Cason Changewing has a mission; to steal the Elements of Harmony. His master will not accept failure, but Cason runs into some problems: ten of them, three princesses, an old enemy, and six chosen ponies. Time is of the essence.
In an alternate universe where the Tree of Harmony doesn't exist. Cason Changewing has a criminal record. He has more enemies than friends, but is it his fault? No. It's his master's fault for the missions he gets sent on. Not that Cason complains. But one mission will test his abilities beyond his wildest dreams. He must steal the Elements of Harmony. He has eleven problems with this. Three princesses, six chosen bearers, an old enemy, and the need for a good pair of wings. He has to make do with minimal magic. Will he succeed? For him, failure will mean his life.
I slipped quietly along the roof of the Canterlot castle, silently wishing for my powers to return fully. As I was, the shadows fought against my control as the Princess of the night foolishly tried to control them. I barely stifled a laugh at the young princess trying to control what I was born to do.
I knew it was foolish of me to attempt so soon, but the longer I waited the less my work would accomplish. My master would grow even more impatient as time went on, and ponies would die.
I smiled as I reached the window containing my target: the invaluable Jewelry that would save my rump from my master's wrath.
All of the sudden I felt my shadowy cover dissipate. I silently cursed myself for not checking for spells that remove camouflage. My guess is that the Princess herself would be coming up to examine who had broken their magic barrier, but I did not want to wait to find out, and neither did the guards.
"Halt, Thief!" A stallion shouted. my curses were not silent this time.
I ran along the roof, but the guards heard the soldier"s shout. Three Pegusi flew onto the roof in front of me, aiming their spears at me threateningly. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my throat, making me sound mad, but I might have been. The shadows moved around, coating their faces in darkness. They desperately tried to fan it with their wings, but shadows could not be moved that way.
I laughed at the original guard, who also was desperately attempting to clear his thin mask of shadows. I knew they would be blind until magic cleared their eyes.
I cursed myself for my horrendous luck as a unicorn teleported onto the roof.
"In the name of the Celestial Sisters, I place you under arrest." The stallion in a commanding voice. In a flash of his horn I felt my shadow blindfolds lift off of the guards' faces.
"Thank you, Captain Armor." One of the Pegusi thanked as they circled around me.
"Yes, Armor, Thank you." I said sarcastically. "I'm sorry I can't stay, my master would be disappointed if I delayed."
"And who would this 'master' be?" Captain Armor demanded.
I did not reply, but merely stood and smirked at him with the maddest looking grin I could muster. Then I heard the faint flap of wings, I guessed belonging to the night Princess by the way the shadows moved. I lowered my cloak hood in response.
"CAPTAIN ARMOR? WHO BE THIS?" Princess Luna demanded.
"We found him trying to make of with the Elements, Ma'am." Captain Armor responded.
"WHO ART THOU?" Luna asked as she approached me. I turned so I was facing her.
"Someone from your past, a bleak time. Someone you trusted and hated." I replied.
Luna's face paled and she stepped backwards. "Who are you?" She asked with a trembling voice, a subconscious reaction.
"I'm sorry." I whispered, and ripples of energy spread across the roof top, causing all of the ponies to fly backwards. I turned and ran, leaping off of the roof.
I wished for a good pair of wings as I fell, but I had the next best thing: my cape. I spread it out and it caught in the wind, letting me soar above the rooftops of Equestria. It was a swift flight, due to the winds that had been conveniently scheduled that day. I didn't need to worry about the guards, they were more worried about the princess that was surely paralyzed with fear. Celestia however would not forgive me for frightening her sister. She'd call the "Shadow Hunter", and she would never let me rest. The disadvantage of riding the winds is that there are no brakes. I didn't mind, though, I had no idea where to hide anyway. A small village passed by beneath me, and then a forest spawned below. Just as I began to fear it would take magic to stop me, the breeze ceased as though it had been executed. I fell faster than a rock, and a slightly girlish scream may have emitted from my throat, but I will admit to nothing. I knew I was close to the edge, though. I might be able to crawl out. I crashed through the upper branches of trees, the tiny branches clinging and slicing my skin. I smashed into a bough thicker than I was, but I fell so quickly that it snapped on impact. I felt more than wood crack, and the ground wasn't anymore forgiving. I struggled to remain conscious as blood poured from various cuts. I fought to stand, but gave up after the pain of several broken bones stopped me. My hoof was probably shattered, my ribs were cracked and broken, and I knew I had a concussion. My cloak was enchanted, however, and was perfectly fine. Stupid irony.
