Epilogue
A phonograph spilled forth a downbeat tune as a lavender-orange glowing quill moved to the song’s rhythm. A collection of rolled up scrolls sat in a pyramid as Twilight Sparkle signed another.
She inspected the letter before rolling it up with a ribbon, and levitated an enchanted stamp with Rarity’s cutie mark over. She carefully spat a globule of salve on the tie of the ribbon and stamped it. “There, that’s the last of them.”
With a flick of magic, Twilight lit the dragon scale candle and burned the letters to her pony friends and family. She had barely finished sending the letters when it flared up once again, and another letter fell onto the table. Excitement coursed through her until she saw the seal bore Velvet Sparkle’s cutie mark. Her smile sunk into a grimace as she broke the seal.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I, Open Source, Chief of Thaumatology, of Canterlot Academy Research Department, have been informed that you are suffering from a malady that has stricken your body. Upon your request, I am gathering a team, and will be traveling to Stripped Gear within a fortnight—
“I never asked for this!” Twilight angrily crumpled up the letter and flung it in the waste bin. The force of it sent the flimsy trash can flying a few meters before slapping against Ratchet’s workbench, spilling its contents everywhere.
The drone looked down from his work on a clockwork pony head to see the mangled remains of the battered bin, and the dozens of scattered paper before peering up at a morose Twilight Sparkle slouching over her desk. “Something wrong?”
He knew exactly what was wrong, but Twilight always dismissed it as nerves. She attempted to rub the sudden fatigue out of her face, to little effect. She idly cleaned up her mess without looking away from her desk. With silence being her only answer, Ratchet abandoned his work, and flittered over to the brooding queen. “You know you can talk to me about anything, Twilight.”
A brief ghost of a smile passed over her as Ratchet laid a comforting hoof on her withers. Slowly, she turned her slightly bloodshot eyes at him. “Ratchet… am I doing the right thing?”
“With what, honey?” He nuzzled her briefly.
“…Deciding to stay this way? As a changeling queen, that is.”
He paused. “I can’t really answer that, Twilight. It’s not my place to judge what you do with your life,” he pecked her on the cheek, “only to catch you if you fall. Changeling or pony, I’ll be here for you.”
It was a cheesy line, but it still produced a smile, frail though it was. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about Velvet. Dad says she’s completely obsessed over this.”
“Well, what are your reasons to remain a queen?”
“I want peace between ponies and—” she answered automatically.
Ratchet held up a silencing hoof. “Twilight, you know that’s not what I meant, why do you want to stay this way?”
Twilight’s ears fell flat, and she slumped on her cushion, while averting her gaze. “I love what I am… does this make me selfish?”
Ratchet lightly lifted her chin with his hoof. “Not at all. You have a right to be happy, Twilight.”
Laughter fought to escape her depression, and eventually won out, filling the room with warmth. Twilight blinked away a tear, and hugged Ratchet as if her life depended it. Despite all of her magical prowess, she felt safe wrapped in Ratchet’s hooves. She wished that moment could last forever.
Yet it was not to be, as a loud rapping on the door shattered the moment.
Twilight twisted around at the clock above her desk. “They’re here already?!” Twilight bounced up, and hastily gathered all of the room’s cushions into a mound. <Come in!>
A caretaker barely managed to open the door before four purple nymphs barged their way in, and made a beeline straight for Twilight shouting in unison. “Mama!”
Twilight braced herself as a wave of giggling purple fur slammed into her. Sixteen hooves clung to the proto-queen while four faces stared up at her with a child’s love. Chuckling, Twilight flew over to the mound of cushions so she could sit down and shake the squealing nymphs off. “How are my little ones today?”
With their mother at ground level, the nymphs swarmed over her, with one of them latching onto Twilight’s face. The little drone stared into her mother’s comparatively massive eyes with the biggest smile her tiny face could produce. “Mama, mama!”
Twilight’s heart melted into a puddle of goo as she pulled the squirming nymph off her face, and cradled her in her forelegs. She felt the love of her nymphs flow into her as they in turn fed off her love for them. The caretaker trotted over with a perplexed expression. “I have to say, sister, you don’t have the same... reaction as I would expect out of a queen, nor the nymphs, for that matter.”
Twilight flicked her tail back and forth as one of the nymphs tried to bite the end of it, while a second nymph clung to Twilight’s hoof as she gently tried to shake her off. “When I’m not on official business, I want some time to just be a mother. I don’t care how many children I end up having.”
“They certainly seem to be enjoying themselves,” Ratchet offered with a shrug.
One of the nymphs caught sight of the half-finished clockwork pony head Twilight had mistakenly brought into the cushion pile, and jumped over to confront it. Twilight noticed the young changeling positioned herself to stand between the head and her mother while growling at it.
