-Changeling^2

Chapter 4: I Have a What?

The Apple family was well known throughout all of Equestria for their orchard. It stretched out over twenty-five acres, and held nearly five hundred apple trees per five acres. The unplucked apples accented the green leaves with a shiny red gleam. At the base of all the woodwork, the grass stood untouched, sparkling with their fruit counterparts from the morning dew.

Running through the orchard was more refreshing than it was physically taxing. Applejack and the changeling had made their way back to the farm with little difficulty. The short legs of the changelings transformed body made it difficult to keep up with the large pony after a while. Her patting breath was evident to Applejack, who motioned to aid the changeling up the upcoming hill.

“No, No, I’m fine. Just how much farther is it?”

“Actually, were here on the farm. The barn is through the southern orchard.”

The changeling struggled her way up the hill. Her running path was clumsy and discontinuous. Will alone carried her atop the hill. Every step became a small victory, a constant reassurance of self-actualization. The curve gradually decreased from eighty-five degrees, to eighty, to seventy, eventually reaching zero.

Aloft the hill stood a proud changeling. Looking behind her, the sight was a beaut. Elongated grassland landscape that her footsteps had donned, brought a smile to her sweat covered face.  She rotated her body. In front of her laid, an even longer stretch of orchard.

“Now we can take it a little slow; nopony from town should be able to see us from here.” Applejack noted, swiping some sweat of her brow.

“We could walk slower or. . .” The changeling quickly jumped onto Applejack’s back. “Giddyup little pony!”

“What happened to being fine?”

“All I remember is you offering to help me. Now I’m taking you up on the offer.”

Applejack sighed, but decided not to fight against it. Easily, she carried both her body weight and her passenger. She galloped around each tree with novel grace, only occasionally bumping into the solid tree bark. A yelp escaped the changelings mouth at a particularly close call concerning a tree. Applejack turned her worried gaze to her passenger, who chortled at the expression. A less than kind buck ceased the guttural laughing.

The front doors staggered open, creaking every second of the way. The sparsely lit living room warmly invited the duo in. There were three chairs in the room. One being a large, red, three cushioned sofa. Another being a single cushioned green chair. The third was solitary rocking chair. They were split into three different regions in the room. The aforementioned red sofa lined itself directly under the staircase, on the eastern well. The rocking chair sat next to a large fireplace on the western wall. The northern part of the room was occupied by the large green chair with a single lamp over it.

Applejack gently put her changeling friend on the red seated sofa. Said changeling looked around and smiled an unsure smile.

“Tell me, what are we gonna do now?”

“Well I was thinkin--”

“That’s dangerous.”

“Shut up. Anyway, I was thinkin’ that we should introduce you to my family as soon as possible. The last thing that we want to happen is for the news of what happened in Canterlot to spread before they knew the truth.” Applejack nodded her head at her own comment.

“Why don’t why don’t we just tell all of Ponyville then?” The changeling inquired, quirking her dark forehead skin.

“Because, ponies from Canterlot came back to Ponyville with us last night. I’m pretty sure they didn’t stay quiet about the invasion.” Applejack answered.

“Hmm, okay, should I know anything about your family before I meet them?”

“Only that Apple Bloom gets kind of excited around new ponies, so expect a few questions. And that Big Mac might be a little protective of us, he’s always been a stick in the mud about ‘treatin’ mares with respect. Also Granny might be a little difficult to win over. She’s one for followin’ tradition to a fault.”

“Don’t you think that was important concerns to maybe tell me beforehoof?”

“I thought I did back at town hall? But I still don’t see the problem.”

“You made it seem like it was nothing back there, but now it’s a legitimate concern! So I need to to know what’s going on before I actually do something. Going into a situation ignorant is a good way to get yourself hurt or worse! ”

“Don’t be so worried, all you need to know is just what I told you. Just that and nothin’ else.”

“I’m glad it’s ‘Just that’.” The changeling said sarcastically, holding back a sneer.

