A Changeling That Changed

Merrick walked through Ponyville, still using his typical disguise. He had a pack slung over his back that he had put his helmet inside, along with cupcakes he and Pinkie Pie had baked together. He himself couldn't eat them of course, but he could give them to somepony.

He was making his way towards Twilight's castle, eager to talk to her. He had not told her any interesting facts about Changelings, and he figured he should fix that. He was also trying to put off meeting with Applejack for as long as he could. He knew they would have to meet today, especially since it was only one in the afternoon, but he was hoping he could put it off until nighttime.

He continued walking, until he heard somepony yelling at him. A voice that sounded like it belonged to a filly.

"Get out of the way!" It screamed.

Merrick looked towards where it had come from too late, and three little fillies on a wagon and scooter crashed into him. They all sat there in the wreck, dazed for a moment.

Merrick quickly stood up and rushed over to them.

"I'm so sorry!" He said as he helped one of them, a young yellow earth pony, to her feet. "I didn't see you all coming!"

He helped up a young white unicorn next. The last one of the three was already up on her feet.

"It's alright." A young orange pegasus said. "I should really pay more attention to where I'm going." She took off her helmet and set it down next to the crashed wagon and scooter.

"Where were you three going in such a hurry?" Merrick asked.

"Well it's a long story, but to shorten it we were trying to get our cutie marks in bull chase stunt jumping." The orange pegasus said.

Merrick looked at the three of them quizzically. He was completely dumbfounded by this.

"What in the hay is bull chase stunt jumping? And, if I may ask, why would you want a cutie mark in such a thing?"

"You must not be from around here huh?" The yellow earth pony said. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusader! Or CMC for short. We've been tryin' to get our cutie marks for a mighty long time."

"And to be honest at this point I don't care what my cutie mark is, I just want one." The white unicorn said.

"Yeah." The other two fillies said in unison.

"So who are you anyway? And how long have you been here?" The yellow pony said.

"My name is M-" He stopped himself, and paused for a few second. The three fillies looked at him skeptically; the stop had seemed quite suspicious. "My name is..." He sighed a great length. "My name is Windy Wings."

The three crusaders started giggling.

"Yeah yeah laugh all you want." He muttered, thinking about how he and Pinkie Pie really should have thought of a better name.

"Wait a minute!" The yellow earth pony said, as if she had a groundbreaking revelation. "Mah sis told me your name! She said you'd probably be stoppin' by to visit her soon!"

"Your sister?" Merrick said. "Who might tha-" He stopped himself. He knew immediately.

"You must be Applejack's little sister!" He shouted. "And you!" He pointed to the white unicorn. "You HAVE to be related to Rarity! You guys are almost identical!"

He looked at the orange pegasus.

"I'm not really sure who you are..." He said.

"Well me and Rainbow Dash are like... sisters, but not actually related. It's sorta unofficial."

"Wow..." Merrick said in shock. "What are the odds that I run into the sisters of my new friends?!? What are your names?"

"Ahm Applebloom!" The earth pony said with a twang in her voice.

"Sweetie Belle!" The unicorn said with a squeak in her voice as it crack.

"And I'm Scootaloo!" The pegasus said proudly.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet the three of you." Merrick said happily. He opened up his pack, and withdrew a small box. He and Pinkie Pie had baked cupcakes while playing the board games. "Would you all like a cupcake? The sisters of my new friends should definitely have some!"

The three crusaders all walked forward to take one, except to unicorn who levitated it. She seemed to struggle slightly at doing so, as if she was still new to using magic.

"Thank you!" The three said with glee as they bit into the cupcakes.

"Woah these are good!" Scootaloo said. "Did you make these? They taste almost like Pinkie Pie made them!"

"Well you're close!" Merrick laughed. "I made them with Pinkie Pie! I'm becoming quite close friends with those six ponies. You know the six elements. I was actually just on my way to meet with Princess Twilight to help with her research. I've still never really talked to the yellow pegasus, and then I'm stopping by your farm little filly!" He said the last part to Applebloom.

