Post by Mal on May 9, 2016 0:14:34 GMT -5
Suigyoku wasn't feeling too badly today. The hungry little Changeling sat outside on a bench, more like lounged, playing with a few pieces of multi-colored glass. He had done sure how a good job, pop pop let him come back to Canterlot to visit and run him more errands. The naive insect never questioned pop pop, because pop pop said he loved Rat the most. Though a changeling couldn't just roam around the city. Naturally once he was capable he was 'given' this disguise. After all you couldn't have two of the same pony wandering around. Doppëlganger were frightening! He settled the colored stones around, attempting to decipher a design, while he hoped to cone across nice ponies. They always made his tumtum feel better.
Zelenia lingered a little longer around Canterlot since she'd run into Bygone her first visit here. It was good to find him, but had let him go on his way so she could find others. If there were any who dared to live in, or visit, Canterlot as she had. Zel fought a small yawn as she wandered down the streets, nothing coming to her senses. It was a pity. Bygone was safe where he was, so she need not linger in Canterlot any longer than she had. Perhaps she would return after this final pass. Though a familiar green face caught her attention as she went down one of the streets, on a bench. Rat. Zel wandered over; he had been rather friendly the last time they had met. "Hello, Rat."
Suigyoku pricked up his ears, the voice soft and non offensive. Rat was easily spooked by strange sounds. As it was he responded as ponies did in the face of predators! His Faint or Flight instinct wad steing. His eyes punched up as his muzzle pulled up in a smile revealing a pair of oversized, flat canines at his lower jaw. A chirp was all that escaped, reminiscent to a beetle's laughter. He paused and sat up so his hooves could grip his board in familiar action, that marker squiggling away in his muzzle. 'Hello Zele!' He could understand her name, but writing it was a rather complicated matter for the supposedly mute bug.
Zelenia managed a smile for the green pony; making facial expressions was odd to her, never had much use for them in the hive, but she was learning. The chirp he'd made sounded odd to her, coming out of a pony's mouth, but she didn't think much of it. She did see the shapes of his teeth though. "I'm surprised to see you again, but I have been exploring this city for some time now. I may return to Ponyville soon." Zel told him as she approached and sat on the other end of the bench, avoiding the small gathering of colored stones he had laid out on it. "What are you up to?"
Suigyoku shook his head at her question, writing his response clearly. 'Playing. Zele is nice, stay?" Her time here was perhaps as short as Rat''s but ht wanted to make proper friends at least once. He blinked and turned his pink eyes to the stone. He grunted, holding on out to her. 'Frrran?' He asked before writing it out on his board, presented it to her.
Zelenia tilted her head at the writing board and turned on the bench, gathering her legs beneath her. "I can stay." She didn't have anywhere else to be, nothing important like a job either. What she had was what she took from the original owner of this face before she fled, seeking a home far away so she could keep the disguise without being found. She liked the face, and the mane. "Friend?" Zele repeated with some confusion, to make sure that was what Rat was saying, as he held up one of the pretty stones to her. The mare reached out with a hoof to accept it. Friends were a pony thing she had grown to understand, a little. "Of course."
Suigyoku seemed thrilled. Rat, did not have many friends. It was obvious he was a little different. Not only in how he spoke, but how he behaved. Nodding the male sat back. Having friends was good, a good feeling. It was not as alone. He wrote out his thoughts. 'Zele is good pony. Thank you. Do you like gift? ' he held the board for her to see before writing something new on its limited space. 'She must visit Manehatten. Rat's home.'
Zelenia held the little colored stone in her hoof, tilting it this way and that for the light to catch it, lighting up its color or spark off of it. She looked up when she heard that soft squeaking of the marker on the board and read what Rat wrote. "You're a good pony too. I do like it, it's very pretty." Zelenia replied with another of those smiles, her eyes focusing back on the board when he wrote again. "Manehatten? I have never been that far, nor to such a big city." It would probably be good for her. All the ponies, and all the emotions. A feast. "Is it nice?"
Suigyoku was glad she liked the stone, but seemed to tilt his head at her question, cheep in a bit, rrr'ing in his muzzle, the marker dangling from it. Writing he turned it. 'To Rat, but Canterlot nicer.' There was much he couldn't write to express. He thought... writing again he smiled, turning the board to her. 'It is like having your belly full.' He had it full once. Not something he ever experienced again. A Changeling in the big city could mean starvation if not for his siphoning of "fun" places. 'We go to park and Square Garden'. Where all the big, exciting events took place.
Zelenia tilted an ear at the sounds Rat made. There was something about them.. but she couldn't be sure. He had a speech impediment from what she could tell. Her pink eyes turned to the board. "What do you mean by full belly?" Zel queried, her brow wrinkling the slightest bit. Had she ever had a full belly? Not quite.. Affection was one of her favorites but it was so hard to come by. So much work. "What are those places like?" A park and a garden.. it meant there would be some green places, not that it mattered much to her.
Suigyoku wasn't sure how to explain a full stomach... He pondered and considered before patting his belly. Writing he turned it. 'When it isn't hurting in tummy, it feels good.' Yes! Maybe... at her question he began to move the stones around so the colored shards made a little mosaic. Writing he showed her. 'It us where many ponies are at, happy. Happy feels good.' It did. And it made his tummy not hurt so much. In the big, busy city happiness was hard to come by.
Zelenia looked to the board, holding one hoof awkwardly with the stone in it. She would have to find a way to carry it back home, probably in her mouth. "It sounds nice." Zel murmured and looked down at the soft clink of the other stones when he moved them into pretty shapes. The soft tap and squeak of marker brought her eyes up again. This time Zel's mouth opened a little in surprise, but she couldn't be sure.. Could she? "Can I ask you a question and not seem odd?" The mare spoke tentatively, hoping she wouldn't have to flee. "Do you feed off of emotions?" It seemed dumb to ask when it could have meant anything else, but she didn't know.
