Chapters The start of something new
In a secluded part of the Everfree forest a changeling is standing in front of his Queen while she sits on her throne looking down upon him. "So you didn't kill them?" She asks.
"No! We don't need to just kill any ponies that we come across." Deceit replied.
"They almost found our hive and then we would need to find a new place to live!" The Queen said angrily.
"But there are better ways to get them to go away then killing them, like using an illusion. It worked for me." Deceit replied.
"If we just used illusions to get ponies to leave, then we would be wasting our magic. Killing them is much easier and faster." She said so nonchalantly that it made Deceit sick.
"You're so cold hearted!" Deceit said with a snarl.
"Yeah, I've heard that a few times." The Queen said with a small grin.
Deceit gave a low growl and said, "You're even worse than Queen Chrysalis!"
Suddenly the Queen became very angry and yelled, "I am nothing like that Queen! She may have been desperate, but she was also stupid. No one should try to take over a whole city, and definitely not Canterlot! That’s it, for disobeying orders and insulting your Queen you are banished from this hive for life!”
“You can’t just banish me like that!” Deceit protested.
“Yes I can. In case you already forgot I’m the Queen, and I can banish you because you broke the law and even had the nerve to insult me to my face.” She replied.
Suddenly two guards walked from the Queens thrown over to Deceit and grabbed him. They started charging up their horns to teleport, but before the three of them left Deceit said, “You are such scum.” The next thing he knows Deceit is at the edge of the Everfree forest with the two guards still next to him.
“I know that some orders may not seem like the right thing to do, but you got to follow them,” One of the guards said, “At least now you won’t have to follow orders anymore. Good luck.” And as soon as he said that the guards left.
“Well… crap. How is it that I always get into trouble?” Deceit asked himself, “So then, I guess I might as well try to find shelter… but where am I? I know this is the edge of the forest, but I’ve never gone out this far before. I’ll just start walking and hope for the best.” He then started walking around the edge of the forest but not far out enough to be clearly seen. As he walked by he heard noises from in the forest, but didn’t think too much on it.
After nearly an hour of walking, with a few breaks, he found a small abandoned cave near what looked like a small village. Deceit set up a small fire pit once he noticed how dark it was getting. ‘I’m going to need to get some emotions from that town or I’m going to starve to death.’ Soon after his fire pit was complete with dry leafs and sticks from nearby he lit it with his horn. As the fire spread from leaf to leaf and stick to stick the little cave got warmer and warmer. Deceit lied down on the hard ground and slowly fell asleep.
The next morning he awoke with a start from remembering his dream. Celestia was riding a dinosaur and throwing bananas at him. ‘Ok, I hope I never have that dream again. That was just weird.’ Deceit thought to himself. He got off of the ground and stretched. As he looked around he remembered the extinguished fire pit he made. ‘I guess I’m not too rusty when it comes to survival, but I still need to eat.’
As he made his way out of the cave he noticed that some ponies were coming out of their homes to do various things. Even though the town wasn’t very close to the Everfree forest Deceit had very good eyesight and could faintly see the ponies in the distance. He decided to watch them for a while, so he got closer to the edge of the forest and flew to a high up tree branch with his bug-like wings. As he was scanning the area, he noticed a sign that he missed before that said, ‘Welcome to Ponyville. Enjoy your stay. ’
‘So this place is called Ponyville? Why does that sound so familiar? Whatever, this looks like a town where everypony would know each other and how they act. I can’t wait and observe them or I’ll starve, but I can’t go anywhere else because I’m too weak. Why am I always in trouble?’ He then facehooved and let out a sigh.
‘Let’s see, what are my options? I can just wing it and hope for the best, or I could try to find someplace else that’s in walking distance. Or… I could try to make my own pony. No, that would never work… Or would it?’ He was now so lost in thought that he was pacing back and forth on the branch. ‘I could choose a fur color and mane color, get a name and a cutie mark and then I’m done. This might work, it might really work!’
Deceit was so excited that he started to jump up and down shaking the branch so much that it broke. Deceit heard a large crack and then fell all the way back down to the ground with a big thud. “Ow…” He mumbled face first into the ground, “Maybe I should come up with my plans on the ground.”
Deceit soon got his aching body up and limped back to his cave. Once he arrived he sat against the wall and rested while thinking up the rest of his plan. ‘Alright, well my name can be… well why not have it be my real name? What should my cutie mark be? Oh, it should be some type of mask. And lastly, I need my fur colors. Um… how about something simple? Maybe orange with grey hair? Oh, I know! Or maybe a faint light blue with dark grey hair. Yeah that’s the one. I guess I have nothing left to lose, and who knows, maybe this will work.’ Once he figured out what he should try to change into he decided to rest for a while. Later he could go find a pond or something to practice how he looked, but for now he needs to conserve his strength.
Later on in the day when everypony is out and about, Deceit walks a little ways into the forest to find a small pond. As he sits in front of it he tries to think of exactly how he wants to look. ‘Faint light blue fur with a dark grey mane.’ He thought. As he stares into the pond he tries to change, and sees the green glow of his fire changing him. Once it finishes he looks back to the water to see his reflection. Lucky for him he did it the first try. It was lucky because Deceit is still young, though not a kid, and hasn’t needed to change very often. Because of that he doesn’t have much practice to perfect it.
As Deceit stared down into the small pond he notices something he missed, the cutie mark. ‘Crap what did I decide on again? Oh right, some type of mask. I’ll just put one of those stage masks. And one other thing I didn’t decide on was my eye color. Well, how about bright red. Even if it’s uncommon it will still get a few funny looks. And for the last thing I should be a Pegasus, because I’ve always loved flying.’ Once he decided on his finishing touches, Deceit tried to change again and was successful. He was now disguised as a light blue Pegasus with a short scruffy grey mane, bright red eyes and a mask for a cutie mark.
“Hey, I didn’t do too badly. But will it be enough to fool the ponies?” Deceit thought out loud, “Well, let’s hope it works otherwise I’ll probably be starved within a day.” He was now walking back to his cave when suddenly he heard a scream in the distance. “Crap…” He said quietly. He then ran as fast as he could towards the scream to try to help whoever was in trouble. Deceit bust through a large bush and got a couple of little cuts from it. He then looked at the scene in front of him and was surprised at what he saw.
There was a pack of Timber wolves surrounding a purple unicorn mare that was caught in some vines. She was using some magic to keep the wolves back but was looking like she was getting tired quickly. The pack was made up of four wolves, and one of them spotted him. It growled and caught the attention of the other three. They were now all growling at him and the mare that was tangled up was surprised. Deceit got into a fighting stance and crept towards the wolves while also giving his own little growl.
The wolves started walking forward too, but when one was about to pounce it got a whiff of Deceit’s changeling form and backed up instead. This confused everyone present, but then Deceit remembered that changelings give off a predator like smell. It can only be picked up by animals with very good noses like other predators to let them know to back off.
The wolves could all smell it now and slowly backed away into the forest while growling. Once Deceit made sure they were gone, he untangled the mare. Now that he got a good look at her he noticed that she seemed familiar, just like the name of the town. The mare was a violet color with a dark purple mane and had a pink stripe going through it. Now that she was untangled she stood there shocked at what just happened. She then fell over unconscious… “Um, what? Did… Did she just… Whatever, I should get her out of here.” Deceit said to himself. He then picked her up onto his back and carried her to his cave.
“Ok, I can wait here until she wakes up and then I can find out why she was out there,” Deceit mumbled to himself, “I should check the area and make sure that those wolves didn’t follow us.” He walked out of his cave and looked around, checking for the wolves. After doing a few laps around the area he decided they were safe.
Deceit thought to himself and decided to rest until the mare awakens. As he sat there he felt a breeze blow through and make the cave cold. He then got back up and tried to find more kindling to start up a small fire. Deceit walked around picking up sticks and bringing them back to his fire pit in the cave. Once he had enough kindling he quickly dropped his disguise to lite the fire with his horn, and then disguised himself again.
As the fire slowly started up he gently brought the mare next to the fire, but not close enough to burn her. Slowly as the day went on and it got a bit darker out, Deceit kept the fire going and also found some flowers and a couple of apples for the mare when she wakes up. The unicorn was now tossing around and slowly opened her eyes to see the cave they were in. As her mind was processing that she was in a cave with a stranger, Deceit was just sitting there quietly waiting for her to do something. Then as the mares mind clicked her eyes popped open and she backed up against the wall.
“Whoa, are you alright?” Deceit asks her, “You’ve been unconscious for quite a while.”
“Who are you, where am I and why am I here?!” She franticly said.
