“Okay, Fang,” Applejack said while she trotted down the road, pulling the wagon behind herself. She glanced towards the changeling who was walking just a little to the side and behind her, his gaze lowered to the ground. “Ah know yah all up an’ volunteered for this, but yer still gonna be helpin’ around the farm an’ that makes yah not just a guest, but an Apple Worker. So if yah need anythin’ at all, yah jus’ tell us an’ we’ll see what we can do to accommodate yah. Now, it’s a bit late so we’ll be gettin’ supper first thing, then ah’ll show yah around yer new home. Okay?”
The changeling gave a small nod before he reached up and rubbed the collar on his throat. “I, uhhh, I’ve never worked on a farm before. Is it hard?”
“It can be. But don’t yah worry none. We’ll have yah doin’ the light work for a while. You’ll get room, board, a coupla bits tah play with. Standard procedure for any of our workers.”
Fang nodded again before looking towards the house in the distance. He wanted, desperately, to go hide. None of the hive were here, he was all alone. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been alone. There was no comforting buzzing of the hive to make him feel safe. There was no love dispensed by the earth pony, either. He would starve here.
He paused suddenly, sniffing the air. “What’s that?” he asked. He didn’t know what it was, but it smelled like… well, he didn’t know WHAT it smelled like.
“Mmmm hm. That’d be a nice big batch of spaghetti. You’re in for good eatin’ tanight!” Applejack said with a laugh. “Err, can yah all eat that?”
“We can,” Fang said with a small nod. It wouldn’t help, though. He wondered if she could tell, or would care, that he needed real love to survive. At least if nothing else it smelled incredible. He lightly licked his lips despite himself before perking up. Even if he didn’t get nutrition out of the food, he could still enjoy the taste. In fact, he might even--
He let out a shriek when a sudden small, yellow blur dashed out of the house and ran straight at them! He quickly dove under the wagon for safety, fearfully awaiting the undignified cries of agony from Applejack when she met her foul, horrible end. Instead, he heard laughter.
“Yah all okay, Fang?” Applejack asked through her laughter.
Slowly he stuck his head out and managed to see the blur, now stopped and with its hooves around the larger one. “Howdy,” the small filly said.
“Err, h-howdy,” Fang said sheepishly before stepping out.
“Applebloom, this here is Fang,” Applejack said before glancing to him again. “Fang, this is mah lil sister, Applebloom. Fang is that changelin’ we all mentioned who’ll be-- APPLEBLOOM!”
To Fang’s surprise, the small pony had let her big sister go and then hugged HIM! More importantly, the little pony gave freely of her love, leaving the changeling shocked and frozen, unsure of what to do.
“Applebloom, what did ah tell yah before ah left?”
The little pony sighed and let go, pulling back. “Awwww, but he don’t look scary or nothin’. Besides, he’s a worker, ain’t he? If he likes workin’ with apples then there ain’t no way he can be bad.”
“Yah still ain’t supposed tah go all… touchin’ ‘im. We don’t know how any of his… anythin’, works,” Applejack said, waving her hoof for emphasis.
“Sorry,” Fang said quickly, backing up from the two and managing to shake the smaller pony’s grip. “I-I didn’t mean anything!” He wondered if he was supposed to have reacted differently. He really hoped that Applejack couldn’t tell that he’d taken just a small nibble out of that offered love.
“What? Oh, err, no. It ain’t you, Fang,” Applejack said before shaking her head. “Jus’, yah are still a, err...”
“Invading force?” Fang said nervously.
“Yeah, that. So, err, Applebloom, go inside an’ set the table. We’ll be right behind yah.”
“Awwww,” Applebloom whined, before trotting inside. “Nice tah meetcha, Fang!”
The changeling nodded, still a little dazed by what had been given. Love. He’d been given fresh love by the little pony. They’d only just met. Were all ponies like that? He glanced to Applejack. No, he supposed not. Applejack certainly didn’t seem to have any love to spare him. Instead, the mare just sighed and shook her head. The emotions he tasted off her with a strange flurry, but love was most definitely not among them.
