Hope and Changeling

by FrontSevens

Chapter 12 - Copper Flash

“This is stupid,” 4 N 7 stated, looking down at the rope wrapped around Whole Grain’s hoof.

“It was this or prison,” I told him, and that was all I needed to say. He grumbled and continued to walk, wriggling his wings under the other half of the rope.

After thanking Honeydew and faring her well, Lucid had taken the lead and led us away from the farm. Ahead of us were miles of flatland. Not very exciting at all, but no excitement had become a good thing. Once we were a fair enough distance away from Honeydew’s sight – or anypony’s sight, for that matter – Lucid nodded and gave me the green light to change into another pony.

It was something Whole Grain had wanted, yes, but it was something I wanted as well. The bee stings were aching all over, so I was more than ready for a change. The problem arose when I realized I hadn’t given any thought as to whom to change into.

In my head, I put together a list of all of the male ponies I had met, which wasn’t very long. Then, it was a matter of narrowing down that list. Gouda and Lucid were off the list, of course. I didn’t want to involve close relatives, so Uncle Flax was off as well. That left… the mayor, Taff’s grandfather, that newlywed guy with the carrot stand, Purple Dude and Green Curls from the wedding, and Captain Keelhaul. On second thought, scratch the captain.

Okay, down to five. Not the mayor: too risky – recognizable political figure. Not the newlywed guy: the wheat sisters probably wouldn’t like it. I hadn’t had much luck with family friends. Taff’s grandfather? I didn’t want to be old. Well, down to two; Purple Dude and Green Curls. It didn’t matter to me either way, but I had an aversion to Purple Dude for being such a fast talker, so I picked Green Curls.

I closed my eyes, searching my brain for a mental snapshot of him: green, curly hair, of course; black fur; couldn’t remember his eye colour… blue, I think? That probably wasn’t important anyway. Mental image clear-ish, I opened my eyes and looked up.

Sure enough, I could see a wavy wisp of green bobbing above my eyes. When I looked down at my hooves, they were covered in black fur, without holes this time. And wow, did a healthy body feel good. I could bend my knees without discomfort. It was fantastic.

“Wait. You’re a changeling, too?” 4 N 7 asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

The corners of his mouth rose in a smile. “So, you’re all changelings?”

“No, just me,” I said.

“You’re kidding,” he said, his smile holding up. “You’re kidding, right?”

Unfortunately for him, I was not. I had had quite enough jokes. Puns were tolerable now, sure, but there were more than enough stupid coincidences to cause me to lose a taste for jokes. Jokes were sour things that I could only take or make in small and non-journey-obstructing amounts.

“No, you’re joking. There’s no way,” he said, still unconvinced.

I shook my head, since he apparently needed another form of the same answer. “I’m not joking.”

His smile faded at my refusal to respond. After his eyes jumped amongst our group, he examined the rope running from around his waist to Whole Grain’s hoof. His mouth hung open, searching for words until it found the one it wanted to ask. “Why?”

His words would have to get more specific than that. “Why what?”

“Why everything?” he said. “Why are you acting the way you are? If they’re ponies, why are they cool with you being a changeling? Why am I tied up like this? Why weren’t you in Canterlot, for queen’s sakes?”

“Okay, okay, one at a time,” I said. Yeesh. “That’s where we’re going, is Canterlot. And, could you repeat the other ones?”

He didn’t blink and his jaw remained wide open. “I don’t believe you. At all. This is either a really drawn-out prank you guys are pulling on me or someling needs to spell this out… for…. You.”

He advanced. “You! You’re the changeling I saved. The one from hive 6 who didn’t return.” He looked me up and down. “So you can’t be a changeling; you must be a pony! But you had a position in your hive, so… you’re a spy? But that doesn’t make sense, because we’re nowhere near Canter-lmph!”

A white glow formed around 4 N 7’s mouth and hindered his speech. “Save the questions, please,” Lucid said. “I’m sure Gouda – er, Copper Flash – will be able to fully explain when the time is right.”

