A single changeling hovered just above the treeline of the Everfree forest, on the lookout for anything that might harm the new nest Queen Chrysalis was building. She was on guard duty today, but would much rather be in town, disguised as somepony and studying the mare she planned on replacing as soon as the hive was large enough. She was very good at imitating her, the one named Pinkie Pie. She wished she could just be in town, figuring out the quirks in her query's personality.
As she watched though, she saw the same pink mare running around town. She was talking with the purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. That name was infamous within the hive, having discovered their queen's disguise and causing their defeat at Canterlot. The changeling's excellent vision allowed her to see exactly what the ponies were doing. It was clear that Pinkie was excited about something. Her vision was good enough that she could lip-read everything they were saying. It was fairly mundane, until she caught the last bit of what was said.
"Oh Pinkie. I'm afraid no matter how hard you try, the only way to pull something like that off is if there's more of you to go around." Twilight said.
Pinkie's head turned sideways for a moment, then she exclaimed "That's it Twilight! The legend of the Mirror Pool!" And she bounced away... straight towards the Everfree forest!
Oh this was too perfect! The changeling knew what to do. Her queen and the hive had come to Everfree to find this pool, but discovered it was mostly dried up with nothing but a cavern where it had once been. It was deep enough for the hive to hide in, which was only a couple dozen changelings that the queen had been able to find and regroup. But if Pinkie was going there now, it would be the perfect way to slip into her life. If she changed into Pinkie and appeared to her, she could go to Ponyville and feed off her friends' love for her. She could do it without the hassle of hiding away the original as well, because her presence would be explained by the mirror pool legend. It was foal proof. The changeling flew back to the cavern, where the rest of her hive was, to speak with the queen about her plan.
"What is it, my dear Cicada?" Chrysalis asked, giving her permission to speak.
"Your highness, I have devised a way for us to feed using the mirror pool legend to our advantage." Cicada said, bowing low as she did.
The queen's interest seemed piqued, and she voiced as much. "Enough of your pleasantries. We are desperate for food, so I am interested in hearing more of your plan." Cicada quickly described her plan to the queen. After a few moments of thought, Chrysalis smiled down at her. "You've done well, my little changeling. And you say the pink one is headed this way now?"
"Yes, Your Highness. She could be entering the forest as we speak."
With a deep laugh, the queen said, "Excellent." A moment later, the laugh was gone, and she had a serious look about her. "Go now, and put this plan of yours into action. Follow her and be sure she finds her 'Mirror Pond' legend to be true. I will ensure the hive is hidden for her arrival. You have done well, young one. Be sure you remember to get her back here soon so the rest of the hive will be able to feed as well."
"Yes, Your Highness," she said, as she flew off to find Pinkie.
She easily spotted the pink mare in the forest. 'Ok,' she thought to herself, 'first I have to get the voice right.' She listened to what Pinkie was saying, figuring out the exact tone and pitch she would have to use. "Seems like hardly anypony has been here in ages," Pinkie said. Cicada paid close attention from within the tree canopy just above. "I hope I'm remembering the rhymes right from my Nana Pinkie's story. Uh, where the brambles are thickest, there you will find a pond beyond the most twisted of vines."
"Twisted of vines," Cicada repeated out loud, in exactly the same way Pinkie had, her timing making it sound almost like an echo. She quickly put her hooves over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. She hoped it wouldn't give her away.
Below, Pinkie jumped. "What was that? I heard a voice!" Then she calmed right back down. "Oh," she giggled, "It was me," and continued walking.
Cicada flew over the brambles, and down the opening in the ground to the hive. It was already completely empty. The queen had worked quickly. Cicada quickly changed herself into Pinkie Pie and slipped into the pool of water in the center. There was nothing magical about it, but Pinkie didn't need to know that. A moment later, said mare fell into the cavern. Cicada held her breath and dove under the surface, waiting for just the right moment to resurface. Above, she heard Pinkie exclaim, "The Mirror Pool!" She thought she heard the voice echo, but wasn't sure if it was a real echo, or one of her siblings imitating the mare. "Oh, and there's that voice again. Ah, Pinkie, you have got to stop talking to yourself. Starting now." Then she was at the pool's edge, staring into it. The changeling swam over to the edge as well, staying just below the surface, and looked back at Pinkie from below. "And into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one who's reflection she shared, and solomnly sweared not to be scared."
At this moment, the changeling began to climb out of the water towards Pinkie. Everything was going perfectly. "At the prospect of being doubly mared." She finished, remembering what her queen had recited when trying the pool for herself. "Weehee!" she exclaimed, jumping in the air. She was so pleased with herself, she couldn't contain it.
It seemed that the response was well timed, because Pinkie didn't suspect a thing. She said out loud, "Wow, the legend is true, it really worked!" As she had a short conversation with herself, Cicada bounced around the cave, saying, "fun, fun, fun," Over and over. Then Pinkie addressed her directly. "Excuse me, me? Can I have a word with you? I-I mean me? Listen, I can see you're having lots of fun, but-"
Cicada cut her off, "Fun? Did somebody say fun? Where?"
Pinkie waved at her and called, "I did! Over here!"
Cicada dashed over to her, "I thought sombody said something about fun! Where is it?" She began looking around excitedly. "Over here? Over here? I don't see it. Where is it? Where is it?"
"Oh, calm yourself there's loads of fun to be had in Ponyville with my girls." She began to lead Cicada out of the cavern. "Trot on over back to Ponyville with me and I'll tell you all about 'em."
Cicada was so excited, her plan was working. She trotted alongside Pinkie, enjoying the close proximity. She could feel the love Pinkie had for herself feeding her. It was a very strange sensation, feeding off of a pony's love for herself, but it wasn't bad, just different. It was giving Cicada some much needed energy. On the way out of the forest, she had a nice conversation with Pinkie. "So, what are your friends like? If I'm suppose to be like you, I need to be convincing, don't I?"
"Oh, of course, I'll tell you all about them," Pinkie started, "First there's Applejack, she's the one with the big hat and the mane in a ponytail. Which is kinda funny because, I mean, it looks just like her tail. Then there's Fluttershy. She's the one with all the animals and the long pink mane. I really like her mane, but I feel like it could use a little extra, I dunno, poofiness, I guess. Next there's Rainbow Dash. She's the fastest pony in all of Equestria. She's done, like, three Sonic Rainbooms. One of them I didn't even know what it was for the longest time, but I found out it was the thing that helped me get my cutie mark. Let's see, there's also Twilight Sparkle." At that, Cicada stopped. She had completely forgotten about Twilight. She was the one who was able to see through the queen's disguise, and got them all launched out of Canterlot. Her disgust was plain on her face.
Pinkie turned around and looked back at her. "Hey, me, what's the matter? You look like you know Twilight and you don't like her. But that's just silly. You couldn't know her, especially if you don't know any of my other friends."
Cicada quickly recovered, and made up an excuse. "Oh, uh, yeah, of course I don't know her. How could I?" She glanced around the forest, nervously. "I mean, it's just that her name sounds kinda funny. That's all." She smiled uncomfortably, hoping she hadn't just given herself away.
"Huh, I guess my friends are right. I AM random. Oh well. Don't worry, me. Twilight's a really nice pony. She takes care of the library, and is the princesses' personal student. You can't judge a pony by her name, even if it sounds funny to you."
"Ok, I'll do my best."
"Good, now where was I? Oh, right. There was Twilight, Dashie, Fluttershy, Applejack," They were exiting the forest now, and Cicada was bouncing up and down with excitement. She was almost there. But she had to make sure she played dumb and didn't let Pinkie know that she already knew about it all. Pinkie continued on, "and then there's Rarity. She's the one with all the fancy clothes and ribbons and stuff. I'm thinking she can make us all matching t-shirts that say Team Pinkie, and-"
Cicada cut her off again. "Is this Ponyville? Where's the fun? Where's the fun?" Cicada asked, looking all around, trying to appear completely ignorant.
