Picture yourself in boat on a river...
A bug was in Princess Pipp's room. She had chosen to ignore it.
"You want a pedicure brush with rough bristles," Pipp demonstrated to her webcam. "Can everypony see the one I'm holding up? This is your standard, la-dee-dah workhorse brush." She waited a moment for the live feedback to fill with affirmatives.
PwnPone : Yee I see it
Farrier_Fairy : 👀😁👀😁👀
ZweetieB3lle : We can see the hoof brush ay okay, Princess! 💅🖌
Twiggie_Stardust : Um I think there's a fly buzzing around Pipp's room or soemthing
DatBit : Brush brush brush! (Sweep sweep sweep!) 😅
"Gotcha. Lemme just hold it here til we autofocus... ah! There we go. So like, you can score a brush like this from pretty much any cornershop for... oh I dunno, two-and-a-quarter Bits at max. No need to buy something expensive and name brand, but I mean, if you do.... Canterlogic is a big sponsor of the channel. Just so you all know."
The live chat scrolled on and on, mostly emoticon spam and good-humored jabs at Pipp calling her a shill. She giggled coyly, eliciting even more emotes and spam. Attention was fuel for Pipp Petals. Nourishment for her body and soul. She savored the taste.
"Right-o, so like I was saying, we're all flying a lot these days, so you might be thinking 'I don't need to brush down my hooves if I'm not walking on them as much.' Well let me tell you, My Little Ponies, that's a bad habit to get into. Your cuticles still need love! Can I get some love in the chat, Pippsqueaks?"
Twiggie_Stardust : Serioulsy, how has nopony else noticed that gross bug?
PwnPone : Lovey!😍
4 da Pippcess!
Farrier_Fairy : Luvvvvvvvvv
ZweetieB3lle : Lovey lovey
KungPalomino: huh Twigs right that bug is crawling on the back wall now
v_Windigo_Stan_v : 💕
DatBit : Heartmoji
DatBit : Heart moji
DatBit : How do I mote??? ??
v_Windigo_Stan_v : PUt a colon on both sides.
DatBit :
DatBit :
Pipp focused on the pink shapes and did her best to ignore the off-topic comments. Those stray ones upset her stomach.
"Uh... so... ahem!, sorry. See, you want... you want to hold your forehoof like this," Pipp directed her attention to the brush in her grip and the ankle it was angled against. It gave her an excuse to not look at the chat. "You want to take the bristles and brush down not up. Am I coming through, Pippsqueaks? If you leave dirt in your cuticles for more than a day, it'll get yucky and itchy. Or worse. Infected. Trust me, it can get bad if you leave it. I know."
Dig. Thrash. Tear at the loam with weary forelimbs like an animal. She was feral. Roiling. Crazed with hunger but still lucid enough to feel ashamed of her wretched state.
Dirt caked her psuedohooves. Made them heavy. Clumsy. The clingy muck was almost too much for her weak frame to tolerate, but still she dug. She dug and dug in the filthy earth.
No magic. No food. She was too starving to even drool, but still she dug and dug. Survival instincts screamed wordlessly in her head that if she didn't burrow, if didn't hibernate now - right now! - her body would shut down and die.
Gods a'slain, there was no food. No magic. No food no food no food no food...
Pipp's ears were ringing, so she shook her head to clear them.
"I...um..."
She shook her head again and then double checked her eyes in the facecam.
Still green. Still steady. That bout just now had been a bad one.
"You want to brush your hooves free of dirt everyday," Pipp slurred before clearing her throat. "But I said that already. Didn't I say that already, chat?"
Salt Licc : EW IT’S FLYING AGAIN
ZweetieB3lle : For teh love of Faust Pipp don't let that disgusting thing land in your hair
PwnPone : 🐞🐞🐞🐞🐞🐞🐞🤢
KungPalomino: Pipp PLEASE do something sbout that bug!!!
Farrier_Fairy : AAAAAAAAAA
Pipp Petals, second in line for the throne of Zephyr Heights, groaned in marked frustration. How come her viewers had such short attention spans? Couldn't they just let that poor bug be?
No, of course not. That was just how ponies were.
Pipp pushed back from her computer, grabbing the plastic baggie she used to store her hoofbrush.
The pitiful bug, the one ruining her night without trying, kept bonking its tiny head against Pipp's ceiling light again and again. Pipp was too far away to read the chat, but they were cheering her on. She could taste their warped excitement from here.
First, silence and dark. Then noise and light. Disturbance. Had she not burrowed deep enough? No, she was far underground. That much was certain. In the dirt, in the Earth, beneath the city. So what was that young pegasus doing here? A flying Pony... deep underground... she groaned in marked frustration. Hibernating had caused grogginess. So had being roused when there was still no magic.
