The Return of the Changelings

As he trotted down the streets with his saddle bags full of depleted rations, supplies and camping gear, Moonshy couldn’t help but wonder at the friendliness of the ponies of Ponyville. As they moved to and from the shops they wholeheartedly maintained smiles on their faces. Of course there were minor quarrels but most solved themselves in the course of ten seconds. He wondered how the ponies of the town achieved such harmony, for Moonshy hadn’t really seen it in such dominance in the other towns he passed through. Could it have something to do with the gleaming, purple tinted, crystal castle at the edge of town?

You see, Moonshy doesn't stay in one place for long. He has a hard time fitting in anywhere. Ever sense he ran, or rather flew, away from Cloudsdale when he was a young foal (due to bullying), he roamed Equestria in search of artistic inspiration as well as a place he could finally call home. So far his travels have only continued to achieve the first goal.

In and amongst the vibrant colored town and rather social individuals, Moonshy seems out of place. His dark, midnight blue hide, helps assure this. His silver mane and tail, while still healthy looking, appear as though they haven’t been combed  in ages, a look only amplified by the, less abundant, pale blue strands of hair which move through them both like disorganized wires. As for the rest of his color scheme, his cutie mark, feathers, and eyes are all the same tint of mystical light blue. But, his strangest feature undoubtedly is the crescent shaped deep blue birth mark that surrounds the inside of his left eye.

“Hi” A high pitched and excited voice said behind Moonshy. “What’s your name?!” He spun around to see a bouncing pink pony with sky blue eyes and a mane style which mimics a bumpy balloon.

“Um… Moonshy.” He said nervously whilst backing up slowly. Another tendency of Moonshy’s that makes him stand out is his awkwardness in social situations. Often times he would stumble over his own words when trying to speak or completely bugger up his sentence in a way that didn’t make much sense. Hence, he often tried to avoid other ponies unless he felt he had a good reason to do otherwise.

“Well Nice to meet ya Moonshy! My name’s Pinkie Pie! I haven’t seen you around before so what brings you here?”

“I’m jus- I mean, what I mean is- um… I’m just passing through.”

“Dawww! Just passing through? What about staying for a while and enjoying yourself. We have spas, Shops, games, parties, restaurants,” the fast talking earth pony paused for a second and appeared to count on her hooves, “Almost everything! We even have a library if you like reading those boring old books.” Pinkie Pie grinned a smile as wide as a mile and pushed herself rather uncomfortably into Moonshy’s personal space making him want even more than before to escape this awkward situation before his inadequate social skills set everything awry. That, along with his abnormal birthmark, were always the triggers for his being harassed back when he lived in Cloudsdale. Not saying anything, Moonshy spread his wings, gave one mighty flap, and lifted himself from the ground before flying in the opposite direction with great haste.

“Hey! Get back here! I was just about to sing you a song!” Pinkie Pie screamed somewhat angrily while he flew away. Moonshy sighed in relief but kept up his speed just in case. He looked down for a quick second only to see Pinkie Pie bouncing just below him, staying hot on his tail, somehow. There was a sizeable cluster of clouds just above him and, flying higher, he saw an alleyway corner coming up fast just below him. Quickly he formulated a plan, he was going to fly into that cluster of clouds and then make a sharp turn so that the earth pony below would have a hard time fallowing him. Poof! The grouping of clouds busted apart as he went through them and he panicked, for the clouds in the Everfree forest didn’t break so easily. Well that was a bust, but at least the sharp turn would throw the pony below for a loop.

“HEY THUNDERLANE!” Shouted a confident, determined and rather peeved feminine voice right behind him. “You can’t just go bursting pony’s clouds! I was napping on th- huh!?” A pegasus of reddish pink eyes, sky blue hide, and a rainbow colored main and tail flew up next to Moonshy. “Wait a minute, you’re not Thunderlane.”

