//------------------------------// // Fluttershy's Feelings // Story: The Sneezing Changeling // by Lirg //------------------------------// Fluttershy's Feelings Doppel got out of the bed he had occupied for over a week now. It's pointless to stay in bed, if I can move. And I need to go away as soon as possible, or else it won't help her. He went downstairs to go to the living room, but stopped he in case he was seen by the pegasus if she was still on her couch. He wanted to respect her privacy as much as possible. Moreover, he didn't show any sign that he was better to the point where he could walk without problem. He heard Fluttershy whistling while she gave food to her small animals. He concluded than Fluttershy had been awake for a long time now. He stepped into Fluttershy’s line of sight, and the timid pony jumped at the sight of him. She breathed heavily for a few seconds while looking at the ground. After recovering her shock, she looked at the changeling, worried. “Doppel, aren’t you supposed to be resting in the bedroom?” she inquired. “No, look! I'm better!” he proved by moving all his limbs. Fluttershy continued to watch him as he danced. Suddenly, the changeling stopped and sneezed, taking the appearance of Lyra. He grinned while a blush came on his face. “Well, this hasn’t gone away yet but I can live with it,” he laughed. The pegasus' worries climbed to a new level. “Well,” he took a more serious tone, “First, I want to thank you for everything you've done for me. Without you and Twilight, I probably never could have recovered from my cold. But I can't stay like this in your house and risk putting you in danger every time a stranger came.” He took a deep breath. He felt sadness coming from Fluttershy. Perfect... She already suspects that I'm gonna leave. It'll be easier for me. “I spent a wonderful week here. Well, I was sick the entire week, but I had fun,” he carried on, on a joyfuller tone. “But my place is in the Everfree Forest. I wish you all the happiness you deserve.” He winked before adding up, “After all, it could help me in the future.” Without looking at the pegasus anymore, Doppel turned around and left the cottage running. He wanted to make sure that Fluttershy wasn't going to follow him. It's funny. I didn't thought that leaving was going to hurt me too. But I didn't have a choice. Without this, I wouldn't be able to follow my plan. I promise that I'll help Fluttershy, and I'm gonna do it. He stopped after few more steps, somewhere he was sure that nopony could see him. Now, to let the disguise of the green unicorn down to take the appropriate form. With a greenish flash, he shape shifted into a cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane. Here's the perfect Rainbow Dash disguise. With me to guide her, I'll be able to give her enough confidence to say what she feels about her special somepony. He turned around again and returned to the cottage. He knocked at the door, rather loudly, but heard no response from behind the door. Come on Fluttershy. Don't do this to me. I know you're here, I left not even thirty seconds ago. He knocked again. “Fluttershy! You there?” he shouted through the door. “It's me, Rainbow Dash!” Unlocking noises followed the call of the changeling. The door opened and the yellow pegasus popped her head out. Ouch, she looks like she cried. “Oh hello Rainbow Dash,” she sadly greeted. “You didn't see Lyra leaving in a hurry did you?” “No, I didn't,” the changeling lied. “But I did hear from somepony that you have something to tell me?” Stop being sad about a changeling leaving your house and think more about your lover-to-be now. Rainbow, lucky mare... You don't know how lucky you’ll be with somepony like Fluttershy. He stared at the timid pony who was blushing now and was trying to say something. No, this isn't good. Where is the powerful emotions, the love? There nothing else but friendship and a lot of admiration. Hmm, some respect too. He thought without letting anything show on his face. According to his act, he waited a response from the pegasus. Oops, I never thought of how to reveal that it's me? Because if she tells me everything and then, she meets the real one, there is going to be misunderstandings. At the same time, she’s getting her feelings wrong. She feels friendship, not love. His muzzle began to itch. Doppel tried to stop it by making faces, but he was fighting a losing battle. Oh no. Not now! “Achoo!” This sneeze caused him to change back to his changeling appearance. Well, the question about how to tell her that it's me is resolved. He studied the pegasus, still a little stunned by the loud sneeze he had tried to hold back. She finally