//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5-5: The magic of modern medicine 
// Story: Minty Image 
// by mintgreenconspiracy 
//------------------------------//

Time flew forward again, this time only a short period. The young changeling mare appeared again before Twilight, and opened her mouth to orate again. 

Before Twilight was a scene of a violently sobbing filly Chrysalis -- her pillow covered in tears. . "Why!... Why did they do this to me!" She sobbed, beginning to shake one of her hooves. "I thought they were my friends!"

Just outside the door, peering in silently Twilight could see the face of Aurora's unicorn form -- looking much older --, her face filled with concern and despair. All she could do was shake her head, and shed a few tears herself -- at the cruelty of pony kind.

The young mare opened her mouth, and began to narrate a voice over above the scene. "I felt for Chrysi -- I really did -- especially when I found out that her friends had been turned against her by that horrible Celestia!" The voice said, swallowing tears as it spoke. "But in the end I could never consent to her methods! Nor approve of 'the justice' she enacted on her ex-friends!" The voice over said, watching an Auroras leave in disgust at something that happened off screen. "Never ever could I approve of what she did! And every time I have even considered so much as attempting to justifying her methods -- " The voice said, trailing off. "All I can see is Sky Runner, lying on the floor -- " The voice said, weeping at a memory that began to materialize in front of her. "Motionless and missing her wings!"

"Please! Just go away!" She said, begging of her old adversaries Sunstone and Shining Glow to just go away. "What did I do to you?" She said, quivering quietly, being reduced to cowering quietly in the corner of her own room.

She swallowed violently as her adversaries and their four big friends (probably hired thugs) slowly approached. "What will Regal Majesty say when she finds out?" She said, desperately.

The stallions smirked evilly. "Oh she won't even know!" They said, approaching her slowly -- savoring every moment. "Sunstone pulled some strings and had her expelled! We'll save the details as you won't care what they are in a second!"

She started to scrunch against one of her own walls. "What will Sky Runner think?" She said, scraping her back hooves against the wall.

"Oh she knows who you are, girl! Just like the six of us!" Shining Glow said with glee. "I made sure to leak the news to her, so she's probably off somewhere sobbing about her daddy!" He said wiping fake tears off his eyelids. "Your kind took him away." He said, causing the changeling unicorn's face to pale. "And now --"

"Please just go away!" The young mare cried. "I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry! Now please just go away! I beg you! I'll do anything!"

The stallions shook their heads. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt? And besides It's time for justice." They said, ordering their four giant friends forward. "You've been picking on us long enough!"

Sunstone tapped his hoof on the ground signaling his four big friends to advance forward, grabbing Auroras, and twisting her around so her face faced the corner, and her plot faced Sunstone. 

Shining Glow gloated evilly. "But your kind feeds on love!" He said, smiling disingenuously. "So we're simply going to give you your fill!" He scoffed, stamping his goons to put pressure on her front legs so she'd bend them slightly.

He reared up ominously. "Now smile! Because -- " He started saying, causing Auroras to flinch internally. However, instead of the inevitable, she could hear heavy wheezing. This caused the stallions to let go, all turning around simultaneously.

She reluctantly did the same -- feeling both terrified of what stood before her, and hopeful.

Standing before her was her friend Sky Runner -- never before had she been so happy to see the pegasus.

"Oh Sky Runner -- " She started, before the pegasus shouted at her.

"Run!!!" She shouted to her friend, zipping in front of the sole stallion still standing between the changeling princess and the door -- turning in mid flight for a quick buck that caused him to fly back slightly. "Run Auroras!" She shouted, causing her friend to nod automatically as she started galloping at top speed. "And don't look back!"
 
Auroras hesitated at the door. "But Sky Runner! Your father! It's my fault! I'm not a unicorn! I'm a -- !" She shouted.

The pegasus only smiled, lovingly -- like one would smile to their sister. 

The voice chimed in again. "To this day, I suspect that Sky Runner knew -- at that moment that we were half sisters -- and she knew what happened to her father and she didn't seem to care!" It said, beginning to weep. "But she came to my aid anyway! And at what a price!" The voice moaned. "Those goons had already told her that I was one of the 'monster ponies' that took away her father -- and yet she didn't seem to care? Did she really accept me as a sister, or was it merely her desire to protect?"