A mischievous grin crept over Twilight and she wrapped the metallic head in her magic and made it slowly float towards the challenging nymph. Instead of being cowed or frightened, the filly growled louder at it and kept moving so that she was always between Twilight and the ghostly robot head.
Twilight leaned her head down to whisper in the nymph’s ear. “Uh oh, the big scary monster’s going to eat you.”
The nymph stiffened and, in what ended up being more adorable than intimidating, rushed forwards, jumping on top of the floating head and biting its brass ear, while trying to simultaneously hold on and punch the robot. Twilight used a bit a magic to throw her voice to be inside the metal head. “Oh no, I have been defeated, blaaaaarg!”
The nymph jumped off as the head fell to the cushions, and ended up on its side before Twilight released it from her magic. The nymph instantly repositioned herself between the fallen head and Twilight. With the head on its side, and unmoving, the nymph cocked her head and poked it with an investigative hoof. She bounced back in case the head attacked her, but it remained motionless.
Nodding with satisfaction with her victory over the monster, the nymph turned to Twilight and reared up to hug her mother. Twilight rubbed her daughter’s head, as she cooed in response. “My triumphant little protector.” The nymph buried her head deeper into Twilight’s fur before looking up into her mother’s eyes, her stubby little wings quivered with wonder. “Aegis, I think I’ll name you Aegis.”
Aegis chirped in appreciation and hugged her mother even tighter.
Later that day, in the deepest bowels of the palace, Twilight was assailed by a cloud of dust as she opened a pair of ancient doors. Cadista cleared the air with a gust of wind. “I forgot this place even existed.”
Twilight was sent into a fit of coughing, and took a swig from her canteen to ease her lungs. “Not surprising, the architecture here looks organic, like a primitive insect hive… almost like the ebony castle’s interior… Just how old is Stripped Gear, anyway?”
Cadista floated her horn light into the chamber as the two changelings entered, finding books, dust, primitive alchemy tools, more dust, a few rotten wax pods on the ceiling, even more dust, and a shelf crammed with scrolls. And also, dust.
“After all those rebirths, I’ve forgotten the hive’s true age, or even my own.” She inspected some of the cobweb covered tools. “These are shaped chitin; perhaps it’s almost as old as the First Queen herself.”
Twilight scanned the myriad of tomes, carefully blowing dust off their spines. “The markings are reminiscent of modern Vespid, so I can probably work up a translation easily enough.”
Cadista looked at the forgotten chamber with disinterest. “I still don’t understand why you wish to delve into the past.”
“Because the past shapes our present and future. There might even be something on our origins.”
Cadista’s gaze fell upon the decayed pods, and their distinctive cigar shape churned her stomach. “Ugh, to think Yumia, or I, used to resort to kidnapping for love.”
Twilight hmm’ed at seeing a promising book and carefully removed it from the pile. “All the more reason to investigate the past. One of you might have written a journal. Wouldn’t it be just fascinating to see just how far you’ve come?”
The elder queen failed to find anything of interest. “I suppose, if you can shorten it to five bullet points.”
Twilight dusted off a chair and sat down with her treasure. “This one should be good, it’s a journal from…” she methodically translated the cover as Cadista cantered over. “Kwiːn Ge’tua’vat, founder of the nation, Gur. Sound familiar?”
Cadista arched an eyebrow. “Not in the slightest.”
Twilight opened the book with a creak, as its ancient bindings struggled to hold together. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to study this for a while.”
“Be my guest. If you think this is of importance, then do it for as long as you wish.”
As the hours passed, a collection of empty glasses and several plates of food piled up on the table next to Twilight. A pair of drones dusted the old archive as Twilight worked through her translations. A few electric lamps and fans had been brought in, with wires snaking outside to a mobile generator.
Twilight put the finishing touch on the first entry’s translation. “Let’s see, alchemical projects, logistics entries of the hive’s founding, and a mortality report. Strange how advanced alchemy was, compared to their technological or magical knowledge…” Twilight’s eyes drifted down the page to a bit of informal text written in the margins.
“Ah, the personal notes of Ge’tua’vat. Too bad there’s so little of it…”
Oʊ.vɚ Kwiːn Tia’vil’yet says this land will suit us nicely, our exodus was—
“Exodus?” Twilight frowned. “Exodus from what?”
She turned the page, and a small gasp escaped her lips.
Deep in the bowels of a buzzing hive, an ebony queen with acidic magic slaved over a magical array. A piece of charcoal darted in and out, making minor adjustments. Chrysalis studied her work before turning back to the crystal ball displaying Celestia ripping the unicorn assassins from their teleports. She wrapped the ball in her magic, changing the display to reveal the mana manipulation of the spell itself.
Taking several glances between the array and the crystal ball, Chrysalis nodded at her work. “There, that’s should do it.”
