Post by ForgottenExistance on Jun 17, 2015 4:45:17 GMT
Ponyville, it was a nice and small town with a rich history. It dated back for many years, and had family ties as far back as any resident could remember. And even as small as it was, it was a popular tourist destination. It had at one point been the home of the Elements of Harmony, which meant that six of the most important mares in Equestria called Ponnyville their home. Recently, one of the Elements had become a princess of Equestria, which only served to further the amount of popularity the small town got, and how many visitors came.
So, why in the hay were the streets almost empty?
It wasn't as if it was a bad day. The sun was shining, there was a nice warm breeze, and there were only a small collection of scattered clouds in the sky. Despite the fact that Ponyville had a tendency of being targeted by so many natural disasters on a near monthly basis, that didn't seem to be the case that day. It was just as if everyone within the town's boarders had just decided to pick up everything and rush into their homes, board up the doors and hide.
It also wasn't a holiday, and there was no reason why everyone should be inside. There was no noise, no chattering, no sight of hide nor hair of any of the residents. There wasn't even the constant cluster of residents and tourists at the open market, which was altogether bizarre.
The only pony that could be seen for several streets was a light grey earth pony mare, with an ash grey mane and matching tail. At that point in time, the irate mare was smacking her hoof against the wooden door of a local music shop, complaining in hushed mutters the entire time about poor service and not being allowed in when she needed new strings for her instrument. As if she hadn't gotten the memo about Ponyville being abandoned for the day, she pounded away at the door for several more minutes before she gave up and turned around.
Scanning around with lavender orbs, she settled on a slowly approaching figure down the road towards the entrance of town. She figured that she wouldn't be the only straggler. Squinting to see the figure better, she was silent for all of a minute before the first scream escaped her lips.
"CHANGELING!!!"
And there it was, the reason why the streets were abandoned and all the residents were safely within doors.
The earth pony managed to stay still for all of three seconds before she turned and sprinted at full tilt down the road that took her back to where her house was, safely in the direction opposite the Changeling. It wasn't as if she was going to stand around to try and talk to the source of all that fear. No, like much of the rest of Ponyville, she cleared out as if she had never even actually been there.
With a long sigh, the Changeling let her head droop slightly as she walked. It wasn't the worst she had received when first walking into a town without a disguise. There weren't any pitchforks and torches, which meant that it was actually one of her better trips into a town. She couldn't be mad at the ponies though, she understood why they were afraid. And more importantly, she was actually impressed. She had only gotten into town five minutes before she had caught sight of the earth pony, which meant that their reaction time was something to be stunned about.
It likely had to do with the amount of disasters that Ponyville had a tendency of attracting all too often.
Letting her head straighten out and her neck regain its posture, the Changeling stopped her slow walk to get her bearings and look around. It only took her a moment to settle her sights on the crystal castle in the distance, and decided to set off at a slow walk again. There wasn't all too much to see in Ponyville, and the castle was on the other side of it. She figured if she didn't run into anyone else by the time she got there, she could always just pack up, move on and head over to the next town.
To a pony, the Changeling looked almost identical to every other Changeling out there. She was covered head to hoof in straight black chitin, only disrupted by the holes in her legs that went straight through one side and out the other. Of course, holes straight through the center of a leg was a problem to a pony, but not so much to a race with an exoskeleton. Being part insect came with its benefits, including a strong outer layer.
What could pass off as a mane or a tail were frayed bits of thin webbing-like chitin that stuck out at the back of her head, down her neck, and where a tail would have been. They were only a few shades off of the rest of her chitin, leaving them a dull grey. Her compounded eyes were a light blue, fading into a white center that could roughly pass for a pupil of sorts. Beyond that, her carapace was a smooth dark blue, reflecting the light that filtered through her translucent blue wings that sat over top of it.
She was fairly small, a nose shorter than an average pony mare, and had a slender frame to match it. So the saddlebags that she had slung over her flanks, packed with various bits and baubles, looked far too big for her. Despite that, she didn't seem terribly bothered by the awkward shape of the saddlebags, and she wasn't hindered when she walked. It was more the fact that the items within were just collections of odd shaped items that didn't stack well together. The most important of which found itself wrapped in a green aura and levitated to her.
The old journal, hovering open in front of her, had seen a lot of use. It was one of a few journals she had in her saddlebags, but it was the one that she had been working on the most recently. Using her magic to remove the pen from the spine of the old book, she started writing in the pages as she walked, stopping only to look up and ensure she wasn't about to walk straight into something before she returned her gaze to the book and continued writing. It wasn't all too difficult for the mare to multitask.
Despite her slow pace through the town, she hadn't run into anyone but the earth pony mare since she had entered the town. By the time she had come to a stop at the front of the castle, she had effectively decided it was probably best to move on. However, she figured she had time to admire the castle. There were few things she liked as much as art, and architecture was just one form of art. Looking up at the crystalline structure with the journal still held in her green aura in front of her, she felt her bottom jaw go slightly slack as she took in the sheer awe-inspiring appearance of the castle.
