//------------------------------// // The Changeling Research III // Story: My Little Changeling -- "I" is Magic // by Wing Dancer //------------------------------// Chip sat at the door, peeking through the keyhole. A few minutes after the clock announced it was six, some mares started arriving one by one. There were around five intruders, at least that many were visible. How many spies or assassins were cloaked in the room he could not tell. The changeling nervously checked the room downstairs, expecting to see somepony stealing notes or trying to destroy the fruits of his and Twilight’s work. Periodically he performed the reveal spell, making sure nopony was here except for him. On the other side, in the main library room, a party begun. Pinkie Pie brought some streamers, cupcakes and her special punch. Rarity complained that it was not that kind of party and that the mares would eventually spill something on her precious creation. Twilight was having fun, and was thankful none of the girls asked about her work yet, but expected the question to come up sooner or later. She was constantly trying to find an excuse for not having notes or at least a checklist – Spike burned them down by mistake? The Princess had her materials? She gave them to somepony else to proof-read? “So, what’s up, Twi?” asked Rainbow Dash, nodding her head to the beat of the music Pinkie Pie turned on. “Oh, you know. Busy busy busy, hehe.” Twilight gave her best to smile authentically. She was as bad a liar as Applejack, even worse sometimes. “You sure? You look kinda off to me. Something bothering you?” “Oh no, it’s…it’s nothing, really! Great party Pinkie Pie!” The mare jumped over to the pink pony, leaving Rainbow to eye her friend suspiciously. “I know, right?! Rarity said there should be music, just like when we did that small fashion show for Hoity-Toity! Oh, oh! This is one of my favorite songs!” For some reason the playlist that Pinkie prepared consisted of calm, upbeat music as well as electronic, ear-drilling-ground-shaking dubstomp. The books on the shelves jumped in the beat of the heavy bass thumping. Rarity was displeased and tried to voice her objection, but the music was way too loud to even attempt communicating. Chip was very alert and kept fidgeting at the door, trying to see as much of the room as possible. In such a racket, a pony could scream for help or have her throat slit without anypony even noticing. Finally, Rarity managed to make sense of the DJ equipment Pinkie brought in and stopped the awful racket. That did not stop the bouncing pink mare, though – she probably went deaf by now, as the rest of the gang did, and was dancing from memory. “ALLRIGHT GIRLS, GATHER ROUND!” shouted the white pony, beckoning her friends towards her. Behind her was a mannequin shape covered by a blanket under which resided the ‘star’ of tonight’s show. “I present to you my latest creation! It took forever to find just the right gems for this piece, but it was worth it! Girls, feast your-” “WAAAIT!” yelled Pinkie Pie, swatting away Rarity’s hoof from the fabric. “Twilight, won’t your friend join us for the show?” “Spike? But he’s right here, see?-” Oh no. Holy Celestia, no, please no. Of course Pinkie Pie didn’t mean the baby dragon. She meant the pony that was in the library, locked away behind the reinforced doors. Pinkie Sense. How could she not have anticipated this?! It was obvious her party friend had an amazing power that defied the laws of this realm and could simply…sense new ponies in the vicinity. “W-Whatever do you mean, Pinkie Pie? There’s nopony here except us!” Twilight smiled so hard her cheeks hurt. Unfortunately, her friends didn’t buy it. “Twi, you’ve been acting weird all this time. Like you’re troubled or something,” noticed Rainbow Dash. “C’mon, we’re your friends! If something’s bothering ya, you should tell us!” “An’ introduce us to this ‘friend’ Pinkie mentioned,” added Applejack. All Twilight could do was sweat and break her face in a smile. * * * The mares on the other side were arguing about something. Chip heard some single words, but couldn’t make much sense of them. Then, something terrible happened. Twilight was heading for the door, waving her forehoof and saying something. What in the hay was she thinking?! As fast as he could, the changeling bolted down the stairs and started collecting notes. He picked them all up and flared up his horn, teleporting himself to Canterlot. He disregarded the pain in his forehead, the side-effect of not casting the incantation properly and… “What?!” gasped Celestia, dropping a book she was levitating over to her side. “Uh, I…don’t mind me!” shouted the changeling, quickly scanning the room. It was clear as always and the colt stuffed all the notes into the deposit in the wall. “What is going on?!” asked the royal mare, worry on