Son of the Princess

by twow443

Changeling the Face of Reality

Chapter 5-Changeling the Face of Reality

I woke up in a bed with the sunlight covering the room. I slowly sat up and shook my head. "Man, what happened to me?" I said. I reached up to rub my head...and then saw that my hoof was blue! I used a quick mirror spell to create a mirror infront of me and was that I looked like a pony again. "I must have changed back while I was unconsious." I thought. Looking around the room I wondered whose house I was in.

Then the door opened and I saw Fluttershy walk in. Wait, what?

"Oh Shade! Your awake!" She said, smiling. She then left the room and walked back in with a tray of rose petals. How did she know I loved those?

"Fluttershy?" I started. "Were you the pony I saw before I passed out?"

She nodded. "You kept telling me to leave you alone, but I couldn't just leave you lying there on the ground. So I brought you inside, if that was okay with you." She set the tray on the bed.

"Thank you." I said sincerly then started to dig in.

Fluttershy slowly walked up and sat on the bed. "Excuse me for asking, but why were you flying around in the storm?" she asked.

I stopped eating for a second. "I heard you guys talking last night." Fluttershy's eyes widened at that. "No, it's fine. I wasn't angry. But I knew what my presence was causing you girls to go though, so I tried to leave." I tapped the bed. "That didn't go so well."

Fluttershy looked at me with a caring expression. "Where were you going to go?"

I sighed. "I didn't really have a plan. I guess I was going to hide out for a while and then head back to Canterlot. After I recover, I can go do that."

Suddenly Fluttershy forcefully put her hoof on my chest, making lie back down on the bed. "No you aren't. You will stay with me untill everypony isn't mad at you." She then blushed, but didn't remove her hoof. "I mean, if you're okay with that."

I nodded. "Sure. We just can't let anypony know that I'm here."

Fluttershy removed her hoof from my chest and nodded. She then took the empty tray and started to leave the room. "Fluttershy!" I called. She turned and I said, "Thank you."

...

The next few days were dedicated to me recovering. After I got out of bed, Fluttershy and I focused on me getting back to full shape. I trotted around the cottage and practiced my magic. I noted that my magic was weaker then it had been in Canterlot or Ponyville. I also had no control over my shifting ability, so I would randomly switch into my changeling form or vice-versa. But it turned out to be good for me, because I could practice my flying. I had flown before using the wing spell, but as last night told me, I needed to learn how to fly using my own power.

When ever I wasn't flying,practicing my magic or attempting to control my changeling powers, I would help Fluttershy with her animals. I couldn't get near them whenever I looked like a changeling, but if I was in my pony form it was okay. It gave me a chance to just relax and be with my friend. Fluttershy was just wonderful with the animals. I saw that every type of animal that lived with her was peaceful and well cared for.

Fluttershy took care of me as well. Because the only two forms my body knew would have gotten me noticed by every pony in Ponyville, Fluttershy would go into town to get food and other things and also bring me news of what was happining in the town. Unfortunaly though, even though I ate whatever she gave me, I was always hungry. I was getting weaker also.

Five days after Fluttershy took me in, she came to talk to me in the backyard. "Shade, I need to leave for a while. Will you be okay?"

"Sure." I said turning to look at the mare. "Is something wrong?"

"Twilight just wanted to talk to all of us. I won't say anything about you." she said.

"Thanks, Flutters." She blushed at the nickname I gave her. "I'll see you later then?" She nodded and left the room. I heard the front door shut.

Sighing I turned back to the yard, and was kicked in the shin. I looked over to see Angel Bunny glaring at me. "What?" I said. He pointed at the front door and hugged himself. "No, I can't go after her. She's going into town." He made the motions of re-winding a clock and I sighed again. "Yes I guess I could have done it earlier." He gave me an exaperated look and walked off.

See the thing was I had a crush on Fluttershy, and the little bunny knew it. When he saw that, he did everything he could to keep Fluttershy's attention off of me and on him. I didn't blame the bunny for being protective of her. Fluttershy was a fragile pony in the sence that she could be really hurt by somepony that didn't truly care about her. I had taken Angel outside once when Fluttershy was in town and had a heart-to-heart with him. He caught on quickly that I really did care about his owner. After that he quit trying to seperate us and tried to bring the two of us together. He was annoyed that I wouldn't just tell Fluttershy that I liked her.

