“Nopony’s going to kill you!” Twilight blurted out, her breathing picked up, and she winced as a hoof assaulted her forehead.
I think Twilight’s look of confusion was getting worse, but I would be confused too if my own hoof just punched me in the face. She was now whispering under her breath, apparently content to conversate with herself at the moment. I wasn’t quite accustomed to determining different levels of the emotion just yet.
So, maybe this was normal?
|| Pause ||
“Yep, nothin’ outa the ordinary here…” Applejack chuckled.
Confirming grumbles and giggles rang through the channel.
“Hay! I was stressed, confused, and okay...maybe a little excited, but that is definitely not normal for me!” Twilight shot back indignantly.
I was genuinely shocked. “Wow, Twilight, you’re usually different!?”
Twilight let out an exasperated sigh. “Do I normally act like that around you, Shattered Dreams?”
Pinkie ran out of spots on my carapace to lick clean, and had settled in, her head resting contentedly on my shoulder, making little analytical ‘hmm’s as she listened.
“Yes!” I shook my head emphatically, hoping she could feel it through the line. “You’re terrifying! All you ever do is follow me around, take samples, and scribble on your notepad. It’s kinda creepy.”
“Twi, you totally just got called creepy by a changeling.” Dash snickered.
“Well if that don’ open yer eyes, nothin’ will.” Applejack joined Dash in a fit of snickers turned giggles.
Rarity cleared her throat daintily. “I would have to agree with these two on the matter, Twilight. No offense, but you have been acting out of sorts lately, and I do believe if Shatter knows anything, that I could respect his opinion on, it would have to be being creepy.”
“Hay…” I could have given her an earful, but Twilight cut me off.
“None of you are helping!” Twilight blurted out. “Shatter, continue, please...”
“Wait!” Fluttershy whispered loudly. “Oh, my! That was unexpected. I never would interrupt so…”
“Fluttershy just spit it out.” Dash’s mane rustled as she shook her head. I knew since I had memorised the sound.
“Uhm...well, maybe, and please don’t take this the wrong way, but, maybe, uhm…” Fluttershy took a deep breath and blurted out the rest. “Maybe she’s in such a deep state of denial that her denials have become her reality?”
“I am not delusional!”
“Meep!”
Twilight growled. “Shatter, continue! Now!”
Maybe Twilight wasn’t delusional, but she definitely was grumpy, and I am sticking to my assessment of creepy.
“Shatter!”
Another round of laughter echoed through the room.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to think that on the channel… but, uhm...”
“What?” Twilight barked, clearly at the edge of her tolerance.
“Well, do you want me to skip ahead an hour or so?” I grinned nervously. “You are kind of crazy in the next session.”
“I...am...not...crazy! I am a focussed deep thinker, and sometimes a little out of touch with reality, but I’m not creepy, delusional, or crazy!” She growled.
Pinkie giggled. “Creelusionalzy!”
I barked out a laugh so hard I nearly passed out. I would have fallen on the floor but Pinkie held me up.
Twilight groaned, giving up as she attempted to change the subject. “Shatter, I know your love for wordplay is borderline fanatical, but Pinkie's word doesn't make any sense. It's not even funny...”
“Nah, but it’s soo cute!” I fell into another round of uncontrollable laughter.
"Cute? Really?" Pinkie repeated the word with a breathy pouty tone. "Creelusionalzy..."
I melted into a fit of playful giggles, completely at her mercy as she whispered the word over and over, giggling all the while.
“Would you, puh-lease just continue the story?” Rarity whined.
I took my time recovering, adding in a few extra giggles for good measure. Which wasn’t hard given that every grumble from Rarity made me giggle long after the effects of Pinkie’s word played out.
< Play >
I looked back to Fluttershy. She was still crying, but no longer touching me. I blinked in shock as I realized it wasn’t a pony technique for comfort. I had cried...once, so I took a stab at it.
“Are you crying for me, perhaps?” I cocked an eyebrow. “Why would you do that? I’m not dead...yet.”
Fluttershy darted from the room in a yellow streak, and hid in the kitchen. I sighed, and rubbed at my temples. “Dear, Chrysalis, I am cracked at this.”
Twilight giggled in response, and shook her head slowly. She was still babbling quietly as something incomprehensible mulled about her brain, bits of hair randomly popped out of place to stick up in little chaotic curls. She scribbled furiously on that curious little notepad, the pages were filling up and flipping every few seconds.
Mentally I took note. Ponies had such a wide range of facial expression, and each had its own varying degrees of severity. I had no idea that even their hair was expressive, or that confusion caused them to scribble on paper. Even so, I was feeling quite pleased with myself having become so well acquainted with this emotion.
I soon became engrossed with staring at Twilight. The emotional waves rolling off of her, and her foreign bizarre actions drew my fascination, and terrified me at the same time. I hoped I would have a chance to venture out, and taste it in the future.
Actually, my hoof was stretching out to do just that before I realized it.
|| Pause ||
“Ahh! Run, Twi, run!” Applejack screamed in panic.
