//------------------------------// // Chapter 22 - Found // Story: Second Chances, Many Changes // by ASGeek2012 //------------------------------// "And just where do you think you're going?" My ears drew back. I had lived with Rarity for only two full days, but I already recognized that tone of voice. I turned away from the morning sunshine flooding the boutique from the open front door. "Is something wrong?" Rarity trotted up to me. "Certainly you're not going out with your mane in that state." "What? I washed it! And brushed it out, too." "Washing and brushing are not the same as styling, dear." I stared. "You're kidding, right? It's the weekend, and I'm going to be in a forest all morning." Rarity lifted her muzzle. "That's no excuse for not looking your best. Now come along, and let me see if I can tease your hair into something halfway manageable." "But--!" "Ahem. Who's the fosterer here, you or me?" My ears drooped, and I just barely resisted rolling my eyes. "You," I muttered. She smiled, and with a glow from her horn, the front door swiftly closed. "Then come along." Wow. Seriously, I had not expected Rarity to fall into this role so quickly or completely. Was this what I really wanted? Well, yes, but I was still a teenager, pony or no. And, to be honest, my mane was a mess; I had just hoped Rarity wouldn't notice. "I'm going to be late, you know," I grumbled as I followed her into the parlor. "Your friends can wait a little longer," Rarity said in a lofty voice as her magic grabbed a brush and a comb. "You didn't make Sweetie Belle wait." "She knows how to properly style her mane and tail in the mornings. Once you do, I'm sure you'll be able to keep to your appointments better. Now, hold still." Despite uttering a dramatic sigh, I let a small smile flicker across my muzzle. I had actually enjoyed that harmless spat. "To be honest, Candy, I think the Crusaders are far too wound up about attaining their cutie marks," Rarity said as she slid the brush through my thick mane. "I would be quite happy if you didn't emulate them." "Believe me, I'm not intending to. I don't even know yet what I want to do in Equestria." "Even though I do intend to employ you in the boutique, please don't feel obligated to follow a future in fashion. Whatever your talent is, it will come when the time is right." "So when it does happen, it just ... happens?" I asked. "A cutie mark just appears one day?" Rarity carefully brushed hair back from my eyes. "Usually after you have done something related to your true talent. Then it's not really all that much a surprise." She trotted around me, and I caught a glimpse of the three diamonds gracing her flank. "Is it insulting to admit when you don't know what a pony's cutie mark means?" Rarity worked on a tangle in my mane. "Not at all! Most ponies are more than happy to talk about their cutie marks." "Then what does yours mean? I've been struggling to relate it to what you do now." Rarity smiled. "I have an affinity for gems. My magic can detect them practically anywhere, which is how I maintain my stock. Though it goes beyond that. It also represents my sense of refinement, and the ability to bring out the beauty in anypony." That actually made sense. "And I'm not too old to still not have one?" Rarity grasped my mane in her magic and started twining it into a simple braid. It was nowhere near as elaborate as what they did at the spa, but it looked like it would hold my hair together better. "No, you most certainly aren't, regardless of what the Crusaders -- or anypony else -- might have to say about it." My eyebrows rose slightly. "Anypony else?" Rarity cleared her throat. "Ah ... forget I said that. The point is, there's no rule which dictates when you acquire your cutie mark." She paused. "Which does remind me, do you have any idea what the Crusaders are up to this morning? Sweetie Belle left before I could ask her." I had wondered if Rarity had an ulterior motive for side-tracking me. "Sorry, I don't, other than it involves looking for something in the White Tail Woods." Rarity sighed. "I suppose I should be glad they're not intending to visit the Everfree." "Uh, yeah, I got the idea I should stay away from there." "Please do, and see that they do as well." She paused in her braiding to apply the comb to a few last recalcitrant hairs. "And one more thing, Candy. Please make sure that, no matter who you meet, you remain polite at all times." "Including Spoiled Rich?" Rarity nearly dropped the comb. "Sweetie Belle told you, didn't she? Even after I had asked her not to." "It wasn't her fault. Her friend Scootaloo mentioned it." "Really, Rainbow Dash is a good friend, but she's sometimes a bad influence on that filly," said Rarity. "When the schoolfoals had to be escorted during this summit mess, Applejack told me