Duellum Telum

Moonfire was pacing, waiting for Ms. Cheerilee to call him in. Come on, you’ve done worse things than this. You shouldn’t be a bit worried. But then again, I haven’t been around a lot of foals that are close to my age in a while. Come on! they’re just ponies, they can’t sense that you’re a changeling. There’s no way you’ll be caught. Just remember what you’ve told Pipsqueak about yourself and stick with the story about me being Fluttershy’s brother’s adopted son.... Yeah no way that's not going to be picked apart.

The door opened and the teacher stuck her head out. “Come on, Moonfire, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” she said.

The colt shook his head. “Sorry, got lost in thought.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Everypony gets nervous on their first day of school,” Cheerilee offered, ushering the boy in with a hoof.

Must you use the word every-pony? He thought as he stood at the front of the room.

“This is Moonfire, he’s recently moved here from Baltimare,” Cheerilee announced to the class of foals, gesturing his way as if standing right in front of them didn’t grab their attention enough.

“Great! another unicorn,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.

“Did you really meet Cap’n Squall?” came a Trottingham accent from the back.

Moonfire cocked an eyebrow. “Meet? He’s the one that adopted me.”

“Are you staying with Fluttershy now?” Scootaloo blurted out.

“For now, at least. She is the captain’s half sister,” Moonfire said.

“So why aren’t you with the captain, then?” Silver Spoon asked with a hint of derision.

“He thinks I need some ‘proper’ education. Something about me being like him without it,” the changeling dismissed.

“Ugh, great, another drama queen,” Scootaloo said, covering her face with one of her hooves.

“And a fine lesson that is, too,” Cheerilee agreed, “so, if no one else has any questions, we can get started with today’s class.”

“Okay, Moonfire, what are you doing here?” Scootaloo started. “I thought you were trying to lay low, or at least wait until your wing got better.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked around furtively from atop the roof of the school. No one could hear them from this distance, thankfully, and they remained the only foals who insisted on climbing the rain water barrel to eat on the roof. Still, they both looked a little worried about the chances that this would end in a changeling duel, if such a thing existed.

“Unfortunately, for the both of us, the fates seem to be intent on twining our lives together,” Moonfire countered.

“You need to learn to talk normally,” Sweetie Belle noted. “You’re going to stick out like a nail in the railroad if you keep that up.”

“And you know what happens to nails that stick out,” Apple Bloom started.

“I meant: she’s here, the mare that’s after me.”

“You’ve seen her?” Scootaloo asked.

“No. But there’s irrefutable evidence that says she’s here.”

“The evidence being....” Apple Bloom inquired.

“In the clock tower, there was no rope next to my bed. Monday I went back there and saw a pile of rope sitting next to it.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders stared at him blankly.

“The maintenance pony that works on the clock tower comes by only once a month, he’s already been there this month. And none of you moved any rope when we were in there for your lesson. So, the only logical explanation is that she found out; she’s here, waiting for me to slip up.”

“If that is true, you are going to be safer in a crowd,” Apple Bloom noted.

“That’s what I thought, as well.” And I kinda promised Diamond I would be here. “Anyways, I’m gonna go join Diamond Tiara for lunch,” Moonfire said before jumping down from the roof.

The girls gasped softly, then went as blank in the eye as they were in the flank.

“What?” Moonfire started.

“You’re having lunch, friendly lunch, with Diamond Tiara?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yes.”

“Diana Almond Tiara?” Sweetie Belle persisted.

“Her middle name is ‘Almond’?” Moonfire asked.

“Bad taste at best, poison at worst,” Apple Bloom explained.

“I know that she’s not all buddy-buddy with you-”

“Then why eat with her?” Scootaloo interrupted.

The colt’s expression turned unamused, “Why not? There’s no reason to not be kind; to not sit with her.”

The girls all turned to each other and shared a knowing (if judging) look. They didn’t voice their thoughts, though.

“Oh, also: we’ll have to change where we meet to Fluttershy’s house.”

“No problem. It’ll be easier to go to and not get noticed,” Scootaloo agreed.

