Golden Ink

by Detsella Morningdew

Chapter 2: Change

Author's Note:

And this is the point where my original transcript becomes more of a general plot guideline. At least for a while. I ended up changing some big things here.

Otherwise this whole thing would feel incredibly rushed. So much for having a lot written already.

I like this version way better, though.

Also keep in mind that the cover art does not reflect Dinky's current appearance. Dinky is still very much filly-sized.

Dinky stumbled slightly as she stepped off the train, misjudging her weight. No, not misjudging. Her weight was just different. Lighter.

I really just did that. I chose to be a changeling. Chrysalis started it, but.... I'm sure Princess Celestia would have been able to fix it.

Why?

Because it was the right thing to do, of course.

Why me, then? Was this all just dumb luck? Chrysalis saw an opportunity, and took it? That changeling bite was certainly not planned. And if I hadn't met the Queen right after, I might have died.

...Or I could have just been cured. But an entire species would have ceased to exist.

Not like having just one is any better. I just gave up everything I was for a changeling queen that I only met for two minutes.

Dinky sighed. I don't even think changelings get cutie marks. Did I just ruin my destiny forever?

She shook her head. No, I decided to stay this way back in the castle. I'm sticking through this to the end.

A sharp pain in her hoof almost made her stumble. It faded quickly, but the pain wasn't what bothered her.

The sharper horn and teeth were just something that she and the Crusaders often saw in comic-book stories. They were cool, but they barely felt any different. Or she simply chose not to notice.

But this was something she could not so easily ignore. Her pastern was noticeably harder, and the frequent tingles of now-muted pain were at the forefront of her mind.

This was entirely real. It wasn't a right or wrong decision. It wasn't a philosophical argument. This was real, and it was happening now.

Based on her mother's quick glances in her direction, she knew what was happening as well. But there was no way Dinky was going to complain about it.

No, she didn't want this to stop. But it was hard to convince herself that it was right to continue, either. Yes, it was the right thing to do, but Dinky was... a bit scared.

The queen had given her something, information about how to use her new "abilities." But that only seemed to highlight just how many changes that were being made.

And that something like this had just never been done. The changeling venom that turned her into a changeling - it was not a changeling "spell" that was completed yet. It had simply amounted to a slow-acting poison, and that is what that desperate changeling was hoping for.

And all that Chrysalis did was shove a lot of power into it and hope for the best. To induce a...

...a queen transformation in hope that it would save her.

Why did I do this? Why didn't I just accept Princess Celestia's help?

Dinky walked into her house, right behind her mother. Not a word was spoken as she went to her room to go to bed. She didn't trust herself to not give away her reservations.

Besides, she just really wanted to go to bed. Maybe everything would solve itself in the morning.

---

Dinky had a lot of trouble sleeping that night. When she finally managed to purge her mind of the worrying thoughts, and her eyes began to fall, a particularly strong bout of pain would wake her up again.

It was never more than when she would stub her hoof. But it was enough to make her start the process all over again.

Eventually, she was just so tired, she fell asleep, regardless of pain.

And then she woke up. A dreamless sleep.

That more than anything scared her. It just simply wasn't something that was supposed to happen. Even Luna never simply dispelled nightmares - she always wanted ponies to face them. And then there were regular dreams. Dinky usually had fun with those. She had even started to have some sort of control over them, too.

But now there was just... nothing. She felt... alone.

A clatter in the kitchen tore her out of these thoughts.

Mom. I still have mom. And my friends. That didn't change, even if...

She looked down at herself, and her chest lurched.

Mirror. Now.

She ran out of her room and into the bathroom, almost shuddering at the sight in the mirror.

Dinky had already seen changelings. She was even kinda okay with how they looked. But she was only half a changeling, and it looked... wrong.

Her hooves were a changeling's hooves. That was clear to see. They felt unnaturally light, and even the holes were there. She wasn't quite sure about seeing them on herself, though.

But that wasn't the problem. The problem was near her barrel, where spikes of... chitin were merging with her normal skin. It looked wrong, it felt wrong, and... it felt like the wrong move would break the little cohesiveness it had.

No wonder the spell always failed.

Shaking slightly, she walked slowly back into the hallway and made her way towards the kitchen. Breakfast was good. It was normal. It didn't change.

