The First Lesson

Moonfire awoke in his bed. What a strange dream. He slid out of bed and trotted to his bathroom. What were those strange ponies anyways? They weren’t unicorns or pegasi. Definitely not earth ponies. The colt glanced at the mirror. Yeah, that’s what they looked like.

In the mirror he saw a creature that looked male at first sight. Young male, vaguely pony-ish, with a sharp curved horn. An ebony coat of what looked like chitin covered its entire body, save for the transparent insect wings that rested on its back and the back plate with an orange-ish hue to it. The thing’s skin, or chitin, gave off a dull shine, but looking closely Moonfire could see little movements in its surface, hinting at something quite more alive than mere armour.

The wings, then, throbbed in their own little rhythm, barely visible at the surface but definitely there. Little holes in the membranes didn’t seem to do anything about their structural integrity; if anything, one might swear those holes were just rings put in for reinforcement.

He gave out a girlish scream as he realized that he was looking at himself and ran to the dining room.

There at the table sat a grey coated, heavily built pegasus with a yellowish grey mane and tail. He carried the image of a blacksmith’s hammer on his flank and the glint in his orange eyes dared any to defy him.

Across from him sat a light blue unicorn mare with a mane that looked, and flowed, like light pink cotton candy. Her eyes spoke only of love and firm kindness and on her flank was a bouquet of seven roses.

Panting from the gallop, Moonfire said, “Mom! Dad! Bathroom- mirror- reflection- I don’t know what happened! Is this some kind of trick?”

The mare recoiled when she heard his voice. He nearly did a double take when he heard it himself. An odd buzzing sound, that girly tone mixed with a second voice talking at the same time... it couldn’t be real.

“Mom? I don’t feel so good,” he said as tears started welling up.

The blue unicorn didn’t reply. She just shook her head and never bothered to pick up her jaw at the sight of him.

Moonfire froze. His heart started pounding as the facts sunk in.

She didn’t recognise him. His own mother didn’t recognise him. Whatever he was now, it was bad, really bad.

“What did you do to my son?” the stallion started, getting up from the table with a menacing growl.

“Dad, it’s me,” the colt pleaded, “I-I don’t-”

“You? You aren’t my son. What have you done to him?”

“I didn’t do anything, I swear! I just woke up, looked in the mirror, and it was... this. Maybe I ate something bad? Somepony pulled a prank on my mirror? I-I think I need a doctor, this isn’t normal. I have wings, I’m not supposed to have wings. Why do I have wings?” the boy shouted, panic taking over. Said wings were starting to buzz nervously now, the noise clearly upsetting his mom.

His father growled and lunged for him, “You’ll need more than a doctor when I’m through with you!”

The colt didn’t even know he had reacted until he saw his dad run into a solid marble pillar, sending cracks spider-webbing all the way to the top. The sound of an iceberg breaking apart was heard as the pillar collapsed and his father stood there, completely unharmed and lowered his head.

Moonfire saw his father’s mouth move, but heard nothing. He glanced at his mother for help, but she was turned around, almost frozen. She looked to be moving, galloping, even, but she was still in the same place.

It didn’t matter how fast she was going. She was fleeing from him. She glanced back at him and he saw her eyes. There was no love in those eyes. No comfort. Only fear. He was cut off. He needed help and he was cut off, just like that. He could almost feel the love that had once kept him going ebbing away, replaced by an emptiness that made his heart groan like his stomach.

He felt weak all over, and he couldn’t move for what seemed like the longest time.

Is this all it takes? Is this really there is to it? Mom? Dad? Are you gonna stay mad like this?

It’s not my fault, honest. I didn’t mean to.

Take it back. Somepony, please, take it back.

His father charged at him again, but was moving incredibly slow.

The colt tried to think, to move, to do anything aside from get utterly destroyed by his own father.

Please, don’t let it end like this. Not with me looking like monster, not by my dad.

I’ve got to move. Celestia, please, why can’t I move?

Why is everything so slow, why can’t I...

MOVE.

With his father inches from him, he teleported to the doorway leading to the kitchens and ran. With tears in his eyes he couldn’t tell where he was going. All he knew was his parents truly hated him now.

