The Small of Life

by Jack Lindqvist

Rarity's Dead-end

"And an explanation maybe?" Twilight said.

One of the Fluttershys looked the other way, and the other looked at Twilight. That one, Twilight shot her magic beam at, and the Fluttershy turned back into a changeling. It was the Fluttershy that had come in the room, and so, Spike was relieved that he didn't have to scratch any of what he wrote in the book, even though there was a remarkable poverty of detail anyway, in Fluttershy's story, but she hadn't been through much, and yet, was the key to solving the mystery in her story? Anteforn worried now. He–

---

He's unconscious. It's time then. It's time for action. It's time for all these tiny stories to end, and be joined into mine, I think. I hope at least. Hello, I'm sorry. I didn't want it to be this way. I'm Anteforn. I was really not planning on any of this. Hello. I'm me. I was born not too long ago, in a land far, far away.

I walked on the street, and a nice changeling said hello to me. "Hello."

"Hello," I said. I tried to remain quiet, but of course I did. What else would you expect? Then I said, "I'll go." I walked the other direction.

"Wait," he said, laughing.

"What?" I said, turning around.

"Oh." He got quiet. "Nothing."

I was cross, very cross with this individual. I couldn't stop rhyming. Everyone was making fun of me for it, but of course they were. I was ridiculous, was and am. That's why I made a plan.

---

"Do you want to hear my plan?" Anteforn said, smiling.

"Yes, I suppose," Twilight said, unsure of how to react, and what to think. "I think I might want to hear it, maybe."

"Sensational," he said. "Then hear this, all!"

The only ones in the room were Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and this guy.

"Okay," he said. "I was going from the hive of changelings, all the way. I found myself in this town. Um, yay? I don't know. I just was here. I had no tow. I had no fear, running away, from everything that once was dear. Okay? You following this now? I wanted to become the richest changeling alive, how? I stole Applejack's identity. Impressive, huh? Wow. That's cool, or at least I think it's pretty cool, but I made a mistake. I took her, and all of you, for a fool. Um, fools? Oh, heheh."

"You're crazy," Twilight said. "And you're just trying to confuse us. What you're saying is what we already know."

"It's a show," he said. "That's what all this is about. It's big big grand show, for my foe, and that's you Twi, and all your little ilk. Why? Because I want you to feel bad, and this situation, I'm gonna milk."

"Why do you want me to feel bad?"

"Because," he said, growling. "You stole Apple-land from us, me and my brother. We built it, one and the other."

"Apple-land is a sham, and there's really nothing more to say about that," Twilight said. "I think we're reaching the end of this mystery. I've already contacted Thorax, and you will be handled. He said that things like this have happened before, and that there are ways to handle changelings like you already in place, so that's good."

"What?" he said

Twilight smiled and bent toward him. "Niceness lessons."

"Never, not," he said. "I will never become nice. I'd rather get lice."

"No, you wouldn't," Twilight said. "Being nice is way better than having lice."

Anteforn tried opening a window, but noticed that he couldn't.

"Until then," Twilight said. "I might have to do the sleep spell on you again."

He closed his eyes, and then, he fell asleep, again. Ah, well.

---

The first thing I do every morning is coif my mane.

What?

It is.

Pinkie talked about eating toothpaste. Then I can talk about my mane.

Oh, well, but then, I went down the stairs, and I looked out the window. I thought that today was going to offer some challenges, since I had to get a shipment of clothes over to the city across the railroad tracks, Manehattan. I thought that I needed to hurry. I sat down, and I ate something simple, a salad, nothing more and nothing less for me, thank you very much, and I went out the door, feeling rather spry for a day like this, when there was so much to do, and I ran out, not even thinking, not even wanting to talk to someone, thinking about how much there was to do, just running, and then walking, walking down the road. I felt like things were going okay, but I had a stomach-ache, and I thought there must've been something in that salad. I would have to consult whoever made it and make sure that it was proper. I think I got the salad at the nature store. No, not the cafeteria. The other store that's in town. Oh, you know which one I'm talking about.

