//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Worthless // Story: Remnant // by preaplanes //------------------------------// "Now hold still, I'll try to be as gentle as possible." "Ow." "Sorry." "Ow." "Sorry." "Ow." "Sorry." "Ow." "Sorry." "Ow." Silk winced, twitching slightly as yet another stitch was removed. She'd heard that she had some stitches under that cast, but she had no idea that having stitches was actually... having stitches. The thought of sewing up a bleeding gash in this ever-exposed, floppy pony flesh made Silk a bit uncomfortable. Nauseous was probably a good word for that, if a little strong. The idea of somepony taking a needle and piercing through her body was a bit unnerving. Of course, this was because of this fragile pony form she was in. A changeling's shell was normally quite resilient. One could sleep in a rose bush and pay its thorns no heed. As such, a needle would draw no fear from a changeling normally. Transformed, however, the idea caused Silk to feel some fear, possibly more than a normal pony who was used to objects being able to prick them would be. She had her soft parts, after all, but that consisted of parts of her underbelly and her eyes. The rest was safe inside her shell, save for her clipped wings. But while a pony's imagination would have it piercing skin, Silk's would have it pierce chitin. Still, that had all been done whilst Silk lay unconscious. Right now Fluttershy was taking the stitches out. It didn't really hurt, per se, but it felt more than foreign enough to warrant a few small interjections. With tweezers in mouth, Fluttershy had removed the last of the stitches. She put placed the tweezers on the counter and took some cotton in her hoof, dipping it into some antiseptic. She pressed the onto Silk's healing wound and rubbing it gently but firmly. Silk winced again; the liquid Fluttershy dipped it into stung a bit. As soon as Fluttershy had finished, Silk stood on her hooves. She had been moving around on a crutch for eight days now, and she was getting pretty tired of it. She also very much wanted to fly, but that was an issue that only time and luck could resolve. "Now I know the x-ray shows those big breaks are all better, but the little ones might still hurt a little so be careful... uh, not that I don't think you'd be careful." Silk looked down at her leg. Everything seemed to be in order, except that she could still see what remained of the wound. The scars on her bone would show up on her shell if she turned back to normal, right where they were before she transformed in the first place. This scar on the skin that this would probably leave was easy enough to remove with transformation. The tissue itself would remain scar tissue, but only in functionality. Aesthetically, it would be just the same as everything else, unless she decided to keep said scars. Silk thought she might slowly shrink away its appearance over the course of a couple months; Fluttershy had been quite startled when she fixed the two "fractures", after all. Time might not actually heal all wounds, but it had healed Silk's hoof. Two weeks in a cast, mostly in bed, for a pattern of hairline fractures was how long it took. Silk was honestly very surprised, it would have taken much longer to heal back with the swarm, had the changelings still been around. The typical treatment was similar to fixing a piece of broken porcelain: smaller, sharper piece of shell would be removed as carefully as possible, while larger pieces would be held together in place as best as possible while waiting for the glue to harden. The glue in the example was simply how long it took for a changeling's leg to heal. The bleeding would slow down after a number of hours, and even trace blood loss would stop completely after a couple of days, but walking would take at least two months for a minor break, eighteen for a bad one, and Silk's would have taken five. Getting that part of the shell back to the same durability as before the injury? That took about six years. The two weeks in bed for Silk, while frustrating and mind-numbingly boring, were a godsend compared to lying on a branch for five months. That said, she had heard that unicorns and earth ponies with a broken leg or hoof would suffer an agonizing condition called laminatus or laminitis or llamatuts or something. A pony's body would become unable to handle their own weight and their other legs would collapse along with them. Eventually somepony would need to be put to sleep to end their suffering. Silk had asked about this, but Fluttershy didn't know a thing. Twilight Sparkle, on the other hoof, said this hadn't been a major concern for nearly two hundred years, gone the way of the ponio virus, whatever that was. Silk tested out her leg, walking at first. It felt comfortable enough, though the skin where the stitches itched a lot. Still, that was a comfort thing, not an obstacle to basic locomotion. After trying out simple walking for a couple minutes, she decided to try to walk outside, but the first obstacles were the steps. Silk looked down the staircase with apprehension as Fluttershy kept a nervous eye on her. Silk had never actually used these things before; Fluttershy had helped her down the last time. Before that, on the markedly rare occasions that she had had a need to do so, she had always used her wings; obviously this wasn't an option. She had always assumed that was normal: why else would they be called a "flight of stairs"? Nervousness and hesitation were slightly sour emotions, but