I'm gonna make a new story using the same general concept, but I'm throwing out the original setting and characters. Although large chunks of the plot (the good parts at least) will stay.
You never know what might be hiding right under your nose. Often it's just simple things, like town gossip or a embarrassing secret. Seldom is the secret much more life changing, for example discovering that your entire life you were only half pony and that the other half is changeling. Mach Racer will have to cope with this revelation, all while keeping it a secret from everypony he meets.
Mach Racer loved flying, the wondrous feeling of the wind pushing through his wings and the beautiful view from up in the sky, there was nothing that could beat it. To top it off the day was beautiful! The sun was shining, the birds were singing their beautiful songs and a calm, cool breeze glided through the air. Soaring over Ponyville Mach caught sight of the place he was headed, Ponyville High School. Mach glided onto the ground, his hooves finally touching the grass. Mach looked up, seeing a familiar sight before him. The high school wasn’t very fancy like the ones in Canterlot neither was it massive like the ones in Manehatten, it was small, neat, rustic and simple, similar to the town it resided in.
“Hey Mach!” a voice from behind him called. Mach turned and caught sight of his best friend, Hoof Print.
“Hey Hoof Print!” He said. Hoof Print was a brown unicorn colt, a little on the small side Mach and Hoof had been friends since Elementary school.
“Excited for the first day of school?” Hoof asked, betraying a slight trottingham accent.
Mach rolled his eyes, “Who do you always have to be such an egghead?” he complained, “And besides, when have I ever been excited for school?”
“Hmm, thats a good question let me think…” Hoof Print said, losing himself in his thoughts. Mach facehooved, Hoof Print just couldn’t take a joke sometimes.
Suddenly Mach Racer heard a new voice from above, “It was a rhetorical question, genius.” It teased.
Mach looked up and saw a pitch black pegasus hovering over them, “Hi Raven!” Mach called up to him.
Raven grinned and said, “Hey Mach! Say, have you guys seen the new the new filly?”
“What! A new filly where?!” Hoof asked excitedly, then he turned to Raven and asked “How hot is she on a scale of one to ten?” Both Raven and Mach facehooved.
“Hold on romeo, you still haven't got any of the mares to get out with you and you’ve known them for years!” Mach smirked.
Hoof Print’s face turned apple red, “Hey, I will get Rarity to go out with me, just you see!”
“Yeah because youre earlier attempts worked soooo well” Raven said sarcastically. Hoof’s face got even redder.
Suddenly the bell rang, interrupting the conversation.
“Alright guys lets get to class!” Hoof said, clearly trying to change the subject.
Raven and Mach followed Hoof Print into the school, unaware of the crazy day ahead.
Ponyville High, as was said earlier, was nothing special. Similar to it’s counterpart, Ponyville Elementary, it only had one room. Mach and his friends sat down in the seats they had last year and waited for the teacher, Mr. Anglais, to begin.
“Alright class settle down.” Mr. Anglais said the students immediately stopped talking and looked at him.
The rest of the day was just the usual introduction to school like, “Remember to bring your pencils” and “Keep your hooves of the other students”. Mach had heard all of it already and he probably would have fallen asleep had it not been for an extremely painful headache. Despite the pain Mach waited for class to be over and was elated when he finally heard the bell signaling lunch.
He and his friends gathered their lunches and headed out to the picnic table they normally ate at.
“Thank Celestia that class is over.” Raven complained.
“Yeah, the first day is always the most boring.” Hoof agreed.
Mach snorted, “School is always boring, I mean why would you want to stay cooped up in a musty classroom all day when you can be outside?”
“What are you?” Raven laughed “A hippie?”
“Whats a hippie?” Hoof Print inquired.
Raven’s face was suddenly filled with panic, “What?! Who said that?! I certainly didn’t!” He said quickly.
Mach and Hoof looked at each other, Raven did this every once in awhile they had learned to ignore it by now, but it was still strange.
“Oh, hey there’s the new filly!” Raven said, eager to change the subject. I’ve got weird friends Mach thought to himself. He looked over to where Raven was pointing, seeing the mare for the first time. She had a messy mane and the strange part was; instead of just one or two colors like normal ponies, she had a rainbow mane, certainly an unusual sight. Other than her strange mane she was a cyan pegasus with an athletic body.
“Celestia she’s beautiful.” Hoof whistled.
Raven rolled his eyes, “You say that about every filly.” he muttered.
“Hey what’s her name anyway?” Mach asked.
