Secret
"You want to try apple bucking again?" Cinnamon Stick suggested.
"Uh-uh," Apple Blossom said, shaking her head. "Not after what happened last time! I couldn't feel my legs for a week!"
"You smell nice," whispered Thunder Dash, who had been standing right behind her. "I mean...maybe you're a teacher like your mom!"
She scratched her head. "Huh. Hadn't thought of that."
"You'll need some sort of practice," said Lightning Dash.
"We could play school!" Dinky exclaimed.
Screwball and her friends were at Cinnamon Stick and Apple Blossom's clubhouse, which had been passed down to them from their aunt Apple Bloom. They had all been Cutie Mark Crusaders at one point, until Apple Blossom was the only blank flank left. Today they were going to fix that.
They were not alone. Thunder and Lightning had brought their four-year-old sister, Prism. She was the spitting image of her mother, from the wild rainbow mane to the cyan fur. The only difference was her father's emerald eyes. Cinnamon Stick had brought his younger sister, Cinnamon Roll, as well. The seven-year-old had a tan coat and platinum blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and she was just as eager to get her cutie mark, even though she had plenty of time ahead of her. The twins had also brought their family's pet tortoise, Tank.
While every pony pretended to be Apple Blossom's students, Screwball could not concentrate. She should be thrilled, as she had not had the chance to hang out with her friends since her grounding, but her mind was on the friend she had lost.
Prince Mothball had looked so sad when his frightening mother took him away. She knew changelings had no hearts, but did that mean they had no emotion?
Her father had called them monsters, which appalled her. After all, neither he nor she liked being called such a thing. The prince had not looked monstrous. Sure, he was unusual, but so was she. In fact, she was fascinated by how different and mysterious he was.
Why had he stayed? Why had he not run off once his cover had been blown?
She remembered how he had reacted when that manticore had appeared. While he could have saved himself, he had taken her with him. Of course, she had been in no danger, but he had obviously thought otherwise and had tried to pull her out of it. If he was as heartless as her father had said, why would he have bothered?
"Screwball, are you paying attention?" Apple Blossom demanded, imitating her mother.
Screwball shook out her thoughts. "Sorry, guys. I'm...distracted today."
"Did you eat some bad muffins for breakfast?" Dinky asked.
She snorted in amusement. "No. I just...have a few things on my mind."
"Well, get those things out of your mind!" Apple Blossom ordered, banging her stick on the map of Ponyville. "We have a lesson here!"
"Cut the theatrics for a moment, Blossom," said Lightning. "Can't you see Screwball's having a crisis here?"
"Maybe she has low blood sugar," Cinnamon Stick suggested.
"I made some rolls this morning!" Cinnamon Roll announced.
"Don't be silly," said Thunder. "Screwball eats nothing but cotton candy and chocolate! She's never low on blood sugar!"
"Is she sick?" Prism asked.
"Now that's even sillier. Screwball's the Princess of Chaos. She never gets sick!"
"Yeah," Lightning groaned, rolling her eyes at her sister. "Don't be an idiot, Prism."
The tiny pegasus gasped. "I'll tell Mommy and Daddy you said a bad word!"
"Idiot's not a bad word!"
"Yeah!" Thunder confirmed. "A bad word would be..."
He was cut off as his mouth was suddenly zipped closed.
"What kind of big brother are you?" Screwball demanded.
Thunder grumbled as he unzipped his mouth. "Just tell us what's wrong, Screwy, so we can stop arguing about it."
She was not sure whether or not to tell her friends. She decided to run a test first.
"Do you guys know what a changeling is?"
Every pony gasped in horror, aside from Dinky and Apple Blossom.
"What's a changeling?" the two asked together.
"They're shape shifters!" Lightning declared.
"They're evil!" Thunder added.
"They're scary!" Cinnamon Roll shivered, hiding behind her brother.
"They take the form of the ones you love!" Cinnamon Stick exclaimed.
"And they eat that love!" Lightning finished.
"Like spaghetti!" Prism shouted.
"Our mom battled those guys at Flutterby Lily's parents' wedding!" Thunder claimed, punching his hooves in the air.
