There’s something about life or death experiences that really snap things into perspective. I was hanging off the side of a cliff, staring in the gaping maw of the abyss. The winds whipped around me as I strained to keep my grip, my hands straining and my arms stretched the breaking point.
I was going to die, I had thought. I was going to die on an alien world, fighting to save this world when I should be back on my own saving the entirety of humanity!
Fear crept down my spine and my thoughts were scrambled as I fought to keep my grip. Loose gravel slid under my fingers as a hand scraped across the dirt and I lost the grip of one hand.
No, no, no, no, no! I yelled inside my head, my mouth opened in a silent scream as my other hand, unable to take the weight of my entire body, loosened and let go of the ledge.
I fell, arms flailing in the air, trying to find a purchase or a hold to arrest my descent into certain death.
My last thoughts were for Angel as I closed my eyes and waited for the never-ending sleep to come.
I’m sorry, I thought to myself. If only I could have saved you.
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I bet you’re all wondering how the heck I got into that situation. Are you standing? Sit down, let me tell you all about it and don’t be afraid to crack open a foobar.
Huh, what’s a foobar?
Oh right, Equestrians wouldn’t know about this but foobars are short for food-bars a compact meal in a small package. They taste bad, they’re nasty and they’re in unsatisfying quantities but then, they’re full of caffeine and other junk to make you awake. I didn’t eat them personally but I know Paul loved them. He practically inhales them. Never really saw the appeal, to be honest.
Where was I?
Oh right, the circumstances surrounding my imminent death.
What had spoken to us from the corner of the room was a shy yellow pegasus, hang on, didn’t I know this one? What was her name? Uhm… Fluttercry? Fritterlie?
“Fluttershy?” Luna had spoke in consternation.
“Oh, uhm, yes”, the pink haired pegasus replied. “I mean, no.”
I gaped in surprise as ‘Fluttershy’ was wreathed in blue flames that engulfed her form and changed it to a black shiny chitinous coating. The resulting creature looked like a cross between a bug and a pony, with Swiss cheese-like holes scattered around its legs and sporting a pair of tattered wings. Her mane looked fine, like cobwebs but unlike Fluttershy's (at least as far as I remembered) pink mane, this one had a brilliant blue mane, almost sapphire blue in colour. It was brushed around and to the side vaguely resembling Fluttershy's mane-style, but not exactly how I remembered it.
The creature continued in a shrill feminine voice as Luna crouched and readied her horn.
“No, stop!” she yelled. Luna growled at the same time.
“Changeling!” she roared in fury, she was ready the charge the small changeling.
“Stop, Luna”, I commanded, snapping my fingers to grab her attention. It did the trick although I think I was almost put in the line of fire when her eyes blazed, almost targeting me.
“Peace, Luna”, I addressed her quietly. Luna grudgingly lowered her guard but she continued to glower at the poor thing. I didn’t know what the changeling did but Luna looked mad enough the chew steel and spit nails. I knew it had something to do with a wedding but I never dealt with that.
In any case it was probably best if I held an outside perspective.
“Uhh, I’m sorry, what’s your name?” I asked the cowering creature. She calmed down enough after a few minutes of me crouching down and putting my hands up in a non-threatening gesture.
“I-It’s Pseudo, sir”, she replied, looking at me in uncertainty. I smiled at the changeling to show I meant no harm.
“So, Pseudo how about you tell me a tale?” I inquired, inviting her to sit at the table. She flinched as Luna snorted and continued to peer at the changeling as if she wanted to take a measure of her soul.
“Luna, you are scaring the poor thing- “ I held up a hand to stop her from responding “ -regardless of what had transpired between you two, I don’t think you’ll be getting much from her if you act so hostile-“ I changed my gesture to point at Luna with my finger “-justified or not, we can decide later”, I told her. Luna huffed but took my advice and left the room, albeit reluctantly.
“Be careful”, she warned, making eye contact with me. “These creatures are filled with deceit and desire, both of which you cannot defend against. Remember you are only immune to magic, not anything else.”
I nodded in assent as she left me with Pseudo.
“You were talking about a tale?” Pseudo inquired of me. I grinned at the changeling.
“Yes, the tale of how you got here without us knowing”, I replied.
“Oh”, Pseudo replied, her cheeks turning a light blue. Oh, it’s a blush, how adorable.
“Gruff told me I should knock but there wasn’t a reply”, she spoke quietly. “I knocked but no one seemed to answer so I invited myself in to try and make myself known. Uhm, I tried speaking up but there wasn’t an opportunity until both of you stopped for a break.”
I looked at the changeling.
“How did you stay so quiet? Why were you disguised as Fluttershy?” I asked, perplexed.
“Oh, I guess sneaking around is something changelings are good at. If we really try, not many ponies can hear us approach. Eheh, as to the disguise, I, uhm, was told that changelings weren’t really welcome in Canterlot so I had to disguise myself”, she explained, tapping her hooves together with a nervous ‘clop’.
I grunted in acknowledgement, thinking.
“What happened between changelings and the ponies?”
Pseudo bowed her head in thought for a moment before giving a timid answer.
“Oh well, I think that was to do with Chrysalis’ hive attacking Canterlot”, she stated, rubbing a nervous hoof along the surface of the table. She visibly swallowed and I gave her an encouraging pat on her head, before I realised what I was doing and whipped it to my side. I didn’t know if changelings were connected to the Tree, but it was worth taking extra precautions.
Pseudo gave me a look of wonder as if surprised I would even touch her.
“What’s wrong?” I asked of her, as she shuffled her hooves.
