The Element of Identity

Chapters

Prologue
Ch 1. Bad Luck to Good Luck
Ch 2. Off to Ponyville
Ch 3 Part 1: A Boutique on the Farm
Ch 3 Part 2: A Cottage in the Clouds
Ch 3 Part 3: A Bakery in the Library
Ch 4. The End of Peaceful Days
Ch 5. Identities Revealed
Ch Final. Give and Receive

Prologue

It’s believed that everyone and everything has a role to play in the world. Some share their roles, work together, support, and are supported.

The changelings find their role in unity. Each one would benefit the other and the other would benefit each more in turn. It was all in support of the Queen who, herself, supports her brood.

There was one changeling, however, who only supported, but never needed support. His name was Exulus. He was stronger than the normal changeling, in mind and in body, and he had a strong desire to succeed and to dominate. Some were frightened that if his desires went out of control, he might try to take over the hive. This was only speculation though.

There were two qualities that were clear about him so, as he was the one who said them. The first was that he felt no sense of place in the brood. He only gave, but he didn’t receive, there was no need for him to receive. In a collective effort, his aspirations were not in synch with the rest.

The second quality was his burning hate. He hated the queen, he hated the brood, he hated ponies, he hated dragons, he hated friendship, and he hated the world. He was a changeling in a perpetual rage that threatened the rest of the brood.

The rules of the swarm are simple: If you benefit the brood, you are one of the family, but if you are a hindrance, you are cast aside and left to die alone.

Exulus knew that he would soon be banished, driven out by the swarm, so he made a decision: he would leave of his own accord…..but not before paying the dear Queen Chrysalis a visit and a farewell first….

In the brooding caverns’ royal chamber, Queen Chrysalis attended reports from her children, telling her of more possible locations where she may feed on love while she regains her strength from the crushing defeat in Canterlot. Exulus marches through the opening.

Exulus seemed slightly larger than the average changeling, his wings were longer and less tattered. Instead of having blue eyes like the typical changeling, his eyes were a dark red. His expressions were typically some form of scowl and he was often seen gritting his teeth.

As he spotted the dear Queen, he shouted, “Chrysalis!”

She turned to him, both startled and angry that he wasn’t calling her “queen,” though he stopped doing that long ago. Her eyes narrowed, things were bad and if Exulus was around, things weren’t going to get better. She growled, “What do you want Exulus?”

“I came to bid you farewell. I felt it only proper since you’re the queen, not that that actually means anything.”

“Bidding farewell? You’re leaving on your own? Going off to die by your lonesome?”

“Shut up you wretched, miserable, washed-up weakling!” Exulus snarled, “I never needed your worthless brood and I still don’t! Your carelessness cost us the entirety of Canterlot, yet you DARE mock me!?”

“How dare you talk to me in such a way! I am your queen! I am the core of this hive, I am the one who formed the plan, I am the one who lead the changelings in, I am the one who commands them!”

“And you did well until you screwed up MISERABLY. How could you impersonate someone so terribly!? The rest of the changelings may follow you, but I refuse to follow someone who screwed up such a large plan so completely. Besides…the others don’t know….but I know….about you…” Exulus began approaching Queen Chrysalis, a wretched grin on his face.

Chrysalis seemed intimidated, but tried not to show it, “What are you talking about you fool!? Stay away from me!”

“You know what I’m talking about. You know FULL well.” Exulus got up on the same ledge as Chrysalis stood upon as she once looked down at Exulus. She had her back to the wall now. Exulus growled and his grin shrank. There was no way he could be happy about this, he was too enraged. “Your powers weakened severely since you were cast out from Cantelot. So severely that even I could kill you should I feel the need for it.”

“Y-…..You’re lying! No changeling is as powerful as I!” The Queen could only bluff. It was true, she had lost so much power she could only sustain herself.

Exulus lunged forward and put his horn up to Chrysalis’s neck, “Oh how easy it would be to puncture your frail little neck right now….but fortunately for you, that’s not what I came here to do. I’ve come to bid you farewell. That is all. I will find my own source of love to consume while you and your piddling little swarm can work together to barely survive. Pitiful!”

With that, Exulus turned his back on the Queen and flew towards the doorway he had come through. Before leaving, he looked back at the Queen, who was both scared and enraged, and said, “If I find you or any other changeling near my feeding grounds, I will exterminate them. This is your only warning.”

Exulus took off flying through and out of the caverns, into the sky, towards the clouds. He looked around, a desolate wasteland for quite some distance. Yet far out, on the horizon, there was green, there was growth, there was life, and there was love. Exulus knew where his first destination was…Canterlot.

Ch 1. Bad Luck to Good Luck

Exulus hid just outside of Canterlot. Since there weren’t any announced attacks on the horizon, there wasn’t a large bubble around the city this time. He could just trot right in. After their attack, however, the changelings were probably seen as public enemies. He’d just not have to be seen. He moved in, quickly getting into a dark and narrow alley and watched the passer-bys. What a bunch of rich snobs. He’d hate to impersonate one of these chumps, but he couldn’t see any way of getting around it.

At least, he didn’t see it yet.

He heard a little “meow” come from behind him. He turned his head to look over his shoulder. A little black cat was there, staring at him. Its ears were widely parted, ready to run off if Exulus moved in any way that might seem threatening. Exulus only smirked. This’ll do just fine, he thought.

It wasn’t standard procedure to change into lesser creatures, but there wasn’t anything wrong with it. Some ponies loved pets and loved animals and that was a perfectly viable way of harvesting love.

He took the form of the cat, while the cat itself scampered off. His eyes were now the glinting golden eyes of a cat. He was smaller, more vulnerable, but still rather agile. He held his tail high and perked his ears as he had nothing to be cautious about. He made his way onto the streets and walked about.

As expected, his presence as a cat didn’t raise any suspicions. He did get some looks though; apparently stray cats were a surprising thing in a pampered place like Canterlot. He toured the city, inspecting its inhabitants. None of them seemed particularly interesting or filled with love. Most seemed more interested in their own affairs and what others might think of them. Pitiful.

Exulus finally looked toward the most obvious place, Princess Celestia’s castle. It was a large complex, housing the multitude of guards at the very least, perhaps some guests as well. It was worth a look.

Exulus made his way to the front gates where a pair of guards stood in wait. He eyed them. They weren’t about to let strangers waltz in, not even a stray cat. Though to his recollection, there was a large garden somewhere inside the castle. That would be an easy place to hide in.

As he watched the guards and thought about ways to hop the wall, the guards started changing their shift. For a brief minute or two, there would be no guards at the front gate. How unprofessional, Exulus thought. He scampered his way in and dashed towards the garden.

Once in, he moved more freely. He was out in the open, but surrounded by trees and bushes and wouldn’t be spotted easily, especially since the sun was setting. Various animals in the trees and bushes popped their heads out to look at this new creature in the garden. He paid them no heed and made his way closer to the central palace. There were more doors and more guards, and with the shifts changed recently, he couldn’t expect another chance like that happening anytime soon. He looked upwards. Many of the windows were closed but there was one open window, and that was his ticket in.

He changed his form into a crow and flew up to the window without a sound. He perched on the window sill, looking in for anyone who might see him. It looked to be a private study of someone’s, a guest, probably. The room looked unused at present, which may be why the window was still open. It was no wonder how someone like the Queen got in, this place was so terribly guarded, as if asking to be invaded.

Exulus hopped in and changed back into his cat form and made his way into the hallway. He moved at a rushed scamper, but not a full run. He didn’t want to be caught but there was no particular rush to get anywhere just yet. He was only looking around.

He wandered and wandered and wandered about the castle. It was mostly empty aside from the guard patrols and the occasional maid. Ugh, where am I now? This palace doesn’t even have a map. Who designed this place? He criticized and criticized in his head and eventually found himself in the hall of the stained-glass windows.

He slowly proceeded along the way, looking at the various tales depicted in the windows. I remember this place, this is where those “elements of harmony” are. Pfft, guarding this place didn’t help anything. We prevented six ponies from getting their magic accessories and got foiled by only two. It’s almost insulting. He finally made his way to the two windows that depicted the mane six.

He gazed, first, at the window depicting Nightmare Moon. Hmph, I’ve heard about this one. Princess Luna turns evil and gets banished for a thousand years, comes back and wants eternal night time. She had a good plan and it would have worked, but surprise, surprise, she gathered her only weakness right where she was.

He turned his attention to the window depicting Discord. I heard about this guy. Unlimited powers of Chaos. He got rid of the Elements of Harmony and hid them in an obvious place. He even went as far as to render them unable to use the Elements. Then he just stood there and took his beating right in that cocky face of his. All these beings with power are complete idiots who fail and fail, time and again.

As he stared, a voice was heard down the hall, “Oh? There’s someone else here.” None other than Princess Celestia was coming trotting right up to Exulus, knowing absolutely nothing about his true form or nature. None the wiser, she approached him and looked up at the Discord window, “Do you like these as well? I come by every night and look at them before I sleep. I think they’re simply beautiful.”

Exulus only stared at Celestia, his ears parted and his tail hairs on end. This was a dangerous situation if she figured out who he was.

Celestia only chuckled, “I’m sorry if I’m scaring you. I bet you’re just lost. Come on now, this is no place for cats to play in.” She turned and headed for the doorway. Exulus could not believe this, here was the Princess of Equestria, possibly the strongest single unicorn in the world, turning her back on the enemy. He could ambush her right here and end her where she trots. However…Exulus was not here to murder, he was here to feed on love. He followed silently, but kept his distance.
She lead him into the main hall where she stopped and turned to him. She was still smiling and graceful as ever as she said, “You can leave through the front door over there. My room is over up the stairs. My sister Luna is in the tower in the west wing if you'd like to keep her company. I’m sure she would appreciate it, and so would I.”

I can’t believe this Princess! She’s leading me through this palace and telling me where everything is like some child’s tour! She’s taunting me! Wait…does she….know….who I am? But would she act this way if she did know? What’s her game? Maybe she’s just sick in the head. How old is she anyway? As he thought, Exulus simply tilted his head and twitched his ears.

Celestia only smiled and said, “Well, goodnight Mr. Cat.” She made her way to her bedroom for the night.
Exulus sat on the ground and contemplated what to do, then decided to go check on Luna. He went up the spiraling staircase and up to the observatory where Luna was with her telescope. As Exulus came off the stairs, he let off an agitated “meow.” He wasn’t sure what he was doing at this point, but for the time being, it wasn’t boring.

Luna turned to him and smiled, “Good evening my feline companion. Has thoust come to take a gander at the night sky?”

Exulus moved closer to the edge and looked upward at the various stars and the radiant moon hanging in the sky. He let off a more curious “meow.”

Luna looked out over the edge, she could see the castle and all of Canterlot as well as some distance farther. She looked down at the cat Exulus, “Yes, you are right. T’is a beautiful night it is. T’is a night that all may enjoy. All friends from across Equestria may enjoy such a beautiful night under the stars, wouldn’t thoust agree?”

Exulus only tilted his head.

Luna heaved a sigh and looked out over the city, “I do wonder how Twilight and her friends are doing. Perhaps I shall pay them a visit. What dost thou think, kitty cat?”

Exulus meowed while thinking, How the hell should I know? And What do I even care? Is it normal for royalty to talk to stray cats and ask them for advice? You’re all complete idiots.

Luna, unaware of the thoughts, sighed again and said, “Yes, thoust are right. I am very busy.”

“Meow.” Exulus replied.

“Hmm…that is an idea.”

“Meow.”

“Yes, I do think she would agree to it, if only once.”

“Meow.”

“Yes. Yes! I shall go through with it! I shall consult my sister to see if she will allow time for a short visit with Twilight and her friends. T’is an excellent idea, Kitty Cat!”

“Meow.”

“You are a very smart cat.” Luna reached out and rubbed Exulus’s head with her hoof.

The Queen was right, this place was simply overflowing with love. It made things very easy for Exulus. It was easy….but he didn’t mind one bit. Maybe….he thought, Maybe I’ll stay here, just a little longer.

