//-------------------------------------------------------// New Life Flickers -by FruitiPebbei- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Basic Introductions //-------------------------------------------------------// Basic Introductions ... Hello there! Guess what? I died! Along with my four other siblings. I mean, not die, more like our world imploded! Being the youngest of My siblings, I got to be the one who picked where we get "reincarnated" at. It was hard to pick but after surveying my options I decided to pick the most favorable one... My little pony! Specifically Friendship is magic. Why am I so happy? Cause this is a dream come true! Especially since we are changelings. But since we're technically variants, I decided to call us Sparklings for now. Basically, we are changelings but we have yellow where there's suppose to be blue, have bubbly, yellow, poked-with-stars fins, wire-like tails with little sparks at the end, we specialize in giving people with photophobia nightmares, and feed off of memories. Oh, did I forget to mention we are half the size of a pony?!(I will be forever salty about that) The memory feeding is not that hard to explain, the stronger the emotion in the memory the more nourishing it is. There are two major types, grazing and diving, as I call them. Grazing is kind of where you shave of a thin layer of the memory causing the thing to only forget the Memory slightly, this method doesn't give you too much food. Then there diving that leaves little to no memory of the specific memory. And that barely scratches the surface, seriously, I think it took a month to fully learn about feeding... We can still eat normal food its just barely gives us energy, we can still taste the food, thankfully! Then our light and light illusions, which is the spark of our abilities. Basically, we can be flash bangs and are immune to Flashbangs. We can also, suck light in to make the area dark which is hard to do and maintain. We can also become Flashlights, which I am incredible at! We also have bug skills like griping to vertical surfaces but the those aren't that important. I mean, the hive mind is but... Anyway... How do I know about these? We were taught e.v.e.r.y s.e.c.o.n.d i.n a y.e.a.r. It was painful to say the least, but at the end we knew everything we needed to know about us, the world,(which I knew painfully a lot) as well as getting some new names(based on Bugs and LIGHT sources)! Here, I even made a chart about everyone's skill! Flashlight(me, 10, female small): LIGHT: Incredible. Quick Tongue: Not too good. Shapeshifting: Decent. Memory collection: Better than most. Magic: Decent Firefly(10.5, female, small): LIGHT: Bad Quick Tongue: Amazing! Shapeshifting: Impressive. Memory collection: Decent. Magic: Not.. that bad? UVL/ Ultra Violet Light(13, male small-large): LIGHT: Better than some. Quick Tongue: Good Shapeshifting: Nice job! Memory Collection: :D(VERY IMPRESSIVE!) Magic: Nice job. LightRay(14, other, medium) LIGHT: Eh...! Quick Tongue: Good! Shapeshifting: Decently great! Memory Collection: Bad...? Magic: Lord Almighty, He is GOOD. Glow-Plankton(16, male, half the size of a pony) LIGHT: Dim.. Quick Tongue: Nice. Shapeshifting: It's fucking ascending. Memory Collection: Impressive. Magic: Impressive. Flight for everyone: E.X.C.E.L.L.E.N.T So, that's everyone's "stats" determine by me and definitely did not copy the results from the teacher's private book. We are going to head down to Equestria soon! I'm so excited that I buzz my wings without knowing. "You excited, Flash? Of course, why wouldn't the 'ling(She uses changeling terms for some reason, probably best to get used to it, I guess...) who doomed us to be stuck in her favorite show be excited" Firefly teased, sitting beside me. We were in front of the portal, a hole in the large cloud we were on. The drop down looked very far. "Uhuh... It's just, we're going to drop down.." I trailed off. I wasn't scared of heights. It's just, any reasonable being would be... Nervous. Even with wings, I only got them a year ago. "We'll be okay, all five of us have each other, " a voice I could Identify as Plankton. I turned my head to look at him. "Where did you come from?" "I was suppose to find both of you since it's time, but I guess not since you're already here... Ima go tell the rest" "Whatever you say, Sheldon J. Plankton" mocked Firefly "I told you not to call me that!" Plankton whined, walking off before Firefly could tease him more. "Heh... I mean... It's his fault he picked the name 'Glow-Plankton'." I snickered a bit, who picks the name 'Glow-Plankton', anyway? A few minutes later, Plankton returned with Ray and UVL. UVL was carrying a box in his mouth. "Heck is that?" Firefly asked, pointing to the box. "A parting gift from the teacher, it won't open until we get down to Equestria or something. Trust me, I've tried..." Ray explained, sitting between me and Firefly. "I don't think we should wait any longer, I rather not get chased out by the teacher..." grumbled Plankton. Was he still upset about the Plankton joke? "Fine, Mister Bear... Come on, I'll go fir-" Firefly was cut off as she got pushed of into the portal(Or hole in a cloud) by Plankton. "Hah! That will teach you not-" Plankton was about to say when he got given the taste of his own medicine and was pushed off by Ray. "I have zero idea on what you all are doing but Im gonna join IIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNN" I could hear Ray's voice fade out as he fell, then UVL jumped in. I took a deep breath I shouldn't be worried... I mean, I can fly, we all can fly, very well, in fact. Then why am I scared? I never had a fear of heights before... No... Falling will be much better than staying here and face Teacher's wrath. I mean, he's not strict but that stare... I closed my eyes and after who knows how long... I jumped in. Author's Note I shouldn't have made that last part that dramatic, but