From the Desk of Ambassador Wildcard.

The trip was short, and Wildcard was amazed by the speed of the bat ponies as they carried the chariot over the clouds to Canterlot. He had never been this high before, and he could actually see the curvature of the planet. Manehatten to the north shone in the night, lit by the moon and the never-ending light of the city that never slept. Thanks to his comrade Eta-Zeta, that city would sleep peacefully tonight.

That was neither here nor there now. The world might be heading for war, his first friend might have erased his own memory in a bizarre act of repentance, and he had duties to the hive that demanded his attention.

Buck all that this was his night.

Canterlot came into view, and almost as quickly as it did the chariot swooped towards swung around the castle. Wildcard was amazed by the fact that as it swung around he wasn't disturbed at all in his seat, some sort of pony magic, he imagined. Quickly the chariot descended and came to a soft landing in the castle courtyard. Wildcard wasted no time and leapt out, surprised to see the two bat ponies come his side as he hurriedly cantered through the gate. (noting that the usual bat pony guards were nowhere to be seen, Luna had really taken the entire force apparently.)

"We'll escort you to your office, Ambassador," the one on his left said.

"You don't have to do that, really," Wildcard suggested.

"I think we do sir, you're late," The other one said. Wildcard turned to him and the bat pony winked back.

Shortly the group came upon Wildcards office, to his astonishment the door was closed, and a new doorplate glittered in the torchlight. His name was painted on it, bordered in gold. He ran his hoof along it, it was wonderful to see. Before he was able to push the door open a hoof prodded his shoulder.

Looking behind him one of the bats cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Don't you think you're a little under dressed...?" he said, with a hissing accent that put an emphasis on the S's.

It took Wildcard a second to realize what he had meant. under dressed, date, just came from a war-zone...

Nodding thankfully at the guard Wildcard closed his eyes and concentrated, creating a 'disguise' from nothing took some effort, and it would have to look good. With a green glow that overtook himself something historical, something totally unique in the world, a totally unprecedented event took place.

A changeling used his shape-shifting abilities to look good for a mare, and not as part of a plan to take over the world.

When the green field faded Wildcard took a look over himself before opening the door. He had chosen a grey fatigue jacket with a few pockets that he wore over top a blue undershirt. A white scarf covered his neck; it was a chilly night. Opening the door he immediately spotted First Class sitting at his desk, in his chair, reading by the light of his desk lamp. She leaned back in this chair with her legs on the desk. As Wildcard approached he noticed something else- there was no dust on the floor, and the wallpaper on the walls was visible; instead of being a blurry mass of grime. Behind First Class the moon was visible hanging in the sky, watching over the world.

"You're late." She said, flipping a page.

Before Wildcard could speak the bat ponies came from behind him forward, and what followed was a seemingly rehearsed display. They came up before Wildcard and bowed.

"Thank you for your assistance, Ambassador," They said. "Thanks to you, Baltimare is safe, and Manehatten sleeps easy." They stood, and one handed Wildcard a small note. "Take this, as a sign of our gratitude," he said, and bowing again they left, gently closing the door behind them. First Class had been watching this, sitting upright in the chair holding her chin in her hooves over the desk.

Wildcard quickly glanced at the note, another one of those reserve notes. Notably, this one had the face of Luna imposed on it, her gaze scowling at the holder. He also noted it was for an entire thousand bits. He slipped this into a jacket pocket and turned to meet First Class's gaze.

"So you've had a busy day, Ambassador?" She asked, and then pointed a hoof to him. "Your saddlebags are burnt."

Wildcard took out Luna's scroll, shrugged them off, and kicked them towards the side. "So they are," he said, putting it in a pocket.

First Class turned the chair to the side and slipped out. Wildcard's heart fluttered, and his wings buzzed with it before the rest of his brain caught up with them. She wore a brown peacoat, over a dress, and around her neck a grey scarf that matched Wildcards was tied around. Over her head a beret that matched her coat, capped it all. Wildcard found himself at a loss for words as she approached him, smiling.

His brain wasn't sure, but it thought he was smiling back.

"Nice berET" Wildcard croaked. First Glass giggled and blushed.

She stopped in front of Wildcard and played with his scarf, he in turn blushed too.

"So is this real, or an illusion?" She asked.

