New Way of Living
New Way of Living
The changelings finally left the hospital with Fluttershy in tow. Doppel, while stretching his legs, groaned a bit. It's nice to finally be out of there. Luckily, I had so much love stored that the healing was quick. He turned over and look at his friends, undisguised. "So, how do you like being yourself out here?"
"You were right, Doppel," Camouflage answered, looking confident. "It's easy to be in our natural form in front of ponies."
Illusion made a face. "You’ve been spending too much time with Doppel to say that." She turned into a purple maned blue pegasus mare. "The less I remain in my natural form, the better I'll be." She rose her nose as if it proved her point.
"You may have chosen the wrong vouching pony then," Fluttershy pointed out, "without wanting to contradict you." Illusion lose her haughty face to look at the pegasus with a deep incomprehension. "Twilight will want to study you in details to complete her report on changelings. That means she'll have to auscult you undisguised."
"Shoot, I hadn't thought about that." She looked at all the directions a little panicked. "You think I can still change my vouching pony?"
"You’d better get used to it anyway," Camouflage assured. "In a near future, we’ll all have to wander around undisguised."
"Remind me why I thought being an outlaw was a good idea?"
Twilight, accompanied by Lyra and Vinyl, came back from the town square. "There. I came to an agreement with Mayor Mare for you to stay in Ponyville, even if she wasn't happy about it." She examined the changelings before continuing. "She's going to ask you for a picture of your pony's disguise, so choose quickly.
"On a different note--" Twilight opened her saddlebag and gave everypony a flyer. "Pinkie gave me these. The party will begin at seven. So until then, it would be nice to get to know the changeling we're going to live with." She squinted her eyes. "So where's Illusion?" The three other changelings pointed her with their hoof, a grin upon their face. "Ooh, a pegasus. Interesting! You chose this disguise because you wanted to keep your ability to fly or there is something else?"
Before Illusion had the time to give an answer or even protest, Vinyl spoke. "I don’t think this is the right place to ask questions. Let's split up here and meet up in front of Pinkie's at seven!" She looked at the changelings, trying to find hers. Thinking quickly that would be impossible for her at the moment, she added, "Come with me Camouflage." Vinyl left the group, followed quickly by Camouflage.
-|--|-
"Tavi! I've got a surprise for you!" Vinyl shouted while she came back home, followed by Camouflage.
"Vinyl I swear, if it’s another cat, it's--" Octavia cut her own sentence as soon as she entered the room. Her face went to simple bother to shock.
"It's not a cat this time," the DJ smirked. "Tavi, here's Camouflage."
"What is that?"
"Thanks… The that is feeling very welcome," complained Camouflage.
"Don't you think we’ve had enough trouble with changelings already?" Octavia lost her temper. "And you brought one home."
"But, he's a nice changeling," Vinyl pled. "He was one of the ones that helped stop the Queen." She turned her head towards the changeling, raising her glasses on her head. "Which one were you during the fight?"
"The one who save Doppel before Illusion intervened," she replied with a deadpan. And if you could use the right pronoun, that would be nice too.
"Oh, you were the one who was trembling in front of the Queen?"
"You wouldn't fare better than us in the same situation!" Camouflage retorted. Seriously, I'm just a nurse and she's like, the most powerful changeling in all Equestria.
"Vinyl! What were you thinking when you decided to bring one here?" Octavia brought again.
"Well, they can't follow their Queen after they’ve fought against her." Vinyl took an exaggerated dramatic tone. "So, they don't have a place to crash anymore. And the Princess, in her generousness, has decided they could live among us. But our laws aren't made for them, so the Princess asked us to keep an eye on them."
"But Vinyl. Do you have an idea how much it's going to cost us?" The cellist was now pacing through the room. "We may have a comfortable life, but we don't roll in bits either."
"Don't worry," Camouflage intervened. "I feed from love and by the way, you won't have to spend any bits on food for me."
"Food is only one of my concerns." She now stared at the changeling and her fillyfriend successively. "You’d need clothes, household products. Not to mention a bed!"
"A bed?" Camouflage wondered. "You don't have to buy me a bed."
"I simply can't ask you to sleep on the couch."
Even the couch would be an improvement compared to what I used to live with. The changeling tried to open her mouth to respond but nothing came out. No, it's useless to try to dissuade them. That's what Doppel told me.
