Changeling Theory

Time stopped. When Ocellus heard that Lemongrass was dead, all the clockwork that made her brain scream Go! stopped turning. Her head was now a near-empty shell. The only room for thought she had was Lemongrass and specifically Lemongrass. She tried to think of things other than Lemongrass to get Lemongrass off her mind, but an inky void always clouded her thoughts. Lemongrass was dead, and there was no changing that.

Ocellus was surprised she slept at all last night. Much like yesterday, her brain was slow to process everything. Part of her wanted to head down to the cafeteria and drink the entirety of the coffee dispenser’s contents, but she mostly wanted to lay in bed and gain another hour or two of restful sleep.

If she only could…

Silverstream was all over the dorm that morning. It started with the blare of her alarm, followed by a prompt musical number, a lot of rumbling as she shuffled through her armoire in search of something to wear, and finally, a series of clanking sounds coming from the bathroom. The noise became so overbearing that Ocellus inevitably decided to get up and join the hippogriff in her morning ritual.

“Good morning, sleepy filly!” Silverstream sang joyfully when Ocellus entered the bathroom. She had her wings spread out and was plucking stray feathers with tweezers. Being a seapony most of her life, she had yet to figure out that she could use her beak.

“Morning…” Ocellus mumbled.

Silverstream halted from her feather plucking and looked up at the changeling in surprise. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Ocellus grumbled. She arrived at the sink beside Silverstream and telekinetically lifted her toothbrush. “Just tired.”

“But you were tired yesterday.”

Ocellus nodded sluggishly. “Yup,” she said and squeezed some toothpaste onto the bristles.

“Are you going to make it to movie night, at least?”

Toothbrush in mouth, Ocellus mumbled something that almost translated to, “Sure.”

Silverstream finished plucking the feathers on her wings and moved onto her neck. She stopped, the tweezers hovering inches away, and she held them out toward Ocellus. “Hey, can you get the feathers on my neck? It’s difficult in the mirror.”

Spitting into the sink, Ocellus rinsed her toothbrush, set it aside, and wordlessly took the tweezers from Silverstream. She had helped Silverstream several times before, so she knew exactly which feather to take out.

“So, are you looking forward to your date with Gallus?” Ocellus said to fill in the small patch of silence that had ensued. She wanted to do whatever she could to not think about Lemongrass. Every time she did tears would begin to well up in her eyes and she would have to fight for them to not drip down her face.

“Why wouldn’t I!?” Silverstream blurted. Ocellus jolted at the hippogriff’s sudden burst of energy and accidentally yanked one of the feathers from her neck. “Owe!”

“I’m sorry, Silver. I didn’t mean to. It looks like I drew some blood. Let me get the first aid and —”

“Oh, psshh—” Silverstream waved for her to calm down. “It’s just a trickle. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sorry, I’m tired and —”

Silverstream placed a talon on her friend’s shoulder, the changeling falling into silence. “Ocellus, you over worry sometimes. It’s fine — really! Stop getting choked up.”

Ocellus faltered, the tweezers lowering in the air. “Sorry.”

Silverstream’s smile fell. “Is something up? You haven’t been yourself since yesterday.”

Ocellus felt like telling Silverstream everything she knew at that moment. Telling a friend meant she could get the pain off her chest. Lemongrass would still be on her mind, but if she vented about it then she would find at least some acceptance in it.

However, she thought back to the conversation she had with Headmare Starlight. When Ocellus had finished bawling her eyes out after twenty minutes or so, Starlight made her promise to not tell anycreature whatsoever. The headmare didn’t want to incite panic in the students and would announce it herself on Monday.

Also, today was a big day for Silverstream. The hippogriff wasn’t well-acquainted with Lemongrass, although Ocellus knew the kind of creature Silverstream was. Upon hearing that a fellow student of hers was found dead on school grounds, she would immediately burst into tears and be depressed for the rest of the day. She didn’t want Silverstream to be upset on what should be a very happy day.

Ocellus’s heart dropped in her chest. “I failed a test.”

Silverstream gasped a little louder than necessary. “Ocellus? Failing a test!” She threw both of her forelegs around the changeling’s neck and gave her the same breath-reducing hug Gallus got yesterday. “You are in my heart on this extremely sad day, of all days.”

