//------------------------------// // 11. Where Our Hearts Lie // Story: To Be Different // by Astrocity //------------------------------// The commotion at the front of the castle could be heard as we snuck around a corner of the castle. Guards fought against each other and against the swarm of changelings that had jumped into the fray, disguised as other ponies. There was hesitancy on the younger guard ponies, too inexperienced to tell their fellow ponies apart. Then, there were those who threw away caution for their own safety, even if it meant hurting their own. Heads butted. Hooves kicked. A guttural cry pierced the air that may have belonged to a pony or a disguised changeling. I couldn’t tell. The mass confusion gave us the chance to run past the fight and inside the building. Inside, groups of unconscious ponies lay along the path as we got closer to the throne room, still breathing thankfully. They were guards and ponies that worked in the castle. The ones who remained awake held unfocused gazes and never took notice of our arrival. Was this Mother? Is this what stealing love does to them? I grimaced as I stepped over an unarmored mare who lay sprawled out on the ground, unaware of her surroundings. We swiftly galloped toward the throne room, sidestepping a few ponies while I tried to piece together my memory of the castle. Beside me, Happy held a serious look. When we stopped to catch our breaths, he looked at Pound and Pumpkin. “You two. I can't guarantee your safety beyond this point. You can still leave now.” A spark of determination lit up in Pumpkin’s eyes. “When we’ve come this far? No way!” she said, grasping my hoof. Pound held a look to match Happy’s and held onto my other hoof. “Nymph is our friend, and we’ll see this through with her.” Happy looked at me. Despite looking like a pony, I could still see the changeling behind those blue eyes. “Nymph,” he began, “now, more than ever, you need to choose: ponies or changelings?” He was giving me another chance to back out like Pound and Pumpkin. If I stayed with ponies, I wouldn’t be caught in whatever fate holds for the changelings, while also keeping Pound and Pumpkin out of this mess. But, I couldn’t leave the changelings to their demise. Noticing my struggle to choose, he added, “You don’t have to feel responsible for us. Those who aren't loved are fated to disappear, and we changelings have become used to going unloved for so long. You’ll be happier living among your own kind.” I shook my head. “You don’t know if that's true,” I said. “I can’t think of being happy without you or Chrysalis in my life.” Pound and Pumpkin let go as I held Happy’s hooves in my own. “I'm not going to choose. I don't want either side to get hurt.” His frown deepened in a way that seemed to pain him. “That decision will lead to more hardships and hold an even greater cost.” “If it means doing what I think is right, then I’ll pay whatever cost. I want to live in a future with both changelings and ponies.” We held our gaze for a long while until he let out a heavy reluctant sigh. “Okay, Nymph...” I smiled, trying to coax a grin out of him. “It’ll work out. I’ll make it happen.” His hoof brushed a stray hair out of my face. A small smile came out of hiding on his face. “I hope so, Nymph.” We continued our journey, racing to where Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis were. By the time the door to the throne room came into view, a looming sense of dread began to hover over my head at what may lie before us, its sharp tip pointed at me. Was Mother alright? Was Princess Celestia alright? Awful thoughts of what lay behind the door popped into my head. I hope I’m not too late. We wasted no time trying to get the door open, but it didn't budge against our weight. Magic held the door shut in a purple glow. The sound of someone clearing her throat revealed that we weren't alone. At the other end of the hallway, there was a familiar purple pony. Her emotions were laid out before me—a face holding back barely contained rage. But there was also confusion. Frustration. Betrayal. Uncertainty? Most of all, she looked tired. Despite her feelings towards changelings, she was unable to act upon her vengeful thoughts. In all that anguish, I thought it was strange that she had a pleading look on her face. “Stop. We don't need to do this. Please. Stop,” it said. Twilight Sparkle trotted closer towards us. “We need to talk.” Happy immediately jumped in front of us, putting herself between us and Twilight. Even as a pegasus, his fangs showed. The hairs on his neck seem to stand as he sent a heated glare and a warning hiss towards the princess in front of him. “Leave at once!” he shouted. She shook her head, unfazed by him. “I'm afraid I can't do that.” Her horn glowed, and there was a pop. I had been standing directly behind Happy until a flash of light put me at a distance behind Princess Twilight, along with Pound and Pumpkin. The next second, Happy made a dash for Twilight Sparkle. “The ponies are with me,” she said, firing a shot at Happy. He sidestepped the attack, twisting his body in one fluid motion and lunging at her with his fangs. She teleported out of the way. “Get away from Nymph!” he snarled. I had never seen Happy look so feral. It felt out of place with how he usually was. His calm demeanor had exploded into a tempest of rage, fueled by a desire to protect. Why should I let her near you?” she asked, unshaken. Hot air escaped his nostrils as they slowly walked in a circle, waiting for the next move. “Because she is my charge and if anything should happen to her, I would never forgive myself.