//------------------------------// // 7. I Should've Known All Along // Story: Trouble in Tiatarta // by RainbowDoubleDash //------------------------------// Chrysalis suppressed a yawn as she emerged from the oubliette - well, it didn't have a door and neither creature inside was particularly hindered by the entry being in its ceiling, but it was basically an oubliette otherwise - and found herself looking at a half-dozen changelings who were all surrounding it and looking at her. “What?” she demanded. The changelings smelled of deep concern and worry, an active sort that broke through the general malaise of depression that permeated the Nook's main chamber right now and poked incessantly at her tired mind. “Are they alright?” One finally asked. “You didn't...I mean, I know they were willingly giving you love, but you didn't completely...they'll be okay, won't they?” “The dragon will be,” one of the other changelings said, “but what about Ocellus? Is she hungry? Too hungry? Does she need us to - ” “The last thing that bug needs is the stench up here getting to her down there,” Chrysalis interrupted as she finished climbing from the oubliette. She couldn't keep from yawning this time - a day in the sun followed by several hours of love poisoning were catching up to her. “They're both fine, leave them be.” “But - ” But? This bug was questioning her?! “But nothing!” Chrysalis exclaimed. “Focus on your own problems, you worthless wastes of chitin!” The changelings all stepped back at that. The scent and burn of Chrysalis' own anger scorched her tongue and scent receptors in her disguised mouth. Her compound eyes allowed her to see that dozens of changelings all around her had stopped what they were doing and were staring down at her. Snarling, she took off, daring any bug to stop her as she headed deeper into the Nook, needing to get away from the miasma of depression. None followed. She'd come out of her love poisoning and subsequent feeding frenzy outside with a quartet of creatures around her, either unconscious from her own hunger or else inebriated to the point of uselessness. It had been sorely tempting to take the opportunity to stomp open Ecdysis' carapace, but there would have been no way to hide or justify her action to the bugs of the Nook. So instead Chrysalis had taken the four into her magic and brought them in, the inebriated bugs to go to their drunk tank and the teenagers to be sequestered until they could sort out their issues...and then she'd spent nearly a full ten minutes gagging. Chrysalis had told Smolder that changelings had become sensitive, but this... The Hive had suffered setbacks before. Failure. And for a race of empathic emotivores, of course failure and the depression that resulted form it could run the risk of flowing throughout the swarm. Misery loved company, after all. But there had been defenses against it running out of control. First and foremost had been hunger. Starvation was a powerful motivator, and no malaise could stand long against the primal need to feed. Failure was a lesson learned and a reason to approach the problem from a new angle, or seek out and find a new source of food. But second had been Chrysalis herself. She would not let her bugs dwell upon their failures. Drones lying around feeling sorry for themselves were less than useless. Over the centuries she had become adept at whipping them into shape, moving them past failure and on to the next target. There was always a small village or a tiny hamlet somewhere that could put up no defense, which could be swarmed and consumed as a means of filling their bellies and moving the changelings on to looking forward instead of backwards. Without hunger, there was no internal force driving the changelings to move on. Without a strong leader - without Chrysalis - there was no external one to redirect their malaise. Clearly Ecdysis herself was not up to the task, in any event; little surprise from an infiltrator who may have been intelligent enough but who had been trained to operate alone, not to lead. Hence why she'd done something as stupid as “sacrifice“ herself and drink Chrysalis' false love herself rather than merely let another drone be out of commission for a few days. And so the malaise spread, and they all smelt it and tasted it in the air, and knew the reason, and so it spread further, seeped into the very hearts of the bugs. It was like a miasma, a thick cloud choking the motivation from the Nook. It was infuriating. Enough so that no bug had disturbed her as she'd brooded just within the oubliette, accepting her quick, short explanation of being an infiltrator who preferred living among ponies to the