I thought about what I would do. I would make something pretty today, something beautiful. I always loved pretty and beautiful things, and I wanted to exact the right design on something that I had been working on for a long time, really, because I was in the mood for it, and I felt that my love for a good piece of clothing, that was fashionable, and practical, had never been stronger, and the practicality of it is important too, of course, my dears. It's really important. My house is really somewhat on the outskirts of town, not really in the middle of it, so the walk took a few moments, and did I meet anyone? No, but I might've seen a pony or two walking by, or flying by, in the case of Derpy. Is that important in any way to all this that we've been talking about? I haven't the faintest clue, but I would just keep going about my day.

Then, I saw something. What did I see? I'm not even sure myself, but I saw something, and that something could've been important. I'm not even sure. Oh, I know that I shouldn't skip over any details, but this one specific thing bears mentioning, at least before we get to anything else. Oh, yes, I know. Okay then. Yes.

I think it was a note on the ground, either that or something that comes similar to that. It was a thing, a something, not really sure how to describe it, but I think it could've been important. It might've been. I'm not sure if it was the contract, or if there even is a contract. We'll go over that later, maybe, I hope. It's a complicated story.

---

Hmph. Oh yes, I see. I see it now. That is indeed an issue. No. No, come to think of it. It might not be. It could be fine. We shall see how all this plays out.

---

"Hello there, brother." Anteforn was tied along with Esceforn on the deck of the ship.

"Yes, I am."

"Yes, you are my brother, none other than my brother. Other. Brother."

"Okay then."

"You think they will figure it out. It's really funny."

Esceforn looked at Anteforn, not saying anything at all.

"It's funny to you, but I don't think so, sonny."

"That's what this is all about. Doing this for the money."

Esceforn shook his head. "I'm sure they already know."

Anteforn laughed.

---

"Okay," Twilight said. "So what now?"

Rarity shrugged. "I should continue, no?"

"We're not getting anywhere. You and Fluttershy will have to start again later. I don't think this is working."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rarity said. "I guess we're not the storytellers that Pinkie and Rainbow Dash are."

Spike looked at Pinkie. "By the way, when do we get to the other part, with the, you know?"

"Oh," she said. "We're getting there, and then, we have to figure out, because, um, Twilight can explain it."

"I hope I can," Twilight said. "It's complicated. I hope I can."

"I think you can." Another Twilight stood in the opening of the door. Twilight hit that other Twilight with her beam, turning her back into a black changeling. To the left of Twilight was already another Anteforn tied to the inside of the ship.

Twilight looked to the side, and then back to the one in front of her. "I don't really know how to handle this."

Pinkie looked between them. "It's because the more you time-travel, the more you loop, and there becomes more of you."

"I think this is seriously dangerous," Twilight said. "There can't be three of him at the same time and in the same location. It's really disturbing."

"Oh," Pinkie said. "I think it's funny."

Twilight looked at her for a moment, and then back to them.

"What?" Pinkie said. "Oh, forget it." She sat down on one of the two chairs on which Fluttershy and Rarity had been playing cards before. "What do we do?"

"Rarity," Twilight said. "What happened next?"

---

Well, I...

---

Another Rarity appeared out of nowhere next to the real Rarity. Twilight turned that Rarity back into a changeling.

"I think all of this is strange," Rarity said.

"Yes." Twilight nodded. "It sure is strange, if that's even the right word."

"We'll see what happens," Rarity said.

"I agree," Twilight said.

---

What's happening on the ship?

---

"Hey," Twilight said. "More things are being added to this book. What's happening on the ship?"

Rarity shook her head and turned. "I haven't the faintest clue on what's going on."

"It's not that I expect you to," Twilight said. "I don't know how we're going to resolve this, and the reason."

"Things are getting more complicated," one of the Anteforns said. "And what are you g- going to do? You're mated."

"You view this as a game," Twilight said. "I'm going to figure out how you do time-travel first of all, and Thorax is just arriving, so he'll help us, and then, this whole thing will be over in a jiffy."

