//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Courtesans // by GaPJaxie //------------------------------// Shining didn’t have to say a word. He glanced at Double, and she fled. Like an insect on the walls, she scuttled out of the dining room, through the hallway, across the foyer, and up to the big oak door that was the suite’s primary entrance. She unlatched it, pulled it open a crack, and slipped into the hall. The door shut behind her with a thump, leaving her in a crystal hallway that was beautiful and cold and empty. There were no guards in sight, so she squeezed into a corner by the doorway to wait. Her wings buzzed every few seconds, as though she couldn’t quite clear a bit of dust from inside their casing. Half an hour later, the door swung open and Cadence emerged. Double Time scrambled to her hooves, and had a fraction of a moment to catch her expression. Cadence’s eyes were bloodshot, and she’d scrubbed away her makeup. “He loves you,” Double blurted out before Cadence could speak. She spoke so quickly her words ran over each other. “He truly loves you, and the only thing in the world he cares about more than you is your daughter. I can see it around him. And around you too. He’d never do anything to hurt you, and there’s no mare in the world who could steal him. If he did something wrong it’s because he didn’t have a choice. Please don’t blame him.” Cadence considered that a moment. She worked her jaw and let out a breath. Then she stepped the rest of the way out into the hall, carefully shut the door behind her, and turned back to Double. “Why would I blame him?” She asked, and when Double didn’t answer, she continued: “What did you think I was blaming him for?” Double froze to the spot, her gaze locked on Cadence’s face. “I…” she finally managed. “Nevermind. I’m sorry. I thought I’d caused—” “Oh, no. No.” Cadence’s voice, though quiet, developed a sharp edge. “There’s no neverminding your way out of this one. You decided to stick your nose into my marriage. So now you’re going to answer the question. Why would I blame Shining?” “He…” Double cleared her throat. “He let me out of my jar.” “He let you out of a prison that couldn’t hold you anyway, in favor of you being closely watched by the strongest warrior in the kingdom.” She smiled, and lines formed around her eyes. “Try again.” “We were flirting.” “Were you?” Cadence tilted her head. “Sounded to me like you telling old stories. And right now it sounds to me like you’re intentionally guessing wrong. So how’s this, changeling? Guess wrong one more time, and we can work out your punishment right here and now.” Double’s eyes flicked over Cadence. She saw Cadence’s pose stiffen, and her wings part from her sides. “Because he slept with Queen Amaryllis.” “There’s an honest answer.” Cadence laughed—a thin sound. “I could blame him for the fact that he’s having an affair with your queen. I could blame him for the fact that he got her pregnant, and now there’s little grubs crawling around with blue fuzz on their backs. But that would be petty. He didn’t have a choice. And I know he’d dump her in a second if I asked.” She shook her head. “No. No. The thing I’m mad about isn’t that Shining gets up on Amaryllis’s back. It’s that he forgives her for it. It’s that no matter how many horrible things she does to us, he doesn’t have it in his heart to hate her. Just like no matter how many of his friends you murdered, all it takes is one ‘I’m sorry’ and you’re chatting like old war buddies. And I am mad about that. I am. But I don’t blame him.” Still with a smile on her face, Cadence looked right into Double’s eyes. “I blame you.” Double needed a moment to find an answer. Her hooves were rooted to the spot, and she stood stiff like a statue. “I meant everything I said to him. About the war. I regret what I did.” “Do you?” Cadence licked her lips and again gave a small shake of her head. “But you don’t regret it enough to leave Queen Amaryllis’s service. Not enough to undo what was done. You seem okay with the fact that she’s still camping on my land and screwing my husband. So would it be fair to say that you regret doing all those horrible things, but not quite enough that you regret winning?” Double said nothing. Her face was a blank mask. So Cadence spoke instead. “You’re such a good person, Double. Just like Queen Amaryllis is a good person. All you reformed changelings are so sweet and fuzzy. But it seems like your goodness only lasts up to the point you’d have to give up something real. After that, there are reasons. You say you love now, and maybe you do, but only because it gets you what you want. You are a whore. And your queen is a whore. And no matter how much Shining knows it’s just about the money, deep down, he wants to believe you have a heart of gold. But you don’t.” Barely above a whisper, Cadence finished: “You don’t deserve his forgiveness.” Double’s wings buzzed. She lowered her head. Once again, a long silence hung between them. Double broke it. Her eyes stayed on the floor. “I can teach you a more cost-effective technique to restrain changeling prisoners. Force bubbles work