Jack knew what was going on. Emotions didn’t just vanish into thin air, changelings were always responsible. The only changeling Jack knew of that would easily attempt to harm him was Wings, the reasoning behind his behavior still being unknown. Jack ran out of the library and out of town completely, ensuring that absolutely nopony was following him. He needed some time to recover both mentally and physically, he was exhausted the entire day. More than likely Wings had managed to track him down and he was following him earlier that day. Jack, losing his breath, slowed down and admired his surroundings. There were a plethora of trees, buildings in the distance, a small dirt path entering the nearby forest and the sun slowly setting behind some distant mountains. The sun was setting, and he was nowhere near anypony’s house. Taking slow, deep breaths, Jack allowed himself to regain his senses and asses the current situation. He could be in deep trouble if he slept in the open, especially if Wings still managed to follow him, although scanning both the land and the ground Jack saw no sign of a single living creature nearby. He could wander into the Everfree forest and look for Zecora’s hut, he had a rough estimation of where it was, but with his previous experiences in Ponyville he knew his geography skills were not strong. Ultimately, his best decision would be to scan the edges of the forest for Fluttershy’s cottage, she couldn’t be too far from his current position.
>---<
Jack thought Fluttershy’s cottage would be nearby, but then again he did have poor geography skills. He wandered aimlessly until dark, which surprisingly made it easier to track down her cottage. He followed a feint light in the distance, and eventually Jack was facing the cottage once more. He remembered last time he had paused to look at it, and ended up chasing Fluttershy for reasons he could not recall.
‘Probably just in the moment, that’s all.’ Jack thought.
He had no reason to admire the structure this time around; most of it was similar to that of Ponyville however the roof was not covered in hay. Instead, the entire cottage was built from wood safe for the windows. Some of the wooden beams were clearly overtaking the standard wooden walls, making it an interesting sort of design. Then again, the cottage’s style was still quite similar to those of most of Ponyville’s buildings. Without further ado, Jack slowly approached the cottage’s door, crossing the small bridge and up the small ramp. While approaching the cottage, he attracted the attention of a few nearby chickens, who yelped at the approaching intruder. Rolling his eyes, he found himself finally knocking on the cottage door.
“I’ll be there in just one minute.” Said a soft voice, which was almost impossible to hear through the door.
Jack began looking around the cottage instead of directly at it. Beside it there was a small chicken coop, where the chickens had begun yelling at him. Sitting among many of the nearby trees were many bird’s nests, as well as a surplus of cocoons. There were a few small holes dug into the ground either underneath the cottage or nearby trees. Fluttershy really did take care of a lot of animals. The door finally opened, and Jack found himself facing Fluttershy.
“Oh…” The yellow mare said, cowering slightly at the unfamiliar face.
“Hi, I’m Jack. I was sort of lost, and it’s too late for me to be able to get back to Ponyville. Is there any place I could stay?” Jack asked.
Fluttershy kicked her front hoof lightly against the ground, her mane was covering her face and she was looking at the ground. She was shy, but she didn’t even answer Jack’s question. It was an entirely new level of shy, one Jack didn’t even know existed.
“I… umm… I’m Fluttershy…” She said, in a voice that was almost impossible to hear.
Jack didn’t completely catch what she said, other than the ‘shy’ at the end. Knowing she was introducing herself, and since Jack was already well aware of her name, he decided not to ask what she had just said.
“Alright, Fluttershy,” Jack said calmly with a smile on his face, “Do you know of anywhere nearby I could stay?”
She didn’t respond verbally, but gave a slight nod of her head.
‘This conversation isn’t going anywhere…’
>---<
It took Jack fifteen minutes to get an actual answer out of Fluttershy. Most of the time, he spent his time asking her about all the animals she had scurrying in and around the house, most of which were already asleep. The responses Jack got from Fluttershy were all almost completely silent, except for the few statements or questions he had asked about animals. Asking one final time for a place to stay, Fluttershy finally gave a proper response.
“I… I guess you could stay here. It’s not very safe around these parts at night.” The mare said, barely making eye contact with Jack.
“If you don’t want me to stay here, that’s fine.” Jack said.
That’s a lie. Jack’s subconscious brain-entity said to him.
‘Yes, but I need Fluttershy to feel guilty so she’ll let me stay willingly.’ Jack thought.
That’s a little cruel, isn’t it?
