The Dashie and Serenity Webster
A blue streak darted through Sunny’s living room into her kitchen. It came to a halt right in Sunny’s seat. Rainbow Dash hadn’t exactly been pleased with at her most recent discovery and came to give Cloud Breaker a piece of her mind. Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Sunny Rays followed her in at a slower pace.
“So Cloud Breaker when in the application process were you going to tell me about the fact you’re really a changeling?” Rainbow asked.
The horrified look on Cloud Breaker’s face said it all. He should have known his background would become public knowledge eventually but he thought he’d get more than three and a half days before his changeling origins leaked out. The shock left him speechless.
“Well, I’m waiting for an answer changeling!” Rainbow said, her anger increasing.
Serenity looked on, doing his best to both quickly finish cooking his pilaf and focus on the conversation at hoof. Cloud had to do something. Well the truth had been working for him of late, why not.
“Well I was hoping it wouldn’t come up, I could land the job, and then tell you about it a few months or years after the fact by which point I would hopefully just be another good employee in the organization and you wouldn’t care,” Cloud said. “And also I’m not a changeling, I’m just a pegasus now. No tricks, I blew away my magic acting stupid and this is the penalty.”
Sunny darted out of the room to get something. Pinkie grabbed Twilight and took a familiar pose as she aimed the lavender unicorn’s horn at Cloud like a weapon, Twi responded with a hoof gesture that implied “no, not this time” and the Earth pony released her. The purple mare was intrigued at that last sentence. No matter what the others were doing Rainbow didn’t buy Cloud’s excuse for a second.
“Yeah right, drop the disguise insect,” Rainbow responded. “Changelings turn into ponies all the time, that’s all you do. You change shape, steal love, and try to take over Equestria. Well guess what, there’ll be none of that while Ponyville’s friendly Rainbow Dash is on duty.”
“I’m telling the truth,” Cloud responded. “I can’t change into anything else. I’m just as much a pony as you are now since my magic overload after the Canterlot attack.”
“YOU ATTACKED CANTERLOT!” Rainbow shouted.
That was it, the blue pegasus swung a hoof at the green one only to have a pinkish aura stop it from connecting, Twilight had cut her off. This pony apparently attacked her brother’s wedding but like them Shining was one to forgive and forget and he never had any issues with her research on any topic. This was too good an opportunity for a little studying to just let Rainbow rant.
“Hold your horses Rainbow, I want to hear his reasoning,” Twilight said. “I’ve never heard of a changeling becoming a pony permanently before, of course my changeling research so far has been limited.”
At this point Sunny came back into the room with a file in her mouth and Cloud’s former changeling horn under her wing.
“He’s telling the truth Twilight,” Sunny said as she dropped both on the table. “We had him tested by Doctor Stable. The good doctor is very trustworthy as well; he’s the same guy who mended Rainbow’s wing and not one to lie on test results.”
Twilight levitated the horn over to her for examination as Rainbow looked over the papers in serious disbelief. Pinkie just stood off to the side deep in thought; could she throw Cloud a changeling themed party now or not? Or maybe just a costume disguise one would be better instead. Twilight was in awe at the horn.
“Amazing,” Twilight said. “I’ve never seen a changeling horn up close and detached before. It’s so rounded off, it’s nothing like the Queen’s jagged one. The structure is close to that of a unicorn one but slightly different, likely to handle their more holographic-focused magic. I could write half a report on the comparisons alone. But this could be from any changeling, do you possibly have more evidence connected to him I could see?”
Rainbow wasn’t getting anything out of the report and gave it to Twilight. The purple mare used her magic to pick it up and read it. Serenity finished the cooking, turned off the stove and moved to stand over by Sunny. He’d have done so earlier but he hated wasting food and wasn’t one to burn a good meal just because Rainbow Dash had barged in and starting flinging around questions…yet again.
As she read the hospitals charts from the DNA test Twilight showed a pleasant little smile. Rainbow and Pinkie pulled her away from her library card catalog work tonight saying Cloud must be a changeling but the official Ponyville Hospital report very clearly said otherwise.