Pinkie stopped walking and turned back to her. "Uh, well let's see. Applejack's having a barn raising at-" Cicada didn't let her finish and intentionally ran off in the wrong direction. It wasn't hard to look eager, because she truely was. "It's thataway!" Pinkie called to her, pointing the right way. Cicada quickly turned around and zipped past her towards Sweet Apple Acres. "Wait! Come back!" She called again. Cicada ran back and continued bouncing in place, eager to feed off of Applejack's love for Pinkie. She knew it wasn't a true love, like her queen had experienced with Shining Armor, but more of a sisterly love between good friends. It would satisfy her hunger, just the same, though. "Don't forget to meet me back here to tell me everything about everything, like I was there myself, because I'm you, and you're me, and oh my gosh, THIS IS THE GREATEST PLAN EVER!!!" she exclaimed, jumping high into the air. She landed and said, "Now off to double my fun!" And took off. Cicada didn't wait for an invitation, and bolted in the other direction, to Sweet Apple Acres. On the way, Cicada heard a soft voice calling Pinkie's name. "Oh, Pinkie Pie!" She almost forgot to respond to it, then suddenly stopped and turned to see the yellow pegasus with the pink mane, Fluttershy. She could feel that sisterly bond Fluttershy held for Pinkie feeding her. It was wonderful. Fluttershy continued, "I'm so glad you wandered by. I know I promised not to have any fun today, but, well I couldn't help myself." She flew over to a berry bush nearby, and pulled it back to reveal a picnic spread out, surrounded by woodland critters. "All of my critter friends wanted a picnic and I couldn't dissappoint them." Cicada could feel herself being fed even more strongly as Fluttershy's love of those small creatures spilled over to include her. Cicada couldn't help but grin widely at the wonderful feeling. "Come join us," Fluttershy said as she flew to an open spot between the animals. "We have plenty of hay juice and marmalade to go around. Don't we critters." They nodded. They looked serene and peaceful. It looked wonderful.
One little field mouse came up to her and offered a small wedge of cheese, which Cicada happily accepted. She quickly scarfed down the cheese, knowing it was the appropriate thing to do. Regular food didn't satisfy changelings' hunger, but it could give them enough energy to stay alive, if need be. Then she remembered that she was suppose to be imitating Pinkie Pie, and grew worried. What would her target do in a situation like this? Would she stay and sit with Fluttershy, or go off to Applejack's instead? "Wait! But that sounds super-fun!" Cicada began to voice her thoughts out loud. "Oh, but Applejohn's sounds super-fun too! Uh, and, and I can't do one without missing out on the other!"
Fluttershy gave her a questioning look and asked, "Who's Applejohn?"
Cicada ignored what she said, and got up close to Fluttershy's face, silently cursing herself for her slip-up on the name. "Two fun things at once, but which? Which!?!" Cicada jumped back and starting bouncing in place again. "Can't decide," she began to hyperventalate, "trouble breathing." She could feel her disguise beginning to fade, a feeling that could only be described as 'walls closing in around you' and she said as much. "Walls closing in!" she exclaimed, putting her hooves into the air dramatically, expecting her disguise to be dropped right on the spot.
Fluttershy didn't seem too surprised by this display, and responded rather calmly. "Walls? But we're outside..." At that moment, Cicada jumped up, screamed and ran away, trying to get out of sight before her secret was out. She heard Fluttershy say, "Goodness, was it something I said?"
She darted back and screamed, "YES!" before running away again. Cicada ran towards the pond where she knew Pinkie Pie was going to be. Her disguise faded completely as she ran, but luckily there was nopony around to see. She rushed into a bush near the pond, and rested a moment, before focusing the energy she had just gained from Fluttershy. She put the energy into her small, jagged horn, and cast her replication spell, once more taking on Pinkie's form. Pinkie had just jumped into the pond, with surprising silence, when she decided it was a good time to get her attention. She poked her head out of the bush, and waved at Pinkie frantically.
Pinkie hid Cicada from Dash's view before saying, "Excuse me," and hopping away.
Cicada glanced towards Rainbow Dash, nervously. "A-And me," she stammered, and hopped after Pinkie. Luckily, Dash seemed to think nothing of a Pinkie duplicate running around, and laid back down in her chair. She stopped hopping after they got back to where they had split up, and she said, "Pinkie, about that barn raising thing..."
Pinkie was still bouncing up and down, "Oooh, oooh, tell me all about it. Did they pull the walls of the barn up slow, or fast?"
"I-"
Cicada was cut off this time, as Pinkie went on, excitedly. "Maybe slow to medium-fast? Somewhere in that range?"
"I-"
"Oooh, did you get ice-cream? What kinds did they have, banana brickle?" She asked, kicking her back left hoof in excitement.
"I didn't make it!" Cicada exclaimed suddenly. She was on the verge of tears. "I was on my way there, and then Fluttershudder-"
"Fluttershy," Pinkie quickly corrected.
Cicada nodded, annoyed that she had messed up yet another name. "Yeah, her, she offered something else fun for me to do. A picnic! With cute little animals," she explained, tapping her hooves together.
Pinkie seemed to understand completely. "Aww, how could you say no to that?"
"That's what I'm saying!" Cicada went on. "Then I woulda missed the super-fun thing with Applesauce!" She fell to the ground, covering her head with her hooves.
"Applejack," Pinkie corrected once again. Cicada made a quick mental note to make sure she knew her target's friends as well as her actual target in the future.
"So I didn't do anything fun at all!" She cried, flopping onto her back in a fit of tears. She was really sad about the whole situation. Her cover had almost been lost, after all. She was surprised when she felt a strong surge of loving and caring feelings come from Pinkie Pie. It was so strange, it wasn't that same love for one's-self she had felt earlier that day. It seemed different, more like that sisterly bond she felt from Fluttershy, but perhaps a bit deeper than that. And it felt good.
Pinkie knelt down, and cradled Cicada's head in a comforting way. "Aww, my poor, poor me, there, there." Then she stood up. "Tell me what, we just need a couple more Pinkie Pies. Easy peasy."
Cicada wiped away her tears. "Really?"
Pinkie put on a big smile and said, "Come on! Would I lie to me?"
Cicada hopped up and they began to walk back to the hive. This was going better than she planned. She had expected it to be at least a couple days before she would be able to get the rest of the hive their targets. This was great. Then she stopped Pinkie for a moment, as she realized the hive would need some early warning, or the plan would be discovered, and they would likely be chased out from the Everfree forest. "Pinkie, wait a minute."
"Sure thing, me. What's up?"
"Umm, I was thinking. Maybe I should go there first? I mean, it's lunchtime, after all, and I already had something to eat with Fluttershy. Maybe you should go have some lunch, and I'll go ahead to the hi-I mean the Mirror Pool, and I'll meet you there in, oh, lets say, half an hour?"
At that particular moment, Pinkie Pie's stomach growled. "Oh, I guess you're right, me. Ok then. I'll just grab a quick snack and meet you right over there. Don't start the fun without me!" She sang, and hopped off.
Cicada let out a sigh of relief and made her way to the forest edge. Once there, she dropped her disguise, and flew back to the hive. It was bustling with activity, in stark contrast with the silence she had left it. She made her way to the queen, and was recieved with great surprise. "Cicada? What are you doing back so soon? Why are you not out feeding, and gathering strength to bring the others to us?"
"Your Highness, I apologize for my unexpected return, but it's my target, Pinkie Pie."
