Chapter 2 - Grounded
Changelings, Love and Lollipops
Chapter 2
Grounded
At least they weren’t pink.
The three little larvae… no, pony fillies who had ambushed and tied him up were all different colors, but the closest to pink they had was the flightless little pegasus with her explosion of unruly magenta mane. He had to admire their knot tying abilities — from the very close introduction he had of them — as well as their stealth, but right now he had something far more troublesome to worry about.
He could not sense them at all.
Even as the three little fillies squabbled and fought as only best friends could do, he could not sense the slightest bit of emotion from them. There should have been a few threads of bitter sarcasm, some wafting sense of impatience, the constant glow of youthful joy at simply being alive, and the warm flood of friendship that such close friends put out on a constant basis. It was nothing compared to the delicious scent of romantic love or the sweet sensation of overwhelming lust, but after fighting those six young mares in Canterlot during the invasion, he would never underestimate the power of friendship again. He had always viewed friendship as somewhat the frosting on the cupcake, or the glaze on a loaf of bread, sat off to one side from the normal flow of love that a proper changeling fed on so that it could be used to flavor the energy he collected for the hive.
And if he could not even sense that powerful emotion any more, then he was going to starve to death in a matter of weeks.
Whatever hope he had of survival in the woods by sucking love out of families of woodland creatures was gone. He could not sense emotions, therefore ipso facto he could not feed off those emotions, which led inevitably to a dead changeling. The irony of a changeling dying of hunger in the middle of a bunch of loving ponies was almost too much for him to take. Perhaps that was where the ancient legend of Tantalus had originated, from a crippled changeling starving to death despite all the normal pony food he could stomach.
Somewhere deep in his aching gut, a spark of rebellion flared to life as he mulled his fate. Even deaf to the emotional world and doomed to die, he still had a responsibility to his hive. Since he was still alive at the moment, there had to be a small supply of love tucked away in his belly even after what he had used to start the healing of his painful injuries, and that love would be desperately needed by the hive due to all of the injuries caused by that infernal pink explosion. He had to get back to the hive, although they would kill him. His death would at least mean something there, as opposed to mouldering away in some forest creature’s stomach.
Of course, there was the matter of three little fillies and an enormous amount of rope to overcome first.
Step One: Gain their confidence
It took a few fake tears, some sniffles, and enough lies to float a boat to convince the little fillies that he was just a frightened little changeling, afraid of all of the big ponies who would most certainly do something horrible to him if he were turned in. It was a hard sell. Apparently all three of the little pests were involved in the Queen’s failed wedding, and the changeling swarm had frightened them down to their horseshoes. But a little whimpering about not being able to fly got the little pegasus on his side, and some tears about never being able to use his magic to change since he had been a little grub convinced the little unicorn. The earth pony filly just grumbled about “bucking him in the head and dragging him to Big Mac,” but in that adorable way that ponies believed in voting instead of the proper rulership of the most powerful, her little friends won her over.
Step Two: Setup
By way of numerous promises and something that involved sticking an imaginary cupcake in one eye, he got them to release him from the ropes in order to be taken to somepony named ‘Zecora’ out in the forest. She sounded like an older and much more suspicious pony than these three little fools, and with a fake smile on his face and many nods, he stretched his wings and worked them up and down a few times inside the treehouse. It was going to be a little painful, but once he got outside and into the cloudless blue sky, it would be clear flying to home, hive, and a worthy death. At least he would not have to confess to the indignity of his capture.
Step Three: Escape
“Well, kiddos. I can’t say it’s been fun. Because it hasn’t. See ya!” He burst for the entrance to the treehouse, taking two long steps with his wings tucked in to pass through the doorway.
Only to see a familiar pink pony with a far too familiar cannon in his path once he emerged into the sunshine.
And the world returned to darkness with an explosion of pink.
♥ ☆ ☄ ★ ☆ ♥
He slowly swam back to consciousness at the sound of a bright and cheerful voice calling out, “Thanks for bringing me and my party cannon back to Sugarcube Corner, girls. Stop by after you take Mister Promisebreaker over to the mayor’s and I’ll make you all cupcakes!”
Even the voice reminded him of pink.
The ropes were back, tied even tighter around his aching gut, and the sensation of confetti packed into his nose was almost overwhelming. A quiet attempt to blow a little air out through the packed passages gave no results, although the hammering feeling of high-speed ground travel afterwards did smack a few small flakes out.
It probably would have helped if the little menaces had not stuffed him into the wagon head-first.
