New Encounters
There was a cheerful skip to each of Melody’s steps as she strode through the marketplace with her mother. Looking at every stand and booth with interest, her eyes shone with trepidation as she considered each of them with an arched neck before the voice of her mother called her out of her jubilation each time. With a groan, Melody caught up with Coral and followed until another shop grabbed her attention yet again.
This little game of hers lasted until they were out of the marketplace, much to Melody’s chagrin. With a small skip to her gait, she skidded next to Coral, and she looked at her with big, pleading eyes, her lips pursed in a frown.
“Why didn’t you want to let me stop at those shops earlier?” Melody sat down and crossed her legs over her chest, intently staring at her mom.
Her attitude had apparently no effect on Coral as the crystal pony just rolled her eyes and smiled, going around the unicorn and beckoning for her to follow behind. “Because, sweetums, I want to introduce you to somepony. Now, wipe that frown from you face and tag along. It’s not far from here.”
With a groan, Melody dragged herself behind Coral and kept her head down, sometimes shooting a glance back to the marketplace. There was a lovely necklace back there that called out to her. It was a simple thing, really, but teal rock that hung from the silver chain would have been a perfect fit for her. Plus, it was mesmerizing, so there was that factoring in as well.
She wanted to go back there and look at it some more, but Melody knew that the moment her mom noticed she was gone, she was going to get dragged along whether she wanted it or not. With the necklace still lingering in her mind, Melody never noticed that Coral had stopped moving ahead and bumped into the pony, cocking her head back. She stared forward and tilted her head to the left, furrowing her brow.
“Why’d you stop?” Melody queried, rubbing her nose and looking in the same direction as Coral.
On the side of the street was a small shop with a sign that read ‘The Crystal in the Rough.' The exterior of the store was a simple thing. It just looked like a small business, barely in a shape to be receiving customers. The only thing that seemed remotely good looking was the sign adorning the front of the shop. Each letter was embedded with various gemstones, turning the sidewalk into a sea of lights dancing before Melody’s eyes
Well, maybe Melody could take a few minutes to give this shop a look. Besides, Coral seemed pretty insistent about this. Arching an eyebrow at the enthusiasm of the mare before following in her ecstatic steps, Melody looked at the sign one last time before venturing inside.
“Hello, and welcome to the Crystal in the Rough. Relics of the earth at your disposal!” a unicorn mare exclaimed from behind the counter, looking up at the gem sculpture that she was working on. She sported a teal coat, and a purple mane kept short. Her dark green eyes shot open, and she smirked. She set aside the sculpture and leaped from the counter to landed in front of Coral. “Coral, it’s so good to see you! And you must be Melody! Your mother’s told me so much about you.”
Melody stumbled back in surprise and switched her attention between Coral and this mysterious and hyperactive mare. “Umm… hi?”
Coral giggled and gestured a hoof to the mare. “Melody, this is Prismatic Luster. She’s an artisan here, an excellent one I assure you. She’s the pony I wanted to introduce you to.”
Prismatic Luster waggled a hoof at Coral and stuck her tongue out. She fell back on her haunches and ran her other hoof through Melody’s mane with her glance now centered on the unicorn. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Melody. So, I hear today’s your birthday, isn’t it?”
Melody shot a glance to Coral, puffing her cheeks. Coral smiled and nudged Melody’s head, shifting her gaze to Prismatic Luster instead. Melody grumbled, let herself fall on her haunches, and crossed her legs over her chest.
“It is. It was supposed to be a surprise, though,” Melody said in a hushed voice, throwing her eyes to the floor.
“Huh? What was that?” Prismatic asked in an energetic squeal, pressing her nose against Melody’s and smiling at her. “Can you be a bit louder this time around?”
Melody rolled her eyes and sighed, pulling her nose back and wriggling it before the mare, shaking her head and averting her gaze. “It was supposed to remain a surprise.”
Prismatic burst out laughing and fell back on her back, clutching her hooves on her belly. After a few seconds of unrestrained laughter, the mare finally pulled herself together, the laughs dying down into a light giggle before vanishing altogether.
