Swirl looked about his hooves for a moment before turning around, irritation flickering across his face.

“Lad! Get in here, before I have to teleport you in.”

Stasis hesitated one last time before reaching his foreleg across the boundary between hall and room. Committed now, he avoided the stares of the legion of students, instead keeping his gaze firmly planted on Star’s hindquarters. Hoping that everypony would forget about him again.

The teacher’s smile was gone now, replaced by an expression of concern. She looked at Star and said, “Mr. Swirl…I’m afraid that there’s been some kind of misunderstanding….”

“No, I don’t think so,” Star replied firmly, then added, “Miss, I think you and I should speak in private.”

“Um…sure….” The teacher looked at the class, her smile strained again. “Class, please wait here quietly while Mr. Swirl and I talk in the hallway.”

The two of them walked past Stasis, shutting the door behind them. Having not the faintest idea what he was supposed to do now, he just stood there, staring blankly in front of him, trying to remain calm and collected. Still, he couldn’t block the muffled words from the door behind him, or the loud whispers of the students.

“Star Swirl’s so old, he probably just got the wrong room….”

“Maybe he’s just really small? You know, like a dwarf pony or something?”

“No, look! He doesn’t even have his cutie mark yet, for Celestia’s sake….”

“What the heck’s a ward?”

A few minutes of this went by, with most of the students no longer bothering to whisper. Stasis had heard his older siblings speak of the loneliness and deep longing for home they felt when they went on infiltration missions to bring back energy for Mother and the family. He had always thought that they were just being weaklings; he would often remind them that he would have to leave the family once and for all after he reached puberty, and would live alone forever afterwards, much as the dragons did. After all, for a prince to live with a family would be to favor one of his queens above the others, and that would lead to strife.

Now, though, he felt himself missing his old ubiquitous brothers and sisters. He longed even for Mother; if there was one thing to be said about her, it was that he had never feared anything else while she was near.

He jumped a little as the door opened behind him and the teacher walked past him to the wooden desk at the front of the room. Smiling at the students, she said, “Class, say hello to your newest classmate, Stasis!”

There were a smattering of hello’s from around the room, some of them heartfelt, some of them not-so-much.

The teacher looked down at the little changeling, her pink eyes meeting his bright yellow ones. “Stasis, please take any available seat.”

Stasis looked longingly back at the door behind him, but it was already closed and the old pony gone. Instead sweeping his gaze across the columns of desks, trying not to meet anypony’s eyes, he tried to spot an empty seat. Unfortunately, he was too short to see over the first few rows.

After a few moments of awkward silence, somepony in the back raised an orange hoof, waving it wildly.

“Over here! Over here! Ooh! Ooh! Over here!”

Seeing no other choice, Stasis began making his way towards the rear of the room, the straps on his saddlebags feeling especially tight across his back at the moment. He tried to watch his step, but many of the students had simply dumped their bags next to their seats and he nearly tripped several times. His own bags kept knocking others over, and although nopony said anything, he could see irritated glances out of the corner of his eye.

It wasn’t until he reached the empty seat at the very back of the class that he realized it would have probably been much easier to go around the edges of the room and approach from the rear. Stupid ponies and their stupid classroom designs….

The teacher, so far away now, said, “Alright, class, now where were we…oh yes! We were going to diagram a sentence! Here, let me write the first one on the board….”

Now that he was safely ensconced in the rear of the room, Stasis felt his apprehension begin to be replaced with boredom. He noted that the teacher’s perpetually smiling, cheerful demeanor was reminiscent of the time Nit had found a bottle of hard cider and bet Thor that he could drink it all at once.

“Hey!”

Stasis jumped slightly as the orange pony to his right leaned across the aisle and stuck out his hoof.

“My name’s Major!” the pony whispered fiercely. “It’s great to meet you, Stasis!”

“Uh…hi?” Stasis replied, tentatively shaking the proffered hoof as per pony custom. The colt’s smile was so large and bright that, were it being worn by a changeling, would surely have marked the bearer as deranged and in need of culling.

“It’s great that we get to sit next to each other, isn’t it?” the orange pony continued excitedly. “I’ve never sat next to the ward of the protégé of Princess Celestia before! I’m feeling super important right now!”

“Major!” The teacher called from the front of the room. “Please keep quiet and pay attention during class.”

“Yes, Miss Brighten!” the pony called back cheerfully.

As soon as the teacher turned around, Major leaned over again and said, “Sorry, Stasis! We can talk more during recess, okay?”

“Okay?” Stasis replied hesitantly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to this pony; he seemed crazy.

With his desk-neighbor now occupied playing with his pencil and tapping out jingles on his desk with his hooves, Stasis tried to pay attention to the instructor, but another problem quickly presented itself. While he could at least get the gist of most of what the teacher was saying, the lines she wrote on the board meant nothing to him. It was terribly frustrating, and after a few minutes he just gave up and let his imagination wander while the teacher droned on and on and on.

After a time the teacher progressed from grammar to science, which Stasis found to be much more interesting. Which is to say, he found it mildly interesting. It was somehow both intriguing and disturbing to learn that the world operated only partly by magic.

Still, there was only so much excitement one could derive from studying the reproductive systems of flowers. His eyelids had begun to grow heavy when somepony rapped loudly three times on the door. All of the children immediately perked up.

The teacher paused midsentence. “Oh! Alright, children. You know what that means. Everypony have fun during recess!”

But half the class was already stampeding for the door, the rest following right after. Stasis was tempted to believe that class was already over for the day, but the minefield of saddlebags strewn around the room gave the lie to that thought. Not wishing to be left out, he followed the other students out the door, through another door, and into the playground at the rear of the building.

There he was surprised to note that they weren’t the only class that had recess at that time. There was one group of ponies about his size, and another that were so big that they seemed more like small adults than children. The younger ones had pretty much monopolized the actual playground equipment, while the larger ones mostly stood about talking with each other. Miss Brighten stood with two other adults next to the entrance to the building, chatting and drinking some steaming beverage out of little cups.

Stasis watched with some enchantment as the little ponies swung and slipped and slid about on their apparatuses of fun. Changelings didn’t have playgrounds, or even play at all, at least not like this. His elder siblings had to do things like hunt, fish, scout, mentor their younger siblings, and perform the myriad other tasks Mother assigned them; what free time they had was often spent lounging about, gossiping about each other, telling and listening to stories. Younglings had fewer responsibilities and sometimes played a few simple games like tag and masquerades, a game where everyling dressed up like ponies and tried to guess who was who.

Mostly, though, younglings had contests of strength, skill, or just plain fought each other. Mother encouraged this; she said that it was better they be bruised and bitten as younglings than die as adults. Still, watching the colts and fillies playing in their own way, he wondered if Mother would let him make a swing or something when he got back. It didn’t seem right that ponies should have such things while his own family went without.

“Hey!”

Stasis jumped, his reverie broken. An orange face appeared in front of him.

“Isn’t this great? Even if you get sent back to the first grade, we’ll still get to play together at recess! I’m really excited.”

