Rules
The summer days seem to be coming by much faster than she anticipated. The Gala was coming up soon, fillies and colts would be starting up school once more, and...
Well, she couldn’t think up another reason, but there was probably another.
Her mane was messier than usual, her back and wings cramping. Hooves stretched as far as the can, and she sighed in relief when a satisfying crack sounded from her joints. Apparently, sleeping on the couch for an extended period of time was going to have consequences.
...I’ll add ‘buy a second bed’ onto the shopping list, she mentally noted. Slowly, she rose out of her couch, hooves clacking softly onto the wooden floor.
Angel scurried around her hooves, as if able to sense that she was more tired than usual. Fluttershy smiled ‘thank you’, trotting over her kitchen with an exhausted yawn. She washed up in her metallic sink, splashing the water into her face in an effort to wake up quickly.
Didn’t work, but worth the shot.
“Hhhhh...Angel?” She stumbled towards the rabbit, her eyes droopy from the lack of good sleep. Yawning, she continued, “...what’s on my to-do list...today..?”
Angel chittered with annoyance, but hopped over towards her door. With a light bounce, he tore the taped parchment from the wall, handing it over towards her.
“...thanks,” she smiled, her eyes drooping as she rubbed them. Stifling another yawn, he began to read the paper she wrote the night before. “...feed the birds...snakes breakfast time...pick up fire salamanders from the vet...and I’m free after that...so..”
Yawning, she turned towards her mini-fridge, swing the door open. Sleepily, she took out a bag of seeds and cod from the top shelf, sighing to herself. I’ll get Angel’s stuff later...
She flattened her ears as Angel stomped a foot on the floor, choosing to ignore her rabbit for time being. With a careful shove, she stumbled out onto the paved road, shaking herself firmly. Chirps of birds could be heard overhead, but what caught her attention was a light mewing she could hear.
“Well hello...Mabel,” She smiled at the bobcat strolling by. Mabel turned towards her, green eyes looking up at her.
Purrr
“Yes...I’m doing-“ she yawned, “-just fine! Are your kittens doing okay?”
Rrrr purrr
“Well, that’s good the hear,” teal eyes wandered towards a bird perch, her wings unfolding themselves. “Please excuse me, I have to do all this first.”
Lifting herself into the air, she approached the wooden plank. Using her teeth, she ripped open a bag of poppy and sunflower seeds, letting them scatter across the board. In an instant, the flock of robins and pigeons swarmed the pile, eagerly pecking them the black and white seeds.
She giggled, fluttering down towards a burrow that laid near the back of her cottage. Light hooves tapped against the ground, echoing down the skinny tunnel.
“Wake up, Moody, it’s time for breakfast!” She cooed, waiting patiently for the old noodle to come out. Slowly, a face poked out of the ground, blindly staring at her. She tapped against the ground, making sure the eyeless snake knew where she was.
“Moody, you are having cod for today, does that sound good?”
Hisss
“I know, cod is your favorite! If you listen to my taps, you’ll find it easily, I promise,” she said softly, tapping against the paper plate. The elderly snake listened for a moment, following the sounds as he inches closer, before striking the face of the fish.
Fluttershy stayed around, just to make sure he had swallowed without regurgitating anything back up. Once the whole fish was gone, she bid goodbye, heading back towards her cottage.
She stopped by her mailbox, opening it up. Mail and letters stuffed it to the brim, but it wasn’t unexpected. New month, new taxes, no matter how much she wanted to avoid them.
Holding onto the letters, she headed back inside, carefully examining each one. “Taxes...taxes...water bill...taxes...Mom sent me a letter, that’s nice...more taxes... a letter from the princess...bill- wait, a letter from the princess?!”
If she wasn’t awake already, then this definitely did the trick. She rubbed her eyes violently, making sure read that right. Yep. Letter from Princess Celestia herself.
And there was only one reason she would be writing this.
Tearing the seal, she looked over the letter. The parchment felt old and worn, the sides of it yellowing. A soft smell of cake and frosting waft over her, helping to calm her as she read the message.
Didn’t help much, but a little can go a long way.
...expect in this case. Once she had finished reading the letter, her mind went back into panic mode. Her wings fluttered at her sides, feathers falling out. As she controlled her breathing, one thought lingered in her mind.
How will the nymphs react?
“...w-what’s the big deal...?” Thorax asked tentatively, almost too quiet for Fluttershy to hear. She had woken him up briefly, saying that she had to talk to him and Pharynx about something really important.
“I...okay, forgive me if I’m scaring you, I’m just really really nervous about the ordeal,” she said hastily, picking up the letter once more. This constant reading to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her wasn’t helping her in the slightest, she should probably stop.
Pharynx glared at her, almost a warning glance. “...what did you do?” He growled, clearly not liking how much she was panicking. After a few breathers, she regained her composure, briefly brushing her mane out of her face e before turning back to him.
“I’m going to need you to sit down for this,” she sighed, taking a seat on her couch. Thorax instant climbed into the seat next to her, trying to look at the letter. Pharynx as chosen the seat near her low-leveled table, wrapping his tail around himself.
