Where did you come from?

by Jeweled Pen

Bonus: A new spell

Cheerilee hummed as she made up some hay sausage and a nice little salad. Today was going to be a great day, it was--

“MWA HA HA HA HA HA!” a laugh echoed from Val's room.

Cheerilee face hoofed. She swore, every time. What in the world was he trying to-- Her eyes widened and dread flooded her. That wasn't Val's voice. She quickly ran down the room, shoving open his door. “VAL! Don't you--” She then blinked and paused. She stared down at Val. Or rather... a female Val. Her heart slowly began to slow its rapid pounding and she just stared. “What... did you do?”

“I learned a new spell!” Val said proudly, puffing out her chest. “A shapeshifting spell, cool, huh?”

She opened her mouth to object, then blinked. “Wait. Where's your horn? Why do you have wings? ARE YOU A PEGASUS?!”

“Yeah. Awesome, right? I decided to test it out!” Val said before turning to the mirror. “Don't I look awesome? I could totally fly and be all like... stuff.” She spread her wings and leaped, before face planting into the ground. “Owwwwwww.”

Cheerilee sighed and face hoofed. “It's... not permanent, is it?”

“Nahhh... it wears off after a while,” she grumbled before getting up. “But now...” She looked in the mirror and grinned. A grin that dreadfully reminded Cheerilee of his original mother. “Now is my time to strike.”

“Strike?”

“Yes. Now that I can adequately disguise myself as a filly, all of the secrets of female kind will be mine.”

Cheerilee stared at him, dead pan. “Secrets of female kind.”

“Yes! I see the way you all plot and scheme together. With your... alicorns and... secret hoofshakes. Mwa ha ha ha! Now I will find out how to rule this world!”

The earth pony opened her mouth, then closed it, applied her hoof to her forehead and shook her head. “Just... I don't even... I can't... just no. So much no. Breakfast is almost ready, Val.” She then blinked. “Also, talk to the princess later. Magic like that isn't very... common here. How long will it last?”

“Oh, a few hours,” she said dismissively.

“Huh. That's actually a lot like a pony spell. I think Princess Twilight has one like that. Partially. I don't even know anymore.”

“Wait, she does? So she'll be expecting me? Confound it!” she snapped, stomping her hoof.

“... I wouldn't worry. I don't think anypony could be expecting you, Val,” she said with a sigh. “Come on, let's go get breakfast.”

Val nodded and trotted after her.

------

“They say he once wrestled a hydra with a broken hoof.”

“They say he flees from a demon that requires his heart to be free, so it can destroy the world.”

“They say he once kissed Princess Celestia.”

“They say he sometimes plays tic tac toe with orphans on the weekend.”

Caballeron cocked an eye as he stared at the strange, cloaked pony. The sombrero seemed tacky, but he could understand the need for a hat. There was something about that stallion, though. The way he sat. If he didn't know better, he'd suspect he was a soldier of some kind. Maybe a royal guard, even. He snorted derisively at that. There'd be no reason for a royal guard to be out in these lands, so far from the capital.

No, whoever this pony was, he was obviously a quiet, reserved type. Silent. Deadly. A stallion out to make a bit of coin, probably by any means necessary. He didn't seem the type to be swayed by female wiles, either. He saw the way that mare had been practically throwing herself at him earlier. He'd have to be blind to have missed such obvious come ons.

Chad sipped his drink, staring out the window. This seemed like a really nice place, he wondered if he could stay here for a while. Everypony was so friendly and that mare had even bought him a few drinks. Ponies out here were just the nicest. She'd seemed kind of frustrated though and he suspected she had a little constipation, judging by how she kept moving her eyes towards the bathroom. The poor thing.

If he wanted to stay, though, he needed to find work. There wasn't any pension out here. Not that he'd probably get one, now. He gave a soft sigh.

“Ah, hello,” a void said, making him look up. A scruffy, gray earth pony was standing in front of him. “You are the one they call Chad, are you not?”

“Si, senor. Can I help you?”

The earth pony just grinned. “Oh, of course. My name is Dr. Caballeron and I think I have just the job for one with your talents.”

“Oh? Well, I am looking for work.”

The earth pony chuckled softly, before it slowly turned into a slightly evil laugh.

Chad just watched with a smile. He couldn't believe how friendly and nice everypony here was.

------

Val grinned, the smile practically splitting her face in half. She couldn't believe she'd never thought to do this. Ha, she was brilliant! There was just one perfect target she had to find.

It didn't take her long, either. She saw her target all by herself, sitting outside the boutique, drawing in one of her books. Now came the most important part. Introductions. She trotted up. “Hi!”

