//------------------------------// // The Mission // Story: Integration // by CoAlFire //------------------------------// Twilight picked Ricochet off the ground and carried him gently back to his chair, setting him down softly and shaking her head. “Listen, everypony... can you please try not to be so mean to him? He's obviously terrified, and I'm pretty sure that means he's sorry for what he did.” “How are you not angry, Twilight? He was impersonating me for two years.” “I am angry, but that doesn't mean I'm going to keep taking it out on him when he obviously regrets his actions.” She sighed. “Friends don't hold grudges.” “Friends?” Chrysalis asked incredulously. “You're friends with this little fool?” She sneered. Twilight whipped around and glared at Chrysalis. “You know, when a lot of ponies heard I was friends with Queen Chrysalis, they asked me something pretty similar to that.” The Queen's eyes narrowed. “Who called me little?” “Ugh!” Twilight groaned, another few strands of her mane popping out of place. “Just stop insulting him, okay? Keep your anger to yourself.” Echo and Chrysalis shared a glance, as if to say “yeah, right.” Scootaloo, meanwhile, was busy trying to soak up everything that had just happened. This isn't what she'd expected from her return to Ponyville. She had her friends at least, but … why did it have to be drama as soon as they got back? Why couldn't they just enjoy being back at home for a while before some new thing had to happen? It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. She spent two years away from here, away from her friends, away from everything she knew. She wasn't mad at her mother about it, at least she didn't think she was; she was just mad that she didn't even get to settle back in before some new catastrophe had to sneak up on them! She glared at the unconscious changeling. It was all his fault. He just had to impersonate her mom; he couldn't have chosen anypony else, or even used somepony who didn't even live in Ponyville and tried to make a name for himself, like her mom had done originally. “He's selfish.” Scootaloo said, still glaring. “He ruined it all... us coming back. Completely ruined it.” “Hey, it's not that bad,” Echo started, “you've still got your friends, and we have our hou-” “No, Mom. He ruined it! All I wanted was to get back to my life without having to worry about something awful happening, and we didn't even make it an hour!” She seethed. “It's not fair, and it's all his fault!” At this point, Ricochet had begun to wake up. Scootaloo noticed and pointed. “It's your fault!” He shrank back in his seat as he remembered where he was. He tried to hide himself under the table in front of him as much as possible. “I'm sorry...” He squeaked. “You're sorry?! You ruined everything, and you're sorry?!” Echo furrowed her brow again. Well, he didn't ruin EVERYTHING. That's a little dramatic... jeeze... poor guy. We already scared the daylights out of him, this is just cruel. “Hey, Scoot...” “WHAT, Mom?” “Back off a little. I think he gets the point.” “You're taking HIS side?” She shook her head and groaned, standing and walking for the door. “Whatever. I'll be at home.” Echo watched her daughter leave, and once she was gone turned to Twilight. “Okay, pardon my language, but what the hell was that?” Twilight shrugged. “She's a 13 year old filly. Get ready for at least 5 more years of that.” Echo's eyes widened. “Five years?! Oh sweet Chrysalis.” “Don't look at me. I'm powerless to stop pony hormones.” Chrysalis laughed. “That's true,” Echo had an idea, “but she does seem to love you a whole lot.” “Tastes like chocolate.” Chrysalis nodded plainly. “Do you think you could go talk to her?” “What, you want me to tell her she shouldn't hate this little idiot?” She pointed to Ricochet. “I can't do that, I hate him too.” “Can you at least pretend? Try to set a good example for her?” “I think I set a fine example.” “For a changeling, but not for a little pegasus filly.” The two stared daggers at each other for a few seconds before Chrysalis sighed. “Okay. Just for you though, and you owe me!” “Thank you Mother.” Echo shook her head again as Chrysalis moved to leave. She wondered if maybe she herself were the cause for her daughter's behavior. Honestly, it seemed almost like Scootaloo was trying to be a changeling. The only problem was that pony brains weren't the same, they didn't parse their emotions the same way. The aggression that served as an undertone for almost everything changelings did could conceivably seep into everything a pony did. Was this behavior her fault? Had she been setting a poor example? Maybe it wasn't a good idea for a changeling to raise a filly. