Chibi Changeling

by Yukito

Changeling Hunter - Part 2

Rumble and Junior looked around the empty street for the source of the scream that they had just heard. “That voice,” Junior thought aloud, “I’ve heard it before… It’s-”

“Berry Pinch,” Rumble finished, suddenly taking off into the direction that he thought the voice had come from.

“H-Hey! Wait!”

“Save it! Now’s not the time for your nonsense about changelings being monsters! Berry Pinch is in trouble! I have to help her!”

Junior nodded. “I know. But you’re going the wrong way.”

Rumble tripped over and the fell onto the ground. He quickly got up and turned his attention to the other colt. “H-How do you know?!”

“Because, as a changeling hunter, I am well-trained in the art of tracking down sounds.” Junior point to his left. “The scream came from that direction.”

Rumble looked at where Junior was pointing. ‘That direction…’ Again, the Pegasus colt quickly took off, this time with Junior following him. ‘Just hang on, Berry! I’ll be there soon!’

Junior examined Rumble closely as they ran down the street, before turning his attention to his surroundings, keeping an eye open for any sign of Berry Pinch. ‘He knows something, but now’s not the time. First, we rescue Miss Berry Pinch. And then-’

“BERRY!” Rumble shouted, suddenly turning and running down an alleyway. Junior followed him, but they both stopped shortly after entering. “This is Berry’s saddlebag! Why would it be here?”

Junior knelt down and examined the bag closely. “Looks like it came off in struggle.”

“What?! That means… she was attacked?!” Junior nodded. “B-But why?!” ‘… Could somepony have figured out that she was a changeling?’

Junior stood up and shook his head. “I don’t know. But I won’t forgive them.” Junior’s horn lit up, and a golden glow surrounded the bag on the ground. “… I’ve got it! I’ve managed to pick up her trail!”

“Alright! Let’s go after it, quickly!”

“Hold on. One who charges recklessly into battle, without know their enemy, is one who will surely fall at their enemy’s hooves.”

“Berry’s in danger! Tell me where she is already!”

“Rumble!” Both colts turned around, and saw a purple Earth Pony mare charging towards them. She stopped in front of them, and flinched when she saw Junior. “W-What’s going on? I suddenly got a feeling that Pinchy was in danger, and then I find her saddlebag just lying on the ground in some alleyway?”

“A ‘feeling’?” Junior asked.

“… Call it, mother’s intuition!” Berry Punch said. “Anyway, what’s going on? Where’s Pinchy?!”

“… She’s… been taken away by somepony,” Rumble said. Berry Punch’s eyes widened, and her body began to tremble.

“But fear not!” Junior quickly added. “For I have managed to track her location! After coming up with a proper strategy, we shall-” Berry Punch interrupted the colt by charging up to him, and glaring daggers into his eyes.

“WHERE. IS. SHE?” she asked, punctuating each word by moving even closer to the colt, looking even more threatening each time.

Junior gulped, and turned around to point behind him. “D-Down there,” he said. “She’s heading towards the Everfree Forest, pretty quickly. B-But like I said-”

“Rumble, I’m going!” she shouted, charging past the two colts. “You stay here, where it’s safe!”

“No way!” Rumble shouted, chasing after the mare. Junior, against his better judgement, followed soon afterwards. “If Berry’s in trouble, then I want to help her!”

“It’s dangerous, Rumble!”

“Which is why I have to go! Because Berry is right in the middle of it!”

“… You really care for my daughter, don’t you?” Berry Punch asked, receiving a nod from the colt running beside her. “… By the way,” she whispered, “What is that changeling hunter doing with you?”

“W-We were just talking, when we heard Berry screaming all of a sudden.” Rumble looked behind him, and saw that Junior was far enough away that he wouldn’t be able to hear them. “More importantly, do you have any idea who could be behind this?”

Berry Punch shook her head. “I have no idea. But I’m certainly not going to let them get away with it!”

---

Blueblood’s eyes widened as he saw a green aura enveloping his sword, and forcing it away from Crunch Berry. He tried to fight against it, but the owner of this aura proved to be a formidable opponent. Finally, he had to fall back, before his sword was taken and used against him.

