I opened my eyes groggily. “Ugh…” I groaned. My head hurt. Especially the back of my head. Though I suppose that was to be expected after surviving being shot.
The first thing I noticed upon waking up other than my headache was just how hungry I was. I was starving… Ow… Didn’t Luna say something about issues with what Changelings usually eat? I hoped I wasn’t going to be constantly hungry like this because it was difficult to get the right food for me or something. That would suck.
The second thing was the fact I could no longer sense my swarm. This left a feeling of loss and emptiness in my chest. It was like suddenly being cut off from one of my senses entirely. It was as if I had my eyes gouged out and my eardrums ruptured. However, while it was like being rendered senseless it was also a relief in a way. If I didn’t have my powers that meant my connection to my passenger was damaged or removed entirely which meant I was no longer in any danger of being subsumed by it.
However, there was something else now. Similar to my swarm sense but not the same. Emotions? I could sense emotions all around me. Boredom, grief, annoyance, pure joy, and… Something sweet that made my mouth water for some reason. Love? Familial love. The kind parents had for their kids. Considering how fresh and intense it was I could tell right away that someone had given birth and the parents were holding their newborn. It was almost intoxicating.
Why was I reacting that way towards love specifically, though? I didn’t understand that part. Was the ‘sweetness’ of the emotion just reminding me of how hungry I was? Maybe. It would make sense I guess, even if it was a little weird.
Either way it seemed I was an empath now. On top of that I was able to make out each specific emotion and attribute them to different individuals simultaneously without any struggle whatsoever. That suggested I still had my multitasking or a very similar power. That would make me, what? A Thinker 4? Maybe 5 if I could use it like my swarm sense to track people and maybe to avoid would-be attackers. It seemed as though I could since I could tell a general location of each of the sources of emotions around me. I certainly seemed to have a fairly decent range too, about five blocks, as a very rough estimate. So just a little over the range of my swarm. Regardless, I was certainly no Tattletale or Numberman so I wasn’t willing to give myself any higher than a 5 at this point in time.
Then I noticed my body felt strange. I raised my left hand to see why I couldn’t feel my fingers and saw a black carapaced limb with holes in it ending in a hoof. Oh, right… I remembered my meeting with Princess Luna. Apparently I was some sort of freaky bug unicorn with holes in my legs. Wonderful…
I felt some emotions approaching my room. Contentment. It paused just outside and I assumed whoever it was, was talking to the two very bored individuals I sensed standing on either side of the door. A few moments later the door opened and I looked and saw a cartoonish horse with a weird hat on her head with an odd symbol on it that matched the symbol on her flank. She entered the room and her eyes widened as soon as she saw I was awake.
“Uh… Hi.” I attempted, raising my hoof to wave at her. My voice had a strange reverb to it that I wasn’t expecting, though otherwise it sounded pretty much the same.
She bolted back out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her. Raw intimidation and fear.
I lowered my hoof. Right. There was an attack by Changelings last week. Of course these ponies were afraid of me. I guess I should count myself lucky I didn’t wake up in chains.
Didn’t Luna say I had some sort of stranger or changer power now? I considered trying to figure it out in order to turn myself back to my usual self but I decided to hold off for the moment. I didn’t want to do anything that might get me in trouble. At least not so soon.
After a few minutes a new source of emotions appeared seemingly out of thin air. It stood outside for a moment then the door opened again and someone else entered. Another alicorn like Luna. Only this one was white with a pale rainbow mane and tale, gold jewelry, and an image of the sun on her flank.
She looked at me and gave me a friendly smile though I felt the mistrust behind the smile. “Hello. You must be Queen Weaver, correct? I’m Princess Celestia, diarch of Equestria. My sister Luna has spoken well of you.”
“I’m glad I made a good impression, I guess. So, she told me you wanted to talk to me?” I asked.
“Indeed I do. I would appreciate it if you could tell me the same story you gave Luna about your origins.” Celestia requested.
