Chapter 6: The Wedding I Won't Make
Shining Armour had been staring at the reports for a while now, yet they were refusing to make sense when he actually tried to read them. Then nothing made much sense at the moment to him. As far as he was concerned everything could be explained. A changeling queen had gotten into his head and made him believe that he was in love with her enough for them to be married. Then his little sister had exposed the changeling, and saved him just in time at the altar.
While that might have been humiliating for another stallion, he’d long made peace with the fact that his little Twily was a veritable heroine of Equestria, and frankly he couldn’t be more proud. She might not be as active as some of the more official agents of the crown, but that meant that Twilight got to live a relatively normal life. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how she’d cope with the isolation that came with the job—like that Daring Do up in the Great North Eastern Valley to pick an example—especially now that she’d made some friends other than just her big brother. He grinned to himself. Sooner or later Twilight would get the clearance to find out that her favourite fictional character was actually a totally real living breathing mare, and if he was really lucky, then he’d be the one to get to break it to her.
What didn’t make sense was that Twilight had insisted that something was still wrong. Princess Celestia had acted if something was terribly wrong too, and she was the princess, so she had to be right that indeed something was amiss. He'd never known Princess Celestia to be wrong, and that meant that the problem really did lie with himself. Shining could only think that it was something to do with that disturbing Cadance creature from the throne room that he had started to think of as the Other. He wasn’t entirely sure how the changelings worked, but from what he’d been able to gather, this Other had wormed her way into his life about a year back at the behest of the queen who had then been the one that had stepped in for the actual wedding. Around a year ago was when he’d worked out that he was starting to miss memories which must have been removed when the spell had been broken.
He’d been assigned back then to a security detail which must have been a setup by the Other, as that was the last thing he remembered of his regular duties for a full month. He was missing most of the nights too around that time... He shuddered at the implications of that. He remembered afterwards that he’d been interviewed by journalists for doing something that he couldn’t place the details of. It could be a good idea actually, now that he thought about it, to track down the newspaper archives to help fill in the gaps that he was missing. It was just a shame that he’d never been able to keep a diary going longer than a month, as that would have answered all his questions.
Then he’d received the promotion to captain of the royal guard after Ol’ Stone Horn finally retired, and with it came back his memories of a lot of the year, well, at least of the times when he was on duty. Which must have meant that the Other had probably been posing as some member of the Canterlot nobility rather than one of his fellow guards. He was missing huge swathes of his off time though, which he assumed was because that was when that thing could get to him.
The more he thought about the Other the sicker he was feeling. The idea that he’d taken that thing into his hooves knotted his insides up something fierce. He’d seen things in his time. Everypony in the palace guard had. He knew some of the Canterlot nobility joked about the princesses’ private collection of pretty, kept in only the most flattering armour, but he’d seen combat against things that would freeze their pampered cutiemarks right off the side of their flanks. And yet none of the threats to Equestria, be it the clutching tentacles of a seapony abomination, or the bloody spittle of a frenzied griffon raider, none of them had come even close to the sheer intensity of emotion that the Other inspired in him.
There was a tentative knock the door. Several of the other royal guard had already been in and out of his office since Twilight had been around earlier. Things had been such a blur that he couldn’t quite recall the commands that he’d given to them, then they were a great bunch of ponies. They’d get things back in order fine without him.
“Come in,” Shining Armour said, straightening himself upward on his chair. It wasn’t as if they’d go away forever, even if he might want them to, he reckoned ruefully to himself.
Twilight Sparkle entered the room, and Shining Armour brightened up immediately. Then he frowned as he saw the state his sister was in. She was looking straight through him, and her mane was looking decidedly on the frazzled side.
“You okay, ‘sis?” he asked, inwardly hoping that this wasn’t going to be as bad as the time she’d forgotten to return a book to the Canterlot library. If that foalsitter hadn’t been around—whose name he couldn’t recall for some reason—he still didn’t know how they’d have talked Twilight down.
