//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 - Emotions // Story: A Changing Perspective // by Dragrace //------------------------------// The flash of green light slowly faded. Jack could not remember anything about the two changelings he had spent time with having any sort of magical abilities, however he had been teleported somewhere. The location did not seem familiar in any way, it was in fact dark, but even with his nocturnal vision he could not pinpoint his current location. ‘What did Wings say? Something about the Hive?’ Jack thought. He was in some sort of cave, and he could easily dismiss the fact he had returned once more to the changeling lair. There was no life around him, and strangely it was almost as if he could sense the lack of life. The feeling of being completely alone, the feeling of knowing you’re all alone, it scared Jack. ‘Are changelings really able to sense nearby life?’ Jack thought. He couldn't ignore the feeling, or in this case, the lack of feeling. Whenever he was around anypony else, he had some sort of feeling. Now that he was alone, the lack of any sort of feelings was overwhelming. He felt drained, tired, starved. Was Wings planning on saying more about the Hive? Were his intentions to have him forced to feel what it was like to be without food? Perhaps they were going to guilt him into returning to the Hive in order to feed the colony. But each and every idea that popped into Jack’s mind seemed like a realistic possibility. Flooded with all sorts of thoughts about Wings, Jack never brought any attention to Biggs. >---< Twilight saw the green flash from the basement, just barely underneath the closed door. After the flash, there wasn’t a single noise, although she could have sworn she heard Jack talking just a moment ago. She rushed upstairs, curious as to what had occurred. Collapsed on the ground, just a few feet away, was a changeling. “WHAT?!” Twilight yelped. The sleeping dragon awoke. In his half-awake state he stumbled around the room mumbling something about not getting enough sleep. Unaware of his surrounding, he tripped over the motionless changeling lying near the center of the room. “T...Twi, why are y-you on the floor?” The dragon murmured, not realizing the purple mare was standing a few feet away. “Spike! What happened?” Twilight asked, panic in her voice. “With you lying on the floor, or me trying to sleep?” The dragon asked. “Spike, wake up! You’re lying on a changeling!” She exclaimed. Spike, now noticing that he was not lying on the purple mare, quickly jumped onto his legs and ran behind Twilight. “What happened? Where did everypony go? Where did this changeling come from? Twilight?” Spike questioned, panicking slightly as well. “That’s what I was trying to ask you! You were the one up here with Jack, Cienna and Domina! Did you see anything odd? Was anypony acting out of the ordinary?” Twilight asked. “I… I don’t know. I’m sorry, Twi.” >---< The cave had a nice atmosphere, unlike the changeling Hive; it was much cooler and soothing. There was a small puddle near one of the edges of the cave, where a handful of rays of sunshine managed to pierce through a small hole in the roof. Looking around, there was no entrance to the cave other than the small hole; some sort of teleportation magic had to have taken Jack there. Alone again, without anypony to talk to, he felt although he was back in the hospital. But it was as if the cave bestowed a magical cleansing aura, he felt the water calling to him, as if he must drink from the puddle. The water was clean, there weren’t any signs of dirt or rocks within, and as he approached it he felt although it was his purpose. His life was meaningless without the sparkling water that rest before him. He needed to take a sip. Just a little drink, get a taste of the wondrous liquid… Without any notice, there was another flash of green light. Before Jack rest a changeling slightly larger than himself. He recognized the changeling, it had been one of the two assigned to watch over him. Biggs stood in front of Jack, blocking his path to the pool of water. “Halt.” Biggs said. His voice was deep and assertive; it was rare for either of the changelings to talk, let alone having Biggs talk. But the water was still calling for Jack, he felt like the water was filled with compassion, care, and love. The soft whispers of the ripples in the water called Jack, despite there being a lack of anything to cause the small waves. He pressed forward, Biggs blocking his path. He stopped before Biggs. He wouldn’t be able to pass, and he felt although the only way to get to the liquid was to pass through Biggs. Jack stood there in awe, while Biggs gave him a concerned look; something that Jack had never seen before. But Jack didn’t care; all he wanted was the water. “Your mind has been poisoned” Biggs hissed. Jack blinked once, giving an emotionless stare back to Biggs. He didn’t have any emotions left, he felt although the water was the only way to regain his feelings. He had to get to the water… >---< “Where did this changeling even come from? And who IS this changeling?” Twilight asked, not expecting any sort of response. “From what information I can gather, it was more than likely one of the three new ponies in town.” Spike responded, a nervous look on his face. “Spike, that was rhetorical question. But which one of the three ponies was it? It couldn’t be… Jack could it?” Twilight said. Twilight’s face dropped, and the sadness overwhelmed her. So far, all evidence was pointing to Jack. The other two were obviously related, so the odds of one of them being a changeling were extremely low. But she had feelings for him, feeling she had never had for another pony ever. She was going to ask him if he wanted to be her special somepony… But, it all made sense. Changelings were manipulative, they would take over their pray to feast of their emotions. Twilight had to be strong. She just couldn’t handle it, and broke out into tears on the library floor. Spike was up by her side, stroking her mane trying to comfort her. “It’s okay, Twi. It will all be okay…” The dragon said. Twilight began bawling, crying