"Awww Tavi. It's unfair," Vinyl complained. "You made me sleep on the couch the first time I came here."
"You deserved it at the time."
"About the clothing. During my transformation, I can disguise myself with clothes. You won't need to buy that as well," Camouflage reassured.
"Oh yes. You need to find a good disguise for tonight," the DJ exclaimed. "You'll need it for Mayor Mare and Pinkie's party." She smiled. "I know perfectly what your cutie mark would look like. A bow!"
"Why a bow?" Octavia asked. "Changelings have some musical taste? Or they are musicians themselves? And how do you know that by the way?"
Camouflage rolled her eyes. She used her magic to retrieve the bows on Vinyl's saddlebag and guiltily hand them to the cellist. If she didn't understand why I'm here now…
"But these are MY bows!" she shouted, catching them with vigor. "Why did you have these?" She thought about it a few moments before turning to her fillyfriend. "Vinyl… Is there a reason why you were specifically chosen to look after this changeling?"
"This seems obvious, no?" Vinyl smiled. "This changeling was transforming into you to feed from love I gave."
Octavia jaws fell. Way to put things for sure. "I needed a reason to explain why you were coming back since you'd seem gone for a long time," Camouflage added. She couldn't resolve herself to look at the cellist's eyes now. "I forgot my bow was the most common excuse I use for that effect." She stopped talking to see her reaction. I didn't think I was going to be in Doppel's horseshoes so quickly. Jealous mares are the worst. "If it could reassure you, Vinyl isn't in love with me, even if she found out about me."
"Why did you let him continue if you knew what was happening?" Octavia complained, redirecting her anger on her fillyfriend.
"Because it was fun to see him trying to stay in character after my teasing." Vinyl turned to the changeling who was now pouting. "What, did I upset you? It was just a little joke for…"
She couldn't finish her explanation when Camouflage interrupted her. "It's her. I'm a female, thanks." The two mares looked at the changeling like she was an alien. I'm sick hearing everypony say he or him to me. She came close to Octavia and held out her hoof at her. "I think I've not introduced myself yet. I'm Camouflage. I'm a female outlaw changeling who’s lived in Ponyville for about a year now. I must stay with you until your Princess find a way to let us roaming freely in Equestria." The cellist mechanically shook hooves with her.
"Oh, kinky," Vinyl said when she was able to talk again. "So, you do have genders. It means that you can have the other gender and do some sort of experiments." She rose her eyebrows to stress her point. Octavia hit her in the back of her head to make her behave. "What? Don't pretend you’re not even curious to know what it would feel to be a male?"
Camouflage rolled her eyes. "For us, it's not a big deal." She tapped her chin. "Now, I have to find a proper disguise for the party." Her eyes were fixed on the ground while she thought about it. "Maybe my disguise should be male, just to make sure there will be no temptation." She stared at the DJ who put on a faux victim act. Yeah, even if she’s a proud fillyfooler, I'm convinced she would still be able to make a move on me if I was male.
"Don't worry," Octavia took part. "Even if I can reproach Vinyl for a lot of things, being unfaithful is not one of them." It doesn't look like it. "You can take whatever disguise you want."
Camouflage took a deep breath and transformed.
--|-|--
Bon-Bon was sitting on the couch, waiting for Lyra and Mimic to come back. Her wife, being chosen as a vouching pony, had to take care of some paperworks to make it work. "Wait for me at home and see if you can set everything up for him to live here." She sighed. "How can I do that? I barely know it, or him… Or her, I don't even know." She looked at the stairs. "We do have a guest bedroom, but for anything else. What are changeling's need?"
The door banged open, revealing Lyra and Mimic. As they entered the room, the unicorn turned to the changeling. "Hey! Can you change into a human?"
"Lyra!" Bon-Bon exclaimed. "He just got here and you’re already asking him to transform." She came close to her guest. "I don't even know your name."
"Mimic." He vigorously shook his hoof with Bon-Bon's. "Or you can name me as you wish if my name bothers you. After all, we don't have names normally and seeing we aren’t going to be outlaws anymore…"
Bon-Bon did a double take before adding, "Mimic it is." Seeing that the changeling surveyed his surroundings, she quickly explained, "Sorry, we didn't expect to come home with a changeling today. We don't have anything ready. We only have now the guest bedroom for you."
