//------------------------------// // Food // Story: Changeling // by TheOnly //------------------------------// After waiting with the other ponies for the purple unicorn to get her blanket, the changeling followed them through the crowds of Ponyville central and towards the fields beyond the town. He didn't know where they were taking him, or what exactly his role was in the group, but he knew that he had taken the place of somepony in the group. There was no way for him to figure out what the pony he had taken the form of acted like, so he decided it would be best to not say anything. It was a risk, of course. Should the pony he was be talkative he would be found out. The option of changing into a different pony was still viable, but that would require him to be able to provide an explanation for the disappearance of the pony he currently was. As he followed the ponies out of the town, the buildings gave way to an open field. There was grass covering the ground and trees stuck like pillars from the ground. It was nothing like the desolate landscape of the nest. Everything was bright and colorful, but the changeling's eyes were still adjusting and the colors hurt. In front of the group was a unicorn, leading the group out into the field. The changeling and the four other ponies followed close behind. Inside the field wasn't empty, there were other ponies that had the same idea. Baskets and blankets covered the area and around them sat ponies that were eating or chatting or just enjoying the weather. Some younger ponies ran around in the open field, enjoying the warmth of the sun. The picnics generally were held under the shade of a tree. The changeling continued to follow the ponies, contemplating running off. Surely the pony he copied would find her friends. The consequences would have to be dealt with later, but engaging in a picnic was asking to be found out. All around him ponies were eating daisy sandwiches or oats or grass, and it didn't take long to figure out that a picnic meant eating food. The changeling didn't know exactly what was going on, but if eating regular food was involved there was no way he'd be able to stay undercover. Changelings fed on love, and love alone. Any other forms of food were inedible to changelings. Love wasn't attained like normal food. It wasn't a tangible source of nourishment, and its abstractness made it possible to feed without being noticed. Although love couldn't be measured, and didn't have a taste, whenever a changeling felt love they would absorb it. It would be silently absorbed, digested by the changeling through a series of odd-looking organs, and transformed into an actual food source. Changelings fed on magic, and love was their fuel. The products of digested love accounted for the changelings ability to perform magic. Their green magic was fueled by the love they obtained. The digested love also made a greenish goo as a waste product. Changelings had learned how to use it more effectively by using it as an adhesive. The queen didn't just make the adhesive, but also had the ability to create a chrysalis, earning the name 'Queen Chrysalis'. Inside the field now, the ponies looked for a spot to settle down in. Within moments the picnic would begin, and finding a way out of eating food would be near impossible for the changeling. Lying would easy, simply saying that he wasn't hungry would do the trick, but he had no idea what personality he was supposed to use. Although he had adopted the vocal chords of the pony he copied, personality was something that had to be replicated on its own. Anything that deviated from the original pony's personality, and there would have to be an explanation. Any holes in the explanation, and there would be suspicion. Any suspicion, and the changeling would be figured out. There was no middle option, it was either stay for the picnic and speak one word sentences the entire time, or run off and transform into another pony before they could catch him. Both options were beyond risky, but there was no compromise. Small beads of sweat formed on the changelings brow, a concept foreign to him. As a changeling, the outer shell would prevent anything like sweat to be excreted from the body. Being nervous or anxious as a changeling led to little or no physical changes. Without pupils to dilate and shift around his formerly blue eye, the changeling was unaware of the clear signs he was showing. Sweat and pupils were new concepts to him. When anxiety got the better of him before, he simply locked his knees into place to avoid shaking and there would be no signs. A slight breeze that swept over the field cooled off the changeling, but he continued to sweat. It wasn't the sun that was causing it at all. The other ponies seemed relieved by the wind, but the changeling found nothing in it. Trotting through the field the group of ponies stopped abruptly. The changeling had been too busy worrying about whether he should run or stay to realize they had stopped, and almost bumped into the pony in front of him. One of the ponies lai out a blanket, and with a unanimous decree that all of them were 'starving', they sat down on it and opened the basket. The changeling's eyes widened at the word 'starving'. He had been starved once or twice before, and it was awful. Without any love for days he had to work, and just before he felt like collapsing he received some nourishment. The pain was unbelievable back then, so he could only imagine what the group of ponies were feeling even though they were all smiling. As the other ponies took a seat, he was faced with the decision. He had to make it now or he would just be standing there, and that would be considered peculiar behavior. Neither choice was better than the other, and each one had its own risks, but the decision had to be made. Inside his head he imagined the two decisions on a wheel, and he spun it. One half was running away, and the other sitting down and staying. As the imaginary wheel spun in his head, he could feel little beads of sweat dripping off of his face. The sun was hot, and nervousness only added to it. All the ponies were looking at him now, and all at once the wheel stopped in his head. The decision was made. