//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19: Twilight Time 
// Story: Princess Celestia: The Changeling Queen 
// by vren55 
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	Research can be a terrible, terrible chore, and nopony knows that better than Twilight Sparkle.

Most students know that if the subject in question has plentiful amounts of material on it, then research becomes more of a task of choosing the right sources rather than a quest for information.  This can be pretty tedious, but at least there’s material to choose from.

Lazy students dream of choosing a subject that only has one or two reputable sources. That way, they only need to thoroughly read that one book to write their paper.  For these lackwits, it’s hard enough to even look for sources, much less choose one.

Unfortunately, there is also the rare case where the topic a student has chosen has literally no reputable sources and the few sources one does have are fairy tales.

Twilight was in this situation right now with her research into changelings. Since her brother’s wedding, Twilight had been tasked with trying to write a handbook on changelings.  It would be published after the peace treaty and would attempt to dispel most of the myths that surrounded the mysterious race.  However, good sources were so lacking that a children’s storybook offered more information than an academic text.  It all combined to make her efforts on changeling research extraordinarily taxing.

On this warm sunny day, Twilight was nearly at the end of her rope.  She’d been trying to figure out how, essentially, changelings change into ponies.  Twilight had a few guesses, but her own experience with changelings had been so limited that she couldn’t draw any conclusions.

“Twilight!  It’s a letter from the Princess!” called Spike from the kitchen area.

In an instant the librarian pulled her head out from the book she was buried in, her dour expression wiped away by a smile.

“Thanks Spike!” The unicorn eagerly levitated the letter from her assistant’s claws to her desk and unfurled it, before glancing at the dragon.  “Do you want to know what it says?”  Spike nodded enthusiastically, drawing a smile to Twilight’s lips as she opened the scroll.

Recently, Alternia and Twilight had started to correspond almost daily.  The habit had initially started with Twilight sending inquiries regarding her research on changelings and the princess replying with answers and updating Twilight on the situation at Camp Draco.  The exchange of regular letters was something Twilight and Alternia had promised to do since their understanding in the ruins of the Everfree Hive.  When they first started, their letters had stuck to a formal tone, but it wasn’t long before the letters had gained a more playful and friendly nature.

But once in a while, there came a letter that was of a deadly serious tone.  As Twilight began to read, her brow began to knit closer together and her grip on the paper tightened.

Dear Twilight,
I am sorry it has been a while since my last letter.  As of late, things have taken a turn for the worse.  I mentioned in my last letter two days ago that Queen Chrysalis was nearly assassinated by a group of dissident ponies.  By now, the news has spread throughout Equestria, and if your reports and those of my ministers correlate, we are seeing some increased sympathy for the changelings.

Twilight nodded.  She was no stranger to how the crown could influence news coverage across Equestria.  Her mentor tried to exert it as little as possible, but she knew that sometimes it was necessary.  After all, Twilight knew that it was due to Alternia’s application of influence that last year’s Grand Galloping Gala was passed off as a comedy moment rather than a possible socio-political scandal.

With sympathetic newspaper coverage of the assassination attempt, and the widespread condemnation of the “Dastardly and Cowardly Insurgents,” a lot of ponies were actually beginning to see the changelings as something other than fearful monsters and deceivers.  This was a very welcome change, since it led to a decrease in requests for Twilight to perform identity checks on Ponyville’s citizens, which allowed the unicorn to focus more time on researching the changelings themselves.

 The problem is that Chrysalis hasn’t reacted well to the assassination attempt at all, and it shows in the negotiations.  Nearly every day, she demands that Luna and I punish the would-be assassins in ways that would cause most ponies to faint.  She’s also ceased attending any of the social functions or even relaxation sessions that Cadance organizes, preferring to stay in her stateroom.  Not only that, but it appears young Lamia has been discouraged from talking to us and she’s been more reserved than usual.  This has all been making our interactions rather… tense of late.  

Twilight frowned.  This wasn’t good.  She read on, hoping that her mentor would be able to think of a clever solution to the problem soon.

I suppose I have to look on the bright side of things. I have managed to partially appease Chrysalis’s demands so her hostility is not focused solely on me.  She’s been prickly to everypony at the conference, even her own chevaliers, but especially with our guards.  We found that out due to a report from your brother’s guard patrols that described Chrysalis shooing them out of what is now becoming rapidly known as the ‘changeling compound.’  A quick interview with some of the other Royal Guards and General Hanna Belle’s newly arrived Equestrian Foreign Legion only confirms that Chrysalis is wary of social interaction between our two forces outside of base defense.  It is a shame because we had been seeing some chevaliers and guardsponies getting along prior to the assassination attempt.

