The Laws of Life.

Chapter 2: Life from here on out.

I let out a long sigh, as I sit up in bed. A year. It has been a exactly a year since I was given my life. I no longer consider us as separate entities anymore. I am him now. Well, I guess I’ve been him for a while, but I finally feel like I am him. I let out a long, lingering yawn as I shift away my covers. I walk over to my desk, and peak at the small mirror that sits there. It’s just a small ritual I have. I just stare in the mirror for a few seconds, sometimes a few minutes. Just to make sure I’m still. . . .Me. And not me. I let out another sigh, remembering what day it is. Back to school, after a pleasant summer. You know, sometimes, you get so used to something, that you think that it will never end.

But, alas, it does. And now it’s time to start my first day in middle school. It’s not that I hate school. I actually quite like it. It teaches me things that every other pony would learn. Something an average changeling would never learn. But I’m not the average ‘changeling.’ Actually. I’m not sure what I am anymore. But I don’t like dwelling on it. This brings me to look back into the mirror. I used to have a complete white mane and tail. But, just a few months ago, I decided to dye them with black strips. In memory of a life that no one knows was lost. Though, sometimes I fear that others will find out the truth about me, because. . . I glance back towards my flank, but my eyes just meet the bare dark blue fur that covers the rest of me. I haven’t gotten my cutie mark yet. Every other pony my age has gotten theirs.

And, I mean sure, I love doing many things, but I haven’t found just that one thing that would make me, me. Sometimes I think that it’s because I really am not me. Since I was a changeling, maybe I can’t earn a cutie mark. It’s hard to know for sure though, really. As a changeling, I could never experienced my own set of emotions, only feed of of them. But, I no longer feel the need to feast off of emotions, like I once did. And now, I feel them myself. Over this past year, I have felt joy, and happiness whenever I am with my friends, and play with them. Or when I am with my sister, Sweet.

I’ve felt sadness, and sorrow, when a friend moved to Canterlot. When one of my friends hurt himself trying to fly by jumping of the tallest building. two broken legs, and a wing later, and he hasn't dared try again.  I've even felt what love is like.

To changelings, love is the most precious, and sacred, emotion that we can feed off of. It fills us with a complete energy, and makes us thrive better, and stronger. Love is also what showed changelings the importance of sticking out for your own. To say a changeling lacks, or is devoid of all emotion would be false. Sure, we can’t feel emotions on our own, but once we feed on them, we know what it is like, and can imitate them. So while we would never be able to fully contemplate love and what it has to offer, we were able to see it’s importance to pony kind, and in turn the importance to our kind. But I’m getting side tracked.

I’m in love. She is the most amazing, and beautiful filly I have ever laid eyes on. And, sure, this town may be small, but it’s big enough that I don’t see everypony. She had moved to this place a few months ago, but has always lived on the other side of town. But, just one week ago, she moved right next door to me. She has this amazing, long strawberry blonde mane and tail, with cute soft pink highlights. Her fur is also a light pink color. And her eyes are a vibrant pink as well. Her cutie mark, a white heart out line with a white tipped paintbrush in it, represents her talent of art. And, by Celestia, her art is amazing. She often paints right out in the front yard, or in our adjoined backyard.

I know it seems creeperish, but I love watching her paint. Just how focused she gets. She practically glows when she is painting as well. The way she can just grab a paint brush and draw is amazing. She does it all with ease, every single stroke of the brush. “Ink. Stop day dreaming. You're gonna be late on your first day.” I shake my head. My sister is smiling at me in my door frame. “Captivated by your own reflection?” I stick my tongue out at her, and grab my saddle bags, hurry up and out of my room, down the short hall to the living room. “Good bye. See you later.” I call out as I rush out the door. I hear Sweet call out one last “Be safe. And have fun.”

