“Huh…” An old, graying stallion stared down at his cluttered desk with his lower jaw pushed out. The more he studied the photographs laid out in front of him, the farther his mouth slid open until, finally, his cigar made a daring escape attempt. The sudden movement jarred him from his trance and he spoke as he caught the falling smoke in his hoof. “What was your name…? Snapshot?” he asked as he looked to a much more youthful pony on the other end of the office.

“Yes sir, Mister Settin Stone,” Snapshot replied with a quick nod and a broad smile. He could tell his portfolio had made an impression. Even if that portfolio was just a few odd photographs he’d developed the day before. Nevertheless, he assumed, what a pony didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

“You’re not really an amateur, are ya?” Stone asked. Snapshot squirmed in place as his ears folded back and, suddenly, the loose thread on the bottom of his cap’s visor became very interesting. “Any particular reason you didn’t mention any of your old jobs on your resume?”

“It’s a bit of a long story,” Snapshot said. Not like you’d believe it if I told you the truth, he thought as he rubbed one foreleg against the other. When it became clear that Settin Stone was going to wait for a real answer to his question, Snapshot sighed and continued, “I had a bit of a disagreement with my old employer and I might have, sorta, left on a bad note?” The office was silent for a moment after that.

“Are you in trouble, son?” Stone asked in a grim tone and Snapshot’s eyes popped wide open.

“No!” he shouted with a hoof outstretched. “Ah—“ he quickly regained his composure before he continued. “I uh, didn’t include my last job, because I thought that if I did, you’d call for a recommendation or something. And I thought that they would probably say bad things about me. Out of spite.” His hoof returned to the floor. “Because they kind of don’t really like me all that much.”

“I shouldn’t hire you,” Stone said as he set his cigar down in an ash tray and put his hooves together. Snapshot frowned and considered that, perhaps, he should have disguised himself as a construction worker. “But I will.” Snapshot’s frown turned upside down. “After those sharks at the Times nicked our photographer, we’ve been down a mare.” Stone grumbled a few choice words under his breath, before pressing a small button on one of the corners of his desk and speaking into a small microphone. “Lackadaisy, get Miss Tales in my office, she’s got a new partner.”

Lackadaisy looked up from what she had been doing and stood to do as Setting Stone had said. Spring Tales was a rare find one that wrote the news and wonderful tales that made the characters actually breathe. She trotted to where one was to find the mare. Lackadaisy rose a hoof and knocked it against the desk of Spring Tales. Her red glasses were partway down her muzzle as she stared at the paper as her magic made the words with the quil it buzzing by with the mare's thoughts on what she was writing.
"Spring. Spring!" Lackadaisy called and Spring Tales' head snapped up her sky blue eyes looked surprised having been completely in grossed in what she had been writing. Her black mane was tied in a braid behind her ears. She smiles happily and pushes the glasses up.
"Hello Daisy. Sorry about that." She apologized and stood up stretching the stiff muscles. "What was it you needed?"
"You have a new partner."
"Oh dear Celestria." Spring says worrying her hoof with her teeth the gold jewelry she was never seen without clanking musically. It wasn't that she was a hard pony to work with. Much like her name sake, she was kind and sweet to everypony. She shook her head and smiles. "Well let's say hello to the new partner." She says with a smile deciding that she would give this a try. She straightens out the blue vest she wore and made her way to Setting Stone's office.
"Mornin' boss. Who do I have the pleasure of working with?" She asks glancing over to her partner curiously.

Snapshot tipped his hat and smiled as gave off a quiet, “Hello!” beneath Settin Stone’s voice.
“Tales, I want you to meet Snapshot. Snapshot, this is Spring Tales.” As Stone spoke, Snapshot casually held out his hoof to Spring. “You know how things work around here, so be sure to show him the ropes. Also, loathe as I am to admit, you’re gonna get promoted, now that you can do some real reporting.” Out of Stone’s view, Snapshot’s muzzle subtly crumpled up at the mention of, ‘real reporting.’ Snapshot had seen a few newspapers when he first dove into pony society and he was hardly impressed. Stone did not appear to be the pony that had any interest in paparazzi gossip articles, but the possibility always remained. Whatever real reporting was, Snapshot had no frame of reference. “Expect more hoofwork on top of your editorials.”