Lamia apologized later and explained her mother was simply worried for her subjects. She’s certainly not happy about it, though, so I’ve told her not to do anything rash. I hope she will listen to me.

        Perhaps the pony, or should I say, changeling, affected by this the worst is Cyndra.  The poor dear has been inconsolable.  Given her rejection by her own mother, I am not surprised.  Attempts where she’s tried to approach other changelings have led to them awkwardly finding excuses to stay away from her.  I suspect Chrysalis’s involvement, though I have no proof, and neither do I have the right to criticize her orders.  So, I have stayed out of this affair for now, aware that I might have to play the role of mediator in the future.

        But on to a more cheerful topic.  You asked in your last letter whether changelings could change their magical affinity, and whether this allows them to take the form and traits of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns.

        A smile quickly formed on Twilight’s features.  Although Twilight was saddened that Alternia couldn’t solve the problem she had run into with Chrysalis, she was brightened by the fact her research question had an answer.

The truth is, changelings cannot change their magical affinity.  A changeling impersonating a pegasus will never fly as fast as the pegasus it is impersonating, and vice versa for unicorns and earth ponies.  This is because changelings are changelings. They have a malleable form, but it is bound to a default changeling form.  The ability to impersonate, to an extent, the various magical affinities of various pony races is a gift that changelings have, but they can’t change their own affinity.  It’s why the color of Chrysalis’s spells appeared as green.

You might wonder, how is that my magic is colored gold when it’s supposed to be green like a changeling queen’s?  The answer lies in the spells I have placed on my crown.  While a changeling cannot change his or her own affinity, with great effort, skilled infiltrators can disguise it, but they would rather not as it would decrease the effectiveness of their spell casting.  However, my crown is permanently enchanted to overlay an illusion so that my magic appears gold when it is in fact green. If you are further interested, you may find the notes to the actual enchantment attached to this scroll.  I think you will be rather interested in the practical applications as well as the spells that can be derived from the formulas.

I’m afraid that I must now return to my duties.  I eagerly await your reply.

Yours sincerely,
Princess Celestia

“Well that answers a question I’ve had for a while,” said Twilight.

“It doesn’t really help us with finding out more about changelings though… but what’s this?” asked Spike, pointing at the end of the letter.  Twilight blinked and read out the small postscript at the very bottom of the scroll.

P.S. If you are having difficulty with your research my faithful student, my suggestion to you is to try looking for changelings through different eyes.  Do not only restrict yourself to the eyes of ponies.

“And as always, she gives advice in a mysterious fashion.  Why do ch-”  Twilight shushed her assistant and fixed him with a glare.  Spike immediately got the hint and pressed his lips together.  “I mean… why does the princess always have to be cryptic?” amended the drake.

        “Well Spike, I think Celestia always has a good reason for whatever she does.  We should know that now more than ever,” said Twilight.

        “I know.  But it’s still frustrating,” whined Spike.

Twilight chuckled and rubbed her assistant’s head with her hoof in an endearing fashion.  “Actually, ‘Celestia’ has been far less cryptic than usual this time.  In fact, I think I’ve figured out what she means.”

Spike’s brow rose and furrowed.  “Really?”

“Yes. If you do a clause-by-clause analysis and compare the register of the riddle with others that the princess has given-”

“Twilight, can you uhh... simplify a bit?” asked Spike, cutting Twilight off before she embarked on a lecture that would drive an old university professor mad.

The unicorn’s cheeks reddened slightly before she cleared her throat.  “Basically she wants us to try to look for changelings not only through the perspective of ponies.  I think…. she is suggesting we research the lore and the works of other species.”  

“Ohhh.  So she’s saying we should see if other species might know more about changelings!” said Spike.

“Exactly Spike!  Now, let’s start by looking through the Gryphon Sonnets section…”





        A selection of Twilight Sparkle’s research notes on past changeling activities in Equestria and beyond…

        Changelings in Equestria:

        Very little is known about the changelings in Equestria prior to the events of the Royal Wedding, when their queen, Chrysalis, revealed herself.  Prior to that incident, there are very few academic sources detailing the existence of changelings.  It stands as a testament to their abilities that Starswirl the Bearded could only write a short, one-page treatise on a species referred to as, “shapeshifters.”  In it, he detailed the changelings’ ability to “slough off their skin and take a new one,” but apart from that, could not conclusively prove their existence or give any insight into their culture or society.  Hence, due to a simple lack of information, changelings were mostly regarded as a myth, an old mare’s tale.

