A Changeling That Changed

Immediately after Twilight saw the obvious answer to whether or not Merrick was allowed to stay she had started to make preparations to announce him to Ponyville. She knew it would be a big event as many of the ponies would probably be afraid of any, but she hoped they would trust her better judgment like usual. Within a matter of hours Pinkie Pie had gathered the entire town in front of the town hall, and Twilight had prepared herself speech to read to them. She had planned out the whole event in her head, and now all she hoped she would be able to calm the crowd down when they inevitably panicked.

Merrick stood behind the curtains on the stage, slightly peeking his head out between them. He looked nervously out at the crowd of ponies in front of him, a massive swarm of Ponyville residents. Many of them already knew him, not as Merrick the Changeling, but as just some random pegasus who liked to help out around town.

He was still disguised as that very pegasus, and he knew they'd probably accept him for who he was. These ponies were the kindest and most accepting creatures he'd ever met. But even with the knowledge that they were so friendly he was still scared. He was mostly afraid of how the town would react once he dropped the disguise and stood in front of them in his natural form.

What if they attacked him, or forced him out of the town?

He knew that probably wouldn't happen, these ponies were too nice, and Twilight had even assured him they would trust her and the rest of her friends judgment. But for some odd reason he couldn't shake the feeling that something would go wrong.

He shook the thought and looked back through the curtain.

He turned his head and took in the rest of the stage, Twilight stood behind of the podium straightening out flash cards, Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down with glee, and the rest of the six all stood to the side looking out on the crowd.

The town hall wasn't decorated in a fancy way; it wasn't even decorated at all. But that was exactly what Merrick wanted. He didn't want his announcement to be big. He wanted just a little announcement, to let them know, and to get everyone agreed on letting him stay there, and that's what him and Twilight had agreed on.

Twilight stood up tall and addressed the crowd.

"May I have your attention please everypony!" She called out to the crowd, a large smile on her face.

The crowd immediately hushed for the local princess. They always listened to what her and her friends had to say, and adored the friendship the six had always offered them. The town was at there beck and call simply for all the good they had done for them.

"Thank you." She said, levitating her flash cards up to begin her speech. "I know many of you are probably wondering why we called you here. I'd like to let you know before I start this speech that none of you are in any form of danger or trouble, and we are only here to ask for your well wishes with a recent development."

She paused for a moment to look out amongst the crowd. All eyes were staring intently at her, urging her to continue. A few ponies shifted uncomfortably here and there, and the occasional whisper shot through the crowd.

"As many of you may remember not too long ago Canterlot was invaded by an army of Changelings. You may also recall that is happened during my older brother's wedding." She paused again and looked out to the crowd waiting for an answer.

Everypony was still looking at her intently, and heads nodded in answer, urging her to continue.

"Now many ponies have a strong dislike for Changelings, and well the dislike is kind of justified and understandable. We don't know much about the race, but one thing we do know is they feed off of love, and are a potential threat, one that hides in lain sight. Well I am here to announce that we will be learning much more about them soon. I have started research on Changelings that will answer to you how they truly are, everything from anatomy, to powers, to seeing if they're able to love." She stopped again and took a breath, rearranging the flash cards. "I have discovered that the last part is true, I am here make a little announcement of introducing you to my research assistant, Merrick."

Merrick knew this was his cue and stepped out from behind the curtains, pegasus disguise still up. He bowed to crowd as the clopped their hooves together for him.

"The thing about Merrick however... is that many of you know him already," Twilight continued. "he has helped around the town for a long time, and many know him as a nameless pegasus. Well I'm here to tell you his secret, and I hope you will give us the benefit of the doubt and trust in our judgement."

The crowd looked at Merrick and then Twilight, everypony in it with varying expressions, mostly of confusion and worry.

"The thing about Merrick is..." She paused for a moment and took a deep breath in. "He is a Changeling." She stopped talking as Merrick stood next to her and began to change back to his natural form.

What really took seconds to do felt like an eternity to him as he slowly changed to his natural form in front of the entire town. He was extremely nervous, and he knew this one moment would make or break the rest of his life. The brilliant purple flash took over his body, changing him back into his natural form.

After what felt like a lifetime he finished turning back and looked out over the crowd.

There was mixed bag of reactions coming from the crowd. Someponies were afraid, someponies were angered, and other didn't even seem to care about it. From the looks of things it didn't seem like anypony was truly upset over those. There was no rioting and nopony had gone completely crazy yet, so obviously they weren't too affected.

