//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Oddball // by The Infinity Doctor //------------------------------// A few weeks have passed since that night Mirror and I foalsat Dinky, she and Mirror had become like best friends, Zecora had come into town for the first time, the ponies in town (including Twilight and her friends) didn't make the best first impression- but had managed to make friends with her all the same Later, when Twilight asked why I didn't introduce her before, I simply replied "Because nopony asked me" I was alone for a few hours, given that Mirror was off with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, andScootaloo- they'd be safe on their own, right? Truth is, I'm going out of my mind worrying about her... Ponies were giving me stares, I've been disguised when outside of the forest, give me a break, walking on four hooves is difficult While on my way, I ran into Applejack and her brother "Hey there, Silent; ain't seen ya around lately" "Eeyup" "Yeah, been helping Zecora alot lately..." "About that...Applebloom's been askin' alot about going back there, an' I was wonderin' if you'd take her when y'all head back" "Sure, next time I see her" Both of them nodded, and trotted down the road with their apple cart 'What have I gotten myself into?' X X X X X X X "Are we almost there, Silent?" "No Scootaloo" I sighed "But it's taking sooooooo looooooooong" she whined 'I think Rainbow is having too much of an effect on her' "We're almost there...just a little further" "How much further?" I sighed to myself and continued down the path with the four fillies Minutes later, we arrived at Zecora's hut, the zebra herself waiting inside "Zecora, we're back" I said, trotting in "I am right here, no need to shout, are these the two fillies I've heard so much about?" "Yes, you already know Applebloom, and these are her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo" The CMC introduced themselves to Zecora, and talked excitedly with Mirror about potion-making I immediately took cover outside the hut "Just let me know when you're done! I'll be out here checking for weeds!" I called Needless to say, getting blown up wasn't on my agenda Unless...naaaaaa X X X X X X "Daddy! Look what we made!" Mirror said, hopping out of the hut with a jar of orange-ish liquid "That's incredible! Did you make that yourselves?" Zecora trotted out of the house with the CMC, and nodded in confirmation "I understand your glee, the made it without much help from me" "That's wonderful!" Scootaloo only huffed "Yeah...all of that, and we still don't have our cutie marks..." "I'm sure you'll get them eventually" I said "That's what everypony keeps telling us..." The Crusaders, plus Mirror, trotted back into the hut "Zecora..." She turned to me "...I've been getting more ponies coming to me for foalsitting, and I've been thinking...I feel like we've been a burden, and I still need to talk to Mirror, but...she and I are going to be moving closer to Ponyville..." "For moving away, I do not blame, but it will definitely be a shame" "I know, I'm going to miss you too..." Zecora nodded, and I went into the hut to get my backpack and the four fillies After a tearful goodbye to Zecora- The crusaders, Mirror, and I were on the path back to Ponyville The trip was short, and uneventful, so I won't go into the details I popped my back as we arrived at Sweet Apple Acres "Here we are, have fun girls" I said "Can Mira stay for a little while longer?" Applebloom asked "I guess that's up to you" I said, turning to Mirror "Yes!" "Alright, but I'll be back in a few hours, okay?" "Okay" She hugged me, and they all ran into the apple orchard I sighed to myself, and trotted back towards town 'Got some time to myself...' I stopped walking, realizing I had nothing to do...at least until Mirror and the Crusaders were finished with whatever it is they were doing I could go and visit Elaine...nah, maybe tomorrow... Maybe go check on Dinky? Nope, she's in school...should really get Mirror signed up for class sometime... Well now what do I do? Somepony cleared their throat, and I turned around, surrounded by five or more ponies; two of them unicorns, two earth ponies, and a pegasus "Can I help you?" I asked "Yes, would you happen to be Silent Night?" "Uh, yeah, who are you?" "Do you have somewhere private we can talk?" he asked, ignoring the question "Yeah, follow me" I said, trotting into the Everfree Once I was sure we were a good distance from town, I turned to the five mystery-ponies "Now, what did you want?" "First we must be sure, reveal yourself" "Excuse me?" "Pardon, your true form" "Ah, you must be changelings" I deduced "Erm, yes" "Alright, we'll go at the same time" "Agreed" "3...2...1...0!" On '0', I dropped my disguise, the other changelings doing the same "Goodness..." the first changeling said, staring up at me "What?" "Nothing...I just didn't expect you to be so...tall" "Thanks, I guess, now what did you all want?" "I believe you know" "Um...Oh, yeah, now I remember..." 'Chrysalis did warn me this might happen' "We are under your command" the first changeling said, bowing with the other four 'There's nothing I can really do about it, is there?' "Please don't bow" I said, blushing The changelings stood up "Now, I suppose the first thing to do would be to know your names" "Hacker" "Stasis" "Refract" "Frick" "Frack" "My name is Sam" "Just 'Sam'?" "Sam is my real name, but I also chose 'Morphasi'" "Then what shall we call you?" "Either is fine, just leave out the formalities" "Of course, highness" "Er, right- do any of you have somewhere to live?" I asked "Not yet, we must construct our own hive" 'Well that doesn't make me feel guilty, but...according to them it's necessary...' "Alright...there's a house down the block from the library, that's a house I'm planning to buy, you can dig a tunnel that leads from there to the hive- that way, you can contact me as soon as possible" "Very well, we shall begin as soon as possible" "Please, take your time" I said, feeling guilty for having them build a hive "There's no rush, if there's any problems, feel free to come to me" "Yes, your highness" I mentally groaned and transformed into pegasus form "That's all, I guess, see you later" They all nodded, and we all trotted back into Ponyville, the five reapplying their disguises as we went X X X X X X X The next few days went by quickly, I finally got around to getting Mirror signed up for Cheerilee's class- I went to City Hall and was able to partially pay for the house I'd mentioned to the changelings, we were currently in the process of moving in (It didn't take very long, given that we didn't have much to begin with) "Daddy! Daddy! Guess what!" Mirror cried bouncing into the room "What? Is the bathtub on fire again?" She held back a giggle and pulled a red cape out of her saddlebags "I'm an official Cutie Mark Crusader!" 