A Twisted plan from a Twisted Man
The escape plan
By Episke Afire
The invasion to Canterlot was a failure, overwhelming force meets an unstoppable object or in this case barrier and now a lonely changeling starts to recall how did get in this situation, bound by the fore and back legs and also the torso, transported in a toy wheel cart pulled by a little group of foals to the center of the town that he landed( or crashed) nearby.
After his involuntary arrival to the farm, he was unconscious for a long time and later was founded by the biggest pony he has seen before, then locked in a barn by said pony and after a successful escape via the open window he flew to a little house on a tree where he decided to rest.
That was his mistake.
Now the changeling was struggling his hardest to escape his jailors but without result, ignoring on purpose the glares of the ponies around him, the feels of fear and hate were only distracting him more as he tried to loosen up the rope around his forelegs.
“Ah believe that Applejack would know where could a changeling be lock-up”, said the little yellow filly, just after the white one asked what to do now.
“Nah, Rainbow Dash would just pound the critter to the Everfree so he would never come back!”, the brash orange one exclaimed.
“I just wanted to make sure that Rarity knows that there is a creature like the ones that attacked Canterlot here so she could talk to Twilight and leave the guards to take care of it”, comment the white filly.
Both the orange and yellow ones turn around the cart and look to the white filly.
“What are you mean Sweetie Belle? Why would we go with Rarity?”, the orange one said to the white filly called Sweetie Belle, “If we need to find anypony, is Rainbow Dash the pony who can help us”, but this gain a look of disbelief from the yellow filly.
“Rainbow Dash? Why Rainbow Dash would know what to do? Nah, Applejack knows how to help us, that’s why we are going to the market Scootaloo!”.
Even when he now knows where the fillies were taking him, the changeling knew that information was essential when you were on a disguise so he paid attention to the conversation so he could use any leverage in case he escaped from the town, but he started to believe that that was not gonna be the case and the bounds were resisting all his effort to break out.
“We are going to the market?”, said now the confused Scootaloo to the yellow filly, “Applebloom, I thought we were going to Rainbow Dash lives!”.
But Applebloom now with a deadpan look limited to reason with the sentence, “How?”.
“What?”.
“How?”, Applebloom let Scootaloo express more.
“What do you mean? We look for the house of Rainbow Dash, call her, she comes out and takes the changeling out of Ponyville! Simple enough!”, Scootaloo said to Applebloom.
Before Applebloom could retort, Sweetie Belle inserted herself into the conversation.
“But Rainbow Dash lives too far from here, and even if we go anyways her home is on the sky and you can’t fly yet”.
“Well…”, Scootaloo tried to retort, “We could yell if we needed!”.
“But if she isn’t there, which could be, we would be wasting time because we decided to go too far for something that could we resolved before”, finished Sweetie Belle.
“That is what I’m telling you!”, exclaimed Applebloom to Scootaloo.
“But going to the market could be a bad idea because everypony could be afraid of the changeling”, added Sweetie Belle.
“Say what?”.
‘Yeah ‘Say what’, I’m already bound to this infernal rope that I can’t break!’ think the infuriated changeling, ‘“Everyling, fear the masochist changeling, he can harm you by his glare of impotence”’, sarcastically ended.
“If we go to my sister place, she could lock the changeling on a closet, we would go to Twilight and she would call the guards and this could be resolved before evening”.
But even with sound logic, Applebloom and Scootaloo weren’t going to recede.
“Ah say we go with Applejack!”, said Applebloom.
“Let’s go with Rainbow Dash!”, yelled Scootaloo.
“With Rarity!”, exclaimed Sweetie Belle.
“Applejack!”.
“Rainbow Dash!”.
“Rarity!”.
“APPLEJACK!”.
“RAINBOW DASH!”.
“RARITY!”.
“Girls?”.
The masculine voice startled everyone, the fillies because they did not expect to somepony to approach them, but the changeling was even more startled because he didn’t notice until the voice was right behind him.
Even more, because the pony wasn’t a pony.
He didn’t know what it was.
The creature that spoke was something that he hasn’t seen before on all his life, it towers him over 6 foot, standing on his back hooves/pawns/talons/whatever was it, it lacked fur, feathers or even chitin except a bush of hairs on the top of his head there below there are diminutive eyes, what looked like a snout combined with a beak but fleshy and what could be his lips but with skin that didn’t look the same as its face, if he was to guess, he would say that that part suffered a first-degree burn and was just started to heal.
Below its head, it was probably his neck and torso, followed by four extremities that could be it’s fore and back legs if it was a quadruped but with what looked like clothes that covered it he couldn’t be sure.
Where finish its extremities instead of hooves where claws so stubby that he couldn’t be called claws but they looked so dexterity that couldn’t be pawns and they also lacked the nails that could dig through flesh like other predators.
