It Takes a Village to Reform a Changeling

by MattTOB

Chapter 7: Cutie Mark Crusaders Relationship Counselors

It Takes a Village to Reform a Changeling

Chapter 7: Cutie Mark Crusaders Relationship Counselors

---

It wasn't fair.

Mandy had sat in his room since last afternoon, replaying the events in his head. AJ's simple request, the realization, and the emotional turmoil that soon followed. If Mandy were able to sense his own emotions like he could others', he was sure he'd vomit.

It just wasn't fair.

Mandy had an incredibly tough choice to make. On one hoof, he could deny her love, likely snuffing out part of her fiery personality in the process. On the other, he could accept it, but bring her unwanted attention from everyone who was still angry at the Changelings. The feelings currently battling in his heart hurt far worse than any hardships Chrysalis had ever put him through, and the worst part was that he couldn't understand why.

It just.

Wasn't.

Fa–

A knock at the window interrupted his thoughts. He sat up and was surprised to see an easily recognizable cyan pegasus with rainbow-colored hair gesturing for him to open the window.

He unhooked the latch and leaned out to address her. "What is it, Rainbow Dash?" he asked dejectedly.

The Element of Loyalty scanned him over, then shook her head with a 'tsk-tsk-tsk'. "Twi was right; you really ARE down in the dumps over something..."

Mandy didn't have time to dawdle; he had some very important moping to get back to. "What do you want?"

"Twilight asked me if I could try and help cheer you up."

Mandy raised an eyebrow. "I thought you hated Changelings...?"

Rainbow flushed. "W-what makes you say that?"

"Because, when you and your friends were fighting the Swarm in Canterlot, you were the most braggadocious about it."

Rainbow blinked. "Brag-a-what-now?"

Mandy groaned. "Whatever. Now, what is it you were gonna do to try and 'cheer me up'?"

Rainbow looked idly at the sky as she began, "Well... I was thinking we could go cloud busting."

Mandy stared at her. "You think that me doing your job for you would make me feel better?"

Rainbow Dash looked offended. "Okay, one: I am not trying to pawn my job off on you. If I were, then I'd be MUCH more direct about it!"

Mandy rolled his eyes.

"And two: cloud busting isn't just a job; I find that it helps me relieve stress and vent anger."

Mandy blinked. "You get stressed?"

The prismatic athlete scoffed. "Of course I do; everypony does! What, did you think that, just because I know I'm the best flyer, I suddenly don't have ANYthing to worry about?"

Mandy frowned apologetically. "Oh. I'm sorry about the accusation."

He glanced back at his bed, then added, "I suppose I could go with you, just to get my mind off of things..."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Alright, then let's go!"

Mandy stretched his wings, still sore from yesterday's injuries, and gave them a quick test. While he wouldn't be as fast as normal, he was certainly still able to fly.

And so, with just a moment of hesitation, Mandy flew out the window, his wings buzzing as he followed the colorful pegasus.

---

For the rest of the morning, Rainbow Dash and Mandy flew around the skies above Ponyville, breaking apart any errant clouds. Mandy did have to admit, venting his frustrations into his kicks did somewhat help him calm down, but even so, he was still emotionally drained.

And the fact that, even though she knew better, Rainbow Dash still kept a wary eye trained on him the entire time didn't exactly help.

Once they were done, he gave a half-hearted farewell and flew off.

---

Eventually, Mandy found himself sulking around near Ponyville's outdoor eatery, Café Hay. The other patrons stared at him with looks of disgust or indifference, but he didn't care at the moment; he just sat there, snacking on the idle love of the passerby.

"What's wrong, dude?"

Mandy blinked at the young voice, then turned to find an orange pegasus filly with purple hair riding a scooter, staring right at him confusedly.

Mandy groaned, snapping, "What's it matter to you?"

The little filly, instead of being taken aback, actually scooted closer. "I just don't like seeing ponies so down in the dumps," she explained.

"But I'm not a pony," he retorted, "I'm a Changeling."

"So what? If anything, that makes me wanna help more."

Mandy sat bolt upright and stared at the kid, who had a patient smile on her face. He had no idea how to respond.

"So, what's wrong?" she continued.

Mandy sighed. "It's just... there's somepony who likes me – and I mean she 'LIKES me' likes me – but I don't wanna bring her any unwanted hatred from the ponies who don't like me."

The little girl thought this all over, muttering something about "Cutie Marks in relationship counseling", until her face lit up. "Don't worry, pal, me and my friends will help you! Go wait at the treehouse on the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, while I get the others!"

And with that, she powered up her scooter and zipped off.

