I groaned once again as I slowly came to. Thankfully, I was more aware of my body than when I woke up the first time, and it reminded me of what had happened, especially the pounding headache I felt and the bruise that was making itself known with each throb of my skull.

“Oooooowww… Okay, who the hell hit me, and why?” I groaned out, hoping my captor was there. I couldn’t open my eyes, since there was something covering them real tightly, so I just settled for listening. By my voice though, I could tell my disguise was gone. So whoever it was knew I was a changeling. As well, I was tied down to a chair with… Ropes, it feels like.

“Oh? I thought you knew. After all, every changeling that’s ever came into my shop has only ever come for one thing…” I got a response, as I’d hoped, but it was full of hate. Suddenly, my blindfold was ripped off, in a painful way, might I add. What stood in front of me then was a scarred changeling, though from the mane on it, and it's blue irised eyes, I could tell it was BonBon. “My capture and prosecution. Or did you not know I had a bounty on my head?”

“Uh… I only just woke up as a changeling this morning.” I replied with heavy snark. She blinked, and then facehoofed.

“Great, now I’ll have another ‘forbidden crime’ being held over my head… At least tell me you know who made you a changeling? Converts are forbidden, unless it saves a pony’s life.”

“I think it’s more of a what then a who, and the answer may involve dimensional shenanigans” I answered. “So uh… yeah. Can you let me go? I just wanted to look for a changeling that could help me learn how to use my new body.”

“...You know you sound crazy, right?” Bonbon replied. I just chuckled.

“Well, maybe I am crazy, but I’m not mentally deficient.” I shot back. “I can still remember who I am, what I am, and I can still perform advanced algebraic equations.”

“...Whatever. Fine, I’ll show you the ropes. We just gotta touch horns.” she said, though clearly she still didn’t believe me. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her when she said ‘touch horns’ though. It sounded a lot like ‘touching tips.’ Little pervy, but the way she said it still fits the action.

“Alright… just be prepared when you go diving at my memories. There’s a lot of porn, and I haven’t exactly sorted out where they sit in my mind.” I warned her. She recoiled and stared at me in shock, probably for being so blunt.

“And… how’d you know I was going to do that?” she asked cautiously.

“Because I’m crazy… Oh wait, you meant my reasoning. It’s because I can tell you still don’t believe me, and you were just looking for an excuse to get in my head. I welcome you there, because you need to see proof of my sanity and I wanna be able to use this body well, especially for what I have planned.”

“And what exactly do you have planned?” she asked with a glare.

“A fight with Nightmare Moon.” I responded bluntly with a straight face. She blinked and stared for a second… before bursting into hysterical laughter. I held my face with probably more intensity than I needed when she started laughing, and waited for her to notice.

“Oh wait, you’re serious. Let me laugh harder.” she said when she did. Then she proceeded to fall on her back from laughter. I sat there smugly, knowing she’d know the truth when I shoved my memories up her horn.

“I told you I might be crazy. But you have to be if you’re going to be prepared for anything. Just look at my memories, alright?” I told her. She rolled her eye and get herself back to her hooves as she calmed her laughing down.

“Alright fine, but when I see how mad you really are, I’m tossing you out to the mob.” she replied with certainty. I just smugly smirked at her as she brought her horn to mine. Within practically an instant, but what felt like several minutes, I felt memories rise to the surface of my mind… mostly the ones about porn though.

“... Dude, you are one fucked up human.” Bonbon eventually stated as she stared semi-blankly into my eyes.

“I try.” I said with a shrug. “...By the way, did you know you smell like chocolate? It’s really distracting, I think I’m getting high or something.”

“... Dear Celestia, you’re weak willed.” she muttered with a deadpan.

“No, I’m just pointing something out. And if I’m not resisting something, it’s because I chose not to. In any case, could you at least teach me how to use magic? I’d rather not die simply because I tried to push myself doing something completely out of my league.”

“Like fight Nightmare Moon?”

“No, like cast some sort of uber powerful, sustained laser or something. I already kinda fucked up by shooting a plasma bolt into the sky. I’m lucky I didn’t hit anything.”

“That was you?! …. Actually, now that I think about it, it isn’t that surprising. Still, do you know how dangerous that was?”

“Yes, but I had to learn how to disguise somehow. I wasn’t just gonna waltz into town looking like I’m gonna eat everypony. But that was the point. I still gotta learn so I don’t fuck up again and actually hurt anyone.”

“You’re reckless… hopeless… You’re going to get yourself killed. You know that, right?”

“Pffft, naw. I’m too determined to let myself die. Come on, I gotta learn something at least, before night falls.”