Oh, and also it talked.
“What are you doing arguing in the middle of the road? And why you have a changeling tied on Scootaloo’s cart?”, the being talked again.
So the being now identified as a male did find the situation unusual, which showed that was a sapient being at least without knowing it… his background; an identified hostile creature was carried by three little ponies in the middle of the town should be motive of question and relocation of the foals far away of the hostile being.
Sometimes little larvae asked why did consume the feelings of another sapient being by hiding ourselves if we could just ask for it, and this was the reason for most of the time.
Sometimes obvious scenarios were lost by the prey.
And you don’t reason with prey.
Maybe that was the reason that the invasion was a failure because we tried to act as an equal force to the prey instead of doing what we have been doing before.
And also by following a queen that force a boom on our population and then offering more food than we could eat.
Literally.
“Hello, Mr. Adam”, the three fillies replied to the creature.
“We are carrying the changeling so he can be prosecuted for his actions of Canterlot”, Sweetie Belle responded eloquently.
“Speak Equish Sweetie Belle, not everypony is a walking dictionary”, argued Scootaloo.
Before another fight could start, Adam interrupted again, “I noticed that by how you bound and gagged him, but why are you doing it?”.
The fillies didn’t respond immediately but a few seconds later Applebloom did respond, “He was hiding on our clubhouse and Big Mac says that we shouldn’t get close to the barn because he has a changeling locked over there so he asked us to go back to town, but we needed something from our clubhouse and we find it sleeping so we trapped it but because could not get Big Mac because he left earlier to look for the guards, we decided to take him to Applejack so she could take care of it, but Scootaloo wants to take it to Rainbow Dash so she can pound it and Sweetie Belle wants to take him to Rarity so she or Twilight can call to the guards and now we don’t know what to do”.
The changeling having stopped struggling with the rope; if he could talk from the gag he would have denied that he was sleeping, he was just meditating so he could escape later, just failed to notice the fillies because he was occupied.
“Oh, well that’s an unusual story but you should leave it to an adult so they can take care of him”, Adam responded.
“But that’s boring, we want to see was going to happen to the changeling!”, whined Scootaloo.
“No, Scootaloo, you should not think like that, in fact, let’s go to my place, is near here, you three can leave him there and after that go for Twilight Sparkle, she can send a Guard to me and he can take him”, declared Adam.
The changeling now started to double his efforts to escape, this was an intelligent creature, he was actually a threat for his freedom, and have already had a plan to make it through.
“Awww…”, whined all three of them.
After a short travel, they arrived at Adam’s home, it was like another house but looked bigger so he could live there, the door was bigger, the table was bigger, the chairs were bigger, everything was bigger.
The only thing that was different from other ponies houses was it looked barren like he just moved in.
No pictures on the wall, no flowers to decorate the table, not even posters to claim a liking that other ponies should have in their homes.
But the things that he has looked used or at least well-worn.
The walls didn’t looked like have fresh paint, the chairs show their wear by the carving of the floor, and even the table looked like a leg was busted and was replaced by a new one, just because it wasn’t battered as the other legs of the table.
And now he could see the couch.
Before he could check it, he was lifted by the creature called Adam and put it on the couch, surprisingly gently.
But the little time he was lifted and put down he felt something strange, but could not figure it immediately and now his attention was on Adam who was speaking to the fillies.
“Now, look for Twilight Sparkle on her home, if for some reason she isn’t there, then look for Spike and ask for Twilight Sparkle, if he isn’t there, then go with Rarity to look for Twilight Sparkle or Spike, Spike should be there, if Twilight Sparkle isn’t there, then ask him if he knows where is Twilight Sparkle, but if he doesn’t know where she is, then ask him to contact princess Celestia to contact to the local garrison so they can send a single guard, I don’t want to find a complete battalion outside the house just for a single changeling, understood?”.
The fillies were a little overwhelmed by the instructions given but eventually, Sweetie Belle affirmed with a nod and the other two followed on the action and leave the house.
And now the changeling was alone with Adam, a complete unknown creature to him except what he already supposed from the talk of Adam with the fillies.
“They left the cart..” he muttered to himself, “Now Mister Changeling…”, Adam started but didn’t follow up, instead, he leaves him to go to another room outside his vision.
With an excellent opportunity, the changeling started again to struggle again with the rope but realized that they were still strong and until someone unties him, he was going nowhere.
And just now the creature return with a cup of something.
“I’m going to do something and I’m asking you to not react harshly, ok?”.
Leaving the cup on the armrest, Adam starts to lift with claws to his face and now behind him.