“Me?” Twilight said, suddenly startled. “I’m fine! Fine, fine, fine, uh, how are you?”
“Totally,” Shining replied. “I don’t suppose that you’re here to drop the whole notion that there’s something wrong with me thing are you?” he asked, a note of hope entering his voice.
“No.”
Shining Armour sighed. “It was worth a try.”
“So!” Twilight said brightly. “Have you realised what happened yet?”
“Well, I’m pretty certain what happened,” he replied, absentmindedly fiddling with some of the papers on his desk. “That you and the princess seem convinced I should be marrying that Cadance thing doesn’t make sense in the slightest.”
“Shining,” Twilight said, giving her brother a sideways look. “That thing is your fiance.”
“But she’s a fake!” Shining insisted.
“The changeling Chrysalis was the fake,” Twilight explained patiently. “She replaced Cadance, but you really had fallen in love with her.”
“That can’t be right,” Shining said, clutching his head with hooves. “Twilight, the very thought of her touching me... It’s terror, disgust, and shame all rolled into one.”
The two siblings stared at each other awkwardly, while not quite managing to meet the other one’s eyes.
Twilight head snapped up, and she appeared to be listening to an internal conversation that only she could hear, and then shrugged her shoulders at what ever the outcome of that talk had been.
“Shining,” Twilight said. “How do you feel about that changeling queen?”
His brow furrowed. “I’m not particularly keen on anyone that invades Equestria to start off with,” he said, as a small smile formed on his face. “But, other than that I feel nothing about her.”
Twilight’s eyebrow raised for some reason at that, and her expression twisted in worry.
“Of course!” she suddenly blurted out. “It’s so simple!”
Shining Armour concern was beginning to properly spike now, as his sister’s head tilted to one side, and appearing to be listening to nopony again.
“When Cadance used her spell to transfer your love to Chrysalis, at the same it caused other things that you were feeling to transfer too.”
“But, Twilight,” Shining said, trying hard to keep the frustration out of his voice. “I’ve never felt like that about anypony or anything before.”
“Consciously, no,” Twilight said, smiling as she was in full flow of explanation. “Subconsciously on the other hoof though. Some part of you must have always known that something wasn’t quite right with your fiance and that part would have had no release as it twisted within, and that’s what you're feeling for Cadance now that fear and disgust has a target.” Her left ear twitched a few times. “Apparently, it’s quite common for all kinds of odd psychological disorders to crop up when changelings spend too long feeding off a single host while that host remains active in Equestrian society. That’s why they prefer to use cocoons, plus then many changelings can feed off the forced fantasy of love all at once.”
“So, let me get this right,” Shining said, placing both his forehooves flat in front of him. “The reason I can’t even look at the pony I was supposed to be marrying is that all the repressed emotions I had while a changeling took her place are now all directed at that original pony.”
“That’s about right,” she said, and nodded.
Shining Armour rested his head on his desk. “That’s all kinds of messed up,” he said flatly. “So, I’m stuck like this?”
“Possibly—” Twilight was interrupted by another knock at the door.
“Would you mind if we came in?” said a familiar voice, that Shining Armour visibly winced at. “Please?”
“Hang on,” Shining called out, and started rummaging around in his desk drawers.
“You know that you don’t have to see them now if you don’t want to?” Twilight said.
“Going to have to sooner or later,” Shining said, as he tied a dirty rag around his head to completely hide his eyes. The rag was so spotted with armour polish that he’d quite forgotten what colour the cloth had originally been. “Course, that doesn’t mean I actually have to see-see her.”
“How dare you keep a princess waiting!” clearly came the very sharp voice of Chrysalis through the door. This was followed up by some loud shushing.
“Come in then,” Shining said, with almost negative amounts of enthusiasm. “If you really have to.”
Cadance pushed the door open, and entered the room, casting a quick annoyed glare at Chrysalis who dutifully followed behind her.
“So how are thing going with you two lovebirds then?” Shining asked brightly, with a fixed grin on his face.