got up, her body still tensed. She frowned at Doppel, ready to scold him. “How dare you?” she exclaimed. “I just wanted to help you confess your feelings to Rainbow Dash but my cold said otherwise,” he admitted like his life depended on it. “It wasn’t my best plan, I’ll admit.” Fluttershy threw herself at the changeling, hugging him tight. Hmm? Unexpected... “Don't do that to me ever again!” she sobbed on Doppel's shell, Doppel who was still wondering how he had survived the shock. “Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere for the moment, I promise you,” he assured. “And no more Rainbow Dash's disguise without letting you know. At the same time, I have something to tell you about that.” He took a deep breath like he was going to announce a death. He decided to analyze the feelings of the pegasus to check if she was able to take the hint. Oh, there’s the love I was looking for while I was Rainbow Dash. It took him several seconds to realize what that meant. Wait a minute. If I feel love from Fluttershy, it means that it’s aimed at me while I’m in my current form, undisguised. It would mean that... His eyes widened at the thought. He pried himself from Fluttershy's hug as best as he could. Even if the pegasus wasn't very strong, she had a very firm grip. “Listen... erm...” he stammered, blushing. “I'm not going to break up with... hm no, leave you. I already promised that. But... I need to do something in town before we can continue this discussion!” He changed his appearance into Lyra and rushed out the house. The pegasus stood silently, trying to understand what just happened. Two seconds later, the changeling reappeared, still disguised. “And whatever you do, don't talk to Rainbow Dash until I come back!” With that, Doppel left again. Fluttershy let slip a giggle at his weird little outbursts. --|-|-- Twilight was whistling while she worked inside the library. The discussion she had last night had cheered her up a little, even if she wanted the solution to the problem as soon as possible. She wrote a line in her report and sighed. “Spike, can I have the third volume of Supernatural and Magical Creatures of Equestria,” she asked the baby dragon who was sweeping the floor. “At your service, Twilight!” he saluted, before heading towards the librarian's bedroom to find the book. “After I get that book, I can finish my report perfectly,” she said excitedly, looking over her work. “Twiliiiiight!” The unicorn heard yelling outside the library. The door suddenly slammed open, and a mint green unicorn burst into the room. “Lyra, what a surprise! What are you looking for? It's been awhile since I’ve seen you,” she greeted. The changeling rose his eyebrows before figuring out why she didn’t recognize him. He made his eyes glow green to make his point. “Oh! It's you Doppel. You should have said so earlier. Come in!” Doppel sat on the first cushion he saw, and before he could say anything, he was overwhelmed by the torrent of questions thrown at him. “Sweet Celestia, aren’t you supposed to be resting? Is a changeling's cold shorter than the pony's cold? Aren't you taking a big risk in coming here? Are you sure that you won't collapse in middle of the street? Does Fluttershy know you're here?” Seeing that the changeling didn't seem to answer the questions, Twilight stopped talking. Finally, she asked a question he could answer. “So what did you want to tell me?” “It's a complete disaster! Fluttershy loves me,” he moaned. “I like you too Doppel. I don't see what's wrong?” she wondered. “Not like that! She's in love with me,” he rectified. “Okay. What makes you so sure that she is?” “I'm a changeling. I know what everypony is feeling like. And I felt love directed towards me while I didn’t have a disguise. So she had those feelings for me,” he explained on a weary tone. “So why is it such a disaster?” the librarian tried to understand. “Hello! I'm a changeling.” He waved his hooves over his head. “Changelings and ponies don't exactly get along! You were there when the changelings invaded Canterlot, you should know.” “I was also there when ponies and changelings helped each other,” she remarked. “The real question is, are you in love with her?” “In love with her?” he repeated, lowering his head. It was a few moments before Twilight broke the silence she caused. “Sorry, that was a stupid question,” Twilight apologized. “No, it's just that I hadn’t thought of it. Usually, it's the special changeling who tells us if we are in love with them. But in my case...” “So you're going to think about it?” she proposed. “You're really open to this idea?” he exclaimed. “A changeling and a pony, together? Why not Spike and Rarity