Of Cupcakes and Captures

by SomeRandomMinion

Prepare for SCIENCE!

Pinkie’s rambling abruptly cut off when the Changeling had screamed (in a rather high-pitched manner) and collapsed in a dead faint onto the cupcake. The three mares exchanged awkward looks, each unsure of what to make of their unexpected captive. When the silence had gone on for a while, Twilight spoke up.

“I think we should all get to a table. Maybe make some sense of all this…” she offered. “And maybe have somewhere safer to put...him,” she added, waving a hoof at the prone and icing-covered Changeling atop Rarity’s cupcake. “Pinkie, can we all talk in your room? It’d be more secure than out here.”

Pinkie gave the KO’d Changeling a sad look, but perked up at Twilight’s question and bounced toward the shop’s front door. “No problem, Twilight! I’ll even put up an ‘Out To Lunch’ sign...even though I’m not getting lunch, I’m helping you two figure out what to do with an itty-bitty Changeling….” For a moment it seemed she would launch into her trademark rambling again, but Pinkie only shrugged and hopped over to the shop’s front door, putting up the sign (which she seemed to pull from thin air, making the rational part of Twilight’s brain twitch in her skull). “C’mon, let’s find out what we’ll do with the little buggy!” Pinkie called out as she bounced upstairs. The unicorns shared one last look before following their pink friend, the Cricket Chirper-topped cupcake floating in Twilight’s violet magic close behind.

They entered Pinkie’s room to find her lying on her bed looking at the ceiling, turning over a glass jar in her forelegs. “There you girls are! I got a jar to put the Changeling in; it even has holes in the lid. See?” She tilted the jar to reveal the perforated lid. “So...what do we do with him?” Pinkie asked, hoofing the jar to Rarity.

“I for one think we should inform the Princesses at once,” Rarity put in, taking the jar in her magic and unscrewing the lid. “Tiny or not, utterly terrified of us or not, a Changeling still wound up in Ponyville. For all we know, he could have been hiding here for days, spying on us!” The fashionista waved a hoof at Twilight, who floated the still-knocked-out Changeling, and the confection he was perched on into the jar and closed the lid.

Twilight quirked an eyebrow as she gave the jar back to Pinkie. “Rarity, I agree with telling the Princesses, but...I don’t think he’s the spying type. He thought we were going to...eat him--” she grimaced; “--and, how did he end up on that cupcake, anyway? It’s not exactly a good hiding spot.” She looked into the jar “That, and he seems kind of, um…”

“Wimpy?” Pinkie offered. “I mean, he screamed like a little filly! ‘Course, I’d scream too if I was surrounded by a bunch of giants who beat me up the last time we met…well anyway, where are you gonna keep him, Twilight?”

Twilight blinked and tilted her head “Wait, what? He’s not a pet, Pinkie! What they did was awful, but that’s no reason to--”

Pinkie giggled at her confusion, holding up a hoof. “That’s not what I meant, silly! What I meant was, somepony’s gonna have to look after him until we get an answer from the Princesses. They might even tell us to keep him in Ponyville. And you’re Princess Celestia’s student, and you have a lab in your basement and stuff; that makes you his ideal keeper!” She twirled the jar in her hooves, spinning the confection and Changeling within. “That, and you’ve been saying you want to learn more about Changelings ever since the Wedding. Well, here’s your chance!”

Rarity shrugged, nudging Twilight. “She has a point...and you are the best choice to keep an eye on him, Twilight. I’ve got the Boutique to run--not to mention what would happen if Sweetie Belle found him--and Pinkie has to work the shop. And as for Applejack or Rainbow…” the fashionista trailed off, fitting in a light stomp. Everypony knew what that meant: being living Honesty and Loyalty themselves, those two mares had an extra, almost personal reason to despise Changelings*; not to mention the Cutie Mark Crusaders getting foal-napped recently by Queen Chrysalis. If either of those two got hold of their impromptu prisoner, he’d likely end up looking less like a bug-pony-thing, and more like a pancake. Or a seat cushion. Or a chew toy for their pets.

Rarity added, “As for Fluttershy...well, she'd never think of hurting him, but the rest of her pets might not be so forgiving. And with how small he is..." She shrugged.

Twilight mulled it over, tapping her chin with a hoof. “...Alright, I’ll take him with me.” She floated the jar out of Pinkie’s hooves and up to her face, finding her new captive still unconscious. “Wow, he’s still out? We must have scared the little guy pretty bad!”

Rarity and Pinkie chuckled at that. “Well, Twilight dear, after that proper thrashing we gave them in Canterlot, who could blame him?” Rarity asked with a smirk. “And speaking of that...well, I know you aren't one to hold a grudge, but maybe you could use that business at the Wedding to, ah; persuade him to listen to you?” She winked and smirked, more than a little devilishly. “Judging by how scared of us he is, our little friend probably doesn't know about your good morals. Why not, ah; ‘play bad cop’ if he doesn't cooperate?”

Pinkie perked up, rubbing her hooves together. “Oooohhh! Rarity, that is so sneaky!”

Twilight rose an eyebrow at that. “I’ll...keep it in mind, girls. But for now, I have to get home--have to put that little fella somewhere safe. And...see if I have any books about interrogation.” And ‘playing bad cop’. How do you do that with a prisoner who’s smaller than your hoof?

