As Applejack stared at the hoofprint that her kick had left in the tree, she knew that she had a problem on her hooves. The tree in question was one of the oldest trees in Sweet Apple Acres: one of a group of about fifty that had been first planted in Granny Smith's day. Some of the sweetest apples in Sweet Apple Acres came from these trees... and now it appeared that they were now too old to be bucked. A simple kick had left a terrible mark on the tree, and while it would certainly recover, it meant that, for these fifty trees, at least, their bucking days were over. Instead...
...Instead, she'd have to pluck them.
It wasn't an enjoyable exercise. It would mean getting out the ladder, asking Big Macintosh to hold it steady, climbing up, plucking a few apples, then climbing down, readjusting the ladder, climbing back up, plucking a few more apples, then doing it all over again... and again... and again. It could take hours, possibly even days, for the fifty trees in this orchard to be cleared of apples, instead of about fifteen minutes of bucking.
Well, she could kiss her free time goodbye for the next few days. That was a pity, she'd already made a few commitments to her friends. She hated having to tell them that she wasn't able to do all the things they'd planned. It always felt like she was letting them down. She supposed she could ask them to help her out, but she didn't like the idea of imposing upon her friends just because she didn't like the idea of working harder than she already was.
"Ah, Miss Applejack?"
Applejack whipped around, turning to see who had spoken. And there, surprisingly, was Cricket. Well, (Ex)Commander Mole Cricket, but he tended to go by just Cricket now. The changeling had been in town only three days, and surprisingly, he wasn't making anywhere as near a ruckus as anypony had expected. She hadn't heard him walk up behind her. In fact... what was he doing here at all?
As if reading her thoughts, Cricket made a noise, and his pet, Miss Bunny Wunny Cuddlewumpus (he hadn't been the one to name her, apparently, and blushed when anypony asked about that), appeared atop his head, holding up what appeared to be a package of dog biscuits. "A delivery from Miss Fluttershy," Cricket explained, "For Winona. Apparently they'd been included with an order of pet medicine she'd purchased to take care of Angel Bunny's upset stomach yesterday. She asked me to swing by and drop them off..." After a moment, he cocked his head to one side, and asked, "Is something wrong?"
Applejack shook herself momentarily. Apparently, she'd let her irritation about the current problem show. "It's nothin'," she said, and then, unable to stop herself, added, "Well, it's nothin' I can't handle, anyhow."
Cricket seemed to take in the scene for a moment, then asked, "A problem with the trees?"
What? How in tarnation did he guess that? She looked back, then noticed that her two hoofprints were still quite clearly visible in the tree she had kicked just moments ago. So... not a guess, just an eye for detail. "Well," she admitted, "it's got a bit to do with it." She turned back towards the trees, and with a gesture of her forelegs, indicated the fifty trees in front of her. "These here trees are among the oldest in Sweet Apple Acres, maybe even all of Equestria, by now. They also happen to have some of the sweetest, most delicious apples in Ponyville. My family and I save these for when we cook for special occasions, or for when we want to make a gift for friends and our distant relations. And I just found out that they're getting pretty close to their last legs. We'll have to replant this orchard pretty soon, sad to say, but that's not the problem. The problem is, in the meantime, if we're gonna harvest them, it's going to mean that, instead of bucking..."
"By which you mean, you kick the trees to make the apples fall off?" Cricket interjected, curious.
"Yeah," Applejack said, nodding, "Instead of bucking, I'll have to pluck them off, one by one, which is a bit more of a chore..."
"Huh," Cricket said, looking at the trees in question. "You know," he continued, a little awkwardly, "if you want, I could handle that for you."
Applejack's eyes widened in surprise. Here she was, she'd not even asked, and here he was, volunteering to do it for her. They weren't even friends: they'd hardly even spoke, outside of their introduction three days ago. "Well, I wouldn't turn down the help," she admitted, "but have you ever done anything like this before?"
Cricket smiled a little, and said, "Well, before I ended up here, I spent the better part of a year picking crystal berries. It helped keep Miss Bunny in carrots, and paid the rent." At the mention of carrots, the rabbit in question perked up, looking around excitedly. Upon discovering that there weren't any carrots coming, she sat down with a small frown, disappointed. Cricket continued, "Plucking apples can't be much different. At least I don't have to worry much about accidentally squishing the apples when I pluck them."
Applejack nodded, and said, "Well, I reckon that is pretty close. Let me see you do it."
Cricket actually saluted (AJ supposed that was force of habit), sprang up, then got his wings flapping at high speed. Hovering in place, he gently took an apple in both hooves, then, with a small twist, plucked the apple off. The branch didn't even wobble when he did so. That was... surprisingly good, for somepony, or somebuggy, who'd barely had any experience doing it.
Applejack nodded, and said, "Pretty good, for a first timer. If you'd do that for all the apples on these here trees, I'd be grateful." As he went to work, she thought of something. "Ah, but I don't know if I'd be able to pay you for it."
Cricket, who, by the time she'd finished that last sentence, already had both forelegs full of apples, chuckled, then said, "Well, for what will be only, what, fifteen minutes of work for me, I'd hardly feel right charging you. Ah, but there is one thing I need, if you don't mind my asking..."
Uh oh. Whatever it was he was about to ask for, it had better not be expensive, or else she might have to tell him to stop, and put those apples back where he found them...
Cricket stated, seeming a little pleased with himself. "Well, it took some doing, but I was finally able to cut through the red tape and purchase a plot of land in town. It took a bit longer than expected, but Mayor Mare was able to help get things moving. And as of this morning, I've got all the materials that I need to get started building my own home here in Ponyville. I ordered a ready-to-assemble house from Canterlot, and the whole thing arrived today on the first train in: I have the wood, nails, screws, ceiling shingles, all the stuff I'll need to assemble my new home. I was looking forward to not having to sleep under a lean-to tonight, but I made a minor oversight..." He visibly flushed with embarrassment, or perhaps that was just from the exercise, as he admitted, "I forgot to order the tools I'll need to put it all together. I already checked in town, and apparently, there aren't any tools available in the local stores, and it'll be a few days before they'd be able to get more. Between now and then, there's a rainstorm scheduled, and if some of that stuff is left out in the rain, I'm given to understand that it'll warp, crack, or just plain rust. So, if you could see to lending me any of your tools, I'd be grateful."
In the time it took him to finish that little speech, he'd already completed half the orchard. He was doing the job, one apple at a time, faster than Applejack normally could by bucking. Those wings of his didn't make him as fast as Rainbow Dash, but he had a whole lot more control in the air than "Crashie" did, so he had an easier time moving from apple to apple, and tree to tree.
Well, given that he was doing, in a few minutes, a chore that AJ would have spent much longer to take care of, she didn't think she'd have a problem with loaning him a few tools. Shoot, that didn't even seem like a fair trade, given that he didn't even have to be asked to lend a hoof. If he was going to be nice enough to offer a helping hoof, the least she could do was return the favor...
Applejack, smiled, nodded, saying, "I'd be happy to, partner. And if you'll give me an hour or so, I'll see if Big Macintosh and I can't help you put it all together."
Cricket finished depositing the last of the apples from the old orchard into a basket, and said, blushing a little with embarrassment, "Well, you don't have to go that far. I mean, I wouldn't say no, of course, but I wouldn't have any way of paying you back."
Smiling even more broadly, Applejack said, "Well, it ain't no big deal, partner. After all, that's what friends are for. Of course, provided you're in town this time next year, I wouldn't mind having a little help doing this again." Applejack extended a hoof.
Cricket took it and shook it, saying, "I'd be happy to, Miss Applejack."
Cricket was surprised to find that his education had been sadly lacking since his being ejected from Canterlot at high speeds. Nothing like suddenly being ejected from the military you've been a part of your whole life, and into the civilian life, to make you realize just how little you really know. His apartment in the Crystal Empire had included a fridge, a bed, and a desk, so he'd not had to worry about stuff like that back then. Prior to that, changeling philosophy was that you slept on what was available. If there wasn't a bed, you found something soft. If there wasn't something soft, you could sleep on a patch of floor that didn't have too many sharp rocks. The changeling life was not for frail flowers.
To be honest, the subject of interior design was a closed book filled with blank pages so far as Cricket was concerned. Even before the hive became a swarm, stuff like chairs, beds, and tables weren't very common. The closest thing that his species had ever produced as an interior decorator was Blattaria, who used love-drained changelings as furniture.
Furniture. That was a word that Cricket had almost never heard in his lifetime. He generally just called it all house things. And it turned out that, contrary to what he had believed, they didn't just sprout into existence like cave mushrooms: you had to buy them separately.
"I'm afraid that's what it looks like, partner," Applejack said with a nod.
"Eeyup," supplied Big Macintosh. Stallion of few words, that one.
They'd gotten the entire house put together, as well as painted (blue, Cricket's favorite color), but it was completely bare. No carpet, no rugs, no tables, no chairs, not even a bed. The windows had no curtains, and there wasn't even a welcome mat. Cricket's new house was nowhere near becoming a home yet.
"Well," Cricket said with a shrug, "I can worry about getting house things tomorrow. It's got a roof, four walls, and a floor. I can sleep in it."
Applejack seemed a little skeptical, and asked, "What, you'll sleep on the floor?"