Anyway, after he left the room, I wandered into the kitchen, bored. I thought about practicing my teleportation, untll I heard a knock at the door. Now the thing about the door was that I NEVER answered it. I would either go upstairs or even fly up to the clouds until visitor had left. So I have no idea what possessed me to go to the door and open it. I found myself looking at my pegasus friend, Misty.

...

"Okay girls. What do we know?" Twilight and the rest of her friends were in her house having a meeting.

"Well, didn't you say that he left a note?" Rainbow asked. "What did it say?"

Twilight grabbed the note and started reading it.

“Dear Twilight,

First off, I want to apologize for the trouble I caused you and the rest of our friends. I don't understand why I'm a changeling but I plan to figure it out. In the meantime, I don't want to be a burden. By the time you've read this, I will have been gone for hours, heading away from Ponyville. Please, do yourself and everypony a favor and do not try to find me. Please. When I've cleared my head , I will return. I don't know when that will be yet. Good bye, Twilight.
Your friend,
Shade

P.S. Tell Spike I owe him a sapphire.”

Twilight put the note down as tears sprang to her eyes again. "That's all he said."

"Aw, shucks." Applejack said. "We never saw that Shade was beating himself up over what was occuring with us."

Rainbow angrily flapped her wings. "It didn't help that just about everypony in town was convinced that Shade was evil."

"And that's the problem here." Twilight said. "We know that everypony wouldn't instantly jump to the conclusion that he wasn't evil."

"Then what are you getting at dear?" Rarity said.

"Somepony must have been spreading a rumor about Shade." Twilight concluded. "Think about it. It wasn't even 12 hours before ponies wanted him gone."

"That means whoever wanted him gone, wanted him gone fast." Rainbow said.

"But who would be the meanie to want him gone?!" Pinkie yelped. "I mean, Shade was a nice pony and he never hurt anypony!"

"Well, he's gone, and we need to figure out who wanted him gone." Twilight said.

"Um, excuse me." Fluttershy spoke up. "Maybe if we could find him first?"

"Good idea. We haven't been looking hard enough." Twilight conjured a pen and some paper infront of her. "Here's the plan. Rainbow, you can search Cloudsdale for him, Applejack, look around Sweet Apple Acers and the surrounding area, Rarity and Pinkie, you can ask your customers if they've seen a blue colt with a green mane and a yellow tail. Fluttershy, you can ask your animals if they've seen him anywhere." All the ponies in the room nodded.

"What are you going to do, Twilight?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm going to do some more research on changelings. If I'm correct, we need to find him soon."

"Why is that?" Applejack asked.

"Changelings mostly feed on love." Twilight said. "Wherever Shade is, I don't think he's getting a lot of love. So if we can't find him soon, he'll die." The other ponies in the room all left to do what Twilight had told them, except for Fluttershy. Twilight didn't see that Fluttershy was still in the house and dashed upstairs. A few minutes later Fluttershy left, with a book firmly tucked under her wing.

...

Celestia and Luna were in the throne room, when they heard the door opening. Turning, they saw none other then...Shade?

"Shade? You've returned?" Celestia started walking toward the pony. Suddenly, the sun princess felt her strength leaving her body.

"No sister! That isn't him!" Luna shot into the air and pulled her sister back. She then proceeded to blast the pony in the face.

"Aw, your no fun Luna." Shade pouted, but then his skin started to ripple. He grew taller and darker untill the night princess saw herself looking at Queen Chrysalis.

Celestia was barely awake as Luna bared her teeth at the changeling. "You! What do you want here?!"

Chrysalis yawned and grinned at the night princess. "Don't act innocent with me, Luna. You and Celestia over there both know what I come for."

Celestia raised her head from her sister's lap. "He..he isn't here."

"Oh really?" the changeling queen said. "Interesting. Well, that just means I can go on a little scvenger hunt."

Luna took a step forward. "You try to touch him and you can see what life is like on the moon for a thousand years."

"Oh please, Luna. You didn't even care for the little pony." Chrysalis scoffed. "Now Celestia here, she was like an all-you-could-eat for Shade. Even more because Shade didn't know he was feeding from you."

"I knew what I was doing." Celestia said, weakly.

"I'm sure you did." Chrysalis said. "Now I have a lost changeling to find. See you two later!" Her body shimmered and she turned into a exact replica of Rainbow Dash. She then flew out of the castle.

"Luna. Please, you need to find him." Celestia said, able to stand again. "If Chrysalis gets her hooves on him, we won't be able to stand a chance."

Luna nodded. "I'm on it sister. You need to tell the wielders of the Elements." Luna rose into the air and flew off.