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Is that guilt? You're a changeling, aren't you? What makes you any different from any other changeling? What makes you different from Queen Chrysalis? Where was that guilt all those years ago?” Happy matched her gaze with a determined look of his own. “I have changed from who I was before!” He forced sincerity onto his face despite the tension in the room. “I want to believe I’ve changed. That I’m no longer I mindless, hungry parasite. Because if I can change, then it means my Queen can change too.” “Lies! All lies!” she screamed, firing her horn again. A shot grazed his face as he tried to dodge her incoming attacks. His disguise burned away, revealing his true form. “She hurt my friends! She hurt my family! And I almost lost all of them because she wanted to take over Equestria!” A hiss escaped his throat as his blue eyes connected with Twilight’s. His wings buzzed as he took to the air to dodge another barrage of attacks. I took a step towards Happy, but a pair of hooves held me back. "Nymph! You'll get hurt!" Pumpkin shouted. I struggled in her grip. "I don't care! He's my friend!" Pound stepped in front of me, gently holding my shoulders. "You don’t have time for that. You have to stop your mom and Princess Celestia from fighting." I glanced at Pound and the ensuing fight. “But...” He smiled, which brought some comfort in knowing I had friends who wanted to help. “Pumpkin and I will stop them from fighting.” “Knowing Twilight, she's the kind of pony who doesn't want to fight,” Pumpkin said. “We'll convince her somehow.” I moved closer to the door as I watched my dear friend fend against the Princess of Friendship, listening as their shouting voices carried into the hallway. With Twilight busy fighting, there wasn’t anyone holding the door in place. I glanced at Pound and Pumpkin, who nudged me on with reassuring smiles. Their lips mouthed the word “Go,” urging me on before anyone noticed. Surely, they could stop Twilight or Happy if things went towards one side or the other. The belief in my friends gave me the courage to move forward. Leaning my weight against the door, it budged open. When the gap was big enough, I slipped through, closing the door behind me. The chaos of the room made itself known to me in the form of another explosion that rocked the room and shook the ceiling. There were multiple holes poked into the walls. Shards of glass and debris covered the floor. Broken murals and destroyed pillars replaced the once pristine look of the throne room. Two bodies, one black and one white, flew around the room, shooting magical beams at each other. I took cover behind one of the broken pillars as a stray beam incinerated the ground next to me. Even from the entrance of the room, I could hear what they were saying. “Tell me, Chrysalis. What do you seek from all this?” Celestia asked as she tried to outfly her pursuer. Chrysalis shot a beam in front of Celestia, hoping to stop her in her path, but the princess rolled out of the way in midair. “I seek the destruction of this cruel world!” Chrysalis shouted. “The world is on the wrong track toward destiny. For changelings, it will mean the end of our kind! That is why today I will rule over Equestria!” Celestia had begun to slow down as exhaustion began to take its toll on her. “I failed my ponies once, and I will not make the same mistake twice,” she said between breaths. “Queen Chrysalis, I will stop you from hurting my ponies and stealing their love!” Chrysalis scoffed. “Look at you, who passes judgment! You, who sits on her throne, above anyone and anything! Far above punishment and living without a day of misfortune in your pampered life—you haven’t felt the hardships a changeling has gone through and know nothing of our hunger. It is time you know what it feels like to truly fall from grace!” Chrysalis screamed. A beam hit Celestia in the wing, and she went down, her other wing desperately flapping to keep her up like a bird that's been struck. But, she didn't go down without giving a little something back. She sent one last shot directly into Chrysalis’s side, leaving a charred carapace. A deathly wail rang in the air. My heart skipped a beat. Their crumpled forms hit the hard marble floor, but only Celestia managed to stand, just barely on her hooves. She shakily walked up to the changeling queen. Feathers were missing from her left wing, and the feathers that were left were charred black. Her wing fell limp at her side. Princess Celestia limped toward the fallen changeling. “Surrender, Chrysalis. The outcome is decided.” Chrysalis turned her head toward Celestia, struggling to lift her head off the ground. “Then, do it. If you truly wish to stop this, then finish me.” Celestia pursed her lips before closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath. When her eyes opened, she picked up her resolve once more. An intense heat filled the room, coming from the light of her horn. It was as if the sun was in the room, threatening to burn anyone who got too close. Chrysalis shut her eyes against the light. Her body went limp, accepting her fate to the princess standing before her. “No!” I cried. I ran over to my mother and stood between the two, feeling the scorching heat on my face. Sweat began to form on my forehead. It was as if I was back in the desert, only much worse. Princess Celestia stood in front of us. Gone was the tranquil mask. “Move.” That one word sent a shiver down my back, but I only clung to my mother by the withers and shook my head, unable to speak. My heart pounded in my ears, but it could have belonged to the changeling whose life I held in my hooves. There was a forceful tug on my body when Celestia used magic, but I held on stubbornly, gripping so hard that I fear Chrysalis would disappear if I let go. Eventually, the princess gave up when she realized I wouldn’t be letting go. “She is an enemy to Equestria! Step away from the changeling!” “I won't let you hurt her!” I replied. Chrysalis breathed in gasps, her chest rising and falling with each struggled