“Ahh!” Came a chorus of answers, followed by embarrassed silence.
“I am just recounting a memory Applejack, the images you see cannot hear you.” I reassured her as best I could, but I could only guess at Applejack’s response. Seeing as we still weren’t on the best of terms.
“I know, I know. It’s just seein’ one of mah good friends in mortal danger of being eaten by a monster. Well, memory or not, it gets to me.” She sighed, still trying to catch her breath.
“I’m really not sure how to feel about that…” I brushed it off and continued.
< Play >
My eyes darted between the glows of Twilight’s horn, and the notepad. She gazed hauntingly at me as she bit her lip, her eyes widening. She watched my hoof with baited breath. I watched my hoof in fascinated horror.
What am I doing!? I screamed in my own mind as my hoof drew ever closer to the purple glowing horn.
The tip of my hoof hissed as I touched it, and I recoiled a little. I soaked in a little of the magic, and tasted it, mulling it over in my craw in careful analyzation.
|| Pause ||
“Aah!” Rarity screamed.
“Aah!” Came the chorus of answers, followed by curious silence.
“How could you let him touch something...so...private!?” She gagged. “I think I may be sick.”
Twilight mentally shrugged. “Knowledge comes at a price. If all it cost me was satisfying a little foalish curiosity, then it was worth letting him touch it.”
Dash snickered.
For the next few moments I struggled with an inner debate on which statement irritated me more. Applejack’s, Rarity’s, or Twilight’s.
“Oh come on! I bet Pinkie’s let you go curious foal all over her!” Dash failed to stifle her laughter.
“Congrats, Dash, you win…” I thought out loud. “We’ve only been a couple for three days, and I was in jail just until this morning when you all came to get me.”
Pinkie giggled. “What about curious Pinkie? I can’t wait to see what else he can change into!”
I froze, not quite sure what she was implying with such an impish tone. I only had one other transformation other than my combat spikes. “Well, I do know one trick…”
“Spare us!” Rarity gasped in horror.
“O...kay, no awesome pillow talk for you then! I will continue…”
< Play >
“Oh, there’s a form of love in this.” I met Twilight’s eyes again, twirling the combination of her magic and emotions around in my craw. “It’s different, and a little twisted, but I am pretty sure it’s a kind of love.”
Twilight began giggling, her eyes getting wider along with the toothy grin that spread across her muzzle.
|| Pause ||
“Aaah!” Fluttershy squeaked. “Run Mr. Dreams! Run!”
“Oh, come on!” I blurted out in exasperation. “Really?”
“Sorry…” She meeped. “I couldn’t help it.”
< Play >
Then, without warning, she pounced. “My turn!”
A long yellow cord popped into existence. I was so horribly ill prepared for what happened next it still haunts my dreams. She flipped me every which way, holding me in mid air with her magic. She stretched out every limb, mumbled a series of numbers, and scribbled like a maniac!
Each wing, leg, my barrel both length and girth, teeth, snout, ears, tail, and then...
|| Pause ||
“Ahh!” Twilight blurted out.
“Ahh!” Came the chorus of answers.
“Oh, for the love of, what now?” I grumbled irritably.
“I completely forgot about that!” Twilight gulped.
Dash was whispering a low mantra to herself. “Shuddup, shuddup, shuddup, shuddup, shuddup. Not saying anything…”
Fluttershy meeped. “Oh my! Twilight, how could you…”
“Twilight!” Rarity gasped in shock, letting out a blast of breath she had been holding. “There is no profession or purpose I can possibly think of for you to ever take measurements of that!”
“Shuddup, shuddup…”
Twilight stammered, snapping back. “I was focussed! I was just measuring everything I could get my hooves on…”
“Well, there wasn’t much ya didn’t get yer hooves on was there?” Applejack snickered, then laughed so hard she degenerated into a fit of wheezing punctuated by raspy gasps for air. “Ah cain’t believe you did that!”
Twilight sighed. “I’m never going to live this down am I?”
“Eenope…” Applejack squeaked out between her uncontrollable fits.
Dash was squeaking off in the corner, sounding like she was holding her breath.
“Want to add anything Pinkie?” Twilight grumbled.
“Nah, I’m just taking notes like the rest of you girls.” Pinkie paused for a second. “Hay, Shatter, did you mean to make it that big?”
“Holy flaming sunbutt, realy?! As if it wasn’t hard enough to keep my mouth shut!” Dash had her own battles to fight. I admired her determination.
“Dash!” Twilight screamed out. “That is terrible! I can’t believe you would be so disrespectful of princess Celestia!”
“Fine! Holy delusional star flanks!” Dash shot at her.
“Hay! I am...delusional!” Twilight paused. “Wait…”
“She said it! She said it!” Rarity blurted out in a momentary loss of composure. “Oh, Twilight this is a wonderful start. Acceptance is half the battle! I’m soo proud of you!” She squealed.
Pinkie added in her own squeal. “Oooh! I’m delusional too! You can join my club. I hang out with Vinyl Scratch every friday night. We can be delusion buddies together! She calls us dubbies.”
