After Marshall was roused from unconsciousness and asked if he was alright, he assured Rarity and Sweetie Belle that he would be fine, so as to not derail their plan to eat at a restaurant. Still, he continued to reel at the fact that someone had the ability to move a star. While there was no doubt that he had experienced other great feats in recent days, moving stars around at one's behest was beyond what fiction and scientific theory — that he knew of personally — had prepared his mind for.
Dinner turned out to be a quiet and somewhat subdued affair, but not in a bad way. After their initial concern, Sweetie Belle had set her priority to filling the void in her stomach while Rarity was willing to give him some time to recover from what he had learned, as well as from the embarrassment that he had felt about fainting. The meal had been delicious, though, so he was pretty sure that he could be excused for being quiet while they ate, if not for any other reason.
They had chatted idly for a bit afterward, but it hadn't been long before they needed to go their separate ways, with Rarity and Sweetie Belle returning to the former's home and him going back to Twilight Sparkle's castle. By the time the aforementioned castle loomed ahead of him, the weight of his circumstances began to return to his shoulders once more. He had so many things on his mind that he had to stop outside of the castle's front doors for a moment, in order to organize his thoughts and decide on what all he wanted to broach with Twilight Sparkle.
Once he thought himself ready, he entered the castle and looked around for Spike, or anything that indicated that someone was nearby. Seeing neither, he checked a few of the rooms in the main hall. When his search turned up no one, he decided to try his luck at finding his own way. Fortunately, Twilight Sparkle's room was somewhere at the highest point of the castle, so he opted to start his search for her there, rather than begin his search by getting himself lost in the corridors trying to find the library.
After a somewhat lengthy climb, it was with some relief that he reached the hallway that he recognized as the one leading to Twilight Sparkle's room. He paused when he reached the doors to said room, hoping that he wouldn't have to look any further, before knocking. One of the doors opened a few seconds later, but he hesitated from entering the room when it wasn't accompanied by a verbal invitation, much less any other indication that someone may be awaiting him within.
Upon stepping into the room, he immediately noticed Twilight Sparkle stretched out across the width of her bed, with her face pressed into the bed covers. He was reminded of what had happened earlier in the day, which he still felt partially responsible for, so he walked up to her bedside, where her head was, and sympathetically asked, "Rough day?"
Twilight Sparkle lifted her head, plopped it back down on her chin, and replied with a tone that sounded as tired as she looked while she stared past him. "Not really. The town received the news about the changelings better than I expected. I'm just... mentally exhausted from all the worrying and thinking I've been doing."
"Sorry," Marshall responded guiltily, his ears falling flat as he ducked his head.
Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes and released a sigh, then opened them and met Marshall's gaze before saying, "You've got nothing to apologize for." As she tucked her hind legs beneath her and raised herself onto the knees of her forelegs, she added, "For all that we know, this will be for the best. Who knows what Chrysalis might have done had she been left to her own devices."
"I guess," Marshall grudgingly conceded, before looking down and admitting, "I just wish I could do more to help."
"You're not the only one," Twilight Sparkle quietly replied, who deflated a bit and cast her eyes upon her forehooves. "Because I'm not sure we'll have enough love for the changelings tomorrow."
With concern, Marshall regarded Twilight Sparkle once more and inquired, "There weren't many ponies willing to help?"
After shaking her head, Twilight Sparkle levitated a scroll over to Marshall, from somewhere out of view, and said, "It's not that there weren't plenty who were willing to help. The problem was that not many thought themselves able to express love toward the changelings."
Once Marshall had the scroll in his own magic, he unfurled it so he could peruse its contents. What he saw made him understand Twilight Sparkle's mood a bit better: because there were only two names inscribed within. One of the names made him pause and wonder about it, though, since it seemed odd even compared to some of the stranger pony names that he had learned of so far.
Twilight Sparkle continued to speak while he was distracted. "My friends will try to help, of course, but..."
Hearing her sigh, Marshall looked away from the scroll and saw her rest her head on her forelegs, the expression on her face telling him how bleak she perceived the situation to be. He wrestled with himself for a few seconds as he stared at her, feeling that he should fulfill a role that was atypical for him, before putting aside the scroll, gathering his resolve, and climbing onto her bed. Once he was standing beside her and facing the same direction, he laid down and rested a foreleg across her withers.
"Forget the numbers," he softly advised. "I haven't heard of any limit on how much love someone can give, so — for all that we know — it may be possible to feed a hundred changelings with only one pony."
Twilight Sparkle looked up and mulled the idea over for a time before musing, "Is that even possible?"
"Who knows?" Marshall remarked, before trying to get her mind back on track. "The important thing is to believe in ourselves and do our best. Even a foe that dwarfs its opponent in might or number can be defeated if the circumstances are right."
