The Changeling, The Filly, and The Library

by Cxcd

01 - Ways Long-Since Changed

Changelings.

Once a story-book legend to put foals to bed at night, turned a feared rival of pony-kind. These creatures are descendants of insects, their robust bodies constructed of hard chitinous shells, pointy fangs, glowing eyes, membrane wings, and a horn perfected for killing. They were designed by the rigorous time tested method of evolution to be perfect pony killing machines, lead by their great and powerful Queens all across Equestria.

It happened almost exactly one year ago. One of these many hives, the Changeling hive of Queen Chrysalis, attempted an invasion of Canterlot. It was the closest Equestria had ever gotten to a total governmental collapse. Ponies screams rang through the streets of Canterlot as swarms upon swarms of these creatures attacked ruthlessly. It was a dark day in history, no doubt to be remembered for generations upon generations. The attack of the royal wedding, the day the sky turned black, and the closest a Princess, nay, an Alicorn had gotten to death in eons.

Changelings had become feared creatures, even if ponies had eventually won out in the end.

Well, almost all of them were feared.

“Huh.” The chitinous creature was disguised with a cream coat. A newspaper had just been freshly delivered on his front doorstep. In curiosity, he lit up his horn with his archaic magic and pulled the newspaper inches away from his muzzle as his eyes drifted across the headline story. A huge image that took up the majority of the page was what appeared to be his undisguised self, flapping it’s wings in the air and snarling directly at the camera, venom dripping from it’s fangs.

He took a sip of his freshly brewed coffee, his eyes unbreaking from the headline title. “So that’s what I am.”

Changelings Attack Equestria!

“That’s not… good.”

---

The Changeling, The Filly, and The Library

---

A Changeling’s biology was incomprehensible to pony-kind. Not even the great and powerful Princesses of Equestria knew what made a Changeling tick behind their disguises. It was a new and unidentified type of magic that pulsated through their leylines. Even the tiniest of peeks into their biology could provide Equestria forwards hundreds of years in technological innovations.

Imagine if a pony could get their hooves on a Changeling. One that wasn’t loyal to any hive. A Changeling that was their own pony.

“Yes, Staples.” Radius said. “I would like some more tea.”

Or, they would accidentally stumble upon Radius, who was the furthest thing possible from a normal Changeling. Sure, he didn’t have any loyalty to any hives what so ever, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he was cooperative. Radius was what a Queen would call a wanderer. A wanderer between hives. A more apt description, however, would be that of a Lost One. A rogue Changeling. Who was quite content being as such.

“Thyself is not-” Staples simply just sighed. “I concur. Take this.” Staples used it’s fuzzy and blurry hooves to tilt the teapot forwards and into Radius’s cup awaiting in his holey and black hooves. Unfortunately it was not meant to be, as instead of pouring tea, it simply began to melt through it’s spout, disintegrating into a slime that messily slopped into Radius’s cup.

“Thank you, Radius.” Radius drank the liquid thankfully.

It tasted like pennies.

“Hey, is it just me, or does the sun look weird?” Radius looked up at the bubble-gum pink sky, the sun a blood red. “And… why does everything look weird?”

“We do not know. This palace is merely a figment of your inner machinations.” The blurry thing known as Staples said. “As we were discussing, if thyself was granted citizenship-”

“You don’t really have a mouth.”He looked back at where it once resided. “Actually- are you feeling all right?”

“What doth thine imply?” Staples asked, apparently annoyed at being interrupted.

“It’s just-” Radius squinted his orange eyes. “Your head is an… alarm clock.”

“An alarm clock?” It snickered. “Outrageous! Why would-”

*Brring!*

The surreal discordian-like landscape was suddenly dissolved as Radius became aware of the fact that his head was sunk into a pillow, a thin stream of drool billowing out of his open mouth and soaking the fresh surface. He grumbled, pulling his hoof closer to himself and covering more of his body with the comfy white blanket.

There was a single window in his bedroom that streamed in the morning sun’s golden halo through the half open blinds. The light stretched across the lower half of his blanket, a vivid sight almost unreal. Radius groggily lifted his head a few centimeters off of his pillow, looking around at the empty room being filled with the noise of an annoying ringing.

Sitting by itself on a drawer-less nightstand was a single alarm clock of silver complexion, buzzing loud enough to vibrate itself silly on the small table.

He sighed, letting his head hit the pillow again. Like a light switch was flipped, a headache began to form from the top of his noggin.

“You can do this, Radius.” He whispered in his chittery voice. “I am the bringer of darkness.” He mumbled, half asleep. “My kind has killed countless ponies across history. I was forged in the pits of Tartarus, created as a predator to a prey species in a land without any natural enemies.” He looked at the alarm clock, still ringing loudly. “And I’m being defeated by an alarm clock.”

