//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: Lesson 1 
// Story: Of Men and Insects 
// by VeganSpyro97 
//------------------------------//

True to her word, Rarity had gotten started right away on making Allan a new cloak to wear, and, being as grateful as he was, he helped her in every way possible, whenever she let him, that is. The result was a lovely molybdenum blue cloak, with a complimentary red hem that was tasteful but not over the top. Despite having a simple design, the quality was unmatched, and it was nowhere near as heavy or hot as Twilight’s. It would only do a little for warmth during winter, but it would keep him a secret until Twilight decided he could attempt to integrate. 
“Right then darling, put it on, I can’t wait to see you try it!” Rarity crowed, happy to have spent time on something worthwhile. “Go ahead!”
Allan went to reach for it with his hooves, which he had gotten more proficient with since the previous day. 
“Agh! No darling! With your magic! It’s much easier!” Rarity caught his look of embarrassment as he turned his head away. “Oh…. you don’t know yet, do you?”
Allan shook his head. 
“Oh, darling, that’s just not right! Alright.” Rarity moved over to a red velvet couch and hopped on. “Come over here and sit by me. I’m going to teach you the basics.”
Allan trotted over and hopped up onto the couch beside her. He made sure he wasn’t too close, but Rarity patted the seat right next to her, a smile gracing her features. 
“Come now darling, I don’t bite.” She lowered her head and fluttered her eyes up at him, a mischievous grin creasing her face. “You don’t either, do you?”
Allan felt the blush on his cheeks, and Rarity saw it too, her grin blossoming into a light hearted chuckle. 
“You're definitely not like any of the Changelings I met before.” She murmured, levitating several cushions and pieces of cutlery over onto the table in front of them. Allan watched in fascination. The fashionista put every item in a neat row, before turning her brilliant, blue eyes on her guest. “Now, magic is something that takes a lot of effort to learn how to do, but once you have it, it gets easier with every try. My mother taught me a little trick to levitation. Just imagine yourself reaching forward and grabbing it. Don’t actually do it of course, but imagine it.” 
Allan’s brow furrowed as he closed his eyes, concentrating on imagining the first item, a silvery fork, rising up into the air. 
Rarity smiled, nodding encouragingly. “Good, now darling, once you have that image firmly in your head, focus on wanting it to happen. Focus on that fork rising up. That’s it…”
Allan put all his effort into wanting the fork to rise, wanting it so badly it consumed every other thought. His brow started to ache after a few minutes, and his forehead felt hot. The human turned changeling only realized it after, but he started growling with the effort, his fanged teeth gritted together in a rather threatening looking mask of serious intent. 
Rarity, instead of panicking as others might have done, just sat and watched, ready to supply more words of encouragement. She had spent the past two years helping to coach her sister, Sweetie Belle, learn to control her magic, so if there was one thing she could do, it was tolerate outbursts and impatience from the little filly, and doing the same from a reserved young Stallion was no problem, no matter his origins. Her gaze was just as calm when the fork, with a great wobble and even greater lack of stability, rose up from the table surface, before suddenly shooting up and sticking in the ceiling.
Rarity gave it only the briefest of glances, noting the multiple four point marks that were dotted about that particular area of the boutique roof, evidence of Sweetie’s early lessons. 
“You gave it a little too much power.” The business mare chastised. “Be gentler with the objects, please, I don’t fancy clearing up pillow feathers because you vaporized my throw pillows.”
Allan’s determination kept him going for the better part of the morning, by which point the only other ponies he knew had returned, Fluttershy no longer craving apples, though she kept glancing guiltily towards the purple princess to her right, and Twilight with bags under her eyes , yawning almost constantly. The Princess put a hoof to her yawning mouth as she brought out several books from her saddle bag, each title revealing a trend. Magic for Beginners, Equestrian Arcane ABC’s, and The Foalhood Guide for Aspiring Young Unicorns, among others. 
