Persona: Equestria

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

“Hello? Can anyone hear me? My world… has been infected…”

“Is that a cry for help I hear? Whoever you are, you must have cried quite loudly for me to hear you.”

“Hello, it appears you, whoever you may be, have received my call. Please, whoever you are, help. A being of chaos has weaved its malevolent ways into the inhabitants of my home, and I require assistance in restoring proper harmony. I’m afraid The pony I’ve placed my hope in currently will only see the surface level threats that the world I inhabit has to offer, and thus the seeds that the creature of chaos has sown will continue to grow.”

“Hmm… that is quite unfortunate indeed! Distortion is a powerful weapon, and I fear for your world’s safety. I have something that may help, a tortured soul that deserves another life. A second chance. I shall send him over, along with another useful tool to guide him to overcoming the distortion that has plagued your world.”

“I am very grateful for your help. I shall not let this go to waste.”

“I am very pleased to hear that! Now, with the help of this soul, save your world from eternal distortion, before it’s too late.”

“Couldn’t you have made yourself just a bit larger?”

Was that really the best I could have done for parting words? Hmm... I can’t complain too much, I suppose, after all I did get lucky with the short amount of extra life I was granted. Though, it still doesn’t change the fact that I did not want to die, I merely had to for the sake of reality. But if I’m dead… why can I still hear my own thoughts?

I’m having trouble opening my eyes… assuming I AM alive and not stuck in some purgatory… which considering what I’ve done would be a… fair sentence. But, I doubt that’s the case, as I can feel a slimy substance around me, coating me in its strange, viscous nature. I can hear strange, muffled voices from an unknown source. The voices’ strangeness can be attributed to their almost… echoey nature. I can’t understand what they’re saying, although it almost sounds as if it were a type of English. However, although I have much practice in the subject, the voices being muffled makes their talk completely illegible to me.

I hear… steps receding away from my position. Inhuman steps. They sound like… two plastic tins hitting against each other, with the same rhythm as a trotting horse. One of the voices follows said steps, so it would be reasonable to assume someone is riding the potentially equine creature, whatever it may be.

Sitting in this vile substance won’t do me any good. And as much as I’d like to aimlessly attempt to eavesdrop while inside this mysterious goop, I must find out what’s going on. I must find out just why I’m still alive. And how.

And so, with all my effort I push my head up, trying to escape my viscous prison. With a disgusting squelch my head is set free, and it is only then I notice my lungs are devoid of air. I take a single gasp of air, before attempting to subdue my suffocation induced panic. After a brief moment, my gasps for air relax, and I am allowed clear thinking once again.

My lungs appear to have shrunken, either that or breathing has become harder due to whatever has apparently brought me back from fate. I can hear faint voices in my head that are not my own now, but I cannot seem to understand them. logic dictates that this is most likely some abnormal symptom of my concern, though it is strange nonetheless.

Beyond that, my hands feel as if they’ve lost much of their features, like they’re nothing but stubs. The same with my feet, which is mildly concerning, though I’m sure it’s just numbness from whatever happened. My whole body, on another note, just feels… wrong. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it… concerns me.

I will admit I’m afraid to open my eyes… but nothing will get done if I don’t. That is the whole reason I broke out of that thing, after all. I slowly open my eyes, blinking at the strange spectacle I’m greeted with. A room with black walls and green, insect-like eggs… almost like… no, not almost like, I’m curtain this is a hive. And a large one at that.

Now, I need to make sure I’m alright. My body feels strange, and I would hate it if my fingers were-...... That’s… new…. My fingers are gone, and my hands- hooves are black. I’m coming out of one of these strange eggs. It’s just dawned on me… If my theory’s correct, I had turned into some sort of bug. I have, in a horribly ironic twist of fate, become an insect.

I don’t move for a long, long time. Simply staring at my black, hoof-like appendages as I try to wrap my head around this… worrisome turn of events. At least I’m alive, and I can’t feel any pain so I assumed this body wasn’t injured.

I… I can’t think about that at the moment, I have to gather more information. I’m about to attempt to crawl out of my… egg, when I’m picked up in a lime glow, and carried to the face of a rather regal looking bug-horse. The holes in her legs leave me wondering if she’s injured, but based on the fact I have them as well, I’m going to assume that’s false. Her black chitin and slitted eyes put me on edge. If anyone’s ever looked so blatantly evil, it’s news to me. The crown-like fixture growing out of her head is… intriguing to say the least, and the mane made of a sort of silk also intrigues me, even if only a bit.

She’s looking at me inquisitively, almost as if she’s attempting to gauge something. Maybe I should try to say hello, see if I can gather any information. Worst case scenario, I die, and return back to my original fate. Considering my current situation, that doesn’t seem like the worst trade off. But, even so, if I really am a child, I highly doubt she’d even hurt me, which makes the possibility of dying because of something like that inconceivably low.

Rattle Rattle

I give quite the confused glare after spouting an insect-like noise instead of my words. The strange creature gives a soft smile, before speaking to me.

“Already up I see? And before your sister too. You must be very excited to serve your new queen.”

A hearty laugh escapes her, and I raise an eyebrow at her gesture. The way she said it was… strange. I don’t like the underlying meaning that could be there, hinting at me being an endlessly loyal subject to a life I don’t wish for, like my past. However, I decided I won’t be so quick to judge a book by a cover that I may have fabricated myself. After all, if it is true, it would spell doom for the rest of my potential life in this second body.

The regal insect put me down before muttering to herself. She said something about needing to check up on mushrooms, though I wasn’t all too sure given the odd effect on her speech. I wasn’t too concerned with not being fluent in English just yet. I already was ahead by a large margin compared to what I suspected I was supposed to be at.

One after another, the other insects hatched from their own vile prisons. They, or rather we, resembled a combination of a sort of grub and a horse, not too different from what the ‘queen’ looks like. Minus crown thing and silk mane. Their eyes are near pure blue, with faint dark pupils that I can barely see, and a wrapping of silk. The regal looking abomination put me down as she looked at another. I glared inwards at the world, cursing it for putting me in the very same situation I had worked so hard to escape.

My thoughts were interrupted as a significantly less regal-looking bug-horse took me to a different chamber with little in it. I could only assume this is where I would be staying until I had matured enough to be able to physically take care of myself. I decided to relax for a short while, closing my eyes, slipping into a short rest.

Nothing much happened for a while. I would wake up, and the… adult variations of whatever I had become would come and feed me a stream of a sweet, yet seemingly healthy pink mystery substance. During the times I was awake, some of the grub-like equine children, though rather babies I suppose is more apt here, would attempt to… “fight” me. Needless to say, it usually ended in my winning by simply rolling to the side.

Though, one sleep in particular was my longest. I don’t remember much of it, except for when I normally would have woken up, my body took control from my mind. I was forced to wrap myself in some sort of… cocoon. I figured this was a sort of maturing process for this body, and not wanting to mess anything up, I simply let it do its thing. I didn’t want to ruin this, I’ll be it strange, second chance of mine, after all.

I woke up with a start, falling out of the cocoon that I vaguely remember wrapping myself in before everything went dark. I managed to find my way out of my slimy, green prison easily, and I quickly worked on getting onto my hooves. After looking around briefly, I didn’t notice anything particularly interesting. As I wrapped up my visual investigation of my surroundings, an older one of my kind came up to me, and examined me for a moment, before saying, “Your name is Spiracle. You will be trained in… tsk tsk tsk lets see…” They pulled up some kind of list, examining.

“You’ve got the red eyes, which could mean blindness, then again it looks like you can see fine. Eh, I don’t make the rules. Farming. You’ll be placed in the training for the recently developed fungal department. Welcome to the hive life, young changeling. It doesn’t get much worse than this. You start in a week. For your sake, I hope you understood that.”

I sat in silence. That was it then? Had my worst fears been confirmed? Was I stuck doing the same tedious task for the rest of my life with no choice but to comply with unceremoniously cruel demands of my supposed queen? Alright, enough feeling sorry for myself. As fun as it is to dwell on doom and gloom, my best bet here is to find a silver lining. Maybe some sort of way to escape this fate or-

“H-hello?” I turned around to come face to face with another one of my kind, this time the same age as me. His very body language was enough to tell me how timid he was, on top of the clear stutter in his voice.

“I… um… noticed you got assigned to farming like I did. I was just wondering if you’d… like to be friends?” I blinked in slight shock. I mean, I suppose it wasn’t the craziest request I had heard, but that doesn’t change the fact it still took me by surprise with how most of these creatures had acted when we were grubs. However, this was not an unwelcome surprise. It would be nice to have a friend, a proper friend. Especially in a place like this.

“That sounds like a good idea. If I’m going to be doing the same thing for the rest of my life, a friend is something that I will very much welcome.” The other… What was it we are, changelings? The other changeling lit up like a lightbulb in a pitch black room, and zipped right on over to embrace me. I recoiled out of shock for a moment, but then accepted it. Maybe this world wouldn’t be so bad with a changeling like this as a friend.

“I’ve asked so many changelings, and none of them said yes… except for my brother. But… h-he’s my brother, so he kinda has to, I feel…”

“I see. Well, you can count on me to stay by you. I’m not going to betray you, unlike how others might.” I realize the irony of that statement, considering my past. But I’m being given another chance. Even if I’m under the rule of an apparent tyrant, I will not be their puppet.

“Betrayal? O-oh, I hadn’t even thought of that. I s-suppose that’d be a possibility, especially with the other changelings, besides you and my brother.” I raised an eyebrow at him trusting me that fast. He should be at least a little suspicious of me with how the rest of the changelings acted.

“Hmph. You shouldn’t be so quick to trust. Even if I have no intent on taking any harmful action toward you, that doesn’t change the fact that I could be lying.” I put my… hoof… around him, and looked him in the eyes.

“I don’t suspect you of being someone with bad intent, so I’ll be entirely honest with you. I’m not as good a person- changeling as you may like to believe. But I will try my best to be by your side when it counts, despite my shortcomings.” It may be stupid to trust someone so easily, but I want so badly to believe he’s a friend. Even if it means opening up the possibility of getting my back stabbed.

“O-oh, I didn’t expect you to be. But just the fact you even want to be my friend means so much. I feel like we should get our names out of the way before we have to go for now, don’t you?”

“Seems like a reasonable request. Very well, my name’s gor… My name’s Spiracle. I apologize for my second guessing, I suppose my head was in the clouds for a moment.” That appeared to make him laugh. I joined on… instinct, I suppose. It felt good to laugh, like experiencing something I had been missing for a long time.

“My name’s Thorax! It’s very nice to meet you, Spiracle! Though, I should probably head back to my room with my brother… Say, wanna come with me? I can introduce you!” I gave a brief inward smile at the idea. Some allies in a place like this could go a long way.

“That sounds like a fine plan. Lead the way, Thorax.” I said, as he led me into the winding paths of my new prison.

We eventually found ourselves at the room in which Thorax and his brother took residence. We had discussed on the way on what the hive was like. As it turns out, my new friend had a month on me in terms of age. I asked him why he was there, and he stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, that the reason he had been where I came out of my cocoon was because he was hoping to find a friend in one of the newly hatched. Which, to his credit, he had.

“So, you managed to ACTUALLY make a friend, huh?” His brother said, looking at me with a hint of suspicion.
“Yup! H-his name’s Spiracle! H-he’s one of the nicest changelings I’ve ever met too!” I mentally stopped for a moment. Nice? I mean, I suppose I had been nice enough thus far, but I wasn’t pretending to be someone I wasn’t at that moment. Personality wise, I mean. It did feel a tad strange calling myself “Spiracle”, but who was I to argue with a name like that? But that’s besides the point. I had been known by my… past friends that I was a ruthless sort of person. Though, I suppose I hadn’t shown much of that here.

“Hah, not as nice as you, I bet! Honestly, you’re so nice you could pass for a pony!” I found that analogy rather strange. I couldn’t tell if he meant to compare Thorax to the animal I knew, or if there were intelligent ponies in this world. I went with the latter, it seemed to make more sense given my circumstance.

Then a thought crossed my mind. I had heard of a sort of localized American pony show making the rounds in Japan briefly. I hadn’t seen much of it, just one episode where this orange pony overworked herself to the point of exhaustion. I found her tenacity quite admirable, even if she took it a bit far in the end (There’s also the fact she was a cowgirl). That was besides the point however. The point was what if I had been placed into that very world by some otherworldly force. It was a stretch, but I was also a talking equine bug who lived in a large nest, talking to two other equine bugs. Needless to say, it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch at this point.

I laughed a little at the statement, regardless. We talked for a little, I learned The name of this new friend was “Pharynx”. However, it wasn’t long before I heard a call for my name. A call I had expected somewhere from the back of my mind, but the changeling who spoke it startled me.

“Hey! You’re Spiracle, right? Why’re you hanging around THAT loser?” I narrowed my eyes at the incomer. They were wearing a small set of purple armor, and holding an impromptu spear.

“I’ve only been around for a matter of hours, same as you, and I’ve already heard all about Thorax and his little ‘Friendship’ trips! That bug has no use for the hive, except maybe as a farmer. You may be one now, spiracle, but you CAN become a scout, or even a warrior if you stop hanging with that soft, good for nothing lo-” I couldn’t handle whoever this was spouting nonsense about someone they’d only heard rumors about. Especially someone I considered a friend.

“You’d better shut your trap before I remove your ability to speak.” That should shut them up, and teach them a lesson about-

“BWAHAHAHAHAHA! You? Win against me? I out class your combat rank! You see the purple? That means warrior, pal! You’re… red. Whatever that means. I think it means blind. Wait, so you might be blind, not only that your- BAHAHA! Alright, yea, let’s fight. I can’t wait to hear your begs for mercy!” It was like looking in a horrible mirror for a moment. Back when I was less… merciful.

Still, I staved off my fear and prepared myself. “You’re hardly a threat. Prepare to be annihilated.” After saying that, they rammed into me with their back chitin hoof, and kicked me against the wall, knocking the wind out of me. I couldn’t fight after that, as much as I wanted to, I was out of breath, and for a moment I swore I could taste what I could only assume what my blood..

“Had enough, Spiracle? Or do I need to teach you another lesson??” Not only were they taunting me- They were enjoying my pain and suffering. How can anything be so cruel? … Ok, that’s the pot calling the kettle black, but still… At least I was trying to defend an ally.

“You- I’ll cough… I’ll get back at you…”

“Oh, what is that? More? I’ll happily-”

“That’s enough, you two. What’s your name, anyway?” Pharynx defused the situation, looking at the changeling that had knocked me down with just one kick. As much as I’d like to give whoever is a piece of my mind, it’d be stupid to try and fight them now. Normally I’d consider something like this a crutch, but in this case, I think it’s something that’s very much needed.

“Humph, fine. I’m Tibia, the Queen’s daughter and her new personal apprentice! She set me in a room with… him… to see if he’s worth anything. We’re both her children, after all. Hopefully he inherited SOMETHINGuseful from our queen.” I inwardly scoffed. Does it matter if I’m born from the “queen”? Aren’t we all? This is some sort of hive, of course. And we are some sort of bug.

“Y-y-your the Queen’s SON???” Apparently it does matter, judging from Thoraxes reaction. It can be deducted that changelings do have different parents besides just the queen, so they’re more equine in that aspect. Regardless, I tried to pick myself up, only to fall back down again. To think I’d regress to such a sad weakling this easily. And then there was someone at my side…

“Oh-! Hold on, I got you! I-I don’t want you hurting yourself anymore because of me… I-I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help more. I’ve always been more of a runt.” Is Thorax timid? Yes. But the very fact he was willing to show kindness and compassion to me in my moment of weakness is a strength to be valued. Even if it means getting berated by his peers, he still chooses to do what’s right. I can get behind someone like that.

“Thank you for the help- but shut up. Grah- being kind is not the same as being a runt. Are you timid? Of course. Is that going to get you in trouble in a place like this? Of course. But you’re not a runt. Only a moron would mistake kindness for weakness.” Thorax looked at me with wide eyes, and the other two in the room raised an eyebrow at me. I raised an eyebrow back.

“What?” I followed up with, looking around with slight confusion

“That’s just… the nicest thing any changeling in the entire hive has ever said to me… noling’s ever complimented me for being nice…” Thorax said. I could see how much he wanted to smile, but he held it off… most likely because of the company.

“Wow… you really are a wimp. I mean, stupidly risking your life for a half-wit like Thorax is one thing, but actually saying kindness isn’t a weakness and implying Thorax is WORTH something because he’s a doormat? That’s low, that’s the lowest a changeling can ever go.” Tibia spat at me, sneering as she did.