Bonbon groaned, obviously not wanting to have anything to do with me any longer. “Fine, but we’ll do a trade. You bring me love, and I’ll teach you something. I guess it’s something like a vendor system from those video game things I saw in your memories.”

“...Oddly convenient.” I commented. Bonbon finally cut the ropes binding me to my chair. As I got up, she brought our horns together, and I felt… something new stirring among my memories.

“There, you know at least the basics all changelings should know now. Everything from Hive Mind connections, to Emotion draining. Passive feeding will only get you so much, and it causes ambient emotion to sometimes overshadow what you feel. Don’t let it stay ambient, if it comes to that.”

“Gotcha. Makes sense too.” I replied to acknowledge that I’d heard her.

“By the way, I’m curious… why’d you pick out a female disguise? I noticed in your memories you were male, but...” Bonbon asked.

“Because reasons.” I replied. “Very perverted and possibly stupid reasons.”

“...Oh dear Celestia, why…?” Bonbon groaned. “Look, just… go. Go and get some love or something, I don’t care. You’re giving me a migraine.”

“Okay.” I then proceeded to say whoop! Repeatedly on my way out like Zoidberg. I had a big laugh once I got to the top of the stairs… Oh, I guess I was in an underground interrogation room. How typical. Wait...This doesn’t look like BonBon’s shop. Where the hell did she take me? Bah, it doesn’t matter. I just gotta find Sweet Apple Acres, and feed the fuck off the familial love I know I’ll find there.

Step 1: Disguise. I quickly used that Character Select thingy in my head to once more return to my disguise of my favorite werepony OC, Summer Dash.

Step 2: find out which way to go for the Apple farm. Thankfully, I was close enough to the treebrary that I could just look down the right road to find out where the farm was. As well, it didn’t seem like the sun had even reached its peak for the day yet, so it could be around lunch time. I must not have been out of it for that long. I passed Twilight again on my way there, and she stopped when she noticed me.

“You again? Are you following me?” she asked. I stopped and gave her an innocent look.

“To be honest, I was thinking about it, but I kinda need to forge my own path if I’m gonna help you take out Nightmare Moon.” I answered.

“How do you plan to help?” she asked skeptically.

“Just try and keep her attention with a duel while you figure out how beat her.” I said reasonably. “I know I don’t stand a chance in a full fight though, but I’ll do my best.”

“Well, that’s more sensible then I expected to come from you. Still, I don’t have time for this right now. Maybe talk to me about it later when I don’t have a schedule to keep.” she said.

“Sure. But I won’t promise not to run into you again later.” I said with a chuckle. With that, the two of us went our own ways again, though not before I heard Spike whispering overly loudly about me being really crazy.

The rest of my trip to the farm was pretty uneventful, but when I did get there, I felt a steadily heavier atmosphere of something pleasant, Love I’m guessing, as I got close. Feeling some of it myself, I had to fight the urge to simply give in to the emotion and run out there in all my chitinous glory, calling them family. That wouldn’t exactly go over well, for obvious reasons. So, I used that memory Bonbon gave me to start pulling the emotion I was sensing, which let me feel my own emotions clearly. It was relief in case you were wondering.

By the time I spotted AJ bucking trees, I was feeding full-draw on the ambient love, and it was threatening to overshadow me again. It wasn’t too bad though, I could at least keep my own emotions separate from the Apple’s emotions. It might make me a bit friendlier than normal, but not enough to fall out of character. I’ll definitely have to come back for the leftovers tomorrow, when the family reunion’s over. That is, assuming this emotion ambience thingy actually works that way. I didn’t notice AJ walking up to me in my emotion-entranced state, or my trance until she said something.

“Howdy, pardner. Here for tha treats, or somethin else on yer mind?” she asked, sounding amused. I shook myself out of my trance quickly to answer.

“Oh, er… sorry. Got kinda lost in the emotions of this place. I’m… kinda unusual that way, being sensitive to other’s emotions.” I answered with a blush. I held out a hoof for a shake though. “I’m Summer Dash, and I’m new to town, though I suppose you already noticed that.” Thankfully, my half-truth didn’t set off any alarms for her, and she eagerly accepted the hoof shake. It was jarring, but I expected it, and was thus prepared.

“Well, mighty nice ta meet y’all. Ah’m Applejack. Ah’m mighty sorry if tha emoton thingy gets too much fer ya though. The family reunion is happenin today, an’ we’re all excited to share our recipes at the Celebration.”

“Heh… Yeah, I can feel it. I’m fine now, but… if it gets more powerfull, then… I may need to go elsewhere for a bit. To recover, you know?.” I said, though I was focusing more on the slight pain in my hoof.

“Alrighty, just make sure an’ let somepony know when ya gotta run.” AJ said.