she caught Rainbow Dash trying to teach Scootaloo how to fight changelings with her bare hooves." Given what I knew of Rainbow, I was not at all surprised. "Are they related at all?" "No, but Scootaloo might as well be Rainbow's number one fan. And Rainbow Dash did sort of unofficially 'adopt' Scootaloo as a little sister." Rarity finished braiding my mane and took a step back, uttering a sigh. "Well, that's better, anyway. I'll use some hair clips to hold the rest together. Your tail is at least passable." "I'm sure it will be fine, Rarity." In a softer voice I added, "But thank you. I never had quite this much hair to care for in my original form." Rarity smiled as she levitated hair clips into place. "Perhaps I am being a little overbearing. I know I said I would never think to replace your mother, but I want to give you something." My eyes misted, but my voice remained steady. "I appreciate that." "Which, of course, implies you will strive to fulfill your role as the rebellious and moody teenager." I smirked. "Yeah, pretty much." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Whatever will I do with you, Candy Swirl?" I broke the ensuing silence with a snort, and we both laughed. "Look at it this way. I'm giving you practice for when Sweetie Belle gets to be my age." Rarity narrowed her eyes, though one corner of her mouth was still upturned. "Now you're just being a wise-flank." "Maybe." "In that case, off with you!" Rarity said as she put the brush and comb away. "And give me some peace this morning." I giggled as I headed out. I needed that. Maybe now I could face the rest of the day. As I turned down the road leading to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres, I spotted Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle standing just outside the farm, both with saddlebags draped across their barrels. A third set, somewhat more worn and larger than the others, sat on the ground nearby. Apple Bloom held a piece of paper in her hoof. Their voices drifted to me as I approached. "Goggles?" Apple Bloom called out. Sweetie Belle glanced through the contents of their saddlebags. "Check!" "Mallet?" "Check!" I blinked. Mallet? "Rope?" "Check!" "Net?" "Um, check, but it's a little frayed at one end." "Pith helmet?" "Check, but Pinkie needs it back by this afternoon." "Um, girls?" I said in a tentative voice. "Sorry I'm late." Apple Bloom smiled as she turned her head towards me. "Hiya, Candy! No problem. It gave us a chance ta do some recon." I tilted my head. "Recon?" "Be with ya in a minute!" Apple Bloom dropped her gaze to her paper. "Spray paint?" "Check!" said Sweetie Belle. "That thing I found behind the barn that I don't know what it does but looked dang useful anyway?" Sweetie took a dubious look into Apple Bloom's saddlebag. "Um, check. I think." "Code words?" "Oh! No, we only did Scootaloo's," said Sweetie. "We were going to wait until Candy showed up before doing the rest." Apple Bloom grinned and stuffed the paper into her saddlebags. "Then we're all ready, 'cept fer that." I frowned slightly. "Seriously, girls, just what are you planning to do in that -- gah!" I reared back and stumbled, nearly falling on my haunches as an orange blur buzzed across my path. Only when it zipped around and came to a literal screeching halt did it resolve itself as a helmeted Scootaloo riding a wooden scooter, her wings still fluttering like an engine in neutral. "I found something!" Scootaloo cried, her smile wide. "There's this--" "Code word!" both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cried. "Oh, um, it's scooter-awesome. Anyway, I saw this big branch on the ground that's got some of that green goo at the end. It's gotta be somewhere around there!" My eyes widened. Green goo? "Good work, Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom cried. "We'll all get our cutie marks fer sure!" I struggled not to sigh in exasperation. Their inventory already made it painfully clear they wanted not only to hunt something living but catch it as well. Twilight had claimed the woods safe, but did that include its flora and fauna? Most of the creatures I could think of that left slime trails (in my very limited knowledge of nature) were relatively harmless, but for all I knew, Equestria had fire-breathing, pony-eating giant snails. "Look, girls, if you're looking to track down something dangerous, I -- oof!" Sweetie Belle had levitated the saddlebag on the ground and dropped it over my barrel. "Nope, not dangerous at all," Apple Bloom called out. "Not if yer with us. Okay, now, code words." Apple Bloom looked thoughtful for a moment. "Mine'll be 'applesauce!'" "Hmm," Sweetie murmured. "So for me, um ... 