Stasis glared at the crazy pony. “I’m not going to get sent back to the first grade! In fact….” He thought for a moment. “In fact, Star Swirl was going to put me in the fifteenth grade until I reminded him how stupid that would make all of you look.”

Major stared at him in amazement. “Wow, that’s cool! Hey, do you want to play?”

Stasis eyed the colt suspiciously. “Play? Play what?”

The pony shrugged. “I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought that far. Hey, look!” Major pointed at a unicorn filly, one with a coat and mane of different shades of brown who was sitting off by herself on the grass and reading a book.

“It’s Abra! She’s, like, a huge Star Swirl fan. Let’s go say hi!” He trotted off quickly and, feeling rather awkward just standing there, Stasis soon followed.

Major walked up to the filly with an idiot grin on his face. “Heya Abra! Whatcha reading?” He looked down at her book, which had no pictures that Stasis could see.

“Don’t talk to me,” the unicorn replied coolly. She flipped a page with her magic. Still no pictures.

Major nodded. “That’s cool.” He turned to the changeling. “Hey, Stasis, this is my friend Abra. She’s super smart. I mean, I feel smart just being in the same class as her!”

“I’m not your friend,” the filly replied with more force this time, though she never took her eyes off the book.

If Major heard her, he didn’t show it. “Abra, this is my friend Stasis. He’s the new kid in class. We should play together!”

The unicorn, looking up from her book for the first time, saw Stasis and blinked.

“Stasis? You’re Star Swirl’s pupil, right?”

“Um…yes?” He didn’t really like the idea of being considered the old pony’s pupil; after all, he was the one tricking Star Swirl and touching his stuff and eating all his potaters, not the other way around. Still, being a grieving orphan was hard, thankless work, and hadn’t gotten him very far with Star; he would rather just be the old pony’s pupil instead.

The brown filly stood up and looked him up and down critically.

“Well, you don’t look so smart to me.”

Stasis stared at her for a moment. Was she calling him stupid? Was this pony girl calling him stupid?

She pushed her mane out of her eyes. “I mean, do you know the names of each of Star Swirl’s published spells? Or each of Princess Celestia’s students for the past thousand years?”

He stared at her. After a few moments, she frowned.

“What?”

“Why,” he asked slowly, “would I want to know stupid things like that anyway?”

“Stupid!” she gasped. “Those things aren’t stupid! You’re stupid!”

His eyes narrowed. “Yeah? Well, if I’m stupid, and I’m Star Swirl the Bearded’s personal protégé…what does that make you?”

She looked at him for a moment, her face contorting in anger. “You…you…stupid little kid!” She levitated her book above her head menacingly. Stasis took a step back in alarm.

“Abra Kadabra!” Miss Brighten appeared suddenly, her smile in the reverse position.

The brown filly’s eyes grew wide, and she set the book down hastily. “Miss Brighten, I…I wasn’t….”

Normally the abrupt appearance of an authority figure meant it was time for Stasis to flee, but in this instance he recognized a pristine opportunity. He gave the teacher big eyes and a quivering lip.

“She…she was going to hit me with that big, heavy book! I was so scared!” He looked away and sniffled.

The teacher glared down at the stunned filly. “Abra Kadabra, I never would have expected this from you. Trying to hurt a student half your age, and on his first day of class!” She shook her head, white mane swaying heavily with her disappointment.

Abra looked to be on the verge of tears. “But…but Miss Brighten, he said-”

Miss Brighten shook her hoof in the filly’s face. “No buts, Abra. Grab your book and come on; we’re going to see the principal.”

The brown filly followed Miss Brighten back inside, managing to look simultaneously both fearful and dejected.

Major looked stricken. “Oh, geeze…wow…okay, um, that didn’t go so well…Stasis? Are you alright?”

Bwahahahahahahaha!

“Stasis?”

Who’s stupid now, pony? Bwahahahahahaha!

An orange face appeared a few inches from his own. “Stasis? Why are you smiling all crazy like that? You’re kinda starting to creep me out.”

Stasis chuckled to himself. “Do you know any other friends we can make, Major? I like making friends!”

Major rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh…um…maybe we should do that later?” He quickly pointed behind Stasis. “Hey, why don’t we play on the swings instead? That’s fun!”

Stasis turned around excitedly, but every available swing still had a pony butt planted in it. He pointed this out.

Major was unperturbed. “Oh, I’m sure we can get them off!” he exclaimed, smiling brightly.

Stasis considered this. He would have thought this kind of thing would get them in trouble, but if Major thought it was okay….

Stasis let his strength well in his horn. He figured that if he pulled one of the earth ponies off at the apex of his swing, that pony would finally get to feel what it was like to be a pegasus.

Well, for a little while, anyway.

…But he was distracted by Major walking up to an actual pegasus who was flapping his little wings wildly, pushing himself much higher than the others.

“Hey! This is my friend Stasis’ first day at school, and he hasn’t had a chance to play on the swings yet. Do you think you could let him have a turn?”

The colt slowed down his swinging, an expression of deep contemplation on his face. “Well…okay. I wanted to play on the roundabout anyway.” Without even waiting to stop, the pegasus jumped off the swing, flittering gently to the ground and galloping over towards the other side of the playground.

Stasis let the magic sink back within himself. “…Oh,” he muttered.

“Come on, Stasis! I got one ready for you!” Major called out. His disappointment immediately forgotten, Stasis cantered over to the swing and claimed it with his backside. He looked at Major. Major looked at him.

“Um…is something wrong?” The orange pony finally asked.

“What do I do now?” Stasis replied. He couldn’t use his wings like the pegasus, and he wasn’t sure how the others were moving about so effortlessly without something to push against. He had thought maybe the swing would do something if he sat there long enough.

“Don’t they have swings where you come from?” Major paused and his eyes widened, as if a thought had exploded in his head. “Hey, where do you come from, anyway? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pony that looked like you before.”

“A faraway land without any swings,” Stasis replied sadly. “Do you know how this works? Maybe that other pony broke it.”

Major shook his head. “No, you have to…hey! Why don’t I just push you?”

Stasis nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. You should do that.”

Smiling widely, Major moved around behind Stasis and gave him a push. Holding tightly to the chains, Stasis went forward and back…forward and back…forward and back…higher and higher and higher, until he was swinging as high as the pegasus earlier. He fell from a great height, ground rushing to meet him, and suddenly he soared past it and up into the clear blue sky. He nearly chittered with joy, weightless for a moment before he began to fall again.

After a few minutes, Major, puffing slightly, said, “Hey, Stasis…I think they’re about to call us back inside, and I’m getting kinda tired. Maybe we can stop for right now?”

Stasis was about to refuse, but then he had an idea. One technique his family often used in battle was for a warrior to drop rapidly from the sky, forming a cone of magical energies before him that they would explode into the ground on contact; it was called ‘dive-bombing’ and was an effective shock tactic against unprepared foes. It also looked really, really fun. Stasis had begged his siblings to teach it to him, but they said that since he was a prince, he would never need to use such a dangerous attack.

…But his siblings weren’t here, were they? A mad grin spread across his face.

Looking about from his high perch, he saw one of the bigger fillies walking across the playground in front of him. Since he couldn’t use his wings, he had to time things perfectly….