“Yeah, I will.” I said with a warm smile. “So, I think I’d like a taste of those treats you mentioned. They’re apple related, right?”

“Darn tootin’! Wouldn’t be Sweet Apple Acres if we didn’t have apples.”she replied with a grande smile of pride.

“Hah, yeah, that’s right.” I agreed with a chuckle.

“Let’s go, we still got more food than a buffalo could eat in a year.” AJ invited, leading the way. I happily followed, letting the family’s excitement fill me as I greeted each one. Once each one was introduced, and I somehow managed to commit them all to memory (probably something to do with that advanced memory info Bonbon put in my head that I still haven’t processed yet,) I got to the part where eating was involved. The first treat to appear on my plate was an apple fritter, courtesy of the pony with the same name. When I took a bite of that thing, I froze.

There was no words to describe how that apple fritter tasted… It was good on its own, the cinamon on it appealing to my tastebuds. But there was something else in there, something that made the taste absolutely heavenly. It had love, joy, determination… but best of all of that… was pride. This pony was proud of their cooking, and damn right they should be.

“Holy… Oh Sweet Celestia, this is the best damn apple fritter I’ve ever tasted!” I shouted, getting a surge of joy and pride from the pastry’s chef. It was enough to make my mouth water. Sweet… delicious… pride…

“Wow, you certainly liked that, huh? How ‘bout another dish?” another Apple, this one I think was Red Gala, offered, presenting me with and Apple Cobbler. Eagerly, I scooped it up.

“Thanks, Red Gala.” I replied, before biting into it. Again, the incredible taste of emotion and food mixing together assaulted my brain. This dish had a particular spice of excitement to it, as well as the pride I tasted earlier. I was at least prepared for the tase this time, but I still melted at the flavor.

This went on for some time. Apple would present me with another piece of heavenly food, I would complement their cooking and the next in line would come. By the time we were all done, my gut had actually distended from the amount of physical food in it, and I could feel the onset of Emotion Overdose.

“Woo, boy… I… I think I’m getting… too full to continue… AJ, I gotta go. Before my… condition starts acting up.” I said as I turned to her.

“Huh? Oh, darn… nearly fergot about that. Ya got a pretty tough mind if you could stay this long. Alright, Ah’ll help ya out.” she said, before helping me get to my hooves. With her help, I managed to get outta the orchard before I started leaking.

“Phew… thanks, Applejack. I was cutting it a bit close back there…” I said once we were at the edge. However, I grimmaced as I felt something leaking from my nose. I brought a hoof up to wipe it away, and it came off… orange? No, wait, it looked more red than orange. Based on the info from Bonbon, it was a mix of the Apple Family’s Love and Pride. Heh… Well, I guess I’ve reached my limit.

“Oh my.. Are y’all okay? It wasn’t bad, was it?” AJ asked, worried from seeing the red. I chuckled.

“I’m fine. And no, it wasn’t bad… just overwhelming. I should be fine once I get it looked at. Don’t worry, I can make it on my own from here.” I assured her. I could sense she doubted me, but she didn’t speak up on it. After all, I did tell her I’d get it looked at.

“Alright then… I’ll see ya at tha Celebration, right?” she asked. I nodded as I answered.

“Eeyup. Wouldn’t miss it for the world…” I chuckled internally at the hidden meaning I put into that reply. AJ actually chuckled a bit and her doubts lessened. Guess the fact that I’m making little jokes made it more clear that the situation isn’t as bad as it might look. “I’ll see ya later.” I said, before turning and leaving. Next place I was headed to, was straight to BonBon. I used some of the Overdose to push my mind, letting me connect to Bonbon through a hive link, though there was just the two of us in it.

“Heya. I’m coming back, overdosed on Pride and Love.” I said through the link, once it was made.

“Oh boy… just be careful nopony sees the liquid emotion, okay?” she replied.

“Applejack already saw it, but I passed it off as blood, and convinced her it was nothing serious.” I reported. “Glad I warned her I was sensitive to emotion early on.”

“...Well, that’s a stark change to your earlier stupidity. I guess you can be clever when you need to be. Come on over to my shop, and we can do the transfer there.” she said.

I started tracing the hive mind signal to Bonbon, though to continue holding up the connection, I had to use more of the energy I had, thankfully bringing me out of overdose, but then I stopped to preserve what was left… and then I somehow walked through the Rich Bitch neighborhood.

At first, I tasted pride in the air, though it was weak. I could sense that it was pretty strong though. When I looked around though, I spotted Filthy Rich, and...Spoiled Rich. Hatred flooded my veins at the mere sight of her, especially knowing what I did about her. Though weather it was my own hatred, or the hatred of Nobles seeing a commoner pony, I couldn’t tell. All I knew was that I felt like biting that damn mare’s head off.

