Stuck With Fluttershy
Stuck With Fluttershy
Doppel flew as fast as possible. Why did I promise to do something like that in my condition? Now I'm gonna be chased for the rest of my life by angry ponies. His breathing began to speed up, and not only because he was flying faster than he’d ever flown. He was nearly having panic attack. I'm sure that Rainbow Dash will do whatever she can to find me.
Without even realizing it, he had flown up to Fluttershy's cottage. Why am I stopping here? I need to return to the Everfree Forest or else, I'll make more trouble for her. He sneezed, going back to his changeling form. Great, now it's easier to find me. A yellow hoof caught him and pulled him in the front door.
“Doppel? What are you doing in front of my home undisguised?” she asked, worried.
“I...” he answered, looking for the right words. “I accidentally revealed to Rainbow Dash that I’m a changeling.”
Fluttershy paled at his words. “How?”
“I have a cold!” he snapped.
The yellow pegasus didn't seem to grasp why it was so important. Doppel realized that the implications of a cold weren't the same for the ponies than for the changelings. He sneezed again and took the shape of a pegasus from the guard of Celestia.
“See?” he said, gesturing to his new form. “Every time changeling’s sneeze, they involuntarily transform into something random. This time, I'm a royal guard.”
“That's why you revealed your real form to me,” she realized.
“No, you think?” he scoffed. “I love to reveal myself in front of the first pony I pass,” Fluttershy backtracked a little, lowering her head. Wow, sarcastic comments don't seem to work very well with her. “Listen, I'm sorry. I'm just nervous. I’m going back to the Everfree.”
“Wait!” she said, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Can you at least tell me what had really happened with Rainbow Dash?”
--|-|--
Rainbow had flown as fast as she could to Twilight's library. The changelings were coming back and she needed to warn her. Without taking the trouble to knock at the door, she barged in earning a surprised look from the unicorn.
“Rainbow, I've always said that you can come when you want but...” she began with an annoyed frown.
“Not now!” the pegasus said, cutting her off. “There are Changelings in town!”
Twilight’s frown deepened. “Changelings? Are you sure?”
“Well, Fluttershy was about to ask me something, but then, it wasn't Fluttershy! It was a changeling! Because Fluttershy suddenly changed to Daring Do! Twilight, we need to call the others!”
“So then, where are they?” the unicorn asked.
“They who?”
“The changelings,” she repeated. “Where are they? You seem like the only one who knows about them.”
“I don't know... I came here as soon as I saw this one,” Rainbow admitted.
“Great! So now we have to look for a changeling, which can be anypony in town,” Twilight grumbled. “And I suppose you only saw one?”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, we're not sure how many changelings are in town. It might just be him,” she continued. “What did he do to you?”
“Er, he kinda just stared at me,” Rainbow said. “Just froze up when he transformed.”
“So he didn't hurt you?” the unicorn reworded. The pegasus only nodded. “Strange... What were you doing at the time?”
“Well, I had been napping, but what does that have to do with anything?”
Twilight sighed. “You know what Rainbow? I have the feeling that you were still dreaming,” she said with a shake of her head. “By the way, I just read an interesting book on dreams. It said that they were the mirror of our subconscious. Fluttershy might have just been a-”
“It wasn't a dream!” Rainbow cut in again.
“And can somepony else confirm what you saw?”
“No, I was alone in Applejack's orchard,” the pegasus admitted. “But that’s not the point! You need to trust me. We can’t repeat the mistake we made at the wedding!”
“Listen Rainbow. The best I can do is to ask Applejack if she’s seen anything,” Twilight concluded. “But try to understand. I can't alert the entire town for a possible changeling only you’ve seen, especially if he's relatively harmless. I'll do some research, and if you find him again, catch him and bring him here.” She took a breath after adding. “But please, don't attack anypony on the fact they could be changelings.”
“Okay,” Rainbow Dash reluctantly accepted.
--|-|--
Doppel had just finished explaining what had happened between his visit, and he now looked like Caramel after several sneezes. He felt more at ease transforming here because of his cold, though he didn't know if his illness was transmissible to ponies. He finally took back his changeling appearance.
“So, Rainbow knows about you, and you came here to hide?” Fluttershy summed up.
“Er... No... In fact, I wanted to return to the Everfree Forest and stay there until everything blew over,” he remarked, “but you caught me before I could do anything else. That's why I was about to leave when you asked me about what happened.”
The pegasus looked at him apologetically, like if she had just accidentally kicked a puppy. Talk about guilt trip. Only one look to make me regret what I just said.
“You’re not thinking of going still are you? It’s dangerous.” she worried.
“It's not that dangerous for a changeling,” he proudly said.
“But, it's the first place where the others will look for you,” she explained. “I think it would be better if you stayed here. They would never think that I would hide a changeling here.”
