//------------------------------// // 8. I Wish I'd Stayed // Story: Trouble in Tiatarta // by RainbowDoubleDash //------------------------------// While most of Tiatarta followed the pattern of red-tiled roofs and white walls, there were plenty of oddities to be seen as well, novelty-shaped buildings much like what Ponyville sported. The town hall was one of these, a five-story building almost palatial in design, covered with large windows, surrounded by palm trees and with a flat roof that appeared to have a garden atop it. But that wasn't what caused Smolder, Ocellus, and Nonchalant (still in her preferred unicorn form) to pull up short. Rather, it was the fact that set just before the town hall was a statue. And while the first thing that Smolder noticed was that the statue appeared to be covered in gold, making her fingers twitch and tail wag just a little, as soon as she got a good look at the statue's face her draconic greed was pushed aside by rather more universal confusion. “Is...” Nonchalant asked. “...that...” Ocellus added. “...Pinkie Pie?” Smolder finished. If it wasn't a statue of Pinkie Pie, it was of her identical twin sister. The same eye shape, the same mane and tail style, the same proportions...she was even rearing up on her hind legs while throwing her forelegs open wide, as though waving them in surprise, or about to hug the onlooker, both things that Pinkie Pie would likely do. The sole thing that threw off the dragon and two changelings was the cutie mark, an etching made to look like a steaming hot pie with a slice of apple resting on top of it. The three drifted closer to the statue - wary of it moving out and scooping them into a group hug at any moment - and looked at the plaque set at its base. “Auntie Pie, or Tía Tarta in Mexicolt,” Ocellus read aloud, “was the keeper of an inn that provided food and lodging to weary travelers in the Pre-Classical Era for many years until her mysterious disappearance. That inn eventually became the center of a small hamlet that gradually grew to be the modern town of Tiatarta.” The three looked up. The statue of Auntie Pie looked down at them. “Time travel?” Smolder suggested. “Nope,” Nonchalant immediately cut in, hurrying away from the statue. “Nope. No. No, no, no. Because that is the most sensible thing I can think of and I refuse to follow that line of thought.” Smolder looked to Ocellus, who glanced back. Both burst out laughing, following Nonchalant through the steps and into the town hall. The foyer was decorated with pictures of iconic locations in and around the town, with the most notable thing upon entry being a blown-up photograph taken with a familiar-looking waterfall and river in the background, the Nook's location before any digging or building had begun; while in the foreground, Ecdysis and Delilah Dusk were both clasping hooves and smiling towards the camera as a number of changelings and ponies stood around in a mixed group. A plaque below it read “Tiatarta Welcomes Our New Changeling Friends“. Smolder was pretty sure she heard a sibilant hiss from Nonchalant at the sight. “We sure she's Reformed?” Smolder whispered to Ocellus, slowing her walking pace so that they fell back a bit from Nonchalant, who was following the signs that lead to the mayor's office. “She seems to kind of, well...hate changelings.” Ocellus' wings buzzed a little beneath her elytra. “She's still adjusting to it, I think,” she said. “I...don't know. It's hard to get a read on her. She's very good at guarding her emotions, better than you, even.” Smolder raised her brow, crossing her arms. “I'm not guarding anything,” she said, one claw picking at the dented scales where Ocellus had bit her arm, wiggling a few of them. They were kind of like loose teeth, they needed to come out at some point so new scales could replace them. She noticed Ocellus looking at the wound - wasn't sure how, not with those compound eyes, but she could just tell. “It's fine, Ocellus, I got worse from my brother's gang all the time, and gave worse back too. Plus, like I said, I deserved it.” Ocellus glanced down. She looked like she wanted to say something, but ahead of them Nonchalant had gone through a set of double-doors. Following her, the two teenagers found themselves in a small waiting room. A pair of large windows let sunlight in and illuminated the small palm trees in pots that sat in three of the room's four corners, the fourth take up by a large door leading to the mayor's office proper, while behind a desk a