Chapter 4
Scribe was slowly and carefully roused from his slumber by the gentle caress of sunlight making it’s way through the floorboards above. After taking a few minutes to reassure himself that he was indeed awake, he rolled himself out of his makeshift bed, dragging the blankets with him.
After untangling his limbs from the sheets, he stood up and groggily walked over to his table. It took another five minutes of staring at a wall for his brain to convince his body to stay awake, his legs not wanting to move properly so early in the morning. After he had shaken the last bits of sleep from his mind, he turned and walked up the stairs towards the muffled voices above.
When he had ascended the final steps, he took a look around the house, searching for his quirky hosts. He found Derpy and Dinky in the kitchen, the pair working on a breakfast of pancakes, juice and eggs. I thought ponies were vegetarians… he said to himself, wondering why they would be eating one of the things his teachers had said were taboo among the equines.
“Good morning.” Both ponies jumped at his voice, not used to having a third being in their home with them.
“Good morning Scribe, did you sleep well?”
“Yes, it's quite comfortable underground. Maybe you two would like to stay there tonight, just to give it a try?”
Looking between each other to find the same look of distaste on their faces, Derpy politely replied; “Um…no thank you Scribe. I’d much rather stay in my own bed tonight, if it’s all the same to you.”
“Eh, suit yourselves. Why are you two cooking eggs? I was told ponies are strict vegetarians.”
“Oh, well we are vegetarians for the most part, though almost everypony enjoys eggs and the occasional fish, but that’s more to do with personal tastes.”
“So it would be acceptable for me to hunt here?” asked a now excited changeling.
“H-hunt? What do you mean?”
“Well, you just said that ponies occasionally eat meat, so would it be alright if I went out to catch a rabbit or perhaps a wild chicken, or do they sell them in the markets?”
Appalled, both ponies’ faces turned a light green color before Derpy replied: “N-no, they don’t sell it! We don’t eat that kind of meat, just seafood and eggs!”
“But aren’t eggs meat?”
“No! I mean…kind of...I-I don’t know! You’re talking about red meat, right? The kind from living animals?”
“Yes.”
“Well then no, we do not eat or sell that. Why would you even want to eat something like that?”
“These fangs aren’t just for show, you know. Changelings eat meat when there isn’t any love to absorb. It isn’t quite as nourishing, but is definitely a good source of energy for us.”
“S-so you only eat it when there are no ponies to get love from?”
“Exactly. It tastes pretty good, too. Especially if you cook it like the griffons do.”
Disgusted by the mental image of a slab of bloody meat, Derpy turned back to her cooking, trying to erase those thoughts from her mind. Dinky, on the other hoof, had hopped up onto the counter to get a better look at Scribe’s razor-sharp teeth.
“Those look like they would hurt really bad if you bit somepony with them.”
“They probably would. That's why they're also used for fighting with other changelings over things like mates and food.”
“Mates? Are those like a special somepony?”
Looking between the innocent face of Dinky and the death glare her mother was giving him, Scribe decided to simply say, “That’s something you'll learn when you’re older.”
“Ugh, that’s what all the adults say whenever I ask about anything! Mom even said that when I asked about the words Applejack and Rainbow Dash shout at each other!”
“That’s because you’re too young to understand the things they’re saying, young filly. Now shush and eat your pancakes.”
After sitting down next to the agitated filly, Scribe had a plate of food placed in front of him by none other than the esteemed chef Derpy herself. “Eat up, you’re going to need the energy today.” Taking a bite out of the golden-brown stack of pancakes, he found them to have a very pleasant, sweet taste to them.
“Why is that?”
“Well, we thought that since you’ll be staying here for a while, you should get outside to see the town. Dinky offered to give you a tour while I’m at work today.”
“Work?” Scribe asked through a mouthful of pancakes.
