The Misadventures of the Renegades

by reading is magic

I: Getting To Know The Mighty Renegades

A changeling and a breezie. It was an unlikely pair that had been outcasts for as long as they can remember. They rebel against the oppressing beliefs of their respective clan until they were ultimately banished away from their lands.

They now travel the lands and exploring not only that but also their new-found freedom from the shackles of their former homes.

Their kind were despised by the dominating races of Equestria.

He was Frost Bite; she was Sing Song. A changeling and breezie together and united, they brave on through danger and wonder of the unknown lands that awaited them. They are The Renegades.

Sing Song hovered over Frost Bite, looking at what kind of things he had written down on the newly-picked up journal. Frost Bite levitated the leather-bound journal with his magic. They found it a while back on the road, caked in mud. Must had been dropped by a pony a long time ago. Frost Bite had torn off the pages with writings—not even bothering to see what may be in it—and when he did, the journal was left with half of its pages.

As the pink breezie read the paragraphs he had written, she couldn’t help but gag so loudly, which made Frost Bite jolt.

“What in Celestia’s butt are you writing!?” Sing Song asked.

“This our adventure journal!” the changeling answered as he closed the journal then waved it in front of Sing Song. “We can record everything about our journey.”

When Frost Bite opened the journal again, Sing Song read the paragraphs again.

Okay, first off, she thought, we left our homes on our own accord. With blessings and whatnot. Sing Song can’t imagine where Frost Bite was getting the idea that being an outlaw was cool. In her mind, it sounded terrible and miserable.

Secondly, they were just going to Ponyville; there were no plans of going to farther lands together, because she knew travelling with a weirdo like him would be tiring. Also, new found freedom? They weren’t slaves, for crying out loud!

Third point; despised? Maybe for him, at least. Frost Bite’s kind did attack the Royal Wedding somewhere Sing Song didn’t know. Her kind, however, wasn’t that relevant. Most ponies don’t even know what a breezie was.

And lastly; The Renegades. Really? Really!? Not only it sounded lame, to think her own changeling companion would label themselves as criminals was beyond mental. Obviously, Frost Bite thought otherwise.

“You and me, going off on adventures! Fighting evil, finding treasures, and even save the world!” Frost Bite opened his hooves wide. “Maybe. Then we can sell our story!”

They walked along the dirt road—the smaller one floating—next to a railroad in the middle of nowhere. The duo hadn’t got a clue where to go, but they knew Ponyville had a train station there, so it’s pretty much their lead.

Sing Song thought of reasons why she agreed to travel with a pony, er, changeling who seemed to be, if anything, childish. How did we even meet…?

Frost Bite was actually one of the few intelligent changelings of the Hive. The Queen liked the smart ones from the drones, for obvious reasons. You want to talk to people who actually talk back, right? Right.

Despite that, the Queen never liked Frost Bite. One of the reasons was that he was inquisitive. Always asking questions to whatever order the Queen barked at them. It made him different from the other intelligible ones.

Anothing thing that made him different was that he had taste buds. You know, for real food. He had a particular liking for hay burgers and fries. During the invasion, he was assigned to infiltrate a family. Instead of doing that, he just ate at a fast food joint. It was so crushing for him that he didn’t get to finish his meal as he sailed through the air due to a force of unknown magic. Luckily, nobody knew about him eating out during the large-scale operation.

As for the other smart changelings, they were much older compared to Frost Bite. Most of them preferred sucking up to the Queen, so Frost Bite never really talked much to them which made him lonely in the Hive. After two years since the failed invasion, he gathered the courage to talk to Her Majesty. He got an audience with the Queen and asked for his freedom; the Queen gladly granted his request and was even given supplies from the Hive. Frost Bite even was given a send-off party, where they sent him off. Literally using a catapult. It became a problem that Frost Bite never really flown much. In fact, it was a miracle that he survived

Sing Song was an ordinary breezie who left her home. That’s pretty much it. She asked her parents if she could go out on her own, to see the world. Her parents were nice, so of course, they let her go and bid her all the good luck and things she needed. While she did felt great at home, Sing Song had always the dream of exploring, seeing new things as she did—unlike when they migrated from one place to another. While her parents did find Sing Song brash and a bit rude, they loved her all the same.