The voice stood silent for a minute, with the scene frozen as well.

The princess of friendship appeared to be sobbing slightly, having as much trouble seeing the cruelty of pony towards pony as the changeling princess did. She turned to the doctor. "When are these endless flashbacks going to end?" She begged, on the verge of having a flare up of her rainbow powers.

The doctor remained cold and calculating. "They can't yet! It's time that Rainbow learned the truth." He said to Twilight coldly. "As long as she continues to pretend that she's that alternate Ponyville's Rainbow Dash (you know, 'the glamour girl of Ponyville') she'll never be able to stop these magic bursts!"

Twilight turned to him, thinking he was talking about her Rainbow Dash.

The doctor shook his head. "Not your Rainbow Dash, Twilight. The other Rainbow Dash." He said, with a sigh.

The voice continued sobbing, before bravely continuing their oration. "As I ran away, I could hear her last words." The voice orated.

Before Twilight the scene began to resume.

Sky runner turned to one group of three stallions, pasting them to the wall with one mighty flap of her wings. She turned around, causing a small whirl wind to do the same to the second group -- as Auroras finally fled out the door of her own room.

Behind her she could hear the stallions chuckling, as the pegasus' voice spoke confidently. "You want a piece of somepony? How about me!?" She said, trotting between the stallions and the door. "You mooks wanna dance?" She said, as the stallions began to rise feeling quite cocky now. "You want to know why in the rock paper scissors of war pegasus magic beats unicorn magic?" she said, flaring her wings and puffing her chest -- her face filled with rage. "Come and get it!"

Shining Glow smirked. "And you shall! It's time an example were made of those who make a mockery of this school!" He squeaked, tapping his hoof tenderly, causing the other stallions to circle the pegasus. "And you'll pay for head butting me in my stallion place!"

The pegasus stood defiantly, none the less. "How about you dance with this!? I'll show you why the pegasi are Ponyland's warriors!" She said, propelling herself forward, flooring Sunstone with a quick head butt to the head.

The other five stallions remained confident though, powering up their horns.

Twilight heard the pegasus voice very softly -- as if she was speaking from far away. "I'll show you what kinds of warriors we pegasi are!"

Princess Auroras spoke again, her face contorted in horror. "Even here -- even now -- I have suppressed the memory of what those stallions did to Sky Runner! And I refuse to show it to you!" She said, turning to Twilight. "Do you know what it felt like to see my friends gruesome and lifeless form being dragged away from before my eyes?"

Twilight shook her head, sadly.

"If it wasn't for my friend Regal Majesty, I would have given up and hated all unicorns long ago!" She said, turning to Twilight, her face contorted in rage. She sighed though, her anger giving way to sadness. "But then I would have ended up like my sister or Chrysi!"

"In the end none of those six stallions got what they deserved! Instead their rich and powerful parents pulled some strings and had them only disowned and banished to Earth (the earth pony territories, not the planet.) I wouldn't be surprised if Sunstone and Shining Glow's descendants don't exist to this day -- blissfully unaware of the blood stains on their family's hooves!" She said, giving one last snarl.

********

The young mare stood up again before Twilight. Her temperament returning. "But what I really want to be is an earth pony!" She said, wistfully. "The earth represents kindness. It represents love. The represents growth. And, most importantly, the earth represents family."

The young mare stood staring out a window at the earth pony surfs below, working the fields. They worked together as family.

The voice pushed her hoof, revealing the scene below. "Mommy I can't do it!" The young earth pony colt whined, holding up a very dead flower. "I'll never raise my flowers like you and daddy do!"

The colt's mother gently muzzled him. "You'll get it someday!" She said, with an affectionate smile. "I promise!"

The colt's face frowned in concern, and dismay. "But what happens if my magic never grows in? What If I end up doing something other than working the fields?"

The mother's face smiled. "Then we'll support you whatever you do!" She said, picking up the dead flower, which slowly sprang to life. "And I'm not concerned yet! I think your magic just needs to grow in more!" She said lovingly.

Meanwhile, Twilight could hear the words that echoed in the changeling's head. 