Cricket looked back at her, and said, rather plainly, "You say that as if I haven't done that before. I've slept on floors more often than I have on beds. Besides, I won't be on the floor: I still have my bug-out bag from the Crystal Empire, and among the other things I keep in it, there is a sleeping bag." Lesson number three, hatchlings: if you want to stay warm, keep a sleeping bag in your quick escape pack. Failing that, a blanket. Failing that, make do.
Applejack rubbed her chin a moment, then said, "Tell you what, partner: I promised I'd help you put this house together, and that ain't done unless there's some, what didja call it, "House Things" inside of it. There's still some time 'til sundown. I can't say I know much about interior decoratin', but I reckon that Rarity should be able to help you out."
Cricket felt himself blushing slightly, and said, "Well, if you think it's that important, I wouldn't turn down the help. I'm sorry to say that this is all unfamiliar territory for me..."
"Well, don't worry, you'll have the hang of it before you know it," Applejack said, full of good cheer.
"Eeyup," Big Macintosh added.
A short walk later, and the two of them (Big Macintosh went on home, his work done for the day) were knocking on the door of Carousel Boutique, Rarity's shop. Rarity opened the door promptly, and while she might have been a little displeased about the changeling entering her shop, she hid it well. While she and Applejack walked off to discuss things in private (Cricket expected that Rarity would need a little convincing before she'd help him out. Couldn't blame her...), Cricket had an opportunity to see the inside of the shop.
If interior design was a closed book with blank pages for Cricket, then fashion in general was a closed book with one of those little locks on it, then buried at an undisclosed location inside of a larger and more impressively locked treasure chest. He'd never even considered clothing before: just his helmet and armor had been enough. A shame he'd lost both during the Canterlot incident. However, he supposed he'd have to get used to being without them. Maybe he ought to get a hat, though. It still felt weird, not having something to cover his head...
He heard a little gasp for air behind him. He turned around, and saw a little filly, white coat and a purple, two-toned mane and tail, staring at him with eyes steadily widening. Oh great, he knew what was coming. Well, there was one thing he could do:
Make a joke of out of it.
The filly screamed out, "Eeeeek! A changeling!"
Cricket screamed out, "Eeeeek! A screaming pony!"
With a move that could very well have been synchronized, they both began cowering. Then, after a moment, the filly stopped, then asked, "Wait, why are you scared of me?"
Cricket, smiling just a little, said, "Well, what's scarier, somebuggy just standing around, minding their own business, or somepony suddenly walking up to you and screaming in your face?"
The filly giggled, then said, "I see your point. Sorry about that. My name's Sweetie Bell. What's yours?"
Cricket, grinning, said, "My name is Mole Cricket. It's nice to meet you, Sweetie Bell. Ah, what are you doing here, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Well," Sweetie Bell answered, "I came here to visit my big sister, Rarity. But what are you doing here?" She began eying the changeling suspiciously.
Cricket blushed a little, then admitted, "I'm new in town, and while I have a house now, I don't have any house things... no, wait, what's that word... Ah, furniture! I don't have any furniture to put in it. Miss Applejack thought that Miss Rarity might be able to help me in finding some, so I won't have to sleep on the floor tonight."
Sweetie Bell nodded, smiling, and said, "I'm sure she'll be able to help you out. My sister's good at that kind of thing. Oh, I almost forgot, I promised I'd meet Applebloom and Scootaloo at the clubhouse! I've got to go. I'll see you later, Mister Cricket!" And with that, she was off like a shot.
Cricket heard what sounded suspiciously like two mares giggling behind him. He turned, and sure enough, Applejack and Rarity were both laughing, having apparently seen the entire scene. "Well," Applejack said with a chuckle, "You seem to have a way with the youngin's."
Cricket blushed brightly, admitting, "Yes, well, one of my jobs in the swarm was taking care of the hatchlings. I guess I do have a knack for it now."
"Well," Rarity said, smiling, "Applejack was just telling me about how you were needing a bit of help getting a few..." and here she chuckled, before going on, "House things. I have a little time to spare, so I suppose I can help you out. After all, you were kind enough to help her out earlier today."
With a nod and a smile, Cricket said, "Well, I promise not to take up too much of your time. Right now I really just need the basics: I can work on the rest as I go. But I'll take any advice you can give me to heart: this is foreign territory to me."
The mare laughed aloud, then said, "Darling, you'd be surprised at how many stallions find style, fashion, and design to be 'foreign territory'." Still smiling, Rarity continued, "I can't say for certain if I'll be able to give you much advice, since I mostly specialize in mare's wear, not stallion's, but I think we can find you something that you can feel comfortable with."
Royal Guard Commander Silver Lance quite honestly could not believe what he was seeing. The grey unicorn (he wasn't that old, but his color scheme of dark gray with a light grey mane and tail made him look significantly older than his forty years) knew trouble when he saw it, and what he was looking at had headache written all over it in big red letters. Bad enough that a few weeks ago, a changeling had been escorted into Canterlot Palace, then granted probationary citizenship. He supposed he didn't have anything against the fellow in question (by all accounts, he was a decent chap), but there had nearly been a panic at the time, given the trauma caused by the failed invasion. But this... This... THIS!!!
This was far, far beyond anything he was prepared for...
There was, right outside the headquarters of the Royal Guard, in Canterlot, a changeling. A surprisingly young one: if she were a pony, she'd probably be in her early teens, maybe even younger if she was just tall for her age, and surprisingly thin. She (and it was very definitely a she, unless boys had started wearing big blue hair ribbons all of a sudden) was sitting just across the street, holding up a cardboard sign. The sign said, "Free Hugs". The writing was neon pink, and surrounded by little hearts. Admittedly, if she'd not been a changeling, the scene would have been impossibly cute. Instead, while a little cute, he supposed, it was... strangely disturbing. A creature that looks like that should not be trying to be adorable...
Silver stared at the changeling with a scowl on his face. The changeling returned the stare, smiling, and even waved cheerfully at the commander. If she felt any sort of fear regarding the fact that she was in the middle of potentially hostile territory, she hid it well. In fact, Silver got the distinct impression that she was having a laugh at his expense.
If the changeling had tried this only a few days ago, the guards would have immediately taken action. However, after Mole Cricket's interview, orders had come down from on high: until and unless a changeling was performing an action that was considered illegal, they were to be observed and reported, nothing more. So, while he didn't like the idea of a changeling offering free hugs to passing civilians, he couldn't do anything about it.
With a snort and a shrug, Silver turned around and walked back into guard headquarters, and got on with his day. It was still early, and there was plenty on his plate. He had inspections to perform, permits to review, and even approve a new armor design. That Cricket fellow had taken one look at the current model, and spotted a worrying number of flaws. During the invasion, those flaws had allowed the changelings to walk all over the guards without breaking a sweat (Do changelings sweat? He didn't know, but if they did, they hadn't needed to back then). The changeling in question had, after the interview, given Sir Shining Armor a rundown on where the problems were, and what could be done to correct them. Decent chap, like he'd mentioned earlier. Silver was certain that changeling would go pretty far...
By the time evening rolled around, Silver was ready for a warm meal and a warm bed. As he exited headquarters, he saw that the changeling was still there, although it seemed that she was... less enthusiastic than before. Changelings ran on love, and from all reports, pedestrian traffic had been very low today. While she had gotten a few hugs, it looked like she hadn't gotten as many as she'd hoped for. Looking at her, a stray thought crossed his mind...
...How desperate do you have to be, that you'd beg for food on the sidewalk, in the middle of hostile territory?
Silver Lance cleared his throat, then asked the changeling, "Miss, what are you still doing here?"
The changeling looked up, then held up the sign, pointing at it. It still had the words "Free Hugs" written on it, although the paint looked slightly faded.
"Yes," Silver said, rolling his eyes, "I can see that. But it's getting dark soon, and I don't think you're going to get many more takers after nightfall. Where are you staying?"
The changeling tilted her head to one side, as if considering the question, then tapped her hoof twice on the ground. Right here, apparently.
Silver raised and eyebrow, then asked, "Don't you have anyplace else to stay?" The changeling shook her head. After a moment, he realized something. "You don't talk much, do you?"
The changeling opened her mouth, pointed down it with one hoof, then made a slicing motion across her throat while shaking her head. Apparently, she couldn't talk at all.
The unicorn took a moment to consider things. The changeling must be pretty desperate, if she was handicapped, and quite literally begging for love on the streets. It was... doubtful that she had anypony (or what was that term that changeling had used... anybuggy?) looking after her if she was planning to sleep on the sidewalk. After a moment, the guard made a decision. He might get into a little bit of trouble for this, but given the circumstances, he doubted that anypony would blame him.
"What's your name, miss?" He realized almost immediately how stupid a question that was to ask a mute girl, but apparently, the changeling had prepared for a moment like this. She flipped her sign over, and there, written in hoofwriting so neat and fanciful it could have been considered calligraphy, was the name "Ling". There were fanciful drawings of flowers, vines, and little hearts all around it. Apparently, she was an artistic sort, and had decided to go a little crazy with her paintbrush.
"Well, Ling," Silver said, smiling slightly, "my wife has a soft spot for hard luck stories, so I'm pretty sure I could sweet talk her into letting you stay in our guest bedroom tonight... if you promise to behave yourself."
Ling, her eyes widening in surprise, nodded enthusiastically, then crossed her heart with one hoof. Well, that worked for him. "Alright then. Follow me, miss." The changeling stood up, gave the guard an enthusiastic hug, and in short order, they were on their way. It wasn't a bad hug, he reflected. A little... solid, since she had a carapace that could be considered battle armor in most cultures, but not bad, really...