“Look at that,” Twilight said as her research finished. “Blood, feather, and X-ray tests confirm subject 100 percent pegasus pony. Belief pony is a changeling likely a result of stress related to witnessing Canterlot wedding attack.”
Cloud smiled, Rainbow didn’t. Sunny and Serenity just stood by silently trying to think of anything they could help to him.
“This is fascinating, it appears that despite your thoughts Rainbow his story checks out,” Twilight said. “Cloud, at least now, isn’t a changeling. But if changelings can permanently become ponies how does it happen? Is it a reaction to serious injury, a voluntarily move, some form of punishment from Queen Chrysalis for the failure of the invasion?”
Cloud looked down at the table, a reflection of Drone 9417 was looking back at him smiling from a glass of water. He wouldn’t give him the pleasure, he’d keep telling the truth. By this point he was getting tired of explaining his predicament but from the changelings’ research on Twilight they all knew she didn’t take “no” for an answer in situations like this. “Here we go again” he thought to himself.
“It’s caused by an overload to changeling transformation magic,” Cloud replied. “It can be done voluntarily but changelings look down upon that. Mine was accidental, I was a spy researching you before the invasion and I held my disguise as Cloud Breaker too long to keep living undetected with Sunny and Serenity.”
“So that’s why you came by the library to rent books with no rhyme or reason before this week,” Twilight responded. “I hope you were still reading them.”
Rainbow was anything but amused.
“I knew you were a spy!” Rainbow said.
“That alone wouldn’t trigger it,” Cloud said. “The fact I fought you probably did though. I swapped forms several times but I got my flank kicked. I turned into Rainbow and punched Applejack but then the real Rainbow swooped down, punched me away, and proclaimed “accept no substitutes” as she raced off.”
Rainbow’s angry look donned a little smile at that, she remembered that move. Sucker never saw it coming… and yet now that very changeling was before her again and claiming somewhat successfully he was a pony now.
“Well at least I know that part is true,” Rainbow said proudly. “I totally had AJ’s back!”
“After Rainbow stopped me Twilight blasted me and I was out of the fight,” Cloud said. “My transmogrification magic overloaded shortly thereafter when the royal couple expelled all of us and I changed into this before I crash landed. Sunny and Serenity are the only friends I have so I came here to try and set my life straight. I was Drone 9417 then but I’m Cloud Breaker now.”
The response from the three Elements could not be more different. Rainbow still looked truly ticked off, Pinkie had a huge smile per usual, and Twilight was still in awe at the educational possibilities a confirmed “former” changeling could provide. She loved research papers, she was already thinking of possible titles.
“When I was only pretending to be Cloud I made him a weather pony because, well a lot of pegasi are and it wouldn’t raise suspicion,” Cloud said. “After I became him for real I figured trying to do his job was my best option to have a spot in pony society. I gave myself a cutie mark to match it.”
“Oh Oh! I want to ask the next question,” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “If you were pretending to be a weather pony before why didn’t you try and kept that up instead of submitting that blank resume?… Also do you like chocolate or vanilla cake?”
“I’ve been lying about who I really my whole life, I’m trying to shape up and be honest now,” Cloud said. “I got no resume so I won’t lie about having one. And ah, chocolate I guess. I’ve never had either in a context where I’d know what they really taste like.”
Rainbow wasn’t amused.
“So what you’re getting at is just because you aren’t a changeling anymore suddenly you deserve a second chance?” Rainbow asked. “An altered appearance doesn’t change what you did to Equestria. What we should do is turn you over to the authorities. You want to do some good help the royal guard track down the rest of the changelings from the attack. Or you know, rot in a Canterlot dungeon like most terrorists. Either one is good for me.”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Just curious Rainbow but if he’s not a changeling anymore and has the paperwork from the hospital to prove it why would they believe us if you tried to turn him in?” Twilight noted. “We’re well-known but they run DNA tests on ponies who are accused of being changelings in deception cases. He’d ace it and walk.”
