The Odyssey of Xheda

Harmony and Wrath, when I see these two words,
All that comes to mind is, "Why am I letting you live" and
"Which bone of yours will I break next?" - Alastor, The Towering Minotaur

Night had fallen over the Apple family house with a blanket of stars and a warm summer air, but despite such comforting standards in the weather and the accommodating rooms provided to Melon Drop and her child Xheda, the young changeling couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried; his mind raced and came back to reoccurring thoughts cycling through and through without end to their burdensome existance. From the storybooks he read, most heroes had to do something amazing to be called such a title, such as slaying a Ursa Major, or stopping the destruction of a kingdom, or defeating an evil sorcerer and saving a princess from said sorcerer; with just one declaration, Xheda was simply 'made' a hero.

This left him in an uncomfortable state, to be called a hero without earning it, but at the same time, it was exciting because he loved the stories he read, the adventures heroes had gone on, quests they were tasked to complete and the riches! The riches! Heroes in his storybooks had plundered hoards of gold and jewels! Found ancient magical relics that granted incredible power! And of course, always got the girl, which was either some captured village girl or captured princess. The only thing that seemed to make Xheda dislike the idea of saving a village girl or a princess is that in the storybooks, the heroes were rewarded with a kiss and often married the village girl or princess. Of course, he is a child, ignorant to the fact that those heroes depicted in the stories are well in their adult years.

Nevertheless, Xheda was restless, tasked with not only seeking out the individuals that bore the secrets of wrath, but to unite four species with ponykind? Arcanius was asking a great deal from Xheda, but as he said, he was desperate and had little choice in the matter. Xheda decided that if he couldn't sleep, then he'd walk around to make himself tired; down the stairs the young changeling went, exploring the Apple house in the night, taking in the sight of various framed photographs and old furniture. He became increasingly interested with the rocking chair in the living room, its rocking motion of back and forth, for whatever reason, amused his childish mind.

"Now what're ya'll doin' up this late?" An old voice came from behind Xheda, drawing his attention behind him to an old mare with a white, bunned mane and a green coat of fur. When Xheda tried to apologize, the old mare simply laughed with a couple wheezes and smiled. "Don't think nothin on it darlin, ah often roam the house too when ah can't sleep neither. Thought I'd bake up an apple pie to clear th' mind. C'mon an' have a slice."

Not denying that he WAS incredibly hungry, Xheda followed the old mare to the kitchen, a fresh apple pie rested on the table and the two settled up onto two chairs, each having a slice of pie and a glass of milk to wash it down their throats. Xheda, amazingly, showed good manners as he chewed with his mouth closed and only belching into his foreleg. One slice of pie after another, the two seemed to laugh at each other; Xheda would make a mess of pie on his face and Granny Smith's dentures would often fall out mid bite. When the last two slices of pie were on their plates, Xheda's joyful demeanor soon changed to that of a worried one as he stared at his slice of pie.

"I'm scared, Granny smith..." Xheda softly spoke as he picked at the slice of pie with his fork, frowning. His storybooks were a gateway into imagination but that's all they were: Storybooks. He didn't know how to be a hero, he didn't know if he could follow their examples, he didn't know what to honestly do or where to start or even how to. Granny Smith, for the seventh or so time, slipped her dentures back in and stared at Xheda. She began to pick at her own slice of pie.

"Sonny, we all get scared sometimes. There are things out in the world that're scary, but it ain't about hidin from them scary things, it's about how ya'll can overcome them." Granny smith spoke and smiled, being a mare of her age, she likely has had a great experience of understanding fear and how to overcome it. "Ya'll are just a lil foal, Sonny, the world is gon' be a scary place but you'll overcome. I can see it in ye'."

"You really think I can?" Xheda asked as he looked at Granny Smith the best he could in the eye; the old mare smiled and nodded her head as she bit into a slice of pie.

"You bet yer' hiney, Sonny. You're a brave lil changelin'. Now c'mon and finish your pie, lil foals shouldn't be up this late past their bed time-" And then Granny Smith's dentures fell out of her mouth once again. "Oh Dag nabbit!"