Through all this, Melody’s expression shifted from offended to confused. Confusion quickly turned to dumbfoundedness before it eventually led to deadpan and another roll of her eyes. Prismatic wiped the few tears glistening in her eyes and looked at Melody with an amused smile.
“Darling, the surprise is supposed to be for you. Not the other way around!”
Well, duh! Melody wasn’t stupid. She knew that much, but Coral told her that this was going to be a secret. She scrunched up her nose and stared at the ground again. She was confused. This mare was weird. Entertaining to an extent, but weird. Why was she always stuck with the odd ones?
A gasp escaped Prismatic, and she jerked a hoof to her chest, cocking her head back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound like that!”
Coral waggled her hoof and slid it to scoop Melody’s chin and lift it up. “Don’t worry, Prism.” Coral giggled as she withdrew her hoof. She pursed her lips in a grin and glanced at Melody through half-lidded eyes. “She’s grumpy on occasion. Today just so happens to be one such day.”
The reaction was instantaneous. Melody snapped her neck to the side and let out a squeak, following by some mutters when she saw her mother’s expression. Eventually, she disengaged from those eyes with a whip of her mane and looked the opposite way.
And to add to Melody’s discontentment, Prismatic burst out in laughter again. Melody frowned at the display of laughter right in front of her and just did the thing that seemed the most natural to her. She turned around and lifted her chin and huffed.
“Oh, come on. I can’t help it if you’re that adorable,” Prismatic Luster complained, wiping the tears from her eyes. She turned to Coral again, a smirk on her lips as she walked up to Coral and bumped her flank. “She’s definitely a keeper, Coral. You’re a lucky one!”
Melody’s ear perked up, and she partly turned around to see her mother’s cheeks flush. Coral cocked her head back and flicked her ears a bit, raising a hoof to her chest. With a quick intake of air, she said, “Oh, she’s definitely a keeper. Attracts trouble a lot too, but it adds to her charm. And she’s easily flustered. It’s everything you’d ever want in a child!”
Nevermind. In that instant, she vowed to never trust her mother with anything else. In retaliation to her mother’s words, she turned around the glare at Coral, cheeks puffed and her eyebrows furrowed.
“Moooom!” Melody whinnied, pawing at the ground.
The mare just giggled away and pulled out her tongue in a devious fashion. She raised a leg and patted Melody’ head. Melody just continued to glare with the same intensity. Coral easily dismissed it and shifted her attention to Prismatic again.
Prismatic chuckled in turn and gave a light-hearted tilt of her head to the left, offering a goofy grin to the mare. Her attention soon turned to the door as the doorbell rang and another mare entered. Prismatic craned her head to look at the newcomer, offering her a smile before she disappeared in the back.
“Shimmer, Mrs. Breeze is here for you!” Prismatic called to somepony back there. Her coworker or partner, most likely. But that wasn’t what had bothered Melody the most. That name sounded oddly familiar to her.
She looked back and found herself staring at none other than Ocean Breeze. The mare looked back at her with an annoyed expression and Melody was quick to avert her eyes from the earth pony. Why was she here? What sort of business was she here for? Had she followed the pair through the city? But wait… Prismatic told her coworker that Ocean was there for her. Was she a customer?
“I’m coming, Prism,” an agitated voice called from behind. Sprinting out of the back with a statuette of sorts was a rather young unicorn mare, sporting a midnight blue coat and mesmerizing purple eyes. Her mane was a grayish blue with some streaks of yellow parsing through it. Her mane was pulled back, and it fell flatly on her neck and shoulders. “Could you come to the counter please, Mrs. Breeze?”
“Of course.”
The response was dry, yet bore no aggression. So maybe she was a customer after all. But what did the shop specialize in, if not gem crafting? What more would the mare have needs for Ocean if the statuette of two ponies staring at each other looked mostly complete? Was there a trick of sorts? Was there something else?
Melody’s gaze at that moment was instantly captured by the refraction of the light on the statuette. The opal figurine on the left symbolized Ocean Breeze, Melody guessed. The other figure was obviously male but was made from a metallic-looking gemstone that Melody did not know about. It did look beautiful, though.
“I believe this commission is yours. One statuette made from opals and hematite, with a granite support as the foundation,” the mare chimed, depositing the statuette on the counter for all eyes to see.
