//------------------------------// // CH 47 (new day, new issues) // Story: Accepting Change // by drFraud //------------------------------// Patchwork   Exiting the house I barely caught a flash of black passing me as Silent Drop made her way through the door feeling slightly annoyed. Chuckling to myself I took a step forward only to immediately backtrack while trying to avoid a near collision with a changeling. It was obvious that he either didn’t notice me or didn’t care if his determined trot was anything to go by. I was about to offer at least an apology but a voice from my left interrupted me. “Don’t bother with it, sir.” I let the words linger in the air for a moment, while still processing the situation. It took me a minute to sort my mind but eventually, I just shrugged and faced the changeling that stood in front of me. “You know something about it?” I nodded my head in the direction of the other ‘ling. It did cause me some surprise that the changeling in front of me looked… healthy. The carapace was still absolutely riddled with holes,  but there was a shine to his chitin and the blazing red elytra on his back; a type of shine I have only noticed on Dicty, Mantis and Scurry, aside from myself and I guess Chrysalis now. “Yeah,” he lowered his head with a heavy sigh, “ever since the ‘new’ Queen stepped up the arguments have only gotten worse.” “It’s only been three days, what has she done?” I looked over to the black castle, only to notice that the castle itself, wasn’t black anymore… or at least, most of it wasn’t. I felt my eyes slowly widen as I looked, and I also started to feel a familiar twitch in one of them. The house I was currently in was a fair bit away from the castle, but not fair enough that I could see the whole structure without craning my head upwards. “I kind of like it,” he sounded very happy about it. I glanced at him for a moment before refocusing on the castle itself. Instead of looking like something H. R. Giger came up with, with long spiky towers that looked like needles, threatening to pierce the very sky, Chrysalis tried to go for completely the opposite. Half of the black castle still looked, well, normal, the other half though was green and… covered in… “Flowers?” Yep, there is the eye twitching again. “I know, don’t they look fantastic?” Velvet’s excited voice came from behind me. I didn’t even hear when she left the house, I was that shocked. She seemed to have managed to straighten her hair though, from what I have managed to see. “When, exactly, did she manage to grow flowers here? How did she even… Where did… Why?” The more I looked around me, the more questions started popping up. “Ponies have provided a lot of help with their magic, and it also kind of helped that the Queen hasn’t slept at all, other than the moult,” the changeling added that last bit almost as an afterthought and suddenly a concerned thought entered my mind. “It seems like she is determined to remove everything Husk stood for,” came the voice of Drop from the shadows of the house, and I had my initial worry confirmed. “Do you know where the queen is right now?” I asked the ling as I doubted Vel or Drop knew. “Last I saw her she was heading to the city centre,” he chirped. “The city what?” I stopped gawking at the castle and looked at the changeling. A city/town centre was something ‘lings were familiar with but, in their own words, not necessary. I kind of agreed, but I still wanted to add one in the future. “Oh yeah,” he hopped in place happily, “the queen had some houses moved around. Now we have a proper city centre. It’s so much easier to move around now with something to orient around with.” I could feel a headache forming, “Great, thanks for the info… um…” “Oh, Bugsy,” He hopped again, buzzing his wings loudly. “’Scuse me?” I heard Velvet snicker behind me as I leaned back in surprise. It then occurred to me that Chrysalis must have fed them over the last three days, which would cause their mind’s fog to clear up. “Oh, my apologies, sir. It’s what some of the ponies called me, and I… kind of, liked it,” he posture and the shrug he added at the end told me that he tried to be nonchalant about it, but it was obvious that his newly found mental freedom was quite welcome. I somehow doubted that the rest of the lings took to their change as well as he did. “Well, thanks Bugsy, I’ll see ya around,” that perked him up and he skipped away happily after a bow I did not expect to come. I could notice that some of the lings passing us by weren’t happy about it though. “So,” Ignoring the other lings around us I turned to Velvet, “wanna go for a bit of a flight?” I was also trying to ignore the castle. I had just enough time to open my wings and rear up before Velvet leapt into the air towards me followed by a happy squeal. I did manage to scoop her up, and before I could even try to scold her she grabbed around my neck and pulled me for a deep kiss. Rolling my eyes at her playfulness and relaxing into the kiss I slowly started buzzing my wings harder and lifting us both up into the air. Holding her bridal style I rose up far above the houses allowing me to survey the ‘city’ after our kiss broke. The centre, which was smack middle of the town, was packed with ponies from what I could see. But something else also caught my eye and raised my worries the closer I got to it. While Velvet was enjoying the flight, I was trying to figure out what the feeder pods were doing outside of the castle. The pods are used to keep the captured beings alive, and most importantly healthy, for as long as possible while changelings extracted their