Ch 2. Off to Ponyville

Princess Luna and Exulus watched from the tower and did little. Luna would occasionally talk and would simply receive a “meow” as a response. Morning came and with it, Princess Celestia.

As Celestia flew over to them, she smiled at Exulus and said, “Good morning sister, Good morning Mr. Cat. Did you keep each other company last night?”

“Indeed we did, sister!” Luna said with a smile, “In addition, he has helped me to formulate a request that I have.”

“Hm? What is it?” Celestia tilted her head in curiosity. It wasn’t often that Luna had a request.

“I would like to visit Twilight and her friends this day, then I would resume my duties during the night.”

“I don’t see why you couldn’t. They’re your friends too, but won’t you be tired during the night if you stay up?”

Luna shook her head, “I shan’t be awake all day. I will return to my quarters at about noon to get rest for the night to come.”

“Very well. Would you like to take my carriage? I’m sure your guard would like to be sleeping about now.”

“Yes, I shall let them rest. Thank you dear sister.” As Luna spread her wings and was about to take off, she then remembered something and looked down at Exulus, “Would thoust like to come along and meet these friends of ours, Kitty Cat?”

Friends of both Princesses….and ones that don’t live in Canterlot? Could she be talking about those six ponies with the elements? DO I want to meet them? Hmm….I suppose it couldn’t hurt. Exulus thought this and jumped upon Luna’s back where she gently flew to Celestia’s carriage.

The carriage itself flew, carrying Luna and Exulus through the skies. Flying wasn’t anything new for Exulus, but this high up? And not by his own wings? It was somehow different.

As the carriage approached, various ponies down in Ponyville, who were beginning their morning routines, saw the carriage and set everything aside to gather and see. When the carriage landed, however, they were surprised, but not disappointed. It was a princess, but not Celestia. Everyone wondered what was going on.

Twilight was the first on the scene as she knocked open the door and rushed out to greet her, “Welcome Princes…..Luna?” Twilight tilted her head in confusion like the rest. There was no occasion planned, no letter sent ahead of time, just an arrival.

Spike soon followed, then poked Twilight’s side, “Uhhh, did you know about this?”

Twilight looked at Spike, “The only way I would know is if you cough up a letter. You didn’t swallow it or something, did you?”

“No way! I might be a baby dragon but I’m not THAT clumsy!”

“Twilight Sparkle!” Luna interjected, “How I am pleased to see you are well! Do tell, what new do you have as of late?”

“Uhhh news?” Twilight questioned. “Nothing…er….special has come up lately. Did something happen? Is Discord out again?”

“No, no, thou needn’st worry. My visit is purely for recreational purposes. I wish to, how you say, ‘catch up’ on what is new with you and your friends. I do not receive letters like my sister does.”

“Oh! Okay then! We actually were going to meet up today in the park and play with our pets together. Would you like to come along?”

“Yes, indeed I would be delighted to join in this fun! As it would happen, today I have brought a pet with me!”

“I didn’t know you had a pet Princess Luna! What kind of animal is it? Is it a Phoenix like Philomena?”

“Nay, t’is a cat. One that I met last night and have grown a tad fond of.”

Exulus hopped out of the carriage and moved up next to Luna and faced Twilight. He stared directly at her, This unicorn….she’s definitely one of those element-holders. So this is the friend that Luna spoke of? Twilight Sparkle? If I recall correctly, she’s the main one who could tell the difference between the Chrysalis and the real Cadence. She must be very observant.

“Is this him?” Twilight said, directing a hoof to Exulus.

“Yes, this is he. My sister and I have taken to calling him ‘Kitty Cat.’ T’is a fitting name!”

“Yep. It sure is!” Twilight said, trying to sound sincere. It was a fitting name, it was just….obvious. She leaned her head down to get a closer look at Exulus and said, “He looks like a very nice cat! I’m sure he’ll enjoy everyone else’s pet! Especially Rarity’s! Let’s get going! Owlowiscious! Let’s get going!”

The owl came flapping out of the top window of the library and perched on Twilight’s back as the five of them made their way to the park. Most of the other ponies who had gathered around earlier had gone back to their everyday business. Some gathered around the Pegasi who had pulled the chariot.

Twilight and Luna were the first to arrive, but Rarity arrived soon after with Opalescence in tow. She gasped as she spotted Princess Luna and hurried over, “Twilight, Princess Luna, hello! What Bring you here, Princess?”

“I am here to have fun with my friends and their pets. This is a cat I met last night. His name is Kitty Cat. Kitty Cat, this is Rarity.”

Exulus lazily tossed a glance at Rarity and meowed.

Rarity smiled, “Hello Mr. Kitty Cat. My, he’s got quite the clean coat and such a majestic figure to him! He’s a very handsome-looking cat indeed! I’m sure Opal would just adore him! Come here Opal, make a friend!” Oplalescence came over slowly. The cat’s eyes suddenly widened, her pupils turning to hearts and a tongue swiftly passed over her kitty lips.

Exulus, however, saw Opal and drew back in disgust. Ugh! What IS that creature!? Is that a CAT!? It’s hideous! It’s so…ugh!

Despite his mental protests, Opal pounced on him and tried to hug and lick him while Exulus struggled to get her off.

Rarity giggled, “Awww, they’re playing already. So adorable! Opal, just try not to get your fur too messy!”

Soon the others began to arrive. Fluttershy and Applejack came together while Pinkie Pie arrived with a small wagon of toys. Rainbow Dash would be the last to arrive, each asking about Luna’s presence as they arrived and each was curious about Luna’s very own pet, which was far less grand than a phoenix, but still interesting that she had a pet.

Time passed. After playing with their animals, the group moved to Sugarcube corner and spent the rest of their time walking and talking.

Luna looked sun-ward and said, “I have enjoyed our time together, but I dost believe it time to go. I must get my rest for the night to come.”

Twilight nodded, “Alright. Remember, you can come visit any time! I’ll try to start sending letters to you too!”

“T’would be much appreciated, Twilight Sparkle! Now, come along Kitty Cat,” Luna said as she entered the chariot.

Exulus merely sat beside the chariot and looked up at Luna. He passed glances to the other six ponies, then back to Luna, “Meow.”

“Oh?” She said. “Is that so?”

“Meow.”

“Are thoust certain?”

“Meow.”

“Very well then. Until we meet again!”

“Wait,” Twilight said, “What did he say?”

“He wishes to stay here for the time being,” Luna replied. “And I shall respect his wishes. Until next time, my little ponies!”

With that, the chariot took off, whisking a tired Luna back to Canterlot.

The six ponies now turned Exulus-ward. They approached him and then passed glances to one another.

“So, uh, what should we do with him?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I don’t know. If I understood the princess correctly, he’s a stray cat that she and Princess Celestia found.” Twilight noted.

“Well shoot, if it’s a stray, don’tcha think we should just let ‘im roam around town?” Applejack added.

“No way!” Twilight objected, “He might be a stray, but if it’s a cat that the princesses are fond of, then I think we should take care of him!”

“I don’t have much experience with cats and I don’t know if Gummy would like him!” Pinkie Pie stated. “What about you Fluttershy?”

“I wouldn’t mind taking him in. Though, I don’t know what Angel would think.” Fluttershy commented.

“Oh don’t worry Fluttershy,” Rarity started, “I’ll take him in. I already tend to one cat, one more handsome cat wouldn’t be too much trouble! He seems well-behaved and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the food that Opal eats. I’ll take care of him!”

“Thanks Rarity,” Twilight said, “Why don’t you show him around your home then so he can get used to the place?”

“An excellent idea Twilight! Come along Kitty Cat, I’ll show you your new home!” Rarity headed home with Exulus following. The other ponies said good-bye to one another and headed their separate ways for the rest of the day.

Ch 3 Part 1: A Boutique on the Farm

Rarity and Exulus entered the Carousel Boutique where Rarity directed her hoof around “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique. It is my workshop for various fashions and other such things. My sister Sweetie Belle, as well as Opal and I, have our rooms upstairs. You’re welcome to sleep in either mine or Sweetie Belle’s rooms.”

Exulus let off a “meow,” but unlike Luna, Rarity didn’t understand meows, or at least, she didn’t put words in the cat’s mouth. She rubbed her head, what now? Wait, of course!

Rarity went to her set of fabrics and went to work. He wasn’t a customer but she saw no reason why should couldn’t at least make a cushion for Exulus to sit on and maybe an accessory. She headed up to her drawing board and Exulus followed, simply watching as she drew a silhouette of a cat similar to Exulus and drew small additions to it. Exulus simply watched the sketches.

I hope she doesn’t expect to put all that stuff on me. Yet, exulus could tell by the drawing and by Rarity’s excited smile that that was exactly what she intended to do. It made him a little nervous, but there was something else. He felt like….like he was being watched. Something sinister was about and had its eyes trained on him, as if it knew all of his secrets.

Suddenly, an attack from behind. Exulus was pinned to the floor. He struggled and managed to break free. He scampered to the far wall and turned to see what attacked him. It was Opalescence. She stared with a piercing love and some sort of grotesque lust. It was all the kinds of love that Exulus did not want.

Opal crouched, ready to pounce again. Exulus looked around, he could go left or right, maybe jump over, but it was a pretty bad situation. Opal didn’t allow him to finish thinking as she pounced at him, but was caught mid-air by Rarity, who then said, “Opal! There you are! Now I’m sure you’d like to play with Mr. Cat more, but he’s our guest, and you know you can’t play too roughly in the house.”

Exulus took this moment to scramble out the door and down the stairs where he found Sweetie Belle in the middle of the store. The two froze, staring at each other.

“Siiiiiiiiis?” Sweetie Belle called, not taking her eyes off Exulus, “There’s a stray cat in the store!”

“I know, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity called from upstairs, “He’s a friend of Princess Luna! His name is Kitty Cat!”

“Kitty Cat?” Sweetie Belle echoed, puzzled by the odd simplicity of the name. She reached out her hoof to Exulus and said, “Welcome! My name’s Sweetie Belle, I’m Rarity’s little sister.” Exulus reached out and put his paw on her hoof for a makeshift hoofshake.

Rarity then called again, “Sweetie Belle, can you be a dear and bring Mr. Cat up here? I need to take his measurements.”

“Measurements? For what?” Sweetie Belle called back.

“For accessories of course! I want him to try some on!”

Sweetie Belle stared at Exulus, who was staring back. She then leaned down and whispered, putting her hoof by her mouth for extra secrecy, “The door’s still open, you might wanna run out while you can!”

Exulus looked past Sweetie Belle and saw the door. He made for the door and got to the doorway where he turned to Sweetie Belle and said, “Thanks,” Then dashed out.

Sweetie Belle flinched. Did that cat just talk? She thought about what she just heard until Rarity called for her again, where she replied, “Oh, uhh, sorry sis! He ran out the door when I tried to catch him!”

Exulus headed straight. He didn’t know where he was going or for how long, but anywhere would be better than trying on silly accessories. He followed the roads that eventually lead him out of town and into some sort of orchard. The orchard was full of apple trees, apple trees as far as the eye could see. Exulus didn’t know it, but he’d made his way to Sweet Apple Acres.

He looked at the apples on the trees. Some were ripe, most weren’t. It would probably be a little while longer before apple-bucking season. He started to wonder what apples tasted like. For as long as he can remember, he hasn’t tasted much else but love. He didn’t know what cupcakes tasted like, or apples, or donuts, or anything else. Maybe he could try, maybe he could find an alternative to love that nopony would be afraid of.

Exulus found himself in front of the Apple family house where Granny Smith sat in her rocking chair. She stopped rocking and said, “Wha? Whozzat!?” She looked down towards Exulus but could only see a black blur. She put on her glasses and shouted, “A cat!?” Then she calmed down, “Oh, it’s just a cat! Oh my. Applejaaaack, come here, we’ve got a cat out here!”

“Comin’ Granny!” Shouted Applejack from somewhere behind the house. She eventually came around and spotted Exulus, “Well if it isn’t Kitty Cat,” She chuckled a bit about the name, “What brings ya here? Shouldn’t you be at Rarity’s?”