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After Twilight had retrieved a blanket from her house, the ponies made their way to the field outside of Ponyville. It was a perfect day for a picnic, and obviously everypony else agreed. Blankets and picnic baskets littered the field and ponies sat around eating their lunches. Twilight and Applejack looked around for a spot to place the blanket while the others followed. Someplace that wasn't too far from the shade just in case it got too hot. "It is so hot out." Fluttershy wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. "It's hot out but just wait, the breeze will cool us down," replied Twilight, who wiped her own forehead to remove any sweat. Sure enough, a cool breeze brushed over the field, counteracting the warmth of the sun. Within a minute they had found the perfect spot. Should it become too hot, the picnic could be easily moved to the shade. Twilight stopped trotting and the others followed suit. She spread the blanket out on the ground and Applejack placed the basket on it. "I'm starved!" exclaimed Twilight. The others agreed with Twilight and found a place on the blanket. Applejack took food out of the basket and placed it in the center as the ponies found their spots. Twilight looked behind her and saw Pinkie Pie standing still by the edge of the blanket. "Pinkie, are you okay?" Pinkie didn't respond, it was if she didn't even hear Twilight. She stood still and let sweat drip off of her face. "Is it really that hot out?" asked Twilight. Pinkie's eyes stared straight ahead. Twilight waved a hoof in front of her face, and as if that was the trigger, Pinkie sprung into action. She turned quickly and galloped away from the picnic blanket. "Pinkie!" Twilight broke into a gallop and chased after her. As her friend, Twilight was set on figuring out what was wrong with Pinkie. The other ponies saw Twilight and Pinkie run off, and within a few seconds they realized what had just happened. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and with a powerful flap was already speeding towards Twilight and Pinkie. Applejack did the same, picking herself off the blanked and galloping after them. She managed to knock over the basket while getting up, spilling the remaining contents onto the blanket. Fluttershy sat on the blanket, too shocked from what was going on to go with the others, and Rarity just didn't want to gallop and get sweaty. Pinkie Pie galloped through the field, her flimsy mane caught in the wind. Twilight was close behind her, and Rainbow Dash was gaining through the air. Her ability to fly gave her an advantage over the grounded ponies. She was able to fly faster than they could gallop, and was gaining on Twilight. Pinkie looked over her shoulder and saw that Rainbow Dash was about to pass over Twilight. Soon she would be upon her. Applejack was also gaining on Twilight, her strong legs allowing her to gallop faster. Pinkie tried to move faster but she was already galloping as fast as she could and Rainbow Dash wasn't slowing down. Being able to fly gave her too much of an advantage in speed. "Pinkie, where are you going?" yelled Twilight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All at once, the changeling tore into a gallop. He turned away from the group of ponies and pushed hard on the grass. He wasn't sure where he was going, but anywhere away from the picnic was fine. There was some yelling behind him and he turned to see that three of the ponies were in hot pursuit, one of them closer than the others. With a snort, he pulled himself into overdrive and galloped a little faster, attempting to get far away from the ponies so he could transform into somepony else. What had once been a light breeze was now a strong gust blowing by his face. He was galloping at max speed, but when he turned to look behind himself a pegasus was gaining quickly. Flying was faster than galloping, the changeling knew this, but his pony form didn't have any wings. He looked behind him once more and saw that the pegasus was about to reach him. With another snort he tried to push himself even faster, but his legs had reached the limit. Within moments the pegasus would catch him... unless... Although it was risky and had 'bad idea' written all over it, the changeling knew there was no other choice. There was no possible excuse he could make at this point as to why he was running away, and there was no chance of going any faster. Unless he could fly. His mind was made up. A small flash of green magic surrounded the changeling, and when it finished it revealed his true form. He felt relieved. After being a pony his horn and wings felt so natural. His thin wings flapped and soon they were making the familiar buzzing noise. Within a moment he was flying in the air, faster than his legs could ever go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight received no answer to her call. She breathed in quick spurts, and sweat glistened on her face. Galloping in the warmth of the sun was tiring. Applejack was beside Twilight and already passing, and Rainbow Dash had nearly caught up with Pinkie. Soon they would find out what the matter with Pinkie was. Twilight almost gasped, but her heavy breathing didn't allow for one. In an instant, what had once been Pinkie Pie galloping away was now a black figure with thin wings. A changeling! Twilight almost tripped over her own hooves in shock, and she looked over at Applejack who was just as confused. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and she almost forgot to keep flapping her wings. At first she didn't want to believe it, but her eyes did not deceive her. She was chasing a changeling. Twilight and Applejack stared helplessly as the changing flapped its wings and flew. It was moving too fast for both of the ponies, and they were already tired. Twilight dug her hooves into the ground, bringing her to a halt. Applejack did the same and watched as Rainbow Dash zipped by, still chasing the changeling. The two fliers were almost evenly matched, but Rainbow Dash had a small advantage. The thin wings of the changeling flapped much faster than Rainbow Dash's, but did not provide enough power to move faster. Rainbow Dash and the changeling flew out of the field and straight towards Ponyville. Suddenly the changeling dipped down and flew close to the ground. Without hesitation Rainbow Dash followed, and behind her a streak of rainbow followed. Both of them were going fast, but the Ponyville buildings were coming closer, adding a new element to the chase. The changeling smiled, knowing that this was his specialty. With wings that flapped fast enough to make a faint buzzing noise, the changeling could change directions extremely fast. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, did not have this ability. The changeling sped up slightly as he entered an alleyway. Rainbow Dash was quick to follow. The tall walls of the buildings confined the flying space, but that was exactly what the changeling wanted. Without warning, he cut into a different alleyway with an almost ninety degree turn. Rainbow Dash tried to make the turn with the same speed, but couldn't flap hard enough to turn her body as fast as the changeling could. By the time she entered the new alleyway, the changeling was already half way down it. She snorted and sped toward him, leaving traces of a rainbow in her wake. Alleyways cut left and right, and each time the changeling would cut into one Rainbow Dash would lose a little ground. But the alleyways were running out. Soon they'd be on a populated street where everypony could see the changeling, and then Rainbow Dash would have him. Windows and trash cans zipped by Rainbow Dash as she pursued the changeling. He was flying directly for the central square. Rainbow Dash smiled and slowed down a little bit. There was no point in going her max speed if he was just going to be caught anyway, but the changeling had other plans. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With his new wings, the changeling was able to fly again. His wings buzzed and brought him of the ground. Two of the ponies stopped chasing, realizing that it was useless. He smiled, but there was still one left. He would need to throw her off, and the only way to do that was to out-maneuver her, because out-flying her wasn't going to happen. He flew closer to the ground and into an alleyway, knowing that his wings would allow quicker turns. He was right. The pegasus couldn't keep up with his quick turns. He made sure to change alleyways randomly so that she couldn't anticipate it. After a couple turns, the pegasus was losing ground and starting to slow down. But the changeling knew better than to think that he had won. He remembered the populated area that he had been before going to the field, and looking ahead of him the alleyway opened up into the central square. Groups of ponies stood there, and the changeling would be caught immediately. If he changed forms now then the pegasus would know who he was, and if he changed forms later all the other ponies would know who he was. His mind raced as he tried to figure out a solution, but nothing was coming up. There was only one option, and that was to try something crazy. Without thinking about it, he took a hard left, but there was no alleyway there. Instead, there was a window. The changeling smashed through the window, shards of glass flying onto the floor of the room. Luckily, the changeling's hard shell protected from any cuts that the sharp glass would give him. However, the crash did have its repercussions. The changelings head ached from smashing into the glass head-first. His horn had cracked the glass, but his head had smashed it. There was no time to worry about that though. The room was small and cozy, with a table and some chairs in the nearby room. There was a pony in the room, but she was busy working on something. The crash through the window had startled her, but before she could turn around and confront the changeling he had already kicked down the wooden door. Looking out at the crowds of ponies he picked one out at random. There was no time to decide which form would be the best, only time for changing. A flash of green magic consumed the changeling and he took on his new form. As the pony in the house came galloping to see what happened, the changeling darted through the open doorway and into the central square. After getting a safe distance away from the house, he resumed a normal trot and blended in with the crowds. His heart was still racing and he shot a glance back at the house. It had all happened so quickly. The pony in the house stared in disbelief at the window and the door, and as she did so the pegasus that had been chasing the changeling flew through the broken window. The two ponies had a quick conversation, in which the changeling could only assume that the pegasus blamed the damages on him. Of course, the owner of the house didn't believe it and scolded the pegasus. With a smile, the changeling walked further into the crowds. The damages to the window and the door had been taken care of, and the pegasus was diverted. Now all he had to do was lay low and the whole thing would blow over, then he could resume his quest for a normal life. He just hoped he wouldn't meet his duplicate. Looking down at his hooves he saw what color his new form was. It was an interesting color.