Rebound
“I HATE YOU!” Scootaloo was screaming at the top of her lungs through the pillow. It was muffled, but loud enough to hear. “I HATE YOU BOTH. HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?”
“Scootaloo,” Echo blinked and rubbed her head, dazed from the display of raw power that she had just witnessed, “that isn't them. You know that.”
“I DON'T CARE, I HATE THEM.”
“Hon, don't let yourself say that. They're your best friends, and you know that they don't actually think that.”
“You aren't a monster.” Scootaloo lifted her head from the pillow, her chitinous face streaked with tears. “You're not.”
“I know, and neither are you,” Echo pulled Scootaloo closer, “and to prove that, we need to help Sweetie and 'Bloom. Something isn't right in Ponyville. Whatever it is that's driving these ponies insane, it doesn't seem to be affecting any of the Elements of Harmony.”
“So what do we do?”
Echo thought about it. Everypony in town hates us. They want us gone, they don't want to see us, they don't want to help us... which Element is the polar opposite of that? “Fluttershy. We have to find Fluttershy.”
“Fluttershy, seriously?” Scootaloo was beginning to sound like her old self again. “I don't think Fluttershy could scare a fly, let alone fix whatever is going on here.”
“She doesn't need to. She just needs to put some cracks in the shell. If she can weaken the spell enough, and we can find out where it's coming from, we can end this.”
Scootaloo looked at the ground for a moment, and then nodded her head succinctly. They made their way downstairs and headed out the door. Nopony was around as far as Echo could see, so they galloped in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage. When they got there, the sight that greeted them filled Echo with dismay. Around the cottage, a mob had formed. They were shouting and screaming, but they hadn't yet noticed Echo and Scootaloo.
“Scoot,” Echo knelt and whispered, “I know this is going to be hard, but you need to get a disguise. We're going to have to get close enough to the cottage to convince Fluttershy to let us in, and we can't get through that mob if we look like this.”
Scootaloo heaved a great breath and nodded. She looked around a couple of times, and then her face distorted with the strain of thought. Slowly, her chitin dissolved away, and in its place was blue fur. Her wings flared as they formed, and the prismatic colors of her mane and tail materialized.
“How's this?” Scootaloo said in her best Rainbow Dash voice.
Echo smiled and nodded. “Good job. Hold on to it, okay? I think we have the best chance of getting 'Shy to talk to us if we're both disguised as Elements of Harmony. Let me think...” Echo closed her eyes for a second, then shot them open again. “I've got it!” One flash later, Applejack stood next to Rainbow Dash, sans hat. Echo crossed her legs in her best imitation of the farmer, and said “Let's go, sugarcube.”
Scootaloo kept her eyes glued forward, determined not to let anything distract her. Slowly, they made their way through the mob. Echo heard some of the phrases being shouted, including “release the monster”, “you're a traitor”, and “harboring fugitives is against the law”. The crowd separated enough to let them through as they turned around to see two of the Elements.
“Oh, boy,” said somepony, “AJ and Dash are here to talk some sense into her!”
“Now just hold on a cider-squeezin' second, y'all, and tell me what's goin' on here?” Echo tried her best to imitate AJ without hamming it up too much; impersonation was never her strong suit.
“Where have you been for the last hour?” Came a familiar voice. It was Filthy Rich at the head of the pack. “Fluttershy is harboring one of those damn changelings.”
Scootaloo grunted as she tried to keep her focus on the facade. Echo fought the urge to buck Filthy's face into his skull, and turned instead to the door of the cottage. “'Shy,” she began, “it's me. Can you let me in to talk?”
“Oh, Applejack?” Fluttershy sounded hurried, but hushed. “Just a moment. You have to tell everypony to back away from the door before I'll open it. I'm terribly sorry, but I have to be firm on this one.”
“I get it,” Echo said. She turned to the crowd and barked, “you heard the girl, back off y'all! Elements of Harmony business!” Do they say that? Can they say that?
Echo assumed that they could, since the crowd obeyed, though their eyes remained fixed on the door. Scootaloo stared blankly at it, intent not to focus on anything other than her disguise.
