//------------------------------// // S3 CH 4: Their journey // Story: The Story of Twilight Glow // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Twilight let out a small squeal, checking her paper and quills, before looking across the table at Gilda and Thorax. Sitting between them was the captain, Lavender. The unicorn looked annoyed but was, mercifully, keeping her gaze down on a book she was reading. Apparently she was here to ensure things didn’t get ‘out of hoof’. Outside the tent, she could hear the majority of the rest of the camp, trying (and failing spectacularly) to keep quiet. She couldn’t help but be impressed at their loyalty to each other. No sooner had Thorax revealed himself that half the outpost seemed to have stirred itself, racing forward to vouch for his character. It wasn’t until after she and Moondancer had spent almost an hour assuring them that they had absolutely NO intention of turning the changeling in that they finally relented in letting her take notes while asking the changeling questions. Thorax, to his credit, hadn’t tried to flee. He’d nervously shifted forms at least a dozen times, but he hadn’t run. To her amazement, Gilda also seemed to have developed a warm spot for the changeling and had made sure to never leave his side. Satisfied that her preparations were all in order, she gave Moondancer a small smile, before turning to the two. “Okay, then. I’d like to begin with, well, how did you two meet?” Gilda sighed. “Yeah. When I got hurt? It wasn’t Legendary I ran into. It was Thorax, here. And less I ran into him, more he ran into me.” Twilight nodded and then glanced to Thorax. “Okay, then. Would you mind explaining everything, from the beginning?” He sighed, before nodding. “R-right. Um, you see...” “From the very, very beginning. Changelings, what are you, what do you need? Want? So on and so forth.” He paused, staring at her. “You… don’t know?” “No. We have very little information. I’ll… admit, it’s because we were kind of invaded by you. But we haven’t had very many opportunities. Most are locked up in Tartarus, but… we haven’t had any opportunity to speak with them.” He sighed, closing his eyes. Finally, he spoke up. “We feed off of… well… love.” She paused. “Wait, love? I mean… Chrysalis mentioned that she was feeding off the love of… that’s… like, the actual feelings?” “Yes,” he said softly. “We feed off of love. We need it to sustain ourselves. Without it, we… well… we… we die.” He opened his eyes and stared, sadly, at her chin, unable to meet her gaze. Twilight stopped, her mouth falling open. “O-oh. Then… when you invaded...” “Our hive had been operating under a… heavily rationed supply for a long time. We would send out scouts to bring back food, piece meal. But it wasn’t… enough. The weaker amongst us had already passed away. And… when I left, well...” “You left your hive?” “Yes. I… amongst the changelings I was… always a bit different,” he muttered, his eyes lowered. “I’m sorry. I just… all I’d wanted from the moment I hatched was a friend.” Moondancer snorted. “So, a meal?” “NO! I mean, yes, but...” he stopped talking, giving another soft sigh. “Not just… for that. We need love. But we don’t… love is edible, for us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t… want more. Friends. Companionship. It’s… nice. Yes, it sustains me, now. All of the kindness and friends I made. Its been wonderful. Equestria had always just been this… beacon of love. We could feel it. Taste it. It was so, so close. But we never attacked it. We picked at the edges, taking some ponies, but never… a full invasion. The queen had been planning one, but it just… it was going to be our final hope. Until about… two years ago. When the moon rose and refused to move? It just… changed. All that love that had glimmered so bright, a beacon to all of us, was gone. Dimmed. The queen had been planning for so long to invade, to harvest that energy. It was going to sustain us. To give us strength. To make the hive reborn. And when… when it fell...” Twilight stared, a hoof covering her mouth. “Many of us fell with it. The last two years… Within a year, our numbers were cut down to a fragment of what they had been. Less than a quarter of what we had been. The great… the great love feast that we had held on for? It was gone. And… and with it, so many of us gave up hope.” “Oh no...” He nodded. “We’re almost extinct. It… it happened not… not too long ago, I think. A hydra invaded our domain. Many of us fell and… and we...” Tears welled up in his eyes. “Our hive was growing more and more desperate. When the queen left on some secret mission, I left as well. I couldn’t… I fled while