//------------------------------//
// 5 - Distracted for a bit 
// Story: A Penny for your thought 
// by Damaged 
//------------------------------//

My bed was a simple one, a nice mattress and a few pillows. It was in the loft of my shop and as I curled up on it, no sooner did my head hit softness than I was out. It took time for my dream to start, darkened faces that no amount of peering or chasing could reveal, it wasn't fun and I bopped a hoof down. A darker shape rose in my dream, tall, dangerous, it lashed out with hoof and magic and destroyed the things that were such a consternation.

"Your dreams are vivid." Luna's voice came from that darkness and, looking up I realized my brain had used the form of Nightmare Moon as its hammer to smash what it didn't like. I grinned up at her and leaned sideways against a leg.

But I didn't want darkness now and a huge full moon appeared, stars lighting up the scene as we found ourselves on top of a hill. "Much more pleasant, we approve." Luna's form shifted to her true one and she settled down. "About my boon."

Looking around to ensure everything was just nice, I trotted up and settled down across from the princess. I really didn't mind her holding it over me, but then, she had done so much. She and her sister had given me a new life and I planned to live it without looking back!

"When you are established, when your little shop is doing well, we will ask of you a foal." The way she said the words, I knew she thought she was just letting me off the hook, after all, isn't that what mares do, settle down, find somepony and have a foal?

Ice, shock. I was looking up at the pitched roof of my loft, blinking and awake. "I… but..."

A sense of force swelled beside the bed and suddenly the night princess was there, having to crouch a little and lay down in the cramped place. "Does finding a special somepony frighten you that much?"

I nodded mutely. 

"It shouldn't, everyone finds-" 

"No, no I don't want to." The words were out of my snout and I knew I couldn't pull them back. I had promised her a boon, of her choice. "I don't…"

"You won't?"

Now my little head was shaking in the dim light coming through the one small window. "Can't."

Luna's head rose a little in surprise and her horn poked at an exposed beam. "We don't understand, we made your body perfect."

"It isn't that either, you really did make it perfect, but I don't, I don't like ponies in that way." The words tumbled out. "No, not just ponies, I mean, I don't like… I don't like that."

The princess looked at me with confusion a moment. "We will think on this." And just like that she was gone. It was not easy trying to get back to sleep that night, or the next. What did she think of me?

Of course, the fabric I was polishing the stones with would wear out a lot, but that was okay, Mr Loaf gave me a new one whenever I needed it. After two days I was about halfway through and, over that time I had gotten much better at just making light. Relaxing in my little shop, I was curled up on a cushion with the little clamp assembly in front of me. My light flickered from dim to bright as I bade it, showing me where more work was needed.

"That looks cool."

I was shocked and looked up from the work to see a young earth pony mare looking down at me, her interest piqued. "Oh they do, they look better and better when I get them finished." She turned to look where I gestured with a hoof, leaving my work for the moment. As she turned I noticed something a little odd, the mare had a cutie mark that looked exactly like a changeling!

She spotted my focus. "We all have to wear that, when we are in a different shape." I blinked at her reason and it took a bit for my brain to wrap around it. 

"You're a changeling? Cool! Did you want to buy something?" My eyes took a moment to really start to refocus, narrowed down as they were to the gems I was cleaning up. "I was trying to build up stock when I got a huge order."

The mare shook her head. "I was actually looking for… employment." That piqued my interest more and when I raised an eyebrow she continued. "Well, try as the hive does to make sure we are all fed, everypony is on half rations until enough food is harvested. I wouldn't need much, just… well, you were radiating and I didn't mean to..." Suddenly I had a bawling changeling, her form having flashed in green fire.

I had heard about all this. Apparently somepony rescued a whole mess of changelings from Chrysalis, then another pony had shape-shifted into a changeling queen. They were allowed to eat only when given permission. Which was why she was so upset. "Hey now, it's okay. I didn't even feel anything."

"You'll tell the guard!"

Sighing I settled down beside her. My own proclivities didn't lean in her direction, but that didn't stop me from leaning against the oddly-firm pony's side and giving their mane a nuzzle. "How about, you do a day's work for me and I don't tell them that you had a nibble."

I knew it would be a bad idea to just 'let her off', she wouldn't have believed it. But making her work for it? "I… I can? Oh, I WILL!" Suddenly there were dark black legs wrapped around my neck and a very relieved changeling nuzzled against me. "Wait, you don't taste quite… normal?"