'That's so adorable, but I still have to tell her...' "That's great! But- uh, you know, you can't really get a cutie mark..." "*Sigh* I know, but- we still get to hang out together!" "I'm happy for you" I said, hugging her "Heehee, I've got to get to school now" "You want me to walk you there?" "Sure" She and I walked out the front door, I checked the lock before we left, and we trotted down the road to the schoolhouse. ~ "Alright, I'll be here to pick you up later" I said, hugging Mirror "and be sure to behave for Cheerilee, okay?" "Yes, daddy" "I'm sure she'll behave herself" Cheerilee said, leading Mirror inside "goodbye, Silent" "'Bye daddy!" "Bye! I'll see you later" The door closed, and I turned and trotted out of the schoolyard 'Well, what do I do now?' I thought, traveling down the main street of Ponyville I could go back to earth for a little while, but then what? 'I've always wanted to visit New York...Mirror'll be occupied at school...I guess, I could...' Before I knew it, I was back in my house, I transformed into an older version of myself, turning my hair black, and changing my eye color to blue I opened the portal, picturing the city in my mind, and stepped through X X X *P.o.v switch* X X X "Mommy, I'm hungry" Ellen said, looking up at her mother "I know, honey, we all are" I said, comforting her She and my son sat huddled against me, all three of us sitting against the wall of an alley "This sucks..." Jackson muttered "It does, doesn't it?" "Why did they have to take our house away?" Ellen said, tears threatening to fall "Because they can" Jackson grumbled, looking skyward "How did things come to this?" I sighed to myself, pulling both of them closer I looked up, just as a shadow loomed over us X X X *P.o.v switch* X X X 'Well...it's a lot nicer than I expected' I thought, walking in the direction of Times Square I heard someone scream from one of the alleys Now changelings, contrary to popular belief- are able to utilize echolocation, despite being able to see in the dark. Crazy, right? Anyway, peering into the alley, I saw an older man standing over a woman and her two children, holding a gun 'Ugh, muggers...' I groaned The mystery-man pointed the gun at who I assumed to be the mother, I felt my blood boil asfear poured out of the three The gold flames went up, and I entered the alley. X X X *P.o.v switch* X X X The robber stood above us, gun pointed "I- I- swear, we don't h-have anything" "Gimme your purse, lady!" he shouted, bringing the gun closer Ellen tugged on my shirt-sleeve "M-Mommy, look" she said, pointing down the alley "This- this isn't possible..." I said, disbelieving the sight "Exterminate! Exterminate!" the thing said, rolling down towards us The robber turned his attention to the dalek, he swore under his breath as he backed away 'Is it- is it saving us?' He gripped the pistol, and fired I hugged them closer, the bullet sped towards the dalek, then bounced off of it The mugger then turned and ran out the other end of the alley My eyes widened as the dalek continued to roll towards us It stopped just short of a few feet away My brain was currently trying to figure out just what the hell was going on The thing caught fire, golden flames seeming to burn away the shell, leaving a taller, much more monsterous creature "Whew, that was a first" the creature said, popping its back Its voice sounded like two people talking at the same time, except it was the same person- 'How does that work?' The creature looked like it jumped right out of a sci-fi film, a black horn poking out of its forehead, long, insect-like wings protruded from its back, one human eye on its human head, and a larger gold harlequin eye for the other, the thing's legs began as human- then tapered into black, hole-filled hooves. "Wh-what are you?" I stammered The thing turned its attention to us, and I withered under its gaze "Do you need help?" It asked, seeming to ignore the question "N-no..." "You should be on your way home, then" 'If we only had a home to go to...' I thought bitterly "W-we don't h-have a h-home" Ellen squeaked "Then I suspect you need help then, don't you?" I flinched, then shakily stood up with Ellen and Jackson "L-leave us al-alone, p-p-please...I'll, I'll..." "I see, I'll go- but remember this-" Its horn glowed, and a portal of fire appeared in the alley "-whenever a door closes, a new one opens" The thing walked through the portal without another word I bit my lip as the portal remained open, less than three feet away "Wh-what'll we do, mommy?" 'We don't have anything going for us here...and no matter how hard I try, things won't get any better for a while...' "What do you think?" I asked "Stay here, or go wherever that portal leads" "Where do you think it goes?" "Anywhere's better than here..." Jackson muttered I sighed to myself and edged closer to the portal 'What will I do? I can't just leave- can I? I have friends and family here- but if it came here, and that portal is open...I could always come back- right?' I took both of them by the hand, and walked closer to the portal- it wasn't hot, by any means, it was almost cold, in fact I hesitantly put my foot through X X X X X X X The inside of the portal was just like a subway tunnel, except, y'know, made out of fire I felt both of them grip my hands as we made our way through Before we knew it, we were out of the portal, and facing the tall creature once more It was sitting on a couch with its legs (hooves?) crossed, a small smile on its face "Greetings, Earthling"