She trotted across the grass casually, her expression mildly vacant, head probably filled with silly pony thoughts. She might have been going to talk to one of her friends on the opposite side of the playground, or perhaps she was just getting a little exercise.

It mattered not. Just as the filly crossed in front of him, he reached the apex of his swing and let go.

“Banzai!” he roared. The filly looked up and, for a brief instant, their eyes met. He smiled wider.

Shrieking, the pony bolted forward just as he crashed into the ground behind her. He cackled as he got to his hooves, uninjured.

“Are you crazy!” she yelled, keeping her distance. “You could have hit me!”

“Bwahahahahahaha!”

Running up, Major said, “Wow! That was really cool, Stasis, but you gotta be careful; you almost hit that girl.”

“Bwahahahahahaha!”

Major looked about to say something else when an adult voice cut across the playground.

“Alright! Recess is over, everypony! Time to get back to class!”

A few moans leapt across the playground, but Stasis practically skipped back to the classroom. There he noticed Abra in the middle of the front row, her expression and posture sullen save for her eyes, which seemed to be trying to stab him. He winked at her, resisting the urge to blow a kiss.

Back in in his seat and in very high spirits – tomorrow he was going to try spinning some of the ponies on the roundabout, he decided – Stasis was pleased to learn that the next subject was history. He had always enjoyed history back with his family in the forest; tales of wizards and warlocks, gods and mortals, brutal wars and legendary weapons. His favorites – everyling’s favorites, actually – were always those rare stories Mother would tell; even though you knew from the tone of her voice that she had told each of them a thousand times before, they were always told in the first person and in the matter-of-fact way that only comes with having lived through each of them.

He was somewhat confused by the ponies’ version of history, though. It started out as many of the best stories did, with the teacher describing the ancient world in broad, sweeping terms, sounding as excited as Stasis felt. But soon he found himself awash in a sea of names and dates and occurrences, each wave beating against him, seeking to drown the little changeling in knowledge.

But what knowledge it was! Even as he sought to keep his head above water, hooves paddling at the tumultuous sea with the sure strokes of intellect and attention, he noted how different everything sounded…how much crisper, clearer things were than in the stories he was used to. Gryphons: large, vicious, merciless predators better fled than fought. Or so he had always imagined.

As the teacher spoke, a different image came to mind: one of bloodthirsty fighters, yes, but ones who thirsted more for each other’s blood than for anyone else’s. And that was back before the princesses had arrived and begun taming their neighbors; now even the gryphons were usually more to be feared on the hoofball field as the battlefield.

And the Minotaurian Empire, so grand and grandiose in Stasis’ imagination, was described by the teacher with such words as ‘vestigial’ and ‘decadent;’ not a vast power to be admired, but a failed enterprise to be scorned, brought low by the mortality of its rulers, every new Imperator weaker than the last.

Changelings, at least, still an aura of mystery about them; the teacher barely mentioned them, but when she did it was with a tone of unease and haste, as if she wanted to move onto the next topic as soon as she could. This was good; everyling knew that ponies were afraid of the dark, and if knowledge was like a light, it was best to keep it as far from himself and his kind as possible. Stasis was a very terrifying creature, he knew, and he wanted to keep it that way.

As the teacher was discussing zebras and how they tied into the post-chaos era, Stasis was excited to have an epiphany of sorts. Knowledge, he realized, was in itself a form of power. Not as tasty as love, maybe, but then love only gave you energy for a short time, while knowledge lasted forever. In fact…if Mother had had a better grasp of history and geography, she surely never would have led her family into Equestria in the first place, and they would never have been so terribly defeated by the sun goddess. The idea that he, Stasis, might soon know more about something than Mother was exhilarating.

…Then there was math. An entire branch of pony education devoted to advanced counting techniques. As the teacher began an in-depth explanation of the proper method for determining the total number of apples in an orchard via ‘multiplication’ of the number of trees and the number of apples per tree, Stasis decided that not all areas of knowledge were created equal.

While the rest of the class was having fun with imaginary apples, Stasis instead decided to follow the example of the first minotaurian king and build his own city. Being unfamiliar with imaginary stone, however, Stasis decided to build his city out of imaginary sticks, leaves, and mud instead. Dubbing it ‘Stasisgrad,’ he proceeded to populate it with many thousands upon thousands of ponies, each of whom he charged a hefty fee for living in his grand metropolis.

Alas, being the kind of ponies to live in an imaginary city made out of imaginary sticks and leaves and mud, they were all quite poor and soon were unable to pay their taxes. Stasis felt his heart go out to these poor, poor ponies. He thought long and hard about how he could help them, but ultimately his hooves were tied; he had already been compelled to hire a small army of mercenary gryphons in order to extract the taxes from his subjects, and if he had no money with which to pay them…well. Everyone knows how ruthless and brutal they can be. Having no other choice, Stasis was forced to take on all the ponies as his indentured servants, putting them to work on his vast potater plantations until they were able to secure the money to pay off their ever-mounting debt.

Meanwhile, the windfall from potater sales was invested in constructing additional Stasis’ Drink-and-Ogle and Casino de Stasis establishments in which local mercenaries could spend their hard-earned money. Suddenly finding himself in possession of prodigious quantities of bits, Stasis felt it behooved him to –

“Stasis? Would you please come up and solve the problem, please?”

The teacher interrupted his future biopic just as things were taking an interesting turn. It seemed that being small and sitting in the rear of the classroom did not excuse him from actually having to participate, as the teacher would not rest until everypony’s mathematical ignorance was exposed for all the class to see. Seeing no other choice, Stasis made the long trek to the front of the room and levitated a piece of chalk with his magic, which seemed to startle the teacher. He observed the problem before him.

To a laypony, it might have been just a bunch of squiggly lines. To Stasis’ critical eye, however, it appeared a complex set of esoteric symbols, clearly possessing some hidden meaning. He stared at it, trying to piece together the order and meaning within the chaos.

Without warning, a cough cut through the silence, shattering his concentration just as he felt himself on the verge of breakthrough. He sighed; he would just have to start over. Resuming his task, he stared at the board with a concentration so intense, he half expected it to burst into flames at any moment.

“Stasis?”

Now it was the teacher who interrupted him. He sighed again and looked at her. He couldn’t work in these conditions.

She looked concerned as she said, “Please return to your seat, Stasis.”

The little changeling did as he was told, making his way past the snickers and Abra’s triumphant expression. But these smart ponies deserved their self-satisfaction; after all, how would things have gone two days before if they hadn’t had their ‘mathematics’ to protect them from his family? The part where Celestia rained down ‘multiplication’ from the heavens had been the most impressive aspect of the whole battle, he thought.

That ordeal finally over, the final subject of the day was a little different; each of the three subspecies of ponies – unicorns, pegasi, and boring old earth ponies – each group split up and went their separate ways. Whereas the earth ponies went out into the playground behind the school and the pegasi went up onto the roof, the unicorns (plus changeling) just stayed in the same class. As Miss Brighten was an earth pony, she left with that group, and a bunch of unicorns from the other grades filed into the classroom. A minute later they were followed by an older unicorn, grey and bony and wearing crescent spectacles high up on his muzzle. He looked much frailer and less imposing than Stasis’ own grumpy old wizard, but when he turned around to face the class his eyes were clear and sharp and quick, taking in the room with a glance, and Stasis sensed wariness and authority coming from the older pony.

