It was morning in Equestria, and everything was just fine. Or so it was for Twilight Sparkle, as she stretched out on a divan on the grand balcony of her castle. Ah, the sun is warm, the couch is soft, and I have all morning for reading, she thought, with a grin. I do love my friends, but sometimes a pony just needs to be alone for a bit and get deeply intimate with a copy of Homare's Histories. Twilight giggled at this idea even as she levitated said book from a nearby stack sitting on the clean, crystal floor. Spike's away helping Rarity again and the girls are all busy until our lunch date, so there's nothing that will keep me from reading a landmark history book.
A wordless thought washed over her mind at that, and then rolled down her spine. It chilled the alacorn and made her shiver a bit, and immediately afterward she propped herself up on the couch with a foreleg to glance around. She sat there for a few, tense moments, and then sighed in relief. Whew, for a moment there I thought I'd tempted fate, Twilight mused, as she once again lied down on her side. Ah well, to reading! she mentally added, and then rolled onto her back, levitated the book above he head with her magic, and then opened it and began to read.
Fate, of course, has a twisted sense of humor. Thus it was nearly an hour later when Twilight was roused from her reading by an odd sound in the distance. Her ears twitched as the noise grew louder, and she frowned as she set her book back on the pile. What is that? she wondered, as she rolled on the divan until she could climb off of it. The noise had only increased in volume as she stood, and Twilight found she recognized it; That sounds like somepony screaming! But who? Is there—
She didn't get to finish that thought as the screaming continued to grow in volume, and Sparkle's equine ears finally pinpointed its direction. She thus snapped her head up in time to see an object fly through the air and come down right at her balcony, faster than she could react. A split second later the object rammed into the floor of the balcony, but only after it passed through the outdoor dining set Rarity had gifted Twilight after the castle decorating fiasco. The table shattered into a thousand tiny pieces and the force of the impact sent the chairs flying off to the sides, where they slammed into either the balcony's trailing wall or the castle itself and broke into kindling. By then Twilight had finally managed to move herself into action, and she cast a shield spell around her just in time to avoid having the wooden shrapnel from the event tear at her flesh.
A cloud of dust—mostly from pulverized furniture—filled the air, and Twilight could not see what had hit, but from the earlier screaming that had stopped with the impact, she could only surmise it was a living being of some sort. Oh my gosh, is it all right? she wondered, as she dropped the shield spell, and then spread her wings and flapped. Weather control lessons from Rainbow were pretty useful after all, she mused, as her pegasus magic worked the air and sent a breeze to clear out the dust cloud. A shape was soon made out on the balcony floor, and after a moment the cloud was gone and Twilight froze in place, her wings spread out and wide. “Changeling!” she shouted, automatically.
“Huh, what?” the black, chitin-covered being uttered, as it snapped its head up and opened its eyes. Twilight only caught a glimpse of blue before it shut the eyes again, and then hung its head and quickly shifted to sit on its haunches. “Oh geeze, my head,” it—he, Twilight though, as the voice sounded masculine to her, even through the sibilant undertone—muttered, as he held up his forelegs and cradled the sides of his head. “How hard did she throw me?”
Twilight blinked at that question, unexpected as it was. “Uh, who threw you?” she found herself asking. What's going on here?
“Huh?” the changeling asked, without changing his position. “Someone there? Oh, right, of course, I can feel you,” he said, and then sighed. “Sorry, I think I have a concussion or something and...” The shapeshifter let his voice drift off for a moment, which only added to Twilight's confusion. “Wait a tic, if I can feel you, then—” he cut off his speech, dropped his forelegs down to the floor, and then opened his eyes and frantically looked around his surroundings until his eyes met Twilight's, and he froze. Several long moments of silence—confused on Twilight's end, panicked on the changeling's—passed, but finally the intruder managed to find his voice. “Oh... you're... You're Twilight Sparkle, aren't you?” he asked.
“Uh,” Twilight began, unsure of how to handle the odd situation. The sudden arrival of a screaming, flying changeling on a ballistic arc, its own apparent confusion about the events, and now the sudden look of fear upon its face all worked to befuddle her. “Yes, I am?” she half replied, half asked.
“Ohhhhh, crap,” the changeling said, and then clenched his jaws and sucked in a breath between his teeth. “I'm going to die now, aren't I?”
“What!” Twilight exclaimed, as she flinched back from the equinsectoid. “What on Equis makes you think that?”
“Um, the whole invasion thing?” the changeling asked, even as his wings—short stubs compared to the ones she'd seen on other changelings—nervously fluttered. “I mean, the queen did kind of abduct your brother's fiance and almost marry him in her place. That doesn't make you angry?”
