A Hollow Mask - The Perfect Disguise?

A teensy tiny detail caught Forest's attention at the party (thankfully not held at her house).

She had just glanced at the rooms, but hadn't really used any of them - well, she picked the larger bedroom for her use mostly for the enormous closet. It had Forest's tracksuit and a skirt. Aaaaand... that was it.

She hadn't even noticed that she had a fridge, instead of the more common regular icebox (includes enchantments, to better keep the ice). It was one of the nicer fridges, too, being both electrical and magical.

It was also empty and unplugged.

The house was pretty nice, but very bare! Forest had a picture, the bare basic furniture and a few books, water and electricity, and a change of clothes, and that was it.

And, just like the fridge, the bed had gone unused all that time. She had only tested it lightly, having remembered that the furniture was somehow sturdy enough to take her unaltered weight. It was rather nice and soft, but she really needed to get on with the magic practice and catching up on her reading, so it was still untouched.

She'd have to take measures to avoid suspicions... yes, make the place seem more lived-in. First, after her morning practice, she-

Bam! A ball hit her front door, knocking out her train of thought.

"Be more careful, dear!" A mare's voice was heard through the door.

"Sorry, mommy." A colt answered, galloping up to the door and quickly scampering away.

"Today is such a nice day; let's take it easy, alright?" Was the last thing she could hear before the speaker got too far for her voice to cross the door.

It... it really was a nice day... Why was she so tense? She didn't have any need to get things done right away - there was no Mercer to tell Forest that X or Y thing had to be done, nor would anypony point at her and scream and get the military hot on her heels to blow her up...

These were ponies.

Ponies.

Pastel-colored, magic-using, peace-loving, touchy-feely miniature horses that had more interest in sunshine and rainbows and stars than in hunting down anything infected with Blacklight... The skies were blue, the sun shone; there was no dreary red cloud cover, nor need to fight off some of the less restrained of Mercer's followers. She didn't have to do anything she didn't want! She didn't need to restrain herself for fear of Celestia - there never was any need to kill anything to begin with!

It would be easier to just consume others to get what she wanted, but... did she really want to stir that hornet's nest? In the princesses' eyes Forest was an unsung heroine, having chosen so to avoid unwanted attention (though there seemed to be something large at play since the other six were not being swarmed by ponies for their contributions)... she had a house.

It was hers.

She... she had a house. It was hers; hers to do with it whatever she wanted. A house in a quaint little town, full of magic ponies.

Forest now had a life in front, one with which anything could be done.

She could gather money whenever, practice what magic she wanted, do whatever she pleased with the current state of affairs... oh, the thrill of stalking something was still rooted deep into her psyche, but she could chose to do so with -say- any changeling spies Chrysalis sent! Or maybe do something about the griffins? She had a sword the size of a surfboard just a flick of her arm away!

Besides, she had to do something. At the party a stallion bumped into her because he was dancing with his eyes closed; he was dazed while she barely even felt it. Forest's coat was soft and smooth thanks to the changeling shapeshifting, but underneath that she kept her body as always - dense enough to stop gunfire.

Inside the bathroom, Forest had enough privacy to change into his original form.

He looked himself in the mirror, right in the eyes.

"These are ponies." He whispered. "They don't have Blackwatch. They don't care much that you eat meat... well, they would take issue with the other things you eat, but still!"

He reached a hand to the hood covering his head, and lowered it.

Even now, in human form, he could feel a small trickle of love flowing in. Pinkie, while annoying sometimes, was very indiscriminate with her love; Forest could tell there was something else going on, but being friends and all meant that boundaries had to be respected and stuff.

"These are ponies." He repeated, still whispering. "This is a town of ponies, not a Gentek facility. Even with these 'Elements' and Celestia... oh God... no! Don't think like that! They don't suspect anything, and they even like you!"

Out of habit, he rubbed his forehead.

"Alright, first things first: Getting rid of the excessive sensitivity of my empathy."

*****

'She saved the world.' A voice tore away what little peace he had inside his own mind.

He stopped reading the letter, which had interrupted the grading of the papers, as he could not see through the tears.

'She's the Element of Magic.'

