ChangeAnon, Chapter 6 - A Helping Hoof

>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.

>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.

>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.

 

 

>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.

>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..

 

 

>”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.