//------------------------------// // Change. // Story: Could this be paradise? // by Timemaster //------------------------------// Change. A wet feeling chills my bones, seeming to drill into my mind. My body cringes at the feeling, for it wants to escape. Suddenly, replacing the wet feeling, is a chill. A chill that did more than freeze me, for it seemed to burn. I tried to escape, my body running in all directions, but stopping once I felt something different. A crisp, warm air circulated around me, filling me with warmth that I haven't felt in... some time. Opening my eyes, I see something odd. Shaped like a crescent moon, a large toothed smile appears in front of me. I look at the smile in fear, but not because of the smile itself, but because it was nothing else. There was nothing but a smile... *Drip I shot upwards, my make-shift blanket around me, and gasp. 'What the Tartarus was that?' My, sweating, body is hit by a passing wind, causing me to shake. "I thought Luna protected ponies from nightmares..." I mumble, getting up and out of my blanket. Standing on my hind hooves, I pick up my blanket... 'My hind hooves?' I look down and see that I am balancing, perfectly, on my hind hooves. Grunting, I go back down to my fours, but something odd happens, my front hooves, instead of balancing on the ground perfectly, fumble and I fall. I felt just like Granny Gray Ape, for she had injured front palms, causing her to be bipedal all day... But I felt like this was natural. '... This is odd, but I have no time to lose.' Before leaving my small camp, I try to remember why I even built it. Then, I remember: Slowly trotting down the path, I start to feel a small wet sensation bombarding me from the sky. "You have to be kidding!" I pout, running to find a perfect tree. A perfect tree is one that is around other trees, for if there was thunder, it would strike the nearest tree... hopefully. I smile, seeing a perfect tree just downhill, and rip off some of a neighboring tree's leaves. "Thank you." I say to the tree, feeling as if it was looking at me. Grandpa Black was a nice ape who once tole me something very important,"All of nature has emotion in this world of magic, but some have more emotion than others, so much, in fact, that if you hurt it, you can FEEL its pain." I always laughed at the kind old ape when I was younger, but I guess he was right. The rain, pelting harder, starts to form a melody, making me sleepy. Creating a leaf blanket, I lay under the tree, waiting for sleep to come. '... And come it did' I think, chuckling. Finally all packed, I proceed to open my map... Which was not there for some reason. (Processing...) "Foal of a cow!" I yell, seeing the road. Angry, I march onto the road a few feet away. ... After a long time of walking, I finally came across something other than the warm, orange trees. It stood there, basking in the morning light, with its blessed words upon it. I saw a crossroad and its sign. Running on my hind legs towards the crossroad felt odd, but good. My hind legs felt very weird to stand on, since I am not supposed to, but it felt more good than weird. On the last steps to the crossroad, I see the words on the sign... They are weather worn, the wood seeming to be cracking as well, but it is readable. Pointing west was a sign saying : Canterlot, our national capital. Pointing east was a sign saying : Las Pegasus, is this a Mexicolt city? Pointing North was a sign saying Canterlot- Express route. Pointing South was a broken sign, cracked in half in age, making it unreadable. 'Where should I go?' I wanted to go to Canterlot, but the temptation of Las Pegasus was assaulting me... I was thinking about this, when something disrupts my thoughts. "Watch out!" A voice yells extremely loud from the sky. Looking up, I see a gray pegasus with a large satchel on her side. Instead of dodging, I cast a spell that Witch-Ape Orange taught me to catch falling boulders. Boulders were a big problem on one side of the camp, for Gnomes always tried to attack the apes with them. Anyhow, The spell completed, casting a pure black net above me. Cackling as it did so. The pegasus seemed to be in shock, for her winds were pelted together, ramming into my net. "Owww." The pegasus said in a feminine voice,"Are you al-" The, presumably, mare stares at me. 'Why is she staring at me?' I look at myself and realize something. No, it was not that I was standing on my hind hooves, but I looked... different. My coat was a pure black, not having a single light colored hair, while my mane was pure red. My muzzle was a dark gray, making me look.... "You look awesome!" the mare says, breaking me out of my thought. Again. I look back at her, my eyes seeming to water. "What is wrong with me?" I say, quivering. I de-summon the black net, causing the mare to hit the ground softly. I curl into a ball, seeing that my tail, too, looks very different. I move my tongue around my mouth, noticing something odd. My teeth have changed as well. I have one oddly sharp tooth, while the rest are normal. I shiver, for a mild wind has passed by me, and begin to question everything. 