to avoid confusion, I think I should explain the stats and stuff. LIGHT is how skilled a 'ling is with light Quick Tongue is how manipulative and how quick a 'ling is with talking like making up stories and excuses. Shapeshifting is how quick, diverse, and detailed a 'ling can be with shapeshifting. The more skilled a 'ling is, the more things they can change into. Memory Collection is how discreet, effeinent, and quick a 'ling is with gathering Memories. Magic is how skilled a 'ling is with... Magic! //-------------------------------------------------------// Of all the places... Hey! New friend! //-------------------------------------------------------// Of all the places... Hey! New friend! Falling... Flipping around in air for a bit. Floating... ... Wait.. Floating? The heck? No, I was falling, for about 7 seconds, but now, I'm floating! Hey! At least I have that going for me. As I got closer to the ground, whatever thing was making me float suddenly quit on me. I somehow managed to fall "Ow! Stupid fall, stupid ground!" Normally, I’d hear a few snickers from my siblings, but... nothing. Just silence. I blinked open my eyes to see nothing but a barren, orange lands, with a few natural, and a bit a bit father up ahead, even more barren lands! But to top it up, In the distance, I could see a depressing looking castle-like structure. SERIOUSLY?! OF ALL PLACES, I HAVE TO BE SMACK DAB PLACED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BADLANDS NEAR THE CHANGELING HIVE, YOU GOT TO BE... Ugh... I sat there for a moment, thinking of the whole situation as a whole. I'm lost, who knows how far away from my only family and this is probably my fault since I might have taken to long which made the cloud move somewhere else...? Okay Flashlight, you're just making things up. Now is no time for panicking... Wait, shouldn't they have at least use the Hivemind to send me their location "Pssst! Hey! You! Over there!" Heck was that? "Over here, you! Down here!" I turn to see a pillar with a hole at the base of it. It was practically pitch black! Suddenly I felt something grab my tail and yoink down on it sending me tumbling into the darkness, after a bit of getting myself together, I glow just enough to see... Another changeling...? And my knocked out siblings besides him?! I'm going to fucking- wait... Let him explain. I'm not one of those MC that "attack first think later" "Finally! Everytime one of you weird changelings fall from the sky they knock themselves out and I have to drag them in here or they'd risk getting caught by a patrol! Now I have one that hasn't knock themselves out... You're smaller than everyone here! I didn't even think that was possible! You're only a little bit bigger than a Nymph! If it wasn't for the way you speak, I'd think you were actual Nymph! Enough of me talking... But, I'd like to ask... How are you even glowing? I'd like to know! Oh and you are strange just like the others! Oh by the way, I'm Speck! Everyone from my hi- former hive say I talk to much, do I?" The Changeling, Speck, buzzed. "Um... Maybe you do talk a little too much. And before I tell you our secrets to complete stranger, how about you tell me about how you are here and about yourself so you're not a complete stranger" I replied, adjusting myself to a laying position. It may be a tiny bit manipulative, but... " Oh, oh! That's a great idea!" Speck sat down, clapping his hooves together. "I'm Speck, as you know. And I was rejected from the hive!" "What-" "Shhh! I'll answer all your questions without you even asking me them!" He interrupted, carrying on. "I was rejected as soon as they figured I don't eat love! What do I eat? Strong emotion, which you may think applies to love, and it does but it has to be strong! So they barely had enough to feed me, but luckily, I could eat up all the anger and resentment from the caretakers to pupate early. A soon as I learned to fly and cast spells, I got kicked out a few days ago. The only reason why I stay near the hive was so I can skim off some if that hate and frustration which is just enough for me! And... Maybe just because I miss the hive even if they hated me... But that should answer all you questions, correct-O?" "Uh... Pretty much..." "Now it's your turn! Tell me everything about you and the rest of you weird changelings!" "Well... Let me start with.. the story first..." And that's how it went for an hour or so, I spined a fake tale on how we got here and fell from the sky grasping all the bits of information we learned about Sparklings, and then told him pretty much everything about us. I found Speck's company pretty nice, and I thought I was a naive child! James Seymour, he's more naive than me and I'm ten!(Technically, I'm about 3 months which is about the age of a ten/elven years old. He's four months, but still... It was getting darker and with that I glowed brighter. Speck told me that he didn't need it which made me have to go in depth to my light abilities and the drawbacks and stuff. Soon, he finally stopped asking questions. "Uh, hey! I found this box before but I didn't want to open it till one of you guys wake up before you came along. What's in it...? It's near one of your siblings." "Gift.." I simply responded. "I don't want to open it till we are all.