Moral Conflict
The birds chirped as the yellow mare placed food in their feeders, tilting her head to the side as her feathered wings flapped beside her. Her long flowing pink mane followed behind her gracefully as she flew toward her cottage. She looked around to all the animals before she headed inside, closing the door behind her. The wooden floors creaked as her hooves landed gently upon them, a white rabbit jumped up and sat with a baby's bib around it's neck and a fork and knife in his small paws. Fluttershy stepped over the small bunny, and bit down on the handle of her shades and pulled back to look out to the edge of the Everfree forest, where the moon had begun to rise over the trees. Angel stomped his foot down and kicked at Fluttershy's hind legs, causing the mare's belly to fall down onto the rabbit.
"Oh no, Angel! A- are you alright?!" Fluttershy stood and turned, Angel pushed himself up with an agitated look before slapping his paw across Fluttershy's face. " ... I'm so sorry, Angel! I'll go and get your food now. "
Fluttershy trotted into her small kitchen where she saw that all of the carrots had already been eaten, and their scraps were laying about on the ground. With a sigh, the mare bit down on a small dust pan and began to sweep the mess into it with her wings. A thumping was heard outside of the kitchen as Angel continued to pressure Fluttershy into hurrying his food. Fluttershy frowned as she looked toward the overflowing compost bin, paper and other incorrectly placed refuse had been shoved into the bin.
Fluttershy sighed and opened her refrigerator and pulled out rich green lettuce and a tomato. Placing them both on a cutting board, she gripped a knife from the block with her teeth and diced the vegetables quickly before using her wing to push them into a small ceramic bowl which she gripped with her teeth. With a trot the mare stepped her living room to find Angel with crossed arms, she placed the bowl in front of him and he quickly began to eat.
"Oh... not so fast, Angel! You'll choke if you eat that fast!" Fluttershy frowned as the rabbit made no actions toward listening to her. Instead of saying anything else she walked away and pushed her front door open slowly with a creak. Her wings extended and she pushed herself into the air toward the edge of her yard.
The yellow mare flew passed the fence around her home and flew gently around the outside of the Everfree forest for a moment before a rustling bush in front of her caused her wings to snap closed and her to fall onto her face. She yelped and skooted away from the bush timidly. When the rustling stopped, the sound of hooves against the grass caught her attention and she looked up toward a small foal, not even half her own size staring up toward her... however, the foal's black coat and large green eyes seemed oddly familiar to her.
Fluttershy's eyes snapped open and she gasped, letting out a fearful shriek. The small foal quickly frowned and jumped back into the small shrub, staring back out at the panicking mare, his little green eyes wide with the same fear. Fluttershy looked back down, hearing the other scream beside her own... her eyes narrowed, realizing that she was the scary monster in this situation.
"W-wait! No no, I'm so sorry!.." Fluttershy rubbed tears from her eyes. "...y-you're safe here!.." she held her hoof out to the small foal. "...you don't have to hide from me."
The small black foal settled down, stepping out of the small shrub slowly. His green eyes met the mare's bright blue eyes meeting his calmly. He lifted a jagged hoof up to the mare's, two small holes inside the very tip of his tiny hooves. Fluttershy smiled down at the small foal and spread her wings out to her sides. The small foal's back seemed to warp and jagged insect like wings rasied from it, spreading to each side before a burst of green flames rippled out from the foal's body. His hooves became whole, and the insect wings became ruffled black feathers. The small barely existing horn on his forehead melded down into his forehead and vanished and a white mane and tail appeared... one eye turned a bright blue, like the mare's before him.
"A changeling... oh no. How will the girls react if they see this? Rainbow Dash might hurt the poor little thing!" Fluttershy frowned, but a small prance from the foal brought out a weak smile. "... of course, like this I guess they would never know."
The small pegasus, with black coat and white mane zipped around fluttershy happily, mimicking the smile on her face. A gust of wind blew as the small foal reached a dizzying height and lost his balance in the air, beginning to fall to the ground. Fluttershy gasped and flew out before the small foal could hit the ground, catching him in her hooves.
"Oh dear... barely able to fly." Fluttershy's eyes looked at the one green eye, barely looking like a pony's eye at all. She sighed, remembering how her own life in Cloudsdale had been. "...and can barely change either. I bet they left you out here because of that... that queen meanie!" Fluttershy flew down and looked at the foal. "...don't you worry, I'll take care of you if that mean old queen won't!"
The yellow mare flew over her fence and kicked her door open with her back hooves while still hovering in the air. Angel stumbled over the bowl as he had finished the last of his food and began to choke before coughing up a leaf. Fluttershy set the small foal on a seat in the middle of her living room and landed in front of him. "Umm... do you have a name?"
"..." the small foal stared blankly and smiled before holding his hoof out to flick Fluttershy's ear lightly and bat at it.