together too?” “It's not the best example you could choose,” the unicorn said with a forced laugh. While Doppel tried to understand what she meant, she continued, “If you're happy together, I don't see why I should stop you. After all, I've read in a book that love is something powerful that cannot be stopped.” “So, what should I do for Fluttershy? I don't want to mislead her, but I don't want to break her heart either,” Doppel worried. “But how would you let something like that happen? She didn't fall for you overnight. She had to have loved you before now, so why did you barely see it now?” “Well, the power to feel what the others feel is like a sixth sense for us changelings. So try to imagine that you're able to see, but if you don't focus on something, you see it blurred. Or something that’s behind you, you can't see at all,” he explained. “With this sense, it's the same. If I don't focus on the pony, I don't know what he or she feels, and seeing as Fluttershy was with me all the time, I didn't constantly 'scan' her.” “I think I understand,” she thought out loud. “So, I guess I'm going to go back to Fluttershy's and think about it. She must be wondering why I'm taking so long,” the changeling said. He turned around and headed towards the door. Just before grabbing the handle, he sneezed hard which made him lose his Lyra appearance to his former form. “Twilight, I found your book, but next time, try to-” Spike complained while he went downstairs, but cut his own sentence off at the sight of Doppel still in front of the door, completely frozen by the fear. “This cold has decided to ruin my life,” the changeling whimpered, head low. Without any reaction from the dragon, he turned around again to see the damage done. “You're the changeling Twilight’s been talking about?” the assistant exclaimed. “Yes, his name is Doppel. He came for some advice,” Twilight replied, seeing that Doppel wasn't in state to respond. “You told him about me?” “If it'll make you feel better, he suspected long before I told him,” the unicorn confessed. “On the other hoof, I can see that you haven’t recovered from your cold yet!” Doppel lowered his head. “It's okay for the moment. I don't plan on leaving Fluttershy's cottage. I just need a little bit more time to put all my thought in order.” He transformed for the third time today into Lyra and started to gallop towards Fluttershy’s cottage.. “Be careful and don't sneeze!” Twilight shouted out, before closing the door behind her. --|-|-- So, now I just need to explain this to Fluttershy now. How am I going to do this without her shying away before I finish my explanation? Furthermore, it's going to be my first time confessing anypony else’s feelings. Never thought I’d say that. It had been ten minutes since Doppel had arrived to Fluttershy's home. Suddenly, the door unlocked and Fluttershy grabbed the changeling still disguised as Lyra before closing the door. “Fluttershy, what the-?” he asked astonished before Fluttershy cut him off. “It’s been ten minutes that you’ve been waiting in front of my door, and I was afraid that you'd sneeze and be discovered,” the pegasus explained. “So, I decided to just pull you in myself. If that’s okay with you.” Doppel stood quietly, staring at the timid pony, and Fluttershy started to blush. After a few more moments of silence, she continued, “Why were you standing in front of my house?” “Er, it may sound strange, but I was almost afraid to come in.” He smiled sheepishly and rubbed his hoof behind his neck. “Oh, I'm sorry,” she apologized. “I’ve taken some lessons with Iron Will to assert myself before and I may have scared you. I promise I won't do it again.” Doppel continued to stand in silence again, looking at the pegasus. I really never bothered to look at her clearly. Fluttershy tilted her head, waiting for a response from the changeling. “Sorry. No, you didn't scare me, I just didn't make myself clear.” Stop daydreaming and get to the point! “Well, it’s just what I wanted to talk about.” He took a deep breath. “When I changed into Rainbow Dash, I could scan your feelings about her. Er... And I know that you're not in love with her. It's something between a great friendship and admiration.” “How do you know that?” “I'm a changeling. When it comes to detection of love, I'm a expert.” “Do you know who I do love then?” she wondered. “Sorry, no,” the changeling badly lied. Why did I lie about this? Confessing the feelings of the others is normal between changelings, so why can't I do it? She'll notice it one day anyway. It's useless to postpone it. “I'm sure that someday you'll find your very special somepony!” I just keep digging myself deeper and deeper.