The Princess had said her farewells, yet Tech and Tenna were still at the library.
“Uh, Twilight? I’m sorta going to be grounded if I don’t get home soon. I’m already in enough hot water with my parents...” Tech said, looking at Twilight worriedly. She had that sort of.. glint in her eyes.
“Oh, they know you’re with me. I asked them if I could talk to you about last night. They agreed.” Twilight said nonchalantly, waving a hoof in a small circle.
Tenna frowned softly at this. She noticed her hooves were doing their little thing, tapping together lightly and in little circles. “Uh... App-Applejack is expecting me back on the farm, Twi-Twilight.”
Twilight smiled at this. “I told her that I needed to ask you a few questions too, Tenna.” She went over to a desk and levitated a small clipboard and a quill over to her, before looking back at the pair.
“Okay. First off, did you two see anything in the forest last night?” She asked, glancing at the pair expectantly. Tech just sighed, before answering the question. “I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Heck, we didn’t even see any animals, it was so quiet.”
Tenna looked up slowly. “I-I saw something. Tech didn’t see it, but it was... sorta like black smoke?”
Twilight nodded. “Luna wasn’t able to remember most of what she did as Nightmare Moon, but she was able to recall that that is how she traveled quickly. Strange. Most ponies aren’t able to see it... Which leads me to my second point. Why doesn’t Tenna look the way she did yesterday?” She asked, her eyes narrowed with the question.
Tech stuttered through his answer. “Uh... well... well you see Twilight, that is an interesting question. And it has an interesting answer...” He trailed off.
Twilight looked up from writing his answer down. “And the answer would be?”
Tech hesitated, then sighed. “That’s not my answer to give.” He said, his tone implying that he wasn’t going to say anything more on the matter.
Twilight looked at him for a while, before grinning slightly. Her head slowly turned towards Tenna. “So... would it be yours then?”
Tenna shifted under her gaze. This was getting creepy, and fast. “Uh... yes?” She said slowly.
Twilight dipped her quill in her inkwell. “So. Why? You’re a pegasus, so magic is out of the question for you. So no appearance spells. But you had a horn yesterday.” She put her quill down along with the clipboard. “What are you, Tenna?”
Tenna opened her mouth to reply, but fell to the ground in pain, clutching her head. Immediately, Tech was up and by her side. “Tenna! What’s wrong?”
“My head! It’s splitting!” She managed to whimper before slipping into the black.
Tech glared at Twilight. “What did you do to her?”
“Me? I didn’t do anything!” She defended herself.
“Well then, what happened?” Tech asked, worry filling his voice.
The sound of the kitchen door distracted them both. Spike had pushed it open with his back.
“Who wants hayfries!?” Spike said, turning around and showing off a platter of hayfries. His eyes quickly followed Tech’s and Twilight’s to the body on the floor, which had reverted to her changeling form.
“Oh.”
000
“He-hello?” Tenna called out to the darkness. It was dark.
So very, very dark.
“What are you!?” A voice came echoing out of the darkness.
“Wha-What?”
Suddenly the darkness lifted, and Tenna found herself looking at a crystal wall. It showed a jagged image of herself, reflected and altered many times. But it didn’t matter which way she saw herself. She looked awful. Beaten.
Rejected.
“So? What are you? You aren’t a changeling, that’s for sure! I don’t know where you got the notion you were, but it ends here.” Came an acidic voice, one that caused Tenna to cringe. Tenna felt the words cut her to the core. She almost started crying. Then the blow came.
She cried out in pain, and felt her body slide over the stone floor.
“I’ve tried time and time again to teach you how to be the changeling I need, something that the hive could be proud that it produced. But each time I see you, you become weaker and weaker.” Another blow, harder this time, and quickly followed by another.
“Get out of my sight, before I decide that this should be the last time I have to deal with you!” The figure turned away with a sound of disgust, walking away as the edges of Tenna’s vision started to blur.
“I-I’m sorry--” she started to choke out, but was cut off by a gentle hoof under her chin.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Said a soothing voice. Tenna tried to place it, but couldn’t.
And that made her even more upset.
The world faded, leaving only Tenna. And then, even that was gone, lost to the dark.
000
Tenna jerked in her sleep, before settling down and relaxing slightly, tears coming from her eyes and flowing down her face.
Tech looked at her with a concerned expression on his face. He turned to Twilight.
“She’s crying.”
“I can see that.” Twilight sighed. “She looked like she had a reaction to what I said.”
Tech scoffed. “I can see that. What I also see is that we can’t move her from here.” He sighed.
Twilight looked at him curiously. “Why not?”
“Twilight, do you see how she looks? I told you it wasn’t my secret. Because it’s her secret.”
“But that’s how I saw her yesterday. She was in town and the ponies accepted her, didn’t they?”
“Yeah, but then Dash entered the scene.” Tech ran a hoof through his mane worriedly. “She going to have to stay here.”
“Tech. She can’t stay here. We could just take her up to the farm.”
“No Twilight.”
“But... I’ve got so many things to do!”
“Twilight, she fainted at your house, while you were questioning her.”
“Yes, but, I still don’t see why we couldn’t bring her up to Applejack’s.”
“Twilight. It’s her secret.”
“But...”
“Twilight, promise me that you’ll keep this a secret. You too Spike.”
Spike nodded, making the promise readily. Twilight, however, seemed slightly apprehensive about such a promise.
“Twilight. Promise.”
“I-I can’t. What if the Princesses need to be told? They might be able to help.”
“Twilight. Nopony can know, unless Tenna tells them herself.”
“Tech. I can’t make that promise.” Twilight said.
Tech rubbed his temples with his hooves.
“Can you promise not to tell them until you’ve spoken to her?” He asked.
Twilight bit her lip for a moment, before sighing. “I’ll give her that.”
Tech got up quickly and gave Twilight a hug. “Thank you! She’s a nice pony, once you get to know her.”
Twilight gave a start, before hugging Tech back. Breaking it off, she smiled.
“Didn’t you have to get back home?” She asked, looking at the clock.
Tech looked up at the clock as well, and gasped.
“Crap! I am soo grounded!” He yelled, whisking himself out the door.
Twilight stared after him before smiling slightly. “Spike? I’m taking Tenna upstairs. If you would start making dinner to go with those hayfries, that would be great.”
Spike nodded. “I’ll get right on that Twilight!”
Twilight smiled at Spike before picking Tenna up in her magic and starting to take her upstairs, to put Tenna into the only bed at the time, her’s.
Placing the covers over Tenna, she sighed. She would ask Tenna again, but this time wouldn’t push her.
Smiling softly, she giggled. “At least you already have a friend willing to stick up for you Tenna.”
As she turned towards the door to leave, Twilight could have sworn she had seen Tenna smile in her sleep.