//------------------------------// // Chap 35 // Story: Magic Paint Brushes 2: A New Canvas To Paint On // by Ugly-Duckling123 //------------------------------// Back in the hall Suzy was just getting up herself and looked around for Jack, not finding him, she went off to ask someone. "Excuse me," she said to two of the ponies on breakfast duty, a blue mare with pink earrings and a yellow stallion. "Do either of you know where Jack is he wasn't where he was last night when I woke up?" "Why no sorry dear," the mare said shaking her head. "But I'm sure he and the others are still here, I doubt they would of left without saying good bye. Waffles?" Nodding in thanks and getting extra syrup for her waffles Suzy went over to the tables and began eating them. After a bit she was joined by a few of the Changelings also having extra syrup waffles. "Can I help you lot?" Suzy asked looking around a bit put off by all of them watching her every move. "We just want to know what's going to happen now now Chrysalis is gone," Scarab said. He was another Replacementiee which was why he spoke up. "Why you asking me?" Suzy asked confused. "You stood up to her didn't you Suzy?" Scarab said giving her hints while explaining for her to get it herself. "You're the one who spoke up first. You took the lead when we were in Jack's woods." "The lead...?" Suzy said still confused then it hit her. "No! Nuh uh. Not no way not no how. I am not repeat not being the new queen." "But you need to be," Arachnie placed in backing up a bit when his new queen turned to him. "We... We need someone to lead us, someone to tell us what to do..." "You can do that for yourselves," Suzy said looking around at everyone. "You got to make your own decisions and follow your own paths you lot," she said pushing the plate with her breakfast on away and getting up. "Where you going Suzy?" Arachnie asked along with everyone else muttering the same question. "I've lost my apatite," she said as she began to walk away. Deciding to try and find Jack, she began to track him down using her Changeling scene of smell, to the library where just coming out the doors, was Jack. "Jack," Suzy said smiling hugging him. "You would not believe what Scarab told me just now..." "Yeah?" Jack asked inviting her in, the others still there too, but she didn't mind. "Scarab says he and the other Changelings that stayed behind yesterday," Suzy began looking around to see that everyone was getting it "Want me, ME to be the new dumb queen of the Hive." "Do you want..." Jack began after a bit of awkward silence but was cut off. "Of course I don't want it!" Suzy screamed her eyes flashing green slightly. "Why the hell, would I want to be in charge of those heartless, know nothing about friends, beings who do nothing but suck the love and life out of things?" she said turning her back to him for being so dumb. "So if we tell you Suzy, that we might have a 'Get Out of Queenlyship Free' card," Discord said to the side with the others a game of Monopoly set up and him playing with a 'Chance' card. "Would you want to take it?" "Depends what it is I suppose," she said turning to him, crossing her arms. "Go to and/or stay on Earth with these guys," Discord said flying his arms around Eric, Sarah, and Jack. "Go to Earth?" Suzy asked "How?" "Via Jackie's pencil that's how," Discord said twirling the silver pencil in his fingers. "HEY!" Jack said swiping it back "You can't just go around taking other people's things Discord," he said annoyed. "Didn't seem to bother you that much at school," Eric said to the side "Wasn't there this one time where you 'found' someones old PE kit and then you got a strange rash from it? Or how about that time around Christmas with Jimmy's new bike, and I needed to remind you that his family were three generations of butchers?" "You were going to steal things from butchers?" Sarah asked turning to her cousin in surprise and slight disappointment. "I was only going to borrow it," Jack said shrugging "He was going to get it back." "That's not the point, Jack. Butchers... seriously?" "Someone mind telling us what's so bad about these guys?" Rainbow Dash asked getting annoyed she wasn't understanding the problem. "They're people who are trained to use sharp knives," Eric said not wanting to get too far into it. "Getting back to the matter at hand then..." Twilight said turning to Suzy. "Do you think you'll want to do that?" "If it will get me away from them," Suzy said looking towards the door "I'm all for it." "But won't the Changelings need a queen Suzy?" Fluttershy piped up, hiding behind her mane when everyone looked at her. "So what?" Suzy said shrugging "All they ever cared about were themselves, 'Only the strong can belong', 'If someling falls back, don't go back for them', 'If you care, care for yourself'," Suzy recited some of the quotes that were drilled into her head from when she was a pupa, shocking some of the ponies. "You lot have shown me all that is just a whole lot of rotten meat," she said looking up at everyone and around the room "If they want a new queen, they can find one on their own. Because it wont be me." "But Suz," Sarah said stepping forward "Don't you see? You can lead then out of the dark and them thinking that, and teach them, what we've taught you about friendship." "You have no idea what a Changeling Queen does do you?" Suzy asked looking at Sarah a 'Really?' look on her face, her arms crossed. "Why should..." Sarah was about to ask when Jack cut her off. "Think about bees and or ants cuz," he said coming over offing Suzy some of the candy he got from Luna to make her feel better. "What to their queens do?" "Oh..." Sarah said after a bit blushing slightly "Sorry." "Forget about it," Suzy said waving her lolly around. "But..." "I said... Forget about it." The room was silent for a bit, all eyes on the two girls. "So going back to the idea of you going to Earth with these wierdo's," Rainbow Dash said getting the discussion back to where it was before. "We still haven't worked out what... form you'll be in while you're there." "And with the no magic thing," Applejack continued "We were going to send Jack to go find you so we could test it. If that's alright?" "Test it? How?" Suzy asked. "You and Jack use his pencil, to go home," Eric explained "And then come almost straight back, and tell us if it's... ok or not. If it is then we'll all go home. If not... We'll stay a bit longer to see if we can work something out instead." Agreeing on that, Suzy took hold of Jack's pencil and with a flash they were both gone. Leaving everyone to wait it out to find out the answer.