Twilight Sparkle had a far-off look in her eyes as she recalled moments where she or her friends, or both, had beaten the odds, then turned to regard Marshall with a grateful smile. "You're right. It's not going to do anyone any good if I allow myself to be intimidated by this."
Glad that he had succeeded in improving her mood and outlook, he awkwardly retrieved his foreleg from Twilight Sparkle and scooted a bit to the side, to put a more comfortable amount of space between them.
While Twilight Sparkle noticed his behavior, she opted to focus on the topic at hand, which was more important. "Does Rarity have anything planned for the changelings? I went to her home to find out, but no one had been there."
"Don't worry," Marshall reassured her with an easy smile. "You can count on Rarity tomorrow."
Relieved to hear that, Twilight Sparkle took a moment to appreciate that bit of good news before realizing that her guest must have had a reason for being present. So, after clearing her throat, it was with some levity that she said, "Anyway, I take it that you didn't come here to cheer me up?"
Marshall allowed himself a brief chuckle, even as he grew a little nervous about the first subject that he wanted to bring up. Not so much due to the subject itself, but because of how closely it was tied to the possible existence of destiny. However, since he wanted to help Rarity, and had a limited time to accomplish that task, he felt that it would be a good idea to not pass up an opportunity where he might learn something that could aid him in that regard. After all, if cutie marks were such a significant part of a pony's life and character, then knowing more about them, and the magic involved, could very well provide him with valuable insight.
"Well," he carefully began, "I asked some things about cutie marks earlier, and one thing about Rarity's experience with getting one stood out to me."
Adopting a more serious demeanor, Twilight Sparkle prompted him to continue.
Marshall hesitated a second before saying, "It was when her horn took her to the site where she would witness Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom, which happened a whole day before that occurred. I was wondering if that's normal, or if it happened to anyone else."
Twilight Sparkle blinked her eyes as she considered what was being asked, and a few seconds later she absently responded to the part that was easiest to answer. "It didn't happen to anyone else among us, no." Her brow furrowed as her thoughts began to dwell on the other part, which — now that she really thought about it — began to pique her interest. "And while it's not exactly unusual for a unicorn's magic to behave that way, it does seem oddly coincidental that her magic would take her somewhere that far away, to be at the right time and place for the sonic rainboom to play a crucial role in how she got her cutie mark."
"You didn't think so before?" Marshall couldn't help questioning, due to what her tone and facial expression had intimated.
Looking away sheepishly, Twilight Sparkle rubbed the back of her head as she said, "Oh, well... I wasn't in a frame of mind to scrutinize her story at any real depth at the time. I was more wrapped up in how great it was to be able to share that kind of experience with my best friends long before I had ever met them."
Marshall nodded his head in understanding before getting ready to steer her away from the subject of destiny, in order to address a matter that was of a greater concern to him: what had caused Rarity to raise her guard in the sauna. It had something to do with her magic acting on its own, but he wasn't sure what it could be. However, he did have a question that might provide an answer for it.
"I was only asking because..." He trailed off as he tried to figure out how to make his approach with some modicum of tact, before giving up and asking his question bluntly instead of stalling any longer. "Is Rarity's special talent really connected to fashion?"
Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to reply, to confirm what she knew to be Rarity's talent, but paused when she realized that there must have been a reason for the question. After remembering to close her mouth, she regarded Marshall with a questioning look and inquired, "Why do you ask?"
"Well," Marshall began, as he met Twilight Sparkle's gaze, "I ask because I sensed her guard go up when I asked about her magic's behavior, and I'm not sure what other reason she would have to hide something, if the event itself isn't in question. I mean, when ponies get their cutie marks, is it guaranteed that they'll know what it represents?"
Having heard of cases where ponies hadn't known what their cutie marks had represented, or had misinterpreted them, both within and without books, Twilight Sparkle could easily say, "It's not guaranteed, no. Typically there are a number of factors, at the time one acquires their cutie mark, that aids in determining what a cutie mark represents, but neither the clues or judgement are a sure thing." With that out of the way, she furrowed her brow and asked, "Are you suggesting that Rarity's talent might not be what we think it is?"
Marshall tried to shrug his shoulders while lying down, which exaggerated the cocking of his head that accompanied it. "Maybe? I don't know much about how this stuff works, but it just seems odd that she got a cutie mark that displays precious stones only after finding some by happenstance and adding them to some costumes. I mean, it sounded like she was already dead set on becoming a fashionista before she got her cutie mark, which I'm willing to bet is a stronger case for acquiring one compared to the mindset of Sweetie Belle and her friends when they got theirs, yet that was somehow the tipping point?"