Wildcard gently grasped her hoof with his own. "It's as real as you want it to be," he said. Behind him the door opened with a green field.

He mistook the weight of it and sent it slamming against the wall, he cringed on the impact and turned to see the damage.

Thankfully, none.

"Careful with the door, Wildcard, I just built it today."

Wildcard turned back to her. "You... built the door?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I have a lot of spare time, I like to work with wood," She said, and pointed back to the desk.

"Very impressive work, you have good taste," She said, and then gestured out the doorway.

"So where to?" she asked.

Wildcard led her out and as they departed the castle they had a conversation about that desk, First Class seemed very interested to find out that a filly named Applebloom had made it. The conversation then turned to that days events. First Class was horrified to hear of the events in Baltimare, and agreed with Wildcard that it did not bode well for anybody, or any pony. They disagreed however on whether they could return to peace before things went further. Wildcard let the matter drop, not wanting to ruin the evening. As sure as he was that the ponies would have to 'buck up' as it were, and kick the Griffons where it hurt to prove they meant business, he wasn't going to argue it tonight.

Standing in the crisp night air Wildcard was thankful for his scarf. The wind blew down the mostly empty street while the moon hung overhead, adding it's glow to that of the streetlights. He turned to his companion, also basking in the night.

"I never see the night much, normally I have to get up with early with the sun." First Class said. Looking down the roads she looked back at Wildcard inquisitively. "Where's the Night Guard?" She asked, noting the empty streets.

"Luna is taking the trouble on the border very seriously, and speaking of bats- how do we get into 'the mountain'?"

First Class gestured to the mountain looming over the towers of the castle. "The waterfall," She said, and then flexed her wings.

"They don't let anypony in though, and the wind blows out from the mountain. Can those little wings do it?" First Class teased, spreading her own.

"Oh, you're on," Wildcard said. His wings buzzed in return and he lifted into the air.

First Class smirked and shot off into the air, followed closely by Wildcard. Wildcard never ceased to be impressed by the speed and power of even an average pegasus, they put the best changelings to shame. Had he not accidentally wound up having the holes in his wings filled there was no way he could have kept up with her as they soared over the city and turned towards the waterfall.

Maybe it was a gift, not a curse... Wildcard began to ponder this but stopped himself, introspection could wait until he was back at his desk. In any case the pair came up against the winds blowing out of the mountain that First Class had mentioned, slowing to an airborne crawl as they fought that power. Wildcards wings strained against it, and glancing to his side he saw First Class powering through. Closer and closer they came to the waterfall, behind a portal could faintly be seen behind the flow. Closer and closer they came, closer and closer...

First Class was through first, disappearing through the flow of the waterfall into the cave beyond. Wildcard followed shortly, just as he felt his wings were about to give out against the force. He poked his head through the water and then, before he could catch himself, overshot the exit and flung forwards as force of the wind dissipated. To round this out his wings became little more then damp paper as the fatigue caught up with him, sending him flying forwards with no direction when they closed up.

He hit the ground and rolled, coming to a stop with the help the of cave wall. First Class stifled a fit of laughter and approached the heap of a changeling that lay on the stone floor, shaking herself dry as she did. She extended a hoof to him as he lay there,and a dark shadow seemed to move past the portal to the outside.

"You alright?" She asked, worriedly.

Wildcard rolled over and took her hoof, leveraging himself back up.

"I've had worse." Wildcard said. Turning to the cave he lit his alicorn and turned to the cave ahead. In the distance was a shimmering light, the cave itself was far larger then it had looked before. Something flew in front of the light, and Wildcard frantically searching around for whatever was casting that shadow.

"Good Evening." A voice behind Wildcard said softly. He jumped and turned to face it, finding a bat pony standing there, cringing in the harsh light of Wildcard's alicorn spotlight.

"Careful with that!" the bat complained, Wildcard shut it off and calmed himself, these bats were almost as good at stealth as the changelings were, he would have to remember that.

"Sorry, you crept up on me," Wildcard said. He looked past to see First Class smiling, and the bat turned to her.

"Good to see you, Infrared," she said. "Still guarding the door?"

"As always, First Class, who's your 'friend'?" Infrared asked. He glanced back and Wildcard noticed his eyes were a deep red, they looked almost like his own- with opposite colouration.

