A Pony's Heart

by CTVulpin

Cabbage Makes a New Friend

The day after Tremolo tore up Ponyville’s Town Square and several miles of road outside of Hoofington, Cabbage Patch nearly threw out close to two years of training in self-confidence and stage presence out of fear that somepony would recognize her as something besides the smallest and least-seen member of The Great Trixie’s Royal Thespians troupe. She’d had little choice the previous day but to drop the sea-green earth pony shape she often thought of as her true form and temporarily be an undisguised Changeling in order to race ahead of the troupe’s wagon and warn Twilight Sparkle about the oncoming danger. The closely-guarded secret of her true nature, known only to the troupe and Princess Luna, had thus been revealed to not only Equestria’s newest Princess, who had a perfectly valid reason to distrust Changelings, but to an ash-grey unicorn stallion of some importance, although Cabbage couldn’t recall his name, and any other Ponyvillager who happened to be paying attention when Cabbage’s joy at seeing Barnacle Salt, Trixie, Maggie Pie, and Harlequin arrive safely caused her to transform back to “normal” out in plain view. The subsequent emergence of and dramatic battle with the giant stone demon Tremolo had created and controlled with a magical emerald could well have driven the diminutive Changeling from the community’s memory, but Cabbage was not easily inclined toward optimism.

Cabbage stuck close to Barnacle for the entire morning after the attack, hardly daring to speak except for a comment to Rainbow Dash that helped her revive Trixie’s spirit of showmareship. The reception to the stories Trixie told at Rainbow’s urging gave Cabbage some renewed hope, and a taste of sweet joy that spilled out from the showmare. It was enough to help her work up the nerve to walk a step or two apart from Barnacle Salt as the two of them and Harlequin left Sugar Cube Corner to fetch the materials they needed to fulfill the audience’s demand for a full and proper show.

“So, what exactly are we going to do?” Harlequin asked. “I mean, I’ve got a couple routines I can do at the drop of a hat, but are we just doing random acts or cobbling together a semi-coherent plotline?”

“I’d wager on separate acts,” Barnacle said, “but we’ll have to wait and see what way Trixie’s leanin’.”

“Just please don’t ask me to do anything too ambitious,” Cabbage said quietly. “Actually, I don’t feel up to anything except my Seapony role.”

“What?” Harlequin said. “Geez, I thought we finally had that stage fright of yours beat.”

“It was,” Cabbage started to say, but then froze up in fright, because the trio had just entered the repaired Town Square, and up ahead was the ash-grey unicorn stallion who had argued strongly against trusting her the previous day, along with four other ponies, including another grey unicorn nearly identical to the first and two matching brown earth ponies. Cabbage was able to tell the matching ponies apart by the emotional energy hovering around them, mostly irritation and anger. Cabbage’s legs locked up in fear, and so Barnacle and Harlequin stood between her and the group, patiently waiting for her nerves to calm.

They were close enough to hear the argument going on between the two grey ponies, but had difficulty following it beyond the assumption that it had something to do with the emerald Tremolo had used the day before. Three of the ponies eventually left, completely ignoring Cabbage, Barnacle, and Harlequin, leaving one of the earth ponies and the unicorn that Cabbage finally remembered was named Ashen Blaze. He and his companion discussed the strange metal vehicle next to them for a bit, and then Ash noticed the performers and asked in a cold tone, “Enjoy the show?”

“Just passing by,” Barnacle answered, taking a defensive stance as Cabbage cowered behind him.

“Good day then,” Ash said, turning his head dismissively. With the dreaded confrontation over, Cabbage’s legs started responding properly again and she and her two guardians made their way quickly through the square, watching the grey pony out of the corner of their eyes.

Once they were out of the square, Cabbage found her voice and said, “He’s why I can’t go on stage today. He knows my secret and he doesn’t like it. I’m scared he or somepony like him will expose me if I stand out too much.”

Harlequin scoffed at her with a good-natured laugh. “Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid about it, Cabbage?” he asked.