"Oh, but it's perfect. It's better than anything I’ve had." Mimic marvelled at the house. Bon-Bon looked at him with some concerns. "It sure beats living in a cave."
"You lived in a cave?" Lyra inquired. "It seems tough."
"Comfort for a changeling is secondary. But if you’re offering me a bed, I don't see why I should say no."
"So, what will you need other than a bed?" Bon-Bon continued.
"Hmm..." Mimic thought about during a few seconds. "Not really anything. As long as you like me enough, I should be good." He wandered around, looking at everything. After he got the feeling of the room, he turned to the two mares. They were radiating worry. "If you have trouble liking me, I still can find love somewhere else. You only need to be with me in that case." Mimic noticed that didn't relieve their stress. "What's the problem?"
"I have a question…" Bon-Bon asked. "Is our health in danger with you?" Mimic didn't respond. Instead, he stared at them quizzically. "I heard you steal love from your victims to feed."
"Oh that…" The changeling couldn't make eye contact now. "I could in theory do that. But since I’ve lived with Doppel, you know, the changeling who took your place, I can't resort anymore to steal love using that method." He rose his eyes again and smiled. "So I can only take love from ponies who willingly give theirs. The best part is, if you know me in my real form, you'll never endure side effects."
"Well then. Now that the presentations are over, you can change into a human?" Lyra interjected. Her tail was wagging as she expectantly waited the transformation. Her wife, in the other hand, looked less impatient about it.
"As you wish. But you'll need to explain to me what looks like a human, because I’ve never see them before,' Mimic replied.
"I have a book upstairs about that." As soon she finished her sentence, Lyra dashed to the second floor. The room suddenly became silent. A short moment after, the changeling and Bon-Bon hear a shout from upstairs.
They rushed to see what happened and found Lyra, lying on the ground, holding her head. "My head hurts…" she whimpered.
"Sorry," Mimic apologized. "I didn't think that I was hurting you feeding on love. I was using the third method, honestly."
"Are you okay sweetie? What happened?" Bon-Bon worried. "Don't tell me you banged your head on the door?"
"No," Lyra whimpered. "It just hurt all the sudden." She continued to hold her head, slightly shivering. Her wife send a mean glare to Mimic who lowered his head.
Then, the unicorn stopped shivering and relaxed. She stood up and stared at the others bewildered. "The pain went away."
"I haven't severed the link yet," said Mimic, as much bewildered as Lyra was.
"You got too carried away and gave yourself a headache. You worried us for nothing," Bon-Bon shouted.
"I don't really get it." Lyra turned around and looked at her room. "The book!"
"Wait!" Bon-Bon caught the elbow of her wife, preventing her from entering their bedroom. "I think we should focus first on the disguise Mimic will use in his everyday life."
"Yeah, you're right," she replied, a sad tone on her voice. "You have already an idea on what you want to look like?"
"The question you must ask is what disguise do you want me to use?" Mimic returned the question. "You’re going to need to like it as much as I do, seeing as you’re going to see me in this disguise everyday."
Lyra try to respond but was cut off by a hoof to the mouth. "No, not a human form. The purpose of his disguise is to blend with us, not to stand out more."
"I wasn't going to suggest that." The unicorn rolled her eyes. "I don't think about humans all the time either." She looked at Mimic. "No, the perfect disguise I see for him is…"
-|--|-
Illusion who was following Twilight to the library studied the inhabitants of Ponyville. So many choices here. I wonder why I didn't become outlaw before. There's food for years here. She began to drool at the thought.
"Are you okay, Illusion?" Twilight was looking at the changeling, still disguised as a blue pegasus. "You seem to have zoned out." Illusion shook her head to clear her head. "Are you sure that the Queen's attack wasn't too tough for you?"
"No, don't worry. It's just I have to come to the realization that I'm going to live here."
"I'm sure they are all going to warm up to you." Twilight made a large gesture to show the entire village. "After all, you sort of saved Ponyville."
Sure, I saved it. Illusion looked at the ground. If someone told me I'd side with the ponies and with Doppel a few days ago, I would have called them nuts. I've even called Doppel nuts to be banished from the Hive. And here I am, talking with the Princess' student.
"You haven't answered my question yet." Twilight spoke again. "Why did you choose a pegasus as disguise?"