Ocean took a few minutes to admire the craftsmanship, tilting her head to either side, moving the piece around with her hooves. Finally, for what was the first time for Melody, a smile cracked through Ocean Breeze’s otherwise stoic and emotionless expression. She nodded and pushed the statuette back toward the unicorn mare, Shimmer as Prismatic had called her. “It’s lovely.”
The hoarse voice was still there, though. As if there was a constant pinch of disappointment itching her, that voice grated against Melody’s ears. But… there was something else about it. A soothing note that flowed in her words and emotions. It was rather surprising coming from the same mare that had insulted her before.
“I’m glad you think so!” Shimmer exclaimed, her smile split to her ears. Her aura enveloped the commission, and she smiled fondly, keeping her gaze fixated in Ocean’ eyes. “Now, then. Onto the finishing touches. What sort of motion would you like them to have?
Ocean cocked her head to the side. It seemed that she either had no clue what the blue unicorn was talking about, or that she had a hard time deciding what she wanted. A few quick shakes of her head later, Ocean settled with a nod and looked at the figures on the support with what looked like tender eyes. That was also a new one for Melody.
“Well, it’s a memento in memory of my departed husband, so I’d love to see them kissing, and then melt into an embrace,” Ocean said with a sweeter voice, her tone losing its hoarseness. That mare was full of surprises, wasn’t she? “I’d really love to see that if it’s within the scope of possibility.”
All through this, something else had caught Melody’s attention. Something that made her eyes go wide. Just as Ocean kept talking and Shimmer listened, the unicorn’s horn shone a tiny tinge a green at the tip, barely eclipsing the golden glow of her magic. Was that what Melody thought it was? Her heart began beating faster. She clasped a hoof at her throat and backed away slowly while Prismatic noticed the reaction and offered a simple smile that failed to appease the unicorn. Was she in on this? Were those two really changelings?
Coral noticed Melody’s reaction a tad too late, finding her backed up against the wall with her hoof over her mouth. A few ragged breaths left her as her chest rose and sank with each moment. She followed Melody’s eyes to find her staring at Shimmer, but what was wrong with Melody for her to react this way.
“Melody, darling, are you feeling okay?” Coral whispered, leaning closer to Melody. If this was anything serious, getting Ocean Breeze involved was probably a bad idea.
Melody shook her head frantically, slowly turning to face Coral. Tears glistened in her eyes and her legs trembled under her. Utterly terrified was the only way Coral could find to best describe Melody at the time.
“Ch-ch-changeling…” she replied in a weak voice, barely able to utter anything louder than a hushed whisper.
“Don’t be silly, Melody. If there were changelings in the Empire, your father would know about them,” the earth pony replied in a hushed whisper as well, offering the unicorn a smile. Unfortunately, this had no effects on Melody. She just kept trembling like a leaf, shaking her head with each word.
Her form washed down in emerald flames to reveal her changeling form. All the while, Shimmer’s horn stopped shining and she gave a few nods as Ocean kept talking. She picked the statuette in her magic, the golden aura now untainted by the green glow. That was certainly odd, but it didn’t shake Melody out of her frightened state.
There were changelings in the Empire! Melody was convinced of it. This unicorn wasn’t who she pretended to be. Was she a unique persona, or was that changeling just stealing somepony’s life? She wanted to confront this changeling, but what if it was just like that Arco-something? Arcon? She couldn’t remember. Nor did she want to. She didn’t want to take that risk.
“All right, Miss Breeze. I believe I have all the necessary details for your commission,” Shimmer chimed, jotting those a few notes in a notepad on the counter. “I believe that if everything goes according to the planning, it will be done by next week, if not sooner. I will send for you once it is ready.”
Ocean smiled again. Despite her current emotional status, Melody was still caught by surprise by the mare’s smile. Nevertheless, Ocean nodded. “Thank you very much for this. It means a lot to me, and I can’t thank you enough for this.”
Shimmer shook her head and put down the quill in its inkpot. “No, no. I’m the one that should be thanking you, Miss Breeze. It’s been wonderful doing business with you.” She paused a moment, walking to the back and depositing the statuette on a shelf before coming back with her radiant smile. “Although, if you don’t mind, I have another appointment lined up.”