"Lady Auroras, 
        We have decided to respond to your letter, by informing you that your request to return to the hive has been denied. We simply have no resources or space available for you, at this time. You may make another request at a later time to request an appeal.
        Prime Minister Wormwood."

The changeling princess sighed to herself. This must have been the hundredth rejection that she had been given by the hive. "Why mother? Don't you love me anymore?" Auroras thought to herself, on the verge of tears. " -- " Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by her teacher.

"Miss. Auroras." The teacher groused. "Are you looking out that window again?" She said, chastising the young mare. "Those earth ponies are surfs -- their lives will never amount to anything!" She said, closing the drapes, scoffing at the ponies below. "And if you keep doing the staring out the window then neither will you!" The teacher said, hitting the desk with her ruler, and returning to the chalkboard.

The young changeling sighed sorrowfully.

"But how could I not?" The young mare asked, turning to Twilight. "I mean look at them! They were all friends! They were all family!" She said, starting to sob. "All of my friends were now gone! I lost Sky Runner to those misfits, and Regal Majesty to child birth." She stopped for a second, tilting her head contemplatively. "I believe it was a stallion from the surf class -- I believe the family name was 'Unicorn', or some other such non-descript thing."

"So there I stood." The changeling said, turning to her past self looking at the drapes questioning whether it should have been herself, and not Sky Runner that those goons caught. The voice continued. "Studying pointless unicorn magic!" She hissed, with agitation. "And do know what the answer was every time I requested to return home?" The voice asked Twilight.

Twilight sighed, having just finished the letter. "The answer was always no?"

Auroas nodded. "Correct! The answer was always no! Did the earth ponies ever do this? Did the earth ponies ever abandon their children? Did they put their positions and self interests before their families? NO!" She shouted, apparently at her mother. "Why did mother get rid of me? Why did she abandon me? Was it because I don't have the actively feed like the rest of the hive, and instead fed on ambient love? Was it because I was born to the wrong father?" She asked Twilight, her eyes screaming in anger. "Why? What did I ever do wrong? All throughout my childhood I fought hard to be everything mother wanted and more! And how did she repay me?" The changeling asked, as a cascade of scenes came flying by. "She banished me as soon as my half sister was born to the 'right father'! And that wasn't even the worst of it! If she'd acted the way towards me, that was expected of her, then I'd have left this plane long ago! Or worse: I'd have been turned into a drone!" She said, the scene growing hazy, and returning to the school.

The changeling's voice boomed over the scene. "In the end I had had it! I spent the rest of my time studying either long forgotten spells and forbidden magic, or staring out the window and dreaming -- dreaming that I had been born an earth pony instead of a blood sucking changeling!" She said, as her past self looked out the window.

Out the window Twilight could see the same earth pony family from before. The colt raced up to his mother, muzzling her eagerly. "Look mommy! I did it!" He said, holding up a small plant. "I made it grow! All by myself."

"Oh that's so great dear!" The mother said, eagerly. "I knew you could do it! See there was nothing to fear!"

The colt turned. "I'm just so glad you supported me! And never gave up on me!"

The mother smiled, lovingly. "Even if you never made anything grow I would still love you! And I would never have given up on you!"

The colt smiled to his mother, thankfully.

As this heartwarming scene progressed, Princess Auroras turned to Twilight. "Do you wonder now why I wished to be one of their kind instead of my own?" She asked, angrily.

Twilight nodded, smiling as much as she was able.

"In the end I learned magic that even the likes of Celestia and Luna have long forgotten." She said, before turning to Twilight with an inquisitive expression. "Did you ever hear of a unicorn spell known as 'winking'?"

Twilight shook her head, she had never heard of this, except in legends that had been passed on since time memorial. And certainly no unicorn she knew even had a vague idea what it meant to wink.

The changeling frowned once more. "I thought so." She said, winking her eye slightly. "And do you know what it was all worth? Nothing!"

********

The doctor sighed, and rubbed his eyes as time slowly slipped forward again.

Before Twilight stood a mare about Twilight's age. The mare's eyes were filled with confusion and wracked with guilt. "Was our kind wrong and the fluttering ones right?" She asked Twilight -- who simply shrugged her withers. "Was the first queen simply leading those that followed her into the pit?" She asked, expecting no answer to come. "Were the fluttering ones, in fact, right to turn their backs on their own kind and try to survive away from the warmth and light of the sunstone?" The voice asked rhetorically.