breath. Compared to Celestia, she was very small and feeble, and I was the only thing standing between her and the princess’s wrath. “I must warn you that if you continue to associate yourself with this changeling, you will face the same punishment as all changelings.” At that moment, all the fear and nervousness that threatened to tear me apart was smothered. I never imagined myself being brave in front of an Equestrian princess, but I found myself standing up and glaring into Princess Celestia’s eyes. “I’m not running away from this! I’m not going to leave her alone anymore. I’m going to stand by my mother. As Princess of the changelings, let me take the punishment in her stead.” For the first time, beyond the blinding heat of anger, hesitancy flashed across her face. In her eyes, I saw how torn and lost she looked—her real emotions. She didn’t want any of this. She was a gentle pony trying to fill the role of an executioner, and I saw how much that hurt her. Her duty to her ponies was a burdensome weight without an end. “Why do you go so far for a changeling?” she asked. “None of that love is real. Changelings only disguise themselves as other ponies to take the love they can’t make themselves.” “Maybe that’s why they try to look like ponies—they want to know what it feels like to have all the little things that make up a pony’s heart,” I said. “To know what it feels like to love—I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. With time, maybe changelings can learn to love back.” “Do you know what you are doing?” she asked with a stomp of her hoof. The floor cracked underneath her. “There are crimes Queen Chrysalis hasn't answered for. Stripped of your ordinary life and taken from your family, you would still take her punishment after all you've been through?” “Yes…” I answered, brushing my cheek against Chrysalis’s neck. “I don't mind.” I watched tears stream down Celestia’s cheeks. She bit her lip, struggling against her inner self. “Very well. Then, prepare to face your judgment, Princess Nymph.” Chrysalis’s eyes flew open. “No!” she yelled. “I won't let you punish her!” She twisted herself so that her horn pointed straight at Celestia and let out a cry as light shot out. Things happened quickly as a surprised Celestia suddenly surrounded herself in a golden bubble, deflecting the beam upward. An explosion sounded above us, rocking the whole room. Bits of the ceiling flaked off before coming down in a rain of debris. The whole ceiling began collapsing. As it came down, a black pair of hooves wrapped around me as Chrysalis pulled me close. She threw herself over me as everything darkened in the dust and falling ceiling. Smothered in a changeling’s warmth, I watched as everything around me crumbled. ~~~~~~~ It was dark. It was scary. I couldn't see. I couldn't move. I cried out for my mother. “Mommy?” Breathing hard, struggling not to cry, I tried to turn my head, but something painful kept it pinned down. My eyes burned when I tried to open them. My heart raced under the crushing darkness. A voice answered, one who wasn’t my real mother but one that I've come to know and love. “Yes, dear, I am here. Don’t open your eyes or move too much. There’s dust everywhere.” Alone in the dark, we are just voices, stripped of our outward appearances. “I’m scared,” I whispered. My left ear stung awfully. The weight of another body pressed heavily down on me. “Everything will be fine, my daughter,” she said. I could feel her ragged breath on my neck and her body wrapped around me securely. My fear calmed down some. “Why?” I asked. “Why all of this? Why do you have to fight? Was there a reason for calling me your daughter?” There was a pause before she spoke. “I'm sorry for not telling you. I was afraid you might hate me. The monster you saw before is who I am.” She shifted above me and let out a painful groan. “Until I met you, I was all alone in the world. If I hadn't met you, would I have been happy? I suppose things would have been different for you and me. You would have lived a normal life had I not robbed you of your future.” “Those times you said you loved me—was any of that real?” Another pause, this time longer. “Nymph, this is my truth to you,” she began. “I will love you as hunger loves a changeling and as love loves to watch a changeling hunger. I will love you as revenge loves hatred and as hatred loves to hurt the victims of revenge. I will love you as misfortune loves a pair of ponies who love their child, who one day disappeared and caused them to suffer at the thought of love. I will love you as fortune loves a suddenly parentless child, who has found love among loveless creatures.” Something wet touched my face, and I realized it was her cheek. “So for the love of me, please do not hate me because I have only just begun to know what it is like to love.” "I will always love you,” I said. “No matter who I am, I will always be your daughter and will always love you.” “That’s all I ever wanted to hear,” she answered. “Even though you were a pony, I thought I would come to hate you, but I was wrong. I want to live for my changelings, but most of all, I want to live for you.” A fit of coughs overwhelmed her. “Mother?” “I’m fine, Nymph,” she said. “For now, go to sleep. Help will come find you.” Enveloped in the warmth of her body, I went to sleep beside her, trapped together in the hot, cramped darkness. ~~~~~~~ I was alone on a moving train. It was night time. “Where am I?” I asked out loud. The door of the front end train car opened, revealing a familiar blue mare, but where the door led to seemed to be a mystery because it looked like nothing more than a window of light. “Congratulations, fortunate child of destiny!” she shouted, shaking the walls with her voice. “By a stroke of luck, you have been chosen to live out the rest of your life.” Realizing she was shouting, she