The door clicked open and Fluttershy's hoof beckoned the two changelings to enter. They did so, and Fluttershy quickly shut the door behind them, locking it. Immediately, the shouts of the mob renewed. Echo looked to Fluttershy.
“I'm sorry about this, 'Shy, but we had to get in here somehow.” Echo dropped her disguise, prompting a slight gasp from Fluttershy.
“Oh, it's you, Echo! I'm so glad to see you, Maybe you can help me?”
“Funny thing,” Echo chuckled a forced laugh, “I was about to ask you for the same thing.”
“Rainbow Dash, are you okay?” Fluttershy looked over at Scootaloo, who was focused on a clock hanging on the wall. Her jaw was clenched in determination.
“Scoot,” Echo nudged her, “you can let go now. We're safe.”
Scootaloo's eyes widened as she made eye contact with Echo, and in the same instant, her disguise fell. “Thank Celestia.”
“Fluttershy, what's this the crowd is saying about a changeling in here?”
Fluttershy pointed to the back of the room, where a changeling with chitin as black as charcoal and eyes the color of a full moon's night sky. He leaned against a wall, silently looking at the two mares and filly in the center of the room.
“Interesting,” Echo squinted. Out of military habit, she stood up straight and walked over to him, holding her wings taut against her back. “What's your designation?”
“If you're asking my name, I'm Rebound. Don't you remember me?”
“Should I, soldier?”
“I'm not a soldier. Not anymore. I've been here in Ponyville for quite a while now. At least as long as you have. I found out about you pretty quickly. On that note, you're not too great with the whole 'disguising yourself' bit of being a changeling, are you?”
Echo felt her temper rise. With ponies, she gave them leeway to speak informally. As a changeling, though, she was a high ranking officer. This kind of disrespect was unheard of in conversation with a superior. “AWOL, then?” She asked.
“Not exactly, but if you want to call it that, go ahead.” The changeling stretched his wings and yawned.
Intolerable. “Where do you get off treating me like this, buddy?”
“Get off? Well, I never. In front of the filly, too?”
“Fluttershy,” Echo asked, electing not to remove this changeling's head from his body until his purpose had been established, “why is this changeling under your protection?”
“Well, I mean, he is a little rude,” Fluttershy whispered, “but those ponies outside would kill him, and I can't let that happen. I just can't.”
Echo sighed and nodded. Rebound continued to lean against the wall, and a smug little smirk crossed his lips.
“I'm more useful than you realize, Your Highness.” He said flippantly.
“That isn't my title, unit.”
“Well, 'unit' isn't mine. What would you rather I call you?”
“I'd rather you didn't, but if you must address me, call me ma'am or General.”
“Ma'am, this little one is adorable, ma'am. Permission to ruffle her mane, ma'am? Eh, screw it, I'm gonna do it anyway. Court Marshall me or something,” he ran a hoof over the filly's mane and after a pause added, “ma'am.”
In a rage, she fired up her wings and zoomed up behind him. She wheeled around, kicked up her hind legs, and bucked him in the back of the head. He fell flat on the ground, wings buzzing reflexively.
“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy squeaked, “is he going to be okay?”
“Believe me,” Echo grumbled as she laid her wings against her back again, “if I didn't want him to be okay, his head would be on the other side of the room.
As if on cue, Rebound stirred as he came back to consciousness. “Okay, so it's definitely you. I hope you understand,” he began, “I had to be sure.”
“Sure of what, unit?”
“There you go with that 'unit' crap again. Call me Rebound, would you? Anyway, I had to be sure that it was actually you, and not some other changeling. You can never be too sure.”
“Excuse me,” Scootaloo said, “I've got a few questions. Who are you, what do you want, and who do you think you are calling me 'adorable'? I'm awesome, not adorable.”
“You're right, Scoot, you're not adorable,” Rebound chuckled, “you're absolutely precious!”
Scootaloo growled as Rebound laughed, and while he wasn't looking she wheeled around and bucked him in the chest. Fluttershy gasped in shock, and Rebound coughed as the air was knocked out of his lungs.
