Chapter 8
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Twilight shifted as she left the realm of sleep and entered the waking world again. She sat up in bed, yawning and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
She looked around as her eyes adjusted. She was in her room, in her tree house. The sun was gently splaying through the window and the sounds and smells of breakfast being made downstairs told her Spike was up.
She gave a small smile. It was only a dream. Twilight was glad that had only been a dream, though talk about a wild one. Still, she couldn’t help feeling a little sad at the fact it had only been a dream. She made a mental note to send a letter to Cadance and meet up with her and talk about what had happened since they’d last seen each other.
Twilight walked into the bathroom and went through her usual morning routine; brushing her teeth, combing her mane and tail and brushing her fur. All clean, she decided it was time for something to eat.
As she descended the stairs, Twilight thought she heard Spike talking to somepony. Had one of her friends come to visit her? Considering the hour, it was most likely Pinkie Pie. That mare still baffled Twilight to no end at times...
Twilight past a clock and stopped, her eyes widening at the time. It was 10:32am! She’d slept in!
Frowning, Twilight walked into the kitchen saying, “Spike! Why didn’t... you... wake me...?”
The words died in her mouth as her eyes took in the scene. Spike was sitting at the table, eating pancakes with sapphires cooked into them.
However, the fact that he was sitting at the table wasn’t what drew her attention. It was the pink Alicorn using her magic to flip a fresh non-sapphire pancake, before setting the pan down on the stove to cook.
Twilight gawked, her mouth wide open as realization hit her. It wasn’t a dream. Everything that happened during the wedding really did happen. She really did find Cadance in the crystal caverns beneath Canterlot. Cadance really did save her from being impaled by a falling crystal stalactite. And Twilight really had used a forbidden spell that had switch Cadance and Shining’s Soulbonds to herself and a Changeling.
Cadance turned around and smiled when she saw the gaping unicorn mare. “Good morning, Twilight. I thought I’d make breakfast this morning. Pancakes, just like I’d make you back when you were a filly. Twilight? Twilight!”
Twilight’s world faded as it turned on its side and she dropped to the floor.
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When Twilight came to, she was laying on one of the couches in the library’s main room, Cadance and Spike watching her anxiously.
Twilight lifted herself up a bit, but kept her head down and whispered in a hoarse voice, “It wasn’t a dream, was it?” She didn’t know why she asked; maybe to prolong the illusion that it was a dream and maybe Cadance had just come to visit and arrived last night.
Cadance gave a small chuckle. “No. It wasn’t. I have the scars under my wings from when the Changeling attacked me to prove it.”
Twilight kept her head down, not wanting to meet the Alicorn’s gaze.
Suddenly the door the library burst open with an explosion, sending the couch flying, knocking the three onto the floor.
Twilight used her magic to lift the couch off of herself to see Cadance and Spike starting to stand, recovering from the sudden occurrence, when a voice growled, “Mi Amore Cadenza!”
They all turned, their eyes widening. A Changeling was standing in the now open doorway, its head bent, it’s pure-green eyes aimed at Cadance as it slowly made its way towards the still shell-shocked Alicorn. But it wasn’t like the Changelings now in the hive Celestia was looking after until their former Queen, now a princess, came back. This Changeling looked like those Changelings used to look; hole-pocked hooves and wings, a jagged horn and eyes with no pupils, only green.
“Queen Chitan wants your love and you will give it!” the Changeling said. It had not been a threat, Twilight could tell from the way it had spoken. It had said it as if it was cold hard fact.
However, before the Changeling could reach Cadance, there was a cream-coloured blur, before the Changeling was slammed against a wall away from the princess.
Standing where the Changeling had been, panting, was a pony Twilight recognised. Bon Bon. Only, she wasn’t a pony anymore. She looked like the Changeling’s had after joining Chrysalis in prison. However, she also looked different from them too.
While Bon Bon now possessed the eyes, wings and horn of Chrysalis’ new Changelings, her carapace was the same colour as her pony coat had been, as were her mane and tail. On top of that, she still had her Cutie Mark on her flank.
