Chibi Changeling

by Yukito

First published 20th of December, 2012

Berry Pinch is a changeling that gives loves, instead of feeding off of it. Is she okay? Are the ponies around her okay?

Berry Punch and Berry Pinch are a happy mother and daughter that live in Ponyville. They have many friends there, and, despite being changelings, have managed to live a nice life of obscurity for many years.

But when Berry Pinch finally reaches maturity, she learns that, rather than feeding off of love, she gives it.

How will this new revelation effect the citizens of Ponyville, and more importantly, Berry Pinch herself?

Inspired by Karin/Chibi Vampire, by Yuna Kagesaki.

First Meal

Berry Punch woke up with a pounding headache. She groaned as the morning sun hit her eyes, and she felt so dizzy that she had to get out of bed exceptionally slowly. She slowly made her way to her bathroom, her stomach churning with each step that she took, and once she was inside, she took a look at her reflection in the mirror.

“It’s that time again,” she said to herself, her voice raspy. She cleared her throat, and decided to skip brushing her teeth for today. She didn’t feel up to it at all. She instead just trudged her way downstairs, towards the kitchen, and poured herself a glass of water.

“Good morning, mommy!” Berry gulped down the water, and let out a deep sigh. “… That time of the month?”

Berry Punch nodded, raising a hoof to her head as she checked her temperature. “I’m going to have go hunting tonight…” She made her way to the kitchen table, where her daughter, Berry Pinch, was already eating her cereal. Another bowl had been laid out for her, and she began pouring her own bowl of cereal.

“Are you sure you’re not just hung-over again?”

Berry Punch shook her head. “No, I didn’t drink at all last night…” Berry Pinch raised an eyebrow. “Well… One glass… Okay, one bottle, but that’s certainly not enough to get me drunk.”

Berry Pinch sighed and shook her head. “So, I’m walking to school by myself again today?”

Berry Punch bit her lower lip, and looked at her daughter apologetically. “I’m sorry… I didn’t realise that today would be ‘the day’.” Berry Punch lifted a spoonful of cereal to her mouth, and took a bite. “You’re almost at that age now. You’ll find out soon enough what it feels like.”

Berry Pinch shuddered at the thought. “… Do I really have to feed off of love, mommy?”

Berry Punch nodded. “As a changeling, once you reach maturity, you will have to feed off of love in order to survive. There’s no getting around it.” Berry Punch pushed the cereal away, her head aching too much to take than a few bites. “You’ll also have to learn how to shape shift, and erase memories on your own… I can’t keep covering for you forever, you know?”

Berry Pinch sighed, and got up once she had finished her breakfast. “… I’ll be going now.”

“Good luck,” Berry Punch said, causing Berry Pinch to look at her confusedly. “Don’t you have that test today?”

“That was last week,” Berry Pinch said with a frown.

“… Oh.” An awkward silence passed between the two pony-disguised changelings, which was broken by Berry Pinch sighing and walking away.

“See you later, mommy.”

Berry Punch’s ear lowered, and she felt her stomach churning from more than just the sick feeling she had woken up with. “… I’m sorry, Pinchy,” she said to herself quietly. She got up from her seat, and began to wash up the two bowls and spoons that were left on the table. “I wish I could be there for you more, I really do… Why did that stupid Queen have to act so recklessly?”

Berry Pinch walked down the same street that she always did whenever she went to school. She passed by the same candy store, the same bakery, and the same music shop. Everything that occurred that day, was exactly the same as it was every other day. In fact, she could probably make it to school with her eyes closed, if she wanted to.

“Hey, blank flank!”

Ah, the sounds of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, two of the older pupils at her school, giving the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ a hard time… Right on schedule.

“Twitchy tail! Everypony RUUUUUN!”

Pinkie Sense? Okay, so that was new. But that occurred randomly, so she couldn’t really plan for that. Everypony in the area immediately took cover, waiting for whatever was going to happen to happen.

After about twenty seconds, a piano fell down from the sky, thankfully not landing on anypony. Looking up at the sky, Berry Pinch saw the pony responsible for it.

“Oops! My bad…”

Berry Pinch giggled at the clumsy Pegasus hovering in the air. Derpy was always a source of amusement here in Ponyville. And this was a nice town to live in. The ponies were friendly, welcoming, and best of all, most of them were quite dense! It was thanks to that fact that Berry Pinch and her mother were able to live here, with practically no fear of being discovered. The only real threat was Twilight Sparkle, but so long as the two kept their distance from her, there was really nothing to worry about.

Yep, this was a fine town indeed to live in. A nice, peaceful life, where nothing bad ever happened, save for the occasional ursa minor attack, or parasprite infestation.

And today was looking to be just as uneventful as any other day. And Berry Pinch wouldn’t have it any other wa-

“Ooooh…” Berry Pinch stopped in the middle of the street, and clutched her stomach. An odd feeling passed through it, the likes of which she had never experienced before. “W-What was that?”

She tried taking another step forward, but the strange feeling only hit her again, even harder than before.

She had to stuff her hoof into her mouth to stop herself from throwing up. Her head started to feel funny, and she heard a strange ringing in her ears. She checked her temperature… And then she turned towards a nearby shop window, to look at her reflection. Her eyes were puffy, and… They were glowing green. As was her horn.

That wasn’t right. So far, most of the symptoms were there. Her stomach churning, her head aching, her high temperature… They were all signs that she needed to feed. They were signs that today, was her first day of maturity.

But, her horn shouldn’t be glowing yet, and neither should her eyes. That should only happen during feeding, when she took in the love of a pony.

She gasped when she saw her coat glowing with a green aura, and looked around quickly. Nopony seemed to have noticed yet, so she took this chance to bolt through a nearby alleyway. ‘My transformation… It’s wearing off!’

Berry Pinch ran as fast and as far as she could, trying to get home before anypony noticed her. She stopped when she caught a whiff of something in the air, and took a moment to take in the pleasant aroma. Was this… Was this the scent of love? There was a pony with high levels of love nearby.

She tried to ignore it for now, since her transformation was already halfway undone, but the urge was so strong… She found herself unconsciously following the scent, her mouth watering as she drew closer and closer to her target.

She eventually found the source of the pleasant scent. It was a rather dirty-looking Unicorn, with a blue coat, and silver hair. She was sitting next to a dumpster, her head buried in her knees, muttering something to herself.

“Stupid Twilight Sparkle… It’s all your fault… They laugh at me because of you. I have nowhere to go, and it’s all because of you! I hate you, stupid… Spoiled… Rich brat!”

Berry Pinch walked towards the mare, alerting her to her presence.

“Who goes the-” The pony’s eyes widened at what she saw. Approaching her, with a look of absolute lust on her face, was a creature she had seen once before, and had hoped never to see again. “A ch-ch-changeling?!”

The mare looked absolutely terrified at first, but then noticed that this changeling was different from the ones that she had seen before. In that it was smaller. Much smaller.

“D-Do you not know who I am? I am the Great and P-Powerful Trixie! It would be unwise for you to continue your approach!”

Berry Pinch didn’t listen. Or rather, she couldn’t even hear anything anymore. She was too attracted to the scent coming from the frightened mare before her, and before this ‘Trixie’ could run away, Berry Pinch’s horn shot a bright beam of green light towards her horn.

Trixie let out a quick yelp, before falling completely silent. Her eyes glowed green, as did her entire body. This continued for a full two minutes, until Berry Pinch let out a relieved sigh, and collapsed to the floor. She was caught by something, but didn’t have a chance to see what it was before she passed out.

Berry Pinch woke up in her room, staring up at the white ceiling, before turning her attention on the familiar wall paper, decorated with various teddy bears, dressed in all kinds of different outfits. In particular, she liked the builder teddy bear, though the policeman teddy bear looked pretty cool, too.

She saw her mother, Berry Punch, sitting beside her, reading a book. “Mommy?” she called out, and then put a hoof to her throat when she heard her own raspy voice.

“You’re awake?” Berry Punch asked as she turned her attention to her daughter. “Thank heavens. I was beginning to worry.” She closed her book, and offered her daughter a glass of water. “Well, it seems that congratulations are in order.”

Berry Pinch drank the water in one quick go, and then handed the glass back to her mother. “What do you mean? What happened?”

“Try to remember. I’m sure it’ll all come back to you.”

Berry Pinch thought for a moment, trying to remember her day. She went to school… No, that wasn’t it. She tried to go to school, but something stopped her… “Ah!” she said as it suddenly all came back to her. “I fed, didn’t I?” Berry Punch nodded, smiling widely at her daughter. “I fed… Off of a pony’s love…”

Berry Punch scratched the back of her head. “Well… Not exactly…”

Berry Pinch looked up at her mother with a confused look on her face. “What do you mean?”

“Hmmm… To be honest, I’m not entirely sure myself. All I know is, that mare you fed off of today… Well, she had very little love to spare. Certainly not enough for you to feed for two whole minutes.”

Berry Pinch blushed, and tried to hide her face behind her covers. “Y-You saw that?”

Berry Punch nodded, and giggled at the youngling’s embarrassment. “Hey, now. There’s no need to feel embarrassed. It’s all a natural part of life, after all… Just, try to be more careful of where you do it next time, alright?”

“I-I’m sorry,” Berry Pinch whimpered. She received a comforting hug from her mother.

“I’m not angry,” Berry Punch assured her. “The first time is never easy. I didn’t expect you to mature just yet… I thought you had at least another year left. I guess you take after your father.”

“What happened to the mare I fed off of?”

Berry Punch focused her magic, and summoned a green screen in the air, which revealed an image of the mare from earlier, sitting in a room filled with books. “I took the liberty of erasing her memory whilst she was passed out. However…”

Berry Pinch watched as a purple mare appeared on the screen, and sat down next to the blue one. They startled to nuzzle each other, and then kissed each other on the lips a few times… Berry Pinch could see their tongues connecting in-between kisses, and quickly ducked underneath the covers, her face as red as a tomato.

Berry Punch laughed at the youngling’s embarrassment, and turned off the magical screen. “It’s quite strange… Usually, a changeling feeds off of love, taking feelings of love away from somepony who had a lot of them.

“But you… You somehow fed off of somepony whose heart was filled with hatred, and now… Well, you saw what happened.”

Berry Pinch came out from her covers, looking at her mother with a look that told she had many questions. “Is… Is that even possible?”

Berry Punch shrugged. “To be honest, I’ve never heard of such a thing before… We’ll have to be careful from now on, and make sure we find out what happened, and if you’re okay.”

Berry Pinch shuddered at that last part, but nodded anyway. As the two sat together in silence for a bit, another thought crossed her mind. “So… What will happen to that mare now?”

“Hm?”

“I mean… Will she continue being like that, or will she… Revert back to her previous state?”

Berry Punch put a hoof to her chin. “… I guess… It’s up to her,” she said. “When a changeling feeds off of somepony’s love, their victim gets to experience life from a different perspective. Whether they get that love back or not depends on which of their two lives they’re happier with. It’s not uncommon for ponies to actually cling on to a life of hatred after being targeted by a changeling, though in those cases, we usually intervene to bring them back.”

“We do?” Berry Pinch asked. “Why?”

“Well, think about it. If all our sources of love stay drained, what will we do in the future? It’s our responsibility, to make sure that there is always love for us to feed off of, and that we never take too much. If we only take a little bit from multiple ponies, then it reduces the risk of ponies choosing hatred over love.”

Berry Pinch put a hoof to her head. “This is… Kinda confusing.”

Berry Punch giggled, and roughed up her daughter’s mane. “You’ll get the hang of it. Anyway, I’d imagine this ‘Trixie’ pony will have to face the same decision… The love you gave her wasn’t targeted towards that other pony in particular. That was a part of Trixie’s true feelings, awoken by the ‘gift’ you gave her.

“Does she prefer a life of love, or hatred? When the love you gave her runs out, she’ll have to choose for herself which path she goes down.” Berry Punch picked up her own glass of water and took a drink. “Of course, if what happened today happens again, you could always just give her another boost of love,” Berry Punch added with a grin after finishing her drink.

Berry Pinch looked up at her mother with a look of worry. “Mommy… What will we do, if there’s something wrong with me?”

Berry Punch reached down and hugged her daughter. “Naturally, I’ll be there for you. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that you’re okay… Because you’re my daughter, and I love you, more than anything else in this whole world.”