Ocean nodded once more, giving a courteous bow before she turned, her tail swishing against the counter. It almost sent the inkpot flying down that counter, only saved by Prismatic’s intervention. A few drops of ink poured out onto the floor, but nothing tragic took place, and no paperwork was involved. With a sigh, Prismatic put the pot back on the counter, eyeing Ocean with her brow furrowed.
Only one glance was shared between Coral and Ocean and Coral was lucky it lasted for more than five seconds. Ocean stuck her nose high in the air and left the shop with a huff. Typical Ocean. Coral rolled her eyes and switched her attention to Melody to see her huddled in a ball against the wall now. “Melody, baby, calm down. Everything’s going to be alright. There aren’t any changelings here, and you’re perfectly fine. Prismatic is a good friend of mine, so you’re safe here.”
But Melody was not convinced by what Coral had to say. Not in the least. She raised a hoof and pointed it at Shimmer, making sure to look around briefly before looking back with eyes wide open.
“No, she’s a changeling. I saw her feed on Ocean Breeze!” she protested, biting on her lip afterward.
Shimmer’s eyes shot wide open, and she looked at Prismatic before the two nodded, and Shimmer walked past the counter and stopped in front of Coral and Melody. She sat down seconds later with a smile similar to Prismatic’s. It was terrorizing for Melody. She wanted to run away.
“Quite the perceptive one, and clever too.”
And then her fears became real. The tall unicorn’s form slowly began to sizzle as blue flames engulfed her. That blue coat of hers shifted to black chitin, her midsection embraced in a blue shell. This wasn’t just any changeling. Her towering size and her vertical pupils gave everything away. This was a changeling queen! The filly never took the time to thoroughly examine this changeling before she burst in a cry and ran out the shop as rapidly as she could. Changelings had found her. They wanted her gone. What that creepy changeling in Occento’s hive told her was right after all!
----
“Look, I had no idea that she was a changeling, I promise,” Coral insisting voice rang from behind the door to her room. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dragged you there, so please open up, Melody.”
But Melody remained on her bed with her back facing the door. She silently wept in the pillow she hugged against her chest. Despite the urge to blame her mother for this, Melody couldn’t bring herself to do it. Coral had never intended to traumatize Melody with the appearance of yet more changelings in her life. The fact she was apologizing meant she had never intended any of it.
What was she supposed to do? Embrace the fact that changelings were going to come after her now? Let her mother in so she could comfort her? Remain in her room and wallow in fear until she’d get over it? The choices swirled in her mind, but only after a minute or so, Melody made her decision.
“I know, Mom…” she said in a squeaky, yet tired voice. She ran a hoof under her eyes and wiped the tears and then sniffled and cleared her throat. “Just… leave me some alone time. I need to think.”
She choked a sob and a sentiment of guilt formed in her mind and her morale dropped. Why was she subjecting Coral to this kind of behavior again? Was this the good thing to do; was it the best thing for that matter? She felt terrible.
Hoofsteps grew more distant before they halted. “Alright. If you need to talk, I’m here for the rest of the day. Don’t dwell on this too long, okay? I promise I’ll talk to your father about this.”
Remorse already grew roots in her mind and heart. What was she supposed to do now? She had obviously pushed her mother away. Sure, she would get over it. She would be hurt a little bit, but they’d probably grow through it together. One more hoofstep resounded before silence fell again.
“Happy birthday, Melody.”
Coral’s guilt-ridden voice was too much. Melody pressed her head on her pillow, and she resumed her crying. She rocked herself on the soft mattress. She made a mess of things again. How was she going to make things better? She should probably start by apologizing to Coral at dinner. It would certainly make it easier to patch things up.
At best, Coral would hold no grudge against Melody. Yeah, she hoped that was the case. Everything would just go back to normal as if nothing had happened between them. Yeah, that was the optimal route. At least, she hoped everything would be just fine…
----
Melody stifled a yawn as she walked through the seemingly endless hallway. Who knew the palace was this big? Of course, that also meant that there was plenty of stops for explanations. She blinked when she felt Cherry bump her flank and let out a happy chime before skidding ahead with a playful skip to her gait. Melody rolled her eyes and looked at her go. She was used to parts of the palace already because of her few lessons here and there with Shining Armor and Cadence.
