//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: A Change in Plans // by Blank Page //------------------------------// "Talk," the orange mare, whom I've come to know as Applejack, ordered. "Nah, don't think so," I nonchalantly replied. "Talk," the pegasus named Rainbow Dash pitched in. "No, thanks. I'm good." This little "conversation" of ours had been going on for a good hour. After I blew my cover, Rainbow Dash and Spike (as the ponies called the young dragon) pinned me to a cactus, which I had the pleasure of being tied to up to this point. I reverted back to my original form, seeing it redundant to keep it in this situation. "Talk," Applejack tried again. "OK." "Really?" "No, I lied." The ponies let out a groan. I allowed myself to smile at my handiwork. Despite being left behind by my fellow changelings, I was enjoying myself. Sure, I would have preferred to be tied up to something a bit less... prickly, but beggars can't be choosers. Rainbow Dash started pacing back and forth trying to come up with a plan. Applejack was busy massaging her annoyed head. Spike... Actually, I didn't know where he was. He disappeared behind me a while ago. "Aha!" the pegasus exclaimed. She zoomed up to me with an eager expression. I returned the favor by bearing a bored one. "If you tell us why you were going to Appleloosa, we'll let you go," she cooed. "Go back to your pacing," I said, disgusted. "What? Come on, that's a legitimate deal!" "I've heard that bluff plenty of times," I snarled. "And you know what? That's all it is. A bluff. And I have a feeling yours is no different." Rainbow Dash let out a huff of annoyance. "Am I wrong?" She lifted a hoof in response, and then lowered it. She flew off in an angry fashion and continued her pacing. "I got it!" the Southern pony shouted. "Y'all changelings need to eat stuff right?" "You're a genius!" I exclaimed in shock. She ignored my sarcasm. "Well, eventually you'll need to eat. So unless you tell us what you changelings are planning, y'all can kiss your dinner goodbye." She looked very prideful with her breakthrough. I was going to love bursting her bubble. "Alright, you got me," I spoke with a defeated tone. "I'll tell you, but you'll have to get closer." Applejack and Rainbow Dash leaned in. "Closer." They obeyed. "Closer." They were right in front of me. I cast a nervous glance to the left and right. "Closer," I persisted. They leaned in with their ears perked up. A jet of green magic connected my glowing horn to their foreheads. Their eyes gained a greenish tint and rolled in their sockets. They cringed in pain - a minor side effect from the emotion feeding spell that the changelings possess. "Gets 'em every time," I said in delight. The ponies were rubbing their temples in an attempt to relinquish themselves of the pain. "Thanks, that was very refreshing." "That's it! I have had it!" Rainbow yelled. "Come on, Applejack. Let's just ditch this guy." "With pleasure. Spike, get over here. We're leaving." "What did you say?" the dragon walked by me and yawned. He must have been napping over the course of our chat. Lucky him. "We're leaving this no-good, over-sized bug," Applejack spat. "At the rate things are going, we'd be better off going to Appleloosa to find out what's going on ourselves." "Wait a second, you guys are serious?" I asked. I didn't plan on them leaving me. If they left, I wouldn't have anything to feed off of. If I didn't have anything to feed off of, I would turn into nothing more than an empty shell. An empty shell tied up to a cactus! "Wait, I'll talk! Just don't leave me alone!" The ponies paused in their tracks. Rainbow Dash slowly turned around with a grin on her face. "Really?" "Yes, yes, yes. Just please don't go!" I pleaded. "No tricks?" she asked. "No," I reluctantly admitted. The stakes were too high for me to gamble with. If I wanted to stay alive, I would have to do what these ponies said. "And you're gonna tell us the truth?" Applejack pressed. "The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," I promised. My captors huddled to a group, deciding my very fate. Every now and then one of them would steal a glance at me. I tried to put on an innocent smile; ponies loved that sort of stuff. Applejack approached me, leaving behind a smug Rainbow Dash and a skeptical Spike. "Congratulation, partner. You have yourself a deal." I was saved! "On two conditions." Sort of. "What kind of conditions?" I asked. "We're willing to let you go as long as you stay with us and tell us what you know," she said. That sounded reasonable to me. I could pretend to say all that I thought I knew until the ponies were satisfied. And when they were asleep, I could probably sneak off in the night and head off to Appleloosa to rejoin my changeling