Two Ponies, One Big SecretBy Silvertie
The heavy smash of hammer on steel echoed and reverberated throughout the fire-lit Royal Forge, dozens of hammers pounding unshaped steel into useful items by the light of dozens of forges and lanterns; most metalworks would go to the Royal Guard, naturally - those ponies got through shoes at a disturbing rate for a bunch of (usually decorative) pegasi. Some items would even go towards Princesses’ personal wardrobes; spare ornate gold shoes, new tiara designs, and (on the side), a duplicate ring for Cadance, who had contrived to lose hers over a weekend. And then there was the standard reforging of weapons and armor, to ensure they were always in tip-top condition.
Of late, though, some of the items coming out of the Royal Forge had lost their usual lustre, and while all produced works were usable, they lacked that extra bit of “zing” that most ponies came to expect from the Royal Forge. Shoes fit, but some wore out quick. Armor sat okay, but the odd cuirass was always just a little irritating in nonspecific ways. The little things.
Stonehammer was one of the ponies bending steel to his will in the smoke-filled forge, and he did so as he had done for years. But this time, he had a spectator - Gentle Flame, the Royal Forge’s one and only Forgemaster, had finally tracked down what he thought was the source of the unusually lower-quality work. Stonehammer.
“Stone,” Gentle Flame said, watching the dark green earth pony pound away at the metal. “What’s eating you?”
“Eating me?” Stonehammer said, not taking his eyes off the armor he was hammering into shape before he was satisfied it was okay to leave it. “What do you mean, Forgemaster?”
“Something’s got you in a knot,” Flame said, the uniformed Forgemaster leaning a generic brown elbow on a spare anvil. “You ain’t up to par, been getting a fair few returns on metalwork, and most of ‘em are coming from you. It ain’t like you, what happened to that beautiful metalwork that blew my shoes off and landed you this job in the first place?”
“Well,” Stone sighed, looking at the older stallion. “See, it’s... my marefriend, my wife-to-be. Shimmer Lily. There’s a problem, we’re getting married soon, and...”
“Ah,” Flame nodded. “I think I see where this is going.” The forgemaster took his helmet off, allowing his coat to partially change back to it’s natural orange, as he rustled his blue mane in thought. “Lemme guess, you’ve been keeping a big ol’ secret from your mare.”
Stone coughed. “How did-”
Flame chuckled. “Ah, see, I’ve been around the block, Stone. I know what you’re feeling, every stallion’s got some sort of secret that they think their mare won’t like. Sometimes they’re right, but only sometimes.” Flame leaned his chin on his hoof, looking at Stone. “Tell you what - don’t tell me about that secret, just... take the day off. Go home, talk it over with Lily, I’ll cover for you, okay? How’s that sound?”
Stone looked back at his half-finished job, and began to protest, when a glow of magic shut his mouth.
“No buts,” Flame said, levelly, easing up with his magical grip. “Need you at your best. Go home, get that secret off your chest. You’ll feel better.”
Stone sighed. “Alright, Flame.”
Flame put his helmet back on, and his coat returned to brown. “That’s what I like to hear. Go on, off you go.”
Stone put his hammer down, and stripping off his apron and goggles into his locker, made for the exit.
======
Stonehammer stepped into the bright sunlight outside the doors to the Royal Forge, and took a deep breath of crisp, clean mountain air.
Canterlot city. The town on the side of a mountain, and physical home to two goddesses. The town was finally returning to normal after the Changeling attack of almost a decade ago; even the Guard had relaxed in their hunt for persistent changelings lurking among the populace. A fact reminded to Stone when he nodded in greeting to the gate guard, who waved a hoof gently in response, before returning to his bored-looking posture in the gatehouse.
Stories had abounded early on of changelings who, in the confusion following the Royal Wedding, had slunk back into pony society, in what amounted to deep cover - always disguised, detached from the hive-mind to ensure they could act of their own unique accord. At least, that’s what experts reckoned was the case, after changelings were uncovered one by one by simple household accidents and events.
Some changelings had been uncovered by surprise parties from friends that they’d deceived; the surprises scaring them into another form by reflex or the surprises being sprung at a time when the changeling thought it was a good idea to relax their guard.
Stonehammer walked past a cafe, where he spotted two ponies staring into each other’s eyes, true love in bloom, and it reminded him. Others had been uncovered, ironically, by going too deep into their cover, losing sight of the objectives given them by the changeling queen, and finding true love. They could conceal their true selves where it mattered, deceiving their loved ones and indeed, the world... but their offspring often could not.