"What's the matter? Did something go wrong? Have you revealed yourself, or the hive to her?" Chrysalis was getting louder, and more upset with each word she spoke.
"Of course not, Your Highness! But it seems that the plan will be moving forward much faster than anticipated."
The changeling queen paused, unsure of what to think about this. "What do you mean, Cicada?" she asked.
"Pinkie-my target, that is-she wants to come back to the hive, and create more duplicates of herself. I couldn't let this opportunity go to waste, but I knew I had to let you know, my queen. I managed to buy some time to prepare. I think we can get half of the hive out with just one form."
Chrysalis thought this over, then she nodded. "You have done exceptionally well, my little changeling. You just may prove yourself worthy of being my successor at this rate. I will make the necessary arrangements. Just get her here, and get her to, ah, make as many duplicates, as possible."
"Yes, my queen," Cicada said, and left the hive once more to meet back up with Pinkie. She found the pink mare at the edge of the forest already, and quickly landed in the underbrush below. With a flash of green, she transformed back into Pinkie, and walked out to greet the real Pinkie. "Oh, hi there! I was starting to wonder if you were coming! Come on, this way!" she said, and led Pinkie back to the hive.
"You know, for only walking through here one time, you sure do know your way around." Pinkie said.
"Huh? Oh, that. Well, I guess we just have a really good sense of direction. Heh heh."
"Hmm, I didn't know I had a good sense of direction. Oh well."
In the hive, it was completely empty again. It amazed Cicada how fast her queen could move everyone. They walked up to the edge of the pool, and stood side by side, looking into it. Then they recited the rhyme. "And into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one who's reflection she shared, and solomnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared." At that signal, two Pinkie Pies emerged from the water, almost as if it really did work. It was incredible how well her siblings were pulling this off. "Look! A double me!" Pinkie said.
"I think you mean a double, double me," Cicada said, as they helped her siblings out of the pool. "Plus another double, double me. Which makes two double, double me's. Or a double-double, double me, if you will."
At this spout of non-sense that made perfect sense to Pinkie, she jumped into the air and cried out, "WEEE!!!" They all began to dash around in a similar fashion to what they had seen Cicada do earlier that day, but doing their own things at the same time. Then Pinkie Pie said, "Now, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy are covered, plus one extra Pinkie Pie, in case we get an extra invite from somepony else." She began walking towards the exit. "Perfect! Okay, let's go!" She turned back around, but Cicada and her sisters were making a show of repeating the rhyme into the pool, and seemingly creating more Pinkie Pies. They could just barely hear the original Pinkie Pie over their own chant. "Hey Pinkies! Yoohoo!" Once they had pulled out three more of their siblings, Pinkie turned around and tried walking out again. "Okay, good enough. Pinkie Pies, movin' out!" But instead of following her, they just turned back to the pool and chanted the rhyme again to get more of their siblings out. She turned back around to see a dozen 'duplicates' of herself. "What in the name of Pete!?! Knock it off!" Pinkie exclaimed. A few of them began bouncing up and down, as they had seen Cicada do while they were hiding, and shouting "fun, fun, fun." Pinkie didn't seem too upset about this unexpected turn of events, and simply said, "To Ponyville everyone! Follow me!" When everyone got quiet, she sighed, and added, "Yes, it's fun there." They cheered and began to follow her.
On the way out, Cicada and Pinkie got everyone informed on the names of all her friends, and other important information they would need to blend in. Once out in the open, Cicada whistled for their attention. "Okay, between the bunch of us, we should have every nook and cranny of 'fun' in Ponyville covered at all times, an unprecidented and massive undertaking. But first, a pop-quiz on the names I taught you!" She produced a paper flip-board from nowhere, and flipped to the first page.
"Applejack," her siblings said in unison. She flipped to the next page. "Fluttershy," they said. She flipped to the last page. "Pinkie Pie!" They all said.
"Excellent!" Cicada said. "Okay, let's get on with this folks. Fan out on three. One-" on that they were gone, leaving her alone in the field. "Eh, good enough," she said to herself, and bounced away, happily, singing a little tune.
All of her siblings were enjoying themselves, glad to be out in the open and having some fun for once. It wasn't often that Cicada and her family were able to experience this pleasure. They hopped around, just having fun, while it seemed Rainbow Dash was terrified of them. She clearly didn't want to have fun. She was barracading herself behind her chair, and using her umbrella to keep any of them from getting near her. "No more Pinkies!" she yelled. "I can't take it!" Up on a hill, Cicada spotted the real Pinkie Pie carrying a raft. She looked a little worried. She said something about Applejack's and was off. Cicada sped off in that direction as well.
Slowly, the rest of the hive was leaving the forest under the Pinkie disguise, and were spreading around town. Cicada stayed near the original Pinkie Pie, and had passed her at some point on her way to Applejack's. She made it just in time to see one of her siblings jump on Big Macintosh's back and ruin the barn raising. She was getting just as worried as the real Pinkie Pie was. If her siblings didn't calm down, they would use too much energy, and wouldn't be able to sustain their disguises. Then they would be found out and they would all be chased out of town.
Pinkie Pie walked up to Applejack, "Oh, phew, looks like I haven't missed a thing." She had fallen a little behind Cicada, and hadn't seen the barn being collapsed by one of her siblings.
Applejack got angry and started yelling at Pinkie. "I wanna know right now where all you Pinkies came from so I can find out who's responsible for y'all ruinin' our barn raisin."
Pinkie laughed nervously and said, "Ah, you look pretty busy right now, so maybe we should talk a little later?" And she hurried off. Cicada followed, descreetly, but her siblings weren't so descreet.
Applejack threw down her hat, and hollered after them. "Y'all come back here and clean up after yourselves, THIS INSTANT!"
Cicada saw Pinkie Pie hiding behind a haystack. She quickly joined her. Pinkie was looking upset. Cicada had never seen her like this, and she felt something. It was a bad feeling. Multiple feelings actually. Dread, guilt, dispair, these were the strongest, and they all made the changeling sick. She couldn't leave her target so despondent. She didn't know when it had happened, but Cicada had actually grown fond of Pinkie, and she didn't want to see her sad.
It was like first time she had ever seen Pinkie Pie up close, only with roles reversed. She was practicing her replication spell, and had chosen Pinkie as her target. She had just transformed and was practicing her voice replication with two of her changeling siblings, but she wasn't able to get Pinkie's voice right. Her siblings had called her names, and laughed at her. They left her alone, which for a changeling was worse than the teasing and name-calling. In the shadow of the small ledge she was sitting under, she heard Pinkie singing happily, nearby, and just couldn't help herself. She sung out what she was feeling at that exact moment, and managed to replicate that voice flawlessly. She still remembered her exact words, and what Pinkie had said and done immediately after. "It's true some days are dark and lonely," she had sung, and Pinkie Pie had showed up on the ledge above her and pulled her up into the light, singing, "And maybe you feel sad! But Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad." Then she turned away from her with a wink, and trotted back into town, continuing to engage everypony in song. Cicada recalled the song being about Pinkie Pie's love of making her friends smile.
Cicada listened as Pinkie said, "Oh no, what have I done? What have I done!?! My poor friends..." She teared up, and was about to cry.
Cicada couldn't stand it. "Pinkie, it's not your fault! There's no need to cry. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I'm the one who brought the other chang-I mean Pinkies. Not you."
"Oh, but that's just it! You're me, which makes it all my fault, because you did exactly what I would have done in your position, and since you ARE me, I WAS in your position, and that means that I did it, which makes it all my fault!"
"No, it's not. And... I'm not really you." Cicada confessed.
Pinkie looked confused, "What are you talking about? I pulled you out of the mirror pool. Of course you're me!" she said, not understanding.
