//------------------------------// // Twilight Sets // Story: The Queen's Revenge // by Listener //------------------------------// Dash flipped through her book, sighing as she turned another page that was just a wall of text. She groaned, her head flopping down on the book with a dull thud as she sighed. “How many books are going to tell me the same thing?” She asked herself, looking at the single book she had already gone through. It had told her nothing she hadn’t already known about the changelings. The feed on emotion. They follow the Queen. Love is their preferred emotion. Nothing new, nothing helpful. She sighed again, her eyes focusing on the pages once again, restarting the passage. ------- ‘Now, while some may find this theory doubtful in terms of following every single fact we have, or rather, don’t know and have filled in the gaps with it, I have no doubt in my mind. Whenever we look at the evolutionary traits and aspects of the changelings (Fallax Equinae), one must admit that they make no sense. Why, for instance, have holes in their legs? It serves no purpose other than to add to their mysterious and terrifying aura. And since we’ve only recently discovered them in the badlands, we can cross off the idea of them having evolved to scare us. We can also cross this theory off because they feed on love; scaring ponies will serve them no purpose. Another one: they have a mane-like fin which appears to be made of nothing more than spines and a thin membrane of skin-like material stretched between them, resembling a sail. I ask you another question: “Why?” Why do they have this trait to them? Is this to emulate ponies? Is this a base for their transformation? And on that interesting note, I fear I must point out two final things before making my point. On the subject of transformations, I must ask the repetitive question once: Why do they have such a strong innate magic? All of them: the Queen, the sentient leaders, what we believe to be drones, even the youngest offspring are capable of transforming from what we are able to  tell, even though we have have yet to observe one. And finally, the biggest conundrum: their dietary habits. They feed on emotion. They feed on love and happiness. Might they be able to feed on fear and hate as well? How, in everything that loves the sun, is this possible? Emotion is not even a real, tangible thing. Many have tried, and just as many have failed, to explain it beyond a simple wave of their hoof while saying “they just can”. There are too many variables, too many unknowns in this quest to explain this new species. And so, I have only one theory, only one explanation for the existence of changelings. They did not evolve from a random creature; they look too much like a pony for that to be a coincidence. They did not evolve from ponies; that would be too much of an evolutionary jump. Changelings had to have been made through magical means.’ ------- Dash’s eyes went wide at the last sentence, hoof quickly closing the book for a moment to check the title. It was What we know of Changelings by one Talented Tome. It was dated... nearly three hundred years before the start of the Celestial calendar! “The... Discord Era?” Dash muttered to herself, wondering if that was relevant when suddenly someone cleared their throat. Snapping her head up from the book, she came muzzle-to-muzzle with a librarian that didn’t seem all too pleased by the pile of books on the table. “Miss Dash, I must ask why you have a pile of books at a table in the library.” He said, backing up a bit. Dash looked at the manila stallion for a moment, a confused expression on her face. “Uhhh, reading?” she stated obviously. The librarian sighed. “I can see that. Allow me to rephrase. How did you get you in the library now? We’re closed for the day.” Dash nodded. “I know...  But it was an emergency!” she defended. The librarian squinted at her through his glasses, before sighing. “I’m waiting to hear your amazing reason.” He said. “Well...” Dash said, her brain stalling for a moment before she decided to just tell the truth to the stallion. “Twilight came back.” She said softly. “And we need to find out as much as we can about the changelings as soon as possible.” The words were spoken so softly the librarian almost missed them. At hearing Twilight’s name though, the stallion’s face softened. “Ah... I should’ve known Twilight was behind this.” He said as he smiled softly, not understanding the situation behind it, but not pushing. “I’m Dewey Decimal. I’ve been working here from the time Twilight was old enough to come to the library by herself, always up in the corner in a book fort, reading from the time I unlocked the doors until I had to push her out.” He smiled, reminiscing. Dash forced a smile at him. “Well, Dewey, I’m sorry, but I’m going to need to be in the library until I go through these books,” she said, gesturing to the pile she had yet to read. It was disappointingly small, only about five books. Dewey shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Anything for one of Twilight’s projects.” He said, smiling. “I’ll be up front getting some work done since I’m here. Come find me if you need anything.” He said, turning around. Dash nodded. “Thanks, Dewey. I’ll hurry up. And, a friend of mine should be stopping by soon to help me, is that okay?” She asked, unusually polite for the brash mare. “Of course. I’ll let her in when I see her.” And with that, he was gone. Dash’s smile quickly faded as she looked down at the book again. “Changelings were made, huh?” She muttered, writing something down on a spare piece of parchment. “I know that... But how do you unmake a changeling?” she asked herself, sighing as she turned the page again. ------- Rarity entered the door to the medward slowly, her magic closing the door behind her as she moved across the small room to stand next to Twilight’s bed, before sighing softly. “Oh Twilight... what are we going to do with you?” She asked in a low tone, looking at her friend’s new form. “Look at you...” She said, before forcing a smile and taking another look. “Not to say that this isn’t anything somepony couldn’t pull off, Twilight. I mean... Your coat is such a dark shade of purple. I know a perfect color that would go with that. Maybe after you’re out of this...” She stopped, looking around as she wasn’t quite sure what to call where they were. “... rather drab hospital, we can go and I can make an absolutely stunning dress for you! Maybe a flowing yet form-fitting dress?” She lost herself for a moment, thinking about different color combinations, someway to make her friend simply stunning! “Maybe periwinkle grey, with some titan white to accent it?” She muttered to