“Changelings!”
That was the word I shouted (more like roared) when I stormed into the library. It startled Twilight, her wings popping out from Rarity’s newest labcoat. The book in her hooves was thrown into the air, landing unceremoniously on the floor.
There was a tense air in there after I stormed in. I started angrily pacing, my angry hoofsteps making it sound like buffaloes were running around in here.
“Huh? What?” Twilight asked from her corner. “What about changelings?”
“They stole the Heart of Damballa-dammit!” I smashed my hoof on the floor, seething.
“What?” Twilight gasped. “But, how? They’d need-”
“A Traveller with access to my DNA, or my kids.” I snapped. I began pacing in her library, trying to work out a battle plan in my head. “But they don’t have one.”
Twilight was still confused.
“What’s more important is that the changelings have my sister’s life in their hole filled hooves.” Was my excited rant. I stated moving from bookcase to bookcase, looking for the map book. “Right now I need a map to the changeling hive. Did you organize by author or title this week?”
It caused the librarian princess only more confused. “Raspberry, slow down!”
I paused from my search, to stare at Twilight. The alicorn seemed frazzled. My appearance had been a bit of a surprise. I’m surprised Spike hadn’t stormed in, wondering what was going on.
With difficulty, I paused in my search. I trotted over to Twilight, until this conversation was more serious than my panicked ramblings.
“What do you mean, the changelings?” Twilight asked. She didn’t give me time to answer. “And why are you ignoring their accomplice? They have to exist! They need one to get between the dimensions, and I doubt you would take them anywhere.”
There was a pause before I answered. The scientist seemed to be pausing on her questions, just to make sure I was able to answer them. “Remember the note I told you was in Tiffany’s house?” I began.
Twilight paused before answering. Her lab coat floated away in her magic. “The one from GL?”
“Yes. Tracy’s been running tests since I gave it over, and they’ve come up with nothing.” I explained calmly. It looked easy, but I was still panicking inside. “I brought it here. Before I could run anything Bumblebee touched it. It must’ve been activated by natural Equestrian magic.”
Twilight blinked. “Which brought about the changeling magic? How can you be sure?”
“Cause it makes sense!” I shouted, sounding half crazed. “I know Chrysalis is angry about how I ruined her plan for the Wedding. She swore vengeance, everypony heard her! The ultimate revenge is keeping my twin from me.”
The alicorn shook her head. “But how does it explain how it ended up in another reality? How is that possible? I read the book on Traveler’s science months ago. They’d need your DNA.”
“Not just my DNA.” I replied. My voice went cold. “Because Raspberry’s DNA would bring them here. To get back to Tiffany’s world, they’d need my human DNA.”
Her face lit up in understanding, finally putting together what I had on my run here. My friend agreed with me. One of her hooves lifted to rest over her heart, as something unsettling came to her mind. Her purple eyes eyed me warily, holding back the information.
“And when was the only time I’d been human in Equestria?”
Twilight’s jaw dropped in shock. We’d tried for months to find out what had happened to me that night in the woods. No one, at the Center or Canterlot, had been able to come up with an explanation.
Everyone said I should be thankful, that my life had turned out for the better for it. I disagreed. It seemed like a cruel joke. My biggest secret was exposed, my daughter had a gun on her head and she’d been treated worse than a lab rat, my friends all think I betrayed them, my family now thinks I’m a freak, my dark side took me over, and my sister came back from her hatred of me only to die in my place. Yeah, I got a fancy title and better means of taking care of my daughters, but at what cost?
It was all because of what happened in the woods. Being turned into my human self, Princess Luna catching sight, and sicking the Mane 6 on me.
“So not only do they have my sister’s life, they set us on the path that took it from her in the first place, and made my life hell.” A dark chuckle came from my throat, dark and full of a sorrow I didn’t dare show. “It’s a damn good revenge scheme, a real good one. It’s actually the kind of thing She would’ve made.”
It sucked even more, because this was what my plan was. It was what I wanted when Chrysalis attacked the first time. I hadn’t wanted her going after anypony I cared for again, I wanted to be her target this time. Me. I wanted to be attacked, so that she would ignore everypony.
Instead she went after my family, like she did in Raspberry’s life so many years ago. Chrysalis didn’t go for my daughter, now daughters, she didn’t go after my coltfriend who was suddenly feeling like so much more. No, the Changeling Queen attacked the one person who’s been by my side since I escaped my dark side.
“Killjoy wouldn’t want you to hurt them.” Twilight tried to calm me.
