Changed(old edition. this is terrible)

As it turned out, Nightmare Night was a lot like Halloween in terms of what happens and how it’s celebrated. Now, me being an Irish guy who had moved to America for highschool, I never partaken in Halloween, but it did seem kinda fun. If it weren’t for the stigma that Trick or Treating was for children, I would’ve gone and done it myself. Nightmare Night was a bit different in that regard; even adults could partake in Trick or Treating, it’s just less common for adults to do so. Nightmare Night, while everybody did celebrate it in Ponyville, Trick or Treating was for the children of the town. Either way, it seemed fun. Despite Chrysalis saying that she’d teach me how to shape shift, she never showed herself since our game of Uno a week ago. Well, I probably don’t need a costume or to shapeshift anyways, since I could just pass myself off as a pony in a Changeling costume… or just not go outside.

Nightmare Night was in a couple of days.

Anyhow, you can guess my excitement when it turned out that Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, was actually the sister in law to Princess Cadence, the Princess of love. In other words, my adoptive cousin. You could probably guess how excited I was to be woken up pretty early in the morning to go meet my cousin at the train station. I wasn’t. Sure, seeing Cadence again could be fun, and we did leave on friendly terms, but I couldn’t find it in myself to be excited. On one hand, my adoptive cousin, on the other, this same cousin stuck me in a dungeon for a day. That’s fun, I want to see my warden again. At least Cadence didn’t ruin my life, by keeping certain information about being able to go home, secret. So that’s a bonus… I can get along with her.

Anyhow, here I am, waiting at the station, sitting on a bench while Luna and Twilight were practically waiting on the train tracks while waiting for their favorite niece and sister in law to show up. Surprisingly, after a week of living in town and occasionally going outside, most ponies in Ponyville weren’t even batting an eye at me. A couple of ponies would wave at me with a friendly smile, and I’d return the gesture. It’s… kinda nice to be treated like a person and not a monster. Sure, that’s going to change as soon as Luna and I go ahead and do that tour of Equestria she said she’d take me on, but while this lasts, I’m going to enjoy it. A train covered in crystals screeched as it came to a stop at the train station, and I got up to go meet with Luna and Twilight.

The first pony to come out was Shining Armor, my other adoptive cousin, and he got ready to bop me on the head. Before his hoof could come down, I side stepped it, and poked his nose. “Wow, look at me, bypassing the defenses of the captain of the royal guard!” Shining Armor looked confused for a second. “What? Did you forget about that idiotic Changeling that your aunts adopted?” I asked as I tilted my head. “If so, then that’s kinda understandable, I’d forget about myself too.” The captain’s eyes lit up as he quickly realized what he tried to do. Meanwhile, it looked like Cadence and Twilight were doing some weird dance while singing a silly little mantra; it was kinda cute honestly.

“Oh Ray! I’m so sorry… I-”

“Nah, don’t worry, you’re not the first guard to try and beat the hell out of me. I’d rather take one guy trying to punch me in the face, than having to deal with a group of ponies that give me the stink eye, wishing me death, calling me a monster, oh and my favorite! Being chased through town by a guy with wings!” I extended my hoof. “Anyways, how’s ruling an empire going?” I asked. What? I’m now related to this guy, so I should at least try to be friendly even if he was about to punch my head off my shoulders.

“I… I really don’t have much to do with ruling the Crystal Empire. I just take care of security and any paperwork that has to do with the Crystal Guard. But things have been going pretty well, everypony in the ol’ Empire’s doing well. I also heard about that guard that chased you through Ponyville, since I am still partially responsible for Auntie Celly’s guard, and even had a personal look at the stallion.” Shining Armor looked me up and down. “I’m surprised you left such a big bump on his noggin given that you’re half his size. Who knows? You might have really good guard potential!”

I laughed. “Nah, I hurt myself so badly from running into a wall that the guard chasing me thought I couldn’t fight back..” I then proceeded to explain how mine and the Royal Guard’s fight went, while Shining Armor nodded along. “And so I had a broken nose, leg, and exoskeleton. Not my greatest moment, but I’ve gotta admit, that had beat sitting in a room all day.”

“So, why did you end up in Ponyville anyway?” Cadence finally butted in.

“Oh, y’know, Mother Dearest and I had a bit of a falling out… and I kinda hate her guts,” I casually say as I look at the train car that the Crystal Empire’s rulers walked out of. Before anybody could question what I meant by that. “Say… why’s your train car still open-” I immediately shut my mouth as the slender figure of Princess Celestia stepped out of the train… oh come on! “And… now I suddenly want to go in the opposite direction of that, so if you’ll excuse me!” I would’ve been long gone, had Cadence not stopped me with her magic. Woohoo! I love having to speak to a pony I loathe!

