//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Gravity // Story: A Shift of Face // by Overlord Aeon //------------------------------// You know, I've come to realize over the last couple of minutes that gravity is not a friendly entity. Sure it keeps you from falling in the wrong direction, but falling in the right direction isn't a big improvement. It’s a fact that's made even worse after you realize you're moving at a speed that is making the landscape a complete blur and would probably crush a normal pony without a protective exoskeleton. Shape-shifting might help but- oh that's right didn't explain that did I? I’m a changeling, like a shape-shifting bug pony that feeds off of the emotion known as “love”. I know what you're probably thinking, “Eww giant bug! Oh Celestia its going to eat me!” but i'm not a mindless drone looking for a meal. Amazing what most ponies think of an entire race, but we’ll get to that later on account of me falling. I was thinking about just opening my wings and hoping for the best, but then I remembered my wings aren't made for this speed. After realizing this, I was going to shape-shift my wings into a ponies, but then remembered that their wings aren't strong enough for this. A Gryphon's wings though...that might do the trick. I would do a dragons wings, but I doubt I had that much power in me after the invasion. Shape-shifting is pretty simple despite what some ponies think. Normally a changeling can do anything not too large or small, like a dragon, hydra, or a mouse. Its takes quite a bit of magical power to do things like that, and considering Changelings get magic from love, I don’t think I have enough for dragon wings. But a gryphon's wings might work in this situation. Mustering up what I could, I channeled some of my leftover energy from the invasion into just my wings and reworked them into flesh and bone. Luckily most changelings are smart enough to not put in a nervous system until after its fully formed. Most changelings anyway… After I finished forming the wings I opened them to catch the winds flying past me in hopes of slowing my decent. Even bracing myself didn't help with the strain it put on my temporary appendages, holding them open against the powerful breeze going past my body was damaging the newly formed muscle tissue, and it felt like they were being ripped off by an angry hydra. Still my descent slowed down to a point where I could level myself with the ground so I could see where I was. Unfortunately, After slowing down to a normal flying speed I realized that I was mere inches from a forest. I panicked and looked up to make sure- *CRACK* -that I didn't hit my wings on a bucking tree! Of course I had to hit the ONE tree high enough to hit a newly formed wing on and BREAK IT! And by break ‘it’ I mean both the wing and the thick tree branch obviously! Okay, lots of pain, luckily the wing went back to being a normal insect wing after it sustained that kind of trauma, but I doubt I’d be flying anytime soon after this, even if I could figure out what direction the hive was. After spinning out of control for a few seconds I tried to level myself out enough to see where I was going to eventually hit a tree trunk and leave a me sized imprint on it. Fortunately, after that bucking tree came out of nowhere I seemed to have cleared the forest. Very quickly I also realized my luck also sucks and looked down to see fields of gold stuff- And that's when I realized the ground was coming up to me a litt- ah to hell with it, it was coming up WAY the hell too fast! I looked around for something, hell, anything to cushion the fall. But the rate I was going down was as fast as my luck, and the closest thing i could see was a wooden structure off in the distance, but there was no way i’d even make it far enough to get squished on it. I looked down and decided to accept my bad luck and fall into the hopefully very soft golden stuff all round these fields.Maybe my carapace will break the fall for me, but even then i’ll probably starve out here. Buck you gravity, and the pony you rode in o- *CRASH* ---- “Oh no! The trains coming!” I said in as feminine a voice as I could for a child, pretending the stuffed pony I was voicing was a women in distress.“Someone save me!” I left that doll tied up on the small wooden train tracks I left in the middle of my bedroom. It was a pretty simple building, even for the changeling capitol. My room consisted of 4 walls, a window, a door, a small bed and a toy chest with only a few prized toys. Mommy was in the other room talking with the scary bald changelings about something so I had no interest in leaving my little bedroom. What I did have interest in right then was saving the pretty pony from the train. I grabbed the other pony doll I had, a bit bigger than the other one and this one had armor on it I made myself out of cardboard I found in the closet and some tinfoil from the kitchen. In as deep as a voice I could do I said “I’ll save you pretty pony! Come along Spear Pony!” I then went off to save the damsel, attempting to fly with my buggy wings but I fell on my face instead. Shrugging off that slightly embarrassing attempt at flying, I continued towards my toys. But when I turned around my toys were gone. “Huh? Where’d the pretty pony go...and my train!” I let go of the spear pony to search the room, but found nothing, not even under the the bed i was using as