Knowing his wife like he did, she'd probably let the changeling stay more than one night. In fact, she'd probably insist on letting the young lady stay indefinitely. Over the course of twenty years of marriage, she'd taken in twelve stray dogs, fifteen stray cats, five rabbits, and even a bear cub. While the two of them had been blessed with many things, children of their own had not been one of them, but she'd always had plenty of love to give to any creature that came into their home. Odds were, this changeling would be almost as high maintenance as that bear cub was, but whatever happened, he figured that it would be worth it.
Cricket asked the question of Fluttershy, who had volunteered to assist him in the execution of today's task. He had intended to figure things out himself, but after studying the manual he had purchased today, he realized that, in all honesty, he was completely and utterly out of his depth. The guidebook used units of measurement that he was only vaguely familiar with, and used terms that he had never heard in his life. However, he was determined that today, he would do something that he had never done before. Something that, quite possibly, no commoner changeling like himself had attempted in centuries...
Today, he would cook.
Fluttershy had seemed surprised when he had asked her to assist him, but had seemed... incredibly happy to assist. However, it seemed she had not realized just how little he actually knew about this topic. Her look of confusion at his question spoke volumes about his total ignorance on this topic. He knew it was something so simple, so basic, that it should be obvious. After all, if it wasn't, why wouldn't this "cook book" explain the terms in greater detail?
With a sigh, (Ex)Commander Mole "Seven Tricks" Cricket, youngest changeling to ever gain that title, former military commander of the changeling swarm, famed for his skill in a wide number of fields, and considered by many to be a prodigy, asked, "How do I boil water?"
In any other circumstance, Fluttershy's look of astonishment would have been priceless, but right now, it just served to embarrass Cricket further. After a moment, she seemed to grasp the enormity of the task at hoof, then said, "First, you take that pot over there," she said, pointing at the pot in question, "and fill it half full of water from the sink. You, ah, do know how to use the sink, right?"
Cricket nodded. The first time he had encountered indoor plumbing had been startling, he had to admit, but now the wonder of water shooting out of faucets held no terrors for him. He followed her instructions, then said, "Alright. What's next?"
Fluttershy nodded, then said, "Place the pot on top of the stove," she said, pointing at the appliance in question. He was given to understand that it was a bit on the small side, with only a single "burner" (whatever that was), and a small "oven", but it was sufficient for a single pony, he had been told. When he had done so, she continued, "Now, turn the little knob on the front of the stove until the word 'Medium' is on top." Taking the knob gently in his teeth, he began turning it.
Fwoosh.
The next few minutes were nerve-wracking, and in hindsight would be amongst the most embarrassing in Cricket's life. It took five minutes for Miss Fluttershy to convince him to let them both get out from behind the table he had flipped over and pushed her behind, to shelter the two of them from the Tartarus-spawned fire-spewing machine-monster that he had unwittingly placed in his house. He'd had a difficult time believing, afterwards, that it was supposed to do something like that (Later on, he was told that had been more spectacular than would be considered normal. Apparently, there'd been a build-up in the gas line, and it had resulted in a rather spectacular first run. Fluttershy did confirm, afterwards, that the flames really shouldn't get that close to the ceiling. Even she had been more than a little startled).
Once things were under control, the next step seemed simple enough, impossible as it seemed: watch the pot until bubbles came out of the water. Yeah, right, and how was that supposed to happen? There wasn't any air in the water... was there? And yet, within a short time, that was exactly what happened. Obviously, this was some sort of sorcery. He'd need to ask Twilight Sparkle about this later: she'd know what manner of magic was causing this.
"Now," Fluttershy said, smiling, "You pour the baby carrots into the pot, and let them boil for about fifteen minutes, until they get nice and tender." Cricket nodded, then did so. He felt kind of bad for the parents of these baby carrots, but then, they were vegetables, so they really weren't grade-A parent material in any case. While Fluttershy stated that he really didn't need to watch the stove the entire time, he wasn't going to take any chances. He didn't trust this thing after the stunt it had just pulled...
After that, Fluttershy had him take the pot of carrots (using potholders. Apparently, the pot would be hot) to the sink, then pour the water into a strainer, so there would just be carrots with no water.
She then had him take the pot back over to the stove. Turning the heat to medium-low, he put a half-cup (she explained that it wasn't just any old cup, but the measuring cup. He didn't get the difference, but he'd take her word for it) of butter into the pot, and watched as it melted. Then, he added a half-cup of brown sugar (apparently, there was also "white" sugar, which most folks just called sugar) to the mix, as well as three tablespoons (let's not even go there. Seriously. Teaspoons, tablespoons, and serving spoons would confuse him for weeks to come) of honey, and stirred.
Now came the tricky bit: he had to add the carrots to the mix, and stirred until they were all evenly coated. Once done, they had to cook for another five minutes. And then... they were done. Sweet Baby Carrots.
After it cooled a little, he served two bowls to Miss Bunny Wunny Cuddlewumpus and Angel Bunny. While Miss Bunny dug in with gusto, Angel seemed hesitant, but after a moment, tried a little bit, then dug in as well. Apparently, it was a success (Angel was notorious for his finicky eating habits).
"Well," Cricket said, "I guess that's not bad for a first try."
Fluttershy giggled (she was so cute when she did that), then said, "Well, we all have to start sometime. Let me know, the next time you plan on cooking: I'll be happy to help."
"Daddy, the monster under my bed wants a blanket."
Well, that was a new one. As Brass Ring put down the book he'd been reading, the earth pony looked over at his foster daughter, and asked, "Oh? So now you're doing what the big, mean monster is telling you?" She'd been going on for a couple of weeks about this monster, and how scary it was. She'd taken to insisting that he leave the door open, and the hall light on, else the monster might jump out and eat her, or something.
It had been worrying. After the divorce, the young crystal pony had been having nothing but problems, this monster being the latest. Her grades at school had dropped noticeably, and he'd often peek in on her, only to see that she'd clearly just been crying. When his wife had left, making it clear she was never coming back, and that she didn't really care about him or the crystal pony that the two of them had adopted, it had hurt both of them deeply. You spend seven years with somepony, and you think you know them, only to find out they'd only hung around long enough that they could get half your money. He was still financially secure (he'd made a huge amount of money in the stock market, enough that, even with half gone, he was still in the league of Fancy Pants out in Canterlot), but their home in Manehattan just wasn't the same. His father had always told him that it was better to be poor and happy, than rich and miserable. At the time, he hadn't believed him, but now, well, he'd trade his house and all his money just to hear his daughter laugh again.
His lovely daughter, Honey Darling, giggled(!), then said, "Oh no, daddy, that one's the old monster. A new monster came in today, and got fed up with him really quick. She hit him with my teddy bear, yelled at him for being a big bully, then told him that if he didn't scram, asap, she'd hit him with my fluffy bunny toy, too. He's packing up his things right now. She just wants a blanket because it's cold down on the floor."
Brass tried very hard to keep from laughing, but that was, quite honestly, the silliest thing he had ever heard. What an imagination she had. "Well, Honey, you know where the blankets are. And you might want to take her a pillow too. A monster like that sounds like a keeper. Best to stay on her good side."
Honey Darling nodded solemnly, then asked, "Oh, and she wanted a book, too. Preferably the kind without pictures."
Brass chuckled, then hoofed over the one he'd just been reading. It was a novel from one of his favorite authors, Page Turner, and he'd just read the last chapter when his daughter had walked in. "I just finished it. Feel free. I will want it back later, though."
Honey took the book reverently, as though she were handling some sort of sacred relic, nodded, and then took off.
What an active imagination she had. But hey, if it helped her sleep better at night, he didn't mind if she started inventing new monsters to scare away the old ones... -----------------
"Okay, Miss Bird, I got you a blanket."
The monster under her bed smiled and took the blanket gratefully, then said, "Thank you, Honey. And I told you, you can just call me Lady." The tyke had accidentally discovered the changeling this morning, but rather than shouting for help, she'd taken one look at the changeling shivering in the alley, lost and with nowhere to go, and offered her a place to stay... provided she evicted the monster currently residing in their home.
That had been a cakewalk. Seriously, a bogeymane? She'd been dealing with those since she was five. The queen had put her in charge of taking care of the ones that tried to frighten the hatchlings after she'd caught one, tied it up, and dragged it out into the sun. They hated that. Even the scariest horror becomes powerless in the light of day. After doing that a few times, word had gotten around, and the creatures had decided it would be easier to find fear to eat elsewhere. Apparently, her name still had bite, even this far from the southern kingdoms, because once the beastie had found out he was dealing with THE Ladybird, he'd decided he'd high-tail it back to the southern kingdoms, hoping to put a hemisphere between him and her. He just needed a bit of time to gather his things, and he'd be gone.
Honey handed over the pillow, and then the book. Smiling cheerfully, she said, "Daddy also said you could have a pillow. And he had a book you could read, too. He will want it back, though."
Looking at the cover, Ladybird smiled and said, "Ah, Page Turner. Your daddy has good taste. I was hoping to get a peek at her latest." After a moment, she frowned, then asked, "Ah, if you don't mind my asking... um... where's your mom?"
Honey looked a little sad, then admitted, "She wasn't my real mommy, and she's not here anymore. Not-Mommy left a year ago. She said that she never really liked daddy, or wanted to adopt a filly, she'd just played along so she could take daddy's money..."