(Big yawn).awake... I'm tired..." "Really? Okay then, I'll watch Incase something happens!" I looked out to see the wonderful moon and its moonlight. There was no pony on it... What season did we get dropped in...? "Uh... Speck, what did your hive last talk about when you left...?" "Hmm... I heard that there's a wedding in a month from now, apparently, Queen Chrysalis is gonna do a... Invasion there or something...?" Welp... That gives me some reference on where we are, hopefully the GULFF(Our group name) will wake up soon. I really wanted to be there...! "Alright, Of to sleep you go! I assume glowing takes a lot from your light reserves!" Eh... It not that bad, but I honestly wish we could photosynthesis to gain light energy... Can we? There's probably lots of things teach didn't tell us. I stared to curl up best but this want comfortable, I decided to do a toothless and spit some nice, glowing, slightly stick, soft slime-like spit(basically over-chewed gum) in a circle around me. Soon enough, the warmness (or tiredness) made me sleep off. _______________________________________ When I woke up I could hear my sibs through Hivemind talking nervously. Comments like- "Guys, why are we here...?" "Why isn't our information Flashlight awake...?" I stood up and yawned. "Hey Speck." "Oh hey, Flashlight, you're siblings didn't wake up the whole night, at least the parts of the night that I was awake-" "Nuh-Uh. I know y'all are awake, you guys are basically screaming for me" I snorted, oh beautiful Hivemind. Firefly was the first to stand up. "Hey, we were not crying for you! And what's up with the Changeling, regular." "Uh, Speck..." "Alright, who is this Speck?" "Banished changeling." I responded, the rest of the GULFF decided to sit up. "Oh? Really then? Well, Speck, I am Firefly. The rest will introduce themselves." "Ultra Violet Light... But call me UVL or UV, please!" "I'm Glow-Plankton. But you can always call me Glow, Plankton or whatever name you give me." "And my name is LightRay, but please call me Ray." "Okay! Are you guys gonna open your... Gift, right?" He turned for confirmation, I nodded in response. Do changelings don't know what a gift is or is it just Speck that doesn't know what a gift is...? All of my siblings gave blank stares for a second. "You told him?!" Ray shouted in surprise which the blue-eyed changeling shushed in response, causing Ray to glare at him. "Shh! There might be a morning patrol... I don't want the guards to discover us!" Speck urged, he looked kinda scared of the guards, or at least nervous. "Why wouldn't I? He's probably the ones that saved both me and all of you!" I glanced at the now cheerful Speck. "Why are you that protective of him?" Firefly asked. "Yeah! Why are you...?" Ray agreed, narrowing his eyes. "Nuh-Uh, Ray. You are not gonna 'agree with me'. I'm asking a genuine question here. What did he do that he got your interest...? (Firefly...) Apart from acting like your friends." "(Flashlight...) Yeah... It's mainly the fact he's super similar to one of my friends. Well, it's kinda how love at first sight works except it's, 'Friendship at the first hour you met each other'." " (Firefly...) Aw... That's sweet... Good enough..." "(LightRay...)Oh... Sorry... Alright, I guess..." LightRay 'apologized', "Are we going to open this box or what?!" LightRay grabbed the box from wherever it was and placed it in the middle of the circle we unintentionally formed by grouping together. After a while of struggling with cutting the rope with our fangs(Non of us wanted to depend on our magic so much). The box feel away to reveal a soft towel with a bottle with greenish-yellow liquid and two orbs. The bottle had a card reading, 'Timberwolf Growth Food and at the back of the back, it read, to help your Timberwolf grow F.A.S.T Wait... If this is "Timberwolf Growth Food", not only is it Sea-monkey flashbacks but also... The orbs should be... "Timberwolf orbs!" You see, Sparklings have a relationship with Timberwolves as they use them for protection while somehow they feed off our light energy in photosynthesis. As well as eat dead bodies and stuff as fertilizer. And plus, wood-puppies! "Timberwolves? Oh, did your Hive give you these as parting gift, you told me that these 'Timberwolves' are companions to you all?" "Parting gifts...?" Asked UVL. (Flashlight) "Just go with it! I'll tell you the fake backstory later;" "Well then, now that we got the gift open and stuff. Let's get out of here." Glow-Plankton tried to get out but Speck got his tail. "There might be a patrol out, you don't want to be caught. I could either take you carefully through the sky or on the ground. I recommend the ground." "Okay... Ground it is! Let's get started now." .... Author's Note I'm going to work on the next chapter immediately, but I want some opinion. If changelings had Autism and ADHD how do you think they would react to them, would they eat something different as well? I just thought of this... //-------------------------------------------------------// Bye-Bye Badlands! HELLOOO WOOD PUPPIES! //-------------------------------------------------------// Bye-Bye Badlands! HELLOOO WOOD PUPPIES! It'd been about... 30 minutes? I think(I don't have a watch, okay!)? We were walking through the Badlands for what feels like forever... we could walk out in the open since we were now out of the patrol route, at least for the afternoon. From what Speck said, the patrol routes are father in the morning and in the night, the patrols are even farther ! The nightly patrols stretched to the equestrian border! (Speck said that anywhere in the Badlands is technically Changeling land and a kingdom, though I doubt it was official since the changelings weren't even discovered.) While we were walking, I looked around everywhere. "Why would you look when there is nothing but sand, rocks, and pillars?", you may have asked. You see, I mentioned how short our species are, here ponies are about 4-5 feet per average, adult Sparklings are usually half the size of ponies, I am literally the size of a kitten so everything around me (mainly) is fucking huge. And usually, I won't mention this because I was already insecure about my height back on earth but wow, I just had to mention it!