All I really need's a smile, smile, smile!

by Lightening_Zing

Giggle at the ghosties! (Senpakuxkira Rev.I)

"Mrs. Cake, I'm going out! I'll be late!" Yelled Pinkie, standing in the door of Sugarcube Corner and looking outside.
It was late evening and she finished all her chores. Streets of Ponyville were getting empty, night life in Ponyville was poorly developed comparing to this of Canterlot or Fillydelphia. There were a few clubs, opened all night long but most of ponies preferred sleeping over partying. Of all of Pinkie only Rainbow Dash hit the clubs and bars regularly. Pinkie came along with her sometimes and it was great fun; at least if Dash didn't get wasted. She didn't know her limits, and when inebriated she was often starting brawls or being very emotional, whining to anypony about her problems. She was a worse drama queen than Rarity.
Rarity on the otherhoof had these "classy evenings" as she described it that she attended.
The Apples sometimes had "wild country nights” in the barn. According to Applejack it was just good old fashion earth pony fun and by that she meant hard cider, dances, country music and occasionally fights; [it was a great way to went off to many ponies. (This doesn’t make sense, but I’m not sure how to change it.)] Twilight had Roleplaying Club meetings every two weeks. Pinkie could understand why it was fun, but for her it would be weird. Changeling disguised as pony, roleplaying some fantasy creatures... It was like a box inside a box inside another box and so on.
Fluttershy was too shy to hit clubs, but Rainbow Dash said she took her to wild party in somepony house when they were still in flight camp. If what Rainbow said was true then at this party Fluttershy became a demon. She was drinking like tomorrow wouldn't come, flirting with hottest colts at the party, singing songs loud and proud while taking revenge on everypony who wronged her somehow. She was so radical that nopony could believe that such a beast was inside such a meek pegasus. It was for the best she didn't remember what she was doing that night. Same could be said for half of the party goers.
"Dearie, where are you going? Will you be safe?" Asked Mrs. Cake with a motherly concern.
"Yeah, I'm a very responsible mare. Pinkamena Responsibility Diane Pie is my name." She grinned to Mrs. Cake. Her concern was like evening tea to Pinkie; pleasant, smooth, and soothing. Mrs. Cake face scrunched up in uncertainty. "Besides I'll be with Fluttershy." Pinkie added to reassure older mare and it looked that it worked.
"Oh, okay. Give her my regards."
"Will do! See ya Mrs. Cake!" And with no further ado Pinkie was off to Fluttershy.
The trip to Fluttershy’s was quite uneventful, after a few minutes of trotting she was in front of Fluttershy's cottage door. The inside was lighted, so somepony should be inside. Pinkie knocked and waited for a response. After several seconds she knocked again and there still was no response. For a moment Pinkie was afraid that Fluttershy was afraid of her and decided to hide from her or she decided to report Pinkie to guards and it was a trap. It could happen. That had to be it! Fluttershy wasn't her friend at all!
"Pinkie, cut it out, you’re going Pinkamena again..." She whispered to herself.
She was about to turn over and go straight to the camp, but then door opened.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Pinkie, I didn't hear you..." she heard a soft voice say.
"Hiya Fluttershy, I wanted to talk with you. Could we go inside?"
"Um, I would rather not... I mean, can we talk outside?" Fluttershy responded hesitantly.
"Angel?" Pinkie asked knowingly.
"K-kind of..."
"Yeah, I sometimes wonder who’s the pet and who’s the owner..." Pinkie whispered under her breath.
"Um, I'm sorry. I didn't hear what you said."
"Oh, nothing, just thinking to myself. I'm good for a walk!"
"O-okay, just let me get my things." And with that she again disappeared inside the house. She appeared again with saddlebags on her back, and key in her mouth. She locked the door and turned to Pinkie.
"Shy, why do you have bags?"
"You asked me to come and take care of the changelings."
"Yes, but Fluttershy, are you reaaally ready? I don't want to scare you."
"I am scared, yes, but it's something I should do..."
"That was something I wanted to talk with you about. Could we go somewhere more secure?"
Fluttershy nodded in answer, so Pinkie started to bounce towards Everfree Forest. The yellow pegasus gulped, and followed her eccentric friend.
