Looper is a Changeling bent on figuring out the limits of Magic, a power that breaks the laws of nature that by its very definition can not be understood.
"What is the difference between a Changeling and an Alicorn?"
Looper is now a Changeling, an Insectoid species that can shapeshift into other creatures and feeds on their love.
Being a Magical species in a Magical world opens so many questions and Looper must know the answers.
Being banished from the hive has given him the perfect opportunity to figure out the secrets and limits of Magic, Power in its purest form.
And if he must Lie, Cheat or Steal in order to achieve his goals, that's parred for the course, isn't it?
This is my take on a Morally Grey MC, With less Comedy than my other stories, Hope you enjoy :)
Inspiration was taken from Dark Souls, the FATE franchise, Warcraft, and much more.
That is a question that has eluded me since the beginning of my second stint in life.
If books are written about a certain magic and research has explained how it works, does it not count as science? Magic is something that cannot be explained by science, no matter how hard you try and find the explanation, how outlandish the explanation may be, or how scientifically impossible the feat is.
Magic, on a basic level, no matter how simple or complex, can not be explained with science.
My new body feeding off of Love is magic. There is no scientific explanation for how or why Changeling can consume love.
Because what is love? What constitutes love? Love is such a broad concept and idea, the mere fact that it can be quantified by a living species and used as a source of nourishment is Magic.
Consuming love is Magic, but shapeshifting, changing the structure of the body into a different form, is magic. With a lowercase m.
Changing form, for a Changeling, is something that comes as naturally as a bird flapping its wings.
It can be researched, and some of it can be explained with other words pertaining to magic, but it is supernatural in its simplest form, not really breaking the rules of nature, but bending them.
That is what I have decided to explain magic and Magic as, after four years of living as a shape-shifting insectoid species.
Bending the rules of the universe, and outright ignoring them.
"Looper, What are you doing?" A meek voice asked the changeling who was scribbling words into a piece of bark he appropriated from somewhere.
Deep beneath the ground outside of the outskirts of Equestria, the hive of changelings bustles and buzzes.
From Changelings entering the hive from one of the many tunnels, to Changelings flying to and from carrying whatever they were ordered to, The Hive was a place where the movement was constant.
From Changelings taking care of Grubs to Nymphs taking their first flight, Workers climbing and Drones flying, no matter where you would look, something was in motion.
Anywhere over than with Looper, an outlier in the hive.
Born from a batch of grubs four years ago, Looper has showcased signs of maturity long before his siblings. He did not socialize with his sibling, he does not cry for a caretaker's attention, Looper simply does not act his age.
"I am writing a note on the difference between Magic and magic, Honey. Is there something important that you wish to tell me of? Because if not, then I will ask that you leave me to my research," Looper answered the question asked by the meek Changeling before returning to his tree bark, a small knife-looking organ extending from his front leg carving into the wood.
"Oh, Umm, It's just that-" Honey tries to say something but stumbles over her words, causing Looper to grow agitated at the distraction the young changeling is causing. "Out with it, I am busy and you aren't doing anything," Looper tries to hurry her along so she would reach the point she is trying to tell him.
"It's about that, Umm, you see, Queen Chrysalis wants to see you." Honey finishes out, quickly averting her gaze from her brood brother as he turns and looks at her.
Waiting for her to expand on what she said and coming to the conclusion that she won't, Looper decides to get whatever the queen wants from him over with, no point in wasting time.
Queen Chrysalis is as much a queen to her people as an Ant is. She doesn't rule, she orders, and all the mindless drones fulfill her bidding like the slaves that they were raised to be.
"This is the one that hasn't been working?" The large Changeling asked the young Changeling groveling on the cold stone floor of the throne room.
"Yes your Greatness," Honey manages to squeak out, "This is Looper, the changeling you requested."
Looking at the other young changeling in front of her, Chrysalis frowns as she notices that not only is he not bowing before her, but he is looking around the room as if the wall behind her is a more interesting subject than the matter at hoof.
"I see," Queen Chrysalis muttered before giving her full attention to the young Changeling, barely a year of Adulthood, "You are Looper, yes?"
That question managed to finally grab the attention of the young changeling, Chrysalis needed no more time to think of a solution to the predicament that was originally brought to her.
When she heard of a Changeling who wasn't working, she didn't think much of the subject, 'it must be a nymph that isn't working towards their role, they'd learn in a year.' But that wasn't the case.
It wasn't a Nymph, but a mature changeling, who simply sat in a dark corner and tried to experiment with his magic. How heavy an object can he lift? How small or large a creature can he shift into?
If it was just those two little things Chrysalis wouldn't have had a problem with the boy, her hive has a clear lack of Changelings with brains, but she simply couldn't ignore the third point about his experiments.
"What is love?"
When she heard of this, she immediately had someone bring him to her so she could asses him personally.
Chrysalis knew, before the boy entered her throne room, that there were only two outcomes to this meeting.
He will either find himself a place as one of her personal assistants, a mind like his could bring so much success to her hive, The Ponies wouldn't be able to contest!
Or he will be banished from the hive, She has no use for changelings that only think of themselves. If he is not willing to put his all into working and protecting the hive, then he will be kicked out.
Like removing the guts off a carcass before skinning it. No need to keep the boy if he would bring more trouble than his worth.
And with how Looper has acted since he was called to see her, Chrysalis knew that the second option is what was going to happen.
She needs not to explain herself to him, he must simply accept that fact.
That the moment he made eye contact with Queen Chrysalis, he was banished from The Hive.
And when he left her throne room, taken by a group of guards down one of the many tunnels leading to the outside world, Chrysalis sighed in disappointment at another failure of her species.
"If only the smart ones knew what was good for them," She mumbled quietly to herself before evicting the young Changeling still groveling on the floor in front of her throne.
'Perhaps the next generation will have someone as smart as the boy.' And with those thoughts, Chrysalis spread her wings and took off.
The Land outside the Hive is barren and empty, no life can sustain itself with the harsh conditions found in it.
No Life except for Changelings, that is.
Changelings are unique in that they don't need food or water to survive, and they can go on for weeks without eating love before the effects start to show.
However, that does not mean changelings can survive the Wasteland outside the hives for long. They might be able to fly none stop close enough to civilization before they run out of love, and some lucky few might find a traveler to drain along the way. But the sun is just as dangerous to Changelings as it is to other creatures.
By virtue of them being an Insect-like species and not requiring water, Changelings do not sweat.
This is the main reason as for why the Hive is dug underground, beneath a mountain.
Should a changeling be underneath the blazing sun for the duration of his exile into the Wasteland, he would surely be cooked alive and die of heatstroke.
Under the watchful eye of the moon, a young changeling flies northeast over the dry and barren ground of the Wastelands. Should he continue with his trajectory and speed, he should make his way to the land of Equestria in just over a day's time.
And as the moon started to set and the sun began to rise, Looper landed on the sandy floor of the Lands outside Equestria and started a process that every Changeling gets taught to them, no matter their occupation or caste in changeling society.
How to dig a hole.
With a small burst of green fire, Looper's hooves are burnt away and replaced with two large, flat claws, similar in shape to a shovel.
One of the many weaknesses of Changeling Transformation that Looper managed to discover over his four years of practicing and experimenting, is that a Changeling can not shapeshift into an inanimate object.
To combat this weakness, a solution has been made. By transforming into a living creature that simply looks and feels like an inanimate object.
And so, by transforming the hooves on his legs into flat bones similar to the spine of a stegosaurus, and covering them with a layer of thick hide, Looper has successfully transformed his arms into shovels.
And with a grunt of effort, He started digging a hole to hide from the sun during the day.
By the time the suns rays hit the spot where he sat as he dug the hole, Looper was already fast asleep, saving energy for one night of flying in this empty land he was exiled to before he reaches a land where he may finally do what he has always wanted since coming into the world.
Study Magic.
Not simply learn how to cast a spell, but learn how far Magic can go.
Looper will become what stories would consider an all-powerful wizard. When the most famous wizards in the world are talked about, Looper would be mentioned right between Gandalf and Merlin.
With what might sound like a giddy laugh, Looper turns in his sleep.
"This night has gone on longer than usual," Looper thought to himself as he continued flying over the wasteland. He could already see some vegetation in the distance, Bushes and Cacti, meaning he was getting close to Equestria.
However the moon hasn't yet started its descent towards the horizon, It actually seems to have remained stationary in the middle of the sky, as if the time is still Midnight when it has clearly passed hours prior.
