Switch the teacher

In the changeling kingdom, in queen Chrysalis's castle halls. One changeling was nervously pacing through. His name was Symmetry and he was about to start getting taught on how to be a good soilder. Unfortunately, he couldn't get the bad rumours about his teacher out of his head:
"Switch's legs creep me out!"
"Why does he have to be so angry all the time."
"I heard he had a revenge match with a pony, and he used princess Twilight as a hostage. He really knows how to hold a grudge. Can't he just let it go?"
"Do you think he has a disorder? No offense."
But then he thought:"Clear your head, Symmetry. You're gonna get your own opinion about the guy. Get those thoughts out of your head!"

He got to the castle gym and thought:"Yes, the schedule said I have to meet him at 6 o'clock in the castle gym. He entered and saw Switch. He looked a little weird, but kind of underwhelming. The only thing different was that he had no holes in his legs. Switch said:"Oh good, you're here on time. We can get this over with."
The gym wasn't in the best shape, but it could do it's job. Switch said, while taking a stopwatch:"OK, let's see what I'm working with here. Run a lap as fast as you can." Symmetry got into place and ran. He was done in 12 seconds, to which Switch replied:"Okay, that was pretty good. Now the combat training. Help me get a few mats into position."

The two changelings got four mats in a grid, but Symmetry spent too long correcting the position. Switch had to tell him to stop. The two got on opposite sides and Switch said:
"I guess I can give you a little advantage. You see, I have no holes, which makes me stronger. If you're practicing with me, don't hold back." But Switch made a big mistake by telling him that. Symmetry just punched him once in his wing, making him fall down in pain:"OW! YOU PIECE OF SPIT...I mean, good job... I didn't know about that weakness."
"Yeah, I've read about a lot of species's weaknesses. Had to get ready to be a soilder."
"That's smart... Say, do you know how to beat an earth pony."
"They're tricky because they're pretty strong. You have to keep your distance and drop something heavy on them."
"That's actually a good plan."
"A plan?"
"Yeah, there's a certain somepony who's a pain, but that's probably not important now."

Switch was thinking what to do next. He said:"Well... let's see your shapeshifting. Make yourself look like a pony. They're easy to do."
"Okay, I'll try." Green flames went over his whole body, but when the spell was finished, he still had a lot of changeling features on him. He said:"No, wait, I'll get it right!" He tried over and over. After the 10th try, he still didn't look right. Switch complained:"What's the deal? You're fast, you fight well, but you're bad at magic? That's one of the easiest things to train."
"I just feel really uncomfortable doing it, okay!?"
"So, now you're embarassed? What sense does that make?"
"I have opsessive compulsive disorder!"

Switch stood there in silence, letting the fact sink in. Symmetry said:"Sorry about the yelling. Can we just continue the training?"
"So... I guess I know why you needed a tutor. I'm probably not the best for the job. You see, I messed up at my job, and as a punishment, I have to work extra hours as a tutor."
"Oh, well, if it makes you feel better, you're a good-enough teacher."
"You're a good-enough student." And so Switch trained Symmerty until it was time to end.

The next evening, Symmetry had to run laps again, but Switch joined him, to make it less boring for himself. Switch asked:"If I have to train you, I mght as well know you. How's it like having OCD?"
"Ugh, I don't really like to talk about it."
"Well do you wanna be trained well or not? I need to know it!"
"Okay, okay... I often get random thoughts in my mind that are hard to get rid of and I feel the need to make everything clean and symmetrical. I can kinda control it, but it gets worse with age..."
"Gee, are you sure being a soilder is a right job for you? It requieres a lot of focus, you know."
"I don't have a choice. A few years ago, when I was just a teenager, I asked the queen to use her brainwashing powers to cure my OCD. She said she would do it if I prove myself as a good soilder."
"Well... I hope you succeed."

The third evening, the two changeling got kinda bored of the same thing. Switch said:"I think you're ready to go love-hunting with me."
"Umm... I don't think I can act well enough."
"OK, then you'll learn by watching."
The two changlings started to fly to Ponyville.

