Chapter 8: Assimilation

What is perfection? If it is really unobtainable, why do ponies strive for it? If nopony is perfect, how can they expect themselves to never fail? What happens if they do fail? Either they shrug it off and say nopony is perfect, say that outside interference got in the way or they spiral into a deep depression. I chose the third with one addition, I choose to not give up. I will do better and better until I get what I want.

Society is brutal. If you don't fit in the mold of what you should be, it has no problem beating you down until you fit in. If you have a physical reason for not blending in, such as race, then they make it rather apparent that you don't belong and it's your fault.

If there is a problem with the system, then ponies should ditch the system. The fact that they don't is proof that they accept it and believe without question. Why would creatures who have such advanced brains not be able to try to accept the outcasts, the downtrodden and the failures?

If ponies don't like me for who I am, that is OK with me. It's when they hate me for what I am that makes me sad. Not sad for myself, but sad for them. They live such confined lives.

This world has deemed it a crime to be a changeling.

My struggles and my adversities only make me a stronger individual. It's sad that in this world, you are required to be unnecessarily strong.

I guess Fae has started to rub off on me, now I'm doing this too.

I stirred as Clarie crawled out of bed. Probably going to spring a trap on Fae again, unintentionally dragging either me or Kat into it.

Kat… She is definitely going to be quite the rival. I bet she somehow planned gluing herself to my beloved. Clarie and I must have not been taken into account, we won’t let her steal Fae. Wait, did I just team up with Clarie? Damn, too many rivals are in the mix now.

My advantage is a great one though. I am the prettiest, because I can look like whatever Fae desires!

As I lay on Fae, I began to plan my strategies of getting into Fae’s heart and booting the other two out. Fae was really comfy. Good thing I don’t weigh much, or else she may not be able to breath. Curling up on top of her was a good choice, although my tail is starting to get tired. I’ve been wagging it for hours, not unintentionally. There was no power-play here, I just wanted to tease her.

I do feel bad that I may be keeping her awake, but she probably wouldn’t have slept much anyway. How can she? She has a pony executing a full nelson on her, a pony stuck punching her in the face, and a changeling on her chest. She can’t get rid of Kat, thanks to that damn glue. If she tries to get rid of Clarie, she will probably asphyxiate. But she could get rid of me. She chose not to. She likes it. She loves me! I just need to make her realize it.

Something tells me, the only thing she doesn’t know is feelings of the heart. With Clarie gone, I could probably…

With Clarie gone, I spun around on Fae so that I was straddling her, sitting on her stomach. Fae’s eyes twitched. So she is awake still, good. I lowered my face down to hers. Ever so slightly, I licked the tip of her muzzle. Another twitch, but no reaction. I brought up my hooves to caress her face, still half an inch away. Nothing? Grrr…

I know her weakness though. I didn’t want to resort to this, but she asked for it. I lowered my head further, brought it to her ear.

*Nibble*

As predicted, she instantly tensed up, followed by a release of muscle tension in her entire body. She did not have the ability to resist the moan.

Suddenly, I felt a blunt pain on the back of my head as I saw what appeared to be a bottle of bath oil fly into my view as quickly as it left. Damnit, that hurt! Clarie must have seen what I was doing. Two can play this game...

I could safely assume that attack came from the bathroom, as I doubt we keep bath oil in the kitchen. I glanced back that way to see the door to the bathroom was shut. She must have went back into hiding.

I crawled off of Fae, and rolled onto the floor with a loud thud. I quickly shifted into Fae’s image.

Waiting about five minutes, I got up and shuffled towards the bathroom as loudly as possible. Upon my arrival, I opened the door only to get tackled to the ground painfully. I don’t think my head can take too much more damage.

I recollected my senses as I saw I was being pinned to the ground by Clarie. To my surprise, our lips became locked in the confusion. Oh my, she does taste good. I’ll give her about 10 more seconds.

At that mark, I shifted back to my original form. Now I wait for the shock.

How long is she going to kiss me?!

Twenty more tasty seconds later, she opened her eyes, which shot open exceedingly fast.

“Blech!” Clarie spewed as she scrambled off of me, “What do you think you are doing, Beatrice?”

“I believe you tackled me!” I defended.

“You took Fae’s looks and tricked me into kissing you!?” Clarie continued, “You were trying to get me to kiss you?” She was practically screaming at this point.

“I was trying to ruin your trap as payback for assaulting me with bottled oils!” I shot back, “I didn’t know that this was a trap to make out with Fae!”

“It was an accident! That was my first kiss! I will end you!” She screamed. She was both intimidating and absurdly adorable as she was doing this.

That last tongue lashing must have awoken Kat. She jumped with a frightened shriek and a high jump attempt. As she was still connected to Fae, she pivoted around her going straight to the floor. As Fae was still connected to Kat, she got yanked from her resting place with a great deal of momentum behind it, crashing to the floor with a dark red puddle forming around her head. This event reminded me of a slinky.

Kat realizing what she had done, rushed to check on Fae, who’s puddle was growing larger by the second. As I begun to run to her, Clarie leapt on me from behind. Was she trying to strangle me? She was trying to strangle me, how cute! She couldn’t injure anypony if she tried. In the midst of her rage, she deadpanned as she saw the puddle start covering most of the floor.

“Oh crap, that’s a lot of blood! I think she is seriously hurt!” I said before going to Fae’s side as well.

“Fae!” Clarie cried, literally as tears had already formed in her eyes.

