Out of Froggy Bottom Bog
Having once again saved the day from certain inconvenience, Twilight Sparkle and her five best friends were making their way back home to Ponyville from the depths of Froggy Bottom Bog. In spite of the rousing success of their latest mission, the six heroes were walking under a cloud of awkwardness. Well, five of them were. Pinkie Pie was feeling irrepressible and doing her best to lift her friends’ spirits by recounting the climatic finale they had all just experienced.
“-and then Twilight finally manages to pull out the big spell that banished all the illusions so Applejack could lasso Fluttershy and pull her away from that big nasty will-o-the-wisp! Wasn’t that spell just amazing?”
“Yes, it certainly was,” Rarity replied flatly.
Twilight stopped walking, prompting the rest to stop as well, and sighed. “Ok,” she said, “I get it Pinkie. We should finish… dealing with this before we get back to town. Fluttershy,” she said, turning around to face the friend in question, “how long have you been a changeling?”
Fluttershy no longer had a long, pink mane to use to hide her face, but she turned her head to the angle that would have accomplished that feat anyway as she nervously rubbed one chitinous yellow fore-leg against the other. “Um… all my life?” she suggested. “I mean… I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to turn a pony into a changeling, so I guess that’s obvious. If you meant to ask if I kidnapped and replaced Fluttershy, then no, I didn’t.” She lifted her head and met Twilight’s eyes with her own pinkish compound eyes. “I am the Fluttershy you’ve always known, I swear.”
“Let’s say we believe you,” Applejack said, “fer argument’s sake. That raises the question: if you’ve been a changeling since the day we met, why were ya so shy and hermit-like until recently? That don’t sound like a smart way ta go about stealing love from ponies like Chrysalis would’ve had you doing.”
“And why didn’t Cadance and Shining Armor’s love-blast send you flying out of Canterlot like the other changelings?”
“Because” Fluttershy said as she changed back to her pony shape in a flash of pink fire, “I think that blast was just meant to drive out Chrysalis and her Love-eating Changelings. I’m not a Love-eater, I’m a Kindness-eater.” Twilight opened her mouth to ask for clarification on that, but Fluttershy managed to cut the alicorn off, guessing the question. “There aren’t nearly as many of my kind as there are Chrysalis and Thorax’s, and we figured out Changeling Reformation several generations ago. I think that’s because sharing Kindness is easier to do without thinking about it than sharing Love is. Both my parents Reformed within weeks of being born, and they claim I was practically Reformed from day one. Zephyr Breeze was a bit of a late bloomer,” she added as an aside.
Twilight’s mouth opened and closed a few times as she thought through Fluttershy’s claims. “Ok,” she said at length, “so ‘your kind’ of changelings haven’t had a reason to prey on ponies in a long, long time. Why bother to hide what you really are, then?”
Fluttershy shrugged her wings helplessly. “Tradition and habit,” she said. “Changelings of all kinds have always disguised themselves when among other races. Chrysalis broke away from that, but the way she did it...”
“Ponies wouldn’t have liked realizing that their friends were never actually ponies,” Rainbow Dash said, nodding.
Pinkie was nodding too, vigorously. “And even after Thorax Reformed the Love-lings,” she said, “you were just so used to being Fluttershy the pegasus pony that you never really considered telling us you were actually Fluttershy the changeling.”
“Exactly,” Fluttershy said, visibly relaxing a little.
Twilight did not look nearly as convinced as Dash and Pinkie, though. “So why didn’t you take me seriously back before the Wedding when I told everypony I suspected something was wrong with Cadance?” she asked.
“You never said you thought she was a changeling, Twilight,” Rarity pointed out.
“Well, I didn’t even know about changelings at the time,” Twilight shot back before returning her suspicious look to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy took a deep breath to steel herself against Twilight’s intimidating glare. “Even if I had a reason to suspect there were other changelings around then,” she explained, “I don’t think I could have identified her because Chrysalis is a Love-eater. I only know how to spot fellow Kindness-eaters, and since no Love-eater that I’ve met has ever realized that I’m a changeling, I think that’s something we all have in common: we can’t detect changelings that eat different emotions.”