pegasus secretary was looking nonplussed with Nonchalant. “...in a meeting,” the secretary finished insisting, fluttering his wings in annoyance. “Well, she'll want to finish it up,” Nonchalant insisted, trotting right up to the desk and leaning in towards the secretary, glaring at him. “Because this is important.” “Everything Mayor Dusk does is important,” the secretary countered, “that's why she's the mayor.” “Oh, yes, very important position, a mayorhood,” Nonchalant droned. “Look, it concerns the changelings in the Nook and the fact that they've been acting out and that the mayor has been covering up the reason. I'm quite certain that a peon like you hasn't been properly informed either, probably she'll want deniability or something, but if you could just stick your tiny little head - ” “Okay, no.” Smolder said, coming forward and grabbing Nonchalant's withers, pulling her away from the desk. Nonchalant seized up at the touch and whipped her head around to Smolder, starting to snarl before the dragon's free hand clamped her mouth shut. “Nonchalant, we're not gonna do ourselves any favors by making a scene here.” “Please,” Ocellus begged, trotting up to the disguised changeling and looking her straight on. “Let's just...try to be nice here.” Nonchalant batted Smolder's claw from her muzzle and shrugged off the one at her withers with surprising strength. She glared at the two teenagers. “Fine,” she said, looking around the waiting room before picking a seat, heading over to and sitting in it, and picking up a magazine in her telekinesis, crossing her hooves as she angrily read it and muttered to herself. Ocellus, meanwhile, turned to the secretary. “S-sorry,” she said. “We're just, um...going through a lot, all three of us. Do you know how long the mayor will be?” The secretary ruffled his wings a little more, but at least seemed grateful to the two for getting Nonchalant under control. “Not long,” he said, and put on a pleasant smile. “Your friend - ” Nonchalant let out a laugh, “ - mentioned the Nook's troubles. Mayor Dusk is actually in a meeting concerning that right now. They've become fairly regular, she's meeting with the chief of police and a specialist in alchemy recommended by Princess Cadance.” The secretary turned to look at Nonchalant. “The mayor does ensure her peons are properly informed.” “Just as long as you know your pl - wait a minute,” Nonchalant glanced up from her magazine. “Princess Cadance? So Mayor Dusk has informed Canterlot, but no one's informed Thorax? Not even the Princesses?” She almost literally seemed to chew on this information, before laughing. “Oh that's rich. So trustworthy, these ponies...” Smolder scratched at the back of her neck. “Uh...yeah, actually, that's...kind of not good.” The secretary shook his head. “I don't have any further details about who has and hasn't been informed, miss.” Smolder once again glanced to Ocellus, who could only shrug herself. The two made their way over to another free set of chairs on the opposite side of the room, giving Nonchalant space, and settled in. Smolder tugged at the loose scales more, wiggling them. It kind of stung, but unlike with ponies it wouldn't heal if she did stop picking, so she kept at it. Ocellus, meanwhile, used her telekinesis to grab a magazine, a cooking one, and opened it up. She didn't seem to be reading the articles, just going through looking at the pictures...Smolder thought she saw her mouth watering a little. The dragon chuckled to herself. Changelings were as uncomplicated as dragons in their own way. The chuckle gave way to a low hiss when she felt the scale she was picking at finally tear a little at its base, coming loose from flesh. She grimaced as she pulled it out, while a sliver of steam and a tiny stain of red crept out from her arm. To her left, she noticed Ocellus shiver a little, and gag just slightly. It couldn't have been because of the chocolate funnel cake she was looking at in the magazine...meaning that she'd probably taken a tiny bite of Smolder's emotions and gotten a mouthful of annoyance and pain, however mild. Smolder almost just shrugged and went back to work on the next of the three or four scales that would have to come loose, but then paused as a thought occurred to her. Grinning a little, she set to work on the next scale, but only halfheartedly as she closed her eyes and turned her thoughts inwards. She thought of her hoard back in the School of Friendship, her dormitory and everything in it. Her bed and her lamp, her