//------------------------------// // Filly Meets Colt // Story: Chibi Changeling // by Yukito //------------------------------// Berry Pinch panted and shook on the spot as a familiar feeling passed through her body. ‘Oh, come on! I’m just trying to go to school!’ she thought to herself as she tried to contain the magic that was threatening to burst out of her horn at any second now. “Hey, are you okay, Berry Pinch?” Archer, Berry Pinch’s friend, asked as she looked down at her with a look of concern. “I’m fine,” Berry Pinch replied as she stumbled back a bit. “I just… forgot something at home. I’ll be right back.” Berry Pinch quickly turned around and bolted off down the street. She saw a grey Pegasus mare flying through a nearby alleyway, and, as if on instinct, followed after her. “Time Turner… you idiot,” the Pegasus said as she stopped and sat down on a nearby box to the side. “… Or maybe I’m the idiot. Just because he’s friends with so many mares, it doesn’t mean he’s cheating on me… right?” Berry Pinch let out a moan as she neared the distraught Pegasus, alerting her to the filly’s presence. Derpy quickly jumped to her hooves, and flushed red with embarrassment, hoping that the filly hadn’t heard her talking to herself. However, she then noticed that the filly was walking rather strangely, and that her breathing was… strange. “A-Are you okay?” she asked, walking closer to Berry Pinch. She placed a hoof on the filly’s forehead, and her eyes shot wide open. “You have a fever! Where do you live? I’ll take you home, right awa-” Before she could finish, a beam of green energy shot out of Berry Pinch’s horn, and hit the Pegasus on the forehead. Derpy looked frightened for a second, before her eyes slowly fluttered shut, and she drifted off into sleep. Berry Pinch let out a relieved sigh as she fed her built-up love into the Pegasus, the sickly feeling that had been building up for the past week finally leaving her system. “So, you can last for about a week, before it becomes too much for you,” a voice called out behind Berry Pinch. Her mother, Berry Punch, walked up to the filly just as she had finished with Derpy Hooves, and caught the Pegasus before she fell to the ground. “Yeah, that’s about right. Most younglings can only last that long at first, but soon, you should be able to last a full month before you need to feed… Though, in your case, I wouldn’t really call it feeding.” Berry Pinch’s face turned red, and turned her head away from her mother. “… You were watching me?” Berry Punch knelt down and wrapped her forehooves around her daughter. “Awww, no need to be embarrassed! It’s a parent’s duty to watch over their youngling as they age, especially when they start to mature.” “But did you really have to watch me…” Berry Pinch couldn’t finish, and her face turned even redder as she looked over at the Pegasus, who was still lying unconscious on the ground. She quickly wormed her way out of her mother’s hold, and let out a depressed sigh. Berry Punch looked down at her with a sympathetic look, and then began work on erasing Derpy’s recent memories of her encounter with Berry Pinch. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it.” “But… It’s so embarrassing,” Berry Pinch said. “Why do we have to do this in order to live?” “Sometimes, nature can just be strange like that,” Berry Punch answered. “All you can do is just… go along with it. By the way, shouldn’t you be at school right now?” Berry Pinch blinked a few times as she stared blankly at the wall in front of her, and then quickly snapped out of it when she realised that her mother was right. “Oh no! I’m gonna be late!” she shouted as she bolted out of the alleyway, leaving her mother to take care of Derpy on her own. Berry Punch giggled, and gently lay Derpy down on the box that she was sitting on earlier. “She’s just like me, when I was her age… Except, I had my whole family to help me, as well as my changeling friends…” Sighing, Berry Punch turned around and began to leave the alleyway. ‘I’d better keep a tight watch over her. But all on my own, there’s only so much I can do. If only there were someone else I could count on…’ Despite her worries, Berry Pinch had somehow managed to get to school on time. Feeling much better, she decided to go and join her friends in their games of ‘tag’ outside the schoolhouse. However, she was stopped by her teacher, Cheerilee, who asked her to help her with the new student that was starting today. She wanted Berry Pinch to show the new colt, ‘Rumble’, around the schoolhouse for her. Berry Pinch didn’t mind, but was a little disappointed that she couldn’t play with her friends before school started up. ‘Oh well,’ she thought to herself, trying to look on the bright side of things. ‘Who knows? We might end up becoming really good friends!’ As she entered the classroom, she saw the colt sitting all by himself at an empty desk, just as Cheerilee had told her. She walked closer to the colt, a big smile on her face… Until she got closer, and the smile faded when a strange feeling passed through her. “Um, excuse me.” The colt raised his head from his forehooves, and looked at the filly. “Are you rumble?” He nodded, and she continued. “Miss Cheerilee asked if I could show you around the school, since you didn’t get a proper tour yesterday.” Rumble groaned and lay his head back onto his forehooves. “I’m fine. I’m too tired to walk around right now…” “Oh, uh, okay,” Berry Pinch responded, the feeling getting stronger and stronger by the second. She took a few steps back, and felt her breathing increase. ‘What’s going on? I just released some love… Is this colt doing this to me? He must really be mad at someone, or something, right now.’ Berry Pinch sat down at an empty table, and her breathing continued to speed up. “Are you okay?” Rumble asked, to which the filly quickly shot up, spun around to face him, and quickly began waving her forehooves, making sure to keep a huge smile on her face. “Y-Yes! Of c-course I am!” Berry Pinch shouted. “I-I just have a s-slight fever, t-that’s all…” The last thing she saw before she passed out was Rumble nodding. ‘Oh no… Not good…’ Berry Pinch awoke some time later, and slowly rose to her hooves. She noticed that the colt had left the classroom, although his bag was still there. Presumably, he went to get help. She quickly yelped and jumped back when her horn lit up. Was it a reaction to thinking about that colt? Whenever she thought about him, her body began to tingle, and she felt the same hunger that she had felt the last two times she had needed to ‘feed’ off of somepony. The same feeling she got when she was near somepony with hatred in their hearts. “Oh no… Oh no oh no oh no oh NO!” she shouted, panicking as she quickly left the classroom, and ran as fast as she could down the hallway. Luckily, she had managed to make it to the restroom without anypony seeing her, and not a moment too soon! As soon as she was inside, her magic burst out of her horn. She let out a loud scream as green energy shot out everywhere, destroying sinks, stalls, mirrors, soap dispensers, lighting, and also, the wall tiles. As soon as she was finished, she looked around at the damage that she had caused, and was thankful that no one else was in that restroom at that time. With a hard blush on her face, she slowly left the now-destroyed room, silently apologising to whoever would have to fix all of that, and walked away with an innocent look on her face. Well, at least now she was feeling better. ‘I must have not deposited enough love earlier… Or maybe this is one of the ‘hardships’ that mom told me about.’ When she returned to the classroom, she found that it was suddenly populated with students, most of which were talking amongst themselves, and one or two of which were eagerly awaiting for the lesson to start. Nopony paid Berry Pinch much notice, except for Archer and Sunny Days, who both quickly asked if she was feeling okay. Berry Pinch assured them she was fine, and that there was nothing to worry about. Although, when she saw her teacher enter the classroom, with him walking in beside her, glancing over at her desk. She felt that same feeling pass over her, though it wasn’t as strong as it was before. At least this time, breathing was still relatively easy. That is, until Rumble passed by her desk, causing her breathing to suddenly speed up. She looked at Rumble with a questioning look, as if he would know what was going on. He simply stared back at her with a look of bewilderment on his face, before proceeding to his seat. The rest of the day, Berry Pinch’s breathing never slowed down. And, she also felt like she was being watched… which was confirmed whenever she turned around, and caught Rumble staring at her. ‘W-Why is he doing that?’ she asked herself, just wishing that the day would finish already. When school finished that day, Berry Pinch quickly left the classroom, before her friends even had the chance to say ‘goodbye’ to her. She was in a hurry to get home, and just sleep this whole weird day off… Except, fate had other plans for her. She caught a familiar scent in the air, and suddenly, she had lost sight of her original goal to return home. The hunger returned to her, and she felt the whole world spinning around her as she staggered through the streets, her vision blurry as she just allowed her legs to take her wherever they pleased. She had no idea how long she had been