After a while, Switch had trouble keeping up with Symmetry. Symmetry asked:"Do you want me to slow down?"
"No, I'm no "guy who can't fly"."
"What are you talking about?"
"When I was a kid, I got picked on because I couldn't fly. And it wasn't even my fault. I was just born too heavy.", Switch said, looking at one of his legs.
"I had to go through a lot of fights for that nickname to stop."
"Gee, isn't that a little harsh? My mom always said bullies are just insecure, and that's why they pick on others."
"You have to know how to stand up for yourself, because nobody else will."

When the duo finally got to Ponyville, it was nighttime. They glided roof-to-roof to avoid being seen. Switch leaded Symmetry to a restaraunt:"First thing you need to know: when  you're impersonating someone's "special somepony", you can copy their look. But if you're just disguising to be unnoticed, then make up your own pony-look. It prevents others from seeing two same ponies at once." Switch disguied as a grey unicorn stallion with an orange mane. Then he said:"Since you can't shapeshift properly yet, you're just gonna watch and learn now. I've been to this restarant before. There's a small storage that they don't lock. You can watch me in action through the keyhole."
"Sounds like a plan, but how do we get in. I can't shapeshift, remember?"
Switch thought for a while and said:"OK, I think I got something, but you'll have to cooperate."
A small area around Switch got enveloped in an heatless green flame, and then Symmetry saw two stallions in front of him.
"What!? How did you..."
"Relax, the other guy is just an illusion. Now get in the illusion pony and move the same as him. And yes, I know that sounds awkward. Keep close, I can't cast illusions from far away."

And so they both got to the ground when nobody was looking. Symmetry got inside the illusion, making him perfectly camouflaged.
They walked slowly into the restaraunt, and when nobody was looking, they got inside the storage.
Switch got a headache:"Oof, this spell really took focus! This better be worth it! I just have to rest here for a few minutes. It will give us time to pick the love source. I need time to learn the names of one of the couples here."

Meanwhile, two pegasus royal guards were standing in this restaraunt. One of them asked:"Why do we have to be here again?"
"There's been reports of changelings sneaking into this restaraunt. That's why it needs security."
"Ugh, I hate working late. I just wanna be done with the work as soon as I can."
"That's kinda lazy, but yeah, you're right."

Switch and Symmetry noticed a light-grey unicorn stallion with a beige mane and a white pegasus mare with glasses and a black mane. Switch said:"They're reminding each other about their names. Must be the first date. Remember, Symmetry, you can't get a lot of love from a ponies on their first dates, but they're easy to fool because they don't know much about each other."
"Yeah, that makes sense, but how will you replace one of them without being noticed."
"We'll wait until one of them gets near the storage."

20 minutes later, Switch got a little tired of waiting. Symmetry even had time to rearrange everything. Switch thought:"OK, let's recap: the guy's name is Caution and the mare's name is Tease Talk. Wait for the right moment, Switch, no matter how boring, ugh... Symmetry, why are you tidying up?"
"I told you, it's hard to control it. Besides, now I know where everything is!"
During the date, Caution said:"Hey, remember that guy who made a bet with Discord so he doesn't get pranked anymore? We went to school together."
"Know him? He's my brother! He never did put up with annoyances. I have to admit, I was one of them, hehe."
"Yeah, he's kinda grumpy, but he's not a bad guy. Wait, you probably know that. Am I being boring?"
"Calm down, you're doing a great job, hehe."
"Thanks, I guess. I gotta go to the bathroom."

Sadly, Caution had to walk past the storage, and the two changelings quickly pulled him in, tied him to a pipe that was going through the room and put duct tape over his mouth.
"Wow, this storage has everything!", said Symmetry.
Caution tried to use telekinesis to untie the rope, but he had no idea how Switch tied the knots.
Switch shapeshifted to look like Caution and said:"OK, time to fool the mare. Watch me in action, okay?"
The real Caution made a yellow transparent barrier around the two changelings, stopping them. Switch complained:"These barriers are really getting on my nerves!"
Switch tried to punch the barrier, but that just made Caution scared and the barrier got less transparent.
Symmetry said:"You gotta distract him to weaken the barrier."
"How do I do that?"
"Try grossing him out, that usually works best."
"I can see you did your homework. OK, turn around and start hitting."

