"Hey Ray, wake up!" I lifted my head off my pillow… my brother was standing over me. "Hurry up, big man! I wanna show you something really cool!" I groaned as I sat up. My brother was in a tank top and some basketball shorts, which was really all he wore at home, even during the winter. How the hell Light never got cold while basically wearing nothing, I'll never know. I dropped out of my bed and went to follow his lead into his side of the room, which doubled as his little at-home video studio.
The wall was lined with Light's camera collection(aka old cameras that he didn't wanna toss out), tripods, stacks of sd cards, camera straps and a spot for the camera he was currently using. Off to the side of the room was his bed, which was pretty bare bones, as it only had a blanket and a pillow. He didn't even have a bedframe. On his bed however, sat a laptop which had Sony Vegas open, with a project. He picked up his laptop and showed me what he was working on… it was blurry for some reason, but the main thing that stood out was a well made cgi horse with characteristics of a bug.
"Yo, that is really coo-"
"oof!" I grunted as I shot awake. I was somehow on the floor of my hospital room, my blanket was underneath me, and the room was empty. I've long since been unplugged from the heart rate monitor, which I didn't know why the hospital staff had me plugged into it, but I probably shouldn't question it. I looked over as much of my exoskeleton as I could, and thankfully, there were no cracks. That was good, since that meant that part of me was healed. Despite my leg being broken, it was fine as long as I kept it in the sling. And lucky me, I landed on my back so I didn't agitate the broken leg any further. Good thing I landed on the side of the bed closests to the door.
Well, isn't this quite the pickle I've put myself in. I could barely figure out how to get up with all 4 of my legs available. And that was with the help of Princess Celestia… how was I going to get up with 3 legs and a sling? I could try levitating myself with my horn, but I still kinda struggled with anything the size of my water bottle, and I was definitely larger(and heavier) than a water bottle. "Help! Somebody? I… can't get up," I saw a nurse peek into the window, and they walked away. Was I really not even worth helping, nurse? Well, fuck you too, nurse. I began to just accept my new situation of laying on the floor, for what could possibly be hours, on a really crummy blanket.
I laid my head on my good left, and the door clicked open. Sure enough, as Luna said she would, she came bright and early to take me out of the hospital. "Well, hello Ray- what are you doing on the floor?" Luna asked.
"Well you see, I was having a pretty cool dream. I saw myself as a Changeling in the mirror on my brother's laptop, and then I woke up on the floor. I tried calling for help, some nurse checked and saw me on the floor, and walked off. I know he saw me, he looked me dead in the eyes. Do ponies really not like Changelings that much? I've got a broken leg, and fell on the ground, and nobody could even be asked to at least check and see if I injured my leg any further? Am I really that vile of a creature that nobody would help me at all?
"I mean, I probably woulda just been left to die had Princess Celestia not found me. And if I were found while I was still conscious in the alleyway, I'd probably be dragged out and kicked and beaten until I got killed. If somebody brought me here, nobody would even give me a room without you or your sister telling the staff to give me a room. I'm that lucky, with being 'reborn' as a bug horse that sucks on love, and then has big, sharp fangs! Woohoo, I almost don't want to hang myself because of that last bit! I'm a disgusting, hideous, bug that should've been swatted on sight!"
Luna levitated me up onto the bed, and laid down beside me. "If it is any consolation, I do not you're any of those things. Sure, you've got fangs, but by no means are you ugly. I don't know what would classify a Changeling as 'handsome', but I do know this, Ray. You're pretty nice most of the time, when nobody ticks you off, of course. You've given me a second chance, you seem to just want to tell jokes, and you seem like a pretty smart, young stallion. This is why I'm coming to retrieve you, actually. Once the doctor cones with your release forms, then I will be taking you around Ponyville and begin to introduce you to the populace. You'll like the ponies here."
"That's… if they immediately get scared of a Changeling that's a good head shorter than them. Like seriously, I've compared my height to Twilight, since he's apparently of average height for mares, and my head barely reaches the base of her neck. You are at least as tall as three of me stacked on top of each other, and I'm pretty skinny and not very muscular. Yet people still think that I'm a threat that needs to be eliminated as soon as possible," I chuckled. "It's kind of amusing but a little depressing too. Good thing I'm used to not having friends!"
