Orchestrated Chaos

by ReFro


11. Down on the farm. Part 2

“...what’s a...changeling?”

Dr. Charts let out a light sigh and looked at the grey filly who was still eating her breakfast. “Personally, I don’t know much about them. But from what I understand, they are an equine subspecies that have both horn and wings. Don’t confuse them with an Alicorn though. Their horn is jagged and the wings are not feathered like that of a Pegasi but rather translucent and leathery. They also have a black, insect-like carapace that covers their entire body and webbed mane and tails. Their magic, from what I have heard, is far weaker than even an average Unicorn and their wings are not as powerful as a Pegasus. The magic they do possess is almost exclusively geared towards altering their appearance.

“They use their power to kill, and then mimic”—Granita gave him an odd look—”erm, what I meant is, they change their appearance to look like the unfortunate victim so they can take over their place without being detected by others. I have no idea why they would do this though.”

“And, you really think she could be one of them killin’ critters?” Granita glanced over to Chloe, an inquisitive look on her face. “But she looks like a regular ol’ filly to me.”

“Granita,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You are missing the point. Changeling change their appearance, so of course she would look exactly like a normal filly. But do I think she is a changeling? No, I don’t think she is one of them. But if she was, it could explain the abnormal brain pattern I detected. Also, I have never heard of changelings being able to completely change their internal physiology as well, and from what I could tell, this filly is one hundred percent Earth pony.”

He cleared his throat, noticing that Granita was staring at the filly. “Like I said, I’m not saying I know a lot about them or anything like that, it was just a warning that I received in the reply letter from a colleague at the Royal Canterlot Medical University this morning. He still has to take a more detailed look at my findings, but he wanted to warn me, just in case. All that I am saying is that I want you to keep a close eye on her, and let the guards know right away if you notice any suspicious behavior.”

Granita looked over to the happy little filly who was still working on her oatmeal. “Ah think all that changeling talk is a bunch of phooey.” She turned back to Dr. Charts with a nod. “But I reckon I’ll keep an eye open, like you said, just to be safe.”

“Good, I would hate to see anything happen to you or your family, better to be safe than sorry I always say,” he light-heartedly chuckled. “Well at any rate, her injuries appear to be healing nicely. The cut on her chest is all healed. The chance of it leaving a scar is minimal. Her punctured lung is all healed but the rib will still take about a week longer to fully heal. Everything else about her looks fine. In my book, she is clear to leave.” He looked up from his notes to the filly then back to Granita with a serious look. ”It was very fortunate that she is an Earth pony, you know? Things could have gone a lot worse if she wasn’t.”

“Yuppers, you know us Earth ponies can pull through a lot of things. We may not have fancy magic or the ability to fly, but we can survive through most anything,” she jabbed at the doctor as both of them laughed.

“Yes, yes you can. Oh, I almost forgot, did you still need that bed delivered?”

“Naw,” she replied, waving a hoof dismissively in the air, “don’t worry none about it. We don’t have room to be placing it anywheres anyhow.”

“Wait, so where is she going to sleep then?”

“I figure she can just sleep with me, I have a big enough bed for the both of us.”

“Don’t you think that would be a little awkward for her?”

“I think it will be a mite bit odd fer both of us, Doc. But it was either this or let her roam the streets. Which would you rather have her do?”

“Well, I guess it’s settled then,” Dr. Charts stated, grabbing his clipboard. “If you could bring her back in after a week, I would like to run a follow up exam. And don’t forget, she needs to keep any strenuous activity to a minimum for at least the next week. Don’t want that rib to break again.”

Granita nodded. “Will, do, Doc. I’ll make sure she isn’t too rambunctious, but you know how fillies can be at times.”

 “Yeah, they can be quite a hoofful at time, but I have full confidence in you to keep her safe. Anyways, I’ll leave you two alone while she finishes. When you are ready, you are free to take her. Heartsong and I still have a bunch of patients to take care of from that food poisoning incident yesterday, so don’t worry about coming to find us when you leave.” He started to leave but stopped. His hoof into his pocket, rummaging through it for a moment before pulling out a few of the golden-wrapped candies, handing them to Granita. “Here, take a few of these, she seems to like them,” he said with a wink.