“What happened between you and Celly? When you two left the Empire, you two were like two peas in a pod!” Princess Cadence pulled out a photo from… I’m not even going to question how she got that. It was a photo that somebody had taken of me while I was napping on the train to Canterlot. Apparently at some point, I used one of Princess Celestia’s forelegs as a head rest, and never noticed. That’s weird since I fell asleep with my head leaning up against the window. Now, on one hand, there was a chance that the Princess actually did give a shit about me. On the other, she could’ve been putting on a show so nobody would suspect that she had fucked me over.

I glanced at Luna, guessing that she was the one who took that photo, before shrugging. “If I were to say anything here, then I’d probably be breaching Celestia’s whole thing. The whole thing about me being a Changeling from another Hive, if you know what I mean.” Cadence nodded and let me go. All of a sudden, Celestia had knelt down next to me(I could now reach her neck). “So, Princess, how’s life going for you?” I asked before getting ready to turn around and leave. I don’t want to find out what the fuck Princess Celestia wanted from me now, but I don’t want to find out.

“It is… good to see you, Ray. you don’t need to use any honorifics with me, just Celestia, or Celly, would do, you know?”

“I’ll keep using honorifics and titles with you, Princess Celestia. I drop all that fancy stuff when talking to friends.” I glanced behind the princess to see Ms. Board. Great, another pony I don’t like. Everybody who didn’t know what was going on, so just Cadence and her husband, just stared at me after I had said my piece to Equestria’s dearest Princess. “Anyway, if you don’t need anything from me, I’ll let Luna and Twilight do whatever royalty does while visiting each other. I’m gonna walk on over to Sweet Apple Acres and see if I can convince Apple Jack into letting me buck apples. Or I can find Ditzy and see if we can’t chat over some muffins. Cya!” I spun around(holy fuck, I can spin on a dime now!) and trotted off.

“Hold it Ray, we’re going to head to Twilight's Castle first. From there, you can fill Shiny and I on why you suddenly hate Princess Celestia.” Oh great! The walk back to Twilight’s place was quick and uneventful. A couple ponies here and there were probably surprised to see all of their country’s leaders just casually walking down the street. I stopped to say hello to Ditzy, who was doing a mailrun(found out that she did that while eating at some weird burger joint with her and Time Turner. It stressed her out.), but a word wasn’t spoken since we left the train station. We walked through the front doors of the Castle of Friendship, and took a turn into what looked like a meeting room.

“So… Ray, what’s happened between you and Celly?” Cadence asked.

I began to laugh like an idiot, of course the Princess Perfect wouldn’t let anybody know what the fuck she had done to me. Of course! Why would she dare tarnish her own reputation! After I calmed myself down, I gave an abridged version of what had happened. From finding out the fun little secret, to storming out of the castle, to getting on a train to Ponyville. I quickly glossed over my incredibly fun welcoming party of 2: Me and the Guard. “And then Princess Sunbutt over there took my backpack without even telling me! Boy am I glad that she tried her best at getting me to forgive her!” I took a deep breath. “I especially love the part where she also wanted to drag me back to Canterlot, like I’d happily follow her anywhere!

“Anyways, I coulda gone home. I coulda, but my family is very understanding. They definitely loved the part where I went missing without a trace. They’ll understand this is one big, measly misunderstanding while they plan out my funeral…” I tapped my chin a couple of times and smiled. “Oh, I’ve been here for almost a month! That means my funeral’s been planned by now, and boy am I glad that I can’t go and hug any of them, and tell them I’m alive and well!” I glanced at Luna with a small smile. “Luna’s been doing a good job at keeping me from turning myself into a chalk outline, at least.” Luckily, The mentioned Luna was seated conveniently next to me, and close enough to lean my head on if I so chose.

Princess Celestia held her gaze on her hooves, which she had rested on the table during my whole spill. Seriously, if I actually wanted to be friends with this woman again, she’d have to do a damn good job at gaining my trust again. So what if she looked like she was about to cry, it wasn’t my problem, she caused one of my problems and, inadvertently, caused some of my own problems. Everybody in the room was silent as I gave Luna a hug, which shocked her, and left the room. These next few days were gonna suck if I stayed around any longer… and I would rather not end up being hostile towards Princess Celestia if I spent too much time around her.