The unicorn was silent for a few moments longer before he began smacking his lips, as if loosening them up for the tribulation of speaking. When he did speak, it was in a voice that somehow managed to be both creaky and commanding.

“Hmm…I’m afraid that as Mr. Popping succumbed to his injuries yesterday morning, and as no other replacement is forthcoming, I have no choice but to teach fifth period myself, possibly for the remainder of the semester.” Stasis heard some sniffles from the younger students, which made him uncomfortable. He hadn’t cried for his siblings who had died; he wondered if he was supposed to.

“For those of you who may not know me,” the pony said while looking Stasis dead in the eye, “both my name and position are Principle, and I will be addressed as such. Since this is our first day together, I will now be assessing your respective thaumaturgical strength and skill. Let us begin.”

Starting with the eldest students, Principle began working through the class swiftly and mercilessly. The older students could all levitate single, small objects proficiently, of course, but then they were told to maneuver three, four, five objects at a time, as well as perform a variety of simple transmutation, illusion, and conjuration spells. Most failed miserably; Abra was the only exception, easily performing all the spells the others had failed. If anything, this seemed to make Principle even more dour, and he continued to ask her to perform increasingly difficult spells until her horn fizzled and sparked and she collapsed on her desk in exhaustion. He then moved onto the younger group of students.

When Principle finally made it to the fillies and colts Stasis’ own age, most of them struggled to use any magic at all, their horns apparently only useful for headbutting contests and striking matches. It was only after every other student in the class had been tested that Principle finally turned his attention to Stasis. He looked the masqued changeling over critically for a few moments, his bloodless lips pressed tightly together, before finally using his magic to toss a marble onto Stasis’ desk with a small clack.

“Lift it.”

Finally, a task that did not involve squiggles. Stasis was almost excessively ready. The effort required to lift the marble was only slightly less than it took him to breathe.

Principle threw down a golf-ball next, and Stasis began twirling the two spheres about his head. He could hear a number of other students muttering.

A baseball hit the desk, and he lifted it. A softball next, and it followed suit; a football, and he scoffed as he lifted it into the air. The students were no longer whispering.

Principle’s lips seemed to purse together even tighter. “Now for a simple illusion spell. I want you to-“

But Stasis still had power to spare and an audience to entertain. He made the marble and golf-ball appear as the moon and sun, raising and setting them around his giant head with proficiency and style of which the goddesses could only dream. The football he clothed in a blue cape and hat with little bells which jingled every time it snapped its whip against the now-grey little baseball’s back. He wasn’t sure what to do with the softball, so he just gave it tiny fangs and blue eyes and wings which buzzed as it swooped about the room, diving and bouncing lightly off the heads of the gigantic children below. Some of the smaller ponies looked frightened, but most began to laugh and shout and stomp their hooves with approval.

Stasis felt his previous good spirits returning. He may not know how to multiply, that was true, but he could always learn; these ponies, though, would never be able to do the things he could do. He made eye contact with Abra, who had apparently regained her senses and wiped the drool from her mouth so that she could properly glare at him again.

All was right with the world once more. He gave her another wink.

The Principal did not seem to share his students’ enthusiasm. “Where did you learn to do that?” he asked sharply.

Stasis didn’t really think that was the right question. ‘What could an undeserving wretch such as I have done to earn a student such as this?’ seemed more appropriate. Even ‘Stasis, why you so awesome?’ would have sufficed. Given the question as it was, though, at least Fate had provided him with a convenient lie

“From Star Swirl,” he replied with an angelic smile. While it was true that the open-eye spell was pretty impressive, it was hardly the first illusion that Stasis had learned. He didn’t need an old geezer to teach him how to trick ponies.

The elderly equine leaned in and, with a slightly decayed smell filling his nostrils, Stasis noticed that Principle’s rheumy eyes were the same sharp blue as Star’s. All old ponies had the same color eyes, it seemed.

“Star Swirl the Bearded has better things to do than instruct children on how to rabble-rouse with magic,” Principle said slowly as he dispelled Stasis’ illusions with no apparent effort.

“It’s true,” some random pony said. “He’s Star Swirl’s ward! Star Swirl said so himself when he dropped Stasis off this morning.”

Principle continued to stare at Stasis until the little changeling began to grow uncomfortable. Perhaps he should have waited until there were no adults around to show off his magical talent? What if Principle thought to use the same dispel on Stasis himself? The old pony probably had poor eyesight like Star Swirl; maybe Stasis could explain away his true appearance as just a skin condition.

The Principle opened his mouth to speak, but there was a knock at the door and an explosion of motion as students grabbed their things and flooded into the hall. Giving the Principle an apologetic smile, Stasis threw on his saddlebags and made for freedom.

Out in front of the school, Stasis paused to catch his breath; the bulging saddlebags made fleeing difficult.

“Hey!”

Stasis jumped and then scowled at the orange earth pony that had appeared in front of him.

“Don’t startle me like that!” he shouted. Prey weren’t supposed to surprise predators; it was embarrassing.

“Oh. Sorry.” Major’s smile quickly returned. “Hey, do you think you could show me some of the tricks you did in magic class? Everypony’s talking about how you raised an army of baseball-changelings and used them to attack Principle Principle!”

Stasis chuckled at the memory and was about to brag when a thought occurred to him. “Wait.” He pointed at Major. “How do you know about that? I only did that a minute ago!”

“Gossip travels fast in school, Stasis,” Major replied sagely. He smiled. “And right now everypony’s gossiping about you! A lot of ponies think that you can’t do math because you’re dumb, but I don’t think that; I think you’re really smart, and I’m really lucky to have so many smart friends like you and Abra. And to tell you the truth….” Major looked around at the other students chatting in the schoolyard and lowered his voice. “I didn’t actually know how to do that problem either. Math is hard.”

Stasis frowned. “I only know how to do smart things, not stupid things. Stupid things like ‘multiplication’ are beneath me.”

Major looked suitably impressed. “Wow, that’s really cool. Do you think my mom will let multiplication be beneath me too?”

“You can try,” Stasis offered. In his experience, you never knew what work you could get out of until you tried.

“Awesome! I’ll…hey, look! It’s Miss Brighten! Hello, Miss Brighten!”

Startled, Stasis turned around to find that there was, in fact, a Miss Brighten right behind him. That an authority figure had followed him out into the open seemed ominous.

“Hello, Major,” the pony instructor said amiably before turning her attention to the little changeling. “Stasis would you please give this to Star Swirl when you get home?” She removed a sealed envelope from her saddlebags with her mouth and held it out to him.

He looked it over suspiciously before tentatively grasping it with his magic. “What is it?” he asked edgily. He didn’t much fancy the idea of his teacher and his wizard conspiring together like this.

