Lorum Calyapis stepped onto the firestep and peeked over the trench walls to scan the surrounding fields for signs of movement. But there were only plains for as far as the eye could see, and without any hint of the Changeling advance and the familiar, chill northern winds, it was shaping up to be a perfect day.
That bothered Lorum.
“What’s wrong, Goldy?” Lorum glanced over to Bright Smiles, an amber-colored earth pony who used to be a dentist before the war. She had enlisted as a medic and wore the standard green fatigues of the Equestrian military, with the addition of a medical satchel. Her helmet was missing, and without it her brown and red-striped mane fell free over her face, covering one of her bright blue eyes. Propped up against the trench walls was her rifle, something any officer would have thrown a fit over.
She frowned as she watched him poke his head over the wall, her eyebrows pinched together. Not wanting to worry her, he hopped down from the firestep and gave her a smile. “I’m fine, Bright. It's just that I was expecting more action when I enlisted.”
Her lips puckered into a pout as he stepped down. “You’re too eager to get shot at."
Lorum snorted. “Well, we did enlist to fight bugs.”
“You enlisted to fight bugs. I enlisted to make sure none of my friends got hurt. I just hope I don’t end up having to patch you up after you get yourself hurt.” She punctuated herself by jabbing her hoof in his chest, making sure the point got across.
“Aww, you care about me,” Lorum chuckled, wrapping a foreleg around Bright as she rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Bright. Believe it or not, getting shot is not on my to-do list.”
“Could have fooled me,” she huffed before a smile crept onto her muzzle. “Hey, do you want to hear what happened to Sunspot?”
That piqued his interest; Sunspot was the machine gunner for an emplacement in the bunkers that supported the trench line. “Shoot.”
She glanced around conspiratorially before leaning towards him and whispering into his ear. “He forgot to connect the water to the MG during this morning's fire exercise.”
Lorum smirked "Really?"
Her mane bounced around her face as she nodded."Yep! And if Quick Check hadn’t noticed, he would have melted the entire barrel! Quick was so mad that he forced Sunspot to run up and down the entire line three times before giving him toilet duty."
Lorum laughed but silently cursed himself for another failure. Once again, a plan of his failed, and the advance was due to arrive that day. He was officially the worst infiltrator in the Heer; he was confident that no other Changeling ever had as long a streak of bad luck.
Anything he sabotaged would end up replaced or repaired within a couple of days. The worst example was when he blew up an artillery piece while the artillery company was at the mess hall and, three days later, a brand new, improved one sat in its place. He halfway considered shooting himself for being so incompetent, but Bright had noticed his despair and made it her mission to cheer him up.
She cheered him up a lot. He had seen the pony’s cutie mark—a sparkling cartoon smile—a couple of times when it was their company’s turn to go bathe in the river and, while it seemed fitting for a dentist, he sometimes wondered if her special talent extended past cleaning teeth. With how often she would cheer him up—even after a catastrophic failure that would put him on the firing lines for suspected treason—it was absurd. It was baffling. She, a pony soldier, provided emotional support to a changeling infiltrator, even if she wasn't aware of it. It went against everything he was taught, and yet…
“HelloooOOoo, Equestria to Golden Hoof. Come in, Golden Hoof!” A hoof waving in front of his face snapped him out of his thoughts. Seeing that he was paying attention, Bright’s hoof was replaced with her smiling face. “Good, you’re here. You zoned out on me.”
He waved his hoof dismissively, “I was just thinking about something.”
“Really? I didn’t think Sunspot almost wrecking an MG was that thought-provoking,” she giggled.
He rolled his eyes and found his gaze wandering over to a nearby muddy puddle still clear enough to show Lorum his reflection. Staring back at him was his primary disguise—a gray unicorn with a golden mane and, if he wasn’t wearing his fatigues, a golden horseshoe on his flank.
One of the most common ways to find a Changeling spy was to make them act out their special talent. Usually a changeling couldn’t perform to the standards expected from their cutie mark and they’d be detained, interrogated, and discovered. But Lorum claimed his cutie mark showed just how lucky he was And as long as he kept an eye out, and used subtle magical manipulation, he could keep up appearances.