she was gone. I flew and I flew and… I went to the dragon lands. If I was going to die of starvation, I was going to do it alone. I couldn’t watch my hive fall apart around me. Even if we never...” Gilda frowned and slowly reached a wing out, draping it over the changeling, making soft shushing noises. “I’ll carry on from here, okay Thorax?” The little changeling gave a nod, sniffling while he tried to stop the tears, nestled in the griffon’s wings. “From there, he met me. I’d never heard of a changeling. Heck, I doubt any of you had,” she said flatly. “All I knew was I was hurt, and this weird little… bug guy came out of the sky and scared off this dragon that was about to roast me.” “… Wait, you scared off a dragon?” Twilight asked, staring at Thorax. She couldn’t imagine this tiny creature having scared off a squirrel, let alone a dragon. “Well… it was a bit of luck,” he mumbled softly. “I uhhh… I had watched the dragons for a while. There were… things even they didn’t want to mess with. Like a cockatrice. I turned into one of those and, well...” “Scared me half to death,” Gilda muttered. “I thought I was going to be turned to stone. Next thing I know, the dragon’s running off, I’m hurt and there’s this carapace covered pain in the rear laying in front of me. I couldn’t just leave him there, you know?” she said with a shrug. “I couldn’t fly. He was so exhausted he could barely stand. From there, well, we just kind of… helped each other, I guess. Crossing back to pony lands wasn’t easy, let me tell you. Especially with my wounds. Crossing the Celestia sea, then going through the forbidden jungle? Heck, you’d probably write a whole book or two on it, if you’re as big an egg head as Rainbow says.” “I’d actually love to. But… this brings together an interesting, well… issue. How did you end up here?” “I can answer that,” Lavender finally spoke up. Her eyes lifted and instinctively they all quickly stood at attention. “The fault for that lies with Red and Legendary.” “Oh?” Twilight asked. “Indeed. The two of them, despite direct orders, had traversed deeper into the Badlands while on a patrol. There had been… issues, due to strange behavior from a nearby tatzlwurm colony. Legendary was certain that there were dragons preparing for an attack and wanted to investigate. I told him no. Red went with him to ensure he behaved and didn’t go beyond his patrol.” It was then that Lavender sighed. “If it had just been Legendary, he would have returned. Instead, Red found… traces of our friends here. When she returned, she made a… convincing argument on why we should investigate and rescue whatever foal had gotten themselves lost in the Badlands.” Twilight gulped. “And… you gave into her, ma’am?” “Under most circumstances, I wouldn’t have. However, in matters such as intelligent creatures, even non-pony creatures, being in danger, we have a saying here in the Badlands. Rule number seven.” “What’s that?” “Don’t mess with the medic,” Lavender, Gilda and Thorax said in unison. The earth pony paused, before nodding. “Okay, good rule. So you found them?” “Yes. It… wasn’t easy, mind you,” Lavender said with a shake of her head. “When we did find them, they were half dead and--” “I was not!” Gilda said. “I was just on the brink of--” the unicorn turned her gaze on the griffon and she quickly shifted back to attention. “Err, right, ma’am.” “As I was saying. We found the two of them, there, in the midst of being cooked. They were lucky to have been caught by predators that didn’t prefer to eat their food raw. Rescuing them was… easy enough. Though nursing them back to health took time. Neither was in a proper state. We didn’t know what a changeling was then, either. To us, it just looked like a weird pony. We assumed it was another one of Nightmare Moon’s creatures.” Gilda sighed. “And well, once we were okay? We hit another hiccup. Namely, while I’m a citizen of Equestria now, I’d kind of disappeared for a while. And if I came back with a changeling? I don’t want to imagine what your Nightmare Moon would have done to him. He couldn’t go off on his own, either.” The changeling nodded. “I’d been getting fed by the friendship from Gilda.” “Ugh, you don’t have to say it like that. I barely tolerate you, bug boy.” The changeling chuckled and gave a small nod. “I needed to be near her. We stayed around here for a little bit. It seems most ponies don’t want to come down here, so it was perfect. And the ponies here were really nice. They’re used to seeing weird things, so I wasn’t that bad!” “And you were really helpful!” a voice called from outside the tent. “And sweet!” “A better cook than half of us!” “And you helped with watch