“Now, if you have no more objections, I will get out of your manes,” Moonfire said as he walked off to join Diamond.

“Why were you talking to them?” Diamond Tiara asked as the colt came over to her.

“Just wondering what they were doing up there,” he replied.

“Look, since you’re new in town, you probably don’t know this, but Apple Bloom and her friends are bad news,” Diamond Tiara started. “They’re just stupid blank flanks who can’t do anything special and are always getting into trouble. I’m not even sure if they’re really who they say they are.”

“Umm... how could they not be?”

“Well, yesterday Miss Cheerilee took us on a field trip through White Tail Woods, and Scootaloo refused to get close to a honey thistle,” Silver Spoon explained.

“Plus, I swear I’ve seen her eyes glow green. Those thistles are poisonous for changelings, Miss Cheerilee said so. And Rumble’s been acting really weird around her. She’s a changeling feeding off Rumble, I’m sure of it.”

Well, she has it half right. “Actually, honey thistle isn’t poisonous to changelings, what is poisonous to them is heart’s desire. Honey thistle is basically an anesthetic to changelings,” Moonfire said absentmindedly before realizing what he said. “It’s what I’ve read at least.” Shitshitshitshitshitshit fucking shit! why did I say that?! Idiot! Why don’t I just tell her to spray herself with the stuff and be done with it?

“Yeah, I heard that, too. But they’re both magical plants, so you can’t make perfume out of them. And I couldn’t make any potions, either.”

“Just let it go, Diamond,” Silver Spoon offered. “Scootaloo can’t be a changeling: where would the real one be? Changelings don’t kill, remember?”

“Yeah, otherwise Cadence wouldn’t have been found.” Whew, dodged that storm. Moonfire sat down beside Diamond.

“Anyways, Fluttershy packed one too many cupcakes, want one?”

Diamond Tiara finished her sandwich and nodded eagerly, grabbing the treat without a word. She split it in half and gave a piece to Silver Spoon.

“Thank you,” Silver Spoon said, ignoring her friend’s lack of manners again.

“Sooo...” Moonfire started, suddenly realising the awkwardness of sitting with two rich girls while he started on his own lunch, “what do you do for fun around here?” Smooth, Moonfire, real smooth. “Besides picking on other foals, I mean.”

“We do not pick on other foals for fun. Not all the time, I mean,” Diamond Tiara replied. “We play, sometimes.”

“Yeah, we even help out other ponies: we helped clean up the park last week.”

“Really? Just like that?” Moonfire inquired.

“No, with the ‘Tater Trotters. We do that sort of thing every week,” Diamond admitted with a groan.

“Ah, I heard about that group. Apparently they’re secretly looking for the Garden, trying to find it before my dad does,” he said offhoofedly. “Something about making sure it’s ‘properly used’ if you go by what He says.”

... Fuck.

“What’s this garden?”

“I don’t exactly know, my father could tell you more. When he’s done killing you for mentioning it,” Moonfire said right before the bell for them to go back in rang.

“Oh, hello Moonfire, how was school,” Fluttershy greeted.

The changeling in question sat down on the couch and replied, “Not much fun; I’m way ahead of the rest of the class.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” the mare tried, hoping to find an upside to it. “At least that means you can help your classmates if they have trouble, right?”

“Yeah, I could. If I forget about the assassin that’s looking for me,” he sighed, “A new foal that’s far too smart for where he says he came from would be a dead giveaway.”

“I’d guess so,” Fluttershy offered, sitting down next to the boy. “But it’s not all bad, is it? There must be something new you learned today.”

The colt thought for a second. “Yeah, there is one thing.”

Fluttershy leaned in with an eager smile.

“I need to not mention my real father anymore.”

“Oh,” the mare replied, her cheer deflating a bit. “Then maybe you should come up with a good story instead. Say your real father gave you up because he did something bad, but is still alive. Ponies would believe that, easily. And ponies would believe me if I said that.”

I don't like this idea, but if it means not getting caught... “How about this: My parents left me in your brother’s care and never came back for me? ... Well, no, that won’t work...”

