Chapter 13
“So, I'm stuck with you two,” Rainbow said, pacing in front of the two changelings who had been assigned to her.
They nodded. One shifted uncomfortably and seemed to take a tiny step away from her companion.
“I guess Twilight trusts you, which I think is a big mistake. But, since nopony asked me my opinion, here you are.”
The changelings shared a brief, nervous look. Her mistrust was palpable. This did not bode well for today’s assignment.
“You caught me on a work day. Today I'm going to be leading a squad busting clouds on the borders of the Everfree Forest, and so I'm going to need you guys to stay out of my way. Are we clear?”
There was a burst of green flame, and two identical Rainbow Dashes stood and snapped to a sharp salute. “Ma'am, yes ma'am!” they answered.
Rainbow blinked. She'd forgotten just how strange it was to see herself standing in front of her. Exact copies of herself. Completely convincing, even to her…
“Do you want us to help, or just watch?” one offered.
“No,” Rainbow said, a slow smile spreading across her face as a new thought occurred to her. “I have a better idea.”
* * *
“Hey, boss!” Raindrops said as she approached Rainbow Dash. “Where do you want me today?”
Rainbow Dash glanced down at the clipboard she held. “South section,” she answered, pointing.
Raindrops saluted. “You got it!” She flew off, ready to start her work day… only to be stopped by Rainbow Dash, standing on top of a cloud.
She waved her down. “Whoa, there. East, Raindrops!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I said east section!”
Raindrops nodded hesitantly. “You got it,” she said, turning around. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d gotten turned around, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Maybe she shouldn't have stayed up so late baking last night.
She’d almost made it to the correct quadrant when Rainbow Dash popped her head out of a cloud. She pulled herself out and stood up on top, and scowled. “I said west, Raindrops! You know, opposite of where the sun rises?”
Raindrops hovered in place as she tried to comprehend this, but try as she might, it just didn’t work. She whimpered and rubbed at her temples. She knew she should have stayed home today!
it then got worse. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing, and then two more Rainbow Dashes flew up.
Raindrops whimpered again. She shook her head, but there were still three Dashes there. She kneaded at her eyes, and that made things worse; when she opened them again, there were two Raindropses flanking a Rainbow Dash hovering there instead.
Raindropsi? Raindropsen? How did she pluralize her name, anyway?
She was just about to try to figure out if she would have to get another job to feed all of her selves when the two ponies that looked like her burst out laughing and reverted to their natural forms.
Raindrops' eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the sight of the changelings.
“Don’t worry,” Rainbow said quickly, throwing a foreleg over Raindrops' shoulders. “They’ve been assigned from princess Twilight as part of an integration experiment. They’re here to help, and I bet they’re sorry for pranking you.”
The two changelings nodded, with wide, hammy smiles.
“In fact, I bet they’re so sorry, they’ll do your shift for you, and you can have the day off.”
Raindrops cracked a smile. She wouldn’t complain about that.
One of the changelings burst into green flame and became Rainbow Dash. “We will?”
“Yes,” the real Rainbow Dash said firmly.
“Oh. Yes. We will!” And he nodded exaggeratedly.
As Rainbow Dash and Raindrops flew away, the two changelings glanced at each other.
“Oh, she’s good. She’s real good.”
“Shut up, Ponneka.”
* * *
Pinkie Pie looked at her two newest assistants. “So you're with me today, huh? Well, I won't go easy on you! You've got a lot to learn if you ever want to set hoof in this bakery again!” Pinkie turned over to a closet. “But first, you need a better outfit,” she said, retrieving two aprons.
She spun around at the sound of fire and saw that they both had taken on her form. Her eyes narrowed. She trotted around them, inspecting their manes, tails, stomachs, checking inside their ears, measuring their cutie marks, and even going so far as peeking inside their mouths and under their tails before she stood back and clapped her hooves together and rendering her verdict. “Perfect!” she declared, throwing the aprons on them. “Let's get started! You'll feel so lucky you were picked to come with me!”
“Picked?” one said.
“Oh, no, no. We volunteered to be with you.”
“Oh? Why's that?” Pinkie asked brightly.
Both changelings took a step forward. “We like you, Pinkie.”