The door clicked open again before Luna could respond. The Doctor, yo, it was Time Turner Whooves again, walked in with a couple sheets of paper. "Well Luna, everything is in order for Ray to leave today. I can offer you both a leg wheel, since that Changeling should keep the weight off of his leg. It's mostly healed, but I personally wouldn't want to take chances of it snapping again because it hadn't healed properly. Just make sure Ray is either hopping along as a tripod, or at least isn't walking on that left leg of his."
Luna nodded. "Of course doctor," she said after taking the papers from Time Turner. "I will ensure Ray doesn't decide to ride a scooter down a hill at 50 gallops per hour. Is there anything else I need to do, Time Turner?" Luna asked.
"Other than making sure Ray gets some shut eye at night, not really. All that really matters is making sure your kid takes it easy for a couple days." With that, Time Turner rolled in a wheel with a strap on it. "This is the only leg wheel in Ray's size, so I'm sorry if it doesn't fit well. This is in case you need it, your highness," Time Turner grinned. "And I'm looking forward to seeing you again, Ray. Well, as long as you aren't in a hospital. Nopony your age should be spending their days in a hospital bed, and I think you agree." I nodded.
"You best meet me at Hayburger in a couple weeks, doc!"
"Of course!" With that, Time Turner bid me his farewells, and went off to look at another patient.
"Y'know, we really should get those adoption papers changed," I said. Luna raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I don't really see you as a mother, and you sometimes treat me like you'd treat a sibling. In other words, you're like a really overprotective, older sister that happens to be the ruler of a country," I chuckled. "And you can raise the moon, but you can't lift my fatass for more than 5 seconds at a time." We both chuckled.
"What can I say? You have your own gravitational pull, Ray. Though if you see me as an older sister, then I don't mind. It'd be nice to be the older sibling for a change" I shrugged. Maybe I just liked being the younger sibling.. I was then promptly strapped into the leg wheel, which was a lot like a wheel chair. Instead of sitting in a chair, it was well strapped to you, and I assumed that these things were normally strapped to the side where a broken leg is. Since Luna strapped it on the shoulder of my broken foreleg, moving around felt way easier than if I were hobbling around. And thanks to my carapace, I hardly even noticed the straps. This was way better than using a pair of crutches.
As we walked through the hospital halls, many of the staff greeted Luna and pretended like I wasn't even there. That was fine by me, if I were to receive attention, it'd probably involve some verbal lashings, and then it'll end with me feeling sad. I'd say physical lashings were possible. We eventually made our way out of the hospital, after Luna yelled at me for trying to walk down a staircase with a broken leg with a device very clearly not built for going up and down stairs(I got delegated to air jail for that). Now I could finally get a look at Ponyville without having the feeling of somebody chasing me.
It was a really simple town, each building looked damn near the same, white, painted wooden houses with straw(I think it was straw) roofs. You could tell that the homes were made to be well, homely, but not very fancy. You could see the framework of each house, but it kind of added to the aesthetic of the town. The roads were all paved in what looked like stones(which kinda looked like roads the Romans built), and looked clean. A couple buildings stuck out, like one that looked like a cake, and of course, the massive tree castle that took up a huge part of the horizon; Twilight's castle.
Great, another castle to get lost in.
Aside from the castle, I could see a ton of apple trees, which likely meant that this town had a huge orchard around here. That sounded awesome! I've always wanted to go apple picking, but there were no orchards in Ireland, but we did have potato farms. And when we moved into Philadelphia, we were a little too deep into the city to really go apple picking. Who knows? Maybe the owner of the apple farm would let me pick an apple. Not a tree's worth, but just one. "Princess Luna! What are you doing here so early? Nightmare Night happens in a few weeks; you're early!"