Twilight Sparkle stared blankly for a few seconds before looking askance and mulling over his words, humming thoughtfully as she stroked the underside of her chin. Eventually, she refocused her attention on him and said, "I can see how you could see it that way, but..." She paused and contemplated the matter further before a lack of a satisfactory answer made her pose, "Well, let's say it's true: why would Rarity hide her actual talent? What could she gain from it?"
After thinking about it for a moment, Marshall reasoned, "If I were to make a guess... Perhaps she finds the work involved in unearthing precious stones to be embarrassing, or less prestigious, compared to having a career in fashion. I haven't known her for long, but she has certainly given me the impression of presenting herself as an upper-class sort of pony, at the very least."
"Also," Marshall went on, as a few more things began to click into place within his mind, "as you told me before, she'd had dreams of marrying into royalty. I guess precious stones could help with achieving that, but I can definitely see how it would be beneficial to make connections with the country's elite by becoming a big name in the fashion world."
Twilight Sparkle nodded her head, fairly convinced by his reasoning. However, despite that, and how intriguing she found the matter to be, she didn't want to jump to any conclusions. So, she pointed out, "That only leaves us with finding out whether or not she has been lying about her talent."
"Yeah," came Marshall's unenthusiastic reply, before releasing a sigh. "Problem is: I'm afraid she'll close herself off from us if we confront her about it."
They both fell silent as they considered that potential outcome, which neither desired. Before the silence could stretch too long, though, Twilight Sparkle concluded, "Before we even think about doing that, we should try to find out more. Perhaps we'll find out that we've got the wrong idea, or have no need to ask her anything at all."
Marshall nodded his head in agreement, since they probably couldn't afford to make a mistake. "I'll see what I can do."
With that said, and because he only planned to stay after one more question, he decided that it was time to get down from the bed. Once all four hooves were on the floor, he turned back to Twilight Sparkle and said, "Well, before I go, can I ask you one more question?"
"Sure," Twilight Sparkle replied, before thoughtfully offering, "But you can stay the night again, if you want — I won't mind."
Marshall shook his head. "That's okay. I need to get more familiar with this place, so I can find my way around without bothering anyone."
"Anyway," he continued, glad that Twilight Sparkle hadn't seemed ready to argue with him, "I was wondering if I should be worried about getting a cutie mark, considering the circumstances. Could it interfere with the spell connecting this body with mine, for instance?"
"I don't think so," Twilight Sparkle slowly replied, with a tone that was not strictly conveying confidence, as she thought about all of the factors involved. "I can't guarantee anything, I'm sorry to say, but — as far as I know — it should be safe. While both cutie marks and the spell I developed for Rarity have a connection with one's mind, the spell has no interaction with the body and operates on a different mental wavelength, largely due to the portion that borrows from the portal marker spell."
Tilting his head questioningly, Marshall inquired, "Portal marker spell?"
Glad to have the opportunity to share her knowledge on the subject, Twilight Sparkle nodded her head and said, "The first challenge to opening a portal in another universe is making sure that it won't open in a dangerous location, such as a magma chamber. To do that, we send out a tendril, similar to the one that connects you and Rarity, to probe for a safe location. Upon finding one, we use the end of the tendril to mark where the portal will form."
Unable to check his curiosity, Marshall couldn't help asking, "Do you guys make a habit of traveling to other universes?"
With a shake of her head, Twilight Sparkle replied, "Although such instances have become more common as of late, due to abnormal circumstances, we generally don't. These days, we usually restrict ourselves to portals that connect to pocket dimensions." She began to look into the distance as she drew more of what she knew about Equestria's history with interdimensional travel from her memory. "At one time we made a concerted effort to explore alternate realities, because they're relatively easy to reach and locating a safe place for a portal could be as simple as using a location on our own world as a reference point, but it fell out of favor because establishing relationships between universes — and trying to maintain them — often turned out to be more trouble than they were worth. That, and, well..." Looking down, she sighed and somberly said, "There were other dangers. One disease that was brought back to Equestria, in particular, put a stop to interdimensional travel altogether for a very long time."
A few seconds passed in awkward silence before Marshall cleared his throat and said, "I see. Well, thanks for answering my questions. It's likely going to be an eventful day tomorrow, so I better get going."
Before he could reach the exit, Twilight Sparkle exclaimed, "Wait!"
Heeding her request, he stopped and looked over his shoulder, and saw that she was now sitting up on her bed. A second later she levitated a scroll to him, from her night stand, and asked, "Will you need this to find your way? Or have you already memorized enough of it to find your room?"
Realizing that he was being presented with the scroll that she had left with him that morning, he smiled uneasily and evasively replied, "Oh, uh... I won't need it to find my room. Thanks for providing me with that, by the way."
