//------------------------------// // Ponyville Forward Operations Base // Story: A Human, a Pony Princess, and a Mistake // by The Dimension Traveler //------------------------------// A Human, a Pony Princess, and a Mistake Chapter 10: Ponyville Forward Operations Base With a ‘pop’ of magical discharge, Luna and Chrysalis, the latter of who was in disguise as a nondescript gray Unicorn mare, appeared at the outskirts of Ponyville. Chrysalis moved with a tense nervousness as the pair walked into Ponyville proper on their way to Golden Oaks Library. The townsfolk, who were used to Royalty in general and growing used to Luna in particular, did little more than wave in greeting along with the occasional bow. Luna smiled to herself. There was a time when she would have demanded they stand on formality, but that time was long past. It had only served to distance her from subjects and potential friends when all she really wanted was companionship. As she and Chrysalis continued walking, suddenly Chrysalis spoke up. “I’m suddenly not sure this is a good idea, I can always-” Chrysalis was cut off by Luna moving a feather over her friend’s mouth. “Peace, Chrissy, they are all ponies, not vicious manticores. Those of Ponyville are quick to forget past transgressions and faster to welcome you into their community, I speak from personal experience. There are also a few who can be a touch melodramatic, so I think you’ll fit right in,” Luna poked fun at the disguised Changeling. Chrysalis let out a ‘humph’. “I am not melodramatic,” She pouted. Luna just giggled and said nothing. Soon the duo was standing outside Golden Oaks and Luna knocked on the door. A unicorn mare Chrysalis didn’t recognize opened the door. “Oh, Princess Luna! And, uh…” The mare trailed off. “Chrysalis,” The Changeling Queen supplied. “Right,” A look of not quite placed recognition crossed her face. How out of the loop was this mare to not know that Chrysalis was the name of the crazed Changeling Queen who invaded Canterlot? “Come in, I’ll go wake Twilight.” “You may speak plainly, Moon Dancer. Chrysalis knows of Tom and Twilight’s predicament. Why are they sleeping this late in the day?” Luna asked. “They just got back from Canterlot late last night,” The purple dragonling, Spike, if Chrysalis’ memory served, answered from up on a ladder, “It was apparently an exhausting stay.” Before more questions could be asked, the Alicorn in question came stumbling down the stairs, seemingly still half asleep. “Luna, I love you, but you really couldn’t have picked a worse time,” Twilight, or was that Tom? Complained. “I apologize to both of you, but I found her!” Chrysalis took this as her que to resume her natural shape. “Nice to meet you, your Majesty,” Tom’s voice carried a slightly sarcastic tone that caused Luna to arch an eyebrow. “Sir Tom, you appear to be in quite an irritable mood. Pray tell what has you in such state. If it is just our rousing you from your slumber, please return to sleep with our apologies,” Luna said. Tom let out a long sigh. “No, I’m sorry. For one thing, I need to be up anyway or I’ll never get to sleep tonight. It’s just…” Tom trailed off, trying to find the right words, “Twilight and I were in Canterlot because our most recent misadventure. Twilight’s parents insisted we stay a couple of days, which wasn’t a problem. Twi’s folks are great. Celestia is why I’m such a sour grape. She insisted on meeting us in the most public places and all but groveling to try and get Twilight to forgive her. To do that, she talked right through me like I wasn’t even there. Didn’t so much as acknowledge me the whole time we were staying with Twilight’s parents, even when we were out of the public eye. It was damn annoying is what it was. I couldn’t say anything either, because in public I had to pretend everything is fine because nobody knows about your fight and thus why Twilight is so put out with Sunbutt.” “That sounds unfortunately like something my sister would do. She was attempting to make a power play with you while trying to curry Twilight’s favor. I can think of a few reasons why she felt the need to do so and I’m sure between the two of you, you also have a fair idea,” Luna sounded most displeased with her pain in the plot sister. As if she wasn’t already peeved at her enough already. “Right, so I hope you can understand when I say the only ‘royal’ thing I’m of a mind to deal with right now is a royal ice cream sundae,” Tom concluded. “Aye, my sister