All three of us huddled around Fae. Wait a minute, did it just get colder in here? I could see my breath. Suddenly what little light there was seemed to vanish, we were in complete darkness. I could still see Fae, what’s going on?

Fae was beginning to rise in the air, shoulders first, limbs dangling. She started to rotate until she was facing us, face soaked in blood, spilling red everywhere. Her eyes were still shut and… Oh crap, her horn!

“Beatrice, run!” Clarie screamed.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” I said while beginning to backpedal.

We made it to the door when suddenly it became engulfed in blue flames, barring our only exit.

“Shit, this is not good!” I was starting to panic.

Fae glided to us, dragging a petrified Kat with her, stopping merely two feet away. Her right eye shot open while the other remained closed, covered in blood, staring us down with a piercing gaze.

“You two!” she said in a expressionless voice while possessing the look of a serial killer, “Four hours.”

“W-what do you mean?” I gulped.

Just after I had finished the question, a thin blue ethereal string started to emerge from the tip of her horn. It began to circle the room, eventually making its way over to the two of us. Quickly, it wrapped around us, pressing us up against each other, faces smashed against the other. Damnit, her face is touching mine! It was tight, too tight to even consider an escape. The other end of the rope shot into the ceiling taking me and Clarie with it.

“Oh come on! How is this my fault?” I protested.

"Don't care." I heard Fae respond while taking Kat into the bathroom. If she is trying to sleep in the tub again, how does she expect to do so with Kat attached to her?

So here we are, suspended from the ceiling, bound together, for FOUR HOURS! DAMNIT!

At least Fae didn’t go full psychological horror on us. But a few elements leads me to believe that she began to. Does she really not know of this "ability" or is that a lie? This time was different though. It was as if the things happening were only the things that Fae wanted to happen.

For the first fifteen minutes or so, I attempted many times to shapeshift and wiggle free, but the magical rope grew and shrank with me. How obnoxious. I didn’t do anything wrong. All I did was save Fae from a surprise kiss and a head injury. What are we supposed to do for four hours?

"Hey Beatrice, wanna sing a song to pass the time?" Clarie suggested, having moved on from her rage.

"Absolutely not, that sounds awful." I shot her down.

"One thousand bottles of cider on the wall, one thousand bottles of cider! Take one down, drop it on the ground, nine hundred ninety nine bottles of cider on the wall!"

"NO! YOU STOP THAT! YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" I commanded.

"Nine hundred ninety nine bottles of cider on the wall, nine hundred ninety nine bottles of cider! Take one down, drop it on the ground, nine hundred ninety eight bottles of cider on the wall!"

