Changeling in the Pool
By
Mimic Kairatta
And
Limescale
Proofread by: lunarstallion
“Fluttershy, may I ask you something?” Twilight asked.
“Um, of course. What is it?”
“Why is there a changeling in your pool?”
Fluttershy looked out the window of her cottage, seeing the black bug-like creature floating within an inner tube, content to simply swim in the pool she had put in for her animals, while said animals were clustered around the water staring intently at their guest. Given what had happened a few months ago in Canterlot, this should’ve been a sign of an impending emergency… yet, so far, none of the animals seemed to be panicking… nor was Fluttershy.
“Oh,” Fluttershy said. “Well… he’s relaxing.”
Twilight nodded, then shook her head in disbelief.
“Yes, I can see that, but why is it relaxing in your pool?” She demanded. Fluttershy’s eyes popped open in realization.
“Oh no!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “I forgot to ask! Should I go out and ask him? Would it be too rude to ask now after saying it was okay?”
Twilight just stared in greater disbelief at her pegasus friend.
Her eyes grew wider in alarm. “You… said it was okay? You let… as in, willingly allowed, a changeling onto your property? Around your animals?”
“Hey Twi, what’s with the yelling?” Applejack walked into the kitchen. Briefly, she noticed her unicorn friend looking like she’d just seen the return of Nightmare Moon, and her pegasus friend looking very uncertain and afraid she’d committed a heinous wrongdoing.
Both were quickly forgotten when she looked out the window between the two and saw what was outside.
“What the starry apples… is that… is that a changelin’ Ah see out there in the pool?” The farm pony stammered.
“Um… yes?” Fluttershy replied while Twilight was trying to process what Fluttershy said previously.
“Uh… might Ah ask why?” Applejack said, doing Twilight the service of snapping her from her shock.
“I just asked that.” The unicorn cried. “No, wait, I asked Fluttershy to confirm that she, in fact, allowed it in the pool, and was aware it was there… but before that, I asked why.”
Both mares turned to Fluttershy, clearly expecting an answer.
“I, um… didn’t really ask.” Fluttershy admitted. “He looked tired, and was looking so peaceful in the water that I… um, let him stay there?”
She smiled in hopes that’d satisfy her friends worry. Sadly, all it earned her was more slack-jawed stares of shock.
“Erm… I can go ask him right now what he’s doing if you want?”
There was a moment of taut silence.
“Yes? Please?” Twilight said insistently.
They watched Fluttershy walk out of her cottage and to the pool area. Through the window, they watched the scene unfold, though they could barely hear anything. They seemed to exchange some words, then Fluttershy nodded and walked off. Moments later, she comes back inside.
“Well?” Applejack asked.
“Well,” Fluttershy started. “He wanted to relax and… um, gather the ambient love in the air after a hard day’s work. The animals are providing him with plenty of that because they love me so much.”
The pegasus managed a giggle, hoping she had now diffused the situation. Again, sadly, her efforts were in vain.
“A hard day’s work… of what? Planning a second invasion? Scouting out Ponyville so Chrysalis can capture it? Wait until we let our guards down and enslave us?” Twilight said, her eyes twitching more violently with each sentence.
“Twilight, darling, what are you screaming about? It’s quite upsetting to listen to.” Rarity stepped into the kitchen, knitting her eyebrows together at her friend’s panicked look. “Whatever is going on here?”
Applejack glowered and point out the window.
“That is what’s going on!” She said.
Rarity saw the changeling and covered her mouth with her hoof.
“Oh, dear! Fluttershy, are you aware one of those loathsome bugs is in your backyard pool?” The unicorn asked.
“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy said. “I was telling Twilight and Applejack about it. He isn’t really doing anything bad.”
Rarity looked out the window again, noting the changeling indeed seemed to be doing nothing except floating in the water, legs spread, eyes closed, and a serene smile on his face. The animals continued to mill around the pool, giving no sign they were at all bothered by its occupant.
“Well… still… shouldn’t this be a cause for some alarm?” Rarity asked. Twilight groaned and held her head.
