//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: When a changeling gets a bright idea // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// Having hidden herself for a couple of minutes in the alleyway, filtering all of the red flow that had hung around Rarity, Chara was ready. Ready to meet a new candidate for the mental abuse that she could inflict. It was time for the next victim to make her way up to the figural chopping block. The first cracks had emerged between the friendships of the element bearers. There was always time to make the shatters even bigger though, which was exactly the thing that Chara wanted to do. “Pinkie? You around here?” the voice of a well-known pegasus suddenly echoed. Chara’s blood almost froze for the moment and a gaze back was given. Fortunately she was in her stallion pegasus disguise. Otherwise disaster would have surely followed suit. In the eyes was Rainbow Dash spotted who was looking for Pinkie, apparently. Where the real Pinkie was, was a mystery of course. Not that it mattered too much to Chara. The changeling could do something with Rainbow that hadn’t been done in a long, long time. Maybe it was time to start cracking up the relationship between the daring pegasus and the party mare. Just the thought of severing their friendship was marvelous. Chara was aware that the two held a closer relationship between them than they first would let on. Pinkie Pie just spoke so much, normal ponies wouldn’t have remembered all of the details, but Chara did. And she would have used them to her advantage. But first things first, the trap had to be set. “I’m sorry Rainbow, but Pinkie isn’t here,” the stallion said to her in an honest tone. He emerged from the shadows with a calm trot, walking up to her. He went passed her, ready to leave. Of course were there already doubts in the mind of Rainbow. But why would the stallion have come out the shadows like that. Why would he have gone into an alleyway like that to begin with? Questions that had to be answered at a different time thought. Rainbow shrugged a bit and she than nodded. “You know where she might be then? Ponies said that she walked here, with Rarity before Rarity just legged it. You, don’t happen to know anything about that, do you?” Was it an interrogation, already? If it was, Rainbow wasn’t doing that good of a job at it. As the saying went, ignorance had always been a bliss and that was exactly how Chara would have played the game with the other pegasus. “I know nothing of that, Rainbow,” the stallion said and leaned casually against the side of the building. “I was just having a gander at the backstreets of Ponyville. They are just what you expect though.” “No need to tell me that...” Rainbow murmured under her breath. Chara smiled warm to Rainbow. Apparently had he passed whatever she had given to him. It was a relief but the mind of the changeling wasn’t standing still whatsoever. The stallion was constantly thinking about way to shatter the friendships between the ponies and it thought it had discovered perhaps the perfect way to shatter the one between Rainbow and Pinkie. “Do tell me this, Rainbow, why would you be looking for Pinkie and where had you arranged to meet each other?” It were some oddly specific questions from the stallion but Rainbow had turned in a hurry. She wanted to meet Pinkie and do what they had planned together. “We had planned to pull some pranks on ponies, and we should meet at the lake outside of town. I’m sorry, gotta dash!” And with that had Rainbow vanished again from the ground. The cyan mare had taken for the skies and zoomed through them with great speed. But where was the actual Pinkie Pie? That was a thought that also went through Chara. Of course could the stallion have checked on her in Sugarcube Corner, but that was one thing he didn’t wanted to do. No, Pinkie Pie was probably best left alone for the time being. If he came to visit, she might have remembered the appointment and actually gone. On the other end, if Chara changed to Pinkie Pie and the actual pony would turn up, a lot of explaining had to be done from her side. A deep sigh was released by the stallion who then returned back to the shadows of the alleyway. There was only one thing that could be done, and it was risky. Further and deeper had Chara wandered into the shadows before the fires consumed his body. The disguise was dropped and made place for a new one. One that had only been worn for one conversation before. A deep inhale was made while a pair of blue eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by a wide, sinister smile. ~~~~ Pinkie Pie, the real Pinkie, was just working at Sugarcube Corner. She had completely forgotten about her appointment with Rainbow. The pegasus would have always come to her if they had to go somewhere. Meaning that this was just another day for her. She stood in the kitchen and behind the counter whenever possible, making ponies happy with sweets and treats, Miss Cake was in fact surprised by the amount of work that Pinkie managed to haul through in just that morning. It was a big help that only Fluttershy had ordered something that she wanted to be dropped at her home. It meant that Pinkie wasn’t the one whom left the bakery at all. All of it just worked out so nice indeed. “I think that you have earned yourself a bit of a break Pinkie, take the rest of the afternoon off if you like. You have done everything that needs to be.” Pinkie was surprised to hear those words coming out of that mouth. “Huh? I haven’t been working for that long, now have I?” “Hmhmhmh, that where you are mistaken, I’m afraid. You have done more in just a few short morning hours than me and my husband do in one full day. You should be proud on yourself for being able to do such a feat, Pinkie. Now go, take the rest of the day off, you have deserved it more than anypony else. Maybe you can visit