“Listen, ah wanna help yah out. Ah really do. Ah owe Twilight for all this as it is. So if it all goes well, then that’s for the best. But jus’ remember.Ah’ll be watchin’ yah. Keep yer nose clean, work hard an’ don’t cause any ruckus an’ we’ll be fine. Okay?”
He could definitely taste the distrust on her. Slowly he gave a nod. “Of course, ma’am.” Still, when he glanced to the house he couldn’t help but feel a few small blossoming bits of hope. Perhaps he wouldn’t starve to death after all. A little nibble here and there wouldn’t be noticed, he was sure.
------
Pinkie giggled, lightly poking the groaning changeling’s stomach. “Wow,” she whispered. “I don’t think I’ve EVER seen somepony eat so many cupcakes before. You might explode!”
Chitin groaned and didn’t open her eyes. The cupcake had been the most delicious thing she had ever eaten. It was both sweet and filled with love. It had been incredible. Yes, the love may not have been the best love she’d ever had, but it had been so long since she’d had a proper meal that it had been intoxicating. Then the pink pony had said she could have as many as she desired, she hadn’t been able to control herself!
Which was why she was now collapsed on one of the tables, clutching her stomach and giving soft groans while Pinkie and the other two earth ponies stared.
“Err, is she going to be okay?” the blue one, Mrs. Cake, asked.
“Oh, she’ll be fine. She was just really hungry, I think,” Pinkie said with a giggle.
On top of that, the pink pony practically RADIATED love. She was pretty sure the pony could have fed half the hive for months just from her love alone. Then these sweet treats on top of it. “This… is this place paradise?” Chitin asked, slowly opening her eyes again to stare at the three. “Is this my reward for being a good changeling?” Her nose was promptly booped and she was unable to suppress a giggle. Yes. Paradise. What else could it be?
“No, silly. This is Sugarcube Corner. But I can see why you got the confusion! If you want, I can show you around once you digest a bit. Oh, and I can teach you to bake!” Pinkie said with a happy grin.
“Yes… Pinkie pony. I will do as you say. I’ll follow you back to the gates of Tartarus themselves if you desire,” the drowsy changeling said before closing her eyes. She wondered if it would be rude to hibernate now.
“Oh, silly. We’ll just use some cream of tartar, no need for Tartarus! Just take a little nap and then we’ll get to work! You’ll love it here, trust me.”
“Yesssss. Pink pony is wise. Very smart. I will like it here,” Chitin repeated before giving a soft yawn and then, quickly, losing consciousness. Falling asleep on a full stomach was MUCH better than falling asleep on an empty one.
------
Sap cowered behind the yellow pegasus, trying desperately to avoid being noticed by the rather annoyed looking embodiment of chaos that was glaring at him. He had been unsure about any of this. Now he was one hundred percent sure that he would die while in this pegasus’ care.
“I don’t like him,” Discord said firmly. “You should NOT be living alone with this creature.”
“Oh, I won’t be alone,” Fluttershy said softly. “Besides, he’ll be staying in the guest room. Sap wouldn’t hurt a fly either.”
Sap glanced out the window and shuddered at the sight of the crocodile in the pond. The very last thing he wanted to do was risk earning the ire of this pony. How could she tame such powerful beasts? Even worse, she appeared to be one of the softest, weakest, gentlest of all the ponies. If this was what this one could do, what were the strong ones like?
Wait, no. Apparently that Twilight one had defeated the queen. Despite lacking both magic and flight. The rainbow pegasus had caused an explosion that had shaken them all to their core and that other unicorn had burned them with such powerful blasts of magic. Ponies were scary. But truly, taming a spirit of chaos was something beyond even his imagining. Yet it seemed this little yellow pony had done it. Fighting them truly had been a foolhardy endeavor.
“I could turn him into a fly,” Discord said before holding up his right hand and getting ready to snap his fingers.