“You're so happy all the time, Pinkie.”
“You tell us jokes.”
“You're not afraid of us.”
They began reaching out and gently nuzzling her as they circled her in tandem, their touches light, gentle, and teasing.
“You're always smiling.”
“You smell like happiness.”
“S- stop, you're making me blush,” Pinkie protested weakly, rubbing a hoof against her cheek.
“You love everypo-”
“No, really, stop; we have lots of things to bake today,” Pinkie insisted, placing a hoof on the side of each of their heads and physically pushing them away.
The two changelings retreated slightly; but only slightly.
“Now, walk this way!” And she bounced off and pronked down the stairs.
The two changelings looked at each other, shrugged, and began bouncing down along after her.
* * *
Rarity nervously pranced in place ever so slightly. The two changelings she had been assigned stood there as well. One coughed and found something very interesting to look at near his hooves. “I don’t know. I must admit, this whole thing is rather off-putting,” she confessed.
The nearest changeling smiled sheepishly, but the fact that this only revealed more of her fangs did very little to comfort Rarity.
“Well, I suppose I can adapt,” she said with somewhat forced cheerfulness. “Follow me.” She led the two into the showroom, and held up a hoof at the nearest mannequin. “Tell me, what do you think of this design?”
The nearest changeling studied it intently before closing her eyes and flaring green fire. There were suddenly two Rarities standing there.
“It looks like it's designed for a noblepony, and I'd say the color and busy-ness of the shoulder puff right here is spot on. Still, I can’t help but feel this hanging strap right here would get caught on the average pony’s gait, if they were to run,” the new Rarity said, her gentle accent an exact duplicate of the real Rarity's. “Now, obviously, you've got a better chance of it raining falafel than seeing a noble pony run; but still, fashion demands it. Now, if it were slid up to here, it would be a bit more out of the way, and then you could add embellishments underneath, like the floral stitching pattern quite in vogue this season.”
Rarity paused and considered this. “But that would…” She leaned in and squinted, and then straightened up. “Actually, you have a very valid point. How did you know that?”
The changeling Rarity grinned. “I’ve been around ponies longer than you’ve been alive, miss Rarity. I may not know everything about fashion, but I know when something looks awkward on a pony.”
Rarity turned to the other changeling, who also flared green fire and appeared as Rarity. “I can make cupcakes?” he offered.
Rarity clapped her hooves together and ignored the fact that his imitation of her mane curled the wrong way. “Great. You’ll be our model.” She lit her horn and pulled the dress off the mannequin. “Up top, please!”
* * *
Applejack trotted in front of her two changelings. “So, today I guess you’ll be working in the orchard with me! Doesn’t that sound great?”
The changelings visibly hesitated.
“It’s gonna be great,” Applejack said firmly. “There’s nothing like a nice, long day of hard work, leaving you tired, but with a good feeling inside. Does a pony good.” She paused. “Er, so to speak. You know what I mean. Hard work. Now, bucking apples isn’t that hard, once you get a good rhythm.” She turned around so her hindquarters were towards the tree…
And then she realized that she was all by herself. “Hey. Where’d you go?” she called, but she got no answer. She looked around, frowning. Where had they gone?
She checked behind the trees, she checked up in the trees, she checked under bushes and even in a nearby pond; but there were no changelings to be seen. She chewed on her lower lip.
And then she heard her sister.
“Hey, Applejack?” Apple Bloom called. “Why are there changelings hiding in the kitchen?”
And a little smile spread across Applejack’s face. They didn’t want to work in the orchard, did they? Well, they’d regret that decision.
* * *
A yellow pegasus with a long pink mane sat outside on the grass, eyes closed, breathing gently and easily. A little bird flew over and perched on her head and warbled a few bars before deciding that her head was safe enough to rest on a bit longer. He was soon joined by another, and then another.
From inside the house, Fluttershy and another changeling watched from a window as more animals poked their heads out from their holes and burrows and went over to say hi.
“He's good,” Fluttershy whispered.
The other changeling, Cri, nodded, also impressed. Tindr was a quiet changeling, mostly keeping to himself. It had been a surprise when he had volunteered for this expedition. Yet he had clearly taken to this job well. It wasn't long before he was surrounded by trusting animals.