Twilight Sparkle returned his smile. "I'm glad that I was able to help. Have a good night, Recherché."
Feeling both relieved and guilty, Marshall responded in kind before leaving, his mind quickly focusing on the task of finding his room.
Fortunately, Marshall had only gotten himself lost twice before finding his room, as far as he was able to tell — or, possibly, admit. Once he was in his own body again, he put on some music and collapsed into his armchair, in order to digest all that had happened and think about what was to come.
Now that he was once again surrounded by the mundanity that was his actual life, it felt weird to consider his other life as if it were real. He hadn't felt like that at first because accepting it as real had been preferable to believing himself crazy or being messed with by some unknown entity. Now, however, he'd somehow found himself involved with what was effectively a negotiation for peace between two nations, which was the kind of scenario that he never would have expected himself to be involved with despite having always been in the realm of possibility.
On top of that, there was a new mystery connected with Rarity, that may or may not be connected with his investigation. Of course, that was assuming that he wasn't reading into her reaction in the sauna too much, imagining a dark space being occupied when it was — in fact — empty. Either way, he hoped that everything would turn out alright.
Finally, there was his decision to try and acquire a cutie mark, which was as interesting to him as it was nerve-racking. While he was curious to know if he had a special talent, he also worried about what it might be. Plus, he didn't even know if he could get a cutie mark, since the mental side of the equation was different from normal, what with being a consciousness from another universe and all.
Once he felt himself ready to put all that aside for the time being and start his day, he made himself something to eat and went to his computer. Since he was going to have more company in his head than Rarity soon, he decided to look up places in and around the city that he could include in a tour. He wasn't all that sure on what places would be good choices, since he didn't even know the ponies that he was closest to all that well, so he made a list of "maybes" alongside the places that he felt confident enough about.
Nothing of note happened until he checked his E-mail, where he saw a message from his mother. The subject had told him that it concerned the recipe that he had asked for, so he had looked to see what he needed for it. What made it notable was that his mother had ended the message by asking him who the lucky girl was. The question had confused him at first, then he groaned when he realized that his mother had gotten the wrong idea about his request.
After quickly composing a response that explained the situation, short of it mentioning anything about another universe being involved, he went through the rest of his daily routine before going to work. Rarity didn't contact him during that time, so he hoped that was a good thing and tried to not let the impending challenge with the changelings distract him too much.
Once he was back home, he quickly found some food to tide him over until he "woke up" before making a beeline for his bed. It wasn't due to being in a hurry to transfer his consciousness to Recherché, but because he felt that he needed some time to prepare himself mentally for what was to come. When he thought himself ready, he closed his eyes and willed himself to his vessel in the other universe...
...Then he opened his eyes and found his vision filled by nothing save a pair of strikingly-green irises and viridian-tinted sclera.
Shrieking in surprise, he propelled himself backward from a prone position and expelled a grunt of pain when he slammed the back of his skull against the headboard of the bed. While he recovered, he glimpsed through one eye while the other was winced shut and discovered that Chrysalis was standing at the foot of the bed, looking amused. Annoyed by that, and his smarting noggin, he put aside his usual reservations and asked, "Why were you in my face like that?"
"Because I wanted to be," Chrysalis smoothly replied.
Seeing that it would be pointless to press the issue, Marshall sighed and maneuvered his body off of the bed's large pillow, so he could sit up in a more appropriate location. Once that was accomplished, he pushed aside his displeasure, in order to avoid antagonizing Chrysalis with the tone of his voice alone, before meeting her gaze with a straight face and inquiring, "Why are you here?"
Chrysalis smiled in a way that he found predatory. "I'm the hundredth changeling that must be fed to my satisfaction, and I've selected you to provide for me personally."
Marshall's ears drooped at the unfairness of her pronouncement, since he hardly felt himself able to accomplish such a task. "But..."
Smirking in a self-satisfied manner, Chrysalis said, "No one ever stated who would be fed, or how. You can only blame yourself for making your own assumptions." When no argument seemed to be forthcoming, she turned about and sat on her haunches. "Now, try not to take too long: you wouldn't want to make your friends worry when my changelings fail to show up on time, would you?"
With a frown and an ear flicking in irritation, Marshall was tempted to give her a piece of his mind. However, since he had a good idea of what the possible consequences of that could be, and that she wasn't the usual kind of individual that he could disrespect without receiving a far worse response in retaliation, he knew that the best course of action was to beat Chrysalis at her own game. Upon deciding that, he quickly noticed that he didn't have the kind of mental state that would allow him to feed her, which made him realize what she might have been trying to do.
