Whatever the heck these ponies are planning on doing was in the back of my mind. Sure, it was a big concern given that the apparent ruler of wherever the hell I am didn't like me. That definitely wasn't good given that it seemed like this was some sort of monarch system, so I could be executed because one horse decided I was too much of a freak to be kept alive. Even that was on the back of my mind.
I hated being what I was now. A Changeling, bug horse, horse bug, whatever it was, sucked. Not because being whatever I am was hard, walking proved to be pretty easy, I could maybe fly with the new pair of wings that I have, and potentially move things with my horn if Shining's display of what his horn can do was anything to go off. So by all means, I should be happy with my new body, but I wasn't. For starters, no thumbs, no standing on two legs.
It's pretty annoying to realize that I can't really do as much as I want with a couple of hooves. My legs were definitely much, much more flexible than any normal horse's legs, and despite going against my grasp on the laws of physics, I can kind of grab stuff without fingers. It was just the thought of it all. I was born as a human being, and I've lost my humanity. That alone was enough to make my mood kind of down, while not even touching how I felt about leaving my family behind.
Leaving my family behind. I won't be able to eat mom's underwhelming food, but love-filled cooking. Dad was barely in the picture since he worked night shifts, but I still loved him. Last, but not least, I won't see my brother again. There's one constant of younger siblings regardless of species: We annoy our older siblings because it's fun and we love them. I will never get the joy of pestering my brother into getting him to play a round of Mario with. I couldn't even just annoy him with a hug. There's two things you can't replace. The first is your parents, and the second is your brother. I now have nobody to fall back on.
Despite that, I know I shouldn't just sit around and mope all day. It's been a while since anybody's come to look at me, well, besides the occasional guard that comes by and gives me the stink eye. So I spent most of my time pacing, which quickly grew into a trot, and a couple short sprints. All of which came just as naturally as walking did, but instead of just one foreleg off the ground, followed by the opposite back leg, both front legs and back legs are off the ground in an alternating pattern.
It was actually kind of fun to just trot around, but it could be the fact that I didn't get to keep my backpack. Chances are that damned Princess Pink Prick took it to see if she could dig up any dirt on me, which happened to have my phone in it. Granted, my phone was basically about to die, but I could've just sat down and listened to some music. I could even redo homework throughout the school year to help time pass by faster. I just wish that my jail cell had access to a window, so I can tell if it were day or night, or just to see some sunlight.
Eventually I grew tired of trotting around my jail cell. My hooves were starting to hurt a tiny bit, and I was just tired of pacing around. I eventually found a decently sized chunk of rock, which was likely a part of the wall or floor at some point, and started prodding at it with my hoof. Look at me, being distracted by a rock like a stupid child. I suppose that's what happens when you're bored and run out of things to do.
Apparently I had ADHD or something, because I got so distracted that I never noticed the new company I had on the other side of my cell's bars. Somebody clearing their throat caught my attention as I looked up from my rock, which I was tempted to chew on; it'd give a good test of my new fangs. My new company was none other than Pink Princess Prick, but she was joined with the white horse from earlier, Shining was his name if I was right. There were two other ponies that joined them, a white, tall horse with similar regalia as the pink one. Except a sun was emblemized on the collar. This horse also had a mane that defied physics and it flowed in a nonexistent wind. It was a really pretty mane in all honesty and I could see how strong this horse was. It looked like she could pop my head off with one slap of a foreleg.
The other had a similar mane, except it looked like the night sky was caught in the mane. Instead of golden regalia, she wore a black crown and collar? Necklace? I'm not entirely sure, but I should probably refer to whatever it was as a necklace. Anyways, this horse wasn't nearly as tall as the white one, but her fur was somewhere between a dark blue and pitch black. Telling a queen that they were wearing a collar seemed a bit degrading and also a good way to be headless. Either way the two new arrivals were pretty looking, but those thoughts were quickly shut down by the blue one's stink eye.
"Are you going to at least rise when facing us, or shall we make you stand?" The blue one asked. There wasn't any hiding it, this one was pissed and she certainly wasn't keeping her thoughts hidden behind a curtain. I took a heave and sat up on my rear instead of laying flat on my stomach. These two ponies might be royalty or whatever, but I refused to stand or bow to these guys. They were probably going to kill me anyways, so what's the point?
"So this is the Changeling you've told us about?" The white one asked. Pink Prick nodded. "So this Changeling claims to be human. Tell me, do you have a name?" The white one asked. My backpack suddenly made its way into existence, falling unceremoniously onto the ground in front of Shining. He suddenly dug through it and whipped out a couple papers, and I remained silent.
"This bag was found with the Changeling, and I think it's his. Has papers full of… school work by the looks of things. Either this Changeling went out of his way to study humans, or he's telling the truth. But its supposed name seems to be on each paper," Shining said before handing the paper over to the white one again. Well, I'm an 'it' now. That's pretty cool, I don't even get to be a male. I could be a female now and I wouldn't know, so now I get to fully avoid that confusion!