"Maybe you could put in a good word with her for me?" He said jokingly. "I'm afraid your sister doesn't like me very much."

"Sure thing Mr Windy Wings!" Applebloom said while attempting to wipe the frosting off her lips.

"Why thank you very much!" He said. "Now I must be on my way! I need to go see Princess Twilight! Maybe you should try earning your cutie marks in drivers' education so you can get better at controlling that thing!" He said the last part jokingly as he walked away.

"Goodbye Mr Windy Wings! Thanks for the cupcake!" They called.

"Wait a minute!" Applebloom said. "Drivers' education is a brilliant idea! Come on Scootaloo you're gonna teach me and Sweetie how to drive this thing!" She said as she ran over to the wrecked scooter.

*                                                                            *                                                                                              *

Merrick walked into the large crystal castle, and was greeted by the sight of Spike sitting on the floor eating gems. He looked at the young dragon and turned back into his natural form.

"Hello... Spike I believe?" He said. "Where is Twilight?"

Spike looked up at him, still eating his gems, enjoying every second of it, and casually pointed back towards the Twilight time room he had sat in when he first met her. Merrick nodded his head and walked to the door. He saw Twilight sitting in the back of the room, reading a book.

"Princess Twilight!" He called out, causing her to jump out of her seat.

"Merrick!" She said. "You scared me! What are you doing here, shouldn't you be with Fluttershy?"

"Well I thought I would tell you some of the things I've learned! I wrote down several pages of notes of interesting facts on Changelings, and other things that I figure out by spending time with your friends!"

"Why don't you it give me the notes for now?" Twilight said with a smile. "You can tell me all the interesting facts at a later time. For now I'd like to examine notes! I hope that's alright!" She said the last part sincerely.

"It's quite all right Princess Twilight!" Merrick said cheerfully. He walked over to her and withdrew the notes, along with the box of cupcakes. He handed her the notes, and then stood there for a moment as he fumbled around with the box.

"Would you like a cupcake?" He said cheerily while holding out the box. "Me and Pinkie Pie baked them, and I thought sharing them with my new friend would be the best thing to do!" He paused for a moment. "That is what friends do right?"

Twilight giggled at him. A Changeling who didn't know about friendship? It was pretty much her duty as Princess of Friendship to teach him about it. How could she possibly send him away?

"Yes Merrick!" She said. She giggled again. "That is what friends do!"

She slowly levitated one out of the pouch and to her mouth. She took a bite out of it, and then stared in amazement.

"Wow these are delicious!" She exclaimed, food still in her mouth. "You and Pinkie Pie make a great baking team!"

She took another bite while he stood there shifting uncomfortably. She looked at him, and saw him move from side to side. She sensed there was something on his mind.

"Is something wrong?" She asked with concern.

"Well..." He began to say it, but quickly stopped. "It's nothing."

"Merrick you can tell me anything." she said sincerely. "That's what friends are for!"

"Well..." He began again while she took another bite of cupcake. "It's just that... whenever I'm around you ponies... the four of you who are now my friends... I just feel so... warm and tingly inside. Something I've never felt before. I talked to Miss Rarity about it, and she said that it was love. But I thought love was a sign of romance?"

"That sounds like love to me!" Twilight said casually. "But more of a friendship kind of love! I mean love is an intricate thing. You can love somepony in a friendly manner, or in a romantic way. It sounds to me like you're learning to-"

She stopped talking, as she made a realization, and her mouth slowly gaped open. The cupcake fell to the floor as she sat there in a shocked silence.

"Was it that bad?" Merrick said after several moments, gesturing to the half of a cupcake on the floor.

Twilight sat in shock for a few more moments before shaking her head around, trying to get her wits about her.

"The cupcake was fine Merrick." She said softly. She sat there calmly for a few moments, before she jumped out of the chair and hugged him. "But... You! A Changeling! You're learning to love!"