Repeated cranial impacts every time the wagon hit a bump made the throbbing pain in his gut easier to deal with, and the wind whistling through a crack in the rope wrapping around his rump gave him a rough indication of the headlong pace his jailors were making through town, a velocity that he had last experienced when being hurtled away from Canterlot. The only positive thing he could think of was absence of the color pink, and the probability that his resulting impact at the end of the trip would kill him.
Remarkably, the end of the trip did not end with all four of them smeared against some tree in an indeterminate mixed jelly of changeling and pony parts. The ropes actually cushioned his impact when he tumbled out of the wagon at their destination, rolling across the street and into a set of very solid stairs that led up into the largest building in town.
With a great deal of huffing and puffing, three little ponies grabbed sections of loose rope and dragged him, tail first, up the stairs and into a building, giving him a good look at the tiny rickety contraption into which his life had been entrusted. It really did not raise his confidence in the possibility of surviving a return trip, but since he was being turned over to the civil authorities, he decided to look on the bright side.
The ponies may execute me in some horrible and painful fashion, but at least I don’t have to ride in that wagon any more.
Once they had dragged his mummified body in the waiting room, the three little ponies promptly dropped him on his head and galloped into the other room to began a loud conversation with the mayor.
“Mayor Mare, we captured a changeling!”
“Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. What have I told you about making up stories?”
“But it’s true this time! It really is a changeling!”
“Right. And so was that traveling salespony you dragged in here after your train ride back from Canterlot.”
“But that was just an accident. How was we to know he was a salespony?”
“Or when Apple Bloom dragged poor Rose in here from the marketplace just because she wanted to buy hummingbird food?”
“But ah thought that was changeling food!”
“Changelings eat love, Apple Bloom. Not nectar.”
“But this time we really, really did catch a changeling, Madam Mayor. It’s out in the waiting room, because it was too fat to drag in here. Come look at it!”
Fat?
“Not again, Sweetie Belle. We’re just lucky the last two ponies didn’t sue the town. I’m still writing apology letters.” Raising her voice, the mayor called out, “I’m sorry, sir or madam. The kids are just a little excited about changelings after that wedding fiasco. I hope you’re not angry?”
Oh, sweet nectar of life. I may survive this after all.
“No, of course not,” he responded with as real a chuckle as he could put into his best female voice, seeing the faint glimmer of an escape in the distance. “Kids will be kids. I remember when I was a Filly Scout, we once convinced the scoutmaster we had seen a bear. Of course, this was in the middle of Manehattan, so she was a little skeptical.”
A little pushing on his magic to change forms into something a little more female pony-shaped, and when the mayor came out to see a poor unsuspecting citizen all tied up, she would let him go. They were such suckers about mares that way.
Just a little pushing on his transformation magic.
A lot of pushing.
Shoving, even.
Nothing.
Eggshells!
The mayor’s voice came filtering through the door, mixed with the sound of rustling paperwork. “At least let me apologize for our most infamous residents, Miss…”
“Tolliver,” he said, grabbing for the first name that came to mind.
That’s one ponysona I’ll never use again. Oh, well. It doesn’t matter anyway. Goodbye world. Goodbye hive.
“Miss Tolliver,” muttered the mayor to the sound of a scribbling quill. “Scootaloo, you and your friends please take Miss Tolliver over to Sugarcube Corner and apologize to her for treating her like a changeling. I’m including four vouchers for milkshakes, so try not to—”
“Sweet! Come on!” The three little ponies came stampeding out of the mayor’s office in a flurry of hooves, scooped ‘Miss Tolliver’ up as if he was weightless, and before he could even blink, he found himself sitting in the wagon with a helmet jammed down on his head.
“Ice cream! Whoo-hoo!” Scootaloo jumped onto the scooter, brought the buzzing of her wings to a shrill roar, and took off like a shot for Sugarcube Corner.
Causing him to go flying out of the back of the wagon as she accelerated.
They came back for him.
Twice.
And they only ran over him once in the process.
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First comment is reserved for the author. Welcome to my corner of the world. Grab some popcorn and have a seat. The explosions will start shortly.
You're very punctual. Congrats on 1,000 followers, and here's to the next 7,000!
Nothing is sacred to Pinkie Pie. Nopony is safe from Pinkie Pie. There is only cake and smiles for you!
I have a feeling I'm really going to enjoy this story. I like how much of an unreliable narrator Mrs. Tolliver (since he has yet to be named officially) is because it creates a very interesting story. Let's see where this goes.
Oh, I am gonna enjoy this.
The sex tag makes me a little reluctant into reading it, but I'll give it a shot.