Hive. Her anger was too intense for them to taste the deception. She'd made sure to force through a calm façade before talking to Ocellus and Smolder, but the moment she had left them behind, the anger had returned in full force. Chrysalis had left the communal chamber behind as fast as she could, intent on trying to find some deeper part of the Nook to lurk and brood and vent to the shadow of Twilight Sparkle. Her currently-compound eyes took in every detail as she went. At least the Nook was competently excavated. The tunnels were well-crafted, resin placed appropriately to reinforce the walls, prevent any collapses. But there were also metal pipes and pony machines in some of the chambers, most notably a cistern chamber that had pipes running through the water, heating the pool up so that steam rose from the water's surface. A communal bath, big enough for dozens of changelings at a time. Elsewhere there were granaries and larders for the storage of solid food - with more pony technology to refrigerate or freeze the contents for longer storage. There were also a number of dug-out chambers that didn't have any apparent use yet...and one chamber that made Chrysalis stop cold. It was in the deepest part of the Nook, probably directly under the river that split the small hive in half. It had only one entrance, a gentle sloping corridor that let out into a wide chamber that was a fraction the size of its counterpart in the Badlands, but which would surely grow one day. The floor was smooth, but nests of resin had been constructed at regular intervals across the surface. The resin here was soft and pliable, and once the eggs were placed they'd be half-buried in still more resin, held tightly in place so that nothing could disturb their gestation. The shadow of Twilight Sparkle came out from its home where Chrysalis had tucked it beneath her elytra, glancing curiously at Chrysalis. “A hatchery,” she explained, yawning again as she sloughed off her assumed form, stepping into the chamber as she truly was. It was devoid of eggs at the moment, and every nest was completely new. Waiting for the first generation of Nook changelings. The shadow of Twilight bent down with Chrysalis to inspect the craftsmanship of one nest, and found no flaws. Chrysalis saw the shadow staring at her, and shook her head, brushing hair from her eyes. “What do I care?” She demanded. “Of course the Nook has this. No hive is complete without a hatchery.” She rubbed tired eyes. “But it doesn't matter, because we just saw how useless they are. One thing goes wrong and they all fall apart! Their leader can't even keep her bugs under control or directed! They're weak. Helpless. They need me!” Chrysalis punctuated the last with a stomp of her hoof - straight through the nest she was next to, breaking through the resin and shattering it. The shadow was beside Chrysalis now, staring down at the broken nest. It eyed her. She eyed it back. “What?” She demanded. The shadow stared at her. “Oh...fine,” Chrysalis spat, both figuratively and literally. Ooze flew from her mouth and landed on the broken nest, and she spent a few minutes shaping it with with a combination of her hooves and magic, the shadow helping her. She'd made countless thousands of these nests herself over her long, long life. Even while sleepy, she was unarguably the most skilled maker of nests in the world. Soon, it was like the the nest had never been broken, save for the detritus of Chrysalis' stomp, which she gathered up and shoved into a corner. The shadow stared at her still. Somehow there was no ooze on her hooves at all, while Chrysalis had to spend a few minutes licking her own hooves clean before the ooze could calcify into resin. “There. Happy?” The shadow nodded. “Good.” Chrysalis stepped away, over to a relatively clear area of the hatchery and settling down, folding her long legs under her barrel. She shivered a little at the cold of the floor, but she could manage. She managed in Grogar's lair, after all. “Might as well sleep, then. Not much to do until tomorrow anyway...” The shadow stared at her. “What?” The shadow stared a moment more, then turned and walked from the hatchery. Chrysalis blinked. “And where do you think you're going?” The shadow didn't answer, having passed beyond sight. Chrysalis got up, shifting back into her assumed guise as a normal Reformed changeling as she went. By the time Chrysalis had reached the top of the sloping corridor that led down to the hatchery, the shadow had reached the end of another corridor, passing out of sight. “Shadow!” Chrysalis hissed as she took after it, wings buzzing since she could fly faster than she could gallop, carrying