Chapter 8
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“They had fun, then?” Cadance asks with a giggle as my daughters clamber over me.
We’re sitting in her living room in the castle, two cups of tea on a small table to Cadance’s right.
Shining Armour is currently out in Canterlot organizing security plans with the princesses for when the Duke and Duchess of Martonia will be here in about two months.
Yes, time has flown by in Equestria at large.
After Cadance had returned to the Empire following the events of Three’s A Crowd, through her, I’d gotten some info on events beyond that episode… and some somehow prior.
Rainbow’s Birthiversary with Weird Al pony has already been on gone, as had the episode where Maud first visits Ponyville, also meaning Apple Bloom had avoided being eaten by the Chimera after Applejack went overboard looking after her little sister.
The Breezies arriving in Ponyville, Twilight Time and Filli Vanilli all happened recently too, though I found those out myself.
Not wanting to overstimulate my littles ones or myself, like I’d planned, while we did go out on a little vacation during a week off (the girls actually insisted I take that much because I’d done so much since joining), we didn’t go to too many places, only two, in fact.
The first place we’d gone was Cloudsdale. It had certainly been an interesting experience, going through the cloud based city.
Medley in particular was a buzz with excitement, like because she’s a Pegasus and has a strong subconscious connection to the place.
The number of times she zipped off and I’d found her climbing on cloud structures I stopped keeping count of after thirty-five, she was that eager.
Rose wasn’t as active as her sister, though she did join her at least five times.
Thankfully, nopony questioned why a pair of unicorns were just walking on the clouds, most likely assuming I’d casted a Cloud Walking Spell on the two of us.
Honestly, we got more odd looks from the fact Medley is a Pegasus while Rose and I are not, though thankfully those looks were few and far between.
I had paused a moment as we’d passed The Rainbow Factory during one of Medley’s little runs, but a quick scan for emotions didn’t reveal anything to suggest that was in any way relevant to this world, thank Celestia.
It was during a talk with a Pegasus mare who’d been in Ponyville during the Pony Tones performance that I was able to learn what other events have already passed us by while I’ve been looking after my little ones in the Empire.
Since the mare had talked about the Pony Tones in particular, it easily let me figure out that other events had been and gone.
It was on our last day before heading back for the Empire that I found out about the events of For Whom The Sweetie Belle Tolls… because we’d unintentionally stumbled into them.
We’d needed to catch a train to Canterlot to get a transfer to the Empire and, while I’d been resting with my little ones sleeping against my barrel on the seat, I’d overheard the voices of the CMC, their conversation being about Sapphire Shores and her songs clueing me in that I was smack bang in the events of that episode.
I’ve been relaying this to Cadance without actually needing to specify the episodes themselves.
I am somewhat on edge, though, as I’m now firmly aware how close we are to the events of season four ending, Shining being off to prepare for the Duke and Duchess being more than enough to clue me in, even if I hadn’t learned about the other events second-hoof and once in person.
“I understand why you wanted some excitement when you went to visit your sister, Cadance,” I say, levitating my foals off me and into my forelimbs, before heaving a heavy sigh, “but, honestly, after this week, I think the calm of the Empire will do me much better.”
Cadance chuckles. “Yes, well, you have a point there, Prism. Plus, unlike myself, you have your little ones to contend with. I doubt a day is dull with these two rascals around.”
She levitates Rose to her and nuzzles their noses together, Rose chirping with happy burbles in response.
I smile and am about to say something, when my eyes widen.
This does not go unnoticed by the Alicorn and Pegasus.
Rose, however, is staring wide-eyed at me.
Something’s coming. Something huge.
I’ve never sensed anything like this since I first found myself a Changeling.
It’s like a sun sized tidal wave of emotional energy roaring towards the Empire at a rapid pace.
It’s going to reach us within seconds.
There’s no time to do anything. I have no chance of getting us to safety, let alone warn the Empire of this incoming whatever it is.
I can’t even move, my body paralysed both in fear and by the sheer magnitude of what I’m sensing.
“Prisim? Prisim, what’s wrong?” I can hear Cadance’s voice, but I can’t see her as my vision is clouded by an orange glow. “Rose, you too? Prisim, do you need help? Guards! Guards, come quick! Something’s wrong with Pris—!”
I fail to hear whatever else Cadance was saying as my body is suddenly wracked with an intense wave of I have no idea what.
The emotions in whatever it is are so strong and so chaotically jumbled together it’s like emotional white noise.
I can barely keep myself conscious through it all, the sound of a gasp from my side suggesting maybe Cadance is somehow sensing it too.
After what feels like eons the maelstrom of magically charged emotion finally passes by and I collapse to the floor, heaving like I just ran an over forty k mile marathon with no breaks.
A few moments later, I open my eyes to see Cadance holding her head, her horn flickering.
Despite being so exhausted from however worse whatever just happened was for me due to being a Changeling, though the fact Cadance felt it too is concerning, my eyes slowly widen as I realize Rose is passed out by Cadance’s hooves, her disguise gone.
A quick check tells me mine is also gone.
