The Multi-Dimensional OC Bar

She cocked her head. "You mean to turn into other creatures?"

"Well, yes. That is correct." Ician takes a sip from his mug. "And, I trust you are familiar with the invasion of Canterlot about a year ago?"

She nodded. "I was there on vacation. My blade served much justice that day."

Ician raises an eyebrow. "Really? If only you'd been where I..." He trails off, shaking his head violently. "Never mind. The point is, that was the first time many had even heard of the changelings. But... my knowledge predates that invasion." He sets his mug down, smiling. "Want to hazard a guess as to where this story is headed?"

"My guesses are often wrong." She shook her head. "Please, continue."

"Harmony?" Ician asks, just as the song ends.

Harmony nods, sets down the violin with great care and grace, and moves over to the piano proper. Her hooves, aided by magic, dart across the keyboard, and a melody begins to play.

"Once upon a time, when I was but a young colt, I found a garden snake, beset by illness, fatigue, and hunger, slinking along the dirt roads of Ponyville. I brought it in and nursed it back to health over time. Ever since then, it's been by my side. But for a long, long time, I'd never thought to give it a name. I'd always thought of it as a pet, rather than a..." He strokes the snake's head gently. "... a companion."

"But that all changed, one day. One day, after I managed to secure a scholarship in the Canterlot University for Gifted Unicorns, I saw..." Briefly, his face is graced with a soft smile, and then, like a solitary ray of sunlight in a thunderstorm, it is snuffed out and replaced with a dark scowl. "... her."

Divine nodded gently, ordering another glass of that clear liquid.

Ician stands up suddenly, knocking against the table, as he steps up onto his seat with the poise of an experienced storyteller. "She was simply beautiful! Flowing, luscious ruby-red hair, a soft grey coat, the most gentle and warm of smiles..." He sighs heavily. "She was divine."

He looks at Divine. "Um, no pun intended."

She smiled sadly. "I don't mind. Please, continue."

Flail shakes his head, "Any and all sentient life we can detect their current emotions, or any emotions they hide, ponies just have the... Best tasting emotion."

Ician nods and resumes his tale. "It was love at first sight." He smiles sheepishly. "For me, at least. But there was a problem."

He taps his chest. "If you were like, say, Storm," he nods at Storm, "or Griff, you'd have spent enough time with me to realise just how socially awkward I am. Back in the days of my youth, I was even worse. Difficult as it is to believe."

He chuckles. "It was a lot of trouble, let me tell you that. But I think my sincerity touched her. Or something. It certainly wasn't my innate charm, that's for sure."

Divine raise an eyebrow, but kept quiet, sipping her replaced drink.

"So we started... um, what's the term?... 'going out'." Ician continues. "Those were some of the best years of my life. But all good things," he sighs, "must come to an end."

Gesticulating with his right forehoof, he says, "One day, I caught her at an... inopportune moment. And I discovered a dirty little secret she'd been hiding from me for three and a half years."

"Can I guess? She was your snake? Or she was seeing another pony... Or she was... Ah..." She finished her drink. "I think I know. Continue."

Ician smiles at Divine. "Nice guesses, but no. She was..." He pauses dramatically. "... a changeling, herself."

Obligingly, Harmony heralds the end of her song with a satisfying hooftap on the ground. She slips easily and smoothly into a new rhythm.

"That was my last guess. A changeling, one of the unfortunate, guilty from birth, though not of their choosing..." She trailed off. "Pardon me, please continue."

Ician stared at Divine for a few moments, then shook himself out of his trance. "Um, where was I... ah, right."

"Of course, I'm hardly one to overreact to a situation, so we sat down and talked for a little while. And she told me everything."

He pauses to take a breath. "She was a fugitive from her own people, on the run from Queen Chrysalis herself. Apparently she hadn't wished to live a life in the Changeling hive. So she escaped and, disguise at the ready, came to the one place where she felt that the Queen would never be able to get to her. The very capital of Equestria itself."