Author's Notes:

A strange little idea I came up with whilst writing 'Diamond Tiara Likes Anime'. Don't quite know how far I'm going to go with this yet, but stay tuned for more updates!

Also, turns out this site doesn't have a character tag for Berry Pinch. This saddens me :(

New Student

Rumble sat quietly in the back of the classroom, staring silently at the collection of book that were made available in the small bookcase. Mostly story books for young foals, as to be expected of an Elementary School, but Rumble had already read most of them, so none really stuck out to him that well. He let out a depressed sigh, and sat down at one of the empty desks in the room.

He thought about how suddenly his brother had come home one day, and told him that the two of them would be moving to Ponyville, and that he would have to be enrolled in a new school all of a sudden. Despite all of Rumble’s protests, and threats to run away, here he was, sitting in the empty classroom at Ponyville Elementary School, while his brother worked through his enrolment with the pony that will soon be his new teacher: Miss Cheerilee.

“Stupid Thunderlane,” he muttered to himself. “Making decisions without even asking me… Who cares if I’m still just a kid? Don’t my thoughts matter at all?”

“But Rumble, we’ve been to Ponyville before, and you said you liked it, right?”

“I said it wasn’t a bad place to go for holidays, but I don’t want to move there!”

“What about all the friends you made there?”

“What friends?! I never even got to speak to anypony last time we went there!”

“Well, now you have another chance.”

“But I don’t wanna move! I like it here! Why are you always trying to boss me around?!”

“That’s enough! We’re moving, it can’t be helped! End of discussion!”

“SHUT UP! Stop pretending like your our dad, because you’re not!”

Rumble cringed at the memory of that fight with his brother, just three days ago. Afterwards, he refused to leave his room except for lunch and dinner, no matter how much his brother threatened to break down the door, or to get Cloudchaser to drag him out… In the end, he reluctantly left the room this morning, but refused to speak to, or even make eye contact with his brother.

It was even worse when he met Cheerilee, his new teacher. She greeted him with a big, warm smile, and he simply turned his head and muttered “hello”. She offered to give him a tour of the school, and he simply said “whatever”, in the coldest tone he could muster. Thunderlane, having enough of his bad attitude, told Rumble to stay in the classroom until he and Cheerilee were done.

Rumble wasn’t too happy with his brother ordering him around – yet again – but if it meant not having to listen to him for a little bit, he was all for it. In fact, he even offered to simply go ‘home’, making air quotes with his wings to show that he didn’t really consider it his home, but Thunderlane warned him that if he left the schoolhouse unsupervised, he would be going to bed without dinner tonight.

So now, here Rumble was, moping about in an empty classroom, listening to the clock tick as he waited for his brother to return, and confirm that he was now stuck here, in this unfamiliar town, attending an unfamiliar school, with ponies he didn’t know, and that he had no say in the whole matter… Today blew. And tomorrow was going to be even worse, he just knew it.

Rumble woke up early the following morning. Sleeping in a new bed, in a new home, knowing that the next day he would be forced to spend time with ponies he didn’t know, instead of his friends back in Cloudsdale, didn’t help the troubled colt find any rest during the night, and it showed in his red, baggy eyes that he couldn’t have got more than about an hour’s sleep.

Rumble let out a loud yawn as he walked through the streets of Ponyville alongside his big brother, who he was still not talking to for as long as he lived, on his way to his new school. He passed by several fillies and colts on the way, also being led by older ponies who he figured were their parents or guardians. He also passed by an arguing couple on the way there. A grey Pegasus mare and a brown Earth Pony stallion, who were apparently arguing about the stallion hanging out with so many other mares.

‘Great, just what I need right now,’ Rumble thought to himself as the raised voices made his headache even worse.

“Hey, are you okay, Berry Pinch?” Curious, Rumble turned his attention to a group of three fillies walking in front of him. The middle one, a pink-coated filly with two-toned purple hair, had stopped and was now breathing heavily.

“I’m fine,” she said to her two friends, who looked concerned for her. “I just… forgot something at home. I’ll be right back.” Before her friends could protest, the filly ran off down an alleyway, in the direction that the grey Pegasus from earlier had just gone.

When he finally got to school, Thunderlane wished him a good day. Rumble ignored him, and simply went into the schoolhouse, despite the fact that everypony else was still playing outside. He found his way to his classroom, which was as empty as it was yesterday. He took a seat over in the corner, at the back of the class, and just slung his bag down onto the floor. Then, he sat down at his desk, and slumped his head down onto his forehooves as he let out a dreary sigh.

He heard the door open, but didn’t lift his head up. So somepony else felt like coming in early? Maybe he wasn’t the only one with troubles… Or maybe it was just the teacher.

“Um…” Nope, definitely a filly’s voice. “Excuse me.” And she was calling out to somepony. Unless somepony had snuck into the room whilst Rumble wasn’t looking, he assumed that she was addressing him.

He slowly lifted his head up, to see that same filly from earlier standing before him, looking much better than she did earlier. “Are you Rumble?” she asked, to which the colt simply nodded. “Miss Cheerilee asked if I could show you around the school, since you didn’t get a proper tour yesterday.” Rumble groaned and lay his head back down.

“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m too tired to walk around right now…”

“Oh, uh, okay,” the filly said, and Rumble could hear her backing up a bit… and her breathing starting to increase. He lifted his head up slightly, so that he could see what was going on. She was now sitting down at another empty table, breathing in-and-out very quickly.

“Are you okay?” he asked out of concern for the filly, and was surprised to see her react so… energetically. She practically jumped up in her seat, spun around so that she was facing him, and began waving her hooves dramatically with a huge smile on her face.

“Y-Yes! Of c-course I am!” she responded, and Rumble could see that she was sweating heavily. “I-I just have a s-slight fever, t-that’s all…”

Rumble nodded, but didn’t believe her… Especially not when her eyes fluttered shut, and she fell forwards out of her chair. Rumble quickly got up and ran to the filly’s aid. He felt her temperature, and found that was burning up!

“You are not alright!” he said, rising to his hooves. “Stay here! I’m going to go find a teacher!” And with that, he ran out of the classroom, and straight to the teacher’s lounge… Or, as straight as he could, without any knowledge of the schoolhouse save for the location of the classroom. He eventually found what he was looking for, though, and Cheerilee hurried along with him to the classroom.

What they found, though, was a perfectly empty classroom, with no sight of the sick filly anywhere. They ran to the nurse’s office, to see if somepony else had taken her there, but the nurse said that nopony had stopped by today. Cheerilee panicked at the idea of one of her students going missing, whilst she was apparently unwell.

Went they went back to the classroom during first period, Cheerilee’s original plan was to cancel her lesson, giving the students some time to study on their own, whilst she rushed over to the filly’s house to see if she had gone home. However, to their surprise, the filly, ‘Berry Pinch’, was waiting for them in the classroom, along with all of the other students, looking quite healthy and cheerful.

Rumble had no idea what was going on, but he felt relieved that the filly seemed to be okay now… Until he passed by her seat, and she started breathing heavily again. He looked at her in disbelief, and she looked back at him, with a look of confusion and fear.

The rest of the day, Rumble never let the filly out of his sight. Whilst she wasn’t as bad as she was before classes started, she was still breathing much more heavily than she should have been, and every now and then, she glanced over at Rumble with that same look of fear in her eyes. As if he was the cause of her current condition.

During lunch, he tried to speak to her, but the moment her got close to her, she immediately ran off, using the excuse that she needed to use the restroom. Rumble was left standing all on his, completely bewildered by the strange filly. He was pulled aside by a blue Earth Pony filly, with a dark-blue mane, and a bow and arrow shaped Cutie Mark.

“Hey, you weren’t picking on Berry Pinch, were you?” she asked sternly.

“N-No!” Rumble answered quickly. “I was just concerned, since she doesn’t look like she’s feeling well today. That’s all.”

The other filly smiled and sighed softly. “You’re new here, so you wouldn’t know, but Berry Pinch hasn’t been healthy recently. It started sometime last week. Her mother says it’s nothing to worry about, but she gets high fevers every now and then, and is often short of breath.”

“Is that really nothing to worry about?” Rumble asked the blue filly.

“Well, it comes and goes… There are times where she’s healthy, you wouldn’t even know she has health problems. But her mother assured everypony that there’s nothing to worry about, and there’s really no reason to doubt that.”

Rumble nodded in response, but still wasn’t entirely convinced. That filly fainted earlier, or at the very least, collapsed onto the floor, and he’s supposed to believe that that’s normal? That there’s no cause for alarm? And also… ‘Why does she keep giving me that strange look?’

School seemed to drag on forever that day, but it was finally over, and Rumble was more than eager to get back to his new home and just sleep the rest of the day away. Thankfully, his brother was still at his new job, so he would get to walk home in peace and quiet.

On the way, he noticed the grey Pegasus and brown Earth Pony that were arguing earlier… now sharing a smoothie together on a park bench, the Pegasus leaning on the Earth Pony and nuzzling him affectionately.

‘Huh… Guess they worked things out… Well, good for them.

Rumble’s attention was immediately drawn away from them when he saw something in the corner of his eye, and quickly turned around to see Berry Pinch whizzing past him, and wandering into an alleyway. The way she was walking looked like Cloudchaser after a Saturday night out, and she had even bumped into a wall as she was walking, but didn’t seem to notice at all.

Worried, and very curious, Rumble followed the pink filly into the alleyway, making sure to stay a good distance behind her so that he wouldn’t get caught by her. She stumbled and staggered her way through the alleyway, taking a few twists and turns, and eventually found her way back into the streets. Rumble continued following her for a while, noticing that, every now and then, she would stop and look around, as if she wasn’t sure where she was going. Also, her horn was glowing a bright green colour. Was she using a spell of some kind? Why?

Eventually, Berry Pinch started to pick up the pace, and was soon running instead of simply walking. Rumble followed suit, but he wasn’t as good an athlete as his brother, and as a result he had lost track of the filly. Deciding to give up the chase, Rumble took a look around him… and found himself lost in a field of apple trees. He realised that this must have been the town’s famed apple orchard, and sighed as he tried to navigate his way through all of the trees, to find some kind of path that would lead him back to town.

“Whooooa, nelly…” he heard to his right, prompting the young colt to turn and see a flash of green further down the orchard. Cautiously, Rumble made his way towards the light, making sure to take cover behind the various trees around him as he did so. He eventually found his way to the source of the light, and gasped at what he saw.

Before him, Berry Pinch and stood in front of an orange Earth Pony mare with a blonde mane, and a beam of green energy was shooting out of the filly’s horn, and towards the Earth Pony’s head. The filly’s eyes were closed, and her frown was slowly turning into a smile, and it seemed her breathing was starting to stabilise.

Rumble took a step back, horrified at what he was seeing…

CRACK!

“Shoot!” Rumble shouted as he felt a twig snapping beneath his back right hoof, and when he noticed Berry Pinch’s eyes slowly open and look towards him, he did the only thing he could think of doing at this point: he turned on the spot, and began running, as quickly as possible.

Filly Meets Colt

Berry Pinch panted and shook on the spot as a familiar feeling passed through her body. ‘Oh, come on! I’m just trying to go to school!’ she thought to herself as she tried to contain the magic that was threatening to burst out of her horn at any second now.

“Hey, are you okay, Berry Pinch?” Archer, Berry Pinch’s friend, asked as she looked down at her with a look of concern.

“I’m fine,” Berry Pinch replied as she stumbled back a bit. “I just… forgot something at home. I’ll be right back.” Berry Pinch quickly turned around and bolted off down the street. She saw a grey Pegasus mare flying through a nearby alleyway, and, as if on instinct, followed after her.

“Time Turner… you idiot,” the Pegasus said as she stopped and sat down on a nearby box to the side. “… Or maybe I’m the idiot. Just because he’s friends with so many mares, it doesn’t mean he’s cheating on me… right?”

Berry Pinch let out a moan as she neared the distraught Pegasus, alerting her to the filly’s presence. Derpy quickly jumped to her hooves, and flushed red with embarrassment, hoping that the filly hadn’t heard her talking to herself. However, she then noticed that the filly was walking rather strangely, and that her breathing was… strange.

“A-Are you okay?” she asked, walking closer to Berry Pinch. She placed a hoof on the filly’s forehead, and her eyes shot wide open. “You have a fever! Where do you live? I’ll take you home, right awa-” Before she could finish, a beam of green energy shot out of Berry Pinch’s horn, and hit the Pegasus on the forehead. Derpy looked frightened for a second, before her eyes slowly fluttered shut, and she drifted off into sleep.