“SOME alarm? We need to tell everypony about this now! Get the guards out here! Tell Celestia to declare a state of emergency! This could mean anything from another invasion to an all-out declaration of war!” Twilight turned to the living room. “Spike, take a letter! Now!”
The dragon duly came running in, frantically pulling out a scroll and a quill and looking quite confused.
“I’m here, I’m here, Twilight! Where’s the fire?” He asked. The four mares looked at him, then at the window.
“There’s a changeling out there!” Twilight explained, pointing out the window to the changeling in the pool.
“Oh… um,” Spike’s panic subsiding to confusion. “What is it doing?”
“He’s relaxing,” Fluttershy responded.
“In the pool?”
“Yes.”
“... So what’s the problem?” Spike asked.
Twilight proceeded to flap her mouth comically.
“What is… what is.... The problem, Spike, is that there is a freaking member of the scummy love suckers...”
“Kevin,” Fluttershy said. Twilight paused, going through several rather painful-looking facial contortions.
“I’m sorry, what was that, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked.
“His name is Kevin. I… uh… forgot to mention that.” Fluttershy frightfully replied. Twilight managed a few more feats of remolding her face like it was putty.
“There is a freaking member, called Kevin, of the scummy love suckers that kidnapped Princess Cadance and brainwashed my brother out there. Planning who knows what sort of crazy scheme to-”
“Oooh, a crazy scheme? Where?” Pinkie Pie promptly bounced into the room. “I know all about how to throw crazy schemes!”
The mares were halted in their tracks again, giving Pinkie time to look out the window.
“Oh! A changeling!” She said in horror.
“Kevin,” Fluttershy responded, to Pinkie’s increasing alarm.
“A changeling! Called Kevin! Who’s out there without a welcoming pool party!” The pink mare cried. “We can’t have that! Everyone who comes to use Fluttershy’s pool deserves a pool party!”
Pinkie zipped out of the kitchen, then almost instantly she returned, now loaded down with pool toys, inflatable rafts, a kayak, a fully stocked pool bar, lounge chairs, and beach umbrellas, somehow balancing all of them on her back.
“Don’t worry, girls! I’ll make sure that changeling, called Kevin, is taken care of!” She swore, before charging out the front door of Fluttershy’s cottage at Mach speed.
The mares watched as Pinkie, in pure party fashion, filled the entire space where the pool was with various party materials. The birds were enjoying the birdbaths, the frogs had lily pads to hop on, kitty pools for the felines, and much more. The changeling was looking around in absolute confusion.
“That’s… nice of Pinkie,” Fluttershy said. “Although, I don’t think you’re supposed to put boats in a pool.”
Twilight grit her teeth and did several other things that probably were not good for her facial muscles.
“We’re not throwing a party for that thing! We have to capture it! Ask it what it’s doing here! What it’s plans are!” She demanded.
“Uh… Ah dunno, Twi. Ah mean, if it were dangerous, don’t you think it’d have done something by now?” Applejack asked as Pinkie whipped up a drink for the changeling and handed it to him. Kevin awkwardly accepted the beverage, then looked behind him as a padded backrest was slotted into place, followed by a pillow for his head.
“Well, technically, it is doing something, dear.” Rarity replied. “It’s doing what most ponies do amid Pinkie trying to improvise a party for them.”
“Hey, somepony mind telling me what’s going on in here? I thought we were just going to have tea and talk, next thing I know you’re all in here, and...” Rainbow Dash paused as she flew into the kitchen and saw the scene before she looked out the window and saw the cause of it.
“Oh… there appears to be a changeling in Fluttershy’s backyard pool… that Pinkie is trying to get drunk and bury in pillows and blankets...” Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the bizarre scene unfolding. “Soooo… anypony want to explain?”
“His name is Kevin,” Fluttershy said. “He’s-”
“We’re throwing him a pool party!” Pinkie exclaimed, popping from the cupboard in a burst of streamers. Twilight proceeded to scream.
“No! We’re arresting him for crimes against Equestria and interrogating him for information!” She declared, much to her friends’ shock.