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at the odd foal and sighed. "I guess not..." she let the foal bat at her ear while she thought. Like a like bulb being flicked up, her eyes lit up. "... I'll call you, Chameleon!" Angel hopped up onto the short table behind Fluttershy and smacked the back of her head. "... too obvious?" the rabbit nodded. Fluttershy looked outside the window at the moon. "...we'll call him... Starchaser!"
The foal yawned, and Fluttershy smiled at him. "My little Starchaser..." she pulled pulled herself onto the couch and sat behind the him, curling around him and letting him snuggle into her flowing pink mane. In moments the small foal fell asleep, Fluttershy smiled and rested her muzzle near Starchaser's and smiled. "...I'll take care of you."
- - - - - - - - - -End of Chapter OneThis is the second attempt at an actual story, my other story seems to have hit a roadblock in my mind but I am honestly enjoying working on this one a lot more. Focusing on a Mane6 character and her interactions with a non-related (motioning to my other fic) original character that is not based on me at all.Starchaser: Yes he is a Changeling, and yes I know this is overused now. However I hope to bring a good quality fan-fic to the community. Starchaser's character was inspired by a conversation that my girlfriend had brought up only a few days ago about my OC (Salem) possibly being a changeling. Well... I didn't want to change that character, so instead I created Starchaser.Final note, please leave whatever constructive criticism or comments here so that I may improve in the future... thank you for reading!
^_^
Let the Show Begin
Sun beams flashed through the window of the small cottage on the edge of the Everfree forest. Weather pegasi had already cleared the sky and the chirping birds greeted the rising sun with happy tunes. Fluttershy yawned and rubbed her eyes as she lifted herself to sit up on the couch. She looked around groggily and took a deep sigh, releasing tension from her shoulders. Her hoofs clopped against the wooden ground as she began to walk around her living room. An uneasy silence filled the room and Fluttershy took notice as her animals friends were all hiding inside of their dens, nests, and holes.
"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked, the animals all pointed toward the kitchen. At the same moment a crash came from inside, metal pans hitting the ground and glass breaking.
Fluttershy hurried to the kitchen to see the changeling foal, Starchaser had cornered Angel and was trying to approach him. Whilst Angel fought off the approaching foal, Fluttershy stood up behind the changeling and put a hoof on his back. Starchaser beamed with happiness and threw his hooves around Fluttershy, nuzzling his small nose into her long pink mane.
"My... you are an affectionate foal aren't you?" she blinked, looking up at Angel who had been holding up a wooden spoon and a skillet. "... Angel, why are you being RUDE to our new guest?!" She gave Angel THE STARE, and he quickly dropped the improvised projectile weapons he had in his paws.
Starchaser continued to nuzzled the mare's mane, seeming to revel in the affection that she had given him with nearly no regard to what he was under the guise a young pegasus. His little ruffled wings fluttered as he pulled away from her and seemed like he'd had enough of the mushy stuff. He made a bee line for the door.
As the small black pegasus foal he kicked it open, beams of the sun reaching into the cottage, the smell of fresh cut grass accompanied by the presence of an older pony with a goatee and a hat who had been watering flowers. He gave a small friendly wave and turned to turn the water off. The old pony walked over to the cottage as Fluttershy got to the door to pull Starchaser back inside, she hadn't gotten the chance as Starchaser ran out to meet the elderly gardener.
"Well hello there little guy! Who're you?" The elderly man laughed as Starchaser hopped around in a circled around him.
"Hello there Mr. Greenhooves... th- thats Starchaser. He's, umm, visiting." Fluttershy approached, flying gracefully through the air. She landed with nearly no sound at all.
"Well... he's a energetic little colt in't he?!" Mr. Greenhooves laughed. "... where's he visiting from?"
"Well- You see- Umm... Oh! He is my... NEPHEW!" Fluttershy smiled weakly, looking over at Mr Greenhooves and pushing Starchaser back behind her rear legs.
Starchaser looked up at Fluttershy, watching her speak to the old pony. His poly-chromatic eyes shifting from one pony to the other as they traded turns speaking and listening, going on about the topic of hew new 'nephew'. Starchaser's eyes began to drift around the sky, his little wings rustling at his sides. His head turned quickly as a streak of rainbow colors streaked through the air and toward the large floating city of Cloudsdale.
"...so you see, Mr Greenhooves, Starchaser will be staying with me now... his parents were very mean to him, and so Celestia told me to take care of him instead." Fluttershy smiled weakly at her lie, hoping that it would convince Mr Greenhooves.
"Well that's just terrible! No foal should ever have to eat THAT much oatmeal... It's a good thing Celestia took care of it. I can't think of anypony more qualified to raise the little foal than you." Fluttershy blinked at the remark, Mr Greenhooves tipped his hat to the two and began to walk back to his cart. "...I'll see you ponies later!"
