A Game of Chess

Valice clenched her jaw as she walked through the grass, ignoring Twilight as best as she could. No matter what she tried, though, the annoying alicorn did nothing but pester her, this time not even bothering with words, or with glaring. Those she could take. She'd seen both often, and many times before she'd even revealed herself as a changeling.

No, what she couldn't take, what she despised, was what was showing in Twilight's eyes, now.

Nervousness.

Valice hated being feared more than anything, and for good reason, as well. Most of the ponies who showed her fear were those who stereotyped changelings so easily, and into such horrid ideas. Were there evil changelings, or, at least, criminals among her kind? Certainly, but she didn't think she was one of them.

In fact, she despised being roped into those who used their powers for their own selfish gain, and being treated as if she were a bomb about to go off and destroy Equestria.

It would have been easy for her to deal with Twilight's anger -- or all of their anger, because she could see that none of the others trusted her in the slightest -- but being looked at as if she were going to tear them all apart because she was a changeling was disgusting to her. After all, windigoes were free to do as they pleased, but changelings? Chronos forbid that they ever change form, or that they so much as look at another pony.

"Just let them all die out," seemed to be the common consensus. "Why should anypony care about what happens to them?"

Just imagining that made Valice clench her jaw even tighter.

Around her, several ponies were talking -- the three fillies spoke amongst themselves, Checkmate and Rainbow Dash had engaged in casual conversation, and even Dusk, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity were talking about something or other, while Pinkie Pie casually bounced down the road, humming to herself as she did -- but Twilight and Spike just walked beside each other, the latter attempting to draw the former into a conversation whilst she instead regarded Valice with the anxiety the scout despised.

At last, after several minutes of feeling immense, alicorn-shaped irritation, Valice snapped, turning her head back towards the two of them. "Can I help you?" she asked, her voice as deadpan as ever, "or do you just want to stare at the back of my head for the rest of the day?"

Twilight flushed, and looked away. "Wh... I... I have no idea what you're talking about," she announced, her voice surprisingly calm.

Valice rolled her eyes, stepping back so that she was next to Twilight. "Really?" she said. "In the same way that you're not regarding me as if I were a time bomb, right?"

Twilight simply continued staring away, her face still flushed, so Spike interjected. "W-well," he said, indignantly, "we're going that way, aren't we? So of course we'd be... uh... staring in... your... direction...?" He petered out towards the end as Valice's eyes bore into his.

"Huh," she responded, her voice still flat, "I didn't realize that in Equestria you watch the back of the ponies in front of you while you walk. I thought you focused on the path. Like most ponies do." Her gaze shifted to Twilight, then. "If you want to insult me, or condemn me, or whatever the hell it is, just say it."

"I'm not-!"

"Oh, come on!" Valice snapped. "Yesterday, all you did was look at me like I'm some kind of disease. So just say it, won't you? 'Changelings are monsters,' or something like that? Just say it."

"I'm not going to!" Twilight snapped in retaliation, yet kept her voice quiet enough so that the ponies in front of them wouldn't turn to look. "Why should I even try to make you listen to reason? It's obvious that you won't listen to a word I say, anyway."

"Of course not!" replied the scout, annoyed. "All you've been saying to me for the past day is how much you hate me, when you even bother talking to me at all. Otherwise, it's just this." The changeling's body became engulfed in flames, then, as she turned into a perfect copy of Twilight Sparkle, before cloning her anger-filled glare, as well.

Twilight looked at her with surprise, but said nothing, leaving Spike to intervene once more. "Hang on," he said, drawing both their gazes, and he gulped. Evidently having two Twilight Sparkles glaring at him was too much to bear, so Valice changed back into the form of the red pegasus. "Twilight," he said, hesitantly, "didn't you say that you were gonna... you know, apologize to Valice, instead of doing this again?"

The changeling's eyes widened, then. Of all the things that she could have heard that day, that was the one that she would never have expected in the slightest.

Twilight coughed, then, looking extremely uncomfortable, before she looked into Valice's eyes. "R-right," she said, as slowly as Spike had, obviously uncomfortable with how quickly the conversation had changed with that comment. "Valice, I just wanted to... um... to say 'I'm sorry' for how harsh I was yesterday. I guess I was just in a bad mood, but..."