'Am I even me anymore? Why do I have a sharp tooth? I have hooves and a muzzle, so at least I am still a pony, but with a sharp tooth? Why is my coat different? Is this even my body? Am I dr- "Hello?" a calm voice says into my ear, causing me to nearly spaz out. I look at the slightly startled mare, seeing that she had confusion in her eyes. "Why are you curling into a ball?" She says, as I suck up my tears. "I am not me." She looks in confusion. "I do not look like I did yesterday." "Do you mean you got a manecut?" "No! My entire body feels different!" I nearly yell. She jumps back, even more startled and confused, and says,"At least you are still yourself. Right?" I look at her and... smile. "I guess I am." She smiles as well, saying,"Well, I have to go now, I will see you later..." "Sour Lemon." i say to the mare. She looks at me for a full minute, seemingly shocked. "What?" I say, staring at the mare. She grabs my hoof, shouting,"Are you sure you are Sour lemon?!" "....Yes?" I say, confused. She says nothing and takes off, wobbling in mid-air as she went. 'This is getting weird.' Shrugging off what just happened, I go due north, to the Canterlot Express Route. While walking on my hind hooves, I start to check out my new body, seeing how different it is from my old one. My mane looks extremely different, but not because of the color change. My mane feels... lighter. My mane is the same size as last time, but lighter, which is very odd to me. Also, something else that is odd, is that my voice sounds a bit different than normal. "Always lo- OK..." Did my voice just crack? ... (processing...) I am 'growing'. Is that why I changed? That is... Awesome, since the mare liked it too. Mare? ... (Idiot processing again...) "She was the first pony I have ever met, and I just let her walk away!" I yell, slamming my front hooves into the nearest tree. "Sorry Mr. Tree." I say to the tree, feeling its pain. I get away from the injured tree and walk to the 'express route'. Whatever that is. 5 hours ago... "Derpy?" Applejack says to me,"Are you there?" Everyone taunts me about my eyes, since they are always pointing the wrong way, but some people take it too far. Applejack never does that, which is why she is my friend. "Yeah!" I say, my voice exploding out of my control. Applejack smiles at me, just like everyone else, with sympathy, and says,"Can you deliver this mail to Braeburn?" I look at the envelop, seeing a sad apple sticker on it. "What is it about, if you don't mind!" I say, as if I was exclaiming it. I can never control myself, but I will try. Applejack stares at me, like usual, and says,"It is about the Lemon's family annual search party..." "..." I take the letter, carefully putting it into my satchel. I take off, knowing that this was of grave importance. ... I wish that the Lemon's did not disappear. Rushing up to the counter of the odd building with a 'toll' sign, I hear a mare saying,"10 bits to cross." 'what?' "10 bits or you cannot cross." She said in monotone, her redish color blinding me. 'Is she trying to rob me?!' I run away from the scary theif-lady, straight through the 'toll' and towards Canterlot. "You are not taking my stuff, thief!" I yell backwards. ... I finally made it to these pearly gates, the white castle in my sight. Staring in awe at the beauty of the scene, I almost forget my surroundings. Snapping back to reality, I hear a loud, masculine voice say,"Halt! You did not pay the 10 bit toll, law-breaker, n-" I scream, surprised at the odd white thief. Seeing his confused expression, I quickly aim my horn at him. "Disappear thief!" I say, shooting my most powerful spell. It was used to kill bandits trying to attack my family, so of course the thief just exploded. I smile at the corpse, knowing there must be more of them around. I take the golden armor and don it. "I might want to blend in." I say, cleaning the armor of burnt flesh. For some reason, I was never afraid of the dead, only the living. Grandpa Gray said it might be because I have suffered through 'trauma', whatever that is. Ponies that try to hurt me will fall, for why should I let them kill me? Or steal from others? I am just doing what any good pony would do. Smiling, I take the dead pony's pony-tag, which had his information, and wear that too. "Hmm..." it said 'White' in the color part of the tag, but I am in no way white. Using my magic yet again, I morph the words to say 'Black'. Smiling, I say,"This is actually kind of fun!" 'I should find more of these golden guys, and put a stop to them!'