A Changeling That Changed

Merrick sat at the long table with his six new friends all around him, and with Princess Celestia directly across from him. The table was covered in food, not enough to be called a feast, but just enough for six hungry ponies, most of whom had ravenous appetites. Pinkie Pie seemed to run on pure sugar, sunshine, and happiness. Rainbow Dash had the appetite you'd expect of a jock, which honestly made sense, given that she was, indeed, a jock. And of course Applejack ate as much as you'd expect a country farm pony would. The food seemed to be enough however, and everypony was able to eat as they pleased as the Princess had ensured her favorite ponies would enjoy their time in Canterlot.

Merrick looked around the table at his six companions, all eating, talking, and generally having a good time.

He himself however did not feel very jocular.

Normally Merrick would have loved to join in the merriment, joining conversation and telling jokes, playing fun little table games, and particular being fond of storytelling as being a Changeling he had plenty of interesting stories to share.

This night however he sat in his seat uncomfortably, trying to figure out what he had been feeling. The waves and sudden pangs of weird mixes of emotions, as if they were running wild. He sat at the edge of the table, trying his best to ignore it, but such a feat no matter how simple seemed too hard for the poor little Changeling, and he soon found himself squirming in his chair from what can only be described as an emotional overload.

It was as if his newfound emotion of love was setting all of his other normal emotions out of whack, like it was taking up space inside of his mind and causing the other emotions to slosh around. He thought of it as putting ice cubes into a full glass of water, and watching it flow over the top.

The whole thing was extremely confusing for him, and he sat at the table squirming around ever so slightly as he looked around at his companions. Every time his gaze would fall upon one of them, he would start to get hot and flushed, excited, his heart beating in a little pitter-patter, and he felt... he felt like he was in love with them.

He knew this wasn't right, knew something was wrong. He had no emotions for any of the ponies either way, save for perhaps one, and even than he didn't seem to be attracted to her to the point of love. He hastily looked around the room, sweating profusely and suddenly seeming to be quite tired and sick. Everything seemed to slow down as he looked around, and he kept feeling worse until eventually deciding he needed to leave. He couldn't sit at the table any longer, couldn't handle the emotions running rampant, it was almost like torture to him.

"I-I need to go!" He called out quickly, causing the talking to stop.

There was silence as all eyes fell on him, worried looks from his friends, as they all turned to him.

All of their eyes on him, and he couldn't even handle returning the contact without feeling even more sick, without feeling the emotional overload intensify. He started to shake ever so slightly, and his face was beginning to turn red.

"Is something wrong Merrick?" Twilight asked obviously concern in her voice.

"Oh my, he's shaking." Fluttershy said softly. "You don't look very well. Is everything okay?"

"N-no no things are fine!" He said, louder and more awkwardly than he would have liked. "J-just tired is all! I-I'd like to head to my room if that's okay with the Princess."

Celestia looked at him with compassion.

"It is fine if you are uncomfortable or nervous to be around me." She said in a calming voice. "It is also okay if you are feeling sick in general and would like to leave. I will not hold you here against your will, and I have things that need to be discussed with your six friends in private if that is alright. I will have someone escort you to where you will be staying.

Merrick tried to think of what to say in response. He had to remain dignified in front of the Princess, and he wanted to respect you.

"T-thank you!" He yelled as he stood up and speedily dashed out of the room in an awkward and uncomfortable manner.

"Suave as always Merrick." He thought to himself as he hurried towards the guard who would be escorting him.

Merrick was please to see that it was the guard pony from before, the one who had stopped the others bullying, Shocking Sapphire.

"Hey little guy!" He said with a smile, in a manner similar to an older brother lovingly referring to his younger one. "Ready to head to your room?"

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"I'm glad you six are here." Celestia said to the table that held the mane six. "I need to discuss your friend Merrick, and I need to inform you the basic details of why I need his assistance. I may not be for several months until I will need him, but I would like you to know that my sister and I will need him soon."

"First of all, I am quite aware I can trust him. At least mostly." She began.

"How do you know that Princess?" Twilight asked. "I feel as though my word isn't enough for you to trust him with something that sounds rather important."

"Because he has already passed a test of mine." The Princess stated. "When I hugged him do you think it was merely to show comfort to him, or do you think it was to perhaps see if he would attempt to steal the love resonating from my show of affection? Do you think that perhaps it was to test him as well as comfort?"

There was silence for a moment as the cleverness of the Princess dawned upon the six ponies. She had subtly been able to test his "loyalty" so to say, to see if he was truly not some form of Changeling spy. A test to see if he did indeed like Equestria and its ruler."

"The stunned silence shows that I have gotten my point across." She said after giggling slightly. "Yes, he does seem to be loyal to Equestria. I have Princess Cadence coming for a visit as an extra test as well. The Princess who represents love meeting with a Changeling will surely show if he can be trusted for a mission of sorts."

"Now for the mission itself..." She began, and the other six ponies gathered around in excitement to listen to what form of quest their buggy companion would be embarking on in the future.