companions. All I had to do was play my cards right and I would be out of this situation in no time. "Alright," I finally spoke up. "That sounds doable." "Then we have a deal?" Applejack held out a hoof for me to shake. I managed to wiggle a hoof loose and gave hers a firm shake. "We have a deal," I confirmed. "Now get me out of this. Cacti aren't exactly known to have a comfortable surface." With the help of her friends, Applejack unfastened the rope that held me to the uncomfortable needles. I stretched out my limbs for a bit. Being held up in a vertical position via rope and a cactus doesn't do well to the changeling body. I gave my wings a quick buzz. They acquired a few extra holes during my captivity, but I didn't fret too much over the matter. It wasn't like my wings didn't have holes in the first place. A tight constriction suddenly strapped my wings to my back. "Hey, what gives?" I craned my head to see Applejack tying my wings to my body with the rope. She carried the leftover slack in her mouth. I was utterly dumbfounded. She had turned my bindings into a leash. "This wasn't part of the deal," I growled. "It was implied," she simply answered. "Now giddyap, we're burning daylight." We trudged through the arid wasteland. The scorching sun beat us with wave after wave of intense heat. Not a single drop of water could be seen, nor a morsel of food discovered. Applejack traded the end of my leash to Rainbow Dash and lowered her hat enough to shield her eyes. A glance to my left revealed said pegasus had unfolded her wings and was using them as a makeshift canopy over her head. Spike was on the other side of Applejack, clutching his stomach in hunger. "Are we there yet?" he whined. "Spike, it was a two day trip by train," Applejack panted. "And we were so kindly interrupted about halfway," she gave me a look. "So I don't think we're gonna be getting there for a while." "But I'm starving!" he complained. "I don't see what the big deal is," I interjected. "I'm full." Three pairs of hateful eyes stared daggers into me. "Too soon for jokes?" When the sun set, my captors decided it would be a good time to set up camp. I didn't complain; I was tired, too. My leash was tied (much to my displeasure) to a cactus. The ponies gathered a bundle of sticks in a pile a small ways away, which Spike lit with his fiery breath. I figured they would go to sleep after that. Boy was I wrong. Throughout the night they were singing mediocre songs and playing ridiculous games. Not once in my entire life as a Scout have I ever encountered a group of ponies this annoying. I would have preferred that bragging blue unicorn with the purple hat over these two. At least with her I would have a show. I lay down and tried covering my ears with my hooves to blot out their singing, but the holes in my legs allowed the corny tunes to seep into my head. I found myself humming to the stupid songs only after a few minutes of exposure! No matter what I tried, the catchy tunes persisted on playing. Next, they began telling "ghost" stories, which completely threw me off. Why would anyone want to be frightened before sleeping? Was it an act of bravery by conquering new fears? Or perhaps it was a contest to see who would have the worst nightmare? If it were, Applejack and Spike were doing a horrible job. They were barely into the game when Spike was curled up in the fetal position. Applejack was just a lousy story teller. After her story, she let out a little "ooh" and wiggled her forelegs before her to add to the creepiness. To be honest, it just made me laugh. With Spike still curled up, it was Rainbow's time to shine. She told some story of something she called "The Headless Horse." At the end of her tale I actually found myself shaking. I suddenly wished they hadn't tied me up so far away. "Aw yeah! Time for s'mores!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she procured a bag of small white cylinders. Her companions cheered as she revealed to also have some chocolate bars and crackers. "Hey, Spike. Crank up the fire, would ya?" Spike didn't hesitate to comply. After the fire grew to a suitable size, they skewered the white cylinders and placed them over the flames, save for Spike who roasted his with his breath. Again, the ponies had confused me. What were those small white cylinders? Were they the "s'mores' that Rainbow Dash had mentioned? If so, then why were they burning them? I rose up and carefully inched as close to them as my restraints would allow. Even with my closer range, I couldn't decipher what these s'mores were. