How did I come to befriend a changeling, you ask? Well, it's a long story, so you'd better take a seat.
It was a dark and stormy night… heh heh, just kidding. Actually, it was in the afternoon, three days ago, and I'm pretty sure the weather was partly cloudy. I was in my room in the castle, minding my own business, when I heard the front door open. I wanted to see who it was, so I walked out of my room and down the hall. And – silly me – I had my nose in a comic book while I was walking. It was the Power Ponies issue number 502, Attack of the Evil Gateway. Anyway, there I was, walking to the front door, when I tripped over a giant lump in the middle of the floor.
I looked up and saw Twilight standing there – horn smoking – looking like she's ready to attack somepony, and Rarity and Fluttershy were by the door, looking like they just saw a ghost.
Then, looking down, I saw what I tripped over, so of course I had to ask, "Uh… Twilight? When did we get a changeling rug?"
Later that evening, I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and talking to Starlight.
"Is this normal?" Starlight asked me. "For her to lock herself in the basement with some new… curiosity?"
"We have a basement?"
"Yeah? The stairs down are in the boiler room."
"Oh yeah, we have a boiler room…"
"So… is that normal for Twilight?"
"What? Oh, yeah, that's her alright. Twilight loves her research."
"It's just that… I guess… I feel a little jealous that she gets to examine the changeling and I don't. Is that bad of me?"
"Aw, don't feel bad, Starlight. She leaves me out of a lot of her researchy stuff. Well, you know, the stuff that doesn't involve books, anyway."
"Oh… I see."
"Besides, she's sure to involve you in lots of other researchy stuff in the future."
"Hmm. You know, word about changelings invading Canterlot hadn't even reached my little village. I never even knew what they were until Twilight mentioned them off-hoofedly in conversation, a while ago."
"Yeah, they're pretty mean little buggers. Hah hah! Get it? 'Buggers'?"
"You crack me up…"
"Well, I thought it was funny. Anyway, I'm just about done with the food, and I'm sure Twilight won't come upstairs on her own. You think you could go and get her to come up here?"
"Alright."
When Starlight came back into the kitchen with Twilight, I said to her, "So, Twilight, I think Starlight and me both want to know what you're doing down there with that changeling."
Then she said with a silly smile, "Oh, you know, sciencey stuff."
"Uh huh. Shouldn’t you, I dunno, give it to the authorities?"
"Spike, technically I qualify as an authority now." Twilight opened up her wings to make her point.
"Well, yeah, but shouldn’t you at least tell somepony about this?"
"I'll write a letter to Princess Celestia later. Is dinner ready yet?"
"Oh, yeah, spaghetti and wheatballs. I'm putting it on the table right now."
"I'm sorry, Spike, but I think I'm just going to take my food downstairs with me. I have a lot of work to do."
"Oh, well, ok I guess. In that case, why don't you bring some extra for the changeling. I made plenty!"
"Don't be silly, Spike. Changelings don't eat food."
"They, uh, don't?"
"No, they eat love. All my research indicates it."
"Uh, Twilight? Weren't all those scrolls and books from like… over a thousand years ago?"
"So? They were verifiable sources."
"But… that's a long time, what if things have changed since then? Or what if those ponies were just wrong to begin with? How would you even know?"
"Spike. Relax, I have everything under control. But speaking of the changeling, as long we have it here, I don't want you going into the basement. It's too dangerous."
"Alright, Twilight…"
Twilight took her food and left, leaving me and Starlight to eat together.
"See, Starlight? She doesn't want me going down there either. And she has a point, it could be dangerous."
"Spike, do you buy that nonsense about changelings not eating food? I mean, what kind of animal doesn't eat food?"
"Well… I'm pretty sure Twilight knows what she's doing."
Pretty sure…
For the rest of the night, I forgot all about the changeling. But when I curled up in my little bed to go to sleep… I found myself thinking about him then. I wondered if I was responsible for a creature going hungry in this very castle. My home. I am technically responsible for any guests, even if he was more like a prisoner. Thinking about it kept me up, I was rolling over and couldn't get comfortable because I kept thinking over and over: 'what if it's hungry?' I realized I wasn't going to sleep until I went down there and checked.