in small doses they were completely harmless; the emotions themselves caused more trouble than their effect on the body. She daintily lowered her left hoof down onto the closest step; while she wasn't sure if a tumble from here could break any bones or not, and while she also wasn't in any big hurry to wind up with another fracture, she was more concerned about winding up with bruises. Silk's hoof made contact and planted firmly on the ground. Well, so far so good, she thought as she looked down to the bottom. She swallowed hard. Was this room always this high up? After experiencing far more vacillation than she would ever care to admit, Silk finally made it outside. Soft, fluffy white clouds dotted the robin's egg sky. Silk was a flier, and longed to flit about the skies; to land on a soft cloud as the caress of gentle zephyr pushed her slowly across the skies upon her nebulous vessel. Still, for now she was content to stay on the ground. Her wings would have to wait a few years, and she had just recovered her legs. Silk began to trot down through the area, just getting a feel for things, cautiously optimistic about her recovery. The animals around seemed to be less on edge than they had been at first, but they were still wary of her presence. It was warm out, and there was a breeze in the air. The wind left a pleasant cooling sensation on her skin and caused her hair to move slightly, like branches on a tree. Silk picked up her tempo, moving into a canter. She had been in pony form for over two weeks now, but now she was actually moving about in it. It was different. A changeling's chitin was tough, and allowed one to survive in harsh conditions, making one nearly invulnerable. Being a pony, or at least changing into the body of one, had other advantages. One of those was a gentler, more sensitive sense of touch, though this too had its drawbacks. “Ouch!” Silk yelped as something sharp pricked her, slowing down to a stop. It was a very unfamiliar sensation. She looked down and noticed a bee's stinger lodged in her side, the insect fallen dead below her. “Silky, be careful!” Fluttershy called in warning. “You're too close to the beehives! You have to move away! Uh, at your earliest convenience that is.” Ah, that explained it. Silk simply stood there for a moment as the bees began to come out of the hive. She glared at them, and suddenly they stopped moving towards her. They did not have true emotion, but they hesitated as a one would hesitate to grab something that radiated a scalding heat. A few moments passed and the bees began to move into their hive as if in apology. Hive based flying insects such as bees and wasps instinctively knew better than to provoke a changeling. Their stingers could not pierce a changeling's thick shell, and as such they had no defense should one decide to simply smash their nest to bits in a fit of fury. The only worse thing to provoke was a dragon, which could incinerate the entire hive without any chance of the queen escaping. Fluttershy watched this in just a little bit of awe. “Wow, Silky, I didn't know you were good with bees.” Silk shook her head. “I'm not, they just know better.” “Huh?” Silk giggled, pulling the barbed stinger out of her shoulder with a quick light of her horn. “Oh nothing. Anyway, I should get going, I need to find some way to pay you back for everything.” Fluttershy shook her head. “No, it's okay, you don't owe me anything, I was happy to help a friend.” And that's exactly why I need to pay you back. Silk would have been quite willing to snub Fluttershy and skip town before payment if she had only taken her in in order to extort from her. For the first few minutes, that's exactly what Silk had thought the mustard mare was going to do. Instead, she felt compelled to try to make it up to the kind pony however she could. She was her friend, after all. “Well, my hoof feels fine, now I'm going to go look for a job.” Silk was about to start galloping into town when Fluttershy suggested “Oh, I think Bucky Bedding is looking for somepony to help out with bed making.” Silk had to restrain herself from making a blatant wince. It looked like she was out of time to keep the whole fake cutie mark a complete mystery. She would have to make something up. “I, uh,” she mumbled cautiously, “I don't... think that's my special talent.” “Oh, uh, okay then. Maybe you could help Daisy Dreams with ponies that are having trouble sleeping?” Oh for Chrys' sake, do they have somepony for everything here?! “No, uh, that isn't it either.” “Then, um, maybe help Rarity pick ou-” “No, no, no.” Silk interrupted, having guessed at that nonoption when she first met the fashion pony. “I can't do any of those things.” “I'm sorry, I guess I was jumping to conclusions. Sorry. So... what is your special talent?” Fluttershy asked. “I... I don't remember,” she lied. This wasn't a half truth, or a misdirected truth, it was a full-blown lie. For Silk, this was the hardest kind of cover story to pull off. Fluttershy gave a quiet gasp. “You don't remember?” Silk shook her head. “Not even a little bit?” Another shake. “Oh, that's awful. I can't imagine what it must be like to get your cutie mark and forget what it means.” Neither can I, technically. “I'm... sure it'll be fine...” Silk trailed off. She could still taste Fluttershy's concern. Great, now I'm lying to myself. “Well, see you soon!” she said, bidding farewell to the pegasus and galloping off down the path towards town. Feels like my leg is fine. Now I just have to make a new start. Silk