Allan ignored them, for the most part, too wrapped up in trying to keep Rarity’s designer throw pillow both in the air, and in one piece. As he had practiced, it had come to his attention that he could… feel the magic around him, sense it in the ponies nearby, in the air, and in himself. He could see how it acted and reacted when stimulated, and how the interplay of magic altered the way the world around them worked. The energies that he could feel rushing through him, around him, and between him and the pillow, were the most intense and attention grabbing. Just as river rapids attract the eye and bombard the ears with noise, so too did the magic spectacle before him draw his focus. However, he could still make out the pearly white glow that was Rarity, the soft yellow of Fluttershy, and the intensely bright, luminous lavender light that was the Princess. 
As Allan kept the pillow up, he noticed something. He had described the magic as if he was looking at a physical thing, but his eyes were closed… 
His thoughts drifting off task made the spell falter, and caused Allan panic, trying to re-establish the careful balance he had set up between the interacting magics. The throw pillow suddenly zipped off in a random direction, a direction that happened to contain a rather grumpy looking white cat, who it collided with, a soft *whump*. 
Opalescence for her part, did not react very favourably to having a pillow suddenly knock her off the back of the seat she had been lazily reclining on, and the sound of tearing fabric and furious yowling drifted up from behind the piece of furniture, drawing winces from every pony, and from the single Changeling, in the room. A few feathers floated up over the back of the chair, and some drifted lazily out from either side of the plush seat. 
Rarity watched it all with a mask of barely concealed annoyance on her face. Allan felt certain that the ivory mare would start screaming and yelling at him for getting the pillow destroyed, but instead she just glared at Opal when the feline came waltzing smugly out from behind the loveseat. Rarity levelled such a furious gaze at the cat, but the white furball was completely oblivious to her owner’s rancor.
“Oh well, that pillow was going out of style anyway. I shall simply have to buy a new one.”
Rarity’s dismissal made Allan feel guilty. He’d just cost her money...whatever it was that ponies used as money. He had yet to see them, and the three ponies had made no mention of it in any of their tales so far. 
His ears pressed against his smooth, armoured flesh, which once again served to keep his strange transformation at the forefront of his mind. While he had nearly been able to forget, or at the very least, ignore it, while practicing magic or listening to stories, the lack of truly engaging activity meant that the depressing facts of his current situation were catching up to him. 
“Allan, have you been understanding what Rarity has been teaching you?” Twilight asked. “Has your magic been strong enough?”
“Um… yeah.” Allan nodded. “I think it’s okay. And Rarity’s teaching me fine-”
“Well.”
Allan stopped and looked at the Princess. “What?”
“Rarity is teaching me well.” Twilight said with a smile. “Grammar is important, Allan.” 
“Ugh...” Allan was not in the mood. He looked over to his host with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about the pillow, Rarity.”
“Think nothing of it, darling. It was a simple accident. There is no need for you to get all worked up about it.”
“That’s very kind of you Rarity, but, I feel like I should be doing something to make amends.”
Rarity fixed a stern gaze on him, which prompted him to drop his ears and lean away from her slightly. “You shall do nothing of the sort. You do not owe me a thing.”
“B-but-”
“No buts, darling. I insist.”
“Oh… okay…” Allan couldn’t help but wonder if this was how Fluttershy felt on a regular basis.
“Good! Now! I think you’ve been working hard long enough for today, so how about…” Rarity got off of her couch and trotted out of sight into another room, before coming back out, several measuring implements clutched in the grip of her magic. “...I start planning out something dashing for you to wear!!”
Alarm bells went off all through Allan’s head, and through a rather thin veil of faux-calm, he asked: “Um… whatever for?”
Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy all smiled. 
“Well, you see, Allan…” Twilight began. “Whenever somepony new comes to Ponyville, they get a party thrown for them by our resident party planner.”
