Coming of Age- Time of Change
1-1-1
The life of a changeling is not easy. At a young age, it is necessary to leave the hive for sustenance, with only the knowledge a parent can give you as a guide. Whatever land we find ourselves in, we will face persecution. We are a people without a land, scattered across the world and grouped into villages called hives that cannot compared with the hive of our ancestors. Nopony trusts us, and we trust nopony.
The feelings of the people reverberated in the winds of a small orange-maned and -eyed, jagged-horned changeling colt, as he trotted down a corridor of the hive. The hive was really just an old, abandoned temple dedicated to the elements of harmony, but this was the norm of a hive tied to the past. Moonlight lit his way, and a song began.
We remember.
We remember where we come from.
The ocean
The desert
The forest
The temple
We remember the war.
Our allies,
The ponies
Our enemies,
The Faceless
We remember those who had fallen.
The mothers
The children
The fathers
The unborn
We remember the betrayal.
The Power
Of the Sun
The Jealously
Of the Moon
We remember
So we can mourn
We remember
So we can continue
We remember
So we can change
As the young colt continues down the corridor, he arrived in the banquet hall. In there, changelings of all descriptions sat reverently, watching him arrive. Like the young colt, all of them vibrated their wings with the feelings of their ancestors. Through the changeling’s eyes, he could see the effervescence of group identity that both motivated and nourished his people.
Before him, at the far end of the banquet hall, just right of an altar, stood a large changeling scholar, who looked like a male, but was understood as bigendered, or the changeling’s third gender. Because of his masculine features, most notably a big gray beard, the scholar was referred in the masculine. If he had taken a feminine form, the scholar would have been referred with the proper pronouns. His eyes were also blue, but far lighter, reflecting a blindness that overcame the scholar in his old age. His horn swirled upwards magnificently. A crooked horn was a sign of magical aptitude among changelings, and every bend signified a magnitude of power. Needless to say, the scholar was extremely powerful. Aside from the big flowing beard, a star-spangled magician’s hat adorned with bells sat upon his shiny dome. An equally star-spangled cape covered his torso.
The young colt continued to trot until he positioned himself just left of the altar. He just radiated pride and reverence, and this served as a good appetizer for those at the coming-of-age feast. With the young one and the old one at the altar, a symphony of emotional tones began. The ritual had begun, and the words of passage began.
“I, Dusk Shine, have discovered my destiny,” the young one buzzed. It was an high-pitched buzzing common to the young. It took a lot of effort the little one to be heard through the sound of all the more mature, emotional-thriving ponies were making.
“Tell us, young one so we may see,” The elder’s statement was extremely low, with an air of wisdom reflective of his age and experience. His words were completely ritualistic.
“I have experienced change,” the youth’s statement reflected the fact that on the prior day he had reached symbolic puberty through his first transformation. This transformation, much like a cutie mark, reflected the imposed destiny of a changeling.
“Show us, so we made know.”
At this point, the orange-maned colt transformed into his First Change. An orange flame enveloped his form, replaced with an alicorn princess who had a purple mane and eyes. A significant amount of awe mixed into the emotional symphony of the changelings. It was considered a sign of prestige (royalty in some hives) to have the destined form of another culture’s leader.
“I have discovered the plans of the stars.”
“Teach us, so we may understand.”
“I shall repay the debt with the lessons I shall learn from my destiny.”
This was the traditional end of the exchange, as anypony could tell, but the changelings of every hive added then next bit several centuries ago.
“Do you remember why we change?” bellowed the blind scholar.
Dusk Shine responded, “To change destiny?” This was the traditional wrong answer the youth in the ritual was to say.
“No, do you know what it means to be free?”
“To overcome destiny!”
“Now you remember why we change.” With these final words, the scholar led the song of remembrance again. After that, the youth and the elder turned to face each other. This was a time between parent and son.
“Dusk, my son, I am so very proud of you.” He looked down at his little colt. Despite being blind, his changeling senses gave a rich awareness of his son’s presence. It had taken him a long time to decide to have a child- hundreds of years, in fact. It was a hard decision, but not a decision he would ever change for the world. The scholar, like all the changelings who had come to attend his son’s coming-of-age ritual, could read in the emotion aura around Dusk. It was full of ambition and the agitation indicative of adolescent drive to go out into world.
“I love you, father.” Dusk, however, could not ever fully penetrate the emotional aura of his parent. There was layer after layer of emotions. Most of them were remnants from memories, and being his father’s age meant that you were mostly the walking embodiment of memory. Despite this, Dusk could see years of feelings directed towards him from his father, and they told a story of anxiety, love, hope, warm nostalgia, and, of course, pride.
A baby orange dragon, raised by Dusk Shine from an egg, and named Spines, walked up to the altar with a tome. When the dragon reached the altar, she bowed and lifted the tome up in an overly religious manner. The scholar’s horn glowed red as he lifted the tome from the dragon, and presented it to his son.
“This is a textbook I have written for you. It comes with all the knowledge you will ever need to know about pony culture. While you should definitely value the knowledge held within, remember that as a changeling, you must be ready to be original.”
As Dusk’s horn glowed orange in order to take hold of the book, he sense jealously in not just one changeling in the room. Many of them were big fans of the scholar and his oeuvre.
Dusk looked at the book. In big pink letters was All Things Pony In the Sky, On the Earth, and In the Sea, and underneath was his father’s male pseudonym in small black letters, reflecting the scholar’s humility.
The name on the book was Star Swirl the Bearded.
Coming of Age- A Princess’s Coronation
1-1-2
Twilight Sparkle could not see anything as she left the presence of Princess Celestia. She felt like she burst into a star, radiating the light of the friendship she had accrued. For a long moment, she had no form, but she felt the magic coalescing into her body.