Geez. What a terrible thing to do to a kid. Especially an orphan. Placing a hoof on top of the youngster's head, she said, "I'm sorry I brought that up. Look, sometimes a pony just doesn't know a good thing when they see it. I mean, a nice warm house, a guy as nice as your daddy, and a sweet kid like you? If I had that, I'd never turn my back on any of it, no matter how much money I was offered. If she's not smart enough to know something that simple, then you're better off without her. Besides, you still have a daddy who loves you, right?" Honey nodded, smiling. "Then that's more than enough for anypony."
After a moment, Honey Darling wiped at her eyes, smiled, nodded, then hugged Ladybird fiercely. "Thank you," she said. Lady could swear she felt tears trickling down her shoulder. More surprising, however, was the stream of love the little filly suddenly poured into her. While small in volume, it was... potent. More so than any love she had ever felt before. It was like suddenly having been given an expresso, when before all you'd ever had was weak tea. She felt like she could run a marathon... while juggling a trio of elephants. She'd have to keep herself on the lowest possible burn, or she'd start vibrating in place from the power she now felt...
"Anytime, kiddo. Now, you need to get ready for bed. I'll make sure... Uh oh." Looking over Honey's head, she saw the tyke's father, staring, open-mouthed, at the scene. "Um, hi."
Brass Ring, after a moment, said, "Hi. Ummm, are you the one under the bed?"
Ladybird nodded mutely. Brass Ring turned towards the closet, opened the door, and stared for a moment at the creature inside. In many respects, it looked like a pony, just one with a chalk white body, no fur, mane or tail, and a complete absence of a face. Two tentacles, seemingly made of darkness, wriggled from the creature's back, and stuffed things into a suitcase. The fact that he was wearing a well-tailored suit with a bright red necktie did nothing to mitigate how utterly alien and terrifying the creature seemed...
Ladybird called out, over the earth pony's head, "Hey, Skinny, you got your stuff together yet?"
A voice, or at least, Brass Ring thought it was a voice, sounded in his head, saying, "I just finished packing up my neckties. I'll be out of here in a moment. And it's Slender, thank you very much."
"Yeah?" Ladybird asked, her expression clearly angry, "Well, it'll be Teddybear if I ever see you anywhere near this kid again. You follow?"
The abomination shuddered visibly, and the voice said, "Yes, yes, you've made that clear. I've already got a new mark in mind, a long ways off..." With that, the monstrosity slapped a fedora atop his head, and marched out, seeming to be quite angry. Brass could almost swear he heard the thing mutter, "...Can't believe anypony would do that to a sweet little filly like her. I might be a fear eating horror, but even I have limits! Oh, when I get my tendrils on that..." After the door to their home opened and slammed shut, the feed abruptly cut off. Geez, Brass would be having nightmares about that for weeks, he was certain...
Turning back to the changeling, Brass said, after a moment's thought, "Look, miss..."
"It's Ladybird," the changeling said, "You can just call me Ladybird."
Brass cleared his throat, then said, "Well, Ladybird, I don't know what kind of deal you struck with my daughter, and..."
Looking down at Honey, who was still hugging the changeling tightly, he decided that right now, he wasn't going to make any snap decisions. "...Quite honestly, I really don't care. We can talk in the morning about this. It's too late in the evening, and there's too much going on for me to process right now. We'll discuss this over breakfast. Deal?"
Lady smiled, then said, nodding, "Deal." --------------
A week later, in Van Hoover, Sugar Withers, ex-wife to Brass Ring, and ex-mother to Honey Darling, was found curled up in a ball in her penthouse apartment, whimpering slightly, her normally bright purple coat and mane bone white. After an extended hospital stay, and a rather impressive number of medications, she was returned home, having been assured that the thing she had seen wasn't real. They were wrong. She insisted, from then on, that the lights in her home be kept on at all times, and had mysteriously developed an intense fear of individuals in well-tailored suits, as well as anypony wearing a necktie. She also refused to step into her walk-in closet, and in fact had it chained shut. Not that it helped in any way. He kept coming back to terrify her every night. She'd spend the rest of her long, unhappy life, trying, and failing, to have a good night's sleep. And all the money in the world is worth less than nothing if you're too miserable to enjoy it...
Slender Mane, on the other hoof, was settling in just fine in his spacious new closet. He had to admit, moving up to adults had been the right decision: after all, it was rare to come across an adult with a teddy bear, or with any of the other traditional defenses against bogeymanes. As long as everypony around her kept believing he wasn't real, he could take as much fear as he wanted, whenever he wanted. It was all anybogey could want out of life.
And as for Honey Darling, Brass Ring, and Ladybird? Well... that's a story for another day.
Rarity looked up from her work. She'd been working on a design she had in mind for her visitor, Mole Cricket. The fellow had made a rather substantial commission today, wanting to order an entire winter wardrobe for the upcoming change in the seasons. After staying two weeks in Ponyville, autumn was already halfway over, and Winter Startup was just on the horizon. Designing clothing for him was a challenge, not least because he had a body-type and a color scheme quite unlike any other creature she had ever designed for, let alone having his own natural armor. This was going to be tricky...
Peering over her glasses, she looked to see what her client was doing. Cricket was looking at a photo set upon her desk. "Yes," she said, "Those are indeed my parents, Cricket." The changeling nodded, and seemed to study the picture with interest. Odd. After a moment, Rarity returned to her work.
A few seconds later, he said, hesitantly, "They're not exactly what I expected..."
Rarity looked up from her work, an eyebrow raised. She'd had this conversation before, and it always annoyed her. "Oh? And what were you expecting?"
Cricket seemed to fumble at this point, having difficulty putting into words what he meant. "Well," he said, "It's just, since you had such an interest in gemstones and fashion, I would have thought your parents would have had similar interests. Instead, your father seems a bit of a sports-stallion, and your mother... well, I'm not quite sure what to make of her."
Now that surprised her. Most ponies would comment on the fact that she was much more refined, and her parents were far more... rustic. The fact that they seemed to have radically different interests very rarely came up. "Well, darling," she admitted, "You'll see that quite often. Sometimes parents and children do have very similar interests. Other times, they can be radically different. This might surprise you, but Pinkie Pie's parents are rather serious rock farmers. They rarely laughed or smiled before Pinkie Pie found her special talent. I've met them a couple of times when they came to visit her. They're rather... stoic, but they're pleasant company."
Cricket nodded thoughtfully. After a few seconds, he said, "I suppose that makes sense: I've met Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor, and had I not been told that they were related, I wouldn't have expected them to be brother and sister. I suppose it's no surprise that the same can go for parent and child. Hmmmm..."
Cricket now seemed to be lost in thought. Rarity turned back to her work, but after a moment, she took off her glasses, looked back at the changeling, then asked, "Something on your mind, darling?"
Cricket was startled out of whatever chain of thought he'd been following, then after a moment, he shrugged. "Well," he said, "I suppose it's just... I notice that you have a very nice place here, and your parents seem to live in something a little more... basic. I can't say I know much about pony society yet, but... is there a reason you live in someplace so... fanciful, while they live someplace so down to earth?"
Hmmm, he seemed to be phrasing it a lot more politely than she would have expected. "Well, Cricket, I suppose they are a bit more "down to earth" than I am. I've made enough working here that I could buy them someplace much nicer, but neither of them would want to hear such a thing. The two of them built that house together with their own hooves when they were my age. They're happy right where they are, and it would break their hearts to move out. No amount of money could ever replace that house. While I might be a bit more... 'fanciful', I suppose I'm a bit more ambitious than they are, as well. My parents are happy right where they are. I'm aiming for much bigger things in my life."
Cricket nodded, seeming a bit surprised. "I can relate."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. She asked, "Oh? And what does that mean?"
Cricket hesitated, then seemed to decide that he could go into a little detail regarding what he meant. "I was born at the very bottom of changeling society. Unlike an aristo, I didn't have any parents to raise me. I was just put in a classroom full of other commonborn changelings, and very little was expected of me, except to grow up to fight changelingkind's enemies. But I was... ambitious, myself, I suppose. I sought out somebuggy who could teach me more than what I was expected to be taught. Enough that I could not just survive, but thrive, in the future. Where many of the other changelings in my generation didn't do much beyond earning a name, at best, I ended up becoming a squad leader when I was eight, a lieutenant when I was ten, and was made commander when I turned thirteen. And now, here I am, forging ahead into territory that no other changeling has ever dared explore. So, yes, I can understand somepony with humble origins having grander aspirations."
Rarity rubbed her chin in thought at that. She'd not thought that the two of them had anything in common, but then, many would think she didn't share many interests with her other friends, either. After a moment, she asked, "You weren't raised by your parents, darling?"
Cricket shrugged eloquently, and said, "Parents were a privilege. The aristos liked to keep their bloodlines... pure, so they took special care to make certain that their eggs were well looked after, and never mistaken for more common changelings. Commoners, since there were so many more of them, didn't have the resources, or the spare time, to look after their own eggs, and all eggs look pretty much the same anyways, so in order to prevent confusion, they were just all kept together. Everybuggy treated every hatchling like they might be their own offspring. I couldn't tell you what my parents may be like. Similar? Different? Who's to say? I may have met them in passing, and never knew of it. Personally, now that I'm out of the swarm, I wouldn't mind having a couple of kids of my own to raise, one day..." He abruptly stopped, noticing that Rarity was giggling. He abruptly blushed, realizing that he was getting into very personal territory.