the shadow's stick in her telekinesis. “You idiot, you look just like Twilight Sparkle, if the other bugs see you they'll wonder what she's doing here!” The shadow was at the end of another corridor, dozens of feet away and staring back at Chrysalis. It shrugged, then walked out of sight again. Must have been teleporting or something since it never seemed to be doing anything but walking, yet Chrysalis was constantly far behind it. “Get back in your home!” She called after it... By the time she finally caught up to the shadow, she was at the entrance to the communal chamber again. The shadow disappeared just as Chrysalis arrived, back into its home. Chrysalis grabbed the stick and shook it a little, hoping it discombobulated the shadow. It deserved dizziness for running off and disobeying her rightful queen... Chrysalis glanced up from the shadow. She'd spent enough time wandering the Nook, and then within the hatchery, that the changelings of the Nook had started going to sleep, laying down on beds of moss and lichen. No changeling slept alone, many of them piling together in groups of four or five or more. A few changelings flew from group to group, passing out blankets or pillows, checking to make sure the rest were comfortable before settling in themselves. Meanwhile, overhead, a great, translucent awning had been stretched out, letting the light of the moon and stars down into the communal chamber but proofing it against any surprise rainfall. And as the changelings fell asleep, the miasma of depression gave way to a general scent that Chrysalis needed a few minutes to recognize. It was the vague taste of hope, that tomorrow would be better. But...how? They didn’t have a leader. Ecdysis was strung out in the drunk tank. So who had directed the Nook to this new emotional state? They couldn’t have done it on their own. They needed a leader... Chrysalis didn't know how long she stood staring at the Nook turning in. Her reverie was broken by another yawn sneaking up on her before she could press it down. Grunting, she made to turn around and return to the hatchery, or some other chamber, but paused after just a few steps. She remembered how cold the stone floor of the hatchery had been, and the air within it too, while meanwhile the Nook's main chamber was warmed by the body heat of hundreds of changelings. The moss and lichen was certainly more comfortable as well. Chrysalis found herself turning around and taking a few steps into the communal chamber, settling down near the wall. She wasn't going to snuggle up with any other changelings; that would be absurd for the Queen, disguise or no. But she did cast a quick spell over herself, locking her form so that when she fell asleep she wouldn't shift back into her true body. She clutched the shadow's home close to her chest as she closed her eyes, surrounded by the sounds of the Nook's bugs breathing, wings buzzing slightly, shifting in place, a few quiet conversations from changelings who weren't sleepy yet...the presence of so many changelings all around her... Ocellus had woken up the following morning to the realization that she was trapped in the clutches of a dragon. It had been surprisingly comforting while it lasted...if just a little confusing. She hadn't gone to sleep snuggled up to Smolder, though on the other hoof it wasn't the first time she'd woken up in the grip of a friend either. After their ordeal beneath the School of Friendship, when she and her friends had needed a heck of a nap after what the Tree of Harmony had put them all through, she'd woken up to learn that both Silverstream and Yona were clingy, and she'd ended up sandwiched between the two. Likewise a camping trip where she'd shared a tent with Gallus had seen her moving in her sleep under the wings of her griffin friend to fight back the cold of the Whitetail Wood's night. But this was different, because now that Smolder had revealed the source of the emotions that she'd been feeling for Ocellus recently and Ocellus hadn't rebuked her or them, the shame had lessened down to basically nothing. Now Ocellus mostly only scented - and tasted - the greed an the love, the two emotions entwined and mixing with one another in a rich bouquet of flavor. So much for dragons not “doing” love...and now Ocellus had to decide what to do about it. Did she feel the same way? The question wasn’t as straightforward as it probably should have been. For all that changelings ate love, they had spent so long viewing it as just a form of food and otherwise being distracted by their hunger for it that Ocellus really didn’t have any kind of experience trying to parse how she felt about her own emotions. She