Twilight looked on with a puzzled expression. Fluttering ones? What could she be talking about? Why did the phrase sound familiar? And why did she immediately dislike them?

Time slipped forward slightly more. The scene changed to the mare talking with a unicorn with Time Turner's symbol -- who slipped her a letter. Twilight guessed that he was probably really a changeling, like the princess. Auroras' voice could be heard booming over the scene. "Upon graduation I learned from a subordinate/confidant of mine that my earlier fears might have been justified." The voice boomed as her past self took the letter, and indignantly crumpled it and trampled it with great intent under her hoof -- before sitting down and weeping silently.

After sobbing for a few minutes quietly, she packed up her few meager possessions before writing a new letter and handing to the fake stallion. "Please send this to mother. Tell her that I wish to participate in one of the hive's many campaigns, and that I regret not being able to return at this time."

Time passed forward some more.

The mare turned to Twilight. "Naturally there was only one choice." She said, pausing for emphasis. "I led an expedition into the dragon territories. And in that Faust forsaken place I remained through Platina's waning years of life and into her children and grand children's lives."

"Wait!" Twilight exclaimed, interrupting the exposition -- puzzling slightly. "How old are you?"

Auroras sighed, painfully. "Older then Chrysalis, older then her brother, older then her mother Amethyst. Older, even, then Celestia." She said, looking like she felt that she was older then dirt.

Twilight's jaw just about dropped. "How?" She asked, wondering if this was even possible. "Don't changelings only live 1000 years, give or take?"

Auroras blushed, looking like she hated herself. "It's some forbidden magic that I learned while at that worthless university." She said puffing her chest slightly. "Basically as long as I feed some of the love energy that I feed on into the spell I'm basically ageless." She said, thinking about all her lost years. After a few seconds, she sighed again. "It turned out that my unique ability to feed off ambient emotional energy long after adulthood turned out to be very handy when on expedition in draconic territory."

Twilight looked at her cross-eyed. "Why? What difference would it make?"

Auroras sighed. "Basically dragons are a lot like changelings in that they don't really love." She said, pausing for a second. "And to make matters worse they don't really experience any other emotions either -- other then greed, anger, hatred, and perhaps envy." She said, turning to Twilight again. "Do you know how hard it is to feed on love when their idea of love is more like longing after other dragon's body like it was meat?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not much!"

Auroras smiled. "Exactly! So in the end we had to feed on whatever little scattered emotion they gave off." She frowned, tapping her hoof nervously. "Any normal changeling would starve in such a place, and that was my unique skills were so useful there." She said, with a smile. "Fortunately, In the end, I also received some chances to use the magic that I had learned at that worthless university." She smirked. "In the end though, it allowed me to bring heroic victories against vastly superior forces, against insurmountable odds." She said, beaming with pride, before her countenance dropped.

Before her Twilight could see a scene of a mail mare nervously handing a letter to Auroras, who was dressed in a fine suit of armor. She promptly proceeded to stomp said letter into the ground -- and ordered that the letter be set ablaze.

Auroras turned to Twilight again. "Do you wonder why my mother hated me? Here was why!" She said, showing the letter to Twilight.

Twilight read the letter. To her dismay it was written by the now Queen Amethyst and stated that their mother had passed on and pronounced that Amethyst not Auroras was to be the new queen. Furthermore it stated that she and her men had been pronounced as traitors to the hive and were not permitted to return home under any circumstances -- ever.

"In the end, though, I brought victory and a favorable treaty to the hive against the dragons. The treaty had stated that the dragons were to give up all claims on the bad lands, and the land that flutter valley used to reside, and in exchange the changelings were to stay out of dragon territory. This was considered, of course, a great victory." She said, as her younger self stood side by side with her sister, the queen, to great fanfare from the hive. "and from that victory is where I earned the nicknames 'Lady Rainbow', 'The Rainbow of Doom', and 'the Rainbow of Darkness'." She said, looking away again. "And the nicknames multiplied from there! But in the end, it was only after that moment that I was allowed to return home -- and even then I was treated as an outsider within my own hive, and amongst my own people." She said, as her younger self could be seen asking something of a noble changeling who promptly scoffed, and walked past her -- making sure to bump her with his shoulder as he passed.

