Legends Of Ponyville

by mechafone

15 - Changing Directions

Anorax sighed as the road finally came to a close and the Ponyville town borders opened up to the welcoming burg. It had taken him and Vinyl Scratch nearly two days to clean up after the party. Maybe they shouldn't have volunteered for that job, but it had been worth it. The party, the music, the reception and the food had all been absolutely amazing, and with the way Spark had danced and rained those lights down on the crowd...all three of them would go down in Canterlot history.

Being one of the last of the Ponyville citizens to leave the city, Anorax was completely unaware of the events that had transpired after the dance. Also being out of town, he was completely unaware of the monsters running amuck in Ponyville, also a complete secret to the town itself.

As Anorax made his way home, he smiled and waved as neighbors and friends stopped to say hello. There was Applejack, selling a hard day's work with her big brother. Roseluck and her mother were on the other side of the street. Half of their flower wares had been sold. This actually reminded him that it was about lunch-time. He had seen Pinkie Pie in Canterlot, apparently on an apprenticeship trip in the local cake shop, so he thought he'd go in and see how the new temp was doing, and headed for Sugarcube Corner.

Upon entering the cakes and sweets shop, the first thing he noticed was the gorgeous mare at the counter waiting for him. She was probably a couple years older than him, maybe three. Absolutely beautiful, young, attractive, and...a little paranoid. She seemed very nervous. Probably first or second day jitters. Time for a little "Anorax therapy". He cleared his throat and strode up to the counter and put on his best smile.

"Hey there," he said, trying to sound suave. He actually managed to not sound like a complete geek. "New in town? Don't worry, everypony is totally friendly, you'll be just fi-"

"No I won't!" she shot back, her eyes wide, the left one twitching a little. "This town is crazy, it's full of monsters, and NOPONY seems to notice! There's...crazy unicorns and pegasi acting like the mob, there's crazy faces in the trees, and there are headless vine monsters everywhere! I just want to finish my apprenticeship without seeing something you'd never see back in Canterlot! Now what are you ordering?!"

Anorax stared silently at the pretty, frazzled mare. After a moment, he pointed to a chocolate dipped hazelnut star-shaped cookie. It was a completely random motion, so when the mare turned to get his cookie, he was taken aback when he had asked for the very cookie that was blazened on her shapely flank. He hoped to Celestia that she didn't make the connection. She put the cookie in a bag and plopped it down in front of him. "Five bits," she said without so much as looking at him.

A little steep for just a cookie, he thought. Nevermind that, I'm getting out of here! He paid the mare and grabbed his treat. On his way out, he was sure he heard her mutter, "Great. Now perverts. I hate this town..."

---

As Anorax stepped out of Sugarcube Corner with a slow shake of his head, his exit was duly noted by a pair of staring blue eyes. Across the street from Anorax stood Madalah and Kecnik, having come down to the surface to look for Laser Reflex. Madalah, however, now completely distracted from her job. As she stared at Anorax, her wings twitched with excitement, even buzzing, creating an actual buzzing noise that alerted her partner to her actions.

"Madalah, what are you...?" Kecnik asked, then turned to watch the white pegasus across the street. Odd. Madalah never got excited about a pony before, but he supposed it was only natural. She was young, and there were no rules stating that Changelings couldn't be with other species. He turned with an amused smirk on his face back to the younger soldier, and his amused smile disappeared. There was a serious look of longing and sadness on her face. He turned to her completely to block her vision of the stallion.

"Madalah, what do you think you're-"

"He's one of us, Kecnik."

Her declaration was so sudden and so final that it took the older Changeling off-guard. "He's..." she started bouncing in place, her wings fluttering, keeping her in a hovering position for a moment or two before coming down and hopping back up again. "He's a Ch-" she stopped as Kecnik held a hoof over her mouth.

"This is no small matter, Madalah. Another Changeling in town that we were previously unaware of may change everything about our mission. For now, though, we need to stay on task. We'll look into this later." He turned, and promptly flew off, completely confident that Madalah was behind him. When he looked back, though, she was most certainly not following him. She wasn't where he'd left her, either. He let out a big, tired sigh, and continued on his search for Laser.

