The Outcast

After getting on the train with Twilight, I make my way to the next car back when I hear Rarity say, "You can share the car with us darling, we don't mind at all."

Rarity watches as Gold Reel smiles and thanks her then heads towards a seat in the middle of the car on the left side, right across from the seat occupied by Fluttershy.

I lie down on my stomach to let myself rest during the trip, and wake up when I hear somepony shout, "BEST WEDDING EVER!" that echoes as if we are in a tunnel. Sitting up, I look out the window to see that it is pitch black.

Rainbow looks over at where Gold Reel is and sees his coat almost as clear as day and laughs saying, "Wow, talk about a coat that glows in the dark! If you were playing hide and seek, you would always be the first one found no matter where you try to hide."

I chuckle and say, "You are quite correct about that, miss." noticing that my coat does have a slight shine to it. Needing to take care of it before the spell wears off completely, I then get up and purposefully let my back sag too much.

As Rarity hears a pained hiss she recognizes as Gold Reels back hurting, she turns her head to look at where he is and asks, "Are you alright, Gold Reel? Do you need any help?"

I then lightly groan as I straighten my back and then get down onto the floor saying, "No, I will be fine. I just need to walk around and stretch for a little bit after sleeping wrong." and make my way towards the back of the car, then open the door and close it behind me as I move to the next car.

Hearing more lies from the stallion, she gets off her seat and follows him to the next car saying, "I'll be right back girls, I'm gonna go have a little talk with him about his pain." then opens the sliding door and closes it behind her as they leave the dark tunnel, illuminating the inside of the car with Gold Reel looking back at her over his shoulder, saying to him, "Ah need to have a word with ya about the lies ya told me and my friends. Ah don't appreciate it one bit, and don't want ya around us from now on."

With a sigh, I then say, "You're the Element of Honesty I have heard about, aren't you?"

Applejack then nods firmly at him with narrowed eyes saying, "EEYUP, and what about it bub?"

I then turn around and walk up to her, looking directly into her eyes as I ask, "I heard you say you had questions for me in the other car, so ask away. Truth for Truth."

With a slight grin on her face, she then says, "Alright, deal. Is yer name really Gold Reel?"

I then keep looking into her eyes and say, "In a way, yes it is. I fashioned it from my original name which is far to exotic to tell others if I am to remain unnoticed in your cities during my quest for knowledge and answers, but I will not share it with you or any pony I do not fully trust. Here is a truth I am freely giving you...I have no desire to hurt any you consider friend or family."

Applejack relaxes a little and asks her next question, "When ah asked ya about that mark on yer neck, what did ya lie about in answering me?"

I chuckle at how keen she is and then smirk saying, "The story about the charcoal bit was false. It was true that the mark didn't hurt, because the pain that I feel constantly...does come from my back, though it is the result of a spell I put upon myself for my own reasons. Here's another truth...I am actually a pony, but I have altered my original form to fit in more easily."

Shocked to hear that, it takes her a moment to think of her next question as she then asks, "What's the real reason ya left the car?"

I then sigh and hastily say, "Because the spell I used to change my body is wearing off, which is why it appeared to glow when we were inside the tunnel. Final truth, I will tell you this if you can formally promise not to share these facts with your friends. Can you do something like that for this truth? Decide quickly before the spell degrades any further and am forced to put you to sleep to keep my true form secret."

Applejack sighs saying, "Alright, ah can't believe ah'm doing this with somepony ah don't know." and begins the motions for making a Pinkie Promise saying, "Cross mah heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." and holds her hoof over her closed right eye.

I look at her like she grew a second head and ask, "What kind of a promise was that?"

She then says, "It was a Pinkie Promise that mah friend Pinkie Pie came up with, and nopony wants to break a Pinkie Promise they made. If they do, they will face the wrath of an angry Pinkie Pie." then realizes he hasn't met her and says, "You haven't met her yet, but you will, I assure you. Just forewarning ya, she is energetic and unpredictable. When ya meet her and she gets one of her 'Pinkie Senses' listen to whatever she says because they are accurate and can't ever be explained."

