//------------------------------//
// Lesson 7: Telling The Truth 
// Story: Lessons From Ponyville 
// by MattTOB 
//------------------------------//



Written by MattTOB





Mandy groaned as he massaged his temples. "For the last time, you can NOT give a cocooned pony as a gift!"

The Changeling he was talking to visibly deflated at that. "Well, in that case, I've got some apologizing to do."

Before Mandy could even respond to that, the Changeling got up and rushed out of the room.

"Sweet Celestia, this never gets any easier," the Ambassador muttered to himself. "Next!"

The door to the room creaked open, and in walked a new Changeling. Her purple eyes distinguished her from other drones, her mane was yellow (likely a conscious choice on her part), and her wings were already cloudy, indicating she was partway through her reformation.

"M-Mr. Carapace?" she began, stuttering nervously. "I need some help and advice."

"That's what I'm here for," Mandy stated. "Now, what's the problem?"

She took a deep breath, before admitting, "I've been hiding as a pony for the past twenty years, and I don't know how to go about telling my daughter what I really am."

Mandy blinked. "Well, that's easy enough: just get her into a calm setting, then reveal yourself."

She shook her head, "I don't think you understand who I am."

He raised an eyebrow. "I doubt that has any bearing on this, but sure, humour me."

The Changeling took another deep breath, before donning her preferred disguise.

Mandy recognized her instantly; after all, he was good friends with her daughter. "Mane Allgood?!"

Scootaloo's mom nodded sheepishly.

Mandy took a moment to process. "You're right, this will be challenging. Does Snap know?"

She nodded, "He's known since we first met."

That piqued his curiosity. "Ok, I simply must hear that story."





20 Years Ago...

Snap Shutter peered into the muggy jungle around him. The mosquitos buzzed in his ears, yet he didn't pay them any mind; he was too focused on his surroundings.

He and the rest of his expedition were headed through the Tenochtitlan Basin in search of lost treasures and temples. They'd been searching for two weeks straight now, but still no sign of anything. If they didn't come upon something within the next month or so, their dwindling supplies would force them to return empty-hooved.

And that wouldn't do at all; Snap Shutter wasn't a well-renowned explorer and tracker for nothing.

So there he was, scanning the surroundings fervently. The rest of his party were also on lookout, but they were more immediately focused on clearing a path through the brush.

Suddenly, the stallion at the front paused. Did he just hear a branch snap nearby? Maybe not, but just in case, he quietly signalled the rest of the group to freeze as they waited.

Another branch snapped, confirming the pony's suspicions. The unicorns of the group lit their horns apprehensively, the pegasi brandished machetes, and the earth ponies tensed their muscles as the sound approached.

But then more movement came from behind them, then from their sides. By the time they realized they were surrounded, all their escape routes were covered.

The movement all stopped just a few feet from them, hidden in the underbrush. A tense moment passed as the team held completely still.

Then the chimerae attacked.

It was brutal. Despite being up 18 ponies against the five chimerae, the beasts were incredibly smart. They targeted the unicorns first, who were quickly overwhelmed from all sides and slain brutally. The pegasi fared somewhat better, being able to hover above the beasts, but every time they tried to swoop in for a strike with their weapons, one of the extra heads would alert the beast, giving them time to either dodge or counter-attack. The earth ponies also did fairly well, holding back the chimerae with their raw strength, but it soon became apparent that they were fighting a losing battle.

Snap Shutter was in the middle of the scuffle, dodging a chimera's lunge, when one of the pegasi called for a retreat. With less ponies to get out, they were more easily able to slip past the beasts, making a run for it.

But as they ran, Snap began to fall behind. He was never a great runner, and his fight had tired him out considerably.

Then he tripped over a root. The world spun as he rolled down an incline, tumbling into the brush. He hissed through his teeth as he landed hard on his right fetlock, likely cracking it, but he picked himself up as quickly as he could.

His team was no longer within sight.

He quickly attempted to track them, but the approaching snarls of the chimerae forced him to abandon that plan. Keeping off his injured hoof, he hobbled quickly into the underbrush to look for a hiding place.





Eventually, he found himself at the base of a large hill, where a cave resided. The cave curved towards the back, and there were stalagmites scattered across the floor.

But his tracker's instincts also noticed the claw marks on the walls, the shed fur on the ground, and the distinct smell of decayed flesh. This was some creature's den, and judging by the color of the fur, he had a pretty good idea as to what made its home here.

He'd just stumbled into a chimera's den.

Before he could leave, however, he heard movement outside. Groaning internally, he retreated to the back of the cave, where he hid behind a particularly large stalagmite.

A moment later, two chimerae prowled in, peering into the darkness. "I could've sworn I heard one come into here," the first one's goat head grumbled.

The second one's tiger head sniffed the air, but thankfully, the nauseating smell of discarded carrion overpowered Snap's scent. "I don't smell anything other than the remains of last week's dinner."

"Well, if something is in here, they'll have to get past us if they want to escape."

The second one swooned. "That-a kitty."