“I’m Deceit, you’re in my home and you’re here because I didn’t want to leave you in the forest unconscious,” Deceit replies
without missing a beat, “So, my turn, why were you in the forest? And what’s your name?”
“Um, I’m Twilight Sparkle. I was out here because I was looking for some special really rare flower for my friend. Hey, wait a second. Did you say this cave is your home?” Twilight asks a lot calmer.
“Yeah, I found this cave and have been living in it since yesterday.”
“You do know that a town is right next to here right?” Twilight said skeptically.
“I know that, I just never got a chance to walk in and say hello to everypony. Wait, didn’t you say you were looking for some type of rare flower?” Deceit asks.
“Um, yeah why?” She said confusedly.
“Well, it wouldn’t happen to be any of these flowers would it?” Deceit says while holding up the flowers he picked. There were some normal ones like roses and daisies but a few of the flowers looked quite odd. One was a light purple and looked like a noodle, another was green with a yellow swirl going all around the petals until it reached the middle.
“That green one is it! How did you find that?” Twilight questions.
“Oh, I was just picking flowers and apples from nearby incase you felt hungry when you woke up."
“Wait a second, Zecora must be so worried about me! I never made it back to her hut with the flower and she must think something!” Twilight said franticly.
“Well, something did happen.”
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t you remember? You were being attacked by Timber wolves and you were tangled up in some vines.” Deceit said nonchalantly.
“Oh my goodness, you’re right. But the last thing I remember was you showing up.”
Deceit then walks over to Twilight and says, “Well why don’t we go find your friend and let them know that you’re alright.”
She gives him a smile and replies, “Sure, but you should come and sleep in my guest room instead of this cave.”
“Well, alright then. This cave did its job but a bed would be comfier.” Deceit agrees.
They then grabbed the flowers and apples, put out the fire and left the cave. ‘Why do I feel kind of better? Is she giving me some type of emotion? It’s so subtle that I didn’t feel it until I looked for it, but it still helps. This may work out better than I thought it would. If I just keep getting friends then they can feed me with care and happiness.’
“Deceit, hello? Are you ok?” Twilight said with some worry.
“Huh, oh, yeah I’m alright. Sorry I was just lost in my thoughts.” Deceit apologized.
“Well we’re already at Zecora’s house. Just hold on for a moment out here.” Twilight said. She then walked up to the door and knocked. A zebra walked out and looked very relieved to see that Twilight was alright. They started talking but Deceit couldn’t hear and instead rested by leaning against a nearby tree. Soon they finished talking and twilight walked back to Deceit.
“Hey, we can go now.”
“Alright, I hope we get back soon, I’m getting tired.” He said groggily.
“Fine, just follow me.” Twilight said with a small laugh. They then walked a path all the way back to town where a small group of ponies were looking around franticly until they saw Twilight. As soon as they saw her they all ran straight to her and started bombarding her with questions.
“What happened to you?!”
“You were missing for a few hours!”
“Who’s that guy?”
They finally noticed Deceit standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face. “Um, I’m guessing they’re friends of yours?” He asks Twilight.
“Um, maybe you should all meet each other. This is Deceit, and he saved me from a pack of Timber wolves,” She said, “And these are my friends, Rainbow dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.” Twilight points to each pony as she says their name.
“Did you say that you were attacked by Timberwolves?!” Rarity says franticly, “Did you get hurt? How did you get away?”
“Well, Deceit here came and helped me, because I was… um, tangled in some vines.” She says with a blush.
“This guy saved you? He doesn’t look very strong. I bet I could take him easily.” Rainbow dash said confidently.
“Hey, I don’t have to be strong to get some wolves to leave. Besides I brought her back to my home for the past few hours because she was unconscious.” Deceit replies.
“At least you two are ok now,” Rarity says, “But why was Twilight unconscious?”
“I think I can answer that,” Twilight says, “I think I was knocked out because I used too much magic trying to defend against the wolves and then I fainted from overuse.”
“Hey, I don't mean to be rude, but can we go now?” Deceit says with a yawn, “I’m really tired.”
“Oh, yes. Sorry girls, but we need to go. We can talk all about it tomorrow though.” Twilight said to the group of mares. They all said their goodbyes and split up to return to their own homes. “Let’s get you back to my house.”
Twilight and Deceit walked down a few streets and after awhile reached her home, which was a library too. Deceit would be surprised if he wasn’t so tired. They walked inside and went up the steps to the bedrooms. “Ok, so your room is at the end of that hall and my room is right here. Just knock if you need anything.”
“Ok, thanks again twilight.” Deceit groggily replies. After twilight walks into her room, Deceit walks into his room to see a cozy inviting bed just for him. As he flops down onto the bed, he feels like there was something important he was forgetting but was too tired to care and fell asleep within seconds.
The next morning Deceit awoke to find that his disguise had become undone in his sleep. He quickly bolted up and ran to a mirror in the bathroom. He changed back into his disguise and checked everywhere on the mirror to see if he missed anything. After checking everything, Deceit decided to see if anyone had saw him like that. He walked out of his new room to find an amazing scent coming from the kitchen, and just the scent alone made his belly grumble. 'Even though I don't need physical food, it still taste great'
"Huh, Deceit is that you?" Twilight said as she stepped out of the kitchen, "Oh, so you're up. I was just about to let you know that breakfast is almost done."
Deceit walked down the staircase and walked into the kitchen to find a small lizard looking fellow wearing an apron and cooking pancakes, "Hi, who are you?"
"You must be the guy living in the guest room now, huh? Well, my name Spike and I'm Twilight's number one assistant," Spike said with a proud smile, "Twilight was just telling me about you."
"Really? Well, what did she say?" Deceit said intrigued.
"Well, she said that she was in trouble with some Timber wolves and you showed up to help her, and then you watched her for a few hours because she was unconscious."
"Yep, that sounds like what happened," Deceit said with a laugh, "So did you make all these pancakes by yourself?"
"Yes I did, and they should be done now. Just take a seat and I'll serve you some." Spike said.
Deceit then sat down at the table where Twilight was patiently waiting. 'What was it that I was forgetting last night? Wait, I think I'm remembering why this was all so familiar... Oh, crap. Those were the Elements of Harmony, and if they find out what I am then they might turn me to stone, or banish me somewhere, or worse!'
Deceit was now getting kind of nervous and was slightly sweating.'This is bad, this is very bad! I don't want to be a statue, or be stuck in some unknown place for who knows how long! Ok, I got to calm down. If I just suddenly leave than they might get suspicious and try to find me, and I might not find a different town in time to feed.'
He was now just staring off into space and Twilight was getting worried. "Um, Deceit... are you ok?"
'Maybe if I just stick to my plan and try to be my own pony, than I could make it through this alive.'
"Deceit? Can you hear me? Deceit!" Twilight exclaimed.
"What? Huh? What happened?" He said while looking around the room in confusion.
"You've just been staring at a wall for like five minutes without moving. Are you ok?" Twilight said with concern.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just lost in thought for a bit there." Deceit apologized.
"Ok, well if you're sure that you're alright then let's start eating," Twilight said a bit more relieved, "Your pancakes are probably still warm and the syrup is right here if you need it." She pointed to a syrup bottle in the middle of the table and then started eating.
"Thank you Spike for making these, and thank you Twilight for letting me stay here."
"You're welcome." they said simultaneously.
Deceit then started on his pancakes and after the first bite he started scarfing them down. Twilight and Spike looked at him oddly for a moment before shrugging it off and continuing with their breakfast. Deceit finished his food a few minutes before the others and waited for them to finish. After everyone was done with their pancakes, Deceit washed all the dishes as a thank you.
"Hey Twilight, I'm going to walk around town and see the sights." Deceit said.
"Oh, well if you're going out then do you think you could buy a few groceries? I'll give you enough bits for what you need, and whatever is left you can keep."
"Ok, but could you tell me where the market is?"
"Of course, just go left after you're out the door and then walk strait for a bit and you'll see the places you'll need. Here, I wrote a list of what I need." Twilight says as she uses her magic to float a small list, a bag of bits and a saddlebag to Deceit.
"See you soon."
Deceit walked outside and started walking left, but decided to look at the list while he walks. 'Ok, I need some carrots, apples, quills and ink. Seems simple enough.' He thought. He walked for almost ten minutes before coming across 'Quills and Sofas' . "But, why would... nevermind." Deceit mumbled. He walked inside to see just what the sign says: quills and sofas everywhere.
"Hello there sir, would you like to buy something?" The employee behind the register said.
"Yes, I would like some quills please." Deceit replied.
"How many you want?"