That got a disbelieving snort out of me. “Are you kidding? She’d want to help! The only reason she isn’t sitting next to me, screaming for revenge, is because she’s dead!” I growled. Twilight flinched, but there was a softness in her eyes. “And don’t try to tell me what my sister would want! Some people joke I’m an attack dog, but she’s who I got it from!”
“No she wouldn’t. I saw her, and she told me so. She doesn’t want you to be like that.”
There was a tense silence. My mind screeched to a standstill as I put together what she was saying. It didn’t take much time for it all to come together.
“You better start talking, Sparkle, or I swear to the Story.” I growled darkly.
It seemed to hit Twilight that she had actually told me she’d seen my dead sister, and that it wasn’t such a good idea to tell me while I was in this state. “She...it was after Discord’s first attack. She showed up in my dream, and told me to watch you. I didn’t think anything of it for a long time. It wasn’t until I met her as Darcy that I remembered. It wasn’t until she died again that I took it seriously, and I’m so sorry for that.” Twilight explained in quick fire.
I gawked. “You...you...” The words failed me. It was a bit of a let down, since I had always thought they were one of the few things that could.
“Darcy wanted what was best for you.” Twilight went on. I almost wanted to tune her out. “She told me to watch over you, to make sure you were okay.
It was too much. All that anger I let build, all the things I had realized running over here, it was to help get Darcy back. My lungs burned from holding in an rant at Twilight for keeping this from me. She was my sister, I deserved to hear about this when it happened, not seven years later.
But if I had, I knew I would’ve rejected it. I was barely letting people in. In a horrible, horrible way, Darcy’s deaths made me more open to the outside world. I would’ve taken Twilight’s dream as a chance of bringing Darcy back, and being even more heartbroken when it didn’t work. I might’ve even shut Lilac out after that.
I’d been played like a toy by the Changeling Queen. She took my sister from me, twice. The only clue I had connected her to it, and I was being told not to act on it. My heart couldn’t just ignore this kind of injustice.
“Morgan, I can’t help you get to the Hive.” The princess spoke in a voice fitting to her mentor. I listened numbly. “There’s no record of it, not enough for the invasion I know you’re planning. All we know is that it’s in the Badlands. That patch of Equestria is too big for you to search. By the time you would’ve found it, your birthday would’ve passed.”
My eyes were watering now. My voice was wet with the tears I held inside. “So help me. Please. We always talked about this birthday with us together.” The word came out broken, mixed with a wet sob.
Twilight frowned, her own pair of bright purple eyes shimmering. She pulled me in for a hug. Normally, I’d freeze up under such treatment, but now I think I needed someone else to hold me up.
My chest ached as I felt my heart succumb to the pain. I started to cry onto her shoulders.
It was a while before I stopped. It had been an emotional day. I needed this.
“We’ll tell Tracy, and Princess Celestia about the magic.” Twilight stated, after I wiped my eyes. She gave me a tissue box. Storyline, I felt like my mother. “They can help us find the Hive. It’ll take awhile. My calculations are a bit rough, but they should be able to figure the rest out.”
I took a deep cleansing breath. “Twi...”
The purple alicorn put her hoof over my muzzle. “Morgan. I miss Darcy too, and I know I can never really understand what it’s like to lose somepony that close, but I know you. Take a break.”
My heart begged me not to do this. It needed the other half. It took everything in me to say honestly “Okay.”
Thorax was sorta used to the madhouse that was the Stardust home. It was one of the few houses that didn’t double as a business. There were only photos of them after Lilac’s 5th birthday. With Cookie, everything had been pegasi foal-proofed.
There had been a hoofful of times his marefriend had run out of the house in a mad panic as she just did. Thorax learned to roll with it. He’d been surprised she hadn’t gone off chasing whatever monster was in Ponyville (which everypony was saying they were overdue for).
He recognized that bit of magic on that note. It was familiar changeling magic. Thorax was half convinced Starry was telling Twilight he was a changeling. Except, she left him with the girls. She wouldn’t have left a changeling with her girls.
The changelings were already interfering in her life. They had Starry’s twin sister, or some weird thing connected to her sister. Thorax was actually starting to hate his kind now, at the least he understood why Starry angrily rushed out. The changelings had his sister too, if you thought about it.
So, he made sure to stay to watch Lilac and Cookie. If anypony could fight the changelings, it was a changeling.