Before Twilight could ask what was going on, Bon Bon shot forward, her horn glowing with a cyan magic that encompassed the other Changeling. When the light faded, the Changeling had passed out and was tied up by rope made of magic itself.
Twilight slowly got up as Bon Bon nodded, then turned to look at the three of them. “Sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” she said in her usual voice.. “Our Qu—princess only just returned to Canterlot a few hours ago. She assigned those of us living in Ponyville to return at once and take on the extra duty of protecting you from any of Chitan’s Changelings.”
“Uh... right,” Twilight said slowly, glancing at the other two, who gave her similar looks. Turning back, Twilight asked the obvious. “So, Bon Bon...” she scuffed the floor, “you’re a Changeling?”
The cream-coloured Changeling gave a sad smile and nodded, lowly her head a bit. “Yeah. I’m one of the love collectors that was sent here to, well, collect love for our hive. Despite her invading Canterlot, I think Ponyville has the most love in Equestria, to be honest.”
“Love collectors?” Spike asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“Changelings feed on love and other emotions,” Bon Bon nodded. “Our princess sent many of us across Equestria when we were young, telling us to take on pony forms and blend in. Most of us chose to go into orphanages and get adopted. We’d send the love we gathered back to the hive via the hivemind.”
“You can do that?” Twilight asked, her intuitive nature making intrigued by the idea of learning just how the Changelings managed their tasks so far from the hive.
Bon Bon nodded. “We kept ourselves hidden and fed and sent what we didn’t need for our own nourishment to the hive to keep it alive.”
Spike frowned, folding his arms. “Wait a minute. If you’re one of the Changelings from Chrysalis’ old hive that stayed with her, how come you look more like a Changeling version of your pony form?”
Twilight and Cadance nodded.
“That does puzzle me, Bon Bon,” Twilight said, walking over and circling the Changeling, her eyebrow raised in confusion. “I heard the Changelings in Chrysalis’ new hive chose a new permanent form, but why’d you made yours look so much like your pony disguise?”
“Oh, well...” the pseudo earth mare fiddled with her hooves. “You see, when a love collector chooses a disguise, they have to live it in for a long time, without changing back for any reason. After so long, our disguise ends up permanently marking our bodies. This has been my normal appearance since I was a nymph. Filly,” she added at the confused look on Spike’s face, then grinned. “Well, you know what I mean.”
Twilight nodded, grinning eagerly. This was new information about a species she’d known nothing about until a few weeks ago. Despite the circumstances of how she’d learned of them, she knew barely anything about the Changelings race and her intuitive mind was hungry for details.
The sound of hooves clopping caused all four of them to turn to see several pegasi Royal Guard mares walking in.
Bon Bon looked at them for several moments, before they nodded, moved over to the unconscious Changeling and then left, flying away with the Changeling held between two of them.
All eyes were on Bon Bon, the same question in each pair.
Bon Bon sighed and shrugged. “They were some of Crystil's Changelings. I contacted them the moment I saw the smoke from your house.”
Cadance frowned. "Crystil?"
Bon Bon nodded. "Well, Chitan thinks Princess Chrysalis is dead, so, to keep her non-death a secret, Princess Celestia had Princess Chrysalis' name changed to Crystil and we'll be going under the guise of a smaller hive that separated from Chitan's hive before she became Queen. Which, when you think about it, is the truth."
Twilight slowly nodded. “Just how many ponies do I know here in Ponyville that happen to be Changelings?”
Bon Bon paused, her eyes looking up at something Twilight couldn’t see. “About fifteen right now, counting myself and Rose. Some of us are still in Canterlot. They didn't want to leave the princess once we learned she hadn't really died.”
Twilight was rather surprised. Fifteen Changelings had been leaving around her, within Ponyville, for all this time, and nopony had ever noticed? And Rose was one of them too?
Bon Bon nodded, seeming to know what Twilight was thinking, before she was engulfed in a green flame. Once it was gone, she looked like her pony self again.