“It’s going fine, thank you,” Cadance replied. “The odd minor misunderstanding aside,” she added, flicking her tail lightly in front of Chrysalis’ nose.
Twilight had been watching her brother carefully, and aside from the visible twitching of his ears at Cadance’s words, not actually looking at the alicorn was apparently enough to spare Shining from most of the effects he’d suffered before.
“I’m sure that’s the same for any couple,” Shining said, in the same conversational tones as if he was discovering the weather. “Not that I remember my last courtship anymore, but I guess that’s usually how things work out.”
“Oh, Shining,” Cadance said softly.
Shining Armour’s forehoof slapped down on his desk with a loud crack. “Bit late for concern now, isn’t it?”
“No, I guess not,” Cadance replied, her previously concerned tone disappearing entirely.
“Cadance,” Twilight said warningly, and then jumped slightly as Chrysalis hissed at her.
The changeling queen raised herself to her full height, and towered imposingly over Twilight. “You will not interfere,” she snarled. “Not again.”
“Why don’t you two wait outside?” Cadance suggested, not taking her eyes off her former fiance.
“But...” Chrysalis began to protest, but Cadance silenced her with a look.
“Go on, Twilight,” Shining said, seeing his sister’s look of concern he added, “I’ll be okay.”
The two formers lovers waited until the awkward sight of Twilight and Chrysalis trying to go through one doorway without getting anywhere near each other finally ceased as the door closed behind them.
“So, my sister’s right that you really are a pony and not some diabolical changeling agent?” Shining asked.
“What?” Cadance said, her ears flattened against her head. “Of course I’m a pony. Why would you even think such a thing?”
“Shame,” Shining replied. “Think it might have made things easier.”
“Don’t you even remember me from when I used to foalsit for your sister?”
Shining Armour closed his eyes behind his rag for a short while. “No, apparently not, though I’ll admit not being able to actually see you right now isn’t helping much.”
“You know many alicorns other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna then?” Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow. “Specifically, pink ones?”
“Do you actually want something from me?” Shining said. “I assume that you’re in my office for a reason, and you’re not just here to scoop out some more of my memories.”
“I didn’t think it would do that,” Cadance said quietly.
“So, what did you think it was going to do then?” Shining Armour’s own voice was growing in volume by the moment.
“You weren’t exactly in the state of mind where I could ask your opinion at the time,” Cadance shot back. “Chrysalis had you wrapped around her horn entirely, Princess Celestia was in a cocoon, Princess Luna was nowhere to be found, and your sister and her friends had been defeated. So, I did what I had to.”
“What did you do?” Shining asked, without any of the heat that had just been in his words.
“I took our love for each other and gave it to Chrysalis,” Cadance said. “It was the only thing I could think of to save Equestria. I gave her a reason not to.” She paused, and her eyes hardened. “I’d do it again too. In a heartbeat. I never wanted to hurt you though,” Cadance added. “I thought that we just wouldn’t feel anything for each other.”
“Oh, apparently it’s something to do with my repressed emotions while that changeling was controlling me,” Shining said airily. “Quite common reaction apparently.”
Cadance just looked at him.
“Okay, okay, Twilight worked it out somehow,” Shining said, “I hope she’s alright. She’s been acting a bit weird.”
“Not as bad as that time when she forgot to return that library book?” Cadance asked quickly, her eyes darting.
“No where near that bad, thank Celestia,” Shining said.
“Phew.” Cadance breathed out. “I... just wanted to let you know that I never meant to hurt you.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Shining replied, not particularly enthusiastically, and then sighed. “I think I understand why you had to do whatever you did.” A dark look passed over his face. “I still want you and that changeling out of Canterlot as soon as possible. Nothing personal.”
“Oh really?”
“Well, I can’t exactly do my job of protecting the city like this, can I?” he said, gesturing to the rag over his eyes.
“I suppose not,” Cadance said. “It’s funny, y’know...” she trailed off.
“I’m sure it’s hilarious,” Shining said, and bared his teeth in an expression that had nothing to do with a smile.