A low growl came from behind me, and somehow I conquered the physical obstacles enough to turn over and find a pack of drooling timberwolves only a few yards away. "Killed by timberwolves. Master would be disappointed." I thought as I closed my eyes. "Take that, ya Varmit!" I heard a country accent order as the sound of hooves contacting with wood hit my ears. I opened my eyes to see an orange mare battling the pack. "Run." I tried to say, but a fit of coughing interrupted me, and the shaking caused excruciating pain. A bit of blood came out of my mouth. Ponies here would find timberwolves a formidable enemy, I would never forgive myself if she died because of me. I could tell she helped bare Harmony, she glowed with the shard of Honesty. She made surprisingly quick work of the wooden pests, and I must say, I was impressed. The defeat of the wolves did nothing to help my current condition, however. I would still bleed out. "You okay, sugar cube?" the mare asked as she walked towards me. "What happened? Who are ya?" Sadly, the mare didn't get a reply. The last thing I saw was two earth ponies running at me, one was a filly, and the other was a large, red stallion.
I woke up in a white bed in a room so white it made my eyes hurt. A steady beeping sound came from beside me.
Beep--beep--beep--beep--beep--beep
I tensed up. I was in a hospital.
Beep--beep-beepbeepbeepbeepbeep
The urgent sounding beeps increased with my heart rate. I needed to get out, the princesses would find me soon. As I started to remove the IV in my foreleg, a nurse burst into the room. The white unicorn's face was twisted with worry. "Please, sir, you're alright. Don't touch that, please." She said as she calmed down and began to reconnect all the wires I had taken off. "You had some nasty injuries, but our unicorns struggled to do anything. I'm guessing you've cast quite a few protection spells on yourself, right? we couldn't even take your cloak off."
"Something like that." I said. I just wanted her to leave so that I could make my hasty retreat. "how long have I been here?" "Three days.There's some ponies outside waiting to see you. I'll send them in." the nurse left the room, and my heart dropped. The princesses must have found me. I prepared to do some swift fighting to escape, but instead of guards, I was assaulted by six mares and three fillies. The red stallion from the forest followed behind them.
"hi, sugar cube. Ya gave us quite a scare, we weren't sure if ya were gonna make it." The orange mare said. Honestly glowed from her so badly I could barely keep a straight face. "I'm AppleJack, this 'ere is Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and my brother and sister AppleBloom and Big Macintosh. Big Mac for short." I turned my gave to Big Mac. "Which war?"
He looked at me with a shocked look. "Saddle Arabia. Captain of 132nd. You?"
"I was at Saddle Arabia. I was a Sargent in the 415. We might have fought beside each other." I replied. It was only a partial lie, I had fought with the 415, I just kind of assumed the position. No pony questioned.
"You were in a war?" Apple Bloom asked.
Big Mac turned even redder. "Eeyup."
"How could you tell?" Twilight asked.
"Soldier thing." I replied. "When can I get out?"
"Soon. You'll have to find somewhere to stay, though. You're going to need some rest after you fell into the Everfree. Using your cloak to glide is quite genius. Anyway, we need some information. Like, your name, age, occupation, current residence, Cutie Mark." Twilight replied. "For the records."
"I'm kind of a wonderer." I replied. I was relieved to know that the princesses hadn't found me. "My name's Cason. Cason Changewing. I'm 23."
"So name: Cason Changewing. Age: 23. Occupation: wonderer. Residence: None. what about Cutie Mark?" She asked. A magic checklist levitated in front of her face.
I blushed. "Can I stand up?"
"Uh... sure. You should be as good as new." Twilight said.
I unhooked myself and stood to my hooves. My magical aura briefly surrounded the back of my cape, and the corner curled up enough to expose My flank. A gasp came from every mouth in the room.
"You're a...a..." Scootaloo gasped.
"BLANK FLANK!"
The path to Tartarus is paved with good intentions
I had foolishly hoped that by leaving the hospital my nerves would be spared. This, however, was far from the truth. As soon as I stepped out the door, I was assaulted by the worst fate I ever could have received: a small mob of good-doers.
"Cason!" Three little fillies' voices cried. My ears smacked flat against my head as I tried to find an escape, but there was none in sight. More of my visitors crowded around me, and I for once was honestly afraid.
