We can Change..... Right?by FeatherdanceChaptersChapter One: DecisionsChapter Two: The Job *insert scary music*Chapter Three: Getting StartedChapter One: DecisionsDecisions Queen Chrysalis paced around on the hot desert sand. They had been banished for years now. She and some of her elite drones, the only females, had come up with a plan. They would send the most trained changeling to Ponyville, a town with lots of love (from the readings her drones got), and she would try to feed off of love the good way. Love directed towards her. It would be healthy for both. Chrysalis had learned that trying to force love would end them up like this. Most of her changelings would die, and they were only surviving because the mass amounts of love Chrysalis had stored in case of this. In case of defeat. Three months later Drone A-1 was ready. She was on the outskirts of Ponyville. She brought her saddlebag out and checked her inventory. Three pretty big bags of bits (who knows how Chrysalis got those), a vial of liquid love in case of emergency, and a list. A-1 arranged the stuff a little bit so it didn't bulge, and then took out her list. Your name is Shimmer Dapple You decide what you look like Remember your mission Come back when you are successful Don't let the hive down She looked wistfully at the piece of paper. Chrysalis's elegant writing would be the last thing to remind her of home. Shimmer Dapple pushed the thought away. She began drawing in the dirt with her hoof. it was a pony. She first drew an elegantly curved mane, along with diamond shaped eyes that looked like the ones the beautiful white pony had. She decided her eyes would be a deep shade of green. A-1, no, Shimmer Dapple, was reminded of her Queen's eyes when she drew these. Another link to the Changeling kingdom. She also drew a slender body with tall, limber legs. Her tail was long, swishy, and curled here and there. She decided that these would be golden and red striped. Her cutie mark.... Since her name was Shimmer Dapple, she drew herself with a sparkling feather on her flank. Oh! As long as her cutie mark was a feather, she added on long graceful wings to the sketch. Now she could fly. But no horn... She thought sadly. She decided against it. Only rulers had horns, and she wasn't one. So Shimmer Dapple stood back to admire her work. She thought for a moment. Coat color. She racked her mind. She picked a shade of sunset gold. Putting it together on her brain, she got exactly what she wanted. Her horn flared up with a poisonous green magic, and she was engulfed in flames. As the fire died down, a full fledged Shimmer Dapple took a few steps on her new legs and stretched her wings. She was satisfied, so Shimmer (as she would now call herself for short) folded her wings once, twice, thrice, and then flared out her wings and took off. Shimmer was glad for the sleek wings, which powered her better than her changeling wings. Her old wings were full of holes. She found what looked like the center of town and landed gracefully. No one seemed to be outside, so she walked around for a bit until she came to a huge tree with a double door in it. It looked occupied, so she would come here to learn about pony social status and whatsoever. Knock. Knock. The door opened to show a beautiful purple alicorn. "Hello? Welcome to Ponyville's library. How can I help you?" Shimmer hesitated. "Um... I'm.. new to town. Can you help.. me... I mean, do you know if there is a place that I can stay around here?" The alicorn said after a moment,"Sure! I love to help. I'm Twilight Sparkle, but please, call me Twilight!" A small smile graced Shimmer's muzzle, as she felt kindness, which was almost as good as love, radiate off of her. She drank in a little of the excess, feeling new magic come to her. Shimmer closed her eyes for a few seconds before replying, "Thanks. I'm Shimmer Dapple, but I guess you can call me Shimmer." Twilight Sparkle then said,"I'll show you around town, and we can pick up something to eat and drink, if you're hungry?" The last part was a question, to which Shimmer answered, "Yeah, I guess I'm pretty hungry. And also thirsty." Which was a complete lie. She fed off of love, not food. But changelings had stomachs, and even though when filled with food did nothing, she did want to try some. Even though she was full, with love and kindness. Twilight interrupted her train of thought by saying,"Here's a good place to eat. How about I'll order for you?" Shimmer nodded and sat down on a