Snap cursed in his head; he was trapped in here until he either escaped or was discovered. Luckily, he still had his rucksack of supplies, but it wouldn't last him more than a month, even if rationed properly.

This was going to suck.





Three moons. It took only three moons for an escape option to present itself.

But when it did, it wasn't what Snap had been expecting.

The first one, who Snap began referring to as 'Claw' (he was the one who gouged the marks into the walls during his spare time), returned from a hunt with a limp boar in its jaws. His mate, the one Snap nicknamed 'Snarl' (the tiger head would snarl whenever the snake and goat heads argued, threatening them into submission), got up and brushed up against Claw. "You're back early."

Claw nodded, spitting out the prey. "Found this one wandering near the quarry."

Snarl purred, nuzzling her mate. "Oh, what would I do without you?" After a moment of shared affection, she began eating.

Snap, who was peeking out from behind his hiding place, would've ignored them. But just as he was about to, he realized that Claw wasn't eating; in fact, he was staring at Snarl...

Suddenly, a flash of green light erupted from Claw's forehead, hitting Snarl in the chest. She didn't even have time to react; she was unconscious the moment the magic made contact.

With a wave of green fire, Claw was replaced by something entirely different. An equinoid now stood over the knocked-out body of the chimera, but it wasn't a pony. Where its fur should've been, a black carapace shone in the dim light seeping in from outside; its purple eyes were compound like a bug's; in fact, it seemed like a bug in every way apart from the overall shape, the horn, and the ratty yellow mane and tail.

Snap watched in silent shock as the creature heaved the unconscious chimera with its neon green magic, bringing it closer for preparation. It began to produce a shiny green substance from its mouth, resembling resin in its look and consistency, and began to cocoon Snarl's body.

"You can go now."

Snap froze. The creature — female, if the voice was any indication — hadn't even looked up; she'd just stated it as though she were a caretaker granting a child permission to do something obvious. He knew that they'd suspected that he was there, but she said that as though she knew for fact that he was there.

After a moment, the bug-pony turned to stare directly at his hiding place. "Did you hear me, pony? Leave, before I change my mind."

Snap couldn't believe it; she did know he was there! And yet... she was letting him go?

Slowly, he rose from his hiding place to face the creature out in the open. A tense moment passed as they stared at each other.

"Well?" she raised an eyebrow, nodding her head towards the cave mouth. "There's the exit; go."

Snap was stunned silent. After a moment of mental effort, he began to move.

But instead of moving towards the exit, he moved towards her. She eyed him suspiciously, but didn't take up a defensive position, as if she knew his intention for approaching.

Finally, he stood just a few paces away from her. "That's it? I can just... Leave?"

She nodded.

"Why?"

"Because I'm nice like that," she gave a wry smile. "Now go; I'm busy."

As she turned back towards her work, Snap stood stock still, lost in thought. Was she planning something? It didn't seem likely; she genuinely seemed focused on making her cocoon. He was perfectly vulnerable, so why wouldn't she attack?

His primal instincts were screaming at him to run like Tartarus, but his curious mind was more fascinated by the creature — no, the individual in front of him.

She glanced up, then huffed. A green aura wrapped itself around him, and he nearly panicked. But instead of knocking him unconscious or anything like that, it simply nudged him forward, getting him to start walking. When he reached the cave entrance, he glanced back at the bug-pony, who waved her hoof in a 'go on' gesture.

With a determined nod, he charged off into the brush.

...

...only to come back a few minutes later with a bundle of sticks in his grasp.

The bug pony, who'd finished the cocoon and was now hanging it on the cavern roof, glanced up at the sound of his approach. When she saw him, she did a double-take. "What the— you're back?"

He nodded. "I couldn't leave without saying thanks."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks for what?"

"Thanks for saving my life from that chimera," he gestured up to the cocoon.

She shook her head. "A dead pony is just a waste."

He frowned, dropping the bundle of sticks. "Something tells me that's not why you saved me. And until I figure it out, I'm not leaving you."

She huffed. "Fine! It's because I'm weak, alright?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You just knocked out a chimera after posing as its mate."

The bug-pony shook her head, "Not that kind of weak; the emotional kind."

"Oh?"

She nodded forlornly, finishing her work on the cocoon. "That's why I'm out here in the first place; I wasn't strong enough to do my job, and it got me banished."

Now he was curious. "What was your job?"

She sighed. "Love harvester."

Snap blinked. "Come again?"

Stifling a groan, she turned towards the cocoon to demonstrate. A trail of pink energy became visible, getting drawn towards her. He watched in fascination as she collected the energy in her mouth, before swallowing it. "We steal love to survive," she continued, "but when I was instructed to drain a pony, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was deemed weak, and cast out for it."

He winced, "That's horrible!"

"I don't need your pity," she scoffed, before looking at him. Once she did, however, she blinked in disbelief. "That's not pity..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah it wasn't, but how did you...?"

"We eat emotions, so we can sense them. But you're not pitying me, you're..." Her gaze was fixed on him as though he were a ghost.

"I'm horrified at the thought of such a harsh life!" he stated. "Having to steal emotions just to survive, and being outcast for having reservations about it? That's absolutely awful!"

