"I am very sorry, but I cannot stay in Ponyville. Family business, something came up." Tulip Bulb told Fluttershy.
"What happened?" Fluttershy asked nervously.
Tulip bowed her head. "My mother died."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Will you be all right?"
"Yes. I hope to visit you sometime, afterwards." Tulip Bulb looked up with a smile. "You're the kindest mare I've ever met."
Fluttershy blushed, waving a hoof. "I'm just doing what feels right. It's not much."
"Ah, but the fact that such kindness comes naturally to you is what makes you truly great." Tulip added with a wink. "Good day, I hope to meet you again some time."
Tulip walked to the train station, where she bought a ticket to Canterlot. Canterlot was the best place for Changelings to meet each other, as long as they knew how to get in.
Rose grinned. Today, according to Twilight's schedule, she was going to read up on magic theory while Twilight did some errands. That meant Rose got to go learn from Bugze in secret! Rose walked out the door, almost running in to Scootaloo who was just about to walk in.
"Oops, almost didn't see you there!" Rose said, still grinning.
"Rose, we need to talk." Scootaloo said seriously, ruining Rose's good mood. "Where we can't be overheard." she added, glancing around.
"Follow me." Rose said seriously, her grin fading as she led Scootaloo away. Soon they were at the Everfree Forest, close to where Rose was to meet Bugze. "What is it?" Rose asked.
Scootaloo transformed back into her Changeling form. "I found King Silent Whisper, I asked him to turn me in to a Changeling."
"Why? Don't you see that now you have to live a lie?" Rose shouted, enraged. "Do you realize what you have done? If you're caught, they might kill you!"
"I don't see why this is living a lie. I'm still the same Scootaloo I always was, but now I can use my wings and cast magic. Also, I really don't think they would kill a Changeling if they caught them."
Rose sighed. "They might. About a week ago, a few Changelings were caught by ponies. The Princesses are going to question them, possibly killing them afterwards."
"The best thing you can do for me now, then, is to train me so I don't get caught!" Scootaloo said cheekily. "Whisper told me that Bugze could train both of us together!"
"I guess. Come over here, this is where I meet Bugze." Rose said, trotting over to the rock and whistling the Changeling tune. With an afterthought she cast a spell, revealing gemstones in the area. She quickly levitated one out of the ground and set it on her back.
"What's that for?" Scootaloo asked, curious.
"I have to bribe Spike to let me out." Rose said sheepishly. "One gemstone every time I leave. It really helped when Twilight showed me a gem finding spell."
Bugze walked out of the woods, and Rose transformed back into Changeling form. "Ready?" Bugze asked with a grin, and Star Watcher nodded. "Who's the new bug?"
"I'm Scootaloo! I got turned into a Changeling yesterday."
"So do I have to start with the basics again?"
"No, I taught her." Star Watcher said sheepishly. "We can continue where you left off."
"Ah, yes! Today, I show you how to make a rocket launcher out of a few rubber bands, a pipe or two, and two bottles of gunpowder! My grandbuggy showed me this when I was your age, and I accidentally set fire to a house or two... But that's a story for another time. First though, I will teach you to fly"
Star Watcher sighed. He had learned not to question Bugze's logic by now. He sat down and prepared to learn another pointless skill that couldn't possibly be useful in his life. Then he heard the him mention flying, and he perked up.
"Flying as a Changeling, then flying as a Pegasus. There is a difference." Bugze added.
"What's the difference?" Scootaloo asked, excited.
"Changelings have to buzz their wings, while Pegasi flap."
"You mean like this?" Scootaloo asked, buzzing her wings like she usually did when attempting to fly. To her surprise, she shot up in the air. "I'm flying! I'm flying!" Scootaloo laughed historically. "I'm actually doing it! I'm flying!"
"Steer, Steer!" Bugze called out, lifting off. "It should be instinctual. You don't have to twist your body like Pegasi do, rotate your wings!"
Scootaloo felt the air, twisting her wings as she buzzed them to travel in the direction of her choosing.
"Changelings have better mobility than Pegasi, but Pegasi can go faster." Bugze added.
Star Watcher was beginning to feel left out, so he buzzed his wings as best he could. Flight for him was shaky at best, but it worked. "I'm flying!" Star Watcher grinned. He'd always wanted to fly, ever since he was a filly, but he gave up on his dream when he learned that only Pegasi could fly. Now he had another chance to make his childhood dream come true. He rotated his wings instinctually, steering himself well but not as good as Scootaloo or Bugze. But it didn't matter, he was flying! Star Watcher laughed as he felt the wind over his back, going in to a spiral as he approached the ground. He landed safely, still grinning. "How do you fly as a Pegasus?" Star Watcher asked as Scootaloo and Bugze landed next to him.
"First, transform." Bugze instructed as he turned in to what looked like a Royal Guard without armor. Scootaloo transformed in to Rainbow Dash and Star Watcher turned in to a yellow Pegasus mare with a pink mane that he had seen once in Ponyville.
"Why Fluttershy?" Scootaloo asked Star Watcher.