Suigyoku was glad they could share some of his home, but something was off. Wasn't she happy? He didn't get such a sense from her.. he frowned, lowering his board some, til she asked a new and very strange question. His face twisted up as if asked to run around the world and he was asthmatic. Marker squeaking he would write: 'All ponies live on happiness.' Without missing a beat he drew a HRT on the board.
Zelenia looked at the board, feeling confusion and something of disappointment. "They probably do, I would not know. I was hoping to look for others like me." Zel said and clutched the little stone she held to her chest. She shrugged then, indicating how unsure she was about it and tried to offer Rat another smile. "I don't entirely understand much, but I'm learning slowly. I hope my question was not too strange." Zel shrugged and waved a hoof, dismissing it. "What do you do with these stones?"
Suigyoku looked at her with concern. She seemed sad. A few squeaks he would turn around the board. 'You are like me.' She was a pony, so of course she was. He chirped out, voice clearly there but speech -- useless, or maybe just difficult. His large, overgrown underbite may be the cause. Grinding his jaw a moment he rolled the marker. Letting the tip once again squeak against the board he would turn the new message, leaning close. 'You are not strange. No sadness. Learning never stops.' Rat was a very kind creature, even with his inabilities and strange solitude... He tilted his head at her as his hoof slowly erased the words. "Ah! Lass!" He clenched his muzzle, writing, trying not to accidentally drop the marker in excitement. 'Glass!' It read. 'I blow glass, these make colors.'
Zelenia tilted an ear away at the new message. She wasn't so sure. There was nothing she could say without giving herself away to somepony who was probably just that- a pony. No changelings here but her, possibly. Zel nodded and gave Rat a reassuring smile. She was fine, just disappointed, when she thought she'd found another. Ponies probably had a different thing about emotion that she wouldn't understand, that made her think otherwise. "Blown glass?" Her brow wrinkled a little. "You'll have to show me this sometime, but this is interesting. That was why you were looking for stones before?"
Suigyoku smiled brightly and nodded. Sadly his board wasn't big enough to express his words well... 'I am apprentice to my pop pop.' He looked to her, raising a hoof and point towards her head, at least where it should be. He was not sure where his was. 'Why sad?' Hos writing was without sound, but his face showed plenty of emotion. He set the board down and held out his hoof to offer her a hug.
Zelenia hummed thoughtfully at the new words on the board. 'Pop pop.' She didn't know what that was, unfamiliar with the concept of fathers and all the different words for them. Somepony close to him was all she could glean from the meanings. Her pink eyes darted up to the curious pony's face, wondering if something of what she was feeling showed on her face. Zel didn't know how to handle the expressions thing yet; she wasn't stupid, she just.. didn't know a lot about pony nuances. "Sad?" Zel pondered and sat up, leaning across the little piles of stones for the offered hug; she knew what they were at least. They were nice, hugs. "It's a secret. I am not a pony, not quite." She admitted, quietly convinced by the embrace and the kindness. "I'm looking for others like me."
Suigyoku moved to hug Zele before sitting back. He moved to brush his tummy and settle on the ground. He looked up at her. Sitting he scribbled and held up his board. 'A different pony? That is okay. Everypony different. Rat can help you. Pop pop has many friends that know secrets.' Well not the best places to get answers from, but -- Rat always meant well and his good nature led to even criminals patting him on the head, treating him like an ignorant, naive potato.
Zelenia leaned back too, forehooves moving down to rest against the stone bench's surface. She gave the stones another curious glance, her own gift clutched close again. "Help me how?" Zel asked curiously, hoping it wasn't a pony trap. It probably wasn't, nothing had really happened to her to make her paranoid about anything, other than fear of discovery. Telling him was another thing, as it was on her terms. "What about changelings?"
Suigyoku stared at her for several moments. His jaws parted, looking akin to a fish. His muzzle shut as he was about to drop his marker. He stared at his board before raising the marker. Lowers it. Pressing the tip back to the board he scribbled. 'What is a Changeling?' He had never heard of such a thing, but he knew he was not a normal pony. His pop pop said he was a special, different point.
Zelenia saw the change to his expression, her muscles tensing, ready to flee at a moment's notice. After she saw the frantic scribbling and the question, she relaxed. "Oh." Zel managed, lifting a hoof to nervously run it through the mane of her disguise. "A changeling is a.. type of creature that feeds on emotions. They're not bad.. they don't even hurt anypony to do it. They can also disguise themselves as others, it's what w- they have to do to get close. A lot of ponies are afraid of them though, because the queen is uncaring and merciless in taking care of her hive."
Suigyoku listened carefully to her explanation. His ears were pricked up as he parted his jaws. Settling back on his rump he stared at his board. He finally scribbled a message and turned it around. 'That is the kind of pony I am than.' He filled his tummy with emotions, he did. Food didn't make his tummy better, only when ponies were happy. He erased it and wrote another thing. 'What is a queen? Is it like a princess?' He too had only just learned about the princesses and what they were!
Zelenia. This time it was her turn to gape at him for a moment when he answered her, telling her that was what he was.. So, her guess had been.. right? She blinked, closing her mouth, looking stunned. The soft tap-squeak of marker brought her back. "Yes, a level above a princess. What a princess might become if she marries, but my queen isn't married. Changelings don't need to." Zelenia stared off for the space of a few seconds, realizing she hadn't told him. "I'm a changeling." It was said in a quite tone as though she'd just realized this, but that wasn't the case.
Suigyoku seemed confused. He wrote a bit and showed her. 'I don't know what is married.' He stared at her, a blank expression before parting his jaws and happily squeaking. Marker scribbled and drew a little green blob. Probably him. 'You do not look like me.' He was sure without his skin he looked like a different pony, but she looked like a pony. 'You are a nice pony face.' He wrote with a smile.
Zelenia pondered a moment and shrugged when he expressed he didn't know what marriage was. "It's a pony thing, some sort of joining ceremony." It was how she understood it. It was also an emotionally charged ceremony, two ponies who loved each other and excited onlookers. "I have to look different. If we looked the same ponies would be suspicious." Zele paused, licking one side of her teeth where her long fangs usually jutted out. "Without disguises..." Zel shook her head and gave Rat a smile when he complimented her. "Thank you."