Exulus looked back towards Rarity’s boutique, then back to Applejack.

“Hehe, I don’t blame ya. Wulp, make yourself at home. There’s plenty a’ room in the barn and I don’t think the cows’d mind much. Applebloom’s inside and Big Macintosh’s out ‘n the field if ya wanna go visit ‘em.”

Applejack went back behind the house to do what she was previously doing, leaving Exulus with Granny Smith, who was now just smiling happily and rocking back and forth. Exulus decided to visit the two who were mentioned since Applejack herself seemed busy. Exulus made his way out to the field. Big Mac was out plowing parts of it while others were already growing. Exulus approached Big Mac from the side. Big Macintosh stopped and looked down at Exulus, then let off an “aww.”

Exulus let off a “Meow.”

Big Mac seemed to understand and replied, “Eeyup.”

“Meow.”

“Eeyup.”

“Meow.”

“Eeyup.”

This stallion is truly a sage, Exulus thought. He bowed his head to the mighty stallion and sauntered off to allow Big Macintosh to resume his work.

As Exulus made his way back to the Apple family home, he realized something: He was tired. He’d been up all day, night, and all of this day as well. It hadn’t occurred to him before, but now his eye lids were beginning to feel heavy. He made his way into the barn and shut it. There was an upper level and a ladder up to it. Exulus changed back into his changeling form, for he would have changed back as soon as he fell asleep anyway. He flew to the upper level and pushed some stray hay around into a pile. Things have been peaceful lately. It was boring, but it was nice. He wasn’t struggling to survive or having to attend to the swarm where he was only expected to do his job and do nothing for himself. He was free, and he was with these friendly ponies. They knew nothing about him, but for now, that was okay. All he needed was love and some bit of entertainment and that would be satisfactory for him.

Ch 3 Part 2: A Cottage in the Clouds

Exulus awoke from his slumber in the dead of night. He made his way down and changed into his cat form, then headed out. He figured that the Apple family was most probably well asleep by now, meaning that there’s no particular reason to stay here. He decided to wander off.

This time he strayed from the path and followed a small stream. He knew that if he got lost, he could simply follow the stream back, so there was no danger. He more he followed it, the move animals he seemed to see and hear sleeping, like they were all gathered around a certain area.

He eventually came to a small bridge that passed over the stream as well as a path connected to the bridge. One way lead to ponyville, the other lead to a small cottage. It seemed somepony lived here. Still, it was night time, so whoever they were they were most likely asleep. Exulus looked around the area. There was a fenced-off area and a small house in it. The house was much longer than it was wide and had a ramp going up to the opening. He wondered what could be in there, so he hopped the gate and made his way to the small house. He peeked his head inside the small house and found….chickens. There were many chickens, all sitting in a nest-looking arrangement and sleeping. Exulus scoffed, “Even these mindless beasts have a home to go back to.”

This low mumble, however, was enough to awaken a few chickens, who spotted Exulus and immediately went wild with screams and clucking, which awoke the rest of the chickens who proceeded to do the same. They scrambled around the house and as soon as Exulus backed away from the opening, they rushed out. Exulus hopped the fence and simply stared at the frenzied chickens. He didn’t even do anything but these mindless feathery jerks just keep making noise.

The door to the cottage opened quickly and out came Fluttershy to see what was going on. She saw the chickens scrambling but had a hard time seeing Exulus in the dark. That is, until he turned his head to her and his yellow eyes reflected the light. Fluttershy let off an “Eeek!” and drew back. After a few moments, her eyes adjusted better to the darkness and she saw Exulus’s silhouette. She heaved a sigh of relief and approached him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was you, Kitty Cat. What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at Rarity’s?” Fluttershy asked.

Exulus gave no response, no meow or otherwise.

“Did you startle the chickens?” She already guessed it was probably asked, but she didn’t want to falsely accuse him.

To this, Exulus nodded.

“Oh dear. Home on now chickens, it’s alright! Nopony’s going to hurt you! Go back to sleep!” Fluttershy announced, turning her attention to the chickens.

The chickens scrambled about a little longer until they figured they weren’t in any danger and slowly assembled back into the chicken coop.

Fluttershy now looked down at Exulus, “Well, I don’t want you to get hurt in the dark. Why don’t you come inside?”

Exulus looked up at her, then headed for the door with Fluttershy following.

Inside, Exulus took a moment to look about the humble abode, teeming with little nooks here and there where other small animals were peeking their heads from. They stayed cautious of him, but there was one particular animal that wasn’t afraid, but instead, seemed angry. Angel was sitting in the middle of the living room, arms crossed, foot stamping the floor and giving a disapproving glare first at Exulus, then at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy responded, “Now Angel, he’s a friend of Princess Luna! We can let him stay, at least for the night. Then we can give him back to Rarity.”

Angel stomped his foot and pointed to Exulus, then the door. Apparently he didn’t approve of allowing Exulus to stay for any amount of time and wanted him out immediately.

Fluttershy now seemed uncertain, “Angel, be reasonable. He’s a nice kitty and won’t cause any trouble!”

Angel gave Fluttershy and impatient glare and she, in turn, gave an apologetic glance to Exulus.

Exulus, however, had a better idea. He made his way over to Angel, erecting his neck high and straightening his back, raising his tail straight up in the air. He stood only inches from Angel, staring with a piercing and unexpressive stare in attempts to intimidate the bunny with the attitude. Angel stood strong, straightening his own back to make himself look taller, putting his paws on his hips and staring at Exulus eye-to-eye. Fluttershy could only watch in awe at this silent clash of wills.

Exulus reached over with his paw and pushed on Angel’s chest, knocking the bunny on his back and then pinning him down. Exulus moved closer, still pinning the bunny with one paw, then proceeded to slapping the bunny across the face with his other paw. Back and forth, back and forth, bap bap bap bap. It didn’t hurt of course since bother were rather fuzzy and weak animals, but it still showed who was dominating this situation.

Fluttershy stepped in, pushing Exulus off with her hoof and pulling Angel towards her. Angel was now furiously waving his paws and chattering in his bunny language. If we could understand him, we would be sure that he was most probably cursing, maybe even insulting Exulus’s mama. Of course, we can’t understand him though.

Fluttershy said, “Settle down Angel.” She looked at Exulus, “Angel and I will sleep in our room upstairs. You can sleep down here.”

Exulus sat down where he victoriously stood and meowed.

Fluttershy giggled, “Goodnight, Kitty Cat.” She heeded upstairs with a reluctant bunny in tow.

Exulus didn’t move. He didn’t know where he’d go even if he did move. He was done with wandering around; the idea seemed boring at this point. He wouldn’t be able to sleep even if he tried, so he simply sat and waited.

What am I doing with myself? Exulus thought, “ I’m wandering around like a stray cat, hopping from owner to owner. Am I really going to keep doing this until the day I die? Perhaps I should just settle down in Rarity’s home and tolerate it all. I could stay until she becomes particularly fond of me, then reveal my true form to her. Would she accept it? Would her friends accept it? What would I even do after that? I don’t have any particular “skills” that I can contribute. Then again, I suppose if everypony knew me and at least tolerated me, I could just wander through town and feed off the love that way, but then what would I do with my time? Perhaps I should see about impersonating one of her guards? No, no, standing around and keeping watch seems like an even WORSE idea. Why must love be such an annoying essence to gather? Hate or fear would be much easier. Maybe I’ll just explore some more of the ponies in this village. Yes, I’ll observe more of them tomorrow and make my decision at the end of the day.

Exulus spent the rest of the night pacing about the living room planning out how he might observe the most ponies in a short window of time. He planned and he waited until the sun rose and Fluttershy came downstairs.

“Good morning everyone!” She said happily as all of the small rodents and birds popped out of their holes for breakfast. She saw Exulus, sitting in the same place as he was last night, staring back at her. She shrugged and got to her morning feeding duties until there came a knock on the door. “I wonder who that could be.” She muttered.

When she opened the door, Rainbow Dash was there to greet her with a grin on her face, “Mornin’ Fluttershy! You busy?”

“Uhm, a little bit. It’s breakfast time and I-“ Fluttershy started.

“No, not right now, I mean later! Are you busy later today?”

“Oh. Well, yes, I do have plans for today. Why do you ask?”

“Me and Twilight were gonna take the train to Canterlot. They’re selling the newest Daring Do book before it goes on sale anywhere else, and the author is there to sign them! I’m inviting everyone to come along!”

“That does sound like fun, but I was going to go shopping today to get some medicine for Mr. Ferret. He’s been very sick and I’m worried about him.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright. Hey, what’s he doing here?” Rainbow Dash said as she directed her hoof and her attention to Exulus, who had crept up to Fluttershy’s side.

“I’m not sure. I just found him last night when he woke the chickens up.”

Rainbow leaned down to look at him, “What, was Rarity gonna dress you up in something ridiculous or something?”

Exulus nodded feverishly.

“Hah! I’d run away too if she tried anything like that to me!”

Fluttershy turned to Exulus, “Maybe he’d like to go with you. What do you think, Kitty Cat?”

Exulus looked at Fluttershy, then at Rainbow Dash, then back to Fluttershy, then back to Rainbow Dash again. He stood up and moved towards Rainbow Dash, then hopped up on her back.

“I guess that settles it then!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Have fun, and be careful.” Fluttershy said, waving her hoof.

“Of course! See ya Fluttershy!” With that, Rainbow Dash blasted off into the sky. Exulus desperately wrapped his paws around Rainbow Dash’s neck and clung for dear life.

Rainbow Dash had already visited Applejack to ask her about coming along, who also responded as being busy. Twilight was tasked with asking Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Rainbow eventually landed in front of Twilight’s house and knocked to see if Twilight was done and had returned yet. Spike answered the door.

“What’s up, Dash?” Spike asked.

“Just checking if Twilight is back yet.” She responded.

“I saw her pass by when she left Sugarcube Corner a while ago. She might be at Rarity’s right now, or she might be heading back.”

“Was Pinkie Pie with her?”

“I don’t think I saw Pinkie with her. I guess she must be busy today.”

“Arrgh! Everypony’s busy today! I bet you’re even busy today, aren’t you?”

“Nah, I just don’t wanna go stand in line to get a book. We’ve got plenty of books here already!”

“But what if Rarity is coming along?”

“Then my answer is to be reserved for if or when that happens!”

“Pfft. Come oooon! It’ll be fun!”

“Sorry Rainbow Dash, I’m far too busy today! I simply cannot accompany you. By the way…what’s with the cat?”

Rainbow dash looked over on her back, Exulus was still sitting on her back, fixing his fur since the high speeds had messed it all up. “Oh yeah,” She started, “I forgot I had him. I picked him up at Fluttershy’s. I guess he ran away from Rarity’s accessory rampage.”

“That cat doesn’t know how lucky he is,” pouted Spike.

“Yeah, he’s lucky he escaped!” Rainbow Dash laughed.

Suddenly a call came from a little ways away. Everypony turned to see it was Twilight, lightly prancing her way over to Spike and Rainbow Dash. She approached them and said, “Hey there Rainbow Dash, any luck?”

“Nah,” Rainbow replied, “Everyone’s busy. How about you?”

“Same,” Twilight replied, “By the way, why is Kitty Cat with you?”

“I found him at Fluttershy’s place, he wanted to tag along.”

“I bet he wants to see the princesses again. At least someone’s willing to tag along! Now let’s get going, the train leaves in twenty minutes!”

The two ponies and cat made off to the train station and over to Canterlot. Exulus looked out the window and watched the world rush by. This was even more different than the chariot. No wind, the whole ground was rumbling, and the sound of the train’s engine. It was all very new to him.

In Canterlot, Twilight and Rainbow Dash made their way to the bookstore right away, however there was already a long line.

“Aw man! We’re gonna be waiting here forever!” Rainbow Dash complained.

“No worries,” Twilight said confidently, using magic to open her bag, “I brought reading material!” She pulled out two books she brought along, a couple Daring Do books for the two of them to read while waiting in line.