Even though that gave him more reason to dislike her, he knew that he had to look beyond her behavior, to see the bigger picture and all the other lives that his actions could affect. With that in mind, he forced himself to ignore the pressure and focus on what was important, so he could put himself in the right mood for the task at hand. He didn't want to contemplate what would happen should he fail, before the other changelings had a chance to be fed.
After taking a calming breath, he brought his mind back to what he had been thinking about before, when he had managed to convey some love to her. At the time, he had found some sympathy because of the responsibility that she had toward her subjects, and some empathy for trying to do that successfully without aid. Unlike then, however, he didn't need to split his attention in order to be aware of the situation. So, while he grasped the level of emotion that he had before, he used what remained of his mental faculties to think of some way to feed her even more love, in order to ensure that what he had to offer would be enough to overcome the unexpected hurdle of her challenge.
His gaze idly wandered around the room, as if to join the internal chase for ideas, until something about the mirror caught his eye on the second passing. There, thanks to his new position on the bed, he could see Chrysalis' face in profile. What he saw surprised him, considering his experiences with her thus far: she looked relaxed, with her eyes closed and a smile gracing her visage, albeit a faint one.
It proved distracting enough for him to lose his focus on the love that he was trying to project, which showed when Chrysalis' expression quickly began to shift to something that was rather unpleasant. Fortunately, he was able to regain his focus without panicking, and she seemed to contemplate whether or not she should respond to the brief cut off of love before allowing the current situation to continue. Once he got his heart under control, and was sure enough that he could keep up his current level of love while he had something promising to explore, he tried to make sense out of what he had seen.
As far as he could tell, the reason for her turning her back on him might have something to do with her wanting to enjoy the food that she was receiving without him knowing about it. That was the best guess that he could make, at least, considering what her reaction had been yesterday, when she had been caught off guard by the love sent by Celestia and himself. It seemed that she had an image that she wished to maintain, at the very least.
Whether or not there was more to it than that, he couldn't be sure. However, for the sake of generating more love, he imagined that she was a nice, caring individual who wore a mask because of her role as a leader, rather than having a mean nature by default. It wasn't hard to do, between her being the mother of the changelings and having to be strong for a race that probably hadn't been received well by other societies. While it was certainly an optimistic interpretation of her behavior, it was both needed and hoped for, considering the future that the princesses were trying to achieve with the changelings. With all that in mind, he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Immediately after incorporating that additional source of inspiration, he saw Chrysalis' body stiffen. A glance in the mirror showed that her eyes were now open, and they clearly conveyed her confusion. Rather than continue being fed with this latest development, she stood up, schooled her expression, then turned about to face him before pointedly asking, "How did you suddenly increase your love so much?"
Doing his best to act nonchalant, Marshall shrugged his shoulders and said, "I just got to thinking about how you're both a mother and a ruler, and I couldn't help admiring that."
In response to that, Chrysalis stared at him for a moment, her expression unmoving. While he could see something in her eyes, which betrayed her facade, it was either too faint or mixed for him discern its nature. Regardless, it wasn't long before she turned to face the exit and evenly said, "As you should. And since you have enough sense to, I'll accept your meager offering and retrieve my... children."
She promptly left the room after saying that. Once Marshall thought enough time had passed for it to be safe, he sighed and allowed his forehooves to slide out from underneath him, so he could rest upon his belly. "Man, what a way to start a day..."
Still, he was both relieved and glad to have succeeded. Now they just had to get the same result with the ninety-nine changelings that remained. He didn't know if they could do that with the amount of ponies that he was aware of, but he had to hope that they would, even though he had no idea what most of them would try to do.
Before he could put much thought into how Chrysalis had hesitated before finishing her last sentence, he noticed a set of pannier saddlebags waiting for him by the door. Curious about them and the note attached, he left the bed to investigate. After a brief glance at the saddlebags, where he saw that one flap bore Celestia's cutie mark while the other had a cutie mark of a crescent moon within a dark splotch, he picked up the note and read it.
After he finished reading it, he looked up and thought, "A stipend, huh..."
As it turned out, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna — whom he assumed the other cutie mark belonged to — had decided that he shouldn't need to depend on others for anything requiring the expenditure of currency. They wanted to expand on his freedom to experience the town on his own terms, whenever he had the opportunity. He could even use the money to rent his own place, if he so desired.
Opening up one of the saddlebags, he levitated a pouch full of bits into view, which he looked at thoughtfully for a few seconds before putting it and the note back. He had something more important and imminent to worry about, so he left the saddlebags and money where they were so he wouldn't overlook them later. With that decided, he proceeded to leave the room, to where the note had indicated he should go if he wanted to be present or helpful while the changelings were being fed: the ballroom. The note had informed him that it was on the ground floor, and that the door would be left open for him.