“So what do you want to do with him Twi?” Rainbow asked. “Study him?”
“Yeah, think of the opportunity for lea…”
“No, this freak pony attacked Canterlot and deceived our town for almost a month before that,” Rainbow butted in. “If the law won’t punish him we will. Cloud you’ve got 24 hours to get out of Ponyville. You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”
Twilight and Pinkie looked shocked at the statement.
“Aw, come on Rainbow,” Pinkie chimed in. “He hasn’t even gotten some cake yet.”
“I don’t have a home, where am I supposed to go?” Cloud asked.
“That’s your problem not any of ours,” Rainbow said. “Fillydelphia’s nice this time of year, maybe their weather manager won’t run a background check.”
After thinking for several minutes about what to do Serenity finally had something to say. He had to ask something to try and convince Rainbow to let Cloud keep trying. After all, changeling or no Cloud was quite generous at paying rent just to use the couch.
Serenity thought about all the adventures Rainbow had gone through of late that he read about in the papers, all the trouble in Ponyville that came after Twilight came and assembled her friends at that Summer Sun Festival. And then it hit him, that festival.
“Rainbow just curious, you’d count Princess Luna as a friend right?” Serenity asked.
“Huh, yeah she’s cool,” Rainbow responded. “A bit out of touch and more up Twi’s alley but she likes a good prank and that makes her alright in my book.”
“So what’s the difference between her and Cloud?” Serenity said.
“Is it that Luna controls the night and Cloud controls nothing but his hopes, dreams, and destiny?” Pinkie asked.
“There is no difference, both are ‘bad guys’ who are trying to shape up,” Serenity said with hoof gesture air quotes as he looked at Rainbow. “You guys remember that night Luna came back, the night Twilight arrived, and the night you all got your pretty jewelry things and all the stuff. You should, Princess Luna tried to make it last forever.”
“Technically she was possessed and acting as Nightmare Mo…,” Twilight tried to add before Rainbow cut her off with a hoof gesture.
Cloud smiled; when he first came back Serenity was the one iffy about letting him stay. Now the pink pegasus was stepping up to the plate to defend him. Maybe he saw something he liked on the test flight?
“What are you getting at?” Rainbow asked.
“I didn’t see what you guys did to her as Nightmare Moon but immediately afterward you brought Princess Luna back to town and everyone had a huge celebration to welcome her back,” Serenity said. “All was forgiven instantly… BUT two hours earlier she actively tried to KILL US ALL with an ever-lasting night that would kill all the plants and later all the wildlife. She almost committed genocide on all of us and you let her off with no more than a slap on the wrist and giving her debatably the secondly most powerful position in Equestria.”
“That was different, she was purified by us using the Elements,” Rainbow said.
“He was basically purified by the royal couple’s love and unlike Nightmare Moon he wasn’t completely a jerk before hand,” Serenity said. “How is giving him a chance at the office’s literal ‘low mare on the totem pole’ position going to bring about the end of Equestria like you are trying to imply here? Luna masterminded that attack; he just went along with others’ orders.”
Serenity continued, switching from defense to offense.
“Who are you to decide who gets to stay in Ponyville or not, Commander Hurricane?” Serenity asked.
Rainbow’s jaw dropped. Pegasi did not casually throw around calling someone a “Commander Hurricane” in that context; it was an offensive term for someone who looked down on non-pegasi in a non-literal sense.
“Twilight’s baby dragon darn near destroyed the town, why does he get to stay?” Serenity asked. “You’ve saved this community like 52 times or something by now but you’ve put it in jeopardy quite a few times too. The parasprites, Discord, overcharged love potions, trying to cause a riot with warnings “from my future self,” muffins made of earth worms, and cutie pox; it’s a wonder anything in this town is still standing!”
“Hey, we had nothing to do with the cutie pox,” Pinkie noted. “And Twilight’s responsibility for the love potion was indirect at best.”
Sunny broke her silence to help the argument.