Silverbelle glanced up and froze, her eyes going wide with fright. She squeaked and slammed her book shut before hiding it behind herself. “H-h-hi Val,” she said softly. Then she blinked. “Wait... why do you have wings?”

“What? No! I am not Val! I am a pony you've never met before and a fellow fema-- filly. I am a fellow filly. Yes.” She said with a nod.

Silverbelle blinked a few times before looking her up and down. At first she seemed scared. Then the fear slowly turned to confusion. Finally, it focused on annoyance. “Uh... huh,” she said flatly. “Hello... fellow filly. I am Silverbelle. What's your name?”

“Val!” Val said quickly, then paled. She couldn't believe it. She hadn't thought of a name. Stupid! “Errrr... eeee.... uhhhhh... I mean....”

“Valeria?” Silverbelle asked with a cocked eye.

“Yes! It is a very pony name. Like yours. Silverbelle. Definitely NOT a drow name.”

Silverbelle blinked a few times before face hoofing. “Uh huh. So... Valeria. You're a pegasus?”

“What? No, I'm a uni-- errr, yes. I am a pegasus. I very much have wings. See?” She spread them out. “Awesome, yes? They even have feathers, as you can see.”

Silverbelle yiped when she suddenly thrust her wings into her face. They seemed real enough, she wondered how Val had gotten them. “So... Valeria. Nice to meet you. What brings you to town?”

“Me? Nothing much. I am just wandering the lands, being... things. But I am a fellow filly, like you and I am very much aware of all the secret filly things that only fillies are aware of so feel free to discuss them with me.”

Silverbelle blinked a few more times, before face hoofing a second time. “My gosh, Val... eria.”

“What? Oh! Yes, we must make haste to meet with the others. I'm sure Sweetie and Diamond would like to meet me.”

Silverbelle groaned a groan of anguish. “My gosh, Val.”

“I think you mean Valeria.”

“I know what I meant,” she said flatly. She muttered darkly under her breath in prench. She rubbed her chin and then her eyes lit up. “Actually, yes. I think you are much right,” she said happily. “Come!” She trotted towards the boutique, pushing open the door.

Val trotted behind her, a big grin on her face. Step one of her infiltration was a success. She KNEW Silverbelle was the perfect subject. She was just so gullible. She mentally laughed maniacally. Soon all of the secrets of the female pony kind would be his. Like the alicorn thing. She was sure it was some special mare skill, after all, why else would all the alicorns be females?

She supposed it was possible it was just coincidence, but she was certain that THAT couldn't be right.

“Hey, Claw, Sweetie, meet Valeria.”

Val smirked, then the smile vanished. Claw? She barely braced herself in time before the white blur slammed into her and proceeded to lick her face. “GAHHHH! CLAW! GET OFF!” she shrieked.

Sweetie and Rarity stared at the pinned Val, eyes cocked. “That's... Val, right?” Sweetie asked.

“Yes,” Silverbelle said with a nod.

“He... is aware that he is the only pony in all of town with that particular coloration, right? And how rare that tone is?” Rarity asked. “… I suppose he could pass as… a stranger… version of his younger mother. But… it's so obviously Val.”

“I do not believe it has occurred to him.”

“... How did he hide his horn? Why does he have wings?” Sweetie asked.

“No idea,” Silverbelle said with a shrug. “Drow magic?”

Rarity gave a soft, exasperated sigh. “Such... peculiar behavior. Why is he doing it?”

“Because he's Val.”

Sweetie sighed before looking up. “Are we done? I really think the others are going to want to see this,” she muttered flatly.

Rarity shook her head. “Almost, Sweetie,” the mare said as she continued to adjust the dress, sewing a few stitches and ignoring Val as she was glomped by Claw.

“... Does he not realize how we can see through it?” Sweetie asked.

Silverbelle sighed and rubbed her chin. “I... don't know.” She chewed on her lip for a bit, before glancing over. “Humor?”

“Humor him?” Rarity asked, before sighing. “Well... I suppose if nopony gets hurt, it couldn't be harmful,” she said with a shrug. “But it might be best to avoid another... Big Mac incident.”

“I don't think Val is going to try to enter any sisterhooves socials,” Sweetie said with a shake of her head. “I don't think he could even run one if he had to. I've seen him get winded trying to run from Claw.” Her eyes perked up. “Ohhhh, maybe next year I could enter with Claw!”

Rarity chuckled and gave a nod. “Well, as long as nopony gets hurt, I see no problem with it. Just don't let him get out of hoof. There, finished,” she said before slowly taking off the dress. “You can run along now, dear.”

