Rusk felt a large throbbing within his skull. He let out a thin groan as his body was shaken lightly. The pain roared and peaked where his horn protruded from his forehead.
He blinked open his eyes to the small dark cave. Flitter was shaking him lightly, muttering to herself.
"Sweet Chrysalis, that smarts…" said Rusk, rubbing his head with a hoof.
"You overexerted yourself, Rusk. Just rest for a bit." Her horn lit up and a soothing coldness spread through his forehead, staving off the pain. "I'm just working on numbing the pain for you, but don't expect to be performing any spells besides changing today."
Rusk sighed, then groaned once again as pain lanced across his head. Once it subsided he sat up agonizingly slowly, buzzing his wings once they were free of being pressed against his back. Flitter still had her horn up, her expression of worry animated on her face.
"So…" said Rusk, "what's today's plan?"
"Well, I guess we just have to head into town today. I think trying to find a map of the place would make more sense."
"But there is also something else that is bothering me. The town just feels… familiar. I don't know why. It could be deja vu, but…" Flitter trailed off.
"You didn't go hunting often. Maybe it was your Assessment?" Rusk prompted, making Flitter perk up.
"Yeah! This may be the place. Probably. We will just have to find a map."
An awkward silence was put upon them. Flitter broke it by sticking her head out of the mirage. "We can go now," she said, her horn finally dimming. Rusk noticed the pain was gone - basic painkiller magic was known to most magic using changelings, a basic spell.
Rusk nodded and he shakily stood up and left the cave. Flitter followed behind him as Rusk shifted into his disguise and padded onto the path to town.
[hr]
The town was bustling that day, many ponies crowding around a small market buying carrots, apples, baking ingredients and many more items. Bits were traded, words were spoken and many ponies wormed around each other in their pursuit of purchasing certain items.
Rusk and Flitter avoided the crowd, moving around the streets behind the main stalls as to not draw too much attention to themselves.
When they finally got to the other end of the market, the crowd had thinned considerably, and multiple booths including the apple, baking and a booth with a giant cardboard muffin in front of it.
"What happened?" Flitter asked the question on both of their minds. Rusk noticed the few ponies left were clearing from the market, heading all in the same general direction.
"I'm guessing the market is an early riser thing, or maybe there's something more to this," said Rusk in a low voice, starting to trot down the same direction the ponies went. Flitter followed suit.
"Interested in trying some cupcakes?" They had barely made it through half the closing market before being sidetracked. It would make them seem rude, so the two trotted up to the table, manned by an earth pony mare that had blue fur and a pink mane that swirled upwards like ice cream.
"Have a try, you two!" said the mare with gusto, pushing a split cupcake across the table. Flitter quickly took a half with her magic revealing that inside the plain looking cupcake was a small center of caramel that oozed out of its small crevice. Rusk took it in hoof and placed it in his mouth.
Immediately his face lit up. The 'plain' cupcake was actually a very nice lemon, and the caramel sauce blended nicely with the cake.
Of course, this would be pretty standard to a pony, but to changelings, sugar had a very, very different flavor - in a good way.
"This is amazing!" commented Flitter after swallowing her cupcake half, "how do you make these so well?"
"Well," said the mare, "I work at Sugarcube Corner, a bakehouse slash café. We make all kinds of these things here." Casting a glance at the empty table with the single cupcake wrapper, she sighed. "I'm going to pack up and leave back to the bakery. I hope to see you there soon!" She winked as the tugged the table cloth into a bag and hauled it onto the bag.
"Wait!" Rusk called as the mare walked off, "Where is this Sugarcube Corner?"
The mare laughed. "Just follow me."
[hr]
"So, you have two children and run a bakery?" said Flitter, "What a handful it must be!"
Mrs. Cake chuckled. "You have no idea."
The trio had made it to the house that looked like something out of candy land. Mrs. Cake pushed open the door with her nose and trotted inside.
The room was dark as Flitter and Rusk walked in, and their changeling night vision began to fade in. They caught a glimpse of ponies before the door shut behind them.
"What?" Flitter asked Mrs: Cake.
The light flicked on suddenly, making Rusk hiss in frustration. A cacophony of voices yelled something, but Rusk was not sure what they said.
Uncovering his eyes, Rusk looked around the room. Streamers hanged from the roof, balloons were everywhere and a banner with some blurry words,one of which read 'Welcome', hung above a table with sugary food.
Changelings get disoriented by sudden light. It can impair their hearing for a solid minute, and make their vision blurred. Luckily they don't break form.
"Gah!" said Flitter, now uncovering her eyes. Her pupils dilated and her ears flopped down. "This is… What is this?"
"A party, silly!" a voice said from above them. Rusk looked up to find a pink pony impossibly hovering above them. He recognized her as that pony that disappeared in a puff of smoke. "It's your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!"
A party? Rusk looked to see that the banner read "Welcome to Ponyville" and the two changeling's fake names underneath it. There was a total of about thirty ponies, most of them wearing broad smiles.