Xheda chuckled softly and smiled, he finished the last piece of apple pie and finished his glass of milk before heading back up to bed. The old mare did have a great wisdom to her, that the world is full of scary things, and that is better to learn how to overcome them than to live in fear of them; Xheda crawled into bed and under the covers, bundling up underneath them as he drifted into sleep.

--

Morning came on a bright sunny summer day, Xheda yawned and pulled himself out from under the bundle of blankets to the floor and then out of the room where he was greeted by a red maned filly with a soft yellow coat. She smiled at Xheda, her red ribbon on her head softly bobbing with her movements.

"G'mornin! Twi's downstairs and she wants to talk to ya'll!" Applebloom spoke and smiled, pointing her hoof downstairs. Xheda grew curious as to what twilight wanted to say to him, she did not say a lot to him at all during her observing period on his left foreleg, but likely now she has probably something to say on the current events. Nevertheless, Xheda wouldn't make Twilight wait and headed downstairs to greet the alicorn.

Downstairs sat Granny Smith in her rocking chair, Applebloom and Big Mac near the center of the room, Melon Drop on the couch recovering from her wounds, and Twilight standing in the center of the room, awaiting Xheda to come before her. Slowly the Changeling approached Twilight and bowed his head as proper when before a princess; Twilight smiled at this.

"It certainly is a first to have a changeling bow to me, but please, you don't need to. If what Arcanius says is true, then you stand as an equal, Xheda. So please, rise." Twilight gestured to Xheda to stand up straight and, as commanded, he did. "If Arcanius is correct, then we're on a time limit of four weeks, Xheda. Within that time, four different races must unite with us...I know that the people of New Ponyville see the many races selling in the markets, but that's all they are: merchants. To actually get their lords to side with Celestia is as easy as trying not to set yourself on fire when doused in oil inside of a burning house."

Hearing this only began to destroy Xheda's hopes, Twilight saw this quickly and sighed, softly smiling, "But that doesn't mean it's impossible. With that said, I've prepared a small journal for you, courtesy of a night of writing and research." Twilight then conjured up a small bubble of magic and there inside it formed a leather bound journal, gently floating down before Xheda. "Inside this journal I have written down the information of the lords and empresses of the races, perhaps you can use this information to your advantage to try and convince them. As for those bearers...I'm sorry, but I couldn't find any information on them. A scholar, A Tower, a Battle Master and Cripple doesn't leave me a lot to work with."

"Thank you princess, at least you tried your hardest." Xheda smiled and picked up the journal and proceeded to open the cover to the various pages within. This was indeed a work of Twilight Sparkle, each page did not miss a single detail: cultures, foods, important figures, living styles, customs; the only downside is that all of this pretty much meant little to Xheda's young mind.

"Aside from this journal, there is also someone I'd like you to meet; as celestia was a mentor to me, I too became a mentor over a young filly. Now, she's a bit...odd, but I promise you, she's just like the rest of us." Twilight smiled and turned towards the door. "Gli-"

And with a sudden burst of magic, the front doors of the apple house burst open as a little filly came running inside, squealing as loud as she could; her coat was of a gentle pink hue and her mane, of white and pink hanging down her neck and either side of her head, a soft blue cloak and saddle bags hung at her sides. The young filly squealed as she ran around the room, obviously making as a big an entrance as she could. Twilight, of course, sighed as loudly as she could to get the little filly to stop.

"Xheda, I'd like you to meet Glitter Chant, my um...student." Twilight spoke and then softly groaned.

"Pleasure to meet you! I'm Glitter Chant! Unicorn Sorceress Extraordinaire! Whats your name? Is it chubby puff puff? Hey, whats up with your foreleg? Is it weird? Enchanted? ooo! is it a curse? Huh? Huh?! Huh?!?!" The little filly released an onslaught of questions towards Xheda, leaving him in a confused and frightened state. When told to calm down by her mentor, Glitter came to a complete stand still and sat, observing the changeling in front of her.