Pinkie’s eyes widened. “Oh, so that’s why-!” she half-shouted before clapping a hoof over her mouth.
Everypony, and Fluttershy, immediately turned their gaze on Pinkie Pie.
“What’s why what?” Twilight asked.
“Uh, um...” Pinkie’s eyes darted about nervously for a second, but then she sighed and calmed down. “Ah, why not?” she said wistfully, and then, with a flash of ruby fire, transformed into a bright orange, wingless changeling with green eyes. “Surprise, I’m a changeling too,” she said with nervous enthusiasm.
“Uh...” Applejack and Twilight both said, glancing between Pinkie and Fluttershy.
“This is a surprise to me too,” Fluttershy volunteered. “She’s not my kind, or I’d have known.”
“So, what kind of changeling are you then, Pinkie?” Rarity asked.
“I actually have no idea,” Pinkie declared. “I’m actually adopted; my whole family is earth ponies. I’m definitely not a Kind-ling because I just surprised Fluttershy, and I’m not a Love-ling cuz those guys never figured me out either. I might eat something like happiness or joy, since I kinda recall being more sickly before I saw the Sonic Rainboom and started throwing parties to make others happy.” She looked herself over, stuck out her tongue, and changed back to her pink pony form. “By the way, Fluttershy,” she said, “you lucked out on the post-Reform color scheme.”
“Thank you,” Fluttershy. “You didn’t look… too bad.”
“I looked awful,” Pinkie protested. “Not to mention totally off-brand. Everyone comes looking for Ponyville’s Premier Pink Party Pony, not the day-glo orange bug-pony. It just doesn’t roll off the tongue, and there’s no alliteration at all!”
“Right,” Rainbow Dash said. “so, if you were raised by ponies, how do you know how to do the whole...” She twirled a hoof at Pinkie before settling on “...the whole changeling thing?”
“Instinct and a lot of practice,” Pinkie replied. “A lot of practice. I’ve probably figured out shape-shifting tricks that even Chrysalis doesn’t know, just because I had to experiment.”
Twilight’s eyes widened slightly. “Wait,” she said, “so all the weird things you can do that seem to defy physics, that’s just changeling shape-shifting magic?”
“Hmmm… maybe,” Pinkie said cryptically.
“Wait, how did you Reform, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked suddenly. “You have to share the emotion you eat with a changeling of the same type to Reform, but if you’ve never met another like you…?”
Pinkie shrugged. “Not sure,” she said. “I know that I didn’t Reform until about a year before Twilight moved to Ponyville, but I can’t say exactly when it happened or who was around me. I only change out of my pony shape once a year, just to give myself a check-up. Either there’s a changeling like me in town that I have never been able to identify despite knowing everything about everypony, or the changeling was just passing through and got caught up in a party and we triggered each other without realizing.”
“I suppose that’s possible,” Fluttershy said.
“This is fascinating!” Twilight exclaimed, stepping up between the two unmasked changelings. “So many new avenues of research into changelings have just opened up, I’m not even mad you two were keeping secrets!” She pulled the pair in close to her sides with her wings as her smile took on a slightly manic gleam. “What do you say we postpone further discussion until we get home? I need to write all this down, and organize some proper courses of inquiry and – oh! – we need to let Thorax know about this! I bet he’s either got tons to say about the various kinds of changelings or lots of questions of his own.” Pinkie and Fluttershy shared a nervous look over Twilight’s back.
“Hold up,” Rainbow Dash said as Twilight started to lead Pinkie and Fluttershy off, “before we go, are there any other changelings in the group?”
“Not I,” Rarity said.
“I’m earth pony to the core,” AJ said proudly.
“Same,” Twilight said. “Er, that is, ‘same’ as in ‘I’m not a changeling either.’”
“I was about to say...” Applejack drawled, smirking.