“Woo hoo!” Sweetie yelled before trotting over to Val and Claw, the former of which was holding back the latter's head with both her hooves. “Claw, down.”

“Awwww,” Claw said, before hopping off.

“Why does he listen to you?” Val muttered, before wiping saliva off her face. “Ewwwwww.”

“You just lack the right tone. I use the one Rarity uses on us all the time,” Sweetie said before grinning. “So, Valeria was it?”

“Yes! I am Valeria. It is a very pony name,” she said with a nod.

“Uh... huh. So then, Valeria, how about we go meet the rest of our friends? I just know the girls are going to love meeting you.”

Val nodded, rubbing her hooves together. “Excellent,” she said before giving a low, maniacal laugh.

Sweetie blinked and leaned in to whisper to Silverbelle. “He... knows we're still here, right?”

“Yes...” Silverbelle said with a mild sigh.

------

“You're sure all this is legal?” Chad asked as he landed on one of the totems. It wobbled precariously on its chains, but didn't give way. Which was good, the boiling pit of lava under him would really have sucked.

“Yes, yes, quite legal,” Caballeron said with a nod from the opposite side of the lava lake. “Now keep going and hit the lever so we can come across!”

Chad nodded and hopped to the next one. He was quite certain these little platforms weren't up to code, but Caballeron had absolutely assured him that they were one hundred percent safe. “I mean, it just seems like a lot to go through if it's legal. Like someone really wants to keep all these safe.”

“Yes, completely legal. I bribed all the right officials to make it so,” the doctor muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Chad called back.

“Nothing, keep going!”

Chad shrugged and hoped onto the platform and then pulled the lever. Slowly the bridge began to extend and he sat down. Something still seemed off about all this, though. Caballeron seemed like a fine lad, but the other people he hired... well... he hated to say it, but they seemed almost thuggish. Caballeron had assured him that they were all top contenders in their field. One of them even seemed to be a plastic surgeon, he heard the pony talking about re-arranging another pony's face. But he still couldn't understand why so many of them were needed to salvage some old relics.

But then, he supposed the lives of archaeologists were something he'd never fully understand. In the end, all of this seemed to be for the betterment of pony kind, so the least he could do was help. Once the bridge formed, Caballeron chuckled and walked across it, looking around as he walked. “Excellent. Chad, the next part will be a bit more difficult. According to the ancient map I swiped, well... I'm sure you can handle it.”

Chad nodded and started trotting into the caverns. He still had the oddest feeling that something was off, he just couldn't put it. Not only that, now that he kept thinking about it he was certain he'd heard the name Caballeron before. He just couldn't remember where.

------

“So... Valeria, huh?” Scootaloo said flatly as she eyes Val. “Been a pegasus long?”

“Yes! Over a few hours now!” Val said quickly, a grin on her face. They were all falling for it, she knew it.

Scootaloo coughed and then went into a huddle with Applebloom, Sweetie and Silverbelle. “That's Val, right?”

“Has tah be,” Applebloom said with a nod.

“Mmmm hm,” Sweetie said with a sigh. “I... don't even know why. It's just Val being... Val. I guess.”

“So... do we tell him or...?” Scootaloo asked.

Silverbelle shook her head. “No! He probably went to a lot of work to do that... whatever that is. It'd break his heart if we found out. Also, he probably won't believe us.”

“What is he even hoping for?” Applebloom asked.

“I have no idea,” Sweetie said with a shrug.

“Hey, what are you all discussing?” Val asked, her eyes going wide. Finally, the great pay off. “Are you discussing the great secret filly things? You can invite me, as you can plainly see I am a filly, same as you four.”

Silverbelle sighed and then glanced back towards him. “I... think he thinks there's some kind of secret filly only club or something.”

“Why would he think that?” Scootaloo asked.

“Maybe they had somethin' like that back home?” Applebloom asked, then chuckled. “Maybe he's jus' tryin' tah make up for bein' excluded back then an'...” She paused and glanced to Val. “Hey, Valeria? Where you from?”

Val blinked, and paled. “Errr... little...pony... opolis?”

Scootaloo blinked. “Wait, really? That place is awesome! You fans of the Fighting Bricks?”

She was stared at, deadpan, by the other three.

“What? The Fighting Bricks are awesome! Best hoofball team ever. Well, okay, third best.”

“Oh, yes. I know all about the Fighting Bricks!” Val said quickly.

“Heya, squirts,” a voice said suddenly before there was a blue blur landing besides them. Rainbow skidded along the ground a few feet, an award winning smile on her lips. “Guess who just got back to town?”