How did the two meet? Well, as Frost Bite was about to land, the little breezie was already traveling on her own. Still, being the breezie she was, she often got blown away by winds and eventually was whisked away from familiar roads and into a land in the middle of nowhere. When Frost Bite landed in front of her, Sing Song popped an idea. Sing Song needed help for her journey since there was always the risk getting blown away.

While he was still recovering from his landing, Frost Bite saw Sing Song. Thinking that she was some sort of butterfly, Frost Bite took a glass jar from his saddlebag, and before Sing Song could even say hello, Frost Bite caught Sing Song in a jar in a single swipe. After a few apologies, they talked and eventually agreed to be a party of two. It’s almost bizarre and ridiculous to Sing Song that she agreed to travel with Frost Bite. After all, she had no choice in the matter; it was either get blown away or take anyone as a travel partner.

It was like circumstance had cuffed their destinies together, and then probably tossed the key into a bottomless well. For Sing Song, that was the case.

For Frost Bite, it was fate giving him a pat on the back and an ally to his treacherous journey, a journey he had no idea how to even manage. He knew he should have studied, but the lack of any educational material back at the Hive wasn’t helping. Changelings didn’t own books, and the only one who did was the Queen. He thought of asking Her, but that would only make her irritated.

After around thirty minutes of walking beside the railroad, Frost Bite sat down on his haunches. “I’m tired,” Frost Bite said then breathed in and exhaled loudly.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Where the hay is your adventure spirit? It’s only been thirty minutes!” She floated above his face and stared into his large, green slit pupils.

“Maybe I’m not cut out for walking.” He tossed his head to the ground to rest, only for his head to land on the iron rail. BANG! “Ouch!” He rebounded and sat up straight again.

“You’re not cut out for anything,” Sing Song said weakly as she placed her hoof on her face.

“What was that?” Frost Bite asked.

“Nothing!”

“Really?” Frost Bite wondered. “Because I think that’s a hot air balloon.”

Sing Song looked where Frost Bite was pointing in the sky. Indeed, there was a bright yellow balloon with a rectangular basket thing that held its passengers. It was up high and was large too. The balloon’s bright yellow color blinded any pony that seemed to gaze upon it. Its brightness made it look like the sun was attached to the basket.

“We can hitch a ride!” Frost Bite exclaimed as he stood up.

“Like they will!” Sing Song rolled her eyes. “Besides, I bet they can’t hear you—”

“Hey! Over here! HEY!” Frost Bite waved his hooves in the air, hoping to catch the attention of the balloon rider. Sing Song can only think that he looked idiotic by doing so. Surprisingly, the balloon started to lower down to their location.

“Okay, smarty pants, how are you going to explain to the PONY who owns the balloon why he should help a CHANGELING?”

“I don’t!” Frost Bite answered. A ring of green electricity appeared at the bottom of his hooves and slowly it rose to the top of his head. A unicorn pony with pale blue coat and white curly mane and tail took the place of the once insectoid pony hybrid. On his flank was an image of a snowflake.

“That’s called lying.” Sing Song looked unimpressed.

“And it’s a white lie,” Frost Bite responded as he pointed his new white mane.

“Uh huh. And who are you supposed to be?”

“Frost Bite!” he answered with much enthusiasm.

“No, I mean who’s the pony you’re copying?”

“Frost Bite!” he answered with much enthusiasm once again.

“I will poke your eyes if you answer ‘Frost Bite’ one more time! Who are—”

“This is my original form! I thought if I ever want to be a pony, this would be my desired look, please don’t hit me!” Frost Bite covered his eyes with his hooves.

There was a pause. “You think you’re a girl if you were a pony?”

“What? No!” Frost Bite said, looking shocked as ever.

“You do look like one.”

Frost Bite knew about ponies; how they looked like, how they dressed, what they ate, and how they talked. One thing he could never get was their genders. To him, they practically looked all the same. Colors really helped Frost Bite identify them, but never the gender.

“I swear to the Queen they all look alike,” Frost Bite whispered, loud enough for Sing Song to hear.

A soft thud made the duo turn around. The balloon had landed; up close, the basket had ‘Mango Mango Mango’ written on the side of the basket and the whole thing just looked bigger. A pale yellow pony tied a rope to the railroad, anchoring the balloon. The pony then walked towards them. The pony was an earth pony mare. Her dark green mane looked like a clump of leaves which made her body look like a weird brightly-colored fruit.