She turned to face the five hypnotised unicorns standing to the side with green glowing eyes. All of them still wore their academy faculty uniforms. “Prisoner one, step into the array!”
“Yes... my love,” a mustard yellow stallion replied in an absent unfocused tone.
“And don’t scuff the pattern,” she commanded.
The elderly unicorn assumed the position in the center of the array, prompting the callous queen to empower the array. “Now, teleport back to your cell.”
Without a word, the unicorn’s horn lit up and a flash of light enveloped him, only for the magical reaction between spell and array to explode, along with him with it. Chrysalis shielded herself as bits of flaming pony flew in all directions, leaving nothing more than smoldering hooves and bloody chunks all over the room. Chrysalis kicked the bucket of charcoal over in a rage. “Damn it all! Even in the midst of battle she masks her spellwork.”
The array was ruined, but it was a failure anyway. “At least it’s not a total loss.” She faced the other charmed prisoners. “Clean this mess up, then return to your cells.”
“At once... my love,” they replied in unison.
Chrysalis ignored the ponies as she paced in front of her smoldering workspace. “The subspace disruption matrix was delayed for too long.” She stopped to collect the crystal ball that had been knocked onto the floor, its image stuttering before it stabilized. “No matter, I’ll unravel her secrets soon enough.”
She sauntered over to a defaced portrait of Celestia, and picked up a dart with her magic. “And when they are…” The dart flew across the room, nailing the base of Celestia’s horn. “You, and all the love you have for your subjects, will be mine!”
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An end? So soon? Aww! I hope there'll be more in another story :3
Thank the stars this isnt the end! But glad to see things shaping up.
sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal sequal
Dun dun dun!
3575314
All of my this!
what? cl-cliffhanger?!?!
please be planning a sequel! PLEASE BE PLANNING A SEQUEL!!! 
>implying sequel
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/10/5/114149__safe_pinkie+pie_image+macro_reaction+image_caption_clay_bueno.jpg
For a moment I was really sad, because it ended, but then I read Aegis being adorable, the past journal with names I'll never be able to pronounce, and Chrysalis trying to... figure out teleportation? And then the end, to be continued?
Why? Why stop now?? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS??!
3575321
Congratulations, you managed to write a 164-word post with 164 misspelled words.
SEQUEL NAO!
....
.......
.........
Please?
Sooo good.... Must have more. Please continue.
Huzzah story completion on my birthday? What a surprising gift. And a good one too.
3575321 Agreed
THIS MADE ME GASP MORE THAN CALL OF DUTY GHOSTS ENDING!
And I mighta over reacted.
BUT IM SERIOUS! 
SEQUAL NAAAOOOWWW!
Damn...its sad to see this story come to an end. It feels like it was to soon. However...the hint of a sequel is rather enticing. I will be watching. Oh and thank you for a wonderful and engaging read. Got me hooked right quick with this tale of yours.
3575403
SO WE CAN FEED ON YOUR TEARS.
I've noticed a lot of stories don't actually break themselves up like they're supposed to, even after they've gone past the original plot. With the advent of the sequel system that knighty has put in, there's really no reason for this to happen anymore. The plot arc outlined in this story is "Twilight gets turned into a changeling and has to deal with the consequences". LAP has much more planned for Twilight, but at this point, she's already turned into a changeling. We've already seen what happened. Now we're moving into the plot arc that asks "Ok, Twilight is a changeling now. What does she do?" which is entirely different.
Originally this was actually going to be one enormous story, but I convinced LAP to split it up (and to put in a cliffhanger, so this is almost entirely my fault). I'm hoping more people do this, because if you have a single story that's 600000 words long, you either write too much or you should have split it up into smaller stories. In general, if you reach a new plot arc that doesn't need anything more than a paragraph's worth of background to understand the context, you've probably ventured off the end of your first story and are now writing a sequel to it.
SEQUEL PLEASE!!!
3575387
I think Chrysalis isn't trying to figure out teleportation, but how Celestia managed to stop and reverse several teleporting unicorns.
So, it's pretty easy to tell that kwiːn means queen. It's not much of a stretch to assume oʊ.vɚ kwiːn means proto-queen, or perhaps princess. Ge’tua’vat, being a name, is much harder to translate, but I could see consonant and vowel drift changing it slowly over the years to either Cadista or Yumia, or possibly both, considering their relationship. Gur is obviously a precursor to Gear. Drawing a blank on Tia’vil’yet, though.
Woo, changelings and explosions and science and stuff. Sequels are always good, but I'd prefer your other sequel be finished up first
Cheers to a good fanfic.
3575583 Wow. that's pretty smart.
As much as I'd love a sequel to this story, I hope you finish your other story first.
3575409 why does auto correct never work when you want it to
3575583
I'm willing to bet the Tia refers to Celes-Tia.