"Five should be fine." Deceit started to grab some bits out of a small sack that twilight gave him.
"That will be ten bits." The cashier said as he held the quills in his hoof.
"Here you go. Oh and while I'm here do you happen to have ink as well?"
"Yes I do, how much do you want?"
"Just three should be fine."
"Well then that's another nine bits." The cashier said while grabbing the ink.
"Thank you." Deceit said as he handed over the bits. As he left the store he rechecked his list to see that next and saw that carrots and apples were left. He walked down the road some more to see a little carrot stand with a sign saying 'one bit for one carrot' . He walked up to the mare running the stand and said, "Can I have four carrots please?"
"Of course you can, that will be four bits." She replied.
"Here, and thanks." Deceit said as he put the carrots in the bag. 'The ponies here seem pretty nice. Maybe I can try to fit in here. it would be nice and I would never go hungry.' As Deceit came back out of his thoughts he realized that if he kept walking for any longer than he would have walked right into a stand. Lucky for him it was an apple stand, but not so lucky was the fact that the mare running it was the element of honesty.
"Well howdy there mister. Aren't you that pony that helped twi out?" She said with a bit of a southern accent.
Deceit started to get nervous again.'If she's the element of honesty then can she tell when someone is lying? This may be the end of me.' "Actually yes I am, and I came here to see if I could get some apples."
"Well of course you can, they're one bit per apple. How many you want?" She asked.
"How about six?"
"Sounds good ta me," As she grabbed the apples she started up a conversation, "I'm Applejack. So what's yer name?"
"My name is Deceit, and it's nice to meet you Applejack." He replied.
"Well it's nice ta meet you too, sugercube," Applejack put all the apples in front of deceit and gladly accepted his money, "Ya know, I can't quite put my hoof on it but something seems off about you."
'Oh crap, it's true! I am so going to die! Deceit thought franticly and had his pupils dilate a little.
"Sorry, I didn't mean that to be rude or anything. It's probably just me feeling grateful for you helping Twilight yesterday. See ya."
"Yeah, see you later" Deceit said as he left. 'These ponies are going to be the end of me and I know it, but I have been feeling a lot more full lately. Let's hope I can make it through this without losing my head.' He started walking back to the library because it was getting dark out, but he needed to ask a pony which direction it was in. Once he returned he put the food in the fridge and put the ink and quills in front of Twilights room.
"Ok, so, what to do now? Well I am in a library... I wonder if there are any comic books?"
"Did you say you're looking for comic books?" Spike asked, "I have a collection of them, just follow me."
"Um, ok." Deceit replied with a little smile. They walked up the stairs leading to the bedrooms and Spike brought them into Twilight's room to show off his comic books. They then just read comics throughout the day and then the night. Eventually they both fell asleep on the floor.
Twilight walks into the room a little while later to find the two guys sleeping on the floor, and gets a smile out of it, "You guys are such dorks."
Deceit had awoken with an aching back from sleeping on the ground. He regrets doing that, but at least he had some childish fun with Spike. He was currently walking outside enjoying the view of the small town, and has even had a few short conversations with the ponies that have passed by him. They mostly noticed that he was new in town and welcomed him, but one odd Pegasus mare looked like she was searching for something.
"Excuse me, is everything alright?" He asks.
"No, I lost a package." She replies.
"Well, I can help you look for it."
"Really? Thank you!" She then pounces on him and knocks him to the ground. The mare was a greyish color, with a short blond mane, and now that Deceit could see her up close, he could see that she was a bit walleyed.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you ok?" She franticly asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," He replied, with his back hurting even more then earlier, "I just hurt my back is all."
"Oh, I'm sorry... hey, are you new in town?"
"Yes, I am. My name is Deceit, What's yours?" He asked while getting off the ground.
"Oh, well my name is Ditzy, but most ponies just call me Derpy."
"Well why would anyone call you that?"
She gets a look of pure confusion on her face, "Have you seen my eyes? They're not exactly hard to miss."
"Yes I have, and let me say that they are very pretty."
Ditzy started to get a small blush, "R-Really? Nopony has ever said that to me before."
"Well, you're welcome, but isn't there a package we should be looking for?" Deceit says to get back on topic.
"Oh, of course," She said as her blush went away, "We should hurry though, because I'm actually the mail mare around here, and that package was my last delivery."
"Well why didn't you say so?" Deceit questioned, "Where was the last place you remember having it?"
"Um... the last place I remember having it would be somewhere near the town hall. I was delivering the mayor some mail and that package was my last delivery."
"Well then let's go." Deceit replies and starts walking in a random direction.
"But... town hall is this way." Ditzy said awkwardly as she pointed the opposite way.
"Oh..."
They then walked for a bit while talking here and there, but they also made sure to keep a fast pace. The two arrived at the town hall and Ditzy went to look for the package inside. Deceit decided to check the area outside of the building incase it had fallen out of her bag as she was making her way to the next house. After checking all around the building a few times He finally gave up and went to see if Ditzy had found it yet. As he entered he noticed that she was chatting with another pony behind a desk. The pony she was chatting with was a light brown with a light grey mane.
"Hey Ditzy, did you find it?" He asked.
"Huh, oh! Yeah, I found it." She replied.
"Well, why didn't you let me know? I was circling the building for the past ten minutes looking for it," He replied back with a laugh, "I probably looked like a loon out there."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Mayor Mare here had found it and put it away incase I came back. After she gave it to me, we just started talking to each other." Ditzy said with a small frown.
"Don't worry about it," Deceit said to make her feel better, "I bet I looked pretty funny out there."
"Wait a second, I don't believe I've met you yet," Mayor Mare said, "Are you new in town?"
"Well, yeah. I'm surprised you haven't heard about me yet," He replied, "I've been meeting a lot of very nice ponies, and a while ago I helped Twilight out with some Timber wolves."
"Oh my goodness, well did either of you get hurt?" The mayor said genuinely concerned.
"No, Twilight was unconscious for a bit from exhaustion, but neither of us got hurt."
"Wow, I didn't know you did that," Ditzy said in astonishment, "Look, it was really nice meeting you, but I'm gonna have to go deliver this now. I can't afford any more screw ups."
"See you later, Ditzy," Deceit waved as she left through the front door and a moment later Mayor Mare started looking like she was in deep thought, "Is everything alright?"
"Well, If you haven't come in here to get a house, then where have you been staying?" She asked.
"At first I was living in a cave next to town for a day, then after helping Twilight out she offered her guest room to me." He replied nonchalantly.
"Why haven't you bought a house yet?" She pondered, "You can right now if you want."
"Well I don't have any bits to buy one with, and I don't have a job yet."
"Well, let me know when you get a job and I'll give you a discount on a house." She said with a smile.
"I should probably get going now then, have a nice day."
And with that, Deceit left to see if Ditzy delivered that package yet. She sounded like this had happened before, and that she might be in trouble if she doesn't deliver it on time. As he was walking, he asked a nearby pony where the post office was and he gave directions to it. Soon Deceit walked into the office to see Ditzy getting talked to by a tough looking pony. 'He must be her boss, and he doesn't sound happy.'
"Excuse me is something wrong?" Deceit asked.
"This employee here is always late and she always loses mail." The stallion said as he turned towards Deceit. He then turned back to Ditzy with a stern expression, "You have really tested my patience, and if you mess up one more time then YOU'RE FIRED!"
Ditzy had tears in her eyes and hung her head as her boss stomped away, "Hey, hey, It's ok. Don't worry about that guy," Deceit said right next to her, "I'll make sure you don't lose your job, and I won't let that mean guy say things like that to you again."
"B-But, how are you going to do that?" She asked as she calmed down, "He's really tough to talk to."
"Trust me, I have my ways..." He replied as he got a deviant smile.
"Um... why are you smiling like that?"
"Huh, uh, nevermind that. I'm gonna have to go now, but I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"
"Ok... you know, you're really weird."
"I know."
Later that night as it was getting dark out, Deceit watched Ditzy's boss as he closed up and made his way home. Before he could get there though, Deceit undisguised himself so his black chitin would blend him into the shadows, and when he was sure that they were alone he lunged onto the pony and injected him with a venom that knocks ponies unconscious for a short while. The venom is a recipe that all changelings learn at some point incase of an emergency, and can be made with very few ingredients. After knocking the pony out cold, Deceit tied him up and put him in the Everfree forest, but not far enough to disturb any monsters. Once the pony awoke he looked around for a moment and started to panic.
Deceit changed his voice to be too deep for a pony to normally have, "I saw how mean you were being to that mare earlier," He said as he stood out of sight, "And I don't like it when somepony is really mean to a friend."