Those had been some dark days, when changeling-equine hybrids had been born. Stonehammer shuddered at the memory, the driving of a parent or family from pony society was not a pleasant thing to remember, no matter who was getting driven. Few families survived such scandal, and nobody ever got out clean and unharmed.
But, still, even with all the ponies that had been found to be changelings throughout the kingdom, the Guard still figured there to be at least a hoof-full of changelings out and about; whether they would ever get found out and rooted out was a complete mystery.
And this was what had Stonehammer worried, the thing that he’d never confessed to anypony else. Changelings pretending to be loved ones, forging actual relationships that went beyond the platonic. The effects on a relationship should one be revealed to be not what they seemed. And the fact that, if the love was true enough... revelation was unavoidable. A child would one day be born, and that would be the end of whatever life they led before the birth.
He didn’t suspect his mare-friend, Shimmer Lilly, however. No, he had faith she was pony, through and through - what changeling had a crystal clear laugh like she did, what changeling could love him like she did?
No, there was no way she was a changeling. His reasoning on emotions was, if he were to voice it, understandably flimsy. But there was one other fact that made him dead certain that he wasn’t marrying a changeling:
He was the changeling.
“Stonehammer” was a facade of impenetrable detail, the result of some of the greatest fabrication and infiltration work the Hive could produce. An alias so comprehensive that it had withstood six examinations throughout his career as a royal blacksmith. A mask so genuine, he had tricked Shimmer Lily, the mare who loved him, for almost two years, now. A lie so deep, even he had fooled himself, for a time.
The hivemind was, to him, long since gone. Queen Chrysalis had not sent him word in years, presumably thinking him dead or since found out; contact with the hive itself was a far-off memory, thanks to his isolation in Equestria’s seat of power. Left to his own devices, he’d gone the way of other changelings before him. To him, the agenda of changelings was now irrelevant, and his own desires had come to the fore. But he was still not equine, and nopony would believe him when he said he did not work for the changelings any more.
He leaned on a railing, and looked out over the city, his eyes shifting form to those of a pegasus’ for better sight, looking down at his own home, far below. Through the window, he could see Lily, drying dishes at the kitchen sink; it was her day off work, too.
Stonehammer steeled himself, and squared his shoulders. If he truly loved Shimmer Lily... he’d do the right thing, and confess now. Better to break her heart now, than break it with her hybrid child and the ugly truth later on.
======
The door creaked gently as it was pushed open, and Stonehammer stepped over the threshold.
“Honey, I’m home,” he called out.
“Stoney?” Lily’s head poked out from around a corner, looking at him then at a wall clock. “You’re back early.”
“Got let off early,” Stone said, swallowing as he made his way into the dining room, where Lily was returning to the dinner table, where a cup of tea and a book sat, waiting.
“That was nice of Forgemaster Flame,” Lily remarked, picking up the book and tea with her magic. Stone looked at her, and was reminded once more just why he loved her. She had it all - a beautiful pale-pink coat that blended beautifully with her white mane, brains to shame half of Canterlot’s academics, and a sense of humor that was simply... he shivered, and smiled.
Lily noticed, and started as she realized something. “Oh, I’ll put the kettle on for you. Tea?”
“Uh, no thanks,” Stone said, taking a seat. “I... I’ve got something to say, and I don’t think I’ll have time for tea.”
“Oh?” Lily sat back down, and closed her book gently, placing a bookmark to save her place as she took a sip of her own tea. “Sounds serious.”
“I need to tell you something,” Stone said, staring at the table and searching for the right words. “It’s... hard.”
“Don’t worry,” Lily said, leaning forward and smiling a little as Stone looked her in the eye. “Nothing you could tell me could change anything. Ever. That’s what being in love is.”
“I’m... I don’t want to hurt you,” Stone said, grimacing. “And I will, when I tell you this.”
“The only hurting you’re doing is by stringing me along,” Lily bounced slightly. “Come on, stop dithering about! We have to get used to confiding in each other, that’s kind of what married couples do.”
Stone gulped. “I... don’t think we’ll be getting married.”
“What?!” Lily sat back in surprise. “Is this... did something happen? Has there been a mistake with the booking at the church?”
“No,” Stone shook his head. “It’s... you don’t want to marry me. This, I’m sure of.”
“Nonsense!” Lily exclaimed. “I love you more than I love life itself! When we say our vows, I’m going to mean it with every fibre in my heart!”
