I chose.
Why, why, why, WHY?! Alice just didn’t know. She put her front hooves on her temples as she continued with the questions. Why did the thought of Rarity discovering her secret hurt so much? And why did it hurt more than anything she had felt before? She had just known her for a little less than two days. Was it because Rarity had given her a place to stay? Was it because she had fed her when she was starving for affection? Why, why, why, WHY?!
This was something that hadn’t happened since that time with her fam… with that family. While living in Canterlot, she hadn’t felt something like this for anyone there. She had kept her distance from the ponies there, and ponies there made it easy for her as they were busy with their own business.
But Rarity… the moment the unicorn saw her sleeping in the street, the moment Rarity insisted on Alice spending the night in the boutique. ‘She is so kind, so friendly, so generous, so beautif-’
She stopped her thinking as the whys had just been answered. She had fallen in love with the pristine unicorn. ‘I got too close to her.’
She took that old picture and put it back in the little box, along with the statuette and the fang. She then grabbed her saddlebags and put the box inside. With the saddlebags on her back, she made her way to the door. It was time to leave. In the hall, Alice noticed that the door to Rarity’s inspiration room was opened. She walked there, expecting to meet with the unicorn. She had to say goodbye.
She stopped again, and again, she felt her heart ache. Saying goodbye to Rarity, a goodbye that would mean forever. There was a part of her that didn’t wanted to leave, but another part of her shouted that she didn’t belong here. She wasn’t a pony and it would be just matter of time for her to be discovered. After what had happened in Canterlot, she had decided to keep moving and to never stay in one place.
Sighing, she resumed her walk to Rarity’s inspiration room. “Rarity?” She called when she entered the room, but it was empty. A quick look around was enough to see that something was missing, two somethings. The pair of dresses in which she and Rarity had worked last night and this morning. ‘You are amazing.’ Rarity’s words echoed in her mind.
Shaking her head and trying not to think more about it, she made her way to look for Rarity in the boutique. She knocked at Rarity’s room, but there came no answer, so she decided to move her search to the first floor. “Rarity!” She called again, and again, there came no answer. She moved to the kitchen, and there, she saw a little note attached to the fridge.
Alice,
Something urgent happened so I have to go and deliver the dresses to the client, it’ll probably take the whole afternoon. I’m sorry for leaving you alone. If you’re hungry, feel free to eat anything you want from the fridge.
Rarity.
Alice sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck. ‘I’m not really hungry. I could travel for at least two weeks without feeling the need for more love.’ There was nothing stopping her from leaving. Alice stood there silently for a moment. She had her saddlebags on her back and her cart was waiting for her outside.
She really wanted to see Rarity one last time before leaving. She wanted to thank her and give her one last hug.She had stayed in Ponyville way longer than intended. What was originally just a stop to gather enough love to move to the next location, had surely become a time she would appreciate for the rest of her life.
Alice walked out of the kitchen, in the direction of the boutique entrance, but not before leaving a note saying: ‘Thank you for everything’. Alice opened the door, stepped outside and turned to close it, but stopped just a second before. Was it okay to leave the house without someone looking after it? She didn’t have the keys to lock the door, What if something happened to the boutique between the time she would leave and before Rarity came back.
Alice shook her head, she was just making an excuse to stay a bit more, but that was a no. She had to leave before-
“Hello, Alice.”
“Waaaa!” Alice did a small jump in surprise after hearing the new voice. She turned around, while using one hoof to control her hammering heart, to see one of Rarity’s friend, the lavender Alicorn.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t wanted to startle you.”
“It’s… It’s okay.” Alice took a few breaths to calm herself, but it was hard when she realized she was talking with the new princess of Equestria, the one that was followed by royal guards.
“Are you alright? You look a bit pale.” Twilight got closer as she tried to find any signs of sickness on the earth pony.
“Y-yes, I’m fine, ummm, Princess Twilight.” She said with a little bow.
“Please, just call me Twilight. I still feel a bit uncomfortable when ponies call me that.”
“Alright, Twilight.” Twilight smiled. “I’m fine, it’s just, ummm…” Alice looked around, hoping to see the a few guards looking at her with icy glares, but there was none. “Huh? Shouldn’t there be guards, ummm, guarding you?”