well, but only very powerful casters can create them. There are easier ways. I can teach you, and I can teach your guards so this never needs to happen again.” “Why would you do that?” “I don’t…” Double lifted her head slowly, as though it bore a great weight. “I don’t want to go to jail. And you’ve got my number—I’m not talking my way out of this one. So if you’re a little lenient, I’ll help you.” “Heh.” Cadence shrugged. “Fine,” she said. “Fine.” That night, in her cell in the dungeon, Double Time made a noose out of the bedsheets. She strung it up from an iron bar on the ceiling, and stared at it for a time. Then she took it down and went back to sleep. In the morning, there were half a dozen prison guards for her to train. The techniques that Double taught were not complicated, but it was important they be executed precisely. She was their only changeling volunteer, so she trained every guard herself. They would take turns trying the special bindings that removed her power to shapeshift, and she would demonstrate her escape if they’d gotten it wrong. After several full days of training, the first half-dozen guards could do it reliably. Shining Armor inspected their work, but Double Time didn’t speak to him while he was there. She was careful never to speak with him, except indirectly, and to never be alone with him. The next week, she trained another half-dozen guards. The week after that, she had a class of eight. Then more. After each training session, she went back to her cell and sat alone. In the second month of her captivity, she was summoned to the palace baths. She’d never been on that particular level of the Crystal Palace before. One entire wing of the building was given over to an elaborate classical bathhouse, with dozens of pools of varying temperatures and cute little bath-ponies with exotic soaps. When Double arrived, she found two crystal ponies and two changeling guards watching the entrance. They told her to wait in the corner until the princess wanted her. From the edge of the bathhouse, she could see Cadence, Shining, and Amaryllis all in a pool together. Amaryllis was talking with great energy, making elaborate and excited gestures as she spoke. The tiles and sounds of hissing steam distorted her voice, and Double couldn’t quite make out the words. Her shell had turned white though, so the water must have been quite hot. Eventually, they all got out of the bath. Amaryllis kissed Shining, then she kissed Cadence, then they all said a few more words and she left. Cadence and Shining whispered privately to each other for a few minutes after, and he left as well. Then Cadence called her over. “Do you know how to take care of changeling grubs?” “I’m not a nursery worker.” Double frowned. “I know the basics.” “Amaryllis left some grubs behind, and it didn’t occur to her that she should leave a nanny with them. She assumed we’d have one. But I have no idea how to raise an insect.” Still soaking wet, Cadence gestured at a side room near the baths. “They’re in there.” Investigating, Double found a small room that had been converted into a nursery. Flurry was there, along with a servant to care for her, and a half-dozen changeling grubs with blue stripes down their backs. Flurry was levitating her half-siblings through the air like a mobile, something the grubs found less delightful than she did. It took Double a few minutes to coax Flurry down and take stock of the situation. When she had, she emerged back into the baths: “I’ll need your help.” Cadence had a towel around her shoulders and was almost finished drying off. The look she shot Double could kill. “What’s the problem?” “They’re hungry. They need somepony to care about them.” She snorted. “I thought you shared love, these days.” “We do. But I’m almost empty myself. I’ve been alone in that cell downstairs for a long time.” She let out a breath. “And you’re the Princess of Love, aren’t you? You cured King Thorax of his eternal hunger.” “I cared about Thorax.” Double buzzed her wings. “You don’t care if children starve to death?” Cadence shut her eyes and rubbed her temples with a hoof. “Bring them over here.” Cadence took a seat by the side of the water, and one by one, Double brought the grubs to her. She played with them, learned their names, and watched them try to scuttle around on their stub-legs to eat a trail of leaves. They vomited acid on toys, then got scared of the acid smell, and ran to hide behind Cadence’s legs. Finally, after she’d played with them, Cadence’s horn would glow. The grub in front of her would radiate a soft pink, then get sleepy and curl up. Double took it away, and brought the next one. When she brought the fourth grub, Double said, “I saw Amaryllis kiss you.” “She’s just being polite,” Cadence explained, her tone stiff. “After all, I might be jealous that Shining gets to sleep around. So if I want, she’s happy to turn into a stallion and share the love.” “She…” Double put the grub she was carrying down. It latched onto a toy and started to drool. “She doesn’t understand what’s wrong with that. She’s from a culture where she’s literally the only one with a sex drive. I understand pony culture because I spent a lot of time with you, but she didn’t. She doesn’t understand romance or jealousy or attachment.” “I know. I know.” Cadence grasped the toy with her telekinesis, and the grub latched on all the tighter. “She asks questions like she’s a teenager who’s never had ‘the talk.’ Questions about love and sex and relationships and what stallions are supposed to look like down there. Apprantly she just learned the word ‘orgasm’ this month.” “Yeah, vespid doesn’t have a word for it. ‘Setijd’ means ‘pleasure derived from sexual urges’ but that can mean anything from an orgy to feeling happy because you thought about a pretty stallion.” Cadence shot Double a stiff smile. “I know,” she said again. Then she went back to playing with the grub. When it was fed, Double took it away and brought another. Then she asked another question: “What were you talking about? Queen Amaryllis seemed excited.” “Her experts—I’m sorry, the pony experts she kidnapped—told her that the average changeling worker drone is ignorant and illiterate. So she wants to build a university up in the hive, and hire all the best pony professors to teach there. And she asked for our help. Because we’re such good friends.” Double watched in silence. Her own shell was starting to turn white in places from exposure to the steam. “She really does think you’re friends. She thinks Shining is something fun the two of you have in common. My hive is just as ignorant about pony society as Thorax’s hive. We’re just as new to friendship.” “So Shining reminded me.” Cadence lifted her head to Double. “Does he feel anything for her?” “Some…” Double picked her words carefully. “Mild affection.” “She’s the mother of most of his children and he only feels mild affection?” She snorted. “I thought you were supposed to be good at lying.” Cadence fed the grub in front of her. When Double brought the last grub, she didn’t say anything. And when that grub was done, she stayed by Cadence’s side. “I’m running pretty low too,” she reminded her. “I don’t love you,” Cadence replied, but after a moment she added, “but a while ago, you mentioned two foals: Night something and Sapphire. Do they love you?” “I uh… yes.” Double cleared her throat. “But they’re down in Canterlot.” “You said their parents abused them. I asked somepony to look into it. Apparently you weren't lying about that, so they’re on a train from Equestria right now. I can fix what’s wrong with their parents, and they can be a happy family again.” Cadence licked her lips, and looked down at the last grub sleeping in front of her. “Can you wait another day or two?” “Yeah,” Double said. “That would be fine.” “Feather!” the little ones shouted, piling in on top of Double Time. She’d assumed the form of Feather Dust before they arrived, and she wrapped them up in a tight hug. “Mom and dad said you were coming back after all, and we got to ride on a train, and there are ponies outside made of diamonds and stuff, and there’s a princess right there!” Cadence was right there. She gave the children a hug too. What was supposed to be a thirty-minute visitation with the princess stretched into a whole day. Double Time got to take care of Night Watch and Sapphire, and even introduced them to Flurry and the changeling grubs. Cadence cleared her schedule so she could spend all the time she needed with their parents. When she finally worked her magic, the parents cried. They hugged their children tighter than they ever had and told them they were sorry. Double Time watched that hug, and eyed the bond between them. Then she told the children goodbye, and left. Cadence found Double Time upstairs. The grubs weren’t allowed in the royal suite with Flurry, so they got their own nursery up the hall. Double stood guard outside it. “They’re gone,” Cadence said. “I’ll check in with them in a few months to make sure everything is okay, but I’m not worried.” “You turned them into totally different ponies.” Double looked away from Cadence, staring down the palace’s wide hallways. “I’ve never seen them care like that.” “I didn’t.” Cadence smiled gently. “Everypony has the potential to love. They only needed a little encouragement.” “Well, good. You did your pony princess thing, I got fed for a few more weeks. Everyone wins.” Cadence’s smile faded. “I saw… that is, when you left, you didn’t seem particularly happy.” “Do I often seem happy?” “No, but I saw you with the little ones. And their parents told me about how long you pretended to be a nanny.” Cadence bit her lip. “I… might have misjudged—” “You judged just fine,” Double snapped. “I am a whore. I am literally a whore. I paid for rent in Canterlot by getting ponies to fall in love with me for an evening, and that costs two thousand bits. And you’re right. I have killed a lot of ponies. And no, I don’t regret winning. Winning is the natural state of creatures who come into conflict with you, because you are weak, and your husband is incompetent.” Cadence pulled her head back and grimaced. But she didn’t rise to the bait, and after a few moments of consideration, she gave a level nod. “I will