a train tunnel. I Turned to grab the spear pony and maybe go ask mom to help, but the spear pony had vanished as well. I was starting to get really upset at this. I left the sanctuary of my room to go ask mom where my toys had gone, but when I got to the living room mom was gone as well. I checked the Kitchen, the bedrooms, the bathroom, but there was no sign of anyone. I was about to start crying like the foal I was, but I heard a distant noise. It sounded like...laughing? No, there was a better word for it but I couldn't remember what the teacher said it was. I went to investigate the sound and found it was coming from the front door of the apartment. I could tell it wasn't moms laugh, it was much nicer than the mean sounding laugh I was hearing. What was that word...we learned it just yesterday… I was scared at first, but then I thought ‘Whoever is laughing this much must have took my toys! Well i’ll show this mean bully not to mess with my stuff!’ with the mustered courage I had now, I walked towards the...hearty laughing? Ah, this is so aggravating! I know what the word is but I can’t think of it! Using this frustration to fuel the anger that was going to be soon used on the bullies stupid face, I turned the knob on the door and- Stared at a black shadowy cloud with REALLY mean looking eyes and teeth! “HAHAHAHA! Come little Foal! I’ll turn you into a loyal Changeling of the Swarm! HAAAHAHAHAHA!” Guffawing! That was the word! Okayrunningnowbye! I turned and ran as fast as my little hole filled legs could go, and ran out the back door of the apartments, only to run into a giant swirling hole in the ground and stop just short of a very bad end. “Don’t run my little changeling. I will make a devoted drone out of you and you will help feed your people!” Not knowing how to respond to something like that under stress and slowing back up to a ledge I did the only sensible thing I could do. “MOOOOM!!!” Unfortunately, mom was gone. And the only thing to replace her was this Nightmare before me, and the big hole that gravity was pulling me down to. ---- One thing I've noticed about ponies is that they all seem to think that when you wake up you're supposed to sit straight up in bed and go “Aah!” or something. From what I've personally experienced, this is almost never the case. Normally you slowly come to your senses and wake up. Sometimes, if you were out drinking, you will wake up like nothings wrong and then have all the memories of last night hit you like a brick wall and realize you slept with a bug who feasted on one of your emotions last night and that's why you feel like garbage. For me, I didn't have to try to remember what happened before I fell asleep because the pain emanating from every part of my body immediately reminded me of the rough landing on the not cushion'y golden stuff. I was more worried about my own health instead of personal safety, so I decided to gauge the pain in my joints. Unfortunately, even trying to move my wings resulted in pain that made my groggy vision go white. My hooves ached a lot, but i'm sure I could stand on them if I really had too. After the White in my vision decided it was done making fun of me, I decided to try and figure out where I was. first thing I noticed was that instead of lying down in a crater, I was on a pony's bed. And boy was it soft, I really didn't want to get up, but that might have also been due to the pain. Looking around, I found myself to be in a small room with hardwood floors and walls with actual wallpaper. Probably the guest room considering the lack of anything defining it as someone's personal bedroom. Noticing a door on the other side of the room that was open enough to see a toilet, I decided that I should probably get up and relive myself since that crash surely put me out for a few hours at least. so I stood up off the bed only to collapse onto the floor and groan in even more pain. My back left hoof was in searing pain, and after taking a good look at it I found that my exoskeleton was cracked. Only one was to fix it. I spat on it. Changelings make a sort of slime from the glands in their mouths that we use everyday for things, like candle wax, or makeshift lights, or even glue. luckily spitting it onto a cracked exoskeleton helps protect it from infections, and it has special healing properties for changelings to help the exoskeleton mend itself. So no, I did not just spit on an open wound to make it worse. Hobbling my way into the bathroom I saw something move out the corner of my eye and panicked slightly, only to realize it was my own reflection. I could see I didn't look that bad considering I just crashed into solid dirt. in fact it looks like somepony tried to clean me a little...maybe I was covered in dirt. On the top of my head I could see the tell tale sign of my hair growing. changelings in the swarm were forced to shave it all off on a daily basis, but I liked my hair. And because of how much I liked my Ice blue mane I always got in trouble when I didn't go to get it cut as soon as possible. After using the facilities and washing my hands with no soap since somepony didn't put any in here, I decided it would be best if I tried to leave as stealthily as I could befo- “Oh, you finally woke up! How’s the leg?” Said the mare who had apparently walked into the room while I was washing my hooves. She wasn't a bad looking mare either, Light brown coat with a very