“Princess? Princess, is everything alright?” a male voice calls from outside, getting closer.
Fear gripping me, it taking far more effort than I’d like to admit, I reapply my disguise and then Rose’s, before collapsing to the floor again, just as the doors to Cadance’s room opens, a quartet of Pegasus Crystal Guards, two greyish-blue, the other two yellow, rushing in.
“I’m… I’m alright,” Cadance barely manages, before indicating to Rose and myself, while Medley is anxiously pressing against my barrel, whining in fear. “Help Prism and her daughter. Whatever just happened seems to have hit them worse than myself.”
“It’s not just you and your guests, Your Highness,” one of the blueish-grey guards says a yellow one is lifting me onto his back, Medley flying up to snuggle against me, the other yellow guard picking up Rose and bringing her to rest next to me. “As we were rushing to your aid, we saw several other unicorns, clearly effected, though nowhere near as badly it seems as your guest and her unicorn daughter.”
Wait… what? Rose and myself weren’t the only ones negatively affected?
I mean, that makes sense, but, I’m so sluggish right now, something about it feels off.
I hear Cadance grunt, unable to see her due to yellow neck obscuring my view now. “Once I’ve gotten my second wind, I want help investigating this. If it’s not just Prism, her daughter Rose and myself who noticed whatever just washed over the Empire, this cannot be overlooked.”
I hear no more, as my war against the tempting wave of sleep is too strong and Cadance and the guards voices fade away, myself vaguely aware of my body bobbing up and down.
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“You are taking more time off, you hear me?” Verity says firmly as she and the others stand around my bed.
I’m in the castle’s infirmary, where Rose, Medley and myself have been for the last two weeks.
Whatever hit Equestria, it hit Rose and I far worse than everypony else.
That isn’t a mistake, either. When I said Equestria, I mean all of Equestria.
Turns out, whatever that huge wave of magical emotion was that washed over the Empire, it wasn’t just the Empire.
All over Equestria, everypony felt it. More specifically, everypony with a horn.
While clearly none of them were hit as hard as Rose and myself, all unicorns and all the Alicorns felt that wave too as it washed over what seems to have been the whole world.
From Trottingham to Neigh York, no unicorn didn’t feel that wave of energy pass over.
It took a few days, but the princesses have a team of unicorn mages now looking into whatever could’ve caused whatever that was.
The pressing concern is… nothing seems to have come up. It’s as if the cause of the magical wave had no starting point. No base to even start tracking it. It was just suddenly here and then gone.
The only positives that have so far been gleamed is that, aside from unicorns and Alicorns getting temporarily fatigued and given headaches, nothing else seems to have happened because of whatever that wave was.
The only ones more negatively affected were Rose and myself and only because we’re Changelings.
Does give me a bit of vindictive joy to think the other Changelings and their queen are likely going through the same thing, at least, with less others caring for them than us.
The only real issue we’ve been having is myself having to keep our disguises up.
With the fatigue of emotional overload being so strong, it’s proven slightly more difficult to keep my own up. Rose, being an infant, isn’t even trying, so it’s been more an effort than usual.
“Girls, I’m fine,” I reassure them. “Yes, I’m tired, but that’s all. I’ll be let out in two days.”
Scarlet gives me a stern look. “Prism, we are not discussing this. You and Rose have been in here for over two weeks. Once you and Rose are let out, you are taking. Time. Off. Understood?”
I inwardly sigh. When Scarlet gets like this, there’s no changing her mind.
I nod. “Fine. I don’t approve of it, but, if you want me to take time off, I’ll take time off.”
The girls all sigh with relief, before a nurse comes over and asks them to leave so I can rest.
Once the girls are gone and the nurse has headed into her office, I sigh with relief and look to Rose, my horn faintly glowing and recasting her disguise just as it falls.
While not wanting to take time off had been the reason I’d wanted to end the discussion with the girls quickly, the other, more important reason was I could sense Rose losing her gripe on her form.
After this event, Rose being revealed a Changeling would not have gone well, at all.
Smiling as Medley snuggles closer to Rose, I lean back and look up at the ceiling, my mind on the near future.
As if the mysterious wave reaching all over Equestria hadn’t been bad enough to learn, in the two weeks I’ve been in here, events outside the Empire have moved alarmingly fast.
Thanks to Cadance coming in exhausted one time she visited and explaining the reason why, I’m aware that Rarity’s little incident where her mind nearly warped all of Ponyville into her mind’s most extreme thoughts has been gone… which means we’re closer to Tirek’s return than I’d have liked.
Yes, there’s still just under one month and two week before then, but knowing now that’s the next key event to happen after the Equestria Games, while I’m still like this… is not a comforting thought, even if I should be running on all cylinders again by that time.
I’m thankful Tirek shouldn’t come here… because I don’t know if I could do anything to help.
Though, I wonder if Tirek sensed that magical wave too and, since he’s Tirek, would he know more about it? It would be interesting if we could find out something because of Tirek recognising the energy’s signature of whatever.
Cooing from my side makes me glance to my sleeping daughters, before sighing and close my eyes.
We’ll see what happens.