That when he realized what he felt before, he feels Adam’s claws touching him on the back of his head, he felt the claws when Adam lift him to the couch, he could see them, he knows that.
So why he can’t feel Adam’s emotions?
Every live creature that the changelings have encountered before have feelings, even the non-sapient, from the average pony to the turtle on a pond, from the big dragon to a bear cub, even his brothers and sisters can feel their emotions themself, even they are sillies stories of rocks having emotions but that could be magical crystals.
But this… Thing, he doesn’t feel anything from it!
And that scares him.
What kind of monster has the ponies hiding in this town?
And oh by the founders! What was it going to do to him!?
Just before he could conjure any horrible thoughts of his horrible dismay, he felt how the gag on his mouth was loosened.
“There, I know that was getting unpleasant, was it?”, the Thing said.
He knows that was asked to not react harshly but on his defense, his actions were more as frightened that anything, so when he fired a low-level stun spell in self-defense, that could have been interpreted as ‘out of his mind’ and ‘run like Tartarus’, even if the rope stopped from running, he could crawl.
So after the Thing recoiled from the stun spell, he decided to crawl like he was a larva all over again, he maybe could reach the door if he put himself again on his hooves and jump to reach the doorknob.
So when he felt the claws of the Thing, again, lifting up and to the couch, he understands how much he has bucked up, and maybe if the guards find him first he could survive whatever horrible despair that was going to suffer.
“Ok, I didn’t expect that but at least you didn’t bite my finger off”, comment the Thing.
Now the changeling was done, forget run and blend in with a disguise, he misused what little magic he has on a spell that the Thing didn’t even notice.
So he did the only thing he could do at a time like this.
He wept.
His weeping was low but soul scarring, a weird combination of pitiful sobs and low screeching, followed by some irregulars gasp of air and repeated from there, the combination of the failure of the invasion with his imprisonment and now his future demise fully weight them now that is in front of this monster, and he could do nothing to stop it.
“Could you stop crying? It’s annoying”, he heard the Thing said.
Of course, he can stop it, if there was another creature with feelings that show kindness or at least awkwardness, but he still can feel nothing from the Thing in front of him and until then he wasn’t stopping.
But a splash of water to the face can and did stop him to continue on his despair, as he tried to recover air the Thing talked again.
“Now, while I go again to the kitchen for more water, you will compose yourself and we are going to have a little talk, do you understand?”, insisted with a grave voice.
After recovering some air, the changeling frantically nodded, still afraid of it because even if its voice showed some anger, he still didn’t feel anything.
At least he now believes that he was going make it out of the house of this creature, if it wanted just to talk, he could talk, he could talk from any topic that the Thing wanted, just let him live and he will talk until the guards arrive.
“So do you have a name?”.
That was something he didn’t want to talk about but now the question is on the air and he needs to respond or who knows what the creature will do to him.
“My name…?”, the changeling dumbly repeated.
“Yes, your name”, the creature return to the room with the same cup that was on the armrest before, “Saying to you ‘Mister Changeling’ doesn’t feel okay now that I know you can talk”, explains the creature.
For some reason, his mind did go to the myth of demons that if you gave his name they could have power over you, even if it was a stupid myth, he was in front a creature he hasn’t seen before, and he hasn’t seen a demon before on his life.
But decided that was stupid, it was just his mind going to stupid places because he is afraid, but now he can at least reason with the situation.
This wasn’t a demon, demons didn’t need to live in a house, they do not reassure you or try to reason with you.
“My name is Thorax”, the changeling finally said.
“Interesting...”, replied the creature.
Maybe he made a mistake and it is a demon, just a polite demon.
“My name is Adam Grolier, but you can call me Adam, for some reason the ponies feel that my last name is weird and try to use my first name only, even if they speak to me with respect”.
Thorax was now conflicted, this creature… Adam sounded normal but he still fears him because he doesn’t reflect any emotion like him or anyone he has seeing today, but he at least shows courtesy to him when should be angry because his last attempt to attack him, but here was, talking to him as he was another changeling from the hive just making conversation to let pass time.
Well, at least he could obtain some answers.
“Excuse”, Thorax said, “Adam, right?”.
“Yes?”.
“Could you tell me what are you?”.
Adam didn’t respond for a moment but after a sigh, he replied, “I’m a human, a human male if you weren’t sure before.”
Thorax didn’t think that more questioning from that point was a good idea, he believes that Adam needed to constantly repeat the same answers from there and he didn't want to bother him anymore right now.
“So, what do you want to know?”, Thorax facilitated the conversation.
“Why did you come to Ponyville?”, Adam questioned.
“I didn’t want to come to Ponyville, I crashed here…”.
“What do you- Ah, the barrier push you from Canterlot”.
“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty, but I been trying to escape since then”.
