We did a few more cart runs, and it turned out that two carts was my comfort zone. Applejack had just shrugged and said that was the average for most ponies just starting out. I went about the rest of the morning piling baskets into the carts and hauling them down to the farmhouse. Applejack did all the bucking since I wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to shake the apples out of those trees.
Besides the wind rustling through the trees, a few chirping birds, and the ponies working off in the distance, it was really quiet. It felt too quiet without the constant chatter from the channels.
“I miss my story channel…” I missed telling stories too.
I breathed in the sweet apple air with determination to enjoy the day, and savored the feel of lifes renewed energy flowing through my limbs from a good days work. “Changelin…” I caught myself mid sentence and glanced around frantically.
“I-I! I love to work, it’s the privilege of earning the right to live! He-hehe...” I finished with a sigh and kicked at a rock. There wasn’t anypony around for it to hit, so I put a bit more reckless force into it than my soft unarmored pony hoof could take.
“Eeyigh!” I recoiled back, my flank slammed into the cart just as I reflexively lowered my head. The bar shot straight into my nose with all the momentous weight of the cart, taking my forehooves off the ground. I suddenly found myself far too intimate with the ground as I stared at the sky.
I twitched as the pain registered in my face and overrode my brain. My legs flopped to the sides, and I groaned as I slowly regained motor control. I glanced back at the cart. It was sitting not ten hooves from me like nothing had ever happened.
I glared at it. “I’m really not cut out to do this whole pony thing…” I couldn’t help but think that magic would be so much more efficient for this job.
I caught my mind wandering over impossibilities like going back to the hive, or finding other lone fangs like myself, but I quickly found any number of reasons to dismiss all of them. I had found a niche, and surrounded myself with enough food to live happily.
“What more could I want?” I thought out loud. A sudden pang of sorrow hit me. “Oh, well it would be nice if Feelia were here.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, remembering my princess. I let out a long deep sigh. “What a ridiculous thought. If she were alive, I wouldn’t be here, and she definitely wouldn’t be here with me.”
I turned over, slowly regaining my footing and rubbing the pain out of my nose when something caught my eye. It was red with a yellow rearing pony on a blue shield. I examined it closely. The pony on the shield was wearing something around it’s neck that looked a lot like the thing I was staring at.
“It’s a piece of clothing...” I mumbled absentmindedly as I kicked that diamond dog loving cart, gently for fear of injuring myself further, and began filling it with baskets that had been neatly situated around the trees on the side of the hoof path. “Huh… I guess someponies weren’t able to figure it out so they had to stamp a picture of the instructions on it.”
I noted how there was a loop tied at the front of it. My ear twitched. I glanced around, but Applejack was still off helping other ponies elsewhere since there weren’t any more trees to buck in this section.
I glanced back at the clothing. The instructions looked so regal. I pondered if it belonged to a guard.
“A very small guard. I’m sure I could have figured out how to put it on without the instructional picture though.” I wondered what purpose it had other than fluttering in the wind off the back of ones neck. I went back to work and dutifully ignored it. “Best not to get into trouble and just focus on my job.”
It’s a simple job, I thought as I rubbed my throbbing nose. Put apples in the cart. Don’t touch random things that don’t belong to me. Haul cart to barn. Avoid bits of clothing that may be laying on the ground. Haul empty cart back to orchard. Stop staring at those darn attractive colors. Stay out of trouble. Repeat.
“Simple…” I grinned as I set the final basket into my cart. My eyes flickered over the clothing. I shook my head and growled.
“Simple!” I snapped at it. “I don’t need any trouble from you, or any other colorful wind flappy thingys!”
I backed up to the cart and positioned under the soft strap, setting the crossbar snuggly over my chest. I prepared to move, but stopped short. I looked down at the little piece of clothing. It was smack dab in the middle of my path and there wasn’t any way around it.
I sighed as I unhitched and chided myself for missing the obvious. “I’m just going to have to move it.”
I snatched the cloth up to examine it… I-I mean to move it! I glanced around nervousely.