“Yes silly, work. I deliver mail to ponies remember?” His memories returning to him, he nodded, recalling that she delivered things all across her country.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea for me to be seen by other ponies?”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. After all, Pinkie Pie is the only one you really have to worry about. Everypony else will probably just wave, but I can think of a few who might want to actually meet you. Everypony here is so used to meeting newcomers at Pinkie’s parties that they usually don’t even bother to learn new ponies names beforehand. As long as you stick with Dinky, you should be fine.”
“Alright then. Is there anything I could help you with while we’re out and about, after all, I am your guest.”
“The only thing that I can think of is to pick up some apples for dinner tonight, but I can get those on my way home.”
“You sure? I could get them for you.”
“Oh no, it’s fine Scribe, Just have fun with Dinky today. Have you got a specific pony you’re going to look like today, incase I need to find you?”
“I’ll have to think of something new, incase the guards knew what my other ones are.” After a few moments of contemplation, Scribe came up with the perfect disguise to both match his new form’s eye and mane colors, but also work well for sightseeing. “I’ve got it!” he shouted, startling both ponies before him.
Completing the image in his mind, he stood up from the table and, in a flash of orange flames, transformed into this: A Pegasus with an orange coat, dark maroon mane and tail, yellow eyes and clean-shaven hooves. His disguise completed, he did a twirl for the happily applauding ponies in front of him, inspecting every inch of his disguise to make sure there were no flaws.
“Awesome!” Shouted an excited Dinky, running around Scribe to see every inch of his new body.
“Calm down dinky!”
“But mooooom, it’s so cool!”
“I know, but can you please stop staring at Scribe like he’s some sort of science experiment?”
“Fine mom. Can we get going now? I really want to introduce him to my friends!”
"I’m sure Scribe would love to meet some of your friends, preferably the ones who aren’t the little sisters of an element bearer…”
“Ok! I can introduce him to Twist, Featherweight and Pipsqueak! They aught to like you, Scribe!”
“Um, ok…” Scribe said nervously. In all honesty, he was probably the worst changeling he knew of when it came to social situations like this. He hoped with all his heart that he could make it through this tour and pass the trials of Dinky’s friends without alerting them of his true nature.
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It was now nearly noon, and the constant flying around town under the sweltering sun was beginning to take its toll of Scribe, as he wasn’t used to flying this long as a Pegasus. The tour was going wonderfully, the grey filly having taken him all across the area, showing him everything from the markets, to her schoolhouse, to Sweet Apple Acres and everything in between. And he meant everything.
Never in his life had Scribe thought he would become such an expert on a single town, but being directed every which way to see everything, no matter how insignificant, for hours on end, had that effect. “Where to next, Dinky?”
“Well, we’ve seen pretty much everything. The only thing I can think of that you would probably need to know about now is where the train station is, incase you ever need to go somewhere really quick.”
“Ok, lets go!”
“Ok, turn left and head towards the market, its right next to those.”
“I see it.” They then came in for a landing next to the train platform, next to the ticket booth. After looking around at the different things housed there, Scribe noticed a line of smoke traveling towards the station. “Is that one of the trains coming this way?”
Looking in the direction he was, Dinky spotted the column of ash and said, “Yep. Looks like it’s coming from Canterlot, too! You want to see who gets off? Maybe there’ll be somepony I know!”
“Sure Dinky. Do you want to wait here, or on a cloud?”
“Clouds are more comfy, so lets wait up there.”
“Ok” Scribe then took to the air, the filly on his back holding on tightly as they rose, eventually stopping midair to land on a cloud to watch the train from. From the much wider field of view, they were able to clearly watch the train as it chugged into Ponyville, eventually stopping at the station itself.
Rather than the passengers themselves stepping out onto the platform, dozens of guards instead flooded the platform, securing it before six rather important figures exited the royal carriage. “Look Scribe, it’s the elements!”
Taking a closer look at the half dozen mares who had supposedly defeated his Swarm, he took note of their nervous expressions, no doubt because of the escort and the fear of what made that escort necessary. They quickly made their way off of the platform to the local library (one of the many places showcased to him by his hyperactive tour guide).
