>>43250000
Damn, checked

Im still struggling to think up a compelling title for the Grimdark story

>>43252086
Give it a bullshit name as a placeholder. Then, in a few months the placeholder name will just be its name. It'll grow on you, like a fungus. Or a weed. Or your preferred parasite.

>>43252279
What kind of pony do you want to be?

>>43252282
Not that you asked but I'm thinking pegasus.

>>43252292
Im a happy earth pony

>>43252484
Stronk

>>43252282
Unicorn so I don’t have to pick stuff up with my mouth.

>>41763299
I don't know if the author's still here but I found this ponepaste continuing a story from a little while ago, https://ponepaste.org/11541

File: 1708903051826189.png (19.2 KB)

>>43251727
MORE

>>43252282
Alicorn of course.

>>43252086
In the grim darkness of the near future there is only pony oppression.

>>43252980
In the grim darkness of the near future there is no ponies

>>43252980

>>43252981 this guy got it. The grim part is there won't be any ponies left

>>43252691
What makes you think you're worthy of that?

>>43253525
I just want the stable and secure government job

>>43253525
Why would I need to be worthy? Was Flurry Heart worthy?
Besides, I can always become "worthy" later.

>>43253541
Three letter princess glow so bright
>>43253563
Not canon, only 2 seasons

https://pastebin.com/P12G4DY2

>You wake up with a jolt, immediately starting into a weak coughing fit.
>It takes a couple minutes, but the coughing dies down and you remain sitting up in your hospital bed.
>This wasn’t a huge surprise to you, for it had been happening for a couple years now.
>The doctors were surprised that you actually made it that long, considering most patients with your type of lung cancer died in the first year.
>You were a fighter, not that it mattered much as you outright refused to get the proper treatment the doctors wanted you to do.
>It was too expensive, and you refused to do it for two very good reasons.
>And those reasons were both at your side of the bed, sitting in chairs while they gave you a weak smile.
>You returned the smile back to both of them, your two daughters.
>They practically begged you to undergo the treatment, but you were too stubborn and never budged, not once.
>Taking the treatment would practically bankrupt your family, and the only reason you even worked two jobs was for them.
>One job was at a coal mine, most likely were you got the cancer.
>The other was a small shop you owned, selling small trinkets, watches, shoes, and dresses.
>You worked on the trinkets and watches, while your two daughters both worked on the clothing.
>At a young age they both expressed an interest in fashion, even having some skill in it.
>You had gotten them dolls for their birthdays, with fancy dresses and shoes.
>They both loved them, and even started to design their own clothes for the dolls.
>You managed to get some money together and bought some clothing materials for them, and they turned out to be naturals at it.
>For awhile you were happy, even though your wife was gone, having died at an early age for both of your daughters.
>They hardly remembered her, though the pain was always fresh in your mind.
>It took you awhile, but you were finally happy again, filling the void in your heart with your two wonderful daughters.
>You think back to when the cancer first hit you, hard.
>It was your wife’s anniversary of the day she had died, and your two daughters were trying to cheer you up.
>They were walking by you on each side, holding your hands while you made it over to your wife’s grave.
>Just having them by your side always gave you a smile on your face.
>You looked over at them, both of them beautiful; wearing black dresses they had made for each other.
>They both had long black hair, the younger one almost resembling your wife in a way, with her face and eyes.
>The older one though looked more like you, but feminine.
>You smiled at both of them, proud of them for being so strong.
>A couple tears ran down your face, but you continued to smile.
>Maybe they were stronger than you.

>>43253973
>Before you had even made it over to your wife’s tombstone though, you doubled over in a coughing fit, your daughters startled.
>It had started out weak in your walk, but you thought you could keep it down like usual.
>This wasn’t the first time it had happened, but you always acted strong and hid it from them.
>The fit didn’t stop quickly though, and it continued to drag on and you even started to cough up blood.
>An ambulance arrived after being called by one of your daughters a little while afterwards, and you were brought to a hospital.
>And now here you were, dieing in a hospital bed next to your kids while the cancer in your body continued to spread.
>You were angry at first, powerless to stop the cancer from slowly killing you.
>Even undergoing the treatment for it wouldn’t save you, maybe give you a couple more years of life.
>Though soon you accepted your fate, but it didn’t stop you from trying to live.
>Sometimes you even left the hospital to continue your work, although you were always brought back.
>This continued for awhile until the cancer grew too strong, and you had to stay in a hospital bed with life support.
>The constant beeping in the room always reminded you of it being there.
>You squeezed both of your daughter’s hands, assuring them in a weak voice, no more than a whisper, that it would be okay.
>You half meant it, they were both strong and would look out for each other, and you had saved up enough money for them to be safe for a couple years.
>Doing your duty as a father you brought them both up right, as best as you could.
>They seemed to grow even stronger than you could’ve imagined though, most likely because of their mother, or lack thereof anyways.
>All you knew was that they would be okay and watch each other’s backs, just like you taught them to.
>You lay back down on your bed, more tired than usual, trying to keep your eyes open.
>Your heartbeat was starting to slow down, your body weak from fighting off the cancer and failing.
>At first you hadn’t noticed, but then you saw a couple doctors in the room, along with your daughters crying softly into your side.
>You rubbed their heads, smiling and closing your eyes, they would be alright.
>They were tough young women, and in time, their wounds would heal, just like yours did with your wife.
>You continued to smile, holding your daughter’s hands even though you were no longer there.
>The noise in the hospital room seemed to stop all at once, save for two sobbing noises.
>The doctors unplugged the life support machine in the room and walked out, deciding to give them some silence.

>>43253975
https://pastebin.com/AEzNdTpv

>You wake up with a jolt, but then you remember where you were, back in the hospital.
>You try to lie back down in your bed, but quickly realize you aren’t in the hospital.
>Opening your eyes, you quickly examine your surroundings.
“Oh..shit.”
>This isn’t your hospital bed, in fact, you’re not even sure where you are or what’s happening to you.
>As far as you can tell, you’re falling down a hole toward some light.
>Neat.
>You continue to fall towards the light, not really gaining any distance toward it after a few minutes.
>With nothing better to do, you try to remember what happened before...this.
>You remember being in the bed, as you should be, with your daughters by your side.
>They started to cry, but you were just going to sleep for a little while…weren’t you?
>Then you come to the sudden realization that you must have died, after fighting your cancer for a couple years.
>So where the hell were you right n-
“AUGH!”
>You scream in pain, your body starting to distort, parts of you growing while others parts shrank.
>Bones in your body snapped with sickening pops, changing shape and moving around in your body.
>Worst of all was that you were awake for this; feeling and hearing all of these changes suddenly come to your body.
>You would have tried to figure out what the hell is going on, but you were too busy being in blinding pain to figure it out.
>Suddenly that light hits you, and you can finally make out what’s on the other side.
>A couple trees and the greenest grass you have ever seen in your life.
>It almost looks like it’s from some cartoon; though you were always way to busy or tired too watch T.V.
>And then you realize you’re falling down towards that very green grass and trees, at a very alarming rate, passing the strange light you had seen.
>You try to slow yourself down but there’s nothing you can do but flail around in the air.
“Oh..shit!”
>Before you could even find out where you were or what was happening to you, you were going to die.
>Again.
>The shock of it all hits you, coupling with the aching pain in your body, and you start to black out as you rocket towards that green, green grass.
>You barely register something hit your side as you go unconscious.

>>43253978
>The world comes back to you after awhile, and you groan in pain.
>The pain you had during your fall has died down a bit, but is still very much there.
>You try to stand up but your legs start wobbling and give out, sending you back down to the…surprisingly soft ground.
>”Hey! You’re awake! Even though you almost died I have to admit, that was pretty cool! I’ve never seen anypony but a Pegasus get that high off the ground before!”
>Pegawhat? Whatever, you roll your head around to get a better look at the voice talking to you.
>”Except for Pinkie Pie anyways, but that mare is crazy, with all of her machine..thingies.”
>Still on the ground, you finally spot the tomboyish voice talking to you.
>You kind of wish you hadn’t.
>Your eyes go wide and your mouth falls open, speechless.
>Before you is a horse, but the strangest damn horse you have ever seen.
>Her mane and tail are rainbow colored while her body is cyan, and on each side of her body is a wing.
>Her eyes stare down at you as she nudges you a bit with a hoof. “Hey buddy, you okay?”
>No, you are not okay.
>You’re talking to a horse with rainbow hair and wings.
“I..I’m fine.”
>She smiles at you and raises a hoof up to you to help you get up.
>You half heartedly smile back and accept the hoof, bringing your own up to hers.
>Wait, what the fuck?
>You look at your hoof in shock, expecting a hand to be there instead.
>After taking a better look at your body, you realize that you’re now one of these horses too, complete with hooves and a tail.
>The mare at your side just stares at you with a quizzical expression. “Are you sure? You look like you’re..freaking out.”
>Probably because you ARE freaking out.
>You try to calm yourself down a bit, taking deep breaths.
“Okay, I’m a talking horse now…this is weird.”
>You hear giggling to your side and you finally stand up, on two legs, the pain having died down a bit.
>You’re a bit wobbly, but you don’t fall.
>Placing both of your..hooves at your hips, you try to be serious with the..talking horse.
>For some reason this makes her burst out in laughter at you.
“What’s so funny?”
>”Haha! You! You’re so weird! And you’re not a horse, you’re a PONY, what else could you be?”
>You talk a look at yourself again, standing on two legs and then another look at the hors-..pony in front of you, who is on all fours.
>Dropping down onto your hooves you feel less wobbly, though still a bit awkward.
“Heh..yeah..”
>She rolls her eyes at you. “Not as weird as Pinkie though. Anyways, nice to meet you, I’m Rainbow Dash!”

>>43253980
>She puffs her wings and chest out proudly when saying her name.
“Uh, yeah…I’m Anonymous. So you, uhh, saved me?”
>Rainbow Dash keeps her chest puffed out but retracts her wings, smiling at you.
>”That’s right! I was practicing some of my tricks nearby when you just appeared out of nowhere, dropping out of the sky!”
>She drags the story on about how she saved you, almost hitting the ground before she barely reached you, then grabbing you before you crashed, and getting to safety.
>”Y’know, no big deal, I do it all the time.” She gives you a sheepish grin, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal.
>You smile at her, genuinely this time.
“Thanks, I really appreciate it. If you hadn’t been there, then..”
>”Hey, it’s no problem! Really. So how did you get so high up there? It’s not like you have wings or anything.”
>How DID you get up there?
“I don’t remember, I just woke up and I was there…Anyways! Where are we right now?”
>Rainbow Dash looks at you, puzzled, but accepts the answer.
>”We’re a bit a ways from Ponyville. I stopped practicing there after I, well, crashed a few times doing tricks.”
>Phew, you dodged a bullet there. You thought about it, but maybe telling peo..well, ponies were you were from, or what had happened to you wouldn’t be the best choice.
“Ponyville, huh? I’ve never heard of it.”
>”Really? Guess you’re new here. Fair warning, Pinkie Pie is gonna be freaking out over you then, so try and act nice.”
>Shit, that didn’t sound good. You didn’t really want to attract any attention to you, at least not until you figured out what happened to you, and what this world was like.
>”Anyways, I’m gonna practice a couple more tricks before bringing you into Ponyville. Get ready to be blown away by my awesomeness!”
>She brings her wings out before flapping away into the sky, immediately going into her previous routine before you showed up.
>You roll her eyes at her, but take a seat and watch her as you have nothing better to do.
>You let your mind wander. This was pretty weird, but you suppose it’s not as bad as being sick twenty four seven, and dieing.
>A couple tears are brought to your eyes as you start thinking about your daughters but you hold them back, instead shifting your focus to your new ‘friend’s’ flying.
>As far as you could tell, she was pretty good, even if you weren’t an expert on..Pegasus ponies.
>Man, this was going to be a long day, would you have to meet more people like her?
>You suppose it wouldn’t be that bad, and you’ll deal with it later, focusing your mind instead on Dash’s wings.

>>43253982
>It would be pretty cool to be able to fly and do tricks like that, feeling the air flowing through your..mane, but without a plane or anything.
>You imagine yourself with wings and flying around like Dash, but are soon brought back to reality as the pain in your body flares up again.
“Ahh! Fuck, that hurts!”
>It didn’t hurt as bad as earlier, but goddamn it still hurt. A lot.
>Popping sounds come from your back, the origin of the pain, as you turned your head to the side in horror.
>You weren’t quite sure what the fuck was happening just now, but apparently you were growing a pair of wings.
>They finish as you can feel the pain die, though you still feel a dull throbbing coming from your back and wings, just as a familiar Pegasus drops down next to you.
>”Anon! I heard you shouting and I ca..Uhh, dude, where did those wings come from?”
>You were just thinking the same thing, actually.
“Oh, these? I was…hiding them, I don’t like letting people see them..?”
>Rainbow Dash stares at you a bit, raising her eyebrow. “Alright..but that means you can totally help me with my tricks! C’mon, it’d be fun, I’ll show you a thing or two!”
>Shit, you’ve never flown in your life and you hate lying to people. You were an honest man.
>Oh right, then you died.
>And now you’re talking to a rainbow pony.
“I..I actually have a fear of heights. That’s why I don’t like showing my wings to people.”
>Rainbow Dash tries to hold in a laugh, but you can see her doing it.
>”Pfft..afraid of heights? Dude, you’re a freaking PEGASUS for Celestia’s sake, c’mon! If you help me out afterwards with my tricks, I’ll help you get rid of your fear.”
>Damn, that surprised you. Both that she actually accepted your lie, but was also willing to help you.
>Kind of made you feel bad.
“Really? You’d be willing to..teach me how to fly?”
>”Well YEAH dude, as long as you help me with my tricks afterwards. Wouldn’t want you crashing into the ground again.”
>You smile at her. She barely knew you, but was already willing to help you out.
“Alright, let’s get started then.”
>Rainbow Dash smiles at you, shooting off into the sky. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
>You slowly make your way up to her, Dash giving you encouraging comments along the way, as you start your flying lessons.
>Yeah, this was going to be a long day.

>>43253984
>It’s been a couple days since your first flying lessons.
>You were a pretty quick learner, but it was a bit hard to keep up with Dash.
>Practically everything about her was fast, but she tried to tone it down a bit and be patient with you.
>You’re now able to fly pretty well, but not as fast or good as Dash.
>She said you’ll get better with practice and someday you MAYBE could be as good as her.
>You doubted it. You could probably get a bit faster and fly better, but you knew it’d probably be impossible to reach her level.
>Your thoughts go back to..wherever you are.
>This place was pretty weird, but you were doing your best to adapt to it.
>Being a pony was pretty hard and weird to get used to, but not that bad.
>At least you could talk, and do..human things. But as a pony.
>It was also pretty weird to get used to the fact that you grew wings out of your body.
>You’re not sure how you did it, but you also don’t know if you want to try it again or not.
>It hurt quite a lot. It must re-arrange bones in your body..or something.
>You weren’t quite sure, but you’d figure it out later.
>After your first day of flying lessons, Rainbow Dash decided to let you sleep in her house.
>You thought it was strange that these..ponies would just let a stranger into their homes, but you were to tired to say anything.
>Pony homes weren’t that different from human homes, except for everything being for ponies instead.
>Dash’s house was also made of clouds, which freaked you out a bit.
>She assured you it was normal for Pegasus ponies to live in houses like this, and you wouldn’t fall to the ground in your sleep.
>Rainbow Dash chuckled at you before dropping down onto the clouds and walking inside her house, leaving the door open for you.
>As you entered her house you noticed that..well, everything was made of cloud.
>Almost everything. There were quite a few Wonderbolts posters all over the place.

>>43253989
>You weren’t sure who they were, but you guess they must be entertainers of some sort.
>Thoughts were racing around in your head but you drifted off to sleep quickly after laying down on her cloud couch.
>You slowly got used to life like this, Dash letting you sleep on her couch and letting you eat some of her food, and the flying lessons.
>It was beyond you how things like that didn’t fall through the floor, so you just accepted it.
>Dash laughed at you a couple times as you tried out different types of food.
>You might be a pony now, but you weren’t sure how to feel about eating hay, so you just decided to stick with fruits for now.
>Slowly you learned about the world from Dash, asking her a couple questions during your flying lessons.
>It was a strange place, but it wasn’t all that bad.
>The day started to wind down, the sun going down as the moon quickly took its place.
>You finished your flying lessons and helping Dash out with her new tricks she wanted to try out.
>She told you letting her live in her place and letting you have eat some of her food was reward for you helping her out with her tricks.
>You felt slightly better about that, but still didn’t enjoy relying on other people for things.
>Dash also assured you that you weren’t taking up too much of her life, she didn’t have to do her job for a couple days and her friends could live without her for a little while.
>A job. She told you that you’d be able to get one after she showed you around Ponyville, and let you meet her friends tomorrow.
>You told her that you’ll meet up with her in a few minutes, you’ve just got to think about a few things.
>She nodded and let you be by yourself, thinking about your old life.
>You had been trying to keep yourself occupied with the lessons and Dash's tricks, but that was over for now, and you had some time to think to yourself.

>>43253991
>You’re Rainbow Dash, and you’re not sure what to think about Anon.
>He seemed like a pretty cool guy, but he was a bit weird.
>Anon made life a little more interesting, even making you laugh a couple times with some of the weird things he did.
>He wasn’t that bad, and you could handle weird.
>Heck, you were friends with Pinkie Pie, you definitely could handle weird.
>You always liked to help people out with things, and you helped Anon get over his fear of flying.
>Maybe you and Anon could be good buddies after you showed him around Ponyville.
>Hopefully he’d be okay with helping you out with stunts, trying to get into the Wonderbolts.
>Not that you’d like to admit it, but he did make things a lot easier, and even gave you a few pretty cool ideas.
>You sigh, starting to get bored as you waited for Anon on the couch.
>He said he was going to be out there for a couple minutes, but it was more than half an hour by now.
>You chuckled to yourself as you made your way outside, maybe he got scared of being on a cloud again.
>The idea was funny to you. Anon was a pretty big dude, although not as big as Big Mac.
>You stop in your tracks though as you notice Anon sitting on the side of your cloud house, his shoulders heaving up and down, sobbing.
>It was hard to hear at first, but it was clearer that he was crying as you got closer to him.
>”Anon..?”
>He kept his back to you and continued to cry, not saying a word.
>You sat down next to him, putting a hoof over his shoulder, trying to comfort him.
>Anon accepted this and put his face into your shoulder, sobbing quietly.
>He started to talk slowly and quietly, and you listened to him.
>He told you about his previous life before he died, telling you about himself, the people inhabiting it, his family, and then finally his fight with cancer before he died.
>You were shocked at first, but weren’t quite sure what to think of it.
>You don’t think he was lying, him crying into your shoulder showing you that he was probably telling the truth.
>So you just tried to comfort him, holding his sobbing form as he cried into your shoulder.
>You patted him on the shoulder a couple times, not quite sure what to say, so you just sat there.
>After a couple more minutes you decided to help get him inside.
>He dropped onto your couch pretty quickly, and drifted off to sleep.
>Okay, scratch that, maybe he was REALLY weird, but he sounded honest about everything, and he was pretty upset about it.
>You sigh and shake your rainbow mane out of your eyes, crawling into your bed.
>Tomorrow you’re going to have a lot of questions to ask him, but for now you were pretty tired after practicing all those tricks with Anon.
>Yeah, tomorrow. Sleep first.
>Your head hits the cloud pillow and you pass out right then and there, falling asleep.

>>43253992
https://pastebin.com/HD5HR2uY

>”Hey, you big baby, get up.”
>You groan, grabbing a nearby cloud pillow and stuffing it over your face.
>Even if it was a couch, it was just way too soft. You ARE sleeping on a cloud, technically.
>Dash rolls her eyes at you, sighing. “Alright then, you asked for it, buddy.”
>All you hear is the flapping of wings and some soft tearing, but you just try to tone it out.
>CRACK
>Now you’re wide awake after Dash is somehow able to kick a cloud and make it rain on you, after she snatches away the cloud pillow covering your face.
>Right, you forgot she was part of the weather team. You weren’t really sure what they did until now.
>You sit up on the couch wide awake in a human way, hooves rubbing your eyes as you did so.
“Ugh..I’m up, I’m up.”
>Dash gives you a chuckle at how you’re sitting before managing a serious stare.
>”Anon, we gotta talk.”
>Talk abou- oh. You remember now.
>Yesterday you were crying into the mare’s shoulder.
>Yeah, this wasn’t going to be awkward in the slightest.
>You almost forgot about telling Rainbow about your previous life.
“Uhh…what did you have in mind?”
>”Well, for starters, you could tell me how you get here. If you’re not lying, that is.”
>You start fidgeting around in your chair as Rainbow is giving you a pretty serious stare, and you really don’t like to lie to people. Or ponies.
“I really don’t know. All I know is that I..died, and I was falling down some hole, heading toward your world. I don’t know, it’s like..magic, or something.”
>”Okay..how about you looking different than us? You did say you were usually taller and had..fingers, stuff like that.”
“I did look different, but something in the tunnel changed me on the way to your world. I guess I could..show you something so you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
>You weren’t sure about this, but you didn’t know what else to do.
>Rainbow gives you a nod and watches you with anticipation.
“Oh well, here it goes..”
>Concentrating your mind and closing your eyes, you picture yourself without wings, just as you were when you entered the world.
>Soon enough, the pain in your back roars up as you hear sickening pops and snaps.
>You open your eyes to see Rainbow staring at your wings slowly shrinking back inside of you as she watches with amazement and disgust.
“..See? I don’t thi-“
>You’re train of thought is immediately broken as you fall right through the cloud floor underneath your hooves.
>Oh right, you forgot, only Pegasus ponies could stand on clouds. And now you’re just an Earth pony. Shit.

>>43253997
>You’re met with a giggling Pegasus mare a couple seconds after you fall through the clouds, hooking her hooves under yours to keep you aloft.
>”That was pretty cool Anon! ..But also kinda gross.”
>You nod, having to agree, it wasn’t something pleasant for you, and caused a lot of pain.
“If you say so.”
>”So..you DID lie when we first met? That’s not cool, Anon. I’ll forgive you though for telling me the truth now…and having freaky awesome changy powers.”
>You rub the back of your head with a hoof. Well, at least you got that off your chest, but you don’t know if you’d want to tell anyone else about your origins though, or what you can do.
“Yeah, sorry…I wasn’t really sure what was happening or where I was, and I didn’t want to freak you out, Rainbow. So, could you uhh..turn your head the other way?”
>Dash blinks at you for a few seconds, until she understands what you’re saying and turns her head to the side, wincing.
>You drop to the floor after your change and rub your tender back with a hoof.
>Man, you’re never going to get used to that. And by the look of Dash’s face neither will she.
>”That’s cool and all, but can you try and do that when I’m not, well..around?”
>You nod. Well, at least she wasn’t freaking out about it. That was a good sign.
>”Hey, I know! I’ll show you to my friend Twilight! She can probably tell you about what happened to you!”
“Wait, what? No! Don’t do that!”
>Rainbow looks back at you puzzled, raising an eyebrow. “What? Is something wrong with that?”
“Yeah, there is. I don’t want..ponies looking at me like a freak or something. I don’t know how your kind acts right now. So can you just..keep it a secret? For now? Pretty please?”
>She rolls her eyes at you, but nods. “Sure, but if I were you I’d be showing everyp0ny that. It’s pretty cool once you get past the..noises.”
>You shrug. It wasn’t the greatest thing in the world, but you suppose it was pretty cool, except for the horrendous pain of growing new bones, flesh, and all that.
>”Well, I guess we can talk about this later. We need to get you into Ponyville, introduce you to my friends, and then find you a job!”
>You smiled at your new..friend. You weren’t really the type to make a lot of friends back home, but it was still nice to have them.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Lead the way, Dash.”
>Rainbow extends her wings out and takes flight, flying into the cool breeze of the morning day as you soon follow behind her.