walking before she reached her goal. Standing before her, bucking the same tree over and over again, was an orange Earth Pony mare, with a blonde mane. “Stupid… Rarity!” she shouted in-between bucks. “Always… so… fussy… about… every…. little… THING!” As Berry Pinch drew closer, the mare seemed to take notice, and asked the little filly if she was lost, and if she needed some help finding her way back home. However, all she got in response, was a beam of green magic from the filly’s horn, connecting with her forehead. “Whooooa, nelly…” Berry Pinch slowly began to smile, and she felt much better as she released the love in her system into the Earth Pony. CRACK! Berry Pinch slowly opened her eyes, and looked past the orange mare, staring ahead into space as she noticed a shadowy figure running away. “Who?” she asked herself, before her magic faded, and she began falling to the ground. Before she could make contact with the earth beneath her hooves, Berry Pinch was caught in a green magical aura, and lifted gently into the air. Berry Pinch stared blankly at her mother, who was holding a spoon in front of her face with some hot soup on it. “Come on, Pinchy. The Friendship Express needs to make an emergency stop in Nummyville.” “Mom, I’m nine years old,” Berry Pinch said, making sure to cover her mouth with a hoof as she did so, so that her mother couldn’t force the spoon into her mouth. “And besides, didn’t you hear me? I said that somepony saw me feeding!” Berry Punch used her magic to lower her daughter’s hoof, and thrust the spoon into her mouth. Berry Pinch groaned as she felt the soup pour into her mouth, and swallowed when the spoon was pulled out. “I’ve already told you, you don’t need to worry. I’ll take care of it,” Berry Punch assured her, scooping up another spoonful of soup onto the spoon. “Okay, open up again.” Berry Pinch turned her head to the side. “And what about that colt? The one that made me feel… weird, today?” Berry Punch giggled, and gave her daughter a sly grin. “Well, you’ll have to wait nine years, but I can begin wedding plans now, if you want.” “I’m serious!” Berry Pinch shouted as she turned to her mother, a mistake she would realise later as the spoon was once again thrust into her mouth. “Now, now,” Berry Punch said, pulling the spoon out to let her daughter swallow. “It’s all a natural part of changeling maturity. You don’t realise how lucky you have it.” “… What do you mean?” Berry Pinch asked. “Well, usually, changelings feed off of love, right?” Berry Pinch nodded, frowning when she was again reminded of just how different she was. “That means that, for younglings that have only just entered maturity, being around a pony who’s experiencing feelings of love causes them to… well, experience what you did earlier.” “… So, you’re saying that, I get like that whenever I’m around somepony filled with hate?” “Not filled with it. It’s just because you aren’t used to the whole ‘feeding’ process yet, so even the slightest hint of hatred in a pony is enough to set you off. Youngling are usually sent to live with ponies for a bit, to help them mature, because there’s usually an abundance of love all around. “However, now that I think about it, I guess you’re not the only one coming of age around here…” “What do you mean?” Berry Pinch asked, not sure she was following what her mother was saying. “Well, the ponies at your school are also reaching that certain age, where their own bodies start changing. And as part of the process, they’ll be developing wild moodswings from time-to-time… Much like you, sometimes,” Berry Punch added with a sigh. Berry Pinch gasped, and raised a forehoof to protest. “I do not have moodswings!” she shouted, receiving a coy grin from her mother. She cleared her throat, and tried again. “… I am quite in control of my emotions.” “Sure you are,” Berry Punch said, getting up and picking up the bowl next to her. “Don’t stay up too late now. You’ve had a busy day, and need your rest.” Berry Pinch nodded, and waited for her mother to leave the room, before she began thinking about that colt from school. ‘Rumble… So he’s angry at someone, or something, right now… I guess I should probably just avoid him, then…’ Outside of Berry Pinch’s bedroom, Berry Punch used her magic to bring up an image before her eyes. The image was of a small grey with a black mane, lying down on a bed, staring up blankly into space. “Hmmm… He hasn’t told anypony about what he saw today… An interesting kid, this one is. I’ll have to keep my eye on him. Though, I’ll be taking a gamble, but…” Berry Punch looked back at her daughter’s bedroom door, and then shut off her magic. “One day, I might not be able to help her out. And when that time comes…”