//------------------------------// // Prejudice // Story: Integration - Part Two of A Changeling's Story (Cancelled) // by CoAlFire //------------------------------// Echo's head throbbed as she woke up. Three weeks had passed since she had been the donor in her daughter's life-saving blood transfusion, but one thing that experience had taught her was that changelings don't regenerate blood as quickly as ponies. I suppose we can't have flight, magic, and strength, can we? She staggered on to her hooves and fumbled her way downstairs, nearly tripping as she reached the bottom without really looking where she was going. The shock was enough to bring her completely to her senses, and she snapped out of the morning's haze. Her horn lit up as she began to rummage through the cabinets in the kitchen. She grabbed a bowl, some milk, and a box of cereal, and began to make breakfast. She plopped a spoon in the bowl after the cereal had been prepared, and called up the stairs, “Scoot-Scootaloo! Breakfast.” From upstairs, a grumble could be heard as the filly awoke, and a loud thud resounded through the ceiling as she rolled from her bed. Echo raced upstairs to make sure her daughter was okay – it had only been a few weeks since she had nearly died from blood loss, after all, and Echo couldn't be too certain of the little pegasus' health. If only she were a changeling, Echo thought to herself, I'd be able to tell whether she needed help or not. She opened the door to Scootaloo's room and found her rubbing her head. “Are you okay, Scoot?” “Yeah, Mom, I'm fine,” came the hazy reply. “All right, your breakfast is downstairs.” As Echo turned around to walk down the stairs, she heard a knock on the front door. “Echo, hurry,” Rainbow Dash shouted, “it's important!” Worried that some new disaster was imminent, Echo took to her wings and bolted to the front door. She opened it with enough force that she almost thought it would come off its hinges. On the other side, Rainbow Dash was beaming. Her wings fluttered as she hovered half a yard off the ground. “Dash,” Echo sputtered, “what's the big hurry?” “I realized something this morning. You've never actually met Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash's face was dominated by an enormous grin. From behind the pegasus, Echo heard a small squeak. Seeing that there was no impending doom, Echo silenced her buzzing wings and sat on her haunches. She raised one eyebrow and stared at Rainbow Dash in disbelief. “You nearly knocked my door down and gave me a heart attack to introduce me to one of your friends? Why are all of you ponies so insane?” “Hey,” Dash started, “the only insane pony I know is Pinkie Pie! Well, I suppose that Surprise is kind of crazy too, and Rarity does have her moments. Then there's Applejack, and she's pretty nuts. Twilight's completely cuckoo, and … okay, point taken,” she conceded, “but the point is that there's a pony you haven't met yet, and if you're going to be living here in Ponyville, you have to meet everypony at least once. So, here's Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash flittered off to the side, revealing a ball of yellow fur and feathers trembling on the ground. The nondescript fur ball slowly raised its head to reveal two enormous blue eyes which looked at Echo for a fraction of a second before slamming shut again. Fluttershy squeaked a little more. “Charmed,” Echo said. “Morning, Rainbow Dash,” came Scootaloo's still drowsy voice from behind Echo, “how's it going?” “Goin' awesome, kid! You?” Dash stepped inside and sat at the table next to Scootaloo. As Dash walked away, Fluttershy slowly rose to her hooves and left without a word. Echo didn't try to stop her, but stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Ugh, ponies. What is it with these ponies? Echo walked up behind her daughter and nuzzled her slightly. “I hate to interrupt your conversation, chicken-feather, but you'd better eat up before you have to go to school.” “Yeah,” Dash chimed, “your mom's probably right. I should get going anyway. Twilight said she wanted to see me at the Library. Actually, that's part of why I came here, Echo – she wanted me to bring you along.” The two of them moved toward the door as they talked. “I'll have to stick around here for a bit to make sure that Scoot gets herself ready for school and heads out on time, but after that, I'd be happy to join you,” she said, opening the door. As it opened, Dash looked around. “Hey,” she said, “Where's 'Shy?” “She walked away when you went inside.” “Oh, man, Twilight wanted her to come along, too. I'll go get her. See you at the Library in a few minutes, Echo!” With that, the pegasus disappeared in a prismatic flash of light. “These ponies,” Echo thought aloud, “they're always hustling to and from, but they never seem to have anywhere in particular to go.” Echo returned to the table and sat next to Scootaloo.