Celestia teleported herself to her room and picked up a pen and some paper. "My dear student, Twilight Sparkle...

Comments

[twow443]

Well, Tell me what you think about this chapter please!!!!

Fun fact: I wrote this entire chapter at the library

[Billblok]

Short. Again, I feel a little rushed. Things are happening a little too quickly. The plot may also be a little too predictable now.

[Billblok]

But otherwise, This is a fairly nicely written story.

[Cascayds]

Still recovering from plot twist.

[twow443]

1411522 Still have no idea what the twist was.

[twow443]

1408054 Predictable plot? Allow me to go ahead and change that.

[fanficlover128]

man it is still good to read i still like it

[twow443]

1415394 Thanks!

[twow443]

Get ready for a longer one! Next chapter tomorrow for sure!

[Deep Pond]

Good stuff! But I'm here with my usual nit-pickery.

This is a bit rushed. You're a decent writer, but I feel like you're a bit too eager to get everything down and move on. Some things deserve more time to examine, and I think your work would be better if you set it aside for a day or two, then go over it again and elaborate on some key plot elements. This chapter could easily be 50% longer without feeling at all slow.

I'm being picky here, but Fluttershy feels ever-so-slightly out of character in the first section. She thinks of herself as weak and helpless, even though we bronies know she's anything but. I'd expect her to be a bit quieter and more hesitant. Not a major issue, though.

When ever I wasn't flying,practicing my magic or attempting to control my changeling powers, I would help Fluttershy with her animals. I couldn't get near them whenever I looked like a changeling, but if I was in my pony form it was okay. It gave me a chance to just relax and be with my friend.

This is a scene that really, IMO, ought to be fleshed out more. Maybe Shade in his pony form, befriending Fluttershy's animals, starting to relax . . . and then he's a changeling again, and the animals are all panicking, and he has to force his body back into pony-shape and earn their trust all over again. It would be frustrating, and give us a glimpse of what it's like for him, coming to terms with being a monster when he's always thought of himself as just another pony.

I had taken Angel outside once when Fluttershy was in town and had a heart-to-heart with him. He caught on quickly that I really did care about his owner. After that he quit trying to seperate us and tried to bring the two of us together. He was annoyed that I wouldn't just tell Fluttershy that I liked her.

Angel behaves like a highly possessive child. I have a hard time believing he would accept, much less endorse, any sort of relationship between Fluttershy and Shade, even leaving aside the "changeling" bit.

I found myself looking at my pegasus friend, Misty.

Um . . . way to kill the tension. We now know the caller is a friend of Shade's. I'd have ended that with "I found myself looking at a green pegasus with pale blue hair," or however Misty looks, thus leaving it as a cliffhanger who this is and how they'll react to Shade. I would have expected it to be a friend of 'Shy's, and thus, somepony who could and would cause trouble finding Shade in her cottage.

"Aw, shucks." Applejack said. "We never saw that Shade was beating himself up over what was occuring with us."

As a native speaker of Country, I can say with some assurance that Applejack wouldn't have phrased it that way. "Happenin' with us" sounds a lot more natural. Also, don't be afraid to have Applejack drop her Gs on words like "beating" and "happening."

"And that's the problem here." Twilight said. "We know that everypony wouldn't instantly jump to the conclusion that he was evil."

Why not? Sure, some ponies like the Cakes, Rarity's family, and the Apples would be willing to take the Mane Six's word for it, but to most ponies, changelings are evil, love-devouring monsters who almost destroyed Canterlot. Like it or not, the burden is on Shade to prove he's not a monster.

"No sister! That isn't him!" Luna shot into the air and pulled her sister back. She then proceeded to blast the pony in the face.

With what? Magic? Lightning? Pies? And how does Chrysalis completely no-sell it? I think it would be better to have Luna's horn glow, but not actually attack Chrysalis, just show that she's ready and willing to do so.

Also, Luna defending Celestia is, and always will be, awesome.

Luna nodded. "I'm on it sister. You need to tell the wielders of the Elements." Luna rose into the air and flew off.

"I'm on it" does not sound right for Luna. She's 1,000 years out of date; even assuming she's caught up somewhat, I don't see her casually using modern slang and phrases. Maybe "I will see to it, sister."

A few typos (seperate for separate, sence for sense, Acers for Acres, your for you're).

[Master-Chief]

This story seems a tad bit rushed. But still is good
I think that you should make more of your scenes more climatic,
that will probaly help the rushed part of it.

[CookieDo]

I'm getting better. Thanks!!!