“Um, I apologize for your cloud. I didn’t realize it was yours but uh…”

“Ok, I don’t know who you are dude, but-” the pegasus looked forward for a second and her eyes went wide with surprise. She stopped suddenly and shouted again, “WATCH OUT!” BANG! Moonshy felt a splitting head pain fallowed by slight friction burn as he slowly squeaked down a smooth structure. On more hard pain blasted his back once he hit the cobblestone walkway. His dazed vison soon centered back to normal and his eyes were greeted with a grand sight. The purple crystalline castle mentioned earlier could now be seen close up in its full glory. A tree like structure centered with a decorative golden gate held up the actual castle topped with golden panels for the roof. Even if it didn’t have that great gleaming star shaped crystal as the spire, the small castle would have still been grand looking.

“PHA hahaha! New guy, that was so hilarious!” Laughed the rainbow pony.

“Oh my stars! Are you alright?” Moonshy could hear a new, concerned, and intelligent affeminent voice come from above him. That voice was followed by another much more accented voice. And then again by a more familiar excited voice.

“Twilight! Come back! We didn’t finish fitting your dress!”

“Hi again Moonshy! Are you ready for some fun?”

Within seconds Moonshy was surrounded by four new faces which he had never met before his visit to Ponyville. The one with the rainbow colored main, the one with the crazy hair and energetic demeanor, and two more. One with violet eyes, a light purple hide, and a dark colored mane highlighted with dark purple and pink. The other with sapphire eyes, a white hide, and an intricately curled purple mane and tail. They all started to talk to him simultaneously (with the exception of the one pegasis, no unicorn, wait ALICORN PRINCESS!?) until the one he gathered to be named Twilight spoke up.

“HUSH!” Shouted the alicorn. “One at a time please. I’ll start.” Twilight helped him too his feet but, barely remembering the proper manors in this type of situation, Moonshy bowed low with his mussel nearly touching her hooves.

“Forgive me, err… princess. I didn’t… intend to smash into your castle.” Moonshy never felt more nervous in his entire life. He was in the presence of ROYALTY. He felt unnecessarily guilty for his mistake and felt he was in trouble. He didn’t want to be publicly humiliated and have every pony laugh at him. But at the same time he felt he might have deserved it. Trembling subtlety, he awaited the princess’s next words.

Princess Twilight chuckled happily. “Rise, mister?”

“Moonshy” He stated trying to maintain his normal speech in spite of all his nervousness.

“Moonshy, It’s quite alright. Also, you don’t need to bow. I’m no better than anypony else. So, how did you find yourself here?”

“OH OH! I know!” Pinkie Pie waved a hoof in the air before setting it down and bouncing around Moonshy yet again. “You were camping out in the Everfree Forest and ran out of supplies so you came to Ponyville to shop because it was the nearest town. Then I met you and said ‘Hi, what’s your name?’ and after a short conversation you panicked and flew away, you broke Rainbow Dash’s cloud and she chased you so you flew even faster away. Then you smashed into Twilights castle and slid down and that’s how you ended up here.” She finished with an overdramatic breath and grinned yet again.

“Pinkie!” Snapped Twilight. “Is this true Moonshy?”

“yeees…” He wondered how the heck Pinkie Pie knew all this but he decided not to let that distract him.

“Well, I guess that explains why your mane is so horrendously messy.” Said the white unicorn. This understandable assumption isn’t exactly the reason. No matter how many times Moonshy combs his main or tail, it doesn’t cooperate. It’s practically untamable.

“Rarity!” Snapped Twilight yet again.

“Oh um… I appreciate the offer but that won’t be necess-“ His sentence was cut off by Rainbow Dash.

“Moonshy, you are so fast! I bet with a little practice you’ll be almost as awesome as me! You know, There’s a Track just outside of town, you should go there and train with me. What do you say?”

“M- Maybe later.”

Princess Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. “Never mind my friends, I’d be willing to show you around town if you’d like?”

“No, I mean, thanks and everything but I… think I can find my own way around.”

“If you insist. I’ll be here if you need anything. Also, if you need food, I would recommend checking out Sweet Apple Acers. My friend Applejack works there and her grandmother makes the best apple fritters around. Have a good day.” Princess Twilight began trotting back into her castle along with Rainbow dash and Pinkie Pie. Though Rarity pulled (well, more levitated) out a tape measure and began to measure out his proportions.