>>43254000
>Ponyville was quite the friendly place.
>You’re not sure if they were waving at you just because Rainbow was with you or not, but you smiled and waved back anyways.
>This place was still kind of strange to you, almost too peaceful.
>If you had a house you could probably leave it unlocked with the door open, and nop0ny would walk in.
>You’d get used to it though, just like you had to get used to your..pony body.
>”We’re here, Anon!”
>Okay, maybe you wouldn’t get used to it. The place you stopped in front of was some sort of fashion store, but also a carrousel.
>Rainbow walks inside with you in tow, and nearly shouts to get her friends attention.
>”Hey everyp0ny, I’m back!”
>The six mares in the room immediately stop and jump on Rainbow, asking her all kinds of questions about where she was for the past couple of days.
>”Relax! I was just hanging out with my new buddy, Anon. He was helping me out with some of my stunts for the Wonderbolts.”
>They all look behind Rainbow at the same time and at you. “Anon?”
>You see a pink one gasp before she practically teleports inches in front of your face.
>She’s talking waaaay to fast for you to understand whatever she’s saying, but you catch a few keywords like ‘new’ and ‘party’.
>You wanted to tell her you didn’t want a party, but it’s almost impossible to get her attention when she’s bouncing around the room like that.
>Before you know it, she’s already out the door to, as far as you can tell, get your party set up. Fuck.
>The white one with the horn rolls her eyes. “Sorry darling, our dear Pinkie is always like that.”
“It’s fine, I was kind of expecting it thanks to Rainbow. Anyways, I’m Anonymous, nice to meet you..four.”
>They all announce their names to you, and you do your best to remember them.
>The white one, Rarity, magics over a measuring tape and starts to wrap it around your body.
>So that’s what Unicorn magic is like. Rainbow told you about it, but it’s different to see it in person.
“..What are you doing?”
>”Why, getting your measurements of course! My my, you’re a big one aren’t you? I’ll make sure the suit isn’t too small for you.”
>The mares in the room giggle at you, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Probably because it is for them.

>>43254004
“Suit? What for? I just met you and..I don’t have any money right now.”
>Rarity stares at you dumbfounded for a few seconds before wrapping up her measurements and writing a few things down on a sheet of paper.
>”For the Gala, of course! It’s coming up soon, and since you’re Rainbow’s new friend, it would be excellent to get to know you better during it. And don’t worry, I’ll pay for the suit.”
>Damn, these ponies were generous.
>You knew what a gala was, thanks to your daughters, they always wanted to go to one. There’s a twinge of sadness when you think about it, but you push the thought aside.
“Thank you then. Even if you are paying for the suit, when I get enough money I’ll be sure to pay it all back.”
>”What a gentlecolt. You sure know how to pick them, Rainbow Dash.”
>Rainbow rolls her eyes and you feel yourself blush just a little. It was a bit awkward for you as you weren’t used to hanging around so many girls, even if they were ponies, alone.
>You pass the time while Rarity works on your clothes by talking to Dash’s other friends, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle, to get to know them better.
>After several minutes talking to the mares you mention trying to find a job.
>”You need a job, Anon? Well shoot, we got plenty of jobs to do on mah farm! It’ll be mighty easy fer ya, since yer such a big fellar.”
>A farm? You definitely take it into consideration as you were pretty familiar with manual labor.
“Sure Applejack, but before I do I’d like to check around town a bit, just want to cover all my bases.”
>She nods and tips her hat at you. “Sure Anon, but stop by at the farm later on so ah can hear yer answer.”
“No problem, AJ.”
>Twilight Sparkle pipes up, “But shouldn’t you be apart of the Weather team? You are a Pegasus after all.”
>You roll the idea about being apart of the weather team in your head.
“Nah. I might be a..pegasus, but I’ve always felt more like an Earth pony.”
>Twilight shrugs, accepting the answer. “If you say so.”
>Applejack stands up, making her way out of the boutique. “Well it was fun chatting with ya’ll, but I got a farm to tend to. Hope ya will accept tha job, sugarcube.”
>The friends give each other goodbyes as you do the same. You continue to chat with them for a little while longer before stepping out of the boutique too, to start your job hunting.

>>43254006
>After a couple of hours, making it mid-day now, you find yourself standing outside of Ponyville.
>You tried numerous amounts of jobs from the Spa, bakery, cafés and stores, but it didn’t really work out for you in the end.
>With your only option ahead of you, you make your way down the dirt road to Applejack’s farm.
>It takes you some time looking around the place, but you soon hear Applejack bucking trees before you trot into her sight.
>She finishes putting the stray apples in the basket and whipping sweat off her brow with a hoof before addressing you.
>”Hey there sugarcube, what can I get for ya?”
“Are you still hiring? I tried out some other jobs, but..I just wasn’t cut out for them. Some pones said I didn't really have what they needed.”
>You shrugged, hoping you didn’t sound too desperate, even though you kind of were.
>Applejack just chuckles at you. “’Course I am partner, why wouldn’t ah be?”
“Just making sure. So..all I have to do is kick these trees?”
>Applejack smiled at you. “All you have ta do is kick the trees and take the baskets back to tha farm.”
>Nodding, you set yourself to work doing just like Applejack asked.

>>43254007
>It took several tries at first, but you finally got your buck perfected.
>You were either kicking the tree too hard, leaving some chipped wood and hoofprints in the it, or too weak and not bringing down all the apples.
>Applejack was amazed at how well you settled into the routine, but you had done manual labor like this before, and had a pretty big body. For a pony, anyways.
>Before you knew it your work was already complete and Applejack was giving you your pay.
>”Thanks mighty kindly, Anon. We cleared that field out pretty quickly, and heck, with you around, ah might even have some extra time to myself once in awhile.”
>You smiled and nodded your head. It felt better to be helping other people out, who actually needed it, than people helping you out. Or well, ponies.
“No problem miss, I’m just glad to be helping somep0ny out for a change.”
>”Well, if you ever need a place ta stay or want some grub you can always come ta the farm. We don’t mind none, havin’ extra guests.”
“I might take you up on the offer for the food sometime, but I’m crashing at Dash’s place right now until I get my own home, so it’s not a problem.”
>Applejack gave you a questioning look before laughing. “Oh Rainbow, that sly mare. Well go on shug, you don’t wanna keep her waitin’ then.”
>You raised an eyebrow at AJ before nodding and taking your pay in your jaws.
>After a couple seconds you were off the ground and flying towards Rainbow’s cloud house. Maybe you should sit down with her tonight and understand how this world works better.
>It would probably be in your best interest considering the majority things you know of is about the Wonderbolts.
>You were told a little bit about each race, and even a fourth rare race though, the Alicorns.
>So what did that make you? Were you one of the three races, an Alicorn, or just a weird shapeshifty-like alien pony?
>Ahh well, it didn’t really matter much. You kind of wish people looked at you as a Earth pony though, and not a Pegasus, but..shapeshifting, or whatever the fuck it is you do, hurts.
>You touchdown on the edge of Rainbow Dash’s cloud home and make your way inside, dropping your bag of coins on the counter.
>Dash looks up at you from the couch, watching the Wonderbolts. “What’s up, Anon?”
>Sighing, you take a seat on one of the chairs at the kitchen counter.
“We should really talk. I need to get a better understanding of this place if I’m gonna live in it, Dash.”
>She rolls her eyes at you. “Getting serious on me now? Alright, but try not to bore me with the questions too much, I might pass out.”

>>43254011
>Staring in one of the mirrors in Dash’s house you take a deep breath.
>Though it was a lot to take in the short time you’ve been here, you at least think you have a better understanding of the world.
>You didn’t think Dash was serious about falling asleep from the questions, but apparently she was.
>It was probably best for her to not be awake for this next part.
>Your closed your mind, focusing your mind on you having a horn, but also keeping your wings.
>In a matter of seconds, a horn started to pop out of your skull.
>At first you didn’t feel it, but then it hit you, the pain being almost unbearable.
>You fell to your knees, eye watering and breathing hard. It was like a migraine in your head, but quadrupled.
>The horn was complete by the time you almost blacked out, and you can hear Rainbow fall from her place on the chair.
>”Who’s shouting! We’re being att- ..Oh, cool horn Anon. Wait, so are you like a real Alicorn now?”
>You were shouting? Shaking your head, you take another look in the mirror after standing up on your wobbly knees and, sure enough, there’s a horn on top of your head.
“..No, I’m more like a fake Alicorn.”
>Dash chuckles at your comment and makes her way toward the bed. “Well you better get some shut eye Mr. Alicorn, you got a big Pinkie party tomorrow.”
>A Pinkie pa- oh right, fuck! That pink pony.
>She was probably a sweet girl once you got to know her and she stopped bouncing around rooms and getting right in people’s faces.
>You kinda wish you got to know her a bit better, but you’d probably have a lot of time for that at your party. That you didn’t want.
>Sighing, the horn on top of your head receded back into your skull as you focused your mind again.
>It hurt a lot less going back in. You doubt anytime soon that you were going to try that again, though. For now, you were very much happy just being a Pegasus.
>Curiosity sated for today, you take your place on Dash’s couch and shove one of the cloud pillows in your face, your mind starting to wander a bit.
>Why the hell were you here anyways, in Equestria? You kinda wish you were dead.
>..No, you didn’t mean that. It was nice to get away from your previous life, help out, and make some new friends.
>You still missed your girls though.
>Some God, be it human, pony, or otherwise, gave you a second chance at life though, to be happy, to be at peace. It’d probably be in your best interest to not waste it.
>That didn’t make the heartache in your chest any easier though, but you suppose you had to move on, just like your daughters must have.
>You clutched the pillow to your chest, hugging it tight, before drifting off to sleep.

>>43254014
https://pastebin.com/e1dfD8LD

>Your friends were all standing around you, sharing jokes with you and you them, having a good time and laughing with each other.
>You had managed to practically befriend everyone you had met in Ponyville, becoming good friends with everyp0ny. Some more than others, but still friends.
>The party you where at was very lively as everyone in Ponyville was invited.
>It kept you busy, meeting everyp0ny and making sure they were having a great time.
>But you had never been happier, except when you had been with your wife, until she had…
>You had never recovered from that, not fully, but you hid it well from your daughters, or tried to anyways.
>They filled that void though, that sadness, and even though you were happy, it was never quite the same, but not bad.
>It was tough, but you acted strong for them, and your family was happy for a long time.
>And then you had been taken from them, by sickness. It made you angry just thinking about it, so helpless..powerless..
>You calmed yourself and smiled, turning back to the guests of the party.
>That was your past, and it was all behind you now. Someone, whoever, had been gracious enough to give you a second chance, to find true peace and happiness.
>Everyp0ny turned to you in the room, greeting your smile with their own. But something was off…
>Their eyes seemed to pierce straight through you, so green, but lifeless.
>Then they all turned at the same time to meet the newest arrival…
>It was you. He laughed, and everyp0ny in the room mimicked his laugh, their echoes bouncing off the walls and right into you.
>You just stared at him, frozen in place, wide-eyed and horrified as he lazily made his way through the wave of ponies, stopping barely inches in front of you.
>He smiled, his sharp fangs gleaming in the light flames seemed to engulf his figure.
>It was sickening, ugly. Was that really you? No..it couldn’t be you, it wasn’t.
>The very air around it was evil. You tried to back away, escape the room but the green-eyed ponies you once called friend all blocked you off, circling around you.
>Then that laugh, that cold, shrill laugh. Just hearing it made you sick to your stomach and your skin crawl.
>Turning, you were met with even darker, green eyes. But this one was more cruel, more twisted than the others.
>Just being in that presence made every fiber of your being want to scream, to shout, to run away, flee.
>You tried, but it was no use, you couldn’t. It was as if you were locked in place, watching a horror film unfold before you.

>>43254017
>Then a scream, and then another. Your eyes floated around you, checking the state of the whole room.
>It had changed, immensely. The atmosphere of the place was now more cold, and lifeless.
>Just as the bodies were, littered around on the floor, in piles, all over the place.
>You could see parts of their body broken, even some heads caved in by something strong.
>Some of the bodies had even been cut open or torn apart, body parts and organs littered around the very floor you stood on.
>There was blood everywhere, so much of it. Your eyes danced around all of the ponies, it was impossible to look away, their lifeblood in pools around their lifeless corpses.
>Intestines had been hung up around the room like streamers from a party, but for someone cruel and insane.
>They had all been looking at you and you could see the sorrow in their eyes, and their mouths frozen in a way that made you think they had died, trying to tell you something, no more than a whisper.
>You looked down at yourself and suddenly felt hot tears streaming from your eyes.
>There was blood all over your hooves and your body. Was it you who had slaughtered these ponies?
>No, no..not you. This was some monster, some beast who had done this. Not you.
“W-..wasn’t me, I didn’t...this wasn’t what I wanted..”
>Your heart skipped a beat, hearing that strangely familiar, and oddly comforting hissing in your ears.
>”But wasn’t it, my dear Anonymous? You weren’t happy, no, not really. Just a sick, dying man, hopes and dreams crushed, just like your wife was.”
>”I gave you what you wanted, truly, in your heart and soul. A second chance, to start anew. But now..you will give me what I want, what I need..or die, a hollow, regretful man.”
>You try to turn around to get a better view at the voice, but are only met with laughter, and then jolt awake.
>It was still clear in your ears, even after awakening from your nightmare. It left, but slowly.
>That laugh, as much as it made your skin crawl and make you want to throw up, it was strangely familiar to you, but you couldn’t find out where from.
>There were a couple tears rolling down your face, and you did your best to wipe them away as you laid back down on the couch, head spinning.
>You tried your best to get back to sleep, but the nightmare was still fresh in your mind. All those ponies, dead..and by your hooves?
>Walking over to the kitchen counter, you sigh deeply, placing your hooves over your head.

>>43254021
>It was bright in the morning as you see a yawning Dash make her way over to you, but not before stopping, a bewildered look coming across her face at what she saw.
>”Anon, what the..?”
>All you did was smile and motion for her to take a seat, and she did just that.
“I thought I would do something nice for the Pegasus that is letting me eat all her food, stay in her house, and who also helped me find a job. Seriously Rainbow...thank you.”
>Her bewildered look soon changed to a shy smile as she tried not to meet your gaze. Was she even blushing a little?
>”I-it wasn’t..I’m not…”
>You brought her a couple plates filled with food and placing them in front of Dash, having decided to make breakfast for her today.
>”..Don’t thank me Anon, I’m just being a good friend, it’s what friends do. Now don’t go getting all emotional and sappy on me now..we gotta lot of stuff to do today! Including your party.”
>You smiled at her when she said friend, but it soon faded when she mentioned the party, visions of last night’s nightmare invading your thoughts.
>Dash catched onto this after she stopped filling her face with the breakfast you made her.
>”Wuff wrong, Anon?”
>You cursed yourself, sending away those dark thoughts and visions as you put your smile back on.
“Oh, nothing Rainbow. I’m just not a big fan of parties is all, but I’ll get over it. Don’t worry about me, just enjoy your breakfast.”
>She shrugged at you, digging back in as you halfheartedly took the seat opposite to her, lightly touching your own breakfast.
>It wasn’t the food. You had gotten used to it, primarily thanks to your new body, but the reminder of the nightmare had made you less hungry.
>You didn’t have good feelings about how today would end.

>>43254025
>”What’s got ya so down, hun?”
>The party Pinkie Pie had set up wasn’t quite ready, so you were told, and you just went on with your life.
>The wait for the party was killing you though, a nagging feeling in the back of your head every second of the day.
>Applejack noticed how you were working today, taking longer than usual and not fully into your work, weakly bucking the trees and slowly moving the apples.
“I..I’m just nervous about the party is all. I really just want to make a good impression on the town, and Rainbow’s friends.”
>You smile weakly. It wasn’t a lie, you were nervous and did want to make a good impression on the ponies, but it wasn’t the real reason.
>”Oh hay sugarcube, I’m sure ya’ll fit right here in P0nyville. From my first impressions of yah, ah can tell yah’re a gentlecolt, kind and strong, but yah aren’t ‘fraid of haulin’ yer own weight.”
>That made you feel a bit better. It’s not as if you were going to suddenly turn on these kind ponies like some sort of monster and hurt them. You almost chuckle to yourself for being so silly.
“But..if yah don’t mind me none asking this, I was just wonderin’..as yer a bit different from, yah know, everyp0ny else...”
>Your smile and happy demeanor is wiped off your face, and Applejack notices this, her posture a bit more timid, rubbing the ground with a hoof.
>Different? Did…did Dash tell her about you? Tell her what you could do? Instead of another person, or pony, AJ would just be looking at you as some sort of alien…freak.
>Even if you kind of are one.
>”..Ah..I, uhh…Now, me and a couple others were just wonderin’..And yah don’t have tah answer this if yah don’t feel like it, and ah’ll drop it right away, but..”

>>43254027
>Others? You would understand, maybe, if Dash had only told her close friends, but had she just told the whole town?
>You tried to keep your face as expressionless as possible, trying to hide your feelings of betrayal. How could she? She promised..
>”How come you ain’t got no cutie mark? It’s not like ahm against people with no cutie marks, heck even mah sister don’t got one but..ah was just curious..”
>Cu..cutie mark? Really, that’s what this was all about?
>It was weird to you, even a bit silly, a symbol of some sort popping up for everyone to see whenever you found out what you were good at.
>You bursted out in laughter, startling and surprising Applejack. Guess she was thinking your reaction would be a bit different.
“Heh, my cutie mark? Well, AJ, I guess I’m sort of just..too busy focusing on other people’s problems and helping them out, rather than on my own. Really, I don’t mind that I haven’t gotten a cutie mark.”
>Applejack looked visibly relieved. “Ah wouldn’t be surprised when ah see that yer cutie mark is a helpin’ hoof or somethin’ someday, Anon.”
>A helping hoof? You chuckled, but quickly double checked your flank for it..nope.
>The mare next to you gave a hearty chuckle herself before slapping a hoof on your back, which knocked a bit of air out of you, despite your size against hers. That mare was strong.
>”Yer a hoot n’ a holler Anonymous, ah’m sure yah’ll have a great time at the party.”
“Thanks AJ, that means a lot to me. I could get used to this, having talks our here while we work. It really helps me relax.”
>Applejack shoots a grin at you. “Well, yah won’t have any o’ these talks anymore if yah start slackin’ now, won’t yah?”
>Shit, she was right. You pick up the pace quite a bit too hurriedly catch up to your lost time that could’ve been spent bucking apples.

>>43254029
>You walk along with Applejack, hauling the last baskets of apples to the farm, chatting along the way and talking about her usual farm business and family.
>You didn’t notice it at first, but it was pretty easy for you to relax around the mare. She was pretty carefree; almost nothing phased her at all. Maybe you should hang out with her and Rainbow sometime..
>”Say, Anon…could yah come with me tah the barn? Ah got a little surprise to show yah, for bein’ so helpful, y’know, around the farm n’ all..”
“Sure AJ, but I hope you didn’t go out of your way for me. I just started here after all, and it’s fine with me just being allowed to help you.”
>She smiles at you knowingly, almost laughing. “Nonsense Anon, ah think this is somethin’ yah deserve.”
>You shrug and walk inside the dark barn, Applejack entering beside you.
“..Why is it so dark in here-“
>”SURPRISE!”
>Confetti and streamers hit your face and startle you as you jump back, the lights in the barn popping on, showing all the ponies in the barn. It looks like the WHOLE town was here.
“Woah..”
>You see a pink blur make its way over to you, giggling and jumping around. “Success! Surprise parties are the best, and we got you good!”
>There were so many ponies here. You weren’t quite used to so many people in one place, even for a party..
“You set all of this up, Pinkie, just for me? A newcomer?”
>She rapidly nods her head at you. “Yeah! Now go join your party you silly filly, it’s just for you! Enjoy yourself!”
>Pinkie Pie practically pushes you into a group of ponies as you chuckle to yourself. These ponies, way too kind. You had truly never seen anything like this.

>>43254031
>The party had been pretty great so far. You had done well introducing yourself and talking to different townsponies around the place, hitting things off well.
>They had all been accepting of you, and even some of them had worked up the courage to ask you about your cutie mark. Your reaction was very much the same with Applejack, as was theirs.
>You weren’t quite sure why asking about blank flanks were so terrible, it didn’t bother you in the least.
>Ponies got to know more about you, but you had to make a couple things up. It would be weird if you just told people you had come from another planet, dimension, or whatever.
>In turn, you had gotten to make more friends among the townsfolk, and got to know more about them and their community. You were enjoying yourself.
>It had freaked you out at first that this place was exactly how your dream party looked like, but it was soon forgotten as you hanged out with Rainbow, meeting new friends, having a great time.
>The best part was that, meeting with Rainbow’s friends and getting to know more about them, spending time with them.
>You had to admit, you never really got to talk to Fluttershy much, her being shy and all, or Pinkie Pie, but when you got to know them a bit better you knew Dash had made the right choice with friends.
>Speaking of Pinkie Pie, she’s walking up to you right now, holding a glass of something in her hooves and giggling. “Hey Anon! I got something special for your party.”
>The five other mares around you giggle but you ignore it, taking the glass in your own hooves. You never understood how you could ever grab things like this.
>Looking down into the contents of the drink you notice it looks like..well, a rainbow. But in a cup. As a drink.
“What is this?”
>The pink mare just giggles at you. “Liquid rainbow, silly! It’s a pretty…’fun’ drink!”

>>43254033
>No way, you could actually DRINK rainbows in this world? Huh, who would’ve thought..
>You shrug, opening wide and pouring the whole drink into your mouth. It probably tasted like skittles, what could go-
>Oh..oh shit yeah, this was a mistake, a big one. You were not enjoying this.
>The six mares around you erupted in laughter as they watched your face changing colors, making weird facial expressions, but that laughter stopped pretty fast.
>They were now staring at you with surprised and shocked expressions, but you hadn’t noticed, though. You had been to busy convulsing on the ground, flailing around wildly.
>It felt like your whole body was being ran through a flaming grinder multiple times while you had to stay alive for the whole thing to happen, over and over.
>The pain stopped after a whole minute though, it felt like a hell of a lot longer, as your body slowly calmed down from your rainbow ride.
>You didn’t even notice the silence and stares from other ponies until you shakily stood up and took a good look around you. Maybe that was a rare reaction?
“Uhh..don’t worry everyp0ny, I’m fine now, really.”
>Twilight Sparkle stared directly at you, trying to find the right words to say. “Anon..what exactly ARE you?”
>What? What kind of a question is that?
“I’m just a Pegasus, Twilight. Is something wrong?”
You roll your eyes and chuckle, but stop when you catch your reflection in your cup.
>You still had your wings, of course, everyone knew you as a Pegasus, but you now had an addition, a horn on top of your head…fuck.
>Not only where Alicorns rare, but you were probably the first male ‘Alicorn’ in thousands of years, or at least the first one seen in a very long time.
>Rainbow looks at you with a pained expression, she wants to hop in and say something, but she can’t quite get the right words to do so. You don’t blame her.
“Uhh..surprise?”

