The New Student
“And, I am a changeling hunter.” Rumble frozen immediately upon hearing those words. A changeling hunter? What did that mean? Was he serious? Or was he just trying to break the ice with some silly joke?
“Changeling hunter?” a filly near the front asked. “What’s that?”
“Changelings are a race of monsters that live outside of Equestria,” Archer explained, drawing everypony’s attention, with the exception of Berry Pinch, who shuddered and sank down into her seat. “They come to Equestria to feed off of the love of ponies… Or so the legends say.”
“It is no legend,” Junior said, a grim look on his face. “Changeling are as real as you and me. And, as a fully certified changeling hunter-” The colt pulled out a small badge from his jacket pocket. “-It is my mission in life to hunt down, and slay these foul beasts of Tartarus, even if it costs me my life!”
Berry Pinch sank even lower, and tears were threatening to form in her eyes. Rumble bit his lower lip, and glared at the colt at the front of the class. ‘H-He can’t be serious! This has to be a joke, right?’
The class soon erupted into laughter, most of the foals laughing at the Junior’s proud proclamation, which only served to confuse the colt. “W-What’s so funny?”
“A changeling hunter? Yeah right! You’re only our age!”
“Changelings, real? Please! What are you, five?”
“Actually, they are real. They attacked Canterlot, remember?”
“Oh, please! You know that was just the media trying to liven things up!”
Cheerilee quickly silenced the class, and then turned to Junior. “Junior, I appreciate that you’re trying to liven things up, but perhaps you could just hold back on the jokes for now? Just a simple introduction will do fine.”
“But it isn’t a joke!” Junior declared. “As my father’s son, I have been trained in all disciplines necessary to track down and hunt changelings! That’s actually why I’m in Ponyville in the first place! A changeling is rumoured to be in here!”
Berry Pinch let out a loud gasp, drawing the attention of everypony in the room. She started to sweat madly, and looked around at all the wide-eyed ponies around her, struggling for something to say. Another gasp was heard, and this time, everypony turned their attention to Rumble.
“A changeling, here?!” he asked, getting up out of his seat and running up to the colt, a panicked look on his face. “Are you serious?! This is terrible! What will we do?!”
Berry Pinch wondered what Rumble was doing, but quickly caught on. He was telling her to act as if she was panicked over the town’s safety, to cover up her involuntary gasp earlier. “H-He’s right!” she shouted, shiver in her seat. “Shouldn’t we call in the Royal Guard or… something?”
Some of the other foals also exchanged a few worried glances, and began to mutter amongst themselves about the possible changeling threat. This didn’t help Berry Pinch feel any easier.
Cheerilee turned to Junior with a stern look on her face. “Junior, I would appreciate it if you didn’t spread such horror stories around the class like that.”
Junior, ignoring his teacher’s scolding, put a hoof on Rumble’s shoulder, and gave him a confident grin. “No need to worry, my good colt. Changelings seek out love, which is stronger in adults than in children. Therefore, those of you here in the class have nothing to worry about.”
He walked past Rumble, and past a few of the desks in the classroom, and stopped by Berry Pinch’s seat. Berry Pinch looked up at him with a questioning look on her face, and a hidden look of fear. Before she could say anything, the colt bowed to her, and pulled a rose out of his jacket pocket. “For you, madam.”
Berry Pinch reeled back in surprise, her eyes wide as she examined the rose presented to her. “F-For me?”
“Yes. Never have I seen such beauty before.” The foals around them all gasped, and leaned closer so that they could hear better. Berry Pinch’s face turned bright red, and Rumble suddenly felt the urge to drag the colt away from her. “May I ask you for your name?”
“B-Berry Pinch.”
“Such a lovely name. Fear not, my fair maiden. I shall allow no harm to come to you, or any other of Princess Celestia’s little ponies.”
With a final wink, Junior stood up, placed the rose on the filly’s desk, and then looked around the room. He spotted a desk that was empty, and walked up to it. “Does anypony sit here?” he asked his new teacher, who was just as speechless as the rest of her group after that little display. She simply shook her head, and the colt sat down in the seat. “Then, I shall sit here, if that is alright?”
Cheerilee approved, but Rumble did not. That seat was next to his, which meant that now…
“It seems we’re neighbours,” Junior said to Rumble as he sat back down. “Say, I wonder if you could show me around the school later today? I haven’t the chance to properly look around yet, you see.”
“I… guess I could show you around,” Rumble said, not able to find a reason why he could not.
“Great! I think you and I are going to get along just fine,” Junior said confidently, though Rumble wasn’t too sure. “What’s your name?”
“… Rumble.”
“A fine name, to be sure. By the way…” Junior leaned in close to whisper to his new friend. “About Miss Berry Pinch, would you happen to be an acquaintance of hers?”
Rumble gulped. Did Junior suspect Berry Pinch of being a changeling? “W-Why do you want to know?”