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom seemed to notice that Echo was in distress. They stood and walked over. “Miss Echo,” Apple Bloom started, putting a hoof to the changeling's. “Are you okay?” Echo looked down at the fillies. They were a hoof or two taller than when she'd first met them, but they were still small next to her. She smiled gently, trying to hide the turmoil she was feeling. “Yes... I'm fine. Why don't you go find Scootaloo and my mother? I'm sure Scoot would love to have you girls with her.” She patted Apple Bloom's hoof and nodded, giving permission for them to leave. “All right, Miss Echo...” Sweetie Belle nodded quickly. “See you later!” She and Apple Bloom turned to leave. “All right. So... Ricochet.” She huffed to Twilight. “Yeah?” Ricochet piped in. “Still not talking to you. Talking to Twilight.” She grumbled. “What are we going to do about him?” “I can't keep him here, Echo. He'd... well, I think he'd cause trouble with Chrysalis.” Echo nodded. “I can see that. Still, I don't know who else would take him. Dash doesn't really know how to take care of a changeling, and there's always the risk he'd just run away.” “I wouldn't.” “Shut up.” She quipped, and his ears plastered back. She continued, “I don't know where to take him.” “Well, Echo...” Twilight winced. “Those are all valid points. I think... you might be the only one who can help him.” “You're kidding me, right?” She sputtered, looking over at Ricochet. The drone seemed intrigued and terrified all at once. “You want me to try to take care of Scootaloo and watch after this drone? The drone who was impersonating me for two years?” She shook her head. “Have you lost your mind?” “I'm open to suggestions, Echo.” Twilight folded her forehooves. “Hey, don't pawn this off on me. I don't claim to have the answers, but he isn't my responsibility.” “I'm not gonna hurt anyone...” He said meekly. “Really, I'm not.” His ears perked up and he looked at Echo with almost a pleading gaze. Echo glared back at him for a tense moment before sighing loudly. “It's temporary, do you hear me? Both of you. Temporary. You do not live with me; you are a guest and nothing more. You are not a part of my family. Capice?” Ricochet's wings buzzed and he flew into the air a bit, smiling brightly. “Neat! Thanks Echo, you rock!” He flew toward her to wrap her in a hug, but his face met an outstretched hoof. “No. None of that. Shame on you.” She admonished as he fell to the ground, rubbing his muzzle. “Uh... right. Sorry.” He stood, dusted himself off, and watched Echo carefully. She stood as well and straightened her posture, standing as tall as she could. “Twilight, I suppose we will have to continue this later.” As she spoke, the drone behind her did his best to stand in the same upright posture, seeming almost posh. “It's been good to see you again. I'm sorry it wasn't under better circumstances.” Echo smiled softly and turned, failing to notice the change in Ricochet's posture. “Come, drone.” “Yes Echo.” He followed directly behind her, copying her gait perfectly as well. Twilight suppressed a giggle as she watched the drone canter out of the castle with a distinctly feminine and faintly regal step. “I'll see you two later.” The pair of changelings stepped outside, and Ricochet sped up a bit to walk next to Echo, still mimicking her steps. She glanced to the side and raised a single brow. “Why are you walking like that?” “I think I'm supposed to learn from you, right? You know how to be with ponies. So, I'm gonna be like you.” Echo looked around at the ponies around them. As soon as they noticed Ricochet, they would turn and walk – sometimes run – in the opposite direction. “Ah, yes.” She gave a single chuckle. “That's obviously working brilliantly.” “Really?” He smiled brightly. “I'll keep doing it. It's a little hard to stay balanced putting one hoof right in front of the other like this.” He looked down and pranced in place a little. “I'll get the hang of it though, Miss Echo!” “You know, I'm curious,” Echo resumed walking, “where exactly did you come from?” “Hive of Queen Exuvia, level four structure reinforcement drone, sector seven.” He recited as if from memory. “Exuvia? I've never heard of Queen Exuvia. Where's your hive?” At that, he paused. “I... I can't tell you. Sorry.” “I'm not part of Chrysalis' hive anymore. She doesn't even have a hive.” She waited a second and then waived a hoof dismissively. “Whatever, keep it to yourself then.” “What was it like in Chrysalis' hive?” He buzzed his wings, trying to keep his balance. His stockier body made walking in such a feminine way much more difficult. She hummed, thinking of how best to describe it. “Well... for the most part, it was just life, but I guess in retrospect it was pretty hard. We were always on the brink of starving to death. There were some good times, of course, but I think it was around the point when Luna returned that things got hard. Ponies were all so on-edge, love was harder to come by. Chrysalis saw how badly we were starving, and... she made