While he had no idea of where to start looking for the ballroom, he began to wonder if it were really necessary when he reached the ground floor, where he began to hear... electronic dance music? Putting aside the question of whether or not it was possible, because he couldn't recall seeing anything that technologically advanced in Ponyville before, he followed the music to its source. Seeing that it led to a room whose large doors had been left open, he hesitated a second before entering it, hoping that he would be ready for whatever would happen next.
Stopping just inside the room, he observed the state of affairs within. On the other end of the ballroom, upon the stage, was a unicorn mare working behind turntables and between two really tall speakers. She had a white coat, Celtic blue hair with cyan stripes, and wore a pair of headphones and glasses with purple-tinted lenses. Nearby, on the ballroom floor, was a wheeled garment rack, dressing screen and cheval mirror, where Rarity and Spike appeared to be having a conversation. On the opposite side of the room from them was Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing with anticipation beside a large mound of toys, props and games, as well as a sky blue cannon of all things. Close to the entrance was Applejack, who leaned — with crossed legs — against a small wagon that was filled above the brim with apples. Even closer to him was Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, who were sitting together and showed no outward sign of having some method of feeding the changelings, with the former clearly looking disgruntled and the latter some mixture of worried and nervous.
Then there was the light grey pegasus mare located between the other pegasi and Pinkie Pie, who had pale yellow hair and golden eyes. She stood beside a line of multi-shelf carts that had a variety of muffins on offer, which she appeared to be eyeing with no small amount of longing. What really caught his attention, though, was her eyes: because she appeared to have strabismus. He couldn't help staring at her, wondering why magic hadn't intervened, or how it could have failed if it had. And he could only assume that she had been the one named "Derpy" on Twilight Sparkle's rather vacant list, which was a curiosity as well.
He was so distracted by her that he missed Pinkie Pie's exuberant waving and ended up losing what little time he had for greeting anyone in the room, because — before he knew it — he began to hear the approach of many hooves. Stepping out of the way, which saw him standing a few feet away from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, he turned to face the entrance and waited for the changelings to arrive. As they grew louder, and Twilight Sparkle's voice began to carry over the din of their footfalls, he did his best to steel himself for what was ahead of everyone present.
The room fell silent when the changelings began to enter the room, headed by Chrysalis and Twilight Sparkle. The former of the two immediately directed them to congregate in the center of the room, before she and Twilight Sparkle moved aside to allow them room to do so, drawing near to his own position. As the changelings followed Chrysalis' order, he focused his attention on Twilight Sparkle, to see how she was doing. To his relief, she seemed to be doing fine despite looking a little tense.
The aforementioned princess noticed him and closed what little distance remained between them, who managed a small smile as she said, "I'm glad that you could make it." Her expression quickly turned to one of concern, however. "Wait... If you're here this early, have you had a chance to eat?"
Marshall rubbed the back his neck sheepishly, partly because he hadn't noticed his stomach's mild complaints until her query. "Oh, um... I might have had too much on my mind and totally forgot?"
Twilight Sparkle frowned. A few seconds later her horn lit up, and shortly thereafter Marshall found a muffin and an apple floating before him, which were supposed to be for the changelings. Looking at her with uncertainty, he asked, "Are you sure?"
Before Twilight Sparkle could reply, Chrysalis came up to them and remarked, "Awfully confident, aren't we?"
Turning her head away from Marshall, in order to regard Chrysalis, Twilight Sparkle evenly said, "We can't forget our own needs while trying to address yours."
While Chrysalis simply snorted at that, rather than make a verbal retort, Twilight Sparkle returned her attention to the fore and snuck Marshall a wink. He could only stare blankly in response, wondering what had inspired her to do that. Before he could really think about it, or Twilight Sparkle recognize his lack of acknowledgement, their attention was drawn back to the changelings when Chrysalis raised her voice and told them to eat what was being offered to them.
Marshall and Twilight Sparkle turned to face the center of the room as most of the changelings tentatively began to move toward the ponies that were going to try and feed them, which prompted the pony on the stage to start playing music again. Some were more eager or fearless than others, though, while a number remained where they were for one reason or another. Marshall didn't know what to do except to watch what was happening from the sidelines, for the time being, so he decided to relieve his hunger while he was doing that, since returning the food that he had been given probably wouldn't be a good idea.
The apple was delicious, and a cause of some distraction as he watched changelings eating apples and muffins, being amused by games, toys and an entertainer, dancing to music, and showing off clothing. While he was worried about their success in general, he couldn't help focusing on Rarity in particular. Unfortunately, she and the changelings with her were hard to see beyond the heads of the changelings between them, so he wasn't as certain about her performance as he was about the groups that he had a better view of.
