JUL 10 Friday.

I hit the ground on my left side as I lost my balance again. "Come on Colt, you need to remember to move them in sync." I just gave him an unamused look.

I nod and once again stand up straight while flexing my wings out. I keep my hooves firmly on the ground with a very specific sticking spell Blaz taught me, well not taught, he showed it to me and I learned it. But that's semantics and not important right now, I refocus my attention on the task at hoof.

Learning to fly is not easy, you need to properly control your wings to keep yourself in the air and also not crash into anything. Me and Blaz normally mark a day or two out of the week to meet up after work at the park and practice. And while I wouldn't say it's going poorly, it's still far from easy.

I flex the right muscles and feel the wings push through the air. The spell Blaz showed me lets me stop the spell at any time, so if I start falling I can fall properly, instead of falling over while my hooves stay stuck in place. The spell has helped in our practice a lot so far.

I keep trying my best to move both wings in sync and in the right way. This goes on for another hour before me and Blaz decide to call it for the day and we start walking back home together, "Well Colt, you've definitely made decent progress. But you still flap around like a confused bird." He ends his words of encouragement with a jab at me.

I just smile back. "True, but at least I'm not as horrible as you are at teaching. Seriously, you couldn't instruct a pony to cut paper." I joke back, and predictably we both laugh at the horribly stupid insults we throw at each other.

"Have a good night Colt, and remember to practice some before we meet up again." I nod as we separate, he heads down a street to the library and I start walking to my apartment building. I definitely made the right choice when I asked him to teach me how to fly.

Sure he's far from the best teacher and we both know that, but it's still far more enjoyable to practice with him than it would be to train with a pony I don't know, even if they would probably be a better teacher. I whistle while walking home and enjoy the nice evening air.

As I'm walking down an empty street, which is a fairly rare thing in Canterlot, something catches my interest. My ability to sense life magic has improved by quite a bit over time and with training, so when I feel two sources of life magic moving towards me quickly I notice. I turn my head and look towards the direction I feel them approaching from.

Normally I wouldn't notice two sources moving around, but this street is empty and these two are moving fast while being on the ground. When I say fast I mean a full gallop, and that's not something you see often in this city. Immediately my mind starts thinking the worst, but I push those thoughts to the side and instead, I just try and form a plan to reassure myself.

The street I'm on doesn't have anywhere I could hide easily. Wait, why would I need to hide? I realize I'm letting my paranoia get the best of me again, but something about this doesn't feel right and is nagging at me. Not knowing if I needed to run, hide, or ignore the problem, I decided to simply maintain my calm.

So I just keep walking at the same steady pace while making sure my dagger is properly hidden in a place where I can quickly access it. It's probably just two ponies who need to get somewhere quickly. The two sources of life magic burst out of the alley around fifty feet behind me.

As they run out of the alley they knock something over and it scatters on the street. And while I could pretend to not hear it and keep walking, I am very curious about what is happening. So I glance behind me to see two ponies standing in the street looking around.

Two mares, one pegasus, and one unicorn. Both look unremarkable and are looking around the empty street quickly while talking to each other, after glancing at them I turn back and keep walking. I'm not sure what's going on, but my curiosity is sated and I have no interest in getting involved in whatever this is.

But since when have I ever been that lucky? After a few moments both mares stop talking to each other, I can't make out what they talked about, but I do feel the life magic move when both of them start running in my direction, so I just play ignorant and keep walking.

After a short amount of time both mares run up behind me and I wait while hoping they just run past me. But they don't, instead, I hear their hoof steps stop behind me, and not a second later I hear an out of breath mare's voice speak up. "Excuse me, Sir?" I know they're talking to me, I play dumb by looking a little startled before looking behind me at them.

Once I look at them I give both a slightly confused look. "Yes? Can I help you, Miss?" I'm still not sure what's going on, but I take the opportunity to memorize their features. The pegasus mare is an adult but is a little small, even by pegasus standards. She has a light red mane, a deep pink coat, and cherry-red eyes.

The unicorn mare looks a little older but is still relatively young. She is standard in size, has a very light green mane, light dusty tan coat, and yellow eyes. Another thing I notice is that they both have matching bracelets, some ponies have a tradition of using matching jewelry to signify that they are married, but I'm not sure if that's the case here.

"We're in a big hurry, do you know where this is?" The unicorn asks while holding a piece of paper up to me. Both look to be in a rush. I look over the piece of paper but stop when I start to feel the heat from my neck, :oh, FUCK!: The first thing that consumes my mind is panic.