Suigyoku's eyes pinched up and wrote to her again. 'No problem. Yes ponies always are different, so are we.' He looked around before standing to put the stones in his satchel. One by one they clicked in with his other things. After packing his stones he looked to he chirped a bit, but -- that was no good. Speaking was hard. He wrote again. 'Pop pop raised me, but he is not a different pony. He eats grass.' He explained, squeaking in laughter a bit. 'Do you have any emotion to share? Rat is hungry.' He -- didn't know how feeding actually worked.
Zelenia pressed her hoof to her chest, the one that still held the stone in it, when she saw his message. She remembered what the purple bat pony said. Different. Like clouds. She made an interested 'hm' noise, smiling when Rat made a noise close to laughter. "Your 'pop pop' sounds like a good pony." Zel replied and faltered, frowning in thought. "I don't know if I do, or how to give it. All I know is what I've learned on how to gain it from ponies. Getting close to them and being nice, feeding off of their emotions that way.. None is as strong as love, but they are good."
Suigyoku was a naive foal, in a sense. His pop pop was not-- so nice. 'Can I come with you to learn? I do not know how to. All pf pop pops friends do not seem as happy as they can be.' He wrote, though the long message seemed to smoosh together become illegible. Suigyoku stood up and frowned. He couldn't move and write at the same time. Sitting back down he wrote with a sigh. 'I am sorry I can't speak. Would you show me if you are the same as me?' He write, in two messages.
Zelenia put her free hoof to her chin in thought, pink eyes alight with something like excitement. Another changeling, and he wanted to come with her! "I live in Ponyville, not here. If you don't mind going back on the train with me, or.. I could find money for an inn for here if you have to stay here." Zel offered, leaning in to squint a little at the squashed message written on it in dry ink. She leaned back, nodding. She didn't know who these friends were. "I can, in private. Some ponies aren't as accepting as they seem."
Suigyoku blinked and pricked his ears at her. She spoke quickly, but his inability to speak made it difficult to keep up in a conversation, at least respond to it cleanly. She seemed to invite him to travel with her. "Ohhayh~!" He frowned and wrote down. 'Okay! I live far away. We go. Friends, yes?' It was nice 'I visited Ponyville one time. We have tea?' He wrote.
Zelenia's ears pricked up at his verbal response, which sounded closely like a word that he soon wrote down. The earth pony nodded, sliding to three of her hooves. "Yes, friends!" Zel exclaimed. The question of tea made her pause for a moment and shrugged. "I don't have any in the place I rented, but I can buy some. I have not tried eating much of pony food, other than some sweet things." Zel thought the sugary things ponies made were good, even if her body got nothing out of it. She liked sweet. Maybe tea was the same. "Ponyville is rather nice, and welcoming."
Suigyoku nods and squeaked and nodded. He was very happy to have someone coming along. It meant the trip would be funner! 'Tea is very sweet with lots of sugar!' He did like cupcakes too! 'It is okay friend Zele. I can help. Pop pop gives me money and I have a good job. I will help my friend.' He had to write it out in two messages, but hopefully his explanation was clear. Writing was a bit sloppy when compared to speaking, which he was bad at. He thought a moment/ 'Does she have a second face too?' He wasn't sure if that was what being a Changeling meant....
Zelenia smiled when he spoke of the sweetness of tea. "I am glad to hear." She replied and watched his scribbling, the messages he laid out on the board before they had to be erased and added to. He was offering to help, of which she was grateful. Most of the money she pilfered from the original owner of this face, she didn't have to spend when she didn't eat pony food. It was used on the small house, and her trip to Canterlot on the train. Dwindling, in other words, when she hadn't yet learned the concept of jobs when they earned money. Changelings did their jobs for the hive, they didn't get rewards for it. "I do. Should we go now, or do you have more to do in Canterlot? I can wait."
Suigyoku smiled and wrote his message before standing. 'Ready to go friend Zele!' He was very excited! it had been a while since he had company and he had got to play with a smol, blind foal that understood him! Ah, foals were great! they could understand Rat best. Maybe that was a reason for his foalish nature? Adults couldn't understand him and he couldn't them..... he stood and perked up his short tail, his jaws parting in joy.
Zelenia beamed when she saw his agreement and lifted her gifted rock to grip it in her mouth, leaving all four of her hooves free. She really needed a small carrying bag for things.. but she didn't often carry anything. Zel shrugged to herself, smiling around the stone in her mouth and trotted off with a flick of her long tail, some of the tightly coiled bunches dragging along the stone Canterlot street. There was a happy bounce to her, pleased to have found one of her own that she could help. Zelenia had been wandering these streets just long enough to find her way back to the train stations, probably with Rat in tow.
Suigyoku would blindly follow his friend without question. the Changeling in disguise, or at least to him in a good pony skin .. creepy as that be : was happy to find a nice pony, sort of, to play with. "Zzzeerre ish guuut." He grunted wit ha squeak. Happy Rat was the happiest. Arriving at the train he bounced toward the window. He knew how to order tickets! Grunt and point, grunt and point. "Ti-ti ta 'puuuneevrriiill." He squeaked and sat, waiting for his tickets. He would pass the bits, making sure to purchase to. "Zerrre. Hur." He picked up the tickets in his muzzle and bounced back toward her, slittering a bit.
Zelenia heard the other's voice behind her, and every time he spoke she had to quietly mull over what he said to figure it out. The way Rat spoke was odd, a noticeable impediment, but it was understandable enough, she thought. Almost. Zel sat down when Rat went up to the window instead, and she waited while he got their tickets for both of them. Her stone was placed back out into her hoof to take a ticket, if it was offered, with a smile. "Thanks!" Zelenia didn't know his history, or why he spoke the way he did, but once she found out she could probably help. Sometimes being a caretaker of changeling eggs and newly hatched had its bonuses. She wanted to do as much as she could for her.. hive. Perhaps it wasn't much of a hive now if they were scattered, but for other changelings.