“Not like that,” she snapped. “I really thought I might feel something. Talking to you again, I mean,” she said, thoughtfully. “Intellectually I still feel terrible about what I chose to do, and I remember what we had, but I look at you now, and there’s just nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“Not enough holes in my legs for you anymore?” Shining asked sarcastically, but he was also studying the alicorn carefully after finally removing the rag from his face. Repressing the urge to cower and flee, now that he knew that reaction was a lie, he could see from the look of her eyes that she was clearly trying to make herself feel something that after the spell just didn’t exist.
“Apparently not,” Cadance replied, spinning on her hooves. She threw a single glance backwards. “Goodbye, Shining Armour.” She then stepped through the door and closed it behind her.
“Goodbye, Cadance,” Shining whispered to the empty room.
~~~
Trixie was slowly coming to the conclusion that this wasn’t going to work. Getting into the Star Swirl the Bearded wing had been just as easy as Rarity had promised. Trixie was pretty sure that had more to do with all the guards being more concerned with cleaning up the mess following this whole changeling invasion thing rather than the unicorn’s admittedly not inconsiderable wiles. She’d found the shelves dedicated to transmogrification and had started looking through some of the books pretty much at random hoping to get lucky.
She hadn’t found anything in the slightest bit useful so far. Most of the spells that she’d read so far were well outside of her abilities to the point where she could only make an educated guess at what they would do. The others were barely even cantrips to turn an apple into an orange temporarily or vise versa. She could be here for months researching and not succeed in finding the spell that she needed. Worse, it was entirely possible that she wouldn’t even recognise the spell when she did finally read it.
Trixie glanced over at the librarian again who was still clearly making a point of not paying her any attention whatsoever. She sighed inwardly. Trixie never liked asking anypony for help if she could possibly avoid it, but compared to this impossible research project, suddenly the prospect seemed all shiny and new.
She slowly approached the librarian’s desk. The other mare had her head stuck in a book, clearly making the point that she wasn’t going to be acknowledging Trixie’s presence anytime soon.
“Ahem,” Trixie said pointedly.
Not a single hair in the librarian’s garish yellow and red mane so much as shifted in place.
“A-hem,” Trixie tried again.
The mare behind the desk sighed and lowered her book. She gave Trixie a choice ‘you are so insignificant in my eyes that there are dust particles that I’d rather have a conversation with than you’ look. Trixie suspected that this librarian practiced in the mirror every morning.
“Yes?” The room was kept decidedly chilly for the preservation and care of the various magical, and of course incredibly old, books in this particular wing. The temperature in the librarian's voice was colder.
“Hi!” Trixie said, in an exaggeratedly friendly manner. “I was hoping that you could help me out.”
The librarian looked down her nose at Trixie for several moments. “Do tell?” she said eventually.
“I was looking for a book on transformation,” Trixie said, not showing any sign that she was ruffled in the slightest by the librarian’s rude manner.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance that you’ve checked the shelves dedicated to transformation?” the librarian asked, and arched a well-plucked eyebrow. “They are quite extensive, as befits the calibre of this collection.”
“Of course!” Trixie said back, with more than equal haughtiness. “I was hoping that you could help me track down the specific tome that I need.”
The librarian rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to leave me alone until I help you, right?”
“Indeed not,” Trixie replied with a cocky smile.
“Go on then,” she said, and put the book that she’d been reading down. “If I’m lucky you’ll blow yourself up trying the spell anyway.”
“Trixie is looking to work a great and powerful feat of magic that will surely cause her to become the most magnificent...” Seeing that she was already wearing the librarian's patience thin, Trixie decided to get on with it. “I need a spell to turn a mare into what a stallion would look like as a mare,” Trixie explained, hoping it sounded less insane out loud then it did in her head. “Can you help me?”
“Trixie, do you know anything about unicorn magic, whatsoever?” the librarian asked witheringly.
“Of-Of course!”