“I like him. I hope he stays,” Fluttershy murmured as she watched him tenderly pet a squirrel.
Cri could taste her emotions. She was hopeful. This was likely the first other pony who could stay quiet like her. And Cri knew all about her staying quiet--it had taken a good hour and a half before she had calmed down enough to actually talk with them. He grinned wryly as he watched Tindr cuddle up with a rabbit. He had the distinct feeling that he would be returning to the library alone tonight.
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well then, seems things are going well for the integration group, ahem.
NOTHING CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG.
another excellent chapter good sir.
great chapter, love the story
7022441 Watc... err read as everything goes wrong
...... DANG!
you are GOOD! 
Yeah, it all looks good and dandy, just wait till someone slips up and all poop explodes everywhere!
Keep going! ;)
Can anyone else imagine a conga line of changlings bouncing up and down the streets of ponyville
Should be capitalized.
Raindropsen is the easiest to pronounce, and the most elegant in my opinion.
7022978
wouldn't it just be raindrops? I mean, the name is already a plural
7022441
Those two with AJ are bucked if AJ's smile, that has nothing at all to do with being happy for them, is any indication.
...but a few of them will probably do ok. I like Tindr, I think Tindr and Fluttershy will get along just fine. I do worry about Rarity however, she's a tiny bit narcissistic and her changeling duplicate is only feeding that trait leaving the other one a walking pincushion. Owch!
Looking to the future, hollidays will get a lot more interesting; Hearts and Hooves will be a feeding frenzy (but it always has been before the changeling reveal), Nightmare Night could have a Thriller inspired number complete with dozens of zompony extras as backup dancers, and who's to say what couild happen during Hearths Warming Day if Twilight gets it in her head to re-enact Saint Nicholas in some fashion-- all the
elveschangelings build toys for the good foals which she then delivers overnight, the foals excitement and love then returns to Twilight who then redirects that love energy to all herhelpersdrones.This is of course assuming hives don't go dormant for Winter. Seen it a few times where a story's changeling lore states they are cold blooded or just far more susceptible to the cold than their fur-covered targets (chitin being a horrible thermal insulator and the holes just cool them off faster). This would explain the lack of changelings anywhere near the Crystal Empire despite that crystal heart pumping out love and good vibes like a magic Horn of Plenty.
Twilight might get lonely if all her subjects go into hibernation, leaving her to cuddle Spike incessantly to make up for it all. Knowing her, she'd think of some way to get around nature, although digging deep where the temperature never really changes much is a good way of
terrifyingsurprising Ponyville with a vast underground hive town mirroring the one above. I could see Pinkie commandeering a portion to expand her Party Bunker.Huh, there's a frightening thought; Pinkie Pie becomes a changeling queen... Queen of Parties. And you thought a mindless mirror-pool army of pronking pink ponies pontificating, "Fun!" was bad. Lets try that again with a hive-wide intelligence behind it! No party would be safe from their presence, parties that you didn't even know you needed apparently, ready to be catered at a moment's notice because happy ponies are delicious ponies...
Noooo
why did you have to jinx it
I don't think she literally meant to walk that way.
But anyways, we need pictures of pronking changlings, STAT.
It actually looks like everyone but Applejack's and possibly Rainbow Dash's set (although Dash might make nice after having "punished" them) will get along well with their ponies.
I'm more worried about the townsponies, now.
How long do normal changelings live anyway? How old is Rarity?
Cri X Fluttershy!
7023013 Hmm… Raindrops as a plural sounds too much like a regular English word.
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
7023036 Everypony gets a 'you are now trapped in a pod for the rest of your life' party, and trust me, they will be the most amazing, if last, party they ever have.
Well this chapter is sertanly interesting.
I'm assuming this was after the mirror pool, so there's no way this could cause a considerable amount of fuss.
MOAR!!!!
Plz?
MOAR!!!
This story is awesome!!! :)
That's adorable.
Tell me, do the Mane Six know Twi-Twi is a changeling yet?
Oh I know a certain character who could make that happen later.
Wrie: "And I thought having to buck ponies was bad."