Brony Recon: To Live and Love in Equestria

by Freescript the Bard

Finale: To Live and Love in Equestria

Rainchaser's POV

Dash and Aegis were on either side of me, heading for the park when we saw Ben and Storm. "Oh my Celestia, Aegis, it's Ben!"

"Really?" he looked ahead, "holy crap, Ben!"

When we met in the middle, I noticed a small grey unicorn on his back and a blonde pegasus mare leaning on his side. "Hey, Ben," I greeted, "who're they?"

Before Ben could get a word in edgewise, Storm jumped in. "Rain, Aegis, I want you to meet Ben's new fillyfriend, Derpy Hooves, and her daughter, Dinky," she announced royally, "Derpy, meet Rain and her coltfriend and fillyfriend, Aegis and Dash, respectively."

Four jaws hung open. The two unicorns were laughing. Derpy smiled sweetly. I snapped my jaws shut. "You have a fillyfriend?"

"You're polygamist?"

"She has a filly?"

"You're dating another mare?"

"Why are we all asking questions we already know the answers to?" Derpy added innocently. We all stopped for a moment, even the two giggling unicorns. Then all six of us burst into laughter. Even Ben.

"Okay, given how much crap I gave Skyblaze about dating Luna, I think I'll let this slide," said Ben.

"Oh, come on, what we're doing is much more controversial," said Aegis, making me facehoof.

"Nick, there's a time and place to be humble, and right now is probably one of the worst," I grumbled.

"So…" interrupted Storm, "Ben and I checked in with Shift just now. He's doing much better, thanks to Derpy."

"Yeah! Shift turned into mommy, then he said that Ben was in love with mommy," she said, "then Ben gave him a few inspiring words and he was better!"

Dash chuckled. "You're bright for your age, kid," she said, "plus, you're kinda cute."

"That she is," agreed Ben, lowering himself so Dinky could climb on his back again, "you like it up there, don't you?"

"Yeah, you're nice and comfy, Ben." D'aww, she looked so cute when she nuzzled Ben's neck.

"We were just about to go check on Pinkie Pie to see how she's doing with the party," Storm said, "Wanna come along?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm taking these two on a date," I said, Ben giving me a look, "see ya at seven!"

Skyblaze's POV

I woke sleepily, only getting a five hour sleep. "Luna…" I nudged my fillyfriend, "Luna we gotta get up…"

The midnight alicorn blinked open her eyes, looking at my wristwatch/sword. "It's only four-thirty, Sky, let me sleep."

"Luna, we promised Storm we'd be there early," I said, beginning to slide out of the covers.

I was stopped as Luna grabbed me with her hooves. "Please, just… lay with me longer?"

I sighed. "Alright, but only a while--" I was nearly constricted as she pulled me close, her lips brushing mine. "Aw, what the hell." I kissed her.

We lay there, holding each other and keeping our lips locked as we shared a moment that was almost on par with last night. The only thing that was missing at the moment was her in my wings.

I shrugged lightly to myself and tried to make the most of it, wrapping my wings around her neck. She returned the favor by enshrouding me with her own wing-hug. Suddenly, I felt what Luna felt the night when we were both pegasi. A feeling of security, of warmth and comfort, and the burning love I felt for her everyday. In her wings, I felt that nothing could break our love. But, like all dreams, this one had to end. "Come now, Sky," Luna whispered, "we must not be late."

"Aw… can't we--?"

"Don't you start now," she gave me a warning glare as she slid out of bed, "get up."

"Let's at least get coffee together before we go, or I'm never gonna be awake for the rave," I mumbled.

"Starbucks again?" she asked with a smile.

"I swear you can read my mind sometimes."

She chuckled. "Maybe I can…"

I gave her a scared look, only to see her chuckling. "You are such a troll sometimes, ya know?"

"Hello, you two," I turned to see Celestia standing in front of us. "Care for a banana?" She levitated a banana out of a single-pack saddlebag.