It was my own turn to lower my head. "Yeah, sorry, mares aren't my-" I was halfway through explaining when the dark form snuggled against me was suddenly a stallion. Their mood rose a moment before they blinked in surprise. "Yeah, not stallions either." 

The green fire wasn't hot. I had been close to her for two changes now but she was back to her carapaced-self. "If not mares or stallions, what… does it?" Curiosity was better than confusion at least and I tried to explain.

"Neither really. I like getting wrapped up in work, or a really good book." As I explained I was aware she was still cuddled close and I blushed a touch. "I am happy for you to work here, but I don't think I can offer you anything to eat in that way."

She was quiet a while and just leaned in against me. I guess it was then I just let go and relaxed against her. "I can live on friendship… a little." Her words were soft as we lay there, simply enjoying having met someone new and friendly. "Oh, I am Stick!"

My face must have registered how confused at this admission I was. 

"My name, I am named Stick!" She clarified but it still took a bit to sort out.

"Well Stick. I am Penny, Penny Farthing." I gave a nod and hugged her back some more.

"Hay, you want to see how to polish stones?" I leaned back a little, and she relaxed her grip to let me.

"Sure would!" We disentangled ourselves and climbed up and it occurred to me that she, well, they, in their changeling form, didn't strike any alarms as male or female… kinda.

I spent the afternoon showing her and letting her practice. Settling down in the pillows, our flanks touched a little as we both polished the stones up to great result. "So you live at the hive?"

She nodded, lifting her rig toward my horn and getting a brighter light from me as I noticed it. "We don't have to go back, they said, if we find somewhere nice to live. But Queen Fast said we can't live anywhere but there until she has checked it out."

Twilight, the time not the pony, started to settle in around the city and Stick announced she had to return to the hive. "You coming back tomorrow? I would hate to lose such a great worker!" She nodded enthusiastically. 

"And I will petition Queen Fast to come and inspect your home..." She trailed off, realizing she had inferred that she would sleep here. "If, if that is okay?"

Heartless I was not, and could resist nopony that looked as adorable as Stick did. I remembered well how good it was to move away from home. "Of course it is, you will go back for meals though, right?"

She nodded. "You are nice, but if I fed on you exclusively it would be bad. You would get sick."

"Settled then. Tomorrow you come back and we try and finish these stones. If we can get them done I could take them to Rarity before..." Stick had frozen and looked in shock.

"One… one of the Elements?"

My hoof was over her withers and I had her close in an instant. "Yes, I guess you would know her as that. She is a nice mare, she was just protecting her friends. We are friends now, though, and if she is friends with you she will defend you, too!" It was a lot for her to take in but her terror seemed to fade to uncertainty.

"Then I will make sure to be her friend!" She raised a forehoof into the air with the conviction of her words and I hugged her more before ultimately letting go.

"Until tomorrow!" We both said the words together and it was cute. Maybe we could stir up a song?

No Luna this night, my dreams were the usual, shadowy figures. Nightmare Moon dashed in again, sparing none from her wrath and, until I woke, I was tucked at her feet.

A baby dragon was wandering up to my shop the next morning. My chores with Mr Loaf were done bright and early and I welcomed my first visitor for the day. "Hi there, after a snack?" It wasn't Spike, their pattern seemed to be a fiery red set of dorsal spines along an orange body. 

"Always!" His enthusiasm was welcome. "Name's Quickwing." He was looking keenly at the little place and seemed to sniff the air a moment. It was odd, I knew the wind wasn't blowing the smell of baked goods over.

"Well, I have a few here that had cracks in them, after I started polishing them up. Don't suppose you have any old cracked diamonds you would like to trade for them?" My question seemed to catch him off guard but he shook his head. "Well, you can have them anyway!" The failures were scooped up in short order as I turned to make sure I hadn't gotten the wrong ones.

On the wall beside me, despite it being a bright day, green flame's light danced. I spun back to see a quartet of legs. I looked up and up to find a huge changeling in the dragon's place. "Generous, helpful… and I heard you let my little mite off without calling the guard. She can stay here."

"Excuse me, uh Quickwing?"

"Fast, Queen Fast lately." While my mind tried to scrub the pseudonym and replace it with her real name I made the link to what Stick had said, about someone coming to inspect. "Oh don't look like that, Stick will be over soon. I had her buy some things." And with that the queen turned and walked off.