didn't know where to begin. She stood in the town square, and everything was moving. The many ponies about were all going this way and that, and the lingering emotions in the air were too many and too mixed to even tell apart, constantly shifting like the sands of the zebras' great desert (not that the entire land was such). Actually trying to eat this weird, gelatinous amalgamation of emotions would definitely make her sick to her stomach. Silk hadn't really had the opportunity to observe this before. In Canterlot she was too concerned with carrying out her mission, the last time she had come here she had been too occupied with just getting out of the cottage and following Fluttershy around. This could take some getting used to. Silk stood about and watched the curious sights for a few minutes, all the while pondering to herself what to do. Hm, there are a lot of ponies selling things, maybe I could do that? No, no, I'd have to have something to sell, plus I have no idea how to attract customers. Maybe I could put on a show? I could, um, transform and play multiple roles in an act... no, wait, that would be a really bad idea, I can't just reveal myself like that! Hm, maybe I could do impressions of famous ponies... no, wait, I don't know any famous ponies. She had no idea how wrong she was. No, no, wait, that would expose me too. What am I good at... I know, I'm a scout! I could deliver messages! Oh... wait... that's right, I can't, my wings... plus I don't think being a dracologist is safe without them. Well, it wasn't safe before, but now it's just suicidal. Great, now I've made myself sad. Okay, don't think about it, new ideas, new ideas, um... maybe I could ask Twilight for help. She seems like the knowledgeable sort. Yeah, could work.” Silk set off through the town to the library... tree... house... place. She wasn't really sure what to call it. There was a knock on Twilight's door, pulling her out of her new edition of “Sorcery and Spellcraft”. Spike was out getting groceries, so she stood up and walked over to the door to answer it. She opened the door to find Silky Sheets standing outside the door frame. “Hi Twilight, can I ask you something?” the blue mare asked. Twilight looked behind her quickly, suddenly self-conscious of the state of the library. She had had another long study session the night before and books were unkemptly strewn about. “Sure, come on in,” Twilight noticed that her guest wasn't wearing her cast anymore. “I'm glad to see your hoof is better.” “Thanks! I'm just glad it wasn't worse, I really don't like staying in one place on the ground.” There she goes being weird again. Oh well, that's how all my friends seemed at first, and Pinkie never stopped seeming weird. Twilight thought. Silky shifted and looked like she was getting up the courage to ask something. “I, uh, don't suppose...” she clumsily began, Fluttershy rubbing off on her no doubt, “... that you know anything... I can... I mean, if there are any jobs... that I'd be... qualified for?” Twilight chuckled a bit. “Oh I'm sure there's something around here. What does your cutie mark mean again? That's usually a clue to what a good job is.” Silky gulped. “I... uh... don't... think mine really... means anything.” If Twilight had been drinking something she would have either spat or choked at that news. “What?! Of course it means something, it always does! You can't be talentless, can you?!” “Well if I do have a special talent I don't remember what it is and I can't figure it out, okay?!” Silky snapped. Really tactful, Twilight, she scolded herself, having apparently struck a nerve after touching on what must be a sensitive issue with all the care and grace of a sledgehammer. “Sorry Silky, it's just really rare for somepony not to know what their special talent is after they got their cutie mark,” she explained apologetically. Silky huffed once and for just a moment Twilight could have sworn she made a face as if she had just unwittingly bitten into a jalapeno. She breathed in loudly and sighed. “It's alright, I know it's unusual. I just... I need help. I don't like being so...” Silk trailed off, apparently unable or unwilling to say whatever she was about to. Twilight got the jist of it, though. “Okay, well, I don't know about anything like a career for somepony with your... circumstances, but there always seem to be odd jobs around town.” She looked at the disheveled shelves. “Maybe you could start by helping put away these books? I'm sure Spike would appreciate the help." Silky looked at Twilight for a moment, as if trying to figure out if she was being duped into simply doing somepony's chores. She must have been really concentrating, too, since the tip of her tongue was sticking out of the corner of her mouth. “Well... okay! I guess that's a start,” the guest resolutely declared. Silky's horn began to glow and a number of books started to float towards her, before floating into the shelves. Twilight smiled, feeling she had done her good deed for the day, returning to her book. “If you need any help, I'll be right over here, okay?” “Okay!” Twilight was continuing to read her book on loan from Canterlot. Ritual magics are spells that require preparation and planning to cast, but allow the caster or casters to perform feats of magic beyond their normal capabilities. Each ritual is different, and there are a number of different possible requirements, such as the number of casters, chants, duration of casting, specific sigils, runes,- “WAAGH!” Spike's voice cried out. Twilight