They mostly seemed afraid.

Murmurs shot through the crowd as everyone expressed their discontent or lack thereof.

Twilight waited and let the news sink into them before she continued.

"Please quiet down everypony." She said gently, and surprisingly they listened. The crowd fell silent and stared at her once more. "The thing about Merrick is that he's... well... special. He appears to be a friendly Changeling, and well... he's learning how to love. Because of this we've decided he should live here." She said.

"I assure you he's different than most Changelings, and we're here to explain any questions you may have about him, this situation and let you know why we've come to the conclusion of letting him stay. All seven of us on the stage will now take any questions you may have."

As soon as she finished speaking hooves shot up all though out the crowd. The rest of the seven on the stage moved forward and prepared to answer all the questions. While Twilight knew this would take some time she was also very pleased that the crowd was willing to accept him.

They slowly began to explain the whole situation around him, and the process that led to the decision they had made. As they explained more the crowd seemed more and more accepting of the news, which came as a relief to all six ponies on the stage, and Merrick.

Slowly but surely everything was being sorted out, until the last few questions came up.

A mint colored hoof shot up from one side of the audience.

"Yes Lyra?" Twilight asked to the mare who had a worried expression on her face.

"So you're saying he won't try to kill us? He isn't evil?"

"I've answered this several times now Lyra." Twilight said, but she still answered with a smile. "He will not hurt you. He is helpful. He's even been living here for quite some time, longer than even some of you in the crowd. I know you may be afraid, but I need you to trust me when I see he is a friend to all of us."

Lyra sat back down, obviously satisfied with the answer. Another hoof shot up from somewhere across the crowd, this one a more green color.

"Question Rose?" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.

"So I get why he should stay here, and I'm willing to accept him as one of our own friends," The cream colored mare began. "but I want to know one thing: what do the other princesses think of him? How are they going to react to us having a Changeling here? What if they think we're trying to commit some form of treason, and imprison us all?" The mare grew more and more afraid as she asked the question.

"I can assure you that won't-" Twilight began to answer but was cut off.

"W-what if the princesses kill us all for treasons?!?!?" The mare shouted with an obviously fearful expression on her face.

"Rose!" Twilight screamed, causing the mare to jump in shock. "I promise you that the princesses trust my judgement, and I have already sent a letter to Princess Celestia. I am waiting for her response, and if she doesn't approve of him I will let him meet her and get her on our side. She will certainly see where we're coming from, and will most certainly not blame any of you."

Roseluck slowly sat down, obviously satisfied with the answer.

"So." Twilight said. "Do I have the approval of the rest of you?" She asked.

The crowd was silent for several moments, before a stallion in the back began to shout his approval. Slowly but surely the rest of the crowd began to show how they agreed with the decision to let him stay, and someponies even started cheering for him. They were shouting and hugging each other, and all seemed happy for the little but they had never even met before.

The mane six all sighed out of relief, while Merrick stood there staring out at the excited crowd, a confused look on his face.

Pinkie Pie slowly bounced over to him.

"What's wrong buddy? I thought you'd be happy about this!" The pink pony said cheerfully.

He stared at her confused.

"I am happy Pinkie Pie." He began. "I just don't get it. Why are they so happy?" He asked, tears of joy welling up in his eyes. The reaction of the crowd was the best possible thing he could have hoped for in his life.

"Isn't it obvious silly?" Pinkie said with a giggle, poking his nose a little. "They're happy for you!"

"For me? Why would they be happy for me, I've done nothing to earn their love and acceptance."

Pinkie Pie giggled again.

"Merrick when you got the approval of us six, that was practically enough to make the town love you. You're story however of being afraid of losing all of this." She waved a hoof around at the town. "Let them know how much you truly wanted to stay. I mean it's quite the convincing story. To them you're one of us now!"

She paused for a moment and hugged him. He was taken aback by the sudden gesture of affection.

"And we always feel happy for the accomplishments of one of our own."

Merrick didn't know what to say to that. He hadn't felt accepted his entire life, and now all of a sudden creatures he had never met before were cheering for him and happy he was one of their own.

He stood there stunned, a smile on his face. He reached out and returned the pink ponies hug, and began to cry on her shoulder. Tears of joy.

He was happier than he had ever been in his entire life. He stood there hugging her as the rest of the six ponies, his six friends, who had helped him achieve this, all congratulated him in their own special ways.

The whole thing was too much for him. He was overjoyed and filled with good emotions.

And the rush of warmth from the crowd let him know love was one of them.