coughed behind a hoof and spoke in a quieter voice. “Well, luck and a slight intervention.” “Oh, it’s you...” I said. Fragments of a dream came back to me. “Princess Luna.” She nodded and slowly walked past the rows of seats to the aisle I sat in. “I have heard about your bravery and self-sacrifice. I apologize I could not be there at the time. I had been kept away from the conflict by my own guards.” She sighed, shaking her head. “While their loyalty and sense of duty are commendable, I wish they would not treat me so frail.” Memories of a falling ceiling and being surrounded by darkness came to me. “What happened?” She sat beside me. “Your physical body is fine now after the entire roof came down on you. However, you have been sleeping for quite a bit.” “And my mother…?” I asked. Her lips parted open, but she hesitated. Her eyes couldn’t meet mine. “She is...not well. She did not share the same fortune as you.” “What do you mean?” I put my hooves against her shoulder, looking into her face. “She’ll get better, won’t she?” Princess Luna gave me a sorrowful look. I trembled in my seat, biting my lip to keep the tears from falling. But this was a dream, and it didn’t do much to stop it. “Why couldn't it be me?” She shook her head, causing ripples in her long flowing mane. “It can’t be you for fate had other plans.” “But I still haven’t done a thing for her!” I began to openly weep. “She’s been suffering all her life, yet she got hurt saving me. I lived a carefree life up until this point, and the only thing I could do was tell her I love her. How is that fair?” She put a comforting hoof on my shoulder. “Telling someone you love them is the most important thing you can do,” she said, turning to me. “Everyone deserves to be told ‘I love you’ at least once. To a mother like her, those words mean more than the entire world. Your kind words are not meaningless, Nymph.” I fell into a thoughtful silence. A screech filled the air as the train lurched to a stop. Princess Luna stood from her seat and began walking towards the exit, while I followed behind her. The doors opened, leading to who knows where. Outside was pitch dark, where not even the light of the city or the stars shone. “It is best that you get off on this stop,” she said, nudging me. I turned toward the Princess. “Can a child like me really make a difference?” “It doesn't matter if you have wings or a horn, or if you're a pony or a changeling, because what you have makes up for it in spades.” “And that is?” I asked her. There was a twinge of a smile on her face that didn’t go unnoticed by me. “Empathy, dear.” “What’s that?” She pointed a hoof toward my chest. “It means that no matter who you are, you'll always find a way to listen to the hearts of others.” I held a hoof over my heart and looked into the smiling face of Princess Luna. "Empathy," I repeated to myself. She gave me a gentle nudge with her wing, and I cautiously stepped off the train and onto the dark ground. The train whistled and began chugging along on invisible rails. Princess Luna stuck her head out the window and waved her hoof. “Farewell, Nymph!” she shouted. “It’s time to wake up!” The light of the windows rushed past me until there were no more train cars left, leaving me in the darkness in my own thoughts as the train faded into a speck in the distance. ~~~~~~~ Sound came first. A constant beeping that made my ears twitch. Then came the feeling of a soft fabric over my body and an itch in my ears. I tried to move but was stopped by something wrapped around my hooves. That same something also wrapped over parts of my head. Finally, as I opened my eyes to the world around me in who knows how long, I saw a white room with a changeling lying in the corner on a soft-looking chair. A small bandage covered his cheek. His eyes were closed, but the twitch of his ears gave him away. From the moment I recognized Happy, his eyes shot open. “Happy...” I called to him. His appearance changed in a fiery burst before revealing a pegasus stallion. "Nymph…" he said. His toothy grin covered his face. "Where…?" “You’re in a private room in Canterlot’s castle where doctors and nurses are monitoring your health.” "What happened? How are you here?" He smile grew wider. “You can thank your friends for that.” He walked to the side of my bed. “Your friends stood up to the Princess when she could have blasted me while I was down. Twilight Sparkle is still the Princess of Friendship, and what kind of friend would she be if she didn’t trust the two ponies who look up to her. She’s at least smart enough to listen to them.” "And the changelings?" "Being looked after by Equestria's Royal Guards in one of the grand halls." "And my mother?" I asked. He paused, a look of uncertainty crossed his face. Before I could get an answer, a stallion wearing a white coat walked in. He was a unicorn. "I see our patient is awake. How are you feeling?" "Sore," I grumbled. "Well, that's not surprising. You were pinned under all that rubble for a while, but we managed to save most of you." "Most of me?" The bandages around my head unwrapped themselves as the unicorn worked his magic. Dried blood stained the white gauze, leaving me worried about the wound I got. Lastly, the bandages around my legs came undone as well as any equipment strapped to me. There wasn’t a scar on my legs, showing they had healed spectacularly and were no cause for worry. He brought a mirror over to me. The first thing I noticed was my hair was different. Someone had lopped off a sizable chunk of my mane, giving me a short hairstyle. That was disappointing. Rarity would probably feel the same way. The other thing that stood out were my mismatched ears. My left ear was torn at the tip, probably the cause of the pain I felt when the castle came down on me. Surprisingly, it wasn’t bleeding, but the healed portion of the