//------------------------------// // Awakening (Morpheus) Part 1 // Story: dC/dt ≠ 0 // by I Thought I Was Toast //------------------------------// Changing Times’ Notes: I do beg your pardon for the abrupt end to the last report, but Princess Twilight and I agreed that it would be best for Prince Morpheus to continue off of where we ended. There were essentially two sides to the riots after all, and it would be unprofessional of me to leave out the lesser known crisis in Ponyville. This report is dedicated to those events – as well as the ones that happened immediately preceding the riots in Manehatten. Awakening: A Report by Prince Morpheus of House Sycadia Before the obvious question, no, ve cannot accurately describe the Chrysaling as ve morphed within our cocoon. Whatever happens, ve do more than simply rest and wait for the transformation to occur. I was not conscious, and ve were not connected to the hivemind in a manner that ve could analyze or summarize. If ve had to guess, the process might be the closest a changeling can come to truly dreaming as a pony thinks of it. To me, the memories are hazy enough as to be nonexistent. Alas, I cannot attest to whether I actually dreamed, or if I experienced the kind of deep dreamless sleep ponies describe as a tranquil void. The blueness came upon me like a sudden shift in the tides, rousing me from my stupor. It tasted cold and sour and just a little bitter – pouring rapidly into my heart like dirty slush. Why the panic? Why the dread? There were better colors. I missed the calming green and the quiet black, although my favorite was the lavender. The lavender tasted of oranges and made me think of daffodils and daisies. But, no, the blue was here, and I squirmed in discomfort at the feeling. Squirmed? I could do that? I wriggled somewhat, surprised to find more than color and thought and feeling. There was a head – which I craned about to try and see the rest of me. Said head must have been attached to a neck if that were the case, and by extension that would imply I had a body to ground the neck. What about limbs, though? Bodies had those, right? I was somehow in a body amongst all this color, right? I twitched. One. Two. Three. Four— No, that was the neck. There was four. And five paired with it. Six was hiding in the back, and I missed the compliment to three, so that was seven. Oh! There were also two more beneath four and five! Fascinating! That made nine total! Wait! Two more! That made eleven! Weird. For some reason that sounded like far too many. I had never had a body before, though, so what did I know? I flexed them all again – trying to figure out what was what – and accidentally hit a wall. Wall? Walls were not a thing in the color. Why was it there? How did I know what it was? Come to think of it, how did I know what a body was? There was only the colors and— The blueness struck once more, and ve were jarred awake. On instinct, ve opened my eyes and pushed at the wall. Ve extended my horn to stab at the semi-rigid membrane before us – tearing into it, and freeing myself with a squelch. Beyond the lunge to break free, however, ve had no plans for the future, and thus I tumbled to the floor with a clatter. Snorting out the slime from my lungs, the smell of lavender and lilies filled my nostrils as I breathed in; colourful memories flittered around my stomach: the Chrysaling, the kiss... Twilight. My fetlock cavities clenched and unclenched at the memory, and I couldn’t help but smile— Wait. Why was I clenching more holes than usual? I glanced down, blinked, then opened my haws in case the slime on them was distorting my vision. Nope. That was definitely an extra set of legs. “I’m… an imperator?” I flexed the two new appendages momentarily before rolling my eyes upwards to stare at where my horn had been before. It was almost too short to see now, even fully extended. “Ve… didn’t expect this.” I thrummed and flicked an ear at the familiar yet different sound. The timbre was different in an indescribably subtle way that made me chirp my wings appreciatively before withdrawing them behind their shiny new wing cases. The cases themselves were an oddity, although I was familiar to the feeling. I’d never had them be my default before, though. Usually, I just shifted them in as I needed them. “Ve didn’t expect this….” Standing a little awkwardly at first, I quickly managed to stride to Twilight’s vanity. I put a hoof on the mirror, and stared at my reflection. Almost as an afterthought, I shifted – far faster and more fluid than I had ever shifted before. I barely thought as the emerald flames consumed me to leave Wicked Smooth behind. Back and forth I went, sometimes too quickly to even see the results. But the results didn’t matter. I knew who would meet me in the mirror every time without a shadow of doubt. “Ve didn’t expect this… but it seems so obvious in hindsight.” I smiled, shedding my guise – my other self – once more. Snow Flurry might have been first, but Wicked was always Twilight’s favorite. I had spent much more time as him than I did as Flurry and Quick Wit combined. Speaking of