He smiles bitterly. "The rest is history, I'm afraid. This was just half a year before the invasion."

Divine was very quiet for a moment. "You know, I sometimes wish that the goddess Nemesis was real. Then you would still be able to see your loved one." Divine smiled. "Though, are you not glad you had a loved one?"

Ician snorts. "I know the saying well. 'Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all'."

He sighs, heavily. "If only it were true. I have a code of my own: To lack love is sad, but to lose love is tragedy. You never know what you're missing until you experience it yourself. And I've never known myself to agonise about something I do not know."

Wiping away a stray tear from his eye, he continues, "Anyway, the invasion happened. We tried to escape Canterlot, but it was to no avail. She died, and I almost died with her..." He stares at Divine. "But I survived. And I was never gladder than I was then that I never removed my snake's poisonous fangs."

Divine stopped, her hoof placing the drink very carefully on the table. "To lack love is sad, to lose love is a tradegy. Really? Is that how you see it? You think it is worse to have beautiful, wonderful memories, than to have no memories at all? Where was this? Where did you lose her?"

Ician stops, staring coldly at Divine. "Memories... they have a bittersweet tone, at best. And at worst they are a stark reminder of reality."

He turns away. "We were captured by changelings near the North gate. She struggled to break free, but she was killed. Brutally. Execution for desertion, on the spot." Shakily, his horn ignites, and the mug of cider floats over to him. He takes a grateful sip. "My snake, however, was not similarly constrained. And no matter what they tell you about changelings, their eyes are not armoured. At all."

"I fought at south gate... As for memories, you have them. Stark reminder or not. I can never have memories. Wet. No stallion would love me, nor any mare. Not just because of my eyes. My own anger drove me to be a Judge, my own hatred. Do you know what they whisper in the streets of Fillydelphia. They whisper my name, the best deterant of crime the city ever had. No one is willing to defend against me on court if their client is even close to guilty." She stood up, glaring at him. "And as for armour... A great deal of help it is against my blade."

Ician breathes in, deeply, and sits back down. "Some of us do not have a blade. Or perhaps, even if we did, it cannot be used."

He looks Divine in the eye. "I may have a physical blade now, but I do not use it. Fear is my blade. It is my weapon. And many have knelt before it."

He blinks once, twice, and then facehooves with a groan. "Oh my Celestia, I've been being so rude, haven't I? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to remind you of... reality. I just get carried away sometimes, when it comes to emotions."

Dismissing his scowl with a wave, he lays a comforting hoof on Divine's shoulder. "As I said, fear is a weapon. A dangerous one, too. But it does not earn friends." He hesitates, then presses on, "And if it means anything to you... I understand what you've done and why. I can sympathise with you. And... I can be your friend, if you so wish."

Divine smiles, though it looked strained. "Thank you... I would like that..." She smiled gently. "But you do not need to worry about reminding me of reality... She is a harsh mistress, and one I both love and despise. But I can never escape her."

As the two continued talking near the bar, a new presence made itself known. Flying quickly into the bar and throwing the door shut behind him. For a second, magical energy focused in him as if the pegasi was casting a spell of some sort, but the actual act didn't seem to have any visible effect.

Then his muzzle, which was just barely visible from under the brim of his red large brimmed floppily pointed hat, spread into a wide grin that revealed a row of pointed teeth. Next came the snickers, chuckles, and eventually full out laughter as the pegasi lazily hovered over to the bar. His long similarly red trench coat moving just slightly from the movement.

Sitting down with little to no grace or tact, the dark blue stallion ordered a large mug of hard cider and began to gulp it down with large drinks in between continued chuckles. Noticing the others sitting at the bat, he raised his mug in a kind enough gesture. "Hehehe, 'ello there," he said with a chuckle before taking another drink. "And how's you two faring this fine... moment? Hehehe."