The princess sighed. "In the end though, this wasn't the end of my dismay. Because I was passed up in succession when Chrysalis' brother Vladímir was born, and again when Chrysalis took over as queen after her mother's death. Meanwhile I was sent to endless wars against the dragons, the griffons ,the deer, the bears, and so on and so forth -- endlessly." She said, as before her showed a collage of battles between changelings and various nations, up and including Sombra's Crystal empire, the eagle aerie and zebric kingdoms.

"But was never permitted to return to the hive for any length of time, or serve in any capacity." She said, as her younger self stood before the hive, kicking the ash at the hive as she left.

The mare opened her mouth, in disgust. "I hereby leave this hive! Abdicate my so-called position and leave! Hopefully never to return!" She said to herself, powering up her horn to take a new form.

********

Auroras turned to Twilight again. "But what I really want to be is an earth pony!" She said, her voice filled with sadness. "The earth represents kindness. It represents love. The earth represents growth. And, most importantly, the earth represents family."

Before her Twilight could see an earth pony with a blue coat, a rainbow cutie mark, and a vibrant rainbow mane walk into the Ponyville of Applejack's parent's youths. The earth pony turned to a pink earth pony stallion -- her face blushing heavily. "Excuse me, sir. But I was wondering if you knew of anypony looking for a designer or event organizer?" She said, swallowing harder the more she looked at the stallion. "I know it's not my special talent, but I was hoping to get away from some bad memories from my past, and I was hoping a small town like this would be a -- " She said, tittering like an idiot. "Good place to start over."

He smiled at her, and opened his mouth jousting playfully. "You see something you like?"

"Whatever do you mean?" She said, with a bad case of Rarity would call 'the giggles'. 

"Oh no worries ma'am. If you want, you can help me out! I've been looking for an assistant in my party planning, and I could give you a shot for a few days -- you know to see if you'd be a good fit." He said, with an honest smile.

"Thank you sir." She said, bowing politely as he began to walk away.

She turned to Twilight -- as if talking through the third wall. (Pinkie would be very upset, that's her thing!) "A handful of years before Princess Larva was born and several, several, years before you were born Twilight --"

The mare showed a scene of her standing at a lake, closing her eyes and imagining something as her body began to take a shape. "I grew disillusioned with the hive, and decided to live among the earth ponies -- as I had always dreamed! And I even took the shape I had been developing in my mind's eye since my childhood -- basically the form of my dreams!" She said, as the green magic began to clear -- revealing the form Twilight had seen just a minute before. "A blue earth pony with vibrant rainbow hair, and a rainbow cutie mark -- the original shapes and colors of my father, except, mind you, that he was a pegasus!"

Twilight looked around the scene before being pulled back by a surly doctor. "Didn't I tell you not to wonder off?"

"It looks familiar doesn't it?" Lady Rainbow asked.

Twilight nodded, looking out at what might have been the house Granny Smith showed in her presentation (yes, being a princess had its advantages -- as she could see the family appreciation speeches herself.)

"This is your Ponyville -- at least what the town looked like in your parent's generation." She said, looking around wistfully at the memories. "It was a lot smaller then it is now! That apple child -- what was her name?... Ah Apple Bloom! Her grandmother was a relatively young mare, having just had her children, and the town had barely established itself."

The changeling mare waved her hoof, the scene transitioned to a scene of her and the pink stallion from earlier standing before the alter. "In the end." She mused to herself. "I ran into, and eventually married the stallion of my dreams, a young event organizer named 'Bubble Burst', and a dead ringer for his niece -- your Pinkie Pie." She sighed wistfully. "I loved that stallion..." She said, looking on sadly. "And still do!" She said, turning to Twilight. "And that's why what happens next upsets me so. But the good news is that he left a little somepony with me before..." She said, sobbing slightly, unable to finish the sentence.

Twilight turned to her perplexed. "But don't changelings give birth through eggs? And isn't a pony, changeling pair impossible?"