“No!” Fluttershy said quickly before flying up and putting her hooves on his claw. “No. Discord, we’ve talked about this.”
“Having visiting vampires from time to time is one thing, but this is far too much,” Discord said, before motioning back to Sap. “It simply will not do. Nope, not at all. ThereHAS to be an alternative.”
“Well… I suppose if you wanted to let him stay with you,” Fluttershy said.
“That’s a marve--”
“But you’d be responsible for him.”
Discord gave a low, ominous chuckle. “Oh, I’ll take good ca--”
“And if there’s any problems or changes, it’ll come down on me,” Fluttershy said quickly and the smile literally fell off the spirit’s face, shattering on the ground.
The spirit used his tail as a dustbin before scooping the smile back up and reapplying it, upside down. “Fine. He can stay. But I do not like it at all. Just remember, bug, if you step one leg out of line, I’ll swat you in an instant.”
Sap nodded quickly, sinking down even lower and wishing he could melt into the floor. He wished he was back in Tartarus, it was so much safer there.
“Also, you know Twilight has been looking for you, don’t you?” Fluttershy asked before fluttering up, her hooves resting on her hips.
“Oh, indeed,” Discord said with a light laugh. “Worry not.” He snapped his finger and a fluffy pink bathrobe, traffic cone hat, longer beard and staff made of licorice appeared on him. “For a spirit of chaos is never late, they arrive exactly when it causes the most emotional damage to the ruling officials. Besides, it’s funnier to watch her try and figure it out alone.”
Fluttershy shook her head before lowering herself back to the ground. “You do know what she wants, then? Well, I won’t ask. I’m sure it’s very--”
“I’ll tell you what it is if you want,” Discord said with a wide grin.
The vampire pony shook her head. “I feel it might be better if I didn’t.”
“Oh, you’re no fun,” he said before the outfit disappeared and he turned his attention back to the changeling. “And you. Just remember, I’ll be watching. If anything happens to Fluttershy, I’ll be back with an industrial size can of bug spray. If she gets so much as a bent hair, I’ll know.” He then pulled out a needle and poked himself, disappearing with a loud pop.
Fluttershy shook her head and gave the changeling a soft, gentle smile. “Oh, don’t mind him. He’s just been very tense lately. I think Nightmare Moon has been getting closer to tracking his home down. He’s usually much nicer.”
Sap found that hard to believe, but he merely nodded. It was strange, though. He could definitely feel a type of love from Discord directed at the yellow pegasi. But it wasn’t friendship, or romantic, or sexual or like any love he’d ever seen. It was just weird. Oddly filling, even nipping at the outer reaches of, but also made him feel a little nauseous. He still wasn’t sure which was scarier of the two, though. Fluttershy SEEMED nice, but he knew all too well how one could hide their true nature. He suspected hers was hidden well under that kind, overly sweet facade. He’d have to be extra careful around her lest he risk causing her true power to be unleashed on him. That thought made him shiver.
“Now, umm, follow me if that’s okay,” Fluttershy said sheepishly. “Do you like kittens?”
Sap gave a quick nod. Of course he loved kittens. What kind of monster didn’t love kittens? He followed the pegasus once more out of her house. So long as Discord didn’t come by here too often, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. If the pony wanted to pretend to be kind and gentle, he was more than willing to pretend he believed it.
But there was something else that kept gnawing at him as well. One of the bunnies kept giving him almost menacing looks. As if daring him to cross some terrible line that would unleash the bunny’s wrath.
And that if he did, it would be the last mistake he ever made. He hoped it was just his imagination. Ponies truly were terrifying creatures.
------
“It figures,” Trixie muttered, shaking her head at the sight of the changeling, and failing, to organize the books. “Chuck! E’s go over there, before F but after D.”
The changeling blinked and stared at the book for a good long moment before nodding. After a few more moments she came back. “Which one is E again?”
Trixie gave a sigh and snatched the book from the changeling, before walking back to the bookshelves and sliding it in. “Right. Note to self. The changeling education system leaves much to be desired.”