“Paranoid?!” Cabbage exclaimed, atypically loud. “That’s been my entire life, Harlequin. I’m terrible at being a Changeling; I always get found out. You found out.”

“Yeah, but that was years ago,” Harlequin said flippantly. “Look, seriously, why not just drop the act altogether? If you just come out as a Changeling it’ll save you a lot of stress. I’ve still got a lot of ideas for Changeling acts, and only one or two require a cage.”

“That’s enough, Quin,” Barnacle said, hugging Cabbage to his side with a wing. “We all promised to respect her wishes about keeping her secret. I don’t want to be risking inciting a mob anyway.”

“For a former sea captain who frolicked with Seaponies, you have no sense of adventure, Salt,” Harlequin grumbled.

“Successful sailors don’t play chicken with reefs or wild storms.” Harlequin snorted and let the matter drop, accepting his defeat.

Cabbage tried to relax as they continued toward the inn, but dwelling on the thoughts of being detected, exposed, and run out of town only made them and her anxiety stronger. She fought off her body’s physical reactions as best she could, but she couldn’t stop the tense quivering of the spot where her wings belonged, and since she was still pressing against Barnacle’s side the grizzled sailor felt it. He started to drape his wing over her again, but then the group passed a brown earth pony stallion and a blue unicorn mare with matching hourglass cutie marks talking by the side of the road and they clearly heard the stallion say in an angry voice, “Changeling.” Cabbage panicked and bolted away, taking the first corner she came too quickly and losing herself among Ponyville’s buildings. Barnacle took off after her, while Harelquin shot a look at the brown and blue ponies. They looked completely engrossed in their conversation, which consisted mostly of the stallion complaining that the unicorn hadn’t noticed he’d been replaced by a Changeling and the unicorn noting in her defense that she’d only just got back from a vacation. Neither seemed aware of the scare they’d given Cabbage, and so Harlequin blew his frustration out in a long, quiet breath and then decided to butt in with some questions. If there were other Changelings besides Cabbage in Ponyville, that was something the runty bug-pony probably needed to know.

---

Cabbage’s mad dash finally came to an end inside some bushes in the park. Even as she panted to catch her breath, she beat a hoof against her head while berating herself. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she grumbled. “Way to not attract undue attention Cabbage Patch.” Sighing, she settled down as comfortably as she could. The bushes were a decent hiding place in case anypony came looking for her with ill intent, and they were the sort of place Barnacle knew to look for her in if the coast was clear. She gently pushed a branch aside so she could see the path that ran nearest to the bushes, just so she wouldn’t be taken by surprise.

Nothing happened for several minutes, but then an orange pegasus filly with a short purple mane and a distinct lack of cutie mark came walking down the path, bearing saddlebags from which protruded the end of a ruler. Cabbage surmised that the filly was on her way to school and was about to put her out of mind when two other fillies, earth ponies, one pink with a purple mane with a broad white stripe running through it and wearing a tiara that matched her cutie mark perfectly and the other grey with a lighter-grey mane, thick-rimmed blue glasses, and a silver spoon for a cutie mark, came trotting up and flanked the pegasus. Cabbage could practically smell the cruel intentions coming off the earth pony pair.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Scootaloo the flightless wonder,” the pink one said tauntingly.

“Buzz off, Diamond Tiara,” Scootaloo retorted, speeding up slightly to get away.

“Hey, don’t be mad,” Diamond Tiara said. “It’s not like it’s our fault your friends are, like, leaving you behind.”

“Yeah,” the grey pony added, “they must be getting tired of you dragging them down.”

“Shut up!” Scootaloo snapped, whirling angrily on the pair, who looked smugly pleased at the reaction. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, either of you! The Cutie Mark Crusaders are friends for life.”

“Sure,” Diamond Tiara said, rolling her eyes with dramatic sarcasm. “Even though you’re the only one who still hasn’t found out her one special talent? Face it, Scoota-lose, you’re still a boring, useless pegasus who can’t fly-”

“I can fly!” Scootaloo insisted. “Kinda…” Diamond Tiara and her companion started to laugh scornfully, and Scootaloo wilted under the shame.