"A Celestial event perhaps, similar to an Eclipse? That would be something to study when I reach Civilization." He whispered to himself as he continued flying, soon passing over the vegetation he saw earlier and into a valley.
However, be it fate or simply bad luck, the moment he turned to take another look at the moon stationary in the middle of the sky, A bright light blinded him.
As the moon he was watching gracefully light his way during his midnight flight was in a manner of seconds replaced with the scorching sun, its rays piercing into his eyes.
And in his Blindness, he started plummeting from the air.
"MY EYES!" He screamed as he held his hooves over his face, shutting his eyes tightly whilst he tried to balance himself from the free fall he was currently taking.
A loud snap was heard as Looper's body hit a branch from a dried tree growing out of one of the cliffs on his way down, the impact ruining all chances of Looper realigning himself.
And as the ground came closer and closer to his falling form, Looper knew he had to transform into something to survive the fall.
The Impact wouldn't kill him, his exoskeleton is too tough, but it would surely take away his consciousness. With the sun now in the middle of the sky directly above him, he would be in danger unmoving on the ground.
If the sun wasn't directly above him, the cliffs on his sides would have shielded him, alas it seems that luck wasn't on his side.
And so with a flash of green fire, Looper shapeshifted into the shape he only saw and heard of from other changelings in the Hive.
Where once was a black carapace, now is an orange coat of fur, Where the black fin on his head is now replaced with a mane of yellow hairs, a single black streak adding diversity to the color, The horn on his forehead gone and his dull blue eyes replaced with wide blue eyes, His insect wings replaced with those of an orange bird.
And most noticeably, on his flank, a caricature of a sun with sunglasses. Likely a joke concocted by his panicked subconscious for the reason he was in this situation in the first place.
And as Looper finished his first-ever transformation into a Pegasus, he landed on the floor of the dried canyon between the two cliffs and blacked out.
Chief Thunderhooves loved many things in life.
He loved the sky above and he loved the land below, he loved watching the clouds and he loved counting crickets, He loved the sun and he loved the moon, He loved his ancestors and he loved his tribe.
But above all else, Chief Thunderhooves loved his daughter.
So when Little Strongheart ran to get his help in finding a pony she saw in the distance fall from the sky, he followed her without question.
He understood her fear, when he woke up in the morning he was surprised to find that the moon was still in the sky. Clearly the ponies tried playing with celestial bodies again.
He would never mention it, but he didn't feel safe having the power to move the celestial bodies in the hooves of Princess Celestia. It was a known fact that Ponies and Buffalo don't get along well, the ponies' use of magic was seen as an insult to the respectful and traditional ways of the Buffalo. Not even mentioning the land disputes.
But although Buffalo and Ponies have no strong love for each other, Chief Thunderhooves wouldn't wish for the death of a pony, especially not in a freak accident like the sudden shift between Moon and Sun that happened.
And so with his hooves beating on the ground, a small group of younger Buffalo following him, he ran after Little Strongheart towards the two cliffs at the edge of his land.
Hoping that whoever it was that fell from the sky was safe.
The Process of shapeshifting comes naturally to a changeling as climbing does to a goat.
It's an instinctive part of their being, yet just like climbing, practice always makes it better.
Normally, a Changeling could only transform into creatures that it sees, making a partial transformation nearly impossible for the untrained.
Changelings being unable to create an original form without years of practice makes it so that when a Changeling goes undercover outside of the hive, they must first pick a pony to masquerade as and kidnap the original so that none will know that the one walking beside them is a Changeling.
However, the few that manage to create a transformation that does not copy the appearance of an existing creature are considered too important for the hive to let them out into Pony society.
Even though the process of creating an original pony is as simple as changing the colors on the fur and drawing the most basic of illustrations as a Cutie Mark, Changelings are simply unable to do so without training and practice.
When Looper came to, he found himself inside a large tent, a bandage wrapped around his midsection, and a pillow beneath his head.
When he tried moving his wings, he found them to also be wrapped in bandages.
It would seem that whoever found him after his fall from the sky wanted to make sure he wouldn't injure himself too much.
Taking another quick look at himself, he was relieved to see that his form remained that of a Pegasus. Which means also means that he has until the ones who rescued him return to check up on him to think of a believable backstory.
Pegasus, Sun with shades, close to the desert.
In less than a minute, Looper came up with the history and backstory of one Blaze Glass, A Pegasus that doesn't handle the sun very well.
While taking one of his midnight flights to stretch his wings, he flew too far away from his hometown, and when the sun returned in a flash, it blinded him and he fell from the sky, losing his sunglasses in the fall.
He was 17 and lived with his father who worked as a fitness instructor, He knew that he takes long flights during the night because of his issues with the sun, and knows that sometimes he leaves the house for weeks at a time.
If he doesn't hear from him in a month his father will become worried and start searching for him, and in order to make sure he doesn't worry, He will need to contact him. Giving himself a believable time-frame for how long he would be able to stay without causing trouble.
And after another two minutes of memorizing the story he came up with, Looper leaned back into the pile of pillows he was lying on.
And now he waits for someone to come and check on him.
And he waited.
And he continued to wait.
Until he waited enough,
Lifting himself from the pillows lying on the floor of the tent, Looper took a few steps towards the flap, wincing slightly as the bandages around his midsection squeezed tightly.
Standing right in front of the tent flap, Looper closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
And when he opened his eyes, gone was the cold and methodical stare of a changeling, replaced by the bright and energetic eyes of Blaze Glass, the Pegasus who was unable to fulfill his dream of traveling the world thanks to his troublesome reaction to sunlight.
A soft jump, a wiggle of his feathers, and a small excited smirk on his lips.
And Blaze Glass exited the tent.
Chief Thunderhooves was in the process of tasting the wind in order to figure out whether there will be rain next week when a young buffalo ran up to him and started talking excitedly.
"Chief, Chief! The Pony is awake, You need to see him!" The child yelled before he ran back in the direction of the tents, likely to watch the Pegasus his daughter found yesterday morning.
With a snort, Chief Thunderhooves turned away from the cliff he was looking upon and started walking towards the tent.
A fire was already started, a large cauldron filled with broth and vegetables sitting atop it. Some of the Buffalo that helped locate the Pegasus were in the process of skinning some cacti they picked up by the cliffs, a delicacy for the tribe.
And most notably, talking excitedly with Little Strongheart, his dearest treasure, was a young Pegasus, roughly her age, with an orange coat and a yellow mane. Bandages were wrapped around his torso and wings, work of one of the elders no doubt, making the Pegasus wince slightly whenever he made too sudden or sharp a movement.
"-And this is a Spike Pear, they're very juicy and tasty to eat," He could hear his daughter explain to the boy as she dragged him around the campsite, The Pegasus's eyes shining with excitement as he followed her.
"And this is my father, Chief Thunderhooves," Little Strongheart said as she placed her hoof on his shoulder, earning a smile from the large Buffalo.
"Oh, It's a pleasure to meet you, sir, Thank you for saving me," The boy said as he bowed his head to Chief Thunderhooves, earning a small giggle from Strongheart in the process.
Something that he'll have to look into, but there are more important things to worry about right now. One of them being getting this young man back to his family.
"Please, There is no need to call me sir, I was just doing the right thing." Thunderhooves began, "And it wasn't I that saved you, but Little Strongheart over here," He said, pulling his daughter into a hug.
"Dad, Stooop, you're embarrassing me," He heard her whisper to him, trying to get out of the hug. He smiled, Being a father is such a lovely thing.
"She did?" The pony asked before turning to look at his daughter once more, his eyes widening as if he was seeing her for the first time. The Pegasus turned his body to her and bowed even deeper than before, his head almost touching the ground.
"Thank you for saving my life!" He yelled, face still pointed to the ground. Pulling his head up, he got a sheepish look on his face before asking, "Umm, I know I shouldn't ask for much, seeing as how I'm supposed to be thankful to you and all, but did you perhaps find a pair of sunglasses next to where you found me?" He rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes from Thunderhooves and Strongheart.
"Sunglasses?" Thunderhooves answered, "No, We didn't find anything other than you. Are those glasses important to you?" He asked.
Now the Pegasus made an uncomfortable face, before pulling his leg to his mouth and coughing into his hoof, "Umm," He started, "You see, I-" He paused for a short moment before continuing, "I can't really fly during the day without my sunglasses."
'That's going to be a problem,' Thunderhooves thought, without sunglasses, the boy can't fly home, and it will still take a week or so until his wings are healed up enough to fly comfortably.