Boring explanations of certain wings, of the royal library and the living quarters bored Melody to no end. Of course, sleep deprivation affected her too. She had been so stressed about how she treated Coral, even after apologizing to her, that she missed out on a few hours of sleep to worry over that whole mess.
And yes, despite that, she still found her curiosity piqued by certain things she had not seen before. They moved outdoors to change wings and grunts echoing in the wind reached her ears. She turned her head and squinted her eyes when she found herself face to face with the sun dipping down in the horizon.
When even that failed her, she raised a hoof to her brow and squinted a bit more to see the training ground up ahead. She’d not seen that one yet, and she was excited. She had always wanted to see Star train when he joined the Royal Guards, but her education had always taken precedence. He was very insistent about that much. He valued her education above all else, he claimed.
Either way, she was treated to a wondrous display of those guards performing hoof-to-hoof combat drills. She stared at them and gawked in awe. This was the first time she ever saw guards training. She looked at them, watching their muscles ripple with each strike, hold and riposte performed as instructed. She noticed some taking breaks, watching as sweat glistened and rolled down their well-toned legs.
Watching those mares and stallions training to keep the Empire and Equestria safe brought a smile on Melody’s snout and she kept on watching, letting the symphony of their grunts fill her ears. Her mind was slowly grasping onto something: she wanted to give back what Equestria had given her. Give back something equivalent. She quickly made a mental note to talk about it with Shining Armor. For now, she could just focus on watching with awe and admiration.
She groaned for a moment when she felt somepony bump her hip, and she turned back to see Cherry beside her. She wrinkled her nose and raised her brows.
“Don’t give me that look, Mel. I’m just reminding you that the tour is almost over. Apparently, the princess said this was the last stop before we were sent back home,” Cherry whispered, keeping a watchful eye between her friend and the group. She certainly didn’t seem like the type that wanted to get lost.
Melody pouted and offered another frown, this time with her brows thrown up higher. Well, that was a disappointment. At least she managed to get a good look at the guards. “That’s a shame. The tour flew by really fast, didn’t it?”
There was a nod from Cherry. The young pony followed with a poke of her hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder, turning to face Melody with a wide grin. Oh no. What was she going to say now? How was she going to embarrass her this time around?
“So… you’re looking at the guards, eh?” Abandon ship. All hooves overboard. There was no way that Melody was going to live this down if an idea formed in Cherry’s mind. “I never figured you as a fan of gawking at ponies in uniform.”
Okay, she was obviously trying to play her. How was she going to reply to this? Quick, she needed an excuse to get out of this. Otherwise, Cherry was going to haunt her for the rest of her life. She desperately tried to look for a way out of this before it turned south. What she wasn’t ready for was how quick she found one. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a figure shrouded in black along sneaking around the pillars in the distance.
Her mind automatically switched to alert mode, and she thought of that changeling queen at that shop. That figure turned into a changeling in her mind, and she began to believe they had finally come for her. Why now? What had she done to deserve this?
“W-well, my bro-brother was a royal guard and a-all, so… yeah.” She shrieked when she spotted the figure moving away from those pillars and seemingly toward her and she jumped back with a yelp, her ears pinning back on her scalp. “Oh, hey! Class’ moving again. We’ll continue this conversation never!”
With a hasty step, Melody sprung forward with beads of sweat crawling against her forehead and cheeks. She didn’t dare to look behind her. The faster she was back in the midst of ponies the better. No sane changeling would dare attack her with Princess Cadance nearby.
She was completely safe with the princess, wasn’t she?
----
With the tour over and Cherry already back home because she said her mom told her to come back as soon as possible, Melody found herself having to walk back home on her lonesome. A trivial task, usually, but her earlier encounter with that black figure made her anxious. Where they still following her? Why were those changelings so insistent on trying to attack her?
With each step she took, she swung her head from one side to the other, watching every angle so that no changeling could surprise her. If they did, she could probably use her magic on them. But wait, what if they used their slime to block her magic? Her heart pounded harder in her chest, and her ears drooped on her mane.