can be most ungraceful when dealing with surprise. It is why she works so hard at the chess master visage. If she already knows how all the pieces will move, then nothing can surprise her and thus throw her off balance,” Luna explained. “And she was Laughter?” Tom asked. “Humor is subjective and thus Laughter is the most variable of the Elements. Although to be frank, I quite prefer Pinkie Pie’s Laughter to that of my sister,” Luna confided. “Sounds like we could start up an ‘I hate Celestia’ club,” Chrysalis snarked. “We could overthrow Celestia’s evil, selfish ass and install Luna as leader of our glorious new Lunar Republic! Viva La Revolution!” Tom looked like he was going to say something else, but paused. “Yes, Twilight, I know it wouldn’t be a republic if we installed Luna as the goddess-empress of it. I did grow up in a democratic republic. But ‘Lunar Republic’ sounds nice and sometimes sounding nice is more important than the technical accuracy.” Luna just rolled her eyes. “We aren’t overthrowing evil despots today. Even those as evil and despotic as my sister,” Luna said with a small smile. “Aww,” Chrysalis and Tom chorused. “You people are crazy,” Moon Dancer remarked, though not without affection. “You get used to it,” Spike said with a shrug. “So what are we doing today? I assume you didn’t just wake me to say ‘hi’ to your gal pal,” Tom quipped. “Indeed, I wish to introduce Chrysalis to the other Elements properly. You should probably also fetch the mayor. Chrissy and I intend to bring the whole Changeling Swarm to Ponyville. I further intend to gift them with some land on the edge of the Everfree with which to construct a new Hive,” Luna announced her plans. Tom let out a low whistle. “Sunbutt isn’t gonna like that,” He remarked. “If Celestia wishes to challenge my granting of land, as is my right as Princess, then she may take it up with me directly. I shall make that land sovereign land of the Changelings if need be,” Luna stated firmly. “Lulu, you don’t have to do that, just the grant of land is more than enough,” Chrysalis protested. “I will only do it if Celestia escalates the matter, but I am fully prepared to do so. After what she’s done, she can certainly give up a little land to make amends,” Luna replied. “I’ll go fetch the Elements and Mayor Mare then. Actually, before I go, would either of you two have an idea for how to disentangle my Soul from Twilight’s so I can get a body of my own? I admit part of it is me being paranoid about our personalities bleeding over, but it’d also be nice just to have my own body and for Twilight to reclaim ownership of hers,” Another pause, “Twilight says Changelings are a hive mind? Maybe you can throw me in one of the drones, at least temporarily? Chrysalis couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. That old myth was still around? Luna knocked her upside the head with a wing. “Don’t laugh at them, Chrissy, it isn’t that funny,” Luna chastised. “It is entirely that funny,” Chrysalis disagreed, “I even know where that old rumor came from!” At this point, Tom was blinking owlishly at the pair. “I take it this means Changelings don’t have a hive mind?” He asked for clarification. “No, Changelings don’t have a collective consciousness. Every Changeling, from the lowest drone on up is a full individual. What we do have, however, is a collective subconsciousness. As Queen, only I am able to access this subconscious nebula of unregistered thoughts and emotions and I’ve yet to find a good use for it except knowing that my children can’t lie to me or if they are unduly troubled by something. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” Chrysalis said sincerely. “I think I might have a solution, as far as the disentanglement of your Souls is concerned,” Luna said with some confidence, “There is an old semi-necromantic ritual that was used to fuse Souls back before the reign of Discord." “Why would anyone make such a ritual?!” Tom exclaimed in surprise. “Ah, that requires a bit of a story. To put it as simply as I am able…Before the reign of Discord, there were a whole host of terrible monsters that made the Windigos look like tame kittens. If there is one good thing that came of his reign, he didn’t like competition or things that would break his ‘toys’. So he exterminated a great many of these horrors. One such horror was monsters known as devoratores,” Luna reminisced. “Devourers?” Tom asked. “Aye, I believe that is what they would be called in