"AAAAAHHH!" I jumped behind Luna in fear of the fruit.

My love looked at me, cowering behind her. "Do you have something against bananas Skyblaze?"

I nodded. "Once when I was thirteen, I was at my little brother's baseball game and I was eating a banana. Then it exploded."*

Tia gave me a look. "It… exploded?"

"Well, a baseball landed on it, but instead of flattening it, the banana splattered. To this day, physics cannot solve what happened at that ballpark."

The Royal Sisters gave me blank stares. Then Luna leaned rotated to kiss my forehead. "I love it when you do irrational things."

"It's not irrational! …is it?"

They nodded. "Verily, it is time for us to depart and leave my sister to the accursed exploding fruit," Luna said, guiding me to the front gates of the castle, where I groaned as I beheld a midnight carriage, drawn by four bat-winged pegasi. The wings were enchanted to look like that, and was actually an illusion.

"Ugh… really?" I asked, "can't we just, I don't know, fly down there?

"Unfortunately, we must use these when attending events outside Canterlot," she said, "it's a matter of formality, but I don't understand it either, but Tia says we must to preserve a regal appearance."

"…and ponies wonder why I fear authoritative power," I wondered to myself, "the only use for me is the Empowered Voice."

"Don't make a habit of it," she said with a dangerous tone. We boarded the carriage and Luna ordered the driver to take off. About fifteen minutes out, Luna and I were asleep, leaning against each other with sleepy smiles on our faces.

Aegis' POV

"Hey guys, I see a carriage."

"No schist, Sherlock," answered Rain, using Sky's favorite derogative.

"Buck you, Watson."

Speak of the devil. The carriage, pulled by bat-winged pegasi, landed outside the library. Skyblaze hopped out of the side, yawning and scratching his ear with his back hoof like a dog. I think I remember Pinkie Pie doing something similar in the show. He and Luna trotted over to where we stood. On cue, we were also joined by Ben, Dinky, and Derpy.

Ben was shooting Sky a glare. "So you discover how the Royal Canterlot Voice works, and your first thought is 'I like pie'?" he said shooting daggers at him, then breaking into chuckles, "you are something else, you know that?"

"See, I told you that the sky can't talk!" exclaimed Derpy.

"Mommy, Sky is Mister Skyblaze's nickname," laughed Dinky pointedly, "you're so silly sometimes, mommy!"

"Oops, my bad." D'aww… no wonder Ben loves her.

"Hey, Derpy, how's the job?" asked Rainbow, "it any better than weather patrol?"

"Yeah! I get to go tons of places!" the grey pegasus said excitedly.

"Like where?" I asked.

"Well, yesterday I was in Canterlot. The day before, I went to Las Pegasus. And before that, I just did a Ponyville route."

"Las Pegasus? Really?" Dash jumped at the name, "wow, that's one of the coolest pegasus cities ever!"

Skyblaze looked indifferent. "I was never into casinos, or gambling for that matter."

"Oh, I don't know, they have some of the most romantic views in the Pegasus Desert," Luna told him, "I went there only a few weeks ago to address a dispute between to competing casinos, and the canyon was truly amazing."

"Romantic views, eh?" he thought for a minute, "we should go there sometime."

I facehoofed at the love-struck pegasus. "You are hopeless, Sky."

"Yes, he is. That is why I love him," Luna said, stooping to give Sky a kiss on the nose.

"Well, I hate to break up the romantic mood," Storm appeared out of nowhere, standing next to Rain, "but it's half an hour till party-time!"

"Gah! Storm!" Rain shouted, jumping back at her sudden appearance.

"What?" Sometimes, I swear Storm is just as random as Pinkie Pie. "C'mon, everypony! Oh, hi, Skyblaze!"

We followed the bouncing mare to the park, where we found Pinkie Pie standing next to an oversize version of the party cannon. "Hey, everypony! What's up?" she chirped.