>>43254036
>You were now surrounded by magic powered science equipment, some sort of contraption on top of your head and some things covering your body, in Twilight’s basement.
>Suffice to say, this was a pretty interesting turn of events. First you were enjoying a party, getting to know ponies, and then you were being dragged through town in a magical purple bubble.
>Twilight overreacted, or you at least think she did, but at least she didn’t hurt you. For whatever reason, she had hooked you up to this machine and was now running tests on you.
>Rainbow shrugs at you when you give her a confused glance. What’s the worst thing that could happen, anyways?
>In time, you’d get the ponies to trust you again, it wasn’t as if you were a bad person, maybe an alien, but they were peaceful, kind, generous. They would accept you in time.
>Twilight’s head shoot up from reading through tons of papers from your tests, her face wearing a mix of a shocked but angry expression. That was not good.
>She motions for the other five mares to come over here, and they do, Twilight whispering into their ears.
>You can’t quite tell what she’s saying, but it’s probably not a good thing, especially when Rainbow is looking at you with the same shocked face of the rest of the group.
“What’s wrong?”
>How bad could it be? It didn’t really matter, you could fix it, and Rainbow trusted you, she could probably help fix whatever it was.
>Dash slowly walks toward you, but her expression is the most surprising thing, and you’re taken aback by it. She was angry, but sad, and all of it was directed at you.
>It was like she was hurt, betrayed in some way, but you didn’t know how. You had literally done nothing wrong, what was the issue?
>”Anon, you’re…you’re a changeling?!”

>>43254037
https://pastebin.com/JbWciGrZ

>A changeling?
>You’ve heard about them from tales of Rainbow fighting them during Princess Cadance’s marriage.
>Bug-like ponies who fed off of emotions and love ponies had for one another. You didn’t like them for that, especially for trying to takeover places like Ponyvile..
>But you didn’t really hate them. They didn’t have to go to such extreme lengths, you think, but they were created like that, and had to feed like everyone else. Even if they were a little different.
>How were YOU a changeling though? As far as you could tell, you were all pony. Regular pony body, hooves, tail and all, no need to feed off of people’s emotions, freaky changeling powers..
>Oh right, you could do that. Still, you didn’t need to feed off of people’s emotions and you couldn’t even change into another pony…could you?
>Imagining yourself for Rainbow Dash for a second, you concentrate hard and wait..nothing. Good, not a changeling then. At least not fully..so what did this mean?
>All you could do was give Rainbow a confused look. You weren’t all changeling..and you guess you weren’t all pony either. What were you?
>Dash just shakes her head at you, anger starting to overtake the sadness. “You…you used me! Tried to play me and my friends so you could sneak in your little changeling buddies into Ponville! I thought..I really thought we were friends, Anonymous..”
>Damn, those words hit you strongly and your face showed it too, even if they weren’t true.
“Rainbow..The time I’ve spent with you..with ALL of you, was real. Rainbow, please, remember that time I caught you when you were falling, during-“
>Your interrupted as Dash promptly punches you in the face with a cyan hoof, knocking you on the floor.
>Standing up, you give her a shocked expression. Rainbow was only getting madder as you tried to continue on, telling her all about the times you’ve spent together, trying to get her back on your side.
>It wasn’t working, none of it was getting to her. Dash raised up a hoof, continuously slamming it into your face, even as you collapsed back onto the floor.
>”You were just toying with my emotions, you changeling punk! I’m gonna buck you up so hard your Queen is gonna feel it from here!”
>You would have laughed at that if you weren’t the one on the receiving end of her rainbow rage, getting repeatedly smashed in the face. Dash could hit almost as hard as Applejack.
>To your surprise though, but only after a couple seconds more of getting punched in the face, Fluttershy stands up for you, holding up a hoof in front of Rainbow to get her to stop.

>>43254040
>”Wait! You guys didn’t read the report through all the way, he’s not ALL changeling. He’s still part pony..”
>Rainbow stops hitting you, but still has her hooves raised up, locked in position, as you take this time to stand up. “Yeah..but that doesn’t change him still being a changeling!”
>Twilight nods in agreement with Rainbow. “Yeah, it doesn’t matter HOW much of a pony Anon is, he’s still a changeling! He was probably going to stab us in the back anytime now!”
>You spit out some of the blood pooling up in your mouth so you could talk properly. It wasn’t the normal color of blood though, it was green..changeling blood. It proved just how much more alien your body was.
>Or well, more changeling.
“Look, I haven’t been completely honest about you guys with some things..but that doesn’t mean I’m trying to hurt you!”
>Applejack scoffs at you, staring you down with her steely gaze. “Your little bug buddies woulda probly seen tah that.”
>Fuck, you had no idea how you were going to convince them. Unless..
“Rainbow, if I can’t prove to you I'm on your side, then you can beat me senseless until I bleed out, but just hear me out for a moment.”
>She says nothing and just stares back into your eyes, anger in hers. At least she calmed down long enough for her to listen to you.
“Remember that time we..I was..”
>God damnit, you really didn’t want to say this, at least not in front of other ponies. This wasn’t exactly your strongest moment in the world.
“I was..crying. Alone, on the edge of your cloud house and..you came out, comforted me. I cried into your shoulder and told you all about my past life. My wife, my children, my cancer..”
>You looked into Rainbow’s eyes, a few tears you tried to hold back making it out of your eyes as you recalled the event.
“That..that was real. I couldn’t make up something like that. How could I?”
>Dash’s hooves tensed up again. Oh shit, she didn’t believe you, she was going to resume beating the shit out of-
>Much to your surprise again, she wraps her hooves around your neck in a hug. You tense up at first, but start to relax, wrapping your own hooves around her.
>”Oh Anon, you’re such a big baby..”
>You started to laugh but quickly stopped, wincing. Damn, your face hurt..
>The other mares in the room are just staring at you and Rainbow with a shocked expression, Twilight more so than the others.
>”Rainbow, how could you believe that? He’s obviously lying, that’s not possible!”
>Guess you’ve got some explaining to do. You were really wishing you could have just..skipped explaining the whole thing. Guess not.
“I’ll start from the beginning…”

>>43254043
>The mares in the room sat around you in a circle, wearing the most shocked expressions you have ever seen as you wrapped up your story. Excluding Rainbow of course, who was sitting next to you.
>You were doing very much better at telling that story without sobbing all over the place, but still wore a glum expression through all of it.
“..And that’s how me and Rainbow met. Any questions?”
>Twilight’s hoof immediately shot up, and you poorly suppressed a chuckle. “You should be dead then, if your story is true. How are you here now?”
>All you could do was shrug; you didn’t know the answer either.
“I wish I knew. I should be dead, but I’m not, for whatever reason. Some being likes me a..but not enough to make me all pony, apparently.”
>Rainbow rolls her eyes next to you and playfully punches you in the shoulder.
>”It..it wouldn’t make any sense though! That would mean completely different dimensions from our own with a completely different species and, and-“
>You hold up a hoof, getting Twilight to shut up.
“Twilight, please. Just entertain the thought for a second, believe me. I don’t think this is possible for me to make up something like this. Just look at me.”
>You showed off your body with a hoof.
“I’m the first half pony, half changeling in existence.”
>Twilight seemed to accept this, but it looked like her brain was running on overload with all this new information, about to explode.
>The other mares though just shrugged, accepting it as well. You guess they weren’t too interested in things like this as much as Twilight did, not wanting to think about it too hard.
>Probably for the best.
“So, what happens now, Twilight?”
>Twilight pieces her brain together long enough to give you a response. “Well, I’m going to have to tell my teacher about this. A half pony, half changeling! Fascinating!”
>Her teac- Celestia. Right. You were going to have to meet a princess, and technically a god.
>You just hope her reaction of you being a changeling would be less like Rainbow’s, or you were going to be scrapped off of a wall.

>>43254046
>The more you thought about it, the more unpleasant it sounded to you, meeting this princess.
>Twilight magicked over a scroll and quill to herself, writing down a couple sentences to her princess. “Spike! Come down here, I need you to send a letter!”
>You heard some shuffling before seeing Spike waddle down the stairs into the basement. “Sure thing, Twilight.”
>He grabbed the scroll from her and breathed fire onto it, apparently sending it off to the sun-goddess somehow. You really needed to learn magic sometime.
>”So..who’s the new guy? Is he an Alicorn? Sure doesn’t look much like one..”
>He was right, you really weren’t much of an Alicorn. You weren’t even close to being as big as one, even if you were taller than the other ponies.
>And as far you knew, you couldn’t do any magic or knew any sort of spells. If you were an Alicorn, you were the weakest Alicorn in history.
>”No Spike, he’s just..half changeling.”
>The little dragon shrugged. He burped out a scroll a few seconds later, handing it off to Twilight and heading back up the stairs to continue his chores. “Oh, cool.”
>Well..that was a new reaction.
>Twilight’s face brightens up as she reads down the scroll. “Yes! We’re going to Canterlot! Celestia sent some chariots to pick us up in a little while.”
>That just made you more nervous. Would she just throw you in one of the royal dungeons, for the rest of your life? Do they even have dungeons, would they just burn you at a stake?
>You should have paid more attention in history class; you knew absolutely nothing about royalty.
>Rainbow senses your nervousness and nudges you in the side. “Calm down Anon, it’ll be alright. You got me looking after you!”
>She puffs her chest out and strikes a pose, making you chuckle.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
>She pats you on the back. “Of course I’m right. Celestia’ll listen to us, don’t worry Anon.”
>You nod, Dash settling your nerves. Good thing you made friends like her, who knows what would have happened if you just suddenly appeared in Celestia’s room.

>>43254049
“Thanks Rainbow. So..can I change back now? It’s a bit different from a changeling’s, so you guys might want to..look away.”
>All of the mares nodded and looked away, except for Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Twilight was probably just watching to get a better gist of your abilities, but Pinkie Pie?
>Oh well, if Pinkie wanted to watch she could go ahead. Closing your eyes you concentrate your mind, horn slowly receding back into your skull.
>When you opened your eyes, Twilight was already on you, tapping the part of your head where the horn receded. You winced, giving Twilight a confused glare.
>She ignored you, writing a couple things down on a scroll. “You feel pain whenever you do a transformation?”
>Was she..studying you? Well, you were the first ever of your kind, as far as you could tell.
“Yeah. The wings aren’t that bad, but the horn is the worst. I’d rather not have to show anyone else my..abilities. They hurt a lot less going back in, though.”
>Twilight just shrugs, writing a few more things down. “If Celestia asks you to do it, you’ll probably have to.”
>Damn. That was not something pleasant to look forward to.
>”Can you do anything else, like take on someone’s form or do any sort of magic..?”
“No, as far as I can tell.”
>Twilight nods, finishing up her scroll and pocketing it in a bag she magics onto her back. Was she writing a report for the princess?
>”Hey Twilight, the guards are here!”
>Guards? You shuffled nervously into place behind the mares, walking up the stairs and out into the open air.
>There before you were a small group of royal Pegasus guards in a line on both sides of the house, one of them motioning you to get into the chariots.
>The six mares all piled into chariots out before them. You tried to join Rainbow in hers, but a guard stuck out a hoof, stopping you.
>He motioned toward one of the smaller chariots. Apparently, you were supposed to ride by yourself. This was going to be a nerve-wracking ride…

>>43254051
>You are now strapped onto a wooden table in the Royal Canterlot dungeons.
>Recalling the earlier events of the day, talking with Celestia, you aren’t quite sure how you got here, or just what went wrong.
>You and the mares were explaining to Celestia just what you were, and how you had gotten to be in Equestria.
>Celestia had been taking all of this knowledge in with a straight face, which worried you a bit, but at least it wasn’t negative.
>She ‘scanned’ you with some magic after the explanation, saying it was too ‘Make sure her student’s report was correct’.
>Celestia smiled after that, saying that would be all for today. She offered the girls and you a room for the night, saying you all would have a very busy day tomorrow, and needed sleep.
>You weren’t quite sure what she meant by that, but she was offering you a room in a CASTLE. You weren’t about to refuse royalty.
>But before you could go, Celestia wanted a private word to you alone. You stayed, watching as the last of the mares exited out of the room and turned to face Celestia.
>That was the last thing you remembered before a yellow magic bolt struck the side of your face.
>Now here you were, strapped onto a wooden table, ropes bounding you tightly.
>You struggled against the tight bindings, but before you could loosen them to get free, Celestia and her sister, Luna, teleport in front of you.
>Celestia looks down at you with cold eyes. “If I were you, I’d stay still, ‘Anonymous’.”
>She said your name in a mocking tone as if you were someone else..Oh. She must think you’re working with the changelings!
“Celestia, listen! I wasn’t lying back in there, not once. And neither were your ponies..my frien-“
>The sun-goddess puts a hoof up to your mouth, stopping you. “Then you wouldn’t mind if took a little peak into your..head.”
>Before you can respond, Celestia and Luna look at each other nodding as you’re encased in both of their magic.
>You felt a shift, and then nothing. Taking a good look around yourself, you figure you’ve been teleported to..nowhere.

>>43254052
>The whole area around you is black and you’re just standing on air.
>A bright flash of yellow and dark blue appear by you on either side, Celestia and Luna appearing.
“What did you..where are we?”
>Celestia looks down at you. Man, that size was intimidating when you were right up next to her. “Your mind.”
>..What.
>Celestia and Luna slowly trot down the halls of your mind as you follow quietly behind them. You’re not sure what they were looking for, but it probably wasn’t here.
>Luna freezes after a good ten minutes of walking, holding out a hoof to the both of you, making you stop. “I feel a sinister presence up ahead, ‘Tia. Prepare thyself.”
>They both ready a magic spell, their horns glowing with their respective colors. A sinister presence in your mind? You had no idea what was happening, or about to.
>Before you can head much farther though, you are met with laughter. That laughter was so familiar to you..it had a dark meaning behind it, but it was so calming. At least for you, and you didn’t know why.
>”The sun and moon goddesses..you have finally arrived. Good. I have been waiting.”
>You can make out a figure approaching you and the Princesses in the darkness. Its eyes were green, fangs sharp and white. From what you could tell, it stood just as tell as the two sisters next to you.
>Luna narrows her eyes at it. “BEGONE FOUL CREATURE, BEFORE WE MAKE YOU REGRET THY PRESENCE!’
>That..that was a scary voice. You were glad you were standing next to Luna, or else you’d probably have been blown away.
>The creature in front of you just cackles, charging her own horn with green magic. “Creature? Such harsh words, moon princess. You should regard your future ruler by her name..Queen Sillis.”
>The Queen continues to laugh, even as the princesses unload the magic they’ve been charging up, just as Sillis does at the same time.
>They were both going at it, Sillis trying to overpower the two goddesses.

>>43254054
>The magic was too strong though, the foundations of your mind starting to crack slightly as the explosions of their God-like magic rocked the world around you.
>Soon, all four of you were blasted out of your mind, landing right back where you were before being sent off into a magical trip into your mind.
>Celestia and Luna catch their breath, the magic they used taking a bit of a toll on their bodies.
“Wha..what just happened?!”
The moon princess stares down at you with cold eyes, you still being tied up to the table. “’That’ was your Queen, changeling. We have rid her of thy mind. She was hiding inside of it, spying on us all.”
>Your face twists into a mask of rage and confusion, for several reasons. Your whole time in Equestria was being watched by the Changeling Queen and you were apparently helping her.
>Celestia stands up tall, talking to you with a sharpened, cold voice that seemed to pierce right though you, making your heart stop. “Your execution shall take place tomorrow changeling, for plotting against royalty.”
>She left the room quietly, leaving you with Luna. The moon goddess looked down at you with hateful eyes, not even a single strand of pity in them.
>“We suggest getting rest for your ‘big’ day tomorrow, thou shalt need it..changeling. ‘Tis a shame, as thou are one of a kind.”
>She walks out of the room, leaving you with your thoughts. No matter what you said, they didn’t believe you, and now they were going to kill you.
>The sight of a changeling Queen in your mind was enough for them to know that you had been spying on them, even if it was unintentionally.
>You struggled against the tight rope bindings, but it only burned your skin. You couldn’t escape.
>They were really going to execute you tomorrow, and your newly made friends would probably not even be told. They’d just make up some story of how you attacked them alone, but were stopped.
>You were going to die here.

>>43254056
https://pastebin.com/xEKNk5hF

>Looking down now, you saw Rainbow angrily fighting with Celestia, verbally. It was hard to hear, her voice being no more than a whisper to you from atop your high platform.
>”Celestia, please! Anon is one of the best friends I have ever had, even if we only met a little while ago. He helps me out, just like I do with him! You can’t do this, this isn’t right! Nop0ny deserves this!”
>The sun princess raises up a hoof politely, stopping Rainbow from going further. “It is too late, Rainbow Dash. This has to be done, too protect all of my little ponies.”
>There goes your last, little ray of hope.
>Dash slumps onto the ground, looking defeated. At least you were the one dieing, she was going to take this harder than you were.
>Celestia signals to the royal guard next to you and he nods. The guard walks over to the switch next to you, getting ready to pull it with a hoof.
>Well, here it goes. You were going to die for a second time, and, most likely, for the last time.
>Time seemed to freeze as you took one last look at the world around you.
>You looked down at the mane 6, all of them giving you a horrified and shocked expression. The royal guards and Celestia were regarding you with cool, straight faces. Had they done this before?
>Taking one last look into the bright, blue sky above you, you raise your head high in a last stance of defiance. It didn’t matter though.
>The guard standing beside you takes one last look at you with his never-changing straight face and pulls down the lever.
>You hear a quiet click, and then the floor falls out from beneath you.
>Yeah, you were fucked. The only relief you had about this was that your neck might snap on the way down.
>…
>…
>Still alive. You struggle against the tight binding around your neck, trying to uselessly shove a hoof through the rope to get some air.
>You can feel your eyes bulge and blood pumping in your face as the little oxygen you have is slowly leaving you.
>Looking down to see the other ponies expressions, you’re..shocked. The mane six are running toward you right now, knocking guards out of the way to reach you.
>Were the going to save you? Not that it mattered though; you were going to die before they could even get you down.
>Your eyes started to roll in the back of your head, starting to black out even as you faintly saw a green flash around you.

>>43254062
>You let out a gasp of air, trying to suck in as much oxygen possible as the tight rope around your neck is loosened and dropped to the ground.
>Only minutes later do you stand up, examining the scene around you.
>Everything went to hell pretty fast. Around you were a circle of changelings, fighting off royal Canterlot guards from reaching you.
>You saw the mane six staring at you with a wide-eyed shocked expression, even Celestia was doing the same.
>..No, not at you..
>Spinning around, you spot the tallest changeling of them all. When she speaks, you instantly remember her voice; she was the one from your nightmares, the one that had been in your mind, watching you the entire time.
>Queen of the Changelings, Sillis. She looked down at you with caring eyes and the most loving voice you had ever heard.
>”Here, come here. Come to your mother.”
>That voice was so..calming. A warm feeling rushed through your entire body as you slowly walked toward her.
>The mane six were yelling at you to get away from her, but you could barely register anything as Sillis wrapped you up in her wings, hugging you tightly against her.
>”Oh, how I have missed you, my little changeling. There there, everything will be alright now. Mommy saved you. You’re safe from those scary ponies now.”
>She swayed back and forth with you in her arms, silently crying into her side. It just felt..right.
>Sillis looked down at you, smiling. You couldn’t help but feel that it was a little sinister, but shrugged it off and smiled back at your..mom.
>She lightly wiped away your tears with a hoof. “Are you ready to go back to the hive now? We have very big plans coming up..and you are apart of them.”
>You looked back into Sillis’ eyes, struck by a lot of confusing emotions. Would you stay with the ponies that tried to kill you..but also tried to save you?
>Or would you go back with the changelings? They did save you, and you wouldn’t have to fear about being executed by royalty again.

>>43254065
>You let go of Sillis, slowly backing away from her.
“I..I can’t. I’m sorry.”
>Sillis stares down at you, open-mouthed, not quite sure what to say. “You..you would choose the ponies that tried to kill you..over your own mother?”
>It was weird to you, but your heart felt heavy with sadness as you backed away from her.
“They’re my friends..and this is my home. I..I feel like I can be happy here, let all of my worries go. I’m sorry but..I just can’t leave them. Not now.”
>Sillis glares at you, fiery anger bright in here eyes. “Fine, stay here with these murderous ponies. I’m sure they’ll backstab you as soon as they see a chance.”
>The Queen hisses at the changelings around her, all of them circling around her instantly.
>”We will meet again..be sure to stay out of our way, or we will harm you.”
>Sillis disappeared in a bright flash of green fire. You felt immediately better, being around her put your mind in a sort of hazy fog..but now you could think clearly.
>It must have been the changeling side of you, was all you could think of.
>Was she really your..’Mother’, though? It baffled you why she would actually say that. Maybe..had she been the one to bring you into this world, gave you a second chance? Why?
>All these thoughts circled around your head, the shock of everything hitting you all at once. You saw the mane six running over to you, Celestia following behind them, but it only seemed like they were getting farther away.
>Your eyes began to drift up into the back of your head as you fell backwards, blacking out for the second time today.

>>43254068
>You jolt awake, slamming into a sitting position as you look around the room, eyes heavy with sleep but full of adrenaline.
>The ponies around you jump, startled, but quickly rush to your side to calm you down.
>These dreams you were having were getting increasingly fucked up, Celestia trying to murder you this time..
>Taking a second glance over of the place, your brain registers that this..is the Canterlot hospital.
>You slump back into your bed, quickly recalling the events that happened earlier in the day.
>Taking a small mirror next to your bedstand, you take a good look of yourself in it.
>There were deep, dark marks cut into your neck from the rope that Celestia used to strangle you earlier that day.
>Okay..but why were you in a hospital? If anything, you should be back on top of that execution platform. What was going on?
>A couple of the nurse ponies exit out of the room. You can hear some words being said, and a couple seconds later a rainbow blur is smacking into your chest, the air in your lungs escaping you.
“Ugh! Fuck, Rainbow don’t do..that..”
>Dash grips you in a tight hug, quietly sobbing into your shoulder. You silently return the hug, patting her on the back. Did you really worry her that much?
>Even though you had barely known her for a short time, she must really care about you..
>Dash’s friends shortly walk in afterwards, along with Celestia. You smiled at all of them, but glared towards Celestia.
“What do YOU want? Here to finish the job, Princess?”
>She smiles down at you. You swear you can spot a hint of sadness in her eyes, but you ignore it.

>>43254071
>”..No. The ‘execution’ was merely a..test of sorts, harsh as it was, for all of you.”
>A..Test?! She tried to fucking hang you! She DID hang you! You angrily stare back into the sun goddesses eyes, pointing at the scar around your neck.
“’Harsh’ is not the word I would use.”
>Celestia wraps your neck wound in a magical glow, slowly making it disappear. “I am quite sorry, Anonymous, but I had to be certain you were not working with the changelings.”
>You sighed, rubbing your forehead with a hoof. You understood she was just doing what she thought best for her ponies, but you were still angry.
“I..understand. But what do you mean by a test for..all of us?”
>Celestia paused for a moment, thinking up the right words to tell you.
>”Well, the time might come when my little ponies might have to fight against me, to do what is right. And they did. Just as you made the right choice to stay with us, Anonymous.”
>Now you understood perfectly. She was like a mother, protecting her kids, making them stronger. Kind of like..well, you.
>”Me and my sister apologize for our behavior against you. Whenever you want, you’ll be allowed in and out of the castle, and if you want something just ask, and it will be delivered to you. We shall..leave the two of you alone now.”
>You waved goodbye to the rest of the ponies, still having mixed feelings about some of this, but that went away when you looked down to the sobbing Dash in your arms.
“I’m the big baby, huh?”
>You chuckled even as you felt a cyan hoof punch you in the side. You stayed like that for the rest of the day, holding Rainbow in your arms as the day melted away.

