//------------------------------// // Echoes and Rebounds // Story: Adaptation - A Changeling's Story // by CoAlFire //------------------------------// The rain fell in saturating sheets, hammering the forest’s canopy with all the untamed fury that nature could muster. Every raindrop hit the ground with a quiet pop, each one singing in a choir with its siblings. With a thunderous crack, part of the canopy gave way to a black missile which struck the freshly watered ground with a dull thud and a sickening splat. Leaves settled slowly from the trees’ wounds onto the forest floor, blanketing the crash site. The faint rattle of the rain returned as the reverberations from the crash died down. A low, painful moan came from the crater, and the leaves rustled as Echo staggered to her hooves. She was covered in dried, caked on mud from head to toe, and bits of foliage had lodged themselves in the holes of her hooves and mane. She shook her head as she recovered from the shock of the fall. What happened? She wondered to herself. The last thing I remember, I was chasing some brown pony through Canterlot. She remembered feeling like she had gotten hit by a train, followed by the sight of clouds whizzing by her. Well, she mused, I guess the invasion didn’t go as planned. She knew that she needed to get her bearings, and figure out where she was. She buzzed her wings and jumped up in an attempt to fly above the canopy, but fell back to the ground with a shout as pain shot through her right wing into her back. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that her right wing had been torn slightly at the spot where it connected to her back. It would heal eventually, but she wasn’t going to be flying any time soon. Great. She looked around, and her eyes caught a tall tree nearby. I hate climbing. The tree’s leaves parted as the mud-soaked, flightless changeling drone worked her way to the top. She hugged the branch with all the strength her legs could muster as she looked around nervously for some signs of population. If I want to have any chance of survival, I need to find some ponies. I won’t last long without any food. As she scanned the horizon, smoke caught her eyes, and she could just make out some rooftops and chimneys in the distance. That’ll do. There was a loud crack as the branch Echo was hugging gave way under her weight. With a shout of surprise, the changeling once again found herself colliding with the ground. The branch landed heavily a short distance from her. I really hate climbing. She slowly got back onto her hooves, shaking off what foliage she could, and began her trek toward the town she had spotted from above. Her hunger gnawed at her stomach, telling her that she had probably been unconscious for at least a day or two. As she walked, her horn glowed with a faint green magic. She was trying to see if there were any other changelings nearby, but the spell also had the effect of giving her some light by which to walk. She couldn’t find any signs of changeling activity near her. After a few hours of walking, she found an untrimmed path, at the end of which she could just make out the silhouettes of the town’s buildings. She considered heading into town tonight, but quickly realized that she was far too tired to trust herself with a disguise. Looking around, she saw a bough in a tree on the edge of the forest that seemed just the right size to hold her in relative comfort through the night. Great. More climbing. A few minutes later, and Echo hung helplessly from a branch about 20 feet off the ground, her face radiating pure frustration. A gnarled branch had become lodged in one of the larger holes in her hooves, and now she was stuck, helpless, only a stone’s throw from the bough she thought would be her lodging for the night. I swear, I’m the butt of some cosmic joke. As she pondered the existential implications of her predicament, her ears caught the sound of voices. Listening in, she could make out what sounded like three fillies. “Scoot, I don’t think this is such a good idea.” one of them said. “Applebloom’s right, Scoot. It’s getting dark, and the Everfree is dangerous enough during the day.” another said. “Come on you guys, don’t be such scaredy-cats. ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders Monster Hunters’ is a great idea.” The voices were getting closer. Echo knew that she was in trouble, since she didn’t have much energy to change. There was no time to debate it, though, as she enveloped herself in green flame, choosing the first form that came to her mind, a unicorn pony from Canterlot called “Candlelight”. As the flames died down, three fillies came through the brush into the clearing below her. This could work. She thought. As the fillies nervously walked through the clearing, Echo cleared her throat. “Excuse me, help?” she said, before clasping her free hoof over her mouth. Her voice had come out with a dull buzz under the words, characteristic of a changeling’s natural speaking voice. All three of the fillies whipped around to look at her, and she watched as expressions of terror crossed all of their faces before they screamed at the top of their lungs. The surprise caused her muscles to tense up, and the sudden shift in weight caused the branch to break. She crashed face first into the ground for the third time today, the screams of the fillies still stabbing at her ears. She looked up in time to see them run out of the forest screaming. When she recovered, she mumbled something about hating trees and burning the whole forest down before limping slowly over to a large puddle at the base of the tree. When she saw her reflection, she almost screamed