duty!” Lavender sighed and placed a hoof to her face. “From there, it was merely paperwork. Gilda became an official member of our unit, receiving on the job training. Thorax, however...” “Doesn’t exist?” Twilight offered. The unicorn nodded. “Especially since we heard about… well...” “The attack. Thorax. Did you know about the attack?” Thorax shook his head. “No. I knew Queen Chrysalis was planning something back before the moon rising, but I wasn’t aware of any new plan. I’d assumed once the beacon of love was gone, any plans of invasion had gone with it. I don’t know what her plan was… but...” “But you and your kind were dying. No. Are dying,” Twilight muttered, staring down at the notes she had gathered. She was silent, going through them. Finally, she spoke up. “Desperation. If she was that desperate then that means… We’re… facing the extinction of the changelings, aren’t we?” Thorax nodded. “Yes. I… don’t know how much longer we have. But our… hive is dying. Bit by bit. I… wouldn’t be surprised to know they had already...” He closed his eyes, the tears from before finally falling. “One last question. The throne. You helped destroy it, didn’t you?” The changeling shrunk a little bit in his seat. Literally. “… The… throne is destroyed… isn’t it?” “The throne is in pieces,” Lavender offered. “It was my decision. As we had the only changeling in Equestria who was on our side, who we knew wouldn’t betray us, I made him assist us on the expedition. He took the place of Smooth while she watched the outpost.” “So that’s why Smooth was acting so odd...” Twilight mumbled. “Smooth is good at getting what she wants and a terrific negotiator. But she is a terrible liar,” the unicorn said. Her gaze shifted back to the pair. “However, you now know far more about this unit than anypony else. I had… hoped that your visit here would have been smoother. However, if you told any of this to anypony--” “I saw nothing,” Twilight said firmly. “No changelings, not even a hint of them. Moondancer?” The unicorn paused, before glancing back to Thorax. “You didn’t know about this attack? You swear?” “I-I swear on my life. If I had, I… I couldn’t put my friends in danger. Not after all they’ve done for me...” “… Twilight almost died in this attack. So if I find out you’re lying...” “Thorax isn’t a liar,” Gilda snapped, her wing pulling the changeling closer. “He’s a changeling, that’s effectively the same thing,” Moondancer snapped back. “He only transforms when ponies who don’t understand swing by!” The griffon stood up, puffing out her feathers in warning. “Listen here, pony. He’s not just my buddy, I owe him my life. We never could have wrecked that throne if not for him! You have no idea the stuff we ran into trying to get to it! So don’t you dare give him any grief, changeling or not!” The unicorn hmphed, before sighing. “Fine. FINE! I won’t say a word. There aren’t any changelings anywhere. Okay? Happy?” Twilight sighed. “Well then, now that I know the how and why, the big question is how.” “How?” Thorax asked softly. “How do we save your hive? Or, at least, what remains of it.” “… I… what? Err… you can do that?” “I need information. As much as possible,” Twilight said firmly, glancing back to the notes she’d taken. “The big thing right now is that your species is only seen as invaders. As scared as ponies are of Nightmare Moon, they know nothing about you aside from you attacked us. Ponies need to know WHAT you are, why you do what you do. What you NEED. Because, otherwise? You’re all going to die. You’re going to starve. I don’t want that. You don’t deserve that. Invaders or not, you were desperate and dying. There are better ways we can go about this. I just need your queen’s help. I need to know how to get through to her.” He nodded, keeping his head low. “I’ll try. It… might be hard.” “Definitely. But I’ll break through to her, one way or another.” “Trust me, if she can get Nightmare Moon and Tirek to listen to her, your queen is doomed...” Moondancer mumbled. “I hope so. Well… I guess I should explain how it works. We’re sustained by love. But… there are different kinds of love. For example, there’s romantic love, like Bouncing and Coldstone. That love is the strongest and tastiest. It’s what most changelings prefer to feed on. But it’s not needed. Then there’s the love of a friend...” he mumbled, before glancing to Gilda. “It’s… different. It’s weaker. But it’s enough to sustain a changeling. Then there’s sexual love, which is kind of like… it’s kiiiiind of stronger than romantic love, but it’s more like a quick burst of food, rather than sustained. It fills quickly, but in the end it usually fades just as