They disappeared inside, though their guards did not, the presence of the armored pegasi making him nervous, even from the cloud he was hiding behind. “Can we get out of here Dinky? Those guards are making me a bit nervous…”
“Sure Scribe! Do you want to go meet my friends now? I’m sure they’ll like you!”
“I’d love to Dinky. Lets get going.” He then flew off into the sky, the filly on his back directing him to her and her friends’ hangout, where they would hopefully find the other children.
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Scribe and Dinky soon approached one of the many houses on the street they had followed there. Dinky insisted that she and her friends always hung out at Twist’s house, the filly’s cellar being the perfect place for a secret clubhouse of sorts. As they approached the front door, Scribe began to reconsider weather or not he should knock, and hope Dinky could bluff her way past her friend’s parents.
“Are you sure I’m allowed to go into her basement with you? Isn’t that a bit weird?”
“Everything is weird in Ponyville Scribe, you just have to get used to it. I’m sure Twist’s mom wont mind, as long as you’re polite.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
They then walked up to the front door, Scribe knocking several times to get a voice from within shouting: “Just a minute!” After a short wait, an Earth pony mare with a red mane with white stripes and a white coat opened the door.
“Hello Miss Peppermint!”
“Oh, hello Dinky! You’re headed to the clubhouse, aren’t you?”
“Yep! Just came over to see how Twist an’ everypony else is doing!”
“Alright then, head on down after you tell me who that handsome hunk of a stallion behind you is.” Scribe blushed at the compliment, his cheeks turning a rosy red color underneath his coat.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot; this is my cousin Scribe from Cloudsdale! He’s staying with me and mom for a little while to see if he can find a good job here in Ponyville, right cuz?”
Dinky whacked him behind the knee to break him out of his stupor, his hastily thought of response being; “Oh, um yeah. I’m looking for a job at city hall, or anywhere else they may need me.” STUPID, STUPID, STUPID! There’s no way she’ll believe that! He mentally berated himself.
“Well, I heard that Mayor Mare has been looking for someone to help out with the paperwork. Maybe she an help you out.”
“I sure hope so” Scribe said, both relieved that he had fooled her, and that he now had a possible job to add upon his new identity.
“Well, don’t let me hold you two up anymore.” She then took a step to the side, giving them a clear route to a door that Scribe assumed led to this ‘clubhouse’.
Dinky quickly bounced to the door and beckoned him over with a hoof and said “C’mon Scribe, don’t be a slowpoke!” He walked past Peppermint to the now open door, and followed the filly’s excited hoofsteps down the stairs. The first thing that he noticed when he got to the bottom was the smell; the basement smelt distinctly of both mildew and hayfries, the latter being gobbled down by a trio of foals who were shoveling the food into their mouths.
Dinky walked up to who he presumed were her friends and, to his surprise, shoved one of them aside to make room for her to join. Now Scribe was standing, alone, while he watched them all continue their gorging, as if this were a normal occurrence.
“Umm Dinky?” She took a break from the fries to lean over her shoulder and question: “What?”
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”
“Oh, right. Hey guys, this is my cousin Scribe from Cloudsdale” Dinky said with a trace of both fear and worry.
The three remaining children took a break from their kingly feast to greet their new guest.
“Hi!”
“Hello”
“’Sup.”
All three of them appeared to scrutinize every inch of him before they apparently came to some sort of unanimous decision within each other’s minds, as they all began to glare at both Scribe and Dinky herself.
“You’re a bad liar Dinky,” said Featherweight.
“Yeah. You remember what happened last time you tried to trick us?” Said Pipsqueak.
“You’re doing the same thing that gave you away last time; acting all nervous whenever you say anything.” Said Twist.
“I-I d-don’t know what you’re talking about!” Dinky shouted defensively, confirming what the other children were saying.
“Suuuure Dinky, we’re not stupid you know. We’re not going to ignore everything besides his looks like mom does, so you may as well tell us who he is.” Looking between Dinky’s look of despair and the curious, yet powerful glares of the other foals only sped up Scribe’s decision.