As he ran he heard his father yell, “You will never escape! You shall be hunted to the ends of the earth. Never will you be able to sleep peacefully! I WILL MOUNT YOUR HEAD ON MY WALL!!”

***

Moonfire awoke from his nightmare crying and in a cold sweat. Why... why did they have to- his expression hardened. No, He never did anything for me. All He did was move me around whenever I expressed interest in something. Maybe this is a curse and it’s all His fault.

He stood and walked over to a window.

It’s not fair. Why does Scootaloo get to keep her friends and family and not me?

He gave off a deep sigh.

I can’t be thinking like this. She can’t help it any more than I can. If I start thinking like that...what does that make me?

The colt looked up at the night sky as his tears dried.

Maybe I could wish on a shooting star, make it go away... no, it wouldn’t make any difference. I’d still be miserable and unwanted, all that did was make it official. At least I’m free now. I can go where I want, be who I want.

He didn’t want to finish that train of thought, but he did.

I’m free, and I’m alone. That’s just how things are.

==========================

Moonfire was waiting up in the rafters above the bells, watching for Scootaloo to enter. Hiding, for the sake of being a little enigmatic. Soon enough, the orange filly walked in, looking around.

“It’s four past,” Moon Fire called. He scowled as he saw she’d brought her friends along.

He jumped down and shed his disguise, careful to put another on his right wing. “... I thought we had an agreement.”

“We did. We agreed that I’d come alone, and you wouldn’t go around following my friends. You ran into Apple Bloom the other day, so I’m bringing my friends. Unless, that wasn’t you playing with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? Pipsqueak didn’t seem to know you.”

“Our meeting was merely a coincidence, not planned. Besides, I stopped them from picking on him. In any case, there’s no reason why-” he sucked in a breath, his wing twitching in a painful reflex. “Why your friends can’t be here.”

“I knew you’d see things my way,” Scoots replied with a victorious smile.

Moonfire gave her a look and said, “They already know what I am, there’s no reason for me to not let them come with you.”

“Exactly. So what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Well, first of all,” he sat down, “what do you know about changelings?”

“You mean changeling changelings or changelings like her?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I mean changelings in general.”

“Well: they can change shape. It doesn’t take effort to stay in a shape, but it takes effort to change. They’ve got magic, but they can’t take in ambient magic energy on their own. They need love to survive and to power their spells. They used to be ponies, but that was a long time ago. I still need to see the doctor about that, though,” Scootaloo remarked with a wince.

“It seems there is much I can teach you then. From now on we shall meet here every Wednesday at this time until I think you are knowledged enough to be on your own.”

The girls exchanged a glance, then burst out laughing.

“Seriously? That’s what this is all about? You wanna play teacher with me?” Scoots asked, incredulous, “Look, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not on my own. I don’t need any les-”

Moonfire cut her off, “Do you know how often a changeling sheds its horn? Do you know what to avoid at all costs? Do you know how to study a pony and copy them exactly? If you do, congratulations, you’ve been a changeling for at least a year and have had to fend for yourself!”

“Jeez, calm down,” Sweetie Belle tried, “What is your problem? Did your Hive kick you out?”

Scootaloo locked eyes with the changeling as the situation sank in.

“You never had a Hive, did you? You’re a pony.”

Moonfire twitched as his wing stung again, “... I was a pony. Now I am a changeling.” He paused as he realized something. “I believe I have forgotten my manners. I’m Moonfire, The Grey Ensis.”

“Where are your parents, Moonfire?” Scoots asked with a hint of fear.

The bereaved changeling looked down and didn’t speak.

The girls looked to each other, before Apple Bloom blurted out her question.

“Are your parents gone, or did they make you go?”

“... I have lived without them for two years. Let’s leave it at that.”

The orange filly fumed a little at that.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re still a pony, you know. You have rights, you can get help. Celestia knows about me, and she told me it’s fine. Why should you be any different?”

“Why?” he gave a short laugh, “My father has had assassins after me that’s why.”

“You know he can’t do that, right?” Apple Bloom tried, “It’s against the law. You could just, I don’t know, tell somepony in charge.”