Unlike walking there. Walking was weird. She was topheavy now. And every time her skin stretched with her movements, she was afraid it would separate itself from the chitin plates.

How in Equestria am I supposed to get through school like this?

She forced her mouth into a grin as she stepped into the kitchen, but it quickly became a lot more genuine when she noticed the stack of pancakes on the table.

No matter what changed, her mom's cooking would always be wonderful.

---

Dinky left for school early that morning. Her mother had made a good point. Cheerilee deserved some kind of explanation before class started.

To be fair, Dinky usually arrived before the rest of the students, regardless. It let her have some extra time with the textbooks before the rest of the students made it too loud to study.

But two minutes wasn't really much time for news like this. And while she might not have told her mother about her fragility (she was worried enough), Cheerilee would probably have to know.

It didn't help that she had to walk slowly, all the way there.

The stares she got were enough for her to attempt shapeshifting again. Of course, it failed.

It made sense. She was still half pony, after all.

Didn't make the stares any less uncomfortable, though.

After what seemed like forever, she reached the schoolhouse just as Celestia's sun finished its ascent into the sky.

Dinky sighed, and pushed open the door, and as usual, her teacher's voice greeted her.

"Dinky! Thank goodness you're... okay..."

She winced. "You heard what happened already?"

"It was in the newspaper this morning. But that doesn't matter. What happened to you?"

"I'm still me if that's what you're asking."

Cheerilee shook her head. "If one of those bug creatures-"

"Changelings."

"Yes, thanks. If one of them wanted to lie about being you, I think they would have done a better job of looking like it. What happened to you, though?"

"I think you already know."

"I'm asking how and why, though. Is it reversible?"

Dinky looked down. "Yes, probably. Or at least when it started. I don't want it to be, though."

Cheerilee took a few seconds to process that. "All right. But why, though?"

She sighed. "I'll tell you after class. I came early to tell you that I can't do any P.E. in this state."

"...All right. But-"

"And the changelings were never evil. They were starving, and underestimated how accepting Celestia might be."

Cheerilee smiled. "That is encouraging, at least. So will we see any more changelings soon?"

"No." Dinky stared intently at her desk as she sat down mechanically.

Cheerilee looked at her student with a worried expression. "...You're right. After class, then."

Dinky moved uncomfortably in her seat as the other students started to enter the classroom. She was quite glad that her rump was already changed, since that meant sitting would not be a complicated or dangerous ordeal.

But it felt really weird and alien. Despite being covered in literal hard plates, Dinky was actually more comfortable. The chair felt oddly soft, despite being made of the same hard wood as before.

No, her insides were soft instead. Which made it all the more creepy. It didn't help that the part of her that still was a pony felt too heavy for the rest of her.

She felt a bit guilty about that. It wasn't like changelings were ugly or anything. She actually kinda liked the way the chitin plates were arranged, now that she got a chance to see them up close. But it was vastly different than any of the sensations she was used to. Different wasn't bad. But it was kinda scary at the same time.

Enough where she barely noticed that the Crusaders were the only ponies who even tried to sit near her.

"Sweet Celestia, Dinky! That is way cooler than I expected."

If only Scootaloo could be quieter about it.

"Be careful, I'm kinda fragile at the moment," she whispered back.

Scootaloo chuckled. "What do you mean? You have all this armor stuff." At least she lowered her voice. Slightly.

"Did you seriously miss the part where this spell has never worked before?"

Her eyes widened significantly. The other Crusaders' heads whipped around. "Uh... no?"

"Oh. Well, Queen Chrysalis did something, so it should be fine, but I have to be really careful right now."

Sweetie Belle gave her a worried expression. "Dinky, I know you wanted to help and stuff, but... do you really want this?"

Dinky sighed. "I don't really know. But I've already started. And I told... I told her I would, so that's what I'm going to do."

"Good morning class."

All of them redirected their attention towards the front of the classroom.

"As you may have noticed, there is a... unique situation with miss Dinky here."

Dinky rolled her eyes. Announce it to the whole class, why don't you?

"I can assure you that she is the same pony you know from before. I expect that this will not disrupt class. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mrs. Cheerilee," the class droned. Dinky almost snorted in derision, before she realized that this probably meant Cheerilee would be actively watching for trouble.