“Sweet Chrysalis,” Rebound hacked, “are you sure that she isn't a blood relative, Echo?”
“Sometimes I wonder that myself,” Echo smiled slyly at Scootaloo, who still stared at Rebound with loathing.
“Ugh,” he struggled to catch his breath, “what did I do to deserve getting beaten up like this all the time?”
“Before we get back to business, unit,” Echo began again, “why don't you fill me in on exactly who you are?”
“Yeah,” he said as he transformed, “remember me?”
In front of Echo stood a tan stallion with a black mane which had some light gray highlights. It only took her a moment to remember where she had last seen this stallion. It was at her welcoming party. He had said that he wanted to 'talk' to her. Echo thought she had seen through his ruse, and had grabbed his foreleg, whipped him around, and hit him on the back of the head, before screaming at him to 'buzz off'. She looked at him more closely and noticed a purple puzzle piece for a cutie mark. His eye color matched his mark.
“You mean that you were...”
“Yep. Actually trying to talk to you.”
“So the reason I didn't get any energy from you was...”
“Changeling,” Rebound buzzed his wings and bowed flamboyantly, “at your service, ma'am.”
“In my defense,” Echo was quick to include, “you were behaving awfully flirty.”
“Shame on me for being attracted to a female.”
“Oh, you son of a -” Echo was about to buck Rebound in the face again when Fluttershy stepped between them.
“Enough!” She shouted at a volume that was, for her, deafening. “I will not allow any more of this violence in my home, do you three understand? I promised I would never use that stare on any of my friends, but if you don't stop fighting, I won't have any choice.” Fluttershy closed her eyes, fighting back tears. Confrontation was obviously extremely difficult for her.
“Stare? No offense, 'Shy,” Rebound chuckled, “but I've been bucked in the face by Echo before, and I'm still alive. I don't think that a little stare could -”
Fluttershy's eyes widened as she turned her gaze toward Rebound. He looked into her eyes, and terror crept across his face. In his fright, his disguise fell. He sank lower and lower to the ground, his mouth widening in fear with every inch he dropped. Just as Rebound's belly was about to touch the floor, Fluttershy relented and softened her gaze. “I promised I wouldn't use that on my friends. I've kept my promise, since you aren't my friend yet, Rebound. Please don't continue to aggravate things.”
“Yes'm.” Rebound squeaked.
Echo let her formal facade drop and laughed openly at his dramatic change in demeanor. Fluttershy turned to face Echo and made eye contact with just enough intensity and for just long enough to quiet her.
“Now,” Fluttershy sighed, “I think we have a problem to deal with, girls.”
“'Girls'? What about me?” Rebound complained indignantly.
“Keep up the whining and I'll see to it that everypony in the room really is female,” Echo growled before turning back to Fluttershy and replying, “Yes, we do. Whatever it is that's making everypony in town hates us and every other changeling, even Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were affected by it.”
Rebound gasped, “Sweetie and 'Bloom? No way.”
“Unfortunately, it's true. Fluttershy, I think we need Twilight's help on this one. There's some kind of magic here that I've never seen.”
“Of course. How do we get her here, though? If I leave, they'll just break in. If they do that, they'll kill you!”
Echo sighed as she realized what she had to do. “Okay, 'Shy. Stay here and watch Scootaloo and the other one. I'll go get Twilight.” She returned to her Applejack disguise and moved toward the door. “If you try anything funny, guy, I swear that I'll -”
“We'll be fine, Echo,” Fluttershy interrupted, exasperated, “I promise.”
At that, Echo stepped back outside and began to work her way through the densely packed mob of ponies. She fought the urge to shove them aside and instead, keeping in character, begged each of their pardons as she squeezed by. When she had finally escaped the horde, she took off at top speed for the library.
She came to a screeching halt in front of the door and knocked urgently. After a moment, there was a rustling on the other side, and the door clicked as Spike opened it.
“Applejack? Oh, hi! Twi's upstairs studying something. She wouldn't say what. I can get her for you.”