Jack didn’t bother to respond, he needed a safe place to stay, even if it cost him some honesty. He had lied plenty of times before, as a matter of fact he had been tricking ponies since he arrived in Equestria. The guilt feeling was almost absent by this point.
“I can’t let you do that!” Fluttershy said, finally raising her voice to a normal level.
‘I honestly can’t tell if she yelled or not…’ Jack thought.
“Alright, then there has to be something for me to do to make this up to you.” Jack said.
“Oh no, it’s really alright. I can’t just leave somepony out in the dark, all alone!” Fluttershy said happily, smiling and finally making full eye contact with Jack.
But her smiling was so... It was so… Fluttershy’s smile was… D’awwwwww! Words can’t even describe the feeling. It was as if a kitten was bombarding him with more kittens, and those kittens had puppies! Jack almost felt like crying from the smile alone!
“Thanks a lot, but seriously, is there ANYTHING I can help you with? You do have quite a few animals around here.” Jack said.
“No, most of the animals can take care of themselves, except for the food. But they’re all so wonderful; I brought them all here to keep them safe and healthy.” Fluttershy said, as she picked up a small squirrel in her hooves.
They then proceeded to cuddle. The cuteness was too much, Jack felt as if his head was going to explode, and then followed by the rest of his body, into kittens and puppies. Almost unable to control his thoughts due to sheer cuteness, Jack finally managed to muster up some words.
“So… Uhh…” Jack began. “Where am I… Going… THEY ARE SO CUTE! I WANT ONE OR TWO OR ALL OF THEM THEY’RE SO CUTE!”
Jack had just made the situation awkward. Then again, he had experienced almost every day so far with an awkward situation, without one wouldn’t quite be normal. Whatever normal was, anyways. Fluttershy, still a little shocked from the sudden outburst, gave him a little smile back.
“You can sleep on the couch right there.”
>---<
Morning came swiftly. Celestia’s sun was high in the sky, shining directly into a window amplifying the heat and brightness directly onto Jack’s face. He woke up with a burning sensation on his forehead and quickly got up as a result. Doubting there was any damage done, Jack dragged himself off the couch and sleepily wandered out the front door of the cottage. Today he planned to go into a secluded place and learn more about himself and his abilities. Changelings had flight, and they had magic, despite their magic being significantly limited. Still in a sleepy state, he wandered along the edges of the Everfree forest.
Jack never saw Fluttershy that morning, she was either still asleep or had gone to town. Jack found himself wandering along the edges of the forest for quite a while, and eventually found himself in a small opening between a large cliff and a few trees. The area wasn’t completely secluded, but he felt nopony would bother wandering so far from civilization, so he assumed he was safe. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he began thinking of himself. His grey stallion body, with his black mane and tail, even the cutie mark in full detail. This time, the only difference was the addition of wings. He felt a tingling sensation on two sides of his back, just behind his shoulder blades. Looking behind him, tucked tightly against his body, Jack found himself with a new set of wings.
‘Alright, so I could always feel my wings although never actually been able to do anything with them…’ Jack thought. ‘I can feel them as part of my body, but how do I move them?’
Jack stood there, his head turning around and carefully looking at the wings. His brain was straining to find the proper muscles to move in order to finally get the wings to move. Most of the time, he ended up moving his shoulders or upper leg, but occasionally would get some wing movement.
This is a lot harder than you think, you know. Said a familiar voice.
‘I know, I’m trying to figure out what muscle does what. It’s like having another random arm out your back, isn’t it?’ Jack thought.
No, not really. There are so many muscles with different functions here, you wouldn’t even believe me if I told you how many there were.
‘I would believe you, seeing as you’re some sort of reflection of myself. But enough talk… Er… Thinking. Let’s get this flying thing done!’
By this point it appeared Jack’s new set of wings were having severe spasms. It didn’t look healthy at all; it even looked like it hurt. But he didn’t feel any pain; the wings were a lot more flexible then they seemed. It took Jack almost an hour just to get basic movement down. It was pretty exhausting, and he felt the unused muscles already wearing out.
‘I need to take a break.’ He thought. ‘Good news is I’ve finally figured out how to get them into a fully extended position, and tuck them back in!’
You mean we. Most of this had been my work, and it’s pretty darn annoying I must say.
‘Ha. Shut up and take a break.’
>---<
The break wasn’t long. Throughout the break, Jack lie in the grass slowly stroking his new wings with his hooves. It was almost like he was petting a bird, although he never actually touched a bird so he assumed that was what the experience would be similar to.
