//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Forever a Changeling // by Scootaloo-009 //------------------------------// Forever a Changeling by Scootaloo-009, a.k.a. Mechsrule1 My Little Pony and related names, images, and scenarios are property of Hasbro Inc. Chapter 1         It was her favorite thing in the world. Her heart was beating rapidly. She was breathing heavily and loved it. The wind in her mane, the warm sun on her face, working her wings just right, it was just wonderful.         Rainbow Dash smiled broadly. She loved flying and she took every opportunity to stay in the air. Sometimes she had a destination, but today she was just flying for the sake of flying.         Below her stretched an endless field of apple trees. She spotted a tiny orange figure in amongst the foliage. She angled her wings accordingly and began swooping down towards her friend.         “Hey, Applejack,” she greeted when she was close enough.         “Howdy, Rainbow,” her farmer friend replied.         “How are things here today?”         “Alright. Say, Ah know we ain’t scheduled for rain till the weekend but could yah drop a little on the southern field? It’s really dry.”         “Sure,” Rainbow Dash agreed. She flew off and began gathering all the clouds nearby. There weren’t that many nearby so it was a small collection. She moved it to where Applejack had moved to and gave it a good kick. The downpour lasted only a minute.         When it was over, Rainbow Dash flew down to Applejack.         “How was that?”         “Great, thanks.”         “Any time.”         “If yah ain’t busy yah might want tah go see Fluttershy. She was fussin’ about somethin’ this mornin’”         “Good idea. I’ll see you around,” Rainbow Dash said, flying off.         “Hold up, bahfore yah go,” Applejack called. She pulled an apple out of a nearby basket and tossed it to her friend.         “Thanks!” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -         “Fluttershy.”         “So much to clean...”         “Fluttershy?”         “I’ve got to make sure all the animals are fed.”         “Fluttershy?”         “And water the plants. Oh, there’s just so much to do!”         “Fluttershy!”         The yellow pegasus dropped the watering can she was holding and looked around. “Oh, Rainbow Dash... I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”         “What’s got you so busy?”         “My parents are coming by for a visit,” Fluttershy explained, retrieving the watering can.         “Why is that such a big deal?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You didn’t tell them you’re an item with somepony and now you have to come up with a convoluted plan to avoid admitting you lied but without telling that pony either, did you? Or they’re actually former wonderbolts who hate the fact you live on the ground? Or maybe they just pick on you.”         “What?”         “Come on, Fluttershy, if they’re anything like they were back when we were in flight school, it’ll be fine.”         “I just don’t want them to be disappointed. They weren’t exactly excited when I told them I was living here.”         “That’s because you’re so close to the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy, it’ll be fine.”         “I guess you’re right,” Fluttershy agreed. “What’s that?”         Rainbow dash turned and saw two wisps of green smoke flying towards them. The two wisps condensed before them into two scrolls.         “Huh,” Rainbow Dash said, picking one up. “It’s from Twilight.”         “She wants us all to meet by the town hall,” Fluttershy read out loud.         “I wonder what this is all about.”         “We probably shouldn’t keep her waiting.”         “Yeah. With the number of disasters we have here every other week it’s probably something bad,” Rainbow Dash stated. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -         Seven good friends were gathered in the center of Ponyville. It wasn’t an unusual sight, they did hang out quite often. It was a partly cloudy day and Equestria seemed quite calm for a change.         Twilight Sparkle looked around and saw all her friends were present. “I see you got my messages.”         “You said it was urgent. I hope I didn’t take too long getting here,” Fluttershy said.         “That was pretty neat, getting a letter from Spike,” Rainbow Dash said.         “I thought you only sent things to Princess Celestia,” Rarity added.         Spike, the only non-pony present smiled. “It’s a new trick I learned. So far it’s only worked with you girls. I tried sending messages to ponies I don’t really know and it didn’t work. It probably only works with my friends.”         “Why don’t you just ask somepony?” Pinkie Pie asked.         “There aren’t any dragon experts I know of and no books either. That’s why I’m writing everything we learn down so any ponies who come after can read about what we learned,” Twilight said, putting a hoof over Spike.         “So what’s this all about, Twah?” Applejack asked.         Twilight pulled out a scroll with her magic. “Princess Celestia is concerned some changelings might still be in the area, so she’s having court mages go to all the towns and search them. Since I live here, she asked me to do it.”         “But how do we check everypony?” Pinkie Pie asked.         “In the letter she described a spell that will knock out any nearby changelings and force them to drop their disguise. I’ll cast it over Ponyville then we just have to look around. They should be out for a few hours so we have plenty of time to look all over,” Twilight explained.         “What about everypony else?” Fluttershy asked.         “You might feel a slight tingle but it only harms changelings,” Twilight replied.         “Alright, let’s see some magic!” Rainbow Dash cheered.         Twilight nodded. At once her horn began glowing it’s familiar magenta. The glow intensified. From the unicorn, a wave of similarly colored energy cascaded out. It bathed the whole town in light. The various ponies walking about stopped and stared at the display, confused.         A dull pain started in Rainbow Dash’s head. As the spell continued it got worse and worse. She began rubbing her forehead with one hoof.         “Are yah okay, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, noticing her distress.         “I-” Rainbow Dash said. Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton candy but without the taste. “Marhud” she groaned. Her vision swam then faded to black. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -         Rainbow Dash was awake but she didn’t want to open her eyes. Her head hurt a bit and her entire body ached. She could hear distant voices but she couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were saying. She hoped the pain in her head would go away if she just stayed quiet for a while and light seemed to make it worse, but it didn’t abate at all.         Finally she got bored and opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was she was vertical, somehow being held to a wall. She looked around and saw she was in a featureless room with her friends. The only thing in the room besides them was a table. There was one chair that Twilight was currently sitting in, facing away from her.         Fluttershy was off in one corner sobbing while Rarity tried to comfort her. Pinkie Pie was staring at Rainbow Dash but she couldn’t read what the earth pony was feeling. Applejack was looking at her too but the anger was obvious. Twilight was reading a book like she almost always was. Applejack nudged Twilight and pointed. Twilight saw Rainbow Dash was awake and slammed the book shut.         “Uh.. what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked.         Twilight strode up to her and got within an inch of Rainbow Dash’s face. “Where is Rainbow Dash?” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ For those unfamiliar with my writing style, here is a brief explanation of how my dividers work. When you see this: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - It means the following takes place in the present. When you see this: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It means the following takes place in the past or in a dream. If you like this story, you should check out some of my other works: The Seven Tribes, a rather long fanfic that, like many stories, tries to explain the past. Samurai Applejack, a drastically different kind of story. It’s rated mature for violence and some suggestive lines. Night of the Werepony, what I consider to be my worst story, but it’s my most popular. It’s just one chapter long. My tumblr, an alternate universe mixing MLP and Cyborg 009.