knew she loved all her friends, including Smolder, and that she loved her family back in the Badlands. And she knew that the love she felt for the two groups was different. Was the love she felt for Smolder different too? Still just friendship, or a third kind of love beyond that for a friend or family? Smolder’s love for her smelled of the sweet cinnamon of romance...what about her own? Scenting one’s own emotions was always tricky unless they were particularly intense, but just because her feelings weren’t intense didn’t mean they weren’t there... Ocellus was literally shaken from her thoughts as Smolder clasped a hand onto her withers, nudging her a little as they flew. “Hey, Equestria to Ocellus,” she said. “You missed the turn.” Ocellus blinked, and realized that in fact she had kept flying in a straight line away from the Nook, which would have taken her out to sea, instead of banking towards Tiatarta. A few hundred feet away, Nonchalant hovered, still in her changeling form. “S-sorry,” Ocellus mumbled, following Smolder back over to Nonchalant, then the three resuming their flight to Tiatarta. “Just...thinking. Distracted.” “Are you still hungry?” Smolder asked. She glanced between the two changelings. “No offense, but changeling breakfasts...I don’t think three papayas really counts as a meal.” “Three papayas and an agate,” Nonchalant noted of Smolder. “I'm just saying, maybe we can check out that Patios & Pancakes place.” “No. That would be foolish,” Nonchalant insisted. She turned in the air to look at Smolder directly, though managed to keep flying straight. “I think my poisoning yesterday was a mistake.” “Well, yeah, I doubt you meant to start smothering me - ” “Not like that! Think about it, dragon. The Nook has dozens of love-drunk changelings, but Tiatarta has no love-drained victims.” She turned back around, and her eyes narrowed. “Our culprit is growing sloppy...or bold. Or both. In any event I wouldn’t advise eating anything in Tiatarta, not unless you see some other creature eat it first and be unaffected.” Smolder crossed her arms, snorting a little smoke. “But we know where to look, right? That fish place?” “It’s a start...but I doubt any of the employees there are our culprits. You use poison because it can be done discreetly, without any obvious evidence leading back to the poisoner. You don’t just openly hand your intended victim a dish you laced with poison and then wish them bon appetit.” Ocellus blinked a moment, then shuddered as she flew. “That...I’ve heard that before. Almost exactly those words. Ecdysis taught me that.” Smolder glanced back at Ocellus, smirking. “More spy stuff?” “Y-yeah. B-but I’ve never poisoned any of you! Never thought about it!” “Which is exactly what you’d say if you had...” Nonchalant said in a sing-song voice as she did a little roll in the air over Ocellus. She must have tasted Ocellus’ embarrassment and shame, though, as she swiftly nudged the smaller changeling. “Calm down, bug. Chrysalis would have realized infiltration training was wasted on you within five seconds of talking to you once you’d molted into an adult. The Hive could always use more workers.” “Thanks...?” Ocellus responded. She wasn’t sure if being told that in the old Hive all she would have been good for was physical labor was a compliment or not. “I, um...c-could have helped with swarm lore, too.” Nonchalant considered. “Maybe.” “Hey, uh...” Smolder said as she dropped back to fly beside Nonchalant, “don’t take this the wrong way, but you seem...different, this morning. A lot less snippy. You sure the love poison’s worn off?” A wave of surprise came off Nonchalant and reached Ocellus’ scent receptors. The older changeling was silent for several long moments as the three flew. “I slept well last night,” she finally mumbled, then pulled ahead of the two teenagers, putting several dozen feet between herself and them. Smolder looked to Ocellus. “You know, usually when a creature says that they make it sound like it was a good thing,” she said. Ocellus weaved in her flight, the closest thing she could do to a shrug while flying. Given that Nonchalant was obviously a former infiltrator, she guessed that the other changeling had simply spent a long time away from the Hive and needed time to readjust to being around others openly again. They flew in companionable silence until they reached the outskirts of Tiatarta, when Nonchalant flew down into the first narrow ally and took on the guise of a blue-coated, white-haired pegasus mare. “Right, fish shop, it’s still the best starting point,” she said. She considered Ocellus. “You, look like a pony too, then when I tell you transform back into a