Jack of Hearts

Dinner was at five-thirty, so Agape showed up at five-fifteen. There would need to be a little time to be seated and finally meet the famous Matilda, so cutting it razor close was unacceptable. Also unacceptable was showing up empty-hooved, which is why he had acquired a bottle of wine. (He knew it was red, but little else - wine wasn't a common topic of education in the Hive, before or after the change.)

A knock on the door - and Cranky answered. "Early," he commented with slight pleasure.

Agape held out the wine. "I wouldn't dare be late, sir."

Cranky shook his head. "Relax." He stepped to the side, admitting the changeling to his home. "Matilda's in the dining room with our other guest, setting up the table. I suggest introducing yourself."

Nodding, Agape entered and followed the scent of dinner: fresh bread and cheese and spices. The dining room wasn't very far, just off the side of the house's main room. Decorated with floral prints and pleasant teal walls, it was a midpoint of Cranky's drab functionality and Matilda's feminine touch. The jenny in question was at the table, folding the napkins as she conversed with the second guest for the evening.

A changeling.

A changeling with chitin black as the Nightmare's coat, fangs sharp as needles, and legs filled with holes.

Both stopped as Agape entered the room. And he stopped in surprise as well. For a moment.

"HERETIC."

Silvered steel and crystal flashed as the wine bottle clattered to the floor and Agape's sword came out. There was no hesitation and barely any thought as he cut a sweeping arc to behead the dark changeling.

Steel struck keratin as Cranky simply was between the two changelings and caught the blade's edge on his hoof. Then he twisted the hoof slightly, casually tearing the sword away from Agape and tossing it to the floor.

Half a second of silent shock passed.

"I should probably introduce you two," Cranky said as if an attempted murder hadn't just happened. "Agape, this is Kevin. Kevin, this is Agape."

Kevin - trying to look impassive but with a telltale shake in his legs - waved to the other changeling. "Hey."

Agape was not nearly so chill. He moved for his sword - only to find Cranky had put a hoof on top of it. "Sir Cranky!" Confused and panicking, Agape wasn't sure where to look as his eyes shot every direction. "What are you doing?! We have to save your love from–"

"From our guest," Matilda interrupted with gentle firmness. "Did Cranky not tell you who he was?"

"For land's sakes, the whole point was to not tell him!" Cranky stomped a hoof - fortunately not the one currently on the sword. "I'm trying to have him come in without preconceptions and keep an open mind."

Matilda frowned slightly - and that immediately broke Cranky. "...Sorry, dear. Sorry, Kevin." Matilda cleared her throat. "...Sorry, Agape," Cranky reluctantly added.

Still uneasy, Agape kept glancing at his sword. "So he's not here to steal your love and put both of you in pods."

"Kevin's an old friend and he comes over for dinner at least once every two weeks."

Slowly and reluctantly, Agape edged over to the table and sat opposite Kevin. For his part, the unreformed changeling smiled a fangy smile that did nothing to settle anyone's nerves. The donkeys broke different directions: Matilda taking her seat while Cranky headed to the kitchen to bring out the food.

Dinner for the evening was fresh garlic bread, eggplant parmesan, and a light kale salad. Cranky set them out - pointedly showing Agape that the knife was blunt - before the meal started properly. Things were awkward and quiet through the salad as both changelings kept looking at the other, waiting for something to start or some kind of insult to be thrown while the married donkeys chatted. But by the main course, things had defrosted slightly and Kevin's guard came down. He fell into normalcy - answering Matilda's questions about what he had been doing lately, discussing the odd jobs he had been doing under various cover identities, listening as he related all kinds of soap opera drama that was unknowingly revealed to him by Ponyville's various residents. Agape, however, did not relax. He kept careful watch on his unreformed counterpart, fork at the ready where the knife was insufficient. And in turn, Cranky kept half an eye on him for sudden movements.

Halfway through the entrée, Matilda turned the conversational spotlight on their other guest. "Agape, Cranky was telling me that you're training to be a knight of some sort in the Crystal Empire."

He looked at Matilda when she spoke to him, eyes finally going off of Kevin. The moment he did, the other changeling twitched forward as if he were about to pounce - and Agape's fork jerked upwards to a defensive position.

Cranky batted down the fork while Matilda gave Kevin a scolding smack on the shoulder.

The moment of tension passed.

"I… am," Agape answered, watching Kevin like a hawk. "Princess Cadance requested aid from the Hive to form a new Order of the Heart, and I was the first to volunteer." Pride crept into his voice. "I have dedicated everything I am to her for this cause - down to my very name."