“I never said he was a doormat. I will agree he needs to work on being assertive before he gets himself killed, but the very fact he was willing to risk his own social status, no matter how non-existent it may be, to help me is a strength you do not have.” I sneered back as I spat the words at my apparent sister

“Ugh, I swear. The Queen’s given me an impossible task, I swear. I’ve had enough of this. Spiracle, come with me. I’ll show you to my room.” Tibia said as she walked out in the direction our room apparently was. Or, sorry, HER room that I happen to be staying in. Tch, what a narcissist. I had no plans of following her, but Pharynx warned me that the punishment could be… not worth the disobeyment, we’ll say that, if I didn’t follow. So I did. Very, very reluctantly.

“Finally, back to my room.” My sister said, before I sneered “You mean ‘Our room’?” right at her.

“No, I meant MY room. You’re just staying in it. I would say our room, but you’re so focused on being ‘friends’ with losers that I don’t consider you anywhere near as good as me. And didn’t you get assigned to mushroom picking cause the nest drones thought you were blind?” I scoffed and rolled my eyes, before glaring at her.

“Oh. My. Gosh. You did get- BAHAHA! I can’t believe you- my own brother got assigned to mushroom picking. Oh you’ve…” She then extraordinarily close; too close for comfort, in fact.

“You’d better not mess up my reputation in the hive, you little rat. You may be a hopeless noling, but I’m Tibia, princess of the-” I couldn’t bear to hear her yabbering, so I interrupted her.

“Yea, ok. I don’t really care all that much.” My only goal is to make talking to me not worth it for her, so that she stops getting on my nerves. She’s starting to get real ear-grating.

“Ok then, mister “I’m too good to be Prince of the changelings (even though we don’t have a prince just a lead general and a general in training though I suppose you aren’t even that since you’re so much of a wimp)”, go do whatever it is that you-” I, again interrupted her. The whole ear grating thing, you see. It’s starting to get on my nerves.

“Will you stop with the wimp shit? It’s starting to get old.” Tibia went silent, and when I looked back her mouth was agape. I raised an eyebrow. Something as simple as that shocked her? What’d I say that did that to her, why’d she-

“WhaaaaaHHHHH! I- You- You said- You said a forbidden word- those words- they’ve been- wha- I wha- are you not tapped into the hive mind yet or something?? How do you not know not to- Huh???” She left me alone for the rest of the night after that. Turns out, I was unable to connect to this ‘hivemind’. I don’t mind, less avenues for becoming a puppet for someone else.

18 Years Later

I was walking down the halls of the hive with Thorax when he told me there was a meeting with the hive. Where, I had no idea, but I followed him to where we were supposed to go. I’m glad Thorax is my friend, he’s the only reason I’m still sane in this hell hole. Pharynx is… alright. I’m a friend of Thorax so that means he generally treats me neutral at worst, though he’s still just as cruel as the other changelings. Tibia is… well, I’m pretty sure she’s been eavesdropping whenever I tell Thorax about my… rather vocal disagreements with how the hive is run.

Occasionally, I would see Changelings making fun of ponies by turning into them, and making mocking voices. They’re brightly colored horses with ass tattoos that represent what they’re good for, along with their three variations; Unicorns, Pegasus, and Earth. I would eavesdrop, just so that if I ever got out of this place, I would be able to have basic knowledge of what goes on. I gave up on the dream of escaping long ago, though.

Regardless, we’re now here. Inside of the main throne room, while Queen Tyrant addresses her shit-brained subjects with the same loyalty crap. ‘Loyalty to the hive must be treasured, anyling who disagrees will be banished’. That’s the abridged version, at least. Not like I care, the entire hive’s a dictatorship, a machine, and I’m a reluctant cog in it. The spiel’s normally supposed to be over by now… I wonder what’s going on? I’ll listen in, if only because of absolute boredom.

“Now, I have received information from our Princess regarding her failure of a brother.” I’m not sure how to react to that. I mean, I’m the Tyrant’s son, doesn’t that mean anything? Then again, it didn’t mean anything to my father, so she’s probably gonna have me work double hours despite that. Maybe ban me from seeing Thorax ever again, if she’s feeling cruel.

“Information on the things he’s been saying behind my back. Things that go against the very thing we stand for in this hive.” You mean the tyranny that you enforce on your brain-dead subjects? Or how about the morally bankrupt punishments you induce on anyling that dares speak against your name? How about the clear favoritism that you display among your subjects? Maybe the never ending harassment that half of us face? Honestly, anything anyling says against her gets twisted into making her the victim and them the villain. It’s sickening.

“He says that we are mindless brutes who only work to state our pointless hunger. He cares not for the life he’s been given, the luxury that I’ve given to him; My own son!” Luxury my ass. And honestly, with the way she’s handling my clearly valid criticisms, she may as well be nothing but a brute. I would bitterly glare if I had the energy, but it’s not even worth it to glare. It won’t change anything.

“And everyling knows what happens to ungrateful fools who take my kindness for granted.” Kindness my ass. We both know that you’re only saying this so that the rest of you shit-headed subjects kiss your boot.

“And Thorax, no less, has been conversing with him!” Wait what? Don’t bring Thorax into this, he didn’t do shit! He just sat and listened! I swear, she better not do anything to him or I’ll… I’ll… I can’t do anything to her. But I’ll try and help Thorax any way I can if something terrible really is brought upon him. I’ll do whatever I can.

“Their punishment, for going against the hive, and their fellow subjects, is not just banishment, but death!” What!? No… She wouldn’t… but she did! Changelings are already dogpiling onto Thorax, the meatheads are already trying to slit his throat! There’s no way anyling could resist that kind of abuse for long, and Pharynx just left! What the hell? How could he just… leave his own brother like that?? If he won’t do something… then I have to. I have to try something, anything!

I look up at the horn atop my head. I’ve never really used it, besides for picking things up, but I’ve heard it can do more than just be a fill-in for the hands I once had long ago. M-maybe if I just focus, I can- GAHH! My head hurts, but looking to where Thorax is, I managed to blast away his assailants. I run up and hold him, nearly hugging him at this point.They’re closing back in on us. I have to do something… if I could get us out somehow, if we could be anywhere but here… then… TFFFT- AGH!

My eyes are closed. I’m trying to open them, but even that simple action causes immense pain. My head throbs, and I can’t think straight. I open my eyes for a brief moment, and through the blurry tears that are pouring out from my eyes, I can just barely make out orange, yellow, and brown blobs. I don’t care, the pain is too much. I try to stand up, but someling makes me lay back down. It’s Thorax, I can hear his voice. He’s telling me to lay down… and I’m not complaining. I think… I think I’ll relax, and take a nap.

Author's Note

Next chapter will be told from thorax's perspective! Also the prologue will most likely be 3 chapters, cause the story really starts when Spiracle meets Zecora. Also, the making of this story was heavily inspired by not just persona 5, but also Rare Americans! The more you know.

Chapter 3 Author's Note

Why is the prologue split into two parts? Because I figured 5k words wasn't enough to set up not only what Spiracle has had to deal with all his life, but also his relationship with Thorax

Chapter 2

“Mother, why is brother so... pathetic? Why doesn't he join us in ruling the hive?”

“Because, my darling, he... he's different. He's not like you or me, or any other changeling in this hive, in fact. He's... adopted.”

“Mother, you really did something as nice as adopting a hopeless excuse for a changeling as brother?”

“Mmmm... Yet, I suppose I did. Though, I'm sure the 'adoption agency' will miss him dearly~”

“Their punishment, for going against the hive, and their fellow subjects, is not just banishment, but death!”

I can’t believe what I just heard! Not just banishment, b-but death?? Why?? All he did was v-vent to me about valid frustrations in the hive! I experience a hefty force on me, as the changelings of the hive pile on top of me, nearly completely suffocating me of any air. I can’t breathe- I can’t focus. I’m silently hoping Pharynx comes to save us, because if he doesn’t then there's no hope for me.

I feel a blast of energy my way as the changelings that once piled on top of me get flung off by a spell- a spell made of red magic. It’s Spiracle! I couldn’t believe it, he saved me! They must not have gotten to him yet. He’s running over to me, and now… hugging me? He’s hugged me before, but this seems a little out of character for him. Unless he has a plan! Which he might! A red and white flash blinds my vision as the world changes around me.

When I open my eyes again, I find a beautiful forest full of wonderful colors I never thought I’d see. The sounds of birds surround me as the sight of the outside fills every corner of my vision. The air is crisp and fresh, and the tree trunks large and healthy. Leaves with colors from brown, to yellow, to even orange and red fall from trees around me. For once in my life, I feel what it’s like to be free.

Looking to my side my eyes widen with worry. Spiracle is laying beside me, tears collecting in his eyes, and his horn smoking. He keeps trying to get up- and I’m worried he’ll hurt himself in this state, so I hug him and tell him to calm down. That seems to help. His breaths turn long and deep instead of quick and shallow. With some effort, I hoist him onto my back, his weight pressing down. I was always the physically stronger of the two. Even if I don’t fight, strength is still needed to carry heavy buckets filled with compost or mushrooms.

I start walking after hoisting him onto my back. I pick a direction and start trotting, the sound of the leaves causing a small smile to appear on my lips. After trotting for about what I think was about five minutes, I reach the ocean. The calmness of the waves crashing against each other fill my ears, as I take a moment to think. I don’t know where we ended up, but it’s clear we’ve teleported pretty far. I can’t hear the other changelings anymore, so I’ve probably been severed from the hivemind. Which… is more of a good thing than a bad.

I’m without a place to stay, and I’m carrying my best friend on my back. I hope the quee… Chrysalis doesn’t send a patrol after us. I don’t think she would… but there's always the chance. I can’t help but wonder what will happen next. I look at my back, and see my best friend. Or, as he would put it, my pseudo little brother. I don’t know what pseudo means. Spiracle always said it just meant that while he considered me a brother, we weren't related. He insisted on it being a good thing, and I believed him, and still do to this day. It has to be if he went out of his way to save me like he did.

Spiracle was always strange in the best of ways. He would try and protect me from the other changelings like Pharynx did, even if he wasn’t nearly as strong. He always held up a sort of justice, no matter the situation, even if it meant getting beat up or bullied. I look up to him in that way. He never scared the other changelings off, instead he just stood to get beat up instead of me. I often found myself attempting to care for the wounds he suffered through his own personal need to protect me.

I never quite understood why he wanted to protect me so much. It wasn’t because I needed protection. Pharynx was always willing to help, but Spiracle always insisted that he didn’t need any. Then there were the talks that got us in this trouble in the first place. He would tell me what he thought of Chrysalis, every bit of it, and when I asked him why he didn’t do anything, he’d say he couldn’t. Which, to me, is surprising considering his wanting to protect me, even at the cost of himself.

And then there's the mystery of his eyes. It could be because he’s Chrysalis’s son… but I doubt that. Tibia has normal eyes, for a queen anyway. It’s not something I ever really paid all that much thought to. Still… I can’t help but think now that I have time. He was, and is the most unique changeling anyling’s ever seen. He’s not like me, a changeling who’s the complete opposite of what we normally are, seeing as how… gruesome his threats could be at times. But he clearly has a strong sense of justice. He wants those who he sees as innocent or good to be protected, and those who are corrupt or evil to be… I’d rather not finish that sentence.

I shake my head and clear my thoughts as I get up, and start to walk opposite of the ocean, Spiracle softly breathing as I carry him. I feel like I should be sad but… I’m not. I just lost the only place I could stay, and yet… I’m happy. That’s not to say I’m not worried about the future, I definitely am. I need to find a place where we can stay, and I need to find drinkable water. Love is… a whole different issue. I don’t want to drain any creatures of it, because that just feels… wrong to me.

But for now, I’m just going to enjoy the scenery. I hope Spiracle wakes up soon… or at least tomorrow. If he teleported us this far, though… it might take him a while to wake up. A changeling casting a spell like that is unheard of, I mean, not even Chrysalis can normally cast teleportation spells, and she’s supposed to have the most powerful magic. It makes me wonder what else Spiracle is capable of.

Even if he does have all that power, though, I’m not sure if he’s ready for it. He would often spend his nights after a hard day of work tired, sneaking into my room to cry to me. I would try to comfort him the best I could, but I could only do so much for him. Even so, I think just the act of crying to me alone helped him enough. He never talked about those nights. I don’t think he ever wanted to remember them.

Pharynx never liked Spiracle much, often stating how he believed he faked his own self just to make me like him more. I can’t help but think about how he considered himself. He often called himself a terrible person for things he apparently did in some distant past. He said that he had done horrendous things that apparently make him nothing more than a ruthless assassin. I still think about the things he said to me during those times.

The only thing I think I can say for certain about Spiracle, though, is that he’s the best friend I could’ve asked for. Sure, he’s a bit hot headed at times, and he’s definitely a little over confident, but beneath it all is a genuinely good changeling. One who cares about his friends more than anything in the world. Even if it’s just the one. I’m sad that he’s only ever had me, though. As I said, he and pharynx didn’t get along too well. They didn’t hate each other, I know that, but they definitely disagreed.

I look back at him and smile. He seems to be resting soundly, and his breaths are deep, so I think he’s fine. I can’t be sure when he’ll wake up, though, and that does worry me. But I have to keep moving. I don’t know when the next stream will be, or the next town, or when I’ll have to feed… and that scares me.

I’m tired. I’ve been traveling for more than a day now. The earth is crusty, and I’ve long since left the shade of the forest. The dry land I walk on does my tired hooves no favors, and I can feel my eyelids drooping. My stomach gurgles with a need for love, but I do not know where to get any. I did manage to get some water, and even managed to get Spiracle to awaken for a moment to drink some himself, though he fell back asleep shortly after. I’m happy he drank something, though carrying him is tiring.

The heat of the sun beats down on me, and my mouth feels dry, having drunk that water quite a while ago. Not only is this heat unbearable, I feel sick, so much so that I think I’d… no, even this is better than the hive. I just wish Pharynx was here. I wish Spiracle would wake up. That’d make this so, so much easier. But alas, I can’t rush his healing process, no matter how much I want to for the sake of myself.

A large gust of wind hits me, and I’m knocked to the ground due to my already weakened limbs.
I look up, and see a very, VERY large rock-bird creature. As I look, tears start to form in my eyes. I was already suffering from getting nearly killed, kicked out of the hive, I’m starving, thirsty, weak, and I just can’t take it anymore. And so I cry. The large bird softens and lets out a small coo, picking me up and quickly bringing me to what I can only assume is its nest.

It takes me a while to stop crying, all while the bird is keeping me and Spiracle in its wing. Once I do stop, the bird looks at me expectantly.

“W-what? W-why’d you t-take us h-here?” I sniffle, the bird wiping my tears away with one of its wings, and looking at me, as if to ask why I was sad.

“I- um… I-I’d appreciate it if you’d j-just let us g-go…” I stuttered out, still sniffling. The bird gave me a stern look, before nudging me with its wing.

“Sniff P-please… we don’t have a home… we lost the only place where we could l-live… we’re wanted d-dead b-by our own kind…” The bird's expression softened, and it now wore an almost sorry, yet exasperated look. It drags over a bowl-like object filled with what looks like water, and nudges it towards me.

“I-is this for u-us?” The bird nodded, and pushed it further towards me and Spiracle. I set Spiracle down, and start drinking, and I drink about half before stopping.

“I’m gonna save the rest for my friend. He had some to drink earlier, but that was a while ago.” The bird wraps its wings around us once more, before picking Spiracle up and setting him down on some straw bedding within the nest. It picks me up soon after, and sets me next to him. It doesn’t take me long to fall asleep as the sun sets.

I awaken with a start, Spiracle now missing beside me.

“Spiracle!? W-where are you??” I call out in a panic, only to find him sitting near the edge of the nest, looking despondently out into the night.

“I’m… over here,” He says, lacking the usual sharpness his voice has. I drowsily get up and trot on over, sitting beside him.

“Thorax, do you remember when we first met?” Spiracle questions me, his voice quivering slightly.

“Yea, you protected me from your sister. Why?” I answer the question without much thought, it’s hard to forget the moment a princess harassed you for seemingly no reason.

“No- no, before that.” I tilt my head and raise an eyebrow. Straining my mind for the memories, I come up with them.

“You mean when I came up and asked if you wanted to be friends?” That was a little harder to remember. It was an event that got dwarfed by the first time Spiracle defended me. Still, that doesn’t change how important it was. I was glad I could still remember it.

“Yes. I just… I want to say thanks. Thank you for being my friend, Thorax, I-” Spiracle starts to tear up, giving slight sniffles as he speaks.

“I- I just don’t know what I would’ve done w-without you to lean on. I might’ve ended up a monster. I don’t know.” I pause for a moment, taking in what he said.

I eventually settled on “Well… I’m glad you didn’t. Cause then I’d be missing a pretty awesome friend., or, as you put it, pseudo brother.” I put my arm around him and smile, looking off into the stars as he leans his head against my shoulder.

“Where… are we, anyway?” Spiracle asks, lifting his head up and wiping away the tears that were left on his chitin, and cleaning himself up.