“Do you really want to know?” Now getting their complete and undivided attention, Scribe used his magic to close the basement door, the glow of his arcane powers being spread around his forehead rather than on his now nonexistent horn. The foals all uttered their own versions of “Y-yes” as they looked between him and their now blocked escape route.
“Promise not to scream?”
“S-sure”
“Y-you bet”
“I p-promise”
Looking at both their faces and their emotions, he decided to trust them with his secret. In a flash of flame, his disguise melted away and he returned to his true body, his body growing larger and his chitin reforming to return him to his base form. As soon as the three children saw Scribe in his natural form, they did what came naturally and freaked out.
They all opened their mouths to scream bloody murder, but Scribe couldn’t have that, so he gripped their lips with his magic and held them closed, their muffled shrieks of terror reverberating around the basement. Dinky ran up to her restrained friends and tried her best to calm them down, saying “Stop Screaming! Miss Peppermint will hear!”
Instead of stopping, they screamed louder, trying to alert somepony who could help them. In response, Scribe put more of his magic into suppressing the sound, the light coming from his horn flaring as he sound proofed the room. With his spell completed, Scribe released his magic from the foals, letting them scream to their hearts content.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” was all that either Scribe or Dinky heard for a good minute before the filly and colts had finally emptied their seemingly never-ending supply of air.
“Are you done?” Scribe asked, hoping the foals would at least be calm enough to let him explain before they freaked out again.
They took a moment to look at each other’s fear-filled faces and then at Dinky’s look of complete exasperation before they come to their decision; “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
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It took a further five minutes of screaming and gluing each of the foals to the basement wall to finally taper out their lungs and their energy, leaving them panting while they hung in near silence by their forelegs. Scribe and Dinky sat in front of them, chatting idly while they waited for their ‘prisoners’ to catch their breath.
“I didn’t know it was possible for something so small to scream that loud for that long. It just doesn’t seem physically possible to me, given how small your lungs must be.”
Dinky just shrugged and said, “Magic I guess. Maybe so we can call for help easier, but I guess it didn’t help much here.”
“Guess not. Are you guys calm enough to talk with us now?”
He got three “Mmm-hmm”’s from the ensnared filly and colts, and after taking a look at their individual emotions, decided to let them down. Scribe walked closer to his captives and gave each of their bonds a good, long lick. It only took a few seconds for the concrete to begin melting, drops of the sweet liquid patter pattering onto the tile flooring.
One by one, each of them slid off of the wall and back down onto their hooves before they took to scraping what remained of the goo out of their fur. After getting situated, they once again looked over at Scribe with outright fear, a fact they made no effort in hiding.
With a sigh Scribe said; “I know I might look a little scary, but I’m not going to hurt any of you. You can ask me some questions, if that would make you more comfortable around me.” Featherweight stepped forward, a slightly less fearful look on his face than what was on the others’.
“W-w-what are you?” Didn’t expect them to be so upfront about it. Oh well.
“I’m a changeling. We can shape shift into anypony, fly and do magic. That’s pretty much all there is to us, besides having to feed off of love or other positive emotions.”
Next it was Twist who stepped up next to Featherweight, asking “You feed off of emotions? How is that supposed to work?” Sure, ask one of the few questions I can't properly answer.
“I don’t know the exact mechanics of how it works, but my understanding is that we just pull energy from other sentient creatures in the form of emotions. The stronger the emotion, the more energy we get. At least, that’s what I was always told.”
Last but not least, Pipsqueak stepped up with his friends and asked “W-why are you with Dinky if you’re not really her cousin? Is she a changeling too? Are you gonna turn us into changelings like Dinky?”
“Well, I’m with Dinky because I’m staying with her and her mother for a little while. She is not a changeling, and neither is her mother. I’m not entirely sure if ponies can be turned into changelings, but I wasn’t planning on doing anything to you three until you started screaming, so sorry about the whole sticking you to the wall thing.”
They looked between each other for a moment before Twist blurted out “Don’t mention it. I guess we should have listened to you instead of screaming, so can you forgive us?”