“You hear me, bird-brain? You ponies are all weird.” She smiled and ruffled the filly's mane. “Yeah, well you changelings are creepy.” Scootaloo stuck out her tongue, and Echo made a snapping motion with her jaws, making sure to show off her fangs a little bit for dramatic emphasis. “Can't scare me like that, Mom, I know that you don't eat meat.” Echo sighed, “There was a time when you would have run in fear at the mere sight of me. What happened to those days?” At that, Scootaloo sat up straight and puffed out her chest. “I would never have run away from you. I'm the bravest kid around!” Echo nodded, “Mmhmm. That's why you ran screaming when we first met in the Everfree, right?” “That was different,” she stated matter-of-factly, “I thought you were a monster when that happened.” “Oh?” Echo tried to sound surprised, “what happened to change your mind?” In response, Scootaloo jumped over to Echo and clung to her. “You changed.” Echo's mouth dropped for a moment before she returned the hug and hummed, “I'm good at that.” They shared the embrace for a few moments longer before Echo got up. “You need to get going, feather duster.” “All right, Mom,” Scootaloo groaned as she put on her saddlebag, “see you later.” “Have a good day, sweetheart,” Echo said sweetly as she stepped outside with Scootaloo. The filly returned the sentiment, and they separated as they went to their respective destinations. The walk through town was as awkward as always. Echo had resolved to resist the urge to disguise herself in public. These ponies were going to accept her for who she was, or they would just have to deal with her being there. Some ponies seemed okay with her, and even gave her a smile and a nod. Others seemed indifferent to her presence, and others still seemed wary and frightened. Echo came to the library's door and knocked. She heard some shouting from the basement downstairs where Twilight did her changeling research. It sounded like two voices, Twilight's and Chrysalis'. The shouting match came to a crescendo, and then abruptly ended. After a few moments more, the door clicked open. Twilight smiled, “Oh, Echo, you're here early! That's great. Maybe you could come talk to Chrysalis for me?” “I doubt it,” Echo began, “what's going on?” “Oh, she just doesn't want to try going out without her -” “I mean why did you call me here, Twi?” Echo interrupted. The walk over had strained her nerves. “Oh, right. I'll wait until everypony is here before I get too far into that. In the mean time, why don't you come and wait downstairs with Chrysalis and me?” Echo knew that this was just Twilight's attempt to get Echo to talk with Chrysalis about whatever it is Twilight wanted them to talk about, but couldn't find a polite reason to decline. She came to the bottom of the stairs into the room full of whirring, clicking instruments to find the changeling queen passed out in the middle of the room. “She did it again, didn't she?” “Yeah,” Twilight sighed, “she never seems to remember that trying any kind of offensive magic will knock her out cold. Her recovery time, though, is improving.” Indeed, as Twilight said this, the queen began to rouse. “I hate you,” she growled to Twilight. “I know, Chrysalis, and that's part of the problem! We'll have to conclude this discussion later, though. Echo's here.” “Oh, hello Echo. Your friend here was just trying to convince me to commit suicide. Of course, that conversation can wait until nopony is here to tell her how stupid that is.” “Chrysalis, all I said was that you should try going outside without a disguise. If you're going to reform, ponies need to feel comfortable around you.” “Twilight, they can't feel comfortable around Echo. How do you think they'll feel around the changeling queen?” Echo's mouth dropped open as she considered a retort to her mother's cruel words, but it quickly shut again when she realized that Chrysalis was right. “Chrysalis,” Twilight began, “that's not true. Ponies like Echo, and they'd like you too if you'd give them the ch -” A knock came on the door upstairs, interrupting Twilight's sentence. The unicorn sighed dramatically. “Chrysalis, you should wait down here. Echo, come on.” The pair walked upstairs, ignoring the changeling queen's shouting behind them. Twilight reached the library door and opened it a crack. “Just a minute,” she said to whomever was outside as she turned around to address Echo. “You should probably put on a disguise. It would make things easier.” Echo sighed and went back to her old disguise as Candlelight, the white unicorn mare with fiery colors in her mane as Twilight turned back to the door and opened it completely. “Come on in,” she moved to allow Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy entrance. “Hey, Twi,” Dash said. “Hello, Twilight.” Fluttershy squeaked. “Hi, girls,” Twilight responded. She motioned behind her to the disguised changeling and said, “this is Echo.” “Oh yeah, I remember this. 