"When we get out of this, you're dead! Do you hear me?! DEAD!" I meant every word.

~~~~~~~~

"Seventeen bottles of cider on the wall, seventeen bottles of cider! Take one down, drop it on the ground. SIXTEEN BOTTLES OF CIDER ON THE WALLLLLL!"

"Man, all that singing made me thirsty. Hey! It's been over 4 hours!" Clarie exclaimed.

"WHAT!? YOU ARE JUST GOING TO STOP AT SIXTEEN!?" I screamed with the intent to kill.

"Yup, some was enough." Clarie stated with a carefree smile

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I SAT THROUGH NINE HUNDRED EIGHTY FOUR BOTTLES, JUST FOR YOU TO STOP AT SIXTEEN!?" It was at this point that I began to thrash around in a desperate attempt to strangle the tiny mare.

"Ah! Somepony help, Beatrice is scaring me!" Clarie cried for help.

"Do you two need more time?" Fae asked from below, looking much less red than before. Kat stood beside her, still holding Fae's face and giggling.

"Yes!" Clarie screamed, "If you let us down now, she is going to hurt me!"

"NO!" I objected "I will let it go if you just get me down from here."

"I don’t believe you," Clarie whimpered.

"Look, Fae. Just let us down. I promise I will not physically harm Clarie," I pleaded.

After a few seconds of thought, Fae finally said "Fine" and with a thud, we hit the ground. Clarie was still shaking and scared, so I went over to her and gave her a very friendly hug.

As soon as the shaking stopped, I put my mouth next to her ear and whispered in a very deep voice "Don't ever be alone" I kept my word. I do have honor after all. As I backed off Clarie looked like she had seen a ghost. I couldn’t hold back a smirk as I strode to the lavatory.

I walked inside and shut the door and collapsed onto the floor. All that shapeshifting took a lot out of me. Maybe I was too careless. I was hoping to not feed until Kat was detached from my love's face. I splashed my face with water in a futile attempt to recuperate.

Staring in the mirror, I couldn’t help but feel sad that shapeshifting is required for me to live a normal life. Whatever, it's still better than what I had before. I took the form of Fae's new-found sister and scanned myself for any irregularities. Shifting usually doesn’t require that much magic to maintain, but it’s the initial burst of magic that can be exhausting if overused.

I left the bathroom and joined the others in breakfast. They were all sitting on the floor at the sides of the two beds.

"Cereal today, eh?" I observed. "Cereal is the best breakfast food. Good choice, Clarie."

She responded with a smile and a nod.

"So what are your all's plans for the day?" I asked between spoonfuls of Luna-Pops.

"I have to go help Pinkie set up a party, I'm not sure if I will stick around for the party or not though." Clarie said.

"I plan to do some slothing. I have other things I would like to try an avoid doing and having been affixed to Kat is a great excuse not to do them." I couldn’t tell if Fae was happy about this situation or not. She seemed neutral. "We can't exactly go out in public like this without drawing unwanted attention."

"Hey Beatrice, do you think I could get you to go to the library and check out some manga for me please?" Kat asked in a very sweet tone. How could I say no?

"Sure, I am going to be out anyway looking for a job. What do you want?"

Kat grabbed a pen and paper and began writing fiercely. After an unreasonable amount of writing, she handed it over.

"I doubt they will have all of them so just grab me any you can from this list please. Thank you very much, Beatrice."

"Manga is too much effort. I only watch anime." Fae joined in. "Though, I guess that could prove difficult as we have no TV."

"How do you not have a TV? Isn't that like a shirker's ultimate weapon?" I asked, shocked by the fact I didn’t notice this earlier.

"I used to, but it broke. Televisions are not on the list of things I have understanding enough to fix. I was going to read up and fix it, but lost ambition. I still have it in the closet, I may get around to fixing it sooner or later." The surprising thing isn't that she didn’t want to do something, yet was the fact that there does appear to be things that she doesn’t know how to do. "While you are at the library, could you ask Twi for a book that could teach me how to mess with electronics? I'm not doing anything else anyway I guess."

"Yay! We are getting a TV!" Clarie trotted with excitement.

"If I can figure it out." Fae added.

"Yay! We are getting a TV if Fae can figure it out!" Clarie continued, gait unbroken.

"I'll be back in a bit with your books then, I'm heading out." I announced.

I got up to go to the door when Clarie spoke up.

"Hang on, I'll walk with you!"

Clarie and I left and was on our way to the library. It's been so long since I could freely walk about. This is awesome! No more shadows and lies for this girl!

"You seem to be in good spirits, Beatrice. That makes me happy." Clarie said while traveling.

"I am. This is the closest to freedom I have ever been. And according to Fae, this is the closest I'll ever be." I explained. "Gotta live it up while I can."

"Why do you say that? I'm sure in time we can convince people to let you... um... be yourself." Clarie tried to lift spirits that didn’t need lifting.

"Oh no it's nothing like that. Fae says that since I now have a normal life, freedom is at an all time high until I get a job. She says that jobs are the restriction of freedom through the illusion of free will. I'm not like her though, I don’t mind getting a job. I'd love to be able to speak with ponies on a regular basis."

"Want me to see if Pinkie wants another assistant? She is always so busy, I'm sure she would." Clarie offered.

"No thanks. That’s your gig. I kinda want to find my own. If all else fails, I'll keep that in mind though."

We arrived at Golden Oaks Library within a few minutes. We walked inside as I heard the chime of a bell.

"Clarie! It's so good to see you again." She smiled at Clarie, but stopped as she noticed me. "You're not Fae, but you look almost identical." A violet mare was there to greet us.

"Oh, that's because I'm Fae's twin sister, Beatrice. Are you friends with Fae?" I asked.

"I think so. I didn’t know she had a sister. It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Twilight Sparkle and I am in charge of this library." Twilight introduced herself. "What can I do for you girls?"

"Do you have any books on TVs? Fae's TV broke and she is trying to fix it, but doesn’t know much about electronics."

"I sure do. Lets see here..." Twilight pondered for a few moments before activating her magic and levitating several books out of their shelves. "A Beginners Guide to Electricity, The History of the Television, and Television Repair for Eggheads."

That looks like much more reading than I would imagine Fae would be ok with.

"Oh, also if you have any of these manga." I said while handing her the list Kat gave me.

"I'm familiar with these. I see you are a fan of yuri. Hold on one moment and I'll go gather these for you."

