The hustle and bustle of the classroom was full of excitement as it was time to go home. The parents waited outside for the opening of the floodgates.
“Does everyone have everything they came with? Chitter come get your gem.” From appearances only Chitter heard him, he knew they all did but it was useless to try too hard. ‘They’ll be back tomorrow anyway but the changeling needs the gem or an alicorn is going to drop through the roof.’
“Here Mr. B!”
Blackboard puts the gem in the foal’s bag. “Now you make sure Mommy and Daddy get that, ok?” Chitter nods his head and skips off. “Alright everypony, line up along the wall like we practiced earlier.”
The noise was intense while the class lined along the wall. Chitter found himself somewhere around the middle of the line. He stretched his restless wings briefly before the teacher started to lead them out of the room.
Parents smiled and called out to their foals as they emerged from the schoolhouse. “Alright little ponies, I’ll see you all tomorrow. If your parents aren’t here for you yet wait with me.” He waves them all away and chaos ensues as all the ponies rush in different directions.
“Chitter! Over here sweetheart!” He looks around, he heard her but can’t see her. “Over here!” He spots them over by the playground.
“Momma!” A grin explodes outwards as he runs as fast as his little hooves can carry him.
“OOF,” Willow cries out as Chit slams into his mother’s chest.
“MommaMidibecomecoloringsadfriend!”
Both Willow and Shield had absolutely no clue as to what he had just said. Shield opens his mouth to speak but Willow is startled by Chitter grabbing her hoof and pulling her with him.
“Whoa! Easy Chit, I’ll follow, I promise!”
The other parents looked at the changeling and ponies in a bit of shock. “Momma, friend!” A few of those parents seemed to need to speak to the teacher. Most decided to wait as that’s where the changeling was going.
“Momma, go!”
“Alright, alright, I’m moving.” She is forced to a stop in front of the teacher and this almost pathetic looking colt. “Hello again Mr. Blackboard.”
“Oh, hello Mrs… Breeze was it?”
“Correct,” Willow looks down at her colt while is trying to get her attention. “What did you want to show me Chit?”
Chitter stands next to the scrawny grey colt. “Friend!”
“Oh yeah? And who might you be?”
Slick Brush looks at Chitter’s mom and dad staring in disbelief. “You not changeling?”
Shield laughs chuckles, “Nope we are just two regular ponies. So who are you?”
“I’m Slick Brush sir.”
“So you’re the one who has Chitter all wound up?”
“…”
“Where are your parents?”
“Don’t got none.”
Both Willow and Shield looked at him in bewilderment. “Who are you waiting for?”
“Slick Brush!”
“Miss Tear.” Slick looks at her almost sadly.
“I’m sorry that I’m late. We have another meeting scheduled!”
“Yay…” Slick mumbles looking at the ground.
“Silk, why sad?” Chitter questions with a tilt of his head.
“No adopt, never will…”
“Now you listen here! The right ponies will come along and you will have a family! We just haven’t found the right ones yet.”
“He’s an orphan?” Willow inquires.
“He is, but the two mares looking to adopt him seemed absolutely thrilled to find somepony like him!”
“Yay…” He wasn’t impressed.
“So who might you all be? Also who i-AHHH A CHANGELING!” She finally noticed Chitter.
Willow grabs him and holds him close as Shield steps in front of them.
“Miss Tear, that Chitter (ch-I-tter).”
“Momma, make no yell.”
“There is nothing wrong here Ma’am. This is our son.”
“Like Tartarus he is, that’s a changeling.”
“Hon, for once we’re not being accused of being one ourselves.”
“I know right?” Willow laughs out.
“Miss Tear was it? This is our adopted changeling son, Chitter. He was here for his first day of school today.”
“It- wait what?”
“Yup, first day of school. Seems to also become friends with your charge.”
Slick barely smirks, “Friend…”
“F-friend? You and… him?”
“Uh huh.”
“I don’t want to come off as rude after a first meeting so I’m sorry. I would like to hear more about this but we have to be going. We have an appointment with a prospective couple.” She starts pushing Slick Brush along,
“Again, I’m sorry.”
“Bye Silk!” The other pony waves as he leaves. Chitter glances around searching for Midi but doesn’t spot her.
“You ready to go home buddy?”
“Uh huh!”
“Hey, where did Blackboard go?” Shield looks around in confusion.
“I’d place a wager on cleaning the classroom as we are now the only ponies here.”
“Right, let’s get going then.”
The family walks home as Chitter goes on and on in almost gibberish about his day.
RUSTLE
“Momma what that?” A small shape darts between trees.
“What’s what Sweetie?” She didn’t really have much notice of what was going on before Chitter shifted shape. He looked like her but was completely black, like he’d forgotten to include color in the disguise.
He flaps his new much larger wings and takes off after the shape in the nearby woods. “CHITTER NO!” He doesn’t have the best control but is quickly learning the new wings.
The long shape dodges between a couple of trees with Chitter hot on its tail. It tries to lose him under a branch, through a fallen tree, through some brush and brambles. It head swivels while searching for its follower, but to its relief hears nothing. As it catches its breath a twig snaps. Perking up its ears, it backs up into a tree.
“Hi!” Chitter happily greets in his normal form. The cornered creature startles and swings its paw. The claws rake ineffectively across his chitin. He decides he will not stand for it, he leans down with fangs bared.
