After another examination revealed no further injury and Twilight was soon presented with a clean bill of health, and she was back at the castle by dinnertime. As much as it was unbefitting a princess, she found herself requesting seconds, and then thirds.
Celestia smiled playfully. “I don't think I've ever seen you eat so much at one time, Twilight. You must be starving.”
“Yeah,” Twilight said, shrugging as she shoved yet another forkful of food into her mouth. “Just really hungry, I guess.”
“Leave her alone,” Cadence interrupted. “It's probably from not eating for a week in the hospital.”
“That's quite alright.” Celestia smiled as she patted Twilight on the head. “Growing ponies have to eat a lot so they'll grow big and strong,” she teased, earning chuckles from all present. Even Twilight smiled in spite of herself as she levitated another roll over.
* * *
After dinner and dessert--had those cheesecakes always tasted so good?--Twilight returned to her room. She tried to immerse herself in more of her studies (especially on the changelings that would soon be loyal to her), but what she found were more old pony tales and legends than actual hard research. This was frustrating. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the suggestion to lay a line of salt over the windowsill to keep a changeling out was ridiculous. It would just fly over, if it even noticed it at all. She tossed the book aside and flopped back over onto the pillow. It was like changelings didn’t even exist.
Which, upon further reflection, was exactly their modus operandi.
To make matters worse, for some reason she was still hungry. It was like there was this pit in her stomach that just wouldn't be filled. As hard as she tried to ignore it, she was still hungry.
She had almost determined to sneak back down to the kitchens for a late night snack when there came a knock on the door. Her ears pricked up. Grateful for the distraction, she rushed over and opened it.
There stood a solar guard, his helmet under his foreleg. “Your highness!” he greeted her, bowing deeply.
“Granite,” Twilight returned. “I'm glad to see you!”
He hesitated, and a confused look briefly crossed his face.
“I mean, what can I do for you?” Twilight quickly corrected herself with a weak smile.
He scratched the back of his neck. “We were wondering—that is, me and some of the other guards—if you'd come down and talk to some of the changelings in the dungeons. They just… they're asking for you, and they just don't shut up.”
Twilight nodded, both grateful for the distraction and kicking herself that she hadn't thought of that herself. “Of course. I'll follow you.”
* * *
The dungeon door creaked open, casting a stark light on the stone walls. Twilight followed Granite in.
“He's in here,” Granite said, pointing. “This one’s been here the longest. And he's the loudest.”
Twilight came to a stop in front of a cell where a single changeling stood. His eyes widened as he recognized his visitor, and he dropped into a deep bow with his face nearly pressed up against the ground. He whispered something respectful that Twilight didn’t quite catch.
Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “Could you take a pony form? Just so we can understand each other?”
He straightened up and burst into flame. There stood a gray stallion, much like the royal guard he had been disguised as.
“You wanted to see me?” Twilight asked.
The changeling nodded eagerly. “I wish to plead for forgiveness. I want to be accepted back into the hive.”
Twilight nodded slowly. “Well, thanks, uh… Drict, you said your name was?”
Drict nodded.
“You know, as I recall, you sounded pretty adamant about being for Chrysalis’s plan,” Twilight said.
“She was my queen. Now you are my queen, and I will obey you and only you. Any order you give, I will follow,” he said firmly.
Twilight chuckled nervously. “I'm not so sure I'll be giving you too many orders,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.
It had the exact opposite effect. “Not…” Drict froze as he processed her words, and his eyes widened. “Are you… banishing me?” he whimpered, clearly terrified of that idea.
Twilight knew. She could literally taste the sour fear emanating from his body. She tried to verbally backpedal. “N- no; I just…”
“Please!” Drict cried, falling to his knees and reaching out with his forelegs pitifully, desperately reaching through the bars for her hooves. “I will be a loyal servant! I will serve only you! I can do it, I promise I can! Please, let me prove myself, I beg of you! Please!”
It was disturbing to see a fully grown stallion grovelling in front of her. Twilight took the tiniest of steps back and clutched a hoof to her chest, unsure of how to proceed from here. She suddenly became aware of other eyes watching her. As Drict sobbed and pleaded in mumbling, unintelligible words on the ground, she glanced back behind her to see more changelings, pressed up against the bars, their blue eyes unblinking as they watched with baited breath.