Fluttershy lowered her ears. “What exactly have you been saying, then?”

“Well, I told Diamond that my father chased me out, but not more than that. She’s the only one, besides you, who knows that. I can’t change what I’ve said... but I don’t want to get caught.”

Moonfire sighed and looked down, “I’ll just have to move carefully around the subject, tell enough so that nopony asks any questions.”

“And, umm, just out of curiosity, did you tell her about the killer pony, too?” the mare tried, putting up a forced smile.

The colt’s face registered a brief shock of revelation before reverting to its previous expression, “I may have alluded to the fact. Besides, right now she’s in no danger; my spells would tell me if she - or anyone else - was.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at that.

“You have spells that tell you when someone’s in danger? You mean like a Pinkie sense?”

“Well...” The changeling drawled, “not exactly. They’re just spells used to keep adventurous foals from being hurt.”

“Oh, so you go around helping foals who get into a little bit of trouble? That’s nice.”

“I do it only to survive. There’s quite a bit of appreciation to be had in that line of work.”

A hummingbird picked up a stray hair in Fluttershy’s mane, eliciting a smile. “I know.”

Moonfire glanced at the clock, “Scootaloo should be here soon for our lesson.”

He jumped off the couch and headed for the door. “I’m teaching her a few things that I have learned over the years and a bit about self defense.”

“That’s good, I suppose. You’re not going to do anything dangerous, are you?”

The colt decided to ignore the question and opened the door, finding his student - and her friends - coming up the path.

“You’re early,” he said as the fillies stopped in front of him, “You’ll be learning self defense this lesson.”

“Okay. Oh, and I didn’t get around to telling you: I’ve got something you might be interested in, too. You know how to detect honey thistles you can’t see?” Scootaloo asked.

“Learned how to do that back in Baltimare, there’s huge fields of it on the outskirts near the coast,” the changeling turned and started walking behind the house, “I was going to teach you how to do that before the actual lesson but, since you already know it, we’ll jump right into defense.”

Scootaloo grinned.

“This should be good. I haven’t tried that many spells yet, though.”

“We won’t be going into spells just yet, besides, I don’t know that many defensive spells,” Moonfire said as he turned behind the cottage.

Fluttershy flew out and made a chittering sound, sending her animal friends scattering.

“You can use the animal garden, if you like. No one will see, will they, Mister Grizzle?”

A great grizzly who had somehow remained unnoticed -- as if to prove the point -- growled in agreement.

“Now then,” The disguised colt said as he turned to face the three fillies, “Would you like to try to fight as one, or would you prefer to go against me alone?”

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow, “I thought that it was only Scootaloo that you were teaching?”

“If you don’t want to end up being easy bait for Caligantis, you’ll need to know how to fight as well.”

“What do you mean ‘easy bait’?” Applebloom asked.

“Bait that’s easy to get. If she finds out that Scootaloo is just like me, she won’t know which of us is actually me... I don’t need to spell it out from there, do I?” Moonfire explained.

The three fillies looked at each other before sharing a collective shrug. “Guess that makes sense,” Scoots said.

“So, are you going to fight together against me, or are you going to come after me one at a time?”

The filly changeling smirked, “We’ll be taking the second choice, just to make sure you don’t get hurt... too much.”

Oh great, she sounds like me before my first training session... Why is it that everypony thinks that they’re better at fighting than they really are? “Very well then, who is going first?” the colt said.

“See you tomorrow, Moony” Sweetie Belle called over her shoulder as the three fillies sped away.

“I told you: DON’T CALL ME MOONY!” The disguised changeling shouted after them.

Behind him, he heard a soft giggle. Knowing who it was didn’t soften the blow; if anything, it made it harder since he couldn’t do anything about it without yelling at the mare who took him in.

Moonfire took a deep breath and huffed.

“What’s the matter... Moony?” Fluttershy asked and then giggled again.

Another deep breath, another huff.

“My name is Moonfire. I have a title: Grey Ensis. I do not like being called Moony.” He hissed under his breath. “Or being laughed at.”