And then the whiff of smoke caught my attention, followed by a strange burning sensation in my legs. Confused by this development, I looked down… and nearly yelped out loud at what I saw. My disguise was starting to burn up. Scared, I booked it as quickly as I could out of there, following where I’d last felt the Hive Mind connection. By the time I got there, I could feel my disguise trying to rip itself apart despite my best efforts to keep my magic under control. Before it could, I leaped through the doors. Thankfully, there was only one other pony in Bonbon’s shop at the moment, and it seemed to be a mint green unicorn. Lyra, I think, though my mind was a bit fuzzy from adrenaline, and… whatever the fuck messed with my disguise. She looked unconscious though. Welp. All the better. Time to let it drop.

“Oh horseapples, what the hell happened?” Bonbon asked as she rushed over to me.

“I don’t know… last thing I remember before this started, I was staring at Spoiled Rich with hatred flooding through me…” I replied, breathing heavily. My hooves still ached, and I sat back on my haunches to rub them. However, I froze when I felt a slight bump. Looking down, I spotted a hole forming in my arm. “W-what the hell?! Bonbon, what’s happening to me?! I didn’t wake up with holes, but now I’m getting them…”

“Shit… alright, look, you’re going to need to stay low for now. You’re suffering Negative Emotion Poisoning, it can happen to the best of us.” she said, before bringing her horn to mine. Before I knew it, the ache was gone, but so was half my supply of Pride and Love. I did, however, understand a few new concepts. Like Rip Feeding, which was a stronger, more dangerous version of the drain I was taught earlier, and my current condition… Well shit. That NEP totally knocked out my magic for the next hour. I’m gonna be stuck here for a while…

On the bright side, I learned a few combat spells on the side. Now I’m not stuck with just plasma bolts. Powerful as they are, I can’t really rely on my aim. Somehow, my mind treated this thing like a video game and presented me with a bunch of different things, like a skill tree, spells, and what have you. The skill tree thing was mostly blank, except for some things I already knew about, like Changeling Mimicry and Enhanced Memory. In another “menu,” there was a log of tasks, or “quests” along with their rewards. Currently, I had three. One was to train up on my new spells, another was to assist the Mane 6 with their Nightmare Moon problem later, and the third was an ongoing one to get Love for BonBon. Glad I had this, it’d be a bitch to keep track of everything I agree or decide to do later on.

Another menu showed me what perks and status effects I had. Aside from NEP, there was also a listing for Fire affinity, and weakness to ice and dark magic. Wincing at those weaknesses, I made a mental note to do something about that. I noticed it getting added to the Quest Log, and smiled at that.

Bonbon seemed confused, yet amused at the various faces I was making. “What’s up with those faces?” she asked. “Someone else connect to you with the Hive Mind?”

“Huh? Oh, uh… no. It’s just that I’m checking out this weird video game interface I’ve got in my head… I think it’s that Changeling Memory manifesting as something I can easily understand.”

“Curious… but not that surprising. Everyone’s mind works in their own unique way. At least you’ve got the memory working easily. I knew some changelings back at the hive who had trouble working out certain parts of the hive mind for the longest time. They were mostly converts that wanted to join up with the hive, but there were a few natural born ones too.”

“Ah. Well, I guess I find it easy because I was a gamer back in my world. The interface in Borderlands was the best one for me, so my “menus” kinda resemble it. Did you see that one in my memories?”

“I think so...But I’m not gonna try too hard to recall it. Instead, I’m going to bring you some place you can practice those new spells I gave you. Y’know, so you don’t hurt yourself trying to use them later.” I quirked an eyebrow.

“Where are you gonna take me with no disguise to cover me?” I asked, with probably more snark than I should have (Yeah, that’s kind of a recurring theme…. I really need to work on that.), and Bonbon was quick to reply.

“There is a secret facility hidden in Ponyville. Unfortunately, I can’t exactly allow you to know where it is, because it’s part of… well, I’m sure you understand.” she said, leaving up to interpretation. I nodded in understanding.

“So then, where’s the bag you’re gonna put over my- MMPH!” I was cut off by exactly what I was asking about. Welp, at least I got my answer. In my surprise though, I ended up tripping over my hooves and hitting my head on a wall or something. Whatever it was, it really knocked my brain loose or something, because I couldn’t really think straight after that.

“You really ARE an idiot…” I heard Bonbon mutter.

“Oh shut up… stupid talking homicidal flower… I WILL befriend the fuck outta you, and you’re gonna FUGGIN LIKE IT!” I muttered, reminded too vividly about Flowey to be convinced that wasn’t real… however, my mixed up brain couldn’t process the danger I typically associated with Flowey until after I’d passed out.