stash of coins and gemstones under her bed, her closet that had a few dresses sized for her in them. She couldn't help herself either, she also thought of the things that nominally belonged to Ocellus: her shelves full of books, her top bunk that was more pillows than actual bed, the costume that she'd worked on for the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant. She thought about Ocellus herself, sitting on the top bunk like a crown jewel resting atop a mound of treasure. Just this once, Smolder forced herself to not feel bad about wanting Ocellus' things, thinking of them as her own - nor about wanting Ocellus herself, wanting to be near her, have her, hold her for centuries. Dragons didn't go in for touchy-feeling stuff normally, but it wasn't hard for her to focus herself on her things. Everything she had that shimmered and shined or was soft to the touch...everything that was hers, her things, her Ocellus, her hoard... ...and then, knowing her friend well enough to know how long it would take, she opened her eyes and looked to Ocellus, who was looking back at her with wide eyes and mouth hanging open a little, tongue baited at the edge of her mouth, and a blush creeping up and glowing through her carapace. Smolder reached out a claw and lightly poked Ocellus' snout. “Gotcha,” she said, and laughed. Ocellus shuddered at the touch, before her eyes started fluttering rapidly and, if anything, her blush grew. “Wh...buh...Smolder!” She hissed, leaning in close, her voice a whisper. “Did...did you just make yourself feel all that love on purpose? Just to mess with me?” “Yeah,” Smolder chuckled, turning back to her damaged scales and pulling loose another one. She still had the first in her hand, wasn't sure what to do with them. She paused a moment. “Wait, love? Dragons don't - ” “I literally need it to live, Smolder, I know the taste.” Ocellus interrupted. “Okay, but I'm the one feeling it, and I'm telling you that you're wrong.” She dug a claw at a third loose scale, and tried to push down her rising annoyance. “I was thinking about my hoard. That was definitely greed.” “It was love.” “Greed.” “Love.” Smolder turned to Ocellus, eyes narrowing. “But I was thinking about my hoard. Everything that I think is a part of my hoard, including you. So trust me, it was greed, it has to have been.” She turned away, snorting a little smoke as she grew fed up with this particular scale and didn't bother to wiggle it loose, just yanked it out. She hissed at the sharp pain. “Ugh, this is what I get for just trying to have a little fun...” Ocellus flinched at that. “Smolder, I - ” She didn't get to finish her thoughts, as the door to the mayor's office opened, and a unicorn wearing a police uniform came trotting out, carrying a satchel in his telekinesis. He nodded to the secretary, but paid no mind to the other three as he went on his way. “Quill?” A familiar voice - Mayor Dusk's - called out from beyond the door, probably to the secretary. “You can let them in now.” “Oh thank Celestia,” Nonchalant exclaimed, throwing her magazine aside and heading straight for the door, Smolder and Ocellus following. She glared at the two teenagers. “If I had to listen to one more minute of you two...oh, lovely, Princess Cadance's expert is a cat.” Smolder felt little but confusion at that last statement, at least until walking into the mayor's office. Overall it looked like what she'd expected, a large room with the left wall leading to a balcony, and large windows set behind the mayor's expansive desk. Small palms and tropical flowers dominated the corners of the room, while the right wall featured a map of Tiatarta and a bookcase - and a small bar, presumably for when some meetings required lubrication to go smoothly. Mayor Dusk wasn't behind her desk, instead she was sitting alongside one of the chairs on the other side of it, sipping at something in a novelty mug shaped like a coconut. The chair was occupied by a middle-aged, brown-coated, orange-maned Abyssinian - a bipedal feline creature who hailed from lands far to the south of Equestria, this one clad in a light maroon dress with white trim. Even sitting, the Abyssinian was tall enough to look Mayor Dusk in the eye. She, then, was probably the “expert“ that Princess Cadance had sent. “Doctor Nonchalant,” Mayor Dusk said as she set down her mug. “I could have sworn you insisted that you were on vacation and not going to be looking into the changelings' problems. Then again, perhaps going into random