'Magic.'

'The same thing you said she had no talent for just because she couldn't manage to use the advanced form of teleportation. Not that it was her fault, since she was... what? Just finishing her third month of classes?'

His breath hitched, and he couldn't get it back under control.

'You moved the goalpost. She utterly dominated the basic lessons, you responded with disdain and made the lessons harder. She aced those, too, just for you to chalk it up to luck and make it harder still.'

He rubbed his eyes in a futile attempt to make it seem he wasn't crying.

'And what happened once she finally failed? What did you say? That's right: Guess she wasn't so talented after all. What a joke. How could a failure like that catch the eyes of the princess? You asked. Why would she waste her time with that filly? She's unworthy - you said. And you made sure she heard, didn't you? You knew she was on the other side of that door; you and the others, and they oh so helpfully supported your views. You and your 'buddies' bullied a little filly into a breakdown so bad she wanted to run away from school.'

The letter and its words pierced his heart.

'Celestia was so angry that her teleports rattled windows and her voice shook the building; she was exuding so much energy... and those eyes...'

Her eyes held no threats, just a promise to reduce everything to a pile of smoldering ashes. And yet she didn't cast any spells, nor issue any orders... she just ranted at them... he was so ashamed of himself, and he knew the others were, too.

And that was not half of it.

"Hmm? I don't think I can accept your resignation." Celestia pushed back the letter on her desk; she was pretty calm for having been so mad so recently, but her tone was still a glacial affair far removed from her usual motherly warmth. "It would be too easy. You would leave this school, perhaps feel sorry for yourself for a time, then go to a small town where nopony knows you, find some foals struggling with their learning, help them through the years, and find redemption through proxy, rediscovering your dedication and the compassion you so foolishly forgot when you started harassing my student. As I said, too easy."

He shook as the princess spoke, so casually one would be excused if they thought she was describing the plot of a film or novel. He shook, but didn't advert his gaze, either by sheer will or some miracle - he wasn't sure.

"No, what you are going to do is much harder. You are going to keep teaching here, with her in your classes, and see that little filly grow up into the mare I know she can be, seeing how she surpasses all challenges thrown her way, and when that happens... when she looks at you with her wide eyes and tender heart... you are going to see her and realize: 'I almost destroyed this'. Well, of course I cannot force you to do anything you do not want to, so keep that letter if you decide that this is too much for you."

And now, he had a letter from Twilight Sparkle; it was obvious she had no idea of how to write about the subject of friendship, but her words were heartwarming nonetheless...

And she also thanked him for making her the pony she was now.

She did so with total sincerity.

Celestia was one of the kindest, most loving beings he'd ever known - however, just as she was capable of immeasurable kindness, she, too, was capable of unbelievable cruelty.

Twilight was thanking him.

Him. Him, who had tried so hard to break her just because Celestia was paying more attention to her, just because Celestia thought she was special... he tried to break her, and did, and she was never quite the same friendly filly she used to be - something that Celestia kept lamenting and trying to undo.

What a bad time for his doctor to forbid him from taking whiskey.

*****

"A-alright, you can do this." Forest the pony tried to convince herself; she was currently sitting in her living room, facing the door... and she was without her clothes, letting her cutie mark show for once.

She shook involuntarily, since she had softened her biomass to better imitate normal flesh.

The squishyness was torture; she just felt so vulnerable! God knew she didn't need any reminders that she wasn't invincible.

Just the memory of Nightmare Moon, or Alex Mercer, sent shivers down her spine.

She hugged herself, closing her eyes.

"Let the world melt away. Let the world melt away." She whispered the words as a mantra, over and over. She had to find her center, and do so at least mildly isolated and as flexible and supple as she could be - normally for a changeling that meant relaxed in a form of their choosing...

She just felt like Nightmare Moon was going to pop out of the shadows and rip her apart just a little faster than she would otherwise.

More shivers. She had to continue, so she drew as many memories of magic training as she could... sadly, quite a few of them were of practicing spells via rote memorization.

"I-I am me. I-I have control over my heart. I am me."