Valice blinked several times, not knowing how to respond to that statement. It was the same feeling she'd had back when Dusk held Constellation to her throat; she didn't know what to say, but she knew that she had to say something. "Er... I... accept your apology," was the best that she could muster. "Um... th-thanks?"

At this reply, Twilight cracked a small smirk. "I... I never thought I'd see you of all ponies at a loss for words!" she said, and she laughed.

Valice's face flushed, then, and she looked away, nearly mimicking Twilight's previous act. "I... well, what am I supposed to say?" she asked, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "I mean..."

"I think that works pretty well," Spike said, puffing out his chest with pride, before he let out a yawn. "Urgh... How long until we reach Darkfrost, again? I could use some sleep..."

Twilight chuckled, using her magic to place the baby dragon on her back. "Illia did say that it would be around two days in total," she said, "so it should probably be another couple of hours of just... walking."

Valice grinned at this, suddenly noticing that Twilight was not regarding her so closely anymore. "And, once we get there," she added, "you'd better be at your full capacity. Knowing our luck, we're probably gonna have to fight with Deun once we get there."

Spike sighed. "I'm beginning to question why I let those three talk me into this..." he muttered, glancing over at the three fillies in question, who now spoke idly.

To that, Twilight cocked her head, slightly. "Why did you come along, anyway?" she asked. "Those three I can understand, but you, Spike? You're the one I have to literally drag out of bed everyday. I didn't think this would really be too interesting for you."

"It's not," Spike admitted, although he sounded very tired. "I just... I just wanted to get a bit more respect for what I've done... I mean, I saved the Crystal Empire, but nopony really seems to care, so I just..."

"... Wanted to be made known," Valice finished quietly, and she shook her head. "Well, I can attest to that. It's not a very good reason to just throw yourself into this quest, but --" she shrugged "-- well, what can be done, now?"

Spike simply sighed, but the two mares quickly heard the sound of snoring.

"I suppose we'll never know," responded Valice, and she looked over at Twilight. "Well, why'd you apologize now?"

Twilight blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, considering your animosity towards me yesterday, I'm guessing that you must have some reason for just saying that you're sorry. So what is it?"

The alicorn sighed, then, and shook her head. "I, uh..." she started, eloquently, "I'm not sure, really. I guess... forgiveness is just a part of life, and postponing that won't help us get any further into stopping V... er, Wendigo."

Ignoring that small mistake in her sentence, Valice decided to press further. "Really?" she asked, "is that it? You just want to forgive me -- one of the ponies who invaded Canterlot, foalnapped Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and all that other stuff you were listing off -- just because... you want to forgive me? I think there's more to it than that. You want to know something, don't you?"

Twilight bit her lower lip, but nodded. "Yeah," she responded. "I... just... Why would you invade Canterlot, of all places? Sure, there's a lot of love in that area, but I'm sure that there are other places in the world that have more love than Equestria."

Valice shook her head, and sighed. "It's not that easy, Sparkle," she said. "My kind, the changelings, are dying out. The world is already filled with hatred, and with fear, but love? Yeah, there's plenty of love, but not enough for us to live. It's not the amount that matters, but the concentration of it. Hate causes us pain, in large amounts, and we needed a place filled mostly by love in order to counter that." She smiled, sadly. "It just so happens that the highest concentration of love is in Equestria."

Twilight looked at the changeling, then, and let out a sigh of her her own. "But you could have just asked Celestia, and I'm sure she would've-"

"... Let us in? No, I doubt that." Valice glanced away. "Do you know what ponies think of when they see changelings?" Without waiting for a response, she continued. "Fear, and hatred, and anxiety. Our kind causes the opposite of what we want, because everypony who sees us gets so damn paranoid that their neighbor, or their brother, or their uncle, or anypony else is one of us." She ran a hoof down her side, and grimaced. "That's all we bring, and then the windigoes and sleipnirs get all they could want. It's the same principle in Equestria: ponies fear us. Even if we spoke to Celestia -- or, rather, if Chrysalis had the common sense to actually go and talk with her -- I doubt she'd listen."

"That's not true!" Twilight said. "Celestia is the most accepting, compassionate ruler in the world! ... Besides Luna," she added, quickly.

