//------------------------------// // The Dragon Lord and the Changeling NOT fighting for the Crown // Story: It's A Screwed Up Life // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// The Dragon Lord and the Changeling NOT fighting for the Crown ___________________________________________________________ I smile as I float through the air. Ever since the Apple Parents returned, things in Ponyville have been really upbeat. Mrs. Cake is happy to have her fillyhood friend back and things have gotten easier on the farm, since now they’ve two more ponies to help with the work. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were stunned when Apple Bloom introduced them to her parents. I’d been passing by at the time and the look on their faces had been so hilarious I literally peed myself with laughter… much to Diamond’s chagrin, having been walking next to me and having to jump to avoid the sudden puddle o’ piss. Though, once she’d clamp her eyes on the stallion who looked like a male version of Apple Bloom, her jaw had dropped too… which only made me laugh harder. “According to Ember’s letters, the dragons are trying to be friends, but competing is in their nature, and it’s leading to more and more fights.” I pause in my floating through town to land and look towards the trio of Twilight, Starlight and Spike. Glancing around, I notice something I’d mostly been not paying attention to throughout the morning. Everypony is running around, getting things set up as if Ponyville’s having a special guest… with unique likes or dislikes. Balloons, a banner with flame designs, flowers being taken out of view, a purple flame coming from a red crystal podium in the centre of… I blink, before rolling my eyes and folding my forelegs. I get it. Dragon Lord Ember’s coming. Dunno why… though from what I just overheard, I’d assume it’s for advice from Spike about handling the dragons. Spike holds a small scroll up to Twilight and Starlight. “Which brings me to to reason number four.” He points to himself confidently, taking a pose I assume is meant to make him look tougher. “The Dragon Lord wants my advice, and as the new official Equestrian friendship ambassador to the dragons, I can’t let her down.” Huh. Called it. His mother smiles at him. “I know you feel a lot of pressure, but you’ve got this, Spike!” I blink, cocking my head. Strange. Why do I suddenly sense a Changeling other than Kevin in Ponyville? Spike puffs his chest out proudly, before deflating a little. “I... I just want things to be perfect.” I roll my eyes, but smile all the same. “Thorax!” Spike’s loud gasp pulls me from my thoughts and I look to see the new King of the Changelings standing right there. “You’re in Ponyville!” Thorax smiles, nodding. “Of course I am, silly! You invited me. And I’m not one to back out of an invitation. Hey, Twilight! Hey, Starlight!” “Hey,” Twilight says uncertainly. “Hello,” Starlight says at the same time, just as uncertainly. Thorax looks around in excitement. “Oooh! I can’t believe you did all this for me! Great banner! Love the stage! What’s this flame thingy?” he flutters over to the purple flame, looking intently into it.“Oh, it’s pretty!” Uh oh. Insect + bright light = bad. Quickly teleporting over, I pull Thorax away. “Hey, buddy. Look, bugs staring into those kinda lights never ends well.” He blinks, before shaking his head and smiling at me. “Hi, Screwball. It’s so great to see you again!” Before I can think, I’m pulled into a hug that is only non-life threatening thanks to my being the Princess of Chaos. “Nice… to see you… too,” I gasp, noticing of the corner of my eye Starlight and Twilight whispering to Spike, though I’m unable to hear what they’re saying due to both having to focus on not being crushed to death and Thorax talking pretty much right in my ear. “I’m glad I came. I didn’t know I’d get to see you again. How are things? Have you done anything really chaotic lately? Also, guess what? Some Changelings arrived at the hive a couple days ago who had no memory of the invasion of Canterlot at all. They were confused when everyling told them I was in charged and Chryslais wasn’t. can you believe that?” I blink as something he just said clicks in my brain. Wait. Didn’t I sense a few random Changelings among those cured of…? Ooooh! Whoopsie. I’m pulled from my inner thoughts as I’m dumped on the ground, Thorax walking over to Spike. “Spike, I’m so glad you invited me! You are one of my closest, nicest, most caring, most understanding friends ever! Ooh! Is