"You'll have to forgive her excited behavior, Xheda...she does have a lot of certain unicorn's personality around her, especially with flashy entrances." Twilight explained and cleared her throat, once more smiling. "She will accompany you."

"Wait, what?" Both Xheda and Glitter asked in unison, staring up at Twilight with wide eyes. Twilight cleared her throat as though she herself was confused at what she herself said.

"You heard me correctly, Xheda. I want Glitter Chant to accompany you on this quest; if it were any other circumstance, I wouldn't even think of this, but we have four weeks to prevent the end of the world, each of us has a vital role in this to play, and, I am saying this because I must believe somehow, that I have confidence that you'll protect her no matter what. Can you, Xheda?" Twilight asked, her expression could teeter on either side of disappointment or hope; Xheda, mustering up his courage, nodded his head.

"Then time is ah've the essence! We've readied ya'll a lil food package that should last fer 3 days. After that, ah'm afraid, ya'll have to find your own means of food. Good luck, Xheda, and keep yerself and Glitter 'ere safe, y'hear?" Applejack was next to speak up as her brother Big Mac nudged two saddle bags over, each enchanted by Twilight's magic to hold more than they appear and weigh less than they should; seeing as Glitter had her own saddlebags, Xheda took it upon himself to hold onto them.

Giving his thanks to the princess and to the apple family, Xheda finally turned his attention to the one pony that mattered the most in the entire room to him, Melon Drop. The farmer mare looked at her child with eyes of sorrow, knowing that he would soon leave her, just as all her children have left her before, she would once more be without a child to hold, to hug, to cradle, to comfort, to laugh with, to tuck into bed. Melon Drop hung her head down and quietly stared at her bandaged backlegs, keeping in mind she had no farm to return to, no home to return to, and the physical mementos of her children and her husband now lost to the fire.

Suddenly, Xheda's hoof slid up and gently brushed her tears away from her cheeks, the mare lifted her head slightly and looked into the teary eyes of her own child, she softly smiles and lifted him to her in her forelegs, gently embracing him. Xheda buried his head against the mare and sniffled, his digits gently gripping her fur.

"Don't cry, mama, I'll come back, I promise." Xheda spoke as he comforted Melon Drop. The mare softly sobbed over Xheda's head, her tears falling down atop his head.

"Ah know, Xheda, but it still hurts t' see mah boy leave. But ya'll promise me that ya'll is comin home after all this. If ah have to wait, well...Ah think ah can." Melon Drop spoke and wiped her eyes, gently nuzzling Xheda's head before releasing him from her forelegs; with a gentle kiss to her cheek, Xheda dropped down from the couch and stood beside Glitter Chant before Twilight.

"The journal should help you, but let me suggest to start with heading towards the northern mountain kingdom, you'll find the diamond dogs there and their lord, Titan. Be prepared though, diamond dogs don't look fondly on changelings either...or ponies for that matter. We all wish you good luck!" Twilight explained, her attempts to soften the danger have obviously failed. Xheda looked up at her and bowed his head, causing Twilight to frown. "Xheda, I said you didn't have to-"

"I know, but heroes are suppose to bow to princesses, just like in the storybooks" Xheda smiled, he had fully accepted the idea now that ponies showed confidence in him. To this, Twilight smiled and nodded and looked at her student.

"And you, Glitter Chant, you watch over Xheda too-"

"Yup! You got it, mentor! I'll watch him day and night! Sleeping and awake! I'll watch him wherever-"

"Not to a point where it's creepy, Glitter."

Glitter Chant slightly spat her tongue and smiled awkwardly, calming down and nodding her head, "Yes mentor, I'll watch over him."

And with that, Xheda and Glitter Chant gave their goodbyes to the the princess, the apple family, and Melon Drop before stepping out the front door, out onto the farm, and then down the road towards the north, where the diamond dogs awaited.

-Four weeks until the end of the world-