“Uh, thanks,” Ocellus said, scrambling to push away from Silverstream.

Silverstream held her in a tight embrace for an uncomfortably long minute and only let go when Ocellus accidentally slapped her in the face while trying to get her hooves free. “Oh!” The hippogriff squeaked, letting go of the changeling.

Ocellus rubbed the spot on the back of her now sore neck. “I appreciate your… appreciation, but I’ll get over it. It was going to happen inevitably, heh.”

“I just wish it wasn’t today.” Silverstream turned back to the mirror, and Ocellus took that as her cue to resume plucking.

“So, going back to my question. You looking forward to—”

“Why wouldn’t I!” Silverstream blurted, a foreleg jolting into the air. “I’ve been waiting since last year for him to say something, and he finally built up the confidence to ask me out on the day that I was going to ask him out. It’s like destiny or something!”

“Hehe, sure.” Ocellus giggled. She found out about the whole “destiny” concept around the start of Thorax's reign — after certain literature bans were lifted from the changeling kingdom. The changeling read about it in a few storybooks but didn’t find anything romantic about it until Silverstream started throwing glances at Gallus’ way last year in History of Friendship.

Now, the concept of two creatures being together for the rest of their lives fascinated her. It was like a storybook! And, as of yesterday, she helped to make it ideal. If only she could give Silverstream the rock candy.

Just like that, she was reminded of Lemongrass again. The memory started with the rock candy, followed by the conversation she had with Headmare Starlight, followed by the realization... That acknowledgment of what she was forgetting was enough to make the excitement in her chest degrade into a cold weight.

Ocellus's body felt heavy, and she faltered from her feather plucking. Silverstream noticed her hesitation in the mirror. “Hm?”

“Sorry,” Ocellus replied. “I’m not myself this morning.”

Silverstream turned to her friend and placed a talon on her shoulder. “Ocellus, is there something you’re not telling me?”

This was that part of Silverstream that always caught Ocellus off-guard. It was that perceptive part. That part of the hippogriff where beyond all of her clumsy excitement, was a thoughtful and caring creature that understood when her friends had a much deeper, complex issue that they weren’t letting on about. Ocellus both loved and hated that part of Silverstream.

In this scenario, the changeling didn’t know how to feel. She wanted to hate it because she was trying to avoid telling the hippogriff. She also loved it because a part of her really wanted to say something. But how would Ocellus go about it? Was there a way she could say it without bumming Silverstream out, and on such an exciting day, at that?

“N-nothing,” Ocellus stuttered. “I just need some sleep. Do you think you can do it yourself?”

“Uh, sure…” Silverstream plucked the tweezers from the air and pointed them back to the side of her neck. “You got most of it, it looks like.”

The hippogriff threw an odd look between her reflection and the changeling and began to carefully pick through her feathers. It was the sort of look that said, I know you’re not saying something, but I won’t budge if you won’t first. Ocellus considered it for a moment and realized that it was the first time that Silverstream had looked at her like that. Every time Ocellus had a problem, they would talk about it. It was how they worked through their anxieties together. To her, it was like a silent acknowledgment of betrayal.

She tried to think of something to make her friend feel better, but all that came to mind was, “Enjoy your date with Gallus!”

Ocellus went back to bed, lifted her duvet in the air with her magic, and plopped down onto the mattress. The duvet came down over and enveloped her body. Eyes shut, she rolled around in bed, allowing the blanket to wrap around her a little, and noticed that something was off: the duvet was damp.

Confused, Ocellus unraveled from the blanket and levitated it in the air. Drips of water tapped against her carapace. Sitting up in bed, Ocellus felt the sheets beneath her with her hooves. Although they were mostly dry, they too were a little damp.

The duvet floated across the room and stuffed itself into the hamper next to the armoire at the foot of her bed. Ocellus wanted to speculate with theories about why her bed sheets were wet, but her tired mind suppressed any idea that sounded concrete.

Mind blank, Ocellus laid back down, snuggled her head into her pillow, and slept.