"Really? Is that why you're cutie mark looks like that?" He heard Strongheart ask and he winced, "Little, Cutie Marks are a personal thing for ponies, try not to make him uncomfortable about it," He told her before turning back to the teenager, "And you, I hope it's not too bothersome but would you mind staying here with the tribe for another week or so? Just to make sure you're healthy and all, Once the Elders deem you fine we'll take you to the nearest Pony settlement. That won't be too much of a problem, will it?"
"A week?" The Pegasus asked and Thunderhooves sighed, "Yes, It would take a week for your body to fix itself, give or take a few days."
"No no no, I'm not complaining at all, I actually thought the injuries were worse and I had to stay longer," The Pegasus said, quickly shaking his head, his mane of yellow whipping around, showing a lock of black hair hiding in its midst.
Sighing in relief that there doesn't seem to be any problem as of this moment, Thunderhooves turns and walks to help make the dinner for the camp.
"I never got your name, As my dad said, I'm Little Strongheart, what's yours?" He heard his daughter ask the Pegasus, almost kicking himself for not asking the pony's name earlier.
"My name is Glass, Blaze Glass," The Pony introduced himself, and he heard his daughter giggle a bit at the accent he used when introducing himself, likely referencing a show or story.
It's nice to see his daughter get along with people outside of the Tribe, but with this pony being as friendly as he seems.
"He better not get any funny ideas about her," He whispered to himself as he continued making his way to the campfire.
"Did you say something, dad?" Strongheart called out to him.
The Changeling transformation has set laws that it must follow, making it magic and not Magic.
One of those laws is that a changeling can not transform into an inanimate object, such as a bowl of plastic or a metal blade.
The second law is that a changeling may only transform into a creature of similar weight, with a difference of up to 500 kilos. Thanks to that Changelings are able to transform into the more common species of civilized creatures in the world, such as the Ponies or the Buffalo.
A Changeling cannot exceed the weight limit of the transformation, an example being grown Dragons. While fairly common to see flying above the desert, a Changeling will not be able to transform into an adult dragon due to the weight limitations of the magic.
The Size of a transformation on the other hand varies greatly depending on how powerful the changeling is personally, or how much LOVE it has stored inside of itself.
During my third year, as a nymph, I managed to transform into a writhing mass of tentacles and eyes. The size of the abomination was that of a flat-one story house, however, the weight of the form, which should have been several tons at the least, was no more than 700 Kilograms.
It was also during that transformation that I learned about the more physical aspects of a transformation.
When a Changeling changes its form, it encases itself in a burst of green fire, which I have decided to dub Fel Fire for convenience's sake.
The Fel Fire is not simply an aesthetic effect, its job is to repair the matter making up the biology of the Changeling.
For you see, when a Changeling transforms, it doesn't place a shell over its body, nor does it hide inside of an illusion.
The Transformation is more closely tied to the process of a Chrysalid Metamorphosis, where the caterpillar inside of the cocoon releases a series of enzymes in order to digest itself, melting in the process, only for the body to rebuild itself from the digested goop as a butterfly.
The Fel Fire is that cocoon, if for only but a moment.
Every time a Changeling transforms, even partially, it melts itself in green fire and rebuilds its own body into a new form.
A theory of mine is that during the split second in which the Changeling transforms, the body is placed in such unimaginable pain that the Fel Fire shuts off the pain receptors of the brain for the duration of the transformation so that the Changeling wouldn't die of over-stimulation.
More research is required to figure out if any more biological laws or limits exist in regard to the Changelings transformation, A subject for later date.
It has been four days since Looper took on the identity of Blaze Glass the Pegasus. During those four days he has spent his time being watched and treated by one of the Elders of the Plains Buffalo Tribe, the one that bandaged him when he first arrived.
He spent the rest of his time memorizing the culture and traditions that the Buffalo tribe has shown him, he won't be able to write down his notes without revealing himself as a Changeling, sadly.
An interesting happening was the daughter of the chief, the one who found him after he dropped from the sky, grow a small crush on him.
It was nothing major, Looper knew, simply a young woman being intrigued by the prospects of a stranger living with her, It won't lead to anything. But for the moment, Little Strongheart has become the unknowing source of food for Looper.
And how he took advantage of that.
For the first time in four years, Looper was able to absorb Love from a first-hand source.
No longer would he eat the tasteless mush fed to the Nymphs and Grubs of the hive, no longer will he eat the distilled rations given to the adult Changeling.
He will eat love, slowly, of course, absorbing it from the surrounding like photosynthesis. It isn't the fastest nor is it the most rewarding, but the slow absorption of the ambient love leaves no trace, unlike the active siphoning of the conceptual emotion.
And so, with a steady source of food, and more information being given to him about the history and traditions of Buffalo culture on a daily basis, Looper was relaxed.
Only three or more days and he will be able to finally leave this camp and return to his goal of mastering Magic.
And as long as things remain at the pace that they are, there shouldn't be any problems.
Which obviously meant that a problem was approaching.
It was during his fifth night with the tribe, Whilst everyone else was sleeping, Looper sat awake in the tent given to him.
Changelings being mostly nocturnal creatures thanks to their underground habitat, makes it so as long as they get at least six hours of sleep they keep themselves awake for up to forty-eight hours if they keep their LOVE at a steady supply. Which thanks to Little Strongheart fueling him, Looper was able to stay awake for most of the nights he spent with the Tribe.
It was on that night that a group of creatures sneaked into the tribe and left after taking a number of items, mostly articles of clothing and spare tents.
With the creatures showing intelligence by sneaking instead of waltzing into the camp, Looper became curious.
The only creatures that are known to live in the area are the Buffalo, and the Ponies up north wouldn't dare to think of sneaking into a Buffalo camp.
Suffice to say, Looper was more than intrigued.
He had a group of criminals on his hands, one that only he currently knows of, and if he plays his card right, only he will ever know existed.
With a flash of Fel Fire, gone was the Changeling that masquerades as a Pegasus during the day, in his place was a long black snake.
Because of the weight law of Transformation, Looper's snake was far longer than average, making up the length of at least three snakes.
Making the serpent wider and taller might have made the transformation shorter, but by spreading the weight across a long body, the snake will be able to move almost silently over the hard rocky ground of the desert.
And with a blink to readjust to his newfound serpentine eyesight, a quiet hiss from a forked tongue, and a small squirt of venom from the newly poisoned fangs. Looper exited the tent and followed the series of footprints.
I could never understand the reasons given for banditry and crime in the middle ages.
If you had the power to pick up a sword and rob someone in the woods, you had the power to kill a deer and sell its hide.
Crime, during those ages, was responded to by squads of knights.
Death.
Even in the modern era, where crime is more visible than ever, a common reason given by the criminals for why they started, was that they must take care of their families, financially so.
Surely they must have known that resorting to crime was the coward's way out, and that should you be captured your life is over.
You can not take care of your family out of a jail cell.
Simply doing a crime for such an asinine reason always confused me.
And perhaps it is simply my character that makes it so.
More research is needed to reach a conclusion.
Hogger wasn't the smartest Dog around.
Being born to a poor family of farmers in Caninia, he knew early on that he had no future there.
You either worked in the capital, were a soldier, or you were nothing.
And the start of the civil unrest only highlighted those facts.
So, seeing no other path for his future, Hogger decided to do something that his parents would never support.
He took a vessel across the ocean and joined an illegal gem mining Cartel.
With bases hidden all around the land of Equestria, and the large amount of gems and crystals found in the land, Equestria became a hot spot for Illegal Diamond Dog immigrants wanting to make some coin.
And the mountain he found himself in was no different, with caves dug around the entirety of the mountain, the arid desert heat being kept out by layers of tarp and linen. Caves full of Dogs of all shapes and sizes mining into the mountain.
Each Dog that brings a gem to the boss gets to keep a cut of the money from that stone.
It was good business, Hogger wasn't a professional, but to him, it was good business.
The only real problem with the situation of holding an illegal diamond dog mining operation on Equestrian soil, was funnily enough, not the ponies.
In the north, it was trying not to freeze to death underground without alerting the authorities to the operation.
In the east it was a gang of Illegal Gryphon hunters hunting animals, fighting for control over the land. Hogger didn't understand that one, Diamond Dogs mined underground and Gryphons were in the forests and skies above.
There was no need to argue, they could share the land.
