//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Shifting Morals // by Leafdoggy //------------------------------// Morning again. Again, no Pinkie. Not that I want her bugging me, it’s just odd. This hasn’t been quite the friendship boot camp I had expected. Oh well. No reason to dawdle. Upstairs I’m greeted by an empty lobby. No customers, no chatting ponies, and again, no Pinkie. There’s no way I woke up before her, so where is she? I can’t help but feel like she’s testing me again. No need to stress about it though. I’ll just wait here a bit, and if she doesn’t show up, I’ll go over to Fluttershy’s. Surely Pinkie couldn’t fault me for that. I’ll just get comfortable at a table and wait. If this is a test, how long would I be expected to wait? Pinkie can’t expect me to wait for her all day. Or maybe that is the test, to see if I’d take the initiative on my own. Like it would indicate some kind of natural kindness or something. I don’t know. That seems too roundabout for Pinkie anyway. She probably just stepped out to run an errand or something. Still, I’m going to get awfully bored sitting around here. I’m tempted to just leave. If Pinkie has plans for the day she could find me pretty easily. If not, it’ll keep me from getting sent off to some random pony’s house. Just as I make up my mind and get up, the front door opens and Pinkie walks in. She spots me right away, hopping over and giving me a somewhat uncomfortable hug. “Heya, Tarts!” she says, full of vigor. “You’re up early.” I pry myself away from the pony’s grip. “Yeah, I guess,” I reply. “What, did you expect to be back before I was up?” “Pretty much,” she says. “But hey, you’re up! That makes things easier. C’mon, let’s talk while we walk.” We leave the house and start walking in the usual direction. The air is crisp and refreshing, the morning carried on the wind. Fresh sunlight pours through the town, settling into every nook and cranny. I have to say, aside from the night, this is the best time of day in Ponyville. Calm, peaceful. I see why Pinkie is such an early riser. “So where did you get off to?” I ask her as we walk. “I almost thought you were testing me.” She laughs. “Nah, nothin like that. I just hopped over to Twilight’s to see if she was back. No dice, though. She must’ve stayed in Canterlot for a bit.” “Geez,” I say, “is it really that far away? I wasn’t worried because I figured if she could just run there, it had to be close. Aren’t you afraid something might have happened to her?” “Worrying would just bring me down,” Pinkie says, “and that’d bring other ponies down. I mean, what am I gonna do about it if somethin happened? I’m not the one that’s gonna figure that out. If I gotta worry, I’ll be told to worry, ya know?” “I guess,” I say. “Don’t hurt more than you need to. That’s easier said than done though. Not all of us can just shut things out like that.” “That’s why it’s doubly important that I do!” Pinkie tells me. “Me bein cheery helps other ponies not get stuck in bad stuff. We’re all good and bad at different stuff. So I leave the worryin to the ponies who are good at worryin.” “That’s a lot of faith, though,” I say. “What makes you so confident things will work?” “My friends do,” she replies. “Like, I’m sure that Rainbow Dash went after Twilight. It’d be no sweat for her.” “You’re darn right,” a voice behind us says. I jump away, and a big blue pegasus lands between me and Pinkie. She flashes me a grin full of pride and confidence. Geez, you don’t need a dramatic entrance every time. Rainbow Dash greets us with just a “Sup?” “Dashie!” Pinkie shouts, jumping on her friend immediately with a hug. “Where ya been? We’ve missed you around here.” “I’ll tell you if you let me breathe,” Rainbow Dash says, which gets Pinkie to giggle and back off. “I’ve missed you, too, though,” she continues. “I’ve been in freakin Canterlot thanks to somepony.” She rolls her eyes sarcastically. “So Twilight is okay?” I ask her. “Physically? Sure,” Rainbow Dash replies, “but she aint happy. Not that I blame her, the stuff that happened had me moody too, and I didn’t sprint across the continent to stop an apocalypse.” I wince. “Uh-oh,” Pinkie says, “that’s not good. Mad Twilight is scary. Is she comin back?” Pinkie gives me a nervous glance, which I