Pinkie hoofed the jar to Twilight, and with one last round of good-byes she teleported out of the room in a lavender flash, taking the jar and its contents with her. Once she was gone, Rarity turned to Pinkie Pie. “Now then, I believe you said something about a replacement cupcake…?”

Pinkie rolled off her bed and bounced for the door. “Comin’ right up, Rarity! Hey, do you think that little ‘ling would give good massages? Being that tiny, he could help out if you had a really bad crick in your neck or something--why have your whole back massage when spot treatment would do?”

As disgusted as Rarity was by the idea of a bug crawling around on her back...she found in idea strangely intriguing. Not quite appealing, but….

“Perhaps, Pinkie. Assuming the poor devil wasn’t too scared to move, that is.”

=== === ===

As soon as Twilight had zapped back to her library, she’d immediately closed the place for business and lowered all the blinds. She set the jar/prison cell down on a coffee table and looked around to make sure Spike wasn’t there (she’d found a note from the baby dragon that he’d finished his chores early and would be hanging out around town, but it paid to be thorough). Once she was sure she was alone Twilight looked into the jar, watching the toy-sized, knocked-out Changeling twitch in his sleep atop the cupcake…

And squeed like a filly, hopping around the coffee table in a gleeful orbit. This was fantastic! She now had a chance to study Changelings in detail, straight from the source, AND with no danger to herself or her friends! Plus, she’d always been interested in shrinking spells, but given the dangers involved any kind of practical study had been out of the picture. Now, she had an actual shrunken being! She’d have to take a lot of notes…

And of course, there was the chance to get a small, tiny, insignificant amount of payback. Just a little. Really.**

Twilight stopped her gleeful hopping, grabbing some books off their shelves:

Equestrian Royal Guard Intelligence-Operations Field Manual Fifth Edition;

Exotic Pets: Insects and Other Beasties

How to Close the Deal: Subtle Techniques in Persuasion/Intimidation….

Books floating alongside her, she trotted back to the coffee table...and found a little black blur zooming around the jar, plinking against the glass. Giggling, she levitated it up to eye level and smirked when the now-awake Changeling stopped its frantic flight, hovering in place, blue compound eyes wide and his little fanged jaw slack.

Twilight smirked and winked at her tiny captive. “Rise and shine, little buddy!” Then she giggled. “Pinkie was right, you are kind of cute at that size!”

Within the jar, Cricket shivered in fear. “I don’t wanna be a lab-bug!” He whimpered. Images of the Purple Terror’s mad science that awaited him flashed through his mind as said unicorn happily skipped downstairs to her Laboratory of Madness, humming a tune as she carried an assortment of books on her back; his jar prison floating by her head. With a gulp, Cricket landed with a *plink* on the “floor” of the jar.

“I should have just listened to the Queen…”

Author's Note:

[[* In Applejack’s case, it went double: the Changelings apparently bore a striking resemblance to a pesky bug that tended to plague her apple trees in the summer months. After the wedding, she’d forgone a flyswatter in chasing them off to more...substantial tools. A machete, for instance.

** No, seriously, just a little. One can get even without compromising their morals. Just ask Pinkie and Dash about their frequent prank wars.***

*** Unless one’s in progress. THEN, you run for cover.]]

Comments

[Frankie2]

The fashionista waved a hoof at Twilight, who floated the still-knocked-out Changeling off the cupcake and gently put him in the jar, putting the lid back on.

Yet, in later paragraphs, you mention that the changeling is still on the cupcake. Which is it?
And is Twilight going to find out WHY and HOW he ended up in Ponyville? I don't know if changelings and ponies can communicate without the changeling changing.

[SomeRandomMinion]

4271098 Ah, thanks! Almost missed that!

[Changeling-Drone]

wow twilight

[deloreaninatardis]

moar. that is all

[Ardashir]

Oh poor little Cricket. All the trouble that awaits him. And should we be concerned that Twilight has books with titles like this on her shelves? How to Close the Deal: Subtle Techniques in Persuasion/Intimidation

But the idea of the little Changeling crawling over Rarity's back to give her a massage sounds amusing.

[SomeRandomMinion]

4272882

And should we be concerned that Twilight has books with titles like this on her shelves? How to Close the Deal: Subtle Techniques in Persuasion/Intimidation

Maybe, maybe not. It COULD just be a guide on how to smooth-talk and negotiate...but then again, another book she had was a military manual on intelligence-gathering, so there's that.
(Of course, this IS E-rated!)

But the idea of the little Changeling crawling over Rarity's back to give her a massage sounds amusing.

Thanks. Also, that little line is in no way, shape, or form foreshadowing something. Maybe. Probably.

[Wade]

Uh oh.

[Tatsurou]

Well, this looks like it's going to be fun.

[Frankie2]

Is another chapter going to be coming out soon?

[SomeRandomMinion]

5487072 Unfortuately, no.

[MrPink]

So what time is the next chapter coming.

[Frankie2]

Is this story dead?

[SomeRandomMinion]

6767450 Mostly.

[gamer4COD]

6769555 Damn you.