A Changeling's Love to Hate

"Alright, here we are, Canterlot. The capital of Equestria." Cyan muttered when the two reached the entrance gates. There was a hint of sourness in her voice. Dark Fang didn't understand why. She didn't actually have to do this for him if she disliked Canterlot so much. It looked like a beautiful place, even at nighttime like this when all of the lights illuminated the nice and clean looking buildings.

Dark Fang has already shape shifted his form into a dark blue pegasus with a white mane, contrasting Cyan's colors, and had a circle within another circle as a cutie mark. The circle on the inside was black and the one on the outside was purple. It was a form of a pegasus whom he once killed. Dark Fang looked up with his now gold eyes at the banner of the entrance and nodded. He was thankful that she was doing this for him so he could have a place to stay, but he didn't want her to go through the trouble of suffering in a place she didn't like. "Hey, if it's fine with you... maybe we could... just... you know..."

"No! Luna's orders were for me to take you into Canterlot for the night. She said she's arranged us a ride at noon tomorrow. It should take us to Night Marington in like three hours anyways as opposed to walking like 24 hours. As much as I'd love that, it's better if I get you to that place as soon as possible."

"But... you said you hate this place." Dark Fang complained. "I can't let you go through the trouble of that!"

Cyan looked into Dark Fang's eyes, looking a bit confused. "Did I say that?"

"Yeah, you said you disliked this place."

"Oh! That's not what I meant honestly. It's just that... well..." Cyan reverted her eyes towards the entrance, like as if she was trying to point out something. "In popular places like this, it tends to have... well... snobby ponies. Thinking they are all better than everypony else who's not from Canterlot. Canterlot itself is a very nice place. It's just the ponies here I can't stand."

"Oh" Dark Fang said. He remembers experiencing that form of "snobbishness" from the Changelings that actually sit right next to the queen or personally serve her every whim. He didn't think that ponies would act the same just by living in the capital of Equestria. Maybe it's because Princess Celestia lived here?

"Plus... there's one pony that lives here that's really irked me up to the point where I actually want to punch somepony in the face. Luckily, I don't see him right now. And let's leave it at that." Without another word, Cyan started trotting into the city.

Dark Fang thought about it for a moment, then started trotting along with Cyan, keeping close to her. He was wondering what somepony would do to make her so annoyed. But then Dark Fang remembered the time in the forest when that one Frozy insulted her. Does this pony do the same thing to her? Dark Fang pondered this for a few minutes, before setting it aside. Hopefully they won't encounter that pony. He doesn't want to see Cyan get even more annoyed. She might hurt somepony.

"Well, here we are! The inn of the Dancing Pony." Cyan sad, pointing to the roof at the inn that was located on the western side of the city. The inn was within the row of buildings on one side of the sidewalk, with another row of buildings just on the other side of it. These buildings were all sorts of different things, such as bakeries, flower shops, souvenir shops, a fortune teller, and all sorts of shops like that. "I always spend the night here whenever I'm in Canterlot. Unfortunately, I sometimes attract unwanted attention by that certain somepony."

"The inn of the Dancing Pony..." Dark Fang muttered. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"Eh, kind of does sound like Lord of the Horns, doesn't it?" Cyan said, laughing a bit. "I'm really into literature you know. Especially Daring Do. It's what inspired me to go on adventures."

"Daring Do?" Dark Fang asked.

"Why, she's a fictional character. Rather, she'd probably be the best adventurer out there if she really did exist. She's smart, clever, and, well, just like me, her wings got damaged so she's also flightless."

"So, it's solely just Daring Do who's the reason you're an adventurer?"

"Nope. She's just one of the many reasons. Anyways, let's head in so we can check in in the inn."

Dark Fang kind of chuckled at the number of "in's" there were when Cyan said this as they both headed into the inn.

As they entered, Dark Fang took a look around and saw an indoor balcony in the room with a long bridge leading into many different rooms. The balcony overlooked the main room where there was a front desk at the right side and lots of tables that look like they were meant for eating on. Actually, they were, as there were a handful of ponies just finishing up dinner. All of the ponies here seemed to be trying to be as formal as possible. They used napkins to wipe their faces, took sips of their drinks from the cups, and were talking like, "Indeed, it is a fine weather today. Thanks for asking."