Everfree was a mysterious place; things behaved differently there than anywhere else in Equestria. Uncontrollable weather, animals taking care for themselves, plants growing without a care, without order... It was something incomprehensible for most of Ponyvillians and it made them uncomfortable. There were few ponies with differentiating outlook, like Apple Bloom; she wasn't scared and she even said that she doesn't understand what's wrong with it. And there was Zecora, a zebra, who said she lives in Everfree because it's untainted by pony civilization.
"Sooo I want to warn you, we aren’t very pretty not when we’re hungry. You saw them at the invasion. And many of them look at ponies only as food source... So they won't be pleasant. I came to a solution, I could transport wounded to your place an-"
"No, Pinkie! If they are seriously wounded they shouldn't be moved!" Interrupted Fluttershy with confidence in her voice... only to this confidence melt away second later. "I-I'm sorry I interrupted you, but you could hurt them even more by moving them."
"Okie-Dokie, I get it, Shy. I didn’t want you feel like there wasn’t another option."
Fluttershy stopped and prodded the ground with her hoof. She wanted to ask something but had to gather her courage. Pinkie waited she knew that the meek pegasus would ask her questions when she was ready. She only needed time.
"Um, Pinkie, I have a few questions about your kind... if you don't mind." She finally asked.
Pinkie turned to her and looked around. There shouldn't be anypony nearby, but better safe than sorry.
"It's looks like we’re deep enough inside, and nopony is around so ask me all you want" Pinkie encouraged grinning.
"Okay..." Fluttershy sighed. "Can't changelings able to feed on their own love? Or are your emotions different somehow?"
Pinkie’s eyes widened, but quickly she remembered the pegasus pony couldn't have known what her question entailed.
"Fluttershy, it's like asking why hungry ponies don't eat themselves. It's like cannibalism. Yes, changelings can feed on their own love or the emotions of other lings, but it's monstrous to even consider it as solution."
"Couldn't you, um, feed on yourselves like you on Ponyville?"
"No, it's not possible Shy. If everyling feed on everyling that… well you know that when animal eats fruit or something that not all of nutrients are absorbed? It’s the same with Love."
"But, are you able to feel? I mean... feelings are food? So what's different between feeling from a pony and feelings for changelings?"
"It's hard to explain and I don't remember too much... It's complicated. Feeling emotions and feeding on them is different. We are capable of feeling, you know, and we can feed on our own emotions. Okay, I think I know how to explain it! Okay, Flutters, imagine you have a tree. A tree that’s able to eat fruits of other trees. I know, it's silly, because trees can't eat, but it doesn't matter, it's hypothetical." Pinkie noticed Fluttershy’s dumbfounded expression. "What? Oh, sorry I think I’m spending too much time around Twilight." Pinkie chuckled; the truth was she knew a lot of words, but she preferred not to use them. The way she saw it, it's better to be considered funny than smart. Smart ponies are busy or are used by other ponies as advice givers, when funny ponies had fun.
"So, we have two fruit eating trees! What would happen if they would try to fed on each other, Fluttershy?"
"Um, they..." Fluttershy began, only to be interrupted by Pinkie.
"They would eventually starve from lack of nutrients. Same goes with changelings. You can't eat a cake and have a cake. Shame, it would be handy. In some cases we do fed on emotions of other lings, like feeding kids or couples. When we say "You’re so sweet to me" or "We give our foal all the love we can" it isn’t a metaphor. But those are special cases. In case of lovers - it's cultural thing, letting lovers to taste each other feelings, some kind of fetish or something. Foals must be fed this way, to ensure their proper development. Why? I don't know."
"I see you are very different..."
"You betcha. I sometimes wish to be born as pony. But I was hatched as Queen..." sighed the disguised changeling.
"Oh, that's another question, how your kind deals with family? I mean I know you have a sister but, um, what about kids, mothers, and fathers."
"Well my sister’s and my eggs were hatched by our mother, the previous Queen. Eggs of other changelings are hatched by Mothers, special kinds of changelings, and then are distributed to changeling couples who take them as their own. We don’t breed like ponies, where any mare can have foals with any stallion. Sure, females and males can still… well you know." Fluttershy blushed a bit. Pinkie continued. "The Mothers are the ones who decide if couples who can have foals. It ensures that our children will be loved, won't be born into poverty."