Smiling brightly, Rarity said, "It's rather rare to hear you talk about yourself, Cricket. I must admit, you've surprised me." After a moment, she grinned, and said, "Well, I, for one, think you'd make an excellent father one day. I've seen how well you've gotten along with Sweetie Belle, and her friends Applebloom and Scootaloo seem rather taken with you as well."
Cricket began blushing much more brilliantly. She had heard that he'd been made an official member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, due to his own lack of a mark. The fact that changelings didn't get a mark didn't seem to dissuade them from dragging him along with them, at least every other day, on one of their misadventures. While Rainbow Dash had insisted on going along with them (the pegasus was convinced that Cricket was up to something, and wasn't about to leave the changeling alone with Scootaloo, not to mention the other two), she'd admitted that he did seem to have a way with children, and took everything in seemingly good humor. In exchange, the three seemed to consider him something akin to an older brother.
"Well, wherever your parents may be, Cricket, I'm certain that they'd be quite proud of you, regardless of whether you're just like them, or totally different. Ah, but returning to the reason for your visit, darling," Rarity said, smiling warmly, "I have a few ideas for a look for your winter wear that I can show you now. And, as you requested, I have some hats that you can try on. Feel free to tell me what you think."
As Lieutenant Mantis looked at her little prisoner, she reflected on how strange this entire situation was. It had taken her days to recover from her injuries after the Canterlot fiasco, and afterwards... she had been without direction. Like every changeling in the swarm at the time, she had sufficient love to sustain her for well over a year. However, she had no idea where they should rally if things went this bad, and she had no idea where she should go. Instead, she had wandered. She knew that the Obedience spell would have told most changelings to head for the queen... but the sudden exodus from Canterlot had left a few surprising side effects.
She had run across a couple of other changelings in the last year, and strangely, none of them had been very eager to seek out the queen. None of them had been in the Queen's Arrow, or had been in on the conspiracy, but they were all free from that accursed magic. The Obedience spell was broken, not just for a few, but for all. Changelingkind had changed that day... and was still changing.
After reading in a newspaper about how the commander had successfully applied for citizenship, Mantis had decided it was time to take a risk of her own. The commander had spent the last year in the Crystal Empire, the legendary birthplace of the changelings. While it was difficult to say if he had found anything regarding why changelings were still changelings, she felt it would be a good idea if she went in and did some investigation of her own. Travel to the kingdom had, until very recently, been restricted. A week ago, that restriction had lifted completely, due to the approach of the Equestrian games, and now anyone could go. She'd finally been able to buy a train ticket, and had just arrived this very day.
Rather than try to establish a permanent residence, and having to maintain a constant disguise, she decided to set herself up with something a little more... secretive. Not secretive enough, it turned out. She was certain that the locals thought this house to be haunted, and so nopony would dare wander it. Wrong.
Looking at the young intruder who had walked into the abandoned building she had chosen, she had to admit, he wasn't very impressive. A little Crystal Pony colt, not yet come into his cutie mark, was currently tied up in adhesive gel. Black coat, white mane and tail, golden eyes. Nothing special.
Her first order of business had been to lay a web of threads to catch any interlopers who might sneak into her new home. Less than five minutes later, she had felt a tremble in the line, letting her know somepony had come in. Rather than have him set off her traps, she had captured him herself.
She was getting much too old for this. She was past forty now, her shell was starting to go just ever so slightly gray, and while she was still in excellent shape, she was nowhere near as young as she used to be. She'd be feeling that little bit of acrobatics in the morning...
Considering the colt's question, she asked, "How to do what?"
The colt looked the changeling, confused, then said, "How you were able to catch me like that. I didn't see or hear anything. You must be a world champ at hide and seek."
In spite of herself, Mantis chuckled. Obviously, the colt didn't appreciate the seriousness of the situation. She ought to put a good scare into him, show him who was boss here. Then again, it might be better to keep things friendly, at least for now. The world was changing, after all.
"Well, I wouldn't like to brag," she said, with a bit of a grin. "I've had a lot of practice in that line of work. Ah, but if you're going to walk into somebuggy's home uninvited, you ought to introduce yourself. What is your name, little colt?"
The colt, all grins, said, "My name's Lance! What's yours?"
Lance's cheer was infectious, even if it was misplaced. "You stand in the presence of Flower Mantis, formerly of the changeling swarm. Now, mind explaining what you're doing here?"
Still smiling, Lance said, "I was exploring. I like peeking inside of places other ponies don't like to go. There's always cool stuff inside. Everypony thinks this house is haunted, so I thought I'd stay the night, and see if any ghosts came out." After a moment, he tilted his head to one side, seemed to think about something, and then asked, 'Your name's Flower? You don't look much like one."
Mantis grinned. She loved this trick. Striking a pose, she began shifting the color patterns of her carapace. Purple, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, Cyan, she ran the entire spectrum through her shell, before settling on a design that made it look like she was covered with stylized flowers. "How about now?"
Lance's jaw dropped. "Woooooow...."
Chuckling a little bit, Mantis said, "I'm glad you like it. Now, let's talk business. You're intruding here, but I can't really say I own this place myself, so I suppose I can let you off with a warning. Next time, knock first." Lance nodded in agreement. "And I'd prefer it if you didn't tell anypony that I'm here. I like my privacy, and if word gets out that I'm here, I'm pretty certain that I'd get a lot more guests, and I doubt any of them will be as adorable as you are." At that, Lance laughed a little bit.
After a moment, Lance asked, "Um... could you show me how you caught me?"
He did seem genuinely interested, and if she didn't agree to, she'd probably end up getting pestered about it. After a moment's thought, she said, "I suppose I might be willing to give you some pointers. However, I can't give them to you for free." The colt seemed crestfallen. It seemed he didn't have anything he thought he could pay with. "I tell you what: if you'll bring something beautiful for me to look at, I'll teach you something. It doesn't even have to be something that I can keep: just show me something, and that'll be enough. Show me something beautiful enough, and I might give you the full course without any need for tuition. I'll even throw in your first lesson for free. Deal?"
Lance nodded vigorously. Certain now that the colt wasn't going to try and run off, she licked her hoof, then rubbed it over the adhesive gel. The gel dissolved almost instantly. The colt got up, stretched, and then, grinning, asked, "Where do we start?"
Mantis, grinning in return, said, "Well, first, we'll start with theory. Then practice. Have a seat."
Lance saluted (goodness, he was such an adorable little tyke, acting all serious like that), then sat down on the floor, fully attentive.
"Today," Lieutenant Flower "Invisible Striker" Mantis began, "You shall begin your initiation into the Way Of The Five Paths, the secret arts of the changeling. The Way is not something as crude as a fighting style. While there are moves, and tricks, that I can show you, the real purpose of the Way is not to make you memorize a set of rigid techniques, but something far more versatile. It is a set of five schools of thought, to allow one to respond with skill, courage, and confidence, to any threat that you may face. As water may change, under different circumstances, from solid, to liquid, to vapor, and back, so will you, at the completion of this course, be able to change, effortlessly, from hunted to hunter, from attacker to defender, and from untouchable to unstoppable. Are you ready?"
Lance, his expression serious, nodded.
"The first Path," Mantis said, now pacing in a circle around the colt, "is the one that I used to catch you today. The Path Of The Fox. The Fox Chases The Rabbit, And Is Chased By The Dog; The Fox Escapes The Dog, And Catches The Rabbit. You will learn how to think as both predator and prey. You will learn how to catch anything you need to chase, and how to escape capture. You will also learn how to turn both pursuit, and being pursued, into a weapon against those who mean you harm."
Lance's head turned to follow Mantis as she continued pacing around him. When she reached the end of that description, he whipped his head back to the other side, to continue following her path, only to see nothing: she had turned around, and was going the other way. When he finally turned back, she was sitting right in front of him, close enough to touch. He flinched visibly. Grinning, Mantis said, "Here's a free lesson for you: if your enemy expects you to go left, then there's no better time to go right." Colt, his eyes wide with surprise, nodded in understanding.
"The second Path," Mantis continued, "Is about patience and planning, rather than motion. The Path Of The Spider. The Spider Spins A Web, And Catches The Fly; No Web Can Catch A Spider. This Path is about creating, and evading, traps and ambushes. You can combine many of the techniques of the Fox Path with the Spider. Create traps to catch those who are chasing you, and chase others into the traps you create."
"The third Path is a bit harsher than the others: The Path Of The Mountain. The Mountain Cannot Be Broken; The Mountain Breaks All. This is a path for enduring fierce attacks, and for you to keep going in the face of adversity. It is not an easy Path, but it is a necessary one. You cannot go through life without enduring suffering: this Path is about coping with it and moving on. It is also about learning how to overcome the defenses of others. There is no such thing as a perfect guard, whether that be in combat, or anywhere else. There is always a way to break through."
Lance didn't seem to like that one very much. Well, the second part he did, but the first part was kind of a downer. Well, sorry to say, but that was life. He was lucky he wasn't a changeling, or he'd have learned a lot more about that before now. Well, then again, he was a crystal pony. He might know more than she thought.
"The fourth Path is The Path Of The Tiger. The Tiger Is Seen By None; The Tiger Sees All. The Path of the Fox teaches pursuit and evasion. The Tiger's Path is about remaining perfectly hidden until the moment you strike, and to spot that which is hidden from view. The tiger is among the fiercest predators in the world, and one of the hardest to see before it strikes. By the time you see the tiger, it is far too late."