“That'd be great, Spike, thanks.” Echo stepped inside and gasped for breath.
“Would you like some water, AJ?”
“No,” Echo said, allowing her disguise to drop, “I'll be fine, Spike. It's me, Echo.”
Spike's eyes widened, and then narrowed. His brow furrowed. “What are you doing here, changeling?” Oh, not you too Spike! “I should go get the guards to take you away!”
Spike turned and ran for the door, and Echo just sat on her haunches in dismay. Just as the little dragon was about to turn the knob on the door, though, he was enveloped in a purple aura and put into a closet, the door to which was shut and locked magically. Echo turned to look around, and saw Twilight standing on top of the stairs with an expression of determination in her eyes. She walked wordlessly over to Echo and stood with her muzzle about half a foot from Echo's. She stared intently into Echo's eyes, and Echo stared right back, fighting tears.
“Echo,” Twilight started firmly. Oh, Chrysalis, not Twilight. “We're going to fix this. You and me. Together.” Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Echo's neck and pulled her close. The startled changeling gave a quick gasp and tensed up for a moment before she melted into the hug. Her stoic facade melted away, and she buried her face in Twilight's shoulder as she sobbed.
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...y so much hate T,T...seriously this intrigues me
hope all is well and you keep writing
TARDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Can't wait for next chapter
Perfect...... Needs nothing. Cept maybe a little less awesome!!!
.... It's a bit blinding....
It doesn't bother me that it took so long. I will probably never have a shortage of stories to read, considering the fact that I have 550+ stories marked for read later and that list grows almost every time that I get on the site. I have plenty to chose from, and it won't bother me too much to have to wait for a story to update.
TARDY!? oh dear.....
http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq108/GitPLordXavius/TwilightSparkleInsane.png
can't wait!!!
DA BUCK IS GOING ON!?!?!?!
MOAR PLEASE!
le GASP
hmm i see three things
1.celestia luna or somealicorn saves the day but then again
2 twilight does something
3. pinkie pie throws an awesome CHANGELINGS ARE AWESOME party and everything now loves chagelings
2290614 considering the first and last of those options are out (no matter how pinkie things could get
) Twilight will have to do something...
2290690 its pinkie pie she can do anything oh ya adn
4 something cliche and stupid happines
2290758 I certainly hope you all don't decide that it's number 4, then.
What happens will happen. I've got it planned out. Saying no more about it until then.
Hello Integration readers. As many of you have read, Echo has met a new friend. Thanks a bunch CoAlFire for extending Rebound's role in your story. For those of you interested, here is a pic of Rebound.
rikkoshaye.deviantart.com/art/Puzzle-Piece-357034588
2290614
Mass extermination of the pony and changeling races, led by moi.
2290921 Just to verify for all you skeptics out there, this guy is legit.
I bet it's Cadence! She hates the Changelings madly, and her emotions are being projected to everyone in the whole kingdom!
Rebound is seriously a bit of a jerk, though he should did learn his lesson about question Fluttershy's Stare! I do have to wonder why the Elements of Harmony isn't affected by this, however. Nevertheless, it would be one of those moments to be filed under 'do not look a gift horse in the mouth'. At least Echo got some allies in this madness. And, don't worry about being 'tardy', you can take as long as you need to.
C&Cs:
He fell flat on the ground, wings buzzing relfexively.
> Correction: ‘reflexively’.
In front of Echo stood a a tan stallion with a black mane which had some light gray highlights.
> Remove the extra ‘a’.
I promised I would never use the stare on any of my friends, but if you don't stop fighting, I won't have any choice.
> Her ‘Stare’ is actually a name of her technique, so it should be capitalized. When it isn't being use to referred to as a technique, is when you can use it normally.
2291175 Thanks for the C&Cs, friend.
Hope you continue to enjoy!
2291175 I'm an ex-soldier/spy. I was born into a world of unforgiving conflict. I was shaped by my superiors to be a heartless machine of chaos. If that makes me a 'bit of a jerk' then all I can do is half-hardheartedly say that "I'm sorry."
MOAR!
