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// Princess and the Changeling 
// Story: CCC-Back Home Again 
// by Fresnor 
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I watch the tableau before me with a bit of annoyance since it meant there was going to be yet another mess to clean up.  Looking over the four running around I notice a lack of panic from the three doing the chasing so I was guessing that this form was known by Surprise which wasn’t that big of a surprise.  What was a surprise was the look on Sunset’s face which was one of wonder instead of panic or fear.  I was distracted by a yell from the others and when I turned back I saw Velour running into her home and slamming the door while Surprise and my daughters ran around to the back.  “Well that didn’t go anywhere near like I had planned when I brought you here to meet her.”

I look over to Sunset again to find that she wasn’t listening to me and was instead staring at where the changeling last was.  I was about to poke her when she finally looked over at me.  “Am I going crazy or did I just see a flutter pony?”  I was about to respond but the word she used to describe the changeling was not one that I had heard before.

“What exactly is a flutter pony?  I’ve read a lot of the books that Twilight had in her library yet have never come across that term before.”  Sunset looks up at me while looking a bit embarrassed for some reason.

“It was back when mom first adopted me she used to tell me stories about things that were lost over her long life.  One of them was about another race of ponies that used to live in what are now the Badlands called flutter ponies.  She always seemed sad when she talked about them and all she would say about what happened to them is that there was some kind of magical disaster.”  I actually am a bit interested to hear more about this from Celestia as it sounds like a hint on the origin of changelings.

Since I don’t have any answers yet there isn’t much I can do about it but I can actually use this.  “Well it’s as good as anything to call her and much better than certain other things.  In fact it will separate her from the others of her kind that are nowhere near as friendly as well.”  Sunset looks at me in confusion but I ignore it as I nod towards the cottage I start walking towards it.

The door into the cabin was locked but it was simple enough to unlock it with a bit of magic.  Rose and Butch waited outside and inside we found Velour on the ground panting with my daughters bouncing on top of her.  There was no sign of Surprise but I know that she’d appear when it was convenient again.  Dawn and Dusk both looked up at our entrance and on seeing us started bounding over.  “Mommy!”

As they get near I snatch them both up with my tails and start tickling at them to keep them occupied for now.  With them occupied, though Sunset still kept a wary eye on them, I look back towards the owner of the home to see her struggling to get upright again as tries to find somewhere to hide.  “Sorry about that Velour, I was bringing her over to meet you since you both could use a few others to talk to occasionally.  I didn’t expect that we’d find you looking like, as Sunset here put it, a flutter pony.”

Sunset looks at me in confusion again while Velour stops and looks over in confusion with a bit of fear.  I just roll my eyes at the two and lift my daughters up in my tails before moving over to one of the couches and flop onto it before setting the two down.  “You do know that the sooner you get used to being around others the sooner Surprise can throw her party and stop bugging you about it.  Besides, with her knowing about you and still not avoiding you it’s one of the biggest things going for you.  She may be a bit odd but her instincts are rarely wrong even if they aren’t as strong as the original Pinkie Sense I remember.”

Velour just moves over to one of the chairs in the room and collapses onto it before sighing.  “While it is nice that there are ponies that can accept me for what I am, she still isn’t one of the princesses.  After everything that has happened I really don’t think that they would accept a changeling.”  Her hooves leap to her mouth after she realizes what she just said as I bring a paw over my eyes.

Sunset looks as confused as ever as she looks between the two of us.  “Why would a changeling decide to transform into something that has been gone for centuries?  They survive by staying hidden and not standing out which that shape obviously does.”  I have to admit that she has a point with all of that but it still doesn’t refute the truth.

“Well since the idea to try and pass her off as something else failed that just leaves telling you everything.  She really is a changeling but is nothing like the ones you’ve been reading about.  Just from what I’ve observed she is what a changeling is supposed to look like if they don’t steal love like the others do.  Something with the act of stealing it somehow corrupts everything about them and causes them to look like the monstrous kinds that have attacked Equestria.  In fact she’s only been feeding from the animals she takes care of with maybe a bit from my daughters when they are playing with her.”  I gesture towards all the animals that are hiding around the corners of the room and the rafters as they watch on warily.