Outside Twilight’s library, her six friends worried, not knowing that Twilight had gone to another plane of existence in her reality. Their feelings of worry quickly were replaced by fear, as something too bright to see with the naked eye exploded high in the sky. As quickly as it materialized, it dimmed, and the elemental avatars of the virtues of friendship could behold a purple star falling from the heavens.
They merely watched as the star reached the ground before them. Again, a burst of light occurred. This time not as bright, but still bright enough for them to cover their eyes. Applejack was the first to speak. “Twilight, is that you?”
The light dimmed enough, so that Twilight’s friends could behold her form. As if to answer AJ, Twilight raised her head proudly with her eyes shut, and dramatically displayed new wings. This elicited awe from her friends. The act was mere instinct, however. As soon as she did that, Twilight took a hoof to confirm that she indeed had some wings.
Applejack, the most levelheaded of ponies, naturally, was the first to recover from her stupor and voice her confusion. “Wah… I ne… never seen anything like it.”
Next to recover was Rainbow Dash. “Hah, Twilight gots wings! Awesome! A new flying buddy!” Naturally, the fastest flier in all of Equestria would find great delight in her friend getting wings. However, Twilight was not yet quite ready for the cyan pegasus touching her newly-formed wings.
Rarity was next. “Why, you have become an alicorn. I did not even know that was possible.”
As this moment, Pinkie swings into view, shouting, “Alicorn Party!”
This shocks everypony.
Finally, the shyest of ponies, Fluttershy, using the momentum of her other friends, spoke. “You look just like a Princess.”
As if there were not enough surprises, a voice full of grace and wisdom came from above and behind them. “That is because she is a princess.” This elicited a simultaneous “huh?” from the six ponies.
Pinkie, being a pony of goofy, cartoony reactions, tells everypony to “Hold on a second!” as she prepares her response. Pinkie pulls out a glass of water from seemingly nowhere, takes a big sip, and proceeds to splutter all the water.
Even though this induces a stupor into Celestia, Twilight has accustomed herself enough to Pinkie Pie in order to quickly get back to reflecting on what is important. “A princess?” Twilight’s voice reflects the great confusion and fear that has just overcome her.
The worry of her student quickly brought Celestia back into the reality Pinkie does not seem to really exist in. The elder princess put a hoof on the new princess, and continued her explanation. “Since you have come to Ponyville, you have displayed the charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism, and, of course, the leadership of a true princess.” As the great white princess mentioned each virtue, the respective ponies bowed in tandem, except for Pinkie Pie, who bounced in front of them when mentioned.
With the confusion temporarily abated, the fear that Twilight had been feeling solidified into something distinct. It was a fear of change, and was express by this most adorkable equine. “Does this mean I won’t be your student anymore?”
“Not in the same way as before. I will still be here to help and guide you, but now we are all your students now as well.” Bowing to Twilight, Celestia continued. “You are an inspiration to us all, Twilight.” Each of her friends bowed in tandem after the princess. Even Pinkie bowed. Spike, who had just woken from his stupor, joined the rest just in time for this private coronation.
Still worried, Twilight asked if there was a book she could read about being a princess. This made Celestia giggle. Some things never change. “There will be a time for all that later.”
Celestia told all of them that shortly her sister, Luna, would arrive and take them to Canterlot so that they may prepare immediately for the formal coronation. For the next minute, Twilight, most her friends, and the princess celebrated. Rarity had taken the job of collecting the dresses she had made for the next formal occasion. These included some that the princesses themselves had ordered. Pinkie’s party cannon and accessories were making such a ruckus that some of the neighbors woke up and peers out their windows to see was happening or to complain.
A certain Bon Bon was particularly frazzled by the sudden noise, and opened her window to exclaim loudly at Pinkie. “Stop the damn party Pinkie, or I’m effing going to---.” Bon Bon stopped immediately, as she saw Celestia staring harshly at her. “Scheisse!” Bon Bon quietly exclaimed as she shut her window. She was definitely not getting any sleep this night.
Soon after that incident, the night guard came with Luna and three chariots, one red, one yellow, and one blue. Luna stood on the blue one. Each chariot could fit three ponies, was regally decorated, and had the air of belonging to another era. The red one was decorated in a different style than the blue and yellow one. While the blue and yellow were decorated of shiny metal plating and cloth and were in the shape of a chariot, the red one was more of a carved-out red metal shell with words from an obscure language inscribed on circular decorative plates symmetrically distributed on the sides.
Rarity returned as the chariots landed with a five-foot rack of their dresses in tow. While passing Spike, she without a word or gesture exchanged towing duty to her ‘Spikey Wikey’. As she passed each, one could see her opinion of each chariot. Her face went into instant disgust as the red chariot. This monster of red metal is clearly not made for a princess and was probably designed by some old unicorn who stayed in a library all day given all the shameless placement of verbiage and geometry. Next she passed by the yellow one, it looked fabulous, but it did not match her hair or eyes. She definitely gave it a good pause, unlike the red one. Finally, she reached the blue one, from which Luna had just exited. Perfect! Rarity immediately entered it, and waited for Spike to follow. When noticing that he failed to do so, she made a lady-like “Ahem!”, which got Spike into gear, fitting the two-pony wide clothes rack into the chariot.
Luna looked in fascination as her chariot was quickly commandeered by the little fashion pony. She now looked at the other ponies with her mouth agape. Her sister was fighting back a laughing and failing miserably. The other ponies soon joined in.
After they finished having a good laugh, Pinkie asked, “So why are we laughing?” Celestia again gave the pink mare a curious look.