“Okay okay,” she forced the letter out of her face, gazing towards the changelings that sat around her. “So...remember when I went to Canterlot for a few days?”
“...yes...you said you were talking to the princess...right?” Thorax recalled, and Fluttershy nodded.
“Yes, I did...I never told you what that meeting was about, did I?”
Pharynx groaned from his seat. “...I can see this coming from a mile away...and I honestly don’t want to hear it...”
She cringed, tapping her hooves together. Thorax tilted his head, and Fluttershy could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to figure what she meant.
“Oooh!....oh,” his excitement over figuring it out was quickly turned sour as he realized the implication. “...this might be bad...”
“...you think?!” Pharynx muttered, before promptly slamming his head onto the table. Fluttershy yelped at the sound of chitin hitting wooden, peering over the red nymph.
“Are you okay?”
“No, now go away.”
“Pharynx that isn’t funny-“
“It wasn’t a joke, now get on with the letter.”
“...I should be asking more questions now, but...I get the feeling you don’t want to talk...so...” she sighed, picking up the scroll once more. It rustled against itself, the scratchy noise of paper making her uncomfortable. “Alright...when I went to Canterlot, me and Twilight were going to ask Princess Celestia about changelings, because we didn’t know much about them...and well, she doesn’t trust you guys entirely yet...”
She waited for a reaction, good or bad, from the changelings. Thorax seemed a little saddened by the news, but other than that, none of them said anything. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “She said that she was going to be making rules that you’ll need to follow, and...now she’s made those rules...so I guess I’m going to have to read them now...”
She cleared her throat, trying to calm herself. It wasn’t bad...your just worried about their reaction...which could range from anything but hopefully they find it okay...
“Dear Fluttershy,
I have had some time to think it over, and I have laid out a couple of set rules for the changelings. They are temporary, but for the sake of safety, need to be followed until said otherwise. I hope I make myself clear.
Number one; they need to have constant supervision at all times. This does not need to be from you, it can be any other adult in the area, but regardless, they will need to have supervisions
Number two; they can’t disguise themselves unless someone had seen them do it beforehoof. This is, again, for the safety of both them and others around them.
And finally; as I understand, they are relatively young. Still being called ‘nymphs’ I presume. Twilight has informed me that their intelligence level seems to be around that of an older filly or colt, so I’d say around ten to twelve.
So, as my final rule; they will need to go to and finish school. This might be a bit hard to figure and sort out, but I assure you, this will benefit both them and us in the long run.
These are the basics. Of course, they will also have to follow Equestrian law, which can differ from where they used to live. As long as they follow those and these rules, nothing should go wrong.
Final regards,
Princess Celestia.”
Teal eyes flickered up towards the two nymphs, her feathers becoming kisser the more she stressed. She waited, praying to whatever Destiny or Deity that nothing erupted from all this.
Well...
“...you can’t be serious...” Pharynx looked up from his hooves, his ear flattened as he glared. “...I am not going back outside...ever.”
“What’s a ‘school?’” Thorax asked tentatively, tilting his head.
“...I’m not going...I’m not going...I don’t care about this ‘Princess’ says, no way in Starry Hell am I going.”
Fluttershy gulped. “Um...Pharynx, please calm down...?”
“No! I can’t go back out there...” Pharynx breath hitched, shaking slightly in his seat. “...I...I don’t want to...!”
“Pharynx, please listen!” She tried to reach a hoof out towards the distressed nymph, only for his to pull back violently. His eyes were wide as he tried to control his breathing, shrinking away from her as she tried to get closer. “I-I...I promise things will be okay...it might be weird at first but-“
“NO!” He screamed, shaking even more now. Pharynx turned away from Fluttershy, his crest standing on end as his breath quickened. “No...no...no...I-I...no...!”
“Pharynx please-“
Pharynx dashed off towards the stairs, trying to put as much space between them as possible. His wings buzzed obnoxiously, the sound becoming fainter as he disappeared up the steps. Fluttershy winced as her bedroom door slammed shut, a saddened frown forming on her face.
“Pharynx...!” She called, though she wasn’t sure if going up would help any of them. Teal eyes lingered on the floor, dreading over the choices she had to make.
Thorax slowly got up from the couch. His cyan eyes seem sad, but he smiled up at her. “...I’ll go see if I can talk to him...” he murmured, following after his brother.
Fluttershy let him go, hoping for the best, and fearing the worst.
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Aww...poor little thing...*holds out hooves* give him to me so I may hug him
Anyone think it might be a good idea to get Pharynx some professional help?
