Chapter 4: Minds and Magic
“We picked her up on the edge of Ponyville,” informed Typhoon as we made our way through the depressingly familiar hospital. “She was half-starved, babbling incoherently, and didn't so much as flinch when we took her in.”
“Define ‘incoherently’,” I asked pointedly.
“Um...she was talking about changelings, amulets, princesses, and your name came up several times. We had Dusk take a look at her since Chrysalis wasn't on hoof.”
Behind me, Chrysalis tilted her head slightly, no doubt communicating with Dusk. “A rather odd assessment. He says her mind has all the signs of changeling influence, but it feels incomplete...like it was interrupted partway through.”
Pacing outside the doorway, I looked through the one-way mirror. The sight that greeted me was hard to take in. While I didn't exactly think of Trixie as a friend, I couldn't help but feel a flash of anger. The normally poised and confident mare was a mess. Her fur seemed to have lost its luster and the intensity in her eyes was gone. She seemed oblivious to the world, and I didn't need my Aura Sight to sense the depression blanketing her.
And, just like Sugar Belle, her cutie mark was gone, replaced by a black equals sign. Swallowing, I turned toward the guard at the door. “I'm going inside.”
“Of course, Miss Sparkle. Should we restrain her first in case she tries to attack you?”
I shook my head. In her current state, I'd have been amazed if she could even light her horn. “That won't be necessary.”
With a nod, the guard pushed open the door and moved aside. I'd half-expected him to protest a bit more, but perhaps he'd thought better of it with Chrysalis and Rainbow by my side.
“Trixie?” I asked cautiously as I entered the room. Beside me, I could feel Chrysalis gathering her magic. Even though Trixie hadn't acted violently so far, Sugar Belle hadn't attacked until she'd actually seen me. “It's me, Twilight.”
She lifted her head, eyes unfocused as she looked at me and then at Chrysalis. “More illusions? No, Trixie knows those all too well, doesn't she? Trixie can feel the tendrils creeping in her mind, but Trixie put something there first!”
Well, at least she wasn't attacking me. “Trixie, you were calling for me. What did you want to tell me?” I asked patiently. Mentally, I sent Chrysalis a message to suppress her magic.
“Trixie wanted to say nothing. Too prideful, too arrogant...too proud. Fix her own problems, she thought. But the perfect Sparkle in Celestia's eye could fix anything, even a mare as broken as me.”
“She's really messed up inside,” came Chrysalis' voice. “She must have been resistant to the magic they were trying to use on her, so they kept pushing until something gave out.”
“Trixie...do you know what happened to you? Do you know where it happened?” I asked, trying not to sound too earnest.
“Trixie knows what they did, but Trixie beat them. The alicorn stomped the bug, and Trixie stayed Trixie, but they kept coming and feeding and cutting...”
“Alicorn? You mean the Alicorn Amulet?” I asked with surprise. Had that cursed artifact somehow left an impression on her that protected against mental attacks? Or had she built up some sort of mental tolerance after the fact?
“They tried to take away who Trixie was, but Trixie will always be the Great and Powerful Trixie!” The last word was delivered as a shout, anger flashing in her eyes.
“Trixie...please, let me help you,” I said softly. “Tell me who did this to you.”
The bravado Trixie had been displaying moments before seemed to fade almost instantly. Her body trembled and her mouth formed unspoken words. I held my breath. Something was holding her back, but she was visibly fighting against it.
“S...Starlight...Glimmer,” she finally got out, moments before her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed onto the bed.
---
“Starlight Glimmer, age thirty-three, used to attend Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns,” said Dash an hour later once we'd gathered back at the library.
“Way before my time, then,” I said, spreading the contents of the file over the table.
“It gets better. Apparently she was expelled from the school due to repeated experiments with curses and mental magics. Wasn't enough to stop her, though.”
My eyes quickly scanned the lengthy rap sheet. Stealing magical items from Celestia's school, unlicensed and unethical research, more experiments into mind magic, and...foalnapping?
“Looks like a real sadist. I didn't think your society was capable of producing somepony so twisted,” said Chrysalis, reading over my head.
“Yeah, foalnapping and brainwashing are pretty terrible, aren't they?” said Rainbow pointedly, giving Chrysalis a look.
“I suppose I deserved that one,” said the queen with a sigh. “I did take steps to preserve their health and well-being, though.”
Starlight, on the other hoof, clearly had not. She hadn't gotten far with her experiments before she'd been caught, but the foals who had suffered before the Royal Guard came calling had been left in varying states of mental instability. One was still hospitalized.