(Hah! You probably would've thought I had gotten used to it but we were all the same height back up in the cloud!) The topic of Shapeshifting with our size will be discussed for another day Speck had been complaining about the heat after some minutes of walking, and the fact he was carrying some gems he found with his magic in an old sac. Though the rest of us aren't really affected by the hear. It does feel kinda hot but it doesn't at the same time(Only solidifies my theory about us being able to photosynthesis). Now, Speck stopped complaining! I can see why; in the small splotches of green! We are nearly there! I already have things planned, I'm going to "convince" the group to let Speck stay(If he does wanna stay), then we should arrive to Dodge junction/city(take your pick), get some memories to eat(Speck always saves a lot of hate from the hive in case he needs to fight some patrol changelings, so he'll be stocked) and maybe even buy some supplies. I really want to kidnap a pony and remove ~~all~~ most of their memories(They say it's Psychopathic I say it's experimental.), for fun, but I doubt UVL or Plankton will let me... Ray might, and Firefly will probably help me! But we are here mainly for supplies and food. "Shouldn't we just fly the rest of the way there? It will be faster! And we've been walking for soooo long!" Firefly groaned, buzzing in annoyance(she tends to do that). "You're the one to talk..." muttered Speck. "But yeah... It'd be faster." We all take off, forming a line with Ray at the front and Speck at the back, but I, being the annoying little freak I am, decided to perch on Speck. "What are you doing..?" Speck hesitated, I could feel the confusion. I mean, I know I could but... This one I could feel it in my... uh... What they call it? Chitin? Yeah, Chitin! "Resting on your back, duh!" I sassed back. "Yeah but...Why?" "I wanted to!" "...." "....Why are you being so silent...?" "I wanted to." "... Well played, but you are okay with me staying here, right?" "Yeah, it's kinda like putting a decent sized rock on my back." "Oh... Alright! I did NOT think that I weighed that little!" (Firefly) "Hah!" (Flashlight)"Hah! You can not talk, okay? You probably way just a couple grams than me!" (Firefly) "I'm probably 160 grams, you're probably 80!" (Glow-Plankton)"Number one. Since when did "you weigh less" become a retort! If anything, ya'll should shut up, you're practically giving the group a headache!" (UVL) "... He's not wrong." (Firefly)"Have we all decided Speck is coming with us?" (LightRay)"Since when was that agreed on-" (Flashlight)"There's a correct answer for this." (LightRay)"I think I speak for everyone here, we all agree on this..." (Firefly)"Yeah.." (UVL)"YEP!" (Glow-Plankton)"Who wouldn't?!" As time passed in silence, the more bored I became. Ya'll know what happens when you're bored, right? Oh sweet embrace of Naptime, carry me away in a fluffy blanket... Noo... Sleep, come back...! I feel myself waking up. Begrudgingly, I blink open my eyes to see Speck sitting to the left of me. All around was a stone cave, except in front of me which was the entrance to a forest, probably next to Haysead. To the right of me was the Timberwolf things "You're awake!" Speck smiled, he was glad to see me. "Yeah... but..." I yawned mid sentence. "Where are the others?" "Oh! and Firefly went to go get food for you all. She insisted! The others split off to get supplies. They didn't bring you cause you were asleep" "They could have woken me up!" "could they? They told me anyone who woke you up on purpose would get destroyed..." "I guess you are right..." her gaze flicked over to the Timberwolf things when she remembered. "Oh yeah! Speck, go get Sticks, dead wood leaves. anything like that!"` "Uh why?" "We got some Timberwolves to make!" I watch as Speck put the final punch of leaves with his blue magic into a pile. The pile was as tall as Glow-plankton! That means it practically towered over me. I had the Timberwolf Growth potion in my magic. I carried it over so it was close to the pile. What do Timberwolf orbs need to open up...? Probably magic, maybe the growth food could help...? Levitating the potion above the orbs, I slowly pour a drop (IT SPILLED ON IT-) on both orbs. Suddenly, The twigs, dead leaves and branches start getting pulled towards the green-yellow orbs, piece my piece, both orbs started to for their bodies. The thing is, because there was some dead leaves in the pile, both Timberwolves had a green-brown(the darker one) and Purple-brown(lighter one)dead-leaved tail. They were basically cuter, smaller Timberwolves! One pup had a darker grey-brown wood while the other had a lighter tan wood. They were both sitting beside each other, wagging their leafy tails. A leaf tongue came out from the darker one. The lighter pup sniffed me, then Speck, then the litter pile which was half the size it used to be, then it dug in after looking at me(and when I mean dug in it literally ate itself a hideout.) "They're... Cuter than I expected! What are they're names gonna be, if you do name them?" "Hmm... The darker one will be Ebony-" the darker pup cocked his head towards me, "The lighter one, Juniper." The other pup cocked her head towards me. Right... PHOTOSYNTHESIS! I glowed bright, the pups approached me closer. Juniper was now laying beside me, as well as Ebony who was resting on my other side, curled up into a small ball somehow. I adjust my position to a laying position so I would be confortamble. "I'm going to be here for awhile, I guess..." .... Author's Note Hehe hope y'all like this chapter! Oh and. I plan to update every two/three days unless something comes up! //-------------------------------------------------------// We got supplies, a kitty, and a... Pony...? //-------------------------------------------------------// We got supplies, a kitty, and a... Pony...? I buzzed, I am bored... For crying out loud how far is the nearest town?! At this point I've closed my eyes and tried to imagen the smallest speck of something! "Firefly! Stop closing your eyes for Clouds sake! we're here!" the sound of UVL's voice called out to me. I opened my eyes to see a dusty ah town. https://camo.fimfiction.net/HmHZFpikMhu4XgCBQCNsEsoffLEscISvt63XrNihu-s?