//------------------------------//
// Chapter 06 
// Story: When a changeling gets a bright idea 
// by Rarity Belle 
//------------------------------//

If there was one thing which had to be admitted to Pinkie, was it that she kept her word. It was indeed about an hour later that the party for Chara was in full force. The town’s square had been turned –again– in the grounds of a massive party that was in Pinkie’s very own style. Chara was bewildered by the fact of everything that was there, for her. For her disguise in reality. How could Pinkie have done everything in one single hour? It must have been a hell to pull it all together.

To makes things even worse for her, Chara was surrounded by ponies that were happy, proud of the party and happy to meet him. It was almost unbearable and burning the changeling up from the inside. It was the exact opposite of what she was and that little thing was just about the worst in the world. She had to suck it up though. The disguised changeling would bite through it and see where she ended up. But she had made the first contact with one of the six bearers of the Elements, hopefully she would be introduced to the other five. It was a faint little hope, though Ponyville had this strange sense of irony hanging around itself. Perhaps, just perhaps, fate would continue to smile the changeling in the face just a bit longer. Before everything crashes down.

With a cup of cider in his hoof wandered the stallion around the square. He got to know the ponies that were attending the party. The smile and the kind eyes were only the facade of the terror that he had actually planned for each and every one of them. The fears that they had were all visible in the eyes. All of them were terrified for the fact that their little town would be demolished at the first given chance. A fate that it had seen before.

Pinkie Pie hopped from one end to the other, hoping to find Chara among the crowd. Though every pony she asked the question to, had the same answer. None of them really knew where the stallion was. But some of them made a most interesting remark. Some of them made a remark on the fact that there was another pony who had entered town, while they were in the Crystal Empire.

“No way Minuette! There’s another pony who entered town?! Do you know where she is?” Pinkie asked with excitement in her tone. If she could pull it off that the party would have become a two-pony-party, for two ponies who were both new to the town, it would have made her day indeed.

Unfortunately didn’t Minuette knew anything about the whereabouts of the new pony. “Last thing I heard was that she became friends with Vinyl and Octavia, but the relationship between those two has become, wonky,” replied the blue coated mare with a defeated tone. “To put it lightly.”

Pinkie’s ears drooped at that. A deep sigh was let out through her nostrils. “That bad?”

Minuette just nodded as a reply. She hinted at a further story to be told another day.

“We’ll talk about that later, I first have to find the main reason for this party,” said Pinkie in a tone that was filled with compassion, care and genuine interest. The other mare nodded calm, smiled and then the pink haze was off again. Off to the distance, it couldn’t have created anything else but a smile across her lips.

Pinkie continued to hop around the square, keeping an eye out for that orange and white dot wandering about. She did spot him though and eventually stood next to him. Another mug of cider had gone down the hatch again. “Heya!”

The changed Chara shocked up and turned around. The stallion hadn’t expected that Pinkie would have found him that quick again in the crowd. A swallow was made, swallowing the words of curse that he originally had wanted to say. “P-Pinkie, what are you doing here? Better question, why are you here? O-Outside of hosting this entire party.”

The pink mare let out a little giggle and shook her head a bit. “Don’t be so silly! I can doing about ten things at the same time! Come on, come and meet my other friends!”