The librarian sighed. “Look, it might be fairly straightforward to transform lesser creatures from one thing to another, but transforming a pony, or another of the sentient races, in even a minor manner, is on a whole other level. That’s why even, say, growing new facial hair is considered pretty advanced magic. No, I don’t know how changelings pull it off, but that’s how the rules of magic work for the rest of us.”
“Trixie didn’t know that,” she said quietly.
“Clearly,” the librarian snapped. “However, that’s not to say what you’re trying is impossible. You simply have to cheat.”
“Trixie’s not sure if she could be a part of something underhooved,” she just about managed to say with a straight face.
“Not like that,” the librarian said, waving a hoof. “No unicorn alive today, not even me, has the power to keep that kind of transformation going for even a second. The highest level of unicorn mages could maintain the subject’s new look for up to several minutes, but no unicorn has attained that mastery in over six hundred years. An enchantment spell on an item that can constantly renew the magic is another matter entirely.” Her horn glowed light green and a row of books floated out from out of the stacks. The librarian inspected a few titles, as they passed in front of her on their way around the room, before picking a particular tome out and sending the rest back to their original places.
Trixie whistled quietly at the display of magical finesse.
“Even a unicorn of your clearly palty talents should be able to follow this.” The librarian tucked a bookmark in the relevant section and pushed the book across her desk towards Trixie.
“Thanks,” Trixie said, took the book, and turned to leave.
“Wait,” the librarian said. “You said your name was Trixie?”
“Yes,” Trixie said. “Perhaps you’ve heard of me?” she asked hopefully, before wondering if it was likely that even if she had Trixie doubted it’d actually be anything good.
“No.”
Trixie’s ears flattened, and then breathed out a slight sigh of relief that she hoped that the librarian wouldn’t notice.
“Ever thought of a career as minion, Trixie?” the librarian asked over her two steepled forehooves.
“Uh...”
The librarian leaned forward. “Clear chip on your flank, not much in the way of magical talent, yet willing to learn,” she said, her voice dropping. “I could use a mare like you to keep me on my hooves when I take my rightful place as ruler of all Equestria.”
Trixie stared back at the librarian. This was not going quite as she’d expected. “Who are you again?”
“Sunset Shimmer,” she replied, and flicked her mane.
“So, let me get this right,” Trixie said slowly. “You’re looking to take over Equestria and you’re currently working in the largest collection of the most advanced magic possibly anywhere.” She paused. “What’s taking you so long?”
The mare apparently known as Sunset Shimmer sighed. “Think about it,” she said. “Who do you think is the one pony in Equestria to have read every single one of the volumes in here?”
“Princess Celestia,” Trixie replied, not needing to have to guess.
“Of course she has,” Sunset replied, her face twisting. “After the third spell to snuff out her damned immortal life fizzled on me, well, I realized I’d need to be a bit more... creative.” She chuckled, a little ruefully Trixie thought. “I used to be her personal student, you know. She tired of me soon enough, and stuck me down here where she could keep an eye on me. I’m sure it’s some kind of private joke of hers that she decided to insist on my services here of all places.”
Trixie’s eyes widened. “I doubt I’d be suitable, but If you’re desperate for minions then there’s two colts in Ponyville that I could give you the names of,” she suggested, while trying to keep the amusement out of her voice. Trixie was sure that there was more to Sunset’s story between her and Celestia, but she’d been useful, so didn’t see the harm in humouring her.
“Probably too young for what I have in mind,” Sunset mused. “Still, if you don’t fancy the chance of power beyond your wildest dreams then that’s really no hair out of my tail.”
“Hey, Trixie didn’t say no,” she said quickly, clutching the book a little closer as she wrestled with the temptation laid out before her. “It just seems like a bit of a long shot, and I do have other commitments at the moment.”
“Tell you what, if I think of a scheme that could use you then I’ll let you know,” Sunset said, and turned back to her book. “See you around, Trixie,” she added, not bothering to look up again.
