//------------------------------// // Visit From A Relative - Part 4 // Story: Chibi Changeling // by Yukito //------------------------------// Rumble yawned as he crept down the stairs in his house, a pair of saddlebag on his back and, a comb in his hoof, running through his mane. He stopped in front of a mirror at the bottom of the stairs to check his hair. “… I really don’t know about this,” he said to himself with a sigh. The previous day, he had agreed to hang out with Archer and Berry Pinch and their friends in the park today. However, that was before he had met Crunch Berry, and now, he wasn’t so sure if it was worth the risk. ‘That crazy changeling will kill me if I get too close to Berry Pinch.’ Rumble heard the sounds of giggling in the living room, and was reminded him of why he had decided to go out that morning in the first place. ‘Right. Those two are still asleep in there, so it’s not like I have much to do here anyway…’ Sighing, Rumble placed his comb into his bag after he had finished fixing his mane, and then proceeded to leave the house very, very quietly. Rumble arrived at the park thirty minutes before the time that Archer had specified, so he decided to buy himself an ice-cream cone and sit on a nearby bench. He let out a loud yawn as he sat down, and brought a hoof to his eyes to wipe away his tiredness. “You must be pretty sleepy, huh?” Rumble simply nodded, but then paused when he had finished yawning. He turned to his side to see a familiar pink filly looking his way. “Um, good morning.” “Good morning,” he said back. Both foals turned their gazes away from each other. “You got here early, too?” “Yeah… Mommy was acting weird last night, so I thought I’d come out and get some fresh air… Maybe it has something to do with grandma moving in?” Rumble’s ears twitched, and his body shivered in fear. “Y-Your grandmother?” Berry Pinch nodded. “Yeah. I haven’t ever known any changelings, other than my mum. My mum and I moved to Ponyville when I was only two, you see. Anyway, last night, my grandma showed up, saying she wanted to see me.” “… And, how is she?” ‘I mean, besides a complete psycho?’ Berry Pinch smiled. “She’s really fun.” Rumble looked shocked at this, but she didn’t seem to notice. “She had so many interesting stories to tell, and answered so many questions about our race that mommy wouldn’t ever answer for me. But, I get the feeling that mommy and grandma don’t really get along that well.” “Is that so?” Rumble asked, taking a lick of his ice-cream. ‘I wonder if I should tell her that her grandmother threatened me yesterday?’ “Where did you get that ice-cream?” Berry Pinch asked. Rumble pointed to the ice-cream stand in the distance, which the filly quickly began running towards. Rumble sighed as he sat back into his seat. ‘What was that all about, anyway? Forbidden from dating her? Who says I want to, anyway? I mean, she’s not bad-looking, but-’ Rumble’s s thoughts were cut short when he saw Berry Pinch returning to where he was sitting, looking incredibly downcast. “What’s wrong?” “I forgot my bits,” Berry Pinch sulked. “I can’t buy any ice-cream.” The filly sat down on the bench next to Rumble, and hung her head as she frowned at the ground beneath her hooves. Rumble looked at his ice-cream, and then at Berry Pinch, and then at his ice-cream again. “… You… want the rest of mine?” Berry Pinch immediately lifted her head, and looked at Rumble with a look of surprise. “R-Really?” Rumble nodded. “I’ve had enough, anyway. You can have the rest, if you want.” Berry Pinch smiled widely, and reached forward to grab the cone. She blushed when her hoof came into contact with Rumble’s, and averted her eyes as she pulled the cone towards herself. “Thanks…” “It’s fine,” Rumble said, his eyes shifting between Berry Pinch and the ground as he watched her eat the ice-cream with a smile on her face. The colt felt his face heating up, and began to wish that he hadn’t given away his ice-cream. Crunch Berry grit her teeth as she watched the two foals below her sitting together on a bench in the park. “I told him not to get too close to her. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough?” She heard the sounds of giggling, and noticed a group of fillies approaching the two. “Damnit. Guess I can’t get him alone just yet… Oh well, I can wait.” A grin spread across her face. “And hey, maybe he’ll change his mind. He is a growing colt, surrounded by such cute little fillies, after all.” “Is it true that ponies in Cloudsdale carry spears around at all times?” Dink asked Rumble, bombarding him with a lot of questions about Cloudsdale. “Do you really have your own branch of the Royal Guard there? Is it really so big that you could get lost, even if you’ve spent your whole life there?” “Uh, well,” Rumble began, backing away from the energetic filly with a nervous look on his face, “I-It’s not like we all carry weapon, but the Royal Guard stationed there carry their weapons when off-duty, so outsiders usually mistake them as regular civilians carrying weapons.” Dinky looked a little sad at that. “Oh…” ‘Why does that upset her?’ Rumble shook the question from his mind, deciding not to bother asking. “And yes, it is pretty big. It doesn’t help that, because everything is made of clouds, the city constantly change shape. One morning, school might be in walking distance, then next week, you might need to take a chariot.” “Really?” Alula asked, she and her friends all growing interested in the story. “That must be so confusing!” Rumble laughed. “Yeah, at times…” He spared a moment to look to his left, where he saw Berry Pinch also looking at him, listening intently to his answers to Dinky’s many questions about Cloudsdale. “What’s wrong?” Archer asked, shooting Rumble a sly grin. “See something you like?” Rumble quickly shook his head, and turned away, confusing the rest of the fillies in the group. “Look, will ya just stop and listen to me for a sec?!” The foals gathered at the park turn to the source of the raised voice, and saw a white Unicorn mare chasing a grey Earth Pony mare. “Tavi, just listen to me, alright?!” “Save it, Vinyl! I said I don’t want to talk about it right now!” “But-” “NOT. NOW!” “UGH! Why are you so stubborn?!” Berry Pinch felt something tugging at her heart, and let out a gasp, before her breathing began to increase. ‘O-Oh no… Not again.’ Her temperature started to rise, and her eyes began to water. Rumble and Archer noticed this, and both started to grow concerned, though for very different reasons. “Berry? Are you okay?” Archer asked, placing a hoof on her friend’s forehead. “You’re burning up! I think we should cut our meet up short, guys, and get Berry Pinch home.” The other fillies moaned, but understood. Rumble knew what was really happening, though, and started to panic when he saw green sparks flow out of Berry Pinch’s horn. “Um, actually, guys,” he started, getting up and walking over to the panting filly, “You guys should stay here and enjoy your day. You all planned it out so much, right? I can take Berry Pinch home by myself.” “Are you sure?” Dinky asked. “Berry Pinch is our friend, I don’t think we should-” “It’s fine,” Berry Pinch said, though her voice was weak. “You guys have fun… I’ll be fine with just Rumble.” Archer was about to speak up, but after Berry Pinch’s horn began to glow green, Rumble quickly picked her up and draped her over his back. “We’ll be fine!” he said quickly, turning around before anypony could say anything else. “I’ll see to it that she gets home safe and sound! Don’t worry!” Rumble quickly ran off through the park, carrying Berry Pinch on his back and silently begging her to hold on until they got to her home. However, Berry Pinch wasn’t sure that she could. “… That grey one,” she started, “She’s just round that corner. She’s feeling such hatred right now… If I can just get to her-” “That’s too risky! What if somepony sees you?!” “But… I don’t think… that I can maintain my disguise much longer…” Berry Pinch’s mane flickered, and began to dim, before being covered in green flames for a moment, bringing back the bright colour that it once was. “Please…” Rumble groaned, and stopped his running to change his direction. “Fine, just hang on a little longer, okay?” “… Thank you…” Octavia sighed as she sat on a bench to the side of one of Ponyville’s streets. “Stupid Vinyl Scratch… I take such precious time out of my life to visit her, and she can’t even spare a single moment for me!” “Um… Excuse me, miss?” Octavia looked down at the young Pegasus colt addressing her. “Do you know that white mare with the strange glasses?” Octavia grunted, and turned her head away with a huff. “So, she’s sending kids to look for me, now? Tell her I have no intention of speaking to her any time soon.” Rumble shook his head. “It’s not that! She’s in trouble!” Octavia’s eyes widened, and she turned back to face the young colt. “She’s passed out in the alleyway! I can’t move her on my own! I need you to help me!” Octavia gasped, and quickly rose to her hooves. “Where?!” she asked frantically. “This way!” Rumble replied, turning around and running down the street. “Come on!” Octavia quickly followed the colt, eventually reaching an alleyway and turning in to it as the colt did. However, what she saw was just an empty alleyway, with no sign of the white mare anywhere. “W-Where is she?” “Sorry,” Rumble said, before pulling something out from behind a cardboard box to the side of the alleyway. It was a small, black pony-shaped thing, with insect-like wings, and a black, twisted horn on its head. “W-What-” Before Octavia could finish asking her question, a green beam of light shout out of Berry Pinch’s horn, and connected with Octavia’s forehead. Octavia slowly closed her eyes, and fell down onto the ground in a peaceful slumber, whilst Berry Pinch’s eyes opened wider, and her breathing began to slow down. “Get mommy,” she said as her strength started to return to her. “We need her to erase this mare’s memory.” Rumble nodded, and was about to leave the alleyway, when the sight of a pink Pegasus pony landing in front of him stopped him. “That won’t be necessary,” the new pony said. Berry Pinch gasped in surprise, and her beam of magic suddenly halted as she beheld her grandmother standing before her. “G-Grandma…” Crunch Berry looked down at the slumbering mare, and closed her eyes and green flames enveloped her. Her wings disappeared, and a horn shot out of her forehead. “I’ll take care of this,” she said as her horn lit up a green colour. A similar-coloured aura enveloped Octavia’s body, and the Earth Pony mare groaned some more. “… Now,” Crunch Berry said as she finished erasing the mare’s memory, “You two… It would seem that my granddaughter has awoken, though not in the same sense as a regular changeling.” Berry Pinch lowered her head in shame, and Crunch Berry turned to Rumble. “Well, that’s fine. But what isn’t fine, is that this pony, seems to know about you…” Crunch Berry took a step forward, and her horn began to glow once more. “And we can’t have that, now can we?”