“Rainbow!” Scootaloo yelled, before racing in front of her, hoofball stricken from her mind.

Val stared at the pony. She just stared. There was nothing else she could do. It was just too majestic, too amazing, too awesome. It was as if her entire life had been leading to this point. She'd seen some amazing things, been a part of so much wonder and excitement since she'd come to this land. But this, above all else, was the greatest thing she'd ever seen.

She laughed so hard she actually fell on her side, clutching her stomach as she roared with laughter. “Y-you have g-got to be kidding me!” she shrieked between fits of laughter.

Rainbow blinked, glancing to the little pegasus. “Hm? Who's your friend?”

“Oh, that's Val,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “A lot happened since you left town,” she muttered, then perked up. “Oh! How went the Wonderbolt Retreat?”

“Excellent. Totally beat Soarin's flank in a game of pong,” she said, before looking down at the filly. “How long is she going to keep that up?”

“I have no idea. Valeria!” Scootaloo yelled. “What's so funny?”

Val finally managed to get a hold of herself, before pointing a hoof at Rainbow. “Y-you're kidding, right? I mean... you've got to be the most ridiculous pony I've ever seen! You have a RAINBOW ON YOUR BUTT!” she said again, before bursting into laughter again. “A-and you're all blue! Like, seriously? Are you supposed to b-be that white alicorn's daughter or something?”

Rainbow blinked a few times and narrowed her eyes. “You don't really know who I am, do you?”

The color began to drain from the other filly's faces. “R-Rainbow, wait. Val's... special,” Scootaloo said quickly. “She just doesn't realize how awesome you are. She's not from around here.”

Rainbow sighed and gave a nod, before smiling. “Well, Val, nice to meet you. I'm Rainbow Dash, newest member of the Wonderbolts. What do you think about that?”

Val snickered. “Oh my gosh. Y-you're something called a W-Wonderbolt? W-what do they do, paint rainbows on stuff?”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “No, we do this.” She darted forward and in a single movement, she had Val up in her hooves and was soaring up into the sky, spinning, doing cartwheels and blasting through a cloud. Within a few seconds she was up high, overlooking the town and then dropped Val on one of the clouds. “THAT'S what Wonderbolts do.” She gazed down at Val and smirked, expecting to see the look of awe and excitement on her face.

What she hadn't expected was to see the look of fear and terror etched on her features. The water forming in the filly's eyes. The trembling hooves. Every hint of mirth and humor evaporated.

“Wait, kid, don't cry,” Rainbow said quickly, holding her hooves out towards the kid.

“D-don't touch me!” Val shrieked, stumbling back. She fell off the cloud , flailing her hooves wildly as she fell out of the sky. She was quickly caught by the rainbow-maned pony. Her breathing started getting faster and the panic rose in her when she realized the mare was all that stood between her and a plummeting death.

“Easy, calm down, I'm not going to drop you. Calm down, it's okay,” Rainbow said quickly as she slowly lowered her to the ground. Once they were on the ground, she let her go. “There, all good?”

“Val, are you alright?” Scootaloo asked as she ran up.

Val recoiled from Rainbow, tears welling in her eyes and shaking her head. “D-don't touch me. I'm fine. I'm fine.”

“Listen, I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean to scare you,” Rainbow said quickly and held out her hoof. “Usually you kids love it when I do that. Well, the pegasi, at least. I didn't--”

“I'M NOT SCARED!” Val screamed, shaking her head. She then turned tail and fled.

Rainbow stared for a moment and then sighed, face hoofing. “Stupid, stupid.” She then looked down to Scootaloo. “So... uhhh... your new friend? Bit sensitive?” she asked with a little chuckle.

“Yeah, a bit,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “She'll be fine. She's just... oh, and she's a unicorn. And a colt. We think the whole having wings now might be a spell and there's this whole... thing with him. Oh, and he's probably from another dimension.” She blinked. “His mom attacked us, almost killed Twilight, too.”

Rainbow blinked. “Huh. I really should have spent more time reading those letters. I... should probably go talk with Twilight. Wait, almost killed Twilight? What?” She then paused and blinked. “So, uhhhhh. One other thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Has Twilight been doing... any weird experiments?”

“Well, there was the whole time travel thing,” Sweetie offered. “Oh! And this is my cousin, Silverbelle. And Claw is...” She blinked. “Wait, where is Claw?”

“Is... that Claw?” Rainbow asked before she pointed off to a nearby tree, which Claw was trying to climb.

“Oh, yeah! That's Spike and Rarity's kid. From the future,” Sweetie said.

