"Promise me you won't zap me as I tell you."
Twilight raised a hoof to her chest, taking a large breath, then released it as she moved the hoof away. "Right, yes." A forced smile spread on her snout. "I promise, any zappings will wait until after the retelling of events is complete." Her magic grabbed me up roughly and threw me onto a chair. "So get talking."
Spike waved his claws at Twilight. "Hey, be easy on him! He didn't do anything wrong!"
Twilight glared at Spike. "You've been influenced, I can't trust your word right now. Don't worry, I'll have this all handled in a moment."
Spike darkened but in a subtly different way. "No! You will not dismiss me right now, Twilight."
Twilight gasped. "It's further along than I th--"
Spike hopped up and grabbed her snout, silencing her. "Listen to me! It was totally my idea that he turn into Rarity so he wouldn't starve to death. We didn't even do anything but stare at each other a little. Stop picking on him!"
Twilight's horn lit up as she pulled Spike off of her snout. "He didn't..."
I shook my head quickly. "Whatever you're thinking, we didn't do that. C'mon, he's a baby dragon. I'm not a monster."
Twilight turned back to me. "That is exactly what is being debated." She grabbed Spike suddenly in her magic and brought him before her, floating as she looked him over with squinted eyes. "You look alright though."
"I am." Spike floated there with his arms crossed, looking deadpan at the pony he was assistant of. "He's the one that needs your help, not me. This isn't much what I'd expect from the Princess of Friendship."
Twilight set him down gently. "Right... Right... Of course. Spike, you know I care about you very much. This sort of thing upsets me."
Spike put a claw on her chest. "I appreciate that. We're family, but right now, somepony else needs us more than I do."
I nodded my head quickly, wings popping out. "I'd like to be human again."
Twilight looked me over critically. "Hmm, so, if I take this at face value, you were the human in town, Noah? How are you adjusting to a quadruped anatomy? Have you been able to control your wings, tail, ears, and other new muscle groups?" Her expression had shifted from anger and doubt to scientific curiosity so quickly. "Tell me how it happened."
That didn't sound like a solution and I sighed softly. "I'm adjusting fine. Spike taught me how to trot, and I flew to get out of the ravine I started in." I stood up on the chair she had dropped me on and gave my tail a little wag. "That works." Strangely, my ears were harder to control, wanting to move on their own and on their own schedule.
"Fascinating." Twilight summoned a notebook and got right to jotting notes furiously a moment. "So how did this happen?"
So I told her the story of the dead changeling I found, and how it became my new body quite suddenly.
Twilight scowled, but not at me directly. "Interesting... I've never seen or read anything like that before. I'd love to examine that changeling, but I suppose I already am." She approached that chair and circled around me, eyes locked on me. "This goes double for being so far away from any hive I'm aware of. It must have been an unusual changeling to start."
"About turning me back?"
Twilight shrugged her shoulders. "So quickly? You could be an extinct sub-species! Think of the implications! If I go turning you back right away, then we'll never know. We could be giving up a once in a thousand year opportunity!"
Spike rolled a claw. "If he wants to be turned back, doesn't that rate higher?"
Twilight looked clearly torn on the morality of the case. I sighed softly. "Look, even if I was willing to bite the bullet in the name of science, who's going to volunteer to be fed on? Apples won't do it, we tried."
Twilight clopped her forehooves suddenly. "We can! At least, if you consent to be our specimen for a little while."
"How long is 'little'?"
Twilight reared up, her hooves coming down on the edge of the chair as she smiled at me in what I assumed was a hopeful way. "A few months at most? We'll pay you for your time!"
As jobs went, it wasn't, inherently, the most awful I'd been offered, but... "I don't want to be locked in this castle, nice as it is, for months."
Twilight waved it off. "You'll have hours like anypony else doing a job and can leave while you're off-duty. I'll throw in room and board." Her tail wagged excitedly. "Please..."
Spike hiked a thumb at me. "So you'll explain to the town why there's a changeling living with them suddenly?"
Twilight went still a moment, then let out a breath and nodded. "I'll do it, if he says yes." She looked back at me. "Think of it this way. It's a unique experience. You'll get to learn your new form better. Aren't you the slightest bit curious as to what you can do, and can't do? This is the safest way to find out. Maybe you'll even enjoy it."
Learning to enjoy it sounded kind of bad. "I want to be human again, for sure."
She rolled a hoof. "But for now?"
Her hopeful expression, those bright eyes and that almost-painful looking smile all tugged at me. "Fine... But if I get tired of it, I want to be turned back right away. Promise me that." I thrust a hole-ridden hoof at her.
"Deal!" She met my hoof with her own in a soft clop. "Now where did I put that..." She began wandering off.