Hidden in the bushes, Cabbage winced in sympathy for the orange filly. She had never been troubled by bullies, but she did know what persecution felt like, and how it felt to face it alone. Her heart told her to step out and help Scootaloo, but her fear wouldn’t allow it. She wasn’t all that much bigger than the three fillies were, and if she flubbed up she didn’t doubt the bullies would turn on her. Should the worst happen and they discovered she was a Changeling, they were undoubtedly the type to go running to shout it all over town. No, Cabbage simply couldn’t leave her bush.

At the same time, however, she couldn’t stand to see Scootaloo be tormented further. She wracked her brain for a solution that would satisfy both her soft heart and paranoid mind. Something that would make the bullies leave without revealing that Cabbage Patch was responsible. It dawned on her suddenly to use the one skill she’d never had trouble with, no matter the circumstances: voice mimicry. She had always had problems making herself look like other ponies, but she could copy any voice she’d ever heard. Pondering quickly, she decided that Rainbow Dash’s loud, confident tone would go well with the rebuke she had in mind, so she rubbed her throat gently while uttering low, quiet tones to test her vocal chords as they shifted to a new configuration. Once they were ready, and before she could lose her nerve, Cabbage shouted, “Hey you two brats! Leave her alone!”

All three fillies jumped in surprise and looked around for the source of the voice. “Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked hopefully.

“Yeah, it’s me” Cabbage said, hoping she was doing a passable impression of Dash’s manner of speech.

“Let’s get out of here, DT,” the grey filly, nudging her friend nervously.

“Yeah,” Diamond Tiara said slowly, glancing around. “Uh, sorry, Scootaloo,” she said insincerely, and then ran off with her friend close on her tail. Cabbage let out a sigh of relief, but her breath hitched in her throat again when she saw that Scootaloo was still out on the path, looking around for Rainbow Dash, and getting dangerously close to the bushes.

“Where are you, Rainbow?” the filly asked. “Thanks for the save and all, but why are you hiding?” Cabbage went still as a statue, silently willing Scootaloo to walk away, but to no avail. “Rainbow? I think I heard you over this way…” She put a hoof into the bush, brushed up against Cabbage’s, and then peered in as Cabbage hastened to return her voice to normal.

Scootaloo gave the scared-looking green pony a strange look, and asked, “What are you doing in there?”

“Uh, d-don’t mind me,” Cabbage replied, and then clapped a hoof over her mouth, for her voice still sounded a little like Rainbow Dash’s, a fact that did not escape Scootaloo’s notice.

“Whoa, you sound just like Rainbow Dash! Was that you that told off Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?” Cabbage just nodded meekly. “Well thanks,” Scootaloo said, “but… why did you say you were Rainbow Dash?”

Cabbage crawled out of the bush, resigned to the fact that she wasn’t going to get away without satisfying the filly’s curiosity. Besides, she could sense a lot of gratitude being held in reserve, and she was sorely tempted to receive it legitimately. Coughing a couple times to cover putting her voice back to normal, she answered, “I said it because I was pretending to be her.”

Scootaloo’s eyes went wide upon hearing Cabbage’s quieter voice. “Wow,” she said, “that was a really good impression, then. No, the best impression ever.” Gratitude flowed from her to Cabbage, and along with it came admiration, an emotion so close to love that Cabbage couldn’t help but lap it up, figuratively. “I’m Scootaloo,” the orange filly said, extending a hoof.

Emboldened by the admiration and gratitude, Cabbage barely hesitated as she touched her hoof to Scootaloo’s and replied, “I’m Cabbage Patch. Nice to meet you.”

“Cabbage Patch. Cool,” Scootaloo said. “So, are you new in town or what?”

“Um, I… I’m just visiting, kinda,” Cabbage said. “I’m… part of The Great Trixie’s Royal Thespians.”

“Oh,” Scootaloo said with awkward sympathy. “Yesterday must have been pretty rough on you then, being attacked by that rock monster and all. I almost lost my own house.”