Switch morphed into something really gross. Caution started to cringe and he sucked in his gut in disgust. Symmetry broke the barrier:"Heh, it feels good to do this!"
"I know, right? Let's distract him even more. You can turn around, I'm back to normal now."
Symmetry took a bottle of detergent and squirted it in Caution's face, making him unable to see. He asked:"What did you look like, anyway?"
"Trust me, you don't wanna know. Now watch."
Switch shapeshifted into Caution again and went to the table.

"OK, I'm back, sorry it took so long."
"That's okay. Where were we, again?"
"Umm... you look cute in those glasses..."
"Aww, thank you! But I don't think we were talking about that."
Back in the storage, Symmetry was watching Switch:"Ugh, I can't hear anything because of that unicorn's mumbling."
Caution was shaking his head and wiping it on the rope for a while, and eventually got rid of the detergent. Symmetry took the bottle again, but Caution used telekinesis to squirt it in Symmetry's face. Caution concentrated as hard as he could and levitated Symmetry's head near him. He made Symmetry bite the rope and freed himself.

Caution quickly opened the door and tried to yell, but he still had ductape. Symmetry flew out and yelled:"Get out of here! We've been discovered!" Switch shapeshifted back to normal and started flying. The two changelings got out of the restaraunt, but the royal guards were after them. At first the changlings were fast, but Switch was starting to get tired. With heavy breathing, he said:"Oof, this better be over soon."
"Sorry I couldn't handle that unicorn."
"That's not important now, we have to fly!"
"Well, fly down and camouflage. I can distract them."
"No, I'm not gonna leave you alone!"
"But you said: "every changeling for himelf". Or something like that."
"We bonded, OK? You can become a great soilder, but for that we gotta stick together."


It turned out Switch wasn't fast enough. The two guards grabbed his forelegs and started to carry him away. Switch struggled and yelled:"Let me go, you morons! I'll freakin' mutilate you!"
"Ooh, this one's a feisty one! Shut up, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime."
Symmetry was watching from the distance when he thought:"He's right, we bonded."
He started to fly back, thinking:"What did the book say? Oh yeah, when you're fighting the armored foe, don't fight the armor, fight the foe."
He took of the helmet off of one of the guards and hit him on the head with it, making him to let Switch go. Switch freed himself from the other guy's hold and asked Symmetry:"Any advice?"
"Hit where the wing's closest to the body."
The guards and the changeling beat one another up for a while, until the changelings managed to hit the weak spots, making flying painful for the guards. That gave the changelings a chance to escape.

The guards landed:"Oh, well, at least we can make "wanted" posters. Did you remember how the looked like?"
"The only two changeling with weird legs? Doesn't take a genius."
At the restaraunt, Tease Talk walked over to Caution. Caution mumbled for a while, but the mare stopped him:"Let me just take off the tape. It'll be like taking off a bandaid."
Caution nervously shook his head in refusal.
"Okay, have fun being mute forever, heh."
Caution removed the tape as slowly as possible. When he was finnaly done, half the fur around his mouth was missing. He said:"Sorry if I'm embarrasing you."
"I couldn't tell you apart from a changeling, I'm the one who should be sorry... Guess that means we should spend more time together!"
"Great! But I'm done with restaraunts for a while."

Switch and Symmetry were almost at the changeling kingdom. Switch complained:"I can't believe it! I don't think we could've done worse if we tried!"
"Don't be so glum. At least we got away from the soilders."
"But nobody got anything from this hunt!"
"We have experience, now we'll know better next time."
"How are you so optimistic? It doesn't make sense."
"Listen, my life's far from perfect: I tehnically don't have a job, so I still live with my parents, I have a disorder and most changelings are condescending to me. But if I didn't have all those problems, I wouldn't have made friends with you! I know it's better to be realistic, but optimism just helps better in hard times. I know, it sounds stupid."
Switch paused for a moment, then he said:"No, it's not stupid. You worked harder than most soilders. And I'm saying that from experience. You should've seen us during the Canterlot invasion. Most of us aren't as threatening as we look. You're one of the rare ones."
"Thanks! So... how long do you have to train me?"
"7 more days, but it's not important anymore, I'll be with you as long as you need me."