4 N 7 said nothing, even when Lucid released his magical grip. Nopony else spoke for quite a while, either. Maybe, unlike me, they were all waiting for the right time. I was thinking about my odd new name, Copper Flash, and how Lucid could have known it. They lived in the same city, so I guess it made sense, but I’d have to ask later, just in case he was a relative or family friend or something.

We continued to walk for a very long time. We had left about an hour after lunch, and we were still walking right up until suppertime. We took a few breaks for water when we passed a river or a lake once in a while.

It was getting later, as the sun was well past halfway to setting and was getting in my eyes. I was unable to bring a hoof up to cover my eyes and continue walking normally, so I squinted and tried to look at the ground. Stupid sun being bright and all…. Oh yeah, they had a pony for that, didn’t they?

“Celestia’s making the sun awfully bright this afternoon, isn’t she?” I commented to Lucid.

He chuckled. “I don’t think she controls the brightness of the sun. She only moves it.”

Moves it? “You know, I always thought the Earth revolved around the sun, not the other way around.” And it wasn’t just me, but the rest of my kind as well.

He pushed up his glasses. “If that was the case, then why doesn’t it feel like we’re moving?”

“It’s just… relative motion,” I said, trying to remember the physics courses that I took. “The Earth has been moving at the same speed for so long, we’re used to it.”

“Relative motion….”

I nodded. “Yeah, relative motion. You know, physics?”

“Physics, huh?” he said. “I’m not sure if we have something like that. I’ll look into it later. Could you describe it?”

I was about to, but I had no idea where I’d have to start. Eh, maybe they just had a different name for it. “Maybe some other time. It’s not that important, anyway.”

“What about physics?”

“Gah!” I jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion, and looked around. That voice wasn’t one of ours…

“Hiya! Up here!”

I looked up, and was face to face with a pony whom I had never seen before. I jumped again, backing away from the pony. She was floating upside-down – it looked like a “she” – and had short green hair and lighter green skin. Whoops, not floating – flying.

She was one of the ponies with wings. I had seen a few before, but hadn’t given it much thought. Flying would’ve gotten us to Canterlot so much faster than walking. And while on the topic of flying, how was flying upside-down possible?

“Not many ponies come this way. You’re not lost, are you?” she said, cracking an upside-down grin.

“Not if this is the way to Canterlot,” I replied. “Say, do you mind flying us somewhere?”

She dipped and turned right-side-up. “Fly you somewhere?” She searched the ground, lifting up her feet. “Do you see a chariot anywhere? I don’t.”

“Well, let’s just say we had a chariot. Would you fly us somewhere then?”

She grinned like a child and looked again, this time checking around us. “You don’t seem to have one either, so…?”

Ugh, she was a smart aleck…. I groaned. “Let’s say we came across one. What then?”

“Who leaves chariots just lying around?”

“That’s not the point. Would you or would you not-”

“Give it a rest.” Lucid put a hoof on my shoulder. “She’s not taking us seriously. Let’s move on.”

We did, but the stranger followed. She flew up beside me, looking at me, then at the farm to our right, then at the fields to our left, and then back at me. “So you still haven’t answered my question,” she said.

Question…. “Oh, about physics?” I said. “Again, it’s not that important. You don’t seem to follow the laws of physics, anyway.” I didn’t think birds could fly upside-down.

“I don’t?” she said innocently. “Who is this ‘physics’? He sounds like such a bore. Not like you guys. You guys are funny.”

I tried to ignore her as we continued to walk. This pony really wasn’t taking anyone seriously. She jumped up and landed beside Professor Lucid. “My name’s Fairweather, thanks for asking. Not a lot of ponies come this way, you know.”

“Yes, we do know,” Lucid mumbled.