A tan mare began to walk alongside Luna's left side, so I couldn't really get a good glimpse of her. What I could see was a gray, wavy mane and tail. She also had a collar with some sort of tie on it. I really hope I don't have to talk to this pony, but there was a solid chance that Luna would make me talk anyways. "Well, somebody has to make sure that this little bug doesn't get into trouble," Luna took a few steps back. "Mayor Mare, this is Ray. He's a teenage Changeling that me and my sister have found during our brief visit to the Crystal Empire. Don't worry; he doesn't bite!"
Mayor Mare eyes me for a second, with a small, concentrated frown. Oh great, did she think I was a freak? "No offense, your highness, but my question is why are you taking care of a Changeling? I received reports of a Changeling walking through town, scaring the daylights out of my citizens. A brave Royal Guard went to fight, said Changeling, but had fallen in the process. Eye witnesses claim to see Princess Celestia carrying a Changeling on her back; it was bleeding a lot and barely even conscious… don't tell me this is the same Changeling."
"Jeez, you could've at least asked me, the Changeling, that. Yes, I'm that Changeling that wanted to just walk through town, get a good feel for the place, since I've been thinking of moving here. Fortunately for me, a Guard chased me down and I hit him in the head with a trash can lid. And no, Princess Celestia did not even strike me, I ran face first into a wall and managed to break my leg. Name's Ray, by the way," I hung my head. "I can't even shapeshift and you ponies still think I'm a threat? You're a good 2 ft taller than I am, Mayor. You could probably kill me right now, by pushing me too lightly."
The mayor rubbed her chin as we continued onward. "I suppose, but I can't say I fully trust you. For all we know, you could be lying, and you hypnotized Princess Luna. Sorry if it takes me a while to trust you, Ray, but I can't take the risk if something potentially dangerous is in town."
"Whatever. I guess trust goes both ways? I don't think I can really trust you, Mayor. I've been… set back by Princess Celestia, and I don't think I can trust you either. For all I know, you could pretend to like me in a few weeks, and then publicly humiliate me and toss me out of town for being a Changeling. Again, it's whatever really. I already hate what I am as is, so how can I expect others to like me in turn?" I didn't even bother with listening to any response that may have elicited. I stopped halfway on a bridge that we were crossing and stared down into the stream. It was a simple thing really, it wasn't a roaring river, or a glorious waterfall, but it was still kinda neat. It's not everyday that I can look into a stream and not see a heavily polluted, shit filled river.
The stream's water was crystal clear, and it was beautiful.
"Ray, come along now, we've almost made it to Princess Twilight's castle," Luna nudged me, and I started walking again. The Mayor must have noticed how I took interest in something as simple as a flowing stream, since she stopped giving me a cautious look whenever her eyes landed on me. "After we show you your room, we will begin to properly explore town… Ms. Pinkamena has a surprise planned for you as well, and I don't think you'd want to miss it," Luna grinned while I was left in the dark.
"That reminds me, Ray?" My ear flicked in acknowledgement to the mayor. "I hope you enjoy your time in Ponyville. I'm sorry if… I made a bad first impression, but sometimes as Mayor of the most diverse town in Equestria, I should be welcoming you with open arms. Well, you'll probably hear this a lot at Pinkie Pie's surprise later, but welcome to Ponyville," Mayor Mare finished. She… was actually kinda genuine with that one? Maybe I was defective, since I could also sense that this lady didn't like me at all. Whatever, I just won't show up to whatever Pinkie has planned… nevermind, I'd feel awful since I think that Pinkie would've put quite a lot of effort into something for me, just to not want to even show up for that surprise? I should at least see what it's like.
We both stopped in front of Twilight's castle, which I was told was also called 'Friendship Castle'. What was with these ponies as titles? I think Luna and her sister have at a minimum, 25 titles, Princess Cadence probably has a dozen, and so does Twilight! And what? Does this castle have at least 17 different titles and names? For all I know, I was right and this thing was also called 'Castle of Friendship' or something else. Before my brain could wrap itself around why a castle anybody would need as many titles as the royalty(or their homes), Luna ascended up the stairs which looked like solid gold, which led up to a golden looking door with a couple of hearts on it. It was a double door and the hearts were where both sides of the door met. There were a couple windows on each side of the door, but whatever glass was being used, made it nigh impossible to see into.