Berry Pinch let out a relieved sigh as she fed her built-up love into the Pegasus, the sickly feeling that had been building up for the past week finally leaving her system.

“So, you can last for about a week, before it becomes too much for you,” a voice called out behind Berry Pinch. Her mother, Berry Punch, walked up to the filly just as she had finished with Derpy Hooves, and caught the Pegasus before she fell to the ground. “Yeah, that’s about right. Most younglings can only last that long at first, but soon, you should be able to last a full month before you need to feed… Though, in your case, I wouldn’t really call it feeding.”

Berry Pinch’s face turned red, and turned her head away from her mother. “… You were watching me?”

Berry Punch knelt down and wrapped her forehooves around her daughter. “Awww, no need to be embarrassed! It’s a parent’s duty to watch over their youngling as they age, especially when they start to mature.”

“But did you really have to watch me…” Berry Pinch couldn’t finish, and her face turned even redder as she looked over at the Pegasus, who was still lying unconscious on the ground. She quickly wormed her way out of her mother’s hold, and let out a depressed sigh.

Berry Punch looked down at her with a sympathetic look, and then began work on erasing Derpy’s recent memories of her encounter with Berry Pinch. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it.”

“But… It’s so embarrassing,” Berry Pinch said. “Why do we have to do this in order to live?”

“Sometimes, nature can just be strange like that,” Berry Punch answered. “All you can do is just… go along with it. By the way, shouldn’t you be at school right now?”

Berry Pinch blinked a few times as she stared blankly at the wall in front of her, and then quickly snapped out of it when she realised that her mother was right. “Oh no! I’m gonna be late!” she shouted as she bolted out of the alleyway, leaving her mother to take care of Derpy on her own.

Berry Punch giggled, and gently lay Derpy down on the box that she was sitting on earlier. “She’s just like me, when I was her age… Except, I had my whole family to help me, as well as my changeling friends…” Sighing, Berry Punch turned around and began to leave the alleyway. ‘I’d better keep a tight watch over her. But all on my own, there’s only so much I can do. If only there were someone else I could count on…’

Despite her worries, Berry Pinch had somehow managed to get to school on time. Feeling much better, she decided to go and join her friends in their games of ‘tag’ outside the schoolhouse. However, she was stopped by her teacher, Cheerilee, who asked her to help her with the new student that was starting today. She wanted Berry Pinch to show the new colt, ‘Rumble’, around the schoolhouse for her.

Berry Pinch didn’t mind, but was a little disappointed that she couldn’t play with her friends before school started up. ‘Oh well,’ she thought to herself, trying to look on the bright side of things. ‘Who knows? We might end up becoming really good friends!’

As she entered the classroom, she saw the colt sitting all by himself at an empty desk, just as Cheerilee had told her. She walked closer to the colt, a big smile on her face… Until she got closer, and the smile faded when a strange feeling passed through her.

“Um, excuse me.” The colt raised his head from his forehooves, and looked at the filly. “Are you rumble?” He nodded, and she continued. “Miss Cheerilee asked if I could show you around the school, since you didn’t get a proper tour yesterday.”

Rumble groaned and lay his head back onto his forehooves. “I’m fine. I’m too tired to walk around right now…”

“Oh, uh, okay,” Berry Pinch responded, the feeling getting stronger and stronger by the second. She took a few steps back, and felt her breathing increase. ‘What’s going on? I just released some love… Is this colt doing this to me? He must really be mad at someone, or something, right now.’

Berry Pinch sat down at an empty table, and her breathing continued to speed up. “Are you okay?” Rumble asked, to which the filly quickly shot up, spun around to face him, and quickly began waving her forehooves, making sure to keep a huge smile on her face.

“Y-Yes! Of c-course I am!” Berry Pinch shouted. “I-I just have a s-slight fever, t-that’s all…” The last thing she saw before she passed out was Rumble nodding. ‘Oh no… Not good…’

Berry Pinch awoke some time later, and slowly rose to her hooves. She noticed that the colt had left the classroom, although his bag was still there. Presumably, he went to get help. She quickly yelped and jumped back when her horn lit up. Was it a reaction to thinking about that colt? Whenever she thought about him, her body began to tingle, and she felt the same hunger that she had felt the last two times she had needed to ‘feed’ off of somepony. The same feeling she got when she was near somepony with hatred in their hearts.

“Oh no… Oh no oh no oh no oh NO!” she shouted, panicking as she quickly left the classroom, and ran as fast as she could down the hallway. Luckily, she had managed to make it to the restroom without anypony seeing her, and not a moment too soon! As soon as she was inside, her magic burst out of her horn. She let out a loud scream as green energy shot out everywhere, destroying sinks, stalls, mirrors, soap dispensers, lighting, and also, the wall tiles.

As soon as she was finished, she looked around at the damage that she had caused, and was thankful that no one else was in that restroom at that time. With a hard blush on her face, she slowly left the now-destroyed room, silently apologising to whoever would have to fix all of that, and walked away with an innocent look on her face.

Well, at least now she was feeling better. ‘I must have not deposited enough love earlier… Or maybe this is one of the ‘hardships’ that mom told me about.’

When she returned to the classroom, she found that it was suddenly populated with students, most of which were talking amongst themselves, and one or two of which were eagerly awaiting for the lesson to start. Nopony paid Berry Pinch much notice, except for Archer and Sunny Days, who both quickly asked if she was feeling okay.

Berry Pinch assured them she was fine, and that there was nothing to worry about. Although, when she saw her teacher enter the classroom, with him walking in beside her, glancing over at her desk. She felt that same feeling pass over her, though it wasn’t as strong as it was before. At least this time, breathing was still relatively easy. That is, until Rumble passed by her desk, causing her breathing to suddenly speed up.

She looked at Rumble with a questioning look, as if he would know what was going on. He simply stared back at her with a look of bewilderment on his face, before proceeding to his seat. The rest of the day, Berry Pinch’s breathing never slowed down. And, she also felt like she was being watched… which was confirmed whenever she turned around, and caught Rumble staring at her. ‘W-Why is he doing that?’ she asked herself, just wishing that the day would finish already.

When school finished that day, Berry Pinch quickly left the classroom, before her friends even had the chance to say ‘goodbye’ to her. She was in a hurry to get home, and just sleep this whole weird day off… Except, fate had other plans for her. She caught a familiar scent in the air, and suddenly, she had lost sight of her original goal to return home.

The hunger returned to her, and she felt the whole world spinning around her as she staggered through the streets, her vision blurry as she just allowed her legs to take her wherever they pleased. She had no idea how long she had been walking before she reached her goal.

Standing before her, bucking the same tree over and over again, was an orange Earth Pony mare, with a blonde mane.

“Stupid… Rarity!” she shouted in-between bucks. “Always… so… fussy… about… every…. little… THING!”

As Berry Pinch drew closer, the mare seemed to take notice, and asked the little filly if she was lost, and if she needed some help finding her way back home. However, all she got in response, was a beam of green magic from the filly’s horn, connecting with her forehead.

“Whooooa, nelly…”

Berry Pinch slowly began to smile, and she felt much better as she released the love in her system into the Earth Pony.

CRACK!

Berry Pinch slowly opened her eyes, and looked past the orange mare, staring ahead into space as she noticed a shadowy figure running away. “Who?” she asked herself, before her magic faded, and she began falling to the ground.

Before she could make contact with the earth beneath her hooves, Berry Pinch was caught in a green magical aura, and lifted gently into the air.

Berry Pinch stared blankly at her mother, who was holding a spoon in front of her face with some hot soup on it.

“Come on, Pinchy. The Friendship Express needs to make an emergency stop in Nummyville.”

“Mom, I’m nine years old,” Berry Pinch said, making sure to cover her mouth with a hoof as she did so, so that her mother couldn’t force the spoon into her mouth. “And besides, didn’t you hear me? I said that somepony saw me feeding!”

Berry Punch used her magic to lower her daughter’s hoof, and thrust the spoon into her mouth. Berry Pinch groaned as she felt the soup pour into her mouth, and swallowed when the spoon was pulled out.

“I’ve already told you, you don’t need to worry. I’ll take care of it,” Berry Punch assured her, scooping up another spoonful of soup onto the spoon. “Okay, open up again.”

Berry Pinch turned her head to the side. “And what about that colt? The one that made me feel… weird, today?”

Berry Punch giggled, and gave her daughter a sly grin. “Well, you’ll have to wait nine years, but I can begin wedding plans now, if you want.”

“I’m serious!” Berry Pinch shouted as she turned to her mother, a mistake she would realise later as the spoon was once again thrust into her mouth.

“Now, now,” Berry Punch said, pulling the spoon out to let her daughter swallow. “It’s all a natural part of changeling maturity. You don’t realise how lucky you have it.”

“… What do you mean?” Berry Pinch asked.

“Well, usually, changelings feed off of love, right?” Berry Pinch nodded, frowning when she was again reminded of just how different she was. “That means that, for younglings that have only just entered maturity, being around a pony who’s experiencing feelings of love causes them to… well, experience what you did earlier.”

“… So, you’re saying that, I get like that whenever I’m around somepony filled with hate?”

“Not filled with it. It’s just because you aren’t used to the whole ‘feeding’ process yet, so even the slightest hint of hatred in a pony is enough to set you off. Youngling are usually sent to live with ponies for a bit, to help them mature, because there’s usually an abundance of love all around.

“However, now that I think about it, I guess you’re not the only one coming of age around here…”

“What do you mean?” Berry Pinch asked, not sure she was following what her mother was saying.

“Well, the ponies at your school are also reaching that certain age, where their own bodies start changing. And as part of the process, they’ll be developing wild moodswings from time-to-time… Much like you, sometimes,” Berry Punch added with a sigh.

Berry Pinch gasped, and raised a forehoof to protest. “I do not have moodswings!” she shouted, receiving a coy grin from her mother. She cleared her throat, and tried again. “… I am quite in control of my emotions.”

“Sure you are,” Berry Punch said, getting up and picking up the bowl next to her. “Don’t stay up too late now. You’ve had a busy day, and need your rest.”

Berry Pinch nodded, and waited for her mother to leave the room, before she began thinking about that colt from school. ‘Rumble… So he’s angry at someone, or something, right now… I guess I should probably just avoid him, then…’

Outside of Berry Pinch’s bedroom, Berry Punch used her magic to bring up an image before her eyes. The image was of a small grey with a black mane, lying down on a bed, staring up blankly into space.

“Hmmm… He hasn’t told anypony about what he saw today… An interesting kid, this one is. I’ll have to keep my eye on him. Though, I’ll be taking a gamble, but…” Berry Punch looked back at her daughter’s bedroom door, and then shut off her magic. “One day, I might not be able to help her out. And when that time comes…”

Investigating

Saturday, for many foals in Equestria, is supposed to be a day to unwind after a long week of schoolwork. A day to hang out with friends, maybe go to see a movie or play some ball at the park. But not today. Not for Rumble, at least.

‘I know what I saw. That filly, Berry Pinch… she was casting some sort of strange spell on that pony. But when I went to check if she was okay…’

“Hm? What d’ya mean? What little filly?”

“The one that attacked you at the farm! The one who cast that strange spell on you that made you pass out!”

The farm pony, who Rumble had learned was named Applejack, simply laughed in response. “Ah think somepony has let their imagine get away from them.”

“But I-”

“Listen, ah’d love ta stay an’ answer some more of your questions, but ah really need ta be goin’ now. Ah have ta find Rarity, fast.”

The orange mare ran off before Rumble could say anything more, leaving him alone and confused in the middle of the road leading towards the farm.

“What was that all about, anyway? Why can’t she remember anything?”

Rumble found the place that he had spent the entire morning looking for. When he heard that the library was a giant tree, naturally, he was a little sceptical at first. However, standing before Rumble, at the address he had received from his teacher, was indeed a giant tree, with windows and a front door.

“Golden Oaks Library… I might be able to find something here.” At first, Rumble thought that it would be best to tell his brother about what had happened. But he then remembered that he was no longer speaking to his brother, so this was really all he had left. Cloud Kicker would just laugh and tease him, and Flitter would just think he was playing a game, and try to play along.