Something hit her door hard, rattling her windows and startling her badly. She growled as her horn lit up, her magic undoing the lock and throwing open the door as she prepared to pounce, her front legs bent slightly and her hind legs apart.

Rainbow Dash was on the other side of the door, rubbing her shoulder, and squeaked in surprise at the predatory look directed squarely at her by the fake unicorn. Her horn was glowing a very bright blue, flaring wildly as she had plenty of energy charged up.

Forest stood there, glaring and panting, for a few seconds. She gritted her teeth and let out another growl as she shook her head, trying to will the magic back down. It was the greatest amount of magic she had tried to channel, ever, and it gave her a headache.

"My horn aches, I think I over-channeled." She said, rubbing her forehead. "I take it you wanted something and forgot I lock my door? Again?"

Dash stood there, gaping for a second, as Forest shot her another dark look - though not quite at the same level as the one before.

"Uh... everything alright?" Twilight peeked from behind her surprised friend. "I kind of could not avoid seeing you through the window..."

Forest was about to default to her usual response - annoyance underneath a mask of polite dismissal... before the idea of allowing them to give her the help they so obviously wanted to give her crossed her mind and squashed her first instinct.

"It's starting to sink in, Twilight." Forest rubbed her eyes, using her changeling disguise to bring about yet-another version of her hooded tracksuit and skirt. "I just wasn't thinking about it until now... I feel exposed."

Something clicked inside Rainbow's head. "Past catching up to ya?"

"Something like that... are you going to stand there or are you going to get in?" She motioned with her head, only to regret it as the aftereffect of the over-channeling grew more noticeable. "Gah! You're lucky I'm not of the 'strike first' mentality!"

Being aggressive went against her policies back in New York, specially since she worked better using her head and either using sneak attacks or exploiting an opening... at least when there was a perceived danger; regular hunts usually just consisted of stalking and either totally overwhelming her prey or testing out her abilities. She could be a little bit of a sadist.

To her surprise, Applejack was with them.

"Sorry..." Dash was being uncharacteristically quiet. "That's why you lock your door even when you're in?"

"Kinda." Pure habit, really; Earth quite simply was not as safe as Equestria. "I just... kept thinking of my goals as objectives in a mission, you know? I sort of knew that I could take things more calmly, but with Celestia keeping an eye on things..."

"Wait, are yah still scared of th' princess?" Applejack asked as Forest eased herself on the only couch in the house.

"Applejack, Her misinformation campaign is not something that can be shaken off so easily..." Twilight spoke softly, dejected and sad that somepony would think that of her mentor. There was a small undercurrent of anger at the lies.

"I feel exposed, what with so many knowing my secret..." Forest saw Applejack flinch. "I used to think I'd be fine, just getting anything I needed and then keep moving, but Nightmare Moon happened..."

"Was she that bad?" Applejack placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"You have no idea." Maybe it was that her meridians were still fried from the over-channeling, affecting her head a little, but she felt less tense. "Her crazy emotions made me think she would only be a threat if she got angry... I honestly thought she was going to kill me. S-she was so powerful..."

"I know." Twilight shakily agreed, walking over to Forest with tears on her eyes and began nuzzling her. "I-I thought she had hurt you..."

It definitely had to be another side-effect; Twilight's concern simply couldn't be this warm and relaxing. They had met during the trip! And she hadn't told them anything about herself! Why was Twilight so shaken at the idea of seeing her hurt?

"Whoa, what happened while we were gone?" Dash asked, shocked.

"I got kicked into a pillar." Forest was being rather blunt, but oddly muted in her emotions, so it came across as simply direct. "Changelings have a form of reinforcement based on the shapechanging ability, but even if I survived the hit it affected me quite badly."

"You don't have to worry about that any more." Twilight said, adding a foreleg to make an embrace.

Forest briefly remembered Celestia, after she was winding down from her spell. Her eyes, previously white from the sheer power, dimmed until she could see her eyes as they were... only beautifully iridescent, changing colors with every tiny change in angle, sapphire blue and ruby red and gold and emerald green... a captivating display; it settled on a rosy color once the magic had ran its course. Ah, that was a feeling of safety she had never felt before.