I then sigh as I feel my size slowly start to return and say, "Thank you for promising, miss Applejack. The last truth is that I am much older than I seem. You really need to go now miss, remember the promise you made to me."

Applejack then sighs and dips her head to him then apologizes saying, "Ah'm mighty sorry about telling ya to stay away from mah friends, so ah take back what ah said. It would be nice if we all could get to know ya a bit better. Ah'll see ya when you return to the car, pardner." She then turns around and heads toward the door and pulls the shade down to block her friends' view of the car, then slides it open and closes it before returning to her seat inside the other car.

Preparing to cast the reversal spell, I see a pink wave moving towards me rapidly and brace myself for the impact. As the wave passes over me with a light pinching shock, I can't help but say, "That was an interesting sensation." Feeling my wings touching the ground, I look back at myself and understand what the spell did and recast the alteration spell to return me to my previous form. I then make my way back into the other car saying, "Do any of you know what that spell was earlier?"

Twilight smiles lightly and says, "It's my brother's protection spell, functioning as a security shield that guards from dangers outside."

Seeing that he has returned, the farm pony then asks, "Welcome back, pardner. Did ya get everything sorted out after our talk?"

I look at her and smile, then say, "I did, thank you for coming back to talk with me." and hear a screeching noise as the train starts slowing down. I watch curiously as the train pulls to a stop, followed by the others in the car heading toward the car ahead of us. I then notice Twilight hesitantly join the group, staying at the back as she then follows them out of the car. As I make it to the door, I watch as Twilight starts heading towards the pair of guards crossing their spears together. When she gets closer, the guards seem to recognize her and uncross their pikes with smiles on their faces as she mumbles about giving her big brother a piece of her mind. Stepping off the platform myself, I look at the girls and chuckle, saying, "Shouldn't you all get going, it's rude to keep the bride waiting you know."

Applejack then says, "We were just waiting for you to catch up, do you want to walk with us?"

I shake my head and say, "I would, but I am going to walk around the city until the event starts. I will see you all later, if I am lucky enough, I can get an invite to attend the wedding you all are helping plan."

Rainbow Dash then guffaws and says, "What are you saying!? You already have an invite, dude! The event you were invited to attend is the wedding ahahaha!"

I look at her and blink a few times asking, "Really? That is the last and most surprising thing I would expect to happen, now I really can't go under-dressed."

The group of girls then make their way towards the guards, who raise their spears for them and drop them as the stallion approaches them as the unicorn guard on the right says in a firm tone, "Halt! What is your name, sir?"

I stop and then say, "My name is Gold Reel, I was apparently invited to an event called a wedding."

A guard between two others flips through the list, then looks up at the pair of guards barring the stallion's path, saying, "He's on the list, let him through."

I watch the guards raise their spears out of the way to allow me through, and make my way into the city. Once past the guards, I wander the paved streets while trying to ask the occasional pony if they know where I can find historical information.

After heading to the library in the city, I spend the better part of two days and start on the third when I receive a package delivered by a clumsy, gray pegasi mare with offset eyes that look in slightly different directions. I find her clumsiness adorable as I accept the package from her with a smile saying, "Thank you miss."

Derpy then nods and trots outside, then spreads her wings and flies away without saying a single word.

I look the package over to see that it is from Rarity and open the note, reading, 'Dear Gold Reel, I apologize for taking sooo long to finish your suit for the wedding, the clothing I have been perfecting took much longer than expected. Don't worry about paying me for this darling, because I give this to you as a gift, therefore I will not accept payment as I am the Element of Generosity. I do hope that this finds you in time for the ceremony. P.S. There is a pocket on the right and left side, right above each shoulder to carry your bits in instead of using that bag that hangs around your neck.' I then chuckle and sigh saying, "Oh what a thoughtful and generous mare...I guess I should get this on." and then head into the restroom for stallions to put it on.