her face. “Nothing, nothing! Just uh…testing something! Goodbye!” The colt arrived back at the library just in time to hear knocking on the door. What should he do? Cautiously, he peeked into the keyhole…only to see a blue eye staring right back at him. “Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?” Chip lost his cool for a second and jumped away from the door. Somepony tried to open it, but to no effect. “Why is she locked in there sugarcube? What the hay is goin on here?” “Ehehe, girls, I, that is…umm…” “Twilight, darling, speak to us! Why on earth is that pony closed in your basement?” The voices were constantly nagging for an answer…but Chip was already on top of things. He was a changeling. Deceit, lies and camouflage were all second nature to him. He took a deep breath and inserted the key into the hole. * * * Twilight’s head was empty – as simple as that. Her friends were assaulting her for answers, save for Fluttershy, who was just looking at everypony, worry on her face. What now? Admit to doing a super-secret project? Deny the obvious and say that nopony was in there? What to- Fortunately for the librarian, salvation was just around the corner. Or in this case, behind the doors that slowly opened, causing the mares to go silent. In the frame there stood a silver-coated mare with a white mane and yellow eyes. The new pony stood there and stared at the six ponies. Pinkie Pie was the first to break the silence, naturally. “I knew it! Twi, how could you be so rude as to not introduce us to your friend! Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! But I think I already said that…what’s your name?” “Wub,” said Chip softly, taking a step out of the basement and closing the door behind himself. “Oh boy, you’re new in town, aren’t ya?! Because I know everypony, and I mean everypony around here! So, where did you come from? How long will you stay in Ponyville? How did you meet Twilight?” The barrage of questions was left unanswered as Wub focused her eyes on Twilight. The mare had a sheepish expression on her face, totally clueless as to what was going on. Chip sighed and came closer to the mare, discreetly bumping her flank against his. “You are right, Pinkie Pie, I am new in town. I came from Oatsdale, a small village near the southern borders of Equestria. I think I’ll stay a while in Ponyville; I’m a travelling actress, so there just might be some work for me here. I met Twilight Sparkle by accident – I was looking for a place to stay and this generous, generous pony here offered me a room.” “Well, that’s mighty kind of ya Twi. But why didn’t ya tell us, sugarcube?” “I’m sorry,” interrupted Wub, “but it was due to my request. I’m not very fond of crowds and the likes, so I asked Twilight if she could keep my living here a secret. Which obviously didn’t work out quite as expected.” “Oh, in that case, we are terribly sorry to disturb you, Miss Wub,” gracefully said Rarity. “Should we have known Twilight had a guest we would not impose or cause such a disturbance.” “Well, the cat’s out of the bag anyway, so why don’t ya join us now? There’s plenty o’ treats to go by, and I’d like to hear how y’all live in Oatsdale,” smiled Applejack. “Oh, oh! And you can tell us how it is to be an actress! I was on stage once, but it ended up with a pony-buffalo war, hihi!” giggled Pinkie Pie, bouncing around excitedly. * * * Pinkie Pie was eventually convinced by Rarity to forfeit the heavy songs in favor of more fitting music. The white mare was still slightly displeased though; it seemed that Wub got the attention of the spotlights instead of her dress, which was of course greeted with ‘oooh’s and ‘aaaah’s, but the focus was brought back to the actress way too soon. According to Rarity, that is. The silver mare herself warmed up to Twilight’s friends quite fast, laughing, answering questions and re-enacting some scenes from plays she was in. Right now the mare was parading in a tablecloth, pretending to be a legionary for Princess Celestia who was sent to apprehend her own sister. The ponies were very impressed by the role – Wub displayed drama and conflict masterfully, sighing and reciting a monologue that depicted the tragedy of conflict between duty and sisterly love. Rarity was actually so touched that she had to carefully wipe tears off her eyes, trying not to ruin her makeup. Twilight…Twilight’s mind was still in the null-zone. She was afraid to move, speak or even think in fear of screwing something up. Chip/Wub was very convincing; in her confusion the librarian wasn’t sure if the story of his/her arrival was true or not. Time passed really slowly for this mare and all she wanted to do was to bid her friends goodbye and then beg Chip to not report this slip-up to Princess Celestia, who would surely think that Twilight was irresponsible and should not be tasked