Change(ling) of Heart

by DubleTruble96

Chapter 1

Living in Ponyville was... Well, it was something all right. Everypony knew one another, sometimes the whole town would break out into a musical number, they're RIGHT beside that spooky forest where weather moves by itself and the animals take care of themselves... Oh yeah and it was the residency of the Elements of Harmony bearers. All 6 of them. Well... sort of. 3 of them lived on the outskirts of town--one on a farm, one in a cottage and one in a cloud house--But that was still far too close for Wild Card's liking.

But this town was one of the friendliest places in Equestria, especially since it was also the residency of Princess Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship. It kind of comes with the territory. And there was a party happening at Sugarcube Corner like... every week. And of course, who could forget the other amazing events that happened? The Summer Sun Celebration, Nightmare Night, Winter Wrap-Up, Cider Season...

So why was Wild Card so nervous anyway? Ponyville may be a magnet for "friendship problems" and other chaos, but it was also one of the best places in rural Equestria to live, otherwise. Well, that's because Wild Card isn't a pony at all. Nope! The yellow coated, two-toned orange maned stallion with a joker card for a cutie mark wasn't a pony in the slightest. He was a changeling. Now before you freak out and think he's some sort of spy or whatever, relax. He left that life behind him some time ago.

In fact, he just wanted to live a semi-normal life, without all the deception and wrong-doings. After the Battle of Canterlot, the last thing he wants to do is get anypony suspicious of him. There was a reason he fled from Queen Chrysalis' hive. Although, he supposes it isn't Chrysalis' hive anymore, is it? Wild Card heard about the new ruler, some drone named "Thorax". Apparently he overthrew the queen and took over the hive, and then they all evolved or something. Well, THEY did. Wild Card was still in Ponyville at the time, and was considered MIA in regards to his old hive.

He isn't even clear on what exactly triggered the evolution. Not that he cares, of course. He's fine the way he is. And as long as he's in Ponyville, it's unlikely he'd ever go hungry. Subtly feeding off of the love everypony around here had for each other was more than enough to sate his appetite day to day. And it's not like he was doing anything wrong! He was simply trying to live peacefully, so he wasn't... SUPER concerned with being caught.

"Wild Card?"

"I DIDN'T DO IT!"

Okay, maybe he was.

The sea foam green mare raised an eyebrow curiously as the lantern yellow mare beside her was trying to calm her racing heart from the reaction. Lyra blinked, looking at Bonbon curiously, then back at him.

"Uh... Didn't do what?"

"Whatever it was you were going to accuse me... of," Wild Card said, trailing off and looking to the side awkwardly.

"I... wasn't going to accuse you of anything. I was just asking if you were going to the party at Sugarcube Corner tonight?"

"Oh that's right, Pinkie is having that party tonight. Was I invited? Oh who cares? If Pinkie Pie is throwing a party, EVERYPONY is invited. Unless it's one of her private parties, but even then, privacy seems to be the least of her concerns," he thought to himself, putting a hoof to his chin.

Eventually he shrugged and gave her a half frown. "I dunno, Lyra. I haven't really thought about it."

"Haven't really thought about it?!" Lyra said in disbelief, her mouth agape.

"How can you NOT be thinking about it?" Bonbon practically shouted, seemingly having gotten over her mini-heart attack. "It's been the talk of the town for the past week!"

Once again, Wild just gave her a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and a half frown. “Why? What’s the occasion?”

“There’s no occasion needed for a Pinkie Party!” Lyra said with a toothy grin, “Sometimes, a party is just a party! You don’t need a reason to have a good time, right?”

“I suppose not…” The orange not-stallion said half-heartedly, lying more to himself than he was to the mares before him.

“Great! We’ll see you there!”

“Wait, I didn’t-” But they were already walking away, leaving Wild Card talking to thin air. “-say I was… going. Oh rats. Now I’m obligated to go, aren’t I?”

He sighed and started to trot towards the market. It wasn’t every day he was invited to a party, and perhaps that annoying green mare was right. A good time might just be the thing he needed. Although, a “good time” constitutes being in close proximity to several other ponies, eating cake and drinking punch while trying to maintain conversation or activity for several hours until eventually social integrity breaks up and everyone goes home to either throw up, pass out or both.