A small thrill went up my spine. I’d never worn clothing before. I looked around again. Where would I move it too? It seemed wrong to just put it back on the ground, or over a tree limb.
Of course I could just throw it in the cart and take it back, but...
“Hello?” I tested my surroundings, listening for any reply. “Anypony out there?”
Only the chirps of birds answered my inquiries. The wind rustled through the trees as a grin spread across my muzzle. Oh, how mischievous I felt the moment I slipped the loop over my muzzle and worked it over my ears. It sat snugly just behind my jaw, making it a little hard to breath, and the back of my skull. It wouldn’t for the life of me go any further than that, so getting it around my neck was out of the question, but I could only imagine how regal I looked with it waving in the wind off the back of my head.
I struck a pose much like the one on the shield of the cloth. “Yes! I gotta get me one of these!”
“Ahahaha!” I spun around to see Applejack faceplant into the grass, stamping her hoof. “Oh pony, it’s just as funny as the first time I saw it!”
I quickly went to snatch the clothing off of my head, but all I accomplished was nearly ripping my ears off. “Ow-ow-ow... sorry! Ow, I’m so sorry! Ow-ow-ow!”
Applejack only laughed harder.
After nearly strangling myself, I stopped and stared at her indignantly, the cloth whipping defiantly in the wind behind me. She gasped for air in between beating the ground with a hoof and guffawing so hard she lost her balance.
“Tha-hahaha… th-that’s Apple Bloom’s cape! Ahaha, an’ she ain’t gonna be too happy when she finds it stuck on yer head!” Applejack trotted over and clopped me on the shoulder, still snickering. “Go on now, you’d better get it off quick.” She hoofed over in a direction off to the side. “Her tree house is over that way. When you get it unstuck from yer noggin’, she’d be a might bit happy if you’d return it. She’s been looking for it all morning.”
I nodded silently, still too embarrassed to say much as I turned and trotted off.
I caught Applejack mumbling something. I wouldn’t have picked it up if my ears weren’t so sensitive. “Go on, Shatter, I’m dying to know what happened next between you and my sister.”
I spun around. “What? Nothings happened, I only just met her...”
My jaw dropped, and my eyes searched every which way. Without a sound or any explanation, Applejack was gone.
Something felt very wrong about my surroundings. After Applejack disappeared, a chilling sensation was left creeping up my spine. I looked around. All of the volunteer ponies were gone, and Pinkie hadn’t come back either. Since I’d arrived in Ponyville, there had been at least one of Twilight’s cadre at my side at all times. I swallowed against a queasiness that was crawling up my throat.
“Something isn’t right…” Of course it isn’t! Ponies don’t just disappear!
I mulled over the issue, but was quickly snapped back to reality when a tree house caught my eye off the side of the path.
I blinked in confusion. “I don’t remember seeing that in the distance at all.” I looked back. Row after generic row of apple trees lay behind me. I shook my head and rubbed at a temple. “Wow, I really need to pay more attention to what I’m doing.”
I trotted up the stairs of the tree house and peeked inside. Nopony was home. My curiosity nipped at me. I’d never been in a tree house before. Changelings live underground in caves, so the aspect of living above the ground in a tree was intriguing. I gently crept up on the door and nudged it open.
The interior was very simple. Mostly empty with a desk, a few chairs, and some basic decorations on the wall. It smelled of dust and wood. I stared at the pictures on the walls for a second. They made about as much sense to me as anything else ponies collected. I shrugged it all off.
“Odd that they would make their foals live in trees…” I checked the ceilings for cubbycombs. “Oh that’s right, Ponies like soft beds.” I looked around. “No, none of those either. Maybe they have to sleep on the ground until they build the beds on their own.”
That made sense. I nodded, changelings do the same thing. Each of us are required to build and customize our own cubbycomb.
Applejack’s sister was nowhere to be seen. I would just have to leave the clothing here and get back to work.