Granita smirked at him, taking the hoofful of small gifts and putting them into her saddlebags. “Thanks, Doc. For everything.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m just doing my job and helping out where I can. Now you take care of our mystery filly and I’ll see you two in a week!” He smiled as he exited the room with a wave.

She looked over to the grey filly who was just finishing her breakfast. Granita sighed, watching the foal for a moment, as the reality of the situation sunk in; she was going to have to take care of a filly. Sure, she would have her parents there for support, but ultimately the grey filly was under her care until her parents could be found. She just hoped she didn’t screw up somehow. “What have ya got yourself into, Granita?” She shook her head letting out a small snort.

The whole time the two other ponies had been discussing things, Chloe had been quite content eating her oatmeal, blissfully unaware of what Dr. Charts and Granita had been talking about and how much more her life was about to change.

It struck her as kind of odd when the blue unicorn left the room and the light-green mare looked over in her direction, letting out what she could only assume was a sigh. Though it was hard for her to read these ponies’ faces, the mare looked almost sad or nervous or something similar to that. Although when Chloe smiled at her, the Earth pony’s features almost instantly seemed to brighten as she returned the smile wholeheartedly.

Seeing human emotions on a pony…I don’t think that will that will ever stop being disturbing. She looked back down at her bowl, which still had quite a few bites left in it, but she was full and couldn’t eat another spoonful without becoming bloated. She was still adjusting to her new size and part of that was learning that a small amount of food would completely fill her new, smaller body.

Setting her spoon down, she carefully pushed the tray back, giving herself room to stretch out. Chloe put her hooves behind her head, lifting them towards the ceiling. “Mmm, that felt good,” she said after popping a few of her bones and lowering her fore legs back to her sides. “Being stuck in this bed sucks, you know?”

Granita gave the filly a strange look. She had never seen a pony stretch like that before. The thought of this filly being a changeling came back to her. What if she really is? Dismissing the thought, she walked over to the side of the bed. “You all done with yer breakfast?” she asked.

It took her a second to remember what Dr. Charts had told her earlier as the filly stared at her blankly; she seemed to respond well to body language and candy, but everything else seems to be lost on her. Granita grabbed the tray of mostly eaten food and motioned with her head over to the counter and waited to see if she could get her to respond.

Chloe watched the mare grab the tray and look to her as if waiting for something. What in the world is she…? Oh! She nodded her head to the mare, holding her forearms to her stomach. “You can take it, I’m stuffed.”

Granita chuckled to herself as she took the tray off the bed and moved it to the counter. “Well, I guess the ol’ Doc was right about that.” She at least had a simple way to communicate with the filly now. Maybe this language barrier thing would be so bad after all.  “Well, it’s time to get a moving. I got a whole heap of chores to get started on.” She pulled the blankets back and positioned her body up alongside the bed, pointing to her back.

Chloe tried to grab the blankets before they were pulled off of her. “Hey! What are you doing?” She glared at the rude mare. “I was using those!” Is it too much to ask to let me stay under the blankets? I mean, come on! It’s like every time one of them comes in here it’s always ‘Off with the blankets, Chloe!’ God, it’s embarrassing enough being essentially naked, but to keep taking the only thing from me that is allowing me even a modicum of decency? That’s just freaking rude! Her tail rapidly swished back and forth as she crossed her fore legs over her chest in frustration, turning her head away.

“Now I know you probably don’t want to get up, but time’s a wastin’ and we gotta go.” Seeing that she was upset and pretty much ignoring her, she gave the filly’s tail a gentle pull with her teeth to get her point across.

Chloe felt an odd sensation run up her spine as her head snapped back to the mare. “What was that for?” she yelped in shock at the pony.

“I want you to get on my back so we can go.” Granita pointed at her back a few more times.

“I dunno what you want. Is there something wrong with your back or what? That why you are pointing at it?”

“Okay...maybe this language barrier thing won’t be a walk in the park after all…” She went to give another quick tug on the reluctant filly’s tail, but Chloe quickly pulled her tail out of the way and got to her hooves. “Good, at least I got you standing, but come on now. I know you’re smart, so get up here. We gotta get to the farm,” she huffed. This might be a bit more difficult than I had imagined…

“The hell?! Quit trying to bite my tail!” Chloe scowled at the annoying mare, taking a few steps backwards on the bed with her tail tucked between her hind legs where it was safely hidden from pony teeth.