Not expecting the filly to apologize to him, Scribe said “Of course, you did nothing wrong, I was the one who scared you so I should be the one begging for forgiveness.”
“Aww, there’s no need for that! You want to just start over? We can forget this ever happened, if you want.”
“Thank you, I’d like that.”
“Ok, so I’m Twist, this is Featherweight, Pipsqueak and I guess you already met Dinky.”
“I did. My name is Scribe, and I’m pleased to meet you all…again.” He then stuck out his foreleg in a gesture he had been told ponies used in greetings, but apparently his instructors were wrong, as the foals ignored the leg and elected to simply tackle him to the ground in a powerful hug.
It took a few moments for Scribe’s mind to process that he was now on the floor, as three foals being able to knock his massive frame to the ground was not something he thought possible. Nevertheless, Dinky soon joined in, jumping atop Scribe and her friends and hugging him the hardest of all.
Still not quite understanding both how and why the foals had felt the need to hug him, Scribe didn’t feel the need to complain as he was already receiving a trickle of delicious affection from each of them, though Dinky’s was by far the most scrumptious.
“Um, can you guys get off of me now?” With a chorus of giggles, the children did as he bid, untangling their limbs from one another and stepping off of him, and looking between each other excitedly, no doubt planning something.
Scribe stood back up, and looked down at the foals, who all had maniacal looks on their faces that could strike fear into the heart of anything, so terrifying that they would send Timberwolves and Manticores scrambling to get away from them. “W-what?” Scribe asked, hoping for the best.
“Well…” Twist started, “I was kinda wondering if you could change into one of us, not for anything bad, just for fun…” He sifted through their emotions, and finding only curiosity and excitement, he decided it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he humored them.
“I can.” He then vanished in a storm of flame, and in his spot a moment later was a miniature Twist, grinning just as much as the real deal.
“THAT’S SO COOL!” They all gave their own versions of this as they rushed up to him, begging him to do them next, with crazed grins stretched over each of their faces. This is gonna be a long day…
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After a good hour and a half with Dinky’s friends, Scribe had finally gotten himself out of the clubhouse with Dinky in tow.
“Aww, do we really have to leave now?”
“C’mon Dinky, they were having me turn into them with different mane styles and as different types of ponies for Chrysalis’ sake.”
“But it’s so cool to know what you would look like without actually having to change anything!”
“I know, but it was getting pretty boring, even with he hayfries you kept giving me.”
“Ugh, fine. Mom might have gotten home early, so I guess we could go check in with her.”
“Good idea. Hop on.”
Dinky then leapt up and onto Scribe’s back with the gracefulness of a three-legged cat, just barely keeping herself from falling.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Lets Go!” With that, Scribe took off, flying above the rooftops of Ponyville for a few minutes before Derpy’s house cam into view. With a flourish of his wings, he landed on the topmost balcony and went inside. After gliding down to the bottom floor and Dinky had gotten off his back, he took a look around to see if Derpy was around.
“Hey Derpy, are you home?” He got no answer, so he just assumed that she was still out delivering things, and would be home later.
“Hey Scribe, whatcha doing?”
“Nothing really. Do you have any ideas for what we can do while your Mom is delivering stuff?”
“Well, since Twilight’s back, we could go to the library! I’m sure you could find something you like there.”
“But isn’t Twilight one of the elements? The elements that fought in Canterlot, who will probably be very angry should they find out what I am?”
“Don’t worry Scribe, she doesn’t know what you look like, and you just need to act normal and she’ll let you borrow something.”
“I guess I could go, just don’t give everything away like you did at your friends’ house.” He said with a glare.
“Hehe, sorry about that.” Dinky replied nervously. She then pulled herself back onto Scribe’s back and got herself settled, nestling her head into his mane. He hopped up into the air and spread his wings, flying back out of the house and towards the Golden Oaks Library.
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After a few minutes of flying around Ponyville, Scribe and Dinky finally landed a little ways away from library, the guards having set it up like a fortress.
“Do you think they’ll even let us in? The guards don’t look very friendly to me.”