that ice in the shape of a dragon?” I get up, shaking my head, before looking to the purple drake. “Spike, I need to talk with Thorax about something very important. Do you mind if I take him off your claws for a few hours?” He and the two mares blink, looking at me in surprise, before Spike gives a huge, thankful grin and nods enthusiastically. “Sure! Take all the time you need!” I cock an eyebrow. Okay. That’s weird, even for him. Shrugging, I float over to the Changeling King and pull him aside, leaving Spike and the others to deal with… what were they dealing with again? Thorax bringing up new Changelings kinda drove whatever I’d already been thinking about out of my head. ___________________________________________________________ “Huh. So, those Changelings must’ve been from before Chrysalis even considered invading Canterlot,” Thorax says as we walk through the town. “That would explain a lot regarding their behaviour.” “Yeah, sorry about that,” I grin sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head. I’ve taken on my anthro form. I dunno why, it just felt normal to do around Thorax right now. “I would’ve told you sooner, but it took a lot out of me to cast that spell and cure all those afflicted by Swamp Fever. I was so weak after I got to those cured I couldn’t even teleport back to Ponyville and had to take the train and after certain things came to light… I honestly forgot.” I giggle. “Heh, heh. Um, sorry?” He looks to me and shakes his head. “No problem. I’m guessing even a Princess of Chaos has her limits.” “And I way over extended mine,” I nod, cricking my neck. “I’m surprised it didn’t take longer to get my strength back. Thankfully, even if I hadn’t Dash would’ve been fine.” He cocks his head at me. “Why? What was wrong with Rainbow Dash.” I snicker and explain how, two days ago, as I’d been passing through town, I’d heard Rainbow shouting something about the Daring Do books ending and had followed her and Pinkie Pie, secretly, to a place I wasn’t expecting: Somnambula. Caballeron, one of Daring Do’s long-time enemies, had been spreading bad rumours about her there, it being one of the few places A.K. Yearing’s book weren’t being sold, about Daring being a horrible pony. Granted, he’d been building on small things Daring had unintentionally done, but it had gotten so bad A.K. was thinking of retiring completely. I had intended to step in and stop him myself, especially when he ponynapped Rainbow… though how he pulled that off I don’t understand, before I’d noticed something important that had given me pause. He’d headed off to trap Dash in the pyramid where Fwinxie lives… and had laughed, catching Daring and Pinkie’s attention and informed them off that. We’d all snickered and gone to the pyramid, only to fall over in laughter as we watched the baby sphinx playing with Caballeron and his goons. And by play with them, I mean she was playing with them like they were toys, tossing them in the air like a cat does a ball of yarn. It had been too funny. Dash and Pinkie both joined me as I rolled on the floor, laughing at the bad guy’s misfortune. After that, we’d left them to play and cleared Daring’s name, with Daring them doing her best to make amends for all the problems she’d caused. “Oh, and, I’m gonna have to ask you to keep the fact Daring Do is a real pony a secret, FWI,” I say as I finish explaining it to him as we sit outside a café, waiting for our orders. Thorax nods, before giggling. “You certainly have a way with making things interssting, Screwy.” I nod. “Don’t I know it. So, enough about me. How are you doing, good?” Thorax sighs. “Well, honestly, no. Not really. I have indigestion. Not sure if it’s the new diet or stress. Or maybe it’s both.” I cock my head as two sodas are placed at our table. “Both?” He nods. “Yeah, it really could be both. And it might be affecting my sleeping, too. I’m a real tosser and turner.” I scratch my chin, thinking. “Sounds like you really need to unwind. Uh, how about a, uh... a trip to the castle? For newcomers it’s a pretty interesting place.” He cocks his head. “But, isn’t that Twilight and Spike’s home? Are you allowed to just barge in?” “So long as we only stay on the bottom floor, yes,” I shrug. “Twilight knows there’s no library in town anymore thanks to Tirek blowing up the Golden Oak Library, so she offered the library on the main floor of her castle as the town’s new one. She has a personal one of the first floor, plus spells on the stairs so those looking in the main library don’t just