Exulus, not willing to wait in line, scurried off towards the palace. Although it didn’t occur to him at first, he actually did want to go see the princesses. He ran into an alleyway and changed into a crow. He flew over the wall and around the palace, looking for any open windows. It seems they weren’t so careless today as there were no open windows. However, amongst all of the white blotches painting the palace grounds, one had a rainbow-colored mane with it. Exulus could tell this was Princess Celestia, who was taking some time to tour her gardens.

Exulus swooped down into a nearby tree, changed into a cat, then hopped down, immediately scurrying over to Celestia and letting off a “meow.”

Celestia looked, then turned herself to Exulus with an expression of surprise and pleasure, “Well if it isn’t Mr. Cat. What brings you back here?”

“Meow.” Exulus responded. At this point, he could probably guess who would interpret the meows to mean something.

“You came to see us? That’s kind of you. Unfortunately my sister is asleep right now. Will you be staying for the night?”

“Meow.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. Are you here with somepony then?”

“Meow.”

“Twilight and her friend are here? I see. I’m glad you’ve made friends with them as well!”

“Meow.”

“Then, shall you be spending your time with me until then?”

“Meow.”

“Yes, you’re probably right. Shall we wait for them?”

“Meow.”

Princess Celestia and Exulus headed back into the castle where they spent the next few hours. Twilight and Rainbow Dash eventually would come to the castle to visit the Princess. To their surprise, they would find both her and Exulus.

“I figured Kitty Cat would come back to you, Princess!” Twilight said happily as she and Rainbow Dash approached.

“Yes, he wanted to come say hello to my sister and I while he waited for you and Rainbow Dash.” Princess Celestia replied with a smile.

“Waited for us?”

“Yes. He wants to go back to Ponyville with you, but he didn’t want to wait in line.”

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash said, “How did you know we were in line?”

“Mr. Cat told me, of course.” Celestia chuckled, realizing how silly it sounds.

“He TOLD you? Since when did you speak cat?”

“I don’t speak cat, but I can guess what he’s trying to say.” She smiled fondly at Exulus, who simply twitched his ears.

“Well, the train is leaving soon, we should probably get going.” Twilight stated.

“Oh please Twilight, why don’t you and your friend stay for supper, then take the chariot back to Ponyville?”

“Can we really!?” Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly. She could easily fly herself back, but this was a rare chance to ride in Celestia’s very own personal chariot. Rainbow Dash had always wondered what it would be like.

“Yes, of course you can! Now please, make yourselves comfortable until supper time.” Celestia assured.

That afternoon, Celestia, Twilight, Rainbow, and even Exulus all sat at the dining table and ate and shared stories and enjoyed each other’s’ company. Once supper was done, Celestia saw them off as they were whisked away in her chariot. Rainbow was excitedly looking over the edge, as if it was something new to be flying through the sky. She also tried to make the chariot-pullers go faster, just to see how fast they could go. They didn’t.

In the evening, Rainbow Dash and Exulus spent the night at Twilight’s home. Twilight and Rainbow stayed up for most of the night; they were reading the signed Daring Do books that they had bought and went to sleep much later. Exulus tried to sleep, but he had told himself last night that he was to make a decision.

Visiting Princess Celestia and spending this time with these ponies didn’t make the decision any easier. It was so difficult that he couldn’t decide at all. This indecisiveness was an issue itself. Normally he had no problems with making any decision, no matter what it was. Now he wasn’t sure. All this peace and love, he felt, maybe, he was turning soft? Even if he was, is it a bad thing?

Was there a need for him to be tough anymore? What could possibly go wrong in such a nice, peaceful town?

Exulus shut his eyes as his mind wandered off to sleep.

Ch 3 Part 3: A Bakery in the Library

“Wake up…hey…”

Exulus groaned, he didn’t want to wake up.

“Wake up…!! Hey! Wake up!”

Someone is shouting. Why do they want him to wake up?

Suddenly, someone socked him in the gut with their hoof and Exulus was awake. He rolled over and got on his hooves. There, staring back at him, were Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Spike. They were all glaring at him, as if ready to beat him up. Why?

Exulus looked down, he was in his changeling form. He had fallen asleep without making sure he was somewhere secret first. Did they know he was the cat, or did they just wake up and find a changeling in their house?

“Who are you!? How did you get in here!?” Rainbow demanded.

Exulus growled, “What a stupid question. I’m a changeling, I’m whoever you want me to be. And I got in here through the door you stupid shit.”

“What was that!?” Rainbow raged, ready to tackle this punk and beat him senseless.

Why did this have to happen? Pff….of course. They can never accept me in my changeling form, nobody can. Exulus thought as his expression wrenched.

“What did you do with Kitty Cat?!” Twilight demanded.

They don’t know…good… Exulus smirked, “That cat? He ran out the door as soon as I came in.”

“Why are you here!?”

“No reason, I just needed a place to sleep for the night. I’ll be taking my leave now.” Exulus ran and bashed down the door and took off flying. However Rainbow Dash was in hot pursuit and very easily catching up.

Exulus looked around. He needed to be crafty. She’s fast, but one problem with speed is that it’s harder to turn. The advantages of having insect wings instead of bird wings.

Exulus did a nose dive, increasing speed and heading straight down for the buildings. Rainbow Dash paused a moment, then pursued. Exulus dove into an alleyway with Rainbow Dash following and quickly gaining. As they got out of the Alleyway, Exulus made a sharp right turn, then another into another alleyway. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, had to make a wider turn and had to slow down, allowing Exulus some space to get away. He made another sharp right and was out of view before Rainbow Dash could make her way through the alley that he had taken. However, when she passed through, she couldn’t see him anymore. All she saw were a group of small birds pecking at the ground.

She searched around one more time before heading back to Twilight’s house and reporting how she lost him.

Exulus checked his surroundings carefully from the disguise of one of the small birds. When he was sure all was clear, he changed back into his changeling form, then quickly into his cat form. He was flustered, he was angry, and he was saddened. Why couldn’t he just be himself and fit in like any other species? Changelings have to live their lives being something else in order to be loved, so why couldn’t they just be something else that was loved in the first place? Were they really such a despicable species?

Hanging his head low, the Exulus cat slowly made his way through the alley and into the streets where he was promptly tripped over by somepony.

He got up and looked at who had tripped over him and it was none other than Pinkie Pie. She gasped and said, “Mr. Kitty Cat! Sorry! Didn’t see ya there! You’re all sorta small and fuzzy and black and stuff! Say, you look kinda down in the dumps! Then again, I don’t think I’ve seen a happy cat before, or a sad cat, or a mad cat. I’m not sure I’ve seen any sort of expression on a cat! Though I guess Opal has some expressions, like furry and more furry and not-so-furry and styled-furry and some sort of angry-furry and messy-furry. You don’t seem to be any of those kinds of furry though. Well, you’re furry, but not like an expression furry.

Oh Celestia, she just keeps talking. This is one hundred percent of everything I don’t need right now. Exulus thought, irritated and frustrated. He laid his ears flat on his head, a typical sign that a cat was going to attack, though this time it meant he was in a bad mood. He turned to walk away from the rambling Pinkie Pie when she grabbed him in her hooves and said, “And where do you think YOU’RE going? Don’t think I don’t know about you MISTER! Oh no, you’re coming with me!” Despite his struggles and squirming, he was powerless as Pinkie Pie brought him to Sugarcube Corner and plopped him on the counter. She pointed to the counter and said, almost threateningly, “Now you wait right here MISTER!”

Exulus sat still, looking around. There were many great, sweet smells in the bakery, as well as many delicious-looking confections. He was reminded about how he hadn’t tasted any of them, but stayed put, knowing that eating any of them would cause trouble.

Yet, within moments, Pinkie came back with a tray of various pastries and various party decorations. She set the tray next to Exulus and quickly decorated the bakery, then moved up to Exulus’s side quickly, “Go ahead and eat these! When I heard that you were a stray cat, it made me sad because I knew that if you were a stray, then you’ve never been to a party! No birthday parties, no surprise parties, no going-away parties, no coming-back parties, no parties at all! Then I knew that if you haven’t been to a party, that you probably never had cupcakes or cake cakes or donuts or croissants or danishes or muffins or ANYTHING! So I’m throwing YOU, Mr. Kitty Cat, a you’ve-never-had-a-party-before party! Now stay there and eat those, I’m gonna go round up some guests!” And with everything said, she dashed out the door to recruit some random party guests.

Exulus looked down at the tray and sniffed the pastries. They weren’t poisonous. Actually, they smelled really tasty. He took a nibble of the donut, a simple donut with powdered sugar on it. His eyes widened as he thought, This is delicious! I wonder what the others taste like! He took bites out of the various pastries one after another and enjoyed each bite. He was enjoying them so much that he didn’t even realize that Pinkie Pie had come back with about nine other guests for this party.

Exulus was shocked when Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted, “Let’s get this party starteeeeeed!” She put on some music and the party commenced. Exulus sat and observed, not sure what he was supposed to be doing. He didn’t sit for long, however, before Pinkie Pie started pushing him around to the various games, punch bowl, even a few gifts. They were all cat toys, but they were still gifts.

About twenty minutes in, Exulus was already exhausted with being shoved about to each game. There came a knock on the door and when it opened, Twilight was outside. Pinkie Pie hopped over to her, “What’s up Twilight? You here for the party?”

“Party?” Twilight inquired, “What’s the occasion?”

“It’s Kitty Cat’s never-had-a-party-before party! I threw it for him today!”

“His party? He’s here?”

“Uh, DUHHHH! Why would I throw a party for him if he wasn’t here?”

“Good point. Where is he?”

“He’s over there by the punch bowl!” Pinkie Pie directed with her hoof.

Sitting by the punch bowl was Exulus. He was wearing a party hat and a beaglepuss. His stomach looked bloated, full of pastries and punch.

Twilight made her way over to him and sighed with relief, “I’m glad he’s alright.”

Exulus looked up at Twilight, the same one that had both treated him kindly yesterday and stared daggers at him today. He couldn’t blame her, but it was still a bit saddening.

“So Twilight,” Pinkie Pie started, “Are you staying for the party too?”

“Well, I sort of have stuff to do today…”

“Is it stuff that’s more fun than a party?”

Twilight thought about it and tossed a glance to Pinkie Pie who was staring with a wide and expecting grin. Twilight gave in, “No, of course not!”

“Alright! Then leeeet’s party!”

Exulus enjoyed himself for the duration of the party. He didn’t know most of these ponies, but he didn’t care. This was so much more fun than being with his changeling siblings who he DID know.

The party concluded and Exulus went home with Twilight Sparkle, this time without Rainbow Dash. Exulus sat atop the central table and looked around at the library. It was a nice and orderly place, though none too exciting.

Twilight paced around the table, “I should bring you back to Rarity’s so she can take care of you again. Though, you seemed fine last night and I guess you must’ve already eaten at the party. But what if that changeling comes back? What was up with him? No, Rainbow must’ve scared him off.” She stopped in her tracks and looked at Exulus, still in his party hat and beaglepuss. She giggled a bit and nudged the silly accessories off of him, “I guess you can stay here for the night. It should be okay. I’ll just have Owlowiscious keep an eye out tonight. Spike and I will sleep upstairs, do you need a place to sleep?”

Exulus shook his head, then laid down on top of the table.

She smiled, “Alright then, sleep tight!” Then she headed up the stairs.

Exulus, of course, was not going to make the same mistake this time and fall asleep in plain sight. He looked around for an open window, open door, something. He finally spotted it, an open window, the one that Owlowiscious uses to get in and out. Exulus made his way up the stairs and over to the window when he heard a “Hoo.”

He turned quickly to see Owlowiscious perched on a nearby chair and staring at Exulus. The owl spoke again, “Hoo.”

“Meow.” Exulus responded.

“Hoo.”

“Meow.”

“Hoo hoo.”

Exulus made is way out the window and through the branches, higher into the tree. It wasn’t the most comfortable place, but with all the leaves and branches, he was safely hidden. He shut his eyes and slept.

The following morning, Exulus awoke to scrambling about below as well as Twilight calling out, “Kitty Cat, oh Kitty Cat! Where are you!?”

