• Published 17th May 2016
  • 964 Views, 18 Comments

Pinkie's Surprise Quest - Shaded Changeling



Surprise wants to find his home, Pinkie decides to help him with that the only way she can think of, they go on a journey across all of Equestria. What could possibly go wrong?

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An Average Afternoon

Over Thirty years ago, a single Hive dropped off the face of the planet. Communications were suddenly cut off with the Hive and all the Queens thought the worst had happened.

The strange thing though, there was no sign of any struggle at all. There was no blood, no burnt husks; even the cakes were still warm. It was like walking into a ghost town, except there was confetti everywhere and occasional cannons that blew up in your face, or splattered you with cake.

The Hive had been searched thoroughly, every crevice, every water source, every pool of emotion. They even checked all the cakes! Not a single sign of any Changelings within, the only thing that proved they weren’t all dead, was the fact the Queen left a note saying ‘Bye Bye, be in touch’. Since then, the Queens of Equestria have been trying to find the missing Hive, coming no closer than they had when they started, at least, until around a month ago.

Around three weeks ago, there was a raid conducted on the small town of Ponyville, trying to find any Changelings that were hiding amongst the populace. They managed to find one from nearly every Hive, including the missing Hive. After Queen Acari had detained him, he had been questioned about his life. Leading to them finding out he had no idea where the Swarm was either.

He was not connected to any Hivemind, so there was no way to trace back to the Hive. Eventually, the Changeling was let go, and he began trying to find a place for himself, and eventually found it with Pinkamena Diane Pie, a baker from Ponyville. The two shared a similar love of making ponies smile, and Surprise now lives with Pinkie as a member of her family.

In fact, the two of them were just at Pinkie’s family’s Rock Farm, out to the west of Ponyville.

As the train pulled up to the station, Pinkie Pie bounced of the train and began hopping back and forth. “Oh... Wasn’t that just the best sudden family reunion you’ve ever had?”

Surprise walked off the train, his current disguise, a white and yellow Pegasus mare with similar mane and tail to Pinkie. “I don’t know, Pinkie… Lime didn’t seem to like me…”

“What? Are you Cah-razy! She absolutely loved you! I know that it looked like she wanted to throw you off a cliff. But that’s just her normal greeting.” She zipped next to Surprise. “Just be glad you didn’t touch Holder’s Boulder. She get’s really mean when you do.”

Surprise let out a sigh. “Are you sure? I don’t know… Is Marble usually that quiet… and Maud that… Blank?”

“Oh don’t worry Marble loved you too. Maud was happy to have you as a family member.”

“I’m not so…”

“Come here you!” She grabbed Surprise and pulled him into a hug, letting her happiness flow into Surprise. “I know that Mom and Dad were a bit… defensive at first. But they will warm up to you.”

“Well… If you’re sure…” Surprise replied, drawing on the happiness Pinkie always generated. “What are the plans for today?”

Pinkie took a deep breath. “Well, I was thinking, maybe I could show you how to cook cupcakes! I know that you had trouble your first few times, but I bet that seventeen is your lucky number!”

Surprise nodded. “Alright… But can you make sure I don’t add too much yeast this time?”

“Okie Dokie Loki! Now let’s go. I’ve got to pick up some sugar to make some sweeeeeeet Cupcakes!”

Surprise smiled at Pinkie. “Well let’s go! I won’t refuse free Cupcakes!” He bounced up and down a few times, his wings flapping a bit to cushion the landing, he wasn’t as used to constant hopping as Pinkie, and couldn’t do it as long.

“There’s the Surprise I know!” She said beginning to hop. “Now we just have to go put away the rock candy and paper and then we can head out to get us some delicious sugar for the cupcakes.”

“I’m right behind you, Pinkie!” Surprise said, taking off from the ground.

“No. You’re above me.”

Surprise flapped his wings and moved forward. “And now I’m in front.” He flapped his wings again to push himself back. “Behind. Front. Behind. Front.”

“Under!” Pinkie hopped onto Surprise’s back, landing and raising both her hooves over her head. Surprise chuckled and slammed his wings shut instinctively, looking down at the ground. “Whoops…”

Surprise expected to fall, but instead found himself being held by Pinkie’s hooves as her tail was wrapped around the train station’s rafters. “Thanks Pinkie…”

“You know, for a Changeling, you are pretty light.” Pinkie replied. “Those cupcakes you eat must go right through you.”