Dark Fang wondered if these were some of the snobs Cyan was talking about. But then again, if she hated snobs, why would she always stay at this inn? Maybe they weren't snobs?

"Ah, Cyan!" The pony at the front desk said as he saw them walk in. "Welcome, welcome! How have you been? How's life all over the world?"

"Doing great, Fall Inn! And how's business doing here?"

"Doing great! Thanks for asking!" The pony said, smiling. He was a brown maned stallion with a blue body. His cutie mark was a candlestick on a pedestal. Dark Fang must've thought that it meant warmth of indoors, which an inn would be a perfect example of. "Wait a second!" The pony said, frowning. "What happened to you? You look all worn out!"

"Oh!" Cyan said, looking at her body. She noticed that she still looked a bit battered up. Dark Fang actually seemed to have a surprise look on his face, realzing that he completely forgot that she did kind of look a bit worn out. "Long story. Just... you know, business stuff."

"Oh, okay then. Well, as long as you're okay." The innkeeper said, smiling. "The usual stuff like always. Oh, and who's the dark blue pegasus there? He your friend?"

"Acquaintance more like." Cyan said, smiling. "Princess Luna specifically asked me to take him to Night Marington."

"Ah, so you still spend lots of time there?"

"Of course! It's a lot of fun as you get to meet all sorts of different creatures there and learn about their lifestyles. Knowledge does empower ponies after all."

"That is true, but some things you are better off not knowing." The innkeeper said, looking up. His eyes looked a bit nostalgic.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. But... things happen because there's a reason for it after all."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyways, you two here for a room for the night?"

"Of course!" Cyan said. "Preferably one with two beds, please."

"Alright, there's still a few open. Anyways, that'll be 10 bits."

"Alright." Cyan said, paying the innkeeper the 10 bits. Cyan got a card key from him in return.

"Oh, and also, you should have some dinner, on me." The innkeeper said, smiling, "And your room is Room 205. Enjoy your stay." He bowed, with Cyan bowing back a thanks. Dark Fang was just watching as they have finished their short conversation.

Cyan then motioned her head towards one of the tables, saying, "Come, we'll eat first and then rest."

"Alright... I guess." Dark Fang said. Should I tell her? He thought. He was a Changeling. Their hunger isn't satisfied by real food. Only love. Didn't she know that? He didn't say anything, though, as they picked a table to sit down at.

Cyan then trotted over to the dinner bar where they were serving an all you can eat buffet. There were fries, salad, bread, oatmeal, daisy sandwiches, and lots of other stuff ponies might enjoy eating. Cyan picked a plate, filled it with salad and place a daisy sandwich on top of it.

When she returned, she set the plate on the table and sat down, beginning to eat the sandwich first. She then noticed Dark Fang who was just watching her, as opposed to actually getting food for himself. "Um..." She said after she gulped down her first bite. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Eh... I don't eat that stuff..." Dark Fang silently muttered.

Unfortunately, Cyan didn't catch it. "I'm sorry, what?"

"We don't get our fill with that stuff."

"Oh come on, it's good for you!" Cyan Thunder said, gulping down another bite of the daisy sandwich.

"That's not what I... oh never mind. I'll explain later."

"Okay then." Cyan said, finishing up her sandwich so she could move onto her salad.

Guess she really doesn't know after all... Dark Fang thought.

After Cyan finished her meal, the two have entered their room and made themselves comfortable. They sat in their beds that were on either edge of the room, each with its own lantern. Cyan Thunder was sitting on the left side, with Dark Fang on the right. Dark Fang then lied down, staring up at the ceiling. I wonder how she's doing. He thought. I wonder if she'll be fine. She does have Waver after all. She should be fine so long as she's with him... hopefully.

Cyan stared at Dark Fang, looking a bit worried. He hasn't eaten dinner. She wondered what was going on. She knew that Changelings could morph their form, but she didn't understand their eating behavior. "Say, Dark Fang. You sure you'll be fine without eating dinner?"

"Huh?" Dark Fang said, sitting up and looking at his new roommate. His gold eyes looked into the cyan colored ones of the white pegasus. He then looked away and back up at the ceiling, saying, "Us Changelings... we don't actually eat like you ponies do."