“Ahm sure I left my cape around here somewhere!” I recognized Apple Bloom’s voice. She was very close outside.
My breath caught in my throat as Applejack’s words of warning played over in my mind. “That’s Apple Bloom’s cape, and she ain’t gonna be too happy when she finds it stuck on yer head!”
I was certain to make the little pony mad! I could hear hoofsteps clopping up the stairs.
I yanked at the cape, but my ears defiantly held it in place as it tightened around my neck. I yanked so hard I could feel my eyes pulsing with my heart beat. “How’d I even gotten this thing on?“ I croaked.
The hoofsteps came closer.
I whipped my head back and forth frantically lashing the cape with muffled snaps. And that was the worst thing I could have done. Between the strangulation and the world suddenly spinning in circles around me, my legs went limp. I thudded to the ground and fought a new sensation. My pony stomach felt like it was imploding, or at least trying to. I wasn’t sure what to think about it, but it definitely didn’t feel good.
“Hay! You girls hear somethin’?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yeah, I totally just heard something move around in there too!” Came an unfamiliar voice. “I bet our treehouse is haunted!”
“Haunted?” A third squeakier voice. “You don’t suppose ghosts eat fillys? Maybe we should have brought cupcakes.”
Apple Blooms voice again. “What? Nah if’n I had cupcakes, I wouldn’t be feeding them to no ghosts! Besides, we were just here. Doesn’t it take time for houses to get all haunted up?”
I was frozen in place, but for whatever reason my mouth had all the brave initiative. I think I was trying to say something along the lines of ‘hello, it’s just me,’ but with all my dizziness, and whatever my stomach was doing, it came out more like a groaning, “Uuhhhngah…”
“Fluttery fruit bats! It’s a zombie!” Apple Bloom gasped.
“Whoa! That’s soo cool! Lets feed him apples and name him Mr. Nibbles!”
“Shouldn’t we tell somepony?”
“What? No! They would take Mr. Nibbles away!”
“But if a zombie bites you, don’t you turn into a zombie?”
“Nah, that’s just in stories meant to scare the little kids. Zombies come from the Everfree forest and are ponies who lost their cutie marks and never got them back! I hear they are full of holes, have bug wings and horns, and can shapeshift!”
Whatever I was going to say caught in my throat as I mumbled to myself, “Wait…did she just describe changelings?”
“Well now, there’s only one way to tell. Just gonna have to ask him.” Apple Bloom cleared her throat and knocked. “Hay, you in there! Are you a zombie?”
“Uhm...” I wasn’t sure how to answer since technically they described me perfectly. By their definition I guess I kind of am, but still, I threw out a trepidatious, “No?”
“I don’t think that sounded too convincing.” Came a squeaky reply.
“Well, which one of us is going in there to check?” Came the third voice.
“Ah say we all go in on the count of three.” Apple Bloom said.
The doorknob twisted. I took a deep breath and yanked hard on the clothing with both hooves only to faceplant into the floorboards. My nose screamed at me.
“One!”
The door creaked open slowly.
“Eeeh!” I squealed in panic.
“Two!”
I took a deep breath, and in a flash of green fire.
“Three!”
The three fillies bravely burst into the room. “Cutie mark crusaders zombie tamers!”
“Oh hay! Look, it’s my cape.” Apple Bloom trotted over to me. “Why’s it wrapped around this here frilly pink pillow?”
“I don’t know, but it’s a really really nice pillow.” The white one squeaked as she examined me. “Wow, that is some gorgeous embroidery, and I love the stitching!”
I puffed up with pride.
“Whoa, where’s the zombie though?” The orange one looked every which way. “Aww come on! He must have escaped out the window.” She bolted to the window at the back of the treehouse.
“Whatever it was, it’s gone now.” Apple Bloom pulled the cape off of me and slipped it over her head.
“I really like this pillow!” The white one hugged me. “It’s soo soft!”
It was kinda nice to be snuggled again as a pillow. It had been such a long time. Memories of my princess Feelia flitted through my head.
“Apple Bloom, can I keep it?”