“Squee!” I fell over laughing uncontrollably. “Delusional and buddies. Dubbies! I love it!”
Twilight groaned, then slowly and methodically she stated. “I am no-awowaawoowaa…” The channel was clearly making it impossible for her to say ‘not.’ “Fine! I’m delusional.” She stated flatly. “If that’s what it takes to further my pursuit of knowledge, then so be it.”
“I believe, uhm, in some way...oh please somepony shut me up…that in itself is a delusion.” Fluttershy sighed. “I want my bunny…”
Twilight ignored her, cleared her throat, and continued. “I believe Pinkie has an unanswered question still.” She read from her notepad. “Ehem, did you mean to make it that big? Really Pinkie?”
“What?” I could feel Pinkie shrug. “Everypony here was thinking it!”
“Yes! Yes I was!” Dash screamed out. “Oh buck me…”
“Absolutely nurrawraw…” Rarity sighed. “Fine, maybe I was ‘a little’/very curious.”
“Yep…” Applejack paused, listening to the stunned silence. “That’s it, just yep. I was wonderin’. Ain’t seen one that big since ah caught Big Mac and Cheerilee out in the apple orch… dangit! Why am ah still talkin’?”
“Pinkie? Are all ponies so fixated on genitalia, and mating rituals?” I inquired.
“Always! But only when good friends are left alone to talk long enough.” Pinkie twittered. Then she added more seriously in a low tone. “Alwaayyss...”
Twilight filled in the rest. “Yes, all conversations generally turn towards such topics amongst friends.”
“And sometimes co-workers, depending on what the juiciest gossip of the day is.” Rarity added.
Dash blurted out. “Because when it really comes down to it, ponies have a history of forming herds of one stallion and four to eight or more mares. It’s only recently that couples became the social norm. So, yeah, we talk about sex to express the frustration that everypony feels from not having enough release.”
If there was a sound for jaws dropping, I heard five of them.
“I have therapy twice a month to deal with my issues/hypersexuality…” Dash cleared her throat trying to cover up the last word as the channel slipped it through. “Anyway, what do changelings talk about?”
“We talk about many things, most of it over the channels. There is a work channel for every job, and then there is the chatter channel that picks up all other channels.” I thought for a moment. “Princess Feelia dedicated a channel to me. Though my job was outer rim guard, I didn’t do a whole lot other than stand there most of the time. So, once it became apparent I had kept my sanity, and the story telling skills from my past life. I was given the optional position of hive story crafter. I would take in stories from returning...”
“Wait! Go back,” Twilight interjected. “What did you say? Past life?”
“Oh…” I clammed up, cutting off from the channel, but I couldn’t shut out their shouts from outside the channel. I was bombarded with questions, many of them surprisingly concerned.
“Booring!” Pinkie screamed, cutting off the chatter.
I wasn’t prepared for what she did next. My brain scrambled, causing static through the line.
“What in tarnation!” Applejack yelled out over the rest. “Felt like somepony just deep fried mah brain in pop rocks!”
“Sorry, Applejack!” I really was. “I can’t help it! Pinkies sucking on my…”
Dash burst in, cutting me off. “Hay, that’s what I wanted to do! At least I kept my mouth shut!”
I finished. “...ear”
Pinkie paused, as did the others.
Dash broke the silence. “Somepony, just kill me…”
“I thought you were against mercy killing?” I inquired.
Dash barked out a half hearted laugh. “Buck off, S.D.!”
I chuckled. “Sarcasm… Nailed it!”
Dash snickered as the others around the room giggled. The hint was taken, and they let my slip up slide, but I knew deep down I hadn’t fully escaped the subject.
Pinkie hugged me tight. “Nice one, Dreamy…” She nuzzled my neck.
“You too, Parfait, thanks.” I smiled, feeling quite accomplished at having relieved the tension in the room. Pinkie had taught me a few tricks. Maybe, someday, I could fit in.
“You are going to tell me later though, right?” Pinkie whispered.
I gulped. “Tell you what?” Stalling to gather my thoughts.
“Mmmm…” I could feel Pinkies cheeks puff out against my neck, and could just picture her narrowed eyes.
“I’ll…” I stammered. “I-I’ll try, Parfait, but I don’t think you really want to know.”
She kissed me on the cheek. “Don’t be silly. I want to know everything about you.”
“No you don’t…” I mumbled under my breath.
< Play >
The nerves of my pony body had turned my limbs completely to stone. I was helpless, other than to hold the various positions Twilight stuck me in while she ravaged me with that yellow cord.
“So, uhm… Thanks again for letting me live…” I said awkwardly. “But, uhm… A little respect, and common decency would be much appreciated!”
“Mmhmm…” she replied.
“Yeah, I-I” My brain grasped desperately for anything to talk about as she flipped me back and forth through the air.
I locked onto the notebook, staring, wondering. “I can’t hold back, the question is killing me! Does scribbling on that thing relieve stress? O-or is it a coping technique to enhance one's understanding in a confusing situation?”