"Members of family aren't related? It's rather strange."
"Weeell, you could say everyone is someone's brother or sister, maybe cousin, by pony standards. We see it differently. At least I remember it so." Pinkie replied.
"I-It makes sense. You said Mothers are special kind of changelings are there other kinds?"
"There are three basic types: Warriors, Gatherers, and Workers. Warriors are very good fliers, have decent amount of strength, and weak, simple magic. Gatherers are decent fliers, have weak bodies comparing to these of soldiers, and their magic is slightly worse than these of unicorns. Workers are weak, very weak fliers, but have very decent amounts of strength, their bodies are often endure more thanks to their larger size, thicker shells, and have slightly better magic than warriors. Being one from these three types doesn't sentence you to a usual job of said body type. Being a Warrior doesn't mean you have to join the army. Oh there are Queens too, but we are unique..."
"It sounds like pony races." noticed Fluttershy.
"Yeah, you can say that... They are quite similar, warriors as pegasi, gatherers as unicorn, and workers as earthponies... But any changeling isn't born into warrior, gatherer or worker. Before that is a type named by someling called "nymphs". That body is average in any characteristics comparing to other types. Weaker fliers than warriors, weaker magic than gatherers, weaker bodies than workers, but better magic than warriors, stronger body than gatherer, better fliers than workers. Their body is..." Pinkie stopped searching for word.
"More universal? A base for other forms?" suggested Fluttershy.
"Yes, that's it! So, thanks to this universality, young changeling can discover which ‘race’ they belong in. When they finally discover it their body starts to change into its destined race. It’s like everypony was born a weak alicorn that with the discovery of his or her cutie mark changes into pegasi, unicorn or earthpony. Some lings don't find out what ‘race’ is for them. They will always be "nymphs" but it doesn't make them worse or unable to live among us. They just have it harder to find their place in The Swarm and find their talent or job."
"But you said there are special kinds... Could you tell me more about them? If you want to that is."
"There are Mothers. They are designed specifically to lay eggs. It's one of most important and respected jobs in the Swarm. They even have their own Council, they have power to oppose the Queen and counsel her actions. The details are hard for me to describe, I’ve never met one. I was... afraid." She paused a moment to remember the other kinds of lings. "There are Recons. You can say they are between warriors and gatherers. Good fliers, good magic, but worse than this of gatherers, and rather declined into illusions, bodies slightly better than that of gatherer. If comparing to pony races, you could match them to pegacorns. There are a few special workers class, I don't quite remember them now, but for now I only remember Goliaths. They were just bigger, stronger versions of workers, but they don't have wings, and their magic is pretty weak. It would be like slightly bigger Big Macs with telekinesis. Yup, it's pretty complicated. And special changelings are usually created by transforming from basic types of changelings."
"Okay, I think I know all I need for now"
"Okie-Dokie, are you sure you are ready for this?"
"Yes." Fluttershy replied with shaky determination.
They started to travel towards hidden camp. Fluttershy was shivering. Pinkie wasn't quite sure if she was scared from dark forest or oncoming meeting with changelings.
"Chrys, I'm bringing Fluttershy. Do you prepare lings for her arrival?" She asked Chrysalis using mind-link.
"Yes, but you know I'm losing control over our subjects. I don't know if it’s good idea." her sister answered with doubt in her voice.
"If everything goes smooth, that won't be problem. I'll be there in a few minutes with her."
Fluttershy was now walking very close to Pinkie, she was scared of forest. The forest after dark was full of alien sounds to the pony. Thousands of sounds of distant animals and bugs. Most of them were rather quiet, but together they were creating atmosphere of danger. For Pinkie it was easier because she was using her double eyelids to brighten her vision. But for Fluttershy it was slightly brighter than darkness of the sky. It was too dark to actually distinguish any shape from the background. She wasn't sure if everything around her were trees or monsters. She was sure there were monsters watching her from behind the trees. She was sure she saw whites of eyes. Her legs started to shake. She heard something like monster panting. Then she tripped over something. She screamed quietly as to not bring any monsters to them.
