A young colt is running through a thick forest, thorns and branches cut and scratch at the colt's yellow coat, but he didn't care about the cuts... he cared about out running the thing that was chasing him. His brown hair, wavy and wild, the red streaks in his hair and tail made it almost impossible for him to hide. His blue eyes, once filled with hope and optimism, were now filling with tears and fear, as the colt came to a deathly close stop at a cliff edge, the drop being almost unseen, as the colt looked onwards at the rising sun, and started to panic. He heard rustling from the brush behind him, and he had nowhere to go, nowhere to run or hide. From the brush came a tall entity made of a bright blinding light. A mare with wings and a horn, an Alicorn, perhaps. The Alicorn said nothing, but it was charging up a powerful magic spell, and the colt wasn't ready to die. Not just yet. the colt began to scream, and cry out for help, but as soon as the magical attack landed, deafening the colt's screams...
"Hey, Hey wake up! Come on, Everchange, you won't be able to earn your stay unless you come and help. Are you gonna get up or am I gonna have to carry you to the cart, like last time?" a heavy and deep southern voice rang out. The Stallion behind such a voice was a bulky Red Earth pony, short orange hair and bright pink freckles, as well as a huge green apple cutie mark on his flank. "Come on, Everchange. If you need to call a sick day, then fine, but at least bother to say something." The Stallion added on. The Stallion, known as Everchange, started to groan as he got up, and rubbed his forehead with his hoof as he yawned.
"Sorry Big Mac, I was having one of those mornings. The kind where you don't wanna do anything, even though you know you have stuff to do. Pull the cart around back, I'll give you a hand when I get my work clothes on." The stallion said. As Mac went downstairs to get the cart of picked apples, Everchange got up and fished around for his working attire.
Everchange had a pale and faded yellow coat, like a lemon lost its zest, or a sun wasn't shining as much as it should have one day, and it was lacking a form of luster. His mane and tail were brown, like a light milk chocolate, and the faded pink hairs were like cotton candy. His green eyes shined like slightly off colored Jades, but his cutie mark made him so much more different; a green diamond inside a brighter green pentagon, surrounded by a dark black mass. No one knew what the meaning of his cutie mark was supposed to be, and he never talked about it.
It's a mystery to how he can just ignore this one question that Mac has always asked, but still call attention to how he's just trying to stay silent, like it isn't special at all. The other odd thing about Everchange was the accessory on his right hoof, a white leather strap with a green diamond shaped gem on it. It was odd in every sense of the word, but Everchange doesn't seem to acknowledge it at all in the slightest.
Everchange quickly slips on a white tank top and puts on some clean overalls, covering up the accessory on his right hoof and started to make his way downstairs as he hooked himself up to the cart, hauling the crate of apples into town. This was going to be a day like any other... to put it in a one word summary, Boring.
Like a breath of fresh air for the stallions, the town of Ponyville was bustling with friendly faces. Everchange was making his way down the street with Mac, only to soon duck his head and look to the ground as bystanders shot him angry looks, looks of disgust, or backed away in fear. Everchange sighed and hung his head in shame, as Mac tried to think of a way to reassure Everchange that despite him not knowing the full story on why everyone's giving him the stink eye, or treating him like the plague, that its what you do that matters, not how others see you. Everchange and Mac stopped at an empty market stand in the local market place in town, and with the help of a little filly, they stocked the apples up in no time. Everchange was finally feeling a bit better, until he heard a couple stallions behind him laughing up a storm.
"Well well, looks like the apple family must be digging through the dirt to get their bits if they're relying on a monster to make good business. Did the honest lifestyle not cut it for you, Bug boy?" One of the stallions stated, laughing wildly. Everchange turned around to see two twin brothers, one with a moustache and the other with no facial hair at all. The brothers were Unicorns, and very annoying, shifty unicorns at best.
"Flim. Flam. I see you two haven't been run out of business yet, leave it to the twins to share cockamamie half baked schemes to make a quick bit, like a couple of certified frauds." Everchange spat back half-heartlessly. He heard one of the brothers groan, only for the other to keep getting into the stallion's head.
"Something on your mind, Bug boy? Did your girlfriend not love you like she thought? I hope so, cause those love eatin' monsters wouldn't know genuine love if it choked them out in the light of the afternoon! Not that you'd know anything about love, either!" the brothers taunted.
Big Mac and the little filly were ready to hold the young stallion back if he tried to retaliate, but he never made a move. Surprisingly, Everchange just went and took a break, enjoying the peaceful serenity without worrying about if he was a monster, or in cahoots with the changelings.
Everchange rolled his sleeve up and started to tap on the crystal, bringing up a mystical icon of a changeling. Everchange was fully aware of what happened last time, and he wasn't going to do something like that again, unless he really needed to.
