Order-naries: Redux

by CTVulpin

Epilogue: Another Tale, Passing Through

Queen Chrysalis awoke in a hospital ward, the beds all occupied by Changelings who, like her, were bound by leg restraints and magic suppressing sheaths on their horns. This was a surprise in more ways than one, although Chrysalis wasn’t sure she trusted her groggy mind to be able to account for all the reasons. What she latched onto was the fact that she was still alive, intravenous drips were feeding some cocktail of chemicals into her system through needles driven through the joints in the chitin of one leg, and she could just feel the mental link she shared with her Changelings. She was too weak to move more than her head, which frankly meant she was in worse condition than after her first failure at conquering Canterlot. That wasn’t even accounting for her obvious status as prisoner of war.

A puce-colored pony in a nurse’s cap poked its head into the room, and promptly retreated when Chrysalis locked eyes with it. Some interminable time later, Princess Luna entered the ward and managed to keep a majestically inscrutable look on her face as she walked over to Chrysalis’s bed. “How do you feel?” she asked.

“Like death warmed over,” Chrysalis grunted, seething with hatred.

“That’s understandable,” Luna said, lightly touching one of the IV bags hanging next to Chrysalis’s bed. “In the short time you’ve been unconscious – about a day or two – we’ve learned a lot about Changeling physiology. You claim to feed on love, but it turns out a perfectly normal nutritive solution is enough to keep you alive. That makes sense of course, because how could a Changeling pass itself off as a pony for extended periods without being able to eat and metabolize pony food?”

“Why?” Chrysalis asked, her voice cracking.

“Hm?” Luna responded, confused. “Why? Oh, you mean why are we keeping you alive? You should know the answer to that already: we aren’t murderers. Oh, there have been demands for the extermination of your species, some with very reasonable arguments, but my sister is a very forgiving pony and I… While I am less tolerant of threats to my little ponies, I am intrigued by your potential for good.”

Chrysalis tried to laugh sardonically, but all her parched throat allowed was a coughing fit. Luna levitated a pitcher of water from the bedside table, poured some into a small glass, and held it to the Queen’s lips once her coughs died down. Chrysalis accepted the drink without protest, but she refused to let herself feel grateful to the Night Alicorn. Properly hydrated, she was able to speak clearly and with derision. “You mean good for your purposes. I know you were able to reform the Spirit of Chaos himself, but I think that’s given you an inflated opinion of your skills. Changelings draw their power from stealing the love meant for others. What use could we possibly be to the creatures we’re meant to feed on?”

Luna smiled enigmatically. “I happen to be personally acquainted with a Changeling who has been getting along quite nicely the last couple of years without having to steal love. All that she receives is meant for her, and those closest to her are aware of what she is and love her anyways.”

Chrysalis scoffed, looking away from Luna. “Nonsense,” she said, “I’d know if any of my Changelings were living in such conditions.”

“She is not part of your swarm, Chrysalis,” Luna said. “As I understand it, she was exiled years ago for failing to meet the expectations required of her.” Chrysalis turned her head back toward the alicorn, her eyes betraying surprise and confusion. “Now,” Luna continued, looking around the hospital ward, “I don’t know if she’s living proof that Changelings and Ponies could possibly coexist peacefully and openly, or is she’s simply an aberration who is lucky to have survived for so long. Either way,” she looked Chrysalis square in the eye with a look of dead seriousness, “until I have the answer, I will not allow you or any of your Changelings to die. Have a nice evening.” She refilled the glass of water and put it in an appropriately-sized hole in Chrysalis’s left fore-hoof, loosened the binding on that leg, and left the room.

The Changeling Queen sat in numb silence, staring at the glass and then at the door as she tried to process Luna’s words. Her eyes finally found a window and noticed, as a chill ran down her spine, that the sun was high in the sky.

---

“Twilight, I barely understand the method of operating the pre-existing holes linking all these fourteen-plus universes into a chain. How am I supposed to help you figure out how to scry along that chain?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted, frowning up at the currently-invisible dimensional warp above Fluttershy’s chicken coop. “It’s just, you’re here right now and I’ve finally got the free time to pick your brain before you have to go back home.”

“Truth,” Ash said with a nod. “Is that really all you want to do though? Be able to look into Taryn and see what we’re up to? That seems a tad creepy, to be honest.”

Twilight’s wings twitched in irritation, but she answered Ash calmly. “I eventually want to establish way for us to exchange messages quickly between our worlds. And maybe, very distantly maybe, make a shortcut so you don’t have to fly along the entire chain to visit.”

“And allow you to visit us in turn,” Ash said, smirking. “I doubt there’s much of a gap between transporting messages between universes and moving bodies, but the big hurdle’s going to be making the connection in the first place.”

“Believe me, I know,” Twilight said flatly. “I’ve tried every method I can think of to see beyond the bounds of Equestria, but the best I’ve gotten are flashes of barren landscapes, choked with volcanic ash.”

Ash snorted in laughter. “That’s, uh, an interesting failure, assuming you were trying to find me.”

“I think I was,” Twilight said. She kicked at the ground in frustration. “If only the Bipersonality Team had left a warp of their own behind. Maybe I could have learned something from the differences between the two.” Ash nodded in solemn agreement. After a moment and by silent agreement the two mages turned to leave, but just as they turned their backs on the chicken coop a bright golden light spilled down from above. Sharing a “now what?” look, they turned back around and saw a humanoid figure that seemed to be made of gold light alight gently on the ground.

There was a brief awkward silence, and then Ash said, “We can speak. What about you? Compreende?”

“Oh, good,” the figure said. “Unicorns are usually reasoning beings, but it’s not always a certainty. You two wouldn’t by chance have seen a group calling themselves the Bipersonality Team, would you? Three humans, about-”

“No humans in this universe,” Ash interrupted.

“The Bipersonality Team was here though,” Twilight said. “You missed them by a few days though. They’ve already gone to another universe.”

“Wonderful; I’m finally catching up,” the figure said, clapping its hands once. “Where’s their exit point?”

“Far to the north, near the Crystal Empire,” Twilight said. “I don’t know how much good that’ll do you though; they didn’t leave a portal behind.”

“Not one you can detect and use, perhaps,” the figure said. “North you said? Wonderful. Thank you for your time.” It floated up into the air and started to head north.

“Hey, quick question,” Ash called up to him. “What’s your business with them?”

“To take them home,” the figure replied, and then flew away. Ash and Twilight watched it until it vanished over the horizon.

“Well, that happened. Now, what were we talking about again?” Ash asked, looking back to Twilight.

Comments

[UseFistNotMouth]

Well that was fun.
I always enjoy these stories and wish they received more attention.

[djthomp]

It's convenient that changelings come with their own cupholders.

Life goes on, it would seem.

[CTVulpin]

7700401
Actually, I'd have to give that contest to Fluttershy for two reasons:
1. Fluttershy can turn the Stare on and off, while Ash's fear-gaze is a permanent thing. It's on when he's humanoid, and nonexistent when he's a pony-shaped.
2. Fluttershy can beat a cockatrice in a staring contest and Ash can't.