Lance was grinning now. Mantis had to admit, that one did sound pretty cool. Well, the next one was even better... even if there was no way she would ever teach it to him.
"Finally," Mantis said, "There is The Path Of The Dragon. The Dragon Is Strong Above All Others; Before The Dragon, Strength Has No Meaning. Mastery of this path will teach you how to defeat any foe with a single blow, regardless of how powerful they may be, and to render any foe's strength meaningless. None may touch you, save those that you allow."
Lance's jaw dropped. Yeah, even Mantis had to admit, that was pretty awesome. However, she'd need to give him a dose of reality.
"In my life, I have only had two other students. The first one mastered all five paths, and became a monster: I was forced to turn my hoof against him, and strike him down, before he hurt anybuggy else. My second student mastered the first four, but I refused to teach the fifth, lest another monster be born. You will be my third. And unless you prove to be far more worthy than the other two, you will not learn anything beyond the fourth path. Can you accept that?"
Lance nodded, his expression solemn. "I can accept that."
Mantis grinned, then rubbed the little colt's head, ruffling his mane. "Good. Now, I'll show you a couple of tricks. And if you come back tomorrow with something nice for me to see, I'll teach you even more."
Lance jumped to his hooves, excited, and ready to begin. --------------
On a rooftop overlooking the abandoned house, Leiurus Quinquestriatus, the Deathstalker, watched the older changeling and the colt as they began to go through the first motions of the Path Of The Fox. So, she's taken on a new student. This could be the perfect opportunity, one that the Deathstalker had waited over a year for. Before Mantis knew it, she would have no choice but to part with the secrets of the fifth path...
Lance struggled to open his eyes, having difficulty remembering how he fell asleep. He last remembered leaving Miss Flower's place, after a fun afternoon of training. After only a week, he was already beginning to see the effects of her teachings. Not on a physical level: he was already in pretty good shape for a six year old. It was on a mental level: He was starting to see things differently from how he had before. He noticed things that, only a few days ago, would have escaped his attention. Miss Flower was right about how the Five Paths were different schools of thought. He could swear he was even thinking differently from how he had before.
However, he had failed to notice whoever, or whatever, had zapped him from behind, and knocked him out.
Finally opening his eyes, he looked up, and saw, well above him, a pair of luminous blue eyes. It was too dark to see anything else in the room, outside of a small circle of light that surrounded him. Unlike Miss Flower's, which seemed to twinkle and sparkle with emotion, these were cold, hard, and void of emotion. Like a pair of sapphires, they might have been beautiful, but they had no soul inside...
A voice, devoid of emotion, of feeling, of anything, said, "You are awake. Good. I had concerns that I had used too strong a spell." The eyes blinked a couple of times, then asked, "Do you want to ask questions?"
Lance tried to speak, but had trouble. His throat felt surprisingly dry. He tried to move his body, and was unable to do more then twitch. The observer blinked, then turned to one side.
"You are thirsty. A moment." After a few seconds, a glass of water was lowered down to his lips, then tipped over to where it poured into his mouth. He swallowed, grateful for at least that much.
Clearing his throat, he asked, "Where... am I?"
The watcher, after a moment, said, "Still inside the Crystal Empire. Specifically, an abandoned house within sight of Flower Mantis' current residence."
Able to move a little now, he asked, "Why am I here?"
"A question better asked of a philosopher," the voice said, and were it not for the empty tone, that could have been considered a joke. "If your meaning is why I have abducted you, it is simple: you are my key to obtaining the secrets of the Fifth Path."
Lance may have been a colt, but he was no slouch when it came to putting two and two together. "You're her second student. The one she refused to teach the fifth path."
"Precisely," the speaker said. The eyes closed for a moment, then reappeared a moment later, a bit lower, as if the speaker had lowered it's head. "And you are her third. She appears to be attached to you, enough so that she has risked discovery by allowing you to move about freely, in spite of the damage you could cause her, simply by speaking of her. I will use that bond, tenuous as it is, to secure what I need to become complete."
Lance was now thoroughly confused. "Complete?"
"Yes. Complete. I am a weapon, intended to be used to destroy any who would dare fight against those who rule the swarm. I cannot fulfill my purpose without the fifth path. Those who chose me will not accept me, flawed as I currently am." The speaker's eyes closed again, and there was a sound, as of somepony, or somebuggy, walking down a short flight of stairs. During this pause, Lance was finally able to rise to his hooves. When the eyes opened again, they were at eye level, and very close. The speaker stepped out of the shadows, and Lance was shocked to find he was staring at a changeling, yes, but a girl, no older than himself. "I am Leiurus Quinquestriatus, the Deathstalker. And I will become the perfect weapon." -------------
The last thing that Flower Mantis was expecting was to be confronted by Shining Armor. Worse, she definitely wasn't expecting the knight to know her by name...
"Flower Mantis, may I have a moment of your time?"
Her first instinct had been to deny it, but after a moment's thought, she realized that if they not only knew she was a changeling, but exactly which changeling she was, odds were that there was little chance of wiggling out of it. Taking a deep breath, she said, "If we could walk while we talk? I have a bit of an appointment I need to keep." Lance was due at her house within the hour, and she wanted to be there to meet him. It wouldn't do to have him show up without her to mind him: he'd probably start exploring and bring the entire web of traps down on his head at once...
Shining Armor, not wearing armor, thankfully, nodded, and said, "It has to do with the appointment you're going to, actually: True Lance is missing."
Flower stopped dead in her tracks, then turned to face the knight. She was... shocked to find how terrified she felt right now. She'd barely known the colt a week, but... suddenly, she had trouble imagining a world without him.
Shining Armor continued, saying, "We've been searching for him all morning, as well as last night, when he didn't show up at the orphanage where he's currently staying. There's been no sign of him. The last time anypony saw him, he was leaving your residence. If there's anything that you can tell me that would help us find him, I'd be grateful."
This was all too much to process. Bad enough that she only now found out that his first name was "True", but he was an orphan? The little colt had never really talked about himself. She'd never even thought about what the colt did when he wasn't around...
But, if he was missing, it could just mean he was lost somewhere. He did say he liked to explore. The idea that anypony would wish a sweet colt like him harm was...
Suddenly, a terrible premonition came to her.
Looking at the knight, she decided she'd have to take a risk. "Follow me. Try to keep up." The knight nodded, and she turned. Both of them began running, making a bee-line directly for her home. ----------------
Lance was working very hard to find a way out. After her dramatic revelation, Leiu... Lei, forget it, he'd just call her Elle, had left, indicating that she needed to drop a package off at Flower's residence. Odds were, it was a ransom note. Well, Lance wasn't going to sit idle and let things happen around him. Never again.
The windows had all been nailed shut, and the door was locked, not the regular way, but instead using some sort of spell. However, she hadn't thought to do anything about the chimney.
It's rare to find anypony who thinks outside the chimney...
Before he left, he scrawled a message on the wall in fireplace ash. He had a plan... ------------------
When Shining Armor and Flower Mantis arrived at the changeling's residence, they found half a dozen guards inside, all bound with adhesive gel and knocked out. Placed in front of them, with care, was a note. Atop that note was a small sculpture of a scorpion, made from twisted copper wire. While the note wasn't signed, the sculpture, along with the unconscious guards, told Flower exactly who was responsible for this.
Shining Armor, shocked at the scene that lay before them, asked, "What happened here?"
Picking up the note and studying it, she said, her voice low, "My second biggest mistake has come back to haunt me..." -----------------
Leiurus returned from placing her ransom demand at Flower's residence to find her bargaining chip gone. The half-dozen guards inside of her mentor's home had surprised her, but were easily handled. But she now faced a problem. She had dismissed the chimney out of hoof as a method of escape, as the colt didn't have wings, and could not stick to walls. An oversight on her part: the Path of the Fox teaches one to find routes where others saw only obstacles.
However, the message that he had scrawled upon the wall was far more interesting than the colt's ability to escape her. Written in ash was a short message.
"Meet me at the city square. I will show you a new path."
It was... interesting. And obviously a trap. Yet, the Deathstalker was intrigued. Her entire life had, literally from her hatching, had revolved around becoming the perfect weapon. While she had been aware, in a vague sort of way, that there was more to life than that, her role as a weapon had been made very clear to her from birth. She had been taught, by several tutors, all of the spells they knew. And from Flower Mantis, she had learned four of the five paths. She could not return to face her masters until she was complete. Yes, if there was another path, one even her mentor was unaware of, then she would not be complete until she learned of that one as well...
She had to choose between waiting here for Flower Mantis, minus her hostage, or chase down her hostage, try and extract this new path from him, at the risk of losing track of her mentor in the process... --------------------------------
"So," Shining Armor said, "Before you were in the Queen's Arrow, you were forced to teach this... "Deathstalker" everything you know?"
"Yes. And I didn't choose the name. At the time, I didn't know about the obedience spell, so while I truly didn't want to, I ended up doing it anyways," she admitted. It was... worrying to find out how much the knight knew. Mole Cricket had informed Shiny about a broad number of topics, but the knight had kept his word to the commander, not making those revelations common knowledge. However, he could freely discuss those secrets with another changeling.
"And if what I remember is true, you weren't inducted into the Arrow until a year before Canterlot: she'd be, what, four at the time?"