And she wasn't exactly planning on attending recess. She would never be outside Cheerilee's sight.

So theoretically, she should be fine. Theoretically.

"It is quite the fortuitous circumstance, though. In light of recent events, I had planned this history lesson around what we know about changelings."

Dinky closed her eyes and breathed deeply. I can make it through this...

---

It turned out most of what was "known" about changelings were legends and conjecture. And the stuff in the newspapers that morning. It was actually kind of interesting, if most of it wasn't wrong.

The fact that she had to correct these constantly was annoying, not because she found it particularly bothersome, but more that it kept attracting attention.

Not to mention that she was already seen as the "teacher's pet" most of the time. It wasn't her fault that school was interesting.

But Cheerilee could be incredibly oblivious at times. Yes, she did want to help with the lesson, but no, she did not want to stand at the front of the class the entire time. Especially once the rest of the students slowly started to notice her changes spreading.

"Why are we even learning all this?"

Dinky gritted her teeth. Of course it was her.

"I mean, didn't Princess Celestia banish them all away?"

Dinky froze. What were those newspapers saying? She paused, but Cheerilee didn't seem to correct her.

"Learning about other cultures is a big part of history, Diamond Tiara. Around five hundred years ago, we were at war with the Griffons. Now we are peaceful neighbors."

A sudden pain in Dinky's chest made her stumble. She put a hoof to her chest, and her stomach lurched. Did my heart just stop?

Only when the pain started to die down did she even notice her raging headache.

"--inky? Dinky, are you all right?"

She rose unsteadily to her hooves. "Ugh. I think I just found out why nopony survived this."

The silence was louder than the noise.

"Wait, did I say that out loud?"

"Dinky... we need to get you to the hospital."

"But I'm fine now."

"What if that happens again?"

"...Mrs. Cheerilee, they wouldn't be able to do anything if it did."

Clearly uncomfortable, Cheerilee looked at the clock, almost sighing with relief. "Class is now dismissed. Dinky, can we talk for a minute?"

Dinky nodded nervously, the noises of foals packing up drowning out anything that she might have wanted to say. She followed her teacher into her office.

The door clicked shut, drowning out the noise. "Dinky, why did you do something like this? The only reason you're not in the hospital right now is that I know that you were probably right. But based on what you said, you knew of the risk."

"The newspapers lied. Or are just wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I am the only changeling that's still alive."

"...You can't be serious."

"Do you think I'd just do this for fun?" Dinky shook her head. "Sorry. That was rude."

"Don't be. This is just hard to take in. Do you... do you mind telling me how it happened?"

Dinky took a deep breath, the air feeling strange in her lungs. "...Yeah, I'd like that."

---

As her office door clicked close, Cheerilee continued to stare after her charge. That was the kind of story she often heard from a certain six ponies - stories she often put into the back of her mind. She knew they were real, of course, but thinking them nothing but stories did well for her sanity and kept her day-to-day life free from unnecessary worry.

But here was a filly, not even old enough for her cutie mark, and already making her question the peace she was so used to. It wasn't even a story where she "saved the day." That would probably be easier to handle. Easier to compartmentalize as fiction.

But even Dinky's appearance forced it straight back into reality. An entire race of ponies were destroyed in defense of Equestria. And she no longer needed the newspapers to tell her what would have happened if this Chrysalis had succeeded.

Worse still, they weren't completely evil. That would have been awfully convenient.

Cheerilee knew about pyrrhic victories - she had studied a lot of Equestrian history, especially after Luna had returned and a lot of old legends were confirmed as fact. But it was far more personal. Now it had affected one of her students.

Dinky's situation was a complicated one. She wanted to tell her to just give it up - it was far safer to stay a unicorn. To be a normal pony. But even if it wasn't likely too late, how could she tell her to ignore a mare's dying wish?

Death. Equestria had not seen war - real war - since the Griffons attacked five hundred years ago. The very thought of a death not brought by age was strange, wrong.

Cheerilee shook her head. It was not healthy to dwell on such things. If Dinky needed her help, she would give it.

I do wish that she would at least consider a hospital, though. I know she's able to use magic, but she opened my door with her hoof.

---

Dinky clutched her head. Dammit, I forgot about this part.