Twilight could only frown at that. “Well, yes,” she carefully began. “But while I am indeed very upset over that, I'm not going to kill a changeling on sight.”
“Oh,” he said. “So... you'll close your eyes, first?”
“What? No!” Twilight replied, shocked. Who does this bug think I am? Sombra?
“Nuts,” the changeling muttered, and then turned his head to glance off to the side. “I was hoping to run when you did that.”
The princess could only groan in frustration, and then face-hoofed. “I am not going to kill you, period. Alright?” she asked, and then looked back to the intruder as she lowered her leg.
The changeling blinked his iris-less blue eyes, and then turned his had back towards the alacorn. “Really?” he asked, hopefully. When Twilight nodded, he sighed in relief. “Oh, wow, that's... that's awesome news,” he said, as he gazed off to the side and a goofy grin spread along his muzzle. Then he blinked as the grin fell away, and he looked back to the princess. “Uhm, while I'm happy you're not going to kill me, just how long am I going to be in prison?”
“Prison?” Twilight echoed. “For what?”
“Being a changeling,” the male said, with a tilt of his head. “Oh, and I guess the whole landing on your balcony and kind of intruding thing,” he added, and then looked around. “...and I think I broke something of yours.”
“Some furniture, yes,” Twilight replied, even as she raised an eyebrow back at the shapeshifter. This is the oddest non-Pinkie Pie conversation I've ever had, she mused. “As for the rest, it's not exactly against the law to be a changeling. And while you are kind of intruding, it doesn't seem like you did it with malice, or even on purpose. Although,” she added, and then looked around the balcony a bit. “Part of me wonders if this isn't a distraction...” she mused aloud, even as the idea entered her head and made her wary. She also began to glance around, just in case another changeling tried to take advantage of her inattention.
“Huh,” the changeling in front of her muttered. “I guess I could be a distraction,” he admitted, with a frown, and then began to look around himself. “That would make sense why she didn't kill me outright. And threw me in this direction.” He paused as if to think and tapped his chin with a hoof. “Although it didn't look like she was deliberately aiming anywhere specific, and most of the soldiers were sitting around and making rude gestures at me when she wasn't looking; doesn't strike me as pre-attack behavior.”
Twilight could only grimace as the changeling's words registered on her mind. “Stop,” she said, with a raised hoof towards the shapeshifter. “Just... please stop,” she added. The male she spoke to fell silent, dropped his hoof back to the floor, and then just gave her a quiet, curious look. Okay, I can do this: I can make sense of this, Twilight told herself, and then took in a deep, calming breath. “I think you need to explain some things to me,” she began. “Namely, who are you, why are you here, and who else are you talking about?”
“Oh!” the changeling replied, and then smiled friendlily. “I'm Bakran, how are ya doing?” he asked, and then proffered a hoof. Twilight, however, just kind of glanced at the hoof, and then stared at the changeling with a raised eyebrow. The male, Bakran, lowered his foreleg after a moment and let his smile turn into a sheepish grin. “Heh, right, still kinda upset at changelings. And me. I get that,” he said, and then briefly sighed. “Okay, uh, I'm here because I got thrown out of the hive by queen Chrysalis.”
“Thrown out?” Twilight asked, with a hard blink of her eyes as she put several factoids together. “Wait, she literally threw you?”
“Yeah,” Bakran replied, as he reached up with a hoof to rub the back of his neck. “I kinda made her mad.”
“Really?” Twilight asked, befuddled. When the changeling nodded his head, she felt her face twice into a confused frown. “What did you do?”
“Aheh,” Bakran said, as the sheepish grin returned. “I, uh, may have gotten drunk last night. And I may have saw her making one of her 'look at how important I am and you're not' tours of the hive. And I may have decided to tell her that she's a stupid bitch who screwed over our economy and made up ripe for counter-attack with her idiotic invasion idea.”
A long, heavy silence fell over the pair at that, and Twilight felt her jaw drop until her mouth was large enough to fit a Sugarcube Corner cupcake in whole. Bakran just pensively sat still as his face turned a tinge of red. I guess their blood is red, too, Twilight irrelevantly mused, before she finally shut her mouth and shook her head. “That...” she began, but it was a false start as words temporarily failed her. She frowned for a moment, and then tried again. “That is possibly one of the strangest, dumbest things I have ever heard,” she stated.