Be safe. The last thing that Sweet says to me is be safe, and here I am, already falling to the ground, face first. I land with a hard thud onto the small stone walkway in front of the house. I sit up, shaking my head hard. “Oh my. I’m so sorry.” I hear a soft voice call from slightly behind me. “I didn’t mean to trip you.” I turn to say it’s ok, and it was my fault for running so fast. But, once I meet eyes with the pony who accidentally tripped me, I am left speechless. “Oh, your mad. Aren't you? Way to go with first impressions, Artsy.” I shake my head, and my hooves. “Oh no. I’m not mad. It was kind of my bad too.” Yep. It’s her. Virtuoso Craft. The filly of my dreams. “Oh hey. You’re that girl that just moved next door. Right?”

I try to play it off as I don’t know her, and it seems to work. She just gives me a big toothy grin, closing her eyes as she nods happily. “Yep! Virtuoso Crafts my name. Artsy works as well. Some ponies even call me Artsy-Craftsy.” After she gives her introduction in one breath, she holds out her hoof to me, almost jabbing it into my chest. I smile and put my hoof to hers. “Ink Blazer is my name. Most ponies just call me Ink.” She gives my hoof a firm shake. “Neat name. Let’s get going then, shall we?”

She smiles even wider. This behavior kind of surprises me. First of all it’s morning, and not even the normal morning ponies would be this excited. She also seemed so shy before. She would never come out to play with me and my friends. We would wave over, but she would just duck down behind the curtains, and we would continue playing. She just always seemed so reserved and quiet, especially when she was painting, but that must be a given. I give her a confused look only for a moment. “Well, are we heading to school, or what?” She asks again a she starts walking. I follow as closely as I can behind her. “Well. . Um, Artsy, how you liking it on this side of town?”

She looks back at me with that seemingly never ending smile on her face. “Oh, it’s amazing over here. Everypony seems so nice. And, it’s got great views. Especially up there.” She quickly points up towards the hill at the end of our street. Well, you know, she could of fooled me. Everypony seems so nice? She like never leaves her house. And when she does, she’s only painting, not interacting with other ponies.  But, I decide not to call her out on it, and continue our conversation. “Yeah, that is a fun place to rest.” We continue walking in a moment of silence before she speaks up again. “Oh! Do you think we will have any of the same classes?” I give a shrug.

It’s hard to tell. Usually, by the time a pony enters middle school, they already have a cutie mark. So, beside the normal classes everypony needs, they can take special classes to help them with their talent. “I dunno. I guess we’ll see.” I say. She gives me a small frown. “Why don’t you know? Don’t you have your schedule.” I blush slightly as I shake my head. “No see. . . Well.” I take a deep breath, and speak again. “I. . I don’t have my cutie mark. So the principal was going to talk to me when school started, and see what kind of classes I might be interested in trying out in my first week or so.”

Her eyes instantly travel to my blank flank, and she gasps slightly. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know. Well, hey! Why don’t you come try out the art class I’m in!” She goes from slightly sad to happy in a millisecond. I give a small nod, and a smile. “Sure. I’ll see if I can.” She glares at me with this teasing, happy, glare. “No. Not see. You will be in there, right?” I let out a sigh, and nod again. “Fine. I will be in there. Happy?” She gives a joyes nod, and skips forward a bit. I speed up to stay close to her. “Though. I’m not that good at art. Like, drawing and stuff.” After a minute of her skipping, she finally slows down. “Neither was I at first. You just need practice. And practice you will get.” She giggles madly as if that were some kind of joke.

“Hey, Ink. If you don’t mind me asking, why don’t you have a cutie mark yet?” By this point, I somewhat expected the teasing to begin. Even my friends tease me about it. I know they don’t mean anything by it, but, it still hurts. I give a shrug. “Just haven’t found what I’m good at yet.” She gives me a half smile. “What? What you’re good at? Well, that’s why you don’t have it yet.”