I sighed. I really didn’t want to talk about it. But I knew they were probably looking for holes in my story so it would look suspicious if I didn’t tell her. So I started from the beginning telling her pretty much the exact same thing I told Luna.
She asked questions and I did my best to answer without giving away anything incriminating. I explicitly didn’t lie. I told nothing but the truth, in case the truth was somehow discovered and I was called out on it. Thinkers could be annoying sometimes. I just left out certain details.
I wished I had access to my swarm so I could offload my emotions into it. As it was, I had to try to hide my emotions more naturally. I didn’t want to display any sign of weakness to a complete unknown like these ‘ponies’. Not that I could feel any outright hostility but still.
When it was over Celestia gave me a sympathetic look. I could sense her emotions so I could sense that it was sincere. “Well… Your story lines up with what you told Luna the other day. I can’t see any holes or inconsistencies. So I’m going to choose to believe you’re telling the truth.”
“Great. So, Luna mentioned complications. Specifically she said there were going to be complications with politics and my diet. Would you mind illuminating me as to the issues I’ll be dealing with now that I’m a Changeling Queen rather than a Human?” I asked.
Celestia nodded. “I imagine you’re quite hungry right now. Tell me, what do you think Changelings eat?”
Keeping my mouth closed I licked my teeth to get a feel of how they were shaped. “Judging by the shape of my teeth and the exaggerated fangs I would guess they’re carnivorous. I know horses in my world are herbivores, so I assume you’re the same and you don’t have much meat available.”
“Not quite… Though you are right we don’t have much meat available. However, fish is sold in specialty stores for Griffins visiting Equestria. So if it were a matter of you being carnivorous the issue would be more manageable.” Celestia told me.
I shrugged. “Then I’m stumped. What do they eat?”
“Changelings eat love.”
I blinked. I blinked again. “I’m sorry, I think I misheard you. Could you repeat that?”
“Changelings are emotivores meaning they eat emotions. Specifically they only eat love. It doesn’t matter if it’s familial or romantic. As long as it’s love you can feed on it. Furthermore, your feeding does result in some deleterious effects on those you feed on. Nothing too major as long as it is kept in moderation, but in excess it can hurt them.” Celestia informed me in a clinical tone like a doctor diagnosing a disease or a professor giving a lecture.
A sense of dread began to form as my mind processed the implications of this. I really wished I still had my swarm so I could offload my sheer embarrassment and humiliation into it. I was a discount succubus shaped like a bug horse.
“Please tell me you’re joking…” I pleaded, resting my face in my hoof.
Celestia shook her head. “Unfortunately not. So I assume you can see the issue your current diet presents.”
“Yes… God, why…?” I muttered. Sighing I lowered my hoof and looked at her. “And the political issues? What are they?”
“There has only ever been one Changeling Queen in over a thousand years and that’s Queen Chrysalis. The fact you appeared means there is now somepony who can theoretically challenge her rule over her hive. That is if you don’t start a hive of your own at which point you would be competing for the same resources. That being love. So there is almost certainly going to be some tension between you and her.” Celestia told me.
“Over a thousand… You’re telling me she’s been alive for over a thousand years?! Does… Does that mean I’m immortal now?” I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. Immortality. Media always portrayed immortality as more of a curse than a blessing. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be immortal.
I could sense Celestia’s hesitance and uncertainty. “To be perfectly honest with you, we have no idea, as far as I’m aware. Changeling Queens could just be extremely long lived, maybe feeding on large amounts of love extends their lives, or they could simply be immortal. Since Changelings are a relatively new species and there has never been a Changeling Queen before Chrysalis, we have no information to work with in that regard. That said, Chrysalis hasn’t exactly aged in the past thousand years I have known her, so I would lean towards saying yes, she’s probably immortal and by extension so are you.”
I let that sink in for a moment. Now that was a lot to take in. Going from not expecting to live past eighteen to being told you were effectively immortal if you weren’t assassinated was quite jarring. To be honest, it didn’t feel real to me even if I could tell by her emotions that Celestia was telling the truth. “Wow…”
“Are you alright, Weaver?” Celestia asked, concern radiating from her.