Yet, when academic sources are abandoned and the “fairy tale” is examined, one begins to discern a clearer view of changelings.  The stories compiled by the Grim Stallions, and travellers’ journals written by amateur academics (once regarded as mad or delusional) hold a confusing, but nonetheless useful, wealth of various encounters with the “changelings” or “shapeshifters.”  Most of these encounters between equine and changeling have tended to begin with the changeling being discovered and his or her disguise being revealed, whether by the heroes of the story or by some coincidence.  In most stories, these changelings tend to be portrayed as deceivers; evil, shadowy figures that hoodwink entire towns, waylay innocents and are even occasionally depicted as cannibals.  They also detail some of the actual weaknesses of the changelings, such as their disguise’s susceptibility to fire, and the fact that they cannot completely duplicate pony magic forms (earth, unicorn and pegasus) to equal proficiency.   Unfortunately, these folktales are problematic and must be finely analyzed as the information they hold is often misleading.  One of the more dubious methods to counter changelings mentioned in these sources is to stay away from any source of water, to make a lot of loud noises by bashing pots and pans together, and to light up the area with torches. It is almost as if the writer was describing the counter to a completely different species.

Apart from myths, legends and filly’s stories though, the evidence and information on changelings available in Equestria is quite lacking.  This investigation requires a wider net to be cast.

        Changelings in Gryphonia:

        Notoriously aggressive, it initially seemed to this scholar that it was highly unlikely that the changelings would be able to infiltrate the Gryphon aeries.  This position seemed correct as Gryphonian sources dating back as far as five hundred years do not include a single mention of changelings.

However, there exists some evidence of changeling contact in the “Golden Age” of Gryphonian expansion and exploration, also known as the “Viking” age that took place shortly after the schism between Princess Celestia and Luna.  Isolated raiding parties or war flights could be more easily infiltrated by changelings, and when these infiltrators were discovered, the outcome was usually violent.  It also appears the aggressive and confrontational manner in which Gryphons expanded caused skirmishes and battles between Gryphonian war flights and the changeling hives in the way of their expansion.

Snippits and mentions of changelings often appear in Viking-era Gryphonian sonnets and sagas.   The most telling sources of Gryphon folklore come from selections from the Legends of Queen Warbeak and the Sagas of Blackwing the Terror.  Both of them detail the exploits of legendary figures in Gryphonian history and both works appear to describe a significant and violent encounter with changelings.

Blackwing, a notorious Gryphonian war flight leader and raider, had at one point in his later life led a massive army westward, seeking treasure and lands to conquer.  Toward the end of his campaign, his host came across a “fortress in the shadows.” Blackwing and his gryphon raiders threw themselves at the fortress, thinking it would be easy pickings, only to find the citadel defended by “black demons” who “rained from the sky like shooting stars.”  To make matters worse, the various warbands that Blackwing’s army was composed of suddenly turned into the “black demons” and “threw off their feathers with a burst of green flame.”  Chaos gripped the ranks of the gryphon host and Blackwing was forced to beat an ignominious retreat, after which he expanded no more and consolidated his power to become one of the longest living “Viking” rulers.  It is possible to conclude through comparing the description of the battle tactics employed by the “black demons” to those employed by the changelings at Canterlot that Blackwing had been fighting a changeling hive. Coincidentally, that hive’s actions indirectly saved Equestria from having to confront Blackwing as it halted his army’s advance.

Queen Warbeak lived after Blackwing’s time and was the last of the Gryphons’ “Viking” rulers, despite her common birth.  At one point during her adventures with her small, elite wing of fighters, she came across a local lord whose hall was being harassed at night by a shadowy “she-demon,” a “hellspawn of Tartarus” who never stuck to a single shape.  Warbeak responded by laying a trap for the intruder and when she appeared, she seized her right limb with her claws and hung on like a leech, while her hind claws tore at her opponent.  According to the legend, the two wrestled throughout the hall for hours, until Warbeak ripped the “monstrosity’s” limb off and smote her onto the hall’s floor.  It was then that the true form of her opponent was revealed:

The sharp-eyed clawmaiden stood over her fallen foe,
watching evil green flames flow.

Ere long she saw the true form of the beast, with
Her armor-piercing fangs, night-draped armor,
swamp-weed mane, and long jagged horn.

So did Warbeak look upon the devilspawn.

We cannot be sure what type of changeling Warbeak fought and killed, but it must have been one of considerable power to wreak such havoc on a Gryphon Mead Hall, which were normally situated on the highest and most inaccessible of mountains and defended by a host of guards. 