That’s actually not a bad idea. Doppel began to weigh his options. He could hide in the Fluttershy's cottage to survive the turmoil period that would happen, but he would have to bother the timid pegasus. Not to mention his friends were still in the forest. On the other hoof, they could still transform of their own volition, while he could change form at any time because of his cold. Then again, she asked him to stay here. It couldn’t bother her too much.
“And you’re still sick. It isn't a good idea to stay outside in the cold night when you're sick,” she added.
Suddenly, a loud thud was heard from the outside. The sick changeling shrieked before hiding behind the couch. Fluttershy looked out of the window to see what made the sound. “It's only Derpy doing her job as a mailmare.”
Doppel came out his hiding place sheepishly. I must look like an idiot... “I think I'm gonna stay here for a while. If I react like that being hidden here, I’ll do even worse outside.”
--|-|--
In the central plaza of Ponyville, Derpy and Octavia we having a friendly discussion, or so they seemed.
“So, did you find Doppel?” asked Mimic, under the disguise of the mailmare.
“No, it's like he had disappeared,” answered Camouflage who looking like the musician. “He couldn't have been feeding since this morning; the poor dear wouldn't have any feelings left.”
“I hope he didn't hide like a coward with some dumb idea that the ponies were going to trick him and catch him.”
“Not so loud!” she scolded. “We're gonna be spotted if you keep shouting things like that.”
“Let’s just go back to the forest. I suppose he'll come back soon,” he concluded.
--|-|--
Doppel couldn't help but pacing as he waited. There should have been a commotion, but nothing seemed to move in Ponyville. What is it with this town? After the failed invasion of Chrysalis, they should have already found me. Instead, the town has never seemed so peaceful. He looked towards the pegasus who was resting on the couch. Maybe Fluttershy’s trying to trick me. She’s already showed me that she's tactical. He continued to stare the timid pony who had noticed that he stopped, and gave him a gentle smile. No, she isn't tricking me. She's nervous and she's giving off feelings of friendship. She's worried about me?
Fluttershy looked out at the sun before suddenly breaking the silence. “I think it’s time for dinner.”
Doppel gave a start and hid behind the couch again. The yellow pegasus started, not expecting his reaction.
“Oh sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, but you need to eat if you want to get better,” she apologized.
“It... It's not necessary to make dinner for me,” the changeling said coming out from behind the couch, getting his breath back.
He sighed as he got the interrogative look from Fluttershy again. “A changeling only needs to feed on love. We can eat food like ponies, but it's optional and doesn't really satisfy our hunger”
Fluttershy gasped and looked at him, a little afraid.
“I promise I don't use the method one!” he quickly added.
“Method one?” She asked.
Of course she doesn’t know what I’m talking about. He sighed, “Changelings have three methods to feed on love. The method one is the most barbaric. We simply steal love from our prey. After that, the pony loses any feelings he or she could have, from love to hate.”
“That's horrible,” the pegasus said with a shudder.
“That's why I don't like using it, but it's the easiest way for a changeling to eat. After that, we have method two, the one I use. I take the form of a pony that my prey cares about, and the and receive the love willingly. The pony can suffer a slight drop of the intensity of her feelings, especially if I eat alot, but nothing harmful.”
Doppel seemed to be proud of his explanation, reassuring Fluttershy that he wasn't a complete monster.
“And the third method?” she asked.
“Er. This one is rare. I’ve never met face to face a changeling that was able to use it. It’s when the prey has feelings for the changeling, and not the pony he embodies. The biggest advantage with this method is that no feeling is lost since the love is directed towards the one who is supposed to receive it.”
“You don't like each other between changelings?” the timid pony asked.
“We can only feed on other species. I don't really know why,” he answered, disappointed. If only we could do that, we'd have less problems.
“I'm still not comfortable with the fact you called the ponies ‘prey’...” Fluttershy whispered.
“Oops, sorry. I'm just used to saying that,” the changeling apologized.
--|-|--
Twilight was sitting on her bed reading, her nose practically touching the page. She was so absorbed that it took her number one assistant three times to get her attention. “Yes Spike?”
“Are you still on the same book?” he asked in a weary tone.
“Yes, it's very interesting!” she said excitedly. “I thought I’d done enough research changelings, but it seems that they have a whole lifestyle I missed!”
“Changelings?” Spike was surprised. “It's been months since I last heard about them.”
“Rainbow Dash kind of reminded me about them when she claimed that she saw one this morning. I tried looking around, but nopony saw him beside her. If this changeling exists, he might not be bad, but he can still be dangerous. That why I had to do some additional research on changeling lifestyles.”
“Are you planning on sleeping tonight?” Spike said in a sarcastic tone, but Twilight was already looking back at the pages.
--|-|--
The night had fallen on Ponyville. Doppel had spent the entire day at Fluttershy's house, and nothing had happened. The only notable event was the passage of the mailmare. The tension had slowly fallen as they discussed the past few days at the beginning of dinner.
“I think I'm out in danger now,” Doppel finally stated. “Nothing has moved since this morning and I think that if something was going to happen, it would have happened a long time ago. I'm going to go back to the Everfree now.”