snapped her attention to the scene at hoof. Spike's eye was twitching, his mouth agape. A bag of groceries rested on the table, as a blue unicorn stood there looking startled and confused. The dragon was staring at the books in disbelief, and not in a good way. Twilight walked up to see what he was looking at and also fell stunned. There sat all the books neatly in order. Unfortunately, that was an alphabetical order. For both fiction and nonfiction. By title. “Silky... you do know how to use a library, right?” Twilight asked. Silky stood there and frowned. “Uh, A-B-C-D?” she offered with a halfhearted smile. She had clearly figured out she had messed up by their reactions. “Oh,” she bemoaned, slumping down disheartened to the floor. Spike began frantically rearranging books, talking to himself in a stressed murmer. “That goes here, and that goes there. This goes there, and that goes over there...” “Don't worry, Silky,” Twilight reassured, “it's just the first try. I'm sure you'll find some jobs you're better at.” At that moment, the library door opened as three fillies entered the room. A white unicorn, a yellow earth pony, and an orange pegasus. Uh oh. Applebloom piped up while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle started scanning the shelves for something. “Twilight, do you still have that book on cutie marks?” “Well yes, Applebloom, but didn't you just look at and return it three days ago?” “Well, yeah, but I figured even if lookin' at a book on cutie marks with no pictures in it is borin' and don't make a lick a' sense, there might be somthin' in there that could help us find our special talents!” “Found it!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “It was under C! Everything's in order now!” “Yeah!” Scootaloo agreed enthusiastically, “Good thing you rearranged things, Twilight, it would've taken forever to find this with that old dumb way!” Doesn't anypony appreciate the dewey decimal system anymore?! Silk's ears had perked up. “Did you say you're looking for your special talents?” she inquired. “That's right,” Applebloom answered. “Do you think I could tag along?” I'm not sure I like where this is going. Twilight thought. “I don't know if we want a chaperone along.” “No, I mean, I need to find something I'm useful at, too.” “But you have a cutie mark already!” “I don't remember what it means.” “Hmm” Applebloom pondered, tapping her hoof on her chin a couple times in thought. “HUDDLE!” she yelled, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle zipping over to her. The three literally put their heads together and formed a circle as they began whispering to each other. It was too quiet and too far away for Twilight to hear. Then again, she did have a spell for that. Just as Twilight was about to cast the spell to sate her curiosity, the three broke their huddle. “Okay,” Scootaloo announced, “you can come along with us for now as a Cutie Mark Crusaders Newbie!” “Initiate!” yelled Sweetie Belle “Trainee!” insisted Applebloom. “No, newbie!” “Initiate!” “We can decide later! And it's trainee!” The three stepped outside as they argued semantics, Silky following close in tow, clearly without a clue what she was in for. Twilight tried to warn her. “Wait, Silky, you might not want to...” The door slammed. “... nevermind.” Spike had temporarily stopped his frantic reshelving to watch the scene. “Uh, did what I think just happened happen?” “I think so, Spike.” “Do you think she knows what she's in for?” “She has no idea.” A few hours later, Silk galloped into a clearing and hid behind a conveniently placed tree. Well strike working with those three! Even if they were focused on finding a job instead of doing random stuff, I don't think I have enough lives to keep that up! Where am I, anyway? On second glance, this wasn't a clearing, or was it? The underbrush had certainly been removed, but there were trees. There were trees all over the place, all arranged into neat little rows and columns, spread out across hills and plains. Hanging from the branches were numerous red and green fruits. Silk was standing in an orchard. Apple trees? A whole lot of them, too. Wait, I should know this. Hmm, what am I not remembering? At that moment bark and a growl startled Silk, causing her to jump. She looked down to see a small brown and white dog. Silk wasn't sure, but it seemed to be a female. She could not place the breed, but she didn't really consider a dog in such a way to begin with. To her, a dog was an abnormal wolf bred and domesticated by ponies, one that considered certain ponies it interacted with as a part of its pack. The dog continued to bark and growl at her, alerting whoever might be listening to the presence of an intruder. Silk counted her blessings that this was a watch dog, not a guard or attack dog, but was still hesitant to simply ignore it, it might bite her, and in this form that would probably hurt, but she couldn't exactly blast it for no good reason. She decided on an idea that popped into her head. A voice called from somewhere within the orchard. “Winona? What're you barkin' at, girl?” Silk could recognize that accent, and since the little yellow filly Applebloom was in the other direction, she had a strong hunch as to who that might be. She added two and two together, and recalled who owned this plot of land. Sure enough, Applejack came into view a few moments later. “Uh, Silky? Ya mind puttin' Winona down for me?” Silk had taken the liberty of simply levitating the dog safely off the ground, barking harmlessly