He sighed yet again, his lower lip quivering as a sudden bout of dizziness threatened him. Perhaps he could just lay here forever. Nopony was looking for him, after all.

“Shut up.” Radius extracted his hoof from the blanket, swinging wildly at the alarm clock. Eventually, one of his many swings made contact with the annoying silver object. Unfortunately, however, this only served to relocate it’s position to the floor instead of his nightstand. It made a loud clatter, but yet it still didn’t turn off, instead only bending the lever designed to turn it off.

He leaned his head off of the bed, looking down at the alarm clock on the floor. It was still ringing loudly.If he wasn’t careful, the little thing had the potential to awake half the neighborhood if he wasn’t careful. But it still kept ringing nonetheless.

He forced back the urge to scream, finally sliding his body out of bed forcefully. The blanket draped across him like a cape for a moment, before succumbing to the forces of gravity and slipping off of him.

Radius caught his eye in the mirror by the wall.

He was a monster. His chitin was blacker than the darkest of nights, his eyes piercing a bright and vibrant orange that pierced even himself. His unused orange membrane wings fluttered dangerously at his back in agitation with his own reflection. He scoffed at himself.

And he had a terrible headache.

He stormed over to the alarm clock, leaving the blanket in a heap on the ground. It was still ringing unnecessarily, even as he was already up and moving. It infuriated him, igniting something deep in his chest. His headache only worsened as he stared down at the offending object. He frowned deeply, raising his holey hoof with an intent to smash it to bits.

He took a deep breath.

“Stop it.” He clicked the top of the alarm clock.

It kept ringing.

“I said stop it.” He clicked it again.

It didn’t stop.

“I said-” He sighed, pain across his forehead, resisting the urge to stomp the annoying object into a fine mist of broken bits. “A pony wouldn’t take their anger out on a clock. Nopony would.” Radius said to himself. “A pony would simply-” His hoof swung down, batting the top of the alarm clock like a cat would.

It kept ringing.

He growled dangerously. It wouldn’t turn off, even after his berating of the stupid little thing. His horn lit up with a terrible orange color as the alarm clock was engulfed in the same hue. Changeling magic was inherently different from any and all forms of pony magic. It was unknown, unstudied, and dangerous. A funny thing about magic, however, was the fact that almost all forms of magic had some kind of sentience behind it. A will of the user, if you will. Unicorn magic tended to follow direct instruction, while chaos magic had the tendency to- well, be chaotic.

The thing about Changeling magic, however, was the fact it was inherently angry.

The alarm clock was lifted into the air, and with a shout, he chucked it as hard as he could. The silver glinted in the sun momentarily before hitting it’s target, that being the mirror he had seen himself mere moments before. It shattered completely, raining down little shards of glass all over his completely clean floor.

Radius watched it for a moment as everything settled, the alarm clock no longer ringing, and the air being filled with the notable taste of regret.

“Good.” He congratulated himself. “Good job, Radius. Not only did you shatter another alarm clock, but you managed to break the mirror, too.” He let out a frustrated shout from deep within his throat. “Good bucking job you two-faced twat.” His headache had only managed to develop as he meandered his way out of the destroyed room.

The main room of the home was almost completely deserted. It was hollow and unfurnished. There wasn’t even a couch in the living area. The only thing in any of his kitchen cabinets was the local spider living there rent-free, and even then, that spider probably hadn’t found any food from this place in years.Although, it was doing a rather good job of keeping the place clean of any insects.

“Like me.” He added bitterly.

The only thing that could give a hint that somepony lived within these walls was the dining table. Instead of being used for it’s purpose of eating food off of, it had been converted into what appeared to be a desk of sorts. A lamp that was always left on shone it’s orange light down onto the papers below, which were almost overflowing from the table they laid on.

Radius barely paused to take a glance. A glance full of revolt and hatred, at that.

Papers, newspapers, books open to random pages, and notes were spread across. Notes on Changeling anatomy, biology, culture… any and all information ponies had on Changelings. Which was surprisingly little. Ponies knew that Changelings lived in hives, fed on love, had a queen, and could disguise. Outside of that, there was even bickering between authors whether or not his kind could even speak.

But it was the newspapers that always gave him a grim reminder of why he hid. Why he stayed in isolation when undisguised. Why he put up his ponysona whenever he went outside.

‘BEWARE! Changeling Threat Rocking Equestria!’

‘Changeling Death Penalty Passed in Congress, Vetoed by Princess Celestia.’