“Don’t worry Scribe, Twilight always lets ponies in for books, it’s kinda the only thing she does when she’s not on an adventure with the other elements.”
“Alright then. Remember; if I get caught, your mom will ground you forever.”
“Whatever.” They then made their way up to the library’s front door, but were stopped a little ways away by a pair of guards.
“Halt, no one is to disturb the elements.”
“But we just wanted to get some books from the library!”
“Too bad. Nopony is to bother the elements unless it’s an emergency or—“ He was interrupted by the sound of the front door slamming open, the library’s owner standing in the doorway with eyes of blazing fury.
“I THOUGHT I SAID THAT THE LIBRARY WOULD STAY OPEN, OR DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?”
“But Miss Sparkle—“
“BUT NOTHING! I HAVE ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH RIGHT NOW WITHOUT YOU KEEPING PONIES FROM MY LIBRARY!”
“But they could be—“
“I DON’T CARE! JUST GO PATROLL SOMETHING, AND LEAVE THESE PONIES ALONE!” The guards looked between each other, and then to the furious unicorn before them. They made up their minds a moment later, as they took off into the sky and resumed their previous route.
Scribe and Dinky looked back at Twilight with a bit of fear, the unicorn being a bit terrifying when she was mad.
“Now then, would you like to come inside?” Twilight asked, once again as calm and cheerful as ever. They both nodded their heads rapidly, not wanting to aggravate Twilight further, lest she turn her wrath upon them instead.
“Ok, come on in.” They followed Twilight through the door, past the kitchen, and into the library/living room. There they found the remaining elements of harmony seated around the room, lounging in chairs, or in the case of Rainbow Dash, resting atop a cloud she had brought inside.
“So Dinky, who’s your new friend? I’ve never seen him around town, so is he new here?” As soon as the words left her mouth, the pink pony on the couch sprung from her spot, and into Scribe’s face.
“OHMYGOSHYOUREANEWPONYANDIHAVENTBEENPREPARINGYOURPARTANDINEEDTOGETSTARTEDORELSEIWONTBEABLETOSAYIVETHROWNAPARTYFOREVERYPONYINTOWNANDTHATLLMAKEMESADANDTHENYOULLBESADBECAUSEYOUWONTGETYOURPARTY!”
It took a moment for exactly what she said to register in his mind due to the speed of her speech, though Scribe still accounted for every word and quickly replied, “It’s alright Miss, you don’t need to throw any sort of party for me.”
“Pssh, yeah I do! I’m Pinkie Pie, party planner extraordinaire! Me not throwing you a party would be like Rainbow Dash not accepting an invitation to the Wonderbolts!”
“Oooookaaay…”
One of the other mares, the one with the alabaster coat and a curly purple mane approached him from the side and whispered into his ear, “Just go with it, dear. She’ll throw a nice party for you and that’ll be the end of it, just try not to make a bigger deal out of it, and she wont go overboard.”
“Gotcha.”
One of the other ponies present, this time the orange mare with the blonde mane, came forward and asked, “So jus' who are ya, and why are ya here wit’ Dinky?”
“My name is Scribe Miss…”
“Applejack”
“Applejack. Dinky was showing me around town today and said I could pick up some books here if I wanted too.” This time Twilight came forward, a crazed grin upon her face.
“You sure can! What would you like to borrow? Anything specific?” Scribe took a look around the treehouse, his eyes scanning over the thousands of titles eagerly.
“Could I perhaps borrow some of the Daring Do books? I’ve only read the first one and a bit of the second, and I’d like to continue the series.”
“DARING DO?” The voice came from up above their heads, originating from the prismatic Pegasus who was now peeking over the top of her cloud with barely restrained excitement.
“…Yes…”
“Awesome! I’m her biggest fan! You should really read all of the books, and then tell me which one is your favorite! Mine is the fourth one where Daring Do has to fight past Ahuizotl in the Forgotten Clouds and she—“ her spoiling the book was halted by Twilight gripping RD with her magic and pulling her down to the ground.