restaurants and claiming that they poison their customers is a vacation for you. In that case, you and I are going to have a problem.” She looked past Nonchalant, at the two teenagers. “And I'm not happy with you two either.” Ocellus shifted. “S...sorry,” she apologized, looking down. “We're just trying to help,” Smolder insisted, crossing her arms and trying to remember that she was currently annoyed with Ocellus, not the mayor, although that annoyance was fading fast the way it always did. She could never be upset with her friends for long. “Nonchalant ate at that place yesterday and was love-poisoned. It was the best place to check.” “Mm-hmm...” Mayor Dusk droned, stepping behind her desk. “To be frank, badmouthing a restaurant is hardly the worst thing that a pair of teenagers have gotten up to in Tiatarta, so I'm willing to let it slide...this time. You can forget about those discounts I mentioned, though.” She looked over to Nonchalant. “You're an adult...or at least you're choosing to look like one right now. What's your excuse?” Nonchalant sighed. Blue fire slid across her body, unveiling her Reformed form. She took a moment to open and close her elytra before glaring at Mayor Dusk. “Incompetence.” “Uh-huh. I think I know what you're going to say - ” “Yours. Or at least I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming it's that, and not outright maliciousness.” Nonchalant trotted right up to the desk, eyes narrowed as she looked at Mayor Dusk straight on. “Why are the creatures of your town surprised when I tell them that some creature has been love poisoning them?” Mayor Dusk blinked a few times. She took a moment to take up her novelty mug again, drinking down the contents. “Tiatarta depends on tourism,” she said. “Vacationers. Summer isn't that far away. Now if we were talking about shark attacks, unsafe drinking water, what's-her-name, that evil little pegasus filly being seen around town - ” “Cozy Glow,” Nonchalant, Ocellus, and Smolder provided. “Right, her, then that would be one thing. Of course I'd be telling every creature that their safety was at risk.” She waved a hoof as she finished off whatever was in the mug and set it back down again. “But so far, until yesterday, your love poisoning, there have been no victims besides the changelings. No creature reported missing, no creature displaying the symptoms of love poisoning, no creature being found unconscious in an alley or a ditch or some place drained of their love.” Mayor Dusk put her hooves on her desk, though she leaned back at a little. “The only victims have been changelings acting out. Causing a nuisance like they'd been drinking all night, though until Clavicle at least they weren't belligerent.” “Clavicle wasn't belligerent,” Ocellus objected, stomping one hoof. The impact was fairly muted from the tiny changeling, but it did get her annoyance across clearly. And also, Smolder had to admit, looked adorable, which probably wasn't her intention. The mayor certainly didn't seem put-off by Ocellus' act, though her gaze quickly softened as she nodded. “I'll grant that. But he was dangerous, even if only by dint of drunken negligence.” She pressed her hooves together. “I'll be blunt: at this point I'm more inclined to think that there's some substance out there that can simulate false love, and the changelings have been partaking of it.” Nonchalant scoffed. “There is no such substance. I would know.” The Abyssinian purred, or tried to suppress a chuckle. In either case it reminded every other creature that she was there. “Oh, don't mind me, dears,” she insisted. She was leaning forward in her chair, looking almost like she was about to spring up, slit eyes wide and focused intently on Nonchalant. “Please continue.” Mayor Dusk did so. “There does not appear to be anything wrong with the town,” she said, “only the changelings. Ecdysis needs to get her bugs under control. At the moment if anything by not bringing it up, by telling the police to handle the matter discretely, I am doing Ecdysis a huge favor.” Smolder still had her arms crossed, and tried her best to think over what Dusk was saying. She had a point, sort of...except for one thing. “But wait,” she said, stepping forward, “look, it's cool that you're doing this. But some creature is love poisoning others. Nonchalant was love poisoned yesterday.” She shivered a little. “Trust me. I was the target. And Ecdysis got herself love-drunk to cure Nonchalant - ” “She what?” Mayor Dusk exclaimed, eyes growing wide. “Is