“Well, you are no good enough if a group of little fillies did capture you”, interrupted Adam.
“Hey!”, an upset Thorax indignant object.
“You are right, that was uncalled for, those fillies did catch me on my first hide and seek game and I was trying”, Adam hollow apology replied to him.
“Grr… Oh, it’s alright, I wasn’t paying attention and that allowed them to capture me”, he lamely ended, but after a simple tough he asked, “Hey, could you free me from the rope? You can tell the guards that I stun you and I managed to cut the rope, I promise to never come back after that”.
“That was what you tried to do before?”, asked Adam, which provoke a strong flinch from Thorax, “Even if I release you and tell them that they would not believe me”.
“You don’t know that!”.
“Yes, I do”.
“How?!”.
“Because magic doesn’t work with me”.
Thorax almost retorted when the sentence got to him.
“...what do you mean by ‘magic doesn’t work with me’?”.
Adam understood that this was something he could not evade but it wasn’t like it matters to him.
“Magic doesn’t work with me because and I quote ‘Your species must reject or lack a magic core and all the thaumaturgical lines that are needed to magic to work with you’, the magic that could you use on me, will not work, from a simple levitation spell to advanced teleportation spell, they just pass from me like I wasn’t there, I also disrupt high concentration magic fields that are created by any unicorn or other creature that can concentrate magic at a fixed point.”
Thorax didn’t even know how to respond at that.
Magic is the base of all laws of the universe, it exists on everything, that a ‘Human’ claims that magic doesn’t work because he is a ‘Human’ really left him speechless.
“If you are wondering; no, you are not affected by being by my side, you create your magic and it’s safe inside you, even if I touch you, but when you throw your magic at me it loses its energy and momentum when touches me”.
He didn’t even consider that.
“So telling the guards that you stun me would not work because they already know this”, Adam finished explaining to Thorax.
Thorax was dumbfounded, he could think another way that he could get away but he needed the human helped him, but he knows that was impossible.
Why he would help him? not only he tried to attack him but also any action to help would result in him getting on trouble; if he loosens the rope they would ask who did bind the changeling and by with initial struggles they would know that somepony did help him to escape and that pony or in this case the human would be taken by the guards, if the human decided to carry him and take him away from Ponyville, the disguise spell could or would fail, there would be countless witnesses and they would not get far.
Thorax started to hyperventilate.
And again, a splash of water did stop him before he could continue.
“I’m starting to believe that no one it’s going to drink anything on this house”, Adam flatly said.
Maybe Adam believes that, but his lungs are protesting about that.
But Adam asked something that might force him to spit if he was drinking.
“Look, do you really want to escape? Because I can tell you how to do it”.
With no way to feel the emotions related to dishonesty, he could not tell if the human was serious.
But he dared to hope.
“How could I escape, Adam?”.
“Simple”, the human proclaimed, “Lie”.
And that hope was broken, crushed and blown away by the wind.
“That is cruel, why did you do that to me?”, Thorax’s depression was started to grow again.
“Let me expand more about that”, the human recover hastily.
After a few coughs, he started again, “You need to lie so hard that believing the contrary would be impossible, throw lies over your lies, throw soo many lies that they would take months to make heads and tails of your deception, and sell it with a lie that also is true”.
So deception was the plan of Adam.
“But that is something that I already do!!”, cried Thorax.
“That is not true”, Adam retorted, “You deceive ponies to take their places and harvest energy from their relationships, after that you abandon those relationships when is needed to return to the hive to give over the energy you suck up”.
“How is that different from what you said before?! Is still a lie! And how you even know that?!”, Thorax was slowly getting more upset with each second.
“Look, maybe is better if I tell you an example”, Adam ignored and reasoned with Thorax, “You can’t be locked away because that means that you will die and the ponies, they don’t want that”.
Of course he would die! Without love energy, he would be just a carcass and the ponies don’t want that!
Wait, what?
“The ponies don’t want me to die?”.
“I don’t know that, but I would expect that some ponies don’t want to know that they provoked the death of a sapient being, even if they deserve it, I know that for personal experience”, Adam explained to him.
“Why?”.
“Mostly because they believe that harmony is like karma or that every bad action that you made is punished in life or death, its a really interesting concept that a lot of species share unconsciously, even if there is no clear representation of a creator or another godly being that takes care of the karma ener-”, but Adam was interrupted by Thorax.
“No, not that! Why you know that for personal experience?”.
For the first time, Thorax believes he knows what feeling the human Adam is having at this moment, even if he still doesn’t feel the emotion.
Sadness
His eyes look sad but just for a moment then return to an indifferent stare.
Now that Thorax has time to think about it, this is the only time that his eyes have been different, if he was behind a clear window, he would believe that was looking to a portrait.