Allan’s insides quaked with dread. “A… party?” The image of flashing lights and a dance floor filled with laughing, jeering faces fuelled a nightmarish fantasy at the mention of ‘party’. “I don’t do well at parties…”
Twilight looked confused. “Don’t humans like parties? The ones in the world I visited certainly do.”
“Well, yes, a lot of humans like parties…. It’s just…. I’m not one of those people…”
Fluttershy looked sympathetic. “It’s okay. I don’t like being in loud, noisy rooms normally either. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, though I’m pretty certain that Pinkie Pie will want you to at least be there.”
“P-pinkie P-p-pie? She’s the planner?” Stories of her antics warned him that this wasn’t a good combination.
“Why yes. She always throws fun get togethers, and while they might not be as refined or classy as I would like, they are always enjoyable. She would be very sad if you didn’t come, darling.” 
Rarity seemed the more mature of them all when it came to how she interacted with the others, but it was Fluttershy’s voice Allan found himself trusting. The fact that she was also absolutely adorable had nothing to do with the decision, of course. 
“Okay… I’ll go. But I don’t think I’ll be doing any dancing anytime soon. You will be able to keep miss Pie from trying to force me into doing stuff, won’t you?” 
“Pinkie promise darling.”
Allan snorted, amusement interjecting into his array of current feelings. “Pinkie promise?”
“Why, yes, darling. Pinkie Pie came up with it some time ago, and nopony who has ever made a Pinkie promise ever breaks it.”
Allan tilted his head to the side. “Why not?”
“Because breaking a Pinkie promise is the fastest way to lose a friend..”
Allan was suddenly surprised when a high pitched voice yelled at him from a vase sitting on a nearby window ledge. “FOREVEERRRRR!!!!!”
Allan’s immediate reaction was to vault himself away from the source of the scream, but his new anatomy betrayed him, tripping him up with his own hooves and dumping him onto the floor, right next to where Rarity and her measuring tapes sat.
“Now Pinkie! That was very rude!” Rarity addressed the source of the noise. “You’ve gone and scared my guest!”
Allan flipped himself over, and found his gaze resting on the pinkest pink pony he had seen yet. Her coat was a merry shade of cherry pink, while her mane, a frizzy and unkempt tangle of knots that defied the laws of gravity with it’s poofiness , was a deeper, but still very vibrant shade of pink. The only other colours on this new mare were located in her eyes and cutie mark. Her eyes were a bright shining blue, and her Cutie-mark consisted of three balloons, two blue and one yellow, each with strings of the other colour. 
The most alarming thing about this energetic pink ball though, was that she was actually coming out of the vase on the window sill, with half her body still impossibly hidden inside it.
Allan’s mind went blank at seeing a complete break of the laws of physics. Magic, he could explain away as a previously unknown and unmeasurable source of manipulatable energy that humans had never discovered. Breaking the rules of reality on a whim? No. That caused his brain to scramble again.
“What...what the hell? How…? What….? Who….?” 
Twilight snickered. “Don’t even bother, Allan. Trying to figure out Pinkie Pie is as impossible as having a married bachelor, so don’t bother. I gave up trying to figure her out about…. Ooh, what was it, two months after meeting her?”
“I think it was closer to three, darling.” Rarity said, stretching her legs a little as she adjusted her position on the couch. 
“I thought it was a little less than that….” Fluttershy supplied her answer in her usual low and unobtrusive tones. 
Allan just kept staring at the new arrival, eyes sweeping up and down her body, at least, the visible parts. Her posture was filled with energy, and anyone with that much energy was bound to-
“HI! I’M PINKIE PIE!!!” 
Yep, she did. She yelled her greeting with all the enthusiasm of a seven year old getting told they had chocolate cake for their birthday. 
“What’s your name? You’re new here, aren’t you?” Her eyes suddenly shot impossibly wide, and she let out a huge, dramatic gasp. “OHMYGOSHYOUHAVENTHADAPROPERWELCOMEORAPARTYYETHAVEYOU!!!!!! LATERGIRLSIGOTTAGOPLANHISPARTY!!!!”
