> You Sure know how to Hold a Grudge. > by Solar Caesar > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Yep,I'm DEFINITELY lost. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Why did I have to Forget my Compass?" Cyril thought angrily. The irritated Changeling huffed to himself, knowing what he had been told would be rendered completely useless at a time like this. He checked his pack for the items that would not be entirely useful. His Backpack contained a half eaten sandwich, some toothpaste(which caused him to facehoof himself, because he forgot his toothbrush),a Flashlight, and a few batteries. He had also forgotten the map, which caused him to really rethink his choice to go on a hike. His Queen had told him to be prepared, which, as you may have guessed, he wasn't. Knowing that he would not get anywhere at this rate, he decided to head, to where he thought was south. After 30 minutes of walking, he decided that it was a good idea to take a break. "I swear, if I make it out of here alive, I'm never leaving the hive as long as I live." He said to himself. That was one of the advantages of being alone: there's no one to hear you talk to yourself. BOOM!!! Before you could say "Chrysalis" Cyril was standing in the middle of a Storm. "Well "he said "at least things can't get any worse." "STOP, FIEND!!!" shouted a voice. Cyril froze. That is DEFINITELY a Pony, Cyril thought. Then, out of instinct, he ran. "HEY!!!" Shouted the Pony. Cyril couldn't see very well in the dark, but he could hear heavy hoofsteps approaching him. Being lost was bad enough, getting chased by a royal guard? His panic levels were on "The world is ending" mode. His Front hooves hit something hard, and was instantly swept off his feet. Then his head hit something hard. And then everything went black. > A VERY Rude awakening. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ugh" Cyril Groggily opened his eyes. Where am I? he thought. He felt his forehead with his hoof. It was apparently bandaged. He looked down,revealing that he was sitting in a chair. He was unsure if he had sprouted blood under the bandage. But he didn't feel the need to take it off just yet. "Ahem" Uh-oh. He recognized that voice. That was PRINCESS CADANCE. He looked up. It was definitely her. And she did not look happy. And beside her, were ponies who he would've been perfectly fine with if he never had seen again. The Elements of Harmony(Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Applejack,Rarity,Fluttershy,and Twilight Sparkle),Shining Armor,and Princess Celestia. Everyone just stared at him. "Um, this...isn't what it looks like." Cyril said nervously. "Really?" said Cadance. "Because what it looks like, is that one of the things that almost RUINED my wedding, came back to take Equestria down from the inside!!!" "Uh, no disrespect or anything Princess," Cyril said "But from what I heard, it was a pretty good wedding." "Oh it was a FANTABULOUS wedding!!!" said Pinkie Pie "The cake was delicious, and the decor was-" But she is cut off by Twilight, who had to mash her hoof over Pinkie Pie's mouth. "Now that there are no distractions," said Twilight "I would like it if you would explain why you are here." Cyril was about to say something, but hesitated. This was a difficult question. The truth was, he didn't really know why he was here. Maybe I should be honest with them, he thought. They would understand. At least he hoped they would. Sighing,he told them the truth: "I don't know." Everyone looked surprised. Did I just make it worse?he thought. The Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor, simply walked over to the Changeling. "Can you pass me that Baseball Bat you brought with you, Dash?" Yep, I made it worse. thought Cyril. grabbing the bat, the captain spoke, "Now listen here, you Freak." Shining fumed. "What happens here, stays here, you got it?" "Other than being vermin-" "Captain!" He didn't even look at Celestia. "-you have nothing to do except talking." "Now we are going to ask you again,and you are going to answer truthfully and nothing else." Cyril nodded. "Good." said the Captain. "Wait." said Celestia "maybe you were not clear enough." Celestia said. "I will ask the questions now, Captain. Plus, that treatment was VERY uncalled for." she said angrily. Shining stepped away from the Changeling, snickering. "First,"said the Princess of the Day "What is your full name, or 'Drone Number'?" "Cyril Cristoff DeVale, Drone Number 2531" "Good, now why were you in the Everfree forest last night?" "I was on a hike.The Queen gave me permission to. I was foolish, however, and forgot my map AND my compass." "How do we know your not lying?" Rainbow Dash scowled. " You can check my Backpack, It's all I have." said the Changeling. "We'll do that later." said Cadance "Shining, Sweetheart, would you put him in the guest room for me?" "Uh, of course Honey" the Captain said "but I'll have to put a few guards in the front." "Good."the Princess said. But then she turned to the Changeling."But do you have a quick phone call you want to make?" Hm, she was nicer than he thought. ...... *bing* "Yes, if you don't mind." Cyril said. Cyril had a plan to get out of here quickly. And it would probably not work. But why not try it? > A "chat" with my Queen. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later, Cyril was about to call his Queen when he hesitated. Why would Cadance give him this phone call? He decided to ask her about it. "First of all, it wouldn't be fair if you didn't get a phone call." she said. "Oh, okay." he said " Does this mean we're friends now? We're coo-" That was as far as he got before the princess stopped him. "We are NOT friends." she said slowly. The changeling nodded. The other three princesses(Celestia,Luna, and Twilight) walked into the room, followed by the elements of harmony(Mane six)and the Captain of the Guard(Shining Armor). "Ready when you are." said Twilight. He dialed the Queens number. ... ... ... "Yes? Queen Chrysalis speaking." "This is Princess Celestia."she said. ... "What? What could you possibly want, Celestia?!?!" shouted the Queen. "One of your men was captured yesterday. He claims he was on a hike. He wants to speak with you." "Um...okay, put him on." she sounded confused,and everyone noticed. Cyril spoke"Uh...um...hello my Queen. My name is Cyril DeVale, and you gave me permission to go on a hike yesterday." "Wait, Cyril? I told you to go prepared!" "Well, about that..." "I said bring a map! A compass! Food!" "I..." "Why am I surprised? This isn't the first time you've caused trouble." "OKAY, nicetalkingtoyoubye." Cyril said quickly. The Princesses did not have to hear about this. "Actually, I think I want to hear what other things you've been accused of." said Shining Armor. If it wasn't obvious, Cyril wasn't that fond of the Captain. "Let's count the charges, shall we?" said the Queen. "Vandalism." "I just scratched my name on the walls!" "You scratched your name on my throne, Cyril." "But-" "Moving on. Assault, or attempted murder" "What?! All I did was punch the Colt." "With a knife, maybe." "ALRIGHT, miss 'matter-of-factly', what's the third offense?" "Flying intoxicated." ... "Okay, that one is pretty hard to deny." "I'm leaving this decision up to you Celestia. What happens to him is your problem, not mine." Then she hang up. ... ... ... "Well," said Shining Armor "That was interesting." > So, now what? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyril was in full panic mode now. He would have set the record for "The Biggest Panic Attack In 3 Minutes". "Okay," panicked the changeling "You're probably wanting to kill me now, but I just want to say that-" "We're not killing you." said the sun princess. "-That I am grateful for you sparing my life." Cyril finished."But why did you spare my life,exactly?" "Because, there is no reason to take your life. Why would we?" Celestia answered. "Now hold on," said Rainbow Dash "What are you going to do with him now? We can just throw him out into the Everfree Forest. It`s not like he matters to anypony, right? He`s old enough to take care of himself, right?" She got a big frown from Cyril. And Twilight, for some reason. "Rainbow Dash! What`s gotten into you?" she yelled. "Even though his species has a history with ours, that`s no reason to abandon him!" Cyril was beginning to like this pony. "Well yeah, but-" Rainbow started. "But nothing, Rainbow. Changelings are part of this world. You can`t change that." The Rainbow-colored-Pegasus nodded guiltily. "Now, what do you think we should do with him, Princess Celestia?" The Princess of the Sun thought for a moment, thinking. After a while, she finally said "I will give you a job as my servant. I`ll inform the other servants of your presence, though I don`t think there will be any problem. The servants here are quite timid. I`ll give you your uniform right away. But for now, get some rest. You have had a long day." "Thank you." Cyril said. He did a little bow before scurrying off to his room. His Adventure was just beginning, however. > My first day of work! And it's not going well... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyril's first day of work was today. Not that bad of a job, Cyril thought. His servant uniform was a well tailored,black suit with a white shirt and black tie. Very well tailored indeed. How bad can this be? Cyril thought as he adjusted his tie. *buzz* Cyril walked over to the intercom in his room and pressed the button. "Yes?" he said. "Cyril? Hi, this is Twilight." "Oh, hey Twi. What's up?" Cyril asked her. She truly wasn't so bad once you got to know her. He honestly thought that she was a geek, but she was also a Princess, so she obviously had to know her stuff. It wasn't easy with a job title that big. "Are you ready to start your first day of work?" she asked me. No, actually. I want to get out of here as soon as possible. Cyril thought. But I didn't say that. Instead, he said, "Yep". "Glad to hear it!" she told him. "Everyone in the castle is aware of your presence. So don't be afraid of getting pounced." ".......Uh, okay. If it does happen, then whoever did it will have a lot of explaining to do. Plus, I