There wasn't much more to go on besides that. She'd managed to evade capture, and the last sighting of her had been on a boat headed eastward. Now, a decade later, she was back with some strange magic that overwrote cutie marks, and potentially in league with a Changeling Elder.
Actually...
“Chrysalis, do you think Starlight Glimmer is voluntarily assisting this rogue Elder?”
She scoffed. “Hardly. Whoever this Elder is, I doubt they're any more trusting than Aurum herself.” There wasn't a hint of doubt in her voice.
“Well, this gives me something to work with,” I said finally, gathering up the papers and putting them back in the file. “That curse mark is likely a combination of Equestrian and Far East magics.”
That was my hypothesis, anyway. Magical knowledge in that realm was a closely guarded secret, much like the entire nation.
“So what are our plans for tonight?” asked Rainbow abruptly.
“I actually had an exercise in mind,” said Chrysalis before I could speak. “It's something my mother taught me, and it could help you focus your abilities. It won't require my involvement, so I could work with Rainbow in the meantime.
“What sort of exercise?” I asked curiously.
---
Of the three changelings that faced me, I only knew Dusk by name. The other two made themselves known as more of a mental presence in the link I now shared with them.
“This is a multitasking exercise,” explained Chrysalis mentally, even as she spoke with Rainbow Dash aloud. “Each one of them is going to send you images at varying speeds. The goal is to take the fragments and piece together the full picture before sending that picture back to them.”
I could already imagine the benefits of such training. Through the communication of thoughts, one could build a more complete picture of a situation. The changelings fed the queen information, and she in turn sent back her orders. Taking a breath, I walked toward the three changelings and opened my connection with them. “Alright, I'm ready.”
That, as it turned out, was a lie. Up until now, the only communication I'd done over a mental link was with Chrysalis. This was more akin to holding three conversations at once. The three changelings varied their timing, ensuring I couldn't prepare for a pattern, and I was having a difficult time compartmentalizing the images they were sending.
Still, I remained patient. This was another aspect of Changeling magic that I needed to learn, and anything magic-related took time to master. Right now the images were simple. One would provide a landscape, usually of Ponyville from one angle or another, then one would provide another perspective, sometimes with ponies present, and once I had the third image, I had to put them together and give the full perspective with all the ponies in their place.
One set came after another as I tried to send them back. It was like attempting to assemble a puzzle without the box lid...with the pieces being thrown at you...while they were slipping through your hooves...and a twinge in my temples warned me that a small headache was getting worse, crippling my ability to make sense of the stupid analogy I'd been trying to build.
Holding up a hoof, the images stopped coming, letting me catch my breath. “Maybe we should try two,” I suggested, suppressing my headache with one of my favorite and most useful spells.
Dusk nodded in agreement, and one of the other changelings stepped away from the group and took a seat.
Managing two different connections was a lot easier, but still challenging. Each time a new image came, my mind instinctively wanted to discard the first or just focus on the second, and it only got harder as the speed increased. When two thoughts came into my mind at once, my concentration slipped and I lost both.
I wasn't sure how long I was at it, but it was Chrysalis who finally interrupted my thoughts, calling for a break. Letting out a sigh, I collapsed onto one of the cushions at the library table. “Ugh...I don't see how you can possibly do this with hundreds of minds at a time.”
“I don't,” said Chrysalis flatly. “I'm never in direct connection with more than twenty or thirty minds at a time, and they in turn pass on orders to larger groups so that no single changeling gets overwhelmed.”
“Still impressive. I can barely manage two right now,” I grumbled.
“Maybe there's just something different about how changeling minds work,” cut in Rainbow.
“I couldn't possibly imagine what that might be,” replied Chrysalis. “Twilight's mind doesn't feel radically different from my own.”
“Perhaps it's a product of environment,” I suggested. “You connect with the young of your hive from their earliest days and feed them directly up until they're bor...hatched. That gives them plenty of opportunity to develop the skills necessary to connect with the hive while they're young.”
“An interesting theory-”
“Hypothesis,” I corrected automatically.
“-but changelings from other hives have little problem integrating when their Queen is slain. Crimson integrated changelings from Terranim's hive, after all.”
“Yeah, but you're, like...all the same,” said Rainbow.
Chrysalis' eyes narrowed dangerously. “Really, now?”
“Wait, hear me out. If I told you that I'm thinking of a Changeling Queen that’s arrogant, paranoid, and vain, which one would you say I'm talking about?”
Chrysalis looked from Rainbow Dash to me. I looked carefully at the ground, fighting the urge to smile. “I'm not sure if I should feel insulted or complimented that Rainbow Dash of all ponies is calling me arrogant.”