“What did I say about spoiling books for everypony else?” Rainbow looked around at everypony else for help, but none came.
“Uh…not to do it…because…it upsets ponies?”
“Ugh, Rainbow, you’re impossible. So Scribe, I’ll go get those for you, so just hang out here for a little while.” She then turned around and left, going into the maze of bookshelves, leaving Scribe alone with her friends.
“So Scribe, how did you end up with Dinky showing you around town?” asked Rarity.
“Oh, I’m her cousin. I’m visiting her and Derpy from Cloudsdale while I see if I can find a job here. If not, I can always work back at the weather factory.”
“I see. Have you gone to Town Hall yet? I hear they are always looking for help with the constant bureaucracy.”
“I haven’t yet, but you’re actually the second pony to suggest that to me today. Perhaps I can stop by later, or maybe tomorrow morning.” Just then, Twilight came back into the room, holding over a dozen books in her magical grasp.
“Here you go; every single Daring Do book, save for the first one.” Scribe looked at the stack of books in awe, as they were the ones he had sought for years, but had never been able to acquire. Instead of a verbal apology, he rushed over to Twilight and gave her the biggest hug he could, so powerful was the hug that he swore he could hear her ribs creaking.
“Hehe, you’re welcome Scribe, but could you stop crushing me?” He quickly released her, letting her front hooves drop back down to the ground while he gave her the biggest grin he could muster.
“Thank you so much Twilight! I’ve been looking forward to reading these for forever!”
“Don’t mention it, just remember to return them!”
“I promise I will! I shall protect them with my life” he said while putting a hoof to his chest and striking a rather heroic pose. Twilight and the rest of the girls chuckled at his silliness, while Dinky pulled herself back atop Scribe, having difficulty climbing through her giggling.
Twilight then used her magic to place the books atop Scribe’s back, right between his wing joints to keep them relatively stable. Dinky had to ride sidesaddle on Scribe’s flanks, the cushy surface making an excellent place for her to lay, though she did have to hold on to his cutie marks with all four legs to keep from slipping much.
“Thanks so much Twilight! See you around in town, I guess!” He took off into the sky to a chorus of goodbyes, and set a course for his new place of residence, loving the way that the day had turned out so far. This town really is as nice as Derpy said! Even my sworn enemies are nice to me!
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Golden Oaks Library,
A few seconds after Scribe left
“He seemed a little strange…”
“Strange? How about just plain weird!”
“Oh shush, I know he was a tad…unusual, but he seemed like a real gentlecolt to me.”
“Typical, Rarity, you always focus on their looks!”
“You take that back Rainbow Dash!”
“Make me, pri—“
“GIRLS!” Rarity and RD stopped their debate for a moment to heed their unicorn friend’s call.
“Yes darling?”
“Will you two stop arguing? I’m trying to talk to Applejack!” Both Rainbow and Rarity looked between each other for a moment before they turned back to Twilight and made a zipping motion over their mouths with a hoof.
“Thank you. Now Applejack, you were saying?”
“Well I was just tryin’ ta tell ya that he wasn’t bein’ very truthful with us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, most of the time he seemed to be tellin’ the truth, ‘specially about them there books, but when said he was Dinky’s cousin an’ all that about himself, he was lyin' an awful lot.”
“And you would know this…how?”
“Element of honesty, Twi, it’s kinda my thing.”
“Right. Well, lets not freak out just yet, it could mean anything; maybe he just misspoke, or just wasn’t comfortable telling us who he was…”
“Or maybe ‘e’s one o’ those darn changelings, Twi.” Twilight looked between her friends, each with a different expression on their face. Applejack and Rainbow Dash held looks of anger, probably that they could have just been in the presence of something they both wanted revenge on.
Rarity had a look of disgust, no doubt aimed toward mental images of pony-like, chitinous figures. Fluttershy had a combination of fear and curiosity written all over her face, fear of what the changelings had done to them, but her natural curiosity towards all living things was making its presence known.