This good time was starting to sound a lot less good, now that he gave it some thought.

“Oh what am I saying?” he snapped at no one in particular. “I’m just talking myself out of things as ALWAYS. This is exactly what happened when I tried to leave the hive the first 32 times. I need to make a plan, and stick to it, no matter how much it discomforts me! And I made a plan, and that plan is to go to this party tonight!”

He planted his hoof on the ground, semi-triumphantly as he convinced himself to go be social instead of being a hermit for the next 3 days like he had originally planned. Unfortunately, he had done so in earshot of the one and only Element of Laughter Bearer, Pinkie Pie.

“You’re going to my party, Wild Card?!”

Suddenly, all that hot air he was spewing floated away and left a rather deflated shell of a changeling-turned-pony. He quickly spun to face Pinkie, who looked like she had just hit the jackpot.

“Uh… I… Yes?”

Pinkie’s face suddenly became serious, something that still took some getting used to; all those on-a-dime emotion changes.

“Was that a question?”

“...No?”

“Was THAT a question?”

Wild Card quickly saw he was getting nowhere fast, so he bit the bullet.

“Yes- I mean NO! I mean… Drat. Yes, I’m going to your party tonight, Pinkie Pie.”

Too bad he was always awful at chewing lead. Thankfully, he bit hard enough that Pinkie Pie turned into a rocket herself. Both figuratively, and literally. He watched as she trembled before shooting skyward, several colorful sparks exploding in every direction as she squealed in excitement.

“WHOO HOOOOOOO!! WILD CARD IS COMING TO ONE OF MY PARTIES!! THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION!!”

Wild Card waited for her to drift back down on a parachute he decided was better not to ask about, coughed into his hoof and gave her a small, knowing smile. “Uh.. Pinkie, you’re already throwing a party. Tonight. It’s the one I’m… WE’RE… going to. Well, the one I’m going to, and you’re hosting.”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened and she gasped at the realization.

“OH RIGHT! The party! I gotta go get more streamers! Thanks Wild Card!” She suddenly kicked up a Pinkie-shaped cloud of dust, which quickly took off after her, screaming over her shoulder. “SEE YOU AT THE PARTYYYY!”

He was in for a lonnnnnnng night.

---

The evening came much faster than our disguised friend would’ve liked, and if it wasn’t for the several tens of posters dotting most of Ponyville’s vertical surfaces (and even some of the horizontal ones), he might have missed that the party was scheduled for 8 PM sharp. Thankfully, at this rate, Wild Card had done anything he was intending to do that day, and even if there was still shopping or the like, it’d have to wait till tomorrow anyway; most shops were closed by this hour.

“Well, I said I was going to show up, and I did.”

FWOOSH! Pinkie grinned.

“Oh, you’re so thoughtful, Wild Card.”

FWOOSH! Wild Card smugly wiped his hoof on his chest.

“I know, I know. Now why don’t you introduce me to your friends?”

FWOOSH! Pinkie nodded.

“Of course, Wild! Right this wayyyy...awh phooey.”

Wild Card dropped his Pinkie Pie voice and scowled into the mirror he was practicing in front of, his ears low.

“This is stupid. I hate parties and I hate socializing. Especially since all that love ends up… getting all blended together. Makes feeding more of a hassle than anything. I might as well take everything in my fridge and dump it into a juice mixer.”

He changed back into his usual persona, sighing. “But, a promise is a promise is a promise. And… while I didn’t promise that I’d show up, I did give 2 mares my word, and that’s basically the same thing. I’ll just try to avoid too many big crowds. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find some quiet place to sit and relax for most of the festivities.”

He stood up straight in front of the mirror, switching between his pegasus, unicorn and earth pony forms. “Hm… I think… yeah. Unicorn this time. I think that’s what I was when I was with Pinkie today. Alright…”

He put on his best smile, which, despite how fake it was, still seemed rather convincing... he hoped.

“Party time.”

