The Changeling Scholar

Chapter 6-Thieves and Deceptions

~ L̥ͦo̥ͦc̥ͦk̥ͦh̥ͦḁͦr̥ͦt̥ͦ~

"Where are we going?" I asked my brother excitedly. I can't believe we found him! After all this time...

"A safe place, Brother." He smiled at me as we flew. We had decided to stay in pony forms while we were on the pony-continent, but we all changed into Pegasi so we could fly. Solace said that he needed to grab someone, and he went and got another Pegasus out of one of the hospital rooms. He said that the Pegasus was important so he had to come with us. He said the Pegasus' name was Morpheus. Morpheus was pretty cool.

"Uh, where exactly is this safe place?" Cleo snapped at Solace. I shot her a glare and she glared back.

"Oh back home, on Aloria. In the Neverfree Forest, which is ironic considering Equestria here has a forest called the Everfree Forest."

"How is the Neverfree Forest safe?" I asked as I slowed down almost to a stop.

"Oh well, I know some Changelings who can take care of us for a little while."

"Really?" Cleo asked skeptically. "Who are they then?"

Solace rolled his eyes at her. "Uh, the Moth Changelings of course. They're kinda nocturnal but that's okay because if we don't stop flying, then we should get to their kingdom before the sun rises so we can get settled in and stuff."

~~~~~~~~~~

We finally reached the Moth Kingdom just as the colors of sunrise started to spread across the horizon. My wings were exhausted. We still hadn't changed back into our true forms in case someone was following us. As we landed at the gates to the kingdom, everyone changed into their true form. I glanced at Morpheus. He was still a normal Pegasus. "Are you just a pony?" I asked him.

Before he could respond, Solace jumped in front of him and said, "Yeeep, just a normal, regular, Pegasus pony."

I was about to point out that it sounded like he was lying but a Moth Changeling interrupted me. "Who are you and what is your business here?" The Changeling had a dark gray coat and his eyes were light gray while his wings were Midnight black with a small splash of white speckles near the tips.

Solace scoffed. "You seriously don't recognize me, Onyx? I mean, come on! We've literally fought side-by-side for years!"

The Changeling who I assumed was named Onyx hissed quietly. "Of course I recognize you, Solace, but how do I know you're the real you?"

Solace rolled his eyes, walked up to Onyx, the whispered something into his ear. Onyx growled slightly as Solace stepped away with a smug look on his face. "Okay, fine," Onyx finally muttered. He waved his hoof above his head and the gates started to open.

"Thank you Onyx!" Solace said cheerfully as he pranced through the now-open gates.

Me and Cleo glanced at each other but followed him inside. We were shocked by the Moth Kingdom's appearance. There were houses made out of mud with roofs made of dead grass. There was algae growing all over the place and annoying bugs flying around. Some Moth Changelings were chasing the bugs and snapping them out of the air. Solace led us inside and I noticed that Onyx was following close behind us.

Solace kept trotting until we neared a larger building than the rest. It looked like it was made out of a mixture of mud and stone, and it had lopsided windows on the sides of it. Solace walked through the doorway, since there wasn't a door on it. Me and Cleo followed but we were both rigid and had our guards up.