Chrysalis grumbled angrily before quietly traipsing off back to Twilight's castle. She had reluctantly agreed to suffer the consequences for the outing she instigated.
"Don't think you're getting off scot-free, Scootaloo." Echo chided, "You still should have known better."
Scootaloo's ears plastered back. "What am I gonna have to do?"
Echo took a moment to stop and think of something that Scootaloo would hate doing enough to be a fitting punishment. A smile crept across her face slowly as she figured it out. "You're going to have to spend some time helping Ricochet learn about ponies."
"No!" Her eyes widened. "Please no!"
Ricochet was in the other room, and heard this entire exchange. He felt his ears droop and he looked down at the floor of Rarity's living room as he slowly picked up his cup of tea again.
"Yes." Echo stated. "I can't help him all on my own, he's going to need an actual pony to learn from, too."
"But Mom, I --"
"Nope. Don't want to hear it. You're going to start tomorrow. Got it, missy? Now go home. You're grounded, effective immediately."
Scootaloo groaned loudly and stomped her hooves out the door, slamming it behind her.
Rarity nodded as the two mares walked back to the living room. "Excellent parenting if I do say so myself."
"You're not a mom though, are you?"
"Oh, heavens no!" Rarity laughed. "I'm far too young to worry about such things. Besides, it would positively ruin my figure. No, no, no. I'm quite sure I won't be having any foals any time soon." Rarity turned to look at Ricochet, and her smiling face quickly turned into one of concern. "Oh, dear. You look absolutely dreadful, Ricochet. What's the matter?"
Ricochet looked up at Rarity and opened his mouth to respond, but his eyes met Echo's, and he thought better of it, choosing to look back down at the ground. Echo didn't seem to notice.
Rarity, however, did. "Echo, darling, do you suppose you could give us a minute or two of privacy?"
"Huh? Uh... sure, yeah. I'll just wait out in the parlor."
Once Echo was out of the room, Rarity sat across from Ricochet. "Now, dear, tell me what's wrong."
He looked up and hesitated for just a moment. "I don't know what I'm doing."
"What ever do you mean?"
"I mean... all my life, I've been in a hive. I'd never even seen a pony until two years ago. My job was to help build the hive and make sure that nothing was going to collapse. I never needed to go anywhere or do anything. Now that I'm out on my own, I just don't know what I'm doing. Apparently that thing I thought was a hat was something called a 'colander', and I don't even know what it was for. The two years when I lived in miss Echo's house, all I had was a mattress on the floor in her spare bedroom. I didn't cook, I didn't let anyone inside, I just came here and tried to sew."
"Ah. I thought Echo's work had deteriorated, I suppose that does explain a fair amount." She tried her best to disguise the disgust she felt at knowing he had been impersonating her friend.
He looked at her with eyes wide, tears in the corner. "See? I know you don't like that. I know you're upset with me, disgusted with me. I can tell. I can taste it. I don't even understand why. All I needed was a way to live without my hive. I don't understand how miss Echo does it. She says she just has friends, but ..."
"What is it?" Rarity felt genuine remorse for having made him feel worse about himself, but she couldn't help her thoughts and emotions.
"... I'm never going to make friends. I don't know how to, and nobody likes me. Scootaloo hates me, and so does Queen Chrysalis. I think Echo does too. Now you do. Probably the rest of your friends will also hate me."
"I don't hate you, Ricochet." She said gently, setting down her teacup. Her demeanor took on a serious air. "I'm a bit angry, sure. Really, though, I think we ponies understand changelings about as well as you, Ricochet, understand ponies."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, it wouldn't be proper for me to judge you." She smiled. "I can't change my thoughts, but ... well, I suppose that's lesson number one about ponies, Ricochet, darling. Just because we think something doesn't necessarily mean we want you to know about it. Sometimes we think hurtful things about even the ponies we really, truly care for. It never causes trouble because ponies don't read each others' minds."
"You don't hate me?"
"No, Ricochet. I don't think Echo does either, but you'd have to ask her to know for sure. Now, I hate to cut this short, but I simply must go and get everypony else to come and speak with you. Celestia knows that Echo can't handle this all on her own."
"Wait, but... don't leave me alone with miss Echo..."
"Darling, you'll be fine. I promise. Help yourself to anything you need. I'll be back soon!" Rarity smiled and trotted out to the parlor. "Echo, I'm going to go get the girls. I'll be back soon, okay?"
"Wait, but --"
"Ta-ta!" The door closed as Rarity made her exit.
Ricochet stood in the archway that separated the parlor from the living room, staring at the floor between his forehooves. "I'm sorry, miss Echo."