changeling. Our culprit will probably have a burst of hate and maliciousness that we’ll both be able to scent if they’re there.” Ocellus obliged, turning into her favorite equine form: a lanky, green, young earth pony mare with a ladybug cutie mark. “What about Smolder?” She asked. “She was with you yesterday...and she said you weren’t exactly subtle about the poisoning. So if she goes in there with us, the culprit will probably guess we’re really changelings, and keep their emotions in check.” “Hmm...” Nonchalant considered, ruffling her assumed wings. “Good point. Smolder, give us some space, let us go into the restaurant on our own, then come in after a few minutes have passed.” Smolder eyed Nonchalant, then looked to Ocellus. “You sure?” She asked her friend. When Ocellus nodded and smiled at her, she gave a small shrug. “Fine. You’re the spy.” She chuckled a little at Ocellus’ sputtering reply, then beat her wings and took to the air. “I’ll be close, though, keep you in sight. Don’t want Pharynx to...well, you know.” Ocellus nodded and smiled a little at Smolder reminding her that she was Ocellus’ designated chaperone. “Just...don’t stay too close. But don’t look like you’re trying to stay away.” “Fly casual,” Smolder agreed with a smile of her own. Then she took off, beginning to lazily circle the area. Nonchalant, meanwhile, came up alongside Ocellus, comparing her assumed form to the younger bug’s. Little flickers of changeling magic danced along her as she made some adjustments, brightening her coat and turning it more towards green, thinning her frame, and losing the wings in favor of being an earth pony as well, though she kept the height and age difference intact. She reached out a hoof and put it to Ocellus’ face, turning her head this way and that as she inspected her. “Name?” Ocellus fidgeted under Nonchalant’s gaze. “Um...B-Bitta Luck.” She swallowed, knowing what the veteran infiltrator was doing. Sure, Ecdysis had called Ocellus a mediocre student...but only in the sense of having the wrong temperament. Ocellus never forgot any lessons she'd learned. “I sh-should be able to just...just use my actual history, I won’t need a real legend. I’ll just leave out the School of Friendship, use pseudonyms for my friends if they even come up...” Nonchalant smiled a toothy smile. “Excellent. Bitta Luck? I’ll be...Bitta Tea, then.” She glanced back at her flank, and the cutie mark that had been there, a magnifying glass, was replaced by a teacup. “Just a mother and daughter out on vacation from Ponyville. Come along, Bitta Luck.” Ocellus followed her “mother” out from the alleyway. They weren’t clandestine about it at all, instead trotting like it was the most natural thing in the world. Ocellus kept pace alongside Nonchalant, keeping to the inside of the sidewalks they trotted along. “You’re good at your...abandoned course of study, Bitta Luck,” Nonchalant said. She’d changed her voice too, affecting a more Ponyvillian accent than she had before. “Shame you lack the drive. You would have been quite useful in the old days.” Ocellus blanched, not sure if this was meant to be a test or not and wondering if walking down a street full of other creatures was really the best time or place for one. And even if it was, did she pass if she could keep character, or pass for breaking it? “N-no,” she insisted. “I wouldn’t have been. I could never, um...” Ocellus cast about for a suitable metaphor to use that wouldn't sound suspicious if overheard, “...eat seafood. So why would I want to...to go fishing?” Nonchalant grinned. “Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.” Ocellus chewed on her pony lip. “No. We...moved to Ponyville. We don't have to go fishing anymore.” She looked over to Nonchalant, hoping the metaphor wasn't getting too obtuse. “I mean...you moved to Ponyville too. Right? You gave up fishing.” It was Nonchalant's turn to look surprised. “Not by choice,” she insisted. At Ocellus' confusion, her eyes narrowed again. “Yes. Believe it or not it's possible to move to Ponyville by accident. I was...” she took in a breath, holding it, before letting it out in a long groan. “There is no possible way to explain it that you would understand.” Which probably really meant that Nonchalant couldn't think of a way to keep it coded. Ocellus considered. “Do you regret it?” She asked. Nonchalant's mouth opened, almost looking like she was ready to shout, but the words caught in her throat. She glanced away. “There are advantages. There's more to eat. And it's less expensive to live there. But I was really, really good at fishing,” she turned once more to look at Ocellus, and the young changeling was almost certain