Fluttershy waved as Mr Greenhooves pulled his cart down the road away from her cottage, Starchaser mimicked her waving her hoof at the elderly gardener. Fluttershy nudged the foal toward the cottage with a gentle nuzzle, and Starchaser quickly pranced into the small house. Fluttershy followed close behind, close enough to notice Starchaser eyeing Angel again and to swat his flank enough to correct his behavior before it happened. Instead Starchaser hugged Fluttershy's neck and mane once again, holding on as tight as his little legs could muster.
"You are really affectionate, why are the rest of you so mean?" Fluttershy gently patted the top of Starchaser's head with her hoof.
"Why are the rest of WHO so mean?" an unseen pony spoke in a proper articulate manner.
Fluttershy jumped up, and flew behind her couch as the strange voice suddenly revealed it's presence from behind her. The white unicorn mare stood with one hoof up in front of the small black foal. Rarity blinked and looked down at the young pegasus as he smiled and lifted his hoof up to bat innocently at her curled purple mane, like a cat playing with a string.
"Rarity... you startled me." Fluttershy frowned, her face half hidden behind her sofa.
"I am so sorry darling..." she frowned at the foal playing with her mane. "...who, may I ask, is this little one? Please tell me his hooves are clean." she smiled weakly at her friend, who slowly walked from behind the couch.
"Oh, that's Starchaser. He's my nephew." Fluttershy said in almost a whisper.
"Aaand..." Rarity questioned.
"Yes his hooves are clean." Fluttershy nodded.
"Thank Celestia, I just got my mane done up for the fashion show tonight!"
"Oh! Was that tonight?!" Fluttershy jolted into the air, a discontent frown spread across her face.
"Of course it was, please do not tell me that you forgot Fluttershy! I need you!"
"But-"
"Please, Fluttershy! After all, you've already shown that you can attract the crowds as a model!"
"But- You know how much I don't like crowds." Fluttershy said in a whisper.
Rarity sighed and nodded. " You're right, I should not ask that of you again."
Starchaser stood up and knocked his forehead against Rarity's front leg, laughing out as the mare took a step away from the odd behavior. He jumped up into the air and spread his wings, the wings barely lifting him up to her face before he fell. His legs fell down beneath him and he knocked his jaw into the wooden floor with a loud crack. Bringing a gasp from both of the mares.
"Are you alright, Darling?!" Rarity lifted his chin up with her hoof and gave him a sympathetic frown.
Fluttershy flew over Rarity and to Starchaser swiftly, bumping a vase before scooping the little foal up into her hooves and cradling him like an infant. "Oh you poor little thing! You should really be more carefull Star!"
Starchaser pointed his hoof up toward where Fluttershy had just flown and the mare followed his hoof to see the vase just as it began to tip over.
"Rarity! Look out!" Fluttershy cried.
Rarity looked up as the vase fell and hit her right on the head! The shattering vase splashed water over the white mare and left three small white flowers sitting on her head as she wobbled side to side before falling onto her side, out cold. Fluttershy looked around and gently put Starchaser down onto the floor before approaching. Fluttershy winced as she saw the bump on her friend's head.
"Rarity! Are you okay?!" the timid mare nudged Rarity. Rarity made no response.
Starchaser stepped to the opposite side of Rarity as Fluttershy, looking down at what he could only imagine was a sleeping unicorn. Starchaser lifted a hoof up and poke Rarity's back, a small green spark from his emerging tiny jagged horn and rippled swiftly down the unconscious mare's body. Fluttershy blinked, watching the strange magic. Starchaser's body sparked and glowed a sickly green as his form twisted and warped. He began to grow taller, his body formed into a more slender shape, a long curling mane and tail growing out, finally his horn shined brightly and reformed into a smooth unicorn's horn... as the light and sparks of magic dimmed, an almost perfect copy of Rarity stood before Fluttershy, who stood in awe. One speck of green remained in the unicorn's left eye.
Fluttershy sat down onto her rear as Starchaser, in Rarity's form looked over and smiled. He tried to open his mouth and speak, but instead he just started coughing furiously. Fluttershy jumped up as he began to cough painfully, placing a hoof on his back. He shook his head and tried to speak again, only managing to worsen his coughing... He sat and frowned.
Fluttershy looked back down at Rarity, her eyes widening as she made a faint squeek. "Oh no... how am I supposed to tell my friends what happened?" the timid pegasus turned toward her window as loud music began to play in the distance. "... Rarity's show!" Fluttershy shifted her eyes about nervously before her eyes landed on Starchaser's almost perfect imitation of Rarity.
It's been a long time but now the second chapter is finally out, and the cliffhangers came out to play. Comments with constructive criticism are always welcome and I hope you enjoyed it!