“You know, I really can make you look absolutely stunning.”

“Rarity, come on, we still have to finish my dress remember?”

“Oh alright, coming!” And then she trotted off as well, but not without taking one last measurement first.

The Rest of Moonshy’s day went by pleasantly. The bits he made from selling some of his artwork a little bit ago were just enough to pay for what he needed. Some repair jobs on his saddle bags and bed roll. A rejuvenation of his rations, and a new set of paint. He even checked out Sweet Apple Acers. The fritters were great, as Twilight said, but the friend she mentioned was nowhere in sight. Applejack, as he remembered Twilight calling her, was probably out bucking some more apple trees. He made this assumption after listening to her Granny Smith talk for a little bit. It was getting late, however, and with the sight of the full moon, Moonshy wanted to find a place to work on his next piece.

Moonshy’s cutie mark is a crescent moon being painted by a brown paintbrush located on the lower point. Both the moon and paintbrush are surrounded by the same three stars. The moon and three stars are the light mystical blue described earlier. The moon and paintbrush express his artistic tendency to paint different types of pictures depending on the phases of the moon. On a full moon he would paint something bold with bright colors whereas on the new moon he’d paint something mysterious and abstract. Each phase, not just the new and full, have a specific type of painting associated with them. The stars have a far deeper meaning, they represent his habit of observing the world but never really interacting with it. Tonight, he wanted to paint a landscape of some sort. Some place with the chaotic yet natural beauty of nature clashing with the artificial structure of civilization. Sweet Apple Acers would be a good place if not for the unnaturally straight alignment of the apple trees. He would head back to the Everfree Forest but on a full moon the timber wolves would be much more active than normal creating a much more stressful and distracting environment. Not to mention it’s hard to get a good view of civilization from there. He had to find a better place, good thing he could fly.

The Town of Ponyville was absolutely gorgeous at night. Each of the flickering yellow firelights coming from the windows of the houses created their own dancing shadows upon the ground while Twilight’s castle glistened in the best way possible under the moonlight. The streets at night were void of all ponies but filled with the musical chirps of the crickets creating a peaceful feel which Moonshy thoroughly enjoyed. After a little bit of flying came across a lovely hill, wait cottage, wait cottage topped with a hill? Either way it was a few miles outside of town elevated up in a way which overlooks the silent lights of Ponyville. Upon closer inspection he noticed that the area was surrounded with trees and overgrown vegetation ran through by an adorable little creek. The bridge, though obviously artificial, seemed to blend in with the surrounding plant life almost like nature had taken it under her wing. The area was perfect. If he placed himself at the right angle and painted what he saw the painting would turn out exactly how he wanted it. Swooping down, he silently landed in front of the bridge, pulled out his canvas and painting tools and began to do what he did best.

He had only gotten halfway done with what he was doing when a shy mousy voice sounded from behind his canvas.

“Oh angel, I don’t think he wants to lea- uh, ok. Um, excuse me sir, but I believe you’re on my property.” The voice trailed off to a whisper towards the end of the sentence. Moonshy, somewhat irritated at the interruption, looked over to see who the voice belonged to.

The first thing he saw was a pair magnificent turquoise eyes staring back at his and soon the rest of a shy pegasus’s presence. Her hide was colored a nice shade of pale yellow and her well groomed and lengthy mane a shade of pink. The features on her face were a tad bit softer than the ones he saw previously in the other female ponies’ faces giving her an aura of kindness about her. Moonshy wanted to say something, not awkward, to this particular pony for some reason but he couldn’t think of anything.

“Err… I’m sorry, this- this is your property? My mistake, I’m gonna, I should probably jus… go then.” Moonshy let out another nervous smile and started to pack up his things.