In the west, the problem was the dangerous monsters leaving the Everfree forest, the west gang was already abandoned.
In the center, the issue was the leadership of that portion of the Cartel, Rover, Fido, and Spot were simply not good leaders for the organization, and the eastern gang has been thinking of replacing them, getting a better location away from the bird-headed cats in the process.
But with Hogger's group, down south, in the Appaloosan mountains?
Their problem was Buffalo.
The ponies are no problem, those cowardly herbivores barely leave their town, but the Buffalo? They are a problem.
Hogger wasn't sure who decided to start stealing from them, or why so many agreed, but for the past several months, Once every two weeks, a small group was sent to steal supplies from the Buffalo.
There was probably a reason for it, he just didn't know.
But what he did know, was that being on the lookout was boring.
He was always told that the desert is most lively during the night, but as he waited for the group sent to steal from the Buffalo to return, he had nothing better to do but sit outside and wait for something to move.
And he was bored. Incredibly bored.
So when he finally spotted movement, he was quickly disappointed to find that the group of dogs sent to steal had returned.
And as the dogs walked back into the cave system, he kept watch.
It was then that he spotted something shining on the ground, just behind the dogs that returned.
Seeing as nobody else noticed it and that the dogs already entered the cave leaving him alone, he decided to check it out.
Whatever he saw, was small, but it was reflecting the subtle glow of the moon, like a small gem.
And if one of the thieves dropped a gem and he just so managed to take it for himself, well, finders keepers.
However, it was as Hogger approached the gem, did he find himself paralyzed with fear.
because he wasn't approaching a gem, no.
He was approaching the eyes of a snake. An unnaturally long snake. And snakes in the desert are dangerous, unnaturally long snakes even more so.
"Oh? You managed to see me," he heard the snake hiss, and he knew that snakes should not be able to speak.
He was terrified.
"How interesting, such a large supply of test subjects, ripe for the taking, nobody will even know they're here." The snake giggled to itself, "How fun."
And then the snake simply stared at Hogger, for what felt like hours he stood there solid, afraid of moving a muscle.
"How interesting indeed," The snake whispered one last time before turning around and slithering its unnaturally long body away.
And when he was sure the snake was gone, Hogger collapsed to the floor.
Returning silently to the Buffalo tribe, Looper made sure to enter his tent and switch back to looking like Blaze Glass without alerting anyone.
His brain was brimming with Ideas of how he might utilize the knowledge he got by learning of the thieves location.
"Lycanthropes? This world keeps getting more and more interesting," He whispered to himself as he transformed his hoof into the paw of a dog.
"How interesting indeed," Blaze Glass smiled to himself in the confines of the tent.
And with a small flash of green fire, the paw was replaced with the hood of the orange Pegasus.
And as he returned to the pile of pillows that acts as his bed, the smile never left his face.
The concept of eating Love always gave me more questions.
Eating love is Magic, with a capital M, for the simple reason that it can not be found in nature nor replicated by scientific means.
But what is Love?
Affection obviously, be it for a family member or a romantic partner. But what about other types of love?
The love of a Child to his favorite book series, the love of a Baker to her newest batch of Cookies.
Do those forms of love count as Love? And if so, do all forms of affection count as Love?
Because if so, then the location of the Lycanthropes could be used to answer this question and further my research.
Does one's wholehearted devotion to a cause count as Love?
Because, if Devotion is a form of Love, what is a stronger form of love than a religious figure's undying devotion towards their Idol?
The plan is to forge an Identity that will showcase me as a higher being to the Lycanthropes, creating a religion around that identity.
If a changeling can absorb the Love directed towards himself, or at least an identity that at its core is Him, through the process of Idolization.
Then my supply of Love would theoretically be endless and I would no longer need to manually absorb the Love of those romantically interested in me, opening up more time for research into the more important subjects.
There is still time until I will personally be comfortable enough to safely proclaim myself, even if under disguise, as an Idol for worship.
Therefore I will shelf this research subject for a later date.
It was three days after the discovery of the Diamond Dog hideout that Looper, under the guise of the young and excitable Blaze Glass, was deemed healthy enough to be released from the Buffalo tribe.
Saying goodbye to the Buffalo, and thanking Chief Thuderhooves and Little Strongheart for allowing him a tent to sleep in for the duration of his "Healing", he spent an hour more speaking with the two, until the sun set in the west and the moon rose in the east.
And when the sun was no longer over the horizon, Blaze Glass opened his wings and flew north.
Making his way towards Equestria proper.
And towards where he learned was the highest accumulated storage of magical knowledge in the known world.
The capital city of Canterlot.
Canterlot Immigration office, 3 AM, eight days after the defeat of Nightmare Moon.
A tired mare sat across a receptionist desk in the office of Immigration in Canterlot City. The office itself is open 24/7 to account for nocturnal species that live in Equestria and abroad. Sadly the pony who was supposed to be awake at such a time was not as nocturnal as a bat pony, likely a result of her being an Earth Pony instead.
Already on her sixth cup of coffee for the night, Page Ink didn't know why she ever took this job. Here she was, a graduate of Fillydelphia University, with a bachelor's degree in management, and she spends her days asleep and her nights sitting behind a desk waiting for someone to pass through the doors to the building.
The pay was good, don't get her wrong, but Page could also count with single-digit numbers how many immigrants she actually helped.
The number could be counted by the talons of a Griffon.
So when the bell above the door rang, Page Ink's tired brain didn't hear it. When the person who entered the building walked up to the only available reception desk, she didn't notice it. And when he spent ten minutes standing in front of her, she didn't see him.
Only when he cleared his throat in order to catch her attention did she finally notice that someone else was in the building.
'I am so fired for this,' She thought to herself as she quickly despaired over her inability to do her job correctly before she sat up, back straight, and all sense of tiredness drained from her body.
She had a job to do, and she will do it.
So when she finally placed her eyes on the individual across her desk, she imagined them to be a Bat Pony or a Griffon because of the late, or early? hour of the day.
What greeted her instead was the face of a shiny black carapace and two empty teal eyes, a pair of sharp fangs protruding from the mouth of the creature. A smooth black horn extended from the shiny and smooth head of the creature, and a pair of teal, bug wings, extended from its back above what seems to be a chitinous shell.
Its legs, ears, and tail were riddled with holes, like a piece of cloth that was eaten by moths.
The only parts of the body of the creature that didn't seem to be infected by a sort of illness were a black fin on the back of its head, similar to a pony's mane, and the dark blue carapace shell beneath its wings, like a sort of reversed elytra.
For all intents and purposes, the creature was a Bug Pony.
Page Ink took a slow blink, staring blankly into the Bug Pony's almost jewel-like teal eyes before the bug pony seemed to have enough and opened his mouth.
She expected to hear a noise similar to the chittering of insects or the hiss of a snake if the fangs in its mouth were anything to go by.
But she was surprised to hear a clear, if slightly rasped, voice. Talking with a slow yet powerful tone that she expected to hear coming from one of the Nobles in the upper districts of the city, with an accent commonly heard from the older families of nobility visiting from across the ocean.
'Is it Deer?' She couldn't put her hoof from where the accent came from, but she knew it from somewhere.
"Excuse me, But I have been waiting for over ten minutes. I am sure that we both have better things to do with our time than sit here in silence," The Bug Pony said when he noticed that Page Ink was finally paying attention.
"My name is Looper, I am a Changeling, And I am here to request Equestrian citizenship," He introduced himself, "I come from a land far to the south of here and do not have any legal documents to present to you as a result of my civilization being a more primitive and barbaric people. I do hope that there will be no problem as a result of mine people's uncivilized way of leaving and management that will cause a substantial delay or issue in the process of me getting the legal approval and documents to live in this here country." Page Ink had to slowly blink once more.
She was way too tired to be dealing with a person like Looper, and his old-person way of speaking. 'mine people? Live in this here country? Did he come from the last century?! At least the accent fits.'
"Ahem, yes, sorry, Just sign your name and date of birth here," Page took out a basic form, one that is given immigrants without documents.
Signing his name and approximate date of birth, Looper returned the form to Page, who placed it in a drawer to be looked at by her higher ups when day comes.
"That should be all," She started to explain, "Someone will send you the certificate in seven to ten business days. They will find you so there is no reason to move to a cheaper hotel or place of stay, I hope you have a wonderful time in Equestria Mr. Looper." She finished, earning an understandable nod of the head from the Changeling before he turned around and started walking out of the office before stopping by the exit and turned back to look at her.