"It was random, I have to admit. But, it's true that if I had to choose, I’d prefer keeping the ability to fly."
"Hm, it's interesting." The unicorn caught her notebook in her saddlebag and took some notes. "So, you do have preferences. Doppel prefers unicorns."
"Coming from him, it's not that surprising… He's not the strongest changeling I know and he's a very poor flier. It's logical for him to choose magic," Illusion replied.
"It's not that Doppel chose magic over flight or power, but that among changelings, you’d prefer some disguises over others while you said you’d want to reduce the differences between each other. Well, Doppel said…"
Illusion pouted, looking at nothing, trying to find something to say. "I know… But, as soon we have the slightest difference between us, the choice in disguises changes. Doppel isn't made for being a guard, he isn't swift or strong. An earth pony for him would be a mistake."
"I see. So you’d want things to be the same, but you aren't physically."
The discussion ended as they arrive at the library. Spike waited for them at the door. "You’re finally back!" He let them enter. "Mayor Mare didn't want much?"
"No, not really…” Twilight thought for a moment. “Wait! The photo! Spike, get me the camera." Twilight ordered. Spike made a military salute and run upstairs. "You're fine with your actual disguise?" Illusion nodded, not understanding really what she really wanted.
Spike came back and gave the camera to the unicorn. She grabbed it with her telekinesis and without a warning, took a photo. The changeling could only blink as the flash of the camera flared. "Thanks Spike. Could you now develop the film and take the photo to Mayor Mare?" Spike saluted again and left the library.
"You could've warned me. Thanks to you, I probably have a silly face," Illusion argued. "So, I guess that will be my disguise for the rest of my life?"
"As long as we can't differentiate each other, it is," Twilight replied with a smile. "Now, you're not obligated to keep your disguise at home. Doppel didn't."
The changeling nodded and sat. She looked at the books resting on their shelf. At least, I won't be bored right away. There are enough books to read for at least a year.
"You aren’t going to change?" Twilight interrupted the thoughts of Illusion.
The changeling looked at her dumbfounded. "I must?"
"No, but I thought you'd be more at ease in your natural form. After all, this will be your house for a long time, so this is where you’ll be able to relax. And, it must be magically draining."
"Nah, it's okay with magic. Staying in disguise, as long as the disguise is appropriate, doesn't consume much." Illusion reassured her. "Also, we're going to the pink pony's party and to avoid transforming over and over again for nothing, I might as well stay in this form." And above all, I don't want to be undisguised in front of anypony more than I have to.
"Oh well," Twilight sighed, "I wanted to do some research on your natural form before going at Pinkie's. But you're probably right. We don't have much time left after all."
Illusion spontaneously look at the clock. I wonder what we’re going to do at this party. I should have asked what purpose has this party to the others. A welcoming party… "About that, what should we do when we're there?"
Twilight took a surprised look. "Oh obviously, you don't know what will happen." She smirked. "Pinkie is going to present you and your friends in front of everypony. Don't worry, it looks intimidating but it's not. Ponyvillians are used to welcoming newcomers like that. It's a sign that you're not dangerous and you're accepted in town."
"This is all I have to do? Smile and wave?"
"Yes. And revert to your natural form, at least to show what you really look like to the others. They have to get used to see changelings wander in town after all." Twilight smiled at Illusion. "I think everypony is excited for this party to start. The day was particularly long."
Not everypony is excited, believe me…
--|-|--
Doppel and Fluttershy walked alongside to the cottage. The changeling began to speak. "This is not how I imagined we’d come back to the cottage while I was still in the hospital."
"You imagined a parade of honor with ponies congratulating you for saving Ponyville."
Doppel giggled. "No, not something like that. Even while dreaming, I try to remain a realist." He gaze at the trees lining the way, avoiding eye contact with Fluttershy. "I imagined that I hold you like a charming prince and fly you to the cottage."
"Oh no, you shouldn't. You just came back from the hospital. You need to rest," Fluttershy worried.
"Don't worry. Even fully rested I doubt I could do that anyway." He rose and lowered successively his hoof, before realizing what he just said. "Not that you're heavy, but I'm not the strong type as you may have already understood." He scratched his head.
"What are we going to do now?" the pegasus asked.
"I don't know. The only thing I know is that I'm going to live with you. No more hiding."
"It's not much," she laughed.