"What does yuri mean?" Clarie asked me after Twilight left.

"Hell if I know." I answered. "We can ask Kat later."

Twilight returned carrying dozens of small books.

"There are a few people in town who love manga, so I try and keep well stocked in it." Twilight said placing the books on the counter."

Oh geez, that’s a lot of books. This better not cost a whole lot.

"How much?" I asked.

"Oh no charge. They are free to check out, but if you keep them longer than a week, there will be a late fee." Twilight said as she cataloged the books, having me sign them out.

"Awesome, I don’t have much money until I get a job anyway. Know any places hiring?"

"Jobs are harder to come by around here than you would think. What is it you are looking to do?" Twilight inquired.

"I dunno. A job where I get to chat with lots of ponies."

"Are you really related to Fae?" Twilight asked whimsically.

Oh crap. She is on to me from such a simple comment?

"I was kidding of course." Twilight followed up with laughter. I need to calm down, if a comment like that was a joke, then my reaction could give me away. "I think there is a new bar that opened up a week ago. They may be looking for help. Bartending is mostly just conversating. I think the name of it was 7th Heaven. It's only a few blocks from here."

"Wow, that sounds perfect. I'll go check it out now!" I wonder if they will let me have free booze on the job?

Twilight finished signing out the books and bagged them up and handed them to us.

"Thank you, Twilight. It was very nice meeting you" I said.

"Good seeing you again, Twilight!" Clarie said to the unicorn.

"You too. Please come again soon." Twilight said with a smile and a wave.

"Clarie, do you have time to drop those books off before you go to work? I want to go check out that job before somepony else takes it.

"I'm sorry, I would if I could, but I am almost a little late as is and I can't use the excuse I lost track of time." Clarie said with a frown.

"It's cool. I'll swing by the bar before going home then." I said before sprinting off to find this bar.

I didn't make it far before realizing that I failed to ask where the bar was located.I wandered around, too proud to go back to the library. I'm not above asking somepony though.

Looking around I could see several shops each with it's own individual style of decor. The florist had many beautiful flowers of all shapes and sizes out front. Sugercube corner was garnished with many inedible candies. The building next to it had many umbrella covered tables as well as a TV outside. Many ponies were gathered around drinking and having a good time. I'm sure somepony there will have an idea where I can find this bar.

The first pony within my sights I came upon was a magenta earth mare sporting a buttstamp of three happy flowers. She was sitting at a table outside alone and appeared to be pretty tipsy.

"Excuse me ma'am?" I approached with a smile.

"That’s me alllright. Ma'am. *Sigh* When did I become a ma'am? I swear I was still a young adult yesterday. *Hic* What can this old lady do for you?" The mare slurred. I guess I don’t need to ask what is bothering her now.

"I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything, that's just a typical polite greeting." I said, attempting to minimize any unintentional damage.

She took another swig of her drink, setting it down with a thud.

"No no, I'm sorry. What can I do for you, miss?"

"My name is Beatrice. I am kinda new to town and was hoping I could chat with somepony for a quick minute."

"Sure, take a seat!" She said, kicking a chair on the opposing side of the table out for me to sit. "My name is Cheerilee and I am a teacher at Ponyville Schoolhouse. And don’t worry, my class isn't here drinking, I have the day off so that I can deal with the trauma that is my birthday."

"Oh wow, I bet teaching is so fun. I love foals." I continued the conversation, trying to avoid the sensitive topic.

"Gotta be careful, dear. Teaching eats up all your free time. One day you are grading papers, the next you are an old lady with no social life and has too many responsibilities to occasionally have fun. Forget about trying to find a minute to find a nice stallion." She seemed rather sore on this topic. Perhaps I should try and cheer her up before asking for information.

"Still though, I bet its super rewarding to see the children grow and flourish from the teachings you provided. You have a whole class full of children to look after. Not many ponies could do that. I love foals and I don’t even think I could."

"It's a great feeling, that’s for sure." She said while lighting a cigarette.

"Plus, you still have social opportunities. For example, we are talking now. I would like to think we are becoming friends. You could have just drank at home, but instead are doing it out in the open, socially. Just because you have not had much of a social life doesn't mean that you can't still have one. As for finding a boyfriend, it's much easier to take care of your problems without the extra pony to weigh you down and possibly complicate things further." Fae would be proud of my logic, though I'm sure she would have done a much better job.

"Y'know, you aren't too bad. The fact that you are trying to cheer me up, cheers me up more than what you actually said, I kinda drifted in and out. Thank you, Beatrix. I always enjoy making new friends. And thanks for listening to the ramblings of a mad teacher. Enough of my problems, did you need something?" Cheerilee said while straightening up and taking another drag on her cigarette.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that. Have you heard of a bar called 7th Heaven? I'm hoping to get a chance to work there. I don’t have any experience as a bartender, but it sounds like a job that I would enjoy."

Cheerilee replied with a laugh. Probably more laughter than was needed, but I will chock that up to her being drunk.

"You are already here." She said pointing at the sign above the building that read "7th Heaven."

I could feel the embarrassment building within me. How the hell did I not see that?

"Oh... Right... I'm going to go speak with the owner then. Thank you very much and I hope we meet again soon." I said I stood to head inside.

I can't believe I did that...

The interior of the bar was something else. It almost looked futuristic, yet old fashioned. The bar, tables, and chairs were all made of unfinished wood. It gave a very rustic feel to the place. Mechanical decorations lined the walls. In the middle of the bar was a wide open area that looked like it would be good for dancing. Aside from that, there were TVs, neon lights everywhere and OHMYCHRYSALIS! A PINBALL MACHINE! I love pinball machines. If only I had bits... Oh right, job.

I approached the counter to find an attractive mare on the other side, cleaning a glass. She was a pure white earth pony wearing a white tank top. She had pitch black hair tied together at the end, showing off its massive volume. I couldn’t see her cutie mark from this angle.

