//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12: Love Bug's First Date 
// Story: It Takes a Village to Reform a Changeling 
// by MattTOB 
//------------------------------//


It Takes a Village to Reform a Changeling

Chapter 12: Love Bug's First Date






Mandy strolled down the street, proudly wearing the suit Rarity had given him, and carrying a board game in his saddlebags. He received a few glares, but he didn't care;

He was on his way to Sweet Apple Acres.





The moment he spotted the distinct red barn, he picked up his pace, arriving within minutes.

"Knock knock!" he called through the door, following it up with a series of actual knocks.

AJ pushed open the door and smiled. "Well howdy, Mandy! C'mon in!" she waved him inside.

"Hey, AJ. Ready to start our date?" he asked as he removed his saddlebags and set them onto the couch.

"Sure as sugar am!" she replied.

He chipperly looked to her. "Good, because I genuinely have no idea how to do this!"

She blinked. "Wait, what?"

Mandy elaborated, "I mean, sure, I've been on a few dates while incognito, but I've never been on a date as... y'know, myself."

AJ chuckled. "Well, yer in luck, 'cuz Ah've never been on a date, neither!"

Mandy froze. "Wait... what?"

"Ain't that just the darndest thing?" she laughed nonchalantly. "Neither o' us been on a date before, an' –"

Mandy interrupted her. "Oh no, no, NO! I was banking on you having dating experience so that you could fill me in on what to do!"

AJ did a double-take. "Wait, d'you think datin' is some kinda planned-out thing?"

Mandy stopped again. "It isn't?"

"Of course not! Whatever gave ya that idea?"

Mandy shrank back slightly. "Th-that's what we were taught in infiltration class..."

Now it was AJ's turn to reel back. "Oh, right... Sorry, Ah shoulda figured as much."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"So," Mandy restarted the conversation, "Now that my view on dating has collapsed entirely, I don't suppose you could... explain how it's actually supposed to work?"

AJ looked off in thought. "Well... Ah reckon we should pick a place to go, an' see where the day takes us."

Mandy thought it over, then nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."





Mandy and Applejack now sat at Café Hay, Ponyville's go-to daytime eaterie. AJ looked over a menu, while Mandy played with a fork.

"Are ya sure ya don't want nothin'?" she asked him.

"Nah," Mandy replied absently, "I'm not really feeling hungry today. Besides, the food here doesn't sit well with me."

AJ thought to question when exactly he'd eaten here, but the waiter arrived, cutting off that train of thought. "May I take your order?" he asked in his stereotypical Prench accent.

"Ah'll have a canter salad with apple slices on the side," AJ requested.

"Very good, madam. And for..." he hesitated when he saw the Changeling, but seemed to recognize him, and corrected, "Nevermind."

Okay, now AJ was really curious. "Hey Mandy," she began once the waiter had left, "what–"

"You don't want to know," he replied bluntly, blushing slightly.

AJ blinked, but ultimately decided to drop the subject.

Mandy, noticing her discomfort, tried to lighten the mood by using the best conversation starter he could think of:

"So... uhh, lovely weather we're having..."

Mandy face-hooved internally. Seriously? Talking about the weather? Why did he have to be so damn generic and –

"Yeah, Ah reckon the weather team did a mighty fine job today."

Oh right, how'd he forget that the weather in Equestria was controlled by pegasi? "Yeah," he agreed. "Not too sunny, not too cloudy, with just the right level of humidity. Y'know, back home in the Badlands, the wild weather was always either too arid during the day, or too frigid at night."

AJ gave a sympathetic shiver. "Ah can only imagine."

Then, he mused, "Yeah, the weather's so bad out there that not even Rainbow Dash could tame it!"

AJ chuckled and went to say something, but their conversation was interrupted by a prismatic streak crashing down onto their table.

"Is that a challenge?!"

Mandy lowered his hooves from in front of his face, staring up at the rainbow-maned pegasus that now glared down at him from upon their table.

AJ sputtered, "Wha– Rainbow Dash, what're ya'll doin' here?!"

The pegasus blinked, apparently not having noticed AJ behind her. "AJ? Why're you sitting at a table with... Mandy...?"

Her pupils contstricted as her brain worked out the answer. She gasped, looking frantically between them while covering her mouth.

AJ hissed through gritted teeth, "Rainbow Dash, how'd ya hear us talkin'?"