herself. Staring back at her was a pony with a normal alabaster Equestrian coat, a normal half-changeling and red half-pony mane, one changeling foreleg, changeling fangs, and her natural changeling eyes, one of which was blue like every other changeling, and the other a deep shade of red. “Way to go, Echo.” she said aloud as she reverted to her true form with a flash. “What else could go wrong?” she knew that she would have to leave this area, since those fillies might bring back somepony to investigate. First, though, she should fix her disguise. She focused with all of her might, and her head and foreleg were again enveloped in green flames. When they cleared, the puddle reflected a normal unicorn mare, though she kept one of her eyes blue and one of them red. She had always prized her red eye, since it made her stand out from her siblings, and she just couldn’t bring herself to change that unless she had to. She began to walk along the edge of the forest as the moon slowly peeked over the horizon. After some time, she discovered a tree that was about two ponies thick which had a knothole in it low enough to the ground that she could step in with little trouble. Casting a simple spell, an orb of dim green light stuck to the roof of the tiny cavern. “It’ll do.” Echo muttered. Stepping outside, she grabbed a large strip of bark from the side of the tree. As she entered the hole again, she used her magic to pull the bark against the entrance, making a door of sorts that would conceal her location should anyone wander by, although she doubted if it would stand up to any real scrutiny. With a flash of green flame, she returned to her natural state and curled up for the night. * * * “Squad 58, move to the north end of the courtyard. I need you to head off the group of guards amassing in that area, and distract them while squad 38 moves in from behind.” Echo stood on top of a spire in Canterlot, handing out orders through the short-range telepathic network that was one of the changelings’ natural abilities. “Squad 87 is in need of assistance. I need squad 62 to rendezvous with them. Medical team, there’s a collection of wounded in the southwest corner of the courtyard, I need you to retrieve them after squad 49 eliminates the guards covering them.” As a changeling of superior intelligence, she had been hoof-picked by Queen Chrysalis from the time that she was a hatchling to become a leader in the swarm. In actuality, she was a mutant. Her red eye possessed uncanny visual acuity, which meant that she would be able to make out fine details at a much greater distance than her siblings. When this was coupled with her affinity for combat strategy, her teachers did not hesitate to recommend her for special duty. The queen, as it turned out, agreed with their recommendation, and placed her in direct command over the 8th battalion of the changeling strike brigade. It was an honor to say the least, and Echo had every intention of living up to her queen’s expectations. From her right, Echo caught a flash of magic just in time to dodge it. In just a thought, the unicorn stallion who had attacked her was engulfed by changelings. Everything was going according to plan. The Elements of Harmony had been defeated by her battalion, and when all was said and done, she was sure to receive a personal commendation from the queen herself. Through her red eye, she saw a brown mare dive into one of the shops. Things seem well in hoof, she considered. I might as well enjoy myself a little. “Colonel Shift,” she called out. “Take command for a moment. I’m going to go have a little fun.” The Colonel laughed as he saluted and took her place. She fluttered over to the building where the mare had disappeared, and with a blast from her horn threw the door from its hinges. Stepping inside, she made eye contact with a white mare who quickly dealt out a blast of yellow magic to Echo’s chest. She shrugged it off quickly and blasted the unicorn with a stun spell. “CANDLELIGHT!” A voice came from the back of the building. The brown mare spent just enough time to shoot Echo an expression of absolute terror before turning tail and running out the back into an alley. As Echo gave chase, she found her dream slowly dissolving around her, and she returned to consciousness. * * * Sunlight crept around the edges of Echo’s makeshift door like a snake. A ray caught her in the eye, rousing her from her rest. As she awoke, she was made immediately aware of her growing hunger. If she didn’t eat today, she wouldn’t have enough strength to transform by the time tomorrow came around. There was no choice; she had to go into the town. Changing into Candlelight with considerable effort, she walked toward town, resolving to find a suitable model as quickly as possible. Only a few short minutes of walking later she found herself crossing a bridge into the town. A sign read “Ponyville”. That name sounds familiar. After a moment, she remembered. Ponyville. Home of the Elements of Harmony. This is not the best place for a changeling to find herself. She quickly composed herself and decided to get down to business. Now, any stallion here have a loving mare? A quick survey of her surroundings showed mostly mares, but a few were standing in close proximity to some stallion or another. Two particularly loving ponies were standing next to an apple cart. The stallion was robust, a bright red color with a large green half-apple for a cutie mark. The mare was a purple-ish pink color and had hair that reminded Echo of salt water taffy. Her cutie mark was a set of three flowers. The couple positively reeked of love. She sat on a bench and waited for the big one