---

Anorax sighed as he walked toward his home. He was still a bit weirded out by the cookie mare, even if her hotness had been off the scale. He lifted up into the air to handle the bag and look inside, a slightly pervish grin spreading across his face as he took out the cookie to observe it. The fact that this cookie was the same as the cookie on the mare's cutie mark was highly amusing to him. He was about to take a bite when he nearly ran into another pegasus, just standing there in his path.

"Whoa! Uh, sorry..." he muttered in passing. He hadn't really taken the time to see her, though he had gotten the distinct impression that she was a light blue, almost electric blue. Not exactly the kind of color he looked for in a mare, but still, she seemed pretty cute. He got a glimpse of her again as she began following him. At a distance, though, far enough back that he knew she was there, but without getting all up in his space. It was still a little too close for comfort, though, and he sped on down the street in the air.

The mare kept the pace, down the streets towards his house. For some reason the mare's creep-o-meter was really high, and he didn't feel at all comfortable showing her where he lived, so he sped right on past his place. She didn't slow at all, so it was a safe bet she didn't know that he lived at the place they just passed. Now it was time to ditch the dame.

He sped on ahead as fast as he could, dodging ponies in the street and getting more than a few angry shouts. He didn't care, he wanted to lose this girl, and fast. He turned down the first alley he could find, then ducked behind a large collection of boxes and waited for the mare to pass. Sure enough, she did. Then, making sure that nopony saw, he transformed into Halfling form, revealing his wingless, furless white body, along with his horn. This he used to gather the boxes around himself, making sure that if she doubled back, the mare would have lost him.

She did double back, however. He heard her settle down to the ground. Now that he thought about it, why was he running from a mare? It's not like she could..."This just made it easier to find you, silly." The mare's voice, while certainly cute, did nothing for the sound of fire erupting outside of Anorax's box shelter. He started to panic until a magical grasp took hold of his box fort and flung them in every direction. Wait, since when did pegasi have magic? he thought.

What he saw when the boxes cleared defied every facet of Anorax's grasp on logic. Before him stood one of the most beautiful faces he'd ever seen in his entire life. She was different from what he saw before, yet it was most definitely the same face, the same mare. Something inside Anorax's 14 year old mind struggled to comprehend this situation, yet it felt so natural.

Standing before him was a Changeling. She was slightly shorter than he was, electric blue mane and the lightest, most translucent wings he'd ever seen. Technically, the first Changeling wings he'd ever seen, apart from his father's. Anorax felt himself trembling with emotion. His first Changeling encounter and he was running away from her. And now, just from looking at her, he felt like he would never want to leave her side.

After a moment or two of awkward staring, Madalah smiled curiously and reached forward to touch Anorax's side. The touch was like electricity to the young Halfling. He did his best not to gasp. Whether or not the effect she was having on him went unnoticed or not, she didn't seem to show as her hoof trailed up along his back. "You have no wings."

"Um." Anorax managed to respond. He felt himself burning up inside, the way he always did when talking to a girl he knew he had no chance with. But this was different, wasn't it? If she was actually interested in him, then maybe this was the chance to turn things around for himself! Now if he could just...wait. Wait. You're getting ahead of yourself, Anorax, think! What is a Changeling doing in Ponyville? Anorax didn't know much about the Changelings from his father except that their being in Ponyville was never a good sign.

Anorax managed to take a step away from the female Changeling, but she quickly closed the gap between them. The Halfling tried moving away from her again, but this time his rear connected with the brick wall behind him, and unless he changed back into a pegasus there was no other way out of here. His Halfling genetics kept him a unicorn in Halfling form, while he had access only to a single pegasus form as a pony.

"You're like us, aren't you? But you're different. What are you?" the Changeling mare asked, her voice sweet and curious. Despite the panic that Anorax felt, he also felt compelled to speak to her, to get to know her...maybe even be with her. His Halfling nature cried out for like companionship, and he had been alone for so long that it was difficult to fight his nature.