she okay?” Nonchalant's form shimmered with blue fire again, taking on her unicorn appearance - so that she could roll her eyes. “She's in the drunk tank with the rest of the poisoned bugs. A few days and she'll be fine.” “The point is,” Smolder continued, “that we know for a fact that Nonchalant was love poisoned. So doesn't that prove that there's something going on?” “No, dear, that only proves that she was love poisoned,” the Abyssinian noted, waving a claw at Nonchalant. She stood and stretched herself out, joints quietly popping, then stepped away from the chair and over to the small bar, running a paw over the collected bottles there before selecting several, laying out two glasses, and beginning to get to work mixing something. “It could very well be a coincidence. In fact with, what, twenty-six, twenty-seven love-drunk changelings but only one love-poisoning victim, it most certainly seems like one.” The Abyssinian finished mixing whatever cocktail she was making, and brought over the glasses, one for Mayor Dusk - who took it eagerly, apparently needing something to steady her nerves after learning about what had happened to her changeling friend - and the other for herself. “I presumed paranoia on your part would prevent you dears from drinking anything I made,” she said. “At least, if I thought there was some maniac going around love-poisoning creatures, I wouldn't be eating or drinking anything I wasn't sure of.” “There is,” Nonchalant insisted. “Because a drug that induces drunken euphoria like false love on changelings doesn't exist.” The Abyssinian smirked. Actually she hadn't stopped smirking since Smolder had first laid eyes on her. She set down her glass, then reached into her dress and produced a corked vial about the length of her finger, containing a pinkish liquid that almost seemed to glow. She swirled the vial a few times, then popped out the cork, leaned forward, and waved a paw over it in the direction of Nonchalant, only a couple feet away on the other side of the desk. Nonchalant scoffed at first...but then the nostrils of her assumed unicorn form flared and her eyes widened, mouth dropping open. Blue fire started to stutter over her as though she would change back to her true form, but she let out a hiss that didn't match her equine form, physically pushing herself away from the desk. Her head snapped to Ocellus. “Drone! Rock form! NOW!” Ocellus let out a surprised eep at the command. Her own changeling magic washed over her, and she was suddenly a rock about the size of her head. She retained her eyes, which was a little creepy, but Smolder was more focused on Nonchalant taking on the form of a black-and-green dragon, as big a one as could fit inside the mayor's office. “Put that away or I will burn the air to clear it!” Nochalant shouted, green flames leaping from her mouth to show it was no idle threat. Smolder, meanwhile, picked up Ocellus and hugged her to her chest, stepping back and behind Nonchalant. She didn't know what was going on, but she wasn't going to let Ocellus get caught in dragon fire. Mayor Dusk had quickly set down her own glass, glancing between the enraged, scared older changeling and the Abyssinian, who just chuckled and corked the vial, doing as Nonchalant asked and tucking it back into her dress. “I'm impressed,” she said. “You looked like a unicorn, but selectively retained your ability to scent and taste emotions? You are a very skilled shapeshifter.” Nonchalant took a few cautious sniffs of the air, creeping forward and towards the desk as she did while her wings beat to stir and clear the air, eyes never leading the Abyssinian's. “Explain. Now.” She demanded at length, though she did transform back into a Reformed changeling - and went over to the windows, opening them wide and sticking her head out one of them to take in deep breaths of fresh air. Smolder looked down to Ocellus, who just blinked, probably the closest she could do to shrugging while in this form. The Abyssinian's offered a helpless shrug of her own, her smile still not leaving her face. “A few chemicals and ingredients in the proper proportions, darling, and one can do most anything. That was a proof-of concept I finished mixing just this morning to show that one can create a substance that simulates false love.” “Ingredients.” The Abyssinian's smirk finally changed - it grew wider. “Trade secret, I'm afraid,” she said. “But I think now, dear, you can see why Princess Cadance recommended me.” “Very highly,” Mayor Dusk