to go on his way. Eventually, he hitched himself up to the cart and began to pull it toward the market. Echo glanced around and made sure that nopony was able to see before she surrounded herself again in green flames and became the mare of this pony’s affections. Recalling the conversation she had eavesdropped on, she called out to him in a sing-song voice. “Oh cutie-patootie lovie-dovie honey-bunny!” She fought the urge to retch. The stallion turned around. “Shmoopy-doo?” he said quizzically. Immediately, Echo absorbed the love which poured forth from the stallion. “What the hay?” a shocked voice said from behind her. Echo whipped her head around. Oh, for the love of Chrysalis. The mare she was impersonating stood dumbstruck, staring right at her. Turning around again, she found the red stallion equally flabbergasted. Only one thing to do now. Echo thought with grim determination. With that, she turned toward the nearest alleyway and ran as fast as her hooves could carry her. As she turned a corner, she used her freshly acquired energy to quickly change back into Candlelight and assume a prone position on the ground. After a few seconds, the stallion came rushing around the corner. She tried her best to look stunned. “Did anyone get the license off of that train?” she tried to sound as disoriented as possible. “Are you alright, miss...?” the stallion said. “Candlelight.” she pretended to regain her ground. “Yes, thank you, mister...?” “McIntosh. Most call me Big Mac.” “Mister McIntosh. Thank you.” The stallion looked around and, satisfied that his lover’s doppelganger was nowhere to be seen, nodded in acknowledgment before heading back up the alleyway. That was much too close, Echo thought. and much too careless. Hunger affects my judgment more than I thought. At least I’m full, now. Echo turned around to head back to her tree, and found herself immediately face-to-face with a smiling pink pony. “You’re new around here, aren’t you?” Pinkie Pie said. Echo could only stutter. An Element of Harmony. Could this get any worse? “I know you’re new because I haven’t seen you around before, and I know everyone in Ponyville.” “Okay? Well, I need to get going, so I’ll just -” “NO!” the Element of Laughter interrupted. “I have to throw you a party first.” “Now?” Echo groaned. “Really?” “Well duh, otherwise it wouldn’t be a welcome party, it’d be a welcome-back party!” Echo stared on in horror as the pink party pony pulled a full sized cannon out of thin air. “How did you -” she was cut off by a sudden explosion of streamers and miniature fireworks. Terrified and unsure of what to do next, she did the only thing she could, she ran. Her escape took her around the corner of the building and through the street. She glanced behind her and saw nopony chasing her. She turned another corner into an alleyway, where she collapsed against the side of a building. “I hate that pony,” she muttered as she caught her breath. A quick bit of magic flared on her horn as she pulled a streamer out from behind her ear. “and I hate parties.” “That’s silly!” “Oh, sweet merciful -” “Nopony hates parties, and especially not a Pinkie Pie party!” Echo turned her head, and painfully asked, “What in Equestria is a Pinkie Pie party?” “Well, I’m a Pinkie Pie,” a Cheshire grin consumed her visage as she continued. “and I’m Ponyville’s Pink Party Pony, so any parties I throw are Pinkie Pie parties! Since you’re new, I have to throw you a welcoming party, but you ran away so I didn’t get to ask your name, and I really need to know your name if I’m going to throw you a party, because otherwise nopony will be able to greet you, and you’d have to spend the whole night saying your name over and over and over and that wouldn’t be any fun for you!” Pinkie Pie said in one breath. “Well, I appreciate the offer, but I really don’t think that’s nece -” “So, what’s your name?” Echo sighed. “I’m Candlelight.” “That’s a super-awesome name! What’s your special talent?” Pinkie Pie gestured to Candlelight’s cutie mark. “Umm...” I should have thought this through... what can I do well? “Sight. Metaphorically. The candle flame represents my artistic vision. I can organize things very well, and I have a remarkable ability to bring order to chaos.” This wasn’t actually a lie. If anything came up that required Echo to demonstrate Candlelight’s talent, there would be no need to fake it. Chrysalis had chosen her to be a leader for a reason, after all. “That’s so cool! So do you, like, paint or something?” Damn. A vocation... “No, I … make … clothes.” Clothes, really? Echo, what are you doing? “I can work miracles with fabric!” Outwardly, she smiled brightly while she kicked herself mentally. “Oh, boy do I have a friend for you, you’re going to LOVE Rarity and she’s going to love you and OH MY GOSH I HAVE TO PLAN THE PARTY! It’ll be tomorrow at 6, okay? Bye!” With this, the pony disappeared in a puff of smoke and streamers. “What?” Echo stood in the middle of the street, struggling to catch her breath. A few minutes went by, and she remained firmly rooted to the spot. “Hi there,” a voice came from behind. Oh, Chrysalis, another one? “You’re new, right?” Echo didn’t turn to look at the new pony, and didn’t say a word. “So, I guess you’ve already met Pinkie Pie, huh?” Echo only nodded slightly. “Are you okay?” Echo finally managed to turn her head, and found herself face to face with the Element of Magic and Princess Celestia’s personal student, Twilight Sparkle. Echo tried to say something, but the stress of the day was too much, and as she opened her mouth, all that came out was a scream before the edges of her vision began to fade to black, and she fainted.