Was this truly happening? Was this pink mare really wanting to introduce him, a disguised changeling out to demolish them all, to the remaining bearers of the Elements? Either that mare was really good at causing troubles and preventing them, or she was just as ignorant about the world as she appeared to be. It was about the most beautiful thing in the entire world. Chara nodded to the word and Pinkie began to guide him.


~~~~


Trotting over the square, on the other side where the games were being played, a group of five all stood at the strong-arm. An orange coated, blonde maned mare held the hammer ready and gave a powerful swing. Fractions later did the bell ding, silence fell with the exception of the mare chuckling. Pinkie hopped over to them and hugged the mare with the hammer. Despite her skinny build, Pinkie did seem surprisingly strong, maybe even stronger than the other mare.

Chara had to play the game more carefully, play the cards of ignorance before stepping up. Pinkie had a word with each of her friends and then nodded, they all turned around to see the stallion, who gulped because of the nerves. It was his moment to shine. He took a step forward and had to get his act together, he was the one who could control just about everything from them, which was exactly the thing that he wanted to do.

“H-Hello!” Chara said with a stuttering but calm voice. “The name’s Chara, pleased to meet the five of you.”

All of the other mares looked at him. Each of them had that strange glare in their eyes. Something about that stallion was sitting right with them. Something about him was comforting. He eyed compassionate, tough, educated, passionate and daring. Each of those treats spoke to one particular pony in the lineup of mares, who were all as diverse as they ever could have been.

The feelings were at their strongest there. There was almost no friction to be measured between the six of them, not more than the quarrels ponies usually had between each other. Which in return meant that the situation could have become a whole lot more complicated. Chara let out a gentle sigh, awaiting the judgement of the ponies that gazed at him.

“Uhm, the, name’s, Fluttershy,” the yellow coated pegasus replied.

“Howdy partner, name’s Applejack!” the orange mare with the hammer said, tipping her hat.

“Pleased to meet you, Chara, Twilight Sparkle,” answered the purple coated alicorn.

There was a true alicorn in their midst! The sheer joy that Chara would have received if she indeed managed to break the princess of friendship’s will. Many had tried before and none of them had ever succeeded, but she knew exactly where to apply pressure. It was also strange to note that her actual name was used and none drew it in doubt. There wasn’t any better name the changeling could have come up with. Not on such a short notice, at least.

“Well hello there darling! Rarity’s the name, ” the ivory unicorn said with a smile.

“And last but not least, Rainbow Dash!” the cyan pegasus commented.

Chara had some difficulty to keep her own wings against her body. They felt like they could pop at any given moment. Just seeing the six of them together, it was marvelous to see and would have felt so much better to be broken apart.

“And there’s of course Pinkie Pie, who threw this entire thing together,” said Twilight with a chuckle. “But it has come to our attention, or mine, actually, that you are thinking of moving to Ponyville. May I ask, where are you from?”

“Well,” started Chara, trying to puzzle the pieces together, “you can say I’ve always been a bit of a roamer.” His tough, calm and cool voice was something that they never had heard in that combination. Each of the mares found something that they liked in the stallion. It was strange to say, but they all began to get an eye for him. “I’m looking for a place to finally settle down and Ponyville just seemed like the best option for that. It’s rustic, lovely ponies and not too much trouble.”

“Somepony didn’t inform him well enough,” whispered Rainbow to Applejack, who both let out a chuckle in response.

Though no attention was given to the mares and their chuckles though. Instead had Twilight continued speaking to him. “Well, I’m sure that you can find your place here. Ponyville is the host to many different ponies from all over Equestria, living in harmony and peace together. But please, enjoy the party for the time being, it’s yours after all, thanks to Pinkie.”

The stallion let out a chuckle and nodded to the princess. “There are no words known to me that will make me argue those of yours. Though if you will excuse me for the moment, I’ve some business to do with two of your friends.”

Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight all looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but let it slide in the end. They would be on their way, leaving only Applejack and Rainbow near him. Pinkie had hopped off to someplace else. He had the two of them all of his own, and would make the most out of it with over time. He approached the two of them while it was Rainbow who took, or tried to, take a swing at the strong-arm. “So, between the two of you, you’re quite competitive, aren’t you?” Chara asked the both of them. The answer was obvious though.

“Ah wonder what gave it ‘way though,” chuckled Applejack, watching Rainbow make the swing and ringing the bell. “Darn it.” Their attention shifted back to the stallion, awaiting whatever he would have said next. Applejack was ready for everything while Rainbow just smirked on the fact that she had at least come to the farmer’s level of strength.

The changeling conjured up a little plan to get some friction in between their friendship and thought about the near perfect thing. A small competition between the three of them. Who knew where that would have ended up to. “Say, you both look rather agile to me. What would you say about a little race, the two of you and me, galloping around the outskirts of Ponyville. I’ve seen that it is pretty much one long road if you stick to the water.”

Both of the mares had to think about the matter of a second. Yet the temptation was too great to say no to. Any opportunity to kick the other in the belly with the statement of being better at something would have been taken. They both nodded to the proposal, they both liked it.

“Ah hope ya like getting yar flanks handed to ya,” the farmer added in a well-meant chuckle.

“You’re playing with lightning here, Chara,” returned Rainbow with a nasty smirk.

“We’ll see about that when the time is there. How does high noon strike the both of you? That’s when we start.” The time didn’t matter at all for Chara, but it felt like a much more appropriate time to do than any other.

Applejack tipped her hat and agreed with it in silence. She would be there. Rainbow just nodded and took another swing at the strongman, this time just with her hoof, ringing the bell. “Darn it Rainbow!”

“That will be two ciders, please,” she said with a massive smirk. “As for you, mister Chara, prepare to be beaten by Clouddale’s finest.”

Applejack shook her head and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t a fan of what Rainbow always did, but had to suck it up, and indeed pay for the cider. “Alright then partner, ya get yar cider. Also, high noon’s more than fine for me.”

And so was it set in stone that the following day, the three would have the race of a lifetime. A race that proved to be having much more at stake than originally thought.