Well, that's interesting. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
This has been one of the stories that I waited for updates. To see it end is sad, but it end well. It leaves me wanting to learn more of what is going to happen next. And I will say that I love Ratchet.
Right....................................................................... one thing I have to say to the author, this is no JOKE, NOT AT ALL A JOKE...... this has been by far the GREATEST fic I have ever read.......... truly a magnum opus of written work, you work your words like the vast ocean as it pulls our tides of feelings and the ability to relate to the characters........... finally the ending, its preconceptions to a sequel if there is going to be one is immensely and thoroughly entertaining and I cannot wait for it to begin................................ Once again I will say that the way you made Ratchen and Twilights relationship and her little nymphs was more beautiful than the last angels dying breathe truly a brilliant, brilliant story, Once again thank you for bringing this piece of happiness to many of our hearts and we wish you the greatest of respect for your forthcoming projects, not only you but your editors as well I wish to thank them too for assisting such a great mind, Thank you, Sera
.
YOU DAM WELL BETTER CONTINUE THIS!!!!
Wait. It's done? How is this done? This story is nowhere near over. For every problem that got resolved in this story, three more have sprung up that have barely been touched upon.
Well, on to the sequel!
when i read the chapter title, i gathered several crying pinkie pics to express my sorrow over this amazing fic ending.
then i read "To be continued..."
^_^ ^_^
fimfiction needs more "happy" and/or "smile" smilies >.>
Honestly, I just want to see another confrontation between her and her mother. I love the hate it creates... it is delicious and taste like chicken.
Great ending for a great story
I loved reading it. Can't wait for the sequel. Hope it comes out soon.
how dare you scare us like this?
first you make it "complete" with this chapter and the in the and you promise us things
toying with our emotions like this 
I DARE TO SEE YOU NOT WRITE A SEQUEL
I DARE YOU
You make me hate yoy and pive toy at the same time. how is it that yoyr able to do that! Now to enter the hype train Ahem
Sequel NAO
Wait... what? That's the end?
I have to say, the ending felt really abrupt and premature, nothing was really resolved.
Honestly, the "Completed" tag, the chapter title, and the 2299 chapter word count scared me for a moment, considering how much you've built up. Glad to hear this is getting a sequel, I'm rather enjoying this world you've built.
I think i politely speak for the majority of this stories fans when I say that we would enjoy more, immensely.........Link to sequel if/when it comes out would be awesome.
3576812>>3576610>>3575988>>3575892
Its this not really the end of the story, but more of an arc closure. The arc being just as Cloud Hop stated earlier.
As such, the only real conclusion I was trying to reach was her acceptance of her new species.
Ahh, Chrysalis. I cannot wait to see her engulfed in flames resulting from a new technological innovation from Stripped Gear: a little something called "Napalm".
The bit with Twilight having a gasp and discovering something only to leave it on a cliffhanger was cruel.
Well this ended suddenly.
But then again so did TCOH part1
I eagerly await the sequel!
Chrysalis just... blew up a pony?! And let the ponies on which she was going to do the same clean up the remains?!
This makes me want to hate Chrysalis even more, if that's possible.
Sequel.
Sequel sequel sequel.
seeequel.
Sequel.
This poem, called Sequel, was written by Quantum Shift and his friend, Tiny Tina.
Thank you.
Ahem, in a more coherent note, I sincerely hope that this isn't just a cliffhanger ending, I would be extremely sad.
Oh I do so hope we confirm one of my head canons on changeling origin! Time will tell.
But wait, does this mean we will get a notification when the next arc is up? Just in case it doesn't, I'm definitely checking my subscriptions...
Keep going! ;)
3577055
The problem is that all the dangling story arcs you are thinking of can't be resolved in a timely manner, so I had to get LAP to wrap up the shorter ones before things got out of hand. It will make a lot more sense once the sequel gets going.
Oh thanks goodness, there's going to be a sequel! When I saw "Epilogue" and "Completed" my heart sank.
I must admit, I was not expecting you to end the story this early before planning a sequel. But, I have no issue with it and I will be happy to wait on its sequel. As far as it goes, I think this is an okay point to wrap up this story. Good luck with the next one...
Oh god, adorable Twilight nymphs. Aegis is an interesting name, mild reference to Shining Armor?
Sequel hooks, yaaaaaaaaay.
Looking forward to the next story.
Perfect time for a time break imo. Let's you skip some of the more tedious and boring stuff and jump ahead in time to a part that will be more exciting... in theory of course.
Also, is it assumed that Twilight can still use the spells she could before the assimilation? Or since she's a changeling now is she unable to. smh
I'll be waiting...
Vespid? Did you get that from Raugos?
cliff hangers... cliff hangers...
CLIFF HANGERS!!!!
troll.me/images/american-psycho/ive-had-enough-of-these-fucking-cliffhangers.jpg