Hope and Changeling

by FrontSevens

Chapter 2 - Vanhoover

It really was a beautiful day. The morning sun was well on its way to delivering a comfortable afternoon. All of the air was ripe with the scent of fresh pine and life. Birds of many kinds cheerfully sung to each other, with squirrels chattering in friendly reply. I could have sat down and drank in all the peacefulness of the forest…

…if I hadn’t been so apprehensive.

Sure, maybe creatures like me were part of the society. It was possible that I had nothing to fear strolling down the street in broad daylight.

However, cartoons were usually more black and white (figuratively speaking). There was a peaceful society of ponies here, and a militant society of anti-ponies there. Such physical separation probably inferred civil separation, also.

Speaking of which, I was in a cartoon now. If I wanted to get out, I’d have to blend in, play by the rules. If I was playing the role of the enemy, I definitely shouldn’t show it. I wanted to avoid being stuck out in public in anti-pony form. So, step one was to find a disguise. Some stray trash can or empty barrel to provide temporary cover.

I followed 6 F 26’s technique in using the homes along the road for cover. Again, coordinated running proved to be difficult on four legs. Boy, I missed bipedalism!

Fences made excellent vision obstructions, and each fenced backyard was a chance to catch my breath. I stopped behind a lovely, lavender-painted picket fence. Next to overwhelmed, I was feeling a little hungry. That would have to wait.

I peeked through the planks in a short bout of curiosity. A green cottage sat neatly in front of a greener lawn. The owner of this house must’ve taken great pride in gardening. The backyard garden’s colors were bright and healthy, and the layout balanced and pleasing. There was even a little duck fountain. A clothesline bridged two trees and was drying several garments, one of which was a blanket. An adequate disguise…

This was good. If no one could see me, I could pretend to be a normal horse. It’d be so much more effective than simply hiding under a cardboard box. Talking would be a more viable option. Nothing too personally involved, though; that’d get messy. Just “normal” stuff, like the weather or where the nearest portal was.

My conscience nagged at a problem, though; I was actually considering stealing! I shied away from it. I’m not a thief, I protested. That was his gig. Stealing was wrong, stealing was illegal. But, I really needed something, anything… and when was I going to get another chance? Free cloaks didn’t grow on trees, and I doubted ponies were handing them out on the streets. Besides, I wouldn’t steal it; I’d borrow it! When I could afford a proper costume, I’d give it back. Lavender fence, it wasn’t hard to miss…

After checking for movement about the house, I swung myself over and crept up to the assortment of laundry. Upon closer inspection, a pink and purple quilt might not have been worth it. However, the selection was lacking in variety; my alternatives were summer blouses or a wool winter sweater. Oh well, beggars couldn’t be choosers. I unpinned the blanket and headed back for cover. Gripping it with my fingerless forearms proved difficult, so I dragged it back in my mouth. With the fence and surrounding trees as cover, I began to work.

I’d tied knots before. But with rope. And thumbs. I tried to capitalize on the holes in my hands, but they were not as useful as I had speculated. Every cloth-securing, finger-excluding technique I could think of was employed, but to no avail. Slumping on the ground in defeat, I struck the blanket dejectedly with an arm. A stray clothespin tauntingly tumbled onto my leg. Of course…

~ ~ ~

I’m so oblivious. My nose could’ve been one big hole and I wouldn’t have noticed it (speaking of which… nope. Ok, good). I should’ve hired someone to point out for me all that is otherwise blatantly obvious. At this rate, they’d be in the Fortune 500 within the week!

My disguise was somewhat passable. The only loose end was my face. I needed sunglasses or something to cover up my eyes. Until then, I pulled the blanket over a little farther and hoped for the best.

Eventually, the backyards led to a dead end, and I was forced to travel the main road. In the middle of an intersection, a group of young horses were playing, I assume, street hockey. They wielded the hockey sticks in their mouths as they ran from goal to goal, yelling and laughing. I spotted a pile of equipment, and, when the kids were circling the opposite goal, I picked up a goalie’s mask. I slipped it on and continued down the road towards the inner city.

Stealing from children, too… Nope, I was going to return this too. I’d… leave it on the street corner, and some kid was bound to find it. I sighed as I started into town.

Traffic was increasing a little as I passed a stout office building. Several different horses passed by, going about their horse business. All those horses at once… It reminded me of my aunt’s ranch. As a kid, I remember going horseback riding several times. The only memorable thing about riding in particular was the smell. The stable always smelled rancid. It didn’t help, either, that I once fell off of a horse and landed in some… business. My favorite shirt stank for weeks. Suddenly worried, I began to search the ground for any surprises.

