The four of you all sat within the royal dining hall, Celestia and Luna at either head of the table, with you and Atlas sitting opposite each other in the middle. Watching ponies sit was such a weird thing, but you really weren’t too worried about that. What worried you more was the fact that you were eating oatmeal and you actually enjoyed it. The simple pleasures of life always seemed to come to you at the strangest times, and now was no exception. You caught yourself questioning your sanity when you realized that the subtle notes of vanilla and, of all things, lavender made you momentarily forget the degree to which you were willing to forgive, or even commit, great atrocity in the quest for animal meat.

“I trust you all slept well” Celestia asked, smiling softly at you. Of course you slept well. You could swim laps in the oversized bed you’d found yourself in. Of course spending a night without Em was now unusual, but you two had decided that would be too large a risk at this point.

“Yes, your Highness.” Atlas agreed, “We are immensely grateful for the truly magnificent accommodations.”

“Yeah. Beats everything in Ponyville except the innkeeper,” you add, “I can’t seem to mess with your maids as easily as I could embarrass Cornflower. They’re way too serious!”

“We shall fire them all at once!” Luna exclaimed.

“Whoa, that’s not necessary,” Atlas cautioned, “right Anon?”

“Yeah, I just expected a bit more shock when they walked in on me with my dick rock hard,” you admitted, “But no, it was just a polite apology and they disappeared! They didn’t even respond when I propositioned them! I was hoping for at least a gasp of surprise or maybe an eventual look of curiosity!”

“In all my years, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anypony complain about the absence of unprofessional behavior,” Celestia laughed, “But I believe our staff have acted in accordance with their training and expectations, don’t you Luna?”

She simply nodded as Atlas, as per usual, looked at you with disgust.

“But no,” you redirected, “It really beats sharing a tiny room with Atlas. He takes up all the bed, hogs the covers, and snores like a log!”

“Atlas, you shared your bed with Anon?” Luna asked, cocking her head.

“Wait no! Hold on. Never mind! I slept on the floor! I take it back!”

“How unorthodox!” Luna giggled, “It is not every day that you would see two stallions lay with one another.”

“Wait! I didn’t…” you tried, “We didn’t sleep together if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“We did share the bed,” Atlas said. Fuck him for throwing you under the bus, “But I have not lain with him. Our arrangement was simply an exercise in frugality. The bed was sizable and more than large enough for both of us. Although, Anon, you never brought those complaints to me. I would have been more mindful of my accommodations.” Okay, nevermind then. Bro status reinstated.

“Yeah…” you agreed, “Atlas asked if I wanted a separate room, but I still don’t understand how money works here so I didn’t want to break the bank. Um, you guys have banks right?”

“Well I applaud your resourcefulness, Atlas. You’ve always been one to go above and beyond, and this is no exception to what I’ve come to expect from you.” Celestia applauded, something more than just kindness in her voice. You chewed on what it was that you were hearing, while you also continued to munch on your breakfast, just as confused by her behavior as you were by your newfound herbivorous tendencies.

“So shall we discuss that which is planned for Anon’s visit?” Luna asked, turned towards Celestia.

“I suppose that we should.” Celestia acquiesced, “Unfortunately, as it would appear, Luna and I will be quite busy today. We hoped that we could earmark today to introduce you to the royal court and then provide you with a tour of Canterlot. However, other matters beleaguer the court today and we shall both be quite busy in ensuring that we address today’s concerns, and free up time for our ambitions for the next several days.”

“It’s cool,” you sigh, “I guess hanging out with two princesses all day was probably a bit much to hope for.”

“Anon! ‘Twas not our intention to leave you to your own devices. But the needs of the empire prevail, and while you will be here tomorrow, the threat of Changeling activity within our borders must not.”

“Wait, what’s this about Changelings?” you ask, “I keep hearing about them, but I don’t understand why they’re so frightening.”

“Changelings are the antithesis of all that we stand for,” Celestia began, her eyes distant, “They take that which is not theirs, pervert the beauty of love by consuming it, and their continued actions undermine the sovereignty of Equestria. They have no concept of diplomacy, and would take the throne only to burn it to the ground. They are a disease, Anon, one that must be cured.”

“Hold on here… You’re planning to eradicate them?” you ask, “An entire species just because you don’t agree with their ideology?”

“Anon, stop.” Atlas called, except you weren’t sure those words were his.

“No, this shit’s fucked up! My world’s darkest moments all center around one man who used the same concepts to justify unspeakable evils.”

“We don’t mean to eradicate them,” Celestia tried to correct, “Only to defend our soil from them. They are not our concern outside our borders.”

“Wouldn’t they starve out then?”

“Like I said, that would not be our concern.”

“Fuck,” you sighed, trying to balance the morality on a topic where you were woefully uninformed.

“Anyway, as for today’s activities… Atlas,” Celestia asked, “Do you think you would be able to show Anon around the city?”

“Yes, your Highness! What would you like me to show him?”

“I trust your judgment, Atlas. You’ve always been exceptionally good at knowing your way around.”

“Thank you.”

“No, Atlas,” Celestia corrected, “Thank you. I know you’ll give Anon a wholesome introduction to our wonderful city. We shall plan to reconvene tomorrow at the same time.”