"So the pony I'm being is named Fluttershy? Thanks." Star Watcher replied. "As for a reason, I don't know. I just, couldn't think of any other pegasus to be."
"Now, flap your wings once, hard." Bugze said. Star Watcher flapped and found himself in the air already. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, kept accidentally buzzing her wings. She'd been buzzing them for so long she forgot how to flap them regularly! Star Watcher, meanwhile, was soaring through the sky, angling his wings with perfect precision, the wind blowing across his wings.
It's all I ever dreamed of and more. Star Watcher thought, smiling contentedly. He hadn't felt so good since he aced that one really hard test back when he studied magic in Canterlot. He swooped around the clearing, laughing as he went. It felt so good to fly!
"Why can't I do it?" Scootaloo grumbled. Her wings' buzzing was hard to slow, she had gotten so used to it. With great effort, she managed to flap her wings once, lifting her off the ground. However, once in the air, her wings began buzzing again and she landed on the ground. "I think I'm going to stick with Changeling flight for now." she called up to Bugze and Star Watcher, gazing in the air as the two pegasi performed simple tricks as Bugze taught Star Watcher the basics.
All too soon, it was time to leave. Star Watcher transformed back in to Rose, and headed back. A gemstone lay forgotten where it had fallen in the grass.
Twilight returned home to find Rose waiting for her, reading her book, just like always. "Today, I want to show you how to Teleport." Twilight smiled.
"Are you sure I'm ready?" Rose asked nervously. "Teleportation is hard."
"You've sat in the library for hours each day, if you close your eyes you should be able to visualize it. For your first teleportation, you can keep your eyes open though."
Rose gulped nervously. She didn't want to admit that she hadn't been staying in the library like she was supposed to, but she didn't want to get stuck in a wall or the floor. She focused magic through her horn, and prepared to teleport. To her horror, a green fire flickered to life around her body and she cancelled the spell, leaping back in shock. "W-what was that?" she asked, scared.
Twilight looked confused. "I've never seen anything like it... But I guess there must be something wrong with your horn. If an imperfection in the spirals on the inside on your horn had magic channeled through it... Ah ha!" a look of clarity graced Twilight's face. "There are spirals on the inside of your horn, one of them is misshaped. That could create the fire, there have been several reports of spontaneous combustion that stemmed from horn damage." she frowned. "That means I can't teach you teleportation, however. It's too dangerous."
Rose suddenly realized why the inside of her horn was 'damaged'. When she transformed into Rose, she didn't know about the inside spirals of her horn and hadn't created them, leaving whatever spirals Changelings had in place, which caused the green fire! She didn't say it, though. Twilight would take her away and banish her or lock her up if she knew. "What will we do instead then?" Rose asked, wanting to distract herself from the fear of what could happen to her.
Twilight hummed, placing a hoof on her chin thoughtfully. "I guess... We could play a game in our unscheduled time! At least, that's what my schedule says!" Twilight said with a grin, levitating said schedule and pointing to 'play a game', which was under 'unscheduled time'. Rose rolled her eyes, how do you schedule unscheduled time? Somehow Twilight managed it.
"Sure, why not. How about Battleship?" Rose suggested, getting a good idea.
Twilight set up Battleship, placing her ships in an organized attack position. Rose, on the other hoof, made her ships as random as possible.
"3B!" Rose said, getting the first shot off.
"Nope!" Twilight said with a grin, but Rose felt the emotions behind her poker face. Twilight's nervousness meant that it was close, but not quite a hit. "8E!" Twilight responded.
"Nope!" Rose replied, marking the spot where it had missed with a white peg. It wasn't even close. "3C!"
Twilight flinched. "Hit!" she replied, her nervousness telling Rose that it was a big one. "4A?"
"Nope! How about 3D?"
"Hit." Twilight sounded subdued, almost like the game was already over. But if Rose had only hit one ship, how could it be? "4G?"
"Nope. And, 3E?"
"Hit. 5B?"
"Hit. 3F?"
"Hit. 6B?"
"Miss. 3G?"
"Hit."
"Not sunk?" Rose asked, confused. That was five hits in a row!
"Nope." Twilight said, starting to laugh. That's when clarity hit Rose.
"You... You hid all of your ships next to each other!" Rose said, chuckling.
Twilight's laughter grew until she fell out of her chair, a tear slipping down her face. "I thought it would work!"
Rose fell out of her own chair now. "My sides ache..." she groaned, still laughing.
The two of them panted on the floor for a while, recovering breath. "I guess I lost, bed time now." Twilight said once she finally regained enough breath to talk.
"Aww..." Rose whined, getting up. "But that was fun! We should do it more often."
"Yes, we should." Twilight replied with a contented sigh. "Good night."
Rose poured her excess Changeling emotional energy into her crystal before passing out on her bed. The crystal's glow illuminated the pillow slightly, giving it a green tinge.
Spike scowled as he went to bed. Rose had forgotten to bring him his gemstone! He decided to have a good night's sleep before telling Twilight about how Rose left the library without him. He fell asleep while thinking about a way to word it where he didn't sound guilty for letting her leave.