"They were tough!" Lightning grunted.
"But our mom was victorious!
"Our parents were there too," Cinnamon Stick reminded them. "So were Screwball's mom, Aunt Twilight, Aunt Rarity and Aunt Pinkie. But Mom said Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence defeated them in the end."
Lightning rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah, but mom fought them hard!"
"And knocked a hundred of them out!" Thunder added.
"Yeah!" Prism cheered. "Our mommy is awesome!"
"Shut up, Prism," Lightning muttered.
"You said another bad word! I'm telling!"
"Why did you ask, Screwy?" Cinnamon Stick inquired.
Screwball now knew she could not tell her friends. While she trusted them with her life, they would not understand.
"No reason," she lied. "Did I hear something about cinnamon rolls?"
As Prince Mothball headed to his chamber, he heard the buzzes among the changelings:
"How come he gets to be Prince? He's just a little brat! I've served this hive longer than he ever has!"
"He's nothing special, except that he looks different! Talk about discrimination!"
"The least her majesty could do is to pick a female to be heir!"
"Maybe he'll choose a queen when he inherits the throne."
"Ha! We've never needed a king and we don't need one now!"
The prince quickened his pace and pretended not to hear them.
"And how come he gets a bigger room?"
His chamber was the second largest in the hive, next to the queen's. The others slept in hexagonal alcoves, shared by up to twenty changelings. He could feel their glares of envy wherever he went.
The worst part was that being Prince was an honor he was not sure he wanted. He was not as clever or ambitious as his mother. Even the privilege of calling her 'his mother' made him weary. She showed him no tenderness. She did not even come to tuck him in or say goodnight. She was not the one to nurse him as a larva. That job went to the nurse changelings, though he had received special attention even then. He had a personal nurse that was ordered to look after him and no one else. The only time his mother wanted to see him was to prepare him for the throne and tell him of her plans.
He did not understand what made him so special. The others were right. He just had the fortune or misfortune of looking different. Chrysalis' heir should have been a girl to give birth to the changelings. He had pointed this out to his mother once and her reply was that he could worry about finding a queen later. It was not something for a boy on the verge of adolescence to think about.
As he crawled into bed, his mind wandered to the filly he had met over a week ago. He could not get her out of his head. The first time he saw her he thought she was pretty, even while drenched in chocolate milk. Her swirly curls were like wisps of purple and white clouds. Her fur was as pink as the sky at sunset. And her eyes, oh, he could not stop thinking about her entrancing lollipop eyes.
His chest pounded again.
"What the heck is wrong with me?!" he shouted, slamming his hoof on the bed. "She's just a stupid girl!"
He sighed in agony. No, she was not stupid. She had bravely faced that manticore and had tactically found a way to tame it. He still thought her crazy, but that made her more interesting.
Indeed, there was no pony like her. As she had said, she was one of a kind.
He had to see her again, not because his mother had asked him to find out more about her, but because he wanted to. It was clear he was not going to get any sleep anyway.
Sneaking out of the hive was not going to be simple. There were guards at every exit and even the hallways were infested with changelings. So Mothball took the form of a fruit fly. Insects were quite easy and the first things changelings learned to transform into. His small body made him practically invisible to everyone in the hive and he was able to slip out into the outside world.
"And as Shining Armor and Cadence kissed, Rainbow Dash performed her famous sonic rainboom!"
Fluttershy had just finished telling her daughter the story of the changeling invasion in Canterlot. Screwball had requested it, not knowing what to expect. Queen Chrysalis sounded quite evil from her mother's description. Tricking a stallion into marrying her while imprisoning the real bride as well as Aunt Twilight certainly was quite monstrous. Was her son anything like her?
"I hope I didn't scare you," Fluttershy said.
Screwball shook her head. "No. But Mom, do you really believe all changelings are heartless?"
The pegasus smiled. "I'm sure your father was just exaggerating. Of course," she shivered, "after that incident in Canterlot, I almost believe him. Then again, I thought your father was a heartless monster before I got to know him."
"Hypocrite," the filly huffed.
"Do you know why I went with your father?"