and helplessly in midair. She then put Winona back down gently onto the ground, letting go as her horn stopped glowing. The canine kept growling in suspicion. “Winona, what's gotten into you? She ain't stealin' nothin'!” the farmer scolded. Winona looked up to her owner with a whimper, her ears moving back and her tail hanging guiltily between her legs. Giving her dog a scratch to let her know that she wasn't too mad, Applejack turned her attention to the “intruder.” “Well, howdy there, Silky She-” “Just Silky” the changeling interrupted. “- Alright, Silky, what brings ya out here?” Silk's expression changed to one of fearful recollection as she struggled to keep a cognitive thought of the incident. “Cutie mark, talent, job, beavers, dam, so much concrete, so many angry buck teeth, crusaders, ran away.” Applejack chuckled. “Yeah, they can be a hoof full some times, but they're good fillies.” “About that, are you and Applebloom related?” Silk queried. “Yeah, as a matter of fact, she's my little sister. How'd ya know?” Silk did her impression of Applebloom. “How do ya think? I don't think I'm imaginin' the similarities. The name was a clue, too.” Word choice aside, a changeling's impressions were always flawless if they were of somepony they heard speaking, though only if they actually sounded like that normally. More than one changeling had messed up in the past by imitating somepony with a hoarse voice. Applejack was impressed. “Wow, that was pretty good. You an impressionist or somethin'?” “Sort of. It's crossed my mind, but I really don't think that's a good idea. It's... complicated,” Silk said, her voice returning to normal for her disguise. Applejack noticed that there was something the unicorn wasn't saying, but decided not to press the issue. “Well, if ya say so.” Silk looked about the farm. It was big, really big. Surely there was something for her to try her hoof at here. “Speaking of which, is there anything you could use a hoof with here? Maybe an... 'odd job'?” she asked, quoting Twilight Sparkle. “I just need to do something.” Applejack thought for a moment. “I suppose I might have a thing or two that needs doin' if you're offerin'. It ain't gonna be easy, though.” “That's fine! I don't need easy, I just need something!” Silk said, grinning enthusiastically. Silk was sweating. Her legs burned from the task of pulling the heavy plow through the hilly earth, her muscles aching in places she literally didn't know she had. She wondered why, exactly, an orchard would need plowing, but she let it go. She didn't really know anything about farming, and even if she did, she likely wouldn't care. Applejack had said something about her brother needing to see somepony named Minuette because of something like one too many Pinkie parties. Something about teeth and roots so she needed her to plow this... she hadn't really been paying attention. Two more rows. It was midafternoon now, and she had been pulling this plow for quite a while. Applejack certainly wasn't lying about this task not being easy. Silk was an average sized changeling, and she had transformed into an average sized pony. She would receive no extra help besides a little extra pull from her magic, though the mental strain from helping move such a heavy object for so long had also begun to take its toll. One more row. Silk panted, the sun beating down on her. For the first time, her coat was soaked with sweat. Every now and again a light breeze would give her a brief reprieve, cooling her off from the heat. She was tired, but she could taste her own steeled determination to see this through. Done. Silk thought as she sat on her haunches for a moment to catch her breath. She had spent a lot of time in dragon territories, as inconspicuously as she could, and as such was used to heat. The hard labor on top of that, however, she hadn't ever done before. She looked behind her, her task completed, and got a taste of pride. Applejack had arrived a couple of minutes earlier, guessing correctly about when she would finish. “Hooie, I reckon I had you pegged all wrong, Silky She...” Silk glared at her. “... Silky. After Rarity told me about yer hair spell, I'da figured you for somepony who didn't know about a hard day's work.” Uh oh, I guess word has gotten out about that, and if that's gotten out, what else has everypony heard about? Oh well, if everypony thinks it's just a spell and nopony sees it, then it's perfectly harmless. Silk thought. Applejack pulled out some bits from a saddlebag. “Here, take this for all your hard work,” she said, giving them to Silk, who then realized she didn't have a saddlebag of her own and opted to carry them with magic. “So,” the imitation pony inquired, “what's next?” Applejack wasn't sure what to make of that. “Woah, there, sugarcube. Ya just finished up not half a minute ago, you might want to take a breather and get somethin' ta eat first.” Silk shook her head. “Nope, I'm fine, what's next?” she said, but her heavy breathing belied her. “Well, that's all I need a hoof with for today.” Silk stood up falteringly. She appreciatively told the farmpony, “Okay then, thanks Applejack. I'll check in town.” Silk trotted off towards Ponyville, leaving a somewhat concerned Applejack behind her. As a scout, Silk had a good sense of direction, and sure enough wound up in the outskirts of town. “Hey Silky!” a voice came from above her. Silk back jumped at this, startled by the voice. Once she was certain her heart wasn't going to stop, she looked up and saw Rainbow Dash floating above her. “Oh, hi, Rainbow” she responded. “Good to see you're up and about! Two whole weeks in a cast? You must have busted up your leg pretty good, huh?” “You could say that, yeah.” Silk answered. Dash was floating about, twisting and turning in midair. “So, what're you up to?” Silk thought she might have an opportunity here. “Looking for a job. Do you have anything you need help with?” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Sorry, I don't think you can move clouds around!” Yeah, without my wings? Not a chance for clouds that aren't close to the ground Silk thought bitterly. Changelings couldn't manipulate clouds as well as a pegasus, and their inclination to do so was negligible for the most part. They could still work with them somewhat, using their wings to get close and their telekinesis to push, pull, or blast apart clouds in addition to being able to walk on them. Still, they couldn't “activate” a cloud like a pegasus could, nor could they create their own from lakes. Dash, apparently, had a knack for saying innocuous things that hit a bit too close to home. Silk deflected this, saying “Nope, I guess not.” “I think Rarity was looking for somepony to try on some of her clothes or something, maybe you should ask her?” the azure pegasus suggested. “Thanks, I'll go do that... I think...” Silk said, remembering the first time she had visited the boutique. “Oh my! I had been looking for somepony to model a few outfits for me, you know how mane equines don't capture any of the subtleties of a real, moving pony...” Rarity said, addressing Silk. “... but we'll have to do something about that coat of yours first. Were you speaking with Applejack earlier by any chance?” Silk was standing in Carousel Boutique, still messy from moving the plow for Applejack. Truthfully she didn't really know that much about pony hygiene, her home having been in the muddy waters of the swamp. To get clean she usually just took a dip in a lake. She wasn't totally clueless, she knew about washing hooves and, while teeth didn't exactly rot on a diet of emotion and water, she had figured out brushing teeth the first couple days at Fluttershy's. Shampoo, on the other hoof, was an unknown to her, though it would not remain unknown for long. “Yeah, I was pulling a plow for her,” Silk affirmed. “Tell me, darling, does that little spell of yours work on your coat?” Warning bells went off in Silk's head, a little voice yelling Yellow alert! Yellow alert! Go to defcon 3! “No! No, no it doesn't. Not at all, sorry!” she blabbed, her bluff failing her. Luckily, Rarity didn't seem to notice. “Well then I suppose we'll just have to use my tub. Come along now, dear,” she said with a smile. Green alert, green alert, go to defcon 4 Silk thought, having miraculously averted a crisis, breathing a sigh of relief and following Rarity into another room. “I've got to admit, that was pretty nice. Thank you, Rarity.” Silk said appreciatively as the two walked out of the bathroom. The water had been warm, which Silk hadn't expected. Whenever Silk took a bath, it was a cold dip in order to get the muck out off her shell and out of her joints that shocked her awake, if temporarily. This, though, was relaxing. The water soothed her sore muscles. The shampoo that was used had a scent to it. It was vaguely reminiscent of lavender but somehow smelled fake to the changeling. “Oh don't mention it, dear. I'm just glad we're on good terms now. I felt like we got off on the wrong hoof last time,” Rarity said, rummaging through a first aid kit for a bandage to replace the one that had been lost in the bath water. “So... you said you needed help making models of dresses?” Rarity raised her eyebrow at the foal-like question as she pulled out a bandage and began applying it with her magic. “No, dear, modeling for them. I need to see what they look like on somepony and seeing how they look. The eye has to flow across them just right, they mustn't clash with themselves, and they must accentuate a pony's natural features,” she explained. “Come to think of it, that spell of yours could really come in handy with that last part, if you don't mind that is.” Silk considered her options for a moment. “Well, okay, but no peeking when I cast it. It's... embarrassing” she half-lied. Silk tasted a slight touch of disappointment as Rarity agreed, saying “Oh, very well, Silky, I shan't look.” “Promise?” Silk asked, looking at Rarity sternly. The white unicorn smiled and began a short series of gestures. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Silk recognized this from earlier, and was satisfied with the promise. “Alright, then. Just try to leave me some breathing room when you're doing whatever with the dresses, okay?” Rarity giggled. “Deal.” “... and just then the beavers came waddling back and discovered the whole mess. Of course, they got mad about the whole thing, and since they didn't trust me and probably didn't want to hurt young fillies with a more viable target around, they started coming after me. I had to hoof it out of there as fast as I could. They were all over the place, crawling out of the woodwork... literally!” Silk laughingly regaled. Rarity had been meticulous about each dress, making careful measurements each time. Every so often she would ask Silk to change her mane, and Silk would do so when she stepped out of eyesight. Silk had lied and said that she couldn't change her mane's color, just the style and length. “Oh dear, sounds like quite the ordeal,” Rarity said, taking off the dress silk