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmlp%2Fimages%2Fc%2Fcd%2FApplejack_at_Dodge_Junction_S2E14.png%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20141025052600 {Ehem, please pretend Applejack is NOT in this image. Thank you for your time!} Finally! We're here! I got a bit worried... We could probably get some "food" to eat but supplies...? I doubt the things we needed was here. "Should we go in disguised or actually disguised?" LightRay asked. "Eh... Our Guiding Light(Flashlight) says that Changelings won't be discovered till a month time. If we fake a cloak, sunglasses and make sure we look friendly, I'm sure we'll be good!" I responded, waving a hoof in dismissal. "Okay then... I hope this works..." Glow-Plankton muttered. After some talking, in a flash of yellow fire, we all had similar "clothing". Black cloaks with yellow undersides just low enough to cover our holed hooves, We had a regular pair of sunglasses.(Except me who went with the more circular kind) "Okay... Now the problem of currency... I wish the Cloud at least sent us some bits!" Glow-Plankton mumbled in annoyance. Like a wish come true, a brown bag tied with red rope appeared in front of them, it had a note attached. Dear siblings I am so terribly that I forgot to send you bits. Thank you GP for saying that as I would not have been reminded! This bag contains about 10,000 bits, enough for you to at least get on your feet and get a job. Yes, you are being watched by me like a tv show! And right now it is quite enjoyable! Best regards, Cloud "Oh.. GP is a good nickname... I should start calling you by that, Glowie!" I teased. Ah yes, the best part of the day is to tease GP with many nicknames. Glow-Plankton hissed a bit before turning towards the town. "Come on.. we can get to the town, spilt up and get what we need. When any of us are done, we'll send a Hivemind message, K?" "Yeah." "K" "Mhm" As me and UVL trotted beside each other, we got... looks I could tell as we where trotting through town that he was scraping of memories. I could also tell my the occasional comment from a pony like, "My head hurts" "My memory feels foggy...". Luckily, only older ponies made these comment which made them shrug it off to old age. UVL is good at Memory collection. I also skimmed of the occasional, but not too much as too cause attention, I mainly let UVL do all the work. We stopped near benches and sat down across each other. He grabbed a newspaper with his magic from a bucket and levitated it over to him. I presume he was pretending to read it as not to get attention. I worked slightly as well but I mainly focused on watching the town as I watch ponies walk around. One thing that caught my attention was a poor, dirty mare just sitting and staring. She looked young too... I kinda feel bad for her. "Poor Mare..." "Hm?" UVL looked up "Look." I indicated to the poor mare. The earth pony had a dirty, really light purple coat, dark purple, fluffy and unkept mane and tail. Her Butt-mark(as I call it) was covered up by a brown patch. "Eh... I know it's bad but... Not like we can give her bits. Lightray and GP are the one with it." ... "Let's kidnap her and wipe her memories." I whispere, to of course, make sure no-pony thinks we're evil. "WHHHHAAATTT...!" "We'll ask permission and then we can take her with us! There's still a lot we don't know about Equestria! Besides, I feel bad..." UVL stayed quiet for a bit. Was he actually thinking about it?! "This is something Flashlight would do!" he hissed. I drooped down a bit "But... I suppose it would be better for both parties... You can try to get her to come" I jumped up in glee, suppressing the urge to buzz in excitement. I trotted over to her, the earth pony didn't even notice me. She was looking around, looking everywhere and at everything but me! "Hey!" I called to the mare. She turned slowly toward me, she was nervous. "Do you want help...?" I watched as GP talked to the owner of a decent cart. She just started selling a ton of her stuff. She is moving out from Dodge junction(The place we were in) and she didn't need most of the stuff. Cactus Bloom, the pegasus mare with a green coat, pink mane, yellow eyes, and a cactus with a blooming, pink flower on the top cutie mark, was a bit spectacle selling stuff to creepy-looking, short-as-a-foal strangers. But after hearing out voice and intentions she agreed to sell most of them 'willingly'! I shift the bag of bits closer to my body with my tail. Turns out, you can show parts of yourself without get glares from ponies, just a few turns to see the weird pony-creature before turning away, at least, for now. The deal was "4,000(3,500 after some haggling) bits from most of my stuff". These stuff include; the cart, rope, wood, leather and cloth, nails, a hammer, some gardening tools(I have no idea why Glow-Plankton needs it), so on. I turned my head back to see Cactus Bloom heading behind her house, Cart in tow, and GP returning back to me. He sat beside me and grinned in satisfaction. "Cactus is getting the stuff now! I thought we'd have to go all around this place to get the stuff we need! But now we can go back early! I just hope UVL doesn't take his sweet time..." Something caught my eye... "Yeah.." "Hm? What are you looking at?" A cat. A big, fluffy, dark brown cat with lighter red-brown head, flank, tail, and back legs, with stripes, speckles and a brindle. It wore a sky blue bowtie that matched it's ice blue eyes with a yellow star in the middle. But it was a cat. I love cats, and this one, this one was staring at me with a curious gaze! That means it was interested in me! Alright, LightRay! You got this I slowly approached the cat, it didn't run! In fact, when I got closer, it even came closer and sniffed me! I knelt down and started petting it with my hoof. It purred. It fucking purred! I would be jumping in glee right now but I did not want to scare the cat. Suddenly, the cat backed away a bit. NO! Do you not like me already?! "Amazing... Never