//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Interview with a Changeling // by Obsidian Ink //------------------------------// Twenty years earlier, deep in the san-palomino desert, a carriage rumbled along the rough path through the wilderness, drawn by a team of six earth ponies. Two more sat in the driver's seat, and yet two more sat on the rear, guarding their backs with a pair of crossbows. Inside, were two unusually tall unicorn mares. With them were two colts, also unicorns. Every single one of them had a coat of dark gray. All the common sized ponies on the left side of the carriage had green manes and tails, striped with purple, an odd coloration to be sure, even for ponies, even more so for five different individuals to have the same color. Those on the right had a rich magenta for mane and tail, another oddity, in at least that the color was so identical. One of the mares inside had a rich leafy green colored mane that flowed in long locks, the other had a short bright teal mane that barely hung down past her jaw, and was kept in a very neat fashion. Of the two colts, the larger, and most likely older one sat next to the short maned mare. His mane was deep forest green, streaked with dark gold. The smaller one, which sat next to the long maned mare, had a shock of rich purple for a mane and tail. “Mama, it's too hot, why do we have to come here?” the smaller colt whined. “I've told you before, mommy needs to go to her meeting.” the colt's mother said. “Why's it gotta be so far out in the desert? It's too hot, it's too bright, it's too dry...” the little colt continued. “It's in the desert because that's where your great aunt Arista lives, and she's hosting the council. Now settle down.” “He still hasn't gotten used to sunlight?” The other colt, a few years older than the first said, raising an eyeridge. “This is the first time he's come up to the surface.” The smaller colt's mother said. “And he's how old?” the other mare in the carriage asked. “Six.” The smaller colt's mother admitted. The other mare shook her head. “You've been coddling him cousin.” The smaller colt's mother said nothing, instead she hid her snout behind a hoof in embarrassment. The older colt snorted. “It's my first time out this far too, but you don't see me going on like that.” The other colt glared back at the other at that. “Mommy,” He said, looking away from the antagonistic older colt. “Why do I have to come along?” “Well, you need to meet the rest of your family sometime.” his mother said. “But I already met one aunt Carapace and cousin Lampyris” he said, gesturing at the other occupants of the carriage. “Why'd I gotta come all this way?” the colt said, pointing at the other two occupants with a hoof. “Because we have a much bigger family than just who's in this carriage. And it's time you met them.” his mother said firmly. The purple maned colt grunted and flopped down on the seat on his belly. A short time later, the two colts were asleep, though the younger was fitful. “You're seriously bringing him along just to meet our relatives, Elytria?” Carapace asked. “They're his relatives too.” Elytria responded. Carapace snorted and looked out the window. “Why are you bringing Lampyris then?” “He's acting as my adjutant.” Carapace replied. Elytria blinked in surprise, glancing from the other mare to her offspring. “B-but... he's only eleven!” “That's well old enough to start learning.” Carapace retorted. Elytria looked aghast. “Cousin, he's only a colt, he should be running and playing with other little ones.” “And where'll that get him? I'm preparing him to do the important work and be worthy of admiration of the hive denizens. He's only a male. If he doesn't work to make something of himself, no-one will carry him.” “He's still just a child...” Elytria said quietly. Carapace snorted at that. “You really are soft on them, aren't you?” Elytria nodded slowly. “They're only princes... but they're still family. I love my little Protonus.” “Fat lot of good that does him when he can't get energy from it.” Carapace grumbled, looking out the window at the desert scenery. * * * * * The carriage continued on through a rocky mountain pass in the distant desert, so very far from civilization that even bandit gangs and the native buffalo herds never ventured here. This was a place of killing heat and infinite dryness. Beyond that, for many generations, the buffalo spoke that all those who foolishly ventured there were plagued by demons, and in recent decades, ponies who had tried to explore there reported strange occourrances. However, this being so far from equestria's borders, it was deemed better to just leave well enough alone by the authorities. Bandits who ventured there came back with some rather impressive ghost stories... those that weren't too terrified to start gibbering like mad beasts as soon as they were asked about their time there. The carriage emerged into a massive open valley with red-brown soil,, ringed on all sides by mountainous cliffs. The broad expanse of flat land was interrupted by several dramatic mountains rising straight up out of the valley floor, with broad, sloping