Stares fell on her with each corner she turned, each pony she passed by. Of course, in her fear-addled state, she failed to notice any of them. She was so terrified of a changeling creeping on her that the stares that were thrown at her became irrelevant. They didn’t understand her situation! What did they even know about her? Nothing, that’s what!
She heaved a sigh of relief when she banked to the right at the corner and spotted the steps leading to her home. They were undeniably hers. The pink granite steps, although a poor choice to accompany the pale blue walls of her home, were the only ones on that side of the street. Just a few more steps and she was going to be safe and sound..
She inhaled deeply and puffed out her chest. It would do poorly to get home looking completely stressed out. Coral would be over her like a mother hen, and she wanted to avoid that. She ignited her horn and pushed the door open.
“I’m hom—“ she began in a chime, only to hear voices coming from over the kitchen. Voices that she didn’t recognize. She wasn’t aware that they were having guests. Curiosity got the better of her, and she poked her head from the corner and into the kitchen. Her eyes immediately went wide when she stared back at Prismatic Luster and Shimmer.
“Oh, there she is,” Coral said, beckoning to Melody and folding that leg over her other one with a smile on her lips all the while. “Come join us, dear. We were just discussing a few things with our guests.”
But Melody refused to budge, her hooves anchored to the floor. She hectically shook her head. There was no way that she was going to come near those two changelings. They were out to get her. She was sure of it. Why else would they be there? They’d done something to her parents to have them comply so easily.
She just needed to figure out how to break the spell they were under so she could chase those changelings out of her house.
With another shake of her head, she pouted and frowned. “There’s no way I’m doing that. They’re changelings, and they want to finish what that mean one started!”
Now it was Rising’s turn to frown. He cocked his head to the left so he could better look at Melody and he gave her his sternest stare. They were really under a spell! But it was strange. There was no malice lurking in the air. The poisonous taste of hatred wasn’t swirling around either. No, they were probably hiding their true nature and faking whatever emotions she actually felt on her tongue!
But Rising’s stare was still sharp, and Melody eventually gave in to the demands of her father, keeping her head down while trudging to the table, her tail trailing behind her, and her ears pinned against her head. She slowly climbed onto a chair, huddling close to Coral. Even if she was under some sort of mind control, she felt safe next to her mother.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Melody,” Shimmer began, a warm smile drawn on her muzzle. She stretched her forelegs on the table and folded them nonchalantly. “Well, we already met, but I feel like proper presentations are in order. My name is Shimmering Prism, and I’m the proud owner of the Crystal in the Rough.”
Melody nodded, doing her best to comply with this changeling. She hesitantly smiled, her right eye twitching a little, but she rolled with it. She wasn’t going to drive them out by playing against them. She’d have to comply for a bit and pretend that she was willing to listen.
If that had been Occento, she wouldn’t be so stressed, but this wasn’t Occento, and she didn’t know this changeling’s motives. She made no effort in keeping her hostility in check, scrunching up her nose and baring her fangs at every possible occasion. She wasn’t going to let these changelings invade her livelihood.
“A pleasure to meet you too,” Melody replied through her teeth. She cocked her head to the right and offered a smile before squinting her eyes into a glare and her breathing turned into a quiet hiss. “If it’s not too much to ask, what prompted this unexpected visit?”
She jerked her head toward Coral when she felt her elbow sink in her barrel, knocking the wind out of her. She let a low whine escape her lips and wilted under the glare Coral gave her. And then, the most unexpected thing happened. Shimmering Prism waved a hoof at Coral and shook her head. There was no malice, no particular look in her eyes. She just looked like she didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.
Had she been in the wrong all along? But… Shimmering was a changeling. She’d seen her shapeshift into a queen. She was most certainly a changeling, but why was she acting like this? What was there to gain by leading Melody astray?
“At ease, Miss Charm. Under the circumstances she’s been put through, I cannot blame her for her behavior.”
Was this it? Was she going to admit that she was out there to silence her once and for all? Shivers ran down Melody’s spine, and her pupils shrank down drastically. She backed away from them as much as she could, even when her back connected with the back of her chair.. There were not going to get her!