Twilight spoke up, again, immune to Pinkie Pie’s strangeness. “We have a problem, we have three chariots for three. Normally, we would have enough room, but with Rarity’s dresses, we are short two seats.” Then Twilight noticed that Spike had found a way to wedge himself into the blue chariot while simultaneously giving Rarity plenty of room. She could swear he was saying, “Isn’t she most beautiful pony you have ever seen?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Okay, now we only need room for one more pony.”
“WE SHALL FLY ALONE, PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE. IT IS OUR DUTY, AS PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT TO WATCH OVER PONIES DREAMS AND SET THE MOON.” Luna’s Royal Canterlot voice left all the ponies other than Celestia and Twilight silenced. Celestia was successfully holding back a laugh, while Twilight looked at the princess of the night with a concerned smile. Much more softly, Luna asked, “Too loud?” Everypony nodded.
Without further to do, Luna flew into the sky, off to do her night duties. The other ponies divided into the other chariots. Celestia and Twilight joined into one chariot. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie joined in the other. Rainbow Dash vied to fly on her own, her pride preventing her from letting any other pony, especially some stallion guard, fly for her. This definitely alleviated pressure on the chariots and the night guard, but it kind of made Luna’s sacrifice less necessary.
Soon, they got into the sky, which was no small feat given the weight of the chariots and the small runway the Ponyville street functioned as. Rainbow Dash pretended to be unimpressed. Pinkie Pie took a few seconds to enjoy the fact that she was flying. Her bouncing made it incredibly hard for the poor bat-winged ponies pulling the chariot. Fluttershy tried hopelessly to calm Pinkie down. AJ sighed and just used her farm earth pony strength to restrain the baking earth pony. With the bouncing done, Pinkie fell into her other travelling shenanigans, like waving to other ponies on the other chariots until they noticed her, starting games like eye spy, and asking repeatedly, “Are we there yet?”
As they flew towards Canterlot, they passed by some grey clouds. Rainbow thought she saw one move. It could have been just her eyes playing tricks on her, she reckoned.
Coming of Age- A Lonely Discovery
1-1-3
10 minutes earlier
Sheep jumped over a fence one after the other. It was peaceful and relaxing to watch. Well, until the slamming of the door. Sweetie Belle jumped, falling out of her large double bed with a blue canopy. Dizzy, she could hear her sister frantically galloping around the Carousel Boutique. Curious what was happening, Sweetie Belle left her room and came into room where Rarity made her dresses.
Rarity was galloping to-and-fro gathering things and putting them in a suitcase which she stowed on the bottom of a clothes rack. While doing this, she knocked over manikins and sowing supplies, which Sweetie Belle rushed to put the manikins upright. While doing that, Rarity knocked over a long pair of ribbon cutting scissors, which had landed open.
“Rarity what is going on?”
Rarity seemed to barely notice her sister so exhaled an incoherent response. “Princess” Breathe. “Twilight” Breathe. “Canterlot” Breathe.
Upon saying Canterlot, Sweetie Belle had just picked up the open scissors, and without taking notice, Rarity bumped into Sweetie Belle knocking her on top of the scissors. Equally without notice, Rarity left the Carousel Boutique while Sweetie Belle started to scream.
Sweetie Belle had felt the scissors cut her face deeply. She had felt pain but not the extreme pain she expected. This could have easily been a result of shock, but as Sweetie Belle removed the scissors from her face, she noticed no blood. She immediately went to a mirror, of which there were plenty. What she beheld frighten her beyond being sliced by scissors for the two inch cut on her right cheek had revealed the underneath her fur lay machinery.
Sweetie Belle stared at her reflection with uncomprehending fear. Minutes seemed to pass like seconds as Sweetie merely stared. After the emotional shock wore off, denial set in, and immediately Sweetie Belle looked around.
“I just need to fix it, and I will be just fine.”
In a frantic manner resembling her ‘sister’, Sweetie Belle rummaged the design room for a needle and thread. She quickly found some and proceeded back to the mirror. With a silvery needle, the little ‘filly’ attempted to hide her equally silvery insides from the world and, especially, herself. With her hoof, she took needle to her hide, while the other hoof held the skin in place to cover it best. She penetrated the synthetic material from the outside with some effort. It hurt in a similar way the scissors cutting her had. Sweetie Belle was new to sowing, and most certainly doing stitches, so the finished product was pretty bad. At least the thread was white so did not stand out. To remedy this ‘blemish’ on her face, went and got a large band-aid from the bathroom medicine cabinet.
When finished, part of her saw something else looking back at her. Another part denied all that had happened. The latter took control and went back to bed. Before she could even pull the covers back over her with her teeth, exhaustion demanded her to go back into sleep mode. She could already see the sheep again.
…..
The sun filtered through the window, wakening the young filly.
“I had such a terrible nightmare.” Without stretching, Sweetie Belle flopped out of bed. “Rarity?” Her dream was so terrible, she felt it necessary to find her sister and cry within the comfort of her sister’s legs.
“Rarity?” Sweetie Belle called again as she stepped out of her room. Before her was a room in shambles, just like it was in her dream. On the ground lay a pair of ribbon cutting scissors, just like in her dream. Beside the mirror lay a silver needle and a spool of white thread, just like in her dream. Sweetie Belle walked up to the mirror and saw that it was indeed not a dream.
In the moment she needed the comfort of her sister most, Sweetie Belle broke down and cried until her water reserves ran out. When she could no longer cry, Sweetie Belle took a long hard look at herself and the bandage. She thought she could make a deal with her sister or the princesses to fix this. She confessed to all the lies and wrong things she had done as a crusader. Finally, she felt her skin around the bandage and then the bandage itself, and a resolve began to form. I feel real. I may not be a normal pony, but I feel like one, or at least, I think I do. I was always taught it was who you are, not what you are, that counts. I may be something…strange, but I am a pony. All I have to do is ‘fix’ me and I will perfectly normal.