The teacher smiled in what was probably meant to be a reassuring way. “Just a few remarks regarding your education. Don’t worry; you’re not in trouble or anything. You were very well-behaved in class today, Stasis,” she said before trotting back into the school. Her commendation made him wonder if he could have gotten away with being less well-behaved.

“Whoa! I wish I got a letter from the teacher!” Major declared as the door swung shut behind her.

Stasis ignored the orange pony while he inspected the envelope. He couldn’t see a good way to get at the contents without tearing it open.

“Major? Do you know how to read?” he asked as he fiddled with the envelope. It wouldn’t do him any good to get it open if he didn’t have somepony about who could decode it.

“Huh? Oh.” Major fidgeted a bit. “Well…yeah, I can read. But…I’m not very good at it.”

Stasis nodded absently; he probably wouldn’t need the world’s best reader, just a regular one would do. As he began to get frustrated with the recalcitrant stationery, he asked, “Major, do you know of a way to open this without anypony ever knowing?” As Stasis’ knowledge regarding envelopes and their functions was purely theoretical, he reasoned that an experienced pony like Major might know some techniques that he did not.

But the orange earth pony just looked confused. “Huh?”

“Do you know how to open this without anypony ever knowing?” Stasis repeated irritably, waving the offending rectangle in Major’s face.

Major shook his head. “Sorry, Stasis, I don’t know anything about that…and I don’t really think you’re supposed to open that letter anyway. It’s probably only supposed to be read by Star Swirl.”

Stasis rolled his eyes in exasperation. “That’s why I wanted to open it without anypony ever knowing. If I was allowed to read the letter, I wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble.” He decided that it was just as well that Major was a pony, because he wasn’t clever enough to be a very good changeling.

Major looked nonplussed. “Well…okay.” His expression perked up again. “But hey, what I wanted to ask you is if you wanted to come to the park and play with me and some of the other guys from school.”

Stasis sighed and put the envelope in his saddlebags; he would just have to remember not to give the letter to Star Swirl when he got home. He then looked at Major quizzically and asked, “Park? What park?”

Major pointed down the road, in the opposite direction of Star Swirl’s house. “Trottingham Central Park is just down the road that way. The changelings didn’t really attack it for some reason, so it’s still fine to play in.”

The changelings marched through forest and vale, crossed rivers and marshes, slew manticores and timberwolves to reach Trottingham, and then forgot to attack the patch of grass and trees in the middle of the city? Discord’s tooth, what an oversight! Stasis would be sure to bring this up next time Mother decided to ravage a town. ‘No park shall remain unmolested,’ would be their motto going forward. In fact, while they were at it, why not introduce a program of systematic destruction of all useless pony things? The adults could set fire to any shops carrying knick-knacks and novelty items while the younglings went to work defecating on every statue and monument they came across, like a flock of giant, blood-sucking pigeons –

“Stasis?” Major poked him.

The little changeling blinked. “Oh. Yeah. Um…play what?”

“We’re going to play Frisbee, I think.”

His brow furrowed. “Frisbee? What’s that?” None of his instructors in pony culture and activities had ever mentioned this ‘Frisbee.’

“It’s where you throw a little disk-plate-thing back and forth.” Major smiled. “It’s really fun! You should come and try it.”

Stasis considered this for a moment. A thought occurred to him, and he gave Major a sly look and asked, “Is the disk heavy? Is it sharpened?”

Major looked puzzled again. “Uh, no…it’s pretty light and dull. At least, all the Frisbees I’ve ever played with….”

Stasis felt his interest dwindle. Still, Frisbee had to more exciting than a day with Star Swirl. He nodded and said, “Okay, I guess I can play. You’ll have to show me the way.”

Major beamed. “Sure! And why don’t we stop by the pastry shop on the way there? I’m really, really, really hungry.”

Stasis shook his head. “I don’t have any money.”

He still remembered when his older brothers and sisters had explained to him that you needed money in order to get ponies in shops to give you things, which had seemed ridiculous at the time. What do the ponies do with all that money anyway? he had asked. You couldn’t eat it, you couldn’t play with it, you couldn’t…well, you couldn’t eat it or play with it anyway, and he hadn’t been sure what else you’d want to do it. He had only been able to imagine that everypony must have a cellar stuffed full of bags of bits.

In his family, his brother Coxa had an obsession with collecting teeth; back in their old home in the forest, he had an entire hollowed-out tree stuffed with changeling teeth, beaver teeth, rabbit teeth, squirrel teeth, chipmunk teeth, fruit bat teeth, regular bat teeth, fox teeth, hedgehog teeth, pony teeth…he even had an extremely pretty, big, long fang that he claimed was Mother’s tooth, and that she had given it to him as a gift years ago when it was knocked out in a fight with Father and before a new one grew in, but Stasis thought that was just something Coxa made up to call attention to his stupid collection. It was probably just a manticore tooth or something. Anyway, Stasis had figured all ponies must be sort of like Coxa, what with all their bits and all.

Luckily Keel – one of the least-stupid members of Stasis’ family – had been there to explain to Stasis that to ponies, bits were just another form of power; sort of like love, but small and hard and with a nasty metallic taste. That explained why they all wanted to get as many as they could, and why it formed the second member of Stasis’ triumvirate of power: magic, money, and now memory too. (Memory actually meant ‘knowledge,’ but Stasis really wanted all three words to alliterate).

Of course, his siblings had also told him that you could often just steal things if you really needed to, but it was often best to avoid that kind of thing. Stasis had stolen Coxa’s prized tooth one time, just to see what would happen. Coxa had cried and cried and cried, and when Mother found out what had happened….

Stasis shivered. How she had known it was him who took the tooth, he couldn’t imagine.

“Oh, that’s alright; I’ve got some extra allowance, so I can get both of us something,” said Major cheerfully.

Stasis blinked, his contemplation of economics and criminal justice broken. “Allowance? What’s that?” he asked.

“It’s money your parents give you every week so you can buy stuff.” Major’s expression turned quizzical. “Wait…is Star Swirl your dad or something? I heard one of the other kids say you were probably illegitimate, but I don’t really know what that means.”

Stasis didn’t know what that meant either, but he wouldn’t stand for the orange pony’s insult. “Star Swirl is not my father,” he replied firmly. “He’s just an old wizard who teaches me stuff.” And forced him do stupid chores around the house every day, but Major didn’t need to know about that part.

“Oh.” Major frowned slightly. “So…who are your parents, anyway? Do they know that you’re hanging out with Star Swirl? I think my mom would get onto me if some stranger was dropping me off at school, even if he were a super-famous stranger.”

Stasis figured he should probably change the subject. “So what do you have to do to earn an allowance?” he asked.

Major was smiling again instantly; it seemed to be a habit with him. “Oh, nothing! I get it pretty much no matter what. Well…unless I get in trouble. There was this one time, this one kid in school asked me for my money, and I gave it to him, and then I got in big trouble with Mom and I didn’t get any more allowance for another two weeks. She said that I would probably just blow it all on my friends anyway.” Major paused and looked suddenly contemplative, as if something had just occurred to him.

Wishing to severe that particular train of thought, Stasis quickly said, “You really earn the money just by existing? You breathe, and you get paid for it?” The whole thing sounded like some kind of scam. Stasis liked it.