I keep my face blank as I internally scream. My first concern is that the emotion shield won't work, but after several moments of nothing happening while I feel the panic run through my mind I start to believe it is working. So I focus on not acting out of the ordinary and remembering any information I notice.

I feel the warmth on my neck, but it feels weak. I've been improving the spell in my free time for a while now and I test it every time I try to improve it. So I've gotten a good feel for how warm it gets when an illusion is detected, but its reaction is weaker than normal, is something interfering with it?

I push those thoughts to the side and read the piece of paper, it has a single address and street name on it, I feel like I know the rough area that address is in but don't focus on that, instead I focus on answering them and leaving. Thoughts keep flashing through my mind and I see the pegasus mare looking back to the alley they came from for the third time since they walked over to me.

I don't know who they're running from. :Shit this is a bad situation: I can't just stand here forever and I'm not sure I want to tell them where they're going, but I think my emotions are hidden so I might be able to just lie. "Sorry, I don't know that street name." I offer in a neutral tone.

The mare unicorn looks at the page and back to me. "Do you know where it could be? Even if it's just a way to narrow it down? We really need to get there fast." She asks with a nervous and slightly desperate tone, and I'm also starting to get nervous about what happens if I can't leave before whoever is chasing them catches up.

I don't think they would attack me, but they are being chased and I saw them. I decided to give them some vague directions and get the fuck out of this situation. "Well, that address has a lower number so it's probably in the upper city and the street name makes me think of the markets. Sorry, I really don't know how to narrow it down more than that." I try to sound genuinely apologetic about it as I lie through my teeth.

Both look a little disappointed for a few moments but then something happens, whoever was chasing them finally catches up. I'm not sure what to expect, but I don't expect three normal-looking ponies walking out of the alley in a rush. They look around and spot us.

:FUCK! WHY?!: I'm definitely involved now, I start mentally preparing for a fight to happen while coming up with plans. The ponies are now trotting over to us at a decent pace, they seem more tired and out of breath, while the two mares with me are better rested, we might be able to outrun them. The approaching ponies also have less than friendly faces.

I look them over and start looking for weapons or threats. Two more mares and a stallion, one with saddlebags, and all of them are also wearing some piece of jewelry with a gem embedded in it. :Could they also be Changelings? Fuck if these two mares start a fight things could get bad:

The good news is I don't see any large weapons, and they while it's definitely tense. My thoughts are interrupted by the pegasus mare, "Grab him we need to go." I'm startled as the unicorn mare near me grabs my shoulder and starts trying to drag me with her. But she's less than successful, I'm easily able to keep myself in place.

"Wogh, hold on what's happ-" Before I can ask anything she gives me a look, full of slight fear and concern.

"No time, we need to run, NOW." I'm surprised by how forceful her voice is, I need to make a snap decision. At this point it's safe to assume both parties are either Changelings or under illusions, and considering the situation I think it's the former. But that still doesn't solve my dilemma.

If nothing else these two mares are trying to keep me out of danger instead of using me as a distraction. Seeing the other ponies getting closer I just pick my best bet and turn back to them, I give a single nod and all three of us are running a second later. I hear sounds from the ponies following us and keep pace with both mares.

I follow them as we run down the street far enough to find another alley and start running through it. While we run I easily keep pace with them, they aren't that fast all things considered. I keep trying to think of a way out of this, I don't have Entropy with me right now and I really wish I fucking did.

I still have my dagger, and I'm capable of casting many Firebolts instantly. I rather it not come to a fight but if it does I'm as ready as I can be if it does. Right now my best bet is to get away from those chasing us and slip away from these two afterwards, dealing with two is better than three or five. During this whole chase I can feel my heart race as I feel my panic constantly.

But we're moving slower than needed to outrun those pursuing us, I hear them getting closer. The unicorn mare is decently fast, but the smaller pegasus is slowing us down. she is tired already and won't last much longer at this rate. I don't have a plan right now and at this point I'm just concerned we won't get away. :Agghh, FUCK IT!: I stop for a moment and grab the small pegasus.

Both mares look surprised and very concerned at my actions. "What are yo-" She's cut off as I pull her onto my back and keep running at a faster pace. Both still seem surprised but don't question it as we turn onto a new street and quickly find another alley to run down.