“It’s “Rainbow Dash” just moved here from Cloudsdale.” Raven said.
“How did you know that?” Mach questioned, raising an eyebrow “Are you stalking her?”
Raven was suddenly taken aback, “WHAT?! No! She just moved into the house right beside mine! I swear!”
“Hey what's she saying anyway?” Hoof wondered out loud, “She seems to be boasting about something.”
The three friends quieted down and listened in on the conversation she was having with two other mares, Applejack and Rarity.
“And so then I performed a Sonic Rainboom and won the race!” She said proudly, finishing the tale she was telling the other two.
“A sonic rainboom!? That’s impossible!” Mach shouted, gaining the attention of the three fillies, “Nopony has ever been able to reach those speeds!”
Rainbow Dash looked extremely angered, “Dude, what the hell do you think you're doing?!” Raven whispered to Mach.
“She’s obviously lying, as a pegasus you should know, nopony can perform a Sonic Rainboom.” Mach whispered back.
“Did you just say I was lying?!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
“Of course you were!” Mach spat back, “even I am not fast enough to do that!” Mach had left his spot and was right in Rainbow’s face now.
“Oh and what are you? The fastest flier in all of Equestria?” Rainbow asked sarcastically.
Mach blinked, that was exactly what he said about himself, how did she know?! “Yes I am! Nopony had ever beaten me in a race and nopony will!”
“Is this a challenge?”
“Maybe it is!”
“Fine! Tomorrow after school we race! From the school to sugarcube corner?” Rainbow said, confident she was going to win.
“Fine! Prepare to lose tomorrow!”
“Hah! As if!” Rainbow shouted then flew away.
Mach trotted back to the picnic table, certain that he was going to win tomorrow. Both Hoof and Raven were staring at him, “What?” He asked.
“Um, Mach the whole schoolyard is looking at you.” Hoof Print said nervously.
Mach looked around and saw that hoof was right, everypony was staring at him or Rainbow but with the argument over the students went back to their normal business.
Suddenly Mach was struck with a shot of pain in his brain, “OW! What the buck was that?!”
“What was what?” Raven asked nervously, “Are you feeling okay?”
Mach grimaced and said, “Just a headache, it was kinda sudden though.” The pain returned, “crap, it’s not gone.”
“Hey, what's with your wing?” Hoof Print asked.
Mach turned and exclaimed “What do you mea- oh buck” Mach’s grey wings had strange blue tints at the end that were slowly replacing his feathers.
“What is it?!” Raven said, craning his neck to get a better look.
“Uh.. NOTHING!” Mach shouted, gaining some glances from the other students in the yard “Nothing at all!”
Raven gave Mach a skeptical look, “You’re the worst liar I know” He observed “What is it?”
“Nothing! I told you it’s nothing!”
“I saw something on your wings!” Hoof Print pressed.
“OW! This headache is really bad guys” Mach said, faking pain, “I think I will have to go home!”
“Dude quit the act.” Raven said, a serious tone in his voice “What is it?!”
“See you guys later!” Mach said, quickly galloping towards the schoolhouse. Raven is right, what is happening to me? He thought.
Walking into the school Mach saw Mr. Anglais sitting at his desk shuffling through some paperwork “Mr. Anglais?” He asked.
“What can I do for you Mach?” the teacher replied.
“I have been having a really bad headache and OW” Mach was once again interrupted by the shot of pain.
Mr. Anglais glanced over at Mach and said “For once it appears you’re not faking, alright I guess you can go home. Nothing important was going to happen today anyway.”
Mach raced home as fast as his wings could carry him, Ponyville didn’t seem as bright and welcoming as it had in the morning. Mach didn’t know if this was caused by his rushing mind or by the horrid turn of events but he knew for certain that it wasn’t a good sign. The worst part about the whole experience was that Mach knew something was off, but had no idea what it was, all he knew was that something about him was changing, fast, and Mach needed to stop it before it was too late.
Seeing his home below him he shot down and landed with a precision that most pegasi his age found impossible, but none of that mattered to Mach now. He thrusted open the front door and ran inside.
“Hi mom! Bye mom!” He called as he ran past his mother, Changing Tides, cleaning the kitchen.
“Mach! What are you doing home from school so early?!” She spluttered, shocked at the sudden entrance.
Mach didn’t hear her, he continued upstairs. Slamming his bedroom door behind him Mach stared into the mirror he kept in his room, he had wanted to remove it but had been to lazy to bother now he was glad he kept it.
