//------------------------------//
// Feeling lucky 
// Story: Conversion 
// by CrutioAstarothChaos 
//------------------------------//

	Lime Biscuit was occupied. Not really busy, just merely concentrating on keeping up with the pink whirlwind of Sugarcube corner, as she was running around, performing multiple steps of baking cupcakes simultaneously. The disguised changeling felt his head spinning, as he tried to take mental notes of everything.
“Combine the chocolate wafer crumbs, softened butter, 2 tablespoons white sugar, and the cinnamon.” He muttered to himself. “ In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. No wait, that’s another recipe. Preheat oven… I can’t keep up with this!”
“Oh.” Pinkie suddenly noticed his colleague’s distress, and slowed down. “Sorry, I guess I became a bit too excited.”
“No kidding.” Buzzer growled. “But may I ask a question?”
“Sure can do!”
“Since you’re so good at this, how about in the first few days you handle the kitchen, and I handle the serving in the rush hours.” Lime said. “And in the slower hours I get to handle the kitchen, to learn the ropes.”
“Ropes? But why would we need ropes?” Pinkie asked, tapping a hoof to her chin.
“I hope that’s a joke,” Buzzer replied. “So how about it?”
“I guess that could work. Ya gat yerself a deal partna!”
“Ah think, sugahcube, that’s mah line,” Applejack said suddenly.
“How long have you been standing there?” the two colleagues asked, staring surprised at the newcomer.
“Long enough to hear enough,” Applejack replied. “Pinkie are ya sure ya want the newbie to handle things? No offense, but you don’t exactly know him. Nopony here does.”
“But Lime has a point!” she argued. “I know this stuff, I’ve been doing this since I got here! He doesn’t have as much practice, not to mention a Pinkie-sense!”
“What’s a Pinkie-sense?” Buzzer cautiously asked, not knowing whether it was common knowledge or not.
“Oh, just a special knack I have,” Pinkie puffed out her chest. “Sometimes I get these strange signals my body sends me, telling me that there will be something happening soon. Like if my tail twitches, something will fall.”
“Trust me partna,” Applejack took over, before Lime could open his mouth, “ya don’ wanna question the pinkie-sense. But back to tha topic at hoof, I don’t know Pinkie; a new face might not be the thing the ponies want to see here. Especially after Canterlot.”
The changeling in the room almost screamed. Buzzer saw his meals suddenly swimming away, but Pinkie saved his confidence.
“I’m sure Applejack,” she replied. “Lime here might have a sour name, but he has a sweet tooth, and an even sweeter manner. I bet the girls coming here will like him.”
“Thanks Miss Pinkie,” Lime Biscuit said, trying his best not to blush, “but Miss Applejack is right. Really nopony knows my face. I might frighten away the customers.”
“Well, if nopony knows you that’s because I haven’t thrown you a party yet!” Pinkie cheered. “Which I will! Right after I baked these muffins!”
The pink whirlwind got back to work, while Applejack examined the lime colored pony in front of her.
“Call me paranoid, but something about ya is a little off,” she said, walking around Buzzer. The changeling dared not to move. “Where did ya say you were from?”
“Trottingham,” Lime lied fluently. “Our parents decided to move to Canterlot a few years ago, and my brothers and I continued our studies there. My mother was originally from Canterlot, and our grandparents had a few connections. But after the, well… ‘wedding’, the three of us decided to move out of the city.”
“And your parents let you go just like that?” Applejack asked. “Seems hard to believe.”
“Miss Pinkie, exactly how old were you when you came to Ponyville?” Buzzer asked the pink pony, knowing the story of the mare’s whole life, since she told it among the billion other things she blabbed about the whole day.
“Five,” she replied, without stopping. Buzzer gave the farmer a deadpan look.
“You managed to prove me wrong,” Applejack admitted her defeat, raising her hooves. “But only because it’s Pinkie.”