As useful as it was for unicorns to have a physical gland where magic was stored, it was also the most hated body part as well, due to its tendency to give said unicorns very painful headaches when they used it too much.

Or apparently, when it was being steadily dissolved.

Yeah, not exactly pleasant.

She stumbled to the side of the road to wait it out. Damn... no wonder Chrysalis looked so guilty. I had no idea what I was getting into.

The headache slowly became just "intense migraine" instead of "repeatedly getting struck by lightning." After it had fallen to an almost bearable level, the feelings of intense energy from the wedding returned with a vengeance.

Now filled with an entirely new kind of pain, her eyes decided to fail her for around two minutes before her brain decided to give up and she fell into unconsciousness.

Either that, or it just got really good at blocking everything out.

Regardless, when she woke up, she felt good. Really good. She rose to her hooves, blinking.

Huh.

That really was all that could be said. Her eyelids were basically sunglasses. And yellow. Her head no longer felt like a lead weight, either, which could only mean one thing.

I need to get a mirror.

Dinky galloped down the street, almost instantly tripping over her hooves as she flew much farther than intended.

She compensated, skidding slightly on the dirt road. More ponies were out now than when she had walked to school, and quite a few gave her wary expressions. For some reason, smiling at them had the opposite effect than she intended.

But she didn't have time to worry about that.

She skidded to a stop outside her house, but overshot completely, tumbling and landing on her side.

Dinky smiled giddily. She barely even felt the impact. Yes, she was lighter, but apparently she was right about basically being covered in armor.

She got to her hooves, opened the door, and... smacked her muzzle into it.

Dammit, I still can't use my magic for some reason. It still felt like she was on a sugar high, but... the normal place Dinky drew magic from was gone.

...I have to relearn how to use my horn, don't I?

Dinky turned the knob with her mouth. Even that felt weird.

She walked through the opening, kicking it closed with her rear hoof. "Mom! I'm home!"

A dish fell to the floor with a clang. "Muffin! What took so long?" She took in Dinky's appearance. "Oh, right. I hope you didn't have too much trouble?"

"No, Mom, I'm fine. I just stayed behind after school to explain things to Mrs. Cheerilee."

Ditzy gave her daughter an appraising look. "If you're sure."

"Well... I did get some funny looks from everypony, but it wasn't that bad."

"As long as you know you can come to me for help."

"All right." Dinky smiled up at her mother. "But I really need to find a mirror. I mean, I'm glad everything worked out, but..."

"What do you mean?"

Dinky grinned awkwardly. "I kind of freaked out Mrs. Cheerilee today."

"Yes...?"

"I kinda didn't want to tell you about it, but... what I did was really dangerous."

Ditzy rolled her eyes. "I know that. But it was important to you. If you got something crazy like a skydiving cutie mark, do you think I'd keep you from that?"

"Umm, no?"

"Then why would this be any different?"

Dinky stomped her hoof. It didn't make half the impact she expected. "Because I'm not sure. And at the same time, more sure than anything that it's what I'm supposed to do. Everything is so different and alien, and the worst I've gotten is a few weird looks.

"Mom, this is weird enough for me to be freaking out, and I'm the one that wants this the most. How can you be so calm about this?"

Ditzy wrapped a wing around her daughter's back, feeling the new hardened shell. "Because no matter what you look like, it's still you inside."

Dinky snorted.

"All right, all right, that was a bit cliché. But it was true. And I've met creatures with a far more scary appearance that were just as nice as you."

Dinky ducked out of the wing-hug. "Okay, that's the reason I was looking for. I still wish you could tell me what you do all the time. Or at least where you're going."

Ditzy ruffled her daughter's wispy changeling-mane. "So do I, Muffin. But I believe you have an appointment with a mirror to get to."

"Yeah, I suppose I do."

"And I don't know if you still need it, but dinner should be ready in half an hour or so."

Dinky smiled. "Thanks Mom. I'll be there."

Comments

[Empty Shelf]

My feelings on this chapter mirror the ones I had for the last one, and for much the same reasons.

I think I have to stop here. Sorry.

[Detsella Morningdew]

8716181
Okay. It probably just boils down to my characterization of Dinky, but thanks anyway.

[Detsella Morningdew]

8716654
Yeah... I have a problem with writing too many things at once. Also being sick and procrastinating. But I'm working on that second one.