“Well, after that little incident yesterday at the party, I had a little talk with them. You see, I have confronted evil unicorns, a god of chaos, and swarms of love sucking monsters,” Alice winced at that last one, but Twilight didn’t noticed. “And each time I have managed to deal with them, I mean, with the help of my friends, so there’s not really need for a group of guards looking after me each moment of the day.”
“So, there are no guards…” Alice trailed off.
“Not exactly. I made a deal with them, there will be only two royal guards here in Ponyville, but they won’t be following me around. They will keep an eye on the area, making sure everything is peaceful, and in case something happens, I gave them a quick communication spell to contact Canterlot. I don’t really think there’s a need for that, as the only problems around here are the ones me and my friends cause.” Twilight gave a hearty laugh and then looked how the color returned to Alice face. “That was a bad experience with the guards yesterday for you, I suppose.”
“I… Yeah.” There was silence between the two of them for a moment.
“Well, it was nice to see you, Alice.” Twilight said as she moved past Alice, knocking at the open door.
“Are you looking for Rarity?”
Twilight turned. “Yes, I wanted to talk to her and see if…” A small smile appeared on her mouth. “If she could recommend me a good restaurant, you know, to take Fluttershy in a proper date.”
Alice could feel great amounts of love emanating from the Alicorn, and thankfully, she had absorbed enough free love that she no longer would lose control with this levels of affection.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, but Rarity isn’t at home. She had to go for the afternoon, you will have to wait until this evening, or ask her tomorrow.”
Twilight frowned, “I will have to wait until tomorrow. I have to go and do a few errands later in the day.” She changed the frown to a smile. “Well, Alice, I’ll see you later.” She started to move away.
“I don’t think we will see each other again.” Alice said in a whisper.
Twilight stopped and looked back. “What do you mean?”
“Right, we barely spoke yesterday, we just exchanged a few words.” Alice looked in the direction where her cart was parked. “I’m going to leave Ponyville today and continue with my travel.”
“Oh, so Ponyville was just a breakpoint in your journey. And where are you going?”
“I… I don’t really know, I don’t have a destination, I just… move from place to place.”
“Are you looking for something, or maybe someone?” Twilight asked kind of excited to hear the adventures of this pony.
“N-not really, I just… I just can’t stay here.” Alice wondered why was she being so open right now. She would normally never tell this things to anyone.
“Huh? Why not? You don’t like it here?”
“That’s not it, it’s the complete opposite.” Alice started to shake a little. “The time I have spent here has been the happiest in a long time. But… but I don’t belong here.” She dropped her head.
“Where do you belong then?”
Alice shook her head. “I… I don’t know. Maybe, maybe nowhere.”
“Why are you saying that?” Twilight put a hoof on Alice shoulder. “Everypony belongs somewhere. You can choose where you belong.”
“I… I-” Twilight interrupted alice before she could say anything.
“When I first arrived to Ponyville, I came with the intentions of fulfilling a mission. I had planned to just, ummm, save Equestria and return to my home, to Canterlot. But when that was over, I just couldn’t say goodbye to the ponies I had met here, even if I had just know them for a day. So I chose to stay here, I chose to belong here.”
‘But I’m not like you. I’m not like any other pony around here, I’m not a pony at all.’ Alice thought as she kept looking at the ground. The silence extended for moment, until Twilight broke it again.
“Alice, you seem conflicted. Just by looking at you, I can see that you don’t want to leave. You want to stay, but I think you are afraid that something might happen, and that's why you say that you have to leave. You yourself said that this has been the happiest time of your life. There’s a reason why you are happy here. I want you to think about that reason, there’s no need to tell me what it is. Just close your eyes, and think.”
Alice closed her eyes and thought about what had made her so happy in here. ‘Rarity...’
Twilight saw a small smile appear on Alice face. “Alice, if you leave, there’s a chance you won’t find that happiness again. It’s your life, you choose what to do. If you want to leave, well, I won’t stop you, but, do not miss the opportunities life gives you, because the day will come that you will regret it. Just… give it some thought.” Twilight turned and walked away, not looking back at Alice.
‘That. Was. So. Amazing! “You can choose where you belong?” “I chose to stay here, I chose to belong here?” Where did all that come from? That was so cool, I was just like Princess Celestia.’ Twilight squealed in joy. ‘This week’s letter to the Princess will be so great.’ Twilight continued to walk away. ‘I chose to stay here, and thanks to that I’m together with Fluttershy now.’ Twilight smiled. ‘I will buy her some flowers.’