Cicada shook her head. "No, I'm not you, and I can prove it, but you have to promise me one thing first."
"Okay, what's that?"
"You have to promise not to hate what you see. Promise you won't turn me and the rest of my siblings in. That you'll find a way to send us home, and not try to drive us away from it."
"Um, okay, if that's what you need, then I promise."
"Do you Pinkie promise?"
"Oh, that serious, huh? Okay. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Pinkie recited her promise, going through the appropriate motions.
Cicada nodded. "Good, now, this is going to be a shock, but try not to freak out. And remember your promise."
"Oooh, wait!" Pinkie shouted, "if you aren't the real me, then what's your name?"
She waited a moment, then said, "My name is Cicada," before letting her disguise fall in a flash of green fire. Pinkie was giving her a look of horror and anger. She gave the pink mare a weak, apologetic grin.
"Y-you... y-you're all changelings?" Pinkie managed to say.
"Yes. I didn't want you to find out. I was actually hoping I could share your life, like you wanted to do in the first place, but I suppose I messed it all up now."
Pinkie suddenly perked up and she smiled. "Aha! I knew it! I knew you seemed familiar! I've seen you a couple times before, haven't I?"
"Pinkie, I told you, I'm not you. You couldn't have seen me before." Technically, that wasn't true, but Pinkie couldn't know that, could she?
"Yeah, right, like I could ever forget a face. Even a duplicate face of my own! I've seen you before. The first time was that day old Cranky Doodle Donkey moved into town, then there was that time I saw you in Canterlot during the invasion! I almost didn't recognize you there. Your 'me' copy was a lot better when I saw you that time."
"Wait, so you knew this whole time?"
"Well, I wouldn't say I KNEW it. I'd call it more of an inkling. An inkling, reeling, changeling feeling. Now that I'm sure you guys are changelings, I can go get Twilight for help!"
"No! Not her! She'll have us all blown away again!" Cicada rushed in front of Pinkie to keep her from running off to her friend. "Please," she pleaded, "don't involve her in this. She'll destroy the hive if she finds out about it."
Pinkie gently moved Cicada aside. "Don't be silly. She still thinks you all are duplicates from the mirror pool, remember? So here's what I'm going to do. I'll go to Twilight's and make sure she keeps thinking that, and sneak into her library to change one of the spells in the book she's sure to use for this. I'll make it a real spell, but it'll be a teleportation spell, like the one Nightmare Moon used to move around, all dust-like and stuff. But it won't blow you away, I'll make it send you back to where I found you. That'll work, right?"
Cicada was dumbfounded. She had seen Pinkie accomplish some impressive feats, but this was something else. It was actually a really good plan. The part about Nightmare Moon didn't make any sense to her, but that wasn't an issue. "Wow. I don't really know what to say. I mean, it sounds like it could work. But how do I know you aren't lying? How do I know you aren't going to trick me, and have Twilight blow away my entire hive?"
Pinkie just smiled and winked, "Come on! Would I lie to me?"
Cicada smiled back. Pinkie would never lie to a friend, and Cicada was certain that's how the mare felt about her. She didn't need to be a changeling to know that. She was positive, that Pinkie wouldn't do anything bad to them. She would probably have a lot to explain at the end of this ordeal to the queen, but she could handle it. "Okay then, let's go."
After a quick run to the library, they found it surrounded by a large group of ponies that were almost a mob. They skirted the buildings around the clearing until they were at the library's back entrance. "Now you wait here, while I go in and get that book. I'll only be a minute." Pinkie said, before sneaking inside, just as Twilight and Spike left to try and calm the angry ponies outside. A moment later, she was back outside. "It's all done. Now we just have to get Twilight on the same page."
"How are we going to do that?"
"Easy. Just go get Twilight and tell her to give the Pinkies a test. Meet me at Town Hall. I'll take care of the rest." Cicada nodded. With a flash of green, she retook Pinkie's form and headed off to fetch Twilight. She made her way into the crowd around the front of the library. She began trying to get the unicorn's attention. "Twilight! I have to talk to you. I need your help!" She called out.
"Excuse me," one of Cicada's siblings moved next to Twilight and began mimicking her movements. Twilight either didn't notice, or didn't care, and continued on. "whoever you are, but I'm not talking to any of you Pinkies, unless you're the real Pinkie."
"Oooh, but I am the real Pinkie!" she pleaded. She had to get Twilight to at least talk to her, get her on board with the plan.
"No you're not, I'm the real Pinkie!" Another one of her sisters said, in a slightly more nasaly voice than the real Pinkie. Suddenly there were multiple Pinkie Pies popping out of nowhere, saying they were the real Pinkie. This threw a big wrench into the plan. Several more began bouncing in, saying "fun, fun, fun" just like Cicada had back in the cavern. That was getting a little annoying.
Applejack trotted up to Twilight and asked, "How in tarnation are we suppose to tell which is the real Pinkie!?!"
"I have no idea," Twilight responded.
"Me either." Cicada said, to no pony in particular. She had to find the real Pinkie, but was having difficulty. For some reason, her changeling senses weren't working as well as they should, and she couldn't descern the real one from her siblings. "Oh, we've all got the same adorable tails, we've all got the same adorable manes, and we've all got the same adorable hooves! Which one of us IS the real Pinkie!?!" She realized that their plan might not work and thought to herself, 'what am I going to do?' She fell to the ground and said out loud, "I haven't the slightest clue. And if I can't tell us apart, who can?" She covered her face with her hooves and cried as the other changelings bounced happily all around her. She eventually got herself together and headed into town, looking for a relatively quiet place to sit and think. She ended up at a small diner, and sat down at a table, while she tried to figure out what she could do.
After a few minutes of pondering, she layed her head on the table. She couldn't come up with any way to get Twilight to listen to her. She was so focused, that when Spike and Twilight came up to her, she barely noticed. Spike walked up and said, "So let me guess, you're the real Pinkie Pie!"
"Heck if I know," Cicada responded, clearly lost in thought. "Could be any one of us, if you ask me. And if I said I was the real Pinkie, you wouldn't even believe me anyway. So just leave me alone. I've got some important poking the ground with my hoof to do."
She walked off, but heard Twilight say, "Oh Spike, how are we gonna do this? I can't risk sending the real Pinkie back into the pond."
They turned to walk away, and Spike said, "I miss the real Pinkie."
Cicada sighed, "I bet she misses you too. Bet she'd do just about anything to get to be with her friends again." She layed down on the ground and poked at it with her hoof a couple of times before it hit her. Now was her chance to get Twilight onboard with the plan. If she suggested it in just the right way, she would have no problem. "Hey, hey! That's it! What if you gave them a test?" she said, turning back to Twilight and Spike. She went into a short explaination of Pinkie's plan. "Pick something really hard for a Pinkie to do. Something not fun at all. Any Pinkie that can't do it goes back into the pond. But whoever wants to stay the most, that must be the real Pinkie!"
Twilight stopped and said, "You know, that's not a bad idea." Then she and Spike ran off, presumably to put the plan into action.
"This is great!" Cicada said to herself. "If I pass, I get to be with my friends again! But what if I don't pass? Oh what if I'm not the real Pinkie Pie?" She groaned, and smacked her face on the table. "Stupid magic mirror water! This is all your fault!" she said angrily. "And mine," she added, faceplanting into the table once again. "Oh, wait a minute, I'm not the real Pinkie anyway." She picked her head up. "Well, I still don't want to be sent back. Pinkie's my friend, after all. If I can stay away from town hall, skip the test, maybe I'll be able to stay here with her." She thought that over and as she did, she knew her plan wouldn't work. Even if she could get out of the test, she would have to stay hidden away. None of the ponies would be too happy about a changeling hanging around town. She sighed again and headed off to town hall, where the real Pinkie would be waiting. She at least wanted to talk to her friend before being sent back to the hive. Pinkie was probably the only pony she could actually call a friend. The rest were just 'targets' for the hive.