I wonder what it would feel like on the tongue…
‘You know what? That may sound weird but I kinda want to try it.’ Jack thought.
Then do it.
‘No. It may be a little TOO weird.’
Deciding to end the break instead of doing something clumsy, Jack rose to all fours once more and began wing exercises. His wings were constantly folding and unfolding, and he felt the wing blowing past him slowly. It was strange having wings; it felt almost as if his body had lost a significant amount of weight. Must have been a pegasus thing. Basic movement was easy for Jack, although he never thought he would be able to get lift. He couldn’t move his wings in large enough strokes quite yet, and he couldn’t get them to move in a sweeping direction behind him. Since that was the method pegasus ponies used to propel themselves forward, he assumed he would only be able to go up or down.
Don’t forget about magic!
Magic. That was what really had Jack’s attention. If he couldn’t fly, he could still levitate himself with magic, or teleport himself somewhere. Then again, that was assuming the changeling anatomy allowed for such strong magical abilities. Maybe just something simple, like moving a rock, would be enough to prove to himself he could use magic. Following the same procedure as earlier, Jack imagined his current body except with a single horn protruding from the skull instead of the wings on his back. After the wings had finished tingling, and his skull finished tingling, he found himself just barely able to see the new, grey horn just above him. Maybe it was just a little tiny bit distracting, but hey, he could try magic now! Then again, there were no muscles or any new feelings really, so he had nowhere to start.
For the first twenty minutes or so, Jack felt himself forcing blood to flow to his head. It was the only idea he really had, and it made him feel so light headed he fell onto the ground a few times. He wasn’t getting anywhere, and wouldn’t get anywhere at this rate. Deciding to attempt something new, Jack decided to focus extremely hard on a nearby rock, one that was less than half the size of his hoof. With no results still, Jack let out a sigh. He wasn’t ready to give up yet, but his lack of success was seriously discouraging him. Looking back towards the rock, he focused once more extremely hard, just to find out nothing was happening.
“Ugh! How does this even work?!” He yelled out in frustration.
Pretty clueless here as well
‘There had to be some sort of secret. Some sort of mental secret, it couldn’t be something simple.’ Jack thought.
Staring at the rock once more, Jack decided to take a different approach. He began meditating.
>---<
It wasn’t long before he found meditation did absolutely nothing to the rock, but Jack was now in a relaxed state. He was taking long, slow breaths, making sure to enjoy his time. Slowly closing his eyes, he imagined the rock that he had been staring at the entire time. There was nothing beside the pebble, just complete darkness. It rested peacefully among the nothingness. Before long, Jack saw the rock (in his mind) slowly moving upwards. That was when he finally got a result.
Jack’s legs felt like he had just gained about 60 pounds, his mind was now pounding, and his horn was… glowing? It wasn’t a purple glow, like he had expected, but a light green glow instead. Looking around, he saw the tiny rock levitating roughly two feet off the ground.
“Yes!” He exclaimed, causing himself to lose focus.
The rock tumbled down, and Jack collapsed as well. Sustaining just the tiny rock took an extreme amount of effort, and he had no ideas what his changeling magic would be limited to. He knew his magic was significantly weaker than that of any other unicorn, but he was glad he was at least able to use it. Falling onto the ground once more, Jack lie on his back staring into the sky. He had succeeded in both figuring out how magic worked, and how wings worked.
‘Wings…’ Jack thought, staring attentively at a few passing clouds.
By now, Jack had resumed his earth pony form. Just thinking of the wings or horn made him want to practice more, but he was already exhausted from the little progress he had achieved. He just wanted to rest. Closing his eyes, he imagined himself flying through the sky, shooting magical bolts of energy throughout the forest. The bolts themselves didn’t really do anything, but the concept of it was pretty neat. The wind was flowing through his mane; his aerodynamic body was easily adjusting to different air currents, and his horn was able to produce a variety of light. Then Jack remembered that he was just lying in the middle of nowhere, and assumed he should return to Ponyville soon.
That is, should a certain changeling not be standing ten feet away, staring at him lying on the ground, an evil grin spread across his face. Jack was not expecting him to find him, and as a matter of fact, he wasn’t expecting to ever see him again in his natural form. Slightly shocked, Jack finally managed to open his mouth and released one single word.
“Wings.”