Back in the boutique’s entrance, Alice was giving some thought to what Twilight had just told her. ‘“Do not miss the opportunities life gives you, because the day will come that you will regret it? You could say the same might happen if I stay here, if someone discovers what I really am. The day will come that I will regret it.’ Alice closed the door and walked to her cart.
A few lamp posts illuminated Rarity’s walk as she made her way back to the boutique.She was exhausted due to the lack of sleep from finishing the dresses and the long journey of the day. She just wanted to return home, relax with a good cup of tea and maybe have a little talk with Alice. She sure wanted to tell the earth pony how much this client had loved the dresses she and Alice had done.
She finally got close to her home, but the lights weren’t on as she was expecting them to be. Rarity used her magic to open the door and get inside, “Alice?” She called as she turn on the lights from the first floor. Silence wasn’t the answer she got, but neither was the voice of a pony.
Opal mewled as she popped her head out from the kitchen entrance.
“Oh, my poor Opal, you haven’t eaten since I left.” Rarity walked to the kitchen and looked for the bag of cat food, a special mark as nothing else seemed to be of Opal’s taste. She took the bag with her magic and poured a bit in an empty plate, next to this one she poured a bit of milk in another one. She put the bag and the milk back in their respective places. As she was about to leave the kitchen, a little piece of paper over the table caught her attention.
She grabbed it with her magic. “Thank you for everything,” she read. Rarity sat there where she was standing, reading the note one more time. ‘She left,’ she thought, feeling a bit sad, or at least she thought it was just a bit. She knew Alice would leave, but not that she would leave without saying goodbye, or where she was going. ‘I would have liked to take her to the spa with me. Have her model for me one more time and make her a dress.’ Rarity sighed. “I really wish she had stayed for at least one more day.”
“Who, me?” Asked a voice from behind Rarity.
Rarity turned her head, a big smile showing in her face as she saw who it was. “Alice!” She moved to give her a ribcage breaking hug comparable to the ones given by Pinkie Pie, and after a few seconds, she pulled out with a blush on her face as this wasn’t a very lady like action. “Sorry, I… I thought you had left.” She said, gesturing to the piece of note.
“Oh, that. Yes, I was planning to leave this afternoon, but after a lot of thought, I just, ummm, didn’t really wanted to leave. So, would it be alright if I stayed with you a bit longer?”
“Darling, you can stay as long as you want.”
“Is there really no problem if-”
“There’s no problem at all, your company this two days has been really delightful.” Rarity placed one hoof over one of Alice. “I’m really happy you decided to stay.”
Alice smiled, her heart pounding faster. “Thanks, Rarity. I… I don’t want to be a bother, I will pay you rent until I have enough bits to get my own place. I-I-”
“Alice, you are not a bother, and I won't charge you for staying here.” Alice was about to protest, but Rarity didn’t let her. “What kind of friend would I be if I did that.”
Friend, that word made Alice happy just as much as made her uneasy. “But,” Rarity continued, “if you want to pay me in some way, you could always model for me.” She said with a wink. “now, I’m feeling famished. I will prepare something for us.”
“Okay, but I will go and clean myself first, I got a bit dirty working on something this afternoon.” Alice went up the stairs while Rarity started supper. Rarity opened the fridge and pulled out a few ingredients she needed to prepare a good salad, that while humming a song, something she did when she was really happy.
In the second floor, Alice just finished cleaning herself and moved to the guest room. She took her saddlebags from her back and put them gently on the floor. She opened them and pulled out her little treasure box. Opening it, she pulled out her fourth and newest treasure. A little statuette of a unicorn with a stylish mane and a trinity of diamonds as cutie mark. She set the little statuette on the night table.
“Alice!” Rarity called from downstairs, “Supper is ready.”
“Coming,” Alice walked happily to the first floor and sat next to Rarity, “So, how was your trip?”
“Exhausting and fantastic. The client loved our dresses~” They kept a friendly talk for the rest of the night.
The record room. Guards from Canterlot had to keep records from each job they were assigned to, and each of them was stored in this room. The room kept all the documentation, from just a simple spat between ponies, to major incidents like when Discord broke free. The room only kept documents from the last five years, the older were moved to a different room.