"No, I'm...I'm different," he heard himself telling her. "I'm only half." Wait, what are you doing, stupid? Don't talk to her! She's bad news! Dad says that Changelings in Ponyville is bad. So knock it off! "My mother is a pegasus. A-a pony, and my father is a Changeling." Nice, dude, excellent recovery. Madalah took this in quietly for a moment, then bounced and giggled where she stood, her insect-like wings buzzing with excitement. Her seemingly pure innocence and infectious excitement was extremely charming, and Anorax felt himself getting deeper with each passing second.

"This is so exciting! I've never heard of such a thing happening, I didn't think it was possible! Well, I guess I've never even thought about it before, but whatever! You-you may be the first of your kind! Maybe the only one of your kind..." she paused and held a hoof up to her chin, while still hovering in mid-air. "Gosh, that must be awfully lonely..."

Lonely? Am I lonely? Hell no, I've got dozens of friends here in Ponyville. I've got family here and in Canterlot, and...and I don't have a girlfriend. So...am I lonely?

Yes.

Anorax's body finally caught up with his thoughts, and he suddenly had to fight the urge to tear up. Unfortunately, and he knew this well, hiding your emotions from a Changeling was a moot point. Madalah put her hooves over her mouth, a sudden surge of sadness and regret welling from her. Anorax lowered his gaze, feeling more vulnerable than he ever had at any point in his life. He'd never had a chance to meet another Changeling aside from his father, and wearing his emotions on his sleeves was both revealing and embarrassing.

"Oh, I...I'm sorry," Madalah said. Anorax didn't respond. It was humiliating to have his insecurities observed and picked at the way she was doing. It might not have been intentional, but there were few secrets between them now. He could feel her remorse and having discovered his lonliness, and their emotions pinged back and forth, sending and receiving new emotional information. This was nothing like the training his father put him through to control the input he had to endure daily.

Anorax just wanted her to go away. Changeling or not, like him or not, he didn't want to see her anymore. His whole day was shot, maybe even the whole...his thoughts were interrupted as he felt the female Changeling press against him. He tensed as he felt her head on his shoulder. He was angry now. This Changeling thought she could just pop into his life and change everything he knew about his own existence and just hug him?

That actually worked out pretty well. In the last two minutes he'd experienced more emotion than he had in his entire lifetime. And hey, he discovered that he was attracted to actual Changelings as well as ponies. That was something, right? He supposed he was just too tired to push her away and tell her to mind her own business. Yeah, that was it.

Anorax suddenly winced as he caught a signal from out of nowhere in his head. Madalah sat straight up, her ears tilting this way and that. Anorax's ears instinctively moved the same way, and after a moment he could make out a telepathic signal in his head. It wasn't far away, in fact it was coming from just down the street a bit, maybe towards the library? It was faint, but he could just make out the unfamiliar sounds that made up a telepathic Changeling message: I found him. Found who?

Madalah frowned and started pacing in place, while Anorax picked up anxiety from her, as if she were indecisive. She groaned and lowered her head, her resolve to finish this gone. Still...it was too late to anticipate her next move. She moved close and planted a delicate kiss on Anorax' mouth before she pulled away, a pretty blush cresting her cheeks. "You are not alone," she whispered to him before a bright blue flame engulfed her body, and she was once again the blue pegasus she started as before she flew up into the air and away from Anorax.

Anorax stood frozen on the spot, in the same position he'd been in when she'd kissed him and left: eyes wide, lips slightly parted, ears drawn back. Ever so slowly he came back to his senses and raised his head in the direction that the Changeling had left. A smile slowly spread over his face, as did the signature Changeling phenomenon of changing fire. His pegasus form restored, a single tear slipped down his cheek.

Alone? Not anymore.

---

Madalah flew as fast as she could to reach Kecnik. Her little heart beat faster than it ever had before, and she was sure it was because of that kiss. It was so unlike her to be so assertive like that. Of course, she'd never met any one that made her feel like that Halfling did. She shook her head to clear her thoughts; it was game time, and she needed to have her head clear.

Finally, she located Kecnik near the library. She remembered this place, Bezzle had followed Laser out here once to make sure he was doing his job. This was right before his whole mission failed, of course. That was four days ago.