herself, before catching what she was doing and blushing a bit. “Sorry, dear... But, on other news, Sweetie Belle is another year older! Pinkie threw her the best birthday party ever, according to the girls.” She said, trying to lighten the mood in her one sided conversation before sighing. “Who am I kidding.” She said sadly. “Twilight, we need you. Things aren’t the same as they were. We’re all friends, but you were our... glue, as it were.” She went quiet for a minute, simply staying there by her friend, the only sounds being the equipment in the room, before speaking up again, determination in her voice. “Twilight, I heard that you’ve given up. I know that that can’t possibly be true. “The Twilight I know would never give up. We faced Nightmare Moon when she was still a legend. We faced Discord, and won. We’ll get through this. We always get through these. I will go to the afterlife and pull you back with my my teeth if I have to, okay?” She said, her eyes determined, before they softened. “Just please... hang on Twilight.” She said, slowly turning around and exiting. ----------------- Fluttershy walked in softly, barely making any noise as she approached Twilight and sat down next to the bed, simply staring at her friend for a minute, taking in the changes. Even though she had been warned, it was completely different to see it for herself. Her breath hitched slightly as she looked, laying her head down on the bed, her own hoof finding Twilight’s still one as she started to cry. She cried for a bit, no longer able to hold back her emotions that she had kept bottled up. “Twilight, you gotta make it through, y-you gotta come home.” She said in between the slowing sobs. “E-Everyone’s started to drift apart, n-nothing is the same...” She said, looking up and looking at Twilight directly. “I-I’m trying, but I can’t do this on my own...” She said, putting her head back down, her crying slowing until there were no more tears. ------------------- Dash looked up from the third book as a familiar alabaster mare entered her little study room. “Rarity! Thank Celestia you’re here!” She said. “These books are soo boring!” She said, her head hitting the table again as she sighed deeply. Rarity smiled a bit. “Rainbow, I believe this is the most you’ve read in a long time.” She teased. “Now, what have you found out?” She asked, moving around the table to stand by Dash, looking down at the list she had written out. “I’ll be honest, I’ve learned almost nothing that we didn’t already know. Emotions, disguises, badlands...” She said, summarizing her hour and a half of research in three words. “Only useful information I found was in an old book from the Discordian era by...” She checked her list quickly. “Talented Tome.” She said, sighing. Rarity took the book in question and flipped it open, skimming the first few pages. “What was different about his that wasn’t in the other books? Maybe we can condense what we need from what it tells us.” She proposed. Dash shook her head. “No... That book was written whenever the changelings were first discovered. There’s nothing for sure about it. All he proposed was changelings didn’t evolve from anything, but that they were made. And get the kicker:” She said as Rarity stopped flipping through the book to look up at her. “He said that Discord made the changelings.” ---------------- Pinkie walked in without any major confetti going off, surprisingly. She walked over to the bed with a spring in her step, but to anyone who knows her, it was obvious she was holding back a little, even with a sad smile playing on her lips. “Hi Twilight! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, and, well...” she said, thinking for a split second. “You missed a lot of parties, I’ll be honest,” she admitted, grabbing Twilight’s hoof and holding it for a while. “Applejack said I’m not allowed to throw you any parties while you’re here, so you have to get better so I can throw you a ‘Welcome Back’ party! And maybe even a huge fantabulous party to make up for all the ones you missed!” She said, yelling in an excited voice. She smiled softly, squeezing the hoof she held. “You gotta get up, Twilight. I keep throwing parties, but it’s not the same without all of my friends there.” She said, before dropping it softly back to the bed, starting to walk away. She stopped in the doorway, looking back. “I’ll be waiting for the chance to throw you a welcome home party, Twilight.” ---------- Rarity looked at Dash for a few long moments. “What?” she finally managed to force out. “Discord made changelings?” she asked, looking at Dash, who shrugged. “That’s what the guy thought,” she said flippantly, as she put the third book in the finished pile and grabbed the fourth one. “But that was over a thousand years ago, who knows what they’ve figured out since then.” “Are there no other books by the same author?” Rarity asked, finding and reading the passage for herself. Dash shook her head. “No. I asked the librarian, but he said that they were ‘Lost to the times,’ whatever that means. Besides, there’s nothing else in the book besides what we know, and even then, thinking that Discord made them isn’t going to help anything. We know that changelings can be made. Twilight is...” she started, before trailing off and starting again. “We gotta figure out how to save one,” she finished. ---------------------- Applejack pushed the door open, taking off her hat and placing it on the bedpost as she walked up to Twilight’s side. “Howdy Twi. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” she said softly, looking down at her friend, smiling sadly. “Things’ve been different since you’ve been gone, Twi. I catch Pinkie walking, or looking sad whenever she thinks nopony’s watching. Rarity’s thrown herself into her work. Fluttershy tries hard to keep everyone together, but... we’ve grown apart, I’ll be honest. But with you back, everything’s starting to look up.” She said. She sighed. “Things’ll get better. We just gotta give ‘em time, y’know? Things heal.” She said, looking and giving Twilight’s hoof a slight reassuring squeeze. “But we need you, Twi. In order for us to heal...” she looked down, closing her eyes for a bit before turning around and leaving, with only a solitary look behind her. ------------------------- A few minutes later, the ECG monitor went disturbingly loud for a few moments, registering a rapid increase of Twilight’s heart rate with her body jumping a bit before it settled. And then, a long, drawn out whine filling the air. The only other sound to be heard was the sudden sound of hooves on the ground and the door banging open as Doctor Haywick ran in, taking in the scene quickly.   “Nurse! Get me one milligram of epinephrine now!”