And with that, Pinkie was suddenly out of the vase, having leapt across the living room in a single bound, her hoof steps rapidly descending down the stairs, followed by the slamming of the front door. Twilight looked after her in disapproval, shaking her head at something the pink party planner had forgotten in her excitement. 
Allan hadn’t moved the entire time, save for turning his head to follow her. His left eye twitched as he tried to comprehend the universe breaking force that was Pinkie Pie.
“What…….. just happened?” He asked, his eyes both confused, worried, alarmed, and overwhelmed all at once. 
“You just met Pinkie Pie, dear.” Rarity said, calmly drinking the last of her tea by using her hooves, her magic already occupied holding the measuring utensils. “I do believe we all had similar reactions when we first met her. Except for Fluttershy. I do believe that she ended up hiding in a tree for an entire week after meeting Pinkie.”
“............” Allan made strangled attempts at language that sounded more garbled than an early morning mouthwash. “Agh…..uh….whu…..? How can you live knowing she can do that at any moment?”
Twilight smirked, rolling her eyes. “Trust me, you get used to it.”
“Not really…” Fluttershy muttered. “But she is very nice.”
Allan wasn’t sure that he wanted to even try getting used to the pink mare. She seemed too crazy for that to work. 
“Now then, Allan. Could you stand over here, please?” Rarity requested. “I’ve got a few ideas for this outfit, and I don’t want to forget them!”

***********
Allan stared into the mirror in front of him. Two days of being a changeling, and he hadn’t actually seen himself until this very minute. The diminutive and colourful equine creature in the mirror stared back, its abnormal blue eyes looking unsure and scared. 
This…..this was him now? This insectoid pony freak with dragonfly wings? He stared at it, trying hard to find anything, anything at all that connected the human he had been to this….creature. 
It’s eyes were the same blue… his posture was….similarly lazy, or at least, it had been before he moved to examine it a little better. He automatically tensed up as the image in the mirror moved in an exact replication of his own movements, the figure’s frame, thinner than most of the other changelings he had seen, bending and flexing in accordance to the breaks in it’s armoured plates, and the areas of extremely soft chitin that acted just like skin. He shivered. Even though much less disturbing than the one they called Chrysalis, the changelings did still resemble bugs, and their pupil-less eyes unnerved him. Which meant looking at himself in a mirror unnerved him. 
His wings fluttered agitatedly, a visible signal of how uncomfortable his own reflection made him. 
That was one upside to becoming some weird dragonfly-pony hybrid. If he was willing to learn, then just maybe, he could learn to fly. And seeing as Dragonfly’s were among the most agile flying  insects of all, that was an interesting idea. 
Remembering that he was only supposed to be visiting the bathroom, and not pitching a tent in it, Allan tore his eyes away from the mirror, and opened the door. Stepping out and closing the door behind him, Allan trotted back into the living room, which was now missing a pony. 
Rarity had spent a good half hour making sure she had measurements for him, and not just any measurements. No, Rarity had insisted that these measurements had to be perfect for her first design for a changeling. She had not only measured him, oh no. She had measured, remeasured, and then measured him a third time just to be thorough. Even Twilight, whose OCD levels had practically forced her to organize the used teacups by stacking them perfectly atop one another so that their handles were all directly above and below one another, had questioned the necessity of the third measurement, and had quite bluntly told Rarity off when she suggested a fourth measurement be taken, as Allan had already fallen asleep standing up during her third go. He hadn’t meant to be so rude, even if Rarity had gotten so involved in her measurements that she let him get bored. Now that she had those measurements, however, she had dashed off to her ‘inspiration room’, and the sound of furious sketching could be heard from within, accompanied by frequent groans of frustration and a few elated cheers. This did have the unintended side effect of leaving her guests to themselves. 