Mandy blinked, then shook his head to clear his thoughts.

A treehouse at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres? He vaguely recalled seeing some structure in the distance while he was helping Applejack fix fences, but he hadn't payed it much mind.

Having nothing better to do today, he decided to humor the kid, and trudged his way towards the farm.

---

"Well, I'll be..." Mandy mused, staring up at the fairly well-built clubhouse that sat up in a large tree. In fact, if it weren't for the color scheme, Mandy wouldn't have minded if it was where he was staying.

He carefully climbed up the ramp to the little structure and opened the unlocked door, taking in the interior. There were some crates and stools that Mandy assumed were makeshift tables, a podium sat on the far end of the room, and in one of the corners was a hanging lamp above a target for some unknown reason. There was also a ladder, which led to an attic space.

Mandy looked around the room, which, even by Changeling standards, wasn't very full. But his thoughts were interrupted when three familiar fillies entered.

Apple Bloom shifted uncomfortably, and Mandy sensed she was still embarrassed about yesterday's incident.

"Hey, Mandy!" Sweetie Belle greeted chipperly.

"Hello, Sweetie Belle," the Changeling in question replied downtroddenly.

The orange filly's eyes widened. "Wait, you two know each other?!"

Sweetie rolled her eyes in frustration and replied, "That's what I was trying to tell you, Scootaloo! He came to the boutique on his first day out of the hospital, and Rarity made him a suit."

She then looked at Mandy. "Speaking of which, where is it?"

Mandy shook his head. "Spike's got it in the wash. It got pretty badly dirtied yesterday."

Scootaloo eyed him curiously. "How? What happened?"

Apple Bloom was the one to respond. "Ya don't wanna know."

Scootaloo groaned. "Oh, come on! Was I the last one to meet him!?"

Mandy allowed himself a chuckle. "Alright, what'd you bring me here for?"

Scootaloo mentally slapped herself. "Oh, yeah! We're gonna help you with your problem so we can get Cutie Marks!"

Then the three fillies shouted out, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS RELATIONSHIP COUNSELORS, YAY!"

Mandy blinked, his ears still ringing. "Okay...?"

Scootaloo then added, "I explained the situation to the others on the way here."

Sweetie wagged her tail in excitement. "So, who's the lucky mare?"

Mandy's entire face went red at this, and he clammed up.

Sweetie stopped herself, giving him a patient smile. "Embarrassed, huh? It's okay, we won't judge!"

Mandy steadied himself, then clarified, "It's not so much a matter of embarrassment, as it is a matter concerning who's in the room."

As he said this, he glanced at Apple Bloom. The others caught his gaze and followed it to the little yellow filly.

Scootaloo's eyes widened. "It's Apple Bloom?"

Both Mandy and Apple Bloom jumped at this. The bug quickly corrected, "N-no! That's NOT what I meant!"

Scootaloo squinted at him, a knowing smirk spreading on her face. "Oh, I gotcha," she winked, not getting it at all.

Mandy, in a desperate attempt to save face, blurted out "It's Applejack!" before he even had time to register what he'd said.

When he finally did, he found 3 stunned fillies staring at him. He collapsed to the floor and put his head in his hooves in defeat. "There, it's out now. Go ahead and laugh."

The 3 kids blinked. "Why would we do that?"

Mandy froze, looking up at them. "B-because it's weird, and I'm a Changeling, and it's Apple Bloom's sister...?"

The yellow filly barely kept in an excited squeal. "But that's a great thing! Mah sister's got a crush!"

The three couldn't hold it in any longer; they started hopping around and cheering "Applejack's got a crush" repeatedly.

Mandy watched this from the floor, bewildered.

Suddenly, he found himself being lifted off the floor by the three young ponies. "C'mon," Apple Bloom practically shouted, "Let's get ya two together!"

Try as he might, Mandy couldn't get free; they were deceptively strong, especially when it came to something that they cared about.

So Mandy wriggled helplessly as they carried him off towards the barn.

---

Applejack was dragging a plow behind her, when a group of Crusaders carrying a Changeling approached.

Mandy was deposited unceremoniously onto the soft ground, and the fillies dashed off to hide behind a tree stump.

He brushed himself off as he got up, then froze when he realized who was directly in front of him. Both of them stared at each other, unable to speak for lack of words for the longest time.

Then Apple Bloom rushed out from her hiding spot, nudged Mandy towards Applejack, and hid again.

AJ looked at where the filly had just been, then smirked knowingly. "Lemme guess: they heard 'bout yesterday, and now they're tryin' ta get their Cutie Marks in Matchmakin'?"