"Because Equestria was in danger?"
"Well, that was part of it, but before I accepted the deal, I went to Zecora for advice. She told me that if I married Discord, there would be great happiness in my future, and that all he wanted was some pony to love him. I came to him with the belief that I could tame him." She chuckled. "I never expected what would become of it, like the fact that we would have a beautiful, special little filly along the way."
She leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Goodnight, my angel. I love you."
"Love you too, Mommy," Screwball said with a smile.
Fluttershy opened the music box on the side table. It had been a gift from Discord on Screwball's fifth birthday. It played without the need of being cranked and alternated between "Hush Now, Quiet Now" and "Daddy Discord." Fluttershy then clapped her hooves, turning the lights off.
Hours after her mother had departed, Screwball still lay awake in bed. The changeling prince would not leave her mind. She remembered how he had not heard of chocolate milk or playing before. What kind of life had he led to not have tasted chocolate milk? Knowing his diet answered the question, but still! Five thousand brothers and sisters, and he did not know how to have fun?
He must be lonely, she concluded, which was probably ridiculous if he had five thousand playmates at home. Unless he's an outcast like me.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a rap at her window. She sat up in bed and turned toward the sound. A dark shadow was at her window. She slid to the floor and cautiously approached. Her eyes widened when she saw her intruder.
She lifted the window. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you," Prince Mothball whispered, "and have more of that 'fun' we were having the other day."
Screwball glanced around. "Are you crazy? What if my parents saw you?"
"Why do you think I came here after dark? So you coming or what?"
"What if I don't wanna have fun with you? How do I know you won't just suck my love from me like a vampire?"
"I'll be careful, I promise. Besides, if I wanted your love, I wouldn't have come like this."
Despite how much she wanted to go with him, she had to be vigilant. There was a chance her dad could have been right.
She sighed. "Okay. Meet me at the chocolate lake in fifteen minutes."
The changeling brightened up. "Great! I'll see you!"
Screwball shut the window as Mothball flew away. She grabbed her hat, but before she put it on, she looked in the mirror and smoothed out her hair. Her hoof was on the doorknob when a thought occurred to her.
"Hold on a second."
She opened the window again and flew out.
It was much faster to reach the lake by flight than on foot. Mothball had beaten her to it.
"I'm glad you came," he said with a grin.
"Don't get happy just yet," Screwball warned. "I want to know what this is all about."
The prince sighed. "I guess your parents told you a lot about changelings, huh? Well, my mother told me a lot about your parents."
Curious, she sat down beside him. "What about them?"
"Well, for starters, she told me that your dad was the Lord of Chaos that took over Equestria two or three times."
"He's not like that anymore," Screwball insisted. "Not since he met my mom."
"Yeah, she said that too. Hey, how did that happen anyway?"
"My parents, you mean?"
"Yeah. Don't take this the wrong way, but how did a pony fall in love with the evil Spirit of Chaos?"
Screwball sprawled in the grass. "Well, it's a funny story really. The last time Dad took over Equestria, he asked for a bride if he would stop his chaos. My mom was the only one brave enough to do it." She giggled. "I've heard the story so many times, yet they keep adding new things. For instance, my mom told me tonight that she went because she thought she could tame Daddy.
"They were engaged for a really long time. Every night, Dad would ask Mom if she loved him. They made a deal that they would not get married until she said yes. Daddy said that his plan had worked in reverse and he was falling for her instead. One day, he let her go."
The prince blinked in astonishment. "But I thought you said he was in love with her!"
"He was. He did everything he could to please her: gave her a comfortable bedroom, created a garden full of plants and animals, took her on romantic dates, you get the picture. But he knew she wasn't completely happy, because all she wanted was her freedom. So he gave it to her.
"A few days later, Mom realized how unhappy she was without Dad and went back to him. On the way, she ran into a pack of Timberwolves. Dad heard her screams and saved her. He brought her back to the castle and then they confessed their love for each other! But they weren't ready for marriage yet and didn't tie the knot until a year later. Then they had me!"
Mothball had listened to the entire story intently, watching the filly's excited glow as she told it.