she saw the older one's eyes flash to their true color beneath her disguise. “But now it seems like nopony wants to go out to sea anymore. And I miss it.” Ocellus considered, taking a few moments to put together her retort. She brushed her assumed form's mane from her eyes. “The sea was really dangerous,” she said, “full of waves, and monsters. And fish that bit back. And it never really provided us with enough.” She lowered her voice. “Our...captain never provided us with enough.” Nonchalant bristled, and stepped right up to Ocellus. The younger changeling froze as the older one loomed over her, getting almost muzzle-to-muzzle with her. “A captain,” she said, “has to think about the entire ship, not just any one member of the crew. She might not have provided any one of us with enough, but she did provide all of us with enough. And she did it for a very, very, very long time in spite of those waves and monsters and fish that bit back.” Ocellus swallowed. “But there was another way,” she whispered. “That's why we moved to Ponyville.” “The captain didn't know. Couldn't have known about Ponyville. The sea had always provided.” “I don't think she was even looking. Even if she didn't find Ponyville, their was...” Ocellus shook her head, “there was...another crewmember, who got on a boat and went out and found a place where he could live, and everypony else could have too. The Crystal Empire. And the captain never even looked for that. Even if she didn't know about...about moving so far inland to Ponyville, there was always the Crystal Empire.” Nonchalant snarled, the sound almost un-equine. She realized it, though - and realized that others in Tiatarta were starting to slow their own pace and look at the way she was regarding her "daughter" - and so she backed away from Ocellus. “Come along, Bitta Luck,” she said, resuming her trot, affecting a happier face. Ocellus followed, hoping she wasn't shaking too badly. Before she could say anything, though, Nonchalant leaned in to her ear. “What if it hadn't worked?” She whispered harshly. “We were secret. Hidden. Myths and legends and creatures of shadow and fear. What if we had thrown all that away and shown ourselves...and the ponies said no?” Ocellus wanted to have a retort for that...but she realized that Nonchalant had a point. Sure, yes, it was easy to look at things now and say that things could have been different, should have been different. But with how changelings had survived for so long, as predators, parasites, preying upon others, relying on trickery and subterfuge and silence, sweeping out of the shadows and then slinking back into them...after all, the ponies had spurned Thorax at first. It had taken an impassioned plea from Spike to get them to change their minds. What if they hadn't listened? What if Spike hadn't made that plea? “Right!” Nonchalant said as she stopped in her trot. “Now then, I really do think you should at least try some seafood.” Ocellus blinked. “No, I don't need to try any. We live in Ponyville now and - ” Nonchalant put a hoof to Ocellus’ mouth, glaring down at her. “Bitta? We're having seafood for lunch.” She glanced pointedly behind Ocellus, who turned to look and saw that, in fact, the two had arrived at a seafood restaurant, presumably the same one that Nonchalant had eaten at and poisoned herself at yesterday. “Oh,” Ocellus said, suppressing a nervous giggle. “R-right. Seafood. I guess I can try it...” And test out how well she could feign a distaste for seafood. Silverstream and Sandbar had both introduced her to it. Nonchalant rolled her eyes once more. “You're the one who chose it,” she said - probably meaning the metaphor - as she pushed her way inside, Ocellus following. As the hour was still relatively early, there weren't many customers yet, only one of the tables occupied with a pair of unicorn vacationers. Ocellus spotted three cooks behind the counter, two ponies and a griffin who all seemed friendly enough. Unfortunately while in the guise of a pony, Ocellus had no ability to taste their true feelings... “S-so, um...mom,” Ocellus ventured. “What do you recommend?” Nonchalant scanned the menu closely, before looking to the cooks, one of which was waiting at the counter. “Salmon. And...as a favor...could you leave the bone in?” Ocellus suppressed an urge to grumble to herself. No doubt they were only ordering the food for show, they weren't going to risk eating it...which meant she was going to miss out on the marrow. The best part. Smolder waited five minutes after Ocellus and Nonchalant entered the restaurant, then went in herself. She spotted the two sitting at a table, kabobs of salmon meat and fries and full