“Huh? Oh, we’re in the nest of that nice bird over there! She offered us water and a place to stay for the night… at least that’s what I’ve gathered. I’m pretty sure she can understand us…” He looks at me inquisitively, tilting his head.

“That’s all well and good, but how can you be sure this bird will fly us down?” He looks at me with a hint of worry, the normal sharps in his voice slowly returning.

“I’m sure it’ll let us down if we’re nice to it. It… she doesn't seem unreasonable,” I say to him, giving Spiracle a bright smile.

“Now, how about we go back to sleep and we can talk to her in the morning?” Spiracle rolled his eyes at that, looking at me with an exasperated look and scoffing.

“Thorax, I’ve just slept for who knows how long, I’m not tired.” I could tell he was lying. Not only were there bags under his eyes, but I can only assume that him teleporting, or at least that’s what I think he did, took more out of him than he’d like to admit.

“Spiracle, you need sleep,” I pestered. Even if Spiracle didn’t want to, he needed to sleep.

“No, I don’t Thorax, I’m fine,” He still refused, so I jokingly stuck up my chest.

“Pseudo Little Brother, I demand that you go to sleep right now!” Spiracle looks dumbfounded for a moment, before he lets out a chuckle, and hollers out in laughter. I think the bird’s going to wake up, but looking back it’s still softly asleep. So I decide to join him in laughing, enjoying myself.

As we calm down from laughing, we look at each other, and with a smile, Spiracle says “Fine then, Pseudo Big Brother, I will. But only if you sleep with me. I always had to sleep with Tibia, and I never got a good night's sleep because of it. So, sleeping with someling who’s not such a jerk would be a nice experience.”

I could understand why he felt that way. Even if I did have Pharynx as a roommate, he still occasionally kicked me in his sleep. Which was uncomfortable. And so, with that last thought we head off to the straw bed to sleep stacked on top of each other. It’s normal for changelings to do that, it’s how we kept ourselves warm in the hive. I closed my eyes with Spiracle, and drifted off into a pleasant sleep, comfortable with my Pseudo little brother on top of me.

I wake up, and looking around I see that Spiracle has already woken up, and is talking with the bird. The two seem to be getting along, which causes me to smile. I trot over to them in order to hear what they’re talking about, and to see if I can talk with the bird about getting us off this nest and to and to a place we can properly live and explore. I’m able to pick up on the conversation as I get nearer, and I’m a little shocked at what I hear, considering what I know of Spiracles' personality.

“I acknowledge all that you’ve done for us, and I’m very grateful. But we simply must be going. We cannot afford to live here, as our minds would wander too far out of the nest, and hunger for more information, as I do now. It would be nice if you could put us someplace of intrigue, I would most enjoy that. I expect that you’ve heard our story, and, well, with never having been out of the hive, I only received warped views of ponies and their culture. I would much rather prefer to do some research myself, and come to my own conclusions based on that.” I was shocked by what Spiracle had said. I blinked a few times before walking up, and adding myself to the conversation”

“Uh- yawn yea… Yea! I-I agree with what he said. He’s definitely got the r-right idea.” Spiracle chuckled a little, before adding on to what I said in a way that shocked me.

“I apologize for my brother's accidental rudeness. He’s just woken up, and still hasn’t had the time to ‘start up’, so to speak.” I was left a little confused at his shift in personality compared to what I’m used to. Normally he was either soft, or so blunt and hard headed that you would have to nearly kill him to change his mind. But here he was… I’m not sure how to describe it. I guess how I assumed actual ponies acted? In that case, he probably would’ve made a good scout if SHE wasn’t so bad a ruler that he felt the need to vent it off to me.

Not that either of us enjoy draining love from other creatures. Spiracle never liked the idea of draining love, like me. He said it prevented them from being themselves by sapping their strength. Which he does not like, since to him, it gets rid of their freedom by association. Or at least that’s what he says. Though, he should be able to blend into pony society just fine.

Shortly after the talk Spiracle has with the bird, she lets down one of her wings for us to climb on to. Spiracle trots on up, and I follow shortly after. Her feathers are soft, and feel nice underneath my chitin, which for almost my entire life have been placed on hard, uncomfortable surfaces. The only thing I might like more are the leaves of the forest, but I’m sure I’ll get to experience that again some other time.

Soon, we’re airborne, and she flys much faster than either of us do due to her larger wings. The cool breeze feels nice on my chitin, and I can tell from looking beside me that Spiracle is enjoying himself. I look ahead and join him in enjoying the air that surrounds us. I carefully trot over and sit next to him, and we both enjoy the feeling of the wind together.

“Good job with talking to the bird, Spiracle! I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to say to her this morning in order to get us down, so thanks for taking that off my back. I had no idea you could even smooth talk like that!” He chuckled a little in response to that, giving a soft smile.

“Just a little something I had to pick up in my past life. I just never had a reason to create the notion that I was so polite. Keeping up the pleasant detective appearance in my past life for so long makes it a little hard to just forget.” I have never heard of Spiracle being a sort of pleasant detective. He had told me about his past life a couple times, mostly about how he had apparently fooled many people, and done some horrible things. It kinda confused me though, since he was always so vague about everything. Still, him being a detective in his past life was the most solid piece of information I had about his past life.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a detective before now? You were always so eager to tell me how much of a bad person you were, why didn’t you ever tell me you did good?” I quarry, tilting my head.

“Because the only mysteries I solved were ones I caused. I wasn’t really a detective, I was a fake. And I fooled so many people on that alone, I’ve at least told you that part. When put that way, I suppose it makes sense this world made me a creature of deception and not one of harmony. But if I wasn’t a changeling I wouldn’t have met you, so there’s a nice silver lining to this,” A smile spread across his face as he closed his eyes, breathing deeply. I don’t know what answer I expected from that question, but what I got makes sense. I put a hoof around him, and he leans his head on my shoulder again. We relax as the bird takes us to our destination, relaxing in the cool air.

After only a few hours, The bird lands inside what looks to be an abandoned castle. She lets down her wing, and me and Spiracle climb off shortly after. He says his thanks to her, and after only a moment, she’s gone, flying off into the sky. Love isn’t a problem at the moment, thanks to that encounter, so on top of being decently hydrated, we’re also fed, so that buys us more time. Now we can find a town to stay in by disguising ourselves.

Once the bird is out of sight, Spiracle lets out a relaxed breath and looks at me, smiling.

“Now, let's go and do some research, shall we? I’d like to learn about how the ponies of this world truly operate, instead of gaining information from the unreliable,” He says, walking towards what looks to be a library. I quickly follow in an attempt to add to the conversation.

“Shouldn’t we look for a town first so that we can have a place to stay?” I’m worried about finding more love to sustain the two of us, and about Spiracle. He might get a big head and do something stupid with how proud he seemed when it came to talking to the bird. I could easily see him going to a pony undisguised and trying to speak to them using what charisma he displayed, only for the pony to run off, get the guard, and have him arrested… or even worse, killed! Though, I suppose in that case him doing research would do more good, then the harm that waiting here would. So to the library it is.

“There may be a town near, after all, even if it’s abandoned there’s a building here.” He had a point in that respect, but if that’s true I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if a pony happened to come near here and see us undisguised…

Inside the library, Spiracle found a few books to read. He seemed to struggle at first, it had been awhile since he had read anything besides some of the lackluster signs in the hive. Still, it didn’t take him long for him to garner the appearance of someling who was proficient in literature, even if I had only seen him read a handful of times. I, myself, simply browse the spines of the books, hoping something interesting would pop out at me.

KA-CHUNK

“Spiracle? What was that?” I yelled across the long hall of books.

“A secret passageway of sorts! You should get over here!” My hooves clack against the hard floor as I trot over to my pseudo brother. I arrive, and look in his direction to find a large corridor with walls covered in glowing, crystal like sky blue vines.

“I can hear a voice down there, Thorax… It’s… calling for me…” I look at Spiracle and raise an eyebrow.

“Calling for you? Are you sure you wanna go down there? It seems awfully dangerous…” I say, Spiracle already taking a few steps down. I let out a shaky sigh and wearily follow, my hooves shaking slightly from fear. The ground beneath my hooves was worn and broken, buts of plant life coming up through the cracks. The walls, covered in vines, had little in terms of stone, the majority of it being worn away by the strange plant life that invaded it.

I caught up with Spiracle, finding him staring at a rather strange book. It was labeled “Journal of the Everfree Dissonance,” and it was written by, presumably a pony, named “Starswirl the Bearded”. The cover had a picture of two trees bent opposite sides, with a single, large eyeball with a star for a pupil staring through the middle of them. Spiracle, for whatever reason, what slack jawed at the eye in particular.

“What’s up? Are you alright?” I asked him, nudging him a little.

“That’s… i-impossible…” Is all Spiracle said. My head tilts in confusion as I look at him in confusion.

“What’s impossible?” I ask, nudging him. He looks at me with a look that can only be explained as dread.

“T-the metaverse, it’s here. The thing… the t-thing that ruined my life before, the thing that I regret, the… the… the…” He’s starting to hyperventilate, tears rolling down his cheeks as he screams.

“I DON’T WANNA DO THAT SHIT ANYMORE. I CAN’T- I DON’T WANNA BE SOME TOOL FOR FATE TO ABUSE. I’M NOT ANYONE’S MINION, I’M NOT A SERVANT, I’M NOT-”

I interrupt him by hugging him before he can say anything else. I cry into his shoulder, saying “Spiracle, I… I don’t know what happened in your past, and I-I don’t ever need to know. But I do want you to know that no creature will force you to do anything. Not while I’m around. I may not be the strongest… or the most confident, or the most assertive, but you’re my little brother, even if it’s not by blood. And that means protecting you. I may not have done a very good job in the past but… I still have the future.”

Spiracle sniffles at that as he still tries to choke back tears, saying “I-I’m scared… I’m scared I’ll be forced to kill, that I-I’ll become someone I don’t want to become… I’m scared of being manipulated… I’m scared…”

I rub the back of his head, and say “I know, I know. And that’s okay. But just know I’ll be here if you’re ever worried about anything like that happening to you, and I’ll do the best I can to help.”

He sniffs, the last of his tears drying up before he responds with a squeaky “okay,” before pulling away from the hug. Wiping away my own tears and sniffling a few more times, we look back at the book. Spiracle takes it in his magic, and goes to hiss at the contents before equipping a look of confusion, and shaking his head in minor shock.

“What… the hell?” He said, squinting at the book. I looked over next to him. It seemed to be an average book on flora and fauna, nothing out of the ordinary. Which makes the fact it was hidden away kinda weird…

“I’m going to guess you don’t have a fear of plants and you were scared of something else you were expecting to find in the book? Why’d you open the book up to hiss at it anyway? Why not just hiss at the cover?”

Spiracle snapped himself out of his own trance before saying “Oh! Uhh… Well I thought it would open up to a… monster of sorts, since I thought this was gonna be a book on something about… well, I thought it was gonna be a book on a kind of alternate world. It’s hard to explain. I guess it could still be? The inclusion of plants is confusing though… Come to think of it, how would anyone even find out about this world? I know ponies have magic and everything, but still…” I take the book in my own magic and close it, before setting it on my back.

“It’s getting rather late, Spiracle. We can read the book tomorrow, but for now we should probably get to bed. I think I saw a bedroom when we were flying in. With actual beds!”

Spiracle perked up at that “Really? Screw the book, let's go! This’ll be the best damn sleep of our lives!”

He used a forbidden word again. He doesn’t do that a lot, but he should completely weed it out if we’re going to be integrating into pony society. Saying words like that is taboo even for changelings, I can only imagine what it’s like for ponies. I trot after Spiracles galloping as he quickly finds the bedroom, two old beds sitting next to each other, Spiracle already laying on one.

“I take it you’ll go to bed without any fighting like last night?” I ask. Based on his expression, I could tell Spiracles normal slyness was already returning, which is a good sign.

“Of course. A prince needs his beauty sleep, after all.” He said slyly. I let out a short chuckle.

“Didn’t you hate being a prince there?” I asked him.

“I hated being a prince of queen tyrants subservient drone program, yes. Not that they even considered me one. But now I’m the prince of something greater. Prince Spiracles powerful and free two changeling duo. Much better than being the prince to queen tyrant.” I couldn’t help but burst into laughter at my brother's antics, before getting into the bed next to his, setting the book on the nightstand beside it as I did.

“Ha… hoo… Good night, Spiracle,” I said as I started to close my eyes.

“Good night, Thorax,” He said in a sleepy, but happy tone, as we both fell asleep.

Chapter 4

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Excerpt from Everfree Dissonance by Starswirl the Bearded (This section had not been read by Spiracle):

Today I saw another pony inside the Everfree Dissonance, a Unicorn. They looked tired, and their pupils dilated. Still, I approached them, while still being ready for anything tricky it may pull. They looked to be a mare with a mint green coat, and a cyan mane and tail with white streaks. When approaching the mare and introducing myself, she simply mumbled my name along with one “Twilight Sparkle”, as well as the word “nerd”. Looking at her cutie mark, it was clearly a lyre, but for whatever reason it appeared slightly… warped.

I told her that I could get her home, back into Equestria, but she refused, saying that I wasn’t the “right way out”, and that she was still waiting. When I asked how long she had been waiting, she only said one thing: “Longer than you think”.

My eyes open as I yawn, stretching. I climb off of Thorax, my eyes focusing. I remember what happened last night, and I can’t hope but smile. A home, not just a place to live. I wonder why I didn’t receive a dream tonight. Unless yesterday's visit to the Velvet bar was some sort of heat induced trip, which is entirely possible considering yesterday. I look to my side to see another bed that wasn’t there when I fell asleep. Zecora must’ve made another for her to sleep on.

Looking ahead I could see Zecora using a mortar and pestle to grind up some ingredients, presumably into a potion. I nudge Thorax awake, his eyes groggily opening.

“Zphmb… morning already? I’ll get farming in a bit… just a little… while… longer…” I openly laugh, nudging him again.

“Thorax, you don’t have to do any farming. We’re not in the hive anymore, remember?” His eyes open slowly, and he lets out a soft yawn as he sits up, looking around. Before getting out of bed excitedly.

“Hah, excited about finally getting to go to a proper town?” I asked him as he beamed with glee.

“Oh, you bet! I bet the ponies there are gonna be really nice! I’ll be able to make more friends!” He’s so excited he’s flying at this point. Both me and Zecora chuckled a little at the display of what can only be described as pure joy. We were about to head out the door when Zecora stopped us.

“You’re forgetting about your pony Identity. I’d hate for you two to get in trouble because of an accusation of you being some evil entity.” Zecora said, leading us back inside. We both gave sheepish smiles, and Thorax quickly dawned a disguise. His changeling form burned away into a dark cyan Pegasus. He flew down and landed.

“How do I look, Spiracle?” Pony Thorax said, the stallion turning to look at me. His mane was straight for the most part, though it curled at the back of his neck. His tail wasn’t very long, reaching to about his ankles. His eyes were the same color as his coat, a dark cyan Pegasus. He was still the same size, which was to be expected. The mark on his flank was what appeared to be a comet exiting a loop.

“You look good. Then again, you are a changeling, as am I. And our magic is kinda themed around changing so… it’s to be expected. Still, like I said, you look good.” Thorax’s overly joyous smile was dialed back to something more normal looking as he shrugged.

“Fair enough. Now, my name… I can’t go as Thorax, I don’t think that’s a normal pony name from what I heard around the hive… How about ‘Timid Comet’?” Thorax wasn’t too timid, though he did often try his best to avoid confrontation whenever possible. And he did choose the form of a Pegasus.

“I think it’s a wonderful name, Comet,” I said, chuckling lightheartedly.

“Now what about you, Spiracle? Will you choose something that makes sense, or something satirical?” Zecora said, looking at me. I thought for a moment, humming. I went with whatever felt right, and apparently that was a unicorn stallion with a coffee colored coat, a somewhat short light brown mane and tail with one crimson and one cinnamon stripe. styled about as straight as can be. The strangest thing was I didn’t get to choose what mark my disguise had, it had already been chosen for me. It was a magnifying glass, which made sense I suppose, and a leather book. A leather book with that same star pupiled eye on it, surrounded by what looked to be six different sparkles.

My eyes open as I let out a brief sigh. And, then, in a burst of red flame, I was a unicorn. I laugh a little, since the prospect of telling human me that he would become a shapeshifting bug horse in the future was absolutely ridiculous. Then again, so is going into a world of peoples minds to change their hearts, so I suppose this wasn’t that weird. I shake my head, before looking up.

“So, Comet, how do I look?” I asked him.

“I think you look great, Spiracle! What’ll your pony name be?” I’d been thinking for a little while now, but I couldn’t come up with anything that I liked… and then I remembered my past visit to the velvet bar. “Fifth Wisdom”. Has a nice ring to it. I think I’ll use that.