"Pinkie, what is that?" Ben asked, backing away from the large weapon of massive fun.

"This? Oh, Storm said she wanted a huge party, so I hauled this baby out of the basement," she said, patting it with a hoof, "let me introduce you to the 'party battery, mark two'."

"What happened to mark one?" I asked.

"Somepony tried to load it with cupcakes, silly!" Yes, of course, silly me. One day we should try to find some way to translate what Pinkie Pie says into sensical English- er, Equestrian.

"Oh I see," said Storm, surprising us all, "the initial explosion from the cannon would decimate the frosting on the cupcakes, making it drip into the combustion chamber and render it useless!" Wait, when did Storm have such an in-depth understanding of party-technics? Well, Pinkie was Sam's favorite before the mission, so I guess she would know more about it than most of us.

"That makes sense," Sky said, "to have everything stay intact when you launch it, you would need a low-speed explosive. The frosting would dampen the shockwave rendering it unable to even get most of the stuff out." Okay, I knew Sky was a bit pyro, but this is starting to get weird.

"Right! But it was too expensive to fix it, so I made a new one!" Pinkie said, rubbing the barrel, "but this one is better because I can pack more confetti in the compartments, while still keeping the same volume."

"Somepony, make it stop!" I looked back to see Dash clutching her head, "I feel like a party cannon is going off in my head!"

Pinkie giggled. "Silly Dashie! A party cannon can't fit in your head!"

"Then how do you manage to pull one out of nowhere when it's convenient?" I asked.

"Null-space," said Pinkie, Sky, and Storm simultaneously.

"I give up." Sighing exasperatedly along with Dash, we made our way over to the hill where the party battery was aiming. Pinkie had already fired the large artillery, leaving a large setup, complete with decorations, a buffet table, and a stage, where Vinyl Scratch was putting up her turntable and speakers.

"Hey, Storm," the DJ greeted, "you got the tunes you need for this plan of yours?"

"Yep! Right here," Storm hoofed the unicorn a record, "you know, it's kinda cool how you can load songs on there from your memory."

"That's how I designed 'em," Vinyl said with pride.

"Thanks Vinyl," Storm said to the DJ, then turned to Skyblaze, "hey, Sky? Can I talk to you and Luna for a sec?"

"Of course."

"Sure thing."

As the Princess and the pegasus followed the neon-maned unicorn, I turned away, along with the rest of us. We walked into town a bit, talking about the last few days. Apparently, Ben had been next to bored, having not much work to do, so the appearance of Derpy was a welcome distraction. Him, Derpy, and Dinky soon went to the Hooves' house to check on Carrot Top.

We made our way to the Carousel Boutique to pick up Rarity and Storm. As the dress shop came into view, I spotted Rarity and Fluttershy cantering from the building. "Hey, Rarity, hi, Fluttershy," Dash glided ahead and greeted them, "where's Shift?"

"Here," said Fluttershy quietly.

Dash looked around confused. "Where?"

"No, I'm Shift," Fluttershy stated, "Fluttershy is coming late to the party, so I changed into her."

"Oh," Dash blinked, "coulda had me fooled."

"Why, that's the idea, Rainbow Dash," explained Rarity, "would you imagine the drama of a Changeling walking around town?"

"I see your point," Dash replied, "but why not use your old disguise?"

"In case Twilight sees him," Rain figured, "that would cause even more commotion than his Changeling form."

Dash facehoofed. "Why does everypony have the answer to everything?!"

"I'm with you on this, Dash," I admitted, "in any case, we're here to bring you to the party."

"Of course, darling," Rarity said, moving to follow us, "come along, Fluttershy."

"Oh… okay," Shift replied, perfectly imitating Fluttershy's timidness. Or, at least, I thought he was imitating. I'm not sure if Changelings match their cover's personality or not.