return. “Nah, not yet,” Rainbow dash says. Pinkie and I both sigh in relief. “I explained what I knew about the situation to her, and convinced her to take a bit to cool down. But if we don’t clear this up before she gets back, things are gonna get bad.” She punctuates this with a pointed look at me. Unless I’m reading too much into it, but it’s unnerving either way. “Well, stuff’s calmed down a lot,” Pinkie says. “I don’t think anything weird’s happened since you left.” “Really?” Rainbow Dash replies. “Huh. I had a hunch things would clear up, but that’s fast. How’s Fluttershy?” “She’s doing a lot better,” I tell Rainbow Dash. “She found a new, uh, pet I guess. That really seemed to raise her spirits.” “Hah!” Rainbow Dash guffaws. “Awesome. Wish I could find a new critter for her that easy. Where are you two headed, then?” I look at Pinkie, and she thinks for a moment. “Uhh, well Fluttershy’s gonna be with Rarity today,” she says. “So I guess Applejack.” “Oh, yeah, she’s probly still stressed out huh,” I say. “Should we have gone there sooner?” “Oh, I went there yesterday,” Pinkie says. “It’s sweet that you were worried, though.” She grins at me and winks. She must see that as a good sign. It seems like a bit of a logical leap though. “Well, it sounds like things are mostly covered on the cheering front,” Rainbow Dash says. “I don’t know that AJ needs both of you. How about I take the squirt off your hooves for the day?” My jaw drops. “What?” I ask. Oh no, does she want to have another weird walk with me? “I’m not really sure if-” “Okay!” Pinkie says, cutting me off. “Havin fun with you for a day would be great for them. I don’t wanna end up turnin em into Pinkie Two. Put em through the wringer for me.” She grins at me. There’s something frightening behind that grin. What is she signing me up for? Rainbow Dash laughs. “Sick,” she says. Then she turns to me and puts a hoof on my shoulder. “C’mon Strawberry, you heard her. It’s time for the crucible.” Pinkie starts hopping away before I can protest. “Bye, Tarts! Bye, Dashie!” she shouts back at us as she disappears. No stopping this now, I guess. I really hope that Rainbow Dash actually was just moody before. “Nickname already, huh?” Rainbow Dash says as she starts leading me down the street. “Not that it’s that uncommon. Plus she named you in the first place, so I guess a nickname isn’t really much, huh? But still, she must like you. Or she just likes her silly name.” She chuckles and grins at me. There’s a surprising warmth in her face, playful but friendly. This is a far cry from the Rainbow Dash I first met. “I’m still getting used to Strawberry Tart, honestly,” I tell her. “Yeah, I bet,” she replies. She glances back over her shoulder for something, then turns back. She grabs me out of nowhere and turns me to face her, stopping us in the middle of the road. “Alright, dude, it’s time to pony up,” she says, suddenly serious. “Why’d you quit messin with us?” “What!?” I spurt out. Why is she suspicious? “What are you talking about? I never-” She cuts me off. “Nah, no lyin,” she says, poking me in the chest. “I’ve seen you turn into stuff. I saw you turn into who you are now in the forest. C’mon, I aint mad, just come clean.” For crying out loud. Do any of these ponies not know at this point? “Ok, fine,” I sigh, “you got me. But why did you wait this long to say something? Why not just stop me then?” She grins, and motions for us to start walking again. “Pinkie beat me to the punch,” she tells me. “I figured nothin I did would be as effective as just bein near Pinkie. But you stopped after, what, two days? That aint just Pinkie. What happened?” “I mean, it kinda is just Pinkie,” I say. “I was sloppy, and she caught me.” Rainbow Dash slaps her forehead. “You’re tellin me Pinkie knows already?” she asks. “Then why the heck was I talkin in circles? I’m not very good at subtlety, you know. Ugh, okay, so what happened then?” “Well, she caught me,” I continue, “and I guess decided she didn’t want to believe I could be all bad. So she told me I had to let her try to make me a better pony, or else she would send you all after me.” “Dang!” Rainbow Dash says. “That’s hardcore for Pinkie Pie. She really does like you. So, what, she’s just toting you around on her daily runs?” “Pretty