The problem with Gryphon legends and sagas is that while they do provide a very good picture of the “Viking” society’s attitude toward changelings, they aren’t entirely truthful or reliable.  We aren’t even sure if Warbeak existed as an actual historical figure (she mainly exists as a mythical figure, kind of like Green Hoof and his band of Merry Stallions) and the official Gryphonian chronicles at the time have never mentioned Blackwing ever having been defeated (though it would not be surprising if they decided not to mention it).  Still, the sagas certainly give insight into the conflict-filled relationship between the changelings and gryphons in the “Viking” era.

        Changelings in Zebrican Lore:

        In contrast to the fearful and cautious tone used to describe changelings in Equestrian accounts and the monstrous depictions of the changelings in Gryphonian legends, changelings are rather favorably depicted by Zebrican oral tradition.  Until recent times, Zebricans didn’t record their stories through writing, but carried it on through word of mouth, a form of cultural memory.  With the modern age allowing writing tools to become more accessible for zebras, some shamans have taken to writing down their lore and the tales of their land.  What is revealed is surprising.  There are several legends that involve Zebricans and changelings actually cooperating, particularly in the story known as Pundamilia and the Kivuli Usiku.

In the story, Pundamilia is a young Zebrican shamaness of a small village out foraging herbs and fungi for her herbal stores, when she is surrounded by what is referred to in Zebrican as Chenjis, which when translated to Equestrian, roughly means “changers.”  Further description of these “chenjis” describes them as having “blue eyes without pupils” and that their skin “was black as smoke.”  Clearly, these are changelings, which makes what happens next rather unusual.

The leader of this band of changelings was a changeling labelled “the Kivuli Usiku.”  A rough translation of this term from ancient Zebrican to Equestrian would be “Dark Knight.” Oddly enough, the story continues to refer to the “Dark Knight” as a she and she is furthermore described as “tall as a giraffe,” which means she is likely the changeling queen of the hive.  

Regardless of why the changeling queen was called that, Pundamilia was scared out of her hooves.  She was captured and taken to the changeling hive.  It was there she discovered many wounded Chenjis.  The Kivuli Usiku told Pundamilia that her hive had been in a great battle with a terrible foe that they had won, but it was a pyrrhic victory and the Chenjis had been forced to flee.  The Kivuli Usiku ordered Pundamilia to heal her kind or be killed.  Nervously, Pundamilia complied and for several sunsets and moonrises, she toiled to save the Chenjis.

Over that time though, Pundamilia was personally cared for by the changeling queen.  In fact, the Kivuli Usiku actually assisted Pundamilia in preparing potions and poultices.  Moreover, as the zebrican shamaness brewed her mixtures, the Kivuli Usiku kept her company and the two exchanged stories of their species.  The Kivuli appeared particularly interested in the ways of the zebrican shamans and Pundamilia was all too happy to share her stories with her.

When the Chenjis were cared for, the Kivuli Usiku returned Pundamilia to her tribal lands.  By that time, the pair had become friends.  Before they parted, the Kivuli Usiku gave Pundamilia a small gift in the form of a small ceremonial dagger said to have been made from the “armor” of Chenjis, which in the legend, is described as incredibly lightweight and very deadly.  Pundamilia accepted the gift and returned to her village, only to find it occupied by a group of raiders who had taken it in the young shamaness’s absence.  Captured yet again, Pundamilia thought all hope was lost.  At least, until the evening when the Kivuli Usiku appeared from the shadows in front of her (something that only a changeling could pull off).  The Kivuli Usiku freed Pundamilia and the rest of her Zebrican tribe before they all took up arms and, along with the Chenji, ambushed the raiders.

What followed next was the Kivuli Usiku and her hive actually staying with Pundamilia’s tribe for ten years.  The Zebrican tribe was filled with gratitude toward the Chenji and for a while the changelings actually lived alongside the Zebricans.  The story doesn’t mention how it was possible, but it is likely the changelings disguised themselves as zebras and that the original storyteller omitted the “how” to keep the changelings’ abilities a secret.  After those ten years though, the Kivuli Usiku and her hive of Chenji took their leave and disappeared into the night.  They were never seen again.

The story does prove though that changelings and other sentient beings could work together….





Twilight yawned, her eyes blinking in a hopeless attempt to block the sleep from them.  Blearily, she glanced at the clock and noted the lateness of the hour.

“And this is a good time to stop,” said Twilight as she dragged herself from her desk and to her bed.  She had brushed her teeth in advance just in case she had got too engrossed in her research.  All she had to do now was to quietly make her way past Spike’s basket bed and let herself fall into her waiting mattress.

A few moments later and Twilight checked all of those items off her mental list and pulled her blankets over herself.  The rest of her research could wait for tomorrow.