The distant hoof steps of those following us disappear over the next few minutes of frantic running. The unicorn mare is completely out of breath at this point and needs to stop. I look around and see a cafe that's still open with a decent amount of ponies eating and relaxing inside, I'm not sure if they can track us but we can't stay out in the open like this.

I take the mare off my back. "They're probably still following us, come on." I don't elaborate more than that and start walking towards the cafe with a calm expression and stance pretending nothing is out of the ordinary. It's not the best idea to walk into an enclosed space, but I doubt whoever is following us will start anything with so many ponies around.

I don't look back but feel their life magic following me after a moment. I casually walk inside and find a free booth to sit in, the booths are separated by small walls so we should have some privacy. The two mares are definitely on edge, and the unicorn is still breathing hard, but both sit down opposite of me after a moment.

"Order anything and don't cause a scene. If they follow us in pretend they don't exist and ignore them." I'm not calm in the least, but I project that I am to not cause a scene. Once the coast is clear I'll just walk away and explain nothing, it's a stupid plan that will probably fail, but I don't have a better idea right now.

After a tense minute of me looking through the menu and pretending I'm calm a waiter walks over to us. "What can I get you three?"

I don't skip a beat and answer immediately. "Coffee with sugar and a cheese bagel please." I don't like coffee and bagels are not my favorite, but the fewer things these two know about me the better.

After a moment the mares order some green tea and plain doughnuts. After the waiter leaves we all go silent, but after nearly a minute of pure silence the pegasus speaks up. "Why are you helping us?" She asks with thinly veiled suspicion.

I stare her down for a moment. I could just not answer her and keep silent, but we're in this together now and they are my only potential allies. So I decided to play the calm and confident card while trying to gain some trust from them by being somewhat honest. "You dragged me into this, and those ponies didn't look like the type to just give up." I stop as the waiter brings us our things.

Once they are gone again I continue, "They've seen me with you now, they'll be looking for three ponies, not two. I could walk away right now, but if either of you get caught you could tell them about me, and then I'd be in an even worse scenario. So for now we're stuck in this together." I'm pretty sure this is related to either Changelings or crime, and in either case I don't want to be involved further by these two getting caught.

My paranoid mind strikes me with a thought as I drink some far too black coffee. "Do they have any way to track you two?" I ask calmly. Honestly, I'm a little surprised I've kept this calm facade as this situation unfolds, I guess knowing I have skills and backup helps.

I'm supposed to meet Celestia tomorrow and if I'm not there, and when I don't answer any of the letters she will inevitably send when I don't show up, she will come looking for me. And it's not like I'm defenseless, I keep telling myself different reasons why I can maintain my calm. It doesn't really work, but I keep the fake calm on my face.

They both look at each other after my question, after a moment the unicorn starts looking through the small singular bag she has with her. Once she's checked her bag thoroughly she turns to me and shakes her head, "Not that we would know, but I can't say for certain."

The two mares have been faring worse than me on the surface, they both look nervous, jittery and aren't that good at hiding their concerned expressions. I can't say I don't sympathize, I'm also far from calm, I'm just better at hiding it than they are. The pegasus seems worse off and is tapping her hoof on the floor. "What do we do now?" She asks me impatiently.

I look at her while swallowing a bite of my warm bagel. "It depends on if they find us here, if they don't we look busy until it looks clear and leave calmly. If they do find us it's unlikely they will try anything when this place is so busy, our best bet is to wait until dark and leave then."

With a plan they should be a little more calm. "And if they do try something." She snaps back a little, seems she's more on edge than I thought.

"Cherry, calm down. But she is right, what if they do try something?" The unicorn interjects and calms the pegasus down some.

I make a mental note of the name before answering. "It's the end of the day and most guards change shift around now, I can count at least three off-duty guards with us right now," I tell a half-truth while keeping my voice as steady, I'm not sure the ponies I spotted are guards but they look about right and could actually be guards. I watch their reaction as I tell them, they both start glancing around and looking at different ponies with clear worry.

And as if to prove my point an on-duty guard walks in wearing their armor and starts to walk to the counter to order something. The guard is probably starting the night shift, maybe here for some coffee. It's at this moment I see the pegasus mare panic and quickly put on the bracelet she had apparently taken off at some point.

We see her put it back on a moment later, right after she puts it back on the guard stops and starts to look around them. They start on the opposite side of the cafe and start looking over the ponies and what they are wearing. Both the mares see this and freeze at the sight.