Fluttershy, ask her about the cupcakes,” she said. “That,” the pink mare started, beginning to wonder straight after it, “isn’t the worst idea I can do today. Thanks!” With that had she darted off again, off to probably the cottage of Fluttershy to visit her for a nice cup of tea and some tranquility. Whether ponies wanted to believe it or not, but even a mare like Pinkie had the need to some peace and quiet from time to time. ~~~~ The other Pinkie had wandered through the streets of Ponyville with her signature hopping around. She was happy as could be and greeted everypony happily and cheerful. A thing that burned the disguised changeling up more than Chara wanted to admit. Some ponies wondered in silence how she could have been at multiple places at once, but then they remembered that one little incident where their entire town had been invaded with Pinkie Pies that wouldn’t shut up. Maybe one of that had escaped the clutches of the mirror pond? Or Twilight had doomed them all again, like on a regular Thursday. Anywho, the day would have continued as if nothing was going on. How Pinkie was even able to move in the way that she did, with all that hopping and strange being all together and not get any injury from it, was a mystery that possibly could never be solved. Not that it mattered too much for the time being, the end of the town was in sight and after that would it be a straight line to the lake, hoping for her to meet Rainbow Dash. Again, with Pinkie being the loudmouth she had been at the party, and the time that both Chara and the pink mare had spoken together, the juicy rumors never ceased their flow. At one point had she told about Rainbow’s preferred kind of relationship. Suffice to say, it was a bit of a shock to hear that being spoken to somepony just met. On the other end, Pinkie had hoped that it had been forgotten by time. A thing which it of course wasn’t in Chara’s case. “It’s still strange to spill out the secrets of everypony like that though, even if they do tend to forget it when the time comes around, even with the amount of cider she had,” the changeling mumbled to herself, “Ponyville’s just strange, never in my life would I even dare of dreaming to live in such a place. Ponies being too kind, too much trouble and the rumors that do their turn are far too convenient. Maybe... Just maybe, this is all a test from that princess of friendship pony?” The changeling did have a point with the thought, but what it was in reality might never have been discovered. Chara didn’t know the facts and as far as she was concerned, she could be walking straight into a trap. Wouldn’t have been the first time and definitely not the last one either. Caution was advised and she prayed to whatever holy entity she believed in that the real Pinkie Pie wouldn’t show up. Instead of just walking up to the lake and meeting Rainbow there, Chara decided to play it safer. She hid in the bushes and took a longer way that brought her away from the path, up the overgrown hill and from there had the changeling an almost picture perfect view on the entire valley, including the small lake. Much to her surprise was Rainbow already there and seemingly waiting for the other pony, who still hadn’t showed up. ~~~~ It might have been the near perfect opportunity for her to take the chance and just go with it. There was nothing else or better that could be done. Chara grinned like the maniac that she could be before going full Pinkie Pie. She never should have gone full Pinkie Pie. The changeling hopped and darted off the slope and headed straight for Rainbow without a single word. The pink storm that was coming in hot had caught the pegasus of guard and the two crashed violently against each other. The dust waved up and the ponies both moaned, groaned, huffed and puffed inside it, crashing into each other and the ground underneath them. When the dust finally cleared about three hooves away from the lake, it had turned out that Pinkie had pinned Rainbow down and smiled to her. “Heya!” she said happily, hugging her friend tight, nearly squeezing the life out of Rainbow. “Pinkie!” Rainbow said in a hushed, breathless tone. “Can’t breathe! Lemme go!” It was near impossible to take a breath with the other pony atop of her, holding her in that position. When the words were spoken, Pinkie did let Rainbow go and wasn’t amused in the slightest about it. A couple of deep breaths were taken by the pegasus, fortunate enough that she was still alive. “Hello!” Finally had the greets been exchanged and they proceeded by giving each other another hug, one that was a bit calmer than the one before. Rainbow even managed to crack a smile because of it. “Now that you’re here, how about we go to the grotto and get what we need? A lot of ponies are left to be pranked and daylight is fading fast.” That was one thing that Chara didn’t knew how to respond to. It was unknown to her that the two had a little grotto where they had stored all of their stuff. Rainbow had to lead her to it. “After you,” said Pinkie with a smile. She wanted that Rainbow took the bait, while she could have thought about a mean to get even further under her hooves. It was strange to hear Pinkie say that though, but Rainbow nodded to herself. If Pinkie wanted her to go first, so it should have been, no difficulty there, right? She turned around and stretched her wings, becoming airborne soon afterward and glided to the grotto, while Pinkie just hopped along for the line. It was killing Chara to make that motion time and time again and even actually getting further with it. How did Pinkie even do that?! Whether Rainbow liked it or not, even did it on purpose, she showed off a different character trait of her to Pinkie. She seemed more calm, mature and above all, much more seductive. What gave it away for the pegasus to become like that? Chara would have loved to exploit the