She giggled. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I already tell you? I’ve got the memory of a pidgeon, I do. I mean, the memory of an ant. Or the memory of an elephant…? The memory of the animal that can’t remember things for very long.” She turned to Lucid. “What’s your name, again?”

“Professor Lucid,” he stated flatly.

“That’s a weird name. And yours?” she asked me, her green hair bouncing as she walked.

I ignored her. If she wasn’t interested in helping us, then what point was there in humouring her?

“You guys are boring.” She turned around and walked backwards so she could face us. “Nothing a swig of cider can’t fix, of course! We can stop by my inn. It’s not far from here.”

“We’re not interested,” Whole Grain said.

Fairweather tilted her head. “Well, I’m the owner of the only building around for miles and miles. And the sun’s going down – you need a place to sleep, dontcha? Breakfast is complementary, and it’s also free!”

And just as she had mentioned it, I noticed a building out in the distance, shielding us from the setting sun. It was a shabby thing – far from the Hilton, but a step up from a shack. It looked like it had been recently repainted in a rich, dark brown colour. There was a sign above the front door, with three words painted neatly in white paint: “Come On Inn”.

“You get it? Come On Inn?” Fairweather beamed. “I thought of that one myself.”

We all filed into the inn, first Lucid, then Fairweather, then Wheat Flour…. And, just as I was about to turn in, I noticed Whole Grain had stopped, her eyes wide and her limbs frozen in place. Then, those limbs started to move her away from the entrance.

“Oh no. Ohhhh no. I am not going in there,” Whole Grain said, shaking her head.

I looked around and peeked inside. If there was something glaringly obvious, I didn’t see it. “What? What’s the matter?”

“Wheat Flour?” she called. “Come outside, now. Wheat Flour!”

“Yes, what is it?” Wheat Flour said as she emerged.

Lucid and Fairweather followed her out. “Where’s the rattlesnake?” Fairweather joked, but Whole Grain didn’t find it funny.

“We’re leaving,” she said, her eyes darting back and forth among everyone. She dropped 4 N 7’s leash. “We’re leaving now.”

Fairweather flew up and landed in front of the sisters. “Whoa whoa whoa,” she said. “You can’t just walk away without trying my infamous Cloudsdale Catamar-”

Whole Grain violently shoved her aside, pulling Wheat Flour with her. “Let’s go,” she said, starting to speed up her walk.

I almost stopped them, but I hesitated.

They had every right to leave. They were dragged along with me for so long. This is what they deserved; to go back to their own lives and not have to worry about me again. And that’s what I wanted, too. I had gotten them into this mess, and I wanted to involve only the ponies that I thought could help, like Lucid. I had taken so much of their time, it was only right to give it back to them.

But there was something that compelled me to stop them. I felt like I hadn’t given enough. I didn’t have anything to give, but it still didn’t seem balanced. I felt like I owed them.

“Whole Grain, wait!” I yelled, trying to jog after them. I still didn’t know how to move faster than a quick walk, so I kept tripping over my feet.

I didn’t have to run far, though, for Wheat Flour was pulling back on her sister, trying to slow her down. “Stop! No!” she was saying.

When we caught up with them, Wheat Flour had firmly planted her rump on the ground. Whole Grain stopped tugging on her as she saw us, and panted from her effort. “No! I know what’s going on. You’re all changelings!” she said, swinging her hoof at us.

I was floored. Did she see something I didn’t? I looked at Lucid, but not one part of him looked like a changeling. “What do you mean?” Lucid asked.

She thrust her hoof towards Lucid. “You’re one of the changelings from the train. You set this up! You waited outside of Sunflower’s place for us. And you said that you’re a professor ‘studying’ changelings as a cover-up.”

I took another look at Lucid. Lucid? A changeling? No…. Could he…?

Whole Grain wasn’t done. “You led us out here, in the middle of nowhere, where an inn just happens to be.” Her lower lip quivered. “You were going to kidnap us and take our places. And we’d be so far from home that the real us would never be heard from again. And you’ve been planning this with him the whole time!” she said, pointing at me.