Suigyoku beamed at the thankfulness of the mare, sort of pony! He nodded and sat himself on the platform, looking down the tracks. Nothing yet. He looked to Zele and smiled. "Ah lai trams." He murmured, tail flicking. he was a happy little bug. Purring in his throat he buzzed a little song.. "Zere, ooo lai puunyveeel?" It was nice, always happy, but did she like it? It would be so much fun if she showed him around. "Sshhho Rat Zere ho...hoooum?"
Zelenia puzzled over Rat's speech, trying to decode what he was trying to tell her. Her eyes went out past him, yet there was no sight or sound of the train just yet. It might be by, soon. Her gaze refocused on Rat. He was obviously saying her name, or trying to. "Like.. Ponyville?" Zel asked at last to confirm that was what he said. "Yes, I like it. It's very friendly, and it's easy to find ways to feed there. Ponies are very open." Zel answered, taking another few minutes to ponder over Rat's last question. Show.. home? "I can show you, yes. It doesn't have much, but it is small and nice."
Suigyoku was so happy, he let out a snort, happy shout! "Waaaah!" Yes, Zele was going to show him around Ponyville. Last time was a quick visit, and jsut difficult to walk around when you got scared from big cats growling and stuff! Though they weren't so scary. "Puunyvelll haf mush pone." there were many ponies in ponyville so it made it pretty easy to get food,but he had only visited for a day. The toot toot of the Friendship Train was heard in the distance. How far was it? He stood up and looked down the tracks, tail twitching.
Zelenia didn't know what the shout was, but Rat seemed happy about, and she was happy too. She smiled as she watched him, distantly still trying to translate what he said in her own head. "There are quite a lot there.. but they're nice." Easy pickings. Zel thought over all the things she could tell the other changelings once they were safely in the privacy of her home. The distant call of the train broke her out of her thoughts and she perked up, her eyes straining to see if she could see it on the approach up its winding trail up the mountain. Rat looked excited for it too. Zel picked her stone up in her mouth and walked over to stand beside him.
Suigyoku waited for the train to come to a full stop. He knew how it worked. A Neigh Yorker, Changeling or no, he was raised in the busy streets and knew how things moved. Ponyville was small, and Canterlot was too wide open -- Manehatten was just right! Tiny and perfect. When the doors opened the green pone hopped in, and it was quite amusing given he was a bit heavier than a Unicorn or Pegasus. He was in the shape of an earth pony! He stepped in, waiting for Zele. Turning he passed the tickets to the conductor and would step aside, waiting for her like a puppy, tail wagging to boot!
Zelenia took a couple of steps back when the train came up to slide in front of the station, until the squeak of brakes brought it to a slow halt. The train made her a bit nervous, even though it was quite pretty to look at; it was still a big, heavy bunch of metal. Zele happily followed Rat onto the train, after he gave their tickets to the conductor, her gift held in her mouth. Rat's excitement was sort of infectious, and Zelenia grinned around the stone as she made to find them a seat, resting against the swirly glass partitions that separated the cushions.
Suigyoku was always quite bouncy. He had no reason to be sad, unless his freinds were sad. Zele said she was not, so this was good! Moving to settle on the cushion Rat took a moment to wiggle his bum and smooshed his hooves against the softness. His saddlebags were left on as he had a hard time getting them on by himself. He had a few other physical ineptitudes that made it rather hard to function normally. He settled down against the seat and looked to Zel. "Cuhferbul?" Train rides were long. he wanted to make sure his friend was comfy. "Whar burn Zere?" He wasn't born near or in Ponyville, not even in a hive! So where did she come from? For -- he felt ponies and sort of ponies could only be born in cities and towns, right?
Zelenia dropped her stone into her hooves and shifted around to place it on the seat between them, folding her legs beneath her to settle. Rat had seated himself next to her and her eyes went to his face, her head tilted. "Yes, I am comfortable." It took her a few moments, as usual, to figure it out, but it was close enough that it was easier to get. The second question took her longer. "Where.. ?" Zel thought about it, frowning a little. She remembered a long stretch of red desert. "The badlands, I think."
Suigyoku hummed and shook his head. "Rat nah no whur tah." He didn't know where that was, it was a strange name for a place. Sounded scary. "Arr lan's bahd?" Could lands be bad? It was a bit spooky. He frowned raising a hoof as if he was worried Zele would fall apart. Poor thing to be where the lands were bad? So bad! "waaah!" He shouted a bit. Scared himself. Looking around he folded his ears back and calmed own.
Zelenia rubbed at her cheek as Rat talked, taking her time trying to fit words to the disjointed things he managed. His sudden shout startled her and she jumped a little in her seat, fur on end, flattening out when she realized there was nothing. Just a fright. "N-No. It is just desert. It's just a name they gave it. Very warm, sandy. We lived in the caves, out of the sun, but we moved from place to place sometimes to find food." The explanation she gave, she felt, was vague enough that passing eavesdroppers wouldn't hear anything out of the ordinary or changeling-y.
Suigyoku cooed as he understood. Yes! Sandy places could be bad -- cause hot! "Rat luv an sooer samtam." Sometimes he hung out in the sewer, even slept there. He did have a home, but he wasn't let inside very often, for reasons. "Rat pap pap let." It was an allowance after all, so he could find things and explore! Though there was a chance that this was how he got his ....nickname. Rat wasn't a very suitable pony of Changeling name...
Zelenia tilted her head with an expression that could portray her confusion. That she didn't understand too well. L-.. Love? Maybe? The rest she couldn't quite get. 'Sooer' - Sour? Sewer? Zele guessed the latter. "Oh." The earth pony didn't quite know what a sewer was, when she had been around more country places where such things didn't exist. Canterlot was a complete mystery. The train was starting to move around them once everypony was on board, and Zele glanced out the window for a brief moment. "I see." Sort of. Zele put her head down on one hoof, ponderous. "I may have to take a nap while we're still on the train, and when we reach Ponyville I can show you it."