She pulled out a quill and a pad of notes from a nearby drawer. She quickly sat back down in her chair, and levitated another quickly over that she slid underneath him.

"This is a major breakthrough! Changelings can learn to love!?!? This is amazing! You must tell me more!"

"Well..." He said as she looked at him expectantly. "I feel like I- I guess it's love- you four. The four if you who I've met. You're all so... amazing! When I'm around you I get this feeling... like I really care about you. It's a sorta... warm feeling."

"That sounds like love to me. Maybe not in a romantic way, but it sounds like you're learning to love us... as your friends."

"But not only do I feel this slight warm feeling..." He continued.

"Go on." Twilight said gently. "What other feeling is it?"

"I feel this love for my new friends. You girls. But... whenever I'm around one of you... it feels... so much stronger. Does that mean something?"

"How much stronger? Around who?" She asked. "Describe the feeling!"

"Well... whenever I'm around Pinkie Pie... I feel... warm and tingly. Like a burning passion inside of me. I think... I think that maybe I love her."

Twilight sat silently for a moment, allowing the thoughts to process through her brain.

"Merrick..." She said. "I- I think you do indeed love Pinkie Pie... in a romantic way."

Merrick stood there uncomfortably. This was the second time somepony had told him such a thing. Could he?

"Rarity said the same thing." He said meekly. "B-but I think it's just a stronger... friendly love. I don't think Changelings are capable of romance. I don't think I'm in love with her romantically!"

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "Perhaps you're not only learning to love ponies as friends, but also to romantically love ponies. Maybe you do romantically love Pinkie Pie?"

"I- I don't know..." Merrick said. "Maybe I do. She's an amazing pony. But I think it's just... friendly. I don't feel like I want to be with her or anything... Just that I want to be as close as possible with her. As friendly as I can."

He looked down at the ground uncomfortably.

"You know what it sounds like to me Merrick?" Twilight said softly.

Merrick looked back up at her expectantly.

"It sounds like you love her. As an extremely close friend. She was the first one of us you met, and you probably care about her more than you know. It seems like you love her like a sister. Like she's so close to you that it feels like if you share the special bind of being related."

Merrick thought about it for a moment. He did love her. A lot. But in a very caring and compassionate way, not romantically. Perhaps she did feel like a sister to him. Like....

"Like... best friends?" He said with a happy tone in his voice.

"Exactly!" Twilight said with a smile. "That's how I feel about all my best friends!"

"Y-yes!" He said happily. "I started to feel the same about a Rarity after she helped me today, and well... I slightly feel that way about you!" He realized what the feeling was.

"Then maybe you think of us as your best friends!" She said with a giggle. His excitement made her happy.

"And I feel the same about Rainbow Dash! It- It feels like you're all my best friends!" He said.

"That's a good thing Merrick! But you know... you do have two more best friends to make." She said with a smile.

Merrick looked at her confused, and then his eyes widened as he realized what she meant.

"Yes!" He exclaimed as he jumped up. He began wrapping up the box of cupcakes and putting them back into his bag. "Yes I have two best friends to make! I'll make sure they can be my best friends, and then you ponies and that dragon could have an eighth best friend!" He paused for a moment. "I hope you can accept me as such."

"Of course we can!" Twilight said happily. "I think me and Pinkie Pie already think of you as such!"

"Thank you Twilight! Thank you for your help!" He ran over and hugged her.

"Goodbye Twilight! I'll tell you some things about Changelings in the future okay? I have two new best friends to make!"

He smiled at her and quickly walked away, eager to meet Fluttershy and make amends with Applejack

"Goodbye Merrick!" She yelled back while waving.

He disguised himself before walking out the door, and then started to make his way towards Fluttershy's cottage.

"Wow..." Twilight thought to herself. "I definitely want someone as happy as him as my new best friend."

She looked at the notes for a moment, before looking at the cupcake. She started to think about it again.

"It looks like a Changeling really can learn to love."