> Changeling 409 > by Phobiac01 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 The Beginning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 The Beginning My name is Blu, Blu Softstone. All I ever wanted was to be accepted as who I am not what I am. Yes, I am a changeling, but I am not like the others. Most changelings are bound to take their Queen's orders, but I have my own will, I have a choice. For most of my life I have been living in rebellion, I have been ridiculed, attacked, cast away, thrown out ... all because of what I am. It only got worse after Queen Chrysalis's failed invasion. Once I got word of it I fled to a small nearby town and hid until the whole thing was over. Little did I know, in this small town of Ponyville, was a spark of hope, and redemption. It all began... in a small settlement far off to the west, with the birth of a foal. The couple had not been surprised when their foal had come out looking like a pony, but with a black coat, wings, a horn, and a pair of fangs, all complete with holes in the mane, hoofs, tail, horn, and wings. He did not have bug-like wings, he had pegasus wings and a unicorn horn. As far as the records go, Blu is the first changeling-pony hybrid of his kind. The young colt took over his changeling heritage from his fathers side, and his pony origins from his mother. The father had confessed that he was in fact a changeling several years prior. He and his wife still continued to love each other, as it is very rare that a changeling will purposely reveal their origins and for the pony to still love them. They had happily raised their child as a regular pony. He had friends, he played outside, and he even went to school. While he was still a baby, his father had used his knowledge of changeling magic to disguise him as a sky blue pegasus with a light fire-orange mane. Nobody but the boy's parents knew his origins, what he truly was, not even the child himself knew. His passion was to fly. On his spare time he would go outside, spread his wings, and take off into the crisp, clear sky. Most of his foalhood had been spent up in the clouds preforming tricks, dodging obstacles, and racing through the air at top speed. Some days he would try and break a record speed of his, and other days he would just lay on a cloud and stare up at the sky. To Blu, flight just felt like it came naturally. Like it was his purpose,like the sky was calling for him. Over time he discovered his special talent. But the knowledge of what it was comes with a heavy price. One moment that would change his whole life. So, here is where my story starts... It was a peaceful Sunday morning, the birds were chirping, the sun was up, fillies were playing hoofball out in the grass. There were only several clouds in the sky. Perched up on top of one of them was a light blue pegasus. He just continued to stare into the sky, thinking to himself, taking a peaceful moment away from the ever changing world. He always enjoyed these rests, it gave him time to think to himself. The air had a stiff feeling to it and the light breeze messed with his mane and tail, but he didn't realy care much. The long silence was only interrupted when a light blue Pegasus wearing a party hat, came out of the back door of a nearby house. "Hey Blu, you don't want to miss out on your own birthday party, come on down. Oh, and I have something I would like to show you after the guests leave." "Ok, I'll be there in just a minute." "Don't take too long." He made his way back inside, closed the door behind him and walked down to the basement to retrieve some chairs for the party. "There are so many things I have been keeping, I think it's about time I told him." There were six chairs, he picked two off the ground with his left wing and did the same with his right, lifting the last two in his mouth. "There is so much I need to tell him and it might be hard for him to understand, this is going to be a long day." he let out a long sigh as he put down the chairs and set them into place. Meanwhile, high up on a Cloud, was the young blue Pegasus colt, lost deep in vivid thought and imagination, dreaming of his future, dreaming of what he was going to be when he grew up. Maybe he will be a wonderbolt, heck, he would probably be the leader when he blows them away with his new signature move. Joining the wonderbolts is just about every Pegasus's dream, but only the lucky few can make it into the academy. ~I remember when my dad first took me to Canterlot to see them preform, I was stuck with my jaw hanging for the whole rest of the day. ~ His thoughts were again interrupted when a small midnight blue unicorn filly with a sunset red mane just appeared out of nowhere with a flash of light and a small *pop*. "Hey Blu, what are you doing?" "Oh, hi Flare, I was just thinking 'bout stuff" he said in a casual tone that sounded a little bit forced. The young unicorn brightened as an idea hit her. "Oh... would it be alright if I joined you?" Blu looked back down at her slightly confused and nodded his head slowly. But how is a unicorn going to be able to stay afloat on a cloud? Only Pegasi and Alicorns can walk amongst the skies. If one thing was to know though, it was to never underestimate his little blue friend. "Great, I'll be up in just a second." with that, the small filly charged up her horn as it began to glow a light turquoise color, soon after, her hooves began to glow the same shade of turquoise before fading away. Silent Flare was a childhood prodigy, she was like the Star Swirl of her age, some of the roomers at school even say that she once took on a timber wolf with nothing but her magic, and came out victorious, without even a single scratch. Blu was lucky to have her as his friend. After finishing her first spell she began to build up magic in her horn for a second time, but this time with more power. Her