added, finally rejoining the conversation now that she'd finished the cocktail that the Abyssinian had made for her. She opened a drawer on her desk and produced a letter on lightly pink-tinged paper, bearing the seal of the Crystal Empire and with Princess Cadance's signature prominent on it. She looked between Nonchalant, Smolder, and Ocellus - still in the form of a rock and still being clutched tightly by Smolder. “I understand that you three want to help out...but as you can see, there's an expert here already, and you did turn down my offer yesterday, Doctor Nonchalant. Your own love poisoning was unfortunate. I recommend making a report to the police so that we can look into things. But I'm going to insist that you cease your investigations if you're going to be conducting them by randomly accusing townsfolk. You're not helping any creature.” “We might not have a choice in that,” Smolder objected, clutching Ocellus tighter. “Me and Ocellus were sent here by the Cutie Map. There's a friendship problem in this town, and we're the ones who have to solve it.” Mayor Dusk offered a slight smile at them. “If changelings are getting drunk on false love...I don't think the problem is in this town. If their supplier is here, and he or she is caught, then we'll see about maybe letting you talk to him or her.” Her smile faded. “But until then, stop. You understand? I'm well used to banning unruly creatures from coming to my town or kicking them out if need be.” Smolder began to object again, but Nonchalant held up a hoof to stop her, then turned back into her unicorn form and trotted from the office. Smolder watched her go, then looked back to Ocellus. The rock in her hands just closed her eyes. “Okay, I guess,” she said, flexing and unflexing her wings. She might not have participated much here, but she felt almost like whatever had happened, she'd lost. She didn't care much for that feeling. Smolder did pause at the door, however, looking back to the Abyssinian. “Oh, wait...what's your name?” The Abyssinian clasped her hands together as she gave a curt bow. “Catrina. It was a pleasure to meet you, dear. And your...friend.” It was only when the three of them had left the palatial town hall that Ocellus realized she was still a rock. It was always an interesting experience...when a changeling turned into a thing, they became that thing, inside and out. So she sort of felt like she was holding her breath, except that she had no lungs with which to breathe, and no actual brain demanding oxygen. Which opened up a number of questions as to how she retained her sentience - or what her eyes were sending signals to when she opened them (a very difficult trick to pull off, but one that had been taught to all infiltrators-in-training) - but Ocellus had yet to really discover any satisfying answers to those questions beyond “magic“. She almost wondered why she hadn't transformed back yet, but then shivered when she realized she knew the answer (she wasn't sure how shivering as a rock worked either given that she had no muscles, but it did). She hadn't turned back because Nonchalant hadn't commanded her to. When she'd barked the order to transform at Ocellus...the voice was different, but something about the inflection, the tone, reminded Ocellus of a voice she hadn't heard in years...and could have gone years more without hearing again. Chrysalis. The Queen. Nonchalant's command had almost felt like it was a command from the former ruler of the changelings, a voice that Ocellus had been raised to obey no matter what. And while intellectually Ocellus liked to think that if she were face-to-face with the real Chrysalis she'd never do anything the old queen said, in the heat of the moment, the authoritativeness of Nonchalant's command coupled with a very slight but real tinge of fear had made Ocellus instantly jump to obedience. Which...if that really had been some kind of liquid false love, was a good thing, right? Ocellus realized that she was still a rock. The young changeling released her magic, turning back into her true form. Given that Smolder was still holding her, the result was that her dragon friend found herself with her arms wrapped around Ocellus' midsection, Ocellus' elytra against Smolder's chest, and her legs tucked up against her barrel, like Smolder was holding a particularly large puppy. She stifled a slight gasp at her sense of touch suddenly returning, or tried to, but Smolder's grip was tight enough that it forced a little bit of air from her lungs