“Wait,” Fluttershy exclaimed as the changeling headed for the door. Not again! “You shouldn’t stay outside when you're sick. You can stay here for the night.”
Doppel sighed. I suppose I don't have a choice. It can’t hurt to stay one night at Fluttershy's. He headed for a corner of the living room and lay down there. The pegasus stared at odd behavior of her guest.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Going to sleep?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t you rather sleep in a bed?” she offered, pointing the second floor.
A bed? I'm perfectly fine lying on the ground. It's been for more than a year since I started to live like this, why would I change now?
“I'm fine on the ground. I've gotten used to sleeping on a hard rock, so this is actually an improvement,” he reassured her. However, her worried look didn’t fade.
“I can’t let you sleep on the floor,” Fluttershy said with a determined look. “I’m not moving until you go upstairs.”
“So you’re forcing me to take your bed?” She only respond by a slight nod. Doppel sighed. “Fine, I'll take the bed.”
“Don't worry. The couch is very comfortable. I’ll be fine,” Fluttershy assured him, bringing the changeling up to her room. “Good night!” She said as she went back to her living room.
Well, better get some rest. He laid down on the bed. I'm not surprised that she's the Element of Kindness. I can’t take advantage of this. Tomorrow I'll leave after thanking her and I'll get back to my normal life. After a sneeze that made him take the appearance of Rainbow Dash, he yawned and fell asleep.
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Okay... Twilight easily dismisses Rainbow's claims that she have seen changeling, and tried to tell her that it's just a dream. Is this subtle revenge on her friend for not believing her during the wedding, or is it just Twilight being OOC?
2511451
You hold some valid points.
Twilight didn't totally dismiss Rainbow's claims. She only brought the point that she could have dreamed it. After that, Twilight checked if someone else had seen it and looked for books to have a solution if a changeling appeared again. She also asked to Rainbow to bring it if she found it again.
But it's true that even for me, this scene makes Twilight a little OOC. I'd have imagine her more vindictive about the subject. I tried as hard as I can to do something about it (my first draft was worse than that) but didn't want to put the entire town into a panic. So I put her in a situation where she couldn't do anything. All she knows it's that there's a changeling in town somewhere and besides attacking everyone in sight, she can't do much.
I feel sorry for this poor sneezing changeling. I wonder what happens to changelings living in a Hive who catch a cold? Do the Hives have a hospital within them?
2511609
I don't mind Twilight actually being rather rational, and not going on full town chase with torches after changeling. If she just said something like "I'll look at it, but keep it quiet for now until we'll sure." it would be OK to me. I just find it rather improbable that after getting betrayed by everypony on wedding, where she only saw green eyes not transformation like RD, her first thought would be to suggest to Rainbow that it was just a dream. It's like she lacks some basics of empathy.
2511638
The changeling's cold, besides the fact it obliges them to transform everytime they sneeze, isn't worse than ours. I mean, it doesn't hamper them much and all the things they can do against it is slightly diminish the symptoms.
So, as long as the changeling remains in the Hive, he has the available food (while stocks last). He just has to wait until his cold passes. So, there is no need to an hospital for that. However, if the job of the sick changeling requires to mingle among ponies, they are obliged to stay inside and Chrysalis doesn't like useless changelings.
Now, if the changeling is among ponies during his cold, he's in the same situation as Doppel. He can hide and hope than his cold doesn't last too long or take the risk of being discovered.
2511687
I completely understand your point.
In fact, I even wonder if the short passage about the dream has its place here. In fact this passage has an other purpose than to dismiss Rainbow's claims. But it isn't a necessity that this passage exists.
However, I don't like delete a short part of something people already read.
This chapter needs some severe editing... other then that good so far
Hm intresting and I don't see a romance tag yet.
2511451
Yea, I think it is subtle revenge, Twilight know that after they beat like 100 changelings on they own, 1 changeling is not a threat, especially if he did not even attacked RainbowDash, whats more, since RainbowDash did not captured him when she had a chance, searching for him now would be huge waste of time, so she just made small subtle revenge on RainbowDash form not believing her and then went to read books about changeling's in case this event repeat.
2511935
it would use some editing, agree.
“You aren't a normal changeling,” the timid pegasus said, before hiding again in her mane. “Well, I don't mean that you're weirder or uglier than any other changeling.”
Accidental insult
or
Being out in danger means that you are in danger.
That's all I could find; not bad.
Personally I really dislike the "Twilight has a book for everything" trope. While it can be used effectively sometimes, and is great for punchlines, this is just one of those situations where I don't think it fits. Nopony knew ANYTHING about changelings prior to the invasion, so Twilight suddenly having books detailing their lifestyles seems... a bit out of place canonically.
8492627
I agree this was a situation where it didn't really fit.
Fluttershy is Galaxy braining. Making him sleep in her bed, which is saturated with her scent, surrounded by her stuff... Ooh la la! 😂