"Oh? Then how do you survive? What's your food source?" Cyan lied down on her belly towards Dark Fang, resting her chin on her hooves as if she was ready to listen to a bedtime story.

"Well... it's kind of hard to explain, but... we basically feed off of the love of ponies and other creatures. That's what our hive does is to protect each other and maintain our species by sapping love from other ponies."

"Ah, and this hurts other ponies?"

"Yes!" Dark Fang exclaimed, staring back into Cyan's eyes. "It's just that we get very carried away by sapping all of the ponies' love until we bleed them dry. Sure we get food for a few weeks per pony, but it's wrong! And to make things worse... we are kidnapping fillies just to convert them to our side! It's wrong in every way!"

"Well, it's your way of survival isn't it? After all, necessity has no bounds." She said. There was a hint of sadness in her voice. Dark Fang wondered if it was because of the way he told her that their love sapping abilities... or maybe the Changeling conversion that did this. He didn't know. But as he watched, he could see sadness in her eyes. Sadness and nostalgia. Her eyes reverted to the ceiling, as if she was looking back at some form of memory.

Did she have a bad reputation with Changelings? Dark Fang thought. "Hey, I'm sorry."

"Huh? What?" Cyan shook the feelings out of her head and looked back at Dark Fang.

"I'm sorry if the Changelings have done anything bad to you."

"Oh... no, it's not that. It's... well, Changelings haven't done anything bad to me at all so far... it's just, I remembered my old mentor. It's just that he's always taught me to never use anger as a weapon. Bad things will happen if it happens. One day... he disappeared and... oh never mind! This is ridiculous! You wouldn't want to hear..."

"No! No! Please... continue!" Dark Fang said, he was in the same position as Cyan was now. "I wish to know. Maybe I could help."

"I'm afraid you can't about this. Anyways, one day, he disappeared. Princess Luna, my friends in Night Marington, and I, all searched everywhere for him. He was one of us, and we couldn't afford to let any pony have an unfortunate fate. One day, we stumbled upon a frozen forest north of Canterlot. And I mean very far north. Anyways, Princess Luna found it and showed it to us. We searched in it to see if we could find any signs of him. We actually did find him, but... he was gone by then. He was spiked by icicles through his neck." Cyan started to tear up when she said this. Her voice was getting tense. "And then... we saw the killer. It was a Frozy... his name is all very clear to me, which I shall never ever forget. His name was Captain Cold Heart." Her sadness now turned to anger. Her wings started to spread out, making sparking noises as if the electricity in her wings were about to overload. Dark Fang looked a bit worried about this, but Cyan still continued. "He was the one who killed my mentor! How angry I was. Princess Luna managed to get everyone else out of the way before my rage got the best of me, thankfully. I remember my lightning turning to red, a voice shouting 'I will kill you!' And then... silence. I was standing there, huffing and puffing. There was nothing but a puddle right where I stood. I looked at my hooves, and saw that they had cuts on them, bleeding. I don't know what exactly happened, but I won. I avenged my mentor's death. But... there was emptiness. My mentor was gone. He was taken away from me."

Her anger softened, her wings were lowered, no longer sparking. "Oh... how I wept for days right at his grave. I never moved from that spot, refusing to eat anything. Barely drank anything either. But I eventually accepted it. One of my buddies told me that he did not die in vain. His purpose in life was fulfilled, and his time came. He told me that I've wept enough, that even my mentor would not wish to see me like this. The best way for me to honor him, was to always remember him. Always remember his teachings, and go on adventures, just as he would want. My buddy was right. It's exactly what he would've wanted me to do. If any reason I was going on adventures, this is the one and only. Of course, Daring Do did inspire me, but my mentor had an even bigger impact."

Dark Fang took all of it in. He imagined everything. He knew what it felt like to be separated from his mentor and Night Wing, but he's never actually thought about them being dead. It's probably much worse than being separated from them. Having their lives taken... that's what he'd never want. "I'm sorry for your loss..." Dark Fang said, silently, but loud enough for Cyan to hear.

"It's fine." Cyan sat up and crawled into the blankets. "Let's just get into bed. And I'm sorry too, for your banishment."

"It's fine." Dark Fang said, sitting up and crawling into the blankets. "Can't be as bad as actually knowing a close pony of yours died."

"Guess not..."

The two turned off their lights to start sleeping.