“Yeah. Just processing…” I responded. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts I refocused on the matter at hand. “So, I’m going to have to worry about assassination attempts from Queen Chrysalis? I can’t imagine she’s going to take too kindly to my existence.”
Celestia nodded. “That is a very strong possibility, yes. There’s also the matter of where you’re going to live and where you will be starting your own hive. Considering your past and the fact you are in danger from Chrysalis, you are welcome to stay in Equestria under refugee status as long as you abide by our laws. We’re also going to need to work out a safe system you can use to feed without hurting anypony. Fortunately we already have something in mind for that. However, if you are going to make a hive I’m afraid it can not be on Equestrian land since you are technically foreign royalty. Fortunately, there are a couple locations I have in mind that are unclaimed territory and are thus open for you to claim and settle in. Before we discuss that in any detail, however, are you well enough to stand on your own?”
“Don’t know. I haven’t tried. Give me a sec.” I responded, pushing the blanket off of myself only to discover I was unclothed. Embarrassment hit me like a freight train. Sure, none of the ponies I’d seen wore clothes either but they were horses which somehow made it seem normal to me, even if they were sapient. I hadn’t even considered the idea that I might not be wearing anything. I may not be human anymore either but the idea of walking around naked was a bit much for me.
“Er… Would I get in trouble if I tried changing back to my human form?” I asked, hesitantly.
“No. As long as we’re able to identify you for the moment, it’s fine.” Celestia told me.
“Thank you.” I responded. I vaguely remembered how it felt to use the powers of the changers under my control during Scion’s rampage through my connection to them at the time and tried to mimic that. As I was doing so I felt myself connect to some sort of energy or something within me and then I felt a pressure in the middle of my head. Somehow I intuitively knew exactly how to utilize this energy to change my form and while it felt vaguely similar to the Changers under my control during Scion’s rampage it was also very different.
There was a quick burst of green energy around me as I transformed myself into my human form, with the same costume I had worn during Scion’s rampage including the mask. “Hm…” I hummed before I changed myself to make it look like I was wearing a simple pair of jeans with a gray hoodie. Unfortunately my right arm was still missing. It seemed I couldn’t make it regrow from nothing. That was unfortunate but not insurmountable. I was going to have to get used to doing everything left-handed.
I still felt naked which was embarrassing but at least I looked like I was wearing clothes, which was an improvement. I got out of the bed and a wave of vertigo hit me for a moment but I recovered quickly.
Celestia looked at me for a moment. “Fascinating. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect based on Luna’s description. You look nice, Weaver. Now, since it seems you’re able to move on your own, I'll go speak with the doctor and see if you’re well enough to be released. Please wait here for the moment.” She then turned and walked out of the room.
Somehow I knew I could do more with that energy I just felt than simply changing my form. However I knew better than to test new found powers in a non-controlled environment. I didn’t want to go Carrie in a hospital and accidentally kill or seriously hurt someone. So I held off for the moment. I would experiment later somewhere no-one could get caught in the crossfire.
Technically my new form did have wings, I felt them the moment I woke up. They felt a bit small and if the image of Chrysalis that Luna showed me a couple nights ago was anything to go off of they probably had holes in them. However powers were bullshit so maybe I could still fly with them? In which case I could probably find somewhere away from any towns or cities where I could experiment.
Thinking about my wings and flying made me wonder, just how strong were my new shape shifting powers? Could I turn into a bird or something? Could I give my human form wings? Could I make myself bigger or smaller and if so by how much? Could I make myself the size of Behemoth or was I limited by my normal size or mass? I had a lot I needed to figure out about my abilities.
Celestia came back a few moments later with who I assumed to be the doctor who treated me. This doctor was a unicorn and a jar containing what I assumed were the bullets they pulled out of my head was floating next to him, surrounded by a light blue aura. Some kind of telekinesis? Could I do something like that too?
The doctor seemed surprised upon seeing me but he recovered quickly. “Ehem… Hello, Queen Weaver. I’m Doctor Chirurgeon, the chief surgeon of Ponyville hospital. How are you feeling? Are you experiencing any issues with vision, motor control, or anything else?”