Twilight had not wasted time. She sat next to Allan now, uncomfortably close by human standards, her warm, furry side pressed up against his shell the sensation paradoxically jarring and soothing at the same time. Her closeness was jarring. Did these ponies know nothing of personal space? 
Although, on the same thought track, Allan felt surprisingly...at ease with having the mare so close, both put off and comforted by her at once. The new rules of this world were confusing him more, and his emotional state was still in turmoil, making it all the worser. Still, he listened to her lessons as best he could, paying attention to the ways that certain shapes and symbols in the Equestrian language came together on paper to form words and phrases. The fact that he had not had to learn anything about the spoken language was a boon, but a curious one to say the least. Thorax’s investigation had hinted at a connection between the last equestrian to use the portal, and the one who was transformed because of them. Had some of the deposed Queen’s knowledge of Equestria been transferred to him?
Twilight paused midway through an explanation of how many different symbols and words were used in greetings and the description of weather in order to whack the back of his head with a hoof, gently, of course, to get him back on track. 
Muttering apologies, he focused on her instructions again, replicating the symbols she made on his own practice page, grimacing at every little mistake, and practically leaping for joy at every success. 
Throughout it all, Fluttershy calmly sat, stroking Opal, the irate cat tolerating the touch of the gentle beauty where she never trusted her owners, purring as Fluttershy gently straightened the feline’s fur. The pegasus mare watched Allan with a look of curiosity playing out over her features. Allan wasn’t sure exactly what that curiosity was aimed at, but it had something to do with him, that was for sure. 
The letters and symbols soon became nothing more than a swirling mass of dried ink on parchment, and his mind wandered far more frequently, which in turn brought on quite a few admonishing knocks to the back of his head from the princess. 
Still, by the time Rarity emerged from her back room, tired from working on… well, something fabulous for her Changeling guest, no doubt, Allan was several steps closer to being able read written Equestrian. 
**********
Allan’s second day in the quaint town came to an end, and all three of his pony carers decided that it would be best if he returned to Fluttershy’s home now that she wasn’t in the midst of a bat crisis. Twilight said her goodbyes, as did Rarity, both of them leaving with their minds afire with ideas about their town’s new guest. 
Twilight, however, was now certain that she should bring her fellow Princesses into the know about this new development. The polymorphed human may not be a threat, but Chrysalis, in a new world, with so many options open to her, could become a great danger, especially in a world where her powers were unknown to the humans. Celestia, Luna and Cadance would definitely want to know. 
As Allan, now hidden beneath his new, cloak, followed Fluttershy back to her cottage, Twilight stared after him. He walked clumsily, stumbling every so often, helped along by the ever patient Fluttershy, who stayed by his side down the path. The human would need her. That much was certain, looking at the pair of them. Only the butter-coated pegasus would have the patience to keep caring for him through his troubles. She only hoped that Fluttershy would be enough. 
Sighing, she turned towards her home, tail swishing from side to side as she tried to anticipate Chrysalis. What would she do? How far would she go in order to get revenge on Starlight and everypony else? What kind of damage would she do in Allan’s world before this was resolved?
Even as she opened the doors to her castle and peered up at the stars one last time, she could not help but worry about Chrysalis’s plans.

********
Far away, in another world, in a pristine building, filled with beeping heart monitors and medical personnel, a family was gathered around the bed of one of their own, tear-tracks trailing down their faces as they listened to the prognosis offered to them by one of the doctors. 
The Ryder family, plus Anna Rois, listened to the doctor as he described Allan’s condition, the young man lying on the hospital bed, bandages wrapped around much of his body, a cast on both his left leg and right arm, and his head cradled by a pillow, and covered in numerous bandages, much like his torso. 
“He suffered quite a blow to his head in the accident. His other injuries, while painful and moderately severe, are treatable. His head however…” The doctor, a middle aged Asian-American with a pair of glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose, paused, a sympathetic and pained look on his face. “He has… well, he slipped into a comatose state not long after he was stabilized.”