much,” I respond. “Mostly just Fluttershy though. And then Fluttershy found out about me, so now half of you know about it.” “Uhh, four of us, actually,” Rainbow Dash says with a nervous laugh. “I kinda had to tell Twilight about you to stop her from coming back to solve things herself.” I groan. “You know, if you’re all gonna find out anyway, I would really like to tell at least one of you on my own terms.” She chuckles. “Alright, I’ll tell them to keep it on lockdown,” she says. “How’s it treatin you though? Has Pinkie won you over?” “I don’t know,” I respond. “I mean, the things I can do can only ever hurt others. So like, sure, I could isolate myself completely and technically be good. That can’t last forever, though. Eventually I’ll get antsy, or stressed, and I’ll be pulled right back into how I used to live because it’s how I know to exist. It’s inevitable.” “Well that’s an easy fix,” Rainbow Dash says. “You just gotta learn to do your thing in nicer ways.” “Yeah, it sounds easy when you say it like that,” I tell her. “But what do you figure those nicer ways are? They don’t make nice, fuzzy monsters.” Rainbow Dash scoffs. “You’re tellin me you can’t think of any way to have fun when you can shapeshift? Pinkie must be slacking. Okay, tell me this, why did you do the stuff you did before? What did you get out of it?” “It was just fun, I guess,” I tell her with a shrug. “Yeah, but why was it fun?” she presses. “Which part of it did you like?” “I don’t know,” I tell her. “I suppose maybe I enjoyed watching ponies react? Seeing the different things they do?” “Alright,” Rainbow Dash says, “so if you could get that without hurting anypony, things would be fine, yeah?” “Sure,” I concede, “but how? I’m being lying and deceitful just by pretending to be another pony. That’s gonna hurt them.” “Dude, I lie all the time to have fun,” she says. “It’s called a prank. Pinkie and I prank each other all the time, and you can’t pull off a prank without lyin.” “That feels like it’s not really the same thing,” I tell her. Rainbow Dash hits me in the shoulder. “Don’t be dense,” she says. “You’ve just convinced yourself that you’re some kinda evil monster.” “I am a monster,” I protest. She rolls her eyes. “Who cares. You can’t let how you were born decide your whole life. Do you really think me and Pinkie and Fluttershy would all decide to give you a chance if there was really no way for you to be good?” I sigh. “Okay, fine, what do you want me to do?” I ask her. “I just want you to try,” she says. “Like, really try. Try like you would if you believed there’s a chance, even if you don’t.” I think for a minute. I guess that’s reasonable enough. I’m here anyway, it won’t hurt me to just put in a bit of effort. “Okay,” I finally say, “I’ll try.” Rainbow Dash grins at me. “Heck yeah, now we’re rollin. Alright,” she says, “lemme tell you about pranking. It’s a delicate artform!” “How complicated could it be?” I ask. “Well, just pranks are easy,” she explains. “The trouble is in the stuff you’re worried about. Pranks can really hurt ponies if you do em wrong. I mean, the stuff you did was basically just really complicated, hurtful pranks.” “Sure,” I say. “How do you stop that then?” “There’s a few things,” she says. “Number one, the most important, is that you gotta come clean. It’s not a good prank unless you’re both laughing at the end, and that aint gonna happen if they don’t even know who did it.” “How am I supposed to make somepony laugh instead of hurt?” I ask. “That’s a big jump.” “That’s step two!” Rainbow Dash exclaims. “Know your targets. You gotta be pretty close to somepony to be able to think of stuff that’ll make them laugh. The pranks I pull on Pinkie are things I’d never do to Fluttershy, ya know?” “Is that it?” I ask. “There’s one last part,” she says. “You always gotta make sure there’s a way to opt out. Pranks have to be able to stop at any time. That way, if you mess up and do somethin that goes too far, you can step in and say sorry.” “Just apologize?” I say. “That can’t just fix everything. I mean, an apology isn’t gonna clear up what I put you all through.” “Of course not. But you messed up from step one,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong, when Twilight gets back, even if we sign off on you