The old changeling simply winked. "Sometimes, if need be, even the special bond between two ponies can be tricked, Twilight! And yes, even biology, with magic, is also not infallible, if need be!" She said, turning to the scene again, stamping her hoof violently as the scene began to shift.

Auroras stood before Twilight in her blue earth pony form -- but only for a minute -- before three large griffons and a small griffon filly angrily pushed her onto her plot. "Get out of our way lameo!" They demanded, dragging along a small griffon filly. "Come along Grizelda! I think we got our discount for that awful party that stallion threw!"

Auroras stood up, defiantly, and opened her mouth. "Whatever do you mean?" She asked, her face growing pale. "Did something happen back there?" She asked, as two of the griffon's continued on, happily ignoring her.

The patriarch of the clan, a graying Griffon with a thinning top opened his mouth. "Oh boo hoo!" He said, mockingly. "Was that your husband?" He asked, pretending to cry. "Well he threw my Grizelda the most absurd coming of age party! Therefore I had no choice but to take a 'five four claw discount'!" he said, clutching his golden talons angrily. "Now come along!" He said to the other three griffons. "And you!" He said, turning his beak to the pony formerly known as Lady Auroras, his face showing a tiny shimmer of what might have been guilt. "You'd best take care of him! I think I got a little bit ruff!" He said, looking down, but only for a second.

The rainbow of doom turned to Twilight, looking dead inside. "In the end, though, I seem cursed to lose those I love!" She said, as the scene suddenly cut to her looking at her bulging belly in the mirror -- with a sigh. "I lost my beloved husband right before the birth of my child. Apparently the family of griffons either didn't like the coming of age party he organized for them, or decided that they wished not to pay (I never figured out which.)"

"In the end, though, I managed to convince an old subordinate of mine whom I granted sentience to assist with the birth." She said, turning to Twilight.

Behind Twilight, she could see an old pegasus assisting with the birthing process -- the very same pegasus that was standing right next to her!

The doctor chuckled humbly. "That would be me." He said, to Twilight, admiring his double. "One of the special abilities of my clan is returning from near death experiences by a kind of living reincarnation. Needless to say, on one of my rebirths, I was captured and converted into a changeling." He trotted over to the ghost of the lady, and bowed humbly. "The lady here granted me my freedom from a mindless existence as a drone; and upon rebirth back into my pony form, I kept my old changeling horn, and use it to power my device." He said, speaking of the device he had used on Rainbow Dash earlier. 

He turned to the lady, and frowned slightly. "I haven't forgotten your kindness, and suspect that the other mes haven't either." He said, turning away from the lady. "But in the end I wished it had been me and not Bubble Burst that you picked to be your special somepony!"

Auroras sighed, mischievously. "In the end it couldn't be helped. Remember 'a lady can never choose who she loves'." She said, winking softly. "But in any case, in the end my little princess was born, a half pony. I decided to call her Carolinae -- my little pink rose." She said, starting to sob. "Maybe it's time we wrapped this discussion up." She said, sighing to herself. "Course now she's called Pinkie Pie." She stopped for a second, as Twilight started to protest. "Not your Pinkie Pie, of course." She said, to a sigh of relief from Twilight. The lady stopped to think, before continuing. "Course she wasn't the first half changeling in the hive -- that honor went to one of the children of my sister, I never found out which though." She said, tilting her head to think. "I'm sure I'll figure it out though, eventually, don't worry!"

Twilight thought to herself. "Could Queen Chrysalis be the half changeling? Or do I have 'an uncle' or 'an aunt' somewhere? This might be the key to stopping Queen Chrysalis madness once and for all!" She thought, a smirk growing as Twilight started to formulate a plan.

Lady Auroras turned to the doctor. "Of course, that was where I got the idea that a half changeling could even be born -- though it involved magicks that I could barely speak of, and anypony -- except, perhaps Star Swirl -- could even imagine!" She sighed, as the scene started switching back to the hive. "In the end, though, I made the unfortunate decision to return to the hive, once again. And of course you saw the rest, Twilight." She said, as it felt like all three ponies were beginning to rise. "Someone very powerful in the hive wants me gone! And not me, but also Larva, and my own daughter, Carolinae -- though I can't fathom why!" She said, in disgust. "And to escape them, I ended up fleeing into Discord's little Universe egg."

