//------------------------------// // 3. Unexpected Meeting // Story: Shifting Sands // by Ralfil //------------------------------// And so he slept and dreamt. The stallion found himself in the middle of a field with the sun shining bright as day, for the moment. He looked around himself inquisitively, wondering what was going on. At that point he noticed one thing in particular. Rain had decided to start falling on him. Not only that, but it wasn’t normal rain. He lifted up his foreleg and examined it as a brown liquid dripped off of it. “What the junk?” he asked no one. This was definitely weird. “What is this stuff?” He decided to get out from under the raincloud as it was quickly causing him to get rather sticky, and uncomfortably so. As he did this he noticed that the grass he was on wasn’t normal either. Now, if it had been light and dark green squares it wouldn’t be too surprising. That would just indicate a well-manicured lawn. However, this grass wasn’t green. It was black and white squares. “What is this, a chess board?” He shook himself dry, but unfortunately the brown liquid was very sticky. “Aw, gross. Now I’m just covered in…” He leaned his nose towards his foreleg and sniffed it. “chocolate?” It was then that he heard someone laughing rather loudly nearby, and a strange being floated past him. Also strange was the fact that he seemed to be doing so without anything carrying him. Again the unicorn was extremely confused, but this time he directed his question at the strange creature: “What the junk is going on?” The slender, floating individual took notice of him and clapped his hands together in glee. “Oh! Another pony to play with! What shall I do with you? Hmm? That’s an interesting cutie mark.” The creature leaned over and twisted in a way that didn’t seem possible as he examined the stallion’s flank. “What the hay?! Personal space here! And for your information, it’s a stud stamp.” The unicorn stomped one of his hooves on the checkered ground to emphasize his point. “I’m not a mare.” The creature smirked and put his hand to his chin. “Oh? Perhaps we can change that. You see, I’m Discord. Perhaps you’ve heard of me? Spirit of Chaos? Ah, I can tell by your face that you have. I love a good shocker like that. Heheheh. Now tell me. What’s your special talent? I’m sure it’s quite unique.” The apparent Draconequus was grinning from ear to ear now. “You better let me know. There’s no telling what I might do if I get bored.” He stood up, finally landing on the ground, and pulled a lightning bolt out of the sky to demonstrate his point. “Oh, and give me your name too. It’s easier to let you say it than for me to take it.” He casually tossed the lightning bolt at a nearby building where it splashed and started a fire. The stallion had paled considerably as soon as Discord revealed who he was. Stuttering and trying to back away, he said, “My n-name is Sh-shifting Sands. Um,” He coughed. “I’m really good at improvisation.” Glancing nervously at his stud stamp he continued backing away. The Spirit of Chaos quickly snapped his fingers, appearing right behind the frightened unicorn. “Is that all you can do? I don’t think you’re giving me the whole story. In fact, it all seems a little,” He paused to pull out some sunglasses and slap them on. “Shifty.” The stallion jumped a little bit before groaning at the pun. “Right. Like that’s not the first time I’ve heard it.” He decided to put the aforementioned improvisation skills to use and continued, “Now, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of other people to mess with. Busy schedule and all that. I’ll just be going now.” With that he turned and galloped away from Discord as fast as he could. Suddenly the Draconequus was floating next to him again sucking chocolate milk from a glass with a straw in it. “Oh, but I’m not finished with you yet Shift. Can I call you Shift?” Deciding not to mention that was his actual nickname, Shift worked on just increasing his speed. “Well, if you’re going to be rude and ignore me I’ll just have make you pay attention.” Discord reached over and picked the unicorn off of the ground. Now, since I can tell you’ve lied to me, I think I’ll have some real fun. Oh don’t give me that look. Of course I can smell a lie from a mile away. I’m a master at them. Now, what to do with you…” Shift was now being held by the head at arm’s length as he struggled to get away. The Spirit of Chaos suddenly brightened up and smiled even more. “Ah! I know. How would you like for your ‘stud stamp’ to be a bona fide cutie mark?” He flicked Shift on the nose and tossed him away. “Have fun! Oh look! I think I’ll go torment her next.” He flew off. Groaning, the unicorn stood up and rubbed his side which he had landed on. He noticed that he