"I guess so." She mumbled. "Thank you."

"Still, I have no idea of how to proceed in this case. I was expecting discretion, but now I'm known to the princesses and other ponies, so I can't decide if I should carefully build up an appearance or if I could just follow my whims and flights of fancy knowing that you have my back. I... I couldn't decide; you know how vulnerable a changeling is after telling their secret."

"Don'tcha worry." Applejack said, smiling warmly. "It's yer secret, an' we'll help yah keep it."

"Thanks again, coming from you is reassuring." And it truly was! The Element of Honesty was based on trustfulness and dependability, and if she said that she'd keep it, Forest was sure she'd have no trouble convincing the others to keep it, too. Having the heroes and the princesses supporting her was way better than having them be ignorant or indifferent - support meant there was room for endearment, while ignorance could mean that they would have little issue in blasting her with the Elements as soon as they learned of her changeling status.

"I... guess I'm glad we had this chat. I just threw myself at work and tried not to think about it - practicing magic seemed like a nice idea, but I'm having a lot of trouble with it."

"Isn't invisibility kind of a big deal?" Dash was confused, as was Twilight.

Forest shook her head slowly this time. "I learned that spell through pure rote, I'm afraid. The training I went through was more for survival, observation and discretion; there could be times magic could be impractical or unavailable, after all..."

Applejack understood just too well - if she had taken a non-unicorn disguise, she would have to do things by hoof or risk raising suspicion. She had been giving more thought to Forest's situation, and tried to think like somepony with a burdensome secret; as long as her feelings were genuine, it did not matter how she looked - kind of like a more complicated version of make-up with higher stakes. (Applejack found that relating things to the situation made it easier to understand, but it still sounded weird to her.)

Twilight was quick to offer tutoring for Forest, and she'd have to be crazy to refuse! After all, Twilight was an actual scholar of magic!

"What is that supposed to mean? Why would being a magic talent be so important?" Twilight was confused at Forest's slight enthusiasm and wording. Forest responded in a hushed stage whisper.

"Well, that mare is pretty confident that Equestria won't be hard to keep down because... well, she's of the opinion that the common unicorn is the most pathetic of the spell-casting species, so that anypony who isn't a guard or a magic-related talent is much less of a threat than... oh, I don't know... an earth pony farmer like Applejack. I mean, good grief, girl! Those trees are the thickest apple trees I have ever seen! And yet you kick them nearly all-year round." It was a good thing that they had found out about her disguise, at least they now knew that she had a preference for the direct, pragmatic approach to a problem and didn't have to sugar-coat anything to prevent a 'falling out' and 'starve' - mostly because they insisted they could take things straight.

"And knowing that the regular unicorn only bothers to learn... what, a couple of non-basic spells that relate to their talent? They waste a lot of potential by not expanding their repertoire; I know that I'm not very proficient myself, but I have no intention to leave it at that!" She narrowed her eyes, and stood up. "I let that harridan manipulate me for too long! I won't stop learning just because she says that a spell is for other roles not my own! I make my own roles!"

"You said it, sister!" Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof into the air. She had been rattled by the threatening look she had gotten when the door was opened, but the more she heard, the more she understood - she had nearly forgotten that changelings were predators, and the incident with the door was the instincts showing through in a moment... a moment of weakness. Not only had Nightmare Moon scared Forest, she had found out that the queen that was supposed to look after them had lied to them and pretty much betrayed her! All just for... for conquest! A fire was lit inside Rainbow Dash, fasted flier of Equestria and Element of Loyalty... she'd be the best friend ever!

In a cool way, of course; image to maintain and all.

As for the 'harridan' comment, Forest smiled in a twisted way at the idea of calling Mercer a 'harridan'. Not to his face! No, not to his face...

"Thanks for getting my mind off those things." Forest returned to her neutral state, but externally displayed a smile and spoke lightly. Well, at least now she had help to live inconspicuously now, and they would be willing to overlook any slips she made by passing them off as cultural differences or a result of Chrysalis's lies.

"Now what did you want me for at eight in the morning?"

Dash smiled.

"Well, I know you said that flying was out, so I thought of something..."