"And you know what?" Valice asked. "You're right. Celestia and Luna are the two most compassionate monarchs in the world, and that's why they would never allow us in. After all, what would their subjects say, unless we get secluded to a certain area?" Her eyes flashed. "We'd be looked at like the diamond dogs, or the hydras, or anything else you can think of: disgusting animals who only care about themselves. Never mind the fact that the job of changelings has always been to spread love, but I guess that Love didn't exactly know what ponies find 'unthreatening'..."

Twilight sighed, and shook her head. "I think you would be found much less threatening if you hadn't invaded Canterlot," she pointed out, her voice bitter. "I still think that Celestia would have allowed you all to enter Equestria -- and to live there in peace, too -- if you'd actually talked to her first, instead of just... well, doing everything you did."

"Again, you're right," responded Valice, "but my point still stands. No matter what you say about this, ponies still hate our kind, and fear us, and everything we do only breeds more of both. Thanks for the apology, really, Sparkle, but that doesn't change anything about this." She stopped then, and shut her eyes, gritting her teeth. "And I should hate all of you, too! You all took away the changelings' only chance to not die out, yet... I can't blame you. I can't blame anypony for this. We were struggling, and we decided to only worsen our situation."

Her eyes opened, then, and she looked back at Twilight. "When this is all done," she said, "I'll see if I can convince Chrysalis to talk to Celestia. But either way, I don't want this kind of thing to happen again. Otherwise, it'll just end in more suffering on both sides."

She stepped away, then, but continued speaking. "Thanks, Sparkle," she said, "for the apology, I mean. Sometimes, the smallest things have great effects, you know? I know that you haven't forgiven us, and that you probably never will, but..." She shook her head. "Anyway, I think I should just... walk by myself for a bit, if you don't mind."

And Twilight didn't even object as Valice continued to walk away, seeming lost in what she'd just been told.

Several hours had passed since Valice and Twilight's conversation, and the changeling had grown bored. Not tired, not exhausted. Bored.

Walking through the seemingly-endless meadow was about as exciting as flying through a clear sky with a light breeze: it wasn't. There were no monsters, no danger, and no excitement in the slightest. Granted, Valice was never one to live for excitement -- that seemed to be Rainbow's shtick -- but having nothing to do, or nothing to worry about in the slightest, was even worse.

All it did was give anypony a false sense of security, before Wendigo, or Deun, or some other really powerful creature would jump out of nowhere and attack them, and Valice hated that. She hated the silence -- even as the ponies talked so idly, with Checkmate and Rainbow still engrossed in their conversation, and several of the others continuing to speak, as well -- that surrounded her, and knew she had to fill it up somehow.

That's when she heard a voice from beside her.

"Hey, er... Valice?" Apple Bloom asked.

The changeling sighed, and rolled her eyes. While she'd never actually spoken to any of the three fillies on their journey, Rarity  had told her about them, and about what they would inevitably ask her.

She would have to thank her for that, someday, provided that any of them ever bothered to speak with her again once this quest was over. Even if Twilight had apologized, she could still tell the rage that burned in her eyes against all changelings, so she wasn't particularly optimistic in that regard.

Valice rolled her eyes, once more. "Alright, what is it?"

"Well..." Apple Bloom started, "do changelings get... uh... talent signs?"

At least that was a simple question to answer. "No," she responded, "we're not like windigoes or sleipnirs, either."

"What about when you turn into a pony?" questioned Scootaloo, the orange pegasus cocking her head ever-so-slightly. "Do you get their talents then?"

"No," Valice said, again. "All changelings have the same talent, and that's metamorphosis."

Sweetie Belle placed a hoof on her chin, which was rather impressive considering that they were still walking. "Huh," she said, "so what now?" She turned towards her friends. "I mean, we've already asked Checkmate, we can't even see Dusk's..."

"Well, I have some questions for the three of you," said Valice, and the three looked up at her in surprise. "First and foremost, why are you all so... casual around me? Don't you realize that I'm a changeling?"

"So?" asked Scootaloo, her voice reaching levels of deadpan that brought the smallest smirk to Valice's face, "why should that bother us?"