'Candlelight', huh?” “Umm, excuse me?” Fluttershy said inaudibly, “Why are you in that disguise, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked inquisitively. “Are you hiding from somepony?” “Pardon me,” “Who is it? Do I need to teach 'em a lesson?” “I'm sorry, but excuse me?” “Just give me their name, and I'll teach 'em not to mess with my friends!” “Rainbow Dash,” Echo almost shouted, “Fluttershy has something to say.” At that, the yellow pegasus squeaked and sank low to the ground. “Well, yes, I do want to sa -” “I didn't hear her say anything. Did you have something to say, 'Shy?” “Yes, I do.” “Well, we're all waiting to hear it,” came a regal voice from the staircase. Everypony turned their heads to see queen Chrysalis. “Spit it out, yellow one.” Fluttershy's words caught in her throat, and her legs began to tremble. “Q-Q-Q-Queen Ch-Ch-Chrysalis. It's Q-Q-Queen Chrysalis!” “Really?” The queen looked around herself as if trying to find the elusive queen in a crowd of ponies. “Oh, I never would have guessed.” Her face immediately dissolved into an expressionless gaze. The queen walked gracefully over to the group and extended a hoof to Fluttershy. “Charmed.” Fluttershy stared at the queen's extended hoof in abject terror, and made no move to return the gesture. “Well, aren't you the rude one?” “Chrysalis,” Echo said, “you're scaring her senseless.” “What would you rather I do?” Chrysalis' voice boomed through the library, “take the form of a mute little bunny?” A tower of flame licked the ceiling as the tall, majestic queen transformed into a small white rabbit, sitting in the center of the room. “Oh my, yes! That's perfect.” Fluttershy zoomed over next to the disguised queen and picked her up. “You're so adorable! This makes it much easier to talk to you.” The rabbit's mouth dropped open and her brow furrowed. The queen began to push away from the pegasus, and when she was finally free, she stepped a few yards away and shifted into a vicious-looking bear. “Oh, that works too! You're so big and fuzzy. I think I have some berries in my saddle bag, would you like some?” The bear that was Chrysalis looked as though it might maul Fluttershy, and Twilight took that as an opportunity to stop the madness. “Perhaps we could get along to the reason why I called you all here today?” Everypony silently agreed, and Twilight continued. “Excellent. The purpose of this meeting today is to try to facilitate the integration of these two changelings into Ponyville's society. I have developed a plan to begin this process, and it involves you, Fluttershy.” “Me?” Fluttershy nearly leaped out of her hide. “Why do I have to be involved?” The bear began to growl and rumble, then changed back to Chrysalis in a flash. “Indeed, why does she have to be involved in this?” “She's the Element of Kindness, Mother,” Echo explained, “which makes her uniquely suited to putting up with you, in lieu of an Element of Patience.” “You know, Echo, that kind of sarcasm only works when I do it.” “You would think so, wouldn't you?” “Anyway, Chrysalis,” Twilight interjected, “I want Fluttershy to accompany you around town today, and no shapeshifting.” “Suicide,” the queen stated. “Tomorrow, I'd like for you to accompany Echo, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy looked at Echo, who smiled falsely. The truth was that Echo was terrified. She didn't know how to interact with any ponies outside of her friends or Scootaloo. At any rate, she agreed. Fluttershy coughed a little as she spoke, “okay, Twilight. I'll do my best. Come on, then, queen Chrysalis. Why don't we go back to my cottage where we can sit quietly for a little while and work up the courage to talk to ponies.” She began to lead the changeling queen out the door. “Is that how everypony prepares for their days?” Chrysalis inquired as she stepped outside. “No, but it's how I do.” The door closed, and Echo was alone with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “I really don't know about this, Twilight.” Echo said. “I know,” Twilight responded, “I'm not entirely sure about it myself. If you're going to be living in Ponyville, though, you should probably learn to get along with ponies rather than just have them tolerate your presence.” “I suppose you're right,” she said as she shifted