//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: Changes 
// Story: It Takes a Village to Reform a Changeling 
// by MattTOB 
//------------------------------//


It Takes a Village to Reform a Changeling

Chapter 10: Changes






Spike stretched as he woke up, blinking drearily.

"Happy Gourdfest!"

The baby dragon jumped at the sudden noise, digging his claws into the ceiling out of fright. He looked down...

And saw a confused Mandy staring back up at him, wearing a party hat.

It took a moment for Mandy's words to register. "Gourdfest? What's that?" He asked as he carefully lowered himself back to the floor.

Mandy danced in place slightly. "It's a holiday all about pumpkins, squashes, and other gourds!"

Spike scratched his head. "Why would Changelings celebrate that?"

Mandy paused. "I'm not actually sure. But it's the only holiday we celebrate, so I can't complain!"

The baby dragon blinked. "It's the only Changeling holiday? Why?"

"Because Chrysalis's mother, former Queen Avia, created the holiday for whatever reason, and Chrysalis kept it a tradition. That's about the only positive thing she did for us," he added.

"Oh," was Spike's reply.

Mandy excitedly scooped Spike up onto his back. "Now c'mon! Let's go and celebrate!"

Spike held on for dear life as Mandy rushed down the stairs and out the library door.





As they rode forward to an unknown destination, Spike couldn't help but notice that Mandy's chitin seemed to be a brighter shade of gray than usual. He looked over it, but ultimately shrugged it off as a trick of the morning sun.





After a few minutes, they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, where Applejack was waiting to greet them with a cheerful, "Howdy, y'all! Happy Gourdfest!"

"Hey, AJ!" Mandy finally slowed down, allowing Spike to shakily get off. "Thanks again for hosting this for me."

AJ tipped her hat. "It's no trouble at all, pardner. Ah'm just glad we were able to get all them pumpkins an' such on such short notice."

Big MacIntosh replied with his signature "Eeyup".

Spike looked over the farm. Several baskets full of pumpkins, squash, zucchini, and various other gourds decorated the grounds; several stands with party games sat along the path, ranging from "Pin-the-Stem-on-the-Pumpkin" to "Squash-apult Target Practice"; and a large banner with the word "Gourdfest" on it hung between two tall trees.

The baby dragon did a double-take. "Woah! You guys do all this back in the hive?"

Mandy blushed – – profusely. "Well, it's not exactly as... Robust as this..."





Meanwhile, in the hive...

Three Changelings sat around a weathered chessboard, wearing party hats and snacking on a few shriveled-up gourds. A dilapidated catapult sat in a corner, falling apart with impeccably comedic timing.





"Needless to say," Mandy shrugged off the cutaway gag, "I wanted to present the best version I could to my friends!"

Spike smiled. "That's so nice of you!"

"I know, right!? Now, c'mon!"

Mandy practically skipped as he headed down the path.

Spike, having been left behind, scratched his head. Since when was Mandy so open with his emotions?

AJ tapping on his shoulder snapped Spike out of his thoughts. "What're ya waitin' fer?"

Spike turned to the farmpony. "Hey, AJ, have you noticed that Mandy's acting a lot more..."

AJ snickered. "More excited than usual? He's been lookin' forward to this fer a while now."

Spike shook his head. "No, not just that. He seems more... Expressive, in general?"

AJ scratched her chin with her hoof. "Ah s'pose. It's probably jus' cuz o' the holiday; Celestia knows how excited Ah used ta get on Hearth's Warmin'..."

Spike shrugged, more reassured than he'd been a moment ago, but not totally convinced. With only the slightest bit of trepidation, he began to run after Mandy.





"Alright," Mandy began as Spike approached the first stand, "this game's called 'Squash-apult Target Practice'."

Spike looked at the set-up in front of him, his face lighting up. "Hey, we do something just like this on Nightmare Night!"

Mandy practically jumped out of his carapace, grabbing Spike. "Really?! Then what're you waiting for!"

But before Spike could react, Mandy set him in the catapult, slapped a helmet onto him, and handed him a large delicata squash.

"Uh, Ma–?"

Then he was launched.

Spike barely had the presence of mind to do anything other than cling to the gourd for dear life.

And scream, of course.

He sailed up and up, FAR above the target, before he started to descend again.

Thankfully, a mattress had been set up where he landed, and he bounced off it, receiving only minor injuries from landing on the dirt afterwards.