That’s what Thorax was hoping for, at least. Far as he knew, they didn’t know why he left the Hive. They should (Queen he hoped they still did) think he was just on a really, really long hunt. It should be a surprise if they come after Lilac and Cookie only to be kicked in the face.
If Thorax grinned a bit stupidly, it was because he was remembering when he and his marefriend met.
While he was worrying about changelings, the girls were worried about why their mother left in such a rush. Lilac had seen that kind of thing before. She’d been told her mother ran faster than ever when Mom found out Dominic had taken Lilac.
The young gryphon had no such experience. The closest she’d gotten to it was when those two boys had taken her, and Cookie saw how angry her mama was before getting the kitten back. Cookie thought that Mama must’ve had another daughter, so she went to go get her. Or maybe it was that auntie Cookie wanted to see!
Thorax was glancing out the front window, one that could catch sight of Ponyville. Starry was already gone for a little longer than he liked.
His eyes shifted over to his house, thinking he saw something moving. It shouldn’t make sense, since Thorax knew nopony should be inside it. He had barely been inside it since moving in!
He squinted, briefly going back to his compound eyes to get a better perception. Changeling eyes were made to see things at a greater distance than a pony’s.
A flash of green light shot out around the house window.
There was something going on inside his house. He recognized those lights...there were changelings in his house.
Shit, they knew.
“Girls, stay inside.” Thorax warned. His equine eyes not leaving his house, in case something else happened.
Lilac watched the changeling in disguise, while reaching for her sister’s claw. The griffin held her sister’s claw tightly. “What’s happening?” Lilac asked.
Thorax turned to Lilac and Cookie, practically tasting their fear. “Nothing.”
Lilac gave him a scared look, her blue eyes shimmering. “My mom is Raspberry Stardust. I know that look you just had. What’s happening?” She pressed, refusing to give Thorax any room for lies.
He didn’t want to leave them alone, he knew he shouldn’t. He also knew that if he was right, then everypony was in danger. Starry more than any of them, and her kids. Thorax knew he’d never forgive himself if their girls got pulled into all of this.
He’d gotten close to the two girls. He’d felt how happy it made Lilac to play with her friends, to have a sister of her own. He played fetch with Cookie. She was always excited to see him.
Then there was Starry. The mare his whole hive had sworn vengeance against. He was so in love with that mare, he’s surprised she couldn’t taste it.
It’d been two months, but these girls were family now.
“There’s just something I need to take care of.” Thorax stated, hoping it was enough for the dragonette. “I...think somepony from my family is at my house. You guys just stay here.”
“Is it ‘bout Mama?” Cookie asked in a squeak.
“No.” He answered instantly. “Yes. Uh. Maybe?” The changeling looked back to his house. “There’s just something weird happening at my house.”
The two daughters of Raspberry Stardust exchanged a look.
“You’re going to check it out.” Lilac stated, eyes half glaring at her mother’s coltfriend. “And tell us to go to Fluttershy’s or Applejack’s.” She said it in a way that said neither sister was going to do it.
“Definitely Fluttershy, heard she was having a tea party and she always has bears over for tea parties. Plus Angel has a mean right hook.” Thorax replied, not realizing Lilac’s implication. “But Applejack’s was a good idea. Starry said something about a Crusader meeting, right?”
“We’re helping.” Cookie argued, stomping her left claw on the ground. “Mama needs us!”
“Your mom will kill all of us if you two even think about following me.”
“You’re following Mom!” Lilac argued.
“I’m going to my house, then coming right back.” Thorax argued. Why was he arguing with a ten year old, he wondered. Maybe because the ten year old was the daughter of his marefriend.
Oh, and the ten year old could set him on fire.
“You know how much your mom loves you two.” Thorax added, looking at the girls with a serious expression. He wished he’d made himself into a unicorn, so at least then he could teleport Lilac and Cookie at that burrow. “She’s already a bit...stressed today. I know she’ll feel way better knowing you were at Fluttershy’s.”
It was under hoofed. It was fighting dirty. It made Thorax feel wrong, playing the Mom Card.
Based on the looks he was getting, the sisters knew it too.
“Okay.” Lilac relented. She held her sister’s claw. The gryphon frowned, disappointed at missing the excitement. “We’ll go to Fluttershy’s.”
The changeling tasted her emotions. Lilac was telling the truth, though disappointed. Thorax nodded, happy they gave in.
“But we’re coming back as soon as Miss Fluttershy’s tea party is over!” Lilac warned him.
Thorax already felt he was pushing his luck. He opened the door for the sisters first. As soon as he saw them walk in the direction of Fluttershy’s, he ran home.
He only barely remembered that kicking the door in would cost more in his rent. He opened it with a quick flash of his magic.
It was to one of the oddest things the changeling had ever seen.
The most obvious thing was that it was no changeling. There was a brown earth, with a black mane, sitting on his couch. He was familiar somehow, like somepony you only catch on the corner of your eyes. Thorax’s first reaction was to knock him down with a spell, until he saw the changeling princess standing proud next to him.
“Welcome back, Thorax.” Logan greeted, blandly. “You’ve met Princess Cyanide.” He stated. He spoke down to the drone, near black eyes full of disgust.
The changeling royal lifted her nose to him, grinning to reveal her sharp fangs. She stared at him with a predator’s gaze, the kind her and her mother were known for. The drone gulped. They found him. They were going to destroy the life he’d worked so hard to create here, with Raspberry and the girls.
The mere thought of his new home, his new family, being in danger caused Thorax to hiss. All of it meant nothing. Thorax couldn’t have known who he was really fighting in his house.
The earth pony had flicked his hoof. A small an action as turning a page. It was enough, to send Thorax at the wall with a loud THUD. It forced him to change back into his natural form. He didn’t think it was because he was hungry, if anything Thorax felt too full, the disguise was dropped more from pain and surprise. Since when could an earth pony use telekinesis?
The changeling princess suddenly looked confused. Thorax nearly took it as a challenge, until he followed Cyanide’s line of sight. He was stunned at what he saw.
His wings were fixed. The holes were filled with what looked like blue diamonds. Thorax wondered what else the day had in store for him because this wasn’t looking so great him.
“It’s not looking good for you, Thorax.” Logan spoke in a low, dangerous voice. Thorax felt himself shiver, seeing from the corner of his eyes that Cyanide was fighting it. “I need her broken. You’re good for her, which makes it bad for business. You’re relationship with Miss Stardust has gone on for long enough.”
Thorax hissed when he said Starry’s name. “Don’t touch her!” He warned.
“Charming.” The Dark pony sneered. “You’ve always been a bit of a dunce. Show him.”
The changeling princess lit up her horn. Something to Thorax’s right, the direction of his dining room, lit up too. The item was brought into the living room. Thorax regretted challenging the universe for more surprises.
“Cicy.” Thorax whispered. His anger turned it into a harsh hiss.
The changeling mare had tears coming out of her compact blue eyes.
“Now you see what you’re dealing with.” Replied the mastermind. “I’m going to explain what happens to you next.”
There was a slowness in my steps. I was emotionally drained, and needed to walk to her my thoughts straight. I didn’t feel like flying, I’d only crash in this state.
Even with this, I needed to run. My daughters were in trouble, and my coltfriend was in trouble. They all had to be worried about me regardless. I’d run off in a hurry. My cheeks went a darker pink at remembering how I left my house.
There were only a few ponies on the street. Everypony was in the park right now. Was there even much of a right to be this distressed? Twilight had my back, she would make sure Celestia and Tracy herself would help. Bumblebee was walking across the street, so I had his support. Pinkie would give me a cupcake, then we could finish planning my birthday party. It would be a bit more of a downer without-
I halted in the middle of the street, looking up at the yellow pegasus casually walking down the street. He paused outside of a house, relaxing against the side of it. He looked like he impatient, like he had better uses for his time than whatever menial task he was doing.
“...Bee?”
My coltfriend looked up from his hoof at me. His expression was bordering on irritation. “Yeah?” He asked in a flat voice. It was the same voice I’d use on my mother if I was in a mood.
I blinked in surprise, because Bumblebee never used that voice with me. He was always listening attentively, and I gave him the same respect. “What the hell are you doing out here?” I asked, panic setting in my chest.
There was no immediate response. The stallion went back to looking at his hoof, eyeing it boredly. It was aggravating. “What? Can’t a stallion take a walk?”
“Not when he’s watching my daughters!” I snapped harshly.
It felt odd to speak to him so cruelly. The rational part of my mind was telling me that I gave him no reason to my running out, but that side was quickly squashed because I was dealing with changelings now. Changelings that I knew wanted me dead. Changelings that probably want him dead too.
Bumblebee made no show of actually caring about my question. “They’re fine. That dragon one is, what, six? Relax.”
“Relax! Relax?!”
“That’s what I said.” Bumblebee spoke in a voice like I was a dumb child. He even rolled his eyes at me!