Sunset looks at the creatures that she only now noticed cautiously before she swallows and tries to look non-threatening.  “If you’ve known about her then how come she was never mentioned to me before?  I would think that at least Twilight would have said something during the history lessons especially since she lives nearby.”  I look over at Velour with a bit of annoyance since this could have been so much easier if she had listened.

“Twilight doesn’t know about her specifically just yet since all I’ve told her is there was a friendly changeling in town.  I’ve been urging Velour here to speak with her for the last couple years but she has always been refusing for the reasons she mentioned without meaning to.  That’s even with the fact that Twilight would completely forget about her being a changeling just because she has the chance to talk to one so would learn about her instead of reacting poorly like most ponies would.”  Sunset sits there for a moment looking thoughtful.

“I can actually see her doing just that though she would probably go a bit overboard about it.  Still I don’t think many ponies would think she was a changeling with how she looks, she’s actually too pretty for one.”  Velour’s face looked like it was overheating after Sunset’s comment who was slightly flushed after she realized what she said.

“Um, thanks, I guess.  But I’m not sure if the opinion of a filly, even if you are a princess, would do much to sway the thoughts of the others.  Some of the things my mother told me that would happen to me if the found me make it too great of a risk.”  This wasn’t the first time she mentioned her parents but she has never said anything specific about them beyond her mother being the changeling and her father a pony.

I was about to say something about that when I was interrupted by the front door flying open revealing Surprise and a familiar pink pony.  “See I told you I could lead you to right to her.  Now let’s go and get those cakes from Sugarcube Corner so I can show you my neato party cannon.”

The pink one nodded and rushed over to grab Sunset before the two ran back out the door with the young princess in tow.  “Wait, where are you taking me?!  Flarenza, help!”

I look at Velour who seems to be in shock about what happened though I’m not much better considering the pony I saw should be dead.  This left only one explanation of who it could be which brought its own problems with it.  “You might want to change back to your other shape since things might get a bit strange soon.  You really should talk with Twilight though since she would never hurt anyone that comes in peace no matter what they look like.  Even Celestia can see reason since she eventually accepted me even though she hated my kind.”

I leave her with those words as I lift my daughters onto my back and head after the three.  Once outside I noticed a pair of guards panting their way up as if they had ran all the way from Twilight’s castle, which they probably did.  “Did you see… where that crazy pink pony went?”  The guard who had the rank of sergeant was finally able to gasp this out as he caught his breath.

I consider what to say to these two though I know that there really is nothing that they can do.  I highly doubted that they even had the training for this situation since it was discontinued years before I left so long ago.  Still there is one that may know what to do about all this.  “You two aren’t going to catch her like this, especially with Surprise being there as well.  I don’t think any of the guards have been able to stop Surprise even, and she is even more unpredictable.  Just go and tell Princess Twilight that you have a Code Pink, she’ll know what that means.”

The two guards look worried when I describe her as worse than Surprise but look confused about the message I gave them.  “A Code Pink ma’am?  But there is no alert level like that in the training manuals.  Why would the Princess know what that means?”

I just roll my eyes at them as they have no idea how crazy things are about to get.  “You should already know about the mirror portal by now since it was moved to a better location.  That pink pony just happens to be the Pinkie Pie from that world, and yes that is the name of the old Bearer of Laughter and if you’ve read the stories you know what that means.  Code Pink was meant to be sent out in case both Pinkie Pies happened to meet so was discontinued centuries ago.  Nobody thought to reinstate it after the portal reopened but Pinkie Pie and Surprise teaming up isn’t much better.”

The sergeant still stared at me in confusion but the private with him just glanced at me in horror before she took off running to find Twilight.  I was amazed at the time she was making and wondered if she would be all right once her second wind burned out.  “Well I guess at least one of you has studied a bit of the history involving Twilight’s friends.  This one even managed to shut down Canterlot for days on multiple occasions in the past so imagine what would happen here in Ponyville.”

That was enough to send him off running himself while I just shake my head as he leaves.  I wasn’t sure what I should do now since I had planned to spend more time with Sunset but I knew things were about to get crazy for a while.  Since my daughters were now asleep it wouldn’t be a good idea to have them around those two and I was sure that Sonata would want to be at whatever party those two had planned.  I was sure that things would get even crazier once she joined up with them so Twilight would probably need some help keeping things in control.

With that plan in mind I made my way home to drop the two off in their beds while I searched out Sonata and went to aid Twilight in whatever way I could.