After getting the suit on, secretly using my magic to make the process quicker and stuff the empty pouch between my black silk jacket and my white shirt. I look at myself in the mirror and see how sharp I look in it and then leave, trotting towards the library doors as the librarian calls out, "If you hope to not look like a fool, you best run to the castle! They will be starting in twenty minutes."

I then move a little faster, avoiding going into a run just to make myself arrive all sweaty. As I quickly trot through the streets, several ponies give me a curious glance, but don't stop to give them a reason as I keep moving towards the castle. After crossing a large drawbridge, I finally arrive at a massive pair of large oak doors with two guards on either side with their spears barring my path. I slow to a walk and stop before them while gathering my breath to calmly say, "I apologize for being late, my name is Gold Reel and I was invited to attend a wedding held here today."

One of the outer guards nod their heads saying, "Very well sir, please follow me to the Ceremonial Hall."

Celestia stands atop the large platform, looking around at the attending guests while looking for one in particular. Moments later, she watches as a guard leads him to the hall and points him towards the back row on the right side of the red carpet, which brings a smile to her face.

I make my way towards the back row and stand on the inside, beside the red carpet and look around when my eyes land upon someone standing at the top of the platform with a very light grey coat, having a very long, flowing, ethereal mane and tail consisting of four different colors. I take a closer look and see that the have a gold crown upon their head and a gold piece of armor around their neck and covering the front of their chest. Unable to see further details due to how far away I am, I stand at the back of the group for a few minutes until the doors close.

When the doors open and a trio of fillies hop and skip down the red carpet while tossing flower petals into the air, everyone turns toward the center aisle, and I follow their example and face the aisle. I then hear a pony walking along the carpet, and wait for them to appear when I see a tall, light pink pony with light purple eyes slowly stride into the room with her head held high. I watch as I then see a violet mane, with moderate rose and pale gold streaks in it, but my jaw drops at seeing a pair of wings on her side and think, 'I don't believe it, there's another Alicorn!'

After watching the alicorn bride walk down the aisle, I hear the ceremony begin as the tall, very light grey pony speaks up with a voice I recognize from the spa a few days ago and wonder who they are exactly. I listen to her speak as she prepares to announce the couple when the doors are thrown open when a mare shouts stop from outside, drawing mine and every other pony's eyes to see Twilight Sparkle standing just inside the doorway.

I hear the bride complain about how possessive of her brother she is when she suddenly changes her tone and cries about her ruining her special day when a voice similar to hers says from outside, "Because it's not your special day, it's mine." I then look at the open doors to see the same mare standing there, looking like she had been through a fight.

Cadence then answers her imposter's question by telling her how she escaped, saying after someone asks how there can be two of them, "She's a changeling. She takes the form of somepony you love, then gains power from feeding off the love you have for them."

The word changeling echoes throughout my mind, causing me to wince as a pain shoots through my head and forces my eyes closed. brief flashes appear around me as I find myself standing in a large, pitch black space, seeing nothing around me but those fleeting flashes when I begin to remember something. I watch as I find myself standing atop a mountain, looking down at a decadent city built from gold and silver bricks. The memory continues as I then journey to the city across the crystal bridge, then walk through the streets seeing many vile acts and save a filly from being raped. After talking to the filly briefly, I send her on her way out of the city and continue to see more of the city. Some time passes as my dislike for the city and its denizens rise with each despicable action, eventually finding myself standing atop the same mountain from before. I stare down upon the city in anger and then amplify my voice to ask them to heed my warning and repent for what they have done or be punished. They reply with cries of laughter as one shouts above them and throws my warning back at me, learning his name is Grogar. I then begin to channel a mysterious power unknown to me to call upon the sky and sea to feel and look upon the city's evil, when I then focus on the denizens inside and use that strange power to forever change them into vile creatures I named, called changelings. I then watch as the sea and sky unleash their wrath and destroy the city, finally returning it into the sea as I watch tiny specks swim or fly toward the distant shore.