bed of hay. When the food arrived five minutes later, Shimmer hesitantly tasted the daffodil sandwich. Seeing that it was delicious, she finished it off quickly. Twilight Sparkle finished about the same time as Shimmer did. She decided to order wheat smoothies for the both of them, and Shimmer once again found that it was fantastic. This time, she wanted to savor it, but found it too hard, and gulped down the wonderful drink. She made sure to wipe her muzzle after that. Twilight had told her that she got smoothie and sandwich on various parts of her mouth. After Shimmer made sure her muzzle was clean, she said,"So can you show me somewhere to stay?" As Twilight finished the smoothie, she though for a little. Then she perked up and said, "The Pony's Palace Apartment Place is just around the corner. You could stay there." Shimmer thanked Twilight. She then said, "And, is there a place that I could earn some bits?" Twilight thought for a minute. "My friend, Rarity. I think she could use a hoof. I'll show you as soon as you get an apartment and such." Shimmer and Twilight walked side by side until they reached the apartment buildings. Twilight said,"Well, this is the place. I don't know why there would be apartments in this small town, but, here they are." Shimmer walked in and located the front desk. "I'm looking for an opening. Do you have any?" The chocolate brown mare at the desk replied, "Actually, yes, we do. It's 200 bits a month." Shimmer was happy. There was more than that in half of her bags. She was given the key to her apartment, and as soon as it was out of the other mare's hand, she was already halfway to the stairs. Upon reaching her room, she dumped her stuff on the couch, not pausing to examine her room. She went back outside and locked the door. She looked around to make sure nopony was there, and quick as a flash, she turned into a changeling and ripped a hole in the doormat with her sharp teeth. She once again looked around to make sure there were no witnesses, and quickly changed back into Shimmer Dapple. She calmly walked down the stairs and out of the front door. Shimmer was surprised to find her friend waiting for her. Twilight looked at her and said, "Now let's go and find Rarity." Shimmer was confused. "Um.. Why?" To get you a job, of course!" Chapter Two: The Job *insert scary music*Chapter Two: The Job *insert scary music* The Job *insert scary music* Shimmer followed Twilight Sparkle until they reached a round building with purple decorations on it. Shimmer looked at Twilight. She had a concentrated expression on her face and said nothing. I wonder what's going on in there. Probably a lot. Shimmer shook her head to clear the thoughts od into Twilight when she suddenly stopped. "Here it is! Follow me inside and we can talk to Rarity!" Twilight said, motioning for Shimmer to follow with one of her wings. "Okay. But, um, what will I be doing?" Shimmer asked curiously. "Well, Rarity is a dress designer, so I assume you might be a model sometimes, or run small errands around the shop." "Oh. Thanks, now I have an idea of what to do." Shimmer told Twilight gratefully. Twilight knocked on the door. "This might take a while, since she might be in what you would call 'the zone'. Oh, right, I can see that you're confused. I'll explain. Rarity sometimes gets into a really deep period of concentration. It can take five minutes for her to notice someone knocking on the door." As she finished saying that, she looked at the door again, and knocked a little bit louder. Twilight muttered something under her breath and used her magic to create what looked like... a megaphone? She quickly told Shimmer to cover her ears before pulling the trigger once. The megaphone emitted a loud blaring sound, plus a yelp of surprise from inside the shop. The door opened quickly and a beautiful white unicorn mare stepped out of the shop. "Welcome to Carousel Botique! How may I help you?" Upon resting her eyes on the purple mare, she then continued, "Oh. Twilight, what a pleasant surprise! Oh, I see you've brought a friend. I haven't seen her before, is she not from town?" Twilight Sparkle replied,"Yes, actually. This is Shimmer. Shimmer, this is my friend Rarity. Anyways, Shimmer here was looking for a job, and I thought you might need a hand, as you seen to be busy what with all the new customers. Rarity thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose we can try you out for a bit. I hope you're flexible with schedules." "Alright, Rarity. I'll leave you and Shimmer to discuss the job." Shimmer stepped inside. "Wow, this is a great shop! Anyways, what about the pay?" Rarity thought for a moment. "How about 100 bits a week?" Shimmer only nodded, trying to take in all of the shop. Rarity then started to show her the various areas of the shop, and said that sometimes she'd need to fly up to the high shelves to get stuff. Shimmer took it all in stride, then flew around the room a few times to get the feel of it. "So when can you start?" Rarity's voice stopped her train of thought." "Hmmm... how about tomorrow?" Shimmer responded. "All right! 