Oh boy this didn't go very well so apparently Princess Celestia made some rules about the changelings living in Ponyville and not only that they probably need to go to school for educational which that makes sense... but it did not sit too well with pharynx and apparently he's starting to have a nervous breakdown knowing that he's going to have to so yeah he got angry and try to barricade himself so he doesn't have to go outside now this is a very severe anti-social and okay I don't blame him he's in the New World so this is going to be very hard for him I just hope thorax can calm him down before he started to have a panic attack
10641722
Right now he's in that mood I don't think that's not a good idea but he probably does need help and I mean a lot of help
10641758
*Shrugs* I can do that too
10641739
Unless there's a Pony who can actually help him physically and emotionally especially he's a changeling that's a tough one and plus zero knowledge about changeling culture is going to be a problem
I’m honestly running out of things to say whenever a chapter comes out—
10641762
Well just be careful that he doesn't bite because he really is in a Panic state 😥
10641766
I mean, if he does I can either heal myself...*transforms into dragon with her color scheme* or turn into something that won't feel it through their scales
10641773
Whoa I kind of forgot you can do that Holy mackerel thats awesome I'm just an earth pony lol 😅
10641777
Perks of Twilight accidentally opening a portal that sucked me into the Ether
10641780
Whoa thats pretty heavy but with all seriousness just be careful what you're doing with pharynx and probably not try to Spook him
Well then that would be very hard but I wonder if maybe just maybe if both pharynx and thorax would be in the same class with the Cutie Mark Crusaders maybe they could help them out??? I don't know that's just a thought but it might be a good idea
10641787
Obviously
10641763
I didn't say it was going to be easy. Just getting him to trust the professional helper would be a challenge and a half, but it doesn't look like Thorax and Fluttershy are getting anywhere with him. Alternatively, one or both of them could consult a professional on how to approach Pharynx and get him to open up about whatever's troubling him, if they don't like to expose him to yet another new pony or the encounter goes south
YES. Yes you are. Stop it.
10641809
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/535/091/d97.jpg
10641803
Yeah you may be right but like I said this is during season one not that many creatures out there so pretty much trying to find a professional help and not to expose their appearances that could be a problem
Yikes! Yeah, once more the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all quite well done. Yeah, I did enjoy Thorax's attempts to help Pharynx feel better before Celestia sent that list of unfortunate, but semi-expected rules. 95 percent of the time, when one hopes for the best and fears the worst, the truth turns out to be right in the middle (which is still pretty bad, admittedly, but not AS bad as it COULD HAVE BEEN). I don't blame the nymphs one bit for being worried (and Fluttershy even less), but here's hoping they ARE able to pull this off with an absolute minimum of disasters (though it might be amusing watching Diamond getting a taste of some Karmic Trickery [maybe not performed by Thorax and Pharynx themselves, but maybe one of the foals the nymphs befriend] before Thorax finds out about Diamond's home life and tries to help her through her issues [so we can see signs of Diamond showing redeeming qualities a couple of years before she actually reforms, so her redemption feels a lot less out of the blue]).
But anyway, certainly looking forward to more of this.
Poor kid, anxiety is a real pain. Agoraphobia even more so.
Oh great. Pharynx's PTSD is showing.
10641739
This. Very much this.
What?! Force them into school? Sure, with a timetable of "within a few months", but it sounded like an edict taking effect immediately, and that's terrible execution. Celestia better get slapped!
We could forgive these "rules" if the lings had expressed genuine interest in becoming citizens of Equestria proper, but so far they've barely risen above the status of refugees, regardless of Fluttershy's feelings.
This is a really bad situation that will surely lead to hatred if something isn't done...
10642350
Technically they aren't really refugees since they didn't really say where they come from. If anything they're runaways. Fostercare or otherwise school is school and is even more important considering they don't even know the social norms.
hum lets stop to think about this a moment. 2 changelings in school with the CMC yep there is nothing that can go wrong here.
Repeat.
Other than that, well, the story caught my interest. Waiting for continuation.
10642488
In this case that's distinction without a difference. Fluttershy has no legal claim on them at the moment, so regardless if it's for their better good it's really not up to her (or Celestia) if they're forced into the educational system or not.
Could you imagine if the situation were humanized?
Oh, we found this pair of Peruvian children somehow. They've been here a week. Better send them to school, social anxiety and general unpreparedness be darned!
That's the kind of thing that sparks international diplomatic Incidents...
Granted, it's Equestria, but still. It feels like Celestia is being capriciously evil at the detriment of two scared children and their terrified would-be foster mother. She's (perhaps unintentionally) pushing them to be the monsters she's predetermined them to be, and that's dangerous, Star Swirl!
My eyebrows are raised....that's a concerning issue.
Especially since Pharynx doesn't bode well with...well....social activity and crowds.
An introvert with agoraphobia and social anxiety? I didn't think I'd get called out. Still feel sorry for the bois though.
Interesting. Let’s see how this goes…
A bit over the top. 24h supervision is a bit excessive, but it’s not a rule I would call unreasonable.
Understandable and logically.
Oh boy… I can see where she’s coming from, but maybe this wasn’t fully thought trough… Integration is a good motive, and education an even better one, but the consequences of mingling multiple species out of the blue, no less with one of the individuals having military PTSD?
Dangerous experiment, and another case of trying to cook something with before the water boils… They’re NOT ready…
From a story/writing standpoint this is pretty well executed trough. Amazing work and conflict! Keep it up!