quickly.” Twilight felt her cheeks burning, but kept her mouth shut. She saw Moondancer avert her eyes as well. Lavender didn’t look the slightest bit phased, just reading her book. “But… there’s a new love I learned of since coming here. Companionship.” “Like friendship?” the earth pony offered. “No. Like… sorta. I guess… it’s...” He put a hoof to his head. “What I get from everypony here. It’s… not quite friendship. It is, but it’s… different? I guess? These ponies… they trust me. And help me. And want to see me succeed. It’s… weaker than what I get from Gilda. But there’s so much more of it that it just kind of...” “Ahhhhh. I think I get it. It’s like… friendship from them, but best friendship from Gilda.” The griffon snorted. “He’s just imagining things. I’m totally NOT his best friend.” Twilight chuckled, before glancing over at the changeling held protectively under the griffon’s wing. Well, if Pinkie could have a thousand best friends, she didn’t see why Gilda couldn’t have two. She froze. “Do different ponies taste different?” “Huh? I mean… I guess? Sorta?” “And Chrysalis mentioned draining the magic of Nightmare Moon… how did that work?” Thorax froze. He closed his eyes for a moment before sighing. “It’s… we can drain energy, magic, all of that from a pony. While the love is what gives us strength, we can take more if the pony is more open to us. If they… care more about us. The queen can even drag it out of an unwilling pony, if needed. But that’s not subtle at all.” “I see. And changelings can’t feed off each other?” “What do you mean?” “You don’t have to steal love, correct? So… can you not love each other?” Thorax paused and shook his head. “Oh, no. It’s… changelings don’t… feel love. We take it, but we don’t have any to give.” The earth pony paused. “What?” “We can’t give it. Changelings aren’t… we aren’t the nicest creatures around. We… don’t have friends or anything like that. It’s why Gilda is so special to me. Ponies can be our friends, but we can’t really feel the same way.” “But you’re literally a friend right now,” Twilight said flatly. “You obviously care about her.” “Well, yes, because she’s… err...” “A meal?” Gilda offered. “...” The changeling hung his head in shame. “I’m sorry, we can’t--” “Oh buck that,” Moondancer said flatly. “You were in tears over your hive. You obviously care about them. And if you can care about them, you can definitely care about Gilda and the ponies here who are protecting you. And they ARE protecting you, because if Nightmare Moon ever found out about you, that’d be a one way ticket to Tartarus for everypony here.” Thorax’s eyes went wide. “W-what?! It would? B-but they’re not--” “And now you’re worried about them. And I’m sure--” There was a shriek from outside the tent. A moment later, a large, golden coated earth pony with a dazzling silver mane, wielding a massive battle axe that Twilight was CERTAIN had to have been made for a minotaur came barging into the room. Smooth was latched onto his side, trying to hold him back. The stallion leveled his gaze on Twilight and Moondancer. “Listen here, you vile minions of the false princess!” the pony yelled. “If you think for one moment that I’ll allow you to lay a hoof on this noble changeling, you don’t know who I am! I challenge you both to honorary combat! I’ll take both of you on at once!” Smooth gulped and looked up, giving a friendly smile. “H-heyyyy. Err, Twilight, Moondancer. Allow me to introduce you two to Corporal Legendary Destiny. Born under a sign and raised by an ancient tribe of legendary monks in order to free the world of a great, evil darkness that threatened to destroy the world...” Twilight nodded nervously. “O-oh?” She stared at that dangerous axe. “Only to have it turn out that the signs were wrong and it was his ten year old niece, not him, who defeated the monster. He uhhh… he’s really not that bad once you get to know him. Really. He just gets excited...” “Ah...” She eyed the torn bandages that had remained trapped in his mane and tail. “Well… Legendary. I’m happy to say that we have no intention of hurting Thorax or revealing him to anypony.” “Lies!” he said. “I will not be tricked so--” “LEGENDARY!” Lavender’s voice BOOMED through the tent, making them all stand at attention. “You will cease.” “But captain--” “You. Will. Cease. You will. Return. To. Your tent. And you will not. Come out. Until. I. Say. Are. We. Clear,” her tone made it very clear that it wasn’t a question. The stallion gulped, before slowly nodding. “Y-yes ma’am...” Slowly, he took a few steps back and left the tent, not seeming to notice that Smooth was still attached to him. “Apologies. Legendary is a fine