~•~

A whimsical chime filled Sugarcube Corner, and in walked Gallus and Silverstream, a tendril of falling snow trying to follow. “See? Told you it wouldn’t be busy in this weather.” the griffon said.

Silverstream, who now wore a blue sweater with What Happens In Las Pegus, Stays In Las Pegus stitched in green font, giggled and rolled her eyes playfully. “Fine, you were right.”

The two arrived at the counter. “Be there in a second!” a pony called. Both Silverstream and Gallus craned their necks to see Mrs. Cake serving a salad to a charcoal black hippogriff wearing sunglasses. “Is there anything else you need?” she asked him, and Silverstream sensed a little bit of anxiousness in her voice.

Head kneeled over his plate, he muttered something. A moment later, Mrs. Cake scampered back over to where Gallus and Silverstream were standing and arrived behind the counter.

“Sorry about that. What can I get for you two lovebirds?”

Gallus made a choking sound. Silverstream looked his way and saw the flustered look on his face. The feathers on his neck were even rising! She had to suppress a giggle at his adorableness. He tried to play it off by holding a fist in front of his beak and clearing his throat.

“We’d like some lunch — you want some lunch, right Silv? Yeah, I’ll take some lunch.” He focused his attention above Mrs. Cake’s head, at a menu that wasn’t there. “What do you want?”

Silverstream sat on her haunches and brought fetlocks to her chest in excitement. “Do they have fish tacos here?”

Mrs. Cake blinked. “Uhm, no—”

“Fish tacos, seriously?” Gallus interjected. “You want to get that on our first date?”

“What?” Silverstream shrugged. “You haven’t had fish tacos before?”

Gallus tapped his beak. “Now that you bring it up, I haven’t.”

“See! Ooo, let’s get a whole bunch of them.” Silverstream turned back to Mrs. Cake. “Hey, can we get fajita dip with the appetizer?”

“Ughh…” Mrs. Cake uttered, blinking rapidly before quickly regaining her composure with a shake of the head. “We don’t serve that here. Our lunch menu is right there.” She pointed to a sheet of laminated paper propped up on the counter.

Gallus lifted the sheet from its stand and examined it.

Lunch Specials

Spaghetti - 10 Bits

• With side salad of choice

Pizzaghetti

• With side salad of choice

(2) Neatly Cut Cucumber Sandwiches - 8 Bits

• With a side of potato salad

Sugarcube Corner’s Homemade Pan Pizza - 20 Bits

• With side of choice

Salad - 5 Bits

• With side salad of choice

Pinkie’s Special Paste - 3 Bits

• It’s a secret!

“That’s it?” Gallus blurted in a manner that Silverstream thought was a little rude, but she pushed it aside because he looked cute when he was confused! He looked cute when he did a lot of things, to be fair. But, oh boy, the way he looked at that menu was, like, so hot.

A small frown settled onto Mrs. Cake’s face. “Yes, that would be it,” she replied patiently. “This is a bakery, after all.”

Gallus sighed. “Fine, give us the Homemade Pan Pizza with two side salads. ”

Silverstream waved a talon between Mrs. Cake and Gallus. “Let’s split the side salad, actually. Like a couple!”

Gallus rolled his eyes, ignoring Mrs. Cake’s lame attempt to suppress her laughter. “Sure. And, uh, we’ll get some shakes with that.”

“Hey, can we get shakes the same colors as us? Like, you get strawberry and I get blueberry.”

“Fine. Two shakes. What she said.”

Loud clacking sounds emitted as Mrs. Cake rang up the total on the register. After Gallus paid for their meal, the two found a cozy little table in the middle of the store and sat across from each other.

“I’m surprised you paid for the entire meal yourself,” Silverstream teased, even sounding a little impressed.

“Eh, well, I borrowed a few bits from Sandbar.” Gallus reached a claw up to his neck and scratched beneath the color of his raggy wool green sweater. “Well, I ‘procured’ them from his piggy bank.”

“You defiled Professor Oinkals!?” Silverstream threw both of her talons up to her face in shock.

“Defile is a strong word. I’d say pilfered his innards. That’s two strong words.”

“Are you going to pay Sandbar back?”