matter, she would have loved to exploit the sexuality of the pegasus to the brim. A quiet chuckle was made by her before she shook her head only slight. It would have been just perfect if that was the way the friendship was shattered. It really would have gone out with a bang! “Right, here we are!” Rainbow said when she showed Pinkie the entrance again. It was small enough for a pony to climb through and must have gone on for a good couple dozen hooves. “I’ll get what we need and then we head into town. You still remember what to do with whom, right? We want to prank them, not send them to the hospital.” The added warning could have meant everything: from Rainbow having seen through the disguise to just being cautious, to even remembering Pinkie not to step over the lines and bars set. It was tempting for Chara to break up the friendship while they were pranking, but that meant that the real Pinkie Pie could be spotted somewhere in the town. No, it had to happen there and then, the lake seemed to be perfect for the chaos that the changeling wanted to cause. “Gotcha.” Rainbow nodded just once before disappearing in the hole to get the stuff. She was eager to start, but Pinkie had a look around the area for a moment. Everything seemed to be falling in place when the sun began to shine upon her back. “Perfect,” the voice of the changeling shimmered through for the moment. The time had fallen upon her to do what had to be done. A grin formed itself across her lips and she anticipated when the best moment would be. With one jump had the mare taken off and landed head first in the lake. She dove under the surface and had a good look at whatever she could see, which wasn’t too much. The fishes all swam away for her and the bottom was still a couple hooves further down. Pinkie swam back up and broke the surface while flicking her mane back. The wet mane combined with the water still dripping down gave off a seductive look to anypony who might have been watching. And one of the ponies watching, was in fact Rainbow Dash. The pegasus had everything that the two needed but when she noticed Pinkie emerging like that, a gulp was given. Fear took over her body while her wings sprung open in the classic wing-boner stance. It was a slap in the face for the pegasus. Never had she even dared to dream that Pinkie would have done that to her, again. Rainbow didn’t knew what to do or what to say to the matter. Something had gone terribly wrong and there was no way of putting it gently. The changeling had Rainbow exactly where she wanted to have her and wanted to throw something else in the mix as well. She wanted to make it even worse for the pegasus. She wanted to not just shatter the friendship between the two, but obliterate it. Everything had to be thrown in battle for that to happen and Chara was happy to oblige with it. Pinkie began to smile in a seductive manner and the pegasus stood frozen solid. How could she have even reacted against that? Rainbow didn’t know how to proceed from this, she could have flown away from Pinkie, but that only confirmed the suspicion. She could have stayed there and become the plaything of the mare, she also could have just confronted her. But there was one thing that she wouldn’t do, no matter what. Pinkie left the water, adjusting her walk in such a manner that she became even more seductive. Seeing Pinkie like that, again, was almost devastating for Rainbow. A deep swallow was made before her head was shaken. It just wasn’t right, not after what happened so long ago. “Q-Quit it, Pinkie! We’ve been through this, discussed this and spoke about this! What’s gotten into you that you’re doing this again, to me?” Rainbow managed to work out. Terror had filled her voice again. The pink mare on the other end just grinned a little bit. She walked past Rainbow with a massive smirk, laying her wet tail over the pegasus’ back, stroking the wing-boners gently with it. Another gulp came from Rainbow before it was time to deliver the definitive blow. “I know about your desires, Rainbow, I know that you have never completely forgotten about me, nor have I forgotten about you. I know you wanted to stay as lovers, so why not make, hmmm, oh I don’t know, a secret affair?” Pinkie whispered in an ear. She couldn’t be meaning her words, right? There was no way in heaven that Pinkie would have pushed through with that plan of insanity, right? Rainbow wasn’t so sure about that either. Pinkie was capable of doing a lot of things and convincing others was one of her strengths. With one motion had Pinkie worked Rainbow to the ground and pinned her down. She dropped her body atop of Rainbow, she even moved in for the kiss! Her lips smacked a few times and were heading straight for those of Rainbow. The questionable sexuality of the pegasus was indeed something that worked marvels. That very same pegasus managed to work her way from underneath Pinkie and stood back up with haste. “You’re crazy, Pinkie! Absolutely crazy!” Rainbow shouted to the pinkie mare, who stood there. A wondering gaze of what she had done wrong filled her eyes, doing even further damage to Rainbow’s mental state. “Don’t you even dare to do that to me! Talk to me again when you have calmed down, you crazy pony!” And with that had Rainbow just darted off in the air again. She had escaped the situation faster than ever before. There was no need for Pinkie to have behaved like that, nor did she wanted her to behave like that ever again. Pinkie on the other end had reverted back to Chara, who chuckled to herself long after Rainbow had fled the scene. The face that the pegasus made in response to the actions was just priceless. It was picture perfect and the cracks between their friendship had begun to emerge. Even some of the delicious red flow had been released by Rainbow. It was only the beginning of the end though. Slowly were all of them targeted by her.