“Hey, that was the 'you' before Twilight kicked your flank,” Rainbow shot back. “I'm just sayin' that if every Changeling Queen was like you, it wouldn't be that hard for them to adjust.”
“Here comes the new Queen, same as the old,” I added playfully.
“Yes, quite amusing,” said Chrysalis, rolling her eyes. “Though perhaps it is because you two are so different from one another that you can't connect your minds.”
My amusement faded as I mulled that over. Changelings were exposed to the link from conception. They didn't have secrets from one another. All thoughts were shared equally. Anything embarrassing, humiliating, or shameful probably didn't stay private for long.
“Hang on, I trust Twilight completely!” protested Rainbow.
“Really?” asked Chrysalis with some amusement. “Then why did it take you so long to confess to her?”
Rainbow's mouth snapped shut and I looked away, suddenly feeling rather awkward, but Chrysalis wasn't done yet. “What about your most embarrassing or painful memory? Have you ever shared that with anypony else?”
The question was directed at me just as much as Rainbow. Neither one of us seemed eager to answer. It was hard for me to think of anything more embarrassing than the Want It Need It spell, or disguising myself as Fluttershy, but both of those 'secrets' had been very much revealed already.
“There...might be something,” admitted Rainbow finally.
To my shame, I couldn't help but be curious. Was it something that had happened before I came to Ponyville? Or had I been completely oblivious to something that Rainbow had been hiding?
“It's not, like...a terrible memory or anything, but...”
“It's not something you're proud of,” I finished for her. “Rainbow, if you aren't-”
“No...don't,” she interjected. “I already said I was going to help you and I meant it. Just...”
“I won't think any less of you, no matter what I see,” I promised her, hoping it would be enough. “Do you want to tell me about it first?”
“No,” came her immediate reply. “I'm not good at that kind of talking. Just...do whatever it is you do.”
Looking toward Chrysalis, I waited for her nod before I closed my eyes and reached out with my magic, focusing on Rainbow and the connection I shared with her, both as my friend and as a fellow Element of Harmony. I could feel the difference almost immediately. Just like before, I could sense the emotions and feelings that Rainbow gave off; her confidence, willpower, and courage, but there was more to it now. Like a dark spot on a white canvas, I could feel a swirling mix of anger, resentment, and fear. Even having prepared for it, I was still surprised to feel it from Rainbow Dash of all ponies.
Outside of the mental landscape, my body tensed and I took a deep breath. Bracing myself for anything, I mentally dove into the darkness.
---
“What the heck is your problem?”
“My problem? You're the one who suddenly decided that some backwater ponies in the middle of nowhere were more important than me!”
Shouting. Lots of it. The visuals were still a bit hazy, but the anger was almost palpable. Just like what had happened with Chrysalis, I could feel myself getting pulled into Dash's perspective.
“And that gives you the right to act like a paranoid ass? Maybe if you hadn't gone around Ponyville bullying other ponies, you wouldn't be thinking they're all out to get you!”
“Why the hell would that matter to you? We always stood up for each other at flight camp! You never took crap from anyone!”
I recognized that voice. Slightly scratchy, a bit grating on the ears...I'd never really talked to her myself, but Gilda's voice was unmistakable.
“It matters because they're my friends!” My vision cleared. I could feel my wings rustling. Gilda was in front of me, her lion tail lashing behind her in irritation and her eagle eyes narrowed. She looked ready to spring, but I...no, Dash was refusing to be intimidated.
“Hmph. Sure, whatever. You're obviously still hung up on that stupid pegasus who couldn't even fly.”
Dash's body tensed. “Her name is Fluttershy, and she was at your damn party even after you shouted at her in the middle of Ponyville.”
Gilda scoffed. “Don't know why you care so much. If she couldn't figure out her own damn wings, she deserved to fall.”
Mentally, I felt myself reeling back. I knew Gilda was angry, but even for her, that was an amazingly stupid thing to say.
Dash charged. The world around her blurred, but the focus of her eyes remained sharp. The target of her rage didn't even have time to flinch before her right forehoof connected against Gilda’s beak with a crack, sending her sprawling. Gilda's claws dug at the ground, and with a roar she lunged back, talons first.
It was not a pretty fight. Dash had yet to refine her technique through Wonderbolt training, coming at Gilda like a brawler and hitting hard. Gilda seemed to simply claw at anything she could reach, but while the gryphon boasted greater strength and mass, Dash's speed and fury were winning out. Even as Gilda's talons raked across her legs and barrel, Rainbow barely reacted, taking every opportunity to pummel the gryphon with hard, powerful strikes. When the two finally broke apart, blood was streaming down Dash's legs, but Gilda couldn't even get up. I could feel the pain Dash was feeling, but her wounds were superficial. Gilda wasn't likely to fly for the next several days.