which… I craned my neck to look beneath me and tried to flex a particular muscle I normally had to shift in. “Hey! It’s actually there by default! Maybe that’s why I didn’t end up as Flurry? The real thing feels really weird compared to a shifted one, though. Perhaps ve’ve been doing it wrong all these years.” A knock sounded on the door. “My Lord, are you decent? I came running as soon as the alarm was tripped.” A brief pause. “T-there’s much we need to discuss.” I blinked. Had Hera just? No…. Hera had nerves of steel. “You mean, you weren’t sitting outside Twilight’s door twenty-four seven?” I laughed and looked back up at the mirror. With a flash of my horn, I incinerated the remaining slime that clung to me. “I-I tried to, but ve had to deal with your duties!” Hera stomped a hoof and yet the fractured echo remained. “Come in, then!” I thrummed. “Or should I leave? This is Twilight’s room, after all. Actually, I suppose that makes, ‘Where is Twilight?’ a far more important question. She was supposed to be— Hera? Hera, what’s wrong?” My most loyal friend lay prostrating herself before me as I turned to face her. “V-ve have made so many terrible mistakes in your absence, My Lord.” Her echo actually fractured, and I could briefly taste curdled milk and rubber before her filters rose again. “Ve failed to stop the other lords from learning of your incapacitation, and they’re making moves even as we speak. Right now, Lady Antiquity Antipathy is in Manehatten herself – apparently causing riots – and General Carapace was just confirmed to have left the hive with most of his forces.” “By the Azure Veil…” I exhaled. “Of course I’d come out to— Where’s Twilight, Hera? Ve’re going to need her to—” “V-ve’re afraid that’s not an option.” Hera claimed, a distraught chirp emanating from her wings. “Princess Twilight already teleported to Manehatten despite protests from both myself and Spike. She was last seen entering City Hall, and there are reports that she was talking to Lady Antiquity.” “Lies.” I found myself looming dangerously over Hera. “No!” Hera squirmed. “Brutal truth—” she vehemently hissed in Chitri, “—Ve were attempting to get someling to her side when there were explosions in the building. That was when the riots started, and ve lost contact!” I took a deep, deep breath, and I lowered myself to the floor – all six legs neatly folding together. My wings twitched within their cases, but I resisted the urge to open them. “Alright, Hera.” I bowed my head before the warrior. “We both need to calm down right now. Please stop prostrating yourself. I’m not mad at you so much as I’m mad at the circumstances we’re in. Today was supposed to be a special occasion. Twilight was supposed to be here – with me – when I came out, and instead she’s off in who knows what sort of danger because Antiquity made a move. I thrummed. “And I certainly don’t blame you for that. I’m sure you did all you could to hide my condition from the other lords. If anything, it’s our fault for not having a contingency for when someling crucial enters the third Chrysalling. Ve don’t exactly have any recent precedents set.” “No! It’s not your fault, My Lord!” Hera looked up, eye burning. “And it certainly isn’t yours,” I countered. “Now, who did you send to Twilight?” “Tibia T’ix.” Hera slowly rose into a normal salute – her muscles twitching every so often as she fought the instinct to grovel. I blinked. “Correct us if ve’re wrong, but isn’t Tibia a harvester?” Hera stood a little taller. “She’s a well proven harvester, but comes from a family too small to merit any sort of real attention or promotion. Her infiltration skills are lacking, but that just ensures the other houses aren’t monitoring her.” Ve mulled that over and frowned momentarily. “I suppose that makes a certain sense, although I would have really preferred you didn’t conscript anyling like that. She was never trained for infiltration.” “Forgive me, My Lord!” Horseapples and bugbits, Hera was on the ground again. “I told you I’m not going to get angry at you.” I sighed, pulling her to her hooves. “It’s not what I would have done, but it makes sense. Now stop that, really. I thought you were over this?” “The Chrysaling—” Hera started. “Changes nothing,” I snorted. Seemed like I owed Third Eye an apology. If I got this reaction just for the third iteration, I didn’t want to know how Hera would react to me entering the fourth. “By the First Father, I’m still just a changeling at the end of the day.” I rolled my eyes. “Now, if you’ll pardon me, ve need to get an update on everything.” My eyes glazed over, and the influx of information was both instantaneous and overwhelming. “Woah….” I stumbled back, catching myself on the wall. “Lyra never mentioned the speed increase. I can’t even parse the data it passes so fast. How does she even handle the hivemind like this?” “Lyra does not seem the kind to care for using her connection in the first place,” Hera tsked. “Well, let me try something smaller, then.” Ve began to dig through our connection with almost alarming speed. “Just the— the stuff on the— There! Ve got it!” Everything on the