---

Think. Oh, I think maybe the solution to the mystery is in Rarity's or Fluttershy's story, but too bad that they won't even tell it as it happened.

---

"Radically strange."

---

Pinkie looked at Twilight. They were standing on the deck of the ship now.

"You know, I'm getting sea-sick, but it's not even the sea that's doing it. It's everything but the sea. Everything that happens around us is making me dizzy."

Twilight looked at Pinkie. "I know."

The ship was heading into shore, and all's well that ends well, because the ponies would finally figure out what's going on once and for all, and get back to telling their stupid stories.

All of the changelings on the ship were getting shipped off, and then, they met a familiar face.

"I don't even really know what to say," he said, that person being Thorax.

Now, the dizziness would begin, and not stop, and all the ponies would–

"He's been all of us at different times. He was Pinkie when she met Applejack. That was before Pinkie had woken up. He was me in Cloudsdale, obviously. He was me in Sweet Apple Acres, before I arrived there from my castle. He was Derpy in Everfree Forest, just having travelled back in time, so there could be fake Pinkie and fake Derpy there at the same time, and then of course, he was the Rainbow Dash I met before I got to Cloudsdale, and he was Rarity as she visited Pinkie, because she didn't go close to Pinkie in the entire day, even though she was looking for her at a certain point. He pretended to be Fluttershy at various times on this ship and before we got here."

"What?" one Anteforn said.

"No way," another said.

"Dizziness not?"

"Oh." One Anteforn walked down to Thorax and looked like he was about to hug him, but Thorax stood back. "Okay," he then said.

"I'm actually glad you told me about this, Twilight," he said. "Believe it or not, but we've actually had far worse cases before."

"Your brother?"

Thorax laughed. "Um, no."

All the Anteforns got together and whispered. A bunch of green changelings then surrounded them and put foot-shackles on them.

"Oh," one of them said. "No."

"Please," Thorax said. "I can help you."

"No, you can't," another Anteforn, of the many scattered ones, of which there were three, said.

"Yes."

"Oh."

Thorax frowned. "Oh?"

"No!"

He shook his head. "Oh."

Then, all of them were slowly taken away, and after that, there was quiet.

"You know," Pinkie said. "Something worries me, a little."

"What?" Twilight said.

"Wasn't this whole thing a bit too easy?"

"To be continued," Twilight said.

---

I finished writing the last things Rarity had said.

"Thanks, Spike."

"Yes," I said.

"Are we really that bad at telling stories?" Rarity said to Fluttershy.

"I don't know," she said. "I'm just glad to be here."

"Yes, but maybe we're allowing them to get us down. Maybe it's like the thing with Pinkie and the thing, you remember?"

"The flugelhorn?"

"No, the saxophone."

Rarity shook her head. "Oh, I don't know. She was playing into our ears all the time."

"Okay," Fluttershy said.

"I don't know where this conversation is going," Rarity said.

"Me neither," Fluttershy said.

"So what to do now?" Rarity said.

"Oh," Fluttershy said. She turned into a black changeling with a scar on his face. "Sorry."

Rarity stood up and left the room.

"Hey," I said, walking up to him. "What's going on exactly?"

"It's a show," he then said. "It's the biggest, most stupendous of them. Wooow."

"This needs an explanation," Spike said. "What is wrong with today?"

"The wrongness won't stop," he said. He flew up in the air, being grabbed by Twilight's magic. "I was wondering when you would pop, um, u- p- p- p."

"No," Twilight just said. "Nope."

"What will happen?" he said.

Twilight shot something at him. "There. Now, you won't be able to lie."

He nodded.

"What are you doing?"

"I like manipulating ponies. I like phonies, and hiding my real identity behind them. I don't want others to see who I really am."

"Am?"

"I'm just afraid, so I have turned my whole life into a game. I continually other changelings and ponies evade, because I think other individuals are lame."

Twilight just stared at him. "This is a strange thing."

"Hey, Twilight," Pinkie said. "I'm the only one that has no idea what's going on?"

"Spike," Twilight said. "Grab a quill."

I did.

"We won't be confused in a few moments."