"Why, Ricochet?" She groaned, wishing she were anywhere but there.
"Just... I know I'm making your life harder. I'm making trouble for you and Scootaloo. I probably shouldn't be here anymore."
"Yeah, well... what were you going to do, quietly starve to death?"
"I'm beginning to think that would have been better." He sighed. "I think I'll try to talk to Twilight and see if someone else can mentor me. I don't want to be in your mane."
Echo looked at him with melancholy in her eyes. Poor guy. He's an idiot, sure, but he's not that bad. She sighed. "Well, if you think that's the right choice, Ricochet, then I won't stop you. I'll tell you what though... we can play a game while we wait for Rarity to get back with the rest of my friends, okay?"
His ears perked and he smiled a little bit. "What game?"
"Hmm... Ever play Monopoly?"
* * *
"TAKE YOUR TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS AND SHOVE IT!" She threw a wad of play money at him, and he winced. "Congratulations! I'm BROKE!" She flipped the board.
He hesitated a moment. "I'm so--"
"It's okay..." She waved a hoof. "I'm sorry. I should have known better. This game is friendship-ending." She let out a tense breath and glared at the upturned board. "I hate it."
"Are we not fr--"
"That's not what I meant."
"Oh. Okay." There was a long pause. "Well, what do we do now?"
"I guess we just talk." She shrugged. "Let's start with... how old are you, exactly?"
"Twenty-two." He smiled. "You?"
"Ah... technically it's rude to ask a mare that." She chuckled. "I'm thirty-nine." Changelings lived longer than ponies, with an average lifespan of 120. Echo was still fairly young, but Ricochet was basically still a kid. That explains a lot of his energy. "You said you were a structural drone at your hive?"
"Mmhmm." He nodded, smiling and sitting up straight. "Level four, sector seven."
"Level four, huh? Nice." When it came to different jobs in the hive, it all worked on a system of hierarchy. At the top were level five drones, who could be also called secretaries of their departments to the Queen. They included Structure, Health, and Security, to name the biggest ones. Below the secretaries were level four drones; there were usually eight level four drones per department, one for each sector of the hive. A level four drone was responsible for coordinating all projects in his sector and ensuring they were completed appropriately and in a timely fashion. Level three drones could be best described as project forestallions; it was their responsibility to see to it that the level two and one drones performed their tasks in such a way that the project goals were met. The level two and one drones were advanced and novice in their required skill set, respectively. Most often this simply meant that the more important or difficult tasks in a department were delegated to the level two drones, whereas the most menial work was given to the level ones.
"Yep! I may be no good at infiltrating, but... well, I never had to be. I'd never even seen a pony until two years ago."
"You know, you've actually got it made, if we can just get you to the point that you can function around ponies. Architects are in high demand in Equestria."
"Really?" He beamed. "That sounds like fun! I can't wai--"
Boom! The door burst open. In the shock, Ricochet had bolted up into the rafters, where he trembled, hanging upside down. Echo had dropped into a defensive posture, a snarl on her lips and a spell charged to her horn. She relaxed though when she saw Pinkie and Surprise standing dramatically in the doorway, the rest of her friends filing in behind them. After all of her friends, more of the general population of Ponyville followed, until the Boutique was packed.
"Let's get this party STARTED!" Both Pinkie and Surprise pulled out party cannons, and Echo didn't even have time to duck before the entire room was blanketed in party trimmings. Vinyl Scratch, the same pony that had been the DJ for Echo's welcome party, had somehow managed to appear at the same time, complete with her table. Interestingly enough, she seemed equally puzzled by her presence.
"Hit the music!" Surprise said gleefully, pumping both forehooves in the air.
Vinyl looked at her table for a couple moments before shrugging with a smile and pushing a button. Immediately, music filled the entire building, shaking the windows.
Echo shook herself off, getting the confetti out of her face and off her back. "Hey, Ricochet, it's all right. You can come down."
"No thanks, I'm fine up here." He clung to the rafter with remarkable tenacity.
"Come on! Join the fun!" Pinkie was standing on the rafter next to him.
Ricochet yelped in surprise and fell from the rafter, landing directly on top of Echo, who collapsed under the weight.
"Y'all okay there?" Applejack bolted over and helped the two changelings up.
"Fine..." Echo groaned. Ricochet seemed all right too, but he was too overwhelmed by the sudden party to really say anything. "Ricochet, these are my friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Surprise. You already know Twilight and Rarity." Each of her friends introduced themselves in turn as she spoke. Echo hesitated though when she looked more carefully and noticed a trembling yellow ball of fur behind her friends. "Um, is that a tribble?"