“What an intelligent question!” Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she leapt back to get a better look at me. I fell to the couch with an ‘erf.’ “The real question is what led to you developing such intelligence while being raised by monsters!?”
“We aren’t monsters!” I snapped back. “We are a close community bonded by the hive mind and common goals for survival! The hive means never being alone, never being denied, and never being left wanting for anything! My love for the hive!”
|| Pause ||
“Oh, my…” Rarity giggled derisively. “It does have a backbone. Who knew? Tell me, after you abandon this home will you defend it so vehemently with declarations of love, or is it more your style to let Pinkie fade into distant memory as you con a new source of food?”
“I never abandoned my hive!” I screamed it, the words tearing themselves from my throat as my heart clenched, my carapace flooding with the heat of my vehemency. “My hive abandoned me! They murdered my hive, Feelia, and left me to die twice! That is three betrayals, and on the third I gave my life for the hive! I am broken and will die for the hive that abandoned me!”
My chest heaved, my wings quivering in rage as I brought my tone back under control. “A pampered pony who lavishes in luxury can only offer a fools judgement.”
“A pathetic answer! I care nothing for your hive, or your piddly qualms. I care about Pinkie, and nothing in your little rant even mentioned her well being, much less her importance to you. Did you even hear what I said, or were you too busy wallowing in the broken pride of your self pity?”
I could not hide the irritation of her words as they seared through me. My mind was completely thrown off balance, and I silently cursed her for adding self doubt to my list of issues.
“It’s ok, Dreamy! I know you love me, and leaving me is last on your mind. So why would you even think of it?” Pinkie beamed, ever the voice of optimism.
Compulsively, I rubbed my fangs against the lugs in my forelegs in subconscious stress relief. The dull sound of sheathing bone on bone filled the room with an occasional intermittent clack.
“Perhaps, you haven’t gotten over what your hive did to you? Maybe?” Fluttershy soothed through the line. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, I really don’t.” I growled in a low tone. “I’m doing my best to forget it.”
“Forgettin’ isn’t the answer.” I was surprised to hear the concern in Applejack’s tone. “Shatter, ya need to talk about it. Pain like that doesn’t just go away. Ya have to talk about it, and get it off yer back. Else, it just eats ya up inside. Besides, that’s what good friends are for!”
I stopped to consider her words, and gritted my teeth as I bit back my frustration. “That’s a funny thing to say, Applejack. Considering you all made it quite clear I had lost my only friends. Even now I sit here under judgement of whether or not I’m even worthy to be kept alive while you refer to me as a disgusting monster.”
“We aren’t determining whether you live or die, Shatter.” Twilight cut in. “Just whether or not your feelings for Pinkie are true.”
“Ah, I see, and what they do to me in Canterlot after the fact is none of your concern then?” I snapped.
There was a long awkward silence. Pinkie slumped down a little, and I could feel her emotions shift. I felt bad, but I didn’t know what to say at the moment. I was struggling to deal with my own emotions.
It was some time before I was calm enough to continue my tale and due to the dark mood that settled upon the room, it was quite a while before I would be interrupted again.
< Play >
“Fascinating!” Twilight shook sense back into her brain, her mane in frizzy chaos as she bolted after Fluttershy. Leaving me completely alone!
I blinked, staring after her. “Well, you didn’t have to answer, but, still, that was a little rude. Not like I can hear you on the channels or anything!”
I straightened back out on the couch, pulling my limbs back into place underneath me, and trying to fight off the sickening queasy spreading through my gut that came from being so blatantly violated.
I glanced at a hole in the wall. It was barred with a few feeble looking twigs, but nothing I couldn’t handle. My eyes darted back to the kitchen. The two ponies were mumbling to themselves.
Briefly, I considered staying. Fluttershy was delicious, and fed me freely.
Yet, I had just upset her! Now they were back there discussing Chrysalis knows what, and here I am with the perfect chance to escape. I jumped off the couch, eyeing the hole in the wall, and freedom beyond.
Apprehension nipped at my hooves, however, and my eyes darted back to the kitchen. Twilight was indeed terrifying, and hard to read, but Fluttershy was such a great food source. Both of them were my mortal enemies...but they also knew Pinkie.
I shook my head. Delicious beyond belief or not, Pinkie was also my mortal enemy. I gritted my teeth, my mouth watering in remembrance of that amazing flavor she had. I eyed the window, shuffling about the room in confusion. I shook my head again, my breathing coming in short panicked gasps.
I started over on my logic. Freedom, Twilight, Fluttershy, survival, Pinkie, crying, and the secret of the notebook! It all danced in circles around my mind, which was growing foggier with my exhaustion from handling the overload of emotions all day.
It’s too much!
I choked on my breath, trying desperately to control the emotions flooding my senses. I hate this body! My hooves froze to the floor in indecision. I stared at them, my pony stomach churning with queasy apprehension. I cycled through the logic, the choices, the weight of each decision, over, and over, and over…
An image of Pinkie flashed through my head, and I wished she was here to shut off the world again. I wanted to scream.