Madalah landed beside the tall pegasus, who indicated inside the library. She crouched and crept close to the front windows. Indeed, she saw Laser Reflex, backing away from a creature that could've been as tall as Kecnik and covered in vines. She'd never seen such a creature before, but everything in her race memory and her natural instincts were telling her this was an enemy. The fur on her body was sticking up, needle hard and sharp.

Another creature that caught her attention was the tall bird...thing. This also screamed "enemy", but in a completely different way. She couldn't place it, but she had a very uneasy feeling about it. And then her eyes fell on what could only be their true query, the pegasus called Spark Storm. Her hackles rose, their true objective finally found: locate the one called Spark Storm.

...Well, what now? She glanced at Kecnik, this question going unasked but completely understood. "I think it's time to regroup with the others, Madalah. It's time to plan our next step. We have no orders to engage the enemy in combat, but..." he trailed off as he stared in horror at what was approaching them: a group of colts and fillies, and since he and Madalah had been so distracted, they didn't notice until the group was nearly upon them.

They were being lead by an older orange mare with bright white mane and tail. With her was a younger mare, with a soft berry color and two pleasant shades of pink in her mane and tail. The group stopped before running into the two, now standing before the door. "Oh, um..." Kecnik began before stretching his wings. Madalah did the same, preparing to take off into the air. "We were just leaving..."

They didn't have time to leave, however, before the door behind them opened. Madalah and Kecnik both turned and came face to face with Spark Storm himself. There was a brief shriek of indignant horror from behind Spark before it was muffled. Spark had heard enough before he figured it out. The two unfamiliar pegasi at the door, Laser's shout. These were Changelings. So of course, he took the only natural course of action: "Won't you come in?" he asked, stepping aside to make way for the two Changelings and the class behind them.

Kecnik narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the pegasus, while Madalah looked to Kecnik for the next move. Finally, Kecnik inclined his head and stepped forward and into the library, Madalah following behind him, extremely tense. Just what was going through Kecnik's mind?! Spark gave his sister and his old teacher a nod. "Come on in, everypony!" he called.

The colts and fillies filed on inside, with Cheerilee and her current teacher, Angelica Lovage, Spark's old teacher. Spark smiled a genuinely happy smile as his older sister embraced him, followed by a tight hug by his old teacher. "Spark Storm!" she gushed. "It's been years, sweetheart, you've certainly gotten bigger."

"And popular," Cheerilee said with a sly wink. "Who's the cute pegasus?" Spark's smile slowly started to thin out and disappear as he glanced at the two standing awkwardly in the center of the room as the little visiting colts and fillies ran around the room, thankfully devoid of visiting monsters. Emerald thankfully emerged from the kitchen and started on damage control.

"I think explanations'll have to wait," he said, his eyes never leaving the two Changelings. "I'm a bit due for an explanation, myself. Please excuse me, ladies." Cheerilee frowned as she watched her brother head to the new pegasi. Something was off. Something was very off.

Spark glanced to the side as Laser Reflex came to walk beside him, and speaking in angry hushed tones said, "Spark Storm, are you crazy?! You can't let the children run around with these two! What about your sister-"

Laser was cut off as the younger pegasus rounded him on him and poked him with a hoof in the chest. "Oh yeah? And what's your deal? How do you know that's my sister, how long have you been following me and why?"

Laser grit his teeth together, angry that Spark wasn't listening to him. Finally, he inclined his head to the side. "It's them. They hired me to follow you, get all kinds of information on you. I don't know why, and I certainly didn't know they were monsters when they hired me, so sorry for doing my job so well! Now why are you letting the kids in here when this place is literally crawling with monsters?!"

Spark narrowed his eyes at this answer. So the Changelings wanted information on him? His whereabouts, his family? They were getting personal this time. Much too personal. "Think about it, Laser. There are two Changelings here. If you know them like I do, two of them aren't too tough, and I doubt they're here in town to make trouble for anypony but me. The closer the kids are to danger, the further they are from harm."

"You don't know that, Spark Storm. Besides, what about the others? That vine...thing...and that giant thing that I think is some kind of bird lady? Or the smaller vine creature?"

Spark snorted with a mix of derision and anger. "Those three are under my protection, especially the smaller one. And don't worry about Ampelus-"

"Ampelus?"