Memorizing the map on the back of the note, she said, "Yes, and she'd spent every waking moment being drilled, not only on the five paths, but on the secrets of changeling magic as well. The intention was to create a living, breathing weapon. The first changeling I taught the five paths, after completing the training, used what I taught him to hurt his fellow changelings. He'd believed that, because he was more powerful than any other changeling alive, he should be the one to rule. I was forced to stop him. I defeated him by using a dirty trick: I drained him dry of love, leaving him locked in dry hibernation. Afterwards, I dropped him at the bottom of a deep lake. Unless somebuggy hauls him out of there, he'll stay there until the end of time. The second time, the student was a mix: half commoner, half aristo, she could burn love for strength, and sling spells at will. But since her training started almost immediately after hatching, she'd not have time to establish any sort of personality of her own. And with her entire life being dedicated to being a weapon for the swarm, she'd never turn against her own kind."
As Shining Armor looked at the unconscious guards, the cream of the cream of the defenders of the Crystal Empire, he shuddered. Cricket was right: the helmets needed some kind of a chin strap, or else the fact that they could deflect stun spells would be meaningless, since they could be removed easily with a simple lifting spell. "The fact that she's what, six, and can take down six of my best without any of them raising an alarm is impressive, I'll admit. But what's so special about this "Path Of The Dragon" that could possibly make her more dangerous?"
"The Path Of The Dragon," Flower said, as she put down the note, "Is the difference between being able to defeat dozens, and being able to defeat hundreds, or even thousands. I created the Five Paths based on the fighting styles found in the southern kingdoms. All thirty of those kingdoms. I had to steal a lot of secret scrolls and texts, and spy on a great many training sessions, to complete my understanding of those styles. It took the better part of ten years." Gesturing at the slumbering guards, she said, "She defeated your guards by lifting their helmets and stunning them with a spell while they were surprised. If she had access to the path of the dragon's innermost secrets, she could have taken on at least twenty of your best, fully armored, and all ready for her, and defeated them all without taking even a scratch, all with her bare hooves. I've done similar feats, myself, so I know of what I speak. With her current level of magic, combined with the secrets of the Path Of The Dragon, she would be... unspeakably powerful. And now I'm going to have to teach all those secrets to her, or else Lance might get hurt..." -----------------------
Lance was sitting under the Crystal Heart, smiling. Here she comes. The Deathstalker was having trouble making her way through the crowd. Today was the Harvest's End festival, one of the biggest celebrations in the Crystal Empire. The entire city was gathered here, or close to it. The party went from noon to sunset, and with it being mid-afternoon, things were getting ready to really start hopping. While the changeling was currently in the form of a unicorn, with a white coat and pitch black mane and tail, he had no trouble seeing it was her. Her blue eyes were just as devoid of emotion as ever.
Finally, after several minutes, she reached him. A little short of breath, she seemed almost... irritated. "You are going to come back with me right now, or..."
"No, I'm not."
Her eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed briefly with very real and obvious anger. It was the first time he'd seen any emotion in them. It only lasted a moment, but it told him all he needed to know...
Elle said, "If you will not come willingly, I will force you."
Grinning, Lance asked, "How? If you cast a spell on me, there will be at least a dozen witnesses who will raise an alarm. If you try to drag me away, the same. Plus, I'll start yelling for help. The guards have probably been looking for me for most of the day, and if I tell them that you kidnapped me, they won't hesitate to apprehend you. With half the guards in the city here, I imagine that's more than you can handle. Oh, and if you try to leave? I'll set the guards on you." He had used the Path Of The Fox and The Path Of The Spider together. He'd tricked her into chasing him right into a trap. Now, unless she was willing to expose herself to the entire city, she would be forced to dance to his tune.
After a moment, she said, "Then I will simply leave, right now, and find your parents..."
An empty threat, but it still made him angry. With a scowl, Lance said, "Not unless you have a time machine: King Sombra sold more than a few of his subjects to slavers in foreign lands, my parents among them. They were outside the empire when Sombra used the Time Skip spell. Do the math."
He hated talking about that. If it were not for the fact that he was so angry right at that moment, he would have wanted to cry. It was why he kept himself so occupied, going on adventures all around the empire: it kept him from dwelling on the fact that he'd never see his parents again...
He'd never even had the chance to say goodbye...
Leiurus' voice brought him back to the present. "What is it that you want?"
His armor against the unfairness of the world, his grin, returned to his face, and he said, "You came here because you wanted to learn about the new path I promised you, right?" After a moment, the changeling nodded. "Good. Well, I want to show it to you. I should warn you, though, that this is a path more powerful than any you can imagine. I'll probably end up destroying you by teaching it to you. Are you willing to risk that?"
The changeling nodded.
"Good. Now, let's go have some fun." ---------------------
"That clever little scamp," Flower said, grinning, as she looked up the chimney. She'd had barely any time to teach him, and he'd pulled a masterful escape, right under the muzzle of somebuggy who had five years of training over him. And if the message written on the wall was any indication, he had something planned.
Turning back to Shining Armor, she asked, "The Harvest's End festival is today, right? I think I overheard a couple of ponies talking about it." Shining Armor nodded. "And it's held at the city square?" Another nod. After a moment's thought, she chuckled, and said, "Clever boy. While I doubt Lance knows it, Leiurus has very little experience with anything that could be considered enjoyable. It's always been training of one sort or another, practically since the day she was hatched. Let's head over to the square, but I'd like to keep a low profile, if we can. I kind of want to see what sort of Path my newest student has invented." --------------------
"What is this strange substance?"
Lance chuckled, and said, "It's cotton candy."
The Deathstalker examined the strange pink material. It was... light, and fluffy. She had never seen anything like it. She asked, after a moment, "What is it's purpose?"
The colt chuckled, and said, "You eat it."
Strange. Well, if that was what he wanted, she supposed that was a simple request. Since she was half an aristo, she could taste, and digest, pony food, although the most she had ever tried before was simple bread. After watching the colt take a few bites, she finally decided to try a bit of this "cotton candy" herself. It was...
Incredible. Comets flew across her mind, trailing streams of pure, unbridled joy in their wake. Explosions of flavor ran up and down her tongue. In her brief life, she had never experienced anything like it. She immediately took another bite, then another...
"So you can smile," Lance said, grinning.
Leiurus was abruptly startled out of her euphoria, and was horrified to find that the colt was right. A hoof raised to her face, she confirmed her fears. She was smiling! And worse, she couldn't stop! One of the biggest and most terrible violations of the tennents of her training! A weapon wasn't supposed to smile: a weapon felt nothing! When her mentors heard about it...
...Wait. Who was going to tell them? Even she didn't know where they were right now.
Well, she certainly wasn't going to tell them, if she ever saw them again. She resumed digging into the cotton candy, smiling the entire time. It felt... strange. Was this that happiness thing that she'd overheard others talk about? If it was... she kinda liked it. ---------------------
Watching the two of them sitting there, eating cotton candy, Mantis was stunned. Shining Armor had left, leaving Mantis in charge of watching over the pair, while he briefed his wife, and the guards, on the current situation. And what she saw now was unbelievable.
Deathstalker was smiling. She would have sworn that was impossible: part of her training, under her other mentors, had been to remove anything resembling emotion from her character. Their method had been brutally simple: she was kept in absolute isolation when not in training. She had not even been allowed to have toys to play with. Mantis had hated that, but had been forced to go along with it. But now... --------------------
"What is this strange device?"
Lance laughed, and said, "This is a teddy bear."
The colt had won the toy in some strange game of skill. He had thrown a baseball at a set of milk bottles, knocking them over, and had chosen the bear as a "prize". Considering the fuzzy brown object, she asked, "What is it's purpose?"
"You hug it," the colt said.
Leiurus, after a moment, decide to try it. The cotton candy had been... wonderful, after all, and a few of the other things, like the performers doing dances and singing songs, had been lovely as well. She supposed she could trust his judgement... for now.
She understood the concept of hugs, having seen it done a few times during the last year, although she'd never experienced one herself. She decided to give it a try. Hugging the teddy bear, she felt...
Calm. At peace. All of the cares, worries, and concerns of the world seemed to melt away. She couldn't say just how long she stood there, cuddling the strange artifact, but it seemed not to be anywhere near long enough when she came back to herself. She hoofed the bear back to Lance.
He waved it away. "It's yours. Keep it."
Leiurus had some difficulty in accepting what she was hearing. She was a weapon. A weapon didn't have possessions. But...
...But it was so fluffy! And it was the first time anybuggy, or anypony, had given her anything. Ever.
She felt an overwhelming urge to hug something again, and the bear didn't seem enough right now. Looking at Lance, she knew exactly what she needed to do. -------------------------
Now Mantis was sure the world was upside down: The Deathstalker was now hugging Lance. Until that moment, she had doubted that Leiurus had even known what the word had meant. It seemed impossible that this could be the same changeling that she had trained from sunrise to sunset for five years. The small, yet incredibly dangerous hatchling was undergoing some sort of metamorphosis, right before Flower's eyes... --------------------------
This was the moment of truth. While Lance only had a very basic understanding of the five paths, she remembered what Flower Mantis had told him. He had decided to put his own spin on it all, but he felt she would have approved. He had used the Path of the Fox to lure her here, and the Path of the Spider to keep her here. He had used the Path of the Tiger and the Path of the Mountain to spot the weaknesses in her emotional defenses, and exploit them. From there, it had gone far faster than he had possibly imagined. Just a small bit of kindness. Just single gift. He had been able to see from the beginning, just by looking into her eyes, how empty she was. And how lonely...