Twilight smiled and turned around, putting a hoof on the yellow ball. "Fluttershy, it's okay. Nopony here is going to hurt you, all right?"
"Are you sure, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked meekly, looking up and around the room. "Oh... I don't know if this is a good idea, it's really loud and ... and ..." She leaned in to whisper to Twilight. "Changelings scare me, Twilight."
"You're fine, I promise." Twilight smiled.
Echo walked over with a smile and extended a hoof. "Hey Fluttershy. Good to finally meet you. I'm Echo."
Fluttershy stared at Echo for a moment before squeaking something and hiding her eyes behind her mane.
"Ummm..."
"It's all right, Echo. Just give her some time. Maybe you should go and focus on Ricochet?"
Echo turned and put a hoof over her mouth when she saw the other changeling. Pinkie and Surprise were buzzing around him happily, introducing themselves and bombarding him with questions. He had an expression on his face that told her that he was completely overwhelmed.
"Ohmygosh how long have you been in Ponyville?!"
"Two whole years, that's incredible, we have two years of partying to make up for all in one night and --" There was a phenomenally loud gasp "-- Pinkie, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Super-duper-ultimate-two-birthday-welcome party?!"
"SUPER-DUPER-ULTIMATE-TWO-BIRTHDAY-WELCOME PARTY!" She shouted. "We missed out on TWO of your birthday parties AND a welcome party!"
"So now we're gonna make both of those parties into ONE SUPER-DUPER-ULTIMATE-TWO-BIRTHDAY-WELCOME PARTY! YEAH!"
"Please no..." He squeaked.
Echo trotted over. "Hey Pinkie, Surprise, do you suppose we could plan that party for a different night?"
"But we already started the party!" The two said in unison.
"Maybe we can call tonight my welcome-back party? I just think Ricochet needs a little time to adjust before we start throwing parties for him."
"Yes please thank you." He stammered, looking at Echo as though she had just saved his life.
"Well... okay, but for every day we wait, we're partying an extra ten minutes!" Pinkie declared gleefully before hopping off with Surprise in tow.
"Hey sugarcube!" Applejack called out. When Echo turned around again, she saw AJ and Big Mac both carrying in wooden barrels. "We brought the party!"
Rainbow Dash responded immediately, bolting over in a prismatic blur. "Is that cider?!"
"You bet! The good stuff!"
"All RIGHT!"
"Come on, y'all! Gather round and have some cider!"
Echo smiled at Ricochet. "Come on, you're gonna like this."
Echo and Ricochet wound up at the end of the line behind everypony else. It didn't take long though for it to be her turn to get a glass. She waited patiently for Ricochet to have his filled.
"Here ya go, partner!" Applejack held out a mug of cider. "You'll love it, I promise. Welcome to Ponyville!" She smiled.
"Cheers." Echo held out her glass, but Ricochet didn't return the gesture. She laughed. "You're supposed to gently touch glasses together when somepony says cheers."
"Oh..." He mimicked her action, clinking their glasses, and then sniffed the drink. "What is this?"
"It's cider. We have to drink it at the same time though, since we shared a toast -- that thing we just did when I said cheers."
"All right..." He brought it to his lips at the same time as she did. It tasted a little sour, a little sweet, and had a tiny bite on the back of the tongue. "I like it! This is neat!"
"Whoa!" Echo smiled and looked over to Applejack. "AJ, is this alcoholic?"
"I told ya, it's the good stuff." She smiled. "Have fun!"
"Oh, this is gonna be a good party!"
* * *
Alcohol went a long way to helping Echo loosen up. Soon she was fully engaged in the party, dancing and laughing and chatting. Ricochet sat quietly and watched, trying to learn everything he could about the way ponies interacted. He'd gone through several glasses of cider, and could now feel his head swimming a little. He also felt a stupid grin stuck on his face. That cider was really good. He didn't know what "alcoholic" meant, but it was good.
Echo, too, was more than a little tipsy at this point. "I love this song!" She cackled as she and all her friends danced.
It was about then that Pinkie Pie got an idea. She walked over to Vinyl and whispered into her ear. Ricochet could tell Vinyl had just groaned, but reluctantly agreed to whatever Pinkie had requested. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.
As the song came to an end, Vinyl's voice came through the speakers. She tried to sound cheery, but it was obvious she wasn't too happy. "All right everypony, by special request, we've got something a bit slower now. Grab a partner and get ready for a dance!"
Ricochet watched as ponies began to pair up for dances. Most of them paired up with ponies of the opposite sex, but Echo didn't pair up with anyone, initially. She just stood in the middle of the dance floor, smiling stupidly and enjoying the intoxicating effects of Applejack's cider.