I have a slight fascination with cutie marks, I always wondered what mine would be if I could have one. I guess technically it could be whatever I want it to be thanks to my ability, but it's not the same.

"Hi, my name is Beatrice and I came to speak with the owner of the place." I introduced myself.

"That would be me. The name's Lock Heart. What can I do for you?" The owner replied.

"I'm new to town and am looking for a job. I heard this place just opened up and I was hoping you might be looking for help."

"It's just me working here right now. I moved here to open this bar and didn’t think I would have the luck I've had. Business has been pretty good. Yeah, I think I could use some help. Do you have any experience bartending?"

She continued to work while she was speaking. I kept trying to glance over and see her cutie mark, but was afraid of it becoming apparent that I was checking her out. I mean, I wasn't. Just genuinely curious of her mark, but she was easy on the eyes. Oh, she finished talking, better respond.

"No, I don't. I haven't had a job before, but if you would be willing to give me a shot, I promise I won't let you down. I love talking with ponies and hearing their stories. To my understanding that is a big part of bartending."

"You're right. That’s a majority of the job. I'd say that you also have to be good with math for when you are closing up tabs and collecting bits, but this cash register pretty much does all that for you." The cash register appeared to be a giant screen. She tapped on the screen and the till popped out. "Electronic technology has come a long way in the past few years. It almost evens the playing field between unicorns and non-magical creatures."

"That is amazing! This whole bar is amazing actually. It has such a unique feel with a perfect balance of new-age and traditional." I spoke in awe.

"Thank you. That's exactly what I was going for. It sounds like you would be a great candidate for the job. There is only one catch to it." She said gradually shifting her tone to a more serious demeanor. "Alcohol has a history of causing violence. Not only would my employee need to be able to stop a drunken brawl, but I really don’t want anypony getting hurt under my employ. So I tell you what, if you can pass an initiation sparring match with me, you've got the job."

Seriously? I go to ask for a job and have to fight somepony? I like this place.

"I would like to think I can hold my own but sure, sounds like fun." The mere thought of this was filling me with excitement. I don’t like violence but a simple sparring match is innocent.

"You didn’t freak out like everypony else who has come here looking for work. That's a good sign." Lock Heart said with a grin.

"I wouldn’t want to damage anything in here, should we do it out back or something?" I asked.

"This bar is built for it. Literally, watch." She pulled a lever behind the counter and I felt a massive rumbling under the floor. Lights flickered on in the middle of the bar, shining down on the floor in a giant square. The middle of the floor descended slightly, and started tucking back underneath of itself, revealing a large square shaped hole in the middle of the building.

With some louder rumbling, something started to rise, filling in the void left by the hole.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I shouted over the noise of the mechanical transformation. "You have a wrestling ring built into the place! That's so awesome!"

An enormous wrestling ring had taken the place of previous open floor. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Green ropes, black turnbuckles and a light grey mat. It's no wonder this place has had good business. I didn’t think Ponyville had much in terms of entertainment. I am so glad I was wrong.

"You can pick up your jaw now." She said with a chuckle.

"I love this place!" I said as I started prancing in place.

"I figured if you can't stop violence, at least we can make it safer and gain some business from it. I call this the Meteor-ring" She walked around the counter and strode past me heading to the ring. Finally an opportunity to check her flank!

What I saw did not bode well for me. Her cutie mark was of a red glove, with spaced metal studs along the toe. She is a fighter? Well, here's hoping I don’t get my teeth kicked in.

We entered the ring in and began to prepare for our bout. The center of the ring had an image that resembled a meteor falling. She tossed me a pair of blue padded gloves. That’s a relief, I was afraid that she would be hitting me with metal.

The customers all stopped what they were doing to watch the performance. A few even ran out to grab more ponies to come watch the spectacle.

Maybe I should hold back a bit to avoid drawing question to my own fighting abilities. I don’t care about others watching, but it would be troublesome if everypony in town began questioning how I can fight so well.

Fighting is horrible. But it is possible to take a foul act and rectify it to be good fun. When two consenting adults just spar for fun, there is nothing wrong with that.

Being a changeling, one of the first things I was taught was combat. Being my mother's daughter, my lessons were more... Intense.

I have come to enjoy fighting, so long as no one is being wronged or excessively hurt. Most of my training was done with weapons, though I don’t really like them. I prefer hoof to hoof combat. Much less chance of someone getting seriously injured. Plus, I feel that it takes much more skill.

"Don't worry, we aren't fighting for real or anything like that. Just five minutes in the ring is all. I want to make sure you can at least handle yourself if things get ugly. As well as use this as a basis for determining your pay." She winked at me while tightening her gloves.

"Then I should fight like my life depends on it?" I responded with a laugh. "I won't lie, I am really excited! No holding back! I want to prove myself."

"If you insist." She said with a smile.

We stood in our respective corners while a colossal monitor on the wall depicted a countdown timer.

3...

2...

1...

*Ding ding ding*

The owner wasted no time in closing the gap between us. I advanced as well, to prevent myself from getting stuck in the corner. She threw punch after punch at my face at blinding speeds. Instead of dodging the first few, I decided to block them, gauging the force behind her blows. After blocking the first three punches, I could feel my arms already starting to go numb. It's hard to believe that a pony could wield such an overpowering force. They didn’t feel like punches, instead they felt like a swipes of a manticore.

I'd do well to try and avoid taking an attack at all. I shifted my efforts to avoiding rather than blocking. She is a very experienced fighter, never standing in one place for more than a fraction of a second.

I began to dodge and duck her hooves, but every time I attempted to counter-attack, she was already beside me in the middle of her next attack. She left absolutely no openings as her rapid offensive kept pushing me back.

