//------------------------------// // Luna story arc ~ part 1 // Story: Deep Cover Confusion // by Zerodius //------------------------------// It was such a strange thing. The dreamscape was so different and yet, so familiar. Celestia had spoken of the power of friendship, of how she and the Luna changeling had managed to connect to the Elements of Harmony, using their hive mind sense to tap into the greater harmony that united all things and thus incarnate her power and that of her original sister. It explained to the alicorn how the dreamscape could be as it was right now, being so... connected, so united. A gigantic network, the dreams of everypony brushing against one another in ways that they never did back during her original existence. She guessed it was a permanent side-effect of the great blast that had turned Discord to stone. As alien as it was, it made the alicorn of the night feel... proud. That ponykind would grasp friendship to such a level was something she had never dreamed of. If her little ponies were this connected, she guessed it explained how those six young mares had been able to tap into the power of harmony. Her mind extended, the night flowing through all sleeping souls. For a moment, Luna let go of her mortal essence and feelings, allowing her mind to blend with the peaceful sleep of all her little po- Wait. She focused, her alicorn avatar reforming within the dreamscape. A particularly violent serie of nightmares rolled through the dreamscape, forming what could be described in metaphorical terms as a mix of thunderous storm clouds, a tidal wave, and a serie of interlocked explosions. But what shocked the alicorn was the fact that the nightmares, once she allowed herself to approach them, seemed to all have a common theme. It was very unusual for mortals to all have nightmares with a common theme simultaneously. Usually, this tended to show an entire town, or even an entire civilization being taumatized by a society-wide phobia. What could those nightmares be about? She decided to take a look at the first one. She instantly recognized to whom the nightmare belonged. Fluttershy, one of the six mares that had defeated Nightmare Moon and indirectly resurrected her. The pegasus mare was transformed in this nightmare, her wings now taking on a butterfly-like appearance, her coat replaced with soft chitin of a color that matched her coat normally. Slitted eyes replaced her usual ones and a small, barely functional horn was on her forehead, along with small holes in her legs, near her hooves. Luna figured that the pegasus looked somewhat akin to a changeling, though one that was heavily mutated, having an appearance much closer to an equine, even having a genuine cutie mark on her flanks. Was Fluttershy having nightmares of being turned into a changeling? "I can't believe you lied to us all those years" She was being restrained by a clearly very angered Rainbow Dash. Her friends were around her, their faces distorted by an unreal anger. "Did ya really thought ya could fool the Element of Honesty, ya worthless bug?!" Applejack was by her side, glaring at the pegasus turned changeling. "I-I can explain... please... please..." begged the pegasus, terror gripping her. "It all makes sense. This is why she was raising all of those animals, taking care of them so much..." Luna noticed the full scene. It looked like a rather nice day, near a house she assumed belonged to Fluttershy and imitated her real home in the physical world. The scene was pretty nice... except for a detail that instantly bothered her. Corpses. Bunnies, chickens, birds... small animals were laying around in various states of decomposition. Their expression, how utterly skinny they were... it was as if they had been drained of their precious fluids. "I-I didn't mean to... I... I just..." by now, the pegasus turned changeling was weeping, barely capable of even whispering anymore. "Ya heartless vampire bug! Ya were manipulating us all! Ya just wanted us as food, to feed from us, like ya fed from those poor things!" Applejack screamed at Fluttershy. "Don't bother. To changelings, love is nothing but food. She cannot understand the concept. Not like a pony can. Besides, she's just a drone. She doesn't even have a real mind." said Twilight in a cold tone that couldn't possibly belong to the real thing. Then suddenly, instead of graceful curved yellow chitin, Fluttershy's body turned black, her legs now covered in dozens of holes and her wings shrunk, losing their beautiful butterfly-like quality. A thrill of horror overcame her and she found herself wishing she could faint, black put the terror in any way, form, or shape. But she couldn't, just as she could not move. "Ya want love?! Then eat this for size!" Rainbow Dash punched her in the face once. Then twice. Then thrice. Pain shot through Fluttershy's body as Applejack joined in, stomping all over her sensitive wings. Rarity, Twilight, even Pinkie Pie simply stood by and watched impassively. The sounds of hooves slamming against her body turned to sickening crunches and splashes of red covered everything until nothing could be seen anymore. The dreamscape exploded, the echo of Fluttershy's scream as she woke up from her nightmare ringing through it. A powerful nightmare. And a very disturbing one. Luna blinked a few times. Why would Fluttershy be so afraid of such a thing? Changelings were always a threat to Equestria, as they had been back when she was alive but Celestia XXIII was extremely competent at flushing any infiltrators out of Equestria. And well, why would she be scared of being a changeling? Why would she be scared of hurting others through changeling powers? She was a pony, she had felt her power through the Elements of Harmony... Brushing aside the disturbing dream, she decided to touch another nightmare. A stallion, red in color, was talking with a familiar orange mare, the same one from the last nightmare. This stallion must be related to the mare, either by blood or by feeling, she guessed. "Ah never ya had so much on yer mind, Big Mac." then, her face darkened. "It's a good thing ya finally decided to speak up." The stallion found himself taking a step back despite the fact that he towered over his younger sister. "Yer cover's blown, bug! Reveal