“Ok,” Rainbow said, “cool. Guess that means it’s my turn, then.”
One flash of light later, and the nearby mountainsides began to echo with cries of shock and confusion. Surmounting all the rest and retaining clarity for at least three sonic rebounds, was Fluttershy’s uncharacteristic bark of “Rainbow Dash, what the buck?!”
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Eh
That was nice. Very well written and to the point. It kind of reminded me of truthseeker in how they were completely hidden.
And what a wonderful mystery we have at the end, just what is she? I want to say an eldritch horror that doesn't quite break minds in small quantities.
Good read.
I would of thought meeting Cheese Sandwich would be Pinkie's reformation moment as I could see him being the same type as her.
9941232
I did consider that possibility, but if I tried to explain everything about everyling, I'd never be able to find a good stopping point for the story.
I want a second part telling us Just what she turned into. Please make that happen.
9941255
No.
I'll tell you why, if you'll highlight the following spoiler'd text:
The dream that inspired this fic ended with the implication that Rainbow Dash was yet another kind of changeling, but I woke up before that could be confirmed. Thus, I have chosen to leave things deliberately vague and let your imagination fill in the blanks.
Is Dash another 'ling?
Is she an minor eldritch horror of some kind?
Is she a dragonequus or other reality-warping spirit?
Who knows? Decide for yourself.
9941261
Fair enough.
9941261
Given that Dash only asked if anyone else was a changeling, the implication is that she's one herself (and a type not discussed yet). If she was something non-changeling, she'd have been more likely to ask something along the lines of “before we go, is there anypony else who isn't actually a pony?”
Well at least we know what the sequel will be about. Great story by the way.
Good Fic. I love stories where one of the Mane 6 is a changeling.
Hmm, makes me curious about how many Emotivore subspecies there are, and if their internal structure is different in some way...ignore the scalpel, I totally don't know how to use it.
Still, the fact that they can all 'reform' implies that that's literally part of their life cycle, which implies a lot of other things in regards to their physiology. It also means the immature variants of their species can breed, and Fluttershy's statement implies also that 'reformation' isn't aged base, which does kind of make sense in the case of something that feeds off emotions having a trigger for change like that.
All of that being said, a cute little thing, and lovely bit, wish there were more, but I know how dreams are, had one of these myself a few months back.
I bet I know who the one that triggered Pinkie Pie’s reformation was, the one pony with a similar demeanor to her, Cheese Sandwich!
I choose to believe that Rainbow Dash here is a Glitter-ling: A changeling with a carapace so shiny that it appears as a dazzling (and blinding) shifting rainbow pattern. It is, in fact, so shiny that lasers will bounce off of it.
After all, what could be cooler than a supersonic, laser-proof shapeshifter?
She's a changeling! ... again :x
Wasn't/isnt't everyone a changeling at this point?
I would be surprised if Chrysalis was Twilight buttttt then again.... i read a story in which she was cast as new Queen sooo that's off the table too :p
I like the idea that she checked to make sure none of the other were so she couldn’t possibly be upstaged.
9941261
I understand; that doesn't mean I don't hate you for it.
I love the concept of multiple emotivore varieties.
edit: Add the changeling tag so people can find it with the other changeling fics.
Most amusing. And oddly plausible.
Ah yes, the good ol' "X is a changeling" story troupe...for some reason, that one just never gets old...
The lore building, though altogether fairly light all things considered, was certainly interesting. The idea of different types of changelings feeding off different types of emotions I don't think is a new idea exactly (I'm pretty sure I read another fic, years back, that broached the same idea), but it's the first I've seen it applied to the Mane 6 themselves like this. And it makes sense regardless, too.
I can only imagine how honorific rd has to look for fluttershy to cuss lmao.
9941232
Sounds like it was, it was at one of Pinkie's parties that he realized his purpose.
9942273
Either that or Fluttershy is just upset that she and her oldest friend both shared the same secret and she's only now learning this.
9941968
That's a bit over-the-top for my taste, but if that's what you want, then I won't stop you.