Previous thought forgotten, Major nodded happily. “Yep! Well….” He looked thoughtful again. “My dad says it’s supposed to teach me ‘monetary responsibility.’ I like my dad, but sometimes it seems like he’s speaking Zebra or something. Does that ever happen with your dad?”

“You shouldn’t question free money,” Stasis said, ignoring the question. He personally never questioned free things, or things he took for free.

Major nodded. “That sounds smart. But hey, we should probably get going; we have to stop by the pastry shop on the way to the park, and the game’s probably already started.” He paused. “Wait. Did you say you wanted to go? You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I don’t have to go either, I guess, except to the pastry shop, because I’m really really really hungry and Mom’s sandwiches aren’t very good.” He looked about and whispered, “If she asks, though, tell her I love her sandwiches. That’s what Dad told me to say whenever it’s Mom’s turn to cook, because if she believes you then it makes her happy.”

Stasis decided that Major was the weirdest pony ever. And Stasis already knew a pony who had an enormous beard and wore clothes all the time and had tiny little bells on his hat that jingled when he walked. Still, the little changeling wasn’t about to turn up the chance for a meal that didn’t involve nasty chlorophyll. He tucked the concept of ‘allowance’ away for later, to be brought up with Star Swirl at an opportune time, and then pretended to think. After a moment he nodded and said, “Okay. I’ll let you buy me something from the pastry shop, and then we can go to the park and play.”

Major grinned. “Great! Let’s go!” The orange pony took off at a brisk trot, but Stasis had to call to him to slow down; the little changeling’s saddlebags hadn’t gotten any lighter since that morning.

As they walked along, Stasis saw another pair of golden guards patrolling the city, and grew suddenly fearful again. He thought of just going back to the safety of the old pony’s house, but as he considered this, the utter obliviousness of his orange companion to any possible danger somehow gave him comfort. Stasis decided to keep going, but he still made sure that he kept the larger colt between him and the soldiers. That way, if they wanted to get to Stasis they would have to go through Major first.

It wasn’t long before the two of them arrived at a relatively small, multicolored building with a sign in the shape of a large muffin. Stasis appreciated this thoughtful gesture for those changelings who couldn’t read.

Approaching his first taste of consumerism with all courage, Stasis took Major’s proffered bits, which were inedible, and exchanged them for several doughnuts, which were edible. He learned many things inside the pony shop, such as that pastries were much too dry and sweet for his taste, but still far superior to celery. He also learned that shop owners acted very kind and were more than willing to explain about different foods and prices and things as long as they thought you were going to pay them. (That ponies were willing to be subservient for even the possibility of bits was an important point, Stasis thought.) Unfortunately, their visit to the shop was cut short when Stasis learned that public restrooms are typically separated by gender, and the consequences of choosing wrong can be dire.

Having now filled himself fit to burst with sugar, starch, and knowledge, he followed the orange pony to the park. Parks were, just as Stasis had been told, essentially small simulacrums of the real world, but minus the poison joke, hydras, manticores, timberwolves, dragons, and crazed pedophilic warlocks that made the real world so exciting. Still, the feel of the low-cut grass underhoof gave Stasis a satisfying feeling of dominance. He decided that he was going to make a park when he got home, after he built a swing and before he went to work on Stasisgrad.

Near the center of the park there was a small group of ponies, a few younger than Major but all older than Stasis, already occupied throwing about a small red disk. Major held up a hoof and shouted.

“Hey, guys! It’s me and Stasis, the new guy at school! You remember him?”

A few of the ponies said hi, but others just muttered to each other. One of them turned to another and said, “Pierce, he’s too young to play. He’ll slow the whole game down.”

The pony named Pierce, an azure earth pony with a stylized eye for a cutie-mark, gave Stasis a dismissive look.

“He’s right, Major. He’s too small. Maybe he can play with the kids over there,” he said, gesturing towards a group of fillies who were jumping over a rope again and again and again.

Stasis had to admit, the rope-jumping did look quite enticing. Still, he didn’t appreciate being so casually dismissed, and was about to protest when Major interrupted him.

With a whining tone the orange pony said, “Aw, come on, Pierce! He can play. Just give him a chance.”

Pierce seemed to consider this a few moments before shrugging and then nodding to the pony who had the disk clenched in his teeth. That one turned so that his body was at right angles to Stasis; he then jumped up in the air, twisting his body and snapping his head at the same time, sending the Frisbee straight at Stasis at high speed. The changeling tried to catch it in his mouth, but he’d hardly had to use that particular orifice for anything but talking and biting and gnawing since he’d come into his magic. The disk bounced off his cheek and hit the ground behind him.

“You’re supposed to catch it with your mouth, not your face!” somepony who probably thought he was really clever called out.

Pierce, however, just said, “We’ll let him play, but you’ll need to help him, Major. Stand behind him and try to catch any he misses so that the game doesn’t slow down too much.”

“Yes Sir!” the orange pony replied. Major ran around behind Stasis, snatched up the disk, and held it out to Stasis. The changeling took it and, trying to imitate the motion of the other pony, he jumped, twisted, snapped, and let go. The disk went wide to the left and fell far short.

“Come on, dude!” called out somepony who probably thought that playing Frisbee when you were only six or possibly seven years old was really easy. “Whip that body! You gotta whip it!”

I’m going to whip something, you –

But the Frisbee was flying towards him again, and again Stasis tried to catch it, and again he failed spectacularly. Major had to collect yet another missed Frisbee so that Stasis would be able to botch another throw. This continued for quite a while, with Stasis finally catching a few despite the occasional heckle from the others. The colts – of which there were seven besides him and Major, he noted – mostly didn’t seem to want him there, but they all obeyed Pierce with no more than an occasional mutter.

Suddenly the Frisbee was spinning his way, cutting silently through the air a good bit above mouth-level. Stasis decided it was time to show these ponies what he could really do. He dropped low to the ground, tensing his haunches, and then gave a grand leap towards the heavens. Like a mighty eagle he soared, limbs outstretched, the wind tousling his mane. He saw the Frisbee coming on fast, curving towards him, and he twisted in midair, opening his mouth wide to catch it. And catch it he did, the small flying disk striking him dead in the throat at high speed.

Like a mighty meteor he fell, limbs flailing, grass rushing forward to catch him. Luckily his face was there to break his fall as he crashed in a coughing heap, spitting dirt out of his mouth. The sound of pony laughter reached his ears.

Major tapped his shoulder, expression and tone concerned. “Hey, are you alright, Stasis? That looked like it hurt!”

Stasis waved off his pony companion with one hoof, the other rubbing at his poor gullet. He felt blood rushing to his face to mix with his embarrassment, and he grew angry. Picking up the Frisbee again, he threw it at one of the ponies as hard as he could. This time it hooked to the right, though he at least got the distance right.

The colt who went to pick it up gave Stasis a menacing look.

“Look, maybe you should play with kids your own age, huh? I mean, you can’t catch, you can’t throw, and you pretty much just suck at Frisbee in general.”

Stasis bit back a hiss, instead opening his mouth for a reply involving a certain pony’s parentage when Pierce interrupted him.