"You know...the one that almost stole your virginity."

"I beg your pardon, but I lost my vir-"

"Not interested. Seriously. Look, she won't touch the kids, they don't like the youth. They want the sexually mature ones." Spark paused and held a hoof thoughtfully over his mouth for a moment. "...You know what? We can get into this later. I'm sure you've got questions, but my questions are more important right now, and those two might have some answers." Spark stepped away from the older pegasus, leaving Laser just as frustrated as he had been before the conversation had started.

Kecnik nudged Madalah as their query approached. Madalah, who had been watching the little colts and fillies run about and play with a smile on her face, snapped to attention. She frowned just slightly as the big pegasus looked her way, and tensed as his wings twitched. She knew about his wings, and what they were capable of. She glanced in Kecnik's direction, hoping he hadn't seen her momentary hiccup in concenctration. If he had, he didn't show it.

Instead, Kecnik put on a slight smile. Madalah recognized that look; it was the look he always had on his face when he was impressed. "Smooth idea, bringing us all in together. You were counting on the children to keep us from attacking, and you are right. We're not here to kill innocents."

"What do your people want with me that they had to to hire Laser just to find me? I also heard that you've taken a captive. Is that true?"

Both Kecnik and Madalah glanced at each other. They had forgotten about the unicorn. He'd been abandoned by Laser. But if Laser had come and told Spark Storm, then obviously a rescue mission had been put into motion. Spark had been in the middle of leaving the library, if the scene was to be believed. Finally, Kecnik nodded his head. Madalah closed her eyes to the sound of his voice. "Yes, we've taken a captive."

Spark's face visibly darkened. So it was all true, the monsters, the attack, and Laser's friend being taken captive. This whole situation was really pissing him off. A sudden movement from above caught Kecnik's eye as Orea poked her head out over the edge of the second story floor, her wings and mane rattling with just enough noise to be ignored by the clamoring children occupying the room below. Kecnik and Madalah exchanged glances as two other forms made themselves visible, the bird creature and the older nymph.

While the children were too busy to look overhead to notice the three figures just barely in view, Laser was not. He started mumbling to himself and quickly retreated to the kitchen area. Kecnik smirked down at Spark Storm. He had to admit, coming into the library was a bad idea. Not only were there innocent children inside, but he and Madalah were outnumbered and definitely overpowered. A pegasus that could control lightning and two nymphs, which ate Changelings, plus that bird creature who was looking extremely formidable. All inside, all concentrated on them. Definitely a dumb idea.

Then again...If the pegasus was thinking about a reversed captive situation, that wasn't going to fly. He'd let the children inside, and while Kecnik had no intention of harming the little ponies, he could take a captive in here. It was obvious that Spark didn't want trouble, and still he'd taken the risk. It was a double-edged move, so Kecnik felt for sure at this point that he and Madalah could walk out of here with no problems. At least...there shouldn't be any problems.

"I'm afraid I can't disclose to you all the answers you seek, Storm." Kecnik said, nudging Madalah with a wing to get her attention. "Now if you'll excuse us..."

Spark stepped carefully into Kecnik's path as he tried to walk past. The taller "pegasus" looked down at Spark, his eyes narrowing. "Cheerilee? If you'd be so kind, there's some stuff to see down in the basement. Why don't you take your class to check it out?" Spark called over his shoulder. Angelica blinked and looked between brother and sister and back, then started to object when Cheerilee stepped towards the basement door, beckoning the children.

"Come on, kids. I'm...not really sure what's in the basement, but I'm sure it'll be an adventure! Let's go, kids!" The class needed no more coaxing as they began cheering and headed for the basement when the door suddenly swung open to two figures, one a unicorn, the other a small pegasus Spark turned and groaned heavily as both Lyra and Chrome came running towards him, both with bright, excited looks on their faces.

"Oh Celestia, what in Tartarus were you two doing together in the basement?" Spark demanded. This situation was getting more and more vexing by the minute!

Usually, Chrome would have made some lewd joke, from what Spark knew of his brother, but the young colt stood straight and scowled up at Spark. "We were talking, Spark, and she's really helped me realize that our mom did the best she could. She made some mistakes, but I don't need to make her suffer anymore. So I'm gonna go make it up to her."