Shift's POV

Ok, keep cool. I can do this. I have to, for Twilight. I walked through the streets in Fluttershy's form. Honestly, I could fly if I wanted to, as apparently mimicking a pegasus gives one the natural instinct to do so. But Fluttershy was never one to do much flying. So I kept with the trotting as we made our way to the party.

Almost everypony was there already. I saw Skyblaze and Luna talking with Ben and Derpy. The Apple siblings were there, as well as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Storm and Caramel were making idle chat with Pinkie Pie. There was a large white earth pony stallion with orange eyes that I didn't recognize talking with Sky, who looked like one of the palace guards without armor. Twilight and the real Fluttershy had yet to arrive, as did Ben, Derpy, and Dinky.

As I thought about Ben and the Hooves, they appeared from another side street and joined the party. It was weird how ponies sometimes did that. The emotions floating around the air were to be expected. The excitement of the party, the togetherness (it's a legitimate emotion) of a get-together, and the overall mirth of the event.

But then I felt something else. It was an emotion given off by a single pony, but the signature of it I could pick out from a crowd ten times this size. Twilight was giving off reluctance as she made her way over to the congregation.

Wanting to avoid further confrontation, I made my way over to Skyblaze, who was chatting with the orange eyed guard. "Hey, Fluttershy," Sky greeted, "meet Sure Hoof, he's a new guard at the palace, and one of my good friends."

"Um, hi," I said in the yellow pegasus' weak voice, "pleasure to meet you."

"Why, the pleasure is all mine, Miss Fluttershy," he said, "may I say you look absolutely beautiful tonight."

Oh sweet Celestia, this stallion has a crush on me-- well, Fluttershy, but at the moment I bore a distinct resemblance to the timid pegasus. Fortunately, Skyblaze saw the predicament. Unfortunately, he didn't know I wasn't Fluttershy. "I'll just leave you two to get acquainted," he said, fluttering off to stand next to Luna.

"Would you care for some punch, Fluttershy?" he asked, motioning to the adjacent punchbowl.

Okay, Fluttershy may hate me for this, but I was trapped at the moment. "Thank you," I said in my soft voice, accepting the glass, "you're very nice." I could taste the infatuation rolling off him. The poor colt was stricken.

"Well, I try to be nice to everypony," he said, "but they don't like it when you talk to ponies in the guard."

"Then why did you join?"

"Being on the Royal Guard has always been my dream, even if I have to be a statue," he said with a chuckle, "say, don't I know your face from somewhere?"

I racked my brain for Fluttershy trivia. "Um… I was a model for a little while," I said shyly, "but I didn't like it. My friend Rarity was jealous of me and thought we weren't going to be friends anymore."

"Oh, I think you were on a bottle of shampoo…" he admitted, blushing, "you do have a natural beauty."

I blushed, for what, I couldn't tell. I almost facehoofed at my cover. "Thank you." In any case, the situation was growing awkward. I was saved by Skyblaze signaling from behind the stage, the real Fluttershy standing next to him. "Excuse me, I think Skyblaze wants to talk to me."

Sure Hoof smiled. "Go ahead."

"So, Shift," Sky said as I left Sure Hoof to stand next to him, "gotten over Twilight so quickly?" I gave him a death glare, which must have looked pretty frightening coming from Fluttershy. "Okay, I'm done, but now the real Fluttershy has to deal him, so…"

He motioned toward the yellow pegasus. "Oh, he's, um… nice," Sky facehoofed. "I mean, he's very polite and is really into you. You should talk to him."

"Really?" came the weak reply.

"Oh, yes," I nodded. Fluttershy blushed and fluttered over to the white stallion. "Okay, now what? I asked Sky.

"Just change into me and hang out near Luna," he said, "I have to go… prepare for your reunion. In the meantime, just chill… and don't even think about kissing my fillyfriend." His eyes narrowed as I flashed green and altered my form to match his. Sky's wings were much stronger than Fluttershy's, and his mane was less in-the-way. Shrugging, Sky trotted behind stage, muttering something about 'disastrous plans'.

