"Does anypony know anything about the new store being built by the Ponyville Theater?" Twilight asked as she and some of her friends were lying around (Applejack was at home)
"I don't know, I heard there hasn't been a new store in an entire decade in Ponyville," was Fluttershy's comment.
"Let's hope its not a lame one," they ignored Rainbow Dash's comment in favor of looking at Pinkie Pie who had a bright smile on her face as she vibrated in place.
"Pink Pie darling, are you alright?"
"Me?! Never better, I just can't wait for the new store to open, welcome all the new ponies arriving in Ponyville, and meeting my hero!" her eyes were tearing up as she expressed her happiness, causing the other Elements of Harmony to share a look.
"Uh Pinkie, what are you talking about, what kind of store would get you so excited unless its a party or joke store which we already have," Rainbow Dash looked down from her cloud as the Earth Pony vibrated even more as she stared at the store, an impatient air.
"Ooh I'm so excited! I just can't contain it!" confetti and balloons exploded from her to their alarm and Twilight blinked.
"Are you going to tell us why your so excited, what's so special about this pony anyway," that was the wrong thing to say, as blue eyes stared her down while their owner had an offended look on her face.
"What's so special? What's so SPECIAL?!" her voice rose and Twilight ducked her head.
"Um, yes?" she asked in a small voice and Pinkie took a deep breath.
"Its a big deal, because she is the most spectacular pony ever, known for her performance at a Pageant years ago and having a unique ability no other unicorn has. She is known as the Empress of the Masks, the Striped Trickster, Founder of Nightmare Horror Nights," Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and she spoke along with Pinkie Pie,
"BLACK BONITA CHERRY!" the pegasus now looked just as excited as the earth pony,
"Oh my gosh, she's coming here, she's opening a store here?!" the two spun around in excitement, and the rest shared looks.
"Wait, you are talking about the mare that traumatized her entire audience and almost caused the end of Pageants in Manehattan, is coming here," Rarity didn't look so excited while Fluttershy paled,
"She sounds scary,"
"Well yeah, she wouldn't be such a success if she wasn't scary, I wonder if she's opening a mask shop, maybe I can ask for a replica of a really cool monster,"
"Oh its not just a mask shop, its also a scrapbook one!" that killed some of her friend's excitement and she frowned,
"Really, a scrapbook shop?"
"What? Its what she does year round when she's not creating really cool masks, a petition was sent for her Nightmare Horror Nights to be year long, but she refused it, saying it would rid the special feeling of only having one month to attend that kind of event." Pinkie's mane started to deflate, alarming them before it poofed back, "But I was talking to her employee, and he said she was looking for new scarers for her event,"
"Wait, what new employee," Twilight cut in before Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie could do another round of 'oh my gosh oh my gosh', "Nopony's seen anything, the shop kind of appeared overnight,"
"Why the bug pony building the sign over there silly,"
"What Bug-pony," they all stared at what looked to be what Pinkie termed a bug pony, his wings sparking with green lightning that matched his eyes. The holes in his legs were alarming, but they all watched as Pinkie hopped over and tackled him with a greeting,
"Hey Sparky!" she chirped.
"That is not my name Miss Pie," the bug-pony was surprisingly polite despite being tackled and as the others joined him, he surveyed them with interest.
"What kind of pony are you?"
"Rainbow," Twilight hissed, earning a hoof wave from her.
"I am a Changeling, my race feeds off of positive emotions, but so long as we are treated with positive attention, there is no need to fear from us," he said when they started to tense and Twilight frowned,
"Wait, that's opposite of what a Windigo does,"
"Yes Miss Sparkle,"
"Wait, you know who I am?"
"Miss Pie here told me about all of you when she tackled and broke the sign I was doing last night, I am preparing it now," he spat out a glob of green (earning a disgusted look from Rarity) and they all watched with open mouths as the cracks disappeared as the glob absorbed into it.