face scrunched up in concentration earning a small blush from Blu, she looks kind of cute when she does that. A sphere of magic began to glow and churn around her and soon she disappeared with another soft *pop* sound. Moments later she reappeared inches away from him and landed on the soft cloud. Blu looked at his friend with a face full of astonishment and awe "Wow, I swear, you seem to get better at that spell every time I see you." "Uh, thanks I've been working really hard on it lately" a light crimson tint started spreading its way across her face. "I'm glad you noticed" Something about him made her feel like she had just swallowed a pail full of parasprites. Call it a childhood crush if you must, they spent a lot of time together. Whenever they're not studying some ancient form of Pegasus or unicorn magic or on one of their legendary adventures to find their cutie marks, they would be found eating lunch together, taking a walk through the park or just napping under a tree. They would always be there by each others side, through thick and through thin. They were an inseparable pair with a friendship as strong as steel. Several minutes passed by before flare finally broke the silence "Hey, I'll bet you'll never guess what I got you for your birthday" she teased. Her horn began to glow turquoise as a small rift opened up to her right and a small box floated out. The box was wrapped in a dark blue paper with 'happy birthday' plastered all over it. "Go ahead, open it." Flare said with an impossibly wide smile. That smile only grew bigger when Blu started to rip the paper off. Once rid of all the paper, there was a small blue box. The Pegasus then used his right wing to slowly lift the top off to reveal a raggedy, hand stitched, stuffed animal dragon. It was a small baby dragon with purple scales and a green spine. There looked like there were a billion patches on it and it was lightly under-stuffed.  Flare looked up with slight concern and worry. "Do you like it? It took me a week to make and I did it all by myself." The Pegasus didn't Move his gaze up from the small stuffed dragon in his lap.  He lifted his head after what felt like hours and jumped forward, latching his arms around his unicorn friend. "I love it! Don't you dare think otherwise." The embrace continued for a little while longer, neither friend dare break it.  "Hey, Blu?" "Yeah." "I just wanted you to know that no matter what happens, I'll always be there for you." she broke the hug and gave the blushing Pegasus a quick peck on the cheek. As Blu tried to get his rapidly intensifying blush under control, Flare lit up her horn and put the box and paper back into the rift. A zipper appeared at one side and zipped it shut. "Hey Flare? Isn't that a dimensional rift? I've never really seen one but I have read about it in books." he asked, just now noticing the little rift in the space time continuum. Just because he is a Pegasus doesn't mean that he can't learn about unicorn magic. It's always been an interesting subject for him, and over time he got to wondering what it would be like to have a horn instead of wings. Although he would never give up his wings for anything in the world, it often drew his curiosity. The young unicorn took her concentration off of the rift once she was finished and looked in Blu's direction. "Yeah, only some of the higher level unicorn sorcerers can cast it. It took me about a month to learn." An awkward science filled the air once again as the two of them stared off into the distance, lost in their thoughts. After about ten minutes a blue colt came out the back door of a nearby house once again. "Blu, your first guest has arrived, I want you to come down here and greet him. Oh, hi Flare, how are your parents doing." "Hi Mr. Softstone, my parents are doing fine." their attention was now aimed at a certain box that Blu's father was holding behind his back. "Is that a present?" the young colt observed the box from a distance and took in it's lime green color and party hat design. It was a fairly big box and it looked like he was having trouble holding it up. "Sure is. This one is from your friend Rolling Suds. He looks like he has been smiling since three in the morning." he took a small glance before turning back towards the house, using his wings to balance the heavy box. "Your other friends should be here soon so don't take too long." with that, he disappeared into the house. "Ok, so I guess I better get going, don't want to leave my friends waiting. You coming?" he looked down to the roof of his house and gestured to it with a hoof. Once he got a small nod from his unicorn friend and she started charging up her horn, he began his descent. "Race you down!" Flare lifted her head up and a ghost of a smile spread across her face. To give her friend a fair chance, she descended not straight down, but teleported from cloud to cloud, each one lower than the last. Once she reached the lowest cloud she could find, she held on tight to the fluffy cumulus and used her magic to propel her downwards, giggling madly the whole time. "It seems I have beat you once again." Blu said with an evil laugh at the end that sounded more like a wicked chuckle coming from his young voice. He snapped open his tiny wings and held his head high as he started to trot towards the house only to trip over a rock and roll down a nearby hill into the small stream that awaited at the bottom. "Dumb rock." he grumbled, gaining a small giggle from his friend as she made her way to the bottom of the hill. Once she reached the bottom, her friend shook off all the water soaking her and the surroundings. "I'll get you for that!" Flare grumbled lunging forward and starting a game of chase with her blue friend. The two ran all around the large open fields chasing each other and laughing all the while. Eventually they ended up lying