'sweet-stuff!'" "I already have mine," Scootaloo said. "So what 'bout you, Candy?" Apple Bloom said. The obvious question sprang to mind: why did we need codewords? In retrospect, perhaps I should have made the connection, but these were kids. Surely they had been impressed as to the dangers of that sort of thing. "Fine," I sighed. "My code word will be, uh, 'Cherry.'" Apple Bloom headed down the road. "Okay, Crusaders, let's go!" I nearly trotted into Scootaloo when her wings stopped, bringing her scooter to an abrupt halt. Before I could say a word, she face-hoofed and said, "Ugh, maybe we shoulda taken the road anyway." The road out of the farm would have skirted the southern edge of town -- the same route I had taken to the hospital that first day -- and swung around towards the forest, but the Crusaders had been impatient and thus had chosen to cut through Ponyville instead. As I looked ahead, my gaze fell on the same two little fillies I had seen the day before trotting directly towards us. The pink one wore a self-satisfied smile and bore a cutie mark which looked much like the tiara she wore on her head. The gray one had what looked like a spoon with a heart at one end. "Don't tell 'em nothin' 'bout what we're doin'!" Apple Bloom said in an urgent voice. "They ain't got no right knowin' our bizness!" The little pink one spoke. "Like I'd be interested in what obviously low-brow activities you and your lot are preparing to do, hayseed." I raised an eyebrow. "Ya got a funny way of showin' how ya don't care, Diamond," Apple Bloom muttered. "Haven't you already filled your meanness quota for this week at school?" Sweetie Belle said. "More like for the whole semester," Scootaloo murmured. So apparently Equestria was not immune to bullies, but, still, this seemed almost surreal. "Oh, but I just had to confirm what I suspected all along," said Diamond with a smirk. She lifted her gaze to me. "That you just couldn't resist associating with this blank-flank freak." Had she actually directed that at me? Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Diamond? Give that blank-flank stuff a rest. It's getting sooo old!" Apple Bloom jumped forward. "She ain't no freak!" Diamond gave Apple Bloom a supercilious look and lifted her muzzle. She glanced at me again. "Really, now? No idea how she got here? No idea of her parentage? No cutie mark? Really, I thought even the vaunted Crusaders could do better than this." Her gray companion giggled. My God, was this little pony for real? Sure, I wasn't an adult quite yet, but the idea that she felt so full of herself that she thought she could insult somepony several years her senior with impunity almost made me feel sorry for her. Almost. Apple Bloom stood muzzle-to-muzzle with Diamond. "I'd pit her blank-flank against yer fancy-schmancy cutie mark any day of the week, Diamond Tiara! She's done more in her short time in Ponyville than you ever did yer whole dang life!" I have? What the hell did Sweetie tell them about me? Diamond gave Apple Bloom a lofty look. "Hmph. Really. Then why is she still a blank-flank? For all you know, she's so defective she can't even get a cutie mark." The gray one giggled again. "Yeah. Bet she'd just be a total blank-flank all her life no matter what she does. So pitiful." Oh, yeah, great comeback, flunky. "Don't call her that!" Scootaloo snapped with a vitriol that surprised me, her wings fluttering. "She's not defective!" Diamond narrowed her eyes at Scootaloo. "Figures you'd be the one defending her. A pegasus your age who can't even fly." Scootaloo's ears drooped, and her face fell, her eyes glistening. Oh, fuck that. "Hey, Diamond Tiara?" Diamond rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "Yes?" she said without deigning to look at me. "With that huge ego of yours, how do you fit that swelled head through doorways?" Dead silence fell and Diamond's jaw with it, her gaze snapping towards me as her pupils shrank to points. Scootaloo fell off her scooter and rolled on her back, howling with laughter. The other Crusaders followed suit, and Diamond Tiara clenched her teeth so hard I could hear them grinding above the sound of my companions' mirth. Even the little gray pony beside her hid a brief grin behind her hoof. "You won't think this is so funny after my mother is through with this blank-flank transplant!" Diamond bellowed. "So big, useless egos must run in the family," I deadpanned. Diamond stomped her fore-hooves. "I've had enough of this! Come on, Silver! We've got better things to do than associate with the common rabble!" Silver? Oh, let me guess: her full name was Silver Spoon. Jesus, these names. Both fillies thrust their muzzles into the air and trotted off, but I saw Diamond urging Silver to a canter as my friends laughed until tears ran down their faces. I allowed myself a slight snicker. "Oh, wow, Candy, you got her so good!" Scootaloo said as she righted herself