Twilight turned to face them. “Does he speak for all of you?” she asked.
They nodded, silently pleading their case with wordless stares.
Twilight exhaled and brought a hoof up to her face. This definitely wasn’t something she’d thought about. She was fairly certain that this situation had no precedent. Changelings had no precedent.
Still, they’d asked to come under her judgement. Celestia would trust her. Celestia did trust her. She would just follow her heart. And her heart said…
Twilight turned back to Granite. “All of the changelings were loyal to Chrysalis at one point. In a few days, they will all swear fealty to me. I see no reason to single these out, especially if they gave themselves up willingly. Gather a few of the Night Guard and escort them down to the crystal caverns with the rest of the changelings.”
Granite saluted, trying--and failing--to hide a relieved smile. “Yes, Princess!” He turned and quickly marched out.
“Oh, thank you, my queen!” Drict cried.
And then Twilight felt the strangest sensation. It was a moist sensation, on her rear hooves, repeated at rapid intervals. She looked back, and confirmed what she already knew.
Drict was reaching out through the bars and was kissing her hooves.
Twilight froze and her ears pinned. She had no precedent for this, either. She glanced up at the nearest guard, but he just shook with silent laughter. She looked back down at the changeling. “Drict, you don't-” She grimaced uncomfortably. “Drict, y- you really don't have to-”
Drict paused long enough to say “I know,” before resuming.
Twilight lit her horn and lifted him up. “You know, Drict,” she squeaked, “you can… show your affec- loyalty some other way. Like at the fealty ceremony in a few days. You can wait for that, right?”
Drict nodded, looking slightly abashed. The changelings behind Twilight giggled with hissing laughter. Twilight forced a smile. The Lunar Guard couldn't get there fast enough.
They arrived quickly, and worked with their cold efficiency. In an orderly fashion, the changelings were extracted from their cells and marched down to rejoin the temporary hive.
Twilight watched as one of the changelings taken from the cells ducked its head and smiled, apparently flirting with the Lunar guard standing at the door; but the Lunar guard merely scowled and gave it a none-too-gentle bump with the butt of the spear, wordlessly telling it to keep moving. It seemed unabashed; Twilight could swear it was still swishing its little tail as it walked.
Twilight gently shook her hoof out as she watched the last of the changelings leave. “I bet Celestia doesn’t have to put up with this,” she muttered.*
* * *
Midnight came, and found Twilight Sparkle wandering listlessly around the castle. She had made the right choice, hadn't she? Releasing those changelings back into the general changeling population? She ate another of the cookies she had obtained from the kitchen, not noticing or caring about the crumbs that sprayed from the edges of her mouth. She had. Right? Ugh! She couldn’t concentrate with this hunger! Not even reciting Starswirl's Seven Magical Postulates backwards was helping, and she was getting desperate. What was wrong?
Suddenly, she sensed something she didn’t recognize before. It was like magic; but it felt warmer, fuller, happier. It made her smile. Her curiosity piqued, she set the cookies down and followed the scent along the hallways.
It led her all the way back to her brother's room. Soon, she stood in front of the door, wondering what was going on in there. Experimentation? New crystal magic she hadn’t discovered yet? Old crystal magic she hadn’t learned about yet? She pressed her ear up against the door. Strange grunting noises emanated from the inside, interrupting her thoughts. Twilight pulled back and squinted, confused. For a few minutes, she just sat there, wondering what those noises were.
It wasn't until she heard her brother’s voice call out, “Oh, Cadence~!” that she realized what exactly she was being privy to. Embarrassed and flushing bright red, she fled back to the safety of her room and buried herself beneath the covers of her bed, magically slamming and locking the door behind her.
As she rolled over to try and get to sleep (and hopefully remove those pesky mental images), it suddenly occurred to her that she wasn't hungry anymore
Needless to say, Twilight did not sleep very well that night.
HAH! She is finally starting to notice! and more effects ar taking hold.
hmm...I wonder if her form will change to that of a queen or if she will remain an Alicorn. Either way I am so looking forward to more chapters good sir!