I give her a confused frown, and before I can ask what she means, she continues. “You can be ‘good’ at many things. Let’s use me as an example. I can sing, I can dance. I can run for hours on end.” Last one was not surprising one bit. “But, what I am best at, is drawing. Sure, I can sing a song, sure I can dance a dance. And sure, i can run a marathon. But, when I draw, my other ‘skills’ pale in complexion.” She has a determined face as she speaks. “So. Tell me Ink. Out of everything you can do, what do you do the best?” I think over for a moment. “Well, I like writing sometimes,  and. . “

I search for something more to say, when a grim voice enters my mind. You are the best at impersonating a life, it would seen. The voice rings out through my head, and my surroundings all fade to black. “What. What’s going on?” I call out through the darkness. “Artsy? Anypony!?” Still, only silence is there. Until that voice returns. See? Look how scared you are. Best impression ever. Just like the old Ink. The voice torments me. It torments me, because I know whose it is. Ah! I’m glad you still seem to recognize my voice. I glare around the endless darkness. “Of course I recognize it! It used to be fill my head all the time.” The voice chuckles. I’m glad. Really. I am. I laugh at that. “Glad? You don’t know what’s it like to be glad  King Genesis.”

The king of my nest. Genesis. Why is he speaking to me now? How can I even hear him? I lost the hive mind a long time ago. “I’ll answer all your questions. After you answer some of mine.” His voice is more clear now. I turn around to view his tall, thin, form emerge from the darkness.His pitch black legs move him forward. His marine green hair falls over his face. He gives his head on quick flick, making all his hair move back to place, resting along his neck. He opens his eyes. They glow with a dark green, and peer right into me. His horn glows it’s black arua, shifting him into his pony form.

I watch as he shrinks down to the average size of a grown stallion. He retains his black form, but his hair shifts into a white color. His horn straightens out into a normal unicorn one, instead of the long spindly one of changelings. His eyes also shift from dark green, to dark blue. “Make this quick Genesis.” He smiles at me fondly. “Please. Refer to your king as such.” I glare at him. “Why? I haven’t been your ‘subject’ since I was kicked out.” He lets out a sigh. “Fine. Have it your way. Disrespectful little one.” He says condescendingly.

“Just hurry this up. I have a life to get back to.” He lets out a long laugh, and then walks up to me, leaning down to come face to face. “Life? You're just a hollow shell of a life. A life that has already ended.” He smirks at me, and I remain silent. “I was surprised when I heard that one of my changelings was kicked out of the nest. I would never give such an order. I hope you realize that.” I glare at him, just letting him speak on. “So, I searched for you. But, I could never find you. Till now.” I frown, and glare harder. “That doesn’t make any sense. How could you not find me! After all the time I spent in those woods. Calling for help. Eventually I was just waiting there calling for death to take me.And you couldn’t hear any of it!?”

He gives me a sad frown. “When you are the King, you can hear every single changeling speaking to you at once. It was nearly impossible for me to hear a weak voice calling for help. I have lost many changelings that way. It’s sad, but it happens.” I keep my glare steady at him. “Then why now? How could you find me now? I’ve lost the hive mind.” He shakes his head. “No, You’ve just lost the ability to hear us, and for us to hear you. But, we can still feel the emotions that flow through you. And, just recently, there has been a spike of love. I personally tracked it down to this village. It took some more time to find which pony was you exactly though.”

“How do you know about the old Ink then? You said I was scared just like him.” He smiles. “I’m the King, little one. It is my ability to know everything about a single pony. It makes it easier to take convince everypony that I am them.” By this point, I’ve heard enough. I want to make it known, but he silenced me with his magic before I could speak out. “Ah ah. still my turn.” He smirks down at me. “Anyways, dear Locum, I must ask you to return to the nest. The emotions you are carrying would be very important to us. We haven’t gotten a source this big in a long, long while.”

“No.” I state out, once I am able to speak freely again. “I’m not a Locum any more. I’m a pegasus pony names Ink Blazer. And, I would like to be left alone.” He closes his eyes, and lets out a long, disappointed sigh. “I was afraid you would say that. Just be warned, our nest has seen better days in the past. But, we are a fading species. I would not like to see the Locum die out during my reign, so, if push comes to shove, I will come back. And next time, you will not have a choice.”

With that, he fades away, and the world returns to me. I see Artsy just sitting there, smiling like always. I stand speechless for a moment. It’s like time hadn’t moved at all. “I don’t know what I’m best at yet. I’m only good at doing things.” She gives a shrug. “I doubt it. You have to be best at something. You just don’t know it yet.” She laughs, and I give a small chuckle as we keep walking. Soon, the peak of the small school house can be seen. “There it is!” She exclaims, and practically sprints the rest of the way, with me following as quickly as I can. Every other pony our age is gathered around outside. I smile, and wave over to a couple of my friends that I see. We all say our quick hellos, and they head off towards their own class.