I'll have to make an opening if I want to get anywhere. I can't keep dodging her attacks forever.

Before I could formulate anything, she landed a hit on my chest that sent me flying across the ring.

"Holy shit! You are strong! But, your punches only make me stronger." I said while struggling to my hooves.

She was not only strong, but honorable. She didn’t seize the opportunity to pummel me while I was down. Instead, she gave me plenty of space to get back up.

"Hey, you are doing really well. Few people can even see my movements, let alone react to them." Lock Heart complimented.

"Thanks, I'll try not to disappoint." I said while beginning my own offensive. Her complimenting me during a fight really pisses me off.

There is no way I can match her power. It doesn’t help that her speed is otherworldly as well, but speed is the closest thing I can compete with her in.

I started to force her on the defensive, focusing on launching twice as many half power strikes from many angles. Punch after punch, none of my attacks found their mark. Dozens of failed punches in, hope started to dwindle. I can't dodge all of her attacks, while she can avoid all of mine.

She landed a fierce blow on my jaw as I lost focus in my realization. The hit was strong enough to launch me several feet into the air. The pain coursing through my face was immense. The ever-shifting world became black as I clenched my eyes in pain. Before my limp body made it back down to the mat, she reeled back and delivered a strike to my stomach, this time sending me across the ring, crashing into a turnbuckle. I hit the mat with a loud thud, completely and utterly disoriented.

This is unreal. I was one of the best fighters in unarmed combat back at the hive. But the difference in ability was just ridiculous. I was always so proud of my ability to fight. Does this mean that my opponents back then were just novices themselves? Or that she is just that talented? Or could it be that changelings just can't keep up in hoof to hoof combat with earth ponies? They are built much sturdier than the other races.

Again, she gave me much needed time to get back up. My face felt wet as I wiped away blood running from my nose and mouth. My vision was already beginning to blur and we weren't even three minutes into the fight.

If I can't beat her, then I at least need to make sure that I can still stand by the time the bell rings. Though, that would mean that my pay might suffer if I can't even land one attack. This sucks, if I were in my original form, I could attack from the air, or in the very least use my wings to hasten my assault.

I stood up, glancing at the timer on the wall. Three minutes fifteen second. I think I've milked all the time that she will let me have to stay down. I need to land an attack or else I'll be making minimum wage.

I sprinted towards her in a zigzag fashion, each step sending sharp pain coursing through my ribs. One hit, that’s all I need. Just one hit.

Rather than defend, she chose to stop any and all advances with her relentless blitzkrieg. In less than five seconds, I lost count of her attacks around 40. A few of them landed on me. All I could do was brace for impact. Before I knew it, I was defending again.

Come on, Beatrice! Think! There has to be some flaw in her attack, no fighting style is perfect.

Trying to think caused me to suffer several hits, but there is no way I can win this if I don’t use my brain. She is making it impossible to think with all those punches... Wait, punching is literally all she has been doing. She hasn’t kicked or grappled, even her defense was punching.

A small glimmer of hope appeared in the back of my mind.

Four minutes thirty seconds, only thirty seconds remain. She is leaving no openings. Screw it, I'll take a hit if that's what it takes.

Lock Heart reared back and struck my face with unimaginable force. I buckled down and pivoted, grabbing her hoof as it departed from my face. I flipped her over my shoulder and sent her to the mat, wrapping my front hooves around her arm while locking my legs around her chest, pinning her to the mat in an arm submission.

I learned this attack from Clarie. The way it puts pressure on the joint of the arm, while proving difficult to escape makes this a great hold. I could hear Lock Heart scream in pain, but I didn’t let up. Not until she taps. I just need to apply more pressure... More pressure.

"MORE PRESSURE!" I screamed, straining every muscle in my body.

*Ding ding ding*

Immediately I let go, releasing my opponent from my hold. She rolled over and clutched her arm. I decided to continue laying there on the mat, attempting to catch my breath.

Within five minutes, my entire body became tenderized. It felt like I was nothing more than a giant bruise. Like I had gotten hit with a bus repeatedly. Man do I regret accepting her challenge.

Lock Heart walked over to me and crouched down above me. She wasn't even out of breath! Screw her!

"That was amazing, Beatrice! You are incredible." She said with great joy. Her eyes shone with purpose and fulfillment. "The way you took that punch and used it to your advantage was genius and ballsy! The job is yours, if you still want it that is."

I continued panting on my back for a few moments.

"Your fighting ability has left me at a loss for words... And breath. I'll take it." I managed to force out.

She extended her hoof to help me up. The audience broke out in mass cheer. I didn’t even notice that a crowd had formed. There had to be at least 70 ponies in here watching the fight. One of the cheers stood out from the others a good bit. It was a very high pitched, hyperactive squeal. I turned to see Clarie in the front going crazy. Crap, I didn’t want her to see me get my butt kicked.

"Great, I look forward to working with you. I'm assuming you don’t want to start tonight, so how about starting this Friday? That gives you a few days to recover. I'll start you out at 13 bits an hour." My new boss said, glad to have an employee.

"Thirteen?! Isn't that a bit high for someone who just got her flank handed to her?" I asked in joy. "Not that I'm complaining."

"I was going to start you at 8, but you really impressed me. You are really good. It's rare that I get to cut loose in a fight. Even after all that I put you through, you still maintained level-headedness enough to stop when the bell rang, a trait few possess."

We walked over to the bar. I sat on a stool while Clarie ran up to me. The boss went behind the counter to turn the bar back into a bar.

"Beatrice that was super awesome! I didn’t know you could fight!" Clarie squeaked.

"Apparently a little less than I thought I could." I said while changing target to the one who opened up a pallet full of cases full of cans of whoop-ass on me. "Do you think you would be willing to teach me to fight better? If I could even become half as good as you, that would be a significant improvement."

"Really? I've never had a student before. Sure I don’t see why not. You have great potential. Can I talk to you in the back? We will fill out some paperwork," Lock Heart requested.