Mary Ryder, Allan’s mother, a fifty year old, grey haired woman, who still turned heads wherever she went, sniffed back a tear. “You mean… you don’t know if he’ll wake up again?” She turned and clutched at her husband, a large, eagle nosed man who was only a year older than her. “Isn’t there anything you can do, Doctor Kim?” 
Doctor Kim shook his head. “We’ve done all we can. Anything else we could do would, quite frankly, be a useless effort. He will have to come through this on his own.” Another guilty look. “I- must tell you… there is a good chance that… when he wakes up, he may suffer from amnesia.”
“Amnesia?” Anna’s eyes were huge, tear filled orbs. “Y-you mean, he may not remember anything?” 
“It’s possible. It will be up to you to tell him what he has forgotten, if that is what happens. His memory could return quickly, but it may also never return at all. I thought you should be prepared for that.”
“Thank you, Doctor Kim.” Richard Ryder, Allan’s father said, nodding the Doctor’s way. “DO you mind if we had some time with him?”
The middle aged man nodded, and quickly vacated the room, only stopping to remind them that they could call for him at any time.
Anna, Mary and Richard looked at Allan, lying prone on the bed, eyes flicking back and forth, as if dreaming. The only family member not present was Allan’s older sister, Katherine, who still didn’t know about her little brother’s accident. 
“I still can’t believe this happened.” Anna whispered, as she stood over her boyfriend. 
“None of us can.” Richard spoke, his voice thick with sadness. “I never thought he’d be so careless…” Richard’s composure broke, and his stoic facade dropped, a tear making its appearance in his left eyes, and his features turning gaunt and haggard. His thick frame became racked with sobs. The aged man looking down at his youthful son, lying in a hospital bed, his life possibly over. That on it’s own was more than enough to tip the scales. Adding in the possibility of him being cursed with amnesia? That was truly the straw that broke the camel’s back. 
Mary moved to comfort Richard, leaving Anna to stand alone. She felt so guilty. She had been the last to talk to him. To hear his voice. She knew that was a stupid thing to worry about, but it made her feel guilty that it had been her, and not his parents, who had been the last ones to hear his voice. 
She bit her lip, holding back tears as she saw him breathing in gently, seeming completely at peace. She didn’t want him at peace, though. She wanted him awake. Even awake and in terrible pain would be better than seeing him just lie there. But that wasn’t going to happen. 
The three of them spent several minutes standing in the room, just staring in shellshocked silence, before finally walking, their steps little more than dazed shuffling, out of the room, their voices soon fading away as they left the hospital room behind.
Once their voices were gone, and they had left the building, the rooms lone occupant opened her eyes.
Chrysalis had easily been able to make a believable looking accident to hide her imperfect disguise. One small, ‘accidental’ slip, had sent her into the path of an oncoming vehicle, which had been going much too fast, and had been unable to stop. A quick spell made it appear as though she was badly injured, prompting her, ‘rescue’, by the strangely dressed men that her stolen knowledge informed her were this worlds medical personnel. Another quick spell to convince the doctor to ignore any evidence that suggested she was uninjured had set her on the straight and narrow. All she needed to do now was wait for her strength to return in full. Siphoning off love from the family members who had shown up to mourn ‘Allan’, had already given her enough strength to begin her plans. 
In a few weeks and she would be unstoppable. A few months… and she would be conquering  Equestria, with this world serving her every whim, while never even knowing it. It was just too easy. These fools would make for easy prey, completely oblivious to magic as they were. Once she had enough love, she would install herself into power, and climb the chain of command until she reached the top. And all the while, she would be producing an army, oh yes. The first eggs were already growing, and by the time she was finished, no power on either world would be able to stop her. 
She lay back on the hospital bed, and she smiled with her stolen face. This was going to be perfect.
*****************