Luna gave three knocks, which I swear could be heard from Canterlot from here, which you can easily see from where we were standing. Whatever bit of the sky wasn't taken up by this needlessly big tree, was taken up by the view of the mountain that Canterlot was sitting on, and you could even see the… I guess the capital city? From here. If I could fly, or knew how to use my wings, I could probably fly to and from Canterlot, but I shouldn't really underestimate the distance between here and Canterlot. It did take three hours by train to get here, after all. Either way, it was a neat little detail that I really couldn't notice when a Royal Guardsman wanted to kick my ass. The doors began to glow in a purple hue, and they swung inwards.
The main floor… was a throne room? There were six chairs, one looked like a throne, surrounding a fancy looking table. In each chair sat one of Twilight Sparkle's friends, with Twilight sitting in… I guess the center. Off to the side was a little desk, where a pony that looked incredibly similar to Twilight, but with a coat lighter in color, instead of the pink streaks in Twilight's mane were white streaks. She also had a cutie mark that was somewhat similar to Twilight's, with it being a start that was followed by a trail, instead of Twilight's big star surrounded by smaller stars. She seemed to be going over paperwork, so she was probably a secretary. I dunno, I probably shouldn't question what the heck Twilight Sparkle does in this castle.
The six bow to Luna for a brief moment, before their eyes fell on me. I nonchalantly waved at them, and pretended like I simply didn't exist. These ponies were probably mad at my whole disappearing act like Luna was(albeit, Luna was more worry driven than pissed). Boy do I wish I could shapeshift right now, I could change into a wet floor sign, and nobody would bat an eye at me. "Oh my, that Guard must have done a number on you, darling," Rarity was up in a flash, and was examining my broken leg. "When we saw you get chased by a Royal Guard, we didn't know what would happen to you, and then Princess Celestia came out and you were a mess!"
"Yeah! You must have some seriously awesome battle scars from that, right?" Rainbow asked.
Everybody else in the room gave a halfhearted glare to Rainbow as I chuckled.
"Man, why does everybody think I got beaten up by that guard? Are you going to pretend that Princess Celestia also didn't drag the guard's unconscious body out of that alley too?" I looked over at myself. "No scars though, which is good. I won't have to tell people about how I got them, if I had any scars from that whole thing. Good thing my exoskeleton leaves no marks, aside from maybe where it kinda stabbed me after I ran into a wall, but whatever," I tried to sit down, but this damned wheel made that kinda hard… I hate this thing now. "Anyways, I knocked the guard out somehow, don't ask how, and most of my injuries were self inflicted. Kinda went full speed into a wall, broke my nose, my leg, most of my carapace. Fun times…" Wait, none of these guys were mad about me just disappearing on them? Lucky me.
"Well, the important part is that you're alright, and that you're recovering. Though now I've got to ask, why did you think running off was a good idea?" Twilight asked. Nevermind, so much for assuming I was getting off of this scott free.
"I don't think straight when I'm mad, I guess. Could you really blame me for being angry though? I spent what, three days since I came here, doing basically nothing. Sure, I had dinner and breakfast with you six, and y'all are pretty cool. I got to sleep in a train bed that didn't suck, which was also neat, oh! And I got adopted by this country's rulers for some reason. Turned out that I actually really enjoyed said ruler's company too!" I glanced at Luna. "Oh! And then it turns out I coulda gone home during all of that, and nobody decided it would be a good idea to tell me that. Oh, and then I learn that, at a minimum, Princess Celestia actively chose to keep that tidbit secret! If anything, I should've been happy. I love not being able to see my family for another three and half fucking years! So much for being able to attend my own high school graduation ceremony. So much for finding love! That can wait three years. Princess Celestia wants to learn about Changelings and humans, so that comes first!
