I woke up to a tray of food next to my bed. I ate every last crumb like I hadn't eaten in weeks. Well... Technically that's true. I’d been having pony food for a week now, but it wasn’t totally filling. Maybe I should have a word with Twilight about my eating habits.
As if the thought had summoned her, Twilight walked in. She glanced at the empty tray and smiled.

"Oh good! Did you like it?"

"Yeah. It was good. I just hope you have more. It's going to take a lot of food to fill me."

"You have a big appetite! It’s like you can’t get enough food for some reason."

"Think for a moment. What's my usual diet?"

That got her. I could tell the conversation had become uncomfortable for the both of us. I sat on the edge of the bed and sighed.

"I'm sorry. Old habits are hard to kick."

Twilight sat down next to me.

"I understand. I don't know too much about changelings besides what happened at Canterlot. I guess it didn't cross my mind about your eating habits."

"I'll just have to get used to regular food."

"We'll figure something out for you. There's something else I wanted to talk to you about when I came up."

She pointed to my flank.

"I was wondering about that."

I looked down at my flank. What was she talking about?

"Do changelings not have special talents? Well, besides changing into other ponies?"

"Special talents?"

She stood up and pointed to her own flank where a set of stars was visible.

"Everypony gets their cutie mark when they find their special talent, you know, something they're good at."

I looked back to my flank. Nothing.

"Have you ever seen a changeling with a cutie mark?"

"I don't think we get cutie marks."

"But do you have a special talent?"

"Not that I know of."

"Hmm... I think an experiment is in order."

"A what now?"

---------------------------------

Before I knew what was happening I was sitting in the middle of the library. Books were in stacks around us. Twilight paced in front of me.

"With your speed reading and all these books on nearly every subject imaginable, we're bound to find something your good at, or at least interested in."

"That's a lot of reading."

"You read two hundred pages in fifteen minutes. I bet you can read this whole library in a day or two!"

Oh boy.

"Ready?"

No.

"Yeah."

And we were off! I had never digested so much information before! I was reading everything from how to build a birdhouse to quantum physics. How could there be so much in the world I had never heard about? My reluctance melted away as I began to read faster and faster. I told Twilight to keep the books coming. Soon we were diving into histories and literature. I consumed every work of fiction set in front of me. Books were in front of me for mere minutes! I finally waved Twilight off when my head began to pound. She levitated all the books back to their shelves and sat down.

"That was amazing! I've never seen anypony read so many books!"

I smiled and rubbed my head.

"Yeah. I must have been crazy. How many books did we get through?"

"Everything except my journal."

She chuckled at her joke. I didn't have the heart to tell her she had accidentally given it to me during the fiasco. I wonder who that Flash Sentry was she was always writing about?

"So... Did anything stick out to you?"

I thought over our little experiment. It had been educational yes, but nothing had caught my eye. I did feel a sense of accomplishment though. I know knew as much, if not more, as any pony in Equestria. I could build, fix, bake, play, and do just about anything! Or at least I knew the fundamentals behind it. I looked down at my bare flank.

"Maybe I'm not meant to have a special talent. I can really do anything now if I put my mind to it."

Twilight leaned back.

"Well if nothing else, you definitely have a talent for reading."

"Well then! Slap a book cutie mark on me and call it good!"

We both laughed at the thought. When we calmed down, Twilight stood up.

"How about some lunch?"

I jumped up, ready to attack the kitchen. I was hungry enough to eat anything!

———————————

I paced around the library after lunch, my hooves dragging against the floor. Though the morning had been eventful, it didn’t take me long to remember that I was suffering from a severe case of cabin fever.

"Enough already!"

I paused as Twilight appeared at the top of the stairs.

"You've been doing that for an hour! Do you have any idea how annoying that is?!"

I stared up at the alicorn and frowned.

"Yes! And if I don't get out soon, I'll have to keep finding ways to annoy you!"

"Are you threatening me?!"

I sat down as she descended the stairs.

"Come on Twilight. I've been in here for a week now. Can't I go outside?"

"I wish we could, but I'm not sure how the town would react to you."

My eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Well it's not fair that you can come and go as you please while I'm stuck here like a prisoner."

I stood up and walked to one of the windows, looking out at Ponyville. Ponies were walking through the streets, stopping at stands, and talking to each other. I wanted to experience that!

"What if I... You know?"

Twilight shook her head.

"No. If you use your magic then nopony will want you in town. They'll think you're spying or something worse. You can't give them any reason to mistrust you."

"So I'll just be myself!"

"You can't do that either."

I sat down again, a scowl imprinted on my face. Twilight walked over and sat next to me.

"I'm sorry."

Fine... Actually, no! It wasn't fine! I jumped up and ran for the door. A purple shield of magic slammed against my nose. I backed up and rubbed it, turning to Twilight.