Opening the door to the library, Rumble walked inside and looked around. It was a nice, quiet place, filled with many, many books (duh, it’s a library, after all), and even had a baby dragon cleaning the shelv-Wait…

“AH!”

“WHOA?!”

“A-A dragon?!” Rumble shouted, backing away but finding that the door behind him has already closed.

“That’s right! And who are you?” The baby dragon asked, seemingly annoyed at Rumble’s shouting.

“What’s all the noise in here?” a female voice asked form another room. A blue mare walked from the top of the stairs, yawning loudly as she reached the bottom, and eyed the colt and baby dragon standing at opposite ends of the library. “… Well?”

“I’m not sure,” the dragon replied. “He just walked in and started screaming when I was trying to dust the shelves.”

Rumble tensed when he saw the mare direct her attention towards him, and decided to apologise. “I-I’m sorry. It’s just, I’ve never seen a dragon before, just heard about them. And I… I’m sorry…”

The baby dragon scratched his head, and then leapt down from his small stepladder and walked towards Rumble. “Well, no harm done. I’m Spike. What’s yours?”

“R-Rumble,” Rumble answered, extending his hoof to shake Spike’s claw… ‘Okay, this just feels weird.’

The blue mare behind Spike yawned loudly once again, and walked towards a doorway on the other side of the room. “Well, since Trixie is up now, she may as well make a start on breakfast.”

“Um, are you the librarian here?” Rumble asked, stopping the mare in her tracks.

“No, the Great and Powerful Trixie just lives here,” Trixie responded. “Twilight Sparkle, the one in charge of this place, is still asleep right now. So keep it down, okay?”

“Um, okay… Then, do you know where I can find a certain book?”

“I can help with that!” Spike offered, seeming all-too-excited to help Rumble out. “What’re ya looking for? Cooking guide? Cleaning guide? Something Daring Do?”

“A-Any books on mythical creatures?”

“Ah, I know just the book!” Spike ran toward one of the bookshelves, and quickly scanned across until he came to a particular book with a purple cover. “Here it is! Equestrian myths and legends – A Reference Guide!”

“Thanks,” Rumble said as he walked over to Spike to collect the book. “Do you mind if I read it in here?”

“Not at all! Just try to keep it down, okay?”

Rumble nodded, and then moved towards the table in the middle of the room to read the book, whilst Spike moved back to his stepladder to resume his dusting.

‘Let’s see here… Sea Ponies… Humans… Vamponies… Changelings… Headless Hors-Wait, that last one…’

Rumble flipped back to the page about changelings, and looked at the artist renderings section of them. One of the pictures… A changeling disguised as a pony, ‘feeding off of another pony’s love’, bu shooting a green beam fo magic towards their forehead.

‘Just like Berry Pinch did to Applejack… Could she be a…’ Rumble quickly shook the thought from his head. That was absurd. There’s no way she could be one of these ‘changeling’ things, right? They had revealed themselves just recently, and from what he had heard about them in Cloudsdale, they were vicious, savage beasts. Not cute, meek little fillies. ‘Cute? Where’d that come from? I mean, I guess she’s not unattractive, but…’

Before he got off-track, Rumble cleared his head and poked his head up from the book. “Um…” Spike stopped his dusting, and turned to face the Pegasus colt. “S-Sorry, but, do you know where I can find more information on changelings?”

“Changelings?” Spike asked, receiving a nod from Rumble. “Well, I know one book,” he said, hopping down from his stepladder once more and walking towards a different bookshelf from before. “Why do you wanna know about the changelings, anyway?”

“Um, it’s for… a school project?”

“Really? What kind of project?”

“Um… it’s a creative writing assignment.”

“Cool,” Spike said, grabbing a thick green book from the shelf and bringing it over to Rumble. “Here it is. I don’t know if there’s anything good in there, but I think it’s all we’ve got.”

Rumble took the book and took a quick peek inside. “Can I… borrow this book, please?”

“Sure! Just let me get the item register real quick.”

After checking out the book on a two week loan, Rumble left the library and decided to head towards the park. Why? Because a very reliable source had told him that that’s where Berry Pinch would be in about fifteen minutes. That is, he overheard Berry Pinch discussing her weekend plans with her friend Archer yesterday after school.

Berry Pinch laughed and joked with her friends in the distance, the three fillies enjoying some ice-cream together under the hot sun. Rumble watched in disbelief as the filly he suspected may not actually be a filly dropped her ice-cream, and almost broke into tears, before Archer offered to share her own.

Changelings have no grasp on pony emotions or feelings. Even when disguised as ponies, they are cold, unfeeling creatures.

A filly even younger than Berry Pinch ran past the three, and tripped over onto the ground. She began crying as she held her hind leg, and Berry Pinch quickly rushed over to calm the filly down.

“… No feelings, huh?”

Changelings are very afraid of water. Even small droplets cause them to back away in fright. That’s why, when it rains, you need not fear a changeling attack.

Berry Pinch giggled as she ran around the park with her two friends, spraying water from her water gun whilst simultaneously avoiding incoming water bomb attacks from her friends.

To a changelings, foods like garlic and onions are like poison. Simply get them to take a whiff, and they will retreat immediately.

Rumble waited, and waited, and waited… but no matter how long Berry Pinch and her friends chatted whilst standing next to the garlic stand, the filly showed no signs of wanting to run away.

“Either this book is useless… or I’m just losing my mind,” Rumble said with a defeated sigh. He had been following Berry Pinch all day, and not one thing mentioned in this book about changelings applied to her.

He was about ready to give up, when he noticed that Berry Pinch’s breathing had increased, and she was walking around in a daze.

“Berry, what’s up?” Archer asked, looking concerned for her friend.

“N-Nothing, just feeling a bit tired, that’s all.” Berry Pinch turned her head to look at something to her side, and Rumble followed her gaze to try to find what she was looking at. But whatever it was, it was hidden behind a building that he couldn’t see from where he was sitting. “Sorry guys, but I’m gonna go home and get some rest.”

“It’s fine,” Archer said. “D’you want us to walk you home?”

Berry Pinch shook her head. “It’s not too far. I can get there on my own.”

“Well, alright then. If you say so.”

The three friends waved goodbye, and Berry Pinch ran away down the street in the opposite direction to the other two fillies.

Rumble at first decided to call it a day, and just head on home. After all, he had pretty much confirmed that she wasn’t a changeling, and that whatever he had seen at the farm was probably some kind of misunderstanding. At the very least, she doesn’t seem to be dangerous, so why bother investigating this further, right?

“… Well, my home just happens to be that way, too,” Rumble said to himself as he got up, the library book on his back, and took off down the street after Berry Pinch.

It didn’t take him long to catch up to the filly, and he noticed that she was still looking a little feverish as she continued walking down the street. He decided to go and make sure that she was okay, but before he could get close to her, Berry Pinch turned to move towards a familiar looking house…

‘Wait, that’s my house, Rumble thought to himself as he stopped and hid behind some nearby bushes. ‘What’s she doing here?’

Berry Pinch reached her hoof towards the door, presumably to knock. But what she actually did took Rumble by surprise. She pulled down on the door handle, and just walked in, as if she owned the place.

“What the?” Rumble quickly jumped out of the bushes, and ran into his house to see what was going on. He heard some noises coming from the living room, followed by a bright green glow that reminded him of what he saw at the farm.

He quickly sprinted around the corner, and into the living room, to see what was going on. “Thunderlane?” he asked as he entered the room, only to stop and back away in horror at the sight before him: Berry Pinch, standing above a downed Thunderlane, shooting a green beam of magical energy into the Pegasus’ forehead.

Berry Pinch stopped whatever it was that she was doing, and slowly turned her head to face the now-fuming Pegasus colt standing behind her. Her eyes widened, and she let out a frightened squeak as she herself began to back away. “R-Rumb-”

“W-What did you do to my brother?!"

Meeting Berry Punch

Berry Pinch gasped and released her spell as she saw Rumble charging towards her. She yelped as he grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her down to the ground, pinning her forelegs to the floor to make sure she couldn’t run away. “R-Rumble…”

“What did you do?! Is my brother okay?! What are you, and what was that spell you used on my brother?!”

Rumble shook the frightened filly back-and-forth as he demanded answers from her, and Berry Pinch weeped as the back of her head hit the floor, sending waves of pain through her and sending chills through her body. “P-Please, stop…”

“Fix my brother! Make him better, right now! Or I’ll tell everypony what you are… CHANGELING!”

Berry Pinch gasped, and started to struggle against Rumble’s hold. ‘No! Not that! Anything but that! If the ponies find out what I really am…’ Images of changelings hanging from gallows passed through her mind.

“Pinchy, dear, you must listen to me. This is very important. You must not, under any circumstances, let anypony know what you really are. Do you understand? Ponies and changelings can never co-exist. If it was discovered that we are changelings, we would be forced to leave. Our home would be burned to the ground, and we would be hunted down like animals.

“So no matter what happens, you must keep your true identity a secret. Even from your best friends.”

Berry Pinch stopped struggling, and chocked back a few sobs as she looked up into Rumble’s enraged face. ‘If he tells everypony what I really am, then mommy and I will have to leave! I don’t want to leave! I like it here! I have friends, and so does mum!’

“Well?! Say something!”

“PLEASE, MOMMY! PLEASE SAVE ME! ERASE HIS MEMORY, HURRY! HE’S GOING TO TELL EVERYPONY WHAT WE ARE, AND THEN WE’LL HAVE TO LEAVE! I DON’T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN! PLEASE… Please…”

The two remained silent for a bit, and for a while, nothing seemed to happen. However, before Rumble could continue his interrogation, he felt a hoof on his shoulder, and quickly spun around to find a light-purple mare behind him.

“Sleep,” she said, her own eyes glowing with green flames as she stared down into the colt’s. Rumble tried to say something, but soon felt his consciousness slipping away, and soon began to fall forward, eventually landing in the mare’s forehooves.

“Mommy… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Berry Punch shook her head, and reached over to pull her daughter into a comforting hug. “It’s okay, Berry Pinch. It’s all okay, now. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. You know that.” After a brief mother-daughter moment, Berry Punch pulled away and looked over at Thunderlane. “Now to deal with him…” She looked down at the colt lying in her forehooves. “… And this one, too.”

Rumble let out a groan as he slowly opened his eyes. “Ngh… What happened? I remember going to the library, and then…” The colt let out a gasp as he suddenly remembered the incident with his brother, and his eyes shot open completely. He saw the face of the mare from earlier looking down at him, and he soon realised that she was pinning him down onto a couch.

Berry Punch simply smiled at the frightened colt. “Pinchy dear, it seems our guest is awake now! Could you fetch a glass of water please?”

Rumble heard hoofsteps behind him, and tried to say something, but the words caught in his throat as the mare above him leaned her head down, touching her forehead to his own, their muzzles mere inches apart from each other.

“Good. You don’t seem to have a fever. I was afraid, since I’m not very good at using the sleep spell.”

Rumble, not quite sure what else he could possibly do in this situation, quickly extended his forelegs forward, pushing the mare off of him and sending her crashing down onto the floor beneath them. He then jumped off of the couch, and quickly began looking around for an exit. Instead, he found a startled Unicorn filly, holding a glass of water in her magic.

“YOU!” he shouted, stumbling backwards a few steps as the mare picked herself up off of the floor.

“Ow… It’s good that you’re energetic, but did you have to be so rough?” The mare moved over to the couch that Rumble had previously been resting on, and lay down onto her stomach. “Pinchy dear, could you give your dear old mother a massage?” she asked in a whine.

Berry Pinch sighed, and lay the glass of water down onto a nearby table. “Are you going to explain why we brought him here now? I thought we were supposed to erase the memories of those who found out what we are.”

“Yes, well, naturally, that was my original intention when he first saw you feeding.” Berry Pinch began to press her hooves into her mother’s back. “Ooh, that’s good. Anyway, this colt intrigued me. He saw you feeding, and yet, he told nopony. Well, he questioned that farmer pony, Applejack, about you, but never directly told her that you cast some kind of spell on her.

“Not to mention, despite the fact that he was researching you, he still kept his suspicions about you a secret.” Berry Punch looked up at Rumble, who was eyeing them both cautiously. “Tell me… Rumble, was it?” Rumble nodded. “My name is Berry Punch. It’s nice to meet you finally. Tell me, what were your intentions if you had discovered that my daughter was a changeling?”