His heart nearly stopped as he saw a new set of legs coming from his back in his reflection. While he wasn't the best saboteur, he could at least maintain a proper disguise! He turned his neck to see the glaring flaw in his disguise for himself, only to catch the sight of Bright Smiles midair as she pounced on him.
“Eeek!” he yelped in a most unstallionly way.
Bright had jumped onto his back and wrapped her forelegs around his neck, rubbing her cheek into his. "Stop ignoring me, you jerk!”
He stumbled around, trying to keep himself from falling over. “Hey! Get off! Bright! I'm gonna—” Lorum was cut off as one of his hooves slipped in the mud, almost sending them both into the puddle, but he managed to catch his balance at the last second. It saved them from explaining to their officer why they needed an emergency trip to the river.
After that, much to his relief, she slipped off his back. "Celestia, Bright! Don't surprise me like that," he said as he shook the bit of mud off his hoof.
She sat on her haunches and crossed her forelegs. “Fine, but stop zoning out. I want to talk to my friend, not a brick wall.”
He shook his head but sat directly in front of her. “Alright, what’s up… Brighty?” He internally winced at using the pet name, but it made her smile. And he liked it when she smiled. It always made his heart flutter.
He needed to get that checked out.
She scooted closer to him, still smiling. “Wanna play cards?”
He frowned. All that and she just wanted to play a card game? “Sure, why not. It’s not like anything is happening today anyway.”
She kept up her smile and fished a deck of cards out of her satchel. Why did she keep a pack of cards with her medical supplies? He had no clue.
They played blackjack and a few other games until a shrill whistle interrupted them. “B Company, Mess Hall!” the sharp voice of Captain White Glaive rangout.
“I can’t believe you beat me twenty-three to seven,” Bright huffed as she stood up. Lorum chuckled and rose as well, using his magic to lift up her rifle and sling it over her barrel. “Thanks, Goldy.”
They clambered out of the trench as Company C went in to replace them. Lorum glanced up towards the sky as they walked and frowned. It was already midday, and the attack hadn’t come. He was beginning to worry that something had happened to them— how was he supposed to join up with the main force if they never came? He took one final look towards the horizon, hoping to see anything, anything at all.
Nothing.
His ears fell flat against his head. They weren’t coming. Noling was. Did it even matter if they did? He hadn’t done anything at all to help. Tartarus, You could argue that he hurt more than he helped! The brand new, shiny artillery piece wasn’t just for show, it would rip apart anyling hit by it. He was a failure, through and through, and knowing that just made him want to cry. But he couldn’t. He was in the middle of hostile territory, surrounded on all sides by ponies that wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him if they found out what he was. He could run, but where would he go? Back home? He'd just be shot as a traitor. Sure, the Equestrians probably wouldn't kill him, but he wasn't a fan of being locked up until the war ends. And if they lost, he'd just be back on the firing line. It was hopeless. He was hopeless.
Something brushed against his side, bringing him back to reality. When he looked down he saw the beautiful blue eyes of Bright Smiles staring at him, anchoring him.
He joined the Heer out of pride for his hive—he had bought into the Changeling superiority crap that the propagandist put out. But looking into her hopeful, kind, caring eyes, he realized that she wasn't in any way inferior.
She was beautiful.
He couldn’t help but stare deeply into those perfect pools of liquid sapphire, her somehow silky mane that just barely reached below her eyes perfectly framing them. Her unending kindness, her happy attitude, her willingness to help others, Everything about her was perfect, except for one thing.
The frown on her face.. It was out of place on the peppy dentist’s muzzle, and it was his fault.
“Golden Hoof?” her voice oozed concern, and with every syllable his heart ached a little more.
“I-I’m sorry,” he choked out. He wasn’t quite sure what he was apologizing for. Was it because he had made her worry? What about lying to her for as long as they had known each other? Maybe he was sorry for being hatched.
She caressed his cheek with her hoof. “What’s wrong, Golden Hoof?”
He felt like throwing up, but he kept his insides down. “I-I can’t tell you,” he pleaded.