I shook my head. “My head hurts a little, especially the back. Otherwise everything seems normal.”
Doctor Chirurgeon was very surprised though he tried not to show it visibly, presumably to maintain a professional appearance. “Really? Nothing at all? No odd twitches or any noticeable decrease in the quality of your eyesight?”
“Not particularly, no. My eyesight isn’t great but I’ve always needed glasses. It doesn’t seem any worse than usual.”
The doctor raised a hoof in thought. “Huh… That’s, quite frankly, miraculous. You must have gotten incredibly lucky with the placement of these bullets. They did severely damage a strange tumor that was on your brain. However, that was the most serious damage your brain seems to have sustained, other than the wound channels of course.”
Miraculous or very precisely calculated from the exact caliber of the bullet, to the powder charge, to the exact timing and placement of the bullets to damage the Gemma of my Corona Pollentia while doing minimal damage to the rest of my brain? Knowing Contessa it was almost certainly the latter. I did not voice these thoughts, however.
“As for your head pain, you’re currently under the effects of an anesthetic or it would hurt a lot worse. I’m going to be prescribing you a non-addictive pain killer. You are to take it orally three times a day until you’re fully healed. Fortunately for you, from what we observed of you while you were unconscious, it seems you changelings heal faster than us ponies. So you should be fine in a week or two. I’m also going to be prescribing an antibiotic that you’re going to have to take once a day for about a week, just to mitigate the risk of infection. Other than that, if you aren’t experiencing any other issues I suppose you’re free to go. Would you like to keep these things we pulled out of your head?”
The jar levitated towards me. I looked at it for a moment before hesitantly taking it and examining the bullets inside. They were in remarkably good condition, though that could have been due to the fact they both appeared to be solid copper rather than copper and lead. “I guess I’ll keep them.”
They would be a good reminder, at the very least. Something I could physically hold in my hand and think back on my past. All my mistakes, all my regrets, everything that led up to these two bullets ending up in the back of my head. Everything that made me who I was now. Plus, if I was actually immortal now like Celestia said I might be, I was going to need something I could look back on so I would never forget.
Tucking the jar under my arm I stood up.
There was a flash of light and two pill bottles appeared floating next to the doctor which then levitated over to me. “The one in the white bottle is the antibiotic. The other is the painkiller. There should be just enough in both that you shouldn’t need any refills as long as you take them as directed.” Doctor Chirurgeon told me.
Transferring the jar to my other arm, I grabbed the pill bottles from the air and stuffed them in the pocket of my ‘hoodie’. “Thank you.”
“Of course. Now, I have paperwork and other patients I need to attend to. Have a good day, your highnesses.” The doctor said before turning and walking out of the room.
“So… What now?” I asked.
“Now, we have more we need to discuss and there are some ponies I would like to introduce you to. Follow me.” Celestia said before turning and leading me out of the room.
Outside of my room I saw the two presences I had felt were two unicorns in golden armor wielding spears. Suspicion and loathing blazed within them the instant they laid eyes on me. A stark contrast to the admiration and reverence that welled within them when Celestia had exited just a few steps ahead of me. As Celestia and I were walking away the guards followed after us.
Celestia glanced back at me and from her emotions I gathered what was happening. This was a power play. I assume she could have ordered the guards away when she’d walked out to go get Dr. Chirurgeon and she knew I wasn’t a serious threat. However, she hadn’t done that because she had wanted me to see they had been there the entire time. She didn’t hate me like these guards did, but she didn’t trust me and she wanted me to know it.
I rolled my eyes. I didn’t care. I wasn't going to do anything stupid anyway.
We continued out of the hospital and walked through the town, apparently known as ‘Ponyville’ before arriving at a giant oak tree. The trunk was easily the size of a building and judging by the door, windows, and the sign hanging in front that said “Golden Oak Library” it probably was a building. And a library at that.