"What?! So you tied me up?!" He yelled.
"I heard you say you were gonna fire her," He was now using a spell he learned that can throw his voice to sound like it's coming from somewhere else, and is throwing it all around them, "Now why would you do something like that?
"Because she's always late on her deliveries, and sometimes she loses the mail entirely!"
"Yes, but she always gets it there in the end doesn't she?"
"Well, yeah... but she also loses a lot of mail!"
"I checked her bag at one point and noticed a small tear in it that was just big enough to have the mail fall out. I fixed it for her, but did you even check that bag when you gave it to her?"
"Um... well no," He started to get nervous, "But what do you want from me?"
"I want you to apologies and to give her the benefit of the doubt. Even if she messes up sometimes, it doesn't mean she isn't trying her hardest."
"Wow... I have been kind of mean, but did you really need to tie me up like this?" He angrily questioned.
"Probably not, but I just felt like it. I'm going to put you back now, and I'm going to be watching for that change."
"Ok, ok, can we just go now. I really don't want to be manticore food."
Deceit then walked out of his cover when the pony wasn't looking and injected him with the knock out venom again. He then untied him and set him back in the area he got him from and laid him against a wall. After waiting for a moment and watching the pony wake up, he made sure that he knew it wasn't a dream by using that voice thrower spell to make it seem like he's whispering in the pony's ear.
"You better remember what I said."
The pony quickly jumped into the air while yelping and ran all the way home. Deceit decided that he had done enough for today and went back to the library. Once he walked inside he saw Twilight sitting there reading, and she didn't seem to notice him yet. He snuck up behind her and got next to her ear and quickly yelled.
"Aahhh!"
"Aaahhhh! What the- What- Deceit?! What was that for?!" She yells at him while he rolls on the floor laughing.
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist."
"So then, did anything happen today?"
"Um, no nothing. I did make a new friend, but I should get some sleep. You should too, it's getting late."
"Yeah, well I was waiting for you to get home so I could lock the door."
"I'm sorry. Anyway, goodnight Twilight."
"Goodnight Deceit."
And finally they parted ways to go to there own bedrooms and get some sleep.
Getting ready for a picnic
Deceit woke up with a smile today. Having remembered the previous day had made him give off a little laugh. 'I can't believe I did that. I hope I didn't traumatize him.' He thought. He made his way out of bed and checked himself to see if he was still disguised. 'At least I haven't waken up undisguised again.' He finally walked downstairs to see that Nopony has woken up yet. "Odd, maybe I got up early? I'll just head out again. Who knows, maybe I'll find a job." He said to himself.
As he walked around outside he didn't see many ponies walking around and instead saw a few setting up shops and getting ready for the day. A couple of them saw him and seemed a bit confused before shrugging it off. 'I guess I might as well check in on Ditzy. I hope her boss is at least giving her the benefit of the doubt like I said.' He decided to walk to one of the stands and ask which way the post office was, but the closest one was, believe it or not, Applejack's.
She seemed to have gotten her stand up already and upon noticing him she gave a smile, "Well, howdy there. Didn't think I would see ya up so early. So what did you come for, some apples or just ta talk?"
"Well actually I was wondering if you knew where the post office was from here," Deceit replied, "I was there yesterday, but I have no idea how to get there from here."
"Oh, well that's alright sugarcube. Just head down that road," She pointed to the left, "Then when you see Sugarcube Corner take a right and it should be straight ahead."
"What does Sugarcube Corner look like?"
"Trust me, you're gonna know it when ya see it."
"Um, are you sure?" He said not quite believing her, but only got a raised eyebrow in response, "Ok fine, I trust you. See you later."
Deceit followed her directions and followed the road for a bit. 'She said that I'll know it when I see it, but I don't see it anywhere. Wait... what is THAT?!' He thought as he saw the building in front of him. It looked like it was made out of cake, a cupcake, gingerbread and a lot of frosting.
"Ok, if this isn't the building she was talking about, then I have no idea what would be..." Deceit said to himself, "So now I take a right."
He continued to walk down the road after going right and once a few minutes passed he saw the post office. Deceit quickened his pace and walked up to the doors, which luckily were open. He walked inside to see only a few ponies either getting ready to work or waiting to get their mail sent. He only had to look for a moment to find Ditzy walking out of a room labeled 'manager'.
"Hey Ditzy, how are you?" Deceit Called out to her.
"Huh," She mumbled confused and looked around before noticing Deceit, "Oh, Deceit? Why are you here so early?"
"I just came by to make sure you were feeling better. You seemed pretty shaken up yesterday."
"Actually, my boss called me into his office. I was really worried that I was about to be fired, but when I walked in he said he was sorry for yelling at me," Deceit got a smile at this, "I don't know what you said, but it worked. He even gave me a small raise and the day off."
"Well, let's just say that I know a few ways to get somepony to do something. Did he look like he was feeling ok though?"
"Well, now that I think about it, he kept looking out his window like he was looking for somepony and seemed kind of nervous. Do you think he's ok?" She said worriedly.
"I'm sure he's fine, he probably just felt bad for yelling at you," Deceit replied with a smile, "If you have the day off then do you want to go to the park or something?"
"Um, sure. Do you mean like a picnic?"
"A picnic sounds great. We can head back to the library and get what we need."
"Well then let's go." She said as they started walking.
Deceit let Ditzy lead the way, but before going he turned around to see her boss peaking out of his office. Deceit gave a small devilish smile and used the same spell from earlier to whisper in his ear, "I am pleased with your actions." The stallion jumped a bit from the sudden voice but sighed in relief shortly after. Deceit quickly followed Ditzy after that and soon caught up with her without her noticing that he was gone.
They walked down the streets without saying much but soon the library was in view. Once they walked inside the library, they saw Twilight walking out of the kitchen with a robe and a cup of coffee. All three of them stared at each other for a moment before just laughing.
"How long have you been up?" Twilight asked.
"Probably around an hour. We're going to have a picnic," Deceit replies while heading towards the kitchen, "We just need to grab a few snacks and a picnic basket."
"I think I have a picnic basket that I can grab for you guys. Just let me go get it."
"Ok, we'll be in the kitchen."
Deceit walked into the kitchen and grabbed a few apples from the fridge. He then made some sandwiches in a way that Ditzy said she liked. As they finished making the sandwiches, Twilight walked in with a picnic basket floating next to her and they filled it up with all the food.
"Thank you for getting that, Twilight." Deceit said.
"Don't worry about it, just be back once it gets dark out." She replied.
"Geez, what are you my mom?" Deceit said which made Ditzy laugh, "See you later."
Now that they had everything they needed, the two of them started walking to the park with Ditzy leading. As they walked, Deceit double-checked the basket to make sure they didn't forget anything. As the park finally came into view, Deceit noticed Ditzy give a small smile and gave one himself.
'Looks like things are going my way... I just jinxed myself didn't I?' Deceit thought.
He then heard something that sounded like screaming getting louder by the second, but when he turned to look at it all he saw was a flash of orange and felt a sudden pain in his head before blacking out.
The first thing Deceit feels when he wakes up is a sharp pain in his head. He slowly opened his eyes to find that he was back in the library's main room but quickly shut them again. He could just barely hear voices in a hushed tone in another room, but they sounded like Twilight and Ditzy. Suddenly the memory of getting hit in the head rushed back to him and he shot up.
'What was that?' He thought.
"Shh I think he's waking up."
"Huh, who's there?" He asked but upon trying to get up he noticed that his hooves were tied down, "What the..."
Twilight walked up to him with a cautiously, "Deceit, Ditzy says you were knocked out by Scootaloo. She's just a kid but her and her friends will always get into trouble"
"Why am I tried up?" He asked with some panic.
"Um, well..." She seemed kinda nervous, "Ditzy said that for a second after getting hit that you turned into a changeling."
Deceit just stared at her with terror but tried to hide it with a forced smile, "What? There's no way that happened. I'm not a changeling, I'm a pony just like you guys."
"That's what I was saying, but we need to make sure."
"H-How are you going to do that?"
"There's a revealing spell that reveals all changelings near the caster. It reveals them and some that it's been tested on say it hurts a lot," She said while charging it up, "But don't worry, it doesn't affect ponies."
As she charged the spell and the glow got brighter, Deceit could see sparks coming off of her horn and finally cracked under the pressure, "OK OK OK!!! I'M A CHANGELING ALRIGHT!!!!!"
"Huh?" Twilight said while letting the spell fizzle out, "D-Did you just say..."
Deceit could see Ditzy looking like she just saw a ghost. He dropped his disguise, "Yes... I'm a changeling. But before you freak out-" And then Ditzy's hoof connected with his face.