"Oh no, I didn’t ask you to do that. I was simply about to ask you,” A small, white, foot thumping rabbit stared daggers at her and crossed his arms. “Oh, I mean, I want you to.” The Pegasus lowered her head and sighed avoiding eye contact with Moonshy before finishing her sentence. “Oh angel, I can’t ask him to leave, I’ve never seen him before and I- I don’t know if he has a place to stay or-“ The little rabbit rolled his eyes and sassily hopped back inside the cottage.

Something about this particular pony set him at ease. He somehow understood her, her timidity, her shyness, the way she carried herself. For once in his life, Moonshy’s nervousness faded away and his mind cleared. He stepped out from in front of his canvas and took a couple steps forward.

“You know, if your furry little friend wants me to leave than I am more than willing to go. It’s quite alright, it’s not like I haven’t been asked to leave a place before.” Moonshy stood amazed at himself. For once in his life he completed a sentence without fumbling for words. Though, he wished he could finish his painting.

“Oh, but I’m not asking you to leave.”

“I think your rabbit would disagree...” Moonshy looked through one of the cottage’s windows and saw the rabbit blowing an insulting raspberry at him.

“Oh, That’s just Angel, don’t mind him he just doesn’t like strangers. Are you sure you’ll be okay out here? It’s getting kind of chilly don’t you think?”

Now that she mentioned it, yes, it was getting rather chilly outside. Nothing he couldn’t endure with a blanket or two. Good thing he had one of those in his saddle bags as well.

“Well, err…” Though the answer was yes, he would be alright out here, he debated saying no because, well, it would be nice to sleep indoors for once. “You know, I’ll think about it. I just would like to finish this painting first, okay?”

“Okay, I see, do you want me to bring you a blanket at least?”

“Um, no thanks, I’ve got my own.” He said pulling out a dark tan shroud of thick cloth lined with a trim of white wool.

“Alright then, don’t stay up too late, I mean if that’s okay with you. I’ll be in my cottage if you need anything.”

“Um wait, before you go in, what’s your name?”

“Oh its uh…” The pony’s voice trailed off into a whisper yet again “Fluttershy.”

“Flutter… Fluttershy? Is that what you said?”

“Well um, yes, it is.”

“Well nic- I mean, Good night then Fluttershy.”

As Fluttershy timidly galloped back to her cottage Moonshy couldn’t help but gaze at her elegant movement. What are you doing? You should get back to the piece! His conscious screamed at him. He shook his head and focused his attention back on the canvas. Good, No distractions here!

Just a few more brush strokes and this painting will be done. Moonshy found himself thinking for the thousandth time. If only I can get this one part right, AH HA! Wait, no… Maybe if I use this color, no that looks unappealing, PAINT OVER IT!” It wasn’t until a half an hour later that he reluctantly settled on one particular shade of brown and finished the piece. By this time, half past midnight, he had made his decision. He was going to stay in the cottage, for the cold and his odd desire to accept Fluttershy’s hospitality finally got to him. He lifted the canvas off its stand and set it down gently. He was in the middle of putting the rest of his supplies away when a sudden and harsh gust of cold wind blew through. The power of the wind pushed up his right wing from the side of his body and stole his canvas from the ground.

“Wait STOP!” Moonshy began to chase after the canvas. The wind was going to ruin his master work! He chased it for a good couple of minutes before the wind suddenly died down and dropped his painting (Incredibly luckily paint side up.) right at the edge of the Everfree forest. He sighed with relief and went to pick it up, until the rustling of leaves in a short distance ahead alerted him of possible danger. He looked around the area before once again attempting to pick up the canvas. His mouth was much closer now, he was about to grab it when the eerie glow of evil teal eyes meet his. The eyes steadily began to rise and come closer until detail of the creature they belonged to became obvious in the moonlight. It had the physique of an underweight pegasus except the wings were bug like and made out of chitin. Two vampiric fangs made up the prime details of the mouth and the eyes were blank and lacking any emotion except hate. The creature’s mane was flat and dead looking and its skinny legs were full of holes that appeared to go all the way through past the bone. It leered its horrendous eyes at Moonshy, like it was observing him, before letting out a loud insectoid hiss and whisking off into the darkness of the canopy.