//------------------------------// // Macintosh Shrugged // Story: Progress // by suijin //------------------------------// “So, Trixie doesn’t believe that you ever got around to explaining what, exactly, you actually are…” Only slightly startled by the unicorn’s sudden question, ‘Vanilla’ turned back to her, having returned to her pegasus form. “We’re called changelings. Or, at least, that’s what we call ourselves. Very few creatures actually know about us, so I guess you should feel kind of proud of that.” Trixie sat back from their small campfire as she contemplated the response. “So, your kind have managed to keep themselves secret from all of the other races? Why?” “Well, if I had to guess, I would say that it has something to do with us looking like monsters when we’re not in disguise. It also doesn’t help that we feed off of love, which is hard to come by when everycreature thinks that you’re gonna eat their children.” “Fair point. You really don’t look that bad, though. Your mane is kind of… nice.” “Most changelings don’t have manes. I’m one of the queen’s royal guards, so I get extra feeding privileges, but most are lucky if they get to keep on a healthy diet. Love may be an efficient food source, but it’s not a plentiful one.” “That sounds… terrible. I’m really sorry that I can’t do anything to help.” “Eh, don’t worry about it that much. We’re used to it by now. All I need is to get faster than Rainbow Dash.” Vanilla shrugged as she spoke. Yes… She was definitely Vanilla. Trixie could tell that much. “Why do you want to get faster? You seem plenty quick to me.” Trixie leaned slightly forward as she spoke. “Because my job is keeping the queen safe, and I can’t protect her from somecreature that’s faster than me. I mean, yeah, I’m fast, but I still can’t keep up with that darn pegasus! It’s like she has rockets strapped to her flanks or something.” The amount of angry flailing that accompanied her angry rant was a sight to behold, and Trixie couldn’t help but giggle. “Hey, this is not funny! Do you know how many years I’ve spent training to protect her majesty?” Trixie reigned in her laughter as she spoke. “Trixie knows, she shouldn’t have laughed at you like that. But really, how much faster do you think you can go? If this “Rainbow Dash” is faster than you, then it can’t be by much.” Vanilla sighed. “Yeah, but it’s still a huge problem. Think about it: Rainbow is just one pegasus who happens to be faster than me. What if there’re more? What if there are ponies that are even faster than her? How can I keep my queen safe if somecreature can slip past me like that?” Trixie let a small smile form on her face. “If it’s really that important to you, then I’m sure you’ll find a way.” “… Yeah. I guess you’re right.” For the first time since she could remember, Vanilla felt herself relax.” “Soooo… Is Vanilla your real name, or…” “Oh, my real name’s Zoraptera, although I would prefer if you just called me Vanilla around others. They might start to get curious if you suddenly gave me a nickname after our little trip together.” Trixie only managed to keep her face from turning red for about a second. “That… is just… I’m gonna go for a walk.” “Don’t fall into the chasm again!” ----- Gilda stared at the pair of rings that were made of some unidentifiable metal that she and Big Macintosh had just risked their lives to get. “So… this is it?” “Eeyup.” “… Now what? Are we supposed to, like, do something with them, or..?” Macintosh shrugged. “I bet Sombra is just laughin’ up a storm right now, thinking about us trying to figure out what to do with a couple useless hunks ‘a metal.” Macintosh shrugged. “Maybe we grabbed the wrong thingamajigs by mistake. What do you think?” Macintosh shrugged. “Okay, now your just screwing with me, aren’t you?” Macintosh shrugged. “Forget it. Let’s just head back to town.” ----- “So the Elements are jewels, huh? Seems a little weird, but whatever works, I guess. You guys sure these are the right… things?” “Absolutely. You may not be able to sense magical enchantments…” “But those things are practically swimming in energy. Even if they aren’t the Elements, they’re still extremely powerful.” The dragon looked between the two brothers, trying to remember which one of them was which. “Well, okay then, I guess. Now what do we do? Claim them for ourselves and run out into the wilderness?” Flim and Flam stared at him. “That was a joke. Let’s get going. Hopefully the others will be waiting back in Ponyville.” … “Hey, did it take this long to get back the fir-” CRITICAL HIT! “OW! Enough with the stupid branches!” Flim spared a glance back. “Sorry. And no, it didn’t. In fact, I don’t think we even went through this way the first time…” “Guys? I think we’re lost.” The drake grunted as he managed to grab the next branch that was flung into his face. “Hey, I caught—ow!” He then spent several seconds hopping on one foot. “Give me a moment, I can just fly up and check where town is. Stupid branches…” … “HOW DID WE GET THIS FAR OUT?!” Flim glanced worriedly at his brother. “Um, is something the matter?” The young dragon was audibly grumbling as he made his way down, landing with a loud thud and pointing. “The edge of the forest is that way. I think.” The Flim Flam Brothers glanced at each other, then asked in unison, “You think?” “Excuse me, but it’s a little bit hard to see the edge of the darn forest when we’re a few miles in.” Flam gulped. “Really? How’d we manage to get that far?” “That’s what I asked! Stupid forest, stupid getting lost, stupid pegasus, stupid alicorns…” As he continued his rant about how everything in the world was stupid, the drake idly reached down to pick up one of the two red gems that the trio had managed to steal from the nightmare-pony. On a whim, Flim decided to do the same, tossing the last Element to his brother. The moment it came in contact with Flam’s magical aura, it flared with a blinding light. The dragon tried to throw the searing crystal out of his grasp, but it was practically glued to his hand. Shouting in pain and confusion, he and the brothers were engulfed in light. ----- “What did you do?!” “I don’t know! Trixie just touched it, like you did!” “Hang on, I think this is gonna hurt!” ----- “This is totally your fault!” “Eenope.” “All I did was touch the darn thing, just like you, but now it’s freaking out! This is totally your fault!” Big Macintosh just rolled his eyes as the Elements did whatever they wanted to. Well, let’s see what you’ve got in store for us, Sombra.