was wearing. “There, I think we're done for the evening.” “Evening?” Silk parroted, not having realized what time it was. She looked outside. Sure enough, the sun had gone down and the detestable moon had risen. “Yes, I do so appreciate your doing this for me. Here's something for your troubles” Rarity said, floating a few bits over to her friend. “I also took the liberty of whipping a little something extra for you.” she said, pulling a saddlebag out from behind a curtain. It was a tasteful green bag with a picture of a bed stitched into the front of it. The same bed that adorned Silk's flanks. “I noticed you didn't have one and I happened to have this lying around. I added a bit of a personal touch to it. I do hope I didn't miss any details.” she said, indicating the cutie mark. Silk was touched, and wondered when she had even had time to make that. She had been with her for all but a few moments while she stepped out to allow her to cast her spell. That left two possibilities, both equally plausible right now. Either Rarity was unbelievably gifted, or she had noticed back at their first meeting and had had this ready for a while. It was likely both, given that the fashionista would probably never give anypony something that didn't match, and that Silk hadn't heard any sewing machines or clicking needles. “I... I'll pay you back somehow, Rarity.” she said in earnest. “Oh! I've got some...” she thought, looking to her hard earned bits, before she realized she had absolutely no idea how much it was actually worth, aside from one bit buying an apple. “Nonsense!” Rarity declared. “I wouldn't dream of it! It wouldn't be a gift if I made you pay for it!” “But I have to-” “Ah ah! Not another word, I insist!” Rarity said, cutting Silk off. Silk could taste something coming off of rarity, but she couldn't place it. Somehow she reminded her of Skitter. “Okay. Thank you, Rarity.” she said. Still, somehow she felt unfulfilled. She would need to do something else. “I'll see you around, Rarity. I'm going to look for something else to do.” she said, turning around and walking out the door. “Wait, Silky! It's getting dark out, don't you think you should...” The door shut and Silk disappeared into the darkness. “... go back to Fluttershy's? Oh dear. If I know Fluttershy, she'll be dreadfully worried about her staying out so late.” Rarity sighed and began cleaning up her shop. It would take a little while, but it was better to do it now than in the morning. Several minutes passed. Then, there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Rarity said. In ran Twilight Sparkle. “Rarity, have you seen Silky? Fluttershy said she hasn't come back yet and she's getting worried,” Twilight asked in concern. “Well, that's not entirely unexpected, but from her odd behavior I believe it may be deserved this time” Rarity said honestly. “Then you've seen her? Good, when Fluttershy asked me, I went and found Scootaloo and she pointed us to Applejack, and after that we hit a dead end. When I asked Rainbow Dash, she said she pointed her in your direction. For a second there I thought we hit another dead end. Where is she?” Twilight said, finishing a short rambling. “I do appologize, but you actually missed her by a few minutes,” Rarity answered. “She said she was looking for something to do. I tried to tell her that it was getting late, but she ran off before I could.” Twilight swung her hoof in front of her. “Shoot! Another dead end.” Rarity finished putting away her threads and walked over to Twilight. “Well come now, Twilight, think. Where would she be headed?” Twilight thought for a moment. “She'd probably head in the direction of the center of town, where you'd find the highest concentration of ponies, at least during the day, and probably the highest concentration of things that need doing.” “The town center? I may have an idea where she is.” Rarity frequently heard the news about town, being somewhat of a gossip. It got out of hoof sometimes, and after the Gabby Gums incident, she knew that there were lines that shouldn't be crossed, but it was usually a harmless way to stay connected... at least in her opinion. Rarity led Twilight to the town hall. “Uh, Rarity,” Twilight said, “I wasn't being this specific when I said 'town center'.” “Yes, I know, Twilight, but I do believe I heard that the mayor has been looking for somepony to reapply a coat of waterproof paint to town hall,” the fashionista explained. “Why didn't you just say that before?” grumbled Twilight. Rarity put on a smug smile. “Call it a mare's prerogative.” The two started walking around the tall building in a circle. Sure enough, the two soon spotted “Silky Sheets” on a ladder. She had taken off her new saddlebag, which was resting several feet away. A paintbrush and a can of transparent wood sealant were floating magically beside her. She was dabbing the paint brush in the sealant and slapping it onto the wall. Her crude strokes didn't sit particularly well with the organized Twilight or the meticulous Rarity, causing them to cringe a bit upon witnessing them. “Uh, Silky?” Twilight asked first. “What're you doing?” “Painting, I think.” Silk said, not taking her eyes off her work. “Hard to tell since this stuff doesn't color anything.” I wonder, is this like what happened with Applejack? Twilight wondered. “Mind if we lend a hoof?” “Not at all, the mayor said there were some extra... whatever this is... and brushes somewhere over there” she said, waving a hoof over to her right. I guess not. I guess Applejack would