immediate situation in Manehatten suddenly blossomed before my eyes – maps, allied infiltrators and harvesters, mob movements, suspected agents of House Antipathy. All of it was before us. Ve could see Tibia was just about to enter the City Hall, and if ve looked closely enough— “Ahh! Who’s there?!” Ve paused. Sampled the voice. Compared it to our files. “Tibia T'ix?” I blinked at the sound of our voice – our thoughts – mixed with a chorus of others. “That’s… that’s new…. Tibia, can you hear us? This is Prince Morpheus.” The dot in the map of City Hall froze. “The prince?! Ahh! Noling ever told me the lords could do this! How am I supposed to—” Garbled static filled my head for about a minute or two. “—Okay. Okay, I’m calm now. I’ve got to be calm in the face of death. Surely the kindest, most noble of lords will understand why I—” And she cut off again. Ve had no idea why. “Tibia? Tibia, ve need you to calm down. Ve barely understand what’s going on as it is. Ve just—” Ve stopped the line of thought, unsure if anyling else was listening in. Clearly, ve had developed some form of telepathy: something above the normal connection to the hivemind. It was a vaguely… dirty feeling, honestly. The longer ve maintained the connection, the more our instincts cried out that something was off. Ve weren’t… ve weren’t supposed to be doing this with her…. Ve pulled back, gasping, and I began to cast a few message spells. “Sorry. Not sure what went wrong. Please stop panicking. I’m merely checking on you. Progress report?” There was an awkward period without a response. “Just entered City Hall. Got distracted by mob. As such, couldn’t afford communication. Pardon the break of protocol.” “All is forgiven. Find Princess Twilight quickly. Find out what’s going on. Serve her as proper nobility. Tell her…” I paused in my response. A million words wouldn’t be enough. “The Pinkie Promise was broken. She owes me orange blossoms.” Another pause for far too long. Finally, the dot on the map showed Tibia moving. “As you command, My Lord.” I blinked as ve let go of the data, glad I was already resting against the wall. “My Lord?” Hera tentatively approached. “Is everything alright?” “I— I don’t know,” I thrummed. “I have a substantial amount of questions for Lyra and Third Eye, though. There are a few crucial things ve wish ve knew right now.” My ear flicked as the phantom voice of a message spell filled it. “Prince of the Third Chrysaling. Found the Princess. Drugged but unharmed. Claims assassins come for you. House Scorpio. Be prepared. A certain melancholy entered the tone of the messages. “Regret. She can not return. Not in time for you. You must resist alone.” Then, a joyous undertone. “Her feelings, though. Her feelings are real. I can taste the orange. Rejoice! The improbable has become probable!” I smiled. Yes. Yes, it had. “Hera!” My stalwart guard saluted. I could taste the tangy ice cold orange juice of her anxiety and curiosity, and found it reassuring that she was letting me do so. Trying to reassure her in kind, I poured forth the sugary sweet mess of feelings that had rushed through me in those fateful moments right before the Chrysaling. The euphoric epiphanies. The joy of finding I had real friends. The hope. By the First Father, I had hope. It was an alien feeling – like I was suddenly freed from chains ve hadn’t realized were there – and it was too wonderful to let go of. To share it was to liberate. Thus, I took a candy cane pick to the iceberg of Hera’s dread and chipped away at it. The sea of orange juice surrounding the icy island churned at the sensation, curious. I took to that iceberg and toiled away. I hacked away until the frigid ice was no more – disintegrated and dissolved among the ocean of orange. Hera stood a little taller as she waited for my orders. I looked to her, letting my emotions linger with hers, and then smiled. “Order all the non-combatants to help evacuate Ponyville into Castle. And tell Wyrman and Spi to prepare a warm welcome for the guests we’ll be seeing soon. General Carapace did more than move his troops out of the hive.” “What should I tell Wyrman and Spi to expect?” Hera asked briskly. “Ve don’t know,” I sighed. “A group of assassins – either elite infiltrators or warriors. Knowing House Scorpio, they’ll be heavily modified, but I couldn’t tell you how. I leave it to you and them to prepare as you see fit.” I frowned, settling down on the ground. “I need to hog all of Webber’s attention right now. Ve need to figure out how I should handle this – if I can handle this. There’s a lot ve don’t know about my new capabilities, and any insight ve can gain in our limited spare time will be useful.” “As you wish, My Lord.” Hera bowed her head before returning to a stoic salute. “And make sure you let all the townsponies know I shall be leaving them in Castle’s capable crystals while I handle the situation outside.” I buzzed my wings. “That’ll stop any agents already in place from trying anything funny. They’re sure to know an assault on Castle is all but impossible from my reports, and ve’d rather they not do anything stupid just to force