bright yellowish gold mane topped off with a horn of the same color. Her cutie mark seemed to be more of the gold stuff from earlier in a row. I bet she gets all the stallions in town. and mares. My lack of a response was mainly due to me remembering I didn't shut the door behind me and I was a bit paranoid she watched me relive myself, but it was met with her going, “Wait, do you even speak my language...CAN. YOU. UNDER-STAND. ME?” “Ye-” i tried talking but i had to cough a bit first since it felt like I hadn't talked in a long time. How long was I out… “Yes, I can understand you, i’m not deaf.” I replied with a little bit of snideness, but that was from the pain of her loud voice and my aching hoof and wings. “Oh good, I was afraid you wouldn't even be able to walk, let alone hear me after that crash landing you took into my Wheat fields.” Oh, so that's what that golden stuff was. I think ponies used it to make bread, among other things. “Well, i’m walking, I can hear just fine, and you don’t need to worry about me not being ok.” “Well sorry! I saved your life you know! You could be a little bit nicer you know!” She’s right, she probably did save my life. Not to mention I seemed to have landed on her farm, and I probably caused some damage considering how fast I was going. *Sigh* “You're right, sorry, its just i'm in quite a bit of pain right now and you yelling at me didn't help. I guess I should at least try to be friendly since you save my life. What’s your name?” “Amber. Amber Waves. Nice to meet you! You got a name?” I was going to say something, but the only name i could think of was of the pony i was impersonating in Canterlot recently, and I didn't want to risk her tricking me into admitting i was with that idiot of a queen. “Uhh...I...don’t have a name.” “What? you mean bug ponies don't get names when they’re born?” “No, they do, its just I...don’t remember what it was…” I got flashes of a train set and evil laughing cloud for a moment, only to get a little down about how my life is. Dammit gravity, even working on my emotions… She must have seen my melancholy look because she decided to change the subject. “So...where you from?” I was a bit caught off guard. Most people don't ask someone like me that. At least not when they’re talking to me and not a disguise. “Pterygopolis, the changeling capital. Where am I right now is my question.” “The guest room.” She said in a matter-of-fact way. “...Could you be a bit more specific?” “My Farm house.” she said again, in a matter-of-fact way. “Okay, a lot more specific.” “My house on my farm that you landed on, Golden Plains Farm. You crashed in the western field of the farm, which now has a crater in it by the way, and you've been unconscious in the guestroom for the past week making me wonder whether or not you were alive!” She said in a mostly passive aggressive way that made me wonder if she nursed me back to health to kill me for the damage. “Well, that’s alo- A WEEK?!” I'VE BEEN HERE FOR A WEEK?!” “Yea. You must be heavy sleeper..” I had no words. My mind was trying to wrap around the fact that it had been a full 7 days since the Invasion of Canterlot. I needed to get back to the...hive. Wait, I can’t feel the hive...i should be able to feel what direction its in with my magic but...either somethings blocking me...or...that weird explosion (That tasted SO good) did something. Either way, I’m in no condition to try and find my way back...and I really didn't want to go back. That means that i'm free from the queens will! I could do whatever I want! “Well shit...what do i do now...I'm...free.” I said to myself. “Ooh no. You're not going anywhere until you either pay me for the damage to my farm, or help me fix it!” “Oh really? And if I refused?” I said smugly. "I can report to the local guardsmen that a changeling has appeared in town. After the wedding fiasco that happened the exact same day you crashed into my farm, im pretty sure you be locked up, or interrogated! or-” She didn't have time to finish that sentence as i spat adhesive goo onto all her hooves. “Sorry, I finally have a chance at freedom from that evil tyrant, i'm not letting anyone ruin my life again. I’m really sorry for the damage I did, and i'm really sorry for kinda proving the stereotype that changelings are bad, but I will never be a slave, for you or any queen.” “W-wait! Don’t leave me here you ungrateful little...you weren't going to be a slave! I just need help with-” She stopped talking when she realized i was getting ready to spit more adhesive onto her mouth. “No! don't do it! That's disgusting! Don't you da-” Well, that takes care of that. I left the guest room to look for stuff to use in the house. I found a cloak hanging on a coat rack which should be more than enough. When I entered the kitchen I briefly thought about going back upstairs and getting some food...but I figured that she probably already had a bad opinion of me and didn't want to make her madder. In the kitchen however, I found a picture of a Stallion with a light gray coat and brown mane wearing a long brown jacket. The guy didn't look like he was used to smiling. I shape-shifted my self to look like him, but then I found a map of the nearby area, noticing the closest town was very, very small. The thing about small towns is that everyone there probably knew who this stallion was, and I could get mistake for him. Deciding it best to try something