‘Eight Changelings Captured Last Night.’

‘Why YOU Should Be Afraid of Changelings.’

He gave the newspapers one last look before trotting forwards and towards the front door of his home. He shouldn’t have even been giving those journalists his bits. It was out of desperation, really, to learn more about his own species, but instead of finding valuable information, he only found lies. Lies that made up entire articles.

Changelings could suck blood, they said. Changelings couldn’t see glass like a Pegasus, they said. Changelings could see through walls. Hear your thoughts. Steal your memories. Listen to everything you said. Once a newspaper said that Changelings could even turn into mice and hide within your walls. That was untrue, of course. He found that out the hard way through a sick week. The smaller the disguise, the more energy it took, like an exponential curve. The smallest he could get to was a filly or a colt.

The newspapers were playing a game of one-upping each other. Each week it was a competition of who could come up with the most ridiculous lie. And it was getting tiring having to physically fact check everything they said.

He paused at the door. The physical gateway to everything beyond. It was the only thing stopping him from being revealed to the outside world, and the only thing between him and an angry mob with pitchforks, demanding that he leave Ponyville forever. He used his holey black hooves to grab an orange cloth dangling from the doorknob. It was used and worn, yet special to him.

He also grabbed a thick pair of glasses that were resting on a shelf next to the door, usually used for things like hats and coats, but instead laid bare and dusty.

“Okay, Radius.” He said to himself, looking at the two things in his hooves. “Time for today. Nopony knows my secret, and we’re gonna keep it that way.” He took a deep breath, reaching down and pushing against the handle. “Keep it together.”

The house ignited into orange flames.

And the pony who walked out was no longer Radius.

At first, it was a complete overstimulation of his senses. The sun was amazingly bright, blinding him completely. He felt it warm his cream colored coat- yes, coat, as he took his first few steps outside. The air was warm, and he could feel his orange mane whipping in the open sky. He smiled, feeling the weight of being a Changeling melt off of his shoulders like he never was one in the first place.

His ears twitched as he heard the sound of wings flapping nearby. He focused his eyes as he noticed a purplish-teal Pegasus swoop low, flapping a good few heads above him. She wore a pink bow in her teal mane, stylized smoothly down her neck.

“Hey, Staples!” She said, waving erradically. “Did you see the clear sky?”

“Clear sky?” Staples looked up at the endless blue. “You know what? I did, actually. It looks great from down here!”

“Aw, thanks!” She said, dropping a few feet closer to the ground. “I don’t mean to brag, but me and my sister got this place cleaned up quicker than Rainbow Dash would. I mean- it was kind of a breeze, actually-”

“Define ‘breeze.’” A second voice said, floating next to her. “I appreciate the help, Flitter, but trying to bounce on a block of compressed clouds isn’t a breeze. It’s hell.”

“But Cloud Chaser!” Flitter whined. “They just looked so fluffy!”

“And what happened when you tried to bounce on one?”

“It hurt…”

“Exactly.” Chaser shook her head. “Next time, remember that compressed clouds are like concrete.” Chaser looked down to the orange-maned Unicorn, still looking up at the two twins bickering. “Sorry about that, Staples.” She landed. “My airheaded sister here was fishing for-”

“Validation!” Flitter suddenly landed in between both of them. “Validating… if you’d like to- or, if you were able... to grade... my work!” She laughed as an annoyed Chaser behind her gave a glare at the back of her head.

“Oh, geez.” Staples ran a hoof through his mane. “I have to… run... incredibly busy schedule.” He began his own awkward laugh. “You know- I gotta get going to my job, so… if you’d let me through…”

“Of course!” Flitter moved out of the way, followed by a Cloud Chaser who was too busy scowling at her sister to notice, moving out of the way only when the awkward silence began to drag on. “Bye, Staples!” She waved as he began disappearing down the road with a short wave back.

“What was that all about?” Chaser asked, annoyed.

“What was that- what were you doing?” Flitter hissed. “I'm just saying, I'm the better cloud clearer than you! If you'd let me prove it!”

“No!” Chaser shook her head aggressively. “No-no-no! I was trying to make you look bad, and then he'd give you a higher score out of sympathy!”

“You-” Flitter rubbed her eyes. “I can’t- I hate you.”

Staples found himself lulling out to the sounds of Ponyville. This place simply just radiated a specific kind of aura that was near indescribable to anypony who wasn’t physically present in the village. But he sure could try.

The thatch rooves and outdated, ancinet housing gave this place a historic vibe. It was like opening a time portal and going back hundreds of years, maybe even before Discord. The dirt and cobble roads gave a distinctly earthy smell, one that combined beautifully with the flowers present on every window sill, street corner, and vendor stall. Everything was overpowering, and everypony looked very happy. The place was just happy.