After a few seconds on silence, Adam responds, “For that, I need to be sure of something before I tell you”.
And asked.
“Does anyone of your species know anything about humans?”.
Did the changeling species do know anything about humans? Thorax could not help himself to repeat the question.
And he did draw a blank.
Even the word was unheard, he never heard any description of a biped like Adam when he was studying species on his field days, not even rumors.
Did the Queen Chrysalis know something about humans? Unlikely, everyling on the hive did know the same information that the Queen has, only field researches like him could know new information but that was relayed immediately to the hive for future projects and no one has ever seen something like the human.
“No”, Thorax finally responded.
“Figures, I’m that fucked”. Adam muttered.
They stay silent, Thorax because didn’t know what to do and Adam looked like he was thinking something unpleasant.
And just like that, Adam started to talk again, “I’m not from this planet, I’m an Alien, but I didn’t want to come here, I was throw out from my planet to this one by a magical spell, something like you but it wasn’t a barrier, it was more like a window, a window that I did break when I cross it”.
And he continued talking, but more like talking to himself, “Twilight Sparke, that mare was tweaking with a teleportation spell when I did come crashing through the library, then out through the window and then finally stopped after I reached Sugar Cube Corner”.
He blinked a few times like he just woke up, and finished his story, “After I ragdolled my way to Ponyville, I should have died, but the ponies didn’t let me, even when the healing spells didn’t work, even when I screamed for the pain and after that, I screamed at them for causing my suffering, even for the weeks I was in pain and then begging them to kill me, they didn’t let me die”.
Thorax could not believe how someone could so calm as Adam could be yelling and wishing for his own death, but then again, Thorax did know how painful would be thrown like a doll through the trees so he could relate to him, but to not be able to use magic to heal himself, that could not be pleasant even to watch.
“So yeah, I believe that ponies they would not kill you and even they would try to keep you alive, even if you don’t want to, but that’s part of the lie that you need to escape”.
If Adam didn’t mention it, Thorax would forget that this is an escape plan for a moment.
“And now we need a reason that they won't lock you up and keep you alive against your will, so you must make yourself look like you're trying to end your own life”, the human revealed.
“What!? But I don’t want to die!”, Thorax replied horrified.
“Good, I would hate to talk just for talk, but to escape, you need to lie and make them believe that if they lock you up, you will kill yourself, you remember why?”.
Trying to regain composure, Thorax recalled and said, “Because ponies don’t want me to die?”.
“Excellent, you are learning, but remember that you would need to commit if needed, but don’t take drastic action if there is a safer method”.
Somewhat disturbed, Thorax needed some help to understand this horrible concept, “So what do you suggest? Do I hit my head on the floor until I pass out?”.
“They wouldn’t let you do it until you pass out, but you would make yourself bleed and that could make them squirm a little, or if you hit hard enough in one go, you could pass out but if that doesn’t happen, you need to stay on character and try a second time, at that point the guards should stop you, after that, you will wake up strapped on a bed”.
“But wait, I thought this was a plan to escape, everything you have said will only lock me up with more guards!”.
“That is necessary for the third step, curse them for locking you up and forcing you to live for their arrogance, cowardice, and incompetence”.
“There are steps?!”, Thorax began to feel his stomach churn and had to gag at such a detestable idea, not even bothering to look to the human, who did return to the kitchen and refill the cup.
“Its a plan for a reason”, Adam simply said from the kitchen, “Of course this plan would not work if the last step could not be completed for any reason”.
That was so ominous, a horrible plan that required nightmarish steps and that would not work if the last step could not be done.
With shaky breaths, Thorax decided to hear it.
“What is the last step?”.
Adam returned but was silent for a while and after a few more seconds finally answered.
“That they let you go”.
“...”
“...”
“... that’s it?”.
“That’s it”.
“...”
“...”
“WHY THEY WOULD LET ME GO!! MY SPECIES DECIDED TO ATTACK THEIR CAPITAL, I’M A MONSTER TO THEM!! YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFERENT CHANGELINGS AND PONIES ARE AND YOU EXPECT THEM TO JUST LET ME ROAM FREELY BY THEIR KINGDOM, WHY I EVEN DECIDED TO HEAR YOU, YOU NASTY PIECE OF S-”.
That was the last sentence that Thorax yelled.
Because again he was coughing water out of his lungs, it was from the cup that Adam have on his pawn.
“I been trying to offer you water from the beginning but I’m only throwing at you to calm you down, now my couch is a mess”.
Oh yeah, now that he mentioned, the couch was feeling a little damp.
No, wait, he is angry at Adam, focus on your anger.
*Cough*
Okay, change of plans, focus on your lungs.