“Hey!” the blue unicorn barked. “Watch yourself, Cleave. That’s not how we talk around here.”

Cleave just snorted dismissively. He picked up the Frisbee in his mouth and, in one smooth motion, whipped it at Stasis.

…Or not. It was an excellent throw, curving just right so that it would reach its apex high over Stasis’ head before crashing into the ground behind him.

This Stasis saw in a glance. This, Stasis decided, would not stand. He focused on the Frisbee, let his power course through his horn, and the disk stopped dead above the changeling’s head.

“Hey!” shouted the colt named Cleave – an earth pony, Stasis noted. “That’s not fair! No mag-“

The pony’s de trop comments were interrupted by a swift disk between the eyes.

Stasis pointed his ears forward and lifted a hoof up to one of them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

Another random, easily forgettable colt – a pegasus this time – stepped forward and said, “He was saying that magic isn’t-“

Thunk. The pony went cross-eyed and stumbled.

Stasis looked back at Major, whose eyes were shifting back and forth between Stasis and the Frisbee that was hovering menacingly over the other ponies, his mouth forming an o.

“Nopony seems to be finishing their sentences today,” Stasis said conversationally, shrugging. “How strange.”

“Hey!” shouted Pierce. “You think it’s funny to beat up on other ponies?”

Stasis actually thought it was very funny to beat up on ponies, and right now he felt quite in need of some comic relief. Alas, but Pierce didn’t seem to have a very good sense of humor.

“But I was just throwing them the Frisbee,” Stasis replied with all innocence. “Maybe they should go play with kids their own age?” He smiled. “I mean, they can’t catch, they can’t throw, and they pretty much just suck at Frisbee in general.”

Stasis could feel Pierce begin to grow angry. “I know that you’re new around here,” the azure pony began, “so I’ll explain the rules to you: no flying. No magic. And no hitting.”

Stasis didn’t like rules. He saw how the other ponies were all looking at Pierce, looking at him for leadership, and Stasis decided that if there were going to be rules, he’d rather be the one who made them.

He took a step forward.

“I think we should have new rules,” he offered. “I think everypony should be able to play the game the best they can, without handicaps.”

Pierce shook his head. “That’s not fair when some ponies can fly or use magic and others can’t. That’s why we play the earth pony way: mouths and hooves only.” He gave Stasis a hard look. “If you don’t like it, don’t play.”

“Yeah, it’s true, we all sorta of agreed about the whole no-wings-no-magic thing when we first started playing here in the park. It just made sense because – “

“Quiet, Major!” Stasis snapped, not taking his eyes off of Pierce.

“Oh…okay.”

Stasis narrowed his gaze at his foe. “You know what’s really not fair, Pierce? It’s not fair that earth ponies like you weren’t born as pegasi or unicorns or alicorns or dragons or changelings or…or…or any of the other thousand thousand things that are better than earth ponies! Maybe what’s really not fair is that I have to make myself suck just because they do.” He bopped one of the sucky ponies on the nose with the Frisbee to illustrate his point.

“That’s…that’s….” Pierce shook his head again, though this time he seemed to be collecting himself. “Okay. That’s enough. Time for you to go, Stasis.”

Stasis eyed the colts facing him. All of them seemed content to stand back and let Pierce deal with things. That worked just fine for the little changeling; he had a new game in mind. He lowered his head, pointing his small horn at the blue earth pony and pawed the ground with one hoof.

“Why don’t you make me?” he said. He had wanted to say something really epic and witty to initiate the confrontation, but nothing came to mind. When he finished playing Frisbee with Pierce, he decided that he would spend some time thinking up little catchphrases and clever remarks he could shout before he beat somepony up.

“Don’t be childish, Stasis. Just –”

The Frisbee popped the unicorn right in the cutie-mark, and Pierce jumped. For a few moments he just stared at Stasis, as if he couldn’t wrap his mind around what had just happened

“Are you out of your mind?”

Stasis smiled wide. The ponies may not have been able to see his fangs through his masque, but they were there. They were there.

“You are. You’re mad. If –“

Pop. Pierce jumped again, and this time Stasis could sense the large colt beginning to grow very angry indeed.

“That’s enough. Hit me again, you little devil, and I’ll –“

Pop. Pierce jerked forward. He narrowed his eyes, tossed his mane, gave an angry snort, and charged.

When Stasis had first grown old enough for speech, Mother had declared to the entire family that when it came to quarrels with siblings, he would get no more protection than any other of her children: that is to say, as long as no serious harm was done, she would not interfere.

“To wean you from your weakness,” she had explained to him as she lay reposed in her nest. “I protected you to my utmost when you grew quietly within me, and I did not yet know what you were. I protected you when you slumbered still in your egg, and I warmed you with my own flesh even as I warm your siblings now. I protected you when you were yet a hatchling, your shining sunflower eyes finally open to the world and its manifold dangers. I shall continue to share my very love and strength with you for as long as you are with me, even as I am blood-bound to do for all those born of my body, but henceforth you must learn to protect your own self. We shall not remain together forever; nor for very long at all, I fear.”

Stasis hadn’t really understood what she meant then; all he had known was that she frightened him, and that any of his siblings that took the opportunity to pick on him were going to get their wings plucked off and their mouths stuffed with dirt the moment he grew up.

Now, though, the fights he’d gotten into back with his family didn’t seem quite as bad as they had at the time. Pierce was big and strong, that was true, but he had no fangs, or magic, or wings, and he was just a pony, not a fierce warrior like Stasis and his siblings. Indeed, for all of Mother’s talk of ‘protection,’ it wasn’t going to be Stasis who needed protection in this fight. He wondered what Mother would think of that.

Dashing out of the way of the onrushing pony, he was able to both run and use the Frisbee to smack his prey across one cheek and then the other. Pierce paused for a bare moment before resuming the chase, his expression dangerous.

“Stop that right now, Stasis! This isn’t funny!”

Stasis cackled gleefully as he pranced away from his lumbering pursuer. Darting about in a wide circle around Pierce, he dodged and weaved around the surrounding colts like a bee amongst summer flowers, ready to take any nectar which pleased him and sting all who disapproved. When one torpid daisy looked about to snag him, he bopped the offending blossom right in the muzzle with the Frisbee, brooking no interference in this glorious battle.

Even as Stasis flew about, however, Pierce dashed to and fro, trying to cut the little bee off, much like a cunning spider weaving his web. Perhaps against an ordinary bee, this might have worked. Perhaps an ordinary bee might have faltered, only to be caught and consumed, yet one more casualty in the great chain of life.

But Stasis was no ordinary bee.

Again and again and again he stung the spider, his stinger zipping about, striking face, neck, flank, belly, hindquarters. The bumbling arachnid grew slower and slower, sides heaving and coat beginning to sheen with sweat as he galloped.

“Stasis!” He shouted in his strange spider tongue. “I swear, if you hit me one more time –“

The bee jammed his stinger in his foe’s mouth. Spiders weren’t supposed to talk.

Around and around they ran, the bee’s limbs, honed and sculpted in that greatest of flower fields which was the forest, easily kept him a pace ahead of the spider’s long, gangly limbs. The spider spit the stinger out after a while, which was convenient as it allowed the bee to begin stinging him again.