I awaken to hearing a strange voice at the other end of the room talking about love, power and food, opening my eyes to find myself on my side as I understand what just happened now. As I look back upon the memory, I sigh and slowly return to my hooves as a couple ponies ask if I'm alright. I look back on them and smile, then nod saying quietly, "I am, I was just so shocked to learn the bride is an imposter."

Celestia watches as Gold Reel is back on his hooves and sighs with relief, then starts walking towards her with scorn in her eyes saying, "No, you won't." and then butts her horn against the changeling's queen and continues, "You might have made Shining Armor unable to perform his spell, but you have now so foolishly revealed thyself...I will protect my subjects from you." then spreads her wings and takes flight to attack her with her magic power.

I clear the floor and stand behind the other ponies as the very light grey pony from earlier battles the changeling, watching as it results in her being defeated. Not giving up the fight, she then sends the six mares I rode with on the train here off to retrieve something called Elements. After they rush out the door leaving their outfits behind, the other ponies in the room start to panic and rush about the room. I watch as the changeling rises into the air and heads towards the doors to shout that escape is futile, seeing my chance to slip away to continue to observe, while waiting to see if my assistance will be needed.

The solar princess wakes up to find herself encased in some sort of a clear, green cocoon that somehow allows her to still breath air, then watches her subjects and flee the room, but one pony yet remains behind. Curious, she looks at the pony closer and sees that it is the stallion she and her sister shared rooms with while keeping their identities hidden and wonders, 'Oh, my little pony, why are you still here? You should have fled with the others.'

As I watch the six ponies from earlier being led back into the room, my anger grows at each thing the changeling says and slams the doors closed when her minions leave at her command to go feed. As she then begins to boast and sing, my anger boils over as I am reminded of every single foul deed I witnessed in the city that I had reduced to less than rubble. I then walk from around the balcony corner and then call out, "Oh you wayward little soul, how misguided you hath become..."

Celestia bangs her hooves against the inside of the cocoon shouting, "NO, GOLD REEL GET BACK! SHE IS TOO STRONG FOR YOU TO HANDLE!!"

Chrysalis heads back inside after hearing someone insult her and looks to her left at the stallion that has dared to speak back to her and says, "You dare to insult me! I am QUEEN CHRYSALIS! BOW BEFORE ME NOW AND I SHALL GRANT YOU MERCY AND FEED UPON YOU MYSELF!"

I look at the disgusting queen with baleful eyes and say, "I would apologize, but that is difficult to do when I view you as being lower than an insect, Queen of the changelings."

Every jaw drops at his insult except for Shining Armor's and the changeling queens as she then screams in rage shouting, "YOU DISRESPECTFUL MAGGOT, MY CHILDREN WILL FEAST UPON YOU UNTIL YOU ARE BUT BONES!"

As she hangs upside down, she hears music start to fill the air as she screams in her mind, 'DID YOU REALLY JUST CALL THE CHANGELING QUEEN AN INSECT!! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND, MY LITTLE PONY!?'

I take a few steps and keep looking the queen in the eye as I feel a familiar magic pick up around me and start singing, "I know an ancient tale, it's one perhaps you know. On just one single day, your kind came to be. One tried to guide you all, but only heard their laughs. So stay here and listen, you need to understand. If you keep this path, life is harsh. There's still hope for your subjects, hoping to see the faint light. Vile ways must be addressed. I will warn you now, you were made by he! Do you know how they felt or screamed, and that he washed his hooves!"

Chrysalis glares at the stallion as he reminds them of their origins, audibly growling with a vicious scowl on her face as she struggles not to impale him with her horn.

I then shake my head sympathetically singing, "You're such a fool, poor poor fool, what a fool..."