It was possible that it was paranoia talking, but she had some reason to believe what she did. I had to say something. “That’s not true!” probably wouldn’t have been enough because I couldn’t prove it. However, I said it anyway in my defense.

“Now, Whole Grain, let’s calm down,” Lucid said, making a “down” motion with his hoof. “We can talk this out.”

Whole Grain shook her head. “We’re leaving,” she said, her face contorted in anger. “We’re leaving.”

She turned to leave, keeping her head up. Wheat Flour didn’t follow, though.

“I said we’re leaving,” she said, louder.

Wheat Flour didn’t move an inch, though. She looked right at me with those soft, pink eyes. The same pink eyes that Taff had at the wedding. Pleading. She didn’t want to go.

I felt a strange churning in my stomach. A churning that was weird and slightly unnerving and… good. I felt a cold sweat all over and a warm taste in my mouth. Then, after I had gotten over that strangely real feeling, a small thought popped up in the back of my mind.

It was a question that I hadn’t quite thought of until then. There had been signs. Signs that I hadn’t picked up on before, but they had still been there. Maybe I was interpreting them wrong or maybe I was delusional, but that question came up and it didn’t go away.

Was Wheat Flour in love with me?

I looked down, away from those eyes, and clutched my churning stomach. She was just being nice, wasn’t she? Just helping out a friend in need. Like Honeydew and Aunt Millie.

But what kind of friend was willing to travel far from home in order to help somepony out? She had opportunities to back out, but she didn’t. She brought me to her house, she volunteered to escort me to Canterlot, and she had been there almost every step of the way in this journey. And she had been interested in me, too. “How do you like ponies?” Shoot. I should’ve seen this coming.

“You… you…” Whole Grain began. She was less difficult to look in the eyes at that moment, so I looked back up to see her glaring at me. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. “You made her love you.”

Then, as quick as lightning, she ran at me. She tackled me to the ground and pinned me there with one hoof. With the other, she punched me over and over and over.

And you know what? I let her.

In a strange and roundabout way, maybe this was what I owed her. It was inevitable that the inconveniences I had brought about would have to be paid for. She had every right to be angry, so I felt I had no right to stop her. Her sister falling in love with me was an odd snapping point, but I had expected her to snap eventually.

So after she pinned me, I just sprawled on my back and let her vent. We made eye contact, so I think she might have known. That didn't mean she held back any of her punches, though. Maybe she was just too angry to notice I wasn't defending myself. Maybe. Possibly.

She would’ve kept going, had her sister not been there to grab her hoof and pull her back.

“Whole Grain!” Wheat Flour shouted as she tugged on her sister. “Enough!”

I backed up. Everything about Whole Grain was fierce. Her breathing was angry, her legs were ready to lunge again, and her eyes were lit with rage. Maybe it was best for them to leave, for all of our sakes.

“Please, go into the inn, everypony. My sister and I need to talk. Alone,” Wheat Flour said.

~ ~ ~

Minus the sisters, we all went inside the inn, which led right into an open bar. I had never actually been to one; I was never much for socializing.

It was old, that’s for sure. The whole place was made of wood, and it didn’t hesitate to creak under our feet. There were a few two-pony and four-pony tables about and a larger, six-pony table in the middle. From the scratches on the tables and some of the walls, as well as a broken table off to the side, the place needed some maintenance work done. For what it’s worth, though, it was clean.

I took a seat at one of the least scratched cushions around the big table, and the rest followed suit. Fairweather flew to the bar.

“Well, you’re quite the theatrical bunch,” she commented with a chuckle, filling up a wooden cup full of something that clinked, which I assumed to be ice cubes.

“That type of comment is inappropriate at the moment, Fairweather,” Lucid said, resting his head on his hoof.

She flew over and gave each of us a mug. “Sorr-y. I’ll try again.” She cleared her throat. “Well, you’re quite the depressing bunch.”