A creaking floorboard caught my attention. I looked over my shoulder to see Twilight halt around one side of the couch, stuck in an odd pose, her wings lifted slightly. I looked to the other side to see Fluttershy, nearly the same pose, her lips drawn back in a nervous grin, her eyes dancing around guiltily.
My panic attack suddenly paused. “I recognise that form. You two were going to pounce on me weren’t you?” I asked matter of factly, trying to catch my breath.
“Uhm...well, kind of yes, if you don’t mind.” Fluttershy smiled at me. “It’s for your own good, Mr. Dreams, but we won’t have to if you don’t run.” She glanced nervously at Twilight for confirmation. “You won’t run, right? Please…”
Briefly, I wondered, if Fluttershy’s strangleholds were so delicious, how amazing would her pounces be? I looked back to Twilight, and the thought was crushed as my panic attack suddenly resumed.
I was washed under a sudden wave of terror as I remembered…
Perverted Alicorn Twilight the Violating Warrior Princess!!
|| Pause ||
“I just… I don’t even… How did it come to this!?” Twilight said dejectedly, her head flopping onto the floor. “I give up…”
The tension in the room exploded into a hearty round of laughter. I didn’t join in. Personally the memory wasn’t all that funny to me. I also took note that Pinkie wasn’t laughing quite as hard as the others, but she was at least giggling.
“Did I depress you?” I whispered.
“Don’t be silly… I’m not depressed, why would I be? I have you in my hooves.” She whispered back, but added somberly. “For now…”
I nodded, but was unconvinced. Her flavor had definitely changed.
“Even if they condemn me to Canterlot-” I whispered in a low tone. “-I will fight to stay by your side.”
This didn’t seem to cheer Pinkie up. In fact, it seemed to make her mood worse. I tried to quell the confusion that nipped at the back of my mind, and keep it private as I continued my tale.
< Play >
I screamed in terror, my wings flapping back in a blur as I shot forward with every ounce of speed I could muster. Freedom only mere fee…
‘Smack!’ I hit something hard with a resounding thud that vibrated through the walls, and crumpled to the floor.
I wasn’t sure what had happened. I looked up at the hole in the wall. Somehow in my panic I must have missed it.
I darted to the side, barely dodging Twilight and Fluttershy as they pounced onto the spot where I had been laying. I bolted across the room to a square hole in the wall. The twigs were slightly larger, but nothing I couldn’t…
‘Smack!’ I slid down the window with a dull vibrating screech to land splayed out on the floor.
“Ow!” I shook off the dizzy that was threatening to overcome my brain. I looked back. Twilight and Fluttershy were circling around opposite sides of the room now, trying to pin me in. I examined the clear exit, my hooves running into something solid. I tried to push past it, but it was no use. I turned back, the ponies froze in place mid creep.
“We are just trying to help.” Twilight nodded at me. “Please, remain calm, and sit on the couch. I promise not to analyze you for too long.” Her lips drew back in a terrifying grin.
“Please,” Fluttershy cooed. “I really don’t want you hurting yourself. It should only take a few days at most to complete your house training.”
I looked back and forth between them. Their words said one thing, but their actions were screaming out another. I was being hunted! I could only guess at the horrible things house training entitled…
I jumped to my hooves, and spun back around. ‘Smack!’
“Ow! Why do I keep doing that!?” I chided myself on forgetting the invisible barrier again.
My wings spread in panic, and slammed down hard. I jumped up into the air, grabbing for a thick wooden rafter, but a stabbing pain seared through my side. My injury! I crashed back to the ground in a heap, wailing in pain as I curled into a ball.
I was helpless as the ponies fell upon me. I thrashed around feebly, but to no avail. My normal combat prowess was severely hampered by the debilitating pain that stole my breath, and the inability for this body to process terror.
I did the only thing I could, and blindly bit a purple hoof. Twilight recoiled, wearing that look of shock again, cradling her foreleg.
“Lugrot!” I cursed under my breath, realising I had just bitten a princess.
I shoved at Fluttershy, who was still on top of me, until I locked eyes with her, finding a new definition of terror in the icy tendrils that trickled across my skin paralyzing my legs. I much prefered the hug torture to the stare she leveled at me.
There wasn’t malice in Fluttershy’s stare, but there was anger. A chilling distant focus that pierced through the soul, making it hard to breath. It was the sudden absence of love, like an overflowing dam of mild but fluffy snuggles suddenly slamming shut, replaced with a bitter chill void. I hardly noticed it was there, that I was basking in its fuzzy warmth until it was suddenly gone, leaving behind depthless pupils that threatened to suck me in.
“I understand you are scared and confused, but you do not! I repeat, do not! Bite!” She leaned in closer. “Do you understand me, mister!?”
I swiftly nodded, eager to please, and terrified of upsetting her further.
“If I catch you biting again, there will be no dinner, and you will be grounded to your room! Now, you are going to march over to that couch, and sit there like a good pony. Got it!?” Her eyes narrowed slightly as she pointed a hoof at the couch.