9942018
Added the Changelings tag. Thanks for pointing that out.
Now, may I suggest you channel that hate into writing the follow-up you want to see?
The ending was amusing.
9942193
I could be wrong, but I think this might be the fic you're thinking of:
- MLP: FiM
- Slice of Life
Novel Tale, a changeling living in Canterlot as a writer, has his peaceful life shattered when changelings from another hive attack, revealing the existence of changelings to all of ponykind. And his last book had a changeling character in it...9942717
Might've been! I did in fact read the first eight or so chapters of that fic once.
9942344
Darn right, you won’t!
...
I mean, thanks!
Pinkie....
now I want to know what kind rainbow dash is...
ya teased me dammit
So why weren't Pinkie and RD revealed in the big spell?
9943672
Only Fluttershy actually got hit by the spell.
i chose to belived based on flutershies reaction that RD is a changeling but shes actualy a MALE changeling and has been all there life, and just likes being in female form, hence the WTB moment from flutershy.
what if rainbow dash is a love changeling? like chrysalis
9943893
i think the clue is in that last paragraph. Pinkie's reveal said flash of ruby fire. But...RD's was a flash of light, and how many characters cause a flash of light with their use of magic magic?
I'll give you a hint. It's a popular chat program that is used by this site.
EDIT: I'll clarify i think same species, but not that character specifically
9941232
Sounds like Cheese Sandwich to me.
9943876
Would Changleings even have gender, as we understand it? Look at actual hive-instincts: They have female queens, who lay the eggs. Male drones, who's only job is to mate with the queens. But most of them are pseudo-genderless workers.
9944338
To 'greatly' abreviate a complicated topic, yes changelings do have genders males have gems in there chests, females dont or at least thats the cannon word from hasbro last i checked.
unreformed the genders are near imposible to tell apart with females only having very slight varaitions that only another changeling would be able to pick out.
Entertaining. I could easily see a whole series on this. Unlikely as it is. It would be awesome to have more stories.
9943750
> Twilight finally manages to pull out the big spell that banished all the illusions
Sounded wider area than that… but I suppose it must have been. Kind of odd wording for Pinkie to choose, since she knew of an illusion remaining.
9943990
Sorry, don't do discord (especially since I use Linux mint and have no idea what terminal commands I need to enter to download it)
9944531
My point being, since both Fluttershy and Pinkie revealed as changelings, everyone assumed changeling for RD, but it says flash of light and not fire. And getting Fluttershy to yell out would take far more than changeling. So I think Draconequess.
9944682
so maybe she is NOT a changeling...
huh... I will start coming up with ideas
9944901
thestreal?
Alicorn???
phoenix, maybe?
a literal bird?
at this point it could be any number of things...
I mean she could be a turbofan engine for all we know
NOOOO
YOU CAN'T LEAVE US AT A CLIFFHANGER LIKE THAT
Not bad, but like 90% of other 'main six member is a changeling' is a little short and make people want more.
9941261
With Dash being the speed demon that she is, I imagine her turning into a Thunderbird or the opposite, like some sort of flying turtle. Besides, the opposite would explain why she is such a speed demon: being slow and graceless in her natural form, she tries to get the most out of her pony form.
9944999
I think the reason for that is that it's hard to figure out where to take an "X is a Changeling" story after the initial reveal.
9945059
True... There are a couple of X is a changeling like "The Irony of Applejack" or "Reformation of the hives" or "Of the Hive" and "The three sisters" but for now, it seems that Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow don't have their story as changelings
9944070
Considering she wound up day-glo orange and it comes from sharing the emotion, that makes sense.
Which means in non-shapeshifted form, Cheese Sandwich is probably bright pink.
9945222
No, Rainbow has one... I forget what it was called, but it's in my bookshelves somewhere...
Really should put that "reshelving day" into effect, it would've been a snap to find it then (as one of the new shelves would be Changeling-centered).
9945664
Well, how many fics you have with Rainbow? That should make the list shorter
9945667
You'd think so...