“Come on, Iron. You have been reading folder after folder since we came back from Ponyville. It’s been two days, you should take a break. Come on, let’s buy some drinks, on my tab.” One guard say to his partner.
“Later, Stone, I’m busy right now.”
“Busy with what? Reading records from…” He grabbed one of the documents to see the date. “Almost a year ago? What are you trying to find.”
“It’s just something that’s been stuck in my head.”
“You mean that Alice? Damn man, you sure fell hard for that mare.”
“I did not fall for anyone.” Iron said, hitting Stone with one hoof.
“Yeah, yeah.” He rubbed his shoulder. “But what does that have to do with the records?”
“There’s just something… I have heard that name before, or more precisely, I have read it. I think it must be from one of this records.” He closed the one he had between his hooves and placed it in a pile with the other folders he had already read.
Stone sighed, “Well, I’m going out for a drink, see you later.”
Iron nodded and grabbed the next document, ‘The changeling invasion’, said the cover. He read through it. Just some common information about the invasion that had happened a year ago. He passed page after page until he reached a certain list. ‘Missing ponies’, a total of ten ponies that couldn’t be found after the invasion, and most likely, were dead. This ponies probably had been replaced before the changelings attacked. He read through the names, they were in alphabetical order.
“Number 8: Sawyer,” His eyes widened. “Alice.”
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Aaaand, just like that, the cowpie hits the fan.
Great story, and anouther great chapter. I t seems we are nearing the reveal, or at least I hope so. Keep it up!
this is gonna be good.
anyone want to bet that that guard knows her?
I have to wonder if Alice Sawyer was ever a 'real' pony, a completely fabricated identify... not that it matters when changelings are guilty until proven innocent.
3477549 There will be an answer to that in future chapters.
I'm enjoying this take on changelings. Sure its been done quite a few times but every writer brings something fresh to it and does their own spin. Rariy and Alice are well done and I like the interactions. Makes me wonder a bit at why she kept the name Alice instead of making a fake one, but I guess she didn't plan on the guards ever taking notice of her and being snoopy about it.
3484952 I'm glad you are enjoying the story.
Maybe in two chapters I will say why she uses that name.
3494884
But one slap or magic zot and the little foal is exposed for the changeling it is. Worse, the parents won't know if their real foal was "disposed of", stillborn, or growing up in a cocoon somewhere in a changeling hive. A little horrific when you start to think about it, more so for the parents who don't know what to do. I think that's the reason we don't see more of this scenario since any of those three possibilities is enough to send parents into a frenzy. Needless to say, this is probably one of the worst ways to harvest love since the likely consequences are yet more reason to kill all changelings on sight in the most gruesome ways possible.
I seem to recall some human folklore deals with babies being swapped out for fae. I want to say a goblin or something nasty like that but I can't remember exactly.
For all the time they've been hanging around, you'd think they would have perfected better techniques that mesh logically with modern pony society. Working as volunteers in help centers (whatever ponies call the Red Cross or YMCA), hospitals, or prostitution in the larger cities (a perfect cover in my opinion).
3496123 Thanks.
wow i never really comment and this is the first one I've ever left but, wow this is good
3553870 I feel honored, thanks for the comment.
3477549 alice used to be a pony then turned into a changling when she was younger...no i have not read any other part of the story, i just know how to pay attention to whats said.(she dreamed of her self as a child)
3630878
Obviously not.
She is a changeling from birth, the childhood dream was of her first replacement "job" she hated hurting ponies so she was culled (banished from her hive)
The question being asked is whether or not the name Alice Sawyer was a name she made up to get residency in Canterlot and is on the missing ponies list because she was flung away by the shield or took the place or a pony already dying.
3734399 re-read it then because she goes through her history in a dream. she turned into a changling, not was replaced by one...other wise she wouldnt have the memories of the childhood as a pony, only those of being a changling.
3420193 I for one am glad to finally see some of the the original changeling mythos of replacing children finally show up in a story. Nice touch
3738894 This wouldn't happen to be the dream that STARTS with her as a changeling in the hive? because the only childhood dream sequence in this is that one
3742580 ok,you right. i just re-read it, i guess i was thinking that the 'catch me daddy' came before the 'yes mother' in her dream. woops
3742580 Awww, beat me to it
Leave the poor Cutelings alone!