Around an hour later, Deceit woke up to see he was tied down in the basement. Above him he could hear some ponies talking that sounded like Twilight's friends, "What do ya mean Twilight?"
"I mean he's a changeling!"
"Wait, you guys didn't know that yet?"
"Pinkie... YOU KNEW HE WAS A CHANGELING THIS WHOLE TIME?!?!"
"Well, duh. Oh, I should go say hi to him! You said he was in the basement right?"
"Yeah- but wait, Pinkie don't go down there!"
The next thing he heard was a bunch of running headed towards the stairs. A pink pony, Pinkie if he remembered correctly, had come through the doorway and gave him a huge smile.
'Why would she smile at me? I'm still in my changeling form and I barely know her.' He pondered.
"Hi there! My name's Pinkamena diane pie, but you can just call me pinkie pie. We met when you helped Twilight out, but we never got to talk or anything!!! You're name is Deceit right? That sure sounds like a changeling name. Did you come up with that or is that the name you were born with? Oh we're going to have so much fun pulling pranks on ponies and having parties together! OH MY GOSH, I FORGOT TO THROW YOU A WELCOME TO PONYVILLE PARTY!!!!!!!!!!" She said as she got closer and closer to Deceit's face.
"Uh... what..." Deceit looked over to the other five mares that had just been staring at them but they just shrugged and looked around awkwardly, "Ok, Pinkie?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you on and where can I get it?" He said with a joking smile.
Suddenly Pinkie got a deviant smile and whispered to him, "Not now, there are others here."
Deceit then went pale and asked, "Wait, what?!"
"Nothing!" She said while literally bouncing away.
"Um... ok," Deceit said confused, "What are you gonna do to me?"
Twilight now spoke up, "We're going to get you to tell us where the real Deceit is!"
"Geez, you ponies are blind! I am the real deceit!"
"W-What? But..."
"Don't you get it? There are plenty of clues. First, my name. What type of pony would be named Deceit? Second, my cutie mark. IT'S A FREAKING MASK, something you wear to hide your face. Third, you know nothing about me other than I lived in a cave at one point. You want to know why I lived in a cave? BECAUSE I WAS KICKED OUT OF MY HIVE!!! That's why I tried to live like a pony." He finished sadly.
"Whoa... hey, Twilight did you know about any of this?" Rainbow dash asked.
Twilight just stood there staring at Deceit. This was defiantly some news to her if the open mouth and glazed over eyes were any indication. As she stared at him everyone present started to get worried and tried to snap her out of it.
"Hey, Twi, you ok?" Deceit asked, "I broke her didn't I?"
"H-How, is that possible," Twilight asked while finally coming out of her trance, "There's never been a changeling trying to live it's own life before... Wait, why were you thrown out of your hive?"
"Uh, I refused to kill some ponies that got close to our base and instead scared them off... and I insulted our queen." He said sheepishly.
"Applejack?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah?"
"Do you know if he's been telling the truth?"
"How come everypony always thinks that just because I'm the element of honesty means that I can tell if somepony is lying?!"
"Well, can you?"
"...Sometimes..." She mumbled.
"Is he telling the truth then?"
"Hmm, Yeah, I think he is."
"Interesting, how about you girls go back up and I'll come back up in a moment."
The group mumbled ok before heading back up leaving Twilight alone with Deceit. After making sure they were gone, Twilight walked over to Deceit, "If you really are telling the truth, then why didn't you just replace somepony?"
"Because if I waited to figure everything about them out first then I would have starved, and I have no idea if there are any towns or cities nearby that I could walk to. Making my own pony seemed like the best shot."
"And you won't try to take over the town or anything?"
"I just got knocked out by a kid earlier, and you could just use that spell on me if you really needed to."
"I guess you're right... but it's going to be weird knowing that somepony that lives with me is a changeling."
"Look, how many ponies saw me change like that?"
"I think Ditzy was the only one. Why?"
"If you, Ditzy and those other five are all that know I'm a changeling then can we maybe keep it a secret from the rest of the town?"
"Only if you pinkie promise that you'll never hurt a pony without a very good reason."
"What's a pinkie promise?"
"Say 'cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye' while doing these same moves," She showed him the moves to do and then waited, "Aren't you gonna do it?"
"You do realize that I'm still tied down, right?"
"Oh, sorry." She said sheepishly.
She then freed him and watched as he did what she asked. After completing the task, Deceit changed back into his pony form and followed Twilight back upstairs... just to be tackled and hugged by an excited Pinkie Pie.
"Was that really necessary?" Deceit complained as he got off the ground, "You know that tackling ponies hurts, right?"
"Sorry, but I'm just SOOO excited!!!" Pinkie said with her normal enthusiasm.
"Um, what for?" Applejack asked, "Ya make friends all the time."
"But this is my first changeling friend!!!"
"Oh yeah, hey Twilight," Rainbow dash asked while walking to said mare, "Is he really Deceit?"
"I can't tell for sure, but he did pinkie promise that he wouldn't hurt anypony." Twilight replied.
"You do realize that it's rude to talk about somepony when they're standing next to you, right?" Deceit pitched in, "And Twilight?"
"Um, yeah?"
"Why do you have a thing that you can strap ponies into in your basement?"
"W-What? Oh, uh, that thing! I have it because... um... because reasons." Twilight awkwardly said to the group with a large fake smile while sweating a bit.
The group just stared at her, mostly with confused looks, but Deceit just fell over laughing. It seemed pretty obvious that he was the only one that figured it out, which just made Twilight blush.
"Ok, so you have it for some more personal stuff." Deceit said while nudging her side a bit making her blush even more.
He tried to make it vague enough so that the others wouldn't get it, but after a moment of thinking Rainbow dash and Pinkie suddenly burst out laughing. Now there was three confused mares, two mares and a changeling laughing on the ground and one very embarrassed Twilight blushing enough to have her whole head be bright red.
"Alright, alright, can we just get back to talking about something else?" Twilight angrily said while glaring at the three ponies that were still laughing on the ground.
"Uh, Twilight darling?" Rarity uncertainly asked, "Why exactly do you have it? I can't figure it out for the life of me."
"I would actually like to keep it that way," Twilight said while her blush fades and the laughter dies down, "Let's just say that the less ponies that know, the better."
"I'll just have to take your word for it then." Rarity replied with a smile while Applejack and Fluttershy nod their heads in agreement.
"Thank you." Twilight replied back with her own smile.
Finally as Deceit calmed down enough to talk, he got off the ground and walked back over to Twilight, "I'm sorry about that, but that was way too funny.... but did you really have to strap me into that thing?"
"Um... sorry..."
As the two talked, Rainbow dash and Pinkie pie finally stopped laughing and got off of the ground, "Don't worry Twi, we won't say anything," Rainbow said, "But we might bring it up from time to time." She ended with a devilish smile.
Twilight just blushed again and started walking to the kitchen while Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy just sat there and watched the whole thing play out, "I'm going to make some tea. Do any of you want some?" Twilight said dejectedly.
Everypony present said yeah, but Fluttershy just followed her into the kitchen, "I'll help you make some."
"Thank you Fluttershy. At least some ponies have manners." Twilight finished while glaring at Rainbow, Pinkie and Deceit.
"You know, even if you aren't the real Deceit, you're still a pretty fun guy." Rainbow dash said while giving Deceit a friendly punch on the shoulder.
"Yeah! You're welcome to come to any one of my parties you want!" Pinkie said while trying to imitate what dash did, but instead knock Deceit across the room with a loud thud, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!!!"
"Ow, heh heh, that probably looked pretty funny..." Deceit groggily replied while all the ponies in the room rushed to him, "I'm not even that mad about that, it didn't hurt as much as it probably looked like it did."
"Are you sure darling," Rarity said while checking him over, "That looked like a nasty hit."
"I'm fine, I'm fine," He replied before noticing how heartbroken Pinkie looked, "Whoa, hey, Pinkie it's fine. You didn't mean to hit me that hard right?"
"N-No..."
"See, it was an accident. No problem."
"Hey girls, what was that noise?" Twilight called as she walked out of the kitchen, "And why is Deceit laying on the ground?"
"It was nothing, I just fell." He replied.
"Whatever you say, the tea should be ready soon," Twilight said while just shrugging it off, "Just don't hurt yourself."
"You know, now I feel like that tea is somehow going to hurt me." Deceit nonchalantly replied.
"How in tarnation is tea gonna hurt ya?" Applejack asked.
"It'll find a way..."
"Well then just don't let it burn you," Pinkie said, "Besides, if you're a changeling then just use your magic."