When she arrived at town hall, she was greeted by an enthusiastic Pinkie. "Heya, Cicada! So, did you get Twilight in on the plan?"
"Yeah, I got her onboard. I think. It looked like she was headed to Sweet Apple Acres, last I checked."
"Good," Pinkie said, throwing a hoof around Cicada. "She's probably going to get Applejack to round up all the other me's. Or, I guess they aren't really me's so, your sisters." Pinkie noticed Cicada was looking downtrodden. "Hey, why so sad? We're getting this big mess all cleaned up, none of you are going to get blown away, and I won't get replaced by a changeling. Things will go back to normal, and everything will be alright."
"That's just it, Pinkie. I don't want everything to go back to normal. I want to stay here with you. You're a friend, the only friend I've ever had. I don't want to lose you when I've only just discovered friendship." She looked down at the ground, and a tear fell from her face.
"Hey, don't worry Cicada. I've got an idea, listen. What if I came to the everfree forest to visit you? Then we could still see each other and play and have a fun time!"
Cicada picked her head up, "Do you really think that could work? I mean, what about the rest of the hive? They'll probably have guards posted just inside the forest and take anypony that comes by."
"Nah, they won't get me. I've got a secret way into the forest. No worries," she assured her changeling friend.
She wasn't so certain. "Well, if you say so. I guess I'm going to go for a walk. I'll see you once the test gets started." Cicada trotted away, searching for a place to be alone for a while.
It wasn't long before she saw her siblings being herded over the bridge and into town hall. She sighed and layed on the ground, poking at it with her hoof. This would probably be one of the last times she'd be in Ponyville again. It was such a nice town. She didn't want to go back to living in a cave in seclusion. Not after discovering Pinkie's friendship. Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared overhead and scooped up Cicada. It was so unexpected that she almost lost control of her replication spell, but had just enough sense about her to keep it up. "Gotcha. Can't have any stragglers. All Pinkies to town hall, so we can get the real Pinkie back," Dash said.
They burst into town hall, Rainbow said, "Wait up! I got one more. Found this one poking at the ground with her hoof, drawing frowny faces."
"Have her come sit with the others," Twilight said. She was dropped, ungracefully into the mass of Pinkies. Twilight went on. "Pinkies, you've been brought here to take a test." Most of her siblings groaned. They hated tests. "Don't worry, it's a simple test. About as simple as they come. And whoever passes, gets to stay. Curtains please." She announced. They were drawn up, and behind it was a wooden wall covered with blue paint. "The test will be watching paint dry!"
Cicada's siblings all gasped in shock. Cicada herself, and the real Pinkie giggled at how silly it was. None of the others would know what to do, or how to react. Looking around her, Cicada noticed the real Pinkie, and scooted over to her. Pinkie said to her, "Don't worry. Just go along with it for a while, and don't get distracted. Everything will work out fine. Trust me."
She nodded. This was it, she had to leave. But even if that was true, she would make sure she was the last of her siblings to go. Twilight looked over the assembly of Pinkies and said, "On your marks, get set, GO!" With that, they all began staring intently at the blue wall. This would be easy. The real Pinkie wouldn't look away, and she wouldn't until she knew that only her and the real one were left.
"This is so exciting!" Spike exclaimed, and began munching some popcorn he seemed to have brought just for the occasion. Once he was finished, he said, "Okay, maybe not that exciting."
One of her siblings said, "Oh, hey, look at the birdy!" Out of the corner of her eye, Cicada saw her float into the air, swell up, and poof into a pink cloud of dust, before spiraling out an open window. One down, a bunch more to go. Twilight began zapping her siblings left and right, as they all made little slip-ups. This was too easy. The only problem was, she didn't know how many of them were left, so she had to stay focused. For a couple of hours, Twilight didn't zap anyone else, so it was either just her and Pinkie, or her other siblings were really stubborn. Cicada wouldn't look around her though, or else she would be zapped, and wouldn't be the last one to leave.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she heard Applejack say, "This is getting ridiculous. I think the paint might already be dry. Besides, there's only two of em left. Can we just get em another test, Twi?"
"No," she replied, "Not when we're this close. That would just make the next test longer, anyway."
Cicada smiled inward. She had done it. She had outlasted all her siblings, proving that she was the best changeling and knew her target, no not target, her friend, better than any of them.
They were all silent for a few more minutes, when Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Argh, I can't take it anymore. Somepony's making balloon animals!"
'Well,' Cicada thought to herself, 'this is it. Time to go. I hope I get to see you again soon, Pinkie.' She looked off in another direction and cried, "What? Where?" and she got zapped. It didn't even hurt. She was sent back to the pool in the hive.
She crawled out of the water, and saw all of her siblings glaring at her. Their queen walked up to her, rage practically sparking from her body. "What is the meaning of this, Cicada! Why have all of you been sent back? What have you done?" she shouted at her.
Cicada cowered, and tried to fly away, but was captured by the others and held down. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen!"
The queen towered over her. "I thought you cared about the hive. I thought you cared about our family! But instead of helping us obtain food, you filled us with false hopes! Then you took it all away, and smashed it!"
"B-b-but I-"
"ENOUGH!" Queen Chrysalis shouted. "I can't even look at you! You are nothing more than a TRAITOR!" Cicada was teared up and whimpering now. The queen had never spoken to her like this before. She turned around and began walking off. "Take her away. I want her out of this hive, NOW! And she is never to return!" Two changelings grabbed her and flew her out of the hive.
They released her at the edge of the Everfree. "Serves you right, traitor!" one of them spat, before flying away.
"I'm sorry, Cicada. I know you were only trying to help," the other one said to her. "It's more than that so-called 'queen' has done ever since Canterlot. She's been so obsessed with finding the rest of the old hive, that she doesn't even care about the ones she has already."
Cicada was confused and distraught. "Wait, what? But all she ever talks about is saving the hive. How can she not care about us?"
"Think about everything she's done since then. Just think about it. Now, go find someplace you can live for a while, I have a feeling we'll be needing you soon." The changeling flew off back to the hive.
"Aphid! Wait!" Cicada called after him, but he kept on flying. Disheartened and defeated, she flew to the ground and landed on the road. With nothing better to do, she started walking. Everything had fallen apart so quickly. Sure, she made a mistake thinking she could get so many of her siblings into Ponyville under just one disguise, but it was just that, a mistake. And now she was banished from her only home, branded as a traitor. 'This can't be happening,' she thought to herself. 'It just can't be.' She walked until Celestia's sun had set. It was getting late, and Cicada needed to sleep, so she found a large bush along the side of the road to curl up under it for the night. She would need to figure things out in the morning.
The sun was shining, and birds were chirping happily in the sky. It was a cool morning, but promised to warm up later in the day. It was a beautiful morning to any pony in Equestria. For a certain changeling, however, this was not true. Her plan had gone awry, and her queen and hive had banished her, branding her a traitor. How could she possibly enjoy a day after going through such a disasterous one? Even with the sunlight warming her through the bush, and the birds singing merry songs all around her, Cicada could find no comfort. She closed her eyes and willed the world to be silent, so she could go back to sleep.
Suddenly, the bird song stopped, and the rhythmic clatter of hooves and wagon wheels came to the changeling's attention. She had been so despondent about the previous day's events, and so eager to return to her slumber, that her sensitive hearing had failed to pick up on the noise. With her instincts and her guard training kicking in, Cicada quickly assessed her situation. She was all alone, with little cover around her, save the bush she was in now, and there was some strange pony -no make that ponies- who were getting closer to her every second. If they discovered a changeling, there was no telling what they'd do.