on her hooves. "Now I know yer gonna get yer cutie mark fer sure today!" Apple Bloom said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "With as mighty brave as ya were jus' now!" Some of my smile faded. "Um, brave?" "Well, I reckon she's gonna go to her mother 'bout this." "Okay, yeah, but ... should I be worried about that?" Sweetie Belle stepped up to me, her own mirth fading rapidly. "You mean you don't know?" "Know what?!" I cried in exasperation. "Her mother is Spoiled Rich." "Her ... I ... she ..." I sputtered. I sighed and face-hoofed. "Great." Sweetie gave me a concerned look. "You okay, Candy?" "Of course she is!" Apple Bloom declared, smiling. "Who wouldn't be after gettin' a good one on Diamond Tiara!" "I can't wait to tell Rainbow Dash about this," said Scootaloo as she climbed back on her scooter. "That was awesome." My ears drooped. Yes, let's find ways for it get back even faster to Rarity. Brilliant. "I'm sorry about this," said Sweetie in a contrite voice. "I thought you knew who she was. I keep forgetting you're not from around here." I sighed. "Not your fault. Come on, we better get going so we can ... um, whatever it is we're doing." "Onward, Crusaders!" Apple Bloom declared as she took the lead. The tall trees of the forest imposed a quiet more gentle than even the laid back pace of Ponyville. The only sound was the rustling of the leaves in the breeze, the chirping of birds, and the soft beat of our hooves against earth. My ears constantly swiveled at the slightest noise, and my heart raced despite the apparent calm. Or perhaps, in a way, because of it. Apple Bloom's voice almost startled me. "So where'd ya see the goo, Scootaloo?" The little orange pegasus drove her scooter ahead, her tiny wings buzzing. Even if Diamond's accusation about her lack of flight was true, she certainly made good use of her wings on her little scooter. "It's just to the right of a big tree." "Um, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle said. "Which big tree?" "Hang on, I'm trying to remember." Was the air supposed to be faintly electrified? I felt like I had hairs standing on end, yet when I ran a hoof over my mane, it remained as well-coiffed as it had been when I left the boutique. "Oh, I remember now!" Scootaloo said. Her wings revved, and she tore ahead in a cloud of dust. "Wait, don't go too far ahead!" I cried, galloping after her. The odd feeling worsened the further I went into the forest. My ears alternately twitched and flattened. My head snapped around when I thought I saw an ethereal shape at the edge of my vision, but nothing was there. I nearly bowled into Scootaloo when I came upon her stopped in a small clearing. She thrust her hoof forward. "Right there!" she cried happily. The other Crusaders had arrived and trotted ahead of me towards the broken branch lying in the dirt at the gnarled roots of a large and ancient tree. A shaft of sunlight breaking through the thick canopy highlighted the glistening, bright green blob of goo, perched in the "Y" formed by a fork in the branch. Apple Bloom entered the circle of sunlight. "Wow, yeah, look at that!" I narrowed my eyes. So we just happened to find this so perfectly situated on the ground such that this one lonely shaft of sunlight highlighted this bit of organic slime? Oh, yeah, totally not suspicious at all. "Girls, I think you really need to tell me what you're ... I ... w-wait ..." A wave of something like static electricity passed over me, and the skin under my fur prickled. I uttered a tiny gasp as a phantom image again played at the edge of my perception. My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat as I caught what I thought was a figure -- a human figure -- past a thicket of trees, but it vanished again when I tried to focus on it. "Look, another one!" Scootaloo suddenly cried. She zoomed on ahead, and the rest of us followed. My longer strides brought me there just ahead of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and my gaze fell on another glob of bright green goo, this time on the ground, and again, glistening inside a bright patch of sunlight. Apple Bloom lifted her head and thrust a hoof forward. "It's a trail! We got it fer sure now!" "Wait a minute, girls!" I cried, but they had already galloped deeper into the forest. I sighed and followed. I found them stopped beside a tree, its trunk smeared with more green slime. Apple Bloom turned to face us. "Okay, Crusaders, we're gettin' close! I think Candy needs ta take the lead now, since we're here fer her cutie mark." I marched towards them, my eyes briefly darting amongst the trees as my fur seemed to crackle, my ears swiveling madly. "Something weird is going on out here." I waved a hoof at the goo. "Don't you think this is a little too convenient?" "Huh?" Apple Bloom said in a perplexed voice. "Whaddaya mean?" I thrust a hoof back the way we had come. "Look! Each of these little 'clues' on the trail are perfectly spaced right we'd find them. You don't think that's just a little suspicious?" "Um, she might be right," Sweetie said. "Besides, look at this." She trotted a short distance away, where a narrow path led off through the trees and away from the trail. She pointed at the ground, "See? There's hoof-prints in the dirt here." "But they don't walk, they fly!" said Apple Bloom. "The hoof-prints end up ahead. Maybe they were disguised and then changed back." "Maybe she's right," Scootaloo said. Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin. "Hmm. Maybe we need ta explore both the--" "Okay, enough!" I declared. "Tell me right now what you girls are after." Apple Bloom turned to me and smiled. "Changelings, of course." My brain stopped. I looked to the other Crusaders, and they simply nodded and smiled. "They never caught one of 'em, so we figgered it's gotta be 'round here somewhere, an' that trail jus' proves it. Now all we gotta do is--" "Are you out of your minds?!" I shouted. The Crusaders exchanged confused looks. "But this is right where the trail--" Apple Bloom began. "That's not what I mean!" I cried. "How did you ever get the idea I wanted to do this? Or that I was good at it? Or that it was even remotely safe?!" "'Cuz of the way ya bravely fought the changelings at the castle!" "I ... wh-what?" I turned to Sweetie Belle. "Just what did you tell them??" Her ears flattened. "I-I just told them what Rarity said, that you stood up to Queen Chrysalis. I never said anything about fighting changelings!" Apple Bloom stepped forward. "I heard that from Scootaloo. She's the one who said Candy fought 'em with her bare hooves!" "And I heard it from Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Rainbow Dash told you I fought changelings. Really." "Well ... um ... she said you acted really brave, so I assumed she meant--" "You assumed?" Scootaloo averted her eyes. "Um, maybe I exaggerated a little." "A LITTLE?!" Apple Bloom frowned at her companion. "Scootaloo, I swear, ya done messed this whole thing up." "Thank you," I said with a relieved sigh. "If I knew she hadn't fought 'em with her bare hooves, I woulda packed the bigger mallet!" I stared, blinked, and face-hoofed. "Look, we're here anyway," said Sweetie Belle. "Maybe we should at least investigate--" "No, stop!" I cried. "You don't understand what you're--" "... Wh-what ... huh??" I shivered violently and stumbled back a step. A sound like a gusty wind roared in my ears, yet the air remained deathly still. My fur felt like it stood on end despite still laying flat. I swallowed hard as my ears twitched and swiveled as if trying to find the source of words that had no sound. "What is it, Candy?" Sweetie asked. "Are you all right?" I gulped hard and spun around. My heart tried to pound its way out of my chest as my gaze fell on a ghostly figure, just barely visible between two trees along the trail of green goo up ahead. I shivered. The only time I had heard that voice since coming to Equestria was in my dreams. It couldn't be her. Not here. Not now. And yet as I stared, the figure waved an arm and retreated further into the forest. "Candy?" Apple Bloom called out. "S-stay here," I said in a shaky voice, not taking my eyes from the figure. Apple Bloom gasped. "Ya see somethin'?" "Is it the changeling?" Scootaloo called out excitedly. "Sweetie, get out the mallet and the net!" Apple Bloom said. I whirled around. "No! Stop! Don't do anything! Just stay here!" Their pupils shrank as they stared at me in shock. "We jus' wanna help ya with yer cutie mark," Apple Bloom said in a small voice. "Never mind my cutie mark! I don't have time to explain right now, but please, just stay right here and let me investigate this." The others looked past me. "Um, investigate what?" Sweetie asked. I thrust a hoof towards the figure. "You don't see that?" They looked again. "See what?" Scootaloo asked. My ears twitched. "N-never mind. Just ... just stay here. I'll be right back." I left the perplexed Crusaders muttering in my wake. Trembling, I stepped forward, the figure retreating as I approached, until I had entered a small, dark clearing. My heart leapt into my throat as the figure grew more distinct, and my legs almost gave out. The shimmering figure of Michelle stood opposite me. She wore a flowing robe of purple, her feet bare, looking far more healthy than she ever had in my dreams, save for being incorporeal. My throat had closed up, and all I could do was stare. I shivered. Her voice had a reverberating quality to it, unnervingly like Chrysalis despite the familiar cadence. She spoke Equestrian, but in an odd dialect. "Wh-what ... why are you ...?!"