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// Cabbage Patch and Royalty 
// Story: A Pony's Heart 
// by CTVulpin 
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	The next evening, Trixie and the troupe arrived at the doors of Canterlot Castle to answer a royal summons that Barnacle Salt had found stuck to the stage wagon’s door with dark blue wax early that morning.  The summons had simply requested that the troupe present themselves to Princess Luna after sunset and provided no clues about why.  Maggie Pie theorized that Princess Luna wanted a report on the troupe’s finances to ensure the royal sponsorship wasn’t being spent frivolously, while Trixie suspected the Princess wanted a little show to brighten up the Night Court.  After some discussion, it was decided to prepare for both eventualities, just to play it safe.  So, while Maggie had spent the day going over the books, the rest of the troupe planned out acts that could be performed in the throne room.
Leaving the stage-wagon near the doors, the troupe followed the familiar path through the halls to the throne room, where they were admitted almost immediately.  Aside from the obligatory pair of guards by the doors, Princess Luna was the only pony present when Trixie and company entered.  “Thank you all for coming,” Luna said while the troupe was still approaching the throne dais, and she walked down to meet them partway.  “Walk with me please,” she said, heading past the bemused troupe toward the doors, “We head for the infirmary and I have something important to speak with Cabbage Patch about on the way.”
“Cabbage?” Trixie and Harlequin exclaimed.
“Me?” Cabbage asked, bewildered.  “What have I done?”
“Do not worry,” Luna said gently.  She stopped at the doors and looked back expectantly until Cabbage started following her, Barnacle and the others close behind.  The guards at the doors fell into step behind the group as Luna led them out into the hallway.  “You’ve seen the damage the Changelings caused to our city,” Luna said, “but what have you heard about the Changelings themselves?”
Cabbage tried to answer, but her tongue refused to work from the intimidation of being in the center of Luna’s attention.
“Several different tales,” Trixie said, coming to Cabbage’s rescue.  “In Ponyville almost everyone believes the Changelings were exterminated completely, but here I’ve heard whispers that some survived, while those that didn’t evaporated like shadows under strong light when the Elements of Harmony were used.”
“And they brought thick unnatural darkness to the city,” Maggie Pie added.
“Yes,” Trixie said, “which makes me wonder if there’s a connection between them and our own experience with Tremolo and his gem of Earth Magic.”
Luna looked mildly confused for a moment, but then realization dawned on her.  “Ah, yes,” she said, “while your nemesis came into possession of the Earth Emerald, Queen Chrysalis had its Dark Elemental partner.  The rumors in Canterlot are true: only a few dozen Changelings survived the invasion because only they endured the extensive changes the Dark Gem forced upon their bodies at Chrysalis’s command.  We have them all in the royal infirmary, too weak and starved for emotional energy to be a threat.  Chrysalis is among them.”
Cabbage stopped cold in her tracks with a sharp gasp.  “Wh… Wh-why are we going to them?” she asked fearfully.
“We are going to make them an offer,” Luna said, “a chance to change the course of their lives and survive.  To follow your example.”
Example? Cabbage protested silently as she forced herself to start walking again.  I’m hiding my true self from most ponies and constantly worried about being discovered, just like any other Changeling.  As the group drew near to the infirmary, Cabbage started to sense the weak mental buzz of the other Changelings.  She recoiled from the sensation and found the will to speak up to Luna.  “I don’t think I can do this.”  Barnacle Salt draped a wing over her back and the rest of the troupe drew a little closer to her.
“Worry not,” Luna said.  “As I said, they are not a danger any more.  I will do all the talking if you desire.  I just require you to be in the room with me.”  She stopped at the infirmary door and lifted a hoof to the handle, and then looked back at Cabbage expectantly.
Cabbage shuffled from hoof to hoof, looking to each of her friends in turn and receiving only the feeling of conflict between wanting to support her in any decision and fear of disobeying Princess Luna.  Cabbage wanted to run away more fervently than any other time she could recall, but she couldn’t bear the thought of Barnacle, Trixie, and the others incurring Luna’s displeasure alongside her either.  In the end, selflessness won out and Cabbage walked up to the infirmary doors and said, “All right.”
Cabbage tried to maintain a confident appearance as Luna opened the doors, but as she followed the Princess inside, saw dozens of flat blue eyes turn her way, and felt the collective voice of the Hive grow stronger in her head, that confidence went out like a dying candle.
Who is this? several mental voices asked in a round.  One of us, some concluded with heightened confusion.
A more powerful voice, one that demanded immediate obedience from all, answered the chorus, I know her.  Cabbage could not mistake that voice, despite not having “heard” it for uncounted years.  Her eyes were drawn involuntarily to the largest bed, where Queen Chrysalis lay on her back with three of her legs and both wings strapped down tight.  The Queen’s green eyes with slit pupils met Cabbage’s pony-like yellow eyes, and the little Changeling’s knees nearly gave out.
“Good evening, Chrysalis,” Princess Luna addressed the Queen as if it were a casual visit.
Chrysalis turned her gaze to Luna and coughed once, dryly.  Luna returned the look in regal silence until Chrysalis took a drink of water out of a glass wedged into her free leg and then spoke.  “Spare me your smug niceties, Princess,” she buzzed, “and just get down to business.  Who are these ponies?”