9:00 A.M. sharp! Remember that! Oh, and you need to pack your own lunch." "Wait. Can I just go out somewhere to get munch, or do I have to stay in shop?" "Well now that I think about it, I guess you can go out and buy lunch, but only as long as you come right back because sometimes customers come in at that hour." "Thanks. I'll be sure to drop in!" Shimmer said with a wave and a smile. She exited the shop without a backwards glance. I need to go home and rest. This has really tired me out. Shimmer walked down the road, and suddenly remembering that se had wings took off in the direction of her apartment. She entered the building at slow flutter, then dropped onto her hooves. The quickly climbed the stairs, hooked out the key with one of her wings, and unlocked the door. Once she got in, she placed the key on a table by the door. Shimmer decided to leave the door unlocked, and went to inspect her house. "Pretty clean," she thought aloud. Shimmer entered the bedroom. Pretty big bed. There were two end tables. She next decided to take a look at the bathroom. Seeing that is was satisfactory, she went out to the living room and picked up er saddlebags. She decided to do this in her bedroom. Gingerly putting down the bags she removed a vial full of black liquid. Liquid love. One drop and I'll be good as new. Or maybe not even. Shimmer carefully let half a drop drip out of he bottle and ono her tongue. Immediately she felt like she had just taken a cold bath. But better. Shimmer was refreshed and ready to go. She decided to go and check the time. 6:00 P.M. So she still had about two and a half hours of sunlight. Shimmer was feeling a bit empty. This was uncommon. Then she realized it was her stomach. Shimmer went out the door and put her key in the hiding spot and went out to find somewhere to eat. She walked around for a bit until she came to the place she had lunch at. A waiter came up to the table. "What can I get for you?" "A daisy sandwich and a strawberry smoothie please." The white stallion quickly repeated it once over and went to the kitchen. After about five minutes, her meal had arrived. Shimmer found herself gulping down the food. She then wiped her muzzle clean and checked the menu. So I need to bay ten bits... She left that amount on the table and returned home. Shimmer found her eyes getting heavier by the minute, so she locked the door behind her and headed to her room. Once there, she snuggled under the covers and was out like a light. Chapter Three: Getting StartedGetting Started Shimmer woke up to a loud buzzing. Damn, that thing is loud! She got up and looked around for the noise. After a while, she realized that it was coming from her saddlebags. Freaky. When did I put a communicator in there? She thought, realizing the sound. Shimmer carefully opened the bag and saw that her list was glowing bright green and vibrating. She delicately levitated it with a shade of green that matched her scroll. Opening it, she realized that it was from Chrysalis. "Drone A-1, this is a message from the kingdom. We need love fast. The liquid I gave to you was over half of my stores. I'll tell you how to liquidize love and kindness of you ever have any in reservoir. First, you should need to have a full amount in storage. You next need a glass vial and stopper. If that wasn't clear, a stopper of glass too. You need you compress your storage, and you'll feel it happening. Then use a simple casting out spell. That's a drawing in spell, but reversed. Aim your focus at the bottle, and it will appear. If it spills, you MUST consume it. It is no longer able to bottle. Now, liquid love will be black. Liquid kindness will shimmer and change colors. To send back, you need only wrap the vial in the scroll and think of me. It will automatically appear in a vault I have stored, and all will be well. But we can't live long if you don't find