“Hi there!” Frost Bite said. He raised his hoof for a shake. “I’m Frost Bite, and this is my friend Sing Song.” Sing Song waved with a forced smile at the pony.

The yellow pony had a constant small smile ever since she landed. It looked creepy, and the way she never blinked and only stared didn’t help at all.

“Sure,” the pony said.

Frost Bite and Sing Song looked at each other, then back at the balloon owner.

“You see, we we’re on our way to Ponyville,” Frost Bite said.

“Uh huh.” The yellow pony nodded.

“And we were hoping if you could give us a lift! That is, if you’re headed that way too?”

“Uh huh.”

The yellow pony’s short answers, and constant stare and smile made the duo uncomfortable. The pony’s answers were void of emotion, as if she was only stating facts. For once, Sing Song thought of Frost Bite as a more normal pony than the one before them.

“So...” Sing Song said.

“Yeah, sure,” the pony said. “I’m on my way there. Hop on in.”

The pony turned back and went to her ride, probably cleaning up for the unexpected guests.

“Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?” Frost Bite asked, keeping pony in his sights. Sing Song did the same.

“It’s your bad idea.” Sing Song said without moving her head.

“You know, she might be crazy. She hasn't blinked as much as a pony would.”

“You think we can outrun her?”

“Earth ponies own the ground. They run really fast.”

“Well, we can’t fly away either, she has a balloon.”

“Balloons can’t be that fast, right?”

“Flying isn’t really my forte.”

“And we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

They both began to think. She can’t be that crazy, right? I mean what kind of pony would own a balloon and travel in the middle of nowhere?

A psychopath, and possibly, a loose murderer. They came to the same conclusion, and they looked at each other, silently confirming they both had the same suspicions.

“On second thought, we’ll just walk,” Frost Bite said. “Ponyville’s not that far from here, and we don’t want to bother you.”

“Oh, I insist,” the pony said. “It’s still half a day before you can reach Ponyville by walking.” She jumps off the basket and approached them with her unchanging smile. “I really insist.”

Sing Song can feel her sweat on her neck. “You know, that’s why we need to start walking! Half a day’s worth of walking ahead of us!” Sing Song urged Frost Bite to start walking in the opposite direction from the yellow stranger. Frost Bite followed and started to pick up his pace.

“You’re going the wrong way, you know,” the pony behind them reminded.

They froze on the spot. Their backs felt exposed to the menace behind them. Slowly, Frost Bite turned his head and saw that the pony still had her smile. In Frost Bite’s mind, her smile became more disturbing and twisted.

“How silly of us!” Frost Bite laughed nervously, and turned around to face the pony.

“Come on now,” the pony said. “Get in the balloon.”

“Y-yeah! Sure! If you really insist,” Sing Song stuttered.

The stranger jumped into her balloon, and disappeared inside.

“Should we?” Frost Bite asked in a whisper.

“We’ll die either way, right?” Sing Song replied. “But we’ll die fighting! I won’t let some crazy mare kill me that easily!”

“Yeah!”

The pair gulped and then approached the balloon with tons of hesitation. They started to sweat and their heartbeat became faster as they got closer.

In Frost Bite’s mind, he imagined there would be dead bodies of ponies inside the ride. He steeled himself for the incoming possibility.

In Sing Song’s mind, she considered abandoning her companion but she knew she couldn’t live with the guilt of letting somepony die. She decided to die with him, for better or for worse.

Frost Bite climbed the basket with Sing Song on his head. As they got themselves in, they shut their eyes closed, then slowly opened them; they saw the pony holding a knife with her left hoof. As to how they really held things without fingers, don’t ask me; I am merely the narrator and I don’t get paid for this. Really, just stop thinking about it. You’ve seen them hold sandwiches.

With the pony’s smile and stare, Frost Bite and Sing Song let out a scream of harmonic terror. Sing Song flew off Frost Bite’s head and hugged his face instead.

“Please don’t kill us! Oh my Queen, I’m so sorry!”

“Mommy, I’m scared!”

“I didn’t mean to question you, I’m so sorry!”

“I wanna go home!”

They screamed some more, then Frost Bite pulled Sing Song off his face and held her.