Still no magic. But somehow, joyously, there was food. How? How with no magic was the taste of food coming off the pegasus?
"Is somepony here? This is my basement! My new clubhouse! I order you, as Princess of Zephyr Heights, to come out!"
The reawakened Changeling could taste that feisty white pegasus foal stomping closer. Food. But no magic. No magic outside of the very last reserves in her body that kept her alive. She had to shapeshift quickly. Probably permanently.
Food....
No, focus!
Change to something. But what? Another pegasus foal? Yes. Change now. The feisty foal is almost on top of you, so change now. Now!
How fluffy are pegasus wings supposed to be again?
No time! Guess! Very fluffy! Change NOW!
Pipp bagged the bug in a hoofheld plastic prison. She held her prize up to the webcam and allowed a coquette wink.
"Cat's safely in the bag, Pippsqueaks."
The chat's praise was rapturous.
ZweetieB3lle : Pipp Petals, Warrior Pricness!
v_Windigo_Stan_v : dum***k bug get **** on!
PwnPone : You deserve myusername more than me, girl!
Salt Licc : 🕸🐞🕸 😉
Twiggie_Stardust : Hey are Pipp's eyes a different color noiw?
That last comment made Pipp flinch. Her other monitor, the one with the facecam feed, stared back at her like a cornered imposter caught with its mask down.
Farrier_Fairy : whoa yeah. How come now Pipps eyes are browm?
"Aha! Found ya! Now who in Tartarus are you?"
Hungry.
"Whatcha doin' in the royal basement?"
The pegasus foal radiated a cocktail of bluster, curiosity, and excitement. The taste was bitter and cacophanous, but the ex-Changeling wasn't picky. She swallowed as much of it as she could.
"Are you a trespa- a trepspass... a trepasserer? If you're not a member of the royal family like me then you're a trepasser! And you aren't a member of the Royal Family! Are you punk?"
Still. So. Hungry.
"I said ARE you?"
Wasn't paying attention. No clue what was just asked. Guess an answer.
"Um.. yes?"
"Nu uh! You're a liar!"
Feisty foal was barely visible now. Her emotions were a tidal wave of fury at the transparent lie. Her taste was scalding, oily, and churning. The starving ex-Changeling gulped it all down.
"You're not... are... wait... what was I..." The feisty foal blinked with with befuddlement. Wasn't she angry about something just now? She wasn't anymore. It was like all her skepticism had been scooped out with a spoon.
"You're... Royal Family? Like, MY Royal Family?"
The ex-Changeling didn't hear the question. Overeating made her double over in nauseous pain. Still, she nodded. Maybe if she just kept nodding at everything that was said, the white pegasus wouldn't hurt her.
"That makes sens... I mean, it FEELS to me like you're telling the truth... we should... uh... go see mom! Yeah! You said you're family, so c'mon! Lets go upstairs and see mom."
Pipp was panicking. She'd lost focus, let her eyes waver, and someone had noticed. Chat charged relentlessly forward while her terrified mind raced for an excuse.
DatBit : What the buck ?? howd her color change?
v_Windigo_Stan_v : No way the lighht change makes eyes go from green to brown
Twiggie_Stardust : 🍏 => 🍩 ??😱
v_Windigo_Stan_v : PIPP SUS?!?!?! 👽🤣🤣🤣
Twiggie_Stardust : I 👏cant 👏even 👏beleive wut Im seeing
Salt Licc : 🤔Maybe she's using a face filter thing the Snapchuff App is always promoting?
Pipp seized on that last one.
"Oh, derp! Looks like I accidentally turned on a Snapchuff filter. Lemme get that, Pippsqueaks." She tapped her webcam with a wing, obscuring the video feed for a moment. When she sat back, her breathing was still ragged, but at least her eyes were green again.
"Ah, technical difficulties. That's how it goes with live streams sometimes. You feelin' me here, chat?"
Chat was not feeling her. She certainly felt them though, bubbling with confusion and curiosity. Some users were typing questions: Where's the interface for the eye-change filter? Where did Pipp download it? Where can the average pony get the filter for their own devices?
Pipp of course didn't have any answers. She needed to regain the reins. Fix the mood.
Scrunching her muzzle, she put on her best pouty face.
"Aw, don't be so nosy, chat. Wasn't this stream supposed to be a make-up tutorial? Let's save computer stuff for another day."
Chat was scrolling slightly slower. Slightly.
"Hey, you guys have heard that new pop song, out right? Bet you can't finish the lyrics if I start them."
Big gamble here. Either she recaptured their attention or this was the beginning of the end.