know their answer would be 'but he's a Changeling', and that would definitely count as spec-ism. And then I'd return the favor." ...... *awkward silence* "Uh, that was a little dark wasn't it?" ....... "Um, Twi?" "Oh! Sorry Cyril. A maid just entered my room. I asked what she was doing here and forgotten that I had asked her to come in earlier. Uh, anyway, do you want to come over to my room tonight? I want to ask you some questions." she asked him. "Question's? About what?" Cyril asked. "Oh, just about where you're from, your species religion, culture, family, hobbies. I'm curious about you Cyril." Twilight told the Changeling. "Curious. You want to write a book, don't you." "W-what? Would you really think I'd befriend you to make a book? That's s-s-st-stup-" she gagged. "I know you Twi. And it's okay." "Phew!" she gasped "I could never go through with that!" "Whatever, Twi. I get off duty at 7:00. how does 8:00 sound?" "Perfect! See you tonight!" *beep* I guess we could get to know each other more, Cyril thought. *beep* Cyril walked over and pressed the intercom again."Yes?" "Is this the new servant? The Changeling?" a pretty female voice asked. "Yes, this is Cyril." "Ah, yes, hi. The mare in room 209 has ordered room service. Come down here and get her tray please. Her food is beside the kitchen with all the other lunch trays. It has the number 522 on it." "Thanks for the info. By the way, what's your name?" asked Cyril. "I'm the order handler, Roseluck." the mare said. "Hello Roseluck, nice to meet you." said the Changeling. "Uh, Hi, nice to meet you." she answered. "Hey, want to sit together at lunch? I'm not hard to spot. I'll be the only Changeling in the room." Cyril heard a giggle, followed by a "Kay". And then the call ended. Well, better get that mares food, Cyril thought. As Cyril trotted down to the kitchen, he got some strange looks. It didn't bother him that much. Not many ponies were used to seeing a Changeling walking through the halls. And he understood why. As Cyril reached the kitchen and picked up tray 599, he felt about 30 pairs of eyeballs headed his way. Actually, make that 300. Don't look up, Cyril thought, don't look up, don't loo- Cyril's thought's were interrupted by a ticked off-looking Chef pony in his face. "Um, yes?" Cyril asked the colt nervously. "Are you the new recruit?" the colt asked Cyril. The colt had a green coat and blue eyes. "Yeah..." the changeling replied. "Watch your back" the colt threatened "The Princesses may have forgiven you, but me, and most of the other ponies in here have not." The colt stared at him for a few seconds, then walked away. Well, he was nice, Cyril thought. As he collected his tray, Cyril wondered how much hate he'll receive during this job. He took his tray into the nearest elevator, which had conveniently opened when he started approaching the elevator doors. The only other pony in the elevator was a maid, who looked terrified at the sight of the Changeling. It got awkward as the elevator went up the first few floors. Cyril could feel her trembling. Cyril decided to break the silence. "You don't have to fear me, I'm not going to hurt you." Cyril said. "I'm not so sure about that," the maid said "I have the right to be suspicious of you." "I know you do. It's all new for me too. New home, new job. It's crazy for everyone." "It's more crazy for me actually. What's next, Chrysalis runs for president?" the maid said, her voice rising. "Relax, I just was trying to make friends." Cyril assured the mare. As the elevator doors opened, the mare exited and said, "Well, good luck with that." As Cyril started towards room 209, he wondered what the reaction from her would be. I guess we'll find out. Cyril thought. When he reached room 209, he knocked on the door. The Changeling waited patiently for the mare to answer. The doorknob moved to the right, and the door opened. A mare with a blue coat and blue and white mane answered. As soon as she caught sight of the Changeling, her eyes opened wide. For some strange reason, he knew what she was thinking. "Relax, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just the knew servant. That's all." he told the nervous mare. "You ordered room service?" "Y-yeah." the mare stuttered. "Well, nice to meet you, miss...?" Cyril said as he handed her the plate. "Colgate." she finished. "Yes. I hope you enjoy the food, madam." Cyril said in his best gentlecolt voice. He turned around and started to leave, when- "Wait." Yes, miss?" "Uh, here's you're tip. For, you know, not hurting me." the mare said. She plopped roughly ten bits in his hoof. "Um, thank you...Colgate." Cyril told her. He was truly thankful. "You're welcome...Cyril" the mare said before closing the door. Gee, I've made my first friend! Or, I hope I made a friend, Cyril thought. But the changelings thoughts were very rudely interrupted by a horn. "All servants and workers, please report to the cafetorium." a loud voice on the microphone said. Cyril started to walk down to the cafetorium for lunch, bringing his tray with him. What friends will I make at lunch? Cyril thought.