“Fifth Wisdom. My pony name will be Fifth Wisdom.” My voice spoke with confidence, and Zecora gave a small smile.

“I must say, I do think it’s a fitting name. I think it has the potential to bring you great fame,” She said, nodding to the two of us.

“May we please go explore the town now?” Thorax said with a bright smile, and Zecora nodded. I followed suit, waving to her from behind. Then I realized I had no idea where I was going. Zecora walked up behind me and pointed in the right direction to the town.

“Just remember, don’t provoke the poison joke. And stay out of trouble, I don’t want to have to pull you out of any metaphorical rubble,” She warned. I nodded in understanding, and she smiled. She wished us a safe trip, and before we knew it, we were off to the first pony town we would ever see.

It took about thirty minutes of trotting along, or rather flying in Thoraxes', or rather Comets’ case, until we reached the edge of the town.

“We’re here! Spira- I-I mean Fifth, we’re here!” Said Comet, flying around excitedly and nearly barreling into town alone, before he caught himself and went back to me, sweating. Not from effort, he wasn’t panting, it seemed more like he was nervous.

“What’s with the sudden return?” I asked, raising an eyebrow to him.

“I umm… I-I didn’t realize how hard it would be to talk to ponies… I-I mean, what if they find out our secret? W-what if they don’t like us… W-what if they… they…” Comets' voices quivered a little. I had never been the one to do the comforting… but I guess there’s a first for everything. I pulled his head in front of mine and looked him in the eyes.

“Hey, Hey. Comet. You’ll be alright. You don’t have to worry.” That backfired. Seems like pulling his head towards mine caused him to start hyperventilating. So I let him go and just kinda let him breathe. In an attempt to do anything to comfort him, I just kinda started to pet his back while reassuring him that everythings going to be okay. I was awkwardly saying it, but it still seemed to work regardless. His breathing slowed, and he started to relax. It didn’t take long before he had fully recovered. He gave a long sigh, before looking at me.

“Thanks, Fifth. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” I let out a sigh of relief while wearing a small smile.

“Don’t worry about it, Comet. And on another note, I’d prefer it if you called me Wisdom instead of Fifth. I like the way Wisdom sounds,” I said.

“Ok, Wisdom. Now, let’s go. Together.” I nodded, putting my hoof around his shoulder for a brief moment.

“Together,” I simply said, before taking my hoof back, and trotting alongside him into the rest of town.

Trotting along, we could see ponies doing their normal chores. It was comforting to not have a ton of them glaring at me as if I was some sort of mistake. The first pony we actually ran into was a pink one with a poofy mane. She stopped in her tracks upon seeing the two of us, and I could almost hear the metaphorical cogs turning in her head.

Things were getting a little awkward, so I decided to speak up and break the ice. “Hello there, My name is Fifth Wisdom, and this is my step brother, Timid Comet. What’s your na-”

Before I could finish my second sentence, the pony let out what I can only describe as a vacuum like gasp, before running off. Comet began to hyperventilate, but I calmed him down by doing the petting thing again. That seemed to work.

“What’s up with her?” I said, confused. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned my head to see a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane, one of her eyes covered. She seemed to be in a rush, but I couldn’t tell what for.

“Oh! Did you need me for something? My name’s Fifth Wisdom, by the way, and this is my step brother Timid Comet.” The yellow mare attempted to respond, but her voice was so quiet that I could barely pick up on it. I felt something stir inside me, not anger or annoyance, just a sort of… weird tingling, similar to how I felt whenever I used telekinesis. The mare seemed dazed for a moment, before regaining her senses. I shook my own confusion off, and decided to see if I could see what she said.

“Umm… could you please speak up? I’d really appreciate it,” I said while giving a kind smile.

“Oh… umm… the summer sun celebration is coming up, and I need somepony to bunny-sit Angel bunny here so that I can focus on helping the birds practice…” She picked a rabbit out of hiding in her mane and displayed him to the two of us. He looked at the two of us bitterly.

“You don’t have to. If it comes down to it, I’m sure I could take care of him.” I shook my head, I wasn’t about to leave this pony between a rock and a hard place.

“I’ll accept your offer…” I eluded to me wanting to know her name. It didn’t take her long to figure out what I was asking of her.

“Fluttershy…” She said timidly, her voice quitting down again.

“I’ll accept your offer, Fluttershy. I’m sure you’ll be plenty busy with your song, after all.” I gave a small smile as I took the rabbit up in my magic and set him on my back. He tried to reach for her, but I gently stopped him with my telekinesis. Fluttershy looked sorry for him.

“Oh, I’m so, so sorry Angel, but you know how important this is! And I wouldn’t be able to spend any time with you, and that’s just not fair to you.” She gave me a book with a picture of a carrot on it, and I took it up in my magic, same as I would do for any other item I was given.

“That book has everything you should need to take care of Angel for the next few days. I’m glad you came around. I don’t know what I would do if I had to take care of Angel and prepare for the summer sun festival at the same time. I have to go help the birds practice more now. I’ll see you after the celebration.” She mumbled the next few lines out before trotting off, leaving me with Angel. I opened up the book and started reading, before Angel face palmed and painfully pointed my ears to a bench.

“There’s got to be less painful ways to get my attention,” I said flatly. Angel rolled his eyes, and I walked over to the bench, sat down, and opened the book. The hoofwriting was neat, so it wasn’t at all hard to read. Comet flew over to where I had sat down and read with me. He wasn’t much into reading, but I guessed he was looking for something to do that involved me. So, we sat there and read for a while.

Angel grabbed my ear again. I had kept him from walking right off back to Fluttershy with my magic, and after a while he gave up. I look up from my book as he jumps down from my head and onto the bench. His stomach grumbles as he points to his mouth. I take a long sigh, and flip to the chapter on Angels' feeding habits. I scoff looking at it, since most of what he “ate” were what looked to be gourmet dishes made for rabbits. I shoot him a small glare as he sticks himself up. I roll my eyes at the display, scoffing yet again.

A mare with a mint green coat came into view. As soon as she saw me, she let out a gasp comparable to what the pink pony gave me.

“Y-y-you’re…” I raised an eyebrow at the unicorn.

“Yes? I’m… what?” I said, confused.

“You’re… Sitting like a human!” Ok, I have so many questions. How does this pony know what humans are? How can she tell I’m sitting like one? Can she tell I was once a human? Does she know about where I’m from? I shake my head, clearing the thoughts out of my mind. I highly doubt sitting like this is going to cause another pancakes incident. For now, I feel like it’s best to just play ignorant.

“I… what?” I give a nervous laugh, and fortunately the mare seems to get the message and dials herself back a bit.

“Oh, sorry for making you uncomfortable, I get a little too enthusiastic at times is all. My name is Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings. And you… Wait, did you actually accept the offer to take care of Fluttershy's needy bunny?” Angel acted insulted at the gesture, I rolled my eyes at it.

“Yes. I don’t think it’ll be very hard. As for our names, even if you didn’t ask for them. I’m Wisdom, Fifth Wisdom. And this is Timid Comet, my step brother. Now, is there something you need to tell me?” I said, a little annoyed that she had run up to me the way she did.

“Huh? Oh, yea! You should go to the Town square! I heard there’s a…” She takes a moment to look at the mark on my flank, scratching her chin with her hoof.

“I heard there’s a free book… uh… thingy.”

I decided to help her out with her word choice. “A free book hoofout?”

I replaced hand with hoof. That’s usually how these things went. Heartstrings didn’t seem to mind, so I was probably fine.

“Yea! Here, follow me and I’ll show you where it’s happening!” She said, and I picked up Angel and followed after her, along with Comet. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the Town square, since we hadn’t walked that far away from it in the first place. There wasn’t a free book hoofout or anything of the sort that I could see.

And that’s when what was actually happening was revealed. Confetti cannons fired all around us while a large amount of ponies came out of bushes and from behind buildings yelling ‘Surprise!’, startling me and Comet.

“Uhh…” I started, confused. Comet was hiding behind me, very much frightened by the loud sounds. I did the patting thing again, and he peeked at what was actually happening, which ended up being a party. The town hall was decorated with the banner “Welcome to Ponyville Timid Comet and Fifth Wisdom”.

“Surprise! Hi there! My name’s Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party cause you’re new in town and I know you’re new in town cause I know everypony and I mean EVERYPONY but I didn’t recognize either of you and then you said your names Timid Comet and Fifth Wisdom and was like ‘I don’t know those ponies!’ and I also realized that your gait indicated you were excited to be in town and make friends at least to SOME degree so then I decided the easiest way to make friends was to throw you a party but then I realized that you might not even TALK to anypony so I sent Lyra over to go get you since I got the feeling you two would be good friends but I wasn’t entirely sure since I feel like the friends you’ll make here aren't actually here yet which is weird but HEY is that Fluttershy's pet bunny angel I bet you two will be great friends don't ask me how I know I just kinda have this feeling that you two will mesh really well know what I mean?” My head is spinning.
“Uhh- yeees?” I say with a strained smile. I’m not entirely sure what she said, all I know is that her name is Pinkie Pie, and that this party is being thrown as a welcome to Ponyville party for us. Assuming Ponyville is the name of this town.

“You actually got all that?” Comet whispered to me, to which I shook my head.

“All I got was that her name is Pinkie Pie and that this is a welcoming party,” I said to him, shrugging.

“Well you got the important parts, and that’s what counts! Sorry for going on a bit of a tangent there, I’ve just had all these thoughts bubbling in my head and, well, I had to let them out somehow!” I gave a brief laugh, shaking my head.

“It’s quite alright, Pie. I don’t blame you for being excited about something that clearly motivates you,” I said with a soft smile. Pie looked at me inquisitively, clearly confused about something.

“Pie? Why are you calling me by my last name? I mean, you can if you want, it’s just I’ve never seen a pony do that before,” she said as she tilted her head. Jeez Zecora is already starting to wear off on me.

“It’s just a thing everypony did where I’m from,” I said, giving a small chuckle. Pie simply shrugged, seemingly not bothered by me using her last name.

“Oh, ok! Enjoy the party then, you two!” She bounced off to a group of ponies playing ‘pin the tail on the pony’. I shudder to think of the moral implications of that. Which are probably none, but still. To me, that seems like it’d be playing… I don't know, ‘Pin the hair on the human’, or ‘pin the wings on the changeling’. Ok on second thought that last one makes a little bit more sense. Still, it’s gonna take me a little while to get used to everything here.

“Hey, Wisdom? I… umm… there’s some cake over there, and I kinda wanna try some of it. Since we never got any at… where we used to live.” I shrugged.

“Then go have some, It’s your party too,” I said, Comet fidgeting his hooves.

“I’d… err… I’d like it if you came with me. I don’t know many of the ponies here and I’d be a lot more comfortable if you came with me,” Thorax said, huddling near me.

“I’ll go with you in a moment, there’s some greens over here and Angel’s gotta eat,” I said, walking over to the salad bar, where I found Fluttershy looking nervous.

“Hello Fluttershy. Is there something bothering you?” I asked politely. Fluttershy looked at me and seemed to relax a little, angel peeking out of my admittedly short mane. I picked up some salad and arranged it in a slightly fancy looking pattern. I handed it off to angel and he reluctantly accepted it, letting out a large sigh. The spoiledness of this rabbit was so potent I could literally taste it. The taste was of spoiled milk if you were wondering, the ‘perks’ of secretly being a changeling.

“I was just worried about Angel. I’m happy to see you’ve been taking care of him.” I raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve just been keeping an eye on him while reading the book you gave me. He appeared to be hungry, so I got him some food. Simple as that.” Fluttershy nodded in confirmation.

“Oh, that’s really all you need to do. Just make sure he’s at least a little entertained, and you should be fine,” She said softly.

“Understood. Thanks for the clarification! I’ll see you later, alright?” Fluttershy nodded, and went about her day. Me and Comet on the other hoof, went over to the cake that was set out. I cut out two slices with my magic, one for both of us. I gave Comet his slice, and he enjoyed it. As for me, I didn’t enjoy mine as much. It tasted bitter, and not in a good way, as in it tasted similar to beans whenever they’re left on the vine for too long. It can’t be because I’m a changeling since Comet likes his, so it probably has something to do with genes or whatever. Way to ruin another thing for me, Tyrant, even while I’m this far from the hive you still find ways to ruin things.

I set the plate down and let out a sigh. I look around and see some bite sized apple fritters. I go over to the stand, which is being run by an orange mare wearing a cowpony… hat… this… this is the same mare from that show. I had nearly forgotten about it, it had been so long but the resemblance is undeniable. I snap myself out of it. Besides, I’m meeting a cowpony! An actual cowpony! I couldn’t help but gush at the idea. Enough fanboying, time to talk.

“Hello there!” I gave a light bow out of pure habit from my old life. Even after all this time… old habits die hard.

“Uh- ya don’t need to bow, sugarcube,” She said in an awkward tone. I quickly corrected my posture and stopped bowing, a little embarrassed.

“S-sorry, miss. I just got a little carried away I guess. Umm… What’s your name?” I’m trying to be as polite as possible, proper posture, and asking appropriate questions. And I am making the cowpony uncomfortable. And I just remembered how overbearing my fans could be. Again, been awhile. I think I’m being overbearing. I should probably stop.

“Mah name’s Applejack, pleased to meet ‘cha! Just… try not to be so… eccentric. It’s kinda creepy.” She said, rubbing the back of her head.

“Right, right, of course. It’s just that cowponies are rather popular where I’m from, and I guess I just kinda… lost control. I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable,” I said, and she seemed to relax at that.

“Right, would you like a fritter? It is you and your step brother's party after all!” She said, offering one to me. I took it in my magic and took a bite. The taste was something indescribably heavenly. I never considered myself to have a favorite food, and usually stuck to whatever was popular at the time. Now though… I believe I’ve found something that meets the criteria of ‘Favorite Food’. I quickly scarfed the thing down, And before I knew it it was gone.

“Ah reckon you’re a fan?” She said, giving a slight chuckle.

“This has got to be the best thing I have ever tasted,” I said, slightly awestruck by the taste. Jack… that doesn’t seem right… I think I’m supposed to say her full name. Applejack… that sounds better. Applejack just laughed a little.

“Glad to hear it, Fifth! Feel free to have some more if you want, it’s your welcoming party after all!” She said, smiling.

“After the party, is there a place where I can purchase them? Once I get a job, of course,” I asked, eagerly awaiting an answer as I grabbed another.

“Well, we don’t normally sell ‘em like that. We’re more in the market of sellin the apples themselves, but ah can teach you to make ‘em at some point! How’s that sound?” I nodded vigorously, which is something I seldom do. She laughed again, shaking her head.

“Ah got a feeling you and I'll be good friends!” She said with a chipper tone. I grabbed two more fritters for the road.

“I’m sure we will. I should probably experience more of the party now,” I said, waving a hoof as I went to go see other attractions.

“It was nice meetin ya, and Ah’ll see ya next time!” She waved back as I trotted away. I look around looking for something else interesting, and find a Pegasus with a rainbow mane talking to pie. Comet seems to have gone back to Fluttershy to talk with her, so he seems fine for the time being. I trot over to the Pegasus, but as I approach pie waves to me vigorously.

“Hello Wisdom! Wanna join the conversation? We were just talking about how awesome dash is!” The ‘Dash’ in question flys above and looks proud. I raise an eyebrow at the display of pride.

“You know, they say hubris leads to downfall,” I say in an attempt to cool her current ego down. She flies down from the sky and lands on the ground, looking a little annoyed.

“Wha- hey! That was kinda uncalled for, man. Like, I understand if you were trying to cool someone down if they were being a jerk about it, but I was literally just showing myself after pinkie gave a compliment. What gives??” Pie looked a little disappointed too. I’m definitely getting culture shock if I wasn’t before. Still, I should probably explain myself. I’ll just not mention how I was a human to keep them from thinking I’m insane. Or to keep them from questioning the heck out of me.

“Oh, sorry. I’m still getting used to the culture around here. Where I’m from, being so… boastful is considered extremely rude.” Pie looked at dash with a concerned look, while dash still squinted her eyes at me.

“In that case, you should probably steer clear of me for now. I tend to be pretty ‘boastful’” I nodded in agreement, and Pie jumped in.

“N-no wait! You can still be friends! It’ll probably just take some getting used to!” She said in a vain attempt to inspire friendship in us.

“Pie, I appreciate the effort, but I think dash is right. I think we simply won’t get along, at least not until I become more adept at how things work around here. Maybe someday, but that day is not today.” I thought she would be disappointed hearing that, but instead she seemed to wipe sweat from her brow.

“Wewh, ok. As long as you two become friends in the future, or at the very least are ok with being around each other, then it’s fine. I just don’t want you two hating each other,” She explained.

“I said ‘steer clear of me FOR NOW’ Pinkie, not ‘steer clear of me FOREVER’. I’m sure we’ll become friends at some point, don’t worry.” Dash smiled at Pie, and I smiled at her as well.