"I still have to come to term with the fact I'm in love with you, and you with me." Doppel closed his eyes to think. "I never thought I'd fall for someone, let alone a pony. When you're an outlaw, this is the last thing you'd expect."
"But aren't you a master of the love feeling?"
"Yeah…" he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "It's different knowing something theoretically or faking it and dealing with the real thing." He let a forced laugh out. "It even scares me a little."
"Being scared is something I'm the master of," Fluttershy joked. "I could teach you a thing or two."
"I think it's going to be fine. If thousands of ponies have managed to do it in the past, I don't see why we can't."
They stopped in front of the cottage. Fluttershy tried to reach out for the handle but stopped midway. "Even for us? I mean, changeling and pony?"
"It's not that uncommon," Doppel replied. He finally opened the door and he went inside, but stopped when he saw that he was not followed. He looked back at the pegasus. "What's wrong?"
"There are more outlaws?" she asked flabbergasted.
Doppel stood there silently, trying to understand what the problem was. "Oh, I get it now. You don't need to be outlaw to be in this kind of relationship." It seems that I have to explain. "When you're an infiltrator, you have two possibilities. Either you take the place of an existing pony and feed from the love the target feel for him, or you can make up an entirely new persona and try to make your target fall for you." He smiled before continuing. "The problem with flirting is that it can go both ways."
"But the changeling is always disguised!"
"Yeah… But when you're there for a long time, the persona you use isn't very far from who you are really. Apart from your appearance, it's you. The Queen didn't care how you bring back love, so you can do pretty much what you like, as long you don't bring harm to the Hive. So you can live for the rest of your life as if you were a pony in love with another pony."
"But you are the only one who are under his normal form," Fluttershy noted.
Doppel put his hoof behind his head. "Yeah… I think we'd have heard it if another changeling had done this."
He stare at the stairs leading to the bedroom. Still the same question unanswered. "You know, we should probably buy a two pony bed. Yours is a little too small for two."
Fluttershy let out a loud gasp by her standards. She tried to avoid the now quizzical gaze of Doppel. "What's the problem?" he asked. "Couples usually sleep together at night, no? We already did two nights ago too."
"It just seemed weird when you said it," she justified.
"You don't want to sleep with me?" the changeling said with a little disappointment in his tone. "I can sleep on the ground… I mean I can take the couch."
"No, I'd like that. I slept very well two nights ago. I'm just not used to it yet."
"I'm pretty sure you'll get used quickly," Doppel assured. Something that you don't know, it's that it seems weird to me too saying that. He tried to keep his facade the best he could. Normally, I wouldn’t have any trouble saying that, but here… It's so different.
He sat, still lost in thoughts. By the way, apart from sleeping both in the same bed, we haven't done couple thing yet anyway. Should I kiss her? He checked her lips. After a few seconds, he looked away. Way to look creepy, staring at her like that. And then, I'd know when she'll be ready for that. I knew for Bon-Bon wasn’t.
"Is something troubling you?" Fluttershy asked. "You haven’t said anything for a while."
"Nothing important," Doppel reassured her. "I'm just a little tired from the long day."
"Are you sure you'll be able to go to Pinkie's party?"
Don't worry about me Fluttershy. If I’ve survived the Queen, I think I should be able to handle Pinkie's party. Especially a party in my honor, or me and my friends' honor. He smiled. "I think I’ll have enough energy for this."
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Looks like the grammar has really degraded from what I remember. Might want to make sure your editing is done properly.
Nice to see this updated. :)
Yay that this story is still alive.
Yay, it lives!
IT's ALIVE
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Yeah, I know. My editor was busier and busier so he had less time to look after my fic. That's why I look for a new one now.
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I was still writing, but with the exams and the holidays I had the impression that I published the previous chapter not a long time ago. (Time in holidays flew)
5034241 I could help out on that front if ya like, I edit decently.
Some more minor fixes.
I should have asked what purpose this party has to the others.
wandering
I'm pretty sure you'll quickly get used to it,"
I like the story, but yes you need a editor.
I know that is a thing, but I don't think Camoufla...ge? has said that.
I don't exactly like the feeling as if Vinyl wants to keep the Changeling for a certain purpose.
to me it lookes as if it meant she has to get used to them and not them to her.
The story seems to end at least in an okay way, I like it.