“Rainbow, your actions with the tornado were a little unprofessional as well,” Sunny said. “You were so sure Thunderlane was faking being sick you pushed him too hard and infected a good chunk of the team. I spent two days bed ridden after that.”
Rainbow blushed. She did a great job preparing everyone for that but she did botch that one thing and hospitalized several ponies in the process. Her leadership was flawless except that mistake that cost them the record and without Fluttershy’s help would have cost them everything.
“You guys aren’t perfect but neither is Cloud,” Serenity said.
“Even before he was a pony he was still an accommodating stallion,” Sunny added. “After he changed we gave him a list of conditions for him to stay with us and he’s obeyed every one. Look at this.”
Sunny hovered over the table and over to the window with the little apple tree seedling.
“We asked him to make it up to Applejack that he got her in that attack,” Sunny said. “He went out and bought her this little tree to replace one a wind storm the office did apparently blew down this week. He’s trying to put things right Rainbow and we’ve been making sure he does.”
The mood was swinging in his favor. Cloud was ready to rejoin the conversation.
“I’ve made mistakes, a lot of them, and I’ll admit that,” Cloud said. “But I want to put things right. I want a job and a real role in a community. No more disguises, no more deceiving anyone, and no more feeding on love. If you want I’ll tell the whole team who am I and let them decide if you want me considered, you are short staffed and I am the only one who has applied for the position in months. The others know I put in for it; at least Thunderlane and Blue Skies are pulling for me. Will you at least let me try?”
Rainbow looked at Twilight and Pinkie. Twilight was rather emotionless, still thinking about publishing her results in the Canterlot Science Journal or Equestria Biology Today, but the pink mare’s look just seemed to say “come on Rainbow.” The blue mare sighed, she hated losing. But despite her anger they were right and she needed more staff. Dropping her only applicant without explanation would raise questions. “Alright fate, you win,” she thought to herself.
“Come on Twi, Pinks we’re done here,” Rainbow said then turned to face Cloud Breaker. “Be at the weather bureau at 9:00 a.m. sharp tomorrow for your job testing. Pass it and color yourself a weather pony. Be ready, I had a few wildcards planned and I’m still going to use them rookie.”
The three turned to leave.
“Hey wait, before you go does anyone still want some pilaf?” Cloud asked. “Serenity made extra.”
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There'll*
The first one needs to go.
Nicely done chapter. Hope to see more soon.
This is a run-on sentence. The best way to fix this particular one would be to change that comma to a period and capitalize that "h".
...
It's good to see this update. Keep up the good work.
Hmmm.......
I have a suspicion that Dashie is going to try to sabotage his test.....
2906838, 2906910
Thanks for the help guys, I made those changes.
2906950
We'll see, she'll no doubt make it hard
but she's probably not going to cross into villain territory.
Well another good chapter, i like how the plot is unfolding. Keep it up.
(my ears are still ringing)
This is a good chapter, but I have mixed feelings about it. Serenity's arguments have a lot of flaws. His points about Luna and Spike are flawed in that, unlike Cloud Breaker, neither were entirely in control of their actions. Luna was possessed (something confirmed by Lauren Faust and elaborated upon in the MLP comics), and Spike was overcome by an overpowering draconic instinct. And Luna did pay for her crimes, in a way: she spent a thousand years imprisoned in total isolation within the moon. And while Rainbow was incorrect in her evaluation of Thunderlane, there is absolutely no similarity between her actions and Cloud's. One was careless, the other was a participant in espionage and a war of aggression (something that, in real life, is a crime according to international law) that, had it been successful, would have led the widespread enslavement and suffering of pony kind. The fact that he feels remorse and intends to turn over a new leaf, while admirable, should not necessarily negate the demands of justice. Forgiveness does not mean refraining from punishing a guilty party.
I love it!
Was it a wet microburst or a dry one?
3712809
Sex joke or naw?
Love the title. Knew immediately what the chapter was gonna be like
7772075
I'm glad to know that choice held up. I was iffy on it.