"I do suggest you refrain from drinking so much Coffee Miss Ink, I suggest switching it with a safer alternative, I suggest Darjeeling Tea or however your language calls it here." He told her before turning back to the door.
"Wait!" Page yelled at him, stopping him with one leg already outside the office, causing Looper to turn back to look at her.
"How do you know my name?" She asked, confused as to how he knew Ink was in her name, she doesn't remember introducing herself to him.
The look that Looper had when she asked him this question could only barely be considered as amusement with how blank his eyes were, but his answer to her question made her realize what was so amusing about it.
"It is written on your Nameplate, Miss Page Ink." He said before he once again turned away and finally exited the Immigration Office.
Looking at the front of her desk, Page Ink spotted the nameplate that Looper spoke of and proceeded to hide her head behind her legs to hide how embarrassed she felt.
And hours later, she was found in that position, sleeping during her job.
It's no surprise to say she got a stern talking-to from her boss, but luckily she kept the job.
She also switched her drinking habits from coffee to tea similar to the one Looper suggested and her stress levels have reduced drastically ever since, but that is a story for another time.
It is the capital city of Equestria where Princess Celestia rules the land from her castle at the top of the city.
But what made it peculiar was the naming convention.
"Canterlot," it is most definitely a reference to the Arthurian capital of Camelot, where King Arthur held his seat of power.
And these peculiar naming conventions kept popping up whenever I looked, Phillydelphia, Appaloosa, Manehatten, even Saddle Arabia.
It would seem that the naming convention of this world is referencing places and locations, fictional and real, from my previous world.
Although the geographical placement of many of them does not fit, with Appaloosa being located in a region that should geographically be closer to where Texas or Arizona stand instead of the Appalachian mountains of my previous world, or how Equestria seems to be similar to the United States of America geographically but the capital is named after a fictional British town and is closer to Montana in its placement than to Washington DC.
It is simply peculiar, there doesn't seem to be any deeper meaning than that.
No need for further research.
Canterlot was a travesty of architecture.
Or would it be more appropriate to say a miracle?
Looper was still undecided.
As he flew above the city of Canterlot after his visit to the Immigration Office, he managed to get a better look at the capital of the nation.
A city built at the edge of a cliff, a single earthquake ready to collapse the entire city under the mountain it was built upon, be it by collapsing the city or collapsing the mountain overlooking it. There is definitely magic holding the entire thing together, it would have collapsed under its own weight long ago if there wasn't.
'Perhaps a tour of the city will explain how it keeps itself from falling,' He thought to himself as he continued to fly, his wings buzzing far above the sleeping citizens of the city.
"And while the architecture is interesting in its artistic design, it becomes an eyesore after a long enough look," Looper whispered out loud as he looked at the buildings, from afar they looked like spires and towers, bulbous roofs of purple and gold.
But on a closer look, all the buildings share the same color palette, there is no real expression. Even in the old world, in some of the most copy-paste cities there were, You could still find buildings that didn't look like cubes of concrete and steel. But in Canterlot? Everything looked the same, sure some buildings were taller and some had flatter roofs, but the colors were the same everywhere he looked.
Deciding that he's seen enough, Looper started flying towards a nearby park he spotted. It had a grassy field and a walkway with benches surrounding a small lake connected to one of the many waterfalls coming into the city from further up the mountain it was built upon.
Landing on the pavement, Looper started walking. Being a changeling naturally meant that his eyesight was better than most, helping his species with their lives underneath the ground and flights during the night, and so, Looper spent an hour slowly walking around the lake of the park, his nocturnal senses picking up the buzzing of dragonflies and the croaking of frogs from deeper into the pond.
And as he walked slowly around the lake, simply catching the sounds of the few pieces of nature that lived in this artificial environment, The sun slowly started to rise. Soon the streets were moving with early risers getting ready for the day. From a baker that started his first batch of the day, to a teacher making her way to the school early so she would have the time to grade tests she didn't finish, to even a patrol of city guards wearing their iconic golden armor, resembling a golden praetorian.
And sitting on a bench looking at a mother duck swimming in the pond during the early morning, Looper let his mind wander to his plans of research.
First, he needed a way to supply himself with love, hopefully inside the city, It would be a hassle to fly back to the Buffalo tribe every week or two disguised as Blaze Glass just to take some of Little Strongheart's love, And if he is to be practicing his magic as much as he could, He would need resupplies way sooner than the average two weeks of fasting that a regular changeling can endure. He would need to create an Identity for this purpose if he would fail to do so as his regular self.
Second, He would need a place to stay. A place where he could sleep and experiment, somewhere to call his home where he would not be interrupted during his work. Any private place could work, even a sewer, although an actual house would be preferable.
Third, Money. He could easily make money by utilizing knowledge of his past life to create works of art and sell them here, under disguise of course. Converting The Hobbit to fit in with this world's creatures will be far easier thanks to its fantasy aspect than converting a more grounded story like Moby Dick or The Count of Monte Cristo. Although he could also simply replace the humans with the Lycanthropes he saw, their build was similar enough to a human.
And Last but not least, He would need to actually learn Magic. This is likely the easiest but also the hardest thing on his list. He already has experience with Changeling Magic, able to transform his body better than most changelings do, his magical blast isn't as advanced as his transformation on account of how little he had to use it, but he has experience with magic at the very least. But that brings the question of "Does Changeling magic work differently than Pony magic, or more specifically Unicorn magic?". Unicorns do not have the amount of instinctive magic that a Changeling has, they do not instinctively blast beams of energy from their horns nor do they transform their physical body.
The closest instinctive magic that Changelings share with Unicorns is the Changelings' Magic Grasp and the Unicorns' Telekinesis, that while similar, work in completely different ways to achieve the same basic outcome.
But, It should also not be that big of a problem with Canterlot housing not only The Grand Canterlot Library but also Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. One of which is the largest library in the nation and also the largest accumulated knowledge of the arcane arts in the known world.
The other is the premier magical academy in Equestria, hosting select courses open to the public on select days of the week, similar to a public university.
All he currently had to do was wait for his citizenship to be accepted and he could finally start his research for real.
And with a small smile on his face, Looper stood up from the bench he sat upon, scaring away a few birds who came close to him while he was sitting motionless, and began his walk out of the park and towards the library.
The Grand Canterlot Library was built 600 years ago in order to act as a source of knowledge and wisdom open to the public.
Since its opening, the number of times the Grand Library was closed could be counted to less than one-thousand, and most of those were during holidays.
That is to say, Equestria, or more specifically Canterlot, treats the library with extreme respect, and not even the most close-minded individuals of high society would dare to suggest closing it down.
Even though, over the past century the number of yearly visitors to the library has dropped significantly, sadly. The reason for that could be pointed to the normalization of public libraries in many other cities, and with only a third of the population able to utilize magic, and only a fourth of that third willing to train in the arcane arts, the need for Ponies to travel all the way to the high cliffs of Canterlot became much lower.
Many ponies do still visit the Grand Library, but the number is but a fraction of what it was during its glory days almost six-hundred years ago.
I little history lesson to whoever is reading my notes.
Do not think I don't know these will be found.
Did the captain send you?
I always knew Shining wante- The page cuts off.
Walking down the street towards the Grand Canterlot Library, Looper ignored the whispers and stares pointed at him.
He knew his appearance was unsettling to these ponies, who likely have never seen another creature outside of the rare Griffon or Donkey, therefore seeing a Changeling walking around in broad daylight will most likely be a unique experience for most.
"Mommy, why does he look like that?" He heard a child ask her mother, who instead of answering merely picked her daughter up and walked away. "Don't look at him Darling," He heard her say.
Looper was a man of few words, he knew that, why should he spend energy talking with someone when he could be doing something productive with his life instead? He more than anyone knew that life was short, it shouldn't be wasted listening to the cowardly opinions of others.
However, that did not mean that Looper did not feel emotion, only that he showed few. Any other person walking down the street and getting whispered about and stared at would most likely feel uncomfortable, or perhaps even embarrassed.
Looper felt pity.
He felt pity that these ponies had nothing better to do in their lives but simply point and talk, He felt pity for those who listened to those he whispered behind his back and chose to believe their words instead of forming their own conclusion, He felt pity for the child whose mother dragged her away instead of answering her question, even if the answer would have been a lie.
"Excuse me, sir?" Looper paused as a voice called out to him, turning around he found himself face to face with a female Unicorn with a light yellowish-grey coat and a pair of glasses over her purple eyes, her mane and tail were an interesting blend of red with purple highlights. Although other than the fact she approached him, Looper could find no other reason to keep her in mind.