A moment later, Mandy came buzzing up, a look of confusion on his face. "Spike, you were supposed to let go of the squash! I thought you said you knew how to play!"

The dragon in question was still disoriented from his impromptu flight. "Tha–that's not how we p–play," he barely managed to stutter.

A horrified look spread across Mandy's face. "It isn't!? Oh no, I'm so so so so SO sorry! I just got so excited!" He hastily apologized, quickly lifting Spike back to his feet.

Spike shook his head to clear the dizziness. "Mandy, what's going on with your emotions? You seem a lot less like you today, and a lot more like Pinkie Pie."

Mandy blinked.

Then he laughed just a bit TOO hard, explaining at a breakneck pace, "Oh, sorry about that! That just happens to us sometimes – usually, it's a sign of molting, but that can't be the reason, because I molted three months ago, and that's too soon. Or was it four months ago?" He gasped overexaggeratedly. "Oh shit, I can't remember! I think I might be molting! And on Gourdfest, too!"

Spike could only silently watch as Mandy quickly shuffled between several exaggerated emotions, from anxiety to surprise to elation.

Eventually, though, it settled on dawning apprehension. "Oh no, my horn's still clamped! What's gonna happen to it when I molt?!"

Spike tried to steady the quaking bug, but reeled back when he felt the carapace shift. "Woah! What's happening to you? What's this 'Molt' thing?"

Mandy started pacing in place as he exposited, "A molt is what happens when a bug or reptile outgrows their skin or it becomes too worn, and they have to shed it. It's kinda like when ponies throw out old clothes, except it's a natural thing. For us Changelings, since we feed on emotions, we usually experience a surge in our own before it happens, as a handy-dandy warning mechanism. But I can't just molt right now; I've still got this magic-inhibiting ring around my horn! I have no idea what'll happen to it if I molt!"

Spike jumped up. "Well, why didn't you say so!? We gotta get Twilight; she'll be able to do something!"

Mandy nodded, and they rushed back to the library.

Applejack approached the mattress, a pumpkin pie on her back. "Alright, now who wants some–"

Only then did she notice that they'd left.





"...and that's why I came here!" Mandy finished his explanation as Twilight studied his ever-loosening chitin. "I'm really scared of what might happen, Twi. The ring might break, the carapace underneath might dig into my horn and get infected — I just don't know!"

The purple unicorn looked up at the ring, the chitin underneath it starting to bulge and redden. "Alright, I'll take it off while you molt. Thank you for coming to me immediately."

"Of course!" Mandy replied proudly.

Twilight lit her horn, undoing the locking mechanisms inside the device. Finally, it opened up and dropped off, falling into her outstretched hoof.

Mandy sighed in relief, rubbing at the sore spot. "Oh, thank you, Twilight. You wouldn't believe how uncomfortable that was!"

Twilight nodded. "Just keep in mind, this is only until your molt is over." She paused, then asked, "How long do Changeling molts usually last?"

Before Mandy could even answer that, his chitin began to crack. Beams of light seeped out as the chitin chipped away, until finally, with a burst of light, it all came shedding away.

Twilight shielded her eyes as tiny pieces of discarded carapace scattered about the room. When she finally looked, she gasped.

Mandy now stood there, looking ever-so-slightly different. His mane was now a bit redder in color, his legs a little longer, and, most blatantly of all, his wings had the opacity and sheen of quartz.

Mandy blinked, looking down at himself. "Wow, that's... Different..." He mumbled, his exaggerated emotions now petering out.

Twilight blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

The freshly-molted bug studied his modified look. "I mean that usually, I just get slightly bigger. But this –" He gestured to his wings and his mane "– is completely new to me."

Twilight gawked at the sight. This kind of change wasn't normal? The implications of this fascinated the studious pony. She could write a whole dissertation on –

She shook her head before her train of thought derailed past the point of no return. "A-anyways, let's just get this ring back on–"

Mandy stepped forward. "Oh, allow me." His horn lit up as he used magic for the first time in months to pick up the device.

Only, instead of being the sickly green that was normal amongst Changelings, his magical aura was burgundy in color.

Both of them gawked slightly at this, before Mandy levitated the ring onto his own horn. The locks reset themselves and the ring snapped shut, tightly cutting off his magic once more.

Twilight barely had the presence of mind to say "Alright, if that's all..." before she fainted.