Sweetie Belle in an amazingly short amount of time found a life philosophy that made it possible to continue living. With that, she went downstairs, made black goop for breakfast, cleaned up her mane, got a small rope, and left the house to meet with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders as they went to school.
Coming of Age- A Large Family, a lonely life
1-1-4
A rooster woke Apple Bloom up. Groggily, Apple Bloom left her small twin bed went to the bathroom. She was surprised to have to wait on her sister, who would normally be there to help her with her mane and bow.
“Applejack?” Apple Bloom called as she started doing her hair herself. There was no response. Some heavy footsteps passed by the bathroom. Using the mirror, Apple Bloom saw that these did not belong to her sister but rather her brother, Big Macintosh. “Big Mac, has Applejack left her room yet?”
The large red pony turned his head back in order to see Applejack’s door, which was shut. He thought for a bit and then gave a definitive “Nope.” He continued down the hall into the kitchen.
Apple Bloom sighed. Applejack never was late to wake unless she overworked herself like last Applebuck season or she was on some mission with Twilight. Chances were the latter, given all the confusion yesterday with the cutie marks and Twilight’s spell.
Thinking about yesterday, Apple Bloom remembered how when Pinkie Pie shown up it felt completely natural. It was like a dream in a sense because all she had now was a vague impression how a life on the farm with Pinkie Pie over the years. One thing that was really distinct was how much she related with Pinkie. Both of them found no joy in farm work, and both of them were really bad at it.
Apple Bloom finished with her hair and put on her pink bow. It was hard to do all on her lonesome, so it came out sloppily. She decided she would ask Big Mac to help straighten it out.
Walking into the kitchen, Apple Bloom could smell the eggs and sautéed vegetables. “Big Mac, can you help me with my bow? I cannot get it right.”
By the time Apple Bloom said this, Big Mac had picked up his plate and tilted the contents into his mouth. He placed the dish in the sink for later and left before Apple Bloom could even ask him for help. Apple Bloom was aware that for some reason Big Mac was in more of a hurry than usual to get to work. It finally dawned on her that it was because Applejack had left sometime yesterday. Big Mac needed to work for two ponies today and would be likely to ask her to pitch in when she got back.
Apple Bloom stared as Big Mac left the room. He shut the door without another word. Apple Bloom felt really lonely. Her family felt like it had so much going on that they had no time for her, and as a pony whose parents were just her brother, sister, and grandma, this made it all the more poignant. Before she could get completely depressed, however, Big Mac came back inside for a moment. Apple Bloom looked at him expectantly.
The big red stallion put a hoof on a small mirror near the kitchen and tossed it at Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom caught it just as he left the room. Looking down at the mirror, which her brother had probably give to her to tell her how bad she appeared, Apple Bloom saw a lonely yellow filly with badly tied bow in her hair. Nothing seemed like it could have been worse for Apple Bloom.
At that moment, Apple Bloom became determined to find some way to react to being neglected so badly. She was mad at her brother and her sister; however, without a plan, she was not ready to act on this passion. Instead, she finished her breakfast, tried her best to fix her bow, got the red wagon, and went off to meet Scootaloo in front of the farm.
When she arrived at the gate of the farm, a gray, walled-eye pony came fell near her with a letter in her muzzle.
“Derpy ain’t that you?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Huh, what? Oh, yeah…that is me, doi.” To emphasize how stupid she was being, the gray pony hit herself on the side of the head lightly and let her eyes roll. The letter she was carrying fell out of her mouth.
“Are yah wearin’ a weather pony outfit?” Apple Bloom had just noticed that the mailpony was wearing the vest of a weather pony.
“Oh, am I?” The silly mare looked down , frowned, and turn herself to her left side as if hiding her mistake. “My bad.”
“Derpy, don’t feel bad. I am not judging you. Everypony makes mistakes,” Apple Bloom said, feeling guilt and pity for the poor pony.
The pegasus smiles immediately at this.
“So Derpy, why’d yah come to Sweet Apple Arces?”
The pegasus continued to smile for a few moments until seeming to suddenly realize that she was here for a reason. She looked down at the letter picked it up with her mouth again and handed it to the little filly. “A letter for you from your sister.”
“My sister? Do yah know where my big sis is?”
“Ahh, yeah, she is in a chariot.”
Apple Bloom stared blankly at the wall-eyed mare. She did not remember Derpy being this dense. “Do you remember where the chariot was going?”
“Ahhh, hmmmm, eeeeh, nope.”
“How do yah not know?”
“I never asked.”
Apple Bloom was exasperated. Not only was she mad at her parents; she was mad at this dunce of a mail pony.
Apple Bloom looked at the envelop and notice that it was already opened. While this was odd, Apple Bloom assumed that it was because Derpy had accidently opened it with her mouth or Applejack had not sealed it right. Removing the letter, Apple Bloom read the following:
Dear family,
While I am so darn sorry not to be home to help on the farm, you will be pleased as punch to know I am not going on another mission to save Equestria from Celestia knows what. Instead, I am going to a coronation to our brand new princess, Twilight Sparkle. Celestia says it is because Twilight has learned the magic of friendship. Celestia also says we should be able to get home in a week, but I will try to get back sooner. Thank Derpy for being around to bring back this letter.
Yours truly,
Applejack
After reading this, Apple Bloom discovered that the mail mare had disappeared without a sound. She looked around. Not seeing any trace of the varmint, she took the wagon to the clubhouse.