anyway. Smolder stopped her walk - they were near the golden statue of Tía Tarta, which Nonchalant was pacing around while muttering to herself, clearly furious - and loosened her grip a little, though she didn't immediately put Ocellus down, instead grinning. “I was wondering if you were going to change back.” Ocellus wiggled a little in Smolder's grasp. Her dragon friend was warm, though given that she almost literally had an inferno blazing in her belly, that made sense. Looking into Smolder's eyes, she remembered the love that had been pouring out of the dragon only a few minutes ago, and resisted the urge to lick her lips as Smolder set her back down on the ground. “S-sorry,” she apologized. “Eh, it's not like you were a big rock,” Smolder said, flapping her wings a little as though trying to blow away Ocellus' concern. “So...you had eyes, but how much did you hear?” Ocellus shifted. “Nothing, really. And, uh...King Thorax sort of overthrew Chrysalis before I really learned how to...to read lips. Or at least I'm not very good at it...” Smolder's reaction was somewhat predictably to just smile down at her. Ocellus could smell a mixture of admiration and happiness even before Smolder spoke up. “When we get back to school,” she said, “that weekend, we're all gonna play a dragon game called Hoard Seeker. It's sort of like a scavenger hunt mixed with hide-and-seek and capture the flag. And you're gonna be on my team and use all that spy stuff you know, and we're gonna kick butt.” Ocellus managed to stifle the giggle that almost came up at that. “I...I guess it would be kind of neat.” “It'll be the best. Now c'mon, let's go deal with...” she waved a claw at Nonchalant, who was still pacing in circles around the statue, “that.” Ocellus steeled herself, taking in a deep breath, drawing on the scent of confidence and surety that Smolder always had around her. The two teenagers made their way over to the unicorn-disguised changeling, who had at least stopped talking to herself and instead looked like she was deep in thought. Every hoof-step came with a loud clack, though, and Ocellus did her best to keep her breathing under control lest she inhale the almost visible anger coming off of her. “Okay, quick recap for what Ocellus missed,” Smolder said. “That Abyssinian is named Catrina, she came recommended by Princess Cadance, and she has a theory that the changelings at the Nook are getting false-love-in-a-bottle instead of actually attacking ponies. Which is something Mayor Dusk believes. Also we're to stop looking into things.” Smolder glanced between Ocellus and Nonchalant. “Are we actually going to do that?” “Yes,” Ocellus said - and to her surprise, Nonchalant said the same thing, or spat it, rather. The disguised changeling took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. She looked to Ocellus. “Impress me. Why are we stopping?” Ocellus flinched. There was that commanding tone that reminded Ocellus so much of Chrysalis again. “U-um...” she said. “N...not because Mayor Dusk asked us to. I mean...sort of because she asked us to. Sh...she's going to be watching us. Or...well, Smolder, actually.” Ocellus turned to look at her friend straight on, offering a sympathetic smile. “Nonchalant and I could disguise ourselves, but...you can't. And I have to stay with you, King Thorax said so and I don't want to disobey him, not when he's just looking out for me. So that means that neither of us can look into the love poisoning.” “And since that's probably what the Cutie Map called us here to deal with...” Smolder continued, nodding. “Argh, that's annoying. Like you said, Nonny - ” “Call me that again. See what happens.” “ - since we were sent here by Harmony itself, it has to be us that solves the problem.” Smolder turned to look at Nonchalant. “Right, Nonny?” Nonchalant bristled. “I hate you. But...you are correct.” She grinned wickedly, however, looking to Ocellus. “But not totally correct for why. I admit to having information that you don't, though. More importantly, information that Mayor Dusk and Catrina don't.” Ocellus and Smolder glanced to each other, then back to Nonchalant. “What is it?” Ocellus asked. “What information?” Nonchalant paused. Her anger abated, and Ocellus actually smelled trepidation in the air as she glanced between the two of them, her unicorn eyes lingering on Ocellus. The scent passed quickly, though, as a wall of pride and certainty came back up around Nonchalant, reinforced by anger - the emotional barrier that Nonchalant