“I like the ones with pictures,” Chuck said, making the unicorn roll her eyes.
“Of course you do. One moment, where is it… ah ha!” Trixie said proudly before pulling out a book from the ‘Education is magic’ section. “Learning your letters. Here,” she said, holding the book out to the changeling.
The changeling took it in hoof, before staring at the unicorn. “It… goes where?”
Trixie gave another sigh of exasperation before face hoofing. She didn’t know WHY she agreed to this. Twilight had BETTER appreciate all the suffering she went through for that earth pony. Bah. “It’s a magic book. Go sit in the quiet section and go through it. It should, at the very least, help you learn your letters.”
The changeling gave a small nod before flying up to the small, windowed nook. After a few moments Trixie heard the book. “A is for Apple, which are quite delicious and nutritious!”
The performer rolled her eyes before she walked back towards the box of new arrivals, pulling them out. As always, she set a few aside for the ponies she knew would love them. She was halfway through when she heard the jingle of the door and glanced up.
A strange, brown pony with a gray striped mane was standing there. She had the silliest giant red glasses, a purple cape and a small blue hat with a white ribbon on it. Trixie gave the mare a quick look over before returning to her task.
“E is for emerald, which dragons like a lot!” the book’s words echoed through the library.
“Err, hello,” the new mare asked, trotting forward. “Are you, by any chance, the Great and Powerful Trixie?”
The unicorn paused and glanced up at this mare. Why, she didn’t know how she had missed her! Obviously this mare was a pony of great refinement and tastes. “Why yes, yes I am!” Trixie said proudly, puffing out her chest and flinging back her cape so it billowed in the wind. “I take it you are one of my fans? Miss…?”
“Yearling.”
“Oh, like the author? What a coincidence. Now, I know exactly why you are here! And you’ll be happy to know that I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will be going on tour once more in the next couple of months!” Trixie said proudly. “Once I have finished training my new assistant and convinced Zecora to watch the library for a little bit. And finished cataloging the repair books. And write a rather scathing report to that foal who runs the board of librarians. Also get my wagon fixed. A year at the latest,” she said proudly. “I also perform regular shows here.”
“Err, that’s nice. But I’m actually here about an invention of yours. A giant… heating lamp, or so I’ve heard?”
That made Trixie give a sigh and her wind stop its billowing, before going limp against her back. “Oh. You heard about that, then?” She took a deep breath. “It is just a great lamp that--”
“Yes, a big lamp. But that’s not the important part. It’s made from the remains of… something from a couple of con ponies, Flim and Flam, correct?” the pony asked, her voice sounding a little panicked.
Trixie went completely still before, slowly, her eyes narrowed. Not a fan after all it seemed. A troublemaker. It figured. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Miss Yearling. I think it would be best if you l--”
“Listen. Trixie. You don’t know what you have. Those two really pulled the hood over Dr. Caballeron’s eyes for the moment, but he’s bound to figure out that you have the ring. Once he does, you--”
“Yes, yes, Dr. Camel-leered-on can make an appointment if he desires to talk about my invention as well. But it has NOTHING to do with anything made by those two hucksters. It’s merely a giant heating lamp designed to help melt the snow. No ifs, ands or buts.” Trixie quickly started to push the mare towards the door. “We’re about to close so I think you’d best leave. We’re all very loyal, good followers of Nightmare Moon here and have and want nothing at all to do with the sun.”
“Wait, no, you don’t understand I--” But before the mare could fully object, she was pushed out and the door was slammed shut behind her before clicking locked.
Trixie sighed and shook her head, ignoring the mare’s pounding on the door. “I swear, ponies should know better than to poke around things like that. Do they want Nightmare Moon coming after them, too?”
“L is for librarians, who secretly rule the world.”
Trixie snorted and rolled her eyes. If only that were true.
“M is for magicians, who often get paid in exposure.”
The unicorn almost fell over, before turning to glare at the book. She wondered just how flammable magic books were.