The thing that stared back at Mach was not a pony, it had a horn like a unicorn but it was black and gnarled, it had wings like a pegasus but they were blue, translucent and bug like, it had holes in it’s hooves which were also blackened like they had been charred in a fire and the worst part was; the thing staring back at Mach was him. It shared his light red coat and his black and yellow mane in a deformed mockery of Mach’s real form.
Mach took a step back, shocked by monster he saw in the mirror. “Oh Celestia no…” he whispered to himself.
He heard the door creak and turned his head to see what had moved it. His mother stepped into the room, a pained expression on her face, suddenly she was engulfed in a sickly green flame.
Mach wanted to scream in terror, but he was too scared to make a squeak.
“Mach dear, I think we need to have a talk.” The changeling that was his mother said.
ATTENTION- I rewrote the first chapter and it has minor changes to the story, so read that if you haven't.
Mach’s eyes widened, N-no this is impossible! Mach shut his eyes, wishing for everything to return to normal. When he opened them he found, to his dismay, that his prayers were unanswered. His mother, no this monsterwas not his mother, the changeling in front of him gave a sympathetic look and said “Mach! Calm down! I will explain everything if you just stay still!”
Realizing he looked extremely panicked Mach recomposed himself and shouted, “Who are you and what have you done with my mother?!”
“I am your mother” It said in a calm tone.
“No, you’re a changeling!” Mach shouted, “Where did you take my mother!?”
“Mach, remember when you were a foal and you lost your teddy bear?” Mach’s face went red with embarrassment, “And how you cried for hours until you father came home and you were do embarrassed to whine in front of him?”
I never told anypony about that! The only pony who knew was… my mom. Mach thought, his mind racing to make sense of the situation, No that’s impossible, my mom is NOT a changeling!
“H-how did you know that?” Mach asked, avoiding the obvious truth.
The changeling rolled its eyes, “Because I’m your mother”
“B-bu…” Mach stutterd
“Yes, I am a changeling and I always have been.” Changing Tides said, hoping Mach would understand. But when she saw Mach’s expression her attitude changed “I should have told you this earlier.” Changing Tides scolded herself. “Here, sit down and I will tell you everything.” She said, gesturing to Mach’s bed. Mach obeyed and sat down, and Changing Tides began her story.
“Seventeen years ago my hive was attacked by the royal guard, we hadn’t done anything wrong the simple threat of our existence was enough to spur them on. Almost every changeling was killed or taken prisoner, I was lucky enough to escape, or so I thought…”
------------------------------Seventeen Years Prior------------------------------
Calvex ducked behind a pile of logs nearby, she was badly wounded and separated from the other changelings. Calvex lowered her head as she heard a squad of roughly five guards come by, talking rather loudly.
“I can’t believe this, it’s been five bloody weeks since the attack! All of those monsters should be rounded up by now!” One complained in a thick Trottingham accent.
“Standard procedure. Besides those little bastards might be anywhere, they can shapeshift after all.” A stallion, who Calvex assumed to be the sergeant, said gruffly. . “Why are we doing this anyway? I mean, what did the Changelings ever do to us?” A obviously younger one said.
“For the love of Celestia, Rally, shut up about your stupid ‘Changelings are ponies too’ rants, they’re the dumbest things I've ever heard.” Another guard growled.
“I’m just glad you weren't there at the assault, you would’ve been utterly useless!” The Trottingham one mocked.
The one named Rally huffed, “Well I’m glad I wasn’t too! I never want to witness a genocide!”
“We need somepony to keep watch over the bridge.” The sergeant said, interrupting the conversation. “And I think Private Point has just volunteered.” All the guards, except for Rally, laughed.
“Good luck not falling asleep Rally!” One mocked as the detachment marched away.
“Celestia damned idiots.” Rally muttered under his breath, kicking a nearby stone into the river.
Calvex peered over her log. All her escape routes were blocked, the only way she should get past is if the guard turned away. She watched for a few minutes then grimaced, Hive damnit he keeps his watch well. But as soon as that thought went through her head he leaned up against a tree and closed his eyes.
Nows my chance! Calvex slowly moved, trying not to make a sound. She was nearly halfway across the path she was interrupted by a loud call,
“Hah! I knew somepony would fall for that one day!” Rally shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at the Changeling.
“Uh, hi?” Calvex said, forcing a grin.
“You are under arrest by order of the Equestrian Royal Guard, changeling!”
