The Magic of Change Ch2

>It's a new day. The sun shines in the window, as always, and, as always, you are struck by the beauty of your marefriend in it's rays. Surprisingly, though, she doesn't wake up at the same time as you. That's odd.

“Hey Twiley,” you say gently, touching her shoulder. “Twiley, it's time to wake up.”

>She groans, and opens her eyes gingerly. “What time is it?” she asks groggily.

“Its 7 am, hun.” you say with a chuckle.

>”She groans again, and rolls over. “5 more minutes, ok?” You ruffles her hair affectionately.

“Alrighty. I'll come get you after a smoke.”

>You go downstairs, and Spike joins you outside for a smoke. He's tired, as usual. “So, how'd you sleep, Anon?” he asks.

“Pretty well, from the little amount of sleep I actually got.” Your face goes red as you remember some of the things you and Twilight did last night.

>”Yeah, well, I think I'm either going to invest in earplugs, or start sleeping outside. And poor Owliscious. He heard what was going and and just straight left. He still hasn't come back.

>You chuckle to yourself.

“Alright, I get it. Keep it down.” You take a long drag from your cigarette, and think back to t he events of yesterday.

>You wonder if the Royal Guard managed to catch Queen Chrysalis. Would they announce something like that to the town, if indeed they had? Thinking it over, you realize that they probably wouldn't. They hadn't even announced that they were looking for her in the first place. If Twilight hadn't told you, you wouldn't have even known about it.

>Spike tosses his cigarette in the ashtray, and goes inside, with you close behind. “Want some coffee, Anon?” he asks.

“Do I eve not want coffee?” you reply. “Black, if you would. I gotta go wake up Twilight.”

>”Woah, she actually slept in today?”

“Yeah, but only by like 5 minutes.”

>”Still, that's really weird for her.” He shrugs, and goes into the kitchen.

>Meanwhile, Twilight is already out of bed when you get up to the bedroom. Her hair is a mess, and the bedsheets are strewn haphazardly across the floor. You realize that neither of you actually slept under the covers. Twilight sees you approach, and smiles. “Maybe next time, we should take it a little easier.”

>Grinning, you nod.

“Hey, its not my fault estrus kicked in.”

>She blushes. “Well, you'd better enjoy it while it lasts, mister.” She nods to the shower. “Wanna go for round two?”

“Round two? More like round four. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if all that came out of me was a little flag that says 'BANG'.”

>But she stands up on her hind legs and kisses you, quashing any further resistance.

>It was a long shower, again.

 

>Later on, you are helping Twilight compile her notes on changelings. Spike is on a high ladder, trying to coax Owliscious down from above the bookshelf.

“Hey, did you know that while changelings can take on the appearance of anyp0ny, the can't change into a different changeling?”

>Twilight nods, not really paying attention. You knew better than to try to talk to her while she was studying, but it was a habit. Even if she didn't talk, breaking the silence every now and then kept it from becoming hopelessly boring.

>You hear a sound at the door, and get up to check it out. Twilight doesn't notice.

>Opening the door, you find Applejack, looking irritated.

>”Howdy, Anon. I got a couple'a questions for ya, iff'n ya don't mind.”

“Sure. Twilight's got her nose in a book; I'm sure she won't even notice me gone.”

>You step outside, and sit down at a nearby bench. Applejack doesn't, however.

>”Anon, I'm not accusing ya of nuthin, I hope you understand that. But, last night, the Royal Guard came 'round the farm, and they were askin' questions about ya. They wanted to know if you'd seen or done anythin' weird yesterday, when you were out pickin' apples.”

>You think about how to respond. Maybe you should just tell her about the changeling. But then again, how did they know you'd been near the forest?

“Why would they ask something like that?” you ask, deciding on the spot to keep it a secret, at least for now.

>”Ah honestly don't know. They said that there'd been some kinda disturbance or somethin' in the forest yesterday.” She shrugs. “Ah told 'em that ah didn't think you'd seen anything, or at least you didn't say anythin' to me about seein' anything weird.” She sighs, then perks up again. “Anyway, I was wonderin' if you'd be willin' to come by the barn and help out again. Of course, we'll pay ya again.”

“Let me go make sure Twilight doesn't need my help with anything, but if she doesn't, I'm all yours.”

>Applejack smiles, as you re-enter the house. Coming up behind her, you wrap your arms around her neck in a loving embrace, and kiss her cheek. Her concentration on the book finally broken, she leans into your chest, sighing.

“Applejack wants some more help at the barn today. I told her I'd check and see if you needed any help.”

>She looks up at your face. “Well, I can think of a few things I'd like to do...,” she trails off with a seductive wink. She kisses your cheek, however, and picks up her book again. “I should probably finish  translating this book though. I need to send a report to Celestia this afternoon on what I've learned so far.”

“Alright. I should be back around the same time I was yesterday.” You pick her up off the chair, dropping the book to the floor, and kiss her lips. “Don't fall asleep this time.”

>She giggles. “Don't worry. I've got Spike to keep that from happening. Right Spike?” Spike doesn't hear. He's still on the ladder, trying to get the shell-shocked Owliscious down from the bookshelf.

>A few hours later, you are alone in the southern apple fields, picking apples from a particularly tall tree. Every few minutes, you look around to see if Chrysalis returns. So far, she hasn't, and part of you is glad. Her coming back would mean trouble for everyone, not to mention the fact that she tried to assassinate Princess Celestia. As you drop the last few apples into the basket on the ground, you carefully make your way down the tree.