"That's…" he stammered. "That's the most romantic thing I've ever heard."
Screwball's cheeks turned pinker. "You know, my dad may seem scary at first, but he's a real softie once you get to know him."
He laughed nervously. "I think he'd prefer to not know me."
"So what's your dad like?"
"Oh. You see, I...don't exactly have a father."
Screwball's smile wavered. "You never knew him?"
She understood that these things happen. Her best friend never met her father, and all she knew about him was that he had been a doctor and explorer of some sorts.
"It's not that," Mothball explained. "The changeling race works like a bee hive. You know that bees have a queen, right?"
Screwball nodded. Cheerilee had taught them about bees months ago.
"That's my mom, as you probably know. She gives birth to all the changelings, the workers, the soldiers, the nurses, the drones. That's what I meant when I said I had five thousand brothers and sisters."
"Wow," Screwball uttered. "I've always wondered what it was like not to be an only child."
He laughed. "What I would give for that! Just because I have a lot of siblings, doesn't mean we're all one big happy family! Actually, most of them hate me. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a bit different from other changelings."
She scooted closer to him. "Because you're a prince?"
"Well…yeah. What I mean is changelings don't usually look the way I do. They don't have hair or pupils, for example. They're more bug-like than pony-like. When Mother saw that I was 'special,' she made me heir to her throne."
"You're special? What a coincidence! I'm special too!" She blushed. "Oh, I didn't mean to brag! It's just a fact."
Mothball giggled. "I figured. I've never met a half-pony, half uh..."
"Draconequus."
"...half-drakanaka before."
She stifled a laugh. "Good try."
"Your magic is really amazing! I've never seen anything like it!"
"Please, you should see my dad's! He can turn an entire orchard into an ice skating rink!"
"Still, I bet if you looked up the word 'special' in the dictionary, there'd be a picture of your face."
"I'm sure you'd be there too."
He groaned. "The only thing that makes me special is that I look different."
"So? There's nothing wrong with being different."
"If that weren't the only reason I was Prince!" Screwball jumped back as he suddenly raised his voice. "Sorry, it just bugs me how every changeling envies me for being the queen's favorite, a position I neither deserve nor want!"
There was silence for a moment. Then Mothball suddenly felt something soft brush against him. He looked down to see a pink hoof upon his black deformed one. He then looked up at the filly it belonged to. As he did, his green eyes met her deep, purple ones. The spirals in them seemed to go on forever.
"If you don't want it," she whispered, "you don't have to take it. Also, what you are doesn't label who you are. I'm the daughter of chaos, but that doesn't mean I'm going to take over Equestria one day. I'm also the daughter of the Element of Kindness, but that doesn't mean I'm Miss Nice-to-Every-Pony. I'm a little bit of both, but I'm also me."
He stared at her for a long while, not breaking contact from those infinite swirls.
"Why are you so nice to me?" he asked. "Even now when you know what I am?"
She smiled at him. "My parents taught me that no matter how frightening one may appear, every creature has a heart."
He pulled his hoof away and turned his back to her. "Not changelings."
Her smile disappeared and she looked at the colt sympathetically. "So it's true that you literally don't have a heart?"
He nodded. "Why do you think we feed off love? With no heart to keep our blood pumping, we need the love to survive, but we're incapable of feeling any love ourselves."
He turned to her as she gently laid her hoof on his shoulder. "I don't believe that."
Mothball coldly flicked her hoof away. "What do you want from me?"
She blinked. "I want to be your friend."
His head shot up and he faced her again. "Friend?"
She nodded. "If that's okay with you, of course."
The prince could not believe it. He had never had a friend before and the fact that this pretty filly was making the offer was even more astonishing. What else could he say, other than: "Sure?"
She surprised him again by flinging her hooves around his neck. It took him a while to realize she was hugging him! He felt like his stomach was literally going to explode from the affection he was receiving.
What was he doing? He was feeding off her feelings of friendship! What were to happen if it ever became more than that? He could drain her of her magnificent powers! He was probably doing that right now!
Screwball suddenly pulled away, her cheeks coloring in a fashion the prince could not help but find cute.