with such an important mission…and since she already knew so much, there was only one place she could not cause any further damage – on the Moon. As the librarian was trying to come up with a checklist of things that might be useful on the moon, Wub finished her performance. She blushed as a salvo of clapping and whistles followed her gentle bow towards the audience. “I must say, Wub, you have a great talent for acting! Maybe I’m not an expert in the subject, but I can recognize a pony that is a veteran of the spotlights when I see one. Bravo!” “Yes, that was…beautiful,” finally said Fluttershy, hiding behind her mane as the others looked at her in surprise. It was rare for the timid Pegasus to talk to strangers on the first day she met them… “Oh my, will ya’ll look at the time! It’s been a great night everypony, but ah got ta wake up early tomorrow. Got some Golden Delicious to buck through, so uh, sorry!” Applejack stood up and waved her hat at everypony. “See ya’ll later!” “Bye bye Applejack! So, girls, anypony else wants some more punch?” “No thank you, dear. Applejack is right – it is quite late and we shouldn’t be overstaying our welcome. Thank you all, I’m glad you liked my new dress. And Wub – good luck with your job hunting! I’m looking forward to seeing you perform on stage quite soon!” The changeling smiled at Rarity who picked up her mannequin and left the library. * * * Finally, everypony went to their homes. Pinkie Pie insisted that there should be an after party, as not all of her favorite tracks were played, but the idea died due to lack of interest. Wub said she was tired and locked herself in the basement; Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took off together, thanking Twilight for the great time. With only Spike in the room and total silence around, Twilight allowed herself to slump to the floor. She was mortified – her insides were churning as she looked at the clock. Nine o’ clock. It was late. They should already have sent a report to the Princess. The librarian was really close to throwing up now that her eyes focused on the doors to the laboratory. Behind them would be Chip – probably a very displeased, disappointed, perhaps even furious large changeling colt. “Is everything alright, Twilight?” asked a worried Spike. The mare shook her head and feebly picked herself up. Each step she made towards the heavy doors was loud and stomach-twisting. Her imagination ran all sorts of scenarios, including those in which she would open the door and see Princess Celestia with her guards, ready to take her to the moon. The pony breathed heavily, her panicked heart beating furiously in her chest. It was quiet. KNOCK KNOCK Her hooves made the noise sound so threatening she was ready to jump back and flee upstairs. She felt really weak, almost on the verge of passing out as a voice from the other side said: “Why does the sun travel across the sky?” “T-To…get t-to…the other. Side,” stuttered Twiligh, feeling that her legs would crumble under her weight quite soon. The doors flung open, revealing Wub with a neutral expression. Without a word, the disguised changeling cast a search spell, making sure the coast was clear before dragging the paralyzed Twilight inside the dark interior of the laboratory. “Twilight, grab a quill please,” said Chip, looking through some of their today’s notes. That was it. The last straw, the final nail in the coffin. Twilight would have to write the report about her inexcusable performance and the inability to keep a secret. Her life was over. “Write please. Dear Princess Celestia…” * * * Chip delivered the fresh report to the secret hiding place in Canterlot. He was still in shock after Twilight threw herself at him, her eyes in tears, thanking him for Celestia knows what. There was something about going to the moon, being unfit for duty and unworthy of trust…but Chip had none of that. There was a situation and it needed a remedy. All in all, nothing bad happened, and there was nothing that the Princess needed to know about, save for their results for the day. Twilight acted a bit awkward, but at least didn’t blow Chip’s cover . And yet again, the changeling found himself facing the books of Celestia. He scrupulously put the “100 funny facts about mares and colts” where it belonged and scanned for another interesting title. But should he really be reading this stuff? Twilight seemed quite upset last time he did. But she didn’t have to catch him, right? Hesitantly, he picked up a book called “Forbidden Gardens”, which according to the back was a fiery, passionate love story of two colts. Two colts? Meaning, two pairs of mares and colts, seen from the perspective of the males? This should prove interesting – a stallion’s view on relationships would surely push Chip’s understanding of pony emotions in the right direction.