As long as my nose still worked, though, that didn’t seem to be the case. The air was still fresh, and I hadn’t noticed anything on the roads before. It makes sense that if the horses were intelligent, speaking creatures that built houses like us and played hockey like us, that they’d have proper facilities like us, too. Speaking of which, I had the sudden urge to go… That’d have to wait, though.

Well, I was all up and disguised, so I might as well head into town for…

Um… what exactly was I looking for?

At this point, I didn’t really have a clear idea of how to get back. Interdimensional travel had not been invented in my universe. Or, had it? I had to have gotten here somehow, after all. Maybe I accidentally stepped into a teleport or something. In that case, beaming up must have wiped out my short-term memory – the last thing I remember was falling asleep in my bed. Aliens are always a possibility, too… I couldn’t remember if those “abduction victims” on the Discovery channel mentioned ponies or not…

Something bumped into me. “Oh, pardon me,” it- she said, distracted by a grocery bag float in front of her. It was surrounded by a red aura, and the same red glow came from her horn…

Oh.

Magic actually existed in this world, and so did unicorns. I could find a unicorn to teleport me back to my world! But, would any unicorn do? If they all knew how to travel to my universe, we probably would have noticed. So, there were probably only a couple that would know how to do something that powerful. Where would I look for them, though? The frigid peak of a mountain? A secret military base? The highest room in the tallest tower of a dragon-guarded castle? The very center of –

Why was I feeling so claustrophobic?

The trickle of horses around me had grown to a wide river. At this point, oncoming traffic had decreased greatly, and the downtown-bound herd was filling the entire road.

I did not feel comfortable in the slightest. No other creatures like me… There were no gaps around me to jump out, so I followed reluctantly. My heartbeat increased, and I felt a cold sweat on my forehead. I retracted my feet farther under the blanket, but I probably looked ridiculous anyway; most of these ponies weren’t wearing any clothes at all! Just keep cool, I insisted. Nobody’s going to know. Nobody’s going to find out.

We reached a large town square, filled with hundreds of horses. My eyes hurt from the sea of color. Everybody was crowded around a small stage, complete with several rows of chairs and a megaphone-mounted podium. Maybe it was a concert, or election day, or even let’s-fit-as-many-people-as-we-can-into-one-place day. Surely, it couldn’t have been murder-anyone-who-isn’t-a-pony day.

Fairly soon, people began filing onto the stage. A hush rippled across the crowd as one horse in particular approached the stand. At my distance, I couldn’t see its face clearly, but I could at least tell that it was brown with graying hair. It cleared its throat and started to address the crowd.

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” he began. “As you may have heard, a nest full of creatures called changelings has appeared to our north.”

A nest of… changelings? Wait, I could do math. A nest near the city, and I came from a nest… Creatures that weren’t ponies, and I wasn’t a pony… So I was a changeling? Now, hold on, he could be talking about something else.

He unveiled a large poster. The picture looked exactly like me…

Alright, that would just be another hitch…

“These changelings are not friendly. We have attempted negotiations with them, but they refuse diplomacy,” he declared.

I didn’t like where this was going. My emotions overrode logic, and I became paranoid that someone would discover me. I looked around for a way out, but this crowd was packed tight. Anxiety induced my heartbeat to accelerate. I was half hoping 6 F 26 would swoop in and get me out of here.

“…They could be among us this very moment, stealing our love…”

Panicking, I turned around and tried to wedge my way out of the dense mob. “Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me, sorry, pardon me,” I muttered carefully, trying to hide my scratchy voice. My throbbing heart started to slowly climb up my throat.

“…If you suspect one of your loved ones is a changeling, please contact the local authorities immediately…”

I picked the wrong day to visit…

The crowd was starting to thin out, and I sensed I was near the edge. I broke into a jog and slalomed back and forth where I could.

I felt a tug, and pushed against it to resume running. The clothespin freed me instead, and I flew forward, right into an unsuspecting and genuinely surprised horse. I landed on top of it, my mask clattering forward on the cobblestone.

Uh oh.

I immediately stood up and backed away. Every pair of eyes in the immediate vicinity was on me, and I could feel each one like burning lasers. A rush of fear froze my limbs in place. Fighting my choked and newly dry throat, I said, “Uh… it was an accident…”

Too late…

Before the word “was,” my tackled victim let out a scream, and was followed by her peers. This was bad. This was so bad…

I bolted down the street, only to be chased by some serious-looking ponies. They were gaining on me way too easily; I really needed to learn how to run better. I ducked into an alleyway and zigzagged between the buildings.

Among a pile of trash, an empty cardboard box was tipped on its side. I dove towards it like it was a table in a rainstorm and pulled it over me. My lungs tried to heave in air as much as my lightheaded brain would allow me.