Celestia watches in a mixture of dread and wonder as Gold Reel hints at knowing the changeling's origins, managing to make the changeling queen mad enough to level her horn at his throat. She blinks away worried tears as she says, "Please don't anger her anymore than she already is..."

Chrysalis sees him with her vision turning red when he takes a step toward her as the music continues, causing her to scream in rage and charge toward him, aiming to impale his throat with her jagged horn.

I continue forward and ignore the other ponies cries and pleas, then continue the next part singing, "I saw the falling skies, seas raged before my eyes. I heard their fearful screams, like music to my ears."

Watching helplessly from her cocoon as the changeling queen charges toward Gold Reel with the intent to kill, she then screams as tears flow from her eyes, "NOOOOOOO!!!"

Equis huffs in tired annoyance, saying, "You're welcome...give a mare fair warning next time you want to play distraction or hero."

Something about that last verse sends a chill down her spine, locking her legs up which makes her skid forward to a stop. She feels the tip of her horn pressing against the stallions throat, not understanding what caused her to stop just before drawing blood. She blinks several times as her mind scrambles to understand what is happening to her, when she recalls the last few words he said and thinks, 'That's what this feeling is...fear...but why am I suddenly afraid of this stallion, I fear nopony!'

I grin as my words finally got through to her and lean my head down to her ear to whisper just loud enough for her to hear. "It...was...me."

Chrysalis's fear grows as she takes a step back, shying away from him slightly as she snaps her head upward to gaze into his eyes saying in a barely audible tone, "W-W-What?"

Jaws drop around the room as they all watch the queen of the changelings back away from the stallion she attacked, all thinking the same exact thing, 'What?'

I then slowly step towards her, leaning my head towards hers and whisper quietly, "I was there...on the mountain looking down upon Saddlelantis." after a few slow steps, she still doesn't reply so I give her an extra nudge to help her out, whispering, "Still troubled I see, perhaps if I told you that my eyes glow like no other and have no equal. If you can...try to search through the memories of those who came before you."

The queen continues to slowly back up, her legs trembling all the while as she connects to the hive's archive of memories within each queen's mind, finding what she is searching for a few moments later. She sees the image of a pony like Princess Celestia, an alicorn that came long before the two sister's great grandparents were even born. The image burns itself into her mind, seeing his snow-white coat and the glowing amber of his eyes, having a flowing black, ethereal mane and tail with a pair of black wings lying uselessly on the ground. She returns from the archive and stares at him with wavering eyes, as they slowly shrink down to pinpricks. Fighting her every nerve screaming at her to flee, she then says, "No...it can't be true." Her legs tremble even more as he continues slowly walking toward her and shouts again, "YOU LIE! IT'S NOT TRUE!"

I continue slowly stalk toward her with each step I take and say, "I am not lying to you, look upon my coat, my mane, my eyes. Use your extrasensory perception to see my true form."

Chrysalis hesitantly closes her eyes, then channels her magic through her eyes and reopens them. She tilts her head up ever so slightly to look over the alicorn standing above her, having the same flowing, ethereal mane and tail, glowing amber eyes, and the very same snow-white coat. When she watches the wings drag along the floor, she scrambles backwards only to trip and fall onto her rear as a blood-curdling scream rips from her throat. She scrambles to get away, pushing herself backward, on her rear across the hall as she screams in fear, "STAY AWAY!...YOUR A MYTH...A MYTH! YOU DON'T EXIST!"

I look at her with a menacing glare and get into her face, looking into her emerald green eyes while my lips are a mere inches from hers saying, "So you say, but why are you so terrified right now if what you say is true?"