Twilight gasped, is this what Discord had been trying to hide all week? But he's reformed now and they forgave him a long time ago, so why would he feel the need to hide from this past?

The scene continue to rise as Twilight could see that alternate Ponyville beginning to move again. "The monster transformed me, my daughter, and my Great Niece into the forms you see before you!"

She grunted in pain. "He tried to destroy my mind, and remove all traces of my true self -- to leave me somepony I never was -- and I had no choice but to lock myself, and my memories away -- where his magic couldn't reach! But in the end, it prevented me from being there for either of my children -- and yes! I count poor larva, though she's actually my great niece, as my child! I tried to play Mama Pie, Mama Dash, and Mama Cherry Blossom as long as I could! But in the end I let both Larva, and Carolinae down!" She began to break down into tears. "Why is it I'm cursed to betray and lose those I love!? Why is it I'm stuck as a bad facsimile of an earlier pony!" She said, cursing her current form. "But then, on the other hoof, why does it feel so right? Why does it feel like I should have been born as her!" She began to cry anxiously as the scene began to distort. "Twilight! I don't know why, but I worry my friends from Ponyville are in trouble! Please check on them Twilight!" She said, the voice echoing as the doctors device slowly whirred to a stop.

Twilight was back in the room, and the doctor was nowhere to be found. Where'd he disappear to? Was it just an illusion did she only think she -- 

Twilight didn't have time to finish that line of thought, though, as Rainbow stood before her -- her face a pale white. "Has my whole life been a lie, darling? Who am I?" She asked, looking at the few things she loved from Ponyville -- a very fashionable hat, and scarf. "It has, darling!" She said, in horror. "I have simply been lying to myself, darling!" She said, throwing the hat on the ground, and hopping on it fiercely. She turned to Twilight and began to look away."Don't look at me, darling! I'm a monster! A rainbowy ravishing monster!" She said, in abstract horror.

"Ok Twilight!" She thought to herself. "Your friend's in trouble! You have to say something to help her." She thought, saying the first thing that came to her mind. "You're not a monster!" Twilight said, honestly -- giving a reassuring smile.

"Oh thank goodness, darling!" Rainbow said, relieved. "But what is a changeling, though, darling? I know that is what I am, but what, exactly, is a changeling?"

Oh Twilight said, chuckling nervously. "A love eating monster."

Rainbow fainted then, and there -- right away.

********

"Any luck?" Solanaceae said, turning to the two remaining assassins under his authority. "We have to find those that the artifacts resonate with." He said, keeping two of the artifacts -- one with a wand and moon symbol, and one with a black shimmering sun symbol -- and dividing the other four between his two remaining assassins.

"And what is that to me?" Belladonna purred. "You would be the only one in trouble! And maybe I'd be next in line." She said, batting an object around with her hooves.

"Yes, and then you'd have Queen Chrysalis and K -- Prince Vladímir snooping around your business all the time." Solanaceae countered. 

"Well I think it's a great idea." Phytolacca said, licking his lips. "I'd love to see what these artifacts do when they find their victims bearers!" He said, with a sadistic smirk, lobbing a small needle over his shoulder, which promptly skewered a small fruit fly that had the misfortune of flying in the same room as he was standing.

He stared for a second at the crown with the moon and wand symbol, and smiled eagerly -- like a child who sneaks downstairs to take a look at their Christmas presents. "And apparently one of the bearers lives in our very hive!" He said, pointing the way -- with his body -- like a dog. "You'd best run after them Solanaceae before Belladonna or I get moving." He said, grabbing his collection of needles, and smirking evilly. "You don't need any incentive do you?"

"Not really!" Solanaceae said, smiling nervously -- he hated when Phytolacca had one of these days! He really, really, did!

********

"The great and powerful changeling is happy to serve the queen!" The drone said as she trailed behind Solanaceae mindlessly. He had got her to come alone willingly by telling her that she was needed for a special mission for the hive. "What is it that the queen requires?"

"You'll see!" Solanaceae said, bowing before the elaborately lighted throne -- complete with ancient runic writing passed down since the days when the fluttering ones still lived in Flutter Valley.