The song began to play, and the pairs of ponies started to dance in a way that was unlike their previous, frantic flailing. He was confused for just a moment before he noticed that love began to positively POUR out of some of the couples. His tongue lulled out and he sighed happily.
Echo began to sway in time with the music, and Ricochet watched with rapt fascination, drunk both off of the cider and the love in the room.
Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled to his hooves by both Pinkie and Surprise. "Go on, dance with her!" They each said.
"Wait, but I don't -- Ah!" They shoved him in Echo's direction, and he bumped into her side.
She stumbled a little and looked over at him, taking a moment to realize who it was. She chuckled gently. "Wanna dance then? All right... what's the harm?" She grabbed his forehooves and pulled him over, trying to dance with him, but he just stood, dumbstruck, with no idea what to do. She pursed her lips. "Here, it's easy. Just... do what I do, okay?"
"Um... okay..." He watched her hooves and tried to mimic her steps as best as he could. Eventually a grin crossed his face, and he started to enjoy it. When he looked back up, Echo was staring into his eyes and smiling a little crooked.
"There you go. You've got it. Fun, isn't it?" She giggled.
"Yeah!" He smiled. As she giggled, he felt a twinge of something in his chest, and his eyes widened. Uh-oh.
Echo was too drunk and distracted to notice, though, and so the little bit of infatuation that was coming from him just got lost in the mix of the love that the couples in the room were pouring out.
Eventually, the song ended, and Echo gave him a quick hug. "That was fun." She released him and took another swig of her cider, nearly spitting it out when the next song came on; it was loud, boisterous, and every bit the antithesis of the previous song. "Aww, yeah! Now we're talking!" She began to resume the previous frantic flailing by which the rest of the party had been marked.
Ricochet scampered off to his chair in the corner and swallowed nervously, catching just a glimpse of Pinkie and Surprise giving him an emphatic "touchdown" gesture, which of course he did not recognize as anything other than an odd pose.
* * *
It was 2:00 AM before the party finally wound down. Most of the ponies had already started to stumble home, and all of her friends were beginning to leave.
Fluttershy walked over to the still-drunk Echo and smiled gently. "Sorry I didn't talk much, but parties are... really scary..." She nearly broke into tears at the last two words.
Echo smiled back. "It's all right... don't worry about it Fluttershy. We can do something less loud soon, okay?"
"I... I'd like that." She let a tiny smile cross her face again. "Thank you... g-goodbye..."
"Yep, gotta run!" Rainbow Dash said confidently. "Don't think I'm safe to fly right now though, so... uh... Twi, can I sleep over at your place?"
Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yes, Rainbow, you may." She looked at Echo as Rainbow Dash staggered out the door. "I hope you had fun. Remember, if you need anything, I'm always available." Twilight then gave Echo a quick hug before turning and filing out.
Pinkie and Surprise decided to be gracious hosts, and were beginning the cleanup procedure. "We'll be seeing you when it's time for Ricochet's party, okay?" Pinkie declared more than asked.
"You've got it, Pinkie." Echo nodded.
Applejack had somehow outdone herself on her own cider, and was now splayed out over Big Mac's back. He simply looked at Echo with a smile and nodded before stepping out to take her home.
Rarity sighed. "Well, I suppose this is good night, you two. It's been a lovely night, but I positively MUST get some beauty sleep. Have a safe walk home."
"We will, Rarity. Thank you." Echo smiled and bade her friend a good night's sleep. "Come on Ricochet. I think we both probably need some beauty sleep of our own."
"O-okay." He nodded meekly, following. "Thank you, Rarity and Pinkie and Surprise!"
The walk home was uneventful. When they finally arrived home, Echo fumbled with her key, but eventually got the door open. The changelings stumbled in and started up the stairs.
"Mom?" Scootaloo stood in the door to her room as Echo and Ricochet came to the top of the stairs. "Are you... are you two DRUNK?!" She sneered.
"Sorry, Scoot, Pinkie threw a party."
"Ugh!" She stuck her tongue out. "Were you two gonna do something nasty?"
Ricochet's eyes widened and he fell onto his rump, shocked.
Echo's brow furrowed and she looked at Scootaloo incredulously. "Okay, first off, absolutely not. Ricochet is my friend and nothing more! Second, if I were, I don't think that's your business, is it little miss feather-duster? Third, you're too young to be thinking like that anyway, so turn your flank around and go back to bed. NOW."
"Blech!" A disgusted sound was her only response, but Scootaloo did turn around and climb back in bed.
Echo sighed loudly. "Good night, Ricochet. Sleep well." She smiled gently at him and walked off into her own room.
As Ricochet settled into his bed, he couldn't help but think to himself.
What the hell do I do now?