seen anything like it!" I turned to see Cactus Bloom standing over my shoulder. Perhaps she scared the kitty? That'd be a relief "What...?" I asked, trying by very best not to sound irritated. "That cat right these is Vermillion! He barely lets anyone get close to him no matter who fed him the most... The most I got to him was a few hooves away while feeding him! I bragged about it for months." she smiled, looking down at the nervous cat. "No offense, but that mighty strange for a cat in Equestria to let a creature like you get close to him. Perhaps Vermillion was raised by you creatures!" "Eh, none taken! Call us Sparklings. And no, I've... never heard of any hives with cats." after some thinking I 'put my hood down', I mean, the changelings are going to attack in a month, better to get yourself known to be friendly rather than be stereotyped as 'evil-love-eating-creatures'. The pegasus' eyes widened for a bit before going back down to normal. "Hives? Really? Never heard of these 'Sparklings' before!" "We come from a diffrent land." "Well, before we get off topic. how about you take Verm in? He seems to like you! I can get you some cat food before you leave!" "Uh... really? Thank you! I guess, and it depends if Vermillion wants to come with me." "No worries! Consider me a friend, I've given your brother here the cart and stuff. But stay for a bit, I'll get you some cat food and you can be on your way!" Cactus bloom trotted off to her house. Once the mare was gone, the cat started rubbing against me. As you can expect, I was practically bursting. Glow-Plankton called out to me and I hesitantly left the cat to go to my brother. To my surprised, the cat padded after me. "We should be-" he looked down at my front hooves to see the cat besides my legs. Vermillion didn't react to GP either! "Looks like you got a new friend! I'm surprised it's a cat!" "Me too. And, if you didn't hear, Cactus Bloom is bringing cat food for us to take for Vermillion." "Vermilli- Oh the cat? You don't possibly think we can take the Vermilion?" "You do realize if I tell Flashlight she will kill you. And quite frankly, me as well." "Now that you phrase it that way, yeah, we can take Vermilion." Cactus Bloom came out with a medium-sized bag of cat food. The cat, upon noticing the Pegasus mare went between my legs, which I was surprised he fit in, though I could feel the fluff. "Here, you go! There's a cup in there, I find 4 cups of the food every morning, afternoon and evening. I do hope you visit me, I'll be in Ponyville when you find a place to settle though!" "We'll, or at least I'll try to, Cactus." When I saw GP holding the cart with his magic, I signaled him in the hivemind to stop as I overtook it and waved a hoof in goodbye. "Bye!" "Bye... Oh dear, what friend I am to not ask your name! What's your name, friend?" "LightRay!" "Okay. Bye, LightRay!" //-------------------------------------------------------// Home Sweet Pre-prepared Home and A Little Experimenting. //-------------------------------------------------------// Home Sweet Pre-prepared Home and A Little Experimenting. We've been travelling for a few days now, and now I can see Rambling ridge ahead, but let me give you a basic recap. Once, LightRay, Glow-Plankton came back with a cat, I was ecstatic let me tell you. Vermillion was a bit sacred of the pups but the seemed to sense this and kept their distance until Vermillion warmed up to them. Glow-Plankton improved the cart, Making sure it could fit a Spruce or Birch so they could pull it and somehow making a retractable roof on the cart. We made sure to let Verm get used to the cart and made sure Birch and Spruce could pull it no problem. And then, there was the pony Firefly and UVL brought back. UnknownHaze wanted help so Firefly told her everything about us. After some convincing she decided to start new with no memories of her life whatsoever. Firefly managed to get a teensy bit of info out of her but that was all she needed. Apparently she worked really hard to help her mother and father but once she got sick with an unknown virus, her family straight up left. UnkownHaze's been doing whatever job she could find and that they let her do. She's actually has decent money, but her condition is getting worse. She was doing her favorite thing to do, watching. It brings her peace, but she hates other ponies interacting because, one, she's either scared she get them sick or, two, she worried they'll push her away of something. Pick your poison. I mean, she literally has all the symptoms of Covid! I just hope she survives long enough for us to figure out a way to help. We loaded all the thing we had, jumped into the cart (Helping Unknown up, of course.), except me, who was the one putting the thing to attach to horse onto Spruce. I made sure the Timberwolves knew what to do and we set off. There was not much to our ride to Rambling Bridge. And yes, I know it's "Rambling Rock Bridge" but please, "Rambling Bridge" is easier to say. Wood-puppies didn't get tired didn't get tired much. When they did get tired, we'd stop, I'd let Spruce/Birch disassemble, making sure the green orb was nice and protected and the other one that was resting would reassemble after resting and take the lead. This usually happened every morning. We'd often collect berries and plants we knew were safe from study back up in the Cloud and collected them for both Unknown, and The Timberpups. Though they didn't care if it was poisonous. In fact, we'd often collect poisonous ones to feed to the Timberwolves so the berries would hopefully sport in their tail as defense. I even hope to use gloves to feed them Poison joke was we visit Ponyville! Now it leaves me to here, we passed through the forest and now we're entering the place we can call our new home! "Why are we passing through, Rambling Rock Ridge...? I bet it would be easier to pass a place with food.", asked Unknown. "Well, to answer your question. I