definitely felt weird. He felt lighter and the grass seemed just a little bit closer to his head than before. Confused he opened his mouth and began to speak, “What the-“ He stopped immediately. Oh no. “Did he-“ It was confirmed. His voice was now a few octaves higher. Frightened, he looked over his body hurriedly. Discord had done something very disturbing. He had turned Shift into a mare. He glared up at the sky as the sun and moon quickly switched places and howled. “NOOOOOOO!” Shift sprang up gasping for breath and looked around at his dim surroundings. He was still in the basement of that building. Giving a sigh of relief he quickly checked himself to make sure he was still a he and not a she. That would have been…unpleasant to say the least. It had been a while since Discord had been defeated by the Elements of Harmony, but Shift still had nightmares from the short time where he was running free causing chaos. It had given the unicorn some pretty bad emotional scars. Shift still wasn't sure how he had ended up on the hillside in the first place. He lived in Canterlot. Suddenly he heard a creaking noise coming from above him, snapping him out of his thoughts. There it was. The residents must have returned. Well, this wasn't good. He had been hoping to at least be able to get out unnoticed and find a map or something. He heard a pair of voices. They were fairly muffled, so he couldn't really make out what they were saying. However, he could tell that there was what sounded like a mare and a young colt up there. A much louder creaking alerted him to the opening of the door to the basement. Definitely not a good sign. They must have noticed the missing food. He heard the mare calling out, “Hello? Is anypony there?” Well, at least she didn't sound overly suspicious. She seemed more curious about the situation. He needed a plan, and fast. He could only think of one way to sufficiently confuse whoever it was long enough for him to get out without being asked any questions. It was risky, but he had to take that chance. His horn glowed blue and flames surrounded him. As the flames changed from a blue to a green aura his form was replaced with that of a changeling once again. Knowing that his transformation had produced a sizable, though brief, flash of light he speedily moved to a different portion of the room and hid behind some other machinery. The mare let out a small yelp of surprise and charged forward, her horn ablaze with a purple light. “Who's there?! Show yourself!” She shouted. She began looking around frantically. The now changeling was peaking from behind a device that looked almost like a tree from Hearth's Warming Eve and was able to get a good look at her as he charged his own horn. Green flames enveloped him once again, and now in his place stood a pony looking just like the purple unicorn. There was one small difference though. The duplicate was a stallion. The mare spun around and spotted him now. Running forward, she said, “I don't like it when a pony breaks into my home. You better have a good reason for being here.” Chuckling softly to himself, Shift stepped out into full view. He may be in a sticky situation, but there was no reason that he couldn't enjoy the shock from seeing someone like him. The mare gasped, confused. Shift was just about ready to make a run for it when she said something he had definitely not been expecting. “Dusk Shine? What are you doing here?” Now it was his turn to be surprised. She knew someone who looked like this? Sure, there was the chance of meeting somepony with the same cutie mark as yourself, but that was very rare outside of Canterlot. The only reason it was there much was because of the nobility often trying to keep their bloodlines “clean.” All he could really think to say now was, “Um.” Fortunately for him she went off talking almost instantly. He wasn't completely sure, but she seemed to be under the impression that he was from an alternate reality. A gender-swapped one. As mentally unstable as she clearly was, at least she was giving him a background. He mused over how he could get out of this and, hopefully, get home. “So why did you come here? Did something bad happen with the changelings on your world?” She suddenly asked, interrupting his train of thought. “Oh, um...” He had to think fast. Time to improvise! “No! I just wanted to make sure everyone here was alright. You know, see if you needed any help.” He could feel some sweat beading on his forehead. There was no telling whether she would buy it or not, and he certainly didn't want to try knocking her out since he had absolutely no idea what her magical strength was. “Everything went great here! Once we Shining Armor was able to cast his shield spell again we were able to have a wonderful