“You were only four when you traveled to the city of Manehattan alone,” Pinkie countered, not stopping her work for a second.
“Allright, fine, Ah get it,” she replied in an unpleasant tone. “Ah juts don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“Don’t you worry Granny Applejack,” Pinkie said, finally giving a moment’s rest for herself. “I’ll keep my eyes on this changeling myself!”
“Yeah right,” Buzzer needed all his training and nerves to stay calm, and continue his act. “I’m a hideous creature, and will devour all your love!”
“See?” the pink pony argued. “No changeling would have a sense of humor like this!”
“Ah’m not entirely convinced, but given time Ah might will be,” Applejack said, extending a hoof to Lime Biscuit. “Until then, farewell partna!”
The changeling shook the farmer’s hoof, and watched her leave. After they were alone, he let out a small sigh. He wanted to start thinking, but a hoof on his shoulder disturbed him. He looked up to see Pinkie with a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry Lime,” She said. “I don’t care what others think you are, I know.”
“Really?” he asked, surprised.
“Of course!” Pinkie cheered, embracing the other in a tight hug. “You’re my friend silly!”
The changeling felt the love of Pinkie flowing around him. He closed his eyes, and hugged the mare back.
She wouldn’t mind me having a small snack. He thought, devouring a small portion of the pony’s love. After all, my brothers might not be this lucky.
 
My brothers will never be this lucky. Thorax thought when Madame Tender introduced the new caretaker to the foals. The small ponies greeted the disguised shifter with a stream of joy mixed with love. Thorax only had to reach out and drink from the flow of emotions, restraining himself from trying to devour it all. He knew if they would get suspicious, his cover would be blown, and his brothers would be in danger as well. So he only took enough to share it with his brothers, and then concentrated on his new tasks. It was late in the afternoon, and he still had to meet at least his younger brother in the Retching Griffon tonight. He was sure he would spend all his remaining bits on a huge mug of cider to celebrate.
“And this is our bedroom,” a small filly announced, showing him a room filled with beds. “We used to clean it up, but I guess that will be your job too from now on.”
“Now small Dandelion, it is everypony’s responsibility,” Madame Tender gently scoffed the foal. “He will have his tasks, but you might ask him nicely to help you clean up.”
“Oh don’t worry, it won’t be a problem at all,” Zaffre said smiling. “I’d be glad to help such young fine ladies.”
The filly blushed at the compliment, and they closed the door and moved on.
“Is there any particular bedtime story you like?” Thorax asked Dandelion.
“Well, most of the colts like the legends of Starswirl the bearded, but us girls like tales about the princesses,” the filly explained. “There’s a whole shelf of these books in the playroom. I used to read them to the others. I could read them for you.”
“Thanks, but shouldn’t I be taking care of you, instead of you taking care of me?” Zaffre asked playfully. This resulted in Madame Tender chuckling softly.
“Oh, so eager to prove yourself to any handsome stallion, aren’t you now?” the old mare asked giggling.
“Nanny!” Dandelion yelled, cheeks flushing red. “That’s not true!”
“Oh, hush little one, I was fooling around!” she scoffed the filly, smiling. “Can’t an old mare have a small joy in her life?”
“Sorry.” Dandelion cowered a bit.
Madame Tender rustled the foal’s mane, and asked Zaffre to take her back to her room. The small filly ran off to play with the others, while Thorax led the mare to the room in the back. After she was settled in her rocking chair, she grabbed Zaffre before he could walk away.
“I’m glad you are here.” She said to him. “I don’t know what winds blew you here, but with us being this close to Canterlot, we were the first to get a surplus of foals after the attack. Dandelion and Stork may have been able to fulfill minor tasks and aid me, but now there are a lot of other foals, and our tasks have been doubled.”
“I will do my best to help you,” – Thorax touched the hoof on his shoulder, – “and help them. I won’t let you down.”