"You can call me Spring. Almost everypony does. It seems that Settin hasn't gotten the memo yet though." Spring Tales suggested as the second part of her name made her sound more like a pony that should be writing novels. And honestly, she might have done that a whole lot better than being a newspaper reporter. She extended her own hoof and shook Snapshot's her eyes brightening and her tail twitching a bit crazily. Others at the firm called this the 'story sense' that she possessed. Whenever these senses occur, it was bound to be the best cover story/actual story Fillydelphia has ever read. They were few and far between which is why those at the firm always looked forward to whenever it happened. She fought the urge to roll her eyes at Settin's words. It wasn't like she only created 'stories' and nothing else. She did her job, but she wasn't one to be irritated for long, so she grins curious to find out what story Snapshot could possibly tell that had caused such a big reaction. "Alright Settin, I'll leave you to your work." She says and then she murmurs softly to Snapshot, "Come on, let's get out of here. I can only take criticism for so long." She says turning and exiting Settin's office.

When Spring Tales’s tail tweaked out, Snapshot’s brow subtly rose. Didn’t realize this form was such a knockout. I’d better play clueless, for now, he thought as he shuffled his wings and revealed the slim pair of saddlebags hidden beneath them. Settin Stone made small noises and mutterings about, ‘thanks,’ and, ‘gratitude,’ as the two ponies left him. The rest of the office floor was relatively plain, after the dim haze that hung over Stone’s decorated office. Snapshot only noticed the blandness of the carpet floor and generic wallpaper as a result of the fact. The only object worth mention, beyond the nameplates by the many doors of the hallway was an overturned jug of water on a stand with a spigot attached to it. It was a bizarre way to store water, as far as Snapshot was concerned, but it was a drop in the bucket of pony confusion that not even the hivemind seemed eager to alleviate. He decided best to hide said confusion and focus on another matter. “What was that thing your, uh…tail did?” Snapshot asked as he closed the door to Stone’s office.

"Oh that. Sorry." Spring Tales said flushing a cute pink as she pushed up the red glasses again, even though they hadn't fallen low on her muzzle, a nervous habit of hers. She looked around making sure nopony else was around. "Well, the others call it my 'story sense'. Whenever I get them, and it's not often, it's bound to become the best story this side of Equestria has ever read." Not that she was a boastful pony. Just what she heard after every time her senses had been right and the best stories were created. Either news wise or actual 'stories'. "I never know what causes it, but I enjoy them none the less for it makes me learn new things about a subject you would suspect everypony to know and understand. I find it quite exhilarating whenever I learn something new." She said with a bright smile already looking forward to the day when she would be told the story. "So obviously you're new to Fillydelphia. Where'd you come from?" She asks wanting to know him looking at the firm trying to see it as he did, and it was kind of plain looking. She had personalized her desk to fit in with her personality wanting to give those she worked with something cheery to look at. At first Settin had been against it, but after seeing the positive effects, agreed for her to keep it and for others to decorate sparingly their own work spaces. Since then those working here have been much happier bringing something from home or just something that said exactly who they were.

Some sort of sixth sense, huh? Snapshot filed the information away in the back of his mind. He had heard of it before, certain ponies with strange quirks that could warn of a great breadth of happenings. In the case of Spring Tales, it would definitely be on the list of potential threats to his disguise. As the question of his origins came up, Snapshot momentarily panicked. He had covered every aspect of his disguise except where he came from. He thought city ponies just wouldn’t care enough to ask. With that expectation shattered he launched an answer off the cuff and made a note to think of more details at a later date.

Half-truths, Snapshot. The best lies are not even lies at all. “I moved here from Upper Los Pegasus about a week ago. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice…but I’d spent my entire life in the clouds. I wanted to see how the ground pounders lived—I mean, my flightless—“ Snapshot bumped his head against a nearby wall and whinnied. He snorted loudly as he as he slid into a sitting position. “Sorry. I’ve never been on solid ground until just a few days ago and it’s totally weird,” he said as he held up his forehooves to grasp at the air and extended one large wing off to the side. “This is the first time I’ve seen anything other than birds or pegasi and I still kind of talk like it…”

Spring looked at him concerned as he ran into a wall and fell over explaining it was the first time he was on solid ground, and her eyes studied him curiously as a quil and paper appeared from her desk and the quil wrote her thoughts. "Really? So this is the first time you've talked with a pony bound to Equestria, and the first job you got?! Woah that is impressive!" She said without any sarcasm to be found in her tone. She honestly thought that his first days on land, and his getting a job right away was absolutely fantastic. "I'm sure I would find it just as strange up on the clouds, so maybe one day you'll get used to the sudden change." She said offering a hoof to help him stand if he wanted the assistance.