Making sure his house was locked, he went toward the giant gingerbread house that was Sugarcube Corner. Of course, it wasn’t ACTUAL gingerbread. That’d probably violate several building regulations. Or maybe it wouldn’t. He supposed that it depended on the structural integrity of the gingerbread, the adhesive quality of the icing… Before he realized how far into this he had thought, he was there. He paused before the door, hearing muffled, but still loud, music blasting from inside the bakery, as well as several excited pony’s voices.

Taking one last deep breath, he went inside.

The onslaught to his senses was still nothing he was prepared for. The loud electronic music piping through the stereo systems assaulting his ears, the smell of spiked punch, warm bodies and sugary treats stabbed into him like a knife and the sheer amount of flavors that he instinctively fed upon for only a brief moment was enough to send him reeling backward, but he didn’t. He pushed on, quickly going around the massive crowd of dancing equines before finding a spot to sit in the dining area. He sat at the closest unoccupied table, being sure to draw as little attention as possible.

“Wild Card! Wild Card over here!”

Fiddlesticks.

He glanced in the direction of the cheerful voice, seeing the same bubblegum-colored monster from earlier that day quickly bouncing over to him, setting down a plate of sweets in front of him and grinning like a… well there’s several words he could use to describe it, but not all of them flattering.

“You made it!”

“With all the noise this place is making, it’d be awfully hard to get lost.” He said with a chuckle, trying to make it sound more like a joke than a legitimate criticism. Thankfully, it seemed to have worked, as the confectionist began to giggle before catching herself.

“Yeah, but a party that isn’t loud isn’t a party at all! What are you doing sitting all the way over here? The party is over there!”

She pointed her hoof toward the crowd of happy ponies, looking at him expectantly. He winced just a bit, but didn’t cave.

“Oh, I know. I plan on joining it at… some point. I just got here, so I wanted to sit down and maybe… relax and stretch out before I go and exert myself.”

Pinkie frowned for a moment, but nodded understandingly.

“That’s okay!” She pat his head, making him duck down a bit. “This IS your first official party, so I don’t blame you for taking it easy!”

“Er… right. I’m sure you’re very busy, Pinkie. I’ll let you get back to being the best hostess in all of Ponyville.” He swung his hoof in a hook motion across his chest with his best fake smile.

“Oh, right! Thanks Wild! See you on the dancefloor!”

“Alright! Eheh, happy travels!” He called after her as she bounced into the sea of partying ponies. “Whew…”

He looked around, then focused his senses to see if there was a lone pony or two to feed from without blending the flavors into some mass… mess of sensations. Suddenly, the overwhelming taste of fruit hit the back of his throat like a ball of rusty steel wool, making him cough. He looked beside himself, seeing a rather inebriated Berry Punch trotting up beside him, then practically throwing herself around his neck and hanging off it like the world’s most annoying pendant.

“Hey… *hic* handsome… All alone on *hic* New Year’s Eve?”

Taking a deep sigh, he carefully pulled Berry Punch to her hooves and shook his head.

“No Berry, I’m not alone, and it’s certainly not New Year’s Eve.”

“Ish naht…?” Berry seemed legitimately surprised, then looked down in thought and started to count under her breath. After a while of counting, however, Wild raised an eyebrow.

“Ahem… Berry?”

The mare looked up, blinking. “Huh?”

“I was just saying that it’s not New Year’s Eve, and then you looked at the floor and started counting.”

“Oh! Hehehehe… *hic* I shtarted counting the… *hic* floorboards. There’s 347.”

“You were counting for 30 seconds, Berry, I doubt you made it all the way to 347.”

“Ooohh, you got me, offisher…” She nuzzled up to him, making him lean back uncomfortably. “Now you gotta take me *hic* downtown~”

“Berry, please go home. You’re drunk.”

“I’m not *hic* drunk.” She stood away from him, putting her hoof to her chest defiantly.

“You’re completely inebriated, Ms. Punch…”

“I’m NOT DRUNK,” she insisted, beginning to look aggressive.

“Can you tell the time, Berry?”

“Of coursh I can.” She turned and looked up at the clock, scowling at it. “I’m not drunk.”

Wild Card sighed, putting his muzzle into his hooves. Suddenly, a loud trumpet’s blare caught his attention, and he glanced toward the window curiously.