"Picture yourself in a boat on a riiiiver... with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Somepony calls you, you answer quite slowly...”
Pipp held her breath.
KungPalomino: The gal with kaleidescope eeeeeeyes!! 😝😝
PwnPone : The 👩 with kaleidescope 👀
Farrier_Fairy : That girl with colliderscope eeys!
ZweetieB3lle : THA GIRL WITH KALEDESCOPE EYES
Twiggie_Stardust : 🎤🙌The girl with kaleidoscope eyes
DatBit : da girl w/ kallidescope eyessssss
v_Windigo_Stan_v : The Girl With Kaleidescope eyes!
Salt Licc : a girl with kaleidescope eyes!
Oh sweet, nourishing relief. Pipp exhaled and flashed a winning smile.
"Top tier backup singing, chat. Don't think we'll top that anytime soon, so how 'bout we call it a night?"
Pipp's screen filled up with snoring faces, ZZZZZZZZZs, and goodbye waves. The feed finally cut once she blew her customary sign-off kiss to the camera.
Then Pipp wrapped her wings around herself, trembling with shame.
"Wires? With harnesses!? Mom, that's dishonest! We can't fly, and that’s scumbuck behavior to just PRETEND to be something we're not! Pipp, back me up here! We owe it to the public to be honest. Lying is the worst thing a Princess can possibly- Pipp? You okay? You look like you're about to cry."
The buzz of tired insect wings pulled Pipp back to the present. She rubbed her nose and noticed the fly she'd bagged earlier was still on her desk.
The bug flittered inside its transparent prison. The one Pipp had put it in. For sure the fly was an ugly little thing, but was being ugly such a crime? Even bugs deserved to live. It wasn't the fly's fault it had wandered in here. Into the line of sight of sight of ponies who couldn't stand to look at it. The bug was just unlucky. It wasn't a villain.
Was it?
Was it really such a sin to survive?
Pipp sniffled and picked up the baggie. Sensing movement of a much bigger creature, the fly buzzed with renewed prey instinct. Pipp bit her lip and headed for the window.
"Easy little guy," she cooed. "Easy. I'll let you go. Please don't be..." she swallowed a lump in her throat. "Please don't be afraid of me."
Pipp leaned over the window sill, shaking the baggie out. When she leaned back in, the fly was gone. Free.
"Good luck out there, little guy."
Pipp shut the blinds and stood alone in her room.
She couldn't keep doing this. Lying to her fans, to her friends. To her alleged 'family.'
All Pipp wanted at the beginning was to not starve. No magic meant no love, but there were other emotions to eat. Shortening her name to "Pipp", introducing herself as a princess, that generated plenty of skepticism and incredulity to feed on. It wasn't healthy, and it didn't have the same nutrients as love. But life as a short, stunted Pony was still life. Pipp gorged like a pig in her first few weeks, insisting she belonged in this castle then guzzling the disagreement of whoever objected. She'd been disgusting. Yet before long, her siphoning of Zipp and Queen Haven actually did persuade them she was one of their own. And truth be told, Pipp had nowhere to go and no ability to shapeshift anymore. Being 'one of their own' was all a former nymph like her had in this scary modern world.
Pipp eventually discovered social media. It was amazing, this portal to a realm where hundreds of ponies could love her. Encourage her. Tell her she wore a pretty face. Even if she couldn't taste love in a world without magic, she could read the words and believe she belonged.
Then came magic's return. And with it, powers Pipp no longer wanted.
It had started small, with the eyes. But Pipp's body was unraveling more and more each day. Changelings weren't built to hold disguises forever, and Pipp had lived longer as a Pony than she'd shambled as a insect. She was also tasting love again. Some from followers during her livestreams, but more - so much more- from Zipp and Haven.
If guilt could shatter exoskeletons, Pipp would be a smudge on the castle carpet.
"I'm not a villain," Pipp insisted to no one. She flopped on her bed and regarded the uncaring ceiling. "I'm a liar, but I'm not a villain. I... I helped save the world didn't I?"
Not really, no. Sunny, Izzy, that cute colt whom Sunny drove crazy, they had been then real heroes. For crying out loud, even Zipp had contributed more to saving magic than Pipp had. Pipp Petals, starlet of Zephyr Heights had just been a tagalong. A hanger-on.
A fly on the wall.
Pipp burrowed under her expensive, satin blankets. It was sort of like burrowing under the dirt, except she wouldn't sleep for thousands of years this time. She'd only sleep for one night. Morning would come, and with it, maybe the courage to make a long overdue confession.
Pipp was not a villain. Just a coward and a liar. But that could change. Pipp could change into anything she wanted now.
A bug was in Princess Pipp's room. She'd chosen to stop ignoring it.