I felt countless presences everywhere across the tree though the vast majority were extremely basic. Looking at the closest source of emotions I saw a dragonfly resting on the wall next to the door. So I could still detect insects but only by their emotions. Other than random bugs, however, there were four larger and more complex presences inside and each of them were radiating love. Two different types of love at that. Familial and romantic. I couldn’t help but wince as my stomach panged with hunger.
Celestia stepped forward and knocked. “Coming!” A voice shouted from the other side. The door swung open revealing a purple unicorn. Her eyes drifted from Celestia before settling on me. More surprise.
“Hello, Twilight. May we come in?” Celestia requested.
“Of course! Shining Armor and Cadance are already here.” Twilight said before walking back inside.
Celestia and I followed after her while the guards remained outside.
Inside I saw a white unicorn who I assumed was Shining armor, a pink alicorn who I assumed was Princess Cadance, and an oversized purple and green bipedal lizard.
I felt the suspicion the moment the white unicorn saw me. He wasn’t actively hostile towards me like the guards outside. That said, he trusted me even less than Celestia, and I could tell he didn’t like me. That made sense, I supposed. Especially considering Queen Chrysalis, the only reference for Changelings in the world if Celestia was to be believed, had ruined his and Princess Cadance’s wedding. If anything I was more surprised he didn’t hate me as much if not more than those two guards outside.
As for Cadance, I felt caution and hesitance but little else.
As for the oversized lizard, he didn’t seem to care one way or the other. He felt more curious than anything.
Celestia stepped forward and motioned towards me. “Everypony, this is Weaver. The Changeling Queen that appeared the other day. Weaver, this is Twilight Sparkle, my personal protege and the pony who saved you. These two are Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Princess Cadance for short. Last but not least, this baby dragon is Spike, Twilight and Shining Armor’s adoptive younger brother.”
“Hello, Weaver. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. We’ve heard a bit about you from Auntie Luna.” Cadance greeted, giving me a friendly smile.
“Hey. Luna told me about how Chrysalis ruined your wedding. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry to hear what happened.” I responded, trying to make a good impression.
“Well, I wouldn’t say it was completely ruined. It had to be pushed back a day or so but it turned out quite lovely after we stopped Chrysalis. Besides, I expect you’ll be having your own problems with Chrysalis soon.” Shining Armor stated.
I sighed. “Yeah. Celestia already told me.”
“And that brings us to one of the reasons why I brought you here.” Celestia said as her horn started to glow and there was a flash of the same golden light. Suddenly a table appeared in the middle of the room with what appeared to be a map laid out on it.
She could teleport things? I mentally classified this as a shaker effect of some sort as I stepped closer to the table to get a better look at the map.
“We need to discuss a few things and I thought it best to do it all at once. So, first, let’s pick up where we left off in the hospital.” Celestia said, walking around to the other side of the table. “As I told you, while you are welcome in Equestria as a refugee you can not make a new hive on Equestrian soil. However, there are some bits of land that aren’t technically controlled by anypony that you can claim for yourself.”
I nodded along. Given what I knew about hive based insects, I was fairly certain that I was going to have to start a new hive at some point. My new biology would likely force me to whether I wanted to or not. So I just went with the conversation.
Twilight and the others joined Celestia and I around the table.
Celestia’s horn lit up again and several different points of golden light appeared on the map along with outlines drawing out borders. “The entirety of the Undiscovered West, the vast majority of Mysterious South, certain portions of the Frozen North, and the Everfree Forest are all unclaimed. If you wanted to take them, there would be no real territorial disputes.”
I frowned as I looked at the map. I pointed at the Everfree Forest. “Why is this unclaimed? It’s a relatively small chunk of land that’s well within your borders. It’s weird that it isn’t part of Equestria.”
Celestia nodded. “You’re correct. About a thousand years ago it was actually going to be the capital of Equestria. Unfortunately… Well, it’s a long story. Suffice it to say, the Everfree is a source of some very bad memories for my sister and I. So between a combination of a complicated history, environmental, and economic factors means that we’ve effectively abandoned the Everfree. So while it’s still technically part of Equestria, I would be perfectly willing to just give it to you if you wanted to make your hive there. So I’m counting it as unclaimed territory for the purposes of this discussion. Though there is a small piece of the Everfree that would have to remain Equestrian land. The old castle my sister and I used to live in. It has significant historic and cultural value to us. As such, that is the only part of the Everfree I care about keeping.”