"It burning me isn't what I'm worried about. Strange things can happen when you jinx something and Twilight pretty much just jinxed me."
"Well, I guess it's time to see if you're right or not, because the tea looks like it's done." Rainbow said while pointing to the doorway into the kitchen.
After Deceit looked where she was pointing, he noticed that Twilight and Fluttershy were carrying the tea out of the kitchen. Then, just as he suspected, Fluttershy tripped and Twilight caught most of the cups but didn't see the last one that flew the highest in the air. Deceit followed the teacup with his eyes as it ricocheted off of a wall and then came hurtling towards him as he quickly yelled out, "Seriously?!"
As he watched the cup fly towards him, he realized that instead of just sitting there and waiting for it to hit him he should just move to the side... so he did. After moving a few feet to the side and watching the cup land a bit infront of where he was sitting, he just sat there and stared at it.
"Huh... I guess I was wrong then..." Deceit said while tilting his head to the side a bit.
Then as he helped Twilight clean up the spilled tea, a little bit of it dripped onto the floor while Deceit put the now broken cup in the garbage. The little bit that spilled was just enough to have him slip and slam his head into a wall. He could already tell that he was quickly blacking out, but before he blacked out completely he mumbled, "I totally called it..."
As Deceit awakens from his knock out, he starts thinking to himself, 'I need to stop doing that or I'm going to get brain damage. As if I'm not crazy enough.' He then opens his eyes to see everypony sitting around him talking while he lays on his guest room bed.
They soon noticed that he was awake and looked concerned, "Are you alright? That looked like a pretty bad hit." Rainbow said.
Deceit gained a small smile and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine now. I got a bit of a headache, but that should blow over soon."
"That's great to hear, but how did you slip like that anyway?" Rarity questioned.
"...I totally called it." Is the only thing Deceit replied with while slowly getting a big smile.
"No way!!! You slipped on the tea?!" Rainbow dash yelled before laughing like a maniac, along with pinkie.
"I told you that it would find a way," Deceit replied, "And I told you that Twilight jinxed me."
"I did not! Jinxes don't even exist." Twilight replied angrily.
"Whatever, is there still any tea left?"
"Actually yes, I saved some just for you," Twilight replied a bit happier than she was a moment ago, "I'll go get it."
"Thanks Twilight," Deceit said as Twilight walked out of the room, "So... What should we do now?"
The room became silent as everypony present looked at each other for an answer, before Pinkie awkwardly asked, "Party?"
As everypony thought about the idea, they started smiling and agreeing. Soon Twilight came back up with Deceit's tea only a moment later.
"I think that a party sounds good, as long as I don't hit my head again," Deceit jokingly said before noticing a confused Twilight in the doorway, "Hey Twilight, we're going to have a party!"
"Oh, well that sounds like it could be fun. I was wondering when you would have a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party."
"Wait..." Pinkie suddenly said while looking thoughtful, before looking mortified, "I DIDN'T THROW HIM A WELCOME PARTY?!?!?!"
"Um, no, but I think I remember you saying that when I was tied down too." Deceit replied.
After hearing Deceit say that, Pinkie fell to the ground and started rapidly listing off everything she would need to make a party as fast as possible. As everypony saw her going crazy about the party, they started to worrying about her. Deceit decided to try to get her to at least be comfy, by getting out of bed and putting her in his place. This seemed to be a good idea, because only a moment later it was too much for her and she fainted.
"Well then... that... that was a thing that just happened," Deceit awkwardly said while everypony stared at the now drooling pony infront of them, "Is she going to be ok?"
"I don't know... let's just let her rest for now. She must have been going crazy about forgetting your party," Twilight replied, "She doesn't usually forget things like that."
"Then... what now?" Deceit asked.
"Well, we could go get some food." Rainbow dash suggested.
"We can eat some apple pies back at the farm." Applejack also suggested.
"That sounds nice, darling. You lead the way." Rarity replied.
Soon they all left to head over to the farm. Meanwhile, in Pinkies thoughts, 'How could I have forgot about his party?! There is no possible way that I could have! Am I starting to lose my mind? Was there something distracting me? My Pinkie sense has been going off a lot lately too... something's going on here. Hey! Hey author! What's going on?'
As Pinkie slept- wait. D-Did she just talk to me?
'Well, duh. Of course I did, silly.'
But, how? You're knocked out and I'm the one writing all of this.
'Silly author, If I explained it to you, then your brain would melt and you would implode.'
Oh, that doesn't sound pleasant. Fine, I won't try to understand any of this, just don't do this again... it's creepy.
'Ok, can you tell me why I'm going crazy now?'
Sorry, but I can't tell you that. It would be a spoiler and everypony that's reading this probably already hates me for even making this scene. But, I will tell you that you aren't going crazy, it's something else.
'Alright, well that's good news. Hey, can you give me some cupcakes when I wake up?'
Fine, fine. Just let me get back to telling the story. Wait, why am I even writing this?
'Because it's 5:00am and you're starting to go bonkers.'
Yeah, that would do it...
Anyways, as pinkie slept, Spike came home from getting groceries all day and brought some cupcakes for the girls and him to share. When he didn't see anypony home, he put the cupcakes on the counter and went to his room to do whatever he does when alone. Pinkie then woke up and trotted down the stairs to find a box of perfectly baked cupcakes.
"Thanks mister writer guy!!!" She yells to the sky.
Save a few of those for the other girls, ok?
"Ok!" She replied merrily as she munched down on her first cupcake.
Now then, back to the others... As Deceit and the girls walk back to town after finishing their pies, they decided to check up on Pinkie to see if she had woken up yet. The group walked up to the library, but before they entered they heard Pinkie pie yell, "Thanks mister writer guy!!!" And then shortly afterwards, "Ok!" The ponies then walked inside to see that nopony was in there with her.
"Pinkie? Are you feeling alright?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, I feel fine. Why?" Pinkie asked.
"Pinkie, you just yelled to nopony," Deceit butted in, "Unless there's some invisible pony here, or somepony that is really good at hiding, then you yelled to nopony."
"I didn't say anything. Cupcake?" She replies while holding out a cupcake for Deceit.
"But, we heard you-"
"Sugarcube, just don't try to understand her. It's just Pinkie being Pinkie." Applejack interrupts.
"That's a terrible excuse... but, I won't dwell on the matter. I'm just glad that you're awake," Deceit replied, "Why did you faint like that anyway?"
"Oh, sorry about that. I felt like I was going crazy, so my mind shut down for a bit." She replied with her trademark smile.
"I guess that makes sense, but why did you feel like you were going crazy?"
"It's because my Pinkie sense keeps acting up with combos that I haven't had before. But, what's even worse is that I forgot your party!!! Please don't be mad at me." Pinkie replied with a small frown.
"Pinkie it's fine. We can have a party whenever we want to," Deceit replied back, "Wait, what's Pinkie sense?"
"Her body will twitch and shake in different 'combos' as she likes to call them," Twilight butted in, "And each combo will mean something different that's about to happen."
"That, is awesome. But how do you not know what the combos mean then?"
"Because these ones are completely new. I hope it isn't something bad."
"Well, I guess that we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But for now, let's get a party together!" Deceit said with enthusiasm.
"Sounds good to me. Come to Sugarcube corner tomorrow at around five," Pinkie said while heading towards the door, "See you girls later, I have a party to plan!"
"Ok, Pinkie. it's getting dark out, we should all get some rest. Should we meet up at the party?" Rarity asked the group.
They all agreed and split up to head back to their own homes, while Twilight and Deceit headed to their rooms.
"Today was a crazy, huh?" Deceit asked.
"Yeah, but it was kinda fun too. Goodnight Deceit." She replied.
"Goodnight Twilight."
Then as Deceit flopped onto his bed and cuddled in the blankets, he thought to himself, 'What have I gotten myself into?'
Today was going to be great. The party was going to be in half an hour and Deceit couldn't wait for it. This is going to be the first time he's ever been to a party. Of course he's heard about them from other changelings retelling their experiences from when they were disguised, but he's never gotten the chance to go to one himself. As he walked down the street, he felt a bit more at home in this little town. He's still a bit on edge when near ponies that he doesn't know. He could tell that the others that know about his secret have been a bit on edge as well because when he would pass by them, they would give him suspicious glances.
As Deceit walked, he noticed that the streets were empty. Normally at least a few ponies would be walking around whether it was to get groceries or to visit a friend, but today they all seemed to just be gone. It slightly disturbed Deceit and made him think to himself, 'What's going on here? Did they find out that I'm a changeling and are hiding from me? No, I'm probably just being paranoid.'