Suigyoku wiggled his tail and nodded. He was sure she didn't quite understand him ... nopony did so it was not an uncommon occurrence, but he was alright with that. At least she was trying. It was cute! And she talked to him! The best! Not many ponies did and he was sure she was the first sort-of pony to ever! He moved to slump on his side and flop awkwardly on the edge of the seat to relax. "Nep!" Naptime! He made himself cozy.
Zelenia lingered a little longer around Canterlot since she'd run into Bygone her first visit here. It was good to find him, but had let him go on his way so she could find others. If there were any who dared to live in, or visit, Canterlot as she had. Zel fought a small yawn as she wandered down the streets, nothing coming to her senses. It was a pity. Bygone was safe where he was, so she need not linger in Canterlot any longer than she had. Perhaps she would return after this final pass. Though a familiar green face caught her attention as she went down one of the streets, on a bench. Rat. Zel wandered over; he had been rather friendly the last time they had met. "Hello, Rat."
Suigyoku pricked up his ears, the voice soft and non offensive. Rat was easily spooked by strange sounds. As it was he responded as ponies did in the face of predators! His Faint or Flight instinct wad steing. His eyes punched up as his muzzle pulled up in a smile revealing a pair of oversized, flat canines at his lower jaw. A chirp was all that escaped, reminiscent to a beetle's laughter. He paused and sat up so his hooves could grip his board in familiar action, that marker squiggling away in his muzzle. 'Hello Zele!' He could understand her name, but writing it was a rather complicated matter for the supposedly mute bug.
Zelenia managed a smile for the green pony; making facial expressions was odd to her, never had much use for them in the hive, but she was learning. The chirp he'd made sounded odd to her, coming out of a pony's mouth, but she didn't think much of it. She did see the shapes of his teeth though. "I'm surprised to see you again, but I have been exploring this city for some time now. I may return to Ponyville soon." Zel told him as she approached and sat on the other end of the bench, avoiding the small gathering of colored stones he had laid out on it. "What are you up to?"
Suigyoku shook his head at her question, writing his response clearly. 'Playing. Zele is nice, stay?" Her time here was perhaps as short as Rat''s but ht wanted to make proper friends at least once. He blinked and turned his pink eyes to the stone. He grunted, holding on out to her. 'Frrran?' He asked before writing it out on his board, presented it to her.
Zelenia tilted her head at the writing board and turned on the bench, gathering her legs beneath her. "I can stay." She didn't have anywhere else to be, nothing important like a job either. What she had was what she took from the original owner of this face before she fled, seeking a home far away so she could keep the disguise without being found. She liked the face, and the mane. "Friend?" Zele repeated with some confusion, to make sure that was what Rat was saying, as he held up one of the pretty stones to her. The mare reached out with a hoof to accept it. Friends were a pony thing she had grown to understand, a little. "Of course."
Suigyoku seemed thrilled. Rat, did not have many friends. It was obvious he was a little different. Not only in how he spoke, but how he behaved. Nodding the male sat back. Having friends was good, a good feeling. It was not as alone. He wrote out his thoughts. 'Zele is good pony. Thank you. Do you like gift? ' he held the board for her to see before writing something new on its limited space. 'She must visit Manehatten. Rat's home.'
Zelenia held the little colored stone in her hoof, tilting it this way and that for the light to catch it, lighting up its color or spark off of it. She looked up when she heard that soft squeaking of the marker on the board and read what Rat wrote. "You're a good pony too. I do like it, it's very pretty." Zelenia replied with another of those smiles, her eyes focusing back on the board when he wrote again. "Manehatten? I have never been that far, nor to such a big city." It would probably be good for her. All the ponies, and all the emotions. A feast. "Is it nice?"
Suigyoku was glad she liked the stone, but seemed to tilt his head at her question, cheep in a bit, rrr'ing in his muzzle, the marker dangling from it. Writing he turned it. 'To Rat, but Canterlot nicer.' There was much he couldn't write to express. He thought... writing again he smiled, turning the board to her. 'It is like having your belly full.' He had it full once. Not something he ever experienced again. A Changeling in the big city could mean starvation if not for his siphoning of "fun" places. 'We go to park and Square Garden'. Where all the big, exciting events took place.
Zelenia tilted an ear at the sounds Rat made. There was something about them.. but she couldn't be sure. He had a speech impediment from what she could tell. Her pink eyes turned to the board. "What do you mean by full belly?" Zel queried, her brow wrinkling the slightest bit. Had she ever had a full belly? Not quite.. Affection was one of her favorites but it was so hard to come by. So much work. "What are those places like?" A park and a garden.. it meant there would be some green places, not that it mattered much to her.
Suigyoku wasn't sure how to explain a full stomach... He pondered and considered before patting his belly. Writing he turned it. 'When it isn't hurting in tummy, it feels good.' Yes! Maybe... at her question he began to move the stones around so the colored shards made a little mosaic. Writing he showed her. 'It us where many ponies are at, happy. Happy feels good.' It did. And it made his tummy not hurt so much. In the big, busy city happiness was hard to come by.
Zelenia looked to the board, holding one hoof awkwardly with the stone in it. She would have to find a way to carry it back home, probably in her mouth. "It sounds nice." Zel murmured and looked down at the soft clink of the other stones when he moved them into pretty shapes. The soft tap and squeak of marker brought her eyes up again. This time Zel's mouth opened a little in surprise, but she couldn't be sure.. Could she? "Can I ask you a question and not seem odd?" The mare spoke tentatively, hoping she wouldn't have to flee. "Do you feed off of emotions?" It seemed dumb to ask when it could have meant anything else, but she didn't know.
Suigyoku was glad they could share some of his home, but something was off. Wasn't she happy? He didn't get such a sense from her.. he frowned, lowering his board some, til she asked a new and very strange question. His face twisted up as if asked to run around the world and he was asthmatic. Marker squeaking he would write: 'All ponies live on happiness.' Without missing a beat he drew a HRT on the board.