“What now…?” he muttered under his breath, getting up before going to the window and looking outside. He half-expected it to be some sort of giant tuba monster or maybe the beginning of another random musical number, but instead, he saw a regal ivory-colored, gold-trimmed chariot coming from the skies and landing outside. In it, Princess Celestia herself. And a pair of royal guards, but Wild Card was more focused on the 8-foot tall alicorn who just parked outside and seemed to be… making her way inside.

“Oh no.” His ears laid flat against his head as he turned to the door, watching Celestia duck down and enter the establishment. “Why her? Why now?”

Celestia looked around as almost every pony in the place stopped what they were doing, staring in awe for a moment before beginning to bow. Wild was just about to do the same, just so he didn’t seem out of place, but Celestia stopped him -- and every pony who hadn’t yet bowed -- with a light wave of her hoof.

“No need for formalities, my little ponies. I’m not here on business, I’m here for the party, same as you!”

Princess Twilight? That was one thing. Living in the same town as the Element Bearers, that’s another thing. The first party that Wild Card went to EVER being crashed by Princess Celestia? That’s one thing too many. But now what? He’d only been there for a few minutes, and leaving would be rude. Especially right after a PRINCESS shows up. He sighed to himself, trying to come up with an on-the-spot solution.

“I could turn into a different pony… no, they already know I’m here,” he muttered under his breath. “I could fake food poisoning… No, that’d put Pinkie into a bad light. Fake an injury…? No, same problem.”

He looked up, seeing the Princess and a crew of at least 4 royal guards walking towards the dining area. He was out of time.

“Good evening, my little pony,” Princess Celestia said, smiling warmly and benevolently, a smile that still haunts Wild to this day.

He coughed gruffly, saying in a low, scratchy voice, “Evenin’ your highness. Great party.”

“Quite! I’ve only been to a few parties, but nothing this exciting before. Well, except for the gala that one year…”

“Ah hah, yes. Very exciting. Enjoy your outing, your highness.”

Princess Celestia seemed a little taken aback by the shortness of the conversation, but quickly smiled again, nodding and continuing to her table. “You too, Wild Card.”

He felt every muscle in his body tense up as she said his name. How did she know his name? Pinkie Pie must’ve said something… If she wasn’t the Element of Laughter he’d-

A pause. A sensation of jamais vu. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the table, trying to locate it without looking up and making it obvious that he was looking for something. It wasn’t like he never tasted love before, and while each pony’s love tasted a little different, it’s all the same stuff. And yet…

Finally he looked up, sniffing at the air quietly. Where was it coming from? It was certainly nearby, but not in the direction of the dancefloor. It was… closer. Frowning, he focused his changeling senses as much as he could, the whites of his eyes becoming baby blue. He had to be careful nobody saw that, so he only turned his head if he needed to.

Glancing at the dancefloor, he saw a huge pink sparkly mess coming off of the crowd of ponies. That was certainly a lot of love, but it was too muddled and blended. This was one distinct flavor, from one source. His eyes scanned the dining hall. The other ponies had pinkish or purplish sparkles emitting from them too, but nothing nearly saturated enough to.. Wait! Eureka!

His eyes laid upon… a giant pink cloud. It was so saturated, he couldn’t see through it. He blinked in surprise, then stopped concentrating so hard, his eyes fading back to normal. Behind the thick pink haze was… a royal guard. He was standing off to the side, guarding the left flank. He didn’t seem out of the ordinary, aside from the sheer amount of love he was emitting. It was so strong he could taste it from 50 feet away!

“What in Equestria…?”

The guard glanced at him, and Wild quickly looked away, pretending to be incredibly preoccupied with the lights dancing on the walls. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guard blink, shrug, then go back to standing stoic and facing straight ahead. Wild furrowed his brow, looking at the food he hadn’t touched yet intently.

“Why would a guard have THAT much love coming off him? I know that Pinkie has a lot, and so does that yellow one… what’s her name…? Flutter...something. But they’re Element Bearers. This is just some guard…” he muttered, thinking hard, but coming up with no answers. He frowned a little more, trying his best to come up with a reason but coming up short. And, as if on cue, Pinkie Pie trotted right on up to him, looking concerned.

“Wild Card?”