“Crimes? Ah, mean, yeah, Ah get where you’re coming from, but… he’s just sitting out there, Twi. Do we know fer sure he was involved in the invasion?” Applejack asked.
“He’s a changeling! They can’t be trusted!” Twilight said.
“Really, Twilight? I mean, yes, a great number of them proved themselves to be quite a menace in Canterlot, but isn’t it a bit harsh to tar them all with the same brush?” Rarity queried.
“For that matter, can’t we just ask him to leave if he’s that much of a problem?” Spike spoke up, much to his caretaker’s chagrin.
“Does no pony remember what the changelings did? How they nearly killed Celestia? How they turned my brother into a mindless zombie? What is wrong with you all?” Twilight demanded. The room lapsed into silence again as all six mares, and one dragon stared at each other.
“I just wanted to throw him a party.” Pinkie replied.
“Ah think we’re jumping to conclusions.” Applejack said.
“I say we’re giving that damn bug the punishment he deserves.” Twilight seethed.
“I still think that’s being a bit harsh.” Rarity replied.
“I’m still just as confused as when I came in here.” Rainbow Dash said with a sigh.
“I’d like to point out that the changeling is at the window now,” Spike replied.
All eyes turned to see Kevin politely rapping on the glass with his hoof. After a moment of disbelief, Fluttershy walked over and opened it.
“Um… yes?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yeah, um...” Kevin said. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think I should get going. It’s getting pretty crowded and noisy here for my liking.”
“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sorry about that...”
“It’s alright. I relaxed enough, anyways.” The changeling smiled. “Thank you for letting me use the pool, and the drinks.”
“Oh, you’re very welcome.” Fluttershy replied as Kevin spread his wings and flew off into the skies. She shut the window and sighed happily. “Well, that was nice of him.”
She turned around, and her smile faded upon seeing her friends were again staring at her with the slack-jawed expression of guppy fish at feeding time.
“What… th… you… you let him leave!?” Twilight screamed. “How could you do that, Fluttershy!?”
“Well, he was quite courteous about it. Very much a gentlecolt.” Rarity said in amazement. “My my, who’d have thought a bug would be so well-mannered?”
Twilight held her head with both trotters, sparks shooting from her horn as her magic started to go wild. Eventually, she let out another scream and slammed her hooves into the ground.
“We… are… going after that changeling! We are capturing it, taking it to the Canterlot dungeons, and seeing that it gives us some answers!” She declared… to little support.
“Uh, actually, I was planning to help Big Mac with his evening chores after this.” Applejack said.
“I just want some tea. If that’s not on the table anymore, I think I’ll go find a cloud to nap on.” Rainbow Dash replied.
“But… but… I made all those drinks for everypony! Now they’re all going to go to waste.” Pinkie Pie lamented.
“Fluttershy, would you care to accompany me to the spa? This whole situation has me feeling a bit stressed. I think I might be developing a pimple.” Rarity rubbed her cheek in worry.
“Are you girls kidding me? A changeling just escaped from us! We can’t let it get back to… wherever it was off to!” Twilight pleaded.
“Why not? Ah mean… what did it do wrong?” Applejack asked.
“Really. All I saw happen is Pinkie buried it in pool stuff, and then it left. Not really getting why that’s cause for alarm.” Rainbow mused.
“My drinks.” Pinkie whimpered.
Twilight groaned. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
Fluttershy bowed her head in lament as her friends continued to argue and yell and bicker, only to look up when she felt a pat on her side.
“Say… um… since the pool is available, do you mind if I go for a soak?” Spike asked. “This is kind of giving me a headache.”
Fluttershy looked to her still fighting friends and sighed.
“Of course, Spike. Make yourself at home.” She replied. The dragon smiled.
“For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing.” He said before walking through the bickering mares and heading through the front door.
Outside, the animals had dispersed, having lost interest in the pool, save for a few frogs who could still make use of the toys in it. Spike grabbed one of the drinks off the pool bar and hopped onto one of the inflatable recliners, kicking back and enjoying the sun on his scales.
“I can see why Kevin does this,” Spike said. “It’s pretty relaxing.”