"Anyhow, I wasn't mad, really. It's why I thought it would be a good idea to hop on a train, and hop off at the first town it stops at. Without even learning about Equestria's geography, figuring out where each town is, or really grasping what could happen if somebody finds me, a Changeling, undisguised out on the street or whatever. I mean, hey, I now know that I can't live alone. Not because I can't, but because somebody will try to kill me for being the second coming of the Antichrist!" I chuckled. "Seriously though, I wasn't thinking straight, and I was fuming. Got to talk to this pegasus named Ditzy though during the train ride, she's pretty sweet."
"So in other words, you were being a teenager," Twilight said.
"Yeah, pretty much. Except that little tantrum wasn't so little, and the consequences," I wiggled my leg. "Was kinda big. I learnt a new lesson in anger management though! Kill your emotions, and you can't do any emotionally charged, really stupid decisions that might put you in a casket!" I chuckled. "I found a better solution than that though. I think I could punch my backpack for a few hours straight if I'm angry. Good thing I know where that went," I glanced at Luna.
"My sister may have taken that back to Canterlot, she wanted to study the contents of it," Luna admitted.
"I'll just punch a pillow when I'm mad then, I'll probably need one now, actually, since Mother Dearest Princess Celestia, add that to her already long list of titles, really decided to take the only thing in this world, that I still have of my old one without even asking. When my brother takes something, he at least lets me know beforehand," I took three deep breaths before I continued. "Work her way into my good graces, my ass." I muttered under my breath.
"Aanyways, we'll show you your room later, Ray. Pinkie has something planned for you at Sugar Cube corner, and we were just waiting for you to arrive. This'll brighten up your mood, show you in a good light to Ponyville's citizens, and you'll have fun." I nodded. "So, let's get a move on girls!" Twilight then glanced at the pony off to the side of the room. "Starlight, do you want to come with us?"
"No thanks, Twilight. I've still got lots of studying to do," this pony sounded quieter than Fluttershy does.
"I will ask my sister if she can return your backpack tonight. I assume there are some things you have in there that are important to you, correct?" Luna asked as we began to trail behind Twilight and her friends.
"Yeah, most of it was school work, but I had a couple card games, my phone, and there were a couple of books in there. It's not a lot, but it's really all I have. And it'll probably be all I'll have for a while, since I doubt I'll be able to get a job, or really want anything else. I can keep myself distracted with my newfound ADHD and a rock, so that's pretty cool." I glanced ahead, and noticed that we were approaching that cake looking building, which made me somewhat excited, since it looked so weird, that I wanted to see what was inside of it.
"You know, my offer to get you some other luxuries still stands. I can get you plenty of books, tons of these 'video games', and perhaps even try one of those card games you claim to have. That would be better than to be playing with a rock when you have nothing to do," Luna laid a wing over my shoulder. "Just say if you need something, and you will have it, Ray."
"I… don't think you should be wasting money on me. Couldn't that money go to… railroads?"
"Nonsense, I won't be using the Royal Treasury at your expense. I have a personal fund, Ray."
"You still shouldn't spend it on me. I appreciate the sentiment, but after what I pulled, I really shouldn't be given anything. That just sounds like rewards for sheer stupidity," I said.
"Ray, you've learnt your lesson already, especially with how injured you were because of your actions. But if you insist on not getting anything, then I won't get you anything. Just say the word, however, and I will get you some more luxuries, snacks, whatever. I have nothing to spend my personal funds on anyway, since I am not affected by taxes, nor do I even have to buy food." We hadn't even noticed that we walked into the cake building until I realized that I couldn't see Luna. Great, there goes that comfort, and why is it so dark in here?
Suddenly the sound of party poppers went off and a huge chorus of ponies shouted. "surprise!" Luna included… How did she get that party hat? Whatever, I didn't take a moment to look at anything. With how many ponies were here, I was probably dead meat! With a noise that surprised me(a shriek, how lovely!,) I quickly scurried over to where Luna was, which was by the edge of the room, and hid behind her. This wasn't a surprise, this was a death trap!
so like, I have a filmfiction account(Nugget27), where this story is also on. It's less grammatically bad, and I also have author notes going on about stuff that I wrote to make it look deep. check that out if you want.