This happens, slowly. Everypony chattering and talking, before heading towards their respective classes, trying to beat the bell. Though, Artsy is still here. “Why don’t you head to class? Bells gonna ring soon.” She shakes her head. “Nah. I can wait till it rings to leave.” I give her a soft smile. “Thanks.” Soon, the bell does ring though, and she heads off, giving me a happy wave good bye, and a small hug. With a slight blush on my face, I head into the main office doors, and up to the front desk. “Excuse me, Miss. I’m here to see the principal.” The slightly old mare peers over her glances at me, her gray eyes looking into me. “On the first day? You must be some bad trouble maker.”

I shake my head. “No. Nothing like that. See I was told to-” She cuts me off with a short laugh. “I’m only joking. I know who you are. Ink Blazer. I’m the principal. Please, just call me Verity. Miss makes me feel old.” She sticks her tongue out at me, and leads me back towards her office. “Well, enough joking aside, we are in kind of a predicament. Though, one that can easily be solved. These first few weeks of school for you will be strange. We already have you registered in all the required classes. But, that leaves a few open spots. Though you know all that.”

She takes a short breath, shuffling around papers, and gathering her thoughts. “Ah yes, now, during these first few weeks you are going to be swapping through a few different classes. This will happen till you find something that stick with you. If that is ok.” I frown slightly, and give a nod. “Yeah. That sounds great and all. But. . Umm. If it wouldn’t be a bother, could this first week have art classes?” Verity gives me a smile small, and a nod. “Sure. Have you found a liking to art recently? Your sister didn’t mention anything of the sort before.”

I give a short nod. “Yeah. It kind of interests me. Along with sports and stuff like that. I also like writing too.” She smiles, and points back at my wings. “How about flying? Anything flying related.” I shake my head. “No. I can’t fly. Not yet at least.” She gives a small frown again. “What a weird situation you are in. Isn’t it “ I know she meant that to be light hearted, but, it only makes me feel worse. Especially after seeing Genesis. Verity catched on to this, and speaks quickly. “Oh, but that’s not a problem. I’ve seen many late bloomers like you. And, I’ve seen them grow up to do amazing things.”

I give her a small smile to stop any further attempts at making me feel better. Verity shifts through some more papers, and magics things around. Soon, she slides a piece of paper forward. “Here you go. your schedule. Feel free to visit any classes during the ones that are blank. And. . “ She pauses for a moment to sift through more papers. “And this will show you where you can go, and when you can go there.” It’s a small map of the school, with a list of times and stuff on it. . Well, at least this school is prepared. I give her another smile and good bye. She hands me a note before i leave, telling me to give it to my first period teacher.

I give a curt nod, and walk down the hall, heading towards my first class of the day, History of Equestria. I stand at the door, silently. I hear the teacher rambling on and on. Something about it being the first week and so. What to expect from the class. Ect. All that normal stuff. I slide the door open slowly, and the teacher peers over at me. “Ah. And as usual, the first day late student.” I frown at him, and pass him the note. He reads it over. “Oh, my apologies. Go take a seat over there. Any open one will work” He points over towards the back of the room. Everypony in this room is a stranger to me, save for one.

Artsy is sitting there, trying to contain a large smile. I smile and walk back, taking the fortunately empty seat by her. We have no time for talk though, because the teacher continues on with his first day lecture about school and stuff. “Anyways. Since this is the first week, I will not be giving out any home work. but, we will be starting lesson one. About the Discordian Era.” The class lets out a synchronise groan of displeasure. “Now now. I’m sure you all will find this lesson to be interesting. Just you wait.”

And with that, he starts his lesson. First he passes out a textbook to each of us. “This is your text book, I would prefer for it to stay in class, but if you need to bring it home you can.”  The text book looks relatively new. At the elementary school, all the books we had were old, dilapidated, and practically falling apart. I mean, sure, we had some newer and nicer books, but the majority of them were bad. Anyways, we all open up to the first chapter of the textbook.