"You, um..." she stuttered, "w-wanna...swim?"
Mothball stared at her for another long moment and then shrugged. She smiled and reached out to touch the lake, transforming it to clear water.
The filly was still getting over the rush of feeling his sleek body. Even though it was impossible, she could have sworn that in that moment her head had been on his chest, she had heard a heartbeat.
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Ok..... I love this story, oh the author of this story hear this announcement! I AM YOUR BIGGIST FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3071672 No, I AM THE BIGGEST FAN!
The whole "first heartbeat" is reminding me of that weird zombie romance movie, don't remember the name
3075620 Warm Bodies?
YOU ARE MY FAV. AUTHER!!!!! yeah i know i spelt that wrong.
Yes. Just Yes.
Love it. Wish the stories were more dissimilar from Disney stories, but still. Love it.
wow you are a great writer man
Well done
3735576
Ironically, it'd probably play out that waym except Discord would be teh one to freak. We really need a Discord emoticon, we have one for Photo Finish and Twist for Celestia's sake, and they only had speaking roles in 1 episode each!
D-D-D-Doctor W-Whooves?
YYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Haha screwball and where is a discord emoticon when u need one
The doctor torch wood rose derpy omg god my hrs is over 9900000000""0000000000000000
"The filly was still getting over the rush of feeling his sleek body. Even though it was impossible, she could have sworn that in that moment her head had been on his chest, she had heard a heartbeat."
AWWWW!!! THE FEELS!!!
For some reason this remind me more of Pocahontas intend of Romeo and Juliet. I think it might have to do with the ponies think the changeling are "evil"
iambrony.dget.cc/mlp/gif/512934__safe_animated_meme_caption_bats!_spoiler-colon-s04e07_pocahontas_memecenter_savages.gif
Her thoughts were interrupted by a rap at her window. shouldn't rap be tap?
5641338
Rap... Changeling...
duckling?
Just because he doesn't have a physical heart, doesn't mean he's incapable of feeling good emotions. The involuntary draining might be a problem though.
Also, why are Thunder and Lightning such jerks to their little sister?
5683164 hey there rainbow dash's kids there gunna be 2 things loyal and kinda rude like there mom just saying
Question, when she heard a noise in the window it said rap. was that an error?
30th time reading, remember reading this story when it first came out. Boy, that was a long time ago.
6052470
It actually means to strike a hard surface with a series of audible blows, mainly to attract attention.
5641338
Well, two things could've happened.
1) Rap is a rapid series of knocks on a door/window/any hard surface, just like musical rap is a rapid series of rhyming words.
2)Typo. R and T are right next to each other on the Qwerty keyboard.
OK, IT HAS SOME DIFFERENCES FROM THE VIDEO
7223568
yeah that happens, it's the same with my audio drama because of the first five episodes being made that is based on my fan fic. The difference is that the love stories that started it, are all being told in one episode each.
Damm, this colt got moves better than mine.
Well, Isn't he in for a rude surprise?
Lol you say that before just wait until season 6
Well I guess that's usually always happen with the doctor always move around not standing still
Awww kind of reminds me a little bit of Lion King 2 and even a little bit of warm body if anybody knows what I'm talking about but anyway it looks like screwball and her friends got her up at the clubhouse just to discuss how to get apple blossom a cutie mark but screwball has been kind of distracted ever since her encountered with mothball even asking her friends about what are changelings are which unfortunately they think of bad things about them which it doesn't help her case meanwhile back at the hive he's also been thinking about her as well and he's been in Outcast for a long time but the only thing that kept him going is thinking about screwball and right now he wants to see her tonight at the house of Discord screwball ask about if changelings has a heart which she thinks there's possible they can but she just doesn't know and she kissed her good night but later a few minutes she saw him again and ask if they can meet up at the first time they met as much she was pretty excited to see him but also suspicious so basically they just talked to each other trying to get to know each other even talk about their past life and their parents and everything and he felt like he will always be an outcast just because he was different and she knows how that feels and she basically gave him a hug which he never felt that before it looks like this would be the case of Romeo and Juliet