While Thorax focused on his lungs, Adam continued, “And about your answer, yes, I’m expecting them to release you, yes, your species attacked Canterlot and everyone knows, no, to them you are a hostile and not a monster, yes, I know and understand that ponies and changelings are different, I’m not stupid, no, I don’t expect to let you roam free, I’m expecting you disguise yourself after they willingly release you and they will know that you are on a disguise but you will lose them after a few hours, you are hearing me because you asked for an escape and you haven’t declined yet and finally, I don’t know what you were going to say but sounds rude so please stop”.
Smartflank human.
After a few more coughs, Thorax finally could ask, “Why do you think they will release me on a disguise?”.
Adam closed his eyes as if that helps him to find answers, “They will ask you to disguise yourself so you don’t scare more ponies, the invasion is too recent and even when ponies are squirmy about lethally harming another being, the herd mentality will make them say and do stupid things, so the disguise is needed even if they don’t like it”.
“But why they even release me in the first place?” Thorax need to pressure this point, the plan was insane enough to even follow up, but the hope was too tempting to resist.
“Because you will look for survivors”.
That was unexpected and Thorax did a double-take to show it.
“At this moment I only know that the Canterlot wedding was interrupted because was published on the papers but there aren’t talking about the invaders or if any arrest has been made, so you need to think that you were the only one on this situation, by clumsiness or overwhelming luck”.
Again with the tale of the fillies and his capture, Thorax was going to rip this human a new one but the last word stop him.
“Luck?, Why would luck mean anything?”.
“Have you ever wondering why I'm still in Ponyville?”.
“You crashed here by a spell of Twilight Sparkle and you did stay because you needed to recover after that crash”.
“That is right, but I recover almost 3 months ago, why I’m still here?”, Adam pressed the word still.
“Because Twilight Sparkle needs to return you to your home via the teleportation spell that she was using” replied Thorax a little miffed, what was Adam trying to say?
“Experimental teleportation spell; but she recreated the conditions from the last time to return me almost a week after I arrived here when I was in the hospital, she wanted experts to heal a human and Equestria didn’t have anyone”.
Thorax did try but he was drained mentally so he decided to bite the metaphorical hook.
“Ok Adam; Why are you still in Ponyville?”.
“Because I can no longer return home”.
The silence was awkward at first but then after a few more seconds, Thorax was creeping out of how calm was Adam to declare that he was exiled from his homeworld forever.
“W-why can’t you return to your home? You said that Twilight has the spell and she recreated the conditions to return”.
“She did that, just like last time, including errors”.
“E-errors?”.
“Do you remember that I quote someone when I talked about magic and me? That was Nurse Red Heart from Ponyville Clinic after I begged for a muscle-relaxing to calm the pain, she didn’t have pills for my species and she couldn't and would not risk to overdose me with pills to unregulated species, not even natural remedies”.
Thorax was starting to remember the conversation that feels like was hours ago.
“For a species start to develop any defense or ability, it needs to be in a habitat that exposes it to the elements and it must be constantly exposed to such elements for hundreds of thousands of years”.
That was a sound logic for Thorax but he sensed that something very bad happened in Ponyville because of it.
“I was born into a world that passively negates the effects of magic except for the strong ones, like a magical static window from a powerful unicorn and because the effects are negated there could lack something that any window or door needs, a solid base or in this case an anchor”.
And then Thorax finally felt something from the human.
Bloody. Overwhelming. Wrath
An emotion was finally radiating from the human and was forcing Thorax to be stuck in place.
But Adam did not raise his voice.
“Twilight Sparkle experiment with a portal that was fixated to a point on the universe, but the universe is constantly moving and I was on the worst place to be, she did not hold the spell even for a second because she didn’t even think on holding it, but those fractions of a second were enough to the window crash into me and throwing me trough almost half of Ponyville”.
Thorax was losing it, he couldn’t breathe, black spots started to appear in his vision, his head was starting to feel like it was boiling.
And Adam keeps talking without raising his voice.
“Twilight Sparkle tried again to set the same point on space, just this time she made the window extra thick and asked the princesses for help to maintain the spell, so when they find a black void, she realized that she never set a magical anchor to not lose the place of destination, her error create a thesis of anchors and portals that didn’t seem relevant to me because I can’t go home”.
And just like that, the emotion pressure disappears.
By sheer determination or just luck, Thorax managed to not react after that episode of whatever was that, he didn’t want to let Adam get like that again ever again, and finish him for good.
“So that is the reason you must use your situation at your favor”.
Thorax did barely look at Adam, if he decided to speak, he would vomit for sure.
“What I’m trying to say is the barrier that pushed you could be used as an argument with the princesses, you can say that you were lucky to survive the blast but you don’t think that your brothers and sisters could have the same luck”.