I seethed, letting out an angry huff not unlike a bull. “How can I relax? Do you have any idea what’s out here right now? Any idea how much danger the girls are in?”
“Can’t be anything worse than last week.” Bumblebee mumbled, glancing up at the clouds. “Or the week before that, or that week before that, or the months before that.”
He had a strong point, I can admit that. It was his tone that confused me. He spoke about Lilac and Cookie being in trouble without a care, with dullness in his voice. “What’s wrong with you?” I asked, gawking at him.
“Nothing. You’re the problem, actually.” Bumblebee admitted, adding a bored glance at me.
What the hell? What was wrong with him? “Me? Bee, what are you talking about?”
“I think you’re an egomaniac, a narcissist, and a know-it-all.” His argument had me silenced for a minute. Weren’t some of those the same thing? “Why did I even go out with you? I was trying to get a hoof up! And I had to deal with your stupid brats! That was more than I was signing for!”
I barely held back a gasp. “Fine.” I snapped. My anger was dulled by the pain blooming in my chest. He’d always been good at seeing what I was going through. Could he do that one more time? “Go then. And don’t come back.”
Bumblebee grinned, puffing out his chest slightly as he flew off without a final goodbye. At first glance, it was a prideful action. He was proud of himself for breaking up with me.
Later, I’d remember that I had been mistaken. It wasn’t pride at leaving me. It was pride at seeing me hurting. Later, I’d learn why he didn’t look sorry for leaving me like this. I’d learn that it hadn’t been my Bee.
Unfortunately, this was the present. At that moment all I felt was the pain of realizing I nearly told my coltfriend my secret, and felt like I hardly knew him at all.
Bumblebee walked up to his house. There was a light in his eyes you wouldn’t expect from the pegasus that had been dating Princess Raspberry.
He came in to see two changeling drones trapped in pods. Logan was still sitting on the couch, reading one of Thorax’s comic books. Though Logan knew Thorax was sort a few brain cells, he had to admit the drone had decent taste.
“She’s broken.” The changeling reported, his voice slightly more feminine than before. In green flames, he turned back into Princess Cyanide. “She thinks her coltfriend dumped her. You should’ve tasted the pain in her heart. It was delicious.”
Logan didn’t look up from his comic.
Cyanide blinked in surprise. She was used to the drones eating off her every word. She was a Princess, not this dirt pony’s henchlady. This piece of meat should remember that about the changelings! “Hey. I said, Raspberry Stardust is broken.” The changeling princess snapped. “You can go on with your stupid little plan.”
Logan turned the page in his comic. Why should he listen to the bug? She, and her people, were just means to an end. A bunch of spare pieces in his game.
Cyanide hissed. She leapt angrily at Logan. All the earth pony had to do was flick his hoof, and Cyanide hit in the wall. Her haunches slammed into the mortar, exposing the interior of the house.
The royal didn’t dare let out a grunt of pain.
“Tell your mother I’m keeping this one.” Logan explained plainly.
His flicked his hoof (which did not make Cyanide flinch!) towards the changeling pods. The one with Cicada inside glowed black, detaching from the goop that suspended it over the carpet. It floated over to Logan.
“You can do what you’d like with the prisoner.” He spoke with an annoyed tone. “In my opinion, I’d kill him the first chance I had.”
He gave the royal a half glance, as if his statements was an order she couldn’t understand. She was struggling on three hooves, her back hoof barely touching the ground. It had been the part to slam into the wall. It’d take a lot of changeling magic to heal her. Logan didn’t care for much of that.
The Dark pony had so much on his mind. There was so much to be done in such little time. The bugs were doing well, with their small roles. It surprised him that Thorax had advanced his wings. The drone looked surprised too, so it must have been recent. Logan couldn’t be bothered for the timeline of Thorax’s wings.
Morgan’s birthday was coming, and her party hall hadn’t been decorated. Logan had only a week to take the other decorations. Who knows what Chrysalis could do to screw it up?
“I...” Cyanide snarled angrily, though it fell into a weak hiss. “Don’t...take...”
Logan hopped off the couch, black eyes focused. Cyanide had the unlucky feeling of being studied, like a gross leaf stuck in your hoof holes. She could see, and taste the hatred burning inside Logan. There was a coldness to it, much colder than the princess had felt from even her own mother. The stallion had no love inside him, only hatred.
Cyanide wondered if the changelings had taken the wrong side of the fight.