"Yes, how may I help you?" Looper asked the pony, she looked uncomfortable with what she was going to do next but likely mustered up the courage to make her request after a few seconds.
"Could you maybe try not to scare the children," That quickly got his attention but he continued listening "It's just that whatever makeup you put on your eyes and legs is frightening to some of the younger foals." She then proceeded to point behind her, making Looper follow her hoof and catch sight of two foals and a filly looking his way, quickly hiding behind a nearby sign when they spotted him looking.
A smile spread on Looper's face and his eyes widened a bit as he turned back to look at the Unicorn that approached him, enjoying the uncomfortable look she had on her face as she stared into his blank teal eyes.
"No, I cannot try to do so," He said, his smirk not wiping from his face, "Why not? Don't you-" Looper interrupted her "Because I wasn't trying to scare anyone." He said with finality as he turned around and continued on his walk towards the library.
"Hey!" He heard the unicorn follow him, slowly hastening her steps in order to catch up with Looper's naturally longer legs. "What do you mean you didn't try scaring them? You put all this makeup on-" He once again interrupted her "There is no makeup,"
"What?"
"There is no makeup, there is no eyeliner or mascara, blush or contacts, this is my natural appearance. And if you're suggesting that I should hide my appearance because foals can't bear to look at my visage without screaming in terror, then I would like to tell you that it was the children's choice to look away just as much as it was your choice to ask me to stop." Looper slowed down his walking speed as he explained, getting a skeptic look on the mare's face.
"I don't believe you," She said as the two of them continued walking, him towards the library and she after him, "I do not believe that you are not wearing any makeup, or have some form of illusion over your body, I refuse to believe you."
The Library could already be seen in the distance, near the School for Gifted Unicorns, Its large frame cast a shadow in the morning sun, covering an entire street as a result.
"You do not believe that I am not utilizing makeup? How unfortunate," Looper said, "How will I ever be able to live with myself now that this unnamed lady won't believe me," He yelled dramatically, leaning away from the unicorn and holding a hoof close to his chest in mock hurt.
"Hey, Stop it, You're making everybody look!" She whisper-shouted as the other ponies on the street started looking towards the duo, murmuring words and whispering amongst themselves.
The smirk on his lips only grew in intensity as the Unicorn began to feel uncomfortable with the stares, "You know, there is a way to prove that I'm not wearing makeup, Want me to show you?" He asked, Looper could physically feel the smirk on his face tearing at his lips from how enjoyable the last five minutes have been.
"There is? Then show me proof that this," She proceeded to gesture at him, "Is how you actually look," And Looper could almost swear that the smile on his face was actively cutting him in half with how wide he was smirking.
"Very well," He whispered as he took a step closer to the Unicorn, who looked on expectantly, ready to see proof of his claims "Let me show you."
And right as he said those words, He moved towards her quickly, and faster than she could react he used Changelings Grasp, a spell that allows a changeling to control an invisible hand as a form of semi-telekinesis, and took out the Unicorn's two back legs form under her, as she lost her balance he quickly moved his legs to catch her as she fell, resulting in a princess carry as he now held the Unicorn in his front legs as he stood on his back legs, his face close to hers, their noses almost touching and their eyes staring into each other.
"Wha-what? What what what what what?" The Unicorn mumbled as her cream-colored face was dusted by a heavy red blush, which only grew darker as Looper whispered into her ear, "You can feel the holes in my legs, can't you?" And then he placed her gently on a bench on the side of the road and continued his walk towards the library.
Leaving the Unicorn behind, breathing heavily and sweating profusely, her eyes unfocused and staring blankly ahead as her mind was almost definitely somewhere else.
And Looper wore the widest smirk he ever had on his face since his reincarnation all the way till he reached the Library. And without any further wait or drama, walked in.
One moment she was holding a discussion, though she could admit she was rather pushy, with a Stallion after a few foals got scared from his disturbing appearance.
One thing led to another and now here she is, sitting on a bench, watching the insect-looking pony walk away. His shiny hard carapace glistened under the morning light and his clear teal eyes bore into her soul as he held her close to him and whispered into her ears words that- Moon Dancer slapped herself.
"What am I doing?" She asked herself after she managed to get out of the funk she was in. "What is going on with me?" She asked herself again, thinking back to the last week or so.
One of her best friends didn't come to her birthday party after she promised her she will come, she didn't even send a card. And what does she later learn? That her friend moved to some town hours away and didn't tell anyone in her friend group! Oh! And she's also a national hero now!
Good for her!
And what's next?! Moon Dancer once again failed her Masters in Equestrian Literature, and now she needs to wait another six months before she can retake the test!
But that's not all! Apparently, her favorite Coffee place is closed because the owner got injured during the entire debacle at the Summer Sun Celebration, so it won't be open for another two months.
And that should have been it for her, Surely no more things can happen to Moon Dancer in such a short span of time?
WRONG!
A new princess! That's right! Nightmare Moon, the evil Alicorn that was trapped on the moon for the past millennia is actually the sister of Princess Celestia, and she's going to return to her position as one of the rulers of the nation once she rehabilitates and acclimates to the modern world.
Can she even do that?! There has to be a law against that sort of thing, right?
Who knows?! Celestia is the one that writes the laws in the first place, who's to say she didn't write a super specific law for that exact purpose five-hundred years ago that nopony ever thought would get used.
And that's how her week ended. Fast forward a day and she's feeling like shit. She can't get a good cup of Coffee, Her friend didn't send any letters, no news about the new princess yet, and a bunch of children are crying.
So not a good start for the day, to say the least.
And that was when she learned of the Insect-pony, a scary Unicorn that looks like a giant bug that scared away the foals and fillies, probably dressing up like some bedtime story monster that teaches children to eat their broccoli or whatever it is that the villages near the border do.
So here she thought that maybe, JUST MAYBE, she could tell the unicorn to stop scaring the younglings. and doing a good deed for the day would make her feel better. Minuette always said that doing good makes her feel good, Maybe the same could be done for her.
She went up to him and started talking. Sure she was kind of pushy, but she had a rough week. And then he... He picked her up... and he...
Moon dancer once again slapped herself.
"Maybe Lemon Hearts knows what happening to me," Moon Dancer whispered to herself before she shakily stood up from the bench and started walking toward her friend's house.
The Grand Canterlot Library, for how much historical significance it holds, looks like a regular library from both the outside and inside.
It would be nice to say that Looper was disappointed, but that would be untrue. Looper didn't care for the appearance or the significance of the library.
This place was a source of useful information to him, and thinking of it as anything more will simply lead to further disappointment.
That isn't to say that the library was useless, not at all. It was easy to traverse, and finding the correct books was easier than he thought.
So there he sat, a pile of books in front of him, ranging from geography to history, encyclopedias and even books dedicated to children. He has the time to read, and so he shall read.
And with the small number of visitors the Library gets and the quiet nature of the place, Looper managed to spend several hours reading guides for Unicorn magic and cookbooks filled with rare and magical herbs.
By the time Looper finished reading all the books from the "A Magical Guide for Dummies" series, it was already night out and the night-shift workers began their jobs.
Deciding that there is no reason to stop reading, seeing as the library is open 24/7, Looper continued.
By the time the sun rose again, Looper managed to finish the pile of books he took the morning prior. And with his reading material finished, he quietly made his way out of the library and into the morning sun of the day after.
"There he is! That's him!" He heard a familiar voice shout, and he couldn't help but feel giddy at the smirk he felt growing on his face.
Turning his head to the source of the voice, Looper's grin threatened to split his face as he spotted the Unicorn from Yesterday marching towards him, followed by three other Unicorns who had pensive looks on their faces as they watched their friend walk towards the creepy insect-pony.
"How very interesting," He whispered to himself as he subtly wet his lips, his blank teal eyes once more seeming to glow with sly excitement as he started making his way towards the pony.
"You!" The pony yelled and pointed at him as she drew close, and Looper had to hold himself back from pointing at himself and saying "Me!"
"You're that Stallion from yesterday," She began, and once more Looper had to stop himself from interrupting her speech. "You're the one that scared those children!" His smirk was quickly replaced with a frown as the sly glow in his eyes reverted back to their natural blank teal.
"I do believe that I said during our talk yesterday that the children being scared of my appearance is no fault of my own." He responded, still standing at the top of the stairs leading to the entrance of the library, the buildings massive shadow making his eyes stand out on the dark backdrop.