cups of soda in front of them, but not eating it. Instead, Nonchalant was talking, something about "Bitta Luck's" grades at school, whoever Bitta Luck was and whatever that had to do with their mission to find the creature who was poisoning changelings. Smolder supposed that she should keep up the illusion as well, and went up to the counter and ordered a meal for herself. She went with the cisco and onion rings, then went to her own table, relatively close to the disguised changelings but far enough away that she didn't suggest that she knew the two, about the same distance she put between herself and the other occupants of the dining area. And...now she was staring at a plate full of food. Which she'd paid for. But couldn't eat, because then she'd turn into a lovey-dovey moron until yet more changelings were put under draining the poison from her. Smolder drummed her fingers on the table, other hand supporting her head. She glanced over at Ocellus and Nonchalant, catching the latter's eyes and raising an eyebrow, wondering when she planned on unveiling herself. Nonchalant just smiled and waved in a friendly-but-unfamiliar manner. Solder did her best to return it, then sighed as she flopped down on the table. Her thoughts almost turned intwards to Ocellus, but she forced herself to not dwell on the tiny changeling right now. She needed to focus, for her friend. Finally, after what felt like an eternity - certainly long enough for her cisco to stop steaming - Nonchalant clapped both her hooves on her table. “Right!” She exclaimed, standing and trotting up to the counter, bringing her food with her and indicating that Ocellus should do the same. “I actually wish to register a small complaint, if you don't mind.” “Complaint?” A cook, one of the ponies, asked, looking at the dishes. “You haven't even touched them...” The griffin let out a squak at that. “Yeah, what gives?” He asked, coming forward. “Them's fresh fish, right outta the Luna Bay, caught this morning!” Nonchalant smiled. “Yes, well, you see - I have a terrible allergy...to poison!” Nonchalant glowed blue, revealing her cream-colored true form, with Ocellus following suit a moment later. Both changelings took in sharp breaths...and had looks of disappointment overcome their features. The two ponies and one griffin glanced between each other. They’d reacted with surprise, at first, but then one of them sighed. “Great. Two more crazy bugs...” “They’re not crazy...” Smolder droned from her table, sighing. “Yesterday I had a friend eat here and she got love-poisoned. We were looking into this place to see if you were the ones who did it.” “Congratulations, you passed,” Nonchalant said. “Honestly I didn’t think it likely, but it was worth inspecting.” She trotted over time Smolder’s table and sat down. “Well, eat up, no sense in letting food go to waste...” Smolder let out an appreciative growl, grabbing her cisco kabob and biting in to it - even as Ocellus cried out and her horn lit up to take it from her, though too late. “What?” Smolder asked as she chewed. Ocellus bit her lip, but was glaring angrily at Nonchalant. “Just because those cooks didn’t poison the meal doesn’t mean it’s not poisoned!” She exclaimed. “Hey!” One of the cooks objected. “We don’t - who do you think we are, claiming we’d poison our own guests?!” “Mmm-hmm,” Nonchalant intoned, apparently ignoring the three. “Give it a few minutes. And stop looking at me like that, Ocellus, it’s not like we’re worried about arsenic or wyvern venom...” Smolder blinked, considering. She decided that she was in for a jangle already, so she might as well go in for the full bit and dig in. Even as she did, Nonchalant began telekinetically pulling apart her own fish, inspecting it closely. “Look, you three,” the griffin cook said, flying out from behind the counter. “You can’t just come in here and make accusations like that! We have a reputation to consider.” Nonchalant’s horn glowed blue, and she leaned in close to the fish, squinting and still ignoring the accusations. “Love poison is so hard to detect...” Smolder finished her cisco, then sat back and waited. Ocellus has her eyes locked on her. “I feel fine,” she noted. “Do I sound fine?” “Of course you do!” One of the pony cooks objected. “We do not - wait, sir, ma’am...!” He came out from behind the counter as well to go after the unicorn couple, who had risen from their meal and were rushing out the door with panic on their faces. “This is a misunderstanding...” Ocellus paid them no mind. “Y-yes,” she said, coming around the table and leaning in close to Smolder, breathing in, tongue flicking out. So nervous was she that her tongue's forked tip lightly