Coming of Age- A Flier’s heart
1-1-5
Bing Bing Bing Bing
An orange leg popped out from violet sheets that were bunched up on a small single bed. The leg flailed wildly about slowing finding its way from the edge of the bed to a night stand. While exploring the night stand, the leg knocked off a portrait unto the floor. Finally, the leg reached an alarm clock whose dinger was hitting a bell on top of it zealously. The orange appendage hit the alarm hard on its head, and it went silent.
Without the bothersome sound, the filly, to which the leg belonged, emerged from the covers, sunlight glaring at her through the window blinds as if the pegasi who had cleared the skies were taunting her. The cutie-markless pony grudgingly got out of bed. Unfortunately, she stepped on the facedown framed photo, causing a cracking noise.
“Scootaloo, what a great way to wake up to a new day,” the orange filly mumbled to herself, still too tired to be angry or frustrated. Scootaloo lifted the portrait, and glass fell from it as she did so. More awake now, she swore silently to herself. She was going to have to clean this up after breakfast.
Putting the photo back up, Scootaloo gave it a long glance. It was a picture of her and her parents at some archeological dig in one of the ancient cloud ruins of their pegasi ancestors. Her cowcolt-hated father was lifting infant Scootaloo up in his arms while letting the little one pretend she was flying. Her pith-helmeted mother was in the background completely focused on an ancient scroll with a bunch of gibberish on it. Her father had bats as his cutie mark, indicating his love of exploring dark places, especially caves and ancient temples. Scootaloo’s mother had a map and magnifying glass as a cutie mark. She was the archeologist.
The picture spoke volumes about Scootaloo’s life. Her father loved flying and exploring, and he put all his dreams and aspirations unto Scootaloo. This led to great disappointment when it was discovered that Scootaloo suffered from a disease that prevented her wings from growing large enough. While they were powerful wings like her father’s, they could not sustain flight. Given the culture of the pegasi though, it was strongly believed that through dedication and a positive attitude, one could overcome anything. Because of this, other pegasi like Rainbow Dash had continued to give her encouragement and motivational speeches. Despite this positive outlook, her parents recognized her inability to fly enough to move their home down to the land to a place called Ponyville.
Her mother was completely dedicated to her work and relied on her husband to handle the more dangerous situations whether it was exploring a ruin or escaping from bandits in the Saddle Arabian night. This meant that Scootaloo would often not see her parents for weeks. Derpy Hooves, who had a daughter of her own, served as Scootaloo’s nanny after she got back from a half-time job of delivering mail around Ponyville. Scootaloo did not like her mother very much. From Scootaloo’s perspective, if it did not help one understand the Olden Ponies, her mother did not care. Because of this, Scootaloo hated what her mother symbolized: books, caution, and boringness. Because of this, Scootaloo gravitated to what her father and Rainbow Dash represented: outdoorism, danger, and fun.
Scootaloo turned around. It is too early for this. Walking to her bedroom door, Scootaloo walked by her dresser which had a mirror and a nice but unused brush on it. The brush was a gift of her ‘thoughtful’ mother, so of course, Scootaloo never used it. Anyways, the unkempt mane made her look like Rainbow Dash. This house is a pain, thought Scootaloo as she walked out of her room and wandered to the kitchen.
There was Derpy and her daughter Dinky. Derpy was working on breakfast while Dinky did her homework. Scootaloo came over and saw that the little filly, who was seven years old, two years younger than Scootaloo, was working on geometry. It was something to do with graphing circles and calculating the volume of a sphere the circle represented on a coordinate plain. Needless to say, the child was a prodigy, and some of that had to do with her mother. Most ponies did not know this, but Derpy Hooves was actually pretty smart if you did not stress her out. Scootaloo’s parents said that as a filly, Derpy had been bullied a lot, and back then, they (the schools) did not provide special help to ponies who struggled with reading or things like that. These combined factors led Derpy to drop out of school at a young age. To her family, Derpy represented the harm bullies can wrought on a pony’s life, and for morally-questionable reasons, hired the pony to watch their daughter. While Derpy had gained back her confidence, she seemed to struggle getting respect from other ponies.
Whenever some story about a recent mistake by Derpy came up, Scootaloo would defend Derpy the best she could, even to adults. She once defended Derpy to Rainbow Dash who had claimed that Derpy was either incredibly stupid or intentionally causing mischief on the repairs to town hall. The reason Scootaloo desired to defend Derpy so much was because she related so much to the pegasi. One was cross-eyed. The other had a wing disease. Both had suffered from a large amount of bullying for what they had no power over.
“Scootaloo, good morning! Did you have a good night’s sleep?” ask Derpy in a singsong voice. Scootaloo sat down at the table and watched as Derpy scrapped off mixed vegetables from the frying pan onto three plates, one for each of them.
“I slept well. Thanks, Ms. Hooves.” It was not completely true. While Scootaloo had good dreams thanks to Luna, there had been a sense of foreboding that kept her up pretty late. Derpy knew Scootaloo had lied, being the sensitive mare that she was, and gave the little filly an arched eyebrow as she hoofed her a plate, which was awkward to read as it accentuated her cross-eyedness. “I had a weird feeling that kept me up.”
This made Derpy flinch. In a hushed tone, the gray mare asked, “What kind of weird feeling?”
“I don’t know. Like something bad was going to happen.”
Derpy visibly had a sigh of relief and then took a more serious face, or at least, the most serious face Derpy could muster. Despite any desire to treat Derpy any different than any other pony, it was still disconcerting to look at a serious faced Derpy. Only Dinky treated Derpy like any other pony for she was part of Dinky’s normal world.