wedding.” Well, it looked like she bought it. Shift let out a small sigh of relief. Now he just needed to get out of here before he was found. “Well, I don't have much time. I, er, need to get back to my studies. Yeah. I'm figuring out a way to recognize changelings more easily.” If he could just leave now, he'd be in the clear. “Okay.” The mare looked surprisingly disappointed by that. Then she perked up. “I can help you with the spell. Did you bring the ingredients for it with you?” And there went his plan. Spell? Ingredients? He had no idea what she was talking about. “Ah, no. I may have forgotten them.” He nervously scratched the back of his head. “I'll just go look for them now.” He started to make his way towards the stairs. Maybe he could get away now. “I'll help you look. After all, I'd be pretty impressed if you are able to cast the spell right away. Or did you find a method that uses less magical energy? Actually, that makes sense. How did you do it?” Hayseed. She just wouldn't let up, would she? As he climbed up the stairs, the purple unicorn unfortunately following him, he was starting to really sweat. A lie was best when simple, and this one was getting far too elaborate for his tastes. The more complicated it is, the easier to slip up. This pony might be off her rocker a bit, but he couldn't count on that solving everything. “I think I can handle finding everything just fine. I do need to get going though.” They were now in the main room. He could see that it had a lot more books than he had initially thought. Maybe this was a library. He paused for a moment as something struck a chord in his memory. Anyplace with this many books certainly had to be a library, but there was only one library like this. He had heard about it while looking through a public library in Canterlot. Circular, quaint, and a very natural theme. What else was it that the shelving pony had said? She had said that it was the home of a very important pony. The...Element...of...Magic. He looked at the mare who was talking again, though he wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying. This couldn't be her. Alternate universes? Who would believe in that sort of thing? It was the stuff of cheap fiction novels. But, if this was her home, then he was in big trouble if he couldn't get away from her. He now had another reason to leave fast. “Hello... are you even listening?” She was staring right into his face. He shook himself out of his thoughts and responded. “Oh, right. Sorry. I was just thinking for a moment there.” He looked towards the door. “I get going now.” He turned away to head for the door when she sighed. “I was saying that I've got the spell components here already. You weren't listening.” This time it wasn't a question. “I'll just gather them up right now. That way we can save time.” She walked over to one of the drawers in a bookshelf and opened it with her magic. “Let's see. A blue feather, a ruby, wait. Where's the vase? Ugh.” She levitated out some items and placed them on the table before shutting the drawer with a back hoof. Shift thought he heard a clicking noise as she did so. He cocked his ear slightly, hoping that it had come from the drawer. Then he heard it again. He started sweating a bit more now. He needed to leave right now. “Well, I guess we'll have to go ask Fluttershy for one. I knew I should have gotten two.” She pulled a book off the shelves and laid it on the table as well. Shift began inching towards the door surreptitiously. She looked up. “Well, we have almost everything. So I guess we're just about set. I was really hoping to get to use the spell again for experience.” She paused. “Are you okay?” Shift could hear the clicking a lot more now. It was becoming an incessant chatter. He could feel thoughts approaching his mind. There were about three different patterns in there from what he could tell. He started focusing on blocking his thoughts from them as much as he could. At that point something happened that was sufficiently surprising as to stop his thoughts completely. Not exactly what he had intended, but later he would be glad that it had made him effectively invisible to the three minds approaching. They actually left as quickly as they had come when they didn't sense him anymore. It didn't just surprise him though. A flash of bright light appeared in the room, and with it were two ponies. They looked exactly like him and the mare already here. The new stallion was smirking proudly and seemed quite pleased. “I knew it was a good idea to get two vases.” Shift looked at the duplicate mare and stared for a a bit before finally uttering a word in disbelief. She seemed to be feeling the same way as she stared at him. Simultaneously, they both said the one thing that came to mind: “Crud.”