As the sound of hooves approached, I froze and held my breath. I could see their shadows pass by from under the box. One stopped, and I closed my eyes. Please don’t find me, please don’t find me, I willed.

A voice down the alley called out, “This way!” and the footsteps began to fade.

After I was sure that they were long gone, I cautiously peeked out from under my cover. The coast was clear, and I released a rigid breath. I was safe for-

“Hello, mister!”

“Gaaaahh!”

I ducked quickly back under the box, shaking nervously. A little purple stub reached under and pulled up the box a little, revealing a small child, not even half my size. She had big, pink eyes that looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, mister. Did I scare you?”

At first, I didn’t say anything in response. I was fearful that she’d run and tell her parents of seeing a monster. After a moment, though, she had stayed where she was, and I realized how foolish I was for believing her to be a threat. I swallowed and said, “Not really. Okay, maybe a little.”

She beamed and giggled. I tilted the box back as she straightened up and somersaulted to a little box next to mine. She poked her head out and whispered, “I’m secret agent Taff. I’m being hunted by super-secret gover-mint people that are trying to kill me! Just like you!” She checked down each backstreet to ensure the confidentiality of this discussion. Her face lit up and she offered, “Wanna be a spy with me?”

This threw me off, and I paused, trying to think. I didn’t have time for any distractions. The police were on my tail… oh ha, ha. Tail. I could’ve gotten caught and thrown in jail, and could’ve been stuck in there for days. No, I could not afford any setbacks. But…

She looked so… innocently expectant. Whether or not Japan was responsible , her eyes were extremely disproportionate, to the point where they were downright adorable. How could I turn those eyes down? “Uh, sure.”

How long we played, I couldn’t be sure. Ten minutes, a half hour? Unfortunately, my watch had not teleported with me to this world. All I remember was my pleasant surprise at how much fun I was having.

“We have to unravel the conspiracy!” Taff declared. The way she fumbled in trying to use grown-up words was so sweet.

“Which conspiracy is that?” I offered.

“The… um… we have to find all the moles!”

“Well, as it turns out…” I put my hand to my chest. “I am one!”

“Um… What’s a mole, again?”

I gave her the short version. “A bad guy.”

“Oh.” Then, she reassumed her spy role, and her eyes widened in shock. “How dare you! I have no choice but to kill you!” She took up a karate stance and delivered soft but determined blows. “Hi yah! Hieee yah!”

I allowed her several attacks, feigning hurt. After our fierce hand-to-hand combat, I retorted, “Well, agent Taff… I have no choice but… to tickle you!”

I executed my dastardly plot and lunged at her. After a bout of giggling and a cry of “uncle,” she vowed her vengeance. I hastened back to base, thanking her sarcastically for all the intel.

“Just you wait, you double-crosser! I’ll…”

I laughed menacingly. “It’ll be too late, agent! We’ll have initiated Operation Chupacabra, which begins… now!”

I popped out of the box. Instead of Taff, though, two police officers greeted me. One with a moustache squinted and informed me, “You’re coming with us.” A pair of handcuffs floated out in front of me, grasping my arms. Playtime was over.

My head sank with my heart. Taff just sat and stared at me. Not wanting to end on a sour note, I lowered my head down to her and whispered, “I see you brought reinforcements. I’ll get you yet, agent Taff. I’ll get you yet.”

To my relief, it brought a twinkle to her eyes. However, as I was escorted away, her smile faded. I felt bad for her, but I had no choice but to follow my captors.

On the way, a lot of feelings were swimming about my mind. Frustration, for one; this was a waste of my time. Humiliation, too; I was consistently aware of the stares I was getting from passersby. Fear of where I was going and what would happen to me. Oh, and shame, from the cloak and mask that I stole and probably couldn’t return.

But… at least I had made a little kid’s day.

How kind she was made me feel good inside. I looked like a monster, but she hadn’t cared. There was no prejudgement: only innocence. If these ponies could have adopted her perspective, I think the welcome I received would have had a lot less distress.

The police station was small and colorful. There was a little cutout of a winking cop pointing at the reader and ordering, “Be safe, colts and fillies!” The interior was just as cheery, with a clean waiting room that had a large mural of colorful, frolicking horses. I’d never visited a police station before, but I had expected it to be more… serious?

They took my footprints and some mug shots, and saw me to one of three jail cells. It made sense that, this being a kids’ cartoon, criminals were uncommon.

The cell was bare, barring a bed folding down from the wall. The paint was peeling, and a small toilet sat in the corner. I had never been in prison, but National Geographic’s portrayal of it didn’t seem very enjoyable. At least I wasn’t sharing a cell with anyone. Prison fights on TV didn’t look very fun.