I’m just going to go find Ditzy again and help her with the mail. Who knows? I might be the best Changeling postman to ever exist in Equestria!

The next couple of days became a blur as it was mostly just me avoiding everybody in the castle. I spent a lot of time helping Ditzy with mail runs, she was grateful for this, as she always ended her routes ahead of schedule when I did, which meant more free time for her. She even tried to get the post office to pay me for my work, even if I said I didn’t need the money, but it was a nice surprise to receive a small bag full of gold coins to call my own. I even got a job offer to officially work at the post office if I ever desired… Ditzy may have left out the detail that I was a Changeling since she personally delivered my payment.

Now I was sitting in the market, enjoying a small snack after helping Ditzy with the mail(Ditzy went home after her mailrun; she was up since 4:00am. What the hell?). I kinda… liked the job surprisingly. While I wasn’t officially hired, I was essentially an under the table employee of the post office. The pay, as far as I could tell, was decent. I got to be out of the castle, I even got to chat with Ditzy since we now shared a route since all I did was help her on her route. And it helped with learning the layout of Ponyville. It turned out that french fries were a thing here, so here I was.

I was given side glances, which I found kinda funny. Any other time and I’d assume everybody was disgusted by my existence, but I just imagined what else was going through these ponies’ heads. They’re probably surprised to see a Changeling, who they probably thought only ate love, casually munching on a basket of fries. Nobody seemed to really be throwing a whole fuss about me being here, so I kept on eating. These fries were damn good.

“There you are, Ray!” I looked up from my food and sighed. Cadence trotted up to the little table I was seated at, she had a little thing of pretzels suspended in her magic. Noticeably, her crown was missing, but she still wore her necklace and horseshoes. “I’ve been hoping to spend some time with you, but you’re never in the castle! And whenever you are, you hide in your room for some reason. Mind if I sit with you?” I shook my head and Cadence promptly sat at my table.

“So, why aren’t you spending any time in the castle? It’s not Celly is it?” Cadence asked.

“Well, kinda. I can probably assume that you don’t get to spend a lot of time with Luna, Princess Celestia, or Twilight; you’ve got an empire to run after all. You guys are probably really busy with all your duties, and this week is probably one of the few occasions you have nothing to worry about. Figured you guys would rather not have me being in the way, with how little I try to hide my distaste for Princess Celestia. So I found Ditzy on a mailrun, lent a hand, and Ditzy managed to make it so I get paid for doing so. So I spent the last couple days doing just that.

“It’s kinda relaxing honestly. Just wander around, since I don’t know how to fly at all, and deposit the right letters and packages at the right door steps. I might even try to actually apply for an actual position, but chances are that I’ll get turned down. I’m probably too young to be working to begin with, and I’m a Changeling. Plus, if I get an actual position, then I’d have to do mail runs in other towns and cities apparently.”

“But… you have access to Luna and Celly’s personal funds. Why would you want a job?”

“Well… it’s just something to do, honestly. I like to keep myself busy, and sitting in a room is not one of the ways I am kept busy. Plus, not having to annoy Luna for a basket of fries is pretty cool. I just like less of an ass if I use money that I’ve earned and worked for.” I then lifted a fry with my magic. “So, why’d you wanna spend time with me? Don’t you got a whole sister in law and two aunts to hang out with? I highly doubt that I’m as interesting as any of those people. I’m just some bum that woke up in your closet? Storage room? I dunno.”

Cadence glared at me. “Ray, I want to spend time with you, because you’re family. I also have all the time in the world to visit Twilight, or my aunts. I’ve got 3 years to get to know you, assuming you don’t want to stay here, so I may as well use that time getting to know you…” she leaned in. “And between you and me, I’m just excited to have a cousin that isn’t Prince Blueblood. I love my cousin, but he’s a bit of…”

“A donkey?” I asked.

“Now that’s just rude to donkeys. I know quite a few that are lovely to have in my company.”

“Shoulda figured that. Blueblood’s such a sack of shit, that I actually punched the bastard. I almost tuned him out too, but… how the heck does nobody just slap Blueblood in the face and tell him to shut up?” I asked.

“Well… wait a second, you punched Blueblood?” I nodded. “In the face?” I nodded again. I could tell that Cadence has probably wanted to do the same for a while now. “Well, I’m sorry about my cousin. Since he is royalty, it’s quite hard for anybody to punish him for his awful attitude.”