“And what? Let his spies tell him that I’m trying to expose him? Let his assassins know exactly where I am? I know the law, I studied it, I know that he’s exploiting loopholes and cutting corners but he has not broken the law, as far as chasing me goes.”

“But you can get word to Celestia, can’t you? We’d do it, we know her mail dragon!” Sweetie Belle protested.

“I tried to get into the palace to tell her, there’s too many guards that are in his network. And no, I didn’t try to sneak in.”

“But if I write a letter about you, give it to Spike and let him send it straight to the Princess, you’d be clear. We can talk about teaching when your head’s safe,” Scootaloo argued.

“There’s a problem with that. I don’t know if he’s part of my father’s network. For all I know anything that is sent to the Princess is sent straight to him first.”

The girls planted their hooves to their face and groaned.

“Okay, if you wanna be that paranoid, fine,” Scootaloo started, “What about teaching me? What can you tell me that I can’t get from my doctor or from Twilight Sparkle?”

“First off, the paranoid are only called paranoid until they are proven right. Second, they’ll only be able to tell you, theoretically, how a changeling works. And thirdly, I can teach you how to defend yourself.”

“Could you excuse us for a minute?” the pegasus changeling asked before pulling her friends into a huddle.

Moonfire trotted over to the window and tried not to overhear what they were saying.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“He’s got a point, Scootaloo. There’s no one else you can ask about anything,” Apple Bloom offered, “And you wouldn’t want to run into surprises.”

“Yeah, suppose you blow something up?”

“Oh please, it’s not like we don’t cause any damage on our own,” Scoots argued.

“Well, yeah, but now you’ve got a lot more firepower to worry about, dontcha?” Apple Bloom insisted, “and besides: look at him. He’s all alone. Maybe if you agree, you can get him to come out in the open sometime.”

“You haven’t spent a lot of time in your changeling form, have you?” Moonfire said as he scratched his left ear. “Changelings have cat-like hearing and can hear the wing beats of butterflies.”

“Good,” Scootaloo tried, taking refuge in audacity, “then we won’t have to repeat it.”

Yeah, that’s a good thing, but I didn’t want you to think I couldn’t hear you. He turned back to the fillies. “I told you that so you would know for future reference and we wouldn’t go through this again.”

The filly pondered that for a bit, before muttering something about a silencer.

“Anyway,” she started, “I’ll try to make it on Wednesdays. But other than that, are you going to be okay here in Ponyville? I mean, how do you get food? Or what if you have an accident?”

“I can take care of myself. Nopony, aside from you three, Pipsqueak, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon knows I am here. As for food, I have my ways, and... accidents? Have you ever seen me racing across the rooftops before? I am too sure-hoofed to hurt myself.” He turned away and muttered, “But this infernal clocktower has it in for me, I know it.”

“But where are you going to be in the meantime?” Scootaloo asked, “What do you want? Are you going to be following us or not?”

He looked at the fillies and, as he walked over, said, “We will run into each other from time to time but all it will be is a coincidence. Besides, making sure that all of you don’t accidentally kill yourselves takes up most of my time. What I want is simple: to stay hidden. At least until my father dies.”

He sat down when he was next to them. “But at the rate things are going, I’ll have to swear this entire town to secrecy by next year. And that’s if I stay here and if your training takes long.”

“Well, okay. We won’t tell anyone, and if you need help you can ask us, okay?” Apple Bloom offered as the other two nodded, “It’s not right for a pony to be alone like that, even if you think you aren’t really a pony.”

Moonfire grunted at the sappy sentiment, even if it did ring true somewhere in his chest. He wasn’t sure if he was having heartache -- or how many hearts he had, for that matter -- but he’d said what he’d planned to say, and that was it. “I’ll try and keep that in mind. Anyway, now that we have all that unpleasantness out of the way, shall we get started?”

“So, what’s first on the list?” Scootaloo asked.

"I take it you don't know how your webbings work yet?"

“My what?”

He face-hoofed. “The green goop that you can spit whenever you want to.”

“I do not spit green goop,” she protested, quickly swallowing the green ribbon at her mouth’s corner that made it its job to prove her wrong.

Moonfire turned his head towards the bell and spat a green strand at the clapper. “That is what I was referring to. You don’t want to know what it consists of.”