soldier and warrior, but he is not the… most subtle of my troops. I would appreciate it if his comment on… false princess or not was ignored,” Lavender said. “Now, please continue.” “Of course, we didn’t hear anything like it. But, well… I think my point stands,” Moondancer said firmly. “Ponies incapable of love don’t breed that kind of devotion and protection.” “… Changelings are very good at tricking others...” The unicorn just stared at him. “So you’re telling me that you TRICKED them into liking you.” “… Y-yes...” “Okay, and how?” “Ummm… being nice, I guess. Helping them. Protecting them when I can, though I’m really not a fighter. Oh, and talking with them, listening to them, ummm...” “… So by being a friend. They do that for you too, right?” “Well… yes. Though I don’t know why...” he said gently. Moondancer sighed and face hoofed. “I’m guessing changelings aren’t exactly… smart, are they?” His cheeks burned bright red and he shook his head. “N-no...” “That’s not ‘tricking’ a pony into liking you. That’s being a pony that ponies like! You’re being a friend! You’re doing things for them, showing the way you care. And, in return, they like you back!” “Yeah, but I’m a changeling...” “So?!” “We can’t love. We feed off it.” “I eat flowers but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a pretty field,” she said flatly. “Having one thing doesn’t preclude you from enjoying others. I...” She paused and glanced to Twilight. “Err, sorry. This is usually your thing.” “What? No no no no no. You’ve got it handled, keep going,” the earth pony said encouragingly. “Right. Listen, just because they like you, doesn’t mean they were tricked. Are you lying to them? Pretending to be something you’re not?” she asked. Thorax shifted in place. “Not intentionally… But sometimes I do transform and--” “Do you use it to trick them or betray them?” He quickly shook his head. “What do you feel when you imagine one of them getting hurt? What do you feel whenever any of them DO get hurt.” “W-what?” “Imagine Gilda got hurt. Imagine she got burned up again, or worse. How does that make you feel?” The changeling squirmed, glancing up at the griffon. “I...” “Thorax, if you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to,” Gilda said protectively. “I… I just… my stomach feels like it’s twisting and turning into knots and...” His eyes lowered. “B-but that’s only because I need her for food. Not because I--” “Nope. Nope nope nope. You don’t need her, do you? You have the others here feeding you as well, right? It’s enough to sustain you, isn’t it?” Moondancer asked. “Well… I mean, I-I suppose, but--” “But what?” “I just...” “You don’t need Gilda. But the idea of losing her, it hurts, doesn’t it?” “… Yes...” “That’s what friendship is...” Moondancer mumbled, her eyes drifting to the earth pony next to her, writing away. “Friendship is caring about somepony else. Worrying about them. And seeing them get hurt? Knowing there’s nothing you can do to help? Almost having them die in front of you? That’s one of the worst, most painful things a friend can experience. You can feel that. That means you care about them. About your friends. It may not be easy, and you may still be learning. But you’re capable. And if you are, that likely means the other changelings are, too.” Thorax nodded, glancing up at the griffon. “I’d… never… really thought about it.” “Friendship is created by the bonds we form. It may not always make sense. It can come from all kinds of things. For example, facing a shared threat, like the dragon lands. Or it can be forged by smaller things, like cooking somepony dinner. But it has obviously been formed here. You all care about each other. THEY care about you. If something happens to any of you, you worry or get scared or any number of things. Because you’re friends. You all share a bond, you depend on each other, lean on each other. Most importantly, you trust each other to have each other’s back. So yes, Thorax, you definitely can feel love and care about them.” The changeling nodded, giving a small, weak smile. “You… really think so?” “I know so. Frankly, you’re kind of a dunder head for not realizing it before now,” she said frankly. “Heh. Bug brain,” Gilda said, giving the changeling a little nudge. “I’ve told him that a thousand times, but he always gets so whiny about it.” The changeling flushed, but smiled. “Though, I do have to worry about one thing,” Twilight mumbled. “If he’s here… Nightmare Moon may find out, eventually. Even if none of you ponies out him, the shades pop all over the country. It was how they found out about Gilda. What if they check on you and discover him?” Lavender glanced