decide to go exploring her home without permission.” Thorax thinks for a moment, before nodding. “Alright.” “Oh, and, you should know Dragon Lord Ember is visiting Ponyville on official business today,” I say as we head off. He looks to me, surprised. “There’s a new Dragon Lord? When’d that happen?” “Not that long ago, really,” I say, hands behind my head. “She’s the daughter of the previous Dragon Lord, Torch.” “Huh,” he says, looking up in confusion. “I wasn’t aware it was something passed down in the family.” I shake my head. “Oh, it’s not. Ember had to earn the right to be Dragon Lord just like any other dragon, daughter to the previous ruler or not.” I giggle. “Actually, Spike one it first, but he gave the honour to her, since his place is here, not the Dragon Lands. So, what brings you to Ponyville in the first place, buddy?” He sighs. “Honestly, I’m in a bit of a leadership pickle, and I could use some advice.” I giggle. “Well, not to be mean to the guy, but even though he was Dragon Lord for a brief period, I don’t think Spike’s the best for that kind of advice. But, I’d be happy to see how I can help.” I deadpan. “You would not believe how often I have to lead ponies down a path that won’t end in disaster.” Thorax nods. “Okay, here’s my problem. There’s this renegade group of changelings, including those I told you about earlier, who still feed off of love. Even though I said, “Hey let’s not do that anymore,” they say, “Hey, this is how we’ve been doing things for hundreds of years...” ___________________________________________________________ I yawn as we reach the castle, Thorax having finished his whole story… which included more than I think it really needed, if I’m perfectly honest. We’re about to walk in when the doors open, revealing Spike, Twilight and Ember. Spike’s expression immediately goes into one of panic, while Ember is looking in confusion. “Who… what’re you?” she asks, scratching her chin. She then notices me and her confusion doubles. “Screwball? Is that you? What… happened?” I smile, bowing and indicating to Thorax. “Dragon Lord Ember, allow me to introduce to you to King Thorax of the Changeling Hive Pack.” Ember blinks, folding her arms. “The Changelings have a new ruler? First I’ve heard of it. Last time Dad ever mentioned Changelings they were being led by a Queen who foolishly tried to invade the Dragon Lands.” Thorax blinks, before looking confused. “Well, yeah, our previous ruler was a fool, but why was her plan to invade the Dragon Lands foolish?” Ember smirked, putting her finger to her snout. “Dragons have a very keen sense of smell. The dragons back then could easily smell who was a dragon and who was an imposter. If not for the fact he had a meeting with Princess Celestia close to the time, Dad would’ve let the dragons invade the Changeling Kingdom.” “And since dragons don’t rely heavily on magic for really anything, Queen Chrysalis’ main defence wouldn’t have been any real use, ” Thorax’s eyes widen. Ember cocks her head. “What was her main means of defence?” “A throne that absorbs any and all other types of magic aside from Changeling Magic,” I shrug, before scratching my chin in thought. “Ya know, I think you two should talk. I think you both can provide answers to each other’s’ problems.” “Uh… okay?” Thorax says, looking to Ember. “So… shall we?” She shrugs and the two head off. I smile, before I feel a bang on the head and whirl around, glaring at Spike. “What the hay was that for?” “Don’t you realize what’ll happen if those two spend any time together?!” the former Dragon Lord says, freaking out. “If they both realize how different they are to each other, especially now Ember realizes his kingdom tried to invade her kingdom and her kingdom almost invaded his kingdom, it could turn into an all-out war!” I blink at him, before deadpanning. “Spike, do you really have so little faith in your friends?” At once, he pause, his expression blanking. “Huh?” I fold my arms. “I just spent some time with Thorax and you, Starlight and Twilight spent time with Ember. Each clearly told the other about the problems they’re having and, if the problems Ember’s having are what I overheard Twilight saying earlier today, Thorax is going to be a big help.” “I… Huh?” I just shake my head. “Just give it some time. I’m pretty sure they’ll come back and you’ll realize you’ve been worrying over nothing.” I blink, before laughing. “Wow. You really are your mother’s son.” Starlight tries to stifle a giggle while the mother and son both glare at me.