Surprise smiled nervously. “Eh heh… yeah…” He cleared his throat. “Um… Pinkie… You can let go of…”

Pinkie dropped Surprise, who’s wings shot open and slowed him down before he hit the ground, as he did, he swung his tail under his body and bounced up with a light twang. As he landed on all fours, Pinkie was clapping with her tail still wrapped around the rafter. “And he sticks the landing!”

Surprise bowed. “But can his opponent do the same?”

Pinkie squinted at Surprise, before flipping over the rafter and landing perfectly on her hind legs. “How’s that?”

Surprise held up a sign that had a black ‘10’ drawn on it. “The Changeling judge gives it a ten.”

Surprise looked to his left to see Pinkie wearing a mustache holding up a nine. “Pink judge gives nine.”

Surprise nodded. “And what does the other judge think?” He looked over at a bucket full of turnips, propped against it was the number five.

“We’re sorry, Miss Pie, but you cannot win them all.” He stood up and Pinkie dropped in front of him.

“Wait! I can do better!”

“I’m sorry Miss Pie, but Mister Turnip is a rather difficult judge to convince.”

“NOOOOOOO!!!” Pinkie said falling to her hind legs and raising her front hooves up to the air. She took a deep breath. “Cupcake time!”

Surprise began bouncing next to Pinkie Pie as the two hopped down the street. “What kind of things should we put on the Cupcakes?”

“Well I’d hope we put Frosting. Oh! And Sprinkles!”

“A Cherry?”

Pinkie gasped. “Yes!”

“I’ll get the flour and eggs!” Surprise said.

“I got the cherry and sprinkles!” Pinkie announced as the two stopped hopping and both of their hind legs began spinning up in the air before connecting with the ground and leaving two pony shaped clouds as the two of them dashed down the streets, both of them heading towards the marketplace. Once there, the two strips of yellow and pink split off and began running around the area. Each one stopping right in front of a vender and handing over the bits before grabbing the items, and quickly dashing off to find more. When both of them finally met up in the middle, they had large bags on their backs, they hoofbumped as the two began walking towards Sugar Cube Corner, preparing for the day of baking ahead of them.

When they entered Sugar Cube Corner, Mr. Cake was standing at the counter, looking at the supplies the two were carrying, and he held back a sigh. “Honeybunch, it looks like Pinkie and Surprise are going to use the kitchen again.”

Mrs. Cake looked out at the two ponies, enthusiastically grinning at her. “Well, dearies, try not to destroy it, and Surprise, I expect you to let us use it should we need to.”

“Of course, Mrs. Cake. You can have it whenever you need.” Surprise replied. “I just want to try and get baking down, so that I could be some use here.”

“Oh you don’t have to, with three bakers here you hardly need to.” Mr. Cake replied.

“Yeah… But I want to, this is my new life after all, I might as well be helpful.”

“Well, if you are sure, dearie, just make sure it stays relatively clean.”

“All right, Mrs. Cake I’ll make sure Surprise doesn’t ruin the kitchen. We have Cupcakes to make!” Pinkie said before grabbing Surprise and the bag and dashing towards the kitchen. Once there, Pinkie dashed around, grabbing a bowl, the cupcake tray, an egg beater, a spoon, multiple measuring cups, and a large bag of sugar.

Surprise, meanwhile, was busily getting the purchased ingredients out of the bags and placing them on the counter, he also made sure to stay out of the way of any of the materials Pinkie was launching across the room. When both of them had finished their tasks, they both stood in front of the large bowl. Surprise was covered in a yellow flame as his chartreuse wings and eyes were exposed. His back plate was a darker amber-color as his small fangs poked out through his smile.

“You ready, Surprise?” Pinkie asked, grabbing a cookbook.

“You bet.” Surprise’s horn lit up as he prepped himself to begin trying to bake again. “Seventeenth time’s the charm.”

“AAAAaaaaand… GO!”


Three tries and around an hour and a half later, Surprise had five burnt rocks, five gooey messes, and one that was somehow both burnt and undercooked. He was now watching the oven as his latest batch was cooking, he glared into the machine, trying to will it to keep the cupcakes nice and cooked without burning them. He heard the ticking of the alarm he set, waiting for it to begin ringing so he could grab the cupcakes.