Well, this looks like it's going to be a delightful romp. I already have a few guesses about what may have happened the narrator. Looking forward to more.
5514631
That's not entirely true. Oaths and promises are sacred to Pinkie Pie. Those who break them are indeed not safe from her.
Ohhh. Hes more damaged than he thought
He unwittingly made, and is about to break, a Pinkie Promise?
Yeap. This is one dead 'ling.
And, there we go. Break a Pinkie Promise, and she will know! And she will be there!
That's the spirit!
...alas. This hope was in vain
Wonderful so far. This changeling makes an excellent punching bag for excessive amounts of Schadenfreude.
I haven't read the story yet, but I have to say this is the absolutiest bestest story description I have ever seen on this site (or any other)! It has entreaties, warnings, and even legal disclosures to protect the poor folks who read leagal disclosures and take them seriously. Seriously! It is descriptive yet engaging, and catered to the masses in a very personal way.
Yes, it has everything in except Yul Brenner, and I forgive that given this isn't a HiE story, and he's dead anyway.
I loved the crust, and I now look forward to the proof of the pudding!
Okay. Now I've read the story. (Clops hooves. for an embarrassingly long time. Didn't paste the video of Leo clapping because, let's face it, it's been overused.)
That was really, really, really very good!
Really.
Moar please!
A changling dealing with Pinkie Pie's manic antics... WELP! *claps hands* Nice knowing ya, little No-Name!
Doooooommmmmmmed!!!!!!!
The bug is in for it now!
5515374 Pinkie Promises are not sacred, they are THE LAW!
Pinkie Pie is THE LAW!
This is going to be fun, as usual, Georg.
If he lets slip that he's starving to death, Twilight might find a way to magically sustain him (either from a cold, vengeful desire to not lose her test subject, or from a sense of moral duty). He'll never be able to escape into the sweet embrace of changeling-death by starvation.
Ooooo, breaking a Pinkie Promise, not the best move on your first visit to Ponyville if you ever want to be able to leave untracked.
We've never really seen the full consequences of breaking a Promise, makes me wonder if leaving you in the clutches of the CMC is simply one of the possible stages of punishment.
5515953 I can see Princess Celestia pronouncing sentence on a particularly vile criminal: "You have been found guilty and are hereby sentenced to three weeks foalsitting Mister and Missus Cake's twins. You're a lucky stallion, because the jury had the option of assigning you to the Cutie Mark Crusaders for a week, and nopony has survived that yet."
5515744 She does have a tendency to regard every problem she sees as one that needs to be solved by her, regardless of the situation.
5515470 The first ten or so chapters will flow fairly fast, as they're done except for a few minor tweaks that always show up in the publication process. And I wrote the ending, so all that's left is a few chapters between.
5515418 5515374 Worse than that, he gets to break a double Pinkie Promise.
5514688 Right on the button. Keep that in mind as you read along.
The poor Changeling. After the CMC, what more can they really do to him?
CMC changeling catchers YAY!
If only the Mayor had stepped out of her office...
Then again, we would surely have missed out on some humor if she had that much sense.
5516979
You shouldn't ask that, for Pinkie has inexhaustible energy and intensive imagination!
Did something happen to his eyes, too? Isn't one of Sweetie Belle's two mane colors pink?
BWAHAHAH!
One does not break a pinkie promise! For she is eldritch, and will enforce it.
NOPONY BREAKS A PINKIE PROMISE!
I mean, sure he doesn't have any friends in the first place, but he will lose an eye with that Party Cannon.
At the end, I laughed sooooo hard I died and became a ghost who got sucked back into my body (yay!). Anyways, good chapter!
Wait, did "Tolliver" become pony? I don't understand.
5672299 i think the cmc members don't care
they get milkshakes
5528260
Perhaps after you encounter Pinkie Pie everything else is just... not quite pink.
6049909 Nah, everything's more of pinkish red.
Those last four lines!
The rest of the story is good too!
5514631
On the contrary I think that, perhaps amoung other things, she considers Pinkie Promises to be sacred.
(Meh, of course someone already said this!).
5672299
Tolliver is the name he uses when in a specific on of his disguises/false identities.
Oh no.
He broke a Pinkie Promise.
Wait so did he transform or not?
9689602
Just managed to manipulate his vocal...thingies
Breaking a Pinkie Promise?!
I guess the male Changeling is lucky to not rnd up a Pancake so far. Unless Pinkie Cupcakes him
But they are Foals not Goats...
Thst got me put of nowhere. Priceless