The red-haired Unicorn simply glared at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Hey Moonie, maybe this isn't a good idea," A White Unicorn with pink hair told her, followed by nods from the Blue Unicorn and the Yellow Unicorn. "Yeah, you just met this guy once, maybe you shouldn't antagonize him so soon," The Yellow Unicorn said, her light blue mane swaying behind her in the gentle morning breeze. "I don't know, He looks kind of Hot," The Blue Unicorn said, holding a hoof to her chin as she squinted her eyes to take a better look at the Pony on top of the stairs. She received questioning looks from her friends, but she simply shrugged in response.
"Ignoring what Minuette just said," The Red-haired Unicorn picked the conversation back up, "You! Go out with me!"
Silence followed.
The Unicrons that followed her didn't say a word, the few ponies on the street stopped whatever they were doing and looked at her in shock, even the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves in the nearby park stilled, as if the world itself was afraid to break the silence.
A silence that was broken when Looper started to shake, his shoulders and neck moving up and down as if he's trying to stop a cough, followed soon by a subtle sound, barely heard over the clacking sound his carapace kept making over the movements of his body.
"Heh~" a soft exhale was heard coming from Looper, followed soon by more air leaving his lungs, steadily growing louder and louder with each passing moment.
"Heheheheh~" The sounds kept coming, and the faces the Unicorns beneath him produced.
They were absolutely priceless.
"Hehehehahaha!" And for the first time since he found himself in a new world.
"HeHaHaHaHaHaHAHA!" For the first time in four years.
A loud laugh, a laugh that for any other pony would have them rolling on the floor, slamming their hooves, trying to stop it.
But he just stood there, on top of the stairs leading to the Grand Canterlot Library, the only movement seen on his being his shoulders and head moving up and down in response to the air leaving his lungs.
And the thing that truly stood out, more than the lack of movement on his body? more than the boisterous laugh that sounded so real there was no way it could have been faked?
Was that his upper eyelid opened wider while his lower ones closed, creating an illusion on his pupil-less eyes.
An illusion that he was looking down at them.
"HAHAHAAHAHAHAHA- I accept." And just as suddenly as it started, his laughter ended, as if it never happened. "Meet with me at the central park tomorrow morning," He said, and as if nothing at all happened, he turned in another direction and simply started walking away.
Moon Dancer could do nothing but watch him silently as he walked away.
"You know what I said earlier? Yeah, I take my statement back." Minuette said, ignoring the glares coming from Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine.
"I really know how to pick them, don't I?" Moon Dancer sighed, the bravado from earlier leaving her body as she slumped down to the floor.
"Hey, I'm sure he's not that bad," Twinkleshine tried to cheer her up. "Yeah, Maybe he's just dramatic, I'm sure it's nothing bad," Lemon Hearts joined in. "How big do you think he is down there?" Minuette once more added her highly needed part to the discussion.
"Pfft~" Moon Dancer started giggling before she quickly turned around and pulled her Fou- THREE! Three best friends into a group hug, earning relieved smiles on their faces.
"Thanks, Girls, and you're probably right, He's probably just weird or dramatic." She said with a smile on her face.
Deep below the City of Canterlot, inside of an old and abandoned crystal mine, A figure can be found banging on a large green crystal.
One of his hooves took the shape of a chisel whilst the other took the appearance of a hammer.
And as the teal-eyed figure kept hammering and chiseling into the crystal, cutting chunks of it out, he kept thinking about something that happened to him earlier that day.
Of a red-haired Unicorn who had the gall to ask him out on a romantic outing. Who does she think she is? Looper was sure he made it obvious he had no desire to speak with her, why should he waste his precious time with the foolish denizens of this land?
They were all so Pitiful and Pathetic, they had Magic at their proverbial fingertips and yet haven't invented cars or planes. Their engines still run on steam, their roofs are built of thatch, and most of their land is uninhabited and unexplored. They have so much potential and yet they squander it all on nothing.
Magic is a miracle, it can solve so many problems in the world, it can cure disease and grow crops, it can change the weather and create electricity. And they use it to brew coffee and cut ribbons.
It's all just so pathetic.
Even the Buffalo, who he has only spent a week with, who had no Magic, were less pitiful than these fur-covered four-legged horn-headed winged creatures of magic.
It just made no sense to him. A single discussion, barely one at that, shorter than five minutes. And she thinks she can just 'Ask him out'?
He couldn't handle it. The Sheer audacity she exuded, the thought that these ponies who had the power to change reality to their whims yet waste it on feeding birds, would ask HIM out.
BANG
Looper was brought out of his thoughts when the crystal he was hammering finally shattered, revealing the bright green gems hidden underneath the layers of dust.
With a quick transformation, Looper's hooves changed from the hammer and chisel back to their original shape, only with a large empty hole the size of a big wallet on his skin.
Picking up the gems, Looper placed them inside of the holes on his legs, and once they were full, he covered them with a layer of skin and carapace.
A makeshift bag utilizing the holes found in Changeling's legs.
Taking the rest of the gems that he couldn't collect, he laid them in a pile for later collection.
Ignoring the rattling of gemstones in his legs, He buzzed his wings and flew out of the cave.
Gems are expensive, any good Jeweler could tell you that. But the trinkets made by those gems are five times as expensive, so it ends up being worth it for the jeweler to buy the gems he appraises.
And that is why a mysterious Unicorn exited a cheap Jeweler a few thousand bits richer than he entered.
And once said Unicorn was out of sight, he engulfed himself in green flames, and walked back into the streets as an Insect-Looking pony.
And as if nothing weird has happened, Looper swiftly went and bought himself a room at a cheap hotel, where he could sleep until the citizenship process is fulfilled.
And now with a bed for the foreseeable future, The changeling lied down and closed his eyes.
Moon Dancer wasn't sure if she made the right decision. A single talk was all she had with the bug-pony, and she asked him out a day later!
"I can't do this," She mumbled to herself as she walked circles into her carpet, her mug of coffee earlier in the day sat cold on the table as she was too lost in thought to drink it.
"I'm not ready, He's not into me," She told herself, doubts about her choices crawling into her mind.
"I- I need to call it off, I can't do this." Moon Dancer said with finality, Intent on visiting the bug-pony and telling him that she won't go on a date with him.
"Wait! I don't know where he lives... Oh this is bad, this is so so bad." Moon Dancer walked into her bedroom and crawled under the sheets.
"This is really really so so bad."
Magic, of the pony variety, has a large emphasis on Intent, and words. Words Have power. And the less is known about those words, the more 'Mysterious' They are, and the more power a spell has.
However, it was written by Crumpet the Bellyful, Minister of Agriculture during the early years of the Equestrian Solar Calendar, soon after the banishment of the Alicorn known as "Nightmare Moon", That the belief of the many for the purpose of a spell will take the 'Mystery' of said spell and change it to suit the public belief, therefore the fewer people know about a spell the more precise and powerful it is, depending on the caster and the belief of its purpose, of course.
Using these teachings of 'Mystery' and 'Belief' I have started to experiment with the usage of old languages and mystical symbols of my old world.
A major inspiration was The Lesser Key of Solomon and the Demons of the Ars Goetia, Which in turn bring up the ideas of Sephiroth and Qliphoth from Kabbalah and other similar religious mysticism.
If all my theories are correct, The Lycanthropes in the southern desert will be more than a simple source of 'Love' and theory-crafting.
Theoretically, should they believe that symbols I inscribe on their flesh would bring them powers, then that belief will power the 'Mystery' and make it so.
There are just so many things to do and so little time to experiment on. Once my citizenship is in place and my stay here is legalized, I will return to the desert and start my research properly.
It simply is just so very interesting.
More research will be required to prove these theories.
Moon Dancer was feeling unwell. And how could she not? For the first time ever, she is going on a date with somepony. A Somepony who probably doesn't like her and thinks she's a nuisance.
"You'll be fine," Her friends kept telling her, "What's the worst that could happen?" They kept saying. "I could go on that date instead if you aren't feeling like it," Her friend Minuette kept suggesting. Moon Dancer thought of taking her up on that offer, if only to escape the awkward situation she was doomed to find herself in.
But Alas, the moment has come. And with steady steps, Moon Dancer made her way to Canterlot Central Park.
She wasn't expecting to find her date doing what he did when she found him. She expected him to skulk in a dark corner, or perhaps read a book as he sat under the shade of a tree.