"P-pinkie?" She asked whispered fearfuly.
Then she saw bright pink light. And then she screamed again, in front of her was standing a terrifying creature, Queen Chrysalis! But monster wasn't attacking. Fluttershy carefully opened her eye. That was Pinkie in her natural form, using her horn to light the area around them.
"Sorry, Fluttershy, I thought about it too late. I should have thought about it earlier."
Her light wasn't much, but it made the area around them brighter, and showed that it was monsterless.
"I-I'm sorry Pinkie... Can I call you Pinkie when you are Queen...?"
"It’s no biggie Fluttershy, I'll be always Pinkie to you. I don’t really like my original name."
"Why not? It sounds like a good name." Fluttershy stood up. She was still terrified, but she was slowly calming down.
"Filly, please. Metamorphosis. I know in my family long names are tradition, but that's just silly."
"It's a pretty name. It reminds me of butterflies."
"Yup, I know. But it's too long. And when Chrysalis shortens it to Morpha it sounds just awful... I like Pinkie more."
"But you often are using Pinkamena Diana Pie as name..." objected in soft voice yellow pegasus.
"...I know, but it's still better than Metamorphosis."
"I like Metamorphosis."
"Thanks Shy. I'm sorry I scared you."
"No, no, I'm sorry I was scared."
"Fluttershy, that was my fault."
"No, no, don't think that! It was my fault I was scared."
"Shy..." Pinkie broke out in laughter at their exchange. They started to giggling. It made the rest of the travel to the ruins much easier and reminded each other of when they were going through the Everfree with Twilight to the ruins of the princesses castle to find the Elements of Harmony and stop Nightmare Moon. Pinkie even sang her song from this adventure. After half of hour they reached ruins, from there the entrance to the dungeons was close. Pinkie was slightly worried.
"Chrysalis, pleaaase don't scare her."
"Maybe you except me to hide myself to not scare her?" Chrysalis groaned in response.
"That's an idea..." Pinkie felt surge of animosity from her sister. "I was just joking, relax!"
"I'm stressed, okay? Don't push me."
"Okay, okay, just try to not be intimidating."
"I'm not a monster, you know." Chrysalis wasn't in the mood for this.
"Okie-Dokie."
Pinkie turned to Fluttershy. She looked fine, not scared at all. Or at least as scared that is possible for Fluttershy. But...
"Fluttershy, listen. I'll lead you and we will reach main hall. There most of the changelings will be there. Probably my sister too..."
"Chrysalis?" Fluttershy asked fearfully.
"Yes... Did I forgot to say you that?"
"Y-yes..."
"Oops... Listen, I will be there with you. And Chrys is nice if you get know her better and she's in good mood. She just bad with ponies..."
"D-did you mean to ponies?"
"Well...that too, but I want to change her. Sides, you are my friend it’ll be okay." Pinkie tried to give Fluttershy her most encouraging smile. It seemed to work, because pegaus nodded determined. Pinkie entered the tunnel, and Fluttershy followed. She seemed to manage her fear enough to dwell through the tight, dark tunnel.
Then they reached the main hall all the changelings were there. Hundreds of eyes hidden behind external eyelids turned toward them. All of them were standing still, just watching.
On other end of hall was Chrysalis with four guards at her sides. She was sitting, and trying to look as regal as she could.
"Welcome to our camp, pegasus Fluttershy. We have been waiting for you." She greeted the pony even managing to smile without a hint of disgust.
In that moment Fluttershy fainted.
"Of all the possible things..." Sighed Pinkie.

Author's Note:

Big thanks to Senpakuxkira for revising it!

Comments

[lord britannic]

Love the story and can't wait for the rest of the main six to show up but really care about the different changeling classes

[Perteks]

Damn gimme more ;D

[Morphile]

May I suggest "archaic" or ancient changelings, like an Ursa Minor size Goliath or a free morphing one.

[Trixie Treats]

You need a beta BAD

Nice fic though, otherwise!

[MidnightLightGlimmer]

Did I forgot to say you that?
Tell....... is English your first language?

[flutterboot]

OH GAWD MAI EYES

I mean, this story is amazing, and the concept is really good too. But hOLY SCHISSE THIS CHAPTERRRRRRRRRRRR.

HHHHHHRRRRRRNNNNNNGGGGGGG

[The Weaver]

I remember now why i gave this a thumbs down...

Great story. I'm sure it would look beautiful in your native tongue but i want to gouge my eyes out!