Feeling Blue
I opened the door to the boutique. It was surprisingly clean now. I pulled the key from the lock and set it on a nearby table. Rarity was at the train station with the others, but had kindly given me the key to let myself in before Cadence showed up.
I lifted my saddlebag off and set it next to the door. I might as well look around before getting settled. There was plenty to look at in the main room alone. There were several fake ponies on stands. I don’t think I knew the proper term yet. There were bundles of fabric set out in piles. Safe to assume that Rarity was planning on using these today.
What caught my interest the fastest was the sketchbook on the table. It was open, revealing a beautiful drawing of a mare in a dress. There were arrows pointing to certain areas of the dress, each with a scribbled note at its end. I flipped through the pages and found more dress designs with annotations. Each design was as breath-taking as the last. She really made all of these herself?
I backed away from the sketchbook and looked around the room some more. I had to fight every urge to play with her sewing machine. The mechanics behind these things was amazing! In my reading of the library I’d found that I had a fondness for engineering.
I heard the door open, hitting a bell as it swung inward. That must be Rarity! I turned to greet her, but found my words caught in my throat. What had happened to her?
“Rarity? Why are you...blue?”
Rarity sniffled in reply.
“That would be Discord. He’s given Applejack and I whatever sickness it is he has. And whatever it is, it turns you blue.”
She walked further into the room, sniffling with each step.
“I’m so sorry you have to see me in such a state. I didn’t expect the day to go sour like this.”
What happened next still confuses me. Rarity suddenly gasped and exhaled violently. Her body left the ground and flew back against the wall. I was frozen in place at what I’d witnessed.
“What. Was. That?”
Rarity sniffled once more.
“Forgive me. This sneezing has Discord’s magic written all over it.”
My body slowly began to relax.
“That was sneezing? I didn’t know it was so physical!”
She glared at me.
“Well obviously getting thrown against the wall wasn’t meant to be part of it!“
Her annoyance shifted to confusion.
“Wait...you’ve never sneezed?”
“I’ve read about it, but no I’ve never actually had it happen to me. I’ve never been sick.”
“Consider yourself lucky.”
She wandered over to a long chair and fell onto it.
“I was supposed to make sure today went well for Twilight. Who knows what Discord is getting up to.”
“He doesn’t sound pleasant from what I’ve read about him.”
“He can have his moments. It’s his personality that I’ve never gotten used to. But, he is one of Fluttershy’s best friends. There must be something the rest of us are missing.”
Fluttershy? Of all the ponies that would be friends with the Spirit of Chaos, I wouldn’t have guessed the quiet pegasus.
A shiver ran through Rarity’s body. I looked around for a blanket. Ah! There was one under the table there. I picked it up and draped it across the sick unicorn.
“Well there’s not much you’re going to be able to do in your current state. I’m sure Twilight can handle herself. And she has Cadance for backup. I’ll bet on two alicorns over Discord any day.”
“It’s supposed to be a personal day for them. They haven’t had a quiet day together since...well before the wedding.”
“That was so long ago!”
“Exactly.”
I sat down next to the chair, muttering to myself.
“I can’t believe I never knew how close they were. It seems like she would have mentioned her at some point.”
“What was that?”
I shook my head to clear it.
“Nothing. Just trying to remember something. Is there anything I can do for you?”
She smiled. It was a genuine smile that melted my insides a little. Nopony smiled at me like that.
“Thank you, but I suspect that conventional methods won’t work on whatever this is. You can just do whatever you were planning on doing.”
I walked over to the table and picked up her sketchbook.
“I was looking at this before you arrived.”
Her eyes found the book and she moaned.
“Oh no. Those designs aren’t complete yet. They’re only partials. They’re horrid!”
I opened to the page I’d first seen and flipped it around to show her.
“I think it’s rather beautiful. Even if it is only half finished. If I understand your notes, then I think I see where you’re going with this. And I like it.”
“That’s sweet of you to say, but it really isn’t ready. I’ll probably change my mind a few more times before finalizing the design.”
“Pity. I thought it wasn’t half bad. And that’s from a changeling who doesn’t understand clothes.”
“Doesn’t understand-?”
She stared at me like I’d grown a second head. A bout of sniffles distracted her and she settled into the chair again.
“Why am I not surprised?”
I chuckled.
“Sorry to offend. Changelings have never had clothes. I guess when you can change into anything you don’t bother with things like that.”
“I’d wear clothes to cover up those unsightly holes in my legs.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Well you got me there. Do you have anything to drink?”
“The kitchen is through that door.”
She pointed to a doorway and I moved toward it.
“Can I get you anything?”
“I should be fine.”
I opened the door.
“Perhaps some tea? And some bread and jam if there’s any?”
I smiled without turning.
“You got it.”