Junior smiled as he turned to look at the filly in question. “I was wondering if you would know of any tips for winning her heart.”
Rumble barely managed to suppress a growl, and turned his head away from Junior. “Sorry. Can’t help you there.”
Junior sighed, and nodded sadly. “Yes, I understand.”
‘He does?’
“You’re still young, but fear not! You will one day grow into a stallion, too, young Rumble. And when that time comes, you too will understand the meaning of love.”
Rumble started to grind his teeth together in an effort to not let Junior’s words get to him. “I see… Thanks for your concern…”
“It is no problem. Some ponies just grow up slower than others. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Further down the classroom, Berry Pinch began to feel queasy. She groaned as she rubbed her head with her forehooves. Archer leaned over to whisper to her: “So, you and that new colt, eh?”
Berry Pinch turned to glare at her friend, who was grinning slyly at her. “What are you saying? All he did was give me a rose.”
“Oh, please. He was practically confessing to you! The big question is, where does this leave poor Rumble?”
“… What do you mean? I keep telling you, it isn’t-”
“Isn’t like that. Yeah, I get it.”
Berry Pinch wanted to say more, but suddenly, her head began to feel hot, and her breathing began to increase. ‘Oh no, not again… What’s causing this?’ She looked around for a possible source of hatred, and found Rumble, facing away from Junior, who seemed to be talking an awful lot, with an annoyed look his face. ‘R-Rumble?’
Berry Pinch let out a moan, and clenched her eyes shut as she felt a headache washing over her. “Pinch? Are you alright?”
“What’s wrong?” Cheerilee asked, noticing that her student seemed to be in pain. “Oh no, are you having one of your sick spells again?”
Rumble’s ears twitched, and he immediately looked over at Berry Pinch. “Miss Cheerilee,” Archer started, “Should I go take her to the doctor?”
“Yes, I think that you should,” Cheerilee said. However, before Archer could get out, Rumble shot out of his seat, alerting the students in the class.
“I-I’ll take her,” he insisted, running up to Berry Pinch and wrapping her foreleg around his neck. “You can stay here, Archer. I can handle this on my own.”
“Are you sure?” Archer asked, giving him a strange look.
“Yeah, I don’t think you should cut class so much, what with your grades being so bad.”
Archer turned red as the foals around them began to laugh, and shot Rumble a spiteful look. “Yours aren’t much better!” she shouted back, but it didn’t do much good, since he was already at the classroom door. He closed it behind him, leaving the foals in the classroom to suddenly start gossiping about the strange occurrence.
“What was that about?” Junior asked, startling Archer as he was suddenly standing next to her.
“W-Where did you come from?” she asked as she caught her breath.
“A changeling hunter such as myself is well-trained in the art of stealth, Miss Berry Pinch’s friend.”
“It’s Archer,” Archer said. “And as for what just happened, it’s just Berry Pinch’s usual sick spell that comes and goes every now-and-then. Nothing to worry about.”
“And the colt that escorted her out? He seemed rather eager, if you ask me.”
Archer rolled her eyes. ‘Well, duh! With you threatening his spot in Berry Pinch’s life, he has to seize every chance that he gets!’
“Alright, you two,” Cheerilee said to the two foals, “Back to your seats now.”
Junior ran the event through his mind once more, and then walked back to his seat to sit down. ‘So, Miss Berry Pinch is a fragile flower, huh? I must take extra care when approaching her then. If I am to win her affections, I must show her what a chivalrous knight in shining armour I really am!’
Rumble stared in disbelief as he entered the nurse’s office. What was there waiting for him couldn’t have been real. This had to be some sort of hallucination, or nightmare. That’s it! This whole things was just one big nightmare!
“This isn’t a nightmare,” Crunch Berry said to the colt, snapping him out of his daze. “And stop staring! It’s rude to stare at a lady like that! I know I’m hot stuff, but-”
“For a grandma,” Rumble muttered, and immediately afterwards, two green auras enveloped his cheeks, and started to stretch them.
“What was that, you brat?!” Crunch Berry asked, using her magic to torture the poor colt’s face.
“N-Nothing! Nothing at all, ma’am!” he shouted, causing her to let go with a huff. “So… why are you here? And where’s the nurse?”
“Off duty,” Crunch Berry said coolly. “I disguised myself as the school’s principal and had her go home. Since I saw you brining Pinchy here, I had to make sure the nurse left, in case Pinchy’s disguise wore off.”
“Isn’t that a little much?” Rumble asked. “It’s only a mild reaction. Her disguise won’t wear off from something like this.2
Crunch Berry raised an eyebrow. “Oh? So suddenly, you’re an expert on changelings?” Rumble flinched, and looked down at the floor with a frown on his face. “No, you’re not. Not like that changeling hunter in there.”