I don't know why they freeze up but I need them to stop staring at the guard. So I think fast and start drawing out a spell matrix as a distraction, that gets them to look away from the guard and back at me. But then out of the corner of my eye, I see the guard start messing with a cuff on their foreleg and looking around more, at the same time that my necklace started to heat up.

It didn't take long for my brain to connect the dots and realize why they just froze so hard. My mind was really starting to panic now. :Fuck! Is that for detecting illusions? Why would they have that?: I panic and do the first thing that comes to mind.

The spell I was making wasn't complete so I was able to quickly swap a few parts out and cast the most basic illusion spell I knew before the guard looked at us. It's the spell that lets me draw on the illusionary canvas, once it's in the air in front of me I start talking about it. "Pretty neat ya? I spent a while trying to learn it." I say louder than I need to.

The guard looks over at us and sees the spell before looking us over as I ignore them and keep talking about the spell while keeping eye contact with both mares, at this point both of them look confused and dazed about what's happening. "It's a basic illusion spell that lets me draw and paint, how cool is that?" I fake my excitement and speak louder than I need to.

The guard hears me and after a few moments seems to calm down and lose interest while I keep talking about what the spell does. Once the guard looks away I bring up a hoof and make a zipping motion that seems to snap them out of their panic and they quickly nod as I continue talking about the uninteresting inner-workings of the spell.

By the time the guard leaves I'm drawing with the spell and still talking about it, but once they are gone I drop the spell and my excited act. "Don't do whatever you just did again," I say to the Pegasus as seriously as I can, they both nod and I look around. Still, no sign of the other ponies, if we lost them then we need to leave soon.

At this point they probably suspect that I know they are using an illusion, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to know to cast an illusion spell. I hope they assume that I think they are under an illusion, and not that they are Changelings, they also probably think I knew about the guard's bracelets before now. So I'll play on these assumptions.

We sit in silence as I try to think about what to do next, I'm with two ponies who I know aren't ponies, and now they know that I know that they are hiding something.

How do I get out of this? If they are part of the hive then more of them will come for me for just interacting with them. No matter how I separate from these two it will always lead back to me being in danger from association with them. I don't think I can get out of this situation on my own, but the only pony that can help me is Celestia.

Celestia could solve this easily. But getting her help means one of two things, telling her I know about Changelings, or bringing these two Changelings to her while pretending that I only thought they were under an illusion spell. And then there is the fact that this will massively change the timeline, but I think that ship has already sailed.

That guard could detect illusions, and those bracelets on the mares are the only thing stopping it. It explains why the necklace only half worked earlier, my version of the illusion detection spell is both better and enchanted into a bigger, higher-quality gem. The bracelets these two are using can ward off the guards detection, but not mine.

As for why it's too late to not fuck up the timeline even more then I already have, I remember Celestia taking the illusion detection spell from me a while ago. It's easy to see her equipping her guards to find Changelings, I'm not sure how the Changelings found a way to counter it in time but they did.

This means it's likely that Celestia has already captured a Changeling or knows about them, and if either of those things are true then there is no downside to bringing these two to her. Honestly, it's the safest option now, for both me and them, even if they get imprisoned I know Celestia wouldn't treat them badly. And getting caught by whoever's after them is probably a much worse fate.

With my mind made up I just need a way to implement it. So I start with trying to figure out why they are here, it's obvious that Canterlot is not a good place for them to be. I stare them down and make sure my knife is ready before speaking. "We both know that you're both under illusions and that you know about the guards' bracelets. So why are you doing this? Why take a risk like this?" I demand in a stern flat voice.

Neither of them looked shocked that I guessed about the illusion, I guess they figured it out from the spell I used. They both look very nervous but also a little relieved. Good, they think I only think it's an illusion, I can take them to Celestia and claim I had no idea that Changelings were even a thing. But I'll probably have to capture them to do that, and my best bet to accomplish that is knowing their plans.

After some tense silence and them both looking at each other, they both look unsure about answering me. Then turn back to me, the unicorn speaks up with a wary and cautious tone as she answers me. "We're here to try and get an audience with the princess, and to ask for her help."

I stare at her for a moment. :Ha, that's, not what I expected:

Author's Note

Thanks for reading you lovely people. :3

I had some inspiration and decided this was a good time it add some action, or at least what counts for action in this story. Honestly I feel like this even might be a little sudden, but it's how I want things to go and life has a tendency to be sudden. And hey, if I write myself into a mess I'll just have to write my way out.