"I'll wait for you outside, Beatrice," Clarie said with a pat on the back that sent pain surging through my whole body.

We walked into the back room, it was much more plain than the front area. There was a desk and a poster of a cat hanging from a branch with the words "Hang in there!" on it. That was pretty much it.

"So, Beatrice. What are you?" She asked with a cocky grin.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked nervously.

"Fighting someone can tell you much more about them than words will. When I hit you, your body didn’t feel like it had the mass that it appears to. You are much lighter than a pony of your size should be." Oh no... She figured it out...

"I-I'm sorry I don’t know what you are talking about." I nervously tried to cover up.

"It doesn’t matter I suppose. Fighting you tells me that you are a good pony. It's much harder to hit an enemy that you don’t want to hurt. Had this been a real fight, I'm sure you would have inflicted more damage." The boss said.

I really doubt that. Had this been a real fight, she wouldn’t have allowed me to get back up.

She pulled a file out of her desk and handed it to me.

"Take this and fill it out. Bring it back with you when you come into work on Friday. Work starts at 8AM. Normal shift will be 5PM to 10PM Monday through Friday. I will provide you with a work uniform that I will have ready for you on Friday. As for my lessons, I think it's fair that you pay me what I pay you. I will require pay of 13 bits per hour of training. We will start your training at 5 hours a week, if that works with you. " She instructed. "Oh, your 'interview' attracted quite the business, here's your pay for today, you have earned it."

She handed me a pouch filled with bits. Eighty of them to be exact. Her terms of training were reasonable. She would just get one free hour of work from me for every hour she trains me.

"Sweet! I didn’t know I was going to get paid for that. I'm not going to turn it down though, thanks!" I graciously accepted.

I reunited with Clarie outside the bar. She was holding the bag of books for me. I barely have the strength to walk, let alone carry anything. Those five minutes in the ring equate to running an uphill marathon, then flying back with a passenger. Lock Heart really didn’t hold back, my jaw is going to be sore for a long time.

"Hiya, Beatrice!" Clarie bounced. "That was so awesome. I especially like the submission move you used. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Well, that one I learned recently." I didn't want to tell her that it was thanks to her that I knew lived. "Let's stop by a store on the way back, dinner's on me. Also, we should split the price of a cot."

"What for?" Clarie asked.

"I don’t want Kat sleeping with Fae any longer than she has to. Neither of us do, so we should split the price."

"Good idea, let's do it!" Clarie and I shook hooves.

We arrived home in the afternoon before nightfall had made its way over the town. I could hear talking coming from inside the apartment. Crossing the threshold, Fae was explaining her magic to Kat, no longer attached at the face. I hope I didn’t miss too much, I want to hear this.

"Actually, my magic isn't much stronger than anypony else's. I just use it more efficiently, allowing for significantly higher results. It's kind of hard to explain. See, my forte is alteration. That means I excel at the manipulation of mana, physical and magical entities." Fae explained while moving her hooves in gestures I didn’t understand. "Oh, Bea! Perfect timing. Come here please."

"What happened to the whole being stuck together for three days thing?" I asked curiously.

"Turns out Flim and Flam products are talked up quite a bit. It did not even last a full day. Not that I'm disappointed, but I had to pay for that compound. I deserve my money's worth." Fae spoke with annoyance.

I approached the coffee table where the two had been having their conversation. Clarie was eager to begin dinner preparations. She started unpacking the groceries I bought, while the conversation continued.

"So we are still on to bathe together right?" I asked earnestly, changing back into my true form. I'm lucky I didn't get knocked out of it during the fight. A strong attack has been known to unshift a changeling.

"Bea! What happened?" Fae jumped up. "Did somepony hurt you!?"

She approached me, examining my bruises.

"It was amazing, Fae." Clarie spoke before I could respond. "Beatrice had an interview today and part of the interview was a fight. She fought somepony who was so fast, I couldn’t see half of her attacks!"

"Yeah and she hit like a freight train too." My jaw was still in agonizing pain. I really hope I didn’t get fractured or anything. "It was at a new pub in town called 7th Heaven. The owner wanted to make sure I was able to defend myself. I got the job! I start Friday."

Fae approached to inspect my bruises. "Does it hurt?"

"A bit, but it's no big deal. I just need a warm bath." I underplayed.

"I didn't know you could fight." Kat said with surprise.

"She can fight quite well. When we were in that paintball tournament, she obliterated the competition. She could make an entire SWAT team weep in envy," Fae said. Perhaps giving me too much credit

"My opponent was much better than me." I said lowering my eyes. "I didn't even get a hit in. As a last ditch effort, I was only able to pull off a submission."

"I could defeat her if I wanted to..." Fae said in a deep tone.

Kat turned to Fae. "You can fight too?"

"No not at all. It was a lie in a lame attempt at a humor. I doubt I could take a child without my magic."

"She agreed to take me on as her apprentice. So there's no doubt I will get stronger!" I can't wait for that day.

"So, what are you two doing?" I asked Fae, resuming the previous conversation.

"Oh, right. As I was saying, Bea, would you please use your magic to levitate this cup please?" Fae asked as she sat a coffee cup on the table.

"Sure thing." I focused my magic on raising the cup. This was no major feat, pretty much every magical creature can do it without a second thought. A wave of yellow started to envelop the cup as it lifted into the air.

"Do you see the waves of magic flowing around the cup?" Fae rhetorically asked. "Now, watch as I perform the same spell."

I released my hold over the cup. Moments later it began to glow again, this time with an aqua hue. It rose up into the air and hovered, stationary. This time was different from when I did it.

"The glow." I said. "It's not pulsating around the cup."

It was coating the cup with see-through color. Emanating from the cup.

"Exactly. When you did it, the magic resonated around the cup. Think of it as you are the start point and the cup is the endpoint of the magic. After reaching its destination, the excess magic expels outwards. Magic acts a lot like water, it likes to stick together. When the magic leaves its destination, it binds with all the other leftover magic and forms waves. Once the spell is released, it dissipates into thin air. Well, not into thin air, but that’s for another lesson." I think this is the most I have ever heard Fae speak.