Rumble’s ear twitched, and he immediately raised his head back up to look at Crunch Berry again. “T-That guy, Junior! Was he telling the truth back then?”
Crunch Berry turned her head away from Rumble. “… It’s possible,” she said, confusing the colt a little bit. “After all, he is the son of Prince Blueblood.”
“Prince Blueblood?” Berry Pinch asked, raising her head, and looking a lot better than earlier. “Who’s that, grandma?”
“A changeling hunter,” she said, before sighing sadly, and muttering something to herself. She then turned back to look at the two foals. “… He is also the only pony, to have ever wounded me in battle.”
“I-Is that bad?” Rumble asked. “I mean, I get that you’re tough, but I don’t really know how tough you are exactly, compared to other changelings or ponies.”
“Well, let me put it this way, brat: if I were a member of your Royal Guard, my rank would be Captain.”
“I… I see,” Rumble said.
“Wow,” Berry Pinch said, “That’s impressive.”
Crunch Berry grinned proudly, but that disappeared when Rumble spoke up again. “So, his son… does he know? About Berry Pinch?”
Crunch Berry shook her head. “Nah. I don’t know about that kids’ abilities compared to his dad’s, or if that changeling rumour was about us or not, or was even credible in the first place… but there is one thing that I’ve noticed about him.”
“And that is?” Rumble asked.
“He’s an idiot,” Crunch Berry deadpanned, leaning back in her chair. Rumble and Berry Pinch weren’t expecting that, and just stared at her with blank expressions on their faces. “Complete, one hundred percent, buffoon. Certainly nothing to worry about.”
“I-Is that so?” Berry Pinch asked, sighing when her grandmother nodded. “Well, that’s certainly a relief.”
“By the way, you should lie down. I’ll have Rumble go back and tell the teacher you’re taking the rest of the morning off.”
Berry Pinch nodded, still feeling rather groggy from earlier, and eased her arm from around Rumble’s neck, and then slowly made her way to one of the nearby beds. Rumble turned to leave the room, and was followed by Crunch Berry.
“Wait,” she said, stopping Rumble in the hallway and gaining his attention. “Even though he’s nothing to worry about, you are.” Rumble was about to ask what she meant by that, but she anticipated his question and answered before he could voice it. “I get that he’s an idiot, but remember, it’s feeling of hatred that Pinchy reacts to. Not love. Those negative feelings you have towards that changeling hunter are affecting her, Rumble.”
“… Well… I couldn’t help it…”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“He kept…” ‘… He kept talking about Berry Pinch. About his plans to confess to her, and ask her on a date, and how the date would go… He kept asking about her hobbies, her favourite food, her likes and dislikes…’ “… I don’t know.”
Crunch Berry glared at the colt, causing him to feel uneasy. “In any case, you’re gonna have to try harder to keep those feelings of yours in check, Rumble. Because remember, whether on accident or not, if you reveal Pinchy’s secret…” Crunch Berry’s eyes glowed green for a second, and Rumble gulped, and took a step back.
“U-Understood. I’ll do my best.”
Crunch Berry smiled, and turned away. “Well then, I’d better make sure Pinchy is okay. You go ahead and return to class now… And remember: keep those feelings of yours in check, Rumble dear.”
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2136174
I don't know if the Anime went by both names or not, but yeah, this is mostly based off the Anime adaptation, since I've seen all the episodes of that, but only read two volumes of the manga. I actually only learned of the differences as I was writing chapter 3 or 4 of this (I was shocked to hear Winner and Victor Sinclair never appeared in the manga. I loved Winner, he was awesome XD)
As for the shortened lifespan, that's just 'cause there isn't that much difference between Berry Pinch and other changelings aside from how she 'feeds', whereas in Chibi Vampire, there's a world of difference between Karin and other vampires. So I decided to include some mention of just how different Berry Pinch is to other changelings, and the shortened lifespan just came to me. Maybe it was in the manga, I may have to check that.
And now Prince Blueblood's rank as Prince in a society where being royalty seems based off of accomplishments rather than bloodline has been explained.
He pretends to be a buffoon to hide the fact that he was slaughtering changelings with ease during the Wedding battle.
2136742
Either that, or illegitimate offspring.
2136781 Would have to be that. This is at most a couple years after the GGG and Junior is far too old to have been born in wedlock after Blueblood was attending it single. Plus if he was divorced at that point then it would not have been a long term dream of Rarity's to marry him.
2136781 Somepony actually put up with Blueblood long enough for that to be possible?
....I stand corrected, but I'm still not convinced his old man truly cares about him until I see it. On another note, am I the only one here who keeps reading Junior's lines in the Dubbed Winner's voice?
Anyone else have the urge to hit him in the face with a brick in a rugby sock?
something like this.2
1. Random number appears!
I'm just... Of all the ponies... Why?
Hold the [Shift] key next time