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were exchanging jokes while they waited for their s'mores to cook. Spike had sandwiched his between some chocolate and crackers and plopped it in his mouth. So it was a food? That still didn't explain why they burned it. An eerie silence dominated the premises. All that could be heard was the crackling fire. Something was missing. Some kind of sound from earlier. It had occurred to me that no one was talking. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike were all staring at me with cynical looks. The rope around my torso became heavier and I could hear the cactus calling my name. I sheepishly walked backwards and lay back down at the base of the plant. Rainbow nudged Applejack and carried on a conversation in a hushed and rash tone. "Stupid ponies. Stupid s'mores," I muttered to myself. I turned my back to the campfire. "Who needs to know about s'mores? It's probably just another stupid pony thing anyway." I felt a presence behind me. "Uh, changeling?" I turned my head to see Applejack behind me. "What do you want?" I snapped. She let out a sigh. "Well, against my better judgement... Here." She held out in her hoof one of the sandwiched s'mores. "What is it?" "It's a s'more," she bluntly answered. I was greatly puzzled by this revelation. "But I thought the white thing in the middle was the s'more." "No, that's the marshmallow," she corrected. Marshmallow? What was this madness? I gingerly received the square snack. I moved it around in my hooves, inspecting every detail possible. A small trail of steam oozed out of the still warm "marshmallow" that was placed on a fraction of a chocolate bar. The crumbly cracker that held the entire oddity together left small leftovers on my hooves as I turned it. "Are you gonna eat it or not?" Applejack asked impatiently. "What did you do to it," I stopped my inspection to look up at the pony. "Other than waste it on a bug, nothing." I ignored the insult and returned my attention to the s'more. I reluctantly stuffed half of it into my mouth and took a bite. "Sweet Chrysalis, what have I been doing with my life?" I exclaimed with chunks of the glorious s'more still in my mouth. It was heaven in the perfect bundle. This "marshmallow" thing was incredible! As I was chewing, it kept the sweet warm chocolate bar and crunchy cracker together as opposed to letting them all become scrambled in my mouth. I gobbled down the rest of the precious snack food. Snack food? I laughed to myself. This treat was the food of the gods! I nearly cried when I realized I had eaten it all. "Please, ma'am," I asked as I changed to a small colt. I held my forelegs out expectantly. "May I have some more?" Applejack rolled her eyes. "Go to sleep," she called out as she walked back to the camp. "Ponies have no sense of humor," I concluded. I returned to my changeling form and curled up next to the cactus. I quickly fell asleep to the soft sounds of the dying fire. <><><> Thump. Thump. Thump. I tried to shrug off the noise. There were too many s'more filled dreams I had to attend to. Thump, thump, THUMP. Crunch "Careful, you mutt! You're blundering will wake them up," a hushed, raspy voice spoke. "Sorry boss," a gruff one replied. My ears perked up at the sound of the two strange voices. I've never heard them before. In fact, I've never heard a pony call another pony a mutt. "Silence and get to looting," the first voice said. Looting? This I had to see. I cracked open an eye. The campsite was in full view. Applejack, Spike, and Rainbow Dash were fast asleep against a large rock. Two large silhouettes were rummaging around. They were large, burly creatures, appearing to be bipedal for the most part. Their hind legs were scrawny compared to their massive forelegs. The larger of the two was clad in a silver helmet and armor. The other was wearing a vest. In its pockets, I saw a variety of gems, glistening in the moonlight. Its head was canine in structure. "I'm not seeing any valuables, boss," the second voice grumbled. It appeared to belong to the larger. "Keep searching! They must have something," the smaller one ordered. Two large individuals, probably both canines, searching for valuables in the middle of nowhere; one bearing armor and the other loaded in the pockets with various gemstones. It I didn't know any better, I would think that they were... The smaller one moved to the other side of the fire. For the first time, I could see his entire canine body. I confirmed that there were gems barely staying inside the pockets of his red vest. A small orange diamond hung from his black collar. There wasn't a shadow of doubt in my mind that these were none other than the notorious... "Diamond Dogs!" I screamed. My sleeping captors woke with a start due to my sudden outburst. The Diamond Dog with the vest glared in my direction. "Squash the bug! It blew our cover," he screamed. His lumbering companion charged at me on all fours. "Me and my big