“Look, look, guys…” said a familiar orange flower as he stepped into the middle of the battleground. “Why don’t we just –“ The flower ducked an oncoming stinger. “Why don’t we just…um…uh…talk this out? Let’s just stop fighting and –“

“To the death!” shouted the bee, laughing madly, all thoughts of peace and mercy drowned in bloodlust. Sensing his foe’s exhaustion, the bee decided that it was time to strike the final blow. He bolted swiftly between the orange flower’s legs, using him as a living shield against his pursuer.

As the spider stumbled around the flower, the bee tackled him in the legs, hard. The spider crashed onto his face and just lay there, panting. The bee began stinging his foe’s prone body.

“Bwahahahahahahaha!” buzzed the mighty bee. “I am the best Frisbee player ever!”

The flowers, who had been appropriately quiet throughout the entire encounter, looked at each other with grim expressions and then began advancing on the bee in a most un-vegetative way.

“Stasis!” called out a gruff voice from behind, dispelling the little bee’s joy.

“Yes?” said the bee with the innocence of a thousand hatchlings. Turning about, he saw what he had feared: the bee’s greatest enemy, a hairy old bear towering above him. He put on a strained smile.

The bear raised a bushy eyebrow. “Oh? Glad to see me, huh? That’s good, lad. That’s real good. I’ve been looking for you for over two hours, and let me say, I’m thrilled to see you.”

The bear didn’t look thrilled to see the bee. The bee was beginning to think he should buzz off while he had the chance.

“I know what you’re thinking, lad,” growled the bear. “You’re thinking, ‘Oh, Star Swirl’s been looking all over town for me, now he’s going to forget all about how I just disappeared without telling anypony where I was going and how I just beat up the Chief Constable’s son because he’s just so happy to see me!’” The bear leaned down, his face inches from the bee’s. “Think again, lad. Think. Again.”

“I didn’t beat up anypony!” the bee buzzed automatically. The bear looked over the bee’s shoulder suggestively, and that was when the bee remembered that he was still stinging the spider’s now-purple rump. Whoops.

“Lad, you are in a whole heap of trouble.”

Stasis didn’t feel like a mighty bee anymore. He decided that now was as good a time as any to overcome his fear of teleportation and, turning about, he began to flee.

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake….”

The little changeling had hardly fled at all when the world turned blue and he suddenly found himself the chewy center of a magical sphere floating a few paces off the ground. He began paddling his legs furiously, trying to swim away from his captor, but to no avail; all he succeeded in doing was giving himself torque so that now he was spinning around inside his bubble. As he turned, a big, hairy, upside-down thundercloud came into view.

“Lad?” rumbled the thundercloud ominously. “I’m so upset with you right now, I’m afraid that if I say anything, it’ll be something I’ll regret. So I think it’s best if we’re both quiet until we get home.”

Stasis felt his bubble begin to move, following after the departing wizard. As he rotated, he saw the other ponies come back into view. Several were helping Pierce to his hooves, and the rest were glaring at him. Well, except for Major, who seemed to be in a mild state of shock. With no way to escape, Stasis just waved sadly to his companion.

Comments

[Zephyrus Scary]

The three "M"s of power, otherwise known as "MMM." Fitting. So very fitting!

[Sable Tails]

1940977
I believe Star Swirl's age will be addressed in chapter five (which will hopefully be done in the next few days). A decent amount of world-building and the like occurs in chapter five as well. But yes, there is a rough timeline; as I currently envision it, Prodigy takes place over seventeen hundred years prior to the events of the show. I apologize that the story doesn't make that initially clear; I had initially wanted to make Trottingham as it would appear in the far past, but the show itself includes: royal guard armor and weaponry that would have looked normal on an ancient Grecian hoplite. A city that looks like it came from the western US in the 1800's or so. Scrolls. Hardcover books. Airships. A city that looks like perhaps early 1900's New York. Nobility that would have fit into Victorian England. A hydroelectric dam.
Frankly, I wasn't sure what old-timey Equestria would look like, so I did essentially what the writers of the show did: that is, whatever's convenient. I cut out all the modern technology, but left the culture (at least of Equestria) relatively akin to what it is in the show. No way in heck I was writing a book all in thee's and thou's and whatnot. (Sorry, Luna.)
And there is very much a reason why I set the book so far in the past: If I have the time, I would like to write a sequel(s) to this book once it's finished, and that requires the story to begin in ye-olden days of yore.
Hope that answers your question? (If I had a prize for 'first question asked,' I would give it to you.)

[AppleTank]

1941088
Yes. Thanks for the clarification.

[FashionablyHospitable]

Wait, he can't read? Oooooh boy.

[FashionablyHospitable]

Well, you've earned an upthumb.

I don't upthumb easily. But this has earned it, with good characterization in particular.

And Stasis is in for it.

[Alondro]

1928956 You forgot the 4th M: Molestia.

[EverfreeSparkle]

Stasis chuckled to himself. “Do you know any other friends we can make, Major? I like making friends!”

I think he's doing it wrong...

[Heidao]

essentially small simulacrums of the real world, but minus the poison joke, hydras, manticores, timberwolves, dragons, and crazed pedophilic warlocks that made the real world so exciting.

Why is that a thing here, it's so oddly specific

[Always Breakfast]

pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, liquid glue, stick glue, construction paper, poster paper, lined paper, blank paper, graph paper, scissors, paper clips, highlighters, colored markers, permanent markers, staplers, staples, and all the other things a studious little pony needs

This barely seems appropriate for modern Equestria, much less feudal Equestria right after Discord's rampage.

[Emperor]

This is early Equestria, right? A lot of the technology seems anachronistic to what would be an Equestria at least a thousand years younger than canon, at least from the sounds of Stasis' school. It'd be like if we had 1920s schoolhouses in 100 A.D., complete with glue, construction paper, and a sextant in every person's schoolkit.

Anyways, Stasis was doing oh so good, then he got cocky at the end and now he'll doubtlessly have spurned what could have been friends otherwise. In the process, he's probably also lost Major as a friend, and now he'll have to return to class tomorrow to a school full of ponies hostile to him. Looks like it's time to play with the foals his own age in the playground.

Stasis' mindset continues to be highly amusing. In some senses he's pretty mature, but in others he's such an adorable precarious tyke, such as his daydreaming about the metropolis of Stasisgrad while in math class.

[JazzyWaffles]

This particular custom – yet another thing which his pony training had not prepared him for – was perhaps the most ridiculous yet. What was the point of ‘making’ one’s bed when you were just going to mess it up again that night? Who was he trying to impress?

OH MY GOD YES
Stasis, my spirit animal.

[Teraunce]

Stasis felt his bubble begin to move, following after the departing wizard. As he rotated, he saw the other ponies come back into view. Several were helping Pierce to his hooves, and the rest were glaring at him. Well, except for Major, who seemed to be in a mild state of shock. With no way to escape, Stasis just waved sadly to his companion.

Welp there's no way you got the Friendship victory in that Mortal Kombat.