Dangerous as it might be.
And if it turned out I was wrong, then at least I could say I tried, and then I'd be able to get some shuteye with a clear conscience.
While Twilight slept, I quietly snuck down to the kitchen and got a bowl of spaghetti from the icebox. Then I tiptoed down to the boiler room, which I had never been in. At least, not since it became the 'boiler room' when the tradesponies came and installed all the plumbing and heating and stuff. I turned on the lights and walked by the shiny new boiler, and sure enough, there was a very plain crystal door there, just like Starlight had said – everything is made of crystal in this castle.
Trying not to make any noise, I opened the door slowly, and once inside, I found no light switch. I guess the electricians didn't bother with this room. Luckily, there was a torch on the wall near the door. I had to jump up to grab it, and then I lit it with my awesome fire breath.
The little fire lit the way down the stairs, which were open to the room below. But it was pitch dark in there and the torch wasn't very bright. After about halfway down, I noticed two very reflective blue eyes suddenly appear in the shadows, staring up at me through the bars of a cage.
I stopped. Twilight said it was dangerous. Why did I come in here again? I thought to myself. But I steadied myself and continued downward. The creepy eyes followed me every step I took, and I stopped at the bottom, only a few short steps away from the monster in the cage.
"Um… hi?"
No response came.
"I uh… brought you some food. I'm sorry it's cold, and um… I didn't know if you want it? So I just thought I should check, you know, just in case."
As I inched my way closer and closer to the cage, those big unblinking blue eyes never left me. Within an arm's reach of the cage, I put the bowl down on the ground.
"T- Twilight said that, um, you don't eat food, that you eat lo- um, something else? And in that case, I don't mean to offend you, Mr. Changeling, I just thought that I should, you know, offer you something? And if you don't want it, that's-"
A loud CLINK echoed through the large room.
The changeling held his holey hoof over the bowl, and slowly scraped it over the floor towards the cage, where he brought it through the bars. He picked up the bowl and sniffed it like a curious dog. Apparently he liked it, because he unforgivingly devoured the spaghetti while I just watched in abject horror! Before I knew it, the bowl was empty and the changeling rolled over on his back and sighed contentedly.
For one thing, I felt a lot better. I knew that not only was I right, but that I had done the right thing. Which meant my work was done, and I could get the heck out!
"Can I, uh, have that bowl back? Maybe? Please?"
The changeling stayed laying on his back, but turned his head and looked at the bowl sitting right up against the bars, then up at me – a safe distance away. He pushed the bowl through the bars, and shoved it towards me. As soon as I leaned over to pick it up, he said,
"Thank you, Spike."
The sound of his voice startled me. It was all hissy and layered, like two or three ponies talking at once.
"How did you know my name?" I asked.
The changeling sighed and looked away. "I have been… in town… for a while."
"Oh… that’s… kinda creepy."
He actually laughed a little bit. It was a sad, short chuckle, but it was a laugh. This thing, monster or not, was an intelligent, sentient creature, that could feel things. And he could laugh.
"Do uh, do you have a, um, you know, a name?"
Still looking away from me, he didn't move or answer.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- you know, I'll just be going now."
After I set foot on the steps, I heard his scary voice hiss something from behind me.
"What was that?" I asked.
"My name… is Seyr."
"Seyr? Well, um, it's uh… nice to meet you, 'Seyr.' I should be going now, it's kind of late. By the way, um, heh heh, could you maybe not… tell Twilight that I was down here?"
"My lips… are sssealed."
The next day, Rarity came over to have afternoon tea with Twilight. It was an old appointment, she said. And since Twilight was busy with her 'sciencey stuff', I gallantly offered to have tea with Rarity instead. How could Rarity say no to that? So we went to the kitchen, and we talked while I prepared the tea.
I asked her, "So Rarity, what exactly happened yesterday, you know, with the changeling?"
"Oh didn't Twilight tell you?"
"Um, no. She didn't. She's been in the basement with the changeling pretty much every spare minute she has."
"How peculiar. Yes, well, anyway, you see yesterday was Fluttershy's and my weekly spa date. You know how she insists upon pampering herself, heh heh."