something quick. I remind you, it is rather painful to produce liquid love, so it will take up almost all of your energy. And it will only amount to a little. Love vapor can't be bottled, so don't take a shortcut. Farewell for now, Drone A-1." Shimmer paused for a moment, taking in what she had said. Why can't we live off of me sending? She shook the thought away. Putting her stuff back, she set the saddlebags on her end table. Shimmer picked up her vial of love and let a drop of the savory liquid fall into her mouth. Feeling a new energy come to life, she decided to go clean up. Wait! The time! Shimmer checked the clock that was hanging on the wall. It read 6:30 A.M. I'm up early. At least it's light out. Shimmer went down the hall into the bathroom and jumped at her reflection. In the middle of the night, she had reverted to changeling form. That wasn't expected. Shimmer pushed the thought away as she changed into Shimmer. She quickly brushed her teeth and put on a smile. Today was going to be good. The golden mare trotted off to her bedroom to put some bits in a small pouch that she had conjured up. Let's see... twenty bits should be enough. She safely tied the light pouch onto her neck and went out to the living room. There was a mirror that she could see every part of herself with. She went in and inspected herself, making sure that she was not different looking from last night. Shimmer saw no difference. She trotted out the door before going back in and adding her liquid love to the pouch. She made the ouch a little bigger, too, so she could by glass vials. Realizing that she needed a bigger yet pouch, she emptied out her bags's contents on the bed. Shimmer brought her saddlebags over to her and began to sort. she put the bits into one bag and put the bag on the right of the saddlebag. She put her vial of love in the other side, along with some parchment that she had found in a drawer last night. She also put in a quill from the same drawer. The rest of her saddlebags' contents were stashed under the bed. Shimmer made her bedsheets so that they draped to the floor. Satisfied, Shimmer once again checked the time. Only half an hour had passed. She decided to go outside anyways. Upon doing so, she dropped her saddlebags on the bench and flew into the sky. She had always loved flying. When she did it, her wings seemed to shimmer with speed. Hence she chose a shimmering feather as cutie mark. Anyways, right now, she let the wind guide her. Shimmer did twirls and figure eights in the air, and most of the time she was content to soar across the sky. When she finally did land, she checked the time by the huge clock in the middle of town. 8:45. She silently cursed herself and flew towards Rarity's place, hoping she'd make it in time. Shimmer arrived at the front door and knocked at precisely the opening time. Rarity opened the door and let Shimmer in. "Hello, it's nice to see that you're on time." "Um... thanks?" That came out as a question rather that a statement. Rarity shook her head in knowing. They're always shy. "You will be modeling some dresses for me right now." Rarity said with a smile. "Okay," replied Shimmer, a smile set on her features." She let Rarity guide her towards the modeling stand. "Here's the first dress." Shimmer inspected it. It was a red dress with silver beads on it. There was golden lace in curls all around the collar. Shimmer complimented Rarity on the piece of art. "It's...well... stunning! I can't believe you did this by yourself! Did you even use a sewing machine? I can't believe it!" Shimmer exclaimed. This caught Rarity by surprise. "I'm glad you like it. Now I'd like it if you tried it on to model." Rarity put some stress on the word "I'd" as she said it. Shimmer nodded sheepishly and went behind the changing curtain. She came back out looking killer in the dress. "I just knew you'd love this! Oh, I must see to the length though!" Rarity muttered the last part to herself. Shimmer, however, overheard this. "The length is fine. It's only too short for me because I'm taller than most ponies around me." Shimmer said this with a half-hearted smile. Then she noticed kindness radiating from the white unicorn. She quickly picked up all of it. Rarity didn't seen to notice. "Well, I'll get out my camera. You do look smashing in that!!" Rarity almost shouted. Shimmer laughed nervously. Oh, boy. This is going to take a while. -An uncountable number of dresses later- "Are we done yet?" complained Shimmer. Rarity chuckled at her pleading voice. "No, no dear. We're just getting started!"