don't think we're passing through, more like, living here. We need a Private place where ponies won't run away in fear from our Timberwolves. Anything! Am I correct, dear sister?" "Correct-o my friend-o!" God, that sounded way less cheesy in my head. "This place will be our new home! I picked it because it was not only the closest to a nearby town, it was closest to our location, and it's way more private! UnknownHaze sighed "So I'm staying with you? I guess it'd be great to have somewhere live that isn't a reminder of my past, and perhaps work for the remainder of my life..." This made me frown, she's really sold on the idea that's she gonna die and that makes me kinda angry. We will find a way to save her... OR maybe Cloud will? I hope so, I don't want to do any work. PLEASE CLOUD PLEASE! After thirty minutes of travelling and talking we soon came to sudden stop. I look outside to see Birch curiously looking at a furniture, like, lots of furniture. I'd could vaguely remember THAT'S MY OLD TEDDYBEAR ON TOP! The one from earth, there, and probably a bunch of other things from Earth on top. I was the first out followed by UVL and the rest, Hazey opting to stay in the cart with Vermillion. At the base of the pile was a sign. This is one of the last thing I'm doing for you, assuming you haven't, look to your right ➡ I looked and as everyone followed my gaze, they saw the edge of Rambling Ridge, and there was a home mingling with the ridge! (pic can't load so) https://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/04/Rockhouse-Retreat-889x664.jpeg It was perfect. "I guess the Cloud really did listen" I muttered. For next hour and half we moved in all the furniture, my room had everything it had last time. A desk beside my bed, a chair sticking out. And across the room was a empty closet and a bookshelf as well as the exit door. In my simple, red bed(Minecraft looking ah), was my good ol' BIG teddy bear with his red tie, a missing eye and his Light-golden fur. His name was Lasel, and he's probably possessed. I had a bunch more stuff. Where is it? Well, half to Speck and the other for Unknown. Unknown wanted to stick in my room for some reason, I don't know why, maybe it's because my room is bigger? That's why Glowie's at Ponyville, to buy a bed and obviously a bunch of other regular supplies like groceries, I made sure to remind Glow-Plankton of Pinkie and to get in and get out, quick. I want everyone to come when that happens, even Vermillion and perhaps Birch and Spruce. Talking about Spruce and Birch I was thinking about golems. Golems aren't like, giant white things that protect things in MLP. They are what Timberwolves are. Created to mimic living beings. Whether with flesh and bones or sticks and leaves, they all need magic as a heart. Without them, they collapse and die. Other than that or you use like, their ultimate weakness, you cannot kill them. I'm really interested in this because I've literally always wanted to make a creature that mimicked other living beings. And now, I could do it! I know the basics since I read a bunch of books in the Cloud's library whenever it was reading time. Hm. Right, we promised to play with the puppies. I use my magic to pull the first drawer on the desk. It was filled with craft supplies, as well as a lot of a paper. But the puppies? Well, there's always time for Origami. The Pups can come at night. I bet they're exploring our new "territory" as we speak, Tearry. I spent the rest of the afternoon making a bunch of Origami animals, one for each letter(excluding the ones I did not make cause I didn't like them). A dragon, 10 to be exact, all white in color, of course. These weren't silly animals, they were simple-looking, but not cute, just, there. Now time to make a core! I simple started with the dragon after taking a sheet of paper I started writing a bunch of traits this dragon would have; intelligence, the ability to fly, fire, and a bunch of other things too. It's surprising it doesn't take too much magic to make a core for the animal. The only reason why it's "hard" is because you need to concentrated the magic into a ball or a shape, but if I simply take some magic from my light reserves, piece of cake! When I was done, I was a bit drained but happy. On my desk, the lay a small grey orb, plopping it in the dragon. I waited... And waited... And... It shuffled a bit, yawning like it just woke from a deep slumber. It looked around, and it's gaze landed on me. Pushing it's body up with it's wings, it flew around the room, landing or doing tricks. "I wonder what I should call you..." The dragon flicked it's gaze towards me before focusing back to it's exercise. "Yep, Bob." Bob suddenly swerved towards me, landing on my head before settling there. SLAM!! The door slammed open, scaring the fuck out of me and Bob. There, was Lightray, having a panic look on his face. "UNKOWNHAZE IS GONE!!!" Author's Note Gosh, there was so many ways this could turn out and so many chapter names this chapter could have gotten, so I was late for my usual post time. Next one is also going to be late as I'm need to focus on fanfics on other platforms. See ya! //-------------------------------------------------------// (Insert good chapter title) //-------------------------------------------------------// (Insert good chapter title) Wait. Haze. IS GONE? "How?!" "Well, you see... I was looking around to see some of our old stuff was here, including you and UVL's massive science project. Since you were busy doing Flashlight stuff, I thought it was best to talk to UVL. Apparently, he was in the middle of removing Haze's memories. He gladly followed but once he came back, Haze was not there anymore. And to him there was a 'tar-like substance', according to him, leading all the way to the exit and on... We should probably find her. UVL is already following the trail. Come- what the heck is on your head?” Lightray frantically paced, stopping