Also, one major factor had to be the fact that Ponyville was overflowing with love.

Well- it wasn’t exactly love, per sey, but rather emotional magic that Changelings used as their food source that was almost always mistakenly referred to as love. Affection was the strongest out of all of the emotions, and therefore the most nutricious, but emotional magic was so much morethan just love.

Every town he had fled to during his adolescent years were always so cruel. They seemed cut throat in their approach to living. It was your ponies first or nothing. That was where the usual Changeling tactics came in. Replace somepony. Steal their significant other’s love. If you left the couple in ruins, that was fine. At least you could survive for another week, it didn’t really matter.

But Ponyville was different. Everypony knew everypony, friendly waves all around. There was no slitted eyes in suspicion, there was no frowns, and there was no violence. It made a Changeling forever well fed, and if he really wanted to, the ability to disguise forever.

Unfortunately, Changelings undisguise in their sleep. So he couldn’t keep it up forever.

Speaking of which, one of his favorite locations in all of Ponyville was the delectable, delicious, and borderline soul-warming Sugarcube Corner. The entire building radiated enough emotional magic to power an entire hive. It even looked edible, constructed out of materials that gave the look of a gigantic life sized gingerbread house.

Changelings fed on emotions. They didn’t need physical food.

But darn it, if he wasn’t going to enjoy the savory and delicious confectionery treats that were produced from the holy kitchen, then his name wasn’t Radius.

And his eating habits were also dependent on being disguised. If the Guards came knocking to investigate Ponyville, who would be the one outed as a Changeling first? How about the loner Unicorn with zero friends, who is never seen eating, nopony has ever been to his house, and has denied hanging out every single time?

Okay. Let’s be fair. It’s just because the food is delicious.

The bell above the door rang melodically as he pushed it open to the interior. The early morning rush that fulled the small bakery to it’s limit had long since passed, only leaving a few ponies talking with each other, dotted around randomly. There was a couple in a booth, others standing by a window and talking to each other to pass the time.

Staples hesitated as he saw the interior. Although he knew he was just fine, and realistically there wasn’t even that many ponies, there was still a piece of hard coded instinct that told him to get away from the crowd as soon as possible. It was part of his Changeling DNA.

But those donuts just smelled so good…

He washed his worries away as he focused on the smell. The smell of chocolate and dough that almost lifted him off of the ground, carrying him towards the counter where a stallion was mareing the counter, head down and reading a newspaper.

Mister Cake wasn’t exactly a tough pony, but his demeanor was still overbearing as he was one of, if not the tallest pony in all of Ponyville. He was only beaten by height whenever Princess Celestia came to visit- he even beat out Princess Luna.

Staples found himself staring blankly through the glass counter, unable to look away from the delicious doughnuts that sat mere inches away, locked in it’s glass cage. His glasses began to slide down his face as he stared harder and harder.

Mister Cake put down the newspaper, raising an eyebrow curiously. This was not the first time he had seen a customer do something like this, and it certainly wasn’t the last. With a joyful roll of the eyes, he reached forwards and tapped the tip of his hoof against the glass nosily. Staples snapped out of his trance with a jump, a thin line of drool slipping past his chin and hitting the ground below him. He quickly wiped away the drool, clearing his throat.

“Oh- um- I’m sorry about that.” Staples quickly apologized, embarrassed by his daze and pushing his glasses back to their proper resting place.

“Good morning, Staples.” Mister Cake greeted. “What can I get for you?”

“Oh, gosh…” Staples tapped his chin, once again meeting the gaze of the doughnuts that sat alluringly on the shelf. If he had the ability to feel physical hunger, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he would be aching in pain right now. “I- I think I’ll take…” He bit his lip, forcing himself to be rational with his ordering. After all, a real pony would leave some for the others. He finally sighed. “I’ll just take one chocolate, please.”

“Once chocolate coming right up!” Mister Cake chirped. From behind the counter, he produced a brown bag. The door to the display cabinet opened up, and Staples watched as his orange hoof grabbed the exact doughnut he was staring at. It was like a match made in heaven.

“Alrighty!” Mister Cake placed the producer of the amazing aroma onto the counter, fit up in it’s brown paper bag. “That’ll be one silver bit, please.” Staples still stared deeply at the bag, but mindlessly reached to the inside of his neck tie, producing one small coin with a picture of Princess Luna on the front of it. It landed onto the counter a little harder than he would probably want it to, but due to his dazed stare, he didn’t seem to really care. “Thank you. Now, you have a good day, Staples!” He waved with a smile.