“Sing Song, it was nice knowing you. I really like your company even if it was short.”

“Same here. I’ll be honest—I thought you’re kind of an idiot—but nevertheless, same thoughts.”

“What? Hey, that’s not nice,” Frost Bite frowned.

“I’m being honest here.”

“Fair enough.”

Frost Bite embraced Sing Song awkwardly, which made him look like he was hugging a tiny action figure of a pony, which was surprisingly accurate.

“So, are you guys hungry?” the pony asked them.

Right next to the pony were stacks of crates. The pair synchronously thought of what the contents of the crates; perhaps it contained slaughters the pony had done before. Their fear increased and their intelligence took a drop as they assumed the mare before them was a cannibal. They watched the mare as she opened the crate and picked up a yellow object.

Hang on, pony flesh is not yellow, they thought.

And the thought solidified in their brains. The pony had already peeled two of the yellow object that seemed to be fruits, both already on a plate.

“Go on, take one. These mangoes are fresh and ripe.” The pony started to peel another one.

It took almost a minute before they started to move again. Frost Bite and Sing Song looked at each other, then at the fruit before them, and then approached the plate. The duo had never heard of mangoes before. Frost Bite pulled the plate to him and stared at the naked fruit again. Sing Song perched on Frost Bite’s head, and stared too.

“What if it’s poisoned?” Sing Song asked, rubbing her chin with her hoof.

“Don’t worry; my fruits are all natural, no artificial fertilizers, pesticides, and the like,” the pony said to them and then took a bite of her own share.

Frost Bite gulped. He slowly picked up the food with his right hoof. “Here goes nothing.”

The changeling took a huge bite. At this point, Sing Song thought that Frost Bite had done a brave thing. If he dies through poisoning, then Sing Song would had to take that compliment back.

Frost Bite felt something hard in the middle of the fruit, but he managed to bite off the flesh around it. Slowly, he chewed the yellow matter inside his mouth and Sing Song observed with much worry. Frost Bite’s face lit up, as if from divine intervention—a revelation from the stars—or maybe as if he had sprouted wings from his sides. Something Frost Bite can actually do.

“Frost Bite? You okay?” Sing Song asked, looking at Frost Bite with much concern.

“Sing Song! You have got to try this! This is the best thing ever!” And with that, Frost Bite stuffed the whole fruit into his mouth, slurping and chewing it with much gusto. Well, too much gusto, since he accidentally swallowed the hard middle.

“Agh! WA—TER!” Frost Bite managed to say.

“Hold still,” the pony said as she went behind Frost Bite and then performed a Heimlich maneuver. Frost Bite spat out the hard middle and it was sent flying off the balloon. It hit a flying bird, sending it downwards.

“Thanks,” Frost Bite said as he coughed a little.

“No problem,” the pony said and went back to her spot, checking the balloon’s machinery and panels while whistling a tune alluding to drunken sailors.

“So...” Sing Song said. “I guess we were wrong about her?”

“I guess so?” Frost Bite looked at Sing Song with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Silence became the company of the two, as the balloon moved to the direction of Ponyville; only the pony’s whistling tune was heard. It was then that Sing Song realized that they were a pair of judgmental jerks, and pondered on that thought. Frost Bite looked at the plate where there was another peeled fruit waiting to be eaten.

“So, are you gonna eat that?” Frost Bite asked, but then got his answer; Sing Song was already on top of the mango, eating delightfully.

Comments

[New Dawn]

This is amazing! I can't wait to see what trouble the- wait... When they get to ponyville, how are they going to work with pinkie pie... AAHHHH THE POSSIBILITIES! anyways good job! still excited to see what's next!

[Perteks]

Not bad, only thing what I can say is trully how breezie can smack a changeling when they are so tiny.

I know that description should be little comedic but seriously it was giving bad vibe

[reading is magic]

5106100
Now that you said that, it does feel kind of silly...

5106073
Wow, I hope I don't disappoint... I'm glad you like it!

[NotShadowLotus488]

“No problem,” the pony said and went back to her spot, checking the balloon’s machinery and panels while whistling a tune alluding to drunken sailors.

Put 'em in the scuppers with the hose pipe on him,
Early in the morning!

[reading is magic]

8344921
I can only blame Assassin's Creed Black Flag for that