Zelenia looked at the board, feeling confusion and something of disappointment. "They probably do, I would not know. I was hoping to look for others like me." Zel said and clutched the little stone she held to her chest. She shrugged then, indicating how unsure she was about it and tried to offer Rat another smile. "I don't entirely understand much, but I'm learning slowly. I hope my question was not too strange." Zel shrugged and waved a hoof, dismissing it. "What do you do with these stones?"
Suigyoku looked at her with concern. She seemed sad. A few squeaks he would turn around the board. 'You are like me.' She was a pony, so of course she was. He chirped out, voice clearly there but speech -- useless, or maybe just difficult. His large, overgrown underbite may be the cause. Grinding his jaw a moment he rolled the marker. Letting the tip once again squeak against the board he would turn the new message, leaning close. 'You are not strange. No sadness. Learning never stops.' Rat was a very kind creature, even with his inabilities and strange solitude... He tilted his head at her as his hoof slowly erased the words. "Ah! Lass!" He clenched his muzzle, writing, trying not to accidentally drop the marker in excitement. 'Glass!' It read. 'I blow glass, these make colors.'
Zelenia tilted an ear away at the new message. She wasn't so sure. There was nothing she could say without giving herself away to somepony who was probably just that- a pony. No changelings here but her, possibly. Zel nodded and gave Rat a reassuring smile. She was fine, just disappointed, when she thought she'd found another. Ponies probably had a different thing about emotion that she wouldn't understand, that made her think otherwise. "Blown glass?" Her brow wrinkled a little. "You'll have to show me this sometime, but this is interesting. That was why you were looking for stones before?"
Suigyoku smiled brightly and nodded. Sadly his board wasn't big enough to express his words well... 'I am apprentice to my pop pop.' He looked to her, raising a hoof and point towards her head, at least where it should be. He was not sure where his was. 'Why sad?' Hos writing was without sound, but his face showed plenty of emotion. He set the board down and held out his hoof to offer her a hug.
Zelenia hummed thoughtfully at the new words on the board. 'Pop pop.' She didn't know what that was, unfamiliar with the concept of fathers and all the different words for them. Somepony close to him was all she could glean from the meanings. Her pink eyes darted up to the curious pony's face, wondering if something of what she was feeling showed on her face. Zel didn't know how to handle the expressions thing yet; she wasn't stupid, she just.. didn't know a lot about pony nuances. "Sad?" Zel pondered and sat up, leaning across the little piles of stones for the offered hug; she knew what they were at least. They were nice, hugs. "It's a secret. I am not a pony, not quite." She admitted, quietly convinced by the embrace and the kindness. "I'm looking for others like me."
Suigyoku moved to hug Zele before sitting back. He moved to brush his tummy and settle on the ground. He looked up at her. Sitting he scribbled and held up his board. 'A different pony? That is okay. Everypony different. Rat can help you. Pop pop has many friends that know secrets.' Well not the best places to get answers from, but -- Rat always meant well and his good nature led to even criminals patting him on the head, treating him like an ignorant, naive potato.
Zelenia leaned back too, forehooves moving down to rest against the stone bench's surface. She gave the stones another curious glance, her own gift clutched close again. "Help me how?" Zel asked curiously, hoping it wasn't a pony trap. It probably wasn't, nothing had really happened to her to make her paranoid about anything, other than fear of discovery. Telling him was another thing, as it was on her terms. "What about changelings?"
Suigyoku stared at her for several moments. His jaws parted, looking akin to a fish. His muzzle shut as he was about to drop his marker. He stared at his board before raising the marker. Lowers it. Pressing the tip back to the board he scribbled. 'What is a Changeling?' He had never heard of such a thing, but he knew he was not a normal pony. His pop pop said he was a special, different point.
Zelenia saw the change to his expression, her muscles tensing, ready to flee at a moment's notice. After she saw the frantic scribbling and the question, she relaxed. "Oh." Zel managed, lifting a hoof to nervously run it through the mane of her disguise. "A changeling is a.. type of creature that feeds on emotions. They're not bad.. they don't even hurt anypony to do it. They can also disguise themselves as others, it's what w- they have to do to get close. A lot of ponies are afraid of them though, because the queen is uncaring and merciless in taking care of her hive."
Suigyoku listened carefully to her explanation. His ears were pricked up as he parted his jaws. Settling back on his rump he stared at his board. He finally scribbled a message and turned it around. 'That is the kind of pony I am than.' He filled his tummy with emotions, he did. Food didn't make his tummy better, only when ponies were happy. He erased it and wrote another thing. 'What is a queen? Is it like a princess?' He too had only just learned about the princesses and what they were!
Zelenia. This time it was her turn to gape at him for a moment when he answered her, telling her that was what he was.. So, her guess had been.. right? She blinked, closing her mouth, looking stunned. The soft tap-squeak of marker brought her back. "Yes, a level above a princess. What a princess might become if she marries, but my queen isn't married. Changelings don't need to." Zelenia stared off for the space of a few seconds, realizing she hadn't told him. "I'm a changeling." It was said in a quite tone as though she'd just realized this, but that wasn't the case.
Suigyoku seemed confused. He wrote a bit and showed her. 'I don't know what is married.' He stared at her, a blank expression before parting his jaws and happily squeaking. Marker scribbled and drew a little green blob. Probably him. 'You do not look like me.' He was sure without his skin he looked like a different pony, but she looked like a pony. 'You are a nice pony face.' He wrote with a smile.
Zelenia pondered a moment and shrugged when he expressed he didn't know what marriage was. "It's a pony thing, some sort of joining ceremony." It was how she understood it. It was also an emotionally charged ceremony, two ponies who loved each other and excited onlookers. "I have to look different. If we looked the same ponies would be suspicious." Zele paused, licking one side of her teeth where her long fangs usually jutted out. "Without disguises..." Zel shook her head and gave Rat a smile when he complimented her. "Thank you."
Suigyoku's eyes pinched up and wrote to her again. 'No problem. Yes ponies always are different, so are we.' He looked around before standing to put the stones in his satchel. One by one they clicked in with his other things. After packing his stones he looked to he chirped a bit, but -- that was no good. Speaking was hard. He wrote again. 'Pop pop raised me, but he is not a different pony. He eats grass.' He explained, squeaking in laughter a bit. 'Do you have any emotion to share? Rat is hungry.' He -- didn't know how feeding actually worked.