else, I changed the mane to a different color (Ice blue! Just like mine!) and changed my coat to a darker grey. I should probably be a Unicorn since my wings need time to heal and magic would be very useful to have just in case. I put on the stolen cloak, and took the map with me to find this town on the map marked as “Gallopton” (ah, pony races and their punny names) and exited the small farm house. I was immediately blinded when i left the house, realizing that it was sometime after noon. The Wheat fields were an absolutely beautiful gold in the sunlight around me. When I was done admiring the scenery, I decided to walk in the direction the map took me. ---- A 20 minute uneventful walk down a dirt road later, and I found myself walking down the “Mane street”. From the distance I could tell it was a VERY small town. It seemed like an old west frontier town, but in all honesty it looks a bit more modern. The kind of small town where everyone knows each other and word travels a little too fast. A good distance away from the nearest build was a structure that I was pretty sure was for intimidation purposes, but I had a feeling it was still used today: A Gallows. “Not the most welcoming sign.” I said to myself. I’m sure that if anyone in this town found out what I was I was guaranteed dead thanks to the backwater inhabitants. now that I thought about it, if that girl told anyone in town about me, then I’d already be dead...I guess her farm is really important to her. No wonder she wanted me to stay and fix it. Well, after ignoring my feelings of how much of a jerk i must be, I continued into town. Surprisingly, most ponies i passed on the street said ‘hello’ or smiled and waved at me to welcome me to their small town. This was much different than changelings towns. Hell, it was different from Canterlot, and I was there for a royal wedding! I thought small towns were supposed to be reclusive and hide some horrible secrete behind closed doors. I was walking down the street like most of the inhabitants seemed to be doing at this time of day. I passed a building that smelled vaguely like a house of love which immediately reminded me of home. Oh yea, that's basically what a whore house is in the changeling lands, mainly a tourist trap for food, but its a very distinct smell. I continued past it, ignoring my stomach, when I noticed most of the inhabitants of the small town seemed to all be going to a building with a sign that said “Stiff Drink’s Saloon” and I could hear some kind of pony music coming from the building. I was a bit curious, pony music was always nice sounding, if a bit too cheery, so I went inside to see what was going on. I've only ever been in a bar once, and changeling bars aren't too impressive from what I remember. But there was one key difference between that bar and this saloon. This saloon has happy ponies that are jolly as all hell and they all smelled like they worked at a brewery that was recently lit on fire. Ignoring the smell of alcohol, I noticed the music was coming from an older looking stallion playing a...Piano I think its called, never really seen one. But better than his playing skill was the mare in the dress singing! I very rarely ever got to hear pony music, but when I did it was always this upbeat cheerful stuff that made you feel good. This pony was dancing and singing around to the Piano ponies music like she felt like she was on fire and loving it! Of course most ponies wouldn't enjoy being on fire, but considering she also looked like she was on fire is the reason I said that. She had on this dark red dress that seemed alluring, but underneath it she had a bright orange coat that went along with her mane, which matched the dress. The dress was covering her cutie mark, but if I had to guess it had something to do with singing! I watched her sing and entertain the small crowd for a while before having a look around the bar. Figured if I was going to stay and listen to the show I might as well have a seat. In the back of the bar however, I found a stallion shuffling pieces of square paper around in his hooves muttering to himself. He had a black coat darker than mine at the moment, and blood red hair. (Not the best looking stallion…) i could see his cutie mark had some of the weird paper on it in a sort of row, with some symbols i didn't recognize and numbers. When he noticed me staring he said, “Well, you must be new in town! don’t suppose you know how to play poker, do ya?” I, being a changeling who was pretty much raised into a drone for the swarm, had no idea what “Poker” was. “No, ive never really had the chance to play it. don’t suppose you could show me?” whatever he was doing I had a feeling people would be a bit suspicious if i didn't know what this Poker thing was. “Well, unlike most drunken asses that come in here, you're actually willing to learn, so I’d have to say heck yes! Sit down in that chair and I promise to go easy on ya’, rookie.” ---- “...And that's pretty much it! Some people like to make a few side bets to make some extra bits, but i'm sure you could figure it out!” I’d lost track of time while i was learning how to Gamble money away in a card game. It was really fun, but i didn't see why ponies would want to waste their hard earned bits on a card game like this, especially since this guy obviously cheated at it. I saw him grab cards out of his jacket sleeve more than once, but even