“Heh...still know how to fight. Knew you hadn't changed that much,” said the gryphon with a cough, spitting up a bit of blood.
Dash was trembling, but it had nothing to do with her wounds. “Get out of here, Gilda, we're done.”
“Like I'd want to stick around anyway. I'd only get dragged down, just like those ponies are doing to you.”
Gilda's voice faded on the wind as Dash took to the sky, and around my consciousness a gray cloud settled as the memory faded from view.
Gradually, my sense of self came back and my senses sharpened. On the edge of my consciousness, I could feel Rainbow Dash exploring one of my own memories. Idly, I probed gently, wondering what she was see...oh...that was going to be awkward to explain later.
Closing my eyes, I let myself drift through Rainbow's thoughts, enjoying the memories and sensations of lazy afternoon flights, thinking about what I'd witnessed. I'd known her break with Gilda had been bad, but I didn't know that it had come to blows, and Rainbow striking first bothered me more than I cared to admit.
Maybe I was looking at this from the wrong perspective, though. Gryphons had a certain cultural language that often involved fighting, and Gilda was clearly trying to goad Rainbow into one with her comments.
Perhaps it wasn't even the fight that Rainbow was ashamed of. Losing a friend was painful, but as the Element of Loyalty, it must have stung particularly badly. Even putting that aside, Rainbow often had an abrasive personality, and from the stories I'd heard of her time at flight camp, it was a small miracle she'd ever connected with Fluttershy to begin with.
Before I could contemplate further, something else began to tingle on the edge of my consciousness. Another memory was starting to surface and I was slowly being drawn toward it. Was Rainbow offering to show me something else? Curious, I dove toward it and immersed myself, my perspective shifting rapidly to an entirely new setting. Specifically, a diner in Ponyville.
The fog around me disappeared and objects began to coalesce, but most everything remained hazy except for Chrysalis who was now sitting across from me.
“I was expecting more of a panic.”
“You're with me. They know you're cool,” said Rainbow Dash with a wave of her hoof. “I could probably bring a manticore with me and they'd still serve him.”
“Just so long as he doesn't shed on the tables,” said the approaching waiter, giving Rainbow a menu and a smile. “You must be Queen Chrysalis, I remember you from the last invasion of Ponyville.”
Chrysalis sighed. “Not one of my better decisions. I do regret-”
“You were way more interesting than the stuff we usually get from the Everfree!” he said excitedly, cutting her off. “Those goo pods were wicked cool, too!”
Chrysalis seemed at a loss for words, but the waiter was more than happy to continue talking. “And everypony has heard about the Badlands Rescue by now!”
“Hey, get the autograph when you're not on the clock,” cut in Rainbow, saving Chrysalis from responding.
“Right, sorry. Is a standard menu going to work?” he asked Chrysalis.
“That will be acceptable.”
A brief silence descended over the table once the waiter left, Dash idly sipping at her drink as she searched for a conversation topic. Finding none, she pushed the drink aside and fixed Chrysalis with a stare. “Okay, I'm just gonna ask this flat out. What makes you think this even has a chance of working?”
“I've seen into her mind.”
“You what?”
“Not intentionally. It happened during the first time we connected. She is...a surprisingly open thinker on the subject of relationships.”
I was starting to feel very awkward, but it was impossible to stop watching.
“And...if she isn't open to...this?”
“Then I'll invade Ponyville with my army of changelings and abduct her.”
Rainbow gave her an unamused look.
“...I don't know,” she said finally. “Truthfully, this is the first relationship I've even attempted without wearing some other pony's form.”
Even though they hadn't said it outright, it was impossible not to connect the dots. The awkwardness levels were reaching critical mass, but like a carriage wreck, I couldn't look away.
“Still got me beat,” said Rainbow, shifting her drink around on the table with her hoof. “The longest one I've ever managed was a month.”
“Couldn't keep up with you?” guessed Chrysalis.
“No. I found out I wasn’t into stallions.”
I winced. That couldn't have been a very pleasant conversation. Chrysalis just seemed amused.
“So, this is my first true relationship, this is your first relationship of this type, and we're both trying to court a mare who has never been in a relationship before,” summarized Chrysalis.
Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle. “So...how are we gonna make sure this triangle doesn't blow up, again?”
“I don't know,” said Chrysalis honestly. “But what I do know is that I care for Twilight, and I respect your loyalty and ability. I'd much rather try and fail than simply not try.”
There was a brief pause as the food arrived, but Rainbow didn't seem interested in eating. “You...respect me?” asked Rainbow skeptically. “Why?”