His attention was drawn away from trying to get a better look at Rarity when his vision seemed to become faintly tinted by the color purple, and at the same time he noticed that the music had been significantly dampened. Even as he began to turn his head to regard Twilight Sparkle, and noticed that the tint came in the form of some kind of magic-generated veil, he heard her ask, "How come they like the food so much? Was there some reason for why you didn't like Applejack's apple fritters when you were masquerading as Cadence?"
Having seen the changelings eating the muffins and apples heartily, yet not knowing that there might be anything strange about it, Marshall's attention switched to Chrysalis, who looked bored and stared ahead as she answered Twilight Sparkle's question. "Because emotion does not bond well with most foods, being as transient as they tend to be. However much love your friend had imbued her apples with, it had almost been lost entirely when she had sliced and diced them. Whatever she might have felt about those fritters of hers afterward, I can assure you that her love for them had not been noteworthy."
Seeing Twilight Sparkle become preoccupied with her thoughts in response to Chrysalis' answer, Marshall turned his own thoughts back to the changelings. Now that he knew that two of the feeding methods were working, he began to wonder if the methods used by Pinkie Pie and the DJ were having any effect — and, if they were, how it was possible. While the changelings seemed to be enjoying themselves, that didn't necessarily mean that they were being fed.
Hearing someone let out a huff from his right, he looked over and saw that Rainbow Dash was still unhappy. In fact, with her forelegs now being crossed, her mood probably hadn't improved since his arrival. Curious about her behavior, and wondering if he could do anything to help, he said, "Rainbow Dash?" When he had her attention, he asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Nope!" Rainbow Dash readily denied, who snapped her attention back to the ongoing activities. "There's totally nothing wrong about becoming friends with the changelings. It's going to be so awesome."
Marshall stared at her with an incredulous expression, wondering if she had seriously tried to hide how she really felt about the situation or not. Catching movement beside her, from Fluttershy, he decided to give her a questioning look, in the hope that she might have — and share — some insight into what was going on. The pony in question looked uncomfortable under his gaze, who hesitated and glanced at Rainbow Dash before quietly and reservedly supplying, "She's just going to miss having them as enemies."
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash complained, though not with any real heat to it.
Confused, Marshall queried, "You don't want things to change?"
"Yes!" Rainbow Dash declared, before realizing what she had said. Quickly turning to face him, she extended a foreleg toward him and hastily said, "No! I mean..." With a sigh, she lowered her foreleg and gaze, appearing to debate with herself internally before determinedly looking him in the eyes and elaborating, "Look, I don't want us to be attacked by bad guys, but almost all of them have been so, so..." She threw her forelegs into the air with exasperation and exclaimed, "Lame!"
Marshall furrowed his brow and cocked his head. "Lame?"
With a single, sharp nod of her head, Rainbow Dash rose to her hooves and passionately explained, "They're way too powerful, can play around with our minds, are hard or impossible to hit with anything that isn't magic, or have a way to steal our ability to fight them. It's not fair!"
"But the changelings..." She went on, as she pumped her wings and took to the air. "Now that was a fight!" She began to zip and swoop around the immediate area, throwing punches and kicks that were accompanied by both articulate and inarticulate shouts, before ending her aerial shadowboxing with an uppercut. "It was awesome!"
"There we were," she continued, seemingly lost to some memory as she extended a foreleg and swept it horizontally, "outnumbered and surrounded, having trouble telling friend from foe, and we got to kick so much flank." She shook her head a few seconds later, as she came out of her reverie. She returned to the floor, where she proceeded to cast an accusatory glare toward Chrysalis. "Then we were outnumbered and surrounded... again."
Absently, Marshall noticed that Fluttershy was looking away, perhaps in embarrassment. When he turned to see what Chrysalis' reaction would be, she appeared to be ignoring Rainbow Dash, unless she was actually too absorbed with watching her changelings to catch what had been said. Seeing that, his gaze fell upon Twilight Sparkle, who was regarding Rainbow Dash with a flat, half-lidded stare.
He returned his attention to Rainbow Dash after a few seconds of consideration, inspiration bringing a thoughtful expression to his face. "Would you still enjoy a fight with them when they're not an enemy?"
Rainbow Dash stared at Marshall blankly. "Huh?"
Catching on to what was being suggested to her friend, Twilight Sparkle pointed toward the changelings that were either waiting or loitering in the middle of the room and said, "Why not have a friendly spar?"
One could see all the pieces falling into place behind Rainbow Dash's eyes, who eventually grinned and remarked, "Well, it'll certainly beat sitting here and doing nothing."
She wasted no time in going over to the unoccupied changelings and challenging them to a fight, warning that they better not hold back because she certainly wouldn't do the same. Many of them swung their heads back and forth, exchanging various looks between themselves, before a dozen or so suddenly leapt forward and tried to dogpile her. With a whoop of joy, she rocketed into the air to avoid the attack and began to taunt them, which spurred them to recover from their initial attack faster and sharpen their focus on her.