Her back hits a column as his face is right there, causing her to panic and channel as much of her magic as she can into her horn and jerks her head back bellowing, "SHUT UP AND GET AWAY FROM MEEE!!! and blasts him back with a large gob of the material they use to cocoon their victims, causing him to slam into a column and to stick to it. She then opens her eyes shakily to see him completely immobilized by the large amount encasing him against the column, seeing her victory over the stallion, she then gets up onto her hooves and trots over to him and gloats saying, "YOU WRETCHED FOAL! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD TRICK ME!! I WILL PUNISH YOU BY MAKING YOU THE UNWITTING SIRE OF MY NEXT BATCH OF TEN THOUSAND EGGS!!!" then laughs maniacally.

Seeing her chance to save the day, Twilight sneaks over to Cadance and quietly says, "Quick, get to him while you have the chance. and burns away the stuff sticking her hooves to the floor.

Still hearing the changeling queen's vile words, my anger changes into rage as I attempt to burn away the stuff immobilizing me.

Chrysalis hears a sizzling followed by a dripping sound as she turns back towards the encased stallion, only to see that his eyes have started to brightly glow with golden light. Her joy at victory swiftly turns to ash as she starts to back away from the brightness of his eyes.

I return to my hooves and shake the remaining goo off of me as I walk towards her, shifting my position to drive her towards a column saying with a slight growl in my voice, "I refuse to lay with anyone who is lower than a cockroach. But when I get done with you, the only thing left of you will be a faint discoloration on one of these columns..."

Twilight watches in disbelief as Gold Reel back the changeling queen towards a column on the far side of the room with an angry scowl on his face, then looks at her brother saying, "Your spell! Perform your spell!"

Shining armor then sees a very angry stallion backing a scared changeling queen across the room and tries to cast his spell, but it fails as he then hangs his head tiredly saying, "I-I can't, my power is useless. There's not enough strength to drive them away now."

Cadance then hugs her beloved stallion and then says, "My love will provide you the strength you need."

I watch as the queen's flank hits the column and then rear up on my back legs asking, "Any last words?"

The queen looks at the stallion as he prepares to end her existence and says, "Please have mercy on me..."

I then raise my hooves higher and look down between them saying, "Sorry, I'm all out of mercy. Do the world a favor and perish without a sound..."

She curls up on herself and closes her eyes, wincing and trembling as she waits for the strike to come. When it doesn't, she cracks one eye open to look up at him curiously and notices him looking at something. Curious as to what he is looking at, she catches a glowing light off to her right. The light comes from Shining Armor and Cadance as they float up in the air, getting brighter by the second until they are blinding to look at.

Forced to close my eyes and shield them from the blinding light, I even turn my head away as the light passes through my eyelids, when I start feeling a wind kick up to show that a strong spell is being prepared and think, 'I just hope that I don't pass out or blown away as a result from when that spell is cast.'

Chrysalis sheds joyful tears as she is being saved by the ponies who she tried to subjugate, feeling a magical blast approach her rapidly and shouts, "THANK YOOOOUU!" as it sends her flying away from the castle and into the lands beyond.

As the light begins to fade away, I look around to see that I am still inside the ceremonial hall. However, as I look myself over, I realize that my body is back to my original form, and quickly look around to see if anyone is looking at me. To my relief, they all seem to be staring at the couple when I see an interesting cutie mark on her flank seeming to be a heart made of some kind of gem. As I look at the heart, a sense of deja-vu comes over me when I see a flash within my mind, showing me a land with terrible blizzards followed by a brief glimpse of a large, flawless, light blue, multi-faceted crystal heart. As the image fades away, I shake my head and quickly try to cast the spell to return to my previous look. To my dismay, the spell fails to cast, which causes me to worry slightly as I try again. Again the spell fails to cast and give up on it, then cast a teleport while imagining myself back in the gorge outside of where the Crystal tree is at.

Celestia notices a flash from her right and turns to where Gold Reel was standing earlier, finding that he is gone and says, "What was that flash earlier, and where did that stallion go to? I need to have a few words with him about his behavior towards the Changeling Queen." then sees Twilight run up to her and says, "Don't worry about me, Twilight, because I'm fine." She then smiles and adds, "Besides, you have a real wedding to organize."