expect you to continuing caring for the grubs as long as they’re here.” “As you wish,” Double said. She still didn’t look at Cadence. Double was in the grubs' nursery when the door handle turned behind her. By the time the latch clicked open, she was a crystal pony mare, dressed in a servant’s uniform. “Hello?” Shining Armor called, pushing his way into the room. The grubs were on the floor, curled up in little pools of changeling resin or playing with half-melted toys. “Ah! Your highness.” Double bowed in the traditional fashion. Her voice had a hint of an accent, suggesting she was around during Sombra’s reign. Shining gave her a long stare, then said: “I know it’s you, Double.” Somewhat sheepishly, Double stood up and reverted to her natural form. “Then, with respect, I shouldn’t be alone with you. Cadence wouldn’t like it.” “I won’t be long. I only…” With an almost helpless shrug, he gestured at the grubs. Double nodded, and her horn glowed as she levitated one of the grubs up to him. “Do you know their names?” “Um. No.” He held the grub delicately, like the slightest jostle might hurt it. With half a laugh, he added, “I suppose I should know my own children’s names.” “Changeling queens lay eggs in batches of ten thousand. Learning all of your children’s names may be impractical. But this one is named Cheval.” Double Time reached up to grasp Shining’s hooves, showing him the correct way to hold the grub. “It is a play on words. In vespid, it means ‘horse’ but it is phonetic with another word that refers to an archaic type of mirror.” “Horse-mirror?” Shining smiled, and grub clung to his leg. Then it started to drool. “Oh, uh. Is its drool supposed to burn?” “Yes. It’s acidic.” Double reached out to take the grub back, but Shining waved her away. “Well, it doesn’t burn that bad.” He tickled the grub's back with a hoof, and it let out a high-pitched squeak. Finally he coaxed it into letting go of his leg, and with his telekinesis, he levitated it up in front of him. “What’s he like?” “What’s she like,” Double corrected. “And… playful. She can’t throw her toys yet, but she likes to headbutt them across the room and fetch them. Sometimes, when her playmates knock a toy away, she’ll bring it back to them. She gets upset when they don’t understand. She wants to play fetch.” “I liked tossing a ball around when I was little,” Shining said. He hugged Cheval up against his chest, letting her little legs cling tight to his coat. “Will she be like me?” “She’s got a fuzzy blue stripe down her back.” Double glanced at Shining’s mane. “That wasn’t a giveaway?” “I know she inherits from me in the biological sense, but…” He let out a long breath. “Changelings aren’t ponies. Will she have my sense of right and wrong? Or… my talents? I couldn’t learn transformation magic to save my life.” “I don’t know. My father was a unicorn wizard, and eggs in my clutch were much more likely than average to become spellcasters, so the inheritance isn’t entirely superficial. But I’m told my father was also an honorable, honest pony. So.” She shrugged. Shining Armor chuckled, watching Cheval crawl up his coat and over his shoulder. “Not all changelings are liars.” “No, some of us are stupid.” “King Thorax is honest.” “See previous statement.” Double laughed. “Just because he’s the savior of our species doesn’t mean he’s clever. I’ve heard him speak. He is sweet as an apple, and sharp as an apple too.” “Yeah yeah. I’ve been thinking of having him over. Cadence likes him. But whenever he and Amaryllis are in the same room, things get tense.” Shining picked up Cheval, and she cooed softly in his telekinetic grip. “Territorial instinct or something.” Double shook her head. “Would it be fair to say that what you’re really asking is, ‘am I this changeling’s father’?” “I…” Shining bit his lip. “I suppose it is.” “In vespid, the word for ‘parent’ literally means, ‘someone who loves the children in their care.’ Grubs that aren’t loved starve to death. Every changeling knows that. And we look at ponies, and we see parents who love their children. And we think that makes perfect sense. That’s what parents are. How could it be any other way?” With a nod of her head, she indicated the grubs. “If you raise them as your daughters, and if you love them, and if they see, and smell, and taste your love, then you will be their father. And if you don’t, they’ll be one of ten thousand changeling drones who shares your bloodline but doesn’t think of you as family.” “Nice speech.” Shining chuckled again, and carefully put Cheval down. “But I don’t think Cadence would like it very much if we adopted six grubs.” “Probably not,” Double agreed. “How long are they going to be here?” “I don’t know. Until Amaryllis comes back I suppose.” Double frowned. “But just to double check, Amaryllis did say she was coming back to get these grubs at some point, right?” Shining froze. Double’s eyes narrowed, and she raised her voice. “Are you completely sure that these were a loan and not a gift?” "You can't..." Shining looked at the door. “You can't give children as a gift. Right?" The next time Double saw Cadence, she was crying.