emotions. Connected to a complex, and surprisingly well-designed, system, the pods kept the imprisoned people fed, sedated, and protected from illness. Pulling the pods out of the castle… I hoped that they had a good reason for it. I paid no attention to Velvet while she tried to get my attention (her emotions pointed at me and radiating worry), opting to speed up to a white-coated pony I managed to recognize as White Light as soon as I got close enough. I immediately noticed that there was some thought put into this, as the pile of pods wasn’t even a quarter of the total amount, and, along with White Light there were several ponies that ran various scans and examinations on the people trapped within. “Well, look who woke up!” White Light wore a large smile, but his whole body spoke of exhaustion, with matted white fur and his orange mane dangling lifelessly. He was also covered with grey pouches and heavy-looking golden saddlebags slung over his flanks. “Doctor White, not that I’m not happy to see you… but are you doing okay?” I landed and gently lowered Velvet while not taking my eyes off him. I was looking for any signs that his blood pressure is spiking as the good doctor tended to forget his illness if he was busy. “I’m doing just fine lad, oh…” His ears perked up and he turned his head to the right, “Total? You busy?” A lime green unicorn head popped out from behind some of the pods, “Not particularly, ya need somethin’?” She had a surprisingly square muzzle for a mare and her deeper voice made my head tilt. The other ponies didn’t even blink at it, nor did the lings buzzing above us. “Just roll these down to the done pile, for me if you don’t mind? I want to catch up to my friend here.” The mare named Total turned to me with a curious tilt of her head. “Ah, the changeling prince I heard so much about. Name’s Total Shift, a pleasure to meet ya,” Her lithe frame came into view from behind two podded minotaurs (‘that will be a bitch to explain once they wake up’). “Likewise,” I gave her a polite nod and then refocused on White Light. “It’s good to see you up and about, Patch,” he tilted his head to the side and started walking while Velvet and I followed him. “I was worried when Queen Chrysalis told me about the condition you ended up in.” “It wasn’t that bad,” I rolled my eyes, but a hip check from Velvet next to me and a burst of annoyance followed by worry made me wonder what Chrysalis told her. “I have to ask doc, what happened while I was out?” My ears perked up when someone called Velvet's name asking for help. A quick peck on the lips and an assurance that ‘she’ll be right back’ was all I got. “Queen Chrysalis did,” I listened to the old doctor while I kept an eye on Velvet. She helped lift several pods without breaking a sweat. I frowned thinking that Twilight Sparkle’s talent for magic may come from her mother’s side. ‘Is it possible that she could be born even now, with us?’ I refocused back to White Light who was watching Velvet with wide eyes. “It’s always astounding when a talented mage uses magic,” he muttered and I nodded absentmindedly. “Back on topic though. Shortly after we arrived Chrysalis asked if a part of my team can assist with removing the pods from the castle.” He shrugged “I wanted to argue, but I had a feeling that she is hung up on it. Kind of like the Princess when she gets something on her mind.” I chuckled remembering something Shield Strike told me, “Stubborn as the mountain she sits on.” I saw him chew on his lips, trying and almost failing to stifle a burst of laughter, “That’s… one way of putting it. Very… apt.” I watched him wrestle with himself for a few more seconds before I refocused back on Velvet and the pods she effortlessly moved around. “So what was the situation in Equestria before you came here? Any issues?” I wanted to catch up to White Light, but I will have to talk to Chrysalis afterwards, both about the castle and the pod situation… also the fact that she did so much in just three days was concerning. “Just a few small fires to put out; the Princess is already at it with fascinating fervour.” “’Fascinating fervour’?” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah…” he rubbed at his face with his left hoof, “Quite a few of the noble houses have caught wind about this changeling business and they are, were, trying to get something out of it.” “I take it she didn’t approve?” My ears perked up and I watched as two ponies started arguing only to quiet down after a sharp whistle from Light. “Pretty much. From what I’ve heard she wanted to ease things in at first (getting everypony ready for a new nation to rise up), but after a few nobles made an off-hoof comment about talking to you she came down on them like a mountain,” My eyes almost bugged out as I could, at this point, clearly imagine Celestia letting her maternal instincts take over. I have spent enough time with her to see that she clearly cared for me more than just a friend… I still wasn't sure where I stood though. Dragging my claws down my muzzle in exasperation I could hear While Light laugh next to me, “This is what happens son when you get in Her good graces.” He patted me gently on my shoulder and started walking away, “I’ll keep an eye on your dear Velvet here, why don’t you try to talk to the Queen here?  Convince her, that just throwing the pods out isn’t the best idea.” “I doubt that she put it like that,” I stood up and followed after White Light, heading for velvet. “No, but, with how eager she is to get rid of them…” Letting those words hang in the air, I gave Velvet a quick nuzzle and with a buzz, I went to find Chrysalis.