“Thank you,” Madame Tender replied, and let go of the shifter. “Don’t forget to lay them to their beds at exactly half past eight! Some of them are expected to attend to a class tomorrow morning!”
 
My brothers are definitely luckier than I am. Shiftlight thought, slowly turning the pages of the huge anatomy book in front of him. Nurse Redheart gave him quite an enormous amount of knowledge to be swallowed in less than half a day, but he intended to give it his best shot. He was already halfway through the stack of parchments, but his mind needed some fresh air and a bit of peace to digest the information. Most changelings were taught to read quickly, and learn necessary knowledge in a short amount of time, but everyone had their limits.
For the tall changeling this limit was the part of the book explaining the various treatments of the Pars Pituitary Intermedia Dysfunction. The vast amount of medical terms, the meaning of which he either guessed or looked up in a medical dictionary tired his nerves to the point he could barely concentrate on not forgetting what his fake name was.
“Silver Lancet.” He said to himself, taking a sip of the hot cup of coffee he made for himself. “My name is Silver Lancet. Crack this, I need some real energy.”
His head hit the table with a loud thud, the muscles in his neck giving up under the weight of his knowledge. He almost drifted off into sleep, when another, slightly quieter thud was heard from the window of the room. He slowly looked up, and his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates when he saw what was on the outside. The changeling walked to the window, and opened it.
“Hey there, brother!” a small lime colored unicorn greeted.
“The cricket are you doing here Lime Biscuit?” Silver Lancet said. “Shouldn’t you be baking cakes and muffins and pot bellies?”
“What?” Buzzer asked, as Shiftlight facehoofed himself, shaking his head. “Never mind, I got my first dose of affection. I wanted to share it with you, since I took a wild guess that you would be buried under those books of yours.”
“Ancestors bless you, you guessed right.” Shiftlight motioned his brother to get inside, who used his magic to levitate himself through the open window. “I could use some cold juice right now.”
Buzzer’s horn lit up, and a small stream of green smoke emerged from it, targeting the other changeling. Shiftlight literally sucked up the energy with his mouth, savoring the taste for a second, before gulping it down.
“Thank you brother.” Lancet patted his small sibling’s head. “I need to get back to reading.”
“Good luck with that!” Lime jumped out the window. “I have to get back to see if my first batch of muffins is ready!”
Shiftlight got back to his desk, opening up another book detailing the various treatments and complications of broken bones. He only got to page fifty before another knock from his window disturbed him. He stood up, and opened his window, looking outside again. He didn’t see anypony nearby, but before he could’ve closed the window, he heard a loud “Psst!” from above. He looked up, just to see his other brother hovering upside-down above him.
“Am I disturbing you?” Thorax asked in his disguise.
“No Zaffre, you aren’t.” Shiftlight invited him inside as well. His brother dropped onto the edge of the window and stepped inside.
“I brought you some juice.” The changeling in the pegasus mask said. “I was on my way to see both of you in the Retching Griffon, but then I realized you won’t really make it there, so I brought you a fair share.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you.” Lancet said, drawing the curtains. “Our smallest brother already visited me with a present too, making sure I wouldn’t starve.”
“Hey, I guessed you’re the one having the hardest time from the three of us.” Thorax dropped his disguise, and streamed a greater amount of magically collected love to his brother. Shiftlight slurped it up in a second, devouring every last drop before it could’ve disappeared into the ether. “Besides, the way you held out this long, you earned it.”
“Thank you again.” Silver Lancet replied, opening the window, as his brother took upon his disguise again. “I’ll make sure I’ll repay this somehow to both of you.”
“Hey, we’re from the same mother.” Thorax replied, turning back from the window, before leaving. “We never did this for any payment.”
Zaffre flew off, heading towards the inn, as Shiftlight closed the window behind him. He sat back to his desk, grabbing the book about broken bones.
I’m lucky to have brothers like them. He thought, before diving completely into the mysteries of pony anatomy.