"I'm going out today. Are you coming with me, or not?"

She glared at me, but something in her eyes said she knew I was serious. I nodded to the door.

"Let's get out of here."

"We can't just go!"

"Why not?"

"Because... Because..."

In that moment of uncertainty, her shield disappeared and I ran out the door.

"Shade, wait!!"

Too late! I was out in the open! Twilight came running after me. She didn't have to go far. I had stopped to wait, knowing she would come. Besides, I hadn't left all of my common sense in Everfree. I knew better than to wander the streets alone. And now I wasn't! I flashed a smile to my royal escort and motioned to Ponyville.

"Care to show me around?"

With a small shake of her head and a brief smile, Twilight began the tour.
I don't know what ponies were staring at more; the princess on the street, or the changeling? Either way all eyes were on us as Twilight pointed out the buildings around town.

"And this is Rarity's shop, the Carousel Boutique!"

A bit frilly looking, but okay. We walked through the front door. Rarity was sitting at a sewing machine, fabric passing under her hooves.

"Hi Rarity!"

The unicorn stopped her work.

"Twilight!"

She turned around. Her smile disappeared when she saw me.

"Ah. I see you brought a guest with you."

I smiled.

"So you make dresses?"

She gave a curt nod.

"Yes. I am a dressmaker and these are my glorious creations!"

Quite a dramatic buildup.

"What brings you two here?"

Twilight walked over to inspect Rarity's current work.

"I was showing Shade around Ponyville. This is one of our last stops."

Rarity glanced at me from the corner of her eye.

"Really? And what does he think of our quaint little town."

I rolled my eyes at being excluded from the conversation.

"He likes it a lot. Much better than the cave I lived in before."

"A cave?! How horrid! How...dirty!"

I looked to Twilight. The alicorn made a dramatic pose and pointed to Rarity. Ah. That made sense.

I looked back at The unicorn and smiled.

"Yes, but I like Ponyville a lot more. So many nice buildings and kind ponies. And I have never seen anything as beautiful as these dresses!"

I knew I'd said the right thing.

"Oh! Well...thank you! You must have seen so many wonderful things when you were an evil minion- I mean... When you were... Well either way, for you to say my dresses are that gorgeous! Thank you!"

I glanced at Twilight again. She nodded her approval to me. We said our goodbyes and left the boutique, Rarity still beaming from my praise. Twilight leaned in close.

"You really know how to charm a mare, don't you?"

I rolled my eyes as she giggled.

"I was just being nice. Is there anything we missed?"

She looked down the street for a moment before grinning.

"There's always Sweet Apple Acres! That's where Applejack lives."

Apples huh? I did enjoy apples.

"Let's go!"

We trotted down the ride and the farm cane into view. Sweet Apple Acres was amazing! I had never seen so many trees! Everfree doesn't count. That forest is like one solid tree with a million trunks.
And these trees had apples! Bright red apples! They looked tasty from down here. I licked my lips and walked over to the nearest tree. Without my wings it was going to be a challenge, but I was hungry! Applejack had to have some trick. She didn't have wings or a horn, so she must use... Her hooves!
I leaned against the tree with my front hooves and shook the tree. The branches moved a little, but not enough to drop an apple. I tried again. Nothing. Twilight walked over.

"Applejack usually bucks the tree."

Hmm... Makes sense. I turned around and kicked the trunk. The whole tree shook and...

'PLUNK'

An apple had fallen!

"Who's out here buckin' mah apple trees?!"

Applejack came over a rise and glared down at me.

"What in tarnation are you doin' here?!"

"I... I was just... I was hungry."

"And that means y'all can just come in an' steal some apples?!"

"Applejack!"

The orange pony finally noticed Twilight. Her anger turned to confusion.

"Wah? Twilight? What're you doin' here?"

"I was showing Shade around Ponyville. I figure his tour wouldn't be complete without Sweet Apple Acres. And he only took one apple!"

Applejack looked at the ground.

"Sorry 'bout that."

I smiled.

"I'm sorry for not asking first. These apples mean a lot to you, don't they?"

"They sure do. These apples have kept the farm floatin' since Granny was a youngin'."

I didn't know what 'Granny' meant, but it must be impressive. Applejack took us around the farm, showing how the harvest was collected. I could tell she was a bit uneasy. She kept glancing at me, but she never said anything.
We left the farm an hour later. Twilight smiled at me.

"I think that went well! You've made a good impression on Rarity and Applejack today!"

Rarity, yes. Applejack, not so much. And I hadn't even seen Rainbow Dash at all in Ponyville. Was she avoiding me? I shook my head to clear it. I didn't have to figure that all out now. I was just happy that I was finally out of the library. And I was ready to make Ponyville home.

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