wound left a terrible scar. "The rubble tore your ear,” he said. “Although it's still healing, there's going to be a bit-sized hole in it." My hoof gingerly touched my ear, and I flinched as the area still felt tender. "Overall, you are underweight for a filly your age. You need supplements for your vitamin deficiency, but it's nothing too serious. For the most part, we’ll need to keep you here for a short time until you’ve healed up." "Can Happy stay?" I asked him. He glanced at Happy. A trace of nervousness flashed across his face before resuming his smile. "As long as you want him to." This pony knew Happy was a changeling. I wondered who else knew about him. The pony cleared his throat. "There's also someone here to see you," he said. I watched as he opened the door, and a purple pony carrying saddlebags walked in with an apologetic look on her face. There was a short exchange between both ponies before the stallion walked out. “Twilight?” I asked. In her magic, she carried hundreds of different flowers. There was also a hint of embarrassment on her face when she couldn't decide where to put all of them. Without a table big enough to hold the flowers, she set them on the floor by my bed. “They’re for you.” I didn't know what else to say other than "Thank you." She looked down and fidgeted with her hooves in an unprincess-like manner. "I'm sorry," she said, finally gazing in my direction. She also looked in Happy’s direction, who stared back with a curious gaze. "To both of you. For putting you through so much." There was a princess apologizing in front of me. I didn’t know what to say or how to react. "It was wrong of me to assume all changelings are bad. I’ve been so afraid of them for so long that I let fear consume me," she continued. Her ears folded down, while her eyes glistened, full of hurt and regret. As she looked at me, her sorrowful look turned to relief. "But after seeing Nymph put her trust in changelings, I think maybe it's about time I learn to trust changelings too." “Changelings can change, Twilight,” I said. “Ponies can change, too. Right, Happy?” Happy nodded, then added, “Maybe not physically, but yes, ponies can change.” That earned a giggle out of me and Twilight. Her eyes lit up, and she reached into her bags. “Nymph, I have something for you.” She pulled out a folded piece of paper. There was a drawing of a small filly who looked like me, holding a bandaged heart. “It's a get-well card.” The card opened up, showing a message saying, “Get Well Soon.” Around that message were names. Names that I knew. My eyes followed each name listed. "It's everyone I've ever met. How?" I asked. Twilight smiled. "Happy helped me track everyone down." I glanced at the changeling, who gave his toothy grin in response. There were even all the princesses' names. Their names had the nicest looking curls and written in larger letters, standing apart from the rest. Princess Celestia. Princess Luna. Princess Twilight. But, there was one name I didn't recognize. "Wait, who's Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?" Twilight chuckled. "A foalsitter who knows how to give good advice," she said. I gingerly put the card on my bedside table, careful not to crease the paper. “Thank you. I love it," I said. The warmth of joy spread across her face. "I'm glad." My hooves gripped the sheet covering my body as I finally got to the question that's been on my mind since waking up. "Can I see my mother now? Chrysalis, I mean." Happy and Twilight gave each other a somber look. "Should you be getting up so soon?" Twilight asked. "You just woke up after days of sleeping." “Please,” I said, staring at Twilight with utmost seriousness. "Carry me there if you have to. I need to see her." She gave a solemn nod. "Okay, Nymph." ~~~~~~~ As part of our agreement, Twilight had brought a wheelchair for me to sit on, while she pushed me from behind using her magic. If there weren't more urgent things to do, I would have probably had fun with the wheelchair. We made it to a different part of the castle where there were lots of ponies wearing white coats. I'm told they were doctors, ponies who healed other ponies. They were all busy tending to the ponies that were affected by the invasion. At the far end of the hall, it was not as crowded with pony patients, and there were more guards standing around. We stopped at a door guarded by two ponies. "No outside visitors are allowed," one of them said. Princess Twilight stood beside me. "She's family, and I'm here to look after her." They glanced at Happy. "I know he's a changeling," she said. "He's her friend." “No other changelings are allowed to see Queen Chrysalis,” he stated. I opened my mouth to argue, but Happy interrupted before I can say anything. “It's fine. I'll stay here,” he said. Holding a wing over me, Princess Twilight gave them a questioning look that also held a subtle message that spoke “I dare you to argue back”. Conceding, the guards opened the door for us, and we stepped in without any problem. In all my life, I had never seen my mother harmed in any way, but for the first time, I saw her at her weakest and most vulnerable. Her body was wrapped entirely in bandages, hardened casts where her limbs should be. There was a small tube that went from a drip and into her neck. There was even a tube that went from a machine to her mouth. Bandages also wrapped around her eyes, robbing her of the sight of our presence. A constant beeping filled the terribly quiet room. Bedridden and unable to move, Chrysalis looked far from being the mighty changeling queen she was before. The only sign of life from her was the subtle rise and fall of her chest. Twilight wheeled me closer to her bedside. “Mother,” I said to her, “I’m here now.” The words felt heavy on my dry parched lips. “I’m sorry. There’s so many things to apologize for.” I paused to