Please be right… Please be right… Please be right…

He heard the ringing begin and threw open the oven door, reaching it and grabbing the cupcake tray in his gloved hooves, pulling them out of the hot oven, juggling the burning hot tray in his hooves before putting it on the counter. Please don’t be burnt…

He looked over the still warm Cupcakes and let out a sigh when he saw a golden brown coloration. Pinkie peered out from behind him to look at the cupcakes. “Nice work, Surprise. They look perfect.”

“But how do they taste?” Surprise asked, his horn lighting up as he removed one of the cupcakes and levitated it over to Pinkie, who grabbed it out of the air in her mouth, chewing on the confection before her tongue shot out of her mouth with the wrapper on it. Surprise took the wrapper and threw it in the trash using his magic. “So?”

“Yummy!” Pinkie said. “It’s slightly gooey on the inside but overall it tastes delicious.” Pinkie stepped out fully from behind Surprise. “Now we need to decorate them.” Pinkie pulled out a decorating kit from Celestia knows where, and placed it on the counter. “I think you should do the honors. I need to get out there and entertain some ponies. Wanna come?”

Surprise looked out at the sweets shop, seeing the crowd of foals and ponies all talking amongst themselves. “I’ll come and join you once I get these decorated.”

“Okie Dokie, Loki! I’ll hold off on the Magic show until you’re ready. You think we should start or finish with the hat trick?”

Surprise tapped his chin. “Let’s start off with it, that way we could make my entrance a surprise!”

Pinkie giggled. “Alright then, I’ll get the balloons ready!” Pinkie zipped out of the room, leaving Surprise alone, once he was sure she was gone, he let out a deep sigh. “I should have told her…” He said.

“But if you tell her, then she may not understand.” His Mind said back to him.

“But still… Maybe she could help.”

“Or she could just make it worse.”

Surprise sighed. “I can’t keep hiding this… She deserves to know…”

“Listen, we can talk to Twilight about it tomorrow if it is still bugging you. But we shouldn’t tell Pinkie. Queen knows what she could do.” His mind rationalized.

“You’re right…” He sighed. “I should talk to Twilight…” He paused for a moment. “I need to stop talking to myself… I have others around me now… I’m doing it again…” He groaned.

He reached over and grabbed a bowl of frosting, lifting the knife in his magic before grabbing one of the cupcakes and beginning to coat the top in frosting, one of the things he could do flawlessly from all the times Pinkie had him help her. So he let his mind wander a bit, coming to a stop on one of his first encounters with a pony.

He had lived mostly off of rabbits and squirrels, feeding off the small traces of emotion during his Pupation, but once he grew up, the small traces weren’t enough. He needed more, so it was just his luck that a group of ponies were walking through the forest at the time, or his misfortune.

He remembered seeing the shiny gold that he found out later was Royal Guard armor, he climbed up the trees, following behind the strange creatures that looked like him but weren’t him. It had gone pretty well too, up until he misjudged the distance and fell to the ground behind them.

All four of the guards had turned at the noise, coming face to face with the young Changeling, his carapace was covered in mud and scratches, his tail was a matted mess, and his horn was still tiny. He turned to look at them, instinctively making himself smaller to show he wasn’t a threat, but being met with confusion from the Guards.

They had talked, but Surprise couldn’t remember what they had said, one of them had a stick with a sharp end… or three of them… He couldn’t remember. The ones that had sticks lowered them at Surprise, they spoke some more, and one of them looked back at the blank one, without wings or a horn, he was blank to Surprise, which was strange since he was the only other thing that was blank.

The Guards talked again, and one of them moved their pointed stick closer, and Surprise began shaking, he hadn’t seen this before and when the stick poked him in the side, Surprise ran away from the four of them. He maneuvered around the roots and branches quickly and easily, but heard the guards stomping towards him.

“Surprise?”

Surprise blinked as he was brought back to the present, he looked to his left to see Mrs. Cake standing there, looking at the Cupcakes on the finished plate. “Are you all right, dearie?”

“Yes, Mrs. Cake, why do you ask?”

“Because you have been putting frosting on the wall since I walked in.” Surprise looked at the wall in front of him, the knife was still slathering the frosting over the wall. “Are you sure there is nothing bothering you?”

Surprise smiled as he pulled the knife away from the wall. “Everything is just fine Mrs. Cake. I just got lost in my thoughts…” He cast his eyes down towards the cupcakes, each one covered in frosting. He picked up the plate and handed it to Mrs. Cake. “I promise, I’m alright, don’t worry about me.”