"Wait, I thought Changelings were a myth,"
"We do not tend to show ourselves, I am a rare case, as are a few of my brethren. There are several hives of Changelings all over Equestria and beyond, but years ago, something struck down the queen of our hive and thus eliminating our chances for survival. We were saved by the generosity of a passing pegasus who with his uncle and the help of Madame Cherry saved our tribe and took us in. These green sparks represent our connection with our new Master, despite his desires of not being called such,"
"That's horrible," Fluttershy gasped, and the others muttered agreements.
"Why are you the only one here, where are the others?"
"Towing one of the young mistresses creations, it has made traveling a bit difficult, but we were sent ahead to help with the preparations,"
"We?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow only for the rest to see green glowing eyes stare at them from within the shop.
"Yes, we, now I have to put this sign up," Twilight took it from him and put it up, "Thank you," he said, a bit surprised and she looked bashful.
"We did interrupt your work and all, I can't wait to see what the shop will look like," they turned to go with Pinkie wildly waving at him and he scratched his chitin with his hoof,
"Its better than we expected at any rate, at least they didn't immediately accuse me of an invasion," he shrugged and turned to go back inside to join his brethren in doing the interior.
"That Changeling was so nice," Fluttershy whispered as they all entered Twilight's library, the unicorn herself searching among the books feverishly.
"Ugh! I know I read of Changelings somewhere before, but where," rolling their eyes at her antics, they were interrupted by the door slamming open as their sixth member joined them, face red and eyes narrowed.
"Applejack?" Rarity questioned as the Earth Mare grumbled to herself.
"Hey AJ!" Rainbow yelled, making Applejack fall back,
"Dangnabbit! Don't do that Rainbow,"
"Well you weren't talking," was the defense
"I'm too angry to talk,"
"What happened?" Fluttershy asked with concern and Applejack forced herself to calm down lest she yell at the yellow pegasus, hurting her feelings.
"You know how there's only a few of us on the Apple Farm, and how the whole AppleBucking Harvest went this year right?"
"Uh yeah, I still feel that crash landing sometimes," a tinge of pink on her cheeks, Applejack continued,
"Well, apparently my brother thought that to be the perfect time to recruit family members to come help us out,"
"Isn't that great though?"
"Not if their branch of the family were thrown out a long time ago, and they are not even Earth Ponies!" she shut her mouth when the non-Earth Ponies in the room frowned.
"Wait, are you telling me your family throws out the non-Earth ponies in the family and disown them?" Twilight looked like she was about to start ranting but Applejack shook her head.
"Ah didn't mean it like that, it's just, a long time ago before my family started Sweet Apple Acres, a relative ran off with a zebra when he was refused by the head to marry her. It was thought she snared him with her potions and when they tried to get him to stay away from her, he took offense and left, choosing to leave his family," Applejack huffed,
"But clearly the potion thing wasn't truth, hold on, is that why Zecora had such a hard time, because ponies that she would steal stallions with love potions?" this stopped her short,
"Fine, Granny admitted that one of the distant cousins got jealous over the relationship and spread the rumor. But it still doesn't change the fact that Big Mac sent the letter without informing me,"
"Did he inform Granny Smith,"
"Yes," was the hesitant response.
"Then Applejack, shouldn't you use this as a chance to get to know your non-Earth Pony relatives," wincing at the choice of words Twilight used, Applejack bowed her head.
"I guess, but I'm still not happy about not being consulted about it," and she turned around and left.
"Wow, okay, so a non-Earth Pony is moving to Ponyville to live with Applejack's family?" Pinkie gasped, "Black Bonita's dad is an Earth Pony, and her name, the Striped Trickster,"
"Woah woah, are you saying Applejack's related to the mare we were talking about earlier," Twilight watched their interactions for a moment, then sighed as Spike came running in, panicking about glowing eyes in an empty shop.
'I have no idea how this is going to turn out, no idea at all.'
Author's Note
Here's my second story, its not a side story of my North Wind series, my OC this time being a Unicorn.
