Lesson 6: Facing Your Family
Written by MattTOB
Fluttershy stood on the lawn of her grandmother's house, fighting for the courage to knock. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't be! Her favorite grandmother couldn't be a Changeling!
...could she?
Finally, her need for closure overpowered her fear, and she knocked. After a long, tense moment, the door was opened, and out stepped Lilac Shy. Like her daughter Flower Shy, she had bright red hair, but her fur was as white as her namesake, and her Cutie Mark was of a bee pollenating a lilac.
"Oh my, Fluttershy!" she began fondly, "Why, I haven't seen you since—"
"Grandma, we need to talk."
Lilac paused at the serious tone Fluttershy had. "O-okay? Would you like to, uh, come in for some tea?"
Fluttershy eased up a little bit. If there was anything that could calm her down, it was her grandma's tea. "Yes, please."
Lilac ushered Flutters inside, closing the door behind them.
Eventually, Lilac brought out two cups of tea. Handing one to Fluttershy, she sat down. "You seem like you've got someting important on your mind; what is it dearie?"
Fluttershy chuckled nervously. "It's just that somepony I know was spreading a rumor about you, and I just needed to clarify that the rumor wasn't true."
"What kind of rumor?" Lilac raised an eyebrow, before taking a long sip of her tea.
"Well," Fluttershy was outright laughing nervously now, "apparently, they're under the impression that you're, um... a Changeling."
Lilac gagged on her tea, nearly spitting it out. Fluttershy immediately noticed this, and began freaking out, "Oh no! It's true, isn't it!?"
Lilac had to take a moment to recover, swallowing her tea. "Fluttershy, dear, let me explain."
But to no avail; Fluttershy was already getting lost in her panic. "Oh my, oh sweet Celestia, this is— I don't— what— how— I'm— are you even—?" was all she could say before she started hyperventilating.
Her grandmother grabbed her granddaughter's shoulders with her hooves. "Breathe, dear; remember to breathe! Go to your happy place — you know, the one with the ostriches, and the toucans, and the baby penguins?"
Fluttershy regarded her grandmother, wide-eyed. "Y-you really are her..."
"Of course I'm me, dearie," Lilac smiled warmly.
Fluttershy cringed. "But I'm not entirely sure I know who you are any more."
Her grandmother sighed, "I'm still the same old girl you know and love; I just... haven't been entirely honest about a few things."
Fluttershy thought for a moment. "Show me."
Lilac raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about this, dear?"
The yellow pegasus nodded. "If I want to accept this, I'll need to see you for your true self."
Her grandmother hesitated for a moment, before nodding in agreement. With a flash of teal magic, Lilac's pegasus guise fell away to reveal a reformed Changeling with the same color scheme.
Fluttershy stared at her grandmother for a long moment. "Oh my, that's... You're.... Wow..."
"Do you need to sit down?" Lilac offered.
The pegasus nodded, still lost in thought. So Lilac took Fluttershy by the hoof, and sat her back down onto the couch.
It was only once Lilac had taken her own seat across from her that the Pegasus finally snapped out of her frozen state. Even so, the room remained silent for several uncomfortable minutes.
Finally, Fluttershy found her voice again. "So... W-what was your name, before you, uhm, became Lilac?"
"Paulie, short for Palynophage," she stated simply. "But I'm Lilac now, and that old life of mine is dead."
"Paulie, huh?" Fluttershy couldn't help but chuckle. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Mandy, would you?"
"Every Changeling in the Hive is related on some level," Lilac pointed out. "But if you're asking if I'm close enough to him for it to mean anything, then no; he's too far-removed from my brood."
Fluttershy nodded, just a tad bit relieved. "How'd you come to Equestria?"
She shrugged, "Same as most other Changelings; I was a gatherer, getting stallions to go on dates with me so I could collect Love.
"That is, until I met your grandfather."
The timid pegasus blinked. "G-Grandpappy Glaucus?"
It'd been several years since either of them had mentioned her grandpa; not since he'd passed of sickness. Just thinking about him was making Fluttershy's eyes begin watering.
Lilac nodded. "You know what he was like; so confident, so self-assured, so passionate... He opened my eyes to the true meaning of love, and I left the Hive for good."
Fluttershy wiped away the moisture building up in her eyes. "I didn't know...."
Her grandmother shook her head, "Your mother doesn't even know the full story of that; only me and him, and now, you."
"Speaking of that," Fluttershy grimaced, "does that mean she's...?"
"She's half Changeling, and you and Zephyr are one-quarter," Lilac stated simply.
Fluttershy took a moment to consider this, amd all the implications that came with it.
Then she chuckled, "That might explain Zephyr's dependence on our support."
Lilac laughed at that, "Maybe."
Once the laughter died down, the room went silent for another moment. Then Fluttershy asked, "Are you going to tell Mom?"
The Changeling cringed, but after a moment, she nodded. "She absolutely deserves to know. But what about you; how do you feel about all this?"
Fluttershy twiddled her hooves. "Well, I'm certainly not happy that you've been lying to us this whole time..."
Lilac wilted a bit.
"...but I think that, once you've told Mom, maybe you could teach me some things about being a Changeling? I've heard that Gourdfest is quite fun."
Her grandmother brightened up at that. "I'd love to, dearie."
Fluttershy gave a smile, then, with only a little hesitation, she got up and hugged her grandmother.
Some hours later, Fluttershy returned to her cottage. Opening the door, she sighed a bit to herself, relieved to be home.
Then she smelled the chocolate milk. "Hi, Discord."
The draconequus in question manisfested himself from behind a coat rack, holding a bowl of chocolate milk. "Welcome back, Fluttershy dearest. What kept you out so late?"
"Oh, just visiting some relatives."
"You mean the one who's been a Changeling this whole time?"
Fluttershy flinched momentarily, before remembering that Discord was chaotic like that. "Yep."
Discord nodded, before using his tooth as a straw to drink his milk.
"Hey, uh, Discord?" Fluttershy suddenly asked. "Did I, uhm, inherit anything from her?"
"Other than your Stare?" He asked. "Well, there's the fact that she can transform into animals, while you have a knack for understanding them."
Fluttershy considered this for a moment. "Wait, I inherited my Stare from her?"
"It's an offshoot of Changeling mind-altering magic," he stated casually. "Don't worry, though; your Stare is only suggestive, not aggressive."
The pegasus frowned. "If you say so..."