“However, we are not here to harm Melody. We rarely invest ourselves in the matters of the other hives,” Prismatic Luster continued in Shimmering’s stead, her eyes gazing at Melody with warmth and empathy, a sentiment that Melody did not know how to interpret. “In other words, young Melody, we are not here to harm you in any way, if that is what you were thinking.”
They weren’t trying to hurt her… But what about that changeling from Occento’s hive? He was evil enough to beat her, to hurt her gravely. What was to say these changelings weren’t the exact same if she pressed the wrong buttons?
But before Melody could interject, the two changelings in front of her vanished in a whirlwind of smokeless fire, this one blue rather than green. They were different in that aspect, but Melody wondered if their behavior was the same. Once more, Shimmering Prism turned into a stunningly graceful changeling with a form that Occento could envy. Her golden eyes looked at her as though they were peering into her very soul, frightening Melody more than anything.
Her sapphire blue mane was curled up nicely into a bun atop her head, two curly locks of her mane hanging loosely from her mane and brushing the side of her head, gently caressing her cheeks.
Prismatic bore the same eye and shell colors as her mother, but an undulating teal mane caressed her neck and right cheek. Her mane was done to rest on the right side of her head, sometimes covering her eye with certain sudden movements.
Shimmering Prism offered a bow of her head from her chair. What was this? A changeling queen bowing before a small changeling like herself? “My daughter and I deeply apologize for scaring you before. That was not our intent. This is all a misunderstanding.”
Melody looked at Shimmering and then at Prismatic, finally settling to stare at the former. Her breath grew out of control, a hoof reached to her chest, aimlessly attempting to calm herself. She frantically shook her head and shrunk in her chair. It was starting again. The visions of what happened to her flashed back in her mind, and she recoiled. She pushed herself back with enough force to make her chair screech loudly on the floor. That terrible screech pinned everypony’s ears against their mane, Rising in particular reaching a hoof to an ear.
She shrieked when she felt a hoof touch her shoulder, violently swatting her own at the violet limb. She halted her motion for a moment to look at that hoof and realized she’d pushed Coral away once more. That didn’t stop the mare from attempting to comfort her daughter any less.
Letting her mother wrap her hooves around her shoulders, Melody gave up any attempts at resisting, instead pressing her head against her mother’s bosom, gazing back at the two changelings in front of her.
By the time Melody had calmed down, Prismatic brought her hoof to her mouth. She shook her head shortly after and and looked at Shimmering with concern in her eyes. “Goodness, I thought it was just a sudden reaction, but I think this might be traumatic, Mother.”
Shimmering Prism nodded, exchanging looks with her daughter before getting down from her chair and making a few steps to kneel in front of Melody. Grabbing her leg with her hooves, she smiled at Melody, looked at her dead in the eye, and said, “It seems proper introductions are in order again. I am Glaesi, queen of the hive Lapis, and this is my daughter, Gemma, princess of the hive.” She let go of her legs and got back on all four, still looking at Melody. She dropped to her knees and smiled at the unicorn, careful not to show her fangs too much.. “And in light of this, we want to offer you help in dealing with your phobia of changelings.”
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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oooh i like the direction this is heading!
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/413/624/8eb.jpg
Intresing developments. I wonder if there is a foal princess in the Royal Lapis family...
And the idea of Melody as a guard. She's more suited to become a detective investigator but oh, well... hooking her up with a handsome cadet wpuld be as good.
oh yeaaaaaa , now were talking! hope to read other chapter soon !
(you know I can pre-read the next chapter if you want ;) )
7228892 Hopefully, next chapter will be a bit easier to write. Glad you enjoyed the chapter. (And yes, I am aware. I'm just roughly going according to my outlines at this point.)
7228784 Considering I still haven't given anything away from hive Lapis, I wouldn't want to overstep by saying it's a possibility or not, so I'll just say, I don't know yet.
And regarding the guard versus the whole private investigator, I'm not sure I follow where you got that idea, but I won't question it too much. All I can say is that is still wondering what she wants to do with her life, so depending on what's going to happen in future chapters, it might go for better or worse.