Staples forgot to respond politely, instead just levitating the bag in his orange aura and walking with it, staring directly at the bag as he found himself a table by the counter, but also by a window.

The second his flank hit the booth, he found himself ferally ripping out the perfect doughnut inside, it’s frosting impossibly preserved, despite having been shoved ruthlessly into it’s bag. Without another thought drifting through his head, he sunk his teeth directly into the doughnut.

So was the life of the disguised Changeling. He was supposed to be the nopony in town. His entire point in life should’ve been to be the background character of somepony else’s story. A dull, unimportant, and borderline boring pony. He shouldn’t say anything that would attract attention to himself. He was supposed to be the blank canvas.

“Oh, look.” A nearby pony said. “Staples is doing the thing again.”

“What thing?”

“The- you know- the thing whenever he eats a doughnut.”

“Again, what thing?”

“The- look at his eyes! They’re rolling back in his head!”

“Looks like he’s enjoying that doughnut… a little too much, actually.”

He had failed spectacularly at being the blank canvas.

Everypony knew who Staples was. The eccentric accountant. The stallion who couldn’t stop reading books. The guy who enjoyed the simplest things in life too much, like eating a doughnut, for instance. He was friendly, which meant everypony was friendly back to him.

Although Radius could tell himself he was just putting on a performance, it was all too easy for himself to get lost in his second face. It wasn’t just coming naturally to him anymore- it was like it was him. Which, on a certain level, was entirely true.

Life hadn’t always been so smooth sailing, though. Before Ponyville was a blur of memories, places, and faces. He could only remember the guilt of being kicked out of a town for his ghastly appearance. All too often a pony would go to throw something away, and Radius would be there, elbows deep in a bin. Some screaming, a broom stick, and onto the next town he went. That was even before he discovered the ability to disguise.

Well… most of life was smooth sailing now, at least.

“You’re making that face again.” A feminine voice said. “What is it?”

“It’s those bugs again.” A slightly deeper feminine voice said, more raspy than the first. Staples stopped his eating of his doughnut, the thing half-gone in his hooves. His eyes reverted back to normal as he listened intently, leaning against the booth to better hear the ponies sitting on the other side. “D’you remember how Princess Celestia vetoed the death penalty last month?” There was a shuffle. “Look at this. Now they think it’s a good idea to start a Changeling Research Group.” He could practically hear the snarl in her voice.

“Research group?” The first one asked.

“A research group.” She grumbled. “Right here. Headed by Princess Luna herself… ‘In an attempt to better understand-’ What is there to understand? They’re pests!”

Staples felt his face scrunch in… a feeling. One he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Staples held absolutely no alliance to any Changeling hive. Although he was once, in all of his life, he had never came across a scenario where being a Changeling would’ve made life easier for him. His own species has never done him any good. He simply didn’t owe them anything.

Yet… yet hearing these ponies bicker about what he was, what his own flesh and blood was made up of made a small burning feeling rise in his throat like acid reflux. He looked longingly at his own doughnut, a silent whimper escaping from him.

“Those bugs have done nothing but cause Equestria problems. I almost wonder whether the Princesses are Changeling sympathizers, with the way they’re vetoing these new laws like they actually give a damn. I say kill ‘em. Kill ‘em all. They don’t provide us anything. If a Changeling is arrested, then off to the chopping block!”

“Nah.”

…

There was a moment of stressful silence as Staples slowly mulled over what he had just done. There was a shuffling sound, and then finally, a mare with a pink face peered around the edge of the booth, staring directly at staples.

“Did you say that?” She asked. It was the one with a raspy voice.

“Say what?” Staples asked, feigning ignorance.

“Did you say… ‘nah?’”

“I might’ve.” He admitted, redirecting his attention to the pink mare peering around the edge of the booth. “I mean- that seemd a bit harsh, doesn’t it? I mean- killing all Changelings? Really? Just like that? An entire species?” The mare lowered her eyebrows dangerously, turning her mouth into a frown as she stepped out of the booth, now revealing her whole self to Staples.

“Is there a problem with that?” She asked. “Changelings invaded Canterlot. They’ve been causing Equestria countless problems-”

“What about the ones who didn’t participate in the invasion?” He interrupted, tapping his hoof on the table impatiently. “I mean- there has to be a few, right? Do the innocent bystanders deserve the same fate as the ones who did invade Canterlot? That’s not really fair, is it?” He saw the shadow of the other pony sitting in the booth dart behind the pink mare at the booth.