Granita sighed. It was difficult to communicate having to rely on body language alone, and she didn’t want to get the filly mad at her; that would only be counterproductive in a situation like this. She opened up her saddlebags with her mouth, fishing out one of the golden-wrapped treats that Dr. Charts had given her. She showed it to the agitated filly before placing it between the saddlebags on her back. Granita figured it would be like baiting a rabbit with a carrot down on the farm.

Chloe stared at the mare as she pulled out a familiar piece of honey flavored candy and curiously watched as she placed it on her back. Wait, is that what she wanted? She wants me on her back? Are we...leaving? She started to move closer, the expression on the mare’s face softened with each hesitant step and she almost smiling as Chloe was now right next to her.

“Alright, up you go.” Granita nudged the filly towards her back.

“I get it! Jeez, you don’t have to shove, you know.” Chloe grabbed the candy and climbed onto the impatient pony’s back, settling in between the saddlebags. They did a decent job of keeping her in the middle of the mare’s back, but the strap the connected the two sides of the bag was rather uncomfortable to lay on. She held out the candy to the mare, who starred at her for a moment before taking the candy and placing it back in her saddlebags. Chloe didn’t want it at the moment anyways, she was still filled up on oatmeal and didn’t want to end up getting sick due to the up and down motion that came with riding on a pony’s back.

With the foal finally on her back, Granita headed out the room and down the hall towards the lobby. She didn’t see Heartsong or Dr. Charts on the way to the front door. Doc wasn’t kidding. They must be really busy with the other patients. Oh well. It’s best I be getting back anyways. “Alright there, sugarcube. You ready to go meet my folks and see where you will be stayin’?” She turned her head around, smiling to the filly before pushing open the front door and walking out into the cool morning air.

The village was fairly small. Most of the homes and shops looked to be either brand new or still under construction. Almost all of the buildings were timber framed, having thatched roofs with just a handful of them deviating from that standard. The main road that there were currently traveling on was more of a wide dirt path than actual road. There were quite a few ponies that waved at the pair, some even coming up to talk as they kept trotting along. Chloe was a bit put off when the unfamiliar creatures got close to her. She tried to hide behind the mare’s blonde mane. It was a silly thing to be doing but it made her feel less anxious about the whole affair. She was usually never this shy when she was a human but being forced to be around talking, intelligent ponies was a different matter altogether, and it made her feel downright nervous.

During the few short intervals that they weren’t being harassed, Chloe was taking in the sights and sounds of this new place. Her only recollection of this town was when she saw it from a distance before everything faded. Her next memory being that of waking up on the hospital bed. Well, hospital wasn’t really the right word for it, and it was more like floating a few feet above instead of on.

Everything she saw fascinated her; the architectural style of the buildings, the variations of the oddly colored ponies that were just going about their daily lives. There were several market stalls that lined the busy road. Each one was selling different wares, mostly it was different foodstuffs like vegetables or fruit but there was an odd one here and there that was hawking tools or other odds and ends. There was even one stall that was selling musical instruments. That one really caught Chloe’s eye.

 She smiled, seeing a family walking down the street. They had two foals that were playing a game a tag while their parents browsed some wares. There was also this older couple  that was sitting on a bench around the fountain that was in the center of the market as the pony-watched. They seems to be happy just to sit there and enjoy each other’s company.

It was hard for her to believe that any of this was even possible, yet here she was; surrounded by ponies, in a town built by ponies. The thought of all these ponies acting just like humans acted was giving her a headache. But when she closed her eyes, all the voices and sounds of the small marketplace that they were passing through melded into an almost rhythmic white background noise that was comforting to listen to.

 The hustle and bustle in the middle of town faded away after only a block or two, which Chloe was very grateful for, and they seemed to be near the edge of the town. The dirt road they had been traveling narrowed as they left town and approached a stream of water spanned by a wooden bridge. Beyond this bridge there were very few buildings to be seen. The ones few that she could see were off in the far distance and looked to be barns and farmhouses, surrounded by miles of farmland.

Now that they were out of town, Chloe’s anxiety had subsided considerably, and she could really start to appreciate the scenery as they walked. The melody of the birds, the soft wind in her mane and fur, the brilliant white, puffy could that lazily drifted overhead, and the warm sun on her back. It was all a very pleasant and peaceful experience. The colors were the only thing that threw it off, but that was just a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of it all.