“You don’t have a crossbow.” Calvex pointed out.
The guard gave her a confused look, “Uh, yeah I don’t. What about it?”
Calvex’s face held a smirk, This is too easy, “Well it means you have nothing to stop me if I RUN!” At that last word she took off as fast as she could into the nearby forest.
“Hey get back here!” The guard angrily shouted, giving chase.
Calvex ran as fast as her hooves could carry her, ducking under branches and avoiding holes. She spared a quick look behind her, Rally was catching up, using his wings to his advantage. Calvex looked at her own wings, they were still battered and would be unable to let her fly for the next while. Not paying attention to where she was going,Calvex ’s hoof struck a root and she fell head first into the dirt.
Rally flew up from behind, landed and pinned her to the ground. “Did you seriously think you could run from me?” Rally asked.
The rope around Calvex’s neck was tightly knotted, a bit more and she would have choked. Rally walked in front of her, but he still kept a close eye in case she tried to run again. They walked for what seemed like hours in silence until Rally said, “What exactly did you even do?”
The question took Calvex off guard, but it was certainly an interesting one, what had she done? “Uh, I’m a changeling? Enemies of your country?”
“Yes, but why are you our enemies?”
“Well we do impersonate you ponies.”Calvex admitted.
“Do you even have a choice though? I mean don’t you need our love to survive?” Rally asked.
Calvex tried to say something, which she realized was strange since she was criminalizing herself, but had nothing to point out, Rally was right.
“Then why am I arresting you?!” He asked in a strangely angered tone.
“Isn’t it your job? She countered.
“No.” Rally said suddenly stopping, “I joined the guard to uphold justice, but this bigotry isn’t just at all.” He said through clenched teeth, angrily throwing the rope down.
Calvex sat stunned as Rally walked up to her and untied the rope around her neck, “Uh, what are you doing?” She asked.
“What I should have done a long time ago, leaving the guard. And I’m taking you with me.” He answered as he finished untying the rope.
“Wait. Why are you taking me along?” Calvex questioned, confused about the whole ordeal.
“Well if I leave you here another guard will come by and capture you!” He explained, “I can help you escape, will you join me?”
Calvex paused for a second. Going with somepony she just met was very risky, but on the flip side he was right, since her injury prevented her from changing form she would be caught very soon.
Rally’s house was smaller than Calvex had expected, and messier too. When they first entered with the cover of night the stench made her think she had accidentally walked in a trolls cavern. Rally was a gracious host providing her with food from the limited stock he kept at home, the love he gave was meager though, she needed true love to fill her completely. Calvex needed true proper love to heal her completely, and she knew just how to do that. Rally lay on the couch, taking a rest after the long journey to his home and preparing for the long journey to the outskirts of Equestria. Calvex walked up and sat down beside him.
“You know, I’m really thankful for all that you’ve done to help me.” She said, wrapping the fomor guard in a hug. Rally gave her a nervous look, but she could tell by reading his emotions he that he was enjoying it.
Rally blushed, “Well it wasn't anything that special.”
“Oh, stop being so humble!” Calvex laughed, “You’ve done a lot! Remember when we had to run from that dragon and you saved my life?”
“Bu-”
“Or when you used your own money to buy us water?”
“Well…”
“Or let’s not forget the most important, when you threw away your livelihood just for me?”
Rally’s face was bright red now, “Uh, you're welcome I guess?”
Calvex gave him a seductive grin, “Oh, I think you deserve a little something in return.” then she leaned down and pressed her lips against his. Calvex felt a surge of emotion pass through Rally, all of it was positive so she continued kissing him, devouring the love he gave so freely.
After a few seconds she let go, Rally was staring into space a look of bliss evident on his face. “Did you like that?” Calvex asked, although she already knew the answer.
“Yeah.” Rally said blissfully, “Can you do it again?”
“I can do it as many times as you like.” Calvex said as she kissed him again. The lovers stayed in their embrace longer this time, soaking up the euphoria of the moment.
Calvex woke up suddenly, a bright blast of colour entering her eyes. She sat up in the bed, looking around. She felt movement beside her, looking over she saw Rally Point slowly waking up. The memories of how she got here flooded her brain faster than she could think about them, first they had kissed then… well she didn’t need to go into detail about that. Calvex mentally scolded herself, she should have constrained herself instead of getting caught up in the moment! At least she had more than enough love in her.
Rally sat up and looked over at Calvex. “Did we….”