Peering out of her bush, Cicada looked for the source of the noise. In one direction was the winding road that lead down the valley to Ponyville. In the opposite direction, the road went over a hill that she couldn't see past. That was where the sound was coming from, she was certain. It wouldn't be long before those ponies crested the hill, and she was sure to be seen hiding under the bush. She didn't have the time or the cover necessary to get to a better hiding spot, so she did the only other thing she could. Thinking hard about her target, Cicada channeled her magical energy into her small, jagged horn, and performed her replication spell. In a flash of green fire, her body was changed. Her hole-riddled hooves filled out, her wings and horn vanished, and her chitinous, armored body became soft and pink. At the completion of her spell, she did a once-over of herself, making sure she hadn't neglected any important details. Fangless teeth, check. Three balloon cutie mark, check. Mane and tail? Pink, but not adorably poofy. She sighed, there wasn't time to be picky about minor details. A straight mane would have to do.
Stepping out of the bush, and onto the road, it seemed she had completed her spell just in time. The ponies she heard were just now coming over the top of the hill. Now that she saw them, Cicada was glad she hadn't tried to fly away, or stay hidden. Walking towards her were two of Princess Celestia's royal guards. They were easily recognizable from their poise and armor. The wagon they were pulling appeared to be a jail wagon. It was a simple, but sturdy in design. Four heavy, wooden walls, a couple of small, barred windows, and a door with a strong metal lock on it.
With her head held low, Cicada trotted along the side of the road, up the hill. She hoped the guards wouldn't pay her any attention, and that she could slip by unnoticed. They barely glanced at her as they walked past. Cicada snuck a quick peek into the wagon, out of sheer curiosity, as she walked by. Laying inside was a white unicorn with a red and magenta colored mane. She also noticed the captive's cutie mark, a crescent moon, with red stars around it. Not recognizing the prisoner, she continued up and over the hill, out of the guards' range of sight.
Letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, Cicada relaxed slightly. Those guards terrified her before the invasion, and even after the successful, if short lived, occupation of Canterlot, they were still intimidating. She had heard rumors and stories within the hive of them hunting down the scattered changelings, and taking them away somewhere.
Cicada stopped walking. Tears came to her eyes. She had been banished. Everyone she knew, everyone she cared about, she would never be able to see them again. The changeling stood still, trembling for a moment, fighting back the tears. No. This was not the time or the place to cry. She had something important to do, even if she didn't know it yet. She thought back to what her old friend, Aphid had said to her before leaving her at the edge of the Everfree. 'Go find someplace you can live for a while,' she remembered him saying, 'I have a feeling we'll be needing you soon.'
She wasn't sure what her friend had meant, concerning the last part of his statement, but the first part was clear. She had to find someplace where she could survive. She could live in the forest, but then she would barely be able to sustain herself. Changelings required more than tangible food to survive, they needed loving emotions to feed on. The only way Cicada would be able to obtain those was to enter an Equestrian town, and obtain it from other ponies. That was easier said than done. She sat at the edge of the road, and pondered a solution to her survival issue.
Eventually, two ponies neared the hill, approaching it from the Ponyville side. A white unicorn with large, oval goggles, and a grey earth-pony with a pink bowtie were pulling a small open cart. In the cart were turntables, a stereo system, a large cello, and a sheet music stand. The two had been arguing about who could play bass better, when the unicorn told her companion, "Hey, Tavi, you hear crying?"
The earth-pony replied, "What? Don't change the subject, Vinyl. I'm going to win our little debate this time, and you'll just have to mare-up and live with it. Now, as I was saying-"
Vinyl cut her off, "Cause all I'm hearing is you crying about how my music's more popular."
Octavia gave her an indignant look. "Now see here, just because your 'music' is popular doesn't make it good. If anything, that makes it mainstream. Unoriginal. Now MY music..."
She would have gone on, but as they made it over the hill, they noticed a pink mare sitting along the edge of the road at the base of the hill. The two musicians trotted over to her and stopped to say hello. "Hey, Pinkie!" Vinyl said. "I see you straightened your mane out again. Very nice."
Cicada was startled out of her thought, and turned to see who was talking to her. She didn't recognize either of the two ponies, but they knew her. Which meant she would have to do her best to act like Pinkie, so her disguise wouldn't be easily found out. "Oh, uh, hey there! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, I haven't seen you since that crazy night at the Grand Galloping Gala. How've you been?"
"I've been good," she answered plainly.
"Just good?" Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
Before Cicada could respond, Octavia tapped Vinyl and said to her in a hushed voice, "You remember the last time her mane was down like that? It was when she was going all crazy," She reminded the DJ, emphasizing the last word by circling a hoof around the side of her head and making her eyes spin in opposite directions. "I'm not sure now is a good time to be talking to her."
She just waved a hoof in a dismissive manner. "Nah, she's not all crazy this time, right Pinkie?"
"Of course not," Cicada said, slightly confused about what she meant.
"There you see? Not crazy."
"I wasn't saying she was, I was only saying-oh, nevermind. So, Pinkie, what brings you this far out from Ponyville?" Octavia asked.
"Oh, uhh," Cicada looked around, trying to come up with something to say. "Well, it's for baking, of course!" she said, smiling uncomfortably. "Yeah, that's it. I was headed to Canterlot to try and come up with some new recipies."
"Really? That's cool." Vinyl said. "Why don't you travel with us? We're headed that way, ourselves."
Cicada couldn't let this opportunity pass her by. It was a good way to get into a town and begin a new life for herself. Of course, she wouldn't be able to use her Pinkie disguise forever, but she would cross that bridge when she got to it. First thing's first, she had to get there, and traveling with other ponies wasn't nearly as suspicious as traveling alone. "I'd love to!" She said, in a cheery manner identical to the way Pinkie would have.
"Oh, well the more the merrier, I suppose," Octavia muttered to herself. She didn't like when Vinyl 'took the reins' as it were, and seemed to make all the choices when they were together.
"Go ahead and hop in the back, for now. We can switch off if one of us gets tired," the unicorn said.
"Okay!" Cicada bounced to the back of the cart and found herself a comfortable spot behind the DJ's turntables. "Okey-Dokey! I'm all set!"
"Alright, let's get this show on the road!"
At first, the trio went in silence, the two musicians having little in common with the pink pony riding along, and not feeling comfortable enough to address more serious issues with their current company. Eventually, though, the awkward silence was broken by a soft, melodic humming. Octavia had been thinking about the song she was to perform at a royal ball, and had begun singing the music out loud. As she went on, Vinyl joined in, creating a beat to go with it, and essentially mixing the cellist's tune as it was made. Doing her best to ignore her companion, the gray mare focused on the piece in her mind, rather than stopping her. The resulting combination felt upbeat and fun, from Cicada's point of view. She happily listened as they went on like this for a while. She even added her own lyrics to the mix, thinking them up on the spot. "You can travel the wo-orld! But no one can groove like the girls with the ho-oves!" They continued this song until it's completion, and they all laughed at the end, surprised at how well it had turned out, and how fun it had been.
Once the giggling stopped, they fell back into silence again. Once again, Octavia broke the silence and asked, "so, tell me, Pinkie, what kind of music do you prefer? The brutish, mish-mash of sound that Vinyl plays, or more sophistocated, classical music?"
"Hey, my tunes aren't brutish, or just some 'mish-mash'! It's more like a collage of sound put together like an artist makes a painting. Or maybe, controlled chaos. I like the sound of that better," the unicorn retorted.
"How in Equestria is that awful sound relatable to art?"