Maybe I could talk my way out with the guard on duty. “Excuse me?” I asked as I approached the bars.

No response. He was preoccupied with a magazine. I could barely make out the title; it looked something like “Sports Illustrated,” but it had an “F” at the front. What the heck was “Sports Fillustrated”?

I tried again. “Excuse me? How long do I have to be in here?” Again, he completely ignored me. This was getting frustrating.

Did I have to say something more attention-grabbing, perhaps? I cleared my throat. “If you don’t let me out of here, I’ll… I’ve got the whole place rigged up! With bombs! Set to explode, if I stay in here! So, you should let me out of here. Right… now!”

And… it didn’t work. He flipped a page of the magazine, continuing to read. I thought a bomb threat would at least earn a glance in my direction, but apparently not. Maybe something more… feasible?

“I’ve called in the entire changeling army! They’ll be here any minute… unless you let me out! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Still nothing. Threats weren’t to be taken seriously, I guess. I decided to take advantage of my one privilege as a criminal.

“Um, can I have my phone call?”

…Or not. What to do…

The bed wasn’t as comfortable as I had hoped, but it was all I had. I lay down on the thin mattress and took some time to think.

This didn’t feel right; I wasn’t a criminal. I was a good person. I cleaned my plate, did my homework, and paid my bills on time. The law and I had never encountered one another: not even for a speeding ticket. Heck, I’d return a dropped twenty-dollar bill to its owner. I didn’t belong in prison.

Forget jail. Why was I here in the first place? And why, of all things, did I have to turn into a changeling? Why couldn’t I have been a pony like everyone else? A pony would have much less trouble walking down the street and asking for a wormhole – trouble nonetheless, but still less jail time than I.

…

Bored. How long were they planning to keep me here? Disturbing the peace probably wasn’t a high-profile crime. Then again, I was a changeling…

I wasn’t really ready for any more excitement or adventure. Maybe I could relax and take a quick nap. I stretched out my neck and shut my eyes.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Tired,” I replied. Wait… Someone was talking to me?

I pulled my head up. A pony was standing outside of my cell. He looked like he was middle-aged or further, with fading blonde hair and tired, pink eyes. Familiar pink eyes, at that, that seemed to laugh as he said, “I understand. Double agents can get worn out now and again, I suppose.”

I grinned a little. “You… you saw?”

“Why yes, I did. I’m Taff’s grandfather, you know.”

~ ~ ~

I lucked out.

As poorly as some events have gone today, at least one thing went well; the grandpa of a kid I had the heart to play with had the heart himself to release me from prison. They didn’t even post bail here! They took his word that he’d make sure I would stay out of trouble and released me. Ponies were more trusting than I thought.

I imagine it might’ve been hard for him. Leading a changeling through town probably didn’t garner a good reputation. On the other hand, maybe it did; maybe he looked like a hero, having subjugated the enemy. Either way, I wanted to ensure he knew the extent of my gratitude. I made no small endeavor of thanking him pretty much the entire way.

The path we took led right into the forest, and he led me further and further into the trees. I had figured his place would have been closer to the alley. “Do you live out here?” I inquired. No other ponies were here as far as I could tell.

He looked at me and cocked his head. “Have you really not figured it out yet?”

Figured what out? “Um, no…?”

He sighed. A swirling green vortex appeared and rose from his feet to his head in a flash. What was left wasn’t Taff’s grandfather, but… me!

What… How did he do that?!

Comments

[Salnax]

Everybody is changeling!

[Zephyrus Scary]

6 F 26 (I'm guessing) has a heart after all! Aw...

[OutrageousOstrich]

This could go any number of ways right now.
It'll be interesting to see what happens.

[destinedjagold]

wow. that was great. sad he left little Taff. =(

awaiting the next chapter~

[wildlander84]

I've had dreams like that. So real you question reality when you wake up. Had a He'll dream where I woke up terrified and feeling singed and smelling smoky brimstone. That was over 10 years ago and I still remember it like I was there! Then there was the one where I was a subterranean cave dwelling dragon that seemed to stretch on for years. Then there was the griffon dream where I felt like I was really flying with wings and muscles I didn't really have.

[tsaukpaetra]

1599651 nope, that's a different fic, actually!

[A Wild Magikarp]

1599651 Changling is people!

[JazzyWaffles]

“I see you brought reinforcements. I’ll get you yet, agent Taff. I’ll get you yet.”

SO. PURE. AAAAA

A swirling green vortex appeared and rose from his feet to his head in a flash.

Aww darn and here I thought that there was a small sliver of humanity (equinity?) in these ponies.