"Well that was odd. Guess she really cares for them." I pondered a moment and smiled, of course she did, that is what you do, take care of ponies who need it!

When Stick finally arrived she offered me a bag. "Queen Fast said you needed this?" Light came to my horn and I looked in the little sack. Diamonds. They were cracked, some badly faceted, but they were the real thing.

"This is awesome, I will be able to cut proper stones with these!" I did a little dance, clopping my hooves on the floor. I must have pushed too much because my horn sparked a little and I had to clamp back on the channeling. "But not today. Today we work more opals to a shine!" 

"What's this?" Stick asked, her hoof raised to a badly written sign by the door. I just grinned wide.

A changeling works here. By entering you agree to be civil to them and, if you have a good time, to help with their care.

"You need permission to sip from ponies, right? Well, that gives you permission but… please be careful not to hurt anyone." 

I was bowled over by a blur of black and green. Words weren't needed, but what was needed was more stone polishing.

And we did. Life was shooting forward in fits and bursts. It was like my human life had been a dream, barely even a step that had led to me, a pony.

"I got the power on. Wouldn't you know it, one of my little gadgets even can work with it." My eyes and light were focused on the stone in front of me, but Stick and I shared words while we worked. "It, well, it was meant to be able to talk to ponies no matter where they are, but that part needs a lot of other things. For now it can do this…"

Reaching back with my mouth, I pulled my phone out. It played a little tune as it started up and I had to be really careful not to break it with my fangs or hooves but, eventually I got it playing. I didn't want to scare my friend with some of the heavier things I liked, but some rock was an easy choice. 

"That sounds amazing!" Stick had abandoned her own work to come closer and look at what I was doing. "How does it fit a record in there?"

"It uses other tricks, sort of like magic."

Her eyes were wide but she could accept 'magic' as an answer easily enough. With a few albums on repeat, and with my phone charger bent a little to fit the socket, it helped pass the time.

With the work of the day behind, and my horn doused of magic and light, I grabbed a little hunk of bread, cheese, and some celery and sat on the front porch to watch the sunset. Luna would be working her magic soon, pushing the moon into the sky. Along with all the rest of my humanity it was easy to just push any challenge to that, based on science, away.

Stick was beside me, taking in the view as well. "We should be finished with them tomorrow." Her words drew a nod from me. "You need to take them to Ponyville." Another nod. "To one of the Elements…"

I shuffled a little, leaning over and so that our flanks touched, giving her some measure of support with simple contact. "You will see. Bringing her the best gems will make her happy. You could be the most popular changeling in Ponyville!"

She didn't reply to that and we sat until the world got dark around us. At last, with a nod, I lit my horn and getting up gestured to the loft. "You can sleep up there." I noticed as we walked to the little ladder something I had just now realized. "You don't have any holes." I looked to her hooves.

"I did have them, when we were under the bad queen. Queen Fast, she wouldn't let us feed on people who didn't give their love freely." There was puppy-love there, Stick certainly looked quite enamored of her leader. I couldn't find fault in it, from what I heard about them she certainly seems to be keeping them on the right track.

"Well, lets make sure you never have to get them again…" My voice trailed off as I realized our error. I had completely forgotten about getting a second bed for Stick!

I was pushed a bit higher by her hard body as she poked her head up beside me and giggled, seeing the problem. "Do you mind being a little cozy?"

It was an odd question, at least for me. I hauled myself up with my forehooves. "Uh, I guess I don't mind." A deep breath and a smile were called for and I summoned their particular kind of magic. "I will be okay." Unhitching my little saddlebags and shawl I started to climb onto the bed before getting a soft brush of what almost felt like silk across my blank flank.

The wing's touch was so very gentle I almost missed it. "You don't have a cutie mark? Well, we need to fix that!" Shock, surprise and a giggle were my reactions. If nothing else, the kind of hijinks a unicorn and a changeling could get into, crusading for a cutie mark, boosted my mood and erased those lesser emotions.

"Goodnight, Stick." I curled up on the bed, feeling the shape-changing pony-insect behind me cuddle a whole lot closer than I was used to anyone being. It would have put me on edge, I should have been raising alarm bells but I really couldn't find fault in how she had treated me. The important part was she just accepted and didn't push.

"Goodnight, snack-pony." I got a good-natured poke in my side with it, but her tone took any and all sting from the comment.