The two began to argue, and Cicada laid her head down, and closed her eyes. She began to doze off as the two musicians continued to debate how each one's music was a form of art. Before she could completely fall asleep, however, she noticed something strange. It was that familiar feeling of her hunger being filled, but it was so unexpected that it took the changeling a few moments to figure out where it was coming from. As she focused, Cicada realized that the love feeding her was originating from her companions. It was spilling over from them much like Fluttershy's love of animals had spilled over at her critter picnic. Only this time, it was different. Not a motherly sort of love, or a sisterly love, but something else. Cicada mused on this for a moment and could only draw one conclusion. Lust. That was it! It had to be! Strange that it was between two mares, but there was no mistaking it.
Cicada giggled at the thought of the two mares being attracted to each other, and not even knowing it. At her laughter, Octavia turned back to look at her. "What are you laughing at?" She demanded, obviously frustrated about some good point made by Vinyl.
"Oh, nothing... Tavi," Cicada said, giggling once more at the cute little pet-name she had overheard Vinyl using during their discussion.
Now it was Vinyl's turn to look back at the giddy pink mare. "Hey, only I'm allowed to call her that!"
"What!?! What's that suppose to mean?" Octavia, or 'Tavi' asked Vinyl.
"I know what it means!" Cicada sang out. "You like each other. But you silly fillies don't have to worry, your secret's safe with me."
"What secret? I have no idea what you're talking about." Octavia said, turning her head to hide her blush from the other two.
"Yeah, me either," Vinyl declared, mirroring Octavia's gesture, hiding her own blush.
"Aww, you two are so cute! Maybe you should talk to those other two mares. What are their names again? Lyra and BonBon, I think? Well, anyway, I'm just gonna have a little nap, since you're probably gonna get all quiet on me now. Wake me when you need a swap-out, okay?" Then she layed down and fell asleep to the hoofsteps and gentle rattle of the cart, letting the other mares wonder about what she had said in silence.
Running. Cicada was running for everything she had. Her wings had been injured, and her magic was depleted. Something was chasing her, and while she couldn't tell exactly what that was, she knew it would destroy her if she was caught. So she kept running. Ahead of her was a cliff, and she skidded to a halt at its edge. She peered over it and saw a roiling pond at the bottom. She glanced behind her and knew she didn't have much time. It was either jump or be caught. Taking a deep breath, Cicada tried to jump, but something grabbed her tail and dragged her back at the last moment. She cried out, terrified. It had her. She was going to die.
Then she opened her eyes, and saw it was Pinkie Pie. She didn't understand, why had she been so afraid of Pinkie? A moment later, she figured out why. The pink mare gave her a happy smile. It was too happy. Then she said something terrifying. "Aww, come on now, I only want to play. Why don't you just let me out, and you can take a nice long rest." That smile turned into an evil grin, and Pinkie shoved Cicada over the cliff.
"NO!" she cried, sitting straight up in the back of the wagon. The sun was still out, but it was hanging lazily above the treetops and mountains. It would be dark soon. She searched around desperately for that horrific Pinkie, and finding none, she let out a sigh of relief. All she saw was the music equipment around her, and the two ponies pulling it, looking back at her with concern.
"Are you alright, Pinkie?" Octavia asked. "You've been tossing and turning back there for quite some time now."
"Uh..." She wasn't sure about that herself, so she answered truthfully. "I don't know."
"Aww, did somepony have herself a bad dream?" Vinyl teased.
Octavia was not amused. "Vinyl, hush. Dreams have very deep psychological meanings, and whatever is troubling her enough to give her nightmares must be extrordinarily important to her."
"I know, I was just trying to lighten the mood, that's all," Vinyl said. Then, to Cicada, "Hey, you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, I think so." She replied. In truth, she was very worried that she wouldn't be. A dream like this wouldn't have much significance to any regular pony, but to a changeling, it was very serious. When a changeling dreamt about the pony she was replicating, and that pony instilled a deep, irrational fear in him/her, it was a bad sign. It was an early stage of an identity crisis, which could be life threatening to changelings. It meant she was forgetting who she truely was, and was beginning to become her target in more than just the physical sense. She remembered stories of old changelings, and changelings who had been through traumatizing experiences losing themselves, and becoming their targets, mentally. While this may not sound like such a bad thing, it became one as soon as the changelings forgot to maintain their replication spells. If something like that were to happen to her, in Canterlot of all places...
Her thoughts were interrupted when Vinyl announced, "Well, we're here!" Before them stood the capital of Equestria. Its proud spires rose high above the valley. Beautiful streams could be seen running through the city, before falling off the cliffside in roaring waterfalls. Cicada remembered the last time she was in the city. It was during the queen's invasion and occupation. Much more took place during that day than most ponies realized. Even the Elements of Harmony themselves were unaware of the hidden battles that were fought within the changeling ranks. She made a promise to herself that she would tell someone about it, someday. Walking through the main gate, Cicada couldn't help but hide under the turntables as they passed the guards. There was no way they would recognize her as a changeling, but she didn't want to take any chances.
Once inside, it was a short time before the group made it to the tower they would be staying at. Where Vinyl and Octavia were going to stay at, anyway. The changeling would need to find her own place to stay. With the help of a baggage pony, the musicians began to unload their cart. "Pinkie, are you going to be alright staying in Canterlot alone?" Octavia asked.
"Of course I will," Cicada replied in a chipper and cheery manner.
'First thing's first,' Cicada thought to herself. 'I need a new disguise.' After what she had seen during Pinkie Pie's visit to the Grand Galloping Gala, she knew that there were going to be a lot of ponies recognizing her. With this in mind, she sifted through her mind to come up with another form, and she was taken back to one she had seen on her way to Canterlot. Once she had the image set in her mind, Cicada found a small alley between two shops, and focused her magic. In her familiar flash of green, she was changed. Her pink coat turned white, and her mane and tail became a deep red color with a magenta highlight. A horn became visible on her head, and her cutie mark transformed into a crescent moon with red stars around it. When she was finished, Cicada checked herself to ensure she hadn't missed anything. Satisfied with her appearance, she left the alley.
Strolling through town, the changeling thought about how she would be able to obtain the love she needed to live. Before that, though, she needed a place to stay, and in order to get that, she would need a place to work, and even before that, she would need to create a background for herself, as well as a cover story in case she ran into someone that knew who she was. She started her cover story. If anypony confronted her about anything, she would feign amnesia. It would be easy to do, since she truely had no knowledge of this pony, save the fact she had been in the custody of two royal guards. She wouldn't even have to come up with an explaination as to how she got amnesia, that was the nice thing about it. Of course, that would make it hard to come up with a convincing background story. As a result, she decided to say she was passing through town, and needed a job and a place to stay for a while. Nopony would ask her many questions, and if they did, she could make up answers to those on the fly.
Now with that essential step taken care of, she could move on to finding a job and a place to stay. Cicada had been ambling along the entire time she was thinking and ended up at Pony Joe's. It was a small doughnut shop, if her memory was correct. In the store's display window was a 'Help Wanted' sign. "Huh. Convenient," she thought out loud, and walked through the door.
A small bell rang as she entered. The pastry diner had a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. There were a few ponies sitting at one of the tables. They glanced at her, flashing a friendly smile, then went back to their conversation and doughnuts. At the back, near the counter, was the store owner himself, Pony Joe. She remembered him from the time she followed Pinkie Pie there, after the Grand Galloping Gala incident. Cicada walked up to him and he said, "Well, hello there. What can I do for you, miss?" His voice had a gruff quality to it, which surprised her a little.
"I heard you had a job opening, and was wondering if it was still open," Cicada explained.