bases, then pillars of red stone towering into the sky. The carriage rolled up to the base of the largest mountain, and up a disused path towards the mouth of a cave. The purple haired colt was nearly hanging out the window as they approached. Standing just outside of the mouth of the cave was a greeting party. And though they were shaped roughly like ponies, they clearly weren't. The gaps in their legs looking like swiss cheese, the way their manes and tails shimmered in an unusually glossy fashion, and the sun gleamed off their bodies as if they were cut from polished black marble. The carriage rolled up to the mouth of the cave, and the common looking ponies who pulled it unhitched themselves. Then, they, the drivers, and the guards went to take up places in two lines, stretching on either side of the door of the carriage. In a flash of green fire that was mirrored by one from the interior of the carriage, all the ponies were revealed to be changeling drone. Half of them had dorsal plates of green edged in spotty purple, and eyes of light green fading to white. The other half had dorsal plates of bright magenta, with rather common blue-to-white eyes. The two furthest from the carriage door cleared their throats, then spoke in unison: “Presenting their Majesties, Queen Carapace of Swayback Caverns, and Queen Elytria of Mosslight Marsh.” The door opened, and the occupants, now revealed to be a set of four noble caste changelings, exitited. The two adult females moved with grace and poise, the older male, with a mane and tail like patinaed bronze, and eyes and dorsal plate looking like freshly burnished bronze plate, exited with a somewhat stiff, but admirable air of importance. The youngster, pure rich purple everywhere he wasn't covered in black carapace, leapt out of the carriage and bolted into the cave mouth, to the alarm of the changeling greeting party with a cry of “SHADE! COOL SHADE!”, whereupon he threw himself down on the cool stony floor of the cave entrance. “Charming.” A very mature female voice said, hiding a hint of a chuckle. “Yours, I take it, Elytria?” Protonus blinked, then looked up. And up. And up some more. Standing over him, with a length of rich blue, hole pockmarked gossamer changeling mane cascading nearly to her mid cannon-bones, was the tallest noble caste changeling queen he'd ever seen, looking down at him with pale yellow eyes that twinkled along with her small indulgent smile. A long, long, incredibly straight and unmarred horn stretched from her forehead, and at the end, branched out to either side in a pronged pattern. Fanning out to either side of her was the largest pair of diaphanous wings Protonus had yet to, or would ever see on any changeling. Twice her body length, and broad, they glistened and shimmered iridescently as she gently fanned them. “Yes Empress, this is my little Protonus.” Queen Elytria's voice came from behind the riveted little changeling colt. “Dear, do stand up.” she said, trotting forward and nudging him in the rump with a forehoof. Protonus snapped up in an instant. Empress? This was the Empress!? He started to internally panic. Before it could really get anywhere though, the empress gestured to her left. Standing there was a trio of other noble changelings, two of them female, one male. The two females were both obviously younger than Protonus' mother or Queen Carapace. The taller one was a rather shocking orange gold color all over, rather than the typical black body carapace. Her dorsal plate was a rich sparkling emerald green, and this was mirrored in her eyes, while her mane and tail were A deep purple, just a shade or two darker than Protonus's own. She was dazzling... and perhaps a touch garish looking, but she carried herself in a very haughty way, hardly deigning to glance at the arrivals. The slightly shorter second female had the typical black body carapace, and then a pair of strangely opaque wings, fuzzy and pale green, in the shape of a lunar moth's. Her hair was a queer color for a changeling, tan, though the eyes and dorsal plate were a fair enough green color, going with her curiously colored wings. This young noble female looked mildly bored, where her sibling looked like she considered herself above their company. And lastly came a noble changeling colt the same height as Protonus, but everywhere Protonus was purple, this other male was a vibrant pumpkin orange. And where Protonus had sleeker, thinner features, this other colt was larger and had the makings of being a rugged, sturdy sort. Carapace and her son bowed. “Greetings Princess Rutelina, Princess Actia.” she said, nodding to first the golden haughty female, and then the disinterested black. She didn't say anything to the little orange male. “We do this every visit, cousin. We're all family here, surely we can relax a little, can't we Auntie?” Elytria asked the grand empress before her. “Would that we could, but...” the empress started to say. “Paradoxa's already here.” Princess Actia grumbled. “And already making everyone around her miserable.” Rutelina said, with a toss of her mane. “If I were in charge, and she anything less than