Trixie thought about saying something more, but then decided against it. Anyway, trying to overthrow Equestria was way out of her league, she reckoned. All that she'd ever truly wanted was to be recognised as a truly great and powerful unicorn, and she didn't need a mare like Sunset Shimmer for that, not with the right book now in her possession. She left the Star Swirl the Bearded wing at a canter. Time to head back to Fluttershy and Rarity, and then with a bit of magic she'd get everything that she'd always dreamed of.
~~~
Dusk knew he’d arrived at the right part of the cavern system when the ground started to squish under his hooves. He grinned with all his fangs as the hive all gathered together came into sight. It’d been only a day or so, but that had more than enough time spent with ponies for him. Dusk had decided that Twilight at least wasn’t all bad, and he had definitely got used to the name she’d bestowed upon him, but it was better to be amongst his own kind, and they’d clearly been busy.
Rapidly grown bio-luminescent fungus spread a weak corpse-light throughout the cavern that reflected eerily off the gems dotting the stony walls and the changeling’s chitinous black bodies. Ichor had been spread all over the floors and was raising up to the ceiling. It was almost beginning to look a bit like their old hive back in the badlands before their banishment, and Dusk smiled inwardly at that pleasant thought of a better time.
A changeling still wearing the guise of a mint-green unicorn stalked over to him. The fixed far-too-wide grin and dangerous glint in her eyes put Dusk on guard and he stiffened in place. A number of other changelings, some as ponies, others as drones, gathered up behind her. Dusk was suddenly relieved he was wearing armour, even if he was sure that it wasn’t like he could be in trouble amongst his own kind.
<”Swarm Lord,”> the Lyra hissed, in the chittering language of their race. <”Just the ‘ling that I had hoped to see.”>
<”Drone, what exactly is the meaning of this?”> he asked.
The Lyra looked around at the gathered swarm behind her and turned back with her grin widening even further till her pony features were impossibly contorted. <”We’re leaving, ‘Swarm Lord’.”> the Lyra drawled out his title like it was a drip of spittle hanging off her lips. <”We thought that you should know so that you and your precious queen don’t bother coming to look for us.”>
<”The queen—”> Dusk started to say.
<”The queen has failed!”> the Lyra yelled, drawing the attention of every changeling in the hive that wasn’t already in her entourage. <”On top of that the Nightmare Moon is in the city, right now! The hive is not safe until we have proper leadership again.”>
Dusk searched around for some kind of support; not quite able to believe what he was actually hearing here. <”Speaker!”> he said, spotting the elder changeling. <”You will talk some sense into this nymphling.”>
The speaker shrugged apologetically. <”I and others may not have thought it wise to antagonise the pony kind, as three mares would certainly not have survived feeding so many all at once.”> he said, carefully keeping his voice neutral. <”A very good thing too as the drone is also very much correct in that the night alicorn has paid us a visit. Still, our ways are quite clear and I cannot disagree. The queen failed, and so her orders now mean nothing.”>
<”But Queen Chrysalis—”>
<”Has failed in her plan of conquest,”> the Speaker said sharply. <”You know what must be done as much as any ‘ling amongst us. A new queen must be chosen, so that the hive may thrive once more.”>
Dusk could only laugh in response. <”Queen Chrysalis has had no progeny yet, and so there are no successors,”> he said, as if he was addressing a batch of still wet nymphlings fresh out of their mother’s sacs. <”Now, I understand that this has been frustrating, but please do me a favour and talk some actual sense.”>
A male drone stepped forward to stand beside the Lyra. <”There is another way of course.”>
<”You’ve got to be joking,”> Dusk said, his eyes widening. <”No ‘ling has tried that in the history of our hive. Other hives have tried it and only out of desperation, but it usually kills the pony in the attempt, and even if it doesn’t it tends to drive them utterly insane, sooner or later.”>
<”Yes, yes,”> the Lyra purred, nodding to the drone next to her. <”All we need is a pony mare, and there’s plenty of those in Canterlot to go around.”> She chuckled nastily. <”Perhaps, we can start with that unicorn that disrupted the plans of the failure. Teach her to stick her horn into changeling business.”>
<”No, you’re not going to touch her!”> Dusk tried to keep his mouth shut, but it just slipped out, and now all the other changelings around were staring at him.