"Ambassador Wildcard," Wildcard said, with a polite nod. He pulled Luna's scroll out and held it open with a magic field.

Infrared looked it over and, when he was satisfied, leaned past to give Wildcard a familiar warm smile. He had seen more smiles in the last week then the rest of his life in the hive combined.

"A friend of Her Highness I see, well follow me right on in!" Infrared strode down the cave and gestured they follow. Wildcard sparked his alicorn back up and First Class came to his side. They followed Infrared down the cave towards, what Wildcard assumed to be, the inner domain of the bat ponies. He was rather excited to find out what awaited him.

Wildcard leaned over to whisper to First Class.

"You've been here before?" he asked.

"When Celestia needs to talk to Luna during the day, she sends me as an intermediary. It's a... delicate task," She explained.

"Delicate task?"

"You're not the only one that can shapeshift," First Class whispered. She shuddered at the thought of some unknown horror.

Not the only one that can shapeshift...

"And here we are!" Infrared strode into the shimmering light with the two behind him. Wildcard looked up from his thinking to gaze in awe at the sight before him.

The city of the bat ponies was nearly as big as Canterlot. It looked as if the entire mountain had been carved out, with a vast series of stone towers far below the ledge where they they stood. A staircase ran along the edges of the giant cave, and a moat surrounded the city below coming into it with a canal that ended in a small artificial lake in the middle. Directly beside them water streamed down in a waterfall. It was all lit by lanterns placed nearly everywhere, giving the cave roof the appearance of the night sky. It was absolutely beautiful to behold.

Wildcard would have to write home about this, it was a crime that ponies and changelings had lived without seeing it for themselves.

"It is quite a sight, isn't it? The first time I came here I just sat on this ledge and stared it at it for half an hour," First Class commented. Wildcard nodded his agreement, not sure if she or the city was better looking.

Infrared stood on the edge of the ledge and gestured behind him at the city. Tiny figures of bats flew to and fro in the distance. Wildcard guessed the population must be at least equal to Canterlot.

"Welcome to our humble home, I suggest you take some time to look around, maybe take in a show at the Echo Theater," He said, and with a flap of his wings pushed off from the ledge. "Enjoy your stay!"

With that, he flew off, leaving the two on the ledge.

"Well, you've been here before." Wildcard turned to First Class, finding her looking over the city. "What's good?" He asked.

She pointed towards a short circular building near the central lake. "Echo Theater is usually good, and they've got great cider."

She had him at 'cider'.

"Sounds good then," Wildcard said, lifting into the air. First Class followed and they flew down towards that building.

As they traveled Wildcard noticed that it seemed like all the bats he passed were wearing armour, even ones just milling around on the streets below. It occurred to him that the bat ponies could be an entirely militaristic culture, and these would be the reserves. If Luna wanted to she could raise an army equal in size to the Equestrian Royal Guard- instantly.

An entire race of warriors, it was exactly what Equestria needed to counter the griffons, should it come to that. The Queen would also be extremely interested in all this, perhaps enough to promote him. Eta-Eta..., equal to his current superior.

He quite liked the sound of that, and as they came down to before the circular building that marked the Echo Theater he rolled it around in his head.

Eta-Eta, Ambassador. He would probably get some more funding, a proper embassy, some warriors to command...

He sighed, and First Class glanced back at him and blushed. He realized that, at that very moment, a breeze had disturbed her skirt. Awkward, but that flank deserved no less, so Wildcard ran with it.

"So, do you get out often? Your job must be quite demanding." Wildcard asked as they trotted up the stairs to the entrance.

"It is, I mostly just get out on business. Celestia gave me the day off tomorrow, said that she would be fine without me for the day," First Class said, and stopped at the entrance. An enormous stallion of a bat pony bouncer stood there and looked them over, while Wildcard looked over a notice on the door.

"3 Drink minimum, Mares night Thursday. No foals."

Considering how much a pair of ciders had effected him before, he quickly considered the consequences of that minimum. Coming to a logical conc...

Or he would have had First Class not already been let in, thinking was for the loveless. Wildcard stepped up the bouncer who squinted down at him. Wildcard wondered how that much muscle could possibly fly.