a queen, I'd keep her confined to the guest chambers till the council meeting.” Arista turned her gaze on her offspring. “Now now, child, do not speak so in front of guests, it's not polite. Maxillus,” she turned to the orange colt, and the little orange prince's ears perked and he turned to the empress. “Go and make sure our guests things get to their quarters.” “Yes mother.” The orange colt said, then started to move forward with a couple of the drones from his hive to meet the drones taking the two chests off the back of the carriage. “Auntie, not you too...” Elytria said, a note of sadness in her voice. “Hmm?” Arista blinked, looking at her grandniece in confusion. “My estimable cousin has it in her head that young colts should be frolicking rather than working and learning.” Carapace explained. Both of the princesses at the empress' side raised eye ridges at that, and glanced at their younger brother, who had frozen in mid step, realizing he was the subject of discussion. “Oh really?” Arista said, voice neutral. “Auntie, they're just foals, the young of every race gets to spend their childhood in play. You have so many attendants as is. Do you really need to make your son work too?” Arista appeared to consider that for a moment, then gave a smile. “Maxillus, Why don't you show Protonus and Lampyris the gardens. The drones can see to our guests things.” The orange changeling colt beamed at his mother. “Oh, yes mother!” then turned to his counterparts. “C'mon, follow me!” he beckoned with a hoof, before turning and cantering off into the caves. Protonus glanced at Lampyris and grinned, then took off after their host. Lampyris glanced up at his mother, who shrugged. “Oh, whatever. Go on, have some fun I guess. We'll be alright.” With a nod, Lampyris turned and cantered after the other colts, leaving the queens and princesses to chat as he tried to catch up. * * * * * Canterlot, Present day... * * * * * “Queen Crysalis was once a pony.” These words caused reality to fade from Shining Armor's sight. Images of the queen of changelings that had hurt his wife, and nearly enslaved the city of canterlot, flashed through his mind, along with images of a strange, gray mare with green eyes and cyan hair. His mind conjured up images of the queen and the horrors she would have inflicted upon the citizens, and a common, innocent mare. Deep inside him, a faint mote of green magic flickered across his mind, striking and sparking against a mote of pink. Neither of these magics were Shining's own. They had been grating against each other for some time now, but strong emotions made the two more active. This cascade of anger, confusion, and shock, however, set the two off like nothing before, dancing sparks crisscrossed Shining's mind. He didn't even feel it as his eyes rolled back into his head, or as he collapsed onto the floor. Nor was he aware of the alarmed cry of his sister's voice. * * * * * Protonus, along with the real guards, snapped out of their statuesque state at the thump and clatter of an armored body hitting the ground inside the room they were guarding, along with a feminine shriek. There was a mad dash as every one of them tried to get through the door at once, but after barely a moment of confusion, mot of the guards stepped back to allow swift strike, the head of the unicorns, and the greatest offensive power in the group, to slam the door open and charge in first, the others flanking him. What they saw was maxillus, sitting on the exam bed, looking rather shocked, while the doctor was trying to do... something to the captain, and Twilight sparkle hovering nervously over her brother form of their commander. Spike had backed off to the side to give the ponies more room. Shining, meanwhile, was twitching and thrashing about on the ground. “What's going on in here?” Swift demanded. “Damnit, get out of here and get one of the nurses! The captain's having a seizure!” Dr. Scalpel shouted back at the unicorn lieutenant. Swift backed off at the doctor's forceful order. If there was one universal, it's that soldiers respected a medic. “Iron, get down to the nurse's station and get one of them here, double time!” Protonus snapped a salute, and took to wing, shooting down the hallway. * * * * * “And you're certain that the... ambassador, did absolutely nothing to captain Armor?” Swift Strike asked the little green and purple whelpling. “Look,” Spike said, glaring a little at the guard unicorn, “Twilight told you,” he gestured at the purple unicorn mare that was sitting, “Dr. Scalpel told you,” he pointed down towards the exam room down the hall, “and even the ambassador swore to you” he now gestured to where the black and orange changeling was sitting, ringed by the rest of the guards, “that he didn't do anything besides talk to us! It's the truth! I mean, sure, he made that little goo glob on a stick, but Shining didn’t start doing THAT till later.” “We have to be thorough, you were there and we need to know what you saw.” “I saw the same thing as everyone else. Max was just talking, and then suddenly Shining starts looking funny, then his eyes roll back and he falls over and