“Uhm, sure? I don’t see why not Sweetie Belle.” Apple Bloom put a name to the white squeaky one. I made mental note. “Go-fer it.”
“Whoa, hold on a minute. Shouldn’t we figure out where that thing came from and why it was attached to your cape?” The orange one smiled. “That’s totally a mystery!”
“Dont’cha think yer thinkin’ a little too hard there Scootaloo? I mean it’s just a pillow.” And then there were two named.
Thank you Apple Bloom.
“Hello? Didn’t you hear the voice? A pillow, a mysterious voice, a flash of green light, a missing zombie, and pony knows what else we’ll find!” Scootaloo danced in place.
“Yah, I heard the voice too! It was kinda scary.” Sweetie Belle grabbed and squeezed me tight.
“Squee!” The sound escaped my lips involuntarily.
“It squeed!” Sweetie Belle tossed me to the floor. “It’s a squee pillow!” She giggled. “A squee-low!”
Apple Bloom trotted over to me. “Yeah, I heard it too.”
I held my breath.
Scootaloo zipped over. “Whoa, how’d you do that Sweetie Belle? Make it squee again.”
“I don’t know how. It just did it on it’s own.”
Apple Bloom eyeballed me. “Hmm…” She slammed a hoof into my gut.
“Guuhff…” I grunted.
“Guuhff?” Apple Bloom repeated.
“Well, yeah, of course he’s going to say ‘guuhff’, Apple Bloom, you just stepped on him.” Sweetie Belle chided her. “Which really wasn’t very nice.”
Scootaloo facehoofed. “Sweetie Belle, that isn’t the point! It’s a talking pillow. It’s not supposed to say ‘guuhff’ even if you do kick it.”
Sweetie Belle grinned. “Oh! So the pillow is the zombie then?”
“Nah, it cain’t be a zombie. You cain’t zombify a pillow. Trust me, Zecora and I already had that conversation.” Apple Bloom gasped. “It’s gotta be magical! I was wishin’ my cape would come back, and then there it was attached to this here pillow. Maybe it will grant other wishes too? Maybe it can tell us how to earn our cutie...”
“Hold it!” They all jumped when I barked out. “Don’t get carried away.”
“Sweet!” Scootaloo jumped back over to take a closer look at me. “It does do more than grunt and squee!”
“We already knew that, it talked at us through the door,” Apple Bloom shook her head.
“Uhm, girls I’m kind of busy right now, so…” I hopped up onto my little tassels and trotted for the door.
“Oh my gosh! It’s sooo adorable!” Sweetie Belle had me in a vice grip hug before I could blink. “You are the cutest most wonderful pillow ever! I’m gonna hug you, and squeeze you, and love you, and call you George!”
I would have struggled if it weren’t for a new kind of flavor trickling in from the squeaky little pony squeezing the life out of me. It was different from Twilight’s shock tart obsession, Fluttershy’s mildly sweet and buttery meltyness, and Pinkie’s overwhelming sugar fruity parfait. Her love had a chaotic quality like little sweet granules that popped and fizzed on my pallet. It was delicious to be sure, but it was the sharp tingly delivery of it that completely placated me as she overwhelmed my curiosity.
In that moment, I was very happy to be an adorable pillow!
“Wait… George?” I gasped in between forced snuggles.
Apple Bloom scratched her head in thought. “What kinda business would a magic pillow have in Ponyville?”
“My names not George!”
“Granting wishes, duh!” Scootaloo stated excitedly as she rolled her eyes at the obvious. “Come on Sweetie Belle! Hoof it over. I’m gonna wish I can fly! I’ll be in the air in no time!”
“Hay, stop ignoring…” Scootaloo’s request suddenly hit me in rolling waves of tingling chills that invaded every corner of my body. I didn’t have that kind of magic! My mind immediately came up with a plan though.
I cleared my throat, knowing this would take some tact as I didn’t want to disappoint or anger the young filly. “I am sorry to inform you, dear Scootaloo, that I am quite incapable of performing such magic…”
“Aww…” The little filly’s ears drooped.