Pinkie Pie, as per the norm, had her usual look of hyperactive excitement and joy upon her face, drowning out any possible emotions that Twilight may have seen.
“I’m not sure, Applejack. They could have been thrown all across Equestria for all we know, so it would be safe to assume a couple of them might crash here.”
“So we should be out there, tracking those darn bugs down!”
“Lets not be hasty, AJ. For all we know, they were all being controlled by their queen, and with her gone they may be as dangerous as a lost foal.”
“Or they could be waitin’ to attack us again!”
“That’s definitely possible, which is why I think we should write to the Princess about this. She’ll know what’s best, after all she’s seen more than any of us probably ever will. SPIIIIIIKE!”
“YEAH TWILIGHT?”
“C’MERE, I NEED YOU TO WRITE A LETTER!”
“SURE!” A few moments later, Spike made his way down the stairs, bringing with him paper, pen and ink. He set up the paper and inkpot on one of the nearby desks and took the quill in his hand. “Ready Twilight!”
“Dear Princess Celestia,
My friends and myself are writing you to ask your opinion on a rather important matter; what has happened to the changelings. As you know, they were blasted out of Canterlot, but to where is unknown. We have reason to believe that some of these changelings may have made their way to towns and cities such as Ponyville, and ask for your opinion on how we should proceed. There are already some individuals that I would ask your permission to investigate, but I promise not to make any rash decisions without your approval. We await your reply,
Your Faithful Student (and her friends),
Twilight Sparkle,
Applejack,
Rainbow Dash,
Fluttershy,
Pinkie Pie and Rarity.”
“Got it!” Spike then sent the letter in a flurry of magical flames, the letter disintegrating into nothing, as it traveled to it’s recipient.
“Well” started Pinkie Pie “Who wants to go to Sugarcube Corner for lunch!”
“Pinkie, it’s almost 3:00.”
“So?” she said with the same happy smile.
Twilight just facehoofed along with the rest of her friends and said “Ugh, Pinkie, you’re so weird sometimes…”
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well it will be interesting to see how this will work out when Twilight gonna investigate on Scribe to see if he is a changeling (which he is) and i hope it will go well since he likes books.
Great I've found another story that's gonna kill me will waiting for updates.
Looking forward to seeing what happens
Author's Note:
Longest chapter yet!
(yay! Long chapter! WOOO!!!)
Tell me about any spelling or grammar I may have missed.
Maybe she an help you out.” (an = can)
even with he hayfries (he = the)
Give any suggestions to where you think the story should go.
(EVERYWHERE!!! MAUAHAHAHAHA!)
Thank you to all who have liked and favorited.
(You are welcome! This story is fun to read!)
Due to my moving houses, the next chapter will be completed within another week or so.
(Looks at last update, curles up into ball in a dark corner and cries. "so, long....")
4634358
Due to some stroke of random luck, I've gotten online long enough to reply, but this comment only bears sad news; I will not have another chapter ready for a while, maybe a few weeks, or maybe at the end of the summer. This is due to my traveling near constantly with no time to write or even come up with ideas for now. Though this story may not be updated for a while, I do have the first chapter of another story about 2/3 complete and that may or may not be ready in the coming days/weeks. It should at least be something to keep those of you stalking me sated for a little while. Rest assured, this story is still being written, no matter how long it takes me to find time to work on it. Thanks for reading,
--Zach
4658445 Well, I guess thats understandable!
Scribe should totally flatter Twilight for her awesome book collection! And talk all about liking books, and stories, and Applejack sees that it's the truth, so Twilight says that nopony who likes books that much could possibly be evil, regardless of lying about relations...
Just my idea of where the story could go!
This is far, far after the summer, so just wondering... When do you think you will update?
Love the story so far.
Sad to see it hasn't been updated in a long while.
Hope you resume this wonderful piece of literature!
4658445
No update till next summer... the summer of which year?
6512790 ikr ?
Fun setup, mostly in-character characters, it's a good start.
Keep going! ;)
I wanted to see a book fortress
Après sept ans...