"Ambassador Wildcard... go easy on the cider." The bouncer said, and pushed open the door with his rear hoof. Wildcard walked in as a fit of laughter filled the air behind as the door shut again.

Inside Wildcard found a mostly empty room. First Class had already taken a seat at a table close to an enormous round stage that occupied the majority of the vast building. Alone the sides were several levels of viewing platforms. On the far side from the entrance a bar was visible jutting from the wall. The theater could probably seat hundreds, but for now it was only Wildcard, First Class, and a few dozen scattered bats. A spire led down from the centre of the roof, ending in a box that had a clock on each face. The time was 11 PM according to it.

A few bat ponies actually hung from the ceiling. Wildcard would have to report that myth confirmed- and collect on a few bets. He took a seat beside First Class. They both had a good view of the stage, but it seemed that for now there was nothing going on.

There was still the cider to look forward however, and as Wildcard settled in he noticed one of the bats drop for the roof and swoop towards them.

"Good Moon to you, My name is Echo, welcome to my theater." The bat came to a hover before the table, and bowed politely as he gave his name.

"The first show of the night should be starting in half an hour, if that unicorn can be trusted, and the special tonight is a tomato soup."

"There's been a bumper crop of tomatoes." He added.

Wildcard realized he hadn't eaten since that morning, the mention of food reminded his body that it required that to live, and suddenly he felt starved.

"I'll just have a salad, " First Class said.

"The soup, please, and... perhaps a mushroom sandwich," Wildcard said.

Echo nodded. "Shouldn't take too long, Her Highness called out most of us for some alert, I think it's a drill," Echo flapped his wings and swooped backwards over the stage.

"Miss dinner?" First Class asked.

"You could say that, I don't think I've eaten since breakfast," Wildcard replied.

A curtain descended from somewhere in the rafters to cover the stage, leaving the pair in it's shadow.

"I suppose you get this a lot, but can you change into... anything?" First Class asked.

"Anything with the same body mass." Wildcard replied.

"So you could change into... Shining Armour?" First Class asked, running a hoof through her mane as she did.

If Wildcard had been drinking it would be all over the table, his eyes became wide with astonishment.

"I uhh, I suppose..." he replied.

First Class giggled. "I'm teasing, I always thought he was kind of a blowhard. Always trying to be 'gallant'. The perfect stallion for a mare with no depth. A bag of pony parts shaped into a stallion, matched with a bag of pony parts shaped like a mare."

Wildcard laughed. "I'm surprised at you, I would have thought you would have more respect for their 'highness's'"

"I'm not on duty," First Class said, and put her chin on her arms, tented over the table. Wildcard repeated that.

They looked at each other across that table. On one end sat a changeling infiltrator that a week ago had accidentally started a minor war, on the other the assistant to Princess Celestia. Between them an invisible filament of magic, which Wildcard could feel as if it was a physical thing.

"I'm not either." Wildcard said. He pulled the bill and scroll from his jacket, and dropped the disguise, leaving them on the table.

As they waited for their food to arrive, with the sound of some great project being constructed on the stage in front of them, they talked. Wildcard came to know how First Class had gotten her job: she had been a part of the Wonderbolts for a short tenure, as assistant to Spitfire's predecessor. When Spitfire came to lead them, the job became void when she turned out to be far more self reliant then that predecessor, leading to First Class finding work at Canterlot. That was a few years ago, and she had quickly worked up the ladder to the top. She in turn asked Wildcard about some of his infiltration exploits, having a good laugh at the initiation that had him infiltrate Canterlot to cancel the weekly sweets delivery to Canterlot Castle. His idea to expand that by switching the shipment to carrots is what shot him up the ranks early, and made him the premiere infiltrator after the failed attack on Canterlot a few months back.

"I was there for that!" First Class exclaimed "Celestia actually made up this 'contest' and had a few bakers bring down these absurd creations to be 'judged', for some reason they only ended up making one however, and a pink mare ate it."

"The whole thing?" Wildcard asked.

"The whole thing, I swear it was the size of her," First Class replied. "If it was anypony else they would probably be tried for treason, but those Ponyville folk get away with everything," She sighed and shook her head.