The countryside was idyllic and she could get lost in its beauty and serenity for hours on end if it weren’t for the reciprocating motion she was being subjected to. Riding on this mare’s back was starting to agitate her chest. Besides she had been all cooped up inside a clinic for a few days with little chance to move around. Now she just wanted to stretch her new legs for a while.

“I want down,” she stated, poking a hoof into the back of the larger pony’s neck.

Granita stopped, wondering what the filly wanted. As soon as she did, Chloe jumped down. She quickly put a hoof on the filly’s back, worried that she would try to run off.

“Where do ya think you’re goin’?” she questioned, giving a skeptical look as Chloe stared back up at her.

Chloe wasn’t exactly sure how to interpret the hoof on her back but figured it meant the mare didn’t want her taking off and was confused about what she was doing. God, this would be so much easier if I could simple talk with them. Chloe let out a snort. Ha! Talking to ponies, that still sounds so ridiculous… She stretched out, front legs pushed out all the way forward, bringing her chest low to the ground, getting her spine to pop in a few places. Mmm, now I get why cats do that all the time.

“Well, let’s get going to wherever it is we are going,” she spoke after the brief stretch while moving to the side to get the hoof off her back. She looked over to the mare and saw that she was still looking at her, so she just pointed forward and was about to start walking when, that caught her eye and she fell back on her haunches, bursting out in laughter.

Granita was a bit taken aback by the filly’s sudden outburst of laughter. “What in tarnation are you laughing at?” She looked over to where the filly was starting at but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
Chloe’s laughter calmed down to a giggle as she wiped her eyes with a hoof, composing herself before getting back to her hooves. Oh my god, I can't believe she has a tattoo of a pie, a freaking pie, on her ass! That is the more hilarious thing I have seen a long time. A few more chuckles escaped her before she motioned forward again. “Come on, Pie Butt.” She couldn’t help but giggle again as she started walking. She was in much better spirits after having a good laugh and  finally being able to stretch out her legs after all that bed rest.

Granita had no idea what was so funny to the filly or why she wanted off her back, but figured as long as she stayed by her, it was fine to let her walk for a while. Keeping a close eye on the foal to make sure she didn’t wander off, Granita found it strange how the grey Earth pony walked. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but there was definitely off about it. She shrugged it off as they continued down the path, side by side, to her home.

A short while later, the pair crested a small hill as their destination came into view.

“Well, there it is, sugar,” she said, stopping to gesture at the land before them. “Home sweet home.”

Chloe looked over to the mare, who seemed to have a smirk on her face, and then to where she was pointing. There were two larger buildings in the distance with several smaller structures and various tools and farm equipment scattered about.

The house, barn, and accompanying barnyard had a white fence surrounding them, with the road they were traveling on coming to an abrupt end at the entrance to the farm. A single wooden sign, a cutout of a large apple in the middle, hung from the archway above the entrance. And all this was surrounded by what had to be acres and acres of gently rolling hills filled with farmland growing various crops and orchards of apple trees.

Way off into the distance directly in front of them, Chloe could see several majestic, snow-capped mountains that dominated the skyline and off to their right was a large expanse of uninviting dense forest that looked like it went on forever. To the left was wide expanse of fields as far as the eye could see with even more large mountains in the distance.

“Is this where you live? And am I going to be staying with you?” Chloe pointed a hoof to the buildings in the distance. This has to be where we are going to be staying and it figures that it would be a farm. I don’t want to live on a farm again; all those chores, all the smells, all the...dirt. Ugh. She sighed. At least it’s better than not having a place to stay at all. Speaking of farms, I wonder how Mom and Dad are holding up. Do they even know I’m gone yet? I really miss them. And Gennie, I hope that wherever she is, she is alright. Man, I could really use her company right now…

Granita chuckled and nudged the sad filly. “Aww, cheer up. Farm life ain’t so bad.” She ruffled the filly’s mane, pushing her gently to get her moving again. There was still a lot of chores she had to get done and it was almost mid-morning already. She started to walk towards the farm, taking a second to look back at the filly who was still just standing there looking over everything in front of her. Granita motioned with her hoof to follow as she started walking again.