usually wore, keeping Ocellus from really scenting or tasting her true emotions. Outwardly, Nonchalant sat down, and tapped a hoof on the ground. “First...that was not Princess Cadance's signature. I was...involved...with her replacement before the Battle of Canterlot and am quite familiar with it. The facsimile is decent enough for a glance...but I could see the imperfections. “But secondly...I lied. I know there is a way to create false love that changelings can directly consume...or that there used to be a way.” Her eyes narrowed. “Water. Rose thorns. Pure rainbow extract. Distilled essence of cacao bean. Wisp from a cirrus cloud...and witchweed.” She looked between the two teenagers. “An extinct flower. Rare to begin with, but Queen Chrysalis made sure that every last bloom and seed were wiped out, completely and utterly, everywhere.” Smolder placed her hands on her hips, head tilting to the side. “The heck did Chrysalis have against a flower?” “Because false love might as well be liquid death to the Hive!” Nonchalant exclaimed. “At least in love poison form, idiot ponies have to drink it first, and those idiot ponies - or griffins or whatever - can only contain so much false love. The damage can spread only so far and the further it spreads, the faster it burns out. But if false love were directly created?” She stomped a hoof, and Ocellus backed away at the force behind it. Nonchalant may have looked like a unicorn, but a stomp that hard in a unicorn body would have cracked a hoof. Nonchalant's was completely undamaged. How good was she at shapeshifting? Nonchalant noticed Ocellus' reaction. She stood, advancing towards Ocellus, who gave ground as the taller creature started to loom over her. “Cast your mind back, drone. Before Thorax. Remember your hunger. Day in. Day out. Your heart always aching. Your belly always empty. Then imagine a small vial, a tiny thing smaller than your horn, thrown into the hatchery. Imagine its glow...imagine its smell. So sweet, so inviting, filling your throat, tickling your tongue. Imagine it...and tell me that you wouldn't have torn apart any bug that stood between you and that vial.” Ocellus backed further away at Nonchalant's advance. She shook her head. “N-no! I wouldn't have - ” “Liar.” But Nonchalant stopped when she noticed Smolder growling, snorting smoke. She waved a hoof. “Or maybe not. But if no bug stood between you...you'd have drank it, wouldn't you?” Ocellus shivered, but couldn't stop herself from nodding. In truth, the only way she'd been able to really resist all the false love she'd been exposed to was because she was Reformed. She didn't go to sleep hungry, her heart didn't ache, beg, for love. Nonchalant nodded as well. “Now imagine more than a vial. Imagine gallons of the false love pouring into the Hive. Imagine it even now, if you want, Reformed as you are. Bugs would drink it, fill themselves up on it, become drunk...and useless. Lie in euphoric bliss until they starved without even realizing it because the false love made them think their bellies were full and their hearts whole.” “Oh, I get it,” Smolder said. “Y'know, you could have just said it was basically a weapon that could be used against changelings. I would have gotten that, no need to try and scare us. But what's this got to do with Catrina?” Nonchalant looked to Smolder, and Ocellus got the sense that she already had a low opinion of Smolder's intellect and that it had just plummeted further. “Because witchweed is supposed to be extinct. Queen Chrysalis made sure of it, dedicated decades of time to it, would put entire conquests on hold to follow rumors of tiny groves remaining so as to see them burned and salted. So what do you suppose the odds are of two surviving sources?” Smolder blinked a few times as she considered that, before her eyes widened. “Pretty slim,” she said. “I mean, not impossible...but really unlikely. There's probably just one. So if Catrina actually had a vial of false love, and she'd need witchweed to make it - ” “ - then her source for the witchweed is almost certainly the same as the culprit's source,” Ocellus finished. “Or, more likely...Catrina is our culprit. She's the one poisoning changelings.” She shook her head. “But...why? Mayor Dusk really does like Ecdysis. When Smolder told her that she was love-drunk, the concern I smelled was definitely real. And what would Catrina get out of it?” Nonchalant's grin returned, and if anything was even more wicked then before. “We'll just have to ask her.”