I peered into the mug. There was no liquid, only cubes. Cubes that looked sort of like sugar cubes. Oh, right. Horses. Sugar cubes. Straight up sugar didn’t seem healthy for humans, but maybe it was okay for horses. I put the cup up to my mouth and let one of the cubes fall into my mouth. I bit down….

Ugh, sick! Gross! I coughed out the revolting stuff. Those weren’t sugar cubes; those were salt cubes! Disgusting. I set the cup back down and wiped off my tongue with my hoof. Who eats salt?

“Heheh…. You alright, there?” Fairweather asked me. “I figured you folks needed something strong, but if that’s too strong for ya…”

I pushed the mug back across the table to her. “Can you get me something of the liquid variety, please?”

“Coming right up,” she replied. Finally, alcohol.

“You’ve never had salt before?” Lucid said.

I shook my head. “No, never. Only as a seasoning on food, but not a whole cube of it. Nobody does.”

“Well, I’d think even a changeling wouldn’t mind the taste of salt that much. Are you sure no one in your world eats salt?”

“Never by itself. It’s disgusting.” I accepted the mug that Fairweather handed me, and looked before I drank. Sure enough, there was beer this time, froth and all.

I was relieved. Alcohol had been there to help me through many a study night in my college years. And now, instead of worrying about remembering, all I was worried about was forgetting.

A pony was in love with me. How was I supposed to deal with that? We came from different worlds. We were far from compatible. And I didn’t even want to think about baking cookies. No, this was too stressful. I stuffed that thought in the back of my brain and took a sip of the drink. One nice, long sip….

Wait a minute. I brought the cup back down and inspected the golden liquid inside.

That wasn’t beer. That was apple juice.

Freakin’ kids’ TV shows.

4 N 7 looked interested. “Your world? What’s that supposed to mean?”

I glanced at Lucid, who gave the okay. It was about time everybody found out, anyways. “I’m not a changeling. Well, I am now, but I wasn’t always a changeling. Not until a few days ago.”

He fell silent, ready for me to elaborate. Fairweather raised her hoof and looked right at me. I sighed. “Yes, Fairweather?”

“I think I missed this, but what’s a changeling?”

Lucid and I simultaneously pointed at 4 N 7, who pointed at himself as he licked the cubes in his glass.

“Oh,” she replied. “Carry on.”

I stretched out my back. This was going to be fun. “I don’t know how I got here. I fell asleep in my world and woke up in the changeling hive as a changeling.”

“What were you before being a changeling?” 4 N 7 asked.

At that moment, the door to the tavern creaked open. Wheat Flour walked in and found a seat at the table we were at. I immediately looked down at my glass. That was another can of worms I didn’t need to open at that moment.

Fairweather volunteered to speak first. “I’ll catch you up. He’s a changeling.” She pointed at me.

Wheat Flour nodded. “Yes, I am aware.”

“No, he’s not a changeling,” 4 N 7 said. “He just said he wasn’t.”

Whear Flour raised her eyebrows at me. “You aren’t a changeling?”

“He’s not a changeling,” Fairweather reiterated. She flew back to the bar and prepared another handful- hoof-full of drinks.

“I’m a changeling now, yes,” I muttered, still avoiding eye contact. “But I used to be something else. I used to be a human.”

“A ‘human’?” Wheat Flour repeated. “What’s that?”

“It’s a different kind of creature. It’s kind of like a hairless monkey. We live in a similar world to yours, except instead of ponies, we’re all… monkeys.” Explaining it once was difficult enough.

“Monkeys…” Wheat Flour said, accepting the mug from Fairweather and peering into it.

“Yes.” I poked at the metal handle on my mug. “I don’t know how I got here, but if there’s anypony who does know how to send me back, it’s Celestia. So, that’s why I need to go to Canterlot.”