“Noted. So what can you tell me about these different places? And where would you recommend I make my hive?” I asked.
“That depends on what you want. They all have their pros and cons. I wouldn’t recommend the Mysterious South, for example, as Chrysalis’ hive is there somewhere if I’m not mistaken. Plus, half of it is a jungle which would make building any towns or cities there difficult if you wanted to expand beyond a single hive. That said, it is by far the largest of the four possible territories.” Celestia stated.
“The Undiscovered West would probably be the easiest to live in. The climate should be about the same as the rest of Equestria and there shouldn’t be any particularly dangerous creatures living there. The only real problem would be the weather, which would be a lot like the Everfree forest.” Twilight stated.
“What’s wrong with the Everfree’s weather?” I inquired curiously.
“The clouds move themselves and the weather happens entirely on its own.” Twilight said as if that was a serious issue somehow.
I raised an eyebrow. “Okay. And? That just sounds like normal weather.”
Everyone except Celestia looked at me as if I were insane. “There are no pegasi that control it. How is that normal?” Spike asked.
I looked at him. “Are you serious? Do you understand how the weather works to begin with? There’s an entire branch of science that explains how the weather happens. Ignoring that for a moment, pegasi can control the weather?”
“Yes, pegasi can indeed control the weather. In fact it’s a fairly common job for pegasi across Equestria. My friend Rainbow Dash is actually one of the weather ponies here in Ponyville. Anyway, would you mind elaborating on this weather science?” Twilight requested curiously.
“Twilight, now isn’t the best time. You can talk to Weaver about this later.” Celestia chided the unicorn.
Twilight pouted but didn’t argue.
“Back to the matter at hand, the Undiscovered West would be a perfectly habitable place to settle if you don’t mind the weather acting on its own. Moving on, if you were simply seeking to escape Queen Chrysalis and avoid confrontation all together, the Frozen North would be perfect for that. It would be more trouble to get to you than it would be worth. At least as far as she would be concerned. However, it would make feeding yourself and your hive very difficult, and the cold could potentially be detrimental for your eggs even with a whole hive to provide warmth and insulation.” Celestia informed me.
“Not a great option.” I commented.
Reluctance wafted off of Shining Armor but eventually he said, “You should settle in the Everfree. It’s objectively the best option. It’s right next to Ponyville so you would have easier access to both love and normal goods and services. Plus we can station guards in Ponyville to help if you’re attacked by Chrysalis before your hive is established enough for you to defend yourself. There are dangerous creatures and plants in the Everfree that you’ll have to be careful of, but you should be fine as long as you can defend yourself.”
“Whatever lives there, I promise you I’ve fought way worse. I’ll be fine.”
“So, I take it that you’re choosing the Everfree?” Celestia inquired.
I nodded and shrugged. “Yeah. Shining Armor made some pretty good points and there are way less issues with it than with the rest of these places.”
“Alright. We’ll have to draw up official borders then, but we can do that later. I would strongly advise you to explore the Everfree for yourself before we actually finalize anything. The Everfree is perhaps the second most dangerous of the four options besides the Mysterious South specifically because of the local wildlife. I have no plans to claim the Undiscovered West anytime in the foreseeable future. So if you decide the Everfree is too dangerous after attempting to build your hive there, I won’t fault you if you decide to move. Now, on to the reason why Shining Armor and Cadance are here. We need to discuss your diet.”
Upon the mention of food my stomach grumbled causing me to flush with embarrassment. “Do I seriously have to eat love? Can’t I just eat a damn steak or something instead?”
“Language!” Cadance chided.
‘Okay, Bonesaw.’ I thought to myself.