the modern tongue. They devoured one thing almost exclusively: The Souls of those less than a year old. They would occasionally go after those a bit older, but that was their primary diet. They cared not for race or species. Pony, Griffon, Hippogriff, Beastman, every sapient species has a Soul and every child that had yet to see their first birthday was at risk,” Luna told them. “That’s…that’s terrible,” Tom whispered. “They were not called ‘horrors’ because they were cute and cuddly,” Luna replied dryly, “In some instances, the monsters were discovered in the midst of their feeding and chased off before they could consume the entire Soul. Unfortunately, for ones so young, even losing a tiny portion of their Soul would be catastrophic, often leading to death shortly thereafter. Eventually, the sapient races of Equuis decided enough was enough and convened a great council of their greatest minds to combat the threat. One of the results of that council is the ritual I speak of. It was designed for an older member of the attacked one’s family, usually a dead one, but not always, to offer a piece of their own Soul to fuse to and heal the young one’s Soul. The ritual itself was a resounding success. Where before the mortality rate of those rescued in the midst of an attack was nearly 100%, it fell to 20%. The only reason it was not lower was because of the one drawback to the ritual. It could only be preformed safely on the Winter Solstice. Any other day of the year and there was a very real risk that the ritual could go wrong and corrupt both Souls. I am certain I can reverse the ritual to be used to extract your Soul from Twilight, Tom, but I am almost as certain that it must be performed on the Winter Solstice.” “Well, that’s not too bad. The Winter Solstice is in six months. I was honestly afraid it’d be something like ‘you can only do this once every thirteen years and, whoops, you just missed your chance’.” Tom confessed. “Most spells and rituals like this are on a yearly timeframe. Those that require such a specific placement of celestial bodies are few and far between and usually high specialized besides. Even the spell the Nightmare used to break us free of the moon, one that took a thousand year cycle, could only serve that one function,” Luna assured him. “It’s good to have that weight off our mind, at least. Now Twilight, Moon Dancer, and I can all focus on making a receptacle for my Soul when it does get removed, unless you have a suggestion for that too?” Tom asked hopefully. “Unfortunately not, dolls and golems of my time were nothing compared to the modern era and even still there is not a fitting creation for placing a Soul in,” Luna answered. Tom’s ear drooped a little. “Figured I’d ask just in case…I’ll be right back with the Elements and Mayor Mare,” Tom promised as he exited the library. “I’m glad bedtime is still hours away. I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep after hearing all that,” Spike quipped from where he was dusting a bookshelf. “Agreed,” Moon Dancer said with a shiver. Monsters that ate Souls, even if they were extinct, were easy nightmare fuel. “Sometimes I forget how ancient you are, Lulu,” Chrysalis teased. “I am only two millennia older than you, Chrissy,” Luna tried to sound petulant, but her quivering lips gave away her mirth. Soon enough, Tom returned with the promised entourage of mares behind him. “Hiya, Queen Chrysalis! I know we’ve met before, but we didn’t really meet meet, so hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! I know you were evil and crazy before, but we get that a lot around here, so welcome to Ponyville, Equestria’s capital for reforming villains!” Pinkie Pie was just as energetic as Chrysalis remembered, but she was now in a much better state of mind to enjoy it and Pinkie’s Love of Life. “‘Equestria’s capital for reforming villains’?” Luna asked with an arched eyebrow. “I disavow any knowledge of making such a claim for Ponyville,” Mayor Mare deadpanned. “Well, it only makes sense! We have Luna, we have Discord, we have Trixie who knocks about every few weeks, but is too afraid to actually come into town, we have the Doctor, and we have Twilight!” Pinkie listed off. “Twilight?” Luna sounded confused and so was Chrysalis. Rainbow Dash then let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like ‘want-it need-it spell’. Luna seemed to understand in any event, because she shot a smirk in Twilight’s direction. “Twilight would like to