“Jeez, this was a lot easier coming up,” you grumble as you struggle to find firm footholds. A branch suddenly snaps, and you fall to the ground, landing flat on your back. Luckily for you,  the ground wasn't too far down.

“Fuck. Really nice, Anon.”  you mutter, not wanting to move until the pain fades.

>”Oh, so your name is Anon?” a voice right next to your ear says.

>You jump to you feet, but instantly double over in pain.

“Who said that?” you ask out loud. Pointlessly, as you had recognized the voice immediately.

>Chrysalis appears out of nowhere, still in her young form. She has a grin that says she clearly enjoyed watching you fall out of the tree.

“How did you do that?” you ask, referring to how she'd appeared out of nowhere.

>She laughs. “I was a bug in your ear. By the way, you really should clean them out. I almost got lost in there.”

>Ok, so changelings don't only change into p0nies.

“What the hell are you even doing here? Do you know that the Royal Guard is looking for you, and wants your head on a platter?” you say angrily, picking up the apples you'd knocked out of the basket.

>”Yes, I'm well aware. They haven't found me yet, and they won't, ever. I'm too smart for them.” Jeez, that freakin cocky attitude was starting to piss you off. You start to wonder, though, if her younger form is affecting her mind. She's acting rather childish.

“Why did you come back? Obviously not to steal more apples, or else you would have done it while I was in the tree.”

>She shrugs. “I was bored, and you're the only one who knows I'm here. I thought I would grace you with my presence.” She closes her eyes, and holds out a cavity-ridden hoof-thing, as if expecting you to kiss it and praise her for returning. You instead push it away.

“You need to get out of here. I don't want trouble for any of my friends. The Guard already thinks I may have seen you, and cavorting with an attempted murderer doesn't exactly help me.”

>She flinches, and get up in your face. “Wait, I'm an attempted WHAT?!” she screams. “Oh, that bitch, she'll tell any kind of lies to keep the love of her subjects; or should I say, slaves.” She continues to rant for a couple of minutes, as you try to ignore her and move to a different tree.

>”Human Anon, where did you get this information?” she says suddenly, floating around your head like a giant-ass annoying bug. You flap your arms to shoo here away.

“Someone very close to the princess, who I happen to know is not in the habit of lying.”

>She alights on one of the lower branches of the tree you are inspecting, scrutinizing your face with disturbing intensity.

“What do you want? You're lucky I don't report you to the Guard. I'm sure Mr. Smiles would love to see where you've been hiding.”

>You say the words, but as soon as they come out you know them to be untrue. If you'd wanted to turn her in, you would have done so the day before, when Jim had told you the Guard was at the bar. Or when Twilight told you about Celestia's request. Or when Applejack had asked you about it earlier. What was stopping you?

>”Oh please. If you wanted to, you would have by now. What could be stopping you, human Anon?” she says tauntingly. “Could it be that you're taken with my glorious good looks?” Your face flushes red, and you quickly turn and walk away. You didn't want to deal with her bullshit anymore.

>”Hey, where are you going? I wasn't done talking!” she yells after you, but you ignore it. Enough is enough. You'll just have to make up some excuse for Applejack.

 

>You head home with only 25 bits today, feeling bad about cutting out on work, but glad to have at least gotten away from that crazy ass changeling. Applejack hadn't been too pleased, but you promised her that you would return tomorrow and work later.

>Seeing as its only about noon, you stop by Sugarcube Corner to grab something to snack on. Mrs. Cake sells you a muffin, and another slice of fruitcake for Twilight. “I made this one with extra raisins, just like Twlight likes,” she says, handing you a bag.

“Thanks, Mrs. C. I'll be sure to let her know you made it extra special for her.”

>Mrs. Cake laughs, and shoos you out of the store.

>”Twilight? As in Twilight Sparkle?” a familiar voice says in your ear.

>You flail around for a moment, scratching at your ear.

>”Oh, stop it. Do you really think you could get rid of me that easily?” Her voice is relatively quiet because of her small form, and nop0ny else can seem to hear her. In fact, you can't even hear her voice from the other ear.

“Why are you following me? I already told you to leave me alone. And what do you want with Twilight?”

>”Do you know her?”

>You pause for a moment.

“Yes, I do."

>Chrysalis is silent for a moment. “Oh, I see. This is priceless! You're in love with her!” Even though she can't see you, your face goes red.

“So? And what if I am?” you retort, challenging her.

>”Oh, no, nothing. I just wonder if you know that you're in love with Celestia's number one puppet. Seriously, that girl does anything the princess says, and without a second thought.” She sighs dramatically.

“Shut up about her. And get out of my ear!” You yell this last part, and a bunch of passersby p0nies give you weird looks.

>”We'll just see about that. Ask her about why Celestia is hunting me down.”

“I already know,” you say quietly. “You tried to kill her.”

>She laughs again. “Really now? And she just let me go?”

>You think about it for a moment.

“I assumed there was some kind of magical fight, and your current form is a result of that. I figured you tried to kill her, she tried to defend herself, did this to you, then you limped away defeated.”

>Silence.

“Uh.. are you still-”

>”Oh, by all means, do continue this ridiculous bullshit. Anyway, just ask her about it. I'll know whether or not you do it.”