“Not fair?” She asked. “Do you know what else isn’t fair? Waking up every day wondering whether your foal was replaced with a Changeling. That’s not fair.”

“Well- I mean- that’s still not very fair to the Changeling.”

“I know it isn’t. That’s what-” It looked like her brain caught up to her. “Wait- what?”

“Changelings can’t disguise into foals. They just- physically can’t get that small. It’s a little bit like an exponential use of energy. The smaller a Changeling disguises, the more energy it takes. The most a Changeling could disguise would be a school colt or filly, but even that takes a lot of energy.” He took a breath. “Trust me when I say: your foalis fine.”

The pink mare blinked, opening and closing her mouth in confusion as she tried to find the words to talk. Another nearby customer merely rolled their eyes.

“T-They tried to kill our Princess. And they almost did, too! They are-”

“If you could please stop saying ‘they.’” Staples held up a hoof. “That’s generalizing. Just say ‘Queen Chrysalis,’ please. Like- ‘Queen Chrysalis tried to kill our Princess.’ See how much better that works? Now, you aren’t lumping them in a group-”

“Sir?” Suddenly, a blue and quite plump mare approached the table, flanked by the same shadow he had seen earlier. Staples blinked, looking up at the new figure, being the wife of Mister Cake, Missus Cake. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re causing a disturbance.”

“I’m-” Staple raised his eyebrows. “I’m just correcting the good mare here. I’m not trying to cause a disturbance, really, it’s she who is-”

“It doesn’t matter.” She cut him off with a polite, customer service derivative smile. “I’m asking you to leave.”

“But-” He looked down longingly, gesturing at his doughnut. “I just wanted a doughnut!”

---

“Okay, okay! I’m leaving!” Staple had found himself being ushered out of the Sugarcube Corner by one very adamant orange stallion. The bell above the door that had given him delight minutes prior now gave him a sense of dread as he was given a nudge on the flank, scrambling his hooves to stabilize himself.

“You’re not welcome back.” One of the cakes said. Which one didn’t really matter, as the message crossed his threshold of understanding all the same. “You’re disturbing our customers.”

“Fine! That’s fine.” He shouted back as the door closed on the confectionery. “I’ll just go to Bon-bon’s treat shop for my doughnuts!” He waited for a response. “Hear me? I don’t want to come back!” And he waited again.

Finally, he let out a sigh, realizing his predicament. It wasn’t like he needed the food to survive anyways. The door wasn’t talking back, and the ponies out front of the Sugarcube Corner merely gave him a strange look. He laughed awkwardly at the surplus of eyes on him, adjusting his necktie awkwardly.

“I’ll just… be going, then.” He told the small crowd that had developed. Staple laughed one more time before beginning his trek once more, away from the delicious looking structure.

So was the life of a Changeling. Getting yelled at. To be fair, he was disguised, and his predicament was entirely avoidable if he had just kept his mouth shut, but… he still felt slightly disappointed at the prospect of never being able to return to get another tasty doughnut.

“Are you alright, mister frowny face?” A voice said, right next to his eardrum. He flinched away, his ear twitching once or twice, as he turned to look at the pony bouncing next to him.

“Fine. I’m fine.” He said. “Hello, Pinkie Pie.”

“What’s got you all frowny?” She asked, stopping her bouncing and meeting his pace.

“Oh- just bickering.” He grumbled. “And the fact that I’m never allowed back into Sugarcube Corner again.”

“Oh, wow.” Pinkie said, surprised. “You must’ve done something really, really bad to get Mister and Missus Cake mad enough to ban you!”

“Um- excuse me.”

“I just-” Staple stopped walking, turning to look at the pink pony. “You were there during the Changeling invasion, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Pinkie copied him, stopping in her tracks and turning to face him.

“If somepony- If- If there was a Changeling who was willing to be friendly… how would you react?”

“Excuse me...”

“Hm.” Pinkie tapped her chin. “That’s a tricky one. All of the Changelings I met at Canterlot were meany-pants.” Staple visibly deflated. “But- if there was a nice Changeling? And he wanted to be friends? Everypony deserves a second chance- even if he isn’t a pony.” Pinkie smiled as Staple visibly reinflated again.

“Thanks, Pinkie.” He paused. “For- for confirming my viewpoint, I mean.” He looked up into the sky, his frown returning with the position of the sun. “Well, I’d better get going. Those papers aren’t going to do themselves at the office.”

“Okay, then.” Pinkie waved as he began trotting again. “Byee! And if you ever need some Sugarcube doughnuts under the table, you know who to talk to!”

“I’ll keep that in mind!” Staple began trotting again, leaving his worries in the bakery behind him.

“Pardon me?”