Echo returned at this point with their food, descending and with the skill of a master slid two plates before the pair before they even realized he was there. A master of stealth, a master of dexterity, a master waiter. Two mugs of cider silently found themselves beside the plates as well. They thanked him and with a nod he was back off.

Wildcard wasted no time, and within a space of seconds the sandwich had disappeared along with half of the cider. First Class seemed bemused by this, as she slowly pecked at her salad.

Levitating the spoon, Wildcard set to the soup. First Class watched with a cocked eyebrow.

"I thought changelings had to, like, steal, magic," she inquired.

"Actually we thought that too, but it turns we don't need to. All we have to do is be around... friends, and it flows naturally," Wildcard explained.

"We just can't generate it ourselves." he added.

"So doesn't that mean you're stealing my own magic?" First Class accused him, scowling.

Wildcards eyes widened with a look of horror. "Uhhh.." His mind frantically searched for some way to escape the hole he found himself in, and then tripped over itself in confusion as First Class fell back in her chair laughing.

"Got you!" She exclaimed between fits of laughter. Wildcard sighed and relaxed.

"You really did," Wildcard said. He set back to his soup as the curtain ascended, and they both gazed at the stage.

It was nothing more then a starry backdrop that ran the centre length. At the very top a wand crossed over a cresent moon was stitched on, the stitching standing out to showcase a fairly un-professional work. After a moments silence an explosion of sparks and smoke gave way to a blue unicorn draped in a starry cape, with a bent hat matching the bizarre cape on her head.

Wildcard burst out into laughter, fore-hooves slamming against the table. For a good half a minute the mare starred him down, which only made him laugh more as he couldn't possibly take any pony wearing that get up seriously. He was only silenced when his chair flew out from under him, throwing him to the ground.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will not be mocked by you people!" The mare shouted.

Wildcard brushed himself off and pulled a chair from another table to replace his, stifling his laughter for now. First Class sipped from her cider, greatly amused by all this.

"What do you mean 'you people'?!" Someone yelled from the upper platforms. Trixie backed up and her gaze flickered around the room.

Wildcard drank the rest of his cider, and found it replaced with a full one and a plate of tomatoes. He turned to see Echo there, with a hoof to his mouth as he backed into the shadows.

Wildcard looked at First Class and nodded to the tomatoes. She smiled and picked one up. Wildcard held one in a green field before himself, lining it up.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie's use of the third person neutral plural will not be questioned!" Trixie shouted back.

"I've got a question for you!" Another voice shouted from above. "How good are you with deflection spells!"

For a second Trixie seemed confused, and then a red blur flew from above, and was caught in a blue field.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is quite good, thank you!" Trixie yelled, and sent the tomato back to sender.

Wildcard and First Class stood as one, and loosed theirs to join a barrage of a few dozen others coming from around and above them. The unicorns defenses were overwhelmed, although to her credit she sent a third of them towards the original heckler. This was all followed by another burst of sparks and smoke, and the unicorn was gone through the back of the reddened stage. The room was filled with laughter from all around.

"Hey wait a second!" Wildcard shouted over the din. "How did she get in here, she can't fly!"

"There's a door in the castle!" First Class replied. Wildcard turned and squinted his eyes at her.

"But, the waterfall?" He asked, as the room quieted down.

"That's the exit, they use it to get out quickly if Luna calls them on alert," First Class explained, and finished her cider.

"I just wanted to see if you could make it," She added with a wink.

Wildcard felt his heart flutter, and a short buzz of his wings. He had never met anyone quite like First Class, and he felt he was falling for her.

"First Class, you really do your name justice." Wildcard said. She blushed in response.

"You're just doing this so you can kidnap me, change into my form, and spy on Celestia," She said, her face suddenly serious.

Wildcard paused and tensed, unsure if it was a joke or not. He made a mental note to destroy that dossier he had on her the first chance he got.

"I'm kidding," She said, eliciting a relaxed slouch as Wildcard breathed again.