Little by little, Thorax was recovering himself.
“Of course that could fail if you aren’t the first to arrive at Canterlot, but that is a low possibility, so is better if you take your chances with this-; Hey are you okay? You haven’t spoken for a while”.
Just now Thorax feels comfortable responding.
“I’m fine, just thinking…”, he didn’t elaborate, he needs more time.
“Ah ok, sorry if I’m sounding disrespectful but I'm talking about your way out, and sometimes you need to be nasty”.
Nasty was too kind for what Thorax has felt, how a creature could have so much anger inside it and just release it unconsciously by triggering was incredible.
*Knock, Knock, Knock*
Adam raised his eyes and looked to the door.
“Oh, those must be the guard or the guards, please don’t be another battalion”.
When he arrived at the door and open it, there were two guards and behind them was a nervous Twilight Sparkle.
“Are you here for the changeling?”, questioned Adam.
Waiting for an answer from Twilight Sparkle was he expected but after a few seconds on silence, the first guard responded, “Ah, right, we are here for the changeling that was reported a few minutes ago by Spike the dragon, could you let us pass to retrieve it?”, asked the guard who also looked somewhat nervous.
“Don’t worry, I can fetch him, just wait here for a moment”, responded Adam.
Before anypony could respond, Adam closed the door and get to the couch to pick up the changeling.
“Well Thorax, that all I can do for you, just remember the plan, if it works, you can send me a postal from wherever you are, just be sure do ask to delivered to Ponyville Postal Service and let them know that is directed to Adam Grolier, and if you want, I will try to respond”.
Thorax didn’t reply but nodded nonetheless.
With the changeling below his arm, he reached again the door and open it.
The guards as asked, waited until Adam show again, and now could see the changeling but notice a discrepancy.
“We were told that it was gagged and tied, so where is the gag?”, the guard now talked more firm that before, discrepancies where always a problem in their work.
“I remove it, I wanted to know if he speaks and he did speak to me”, Adam responded without issue whatsoever.
The guards did lift an eyebrow but Twilight whipped a look to Adam as if she wanted to ask something, but she backed away immediately, looking away.
“You don’t have a cart, do you?”, asked Adam
The guards looked to themself and replied, “We were told that he was transported here on a cart, so we will commandeer the cart too”, then hastily added, “Of course a compensation will be given for the possible loss if could not be returned”.
Adam looks down at the guard for a moment but yielded in the end, “Ok, it’s your choice”.
The human lowered Thorax on the ground and return inside of his home, because of it Thorax managed to hear the second guard whispered to his comrade, “Forget the cart, just take the changeling and let’s get out of here, that guy creeps me out!”.
“I don’t want to carry it if can be helped, besides I already ask for the cart, we only need to be here just a minute or less”, whispered back the first guard.
So the guards do fear the human, did the human did something before that could cause that kind of paranoia? For a changeling, paranoia is normal but ponies only react if there were provoked.
What happened at the Ponyville Clinic was as bad as Adam explained?
Sonner that later, Adam returned with Scootaloo’s cart, much for the regret and shame of the guards that were going to pull a criminal on a toy cart.
“Just so you know, this is the cart that was used for him, if you need to contact her owner, her name is Scootaloo, a filly from here, Twilight Sparkle can help you with her if needed”.
The guards turn around to look at Twilight, who sheepishly nodded back.
“Well it looks like we have everything we need, so let’s go” the first guard turns around and with his magic, lifted the changeling and dropped on the cart, and start to pull it to move away from the human, the second guard followed behind the cart watching the changeling
Twilight did follow the guards but let a last glance to the human, only to sigh and leave after the guards and the changeling.
Thorax that hasn’t say anything, just looked Adam enter the house and close the door behind him.
“Finally we are leaving that unnerving place, I swear, the moment I was about to knock the door, I feel the worst chills that have ever felt in my entire life, let me froze on the spot for a while”, the first guard said.
Thorax looked at the first guard like he has grown a second head.
“You were not the only one First Respond, I also fell it, that human is just bad”.
They continue to talk back to each other without care for him until Twilight decided to speak to him directly.
“Excuse me, Mister Changeling?”.
Thorax looked at her and respond, “Yes?”.
Twilight did seem to hesitate but pressed on, “Can you tell me something about Adam?”.
Thorax didn’t respond, he was waiting for the actual question.
“You can feel the emotions, can you tell me how he was? If he felt well?”.
“Why do you want to know that?”.
“Because I'm his friend, but I feel like he's not telling me everything he thinks, as if he prefers to keep something very dark inside himself”.
Thorax didn’t respond immediately, feeling like she was asking something too personal.
But she decided to ask another thing, “Did he talked about himself? Did he tell you something?”, Twilight urged for an answer.