Zelenia pressed her hoof to her chest, the one that still held the stone in it, when she saw his message. She remembered what the purple bat pony said. Different. Like clouds. She made an interested 'hm' noise, smiling when Rat made a noise close to laughter. "Your 'pop pop' sounds like a good pony." Zel replied and faltered, frowning in thought. "I don't know if I do, or how to give it. All I know is what I've learned on how to gain it from ponies. Getting close to them and being nice, feeding off of their emotions that way.. None is as strong as love, but they are good."
Suigyoku was a naive foal, in a sense. His pop pop was not-- so nice. 'Can I come with you to learn? I do not know how to. All pf pop pops friends do not seem as happy as they can be.' He wrote, though the long message seemed to smoosh together become illegible. Suigyoku stood up and frowned. He couldn't move and write at the same time. Sitting back down he wrote with a sigh. 'I am sorry I can't speak. Would you show me if you are the same as me?' He write, in two messages.
Zelenia put her free hoof to her chin in thought, pink eyes alight with something like excitement. Another changeling, and he wanted to come with her! "I live in Ponyville, not here. If you don't mind going back on the train with me, or.. I could find money for an inn for here if you have to stay here." Zel offered, leaning in to squint a little at the squashed message written on it in dry ink. She leaned back, nodding. She didn't know who these friends were. "I can, in private. Some ponies aren't as accepting as they seem."
Suigyoku blinked and pricked his ears at her. She spoke quickly, but his inability to speak made it difficult to keep up in a conversation, at least respond to it cleanly. She seemed to invite him to travel with her. "Ohhayh~!" He frowned and wrote down. 'Okay! I live far away. We go. Friends, yes?' It was nice 'I visited Ponyville one time. We have tea?' He wrote.
Zelenia's ears pricked up at his verbal response, which sounded closely like a word that he soon wrote down. The earth pony nodded, sliding to three of her hooves. "Yes, friends!" Zel exclaimed. The question of tea made her pause for a moment and shrugged. "I don't have any in the place I rented, but I can buy some. I have not tried eating much of pony food, other than some sweet things." Zel thought the sugary things ponies made were good, even if her body got nothing out of it. She liked sweet. Maybe tea was the same. "Ponyville is rather nice, and welcoming."
Suigyoku nods and squeaked and nodded. He was very happy to have someone coming along. It meant the trip would be funner! 'Tea is very sweet with lots of sugar!' He did like cupcakes too! 'It is okay friend Zele. I can help. Pop pop gives me money and I have a good job. I will help my friend.' He had to write it out in two messages, but hopefully his explanation was clear. Writing was a bit sloppy when compared to speaking, which he was bad at. He thought a moment/ 'Does she have a second face too?' He wasn't sure if that was what being a Changeling meant....
Zelenia smiled when he spoke of the sweetness of tea. "I am glad to hear." She replied and watched his scribbling, the messages he laid out on the board before they had to be erased and added to. He was offering to help, of which she was grateful. Most of the money she pilfered from the original owner of this face, she didn't have to spend when she didn't eat pony food. It was used on the small house, and her trip to Canterlot on the train. Dwindling, in other words, when she hadn't yet learned the concept of jobs when they earned money. Changelings did their jobs for the hive, they didn't get rewards for it. "I do. Should we go now, or do you have more to do in Canterlot? I can wait."
Suigyoku smiled and wrote his message before standing. 'Ready to go friend Zele!' He was very excited! it had been a while since he had company and he had got to play with a smol, blind foal that understood him! Ah, foals were great! they could understand Rat best. Maybe that was a reason for his foalish nature? Adults couldn't understand him and he couldn't them..... he stood and perked up his short tail, his jaws parting in joy.
Zelenia beamed when she saw his agreement and lifted her gifted rock to grip it in her mouth, leaving all four of her hooves free. She really needed a small carrying bag for things.. but she didn't often carry anything. Zel shrugged to herself, smiling around the stone in her mouth and trotted off with a flick of her long tail, some of the tightly coiled bunches dragging along the stone Canterlot street. There was a happy bounce to her, pleased to have found one of her own that she could help. Zelenia had been wandering these streets just long enough to find her way back to the train stations, probably with Rat in tow.
Suigyoku would blindly follow his friend without question. the Changeling in disguise, or at least to him in a good pony skin .. creepy as that be : was happy to find a nice pony, sort of, to play with. "Zzzeerre ish guuut." He grunted wit ha squeak. Happy Rat was the happiest. Arriving at the train he bounced toward the window. He knew how to order tickets! Grunt and point, grunt and point. "Ti-ti ta 'puuuneevrriiill." He squeaked and sat, waiting for his tickets. He would pass the bits, making sure to purchase to. "Zerrre. Hur." He picked up the tickets in his muzzle and bounced back toward her, slittering a bit.
Zelenia heard the other's voice behind her, and every time he spoke she had to quietly mull over what he said to figure it out. The way Rat spoke was odd, a noticeable impediment, but it was understandable enough, she thought. Almost. Zel sat down when Rat went up to the window instead, and she waited while he got their tickets for both of them. Her stone was placed back out into her hoof to take a ticket, if it was offered, with a smile. "Thanks!" Zelenia didn't know his history, or why he spoke the way he did, but once she found out she could probably help. Sometimes being a caretaker of changeling eggs and newly hatched had its bonuses. She wanted to do as much as she could for her.. hive. Perhaps it wasn't much of a hive now if they were scattered, but for other changelings.
Suigyoku beamed at the thankfulness of the mare, sort of pony! He nodded and sat himself on the platform, looking down the tracks. Nothing yet. He looked to Zele and smiled. "Ah lai trams." He murmured, tail flicking. he was a happy little bug. Purring in his throat he buzzed a little song.. "Zere, ooo lai puunyveeel?" It was nice, always happy, but did she like it? It would be so much fun if she showed him around. "Sshhho Rat Zere ho...hoooum?"