As Fluttershy resumed my conversation with Sure Hoof, I trotted over to Luna, who was swaying to the heavy bass of Vinyl's music. "Oh, greetings, um…" she looked at me, an uncertainty taste in my mouth, "are you Skyblaze or his Changeling friend."

"If it pleases your majesty, call me Shift… just not right now."

She frowned. "Very well then, Skyb-- Shift," she corrected, "would Sky care if I gave you a light peck… for the sake of appearances?"

"Um, yes, he would care," I replied, feeding off of the mass of love toward my form, "he's actually kinda protective of you. Wow," I said as I tasted her love, "let me just say that you have strong-tasting love. Like black coffee compared to tea."

She raised an eyebrow. "I take it that is a complement…"

"Well, considering I am more powerful than when I copied Derpy and fed off Ben's love, yes I would call it a complement."

"…and what of Twilight Sparkle?"

I grew somber as I stared at the lavender mare from afar. Even at such a distance I could sense her feelings of hesitant mirth. "Her love," I said, "is more powerful, even, than the love Chrysalis drained off Shining Armor."

"How is that possible?" she exclaimed, "that power was enough to best my sister!"

"That love was purely for me," I said, "it was true, pure even, and it was the most glorious taste imaginable." We sat in silence for a few moments.

"I have just realized that your cutie mark is off."

"Huh?"

"Sky's cutie mark… altered… when he discovered his power as a bard," she explained, "it became clearer, and not made up of tiny squares."

I looked back at my flank to see that my cutie mark was indeed pixelated. "How…"

"Usually, a bard cannot know who they are until they realize their power," Luna explained, "Sky must have found his calling, but did not know his potential." She chuckled at my confused look, then saw Storm take the stage next to Vinyl. "That is your cue, Shift."

This is it. I trotted through the crowd, eventually standing next to Twilight. She looked at me as I approached. "Um, hi Skyblaze…" she greeted awkwardly, "what's up?"

"Just… wanted to stand here for the next song," I replied.

"Oh." She didn't say anything else, looking deep in thought. She didn't notice as the rest of the mane six and the bronies positioned themselves around us, forming the planned barrier. Luna was already casting her magical inhibitor on Twi's horn. I know it was all for me to get Twilight back, but I still don't know if she'll come back.

Then I had an idea. It was a long shot, but I think that I could pull it off. Everypony saw Changelings as monsters, parasites that felt no emotion. I needed to show Twilight another side of me. Something that I have done on Earth that I was best at. I looked at her, envisioning how her and I would look. But not in the literal sense. Representations of what our love meant popped into my head, my artist's mind on high-command.

Finally, when a heavy dubstep song of Vinyl's ended, the DJ picked up the mic on the turntable and put on another record. "Hey, everypony we're gonna take a slow moment right now, but first, we have a guest tonight who will be singing this next pick," she pointed offstage, "Skyblaze, come on up!"

Twilight looked at me expectantly, but jumped as the real Sky took the stage and trotted to the standing mic. "Hey, everypony, tonight I'm gonna be singing a personal favorite of mine," he announced as the music started, "so pull that special somepony close and give them a little love." With that, he began to sing 'You'll be in My Heart' by Phil Collins.

"How…" Twilight stuttered as she saw the second Skyblaze.

"Twilight," I said in my own voice, "please, don't run."

In a green flash, I was a Changeling. But the song continued uninterrupted, Skyblaze closing his eyes in musical harmony. It was then Twilight noticed her friends as well as my own around us in a circle. She attempted to teleport, but was stopped by Luna's spell. She began to panic, then froze as she saw me.

Rarity had done an excellent job on the suit. It was a white tuxedo with a light blue undershirt. A sash went across my chest, it's color a similar blue with a golden highlight. It fit my Changeling body well, being rather comfortable. "Twilight, I know you see me as a monster, or even a parasite, but the only thing that could hurt me is if you think of me as a lier," I said, taking in the taste of fear, "I want to show you that I am more than an insect. More than just this. Twi, I don't think I told you, but where I came from… I was an artist."

