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tab He heard the shriek during his trotting, stumbling backwards as he recognized the sound. He stumbled, looking for his friend as he trotted back towards the action, eyes locking on the scene. He had been far enough not to hear most of what happened, but that scream? He knew that sound.

tab And he saw Royal; not moving. Still. His wings fluttered as he broke into a run, skidding to a stop once he was finally there. His eyes locked on Piper, eyes widening as he stumbled backwards, wings flared. For a moment he looked frightened, although his wings lowered as he watched her. She wasn't -- that wasn't the Piper he knew. She had wings where she hadn't before; had eyes he didn't recognize and she was covered in holes. She was.... a changeling? Fear spiked, eyes trailing to Royal before returning to Piper.

tab She was crying.

tab The scream had been real. The tears were real. She was still Piper, even though she wasn't. He didn't know what to think, but his heart hurt. He felt tricked, of course; he hadn't known who she really was and didn't know she was a changeling, but... She was still Piper. He believed. Her distress was real, like the Piper he knew. He used to know? He currently knew? He didn't get it, but he found himself trotting up to the frozen Royal and the broken Piper, reaching out to touch her.

tab "Piper," he gently called, looking at his frozen friend. Distress touched his face, ears flattening. One friend was frozen, the other was weeping. He didn't know what to do. He looked up at Piper, again, before gently bumping his head against her side.

tab "He's gonna be okay," he murmured, more to comfort her. His own voice was shaking, ears flattened and eyes squeezed shut. He knew it was going to go bad; Royal was frozen and Piper was...

tab Probably in danger.

tab And then Shadowed came running forth. He couldn't stop her from lunging at Piper, but he chased after, briskly stepping between them. The Pegasus dipped down, glowering at Shadowed. He didn't understand what was happening, but he couldn't stand to the side! He stood his ground, teeth grit and wings raised.

tab "No, you back away," he growled, a trait very uncharacteristic of the tiny Pegasus.


Abeno Seimei


houllow

Mango dipped her head to take the flower crown from the random pony, confused, before realizing that there was a method to the stallion's madness. She smiled meekly, nodding her thanks. When Cherry approached, Mango side stepped away, uncertainly, but nodded. "I-I'm fine, Cherry," she murmured, shifting so her flank was closer to Royal's. She wanted to trust her sibling, but the fact that Royal was asking questions about how they were acting... Mango needed to keep an eye out. Just in case. Anyone could be a Changeling.

A scream split her lips as she hit the ground just as the magic hit Royal. When the dust settled and she looked up, she couldn't help the cry of anguish that left her. "Royal!" she squealed, suddenly in a bit of a panic. What was happening?! No, this couldn't happen! She needed his help! Teal Tale attempted to drag the cart closer to Royal as Mango stared at him helplessly. "I'm so, so sorry," she whimpered, tears streaming past her bangs from her hidden eyes. There was absolutely nothing she could to to help her friend, and she felt horrible for it.

A bright light drew her attention, and her eyes went to see Piper - or who she thought was Piper - charging towards Royal. Instantly, she surged forward, but was not quick enough to act, as Shadowed Flower came barreling towards Piper. Apparently they had the same thought in mind. She shifted towards the other side of Royal, scanning the crowd, although her gaze continued to go back to Piper over Royal's flank.

"Shut up." Shadowed snapped, either at Piper or at Glitch or both. The tone was serious and angry, and she stamped her hoof again. Glitch was so much smaller than her and Piper was....what the sharding domains. "Both of you, shut up and let me think." Her mind was whirling a million miles an hour, and the brown mare turned her head to keep an eye on everyone around them. "What were you thinking, changing like that and then trying to approach after he was attacked?"

The accusation was true and shrill, but it didn't stop there. "What if people think you did it? I don't want both of you to be hurt, and I certainly can't protect you from a mob on my own." Even with Glitch there? "But I will try. You're my little sister after all, and if our brother can't do it then it's my honor and duty."

"I know...I just couldn't hold it anymore. all the stress. the chaos." She nuzzled back against Glitch. "Thank you Glitch, for coming back."

Piper took another deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"I just wanted to have fun with my friends and family" Her watery eyes perked up as the freezing magic dissipated from around Royal.

Mango was completely astounded by what she saw. Piper was very clearly a Changeling, one of the things that had caused this mess, that had this Mother who froze Royal and Deli! She backed away from the group, shaking her head, tears still streaming down her face. She wanted to trust the Cobalt family, it seemed like Piper really did care, even if she was a Changeling.

But what did this all mean? Mango took several more steps back, towards Cherry, without really meaning to. She wasn't sure who she could trust anymore, or what she could do. She was absolutely flustered and confused.

tab Ponies were running up and asking questions. His body loosened as he listened. Nothing was happening yet. He watched Prism, his brain coming up with questions of his own. It reeled, a headache forming as he sat back on his haunches and kept an eye out. No, really, he only had one question right now. He turned to Piper, letting Prism finish before quietly asking;

tab "Were you always Piper? This entire time? Are my memories with you... are they real? Are we really...." he wanted to say friends, but his voice cut off as he stared up at Piper. He was scared to hear her answer. They were friends, right? Those memories? They were all real, right? The times they played games together? Times they confided in one another? They were all real.... right?


Abeno Seimei

Piper looked around at all the ponies beginning to gather. Their faces painted with confusion, anger, fear, and even curiosity.

Mother warned her she could get into a lot of trouble. That she could be hurt by the other ponies if she went out.

Serene had stepped in and was trying to calm the family. Piper was really grateful for this and followed her instructions to take another deep breath.

A curious Pegasus stepped, asking a question that was on everyone's minds.

"I am a Changeling. yes. I wanted to come and enjoy the festival just like the others. It wasn't supposed to happen this way.." she thought.

Glitch's question was harder still. "glitch. we... we met online. played games. talked pokemon and splatoon." She paused. "When I figured out where you lived I scoped out a family I could temporarily hide among so we could play together. and well... It kept going. I loved being with all my new siblings. and I just..Loved being your player 2."

Teal had struggled with the larger cart not being used to hauling it when the blue sister with shadowed she had met earlier had changed! Royal stopped being frozen and all the ponies gathered around the changeling out in the open. Teal really didn’t care about any of that at all. She addressed the changeling tired and with tears. Much of it was emotional pain and some of it was physical pain from the cart bruising her sides. “SO you just wanted to have fun?!? Rather than coming as yourself you took the body of another pony and tricked all of their loved ones and watched us run around in a panic with our loved ones getting frozen and innocent ponies being checked all the while knowing you could have exposed yourself and tried to explain or even gone to Just Lance and spoken to him from the side. About all this. You know what I don’t care. I really don’t give a bristled tail about it . All I care about is my sister who your mother froze like she did Royal only unlike all the rest of the ponies she isn’t coming back and being able to move.” She looked right at the changeling. “Your ‘mother can listen to what you say from the sounds of things. Give me back my sister.” She stood there shaking with tears falling to the ground at her hooves. Everyone seemed so curious about the changeling some with fear, some with confusion, Shadowed actually with concern. She just cared about her sister who it seemed everyone forgot with every new little revelation. A part of her hated everyone for this but she understood they were busy with their own family and friends. She would not abandon Delicate Trinket thought and she was going to get her back.



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