“I’m sure that at some point in the future we’ll be able to put our differences aside and become good friends. For now, though, I think it’s time I go meet somepony else,” I stated.

“Okie-dokie-lokie! Me and Dashie will be here if you ever need anything!” I walked away from the two, and spotted quite the posh unicorn sitting at one of the tables while eating some cake and drawing on something. I came over to see what she was doing, while keeping at a friendly distance of course, and saw she was designing a dress. She looked over at me and smiled.

“Oh, hello there darling! Enjoying the party I assume?” she asked, smiling at me. I gave a friendly nod, trotting over to the table and sitting down beside her.

“Indeed I am. Many of the ponies here have been very welcoming. The only one I had an issue with is Dash. She was a little too boastful for my tastes,” I responded.

“Oh, tell me about it. But, there is certain charm to it once you get used to it. I’m sure once you’ve gotten used to life around here you’ll take a liking to her. I mean, at least she actually lives up to her boastful claims. I can’t imagine how insufferable a pony would be if they were as boastful as she is without the achievements or abilities to back it up. Oh! My name’s Rarity by the way, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Fifth,” I nodded, giving a kind hearted smile to Rarity.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rarity. And I concur, Rarity. I do think that we’ll warm up to each other as time goes on, but as for right now, I think it’s better that we steer clear. Would hate to burn the bridge between us before it’s even been built.” Rarity nodded in agreement at that.

“Oh, I agree, darling. I would hate for that to happen. Now, I have a question for you.” She held up the design sheet in front of my face, showing it to me.

“Do you think this looks good? Or is it too gaudy?” Rarity showed me a depiction of a princely pure-white regalia with red accents, a pony version of my outfit when I used robin hood in Sae’s palace, right down to the red, long-nosed mask.

“I designed it when looking at you, since you give off a sort of detective prince vibe. Whenever I see you I just see this… detective fighting for justice no matter the cost, doing drastic things for the sake of what he thinks is right! … I may have been reading a little too much Shadow Spade, ehehehe…” I’m a little baffled by the accuracy to say the least. But, by all standards, it is a good looking outfit.

“I’d say it suits what you were going for! It’s almost uncanny how much you managed to capture me in it.” She beamed, seemingly wiping the sweat off her brow.

“Oh, thank goodness! I was worried I had gone a little too far with the design, I’m happy to hear you like it!” She said, smiling. I lightheartedly laughed a little in response.

“Any time, Rarity! I’ll be sure to visit your boutique at some point in the future. Speaking of which, where is your boutique?” I asked, tilting my head at her.

“Oh, it’s just over there!” she said, pointing down a path leading to a white and purple structure. I nodded in response, before getting up.

“Well, I’d say it’s about time I head out.” I said, waving goodbye as I trotted away.

“Goodbye, dearie! I’ll see you later!” Rarity said, waving goodbye at me before continuing to work on her design. I trot back over to Comet, to see him and Fluttershy wrapping up their conversation on how easy it is for them to get overwhelmed in small crowds. It’s nice to see he made a friend for himself!

“Yea… it’s still so crazy, though. I didn’t think it would be so stressful being around so many ponies at once but… that’s how things turn out, I guess. Still, it hasn't stopped me from having fun around here! Especially with Wisdom here to help me out in stressful situations,” Comet said as I walked up.

“I’m glad to hear I help, Comet. Now, there’s something I’ve been wanting to check out ever since we got here… or, rather, something else. We wanted to meet the ponies here, and, well, I’d say we’ve already done that!” Comet got startled for a moment, but quickly recovered after.

“Oh! Ok, Wisdom. Is it about the book?” He asked in response,

“Yup, I wanna see what this spell does,” I answered.

“What spell? There’s a spell in there? Are you sure it’s a good idea to use an unknown spell?” he questioned.

“Of course! Besides, what could possibly go wrong? I know what I’m doing,” I affirmed.

“Somehow I doubt that,” Comet retorted under his breath, but I paid no mind to it. This was obviously the metaverse, with that whole line about every mind being there, even if it was going to be a bit different, so what was there to worry about? Worst case scenario I’d have to protect Comet with Hereward. Still, even if Comet didn’t want to, he was already following me, waving goodbye to Fluttershy.

“I’ll see you later, Comet!” Fluttershy said.

“You too!” Comet responded. And soon, we were off. From the looks of things, the party was wrapping up anyway, so nopony missed us all that much. Mostly since we said goodbye before-hoof.

We walked up to the entrance of the everfree forest. I could feel Angel shivering underneath my mane as we sat there. I took a deep breath, feeling my magic start to come to life. I came to the realization that I must've accidentally used a spell on Fluttershy before, which would explain the feeling I had, but now was no time to dawdle on that. I took out the book, and started reading the spell depicted on the first page.

“In the Everfree, lies every mind

But within this place, they are all blind.

Where they lie there are different rules

Magic can only be used with tools.

But if you break free

And let your mind see

You will gain a unique ability

The will to form a great utility!”

“Uh… Wisdom? Are you sure that’s a good- Woah- woah- woah…” Comet’s question was interrupted as the familiar feeling of entering the metaverse washed over me, only instead of red filling my vision, I could see myself entering into a forest of black and green, heading deeper and deeper in, until…

“OOMPH!” We all landed on top of each other, but luckily, I could still feel my mask. Looks like we’ll have nothing to worry about. I was so reluctant to enter here before, mostly because I was worried I’d be forced to do something with it, but if I can just do whatever I want instead of listening to someone else, and I’m free, then I can… I can…… I’ll probably just end up helping people like Ren did, to be honest. I Got up from under the pile, or tried to. My magic couldn’t grip onto Thorax or Angel anymore.

Wait… I’m a changeling again, and so is Thorax… And Angel is… what looks to be some sort of hyperkinetic rabbity-thing. I end up having to gently crawl out from under the two with my magic not working, and it definitely doesn’t help that Angel is surprisingly heavy now. The two of them start to wake up soon after. Angel is the first to wake up, His eyes slowly opening.

“Eugh… Where… am… I? What kind of stupid magic thing did that bone-brained know-it-all of a ‘detective prince’ do…?” Angel had just talked. Which is… not all that surprising considering my past experiences with animals and the metaverse. Still, his voice sounded very throaty… and raspy. He got up, shoving Thorax to the side from on top of him, and looked at me with wide eyes.

“Don’t panic, please. For your own sake. We’re the only ones with magic, and therefore probably the only ones who can get you out of here,” I said in an attempt to calm him down.

“Oh, so you’re trying to random me for my own flesh or something, you fuckin INSECT? HMM?” And said, pointing a finger at me.

“Wha- no. For one, we eat love, not flesh. And two-”

“AH-HA! SO YOU ARE TRYING TO SCAM ME! Well, this bunny ain’t no fool! I’ll find my own way out eventually, and when I do, I’ll- wait, did you just understand me?”

“Yea, it’s a side effect of the metaverse. At least, I think this is the metaverse.” Angel raised an eyebrow.

“What? Metaverse? What is this, a cheesy sci-fi novel? And why are you so much smaller? I’m like three fourths your height now!” Angel was starting to get a little nervous.

“I’m not smaller, you got bigger. You're now some sort of… rabbity thing,” I said to him, Angel now looking himself over.

“Heeeyyy… I don’t look half bad! And now I got opposable thumbs! Fuck yea!” I am assuming this use of forbidden words is a habit because nopony else could understand him besides Fluttershy, and Fluttershy never scolded him for it, meaning he never had any reason to not use them. I am now jealous of a rabbit. Hooray.

“Mphmmgph… Where… where are we…” Thorax said as he got up drowsily, wiping the dust from his eyes. He quickly started to panic as he looked around. Which was fair. If I ended up in a forest with a dark green sky surrounded by trees of an unknown type with no context, I’d probably panic as well.

“Thorax! Thorax! Don’t worry, as long as you stay by me, we’ll be fine,” I said, attempting to ease his nerves.

“How in the WORLD can you be so sure of that Spiracle?? I-I know you’ve done some stupid things in the past, but this? THIS?? How and Why in the world would you cast a spell with unknown effects? This is ridiculous! I can’t believe… I…” I rubbed him on the back, and it helped a little.

“Ok, ok… please, show me why we’re going to be fine. Please, ease my nerves,” He said, and I smiled.

“Not a problem, ol’ buddy of mine! Watch this! Ahem, PERRSOOONAAA!!!” I took off the mask, and the familiar bout of blue flame erupted from my face, forming Hereward… but something felt different. After just summoning him, I started to feel tired… like, really tired. I collapsed to my hooves, and Hereward followed suit. The blue flame of my persona diminished, along with the getup on my body. My phantom thief clothing, disappearing as the blue flame collected around my neck as a black and red striped scarf.

I pant for a moment, catching my breath, before saying “Well… there goes that idea… I guess I really didn’t know what I was doing.”

Author's Note

This ain't the metaverse, pal...

Also, a ref sheet for Spiracle/Fifth wisdom will be included with the next chapter! Stay tuned!

Chapter 6

Chapter 5

“For the deserts, we’ve got fritters, watermelon, cake-”

"I'm pleased ye remembered my daughters' tastes! I still cannae fathom why she fancies such things, I cannae stand it myself! Though at least I'm no' like that good for nothin tyrant! She detests aught tae do with ponies, 'cept when she's filchin' from them unjustly. It turns me ill. And tae think, all her subjects bear names frae bug parts! Ugh, ain't that a belittlin' notion."

“May I kindly suggest, Queen Gleòmhar, that ye take heart! In but a month's time, the hive shall welcome its new princely arrival. What shall ye name him, if I may inquire?”

"I believe I shall bestow upon him the name Ardent Valor, symbolising Justice and a spark of spiritedness. I can sense it each time I lay a hand upon his egg, that fervent determination to uphold what is right..."

“What do you MEAN you don’t know what you’re doing??” Angel yelled, focusing back on me instead of his fingers, or anything else of the subject. I fidgeted with my hooves as beads of sweat dripped down my face.

“I-It’s okay, I’m sure there’s an easy way t-to get out…” I flipped through the book frantically, attempting to find a spell that could get us out of this place. Sapple, no… Shadowed flesh, no… nothing. The book is just… empty half way through, no other spells other than this one in the beginning. I started hyperventilating, panicking. I’m… I’m stuck here. I’m stuck in who the hell knows where with a god damn rabbit, and to make matters worse I ended up dragging my brother into something he had no need to know about. I’ve fucked up, that’s it, I’ve fucked up. I played with fire, I got greedy, I wanted to feel powerful again and now I’m facing the consequences.

“Stupid… No, no, no, no, no, THIS FUCKING- GAH!” I threw the book against a tree in a fit of rage. Angel and Thorax recoiled slightly at this, but I didn’t care. Well, I did care, that’s a lie. I wanted them to be safe, to be honest, I wanted to at least be able to send them back and stay here to think about what a stupid decision I made using the book to go here. Thorax walked over and picked it up.

“Don’t bother. There aren't any spells that can get us out,” I said dejectedly. Thorax still read on, regardless, and I trotted up to him.

“Didn’t you hear me? There’s no way out, we’re stu-” Thorax shoves his hoof over my mouth, and I nearly blow up, but what he says next makes me reconsider, and actually makes me quite happy.

“It says here, on the second page, that there’s a way out using castle ruins,” I raised an eyebrow, grabbing the book hastily and flipping to the second page.

I should probably take a note here on how to get out, in case anypony wanders into this wretched place. I’ve found that this forest has ‘quadrants’. Outside of these ‘quadrants’, things are pretty safe. It’s once you go into a quadrant that things get dangerous. These quadrants hold eyeless beasts, much like the one I got attacked by on my first trip here, though that one had wandered off from a nearby quadrant.

These eyeless beasts have been proven to have some sense of self, as they continually talk about their own distinct lack of eyes. However, getting near them causes them to accuse you of being the perpetrator of their eyes, and thus they attack you, attempting to steal your eyes for their own sake. I haven't found a way to give-

I skimmed down until I found the part I was looking for.

But, there is a way to get out as said earlier. If you go to the core of one of these quadrants, there will be a ruined building. What that building will be I cannot guarantee, but, there will be an exit to the forest at the entrance. This will lead you to a corresponding building in the normal world.

There was a footnote at the bottom of the page.

Note: Finding the location of one of these ruined buildings in the forest will allow you to travel to it in the real world. Just replace “every” with a two syllable word that represents the building itself. This will not work if you haven't traveled to the building in the other world, my theory is that they need to be activated before they can be used, and by going through them on the side in the everfree dissonance, you manage to destroy the chains binding their otherworldly abilities.

A smile spread across my face and I nearly started crying from joy. And emotional whiplash. I caught my breath and hugged Thorax.

“H-holy shit, Thorax. Thank G-GOD you’re here, or else I… I don’t know what I would’ve done.” Thorax reciprocated the hug, I’ll be a little confused.

“Couldn’t we just… walk out? I mean, we’re in the everfree, right?” Angel said, scratching his head. Again, Zecora, you’re wearing off on me. I turned to Angel and took a deep breath.

“Not… no, not really. We’re in the metaver… I guess this isn’t the metaverse if… this” I held up my scarf.

“Is anything to go by. What we’re in is called the Everfree Dissonance, according to this book we found in an old castle.” Angel raises an eyebrow at that.

“So, you mean to tell me you cast an unknown and clearly dangerous spell from a book that you found in an old castle for what reason exactly?” That… uhh…

“Because I thought it would connect to something from my past.” Technically right. Angel just face palmed, though.

“DUDE! WHAT- EH- WHAT… WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT’S A EVEN REMOTELY SANE REASON? “Because it connected with your past” OK, YOU DON’T SEE ME ROCKING IN A FUCKIN CRIB JUST BECAUSE IT CONNECTED WITH MY PAST!” Angel yelled at me. Again. Then again, he has every right to be upset. But…

“Yea, I fucked up. I know that. But, we can still get out. Arguing about this isn’t gonna get us anywhere closer to the exit.” Angel looked at me sternly, before letting out a sigh and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Ugh- fine, you have a point. I’ll bite your ear off about this some other time. Now, YOU got us into this mess, now YOU get us out!” He said, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Aren't we all supposed to work on getting out?” Thorax said, scratching the back of his head.

“Yea, what I mean is HE’S gonna lead us. HE’S gonna do all the thinkin’ round here, ‘cause I sure as hell don’t wanna, and you seem like too much of a coward to actually do anything.” Thorax slightly recoiled at that.

“Wha- Hey! I’m not that much of a coward! O-ok, maybe I am a little bit of a coward, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to take initiative!” Thorax retorted.

“Oh, sure. Just like you took initiative at the party! How about I walk you over to some cake among a group of ponies that are just ‘so scary’ HMM?” This was starting to get ear grating. I grumbled, my annoyance starting to heighten.

“Wha- hey! Just b-because I have social anxiety doesn’t make me a coward! A-and besides, you’re a stuck-up spoiled bunny!” I felt a hiss start to rise out of my throat as the pointless argument continued.

“Gasp! Well, you didn’t even have the power to say no to your brother, so it’s-” I let out a massive hiss. Needless to say, it shut them both up.

“Listen! All this bickering isn’t going to get us anywhere! You’re both going to need to get along if we wanna get out of here alive. I’m the one that messed up, so don’t try and blame this on Thorax! I made that decision, it was my mistake, and now, I’m gonna fix it. But I can’t do that unless you two co-operate!” They both started grumbling again, which turned into another argument, which led to me saying something I didn’t think I’d ever say.

“Will ye all just bloody well shut yer traps and sort yerselves out!?” The two looked at me confused for a moment. I was confused as well, I meant to say ‘Can you please stop this pointless bickering and get along?’. But, I decided to roll with it. It got their attention, they’ve stopped arguing, so it doesn’t matter. Too much, it doesn’t matter too much.

“Sorry, Spiracle. I’ll try to learn to control myself better next time,” He said, seemingly embarrassed. And a little confused.

“Pleasant sentiment, but you didn’t really start it, so it’s not really your fault. Though, you did let him instigate you, and then proceeded to instigate him back. Instigating him back is not something you should do,” I said with a sigh, brushing off my strangely Scottish outburst.

“The fuck does ‘instigate’ mean??” Angel asked

“It means to annoy someone for the purpose of getting a reaction out of them. Which is something you really shouldn’t do in this situation, Angel. Unless you want to get left behind,” I said, glaring at Angel.

“N-now, I think that’s going a bit far, Spiracle. There’s no need to be so rash.” I rolled my eyes.

“I’m not actually going to leave him behind, I’m not a heartless bastard.” Everyone let out a sigh of relief at that.