"Oh, you're here about the job? Great! The doughnuts have been popular recently, and I need somepony who knows a little about baking to help meet the demand. Are you any good in the kitchen?" He asked.
"Well, I've never worked with doughnuts before, but I'm willing to give it a try if you teach me."
"Of course I'll teach you! You'll need to learn the batter recipe anyway. So, does that mean you want the job?"
"Yes! When can I start?" She asked, bouncing up and down, excitedly.
"Right now," Pony Joe said, retrieving a small bakers hat and apron from under the counter. He tossed them to Cicada, who reacted in time to catch the hat on her head and the apron in her hooves. "Come on back to the kitchen and we'll get started. There's an order that needs to be filled, and we need to get started if we want to make the deadline." Cicada pulled on the apron, and followed Pony Joe as he headed through the back door, into the kitchen. "Now," he continued, "I've already got a fresh batch of doughnuts sitting on the counter over there, I just need you to take them out to the display case, if you would. I'll go ahead and get the ingredients together for the next batch."
Cicada grabbed the large tray of pastries and took them out of the kitchen. The sweet scent of sugary glaze wafted to her, and she took it in with glee. Even if she was a changeling, she could still appreciate good food when presented with it. When she finished placeing the doughnuts into the glass display case, she set the tray on the counter and called back to Joe, "All finished!"
"Good, good," Pony Joe replied, walking back out to the counter. "You know, I don't think I caught your name. What did you say it was?"
Cicada was caught off guard. She had thought of everything, backstory, explainations, responses to any question concerning who she was, or where she was from, but she had forgotten the simplest, most important thing. Her name! She put on an uncomfortable smile, and stammered out, "M-my name? Oh, o-of course! Everypony has a name! Um, well, my name is, uh-"
The bell over the door rang at just that moment, and two unicorns walked in. One had a light blue coat, with a blue and white mane, and an hourglass cutie mark. The other had a pink mane, ivory coat, and three blue stars for her cutie mark. "Moondancer, there you are!" The blue one exclaimed. "We've been searching for you all day! Where have you been?" They trotted over to her and Pony Joe. "Me and Twinkle were just getting ready to head to the meeting without you!"
"Colgate? What are you doing here? I thought you were back in Ponyville," Cicada said. She recognized the blue and white maned unicorn from some of her reconnaissance missions in Ponyville and was surprised to see her in Canterlot. Especially after what had happened to her during the changeling occupation.
"I'm here for the same reason you always come to Ponyville, the meeting." She paused and noticed for the first time what Cicada was wearing. "Why do you have on a baker's outfit?" She asked.
"I was here about the job opening," she said.
"Job opening? I thought you worked for the Bureau of Magical Affairs Investigation."
"I, um, it's a cover?" Cicada offered, hoping it would get the two ponies off her back.
They seemed satisfied for now. "Alright then. Well, I'm glad we found you." Colgate directed her attention to the store owner now. "Pony Joe, could we get a dozen doughnuts to go?"
The gruff pony shook himself and nodded. "Yeah, sure. Just give me a second to get it all together." He quickly set to work filling a box with the treats, then passed them to the unicorn over the counter. "That'll be six bits," he said.
Colgate took the box and passed the bits to him, then turned to leave. "Come on Twinkle, we've got a meeting to get to. Come on Moondancer, it's at your place, after all."
"Uh, yeah, sure thing," she said, uncertainly, removing the uniform she had put on just minutes ago. "Sorry Pony Joe, I guess I forgot about my previous engagements. Um, I'll try to come back and help out if I can." She really felt sorry for leaving the storekeeper, especially since she just offered to help. She trotted after the other two unicorns as they left the store, leaving a somewhat confused doughnut maker in her wake.
"So, where are we going again?" Cicada asked. She needed to figure out what was going on, and fast.
"We're heading over to your place, for the meeting. About our two visitors, remember?" Twinkle responded, putting emphasis on 'visitors'.
"Oh, of course. How could I have forgotten? It was those two ponies," she said, trying to get some information while being nonchalant about it.
"Right, well, apparently they've been waiting for you to come back all day, after you took them in last night," Twinkle went on. "Colgate and I went looking for you after we found out you left those two alone at your house. Is something going on that you aren't telling us?"
There was so much more going on with their friend than they knew, like how she had been in the back of a jail wagon, but Cicada couldn't say that. It would give her away, and raise a lot of difficult questions. Instead she replied, "No, nothing's going on. Lets just get back to my house and we'll sort all this out."
They walked in silence until they were standing in front of a two story house. It was nothing fancy, and blended in with the rest of the homes on that particular street. The front was symmetrical, with a window on either side of the door, and three windows above that. In the lower windows, two ponies were peering out through the curtains. Cicada and the others went to the door and entered the home. Inside it was cozy and inviting. Off to one side was a kitchen and dining room, straight ahead was a staircase to the second floor, and on the other side was a living room. That's where the two ponies were waiting. When Cicada saw them, she couldn't believe her eyes. They were the ponies she had rode in with. "Octavia? Vinyl? What are you two doing here?" She asked.
They looked around and seemed confused at first, as if they didn't recognize their own names. "You know these two, Moondancer?" Twinkle asked.
"Well, yeah, I rode in with-I mean I saw them ride into town with Pinkie Pie this afternoon. How long did you say they've been here?" At the question, the two musicians shuffled their hooves a little in discomfort.
"Since you took them in last night. I thought you didn't even know who they were. And how could they have rode in this afternoon, if you invited them in last night?"
"You're right, that doesn't make sense." She turned her attention to the ponies who seemed to be getting more nervous by the second. "Which one of you was Octavia again?" She asked.
It was a simple question that should have been answered with ease. The two glanced at each other and hesitated in their response. After a moment of thinking the gray mare pointed to the DJ and said, "she is." There was uncertainty in her voice, but only Cicada seemed to pick up on it. That confirmed her suspicions.
Cicada nodded, she wouldn't give them away, not before she knew how Colgate and Twinkle would react to it. "Girls, what do you know about changelings?" she asked. The question seemed completely out of place, but it got some interesting reactions from everypony in the room. While Colgate and Twinkle only seemed somewhat surprised, the other two responded with looks of fear.
"The same as you, Moondancer," Twinkle said. "Just that they need ponies to hide them from the royal guard." She moved closer to Cicada and lowered her voice. "We want to help the changelings just as much as you, but I really don't think this is the proper time or place to talk about it. There are two strangers standing in your livingroom right now, in case you've forgotten. Just what are you trying to get at?"
"It's okay, girls. This is going to surprise you, but you have to trust that I know what I'm doing," was all she replied, before preparing a spell. Her horn glowed green, and she sent a beam of magic to the ponies before her. The two musicians were engulfed in green fire briefly. After the flames dissipated, two changelings stood before them. The one on the left was taller than the other, and took a step in front of the smaller one.
The two real ponies were stunned. Colgate and Twinkle stood with their mouths hanging open, while the changelings appeared to be deciding if this was a fight or flight moment.
After a few tense seconds, Colgate was the first to recover. "H-how did you do that? I mean, you said you were studying them, but I never thought you were so serious about helping them."
Twinkleshine was next to speak up. "Oh, Moondancer, what have you gotten us into?" There was a slight tremor to her voice. "Do you have any idea how bad this is? How much trouble we could get into? What if the guard comes by to do a search? We can't possibly hide two changelings from them! We'll be thrown into prison if anypony finds out about this."
"Nopony's going to find out about it." Then, addressing her two siblings, Cicada said, "You two have nothing to worry about. I'll keep you safe."
Author's Note
Not really sure how I feel about this chapter. My mind went completely dead at the end. Questions and comments are greatly appreciated, and almost always get replies, so please leave one. Thanks for reading.