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Bakran replied, with a sigh. “Anyway, so yeah... the soldiers kind of beat me up a bit, clipped my wings, and then threw me in the dungeon. Then this morning I get dragged before her royal butt on top of the highest tower and get told that she's going to be 'generous' and just exile me,” he continued, and then winced. “Then she wrapped her magic around me, forced my body in a generally aerodynamic position, and then launched me. After a while I kind of landed here and... well, you know the rest,” he added, and then waved a hoof in Twilight's direction.
“I... see,” Twilight said, and then fell into a thoughtful silence. Bakran apparently sensed her need to contemplate, and so just quietly sat still and looked around the balcony, for which Twilight was grateful. This is one of the dumbest stories I've ever heard... which means this is either an elaborate and painfully stupid ruse, or my life has taken a turn for the weird. Even as she thought this, Twilight felt her wings ruffle, and she mentally sighed. Okay, fine, I don't get to complain about weird anymore after becoming an alacorn princess, but still... what the heck do I do now?
The silence was interrupted then, as a growling came from Bakran's belly. “Heh, sorry,” he said, with a chagrined look on his face. “They didn't feed me all last night or this morning, so I'm really hungry.”
Twilight frowned again, and a sense of unease crept up her spine. “Uh, okay... but I'm not sure if I know how to feed you. I mean, I'm not about to let you take somepony's shape and imponyate them or anything.”
“Huh?” Bakran asked, confused. Then he face lit up in understanding and he smiled a bit. “Oh, no no, that's okay, I'm good on emotions. Just a sandwich or something would really hit the spot.”
Another wave of confusion washed over Twilight, and she felt one of her ears start to twitch. “Wait, so you eat physical food, as well?” she asked, curiously.
“Well, yeah,” Bakran replied, surprise coloring his tone. “I mean, you don't think this body can be fed on emotional energy, do you?” he asked, as he waved a foreleg over himself.
“Uhm, well,” Twilight began, and then sheepishly rubbed a fetlock over the other foreleg. “Maybe? We don't actually know a lot about changelings, only that you need to feed on love.”
“Ohhhhh,” Bakran knowingly said, with a nod. “Okay, yeah, I can see how you'd think that, with the invasion and all. But nope!” he added, with a grin. “We need to eat like ponies do. We just absorb emotions to fuel our magic, since we can't generate thaumaturgical energy ourselves.”
The princess blinked at that, as a feeling of horror briefly filled her. “You can't?” she asked, shocked.
“Yup!” Bakran energetically replied. Then he paused and tilted his head as a thought seemed to cross his mind. “Oh, I mean, nope!” he added, and then frowned. “Uhm, I'm not sure how to reply to that question, but correct, we do not generate our own magic.”
I think my face is going to freeze in this expression, Twilight mused, as she frowned again. “So, what happens if you can't feed on... you said 'emotions', so it's not just love?”
“Yup,” Bakran repeated, with another nod. “Any positive emotion. Love, lust, friendship, joy, contentment, gratitude, curiosity, satisfaction, if it makes someone feel good, then usually we can use it,” he explained, and then skewed his jaw to the side. “Although some changelings are kinda weird and like the negative stuff.”
“Okay,” Twilight said, slowly. “So what happens when you can't feed on emotions?”
“Oh, uh,” Bakran temporized, as he seemed to take a moment to think. “Well, we sorta get hungry. Not food hungry, but it feels kinda the same, though you can ignore emotion hunger a lot easier than you can the physical kind. But since we can't generate our own magic energy eventually we become next to helpless, with no flight, no telekinesis, no gripping, no shapeshifting... Yanno, anything that requires magic at all,” he explained, and then shrugged. “It won't kill us, but since just about every predator in the world has some magic ability, it means we'd probably get eaten alive outside the hive.” He paused at that, and then chuckled slightly. “Heh, that rhymed.”
Twilight ignored the offhand statement, and instead applied her mind to absorbing the changeling's words. This is a lot to take in, she mused. How much of this is actually true, though? This changeling just drops from the sky, acts all friendly and open, and offers all sorts of information? Something's not right. She looked around the balcony at that, and then grimaced as a new idea entered her head. “Uh, Bakran?” she began, as she looked to the equinsect just as he looked back at her. “I hate to go back on my word, but I think that I might have to ask you to, uh, stay in one place for a bit?”
The changeling's face fell. “Oh, so prison after all?” he asked, morosely.
“N-no, nothing like that,” Twilight hastily added. Why the hay am I feeling sympathy for that face? Might be changeling manipulation, need to get clear for a bit and run some spells. “Just, well... maybe not prison per say, but, well...” she lost her momentum for a moment, and lightly waved a hoof in front of her as she tried to collect her thoughts. “Just, lock you up for a bit in a guest room while I make sure this isn't an invasion attempt?” she asked, hoping that he would be amicable.