Deceit decided to not dwell on the matter and continued to walk down the road he was on. He soon heard wings flapping and felt a gust of wind, but before he could figure out who just flew over him a small piece of paper smacked into his face. He picked it up and read, 'Come to Sugarcube Corner.'
"What?" He said before looking around, "Um... alright."
Deceit started walking towards Sugarcube Corner and found the emptiness on his way there very eerie. He finally came to a stop infront of the building and could see that the lights were off. He could swear that he saw a bit of movement and heard some very soft shuffling from inside and for that moment Deceit was too creeped out to remember the party. He walked up to the door and grabbed the handle before opening the door and slowly walking inside the darkened room. The door shut behind him and made it pitch black inside the establishment.
The next thing Deceit knew he was blinded by the lights turning on and heard "SURPRISE!!!!!" get shouted at him from all directions. In his mind, Deceit was thinking that something terrible was going to happen to him when he entered the building. He was so scared that he didn't even remember the party. So when those lights turned on and he heard the yell from everypony, his reflexes caused him to scream and flail his hooves around while falling on his back. Sadly, Pinkie was right in front of Deceit and one of his hooves had hit her in the head.
Deceit calmed down after seeing that it was just a party, but he soon after noticed the knocked out Pinkie sprawled across the floor. Everypony just stared at her, including Deceit, with their mouths hanging open.
Finally Twilight broke the silence by saying, "I'm gonna get an ice pack. Somepony get her comfortable," ending it with a sigh.
After that statement everypony started to regain control and awkwardly watched as Applejack and Fluttershy got her over to a waiting couch in the corner of the room. Deceit finally got off of the ground and looked at everypony. Some of them had been walking over to where Pinkie was laying and stared at her, while others have been glaring at Deceit and a final few were walking around slightly talking to each other. Deceit guessed that last group was hoping to start this party up again and it seemed to be slightly working as more ponies started talking too.
Deceit felt terrible for accidently hitting Pinkie and watched with sorrow as Twilight put an ice pack where he had hit her. She noticed this and walked over to him, "Don't worry, she's going to be fine. You didn't hit her hard enough to do any major lasting damage. She's just going to have a headache for a bit, but that should be all."
"Thanks, Twilight. I think I might know how to wake her up. Should I try?" Deceit replied.
"I doubt that Pinkie would want to miss a party, but be careful. Just try not to hit her head on anything else." Twilight replied cautiously.
"You don't think she's going to be mad at me, do you?"
"As long as it was an accident then I don't think she's going to mind too much. I've seen her do crazier things that have ended up getting her hurt worse than a hit to the head."
"Alright." Deceit replied before heading over to Pinkie. He also noticed that the party was starting to get livelier and was happy that what happened wasn't bringing the party to a complete stop. He proceeded over to Pinkie and whispered in her ear, "You're gonna miss all the cake."
Instantly she shot up yelling "WHAT?!?!?!" and had a look on her face like the cake was going to save her life. She then grabbed her head with her hooves and grunted in pain.
"You're gonna want to take it easy there Pinkie." Deceit said to her while gently helping her onto her hooves. She wobbled a bit before getting steady and continued to hold her head. Deceit grabbed the ice pack that was on the couch and gave it to her.
"Sorry, about hitting you like that. I got scared when you all yelled and I hit you by mistake." Deceit said sadly, but was surprised when Pinkie had a smile on her face.
"That's alright. I've gotten hit in the head before by a bunch of stuff. Were you surprised?"
"Huh? Um, yeah, but wasn't it just supposed to be a normal party?"
"That's just what I want you to think so that you're extra super duper surprised!!!"
"Wow, that's pretty smart," Deceit replied as they started to walked over to the snack table, "Next time could we just have a normal party though?"
"Ok," She said with a smile, "Is the cake really almost gone?"
"No, Pinkie. I just said that to try to wake you up, which seemed to work a little too well." Deceit replied while grabbing some a plate and filing it with snacks.
Pinkie started to do the same, but she grabbed mostly cupcakes, cake and other sweets, "When there's cake involved, I will do anything ."
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing." He said with a laugh.
"So how long was I out?"
"Not very long, but it looks like the party is starting to get better since you got knocked out."
"Only starting?! Well I can fix that!" Pinkie replied as she brought what looked like a cannon out of nowhere.
"Wait, is that a cannon?!"
The next thing that Deceit knew, he was launched over to the couch and was sprawled out across it with all the food he had been carrying landing on top of him, along with some confetti and streamers. It did seem to get the party back on track as the whole crowd cheered. Once Deceit spotted Pinkie laughing next to the cannon he thought, 'Well, I guess I kind of deserved that one.'
A few hours later the whole party turned into one of Pinkie's best. Everypony had a great time and after any kids that were there had gone home to sleep Applejack brought out the hard cider. Not too many ponies were still there by then as most of them went home, but the one that were still there all cheered. Soon everypony was getting drunk and having even more fun then before. Even Fluttershy had a few drinks, but it didn't seem to effect her too much. After everything was calming down Deceit stumbled over to his group of friends and started talking with them.
"Hey guys, what's going *Hic* on?" He asked.
"Heeeeey... uh, you," Rainbow dash responded while lying on the ground, "How are you?"
"I feel funny." Deceit replied.
"Ha ha ha ha, you said 'funny'." Pinkie said before collapsing on the ground knocked out for the second time that day.
"Oh dear, Twilight can you help me get her into bed?" Fluttershy asked knowing that Twilight was the only other one that could form a coherent thought at the moment.
"Of course, Fluttershy," Twilight replied, but before leaving said, "Deceit can you make sure nopony else does something stupid?"
"What? Oh, of course. You can trust me," Deceit tried giving a salute, but instead just hit himself in the head and fell over, "Ow... I'm ok."
Twilight just gave a sigh and helped Fluttershy carry Pinkie up the stairs while Rainbow dash, Applejack and even Rarity laughed a bit at Deceits antics. Soon Deceit got himself off of the floor and quickly glared at the others for a moment before laughing himself. Rainbow dash, finally realizing that she was on ground, decided to try to get up but instead stumbled into Applejack and caused them both to get tangled up on the ground. They both looked around for a moment before cracking up.
Deceit decided to help them up and Rarity waved over to Twilight and Fluttershy as they descended the stairs. Deceit noticed this and saw Twilight coming before remembering his promise to keep everypony from doing anything stupid. Once that clicked in his head he started getting really worried that she would be mad at him for failing and letting Rainbow dash do something stupid. His drunken mind thought that the only way to save himself would be to run away. So he started running towards the door as fast as he could and ran out of the building, but he didn't stop running until he was at the edge of the Everfree. Deceit could hear Twilight and Fluttershy yelling for him, but he continued into the forest.
Even in his drunken state, Deceit knew that he shouldn't wander to far into the forest and instead only ran for a short moment more before stopping. He looked behind him to see that Ponyville was still in sight, but he was far enough in to where anypony looking into the forest wouldn't see him. He decided to try to find his cave and stay the night there, so he stumbled along the border just like the first time he was here. After a bit of stumbling around he heard somepony talking. Deceit slowed down and tried to scout out who it was, but once he saw who was talking he froze.
Standing only a few feet away was a small group of changelings. Deceit instantly sobered up and dropped his disguise. He called upon his memories of stealth training and snuck just a bit closer to hear what the changelings were saying.
"...Alright, that was the third time we went over this. Do any of you need to be told again?" The changeling that seemed to be the commander of them said.
Then one of the changelings raised his hoof and said, "I don't think any of us get it."
"What?! How do you not get it?" The commander replied.
Another one replied by saying, "Well, you didn't really explain very much. You just said that we need to turn into our assigned ponies and then said to head to the designated location."
"Yeah, and what don't you get about that?!"
The first changeling replied flatly, "You didn't tell us where to meet or who we're supposed to be."
"...Oh..." Seemed to be the only thing that the commander could say before replying, "I forgot about that. Ok, so we start our mission in the morning and we meet back here in three days. Reflection turns into the earth pony named Berry Punch. Dust turns into the unicorn Lyra. And finally Bob," Deceit could see a changeling that looked a bit chubbier then the rest start getting excited, "...Um, how about you be our lookout?"
The changeling looked sad for a moment before Dust said, "Don't look so sad, this whole mission relies on you."
Bob started looking less sad, "Really?"
"Yes, really. You get to let us know if something is going wrong and might even save us from being captured."
Bob then got a sparkle in his eye, "Wow, So I just have to tell you if somepony looks like they're going to mess up our plan?"
Reflection then said, "That's right pal."
Bob, then pointed to where Deceit was hiding and said, "Well, what about him."