“Now, where to…?” Looking around, we were surrounded by greenery. Greenery that was so dense, not even a rabbit could go through it. I tried to think of my persona, but all that came up was Canny Cash Yearling… I swear I had a different persona, one that was significantly less… pony… eh, that doesn’t matter now. What matters is the fact that the only way we’re getting through this is with a persona, since I didn’t bring a knife, sword, flamethrower, or anything of the sort.

“Hey, if pulling off that mask thing made that ghost appear, what happens when you pull off your scarf?” Angel asked.

“I… I’m not sure," was the answer I gave.

“Well, take it off! I wanna see what happens.” I shrugged and did as Angel said. No reason not to. I found I was able to take off my scarf with magic, mostly because it was a habit of mine to grip anything I wanted with magic, instead of using my hooves like most other changelings did. Using it just felt so… natural to me. Anyway, back to the scarf.

When I took it off it whirled in a flurry of bright yellow flame, until a Nata took its place, which is also known as a machete. Or knife-axe thing- We’ll just call it a machete. That’s what most people know. It had a black blade with a red handle. Convenient considering this is just the kind of tool that can be used to get us out of this mess.

“Huh, convenient,” Thorax said as I started to chop through the thick bushel. It only took about 5 minutes before we were out of the leaves and into what I could only think to be actual forest. Only notable thing I saw was some notably red hearts desire. The potency of this one was… something else, though. Normal hearts desire doesn’t have a taste normally. I mean, an emotional taste, and why would it? It’s a plant. However these… I can literally taste desire on these. It tastes like potato chips. But that’s not important right now. I grab the heart's desire, throwing it on my back for later use.

The leaves I cut also seemed to taste… salty? Like as if the leaf itself was made of sodium. I take a couple of those with me as well, just in case. We walk for a long while, before Angel starts coughing.

“Angel? You alright?” He spits out what looks to be an apple and gasps for air, weakened by choking on it… I think.

“Those… apples… just chewing one makes me feel… weak… cough.” Ok, so he wasn’t choking. He just nearly ate a poisonous apple. He gets back up, and I pluck one of the “apples” from the tree and throw it on my back for further testing. You never know what you might find! I put my scarf back on, since I’m not really using my machete right now, but in the process I burn one of the apples, or rather flash cook it.

The scent of the apple is sweet, and in fact, it’s taunting… I take the apple off my back, look at Angel, and wiping a bead of sweat from my forehead, I bite the cooked apple. It’s… sweet, like some sort of candy, and it doesn’t hurt in the slightest! I take out the book and flip through until I find the page I’m looking for. The page on Sapples. Sure enough, they were apple-like, which is what I assumed based on the name of the fruit.

Comparing the Sapples in the book and the “Apples'' we had found, they were identical. I read on in an attempt to see what they were all about.

The Sapple. These fruits are dangerous when eaten raw, but it cook-

Right then, that’s a whole lot of boring words that I’ll just skim this time. Basically, this fruit saps your energy away when eaten raw, but serves as a neroushing snack when cooked. How informational! Now, back tae adventurin'! Wait, no, we’re trying to find a way out of here. focus, Spiracle! I put the book away, swallowing the cooked Sapple.

At long last we reached the edges of a ruined palace's territory. If we head to the centre, we should find a way back. And so, we trek on into the ruined area, Thorax and Angel staying close by me. And then… we hear it. From the corner of my eye I see it, but alas, I was too late. The creature bit my abdomen, before flinging me into a tree.

"Ahk, that's gonna leave a mark!" Angel and Thorax stood there, practically shaking in their metaphorical boots. Thorax was the first to snap out of it and actually do something, though…

“You… You all took them… Took my eyes, my eyes, my eyes! You have them! Give them back!” That cannot be good. Thorax is practically brushed off by the beast, knocked against a tree in the same way I am, only harder.

Angel shakes, and smacks his lips.

“Hey! They didn’t steal y-your eyes! S-so back off! Or… Or I’ll… I’ll get you! Somehow!” The creature backed off of me and started towards Angel, who was slightly shaking. However, he steeled himself, and took a confident stance.

“I can’t sit around and just… do nothing! I’ve been a jerk my whole life because I thought it was the easiest way to get what I wanted, b-but that’s not an option here! So starting now, I’m gonna stop trying to get what I want by being an asshat, and I’m going to start getting what I want by doing hard work and helping ponies, and other creatures, out. Starting with those two.” I think I know what’s about to happen. Give it a moment, aaand…

Angel then started to laugh. Not an insane laughter, but something more genuine. I was confused as to why he was laughing, but then a blue flame started appearing on his head, meaning he must be awakening to his persona without experiencing the normal excruciating pain. Wait, that only happens when you take off the mask… How do personas even work in this world?? Wait, I just have a machete, does that mean that- Wait, I have a machete! What am I doing??? Regardless, a black baseball cap appears on Angels’ head. Ok, that answers the question of persona or tool. He pulls the baseball cap off to reveal… a baseball bat. A little on the nose, but fine nonetheless.

It’s what happens next that shocks me a little, though. His bat lights on fire, like normal fire, and he wacks the creature with it. I cannot light my Machete on fire, I feel massively scammed. Enough of that, though. Angel jumps off the beast's face, then off a tree, bringing the fiery bat down upon the creature. It screams in agony, and swipes at him, knocking him to the floor before running off. The fire on his bat dissipates, and Angel gets up, slightly groggy.

“You guys… ok? You looked like you took a good beating.” I cough a little, but get up.

“That was fantastic, Angel! How’d you do that fire thing with your bat, anyway?” Angel turns the bat back into a cap and puts it on.

“I dunno, I just kinda used… Agi was it called? Yea, I used Agi.” Alright, new baseline for this ‘Everfree Dissonance’: I know nothing. This place operates on rules that are just different enough from the metaverse that I’m officially lost on how all this works.

“So uhh… Angel… Who’s your persona…? I- The person or pony that represents your inner self- I mean your weapon.” I ask, hoping to get an answer so that I can cling to at least some sense of normalcy.

“Huh? Oh, a pony named Somnambula. She was called from the void or something to help me out, made some sort of deal with me, and then gave me that awesome bat.” Interesting… I wonder why I can’t do anything with my machete. No Ehia or any other skills I remember being able to use. I can’t help but feel like I’m missing something.

And then a sharp pain hit my abdomen, and I fell to the ground, panting heavily. I had been beat up, bad. I forgot how fragile I was… Thorax managed to get up, though, and he looks fine. So I suppose it’s not that bad. He runs over to me, standing above me, sweating with worry.

“S-Spiracle! Are you okay?? Please, say something!” He said, worried to all hell.

“I… I’ll be fine, Thorax, please try to calm down…” I said as he knelt over me. I winced in pain as I took a look at the bite. I had a large gash there, and it stung like hell. I turn away, wincing again as a tear rolls down my cheek.

“Dammit… It got me good.” I breathe in sharply, and choke back a small cry from the pain. Angel turns around and rushes over at the sound, confused at first, then full of dread. I must've been at an angle that blocked him from seeing the injury at first when we talked. He stares blankly at me, before finally speaking.

“Spiracle… are… are you gonna be ok?” He says meekly, a single tear forming below his eye.

“Um… Yea… Yea, I will Angel. I’ll be up and moving again soon enough. How about you… you just… go over there for a little while. We’ll um… we’ll continue on in a bit.” Angel sniffs, his eyes say he doesn’t believe me. I don’t blame him though, I don’t believe me either. He walks over to a spot in the everfree and starts picking plants.

“Hey… Thorax?” I say, Thorax crying over me. He leans in to hear what I have to say, listening intently.

“I… I don’t think I’m gonna make it. So, while I still can, I’ll say this. You… You’re the best friend… no, brother I could’ve ever asked for. I… I did… some pretty stupid things. I kept making more work for you by being reckless. I tore a rift between you and your brother, I, even if accidentally, forced you to walk across an entire desert and forest just to save me, and worst of all, I nearly got you killed just because I was too proud to stay quiet. And yet, after all that, you stayed by me.” Tears started rolling down my cheeks, and I started choking on my words.

“A-and… I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for being with me. You made my life bearable, you gave me happiness when I thought I lost it. So… yea… thank you for being my brother, Thorax.” A white flash filled my vision as my eyes closed. I felt Thoraxes hooves wrapped around me as I drifted off to sleep.

I wake up, but not in the forest… nor in the velvet bar. I’m in a study, a study in the middle of the void. A blue… Hippogriff, I think, wearing a top hat sits at the desk, sipping a glass of scotch. He sets it down and looks at me, giving a faint smile.

“Well, would you look at that? Some walls have come crashing down, have they?” He said with a Scottish accent.

“Uhh…” I started, but he interrupted me by laughing.

“Have a seat, lad. I wouldn’t dare hurt my own great great nephew, after all.” He said.

“Pff, don’t lie. I don’t have a father, and my moms a tyrannical changeling” He looked at me with what can only be explained as an inquisitive yet confused look.

“Lad, changelings don’t reproduce asexually. You have a father. And for another, your mother is no tyrant!” I gasped at what he said. The father part is whatever, but the fact that he would call Chrysalis anything by a tyrant is insane.

“Oh please, Chrysalis is nothing but a tyrant and yo-” He interrupted me again.

“Chrysalis?? Chrysalis!? Isn’t your mother, why in the blazes did you get that idea- Ohh, right. The egg-napping. Haud on, but even wi' that, hae ye ne'er questioned why yer een are red???" He slammed a Nata into the desk.

“Because that means changeling blindness- And if you’re Scottish-”

“Trottish.”

“Whatever- Trottish, then why do you have a Japanese Nata Tool of all things??” I asked, feeling my confusion rise.

“It was my first ever treasure I collected- and changeling blindness is represented by either deep evergreen eyes or maroon eyes! And no… uhh… noling even has crimson eye in the tyrants’ hive, since if one of them gets blindness it’s called Evergreen eye! Has that old twit been jamming nonsense into your head like this all your life?? Whit else did she say??” He asked.

“Uhh… besides the political nonsense, she also said the only food we could safely eat is love.” The hippogriff rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Oi vea… That’s just… no… Lad, yes, you need to eat love, and yes, you can live off it, but if we’re bein real here, YOU really only need it to charge up yer magic! It’s really only good for empty carbs besides that. ‘Tis why most of her hive are usually hungry.” I thought for a moment.

“What about the mushroom farms?” He looked at me confused, before snapping himself out of it.

“If I had to guess, she’s growing desperate and making actual food to keep up with demand. They probably don’t have any love in ‘em, to prevent her subjects from being able to kill them with drainage. In fact, her whole love fiasco is how she’s able to keep up her tyrannical grip in the first place. She promises them a good life with all they love they could ever need, which in reality isn’t that much, but she lies to them to make them think they need way more, and uses that as a catalyst to have them do her bidding. Meaning, she’s just what you call her, lad. A tyrant.” I look at him inquisitively, before shaking my head.

“Wait, so if the tyrant’s not my mom, then who is?” The hippogriff simply laughed.

“That, my great great nephew, is a spoiler! And even if you think you know, there’s still a mighty good chance yer family tree will give you a bit of a shock! Until then, I’ll give you this. Yer last name is ‘Yearling’. Oh, and I nearly forgot! We’ve got to make a deal. I should probably tell you my name though, shouldn’t I?” I tilted my head in confusion.

“Uh… Sure?” I said, scratching my head.

“My name is Canny Cash Yearling. Yer, as you call it, ‘Persona’. As well as yer great great uncle! Really though, ‘Persona’? I get why you’d call it that but it just sounds so… cheesy. Though, maybe that’s because you’re not used to how things work around here. You see, yer soul attempted to reach for something that didn’t exist anymore. A ‘Persona’ here is just someone who’s passed on in some way. The user's soul, when it’s in distress, then reaches out to them and calls for help. This can only happen during moments of self discovery, because how else would yer soul know who to call? Certain people go with others, lad. And clearly something in you goes with me. And I couldn’t be happier.” I nodded slowly, looking slightly confused.

“Oh, come on! I know we’ve only just met, but for petes’ sake I’m yer great great uncle! I’m a real member of yer family, not a fake like that tyrant is!” He seemed angry, but then just sat back in his chair and rolled his eyes, smiling.

“Oh, bah. I’m sure you’ll get used to me eventually. After all, I’ll be visitin that Velvet bar with you!” I shook my head in shock.

“Wha- How do you know about that??” He laughed, before settling back down in his chair.

“Lets just say a certain dragon told me her employer would be very happy if I came and helped her out with teaching you about traversing the ‘Everfree Dissonance’. If I’m gonna be honest, though, I just wanted an opportunity to turn you into a daring adventurer like miself!” I raised an eyebrow.

“What if I don’t want to be an adventurer? Are you going to force me?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Lad, we both know you want to explore. Hell, it’s yer cutie mark for goodness sake!”

“I don’t even have a cutie mark, I’m a changeling!”

“You’re about half pony, of course you have a cutie mark!” He displayed the picture of the mark that appeared on my disguise.

“This mark appeared in yer mind because yer mark! Even if you don’t realise it. Hell, you came across this thing so long ago that you probably don’t remember! Mostly because you were a changeling and when it happened you were probably pickin mushrooms or something.” I sat there in slight confusion.

“How do you even know this much about me??”

“Lad, I was friends with yer mother. I got to see yer egg with my own two eyes. And… I failed to… nevermind, let's just move on with the deal so that you can get back to yer friends, ok?” I shook my head in confusion for a second, before nodding.

“Alright lad, You’ve gotta be the smartest, toughest, sharpest, most daring person out there. You’ve got to uphold justice, and keep yer friends by yer side! You’ve gotta be able to push forward when all hope seems lost, you’ve got to be able to get back up when you’ve been knocked down, and most of all, you’ve got to never back down! Because, whether you believe it or not, yer a Yearling. And Yearlings never back down!”

I awoke with a start, sitting up and muttering one thing when I did.

“Sounds like a deal, Uncle Canny.”

"You and your brother had a whole trove of legendary treasures that where thought to be lost long ago, not to mention your strange ability to use your nata machete scarf thing as a pogo stick. So tell me, where did you learn to do something so strange?" Shining banged on the desk

"Tell me!"

I am thou, and thou art I…

Thou hast created a new friendship

It shalt help open your eyes

To the truth you need to see

With thou gaining the Justice Persona,

Thou will gain the will

To give their utilities heightened ability.

Shaking myself out of… whatever just happened, I looked down to find myself sitting down on some sort of cot, my abdomen wrapped in gauze and bandages, but besides that it looked rather whole, and instead of splintering pain there was only a dull ache.. Looking around, I appeared to be in a ruined castle… or rather… a ruined palace. Thorax walked in, looking wrecked with stress, and wearing a dark blue sweater. Upon seeing me, he lit up like the sun, and nearly galloped over, hugging me.

“I-I thought I lost you…” He said, crying.

“Well… I’m… I’m glad you didn’t. But, on another note, how did I survive?” I asked, dumbfounded as to how I survived getting a giant gash in my chest. Thorax pulled away from the hug, smiling. He gripped his sweater with his magic, and tugged on the sleeve, which resulted in the entire sweater burning away into a dark blue medical kit with a green cross on it.

“It happened as your eyes were closing. When you were saying goodbye I could almost feel myself calling for help, calling for anything to help. That’s when a pony named ‘Mage Meadowbrook’ appeared in front of me. She gave me this sweater and told me to use it to save you, and when taking it off I managed to form this medical kit. I managed to use something called ‘Dia’, and some gauze to heal you. It managed to save you, but your barrel will still be in bad condition for a while, so no galloping or any putting any stress on it for a while. We couldn’t leave with you asleep, we just kept ending up at the incorrect time period. At least, that’s what it says in the book. That we can’t leave unless the creature who brought us here takes us out.” I nodded in response.

“Well then. Hey… I do wanna come back here and explore in the future… and I was just wondering… Would you like to come with? I could use a healer,” I offered.

“I… I think I’d be an awfully bad friend if I let you go back in here without any medical help. So… yea. I’ll come with you. We’re not going until you’re healed, but when you are…” He put his hoof around my shoulder.

“We’ll go in again, and I’ll be right behind you.”

"Even with all of your adventuring you always came back either good as new, or at least with only a few bandages. You would gain these from nowhere, and you never brought any medical supplies with you besides for a few surprisingly powerful healing potions. So I'll ask you this. Where did you get gauze and bandages of this quality while in a place like that?" Shining gritted.

"I asked where you got them!" He screamed, throwing the examples to the other side of the room.

I am thou, and thou art I…

Thou hast created a new friendship

It shalt help open your eyes

To the kindness you need to see

With thou gaining the Fool Persona,

Thou will gain the will

To give their utilities heightened ability.

“Kindness… that’s different,” I muttered before Angel came walking in through the door.

“He alright? C’mon, let’s leave this joint if he is. I’ve had to take care of like… five of those eyeless monsters.” I looked at him and rolled my eyes.

“I could've died, y’know!” Angel looked at me, before looking down and and putting away his bat, rubbing his shoulder.