“Well, it’s not the first , first, but it’s close enough, I guess,” Snapshot said as he accepted Spring’s help and pressed his wings against the wall beside him to return to his hooves. “Everything’s so solid,” he commented as he checked his camera for damage, “I walk all funny. The clouds have a ton of give and are always moving around, so you take these big, huge, wobbly steps when you aren’t flying. It’s like climbing stairs.” He glanced at the floor and sucked in one of his cheeks. “Only, down here, it’s like climbing stairs and the next step suddenly isn’t there anymore.” Snapshot started and swung his head from side to side as though he only recently realized where he was. He rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof and smiled nervously as he said, “The clouds also aren’t as soundproof. Can we, uh, take this outside? It’s kind of cramped in here…” his voice trailed off and his ears slid back as he spread his wings for emphasis—their span very nearly blocked off the entire width of the hallway.

Spring nods enthusiastically as she walked to the exit of the firm opening the door with her magic automatically and stepping out and taking a breath of fresh air a big smile on her muzzle. She disliked being in that place for long periods of time and would often go out and be where the stories were happening. "That sounds confusing but I suppose it would to anyone not living in the clouds." She says stretching out. "Oh! I know! I should show you around so you can find anything you search for!" She said giddily.

Snapshot considered the offer as he stretched out his wings in the open streets of Fillydelphia. He had already memorized a majority of the city’s layout, thanks to the help of several other changelings stationed in the city, but his knowledge only extended as far as landmarks after a whole month had passed. The disguise he had assumed had nowhere near the same amount of time to do so, even with the stronger wings of a pegasus. It would do him well to tap into the knowledge of the locals—and it would be foolish to pass up a chance to bond with and observe his first candidate. “I could always just buy a couple maps…” he mused. His wings made a few flightless flaps before snapping closed. “But we are partners in crime. And seeing things in person tends to help a lot with navigation. Lead the way.”

"Partners in crime huh...I quite like that." Spring said writing that down. It would be a good idea to write about. She lead through the streets of Fillydelphia pointing out the different stores, the names of those who owned those stores, and how to make the bits last longer. She waved to everypony they came across and said hello to. "Hi! Hi! How are you?" She would ask of some ponies. They were avid readers of the newspaper. "This is Snapshot the new photographer. He's going to be my partner!" She said excitedly and they greeted him with a warm hello and a 'good luck in the job'.

During the tour, Snapshot was surprised and slightly overwhelmed by the positivity he felt radiating from the ponies around him. Having observed the city before his, ‘arrival,’ he had assumed that there would be more apathy among the population for others outside of their social groups. At the same time, his brain had been working overtime to catalogue every last bit of information he could take in. Streets, names, faces, landmarks from above and below, addresses, all the things he deemed even moderately important were on the table for immediate memorization. Eventually, his taxed brain began to overload and he called for a break.

“Sheesh, this is weird,” he said as he laid across a bench, one wing draped over its back and the other curled against the ground beneath the seat. “Everypony just kind of knows you? And you know them? By name?” His confusion was one part an act and another part genuine curiosity. Every changeling had a name of its own, but in the hive, it was very uncommon to be referred to by said name. Entire generations would often grow up knowing each other by appearances and nothing else, because complex vocal communications were not a necessity. The low capacity for names Snapshot had because of this, he feared, may be an unavoidable flaw in his disguise.

"Some in Fillydelphia are like that, don't get me wrong. I just like positive ponies. And they like me because I am so positive. Most are like Settin'. You just haven't seen them yet. And I like to know those that read my things and see where I can improve, but I suppose everypony in Fillydelphia knows at least who I am." Spring answered his question as they took a break at his request. It was mostly because of her work at the newspaper firm and that her name would appear at the stories she put in it, either news or actual little pieces of work she'd put down. "So I don't really know everypony." She continued.

The knowledge brought some amount of relief to Snapshot, but it only brought the slight tinge of regret that he had chosen to become a newspony. His abilities as a changeling would undoubtedly serve him well, but at the same time, he would likely have to disappear in order to keep his secret at the end of the day. The realization of his mistake drew out a sad sigh. What was the point to infiltrating pony society in such a large place if he became a figure everypony would recognize? Snapshot was unable to hide his frown as he gathered himself up on the bench and looked to the sky. “Wanna get some lunch?” he asked after he checked the position of the sun.

Spring heard his sad sigh tilting her head to the left she looked at him quizzically curious about what was bothering him. But she knew when not to pry into another ponies life and this was screaming 'do not pry' in big bold letters. "Alright, I could do for some lunch." She says pushing her glasses up her nose automatically making sure they rested over her eyes again. They were always falling just that bit so she had to fix em. She stands up shaking herself to cool down.