Echo soon returned with another round of drinks, and the pair spent the next half hour or so laughing and comparing their experiences with the civil services. Wildcard asked her why Celestia didn't simply call herself Queen, and found that Celestia had kept the title of Princess because she felt it made her seem younger, that and equality with the other Alicorns, but mostly for vanities sake. Wildcard detailed his involvement in the failed attack on Canterlot, and how Chrysalis had doomed their entire plan by revealing herself to Twilight Sparkle in an insane act of hubris. Just as she was about to win, just as even Celestia had turned against Twilight, Chrysalis had found it wise to reveal herself and teleport Twilight to the same place Cadence had been imprisoned. Wildcard was surprised in himself, detailing how stupid he thought Chrysalis to be. He had never so much as questioned her orders before, but with all the recent revelations, and all the cider, he started really thinking about the Queen on his own terms. He was becoming more Wildcard then Eta-Gamma.

He was glad to know that First Class found quite a few faults in Princess Celestia as well, mostly in her mismanagement of the elements of harmony, and her bizarre decision to free Discord. Apparently Equestria Daily had a field day when that had happened, devoting an entire week and going as far to insinuate Celestia had been replaced by Chrysalis and it was all a conspiracy.

"Their cover page read: Shapeshifter Aliens: More likely then you think!" First Class said and fell back into her chair, laughing.

Wildcard at this point was quite drunk, and according to the clock it was getting close to one in the morning.

"I think *hic* we should call it a night." He said, pushing his chair away and stumbling. He lost his footing and found himself on the surprisingly comfortable floor, and fell asleep.

First Class came over and prodded him with a hoof. She snorted as she rolled him over, he wasn't going to be waking up any time soon.

"Oh Wildcard, what am I going to do with you." She said, and slung him over her back. She was surprised at how light the changeling was. Taking a second to collect the scroll and bill- almost dropping him in surprise when see saw how much money it was for, she trotted to the exit where Echo stood by the doorway.

"Your friend is quite the lightweight." Echo noted.

"Oh, don't judge him too harshly. I don't imagine they get that much cider," She said, and pushed the door open.

"I suppose you are right. I'll send him the cheque," Echo said, and bowed politely as she left.

Taking flight, using her forelegs to grasp Wildcard on her back, she flew towards the ledge and the exit of the mountain. On her back the changeling breathed quietly as he slept peacefully, and she wondered what he might be dreaming of.

She had never met anypony- or anyone- like Wildcard. He was different then the other ponies, most notably in the shapeshifting abilities, but also in the fact that he seemed more straight forward, more... open, thea other ponies. Any other stallion would have taken her to some fancy establishment and spent the night going through a list of corny lines. The ritual, she had been through it dozens of times. Wildcard had no idea what the ritual was, he was a total outsider. A breath of fresh air to be around someone of the opposite sex that she didn't have to follow protocol for. They had laughed about their leaders failures, thrown tomatoes at a hack stage magician, and gotten drunk.

Well, he got drunk. She was only slightly buzzed. Little did he know that First Class had grown up in Ponyville, and the cider there flowed like a river in the spring. Or the fall. Or any time there was even the hint of an excuse to roll out the barrels.

She found she rather liked him, actually. Passing by Infrared with a smile she burst through the waterfall into the night of Canterlot.

Wildcard was shocked awake, but his cider addled mind couldn't keep it up for long.

"Just ten more minutess..." he mumbled, and buried his face in First Class's mane. She giggled, and directed her flight towards the palace. Coming to a landing outside the palace doors she cantered right on in, quickly finding Wildcard's room. Opening the door she noticed how bare the room was, it was almost like he had never actually spent any time there.

Considering what he had told her, as she laid him gently down on his bed, that didn't seem a surprise. She laid his things on the desk next to the bed and swept a wing over to pull the covers over him.

She thought he looked adorable, his crooked alicorn sticking out from his head as he curled up on his side. Didn't even snore.

With that, she left him to sleep.

Perhaps there was a future for them, together. The changeling ambassador and Princess Celestia's assistant.

Stranger things had certainly happened.

A dozen hours later the door burst open, jarring Wildcard awake. He flew out of the bed and slammed to the ground opening his eyes to see the blurry image of a blue figure in the doorway, holding.... something. A paper? If that's what it was, it was burnt pretty bad.

"Wildcard!" The figure exclaimed and galloped forward, waving the paper around.

He closed his eyes and wished she would go away, but a hoof poking at his head- which felt it might either explode or melt out of his head, proved that impossible.

"Wildcard, we need to talk."

His eyes widened and he was extremely thankful to notice that her mane was blue and white, not turquoise. He sighed.