“Gross!” Sweetie Belle called.

“Cool!” called the other two.

“Okay, so how do I switch that on and off?” Scootaloo asked casually.

“As far as I know, there is no on or off switch. But, you do need to use it at least once every day to keep it under control. I recommend using it when you’re either eating breakfast or getting ready.”

“Okay, so like Spidermare: just use it when it’s convenient or it’ll spill out. I think I can keep track of that.”

“Yes, that would be an apt allegory. Another would be that you basically have Spidey-sense for feelings. But, you have to concentrate to use it.”

“Yeah, about that...I don’t think I like invading other ponies’ privacy. How do you deal with that sort of thing?”

“It’s not exactly invading their privacy, you’re just noticing what they feel. And it’s easy to deal with; all you have to do is ignore it. But I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s saved my life more than a few times and allowed me to sense when I’m being followed or about to walk into an ambush.”

The filly nodded. Sweetie Belle nudged her friend.

“Hey, don’t change the subject. You still don’t know how to stop drooling when you don’t want to.”

Moonfire sighed, “It’s easy to figure out and easier still to get rid of it. As long as you don’t let it harden.”

“And if it does, wash it out with lemon juice, I had that lecture before.”

“Lemon juice?” Again, he face-hoofed. “Of course, it’s just like a-” he glanced at the fillies, “never mind. The best way I’ve found of using it is to just imitate hawking a loogie.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ducked as they heard the cue for their pegasus-ling friend. Sucking in a big breath of air and apparently summoning some green mass to her mouth, she spat a long, thick thread right at the ceiling, where it stuck and hung stably.

She still had the end in her mouth, though.

“Fo thaff how you do that,” she offered in her best Twist impression, thread dangling from her tongue.

Moonfire held back his laugh and composed himself a second before Scootaloo turned back to him. “Well, I guess we should move on then.” He walked over to his corner and reached under his make-shift bed. He pulled out a purple-ish pink flower that was roughly heart-shaped. “This is-”

“Heart’s Desire!” Apple Bloom interrupted, “That was in Zecora’s potion, the one that gave me Cutie Pox. It’s supposed to help make your desires come true.”

“Really?” Moonfire looked at the flower on his hoof. “Huh... I’ve only known this as a poison and the only way I know that is I accidentally ate a petal.” He shuddered. “Worst month I ever had.”

Scootaloo was grimacing so hard her face got stuck.

“Wait, one petal poisoned you for one month?” the white unicorn asked, “What happened? Did it give you a fever or an upset stomach?”

“Well, during that month I had hallucinations, yes I had a fever but no upset stomach.”

Scootaloo’s expression lightened at that.

“Oh, well that doesn’t sound too bad.”

“That’s not all: I couldn’t control my powers, my magic was on the fritz, I could barely move without causing myself more pain, my face swelled up so I couldn’t talk, and... uh...” he blushed. “Well, uh... I couldn’t, um... you know...”

“WE GET IT,” the girls said, sternly.

“Moving on then.” He threw the flower out the window, “Eating, or smelling, chocolate can give you a small boost of magical energy. But, be warned, you can’t survive off of that alone. Also, you might feel a little light-headed after you eat some. You already know what happens if you eat too much.”

The girls muttered something, and while Moonfire couldn't hear all of it he did catch the words ‘Pinkie’ and ‘Pie’.

“Yeah, we know,” Scoots said with a roll of her eyes.

“There’s one last thing that you should watch out for.” He reached under his bed again and pulled out a dark green thistle-like plant that appeared to have been struck by some sort of blight, judging by the holes in its leaves. “This is called Cirsium melifolium, or, honey thistle. You won’t have to worry about this around here, but still, avoid it. You’ll go numb for hours and you’ll barely be able to stand, let alone walk. It’ll also make you very light headed, you’ll lose control of your powers, and you might start speaking whatever comes into your mind.”

He looked down at the plant. “And I just realised that I shouldn’t even be holding this.”

With that, his wing flashed green and revealed itself.

Sweetie Belle winced, Apple Bloom stared, Scootaloo had to catch her breath.

“Uh... that wing looks painful.”