Matilda smiled a soft, almost pitying smile. "That's quite a lot to give up."

"I'm sure he's used to it." Kevin's statement slashed harder than the sword.

And Agape glared back at him.

Kevin didn't back down. Staring dead into the eyes of his counterpart, he pushed harder. "His kind already eagerly sacrificed everything they were once. Maybe he kept his name that time, but he gave up everything that made him a changeling."

Agape's chair scraped backwards as he rose to his hooves. "We gave up everything that was foul about being a changeling! Unlike you, we learned! Yes, we sacrificed but it was necessary! As opposed to you, who–"

Cranky loudly cleared his throat. "Sit."

Agape's head swung to glare at the donkey.

"Sit." It was not a request the second time.

The changeling sat.

"Neither of you will fight in our house," Cranky said firmly. "You know better."

Both changelings muttered apologies, pupil-less eyes downcast.

But Cranky wasn't done. "Agape, I asked Kevin to be here for a reason. Do you understand why?"

The reformed changeling shook his head. "What could I possibly learn from a monster like him?"

"Humility, for starters." That got Agape's confused attention. "Are you going to tell me that you weren't just like you assume he is?"

"But I learned," insisted the would-be knight.

Cranky shook his head. "But you were. You might think you're better now, but it doesn't change your past." A pause. "Do you know how we met? Kevin tried to impersonate Matilda so he could feed off my love. I figured it out pretty quick, but that's how we started."

Agape's brow furrowed. "And you let him get away with it?"

"Hey, I can be pretty persuasive when I need to be!" And then Kevin shut back up as Cranky shot him a withering glare.

"I didn't let him get away with anything," Cranky continued. "I caught him and then we struck a deal where he helped me with a problem."

Kevin, unable to help himself, piped up again. "He needed help to smuggle himself out of Saddle Arabia after he ticked off the wrong vizier."

"Kevin."

The changeling put his hooves up in surrender, shutting up once more.

Cranky sighed. "Changelings may not be much for love, but we both understood we could help each other. He helped me out and I brought him here, where he could try and live a normal life. Pretty much all of the locals know who and what he is - he just stays disguised for the skittish ones and the newcomers."

"But why is he here," Agape insistently questioned.

It was Matilda that answered. "Because he's our friend. We don't care if he nibbles on a bit of love because he's someone we care for deeply. And in return, he's as good a friend as either of us could hope for."

"But he's stealing from you!" Agape's voice edged into whining. "He's a monster who can only take! He's everything I hate, everything I stand against! He destroys love because that's all he can do!"

Matilda looked deeply into Agape's eyes and spoke with gentle certainty. "I don't care. He's my friend, and he deserves love."

Cranky cut in before Agape could say anything more. "You said it can't be love if it's one-sided. Well, here's exactly that. Matilda and I love Kevin and he knows it. He doesn't return it. He can't return it, like you said. But he doesn't need to." He shifted a little closer to the changeling. "Cadance gave you your new name, didn't she? Did she tell you what it means?"

Agape slowly shook his head.

"Agape is one of the six forms of love - at least, that's what Cadance told me. It's love without condition, loving others just for being themselves. You said love needs to be an equal exchange while you're named for the idea of one-directional love." Cranky snorted, a small smirk on his face. "I figure she did that on purpose as a lesson for you."

His response was silence. A good minute of silent thought passed before Agape looked up again. "Am I that much of a fool?"

"You're not stupid. You're naïve." Cranky gave him a little shove. "That can be cured."

Agape chuckled quietly. Then he looked to Kevin. "I'm sorry for being so rude. If you're their friend, I would be honored if you were mine, too."

"Eh." Kevin shrugged. "Pass." Agape sputtered and Kevin grinned. "You're a pretty big dumbass. But really all of Thorax's changelings are, so I won't hold it against you specifically."

"...You are an ass," Agape judged, "But I can understand why Sir Cranky chose you to be my teacher."

Cranky snorted loudly. "He's not your teacher. Kevin's my friend but he knows even less about love than you do. No, Matilda's your teacher. She's the one who's showing love, not him." With a grumble, he picked his fork back up again. "Right, obviously I'm going to have to work you even harder to get this through your skull. Tomorrow, I'm subjecting you to Steven."

"Another changeling, sir?"

"Sea serpent," Cranky growled with a mouthful of eggplant. "Not because he's going to teach you anything but because I want to watch him spend an hour putting you in stupid hats."