Chapter One: DecisionsDecisions Queen Chrysalis paced around on the hot desert sand. They had been banished for years now. She and some of her elite drones, the only females, had come up with a plan. They would send the most trained changeling to Ponyville, a town with lots of love (from the readings her drones got), and she would try to feed off of love the good way. Love directed towards her. It would be healthy for both. Chrysalis had learned that trying to force love would end them up like this. Most of her changelings would die, and they were only surviving because the mass amounts of love Chrysalis had stored in case of this. In case of defeat. Three months later Drone A-1 was ready. She was on the outskirts of Ponyville. She brought her saddlebag out and checked her inventory. Three pretty big bags of bits (who knows how Chrysalis got those), a vial of liquid love in case of emergency, and a list. A-1 arranged the stuff a little bit so it didn't bulge, and then took out her list. Your name is Shimmer Dapple You decide what you look like Remember your mission Come back when you are successful Don't let the hive down She looked wistfully at the piece of paper. Chrysalis's elegant writing would be the last thing to remind her of home. Shimmer Dapple pushed the thought away. She began drawing in the dirt with her hoof. it was a pony. She first drew an elegantly curved mane, along with diamond shaped eyes that looked like the ones the beautiful white pony had. She decided her eyes would be a deep shade of green. A-1, no, Shimmer Dapple, was reminded of her Queen's eyes when she drew these. Another link to the Changeling kingdom. She also drew a slender body with tall, limber legs. Her tail was long, swishy, and curled here and there. She decided that these would be golden and red striped. Her cutie mark.... Since her name was Shimmer Dapple, she drew herself with a sparkling feather on her flank. Oh! As long as her cutie mark was a feather, she added on long graceful wings to the sketch. Now she could fly. But no horn... She thought sadly. She decided against it. Only rulers had horns, and she wasn't one. So Shimmer Dapple stood back to admire her work. She thought for a moment. Coat color. She racked her mind. She picked a shade of sunset gold. Putting it together on her brain, she got exactly what she wanted. Her horn flared up with a poisonous green magic, and she was engulfed in flames. As the fire died down, a full fledged Shimmer Dapple took a few steps on her new legs and stretched her wings. She was satisfied, so Shimmer (as she would now call herself for short) folded her wings once, twice, thrice, and then flared out her wings and took off. Shimmer was glad for the sleek wings, which powered her better than her changeling wings. Her old wings were full of holes. She found what looked like the center of town and landed gracefully. No one seemed to be outside, so she walked around for a bit until she came to a huge tree with a double door in it. It looked occupied, so she would come here to learn about pony social status and whatsoever. Knock. Knock. The door opened to show a beautiful purple alicorn. "Hello? Welcome to Ponyville's library. How can I help you?" Shimmer hesitated. "Um... I'm.. new to town. Can you help.. me... I mean, do you know if there is a place that I can stay around here?" The alicorn said after a moment,"Sure! I love to help. I'm Twilight Sparkle, but please, call me Twilight!" A small smile graced Shimmer's muzzle, as she felt kindness, which was almost as good as love, radiate off of her. She drank in a little of the excess, feeling new magic come to her. Shimmer closed her eyes for a few seconds before replying, "Thanks. I'm Shimmer Dapple, but I guess you can call me Shimmer." Twilight Sparkle then said,"I'll show you around town, and we can pick up something to eat and drink, if you're hungry?" The last part was a question, to which Shimmer answered, "Yeah, I guess I'm pretty hungry. And also thirsty." Which was a complete lie. She fed off of love, not food. But changelings had stomachs, and even though when filled with food did nothing, she did want to try some. Even though she was full, with love and kindness. Twilight interrupted her train of thought by saying,"Here's a good place to eat. How about I'll order for you?" Shimmer nodded and sat down on a bed of hay. When the food arrived five minutes later, Shimmer hesitantly