The Marine

I woke up with a snort, I was so tired last night after guiding the refugees here that I must've passed out in the throne I was sitting in. I heard the birds chirping, and the wind blowing through the leaves. I stood up and brushed myself off, I turned around and looked at the throne that I had occupied all night. Thinking back to what I had said last night, and I swear I could hear the wind speak to me right before I passed out, it asked. "Where's your crown?....." Well if I wasn't already insane then that confirmed it. I'm not a king, I'm a shitty leader and an even shittier boyfriend. I slowly walked down the steps and stood in the old throne room, "Well...If no one is going to fucking use it. I'm going to make a few changes." I heard some chittering after I spoke and then went down to the dungeon.

The changelings all stood there, huddled together and I looked at them, they were terrified. I sighed and looked at them, "I'm gonna regret this." I mumbled to myself. Within 15 minutes I had all of the changelings, nymphs and infiltrators stood in the abandoned and half deteriorated courtyard. "I'm going to be honest with all of you," I started. "You're all very pathetic, and weak. I very much doubt that you could defend yourselves from a baby at this point."

The changelings wined and looked at me. "Are you going to go anywhere with this?" Thorax asked tiredly.

"I was getting to that point; none of this is your fault. You got dealt crap and had to survive by being crap. You're not going to change overnight, I find it funny considering your species name is changeling." I said, "This world doesn't like your kind, and that's not your fault. You did what you have to in order to survive and I am one of the only people in this god forsaken rainbow land that can actually see that. But that doesn't change the fact that no one likes you, so there will come a point in time where you have to decide what you're going to do about it. I've done what I could to provide you with the building blocks to start a new life here underneath this decrepit castle. I'm also going to give you something else."

The changelings were buzzing with excitement. "What is it?" Ocellus asked me.

"There's going to be people that want to take this away from you, to take your newfound freedom from you. I'm going to give you the tools you need to defend yourselves when that time arrives." I told them and suddenly they all got very quiet.

"You're going to teach us how to fight? But that's why we wanted to leave the Badlands, and the Crystal Empire! So we wouldn't have to fight!" The changeling named Zaten said.

"I'm not asking you to go out and start a war, I'm not going to train you on how to do that. But what are you going to do when you run out of places to hide? When you can't run any farther or any faster? What then?" I asked them, the answer was silence once more. "I understand why you don't want to fight, I really do. I've been fighting for so long that I didn't think I could fight any more, but then a little voice speaks up in the back of my head. If you don't fight for something, they're going to take away EVERYTHING." I told them, and walked forward, "Every day you fight something, you fight to survive. You fight to wake up, you fight to be scared, and you fight to be happy. When the world doesn't like you, you gotta say back to the world, 'I didn't ask if you liked me, I asked if you're ready for round 2.'"

"I'm ready!" Ocellus cheered.

"You got guts kid, but you're going to need more that just guts. You have to have determination, will, and resilience. Because the world isn't going to give you anything else. It's going to fight you and you have to be prepared to fight back." I told her, I looked to the others. They soon grew stone faced and determined, "I'm not going to lie to you. This is going to be hell, I'm going to push you. I might even break a few of you, but that's okay. Because in the end, I want you to succeed where your changeling brethren have failed. I want you to be the best you can be, not for some fucking queen who doesn't even care about you, or doesn't even know your fucking names. I want you to be the best you can be for yourselves. To fight for a future that you want, that you deserve!" Soon after that they were all cheering. "But first, we need to get to work. This courtyard isn't going to turn itself into a training ground."

That's exactly what we did, we got to work. Fixing the dungeons into a suitable home for the changelings, turning the courtyard into a training ground. This was within the span of a few days, and no I didn't spend all my time with the changelings, I went home after the first day. We built for a few hours every night after I got off work with Applejack and Sweet Apple Acres, I've been crashing with Zecora. She really likes to cuddle; however on one of the nights on my way to her hut, I figured out that I was being followed. I pulled out my KA-Bar I had been bringing with me into the Everfree.

I led the pursuer through a wild goose chase through the woods, and had finally lost them. I had lived in the forest for several years, I know most of its tricks and pratfalls. I could easily lose someone be it predator or prey. When said pursuer came near my position I grabbed them and flung them to the nearest tree I almost pressed my KA-bar against their throat until I noticed a distinct pink coloring. I just hurt Pinkie. "PINKIE!" I shouted, "Fucking hell are you alright?"