"Cason, we thought you'd like a nice, quiet place to relax. Sweetie Belle and I figured my boutique would be the best place for that." Rarity said.
"A place o' business? Ya'll crazy! What he really needs is ta stay out on the farm!" AppleJack interjected. "That'd be the most relaxin'"
"Or with me!" Pinkie pie cried. The crowd of ponies simultaneously turned to look at her. She chuckled. "Or not."
"Cason should stay with me so that I can keep an eye on his health." Twilight argued. "I do believe that I am the most adept at healing spells."
"Pfhh. Boring!" Rainbow Dash complained. "He needs to stay with me! That way, he can show me his gliding tricks, and I can help him with them. Plus, it won't be boring."
"Uhh, Rainbow?" Spike piped up. "Your house is made out of clouds."
"Oh." Rainbow stated simply and looked down in defeat.
"So who ya gonna stay with?" Applebloom demanded. I scanned the faces of everypony there, almost all leaned forward in excitement. I cringed, I wasn't good at this kind of thing. Finally I realized the answer was, literally, cowering behind Rarity.
"Fluttershy." I stated. She jumped at the mention of her own name. After a second or two, she gently nodded. Murmurs of consent spread throughout the group. Already I longed to lay down and go to sleep, but I doubted I could untangle myself from the curious crowd anytime soon. Fortunately, I was wrong.
"Cason's had a long day, girls. Maybe Fluttershy should take him home now." Twilight pointed out. "You look tired." I nodded my thanks.
"Oh, of course." Fluttershy's timid voice agreed. "My cottage is down the road that way." She pointed. I followed her, but then the rest of the crowd did too.
"Look, guys." I said after we'd crossed the road, and they still flocked behind. "I love to spend time with all of you, but I am really tired. I just want to get some rest. Please, give us a little space."
"Oh, uh... right."
"Of course..."
"Whatever you say..."
The voices overlapped as they scattered, slowly, and went their separate ways. I sighed with relief when at last Fluttershy and I were alone. She looked at me with an understanding gaze before beginning to walk again. I followed behind, but soon realized that I was never going to make the trek to her house. We'd barely left the town before my limp slowed us to a near crawl, and the only sound to be heard was that of my labored breathing.
"Maybe you should lean on me." The small Pegasus suggested. I looked at her with a skeptical gaze and kept walking. Talking was too difficult to even attempt at this point. For several more yards I limped, but my pain overcame me, and I collapsed nearly on top of Fluttershy. She yelped, but bravely tried to withhold my weight. We limped a little further before a blue blur entered the corner of my vision. My battle instincts kicked in and I managed to yell for Fluttershy to get down. Whether it was my weight, the fact that I startled her, or that she was obeying me, I don't know. I do know that I had not expected the impact with the ground to hurt nearly so much. I cursed my physical state as the blur hit the ground in front of us, causing quite a wave of dust to fly into my face. I prepared myself to defend the vulnerable Pegasus beside me, but as the dust began to clear I heard... laughter?
"Rainbow Dash!" A voice behind me chastised. I turned to find Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Elements. I face hoofed.
"Oh, Rainbow, you scared me." Fluttershy managed to squeak out as I flopped off of her. Rainbow's laughter still assaulted my ears."
"Did...you...see...him...jump?" Rainbow choked between her slowly calming bouts of laughter. I replied with a dark glare.
"He's hurt, Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed. "You could've made him hurt himself more! Cason, you really should just let me cast a healing spell."
"I'm fine." I assured her. "I'd rather do it naturally." My legs trembled as I tried to make it to my hooves, but I collapsed before I was even halfway."
"Sure ya are." Applejack said. You could've cut the sarcasm with a knife. She hoisted me up on her back, and I flinched at the sudden movement. "Why didn't ya just stay in the hospital a bit longer?"
In all honesty, I knew that the longer I was in a public place, the more likely it was that I would be caught. "They just make me nervous." I replied, knowing that she would detect any outright lie.''
"Ah think I can understand that, what Ah don't get is why ya wouldn't let Twi heal ya." Applejack continued. "Ah get doin things naturally, but this is yer health we're talkin bout."
"It really wouldn't hurt at all." Twilight assured me. I pondered briefly the offer, and glanced again at her Cutie Mark. I looked back at the cottage ahead.
"Let me sleep on it." I replied. Fluttershy quickly opened the door for us and Applejack set me in the upstairs guestroom. it stank of animals, but I was grateful for it. It was still morning, but I fell asleep as soon as I was alone.