About right. Thanks for the laughs
Later that day, once Twilight leaves, seven changelings congratulate themselves on a prank well pulled.
This was great -
Comedy gold
7884312 Oh god, that would be hilarious!
Oh god, I LOVE Changelings, because they can be super adorable and a very good villain at the same time, just like Discord.
Minus the adorable part of course.
Actually...
Adorable Discord, someone get on that.
This is a very good one-shot.
That was amusing, and something I would love to see animated.
That was cute. Seems to me you drive the gag of Twilight being the one gung-ho to arrest the changeling a little too far, though. Twilight has hardly been slow to action in the past, so it's not like she would need her friends agreeing with her first to go after Kevin. It may be possible she's virtue-signalling instead, but there wasn't any payoff there.
7886450
Admitingly, it was played a little hard. Yet we tried our best kept to the general scope of what Twilight would have done within that time. My co-writer wrote the parts on twilight and his insperation was from one of the episodes where Twilight was having a nervous breakdown. Decided to keep it in and play the scene as straight as we could. Twilight is known to act, yet has also been known to try to get her point across before acting.
Fuck'n Kevin show'n at people's houses lounging in their pools, who does he think think he is, Princess Celestia? Smug ass bugboy float'n 'round the pool like he owns the damn place, giving zero fucks about being arrested. Bet that skinny carapace'd douchnozzle had a martini too.
Kevin is the best. 10/10. Better than Luna.
thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/thumbs-up-skeleton-10259099.jpg
So changelings cannot get into pools without some ponies kicking up a fuss?
What is this, species-ist segregation? "Non-changelings Only"? Like what was commonplace for Americans of African descent (otherwise known as 'blacks') before the Civil Rights Movements? Sure, the changeling species has a hive-mind mentality, and the main one is led by an aggressive queen (which would affect the rest of the hive), but not every individual changeling is like that. Changelings have rights too!
Perhaps I'm reading too deeply into this.
poor Twily, still so traumatized by changelings, but Kevin attended Cranky and Mitalida's wedding so I think she was convinced that being a changeling wasn't a crime. Could even see here apologize for being racist. Also, changeling who just hangs around undisguised, can we say "research"?
7886669
>doesn't bother to mention invasion
>sans profile picture
no
For Faust's sake, Darling. Let it go.
Love the story by the way, Chap.
I half expected Spike to just wander out there and talk to him himself, being the more sensible of the group.
Pool's closed on account of changeling.
7887529
that sounds like one of your side stories.
7887529 Don't worry, there's a group of ponies with afros standing around it, keeping us safe from the changeling-infected pool.
That's racist.
*Ding!*
Hahahah, for reals though, awesome job on this This was adorable, and a good laugh.
heheh
I neither liked, nor disliked it. The theme of it is pretty much a running joke with Twilight's understandable unfriendly reaction towards a changeling being the center-point and her friends finding its presence to be completely non-threatening as one after the other enter the house and have the same discussion over and over, with minor variances for each new interaction. But nothing gets resolved other than Fluttershy's pool guest departing at the end, thus irritating Twilight.
It is well-written, and the characters don't seem to be OOC, and this almost feels as if you took a scripted scene from the show and turned it into fanfic-form. But while that last bit could be an appeal, it is also its weakness. It starts like an episode might, and then just ends like one might expect before the opening theme would play, but then nothing else happens after that because it's the end of the fic.
TL;DR, it's not a bad fic by any stretch, but it's a rather forgettable one, too. Nothing really stands out.
Had this: 7884312 been the actual ending, I would have actually laughed at it at the end. But it wasn't.
i found this to be a rather mellow and chilled out fic, rather nice to read fics like these while listening to Bob Marley from time to time.
I had a moment there where I distinctly imagined a changeling corpse spread eagled and face down, floating in Fluttershy's pool. Had a pretty good laugh at that.
Amazing, just Amazing. I need more with Kevin.