Moonfire tossed the thistle out the window and watched it as it fell. Great, just great. Nice going, numbskull, you’ve proven that you are still stupid. “It’s the result of a stupid dare.”

“Doesn’t that hurt? I mean, how long have you had it like that?” Apple Bloom asked, the farmer filly no doubt sympathising with an injured limb.

“The pain comes and goes, but at least I still have my wing.” He took a deep breath. “It’s been like this for three and a half months. I did try to put it in a cast; I had everything you need to make one. But apparently I wasn’t fast enough and it healed like this.”

The three girls looked to one another.

“Look, you can’t stay like this. Not with a wing like that,” Scootaloo started, “What if it gets worse? You’re just a kid like us, that thing’s still gonna grow. And it’s going to grow painfully.”

“I know that. I also know that there is nopony I can fully trust.”

“Well, there’s one pony you could trust with it,” Sweetie Belle asked, which got a quizzical look from the other two.

“We don’t know any pony doctors, Sweetie Belle, and I’m not sure if doctor Home would keep a secret or not,” Scoots replied.

“No, but Fluttershy would,” came the reply.

Moonfire turned back to the fillies. “She would crack under the slightest pressure. Besides, she has her animals to care for.”

“Not necessarily,” Scoots started, rubbing her chin with her hoof, “She does know medicine, and she can keep a secret. She’s keeping mine, and she did stare down a cockatrice once. But if you’d rather be dragging a broken wing around the rest of your life, that’s okay. I’m sure it won’t be a handicap next time somepony comes after you, right?”

He looked out the window again, thinking. She’s right, I don’t want this thing dragging me down. And I know it’ll take longer than a day to heal... But what of the foals? What would happen to them if I accepted this? Besides, I have to meet Diamond this Friday. He looked towards the forest. It’s quite a bit more to gallop to town if there’s an emergency. Hmm... Maybe...

“What are you so worried about?” the other changeling asked, eyes squinted in concentration, “It’s not just keeping a secret, is it?”

“... No, it isn’t. When I first came here I saw you three up on a stage, somehow you were able to avoid being impaled and eviscerated during that whole event. You don’t know how, but I do.” He looked back at the fillies. “I made sure you wouldn’t die. I helped you escape with no injuries. After that I decided to make sure you weren’t killed by your own stupidity. After the first week I found that all the foals in this town needed help surviving.”

“Uh huh,” Scootaloo tried, “You know, that’s kinda funny, ‘coz I don’t remember any kids dying in this town from accidents. And that’s even after we got a dragon in town. But hey: if you’re that worried about it, that sore wing won’t stop you, right?”

“... you’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”

“What she’s TRYING to say is,” Sweetie Belle interrupted, “We appreciate you helping us and all, but you can’t take that much stress all the time. If you keep going, you’ll snap.”

Moonfire looked at the fillies, If I do this alone I will. But maybe... “Maybe you three could help me, then.”

Apple Bloom frowned, but looked at her friends. They seemed to agree, mostly.

“What do you have in mind?”

He paused. “Well... Look I just thought this up, but we could work something out.”

“So are you going to Fluttershy’s with us or not?” Scootaloo asked.

“I will. But, not today. Saturday I will meet you on the bridge in front of her house.”

“Okay, good. Umm... we’ll see you then, I guess,” Scootaloo started awkwardly, “So we’ll see you around.”

“Wait, I have one last thing to-”

The clock struck six, drowning out what Moonfire said.

The fillies grimaced at the sound, a little startled.

“What was that?” Apple Bloom asked loudly, ears ringing, no doubt.

“I was going to tell you that changelings lose their horn twice a year. And that’s the end of today’s lesson. Hopefully we’ll be able to reconvene here next Wednesday.”

“Sounds okay for me,” Scootaloo offered as she turned around, “Umm...see you on Saturday?”

“Actually, it’s more than likely that we’ll run into each other before then.”

“Well, if we do, we promise we won’t draw any attention to ya,” Apple Bloom started, getting a nod from her friends, “We can keep a secret.”

The fillies turned and headed out, waving goodbye before walking out casually, not a witness in sight.

Author's Note

Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnd que JarJar Binks memes.

Editing for this chapter goes to Stray Dog Kane,