Exulus changed into his cat form and made his way back inside through the window, then let out a “Meow” to grab Twilight’s attention.

She scrambled to him and heaved a sigh of relief, “Don’t scare me like that!”

Exulus twitches his ears and said nothing more.

She reached over and rubbed his head with her hoof, then turned and went about her usual morning business.

Today was one of the days where Twilight decided to expand her ability to cast spells and so had a particular spell book open that she was flipping through. She was systematically going through the book and learning its spells and when she was done, she planned to go onto the next one and so on. Exulus sat next to her, also reading the book.

“Here we go,” Twilight said, getting to where she last left off, “The Wil-O-Wisp spell. An easy-level spell. It creates a magical flame that can burn anything and stay burning forever. The most typical use is igniting the air to create a small source of light and heat. That seems useful. It also says ‘Warning: This flame will spread like regular flames if the flame has a place to spread to and will burn whatever is set aflame. The flame cannot be put out with traditional means and can only be doused with the following spell. Use with extreme caution.’ “

She turned the page to look at the spell for dousing, the ‘Will-No-Wisp’ spell, then flipped back to the previous. Her horn began to glow as she attempted the spell and created a small glowing purple flame in the middle of the air a little in front and above her. She looked at it and smiled, “Seems pretty easy!”

Unknown to her, however, was that Exulus also attempted the spell. The tip of his tail glowed red and the small purple flame now had an added red flame flickering within it. This puzzled Twilight, but as most flames were some sort of red, she shrugged it off. She then attempted the Will-No-Wisp spell. A slight breeze with a purple-ish hue emanated from her horn and blew out the purple flame, revealing the red flame for a moment. Exulus quickly imitated the spell and let off a slight red-ish breeze that doused the red flame.

The breeze seemed to have come from behind Twilight, leading her to look over her shoulder to see behind her. Nopony was there. Maybe it was just part of the spell. She shrugged again and began looking into the next spells while Exulus remained by her side, imitating the spells without her knowing.

All changelings had the potential for magic. The transformation itself was a spell, but it was one that all changelings knew on instinct. Rarely, however, did they take the time to read a spell book and learn anything more. The Changelings themselves did not have any spell books to learn from, and magic was never particularly needed beyond the transformation spell. It was for these reasons that most changelings did not know any additional magics.

The rest of the day passed like this. It was calm, it was simple, and it was relaxing. These past few days have been nothing but learning experiences, and each one was another fond memory. If only days like these could last forever.

Nothing lasts forever.

Ch 4. The End of Peaceful Days

Loud knocks came at the Twilight’s door. They were steady, but forceful. It was something important, but not immediately urgent.

Exulus awoke in the branches above and changed into his cat form where he peaked over the edge. There he saw a pony in uniform, a police unicorn with a serious expression.

Twilight rolled out of bed and answered the door, still sleepy-eyed. Yet, immediately as she saw the police unicorn, she stood up straight and asked, “What seems to be the problem, officer?”

The unicorn drew a notepad out with his magic and began, “Are you Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes, that’s me. What’s wrong?”

“Please hold all questions until the end. Where were you last night between the times of 10pm and 2 am?”

“I was here in my home, sleeping.”

“Can anyone testify to this?”

“Uhmmm, Spike can, I guess.”

“Spike? Does he live here with you?”

“Yes, he’s my assistant.”

“Very well. Did you hear any loud noises or see any figures last night?”

“No. I was asleep.”

“Understandable. Now M’am I’m sure you’re curious about what has happened and I will tell you. Last night, someone broke into the mayor’s office. We’re not sure who, what, or why, but as of currently, the mayor herself is missing. We’ve checked her house as well as investigated anyone she may have been particularly close to. None of them have seen her but there have been reports of noises of breaking glass and seeing dark figures running by the library.”

“Oh no! The mayor is missing? May I go inspect the crime scene?”

“At this time we are preserving the crime scene. Investigation of the scene should be done within an hour or two. You may come by around then to see if they will allow you in.”

“Alright, thank you.”

The Police unicorn tipped his hat and made his way over to the next house, knocked, and proceeded to asking them questions.

Spike walked over to Twilight, rubbing his eyes, “What’s going on Twilight?”

Twilight was scrambling to assemble her detective gear, “The mayor’s office was broken into last night and the mayor herself is missing! I’m going to go investigate so you just stay here today!”

“The mayor’s missing!? What if it’s some kidnapper asking for ransom? Or what if it’s some pony-eating monster!? What if it comes here next!?!”

“Relax Spike. We’ll get to the bottom of this. And besides, we live in the middle of town with dozens of other houses surrounding us in broad daylight, nobody would try to break in here.”

“Yeah…yeah you’re right.” Spike said, still somewhat frightened.

Twilight had assembled everything she needed and now opened up a pair of calendars, rescheduling how her days and the following days were going to proceed depending on if this turned out to be a mystery or if it was resolved quickly. Without looking, she posed another idea, “Y’know Spike, Rarity might also be scared too. She’s already been kidnapped by those Diamond Dogs. What if she gets kidnapped again? Maybe you should go protect her today?”

“You’re right!” Spike said, puffing up his chest and slamming it with his fist, “It’s my duty to defend the fair Rarity from any dangers that might arise! A brilliant idea Twilight! I must make haste!”

Spike charged out the door and Twilight simply giggled to herself. Both he and Rarity would be safer together and she wouldn’t have to worry about leaving Spike alone. As she rescheduled, Exulus walked in and hopped up on the table.

She passed a glance to him, “Are you going to come investigate with me?”

Exulus nodded.

“Alright. Is there nothing I can say to change your mind?”

Exulus shook his head.

Twilight finished rescheduling and headed over to the mayor’s office where there were more police unicorns standing around. Twilight approached them, sporting her Sherlock Holmes outfit, minus the bubble pipe. She saluted, “Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia, I’ve come to conduct an investigation of my own.”

The police unicorns nodded and allowed her inside with Exulus following.

Most of the other doors to the building were open but none of them seemed touched. In the hallways there were some knocked over potted plants and unhooked paintings. Inside the mayor’s office it was a complete mess. There was a broken window, a bookshelf that was knocked over, the chair was knocked over, the desk was shoved a bit to the side, and the carpet was wrinkled and bunched up. All of the drawers of the mayor’s desk were knocked loosely open, save for one drawer that was locked shut with no sign of the key.

Twilight looked around, taking note of everything. She moved some books around, took note of what was on the mayor’s desk as well as what must’ve fallen off the desk and onto the floor. There was one odd thing she noticed. The window was broken, but the glass wasn’t on the inside. It was on the outside. Whoever they were wasn’t breaking in, they were breaking out. This in mind, she went over to the door. It was a large wooden door with designs of old mythical creatures on it. She looked at the door handle as well as where the latch went in. The lock was broken and the latch was in small pieces on the floor. The door must’ve been locked and whoever it was forced the door open. Whoever they were, they were strong.

Exulus was also wandering about the room, observing, investigating, but most of all, smelling. He sniffed all over the room. Most of it smelled like soil and the plants, books, and wood, but there were two other smells, both that were familiar and both worried Exulus. One of the smells lingered about the room, it seemed to be all over but very faintly. The other was coming from the window, specifically from the window. He hopped up on the desk to get an elevated look at the window. There were red specs on it, mostly on the jagged, sharp edges. There were also some gray strands hanging on the jagged glass. Exulus directed his paw at it and meowed loudly.

Twilight came over to relook the window. This time, as she looked closer, she noticed the small details and even took some of the gray strands, placing them into a small plastic bag using her magic.

A police unicorn approached her, “Did you find something?”

“Twilight, yes, I think I know what happened in here. It’s more than a break-in.”

“Hm?” The police unicorn said quizzically.

“Yes,” Twilight said, starting to pace back and forth as she explained, “The front door to the building was open and the hallway was in shambles, yet only the door into this room shows signs of being broken into. The mayor must’ve come in here and locked the door, which was eventually knocked open. The blood on the window shards could belong to anypony, but I believe that the gray hairs belong to the mayor. When her adversaries broke through the door, the mayor must’ve jumped through the window to escape and got cut on the shards. She was being chased by somepony, somepony she knew was dangerous.”

“So you believe she must’ve run away somewhere? Maybe she’s hiding from her pursuers?”

“I’m sure she’d be trying to. If she didn’t go to one of her closest friends, then she must’ve gone out into the wilderness somewhere. Running straight without making turns would be the fastest way to escape one’s pursuers.”

“But straight ahead leads to-“

“The Everfree Forest.” Twilight said, looking out the window and into the forest.

“We’ll dispatch a search party right away. Thank you for your investigation, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Don’t thank me until we’ve found her,” spoke Twilight in a serious tone.

The police unicorn ran off to report to his superiors while Twilight and Exulus also made their way out. They moved out beside the broken window. There the glass shards were slightly bloodied, but there was little clue as to which direction the mayor had indeed taken. Twilight searched with her magnifying glass for tracks or blood spots, but saw nothing.

Exulus meowed loudly as he sniffed the bloodied shards and began following the scent trail towards the Everfree Forest. After a few paces, he pawed at the ground to remove a thin layer of dust. There was a spot with a drop of darkened red blood on it. They were on the right trail. Exulus continued following the scent and Twilight followed him.

The scent trail led deeper into the Everfree Forest, but not much deeper until Exulus stopped. Twilight approached quickly, then she too came to an abrupt stop with an expression of horror reaching across her face.

Amongst the thick foliage of the Everfree Forest lie the mayor’s body, on her stomach, hoofs spread to the left and right, face down in the dirt, with a pair of bloody holes just above the top of the neck.

Twilight mumbled, “M…Miss Mayor? Mayor? Are you okay? H-hey…come on….you’re not being chased anymore! Come on!” Twilight reached out and nudged the mayor’s body with her hoof and immediately regretted it. The body was stiff and cold as ice. Twilight immediately turned and ran away from the scene, out of the Everfree Forest.

Exulus sat still a little longer, eyes wide with shock and a boiling anger now rising through his veins. There was no longer a doubt in his mind what was going on, and he knew that it wasn’t going to stop either. It was a taunt, a challenge, and a warning.

Exulus made his way back to Ponyville where he meowed and meowed and meowed to get the police unicorns’ attention and lead them to the mayor’s body. He then made his way back to the library where he simply used magic to open the door. He was done acting and he needed to let Twilight know.

Inside, Twilight had shed off her Sherlock outfit and lazily strewn it about the library while she herself hid under her covers, shivering. She was hoping to find the mayor, but not like this.

Exulus stared at her for a moment. He tried to empathize a bit, but he just couldn’t. Death was something normal, and though it wasn’t something particularly normal amongst ponies, it was still a natural occurrence. No, this wasn’t natural at all. The mayor was murdered, he got that, but this isn’t the time for Twilight to lay around and wimper. She has to DO something about it.

Exulus hopped up on the foot of Twilight’s bed and said, “Twilight.”

She didn’t respond.

“Twilight!” He called.

Still no response.

“Twilight Sparkle, you cease your blubbering this instant!” Exulus shouted and levitated the covers off of Twilight’s bed.

Exposed and shivering, Twilight looked at Exulus, but all she saw was an angry cat. Who was talking then?

“Twilight, face me and listen.”

Twilight heard the voice and slowly ceased her shivering, her gaze turning to Exulus with an expression of surprise. “What…?” She mumbled out.

“Yes. I, Mr. Kitty Cat, can talk. I’ve always been able to talk, and now I need you to listen.”

Twilight’s face was still filled with shock, but now it was added with curiosity.

“Listen Twilight, I know I isn’t pretty, I know you weren’t expecting it and probably hoped never to see something like that, but you have to face it. The mayor has been murdered.”

Twilight’s face began to shift into a wretched frown.

Exulus quickly shouted, “She’s been murdered, but that doesn’t mean you get to cry and cower and run from it! You’ve been scared before. You’ve been hopeless and saddened, what did you do then?”

Twilight shivered and just stared at Exulus.

Exulus shouted, “I asked, What did you do!?”