“We’ve been friends for a long time, Twilight," she said warmly. "I hope you won’t let the past few weeks change the way you feel towards all of us.”
Twilight hesitated for a moment, then closed her eyes and nodded. “We’re still friends. You and the Changelings here weren’t involved in the invasion, were you?”
Bon Bon shook her head. “We had strict orders not to go to Canterlot until things were settled... not that it stopped Derpy.”
“Wait. Derpy’s a Changeling?” Spike asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“And having to deal with Lyra having been a bride’s maid,” Bon Bon facehoofed. “I’m just lucky she’s so nonchalant about it with me. But, seriously, my leader brainwashes her and she’s okay with it?”
Spike was about to speak, but Cadance put a hoof to his mouth, shaking her head. This was a matter between two lovers, not them. To speak up about it would be rude, to say the least.
“Sorry,” Bon Bon said, shaking her head and giving a sheepish smile to the three of them. “Didn’t mean to rant. It’s just sometimes... UGH. I swear, that unicorn will drive me insane one day.”
Twilight chuckled and nodded. “Well, thank you for saving us, Bon Bon.”
The pseudo-Earth mare shook her head. “Not at all, Twilight. Aside from the fact that I was following orders, you’re a good friend. Well, see you later. Knowing Lyra, she’s wondering just what’s taking me so long to get home.”
With that she left through the open doorway, leaving the three of them to think about the last few minutes.
After a while, Cadance broke the silence. “Well, looks like we’ll be shopping for a new door.”
There was a pause, before they all laughed. Once they’d calmed down, they returned to their breakfast and ate.
Later that day, they got a new door, while meeting with several of the ponies who were really Changelings; some really surprising Twilight. Cheerilee was a Changeling, as were Lily, Daisy, Caramel, Aloe and Lotus Blossom, Candy Mane, Nurse Sweetheart and Nurse Tenderheart, Seaswirl, Merry May, Flitter and Cloudchaser were just some of ponies they met that day who turned out to be Changelings.
Twilight was baffled by just how many of her long-time friends had been Changelings all this time without her even noticing it, though each joked that that was a good thing; it showed they’d been doing their job well.
After they’d gotten the new door and put it into place, Pinkie threw Cadance a welcome to Ponyville party.
Whilst Cadance met other ponies, Twilight stayed off to the side, just watching. As she saw several stallions and even a few of the mares fawning over Cadance, Twilight felt the same feeling she had back when she’d thought she’d be watching Cadance and Shining marry each other, before both of them said they didn’t feel the same out each other anymore: jealousy.
No! she shouted at her mind. I’m not jealous! I have no reason to be jealous! Cadance and I are not in love!
“Miss Twilight?”
The unicorn jumped, not having noticed the pony standing next to her, no doubt wondering why she was holding her head in her hooves as she was.
Dinky Doo looked up at Twilight, confusion and concern mixed on her face.
Twilight gave a fake, yet she hoped convincing, smile to the filly unicorn. “Oh. Don’t worry, Dinky. It’s nothing. Say,” she asked, remembering what Bon Bon had said about Derpy being a Changeling, “how do you feel, having a Changeling for a mother, I mean?”
Dinky cocked her head to the side. “Should I feel any diffewent?”
Twilight blinked, confused, but she mentally facehoofed. Dinky had probably been raised by Derpy since foalhood, so she wouldn’t know any different between a Changeling mother to a pony mother.
Though, that brought up an interesting topic. Did the love collector Changelings adopt just for the love they received from their adopted children, or did that foster something more?
Looking at Dinky and Derpy alone, the latter seemed very likely. Despite being raised by a Changeling, Dinky was as happy as any filly or colt raised by a regular pony.
Actually, that brought another thought to mind. How had Dinky come into Derpy’s care? Twilight hadn’t been in Ponyville as long as Derpy, but, from what she knew from talks with the mailmare in the past, she’d never mentioned an orphanage, Dinky’s father, or anything.
“Hello, Twilight.”
Twilight was once again startled out of her thoughts, this time by Dinky’s mother herself.