a really bad decision.” Echo sighed. “Most of the changelings from our hive... I'm sure it hasn't been good times for them.” “Exuvia was always really nice. I remember once one of my coworkers was caught in a cave-in, trapped behind a wall of rubble. She actually spent her own energy to blast the barrier.” He smiled. “For a single drone?” Echo looked at him, surprised by that kind of generosity from a queen. Usually in that situation, either the drones sorted it out for themselves or the trapped one died. It was just one of the hazards that structural drones had to live with. “Why?” “Because she didn't want him to die. We never had that much trouble with staying fed.” They walked for another few moments in silence while Echo thought. “Sounds like you had it pretty good. Why'd you leave?” “Well... I didn't want to. We used to be in the griffon lands off to the east, but a dragon moved into the mountain where we'd made our hive.” “Why does this sound like a familiar story?” She chuckled. “Was the mountain Lonely?” “Sometimes.” He continued, not catching the reference. “Anyway, things got kinda... hot. Not many of us made it out. I don't even know where the rest of my hive is.” Echo nodded. “Yeah. It's rough sometimes without other changelings to talk to. I get it.” “Well, now we don't have to worry about being alone.” He smiled at her, ears swiveling forward. Echo smiled reflexively before shaking her head a little and looking away. “Yeah, well, don't get used to it, buddy. You're gonna learn how to make your own friends and then you're on your own. This is a temporary arrangement; my house is full as it is, and I'm sure Scootaloo won't be too happy about you moving in either! ” “Oh...” He seemed crestfallen for just a moment before smiling again. “I bet I can help her come out of her shell!” “She isn't in a shell, she just doesn't like changelings that impersonate her mother for two years and lie to her friends.” His ears shot back again and he winced. “Ah, Right. That.” The rest of the walk home was in silence. Echo opened the door and showed him upstairs to a spare bedroom. “Here. I assume this is the room you've been squatting in, since that bed wasn't mine?” “Uh... yeah. Thanks, Miss Echo.” He said sheepishly, walking into the room and sitting down. “I can't wait for my first lesson!” He said, trying to be cheery again. Echo looked at him for a moment before nodding quietly and closing the door behind her. She went down to the living room and laid back on the couch. How did this happen to me? She sat there for a little while before she stood and walked over to her record collection. Eventually she picked one – something in classical – and set it on the record player before sitting back down to read again. She barely made it five minutes before she heard hooves behind her. “What are you reading?” Ricochet asked quietly. “Okay. First, standing behind me is creepy. Second, don't read over my shoulder. Third, why do you care?” “I just want to get to know you.” “You're wasting your time on that, remember? This is all temporary.” “What's temporary?” Chrysalis' voice flowed like honey through the entire floor as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Why is the drone here?” Ricochet jumped over the back of the couch to hide from the queen, landing on top of Echo. She let out a loud “oof”. “Get! OFF!” She rolled him off of her onto the ground in front of the couch, and he quickly scrambled under it. She shook her head. “Look, it's okay. Mother isn't going to hurt you.” “I'm sorry...” he pleaded as Echo pulled him out from under the couch. He sat, trying not to look at the Queen directly. His attention began to wander around the room. "Though I would certainly like to." Chrysalis interjected under her breath. "Now, as I was asking...?" Echo sat up and rubbed her head a bit. “Well, Mother, it's an... assignment... from Twilight. Seems my job is to get him ready to integrate into pony society.” Ricochet was now buzzing around the room, investigating all the new furniture Echo had brought with her. Eventually, he found his way into the kitchen and picked up a pasta strainer. He sat it on his head and smiled brightly. “Miss Echo, I like this hat. It's got holes in it like my hooves!” As Echo groaned and planted her face in her hooves, Chrysalis gave her a couple words of encouragement. “An idiot. He's practically one of them already. Should be no challenge at all." “Thanks.” She deadpanned back. “Where's Scootaloo?” “Upstairs with her friends. They're playing some kind of game called 'truth or dare'. Personally, I fail to see the point of it.” “Well, you would, wouldn't you?” Echo snickered. “I guess I need to figure out how to tell her about this.” “Considering how just a little while ago she was ready to feed him his own teeth in a single file line, I'm sure this will go over well.” “Yeah. So am I.”