>>43254073
>”You ready for this, Anon?!”
“Buck yeah I am Dash, let’s do it!”
>Nodding at each other, you started your final stunt with each other for the evening.
>Both of you were holding a small cloud in your hooves, spiraling around each other, leaving behind a line of cloud.
>You were headed toward the ground, flying off to the left after you ran out of cloud, but Rainbow kept going, heading straight for the ground.
>She banked hard, inches from hitting the ground, and flew straight up into the spiral you two had created.
>Dash blew the clouds away in the tunnel after she passed through it, leaving a small rainbow behind. She flew up to you afterwards, while flexing her muscles. “Aww yeah, still got it!”
“I’m surprised the Wonderbolts aren’t tripping over each other to get a mare like you on the team.”
She rolls her eyes at you, but grins. “They’re probably just busy. So Anon, you still going to the Gala? It’s coming up pretty soon.”
>You both landed on the ground, having finished your little show.
“The Gala, huh? I never gave much thought to it, but yeah, I guess I have to go. Rarity did make a suit for me. So..uhh, how DO ponies dance?”
>Rainbow gave you a giggle, but then started to lightly rub the ground in a circle with a hoof. What was she nervous about?
>”I..I know a few moves I could show you..?”
>Wow, you never figured Rainbow was the kind of girl that liked dancing. You guess she tried to keep up a tough masculine appearance in front of her friends. Except for you.
>She trotted over to you, laying her head down on your shoulder and a hoof on the other. You repeated the same thing with her, trying to keep up with the slow hoof-work she was doing.
>What were your feelings for Rainbow? You loved her, but more of a friend, or as a daughter.
>Hers were probably the same for you, a friend, but she probably just acted nervous around you because you were a stallion.
>You stayed like that for the better part of the night, dancing with the friend you cared most about in the world against the background of a shining moon and starlight sky.

>>43254075
https://pastebin.com/VFy08g40

>You were standing atop of your execution platform, overlooking a small crowd of ponies with a noose around your neck.
>When you first entered this world of crayon color assorted ponies, you never would have thought this was how you were going to die.
>You still hardly believed it. It wasn’t fair, you had barely even been in Equestria and now you were going to be killed for something that was completely out of your control.
>Why would someone just send you here after you died..just too die again?
>Angry. Angry didn’t even meet the requirements to what you were. But most of all, you were sad.
>After spending so much time with Rainbow, plus her friends and other ponies at the party you were at earlier, you felt as if you were accepted in Ponyville, friends even with most of them.
>All of that was for naught though, now you were going to be hanged and Celestia had even been sick enough to invite your friends to watch.
>Rainbow and her friends had tried to persuade her to let you go. “Please, Princess! Anon didn’t do anything wrong, whatever happened, it wasn’t his fault!”
>Celestia thought about this, listening to each of the six ponies try to convince her not to hang you, but she always came back to the same conclusion.
>”No. He is a changeling and was helping his Queen plot against us to overtake the throne. His punishment is just.”
>She was right, you had been helping the changelings..but not on purpose. You hardly knew how or what had even happened when the Queen changeling was ejected out of your mind.
>Your punishment was not just though. The princesses wouldn’t even let you talk to them after the incident, and there was no trial.
>Looking down now, you saw Rainbow angrily fighting with Celestia, verbally. It was hard to hear, her voice being no more than a whisper to you from atop your high platform.
>”Celestia, please! Anon is one of the best friends I have ever had, even if we only met a little while ago. He helps me out, just like I do with him! You can’t do this, this isn’t right! Nop0ny deserves this!”

>>43254082
>The sun princess raises up a hoof politely, stopping Rainbow from going further. “It is too late, Rainbow Dash. This has to be done, too protect all of my little ponies.”
>There goes your last, little ray of hope.
>Dash slumps onto the ground, looking defeated. At least you were the one dieing, she was going to take this harder than you were.
>Celestia signals to the royal guard next to you and he nods. The guard walks over to the switch next to you, getting ready to pull it with a hoof.
>Well, here it goes. You were going to die for a second time, and, most likely, for the last time.
>Time seemed to freeze as you took one last look at the world around you.
>You looked down at the mane 6, all of them giving you a horrified and shocked expression. The royal guards and Celestia were regarding you with cool, straight faces. Had they done this before?
>Taking one last look into the bright, blue sky above you, you raise your head high in a last stance of defiance. It didn’t matter though.
>The guard standing beside you takes one last look at you with his never-changing straight face and pulls down the lever.
>You hear a quiet click, and then the floor falls out from beneath you.
>Yeah, you were fucked. The only relief you had about this was that your neck might snap on the way down.
>…
>…
>Still alive. You struggle against the tight binding around your neck, trying to uselessly shove a hoof through the rope to get some air.
>You can feel your eyes bulge and blood pumping in your face as the little oxygen you have is slowly leaving you.
>Looking down to see the other ponies expressions, you’re..shocked. The mane six are running toward you right now, knocking guards out of the way to reach you.
>Were the going to save you? Not that it mattered though; you were going to die before they could even get you down.
>Your eyes started to roll in the back of your head, starting to black out even as you faintly saw a green flash around you.

>>43254084
>You let out a gasp of air, trying to suck in as much oxygen possible as the tight rope around your neck is loosened and dropped to the ground.
>Only minutes later do you stand up, examining the scene around you.
>Everything went to hell pretty fast. Around you were a circle of changelings, fighting off royal Canterlot guards from reaching you.
>You saw the mane six staring at you with a wide-eyed shocked expression, even Celestia was doing the same.
>..No, not at you..
>Spinning around, you spot the tallest changeling of them all. When she speaks, you instantly remember her voice; she was the one from your nightmares, the one that had been in your mind, watching you the entire time.
>Queen of the Changelings, Sillis. She looked down at you with caring eyes and the most loving voice you had ever heard.
>”Here, come here. Come to your mother.”
>That voice was so..calming. A warm feeling rushed through your entire body as you slowly walked toward her.
>The mane six were yelling at you to get away from her, but you could barely register anything as Sillis wrapped you up in her wings, hugging you tightly against her.
>”Oh, how I have missed you, my little changeling. There there, everything will be alright now. Mommy saved you. You’re safe from those scary ponies now.”
>She swayed back and forth with you in her arms, silently crying into her side. It just felt..right.
>Sillis looked down at you, smiling. You couldn’t help but feel that it was a little sinister, but shrugged it off and smiled back at your..mom.
>She lightly wiped away your tears with a hoof. “Are you ready to go back to the hive now? We have very big plans coming up..and you are apart of them.”
>You looked back into Sillis’ eyes, struck by a lot of confusing emotions. Would you stay with the ponies that tried to kill you..but also tried to save you?
>Or would you go back with the changelings? They did save you, and you wouldn’t have to fear about being executed by royalty again.

>>43254087
“..Yes. Let’s get out of here.”
>You swear you can hear Sillis cackling but ignore it, you felt better than you ever had in your life, her comfortable presence washing over you, calming you.
>”Good, my child. You have made the correct choice, and you will be rewarded for it, getting everything you have ever wanted.”
>Yes..the right choice. Smiling back up at her, you hugged her tighter as she began the teleportation, her and all of the changelings warping back to the hive with you.
>Your hooves hit cold ground as the teleportation ended. Taking a good look around you, the place did resemble something of a beehive, but larger and black. Everything in the room had a..slightly charred look to it.
>Queen Sillis walks up a small staircase, quietly taking her place on a large throne. She flashes her fangs at you in a smile, motioning you to take a seat in the smaller one next to you.
>Doing as your Queen says, you take a seat on the throne next to her. It just felt..good. Right.
>”We have so many things to discuss..Prince. I am sure you will enjoy your time here.”
“Yes, I think it will be fun to get some..payback.”
>You took a good look at the changelings in front of you, smiling at each of them and they returned it. Oh yes, it felt good to be in power for once, to have the control.

>>43254090
>Payback was oh so sweet, so satisfying. The emotions you sucked up from the couple in front of you was quite..filling.
>You took a quick glance in the mirror as you wiped your hooves off of the blood staining them. What you saw in the mirror made you grimace.

File: file.png (7.3 KB)

>>43254110
(the spam filter hated this one particular line of the story.)

>The ponies. This..this was all their fault. They made you like this. They had tried to kill you..and you would return the thought. Soon.
>You stepped out of the room, digging the shards of mirror out of your skin.
“It is done. Clean up the mess I made, would you?”
>The changeling standing beside the door nodded at you, stepping into the room to follow your command.
>Heading over to your throne, you settled into it nicely. It was good to have power.
>The Queen gave you a loving smile as you did so. “I take it you had fun..So, the information has been retrieved out of those ponies?”
“You could say I had fun..and then some. Everything is going according to plan. The ponies will never suspect a thing when we invade them..it will be a quick defeat.”
>Sillis filled the halls layed out in front of you with echoing laughter. “Good. You have made me proud. I will make sure that coward Celestia falls..by your hooves.”
>Proud? You could fill your heart almost burst with joy. You remembered what happened to the last Queen..Chrysalis.
>After she had been defeated, her sister, Sillis, had murdered her in cold blood for it.
>There was no room for failure in the Changeling world, and you would make sure your Queen would get everything she wanted, just like she did for you.
>Sillis gave you everything you ever wanted. Friends. Power. Happiness.
>If that was true, then..why did you feel so hollow?

>>43254138
https://pastebin.com/m9vJ4Gsn

>It’s been about a week since you found out you were half changeling, Celestia hanged you, and a crazy changeling Queen tried to recruit you into her army to take over all of Ponyville and Canterlot.
>And you got to say, everything’s been pretty good so far.
>Yeah, you were ALMOST killed, but hey, you’ve already died. Thing’s got a lot better for you though, after the whole incident.
>For one, Celestia was kind enough to give you your own house in Ponyville (Even though she did owe you for nearly killing you and all).
>Rainbow was a bit disappointed to see you move out. You guess she never really got her friends to ever visit her house that much, her being a Pegasus and all.
>You enjoyed living with Rainbow, but you were a grown man. Or pony. You needed your own privacy and you definitely didn’t enjoy mooching off of your friends.
>After that, you got to keep your job working at Sweet Apple Acres. Being half a changeling, you thought, maybe, she’d fire you. Instead Applejack told you,
>”It doesn’t matter WHAT you are, sugarcube. What matters is who you are, as a pony. Understand now?”
>They probably wouldn’t be saying that if you looked like a changeling..but you didn’t look like one. As far as you and everyone else were concerned, you were all pony.
>No one else in the town was told about it though, only the mane six and the princesses knew your little secret, and it would be best kept that way.
>Speaking of the townsponies, you had gotten on pretty good terms with most of them.
>After finishing up your daily routine on the farm, helping Applejack out and bucking trees, you’d always make sure to visit Ponyville afterwards, to help anyp0ny else out that you could.
>The ponies were even calling you a ‘Second Applejack’. That made you chuckle, you were just being yourself, you even told them that. You had nothing better to do anyways, being stuck in a world of cartoon ponies.
>In the week alone, just helping ponies out of jams, you had: fixed up buildings, baby sat fillies, cleaned places up, helped bake, and even did some modeling for Rarity.
>You weren’t quite sure how you felt about that last one. It wasn’t terrible, but modeling wasn’t really your ‘thing’. She did say it made her a lot of money though, even if you didn’t know why.
>As long as you were helping ponies out you didn’t care what you did, it put you at peace with yourself just making others live easier. Made you feel better about yourself.
>Even though you did enjoy helping other ponies out, the volunteer work you were doing distracted you a lot from questions you always had, and were probably never going to get an answer too.
>Why were you HERE all of places? Why were you half changeling, half pony? Who brang you here, who exactly was Sillis and why did she call you your son, what were her plans, why, why, why, why, WHY.

>>43254310
>All these questions floating around in your head. You felt as if you were going to go insane thinking about them any longer. It’s not like a magical fairy would appear out of nowhere and answer them.
>..Not that you wouldn’t be surprised if one did. This world had ALL sorts of beings and creatures in it. Dragons included.
>It even had magic, of all things, in it. Twilight had even taught you a couple spells during a few lessons, as you could actually transform into a Unicorn.
>There was a..slight problem, though. You apparently had a natural talent at being terrible with all things magical.
>It was probably because you used to be a human, not even being able to do any sort of magic before.
> Twilight had even said that because you were now a grown stallion, and had never used magic before, it would be even harder to bring out your magic, and learn new tricks.
>You could only do the very basic stuff, like levitation. It didn’t bother you much. Just being a normal, Pegasus pony was good enough for you.
>Heck, if you could, you would be an Earth pony all the time, but you had to keep up an appearance. Didn’t want to freak anyp0ny out, suddenly losing your wings after being friends with all of the ponies for so long.
>..You did grow a horn in front of a lot of ponies though, back at the party.
>Twilight was able to whip up a pretty quick excuse for you. Something to do with poison joke in your rainbow drink. She’d tell anyone that if they were curious enough to ask, as would you.
>Anyways, right now you were currently heading off towards Fluttershy’s cottage.
>Out of all the ponies in the town, you had spent the least amount of time with her. You guess she just liked being alone, shy like her name.
>But you were going to help her out today, try to get her out of her shell a bit..learn more about the shy mare.
>All you knew about her was that she was kind. Fluttershy did stick up for you when no one else was, when it was discovered about your..other half.
>And she was..well, the Element of Kindness.
>The Elements of Harmony. Shooting magical rainbows into evil ponies that could turn them good again. If Rainbow hadn’t told you that with a straight face, you would’ve thought they were a complete joke.
>..Ugh, why did Fluttershy have to live allll the way out near the Everfree forest? She practically lived on the opposite side of Ponyville from Sweet Apple Acres.
>Most likely because of all the animals she took care of...Not the best thing for them to be roaming around Ponyville.
>Today was probably going to be a busy day for you. You were never really one to take care of animals. You had never really even owned an animal before.
>At least you’d, hopefully, get to be better friends with Fluttershy. She had told her friends to at least give you a chance, and they did.

>>43254313
>Hell, when you were being hanged, Fluttershy probably got her friends to try and come to your rescue too. You were going to do your damned best today to make that kind mare’s day just a bit easier.
>Everyone needs a break sometimes, even if they’re doing what they love, and you were just happy to make anyp0ny’s day easier.
>After your long walk, you finally manage to make it to Fluttershy’s cottage and..wow. The whole place looked like it was a paradise for animals.
>Birds everywhere, flowers, trees, etc. It was just..tranquil.
>Upon arriving at the cottage’s doorstep, you bring up a hoof, wrapping lightly on the wooden door.
“Hey, Fluttershy, you in there?”
>You hear a squeek come from inside, and then a couple seconds later Fluttershy appears, opening the door to her house.
>”Oh..hey Anonymous..what are you doing here?”
“I was hoping I’d be able to get to know you better, Fluttershy, so I’ve stopped by to help you with your, uhh..animals. Can I come in?”
>Fluttershy steps out of the way, gesturing you inside. “Sure Anonymous..come right in.”
>You take your first ever steps inside the quiet yellow mare’s cottage, taking a look around the place. Everything was so..
>Messy.
>Taking a nearby broom in hoof, you start sweeping around the house. With all these animals to take care of, she must not take care of herself that much.
>”Anonymous, you don’t have to do that! I’ll take care of it myself..later..”
>You politely shake your head as you continue to sweep around the house and tidy things up. After all, this is why you came here, to help out. Everyp0ny deserves a break once in awhile.
“No way, Fluttershy. You help out so many animals and ponies, but don’t get helped out yourself. I’m going to take care of everything you would’ve had to do today! That’s what friends are for, right?”
>She smiled, and trotted over to a small folded up scroll on a counter. “Okay Anonymous, you win…Are you sure you’re up for it though?”
“Of course! I’ve been working on Applejack’s farm for a week now, I’m sure this can’t be much..harder..than...That..that is a long list.”
>Fluttershy unrolls the scroll and it tumbles to the floor..and keeps on going. How many animals does she take care of?!
>”If it’s too much for you..I can, uhm, help you out..”
>You quickly shake your head, taking the scroll in your..hoof.
“No, I’ve got this Fluttershy. Just relax. If I need any help at all I’ll ask, but for right now, just take a rest.”
>She gives you a small smile before lying down on her couch. “Okay..but if you need help don’t be afraid to ask me.”
>Nodding, you get to work on the long list of chores you had ahead of you.

>>43254315
>Animals. Sooo many animals! How did Fluttershy have the patience to care of all of them for so long?
>Day turned into night as you wrapped up your work, slowly sipping on the cold lemonade Fluttershy was kind enough to make for you.
>This definitely was a lot of work, way too much for anyp0ny, but apparently not her.
>She must have some sort of hold over her animals. You remember Rainbow talking to you a bit about Fluttershy, apparently she just had some sort of..thing with them.
>She must have, if she had a pet manticore. You swear, if Fluttershy hadn’t been watching you when you fed the thing, you probably would’ve been eaten. It looked at you like you where the food.
>Well, at least you were done now. It took you way longer than you would have liked, but it was all for Fluttershy, so you didn’t mind.
>You were definitely not going to do this again anytime soon though, the work wasn’t hard but there was so much of it, and it was tiring.
>Taking a seat on the couch next to Fluttershy while you continue taking drinks from your glass with it in your hoof. You still never understood how that worked..
“Thanks for the drink Fluttershy, I was getting thirsty. I think I’ve finished up all the things on the list.”
>”No, I should be thanking YOU, Anonymous, for all your wonderful help today! I don’t think I’ve had a whole day to relax in…a long time.”
>You return the kind smile she was giving you. Back on Earth you didn’t do things like this, being too busy taking care of yourself or your family.
“I owe you, Shy, for trusting me when nop0ny did. But I didn’t do it just because of that; I did it because we’re friends.”
>”I think everyp0ny, even changelings, deserve a chance! I wouldn’t like it very much if somep0ny treated me terribly with no good reason..”
>Even changelings, huh? She must be the only pony you’ve seen that thinks that way..
“Anyways..how have you been lately? We don’t get very much chances to talk often.”
>For the next hour you and Fluttershy go back and forth with each other, sharing words with how each other’s lives have been going.
>She asked you questions about how you were holding up, being away from your family, things like that, and how you were doing in Ponyville so far.
>You, at least think, were doing a pretty good job on everything. Being too busy with your new life so far, you didn’t have very much time to dwell on the past, and that was okay with you.

>>43254316
>As for Ponyville, a lot of ponies seemed to trust you now, and you had even befriended quite a few of them. It was quite easy with the town being so friendly.
>The job you had at Sweet Apple Acres was also going great. The work was honest, and the Apple family was practically like a second family to you. You even took them up on their offer of dinner a couple times.
>Applebloom even reminded you a bit of one of your daughters..
>Fluttershy said she and her animals were doing well too. The animals were all behaving (Besides that rabbit you fed earlier, ‘Angel’. Ironic. You never knew a rabbit could be such a..asshole) and getting together well.
>The yellow mare went on and on about how her and her friends were doing, Rarity and her getting together at the spa, and other things going on in her life.
>You never knew Fluttershy could be so talkative, especially when you had first met her. She practically tried to avoid you whenever possible, but now that you had spent some more time together, she opened up more to you.
>You knew most of the things she was telling you anyways, but let her go on, listening intently, not wanting to be rude. She must not get to talk a lot to anyone, her being shy because of that. You really should get her out of her shell more often.
>After a few more words between each other, you walk over to the entrance, settling your hoof on the knob, parting with a couple more words.
“I’ll see you later Shy, it’s getting kind of late. Feel free to stop by my new house if you ever want to talk about anything, or need something.”
>”Likewise, Anonymous. I had a great time today. I’m glad I did give you a chance, you’re the best friend a pony could ask for.”
>You smile and give her a nod, taking a step outside and closing the door behind you.
>Taking a couple more steps out into the night, you realize..it was a lot more dark than it should be, even if it was night.
>A couple drops of water hit your head and you take a look up into the dark, cloudy sky.
“..Oh, fuck me.”
>You start bolting down the road, hurriedly trying to make it back to your house. A couple cracks of lightning are heard above you before the rain starts coming down on you, hard.
>There was no way you were going to make it to your house in Ponyille without being completely drenched..

>>43254319
>”Wow, what happened to you?”
>You take a good look back into the storm you escaped from before shutting the door behind you.
“..Wanna take a wild guess?”
>Rainbow gives you a light chuckle from her place on the couch, facing towards you as you shake yourself a bit, trying to get dry.
>The last couple of days you’ve started to notice her hanging out in your house..a bit too much. Dash did have her own house.
>You shrug the thought off. She was your first, and best, friend you’ve had here. Rainbow could hang out at your house as much as she wanted too.
>”How come you didn’t show up for our regular practice, Anon? We were supposed to get a little time in before I had to help start the clouds up!”
“..Oh, right! Sorry, Rainbow. I got a little sidetracked helping Fluttershy with her animals out. I don’t think I’m really a..animal person, and it took longer than I thought it would.”
>She gave you a glare for a couple seconds more before sighing and shaking her head “It’s cool, I gotcha. You really need to take a break from helping so many ponies though..and I think I’ve got just the thing for that!”
>You give her a questioning stare as she walks over to you, two bottles in her hooves. “Here, try THIS stuff.”
>The bottles on the front side read, ‘Hard Cider’. Was this alcohol..but for ponies? You enjoyed a drink or two back in your old life, to numb things a bit, but had never taken it farther than that. Even in darker times.
“Hard cider? Are you sure about this, Rainbow?”
>She was practically opening the bottle and taking a drink of it before you had even gotten the words off of your tongue. “Oh, come on Anon! You need to let loose a bit, relax!”
>You took one of the bottles, rolling it around in your hooves, contemplating on drinking it or not…Oh, what the fuck, time to live it up a little! Life, for the first time in a long time, was great.
>Dash cheers you on as you pop the top off and take long, large swigs of the cider. “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about! Time to have a little party of our own!”
>She walks over to your stereo, punching play and cranking the volume all the way up.
>You party away the rest of the night away with the best friend a pony could ask for, drinking hard cider, challenging each other to hoof wrestling, and dancing drunk.