Celestia cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “Ehem… Spike is still very young so please refrain from swearing in front of him. Now to answer your question, while you technically can eat normal food — though I wouldn’t exactly call a steak ‘normal’ outside of Diamond Dog or Dragon territory — you’ll still feel hungry afterwards. So, unfortunately, yes. You do seriously need to eat love.”
I was cursing mentally. I really fucking hated this.
Celestia, unaware of my frustration, continued. “However, if you are to remain on good terms with Equestria you’re going to have to do so in a safe and controlled manner. So we’ll be working with a donation system on a rotating schedule so you don’t drain anypony too often. Twilight has already gathered a list of ponies from here in Ponyville that would be willing to help you. That list is very short right now because no-pony knows you and many are too intimidated by changelings to be willing to take a risk. So you are going to have to earn the trust of the ponies here in Ponyville if you want the number of volunteers to increase. If you attempt to feed on somepony without permission, you will be arrested. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal.” I responded, not happy with the fact I had to do this at all.
Celestia smiled at me. “Good. I’m glad we understand each other. Now, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, despite their unfortunate encounter with Queen Chrysalis recently, were so generous as to volunteer to let you feed on them. Just this once, of course.”
I looked at them. “Seriously? You’re sure about this?”
Cadance smiled at me and nodded. I felt her sincerity, though it was mixed with slight intimidation. “Yup. We have plenty of love to spare, so why not?”
Shining Armor sighed and rubbed the back of his head with his forehoof. “To be honest, I was against it at first, but Cadance talked me into it. Take it as a symbol that we’re willing to put our past experiences with Queen Chrysalis and her hive behind us when dealing with you. We’re putting a lot of trust in you by letting you do this, so try not to go overboard.”
I stared at the two of them for a moment. “Alright… If you say so.”
The two of them turned to look at eachother and their love became almost suffocating. I essentially let myself go into autopilot. Green energy enveloped me as I changed back into my changeling form automatically. My pill bottles and the jar containing the bullets clattered to the floor, no longer supported by my jacket pocket or arm. I opened my mouth and a pink energy began flowing in as I devoured their love.
The taste was absolutely amazing. I could feel my hunger rapidly dissipating. It was difficult to control myself. I wanted to keep eating until there was nothing left. However, I knew I couldn’t let myself do that. So as soon as I was full I had to force myself to shut my mouth and stop eating.
“Uh… I’m not exactly sure about the etiquette for this sort of thing… Thank you?” I said awkwardly.
Cadance, raised a hoof to her mouth and chuckled. “You're welcome. So that’s what you really look like. I have to admit, I was wondering. You look nice, for a Changeling.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that so I just didn’t. Still embarrassed by my lack of clothes I morphed back into my human form and proceeded to pick up the objects I dropped. Fortunately the jar with the bullets hadn’t broken when it hit the ground.
“Well this has gone far better than I anticipated. Weaver, since you’re going to be staying in the Everfree, we’re going to have to find some temporary housing for you until you’ve built up your hive enough for it to be livable.” Celestia stated.
“She can stay here.” Twilight offered.
Shining Armor’s head snapped towards her so fast I was half worried he might get whiplash.
“She needs somewhere to stay. There’s space here in the library and it would make it easier for me to help coordinate with her in regards to her feeding schedule and the ponies who have volunteered. Plus I have so many questions and her staying here would give us ample opportunity to talk! Besides, Spike and I could always use an extra hoof around the library.” Twilight stated.
“Weaver?” Celestia asked, apparently leaving the decision up to me.
I would have preferred to live on my own without room-mates, but it seemed that wasn’t in the cards. “Sure. She and Spike seem nice enough.”
“Excellent. Well, I believe that’s all we had to discuss at the moment. Have a good day, everypony.” Celestia said, her horn glowing again. There was a flash of light and Celestia, Cadance, and Shining armor all vanished along with the map table leaving me alone with Twilight and Spike.
“So, do either of you know of somewhere I can try out my new powers without hurting anyone? I need to get a grasp on what I can do.” I asked.
“I think I know a few places that could work!” Twilight nodded happily.