Berry Punch saw this as her opportunity, and rushed to Crunch Berry’s aid. “Berry dear!” Crunch Berry shouted in surprise. “What do you know? Looks like you really did pay attention in those self-defence classes.”

“Just hold on! I’m gonna release you real quick, then I want you to save Pinchy, and run!”

“So, the final member of the family is here then,” Blueblood said as he took a threatening step forward. He was stopped by a sudden wall of green flames before him, which he quickly reacted to by summoning up his magic. It took some effort, but he managed to dispel the flames. “Good. Now I can defeat all three of you at once.”

“Fat chance!” Crunch Berry said as she charged towards the Prince. “I’m gonna rip that head from yer shoulders, noble brat!”

“I shall ride you from this world once and for all, fiend!”

Berry Punch tried to stop her mother, but was too late. The two were already engaged in a battle of magic, as beams of light shot out of both of their horns, and connected in midair. “You idiot! I told you to protect Pinchy!”

The mare turned her head when she heard hoofsteps approaching, and found Rumble and Junior entering the scene. Rumble quickly found Berry Pinch tied to a tree, and rushed over to her aid, whilst Junior looked over at the battle between his father and Berry Pinch’s grandmother in confusion.

“F-Father?” he asked, trembling on the spot. “W-What’s going on? Why are you here?”

“I’m here to take care of this changeling!” Blueblood shouted, gritting his teeth as his magical beam was forced back by Crunch Berry’s. “This changeling is too strong for a mere child to defeat! But maybe the daughter should be fine for you…”

“The daughter?” Junior asked, before piecing everything together in his head. “… If Crunch Berry is a changeling, then…” He turned his attention towards Berry Punch, whose horn (which he didn’t remember her having before) started to glow green. “… Then… that means…”

“BERRY! BERRY, WAKE UP!” Junior slowly turned his head, over to the spot where Rumble had ran to, and gasped in horror when he saw the colt shaking a changeling. “Berry! You’re awake!”

“… M-Miss Berry Pinch?” Junior asked, taking a step back as the changeling rose to her feet. “No… T-That can’t be… Berry Pinch was no monster… She was… She was…”

“Open your eyes, boy!” Blueblood shouted, forcing his beam of magic forward some. “It was a ruse! Just like what changelings always do! She’s a monster, son! And she needs to be exterminated!”

“You’re wrong!” Rumble shouted, before turning to face Junior. “Junior, you should know! You spent some time with her in school! You got to know who Berry Pinch really is! Do you think that she’s a monster?!”

Junior shook his head repeatedly, his entire body shaking, and sweat dripping down from his forehead. “I… I don’t know… what to think… or who to listen to…”

“Listen to me, of course!” Blueblood shouted, his beam of magic growing stronger, and beginning to overpower Crunch Berry’s. “Son, if your care at all about the safety of Equestria, then you’ll take out your crossbow, and put an end to those two changelings, once and for all!”

“I CAN’T!” Junior shouted, falling to his knees and breaking out into tears. “S-She may be a changeling, but she’s my friend! We’ve spent time together in school! We played together, had classes together, got to know each other…” Junior clenched his eyes shut. “And… I fell in love with her…”

Blueblood grit his teeth, and closed his eyes as a lone tear passed down his cheek. “No, son… Not you, too…” he whispered, before his horn unleashed a bright, blinding light. It disappeared after a second, and suddenly, his beam of magic completely tore through Crunch Berry’s, connecting with the mare’s horn, and exploding upon contact with the appendage. Crunch Berry fell down to the ground, her disguise fading as she let out a cry of pain.

“G-GRANDMA!” Berry Pinch shouted, and was about to run over to the downed changeling, before Rumble managed to stop her.

“Junior… if you can’t do it…” Blueblood drew his sword once more, and this time, pointed it at Berry Punch. “Then I will.”

Comments

[Darth Gundam]

Damn Clifhangers...

[bahatumay]

“I shall ride you from this world once and for all, fiend!”
...kinky.

[MC BR0N3]

…Junior, there is hope for you.
So Blueblood became consumed by hatred right? LET THE VERDANT FIRES OF VENGEANCE RAIN DOWN UPON THEE!

[llw88]

*GASP* NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Fuse]

“I shall ride you from this world once and for all, fiend!”

Okay, this little gem of a typo has me laughing far more than I should.