>>43254320
https://pastebin.com/j9mcjGDp

>You wake up, immediately regretting the acts you committed yesterday. Well, mostly the drinking.
>Pony bodies were so strange. You used to be able to handle your drink well, but after that first bottle you had you were definitely way past tipsy.
>Now that you think about it, you don’t remember much about last night. There was dancing, regular partying stuff and then blank.
>Starting to get out of your drunken stupor more, you feel something fuzzy in your mouth. It tasted a bit like..skittles?
>You pop your eyes open, taking a good look at whatever the hell you had in your mouth.
>It was…Rainbow’s mane? Huh, you always though it would taste like sk-
>You spit her hair out of your mouth, rapidly scrubbing your tongue with a hoof.
“Ahh man, what happened last night..”
>After taking a better look around your house, and getting rainbow hair off your tongue, you noticed nearly everything in your new house was trashed.
>And there were ponies, EVERYWHERE. You get up off of the table Rainbow and you had slept on, rubbing a hoof against your face as you stepped lightly over ponies’ bodies.
>What the hell happened last night? You don’t remember inviting anyone to your home, but then again, you don’t remember much of anything.
>Apparently Rainbow had passed out on a table, and you had done the same while trying to eat her hair.
>It would probably be in your best interest if you didn’t drink anymore pony alcohol. It was your first time trying it, and your house looked like..
“..Is that..?”
>There was a large Big Macintosh sized hole in the side of your house. You lean your head over, taking a look outside and seeing the giant stallion passed out with a keg of hard cider next to him.
>Damn. You never really pegged him for the drinking type, but you guess he could hold his stuff. Better than you too.
>Still, how the hell did all these ponies get in your ho-
>”Hey Anon, you’re awake!”
>Pinkie Pie suddenly appears in front of you, holding a tray of rainbow colored cupcakes.
>You jump back, a bit startled, much to an amused Pinkie who just giggles at you. How does that mare do it? She must have a horn hidden in that pink mane somewhere..

>>43254324
“Oh, hey Pinkie. Wait..are you the one who invi-“
>”SURPRISE! Here, have a cupcake! It’ll make you feel beeeetter!”
>You shake your head while taking a cupcake in your hoof. She must have heard the music Rainbow started up and invited everyp0ny possible.
“..Did you put that rainbow stuff in here? You know I can’t, well..eat it.”
>Pinkie giggles at you again. “Oooooh, don’t worry about that! I only put a teensy-weensy-itty-bitty small drop of it in there! I know that suuuper cool changing stuff hurts you and I don’t like to see my friends hurt! I’m not that kind of pony, Anon.”
>You give Pinkie a questioning glare, to which she just returns a sheepish smile. Oh, what the hell. Examining the rainbow cupcake one more time, you took huge bites out of it, finishing it in a few seconds.
>Wow, that actually tasted really good. That rainbow drink you had been given at your first party might have tasted good to, but you had been too busy being in pain to think about it.
>A lot of things start happening to you, all at once. A warm, tingling heat spreads out through your body, then cold, and then both, while you start shaking and your vision blurs.
>It almost felt like your whole skin came alive and was crawling around your body, like ants crawling over you and constantly biting you. It even felt like your head was blowing up, like a balloon, about to burst.
>To you, it felt like it lasted hours, but it was really only seconds. After coming down from your rainbow high you feel..surprisingly great.
>Your headache was, mostly, gone and you felt refreshed, like you had just taken a long bathe and were no longer tired.
“Damn Pinkie, I feel great! If it didn’t feel like my own head was trying to eat itself, I’d eat some of those everyday!”
>Pinkie gives you a wide grin and starts trotting around your house with her cupcake tray, handing cupcakes to still passed out ponies.
>”Aww, thanks Anon. You’re so sweet! Stop by Sugarcube Corner anytime you want and I’ll whip up some of these bad boys for you.”

>>43254327
“That’s a nice thought, Pinkie, but..”
>You recalled the shape of your house, items smashed and things thrown around. Someone had even tried to stuff your stereo inside another stereo..for whatever reason.
>Everything was a mess, not even including you with a mouthful of rainbow hair, waking up on a table.
“I don’t think I’m going to be drinking for awhile. Ever, really.”
>Pinkie gasped at you, dropping the cupcake tray on some poor pony’s head and ran over to you. She planted two hooves on your shoulders and started shaking you rapidly.
>“But..but we had so much fun! Everyp0ny had fun. Drunk Anon really knows how to let loose and get with the groove! Don’t get rid of him already..please?”
>You looked down at the pink mare that was pouting at you and you rolled your eyes.
“Sorry Pinkie, but I don’t even REMEMBER this fun I apparently had. What I do remember is that it was supposed to be me and Rainbow only.”
>Pinkie gave off a small grin, but was trying to look everywhere except at you. “Well..I heard the music all the way from Sugarcube Corner and thought it’d be more fun with..more ponies?”
>It definitely looked like it had been, your house being proof of it.
“Alright..Anyways, I have to go to Applejack’s in a couple minutes; you think you can help me clean up, Pinkie?”
>She jumps in the air while saluting you. “You got it, Anon!” And with that, she whips around your house in a pink blur with a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud.
>Before you knew it, everyp0ny in your house, besides Rainbow, was gone and everything was sparkling. Literally.
“..Okay then. That works.”
>You shake your head a bit. Thinking about how Pinkie Pie did things always made your head hurt.
>Whatever, you got a lot of hard work ahead of you. You head over to Rainbow and pick her up, carrying her up the stairs and to your bed.
>After laying her softly on it and covering her with blankets, you make your way out of the new exit, walking through the giant hole in your house.

>>43254330
>”Cutie Mark Crusader Cheerleaders!”
>Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stood up on their back hooves, holding up Applebloom in a triangle formation. You raced over to them as they started wobbling, catching a falling Applebloom in your hooves.
>She giggles in your arms. “That was so fun!” Yeah, this definitely counted as hard work.
>You had been given the task for the day to watch over the CMC. Applejack would have usually done it, but you volunteered instead. You wanted to let her spend time with her friends.
>Being great with kids was something you were good at as you did have two daughters of your own.
>Setting Applebloom down, she and her friends immediately got together and checked themselves for their cutie marks, before giving out a collective “Aww..”
>Applebloom immediately smiles at the other two. “Don’t worry girls, I got another idea we can try!”
>”Sweet!”
>”Alright, let’s do it!”
>Magical, flying, pony kids were completely different, though.
>”Yall sure yah got these three covered, sugarcube?” Applejack came trotting over to you, wearing a pretty black dress Rarity had made for her, but she still donned her usual hat on top of her head.
>The girls must be going out somewhere nice, probably some sort of fancy restaurant, to catch up on each others lives.
“Don’t worry AJ, I got these three covered. After all, I..used to have two daughters of my own. Really, it’s not a problem. Go on and enjoy yourself.”
>She gave you a bright smile. “Thanks Anon, yer a lifesaver. So, how do ahh look?” Applejack gave you a little twirl in the dress. Damn, Rarity really knew her craft.
“Beautiful. Stunning. Any stallion would be lucky to have a mare like you.”
>Applejack blushed lightly, covering her face a bit with her hat. “Aww shucks, Anon. Yah really know how to make a gal blush.”
>You start to say something, but the three fillies cut you off before you can reply.
>”Applejack an’ Anon got a crush on each other!”
>”Aww, that’s so sweet.”
“Yuck!”
>Applejack glares at Applebloom even though her cheeks redden a bit more. “A-ah do not!”
>The little filly meets her sister’s glare. “Do too! You n’ Anon spend so much time together buckin’ apples, talkin’ to each other the whole time. Heck, ya’ll even sit under trees n’ rest together sometimes!”
>Huh. You never really gave that much thought. You did do all of that with AJ, but it was just two good friends having a good time. There really wasn’t much else to do when you were working at the farm.
>Scootaloo steps in front of Applebloom’s view, looking at Applejack. “How is that gonna work though? He IS part changeling.”
>Now it was your turn to glare at Applejack. “Part changeling, huh?”
>She gave you a sheepish grin, starting to back away from the four of you. “Ahh..Ah’m gonna be late! Gottagobye!” Applejack turned around and sprinted down the road, leaving you alone with the crusaders.
>You were going to have a talk with that mare later.

>>43254331
>”Change for us Anon!”
>”Yeah, ah bet it’s pretty awesome!”
>”C’mon, we won’t tell anyp0ny!”
>It had been a couples hours since Applejack had left you with the three fillies. The day had been mostly half-thought out ideas of obtaining their cutie marks, but after that failed; they set their minds on getting you to change for them.
>Currently, you were in their clubhouse. You had been surprised that you could even fit inside of it. It was for fillies after all, but the door was probably big enough for even Big Macintosh.
“Sorry girls, but no.”
>They all gave out an exaggerated sigh. Applebloom even gives you puppy dog eyes. “But how come, Anon? Mah sister said you showed her, now show us too!”
“It..changing isn’t something I like to do. It actually hurts quite a bit. Can’t we just go back to trying to get your cutie marks or something?”
>Scootaloo stands up on two hooves in front of you. “No way! You gotta show us. If I could change like you, I’d make my wings bigger so I could fly like Rainbow Dash!” She flares her wings out during the last bit of her sentence.
“No. It’s not that great, really! You’ll be disappointed..?”
>You tried to make that sound as believing as possible, but you don’t think it worked that well. The three fillies all got in front of your face, giving you the cutest, biggest, pleading face they could muster.
>”Pllleeaasseeee?”
>They reminded you of your own girls a bit. You sighed, sitting back on your haunches, finally breaking in to their pleas.
“Fiiiine. But you have to promise not to tell anyone about this, and fair warning, it might be a little..gross.”
>The three of them jumped up in success, high fiving each other. “Yes! We promise, Anon.”
“All right then. So, which one will it be, wings or horn?”
>They gave you a confused look. “Huh?”
“I said I’ll change for you, but I’m not doing both. So, pick one.”
>They gathered around in a little huddle, putting their heads together and discussing which one they’d pick. After a few minutes of debate, Sweetie Belle pops her head up, giving you an answer. “Wings!”
>You close your eyes and concentrate, imaging yourself without wings. Sure enough, your wings started to recede into your back, with a couple pops. It hurt a bit, but it wasn't that bad.
>Now you clenched your teeth, getting ready for the incoming pain. After a couple seconds, your wings started to grow out of your back.

>>43254334
>They started out as little nubs, but quickly grew in size. You felt everything, from the skin growing around them to accommodate the change in size, to the bones changing in length and size.
>Suffice to say, it was the worst pain you’ve ever felt in your life, besides growing a horn. Changing never got any easier for you; the pain was always the same, and it never got any easier.
>After your wings grew back completely, you sighed and opened your eyes to take in the fillies reactions. They all had different expressions on their faces. Scootaloo was the first one to talk. “That’s so cool!”
>Sweetie Belle was looking at you with more of a disgusted look on her face. “That’s pretty gross, Anon.”
>Applebloom wore a confused look on her face. “How come there ain’t no magical, green fire? And can’t you change any other part of yerself?”
>You shook your head at her. It confused you as to why. Must be because you’re only half of a changeling, and not all of one.
“Sorry, but nope. I’m only part changeling, so I have to actually grow the parts I want. Probably why I can’t change into anyp0ny else, too.”
>Applebloom gave you a disappointed look. Apparently, being able to grow a horn and wings at will wasn’t that amazing, even though she was an earthpony. You thought she’d have a different reaction.
>Scootaloo pipes up at you. “Do the horn now!”
>Sweetie Belle gets excited at that, smiling at you. “Yeah! And show us some cool changeling magic tricks!”
>You groaned, it was never enough with them. Before you could attempt to dissuade them from the idea, you hear a couple knocks at the clubhouse door, followed by Applejack’s voice.
>“Alright girls, playtime is over! Time ta head home now.”
>The CMC make their way out of the clubhouse while you give off a sigh of relief.
>"Bye Anon, ah'll see yah later!"
>"Yeah, bye mister changeling!"
>"See yah!"
>You wait a minute or two before addressing Applejack.
“Thanks, Applejack. They were kind of a handful.”
>She chuckles at you, making her way inside the clubhouse after the three fillies had left. “No, thank you Anon. Thanks tah you, ahh reckon ahh had a pretty good time today with the girls.”
>You give the mare a smile after hearing that. Applejack worked too hard sometimes and even she needed to get out and relax..
“Good, I’m glad to hear that. Now, about earlier…”

>>43254336
>Applejack had a confused look on her face, which was soon replaced with nervousness. “They didn’t..they didn’t make you change or anythin’, did they?”
“They tried to make me change, twice. I changed my wings for them, and they tried to get me to grow a horn right before you came.”
>”Ahh, shoot, sugarcube.” She stared down at the wooden floor, trying to not meet your gaze. “Ahh didn’t…You know ahh can’t keep a secret! Ahh tried ta, but Applebloom knew somethin’ was up and kept pesterin’ me and then..”
>Applejack looked up at you, giving you an apologetic glance. “Ah’m sorry, Anon. Ah’m a terrible friend..Ahh made Applebloom and her friends promise not to tell anyp0ny else though.”
>You give Applejack a smile, trying to brighten up the mood a bit.
“AJ, you’re not a terrible friend! I know you can’t keep a secret very well but I don't blame you. I don’t want the townsponies looking at me like some kind of freak, but if news gets out then I’ll handle it. It’s not really that big of a deal.”
>She returned the smile. “Thanks, again. So, you ready for the big day tomorrow? It’s gonna be lots o’ fun!”
“Huh? What’s tomorrow? Is it some kind of pony holiday?”
>Applejack gives you a chortle. “Yah already forgot? Ahh heard you n’ Rainbow even had a few ‘private’ dancin’ practices, preparin' for it, heh.”
>Shit, she heard about tha-..wait, was it really tomorrow?
“The Gala is tomorrow?!”
>She gives you a curt nod. “Eeyup. Ahh can’t believe yah forgot about it.”
>You rush out of the clubhouse, making your way towards Ponyville. The Gala had completely slipped your mind; you hadn’t even picked up the suit Rarity had made for you. At least you could pay for it now.
“I’ll see you at the Gala, AJ!”
>This was pretty important to you, and you wanted to make sure you were prepared for it. You wanted to make a better impression on ponies, but more so for Celestia and Luna.
>If everything went perfect then the two princesses might start to trust you a bit more. You had noticed at times there would be guards keeping an eye on you from a far distance.
>Hopefully, you’d be able to change that at the Gala. It made you nervous, having someone watching you all the time, even if you weren’t up to anything bad.
>Everything would just have to go perfect.
>Yeah, everything would go smoothly.

>>43254339
https://pastebin.com/95EKq4K2

>The cold night air hit you as you stepped out of the carriage, finally having arrived at your destination.
>The Gala.
>You held a hoof out, helping the six mares lightly onto the ground. Each of them simply looked stunning in the outfits Rarity had made for them.
>She said they resembled something like the outfits they had worn last time, each dress matching the owner’s personality.
>Rarity had made an elegant, classy tuxedo for you. She apologized for it not being as ‘stylish’ as their dresses, but it didn’t bother you one bit.
>It felt right just being in clothes again. Ponies never wore any clothes, except to a few special events such as this, and you tried your best to adapt.
>You never fully got used to it, though. Without clothes you just felt..naked. Because you, well..were.
>After helping out each mare down, you all make your way up to the castle, walking on a red carpet along the way.
>You imagined if you were a famous Hollywood actor, it would probably feel a little something like this right now.
>There were quite a few ponies taking glances at you and the mane six as you walked in between them.
>A couple colts had been staring at you. You thought you caught a touch of jealousy on their faces. Maybe even a few from a couple mares. Weird.
>A huge set of golden doors met your view as you stopped, two guards standing in front of it.
>They didn’t seem to take notice of any of you, but opened the doors right away.
>You straighten your bow-tie and comb a hoof through your hair one last time.
>Time to make a good impression.

>>43254348
>The guards stepped aside as you made your way in. Your hooftsteps echoed lightly off of the shining, white marble floor laid out in front of you.
>Celestia. You immediately spotted her, standing on top of a staircase, greeting other ponies as they went by.
> But her eyes had been on you as soon as you stepped foot inside the building. Meeting them was something you instantly regretted, the gaze she gave you made your blood turn into ice.
> The sun princess greeted all of you as you made your way up the staircase, stopping at her feet.
>”Hello my little ponies..and Anonymous.”
> The greeting was warm, except for the last bit. She must not have thought of you as one of her own. A pony. Technically you weren’t, but it still hurt. At least a little bit.
>”Hello princess!”
>Twilight practically ran up to Celestia, and gave her a hug. The purple mare had a huge smile on her face, looking excited. You reminded yourself that they rarely got to meet at times, each lived their own life, and Celestia was a princess who ruled over Equestria.
>It would have made you smile if the princess hadn’t been staring at you the entire time. The steely, iron cold gaze she was giving you brought a tingle down your spine.
>”I trust each of you have been having a good night so far?”
>”Oh yes, we have! Everything has been perfect. We’re so excited to be here, princess.”
>”I am glad to hear that, Twilight Sparkle. Now, go and enjoy the Gala, my little ponies. I shall be here if you need anything of me.”
>Twilight waved goodbye to all of you, as the rest of you nodded at her and the princess politely, making your exit.
>The six of you made your way into the night to enjoy the evening, but even as you walked away, the goddesses’ eyes burned into your back, making you shiver.
>You felt that the evening was going to be a bit harder for you to enjoy than the others.

>>43254352
>It was now a little later into the night and you were now sitting on a stone bench, alone.
>The girls had quickly split off to do their own things. Pinkie enjoying parties, Twilight spending time with Celestia (Even if they didn’t get to talk much).
>Rarity smoothly spreading around word of her shop and the fine clothes she made, maybe even looking for a royal pony to flirt with, while Applejack sold apple-related foods, but this time making them more ‘fancier’.
>Fluttershy trying to meet animals more patiently this time and Rainbow Dash attempting to get in with the Wonderbolts, or at least get to talk with them.
>You had been worried they would get caught up with the things they were doing, but the six mares had assured you they would hang out later in the night.
>They weren’t really the ones to break promises, but you felt otherwise. When those six put their minds to something, they did their best to achieve it.
>After all, they had their own dreams and goals. Friends were important, even helping you get back on your feet when times were rough, but dreams and goals were also equally as important.
>Who were you to deny your friends from reaching for theirs?
>It still didn’t feel right to you, they should be having fun with each other..but you did nothing, sighing in deep thought whilst kicking a nearby pebble with your hoof.
>”Troubling thoughts, Anonymous?”
>The voice startled you, but it turned out to be just Luna, which just made you even more nervous. Not knowing what else to do, you bow politely from your place on the bench and answer her question.
“O-oh..hello Princess. How did you know?”
>Luna gives you a small smile, even giggling at you a bit, much to your confusion. She did take part in setting up your execution, and you thought she would have even been more brutally cold to you than Celestia was.
>”You are out here, and thy friends are inside. May we?” She motioned at the bench you’re sitting on and scooted over to make room for her.
>Luna took almost the whole bench to herself and you would have no room if you hadn’t been sitting like a human.
>”So..princess-“
>”Please, Anonymous. Thou dost not have to act so formal around us. Call us Luna.”
“..Alright. Luna. How come you’re not acting like Celestia? From the way she was looking at me, I thought she would have liked to kill me herself.”

>>43254355
>The moon goddess put a hoof to her chin, thinking for a few moments before addressing you. “I have seen thou around Ponyville, working tirelessly to help others with deeds of kindness. It reminds me of somep0ny. An old friend, long since passed..”
>The look she was giving you was strange. You couldn’t quite describe it, but it was like she was looking at you, but saw somebody else instead.
>”..As for ‘Tia, she feels regret, even sadness for that..incident earlier, but does not want to reveal those feelings to you, or others.”
>That made sense. Celestia had been keeping up a strong emotional front. She was one of the main rulers over Equestria, after all.
>”But, she is still suspicious, maybe even a little..afraid. Or should I say more so of the thing resting inside of thou. The changeling. Dost thou not feel the need? The hunger?”
>Giving her a confused look, you shook your head. What was she talking about exactly?
>Luna thought about this for a moment and then continued on. “Changelings need to feast on others emotions. For them, it is like food.”
>”Doing so also gives them a considerable boost in their magic, which in turn drove the changelings into corruption by feasting too much on those feelings.”
“Drove them into corruption? They used to be different?”
>Luna gave you a sad frown and nodded. “Yes. They used to be such a kind, peaceful race. Much like the ponies. We used to live together in harmony. All was well…”
>”And then one day a changeling took in too many emotions, boosting his magic by at least threefold. Other changelings saw this and word quickly spread.”
>”Changelings everywhere started to feast on more emotions than they needed. It did increase their power, but it had one unfortunate side effect..”
>”It starts slow at first, a gnawing inside of you and, as you take in more emotions, it only grows. A hunger for power. Many changelings succumbed to this, becoming evil, greedy, wanting only more.”
>”They then started to rebel, believing they were the superior race, ponies being the inferiors. War broke out soon afterwards. It was..”
>Luna paused, a grim look on her face. “Bloody. Many died on both sides...In the end; we barely defeated them, having holded them off with the Elements. We then banished them to the badlands. But it seems they are returning, looking for revenge..”

>>43254356
>That was a lot to take in all at once. It sounded like the changelings, more or less, couldn’t control themselves. You felt a pang of sadness for them.
“Okay..but I’m not even a changeling, just part of one. What does all of this have to do with me?”
>”Indeed. The pony in thou must counteract the changeling, and do not have the need to feed like one. But be warned, Anonymous, if thou do feed on other’s emotions then there will be consequences. Some more severe than others.”
>That face she was giving you was creeping you out. You didn’t even feel the ‘need’, or whatever it was, so feeding on emotions is something you won’t be doing soon.
“R-right. What does this have to do with me, though? I haven’t even been here that long.”
>Luna’s face took on a sage-like appearance. “I fear you have a greater part to play in this than all of us. Thou’s past-life intrigues me..something must have brought you here for a reason.”
>”And thou just happen to be both changeling AND pony? That is no accident, Anonymous. Fate has been put into your hooves, and someday thou will have to make a choice. Whether ‘tis bad or good.”
>”One last warning. The changeling queen, Sillis, has a sort of ‘hold’ over her minions. I am sure thou have felt it when she has been near. Be wary around her.”
“But I believe as long as thou’s friends are by thy side, thou will be fine. Now..”
>Luna got up from her place on the bench, her features changing to that of a warm smile. “Enough of this serious talk. Spend time with thou’s friends. When thou are around, they seem more..happy, and enjoy thy company. Go and enjoy my night, Anonymous.”
>You returned her smile, genuinely. If they didn’t want to hang out together, you would at least spend time with them and help each of them out with the things each were doing.
“I will. Thank you for this talk, Luna. It has been..enlightening. I hope to see you later.”
>Even though she asked you not to be so formal, you bowed in front of her one last time before running off toward the castle.
>What Luna had said worried you, but your friends came first. You could worry about everything later, but for right now, it was time to spend the night with the best friends a pony could ask for.

>>43254358
>”CUPCAKE FIGHT!”
>You immediately duck as you enter the room, a cupcake flying past your head and hitting the wall behind you.
>Pinkie Pie was up on a table, reaching into her mane and pulling out several cupcakes all at once.
>Royal ponies left and right were comically falling, getting a face full of cupcake. You couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.
>”Oh, hey Anon!”
>The pink mare was already in your face before you could even blink, smushing a cupcake across your face.
>You wiped some of the cupcake away from your eyes with a hoof and tried to give Pinkie one of your best glares, to which she just meets with a smile.
>The corners of your mouth started to twitch upwards a bit. Damnit, her smiles were too infectious for you to resist.
>A few seconds later and you and Pinkie where on the ground, sharing a laugh.
>”S-sorry Anon! I couldn’t help myself!”
“Don’t worry Pinkie, at least I got you back.”
>She gave you a confusing look before you returned the favor, taking the frosting you wiped off earlier and rubbing it on her face.
>Pinkie giggled at you, easily wiping off all of the frosting on her face with her tongue.
>You swore her tongue must have grown at least twice as long. She must have been hiding her horn somewhere in that poofy mane of hers, and used magic when you weren’t looking.
“..Anyways, how’s that party been going, Pinkie?”
>”Booooring. Until you showed up that is! Come on, let’s square dance!”
>Before you could protest, Pinkie already had a hoof locked around your own, and Polka music started to play from the nearby band.
>Oh, why not? Pinkie always was able to lighten your mood and make you enjoy even the little things, like when you would help her clean the shop up after a busy day.
”Boring, huh?”
>Pinkie nodded. “Yeah! All these ponies do is walk around, talking with each other! They really need to let loose, have a bit of fun and shake those flanks!”
>You gave out a laugh, Pinkie cocking her head to the side at that. “What’s so funny, mister?”
“Pinkie. This is..different than your usual type of parties.”