tasted the daffodil sandwich. Seeing that it was delicious, she finished it off quickly. Twilight Sparkle finished about the same time as Shimmer did. She decided to order wheat smoothies for the both of them, and Shimmer once again found that it was fantastic. This time, she wanted to savor it, but found it too hard, and gulped down the wonderful drink. She made sure to wipe her muzzle after that. Twilight had told her that she got smoothie and sandwich on various parts of her mouth. After Shimmer made sure her muzzle was clean, she said,"So can you show me somewhere to stay?" As Twilight finished the smoothie, she though for a little. Then she perked up and said, "The Pony's Palace Apartment Place is just around the corner. You could stay there." Shimmer thanked Twilight. She then said, "And, is there a place that I could earn some bits?" Twilight thought for a minute. "My friend, Rarity. I think she could use a hoof. I'll show you as soon as you get an apartment and such." Shimmer and Twilight walked side by side until they reached the apartment buildings. Twilight said,"Well, this is the place. I don't know why there would be apartments in this small town, but, here they are." Shimmer walked in and located the front desk. "I'm looking for an opening. Do you have any?" The chocolate brown mare at the desk replied, "Actually, yes, we do. It's 200 bits a month." Shimmer was happy. There was more than that in half of her bags. She was given the key to her apartment, and as soon as it was out of the other mare's hand, she was already halfway to the stairs. Upon reaching her room, she dumped her stuff on the couch, not pausing to examine her room. She went back outside and locked the door. She looked around to make sure nopony was there, and quick as a flash, she turned into a changeling and ripped a hole in the doormat with her sharp teeth. She once again looked around to make sure there were no witnesses, and quickly changed back into Shimmer Dapple. She calmly walked down the stairs and out of the front door. Shimmer was surprised to find her friend waiting for her. Twilight looked at her and said, "Now let's go and find Rarity." Shimmer was confused. "Um.. Why?" To get you a job, of course!"
Chapter Two: The Job *insert scary music*Chapter Two: The Job *insert scary music* The Job *insert scary music* Shimmer followed Twilight Sparkle until they reached a round building with purple decorations on it. Shimmer looked at Twilight. She had a concentrated expression on her face and said nothing. I wonder what's going on in there. Probably a lot. Shimmer shook her head to clear the thoughts od into Twilight when she suddenly stopped. "Here it is! Follow me inside and we can talk to Rarity!" Twilight said, motioning for Shimmer to follow with one of her wings. "Okay. But, um, what will I be doing?" Shimmer asked curiously. "Well, Rarity is a dress designer, so I assume you might be a model sometimes, or run small errands around the shop." "Oh. Thanks, now I have an idea of what to do." Shimmer told Twilight gratefully. Twilight knocked on the door. "This might take a while, since she might be in what you would call 'the zone'. Oh, right, I can see that you're confused. I'll explain. Rarity sometimes gets into a really deep period of concentration. It can take five minutes for her to notice someone knocking on the door." As she finished saying that, she looked at the door again, and knocked a little bit louder. Twilight muttered something under her breath and used her magic to create what looked like... a megaphone? She quickly told Shimmer to cover her ears before pulling the trigger once. The megaphone emitted a loud blaring sound, plus a yelp of surprise from inside the shop. The door opened quickly and a beautiful white unicorn mare stepped out of the shop. "Welcome to Carousel Botique! How may I help you?" Upon resting her eyes on the purple mare, she then continued, "Oh. Twilight, what a pleasant surprise! Oh, I see you've brought a friend. I haven't seen her before, is she not from town?" Twilight Sparkle replied,"Yes, actually. This is Shimmer. Shimmer, this is my friend Rarity. Anyways, Shimmer here was looking for a job, and I thought you might need a hand, as you seen to be busy what with all the new customers. Rarity thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose we can try you out for a bit. I hope you're flexible with schedules." "Alright, Rarity. I'll leave you and Shimmer to discuss the job." Shimmer stepped inside. "Wow, this is a great shop! Anyways, what about the pay?" Rarity thought for a moment. "How about 100 bits a week?" Shimmer only nodded, trying to take in all of the shop. Rarity then started to show her the various areas of the shop, and said that sometimes she'd need to fly up to the high shelves to get stuff. Shimmer took it all in stride, then flew around the room a few times to get the feel of it. "So when can you start?" Rarity's voice stopped her train of thought." "Hmmm... how about tomorrow?" Shimmer responded. "All right! 