so i managed to get about 10 bits out of him. “Thanks! Its really fun. you know, I never caught your name.” I said. figured i might as well learn who it was trying to cheat me out of my bits. I could recognize him a mile away with his terrible mane and coat colors, which I could tell he dyed them since his sweat dulled the colors a bit. “Just call me Dealer, kid. you don't need to know me as anything but a nice man who taught you how to play a game. Hell, let me tell you a story about this one girl i taught and her husban- Oh hey there she is now! Hey Amber Waves! Hows the farm doin’?” Wait, where have I heard...oh horse apples. I felt something grab my shoulders from behind and get a little too close for my personal space. “Pretty good Dealer! I see you met my cousin from out of town!” Cousin? the hell is she getting at… “Cousin? Girl, I thought you said you didn't have any relatives?” “when did I ever say that?” she said nervously. “Always! Nearly everyone in this town kno-” “Well you're completely wrong. Don't suppose you could move somewhere else while i have a chat with my cousin?” Ah crap. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get away from this girl easily, now that we’re in public and spitting goo at her is definitely not going to work this time. Dealer left as fast as he could. I wonder if he was afraid of her… “Well , where did you think you were going when you left the house in a hurry?” She put emphasis on cousin as if i didn't realize she was giving me something to work with. “Well cousin, I was planning on skipping town and going out to make a living free from that laughable excuse for a queen. But now it seems i'm stuck in a bar full of ponies who will know the moment something goes wrong. So tell me, what do you want from me.?” “Id like you to work off the damages you caused to my farm. Its not very cheap to fix a crater, plus i looked up a bit on changelings and realized, you really have no where to go now. If you hate this queen as much as i'm thinking you do, then you won't go back, but since you're alone in a land of people who probably only see a bug, i'm the only person who's going to offer you a warm bed and a roof over your head. Hows that sound?” In all honesty, it was actually sounding like a decent deal. she did save my life and i was regretting running away earlier… "Don’t you have a husband though? I saw the pictures. I highly doubt he’d be ok with it.” “Hes been dead for 5 years. But lets not dwell on that. By the sound of it you're considering my offer, is that right?” “Yes, but I doubt i'll be staying long without a way to pay you back for the damage, and i highly doubt you have a way to feed me.” Really hoping the food part scares her off if she did her research right. “I’m sure you noticed the whore house on you way into town. besides, i doubt it’d be that hard to find a different way of feeding you. So, it’s a deal?” She held out a hoof to me over the table. i'll admit, if i could make a name for myself in this town, id probably never have to worry about food ever again. I bumped her hoof with mine, sealing the deal. “Great! we can talk about ways for you to make money after we celebrate our friendship! Prairie! I need 2 root beers over here!” “Coming!” I heard a sing song voice across the room respond. I was surprised to see it was the flaming hot mare from earlier, only this time in a waitress outfit and carrying a plate with 2 fizzy drinks on it with her head. I noticed her cutie mark was a flaming music note over a shot glass. Well, not surprised in the least after seeing that performance earlier, even for an Earth pony. “Two root beers! And- oh hello! you must be new in town! I saw you walk in during the performance earlier.” The fiery mare was very upbeat… “Prairie Fire, this is my cousin...uh...Frozen fields! Yea, he came from Canterlot to stay with me for a while and help with the farm! Isn't that right, Cousin?” I’m guessing her family has a history of farming if she put fields in there... “Yeeaaa, i'm from Canterlot. After I left Celestia's school I came here for...uhm, peaceful farm life and to follow my roots and stuff.” Amber chimed in with "His side of the family used to farm in cold places like Tundras, and stuff." She didn't give me any better details. If anyone asks which part of her family were my parents, i'm screwed. “Amber! I thought you said you didn't have any cousins! And I didn't expect him to be handsome to boot!” She barely knows me and shes flirting with me? Who knows, maybe she can be useful as a buffet… “Everyone keeps saying that. But yea, he’ll be staying with me while I show him the farm. In fact, hes going to help me repair the damage from that meteor that hit the farm." “Well that's great! If you ever need a drink, Frozen, just stop on by! Or if you ever want to see a fantastic performance, I might be persuaded for a private show, only for good freinds of Amber's of course.” I don’t know about drinks, but I did enjoy the music, that's for sure. And she didn't seem like a prostitute, so I'm hoping a private performance meant watching her sing. And no, not in that way, i meant actual singing! “Alright! It’s settled! To my cousin!” She held the drink in the air with her magic, I'm guessing she expects me to toast with her.. “To me!” I used my magic to bump the drinks together, while droplets of the fizzy concoction fell to the ground, ever being pulled by gravity.