>>43254359
>”Yeah, somep0ny in the crowd told me that. So I pulled out my DJ stereo and partied even harder! I don’t think any of the ponies liked it though..”
>She di- but where did she even get- Ugh, whatever. It’s Pinkie Pie. She never really knew how to tone things down, hold herself back a bit.
“Of course they didn’t. This is a more ‘delicate’ type of party. Ponies here just like to talk, have light conversations. Maybe a little bit to drink or eat, now and then.”
>Pinkie gave you a shocked expression, mouth falling open. “But..but that’s no party at all!”
>You laughed and nodded. Ponies with a lot money like this must not know how to let loose, be themselves. To you, it seemed like they were more robots than ponies.
“Yeah, I know. It’s weird, but this is how ponies like them have parties. This is how they relax. Here, let me show you. It isn’t all that bad.”
>The next several minutes were spent walking around with Pinkie, talking to a few of the fancy ponies. They seemed to be cautious of your companion at first, but you made sure she didn’t burst out into one of her usual antics.
>Pinkie did surprisingly well after you walked her through a couple steps, but it was obvious she wasn’t really interested in things like this.
>You wave goodbye to the last couple you were talking to, but stop when you hear Pinkie’s voice.
>”Anon..I don’t think..I can..”
>Wow. You take a good look at her face. Her eyeballs seemed like they were about to pop out of her head, and she was tapping the floor with a hoof whilst vibrating up and down peculiarly.
>”I can’t do this anymore! It’s too boring! I just..I have to PARTY!”
>Pinkie Pie set off like a rocket, fireworks literally exploding from her as she zipped around the room, throwing streamers, blowing horns, and raining confetti while playing Polka music the entire time.
>You facehoofed. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea, after all. Pinkie wasn’t really able to hold herself back. Well, at least nop0ny could say you didn’t try.
>Leaving the Canterlot ponies to deal with the Pinkie Pie’s newest mess, you head off to find the rest of your friends.

>>43254360
>It took you a little while, but you finally spotted Rarity talking it up with a fancy looking prince.
>He certainly looked the part, like he came straight out of a movie. Flowing blond hair, blue eyes, tall, ect.
>When you came closer to the two of them, it sounded like they were having a less than great conversation, though.
>”You call that ‘thing’ a dress? Why, I’ve seen a better dress on one of those filthy commoner ponies.”
>”That ‘thing’?! Blueblood, you are simply just..just-“
“Pardon me, but may I ask your professional opinion on something, Prince Blueblood?”
>Blueblood. You had heard about him from a few stories Rarity had told you, but didn’t want to make your own opinion of him until you met him in person. Well, you have for only a few seconds, and she seemed to be right about him on everything.
>A smile played across your features as you went through your soon to be unfolded plans in your mind. Rarity had remained silent while you interrupted, but was still glaring daggers at the prince.
>The prince looked you up and down before addressing you with a small smile. “I suppose I have enough time, I wasn’t talking to anyp0ny important anyway. Go on.”
“What do you think about my suit? It was created by one of the best fashion designers I know. But what’s your opinion on it, Prince?”
>You noticed his smile grew a bit bigger every time you mentioned the ‘prince’ part of his title. If everything went as planned, it’d be wiped off of his face soon enough.
>Blueblood leaned in closer to you, inspecting your outfit. “My, my! This has to be one of the best suits I have seen, using only some of the finest silk. May I perhaps ask who made this for you and if I may..buy one of my own?”
“Of course! Just place an order with Rarity and she’ll be sure to make you one right away.”
>You and Rarity both gave him a sly grin before erupting into full blown laughter. Blueblood tried to stammer out a reply to you, but instead turned and held his head high, giving out a loud ‘Humph!’, before walking away.
>It took you both a few minutes, but you finally calmed down from you laughter. “Oh, I must thank you Anonymous, for handling that brute. I honestly can’t remember what I ever saw in him.”
“It was no problem, Rarity. Someone needed to put that jerk in his place. I think you’d be better off looking for a colt back in Ponyville anyways. The ponies here just think of themselves a little too highly. They’re a little..stuck up, y’know?”

>>43254363
>Rarity blushed a bit but shrugged it off, thinking about what you said for a moment, her eyes on you the entire time. “A colt in Ponyville? I will think about it, darling. Now, why don’t we get to know each other a bit better over tea, hmm?”
>You nodded, walking with your friend over to the confections table and pouring her a cup once you reached it. Tea wasn’t exactly your ‘thing’, so you chose to stick with water.
>Rarity brang the cup lightly to her lips, taking a few ladylike sips. “Anonymous, you must simply go into further detail about your old life. It’s hard to get to know one when they refuse to talk about themselves.”
>That was true, you guess. Only Rainbow had really known a lot about you, and it was getting increasingly easier to talk about your past life.
>You had come to terms with it, being dead and all, stuck in a new world, unable to return.
>These ponies did have magic, and a lot of them were good at it too, but you doubted any of them even had the power to rip a hole through time and space, go through different dimensions, and be able to return you back to your world, safely at that.
>And even if they could, what then? You’d be returning back to a dead body. It killed you to admit it, but your time on Earth was done, whether you liked it or not.
“..Alright then. Let’s talk about my two girls. They were into fashion a lot like you.”
>Rarity and you carried on the conversation for about half an hour. Seems she was pretty interested in human fashion, and even liked a couple ideas you had for her.
>You weren’t particularly into fashion, but you remembered a few designs your daughters had shown to you.
>”I must say, Anonymous, your girls are really something! Fashion prodigies! When we get back to my shop, I must start working on these new ideas right away.
>A smile was brought to your lips at that. They were good at what they did, just like Rarity was. She even reminded you a bit of them..
“I’ll be sure to come over and help you, then. For now, I’m gonna go see what the others are up to. I hope you have a lovely night, Miss Rarity.”
>”You’re too kind to me, darling. I must repay you in someway..Oh! I have just the thing!”
>You gave her a confused look as she moved over to your side, but quickly changed to one of surprise when she gave you a light kiss on the cheek.
>Rarity gave you a grin as she went off into the night, to enjoy talking to the frivolous royal ponies around the cstle.
>You weren’t quite sure what to feel as you walked off; holding a hoof to the cheek Rarity had kissed.

>>43254364
>”Hey Anon, what can ah do yah for?”
>Applejack happened to be next on your stop as you ran into her selling her apple related delicacies. You had to admit, she really went all out this time.
“Wow, you really went out of your way on these things! They all look good, AJ.”
>She grinned at you while tipping her hat. “Eeyup. Made sure of it this time, last ah was here all these fancy ponies didn’t want none of our ‘commoner’ food. Anyways, what do yah want, partner?”
>All of the fancy cakes and treats were appealing, but for you, it was a bit too over the top.
“I’ll just stick with an apple, thanks.”
>Applejack chuckled and tossed you an apple over the cart, which you caught in your hooves. “I knew yah would, sugarcube. Got a couple stashed in here.”
>You nodded your thanks and took a bit into the apple. The apples in the world were way better than the ones you had back on Earth. It didn’t make any sense to you, so you just chocked it up to magic.
“How’s the business been going so far? Got enough bits to retire your whole family yet, and more?”
>Applejack gave you a chortle, but shook her head. “Nope. It’s been a tad slow, but ahh guess ahh can’t complain.”
“Slow, huh? I think I can fix that..”
>She cocked an eyebrow at you as you stood up on two legs, taking a look over the crowd to find a certain somep0ny.
“..There he is. Don’t worry AJ, you’ll be swarmed with ponies when I’m done.”
>Applejack just gave you a confused look as you cut a small piece into one of her apple cakes and made your way into the crowd, after dropping back onto all fours. “Well, if yah say so, sugarcube..”

>>43254367
>Rarity had also told you a bit about the pony you were heading too. Apparently, he had quite the influence on these Canterlot ponies. Everything he liked, everyp0ny else loved.
“Hello..Fancypants, right? Can I take just a moment of your time?”
>Fancypants turned away from his adoring crowd of mares, taking a look at you. “Yes, I am Fancypants. And I don’t see why not, chap. Lovely suit, by the way.”
“Thank you, sir. Now, my friend told me these cakes here are one of the best made in Equestria, but I’m not so sure. I see you’re a man of exquisite tastes, and wanted to get your opinion on it first.”
>You gave him a smile while you held the cake up to him. Fancypants looked you and the cake over one last time before giving you a nod. “Of course. Let us see what all this fuss is about.”
>He took the cake into his hooves and took a small bit into it. You could practically see his eyes light up as he did so, and he went back for more, finishing it in a few seconds.
>”I dare say, these ARE one of the most delicious cakes I have eaten in my entire life. Your friend seemed to be correct. Now, who made these delicious treats?”
>You pointed a hoof in Applejack’s direction. “That fabulous looking mare over there with the green cart?”
“Yup, that’s the on-“
>The crowd behind Fancypants rushed past you, all stopping in front of Applejack’s cart and practically waving bits at her to get some of her foods.
>Applejack waved her Stetson at you with a grin on her face and you returned it with a hoof, laughing as you made your way into the night. She was going to have a busy night ahead of her.

>>43254369
>It took you sometime to find her out in the gardens, but all you had to do was follow the sound of somep0ny singing.
>You push a branch aside and stepped under it, and sure enough, there was Fluttershy. She seemed to be singing at some nearby trees with birds in it, but they didn’t seem to want to come out and just ignored her.
“Hey Flutters, no luck with the animals yet?”
>Fluttershy flinched a bit when you talked, but calmed down when she noticed it was just you. “O-oh. Hey Anonymous. No, I’m not having any luck at all..”
>That was strange. Usually, Fluttershy was the best pony you knew with animals, but these ones seemed to be shyer than she was.
>Her eyes started to tear up. “I-I just wanted to see the Meddowlarks and the Wallaroos..but I don’t think they want to see me..”
>Oh god, no. You don’t think you could handle a crying Fluttershy. C’mon Anon, think..
“Wait, Fluttershy! I think I might know something that can do the trick.”
>Fluttershy looked up at you with hope in her eyes. “You do? But I thought you weren’t any good with animals, Anon..”
>That was true. You were never really good with any animals. Hell, you couldn’t even afford to keep one long-term, but you did learn a thing or two from someone who was good with them.
>She even reminded you of Fluttershy, in a way, and you don’t think your heart could handle seeing her cry.
“I picked up a few things from somep0ny that was. I haven’t done this in a long, long time, so it might take a moment.”
>Fluttershy silently watched you as you pursed your lips, trying to get the tune you had in mind perfectly.
>How long since you had heard it? Ten years? Possibly more? Your heart felt heavy as you started to whistle, but you didn’t stop.
>The whole garden seemed to fall silent, all ears were on you. The notes sounded a bit off, but that was okay, you were never great at doing it as she was.
> The sound could only be described by one word, beautiful. The whole thing was bittersweet to you. A rush of memories that you had pushed somewhere in the back of your mind came flooding over you as you finished it up.
>Flocks of birds had circled around you and Fluttershy as you wrapped it up, along with a few spider monkeys, Wallaroos, and other exotic creatures.
>”Wow! That was amazing, Anonymous! I never knew you could do something like that before. Who did you learn to whistle like that from?”
>You gave Fluttershy a smile, still trying to keep your appearance up, but inside you were hurting. You thought you had moved on, you wished you had, but a small part of you still clung on to her, like sand falling through your fingers.
“Just a friend, Shy. A friend I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time with…Excuse me, I gotta..head to the bathroom. I’ll see you later.”
>You quietly exited the gardens as Fluttershy and her new friends whistled back the tune you had taught them, the sounds freshly echoing in your ears.

>>43254372
>The night finally started to die down a bit as you made your way up to the stairs where Celestia and Twilight had been talking. Looks like all the ponies had shown up for the party, and they had all been greeted.
>Even with what Luna had told you, the sun goddess resting her eyes on you still unsettled you, making you a little nervous.
“Hey there Princess, hello Twilight. I hope I’m not interrupting anything?”
>Twilight shook her head. “No, we were just talking about the times I’ve spent in Ponyville and things I’ve learned, stuff like that.”
>At least Twilight didn’t need help with anything. All she wanted to do was spend time with her teacher, Celestia.
>They continued the conversation where they left it off at, talking about advanced magics with each other. You would have tried to include yourself in it, but all of it went way over your head.
>You let them keep on talking for a several minutes afterwards, but you had to interrupt them at some point. You needed to talk with Celestia.
“Celestia, if it’s not too troublesome, may I have a word with you? Alone?”
>She gave you a nod and the room was soon evacuated, guards and all, including Twilight. You had to do a bit of persuading with her, but she still left all the same.
>”Want did you want to speak about, Anonymous?”
“Well, I..I know that you don’t exactly trust me, heck, you might be even a little afraid of me, but I want to convince you that I’m not a threat. That I’m just a regular..pony, like everyone else.”
>Celestia narrowed her eyes at you, taking in what you said. “I see Luna has had a few words with you. Afraid of you? No, I am just worried about my subjects, and the elements. My ponies.”

>>43254375
>”And you are NOT just a regular pony, the fact remains that you are quite unique. One of a kind. I also do not know what you are capable of, as you are not of this world.”
“Capable of? I’m harmless! I wouldn’t hurt anyp0ny! If I wanted to do that, I would have joined the changelings at my execution, but I turned them down. Or do you not remember?”
>”That was..necessary. I fear history will repeat itself, and there will be a war upon us soon. I had to make absolutely sure you were not just using them, and they trusted you.”
“Why are you still watching me, then? I’ve seen your guards around. I am not your enemy, Celestia.”
>Celestia’s face got closer to your own. It was..intimidating, to say the least.
>”No. You are your own. I’m sure my sister has already filled you in on the details of it. You’re a bomb, Anonymous, waiting to explode. How long until you give into your own desires? Greed, power?
“I..I wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyp0ny. Even if it meant ending myself, I would do it.”
>Celestia drew back when you said that. You guess she hadn’t been expecting an answer like that. “We shall see about that. Now, is that all, or did you want to talk with me about something else.”
“..No, that was all. Bye, princess.”
>You didn’t even bother to bow like you had done with Luna. Instead, you just hurriedly left the room right away, passing by a Twilight Sparkle.
>”Well? How did your talk go with the Princess?”
“It was..okay. I don’t really want to talk about it that much. We’ll talk later back at Ponyville, alright?”
>Twilight gave you a nod and you left her to be alone with her teacher. You needed to calm your nerves a bit, relax.

>>43254377
>It was late into the evening now, some ponies even heading back to their homes.
>You make your way through the crowd to reach Rainbow, who’s waving off the Wonderbolts as they make their way into the starry, night sky.
“Get in with them yet?”
>Dash dropped her head and turned it to the right to look at you, a frown on her face. “Nah, I tried to get a few words in with them, but they’re famous ponies after all. Everyp0ny wanted to talk with them.”
“So it was a lot like last time, huh? Don’t worry Rainbow, I know you’ll get in with them someday. You’re the best flyer in Equestria! They’ll see it, just like I do.”
>She gave you a grin at that. “Duh! Of course I am, it’s just a matter of time. I just gotta be patient…which I suck at.”
You chuckled, to which you got a hoof to your side. “I’m serious, Anon! I don’t think I can wait any longer! It’s killing me!”
“I know, I know, but you just have to wait. I’ll help you get in, and I’ll be there for you when you do.”
>Rainbow looked up into your eyes. “Promise?”
>You rubbed her mane a bit with a hoof, chuckling.
“Yeah, promise. I always keep my word. Besides the Wonderbolts, how’s the night been going? Boring?”
>She gave you a nod. “Yeah, way boring. But..I know something that could help make my night a lot better.”
>You quirked an eyebrow at her, but you already had a good idea on what it was.
“Oh? And what would that be?”
>Rainbow Dash gave you a shy smile and led you through a few rooms, eventually ending up in the ballroom.
>The room was huge with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, huge windows on each side to let the moonlight in, and a nice classical orchestra playing on the stage.
>There were already several pony couples about, dancing with one another. You saw Dash open her mouth to speak, but you stopped her by raising up a hoof.
“No, I’ll ask you. I want this to feel as real as possible. Alright…Rainbow Dash, may I have this dance?”
>You knew it was a little corny, but you didn’t care.
>Rainbow gave you a small nod and, even in the darkened room, you could tell she was blushing lightly. “Y-yeah. Let’s..”
>You led her down to the dance floor with her hoof in yours. When you reached it, you both put a hoof on each other’s shoulder, head on the other one.

>>43254379
>It was a bit hard to get into at first, but you both got into a good rhythm, moving your hooves to the beat.
>The both of you kept your eyes on each other the entire time. You had never really noticed before, but when her mane hit the moonlight, it shown brilliantly, like a rainbow of its own.
>You drew back a bit, and couldn’t help getting a little lost in those rose colored eyes of hers, but snapped out of it at the end of the dance.
>There was a strange kind of feeling going on in your chest, one you couldn’t quite put your finger on. You hadn’t felt something like it in years..
>You participated in a couple more dances with Rainbow, just enjoying each other’s company during the night.
>It had to end at one point though, you and Dash finishing up your last dance for the night. It was getting late and it seemed like the Gala was finally drawing to a close, ponies leaving to head back to their homes. Rainbow’s voice stopped you from leaving, though.
>”..Hey, Anon. Can I..ask you something before we head out?”
“Sure, Rainbow. You can ask me anything. We practically live together, I don’t mind.”
>She gave out a little laugh and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, but you could tell she was nervous. “Yeah..right. I was just..wondering, y’know…How do you f-“
>You both broke apart, jumping at the sudden noise coming from the main room of the castle. “What was that?!”
“I don’t know..it sounded like somep0ny fell and broke something. C'mon, let’s check it out!”
>Rainbow and you sprinted ahead, rushing towards the source of the noise. You had a bad feeling about this, especially after seeing the few ponies who were still in the castle running away from the noise, and the guards towards it..
>The doors were already open for you two when you arrived, the both of you halting at the sight ahead.
>There were several guards in the room, along with all the other Elements, all looking at Celestia.
>She was on the floor, unconscious, with blood slowly pooling around her head.
>Along with..
>”Anonymous. I told you we would meet again.”
>None other than the Queen of the Changelings stood before you, Sillis, a hoof settled on Celestia’s head.

>>43254382
https://pastebin.com/mZuZudsL

>Sillis. You knew you were going to confront her at some point in time, but why did it have to be now?
“You. What are you doing here?!”
>She gave out a shrill laugh. “Oh, many reasons. I suppose the simplest one would be revenge for being thrust out into the badlands. Thousands of our people died out there, starvation and sickness taking them..but we have survived. And have returned.”
>It was hard not to feel pity for them. The changelings corrupted by something they couldn’t control, and then banished and left to die because of it.
>But they were threatening your home. Your new home. And if their plan of revenge played out like you thought it would, everyp0ny you knew would be dead.
>Sillis grew a cruel smile on her face. “And now we will return the favor to the ponies you love and care for so much, Anonymous. The ones left alive after this, anyways.”
>Damnit! Why did it have to be like this? You didn’t want to hurt any of them, even if they had ill intentions in store for you and your friends.
>Luna abruptly entered the room, quietly focusing on the situation as her own personal guards following behind her hooves.
“Sillis, please! It doesn’t have to be like this anymore, changelings and ponies at each others throats. We can work something out, have things go back to the way they used to be!”
>The queen stared at you for a moment, the smile quickly changing to that of a sad frown. “..No. It is far too late for that now. A long time ago I might have accepted your offer, but millenniums in those forsaken badlands have changed us. The time for peace is over.”
“Then at least leave! I..I don’t want to have to fight you. Any of you..”
>Sillis chuckled at you. “Even if we did leave, we would be hunted down and executed for what I’ve done to the ponies’ precious princess.”
>She looked you over with a questioning glance. “And fight us? You are STILL foolish enough to side with these ponies? They tried to kill you, Anonymous. If it were not for my intervening, you would not be standing here right now.”
“That…That isn’t true! I was never in any true danger! My friends would have saved me.”
>Sillis raised an eyebrow at that. “Really now? Don’t be so delusional, your so called ‘friends’ are just using you. They were saving you for the wrong reasons, unlike me.”
>”They might have been able to reach you in time, but have you ever stopped to think Anonymous, what if they hadn’t?”

>>43254406
>You knew Sillis was just trying to play you, make you doubt yourself and your friends..but it was stating to work, the littlest bit of doubt was starting to edge its way into your mind.
“Then…I’m sure Celestia would have stepped in and-“
>”HA! You think Celestia would have saved you? The sun goddess isn’t exactly known for her sympathy of changelings, even a half one such as yourself. She would have let you hang and be happy about it, too. Here, I’ll even let you ask her yourself..”
>Sillis leaned down, talking directly into Celestia’s ear as she pushed around her head, trying to wake her up. “Oh Celestia! Your audience awaits you, and it would be so rude as to make them wait. Such a sleepy head.”
>Luna let out a growl as Sillis took a hoof away from the princess’ head, letting it splash back into the small puddle of blood oozing around her. Rainbow and her friends remained silent, but you could see the looks of anger spread across their faces.
>”How uncouth. You really have to improve your manner’s Celestia, and I think I know just the thing that will do it.”
>Sillis shot a bolt of magic into her side, making Celestia’s head bolt up, face contorted in pain as she screamed out.
>”There we are! Finally awake, Celestia. I thought we had lost you for a moment there. We can’t have that, now can we?”
>She chuckled to he8rself as Celestia glared. “And don’t try any funny stuff, or I’ll break that pretty little horn of yours off.”
>As if to put emphasis on it, Sillis moved a hoof over to Celestia’s horn, putting a bit of pressure on it which caused her to wince. “Hmm. What were we talking about? ..Oh, yes. Anon’s execution.”
>The changeling queen pushed Celestia’s face over to you, a look of surprise played out across her face. “Go on Anonymous, I’ll give you the honor.”
>The air in the room was thick as you stared back into Celestia’s eyes, trying to think of the right words to say. Everyone was staring at you; even the guards in the room threw a couple glances your way.
“..Is..is she telling the truth? If they hadn’t come to my rescue, and if Sillis hadn’t shown up..would you really have let me die?”
>Dead silence. Nop0ny dared to talk while Celestia tried to find the right words to say to you.
>After a few long minutes of silence, she started to open her mouth to speak.
>“I will not lie to you, Anonymous.” Her eyes focused on yours as she spoke, never breaking contact. Not once.