Except one. Standing next to a mint green unicorn was a certain yellow pony with blue and pink curls, her gaze resting on the two with a stern glare.
"I don't like her," Flitter whispered to Rusk. He nodded his head.
Music started playing from a gramophone placed in the corner, the thin needle in a thick record labeled 'party mix'. The ponies broke up from the rough circle around them and began to mingle, some heading towards to the food table to help themselves to some food.
The pink pony popped up in front of them. "Well, what do you think? Go and enjoy the party, it's for you!"
"It's… nice, if a bit startling," said Rusk, "Thanks for the party, uhh…"
"Pinkie Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie!" the mare exclaimed. "Now, go and join the fun!" She swung behind them and pushed them toward the crowd.
Rusk gulped. He had never been in such a tight and enclosed space before. The amount of feeling around him nearly drew him nuts. Flitter seemed to be struggling as well, he noticed.
Rusk sighed. This was bound to be a long party.
"Crimson, come have some cake!" a pony called. Rusk turned his head to find Mrs. Cake with a plate balanced on her back.
"Thanks, but I'm fine. We did kind of eat not long ago," Rusk lied.
Mrs. Cake smiled. "That's okay!" She padded off.
Rusk glanced around for a break. Glancing at a corner booth, he ducked through the crowd, sliding into it.
He took deep breaths, trying to calm the thumping in his chest. He knew that if he got too worked up he could be prone to accidentally reverting to his normal form. That would cause a lot of unnecessary complications.
"Mind if I escape too?" Flitter ducked into the booth, scooting in next to Rusk.
"I don't see why not," Rusk said, shifting a bit more so she could fit in next to her.
Flitter rested her chin on the table, sighing uncomfortably. "This is a mess. We need to find a library to get a map."
Rusk nodded. "Agreed. Let's escape here."
"Nuh uh!"
Rusk jumped out of his fur as Pinkie Pie slithered out from under the table, her usual beaming smile prominent. "This is a party for you guys!"
Flitter groaned and placed hooves over her ears. "Too loud."
Pinkie giggled. "As to answer the question you have on your minds, we have a library. Just look for the tree!"
Rusk sighed. At least Pinkie had the decency to answer the question.
But they had to get out of here. Rusk quickly thought of a fib. "Uhh… Hearth here has crowd anxiety. I think it's best we may go now before she has an attack."
Flitter glanced at him, but he looked at her with a 'play along' look.
Flitter looked at Pinkie and nodded slowly, taking a shaky breath. "It's not your fault…"
"Oh." Pinkie's mane seemed to change color. She slumped down slightly, and her expression became slightly less cheerful. "I understand… You two go along, I guess." She sniffled, taking Flitter's place in resting her head on the table as the two left the booth.
[hr]
"I feel really bad for her in a way," Flitter said, "I mean, she did spend all that time making a party just for us."
"Yeah, but any more emotion and I would have overloaded," said Rusk. "But it's behind us. Let's find that library."
The search wasn't long. A tree with a sign that had a book on it beheld the two, and what a strange sight it was! It was not every day a tree is used as a library.
Pushing the door open, a pleasant bell jingled as the two stepped inside. The atmosphere was cozy, books laid on shelves built into the pulp around them. Stairs wound upstairs, and a centerpiece stood proudly in the center.
There was a clop of hooves from upstairs. Rusk and Flitter watched as a purple unicorn rushed down the stairs, levitating an open book in her magic.
"Hello, welcome to the library!" she spoke, putting the book down on a small table. "How may I help you?"
Rusk shuffled his hooves. "Uhh… we need a map. Of here."
"A map of Ponyville?" she asked, "Sure, no problem!" the unicorn's eyes scanned the shelves, then she tugged a book down using her magic. She set it on a table standing in the corner, then levitated a notebook from said desk. Opening it, she scrawled down a few things, then shut it. "Here you go! Just bring it back in a couple weeks or so, okay?"
Rusk nodded. "Thanks." He and Flitter turned to leave, but the unicorn spoke up.
"Wait! Just… Pinkie told me you're new ponies, and, uhh, if you need anything, don't hesitate to come here."
"That would be nice, thank you," said Flitter, and the two left swiftly.
The sun had already reached its apex, the warm yet humid day's breeze gently blowing towards the forest as the two disguised changelings stepped out of the library.
"So… park again?" Flitter asked her companion. Rusk shrugged his shoulders.
"Why not?" he concurred, and the two set off at a quicker pace, heading in the general direction of the small grassy area.
"Ru- Crimson, I'd like to ask you something," Flitter began, "What was that back there, on the railroad? You used some advanced magic. Enough to overexert yourself, no less."
Rusk pondered the question. He had performed a strong combat spell to save Flitter, but he only could think of stunning spells used when their cover was blown. Perhaps he supercharged the basic spell Electrus, a stun spell that used a charge of electricity from the horn to zap their target, and made it into a close-to-lethal charge shot. Honestly, the spell was not that different from the power of the shock staffs that the changelings had.
"I don't know," he finally answered, giving into just not knowing what he did, "it just… happened."