starts shaking really bad...” Spike shuddered. “I really could've done without seeing that... like, ever.” Dr. Scalpel walked out of the exam room, and used a bit of magic to re-order his white coat. Twilight teleported right up to him a second later. “Is he alright doctor?” Twilight asked, a pleading tone in her voice. “Your brother is going to be FINE Lady Sparkle. He's already starting to come around. The seizure only lasted a little over a minute and a half.” “B-but Shining's never had one of these before! I read that non-epileptic seizures can be indicative of a major problem!” Scalpel raised an eyeridge. “No, Lady Sparkle. Your brother's attack was stress induced, I believe. Considering the way he was behaving during the discussion. I think the ambassador's last revelation was too much for him to take.” Twilight tilted her head at the doctor. “Stress?” “The way he was reacting to everything the ambassador said? I think it's obvious.” he shook his head. “We're giving Shining the care he needs, but after this I think he should be off active duty for a few days, and definitely keep someone close by to keep an eye on him, should he have another episode. And definitely have him schedule a more in depth examination as soon as possible. I personally think it's just stress, but one can't be too careful with these things.” Twilight nodded dumbly. * * * * * “A seizure!?” Cadence gasped, one hoof infront of her mouth in shock. “Yes, it's not that bad though Cadence, it was a short one, and he woke up pretty quick afterward.” Twilight explained. Cadence glanced over at the stallion who was laying on his belly on the sofa, with his head held up with one hoof and a scowl on his face. Spike was sitting on a easy chair nearby, neatening up the notes from the day's interview, and occasionally glancing at shining... probably making sure the stallion was still alright. “Now, you just need to watch him for the time being. The doctor said he can return to duty in a few days if he has no more episodes, and that he should try to relax.” “Alright Twilight. Thank you.” “Don't worry about it Cadence. He's my brother after all.” Twilight smiled at her former foalsitter, and newest sister in law. “Of course, we're all family, but I still appreciate it.” Cadence said, leaning forward to nuzzle Twilight. Twilight returned the nuzzle, then turned her head. “Spike, come on, we need to get back to the castle.” “Coming Twilight!” Spike said, hopping down off the chair and jogging over to her side. Twilight smiled, then looked at Shining. “And no straining yourself for a while, take it easy, okay BBBFF?” Shining grumbled something angrily. “Shiny?” Twilight pressed, looking yet more concerned. “I said sure.” he said, not sounding any more chipper. Cadence saw the expression that twilight gave after that, and gave a forced, painful looking smile. “Oh, he's just angry he looked bad in-front of the troops. He'll get over it.” Twilight gave a smile of her own, equally forced. “Aheh... yeah, ok. Come on Spike, let's get going.” Twilight said, then turned and started trotting down the road. “Bye Cadence!” “Bye Twilight! Bye Spike!” she waved to the two retreating purple forms. * * * * * Twilight Sparkle was walking down a corridor in the royal palace, her head hung low, and her ears back. Spike was sitting on her back, riding her as she slowly walked through the corridors. His legs dangled down beyond level with her stifle, which she noted in the back of her mind clearly meant he was growing. But this was not what had the unicorn mare's mind occupied. “Twilight, don't worry. The doctor said Shining's fine, he just had a little fainting spell.” Spike said from his seat on her back. Twilight's mind flashed back to Shining's eyes rolling back in his head right before he collapsed on the floor in the exam room an hour earlier. The other guards had rushed in at the sound of the thump of a body and the clatter of armor. It'd taken her standing between them and Maxillus and the doctor shouting at them to make them stop and take in the situation, and assurances from her, spike, and Dr. Scalpel to believe that Maxillus hadn't just attacked their captain. But that wasn't what troubled her. What did trouble her, was what had brought him to that state. Anger, shock, alarm, near panic at every single thing they'd learned about changelings that day... oh ponyfeathers, everything they'd learned about changelings since they'd first sat down with the Ambassador the previous day had just constantly made her brother angrier and less rational. “I guess.” she lied. “Look, Spike, I need to go do something. Could you head back to the library tower and collate everything from today?” “Uh... ok.” the dragon whelp said, before turning and sliding off Twilight's back. “Will you be long?” Twilight forced a smile. “I'm not sure, but at the least I'll see you at dinner, okay?” “Okay Twi.” Spike said, then gave her a brief hug before turning and jogging off towards their temporary residence in the archives. Twilight watched him go, carrying all the notes they'd taken during their time in the hospital. The records stopped abruptly at the