Damn it Spike! Your badass rating has gone down by 2, now making it: 99,999,999,997.9! (he lost one to those crappy episodes is season 3)
2291375
Nah, I can understand that ex-soldiers/spies has a tough attitude (I have no issue with that and I can respect it), but this guy is taking it a bit too far and just flat out being disrespectful, even to Fluttershy, who is going out of her way to help him. If another ex-soldier or spy was around, he or she would probably do what Echo would have done (or, in the least, barely restrain themselves in doing so).
2291459 Hey, responding on Octovias' behalf since I wrote that dialogue (with his counsel).
I tried to make it clear - though obviously it didn't come through enough - that he is being intentionally inflammatory in this situation as a way of testing the waters with Echo, so to speak.
I hope that his motivations will become clearer as the story goes on, but explaining it here would leave the comments rife with spoilers, so I'm going to ask that you hold off on your judgment of Rebound until later chapters, mkay? You may be right, you may be wrong, just wait and see.
Thanks again for reading!
2291485
That was just my opinion of him on this chapter only, not my overall opinion of him. And, relax, I wasn't being critical with you about Rebound, just posting my reply to this chapter. As of this moment, my opinion on Rebound is still up-in-the-air, at least for right now.
And, you're welcome! Great job with this!
MARKER!!!!
2291563 Heh, sorry. Sometimes I get a bit protective of my characters.
Echo seems to lose more and more of her changeling pride the deeper we go into the story(not that I complain though), and its interesting to see how public opinion actually affects he so much, it makes me eager to read the next chapter, just so see thats going to happen next.
I wonder how it's going with derpy I hope she is fighting for the changling's
2292309 As the title of the story suggests, the main plot focuses around her struggles integrating into pony society. Part of her integration involves acting more like a pony than a changeling. She's quite proud of who she is, but she no longer feels that she is superior to ponies by virtue of being a changeling.
Of course, part deux of her integration is dealing with this strange threat that is the overwhelming opposition to any changeling presence in Ponyville. You'll just have to wait and see as far as that bit goes, though.
2292397
Now you as well as I know, that wait time is going to be torture.
2292918 That is one of the cutest zebra/pony (zony?) I've seen. :3
Does anyone know where to find that "This chapter, I like it. Another!" image?
Cause I can't find it and I really need to use it here.
WTF is going on? Did Twilight have a hand....err...hoof in this or was there someone else?
And what's with Twilight openly hugging and nearly crying?
What's going on with Scootaloo?
SO MANY QUESTIONS THAT NEED ANSWERING!!!
THIS IS JUST LIKE THE TV SHOW LOST
2297498
...
Not sure if compliment.
2298048 If you watched Lost its just one big question after another with no answers
My reaction at the end: *Endless squeing commence!!!*
Wow, even Spike is affected! This must be some very powerful magic indeed. Maybe not a single Changeling, but a group of them?
Is Rebound's name there a mistake or is the statement being directed to Fluttershy by Echo the mistake?
3497559
...is correct. It is an independent sentence. Then, Echo speaks.
However, let's break it down into two parts.
This is a reply to Rebound. It is an independent sentence. Now for part two, where you got confused.
Fluttershy is the addressee of this statement, which stands independent of the previous sentence which was addressed to Rebound.
I'll admit that the phrasing is a bit of a SNAFU...
...but grammatically, it stands.
THE FEELS THE FEELS THE FEELS!
Yay! For the proper use of y'all. To many writers use it singularly (sure when used as part of an implied group, that's appropriate). You're like the third person on the site that uses ya, and y'all in their appropriate places. So thanks for that.
And so the plot thickens, and a loose plot point from the first few chapters of the first story comes forward as a Chekhov's gun
I suppose at this point the question is beggared as to why the Princesses haven't had a letter sent to them yet. Certainly, Spike is under this mysterious brainwashing, but he still seems to at least follow Twilight in general, only getting nasty when Echo outs herself to him. Twilight can just pen her own scroll and have Spike send it without revealing the exact contents, unless for some reason she thinks the Princesses would nuke Echo and Scootaloo in the process in trying to solve this