“You won’t after I tell you this,” Stone said, and got up. “Shimmer Lily, I’ve lied to you. I’m not Stonehammer the blacksmith. Not really.”
“Stoney,” Lily leaned forward, smiling uncertainly. “I don’t care who you were, you could be the biggest scumbag this side of Manehattan, and I wouldn’t care. You’re my Stoney, and you’d never hurt me.”
“I’m more than a scumbag,” Stone said, closing his eyes. As he did, he relaxed a muscle that he’d kept permanently clenched for just over half a decade. With a faint buzz, he was covered by a wash of green energy; dark green coat and light grey mane gave way to charcoal black, partially-pockmarked carapace, thin, membraneous wings were revealed, and a curved, unnatural horn jutted forth from a head crested by dark-aqua fuzz. He opened his slitted eyes to see Lily staring at him in stunned silence, and ran a tongue over his old mouth, feeling once more the fangs that were characteristic of a changeling.
“Shimmer Lily, the stallion you knew as Stonehammer... is a changeling.”
The two remained in silence for a time; Stone couldn’t meet Lily’s eyes, and stared at his own hole-ridden legs in shame. Lily’s jaw hung agape, and a fly briefly investigated the space, before getting out as she brought her jaw closed once more.
“You... you’re a changeling...?” she said, disbelief riding her voice.
Stone felt a tear well up in his eye. “Yes. I’ll understand if you want to scream, call me a monster.”
There was another moment of silence, then-
A snort of laughter.
Stone looked up, and saw Lily trying to stifle her laughter, cheeks bulging as she gripped the table for support. It threw Stone for a loop, and his shame gave way to confusion.
“I... what’s so funny?”
“W-what’s so funny?” Lily snorted, curling into a ball slightly. “You! You being a changeling! It’s... ha! I can’t- I can’t do it! I- I don’t believe it! My husband to be is a changeling!”
“I was expecting... hostility,” Stone confessed. “Anger. Rage. All justified. Not... amusement.”
“This is all proof that the universe is one gigantic joke!” Lily pointed out. “Don’t you get it? Of all the ponies I could fall in love with... I got a changeling!”
“You... don’t mind me being a changeling?” Stone asked, brightening a little. “Isn’t a pony loving a changeling... unnatural?”
“Probably, yeah,” snorted Lily. She got up, and walked over to Stone, embracing the changeling with a firm hug. “I... given how things are, I think I’ve got something to say back to you.”
“I’m listening,” Stone said, closing his eyes and enjoying the embrace.
“You always do,” Lily said softly. There was a flare of magic in the room, and Stone felt the embrace around his neck change.
He opened his eyes, and leaned back in surprise. A changeling was hugging him, not the wife he knew.
“Surprise!” the changeling said quietly, and smiled. “What were the odds, huh?”
======
The heavy smash of hammer on steel echoed and reverberated throughout the fire-lit Royal Forge, dozens of hammers pounding unshaped steel into useful items by the light of dozens of forges and lanterns and from one forge, to the tune of a cheerful little ditty.
Stonehammer was one of those ponies bending steel to his will, and he did so as he had done for years, whistling as he went. The unusual sound had once more attracted Forgemaster Gentle Flame to his station, and the Forgemaster watched the blacksmith go, Stone’s eyes inscrutable and focused behind a pair of goggles.
With a decisive ring of hammer on steel, Stonehammer sat back, and with a flick of a hoof, tossed something at Flame. The forgemaster caught the speeding object in his magic, and stared at it; a standard Royal Guard breastplate, but this time...
“Now that’s the Stonehammer I know,” he said, approvingly. “Flawless.” The forgemaster put the armor down on another anvil, as Stonehammer took his next job on, a spear-tip. “You look a million times better, Stone. You have that talk with Lily?”
“Oh yeah,” Stone said, nodding. “That really helped.” He pushed the spear-tip off the spear, and with a crucible, put it into the furnace to melt it down. “You know what’s funny about that big secret I was reluctant to tell her?”
“What was funny about it?” Flame asked.
Stonehammer smiled. “Turns out, she had a big secret of her own.”
“Ooh,” Flame rubbed his hooves together. “What now, Stone?”
“Now?” Stone laughed, a genuine grin plastered across his soot-covered face, the light of the forge dancing off the lenses of his goggles. “Wedding’s been moved forward to this Friday. Your invite’s in my saddlebags.”