I shook my head faster, anything to make that cold hard stare go away. She backed off as I slinked past her, cringing under her gaze, nearly dragging across the ground, and never once taking my eyes off her.
“Move!”
“Eeeh!” My hooves scrambled across the floor of their own accord. I jumped up onto the couch, laying down obediently, unable to control my quivering wings as I tried to hide under a pillow.
Fluttershy turned to Twilight, reaching out to inspect her hoof. “Oh, Twilight, does it hurt?”
“No, not really. He didn’t bite hard...” Twilight’s words trailed off as she crained her neck around Fluttershy to stare at me, a smile on her lips. Fluttershy’s concerns fell upon deaf ears as we locked gazes.
I couldn’t place the look, but something in her eyes was unsettling. Haunting and unwavering. Something in me would almost rather deal with Fluttershy’s stare than Twilight’s.
However bad that gaze was, the smile was worse. It’s little upturned corners split into an all out grin that froze my blood.
I want to go home…
Fluttershy disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me alone with Twilight again.
|| Pause ||
“Oh no! Poor S.D. needs an adult!” Dash burst into laughter.
“Hay!” Twilight shot back, mumbling under her breath in embarrassment.
To my chagrin, Pinkie giggled a little as the rest joined in Dash’s mirth.
< Play >
Twilight trotted over. The couch was slowly swallowing me as she squared off, staring, her eyes never leaving mine, but her focus was far beyond where I was sitting. I chanced a furtive glance at the back of the couch. Nothing was there. She must be staring through me...magically. I could only imagine...
Fluttershy trotted back into the room holding a small cup of liquid. “Here you go. Drink this...it will calm you down.”
I eyed the concoction. It was brown, some kind of dirty water with little specks of floaty bits around the bottom. Fluttershy nodded reassuringly. “It’s called tea, and this blend is very special. My friend Rarity taught me how to make it from flowers in my garden. It will make you feel all better.”
Fluttershy turned to Twilight. “Twilight, uhm...if you wouldn’t mind not staring at him. He is still very skittish.” She smiled warmly. “Please? Let me house train him, then I am sure you can ask all the questions you want, ok?”
Twilight’s head snapped around to lock onto Fluttershy, who meeped in surprise and backed up a little. “And write that book! Oh, Fluttershy! This is great! Think of it, the only pony to ever grow up with changelings!” She had apparently lost the ability to control the volume of her voice.
|| Pause ||
Twilight groaned. “I’m not crazy… I’m insane!”
We all heard her make mental note to have Celestia do an extra in depth mental examination for her next… She hesitated for a moment. “Oh, so this is why Celestia personally tends to my mandatory monthly checkups…”
She was more mumbling to herself than talking to anypony. Tentatively I broke the awkward silence by continuing my story, ignoring her mumbling in the background.
< Play >
I eyed her warily as I focussed on the cup of dirty water. I wasn’t a stranger to drinking from mud pools out in the wastes. While I was a guard, it was the duty of every hive member to seek out water, purify it, and then bring as much back to the hive as we could carry. This was an easily manageable amount of dirt.
I swallowed all of it instantly, intent on purifying it, and spitting out the nasties. However, this surprisingly sweet mildly viscous liquid called tea was just lovely! So I took my time.
|| Pause ||
Rarity’s words beamed with pride through the channels. “Oooh, I taught her that blend! I’m flattered, Fluttershy. Really, It is one thing to say you like it, quite another to serve it to guests.”
< Play >
I swished it around in my craw, then once I was satisfied, I sucked the impurities back up.
The ponies had gotten into a very mild mannered argument. I couldn’t keep up however. While I was interested in my fate, I was far too exhausted to make sense of their heated whispering.
The dross slid up my throat. I leaned over the couch, careful not to dirty it, and spit it onto the floor politely, not wanting to make any rude sounds, or unnecessary distractions.
Twilight glanced over. “Eew! What are you doing?” Her quill began scribbling notes.
|| Pause ||
“And now I can never drink it again!” Rarity cried with dramatic flare.
< Play >
“Bad Mr. Dreams! No!” Fluttershy trotted towards the kitchen as I slinked further into the crack of the couch. “We do not do that in the house.”
“Okay, Fluttershy, I see your point.” Twilight heaved a long self controlling sigh. “I will wait until you are finished training him, but I still plan to observe every step of the way! I don’t want to miss a thing. Oh, this is so exciting! I’m putting everything else on hold to write this book.” She squealed, and hopped in place a couple times.
I didn’t understand what training I would be undergoing, but I was convinced I was in over my head here. I definitely wasn’t looking forward to more of Twilight’s observing.
Well, at least the tea was delicious. It reminded me of the harvested liquid love pools back at the hive regurgitated with care by returning infiltrators from the field.
|| Pause ||
“Disgusting! You’ve simply ruined tea time! You, you...horrid mud wallowing beetle!” Rarity growled at me.