collect my thoughts. "I’m sorry that I couldn’t see how much you needed me. If I had grown up sooner, I would have seen the pain I caused you by disappearing without a word. I might have even understood your loneliness." A heavy sigh left my lips. "I’m sorry that there’s not much I can do. After all, I’m only a child, but I’ll stay by your side. You should never have to feel alone again." Rearing against the side of her bed, I leaned in and gave her exposed cheek a parched kiss. “I love you, Mom.” Twilight sat beside me, staring at the changeling queen’s broken form. "We've always been fighting each other," she said to Chrysalis. "But I never understood why, and I never tried to understand you. But, I'm glad you were able to find love and friendship in Nymph." I listened to her words silently. The door opened, and another familiar princess entered the room. I watched as the large white pony crossed the room to us. "Princess Nymph," she greeted. “Princess Celestia,” I greeted back. Princess Celestia had bandages wrapped around one wing, but she seemed to heal nicely for the most part. She wasn't wearing her mask this time. There was a genuine apologetic expression in her eyes—eyes filled with regret. She joined me and Twilight in watching over the changeling in the room. “I’m sorry about what happened to Queen Chrysalis,” she apologized. “I only wish things did not come to blows.” I glanced between Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis, watching their silent conversation. After a moment of silence, Celestia spoke out loud, "The changelings are waiting for you, Princess Nymph." I looked at her, bewildered. "Me?" She nodded. "Right now, they need someone to lead them in their time of need. The changelings are lost. They need someone who understands them. They need their Princess." My eyes drifted to my mother and back to Princess Celestia. I wanted to stay by my mother’s side, but she also held a duty towards her changelings. The changelings were her reason for everything, and I couldn’t abandon them. “I need to help the changelings first, but I will be back by your side, Mother. I promise,” I said to her. As we left the room, Happy joined us, escorted by Princess Celestia’s own guards. I figured they were there to keep an eye on Happy and to protect their own princess. With Princess Celestia leading, she took us to another wing of the castle. There was a room with a large door, heavily guarded by ponies from wall to wall. Inside there were even more guards covering the walls and flying in their air to keep watch, while the changelings made up the inner crowd of the room. The changelings all sat before us and watched as we entered, tracking our every movement. From my wheelchair, I tapped Princess Celestia on the back of her leg. “I don't understand. What am I supposed to do?” I whispered to her. She allowed a small grin. “You're their Princess. Where do you want to take them?” She put a wing on my shoulder. “They can find a home in Equestria as citizens, but they need to understand that by doing so, they need to stop with the old ways. You need to reassure them of a future they can look forward to.” We got to a stage that stood in front of every changeling. Twilight parked my wheelchair in the center and took a step back to stand next to Princess Celestia. Happy came to stand by my side, shedding his disguise. I sat in front of an audience of changelings as I mentally prepared what to say to them. The changelings all looked at me, searching for an answer—searching for hope. I stared into the crowd of changelings, feeling the weight of my title for the first time. "Hi," I greeted everyone. With the silence of the audience, my voice carried throughout the entire room. “You all know me at Princess Nymph, and you all know that I'm not an actual changeling or a princess by blood.” I paused, trying to find the right words. These changelings needed help, and I needed to show them that they were going to get the help they needed. “You're tired. You're hungry. You're afraid of what tomorrow will hold for you." There were nods all around. "But, things don't have to be that way. Not anymore," I said. "You can get the love you need if you only learn to live with ponies. Equestria can help us. Right, Twilight?" The Princess stepped forward. "As long as Equestria can build a relationship where both parties can agree, I will do what I can to aid the changelings. They can even apply for citizenship if they wish to receive the same benefits as Equestrians. But, there will be laws placed to protect the interests of both Equestrian and changelings.” I turned back to the changelings. "See?" I said. "You don't have to face this problem alone." The crowd quieted, trying to make sense of the proposal. There were mixed feelings about working with ponies. “I lived among you almost my whole life, and I learned there’s so much more to every one of you. You brought me into your hive and raised me as one of your own. You even trust me as your princess. Now, I’m asking you to share that trust with other ponies.” No one uttered a sound, but some of their wings fluttered with piqued interest. Happy transformed next to me and stepped forward to address his kind. "Love is earned, and trust is needed between ponies and changelings,” he said. “This means you can’t pretend to be somepony to steal their loved one’s love. I know this goes against our old ways, but I think it’s much better to be wanted for who you are than to be wanted for being somebody you’re not." I watched with bated breath, gauging their reaction towards this new direction. A hum of activity filled the air. I saw the changelings nodding to one another, watching a chorus of chirps fill the hall. I smiled as their chirps evolve into a stampede of hooves. During the applause, a pony guard walked up to Princess Celestia and whispered