~~~~


When the evening had gone on until the wee little hours, Chara found herself back in her little cavern. She laid down on the moss that had taken over most of it. All of the alcohol that had been consumed by her body had made her tipsy, but she was never truly drunk. But the first step of the plan had been achieved. The banned changeling had come to meet all six of the element bearers and got a chance to talk to them. All of them seemed interested in her pegasus stallion form.

Of course she knew that, she had perfected the disguise for a number of reasons. Every last one of them would be dying to meet him again. At least that was the plan that she had made up for herself. It almost felt like the changeling had already won, that that one little banished changeling had done the near impossible and shattered the strongest friendship that there was in all of Equestria! What a dream it was, what a dream it was indeed. The changeling let out a deep sigh, exhaling the fumes of the spend red flow and shut her eyes. The following day would have been much more troublesome and plans had to be forged. The mind of an infiltration unit never stood still and during a good sleep were the most devious plans forged.

It still didn’t took away one single fact though. One fact that had been haunting her for a long time. The eyes of the princess just staring at her. It almost seemed like that alicorn had seen straight through the disguise. In the end, it would have meant that she had to play it much more careful around her than of the others. Not a thing that mattered much though, caution had always been a high game for her.

Chara nodded to herself and rolled on her back, yawning just once. After that she would have travelled off to distant lands where only her dreams continued to live and the plans of tomorrow forged in the hottest fires imaginable.


~~~~


An hour until high noon hit them and both Applejack and Chara already gathered themselves at the start. One that was orchestrated by Pinkie Pie. Not only was she an amazing party planner, but also held a good eye out on the many events that were going on. It was curious to see the three of them working on like that though. But of course, as per usual, was it Rainbow Dash who was late again.

“I’m here!” she shouted from the skies while she came dashing in. The cyan pegasus chuckled to herself and then landed right in front of them. “Didn’t miss anything important did I?”

“How ‘bout the rules, ya lazy mule?” Applejack returned in an annoyed tone. Obviously had the cider from the party had an effect on the both of them. One good, the other not so good. Rainbow certainly was hung over and Applejack was just annoyed.

“The rules?” Rainbow returned, not really sure what to do next with her words. She glanced over to Pinkie Pie with a questioning gaze.

“No wings, no shortcuts, just pure muscle power from the legs. First one who has completed an entire lap around the outer rim of town, wins!”

“Wins, what?”

“I dunno, nopony ever told me anything about prizes.” Pinkie shrugged and threw a cupcake in the air, which she caught with her mouth with the greatest of ease.

“Right,” the cyan pegasus mumbled, “we’re gonna do it for the honor and glory than?”

“Fine by me, partner,” returned Applejack who already stood at the start.

High noon was approaching faster and they were all eager to run. Both Chara and Rainbow joined the farmer while Pinkie kept a close eye on the shadows. Only when those had almost disappeared would the starting signal have been given.

“Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it... Wait for it a tini tiny bit longer,” she said. Her eyes were measuring the shorter getting shadows with great care. Seconds went by, which turned into a near minute of agonizing wait. “Go!”

And off they were.

Applejack took the lead easily while Chara took second place. Rainbow came in third and the changeling saw her chance clear as day. It was one lap around town which they would finish quick. The changeling had come up with a couple of terrible ideas that could be used to her own advantage and create some friction all between the friendship between Rainbow and Applejack. She didn’t race for glory, she participate for chaos! And she would show that little friend of hers time and time again.


~~~~


Applejack was the first one that had made it over the finish line and was followed by Chara not too long after that. But a very long after that had Rainbow come in. She was destroyed, wet and covered in mud. Something must have happened to her and it wasn’t good.

The farmer had one look over the cyan pegasus and was actually impressed by the damage that she had done to herself. But her own, homebrewed cider could never have been the cause of that. She rose an eyebrow to the mare who came at her like a rampaging bull. Something was definitely wrong.

“You dirty, little cheater!” Rainbow growled to Applejack, pressing her forehead firm against that of the other mare, who didn’t understood a thing of what was going on.

“’Cuse me, partner, why are ya callin’ me a cheater?”

“It was because of you that I fell in the creek, had to haul both my flanks through the mud and almost got a hornet nest thrown at me! You’re low AJ, you know that? You’re low!”

The orange mare almost turned white as a corpse when she heard that but Rainbow didn’t notice. No words even dared to leave the farmer. Something had been wrong, though she also knew that Rainbow was still drunk.

Without a further word had the pegasus just left her face again. She had taken off for the skies again and soared away into the clouds. Chara watched her for a moment, chuckling on the inside. When the attention shifted over to Applejack, a hoof placed on her shoulder. The farmer had one look to her side, glad that at least one pony could have comforted her. Especially since she was too confused to even say one single word.