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// 51 - The Changeling Of Ponyville pt 1 
// Story: Raison D'être 
// by mechafone 
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Spark Storm leapt from tree to tree, his wings carrying him aloft inbetween the lulls in places to land. After informing his team that he had reason to go to Ponyville and investigate a possible situation, he'd gone off on his own, stating again that this mission was personal and that he would divulge any information to his team that he uncovered. For now, he wanted to do this on his own.

As Spark traveled along the top of Everfree forest, something kept bothering him. He was sure now that the Changeling he'd seen was his old friend Anorax. Another thing that kept bothering him was that Anorax was a pegasus, whereas the Changeling he'd seen bore no wings. Several things just seemed off, but Spark was sure that was Anorax.

It wasn't long before Spark made it to the edge of the Everfree. By now 4pm was rolling around. It would be dark soon, so Spark started out for the village at a slow, leisurely pace. The two miles to Ponyville would make for a nice walk, anyway. He had only gone a short distance when he felt his feathers twitching, naturally reacting to a strong presence of electricity in the air.

His wings snapped over his head instinctively, where they absorbed a small strike from above. It happened so suddenly that there were two gasps of shock, one his one, and one from the pegasus overhead who had tried to surprise him. Spark turned just in time to see a blonde mane attached to a grey body pounce on him into the grass, a familiar voice laughing happily.

"Spark Storm, you came home again!" Ditzy shouted, nuzzling her friend under his chin and settling down against him. Spark stared up at Ditzy as she smiled down at him, one eye on his face, the other trailing down towards...

"D-Ditzy!" Spark stuttered and blushed as his friend shamelessly surveyed his body.

Ditzy giggled and let him up. After having her foal at so young an age, she had really matured, and that included acting less like a teenager and more like an adult. It was both intimidating and intriguing, a fact that bothered Spark. "Spark, you act surprised. I already told you how I feel about you. I won't act on it, but you can't expect me not to admire you."

Spark got to his feet, a partially panicked look on his face as he tried to find a way out of this. "Oh? Uh, s-so, where's Dinky?"

"Oh the Apple family is taking care of her for me tonight." Ditzy took a couple steps closer, her eyes partially lidded as she leaned forward and stared into his eyes. "I have my own place now, Spark, and I'm all alone tonight..."

Spark stared at Ditzy. He could feel his face trying to find a balance between blushing bright and having all the color drained from it.

Finally, Ditzy decided she'd let her friend suffer long enough. Her lips pursed to keep the laughter from coming out, but she failed and fell into the grass in a fit of giggles. "Oh, Spark! You should've seen your face! Oh Celestia, I've never seen anypony look so scared!" she managed to say between giggles.

Spark snapped out of the frozen terror he'd felt himself trapped in and glared down at Ditzy as he realized she was teasing him. "Ditzy, that's not funny!" He had had a mind to thwap her upside the head for this. "You shouldn't say stuff you don't mean if-"

He was suddenly cut off as Ditzy rushed to her hooves and knocked him on the head once, just hard enough to shut him up. As he rubbed his head to rid himself of the brief pain, he was drawn to her eyes, which she managed to focus both in the same direction, at his.

"You...did mean it, didn't you." he told her in the most apologetic tone he could muster.

Ditzy smiled and rolled her eyes in different directions before moving to Spark, her movements for the first time that day innocent. Spark reached out and met her, hugging her tightly. "I missed you, Spark. I really did." Ditzy moved away after a moment, her eyes trailing over his face. "You've really grown! You look like you've really seen some action, and..." she trailed off, then diverted her gaze before returning it with a question in her eyes. "Spark, what happened after you and the girls took me home? I wanted to see you after that."

Spark smiled apologetically at his friend. He really did owe her an explanation, and he supposed Rarity hadn't been willing to disclose her secret adventure. "Tell you what. Why don't I tell you all about it on our way into town?"

Ditzy smiled happily, then tilted her head as a thought came to her. "But isn't it too light still?"

Spark grinned haphazardly as he looked from Ditzy to the cloud she'd tried to zap him with before. Suddenly and without warning, Spark ran close and picked Ditzy up on his back. She let out a squeal of surprise and delight as he ran with her, made a great jump and somersaulted over the cloud, leaving Ditzy pressed against the cloud and giggling at the rush of movement.

Ditzy laid there a moment to clear the daze Spark put her in. When she could see again, he stood just over her, looking towards Ponyville. A look of realization came over her as she realized what he meant to do, just a little disappointed at what he wouldn't be doing. She flipped herself so she was on her belly, then raised a foreleg to the sky. "Go!" She called, and let out a yelp of joy as Spark's wings propelled the cloud through the air.

Ditzy grinned and closed her eyes, letting the wind blow past her face and through her mane. A thought suddenly came to her: Spark Storm was flying, sort of. She turned around on her cloud and looked up at the pegasus. He looked so happy as he gripped the cloud and propelled it with his own wing power. Despite the thrill of being carried around on a cloud for once, Ditzy laid on her back with her forelegs tucked behind her head. "Spark? Weren't you gonna tell me what happened?"

Spark smiled down at her and nodded. He slowed down a bit, then experimented with his weight and, after a moment, managed to make the cloud gain altitude into the late afternoon sky. He was going higher than he ever had before, and it was an amazing feeling. He kept going higher and higher, his heart beating faster at the prospect of coming this far under his own power. Finally, he parked the cloud at a larger cloud and carefully hopped onto it, then settled down to catch his breath.