“I can tell. Socked him in the jaw, sent him flying, and I’m willing to bet that that’s the only repercussion he’s received for being such a dick.” Cadence laughed. “He’s not even married to anybody royal ain’t he? If so, then his first name might as well be ‘Prince’ since I doubt he should even be able to legally call himself a prince.” Now Cadence was laughing even harder.

“The funny thing,” she wheezed. “His first name is, in fact, ‘Prince’.” I snorted.

“Cady! Let me know when you’re about to wander off-“ Shining Armor sat himself by his wife. “Oh hey Ray. I was wondering where the heck you went. Only saw you at the train station, and then never again,” he raised an eyebrow. “I suppose that means you’re a pretty good Changeling, eh? You’ve managed to go unnoticed for a few days… Well, Auntie Luna and Aunt Celestia have been trying to find you too, and you’re nowhere to be found.”

“If Princess Celestia can’t find me, then that’s a good thing. Throughout my first year of highschool, I’ve learnt how to go unnoticed, and I’d say I’m still pretty sharp with not being seen, eh?” I shrugged. “Seriously, I don’t know why Mother Dearest thought that I’d want to see her again. I… I seriously don’t think I can trust Princess Celestia ever again, but I will kinda admit that I miss her. I can’t see myself being friendly with her again, but I do miss being friendly with Sunbutt.

“But I’m not dying for that sorta thing again. I only really got to know Princess Celestia for what? A few days? That’s not enough time to yearn for somebody’s company.” I went to grab another fry, only to notice that my basket was now empty. Soon after, I got up, threw my basket away, and walked over to the stand that was selling fries. Five bits later, and a slightly shaky cart owner, I had a new basket. I then wandered back to Cadence and Shining Armor.

“You really like those fries, don’t you?” Shining asked.

“What can I say? They’re addictive, and probably the only thing from my… hive that I can recognize in full. Sure, Hayburgers are pretty similar to a cheeseburger, but the taste and texture is just off… too artificial. these fries kinda make me feel more at home,” I let a smile form on my face as I pulled out a pretty long fry. It's as long as my middle finger if I still had fingers or hands. “Plus it also helps with these things that are really good, so there’s that. If I ever make it home, I probably will miss these things. Half the time, most fast food joints give you old, stale fries that taste like dirt. But me, being the basic Changeling that I am, still like them because they’re fries.”

“Say, what is it like at your Hive, if you know what I mean.”

“Pretty boring, honestly. We just get taught things in the… Hive Education Division for about 12 years. It’s all a bunch of useless information, like how individual, single celled celled organisms reproduce. I’ve also got a good understanding of what the heck the length of the third, unmeasured side of a triangle. Dunno how to make friends, or how to do much else though. School sucks, but I know a bunch of fun little facts. We… ‘Changelings’ love to learn about stuff. Mostly when the thing we’re learning is presented in an interesting way.”

We then began to finish up our snacks, while we continued to chat. It turned out that Shining was a complete sports head, and had managed to explain to me what Buckball was, which was basically American Football. It was kinda impressive to see how passionate the guy was for sports, and that made me want to listen. Cadence was… actually a huge nerd, she was about to gush about some book series I’ve never heard of before she stopped herself. It’s a shame too, I would've loved to hear her Cadence talk about her favorite book series; I would have wanted to read it too.

In other words, these two were actually huge softies.

“So, Nightmare Night’s tomorrow. Do you plan on trick or treating, Ray?” I shook my head.

“I’m down to just walk around and chat. I could pass this,” I buzzed my wings and I gestured towards myself. “As a costume. If my sunglasses still fit my skull, then I’d probably also use those to help with my ‘costume’. Plus I feel… like I’m a bit too old to be doing that sorta stuff. Where I’m from, we have something pretty similar to Nightmare Night, and most Changelings stop Trick or Treating at 12… I think. I never got to go, since not every Hive celebrates Halloween.”

After an hour and a half, Cadence and Shining went off, likely to hang out with Twilight(or to make out), and I was left to my own devices again. My second basket of fries have been empty for a while now, so I threw those away, and started wandering around. Pumpkins with silly faces, bat silhouettes, and games(such as apple bobbing!) were now beginning to line the streets as I marched forward. There were a couple cartoons of Nightmare Moon, which kinda told a fun little story.

You dress up in a costume to blend in with all the beasts of the night, collect candy, and leave an offering to Nightmare Moon so that you don’t get your soul gobbled up. This tradition started up a year or two ago, the first Nightmare Night that Luna had spent in Ponyville, which… meant that Ponyville had its own special way of celebrating Nightmare Night because of Luna. That’s pretty cool if you asked me. I kept on wandering until I bumped into a tall, black, fuzzy body.