Before any of them could turn their heads, Deceit climbed up into the trees as silent as possible. All the changelings looked around, but didn't see anything. They turned back to Bob with questioning looks, but he just blushed a bit and said, "Uh, nevermind. I probably just saw a squirrel or something."
They all looked at him questioningly, but soon dropped it and agreed to head back to camp. Deceit stayed still the whole time and did nothing for a few minutes after they left and was glad he did because Bob came back and put out the fire that they forgot about. Soon he got out of the tree and started walking back to Ponyville, but Put his disguise back on before entering. He walked back into town and noticed that the lights were off at Sugarcube Corner.
'The party must be over. I need to get to Twilight and tell her the news.' He thought.
Deceit followed the roads until he reached the library, but as he reached it he had gotten really tired. He tried to walk inside, but noticed that the door was locked.
"Crap, I don't want to sleep out here." He said sadly.
He looked for another way in and noticed the balcony. Deceit thought that it seemed like the best way he could get in, so he climbed up the tree and made it to the balcony. He tested it to see if it was locked and luckily it wasn't, but once he crept inside he saw a large flash and a bolt of magic hit him in the head. The last thing he saw was Twilight's shocked face after seeing who it was that she just knocked out.
After realizing that she had just shot a random bolt of magic at Deceit, Twilight started to freak out. Twilight was just resting peacefully in bed, before waking up to some random pony busting into her house. Her instincts took over for the moment and she shot a bolt of magic at him. Twilight ran over to deceit and was checking him all over to make sure that she didn't hurt him too badly. After making sure that he was breathing and was only passed out, Twilight relaxed. She then realized that she would have to be the one that carries him to his bed. With a sigh, Twilight lifted Deceit with her magic, but was too tired to carry him all the way to his room and opted to just have him sleep in her bed.
Twilight was about to head back to bed as well before thinking to herself about Deceit. 'Was he really telling the truth about everything? Has he been lying this whole time? Ugh, it's too late to be thinking about this kind of stuff.' She thought to herself. Twilight climbed into bed and snuggled under the covers, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't fall asleep. The same thoughts from before kept her from getting any rest and eventually she got out of bed and started reading through any spell books that she could find.
'There has to be some type of lie detector spell in one of these.' Twilight thought.
After searching for a good while, she found a spell to see somepony's memories within the last few days. Twilight gained a smile and read through every bit of it. Finally after another good while and Twilight learning everything about the spell, she walked back up the stairs. On her way to her bedroom she noticed that it was almost four in the morning, but was determined to learn everything that she could about Deceit. Twilight finally reached the sleeping changeling and cast the spell.
The first thing that Twilight saw was darkness, before a memory started to show. Twilight was standing in the Everfree forest and after looking around she noticed that Deceit was hiding in a bush next to her. She continued to look at the surroundings and saw that some parts of the forest were blurred.
'Those must be the parts that Deceit doesn't remember very clearly.' Twilight thought.
She continued to watch as two ponies walked along a path before Deceit used an illusion of a manticore and a few Timber wolves to scare them away. The illusions weren't very well constructed, but the two ponies were far enough away to not notice and swiftly ran back to where they came from. Twilight watched closely trying to take in as much as she could, before seeing a changeling walk up to Deceit.
"What was that!" The new changeling yelled at him.
"What was what, sir?" Deceit replied with confusion clearly plaster on his face.
"You let them live!"
"Well, yeah! Did you expect me to kill them?!"
"That's what our orders were! The Queen herself told us that if any ponies get close to the base that we have to kill them!" The changeling sighed before continuing, "It doesn't matter now. Come on, we need to report this to the queen."
Twilight kept watching and was taking mental notes on everything that she was seeing, but was slightly surprised when the memory faded out and a new one started up. The memory began with Deceit entering a large room that seemed to be a throne room. The Queen was sitting upon the throne with an annoyed look on her face.
"Are you the changeling that disobeyed me?" She asked.
"Yes, your highness."
"So, You didn't kill them?"
"No! We don't need to just kill any ponies that we come across." Deceit replied but with his own annoyed expression.
"They almost found our hive and then we would need to find a new place to call home!" The Queen replied angrily.
Twilight, realizing that this must have been where Deceit got thrown out, Started feeling awkward.
"But there are better ways to get them to go away then killing them, like using an illusion. It worked for me."
"If we just used illusions to get ponies to leave, then we would be wasting our magic. Killing them is much easier and faster."
The way that the Queen talked about killing so nonchalantly made Twilight sick. She looked over to Deceit to see hints of him feeling sick from it too. 'I guess he was telling the truth...' Twilight thought.
"You're so cold hearted!" Deceit said with a snarl.
"Yeah, I've heard that a few times." The Queen said with a small grin.
Deceit gave a low growl and said, "You're even worse than Queen Chrysalis!"
Suddenly the Queen became very angry and yelled, "I am nothing like that Queen! She may have been desperate, but she was also stupid. No one should try to take over a whole city, and definitely not Canterlot! That’s it, for disobeying orders and insulting your Queen you are banished from this hive for life!”
“You can’t just banish me like that!” Deceit protested.
“Yes I can. In case you already forgot I’m the Queen, and I can banish you because you broke the law and even had the nerve to insult me to my face.” She replied.
Twilight continued to watch and was starting to reconsider coming here in the first place. She wasn't sure if she wanted to continue watching these events unfold, but while Twilight was thinking to herself, she zoned out and only heard somepony say, "...Good luck." before realizing that the memory was changing.
The new memory was of Deceit sitting in a tree while thinking to himself. Since Twilight was in his memories, she could hear Deceit's thoughts as if they were echoing in her head.
‘Let’s see, what are my options? I can just wing it and hope for the best, or I could try to find someplace else that’s in walking distance. Or… I could try to make my own pony. No, that would never work… Or would it?’ He seemed to be so lost in thought that he was pacing back and forth on the branch as Twilight just watched from below. ‘I could choose a fur color and mane color, get a name and a cutie mark and then I’m done. This might work, it might really work!’
Twilight noticed that Deceit was getting hyped up and thought it was kind of cute before noticing that the branch he was standing on was about to break. She wanted to yell out to him but she knew it wouldn't change anything and within a short moment, the branch broke. Twilight just watched as Deceit fell all the way back to the ground.
"Ow... Maybe I should come up with my plans while on the ground." He mumbled into the dirt.
Twilight couldn't help but giggle at Deceit's antics. She watched as he got himself off of the ground and followed him as he limped back to his cave. She listened as he made up the rest of his disguise before he fell asleep. The memory then faded into another new one where Deceit was trying his disguise while looking at his reflection in a pond.
Twilight listened to everything Deceit was thinking about, before following him again. A familiar scream was heard and Twilight followed Deceit into a clearing that showed herself being tangled in some vines. She watched as the wolves backed off from Deceit and was fascinated by everything she was learning about changelings. When she saw herself, Twilight started blushing at how she acted.
'Why didn't I just teleport out of the vines!!!' She mentally screamed.
The memory faded out again and the next one showed Deceit walking around his cave in search of the wolves. Twilight also noticed that her unconscious body was on the ground, before Deceit started a small fire and scooted her over to it. She smiled at how kind Deceit was being to her.
As the memory skipped ahead again, Twilight couldn't help but notice that the memories seemed to be going by faster and faster and with each change, the memory would be blurrier. 'The spell must be wearing off. I'll need to hurry and see if there's anything that I missed.' She thought to herself.
Twilight watched as the memory changed to Deceit walking into the post office and saw that Ditzy was getting yelled at. Twilight watched as Ditzy's boss continued to yell at her as Deceit walked over and asked what's going on. When the boss left, Twilight saw that Ditzy was crying and Deceit started comforting her and promised to help her. The memory then faded once more.
Twilight knew that she would be kicked out of Deceit's head soon, but this last memory was unsettling to say the least. Twilight appeared next to Deceit and watched as he stalked Ditzy's boss. The two of them seemed to be on top of a roof and Deceit was undisguised. She was starting to think her suspicious might be true and could only keep watching as Deceit injected the pony with something before the pony was unconscious.
Twilight then watched as Deceit talked to the pony, that was now tied up, while hiding in the shadows. He talked about giving Ditzy another chance and how it wasn't her fault for losing some of the mail. She was actually surprised at how much Deceit was putting up for Ditzy.
'I guess he really is good. Although, I am going to have a talk with him about his way of dealing with these types of things.' Twilight finally thought while the spell wore off and she was brought back to the real world.
Finally as Twilight was returned to her own body, she realized how tired she was, so she crawled up onto her bed, snuggled under the blankets and fell asleep.