>>43254411
>Despite the circumstances, Celestia was talking to you like she had done this a million times over, as if you were just a guest over for dinner.
>”Yes. If Sillis hadn’t shown up, and if the elements had failed to rescue you, I would have let you hang.”
>Sillis’ mouth formed into a smug smile, while you and the elements stared at Celestia with shock and disbelief. All you could do was mutter out the only word that came to mind.
“..Why?”
>”Why? You are a changeling, Anonymous. That should be enough reason in itself.”
>That..That was her reason? Because you were a stupid CHANGELING?
>Your felt your face flush, contorting into one of pure anger. For several moments you stayed like that, unmoving, doing your best to hold back yourself.
>Twilight was the first to break the silence. “But princess..I’ve spent time with Anonymous. He’s not..he isn’t evil! Even if he IS part changeling..”
>To Twilight’s surprise, her mentor gave out a short laugh at what she had said. “You do not understand the true nature of the changelings, Twilight. They do not feel. Not like us. They love and care for no one, not even each other. They-“
>Sillis covered Celestia’s mouth with a hoof. “Don’t you see, Anonymous? This is the princess all these ponies look up to, who leads them!”
>”I will give you another chance to come back to us. Come, be by my side and we will rule over these ponies! We will have retribution for the injustices the ponies have done to us!”
>She smiled at you, holding out a hoof towards your direction. You felt your head start to tighten, and suddenly the proposition become more alluring than it should have been to you.
>It was almost as if your hooves started to move on their own, as you suddenly found yourself slowly inching your way over towards her.
>You came to a stop in front of Celestia as Sillis gave you a warm smile. “And you will be the first to have your retribution, Anon. Kill the sun goddess, and you will truly become one of us!”
>A hot, stinging pain hit you, filling your mind. It was as if the anger you had for the princess had suddenly just amplified.
>Deep down, you knew you wanted this. She had wronged you, tried to take you away from your new life and friends. If given another chance, she’d try and kill you again!
>Now Celestia wouldn’t have that chance. You could see the sadness in her eyes as you brang a hoof above her head, but also some anger.

>>43254416
>She hated you, you could feel it. It wasn’t for anything you had done, it was just for being. Existing. You dropped the hoof you had in the air down towards the sun goddesses head.
>”Anon, wait!” It was Rainbow. You felt your whole body stiffen and you stopped, hoof merely centimeters from connecting with Celestia’s head.
>”Just think for a minute about what she’s saying! You’re better than this, Anon. I know you’re better than this! This..this isn’t the Anon I know.”
>Her voice broke through your hazy mind, moving through all thoughts of anger. It was as if your thoughts had suddenly become clearer and you could think straight again.
>You shook your head to try and your clear thoughts more while remembering what Luna had told you about Sillis having a ‘hold’ of sorts on her minions. For whatever reason, it must work on you too.
>The changeling queen frowned as you took a step back from her, dropping your hoof to the floor. “What are you doing, Anonymous? You heard what Celestia had said. She nearly killed you, for just being what you are!”
“Don’t you think I know that? I don’t like her, and what she did was cruel and evil, but I don’t want to kill her.”
>Sillis scowled as you took another step backwards. “Then why?! Why side with those ponies after what they did to you? Tell me!”
“My friends, Sillis. They’re not using me, and even they were, I don’t care. I’ve only been in this world for a small time, but they’ve already made it feel like home.”
“I feel sorry for you, for everything that has happened to you and your changelings, for all the misdeeds done against your race. I am truly sorry, but I can’t let you do this. These ponies..my friends. I can’t let you hurt them.”
>You stood tall at the end of your little speech, trying to look brave as you stared into Sillis’ deep, hateful eyes. You could practically feel the anger pouring out of her from where you were.
>”Even he wishes your defeat, changeling queen! There is no way you ca-“
>The entire room is filled with a loud crack as Sillis buries her back hooves into Celestia’s head, knocking it against the already blood-stained floor.
>Her chest heaved in and out. Good. Celestia wasn’t dead, but she was definitely not getting up again in that shape.
>Your gaze fell back onto Sillis, noticing the green fire practically pouring out of her presence. “No! You WILL listen to my demands Anonymous; No one defies the changeling queen! I will make you kill your friends, and then the princesses will be next!”

>>43254420
>As soon as she finished her sentence, you felt your body stiffen and lock up, that familiar hazy feeling flooding back into you mind, but it seemed so much more worse now than it ever had been.
>You tried to move, do anything, but it was no use. Your body was now no longer your own.
“What the hell..are you doing to me?”
>”What I should have done from the very beginning.”
>You felt your body twist on its own, turning around to meet the faces of your startled friends. Even with you using every bit of strength and willpower you had, it only slowed you down. All you were now was just Sillis’ puppet.
>It was agony fighting against the changeling queen’s grip, like your head was in a vice grip and every time you tried to break free of her control, it only squeezed harder.
>Rainbow took a step back from you, but you took another towards. “A..Anon?”
>The strain of fighting against Sillis was starting to get to you, clenching your teeth in pain. She was strong – stronger than you.
“I can’t..fight her..too strong..just..run!”
>Dash froze in place, wide-eyed as you rose up a hoof and slammed it into her jaw. She careened backwards, falling onto her side, and you moved onto her just as fast, dropping another hoof into the side of her head.
>You could practically hear the pops and cracks as you did so. “W-..wait! Anon, please! You can fight he-“
>Rainbow didn’t have enough time to finish her pleading as you shoved a strong hoof into her gut. She coughed up blood, most of it spraying over your face.
>Horrid. That was one word to describe what you were doing. No matter how much you begged, no matter how much you fought, it was useless. Sillis was pulling all the strings.
>And now she was going to make you kill the first friend you ever had in this world. Flashbacks of memories washed over you, remembering all those flights you and Rainbow had together, all those dances, the late nights you two spent together alone.
>You felt yourself start to tear up as you brought your hoof up again. This was different than it was with Celestia. Dash actually cared about you and you her. You practically spent all of your time in Equestria with this mare.
>The sound echoed throughout the main hall as you brought down the final blow. The marble floor cracked beneath the force of your hoof.

>>43254423
>”That was a might bit close, Twi!”
>Rainbow let out a gasp, still alive, as Twilight had moved her to the side with her magic, just before your blow had connected.
>Twilight and the others stood in front of you, blocking you from reaching Rainbow. Why? Why didn’t they just run?
>”Sillis is just controlling you, Anon! You have to fight her, get control back over your body!”
>You shook your head. Sillis had you in her grasp, and you were too weak to break way from it.
“I tried, Twilight. She’s too strong. Just..just run, go somewhere safe! Get everyp0ny out of Ponyville and leave!”
>Despite your words, they continued to get closer to you. “No Anonymous, this is our fight too. It doesn’t matter that Sillis is stronger than you; you have friends to help you. Remember?”
>The five circled around you, drawing close to you. Rainbow soon joined them, standing up shakily, but made her way over to you. “Don’t leave me out of this!”
“What are you..?”
>The six mares drew into you, their bodies connecting with yours. They were so..warm.
>It was a strange feeling, but it was as if something was flowing into you from them, once again clearing your mind.
>Whatever they were doing, it was definitely working. You felt your body start to loosen as you gained control of it, having blown away any influences Sillis had over you.
>They all drew back from you, smiles on their faces. You tried to return it, but ended up giving a sad frown after seeing what you had fully done to Dash.
“I’m so sorry, Rainbow. I didn’t..I wasn’t-“
>She brought her body into yours once more, giving you a hug. “Don’t be. That wasn’t you, it wasn’t your fault..now let’s return the favor to the pony it was!”
>You broke apart, each of you staring down Sillis. She met all of your gazes, unflinching.
>“You are weak, relying on each other to overcome obstacles. I will show you true power; the power only changelings can posses! This castle will be mine, and then your precious Ponyville!”
>Luna stepped forward while all the guards started to encircle her. “No, that is where you are wrong, changeling. We ponies might rely on each other, but that only makes us stronger. This allows us to live in harmony together, and defend it from anyone who seeks to destroy that harmony!”

>>43254426
>She stomped her hoof to emphasize the point, but it only made the changeling queen chuckle, smug grin resting on her face.
>“And that is why the white one is laying on the floor, and I am not. You are all fools, but do not worry, it will all end soon enough. I might even let one or two of you live to work in the mines.”
>The grin she was holding only grew bigger as the guards drew closer. Her horn flashed green, but it only lasted for a second. What the hell was she..?
>Nearly more than half of the guards turned on the others. Most of the guards were able to jump back and get away, but a few already had fangs buried deep in their necks.
>The changeling guards drew back, flashing a brilliant green flame as they changed back to their usual forms.
>This was bad. The real fighting hadn’t even started and you were already outnumbered.
>Sillis’ laughed pierced through the hall, echoing through the castle. “Now don’t you see? This will be a one-sided fight, with all the advantages in my hooves. For such a long time I have been preparing for this day.”
>Her eyes settled on you, making a shiver run down your back. “And I owe it all to you, Anonymous. If not for you, this plan would have never worked. Even if you are against me, you are still working with us, in a way.”
>”At least you weren’t completely useless. I knew letting you roam around Ponyville would be a good idea. I can practically feel it from here, all those emotions you’ve absorbed during your time here..”
>Sillis seemed to breathe in; drinking in the emotions you’ve collected during your time in Equestria. It didn’t hurt, but it felt definitely felt wrong, as if a piece from you was being taken away. When it was over, you couldn’t help but feel as if your emotions were now a bit more..dull.
>”Mmm. My magic was starting to get a little bland. Truly, Anonymous, you are my greatest creation. Changelings cannot take emotions from one another, but you are the exception to that.”
>”Even though you are against me, in the end, you still helped bring about the destruction and death of your friends. Perhaps you will find some penance in knowing that.”
>You knew she was just trying to push your buttons, get you angry, but it was definitely working. You were fuming.

>>43254429
>Sillis leaned down, hissing into Celestia’s ear. “Don’t worry princess, I haven’t forgotten about you. Now what shall I do to you..Ah, yes! I know just the thing!”
>She grabbed a hold onto Celestia with a hoof as her jaws popped, allowing her mouth to open wider than they should have been able to. She spinned the sun goddess, encasing her in a dark green webbing as the sickly green thread shot out of her mouth, much like a spider would have.
>When she was finished, Sillis lifted the sac up, sticking it onto the ceiling so it would not get in the way, and then turned to look at you and the elements.
>”Oh, and don’t even think about going for those horrid elements.” She stomped a hoof, and with a wave of her horn, the main hall door was blocked by a wall of green fire. “I am not dull; many of my changelings are blocking them off as I speak. I have put nearly everything into consideration for this battle.”
>Twilight cursed. It seems that had been your last chance to avoid a huge fight. You were more worried about the girls than anything else.
>Had they killed before? They had fought the changelings before, but it sounded more like a joke than an actual fight, with Pinkie blasting changelings with a party cannon.
>No. You would handle it. You, Luna and the guards would get your hooves dirty. There was no need for them to do that, even if the things you were fighting were essentially just feeling less drones.
>It seemed like ages, both sides staring each other in anticipation for the incoming battle. Each side waiting on the other to make the first move.
>One of the royal guards was the first to act, charging ahead with other guards behind him to meet the changelings dead-on.
>You and the elements brang up the rear, while Sillis and Luna took to the air. At first it seemed like you would win, the changelings didn’t seem that skilled in combat, but as their numbers started to dwindle more burst through the windows, quickly surrounding you.
>Whatever skill they lacked in combat, they definitely made up for in numbers. This was going to take longer than you had hoped it would.

>>43254433
>Foolish. You were foolish to believe you even had a chance to win. You’d all be lucky if you were even alive after this.
>The fighting turned to hell quickly, changelings and ponies biting and kicking at each other, some shooting off bolts of magic at each other while others took to the air.
>At first it seemed like you would have won, but the changelings quickly threw away any hope you had left.
>Sillis must have brought every single changeling she had at her disposal. It certainly seemed that way.
>You hardly dented their numbers. The only thing you were accomplishing was wearing yourselves down. The fighting had taken a toll on yourself, deep scratches and scorch marks from magic littering your body.
>Only you and Luna where left standing, but she looked even worse for wear than you had. Sillis looked practically unscathed, but the fight with Luna had taken a lot of stamina from her.
>Not that it mattered, you and the moon goddess were back to back, staring at the encircling wave of changelings as you tried to catch your breath.
>The changelings fought dirty, aiming a blow whenever the opportunity presented itself, whether it was a scratch, a bite here and there, or a jab.
>The elements had lasted longer than you had thought they would have, but they couldn’t have kept fighting forever. Exhaustion wore them down, slowly, just like it was doing to you.
>At least they weren’t dead. The changelings seemed content with them being unconscious, focusing on anyone still up and fighting instead, which would be you and Luna.
>A path parted through the wave of changelings in front of you. Luna never saw it coming, the bolt fired from Sillis’ horn striking her in the back of her head.
>She dropped next to you, a loud thump echoing throughout the room. You slumped to the ground as the changelings made their advances towards you.
>Failure. It hurt, not that you were going to die once again, but that these ponies that you had come to love would be. Sure, they had flaws, but humanity had much worse ones.
>You knew you were going to die and then, at that moment, you felt it. A whisper. Not from someone around you, but it was..inside of you.

>>43254436
>It was faint, but you heard it. It told you of power, power that you so very much needed to protect these ponies you loved.
>Luna’s warning danced around in your mind, but you threw it aside. If it meant saving them, then you would gladly take any consequence for it thrown your way.
>You breathed in, taking any and all emotions around you. They were faint at first, but you could feel them, and you kept tugging, bringing more into you.
>It was strange, as if you could..’taste’ the emotions going into you. Most of them came from the mane six, but you felt something coming from Luna too. Odd.
>Now you concentrated your mind again, thinking of yourself as a unicorn. It was the only plan you had, the last shot at survival.
>This time it was different. You don’t know if it was because of your exhaustion and injuries, but the horn piercing through your skull seemed more painful than any other time before.
>A green light shined around your horn, the light growing and magnifying as your horn finished. But you didn’t stop there, you continued to grasp at any emotions, doing anything to just make your magic that much stronger.
>All the magic in the air and room from the previous fighting seemed to spark something inside of you, igniting the dormant magic power lying within you.
>It practically tripled the glowing around your horn, startling the changelings around you. They started to double back away from you as sparks started to shoot off from your horn.
>You had little to no control over the magic rising off of you, but that didn’t matter. All you had to do was point at something and shoot, that much you could do thanks to Twilight’s teachings.
>The changelings parted, making a path for you as you made your way over to Sillis, who was watching you with an amused expression. “You really think you can beat ME? Queen of changelings? An alicorn? Fool. You might be able to do a bit of magic, but it cannot compare to the real thing.”
>”Now minions, finish him! End his pathetic life!”
>For whatever reason, they didn’t attack you. It was as if they were scared of you, or more so of the magic sparking off of you. The only thing they did was back away from you more.

>>43254440
>”..Useless. All of you! Useless! Fine then, I will finish this myself!”
>A dull green light encased her horn. It didn’t look as strong as when the fighting had first started, like she was finally starting to wear down.
>You could see her strain, but she was able to pull off the spell nonetheless. A green spout of flamed washed over you. The magic seemed to make it cling to your body, burning at your skin and hair.
>It hurt, flesh bubbling and boiling, the flame eating away at your skin, but you didn’t dare stop. You continued to feed emotions into yourself, even the negative ones, anything that could make your spell just a bit stronger.
>It had to be strong enough, you had to be sure that no matter what, Sillis did not walk away from this. That could not happen.
>A hint of fear flashed across Sillis’ eyes as you dragged your hoofs across the marble floor, the fire so intense that it burned you hooves, leaving behind blackened goo from every step you took.
>She backed into a wall as you drew closer. She was too tired to use any more magic, or be able to fly away. Pure terror and panic light up her face. “What the buck..are you?”
>You felt a small smile spread across your face, even as your body screamed at you in agony, telling you to stop. You didn’t listen.
>Aiming the horn at Sillis’ cowering form, you readied all of your magic to fire off at once.
>A voice echoed out behind you, making you hesitate for a moment. You knew it was one of the elements, but your ears were so burnt that you couldn’t hear properly, and even if you wanted to see who it was, your eyes were practically bubbling in their sockets.
>No, instead you focused on the changeling in front of you. This had to end. If she escaped, then everything would repeat itself over and over, until one side fell.
>This way, you were making sure that side wasn’t yours.

>>43254441
>You dropped to a knee, capping the spell off. Your body was giving out, life leaving you, but you pushed forwards anyways, forcing yourself with pure will to drive on. Not even death would stop you from saving your friends.
>The spell shot off and out of your horn, colliding into Sillis’ chest. Besides her eyes bulging, nothing happened for a moment. The spell seemed to have wrapped around her, and then was absorbed into her.
>You dropped to another knee. You had..failed. But how? What went wrong?
>It was subtle at first, and hard to tell because you could barely see, but Sillis was..burning. At least on the inside.
>It started from her hooves up, body slowly disintegrating into something that resembled ash. She gave you one last glance, and it was hard to tell what the look on her face was, but it seemed like..peace?
>The ash fell into itself, scattering around the floor. Now that was all that was left of her.
>You fell forward, body dropping onto the ground. Finished. It was over.
>The dull thudding in your chest started to slow down as you closed your eyes. It hurt to leave these ponies you called friends, but your time, as short as it may be, was over. You were never meant to be here anyway.
>Maybe it was a magical experiment gone wrong, maybe when you were dead someone had pulled your soul away and put it in this body, or maybe someone had just seen fit to give you a second chance at life again.
>Whatever the case, did it truly matter? At least you’d be leaving this world a better place. Maybe it was better that way, that you were dieing anyway.
>The thudding in your chest stopped. The changelings in the room, with their queen gone and no real objective in sight, fly out and away from the castle, returning to their homes in the badlands.

>>43254441
https://pastebin.com/iFfHfnrh
(alternate version)

>The spell finishes, and you aim your horn directly at Sillis. This was it. You were going to kill Sillis and save your friends’ lives.
>But then..why were you hesitating? She threatened you, threatened friends you care about. There was no doubt in your mind that she was going to go through with whatever she had planned if you did not stop her.
>If that was so, then why couldn’t you bring yourself to kill her?
>The spell around your horn fizzled out as you dropped onto the ground, exhausted.
>You couldn’t bring yourself to kill her. No matter how hard you willed yourself to, you were not a killer.
>Sillis’ confused eyes stared into yours as you raggedly breathed in and out. “What are you..why didn’t..?”
>All you could manage was a short, hacking laugh. The nerves in your skin were so burned that you didn’t even feel it.
>Deep down, you pitied the changelings. It was not their fault for what had happened to their race. Not entirely.
>What the ponies had done to them was wrong, banishing them. Had they even tried to help the changelings?
>Maybe they just needed to be shown a bit of compassion. Needed someone who would show them back onto the right path.
>You start to close your eyes. That spell must have taken more out of you than you thought..
>Sillis stared at your body, even as it stilled. She felt something flutter in her body. She had not felt something like this in a very long, long time. Was this feeling..regret?
>Sillis shot out her wings, grabbing a hold of your body with a hoof. She launched out into the night sky, shattering through one of the castle windows. Her strength was next to non-existent at this point, but she flew on anyways.
>”Why didn’t you just kill me, you fool?”
>The changelings poured out of the window, following behind her. They were confused at her actions, but didn’t argue. Sillis was their queen, after all.
>But why was she heading toward the badlands?

>>43254442
https://pastebin.com/0VWweCsa

>Finally. It was over. Your time was over.
>Your life might not have been the longest, but you did your best to live it. On Earth and Equestria.
>Family. Friends. If only you could have spent more time with them all. It seems as though fate had another plan for you.
>Rest. That’s what you needed to do. Your life, or rather lives, had been full of hardships and tough times. It was as if someone was punishing you for a misdeed you had never committed.
>But that was all over now. Your life, it was over. Now it was time to enjoy the rest you greatly needed.
>”Anon..”
>That voice. It had been over a few decades since you had heard that voice..
>Your eyes bolted open, meeting with a sight that made you gasp. Her. Your wife.
“Are you…are you real?”
>She simply smiled, holding out a hand towards you. She was bathed in a white light, dressing in flowing white garbs. How? Why?
>”Come with me, Anon.”
>It didn’t matter, those questions. Here she was, in front of you once again.
>You pushed against the darkness wrapped around you and with every step you took, the smell of lilacs seemed to flood your senses.
>Nearly there. Warmth flooded into your body, barely a couple feet away from her. Together. You’d finally be together again. Sadly..
>It was not meant to be.
>Your body jolted, and then you were falling down into the deep, dark nothingness of the abyss that surrounded you.
>You could still see her, looking down at you with a sad frown on her face. It virtually tore your heart in half again.
>”Why are you leaving me again, Anon?”
>The smell of lilacs faded, as did the warmth surrounding your body. Instead, it was replaced by the smell of disinfectants and cold air coming out from the whirring air conditioners in the room.
>You opened your eyes once again, letting out a heavy sigh as you did. So close. You had been so close. She had been right there, standing in front of you..
>One of the hands holding onto yours clenches tighter, and you hear a small gasp to your side.
>”Daddy?”
>You smiled at your daughter, wiping off one of the tears rolling down her cheek with a hand. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.
“Shh, I’m back now. Daddy’s back.”

>>43254452
>It’s been quite some time now since the ‘incident’ at the hospital.
>The doctors, hell, everyone was surprised that you were perfectly healthy and alive after you woke up.
>You were definitely dead, the machines hooked up to you making sure that you were.
>But there you were, walking around the hospital like nothing had happened.
>They said they had never seen anything like it, the doctors. They ran a number of tests on you and it turned out that your cancer had somehow mysteriously disappeared.
>A miracle. That’s what they said. There was no other way to explain a dead man suddenly waking up.
>Whatever the case, you didn’t care. You were just happy to be with your girls again. Man, had you missed them.
>But that brought a question to your mind. Was that time spent in Equestria even real? It certainly felt real, and you remembered all your time you had spent there, but how could you be sure?
>You had heard stories of how people had died, and then woke up like you, talking about how they met ‘God’ or something.
>Whether that was real or not, you were happy that you were able to protect the ponies in your last moments.
>They were safe, that was all you cared about. Hell, it might have been a good thing that you had died. You were definitely not supposed to be there in the first place.
>You wheezed, hacking into your now frail hands. Time had really done a number on you.
>Life was leaving you, but this time was different. You were simply just dieing, having run out of time in this world.

>>43254453
>You had not spent your new time in vain, either. Everyday after you had woken up in the hospital you spent making your daughter’s dreams come true.
>And so they had. They flourished in front of your very eyes, becoming adults and achieving the dreams they had always wished for since they were small.
>The two had become very popular, selling their clothing to places like Broadway, Hollywood, and even more.
>Your daughters had also become very rich, but that didn’t worry you. The only reason they were interested in fashion was for the fashion, not the money included with it.
>And you were right not to worry; they ended up giving away most of the money to charities and whatnot.
>That was all you had ever wanted in your life, for their dreams to come true.
>Now here you were, on your death bed. Your daughters were kneeling next to the side of the bed, holding your hand in theirs. It reminded you a lot of the hospital.
>They had both grown up, each having their own families now.
>You never did end up re-marrying. The woman you once loved, still loved, could never have been replaced. To you, she was still with you. In your heart.
>Resting your head against the pillow on your bed, you sigh contently. This time was much different than the last. You were happy.
“The park..tomorrow, let’s take a break and just have a nice stroll around the park. Your mother..she always loved the strolls we had together..”
>A smile rested on your face, even as you passed on. Your two daughters shared one with you, but theirs were sadder.
>”Yeah..we would like that a lot, Dad..”