------
‘Radiance’ gave a light sniff of the drink before picking it up in her magic and giving a light sip. Carrot juice. Not her favorite, but what could you expect when drinking with a werebunny? She lowered the cup after a moment before glancing back to her ‘host’.
Dancinghoof gave a soft sigh, sipping her own drink. “So, first thing’s first. The whole werepony thing, I’d appreciate it if you kept that between us. Ponies here aren’t exactly… keen on my type.”
Radiance hmphed. “That’s foalish. The law clearly states that--”
“Laws only go so far, miss. I don’t know what it’s like back where you’re from, but ponies don’t like things like that here. Lots of ponies associate wereponies with Nightmare Moon as well and, well, I imagine you can understand why THAT would cause trouble.”
The ruler of the night paused, her gaze lowering on her carrot juice. “We don’t understand. Why would that be an issue? Nightmare Moon is loved and revered back in Canterlot.”
Dancinghoof gave a snort. “Oh, you can knock that off right now. Listen, I get it. We’re all scared she’ll come out at some point and try to rain meteors down on our head, but she’s never once shown her face here and I can’t imagine she’ll start today. Probably for the best, too. After the whole thing with Moondancer I don’t imagine she’d feel very welcome. The last thing any of us would want is to make her angry if half of what we heard about her is true, but they certainly won’t make her feel wanted.”
Radiance tried to keep a lid on the slowly boiling rage of hers. “We see. So she is not well respected in these parts, despite being your liege? We imagined you, a werepony of all things, would appreciate her return.”
“Oh yeah, just what all us wereponies wanted. To finally be let out into the light, right when a fresh new tyrant makes their appearance. Truly it was every mare’s dream,” Dancinghoof said in a deadpan tone. “Princess of Subtlety she is not. But listen, we’re getting off topic.”
“We’re fine with this topic,” Radiance said through grit teeth.
“I’m not. I’d rather not tempt fate by talking about her, the last thing we need is some comment a pony made here getting back to her and starting a grand crusade on our heads.”
“Very well,” Radiance said. She could take a little solace in the fact her disguise seemed to be working perfectly. “What does Moondancer have to do with this, though?”
“Oh, we’ve all heard the stories,” Dancinghoof said with a wave of her hoof. “How the moment Celestia was defeated, Moondancer was practically dancing and begging the new tyrant to let her serve her. Brought quite a bit of shame on the town, let me tell you. Firedancer tried to get her to leave the city, but once it was clear… well. She ended up being entirely disowned as far as I can tell. I’ll be honest, though,” the mare said with a soft sigh. “That doesn’t sound much like Moondancer at all. You were asking about her, right? How close are you two?”
“Close? Us? Why would--”
“You come here asking about her cutie mark, I can only imagine you wanna know a lot about her if you’re going that deep. Curious if you’re a friend of hers or is this just a more in-depth piece?”
Radiance shook her head. “It’s… we’re not very close, but I know her well enough. Though these days it seems to be in name only.”
“So is it true? I mean, I’ve seen what the papers have to say about Moondancer, but I’ve never had a chance to talk with her since all of… this.”
Radiance snorted, shaking her head. “No, it’s nothing more than lies. Moondancer never wanted to be Nightmare Moon’s student. We fo-- the ruler of the night forced her, with threats of destroying her friends if she disobeyed. Moondancer had no say in the matter. She still does not and, if she had the opportunity, I am certain she would flee as if her tail were aflame.”
Dancinghoof gave a soft sigh before taking another drink of her carrot juice. She then sat the now empty cup on the table. “That’s good. I’ll be honest, that story never really sat well with me. I know Moondancer left a long time ago, but I just couldn’t see her being so self serving like that. Just wasn’t her.”
“It seems you are now the one getting distracted,” Radiance said with just a hint of haughtiness to her tone. “The story? How did Moondancer get her cutie mark?”