"Uh huh… right."
"Anyway, we parted ways after we left the spa – oh, she said she had to feed her animals or some such Fluttershy thing – and I began making my way here. You see, I wanted to ask Twilight if she had any books on historical fashion in her personal library, because, you remember, the library was… hmm… how do I put this delicately?"
"Blown to smithereens?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I was going to say."
"Delicately, of course."
"Oh, but of course."
"And you were on your way… here?"
"Oh, oh, yes. I was on my way here, when suddenly Fluttershy walked up alongside me, smiling, and muttering something about how she suddenly remembered that she had a bit more free time before she had to be home."
"So that was Se- uh, the changeling?"
"Oh darling, I'm not even at the good part yet!"
"Well, do go on…"
"So 'Fluttershy' and I walked over here and… come to think of it, we didn't actually talk much. Hmm. Anyway, once we got here, Twilight let us in, and we made small talk. And just as Twilight was about to lead us to her library, there came a knock at the door behind us. Twilight opened it, and lo and behold, it was Fluttershy!"
"Gasp! Was that one the real Fluttershy?"
"Precisely!"
"Then what happened?"
"Then? Oh, oh. Well you see, the poor thing was face to face with the real Fluttershy, and well, it must've panicked, because it tried to run away, by running further into the castle. I would assume because the real Fluttershy was blocking the door. Then Twilight blasted the imposter with some sort of spell. It brought back strangely pleasant memories of our little battle with the changelings in Canterlot…"
"I'm assuming the magic knocked him out?"
"Oh yes darling."
"And then I tripped over him?"
"You know, you really ought to pay more attention to where you are going…"
"I didn't expect there to be an unconscious changeling in the middle of the floor!"
"Still, reading and walking at the same time is hardly advisable, Spikey-Wikey."
"That never stopped Twilight from doing it."
"Ah, that explains where you got that from."
The tea kettle whistled.
Later that evening, I worked up the courage to try and confront Twilight about all this. I knocked on the basement door and Twilight came up and opened it. I tried to look inside, but I couldn't see anything with her standing there.
"I know you're busy, Twilight, so I brought you dinner."
"Aw, thanks, Spike. But what's with the extra bowl? I told you I don’t want you down here."
"Oh, it's not for me. It's for the changeling."
"Spike," she rolled her eyes. "Changelings eat love, remember?"
"Why don't you just ask him if he wants any?"
" 'Him'? How do you know it's a 'him'?"
"I tripped over him, remember? Wasn't that hard to tell…"
"Anyway Spike, I have lots of work to do. Take this back upstairs, will you?" She levitated the extra bowl of stew off the tray and into my hands.
"But-!"
She slammed the door closed before I could say anything else.
I sighed.
At night, once Twilight was in bed and asleep, I slipped away again and brought Seyr some food. This time, I brought a candle to light the way, and when I saw those creepy blue eyes looking up at me as I walked down the stairs, well… they didn't bother me at all.
"Alright, Seyr. I've got a big bowl of cabbage, cauliflower, and hay stew, two glasses of water (just in case), and an apple for dessert."
Seyr looked down at the tray of food. "Will you stay and talk with me?"
"Sure."
"Thanks. It'll be nice to talk to someone who's not Twilight."
"Yeah, I'm guessing she hasn't been a very good hostess."
"She hasn't actually talked to me all that much, but when she does, she's cold and heartless. She hasn’t physically hurt me yet, but I think she just might…"
"Pfft. Twilight would never do that."
"Did you ever think she would cage an animal and not feed it? Like she's done to me?"
"Well…" I began to wonder.
"Something is wrong with her. I know her too, you know, maybe not as well as you do, but either something is wrong with her, or she just hates me and my kind that much."
"You know, it is strange that she hasn't penned a letter to the princess yet. She said she was going to."
"I think she's keeping me here to exact her revenge for the whole wedding thing."
"Then you know what? I'm going to write to Princess Celestia myself."
"One princess or another, I'm a fly stuck in a spider's web either way."
"But Celestia is kind and forgiving, and she's nothing if not fair. And if anypony knows what to do, it's her."