And then the panic starts to set in.
The ceremony! The ceremony is the key! It's then she'll transform and all panic breaks loose or something! I just wonder if she's gonna become a clone of chrysalis or retain the manecut or colourtion from before, as she ussually does in those stories...
I wonder if she's gonna tell the other princesscorns abaut her oddities that trouble her lately... or Celestia will notice stuff at the breakfast.
6857127 or maybe twilight will turn into a hybrid between the two?
Guau que gran historia por favor continúe.
esta historia se a convertido en unos de mis favorito este año.
I would say a lot of things about sex, but not that it smells particularly good. Changelings are weird.
...wait, so Twilight can normally smell magic? While not the strangest of metabiology headcanons, it does seem rather odd.
So... why no cover image? Would you like some help finding a changeling Twilight picture?
And then she starts to think. And with thinking, comes panic.
I'm surprised she didn't taste Drict's gratitude, though.
6857949
Different ponies might experience it differently. I've encountered different ponies sensing magic as different things before, although I don't recall if I read Twilight as a sniffer before. I know some other characters in other media who can smell magic, though--Emiya Shirou, for instance.
Twilight probably turned into a half-changeling.
6858019 Like I said, not the oddest headcanon I've encountered ( I think that was alicorns having rainbows for blood), and it would be very interesting to play around with for sure. Makes me wonder if she's going to try and pass it off as the two getting 'creative' if ya know what I mean.
6858098
I think the weirdest I found was that pegasi peed rainbows and pooped lightning. Or maybe the reverse.
6857672 It's not the sex that smelled good, it's the love that she was smelling.
6858251
I realize. It was a joke.
Poor Twilight, thinking is hard when you're hungry. I don't think she quite grasps how literal the lings are being...
Keep going! ;)
6858389 ah sorry about that. hard to tell when some one is joking through text.
6858466
Don't worry, it's my own fault. If you couldn't even tell it was supposed to be a joke, then it clearly wasn't a very good one.
6858134 That is odd. Especially when you find out they keep lightning in jars at the weather factory... kinda makes me think of this:
6857239
Now is not the time for panic. That comes later!
6857528
Gracias! Pero tengo en cuenta que solo es enero...
6857949
More like she didn't have the right verb for it and that was the closest one she could use.
6857672
Yeah, they are. They're super freaky. Who'd write a story about them? roundstable.com/forums/images/smilies/liarjack.gif
6858019
I haven't found one I liked... Most of the ones I've seen have her her normal size and completely changelingified, or are a Chrysalis-recolor. I wanted something like her in her normal form standing in front of the changelings, with her shadow cast on the wall looking like a queen; but I'd be ok with something else, too. If you've got one in mind, sure, I'd like to see it. See, she doesn't actually complete the transformation for a while, so I didn't want it to look like a bait-and-switch.
Changeling emotions are expressed in pheromones, and there isn't a specific one for 'gratitude', otherwise she definitely would have. But that gets explained much later.
6858055
Nah. Twilight doesn't half-flank anything. She's going all the way. sollace.github.io/emoticons/fimfic/nerdgasm-d72140i.png
6858134
...
This almost makes one of my joke chapters about female pegasi ejaculating rainbows almost make sense.
6860297 Ah, my second guess was a sort of synesthesia (which could still be present).
Things like this and the Rainbow Factory made me cringe significantly when I saw those waterfalls of liquid rainbow in the Rainbow Falls episode.
6858134 Oy now you've got me remembering the Squatty Potty commercial.
Twilight drank love...
*approves of all the shinning/cadance moments*
Cadance is spelled with an 'a' not an 'e'. The actual spelling of the word is Cadence but Hasbro named her Cadance for some reason.
At this point, I'm a little annoyed that Twilight hasn't put two and two together and realized she can understand changelings. Sure, she might not have been at 100% immediately after coming out of a coma (though if that's the explanation for why she didn't pick up on it sooner, it's not very well established), but by this point she clearly remembers that she shouldn't be able to understand changelings in their natural form.
6860297 um, flank means side, not ass
elementals reference intentional or not
BAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH