The royal wedding. Almost all of Equestria was eagerly awaiting it. It doesn’t happen often for an immortal princess to marry, even less to a simple unicorn. But just as everyone was happy for the pair, so were their enemies. A wedding of this magnitude isn’t easy to prepare and their minds would be focused on it. That’s what the changelings knew, and used to infiltrate Canterlot and attack from within. Sadly, there was no happy ending for the Chrysalis and her kind. The same love she used to defeat the princess of the sun was used against her, defeating her almost instantly. Those present were cheering, and some of them even laughing, when they saw how she and her people flew away from the magical blast the young pair used.
And although the wedding went on as if nothing had happened, not everything was as it should have been. One thing was different.
The spell that Shining Armor used was supposed to repel any invaders outwards, which it did. For one changeling though, fate had other plans. The spell flung him away, only to be caught in one of the cities trees, having to suffer the spell with all his body while being trapped in the trees crown. Normally, such a spell would crush such a small body, leaving only a smudge. This time though, the spell was infused with the love of the pair for each other, the same love the changeling queen used to sustain her waiting army the days before. The changelings little body still had traces of this “food” inside him, which gave his body the ability to absorb enough of the spells strength for him to survive. Once the spells effect wore off, and everything had calmed down, the small changeling fell down from the tree. Branches, which were his prison only a moment ago, were now beneath him, broken by the spell. The little changeling woke up after a few seconds, looking around. He knew where he was but he felt something was different. Something was missing and he just couldn’t grasp what. Until he heard it, or better, didn’t hear. His mind was silent, no longer was he hearing his queens orders and commands. He was now free from her reign. But freedom came with a realization. He did have a family back in the changeling kingdom, just as he had friends and neighbors there, but he couldn’t go back. They were all controlled by her, none of them had a free mind and his family wasn’t even a real family. They were all just a toy for a big filly who was simply bored. And so he decided. He had to start a new life, amongst the same people he had to attack only a few minutes ago.
And he would start it here.
First thing he had to do was change his appearance. There was no way he could run around in his normal form. The city still in chaos after the recent attack, the changeling hid in a nearby bush, waiting for anyone who he could turn into. He knew that a pony who was alone was the best choice, since he would be most likely only a visitor, lured into the city by the wedding.
He didn’t have to wait long.
Not even five minutes later, a stallion went by. He didn’t have any fancy clothes, only a straw hat on his head. His body looked strong and muscular and had brown fur, a black mane and a golden horseshoe as a cutie mark. He passed the bush with the changeling, without realizing that he was being watched carefully. Once he passed, the changeling used his magic to turn into the stallion, forfeiting the hat completely. He had no use for a silly thing like that. He now had a new look, but he was still nameless. In his homeland, he only had a number, just like everyone else. Only his former queen had a name.
He didn’t even know what different names there were. He had to mingle in some crowd of people to hear some names . And so he did.
The city calmed down faster then he thought it would. What surprised him even more was the fact that the wedding continued. He thought, why not see what they were ordered to ruin. Sadly he wasn’t able to get into the ceremony itself, mostly because the palace wasn’t big enough for so many ponies. He was only able to hear what was going on from outside. He found the ceremony weird. They didn’t have stuff like that. Their queen would simply put them into one house and say “You’re now a family.” , but still he enjoyed it for some reason. It was sweet to see so many ponies happy, more so for someone they didn’t know personally. His name hunting wasn’t as lucky as he wanted it to be though.
No one there felt the need to say his friends name, or any name at all. The only ones he heard were Shining Armor and Cadence, and he couldn’t take those two for himself for obvious reasons. At least he saw his first wedding ever. What happened while he was crowd was something he wanted to avoid the most.
“Lucky ! Hey Lucky common.”
He didn’t realize the mare was calling him until she stood right in front of him.
“Lucky are you deaf ? We need to go now or we’ll miss the train.” she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. The changeling couldn’t even respond and she was already dragging him away from the crowd. She was almost half his size and yet she was still able to pull him, which seemed to entertain the bystanders. Once he finally caught up with what was happening he asked “Where are we going again ?” to which he got an angry stare.
“You forgot again didn’t you ? We only came for the wedding and our train is leaving in ten minutes so move it.”
She let him go and went from a walk to a run. He had no chance but to follow her. Not only would it be weird if he stayed but he was also curious who she was and where they were heading.
They managed to board the train just in time and were now sitting in one of the free seats in the train, which were numerous. the train was half empty, mostly because everyone was still at the wedding. Besides them, in the whole wagon were only three other ponies, each sitting alone.
He was the one to start talking first since his new friend was still catching her breath.
“So did you like the wedding ?” he asked with a smile.
The mare looked at him, still angry that she had to run here.
“Yeah I liked it. Why wouldn’t I ? We only spent four months of salary on it, got a crappy hotel to stay in, got attacked by some weird black ponies and we didn’t even get to see the ceremony. Totally great.” she said in a fast tone
“That was sarcasm right ?” he replied, trying to joke a bit. The joke had no effect.
“Yes.” she said after a while “Yes it was. Now let me calm down before my heart stops.”
“Alright then. Ill go see if I can find something to drink for you.” he said. Once he got a nod of approval he stood up and left the wagon.
She didn’t seem to notice that he wasn’t her friend, which was good and bad at the same time. The good side was, that he could stay Lucky for a while. The bad one was that he had no idea who she or Lucky were. The changeling spell only gave them the appearance and voice, but no memories. He'd figure something out. He did have lots of time for it, or so he thought. His new name was the opposite of what he was.
He passed one completely empty wagon on his walk and in the second one he had found a cart with some water. He didn’t have any bits with him but fortunately the water was for free so he took a bottle for her friend. Once he grabbed the bottle and looked up he noticed something he feared he would see. The real Lucky was standing in the next wagon, standing sideways and talking to someone. “What to do, what to do ?” the changelings mind tried to figure out a solution for this problem. Luckily, the wagon he was in wasn’t empty. An old mare was sitting only two seats from him. Quickly he peeked at her from behind her to see how she looked and then ran into the empty wagon. If he were a bit slower, the real Lucky would see him transform. Now there were no longer two Luckies, only one old mare and a young stallion.
The rest of the ride went without anything happening, well almost nothing. He heard how his friend shouted at Lucky for not bringing her any water, only to see him go to the cart he was at before. It was really funny to him and he had to push back his giggles when he saw the stallion walk by.
Once the train stopped, he hurried off the wagon so no one would notice him. Once off, he looked around. He had no idea where he was now in Fillydelphia, far from his homeland in the north.
The town was huge. It wasn’t bigger then Canterlot, but the difference was the size of the buildings. Most of them were four or five storied, and there were ponies everywhere. For some reason though, every one of them seemed to be in a hurry, ignoring their surroundings. Blending in here would be easy.
He looked around and saw many different ponies. So many choices were now in front of him that he couldn’t even choose from them. He didn’t have to rush this though. Noone seemed to know him and the old mare didn’t get off the train as he did so he was safe for now. That’s why he decided to go explore the city.
The city was a labyrinth. In his homeland, they had only small houses and big streets so getting around wasn’t a problem. But this ? You couldn’t even see in front of yourselves. What was even worse was that he got bumped into all the time. None of them cared. Something told him that they were used to it. He wasn’t though and he wouldn’t let it slide just like that. Sadly he wasn’t a pegasus now, nor was he in his original form so he had to walk. He looked around and noticed a passage between the buildings. Not wasting any time he headed straight there, hoping he could either get somewhere safer or wait for the streets to calm down. This time luck was at his side, and not only his.
The passage was darker then how it looked from the street, but he didn’t mind. He was used to darkness since his homeland was somewhat covered in it. He felt a bit homesick but only for a moment. No way he was going back. He would never return there.
Walking down the empty passage was pleasant. It was quieter and no one else was there. He thought about staying here for a while since he had nowhere to hurry, and once he found a box that looked a bit comfortable, he sat down. His mind instantly started thinking. What would he do with his life. Until this day, he was just a mere puppet, nothing more. his whole life was just a childs game. Could he find an identity here, and if yes what then. Where would he live, what would he eat and do in free time. When he was controlled he didn’t have to, or simply couldn’t think about stuff like that. Once his thoughts stopped pouring into his mind he realized that the silence he enjoyed was no longer there. He heard a weak whimper and sobbing being interrupted by a stallions rough voice. He couldn’t understand what he was saying but something told him he should go look.