“Y-yea, I know. I just… I… I’m glad you’re okay.” I smiled at Angel, and he looked back up and smiled back

“Now can we PLEASE leave??? My head fluff is an absolute mess!” He took off his hat and pointed at the ball of fluff on his head.

“I think it looks better that way,” I said, smirking.

“What? How does THIS look better??” Angel Exclaimed.

“Makes you look lett stuck-up,” I explained as I slowly got up, my midsection still aching. Angel put a finger to his chin as we walked out of the palace and back into the real world.

We fell out of the exit and onto the street, where rarity happened to be crossing by. The issue was that we hadn’t had time to put our disguises back on. When she saw us, she just froze… and then, she screamed. oops.

We sat in silence while in the carousel boutique with Rarity, and then she inhaled, and spoke. “So you mean to tell me that you are a Royal ‘changeling’ who might have been kidnapped or abandoned and the mother you got stuck with was incredibly abusive towards you, and then she tried to kill you because you spoke out against her. Which then resulted in you flaring AS AN ADULT-”

“Technically teen,” I corrected.

“... As a teen, which made you teleport away to safety where you then spent about 3 days travelling where you then met the zebra in the everfree. Then she threatened you, put some truth telling goop on you, and let you live with her. Then you came here in hopes of making friends so that you could survive off of love but you used disguises because you were afraid the citizens of Ponyville would freak out if they saw you like this, which, to be fair, is true. And what’s with the injury around your barrel? It’s only been about ten minutes since I’ve last seen you.” I think it said something in the book about time coming to a standstill whenever you’re in the everfree dissonance.

“Don’t worry about the injury. Had a small run in with a timberwolf, but I managed to scare it off, and Thorax helped me with my injuries.” Rarity seemed reasonably content with that answer.

“Ok, that’s all… honestly I don’t think even a madpony could come up with a story as outlandish as that. Are you sure you’re okay living with Zecora? She is a… oh what does pinkie say… ‘Evil Enchantress.’” I rolled my eyes.

“She’s not some sort of evil witch out to get you, she’s just an alchemist. An alchemist who’s quite annoyed that everypony keeps avoiding her when she comes to the market to buy ingredients, might I add.” Rarity sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

“Listen, we’re just trying to live a somewhat normal life. One without an evil tyrant constantly looming over our heads. Also, I’m not even sure if I even need to eat love to survive. A hippogriff, I think, told me that I can survive with food, I just need to eat love to restore my magic.” Rarity looked at us, let go of her suspicious expression, and sighed.

“Fine… I suppose I can keep your secret. Though, on another note, you simply must tell me where you got that scarf! It looks simply dashing!” She said excitedly.

“It’s because my great great uncle called out to my soul needing help… or something. I’m not too sure. It can turn into a machete though,” I said, taking off my scarf, having it enwrap itself in blue flame and forming the Nata. I made sure to point it away from anyone.” Rarity was a little shocked.

“Oh, that’s… wow, that’s certainly interesting! You should probably get a sheath for that. In case it’s a summer day or something and you take it off but still want to carry it with you…” I nodded in agreement.

“That’s true! Plus it would look cool,” I said, laughing.

“We should probably get going now, though.” Rarity nodded as me and Thorax donned our disguises again, and with Angel in tow, we left.

When Zecora saw us, she breathed a sigh of relief, before looking at my new injury in slight shock.

“How in the world did you get hurt?? Did you get reckless and overexert?” I shook my head.

“N-no, mahm, we just had a rough e-encounter with one of those wooden wolfs. I managed to get him help, so he’ll be fine. We’d just like to go to bed for now… we’ve had a long day.” Angel nodded as Thorax headed off to our bed.

“I feel bad for him. He was pacing back and forth near constantly while we where waitin’ for you to heal. He was scared half to death, and even when we set you down on that cot he just kept blubberin’ on about he should’ve done more to help.” I nodded in response to Angel. Before I head off to bed Zecora asked about him, we told her the whole thing about fluttershy, and she seemed content enough with that. I dropped off the other ingredients I had been keeping in my scarf. I kept the book close to me, closed my eyes, and went to sleep.

Author's Note

Justice - Canny Cash Yearling
Rank 1/10
Congratulations! Spiracle no longer has the durability of a leaf. That’s no excuse to be reckless, however!

Fool - Thorax
Rank 1/10
Healing items are now useable by any party member. Thorax is the only one that can heal fatal injuries, however.

Here’s the reference for Spiracle/Fifth wisdom! Sorry if some things were a little confusing in this chapter.

Chapter 7

Chapter 6

I awoke in the velvet bar again, sitting up as my eyes creeped open.

“Welcome back to the Velvet Bar, Fifth Wisdom. I take it you're getting used to this place?” The person working at the bar said.

“Yea. I've been here at least… What, five times now?” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Four, actually,” Uncle Canny corrected.

“I am very pleased to hear that! Now-” Uncle Canny interrupted the newspaper person as he was speaking, scoffing and rolling his eyes.

“Och aye, ye're a wee bit dull, so I'll be takin’ the reins now” Uncle canny pulled out a chalkboard from seemingly nowhere, rolling it in from the right side of my vision, before going over to the jukebox and changing the music from the normal song to what sounded like a fast paced remixed version of it.

“Wha- eh- ok…” Said the newspaper person, sounding confused.

“Right, listen up now: The world as you ken it is under attack from a peculiar eyeless monstrosity that aims to blind everyone to truth, fact, or both. It seems it’s doin’ this to make others feel its pain, or somethin’ of that sort. We're not entirely sure yet, but we do know it's nae a good situation. And that's where you come in! I'm no longer among the living, and these two companions here cannae interact with the physical realm. That leaves it all up to you. Besides, I've heard you've had some experience in this sort of business. So, your mission is to venture into the dreaded 'Everfree Dissonance' and restore the sight of those who've been blinded to truth, fact, or both. All you've got to do is locate their eyes and pop 'em back in their heads. Finding these eyes won't be a cakewalk, though, as they’re usually hidden away, much like treasures! But ye're a 'Yearling,' and treasure hunting and exploration run in your veins!” The entire time he’s pointing to the chalkboard, which has depictions of the Everfree dissonance, as well as a large, shadow-like eyeless monstrosity.

“But, ye cannae do it all by yerself. Ye dinnae have enough skill for that. And that's why…” He flipped the board over to display pictures of Rarity, Zecora, and Thorax.

“Ye've got tae make friends! Buildin' bonds is yer surefire path tae gain more power, but, and I'm dead serious here, dinnae forge friendships solely for the sake o' power. It might sound a bit perplexin', but ye'll only harness the benefits if there's a genuine bond between ye and the other party. Ye see, it's nae just my Nata ye'll be able tae wield, but there are many other tools at yer disposal as well! And havin' bonds like mine will bolster their strength when ye forge them, resultin' in heightened effectiveness and power!” I nodded my head in understanding, thinking about the Nata I had.

“Ahem, moving on then, Just as Canny has said, you must use these friendships to assist you in making tools for the Everfree dissonance! And, as a show of gratitude, I shall be your friend as thanks for going on a mission to save the world. You are gonna save the world, right?” I thought about it for a moment. And by that I meant the answer was kinda obvious.

“Eh, sure. I mean, living a normal life for someone like me seems impossible anyway so why not?” I said.

“Lad, livin' a normal life is nae possible for our family. Believe me,” Uncle Canny retorted, rolling away the chalkboard and sitting back down.

I am thou, and thou art I…

Thou hast created a new friendship

It shalt help open your eyes

To the truth you need to see

With thou gaining the World Persona,

Thou will gain the will

To give their utilities heightened ability.

“Now, I believe it is time for you to wake up. Now go, and-” Again, newspaper person was interrupted.

"Aye, yer barrel's still wounded. It'll be 'bout seven more days till ye're well enough tae venture back into the Everfree Dissonance. So ye should probably make some friends and seek out a job. It'd be best if it's a gig that lets ye earn a guid reputation among the townsfolk, so ye can become a legend and carry on the Yearling legacy, just like yer cousin Amy Keating Yearling! Who kens, maybe ye'll even scribble tales 'bout yer adventures like she does!" I looked at Canny and slowly nodded, confused about basically the entire second half of what he said.

“Eh? I'm allowed tae dream, ye ken.”

I woke up, my eyes flinging open. Getting off of Thorax, I stretched, putting on my disguise and… noticing my scarf! I had forgotten about my scarf staying with me out of the Everfree dissonance. I woke Thorax and Angel up shortly after, and it had appeared Zecora had gone out to gather plants, as detailed in the note she left saying she’d be back around midnight. I decided to go into town with the two of them to get a proper job, and that I’d help Zecora if she needed it in the evening.

It was only a few hours until Timid Comet and I were in town.

“I’m gonna go visit Fluttershy… is that okay with you and Angel?” The two of us nodded, before Timid Comet flew off to a cottage in the distance. Ok, so the first order of business is to get a job. I do believe detective work is a good fit for someone like me, considering my past. So, taking that into consideration, I head to the only place I could think to get hired as one; The town hall. There doesn’t seem to be any real law enforcement here as of yet, so that’s probably my best bet. I walk into the large building, the inside grand, with Rarity pulling materials in.

“What’s the occasion, Rarity?” I ask politely, and she looks at me like I have three heads before saying ‘Oh, right!’ and trotting over to me.

“I’m preparing for the summer sun celebration. It’s a celebration of Princess Celestia raising the sun every morning! Each year a different town is chosen to hold the celebration, and this year it’s Ponyville! Now, is there a reason you’re in here? Besides just looking around Ponyville, that is.” I nodded my head in confirmation. I was a little confused why it was called the SUMMER sun celebration when it was in fall, but I shrugged it off. I don’t think it’s that important, someone probably just fudged the dates.

“I’m actually looking to become a Detective for Ponyville! I noticed the law enforcement here is a bit… err… lackluster,” I said, sheepishly laughing.

“Oh! I mean, I suppose I’ve never really thought about it… there’s not much crime here…”

“That you know of,” I corrected.

“That I… Are you suggesting that crime is a common occurrence here?” Rarity defended.

“Not necessarily, but I’m sure there’s mysteries that happen around here. It’ll be hard to solve them without a pony qualified for the job.” Rarity put a hoof to her chin, before shrugging and laughing it off.

“Oh, what am I saying? It’d be absolutely fabulous if you became a detective! It’d be like Ponyville having its very own Shadow Spade!” She said, giggling to herself.

“Oh! Right, um… Mayor Mare should be in her office on the second floor.” She pointed to a Flight of stairs leading up to the second floor of town hall.

“Just take the first right once you get up there and you should be good to go!” I nodded and went up the steps to Mayor Mares’ office, heading into the first door on my right as Rarity instructed. Inside was a cream coloured pony with glasses. Presumably Mayor Mare, hurriedly sorting through papers with a scuffed up mane.

“Oh, no no no…” She said, quite concerned.

“How am I going to find a detective at this hour? Filthy’s going to have my pocketbook if I can’t get somepony to solve this strange pony bug infestation…” That is the most ironic yet convenient thing that has happened to me in all of my two lives.

“Huh, convenient. Also, how in the world are you going to explain the fact that you and Thorax were the two bug things that showed up?” Angel said, raising an eyebrow.

“Watch and learn,” I said confidently, before heading up to Mayor Mares desk and tapping my hoof.

“Um… Hello? I can’t help but notice that you are looking for a detective! And I just so happen to be a detective!” I say, chuckling lightheartedly. Mayor Mare bolts over to me, looking me over, before smiling and breathing a sigh of relief.

“Well, your Cutie Mark certainly seems to think so from what I can tell!” She said enthusiastically.

“Now, I just need your birth information. You’re not on record, and you don’t have a Ponyville ID, which you’re going to need. Do you have a birth certificate orrr…” She trailed. This wasn’t going to be a problem for me, the cover story practically writes itself.

“I was an adopted child before I ran away from my abusive parent, and I only know my birth date from my step sibling taunting me. So, no, I unfortunately do not have a birth certificate.” I mean, it was technically the truth. At least if what my apparent Uncle Canny said is true.

“Oh, I’m very sorry to hear that dear… Can I at least know your birth date?” She said, and I was happy to oblige.

“June Second, 1992.”

“Full name?”

“Fifth Wisdom Yearling.” She stopped for a moment. And then she asked me a very strange question.

“Do you know what… oh what was it called… Daring Do is?” I blinked in confusion.

“Uh- who?” I asked, confused. Mayor Mare shook her head.

“Do you know who A.K. Yearling is?” I shook my head.

“No, though I don’t remember anything from before I was adopted, so I can’t confirm or deny anything. I don’t even know if Yearling is my real last name, my only evidence for it is a dream I had where a hippogriff told me it was my last name.” Telling the truth worked with Rarity since my apparently crazy story was so apparently out there, so it should work here since this is even more out there.

“I… okay. Fifth Wisdom Yearling it is then.” She said, marking it down on an official-looking document. She then wrote something else and laughed a little.

“So, I assume you want that job as Ponyville Detective then? She said, taking something out of a drawer. I was a little shocked that all she needed was my birth date and name. Regardless, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t grateful.

“Yes, Ma’am!” I said, smiling.

“Then follow me! We’ll do it in the conference room!” She said, nearly as energetic as Pie is. We both walked into the conference room, where there were several seats, 5 of them filled up. The one with three bags of money, presumably Rich, was the first one to look over.

Me and Mayor Mare trotted over to the front, where she proudly announced “I’d like everypony here to welcome Ponyville's first ever detective, Fifth Wisdom!” Wait, first ever? I’m confused as to how that’s possible, but then again I must remind myself I’m in a town with talking ponies while I’m a bug horse disguised as one using magic. A town not needing a detective until now is not one of the strangest things that’s happened so far. Not by a long shot. Several hoof clo… claps could be heard as Mayor Mare revealed the deerstalker she had taken out of the drawer she had opened before. It was dusty, but with one quick blow from her, the dust scattered to the wind, and she put it right on my head.

“Way to go, man!” Angel said, as I turned to the five other ponies and smiled.

“I promise to keep Ponyville safe from any future scams, shams, or any other sorts of crimes or unpleasantries that may take place!” I wasn’t told to say that, I just felt like saying it.

“Thank you for finding a detective on such short notice, Mayor! And thank you, Fifth, for taking up the job,” Rich said, beaming at the two of us.

“It’s my pleasure, Mr. Rich,” I said, and Rich beamed again. I don’t know why he was so happy to hear me say his name, but you know what they say, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Mayor Mare and I soon left the room, and went back into her office, where she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Fifth. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up! Now, onto the terms of your contract. We’ll be announcing you as detective later today, and… ooh! I can actually fulfil the Princess’s request to have somepony who’s a part of law enforcement accompany her student! Oh! Right, the contract. So, ponies will be able to send in requests for crimes or mysteries. Then they’ll send in a bounty of bits! Once you solve the mystery and/or crime, you’ll be rewarded!” I nodded in agreement, and Mayor Mare smiled.

“Again, I really must thank you for this. You’ve really saved my flank!” She said, and I gave a light hearted chuckle.

“You’re welcome, Mayor Mare.”

“You managed to get a job in Ponyville, in fact you were the detective. The irony of that hasn’t gone unnoticed by me. So tell me, how in the world did you manage to get a job like that with what you are now, hmm? Tell me!” Shining slammed the desk.

I am thou, and thou art I…

Thou hast created a new friendship

It shalt help open your eyes

To the truth you need to see

With thou gaining the Temperance Persona,

Thou will gain the will

To give their utilities heightened ability.

Mayor Mare smiled at me, before walking over to her desk and saying “Alright, now I have to call a town meeting so that ponies are aware that they can now report proper incidents and mysteries. Head downstairs, I’ll tell you to come out when it’s ready,” I walked downstairs, where Rarity congratulated me, and I waited.

“Attention everypony!” Mayor Mare called. I could hear her from outside as she spoke.

“I know we haven't had any law enforcement so far…” Murmurs could be heard outside, some of them mentioning Applejack.

“Ok, we haven't had any official law enforcement. But as we all know, yesterday a couple of new ponies entered town, and one of them happened to be a detective!” More murmurs were heard. I could hear my name a little, but mostly it was just confusion.

“This won't cause any major changes, please don’t worry. This’ll just allow ponies to get help with mysteries or crimes when they need it,” She said in an attempt to calm the crowd. It kinda worked.

“Oh, let's just welcome our new detective, Fifth Wisdom!” I walked out, half expecting boos, but I was instead met with cheers! I suppose they weren't as opposed to a detective as I thought. Mayor Mare pointed to the recently refurbished deposit box in the side of the building.

“Here’s how this works; If you have a mystery or crime that needs solving, you can place it into the deposit box, along with a bounty. Once Fifth solves the mystery, you will then pay him the necessary bits. If you, for whatever reason, cannot afford his services, feel free to put in a request with no bounty. I will try to pay him according to the work he does if that happens. I would very much appreciate it if you paid the bounty yourself, however… I’m not made of money!” Rich came up onto stage at that moment.