Her frown deepened, and she scanned around the camp before pulling him towards a secluded area behind two portable restrooms. He tried to protest but held his tongue when she gave him an uncharacteristic glare. When she released him, he fell flat against the ground and began to cry gently. She sat next to him and pulled him up into a hug, keeping him from sinking into the mud. She held him wrapped in her forelegs until he stopped crying.
When he was only wracked with the infrequent shudder, she leaned into his ear and whispered, “What’s wrong, Golden? You can tell me anything. We’re friends.”
Lorum couldn’t muster up the courage to answer, so he just let her continue to hold him. He had subsisted by subtly consuming Love from the ponies he was surrounded by for weeks, and yet, at that moment, the smell and taste of Love was so thick in the air that he couldn’t even take a breath without ldrinking some in. All that love was for him. He couldn’t keep lying to her. It wasn’t right. Damn them all. Damn Chrysalis, damn the High Command, damn the entire Heer!
He pushed away from her, ignoring her protest. He stood up and turned to face her, trying to keep himself from shaking. Her brow furrowed as she watched him, and he once again felt his stomach turn, but he steeled himself and allowed the green flames to burn away his disguise.
Standing there, he wanted to die. The sun reflected brightly off of his shiny carapace and the chill wind blew through the holes on his leg. He had never felt so helpless in those few seconds as he watched Bright Smiles’s mouth hang open as she processed the revelation. His legs trembled as he awaited her reaction. As he awaited her to aim her rifle and shoot him dead on the spot. For her to—
Smile?
She smiled at him! Her surprise hadn’t transformed into anger or fear, but a smile!
It was too much for Lorum, and he fainted.
He awoke to a soft humming coming from above him. Opening his eyes, he saw Bright Smiles hanging over him, her eyes closed as a calm breeze blew through her mane. After listening for a moment he realized the soft, sweet tune was coming from her. Lorum couldn’t help but smile as he looked up at her.
Noticing movement, Bright glanced down at him. “You up, Goldy?” A smirk crossed her muzzle, “Although, I suppose that isn’t your name, is it?” She pulled him up. “I guess introductions are in order. Hi, I’m Bright Smiles of the Equestrian army.”
Bright extended a hoof for him to shake. Still confused, he decided to go along with it and shook it. “Lorum Calyapis of the Changelinian Heer.”
She giggled, confusing him more, “You have a funny name, Lory.”
“Y-you aren’t going to kill me?”
The pony shook her head and gave him a soft, comforting smile. “I already knew.”
He stared blankly at her as he processed what she said. She already knew? “How?”
“I had my suspicions that something was up when I caught you cheating when we played poker with Sunspot and Rapid Strike.Then, I saw you sneaking about outside your tent a few days later, and I followed you. That’s when I saw you transform.”
Another reason he deserved to be on the firing line.
"I was shocked, I thought about reporting you to the officers, but I didn't want to see you hurt."
His head sagged. Even after finding out he was an enemy, she still cared about him. "You should have shot me.
She scowled, "I would never do that!"
"Why?"
“Because you’re my friend. Changeling or not.”
He started shaking again as he tried to suppress his sorrow. Bright noticed and quickly wrapped him in her forelegs, her forehead resting against his. He stared into her eyes and saw no hatred, no fear.
Only love.
She loved him. Not only could he see it in her eyes, but he could taste it. It never went away. Even after he revealed himself to her, it still clogged the air and filled his lungs.
He hugged her back and leaned into her ear to whisper to her. "I-I love you, Bright Smiles."
She pulled back, and he almost had a heart attack until he saw her beaming back at him with her big, bright smile. "I love you too, Lorum."
He couldn't find the will to care about the attack. He may have been a terrible saboteur, but he found something better. Someone better. So what if she was a pony? She'd treated him better than anyling he'd ever met.
It was funny. He was starting to sound like Thorax, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
Author's Note
A prompt that's been bouncing in my head for a while. I hope you enjoy it! 
2022 Edit: I am alive, and a special thanks to Witchery for editing for me. Your willingness to edit this piece is appreciated.