She had to admit, it was pretty incredible. Staring at the crystals, she couldn't shake the feeling that it looked somewhat like a tree, if a little angular. She couldn't shake off the look of absolute fillyish excitement as she observed the castle, taking in the details from the bottom to the top and admiring the structure. If she wasn't so worried about the hiding ponies whipping out pitchforks, she probably would have been content to spend all day staring at the beautiful crystal structure.
So, why in the hay were the streets almost empty?
It wasn't as if it was a bad day. The sun was shining, there was a nice warm breeze, and there were only a small collection of scattered clouds in the sky. Despite the fact that Ponyville had a tendency of being targeted by so many natural disasters on a near monthly basis, that didn't seem to be the case that day. It was just as if everyone within the town's boarders had just decided to pick up everything and rush into their homes, board up the doors and hide.
It also wasn't a holiday, and there was no reason why everyone should be inside. There was no noise, no chattering, no sight of hide nor hair of any of the residents. There wasn't even the constant cluster of residents and tourists at the open market, which was altogether bizarre.
The only pony that could be seen for several streets was a light grey earth pony mare, with an ash grey mane and matching tail. At that point in time, the irate mare was smacking her hoof against the wooden door of a local music shop, complaining in hushed mutters the entire time about poor service and not being allowed in when she needed new strings for her instrument. As if she hadn't gotten the memo about Ponyville being abandoned for the day, she pounded away at the door for several more minutes before she gave up and turned around.
Scanning around with lavender orbs, she settled on a slowly approaching figure down the road towards the entrance of town. She figured that she wouldn't be the only straggler. Squinting to see the figure better, she was silent for all of a minute before the first scream escaped her lips.
"CHANGELING!!!"
And there it was, the reason why the streets were abandoned and all the residents were safely within doors.
The earth pony managed to stay still for all of three seconds before she turned and sprinted at full tilt down the road that took her back to where her house was, safely in the direction opposite the Changeling. It wasn't as if she was going to stand around to try and talk to the source of all that fear. No, like much of the rest of Ponyville, she cleared out as if she had never even actually been there.
With a long sigh, the Changeling let her head droop slightly as she walked. It wasn't the worst she had received when first walking into a town without a disguise. There weren't any pitchforks and torches, which meant that it was actually one of her better trips into a town. She couldn't be mad at the ponies though, she understood why they were afraid. And more importantly, she was actually impressed. She had only gotten into town five minutes before she had caught sight of the earth pony, which meant that their reaction time was something to be stunned about.
It likely had to do with the amount of disasters that Ponyville had a tendency of attracting all too often.
Letting her head straighten out and her neck regain its posture, the Changeling stopped her slow walk to get her bearings and look around. It only took her a moment to settle her sights on the crystal castle in the distance, and decided to set off at a slow walk again. There wasn't all too much to see in Ponyville, and the castle was on the other side of it. She figured if she didn't run into anyone else by the time she got there, she could always just pack up, move on and head over to the next town.
To a pony, the Changeling looked almost identical to every other Changeling out there. She was covered head to hoof in straight black chitin, only disrupted by the holes in her legs that went straight through one side and out the other. Of course, holes straight through the center of a leg was a problem to a pony, but not so much to a race with an exoskeleton. Being part insect came with its benefits, including a strong outer layer.
What could pass off as a mane or a tail were frayed bits of thin webbing-like chitin that stuck out at the back of her head, down her neck, and where a tail would have been. They were only a few shades off of the rest of her chitin, leaving them a dull grey. Her compounded eyes were a light blue, fading into a white center that could roughly pass for a pupil of sorts. Beyond that, her carapace was a smooth dark blue, reflecting the light that filtered through her translucent blue wings that sat over top of it.
She was fairly small, a nose shorter than an average pony mare, and had a slender frame to match it. So the saddlebags that she had slung over her flanks, packed with various bits and baubles, looked far too big for her. Despite that, she didn't seem terribly bothered by the awkward shape of the saddlebags, and she wasn't hindered when she walked. It was more the fact that the items within were just collections of odd shaped items that didn't stack well together. The most important of which found itself wrapped in a green aura and levitated to her.
The old journal, hovering open in front of her, had seen a lot of use. It was one of a few journals she had in her saddlebags, but it was the one that she had been working on the most recently. Using her magic to remove the pen from the spine of the old book, she started writing in the pages as she walked, stopping only to look up and ensure she wasn't about to walk straight into something before she returned her gaze to the book and continued writing. It wasn't all too difficult for the mare to multitask.
Despite her slow pace through the town, she hadn't run into anyone but the earth pony mare since she had entered the town. By the time she had come to a stop at the front of the castle, she had effectively decided it was probably best to move on. However, she figured she had time to admire the castle. There were few things she liked as much as art, and architecture was just one form of art. Looking up at the crystalline structure with the journal still held in her green aura in front of her, she felt her bottom jaw go slightly slack as she took in the sheer awe-inspiring appearance of the castle.
She had to admit, it was pretty incredible. Staring at the crystals, she couldn't shake the feeling that it looked somewhat like a tree, if a little angular. She couldn't shake off the look of absolute fillyish excitement as she observed the castle, taking in the details from the bottom to the top and admiring the structure. If she wasn't so worried about the hiding ponies whipping out pitchforks, she probably would have been content to spend all day staring at the beautiful crystal structure.