Staples stopped walking, his ear twitching to a sound he hadn’t noticed before. It was meek, quiet, and out of the way. For a moment he considered the idea that a bug flew by his ear, but when he took a good long look at his surroundings, he met the eyes of a pony he hadn't even noticed standing there, apparently directly next to Pinkie Pie. She was a Pegasus with a butter yellow coat and a long flowing pink mane that almost touched the ground.

"Oh, hello." He greeted her. "Sorry about the commotion inside. I just got... a little too riled up, apparently."

"That's okay." She said with a soft smile. "I hope those ponies didn't hurt you?"

"No. Of course not." He shook his head softly. "Those guys couldn't pluck a hair from my locks if they wanted to. But- uh- nice talking to you?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay." She said. "Have a good day!"

"Yeah, yeah..." His eyes narrowed as he looked at the pony once more. "Do I... know you from somewhere? I can't help but get the feeling I've seen you somewhere before." He tapped his chin in thought.

"Well... I am the Element of Kindness."

"Oh, that must be it!" He stomped his hoof on the ground. "Of course. Silly me, how could I forget?" He chuckled, although he still felt strangely hollow with that answer. "Take care... Fluttershy, was it?" She nodded. "Right. Take care!" He turned around and began trotting.

And Fluttershy followed him with her eyes in content.

---

The Ponyville town hall was, by far, the tallest and most imposing structure in the entirety of Ponyville. Although the ponies that ran the inside were friendly and well-meaning, the place always brought back bad memories for the pink Pegasus. An extra-long night full of uncertainty and dread as the ruler a thousand years ago returned from her lunar prison.

There were ponies, dashing from side to side, getting some kind of celebration ready. What it was didn’t really matter to her. All that mattered was her information, and one pony stood out of the crowd like a sore thumb.

“Mayor!” She greeted. The mayor gave a small jump, turning around and meeting the mare face to face.

“Oh, why hello there, Firefly.” She greeted. “I’m quite sorry, this year’s celebration plans have run me around the ringer. What is it that you needed?”

“I was just here to file a complaint.” Firefly said sheepishly. Mayor Mare raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but didn’t say anything further. “There’s this pony- his name is Staples, and I believe he is a Changeling sympathizer.”

“Oh?” She asked, one eyebrow falling to give herself an inquisitive look. “Although many ponies beliefs do not align, I fail to see the problem with that.”

“Well…” Firefly adjusted her hooves uneasily on the ground. “He knows things about Changelings that are… very strange to know.” She leaned forwards. “I don’t just think he’s a sympathizer, I think he’s harboring a fugitive.”

Mayor Mare tried her hardest to resist rolling her eyes.

“This is a very serious accusation.” She strained with a fake smile. “Are you certain?”

“Well- it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?” Firefly said. “I would like you to send guards out to check his home, make sure he’s clean.”

“Send guards-” She physically bit her tongue. “Send guards… to check on… a hunch you have.”

“Yes.”

“Are you officially accusing Mister Staple of harboring a Changeling?” She said. “Because if so, I’ll have to file the paperwork, and then this becomes a legal matter out of my hooves. A legal matter I don’t have time for right now…” She whispered to herself.

“Yes, I am officially accusing Mister Staple on the suspicion of harboring Changelings in his home.” She paused. “Or- coming into contact with a Changeling.”

Mayor Mare let out a small whine. “Of course. I will have to send out the proper documentation right away. The closest guard outpost is a day away, so it could take up to a few days for the proper guards to arrive. Until then, I ask you to keep limited contact with Staple.”

“Okay.” Firefly nodded. “Thank you for your time, Mayor Mare.” She politely smiled, turning and walking away. Mayor Mare let out a grunt of frustration once he was out of earshot, outside and blending into the rest of the ponies walking.

“I don’t have time to deal with ponies thinking their neighbor is a Changeling!” She said outloud, rubbing a hoof against her forehead. “Everyday, it seems like those ridiculous newspapers are putting ideas into our citizen’s heads!”

“Are you talking to me?” Her assistant asked, pushing a cart full of party streamers and chairs across the main stage. Mayor Mare turned around, looking up.

“I suppose I am.” She mused. “Another pony has reported another pony being a Changeling. Again. Could I have you file the necessary paperwork and get two guards down here?”

“Again?” She sighed. “This is the second time this week…”

“Yeah, I know…” Mayor Mare said. “Just… try and hold out until the anniversary of the Canterlot Invasion is over, okay? It’s the only reason why Changelings are back in the news recently. I’m sure this is nothing, but it’s protocol.”

Her assistant nodded, pushing the cart further along.