She paused her freakout to point at a nearby tree, where a pillow and blanket adorned one of the thicker branches.

Then she screamed, "ARE YOU TWO–"

Mandy shoved a hoof in her mouth and hissed, "Quiet; you're gonna attract all of Ponyville!"

AJ looked around, waiting for everypony to stop paying attention to them, then whispered into Dash's ear, "We're jus' testin' the waters, as it 'twere."

Rainbow Dash forced Mandy's hoof from her mouth and backed away. "I-I-I-I'm gonna n-n-need to p-p-process this...!" she said before she rocketed away.

AJ sighed. "Rainbow Dash, amiright?"

Mandy scoffed. "Tell me about it."





By the time they resettled into their seats, the waiter pony came back with Applejack's food. She happily dug in, while Mandy took the time to look around the place.

And it was a good thing he did, or he wouldn't have noticed Rainbow Dash – followed by Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity – until it was too late.

Mandy tapped on AJ's shoulder, then pointed towards the oncoming mares.

Applejack nearly spit out her salad. "Aw, ponyfeathers– Rainbow Dash!" she practically shouted at the oncoming group.

Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof and addressed her companions. "See? I told you!"

Fluttershy gasped in shock. "Oh my..."

Rarity gasped in admiration. "I never would've thought, but they look... good together!"

Pinkie gasped her iconic gasp.

Applejack face-hooved, knowing fully well what was about to happen. "Now ya've gone an' dunnit..." she deadpanned to Rainbow Dash.

In the next few moments, everything became a pink blur as candles, balloons, bouquets of flowers, and a mariachi band were set up at speeds only Pinkie Pie could manage. The pink party planner cheered, "Ohmigosh, this is so cute! You two are dating!"

Several ponies, who hadn't fully grasped why a pony and Changeling were sitting at that table, now gasped at the pink pony's exclamation.

Mandy, suddenly aware of far too many eyes on him, shrunk back into his chair. "Um, P-P-Pinkie...?"

But she didn't listen. "You two look so cute together! I can't wait to throw your second date party, and your month-iversary party, and your anniversary party, and your..."

While Pinkie Pie kept blabbing on, Applejack took the opportunity to grab Mandy's foreleg, and they high-tailed it out of there, leaving some bits as they left.





Eventually, they managed to evade the growing group of ponies following them, and they wound up back at Sweet Apple Acres.

Mandy panted for breath, spread out on his back. "What the HELL was that all about!? Was that REALLY what I was like when I was molting!?"

AJ replied breathlessly. "Thankfully, no."

"Good," Mandy thanked the heavens, "because if it was, I'd want you to end me right then and there."

They both chuckled darkly.

Mandy sat up, finally starting to catch his breath. "So, that was a bust..."

AJ followed suit. "Ain't that the understatement of the day..."

The Changeling then eyed his saddlebag, which was still sitting on the couch. "Say, I think I know what we can do instead."

"Whazzat?" she asked quizzically.

He reached into the bag and pulled out its contents, a copy of Chutes and Ladders.

AJ couldn't help but chuckle. "A board game?"

Mandy's face dropped. "You don't want to?" he asked, disheartened.

AJ quickly backpedalled. "Wh– that's not what Ah meant; it's jus'... ain'tcha a tad bit old fer them?"

Mandy pouted. "The only board game we had was chess, and that was for sharpening strategy," he admitted. "Besides, the illustrations on the board make me happy."

AJ looked down at the board, then back at him. "Okay, Ah'll play it with ya."

Mandy jerked his head up, then leapt into the air with excitement, whooping as he did a flip.

Then he realized what he was doing, stopped himself, and regained his posture. "I-I mean... let's play, shall we?"

AJ chuckled at the display. "Yeah, let's."





Spike made his way to Sweet Apple Acres, a few empty pie tins in his arms. "♪Gonna get some fresh new pies,♪" he hummed to himself as he approached the farmhouse.

However, before he even got close to the building, a gameboard crashed through the window, making Spike jump and drop the tins. "What the– what was that!?" he cried out as he ran up to the now broken window, careful not to step on any broken glass.

Inside, Mandy sat red-faced, pouting, while AJ smiled slyly at him.

"It turns out," AJ stuck her tongue out at the Changeling, "that Mandy here's a sore loser."