Spark almost completely forgot about the two Changelings behind him. He was, at this moment, extremely proud of his little brother, and he had to take a moment to concentrate on keeping his emotions in check, Kecnik noted this calmly, but Madalah began to tremble at the outpouring of love and pride coming from the big pegasus. He was making it very hard to bear any malice towards him. It was moments like this that made her wonder why they needed to be here, to hurt others, to take from them. Her own insecurities were picked up by Kecnik. He closed his eyes in concentration to shut out her feelings.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna go to Bon Bon's and clear all this mess up!" Lyra chimed in, bouncing in place with that familiar mad grin. "I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself. I'm gonna go get my girl, tell her how she's made me feel like crap, and that I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

Chrome jumped into the air and cheered for Lyra, flying around the room in circles until he came back down next to his new friend, then glanced up at his brother. "What about you, bro? Are you gonna forgive mom too?"

Both Madalah and Kecnik took a step back from Spark Storm as the dark emotion of rage bubbled inside the pegasus, appearing to them as hissing out from his pores and feathers. It came under control though, as Spark tried not to scowl at his little brother. "That's...a whole different story, little buddy," Spark said through clenched teeth. "And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't refer to her as my mother. I'll only have one mother, and it's not her."

Lyra and Chrome both had backed away from Spark as well, just enough to finally see the two new figures in the room. Chrome bounced around his brother and strode right up to Madalah, the familiar pervy grin on his face. "Wait - Chrome!" Spark said, managing not to yell as he grabbed Chrome's tail and dragged him away from Madalah. Spark's sudden anger aimed directly the two Changelings made her take another step back. She actually felt hurt. Here she was, standing and watching her enemy interact with his friends and family, and she wasn't getting a sense at all of why he was their enemy. What was she doing this for? What could their Queen possibly gain by hurting such an individual?

As Spark lectured his brother on personal space, Kecnik turned to his partner, a look of anger and disbelief on his face. Madalah brought her hooves to cover the gasp trying to escape her. She'd done it...she'd really done it this time. It didn't matter if she hadn't said it out loud, she had actually questioned the Queen's motives and brought herself under scrutiny from her former commanding officer. This usually meant punishment, sometimes death if the offense was severe enough.

And yet as she watched Kecnik, his eyes softened. They became less angry, a little sad and a little thoughtful. It wasn't long, though, until their thoughts were completely in sync. The same thoughts ran through their heads: Why are we doing this? The two Changelings smiled at one another. They always knew they were different, even if they had always done what their Queen wanted them to do. They were always a little kinder, a little less cruel, a little less...Changeling like. Here they were, expected to attack Spark Storm, and yet all they could do was emphasize with him, feel sympathy for him...and feel warm towards him as he dealt with life and loved his family.

And then, it happened. They felt something break inside of them. It wasn't a painful feeling, in fact it felt good. They felt separated from the hate, the anger, the malice that they were supposed to feel for Spark Storm. They had been disconnected from the hive because they no longer wished to follow the Queen's orders. They stared into each other's eyes, their emotions rising. They immediately latched on to each other, holding on and practically weeping with a joy they had never been allowed to touch.

Quite suddenly, they parted as a furious voice filled their heads. Nuzo's familiar voice was uncharacteristically but expectedly furious. Why...you...traitors! You dare to remove yourselves from the hive?! Both of you are dead! Do you hear me?! You're dead! Spark Storm is temporarily off the list, and you both are on it! Prepare yourselves, because as soon as I find you, your lives are forfeit!

The two Changelings looked into each other's eyes once again. That was to be expected after what they just did, but the excitement of being free for the first time in their lives was too exhilarating to let this new change of plan get to them.

The two suddenly became very aware of the three ponies staring at the two of them. Lyra absently leaned over and gave Spark a shove. He jumped a little, then cleared his throat. "Uh...you guys wanna fill us in?"

Kecnik smiled at Madalah, silently asking her permission to make this decision. Yes. Absolutely, her eyes said. With pride swelling in his chest, he turned to Spark Storm and said, "Our lives, by Changeling law, are now forfeit. We'll help you get your friend back."