He stopped anxiously and bowed deeply. "Majesty! I bring you one of the one of those who resonate with the artifacts of Dicord's rule!"

"Silence!" The changling lord bellowed, causing all to bow low. "Enough with the formalities Solanaceae! Show me the one who resonates! And bring to me the artifact!"

"Of... Of course lo -- liege!" He said, pushing softly of the drone with one of his hooves. "I bring you the changeling convert who resonates with the symbol of black magic!"

"Good! Come forward!" The changing liege bellowed. "Come and speak with your ruler!"

"Of course, majesty!" The drone said mindlessly. "I am proud to serve the -- "

"Of course you are!" The high and exalted changeling said, unenthusiastically. "Just like we feel through the hives channels that you wish to return to your ridiculous and piteous fuzzy form!" The self proclaimed ruler of the changelings said, moving king's knight's pawn forward one. "And I, as the true ruler of the changeling's offer to you a trade: your old nature in exchange of an important service for me!"

"But the great and powerful changeling is happy the way she is!" The great and powerful changeling said, moving queen's pawn forward two.

"Oh pish posh! I know you secretly desire to return to that ridiculous fuzzy creature you were before!" The powerful changeling asked, moving King's Bishop's pawn forward by two. "I mean you have to be aware that you are not really a true changeling, but a piteous unicorn? Correct?"

"No! The great and powerful changeling is happy only to serve the queen!" She said, earnestly moving the queen.

"Then you would be happy to serve the king!" The changeling bellowed -- checkmate.

The great and powerful changeling made a otherworldly shrieking sound. "You betray the hive! You betray the queen! I shall have to report you and -- "

The changeling lord's horn glowed brightly -- bathing the room in green light. "No it is you that betrays the hive by betraying it's one true ruler! I have given you a deal that is beyond benevolent! And yet you refuse to accept! Nay!!! I The hive will not accept such treachery! You will accept and you will like it!" The changeling said, his horn glowing a crimson red color as ice poured into his veins. "And you will put on this crown! And you will take my deal! And you will obey your superior!" The changeling shouted, their eyes glowing eerily.

"Of course." The great and powerful changeling said. "The great and powerful changeling is happy to do nothing but serve her liege." She said, putting the crown on. She began to scream violently as magic began to spew out of the crown in waves visible even to the naked eye.

The changeling lord turned to Solanaceae. "If she's finished then you are Solanaceae! Remember that!" They said, their face filled with vitriol.

"Of course, majesty! But what will happen to her?" Solanaceae asked, anxiously. "Will you really keep your word?"

"I always keeps my word!" The changeling liege retorted. "But, in the end, it's up to the artifact, Solanaceae. I have a feeling it will return her fur. After all, a drone is not what it desires either!"

Throughout the hive drones started to foam at the mouth and collapse.

"What's going on!" Chrysalis shrieked, from her bath as all of her attentions suddenly fell over shaking violently. "Who dares attack the hive! Does Celestia with another war? Because I'd happily oblige her! I still haven't forgotten how she turned my friends against me! And how she stole my daughter away!"

After a few minutes, the shaking started to cease. 

The Solanaceae's superior gloated happily. "And you see Solanaceae the trinket follows my orders! As you should!"

"Of course, your majesty!" The element of black magic said, staring at her form in one of the fine mirrors the changeling overlord kept around. "The great and powerful Trixie wishes nothing more than to make the one true king of the changelings happy!" She said, with a light smirk, and a dishonest expression in her eye.

"You see Solanaceae, nothing to worry about! She's thinking in her right mind already!" He said, turning to his lead assassin. "You have done well Solanaceae! But I have not forgotten your failure earlier! You had best bring me the next bearer as well, or you will be finished! Do you hear me!"

Solanaceae nodded dutifully. "Worry not, my lo -- liege! The second artifact begins to resonate! I shall take Phytolacca and Belladonna and find it with haste!"

"Good!" The changeling monarch bellowed, waving their assassin away with their hoof. "Now be gone with you! I have need for Phytolacca soon! I feel that a chance has now arrived to have our justice, not just for our humiliation back at that strange town, but also for the end of Mandragora!"