“HIIISSSSS!”
The long creature falls on it’s back preparing to meet its end with tail tucked. What feels like forever passes by for the animal but nothing else happened. But its minimal sense of relief is eliminated when it is rolled over and teeth close around its scruff lifting it from the ground.
“TURY! TURY! WHERE ARE YOU? Oh no, oh no, oh no.”
“CHITTER! WHERE ARE YOU SWEETIE?”
......
Willow and Shield tried their best to keep up with him. Chitter was small and easily left them behind in the forest. “CHITTER!” Willow is close to hyperventilating, “Shield we have to find him!”
“Honey, calm down. He’s no ordinary colt. Besides, this isn’t the Everfree Forest, nothing here is really capable of harm.”
“CHITTER, SWEETIE!”
A strained shout came from somewhere near them, “TURY WHERE ARE YOU?”
“Well we now know what Chitter was after; someone lost a pet.”
......
Chitter struts through the forest towards the sound of his parents. He grins the best he can after catching his target.
The “target” swings gently by its scruff that’s held by the Changeling. It doesn’t brood or struggle, it knows it’s been outsmarted soundly. So it hangs there just hoping to not be eaten.
“M-mm-a!”
“Chitter! There you are!” Mom sees that he is carrying a long reddish brown animal.
“Chitter, you spit that out right now!”
“Ner, min.” He replied through clenched teeth.
“TURY?” The other pony called out again.
“EXCUSE ME BUT WE MIGHT HAVE YOUR PET!” Shield bellows into the woods.
“Oh my!” A yellow pegasus burst out of the bushes after a few moments. “Oh, hello again. Thank goodness, you found Tury.” Fluttershy goes to grab the animal but Chitter pulls back.
“Min.”
“Chit you give Miss Fluttershy back her animal right now.”
The bug foal lets it go but grabs it with a hoof. “Stripe, mine.”
Willow blinked in astonishment, ‘He completely ignored me! What just happened?’
A rare occurrence happened when Fluttershy hardened her eyes and gave Chitter “The Stare.” “You listen to me mister! You don’t just take something that doesn’t belong to you. Now give him back.”
Chitter is frozen in place by the stare but slowly starts to give back the animal. The emotional freeze is quickly thawed and he pulls back. “N-no.”
Shield has had enough and wraps the animal in magic before pulling it out of his grip. After the animal was free Shield swats Chitter on the bottom. “You were told multiple times to let it go.” Chitter sits on the ground crying fake tears as foals do when in trouble.
“B-b-but D-a-addy,” He cries out between sobs, “Li-ike it!”
“It is not yours and you can’t have it.”
Dad wouldn’t push over this time so he had to try and win mom over. “Momma, please?” He wore the most adorable puppy face he could muster. His eyes shining (from tears), ears drooped, bottom lip quivering, “I'm sorry.”
Willow stayed in a stunned silence as she dealt with the over abundance of cute. Slowly but surely she powered through it,
“No; It belongs to Miss Fluttershy, we cannot have it.”
“Pleeeeease?!”
“Actually, I’m looking after him till he finds a new home.” Fluttershy smiles, gently pushing the idea.
GASP, “Please Momma?”
Willow looks to Shield for backup. He raises an eyebrow as if to say, ‘This is all you.’ She gives a great sigh, ‘If I don’t he will not shut up about it for a long time. But maybe we can use this to teach him responsibility.’
“Weeeelll, I guess. BUT, when we get home you’re going to have some things to do. If you want it that badly you are going to have to take care of it, ok?”
Being young, all he heard was, “You can have it.” The rest didn’t matter as he got what he wanted; being a little spoiled didn’t help. He nods energetically , “Yep!” He looks at the thing his father still held in his magic and for the first time wonders what it was exactly.
“Miss Futterhi, what is it?”
“This is Tury, he’s a Champagne Ferret.”
“Ch-amp-pane ret.”
Willow speaks up again, “Say it with me, F-er-ret.”
“F-ur-ret?”
“No no. F-er-ret.”
“Ferret.”
“That’s right, and if you want to keep him I would suggest you ask Miss Fluttershy for help.” She hinted obviously.
Chit turns to the butter yellow pegasus, “Please?” He drops his ears and widens his eyes, ‘It works good.’
Fluttershy looked uncomfortable with all the socialization but ecstatic that she had one of her animals adopted. “W-well I guess you can have his cage and some food to start, IF you promise to take good care of him.”
“Uh huh! I promise!”
“Ok, let’s go.” She starts leading the family to her cottage.
“Daddy can I have?”
“Let’s wait till we’re sure he’s not going to run away. Then you can have him back.”
“Stripe, not hide from me. He too slow.”
“Chitter, I said you will wait, therefore you will wait.” Shield commanded.
The growing changeling wanted his pet but dad held firm. He knew this time he couldn’t win, so he just slumped his head. “Ok, Daddy.”
After a while Chitter did cheer back up, especially with an abundance of joy flowing from Fluttershy. He moved around the floating pet, talking to him, chasing him as dad tried to keep Chitter away from it for now.
‘I hope you know what you’re doing Will.’ Shield mutters internally as the family (and Fluttershy) walk to get some of the needed items for the new family member.