File: 1833.png (666.3 KB)

>"Zecora, my grief at my position has grown bigger, ever since I became a zigger."
>"My thick lips and rhyming quips do little to fix this crap, because my stupid striped ass can only speak in rap."
>"I fear there will never be a fix for my situation, just as you ziggers fear job applications."

>>43255054
>Anon looks down at himself in horror, lifting his striped forelegs into view
>Zecora nervously smiles, but before she can say anything
>Anon begins to smile, much wider than the situation could've possibly justified
>"Anonymous-"
"WHAT IS UP MY ZIGGAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

>>43255082
Glad he could find the bright side of it.

File: ok.png (594.6 KB)

>>43255316

File: 3809218.png (398.6 KB)

I used to hate gryphons now I look like this.

Same thing can happen to you, dweeb.
>But I hate gryphons!
That's exactly why you should become one. Turn that hate into obsession.

>>43255764
We have to ponify the pony haters first.

File: file.png (921.0 KB)

>>43241044
>As you take a step outside Sunburst’s house, you take a last peek at your van
>Trixie immediately notices so, and comes to cheer you up
>”Don’t worry, Kai. Trixie will protect your wagon with her life!”
“But… you’re not staying here”
>”Oh, well… Trixie will protect it with her thoughts, then!”, she answered while bringing her hoof to her chin
>Typical Trixie
>No matter what she says, she'll always be your favourite cartoon horse
>You see Starlight and Sunburst carrying a small bag each
>Hopefully they carry some mineral water with them
>Wait a minute, you're a horse and this is Equestria
>There's no contamination and you can drink water from almost everywhere
>As you join the others, you take a look at the sky
>You can't help but to think that in normal circumstances, you'd love to be here and get into fun adventures
>Your thinking is interrupted by Starlight gently putting her hoof on your back
>”Everything’s going to be fine, Kai”
>She shows you a warm smile that looks very sincere
“Thank you, Starlight”
>”The train station isn't far from here”
>That's a relief, to be honest
>You want to do everything possible to see Mark again
>As you silently walk following Sunburst's lead, you occasionally take a look behind, and notice how your van gets increasingly smaller with each step
>You don't see much activity around, only a couple of ponies hanging their laundry out to dry or taking a walk
>”You know, once Trixie performed in a town so small the only audience around were squirrels”
>While you appreciate Trixie's attempts to distract you, you cannot help but thinking about Mark and his wellbeing
>Eventually you see the train station on the horizon
>However, Sunburst stops abruptly in his tracks and looks at Starlight
>”I think now is the right time”
>What?
>He takes a white sheet from his bag and uses his magic to make it fly right over your head
>You don't know what his intentions are, but you're not excited about them!
“What are you doing?!”
>”Sunburst, haven't you considered explaining your intentions to Kai first?”, asked Starlight
>”Is that really necessary?”
>Sunburst sounds genuinely clueless
>Trixie immediately jumps in front of you
>”Hey! Are you trying to turn Kai into some sort of ghost?”
>Sunburst takes the sheet back to the bag
>”No! Not at all! It’s just that… I don’t think anyone should know Kai is travelling with us until we can get some answers”
>Fair point, you suppose
>Yet…
“I don’t want to look like a ghost!”

>>43256552
>”Oh, don’t worry, Kai”, said Starlight while walking towards you
>”Canterlot is full of old people. They’ll think you’re just an old lady who is cold”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better!”
>Sunburst lets out a sigh and leaves the bag at a side
>”We don’t know who might be around”
>”If there are more like you, it’s logical to think we’re dealing with something deliberately orchestrated by somepony”
>”If they see you with us, there might be consequences”
>Sadly, he’s right
>You can’t take any chances, specially when your friend’s wellbeing is at stake
“Bring that darn cloth”
>”You know, guys, you could have just asked me to give him the coat I had in my wagon”, said Trixie
>Starlight and Sunburst remain silent for a few seconds, slowly noticing the solution might have been more simple than turning you into a ghost
>”Yes, that would have been way easier”, finally said Starlight while looking at Sunburst
>”Oh well! Here it goes!”
>Right after saying that, Sunburst used his magic to put the cloth around you, tying it loosely under your belly
>”You tell me if it’s too tight”
“I look like a clown!”
>As your voices rises, the other look around to see if anyone’s heard you
>Luckily, there was just one pony around, who was leaving the station and minding their own business
>Trixie gets closer to you, trying to calm you down
>”That’s not true! You don’t look like a Kai, I mean, a Swamp… I mean, a clown!”
“You’re not being helpful, Trixie!”
>Starlight is the one to put an end to your whining
>”It won’t be long until the train departs, we’ll miss it if we don’t hurry”
>Right
>You enter the train station
>It’s small and old fashioned, just like the ones seen on the show
>It had a wooden platform, a ticket booth and a couple of benches
>There aren’t many peo– ponies around, save for two sitting on one of the benches, reading the newspaper
>”Wait a second, Trixie hasn’t brought any money! How are we supposed to pay for the trip?”
>Sunburst’s face takes on a slight smirk
>”Somehow I was expecting you’d say that sooner or later, Trixie… Don’t worry, I’ll buy the tickets for the four of us. I just hope you weren’t expecting to travel on first class”
>After thanking Sunburst, you approach the bench that is the furthest from the two ponies reading the newspaper
>You want to avoid any kind of conversation with strangers, specially while wearing such “clothing”
>Trixie follows you and sits next to you
>You initially ignore her, losing yourself in your thoughts
>You remember that lighter… Man, what you’d do for a Marlboro right now
>It’s not the time for that, Kai
>You look to your right, and see how Starlight and Sunburst are getting the tickets from the booth
>You can hear them thanking the ticket agent for their help
>Sunburst
>He’s hiding information from you
>But how much?
>Although, to be fair, you’re hiding information from him as well
>”Trixie calling Kai!”

File: file.png (507.9 KB)

>>43256555
>You get startled by the blue pony next to you
“Uh, sorry… I suppose I’m a bit nervous”
“I’ve never been to Canterlot, you know”
>Or any other place in Equestria, for that matter
>”Don’t worry, Kai. Trixie’s already told you everything’s going to be…”
>Her attempt at a calming message abruptly turns into a laugh, with her trying to contain it by putting her hoof on her mouth
“You’re thinking I look like a clown!”
>”Of course not, I swear!”
“Then why are you laughing?!”
>”Because you look like a ghost!”
>Once again, it’s Starlight the one who approaches to stop your whining
>”Please Trixie, we don’t want to draw anyone’s attention”, she says softly
>You can hear the train approaching at a distance
>The other ponies stop reading and get ready to board
>As the train stops at the platform, you take a deep breath
“So this is it”
>There’s no turning back
>You get on the train, and the last thing you hear before the doors close is Sunburst thinking out loud
>”I just hope we’re not too late”

You will absolutely be a real mare. You have the hooves, you have the coat, you have the cutie mark. You are a wonderful pony blessed by Equestrian magic and friendship into a perfect expression of Harmony.

All the validation you get is genuine and whole-hearted. Behind your back, ponies plan surprise parties for you. Your family is thrilled and proud of you, and your friends smile at your beautiful mane whenever you trot into Ponyville.

Stallions and mares alike are utterly charmed by you. Thousands of years of Equestrian magic have allowed ponies to sniff out true friendship with incredible efficiency. Even the Wonderbolts who fly high above look down at you as a natural beauty. Your friendly aura is a dead giveaway. And even if you manage to invite a shy pony home with you, they’ll stick around for hours the second they get a whiff of the fresh, sweet apple pie baking in your oven.

You will always be happy. You flash a genuine smile every single morning and tell yourself it’s going to be a great day, and deep inside you feel the magic of friendship blooming like a zap apple, ready to lift you up under the wonderful lightness of joy.

Eventually it’ll be too much fun to contain—you’ll buy some streamers, hang up the balloons, put on a party hat, and plunge into the warm embrace of a Pinkie Pie celebration. Your friends will find you, overjoyed and relieved that they get to live with such wonderful harmony and laughter. They’ll shower you with gifts marked with your true pony name, and every pegasus flying by for the rest of eternity will know a true friend lives there. Your legacy will shine and go down in Equestrian history, and all that will remain of your legend is a tale that is unmistakably magical.

This is your fate. This is the magic of friendship you chose. There is no turning back.

File: 534668.gif (289.8 KB)

>>43259855
>This is the magic of friendship you chose.
When?

>>43259855
Y-you too Anon.

>>43260686
Incredibly cute.
I like the theme of human clothes not fitting any more as a pony.

Does Twilight Sparkle have the power to be Moon Child's friend?

>>43258008
poor eric

>>43260888
Whose friend?

>>43261049
ITS MOON CHILD
WAOHOH OH OH

File: 26.05.23.00_003.png (309.5 KB)

>>43260697
I was going more for her just wearing an oversized jacket, but now that you mention it, it sorta looks more like her human clothes she can't wear anymore. Probably went too extreme on the sleeves.
I assumed she'd be more annoyed at that so I just did a quick expression change.

>>43261492
Cute blush, makes me think she's secretly enjoying being turned into the little pony.

>>43033365
>Every few feet or so, Chad was stopping, looking around very carefully at everything, before plodding on in a careful and circuitous route around every trap.
>For your part, you couldn’t see any of them.
>Sometimes you’d spot a thread across the ground, or maybe notice how the snow sloped unnaturally.
>But really it felt like the times you would play pretend in middle school.
>That said, you had all the time to look behind the group, and keep watch around fallen logs and dense bits of brush.
>Without being too-
>Hat.
>Just for half a moment, you spotted a blur of a pointy hat, and the dull gray of a stone dagger against the snow glare stuck out in your mind.
>Instantly you tapped Chad’s shoulder with a wing, and he was already moving before your feathers brushed his, standing.
>But then his head whipped left, and you saw it too.
>There must have been a dozen pointy-capped freaks over there, mustering fast, darting around trunks and bursting from the roots.
>Aisling’s entire body was glowing with that magic of hers, knives all bristling around her like a telekinetic porcupine.
>Chad was up to his full height, rifle shouldered.
>CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.
>-And three bodies were rolling in red before you took up position directly behind him, planting all four hooves in the pine needles and snow.
>In that same moment, there was a green blur on your right hoof side.
>You struck out before even thinking about it, spinning on yourself and lethally pistoning your hind legs into the offending presence.
>Your steel shod hooves crunched into the gnome’s skull, sending his hat flying along with that part of his scalp.
>In the next moment, another gnome armed with a fish hook spear, bonelessly flopped against your flank, running a trail of blood down across your broken keyboard mark.
>There was a knife in his back, aglow with magic, that gently lifted out before zipping away across the forest floor to pierce the hand of a new gnome pinning him to a tree.
>A second knife followed into his throat.
>CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.
>In that same beat after Chad took out another three on the horizon and you turned to look, there were suddenly gnomes everywhere in front of you.
>You could hardly register anything else now, every other moment a little un-man would burst into your space trying to get at Chad from behind.
>Without pause, you had to keep all four hooves moving.
>One gnome dashed against your fetlock, clinging to you for a heart wrenching moment with a spear driving at your throat before you slammed your free hoof into his face, feeling his whole body crumple under the force.
>Before you kicked his corpse away, another with a bushy beard leaped in your face, making you recoil.
>You reared your head back and lifted up on your hind legs, letting out a sharp huff as you hammered your forehoof into him, wincing when a rock struck your ribs at the same time.

>>43262020
>When you turned to look, the gnome holding the sling that threw it was already dying, clutching at a hole through his chest.
>Chad’s gun sang endlessly.
>And you kept your back to his, your silky tail tangling with his bottle brush so that you knew you hadn’t lost him in the melee.
>A glance to your right when you brought a hoof crashing down onto a screeching gnome’s back, plastering him to a rock and collapsing his rib cage, revealed Aisling was still close.
>Thank God she was.
>Her mane was a silver swirl all around her head, tail raised with a perfect showroom grace while she stood on the clean edges of her platinum hooves.
>There was a semi-circle of some thirty dead and dying little non-men in front of her, and she seemed hardly to be looking at what she struck out against.
>The whole expanse was splattered in red.
>Her eyes were glowing in half traced patterns of silver that effaced themselves before starting into another array of mathematical perfection.
>The knives swept through the air in front of her in a bubble of death where her horn pointed, only to occasionally break from each other like a flock of starlings darting around, killing indiscriminately in the growing crowd beyond.
>But the gnomes kept coming, and you were starting to sweat.
>Steam lofted off of your furry body as you punched out your wings with a scream to bash away five of the fuckers that came at you all in one charge.
>It was like they were literally popping up out of the ground.
>”THEY’RE COMING OUT OF THE GROUND.”
>Chad screeched in warning, before you felt rather than saw his wings burst from his back and carry him skyward.
>So you leaped on top of a charging gnome without another thought, pelting him headlong into a stump while flapping your wings once to get airborne.
>In the next moment, a heavy set of talons pounded down on your back to forcefully keep you from flying left, and immediately you registered it as Chad steering you away from some booby trap in the air.
>But you were too astonished to look at Chad right now, your eyes were glued to the forest floor.
>It was all gnomes.
>ALL gnomes.
>Guffawing, snarling, or dead quiet, all moving, seemingly having phased right up out of the snow and the dirt.
>Chad put away his gun.
>”Fuck.”
>Aisling was tucked under his foreleg, her legs dangling while she peered down at the horde with a placid expression.
>Her knives were weaving through the crowd while she spoke, killing and maiming but it was like pointing lots of magnifying glasses at a whole anthill.
>”Why did they not do this before?”
“False sense of security?”
>You suggested, hovering in place with the occasional wing beat.
>Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a log hung up in a maple tree, and you nudged it with a burst of magic.
>It rolled into the gnomes, smothering five or so before stopping on a boulder.
>A volley of tiny crossbow bolts seethed up from the mass, but Chad misdirected the whole lot of them with a thunderous wing beat.

>>43262022
>”I don’t get it either. The traps are obvious, the numbers advantage is stupid. Maybe they don’t really give a shit because they already turned everyone into ponies?”
>”...I think they just do not want us to reach Clapperleg.”
>Aisling responded quietly, blinking.
“They don’t care about casualties.”
>You noted, to add to her suggestion, watching as the gnomes just flat out triggered their own traps, tumbling over each other.
>Weaved wooden walls of spikes swept the crowd, more logs rolled down into it, boulders tumbled with rumbles and sharp cracks.
>The triggered traps radiated in a straight line to the mountain like a big Rube Goldberg machine, making all that work seemingly pointless.
>And in the aftermath it didn’t seem to matter at all.
>They roiled over the forest floor, starting to climb the trees now.
“Chad?”
>”Yeah, fuck this.”
>He flapped his rusty wings and rose above the treeline before setting into a gentler glide, while Aisling retrieved her knives and lay flopped in his talons for a moment, before the griffon scooped her into his chest properly.
>You followed, smashing one gnome in the chest with a forehoof as you went up through the branches, then another, before bounding off of an outstretched birch limb to take to the sky.
>There was a collective cry of disappointment from the enemies left in the snow.
>Catching up with Chad, he was intent on the mountain ahead, following the trail of set off traps straight as an arrow.
“Shit.”
>...He hadn’t deflected all those bolts earlier.
>There were five of them in his chest and Aisling was already busy picking them out, her half-lidded eyes slowly switching from the weeping wounds to Chad’s face.
“You alright?”
>”They weren’t poisoned.”
>Chad grunted back at you, his pupils dilating as they spotted something.
>”River ahead. We should touch down there and cross it on paw and hoof. I think I’m getting the idea of what kind of bullshit they’re doing.”
“What?”
>You asked breathlessly as the both of you swept forward across the sea of bare tree limbs.
>Your best friend stared straight ahead, eyes narrowing to a fine and sharp point on the horizon.
>Aisling plucked the last bolt out, and Chad’s beak clicked in response, before he pointed at one of his perfect golden orbs with a jutted out talon and answered you,
>”I didn’t see a single fucking gnome appear.”
>?
>So, what?
>While she pressed her face in close, peering all around your body to check for wounds, Aisling answered.
>”He has perfect vision. Meaning whatever they’re doing bypasses eyesight.”
>...She had a scent, it was nice. Lavender or something.
“Peripheral vision.”
>You slapped out instantly, your knowledge of the Nisse flashing through your memories.
>Chad eyed you sidelong, held a glide and started reloading his gun with his free talons while he listened.
“The whole ‘root’ of their myth is about appearing in your peripheral vision, and vanishing as soon as you really try to look at them.”
>”But we can see them.”

>>43262024
>The mare at your flank softly intoned, crawling over Chad’s neck as she leaned in and planted a bandaid on the bleeding wound cut into your mashed keyboard mark.
>”So, modified rules.”
>Came Chad’s suggestion, while he softly clicked bullet after bullet into a magazine.
>His eyes darted around down at ground level.
>You nodded, and sniffed at the air for anything suspicious while flapping to get your altitude again.
>But the smell of gunpowder was too overwhelming so you gave up.
“They can only teleport when you’re not seeing them, so they’re coming up out of every blindspot at once.”
>Immediately after you spoke Chad’s beak clacked loudly, and you heard a long low hiss escape his nares.
>”We were in a hollow. Fuck, that’s why, there was a blind ridge all the way around, can’t have been more than half a foot deep...”
>The griffon chuffed and slung his rifle over his back, staring at you with his eyes narrowed in exasperation.
>”So, from anywhere basically.”
>He qualified.
>You took a deep breath and flapped again, feeling restless.
>Your eyes darted everywhere out of a new reflex.
>But it was just empty winter forest, the trees hanging in low and starting to get wet from the gradual melt in the late afternoon sun.
“...Yeah.”
>Talons ruffled through the hair on your head and Chad soared ahead, his beak in an uncharacteristic downturn but his eyes still sharp.
>”Well fuck it. Nothing to do about it. We can fly, they can’t. We’ll just keep walking after the river to save energy, kill as many of them as possible with as little risk and exertion as we can manage. Fly away when it gets stupid. That will make it easier to confront Clapperleg if it comes to a prolonged fight, so he can’t just toss infinite losers at us.”
>There was so much you didn’t know.
>Would that really help?
>What if there was just... An infinite amount of them?
>What if they could come back after ‘killing’ them?
>What-
>You flinched and blinked rapidly as a sudden dull sting struck the end of your muzzle.
>The first thing that caught your attention was how Aisling’s eyes stared at you from over Chad’s shoulder, half lidded with one pristine brow raised, sparkling with the glow cast from her horn.
>Her lips pressed slowly into a smirk when you looked at her, and there was a seafoam blue hand in front of your face, index outstretched.

>>43262028
////

>Anonymous was becoming demoralized, Chad was frustrated and thinking of past mistakes.
>You thought to yourself, smiling back at the white alicorn flapping to regain the height she lost in her moment of inattention.
>She let out a barking laugh as your summoned hand dissipated, then grinned and summoned her own, rough hewn and white at the end of her forehoof; shaped like a thumbs up.
>Her ears were flopping around ridiculously in the wind with her unruly blonde mane.
>You stuck your tongue out an inch in response, before facing forward again.
>This was much nicer than the last flight, trying to cling to Chad’s back.
>Instead his foreleg held you snugly to his chest, pressed into the warm down, though you couldn’t help feeling like a mouse when those talons scraped over your flanks.
>Chad’s eyes slid across your face for just a second before returning to their constant intimidating scan of the terrain.
>After a beat, you spoke up,
“You remembered when Cichol teleported.”
>”If I had just been fucking smart enough to listen to Anon’s info about gnomes instead of denying they existed-”
“-Then we would have sat in the woods for three hours listening, I would have expended much more magic to keep us from freezing, so the gnomes would have just come to offer us blankets instead.”
>You finished primly with total nonsense, bobbing one of your forehooves around for emphasis.
>For a moment there was just the whistling wind, and you brushed aside the silver locks of your mane when it flapped in front of your eyes.
>Then Chad’s beak fell open and the one gilded eye that faced you narrowed as he peered down with indignant confusion.
>”That’s... That’s not even close to what would have happened.”
“It is as close to reality as what you are suggesting.”
>At that his beak snapped shut, and his eyes went to the ground again, wordlessly.
>The ensuing minutes were silent, you could feel the tension in his chest through the fluffy feathers, though his gentle yet insistent grasp of you never changed.
“Have either of you ever thought about how what you are doing now is exactly the right thing to do? Rather than thinking about all the ways what you are doing could be wrong?”
>You raised your voice to ask, smiling honestly.
“Have you thought for example, that maybe why there were so many of them all of a sudden... Is because killing Cichol will genuinely solve everything? That instead of there being too many gnomes for us to defeat, that what we are seeing is their full force reaction to an existential threat? Which we handled adequately before retreating sensibly.”
>Chad grunted, and you gasped as his talons gave your thigh an absolutely inappropriate squeeze, denting into the firm flesh.
>Instantly you delivered a cruel uppercut to the underside of his beak with your hind hoof, but he just laughed.
>”Sorry, sorry, it was an accident, seriously...”

>>43262032
>He apologized in a low tone, still focused on watching the ground, then he replied more seriously when his eye flashed to you again.
>”Nope.”
>You rolled your eyes and threw your head back in an utterly exasperated sigh, while Anonymous giggled in the background.
>”Yeah, they didn’t look like... Winners. I mean it slipped out of your mouth earlier Chad, endless losers. Think about how many we just killed, and nothing stopped us. I think your plan was just really really good.”
>She smiled, her teeth sparkling, white wings flapping once and loosing a single feather that floated in the air trapped under her, before fluttering away.
>”Last time they just caught you off guard. I mean you didn’t even know gnomes existed until the second you first saw them.”
>If Chad was truly mollified by all this reasoning between you and Anonymous, he didn’t show it on his face.
>But you felt it in how his muscles finally relaxed again, and his talons held you more delicately, less like he was pressing you into himself to protect you.
>More like holding you up, on the inflection point of his nails before their sharp ends.

Something to listen to for the fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoxWpyAQBc0

>>43083112
You are welcome.
>>43083112
Thank ya, I feel like my grasp of dialogue broke through a barrier there.

I'm back, after a busy season. Felt like a while but also not. I'm getting old.

G'day /ptfg/.

>>43262034
The
>Thank ya
was for this post >>43108308

>>43261962
NO!

>>43262034
Do you have a paste to read this. I don't remember what happened before this post

>>43262783
https://ponepaste.org/9707

>Twilight summons Anon so he can rapecorrect Glimmer
>Glimmer turns Anon into Anoncolt
>Glimmer now rapes Anoncolt instead of Sunburst
>Twilight has trouble caring enough to stop this

What a lovely morning belting out a 1200 word scene with a cup of coffee

>>43256558
Too late for what?

>>43263823
We'll see...

>>43263585
It's an eternal battle of rapists. Anoncolt must rape, it's his right as a Mongolian basket weaver. Glimmer must rape, because Glimmer. The resulting offspring has autism so concentrated that it threatens all of Equestria.

File: Colorttouble.png (1.4 MB)

I finally colored this in a way that I like so I’m reposting it. Anon getting spike to be his cholo brother

>>43264924
Shockingly adorable. Spime could pull a switch blade on me and I'd still call him spikeywikey. Atleast I'd bleed out with something adorable to look at