yerself!" His pupils shrunk to pinpricks. He wanted to say anything but before he could, Applejack moved with frightening speed and bucked him right into the chest. Sinking to his knees, he was horrified as he felt a draining sensation and green energy tore itself out of his frame, revealing two stubby wings on his back, a horn that was barely there on his forehead, and a red chitin body instead of his usual coat. "To think ah thought ye were mah brother all these years!" As if on cue, Applebloom and Granny Smith both appeared, the former crying, the later giving a cold, disapproving stare. "S-sister-" "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" screamed Applejack before giving him a second buck, this time to the face, knocking him on his side. Being so much larger and stronger, as well as this being actually a product of his mind, there was no way she could truly hurt him. But the sheer disappointment, the sheer hatred in her voice... it knocked him down more cleanly than any injury could have. "To think we accepted ya among us! Among our family!" "B-Big Mac is... is a monster?!" cried Applebloom, retreating to her grand-mother side. "Don't worry. He can't hurt ya." said the old mare sternly. "Ah never would have hurt anyone..." he tried to say only to be interrupted by his sister. "SHUT YER TRAP BUG! Of course ye didn't! We are nothin' but FOOD to ya! Don't think ah now understand why ye always stood by mah side so much after my parents croaked! Ye were takin' advantage of us! Of my little sister! OF OUR WHOLE FAMILY!" "Pl-please stop sister-" he tried to cry out, unable to keep his tears in. "YE WERE NEVER MAH BROTHER! OR EVEN PART OF OUR FAMILY!!!" Luna removed her mind from the nightmare. She had heard enough. Two nightmares. Again, the same theme. Discovery and rejection. She needed to see more of the nightmares, to make sure the pattern was real and not just her misinterpreting things. But soon, it became obvious that the nightmares were fitting a certain pattern. In another nightmare, one that belonged to Celestia's own student, she was revealed to be a changeling-like being after draining too much of her magic. Spike screamed at her, running away in fear while her friends hid from her. Her brother, on the orders of her mentor, went to capture her before trapping her in a dungeon where both her mentor and brother took turns trying to beat out of her the location of the real Twilight Sparkler while she begged them to believe her that she was the real thing. Another nightmare belonged to a blue unicorn mare, a changeling in her nightmare, starving to death in the mud, kicked out of a town after an illusion spell had failed and caused her to be revealed. Without bits and without love, in the rain, she was dying in absolute loneliness. Yet another nightmare belonged to a pegasus stallion, receiving a letter from an unknown changeling queen who told him that his ancestor's mission was now over... a letter given in front of all his coworkers, leading to a large bunch of royal guards to drag him to the square of the town he lived while an angry mob howled for his execution, his body flashing into the shape of a changeling midway to the way to the square. The rolling waves of nightmares were consistent. They all involved being transformed into a changeling and being somehow exposed as one with absolutely disastrous consequences. But what really made Luna feel strange was both the feeling of the dreamscape and the true underlying emotions. She had explored the dreams of changelings long ago, in her first existence. Fear of discovery was indeed real... but the dreams had been simplistic, with the fear of failure or separation from the hive being the true underlying theme. None of them feared rejection or even truly death. Those nightmares... they belonged in what was clearly Equestria's web of dreams and the themes were much more elaborate. They feared discovery itself, not failure. All of those souls feared being rejected and hated by their fellow ponies. All of them were convinced that if such an event was to happen, they'd lose absolutely everything they held dear. Loneliness. They died alone or were condemned to be live their lives alone. It went beyond fear of mere starvation... But what disturbed Luna was that she was convinced this was the nightmares of ponykind. Why would her little ponies be afraid of being revealed as changelings? It didn't make sense... unless... Luna opened her eyes. The night court was empty, most of Equestria asleep. After all, it was how she had found time to immerge herself into the dreamscape in the first place. Trotting out of the throne room, she decided to head to the balcony. For a moment, she felt the fresh air on her coat and just relaxed, clearing her mind. It was easy to misinterpret dreams and ultimately, they were hints, not revelations. But now, she knew what to look for. Of course, she would do her investigation slowly. Poking a few points here and there, asking a few questions... it was a good thing she was so unused to the lands, in a dark but fitting way. As much as the culture clash made her sad, it realized that it would help her hide the true intent of her questions. There was probably some secret among her little ponies, one that gnawed at them, and she needed to find out what it is. ... not because it was probably terrible but because it was most probably the opposite. Celestia had been torn apart by the fact that she was a changeling instead of the sister she had known, she had let it consumed her to the point of breaking in front of her. If a secret of that magnitude existed among her little ponies, she needed to learn of it so that she may ease their pain. Luna felt guilty yet... it was carthatic. She had seriously wondered... did the world still need the alicorns? With the changeling queens having gained the power of harmony and raising the sun and moon as they once did, was there anymore a need for the divine embodiments of harmony? But now, Luna knew that a great secret was torturing ponykind, one that she was uniquely suited to explore and soothe through her power as the alicorn of the night. Whatever secret may make her little ponies suffer, Luna would help them with it. She had now found her new purpose for the coming years.