over. “They can’t, without us knowing.” “They can’t?” Twilight asked. “Why?” “Oh, oh! Let me!” Moondancer said giddily. She urked when Lavender turned her gaze on her. “Err, ma’am. Please.” “… Go ahead.” “Right!” the unicorn said once the captain lowered her eyes back to her book. “Okay, remember what I said earlier about her being a shadow weaver? That magic taps into the umbrum. The umbrum is the same thing that caused the whole shade thing to begin with. If any shade came within ten miles of here, she’d feel it in a second. Well, any umbrum type magic, but shades especially.” “Wait, so you can… do things that shades can do? Can… you teleport like they can?” Twilight asked softly, remembering the feeling of being teleported by a shade and shuddering. To her surprise, Gilda shuddered too. “I… can. But it is an unpleasant experience. I try only to do it during emergencies. But shades cannot come near without me noticing. On top of that, due to defenses I have placed, they cannot teleport into the camp very quickly. Ample time to hide Thorax. As of this time, there have been seven visits from the shades since his arrival, one coming right before your appearance.” Twilight nodded. “That’s… useful...” she mumbled gently. “So you can protect him...” “Of course. He is one of my unit, even if it is not official. I won’t allow him to be punished for something that is not his fault.” She flipped a page of her book. The earth pony blinked and stared at the captain. “… Wait… what if we’d been willing to tell on Thorax? On all of you?” “The world is filled with what if’s, Twilight,” Lavender said firmly. “I prefer to focus on the what is. Please, continue your work on the changelings.” The earth pony stared at the unicorn, shivering for a reason she suspected had nothing to do with the mare’s magic. “R-right. Okay. So, moving on, I need to know about...” ------ Twilight smiled, watching the fort disappear off in the distance behind them. She’d managed to gain more information than she thought she would have in the short week she was here. She’d also managed to finish a full report on the golden dust slug alongside Moondancer. She was sure it would garner a lot of attention towards that small but rare mollusk. They’d deliver it to the ruler first thing upon arrival, though she doubted the alicorn would read it. “So, what do you think?” she asked finally, glancing to Moondancer. “About?” “The changelings. Do you think...” The unicorn sighed and tapped a hoof on her chin. Finally, she shook her head. “I think you have a long, winding path ahead of you. It’s not going to be easy. Convincing the changelings to try and share love? To just be friends? Even worse, getting ponies to let themselves be fed on? You’ll need a pony who’s very, very good at making friends.” The earth pony nodded. “I know just the pony. But I more meant… well...” “… Yes?” “You didn’t trust them when we arrived. You kind of… you seemed very...” “… I didn’t. I still… don’t...” the unicorn mumbled. “But… I guess… some of them can be okay. But...” “But?” “You almost died, Twilight. And it wasn’t just their ruler who did it. One of them stabbed you. A lot of them would have stabbed you. Hurt you. You have any idea how it felt to be there and not able to help?” she mumbled. “How it felt to just… watch you… lose consciousness. To never know if you’ll wake up?” Tears welled up in the unicorn’s eyes. “You always… put yourself in so much danger. And changelings were one of the first to succeed. So yes, I think they’ll do okay. I even kind of like Thorax. But the species, as a whole? No. I doubt I’ll ever fully trust them or even like them. Because most of the species we know of? They were the ones actively trying to kill you. They almost succeeded.” Twilight stared at the mare, her mouth falling open. “I-I don’t… I didn’t… I just… I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I was just trying my best to--” “Twilight, you always try your best, no matter how much it hurts you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to watch sometimes?” “It’s brutal...” Spike muttered, finally speaking up from his seat. The earth pony stared at the two, lifting a hoof to her mouth. “I’m… sorry. I didn’t realize… I mean, I’m not… trying to do that much. I’m just one pony who--” “You’re not just one pony,” Moondancer mumbled. “You’re Twilight Glow. You’re one of the bravest ponies I know. You march headfirst into the jaws of death with… well. Frankly, NO training. You’re just like your brother! Reckless and stubborn! Without magic or, again, training! You’re WORSE than your brother!” Twilight flushed. “I’m not THAT bad.” “You would have gone out into the Badlands to get a sample of that sand crab if Bouncing and Gilda hadn’t volunteered to. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have.” The earth pony flushed. “I-I was just… I mean, I’m not… trying to do anything major. I’m just another earth pony. I’m just in the right places at the right time.” “Buck that,” Moondancer muttered. “You’re no more just ‘another earth pony’ than Spike is ‘just another dragon’,” she said, making the dragon’s chest swell with pride. “Most ponies can’t do what you do, Twilight. Earth pony or not, you have a magic all your own. And I think the only pony who can’t see that is you. I wish you’d just… stop… endangering yourself all the time. That’s all. You are so, so much more important than you realize. If we lost you... Just… please. For a little bit. Take it easy.” Twilight sighed before giving a nod. “I guess. I just… I’m just trying to do the best I can. The same as everypony else...” Moondancer sighed and shook her head. “Sometimes I really worry about you. I am thankful for one thing, though. At least you aren’t a unicorn.” “Oh? Why?” Twilight asked. “You’d probably be insane. You? With real magic? You’d have probably ended up as Celestia’s student and like. Challenged Nightmare Moon to a magic duel by now.” The earth pony snorted. “Oh please, I’d never be that foalish.” “… Or maybe you would have gotten the elements to work from the get go...” Moondancer mumbled gently. “Moondancer...” Twilight mumbled gently. “That’s not your fault...” “Maybe. But she broke them right in front of me. Maybe if somepony else had been there, she--” The unicorn was cut off by the earth pony’s sudden hug. “Moondancer. You are one of the greatest ponies I’ve ever met. You are hard working, dedicated and giving your all to try and make things as good as they can be. What is happening here is not your fault. None of this is.” The unicorn sighed. “But if I had just--” “No,” Twilight mumbled, before pulling back. “The elements were broken. That’s all there is to it. There’s no need for ‘what if’s and ‘if only’s. Nightmare Moon rules now. And that’s NOT your fault. You did your best, but you were given a task that nopony had any right to expect you to deal with. Celestia herself couldn’t handle Nightmare Moon, how could she have ever expected you of all ponies to?” Moondancer flushed. “I bet if you’d been her student, you’d have figured out a way. Probably have like… slapped her or something. I bet the first time you met her you weren’t even scared...” The earth pony flushed and slowly lowered her gaze. “I was… once… I realized that she wasn’t a… pony in a costume...” The unicorn paused, staring at her. “Wait… what?” “… Yeah… err… so I kind of… you see… I mayyyy have ummmm… there was a pointer and, err...” Spike snickered. “Oh, this I’ve GOT to hear. How DID you meet Nightmare Moon, Twilight? I assumed it was the same as everypony else...” The earth pony sighed. Oh boy… ------ “Oh please by the heavens, you win...” Chrysalis said weakly, giving a soft whimper from her bed. Twilight hummed, motioning for Moondancer to stop the magic point presentation. “Are you sure? I still have sixty-four slides left. I haven’t even gotten into the whole--” “Please. Please,” Chrysalis pleaded, burying her head into her pillow. “I take it back. I take it all back. I thought Nightmare Moon was the true horror that resided behind the crown, but I was mistaken. Had I known of what torment awaited me, I never would have raised a hoof against you, oh fiendish one.” Twilight frowned. “Oh, come on, it’s not that bad.” Tirek, meanwhile, snickered from his cell and continued to read his book. “I did warn you, changeling. The forces you contend with are beyond you.” “Yes, yes, centaur. Ugh...” Chrysalis stared at the two ponies, her eyes narrowed. “You have won, pony. Enjoy your victory. Now, tell me. What is it you desire to know?” Twilight nodded, before motioning to Moondancer. “If you’d like to get back to your studies, I understand.” “Thanks. If you need any more help, just let me know. My horn is at your disposal,” Moondancer said with a polite bow. “Thanks! Now, Chrysalis… I have some questions for you. You won’t give me the silent treatment again, right?” Twilight asked with a smile. “On my honor. What little I have. So long as you promise to not subject me to… that… again. How can you look so giddy while you torture me so?” Chrysalis asked, glaring at the mare. “What? But magic point presentations are fun!” “… Dear heavens is this what ponies are like?” the changeling muttered. Twilight shrugged. “I think? I’m really not anypony special. Now then...” She readied her pen. “Shall we begin this interview?”