“Probably. If he asks,” Gallus said. Silverstream shot him a stern look. “Eventually,” he added. Silverstream continued to stare, and he shot both of his forelegs up in defeat. “Alright! Yeah, sure…”

Silverstream reached over the table and gave him a celebratory pat on the head. “Good boy.”

“You are something else,” he chuckled.

Silverstream retracted her arm and leaned in toward the table with sparkling eyes. “So, are you excited for movie night?”

“Yeah. I haven’t seen a movie before. Should be nice.”

“I haven’t either! The closest to one I’ve seen is the small documentaries they show in class sometimes, and Professor Applejack doesn’t even let me eat popcorn during those.”

“Lame. Well, you can have popcorn during this one.”

“I kinda want some popcorn now.” Silverstream placed a hand over her stomach. “Dang, I wish we were watching the movie already so I could have some!”

Gallus raised a brow. “You know you don’t have to be watching a movie to eat popcorn, right? You can just have some.”

“That would ruin the magic of eating it!”

“Hey, don’t you two go to the school here?”

Both Gallus and Silverstream looked up at a hippogriff that looked twice their age. He had charcoal black feathers that hardly reflected the lights of the room and a tuft of white plumage going down his chest, making it look like he wore a tux of sorts. Some of the feathers on his head were slicked back neatly. The most captivating part of this hippogriff, however, were the shades that hid his eyes. The way his head didn’t tilt down to look at the two gave him an air of intimidation. The only thing that made his presence reassuring was the broad grin he wore. And even that somehow managed to be creepy.

“Yeah…” Gallus said after a hot second, not bothering to mask his confusion. His eyes settled onto the black leather satchel that hung at the hippogriff’s side.

“Really? That’s great. I heard there was a school around here. I’ve been wanting to go myself.”

“I think you’re too old for school, pal.”

The hippogriff gave a hearty laugh, and this made the two feel a little more comfortable. He had a smooth voice, giving him a sort of charisma to make up for the intimidating features. “I recognize you two. The both of you were in the papers some years ago.”

Gallus smirked. “You mean when we saved the school from Cozy Glow? That was just one of my many heroic deeds.”

“You mean there were more?” Silverstream spoke up.

Gallus dropped his smirk. “Silv, that was a joke.”

“And a charming one at that,” the hippogriff added. “Mind if I sit with you?”

Gallus was about to drop a very firm no but got dumbfounded into silence when the stranger sat next to him. “What?” he balked.

The hippogriff pointed down at Silverstream. “So you’re Queen Novo’s niece? I haven’t been up to Mount Aris myself in years. It’s a pleasure meeting you.”

He held out his talon for her to shake, and she accepted it. Silverstream clasped his talon into hers and was surprised by the strength in his grip. While it didn’t hurt, it was just enough that if he wanted to, he could pull her across the table.

Their talons parted, and the hippogriff turned his attention to Gallus. “Gallus, right? You’re much shorter in person. Probably because you’re a griffon.”

He held his claw out toward Gallus, who only stared at it. “We’re on a date,” he said curtly. “So if you’ll…”

“A date!” the hippogriff exclaimed. “Don’t let me get between young love. I just want to ask a few questions.”

Silverstream looked at Gallus, who gave her a muddled shrug. “What do you want?” he asked, looking back up at the hippogriff.

“Where were you two on Friday night?”

“I was asleep,” Silverstream said.

“Yeah, so was I,” Gallus added.

“Around what time did the both of you go to bed?”

Gallus shrugged. “Ten?”

“Eight!” Silverstream chirped.

The hippogriff nodded. “Right then. Were either of you acquainted with Lemongrass?”

Gallus and Silverstream exchanged glances. The griffon was the first to speak up. “I know of her, but we’ve never talked.”

“Lemongrass is great!” Silverstream shouted with sudden enthusiasm. “We hung out, like, twice last year!”

The stranger grew silent for a moment, looking as if he was trying to decide something. Then he spoke. “Based on both of your reactions to my question, I suppose I’ll be the first to tell the both of you that she’s dead.”

The windows crackled from the sheer force of the wind, the sound echoing throughout Sugarcube Corner. Gallus and Silverstream exchanged unsure glances, Gallus trying to register what reaction to give to a reveal like that, and Silverstream trying to find some reassurance that she didn’t just hear about a fellow student dying. The hippogriff’s deadpan face didn’t do anything to quell her fears.