“I-I…” Twilight nervously mumbled out. She stopped and thought about it. Some relieving realization washed over her and she stopped shivering. She answered more calmly, “I was saved….by my friends. I talked to them….They helped me through it all. Through everything.”

“They’re still there and they can still help you through it. You can get that done real quick because I need someone with half a brain.”

Twilight turned her full attention to Exulus now, “You know what’s going on, don’t you?”

“I know more than you do, that’s for certain. However, I don’t have the support of every pony in Ponyville, that’s something I need you for.”

“You need me?”

“I need you to help me, otherwise more ponies are going to die.”

Twilight flinched at the mention of death, then responded, “Tell me what you know, please….uhm….Kitty-“

“Exulus,” He interrupted, “My name is Exulus. I was a little bit cautious these past few days because I thought I smelled something but couldn’t put my paw on it, but now, today, that room, your mayor, I’m sure of it now. She was attacked by a changeling. Maybe more than one.”

“A Changeling?” Twilight murmured, “But why? I thought they only fed on love, not killed ponies.”

“There’s more than one way to get love. One is through conversation and proximity, those are the usual ways. Another way is some large, green, cocoon thing. The last way is at the expense of the pony. By biting down around the spinal column and near the brain, love, in an extremely dense, liquid form, can be forcefully drawn out.”

“But why use that method instead of the more passive ones?”

“It’s the quickest way to get a lot of love quickly. It’s also the way that Changelings hate the most because that form of love tastes sickeningly awful and because they’re not fans of murder either.”

“So what do they need with more love than usual?”

“It was probably a command from the Queen. She was weakened during that failure at Canterlot and I guess she wants her power back.”

“So then, what do we do?”

“First off we need to deal with the changelings in THIS town, to make sure that nopony else gets harmed. Chances are they probably flew back to the hive to deliver the love from that first killing, so we have some time before they do their next killing to find some clues. I don’t know everypony in this town so that’s what I need you for.”

“Alright...I’ll do my best.”

“Glad to have your cooperation.” Exulus said as he hopped off the bed and headed to the stairs.

“One more question, Kitty- I mean Exulus….You’re a changeling too, aren’t you?”

Exulus lowered his head and turned to her, “No...I’m just a stray cat looking for love and a home.”

Twilight knew it was a lie, that he probably was a changeling, but he seemed to be cooperating, so he had her trust….for now.

Ch 5. Identities Revealed

Exulus and Twilight made their way out the door and split up. The plan was for Twilight to go gather up her friends and brief them on the situation while Exulus went back to investigate the mayor's office. It bothered him that she went to her office and locked herself inside instead of calling for help or going to someone's home. She may have found something before she was chased out of the building.

He made his way through the front door and walked right into the office. Since the police unicorns had already found the body, there wasn't much need to keep the building locked down any longer.

Exulus stood in the middle of the room and looked around. If the mayor came in here to write something, what would she write it in, and where would she keep said document? His eyes scanned over the books on the floor. They all looked like ordinary books, but then Exulus remembered. One of the drawers on the desk was locked and perhaps that contained a clue. Where was the key? He moved books around, opened the other drawers, looked atop the bookshelves and behind them but could not find anything. Perhaps she took the key with her so that it would be found along with her? If that was the case, then it was never coming open.

He finally resorted to simply igniting the lock on the drawer with the Wil-O-Wisp spell to burn it open. As soon as the drawer became loose due to the burning of the lock, Exulus dispersed the fire and pulled open the drawer. Inside there were numerous folders and papers, most likely legal documents, and a small book. Exulus retrieved the book with his magic and opened the cover. It was the Mayor's journal. He turned to the first entry and began reading.

Journal Entry 1, Day 1

"It is my first day as the mayor of Ponyville and I'm very much excited. This place has been my home since I was just a little filly. Everypony here was always so kind and considerate of one another and I'm happy that I can now take care of such a wonderful little town. The Apple family has just..."

Exulus stopped reading; this wasn't what he was here for. He quickly flipped to the last entry and his eyes widened. The final entry was written with far less care and far more urgency, as well as the pen mark ran off the page abruptly. He decided to read the second-to-last entry.

Journal Entry 248, Day 1700-ish. I've lost count.

"Today started off as any other, nothing strange throughout most of the day until later in the afternoon. I had spotted Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves talking as I made my way back to my office from supper. I greeted them with a simple "Hello" and they both looked at me. Derpy's eyes were the first thing I noticed, they were normal, straightened and focused as a normal pony's would be. Then Rainbow Dash said to me, "Good Afternoon, Mayor!" It seemed very much unlike her usual attitude. I inquired as to whether something was wrong, if they weren't feeling well. Rainbow Dash said, "All hunky dory" and Derpy did not respond at all. I found this very strange. Without anything further I returned to my office and decided to write this entry. I'm not sure why, I just felt very uneasy around those two. I hope it's nothing."

Exulus figured he might now know who it is but looked to the final entry.

"I, the Mayor of Ponyville, am currently being pursued. I write this with no knowledge of what my pursuers intend to do to me. I thought they were Rainbow Dash and Derpy, but when I got closer, they weren't even ponies. They were some sort of monsters who began chasing me! I've locked the door but they're banging against it wildly! Whoever finds this, know that-"

The sentence stops there and is followed by only a pen mark connecting the cross of the "t" to the edge of the page. If it's true that Rainbow Dash is being impersonated, then she might be in danger, or she might have already been killed. Exulus was with her only a couple of days ago, was that the real one or the imposter? This was for Twilight to decide. Exulus rushed out of the office and as soon as he exited the front door, he spotted Twilight and the group, including Spike but minus Rainbow Dash.

The group eyed Exulus with suspicion. Everyone but Twilight couldn't believe that he could talk, that the mayor was killed, or anything. However, from the expressions on their faces, it was clear that some of them, namely Applejack and Rarity, thought that Exulus was a changeling and must've been the one to do it, if it was all true.

Exulus looked them all over, sighed and said, "The mayor's journal says that the last couple of people she saw were Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves, and that when she did see them, they were acting strange. Where is Rainbow Dash?"

Twilight stepped forward, "I was told that she went back to Cloudsdale and hasn't come back at all today. Do you think something happened to her!?"

"If they're impersonating her, it means either they've already gotten rid of the original, or they're going to."

"We have to go find her! And Derpy too!"

"Do you have any way to get up to Cloudsdale?"

"We have a hot-air balloon, it can get us there but not very quickly."

"Ugh, and it'd take too long to get the Princess's chariot sent over here. You all get in your balloon and head over, I'll go on ahead."

"Now hold on there partner," Applejack said, stepping forward now, "How can we trust that you're goin' there to help us and not try somethin' funny while we're not around?"

Exulus looked her in the eyes and merely replied, "I have spent a little bit of time with each of you. You can judge for yourselves whether I am trustworthy or not, but regardless of whether you decide to trust me or not, I am worried about Rainbow Dash's safety and I will go to see if she is safe. I'm sorry if this makes you uneasy."

That said, Exulus changed into his true form, his original changeling form. The surprise caused the group to step back. He wasn't a pretty sight to see and their expressions reflected that. Twilight's showed even more surprise as well as she added, "You're the changeling who was in the library the other day!"

"Yeah," Exulus mumbled, "That was sort of an accident. I fell asleep without putting myself somewhere hidden. I can't stay disguised while asleep. I'll tell you more when I return."

Exulus crouched and sprang into the air with his wings abuzz and flew off to Cloudsdale while the other ponies watched.

Exulus flew as fast as his wings could take him. He wasn't nearly as faster as Rainbow Dash, but he was faster than the other changelings. He reached Cloudsdale after some time, but then he realized that he didn't know where Rainbow Dash lived, let alone this "Derpy" pony.

He changed into a white male pegasus with brown hair. It wasn't one he'd seen before but he needed a disguise so he could ask around. He didn't realize it but he made his cutie mark a donut. He asked around with urgency, confronting every pegasus he saw and asking him where Rainbow Dash lived. Most responded by remarking how they'd never seen him before, but he eventually got enough information.

He made his way over and entered abruptly, shouting, "Rainbow Dash, are you he-...!?" He stopped as he saw not one Rainbow Dash but two. Exulus looked at them. He couldn't tell the difference.

The first Rainbow Dash shouted, "I don't know who you are, but help me out here! This imposter attacked me out of nowhere!"

The second barked, "Imposter!? YOU'RE the imposter and YOU'RE attacking ME!"

The two argued back and forth with Exulus unable to tell the difference. He hadn't spent enough time with Rainbow Dash to tell the difference. He then had an idea. He dropped his disguise and turned into his changeling form.

The two Rainbow Dashes had different reactions; the first had a shocked expression, then somewhat nervous fear; the second went to shock, then to anger.

The second Rainbow Dash shouted, "You! I remember you!"

Exulus smirked, "Oh? Where do you remember me from?"

The first Rainbow Dash snapped to attention as she knew where this was going.

The second Rainbow Dash replied, "You were in the library a couple of days ago! You called me a stupid shit, then ran off like a coward!"

"Bingo." Exulus said as he grinned at the first Rainbow Dash, "And where were you a couple days ago?"

"I was uhhh...busy! Working! With Derpy Hooves! The mayor can attest to that!" She replied.

"What!?" The second Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "I haven't seen Derpy or the mayor for like, four days!"

Exulus shook his head. He looked at the second Rainbow Dash, "Please back away from the other Rainbow Dash."

The second Rainbow Dash backed away, not just from the imposter but from Exulus as well.

Exulus looked at the first Rainbow Dash, "Didn't the Queen give you my warning?"

"Wh-what're you talking about?" The first Rainbow Dash became flustered, her eyes shifting around, looking for exits.

"I told the Queen that if I find her or any of you near me, that I'd kill you." Exulus said, his horn starting to glow.

"I...I didn't do anything wrong! I was just following orders!" She squealed.

"Pitiful," Exulus said lowly, "Cracking under the pressure. Farewell, little fool." Exulus's horn flashed and a burst of red flame erupted around the first Rainbow Dash.

She screamed and squirmed, pleading for help, trying everything to put the flames out to no avail. The first Rainbow Dash then suddenly dropped her disguise to reveal that she was, in fact, a changeling. The wings were the first to burn and eventually the screams died down as the burning body flopped dead on the cloud floor. Rainbow Dash was dumbstruck.

"Rainbow." Exulus spoke. Rainbow Dash immediately stood on alert.

"Who are you!? Why did you just kill that changeling!? Aren't you on the same team!?" Rainbow shot out.

"My name is Exulus, I killed him because he was going to kill you, and no, we're not." Exulus replied bluntly. "Now where is Derpy Hooves? There's a changeling after her as well."

"I dunno!" Rainbow said, still on alert, "She might be at her house or she might be delivering mail!"

"Can you take me to her home?"

"Why should I!?"

"I already told you, there's probably a changeling after her like there was with you. We need to go protect her before it's too late. The rest of your friends are on their way to Cloudsdale as we speak but we can't just sit here and wait for them."

Rainbow Dash continued glaring at Exulus in silence, then said, "Follow me." She flew out of her home with Exulus following.

In Derpy's home was a similar situation, there were two Derpys. However, one was sitting on the floor and reading a book with the book being upside down. The second Derpy was looming behind the first with her mouth open, about to take a bite in the back of the neck of the first.

Rainbow shouted, "Derpy, watch out!" and leaped forward.

The first Derpy's head jerked up and slammed into the second one's face while the first said, "Huh?"

Rainbow Dash tackled the second Derpy to the ground and pinned her, then shouted, "Who are you!?"

The second Derpy struggled. She looked directly at Rainbow Dash with both eyes focused. This was definitely the false one. The fake Derpy responded, "What're you doing you idiot!? It's me! Or....are you...?"

Exulus approached, "She's the REAL Rainbow Dash. We already dealt with your little friend."

"Exulus! What do you mean you dealt with him!?" The false Derpy said, now morphing into its changeling form since the jig was up.

"I burned him to a crisp."

"No!"

"Yes, it's the truth. Now tell me, were you two the ones who killed the mayor?"

The changeling looked surprised, "How did you know she was dead?"

"We found the corpse. Didn't you learn that if you're going to kill somepony that you have to hide the corpse?"