"Well," he began as Ditzy followed him onto the larger cloud and took a seat. "I was on a mission to help save an endangered race of tree spirits called nymphs." He nodded solemnly at Ditzy's incredulous stare. "I'm telling the truth. You probably shouldn't spread it around, it's not really something the ponies of Ponyville would want to hear anyway."

Ditzy narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her old friend. Waaait just a minute, she thought as she touched a hoof to her lips thoughtfully. All the girls were in town the next few days except for Rarity, which means...she gasped and pointed at Spark accusingly. "She knows! Rarity knows because she went with you! And...and you didn't take me?" Ditzy pouted and turned her head away from him.

Spark sighed and shook his head slowly. "Ditzy, after all the crazy things that happened in those four days, with all the things I saw and did, I'm extremely glad you weren't there. It was horrible, Ditzy. There were deaths. And blood...lots and lots of blood."

Ditzy turned to look at Spark with wide eyes. Spark frowned at her before reaching over to rest a hoof on her shoulder. "Ditzy, in all seriousness, you're much better off not getting messed up in my adventures. I deal with monsters, real monsters, every day."

"Besides. You have your own adventures to live, right here in Ponyville. Having Dinky in your life is one heck of an adventure, Ditzy, and I don't think you'd trade that for anything."

Ditzy smiled at Spark, a simple smile that seemed to sparkle in her eyes. "Trade, no. Share, yes."

Spark blushed and looked away. For the briefest of moments, Spark thought about having a child. He looked down at the white clouds he sat on, and smiled as Sapphire's face popped into his head. What would their children look like? He popped out of his thoughts as Ditzy nudged him with a hoof, a patient smile on her face. "You were thinking about Sapphire, weren't you? Did you ever meet her again?"

The happy smile on Spark's face told Ditzy all she needed to know before Spark even told her. She sighed as discreetly as possible as Spark told her all about the last minute rescue, his rough patch with her on their date. He left out the bit about the mind controlling pony. He told her about Sapphire's and his relationship, how it had blossomed into something solid. Ditzy was very brave as she held back her tears and tried to be happy for him.

Ditzy turned away from Spark, her wings raising and preparing for flight. As Spark realized that he'd been hurting his best friend by talking about his relationship with his girlfriend, he face-hoof'd himself several times. "Oh Celestia, Ditzy, I'm sorry, I wasn't even thinking, I-"

Ditzy turned and pressed a wing to Spark's lips. The tears in her eyes dropped freely, but a bright smile lit up her face. A genuine, beautiful smile. "I'm happy for you, Spark Storm. But she better be careful with you, because if she breaks your heart, I'll be the first one to start picking up the pieces. Now," she said as she turned away from him and spread her wings for flight as she stood at the edge of the cloud. "let's go. Was there somewhere that you wanted to go first?"

After breaking the blush on his face (he was really starting to get used to this) he hopped onto the smaller cloud and gripped it tightly with his legs, wings spread. "I was actually on my way to see an old friend. I needed to see Anorax about some stuff."

Ditzy smiled and nodded as she took off into the air. Now that she wasn't so focused on Spark Storm, her eyes did things she didn't want them to. She swiveled about in the air until she regained her focus. "Heheh...stupid eyes still make me dizzy sometimes. Anyway, I know where he lives, let's go!"



Anorax let out a massive belch that reverberated throughout his home. The pegasus fell over with a groan onto his side, his wings wrapped around his stomach. With a pained moan, his hooves seemed to catch fire, a reddish fire that was different from other Changelings. Within seconds, the white pegasus was gone, and it his place stood the white Changeling creature that Spark had chased to Ponyville. It wasn't quite the same, though. While in pony form he had wings, in this Changeling form he had no wings, but with a horn.

Of course, Anorax was no changeling, as Spark was about to find out.

The white creature that was once a 14 year old pegasus ambled into the kitchen area of his spacious house. He magic'd open the cabinet door, and created a sheen of red around the indigestion tablets. He'd never been able to digest the stuff, but his stomachache was getting worse. Ever since an hour ago, he'd been having troubles with a source of love in the town. It was the loudest, most intense feeling he'd ever felt since that rally they'd had for Ditzy about a month ago.

Waaaait a second, he thought. If Ditzy's love for Spark Storm (what, like it was a secret?) was what set off my stomach ache back then, then that means...

A loud knocking at the front door made Anorax shriek and drop the indigestion tables from his magical hold. Little powdery pills of fruity medicine spilled all over the floor. In his panic, the Changeling gathered all the pills back into the plastic container via his magic, then closed his eyes and concentrated on his pegasus form. He changed back, letting out a groan of tension. Ditzy's love was hard not to soak in, and it radiated throughout the whole town so strongly it was hard not to absorb it. It made being in this form difficult.

Soon enough, Anorax could feel Ditzy leaving to another section of Ponyville. Geez, was it any wonder he didn't hang around her? Her emotions were so damn strong, it was literally sickening to stand near her when she got all happy like that. The pegasus sighed and opened the door and let out an involuntary squeak as Spark Storm stood there, holding up Anorax' own media player.

"Hey buddy, missing something?"