I grabbed some food from the fridge, realizing I was hungry as well. It took me a minute to find a kettle and the teabags. I prepped everything as I waited for the water to boil. By the time I was finished putting jam on the bread, the kettle was hissing at me. I brought everything out on a tray.
“Here we go. Some tea and bread with strawberry jam. Whatever strawberries are, they taste good.”
She giggled.
“You’re very odd. You don’t know about a lot of things.”
“The hive is very different from here. Not exactly a life of luxury.”
“I should say! Especially if you don’t even know what strawberries are.”
She sipped her tea and sighed. We ate silently for a minute, each enjoying our bread and jam. Rarity began staring at me. I swallowed my bite of bread and turned to her.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just interesting seeing you eat. I never thought of changelings eating food.”
“Oh? Do you want to see me hunting for the nearest source of love?”
Her eyes grew bigger at the thought. I shook my head.
“I'm kdding of course. My appetite has changed in the recent months. Being deprived of my primary food source for so long did something to me.”
“So you don’t need love anymore?”
“Can’t really miss what you barely had to begin with.”
“What do you mean?”
I sat back as I finished my bread and jam.
“There are literally hundreds of changelings fighting for every scrap of love that gets tossed their way. I used to be like that. Hoping that I wouldn’t have to go hungry for too long. I can’t even remember the last time I ever got full off of love.”
“Never full? So you were starving half the time? No wonder your kind are so hostile. I would be too if I hadn’t eaten in a few days.”
“Days? There were times I’d go a month without eating.”
Her jaw dropped slightly. I smiled, reaching out to lift her jaw back up.
“Changelings can go without food for a lot longer than ponies. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to me.”
She recovered quickly.
“So you’ve never had a full belly until now?”
I thought for a moment.
“Well...I feel like there was a time when I had just hatched. But it’s hard to say. That was decades ago.”
“Decades? You can’t be much older than me!”
Darn. I’d forgotten about the age thing. How had I let myself slip up like that? I tried to dodge Rarity’s gaze, but it wasn’t going there well.
“How old are you exactly?”
“Not old...by changeling standards.”
“That’s vague.”
“I’ve never really talked about it. Not even to Twilight.”
“Is it a secret?”
“Not really.”
“Then tell me!”
“Promise you won’t freak out?”
“You’re not a thousand years old or something like that, are you?”
“Goodness no! Not even Chrysalis is that old.”
“So...”
I stared at her for a few seconds before sighing.
“I’m 87.”
“What?!”
“You said you wouldn’t freak out!”
“Well if it had been fifty or less I wouldn’t have! You’re really that old?!”
“Changelings have a longer lifespan. I knew some when I was little that reached four hundred without breaking a sweat.”
“Four hundred?! All changelings can live that long?”
“Well..that’s as long as they survived anyways. I honestly don’t know. I’ve never seen a changeling die from old age.”
She laid there, staring at me for what felt like an eternity. I kept shifting back and forth, beginning to feel uncomfortable. Rarity finally broke the silence.
“You said you hadn’t told Twilight? Why not?”
“Well as you can see, it causes quite a stir.”
“Surely you had other reasons though.”
“Well...I suppose I’m a little self-conscious about it.”
“Why?”
“Well by changeling standards I’m not much different in age compared to you. I never thought it was weird. But as I started to go out on missions for Chrysalis, I found out pretty quick that ponies don’t live nearly as long. All of a sudden my age made me feel different. And not in a good way.”
“You didn’t like being as old?”
“You would think I’d relish the fact that I would live for centuries. But honestly? It just made me feel lonely.”
“Lonely?”
I nodded.
“Changelings fend for themselves. We don’t have families or friends. How would the idea of sub-immortality look to you then?”
She nodded in agreement.
“Lonely.”
A sigh escaped me.
“The only time I ever felt like I belonged in the slightest was on those missions. And even then I still felt separate from everypony. But to walk among them? To see what life was like without the hive? It was everything I could have ever hoped for.”
“And do we still meet your expectations?”
I looked at her and smiled.
“Surpassed them is more like it.”
She returned the smile. Another one of those melt-my-insides smiles. She reached out and took my hoof.
“You’re not alone anymore Shade. You have all of us now.”
I looked down at our hooves touching. She was so gentle. I felt a tear roll down my cheek, realizing that she was right. I didn’t have to imagine anymore. This was it. I was finally living the life I had always dreamed of. Sneezes and all.
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Oh poor Shade...
that was beautiful!
wow
Yes. Sneezes and all, Shade.
I can't wait to see if Shade sneezes, for some reason. I'm weird, why am I weird?
I can't be the only one that wants shade to sneeze now, am I? I mean the reaction alone would be interesting to see
I've read through this chapter before and the possibility didn't click, is shades age supposed to be a reference to Lord of the rings? Aragorn admitting being 87 as well?
10059103
Finally somepony got it!
Here kid, have a streamer on me!