“Don’t worry Scootaloo. If anything happens, I will come to your aid.” Scootaloo looked down, ashamed of her weakness. “Scootaloo, look up at me.” With a little encouragement from Derpy’s hoof, Scootaloo lifted her face up at Derpy. She was trying to be brave and hold back tears. “Remember you are strong. You hear me. It is not a bad thing to need others. Remember friendship is the strength of ponies.” Derpy leaned down and hugged Scootaloo. While this might have been a little unprofessional, these ponies understood and trusted each other. These words hurt Derpy to say because they reflected the hurt of spending so many years ostracized. Pegasi do not look at weakness well, and bullying was common throughout pony culture.
“I was so afraid. It felt like someone was dying.”
Derpy made a small ‘oh dear,’ continuing to comfort the young filly. “Do you want to stay home today?”
Scootaloo separated from Derpy and shook her head. “No, I think I can still go. It was you who told me to be strong, remember?” Derpy just gave Scootaloo a level but caring examination. “Anyways, my friends expect me at the clubhouse with the scooter so we can go to school together.” To give Derpy all the extra assurance she needed, Scootaloo started eating her food with a clearly healthy appetite.
Throughout this, Dinky had been observing. Dinky knew too well not to talk, but even she did not understand what these ponies are going through. Dinky was privately tutored, so she never really faced juvenile bullying. Derpy made sure of that, though she was probably too protective of Dinky.
Twenty minutes of eating and getting her saddlebags ready, Scootaloo left her small red house with Derpy not far behind to lock up. Derpy went off to library to drop of Dinky with her tutor Twilight and then get to her work as a mail mare. Scootaloo got her scooter, which was leaning on the gate, and started her journey to the clubhouse.
Coming of Age- A Friendship Built on Dishonesty
1-1-6
While Scootaloo approaching at the club house, the scooting filly noticed that Apple Bloom was making frowny faces at Sweetie Belle who was oddly quiet. Getting closer, Scootaloo saw that Sweetie Belle had a bandage on her face.
“What happened to your face?” came Scootaloo’s raspy voice. Sweetie Belle turned her head to give their ride attention while Apple Bloom was still looking hurt at her friend.
“As I told Apple Bloom, I had an accident last night in Rarity’s design room,” squeaked the little unicorn.
“Ah asked that too, but she is hiding something,” stated the country pony.
Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle, seeing a face that clearly did not want this subject to continue. “While I would love to hear how little miss prissy saddle ruined her pretty little face, I am more interested in getting my cutie mark.”
“I am not prissy.”
“Never said you were.”
“But you insinuated!” This made Scootaloo and Apple Bloom blink. It always seemed that Sweetie Belle was some kind of dictionary, pulling new words on them at random moments.
“I was just joking Sweetie Belle. Now let’s get going. The sooner we finished school, and the sooner I can meet Rainbow Dash.”
Something hit Apple Bloom when Scootaloo said this. “Um, Scootaloo, Ah don’t think Rainbow will be able to meet yah today.”
“Why is that?”
“Cause she is in Canterlot for Twilight’s princess coronation.”
“What? When did Twilight become a princess!”
“Ah don’t know! All ah know is that Twilight and her friends ain’t going to back for a few days.”
Sweetie Belle rejoin the conversation after rubbing her bandage subconsciously. “Rarity something about Canterlot last night.”
“See, that confirms it,” proudly declared Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo grumbled a bit then asked, “Well, how did you find out?”
“Well, Derpy gave me a letter this morn from my sis. Ah know Derpy is your nanny and all, but, Scootaloo, she is a few tools short of a full shed.”
Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed with rage as she jumped on Apple Bloom. “Why’d you lie like that? Take that back.”
Determination in her eyes, Apple Bloom pushed Scootaloo off with her earth pony strength. “Yah think Ah’m lying? Here’s the darn letter. Read it! It even says Derpy brought the letter.”
Scootaloo practically ripped the letter from Apple Bloom’s hoof. Thank Derpy for being around to bring back this letter. Anger built up in Scootaloo again. “What kind of joke is this?” She stared back at Apple Bloom, who started to get a bit scared.
Sweetie Belle stepped between the two, still subconsciously trying to hide her bandage. “What is wrong Scootaloo?”
“I know she is lying. I just saw Derpy this morning making me breakfast. She had not even started her mail gallop. Plus, she called Derpy dumb. Derpy is one of the smartest mares in all of Ponyville, and it is because of the bullying like this that she dropped out of school.” Scootaloo had almost said ‘bullies like you’ but toned down her statement because she did care about her friend.
The two girls looked agape at Scootaloo.
“Ah’m sorry, Scootaloo. Ah don’t know what’s going on, but I saw somepony that looked a lot like Derpy this morning. I must have confused her with another pony.” Apple Bloom was lying. She felt certain she had seen Derpy, but Scootaloo had been so earnest. It is just a small lie. I want to just stay friends with Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle was about to add something but paused.
“Did you want to say something Sweetie Belle?” asked Scootaloo.
She looked at Scootaloo for a moment, then looked down, and sighed. “No.” The thought she had bothered her too much because it hit home to hard, so she lied.
With Sweetie Belle’s interruption out of the way, the three girls came to their senses and swore to stop fighting and wait for more information.
Next the Cutie Mark Crusaders made their makeshift chariot. Scootaloo provided the scooter, which she would pull. She said this would help her build up her wing strength, and to be fair, she could get some pretty high speeds with the scooter with her added wingpower. Apple Bloom provided the wheelbarrow, in which the Sweetie Belle and she would sit. Sweetie Belle provided the rope. Apple Bloom came up with this chariot, and it worked pretty well, when Scootaloo did not run into stuff.
With it built, the three girls went to school with heavy hearts and confusion over all the crazy that was happening in and around their little worlds.