Nature abhors a vacuum. Anything empty wants only to be filled.
Now it was time for the Path of the Dragon. The Dragon Is Strong Above All Others; Before The Dragon, Strength Has No Meaning. To Lance, that could only mean one thing. The heart is the strongest muscle in the body, and all the strength in the world is meaningless against the simplest and most fundamental power in Equestria: Friendship.
Lance hugged her back.
The Sixth Path: The Path Of The Pony. The Pony Does Not Harm His Enemies, He Helps Them; The Pony Destroys Enemies By Creating Friends.
Friendship Is Magic.
There was a brilliant flash of light. -------------------------
The next day...
Flower Mantis watched the two youngsters playing in the park. After the lightshow yesterday, there'd been a great deal of panic and shock. Thankfully, the guards were able to get things calmed down pretty quickly. When Shining Armor and Princess Cadance arrived, they had been just as stunned as Mantis was, but upon seeing, and truly understanding, what had just happened, their smiles were just as big as Flower's was.
Leiurus Quinquestriatus, the Deathstalker (although she was now going by Elle) was, due to her unique upbringing, as far from a changeling as any creature could be. She hadn't been a bug, a monster, she'd not really been anything, except someone trying to be something that no creature could be. No one can truly become a weapon, so long as they still had a heart. A single push in the right direction had been enough. The moment she had allowed herself to feel, those emotions had been strong enough to destroy Sombra's curse, all on their own.
It wasn't a Crystal Pony and a changeling she was watching right now, playing and having a grand time, but a Crystal Pony and a Crystal Unicorn. The first true Crystal Unicorn to be seen in a thousand years.
Shining Armor would be along soon with forms for her to sign. After everything that was happening, nopony had even raised an eyebrow at a changeling volunteering to adopt and raise a pony. It would be probationary, at first, but a year can go by very quickly. And who knows? She'd already seen one miracle beautiful enough that she'd waived True Lance's tuition permanently. Maybe she'd get to see another one soon, from the other side. ----------------------
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
"Are you certain this is where the first one rests?"
"Yes, master. The crews are ready, and, as per your orders, we will begin raising him within the hour."
"Good."
"Ah, and the second?"
"She is... irrelevant. Far too young to be useful, from what you've told me. Besides, for the task at hand, he will be sufficient. Now raise him, and be quick about it. It's a long journey back to Equestria, and we are on a timetable."
Elle stepped to one side, letting the soccerball go by without trying to block it. That was close. She was still trying to come to terms with all of the changes that had occurred in the last two days. She and Lance had already started working on different codewords, to remind her of those differences, so she wouldn't accidentally get hurt. Perhaps the most important was 'Softshell'. It reminded her that she no longer had an armored carapace to protect her from harm. The soccer ball she had just dodged would have bounced harmlessly off of her old shell, but now that she was a pony, it would have hit her hard enough to hurt had it connected with her face.
She had so many things she needed to learn, and to remember. And just as many things that she would have to forget.
The lessons in changeling magic that had been forcibly imprinted into her brain by her mentors were now useless: Pony magic works in a completely different fashion. She could not cast any of her old spells, and would have to learn magic again from scratch. Likewise, pony joints moved slightly differently, so her previous agility and grace was completely lost, as well as her wings. She now stumbled and fell over often. She no longer possessed compound eyes, severely limiting her field of vision. Her physical strength (which had been based primarily on the strength and rigidity of her chitin) was diminished by half. She now possessed the body of an ordinary unicorn filly...
And she couldn't be happier.
Running after the ball, she stumbled, caught herself, then stumbled again, before reaching the ball. Turning back towards Lance, she called out, "Ready?" Lance nodded, grinning. Whipping around, she reared both legs back, and kicked as hard as she could. The ball flew, not very quickly, but accurately, back to Lance, who caught it with both forelegs.
Lance dropped the ball, grinning, and said, "That one was a lot better. You're getting the hang of this."
Elle felt like this was a situation that called for a smile, so she allowed herself one. She was still... uncertain about emotions in general, and about facial expressions, but she felt she was getting a little bit better about using them. Flower Mantis had joked about how the little filly had come out of her shell in more ways than one. While Elle felt like that wasn't entirely accurate, she did feel much more... free than before.
Lance called out, "Ready?" Steadying herself, Elle nodded, then prepared for the next throw. --------------
Shining Armor and Flower Mantis watched the two ponies at play while they talked. Elle had a long ways to go before she could even think about beginning the training necessary to put her back at her previous physical prowess, but so far, the former changeling had not shown even the slightest interest in becoming what she had been only two days before. She seemed much more focused on just being happy.
"...So, tell me more about this Braconidae character."
Today was a bit more about debriefing than anything else. While the older changeling and the unicorn had managed, over the last couple of days, to establish an odd sort of friendship, she understood that the knight had a duty to protect the peace of Equestria, and in order to do so, he needed to make certain that changelingkind was no longer a threat to ponykind.
Mantis, keeping her voice low enough to keep from being overheard, said, "Braconidae was the leader of the infiltration corps. His agents would infiltrate a city weeks in advance, weaken the target from the inside, and then, in a single night, secure the city for capture. He lost a great deal of relevance when the queen decided that she was the best actress ever, and decided infiltration should be a one bug show. However, his agents were still very skilled spies, and he still managed to maintain a pretty strong hoof in the politics of the hive."
Shining Armor nodded in understanding, then asked, "And you've heard about him since?"
Nodding, her expression neutral, Mantis said, "Mostly rumors, but given how spread out the hive is now, anything is better than nothing. I've heard that he took his agents and a few loyalists to the crown south across the badlands. I don't know if they were looking for the queen, or they just wanted to get out of Equestria while the getting was good, but most changelings wanted nothing to do with him. I'd say he'd have no more than twenty followers, possibly thirty if they were desperate and he was the only one they could turn to. Braconidae is not the kind of bug you'd want to serve if you could help it: he views subordinates like chess pieces. And the thing about chess pieces is, by the time the game is over, there's a lot fewer of them than when you started."
The knight raised an eyebrow, and asked, "And it was his idea to try and turn Elle into a weapon?" Flower nodded. "Why?"
The changeling shrugged, and said, "He was convinced that we'd need a secret weapon. He may have been a sociopath, but he was a brilliant strategist and tactician. He saw that things were getting worse in the hive, that each invasion was getting harder and harder, and that the number of kingdoms we could raid and expect to successfully extract love from was reducing yearly. Had the queen not forced us to migrate north for Equestria, we'd have had to go someplace else, or starve, if not in my lifetime, then in Elle's. Brac thought that, if instead, we had a new weapon, one that could surpass anything else that our enemies could throw at us, we'd be able to extend our stay in the southern kingdoms. His ultimate goal was to create an army of changelings, raised from birth to know only violence and destruction. Elle was a prototype..."
Shining Armor looked over at the changeling as she slowed to a stop. Flower's expression was one of extreme sadness, most likely because she'd been a participant in such a terrible project, albeit unwillingly. Guessing her thoughts, he said, "Well, there's little that we can do to change the past. The best we can do is to make certain that the future we build is one where little bugs and ponies aren't forced to become weapons."
Smiling, Flower said, "That's something I'd be happy to dedicate the rest of my life to. Now, let's discuss a happier subject. You said you'd gotten a report about several other changelings revealing themselves?"
Grinning, the knight said, "Yup. And some of them make for pretty funny stories. Can you believe a filly actually hired a changeling to be the monster under her bed, for the sole purpose of scaring away the monster in her closet?"
The two shared a laugh as they continued to watch the two youngsters play. -----------------
Lance yelled, "Ouch!" His back leg twisted, and he fell. He looked down at his leg, realizing that he'd not seen a gopher hole that he had just stuck his hoof into. Thankfully, his back leg wasn't seriously injured, but he'd need to put ice on it. The last time he'd had a twist like this, he'd had to stay off it a day or two. He hated to say it, especially since Elle was having so much fun, but they'd have to stop for now.
He looked up from his back leg to see Elle standing over him, a faraway look in her eyes, and her horn beginning to glow with energy. Suddenly, the pain in his back leg faded and vanished. He looked back at his leg, and saw the painful scrapes that had been there only moments ago were fading away, as well. When the spell ended, it was as if he'd never hurt himself at all. Standing up and putting his weight on it, he found his back leg was good as new. Grinning, he asked, "How did you do that?"
Elle tilted her head to one side, then to the other, then said, her expression completely serious, "I have no idea. I saw that you were hurt, and I didn't like it, so I wished that you were better. I..." Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and upon Elle's flank, a mark appeared. A staff, framed by a pair of angelic wings. Only two days a pony, and Elle had just earned her cutie mark... in healing magic. ------------------
"I don't believe it," Shining Armor said, his jaw dropping. "A genuine healing spell. There hasn't been a unicorn who could cast one in a thousand years..." It was considered a lost art, something out of myth and legend. And he'd just seen it cast right in front of his very eyes.
Chuckling, Flower said, "Well, there hasn't been a crystal unicorn in a thousand years, either. Kind of makes you wonder what other lost spells might turn up when other changelings start becoming ponies, doesn't it? And who knows what a crystal pegasus might be capable of?"
A smile began to form on the knight's face as he said, "That's something to look forward to. Well, right now, there's Ling, Ladybird, Mole Cricket, and you: four commoners living very different lives in Equestria. Want to make a bet on which one of you becomes a pony first?"