"Tch! We thought it'd be hidden enough in the Everfree Fo-"

"Enough!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "What're you punks doing here!?"

"We're here to remove the originals so we can take their place."

"Not here, here! I mean, why are you killing ponies like the mayor!?"

"Heh..." The changeling chuckled to himself, "We're collecting love. Queen's orders."

"Didn't she tell you about the warning I gave her?"

"Oh she told us," The changeling spat, "She also told us to travel in pairs in case we did find you. We were also given orders that if we were to find you, to kill you."

"Sounds like a suicide mission." Exulus scoffed.

"Yeees but you know how the Queen is. You also know WHY she's doing this."

Exulus stayed silent.

"She's doing it aaaall for you Exulus. You should have heard the tangent she went on as soon as you left. So much disrespect and how she'll kill you, blah blah blah. We all know she's just trying to bait you back and that the killing will just keep happening until you're dealt with."

"She really is so reckless when she's angry."

"So are you. The difference is that you're ALWAYS angry! What's your problem anyway? You're causing trouble for EVERYPONY!"

"Yeah..."Exulus said as his gaze turned to the cloud floor, "But don't worry, I intend to fix it all. The Queen will get what she wants, I'll get what I want, and you....well....Rainbow, could you step off of him for a moment?"

Rainbow Dash glared over her shoulder at Exulus, "What!?"

"Just move off of him for a moment. You can just kick him in the face if he tries anything funny."

Rainbow Dash groaned with frustration, but she stepped off. The Changeling smirked as he sat up.

"What's your game, Exulus?" The Changeling started, "Do you pi-"

Suddenly, the changeling was consumed in a red flame. He screamed in agony and pleaded for help, for mercy, for the Queen to save him. Nopony would save him as he burned.

Exulus stared with a careless expression as his used-to-be-comrade burned to death. Once the changeling stopped moving, Exulus put the fire out.

Soon, Twilight and the others came running in. As they each saw the dead changeling, they gasped and stepped back.

Twilight asked with a concerned expression, "What happened here?"

Exulus looked at her, "Derpy and Rainbow Dash are safe now. The changelings are dead" He said bluntly.

"Dead!?" Twilight exclaimed, "Why!?"

"If we let them go, they'd just cause trouble elsewhere, and I don't like the idea of prisons or banishments. I simply did as I felt best."

"You didn't have to KILL them! What makes killing them any better than them killing ponies!?"

"It doesn't," Exulus sighed, "But we're changelings, there are a hundred or so more just like us. It's not a huge loss."

"But-"

"Twilight," Exulus interrupted, "Just stop it. Go back to Ponyville, I'll dispose of the bodies. You should probably explain to anypony who saw me what's going on. I'll meet you back in the library."

That said, he grabbed the changeling body and heaved it on his back. The corpse was still warm, but that was due to the way it died, not from any sort of life. Exulus flew out the door with the changeling on his back while the other ponies stepped aside.

As they watched Exulus fly away, Rainbow Dash asked, "What're we gonna do, Twilight?"

Twilight thought for a moment, then turned her head to Rainbow, "I guess we should just do what he says. I'll ask him what he plans to do when we get back to the library, so for now, let's head back to Ponyville."

Night time came and each pony had gone home for the night. Twilight stayed awake, pacing about in a circle around the table, waiting for Exulus. Finally, the door opened and in came Exulus, hanging his head low. He perked it up when he saw Twilight and he spoke as straight-faced as he could manage, "Hello."

"Hey...So, what did you do with the bodies?" Twilight said, feeling uneasy and rubbing her leg with her hoof.

"I dumped them in Ghastly Gorge and piled some rocks over them. I don't expect them to be found."

"That's good...I guess. What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. I could go all over Equestria to fi-"

"You're lying." Twilight said sternly.

"What?"

"You're lying, you do know what you're going to do, but you don't want to tell me."

Exulus sighed, "Nothing gets past you, huh? It's kind of annoying how smart you are."

"Stop it, Exulus. I know you're planning something dangerous, that you plan to kill more changelings. Please, isn't there another way? We could go to Princess Celestia and-"

"And what? Ask her for help? If this became public knowledge, everyone would be thrown into panic, paranoid of who's a changeling and who isn't and while everypony is frantic, more will die. We don't even know how many changelings are already in the royal guard. No, we can't ask her for help."

"Then maybe-!"

"Twilight, just let me handle this myself. I'll find a way where no more ponies or changelings need to be killed."

"But you're just one changeling. It'll be dangerous for YOU! Let us help."

"I'll think about it," Exulus grumbled, "But for now, let's get to sleep. Whatever we're doing, we're doing it tomorrow, so rest up."

Twilight sighed, "Fine. Good night Exulus."

Exulus paused a moment, then replied, "Good night, Twilight Sparkle."

Ch Final. Give and Receive

The sun rose with the coming of the next day. Twilight rolled out of bed and set to making it while Spike continued to sleep. As she headed downstairs, she saw Exulus, already awake and writing something.

She spoke with only a hint of weariness, "Good morning."

Exulus replied, "Good morning, Twilight Sparkle," Without looking at her.

"You can just call me Twilight. What're you writing? And where did you find the paper and quill?"

"I took them from a desk near the window, but didn't want to write there with that owl around. I left it as orderly as I found it."

"Alright, but what are you writing?" Twilight started trying to peek at the paper in question, to which Exulus would shift slightly in the way of her sight.

"It's a letter."

"For who? The Queen? The Princesses?"

"For you."

"But I'm right here, couldn't you just tell me?"

Exulus stopped writing and looked at Twilight, "It's a...conditional letter. One that is to be read should certain things happen. If they don't happen, then it's an irrelevant letter."

"I see. And what might these 'certain things' be? Shouldn't I know so I can know when to read it or not?"

"That depends; do you have an envelope that I can use?"

"Sure." Twilight went upstairs, then came back down with a single envelope. Exulus took it with his magic and placed his letter inside. There was a momentary flash of red, then a red 'X' shape appeared on the flap of the envelope, sealing it shut.

"What did you do?" Twilight asked.

"I sealed it with a spell. Now it can only be opened by myself and anyone else who knows the password for unsealing it, or if the spell comes undone."

"Okay, but what's the point in that? Should I know the password?"

"No. Nobody needs to know it. If conditions are met, I'll simply undo the seal. If not, it'll stay sealed and unimportant. So for now, just take it and hold onto it."

Twilight gazed at the envelope, curious as to what was inside. She placed it on the table and looked back to Exulus, "What do you plan to do now?"

"I have a plan, but I'd like all of your friends to hear it as well. Could you go get your friends?"

"Why don't we both go get them?" Twilight said, smiling slightly, as she made her way to the door.

"I do not think they like my presence very much."

"Oh please! They're cautious around you but I don't think they dislike you!" Twilight opened the door and in fell Pikie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity. Rainbow Dash rushed through the door and Fluttershy slowly flew in.

"Girls! What're you all doing here?" Twilight asked, surprised.

"Oh!" Rarity started, "Haha, we were all just....oh....passing by!"

"Passing by your door! With our ears!" Pinkie Pie said, springing to her feet.

"You were listening to our conversation." Exulus stated.

"No!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, then lowered her head, "Well.....kinda....yeah...But only for Twilight's sake!"

"For me?" Twilight tilted her head in confusion.

"Yeah! I know he kinda saved us, but I still don't trust 'em!" Rainbow Dash continued.

"I can't say ah' trust 'em much neither." Applejack agreed.

"He deceived all of us, including the Princesses!" Rarity explained.

"Now girls I-" Twilight started.

"No, they're right," Exulus said, facing Twilight, "I did trick them all with my cat form. I can't blame them for not trusting me after the whole Canterlot wedding thing, or all of this. Maybe you're just a bit too trusting, Twilight."

"Exulus..."

"But that doesn't matter. You're all here and I wanted to talk to you all anyway." Exulus inhaled slowly, then heaved a sigh, "I plan to go back to the hive. I'm going to appeal to the Queen, make her order her changelings to stop killing ponies and just go back to the way things were. In exchange...I guess I would pledge my allegiance to her again..."

"Are you sure about this Exulus? Do you think she would listen?" Twilight asked, a bit of concern in her expression.

"I think she would." Exulus replied.

Rainbow Dash shouted, "No way! I remember what that changeling said! He said the Queen was trying to get you back to the hive. They were ordered to kill you, it's a suicide mission and you know it!"

"I'm glad you know more about my queen than I do," Exulus retorted. Exulus and Rainbow Dash glared at each other while Exulus continued, "And I suppose you have a better idea?"

"Stop it you two!" Twilight got between the two, breaking their lines of sight. "Exulus, couldn't we get the Princess to send an escort with you?"

"I already told you, I don't want to get the nobility involved. Just let me go and do this myself. If the killings don't stop, you can do whatever you like to get this under control. Isn't that enough for you?"

"No! I don't want you to go if you're just going to get killed!" Twilight protested.

"I won't," Exulus reassured, "I'm the best changeling she had. Rainbow Dash saw how I dealt with those two other changelings and I've dealt with them before the Wil-O-Wisp spell. There's no need to worry about me."

"But-"

Exulus placed his hoof on Twilight's mouth, "I'm going now. Just stay here and try not to worry. In fact, just forget about all of this. Forget you met me; just go back to your peaceful, happy lives in Ponyville. I had fun here in my short stay; I can only imagine that you all have much more fun. So just stay here."

"I'll go with you!" Rainbow Dash said, her expression showed she didn't want to, but it also showed that she didn't want Exulus to go get himself hurt either.

"No, you stay here with the other ponies." Exulus said, flapping his wings and putting himself in the air.

"I'm going with you, like it or not!" Rainbow further insisted.

Exulus got in her face, "You're staying right here, or I'll burn those chicken wings off your back!"

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and growled.

Exulus sighed again, "You're a good pony, Rainbow Dash. Stay here and keep the others safe. If something happens to them, it'll be on you."

Rainbow Dash lowered her eyes and crossed her hooves, lowering herself to the ground where she sat and pouted.

"I'm off, then." Exulus said as he looked over the group.

"See ya later alligator!" Pinkie Pie said, waving.

Twilight smiled and said, "Yeah, see you later."

Exulus shook his head very slightly, "Good-bye."

He flew out of the library as quickly as his wings could take him. Once away from Ponyville, he headed for Canterlot, wantinh to thank the ones who allowed for all of this to happen, even if he was only a cat at the time.

He didn't bother changing forms as he flew into Canterlot, over the walls and up to the observatory where he had first met Luna. The guards saw him easily and immediately mobilized a force to go capture Exulus.

Exulus wasted no time as he flew through the halls of the castle, looking for Celestia. He had numerous guesses as to where she was and checked each one. Eventually, he wound up in the hall of the stained glass windows. There, Celestia was looking upon them fondly. Her eyes spotted Exulus and she smiled, approaching him and him approaching her.

As they got close and stood facing one another, Celestia was the first to speak, "Helo there, Mr. Kitty Cat."

"So, you did know all along." Exulus chuckled.

"Mhm." Celestia nodded.

"Why didn't you tell anypony?"

"Because while I knew you were a changeling, I didn't detect any desire to harm anypony. I sensed your loneliness, your desire for a home."

"Did Princess Luna know as well?"

"Of course. She was particularly fond of you."

"Is there any chance that I could see her?"

"She's sleeping at the moment. I could wake her, or you could wait until the night."

"No, I cannot wait, and I do not wish to wake her. But can you tell her that Kitty Cat said 'Hello' and 'Thank you?' "

"I most certainly can, but wouldn't you like her to know your real name? I would like to know it as well."

Exulus looked down, then back up to Celestia's eyes, "My name is Exulus."

"I will make sure to tell her. So what brings you here today? Were you not having fun with Twilight and her friends?"

"I had much fun with them, but there are troubles, troubles with the Queen of changelings, Troubles that I feel only I can solve."

"Do you wish for my assistance?"

"No, please. I brought this trouble to your kingdom and I want to be the one to right this wrong."

"What do you plan to do?"

