The Lost Changeling

So, finally returning to Rolling Acres, the way that Rusty went, he, Pane, and I decide not to reenter the building, seeing as how I don’t want to get weakened by negative emotion again. So instead of entering entirely, all three of us land onto the ground in a vast area of road in front of it.

Looking at the entrance I found when I first got to the Court of Twelve Trees, the front of the design of the entrance simply reads “Rolling Acres” with the same image from on the front of the “management office”. The field of road in front of the entrance has some traces of pattern left from previous use. However, there are some tracks that are rather peculiar. I remember from my previous visits in Equestria during invasions that there were carts on the dirt road sometimes. However, those wheels where smooth unlike the traces left of the roads in front of me now. The texture of the tire tracks are a lot more rough than they should be.

“Alright. So, Pane and I found a map for Akron in Twilight’s library. It seems that Rolling Acres is located in the same direction in relation to Akron as the schoolhouse is located in relation to Ponyville. I think we should start by heading left as we leave this parking lot. Apparently, the theater’s on the southern side, so as we leave, left is north.”

Suddenly, I see something just to our south. Like when I first came to, I find a sign that says “JCPenney’s Outlet Store”. Unlike the rest of Rolling Acres, it seems that it’s still active to this day. However, I shift my focus, vowing not to reenter Rolling Acres if I can help it, looking at Rusty and Pane. Pane’s horn starts to spark.

“Well, what’re we waiting for? Let’s take a look at Akron!”

Right away as we walk, I see an onslaught of buildings, catching them from right to left.

One of them is covered with boards, which indicates that it's in much worse shape than Rolling Acres. There are two that reside at the same point of field as a sign, giving me the ability to tell the two apart. However, the sign is only that of a skeleton of itself. Above of the leftmost building thus far, a pair of glowing disembodied eyes changes from red to green. Just by those eyes lies yet another building, this one in much closer proximity to the three of us, and behind that is a sign with a yellow M on top of a red platform that has some name I can’t tell yet.

As we move away from Rolling Acres, something happens when we get to the street that Rolling Acres is on. The passersby aren’t ponies at all. One, I don’t sense any emotion that the passersby emit. Two, ponies don’t go as fast as these do. Not even close. Finally, three, these are so much bigger than a pony could ever hope to be. Okay, maybe Queen Chrysalis, or any changeling queen for that matter, could be taller than the passersby, but not bigger overall.

Then something else that is weird happens. It seems that those passersby contain a creature, sometimes multiple, and all of the same kind, inside. They themselves look to have more of similar traits to ponies than what they’re in. So if anything, those “passersby” were actually some sort of carriage, if I could even call it that. I mean it’s not being pulled or anything. I guess that’s why I mistook them for passersby, because they moved on their own. So, are those a cross between a carriage and a drone? That sounds very confusing but I guess that’s what they are.

And they’re all so diverse too. One can be small and only carry one or two earless creatures. Another can be more than twenty times larger and can carry dozens upon dozens of these creatures that they apparently contain. One can resort to just one color while another can have a whole name on its side like “Lowes”, “Kenny Carpet”, and ...walle mart...?!? What kind of names are these?!? They aren’t puns, thank Chrysalis, but they’re so bizarre nevertheless! It’s a good thing that the traffic is kind of like that of Ponyville from what I’ve seen, which isn’t much.

“Uh, Pane? Rusty? Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

Rusty rolls his eyes.

“Yeah. We saw those too. What is McDonald’s anyway?”

“Not the names. Those earless creatures are what I’m talking about. And they sure have some small snouts.”

Pane’s eyes shrink.

“Huh. Didn’t see ‘em. Did you, Rusty?”

“No... I didn’t. Are you sure you saw those, Carve?”

“Yes! I’m positive! They aren’t ponies; that’s for sure.” I start nervously shaking. “What if they know about what the changelings and I did? I wonder if they even ever heard about us before! Do they e-”

Pane puts a hoof to my mouth, causing me to stop shaking.

“Hey, hey, hey! Catch your breath, leaper. Don’t conclude just yet. Equestria is a very well known country. You probably wouldn’t be able to accidentally scare them off if they never heard of you.”

“Of course you wouldn’t be scared of these creatures! You ponies don’t get the short end of the stick like us changelings!”

“Carve, our kind has faced challenges too: the yaks, the dragons, the buffalo, the griffons, the centaurs, hell, even ourselves. I find it kind of funny that Equestria, the most peaceful nation, is also one of the easiest to not to get along with. All those creatures I mentioned: they don’t usually give changelings a hard time. Buffalo have a mutual respect for them down south.”

“Great. So that means most of the kinds that changelings trust are flightless? That’s reassuring. It’s a given that most beings in the world are flightless.”

Suddenly, Pane puts a hoof around my neck in comfort, causing my right cheek to itch slightly as I sigh.

“I-I’m sorry, Pane.”

“I understand. You’ve been separated from Queen Chrysalis for almost two moons. I promise you, we will get you back to your hive soon enough.”

“Really?”

Rusty and Pane nod together, causing me to hug the two, who respond with a hug back.

“Thank you so much, guys!”