brushed Smolder’s neck, causing a jolt to travel straight from the point of contact through Smolder’s spine and making her wings flare out. Ocellus leapt back at that, chuckling nervously. “S-sorry! I, um...you smell and taste normal. Normal love.” “Dragons don’t - ” “Y-you do,” Ocellus insisted. “You...you really do.” Smolder growled a little. Okay, sure, so her friend could taste and smell and eat emotions, but that didn’t mean that she actually understood them. Especially not in dragons. Dragons did greed and possession instead of love. How many times was she going to have to repeat that? “I think we’re safe,” Nonchalant interrupted. Wincing, she bit into her fish, chewing slowly. “Smolder isn’t showing any signs of infection.” “Ma’am, one more word about infection or poison or anything to disparage this establishment and I’ll - ” Nonchalant turned to glare at the cook, wings opening, eyes narrowing. ”You’ll. What?” She asked. The griffin matched her gaze, before turning deliberately away to look at one of the others. “Go fetch the police,” he said. Ocellus finally turned her head so that she wasn’t directly looking at Smolder anymore. “The police?” Ocellus asked. “No, wait, we’ll just - ” “Relax, little grub,” Nonchalant said, reaching out a hoof and pulling Ocellus back down into a sitting position. “We haven’t broken any laws, the most that the police will be able to do is escort us from the premise. And I think better under pressure anyway...” she stared at her fish, then held forward a bone that had been left in to Smolder, telekinesis pealing it open to expose the marrow. “Eat this.” Smolder’s head tilted to the side. “I’m...actually not a big fan of marrow.” “But it’s the best - ” Ocellus began to object. No sooner were the words out of her mouth that the marrow was lifted from the bone and shoved into her mouth by Nonchalant. Another creature might and gagged or spat it out - Smolder certainly would have - but Ocellus chewed and swallowed without thinking, before her eyes widened. “Oh no, I just...I don’t...” Nonchalant leaned in to her, breathing deeply. “Ugh. Nothing. I really thought I was on to something there...What about the soda? Has any creature had any soda yet?” She asked this even as Smolder had a straw in her mouth. Nonchalant stared, breathing a few moments, then sighed and drank her own soda. “Nuts...wait, why do I taste smugness?” Smolder removed the straw from her mouth. “I hadn’t drank anything yet. That’s for trying to poison Ocellus.” Nonchalant glared at her, but said nothing as they waited. “I hate you,” she said after several long moments, but resumed drinking her soda. Smolder chuckled, having some of her own. “Okay. So I guess we learned...you’re right? Whosever is poisoning changelings probably just made a mistake yesterday and didn’t mean to poison you. They didn’t even know you were a changeling.” “It must have been a mistake,” Ocellus said. “Two dozen love-drunk changelings but not a single victim of love poisoning until yesterday.” “Are you really not going to leave until the police drag you out?” The griffin demanded. “We won’t be dragged out, they’ll ask us to leave and we will,” Nonchalant said. “Now shut up. No, wait...” she turned to look at the griffin, eyes wide. “You said ‘crazy bugs’, not poisoned or drunk ones...” Smolder realized what she was getting at. “Yeah...and you seemed surprised to learn about love poisoning even though it’s been going on for weeks. Its what’s been making the changelings act crazy, they’re being attacked somehow.” The griffin bristled, feathers rising high on his body. “Changelings are some of my best customers!” He insisted, then glared at the three of them. “Present company excluded. Why would I poison them? The Nook has been great for business!” “N-no, not that,” Ocellus said. “They mean...how could you not know about it? Unless no one’s told Tiatarta why changelings have been acting so strange...” Nonchalant stood, looking between Smolder and Ocellus. “Can I presume that your saving that airship got you in good with the mayor?” “She offered us coupons if we went to visit her,” Smolder said. “It’ll do. Let’s go visit Mayor Dusk and find out why she’s been keeping secrets from her town.” “Good! You’re banned!” The griffin shouted after them as the trio headed for the exit. Nonchalant froze, then glanced over her shoulder and smiled. Blue fire flared around her, and she shifted through a half-dozen forms: an elderly pegasus, a crystal pony colt, a buffalo soldier, a diamond dog miner, a manticore in a tutu, Queen Chrysalis, and finally settling on the unicorn form she’d worn most of yesterday. “Good luck,” she drawled, heading out.