You have no idea, Cabbage thought, but didn’t say so as to avoid prying questions.

“So what’s your special…” Scootaloo’s eager question died on her lips as she craned her had to look at Cabbage’s rear legs. “Hey, you don’t have your cutie mark yet!” Cabbage froze up in bug-eyed panic. Out of all her failings in basic Changeling skills, her complete inability to emulate a cutie mark was among the worst. Whenever she’d tried to copy a pony’s mark in the past, it came out misshapen and disappeared on its own within a second or two. To compensate, she maintained a small spell of misdirection to make others ignore or forget to wonder about her blank flank. That spell had only failed her once before, when Maggie Pie had somehow seen right through it two years back, and that had quickly led to the entire troupe learning Cabbage’s secret identity. She struggled to come up with an explanation, but all she drew was a mental blank.

Scootaloo, misinterpreting the reason for Cabbage’s panic, stepped back and turned her body slightly to display her own blank flank. “I haven’t got mine either yet,” she said. “My friends and I started a club years ago that’s all about helping each other discover our special talents. You can be an honorary member if you want to. We can swap ideas, try new things, and when you go back out on the road you could start new branches of the CMC. Apple Bloom’s cousin Babs runs one in Manehatten, so-”

“No!” Cabbage exclaimed, and then hastily tried to take it back when Scootaloo stepped back in surprise. “I-I-I mean, thank you, Scootaloo, b-but I couldn’t. You… Y-you don’t want me in your club anyway. I… would… wouldn’t belong anyway.”

“Why not?” Scootaloo asked, confused.

“I’m older than I look,” Cabbage said quickly. “I’m too old to be in a filly’s club.” Scootaloo looked at her strangely, and then laughed. “It’s not funny,” Cabbage said, feeling insulted.

“Yeah it is,” Scootaloo said, still laughing. “You really expect me to believe a pony that’s barely bigger than me and a blank-flank is that much older than me? That would mean…” She went sober and looked Cabbage with traces of fear in her eyes. “Wouldn’t that mean a pony could actually grow up and never get their cutie mark?”

Oh no, Cabbage thought, starting to sweat, I’ve done it again. I’m caught. A proper Changeling would have had no difficulty answering Scootaloo’s question in the affirmative, or simply walking away and letting the little pegasus hang on her own self-doubt, assuming she wasn’t being fed upon. Cabbage’s conscience wouldn’t allow that, but she also had a distaste for lying more than was strictly necessary to avoid suspicion. Still, when she thought about it she realized that her small size and shy behavior caused most ponies to treat her like a child anyway. It wasn’t really a stretch at all to claim that she was as young as she looked, especially if it would prevent Scootaloo from flipping out. Lowering her head sheepishly, she said in her usually quiet manner, “You’re right, that is pretty silly. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Scootaloo said, visibly relaxing as she reassured the sea-green earth pony. “Although, I still don’t get why’d you say that.”

Cabbage let herself blush slightly and kept her eyes on the ground as she answered, “I’m just really, really shy, and your invitation caught me so off-guard that I panicked.”

Scootaloo nodded in comprehension, and then went wide-eyed in a mild panic of her own as a bell rang in the distance. “Oh feathers, I’m late for school!” She galloped away, shouting over her shoulder, “Think about it, ok? The Cutie Mark Crusaders are always there for each other! Catch you later!”

Cabbage waved good-bye to the retreating pegasus, and then set to work trying to sort out her feelings about the entire encounter. Barnacle Salt found her still sitting there by the bushes several minutes later, and once he got her attention he asked what was on her mind. “I think,” Cabbage said after a moment, “I’ve made a new friend.”

Comments

[Emeral Bookwise]

Ooh, more Cabagepatch, and also the CMC to boot, this ig oing to be good.

[MetBoy]

I remember reading that we would see more of the older CMC a while back... Recently re-read this series, so this is good timing.

[djthomp]

Cabbage Patch and the CMC? It's going to be a glorious disaster.