I quickly went in reverse. “Uh… I didn’t hurt you by accident did I?” The pony I had bumped into was as tall as Princess Celestia, but her entire coat was pitch black. She wore regalia that was pretty similar to Luna’s, except there was a helmet on her head, under the crown she wore. She had almost the exact same mane as Luna did, flowing with the night going through it, but it flowed a lot more rapidly. Surprisingly, her eyes were kinda like that of a reptile; black slitted pupils floating in an acid green cornia. Instead of flat teeth, this pony had… plastic fangs.

It was Nightmare Moon, or just Luna.

“What are thou doing?” The Nightmare asked.

“Luna, don’t play dumb with me. How the heck did you transform into Nightmare Moon?” I asked. “Without going batshit insane about making sure the sun never rises again? Wait, hold on, don’t answer that, it’s magic.”

Nightmare Moon grinned. “I suppose I should drop the act, but I am in the form of Nightmare Moon to… oversee the preparations of Nightmare Night. The night before all the little coats and fillies go Trick or Treat, there is a contest on who's got the best decorations on their house or shop. There isn’t a prize, just bragging rights… though there are a few ponies who think getting first place will make me kiss them on the cheek,” Luna giggled. “It won’t, however, unless that winner happens to be somepony I am interested in.”

“Y’know, you could give them a kiss as Nightmare Moon. Make a whole thing about how if the Mare on the Moon kisses you, you have three days to live or whatever… I don’t think most stallions would care though. They’d probably just go around and brag about how they got kissed by Nightmare Moon, and by extension, you.”

“I suppose that would be a motivator for some stallions in town, but I don’t want Nightmare Night decorations in Ponyville to become purely about getting a kiss from me. Then there would be no fun to be had, since every little decoration would be big, grand, and fancy… plus I think a few mares wouldn’t be happy if I were to kiss their husband, or them depending on which way they tend to buck.

“Though, I do have an interesting idea for you, Ray,” I raised an eyebrow. “Since you are a Changeling, perhaps we can have you be my little minion? There is a rumor that went around that I, as Nightmare Moon, was in league with the Changelings at one point and orchestrated the attack on Canterlot during Cadence’s wedding. Obviously that’s untrue, but it would get you into the festivities and even help Ponyville's acceptance of you.” She then smiled. “And I’ll split the candy I am offered as Nightmare Moon. I’m sure you’ll love Night Chocolate Bars.”

“How the heck did… that’s just a name for the candy, probably. Sweet mother of god, now I’m gonna question if a name genuinely means some guy managed to stick a portion of the night into chocolate! Magic is a curse!” I began to act like I was panicking. “Oh god! What if you’re just a magical air balloon? What if I-“ Nightmare Moon then holsted me in the air and laid me out on her back.

“Now my little minion, it is not wise to have a panic attack over some Night Chocolate Bars. It will make ponies think I, Nightmare Moon, have grown soft!” Luna said as she began to prance around while surprisingly keeping me on her back. “Just think, all these little ponies will bow to us, adore us and our night. May the sun never rise again as we feast on their dreams and sugar filled treats!” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a few ponies snapping photos and… somehow filming us with camcorders. Wha? I thought that was out of Equestria’s capabilities technology wise.

“Uh… your majesty? The ponies are filming us, more specifically, you prancing around like a little filly. They will think we have grown soft!” Nightmare Moon? Luna? Let out a haunting laugh as she continued. “But… then it will take them by surprise when we take the throne!”

“We? Who said you would be ruling by my side, hmm?” She asked in a surprisingly terrifying tone. “I, and I alone will rule these lands!”

“But… I’m your loyal minion, can’t I… at least be your secretary? You’ll need a nocturnal one afterall!” I was loving the looks from everybody in town. This whole scene probably looked really silly, but hopefully they all knew we were just… fooling around. Oh wait a moment! I just got Luna, as Nightmare Moon, to fool around in public! Well, that’s pretty fun… hopefully I didn’t ruin Luna’s reputation.

“You are correct, my little Changeling. Now come my minion, the night is drawing near, and so is our time to judge these ponies on how well they celebrate the moon and stars above!” Nightmare Moon let me slide off her back as we trotted down the street to get a look at what everybody was doing to decorate their homes for tomorrow night… I was actually excited about tomorrow now.