loud enough for anypony outside to hear. If he really was a changeling, then why wasn’t she mad? Why were the feelings so strong? She felt betrayed. >---< Biggs had finally stuck his two front hooves onto Jack. With force, he began to slowly push Jack backwards. Jack didn’t resist the sliding, he felt stones rolling over his hooves, and dirt getting caught in the hairs, but he just didn't have the energy to move. “My partner… Was jealous. He tried to take control of your mind, but only managed to send you here.” Biggs voice was still emotionless, although it appeared as if he was trying to ‘understand’ the emotions and include them in himself. “The time has come. The final test awaits.” Biggs released his grip on Jack and slowly backed away, clearing a path for the changeling. After being forced away from the water, Jack’s mind was almost completely blank, and he had lost his stallion form. The changelings stared blankly at one another, almost as if they were to see who would take the first action. Biggs understood the personal battle, this was the ultimate challenge. One changeling would be sent to this specific cavern, drained of emotion, and forced to make a decision. If they were to embrace the pool, and take the emotions stored within, the changeling would die. Should the changeling turn away from the pool, and accept their fate, they would be returned to the Hive. There was something different about this time; Jack always had emotions, something that changelings never had. Biggs was curious to what would happen; he had never experienced such an oddity before. What baffled Biggs the most was the fact that Wings had magical capabilities beyond moving small objects. He remembered seeing Wings many times growing up, but he had never befriended him. Changelings were never to have friends, but why? Would that not provide the emotions needed to sustain their own life? Biggs was questioning the power that had always controlled him, the power that controlled the ones he knew. He questioned the Queen herself. >---< By this point, many of the ponies on the street had wandered towards the library. Twilight had locked the front door and windows, but the ponies crammed around to see what was going on. Rainbow Dash had heard some sort of cry from the library from a nearby cloud, and flew over there as fast as she could. She had no idea what was going on, all she saw was Twilight with tears streaming down her face, and a changeling collapsed just beside her. “Hey, Twi!” Rainbow yelled, while pounding against a window. “What’s going on in there, care to let us know?” Rainbows brash behavior attracted some unwanted looks from nearby ponies, but Rainbow knew that she would be able to get through to Twilight. “You have to tell me what’s going on, you can’t just sit there and cry all day!” Twilight gave a sad look towards the multicolored mare, pausing momentarily in her weeping. Without further notice, she let out another loud cry and began bawling once more. ‘Jeez, she’s pretty emotional about a changeling.’ Rainbow thought. It wasn’t until Rarity approached that Twilight was silenced. “Twilight!” Rarity called, knocking on the door. “Twilight, I have some important information about a changeling, dear!” Twilight slowly recovered, rising to her hooves and dragging herself over to the sealed door. Her horn glowed momentarily, allowing Rarity to step in. The door was slammed closed, and sealed once more. “Wh-What… D-do you k-know about the ch-changeLIIIIINNNGGG” She began melting down once more. “Calm down, please, Twilight. Everypony is wondering why you have a changeling collapsed in front of you, and why you’re crying over it.” Rarity said. “W-Well… It all st-started a couple d-days ago, back at P-Pinkie’s p-party…” >---< Jack stood in the center of the cave. Jack’s will was not his own, he did not know he had a decision on his own life or death. He couldn’t move, although he wanted to. Having Biggs push him away so far from the water was tormenting him, his energy was already at critical levels. He placed one hoof forward, then another. He was shaking tremendously. He caught a glimpse of Biggs out of the corner of his eye. The changeling did not stand in the perfect stance he normally maintained, he was slightly slouched over. But Jack was determined to reach the water. He needed it to live; he felt it was the solution to all his problems. Taking one slow step after another, he reached a point where the water was but a few more steps away, however Biggs was right beside him. Looking over towards the other changeling, Jack saw something he never thought he would see on a changeling. A single tear had formed and was slowly falling down the cheek of the changeling. There was a quiet splash, one that was almost unheard to an average pony, but Jack heard it, clear as day. The tear had hit the ground, and Jack smiled at Biggs. He then collapsed on the floor. >---< “… So I thought you should know about the new pony, Jack…” Rarity said, completing her story of her previous encounter with the newcomer. Twilight had stopped crying, her eyes were dry, and it looked although it was impossible for her to produce more tears. She simply stared at the white unicorn, admiring her brilliant blue eyes. She let out a soft smile, proving that her depressed state had finally ended. The two unicorns embraced one another, and just about every pony that had gathered around the library were now crying as well. Suddenly, there was a loud pounding on the door, which made both Twilight and Rarity jump. Each of the faces crammed amongst the library windows all turned their attention towards the door. More pounding ensued, and with each solid hit against the door Twilight flinched. Spike was slowly approaching the door, with a shovel in hand (since when did they keep a shovel in the library?). The door finally released its locking spell, Twilight was too weak to maintain it. The door smashed against the nearby door, being blown open by sheer force. In the doorway stood a red mare with a purple mane, Domina, as Twilight recalled, and beyond that mare, was a familiar grey stallion. Jack had returned.