“What? How did I do that?” The shock in my words was sincere, though secretly I grinned that I had somehow gotten back at her in some small way for her earlier mind games. “And I do not wallow in mud. Not unless it is really hot out, otherwise it gets stuck in my snugs, and that’s very unpleasant…”
“Rarity! Stop being a meany to Dreamy! He was just complimenting your tea.” Pinkie jumped to my defense. I could feel her forelegs wrapped around me, squeezing gently. Like being in a soft warm cubby comb.
I tried not to grin so evilly in Rarity’s direction, but seeing as everypony was blind, I didn’t try to hold back too hard.
Pinkie whispered in my ear, though the words also transmitted over the channel, I savored the tactile caress of her breath across my receptors. “It’s okay, Dreamy, I don’t think you’re disgusting. In fact, I think liquid love sounds super delicious!”
My wings buzzed happily between us, eliciting little giggles from her as they tickled her tummy. Then an idea hit me. “Oh!” I couldn’t keep the excitement out of my voice. “Would you like to try some?” I asked, curious if I’d found a new way to please the mare I craved.
“Barfed up love juice!?” Dash spoke up. “That is soo gross!” I could feel the excitement in her voice. “Do it Pinkie, I dare you!”
“Rainbow Dash, that there is wrong on so many levels.” Applejack snickered. “Ain’t no way even somepony as random as Pinkie Pie is goin’ to accept such a stupid dare.”
“Hmmm…” Twilight hummed in. “I don’t think it’s all that far fetched. We do eat honey from bees after all.”
“Twilight! How could you even suggest something so...terrible!?” I tried to ignore the overwhelming disgust in Rarity’s voice, fighting my frayed nerves with a deep calming sigh. “Comparing the poison this monster spews out to sweet bee honey...well...it’s just...unthinkable!”
“Does it taste like bee honey?” Fluttershy’s soothing voice was a balm to Rarity’s sharp tone. “If you don’t mind me asking…”
“I don’t know…” I thought about it. “I don’t believe I’ve ever tried bee honey directly.”
Rarity gasped, cutting me off as her voice echoed across the channel in frustration. “Fluttershy? First Dash, then Twilight, and now you? Have you all lost your minds?”
“Me too!” Pinkie chirped defiantly. “Don’t forget me. I’m going to try it. I’ll prove Dreamy isn’t gross or weird. He can be super duper sweet! And I’m gonna pro...”
Twilight cut Pinkie off as she suddenly dropped the spell that connected us. I opened my eyes, blinking and squinting to reacclimate to the waning light of the setting sun as it filtered into the library. I wasn’t alone, the others were all groaning from the strain as well. Even Pinkie, who grunted in my ear, and startled slightly, her hooves squeezing a little tighter. protectively?
As the world came back into focus, I saw Twilight prancing out of her kitchen.
“I have a tea cup!” Twilight’s voice cracked in high pitched excitement as she floated the shivering purple aurad cup over to Pinkie. She then stared, wide eyes over the brim of a large notepad at us.`
Pinkie shifted in a blur to sit in front of me, a massive grin on her face as she held the cup out. “Okay, Dreamy! Show me some love!”
I studied the cup, sizing it up. I only needed to let go of a little, though I wasn’t used to actually bringing love back up in small amounts. It wasn’t like I was a trained gatherer or anything. However, I had been keeping a few emergency pools in my room, so the feeling came natural as I agitated the love craw in my chest.
I realized too late just how full it was, Pinkie had been shoving love into me for hours now! The feelz from my craw flooded up my throat, and burst out in a torrent, wrenching my mouth wide open. The sheer pressure from it pushed my head back, forcing my eyes shut. When my eyes reopened, Pinkie sat before me, dripping in love.
The room went silent. I was so mortified I couldn’t speak. My jaw hanging low as I stared, trying to imagine the whole scene before me as anything other than what it was.
Pinkie’s eyes went downcast, an ear twitching as she drew in a shaky breath. “Wow, it even looks and feels like honey...” I expected something perky. A sudden bubbly outburst, or her tongue to lash out, and lick it all up at once. Anything to break the tension.
“Warm, sticky, gooey honey…” She sighed deeply, her voice somber. “I’m going to shower…” She trailed off sadly as she stood, and plodded for the stairs.
I nearly panicked as her emotions dimmed. I had sensed her emotions fluctuating over the past couple of days. Especially while I was locked up waiting for Princess Sparkle to determine how to deal with me. This whole ordeal had muted her usual perkiness.
I reached after her, but nothing within me felt like I deserved to even touch her after all the pain I had caused.
I could barely speak through the lump building in my throat. “Pinkie! I’m so sorry. I couldn’t control it. I really didn’t mean to…”
She turned and smiled. A warm sweet smile, full of love. Yet, all I could feel behind it was sadness and worry. “I know silly! I’m just going to wash off…” Her voice waivered a little. “T-then we’ll just try again okay?”
Rarity whispered in horror. “Darling, you can’t be serious?” She covered her own mouth too late, an apologetic look in her eyes.