Spike glanced at her and back to me. "Well, you've thrown her into full research mode. Be ready to ride the nerd wave." He offered a claw. "Welcome to the family."
I put my hoof in his claw and we shook on it. A few months wouldn't be so bad, right?
Odd place to end on, but I can see the point in wanting to leave things open-ended. Both for the readers imagination and an eventual continuation.
Still, a strange if enjoyable little story. It was nice seeing a 'human turned changeling' story where the reaction from everypony wasn't immediate hate and panic.
famous last words
expression shifted - expression had shifted
I flied - I flew -- I hesitate to correct spoken dialogue since that could simply be how Noah speaks. But typos are clever and devious.
to example - to examine
*****
So this is hopefully only the end of the beginning. If you decide to continue it will be interesting to see what else we learn of Noah and his unusual situation, even more unusual than being stranded in Equestria to begin with.
My mental exiting cinematic is to cut to an exterior of the castle where we see bright flashes and hear comical yips and yipes originating from Twilight's lab.
6819161 Typos removed, now everyone will have to see themselves out. I hope you're happy!
Thank you typo, but I wont be needed your service just yet
6819295 Typo escorted out.
Ah... well it's somewhat... dry? Is that the way to describe it?
The situation was interesting, especially the whole "now I am a new species, and not just a new species but something forcibly changed me somehow."
But Noah isn't particularly interesting... and the new species enveloping Noah didn't give... many reactions from him. I expected a bit more sensory description for that. more about Noah's feelings about maybe being stuck, more about the shock that he might not even be a mammal anymore... or I expected more unusual situations as he went into town. As it is it feels a little straightforward and plain.
6819456 Sorry to disappoint. Perhaps I should have spent less time doing silly interactions and more introspection.
. . . I won't say exactly what I feel about ending the story here, at what I'd consider the end of the introduction and the beginning of the middle of the story, because that would be a bit more impolite than I'm comfortable being toward strangers on the web.
I will say that my opinion of people who leave the end of an engaging and interesting story "up to the reader's imagination" would blister paint and cause small children to spontaneously combust.
I have seen lots of stories do that, and I've seen stories end in the middle a few times, but this is the first time I've ever seen a story end at the beginning.
*sigh* And I was looking forward to the rest of it . . .
Awww, I was looking forward to seeing Twilight do her experiments and the town adjust to having a changeling around.
6819592
Well, lighthearted and silly is also fine... But in this case the story didn't seem like it had a lot to it. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what would make it feel like it had more substance to it while keeping it lighthearted, though. Sorry.
I think we might have been somewhat spoilt by having introductions take place over a double episode, first discovery and second explanatin, that not used to single episodes, initial interaction, then maybe another.
Lots of Issue zeros out there. Far more than Issue ones and even more than issue continues.
Aww, that's it? Is there going to be a sequel?
6820739 I can't say this is impossible. It's not even impossible I just flick this right back to unfinished and get right back to writing. Wouldn't be the first time I did it.
ok this is the second changeling story you have DS and it looks to be a huge hit like the first.
have you ever given thought to a longer one?
and yes this story is really that good.
I'm disappointed by that being the "ending." I was digging it until that point.
Now I know what people meant when they said some of my earlier stories felt like the start of a story...
I liked it for the most part, though the ending didn't exist. In actuality, it felt like it was ready to continue on from there, till I saw there were no more chapters and I remembered seeing it marked complete. Good enough for an up vote, no where near satisfying enough for a fave. It's too bad, it was looking good.
Tyyy-poh typo! Off to the lab we go!
In our mind the whole day through,
Being studied cause we are brand new.
Typo tyyypoh!
Princess of Friendship."
Spike put a claw on her chest. "I appreciate that. We're family, but right now, somepony else needs us more than I do."
0:42
Twilight scowled, but not at me directly. "Interesting... I've never seen or read anything like that before. I'd love to examine that changeling, but I suppose I already am." She approached that chair and circled around me, eyes locked on me. "This goes double for being so far away from any hive I'm aware of. It must have been an unusual changeling to start."
"About turning me back?"
Twilight shrugged her shoulders. "So quickly? You could be an extinct sub-species! Think of the implications! If I go turning you back right away, then we'll never know. We could be giving up a once in a thousand year opportunity!"
Spike rolled a claw. "If he wants to be turned back, doesn't that rate higher?"
That's a good point Spike.
Noah's journey ends at the tender hooves of Twilight Sparkle. I leave it to your imagination how the experiments go for him and whether or not he goes back to human or embraces the bug at the end of it.
Someone make a clopfic. First thing I thought of when you said "explore the body."
Aaaaaand another stock "imagine your own ending" to get out of a real ending. I neeeed to know
Kinda stupid here. Twilight obviously doesn't really care about him and just wants to do experiments.
Oh, you poor, little, sweet, summer child.