7228457 Glad you enjoyed the chapter! This chapter altogether was a gamble for me because of the presentation and the contextualization of Melody's trauma. Hopefully, my other readers feel the same way you do.
7229198 Altruth when I see it now - The Queen can lie and it can be one huge trap that will end with Melody getting hurt even more.
Melody can become two extrmes: stay her delicate self or become a strong p
ersonony. If she would became the strong person and learn some useful subjugation/combat magic - Beeing a Guard would sound like a real option. And I got the idea from her thought of re-paying society when looking on the training guards.7229378 Considering that Glaesi runs an honest business with her daughter making gem figurines, it'd be a bit doubtful that she'd want to harm Melody. Plus, she's not from Serenus Melodia, so what happened there probably never reached her ears.
7230466 There can be some detail we're missing. But still it's a possibility.
7231204
Assuming this is all truth then the new hive we have here is a chance at a fresh start, a better one than her experience with the last hive. It's curious that they're operating right in the middle of the city and no pony is the wiser. Someone has to know. The pair we have here are much too casual about the reveal. I keep thinking of a framework like the Witness Protection Plan we have; only very few government agents know of their true identities, keeping them hidden in plain sight while monitoring them. As long as this blue-magic hive keeps "hoofing the line" and obeying all the laws, Equestria shouldn't have a problem with them. I'd imagine the chance to exchange lore about the mysterious changeling race as well as good will (among this hive anyway) was a big push to this mutual agreement between Princess Cadance and Queen Glaesi. It's also a huge "no duh" that changelings would be attracted to the Crystal Empire, the Heart, and the Princess of
FoodLove herself.7231660 I imagine most hives had gone with that strategy. Maybe they even consider themselves part of Equestria and follow the directions of Celestia and Luna. Maybe that dependence is why not all hives are cooperating with ponies... Queens giving up freedom to the beeing they harvest food from isn't the best idea from the Royal Ego standpoint.
7231687
I suppose from a Predator-Prey standpoint, it's a bit like the wolf living among the sheep... or more like friendly vampire scenario, albeit there's no chance of the vampirism spreading. It's really in everyone's best interest they work together. Ponies get early warning of hostile changelings, if they're not chased off by the resident changelings. And the resident changelings are well fed on the freely given emotions. Turning a parasitic relationship into a synergistic one.
But I'm preaching to the choir, you already know of this common idea.
I really wonder if that's what has happened back in canon. We've already had an exposed drone at the donkey's wedding and in the first few seconds of the Season 6 opener, we spot a tiny black/green thing flying near the Crystal Empire that looks a lot like a changeling when zoomed into.
7231811 A huge Yes.
The slash probably shouldn't be there.
Should be a space after the period.
Should be "one".
Should be "her".
Should be "hoof".
Terribly late for comment roundups, I know, but I'm trying to improve.
7231660
7231687
You both are onto something. It's currently not in my best interest to say too much, or much at all, about Glaesi and Lapis because they're going to be mentioned again in the story. That being said, there is a lot on the betting table for Melody right now regarding this new hive, let's just hope that things don't go south this time.
7236690 Thank you for pointing these out. This is what I get for trying to edit when I'm tired/sleepy. I'll try to make sure I'm more well-rested next time around than I was when I published this.
7236981 So you're saying they're gonna be mentationed, a bit like we're not gonna see the hive itself for now and their role isn't going to be anything big.
Besides - I think the Changeling part of Melody will need to be a part of a hive at some point and Lapis seems like a good candidate. But that would propably make Melody change her haircolour, or get a blue stripe in there to show her alligence.
7237191
Mmm, could all be a red herring? A little snippet that goes nowhere to throw paranoid readers off the trail.
7237460 Hard to say. For now it's a possibility and at least the next chapter will go into the queen's story, so we'll see.
7310968 I wouldn't say "make" as much as I'd say "change". They made her into a changeling, but that was through what is implied as changing her genetics in a controlled manner. I don't want to touch this tidbit of information because there is an unresolved plot element revolving around it.
Will there be an update soon?
7457401 There is a chapter in the works at this current moment, but progress has been slow lately. I'll try to update by the end of the week, however.