“Ah!” he looked up at her in surprise, giving her a nervous smile. “Oh, hey Pinkie. What’s up?”

This was a face that Wild Card was awfully familiar with… Ears low, brow furrowed into a concerned gaze, pupils dilated, her lips doing a good impression of a blanket draped over a tire. And that voice. It was the sort of sickly sweet voice that someone who genuinely cares about you uses when they see you’re not right, and want to help, no matter how badly you want to say “it’s okay” or “don’t worry”, but you don’t because lying to someone who cares about you that much is wrong. That expression could shatter concrete and split steel beams if it wanted to; no amount of emotional barriers was enough to impede it.

“Are you okay? I was over in the kitchen and when I came out, I saw you were looking at the table and frowning… You didn’t even touch the cupcakes I brought you.” she whimpered. Gosh if there was ice cream within 10 feet of them right now, it would’ve been a creamy puddle right now; that voice could melt even the strongest of dispositions.

And oddly, for the first time since moving there, Wild Card was at a loss. There was no words, no lies or deceptions he could think of. He wasn’t sure of much of anything at the moment. There was just too much new information and too much outside stimuli, it was all becoming muddled. But Pinkie was expecting an answer and if he didn’t, there was sure to be consequences. Everypony knows that when Pinkie Pie sees a pony who’s sad, she does everything in her power to make them smile. Wild was pretty sure there was a whole musical number that happened a few years back.

“Oh… uh… Sorry Pinkie… My… stomach isn’t feeling too great.”

Pinkie took a moment or two to process that, and unfortunately, caught the lie in its tracks.

“You didn’t sound sick before. What’s wrong?” she got into the seat nearby, looking across the table at him expectantly.

“Gah… I just… it’s…”

“Is it the party?” Pinkie guessed, tilting her head. “I know that this is your first one, and I understand if you’re having second thoughts.”

“It’s not the party… Well, I mean it’s KIND of the reason but-”

“Is it the heat? I know there’s a lot of us in here right now-”

“No, it’s not the heat, Pinkie.” Wild sounded a little exasperated, not wanting to sound rude but also not wanting to outwardly say what was on his mind, especially since it’d reveal that he was a changeling. “I just… I need some air. Is that okay?”

Pinkie nodded, giving him a worried smile. “Okay, but hurry back, alright? I don’t want you to miss the fun!”

Thankfully, Wild had a plan, and Pinkie fell right into it. “I will, don’t worry.”

She bounced away, and as soon as she was out of sight, Wild Card stepped outside. He looked around to make sure that nopony was looking, dove into the nearest bush, then changed forms with a muffled FWOOSH!
There was a pause, then a lavender pair of hooves emerged from the bush, shaking the leaves from her indigo and pink mane. Dusting off her shoulder, she looked around one last time before taking a short breath, then walking inside, making sure that her wings were folded neatly at her sides. They were awfully big in this form, bigger than she was used to, but it wasn’t her first rodeo…

Pinkie looked at her, then grinned and dashed over, wrapping her hooves around Wild’s neck happily and nuzzling her cheek. “Twilight! You made it!”

Wild giggled the same way he heard Twilight do hundreds of times, hugging her “friend” and rubbing her cheek against Pinkie’s nose in return.

“Of course, Pinkie! I’d never miss one of your parties!” she lied through her teeth, giving her a warm smile.

“Oh! Princess Celestia is here, if you wanted to talk to her! She’s over in the dining hall!”

“Oh, she is? That’s unusual.”

“Not really! I invite her to every party I throw! I guess she was always busy until now!”

“Well, I’ll be sure to say hello!”

Wild gave Pinkie another hug, then walked towards Princess Celestia. She only knew a few things about Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight’s relationship, and she hoped that it’d be enough to get away with this facade.

“Twilight! It’s so good to see you~”

“It’s good to see you too, Princess! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, Pinkie invites me to every bash she throws, and… I had a free evening, so I thought I’d finally take her up on the offer!”

“Well, I hope you’re enjoying yourself! I know Pinkie’s parties are a little… overwhelming.”

“Oh, on the contrary! I’m having a blast!”

Wild pretended to be surprised, although the intel she had gathered on Celestia several years ago was pretty clear about how informal the princess can actually be. But Twilight always thought the best of Celestia, so she had to play the part.