to point at Bob. “Explain later, [i/]look for haze NOW.” I practically ran out the door. There were no threats in the Rambling Bridge that I knew of, but if something kidnapped her, there must be at least one. I practically ran out the front, stopping at a black puddle I looked it over; it looked like you made water slime and mixed in some of the darkest paint in the world. I, with my dumb curiosity stuck my hoof into, apparently, it was more of a jab as its pulled back. So doing the logical, I ran to the kitchen and pulled out a container (as everything not food was still here, even the TV, though we have no electricity nor do I think we have internet.), running back and scooping the black goo up. I continued to do this till the container was full and then, ran fast as I could to reach UVL as I already had wasted some time, following the trail. Now I could try to call over Birch and Spruce. But like before they're probably out exploring. Besides, what protagonist would I be if I bring two Timberwolves to something most likely dangerous to protect myself? I managed to catch up to UVL who was following the trail of black. It stretches for who knows how long. After I reached UVL Lightray caught up. We walked for what felt like hours, it wasn't hot, but it was boring. "So... What do you think took her?" Lightray spoke, trying to smother the silence. "Eh, I don't know... There's no creature here that I know of that leaves Black goop." UVL shrugged "It could've been a Golem..." "What" UVL flicked his ears towards me. Tired, I responded, "It could've been a Golem." "What's that?" Lightray quipped, curious. "Basically, Timberwolves is a type of Golem. Long story short, A Golem is meant to mimic beings. Can we stop talking? I'm getting tired." 'You just said it was boring, you hypocrite! You didn't even make sense!' Shut up, Red. You only started talking today! The trail finally stopped in a dark cave near the edge of the forest. All of us lit up and, very cautiously, started exploring. The walls were covered in this black goo. I'm tired, and I want to get this over with, I hadn't felt it then when I condensed my magic. It was kinda how you weren't sore yesterday after a workout, but you were the next day. I brightly lit up like the world's brightest flashlight lighting up the night. The cave glowed, the shiny black walls reflecting the whole place. "Hey! You made my eyes hurt!" ... In the middle. Standing there. Was a fucking black blob with white oval eyes blinking at us! How we didn't notice does eyes, I have no idea, but why is it here?! Of all things that could've kidnapped Haze, a bear, a wolf, heck, even an Ursa Minor would be better! But noooo! It just had to be a off-brand Rimuru. "What fuck?!" Exclaimed Lightray, his tail was lashing agitation. "What are you...?" The blob asked, looking very thoughtful.(as thoughtful as a slime can be, which is surprisingly thoughtful,)I don't even know how it talked. "Numero uno, we are changelings, specifically Changelings. Numero dos, what did you do to our friend. Numero tres, what are you?" I asked and answer, getting really close. It may be off-brand Rimuru but that doesn't stop it being cute. "I don't know what I am, I just woke up in this cave and just go with my... my... Instincts, yeah! And, what do you mean by friend? Oh you mean the dead pony I found? I sensed something bid died, so I absorbed the pony." "You mean... She was... Dead when you found her?" "Uhuh... I'm sorry if she was your friend, Mr... You can have her... Uh, oh, I don't think I have nothing left." All, at least we know it probably wasn't COVID! Wait, did they say absorbed? "Wait... What do you mean by absorbed?" I asked. "It's like when ponies eat, I guess... I dunno, I'm still learning." "Wait, learning?" UVL asked, getting a little bit closer. "Yeah! I only know ponish cause I learned over two years. I wasn't born smart, ponies probably are..." "Um, no, Ponies can be born dumb too." "You know about ponies?! Of course you do, it's just, I never seen anyone come up to me without running away in fear or try attacking me! And you even asked first! Gosh, you seem like the only one that would willingly teach me about the world or at least try to be my friend...!" "I... Uh." UVL rubbed the back of his head, I could see the invisible sweat trailing down his face. I'm a little bastard, so of course I'd help the little blob out and fuck my brothers up. "Hey...! What about UVL and I could help you learn! I could ask my Timberwolves to hunt extra animals for you!" UVL glared at me and so did Lightray, but, if looks could kill... I'd be buried on the other side of the earth (Equs). Did Lightray not like... What's it's name? "Erm, what's your name?" "My name...? I've never thought of giving me a name..." Gosh now I feel bad... "Oh... How about... Bbbbbbbbbbbbb.... Boo. Yeah, Boo!" "Boo? Yeah! That's a great name! Yeah, I'm Boo! What about you? What's your name?" "I'm Flashlight!" I smiled, this was going wayyy better than I thought it would. "UVL..." UVL sighed, he looked around for Lightray but... He was gone. "And the other changeling other than Flashlight was Lightray. I'll... Have to find him." "Oh, him? He walked out on you guys a short while ago." "Stupid Lightray...." UVL hissed, he stormed out the cave, I assume going to talk with Lightray... Wherever he is. "Why are they so grumpy? Are they mad at me?" "I think so... Probably because you... Ate our friend. I'm not mad because I understand you didn't know and you're relatively young and innocent with nobody to guide you. Hey, I'll come over tomorrow with some lunch and I'' teach you okay?" "Really?! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" "You're welcome, Boo." Author's Note This was going to go out SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much differently but I decided I needed to get rid of Haze, she was going to die anyways, though. Or is she dead? (Vsauce music plays)