she’s gonna put you in lockdown for like a month. I’m teachin you how to stop it from getting to that point in the first place.” “Yeah, okay,” I say. “I guess I’ll take your word for it.” “You’re not gonna have to. We’re gonna go put that lesson to use,” she tells me. “You ready for a few more ponies to find out about you?” “What?” I ask, flinching. “Are you serious? I thought you said you’d keep it secret!” “Yeah, from AJ and Rarity,” she says. “And AJ and Rarity are with the only other ponies who already know. So unless you wanna tell one of them, it’s gotta be somepony else.” Ugh. I’m scared of what Applejack might do, and I don’t want Rarity to find out through a prank. “Fine,” I relent. “I guess I have no choice. Who, though?” “Well,” she says slyly, “there’s some kids who deserve an apology.” A few minutes later and we’re in the air, me looking like Fluttershy and following close behind Rainbow Dash. There’s a knot in my gut from the nerves I’m feeling. My instincts are screaming that this is going to go wrong, get me hurt, maybe even get me killed. Those same instincts that I told Rainbow Dash I would ignore. The instincts that have kept me safe all my life. I try to push the thoughts aside as we land in the forest near Applejack’s orchard. “Are you sure this is going to work?” I ask Rainbow Dash. “It seems a bit strange.” “Positive,” she assures me with a smile. “All you gotta do is follow the script. Let’s go!” With that, she jets off towards the children’s treehouse, leaving me on my own. Guess I just have to go along with this. Step one is to turn into Applebloom, so I do that. I’m still terrible at imitating children, but Rainbow Dash is counting on that. So, doing my best to steel my nerves, I start walking towards the clubhouse. I underestimated the distance. It takes me a few minutes to get there on these tiny little legs. Eventually, though, I find my way there, climb up to the treehouse, and peer in through a window. All three kids are there, their gazes all fixed on Rainbow Dash as she regales them with stories. “I was backed into a corner with no way out,” Rainbow Dash is saying, eliciting gasps from the children. “No choice but to fight, but how am I gonna fight somethin that big? Well, that’s when it hit me-” Alright, time for step two. I walk inside the clubhouse, interrupting Rainbow Dash, and give my best cheery “Hey guys!” to announce myself. All the eyes in the room shoot to me, and then go wide. Sweetie Belle jumps back, while Scootaloo stares dumbfounded. Applebloom tilts her head in a bewildered look. “What the hay?” she says when she finds her words. “That’s my line!” I respond with an accusatory point in her direction. “Who are you?” “I’m me!” Applebloom declares. “Guys, that aint me,” she tells the others. Sweetie Belle looks frantically between Applebloom and I. “What the heck is going on?” she says in a frightened tone. Scootaloo runs over next to Sweetie Belle, away from both Appleblooms. “One of them’s a fake!” she shouts.   “I aint no fake,” Applebloom replies. “Y’all have been with me all day!” “You were with her all day and couldn’t tell she was fake?” I say to them, frowning. “What the heck, guys.” “Well, one of them has to be real,” Sweetie Belle says to Scootaloo. “How do we figure it out?” “Deathmatch!” Scootaloo declares. “Survivor gets to be Applebloom!” Applebloom and I both flinch. Rainbow Dash snorts to hold back a laugh and speaks up before we can. “Okay, dial it back a bit, bucko,” she says. “Nopony needs to die. We just gotta test em.” “How do we do that?” Scootaloo asks. “Easy!” Rainbow Dash says. “You two give the Appleblooms a quiz. The kinda stuff that you think somepony who isn’t Applebloom wouldn’t be able to answer. And I’ll be the judge.” “Why are you the judge?” says Sweetie Belle. “We know the answers to the questions.” “Exactly!” Rainbow Dash replies. “Since you know the answers, you’d only look for that. But what if the real Applebloom forgot what you ask about? I don’t know the answers, so I can judge the Applebloominess of their answers.” She shoots them a confident grin. “I guess that makes sense,” Sweetie Belle hesitantly concedes. “Are you okay with that Applebloom? And, uh, Applebloom?” “Eeyup,” Applebloom says. “This’ll be easy.” “Yeah, sure,” I say