“Oh, uhm, it’s just that I’ve never been touched before by a willing pon- I mean -being”, she explained, looking at her hooves.
“I am a changeling princess, next in the line for my hive, but none of the drones would ever take care of me like that, the only other contact I’ve had was with my mother and she was very nice, although now she is getting old and I don’t think I’ll be able to get anymore hugs from her anymore. I just feel a little alone”, she rambled as I listened to her patiently. I realised that the changeling was quite young and now that I noticed that fact, I saw that her size was a little smaller than the average pony. She was probably in her early teens, if equivalency and my age-estimation skills were right.
The princess looked at me with something close to renewed hope.
“Gruff was kind of nice but he hasn’t touched me yet. You’re one of the nicer ones, you didn’t even want to fight me as soon as you saw me”, she said, giving me a sweet smile.
“Why would I want to fight you? You haven’t even done anything yet. I can’t fault you for being yourself”, I replied, resisting the urge to pat her on the head.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can touch you yet, before I confirm that you’re not connected to the Tree of Harmony”, I explained then I quickly shot my hands to my mouth. Wait, was I supposed to keep the Tree of Harmony a secret? Luna didn’t look too happy when Gruff casually mentioned it.
I looked at Pseudo.
“Actually never mind, forget I said that”, I told her, shaking my head in annoyance for my oversight.
Pseudo nodded.
“I promise I won’t talk about, besides we’ve known of the Tree for years, we just can’t use it and we’re certainly not connected to it”, she said simply and tapped a hoof on the table lightly.
“No other magical artefacts that grant you power?” I pressed, determine to clear up the issue.
Pseudo thought for a moment before dismissing the idea.
“No, I don’t think so”, she squeaked, trying to hide under the table as the door burst open and an impatient looking Luna beckoned a hoof towards me.
I walked over and bent my head to her level so she could whisper into my ear.
“We must away, soon”, she said, nudging me with a hoof. “Celestia has requested both of our presences within the next hour. It seems urgent”, she explained.
I nodded, excusing myself.
“Pseudo, do you want to come with us?” I asked her. She nodded and trotted after me.
“I’ll bring you up to speed, Luna”, I assured her, as she warily eyed the changeling.
Gruff waved a claw at me as I exited. He had already gotten word that Celestia had asked for me, not fifteen minutes ago. I was impressed. Gruff must have a deep intelligence network to get information that fast. Not that I knew much about spying and the like, I just thought it was particularly fast.
I bet Pseudo would be pleasant company if Luna hadn’t been right next to Pseudo, sending her a cautious glance every now and then that clammed her up.
I gave Luna a short summary of whom Pseudo was and how she had gotten here. It wasn’t much because we didn’t have the opportunity to dive into much detail in that small meeting room. Luna’s eyes lost a lot of hostility when she found out the changeling was from another hive, she didn’t let go of all of her distrust however, she did make pains to introduce herself.
“I am Luna, Princess of the Night”, she announced simply.
Pseudo bobbed her head deferentially.
“I-I’m Pseudo, Princess of the Blue Hive”, she replied, her eyes flashing blue as she conferred her title.
Neat! I thought. I wish my eyes could do that.
Luna looked a little relieved when she saw Pseudo flash her eyes blue. Now that I looked closer, I found her irises were a pleasant deep turquoise, which unexpectedly reminded me of Angel’s eyes.
Pseudo was blushing blue when she noticed me staring at her intently.
“I wish I had eyes that could do that”, I explained in response to her curious look. She looked strangely pleased with that statement, after she got over her astonishment.
I asked Pseudo a question that had been hanging on my mind since I met her.
“What's a changeling?”
Luna responded instead of Pseudo, giving me an amused look. Okay, I had read a little about Equestria’s history and geography but I was still mainly ignorant of the many species that populated this world. Dragons, yes, griffons, yes, minotaurs, yes, changelings for which there was no mythological counterpart I could pull from the past-Earth extranet? No.
“Changelings are insect-like creatures that feed on emotions, although ‘insect’ is little more than a cosmetic label when describing changelings, if anything, their anatomy is closer to a pony and other mammals. With the exception of the dragonfly-like wings and their carapace, changelings could pass for a normal pony”, Luna explained, in a scholarly tone.
“So you’re saying that changelings and ponies are genetically similar?”
Luna shook her head, her mouth twisted in such a way as she found the notion displeasing.
“No, we’re not related in that sense, we’re about as related as a rockodile is to an alligator.”
I shook my head.
Rockodiles?
“The distinguishing feature of changelings to other species is their active use of magic. They are skilled in the art of deception, transmorphication and illusion”, Luna continued, we passed some surprised street vendors. I dipped my head in hello, but they were more wary of Pseudo that I hardly registered in their vision.
“Changelings feed through absorbing emotions”, Luna told me in a matter-of-fact tone.
I gaped at her. You can’t feed on emotions! Emotions were just a collection of neural excitations and bodily reactions as a product of the consciousness, it is not something you can eat!
Luna noticed my look of confusion so she clarified the point.
“Changeling magic may be highly limited compared to a unicorn’s however, the proficiency of such magic is in a class of it’s own. They process emotions, which leak a small amount of useful magic. To them, emotions are like a distilled sort of magic surrounding us. When they extract it, it will drain the user of their emotions temporarily, when they go further it starts draining the magical flows that link to their life. The more background magic there is and the more powerful the emotions surrounding it, the better the extraction process goes.”
I swallowed. So that’s how they could feed off emotions.
Luna cleared her throat as I nearly stumbled into the guards at the front of the Canterlot gates. I grinned at her sheepishly. Heh, I should pay more attention to my surroundings.