"I'm going to talk to the Queen and make her stop, even if it means that I have to become one of her minions again."

Celestia frowned, "Is that what you told Twilight?"

"Yes."

"You lied to her?"

Exulus was slightly stunned, "Huh?"

"You're not going to talk to her to make her stop, and you know she'll never take you back."

Exulus looked down and away, "Yes. You're right."

"What are you really planning?"

Exulus looked up again, "I plan to kill the Queen, maybe even the whole hive if I have to."

"Do you really think you'll succeed in this?"

"I know I'll be successful. I just don't know what will happen after."

"You know you don't have to do this, especially not by yourself."

"But it's something I want to do, especially by myself."

"Is there nothing I can say to convince you otherwise?"

"Nothing, Princess."

"Then I wish you the best of luck, Exulus. Come back safely, we'll be waiting."

"I'll do my best."

Exulus flew out of the castle, weaving up and around the guards and out of Canterlot.

He made his way to the changeling hive, a place well-hidden, despite the large cave opening. At the entrance there were four changelings guarding it. They were wearing armor and alerted each other to Exulus's approach, each one remarking about the surprise.

Exulus landed in front of them and announced, "I seek only an audience with the queen of the changelings, Chrysalis!"

"Well, well, well," The first guard started, "If it isn't Exulus, back so soon?"

"Has it even been a week?" The second guard teased.

"I don't think so." The third chuckled.

"And he thinks he can just waltz right on back in and talk to the queen?" The fourth scoffed, "Disgraceful!"

"Obviously," The first started again, "We've got orders to kill you on sight. I'd say it's nothing personal, but with how you threatened the queen? It's very personal."

Exulus sighed, "You know, I didn't have any intentions of killing anyone but Chrysalis today, but you're making it difficult for me."

"Hah!" The second laughed.

The third was laughing as well, "Even you had your limits! We're not some weak harvester drones, we're guards! We're strong! Even you can't take on four of us!"

Exulus's eyelids lowered, this banter was going nowhere. His horn glowed red and he quickly created thin wave of fire that swept across the four changeling guards and ignited them. They screamed as the fire washed over them, covered them, melting their armor as well as their skin. Their wings were burned off completely and they all rolled on the ground, trying to put out the fire, but it simply wouldn't stop.

Exulus cast the spell to extinguish the flames and the four guards merely lay on the ground in agony. Charred and burned, alive but barely. Exulus made his way in and as he did, his horn glowed again. This time he created a wall of flame, sealing the mouth of the cave. Nopony was getting in or out unless they had the Will-No-Wisp spell, which Exulus highly doubted.

As he entered, the many changelings gathered around, glaring at him with discontent, but none dared to approach. They heard the screams from outside, they saw the flames, they knew he would just ignite them before they even got close. Exulus showed no emotion as he moved amongst his siblings. For so long this place had been his home, these changelings, his family. Now it was an enemy fortress and these changelings are nothing but enemies.

He approached the queen's chambers where yet another two guards waited.

"Move aside." Exulus uttered.

"If you think's we'll ju-" Before the first guard could finish resisting, Exulus lit both his and the other guard's faces on fire, then walked on past. Once inside the queen's chamber, he extinguished their flames and set up another flaming wall to separate the queen's chamber from the rest of the changelings.

He spotted the queen and shouted, "CHRYSALIIIIIS!"

She turned and gazed upon him with a smirk on her face and anger in her eyes. Exulus could feel the power coming from her. She wasn't as strong as she was during the Canterlot wedding, but she had certainly regained her full strength again.

"Welcome back Exulus! Oh how I missed you so!" She taunted.

"Spare me your bullshit, Chrysalis. You know why I'm here. Are you going to order them to stop, or is this going to have to end badly?"

"You don't scare me Exulus," The queen said, her smirk disappearing and her tone hardening, "I know you can sense it. I'm not so weak where you can do as you please anymore. You were a fool to come back here and you're not going to be leaving alive."

"Hmph, yet again, Chrysalis, yet again." Exulus shook his head.

"Yet again, what?" She grunted.

"Yet again you have a good plan that works for the most part. You baited me here, trapped me, and here I am. Yet once again, your plan will fail at the last minute. You think you can kill me? That's a joke, and you insult me with it." Exulus's horn glowed as he aimed to ignite Chrysalis.

She dodged quickly, flying and leaping to the side, moving up against a wall as the spot she was just in caused the air to burn. "I guess we're done talking then. Such a shame!" Her horn glowed green and she directed a green energy blast towards Exulus.

Exulus responded by leaping forward and diving under the attack which struck the ground and burst behind him. He swept his head across as he launched a flaming horizontal arc towards Chrysalis, followed by a flaming vertical arc.

Chrysalis dove beneath the horizontal arc and pressed off the wall to avoid the vertical one while launching three smaller magic shots at Exulus.

Exulus leaped to the side, the burst from the third shot got dangerously close to hitting him. He now waved his horn about as he ignited the area surrounding Chrysalis. The ground, the ceiling, the air and walls all began to catch the magical fire as Chrysalis fly around in a panic, trying to evade it all, not even bothering with a counter attack. The room was burning and the air was stuffy and hot. Exulus stood in the middle of the ground, all around him the ground burned. Chrysalis flew between the burning ceiling and floor.

She taunted, "Ha! You fool, you've trapped yourself! The more you light aflame, the more you prevent either of us from moving!"

Exulus retorted, "Let's just hope you catch fire before I do, otherwise you'll be left with two options: burn to death or starve to death. Either way, you've lost."

Chrysalis's face reflected horror as she looked around. She didn't think about it, but it was true. These fires weren't going out, and with the exit sealed, neither was she. She gritted her teeth, "Damn you Exulus. Damn you!!" She charged her horn for one larger ball of magic and launched it at Exulus.

Exulus dove forward into the small space between him and the fires while the queen's attack came at him. The shot exploded but one last ball of fire launched itself at Chrysalis. She flew to the side and evaded the attack, causing it to hit the wall and ignite the wall.

Chrysalis looked down towards where Exulus was. The blast was larger than the safe zone he had, there was no way he couldn't have been hit. The dust cleared and she saw nothing. Exulus was gone. She smiled and said, "He must have dove into the fires, a death at his own hooves, rather than mine. A rebel to the end."

"Are you really that stupid?" Exulus's voice came from behind Chrysalis.

She turned quickly and was met with a large wave of fire that consumed her lower body and commenced to burning. She shrieked and screamed in agony while searching for Exulus to attack him before she was burned to nothing. She could not find him. Her wings shriveled to a crisp and she fell to the burning floor below where she was consumed by the flames. Her screams ended, as did her writhing.

A red hue filled the air as the Will-No-Wisp spell was cast, extinguishing the room and bringing down the flaming wall. The pocket of flame on the wall, however, did not extinguish. It was not a flame. The flame glowed and changed into Exulus. The flame was only a disguise.

Exulus peered down at Chrysalis's charred remains. She almost couldn't distinguish her, only a black corpse burned to near-ashes. He closed his eyes and apologized in his mind, then made his way out.

He could not contain his smile. He was victorious; he'd earned his freedom and peace for ponies all across Equestria from the threat of the changelings. He thought of how he would tell Twilight and the others about his victory, about the inevitable, but happy lie he would have to tell.

As he strode out, his chin held high, the many changelings in the caverns still surrounded him, making way for him with angered expressions turned towards him, but what would they do without their Queen? The order to kill Exulus was no longer valid. Would any of them step forward to kill him by their own accord?

Just then, a close-ranged and powerful blast of magic was shot from one of the changelings and into Exulus's side, knocking him against the far wall and destroying his right wing and a chunk of his abdomen, allowing his unusual red blood to spill out. He coughed and struggled to move, his body ached with pain. Who did this?

"Poor, foolish Exulus." The Queen's voice echoed out. Exulus forced his eyes open to look. He was having a hard time focusing.

A changeling stepped forward, walking towards the injured Exulus. As it did, it changed into Queen Chrysalis herself.

"You didn't seriously think I'd fight against a lowly minion like you, did you?" She mocked.

"I was........hoping so....."Exulus heaved out. Talking, even breathing were now painful and exhausting. His body wanted to clench up from the pain, but doing so only caused more pain.

"Well, you put up a good fight, I'll give you that much. Oh, and I'll also stop killing ponies, since you're dead and all." The Queen now laughed, her voice echoing through the caves.

"You're still.....trapped.....in here....." Exulus coughed up blood and groaned.

"Oh please. We simply have to blow away the cave around your little wall of fire. It's inconvenient, but we can get out juuuuust fine."

Exulus closed his eyes, his body ceased is shaking and convulsing, relaxing. His mouth curled into a smile. "Heh..." He started, "Hehehehe....Hahahahahahaha!" He was laughing and coughing up blood.

"Now what're you laughing about? All your efforts have gone in vain. Well, I guess that is rather funny!" The Queen laughed as well.

"Exulus opened his eyes again, it seemed to sparkle a little bit, "You think....you've won.....and that I....that I've lost? Ha....heh.....You always......fail......in the end.....now....is no....exception."

"Oh please, what could you possibly do at this point?" The Queen challenged as her face expressed curiosity and doubt.

"I had intended....." Exulus started. He was trying to get up, but he was just too weak to do so. He felt pathetic, never had he felt so helpless, but he was not afraid. He mustered his strength into his breathing and his voice. "I had intended to....only kill you.....to save the ponies....to save my brothers....and sisters.....Now.....I can only save one of them...." A tear slid out of Exulus's eyes and across his face.

"Oh they'll both be fine, stop being so dramatic!"

"No..." Exulus said, closing his eyes, "Only one of them....gets to survive." His eyes opened and passed over the various changlings. "I'm sorry...my brothers....and sisters.....I'm sorry....my Queen....but.....but...." His horn began to glow red, "You...have to.....die....."

His horn's glow grew brighter and brighter. The changelings, especially the Queen, all moved back. She shouted, "Exulus! What are you doing!?"

"Goody-bye....good-bye....." Exulus shut his eyes one last time, but opened his mouth and let loose a mighty roar. With the last of his power, with all that he had, his flames rushed out in every direction. He wasn't aiming at any one thing, he was aiming at everything.

The flames filled every open space, every nook, every cranny. The flames washed over the crowds of changelings with the Queen being the first to be swallowed by them. The cave was filled with burning, with screams of pain and agony, and with one roar. A roar that echoed through the caves and out into the lands; it echoed with his rage, it echoed with his sorrow, and it echoed with his regret.

As the world around him burned to nothing, Exulus smiled as he thought of peaceful days in Ponyville and in Canterlot, all the fun that could have been had with the ponies he had met. The ones he would have called his friends. Did they think the same of him? He didn't know, and he would never have the chance to find out...

In Ponyville, Twilight and the others sat in the library. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were playing cards while Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy were trying their best to converse with Twilight and cheer her up, take her mind off of worrying about what may or may not have befallen Exulus.

There came a cracking sound. It was loud enough for everyone to hear and it was coming from the envelope that Exulus had left for Twilight. She quickly rushed over to the circular table to look at the envelope. The red 'X' seal was cracking, more and more, until it finally shattered and disappeared.

Twilight was confused, Exulus wasn't around to break the seal and nobody, to her knowledge, had said the password, so why was it coming undone? Her eyes widened as she knew one of the many reasons for a seal to come undone, but she forced her mind away from it as she frantically opened the envelope and read the letter.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle,

If you're reading this, then it's as you most likely already expect, that I am no more. It's the only way for the seal to be broken without me. Please do not mourn for me or hold any negative feelings for this. It was my choice to go through with this. Though if you are reading this, it means that I was successful, and that the ponies will be safe from the changelings forevermore. I am only sorry that it came to this. You may think me selfish, and I cannot deny this. I knew this was dangerous, that I might not come back from this, but I also felt that it was necessary. Ponies in Equestria have died because of me and my selfish Queen, and while my death may not bring them all back, it will prevent any more from joining them. There will still be changelings in the world, but without the Queen, there will never be more. So please, enjoy yourself, enjoy your days, have fun, and try to put all of this behind you.

Your Friend, Exulus