“Oh? So you’d rather ponies act scared around you or look up to you?” the mare coyly inquired. “Maybe you’d rather be treated like a Canterlot pony, or like a movie star? You said you were a stunt double a few times.”

Moonfire went back in and shook his head.

“No, of course not. I don’t mind not being called by my name, but... never mind.” He sighed and draped himself over the couch.

He stared at the ceiling for a moment, before Fluttershy came up from behind him and stared right down.

“If it really bothers you, you should say so. But if it does, is it because it’s not your real name or because it’s something to make you laugh?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, umm, you seem to be pretty attached to everything that’s happened to you, even if you’ve learned to live with it. Would you rather keep crying about it or try laughing at it?”

Moonfire grumbled and stared at the ceiling some more.

“At least call me something a little more dignified than ‘Moony’?” he pleaded. “I’m not a baby.”

“No, but you’re still a foal, and you can do with a little laughter every now and then. How about Buggy, then?”

He snorted, “That’s just as bad as ‘Moony’. Maybe Greyfire.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes.

“Sweetie, I don’t think you understand what a nickname is. How about Bright Eyes?”

The colt thought for a minute, “Nah, sounds too much like a common name for a type of bug. Canus?”

Fluttershy made a face she normally reserved for soup that had been over-seasoned... and burnt... and had a skin on its surface.

“I don’t think Latin names are going to work. You could try ‘Bug-Eyes’, if that makes you feel any better.”

Moonfire raised an eyebrow, “Are we even trying to hide the fact that I’m a changeling? How about this: Rous.”

Fluttershy blinked.

“Umm... does that mean anything?”

“You’ve never seen the Prince’s Bride?” he sighed and shook his head. “Thought everypony had seen it.”

“I don’t get out much,” Fluttershy plainly stated. “But if you like being called ‘Rous’, I don’t mind calling you ‘Rous’.”

Moonfire tried to hear that name being used to address him, but found himself making the same face of disapproval his caretaker had made just now.

“This is a lot harder than it sounds. I just want something that doesn’t make me sound like a weirdo or a baby. I don’t know why they can’t just call me by my regular nickname.”

“Your regular -- oh, so ‘Moonfire’ isn’t your real name, I understand,” Fluttershy concluded.

“My real name doesn’t suit me that much anymore. Too violent, and too Latin, you wouldn’t like it,” Moonfire explained.

“Okay, so nothing Latin. Something that’s not too cute, and not too violent,” Fluttershy offered, thinking aloud as she circled him. “How about just ‘big guy’, would you mind being called that?”

“Nah... you know, the more we go on like this, the more I think that ‘Moony’ isn’t such a bad idea.”

Fluttershy smiled knowingly.

“I knew you’d warm up to it.”

Moonfire shifted a bit uncomfortably. “It’s just because of all the others that don’t fit me...”

Fluttershy nudged him to sit up instead hanging lazily on the couch.

“I guess sometimes you just need to realise things could be worse before you realise how good you have it, huh?”

He sighed, “Yeah, I guess so.”

The colt looked up her. He could feel what she was thinking, and the weak smile only confirmed it. He didn’t want to feel this way, not again. But he had to admit, it felt good.

“I err... I don’t think I’ve said a proper ‘thank you’ yet,” he started. “Not the kind you deserve, at least. So... thank you for taking me in. And thank you for showing me how... you know...”

Fluttershy didn’t reply. She just leaned forward and opened her arms. Moonfire wasn’t even sure he’d moved, but the next thing he knew he was leaning into the hug. It felt warm, comforting, and alien. A total stranger was showing him more love than he’d had back home.

Seemed to be a recurring thing for him, he realised.

“How long has it been since you had a hug like this?” she asked.

“Too long,” he admitted, returning the affection.

“Well, you can stay for as long as you like,” she offered. “I can take care of you if you’ll let me.”

“Why? I’m nothing but trouble.”

“Well, maybe I like taking care of little creatures who’d get into trouble without me,” Fluttershy replied.

Right on cue, Moonfire felt a bunny tapping its hind legs on his head.

Huh... makes sense.