James didn’t remember much about the night before, having burrowing most of it to the back of his mind. The only thing that mattered to him yesterday was that he unintentionally ran into his father, Seo-jun... or his real name Danh.

He woke up about ten or twenty minutes before the necessary time, giving him some time to look around and think. It didn’t help when he could see some of the sleeping prostitutes from the night before in the bunks, only refreshing his unwanted memories from the night before.

And another thing, how did he sleep through all that noise? Thank the Gods he couldn’t hear a thing from the bunks.

He managed to spot something that almost made him snort, Burnt Oak was snuggling with Odonata, who unconsciously nuzzled into the stubble of Oak’s beard.

How sweet.

Maybe he could find his father in the midst of workers here, that is if he could sneak out of training... wait a minute.

He’s a Changeling, he’s perfectly capable of hiding himself! How could he forget such a thing?

These ponies were affecting him more than he thought.

He decided to wait until the designated time arrived before he transformed into something small, a beetle. He’d be undetectable, besides the workers were most likely going to do the same thing once they heard outside noise.

His plan worked out smoothly, as he transformed as soon as the door slammed open by the Drill Instructor. He crawled under his pillow, hearing the groans and curses from his fellow soldiers as they were forced out of the room for training.

Once they were all gone, he could hear the sounds of Changelings turning back into themselves and speaking to each other in hushed voices. He crawled back out and transformed as well, scaring all of the workers.

“A nymph?!” One of them exclaimed, only to get a hoof slapped over their mouth.

Then Danh sat up from the bunk he was in, nonchalantly saying, “oh him? Yeah I talked to him yesterday, which reminds me, didn’t you have something to tell me?”

“U-umm... I can tell you later!” James replied, not wanting such a huge secret revealed to a group of literal sex workers.

A female Changeling questioned, “what are you doing here, little one? This is Equestrian territory, we don’t even belong here.” He recognized her as Vedalia, the one in the blue bikini.

“I’m helping them fight against Chrysalis’s army,” James answered confidently, only to be pulled into a hug by one of the males.

Fatherly instincts he guessed, as the male protested, “but it’s far too dangerous for a nymph like you to be out there, especially as a little boy!” That was Odonata, he could tell by the strong Thaydonese accent.

He tried not to pout, instead he retorted, “but I know what I’m fighting for! And there are girls my age fighting for our side, why can’t I do the same?” The workers seemed to not have an answer to that question, knowing that their society wasn’t the best but, what could they possibly do or say about it?

Odonata cleverly decided to change the subject by asking, “do any of you think you snagged an Equestrian?” There were murmurs and shaking heads, not much luck.

That is until he said with a grin, “well I think I managed to do it!” Everyone gasped and excitedly began asking questions, what was the stallion like, if he treated him right, etc.

He blushed as he admitted, “I really hope this won’t just be a one time thing, I really do like him! He’s the one that goes by ‘Burnt Oak’.”

He squeezed James tightly in his arms as he recounted, “he’s so sweet to me, like how you’re supposed to treat a lover! And besides...” he gestured towards the bed, “he didn’t seem bothered by our differences at all. Isn’t that just amazing?”

James coughed out, “th-that sounds lovely but I can’t breathe!” Odonata let go with a ‘sorry’ and an adorable giggle, “I think we’ve got a chance.”

“How long will the infatuation last though?” Danh cynically asked, making a few of the prostitute’s heads turn in confusion.

Odonata looked offended but let Danh explain, “I mean, he literally payed for just the sex. Just as they all payed everyone here for the night, it’s nothing special. Me and you both are always just going to be the ‘Boys of the Night’, it’ll never change.”

“Must you be so cynical, Danh? Let him be happy about this,” a short haired female said, it was Bluet.

“And besides...” Odonata mumbled, “he told me himself that he didn’t want us to be just a fling, I think he likes me...”

Danh rolled his eyes, “yeah you ‘think’, that’s the problem. What if he’s just saying that to get you back in his bed—“

“Danh stop being such a prick, let him be happy about this!” a long haired male snapped, that was Junebug.

“I’m just being honest! You all know it’s true, I’ve never had someone who wanted me beyond just sleeping with me!”

“That’s because you have no redeeming qualities beyond just being a slut!”

“Oookay, that’s enough from you two,” Vedalia said as she separated the two, “they might hear us—“

And like it was fate, the door slammed open and standing there was Drill Instructor Hail Storm, who was shouting, “where in Tartarus is Bridge?!”The Changelings all screamed from shock and transformed into random objects out of fear, James transformed into his disguise without thinking.

He had unknowingly revealed his true self to the one pony who could ruin his plans of helping.

“So would you like to explain yourself?” Hail Storm asked with an unamused expression.

They were both sitting in his office, the prostitutes were all sitting on the ground and looking down in shame. “I-I... you see-umm...” James stammered, not knowing where to start.

Danh looked up at him and thought of something, “you know sir, I would gladly offer my services if you let all of us go free! But he has to stay as well,” he suggested.

Storm cocked an eyebrow, “you really think I’ll take favors for something like this?”

“Well, see this as a one time opportunity. You spend most of your time on base and you won’t ever get the chance to get... you know...” Danh kept talking, looking to his fellow workers who nodded in agreement.

Mostly because they wanted to get the hell out of there.

James wished he could be grateful for Danh trying to help but, he was extremely uncomfortable with hearing his father talk about this. “I really want to stay, sir! I swear that I’ll fight alongside you ponies, I just want to help,” James pleaded.

Hail sighed and looked to the workers, “you all can go, I need to speak with him in private.” They all immediately ran out while giggling to each other, probably out of relief that they weren’t punished.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t believe your a spy for Queen Chrysalis’s army,” he ordered.

“First of all, can you all stop referring to her as ‘Queen’, she never has and never will deserve that title,” James complained before continuing, “second of all, if I was really a part of her army would I really be here talking to you? I would’ve ran the moment I got the chance, we can turn into anything so I could’ve fled in the shape of a fly and you wouldn’t even have noticed.”

Hail seemed to consider this as he tapped his chin, then he questioned, “how did you even get here in the first place, and how long have you been with us?”

“Oh that. Well you see, when you were all going through my country Fanggook, I ran into two of your soldiers. They let me come with you guys after they gave me someone to disguise myself as, James Bridge, a ‘draft-dodger’ as they told me.”

The Drill Instructor listened and seemed to think about this, as he muttered, “you have also been giving us helpful tips about your species so...” he finally decided, “I guess for now you can stay and work with us, but you’ll be working just as hard as everyone here.”

James grinned as he nodded, “will do, sir! I won’t let you down!”

“I sure hope you don’t.”

Author's Note

I might list out the Gods and Goddesses that they worship at some point on my blog