1-2-1 Projects and Prejudices: A Trottingham Family
Projects and Prejudices: A Trottingham Family
1-2-1
Dusk Shine trotted up to a shabby, old apartment building in the west side of Trottingham. A green and black quilt hanging on a window still on the third floor signified that this was a safe house for changeling travelers who did not have the maturity to maintain disguise overnight.
The changeling had taken the form of a oranged-haired, elegant-looking Pegasus filly. While he, or she now, rather felt more as ease as a colt, she knew that she would need practice as a filly if she was ever going to understand her destiny and her special relation to it. Her parent had always told her understanding was the first step in overcoming something; this, the third-gendered changeling argued, included destiny.
Dusk Shine knocked the third floor door. She heard the sound of bed coils uncoiling as it were and then some shuffling.
“Hello!” was the cheerful greeting of a slightly not cheerful young stallion. He seemed to be in his twenties. His gray mane looked like he had not had it cut in a few weeks, and the cut he had was not particularly good. His ruffled dark-yellow coat gave Dusk Shine the impression that the stallion had just woken up despite it being ten in the morning. Reflecting that, he wrapped himself partially up in a blanket, obscuring his Cutie Mark.
What more, this was not a changeling. This also meant either something was wrong or this stallion was just the living battery for the resident changeling. Dusk looked at the stallion before him and decided the latter was probably the chase.
“May we come in. Our friend, Pip, said we could stay over.” Dusk Shine and her little yellow dragon, Spines, were tired after a long flight. While Dusk could have technically gone on for a much longer time, the yellow dragon was really young and needed her rest. Plus, Dusk used her emotions for sustenance which, even with Dusk's control, draining.
The stallion looked into Dusk's eyes at this, frowning, but only for a split second. He changed so quickly to a smile if Dusk had not sensed the change he would have not believed it. “Pip did not say friends were coming by. Did you meet at school?”
“Ah---”
“Dad, is somepony at the door for me?” Dusk had suddenly been cut off by young colt's voice from behind. This was convenient as Dusk, being new to this, had not prepared a cultured response to this. She did not know whether it would be more convincing to say yes or no.
The stallion moved out of the way to reveal a small colt, smaller than even the blank flank filly had taken the shape of was. He had a coat with brown spots and a brown mane. His unkempt hair matched his 'father's'. One thing was obvious to Dusk: this must be Pip.
It was not uncommon for changelings to take on the form of children and getting adopted by unsuspecting parents. The love could make a changeling powerful enough to rule a city if sucessful. Pip had not really aimed high though. There was definitely a lot of love in this stallion, but he was young and did not seemed particularly father-like. Despite the stallions weirdness about him, he did not seem to have an indecent bone in his body.
Now that Dusk thought about it, Pip's choice was at least decent.
“Come in. Dad, this is--”
“Dusk Shine, nice to meet you.” It was common for changelings to interrupt opportunely in order to save the other from not having appropriate information at a key moment. Even Dusk who was new to hiding amongst equestrians knew this.
Pip's dad moved out of the way revealing a spotless if overly simple living space.
“I will make some drinks. Your dragon looks exhausted. He--”
“She, dad,” Pip interjected, using his adolescent changeling senses to discern the gender of Dusk's companion. This move was intended to give his 'dad' a greater reassurance that Pip knew these two visitors. It was kind of excessive, but changelings from the southern hives took every strategic advantage they could.
“Yes, thanks kiddo. Where was I, yeah, she can rest over on the couch. I think I can spare some gems.”
Pip laughed a bit and then said while the two visitors entered their western Trottingham apartment, “Dad, you have more than a few to spare.”
“And Pip, you know me. I am the most humble of ponies. I let my son give me an excuse to let them know I am rich beyond appearances.”
Pip laughed again. Dusk did not know what to think. Spines stopped listening at rest and gems, so she moved to the couch and waited.
Dusk and Pip went a small bedroom. Dusk placed down his saddlebags, which had basic supplies like rations for Spines and her parent's book. Pip took out a chess board.
Strange as it was for two foals to play chess in this day and age, it would not draw any suspicion and probably dissuade suspicious for foals often formed friendships merely because of a shared, uncommon hobby. What separates a pony from the herd also makes a herd, Dusk's parent, or Milky Way as she had been called at the time, said.
While Pip's 'dad' had gotten a chest full of gems and excited the baby dragon with questions about her gem preferences and what it was like to eat gems, promising a full course meal of whatever she liked. Dusk noticed how expertly this 'dad' had bribed her dragon, her tired dragon no less, to divulge personal information about dragonhood. Although, reckoned Dusk, Spines was a sucker for gems, no matter how much I do not want to admit it to others.
“Welcome, Dusk Shine, brother. I am glad to have such a young changeling visit my abode.” Pip was speaking in changeling. A language of vibrations that was silent to other ponies when done in close proximity another changeling.
“I am glad to be welcomed. I just learned my destiny recently. The ceremony was yesterday.”
“I imagine. I am not much older than you.” Pip admitted.
This surprised Dusk. It was not easy for a changeling new to pony culture to integrate into a home. To be fair, there was only one other pony in this home, and he did not look like much.
“What is the name of your dad?”
“Well, he calls himself Neigh Ledge. He is a part time student living on the allowances of his parents while he studies filosophy. Seeing that we are so keen on talking about fathers--”
“I have a parent. You might know him as Starswirl the Bearded.” Pip immediately knew what Dusk meant by parent. Starswirl, or rather the changeling the name was attached to, was a third-gendered.
“I did not know Starswirl had a child. It was long believed in my hive he could not children, no offense. Fortunately, you exist. We wouldn't want the greatest pony both of the changelings and equestrians to never pass on all his knowledge to an heir.”