9:00 A.M. sharp! Remember that! Oh, and you need to pack your own lunch." "Wait. Can I just go out somewhere to get munch, or do I have to stay in shop?" "Well now that I think about it, I guess you can go out and buy lunch, but only as long as you come right back because sometimes customers come in at that hour." "Thanks. I'll be sure to drop in!" Shimmer said with a wave and a smile. She exited the shop without a backwards glance. I need to go home and rest. This has really tired me out. Shimmer walked down the road, and suddenly remembering that se had wings took off in the direction of her apartment. She entered the building at slow flutter, then dropped onto her hooves. The quickly climbed the stairs, hooked out the key with one of her wings, and unlocked the door. Once she got in, she placed the key on a table by the door. Shimmer decided to leave the door unlocked, and went to inspect her house. "Pretty clean," she thought aloud. Shimmer entered the bedroom. Pretty big bed. There were two end tables. She next decided to take a look at the bathroom. Seeing that is was satisfactory, she went out to the living room and picked up er saddlebags. She decided to do this in her bedroom. Gingerly putting down the bags she removed a vial full of black liquid. Liquid love. One drop and I'll be good as new. Or maybe not even. Shimmer carefully let half a drop drip out of he bottle and ono her tongue. Immediately she felt like she had just taken a cold bath. But better. Shimmer was refreshed and ready to go. She decided to go and check the time. 6:00 P.M. So she still had about two and a half hours of sunlight. Shimmer was feeling a bit empty. This was uncommon. Then she realized it was her stomach. Shimmer went out the door and put her key in the hiding spot and went out to find somewhere to eat. She walked around for a bit until she came to the place she had lunch at. A waiter came up to the table. "What can I get for you?" "A daisy sandwich and a strawberry smoothie please." The white stallion quickly repeated it once over and went to the kitchen. After about five minutes, her meal had arrived. Shimmer found herself gulping down the food. She then wiped her muzzle clean and checked the menu. So I need to bay ten bits... She left that amount on the table and returned home. Shimmer found her eyes getting heavier by the minute, so she locked the door behind her and headed to her room. Once there, she snuggled under the covers and was out like a light.
Chapter Three: Getting StartedGetting Started Shimmer woke up to a loud buzzing. Damn, that thing is loud! She got up and looked around for the noise. After a while, she realized that it was coming from her saddlebags. Freaky. When did I put a communicator in there? She thought, realizing the sound. Shimmer carefully opened the bag and saw that her list was glowing bright green and vibrating. She delicately levitated it with a shade of green that matched her scroll. Opening it, she realized that it was from Chrysalis. "Drone A-1, this is a message from the kingdom. We need love fast. The liquid I gave to you was over half of my stores. I'll tell you how to liquidize love and kindness of you ever have any in reservoir. First, you should need to have a full amount in storage. You next need a glass vial and stopper. If that wasn't clear, a stopper of glass too. You need you compress your storage, and you'll feel it happening. Then use a simple casting out spell. That's a drawing in spell, but reversed. Aim your focus at the bottle, and it will appear. If it spills, you MUST consume it. It is no longer able to bottle. Now, liquid love will be black. Liquid kindness will shimmer and change colors. To send back, you need only wrap the vial in the scroll and think of me. It will automatically appear in a vault I have stored, and all will be well. But we can't live long if you don't find something quick. I remind you, it is rather painful to produce liquid