Marshall watched as a couple more changelings joined in from other parts of the room, concerned for Rainbow Dash but also amused. After taking a moment to look about himself, he saw that Twilight Sparkle only seemed to share his amusement, while it appeared to be concern in Fluttershy's case. Chrysalis, on the other hand, had a slight frown on her face as she watched the fight above their heads, but he could tell — somehow — that it didn't reach her eyes. It really made him wonder what she was thinking.
With far less changelings obscuring his view of Rarity, he ignored the spectacle that Rainbow Dash was putting on to see how she was doing. He didn't know if it had been happenstance, or if Rarity had somehow sensed his attention, but she paused and looked at him as soon as his gaze fell upon her. Offering her a wave and a questioning look, she smiled and waved back, assuring him that everything was working out fine on her end of things.
He only got to enjoy his relief for a few seconds, though, because a blast of confetti and accompanying cacophony of party horns diverted his attention to Pinkie Pie. She was saying something while standing beside her cannon, which had a falling trail of confetti between it and one of the changelings, who was trying to shake off what they could. Quickly following that, he noticed a nearby group of changelings collapse into a tangle of limbs a split second after he had detected their laughter. They had been in the middle of playing a game that appeared to be like Twister, and he couldn't help wondering if it was played differently by quadrupeds.
A few seconds later he noticed a couple of changelings cross the room, one from Derpy's group and two from Applejack's. They exchanged a few words between themselves before moving on, to try out the other caterer of tangible food. Being reminded that he had a sample from both, he looked between the thrice-bitten apple and untouched muffin before deciding on the latter, to see how it would compare.
As soon as the first bite came into contact with his tongue, the taste made his eyes widen of their own accord. When the shock wore off, he closed his eyes, cupped one side of his face, and hummed in delight as he savored the muffin's flavor. While he may not be able to enjoy love as the changelings did, he could certainly enjoy it in the traditional sense. If Derpy ran or worked at a bakery in town or something, he knew exactly where some of his stipend would go — just as soon as he could find it.
After enjoying a few more bites of the muffin, a flash of light on his left made him wince. Before he could turn his head to investigate, Twilight Sparkle trotted past him, carrying a first-aid kit in her magic. He watched as she approached Fluttershy and offered her the first-aid kit with an understanding smile, saying, "Here you go, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy's concerned visage brightened upon seeing the first-aid kit. She quietly thanked Twilight Sparkle as she accepted it, then hurried over to the nearest changeling that had been downed by Rainbow Dash. Several of them littered the floor by that point, and their mixed expressions of pain and contented satiation proved to be a more troubling image than if they had merely been in pain. Even though he didn't know Fluttershy all that well, it was no wonder why she would want to attend to their injuries, considering how conspicuous one of her most prominent personality traits happened to be — what with being the element of kindness, and all.
Twilight Sparkle rejoined him, although she chose a spot that was close to where Rainbow Dash had once sat. She looked optimistic as she observed the happenings in the room, and he returned the sentiment with a smile when she turned to him and silently probed for his own appraisal of the situation. While he hadn't been able to keep track of all of the changelings, mostly due to a lot of them not being satisfied with one source of food and shuffling about as a result, he was fairly confident that none were going unfed, and that they were getting food from every pony offering it. He couldn't be sure, but he suspected that the DJ had been the most effective of the lot, who — even then — had the largest crowd of changelings. That and her music piqued his curiosity, so he made a mental note to pay her a visit when he had some free time.
When he looked to see if he could glean Chrysalis' feelings on the situation, he was surprised to see her face and comportment expressing resignation clearly enough for him to discern it. There seemed to be something more to it, but it was hard to tell in profile. He tried to figure out what someone in her position would be thinking and feeling at that moment, to have a better idea of what to say to her, or if he should say anything at all, but he simply didn't know enough to commit to anything.
In the end, after glancing at his mostly-eaten muffin, he finished it off and procured another from one of Derpy's carts, which he offered to Chrysalis in an attempt to cheer her up. She was caught a bit off guard by the gesture, in part because of the bit of love that he was unknowingly projecting toward her, but she recovered her composure quickly and accepted it. Rather than eat it right away, she stared down at it for a time, her expression blank, before closing her eyes and easing the entire thing into her mouth.
He watched as she chewed the muffin languidly, barely able to see her jaw move. When she finally swallowed, she opened her eyes and stood up, adopting a more regal deportment and training her gaze on the center of the room. Softly, but clearly enough for himself and Twilight Sparkle to hear, she stated, "This will be enough."