What he saw at first didn’t move him at all, not because he was heartless, but because he was used to it. The whimpering he heard was that of a little filly, laying face down in trash, bruises all over her body. The poor thing was covering her head with her hooves with only tears that dropped down being seen. The stallion above her stood tall, trying to look intimidating. He screamed at the little mare, swore at her and hit her with his hooves. The changeling noticed that he has a little pink backpack under him, ripped and its contents emptied onto a small pile. He was a thief, a lowlife scum who not only robbed an innocent filly, but beat her as well once he figured she had nothing worthwhile.
That’s when something in the changeling snapped. He felt something he didn’t before and he stepped in. once the thief saw him walk in he started laughing.
“What do you want, you old hag. Want me to kick your flank too ?” he started laughing and turned towards him, forgetting about the little thing. The changeling forgot that he was now an old mare, but that didn’t matter. No matter what form he had, his strength was always the same, and being a warrior of the changelings was the greatest training a stallion could ask for.
“You can try sonny if you dare. Or are you a chicken ?” he taunted him, trying to get him away from the filly. The taunts seemed to work a bit so he continued. He lifted his old looking body onto his hind legs and started jumping around like a chicken, flapping his “wings” and screaming “Bak, bak, bakaaaaa.”
The thief blushed a bit and then charged the changeling. His mistake. The changeling reacted instantly, avoiding the charging thief completely while laughing. This the thief couldn’t handle and threw in a punch. Another mistake. The changeling grabbed the end of his hoof with his, gripping in and not letting go. Then, he quickly struck with his other hoof. The crack that followed could be heard only slightly, getting covered by the thiefs screams of pain. once he calmed down a bit he turned around trying to run away on his three working legs. He didn’t get far though. the changeling grabbed his tail and pulled him back, throwing in another punch once the stallion landed next to him. Another crack, another broken bone. Now his front legs were both useless and the thiefs only response were tears of pain and whimpers.
The changeling lowered his head to his and with an evil smile on his face he whispered into the thiefs ear “This is what happens to those who hurt the innocent.”
He then turned around but didn’t walk away. The thief lay down with his face on the ground, trying to crawl away from him. Once he lifted his hind legs to speed the process up, the changeling instantly kicked him with his hind legs, making the thief fly and land face first into a pile of trash laying a few meters in front of him. Now it was the fillies turn.
He slowly approached the still crying thing. She was shivering, tears rolling down from under her hooves. He felt sorry for her.
“Its ok. He wont hurt you anymore.” he said to her, gently touching her mane.
The small thing winced at the touch but after a few second she looked from under her hoof. Seeing only an old mare, and no bad thief made her lift her head a bit.
“Is… is he gone ?” she asked while pushing back her tears
“Yes. Yes he is, and he will never hurt you again.” he smiled at her and wiped her tears away. The little filly tried to smile too but she could only do that for a bit
“Thank you Mare-do-well.” she thanked him.
“Mare-do-who ?” he asked her. He had no idea what she was talking about, which the little filly realized. She stood up, legs still shaking but she endured. She walked over to her torn backpack and started going through her things. Once she found what she was looking for, she came back to the changeling.
“Her.” she said and gave him a small doll. It was a masked pony with a stylish purple hat and cape.
“Who is he.” he asked her and gave her the doll back.
“She.” the filly corrected him “She is a super hero who helps ponies. Just like you do.” the smile she showed him that moment was the most happy smile he had seen in his life. He was sure he would never forget it until his last breath. And what the little filly gave him was more than a simple smile. She gave him a great idea aswell.
“Mare-do-well you say ? Hmmm.”
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The news of Fillydelphias new superhorse spread faster than anything before. The superhero that appeared a few months back in Ponyville was now living somewhere in Fillydelphia, watching the town from the shadows, guarding the innocents and punishing those who were up to no good. Crime in the town was now something extremely rare, mostly because of the ways of Mare-do-wells punishments. But no one seemed to mind, except the bad guys that were now in prison hospitals. The fillies and colts were able to play outside without fear of getting hurt or robbed, the evening streets were free for young pairs who could enjoy each others company and the store keepers didn’t have to be on guard all night just in case.
What started as a simple act of heroism was now a full time job for the changeling. Saving the filly was that one thing he and his free mind were searching for the whole time.
THE END