after her. “Okay, first question!” Scootaloo says, sounding more excited than she should be. “What did we try doin on my birthday last year?” “Pfft, easy,” Applebloom says immediately. “We tried arm wrestlin, but it didn’t work cuz we don’t have arms.” I think for a moment. “Uhh, archery?” I say, making a complete guess that I know is wrong. “Ha, I knew it!” Scootaloo exclaims, pointing at me. “You’re a fake!” “Well, hang on,” Rainbow Dash says. “I’m the judge here, and I think that one sounded way more like Applebloom.” “What?” Applebloom says. “I was obviously right though!” Rainbow Dash smirks. “C’mon,” she says, “next question. We need more evidence.” Applebloom grimaces. “Okay, I’ve got one,” Sweetie Belle says. “Whose house did we spend our first Hearth’s Warming together at?” Applebloom looks down in thought. “Ooh, good one,” Scootaloo says to Sweetie Belle. “Uhh, maybe Scootaloo’s?” I say in an uncertain tone. That seems like a safe bet. “Oh, come on!” Applebloom blurts out. “We never go to Scootaloo’s place. It was uhh… Pinkie’s I think. Maybe.” “Hmmm,” Rainbow Dash hums in feigned thought. “I dunno. That seems a little angry for Applebloom. I think I have to give this one to that Applebloom again,” she says, pointing at me. All three children groan loudly. “What the heck, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo says. “Ugh, fine, next question. Who’s your sister? There’s no way Applebloom would get that wrong.” Rainbow Dash has to cover her mouth to hold back a chuckle. “Applejack!” Applebloom says, exasperated. “What kinda question is that?” I make a big show out of thinking. “Hmmm,” I hum. “I think… Fluttershy?” The room explodes. All three children go into an uproar. Scootaloo pounces at me and knocks me over, knocking the wind out of me. Wow, she’s strong for a kid. Thankfully, she seems satisfied with just holding me down. Mostly she, along with the others, just yell vaguely, at me, at Rainbow Dash, at each other. It’s a cacophony. It’s honestly very relieving to watch. This chaos, this confused mess, it’s what I’ve been trying all this time to see. The opportunity to see these reactions, Scootaloo’s anger, Sweetie Belle’s confusion. Watching Applebloom yell at Rainbow Dash brings a smile to my face. Apparently, it brings a smile to Rainbow Dash’s face too. She’s trying desperately to hold back her laughter. That doesn’t last long, though, and she soon breaks out into full on cackling. It quickly drowns out the fervor of the children, who slowly quiet down and stare at Rainbow Dash in confusion. “Rainbow Dash, what the hay is goin on?” Applebloom asks. “Why’re you laughin?” Rainbow Dash wipes tears from her eyes as the laughing fit ends. “Okay, okay,” she says in between chuckles. “Time to come clean. We were just messin with ya.” “We?” asks Sweetie Belle. “You know a fake Applebloom?” Rainbow Dash snorts again. “Nah,” she says, “it’s just. Well, get off em Scootaloo, and you’ll see.” Scootaloo backs away from me and I take my cue, getting up and turning back into Strawberry Tart. The kids gasp, going wide-eyed, and Rainbow Dash grins at me. It’s all very awkward. What now? Rainbow Dash’s script ended here, what am I supposed to say? Surely they’re going to be upset. Just as I think this, Sweetie Belle breaks the silence. “Wow!” she bursts out. “Strawberry, that is so cool!” With this, all three kids swarm me, bombarding me with questions. “Can you turn into anypony,” “How do you know how to act,” “can you teach us.” An endless wave of curiosity, overwhelming me. I have no idea how to react, so I just stand there, speechless. I look over to Rainbow Dash for help, and she laughs. “Alright, hey, back off for a sec,” she tells them. “Strawberry’s got somethin important to say before you all swarm them.” The three little ponies listen and back away, looking up at me expectantly. What am I supposed to say? Just an introduction? Or… oh. Rainbow Dash wants me to apologize. Right. How do apologies work? It can’t just be saying sorry and everything goes away. I’ve never had to do it, though. I thought Rainbow Dash was gonna be walking me through this part, not just throwing me into the deep end. I look over to her, but she’s just looking back at me, stone faced. Waiting to see what I’ll say. “I, uh, don’t really know how to say this,” I begin. My throat is dry. I just have to say whatever comes to my head. “I guess, uh… I’m sorry?” This is met with tilted heads and a chorus of confusion. Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes at me, and just says “more.” Okay. “Okay,” I say. “Okay, I guess you need to know what I’m apologizing for? So, um, the other day, when Fluttershy showed up here and upset you all… that was me.” I swallow hard, and sit on the floor, feeling defeated. The three ponies’ faces all drop, looking destroyed. Applebloom looks towards Rainbow Dash, but she just motions to pay attention to me. Sweetie Belle is looking at me blankly, and Scootaloo is glaring. Before I can think of how to continue, Applebloom speaks up and asks “Why?” “I just-” my voice cuts out, unsure of how to continue. How do I explain my actions to children? They wouldn’t understand. “I’m just a bad pony,” I tell them. “I wanted to hurt you.” It’s hard to keep eye contact, looking at their hurting faces. Sweetie Belle’s distant stare, Applebloom’s teary eyes. They’re children, they don’t know how to process this. It’s just raw pain. My chest aches looking at them. My body begs me to leave, to ignore this part like I normally do. I told Rainbow Dash I would try, though, so I force myself to stay. Scootaloo tries to run past me, out of the treehouse, but Rainbow Dash intercepts her. When did she get behind me? “Whoa there, bud,” Rainbow Dash says, trying to sound comforting. “Just hear them out. For me, kay?” Scootaloo peels away from Rainbow Dash with a huff. “Fine,” she says, and she goes and sits against one of the walls of the treehouse, looking away from us all. Rainbow Dash puts a hoof on my shoulder. A soft, grounding touch, not something I would expect from her. “Keep goin,” she says quietly. “Tell them the whole story.” So I do. I tell them about arriving in Ponville, and being intercepted by Pinkie. About why I did what I did, about being out of my depth, and about Pinkie discovering me. Rainbow Dash helps, where she can. Sweetie Belle seems to refocus on the world when I talk about her and Rarity coming over to decorate. Applebloom grins for just a moment when I mention being afraid of Applejack finding out about me. At some point, Scootaloo turns back to look at us, although she doesn’t come closer. We’re all quiet for a long time after I finish. None of us know what to say. We just sit, all thinking, all processing what we’re feeling. Rainbow Dash goes and sits by Scootaloo. The air feels hot and stale as I breathe it in, waiting excruciatingly for some response. The first one to speak is Scootaloo, but not to me. She gets up, walks over, and sits with the others, asking them “Are you guys mad?” “Of course I’m mad,” Applebloom responds. I cringe. “You don’t just not be mad at somepony who does all that,” she continues. “It sounded like Fluttershy’s not mad, though,” Sweetie Belle says. “Yeah, cuz she’s Fluttershy,” Scootaloo says. “We can’t all be Fluttershy.” “Yeah, I guess,” Sweetie Belle says. “So we’re mad, then?” Applebloom nods. “Sure are,” she says. “Alright,” Scootaloo says, then she turns and points at me with a glare. “We’re mad at you,” she says. “Oh,” I respond. “I’m sorry.” “You already said that,” Applebloom says. “Yeah,” Sweetie Belle agrees. “We know you’re sorry. But we’re still mad.” “Oh” I say. “I see.” Rainbow Dash laughs and comes over beside me. “Last time I made em mad,” she says, “they didn’t get past it til I said I’d take them to Canterlot to see what kinda different things ponies in the city do.” “You deserved that!” Applebloom tells her. “You’re lucky we aren’t still mad.” “What did you do to get them that mad?” I ask. Rainbow Dash laughs bashfully. “I, uh, may have convinced her to take another shot at learning to sew cuz I thought it’d be funny to see Applejack’s face.” Applebloom huffs. “I got grounded for like a month for that.” “She grounded me too, ya know,” Rainbow Dash replies. “She gave me the cold shoulder for ages.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo laugh at the two bickering, and I find myself smiling as well. Weirdly enough, I think knowing they’re angry feels kind of nice. I guess it gives me hope that, maybe some day, they can stop being angry.