"You're a lot stronger than I give you credit for honey-bunny." Pinkie commented, "I'm fine. After all you don't grow up on a rock farm without becoming tough."

"What are you doing out here? And why were you following me?" I asked her.

"I was...out for a walk, and I wanted to surprise you?" Pinkie half-heartedly said.

"Pinkie, don't bullshit a bullshitter." I said, "You wouldn't be out here if not for a good reason and you know how I feel about surprises. You just can't do that to someone that's as paranoid as I am."

"I thought you were getting better about that." Pinkie mumbled.

"It's a process, it's something that takes time. It's kinda like asking you to change your mane and tail color from fuchsia to pitch black. It's not impossible, it just takes a fuckload of time." I told her, "That still doesn't answer the question of why the hell you were following me."

"I was...I was worried for you. You had left on a whim and then suddenly come back and start spending most of your time in the everfree forest or at work. You can't even make it home most of the time and just sleep with our herd sister Zecora." Pinkie said, "I got worried that you were doing something scary."

"My actions have been erratic for the past few days haven't they?" I asked rhetorically, "I'm sorry Pinkie, I've had a lot on my mind and I've wanted to help everyone at once without really considering how they would feel and how concerned they would be of me."

Pinkie came up and hugged me, "Could you please try not to make a habit of it?" She asked with a slight tremble in her voice.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her up, "I'll do my best." I then set her down and she bent down to kiss me, which I gladly reciprocated. When we broke apart I looked at her, "Pinkie, can you keep a secret?"

"Of course I can!" She cheered.

"Even if it was from the girls?" I asked her.

"I-I don't know." She replied, "How big of a secret is it?"

"It's huge." I told her, "People's lives are at stake."

"I-I think I could." She answered.

"I can't tell you what I've been up to unless you absolutely know that you cannot tell a soul." I told her, "These people can't trust anyone but me. Do you understand what I'm saying?" I asked her, "Can you keep this a secret?"

Pinkie gulped, then the baker nodded. "Yes I can keep it a secret, even from the girls."

"Pinkie Promise me." I asked her, I knew that was being excessive but I can't risk anything coming out too soon.

"I cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye that whatever you're about to show me that I'll keep a secret, even from my friends." She said while doing the motions. I held out my hand and she took it, I stuck my knife back into its sheath and led her through the forest, back to where I had come from, the castle of the two sisters. In the time that I was spending there, I had decided to replace the old rope bridge, with solid oak and stone. We also found a use for the old dungeon cell doors, I had them turned into a gate with a locking mechanism that only I and a few others knew how open, the changelings could now fly, well a majority of them knew how to fly. The others used the bridge. Pinkie was taking in all the new features of the castle. I then showed her the occupants of the castle, she gasped and attempted to run off but I grabbed her by the wrist and with all my strength I held her there. "Mickey! We need to go warn the others!"

"Pinkie, these were the people I was talking about." I said coldly and that stopped her.

"Y-You did this?" She asked, "But why, changelings are no good, love stealing-"

"Monsters?" I completed for her looking in her eye. "Look at them." I told her but she avoided my gaze, "Look at them." I reiterated. She gulped and looked at the sleeping changelings, the ones who were awake were huddled in a corner, in a defensive stance in front of the nymphs. "I'll tell you what I see, I see people that were pulled into a conflict that they had no other choice to be a part of; they're just people who want the protect their kids, and not be caught up in a fight just so that they can eat. They're hungry, they're scared, they need someone's help. You call them monsters, here's the thing about monsters Pinkie, monsters are not born. They're created. You're dating a bigger and badder monster than the changelings. Or did you forget the fact that I'm probably the only one in equestria that has willingly taken another life?"

"That's- but that's different." Pinkie tried to argue.

"How?" I replied, "I chose to become a marine, I chose the life of being a killing machine and I chose to kill or be killed. They never chose to become changelings, they sure as hell never chose to eat what they do, and they didn't choose Chrysalis to be their ruler." I told her, "Right now, the only monster I see. Is me." During my entire spiel I felt Pinkie's resistance against my grip weaken she stopped trying to pull away. "They need help, and most importantly. They need a friend."

"How can I help?" Pinkie looked up at me, I smiled at her.