mouth," I muttered. The dog quickly covered the distance between the camp and my cactus. I leaped into the air to fly away from my attacker, only to be reminded of my tied wings by quickly returning to the ground. "Stupid ponies," I growled. The dog stopped directly before me and raised his burly fists into the air. It didn't take a genius to know that he wasn't about to give me a hug. I rolled back to the cactus as his fists created a small crater where I once lay. I scrambled up the cactus as fast as I could, thanking my lucky stars for my exoskeleton's protection, until I was just out of reach from the oversized dog. The beast circled the base of the cactus many times trying to come up with a way to bring me down. "Come down here, bug, so I can squish you!" Really? Was that the best he had? "No way! I prefer my insides inside," I called back. The mutt started barking at me as if he were trying to scare me into coming down. I almost felt bad for him and his messed up sense of logic. He placed his massive front paws on the cactus and began shaking it violently. How he was ignoring the pain of all of the needles poking into his paws was beyond me, but it seemed to have its desired effect. I was struggling to keep hold of my perch. My hooves began slipping. I fell off of the top towards my doom. Before the ground could welcome me, I became suspended in midair. The rope was digging into my stomach. The Diamond Dog lifted my leash to where I came face to face with him. "I have you now," he declared. A smug smile graced his ugly face. "Gee, whatever could have given it away?" I hate myself sometimes. The dog growled and severed the rope. He began swinging it, along with me, wildly above his head. The swirling images started giving me a head ache; I wished he would just stop spinning me. He tilted my spinning angle until I was perpendicular to the ground. I watched in horror as the ground zoomed in and out. I knew it was only a matter of time until he let go. What was that spell the Siege Drones used at the invasion? I had only successfully preformed that bombardment spell once out of pure luck. Question was: Could I do it again? I focused all my energy into the spell. The spinning became more rapid. A small green flame burned before me. The Diamond Dog lifted me in the air one last time. The flame instantly flared around me, singeing the rope. I hit the dirt hard. A loud boom echoed throughout the empty desert. I was perfectly fine, save for some earth in my mouth. An annoying ringing sound was reverberating in my ears. I observed my surroundings. I was at the bottom of an immense crater that stretched for roughly ten yards in each direction. I never recalled the spell being that strong. Then again, last time I tried it, it was against the pavement of the Canterlot streets. The Diamond Dog was nowhere in sight. "Retreat! Retreat!" I recognized the voice belonging to the dog in the vest. Applejack and Rainbow Dash appeared over the edge of my crater. "Wow, did you do this?" Applejack asked. "Uh-huh," I weakly replied. I was far too tired to even sit up. "Ten bits, AJ. Fork 'em over," Rainbow proudly said. Applejack reluctantly handed her a bag of what I assumed was ten bits. Was I just part of a bet? "Can one of you ponies help me out?" I moaned. Rainbow Dash swooped down and lifted me out of the hole. I struggled to maintain my balance. "How the hay did y'all pull of that trick?" Applejack inquired. I waited for my vision to regain focus before answering. "It's a standard Siege Drone bombardment spell. All it basically does is form a fiery dome around a changeling as protection from an imminent impact." "'Fiery,' huh? Well I suppose that explains what happened to your... um..." Applejack elbowed Rainbow Dash in the side to shut her up. "What happened to my what?" I screamed. I examined my body to look for any damage. Other than a thin line of charred chitin across my torso where the rope had been, I could find nothing wrong. "What's wrong with me?" "Um... well... How do I put this gently?" Applejack asked herself. "Well, you kinda..." "Dude, what happened to your wings?" Spike called from behind me. I twisted my body and stretched out my wings... or what was left of my wings. They had been singed off from where the rope had fastened them to my back. All that was left were small stubs. I tried buzzing my wings, unwilling to believe what my eyes were seeing, but unfortunately the familiar buzz of my full wings was replaced by one of a higher frequency. I would never be able to fly in this condition. I would never be able to return to the hive. Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to perform my duties as a Scout. I would be killed by the Queen. Or worse, sent into exile. I had become... useless...