“Oh! Well, then that’s great!” she paused for thought, then smiled at Princess Celestia. “Oh, Princess, do you mind if I borrow one of your guards for a moment? I have something I want to tell Shining Armor, and I was hoping that they could relay the message for me.”

“Absolutely, Twilight.”

“Thank you~” Wild wanted to dash over and grab the leftmost guard and leave with haste, but the part she was playing called for subtlety, especially when dealing with princesses. She walked over to the leftmost guard calmly, gave him a nod, and then walked toward a side hallway with him. They went in, she took him around a corner, and looked around briefly before looking at him with a calm smile.

“Lovely evening, isn’t it?”

The guard blinked in surprise, nodding curtly. “Er.. yes, it is, Your Highness. What was the message you wanted to relay?”

“Oh, no need to concern yourself with the message right away! I just thought I’d chat for a moment and this seemed like the best way to do it.”

He blinked again, then gave her a polite smile. “Er… Your Highness, with all due respect, I do need to get back to my post.”

Wild frowned a bit. “Drat. These guards are so strict about their jobs. I’ll have to find a better way to get some information…”

“Oh, of course. First, may I ask your name, so I know who to credit?”

“White, Your Highness.”

She blinked, stunned by the shortness of the name. “White? Just White?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Not.. White Clouds, or White Star, or White Shield? Just White?”

He nodded again. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Huh. Curiouser and curiouser.” she thought.

“Right. Well, White… Could you tell Shining Armor that I’m… coming up to see him some time in the near future? I don’t want to surprise him, with baby Flurry Heart and all. He’s really got his hooves full.”

“Of course Princess. Is there anything else you require?”

“No, thank you White.”

White nodded, gave a short bow, then cantered back to his post. Wild Card frowned, staring after him. “If I had to guess,” she muttered, “he probably lives in Canterlot. How I’m going to get there is one thing, but how to find out why he produces so much love is another beast entirely…”

Her ears perked up when the door opened, and he heard Pinkie Pie run to the front door to greet who just walked in.

“Twilight! What are you doing outside? I thought you were talking to the princess?”

Twilight seemed confused. “Talking to the princess? I just got here! And what do you mean? Is Princess Celestia here?”

“You did? And… yeah, she is! I just told you a minute or two ago! I think…”

Wild Card knew the jig was up, so she went into the bathroom and clambered through the window. She fell out and landed rather unceremoniously against the cobblestone, flailing for a moment to get up and dust herself off. Looking up, she quickly was stunned to realize that Rarity, the Generosity Bearer was staring right at her, looking incredibly puzzled. She looked toward the front door of Sugarcube Corner, then back at her.

“Twilight, didn’t I just see you going into Sugarcube Corner? Why in Equestria are you climbing through the bathroom window?”

“Er…” Wild Card said, looking to the side, then gasped as if she saw something. Rarity looked in the same direction, and then looked back, seeing nothing but a bunny standing where Twilight used to be. She blinked in surprise, looking around in confusion. Finally, she looked back at the bunny, tilting her head.

“Er… you.. Didn’t see Twilight around, did you, little bunny?”

The bunny scratched at his ears with his hind leg, then sniffed at the air a bit without responding. Rarity chuckled, fanning herself with her hoof. “I must be working too hard lately, I’m seeing things.” She nodded to the bunny, then walked into Sugarcube Corner.

The bunny let out a sigh of relief, turning back into Wild’s usual persona. He scowled with determination.

“I WILL find out what’s up with White. Even if it takes me to every corner of Equestria!”

He paused, then huffed a bit. “Right after this party… I DID say that I’d be back.”

And with that, he turned back around and went into the party after Rarity and did his best to have a good time, despite his convictions. But he kept finding himself distracted in thought, and that was something that didn’t go unnoticed. Pinkie knew something was up, and herself grew determined to find out what. Thankfully, she was also hosting a party, so he didn’t have to deal with her very long, or very frequently. Soon, the party ended and the Princess left, her entourage in tow as they ascended into the night sky. Wild Card went out after them and watched them fly back, twisting his mouth into a determined scowl.

“Next stop… Canterlot.”