Mayor Mare put back on her best smile, pretending everything was just fine.

Comments

[Senpai_Tempest]

I’m liking this so far.

[Vaultboy0000]

Nice to see more changeling stories being made. It's kinda hard to find decent stories

[SirCarrot]

Hope he doesn’t go to Bon Bon’s shop, that’ll just make it worse!

[Green-Venom]

I’ll keep an eye on this. Great work!

[Ryebuck Coppercap]

Oof, poor Staples

Having to hide themselves completely simply cause of how they were born due to overly specieist ponies must absolutely suck, living in constant fear of being discovered and outed.

With just these two chapters you managed to completely hook me in mate! Cheers

[bkam]

Looking forward to seeing where this story goes from here!

[PhycoKrusk]

Really, the simple and correct solution is... make the complainant fill out the paperwork themselves.

Honestly Madam Mayor, if you're going to be hock-deep in bureaucracy, you may as well make it work for you when you can.

[Starlight Glimmer1]

‘ Changeling Death Penalty Passed in Congress, Vetoed by Princess Celestia. ’

It’s not hard to see why.

[huntar21]

I guess this takes place before Thorax befriends the ponys or it has not reached the rest of equestria yet

[origami]

Radius is clearly not of Chrysalis's ilk, so one has to wonder who his hive's queen is.

Also, liking the story so far. Really hope to see more soon.

[hmaf43]

To be honest, this chapter is begging for a more darker storyline than 'changeling learn friendship'. A lone changeling trying to survice in brutal police state Equestria that had hysteria red scare vibe.... yeah.

And ponyville is good and friendly town? The fact that people side with someone like cake, who talk about eugenized an entire specie and kicked out a paying customer because 'muh feeling hurt' make it looked like a shithole than anything else, as per its cannon counterpart.

[Scyphi]

Mayor Mare put back on her best smile, pretending everything was just fine.

It's not fine.

[Scyphi]

11641857
The thing is...every place has those people like the ones shown here in this chapter. Doesn't matter what sort of town it is. They may not always be immediately obvious...but I guarantee you that they're there anyway.

So if anything, it's just a realistic portrayal.

[hmaf43]

11642034
Yes, it's realistic, but that is not the point.

Good and friendly town part is the problem I had with

The fact they rudely gossip about the poor guy, and outright ignoreed him when he's spoke out his mind, against eugenized an entire specie.

He didn't even started it, and it would likely not turned into an argument if cake didn't keep hammering on him.

And nobody did anything.

Can you imagine? A Ukranian shopowner said we should killed all Russians because they're all monster, civilians and children, and didn't faced any consequence.

People in that area acceppted that point of view. No boycotts, no walkouts.

Is this ponyville a really a good and friendly town, or just another generic racist rural village?

Of course, good and bad are relative. Maybe other places in Equestria are even more of a shithole than this.

[Cxcd]

11642123

Alrighty, let’s put that on the backburner, shall we? There will be zero spoilers from me, so don’t worry about that, but I do want to say that this is a commentary on stereotypes, the media, and lumping people into a group.

We know from the show that Ponyville is friendly. But, because the media has been ridiculously spinning the Changelings into a red scare, the general pony population is afraid of the Changelings, thinking they’re mindless, incredibly blood thirsty monsters, instead of the bruised, battered, and starving species they actually are.

This story takes place pretty much before anything that would include species unionization. So there would be no Hippogriffs, Kirin, Breezies, or anything else of that matter. Take Gilda for an example. She was rude and mean, so the ponies might assume all Griffons were mean.

Imagine the Changelings. They waged war on their home nation, and they don’t have the context that the Changelings were actually starving. The media is telling them to be afraid, and so they’re going to be afraid. There was dialogue I cut where two ponies were arguing whether or not Changelings had the mental capacity to even speak, or if they were just glorified parrots. The pony population don’t think of Changelings as ponies, they think of them as litterally husks being controlled by a hive mind, commanded over by a queen, who makes the real commands.

Also, I wouldn’t like to imagine they were rudly gossiping about Staples. I thought of it more like “Hey, Staples is doing that weird thing again.” When I wrote it, I wasn’t even thinking about it being from the two ponies who Staples started arguing with later.

Like Scyphi said, I was trying to go for the ‘extremist’ point of view, where there are a few- err- loud ponies in the crowd.

[tsaukpaetra]

Yikes, getting banned from a shop for failing into an argument during off hours? Not a good look.
It is very strange he would vehemently defend his kind directly after ruminating how little he cared for others like him... Not to mention foolishly making fantastic claims he should have no evidence for. Hooray for plot railroading?