“Oh, forget about the whole bounty thing. I’ll pay him myself as a thanks for the hard work he does!” I smiled at the two of them before looking at the crowd.

“I promise to help with whatever unpleasantries may happen in Ponyville! This is my home as well now, and I’ll be sure to do what I can to make it the best home possible!” Everypony cheered for me after that. I’m getting a sense of deja-vu from my life before I was a changeling.

“You may all be dismissed, now! If anypony has any requests they’d like to put in, please put them in now!” An older pink mare with a dark purple mane and gaudy clothing walked up and put a sheet in. I’m kinda surprised she put one in, since I didn’t think anypony would’ve known to make a request sheet yet. Still, a request is a request.

Once everypony left, I went into the town hall, and walked over to the request bin to find the one request that was there. The request was the same one Mayor Mare had been talking about before, the one about me, or rather, the pony bugs that had appeared out of nowhere. That probably meant that the pony who entered this was, or rather is related to Rich in some way. Regardless, I did need to find a cover story for it, or rather proof that I had handled it.

That’s when a plan hit me. I could pretend to chase Thorax out in front of the pink mare, which would cause her to believe that… no, wait, she saw both of us. C’mon, Wisdom, think, think, thi- Fluttershy. When I first met her, I did a thing that made her talk louder, that clearly involved magic, meaning it was a spell. I naturally have a spell that can mind control ponies. I wouldn’t feel good about using it, but… if I could make a believable cover story, and then control that mare into believing it… that just might save me. I’d hate doing it, but… I’ve gotta keep my secret somehow.

But there’s gotta be another way! Right? Probably not. I mean, what am I supposed to do?? Go up to her and say ‘Oh hey, you know those bugs that appeared out of nowhere? Yea, that was actually me and my step brother Thorax, and we just want to live in this town under false aliases so that you wouldn’t freak out.’ That’d probably work, actually… if there wasn’t a near one-hundred percent chance that she’d flip once finding out me and Thorax were bugs. I mean, they’re afraid of Zecora, and she’s a Zebra! Imagine how scared they’d be of something that’s actually threatening-looking! Augh, why’s this gotta be such a hard and nuanced situation?? Okay, calm down Wisdom, maybe you should just go over and see what the situation is. But then what if she-

“Hey, you good? You’ve been pacing for, like, ten minutes now,” Angel said, breaking me out of my stupor.

“Huh? Oh, um… I’m just worried about this case. I just don’t know if I’ll be able to solve it in a way that’s good for both parties, and that the pink mare will think I’m bad, if you know what I mean.” Angel laughed a little.

“Who, Spoiled Rich? You could probably convince her it was just a trick of the light. You’re pitch black in your changeling form, after all.” He had a point there. Alright, no more stalling, I’m gonna go over to Spoiled Rich’s place! Then both our stomachs growled.

“I don’t have any money yet…” I said, slightly dejected.

“Then you’d better hurry over to Spoiled’s place! I’m just as hungry as you are, pal!” He said, and I nodded.

Angel patted his head, confused, before exasperating “Aw, shit! I forgot my hat!”

I trotted over to where Angel said Spoiled Rich’s house was, and knocked on the door. The pink mare answered.

“Ah, hello there. Please, solve this dreadful mystery of… bugs… on the streets.” I looked around for a moment as if I was pondering, before answering with the only lie I could think of.

“If what I read about weather patterns is correct, it is very likely that it was simply a shadowy coincidence with a cloud and a few pegasi. Nothing to worry about, Mrs. Rich.” I gave her a comforting smile, but she clearly wasn’t having it.

“That’s Tha- That’s hogwash! Poppycock! I know what I saw, and I say I saw two pony bugs!” She said, her voice rising. I let out a strained gulp as she put the pressure on me. Still, I had a few tricks up my sleeve.

“Pony bugs don’t exist though, ma’am! It was most likely just a trick of the shadows. If this happens again, however, please let me know, as in that case it may be more than just a trick of the light.” She stomped her hoof.

“No, I know what I saw! I saw two bug ponies! One with a sweater, and one with a scarf… and a rabbit…” Uh oh. Alright, I really didn’t wanna use this, but I’ve got no other option now. Time to press the metaphorical panic button. I felt a tingling sensation in my horn as Mrs. Rich went into a dizzy tizzy for a moment.

“Mrs. Rich, I think you’ll find it really was a shadow! The scarf and bunny were just coincidences, and…” I strained saying this, and hated every moment of it.

“But just to be safe, I don’t think you should talk about those details with any living thing. Not the scarf, not the bunny, and not the sweater. In fact, forget about them entirely. They’re not important. Just remember that what you saw was a shadow!” Once I stopped talking Mrs. Rich snapped out of her tizzy. She blinked a few times, before rubbing her head.

“Yes, I’m terribly sorry… I must’ve simply lost my head for a moment there, thank you for the reassuring words, Fifth.” She handed me a small pouch of coins, or rather, bits, as I believe they’re called here. I took it in my magic and put it in my scarf. It’s surprisingly useful for carrying things! Spoiled waved goodbye and closed the door. I just needed that mind effect spell to last for a few days, then she’ll see nothing’s wrong, then she’ll forget about it anyway. I’m sure that as long as no harm comes to her from a ‘bug pony’, she’ll forget about it.

“That… even if using mind control is morally dubious at best, nice save. To be honest, though, I don’t think anypony would believe her. She’s not necessarily the nicest pony out there,” Angel remarked, laying on my back.

“Hey, now that we got some cash, how about we go and get a bite to eat?” He suggested, pointing at the bag of bits.

“That sounds like a fantastic idea! Wait, where are we gonna go eat?” I asked him. Angel simply shrugged.

“I dunno, you figure it out,” he answered.

Eventually, I managed to find a place called ‘Café Hay’, where we had a nice bite to eat. It was nothing special, just a simple burger. Well, a ‘hay burger’, but when you’re in a society filled with talking ponies, that kinda stuff is kinda expected. With remaining bits in tow, I took a stroll down the road, examining the architecture.

On my stroll I came across an orange Pegasus filly trying to fly up into a tree. Though, she wasn’t making much progress, and was barely even able to get off the ground. I walked over, curious as to what all the commotion was about.

“Excuse me, but is there a particular reason you’re trying to get up into that tree?” I asked, and the filly turned to me.

“Huh? Oh, I just lost my scooter up in this tree. I’m trying to fly up and get it… but… I’m having a bit of trouble," answered the orange filly, pointing up to the blue scooter.

“I see. Well, in that case, how about I help you a little?” I responded, taking the scooter up in my magic and bringing it down. The orange filly took it and looked it over, before smiling at me.

“Hey, thanks… umm… What’s your name? I’m Scootaloo,” She said, looking at me expectantly.

“My name is Fifth Wisdom,” I answered, smiling.

“Hey, you’re the new detective, right?” Scootaloo asked, tilting her head and pointing at me while smiling.

“Ha, guilty as charged,” I answered, rubbing the back of my head.

“Cool! What kinda of crimes do you think you’ll solve?”

“I think I’ll be solving ponies’ mysteries more than their crimes. Though, if a crime does arise, I’ll be there to solve them for the sake of the town!” I said, putting a little more energy into my voice for the sake of entertainment.

“I suppose that’s fair. Hey, have you met Rainbow Dash yet?” My smile faltered slightly at her name.

“Unfortunately, yes. We… don’t get along. She’s a bit too boastful for my liking.” Scootaloos’ jaw nearly dropped at that.

“What?? H- Wha- How can you not like her??? She’s the awesomest pony there is!” I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

“Yea, and she won’t shut up about it. I wish she’d just be ‘awesome’ instead of being so boastful about it,” I scoffed. My mask is slipping a little. Scootaloo bit her lip and shuffled a little in place.

“I- I mean… she… um… I guess that’s fair? It… it’s still… mmm…” I let out a sigh.

“I’m not saying I don’t think she’s capable, I mean, if everypony I’ve met so far is saying she’s ‘awesome’, then it’s probably true. I just wish she’d stop being so loud about it. It’s annoying.”

“I… That’s… I guess that makes sense.” She rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. I put my hoof on her shoulder.

“I just think it’s important to be modest. Sure, you can be the best at something, but don't go around flaunting it. That tends to make you sound pretty narcissistic,” I said in a comforting tone.

“Narcis-wha?” Scootaloo tilted her head.

“Narcissistic. It means you’re overly egotistical to the detriment of others,” I clarified. That’s the simple version, but it’ll do.

“Detri…” Scootaloo trailed. I rolled my eyes.

“It means you like talking about yourself way too much.”

“Ohhhh! I get it. I gotta go now, Fifth, but I’ll remember what you said! See ya later!” She said, getting on her scooter and buzzing her wings.

“See you too!” I said, and she rolled off. I smiled as I continued trotting along. I looked at the sun in the sky and decided it’d be best if I head home. So, I went to Fluttershy’s hut to find Comet helping Fluttershy wash a hog, which was… interesting, and retrieved him before heading home.

We took the long trek home, and I hung up my hat next to Angels’ when we arrived back at the hut. We both undisguised ourselves, and Thorax almost immediately headed over to the bed and fell asleep. Zecora was still out, as expected, so I walked over and sat next to the bed, thinking for a moment.

“Hey, Spiracle?” Angle said, grabbing my attention.

“Yea?” I answered.

“I’m… I’m glad you can understand me. I just… I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like living with Fluttershy. She’s nice, and she gets me everything I want… but… I dunno. I feel like going into the everfree-what not has given me a sort of reality check, y’know? And I feel like being that pampered, while also not getting a ton of attention because… Well, you saw her cottage. With the amount of animals she has to take care of, it’s a wonder she has any time for me. But you… not only can you understand me, you worked with me today. Or, rather, I worked with you. Even if I didn’t do much, I enjoyed hanging out with you. So, I wanted to ask. If Fluttershy lets me… would you mind if I stayed with you instead? Sure, I probably won’t get the same meals, but, who knows? Maybe I’ll become better because of it.” I thought for a moment, before shrugging.

“Sure, I don’t see why not,” I said plainly.

“Then it’s settled. I’ll live with you, Thorax, and Zecora. And I’ll help you solve mysteries! You’ve got an animal sidekick now, or would it be an animal partner?” Angel pondered.

“Animal Co-worker,” I said with a chuckle. Angle chuckled with me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You had the ability to commune with animals, at least to some degree. We thought this was mind control at first, like what you did to Spoiled Rich, but upon investigation by Twilight and Fluttershy that was revealed to be not the case. So tell me, How did you manage to communicate with animals, hmm? Tell me!” Shining yelled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am thou, and thou art I…

Thou hast created a new friendship

It shalt help open your eyes

To the laughter you need to see

With thou gaining the Sun Persona,

Thou will gain the will

To give their utilities heightened ability.

“I think it’s about to go to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning, alright, Angel?” I said, climbing on top of Thorax and closing my eyes.

“See you in the morning…” Angel said, sleeping on top of me.

Author's Note

Temperance - Mayor Mare
Rank 1/10
Fifth Wisdom can be requested to solve small mysteries or crimes. These won't earn you too much money, but it's a start.

World - 'Newspaper Person'
Rank 1/10
If Spiracle has the necessary materials he can make new personas. He should be careful, though, as he may only bring 1 persona with him at a time! So he has to choose wisely depending on what he'll be doing...

The personas he has made will appear in the Velvet Bar. he can strike up a conversation with them if he wishes.

Sun - Angel
When solving a mystery, you now have the ability to ask small woodland creatures if they saw anything through Angel.

The game is on!
(Also next chapter is the summer sun celebration! too bad Spiracle/Fifth Wisdoms barrel is fucked.)

Chapter 1 Prelude

A building is collapsing from many years of strain, bits of concrete falling one after another. A small squad of royal guards protect the exits and entrances, guiding a few creatures out. They’ve gotten one of the one’s they’re looking for, a despicable creature called a changeling. The strange wings are peculiar about his one, though the guard doesn’t care. All they care about is catching the other bug invading their home…

“Ardent, Ardent! Come in, Ardent!” A voice over the hive mind calls for me, as I rush through the thin underground. These elongated limbs make it really hard to walk around. I mean, being a ‘Royal Changeling’ has its benefits, such as the whole hive mind thing. That’s made communicating with the team over long distances a whole lot easier, and less risky to boot.

“I’m here, what’s up?”

“There’s a bunch of Royal guards out here! They don’t care about most of us, they seem to think we’re victims if anything. But you’re brother, they’ve got him! They think he’s some sort of threat just cause he’s a changeling!” Bloody hell… This just got a whole lot worse. I make my way out of the underground portions of the massive, collapsing wrestling arena. I ran forward before coming across a large gap.

“Good thing I’ve got these!” I buzz my wings a little and fly across in a jiffy. I feel sick for a short bit after, but that’s the price of using flight in this place. I doubt I would’ve even been able to cross that before turning full royal. I quickly rush ahead, two blind pounders come in, their writhing limbs nearly closing in on me. Though, with one fell sweep of my machete, their hands have fallen off, and they’ve dissipated into a thin purple mist that quickly goes away.

Quickly running ahead, I come across a locked door, one that I don’t have time to pick, so I simply take my machete and cut the lock off. Slamming the door open I rush forward, only for a hoard of The Blind to ambush me from both sides, with the hallway ending. I can’t take on this many, but just as it looks like the ending is near for me, good ol lockpick comes in to save the day!

Pained screams come out of the blind as the gray mare tears through them with her pickaxe.

“Ay, guid tae see ye, lockpick!” I said with a large grin as I ran beside her.

“Ugh, quit it with the nickname, Ardent! Just call me m-” The entire building rumbles as it starts to cave in.

“Forget about that, just GO! I’ll hold them off for as long as I can! Listen, I know you’re gonna get caught by the royal guard, but dealing with them is a whole lot better then- Gah! Dealing with these things!” I nod and quickly head off.

“And don’t you DARE forget about the double date!” She said, right before she left earshot. Goodness, lockpick, I’m about to be arrested for doing nothing wrong! Well basically nothing wrong. Nothing serious at least. And besides, even if I did, it was for the greater good of pony kind, so who cares??

A bunch of The Blind had coagulated in the hallway I needed to go into, so I took my trusty Machete and pogoed off of it to reach the rafters, where I carefully, and quickly, ran across. I gathered some of the leftover valuables on top before jumping back down. The door to… well, not my freedom, really more my safety is only a few feet away now. I quickly jumped out of the door, rolling… right beside Shining armors hooves. Well, I suppose I was gonna get captured anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.

“Uh… meow?” He just scoffed at me with a look of disgust. I don’t know what I expected from Equestrias biggest changeling hater. He doused me with something, and then everything went black…

I woke up in a black room with two guards. I tried to use my magic… nope, horn suppressor. Great. Both the guards were looking with disgust.

“Please wait for Captain shining armor, Changeling. You’re lucky he’s even tolerating talking to you.” I’d call them bigots, but after what the Tyrant did their anger is a little understandable, especially if the only changelings they’ve ever seen are the ones from her hive.

After sitting for a short while, the stallion of the hour came in. Before I could do anything, he shoved a bottle into my mouth and made me drink a potion. I’m tasting hearts desire, mirror's edge, and leaf of a Discovertree as the main ingredients. Probably some sort of truth potion then. A couple more guards drag a table in and he restrains me to a chair, before sitting in the opposite one.

“Talk, you despicable bug.” Shining said, glaring daggers at me. I could be a smartass later, right now there was something that I needed to know.

“Is my brother okay?” I asked. It took shining off guard a little, but he decided to answer anyway.

“Yes. He’s being interrogated by my sister. Now, tell me what you’ve been up to. How in the world have you been making bad ponies good? Is it mind control, or… What kind of changeling magic are you using??”

“It’s not changeling magic, you were in the place where we restore sight to those who have lost it.”

“Restore sight?? What are you talking about?? Talk clearly, insect! Before I have Celestia banish you to the moon!”

“Make them see truth or fact, remove the veil of muddled information from their eyes. Or, in layman's terms, I give them a metaphorical slap in the face and tell them what their doing is evil, as well as why it’s evil.” Shining nodded to that, before letting out a huff.

“This isn’t getting me anywhere. Give me a briefing on how you ended up in Ponyville. Then tell me what you were doing there. Every last detail, spare nothing. I want the truth, you disgusting thing. I’m only giving you a chance because apparently you're some sort of changeling prince, and on top of that you look the least like her out of any Changeling I’ve seen. So speak up.” I let out a long story.

“Well, it all started after I had just taken down a gentle madman with a friend who I can no longer see…”

Author's Note

If you've never played P5R, then don't worry about the gentle madman thing. If you do wanna know what he's talking about there, then play P5R.

A taste of what's to come...