"Wouldn't you have said the same for Twilight?"
"Um…"
"Fact is, they hate us. All ponies hate us. They have always hated us, even when they did not know we were there to be hated."
"Come on, Seyr, not everypony can hate you."
"They do, but it is true that several ponies know I am here in this town. They turn a blind eye to me… but I think it is simply out of fear."
"Wait a minute, were you that changeling I heard about at the wedding? No, wait, not that wedding, I mean here in Ponyville. Cranky and Matilda's wedding?"
"…Yes. I, well… I foolishly thought I would test the waters… to see if anypony would… I don't know."
"Accept you for who you are?"
"Yes, exactly. It was stupid and foolish of me. I suppose I should count myself lucky that I was not arrested or attacked by an angry mob. But in the end, I found that, just as always, we are feared and hated, no matter what. I think the reality of it was that nopony wanted to spoil the wedding by doing anything about my presence."
"Maybe they're only scared. I don't think they hate you."
"They are scared, but there is also hatred."
"How do you know?"
"I can feel it, Spike. I can sense their emotions. I am a changeling, we feed on emotion."
"I thought you feed on food?"
"Figure of speech. I just- I just wish that…"
"Yes?"
"I see ponies in this town, socializing, mingling, doing business, having fun. Reminds me of home. Of my carefree youth. I thought that maybe… I could be a part of that, here. I wish… things didn't have to be the way they are."
"Well… I mean, I know ponies are scared of changelings, and maybe they hate you now, but maybe if-"
"They hate us and we hate them. That's how it always has been, and ever shall be."
"But why?"
"Ah… the eternal question: why? Why indeed? Why am I damned to suffer as all changelings do? Without love and surrounded by those with more than they would ever need? Unable to gather said love without stealing it away… and unable to be freely given it by a pony because how can somepony love someone that cannot give love back? Indeed, how can they love someone that has no choice but to hate them simply because it is the way of the world?"
"Why can't you give love back?"
"We take love because we cannot be given it. And we keep what we take."
"And… if… you were… given it?"
"If… if only. But why would we ever give back what we need so badly?"
"Ok… and what about other changelings? Can a changeling love other changelings?"
"Of course. That is how we give our stolen love to our families, our loved ones, our children."
"I dunno, Seyr. I feel like you're being kind of a defeatist here. There has to be some kind of way to fix this. I mean, it's like Twilight always says, there are solutions for any problem!"
"True. But it's also true that one solution for a disease is to kill the patient."
"Maybe Twilight could whip up some kind of spell to fix this."
"Somehow, I don't think she'd be too keen on helping me or my kind."
"Princess Celestia, then. Maybe she could help."
"Honestly, Spike? I'd rather take my chances here in this basement than in the dungeons of Canterlot Castle. Who knows what horrors await me there? Twilight is horrible to me, but at least you're feeding me."
I idly wondered what he meant by that. Food or love.
"I'm sure Twilight will tire of me eventually."
"When that happens, won't you just get shipped off to Canterlot anyway?"
"Maybe. At least I can buy some time between now and then."
I sighed. "I don't like any of this, Seyr. Tell you what I'm gonna do. Tomorrow, I'm gonna look through Twilight's library and see if I can find anything that might help."
"Like what?"
"I dunno. Some kind of spell to fix your love problem maybe? An old book that says changelings and ponies used to be friends? I dunno, there has to be something."
"Good luck," he said sarcastically.
The next night…
"Spike, you look exhausted."
"Yeah, well I spent all day reading. And not comics, either."
"What'd you come up with?"
"Diddly squat."
"I kind of expected as much. Well, thank you for trying, anyway."
"I guess I could go to Canterlot tomorrow and look there…"
"That's alright, Spike. Don't trouble yourself. You've done enough for me as it is."
"I don't feel like I've done enough! I wish Twilight would just listen to me. You know I tried to talk to her again today, and she wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise. I hate when she does that…"
"Don't worry about me."
"But I am worried about you. You know what? This is a jail break! Finish your food, I'm busting you outta here!"