register that she was under extreme duress when that happened,” Tom announced. “Like I said, evil and crazy,” Pinkie retorted casually, “Doesn’t have to be in that order.” “You actually used the want-it need-it spell?” Moon Dancer sounded surprised. Tom focused for a moment and an illusory clone of Twilight appeared. “I was under extreme duress! I wasn’t thinking clearly!” Twilight protested the slings and arrows leveled against her. “Yeah, the ‘extreme duress’ of thinking you might disappoint Celestia if you were a little late with a friendship report,” Rainbow Dash called out. Twilight looked pained, but couldn’t actually refute the Pegasus. “Um, pleased to meet you, your Majesty,” The other Pegasus in the room, Fluttershy, finally greeted Chrysalis. Unlike when Tom had used the words earlier, Fluttershy was utterly sincere and adorable besides. “I’m pleased to finally be able to make your proper acquaintance as well, Fluttershy,” Chrysalis returned Fluttershy’s greeting. The shy Pegasus smiled and every maternal instinct she had demanded that she protect that smile at all costs. “Now, what’s this I hear about an influx of about four hundred new citizens?” Mayor Mare asked. “Yes, Luna has already offered us land just outside the Everfree, so you won’t need to worry about building housing, but please let me know if there’s anything else you need for our integration,” Chrysalis responded. Mayor Mare suddenly grew a surprisingly predatory grin for a largely herbivorous species. “I’ve been after the Royal Treasury about expanding Ponyville’s infrastructure for years now. Now with a group of four hundred strong moving in along with two princesses and a queen, they can’t deny me any longer!” She started laughing to herself like the evil despot Chrysalis like to think of Celestia as and pronked out the door, happy as a clam. “Did I mention the crazy? Ponyville has a lot of it,” Pinkie Pie said as if she weren’t one of, if not the, queen of crazy herself. Chrysalis couldn’t help but laugh. If absolutely nothing else, things promised to never be boring in Ponyville. “Ah, Tom, Twilight, a word, if you please,” Chrysalis pulled the two out of conversation with Rainbow, Spike, and Moon Dancer. “What can we do you for?” Tom asked. Twilight’s illusionary body reacted immediately by trying to smack him upside the head with a wing, but as it was only an illusion, the wing passed right through. Tom smirked. “Forgive him, he’s not usually this much of a jerk,” Twilight complained while shooting her body double a glare. “It’s fine, Twilight. I’ve raised many children; I can deal with a little lip,” Chrysalis placated the Alicorn. “Uh oh, I’m about to get scolded by mama bug,” Tom’s smile told her it was all in good fun. “Anyway, I heard from Luna that you two are directly responsible for our reunion, and for that you have my deepest gratitude. Before she came to me, I had thought she had betrayed me and left me and my children to rot after Celestia sealed us away. If it weren’t for you, that notion may have poisoned me forever more. It’s not impossible to imagine it would have eventually led to my destruction,” The pair was now looking distinctly awkward. It was rather cute in Chrysalis’ opinion. “We didn’t go looking for the truth or anything. We just wound up drinking a potion that showed us visions of the past. One of those visions just happened to be what happened to you,” Tom said with an uncomfortable shrug. It was so precious how neither of them seemed able to take honest gratitude. “We might not have done anything at all if we didn’t guess that Luna had no idea you were still alive,” Twilight added. “Be that as it may, your actions still led directly to this happy day. My hive is not as strong as it once was, but it will grow with time now that we are moving to Ponyville. You both will always have the assistance of the Changelings for as long as I am Queen, which hopefully will be a very long time indeed. I believe I already know where we can start, assisting you with your quest to create a suitable housing for Tom’s Soul after the Winter Solstice,” Chrysalis stated. She smiled patiently as the two stumbled over their words before both finally took a deep breath. “Thank you for your consideration. I’m sure your help will be very, er…helpful,” Tom finished lamely. Chrysalis chuckled. “A Changeling Queen always repays her debts and I do believe ours is a debt I will never be able to settle. I do not think that is a bad thing at all.”