my hoof.” Hera exhaled with just a tiny amount more force than usual. “My Lord, that may not be—” “Ve know it isn’t wise – at least for me.” I shook my head. “I don’t care that it’ll put me at more risk, though. Twilight is trusting me to handle this, and I refuse to put anybody else in danger. By the hive, if I didn’t know you better, I’d be asking you to keep an eye on them all in Castle.” All of Hera’s plates clicked into place as she tensed. “Ve— Ve take it you aren’t doing that?” “Of course not.” I rolled my eyes. “I need you by my side.” Besides, ve’d be stupid not to want some form of further protection. “Then it shall be so.” Hera bowed with the tiniest of smiles lighting up her face, wafts of sugar filling the air. She turned to watch the door, and left us to our musings. Her horn lit up as she began to organize the others per my orders, and I sent a tiny jolt of pride through the air to encourage her. As the sensation hit her, she stiffened. Then – without looking back at me – she sent her own shock in kind. Much more than a tingle, it was like steel lightning, and I felt incredibly small before the weight of her pride and devotion. I knew Hera would follow me to the end of Equis; ve knew she would die for me here if she must. But to taste it all firsthoof… How did it take me this long to go through the Third Chrysaling? I resisted the urge to sniffle and instead settled myself back on the ground. My legs – both old and new – folded neatly together as I settled on the floor: our eyes glazing as ve began to consider the state of things. The analysts’ web of probability unfolded before us like a tattered sheet – thin, drafty, and uncertain. Understandable but unfortunate, given that my state of being had been kept secret. Knowing Webber, there was a continuation of his own work somewhere else, and a quick exchange of message spells granted us the coordinates ve needed. Ve blurred through the various nodes and connections of the hivemind to find him, and, upon our arrival, ve found a much more robust web in the middle of a flurry of editing – far too many changes occurring for Webber to be here alone. Perhaps he had invited the others? It would make sense for him to bring the others back in now that my Chrysaling had complete. Glancing over the web, almost all editing froze as ve began to adjust a few discrepancies – highly implausible assumptions, really. I could not control the masses with pheromones as far as ve were aware; nor did I have a new and overpowering urge for pony blood fueling my nonexistent eldritch powers. No, the only piece of information all the previously scrambling analysts had gotten remotely right was the mind reading – as evidenced by our encounter with Tibia T’ix. Ve found contemplation of that rather undesirable, however, and erased the notes on it just as quickly. That… that was something to test privately with Hera and Webber after a nice, long talk with Third Eye and Lyra. Right now, ve needed to focus on the assassins. The last of the editing – Webber, most likely – stopped as I dropped the bomb right onto the web. There were a few moments of complete stillness as ve outlined what I had learned, and then the web exploded with motion once more. New nodes and connections were woven into place while everyling began to ponder my new capabilities for the incoming attack. Ve watched as the best analysts under my command begin to work their magic. Ve corrected them here or there as the web branched almost exponentially, but it was difficult to keep up with everything. Even with our newfound processing power, ve couldn’t keep up with the sheer number of analysts, quickly settling for simply trying to follow their lines of thought. There was an endless stream of queries about my state as an imperator, all of which were sent to me via message spells. My ears had to twitch almost violently to catch them all, and it still sometimes took several attempts for a question to come through. Worse, ve needed time to formulate appropriate responses – sometimes running a few simple magical tests with my horn – before inserting them into the relevant points on the web. It made us painfully aware of how limited our time was. I fidgeted where I sat, tapping my forehooves into the floor even as all six hooves drummed their fetlock cavities open and closed. “My Lord!” Oh, look. Hera was saluting me again. How long had ve been sitting here? It felt like forever, but the sun had yet to move outside the window. “The alarms Spi and Wyrman set have triggered. The assassins have hit the southern outskirts of town.” I sighed, standing and looking in Twilight’s vanity once more. Raising a hoof to the mirror, I frowned as ve looked over the web one last time. An expanse of speculation, estimation, and questionably accurate simulations stood before me. Ve had no idea if it would help, but at least it helped ease my worries. There was no doubt I was stronger – only doubt on exactly how that was so. Guess I’d need to wing it. Turning, I strode through the door and Hera dutifully followed without a word. It was time to set the wheels of change in motion.