"Sting Ray," the princess said. "Am I saying your name right? I don't want to accidentally insult you by pronouncing your name wrong," she asked.
"You said it right. I prefer being called just 'Ray' though. You could also just drop whatever pleasantries you have. Either you're here to question me, kill me, or question me and then kill me. Whatever you decide to do doesn't really matter. I already know that I probably won't see my house ever again, and judging from the glare that Blue Butt over there is giving me, I'm some sort of freak. So, how long is it until I'm beheaded?"
The white one gave a humorless chuckle. "We're not going to execute you. Not only is that not legal, but we could be killing a potentially innocent soul for the heinous crime of simply being alive. I am here to question you however, but I believe greetings are a bit overdue. I am Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, or Blue Butt as you call her, is my sister," Princess Celestia gestured to Princess Luna… why did these two share the first name of my school's principals?
"This here is Princess Cadence, and the stallion standing beside her is Captain Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard and the Crystal Guard. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ray. It's rare that we get to meet a Changeling, let alone one that claims to be a human. A creature that cannot even be found in this universe. So may I hear how you've gotten here." Celestia's horn glowed gold for a moment and I felt something clamp around my neck.
A white band was now around my neck, which was kind of tight. "That is a lie detector, so please tell me the truth. I can very easily tell if you are lying, but this is simply to help your case in case you're telling the truth. So please, tell us how you ended up as a Changeling, human," Princess Celestia said with a rather inviting smile. It was probably just some ploy to make me more comfortable, despite it sounding like there was some sort of threat being made against me if I were to fib.
I shrugged and figured I might as well tell my story.
"Alright so, my school, Canterlot High, was closing for the summer. It was my first year and it went pretty smoothly, I had good grades, and I was fully prepared to just take a nap when I got home," I took a moment to stop talking. As it seemed like Principal- I meant Princess Celestia was writing something down. "I then got stopped by Vice Principal Luna, had a chat with her and Principal Celestia… which now that I think about it is a bit coincidental that you and your sister share names with them.
"I'm going off topic, but pretty much I left school and decided to lean up against some statue of a horse in front of the school. I was just waiting for my brother to pick me up, said he wanted to get some ice cream to celebrate me not flunking during my first year of highschool or something. I uh, well, you can see I didn't get to go through with that plan, since I'm here now. That statue's cursed in some way or something, I dunno. Anyways, I black out, and wake up in a storage closet to find out that I'm a bug horse."
"Pony bug," Princess Celestia seemingly corrected. "Well, it's good to see that you're not lying, Ray. I will say, as brief as your story is, I do believe you and that you were human," the cell door glowed in gold, and it swung open. "I believe my old student might have had a run in with you at some point, she has ventured off into your world once. A lot of what you said lines up with what she described of your world, and proves a theory she has had as well."
My backpack is handed(hoofed?) over to me a moment later. "I believe this is rightfully yours. Care to join the four of us for dinner? We can have a nice discussion of what your world is like, and what your future might hold," Princess Celestia offered. There really wasn't a way for me to say no, was there? I nodded as I began to rummage through my backpack and whipped out what should've been breakfast. Just a cinnamon Poptart.
I've always hated this specific flavor, but it is going to be the only thing I've eaten all day, since I skipped lunch. I quickly tore the wrapper off the 'treat' and stuck the packaging in my backpack. "I don't think I really need to eat much, so I'll just munch on this thing while we walk," I say as I take a bite out of the vile stuff(extra grainy, gross!). As it turned out, my new body didn't immediately reject what I ate, so I figured what I was eating was fine.
Princess Celestia nodded and turned to leave the door. The other three ponies in the room followed her, all except Princess Luna, who was still giving me the stink eye. "You best not try anything, if you know what's good for your health," she said.
"Wow, I'm feeling how lovely you must be, oh wondrous Princess. I'm barely able to reach your neck in terms of height, and that's mostly because of my stupid horn. Like I can do much beyond walk and hobble along as I try to eat this thing," I take another bite and hobble alongside the princess as we walk side by side… Well, Princess Luna was a good pace or two ahead of me, but that was probably due to her longer legs.
I took a breath as I scarfed down the rest of my Poptart and groaned once I realized that there's a second one. "God I hate school food," I grumble as I take the second pastry in my hoof and hobble along.
"If you're not going to eat that, then I will," Princess Luna said. I could hear her stomach growl, like she hadn't eaten anything all day.
"Will you stop giving me the stink eye if I let you have this thing?" I chuckled. "Actually, you'd probably rip my head off after eating this thing. It barely registers as food. This thing's more sugar than grain, and this is 40% more grains." However the hell Poptarts could register as 'healthy enough to be served in school' I will never know. Well, it did pretty much power you up on sugar so you can annoy the hell out of the poor teacher that has to deal with a hyper kid.