“’Kay, let’s scoot,” Snapshot said as he slid off the bench. He turned and instinctually paused as his hoof felt around for the fluffy cloud in front of him. After several swings of his hoof, he looked down at the pavement and his leg shot down to meet it. He tried to take several more steps to a similar result and once he had reached what one could consider a decent pace, he looked like a star graduate from the Ministry of Silly Trots. The changeling’s face burned with embarrassment inside and frustration outside. “Ugh, hold on,” he grumbled. Snapshot blurred as he launched into the sky with a thin trail of dust sucked from the brick pavement in his wake.

In the air, he spotted his cloudhouse, along with a few other cloudbuilt structures—mostly weather outposts and other similarly small private properties. Out in the distance, he could pick out a member of the Guard patrolling at high altitude, gliding on a pair of wings even bigger and more developed than Snapshot’s. He turned back to Fillydelphia as it sprawled out before him. He had done this multiple times during his impromptu tour of the city and, like every other time, all the information he had taken in locked firmly into place. I probably know this place better than some of the locals, he mused as he picked through the streets in his search for a restaurant with vacancy.

His eyes settled on a small bistro that, from the look of the chalkboard menu set out front, dealt chiefly in sandwiches. What caught his attention most, however, was the waiter. As the stallion cleaned one of the tables just behind the front windows of the restaurant, he paused and waved directly at Snapshot. Snapshot waved back with a big grin on his face. Despite the smile on the distant stallion’s face, Snapshot felt no radiant emotion, like several other ponies he had picked out in the crowded streets. Fellow changelings saw each other as, in a sense, unlit candles in a sea of flickering flames.

Snapshot swooped back down to street level and expertly landed on the back of the bench with all four hooves one after the other in a straight line. With a big smile, he barked out, “They have sassafras bread sandwiches!” as he shook small wood chips off of his hooves. His expression quickly relaxed as he continued, “Some place called S an’ S on Neighly Ave.”

Spring watched as he took off probably to find somewhere to eat enjoying the nice sunny day in Fillidelphia. It wasn't like it was cloudy or storming all the time, but once it did storm it really stormed. Rain or snow, they often got hit with a lot of either element. She watches as he landed straight on a bench a smile, amused on her muzzle as she did her best to remember that restaurant. "Ah yes, sassafras bread. I haven't had that in quite some time. And I believe I remember where it is. I think though that to be safe, I should follow you." She said. She was a local here, true, but there were some places even a local could miss. It wasn't until they went out and came back home that they really truly noticed the little things that they had missed before.

“Alright,” Snapshot said in acknowledgement as he jumped down from the bench and set off. He looked around as they went, intent to give the tourist-like impression of his persona, following the streets by a memorized route and not through any sort of path-finding skill. “You know, we have these cloud spires that most pegasi live in, in Los Pegasus,” he said as he and Spring passed by a particularly tall hotel. “They’re like big, vertical apartment complexes. Way taller than that.” The whole trip of several blocks and a climb up the hill saw just as many comparisons between Fillydelphia and cloud cities and, in his excitement, Snapshot developed the walk of a toy soldier, strutting along with his legs straight well before his hooves met the pavement. “It’s kind of weird, really, you can just punch a hole in a cloud if you want to, so there aren’t any walls. Except for maybe the old war rooms and mare are those cool—oh.” Snapshot nearly bumped into the front door of the restaurant he had been headed toward. Nearly lost myself in the act…that’s a little embarrassing, he thought as his muzzle scrunched up.

Inside, the owner of the small restaurant greeted them and set them to a table outside, on the raised patio that overlooked the street. Neighly Avenue was hardly the busiest thoroughfare, but it was well traveled and hosted a number of businesses, marked or otherwise. The waiter came around in short order, exchanged knowing eye contact with Snapshot, took the pair’s orders with a smile, and hustled back inside.

“Not that I’ve asked, but what about you?” Snapshot offered as he leaned against the table. “You from Filly? Or did you move here too?”

"I was born and raised here." Spring said sitting down and enjoying the nice day. She had seen that he had almost ran into a door with his enthusiasm in talking about his home. It had been nice to see him enthusiastic in sharing it. "I would like to see all Equestrian one day. And write about all I can." She said dreamily wanting to see everything there was to see. She knew though that she couldn't yet. She was patient though and would grab at the opportunity once it came.