Zelenia puzzled over Rat's speech, trying to decode what he was trying to tell her. Her eyes went out past him, yet there was no sight or sound of the train just yet. It might be by, soon. Her gaze refocused on Rat. He was obviously saying her name, or trying to. "Like.. Ponyville?" Zel asked at last to confirm that was what he said. "Yes, I like it. It's very friendly, and it's easy to find ways to feed there. Ponies are very open." Zel answered, taking another few minutes to ponder over Rat's last question. Show.. home? "I can show you, yes. It doesn't have much, but it is small and nice."
Suigyoku was so happy, he let out a snort, happy shout! "Waaaah!" Yes, Zele was going to show him around Ponyville. Last time was a quick visit, and jsut difficult to walk around when you got scared from big cats growling and stuff! Though they weren't so scary. "Puunyvelll haf mush pone." there were many ponies in ponyville so it made it pretty easy to get food,but he had only visited for a day. The toot toot of the Friendship Train was heard in the distance. How far was it? He stood up and looked down the tracks, tail twitching.
Zelenia didn't know what the shout was, but Rat seemed happy about, and she was happy too. She smiled as she watched him, distantly still trying to translate what he said in her own head. "There are quite a lot there.. but they're nice." Easy pickings. Zel thought over all the things she could tell the other changelings once they were safely in the privacy of her home. The distant call of the train broke her out of her thoughts and she perked up, her eyes straining to see if she could see it on the approach up its winding trail up the mountain. Rat looked excited for it too. Zel picked her stone up in her mouth and walked over to stand beside him.
Suigyoku waited for the train to come to a full stop. He knew how it worked. A Neigh Yorker, Changeling or no, he was raised in the busy streets and knew how things moved. Ponyville was small, and Canterlot was too wide open -- Manehatten was just right! Tiny and perfect. When the doors opened the green pone hopped in, and it was quite amusing given he was a bit heavier than a Unicorn or Pegasus. He was in the shape of an earth pony! He stepped in, waiting for Zele. Turning he passed the tickets to the conductor and would step aside, waiting for her like a puppy, tail wagging to boot!
Zelenia took a couple of steps back when the train came up to slide in front of the station, until the squeak of brakes brought it to a slow halt. The train made her a bit nervous, even though it was quite pretty to look at; it was still a big, heavy bunch of metal. Zele happily followed Rat onto the train, after he gave their tickets to the conductor, her gift held in her mouth. Rat's excitement was sort of infectious, and Zelenia grinned around the stone as she made to find them a seat, resting against the swirly glass partitions that separated the cushions.
Suigyoku was always quite bouncy. He had no reason to be sad, unless his freinds were sad. Zele said she was not, so this was good! Moving to settle on the cushion Rat took a moment to wiggle his bum and smooshed his hooves against the softness. His saddlebags were left on as he had a hard time getting them on by himself. He had a few other physical ineptitudes that made it rather hard to function normally. He settled down against the seat and looked to Zel. "Cuhferbul?" Train rides were long. he wanted to make sure his friend was comfy. "Whar burn Zere?" He wasn't born near or in Ponyville, not even in a hive! So where did she come from? For -- he felt ponies and sort of ponies could only be born in cities and towns, right?
Zelenia dropped her stone into her hooves and shifted around to place it on the seat between them, folding her legs beneath her to settle. Rat had seated himself next to her and her eyes went to his face, her head tilted. "Yes, I am comfortable." It took her a few moments, as usual, to figure it out, but it was close enough that it was easier to get. The second question took her longer. "Where.. ?" Zel thought about it, frowning a little. She remembered a long stretch of red desert. "The badlands, I think."
Suigyoku hummed and shook his head. "Rat nah no whur tah." He didn't know where that was, it was a strange name for a place. Sounded scary. "Arr lan's bahd?" Could lands be bad? It was a bit spooky. He frowned raising a hoof as if he was worried Zele would fall apart. Poor thing to be where the lands were bad? So bad! "waaah!" He shouted a bit. Scared himself. Looking around he folded his ears back and calmed own.
Zelenia rubbed at her cheek as Rat talked, taking her time trying to fit words to the disjointed things he managed. His sudden shout startled her and she jumped a little in her seat, fur on end, flattening out when she realized there was nothing. Just a fright. "N-No. It is just desert. It's just a name they gave it. Very warm, sandy. We lived in the caves, out of the sun, but we moved from place to place sometimes to find food." The explanation she gave, she felt, was vague enough that passing eavesdroppers wouldn't hear anything out of the ordinary or changeling-y.
Suigyoku cooed as he understood. Yes! Sandy places could be bad -- cause hot! "Rat luv an sooer samtam." Sometimes he hung out in the sewer, even slept there. He did have a home, but he wasn't let inside very often, for reasons. "Rat pap pap let." It was an allowance after all, so he could find things and explore! Though there was a chance that this was how he got his ....nickname. Rat wasn't a very suitable pony of Changeling name...
Zelenia tilted her head with an expression that could portray her confusion. That she didn't understand too well. L-.. Love? Maybe? The rest she couldn't quite get. 'Sooer' - Sour? Sewer? Zele guessed the latter. "Oh." The earth pony didn't quite know what a sewer was, when she had been around more country places where such things didn't exist. Canterlot was a complete mystery. The train was starting to move around them once everypony was on board, and Zele glanced out the window for a brief moment. "I see." Sort of. Zele put her head down on one hoof, ponderous. "I may have to take a nap while we're still on the train, and when we reach Ponyville I can show you it."
Suigyoku wiggled his tail and nodded. He was sure she didn't quite understand him ... nopony did so it was not an uncommon occurrence, but he was alright with that. At least she was trying. It was cute! And she talked to him! The best! Not many ponies did and he was sure she was the first sort-of pony to ever! He moved to slump on his side and flop awkwardly on the edge of the seat to relax. "Nep!" Naptime! He made himself cozy.
To be continued.