He gave the crystal a minute and the icon dissipated into an ethereal mist, and vanished into the wind as Everchange could hear the faint clamoring of customers who were practically throwing their bits to Mac for apples. It was no surprise Sweet Apple Acres was and still is the best Apple farm in Ponyville, but it still surprised Everchange that so many ponies wanted those apples so bad.
"At least Mac and AJ found their callings, when it comes to helping on the apple farm, anyways... meanwhile, my cutie mark is just..." Everchange started, and got a glimpse at a magical blast heading his way in his mind, before snapping out of his daze and following Mac and the filly back to the farm.
Everchange hadn't even noticed that the sun was setting already, but he knew he was going to get an earful from someone, and the logical choice of that someone was Mac's younger sister, Applejack.
After a long trot back to the farm, as he expected, Mac and the filly went inside to wash up for supper, and AJ pulled Everchange aside, wanting to talk. She always had that all knowing look in her eyes, and she could see through someone's lies faster than someone could say Niagara Falls needlessly drifts to the Nile River.
"Let me guess. Flim and Flam gave you trouble again, and instead of tryin' to throw a punch, you took a break?" Applejack guessed, smiling as the sun began to set. Applejack was an orange earth mare pony, with three red apples on her flank, a dark gray hat with a brown ribbon tied on the back of it, her blonde hair waving in the warm summer wind.
Everchange was legitimately a bit scared, but also ashamed of how he could admit that she just spoke the truth. Applejack let out a smile chuckle and smiled, patting Everchange on the back, leading him inside.
"I know you haven't been fitting in well here, and our business has been a bit rocky since we took you on for labor services, but you've worked hard for a nice long couple months, and I know it takes time to adjust. I'm sure once they see just how great you are, they'll change their tune. Now come on inside, sugarcube, supper's ready, and we got a spare seat at the table this time." Applejack insisted.
Her honesty felt no bounds, but it felt like no matter what, he'd still be the stranger from Canterlot without nobody, working off a debt to some really nice folks who gave him a chance. He faked a smile and sat down with the apple family, enjoying a nice meal as the night came to its beginning, and as everypony heads to bed, so does Everchange, and he tries to keep himself calm, as he feels tears forming, he starts to drift to sleep.
4 Hours Later...
Everchange suddenly sprung up in a panic, sweating profusely as he took a few breaths to steady himself. Everchange got out of his cot and went to the window, looking out at the moon, seeing the mare in the moon just made the nights either unbearable or unsettling. Everchange quickly got dressed into his casual clothes. he wore a blue dress shirt, a gray vest with light gray stripes, and a dark green scarf with bright green spot details.
Everchange snuck to every room, to see if the apple family had fallen asleep yet, and started to sneak down the stairs. He was about to walk out the front door, until he heard the fridge open, and turned around with worry, only to see the filly, Applebloom, exhaustedly getting a glass of juice, oblivious to Everchange entirely as she yawned and slowly trotted back up to bed. Everchange sighed and smiled warmly.
'That kid's gonna go places, and I can't wait to see where that place is.' Everchange thought to himself. He quickly snuck out and started to hoof it to the forested area behind the farmhouse. Everchange has gone through this occasionally on some rough nights, but if sleeping in a house can't help, he's always been able to sleep somewhere else. Somewhere... secluded.
Everchange hopped over rocks and hills, ducked and snapped tree branches as he ran through the thickness of the woods. As he came to a stop, he found his front hooves in a hoof deep stream, and a rocky formation leading up to a cave. Everchange wasted no time trotting his way up the formation, and trotted into the cave. Everchange was familiar with the cave, as he always went here to think, or to sleep. But mostly, he came here to test the capabilities of the gem on his hoof. Everchange touched the gem and brought the icon of the changeling up. Everchange pushed down on the gem, and with a sudden burst of power, and a flash of green light, the earth stallion was replaced by a new entity. A changeling.
The Changeling wore a shining blue armor, its insectoid body was blacker than the shadow it cast, The wings it had were shining and reflecting the moon's light, despite having a couple holes. The eyes were a shining green color, and a white crystal was embedded into the armor's center.
The Changeling looked at himself, and familiarized himself with the abilities that Changelings tend to share. He got a running start, and started to fly, he then saw a small group of chipmunks and started to drain them of their love, satiating the hunger he was suffering slightly from. The changeling went back into the cave and started to spray a sticky green resin from his maw, fashioning a type of makeshift resin cot as he climbed into it, and started to fall back asleep. A flash of red light enveloped the cave, as Everchange just mutters to himself.
"Tomorrow is another day." He uttered.