I was suddenly assaulted by her disappointment. I was prepared for it, but it still burned into me in a bitter wave. “But!”
Her ears perked up.
“I’ve seen a lot of pegasus younger than you flying around. I think all you have to do is just flap your wings!” Of course! It made sense. That was all I had to do when I wanted to fly. I was very happy with my solution.
She, however, was showing a new kind of facial expression. Her eyes were half lidded, and her mouth was forming neither a smile nor a frown. I studied her carefully, expectantly. An eye twitched.
“Aha!” I shouted triumphantly. “I know what a twitchy eye means! Irritation!” I was quite pleased with myself. “Wait… irritation?”
Scootaloo’s facial expression definitely switched to anger. I knew that emotion because it was similar to the most common one displayed in my captains eyes back home when he was dealing with me. Poor Core…
She started growling at me. “I kinda wanna rip those tassels off…”
I recoiled. Anger tasted extremely sour. I really didn’t like her being angry with me. My mind spun in circles. What had I done wrong?
Sweetie Belle flipped me up onto her back. “Well… At least he’s cute when he isn’t talking!”
“Yep, definitely a boy pillow.” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Sis, says that all colts are cuter when they aren’t stickin’ a hoof in their mouth.”
“Whatever!” Scootaloo turned to head for the door. “I say we ditch the pillow. I could go for a malt down at Sugarcube Corner right now.”
I blurted out the first thing that popped into my mind. “Oh, I know that place! Pinkie Pie is assigned there.”
“Not invited!” Scootaloo snapped at me.
I was surprised at how disappointed I felt. I really wanted to see where Pinkie worked. “Oh, well I guess I could get back to work pulling the apple carts then.”
“You? Workin’ for my sister pullin’ the carts?” Apple Bloom eyed me suspiciously. “Ya know, Sweetie Belle, I think Scootaloo’s right. Get rid of him. We don’t need no lyin’, hoof in mouth pillow anyhow.”
“But…” Sweetie Belle looked back at me indecisively. “He’s fluffy and warm and cute…”
“And lame!” Scootaloo reached the door. “Come on Sweetie Belle, just get rid of him…”
I felt a cold chill inside. The emotions rolling off the fillies were making me sick. “I really am sorry if I said anything wrong. I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m kinda new to this whole socialising with ponies thing.”
Scootaloo growled, “Then go home.”
I shrugged. “I can’t… I ran away. I can never go back.”
Scootaloo hesitated, her hoof on the doorknob.
“Girls… please, just listen to me!” I struggled against my bonds, pleading with the three crazy fillies.
“Sweetie Belle, those ropes holdin’ up?” Apple Bloom beamed with pride as she surveyed her precision ‘hog tieing’ work.
“Mhmm!” Sweetie Belle muffled around the rope in her mouth, and nodded which sent me bobbing up and down as I dangled from the other end.
This was bad! Terribly bad! I almost wanted to cry. The girls were dragging me off to the treebrary to see Twilight Sparkle.
“Well, it’s your fault.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes at me. “If you would just tell us where you are from, you wouldn’t be in this mess, and we’d all be at Sugar Cube Corner by now!”
“Why do you even care where I’m from?” I squeaked out in frustration.
Apple Bloom barked at me. “Because family is important! Runnin’ away never solved anything, and I’m sure they all miss you somethin’ fierce.”
Scootaloo nodded. “You should be glad. Your family is out there somewhere waiting for you to come home, and we’re going to do the right thing and get you back there!”
“Nonono! You don’t understand! They’ll kill me!” I squeaked frantically.
Apple Bloom nodded. “Good! I’d kill ya too if you ran away and you were my brother or somethin’!”
I froze and stared at Apple Bloom. “Ponies are brutal! Help!” I screamed with all the squeakyness I could muster.
Scootaloo smiled lopsided at me, “Yep, totally brutal,” and stuck her cape in my mouth.