"Yeah," Apple Bloom stated. "Ya did save Pinkie, after all. Even if yer a changeling, that doesn't change much 'bout how any of us're gonna view ya. Just 'cause Twi' is still mad don't mean the rest of us are."

Sweetie Belle nodded her agreement. "They're right," she said, grinning. "Twilight's only mad 'cause of how personal that wedding affected her, but we're... um... oh, what's the word?"

"Different?" offered Scootaloo, hopefully.

"No, that's not it..." Sweetie Belle removed her hoof. "It was something like that, though..."

Valice smirked, slightly. "I think you're thinking of indifferent," she said.

"Yeah, that's it!" Sweetie said, grinning childishly. "Indifferent! We're completely indifferent!"

Valice chuckled at the filly's smile, as it was the complete opposite of what one would expect from Rarity's sister. Considering how -- in her personal opinion -- polite and well-spoken Rarity was, the bluntness of Sweetie Belle was very refreshing.

Although, that only created another thought for her entirely. They'd all admitted to not caring about that she was a changeling, and that Twilight only cared so much because of what had happened (which, Valice had to admit, was completely terrible on Chrysalis's part). But if that was the case -- if so few ponies really cared as much as the fillies -- could the case really be that the Equestrians didn't truly hold so much against the changelings? That there really could be a chance of them reentering the verdant, beautiful land rather than the dullness of the Mercury Springs?

Could there be a chance that the changelings could, after so long, find creatures who would accept them?

No, that was absurd; a pointless, worthless fancy that would only further hurt their goals. But still, no matter what, it filled her with a newfound hope, even in the pain. Granted, odds were that none of those who were personally involved -- Celestia in particular, although Cadenza, Shining Armor, and possibly Luna -- would never look upon them as anything other than shape-shifters, beasts that lived only to sew despair.

"... Um, Valice?"

She was brought back into the real world by that statement. "Oh, uh, what is it?" she asked Apple Bloom.

"Nothin', really," admitted the youth. "You were jus' starin' off inta space like that, and Ah wanted ta make sure that you were alright."

"O-oh, thanks," said Valice, sheepishly, before another question entered her mind. "Say, I've been meaning to ask... why did you all come along on this quest, anyway?"

Scootaloo sighed, then. "Well we wanted to get our cuti... talent signs," she said, correcting herself, "but we haven't really done anything useful."

"Yeah," sighed Sweetie Belle. "I mean, I wish we could do something to help, but I just feel like dead weight." She grimaced, then, and looked back. "All we've done is had to be protected, but I just wanna do something useful at least once."

"Same," replied Apple Bloom. "I mean... I wanna be like one of those... what're they called? 'Deuce machines'?"

"Deus ex machinas?" said Valice, helpfully, helping them find the correct word for the second time that day.

"Yeah, one of those!" said Apple Bloom, grinning. "Ah just wanna... well, Ah wanna do somethin' useful, no matter what it is. Otherwise, Ah'm just gonna feel like Ah'm sittin' around doin' nothin'."

"Same," said Sweetie Belle, mimicking her friend's statement. "I want to help, too, but... well, what can I do? I mean, yeah, Rarity taught me some self-defense stuff, but what good's that when I can't even hit my targets? Or if it's in not-self defense?"

Valice sighed, and looked at the two fillies, both of whom now looked sad at the revelation that, yes, two children couldn't really do much in a land populated by what were essentially phantoms. "Who knows?" she said, her voice surprisingly warm. "Maybe you both can do something useful to this. Chronos knows that I probably can't..."

Changelings weren't especially strong as it was -- which was the primary reason that Valice taught herself how to fight with two daggers, since they would give her a considerable advantage -- unless they were empowered by love, of course. But a land covered in hatred, filled with rage, pain, and sorrow, would be nearly impossible for her to do anything in. Even moving would be painful for her.

"Even me?" asked Scootaloo, curiously.

Valice chuckled. Why did she find these creatures so endearing? "Yeah," she said, "I'm sure you will."

She stepped away from the three, then (who were now openly debating whether they should change their name to "Talent Sign Crusaders" or keep it as it was), and moved back to walk, alone, along the meadowy path, where she continued somewhat contentedly, a new hope beginning to shine in her mind.