Mandy blinked. "I honestly don't know what the hell's happening right now."

AJ cleared her throat. "Right, Ah should probably explain that sometime soon. Anyway, Ah know it's only been a day, so Ah don't really expect ya to have decided yet, but still... Have ya?"

Mandy took a moment, but he eventually let out an exasperated yelp. "I can't decide, and it's driving me crazy!"

AJ flinched. "Whaddya mean?"

Mandy sighed. "I just... I can't understand the feelings going through my head right now. After seeing how you feel... I don't want that feeling to disappear. But then, if I say yes, we'd have to contend with all the ponies who don't like Changelings, and... and I don't want you to get hurt by them, but I don't know why..."

AJ blinked.

Then, a knowing smile spread across her face again. "Mandy, Ah know why."

Mandy jerked his head up to look at her. "You do?"

The farmpony nodded. "You care about me, too."

Mandy blinked. Of course! That'd make sense!

AJ then put her foreleg around his shoulders. "So, if ya were reassured that Ah wouldn't be hurt by a relationship, ya'd do it?"

Mandy thought about this for a moment, then solemnly nodded. "Nopony's ever liked me like this, and I don't want to lose that feeling..."

AJ nodded in understanding. "Tell ya what: Ah'll work with Twilight to get a test sitiation set up, an' we'll see 'ow it goes, alright?"

Mandy blinked. A controlled testing environment to determine how it might go? Mandy wasn't a great planner, but even HE should've been able to think of that!

He stood up. "Alright. I'll go along with this."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders leapt from their hiding place and cheered. "We did it! We got them together! We're gonna get our Cutie Marks for sure!"

They expectantly stared at their featureless flanks, but when nothing happened for a while, they sighed in disappointment.

"Sorry, gals, Ah guess that ain't yer special talent," AJ shook her head.

"Aw, c'mon!" Apple Bloom whined. "That shoulda worked!"

"Better luck next time," Mandy offered.

With a defeated groan, the three fillies trudged back in the direction of their clubhouse.

Mandy turned to AJ. "So, you gonna explain what's up with them?"

AJ watched them leave, and reminisced. "Oh, they're just so desperate fer their Cutie Marks that they made a club where they try all sorts'a ridiculous things to get'em. Why, jus' last week, they wanted to try bungee jumpin', an' ah had to stop 'em from jumpin' off a bridge while strapped to lines o' rubber bands."

Mandy reeled at the mental image, but couldn't repress a dark chuckle. "That sounds both highly dangerous and highly amusing."

AJ shook her head and chuckled. "Yeah, that was one o' the more 'out-there' things they done. Usually, they jus' do things that end up gettin' 'em covered in tree sap."

Mandy blinked. "What?"

AJ deadpanned, "Ya'd be surprised how oft'n they end up covered in tree sap."

They stared at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.

Author's Note:

Initially, this chapter was going to be about Mandy and Rainbow Dash exclusively, but I couldn't come up with anything to develop the story, so I opted to have them meet briefly before he went on his way.

Comments

[MattTOB]

10397654
Why thank you! I'm certainly trying my best.

[Starlight Glimmer1]

Honestly, I’m hoping this doesn’t end up becoming the sole focus of the story.

[Yoshifan30]

Then the three fillies shouted out, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS RELATIONSHIP COUNSELORS, YAY!" Mandy blinked, his ears still ringing. "Okay...?"

Oh boy lol and remember kids

[Yoshifan30]

poor mandy I can understand why hes worry about how pony we'll react to that but I'm sure they will work it out somehow 😊

[Axel Azabash]

The idea for the story has a huge potential, like, I can totally see Celestia doing the community service stuff as a punishment for Mandy and then secretly turning it into friendship lessons, but I feel like everything is happening too fast. Applebloom was freaking out at the sight of Mandy a day ago, and now is not only okay with AJ and Mandy ship, but actively getting them together... And Mandy, appart from being a changeling, kind of reasonable and having a little acidic personality... has done little to earn their trust.

I mean... he has a whole year of community service ahead, he can be developed as a character much more before jumping into romances... it feels slightly rushed for me.

[9543]

For the rest of the morning, Rainbow Dash and Mandy flew around the skies above Ponyville, breaking apart any errant clouds. Mandy did have to admit, venting his frustrations into his kicks did somewhat help him calm down, but even so, he was still emotionally drained.

HE VENTED (emergency meering sound)

[tsaukpaetra]

He's going to accumulate 999 hours of community service and then stop, calling it now!

[AstralFlare42]

10615121
Or after his community service, the changelings invade again making mandible look like a spy.

[Revluc_The_Pony]

Awesome.