I kinda wanna see how the pones would react to a post-wedding Twilot goes back in time somehow to an alternate world where the changelings had peacefully introduced themselves much earlier, and were fully and openly integrated into society.
this could go two ways:
1) a serious story centered around judgement and assumptions
2) a flutterape/sombra wants back into his empire-styled fic where Twilight tries to do something every chapter to get Celestia to banish them all or something but keeps failing
bck
YAY KEVIN
7887710 Thank moot
I love how this whole thing seems to have a sketch comedy skit feel. I can't put my finger on why it gives me that impression, but I like it.
And I couldn't stop laughing at how they insisted on calling him by his name even as they were trying to be hostile towards him.
7887201 but how can you be sure that ALL changelings were part of the invasion?
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/977/822/657.jpg
Considering that, at the time, the ONLY changelings they knew about were ALL from Chrysalis' hive and ALL had taken place in the invasion... yeah, looking at a 1-1 ratio there. You'd have to be terribly naive NOT to be suspicious.
*And then Kevin went off and informed Chrysalis that, yes, the ponies were mostly trusting morons who'd be easy to capture... and that is how the season 6 finale actually happened*
7887756 There have actually been a number of short fics almost exactly like this, with Twilight being the only one suspecting the changeling of sinister intent. And they all pretty much end the same way, except for one which DID feature the changeling being a spy ascertaining how stupid the ponies really were.
And Spike never left the pool ever again
The End
7889006
chrys: hey guys if you don't obey me i'll fuckin deck you
changelings: ok
changelings: (wouldn't exist without chrys, only have her as ruler)
pls
And then Spike was arrested and interrogated.
The end.
7885535
Your demand was granted before you made it, seeing as this video was made in 2014. My job is done now that I have brought it to your attention.
7889611 I can now die in peace.
7889611 Is there any more info, or a story attached to this? It's one of the damn cutest cartoons I've ever seen yet I can't find any related material on the idea of a Baby Discord.
7889722 There's a story by the same people that made the cartoon here on Fimfiction that explains why Discord's a baby. Here's a link.
There's also apparently an ask blog on tumblr. Ask Baby Discord I think. I don't remember there being much on there though.
7886471 is there more to this somewhere?
7890340
We do have plans to make an extra chapter. Just as an extra punchline.
That was a great way to start my day!
7890372 Can you make a sequel to this where Shining Armor and The Princesses see it happen and show how they react?
Ah, Twi's a filthy racist. Grand Wizard Wakka from FFX would be proud.
Excllent matter for one-shot episode. ^^
Xenophobic Twilight...check
Changeling that has done nothing wrong....check
Me liking the story.....Triple check
When I first saw the title, I immediately thought that maybe the Changelings had found the Mirror Pool seeing as it'd match their theme of cloning through use of shape-shifting. Kind of wonder if the Mirror Pond is actually a Changeling artifact that was forgotten to time except from Pinkie's Nana.
A Changeling in the pool...
Why not?
Say, will there be a sequel?
Like, what he was working on?
Somehow I can see many things happen...
- Spike find some eggs under the pool
-Twilight follow Kevin all day finding he is not doing anything evil
-Twilight send a message to Celestia but is ignored
....
I didn't really like this. It felt a little dull, and I didn't like the way that characters just randomly appeared out of nowhere (I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but it still doesn't sit well with me). Every time a new character showed up, the discussion they had wasn't really that different from the previous. The only kind of unique one was Rainbow Dash's. I think Twilight is a tiny bit too suspicious and the others are too unsuspicious. Some suspicion is natural. But Twilight goes too far, and the others don't go far enough.
I felt like there wasn't much resolution either. The others never help Twilight to overcome her clear psychological issues from the invasion. By the end of the story, the changeling just leaves and nothing really happens. For something which is tagged 'Comedy', I didn't find it all that funny. It relies on contrivances (such as randomly appearing characters and Fluttershy suddenly having a pool) to build its plot and humour, while I think a good comedy story should use what it's given, rather than inventing things.
The grammar could use work as well. Dialogue was very poorly punctuated throughout, and I noticed a fair few saidisms going on. If there are enough saidisms for someone to notice them while casually reading, you're using too many. The dialogue itself felt a little robotic also, especially at the beginning.
Love this story!