Rainbow blinked a few times as everything slowly processed. Then, quick as a flash, took off. “TWILIGHT!”

------

Cheerilee sighed when she heard the door open. “Hi, Val, did you have fu--” The words locked in her throat when she saw Val walk inside, his head hanging and tears dripping from his eyes. Almost instantly she had him swept up in her hooves and brought him to the couch. He wasn't bleeding, so her first fear evaporated. “Val, what happened?”

“N-nothing. I-I'm fine,” he said between little sniffles, his entire body shaking.

“No, you're not. Val, what happened? Tell me.”

“I-I'm fine!” Val shrieked, trying to pull free from her grasp, but she was a lot stronger than him and she'd be bucked if she let him wallow alone in his misery.

“Val.”

“S-stupid rainbow p-pony.”

“Rainbow pony?” Cheerilee asked, before blinking. “Wait, Rainbow Dash is back in town?” A smile spread across her lips. “Ohhhh, I see what happened. Now, Val, it's okay. I'm sure whatever she said doesn't mean she doesn't like you. She's just a bit rough around the edges sometimes. There's no need to be upset.”

“I HATE HER!” Val screamed, sobbing softly into her withers.

Cheerilee blinked a few times. “So... this... isn't about her fan club?”

“Stupid... s-scary pony and... and I'm not s-scared of her or... or anything a-and I hate her a-and I want her to die a-and she's horrible a-and a monster,” Val wailed.

Cheerilee just stared down, her mouth gaping. A filly or colt who DIDN'T admire Rainbow Dash? The, most likely, coolest and most 'rad' pony in Ponyville? It just didn't make any sense. Then, she supposed, what about Val did? “Val, dear, why don't you tell me exactly what happened?”

“I-I was... I was t-talking w-with the others a-and being awesome a-and she came a-and hit me a-and threw me a-around a-and threatened t-to drop me out of the sky,” Val whined, sobbing into Cheerilee's chest.

“Oh Val,” the teacher said softly, gently patting his back. “I'm... sure whatever happened, Rainbow didn't mean to do that. She loves kids like you. She just tends to be a bit... rash. Doesn't always think things through.”

“I-I want her to die!”

“No you don't, Val,” Cheerilee said softly, patting his back. “You're a good pony. Come on, how about we go talk with Rainbow, okay?”

“NO!” Val shrieked, shaking even more and holding onto her.

“Val?”

“P-please d-don't make me,” he said softly, trembling. “D-don't make me... f-face her.”

Cheerilee looked down and then softly sighed, nodding and patting his back. “Okay. We... won't, for now. Later, okay?”

“Okay...” He said softly, closing his eyes.

She smiled down at him, before gently sighing. That was one good thing about his little fits. At least after he threw them, he always tended to get tired. Once he finally passed out, she gently laid him on the couch and covered him with a small blanket, before getting to her hooves. She'd just wake him after dinner. She doubted he'd rest long anyway.

She hummed and trotted to the kitchen, beginning to prep. To her surprise, a few minutes later she heard a light thumping on her door. “Now who in the world could that be?” she asked before trotting to the door. When she opened it, she couldn't help but be a little bit surprised at the sheepish blue pegasus standing there.

“H-hey... Miss Cheerilee,” Rainbow said nervously. “Can uhhh... we talk?”

Cheerilee took a slow, deep breath. Did EVERYPONY have to call her miss? It wasn't actually part of her name.

Author's Note:

Honestly, not sure how I feel about this chapter. I'd honestly been meaning to put Rainbow in for a while, but then I realized how Val would likely react, then how Rainbow would react, then how Val would react, then how Rainbow would react and it just led to this whole big thing, especially with Val's issues with mares and I was really, really, really close to not doing it.

Then I decided to do it anyway and this happened. Not sure how good it is. I was really close to having Val be kinda awed by Rainbow... but I just don't feel he would be. I don't know why, but lately I've felt like I'm becoming less and less in tune and aware of what my characters are feeling and doing and Val is becoming a bit of a mystery to me. I hope it's not permanent.

As an aside, I hope I'm not the only one who thought girls had a super secret club growing up... Though, sometimes I honestly feel like they still do. The mind plays such weird tricks on us.

Comments

[Hillbe]

Dash & Valeria ! Spot on funny as heck. The surprises of Claw & Val Wut Spike & Rarity? Wut Death & Destruction? Wut else did I miss?

[Secret Septus]

Your own OC is a mystery to you....
Say that book characters don't live their own life.

And good advise for Val: 'Don't trust your eyes, eyes are the greatest traitors in the world'
P.S. I mean just take Fluttershy, The Beast Master