“… I… I don’t know.”

“Why were you so curious, then? Where you hoping you could sell her out to the Royal Guard? Or perhaps, you were hoping you could blackmail her with that information?”

“Of course not! I wouldn’t do that to somepony! I was just… Well, you changelings feed off of love, right?” Berry Punch nodded. “I… just wanted to make sure that those you fed off of… weren’t being harmed in any way.” Rumble gasped as he remembered his brother. “My brother! Is he okay?! Berry Pinch cast some kind of spell on him! Was she feeding off of his love?!”

“Settle down,” Berry Punch said in a gentle tone, which seemed to have the desired effect on the young colt. “First, to answer your question, ponies that changelings feed off of can either be harmed, or not. It depends on the changeling. Myself, I only ever take what I need, and never too much from any one pony. And Pinchy here is new to feeding, but so far, she’s done a great job at making sure nopony is harmed.” She gave her daughter a proud smile, and Berry Pinch simply blushed and averted her gaze in response.

“So… Thunderlane’s okay?” Berry Punch nodded. “But, what about his love? He loves Blossomforth, and was going to ask her out next week! Does he no longer love her, now that she’s fed off of it?”

“Ordinarily, ponies that changelings feed off of temporarily feel less love. That’s why, as a rule of thumb, I personally only feed off of ponies that have so much love, that the change wouldn’t be a threat to the pony’s relationship.” Rumble looked confused, so Berry Punch decided to elaborate. “Well, you’ve probably seen it before, where couples that were so lovey-dovey one moment, suddenly have fights over seemingly unnecessary things? Or maybe, they even start to hate each other’s guts, only to make up and be back together in a few days?

“When that happens, for the most part, it’s because a changeling is involved. A changeling has sucked away some of the love from the relationship, but that love will inevitably return. However, after experiencing life without that love, it is entirely possible that one of the two ponies in the relationship will decide that they’re better off apart. Do you understand?”

“Kinda…” Rumble looked over at Berry Pinch, who was doing her best not to meet his gaze.

“However, Berry Pinch is different.” Rumble turned his attention back to the mare on the couch. “Rather than feeding off of love, Pinchy gives love to ponies that have hatred in their hearts. It seems that she is naturally able to harvest all of the love she needs in small doses from everything around her, but as a result, the excess love starts to pollute her system, and eventually, she must dispose of it.”

“Then… my brother was-”

“Yes. It seemed that he had some hatred towards somepony running through his mind. Do you have any ideas as to who that may be?”

Rumble looked down at the floor. Actually, he did have an idea. The past few days, he had been completely ignoring his brother, and refusing to leave his room whenever he was at home. He was sure that he was making Thunderlane very angry with him. “… I do…”

“… Well, if Berry Pinch managed to ‘feed’ off of him enough, you should notice a very big change in his attitude towards that certain somepony over the coming days. After that, the love will leave his system, and it will be up to him to decide which way he will go.”

“So then… it’s only temporary?”

“That is right.” Rumble breathed a sigh of relief, and Berry Punch motioned for Berry Pinch to move aside so that she could get up. “Now then… Tell me, Rumble: what do you intend to do now” Rumble looked up at the mare, and felt his blood freeze when he met her gaze. Her eyes were glowing green, and her cheery smile from before was gone, instead replaced by a hard glare that shot fear into the colt’s very being. “Depending on your answer, I may have to take drastic measures.”

“M-Mum?” Berry Pinch asked, taking a cautious step towards her mother.

“Unfortunately, I made the decision not to erase your mind earlier. If I were to do so now, because of how much time has passed, I’m afraid your brain will completely shut down as a result…” A green flame appeared on Berry Punch’s head, and a long, curved, black horn soon replaced it. She raised a hoof and placed it to just under the colt’s chin, against his neck. Rumble couldn’t move, nor could he avert his gaze form her eyes. “Well? Are you going to keep our secret?”

Rumble gulped, and tried to find the strength to run away from the frightening mare – no, changeling – before him. But he couldn’t. His body was frozen. All he could do, was simply tell her the truth. “… I-If you’re not here to e-endanger anypony… then I w-won’t tell a-anyp-pony about you…”

Berry Punch narrowed her eyes as she examined the colt. Soon, she moved her hoof away, and concealed her horn once more. “I see…” Her smile suddenly returned to her face, and she quickly leaped forward and pulled the startled colt into a hug. “You’re such a dear! Thank you so much for agreeing to keep our secret!”

Rumble, completely dazed and confused as the strange changeling continued to hug and nuzzle him, tried to pull away. “I-It’s nothing, really! I mean, there’s no reason you two should be chased out of town, if you’re not hurting anypony.”

“Thank you…” Rumble turned his attention towards Berry Pinch, who was looking back at him with a nervous smile on her face, and tears flowing down her eyes. It must have meant a lot to her that they didn’t have to move, he realised.

“Um… don’t mention it…” The two maintained eye contact for a bit, until they both couldn’t take it anymore, and averted their gazes from each other, their faces both incredibly flushed. “You, um… You aren’t feeling sick anymore?”

“Huh? O-Oh… you’re right…” Berry Pinch herself was also amazed. She was sure that Rumble was the cause of her feeling unwell so much recently, so why was she okay now?

“It’s because your hatred is gone,” Berry Punch said, releasing Rumble and moving back to her couch. She sat down, and motioned for the colt to join her. Rumble decided to simply stay where he was, for now. “You see, changelings are adapted to being able to find sources of great love, and when they do, their bodies respond by making them ready to harvest it. Unfortunately, younglings that have just entered maturity are rather sensitive to this, and the result is high-pitched fevers, and their bodies craving more love than they actually need.

“Berry Pinch is essentially the opposite; she reacts to ponies that have feelings of hatred towards another pony, and suddenly feels the irresistible urge to deposit as much love as she can into them.”

Both Rumble and Berry Pinch blushed furiously at the explanation, causing Berry Punch to laugh upon realising herself how that may have sounded.

“But, I don’t get it,” Rumble said suddenly, looking over to Berry Pinch. “I investigated her all day, and I was sure that she was just an ordinary – if not kinda weird – pony.”

Berry Pinch looked offended at being called weird, but Berry Punch said spoke up before she could. “Oh? Why’s that?”

“Well… for example, aren’t changelings afraid of water?”

“Not really, but changelings naturally lack the ability to swim, so, yeah, I guess if it were a large body of water. But we do drink the stuff, y’know?”

Rumble tried to remember what else the book had taught him. “What about having no feelings?”

“Until a year ago, it was believed that Nightmare Moon was just an old ponytale.”

“Uh, I guess… Then, I guess onions and garlic aren’t poisonous to you guys, either?”

Berry Punch laughed at that one. “Oh man, you ponies really have no idea, huh? No, you see, changelings have a heightened sense of smell compared to ponies. So naturally, we don’t like stuff like that, that have strong scents.”

Rumble looked at Berry Pinch curiously. “Then, how did-”

Berry Pinch anticipated what he was going to ask, and spoke up. “Um, actually… I have a blocked nose today…” She sniffled, as if to emphasise her point.

Rumble facehooved. “Okay, that’s just ridiculous!”

“Anyway, it’s getting pretty late,” Berry Punch said, looking up at the clock above her fireplace. “Thunderlane will be waking up soon. When he does, he won’t remember what happened. Naturally, we would appreciate it if you don’t tell him.”

Rumble nodded. “Okay… And, I’m sorry for all the trouble that I caused…”

“No, I’m sorry!” Berry Pinch said quickly. “I-I just… I couldn’t control myself… Please forgive me.”

“It’s fine. As long as there’s no harm done.”

“Well then, now that that’s all settled!” Berry Punch rose to her hooves, and walked over to Rumble again. This time, the colt didn’t feel the same icy fear gripping his throat, but he did hear his mind telling him to run again. “I’d like to ask a favour of you, Rumble. It’s the reason I didn’t erase your memories before.”

Rumble took a cautious step back, but Berry Punch simply took a step forward in response. “W-What kind of favour?”

Berry Punch grinned. “I’d like you to take good care of my daughter!”

The entire room feel silent. Both Rumble and Berry Pinch were once again blushing, and all it took was a moment of brief eye contact for them to both run to opposite sides of the room.

“W-What do you mean by that?!”

“M-Mum?! What are you saying?!”

“I-I’m way too young to be thinking about stuff like that!”

“Why are you always trying to embarrass me?!”

Berry Punch sighed, and placed a hoof to her forehead. “Not like that,” she said, though she certainly intended for it to sound like that. And she was quite pleased with the reactions that she got. “You see, I simply want you to help her out in my stead. Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee that I’ll always be there for her, and there aren’t any other changelings that I can trust.”

Berry Punch approached Rumble once more, and then lowered herself to her knees. “I’ve been watching you, ever since you saw Pinchy feeding off of that pony at the farm. And… I feel I can trust you. Please, will you help me and my daughter out, so that we can continue to live here in peace?”

Visit From A Relative - Part 1

Berry Punch yawned as she walked downstairs, and entered her kitchen. Today was her day off, but she had forgotten to deactivate her alarm clock last night, so she still ended up waking up early. And, since she didn’t think she would be getting back to sleep any time soon, she decided to just go downstairs and have some breakfast.

“Morning, mum. You’re up early today.”

Berry Punch looked at her daughter with almost fully-shut eyes. “Mornin’,” she mumbled, her voice raspy from her dry throat. She picked up an empty glass from a nearby cupboard, and walked over to the sink. “You’re up early, too. You’ve even finished your breakfast. What’s up?”

Berry Pinch picked up her empty bowl and headed over to the dishwasher behind her. “I couldn’t sleep well last night.”

“Thinking about Rumble?” Berry Punch teased, before downing a glass of water in one go.

“T-That’s not it! … Well, it is, but not in that sense!”

“What sense?” Berry Punch asked in an innocent tone. “I just asked if you were thinking about him. I never said in what way.”

Berry Pinch let out an annoyed groan. “… Are you sure we can trust him?”

“Are you saying that you don’t?”

Berry Pinch shook her head. “I just… don’t want to have to leave my friends…”

Berry Punch didn’t respond right away. Instead, she put down her empty glass, and walked over to her daughter, pulling her into a light, tender hug. “You won’t have to. You can trust me on that, Pinchy.”

“Mommy…” Berry Pinch eased into the hug, before being startled by the sound of the doorbell. “W-What?”

“Hm? I wonder who that could be?” Berry Punch looked over to the clock. She was expecting company, but at a later time. “… Pinchy dear, shouldn’t you be leaving soon?”

Berry Pinch looked over at the same clock, and gasped. “Oh, no. You’re right!” The filly grabbed her bag from the kitchen table, and rushed over to the door. “See ya!” she shouted as she swung the door open and rushed out quickly, taking only a second to register the pink mare on the other side, before completely forgetting about her as she rushed to school.

Berry Punch walked over to the door to see who her guest was, but stopped and widened her eyes at what she saw. “Y-You’re-”

“It’s been so long, Berry dear!” The pink-coated, yellow-maned Earth Pony mare ran into the house, and threw her forelegs around the stunned Berry Punch. “That must have been my granddaughter I just saw leave the house? And how’s my useless son-in-law doing? Did ya finally ditch him and find yourself a real man?”

Berry Punch’s face turned red as she grew angry, and she shoved the other mare off of herself. “Listen, Crunch Berry, I didn’t dump my husband! He died, a few years ago!”

“Oh, my,” Crunch Berry said, a sad look on her face. “All this time, and little… what’s her name?”

“Berry Pinch.”

“Cute. Anywho, all this time, and little Pinchy hasn’t had anyone to call her father? Oh, that just simply won’t do!”

“She doesn’t need a father. I certainly didn’t need one.”

“Oh, please,” Crunch Berry scoffed. “If you had a father, you wouldn’t have become such a hopeless alcoholic dropout. And you certainly wouldn’t have married that loser of a changeling you called your husband.”

Berry Punch’s glare did not soften one bit. “Crunch, what are you doing here? And how did you find us, for that matter?”

Crunch Berry laughed. “Oh, please, Berry dear. Call me ‘mother’, or even just ‘mum’.” Berry Punch spat on the floor. “As for why I’m here, why, it’s to see my darling little girl, and her daughter, who I haven’t seen since the day she was born!”

“Anyone else would’ve taken the hint that they’re not welcome.”