Chloe turned her attention back to the mare and trotted up to her side, keeping pace with her as they walked. She glanced at the pony’s flank again and couldn’t help but let out a quick snort of laughter as she shook her head. Pie Butt...damn these ponies are crazy.

Granita had no idea what had turned the filly’s mood from sour to sweet, but was glad that the little one’s spirits had lifted. She knew this situation had to be difficult for the foal. To be separated from her friends, her family, and her life. That would weigh heavily on anypony’s heart and mind. All she could do was make sure that the filly was well taken care of until her parents could be located again.

They had just passed the opening in the fence to the barnyard and Granita was eager to introduce the strange new filly to her parents. She knew her mother couldn’t wait to meet her, but her father on the other hoof; well he wasn't happy about having another mouth to feed but Granita knew he wouldn’t give the filly any trouble as long as she could follow the rules of his house.

That brought another thought to her mind. Speaking of rules, I really need to think of a way to teach her how read or write or something while she is here. Gestures and body language can only go so far and Pa was a stickler for rules around his house. Whether you be guest or family, if you didn’t follow the rules, it was out to the fields with you.

Chloe had been too busy taking in the new surroundings of the barnyard to realize that they had already made it to the front door of the house. It was a smaller, wooden home; just a single story, and with a few windows here and there. It was a natural brown color as there was no paint on it like the houses in town had, but it still looked fairly new in construction. It seemed everything thing around here was just built. The light-green pony had pushed the door open with a hoof, yelling out something as she beckoned her to come inside.

The outside of the house kind of reminded Chloe of a scene in a horror movie the more she thought about it. The ones where a seemingly nice person helps out a hot blonde woman in distress. They are lulled into a false sense of security, only to be lead to a farmhouse way outside of town and tortured for days until they were either rescued or were killed, never to be heard from again.

She hesitated, not knowing what awaited her on the inside of this now eerie looking house. The mare had taken care of her so far and she had no reason to think ill of her. Chloe gulped. Just like in the movie plots… Get ahold of yourself. It’s not like she is going to kill me or anything like that…that just happens in the movies, right? She shook her head, steeling her nerves before following the mare inside...only to be instantly assaulted by an older looking mare. She had been swept off her hooves, pressed tightly into the mare’s chest. She was being held so tight that she could barely breathe.

“Help me!” she gasped, trying to push away from the mare that was assaulting her.

“Ma! You’re scaring her!”

“Oh, but she is so cute!”

“Help!” she croaked out with the last remaining bit of air in her lungs. Fuck, it’s gonna kill me!

“Yes she is, Ma, but look at her, she’s so scared, she’s shaking!”

Chloe felt herself being released from the older mare’s chest, and as soon as her hooves were back on the floor, she bolted behind Granita, trying her best to hide herself. She was going to run out the door, but it had been closed already and the mare’s tail was the next best thing.

 Her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest as she peeked her head around the mare’s tail, making sure she wasn’t going to be grabbed again by miss ‘Pony Crusher’ over there.

Granita stepped to the side, pushing the cowering filly forward and holding her next to her side, trying to comfort her. “There is no need to be afraid. This is just my Ma, she is just excited to meet ya is all.”

Chloe really didn’t feel comfortable being pushed closer to the older mare again and moved in between Granita’s front legs, never taking her eyes off of her, just in case.

“I’m sorry, dearie.” Her ears were now laying flat against her head as she laid down on the floor, getting eye level with the filly. “I didn’t mean to frighten ya. Ya don’t have to hide from me.”

“She can’t understand ya, Ma.”

The older mare looked up to her daughter. “What ya mean she can’t understand?”

“This filly here don’t speak Equestrian.”

She stood back up. “How can she not understand Equestrian? I know ya said she was injured and such, but did she get hit in the noggin or something?”

“Nope, Doc says her head is just fine. She just comes from someplace where they don’t speak Equestrian I guess.”

“Oh… But y’all have no idea where from?”

Granita shook her head. “Nope, not a clue. Even Doc has no idea what language she is speakin’”

“Oh my, does she at least have a name?”

“I, umm...” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I dunno what to call her.”

“What?” the older mare asked in shock. “The poor dear needs a name.” She thought about it for a moment, tapping her chin with a hoof.  “And I think I have the perfect one for her too!”