After the hour of class, everypony pours out into the small hallways of the school. Me and Artsy stand off to the side, and compare our schedule. “So we only got two real classes together.” I say pointing at our first period history class, and our fourth period gym class. “Yeah. Plus the art class you will be attending. Which means three. And then lunch as well.” She adds in ecstatically. I give a nod, and hear a call from behind me. I see my best friend, Blitz, running up. Blitz has been my friend for as long as I can remember. Ever since we were born. He has dark green fur. His mane and tail consists of a lighter green color. Both of which are dyed with neon yellow strips. His flank has a lightning bolt on it, half colored in that neon yellow, while the other half is in the green color. He also is a pegasus, and the tips of his wings are died the same neon yellow color. Kind of an eye sore, if you ask me. But it grows on you.

“Hey. Blitz, I thought I would never see you here.” He holds out his hoof, and I hit mine against his, and give a big smile. “Yeah. I thought I would miss your blank flank all day.” He sticks out his tongue, and I give him a soft punch into his leg. “Oh! Yeah, Blitz, this is Artsy, the new girl on this side of town.” He smiles at her. “Hey there. It’s good to finally meet the elusive filly on the block.” She gives a sheepish smile. I notice that she is trying to stay behind me, and out of his sight. What a weird filly. Around me, she seems so happy, and energetic. But the moment another pony tried to talk to her, she shrinks back into an invisible shell. Trying to hide. “Well. It was good talking to you Blitz. Class is going to start soon though, so see ya at lynch.” He gives me another high-hoof, and heads away.

“What’s the matter? Shy?” I ask Artsy teasingly. “No. Well. Yes, but no. It’s hard to explain.” There she goes, talking like it is no problem again. “It’s ok. Explain later if you want. See you third period.” Third period is when our art class will be. For now, I need to head off to my second period. Math. I like math about as much as the next pony, but I ain't bad at it. I actually pick up on it quite easily. But, I still don’t like it that much. I get into class, and I spot a couple close friends of mine. I wave at them, and take a seat close by. “Hey guys.” I say. They all say their hellos and stuff. “God, can’t wait for this day to end.” Spinner says. “Yeah. Me too. How about we all head to Crisp & Cream’s after school? We all haven’t been there in forever.” Says Spiral.

We chat idely till class begins. We settle in our seats as the teacher goes over what the class will be like. Just the usual first day stuff still. After the hour, which seems to have taken forever, finally passes I rush out of the room. I wave a quick goodbye to my friends, and heads towards the back of the school. I finally reach the art room door. I step inside, and not to my surprise, Artsy is already there, sitting right in the middle of the room. The only other pony in the room is the teacher. “Oh, why hello there. What a surprise to see you.” And, to my surprise, the teacher of this class is Verity. “I though you were the principal?” I say. She laughs, and smiles “Why yes. I happen to be the art teacher too.” She gives me a smile. “Go on and take a seat.”

With her words, I work my way through the small desks, and sit by Artsy. “Hey there. Having a fun day so far?” I ask to her. She smiles and nods. “Mmhmm. One of the best days ever!” How can somepony be so enthusiastic about school? I mean, I’m having an ok time so far. It’s just boring old school. I get to see all my friends more often now, so thats a plus side. And, how can a filly that seems so shy around anypony else be so happy about school? “Oh, hey. Artsy?” She gives me an inquisitive look. “Yeah?” I give a smile. I hope she says yes. “Would you like to come to Crisp & Cream’s with me and some of my friends? We are planning on heading there after class.”

Some ponies start filling into the room slowly as the start of class draws near. She gives me a small frown, and a look of unsureness. “Well, sure. That sounds like fun. But. . “ She shrinks back in her seat, giving me a more unsure look. “Hey. It’s ok if you don’t want to. I just thought it would be nice if you went with us.” She shakes her head again. “No! It’s not that I don’t want to go, it’s just. . “ She gets cut off as the bell rings, and Verity immediately starts speaking. “OK everypony. Settle down now. It’s time for class to start.” She speaks in a soft tone. And I whisper over to Artsy. “Talk to me during lunch.” She nods, and we settle into our seats.