back to her normal form, “what could go wrong, right? Ponies are a pretty accepting type.” “You'll be fine, Echo,” Rainbow Dash insisted, “you're totally awesome, everypony'll love you.” “Yeah, and pigs will fly.” Echo chittered to herself in the changeling language, which consisted of very specific buzzes of the wings and clicking sounds from the mouth. Dash laughed, “what was that?” “Nothing,” Echo smiled as she left the library. “I'll see you guys around, I've got to get to work at the boutique.” “Alright, Echo,” Twilight called from the door, “have a good day.” I'll try, she thought, but this is a bad idea all the same. The hours crawled by as Echo worked on a commission for a very prestigious client in Canterlot. She found herself starting to botch stitches, and Rarity took notice. “Darling,” the fashionista said, “are you quite all right? You're normally so careful in your work, I can't help but think that something is bothering you.” “No, I'm fine, Rarity. I just need to focus a little bit more. I was daydreaming, which I shouldn't do while I'm at work. I'm sorry.” “It's fine, dear. The day's nearly over, I can probably handle the rest of these stitches. Why don't you head home and get some rest? I'll talk to you tomorrow.” “Okay, Rarity. I'll see you tomorrow. Sorry again.” “Honestly, it's fine. Good night, Echo.” Through the walk home, she still felt accusing eyes glaring at her. She tried to tell herself that ponies were a very accepting type, and that they didn't mistrust her, but still she felt their judging gazes burning her. Finally, she arrived home. She saw Scootaloo's saddlebag thrown carelessly against the wall. A note was pinned to it on a small yellow piece of paper. She pulled it off and read, Miss Echo, I'm sorry to inform you that your daughter got into a fight with another student at school today. Because of the circumstances surrounding the incident, she is not in any serious trouble, but I would like to have a talk with you and Scootaloo about what happened. If you could arrive to pick her up after school tomorrow, that would be an excellent time to talk. Thank you, Cheerilee “Oh, no,” Echo said aloud. She walked upstairs to her daughter's room and found the door closed. Listening carefully, she heard Scootaloo crying softly. Echo knocked gently on the door. “Scootaloo? Scootaloo, honey, are you all right? May I come in?” “Yeah, Mom,” came a muffled reply, “come on in.” As Echo opened the door, she saw a lump under the covers on her daughter's bed. She sat down next to Scootaloo and rubbed her back through the covers. “Scoot, what happened?” “It was Diamond Tiara. She kept telling me how her dad, Filthy Rich, told her that you were an evil monster. She said horrible things about you, like that you drink blood, you can't feel love, and that you were only using me for food.” “Scoot, you know that those things aren't true.” “Yeah, that's why I bucked her in the face. Then she bucked me back, so I bit her, and she bit me, and we kept fighting until Miss Cheerilee broke it up and I'm sorry, Mom.” Echo withheld any criticism or compliment and simply asked, “are you okay?” “Yeah. Just a little bruised.” Echo lifted the covers back and saw her daughter curled up in a ball, looking at her through a big black eye. Her fur was matted in places and her mane was a mess. Her eyes were red from crying. “Oh my goodness,” Echo said as she pulled Scootaloo close. “Please don't be mad at me Mom,” Scootaloo said, “please don't get rid of me.” “Scootaloo, why would I get rid of you?” Echo had to fight back tears. “Because I let you down. I lost the fight. I'm not strong, I'm not brave, I'm nothing like you. I couldn't even keep you safe from words, but you fought off three hungry timber wolves for me. I'll never be like you, and why would you want a daughter like m-” Echo put a hoof over Scootaloo's mouth as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Don't you dare say that. Don't you dare ever say that. You survived what that monster, Cluster, did to you. That takes a lot of strength, and a lot of bravery,” she struggled to speak through the quiver in her voice, “and that you would think that I would get rid of you because you lost a fight is hurtful.” Scootaloo cried, “I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't mean it. I'm just scared.” “It's okay, Scootaloo, I'm scared too. I think we're going to have some nasty things said to us while the rest of the town gets used to me and Chrysalis being here. There might be some very ugly moments, but don't let it get to you. I promised you that I would be strong for you, and I want you to promise the same thing to me.” “Okay, Mom,” Scootaloo sniffed, “I'll be strong for you.”