“Well, aside from your willingness to beat up the Royal Guards when they were keeping you from Twilight, and taking down fifty of my hive during my invasion, you radiate loyalty and affection whenever you're in Twilight's presence. If I didn't respect you, I wouldn't even be having this conversation.”
As I was watching from Rainbow's perspective, I couldn't see it, but I could definitely feel her blush. “You know, there is one pony we could ask,” she said hesitantly.
Chrysalis gave her an incredulous look. “No, absolutely not.”
“You're trying to date Twilight, she's gonna get involved eventually.”
“Yes, but asking her for help? You realize we didn't part on the best of terms, right?”
“Might be a good idea to apologize anyway if you're serious about this ‘redemption’ thing. Shining Armor, too.”
Suddenly, this awkward conversation seemed insignificant compared to the potential 'discussion' my brother would have with Chrysalis when he found out her intentions. From the look on Chrysalis' face, she was thinking much the same thing.
“Invading and foalnapping her is starting to seem like an easier option.”
“You probably shouldn't joke about that,” cautioned Rainbow. “And really, if you can't make up with the Princess of Love...”
“Alright, fine,” grumbled the Changeling Queen. “I'll send her a letter, but when Shining Armor comes charging into Ponyville, you damn well better protect me.”
“I'd be more worried about Celestia,” said Rainbow with a chuckle. “Luna, too, now that I think about it. You might need to start a checklist.”
“We need to start a checklist, or did you think you'd get a pass because you're an Element of Harmony?”
I could feel Rainbow flinch. “Point taken,” she grumbled. “Maybe Cadance can help with that, too.”
Gray mist began to seep in around the edges of my vision. The memory was becoming blurry, so I closed my eyes and let myself drift away. My sense of self was returning as the connection with Rainbow faded, until finally my mind seemed to 'snap' back into place, reality slowly coming into focus around me.
“Nnhh...oh wow, that was a trip,” came Rainbow's slightly shaky voice.
My eyes focused on the blur of rainbow colors, just managing to make out the pegasus groaning and rubbing her head with a hoof. “I'm never gonna look at a quesadilla the same way again.”
I was barely listening, my eyes traveling between the co-conspirators, a million questions forming in my mind.
“Judging by her level of embarrassment, I'd say you let her in on our other plan,” mused Chrysalis. “Well, at least it worked.”
Yes, it had definitely worked, and this was a great leap forward, but all of that was in the back of my mind right now. Finally, I found my voice.
“Start talking. Now.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.016 seconds
Total duration
1,012 users online
1,738,023 hits today, 2,724,632 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
"So, yeah, we decided to go for a permanent threesome. You in?"
better backstory on Starlight.
8212697
I agreed with this statement,
8212697
Seconding. Hate how canon treats her like some ‘reformed person who’d merely been mistaken’ and not as the total psychopath she actually is as shown by her actions and her very temporary and insincere remorse EACH time she does something that utterly violates common decency. Or, y’know, creates timelines where whole nations are murdering each other, or the world has straight up gone dead.
I can easily stomach her as a properly ‘reformed villain’ if they actually treated her like she’d been a villain. Not, ‘Oops I was upset because my friend when I was really, really little was happy that he got his cutie mark and then I accidentally like six fucking worlds. My bad!’ Goddamn that backstory. Hrgh.
8213007
if anything her reformation was way to quick. wait a couple of season then do it. and she be Twilight second student AFTER sunset.
8213007
I’m still half expecting her to pull a “Long live the Princess,” and toss Twilight into Tartarus or something.
8213058
8213204
Exactly!
Yay for Trixie being stronger than the others! Not so much yay for her breaking anyway. Hopefully she’ll be able to recover.
So, those memories... yeah, quite the revelation to Twi, huh?
Rainbow and Chrysalis should brace themselves, Twilight won’t stop until she knows everything.
Also that comment of Rainbow’s after seeing Twi’s memory
Good Twilight, let the science flow through you.
I third all the comments about this being a better Starlight.
Interesting.
I agree, much better backstory for Starlight.
Methinks Gilda was holding back, eagle claws of that size would flay open anything unarmoured they go against. Regular, much smaller eagle claws can open a man's arm like it's made of tissue paper.
Uh oh, looks like the jig is up.
Hopefully Trixie recovers.
yay Trixie!
orig08.deviantart.net/4237/f/2012/366/8/8/clapping_pony_icon___trixie_by_taritoons-d5pw36r.gif
aaahh so perfect
8316480
that is a great picture you have of Zecora, who made it? and if you please link me to them.
You accidentally your accidentally your sentence.
Period.
Thank you.
People need to learn that difference!!
Second verse, same as the first!