Dusk was not surprised that Pip saw through her disguise. Despite putting up a feminine aura, any discerning changeling or Equestrian for that matter would know it was not pronounced typical manner.
The youngsters had a battle of the wits. Dusk was not much a chess player, for he did not associate it with the adventure he so desired. Pip was a crafty changeling but fun loving, so he prolonged the game.
“Where are you headed?” asked the browned-maned colt.
“Ponyville,” replied the organged-maned filly.
“That is north of Canterlot, located on a major railway between Equestria and the newly returned Crystal Empire,” Pip explained. Dusk knew this for a map was in his book, though it did not have much contemporary information on the Crystal ponies.
“It should take me and Spines two more days flight to get there.”
“You already flown half a day, so you have a lot ahead of you. You will probably need to stop at Nayern for the night. I know; I have been to Ponyville before.”
“Oh when was that.” Dusk was genuinely interested.
“It was my first year after integrating in Trottingham, and my adoptive father, Neigh over there, had brought me to Ponyville to meet his sister, my aunt now, Derpy Hooves. She is nice, though full of a long sadness. Also, she is a nice challenge in chess too. Not because she is good but because she cannot play the game like a normal player. She always plan these weird surprises from her pawns.....”
Dusk zoned out a bit while Pip continued to detail one of these 'surprises' by pointing at the chess board before them. Apparently Pip's weakness was chess, for the colt changeling did not sense the disinterest.
Eventually, the brown-maned colt returned to a subject Dusk cared about. “During this visit, I got to have my first Nightmare Night, and it was awesome. Since I was from far away, they did not suspect me when I told them this was my first Nightmare Night. So many exciting things happened that you might find interesting. First, Luna came to Ponyville.”
“The princess?” Dusk asked incredulously.
“Yeah, not some fake like they have in Trottingham's celebration. Also, I met some of the elements of harmony. One of them gave me a good laugh because she dress up as your dad.”
“A pony dressed up as Starswirl?” Dusk asked again incredulously. The idea of some mare dressing up as the old stallion made the orange filly's nose to scrunch up.
“You should look at the look on your face. Priceless!”
Dusk held in his frustration with the colt. “This is interesting and all, but I would like to know some strategic advice. All I know is I need to go to Ponyville and find a Miss Twilight Sparkle.”
“Well, for starters, this Twilight Sparkle was the mare who dressed up as Starswirl. A real egghead, if you ask me.” Pip noticed Dusk change from mildly frustrated to engrossed in detailed. He continued to describe Twilight to the best of his knowledge. “She befriended Luna, who you know was saved by the elements from the nightmare. Other than that, she lives in a tree, I think.”
Dusk waited for more information, but Pip remained silent. “Who are the local changelings?”
“There are a few. One is Ditzy. I met her while I was playing games for Nightmate Night. She is tied to my aunt Derpy, not hard to find in later part of the day as she uses the clumsy innocent act to dissuade suspicion. She is real good to be doing that while the real Derpy is in town free to move about. I couldn't find out which hive she belonged to.”
“Any others?”
“I didn't get to really talk much to the other changelings during my trip. I only spoke to Ditzy because she was tied to my aunt. All I know as there are three others. One of them works for the mayor, and another is a teacher.”
Dusk perked up at the idea of a teacher changeling. Not only did teachers have a lot of practice sharing knowledge, being a teacher for Equestrians was a great way to observe them and learn how they understand the world around them. Dusk's father would enjoy if she could find some new insights for his wealth of knowledge.
After a bit, Pip finally let Dusk lose, seeing that they had exhausted all conversation topics. Dusk then turned to see how Spines was doing. She had found a nice place on the couch to sleep, full on gems. She would probably wake up tomorrow. It would seem that either Spines would stay here or Dusk is going to have to find a place nearby to stay.
Dusk then looked at Neigh. She had decidedly not really paid much attention to the young adult, finding him extremely talkative but in the dangerous curious way. Dusk looked at the gray mane that looked like silver on his yellow coat. Normally, this would be a gaudy look, but he clearly did not maintain his look. He had never taken off his blanket the whole time he was talking to Spines, continuing to neglect his appearance.
Pip sensed that Dusk was examining his pops. “Yeah, he not much to look at. Don't worry, he won't bother us when we are talking or playing with us. He does not like to interrupt other people's conversations because he knows he will dominate them. Sometimes I wonder if Neigh has some changeling in him.”
“Does he always wear a blanket?” Dusk asked.
“When he is at home. Neigh likes to feel comfortable at all times and he seems to not care that people find him weird or distasteful.”
“That does not sound very changeling,” commented Dusk plainly. Pip just smiled.
Dusk yawned. “Do you want a place to stay? The apartments in this building are rarely used. We keep them tidy for when we have guests, which are often changelings because you know.” Pip was referencing his being a safe house for traveling changelings coming from or going to the southern hives through Trottingham.
At this, Dusk got up and made way to the couch to levitate Spines. As her magic activated, Dusk got jabbed in the side by Pip. Dusk glared at Pip in annoyance at having her concentration necessary for proper magic casting canceled. Pip pointed at Dusk's wings. Dusk made an 'O' with his mouth and then frowned deeply. Getting Spines out of the house was not going to be easy.
At this Pip whispered into Dusk's ear. “You leave and I will tell dad that you went downstairs to meet your mother and that tonight you want to sleep over and that you will sleep in the guest room. Come back in thirty minutes. I will pose as you, and you as your mother. In the meantime, I will watch over Spines and do my typical 'I going out to the store' charade just before you get back.”
At this Dusk looked at the young colt changeling and then at his young stallion father. Dusk nodded. She said her goodbyes and started thinking about how she would be her 'mother' as she walked around town.