something out of earshot from me. Nodding to the guard, Princess Celestia walked up to me with a proud smile and leaned close to my ear. “You have done an excellent job helping your changelings, but they will need a name if they want to apply for Equestrian citizenship,” she whispered. “Now, I will let you and Twilight oversee the changelings here. There is something urgent I must attend to.” An escort of guards led Princess Celestia out, leaving me, Twilight, and Happy to sort out the rest. I could name a few changelings, but naming hundreds was too much. An idea came to me. I turned to the audience. “Starting now, we’ll build trust between ponies and changelings,” I said. “Starting with the first step.” I scanned the crowd before deciding on a random changeling. “You,” I called out towards a small changeling in the front. All the changelings focused their gaze on her, singling her out of the crowd. The changeling looked around before pointing at herself. There was a short burst of transformation around her throat. "Me?" she asked, surprising me with her voice. I didn’t know that she could do that with her voice. Changelings never cease to amaze me. “What do you want to be?” I asked her. She glanced around hesitantly at all the other changelings, but I held a smile to my face as I waited. “I… I want to be a teacher,” she said. “That’s great!” I told her. “What do you want your name to be?” Shock and confusion crossed her face. “You're making me choose?” I nodded. “This is your life you’re deciding. You should get to pick your own name.” She looked down and fiddled with her hooves. It didn’t take long until she met my eyes again. “I want to be Ocellus.” “Ocellus,” I said, “that’s a nice name.” Ocellus smiled at her name. I went to each changeling, asking for their name. It took some coaxing at first, but each changeling was able to give their own name. Twilight began working on the paperwork needed for the changelings, while Happy helped sort out the named and unnamed. With each name, I felt my heart grow lighter as I listened to each changeling’s name and ambition. For the first time in my life, I felt like I’ve done something meaningful as a princess to changelings. ~~~~~~~ Feeling much better, I returned to Chrysalis’s room without the need of a wheelchair to tell her the news, while Happy and Twilight continued working with the other changelings. What I saw stopped me in my tracks. The guards posted in front of the door were gone. The bed had been neatly made and was missing a changeling queen. She wasn't under the bed or hiding in any corner of the room. There wasn't a trace of her ever being in the room. I checked the room number to see if I had walked into a different room, but it was hers. She couldn't have gone anywhere looking as she did. Someone would have taken her somewhere else. No… She couldn't have… I just saw her yesterday. Maybe the doctor ponies took her to heal her wounds. I waited in the room, watching the seconds tick into hours on the clock hung on the wall. The sunset brought an orange glow to the room, casting shadows onto the wall. Still, she was nowhere to be found. Hope that she was coming back waned as I stared at the door and waited for her. When the last of the sunlight died, I knew she wasn't coming back. I didn't get to say goodbye to her one last time. I told her I would be back to stay by her side, and now she was gone. I curled on the bed where she previously occupied and shed my lonely tears. Without anyone to see me, I cried my heart out. At some point, doctors came in looking for me when they couldn't find me in my room. I went through a series of examinations without much talking. They asked about my health and if I was feeling pain, but I only gave short answers without any details. They knew what was wrong with me and even tried their best to cheer me up with smiles and treats, but I just couldn’t cheer up. Food and fresh linen were brought to me each day, eventually making Chrysalis's old room my room. Even as the days passed by, I hadn’t seen any changelings since I spoke to them, not even Happy. He was probably busy along with the other changelings in their transition to being a part of Equestria. Or perhaps news of their queen’s death devastated them, and they were in mourning over her. I wouldn’t blame them. It was my fault she got hurt. After spending days following an erratic sleep schedule, I was still awake late into the night when I heard someone knock on the door. No one visited me at such a late hour, so imagine my surprise when Princess Celestia strode into the room with a guard by her side. Before I can get a question in, she said, “Nymph, let’s go for a walk.” Confused, I nodded and followed after her. The guard watching her held a stoic expression. His eyes never met mine as he held his forward gaze. We strolled through the gardens before the sun was even up. Even at night under the moonlight, the flowers looked beautiful. Despite her long legs, Princess Celestia matched my pace so that we were walking side by side. Just when I thought it was going to be an entirely silent stroll, Princess Celestia finally spoke up. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said. “We tried our best to save her, but she succumbed to her injuries.” I looked up at her, but I couldn’t say anything. The reminder of my loss left me in a quiet mood. She continued on. "You and Chrysalis pretended to be a family. You weren't a changeling. She wasn’t a pony. It's still quite an enigma how such a relationship came to be, one built on a lie." My lips parted, trying to put feelings into words. "Our family was a lie, but it was a lovely lie, nonetheless,” I said, looking at the flowers by my hooves. “Not all lies are bad. The ones we tell ourselves and help define who we are—those are the lies we take away the most from." I grinned as I thought about Chrysalis, the memories of happiness replaced the tragedy of loss. “I think the greatest lie Chrysalis told herself was that she hated all ponies. But, I know that isn’t true,” I said. Celestia gave me a questioning look. “Oh? And why is that?” I looked her in the eyes. “Because she loved me.” Her eyes softened, and she fell into a thoughtful silence. “We both found love from this lie,” I said at last. We came to a place in the garden where there was a view of the city and the rest of Equestria. We watched the sunrise as night became day. Over the treetops and mountains, over the winding river of Everfree, over the desert of the Badlands, the light stretched and fell softly on our faces, greeting us with the dawn of a new morning. The warmth of the sun felt nice in the crisp morning air as we watched the sunrise together. Princess Celestia made a thoughtful noise. "If she were here with you, I'm sure she would have been so proud to raise a filly like you." My eyes began to well up. Princess Celestia opened a wing and held me against her chest. I buried my face in her coat. She kept silent and held me as the morning birds chirped away. ~~~~~~~ Our stroll continued even further as we began leaving the castle premises and going into the city. "Where are we going?" I asked. She kept going forward. "Back to the beginning." Her words were puzzling and didn't leave much of a clue. We walked down a street lined with homes and came to a stop in front of a house. "What do you mean the beginning? The beginning of what?" "The beginning of your life,” she said. “This is your home where your birth parents live. I found them after searching through reports of a missing child matching your description." “My parents...” I whispered. I shook my head. "But… The changelings.” "It was decided by them. They voted that you go back to your pony family." She crouched to my eye level. “The changelings want you to be happy. They think you need other ponies in your life, and these ponies have been waiting for a long time for you.” The changelings didn’t need me anymore. They were given a new chance at life to start something new, and this was their way of giving back to me. She led me up to the front steps of the porch, while her guard stood on the sidewalk patiently. Princess Celestia always stood next to me, never leaving my side as I slowly walked. Finally, we arrived at the front door. “I guess this is goodbye,” I said, looking at her. “I know I didn’t get to see Happy off, but can you tell him I said goodbye? He’s always been my closest friend, and I wanted to tell him how much he meant to me.” She nodded. Her eyes drifted towards the guard who watched us from his position. “Yes, I will tell him,” she said. She wrapped her hooves around me in a hug. “Goodbye, Nymph.” She pulled away and turned to the door. I was meeting my pony parents for the first time in ages. I wondered what they were like. Princess Celestia reached out with her hoof and gave two knocks on the door. As she pulled her hoof back, she stepped behind me and whispered into my ear. An entirely different voice left her lips. "No matter where I am or how far apart we are, I will always love my changeling daughter. Thank you, Nymph." Shocked, I whirled around in my spot. "Mother?" Princess Celestia no longer stood beside me, having vanished alongside her guard. As I thought about going out to look for her, the door opened. A mare’s voice called from behind me. “Hello?” I froze at the sound of a voice I had not heard in a very long time. I slowly turned around to stare face-to-face with the pony, who only existed in my dreams and brought me comfort with her voice. My eyes glistened. “Mom?” ~~~~~~~ Two changelings watched from afar behind a bush, staring at the little filly left on the front steps of her pony home. “Why didn't you see her off as yourself?” Happy asked, reverting to his pegasus disguise. Princess Celestia burst into flames, her form burning away until a changeling stood in her place. A jagged scar snaked across her form, a discolored streak of dark green that ran from her elytra to her neck. Chrysalis sneered. “And have her following me back?” Her face turned melancholic. “No, this is for the best.” She watched as a mare answered the door. The mare’s legs buckled, and she leaned against the doorframe. A stallion came forth to hold her, as they stared at the filly with disbelief. Tears were shed, but the taste of joy coming from the group of ponies danced on her tongue. Chrysalis watched as a loving couple reunited with their lost child. No longer was there a filly on her hooves to take care of. Chrysalis had filled the filly-shaped hole in the hearts of the loving couple by returning their daughter to them. What is one more hole to her changeling body? She walked away from the scene. “Come now, Happy. We've got a lot of work to do with the Princess.” He broke into a trot by his queen. “Did she make the right decision for changelings? Living among ponies?” he asked. “You are still our Queen. You have the last word on it.” “The Princess and I also struck a deal of our own.” Chrysalis clicked her tongue. “I don't like it, but for the hive’s sake, I'm willing to give it a try. There is more work to be done after this new development.” While Happy went on ahead of his queen, she changed her form to that of an ordinary pegasus. “A lovely lie, huh?” She chuckled to herself. “What an apt way to put it.” All it takes is one special encounter, whether it’s a happy encounter or a painful one, to change the course of someone’s life. Their world had changed completely. Life for changelings was going to be different because of one pony, a filly who showed love towards loveless creatures. They took off towards the hive, leaving the little filly in the world where she belonged, hoping to one day cross paths with her again.