“Oh, Berry! You say the darndest things sometimes! And as for how I found you… well, it’s a mother’s job to be able to find her lost child! I’ve known your whereabouts ever since the day that you left.”

Berry Punch’s face twisted in fear. “Relax,” Crunch Berry said. “I haven’t told a single soul about where you live. Your secret is safe with me, my daughter.”

Berry Punch sighed, and rubbed a forehoof against her head. She felt like she needed a drink, more so than usual. “And? When do you plan on leaving?”

“Hmmm… After I see that my granddaughter is living a happy life, here in…”

“Ponyville.”

“Right, right! Here in Ponyville!”

“Right, well, as you just saw moments earlier, she’s quite happy! So, if you could just leave now-”

Crunch Berry laughed and shook her head. “Oh, no, Berry dear. All I’ve seen so far is that little Pinchy is rather energetic, and that she is indeed attending school, like a child her age should do.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you should just leave anyway! Before your very presence turns her into a ‘hopeless alcoholic dropout’.”

Crunch Berry put a hoof to her chin, and then shook her head again. “Nah! I think I’m just going to go and check things out for myself!” Crunch Berry’s sides glowed green, and soon, a pair of pink wings shot out of her side. “My bags are outside. Be a dear and bring those in for me, will you? Thanks ever so much.”

Before Berry Punch could respond, the pink mare was already on her way, soaring into the skies without a care in the world. Berry Punch contemplated going after her, but knew she would stand no chance. She instead just looked over at the mountain of bags that her mother had brought along, and sighed. “She wants me to carry her stuff in? Fat chance.”

Berry Punch looked around to make sure that nopony was watching, and then transformed into a green Unicorn stallion, and began to lift all of the suitcases with her magic, floating them over a small mud hole nearby.

Rumble stirred in his bed, images of changelings surrounding him and tying him up as she sang their creepy chants running through his brain. “No… No, stop… I-I won’t taste good, really. I…” The sound of his alarm clock awoke the Pegasus from his not-so-peaceful sleep. He climbed out of his bed, panting and covered in sweat, and shut off his clock.

“What’s that smell?” Rumble asked himself as she he left his room. “… Pancakes? Isn’t today supposed to be Thunderlane’s day off? … THUNDERLANE!”

Suddenly remembering the events of yesterday, Rumble hurried downstairs and entered the kitchen. “Thunderlane, are you okay?!”

“Of course I am,” Thunderlane said as he turned to face his little brother, a big smile on his face. “Take a seat, little bro. Breakfast is almost ready.”

“I-It is?” Rumble asked as he nervously approached his brother. “But… isn’t today your day off?”

“It’s my way of apologising for the way I’ve been acting recently.” Thunderlane placed a place of pancakes onto the kitchen table, and pulled the chair back for his little brother. “I know it’s difficult to adjust to a new town. I should have been more sensitive to your feelings. I’m sorry, Rumble.”

Rumble was caught completely off guard by this apology, and shook his head as he sat down. “N-No. It was me who’s been acting out of hoof recently. I know the move was unavoidable. I was just being selfish.”

Thunderlane surprised Rumble even further, by kneeling down and pulling the young colt into a strong hug. “Even so, that’s no excuse for the way I’ve been treating you lately! I love you, little bro, and I shouldn’t have been so hard on you.”

Rumble wasn’t quite sure how to react, other than squirming and trying to get free. ‘W-What the? Is this what Miss Berry Punch was talking about before? Berry Pinch injected some ‘love’ into him, and now he’s acting all mushy and stuff?’ A thought crossed his mind, and he frowned. ‘Oh, no. Blossomforth is coming over today… I’d better find somewhere to hang out after school for a while.’

“Anyway,” Thunderlane said as he released his brother, “You’d better eat up, before your pancakes get cold. And after your finished, I’ll walk you to school.”

Rumble quickly shook his head. “T-That’s fine! Really! I can walk there myself!” He couldn’t let the other foals see his brother like this. That would just be way too embarrassing.

Thunderlane frowned. “Are you sure? It’s important for brothers to bond, you know.” Rumble nodded his head vigorously. “Well, if you really insist… Then, how about if I help you with your homework later?”

Rumble thought about this. “Well, I don’t have any that needs doing right now, but if I get some today, then, sure.” Thunderlane seemed a little too excited about the idea. “But, what about Blossomforth?”

Thunderlane waved his hoof dismissively. “I can send her home early. Family is more important than friends, after all.”

Rumble’s eyes widened in disbelief. Thunderlane never put anypony before Blossomforth! Wasn’t his love supposed to have grown? Or, was it only towards a specific individual? ‘Could the love her gained have been directed towards whoever he hated at the time Berry Pinch fed off of him? In that case, that means that the one he hated was…’ Rumble gulped, and turned away from his brother, lifting the fork that was on the table and starting to dig into the pancakes.

‘I-I knew he was mad, but to think that he hated me…’ Rumble suddenly lost his appetite halfway through his first pancake, but he didn’t want to upset his brother, who had gone through the trouble of preparing this breakfast for him. And so, he forced himself to eat as much as he could, until the clock saved him. “Thunderlane, I should really be going to school now. You can have the rest of these, if you want.”

“You sure?” Thunderlane asked.

Rumble nodded. “I’m sure. And, I might be coming back late tonight, just so you know.”

“Oh. I see…” Rumble left the house without another word, and Thunderlane let out a deep sigh. “Well, I guess I’ll finish these off, and then go shopping… I wonder what happened yesterday that stopped me?”

At lunchtime, Rumble decided to sit alone in the cafeteria as he ate, since he still hadn’t really become friends with anypony yet. It’s not that he didn’t like the ponies at his new school, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about his old friends back in Cloudsdale.

Berry Pinch entered the cafeteria with Archer, and noticed Rumble sitting all on his own. Archer asked Berry Pinch to find some seats for them, whilst she grabbed some food from the lunch line. Berry Pinch nodded, and walked over to where Rumble was sitting. “Mind if I sit here?” she asked, receiving only a simple nod in return.

“… I’ve been keeping your secret,” he said, trying to break the awkward silence in the air.

“Oh. Uh… thank you.”

More awkward silence followed, and Berry Pinch began nervously eating her lunch with slow bites. “Thunderlane’s been acting weird.”

“Your brother?” Berry Pinch asked, receiving confirmation from Rumble. “S-Sorry… I really didn’t mean any harm by it.”

“It’s fine… I think…”

“Ooh, what’s this?” Archer asked as she took the seat next to Berry Pinch. “You two are getting along quite well, huh?”

Both of the foals’ faces turned red. “W-We were just talking!” Berry Pinch shouted.

“Oh? What about?”

Berry Pinch flinched. “Er, it was about… um…”

Archer grinned wryly at the flustered filly. “Something you can’t speak to me about?”

“She was just answering some questions I had about the school,” Rumble said, receiving a thankful smile from Berry Pinch.

“Don’t believe you,” Archer responded. “C’mon, you can level with me. I won’t tell anypony, honest.”

“I said, it’s not like that,” Berry Pinch insisted. “We’re just friends, that’s all!”

“And when did that happen?” Archer asked. “‘Cause last I saw, you two weren’t exactly on speaking terms, for whatever reason.”

“W-Well, that’s because…”

“We’re just friends,” Rumble said, seeing that Berry Pinch was starting to get really panicked. “So just drop it, okay?”

“Alright, alright,” Archer said, holding her hooves up in submission. “Sheesh, ya don’t have ta get so defensive about it. I was only teasin’ ya.”

“Yeah, well, she clearly didn’t like it.”

“She’ll be fine!” Archer said, wrapping a foreleg around Berry Pinch. “Pinch and I, we’ve been friends for years now! It’ll take more than a little teasing to break this filly, trust me.”

Outside the cafeteria window, a pink Pegasus mare with a yellow mane grinned as she listened in on the conversation between the three foals. ‘Seems like my granddaughter has some good friends… But, I’m curious about this colt, in particular. It seems that little Pinchy has taken… quite a shine to him.’

Visit From A Relative - Part 2

As the foals filed out of Cheerilee’s class one-by-one at the end of the school day, Berry Pinch and Archer exchanged a few jokes and giggles with each other. On their way out, they bumped into Rumble, who standing just outside of the schoolhouse in a daze.

“Heya, Rumble!” Archer said as they approached him, but she received no response. She tried again, with more ‘oomph!’ in it this time. “HEYA, RUMBLE!”

Rumble jumped back with a start, and Berry Pinch clasped her hooves against her ears. “W-What the?!”

“Eheheh… sorry, too loud?” Archer asked with a sheepish grin. “What were ya doing here, just staring into space?”

“Oh, uh…”

“Aren’t you on your way home?” Berry Pinch asked. Rumble shook his head. “I’m… actually trying to avoid going home right now.”

“Why?” Berry Pinch asked in a concerned tone.

“It’s… complicated,” Rumble answered, trying not to look Berry Pinch in the eyes.

Berry Pinch nodded, and also averted her gaze from the colt. Archer looked between the two, and grinned like a Cheshire Cat. Even if she didn’t know what exactly, she knew that something was up between these two.

“Well, then,” Archer began, “Wanna come hang with us?”

Berry Pinch’s eyes widened. “W-What?!” she shrieked. “A-Archer, what’re you-”

“We were thinkin’ of going ‘round to Sugarcube Corner, this bakery that does really good cupcakes. You wanna join us?”

Rumble thought about it for a moment. It sounded like a good way to kill some time, and he did like cupcakes… “Is that okay?” he asked Berry Pinch, who looked as if she wasn’t sure how to respond.

‘W-Why ask me? I don’t own Sugarcube Corner, so he can go if he wants to! More importantly, just what is Archer planning, inviting him along like that all of a sudden?'

“That’s a ‘yes’,” Archer said, reaching forward and grabbing Rumble’s forehoof with her own. “C’mon, let’s go! We’ll give you a little tour of Ponyville on the way.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” Rumble said. “I’ve already got the gist of it.”

“Too bad! I’ve already decided!” She pulled him along rather forcefully, and placed him next to Berry Pinch, giving a little shove to make sure that their bodies bumped against each other. Both foals blushed at the minor contact. “You two walk together, and I’ll lead ya both around!”

“But, I already know Ponyville,” Berry Pinch said.

“I know, but you’ve gotta keep him entertained while I lead him around.” Archer leaned forward, and whispered into Berry Pinch’s ear: “Try to find out what he likes, and then talk about that.”

“W-Why?” Berry Pinch asked, her face turning even redder.

“Just ‘cause!” Archer giggled, and turned around. “Right! Archer Tour Lines, ready to move out! Forwaaaaard, MARCH!”

Crunch Berry giggled as she sat on nearby cloud, looking down at the three foals as the marched down Ponyville, the blue one shouting so loudly that she could hear her even from so high up. “Wow. That one certainly is energetic.” Crunch Berry sighed as she lowered her head onto the soft, fluffy cloud. “She reminds me of my youth… Oh, it seems they’re going inside that… Is that a house made out of candy?”

“So, how’re you enjoying Ponyville, Rumble?” Archer asked before taking a sip of her smoothie.

“Well, it’s… quieter than Cloudsdale. And I don’t really know anypony here…” Berry Pinch offered him a sympathetic gaze, which he quickly averted his eyes from.

“You know us,” Archer said. “I know! Why don’t you hang out with us and our friends tomorrow, after school! We were gonna go have a picnic in the park. I’m sure the other girls won’t mind ya tagging along.”

Rumble fiddled with the straw in his smoothie nervously. “I don’t know…”

Archer leaned over to elbow the colt, whilst shooting him a sly grin. “What, you shy ‘bout being around six cute fillies all day?”

Rumble, now turning red, glared at the teasing Pegasus opposite him. “If they’re as ‘cute’ as you, I don’t think I’ll have a problem.”

Archer laughed loudly and fell back into her seat. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting that!” After she had calmed down, Archer reached a foreleg over Berry Pinch’s shoulders. “But, no. They’re about on the same level and Pinchy here.”

Berry Pinch blushed, and Rumble struggled to come up with a response. ‘Come on, Rumble! Don’t let her win!’ “… I-Is that so?”

…

‘Nice one, doofus,’ Rumble thought to himself as he slammed a forehoof into his face. “I-I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Oh? Because Berry Pinch is so unbelievably cute beyond compare.”