"It really is," she looked downcast.

The dejected look in her purple eyes was all he needed in order to make up his mind. Without hesitation, he moved forward and grabbed her in a hug, catching her by surprise. "What're you—?"

"What if you didn't need to steal love?" he asked her, giving her pause. "What if, instead, you could share it?"

She was at a loss for words. If the fact that he was willing to share love with her wasn't shocking enough, the fact that it was actually working...

They stood there for a moment, before he eventually had to let go. "C'mon, I'd like to get to know the pony who saved my life. What's your name?"

She blinked, still stunned by the gesture. "A-Alate."

He smiled. "I'm Snap Shutter. Now, it's getting cold; let me start a fire."

He moved to the pile of sticks, leaving her to process what just happened. After a few moments, she realized that he was having trouble lighting the kindling. With a flash of magic, the sticks caught on fire, making him jump slightly before he smiled at her.

She smiled back.





"...and from there, we talked," Mane Allgood began to wrap up her story. "For days, we stayed in that cave and just... talked. We discovered we had a lot in common; we were both experienced trackers, and we both liked adventure. From there, we hit it off. He eventually offered to let me live with him, and while I was hesitant at first, he insisted.

"Our love's been magical ever since. I created Mane Allgood so I could become an Equestrian Citizen, I travelled the world with him, and we've got a beautiful daughter now... But here I stand, afraid to tell my daughter the truth about myself."

Mandy was in tears now. With the recent development in his and Applejack's relationship, he was starting to understand just how frightening parenthood could be. He could only imagine how nervous she must be, wanting to shed the disguise she'd worn for her daughter's entire life.

And yet, he knew just what to do. "Just tell her."

She stuttered, "B-but what if she doesn't accept me? What if she comes to resent me for lying? What if she blames me for her flightlessness?! What if—"

"Mane," Mandy stated levelly. "I understand that you're nervous, but panicking and putting it off won't help. Scootaloo's a good kid; she'll understand."

She put her head in her hooves. "I've been across the world, caught some of the toughest creatures known to us, and yet... I've never been so scared in my entire life..."

"I can be there with you, if you'd like," Mandy offered.

She thought for a while, before smiling nervously. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Mandy nodded, getting up out of his chair. "Where's Snap right now?"

"He's with Scootaloo, at his sister's place."

He smirked. "Ah, Holiday, what a mare. I met her once; got put on time-out for swearing. She's nice."

They shared a laugh as they left the building, Allgood re-donning her disguise.





"...and this one's from our expedition to the Isles of Scaly," Snap Shutter brought out a small stone with carvings of a crescent moon and a flower.

"Oh, wow!" Scootaloo gasped, staring at the relic without actually touching it (she'd learned her lesson after the first time). "That's so cool, Dad!"

"Say," Auntie Lofty piped up, "weren't the Isles of Scaly mentioned in that one Daring Do book? The one about the Moon Grotto and the flower?"

He shrugged, "I dunno; I don't read 'em."

Lofty thought for a moment, but shrugged. "Eh, she probably just based it off of the real place."

Scootaloo continued to look at the souvenir in her dad's hoof, but their attention was caught by a knock at the door. Snap put the rock back into his sack, and they both answered the door.

When Scootaloo saw who it was, she squealed in joy. "Mom!"

Mane smiled nervously, giving her daughter a hug. "Heya, Scoot."

Her uneasy demeanor didn't evade Scootaloo's notice. "What's wrong, Mom?"

It was then that Mandy stepped forward, much to Scootaloo's surprise. "She's got something important to tell you."

"Mandy? What're you doing here?" the filly asked.

"I'm just here for extra moral support," he stated simply.

Snap's eyes widened as he realized what she was planning. "Are you sure about this, Mane?"

The false pegasus nodded nervously. "I think it's about time we tell her."

"Tell me what?" Scootaloo was getting nervous now. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened," Mane clarified. "It's just that... I haven't exactly been honest with you."

Scootaloo stared up at her mother with scared eyes. "What do you mean?"

Mane stole a glance at Mandy, who nodded, then looked to Snap, who smiled reassuringly. Taking a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes shut and summoned forth her magic.

Scootaloo watched with wide eyes as green flames consumed her mother, leaving behind a Changeling that vaguely resembled her. Her hair was still yellow, with those signature side-swept locks at the front, but the rest....

Mane kept her eyes squeezed shut as she waited for Scootaloo's reaction. Whatever it would be, there was no turning back now.

"Uh, Mane?" Mandy spoke, prompting her to crack open an eye. He pointed a hoof at Scootaloo, and she took a quick peek.

Scootaloo was frozen in place, jaw slack and a look of awe in her eyes.

Wait, awe?

Before Mane could speak up, Scootaloo unfroze and leapt into the air, shouting the last thing she'd been expecting:

"AWESOME!"

Mane was stunned. She watched dumbfoundedly as her daughter hopped about the room, eagerly asking questions at about a thousand words per minute. She looked to Mandy, who was smirking.

"Toldja she'd understand."

They all shared a good laugh.