With that, I focused on the mental picture of our love. I gave it form, color, and depth. Soon, the air around us was filled with lights, forming together to make constellations. Roses danced in the air, starbursts twinkled above our heads. The ponies around us looked up in awe as I filled the night sky with flowers, doves, and stars. Finally, the air simmered between us, and green lines sprouted from the ground, every so often spliting of into a rose. The vines of magical light circled around, forming a loop. Within the circlet of roses, I painted a picture with my mind.

Twilight gasped as she saw herself with a Changeling, laying under a picnic blanket and gazing at the sunset. I remembered from that night. It seemed like an age had passed. But now, Twilight was staring at the simmering picture, and a familiar feeling returned to me. Twilight burst through the lights, dispersing them into the night, and hugged me close.

"Shift… you…" she trailed off, "you have a cutie mark!"

"Huh?!" Changelings didn't have cutie marks. I looked back at my flank. I teared up at what I saw. On my flank was a swirl of starbursts, varying from green, white, and lavender. It was impossible; Changelings couldn't have cutie marks. They aren't individual, part of a hive…

"I'm not part of the hive…" I whispered, "I'm an individual, with my own emotions.

"…and I love Twilight."

Skyblaze kept singing as Twilight and I entwined our necks and danced on into the night. Her love flowed between us, reducing all other emotion to a minuscule particle of perception. The lights around us continued, fueled by our love and magic. However, they lacked form, and existed only to make the air around us sparkle…

"Well, that went better than I expected!" came the voice from the stage. Skyblaze had stopped singing and was staring at the two of us. The congregation that was unaware of our plan let out a gasp at me. But instead of fleeing, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, backed by Big Mac and Sure Hoof charged at me.

"Aw, schist." I screwed my eyes tight and waited for the inevitable. It never came. I opened my eyes to see that the force of fillies and stallions were stopped by a lavender wall. "Thanks, Twi."

"Oh that was nothing," she said, a plume of worry exhumed from her, "I'm worried how Spike will respond. Not to mention my brother."

"I'm sure he won't hold a…" I looked at Twilight's deadpan, "okay, yeah that may be an issue." I paused for a moment. "Maybe we could… keep this on the down-low?"

"How?" I changed into my original disguise. "Oh, right."

I kissed her lightly. "I'm glad you can overlook that."

The heavy bass of Vinyl's preferred music kicked in again, much to our chagrin. "How 'bout we go home and read?" Twilight suggested.

"Sounds good." We cantered away from the party, going the short distance to the library. "Five bits says I get hit with a dictionary when I go in."

"Oh, come on, Spike doesn't react like that…" she assured nervously.

Overall, I was wrong. It was a thesaurus.

Comments

[JellyMyst]

At first I was like:
And then I was like:
And THEN I was like:
And THEN I was like:
And THEN I was like:
And THEN I was like: again.

[Halo Prime]

"No schist, Sherlock," answered Rain, using Sky's favorite derogative.

"Buck you, Watson." (would have fit so well here lol)

[Nightshade Dawn]

1002961 well this was me

first I was like:
and then I was like:
AND then I was like:
AND THEN I was like:
AND THEN I was like:
AND THEN I was like: agian

[Chrome Masquerade]

"Oh I see," said Storm, surprising us all, "the initial explosion from the cannon would decimate the frosting on the cupcakes, making it drip into the combustion chamber and render it useless!" Wait, when did Storm have such an in-depth understanding of party-technics? Well, Pinkie was Sam's favorite before the mission, so I guess she would know more about it than most of us.

She's my pick for best pony too.

[Chrome Masquerade]

"How is that possible?" she exclaimed, "that power was enough to best my sister!"

Debatable.