"Ok, I think I follow so far. But what is different from what you are doing and what Beatrice did?" Kat asked.

"You don’t have any leftover magic?" I added.

"Right. Alteration requires precise control over mana. Being able to so finely manipulate it, I can adjust the power of my spell to the least amount necessary to perform the spell. If any mana were to be leftover, I just pull it right back into the spell, recycling it. When Beatrice cast that spell, roughly 80% of her mana was lost in conversion and overexertion."

"Hey, I know I'm no good at magic, but come on!" I said, a little insulted.

"That wasn’t a jab at you, Bea. Almost everypony does this. I am merely explaining why my magic could be misconstrued as more powerful. No matter how much power you put behind the spell, you are still going to be losing about the same percentage of mana. Whereas my spell efficiency is around 99%. So if we possessed the same magical capacity and cast the same spell at our maximum power, mine is going to be almost 5 times as powerful. Not only that, but I would be able to cast the same empowered spell just as much as you could cast yours."

"When you explain it like that, I sort of understand." Kat said. "But why can't everypony adjust their spells to do the same?"

"Good question. It's because I have worked very hard at maximizing my spell efficiency. I would like to think it is equal parts talent and hard work. If you couldn’t tell, one of my most hated things is wasted effort." Fae said with a smirk.

"So what does this have to do with alteration? I'm slightly familiar with that school, but do you think you could explain a bit more about it?" I requested.

"Sure. There are 8 main schools of magic, I won't bore you with the list, so I'll just focus on my specialty. Alteration, sometimes referred to as transmutation, is a school that focuses on taking what already exists and making changes to it in various ways."

Fae slammed the coffee cup on the table, shattering it into many pieces.

"Why did you break our coffee cup?" Clarie asked, joining the conversation.

"To teach a lesson." Fae answered. "This coffee cup was once one solid piece. We could piece it back together, but it would just fall apart again. So we would need adhesive if we wanted to make it whole again. But with alteration, there are a few different ways I could fix this, but I will just stick with the easiest way for now."

Fae's magic surrounded all the tiny pieces of the coffee cup as they were lifted up, as before.

"Using my magic, I can put the pieces back to where they belong and essentially remove any and all matter and space in between them, fusing them together. It gets a little bit more complicated from here, so I'll use laymen's terms. I can make the matter believe that it were still connected and it will rejoin with its fellow pieces." I was a little relieved that she didn’t use more big words that I didn’t understand.

"What about that string you tied me and Clarie up with this morning, That wasn’t something that already existed. That would be... Conjuration?" I asked.

"I didn't say I could only do alteration, that is just my specialty. No, that was not conjuration. It would be if I just summoned up a regular string. I could have used alteration afterward to have a similar effect, but it is much less effort to use evocation for that one. That was a nifty spell called 'Kandata's thread'. Simple yet incredibly effective. That thread can withstand the weight of a thousand ponies." Fae looked like she was enjoying herself, a rare but welcome sight.

"One last thing." I said. "Just out of curiosity, but you said you could repair the coffee cup multiple ways. What are some other ways you could have done it?"

"I could have reversed time using a spacial bubble and restored it to an earlier point in time. I could have melted it back together. I could have placed a magical tether along all the edges and placed the pieces together. I could have liquefied it and remolded it. Or I could have just placed an illusion on it to make it appear unbroken. I am sure there are other methods to do it, but that is all I can think of off the top of my head. I used a novice spell called mend."

"Some of those sound unrealistic." Kat said. "I just don’t understand how you can cast magic in the first place."

"I don’t know, myself. I can only speculate, but for all I know, my best theory could be completely wrong." Fae despairingly said. "My best guess is that all creatures possess mana. The leylines on a unicorn's horn allows the host to take hold and compress the mana into a usable state. My body contains the leylines somehow. I believe they were somehow grafted on me from an outside source. But as I said, that’s my best theory, I would be willing to bet that it's not even close to being right."

"You are talkative today, Fae. You must really like magic." I pointed out with a grin.

"My magic has always been a secret. I never get to discuss it with anypony or get their thoughts or feedback on things. Well, not anymore... My little sister used to be the only one I could talk to about it. She always loved it when I taught her about the arcane." Fae's expression changed to one of sorrow.

"You have a real sister? You never said anything about her before. How old is she? Where is she?"

"I would rather not discuss it." Fae said, dodging my questions.

"Can she cast magic too?" I persisted

"Please, no."

I failed to notice Fae was on the verge of tears before I made my next comment.

"Come on, tell me. I want to know more about you. Why can't you still talk to her about it?"

Clarie stood behind Fae making a horizontal slicing motion at her own throat, the universal sign for "Stop talking." The look in her face was the most serious I have ever seen her make.

All emotion left her face as tears fell down the sides. She wore the thousand yard stare, a look I have seen before, when one of my clan drains a victim dry, past the point of no return. I have crossed a line I should have stayed far away from. A line that once crossed, hollowed her. Her eyes lost all shine and became dull emerald voids.

An ethereal purple plate appeared above Fae's head, shattering into hundreds of pieces with the sound of glass breaking. The pieces disappeared moments later. What was that all about?

With no change in body language, Fae spoke with no emotion.

"A year and a half ago, I almost killed her. There was an accident and she went into a coma for almost a year. She was horribly maimed." Fae rattled off words with no feelings.

Author's Note

Well here it is, this chapter was hard to write with life getting in the way and all. The next chapter is coming right up as well, I did say I would crank out two chapters. I hope you all enjoy Beatrice's perspective. It was a little tough to right, but I quickly found my groove. Hopefully soon, I will have a little surprise for everypony ;p

Please feel free to look forward to it!