//------------------------------// // Letter from the Princess // Story: Two Nymphs, One Pony // by CitreneSkys //------------------------------// As the days went by, Fluttershy began to notice how distant the nymphs had become. Pharynx, while he still talked to her, always seemed very uncomfortable during their conversation. At first, she wrote it off as him still not trusting her, but now she thought differently. Thorax, on the other hoof, was much more reclusive than he used to be. He didn’t even eat any of the food she had offered, and it was beginning to worry her. “Your emotions are good enough, I don’t need the fish!” He had said, trying the calm the winged mare down. While she had accepted the reasoning, it didn’t make her worry any less than she was. Trotting along the path that led from her cottage to town, she silently waved goodbye with one hoof. Pharynx stayed with a deadpan expression, before turning away and locking the door. Sighing, Fluttershy picked up her rabbit and placed him onto her back. Angel chittered in annoyance, and the winged mare sighed. “What do you want me to do, leave you with Pharynx?” her voice etched with sarcasm, and the bunny rabbit quickly shut his mouth. Moving along, she continued to trot along the dirt path. The birds sang lovely songs as she parted ways, smiling as the music rushed through her ears. Cool air helped to calm her nerves, and she relished the warm sunlight. Perking her ears up, she realized that she was nearing town. With a shuddering sigh, she tried to avoid the crowding ponies in the town square. Fewer ponies she’d have to deal with, the better. Trotting over towards the markets, she looked over the booths. Her wings fluttered under her saddlebag straps, knowing she didn’t need to buy anything. She wasn’t even sure why she was walking through this part of town. In an all too familiar fashion, she ran headfirst into somepony else. “Watch where you are going!” The mare growled, turning an upturned snout towards the winged mare. “O-oh, sorry ma’am!” Fluttershy stuttered, pushing herself awkwardly away from the pink earth pony. Trotting quickly, she ignored the haughty pony’s huff, galloping nimbly towards the end of the street of booths. Making sure Angel was still on her back, she headed out of the main town. The voices of talking ponies faded away as she trotted further and further, looking around a certain library. It didn’t take her too long to find. The Golden Oak library was just in the outskirts of town, and Fluttershy had been there a couple of times before. It was a quiet place she had become used to, almost like a second home... Living in a tree always did sound comforting. “Twilight?” She called, knocking a hoof on the wooden door. “Are you home?” A couple of steps and an open door later, someone opened the door. “Hey, Fluttershy!” Spike greeted, his stature small compared to the door. The winged mare smiled down at the baby dragon, fluttering her wings at her sides. “Twilight’s in her room right now, I’ll go get her now...” He trailed off, allowing the yellow pegasus to step into the library and pass the welcome mat. With careful hooves, she closed the door shut. The bunny rabbit hopped off of her back, stomping on the ground. Spike groaned. “Oh for the love of Celestia-“ Fluttershy winced as she saw Angel race across the room, making papers and quilts fly everywhere. The little dragon facepalmed, walking away as if not wanting the deal with this. “Angel!” She scolded, trotting up towards the little rabbit. “We shouldn’t be messing up Twilight and Spike’s stuff, that would be rude. Do you understand?” Angel froze as Fluttershy have a long, hard stare. Quickly he nodded, and the winged mare sighed. Perking her ears, she turned towards echoing steps against the stairs. A lavender unicorn watched from above, smiling as she trotted down the stairs. She flicked her mane, greeting the winged mare. “Fluttershy! I’m so glad you are here...I’ve gotten this letter from Princess Celestia regarding changelings and it’s a fascinating read.” “Oh? What does it say?” “Here,” Twilight lit her horn with magenta magic, levitating a well-kept scroll over towards her. “I’m still not sure why no other books I’ve read never mentioned changelings once...not even as a character in a fantasy novel...” As Twilight spiraled into a long tangent, Fluttershy unrolled the scroll given to her. Discarding the red clasp the held the whole thing together, she began to read the letter. Dear Twilight Sparkle, I see that you’ve met a changeling. I know you are excited to learn about a new species but in truth? They aren’t anything new. Equestria has dealt with them in the past. I’ve even had my fair share of encounters in the past couple thousand of years. You are curious about these creatures, and I’ll try to answer your questions as best I can. Changelings are a creature that feeds on emotions. Many encounters in the past were from changelings kidnapping and replacing certain loved ones to gain love and power from their family members, though as far as I could tell they were mostly temporary stays. It is speculated that the changelings reside in the badlands, though it is a dangerous place and I suggest you not try and go there yourself. It’s a deserted wasteland of Tazlwurms and Mulwarfs, not a safe place for a pony. I’d suggest you stay away from them, as their behavior is rather unpredictable. From my experience, many changelings act friendly one day, then become aggressive and power-hungry the next, only to go back to being passive within a matter of minutes. Though I can not say this about the present, I did know an old Queen of theirs. A golden changeling by the name of Queen Lytic, who sought to take over Equestria. She had almost succeeded, managing to overthrow me for a good twelve years before I came back and took the throne. Actually, in the Canterlot Gardens, there was a statute that depicted her, though over time it has disintegrated into nothing. You would recognize it as an empty podium surrounded by roses bushes. This is unfortunately all I can remember at the moment of writing. If you still have questions about it, send me another letter and perhaps we can arrange a meeting so we can discuss this further. From your teacher, Princess Celestia “Huh,” was all Fluttershy could say. That was...a lot more than she was expecting. She could see why Twilight thought there should be more books on changelings. If the entire nation was taken over by changelings for some time, she was sure it would be in one of the history books...right? “I know!” Twilight looked over the scroll again, writing down notes in a journal. “This baffles me...but it explains somethings too...I think I remember seeing that podium back in a field trip, but I never thought much of it since it was empty...” Fluttershy reread the written letter over again, trying to wrap her head around the information. It was odd... She had so many questions. Why was none of this in any history books? Did that mean she’d have to stay away from Thorax and Pharynx? How did the entire nation get taken over and nothing was documented on it? Her eyes trailed on the last few words on the page. Perhaps we can arrange a meeting so we can discuss this further. Taking a deep breath, she tapped Twilight on the shoulder, taking her friend out from her fantasy realm and back into reality. “How do you feel about a meeting with the Princess?”