After eating through one of the crystal bars on Seyr's cage – it didn't taste very good – I left Twilight a note saying I would be back by dawn, and Seyr and I snuck out of the castle. Seyr morphed into a dark gray pegasus, and I rode on his back as he flew out of town. The plan was for me to get him out of town safely, and then we would say goodbye and I'd walk back.
Simple plan. A little hasty, maybe. And I guess running off with a stranger was… not my brightest idea ever. But I felt like I could trust Seyr, and I really did need to get him out of there. Twilight was starving him for pony's sake! She either didn't want to ask him about it, or didn't want to listen, I don't know. But it wasn't right.
Neither of us said a word to each other after we left the castle, but it was the middle of the night, and we didn't want to draw any attention to ourselves. But right on the edge of town, Seyr decided to say something.
"You know what, Spike? I feel bad about this."
"What's to feel bad about? Twilight was obviously mistreating you."
"I feel bad about it because you'll get in trouble with Twilight and Princess Celestia."
"It won't be that bad, I'll just explain what was going on."
"You released a prisoner of the crown, an enemy, technically, that's kind of a big deal, Spike."
"Well I disagree. This is the right thing to do. Keeping you cooped up like that was bound to… well, you know. You need to be out there stealing love, right?"
Seyr turned around and started flying back into town.
"But what about you? You need love to survive, right?"
"Nevermind me, Spike. This was my fate, I was stupid enough to be caught. If anything, maybe you write to Celestia and get me away from Twilight before she does something bad to me."
"I thought you didn't want to go to Canterlot?"
"I don't. But you're committing treason! I don't want you to get into that kind of trouble with two princesses."
"But, but… ugh."
When we got back to the castle, neither of us liked what we saw. Twilight was outside, with all her friends. And they were looking right at us. She must've heard us leaving. Of course, as soon as we landed, they all started running toward us, and not in a friendly way, either.
I jumped off of Seyr's back, and put myself between him and them.
"Wait!" I exclaimed. "Don’t hurt him! This was my idea, he didn't run off with me, I ran off with him!"
Twilight was the very first to say something, "What's going on, Spike? Why are you helping the changeling?!"
"Because… you were mistreating him, Twilight."
"Pft. What? No I wasn’t?"
"Twilight, Seyr is not an animal, he's a sentient creature."
"But my sources show-"
"Your sources are wrong!"
Twilight gasped.
Then Starlight asked, "What are you talking about, Spike?"
"Twilight had him in a cage for the past three days and wasn't feeding him!"
Fluttershy asked, "Is that true?"
Twilight defended, "But they eat love…"
Rainbow dash asked "…Uh? Were you feeding him love then?"
Twilight sheepishly said no.
Applejack wanted to know, "What were ya doing with it anyhow?"
Seyr answered, "She was poking and prodding. It wouldn't have been that awful, if not for the fact that I was being starved and treated like a dumb animal. It was shameful and humiliating."
Rarity was surprised, "It can talk?!"
Pinkie was also surprised, "He can talk! Can I throw him a party?"
AJ looked at Pinkie, "Seriously, Pinkie? What for?"
"Do I really need a reason to throw a party? I mean, come on."
Rainbow sighed loudly, "Ugh, alright everypony, we found 'em. Can we go home now? My cloud bed is calling me and Tank is probably lonely."
Starlight pointed out, "Well, we still don't know what we're going to do with the changeling."
Seyr remarked, "I'm right here, you know."
Twilight motioned for me to come closer. "Spike, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Um, ok, Twilight."
Then Twilight started poking and prodding me with magic. "I just want to make sure that changeling hasn't put some kind of mind control spell on you."
"Twilight," I groaned. "Stop, I'm fine. And he has a name, you know."
"I was so worried about you, Spike. I thought he broke out of his cage and foalnapped you!"
"No," I said as I scratched the back of my head. "I kinda broke him out."
"Why Spike? I told you that it wasn't safe to go down there."
"And you also told me you weren't giving Seyr any food. So I… kinda snuck down there the past couple nights and fed him leftovers."
"Spike…"
"What was I supposed to do?"
"You could have talked to me about it."
"I tried… you didn't listen. Besides, you locked yourself in the basement for all hours."