‘Dusk, are you okay?’ came a voice in her mind. ‘I heard you shouting.’
‘It’s nothing, Twilight,’ he thought back as quick as could, while slowly inching away from the drones in front of him without realizing he was doing so. Dusk stopped in his tracks, and could feel Twilight’s concern down the mental link. He was sure that she could feel him lying, but if he concentrated he might just be able to stop her realizing what was going on.
‘If you’re sure...’ a thought came back that he could just taste the disbelief on. The mutinous drone was talking again though, and Dusk focused his attention back to the cavern.
<”This Twilight Sparkle has caught your eye then?”> the Lyra said, her ever present grin plastered nastily on her face. <”Surely, you would be willing to give up even such a pretty morsel. Sacrifices must be made for the good of the hive after all.”>
Disturbing, and a few somewhat confusing, visions flooded his mind of Twilight transformed into a changeling queen. Dusk pushed them deep down to the back of his mind, before the actual Twilight got a look at them, and got entirely the wrong idea. He fought the urge to back away again and stood his ground. <”Look, this isn’t necessary,”> he said, pitching his voice louder to reach every changeling present. <”Queen Chrysalis has provided me with enough love to feed the entire hive at once!”>
<”Oh, really?”> the Lyra said lightly. <”Perhaps we were all just not paying attention and missed all those cocoons, stuffed to the brim with pony goodness, that you were dragging behind you.”>
Ignoring the clear contempt, Dusk focused on the energy that had been threatening to burst free ever since his queen had gifted it to him. Pink light burst free from his horn into billowing cloud that spread throughout the entire cavern until every changeling present was hidden from sight.
As the light of the freely given love faded, and the changelings present had thoroughly gorged themselves, he called out, <“You see! Queen Chrysalis has provided for us, like she always has.”>
Instead of admitting that she was wrong, or prostrating herself in gratitude at such generosity, the Lyra snarled. <”That was not the magic of Queen Chrysalis! I’ve tasted this magic before, in the throne room earlier.”>
<”But it was our queen,”> Dusk protested weakly, not entirely believing it himself.
<”This Princess Cadance really has taken her completely, hasn’t she?”> the Lyra said, and rubbed her hoof against her chin. <”Perhaps, we do not need to look for a new queen after all...”>
<”She did make Queen Chrysalis fall in love with her,”> Dusk tried to explain.
<”You hear that?”> the Lyra shouted. <”Princess Cadance took our old queen easier than a drone might take the love of a pony colt in the first flush of stallionhood! I say that she shall be our new queen!”>
A changeling still in the guise of pink pony from the fight that had taken place on the previous day bounced over. She at least tried to bounce, as even magically transformed changeling knees aren’t built at all for that movement, so it was more of an awkward hop. <“A new queen?”> she said excitedly. <”This calls for a...”> The drone poked her tongue out and crossed her eyes as she thought about it. <”A social gathering! Um... with balloons!”> She finished triumphantly.
The Lyra looked at her, and then away again, as if the other changeling hadn’t actually spoken. <”Princess Cadance will lead us where Chrysalis failed!”> she called out to every changeling present.
<”Will she accept us?”> a voice called out from the now milling crowd.
The Lyra reared up onto her backhooves, and a bright green flame burst upwards from her horn to the stony roof above. <”Of course she will!”> she called out. <”The new queen shall lead us to victory where Chrysalis failed!”>
Dusk could only look on in horror, as the call was taken up all throughout the cavern.
<“Queen Cadance!”> the gathered changelings roared. <“Queen Cadance! QUEEN CADANCE!”>
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Well, this has suddenly become incredibly depressing.
Reminds me of that other fic where Cadance gets pressganged into ruling the changelings. And doing a surprisingly good job of it.
And Sunset. Yeah. Will be interesting to see where you spin that bit.