So Thorax did answer, “He told me about himself and how he arrived here, that you were the one who brought him to live here”.
Her ears dropped at the answer but gained little smile, “Well, at least he is talking about it, normally when we ask for it, he always tries to change the conversation or just refuses and leaves the room”, her ears perked up and her smile was more cheerful, “If he is ready to open himself more, maybe he is ready to forget that bad stuff and move on”.
He didn’t believe for a second that that was gonna be the case.
But Twilight hasn’t finished yet, “Maybe is for the better of him that he have another friend, somepony that can speak with him, and if Princess Celestia let it, you could be his new friend and you could live here too!”.
It was a good argument, probably if Thorax was offered that an hour ago, he would accept even before the princess would approve.
But he has been with Adam enough time to know that Twilight knew almost nothing about the human, Adam didn’t consider Twilight his friend, in fact, he hate her to the point that he would even kill her if he could get something from it.
Also, he wouldn’t even say that he was his friend, he didn’t know what he liked, what was his favorites hobbies, the only thing he knows is that he created a sick plan that could make him free, that he hates Twilight and that he doesn’t feel anything outside that, if he didn’t know the first two things and have found him on the floor he would have believed that he was dead.
Dead?!
All living creatures can show or radiate feelings and in some cases, a crystal could do the same.
The only ones that do not show or radiate feelings are the non-living objects or the dead.
Is Adam dead?
No, that’s stupid, and he wasn’t a golem, he was too complicated to be one, and he has feelings or at least one of them.
So how can someone be alive and feel dead at the same time?
Then he remembers.
Its something uncommon but in the griffin population there are cases that changelings are warned to quit immediately and run away should they spot one.
They are called Lifeless.
A griffin that can breathe, walk and even eat, but doesn't and is emotionally dead, it’s normally seen with ferals griffins that must have suffered a traumatic event and they are considered to the point of no return.
This is something that no one has confirmed yet, just speculated.
It’s a condition that is seen only on griffins, mostly because of their pride.
The reason changelings are warned for them it’s because they have strong and long spikes of poisonous feelings, normally anger, sadness or fear, those feeling are not bad on normal circumstances but the Lifeless can pool their feelings and drop them like a bomb, a bomb that can burn for minutes.
There are few cases of encounters with the Lifeless but almost all the encounters end on the death of the changeling that triggered the griffin.
The only thing that is good about the Lifeless is they don’t live long enough and only the griffins have been reported with this condition.
Except now.
Adam, the human, is a Lifeless.
And probably has the record to have survived for that long with his condition.
“So, you never tell me.”, a voice startled Thorax.
“Ah!... sorry, what was the question?”.
Twilight didn’t seem to notice his startled expression, “About the first question, can you feel Adam’s emotions?”.
Should he tell her about Adam’s condition? Its something that should not be left alone, maybe ponies won’t die if they have a Lifeless here, but Adam will.
Or at least he should die, but the extremely lucky cases where a changeling has returned from an encounter with a Lifeless let us learn that their average lifetime and they don’t last more than a month.
If the traumatic event was the revelation of Adam’s misfortune of his arrival to this world, that means he has survived for more than three months.
“No”, Thorax finally said.
“Look, do you really want to escape? Lie”.
“I could not feel his emotions because he has no magic”.
“Sell it with a lie that also is true”.
“He did talk to me wanting to know as much he could from my species, sometimes he laughed but I couldn’t feel it, other times he talked of his adventures and show sadness and still couldn’t feel him”.
“Throw lies over your lies, throw soo many lies that they would take months to make heads and tails of your deception”.
And he did.
He keeps talking to Twilight until the guards enter to the Ponyville Train Station, he maybe could not escape, but at least he would use Adam’s teaching to mess with the ponies, because if he learned something about ponies.
They are arrogant, cowards, and incompetent.
But he could take advantage of that.
“By the way, Miss...?”.
“Twilight Sparkle”.
“Thank you, Miss Sparkle, I wanted to ask…?”.
“Yes?”.
“Have you been told if any of my brothers or sisters have appeared?”.
“No, you are the first one to appear”.
“Oh…”
Maybe he could escape after all.
The End
Author's Note
This is the first story and now has been edited by myself.
I feel great about it and now that the story is completed I can focus on other things.
If you want more my thoughts about the editing you can see it on my last blog.
And now I can show my inspiration of how the story was conceived.
This video was how the idea of the story started to roll.
Even if the changelings are responsible for a war crime the consequences can be used against the nation of Equestria if the punishment was worse than the crime.
This video is somewhat sad because this can happen.
When I see it the first time I genuinely feel sad, but I couldn't get over the idea that is something that can be used on a zombie story.