She sighed. "Well at least you're home safe. But what are we supposed to do with the changeling now that you've let him loose?"
"Just let him go, Twilight."
"And let him go feeding on whatever innocent ponies he wants to? Are you sure you're not under a mind control spell?"
"He's nice, Twilight! And he's been in town for a while, so we would have heard if anypony got hurt, right?"
"I… guess that makes sense. How'd you convince him to bring you back here, anyway?"
"Actually? It was his idea."
"…Really?"
"Yeah, I wanted to help him get out of town, but he changed his mind because he didn't want me to get in trouble."
"Wow."
"See twilight? He's not evil, he's just… a changeling. And he's my friend."
"Well, I… I guess that's ok. Kind of. But you still shouldn't have let him out."
"I didn't know what else to do. You were mistreating him, and if I told Princess Celestia about it, she'd just put him in the dungeon in Canterlot."
"You don't know that… but I guess I wouldn't know either. I never even got around to writing to her…"
"Now are you gonna apologize for what you did to him?"
"What? But-" Twilight leaned over and whispered to me. "But he's a changeling. They attacked Canterlot!"
"Well, ok then, Twilight. Isn't it, like, you know, against the Canterlot Conventions to mistreat prisoners of war?"
"…What's his name?"
"Seyr."
"Seyr? Interesting. Seyr, on behalf of Equestria and myself I would like to formally apologize for… my behavior. Towards you."
Seyr looked around at all the ponies for a moment before he gave a slight nod of acceptance. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about the whole wedding invasion… thing…"
"And… what are you going to do now?" Twilight cautiously asked.
"If it's all the same to you ponies, I'd just like to slip back into the shadows and pretend that none of this ever happened."
None of the ponies seemed to like the idea very much. Setting a changeling loose in Ponyville? Even I was gonna get him out of town when I broke him out.
But nopony said anything.
"I… don't suppose you could come by sometime and answer a few questions?" Twilight asked.
"I don't think so, Twilight. Although… I don't think I'd mind chatting with Spike every now and then."
Rainbow Dash loudly asked, "Well this has all been real touching, can I go to bed now?"
"I think so. Thanks for coming out, everypony," Twilight announces. "Come on Spike, let's go to bed."
I said goodbye, "Good night everypony! Goodbye Seyr!"
He smiled through his pegasus disguise. "Thank you Spike, for everything."
"Will I see you around?"
"You won't. But I'll be there."
Everypony waited for Seyr to slip into the shadows like he said he would before they split up and went home. Once we were inside the castle, I asked Twilight something I forgot all about,
"By the way, Twilight, how come you never wrote that letter to the Princess?"
"Yeah," Starlight commented, "you love writing letters to her."
She sighed. "You know, I kept telling myself that I would 'do it tomorrow,' but I think, deep down, I just didn't want to."
"Why?" I asked. "Because you wanted to study him for longer, or…"
"I don't know why, but maybe some part of me really liked seeing a changeling behind bars. I was never thinking that at the time, of course! Only science. But now that I look back at it…"
Starlight commented, "Hindsight is 20/20, Twilight."
"Yeah…" she mumbled.
"You know Twilight, I thought you'd be a lot more upset with me."
Starlight mumbled, "I would've been…"
"I was pretty upset, but you convinced me, Spike. I was in the wrong."
"Heh heh, I love being right."
"Don't let it go to your head, Spike. And now that I think about it, what you've done here tonight might actually be the first step towards diplomacy with the changelings. Who knows?"
"Hey I get to be a national hero again!"
"Spike."
"Ok, ok. Really all I did was make a friend. And you should know better than anypony else: friendship is what Equestria is all about."
Author's Note
Yeah, yeah, I ripped off the mid season promo. In truth, yes, yes I did. But also, I've been writing bits and pieces for a yet-to-be-published changeling-centered fic for years. This story is mostly a retelling of that.
If you'd like to learn more about that, and anything else related to this particular fic, check out THIS BLOG POST.
Anyway, thanks for reading! If you liked this, let me know! And if you'd click that 'Follow' button, that would be super awesome! Let me know what you think in the comments!