Canterlot was so much larger than Ponyville. The cobblestone streets and more pristine architecture gave it a distinctly emotionless feeling. That didn’t really surprise you though. It was just like the metropolises of your world, a city for business, too fast for emotions or feelings to matter. Nonetheless, you were in awe of the sheer breadth of everything. From the towering castle that took fifteen minutes to traverse to the radial layout of streets that seemed to, just like your world, have been outgrown and outmoded. Something kept coming back to your mind, and the coldness of the city around you did not help.

You had been walking for several hours, Atlas calling out all kinds of absurd trivia and talking at length about each shop, restaurant, museum, or other attraction you passed by. It was ultimately overwhelming, but you tried your best to listen, not because you expected to ever need this knowledge, but because Atlas was so engrossed in it. Eventually you started to break from the main thoroughfares on to quieter streets that gave Atlas less to talk about and opened up a great amount of dead air for you to pollute. So you did.

“I don’t know how I feel about all this Changeling stuff, Atlas,” you said out of nowhere, breaking a solid silence that had really been wearing on you.

“Anon, we really shouldn’t be talking about this.” Atlas chided as he kept on walking.

“No, Atlas. I’m serious about this. And not just because…” you paused, “You know I’m never serious, but I’ve seen this play out before. I don’t want the same poor judgment to become history here.”

“You know, if you saw this from the pony side, I think you’d agree with them.” Atlas said.

“Em!” you whispered in disbelief, “You can’t be serious?”

“Changelings have a long and storied history of causing great harm to many societies. Changelings have killed hundreds if not thousands of ponies both in defense of their station and as a result of their primary function of extracting love. Why would any sane leader allow such a threat to survive? Simply exiling them from sovereign lands is what many would consider a foolishly gracious endeavor.”

“There has to be a better way!” you declare, “Killing an entire race because-”

“I admire your ambition, Anon,” Atlas began, rounding the corner onto a smaller street, “But this is bigger than you, bigger than me. This is bigger even than the princesses, but yet they find themselves bearing this weight.”

“I don’t see why this can’t be solved peacefully.”

“You heard Celestia, Changelings aren’t interested in diplomacy. All it’s ever gotten us-” Atlas stuttered, “All it’s ever gotten them are lies and empty promises.”

“That doesn’t sound like diplomacy then.”

“So believe the Changelings, but even if there were an accord to settle this, there’s no way there’s enough love to sustain both ponies and Changelings.”

“Love is infinite, Atlas! You don’t just run out of it after you love something. No, when you love something it multiplies, it grows, it keeps going. And when someone loves you back…” you trail off.

“Nopony would ever truly love a Changeling!” Atlas spat, staring at you as if you had delivered him the greatest offense of his life.

“Why not?” you ask, “I’m falling for one.”

Atlas pulled you quickly off into a narrow corridor between two buildings, pinning you up against the wall and rising on his hindlegs to get as close to your stature as possible. His lips were curled in a vicious snarl.

“No you’re not.” Atlas growled, except it wasn’t Atlas’s voice that came out. “Don’t say that. You’re only lying to yourself if you honestly believe that.”

“Em,” you calm, staring softly down at Atlas, “I’ve spent my entire life lying to myself. This isn’t that. Whatever you say, I know how I feel.”

“You’re only hurting yourself, Anon. This is what Changelings do! They convince you that you love whatever disguise they’re wearing, they feed on you. Except you’re so weak willed I didn’t even need a disguise!”

“Em, thats not true-”

“It is, Anon. You’re a meal to me. I’d leave you the second you stop feeding me.”

“No you wouldn’t,” you countered, sure of yourself.

“Fine, leave. See if I follow you!” her voice called out, as Atlas let go of you.

“I’m not going to do that,” you declared. Atlas’s eyes widened.

“I can’t love you back, Anon. It’ll always feel like it, you’ll always believe it’s real, but it’s not. I’ll always be keeping every ounce of love for myself.”

“I don’t think that’s true either. To love someone doesn’t strip you of love, it produces it.”

“For you maybe, but Changelings can’t produce love! Do you think we’d be where we were if we could generate our own love?”

“I think you just need to learn how.”

“It could never happen! It’s not possible!”

“Just like nobody would ever truly love a Changeling?”

“That’s not a thing either! You’re deluding yourself.”

“Well there’s only way to find out. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll keep feeding you, loving you, keeping your secret safe if you promise you’ll try to open your mind to the possibility of love.”

“You can’t-” came her voice, “I can’t…”

“I thought you wanted to be the best Changeling there is! You learn how to produce love and you’d be a hero.”

“You’re right. I owe it to the hive to at least try.”

“Then c’mon… and change into a mare real quick. I’m taking you on a date,” you commanded, “Um… but you gotta pay. You know, broke and all.”

A figure, black as tar, moved in the distance, alighting quickly and disappearing in the sky against the backdrop of a setting sun.

Author's Note

I didn't quite get where I wanted to in these 2000 words, but this ended up being much more real than I thought it would be...

I was traveling for work all of last week, which meant that I got way behind on writing. Instead of having my usual buffer of chapters, I actually wrote this day-of, on a plane and then a ferry.

While I was traveling, I was in a kind of weird headspace so I'm kind of glad I didn't write much then. It's refreshing to be back, and to not hate everything as much.