“These are the friends and guardians of the special Changeling I mentioned before,” Luna answered.  “You recall I mentioned she has been living in Equestria for years without stealing love, yes?”
“And just where is this special Changeling of yours then?” Chrysalis asked.
You already know where, Cabbage thought sourly, and then quailed as she felt Chrysalis’s attention on her again and the voice of the Hive laughed bitterly.
Luna appeared unaware of the mental exchanges taking place as she nudged Cabbage forward to a more prominent position and said, “This is her.  Allow me to introduce Cabbage Patch.”
Out of a combination of failing nerves and instinct, Cabbage dropped to her front knees in a bow before Chrysalis.  After a moment of expectant silence, she dismissed her pony disguise as well, a gesture that was entirely for Princess Luna’s benefit.  The Changelings had already gotten all the proof of her identity they needed when she’d entered the room.
“Cabbage Patch,” Chrysalis mused, “a typically blunt pony name.  How did you come upon it?”
“I… Um…” Cabbage stuttered.
“Never mind,” Chrysalis said with a dismissive wave of her leg.  The glass popped out of its hole, spilling its remaining water across the floor.  Trixie’s magic caught the glass before it could hit the floor near Cabbage, and the azure unicorn gave the Changeling Queen a hard glare.  Ignoring her little accident, Chrysalis looked Luna square in the eye and said, “I already know everything there is worth knowing about this pathetic little outcast.  She is not the last hope for my species as you wish to think.  She is barely a Changeling at all.”
“How can you say that?” Maggie Pie asked.
“Because that hard black shell she wears hides the bleeding heart of a pony,” Chrysalis said.  “Were you aware that she’s a half-breed?  It shouldn’t have been possible for a pony and a Changeling to conceive a foal, but here she is, as small and worthless as ever.  We did try to put her to good use, but she just couldn’t do anything right.  Her disguises are still incomplete, she could never tell a convincing lie, and worst of all she felt bad about feeding on a pony’s love.  She was nothing but a drain on the Hive’s already strained resources; exiling her to brave the world alone was a mercy.”  She finally looked back at Cabbage and addressed her directly with a final snide comment: “I’m truly amazed you’re still alive; it can’t have been easy going so many years as a pony and still no ‘cutie mark’ to show for it.”
Something inside Cabbage’s mind suddenly snapped.  Her nervousness and fear vanished and she leapt to her feet, wings spread wide and buzzing faintly in anger as she stared back at the Queen.  “No, it wasn’t easy!” she shouted.  Her voice cracked and the undertonal buzz she always tried to suppress grew louder, but she pressed on anyway.  “And dropping me on the doorstep of the pony you claimed was my father didn’t help at all!  He tried to love me, but he hadn’t recovered from being fed on and I was a constant reminder of the ‘mare’ he’d lost.  Then I had the awful idea of mimicking his love’s voice, which some Changeling had so kindly demonstrated for me, and he nearly killed me!  I was on the run for years, always on the edge of starvation because I kept trying to behave like a proper Changeling to get my food, and failing.”
Cabbage calmed slightly, bringing her wings back down onto her side, and gestured back at the troupe with a hoof.  “Then I had the luck to meet these ponies.  First was Captain Barnacle Salt, who has never had second thoughts about taking pity on the starving filly he found behind a seaside tavern.  Even after discovering what I am he’s continued to care and protect me from storms of every kind.  Then there’s the Great and Powerful Trixie, who’s always finding ways to keep me included in our little band’s shows.  Maggie looks after all of us the same, making sure we have enough food and money to last in between stops on the road.  Even Harlequin has genuine affection for me, even if he shows it by teasing and pressuring me to do more than I’m comfortable with onstage.  They’re not the only ones either; there are three young mares down in Ponyville who think I’m the coolest thing ever.  And Twilight Sparkle… she’s willing to give me a chance at least.
“You may think I’m pathetic and weak, Queen Chrysalis.  I’m an abomination in your eyes, but here’s the thing: right now I’m the only Changeling in the world who’s strong and well-fed and I haven’t had to go against what feels right in my heart to get that way.  You, all of you,” she looked at all the other Changelings tied to their beds, “are starving worse than ever before.  Why?”  She punctuated her final question with a perfect imitation of the smug challenging stare Trixie used in her acts.  She only waited half a second for an answer before speaking again.  “Everyone says Changelings are adaptable, but you’re refusing to consider changing from the old ways of ponynapping and stealing love.  Do you really think it’s impossible to live my way?  Prove it.”
Cabbage fully expected whatever had possessed her to unleash the longest, loudest, and angriest string of words of her entire life to withdraw as quickly as it had come now that she was finished.  As the stunned silence following her tirade stretched out, however, her legs stayed sturdy and she felt no discomfort holding Queen Chrysalis’s gaze with unblinking eyes.  Shock and awe emanated from her friends, approval flowed to her from Princess Luna, and, most surprisingly of all, the voice of the Hive was almost dead silent.
Finally, a Changeling to Cabbage’s right stirred and sat up as much as his bindings would allow.  “Prove it?” he said, “Fine.  I’ll answer your challenge, freak.”