“Oh, right, right. Well, as I’m sure you know, the Dancer family has had a long history of dances. Why, there were ponies who said Firedancer’s dances were a rival for Celestia’s own. Moondancer, welllll...” The mare trailed off, seeming to struggle coming up with a proper word.
“Is clumsy? Unbalanced? Stumbles over her own hooves?” Radiance asked.
“Is more of a thinker than a doer,” Dancinghoof said with a roll of her eyes. “I guess you weren’t lying about not really being close to her, huh? Anyway, it didn’t help that her big sister, Sundancer, could dance so beautifully that you’d think she was the sunbeams themselves. I’ve been one of her backgrounds enough times, let me tell you, she’s every bit as good as they say. I’ve seen her--”
“I’m here about Moondancer, not Sundancer,” Radiance said, barely controlling her temper once more. Must this pony constantly get distracted? Why is it when she wanted to know about Moondancer, everyone talked about her sister instead? That thought sent a spike of irritation through to her core and made her once more consider how flammable the town itself could be. She barely suppressed her irritation as the other mare refilled her drink and picked it up.
“Right. Well, while Moondancer didn’t have the talent for it, she knew the theory. Sundancer and her used to be thick as thieves, too. Moondancer would come up with some new dance and then Sundancer would make it a reality. They were quite a duo.”
“Oh? I imagine Moondancer hated being left in her big sister’s shadow,” Radiance said, her voice filled with bitterness. She was quickly beginning to think she wasn’t going to like the results of this story.
“If she did, I never saw it. Her mother, on the other hoof. Well...” Dancinghoof glanced away. “Let’s just say she has… high expectations of everypony around her. Especially her children. Moondancer and Sundancer weren’t any exception and from what I saw, she didn’t let her displeasure stay a secret.” A troubled look formed on the werepony’s face and she softly swirled her cup, as if the drink could wash away the notion. “Well, there’s a lot more to it in the end, but from what I saw? Moondancer ended up making some weird dance, called it the Rise of the Sun and Moon. Was supposed to be a big hit. Moondancer got her cutie mark after she finished.”
Radiance nodded. “I see. Then what?”
“No idea. The dance never got performed as far as I can tell. She spent weeks planning it, then it was finally done. She got her cutie mark. But before anypony saw it, she was heading off to Canterlot.”
“Wait, what?”
“Mmm hmm. Sorry, I know it’s not much of a story.”
“What do you mean that’s it? How can that be it? She got her cutie mark for making a DANCE?” Radiance asked before getting to her hooves, holding onto her anger with only a single thread of control. “There has to be more to it than that!”
“If there is, I don’t know it.”
“GAHHH! You’re all useless!” Radiance snapped before turning towards the door and stomping away, not even caring that Dancinghoof was staring. She finally thought she would get some answers, instead she just had more questions. She remembered the look her student had given her. How her cutie mark was a sign of a mistake. Yet she got it from making a dance? There had to be more to this story. Very well, she knew exactly where she’d go. She turned her head towards the school and found an amusing thought flashing through her head.
Perhaps burning it to the ground would work as a proper incentive after all. Nightmare Moon had never made an appearance here, perhaps it was time. It had been--
A sudden alarm made her freeze in place for a moment before she whipped her head around, searching for the source. It took her a moment to realize it was directly in her head. Who would contact her now of all times? She quickly moved off the main street and focused on the alarm.
She felt a chill go down her spine when she realized where the alarm was coming from.
A dragon assault on the Badlands.
Nightmare Moon let out a small curse before drawing the darkness to her. She reached out to call on the shades. This required immediate response, not just from her, but from her personal military force. They--
She was greeted with silence. The shades didn’t answer. No. It was worse than that. It was as if they didn’t exist at all. When she reached through the darkness there was nothing at all. She reached out once more with her magic, calling her shadow weavers. But she couldn’t touch them, either. What in Equestria was going on?
Where were they? Why weren’t they--
Like a great, hungry beast, the darkness enveloped her entirely, drawing her within before she had time to properly grasp that something was dreadfully wrong.