“Cut down on the attitude will you? If we can’t make this work, then there will be consequences.” Applejack responded furrowing her brow, carrying a hint of worry in her voice.

“Is punishment going to be another kick in the face?”

“Now that’s just not fair.”

“Neither was treating me like luggage.”

“What’s gotten into you all of the sudden? I thought you were happy coming here?”

“I am it’s just, it’s all just a little intimidating.”

“Intimidatin’?”

“Put yourself in my horseshoes Applejack. I’m in a completely new place where most ponies this morning probably want to throw me into a dungeon until I’m dust. My old family definitely wants to kill me. I’m bunking with a mare that nearly bucked my brain to next week. Not to mention, her family that is just as strong as her, has a high possibility of mimicking her actions. I apologize if I have a bit of anxiety!” The changeling growled, large amounts of oxygen moving in and out of her mouth.

Applejack took a step back. Her furrowed brow melted off her face. Instead, her large green eyes showed a look of extreme hurt. The cowboy hat on her head shielded an extended look at the changeling. Only the dust in the dim sunlight seemed to move throughout the room.

“You know, I was wondering if something was eating at you.” Applejack whispered, her face still covered by her hat. “I guess I was just being foolish to think you had forgiven me that easily. You have all the right in the world to be angry with me right now, but I’m asking you to not be. My family are good ponies, and there’s no way they would hurt you like I did. If you don’t forgive me, I will live with that, but I’m pleading, give them a chance.” Her words spilled out, broken yet comprehensible.

The changeling looked into her friends eyes, fighting the near overwhelming urge to avert her gaze. A twinge of guilt pinched a few times at her heart. Her attempts at steeling herself ended in just melting her further. Without a word, the changeling gathered herself and joined her friend. She stood close to Applejack, their eyes never parting. Her neutral expression changed into a smile that grew bigger by the second.

The farm mare chuckled, wiping the emotion off of her face. She then put the previously used hoof around the back part of the changelings neck. Applejack brought her friend in close.

“Do you hug everypony multiple times a day, or am I just special?” The changeling inquired shyly, trying to hide her face beneath her friends blonde mane.

“You are very special.” Applejack replied simply, not helping the discoloration on her friends face.

“And when were you goin’ to introduce us to this special pony?” An elderly voice asked just above the two.

Applejack separated from the changeling, who frowned with a small shiver. The farm mare looked up at her family regaining her composure. Her little sister was the most confused in the group, while her grandmother smiled brightly, and her brother was completely apathetic.

“Uh, good morning everypony. I want you to welcome my new friend. She has nowhere else to stay, so I was wonderin’ if she could bunk her for a while.” Applejack quickly elaborated.

"Applejack there's a changeling right next to you!" Apple Bloom shrieked, pointing an accusing hoof.

"Yeah I know Apple Bloom. She's my new friend."

"But she was one of those bugs that attacked the wedding. They tried to--"

"That's water under the bridge Apple Bloom. End of conversation."

"But Applejack. . ."

"I said end of conversation. I trust her, and that's all there is to it." Applejack said stomping her hoof in finality. The changeling standing behind her smiled.

"Ahem, last time I checked, I made the decisions around here." Granny Smith interjected, making Applejack sweat. “While it's a little concernin' about the young-in's past, if you say she's a good pony, I trust you Applejack. If your friend needs a place, I’m sure we could make some room.” Granny Smith said bearing a mood lifting grin. "Are you going to introduce us officially?”

“Oh, Granny Smith, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, this here is. . . um. . .”

“Is something wrong Applejack?”

“No it’s just, I never learned her name.” Applejack said sheepishly, turning to her friend. “So what is your name?”

“I don’t have one.”

“How can you not have a name?”

“When you’re in a horde, individuality isn’t high on the priority list.”

“Well that’s a problem now isn’t it?” Granny Smith said descending the stairs with the rest of the Apples, ignoring the horde explanation. She stood at the base of the stairs, while maintaining eye contact with  the changeling. “During your stay, I’m sure we can fix that problem. However, I was wondering, since you aren’t too busy, would you mind lending a hoof? You see, we’re kind of behind on the apple count this year. We always count the apples on the trees so we know which trees are bearing a proper amount. An extra pony counting would make it easier.”