3870988
If you're talking about the initial conversation, well, it pretty much had to be dealt with sometime. Still it's out the way now and we can get back to the more fun stuff
Oh, that first scene is almost painful to read. In a good way, mind. Sunset Shimmer... dang. And that's one heck of a cliffhanger. I did like the Pinkieling trying and failing to be Pinkie.
time out. If changlings are all buggy, then free will aside, orders are not to be disobeyed. as Swarm lord, his word should be law to them. No upstart drone would rally the entire hive.
All hail the new Queen!
It sounds like the changelings have some way of turning ponies into their own kind. And want Cadence as their new queen. Well, there's no way those two facts could combine to cause her trouble.
I like your read on Trixie's character, where she actually turns down a chance at trying to seize control of Equestria, because it's not in line with her goals (when she isn't possessed by a magic amulet). She'd rather just have a successful career and a date with a former top model or possible threesome. Though she probably isn't that interested in 'that heckler' Rarity.
Also: Dusk/Twilight. Saw it coming. I wonder if their bond is going to start turning her into a changeling? That probably wouldn't help the peace process.
I foresee, not an overthrow of Queen Chrysalis, but the arise of an additional Queen. A Diarchy for the hive who's love together can feed the entire hive in plenty. And maybe a Princess Twilight (changeling princess, not Alicorn). After all, one must wonder the long-term consequences of maintaining a hive connection with a changeling.
So we have Cadance and Chrysalis, loyal changelings, breakaway changelings, Trixie, Sunset Shimmer, Shining Armor...
This is, uh, going to be a real mess, isn't it.
<Epicness intensifies>
<Plot thickens>
We got Changeling Cadance, maybe Changeling Twilight AND Trixie with her book (about Alicorn Amulet I believe) AND we got Sunset trying to rule the Equestria AND Celestia only knows what else...
It's likr multiple fics in one. An überfic. Y.eah, that is a word now.
3871032
Which story was that? Sounds interesting.
3871354 She would probably enjoy making Rarity eat her words with a very specific "anything you can do, I can do better" challenge, though.
3873433 The Monster in the Twilight. It's good.
Well then I guess with all the votes counted, Cadence is now officially the new Queen of the Changelings.
3871231
What I hoped I'd conveyed is while the changelings have some buggy aspects, they've also got a whole bunch of other aspects from the way their race came to be in this story. While there is only one queen I do see them as having a similar 3:1 gender split of females to males that the Equestrian ponies do. They may not have names, only a very few titles, but they're somewhat individualistic even so. What they really want is stability, order, and of course a whole bunch of love to feed off, and having Chrysalis cock up so badly in their eyes means they don't now have a queen which has lead them to being deeply jumpy and likely to fall in behind the first changeling with an idea of how to bring order back to the hive.
3871354
Damn, I honestly do love that idea and it's a thread I hadn't even considered. I don't think I can use it though as there's just way too many X becomes a changeling fics out there and with it not being the main focus I don't think it would be able to compare to well.
3873552
Heh, maybe for a mature rated sidefic ala Green which I really probably shouldn't inflict on you lot
Not a fic I'd seen before, but it's now on my Read Later list so thanks for the link.
3879201
hmm. Well I expect Chrysalis to /violently/ deal with that Lyra impersonator.
and i'm not gonna go back and read the chapter for this, but I think I remember 'Lyra' talking about kidnapping a few ponies?
Uh-huh. Yeah right. they KNOW you're down there. Tell me, 'Lyra', where is the FIRST place they'll look when they hear about missing ponies or ponies acting strange?
3879201
Yes, that's probably best, it might be hard to work in.
3871032 whats the name of thst fic?
6053252
See:
3873552
That's concerning. I hope it ends well for Chryssie.
I like how Trixie is in this one.
Such a long time before season six finale and the lings are already backstabbing traitors that will turn on their own mother without a second thought the moment an opportunity arises, no matter how many years she's toiled away to keep them fed.
How can he see his sisters look when he is blindfolded?