Pinkie glared daggers at her, tears threatening to betray her as she struggled to keep calm. “I am serious. More serious than I’ve ever serioused before!” She stomped the floor for emphasis as she held her head high. “You all just need to...need to...stop being such meanie heads, and give him a chance!” Her lip quivered slightly.
“Of course ya’r.” Applejack trotted over. “Sugarcube, if’n it’s that important to ya, ya don’t have to do it. We’ll believe, that maybe, even if he’s a bug, he’s not...uhm...always that gross.” Her eyes darted to the side.
Pinkie shook her head, and stomped the ground again. “Not good enough! I want you all to really know he’s not gross.” Goo dripped from her neck onto the floor in a wet splat. “He’s my colt...uhm...bugfriend! And I’m not letting anypony send him off to die in Canterlot!”
“Whoa! It’s cool Pinkie, I got your back. I totally respect that he means a lot to you. I don’t want to send him to Canterlot either. He’s too much fun!” Dash snickered, trying in vain to hold back an all out torrent of laughter. “But Pinkie… I gotta know, how was your first time being covered in your boyfriends hot sticky love?”
“Dash!” Rarity, Applejack, and even Twilight, still staring between us and scribbling notes, barked at her.
“Bwahahaha!” Dash lost it, and fell over laughing hysterically. “Oh come on, I’m just lightening the mood. It’s Pinkie, if anypony can, she can take a good joke! Besides, after all that, she’s the only pony who’d ever give Don ‘Fail’ Juan over there a second chance!”
Her words couldn’t have weighed any heavier on my already faltering hoof. I sat frozen in place, an outsider looking in, wishing I could change the story as it unfolded before me, but knowing I would only make things worse.
Pinkie glanced at me, then turned on Dash with the pained gaze of a wounded friend, her words coming out in an agonized sobby whine. “Dashie?”
Dash’s laughter died, and her ears fell flat as she dodged Pinkies eyes. “Whoa, hay...come on Pinkie, I didn’t really mean it. I’m just trying to get you to laugh...”
Pinkie, a mare who I had witnessed help so many others find their smiles on the darkest of days, through the saddest of times in their lives, couldn’t find one pony amongst her friend to do the same for her. Her muzzle wrinkled up over a pained grimace, her eyes shutting as tears streamed down her cheeks.
This was all my fault. I’m just a changeling who brings her nothing but pain. My hoof was still half extended, refusing to go any further even as Pinkie’s friends rushed to her side. Even Twilight’s pad smacked against the ground as she left it momentarily forgotten.
“Mmmm…” The sudden loud soft fluttering that accompanied the muted happy sound caught everypony’s attention. “It tastes like sweet camomile and lavender.” Fluttershy beamed, smiling warmly at Pinkie, holding the gooey teacup between her hooves. “This really would go wonderfully with tea.”
Everypony stared in shock.
Pinkie trotted over, her frown instantly inverting. “Thanks Fluttershy. You’re the bestest!” Pinkie reached for the teacup, and took a sip of the viscous liquid. Her eyes shot open. “Wow! This is amazing! It tastes like...like thick creamy flowers!”
Pinkie finished off the cup, and began to hug Fluttershy, but stopped short remembering just in time how sticky she was. However, Fluttershy closed the gap, wrapping her forelegs around her surprised friend.
Despite Fluttershy’s belittling view of me as nothing more than an animal to be pet and coddled, in that moment, I etched her into my heart as a dear and trusted friend.
“Fluttershy, now you’re as sticky as me silly.” Pinkie giggled. I smiled in relief as I felt her Emotions balance back out to her normal perky self.
“Oh, it’s nothing...really. I just want you to feel better.” Fluttershy ran a calming hoof through Pinkies goo gnarled hair.
They separated with a ‘shlop’ as the goo sucked in between them. They were connected by countless little strings that clung to their fur.
“Pinkie, Flutters, don’t move!" Dash flapped over to me, throwing a foreleg around my shoulders. “Hay Shatter. Take a good look at those two. What do you feel right now?”
I tensed up, looking back and forth between Dash and the Pinkie Fluttershy goo mess. “Really, really, bad.”
“So your emotions completely change when you shapeshift right?” A sly grin spread across her muzzle.
“Yeah?” I glared at her sideways. Dash was always pulling tricks on me, even before she knew my true identity. “What are you getting at?”
“Just shapeshift into Dreamy real quick.”
A quick green flash later, and I settled back into my pony persona.
“Now, look at them.”
I did so. And they looked back, strands of love goo slowly stretching to the floor between them, still halfway in a hug.
“So, how do you feel now? Seeing them covered in thick creamy love?” Dash giggled, giving one of my suddenly very stiff wings a tap with her hoof.
I laid down, my wings extended helplessly to the sides. I glanced nervously at Applejack who shrugged as if to say, “yer on yer own…”
I looked between Dash, and the Pinkieshy goo mess. “Don’t wanna talk about it…” I was pretty sure my face was going to catch fire.
Twilight scribbled furiously...