“Yup.”
Rally fell back in the bed, a regretting expression on his face. “Great. I’m going to sleep in bit more.”
Calvex searched his emotions, no trace of love at all.
Rally sat in a oak chair, watching the sunset. Things had gotten extremely awkward between the two after what had happened two weeks ago. Luckily for Calvex the love had been enough to fully heal her and she was able to shapeshift again, making their lives much easier, of course it also had another effect…
Calvex didn’t want to intrude Rally’s peace, especially with the news she had, but it would be worse if she didn’t. Should I cast the spell again to make sure? She thought to herself. You’ve already done that, five times. Another thought reminded
“Rally…” She started, not wanting to rush the news.
“What is it.” He said, slightly annoyed at the interruption.
“Well do you remember what happened two weeks ago when we… you know?”
Rally sighed, “Why are you bringing this up?”
Calvex took a deep breath, “You see I’m… I’m…”
Just spit it out already!
“I’m pregnant.”
Rally’s eye widened, but he didn’t do anything. He just sat, continuing to watch the sun.
The silence pierced Calvex’s heart like a knife. She hadn’t meant to fall in love with him, but it was too late now. With a heavy heart she said, “I’ll go now, I don’t want to be your burden any longer.”
“No!”
Calvex turned. Rally was looking at her, a hoof extended in her direction. “You can’t go.” He whispered.
Calvex felt the sting of water in her eyes, “Why should I stay?” She shouted. “I’ve done nothing but ruin your life, it’s all my fault.” She finished, crying slightly.
Rally got out of his chair and walked up to her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s as much of my fault as yours.” He admitted, “And besides, what kind of father would abandon his child? No we’ll get through this together.” When he finished he leaned forward and kissed Calvex.
It had been the first time they had kissed since the time two weeks ago, and Calvex loved it. Calvex’s heart was ready to burst from the amount of emotion flowing through her, but one thing stayed certain in her mind.
Calvex, or Changing Tides, in her new ‘pony’ name. Unwrapped the cloth blanket, revealing the foal she was holding. He had features coming from both parents, mainly the fact that he appeared half pegasus, half changeling. His bright blue eyes looked up at his mother, who stroked his dark black mane in return. “What should we name him?” Changing asked his father, who was standing next to her.
Rally smiled. “Well, he looks like a ‘Blitz’ to me.”
Changing shook her head, “No military names, please.”
Rally rolled his eyes, “Fine, but he looks like a little racer to me. Do you agree?”
Changing grinned, “Yeah, he’s gonna be my little racer.”
“Mach Racer.” Rally Point said suddenly.
Changing gave him a confused look, “Where did that come from?”
“Well, it sounds like a good name to me.”
“Hmm, Mach Racer. I like it.” Changing admitted.
“But how are we going to keep little Mach from being seen? He still looks a lot like a changeling.” Rally asked.
In answer, Changeing waved her horn and a green light surrounded the foal. When it subsided Mach looked like a normal pegasus foal, his dark red fur covering his changeling form. “I cast the shape shifting spell on him, it should keep him protected.”
“Should we tell him?”
“When he get’s older, but it’s much easier to keep a secret that you don’t know.” Changing explained.
Rally leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, little Mach was sleeping soundly.
All was well with the world.
--------------------------------------------------Back to the present------------------------------------------
Mach sat. His mind abuzz with this revelation about his life that had been under his nose the entire time.
Changing, or Calvex as she used to be called, “I’m sorry I had to hide this from you for so long, but it was the only way.”
“It’s fine, I’m just wondering. Why did the spell come off now?” Mach asked.
“Every spell wears out over time, I should have re-cast it when you weren't looking.” Changing said. Mach layed back on his bed, not speeking at all.
Changing gave a worried look, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just a lot to take in.” Mach said, “I think I need a drink.” With that Mach got up and walked downstairs he was about to pour himself a glass of water when he heard the door open.
“Hello?” Rally Point said as he entered his home. Then he turned and faced Mach, as soon as he saw him Rally’s expression became much more serious.
“So, your mother told you everything?”
At first Mach wondered how he knew, then embarrisingly remembered he still looked Half-Changeling.
“Yes.”
Rally shrugged, “Guess we had to tell you eventually.” He said, then Rally stepped closer, “Listen son, I want you to understand that even though you and your mother are changelings, I love you both all the same.” He then pulled Mach into a fatherly hug. Mach smiled, for he knew that everything would work out fine in the end.