love, so it will take up almost all of your energy. And it will only amount to a little. Love vapor can't be bottled, so don't take a shortcut. Farewell for now, Drone A-1." Shimmer paused for a moment, taking in what she had said. Why can't we live off of me sending? She shook the thought away. Putting her stuff back, she set the saddlebags on her end table. Shimmer picked up her vial of love and let a drop of the savory liquid fall into her mouth. Feeling a new energy come to life, she decided to go clean up. Wait! The time! Shimmer checked the clock that was hanging on the wall. It read 6:30 A.M. I'm up early. At least it's light out. Shimmer went down the hall into the bathroom and jumped at her reflection. In the middle of the night, she had reverted to changeling form. That wasn't expected. Shimmer pushed the thought away as she changed into Shimmer. She quickly brushed her teeth and put on a smile. Today was going to be good. The golden mare trotted off to her bedroom to put some bits in a small pouch that she had conjured up. Let's see... twenty bits should be enough. She safely tied the light pouch onto her neck and went out to the living room. There was a mirror that she could see every part of herself with. She went in and inspected herself, making sure that she was not different looking from last night. Shimmer saw no difference. She trotted out the door before going back in and adding her liquid love to the pouch. She made the ouch a little bigger, too, so she could by glass vials. Realizing that she needed a bigger yet pouch, she emptied out her bags's contents on the bed. Shimmer brought her saddlebags over to her and began to sort. she put the bits into one bag and put the bag on the right of the saddlebag. She put her vial of love in the other side, along with some parchment that she had found in a drawer last night. She also put in a quill from the same drawer. The rest of her saddlebags' contents were stashed under the bed. Shimmer made her bedsheets so that they draped to the floor. Satisfied, Shimmer once again checked the time. Only half an hour had passed. She decided to go outside anyways. Upon doing so, she dropped her saddlebags on the bench and flew into the sky. She had always loved flying. When she did it, her wings seemed to shimmer with speed. Hence she chose a shimmering feather as cutie mark. Anyways, right now, she let the wind guide her. Shimmer did twirls and figure eights in the air, and most of the time she was content to soar across the sky. When she finally did land, she checked the time by the huge clock in the middle of town. 8:45. She silently cursed herself and flew towards Rarity's place, hoping she'd make it in time. Shimmer arrived at the front door and knocked at precisely the opening time. Rarity opened the door and let Shimmer in. "Hello, it's nice to see that you're on time." "Um... thanks?" That came out as a question rather that a statement. Rarity shook her head in knowing. They're always shy. "You will be modeling some dresses for me right now." Rarity said with a smile. "Okay," replied Shimmer, a smile set on her features." She let Rarity guide her towards the modeling stand. "Here's the first dress." Shimmer inspected it. It was a red dress with silver beads on it. There was golden lace in curls all around the collar. Shimmer complimented Rarity on the piece of art. "It's...well... stunning! I can't believe you did this by yourself! Did you even use a sewing machine? I can't believe it!" Shimmer exclaimed. This caught Rarity by surprise. "I'm glad you like it. Now I'd like it if you tried it on to model." Rarity put some stress on the word "I'd" as she said it. Shimmer nodded sheepishly and went behind the changing curtain. She came back out looking killer in the dress. "I just knew you'd love this! Oh, I must see to the length though!" Rarity muttered the last part to herself. Shimmer, however, overheard this. "The length is fine. It's only too short for me because I'm taller than most ponies around me." Shimmer said this with a half-hearted smile. Then she noticed kindness radiating from the white unicorn. She quickly picked up all of it. Rarity didn't seen to notice. "Well, I'll get out my camera. You do look smashing in that!!" Rarity almost shouted. Shimmer laughed nervously. Oh, boy. This is going to take a while. -An uncountable number of dresses later- "Are we done yet?" complained Shimmer. Rarity chuckled at her pleading voice. "No, no dear. We're just getting started!"