The changeling vehemently nodded her head. Granny Smith beamed a smile at the small black insect. The old mare motioned to the changeling to come over, in which the changeling obliged. Applejack followed behind, her heart beating a lot slower than it was a few seconds ago. Big Mac and Apple Bloom were at the tail of the family train, while they headed out to the orchard. They were significantly less comfortable than the rest of the family.

A heightened pace allowed the group to move quicker, and reach their destination sooner. They stood atop a large hill that had an overlook of the entire farm. Granny and the changeling stood side by side as the former explained a few things about her families apples, and what it was she wanted the shape shifter to do. The changeling absorbed everything like a thirsty sponge.

The apple siblings stood off to the side, Big Mac stood with Apple Bloom on his back and Applejack to his side. Dampness from the shimmering grass adorned the hooves of the older siblings, who began to conversate with each other. Apple Bloom yawned and tentatively sauntered to the new friend her sister had made.

“How did you do that?”

“It wasn’t difficult. Just a simple algorithm allowed me to estimate the sum total.”

“What are you two talkin’ about?” Apple Bloom interjected, nudging Granny Smith with her small yellow hoof.

“I was going to have Applejack’s friend start with a tree I already knew the count for. Just to show her how to count it quickly. But before I could show her a thing. . . How did you do that again?” The elder inquired, still perplexed.

“I just saw numbers popping up in my head, it all seemed to just fit together. There’s no other way I can really explain it.” The changeling tried to elaborate.

Apple trees, especially in this orchard, bear quite a lot of fruit per tree. Mostly the apples grew on the outer edge of the tree, due to the increased sunlight exposure. There are traces of the red fruit inside the tree, but it varies between each tree. Really the only way to tell how many are on the inside, is to count them yourself.

Big Mac and Applejack continued to talk about a few short, innocuous, subject matter. Everything from chores to friendships status’s. The former held a brief “Q and A” session, the sister asking if the task/job was going to be done, and her brother answered with a single word answer. The dichotomy changed when the latter subject matter was covered.

“Do you know Zecora?”

“Eeyup.”

“I figured when I saw you going into the Everfree Forest, it’s good to see you have a friend you can talk to. I was startin’ to believe that you would never branchout.” Applejack elbowed her brother friendly, which he noted with a small smile. The farm mare then focused her attention on her newest friend and the attention she was gathering. “What’s all of the fuss over. I look over one minute and everypony is getting along fine, and the next it looks like your eyes were about to fall out of your head.”

“Applejack, your friend was able to count all the apples on the tree by barely looking at it.” Apple Bloom excitedly exclaimed.

“Stop, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a thing I’ve had since I was larva.” The changeling said blushing and poking the ground with her hoof.

“Can you do anything else like that?” Apple Bloom said with eyes shining with interest.

“I’ve always just been good with all kinds of math. It’s strange though because we were never taught any mathematics, but it really is nothing.”

“C’mon you shouldn’t think about your talent like that. I’d do anything to find out mine.”

“You really think it’s that special?”

“Of course!”

“Well, I guess it is something I’m good at then.”

“That’s right, you shouldn’t sell yourself short. If you have a gift you should. . . you should. . .“ Applejack trailed off staring at the flank of her friend. Wordlessly, the rest of the Apples followed suit.

“Guys this is kind of weird.” The changeling commented, squirming nervously under the gaze of her surrogate family.

“L-L-Look at your flank.” Applejack stuttered pointing at said backside.

The changeling quirked her facial muscles into looking like an eyebrow raise. Still suspicious she turned herself around and looked at her own backside. Blackness covered the area, which was the norm. But it was then that the form caught her eye. A white figure showed itself to it’s owner in the form of a sideways eight. Apple Bloom was the only who could break the silence.

“You have a cutie mark!”