"I will consider not glaring at you," Princess Luna said. Well, good enough for me, I guess. I offered the death square over to Luna, and it was enveloped with a blue hue as was LunaMs horn. "I probably would stop glaring at you anyways, since if I recall from Twilight's escapade in your realm, if you just start out highschool, then you should be pretty young. Glaring at a child all day is something that I'm not a fan of doing."
Princess Luna then took a bite of the poptart and her eyes widened before she quickly scarfed the thing down. What a freak, she actually enjoyed a cinnamon flavored poptart? "Please tell me that you have more, that was delicious," Princess Luna almost begged.
"Aren't you a princess that gets to eat gourmet food all the time? How the hell is a Pop Tart delicious to you?" I asked.
"Well, it tasted like cinnamon, which I do like quite a bit." I then rummaged through my backpack and managed to pull out another pack of cinnamon pop tarts… why did I have so damn many of these things? I don't know why, but these pop tarts were at least a day old. Not that it would improve the flavor if these came fresh out of the oven, but it was something to note. Princess Luna then snatched the poptards from my grip with her telekinesis(what I'll just be calling the floaty magic stuff she does) and removed them from the wrapper.
She ate one in one bite, what the fuck?
"What is that, sister?" Princess Celestia asked.
"Well, according to Ray here," she actually referred to me by name! That's better than being glared at by a long shot. "These are pop tarts. They're quite good if I must say so," Luna then grabbed my bag and dug out another couple packs. I have a problem with grabbing those little death squares at breakfast apparently… too bad that won't be a problem anymore. "Do try one, it seems that Ray doesn't like cinnamon."
Princess Celestia then proceeded to take up a poptart and popped the whole thing in her mouth. She had a similar reaction to her sister. "And I have the last packet!" Princess Luna said like it was a declaration. "But since I am a gracious sister, we can split this one, there's two in each packet!" Did Luna manage to eat the other packs of Poptarts that quickly?
We finally reached what was likely the dining room and we all took a seat around the table… not before I walked over to a window! It's been so damn long since I've seen sunlight! I was almost left speechless by the sight of what I saw. It was a beautiful little city that we were in, since everything looked so shiny and crystal like. I simply couldn't explain what I saw, but pulled myself away from the window. It probably wasn't a good idea to keep rulers waiting.
"So you're likely wondering what will happen to you, correct Ray?" Princess Celestia asked. I simply nodded as I took a seat. "Well, for starters, we might have to find a place for you to stay. Are you capable of living on your own?" She asked.
"No, I'm barely even 14 years old. I shouldn't even be thinking about that yet," my ears flattened. "I mean, I could probably live on my own, but it would just feel wrong. From having a mom and dad who cooks for you, a brother that also helped take care of you, to living alone just feels wrong… but I don't think you'll be finding anybody who'd happily take this in," I gestured towards myself. "After all, I'm a freak."
"You are not a freak, Ray. Yes, you are a Changeling, and mist ponies won't react too warmly to you, we had a Changeling attack a couple months ago, afterall. But you are far from a freak, you can just get substance off of love and shapeshift," Princess Celestia said in a scolding tone. "Now do not speak of yourself in such a way. You can do quite a bit of good, regardless of what you are," she took a breath.
"I suppose Luna and I can keep you in our castle, it would not be too much of a hassle. You are also a child, and I know Luna loves children," Princess Celestia offered. "And we won't ask much in exchange. Just that occasionally some scientists will want to look into you, since you're the first living Changeling that might willingly let itself be studied by scholars."
"I can let myself get experimented on… but you're seriously offering me a chance to sleep in a castle. You're offering your hospitality to a stranger, an alien, something not even from your universe. That seems a bit sudden don't you?" I asked.
"Well, for starters, I would like to keep an eye on you. Second, you are a child, and finding you a home would be a tad bit difficult. I could send you off to my former student's castle, but I don't think you'd get to sleep with how much she'll be prodding you for information. Plus I would like it if we had an extra pony in the castle."
"This is still a little sudden. I can live in a cardboard box or get a job. I really don't think I'm worth expending resources on," I said.
"Now now, I insist. Princess Luna seems to already enjoy you; you won her over with those poptarts." She chuckled as Luna nodded in agreement. "And you don't seem to be too bad of a Chanegling and you can eat solid food, so feeding you isn't a problem."
"And I would like a child, even if they're adopted, and a Changeling," Luna chimed in.
"And I'll get a cousin!" Princess Cadence cheered.
"You all warmed up to me a little quickly. Wasn't I a prisoner not even half an hour ago?" I asked.
"I suppose it does seem a little quick, but let me and Luna just take you in. I can fill in any education that you might be missing."
"And I'm not winning this argument," I sighed.