scribbled detail that Queen Chrysalis was, in fact, a converted pony, turned into a noble caste changeling. As soon as that little detail came out, Shining had had his attack. After that, Twilight decided to call off any further questioning for the rest of the day. Twilight needed to clear her head, think clearly. Something was wrong with her brother. And as an element of harmony, and his sister, she needed to help him. But how? Unsure, Twilight continued her slow walk through the palace, her mind unusually slow in coming up with a plan. She was usually the go-to pony when it came to problem solving, so why couldn't she come up with anything to help her brother? A sudden tingling sensation ran up her horn, and she jerked her head up, just in time to see a flash of blue magic at the tail end of a unicorn teleport just up ahead of her. And a familiar white unicorn stallion with a blonde mane and tail standing in front of her, facing away from her. “Ah-hah! Glorious! All the way to... wait, these aren't my chambers. Prim? Proper? Are you there?” “Prince Blueblood?” Twilight asked, incredulously. The prince whirled around, eyes going wide. “Lady Sparkle! I was practicing my teleport at the academy. I'm terribly sorry if I'm trespassing on your chambers...” “We're in a hallway.” Twilight said flatly. Blueblood glanced around. “That we are... which hallway exactly?” “East wing, ground level. The gates to the gardens are just a little further down that way.” She said, gesturing behind Blueblood and down the corridor. “Ah, in that case, I think I can manage my own chambers now that I know where I am. Thank you.” he said, then charged his horn up for another teleport. Or at least he tried to. His horn kind of sputtered at first, then, blushing and grinning in a forced, embarrassed way, he tried again with more force, but the glow wouldn't keep and he ended up panting from the exertion. “Oh dear... I seem to have drained myself.” Twilight shook her head. “Teleportation takes a lot of power, I do it all the time, sure, but I’ve got a lot more magic than most unicorns.” “Ah.... point taken, Lady Sparkle. Perhaps we could walk together? My chambers aren't that far.” “I guess.” Twilight said, her voice falling into her depressed tone again. Blueblood blinked at her as she started plodding past him again, her head lowering. He sighed. If he was going to change himself, he had to help all those he encountered that needed it. “What's the matter, Lady sparkle?” he asked, falling into step alongside her. “It's nothing.” She answered. “Lady sparkle, I can tell just from looking at you, it's hardly 'nothing'. Now please, tell me what troubles you so.” Twilight raised her head and looked at him. “Since when do you get involved in other ponies problems?” “It's a startling change, I know, but I'm trying to be a better prince. Really, I swear.” he said, his tone somewhat annoyed. “Now will you please tell me what's the matter?” Twilight blinked, then looked away, her ears pinned back. “It's my brother...” If she'd been looking at Prince Blueblood's face, she would've seen a look pass over it that would've strongly indicated he'd suppressed an urge to facehoof. “What happened?” he asked a moment later. “Well... we were at the hospital today, like we'd planned. We had the ambassador in a full body scan, and learned a lot about what the changelings can do, and why they do it, but then... well, Shining didn’t like what he was hearing from the ambassador. I mean, like, he REALLY didn't like what he was hearing. He was starting to get violent, and then...” “Oh no... he didn't... strike him, did he?” Blueblood asked, fearful. “No, no he didn’t hit Maxillus...” Twilight answered, which had Blueblood letting out a relieved breath. “He had a seizure.” “A what?” Blueblood asked. “A seizure. He started shaking uncontrollably, lost consciousness, and fell on the floor.” “Oh dear... what caused it?” Blueblood asked. “Stress.” Twilight said, then looked up at the stallion. “He got so worked up from everything Maxillus... the ambassador was saying, that he couldn't take it anymore and... well, it happened.” “Good heavens...” Blueblood said. “And... and I've never known my brother to behave like that. He's always been incredibly just and fair, I swear he could've made a good judge if he wasn't a guard, but... I've never seen him react like that.” “That is troubling.” Blueblood said, eyes going unfocused as he thought. Twilight perked up. “Oh, I know! Silly me, I need to talk to princess Celestia! She'll know what to do!” “I wouldn't.” Blueblood said. Twilight blinked, stopped, and looked at Blueblood. “Huh? Why not? She's the princess, she knows how to solve everything...” “And she's the one who ordered shining to personally attend all of your meetings, and put him into a situation where his uncontrolled feelings caused him to have an apoplexy.” “An apoplexy is a stroke, not a seizure.” Twilight automatically corrected him. “Oh, whatever. Look, Celestia isn't who you should be talking to. I know this might sound like blasphemy, but I don't think my esteemed many times great aunt is the right individual to speak to