She did not expect to find him sitting on a bench, a loaf of bread in hoof, throwing breadcrumbs to birds.
Moon Dancer wasn't sure how long she sat there watching him, but it seemed that the answer was too long, as he threw an entire slice of the bread he was holding into the nearby pond, the ducks racing to get a bite of their new breakfast.
"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to join me?" His words got her out of her funk, and slowly she walked forwards and sat next to him. Watching as he simply ignored her and kept feeding the pigeons and ducks.
"Birds are beautiful creatures, aren't they?" His voice cut through the silence, causing her to jump, scaring away a few of the closer birds.
An unamused eye turned to look at her before it returned to looking at the birds, some of which already came back as if forgetting why they were scared away to begin with.
"I guess birds are pretty, yes." Moon Dancer cringed at her answer, the awkwardness of the situation only causing her to feel even worse about everything.
'I should tell him, I'm not ready for this,' She thought to himself, readying herself to tell him that she isn't ready to date, or anything of the sort, and that perhaps asking him out after only two interactions was a terrible spur of the moment decision.
"Birds do not live as we do," He interrupted her thought process, "They do not learn as we do, they do not think like we do," His words started to scare her a little, the intensity at which he looked at the small birds eating his breadcrumbs. It was disturbing.
"They do not ask questions like we do," He continued, "They do not ask where this bread is coming from, they simply eat," "They do not care who feeds them, only that they are being fed," He passed her the loaf of bread, already sliced ahead of time.
"Feed them, if you would," He told her.
Moon Dancer didn't know why she was playing along, maybe it was the way he was speaking or perhaps simple curiosity, but she decided to feed the birds as well. She took a slice of bread and broke off pieces of it, throwing it to the floor lightly.
"As you could see, these birds just keep eating," He told her without even looking in her direction, "They likely haven't even noticed that the hand feeding them has changed, and they likely don't care,"
It was then that he turned to look at her, his dull blue eyes looking straight into her, the lack of pupil making it difficult to figure out what he was thinking.
"I need a place to sleep for a few days, would you mind giving me your address?" He asked her as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and just as if it was a normal thing, Moon Dancer gave it to him.
"Thank you," He told her before standing up from the bench and walking away, leaving Moon Dancer lost in thought, a swarm of pigeons and ducks around her, and a half-finished loaf of bread on her knees.
Almost an entire minute passed before Moon Dancer even realized what happened.
"He ditched me..." She whispered to herself. "And I gave him my address, to what? To sleep in?" Her unwell feeling got stronger.
And before she knew it, an even worse thought entered her head, Making the unwell feeling she was experiencing, outright nauseating.
"I don't even know what his name is!" Moon Dancer quickly rose from the bench, The bread was thrown over the ground, The birds flew away and she quickly rushed towards the nearest trash can.
Moon Dancer was a peculiar Pony to share a room with.
For someone who was so forward in her actions, the girl could barely stand straight at the mere thought of me being in the same room as her.
Pathetic.
Her home was quaint, A relatively spacious two-story house close to the educational district of the city, which brought me close to both The Grand Canterlot Library and Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. A small blessing.
A much larger blessing is the Love that permeates the air of the city.
Determining whether it is because of the population density, or perhaps some other reason, will require more research and study.
But for now, I have gained a manner of lodging, thanks to Moon Dancer. A way of feeding myself thanks to the almost suffocating density of Love in Canterlot. And a way to make money, thanks to a series of long abandoned Gem Mines built underneath the city, and a new identity that I shall write on a different page.
In a few more days, The immigration offices should contact me, and my stay in this nation should be legalized.
And then my research can finally begin in earnest.
"So now he's sleeping with you? Isn't that a bit quick?"
Moon Dancer felt her body collapse onto the sofa in Lemon Hearts' living room, a tired groan leaving her body. "He's not even sleeping with me, we're just sharing a bed,"
Moon Dancer ignored the whistle of appreciation leaving Minuette's mouth as Twinkleshine started braiding her hair.
"Minuette, please, Moonie is having a tough time acclimating to her new circumstances," Lemon Hearts told the blue Unicorn.
"Oh come on! You can't tell me that she gets a coltfriend before all of us, and now she doesn't know what to do? It's easy!" Minuette stood up and pushed Moon Dancer to the side, making space on the sofa to lay down on.
Now with the two Unicorns lying side by side on the sofa, Minuette opened her mouth, ready to explain the birds and the bees to her friend.
"He's not even my boyfriend," Moon Dancer groaned into the sofa, shutting Minuette up, "I don't even think he likes me, He just took my bed, my fridge, my desk, my papers, and my ink, I wouldn't be surprised if he takes the keys and the deeds while he's at it,"
The three other Unicorns looked at each other, "So do you want him out of your house?" Twinkleshine asked.
"Yes! No! I'm not sure, It's complicated..." A sigh left the red-haired Unicorn, Her mane braided by the gentle Twinkleshine, her body squashed against the back pillows of the sofa by the perverted Minuette, and her head resting on the sofa of the responsible Lemon Hearts.
"Life is complicated," Lemon Hearts said from her place on the nearby loveseat, "It's our job as adults to uncomplicate it,"
"Did you fuck him yet?" Whatever mood Lemon Hearts' appropriate words gave was instantly rendered meaningless as Minuette opened her mouth and asked.
"Minuette!!!"
"What? We all saw him. Tall, Dark, Mysterious, Probably a serial killer, He's like one of those characters in those Smut novels you say are art," The blue unicorn rolled her eyes at her friends' reaction before she rolled off the sofa, "Anyways, I have a meeting to attend to in thirty minutes so I'll be taking my leave,"
"I also need to go," Twinkleshine added before giving some finishing touches to Moon Dancer's mane.
"And I need to return to cleaning," Lemon Hearts said as she stood up from her spot before turning to her depressed friend, "You know where the door is, Just exit when you've finished moping about,"
Moon Dancer could only sigh tiredly as her friends once again left her alone, all of them going to their jobs, and finishing their work, while she stayed behind.
Again.
Stumbling into her home, Moon Dancer searched for the light switch in the dark room before shortly giving up and lighting her horn.
She passed the pile of books and papers she worked on for the last few months, all useless seeing as she failed her last test. She passed by a photo she took with her friends when they all entered College, a grimace coming over her face as her eyes looked at the purple Unicorn in the photo. She passed by her kitchen, noticing the surprisingly clean sink. "At least he's cleaner than me," She thought of her new roommate before sighing once more.
What was the point of trying to be happy when nothing ever went her way?
Her mind briefly flashed back to something Minuette said earlier, obviously to be taken as a joke, and she scoffed. None of her friends take her issues seriously.
She didn't bother to brush her teeth, she simply climbed up to the second floor, entered her room, crawled into her bed, and closed her eyes.
She shivered for a moment as her body touched the smooth black carapace of her new roommate, his body was cold like a sterilized laboratory, but Moon Dancer didn't have much room to lay on her bed without touching the insect pony that took her place of sleep.
"He wouldn't mind if..." Moon Dancer thought to herself as her legs tiredly tried to wrap around the Stallion, a weak attempt at gaining some control over her own life, even if it was by hugging a sleeping bug.
Just how much more pathetic could she be? Moon Dancer wanted to cry.
And so, almost as if her voice was heard by Harmony itself, her roommate turned his body in his sleep and wrapped his legs around her, Spooning her.
It was an unpleasant feeling, Like getting hugged by a sheet of metal. But Moon Dancer didn't care, she closed her eyes and sunk into the legs, content at feeling wanted, needed, even if it wasn't real.
Underneath the closed eyelids of the Changeling, many thoughts flowed through the mind of the magical researcher as he wrapped his arms around the Mare, a weak act of pretending to care about her well-being.
After all, what good is Dinner if it's raw and unseasoned?
Moon Dancer was being drained of love, and all Looper had to do in order to keep her love for himself, was to act interested just enough for her to think he cared for her.
As long as she believes he likes her, she will love him wholeheartedly, because Moon Dancer has very few things that she believes like her, and so she latches onto anything that will give her the sense of affection that she's looking for, even if she knows it is false.
Looper wanted to chuckle. If Moon Dancer was a human, she would have succumbed to peer pressure at an early age and died from a drug overdose in the back alley of some no-name street.
She was easy to read.
"How pitiful, Moon Dancer," Looper thought as he felt her love grow stronger as he spooned her.
For a source of food, She was perhaps the best Looper could have gotten after such a short amount of time in Canterlot.