“Now, you all have probably gotten the same lecture two other times. So, I’m not going to bore you with that. Just make sure you get this syllabus signed by your parents or guardian.” She passes out the class syllabus, which students instantly shuffle into their saddle bags. “You are all here because you are all interested in art, right?” Verity asks the simple question. She is met with some cough, a couple nods, and a few, light, yeahs. She smiles. “Well, art is a very general term. I won’t restrict you to one kind of art in this class. If you want to sculpt, go ahead. If you want to paint, be my guest. But, I won’t tolerate slackers. So, if you want to be in this class, then you must do work.”

She gets more nods from the class. “Well. I haven’t prepared much of a lesson plan today, so let’s just have a free day. You can find all the art supplies you need around the room. Just do not get into any drawer marked with ‘do not open.’ That usually has the more dangerous supplies in them, and I don’t want you young ones hurting yourselves. . Or others.” With that, she claps her hooves, and the students shuffle around the room. Artsy reaches into her bag, and pulls out her own sketch book, and some pencils. “Hey, how about we sketch each other.”  I give a nervous nod, and a sheepish smile.

“Uh, sure. You can do me first, ok?” I hear a student behind me giggle at that. I blush slightly after thinking about what I said, but Artsy seems oblivious. “Ok!” She flips open her sketch book. It looks pretty new, but there are already a few sketches in it. Some of small birds that scatter this area. Some of a couple rooms, probably inside her house. One sketch of the view from the hill. And, a sketch of. . Well, I couldn't quite see that one, it went by too quickly, but it looked like a pony. She stares at me for a moment, putting her hoof to her chin. “Yeah, sit there like that, But. . . .Hmm. Look out that window, don’t stare too hard, just kind of look naturally.”

I do as she says and slowly start turning towards the window. Though as I turn my head, I keep my eyes on her, which seems to upset her slightly. “No, don’t keep looking at me, look at the window.” I avert my eyes to the window, and try to be natural. “Perfect.” She says. I keep my position, and I start to hear the small scritch scratch of her pencils against the canvas paper of the sketch book. After only a few minutes, I hear the pencil stop. “Hmm.” She says. I go to turn but she instantly stops me. “Don’t move yet!” I comply, staying in position. I hear the pencil start moving again, and then stop.

“OK, it’s done. You can move.” I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, and walk over. I take a look at the sketch. It’s amazing, really. In perfect pencil lines is my face and mane. She even went into more detail, shadowing in how the light was when I was standing there. She is very talented. Very, very talented. Verity walks over, and smiles. “That’s nice. Keep up the good work, Virtuoso.” Artsy nods, with a smile. “Thanks. Now, my turn.” She hops away, and sits where I was. “You can use my sketch book. The very back. OK?” I nod, and take it, flipping to the very last page.

“Don’t expect anything good.” I warn as I grab a pencil into my mouth. I stand there, staring between her and the paper. Soon, I just find myself looking at her. Seeing how the light reflects of her blonde mane. So, I just start drawing. Or sketching I should say. I don’t pay much attention to what I am working with on the paper, most of my attention is drawn to her, almost as if she's glowing. And the way she seems so composed while sitting there. After a couple minutes, I stop and look down. In almost the exact same way she had sketched out me, I had sketched out her.

I’ve never had much experience with art at all. If I didn’t know any better, I would say this was drawn by somepony else. But what really catches my attention about this drawing, is I drew her with a frown. She was smiling the entire time, but I drew a frown. “Well .It’s done. . I guess.” She smiles and hops over. She looks at it and tilts her head to the side. “You sure you ain’t good at this?” We both laugh, and Verity comes over. “Oh, wow. Amazing work Ink. It seems you might have a permanent spot in this class.” I smile, and glance down towards my flank. Still nothing. Gotta keep trying. “Well, everypony.” Verity starts. “All of you seem to be doing good work. I’ll let you all head to lunch early.” And with that, Artsy packs up her sketch book, and we leave to the cafeteria.