on this problem.” “Then who is?” Twilight asked, looking and sounding quite lost. Blueblood smiled. “Follow me.” * * * * * “So there I am, blood streaming down my face, and this bovine bastard says, perhaps he'll take the other eye, and balance my face, just before Gareth's spear comes flying through the air and nails him quite firmly to the ground. When I turn to look, I see my squadmate standing nearly a hundred paces away!” the gryphon laughed. “Most damned spectacular throw I'd ever seen.” “It certainly sounds like it, and if I ever meet this gryphon, I should thank him, if he'd not acted, we wouldn't be able to share in your fine company, sir.” Blueblood said to the grizzled gryphonic ambassador. Twilight sat in the chair next to Blueblood, both of them opposite Ambassador Swift Talon, as the gryphon ate. Watching the avian/leonine hybrid work his way through a ham steak, half a dozen mushrooms with some kind of spiced ground meat filling, and a small pile of potatoes, flavored with a sauce that apparently had 'bacon' in it at once. The smell, quite like the quiche that ambassador Maxillus had had for breakfast that morning, surprisingly enticed her own appetite, despite her knowing it was meat from an animal. Luna probably was right about ponies and meat, then, she thought. Not that she'd had any real doubt of the princess's veracity, as Celestia had backed her up. “Sadly, that'd be quite impossible.” The ambassador said. “Why so?” Blueblood asked. “Gareth took a crossbow bolt only a month later. Poor lad, was dead before he hit the ground... which is a mercy, since he was flying at high altitude when he was hit. Never had a chance.” Twilight and Blueblood both cringed, again, though this time with sadness. “Oh, aye. I was a wreck for months after that. Gareth and I were close. As brothers really, we latched onto each other in training, and war forged us together. I broke after he was taken from me, but my country still needed it's warriors, and I couldn't simply give up. Threw myself into the work. Still, I kept breaking down at the oddest times, and I wasn't the same. If that war had happened today, they'd have shipped me back home and ordered me to get therapy, and rightly so. Soldier needs his head on straight.” he shook his head, then lifted his goblet. “To friends waiting for me beyond the pale gate. I miss you all, you crazy birds.” He said, then drained the rest of it's contents. Twilight had sat bolt upright as soon as the ambassador had started talking about his breakdowns. And she latched onto one word. “Therapy? Head on straight... Ambassador, are you saying you went insane?” “Oh, aye young lady. I believe the term our doctors use for it is PSD.” “P.T.S.D. Sir.” one of the attendant gryphons clarified. “Yes, that.” “What does that mean?” she asked. “Post traumatic stress disorder.” The attendant elaborated. “What're the symptoms? The treatment?” she asked. “I'm no expert, but the symptoms are irrationality and instability following a conflict. Our soldiers suffer from it. Oh, it's not a new thing, it's just it's only recently been identified and categorized. I suspect warriors have been suffering from it... well, since the dawn of war.” the ambassador said. “Uh... Ambassador, you're a soldier... what would you do if you suspected a soldier of yours was suffering from 'PTSD?'” “Relieve him of duty, give him an honorable discharge, and send him home to get one of those mental doctors to take care of the lad.” “What... what if he wasn't able to be taken off duty, and his duties had him taking him close to the... 'enemy'?” Twilight asked. The ambassador's one eye fixed her with a hard stare. “Who is it?” he asked. “What?” twilight asked. “Who is it you're asking for? What happened to him?” Twilight blanched. “I don't-” “It's as plain as the horn on your head girl.” the ambassador shook his feathery head. “No, I think I already know the answer. Your brother, Shining Armor, isn't doing well when he's forced to be near the changeling, isn't he?” Twilight's ears flicked back, and she lowered her head in a bare nod. Ambassador Swift-Talon sighed. “I thought so. You want my advice, girl?” he asked. Twilight looked up eagerly. “Oh, yes, please. I don't know what to do, I mean, princess Celestia ordered him to be with me during the interviews, but it's affecting him so badly...” “Tell your teacher to order him to duty, any duty, other than being shoved in a room with his enemy. Because, yes, that is exactly how your brother sees the changeling ambassador. No amount of reason will change that view of his right now. He needs time, and special help to work through this, not some brute force 'lesson' learned by being forced into proximity with something like what hurt him....” The gryphon shook his head. “I still can't stand being anywhere near minotaurs.” Twilight nodded. “I'll try that, thank you.” * * * * * Celestia was in the midst of day court, mediating an argument between two shopkeepers, one who claimed the other was driving him out of business. When, to her and everypony else's surprise, Twilight Sparkle burst in to the room. “Princess Celestia, we need to talk!”