Wheat Flour nodded and licked a salt cube. She seemed… distant. If she loved me, she probably wasn’t too enthusiastic with the idea of me leaving.

The door swung open once more, this time by Whole Grain. Our table fell silent and watched her walk toward our table, every floorboard under her hooves creaking loudly. After helping herself to a seat, she took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “What’s new?”

Fairweather was prepared, and slid an already-filled mug across the table to Whole Grain’s place. As the mug was accepted, she pointed her hoof at me. “He’s a changeling.”

“He’s not a changeling,” 4 N 7 droned.

“Pardon me. He’s a changeling,” Fairweather said, pointing at 4 N 7. Her other hoof extended in my direction. “He’s a monkey.”

Whole Grain looked at me with raised eyebrows. She took the mug in front of her, knocked it back, and chewed. No one else said anything, or really had anything to say; we all just listened to her crunch.

After she swallowed, she licked and smacked her lips and supported her head with a hoof. She cleared her throat and said in a monotonous and clearly disinterested tone, “If it pleases everypony, I would appreciate a full explanation of what the hay is going on or I swear to Celestia I will beat all of your heads in until my hoof falls off.”

I definitely didn’t want more of that. It was only fair to come clean at this point, anyway, seeing how far they’d come with me already. The time was right.

I took a swig of apple juice and began. “Well, I wasn’t always a changeling, not until a couple of days ago. One day, I went to sleep as… a monkey, and the next day I woke up as a changeling. I have no idea how.”

And so, for the rest of the night, I explained what had happened so far as best as I could, starting with the day that I woke up in the changeling hive and ending with the present, and pretty much everything in between. I left out a couple of parts, like the bit at the lake and when Wheat Flour told me about her childhood and how Lucid had come along because he was interested in dimensions… somehow. I let Lucid explain that bit.

“I study dreams, yes, but I also study dimensions. As it turns out, they are closely related,” he said.

“How?” Wheat Flour asked.

He shifted in his seat. “It’s complicated. I don’t know how to explain it without getting too technical.” He gave it several seconds of thought. “You can line up the dreams of more than one pony, and… it opens up a window to another universe. And sometimes, as what’s happened with Copper Flash, here, it opens up a door.”

“So you can send him back?” Whole Grain said.

“As I said, it’s… complicated. Long story short, Celestia is his best chance of a safe return.”

Whole Grain leaned forward. “Care to tell us why?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That’s something I cannot do, and you’ll have to trust me on it.”

After a short pause, I finished off my drink. “And that’s it. We came to Fillydelphia, and here we are.”

Nopony spoke. It was probably quite a lot of new information to absorb, if not to try and believe. They must’ve had plenty of questions, but I was in no mood to answer any of them. I rose and excused myself from the table. “I’m going to bed.”

Whole Grain said, “Now, wait a minute-”

“No,” I said. “I’ve had a long day. I’m tired of drama and walking and throwing up and bees and beatings. And talking. You all do that without me if you want, but I’m leaving.”

I walked away, but before I left the room, Fairweather spoke up. “Um, Cooper?”

Close enough. I wasn’t used to my new name, either. “What?”

Fairweather pointed in the opposite direction I was headed in. “Rooms are thataway.”

Ugh. Of course they were.

Author's Note:

Preread by NotSoSubtle

Comments

[Earthpatriot117]

Wait. Why doe ain't he turn into his human self and show them what a human looks like?

[Thesandman888]

6955071 according to the forums. They agree that taking nonpony forms consume more love on top of needing extra training to SAFELY turn into that form.....

[tsaukpaetra]

And now we're all on the same page!

[JazzyWaffles]

“Rooms are thataway.”

The law of cartoon directional averages states that if you choose to exit a scene in a direction, there is a more likely chance of heading the wrong direction than the right one.

[KvAT]

8185208
And the direction of where the rooms are located will always be on the most opposite of said exit path, and/or effectively the most scenicly embarrassing one.