If at all possible, Rumble’s face grew even redder. Deciding that he didn’t want to dig himself any deeper than he already had done, Rumble opted out of retaliating, and instead just focused on trying to down his smoothie one go.

“Is that a yes?” Archer asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“J-Just shut up, alright?” Rumble said, turning his head away. “I don’t think of her that way.”

Berry Pinch’s ears flattened against her head, and she turned her head the opposite way to Rumble’s. Archer looked between the two, and let out a sigh as she shook her head. ‘These two really do have something going on between them, huh?’

Later that day, Berry Pinch told Archer and Rumble that she had to go home to do some chores for her mother. After she had left, the two remaining foals decided to go home too. Archer tagged along with Rumble for a bit, since their houses were in similar directions.

“Hey,” Archer said, turning her head to look at the colt beside her.

“What?” Rumble asked. “If you’re just going to start teasing me again-”

“Do you like Berry Pinch?” the filly asked, before Rumble could even finish.

“Argh! Will you just put a lid on it already?”

“I’m serious,” Archer said in an even tone. “Do you like her, yes or no?”

“… She’s… fun to be around, I guess. I thought she was pretty weird at first, but I guess she had her reasons.”

Archer tilted her head in confusion. “Reasons?”

Rumble mentally cursed himself for his slipup, and quickly tried to fix his mistake. “I-I mean, I just thought she was weird ‘cause she acted different from the ponies up in Cloudsdale! That’s all!”

Archer clearly wasn’t convinced, and Rumble’s innocent whistling probably wasn’t helping him. “… Whatever,” she said, deciding to drop it. Rumble breathed a sigh of relief, though it wouldn’t last for long. “Anyway, I just wanted to tell ya, since I’m her best friend and all: you make her cry, and I’ll make school miserable for you. Got it?”

“‘Make her cry’?” Rumble asked, not quite following.

“Got it?” Archer asked, in a much sterner tone this time.

“Uh… uh-huh.”

Archer smiled, and stopped suddenly in the middle of the street. “Good! Well then, if you ever need any advice, feel free to ask me anytime!”

“Advice on what?”

“On how to win Pinchy’s heart, of course!” Rumble’s brow furrowed, and he immediately began his rant of how he and Berry Pinch were just friends. Archer ignored him, and turned down the street to continue heading home.

“Honestly, that filly just doesn’t give up!” Rumble said, turning around and heading in a different direction.

“She brings up a good point, though,” a voice above Rumble said, and the colt looked up to see a pink Pegasus mare landing in front of him. “Hello there. Rumble, is it?” Rumble nodded, and the mare took a step closer. Suddenly, Rumble could no longer feel his legs, and was frozen on the spot as the pink mare looked down at him with a menacing grin on her face. “I think that you and I need to have a little talk…”

Visit From A Relative - Part 3

Rumble felt a chill pass down his spine, and shuddered as the pink mare loomed over him with a menacing grin on her place. “I need to have a word with you, Rumble.”

“W-With me?” Rumble asked, his voice cracking as he tried to back away, but he found that his hooves were frozen firmly in place. “What about?”

“About a certain little filly that you seem to have recently grown fond of.”

Rumble looked at her with a questioning look on his face, and then took notice of her wings. “A filly? … Do you mean Archer?” The mare didn’t respond. “Look, we were just walking home together just now, that’s all. Truth-be-told, I’m not really that fond of her at all. I don’t hate her, but-”

“You seem to have come to the wrong conclusion,” the mare said, giggling slightly as she patted the top of Rumble’s head. “I was referring to that cute little Unicorn that you and your friend were just with?”

“‘Cute little Unicorn’… You mean Berry Pinch?”

“That’s correct! My granddaughter, Berry Pinch!”

Rumble gasped in shock at this new revelation. Did this mean that, standing before right now, was yet another changeling? What did she want with him? Why does she ‘need to have a word’ with him? And most importantly… “Y-You’re her grandmother?”

“Why, yes. Yes I am.”

“… But… you look so young! About the same age as Ms. Punch!”

The mare giggled, and flicked her mane as she struck a pose in front of the young colt. “Why, thank you for noticing! I know I am rather young and sexy for my age.”

“I didn’t say anything about ‘sexy’,” Rumble muttered, immediately earning a cheek pinch from the mare’s hoof.

“What was that, little boy?” she asked, veins showing in her forehead.

“N-Nothing! I didn’t say anything!”

“Good!” The mare released him, and Rumble quickly rubbed a hoof against the side of his face. “But, just now… you mentioned that I look the same age as Berry Punch, correct?”

Rumble nodded. “Y-Yeah…”

“Oh, my! So Pinchy has already introduced you to her mother! She certainly is her mother’s daughter, that’s for sure.” ‘I’d better make sure she doesn’t get into Berry’s alcohol stash.’

“Um… listen, Ms…”

“Oh, where are my manners? My name is Crunch Berry! And please, drop the ‘Ms.’.”

“Uh… Crunch Berry, I don’t really get what’s going on, but I’ve only visited Ms. Punch once before, and it wasn’t exactly a… casual greeting.”

Crunch Berry tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“It’s… I-It was an emergency… I don’t really want to go into the details, but-”

Crunch Berry’s eyes widened. ‘Of course! Berry Pinch should be awakening soon, so…’ “I see! Let me guess, it involved Pinchy, right?”

Rumble nodded his head. ‘Does she not already know? Maybe Ms. Punch just hasn’t told her yet… I guess I’ll just tell her the whole story.’ “Y-Yeah. Berry Pinch had been acting weird lately, so I grew concerned, and I-”

Crunch Berry raised a hoof to silence the colt. “Say no more! I get the picture.” ‘If she’s awakened, then that means that… I had better make my message rather clear to this young colt.’

Rumble took a step back when Crunch Berry advanced, but was immediately frozen in place once again by some mysterious force. He felt two hooves on his shoulders, and his attention was drawn into the two, large green eyes looking his way.

“Now you listen here, Rumble: I’m glad that you’re being such a good friend to my dear Pinchy, but that’s all I can allow you to be. Don’t go getting any ideas in your head about being her coltfriend or anything.”

Rumble wanted to protest that he had no such thoughts, but he was unable to even move his mouth right now, let alone form any coherent words. “Do you understand?” Crunch Berry asked. “You are forbidden from pursuing a romantic relationship with her.”

Rumble grit his teeth together. Something was stirring up inside of him, and he was beginning to feel angry all of a sudden. Breaking free of the mare’s spell, he was finally able to say something, though what he said shock him.

“What right do you have to decide who she can and can’t date?!”

Crunch Berry glared down at the young colt, and kneeled down to look at him at eyelevel. “That is because I am her guardian angel. Rumble, I am not saying this as a suggestion, or an order.”

Rumble’s breathing stopped, his eyes widened, and his pupils shrunk to the size of dots. He slowly lowered his gaze, and found a pink hoof pressed against his throat. “You are forbidden from pursuing any romantic relationship with my granddaughter. Is that understood?”

Rumble had so many questions to ask her. Why was she so insistent on making sure he didn’t date Berry Pinch. Why was she going to such lengths? Who was this mare? So many questions, but his brain, for the sake of survival, pushed them aside, and assumed control of all of his motor functions to instead just give a simple nod.

“Good!” Crunch Berry, smiling once again as she retracted her hoof and lifted off of the ground by flapping her wings. “Well then, Rumble dear, please do continue being such good friends, good friends, with Pinchy, alright?”

Rumble only nodded once again. ‘S-She said ‘friends’ twice.’ Crunch Berry flapped her wings faster, and took off into the air, flying down the street at a high speed. ‘… M-Maybe I should try to limit the time I spend around Berry Pinch, from now on.’

As Crunch Berry soared through the air, she grit her teeth in anger as a bitter memory played through her mind. ‘Ponies and changelings can never fall in love. Never.’ A familiar scent caught Crunch Berry’s nose, and she stopped her flying as she looked around for the source. She found two ponies, one a green Unicorn mare, the other a cream-coloured Earth Pony mare, sitting a nearby bench together, in an otherwise isolated park.

She overheard the green mare saying that she would go and get some ice-cream, and then watched as she got up and ran off down the park. Crunch Berry grinned, and slowly landed behind the other mare. ‘Maybe I’ll have myself a little snack, before heading back to Berry’s home.’

Rumble opened the front door to his house slowly, and walked inside. With a sigh, he closed it, and then turned around with the intention of going upstairs. Instead, he was greeted to the sight of a black Pegasus pony’s face in front of him, a little closer than the colt would have liked, and yelped as he jumped back.

“Welcome home, bro! D’you have a good day?”

“T-Thunderlane! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Thunderlane’s smile immediately fell, and he reached out and grabbed his younger brother. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you like that!”

“GAH! T-Thunder… lane… l-let go!”

“Thunderlane, what’s going on?” a white Pegasus mare entered the hallway from the living room, and looked at the two sibling with a confused look on her face. “Oh, Rumble’s home…”

“H-Hello, Miss Blossomforth,” Rumble said, remembering his manners despite his situation.

“Hello, Rumble. It’s nice to see you again, but… what is he doing?” she asked, pointing at the colt’s brother.

“I-I don’t know! G-Get him off me?”

“I’m just showing my brother how much he means to me,” Thunderlane said, squeezing Rumble even tighter. “You’re the best little brother a pony could ask for!”

Rumble gagged at the sentiment, whilst Blossomforth simply giggled over the poor colt’s predicament. “Well, as great as it is to see you two finally getting along, perhaps you let go of him now? Before he dies of asphyxiation?”

Thunderlane gasped, and immediately released his little brother, who placed a hoof to his throat as he let out a series of coughs and wheezes. Rumble looked up at Blossomforth. “T-Thanks,” he said with a raspy voice.

“No prob,” she responded, before turning to Thunderlane. “C’mon, Thundy! The movie’s at a good point, and I want to see how it ends.”

“You want to join us, bro?” Thunderlane asked, looking down at Rumble with a hopeful look on his face.

It almost hurt Rumble to have to turn his brother down… No, that’s not true at all. The colt actually took great pleasure in it. “Sorry, Thunderlane, but I’ve had a tiring day, and want to just get some sleep.”

“Oh,” Thunderlane said, sounding upset. As Rumble moved past him and began to move up the stairs, Thunderlane’s smile reformed itself on his face as he turned around to face his younger brother. “Then, d’you want me to tuck you in? Or read you a story? Or-”

“Thunderlane!” Rumble shouted. “I just want to be alone for a bit, okay?!”

Thunderlane was taken aback by the sudden shouting, and bowed his head in defeat. “O-Okay…” As Rumble ran up the stairs and entered his room, slamming his door in the process, Thunderlane let out a depressed sigh. He felt a wing wrap around his body, and turned his head to Blossomforth, who began to nuzzle the down stallion.

“Don’t take it too personally, Thundy. Colts his age just need their space, that’s all.”

“But-” Blossomforth shushes him with a hoof to his lips.

“Besides, this is a good thing. You’re brother’s gonna be up in his room all night, which means now, there’s nothing getting in our way…” Blossomforth leaned forward to kiss Thunderlane on the lips, and as she did so, the stallion felt all of his previous sadness washing away.

Though he still found himself thinking about Rumble, even as he returned the kiss. ‘… What’s wrong with me?’

Berry Punch’s ears twitched, and she let out an annoyed sigh as she lowered her knife and fork onto the dining table below her. Berry Pinch gave her a confused look. “Aaaaand, she’s back.”

“‘She’?” Berry Pinch asked, soon followed by the loud sound of the front door to their house slamming open.

“Berry dear,” a female voice called out, “Would you mind explaining why my bags were found in a mud hole outside of your house, rather than inside, like I asked?”

Berry Punch turned around to give her mother a hard glare. “It’s because you’re not welcome here. Now go away! We’re trying to have a nice family dinner!”

“I’m family,” Crunch Berry pointed out, dropping her muddy bags onto the floor of the kitchen, and approaching the dining table. She noticed the glass of wine by Berry Punch’s plate. “Why am I not surprised?”

“M-Mommy?” Berry Pinch asked, trembling in her seat. “W-Who’s that?”

“Nobody,” Berry Punch replied flatly. “Just a pest that doesn’t know how to take ‘go away’ as an answer.”

“How rude,” Crunch Berry said, using her magic to pull out a nearby chair for her to sit on. “How could you just lie to your daughter like that? Doesn’t she deserve to know who her grandmother is?”