under a tree by the stream, out of breath, they called a truce after finding that neither one could outrun the other. "Alright Blu, that was a lot of fun but I think that your Dad is waiting for you." she looked at her friend and motioned at the house with her hoof. She stood up and started leading the way to the back porch of his home. "Are you coming?" she asked with a bit of hesitation audible in her voice. "Yeah, I'll meet up with you in a minute. I just need to catch my breath first." he waved her on and begun to fan himself off with one of his wings. With a moment more of hesitation, his friend continued on towards the house. > Chapter 2 The Truth > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 The Truth As the small blue Pegasus walked into the back door of his house a wave of sensations washed over him. There were green banners and streamers depicting 'Happy Birthday' and images of party hats on them. The smell of baked goods flooded the air around the room. Party hats topped the heads of all the guests as they made small talk with each other. Loud music played from the dj booth in the background as a young white unicorn with an electric purple mane and a music note cutie mark spun the records. Mr. Softstone came out of the kitchen balancing a large cake on his back with his wing. He walked up to his son and gave him a noogie, being careful not to drop the cake. "Hey there kiddo', having fun? I think our last guest will be arriving soon. Why don't you go around and say hi to everybody." he gestured to the croud of ponies lounging around the room. "I gotta' go put down the cake and set up some of the activities." with a twist of his head to look back towards the delectable chocolate treat, he made his way over to the buffet table. Blu and his friend made their way over to a table with an assortment of food spread out. Grabbing a cup of punch for Flare, and then one for himself, he went out into the crowd to mingle for a while. [to be moved to end] Somewhere deep in the Everfree A black creature ran through the dimly lit hallways leading to the throne room, knocking over the occasional bypasser. Once it reached the throne room doors it skidded to a halt, taking a moment to catch its breath before entering. The large wooden doors slid open to reveal a large gem lit room with a balcony at the far end and a single occupied black marble throne in the center. The creature stepped forward to the base of the throne and lowered it's head to the floor in a deep bow. "Rise. Tell me, drone, how is the progress of the search coming along?" the tall dark figure said in a commanding tone, it's voice sounded as if it had eaten nails for breakfast. The smaller creature rose to its feet, it's head still in a deep bow. "My Queen, we think we might have found where the rebel is hiding. It seems that he has found love and now has a child." it said in a voice equally as hoarse as the larger figure. "Should I send out an attack force to retrieve the child. He may be of use to us if we want to bargain with the rebel." "No. You have been of great service to me and I thank you, but we must not go in with force." the queen peered down at it with a neutral expression. "We must try to be stealth, for we do not want to reveal ourselves just yet. You will send out a stealth squad to retrieve the child immediately. Do not let yourselves be seen or our cover will be blown. Now, you must leave at once." the queen said in a yet again demanding tone of voice to the drone. The latter responding with another deep bow and a nod. "Right away, my Queen" it said before galloping out of the door at top speed.  [to be moved to end] "...and then I did a double barrel role twist and stuck the landing! Pretty cool, huh?" the small blue pegasus concluded his conversation with two other pegasi as the latter stared slack jawed at his story. The oldest one of the three was first to break out of his pure awesome-induced trance "Wow! There is only three other pegasi I know that can complete a stunt like that." a look of astonishment still evident on his face. "How did you pull it off? Nobody even knows what the moves are, let alone what sequence you have to do them in to get that sort of speed." "I read a book on it." came the simple reply.  "Just like I thought. It's just logic that our little bookworm friend here would go and read a book on it. Instead of go on an epic quest of self discovery only to stumble apon an old idol of his that went down in history, who taught him all of his moves and sent him on another mission to save the world and-"  the younger Pegasus of the three began to rant on before the other two simultaneously jammed a hoof over his mouth. "So all you needed to do was read a book? That sounds pretty simple." the older of the group said, removing his hoof once his partner stopped rambling. "Could you teach us?" two pairs of pleading eyes stared at Blu expectantly. He shifted a bit before he looked up uneasily at the two "I don't know. It takes about a year of practice to pull it off." two disappointed gazes fell to the floor in perfect sync.  "I understand. But could you at least show us it after the party?" the younger one asked as his mood once again brightened. "If you don't mind." the older interjected. Blu met their gazes "I'm sorry guys, I have plans with my dad. Maybe some other time though." he started walking away, waving goodbye to his friends. He bumped into someone and spilled their punch when he didn't watch where he was going. "Oh sorry Flare, didn't see ya there." his friend helped him to pick up the spilled punch with a nearby napkin. Anyway, how are you enjoying the party?" [right before end part] As the two friends chatted up a storm, they made their way back over to the punch table, completely oblivious of the pair of green irised eyes sinking back into the bushes outside of the window.