//------------------------------// // Prologue: of Clouds and Ponies // Story: Fluttershy The Kindest Changeling Queen // by Changeing Winter //------------------------------// Darkness... That one word best described the surroundings of a small, feeble unborn changeling. All encompassing darkness... Then, there was light. A golden, holy glow pierced the grimy transparent walls that surrounded the changeling, That beautiful, clean light was the first thing the little changeling inside the egg had seen of the outside world. For the first time, it felt something. It felt… no, it desired to move, to act. It needed to get closer to that heavenly glow, and it needed to do so right now. A wet slamming sound reverberated around the darkness as the changeling smashed its small hooves into the thick, unyielding walls that separated it from the outside world. Again and again it's fragile and weak hooves crashed into the wall. It was a long and hard battle, but the changeling wasn’t giving up. After what seemed like an hour of wailing away, the egg gave in. As the egg split open, a gooey liquid spilled out, followed by a small changeling tumbling head over hooves as it rolled out onto a soft fluffy material. Then, it finally took its first breath. The light that drew the changeling from the egg was still there, but it seemed to have lost its glamour when compared with the many new sights that surrounded it. The fluffy thing the changeling landed on was soft and cuddly, it could feel a word beginning to form in the back of its mind, a word that perfectly described the soft cuddly surface beneath it, but what was that word... "Cloud." That voice was not the voice of the changeling, but something inside itself. This was a voice that was heard not by its ears but by its mind. It was a soothing voice that seemed friendly and helpful. To the changeling the voice sounded natural, so it took the advice and moved on. Next, the changeling's eyes followed the light until it saw a yellow ball hanging in the sky. "Sun." 'So that's where the light came from,' thought the changeling. That voice was like having a friend in the back of your mind that could tell you everything you would ever need to know; all the changeling had to do was think of something and the voice would name it instantly. Once again, this was strangely natural to the changeling, so it continued to observe its surroundings until it finally decided to start walking steadily forward until the voice rang out again. "Location, Equestria, Cloudsdale." This time the voice sounded much more urgent. Whilst the changeling was about to mentally ask what Equestria was, two brightly coloured winged creatures much like the changeling came soaring through the sky, chasing some kind of ball. "Pegasus ponies." The voice identified. 'Well that was probably good to know,' thought the changeling. Upon closer inspection, the changeling could see that one of the Pegasus ponies had yellow fur and a silver mane, while the other one had a white coat combined with a pink mane. The two ponies didn't stay long. they took to the skies flying off while talking about some kind of race. "Change." The voice sounded more like a command this time. by instinct, the changeling surrounded itself with a green fire. It took the yellow fur from one of the ponies, the pink hair from the other, and the wings from both, creating a yellow Pegasus with pink hair. "Create name," the voice commanded. At first the changeling thought to look for different ways to describe flight. Flutter was one of the choices presented by the voice and seemed to be a nice option to the changeling's still developing mind. Next, the voice demanded a second word, one that would describe that changeling as timid and secretive. Shy seemed like a perfect fit. "I'm Fluttershy," the small Pegasus-changeling squeaked in a way that was barely audible, feeling proud of itself. Fluttershy smiled and trotted along the fluffy clouds towards a group of nearby pegasuses, hoping to learn more about the world around her. Maybe she would even find some food.