“Who are you?” Gallus spoke up before the silence became too overbearing.

“I’m a detective.” the hippogriff said. He reached into his black leather satchel and took out a shiny gold object, presenting it for both Gallus and Silverstream to see: Canterlot Detective Division. “I was wondering if either of you could answer a few more questions for me.”

“Okay,” Gallus nodded.

“Sure,” Silverstream agreed.

The hippogriff tucked the badge back into his satchel. “Other than yourselves, are there any carnivores that go to your school?”

“Why?” Gallus asked.

“Pieces of Lemongrass’s brain was found in the snow with bite marks,” he said as though they were discussing the weather.

Silverstream made a loud gagging sound and lurched her head over the table. More gags came in abruptly and with very brief intervals.

“Silverstream!” Gallus said. He got up from his spot next to the stranger and came around the table, patting her on the back.

“Is that a yes or no?” the hippogriff continued.

“Yes, no — what?” Gallus shouted angrily. Silverstream stopped gagging, but a sick look remained on her face.

“Are there more carnivores in the school?” he asked again.

“No. No, there’s not.” He sucked in air through his nostrils and let out a loud breath. “Leave.”

The hippogriff grew silent once again. Gallus thought for a moment that he would stay there and continue to pester the two of them with questions. Gallus even had his beak open, ready to bark another order for him to leave when he got interrupted.

“Is everything okay here?” Mrs. Cake spoke up. Gallus turned his head and saw that she was standing before their table, pushing a cart sporting a pizza with crust way too thick, a small salad, and a strawberry and a blueberry milkshake.

“It’s all good,” the hippogriff said. “I was just leaving.” He stood up and walked toward the door at a pace that felt agonizing to Gallus. Then, the bakery was filled with the whimsical chime of the entrance bell, and he was gone.

“So,” Mrs. Cake said before any more of the awkward silence could ensue. “I have one homemade pan pizza, a side salad, and —”

“We’ll take those to go.” Gallus interrupted without breaking his attention away from Silverstream, who looked as if she was going to vomit any moment.

“Erm, okay. That’s two extra bits.”

Gallus reached inside his wool green sweater and took out a lumpy brown sack that must have been through a tussle or two. “Yeah, sure,” he said, taking out two bits and tossing them onto the cart.

Silverstream continued to hold her head over the table, looking as if she would retch at any moment. Not even sparing a glance toward Gallus, she spoke. “I think Ocellus knew.”

Gallus gave her a confused scowl. “What do you mean? She knew about Lemongrass?”

Silverstream nodded. “She went to bed in the middle of the afternoon yesterday and lied to me this morning when I asked her if anything was wrong.”

“What did she tell you?”

“That she failed a test. I didn’t believe her. The Ocellus I know would ask to make up for it in extra credit. Not… get all sad. She’d be determined to keep her grade up.”

“Ocellus and Lemongrass did do projects together. But, wait, how would she know before anyone else?”

Silverstream shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think they were close enough for Headmare Starlight to tell her herself.” She laid her chin against the table, arms sprawled out against its surface. “Gosh, I can’t believe someone at the school died.”

“Yeah, it’s… something,” Gallus added, brushing his hand along her back. “Do you think something from the Everfree got her?”

Silverstream jolted upward, eyes wide and looking as if she were about to hurl. “Please, stop talking about that!”

“Sorry, sorry…” Gallus waved for her to calm down. “Let’s get our food and get out of here.”

~•~

“Let’s get our food and get out of here.”

The hippogriff took out his earpiece and wrapped it around a strange device that had a curved funnel with an antenna protruding from its center. Tucking it into his satchel next to the fake detective badge, he stared back across the street from the table of an outdoor cafe.

“Sir!” a mare called from behind him. “Sir, do you want to come inside?”

“No,” he said, remaining fixated on the door.

“Well, do you need anything? We only serve indoors during the winter.”

The hippogriff shook his head. “I have everything I need.”

Throwing the satchel back over his head, he stood up and began making his way toward the School of Friendship, adding another note to his mental list.

Ocellus