Derpy smiled down at the filly. “Muffin, why don’t you go and play with the other foals?”
Dinky nuzzled her mother, then hurried off to join the other fillies and colts in the party games.
Derpy sat down next to Twilight, calm concern in his mismatched eyes. “You okay?”
Twilight gave a slightly dark chuckle. “Okay? I ruin five Soulbonds, destroyed a relationship between my brother and my former foal-sitter, make a bond with said sitterm while also bonding my brother to the being who tried to enslave my kind and you ask if I’m okay?” Twilight slumped, her eyes falling to the floor. “No, Derpy. I’m not. What am I supposed to do? Cadance is my soul mate now, but I d... d...”
She tried to say “don’t love her”, but the words wouldn’t leave her lips, no matter how hard she tried.
Derpy gave a small, knowing smile.
“What?” Twilight asked, cocking an eyebrow at the smile.
“We Changelings can sense emotions, Twilight.”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat and she looked away. “Wh-what’s that got to do with it?”
Derpy giggled, giving a sideways glance away from her. “Oh, nothing.”
“So, how exactly did Dinky become your daughter, Derpy?” Twilight asked, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible.
Derpy giggled again. “Isn’t that obvious? She’s a Changeling too.”
Despite everything, Twilight’s jaw dropped as she stared at the Pegasus, who only giggled at the expression.
“Just kidding, Twilight,” she managed after a while. Her eyes glazed over and her smile became sad then. “Actually, I found her on one of my deliveries.”
Twilight’s expression changed after sensing the mood shift from Derpy. “What... what do you mean?”
Derpy sighed. “I was delivering a package. When I got to the address, the place was closed, with a sign on the door saying the owner had gone on vacation. I decided to leave the package behind the store, where packages go when it’s closed.”
Her eyes misted.
“But, after I’d left the package and turned to leave, I heard something like a small voice. At first, I couldn’t make it out, but it sounded like they were saying “mama”. I pinpointed the sound coming from the nearby dumpster I had just past, so I went back, opened it, and do you know what I found?”
Twilight shook her head slightly, though she was sure she knew.
A tear slid down Derpy’s muzzle. “A little unicorn foal, no more than a for months old at best. She had a little blood dripping from her nose and a blackened and slightly swelled eye.”
Twilight nothing, but knew Derpy would’ve sense the emotional change.
The Pegasus nodded. “But, worst thing was, her ribs were clearly visible against her skin. She couldn’t have eaten in days, at the least. So, I took her home, cleaned her up and fed her and... well...”
She gave a sheepish smile, while Twilight nodded, her smile a knowing one.
“You adopted her.”
Derpy nodded, wiping at the tears dripping down her face. “I loved her from the first moment I held her. I didn’t ever want to let her go. Even after I learned Dinky was really Carrot Top's daughter, who'd gone missing months prior, I still couldn't.” More tears slid down her face. "I was so happy that Carrot Top said that, because I cared so much for Dinky, I was welcome be be part of their herd."
Twilight’s smile warmed. To know that a Changeling had raised a filly and both loved each other so much was a ease to her mind that she hadn’t realized she needed.
“Oh, jeez,” Derpy chuckled, rubbing her eyes more forcefully. “Look at me blubbering when this party’s meant to welcome Cadance.”
Twilight chuckled along with her, then looked to where Cadance was. She was playing a game of Pin The Tail on the Pony, the fillies and colts cheering her on, even though she was aiming for the pony’s hooves, not flank.
As she watched Cadance laugh with the children and older ponies at her failed attempt with the tail, her thoughts returned to the Soulbond she now shared with the Alicorn.
How could they possibly be soul mates? It just didn’t feel right to her, knowing Cadance’s original soul mate was Shining Armour, and yet... yet she also felt it was right.
She mentally shook these thoughts away, getting up and heading for the punch bowl.
She and Cadance were not in love. It wouldn’t happen. They’d been foal and foal-sitter. If anything, Cadance was like a big sister to her. They could never be that way with each other... could they?