“Grandmother?” Berry Pinch asked in a shock voice. “You’re my…”

“She’s nobody,” Berry Punch repeated, but Crunch Berry simply ignored her.

“Yes, that’s right, Pinchy dear. I am Berry Punch’s mother, and your grandmother.”

Throughout the night, Berry Punch’s headache progressively worsened, and her alcohol supplies were quickly running out. Of course her daughter would take her mother’s side. Of course Berry Pinch would spend the whole night asking Crunch Berry questions about the Changeling Kingdom, and about her mother when she was growing up. And, of course the two would bond so well together!

“More importantly, Pinchy dear, I wanted to ask you something,” Crunch Berry said, after she had finished retelling the story of when Berry Punch got drunk in the middle of a Middle School play. “I couldn’t help but notice earlier, that you failed to react to several sources of love throughout the town today.”

Berry Punch’s ears twitched, and she began to panic. Berry Pinch simply looked at her grandmother questioningly. “What do you mean? Were you… following me?”

“Well, I may have been a little curious about how my granddaughter lives her daily life… Anyway, onto my question! Have you not awoken yet?”

Berry Pinch was about to answer, but her mother cut her off. “Alright, Pinchy! It’s time for bed!”

Berry Pinch looked confused. “But, it’s only nine,” she said.

“Yes, well, you have a big day tomorrow, remember?” Berry Pinch shook her head. “Of course you do! You have that… thing, with the stuff.” Berry Pinch looked even more confused, but was lifted into her mother’s magical hold before she could say anything. “Right! So, go and wash your teeth, and then go straight to bed, alright?”

Berry Pinch looked down at her mother, but only received a stern glare. Moaning, she followed her mother’s orders, though she made a point to emphasis each step she took to the bathroom with a stomp.

“… What was that all about?” Crunch Berry asked. “Is there something you’re trying to hide from me, Berry dear?”

“Of course not!” Berry Punch shouted. “She just needs to go to sleep now! And so do I! Therefore, Crunch Berry, I ask that you leave us be now!” Berry Punch turned to go up the stairs. “Oh, and to answer your question: no, she hasn’t awakened yet.” Berry Punch marched up the stairs, the suspicious eyes of Crunch Berry watching her as she took (and stumbled on) each step.

‘My daughter… what are you hiding? Perhaps I need to look into this, before I head back home, just to make sure that Pinchy isn’t in any danger…’

Visit From A Relative - Part 4

Rumble yawned as he crept down the stairs in his house, a pair of saddlebag on his back and, a comb in his hoof, running through his mane. He stopped in front of a mirror at the bottom of the stairs to check his hair. “… I really don’t know about this,” he said to himself with a sigh.

The previous day, he had agreed to hang out with Archer and Berry Pinch and their friends in the park today. However, that was before he had met Crunch Berry, and now, he wasn’t so sure if it was worth the risk. ‘That crazy changeling will kill me if I get too close to Berry Pinch.’

Rumble heard the sounds of giggling in the living room, and was reminded him of why he had decided to go out that morning in the first place. ‘Right. Those two are still asleep in there, so it’s not like I have much to do here anyway…’

Sighing, Rumble placed his comb into his bag after he had finished fixing his mane, and then proceeded to leave the house very, very quietly.

Rumble arrived at the park thirty minutes before the time that Archer had specified, so he decided to buy himself an ice-cream cone and sit on a nearby bench. He let out a loud yawn as he sat down, and brought a hoof to his eyes to wipe away his tiredness.

“You must be pretty sleepy, huh?” Rumble simply nodded, but then paused when he had finished yawning. He turned to his side to see a familiar pink filly looking his way. “Um, good morning.”

“Good morning,” he said back. Both foals turned their gazes away from each other. “You got here early, too?”

“Yeah… Mommy was acting weird last night, so I thought I’d come out and get some fresh air… Maybe it has something to do with grandma moving in?”

Rumble’s ears twitched, and his body shivered in fear. “Y-Your grandmother?”

Berry Pinch nodded. “Yeah. I haven’t ever known any changelings, other than my mum. My mum and I moved to Ponyville when I was only two, you see. Anyway, last night, my grandma showed up, saying she wanted to see me.”

“… And, how is she?” ‘I mean, besides a complete psycho?’

Berry Pinch smiled. “She’s really fun.” Rumble looked shocked at this, but she didn’t seem to notice. “She had so many interesting stories to tell, and answered so many questions about our race that mommy wouldn’t ever answer for me. But, I get the feeling that mommy and grandma don’t really get along that well.”

“Is that so?” Rumble asked, taking a lick of his ice-cream. ‘I wonder if I should tell her that her grandmother threatened me yesterday?’

“Where did you get that ice-cream?” Berry Pinch asked. Rumble pointed to the ice-cream stand in the distance, which the filly quickly began running towards.

Rumble sighed as he sat back into his seat. ‘What was that all about, anyway? Forbidden from dating her? Who says I want to, anyway? I mean, she’s not bad-looking, but-’ Rumble’s s thoughts were cut short when he saw Berry Pinch returning to where he was sitting, looking incredibly downcast. “What’s wrong?”

“I forgot my bits,” Berry Pinch sulked. “I can’t buy any ice-cream.”

The filly sat down on the bench next to Rumble, and hung her head as she frowned at the ground beneath her hooves. Rumble looked at his ice-cream, and then at Berry Pinch, and then at his ice-cream again. “… You… want the rest of mine?”

Berry Pinch immediately lifted her head, and looked at Rumble with a look of surprise. “R-Really?”

Rumble nodded. “I’ve had enough, anyway. You can have the rest, if you want.”

Berry Pinch smiled widely, and reached forward to grab the cone. She blushed when her hoof came into contact with Rumble’s, and averted her eyes as she pulled the cone towards herself. “Thanks…”

“It’s fine,” Rumble said, his eyes shifting between Berry Pinch and the ground as he watched her eat the ice-cream with a smile on her face. The colt felt his face heating up, and began to wish that he hadn’t given away his ice-cream.

Crunch Berry grit her teeth as she watched the two foals below her sitting together on a bench in the park. “I told him not to get too close to her. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough?” She heard the sounds of giggling, and noticed a group of fillies approaching the two. “Damnit. Guess I can’t get him alone just yet… Oh well, I can wait.” A grin spread across her face. “And hey, maybe he’ll change his mind. He is a growing colt, surrounded by such cute little fillies, after all.”

“Is it true that ponies in Cloudsdale carry spears around at all times?” Dink asked Rumble, bombarding him with a lot of questions about Cloudsdale. “Do you really have your own branch of the Royal Guard there? Is it really so big that you could get lost, even if you’ve spent your whole life there?”

“Uh, well,” Rumble began, backing away from the energetic filly with a nervous look on his face, “I-It’s not like we all carry weapon, but the Royal Guard stationed there carry their weapons when off-duty, so outsiders usually mistake them as regular civilians carrying weapons.”

Dinky looked a little sad at that. “Oh…”

‘Why does that upset her?’ Rumble shook the question from his mind, deciding not to bother asking. “And yes, it is pretty big. It doesn’t help that, because everything is made of clouds, the city constantly change shape. One morning, school might be in walking distance, then next week, you might need to take a chariot.”

“Really?” Alula asked, she and her friends all growing interested in the story. “That must be so confusing!”

Rumble laughed. “Yeah, at times…” He spared a moment to look to his left, where he saw Berry Pinch also looking at him, listening intently to his answers to Dinky’s many questions about Cloudsdale.

“What’s wrong?” Archer asked, shooting Rumble a sly grin. “See something you like?”

Rumble quickly shook his head, and turned away, confusing the rest of the fillies in the group.

“Look, will ya just stop and listen to me for a sec?!”

The foals gathered at the park turn to the source of the raised voice, and saw a white Unicorn mare chasing a grey Earth Pony mare. “Tavi, just listen to me, alright?!”

“Save it, Vinyl! I said I don’t want to talk about it right now!”

“But-”

“NOT. NOW!”

“UGH! Why are you so stubborn?!”

Berry Pinch felt something tugging at her heart, and let out a gasp, before her breathing began to increase. ‘O-Oh no… Not again.’ Her temperature started to rise, and her eyes began to water.

Rumble and Archer noticed this, and both started to grow concerned, though for very different reasons.

“Berry? Are you okay?” Archer asked, placing a hoof on her friend’s forehead. “You’re burning up! I think we should cut our meet up short, guys, and get Berry Pinch home.”

The other fillies moaned, but understood. Rumble knew what was really happening, though, and started to panic when he saw green sparks flow out of Berry Pinch’s horn. “Um, actually, guys,” he started, getting up and walking over to the panting filly, “You guys should stay here and enjoy your day. You all planned it out so much, right? I can take Berry Pinch home by myself.”

“Are you sure?” Dinky asked. “Berry Pinch is our friend, I don’t think we should-”

“It’s fine,” Berry Pinch said, though her voice was weak. “You guys have fun… I’ll be fine with just Rumble.”

Archer was about to speak up, but after Berry Pinch’s horn began to glow green, Rumble quickly picked her up and draped her over his back. “We’ll be fine!” he said quickly, turning around before anypony could say anything else. “I’ll see to it that she gets home safe and sound! Don’t worry!”

Rumble quickly ran off through the park, carrying Berry Pinch on his back and silently begging her to hold on until they got to her home. However, Berry Pinch wasn’t sure that she could.

“… That grey one,” she started, “She’s just round that corner. She’s feeling such hatred right now… If I can just get to her-”

“That’s too risky! What if somepony sees you?!”

“But… I don’t think… that I can maintain my disguise much longer…” Berry Pinch’s mane flickered, and began to dim, before being covered in green flames for a moment, bringing back the bright colour that it once was. “Please…”

Rumble groaned, and stopped his running to change his direction. “Fine, just hang on a little longer, okay?”

“… Thank you…”

Octavia sighed as she sat on a bench to the side of one of Ponyville’s streets. “Stupid Vinyl Scratch… I take such precious time out of my life to visit her, and she can’t even spare a single moment for me!”

“Um… Excuse me, miss?” Octavia looked down at the young Pegasus colt addressing her. “Do you know that white mare with the strange glasses?”

Octavia grunted, and turned her head away with a huff. “So, she’s sending kids to look for me, now? Tell her I have no intention of speaking to her any time soon.”

Rumble shook his head. “It’s not that! She’s in trouble!” Octavia’s eyes widened, and she turned back to face the young colt. “She’s passed out in the alleyway! I can’t move her on my own! I need you to help me!”

Octavia gasped, and quickly rose to her hooves. “Where?!” she asked frantically.

“This way!” Rumble replied, turning around and running down the street. “Come on!”

Octavia quickly followed the colt, eventually reaching an alleyway and turning in to it as the colt did. However, what she saw was just an empty alleyway, with no sign of the white mare anywhere. “W-Where is she?”

“Sorry,” Rumble said, before pulling something out from behind a cardboard box to the side of the alleyway. It was a small, black pony-shaped thing, with insect-like wings, and a black, twisted horn on its head.

“W-What-” Before Octavia could finish asking her question, a green beam of light shout out of Berry Pinch’s horn, and connected with Octavia’s forehead. Octavia slowly closed her eyes, and fell down onto the ground in a peaceful slumber, whilst Berry Pinch’s eyes opened wider, and her breathing began to slow down.

“Get mommy,” she said as her strength started to return to her. “We need her to erase this mare’s memory.”

Rumble nodded, and was about to leave the alleyway, when the sight of a pink Pegasus pony landing in front of him stopped him. “That won’t be necessary,” the new pony said.

Berry Pinch gasped in surprise, and her beam of magic suddenly halted as she beheld her grandmother standing before her. “G-Grandma…”

Crunch Berry looked down at the slumbering mare, and closed her eyes and green flames enveloped her. Her wings disappeared, and a horn shot out of her forehead. “I’ll take care of this,” she said as her horn lit up a green colour. A similar-coloured aura enveloped Octavia’s body, and the Earth Pony mare groaned some more.

“… Now,” Crunch Berry said as she finished erasing the mare’s memory, “You two… It would seem that my granddaughter has awoken, though not in the same sense as a regular changeling.” Berry Pinch lowered her head in shame, and Crunch Berry turned to Rumble. “Well, that’s fine. But what isn’t fine, is that this pony, seems to know about you…”

Crunch Berry took a step forward, and her horn began to glow once more. “And we can’t have that, now can we?”