Mrs. Cake looked over him, a worried expression on her face. “Are you sure you shouldn’t talk to somepony about this?”

Surprise sighed. “I’m fine Mrs. Cake. I’m just a little shocked by Pinkie’s family, that’s all. I’ll be better tomorrow.”

Mrs. Cake sighed. “If you are sure. But I want you to get some sleep tonight, no sweets, alright?”

Surprise nodded. “I promise I’ll get some sleep tonight. You don’t need to worry.”

“I’ll trust you here, Surprise, and Pinkie needs your help with entertaining the foals.”

Surprise smiled. “Tell her I’m ready.”


“Now behold, the great Pinkdini will now perform one of the greatest feats in magic!” Pinkie said, she was wearing a black cape, a long twirly mustache on her face, a small magical wand in her hoof. On her head was a tall magician hat.

“Now check for yourselves,” She removed the hat and turned it so that the foals could see. “Nothing in the hat, nothing on the hat, no strings attached.” She waved her hoof over the hat. “Now, watch as I create a pony from thin air!”

She placed the hat on the ground and waved the magic wand over it a few times. “Ala-kadbra!” She tapped rim of the hat and took a step back.

She waved at the hat as it began shaking, all of the foals’ attention locked on the hat, waiting to see something happen. The hat continued to shake before it stopped shaking and sat still. “Wait for it…”

Surprise launched himself out of the hat, fully disguised, there was an explosion of confetti as he did a little flip and landed on his hind hooves, he reached into his mane and pulled out a bouquet of flowers, which he tossed out towards the audience before giving a bow, the foals all clapped at the display, as well as the free roses.

Surprise felt a little giddy at the amount of joy he felt from the foals. He fell down to his four hooves and smiled at Pinkie. “The great Pinkdini!”

The foals cheered at them and clapped in excitement. Pinkie looked out at them and bowed. “There is much more where that came from!”


The party went well, the cupcakes Surprise made weren’t terrible, and the foals actually enjoyed them. To top that all off, Surprise now had more emotion to add to his stockpile, which was already enough to last him a few months should he need to go that long without either pony contact, a very real threat before, or without Pinkie.

But now that the party had died down, and Luna’s night had overtaken the sky, and Surprise was undisguised and looking out at the distance, letting out a heavy sigh. He continued to fidget with the small spherical crystal in his hooves, the crystal giving off a small yellow light as he continued to unconsciously fill it with stored emotion.

“Why was I left…” He said quietly, looking down at the crystal. “I don’t know anything about them…” He moved the crystal in his hooves. “Where they are, who my parents are… I don’t even know my Queen’s name…” He sighed as the crystal began to glow a little brighter. “How am I supposed to be able to find them?”

He looked back over at the star-filled sky, seeing the small shards of light blinking back at him. “Why is this bothering me? I never had this much trouble with it before…”

He continued to look out at the night sky until the door opened and Pinkie walked in, as usual a smile was on her face, Surprise quickly turned with a smile on his face to greet Pinkie. “That was some show, huh Surprise?” She said, Gummy clinging onto her tail, she was wearing her sleeping cap on top of her mane. “I bet you felt nice and full after that.”

Surprise chuckled. “Yup, I felt nice and full. Nice job on the Party Cannon, I thought for sure you put too much in there.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t do anything too dangerous.” Pinkie hopped onto her bed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get to sleep! I’ve got so much planned that I don’t think I could ev…” She fell backwards onto her bed and began snoring.

Surprise sighed as his smile fell. “I need to tell her… I can’t keep hiding it from her…”

“You don’t even really know her.”

“She’s family…”

“She is also one of the craziest mares you’ve met.”

Surprise sighed. “I should see somepony about talking to myself…”

“You are technically talking to Gummy.” Surprise looked over at the young Alligator, still sitting staring at him with that blank expression.

“I guess that’s true…”

“Tomorrow, we’ll talk to Twilight. She’s been going to the Hives, maybe she found something?”

“Hopefully…” Surprise said with a sigh. “Otherwise I’m out of ideas…” Surprise stopped fidgeting with the crystal and placed it on his bedside table before climbing under the covers. “Goodnight, Gummy. Goodnight, Pinkie.”

Surprise listened to Pinkie’s snoring for a few minutes before he eventually reached the same level of sleep she was at, drifting off into his own world, a small smile spreading across his face as he slept.