have stopped on her own, not started looking for other things to do. “So why are you doing this?” Twilight asked, feeling this was a better question. “The mayor mare said this needed waterproofing” Silk answered simply, dunking her brush into the can and slopping it onto the wall again. She had never painted anything before didn't actually know what she was doing. “No, I mean why are you working on this in the middle of the night?” “I, I have to. I have to have something I can do.” “What do you mean?” Twilight said. She wasn't sure how well this was going to work, but playing 20 questions with Silky had worked pretty well so far. “I need to pay back Fluttershy, and Pinkie, and you, and Rarity... and everypony, and I need a job to do that. I can't sit around, good for nothing, I have to be useful at something.” Silk began. “I have to be useful at something, but I've lost what I've always been, so I have to find something else. I need to. I need to be useful,” Silk started muttering to herself. Silk didn't know what she was on about herself, but she kept the manic stream of consciousness going uninterrupted. “If I'm useful I'll have a purpose again. I need a purpose. I've always had a purpose before and now I don't. I have to, I have to have a purpose for being here. I have to be here for some reason. There has to! There has to be some reason I'm here!” Silk began yelling, throwing the bucket in a tantrum, accidentally splashing herself with sealant as she felt sorrow once again. She hopped off the ladder. Now she was getting to the crux of her issue, watching herself as she broke down. “Why am I here? Why am I the only one here?! I'm the only one, and I can't figure out why! Why, damn it?! Everypony I ever knew is gone where I dare not follow... why am I still here?!” she sobbed. “I don't deserve to be here. It shouldn't have been me...” she trailed off as she cried. It was survivor's guilt, a desire to show her thanks, and a loss of identity, all rolled up into one, though even Twilight was having a hard time piecing together this explanation. She hypothesized that it was something about Silky's past, probably the same thing that she was torn up about the day she met her, and the fact that she didn't know what her cutie mark meant. “Well now, that's quite enough of that,” Rarity chimed in, producing a hoofkerchief. “Nopony thinks you're useless, Silky, and you don't have to prove yourself otherwise.” “Everypony has a special talent, and I don't ha... know mine. How am I supposed to pay you all back if I don't even have anything I'm good at?” Rarity sat down next to her friend. “Now, even if that's true, that doesn't mean you're useless, and you don't have to 'pay us back'. We're your friends, friends do things for each other so they can see each other happy, not because they want to be paid back in turn, and we'd never think of you in such an uncouth manner. Now listen, I can't find your 'purpose' for you, and you shouldn't run yourself ragged trying to do so, but I can promise you that we'll be there to help you find it. And when you do, we'll help you make it a success.” Silk sniffled as Rarity's compassion reduced her pain, emotionally and physically. “Pinkie promise?” Rarity smiled. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Now, let's get you cleaned up before that dreadful sealant damages your gorgeous coat.” she said, picking her up. Twilight grinned. “I'll tell Fluttershy that Silky's staying over at your house today.” “Could you? That would be wonderful, dear, thank you.” “Don't mention it,” Twilight said with a wink. “What are friends for?” Yeah Silk thought, What are friends for? After a very thorough scrub, Rarity had set Silk to bed in one of the tents surrounding Carousel Boutique. “I'm ever so sorry the guest room was taken, Sweetie Belle is staying over this week. Are you sure you don't want to use my bed instead? I could sleep on the pull-out couch.” Rarity offered, though the idea of causing her decorum to clash by unfolding that tacky bed was somewhat repulsive to her. What the hay is a pull-out couch? Silk thought. “No, thanks. The tent is more than enough shelter for me,” she answered. “Well, if you say so,” Rarity relented. “Well, good night. I'll see you in the morning. I think I might want to try creating some bolder mane styles with you tomorrow if you don't mind, since that spell of yours can fix your hair so easily.” Silk nodded. “Sure, just no peeking!” “After making a pinkie promise? I wouldn't dream of it.” Rarity said melodramatically. For a second there Silk could taste a slight tinge of fear among the happiness and excitement. Rarity walked off to go to sleep herself and Silk sat there thinking as she often did these days. I might not have a reason I'm the only one left, save for dumb, dumb, dumb luck, and I might not be able to go back and do what I used to, but now I've got friends to support me. I don't have to pay them back, but I'll still help them out when I can, and I'm not going to kill myself doing so. Silk yawned and closed her eyes. I'll find something else eventually... Silk fell asleep once again. Her dreams were still cruel to her, and this night, four more faces joined her nightmares, and yet on this night, the changeling queen's taunt did not come. PROCESSING SAMPLE PROCESSING SAMPLE PROCESSING SAMPLE PROCESSING COMPLETE ERROR: INVALID SAMPLE SPECIMEN CONTAINS NO VIABLE DNA PLEASE INSERT VALID SAMPLE PROCESSING COMPLETE ERROR: INVALID SAMPLE SPECIMEN CONTAINS NO VIABLE DNA PLEASE INSERT VALID SAMPLE