Flitter let out a little mm-hm at what he said. "I can see the reasoning in that."
The two remained silent for the few minutes it took to briskly trot to the park. Taking a seat, the two remained in a perpetual state of idle chatter.
Rusk noticed that the mare was staring again. Her face was, instead of a glare, a perfectly flat neutral stare. It creeped him out.
Rusk wondered if the mare suspected them, but shrugged it off once again.
The two made eye contact again, but this time, a few extra ponies had gathered with her. They were approaching them with similar neutral expressions.
Flitter nudged him. "We need to go, now."
"Huh?" Rusk asked obliviously, not aware what Flitter meant.
"You can smell it."
Rusk took a deep breath, inhaling the smells. Grass, the humid air, changeling pheromones…
Wait. He remembered something the librarian had said.
"A map of Ponyville?"
Ponyville. It made sense. Ponyville was a town close to a small changeling hive branch.
Rusk turned his head to face Flitter, his eyes wide. He slowly slid off the bench.
"We need to get to the library, now."
"What do you two need?" the librarian asked, the two facing her. She was troubled by the frightened looks that the two had.
"Well, it's hard to explain, but there are c-ponies looking for us right now. We need to lay low," said Flitter.
"Is this a criminal sort of thing they're after you for?" the librarian inquired.
"No, no, it's just-"
Knock knock knock!
"Hold on," she said, "let me get the door." She trotted over to the door and swung it open with magic. "Oh, hey, Bon Bon, Minuette, Lemon! What do you need?"
Rusk peeked at the door frame, leaning slightly. There were multiple guests at the door, ponies whom Rusk recognized as the grouchy bunch that creepily watched them at the park.
"It's them," Flitter whispered into Rusk's ear.
'Bon Bon' opened her mouth and said, "We want Rusk, Twilight. Nothing else."
"Who is Rusk?" the librarian asked, "Come in, you can tell me who this 'Rusk' inside is."
The few ponies shuffled into the room. Of the other two, one was a banana yellow mare with a double-hued blue mane, and the other was blue-coated with a mix of white and blue making up her own mane.
"Who is this pony you're looking for?" the librarian asked. Bon Bon held up a forearm, sticking it at Rusk.
She then suddenly curled her fetlock, and the blue pony grasped the librarian in an aura of magic. All three dropped their disguises, hissing at the outnumbered pair.
"What is going on?" the librarian said, breathing heavily on the border of hyperventilation to breath properly in the magical grasp.
"Oh, it's just that these two have been lying to you," said the lead changeling, promptly firing a beam at Rusk and Flitter that sent them back into their natural forms.
The poor mare had quite a fright. She darted her head in between the two, trying to grasp that the ponies she knew were not quite ponies. She growled and let loose a magic blast, freeing herself from the bindings.
"WHO DO I TRUST ANYMORE?" she yelled, charging her horn for a magical blast. "WHY ARE CHANGELINGS INFIGHTING?"
"It's cause we need him. He's a prodigy, Twilight," said 'Bon Bon', "but that other one is useless. We were to dispose of her."
Flitter and Rusk's jaw dropped.
The librarian, ignoring Flitter and Rusk's incredulous expressions, glared at the lead changeling. "And?"
"Uhh, Twilight!" Rusk called. Her head swiveled round to face him, and she angled her horn to point at him.
"What?"
"You… please, just don't kill us! I literally BETRAYED my kind to save someone!" Rusk pleaded. "We aren't bad, please just believe us!"
Twilight growled. She then looked at the trio. Looking back at Rusk and Flitter, she half-muttered, "You better not be double-crossing."
She let loose the charged magical blast at the one on the right, which immediately knocked the changeling out. She rotated her head to find a magic beam slam straight into her chest, sending her flying against a shelf. The books shook and fell from it, landing in a heap upon her.
Rusk glared at the now two changelings. This was to himself and Flitter now.
He charged one of the few combat spells he knew, trying his theory out. His head began hurting like nothing he had ever felt before, but he kept putting extra power into it, igniting a ball of light on his horn.
The two changelings disguised themselves and fled, quickly slamming the library door behind them as they hastily retreated. Rusk dropped the spell, feeling the magic retract and the headache became worse. He groaned as he dropped to the ground, his head swimming with pain.
"Rusk! Why did you do that? Too much of it could've killed you!" Flitter fretted, rushing to his side to aid him.
Twilight was pulling herself out of the pile of books, glancing around the room. She laid eyes on Rusk and rushed to his side. "You okay?"
"I'hm fhie…" said Rusk, his voice slurred from gentle painkiller magic being flowed into his mind by Flitter.
"That's a relief," Twilight said, "Now, you must-"
"Twilight!" a voice of a young male echoed from upstairs. Down bounded a dragon, with purple scales and a green underbelly. He held a scroll clutched in his claws, a red strip with a golden badge on it. Twilight undid the scroll and read it. Upon reading it, her face blanched. She dropped the scroll and stared at the couple.
"You need to go, now."