“Ah,” Bakran replied, and then took a moment to think. Then he slowly nodded. “Okay, I guess I can see that,” he allowed, and then sighed again. “I mean, this is really weird for me, but you were just sitting here doing pony things when I dropped in; you have no idea whether I'm telling the truth or not. I get it,” he added, and then paused as his stomach growled again. He then offered a wan grin to the princess. “Heh. I don't suppose I could have a snack while I'm in there?”
The alacorn could only grimace a bit in response. “I'm sorry, but I don't think I can spare any time for that,” she sadly explained. The return of Bakran's frown tugged at her heart, though, so she quickly spoke up. “However, if I find it's all clear and it looks like you're telling the truth, I'll take you to get something from a bakery, okay?”
Bakran immediately brightened up at that. “You will?” he asked, with a surprised look on his face.
“Absolutely,” Twilight affirmed, with a nod of her head. “So, uh, follow me then,” she said, and then turned around and headed for the door to the castle. Wait a minute, why am I turning my back to a possible enemy? she asked herself, and then glanced behind her. Despite her justifiable paranoia, Bakran had simply stood and had begun to follow her.
Chagrin washed over the princess, and she turned her head back around. She also focused on her magic, with which she did two things: firstly, she cast a changeling detection spell that could reach far enough to scour her entire castle and a small area around it, and quickly found out that Bakran was the only one she could find. Secondly, she cast her telekinesis and opened the balcony doors so she could lead the changeling into the castle.
The next few minutes were passed in tense silence, as Twilight continued to cast detection spells, and Bakran wisely remained silent as the two moved through the halls. Soon enough, however, they reached one of several doors set in a corridor, and Twilight brought them to a halt in front of it. Once again her magic reached out and pulled the door open, and she then turned to face Bakran and backed up a bit. “So here we are,” she said, with a crooked smile, as she waved a hoof towards the door. “It's not actually decorated yet... Or has any furniture... In fact it's just bare,” she explained, even as Bakran walked up to the door and looked in. A cursory glance showed him that the room was as described, and he turned his head back to Twilight as she resumed speaking. “But at least it's got some space so you shouldn't feel too cooped up or like it's a dungeon cell or anything.”
“Oh no, it's quite fine,” Bakran responded, with a polite smile. It only lasted a moment, though, as he then looked back into the room. “But isn't that window kind of a potential escape point?” he asked, and then gestured with a hoof towards the large window that dominated the room and let in plenty of sunlight.
“Oh!” Twilight uttered in surprise. “I hadn't thought of that...” she added, and then pondered for a moment. Then she grinned a bit as an idea hit her. “Okay, one second,” she said, and then charged her horn for another spell. A brief moment later she aimed her horn towards the window, and then cast her magic towards it, whereupon it flattened and formed into a purplish layer over the glass. “There, that shield spell will last an hour or two and keep you from leaving while I make sure there's nothing untoward going on,” Sparkle explained.
“Ah, good idea,” Bakran said, and then walked into the room. Once he was past the door, he then turned around and faced Twilight again. “You might want to do the same to the door when you close it to make sure I can't get out that way, either.”
“O-of course,” Twilight replied, and then smiled crookedly again. “I was going to do that.” I am such a terrible liar, she thought, as she gripped the door with her magic. “If everything looks good, I'll be back within the hour,” she said.
“Okay,” Bakran simply replied, with a nod. “See you, then.”
“Right. See you,” Twilight said, and then closed the door to the guest room. Then she charged her shield spell again and applied it to said door, and once this was done she cast her changeling detection spell one more time. Still only finding one right near me, she realized, and then sighed. That's good, I think. I mean, if Chrysalis was going to attack again then it would be now when I'm utterly confused at how NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE WHAT IS GOING ON?
Her angered thoughts ripped through her mind, and Twilight could only sit on her haunches and rub her aching head with her hooves, while her wings lost their tension and draped down to the floor. Okay, calm down, she told herself, and then began to run through the breathing exercises Cadance had taught her. Calm down. I'm sure there is a reasonable and logical explanation here. It might even be that everything Bakran told me is the truth and it's just one of the weird coincidences that Ponyville just seems to generate like a monopole of madness. Twilight paused in her thoughts, and then took in another, deep breath. Okay, first I'm going to my study and I'm going to go through all the spell books to see if there's a way of self-detecting brainwashing spells. Then I'm going to check myself, make sure this headache is actually from the insanity and not from that thing Chrysalis was doing to Shiny, and then check the town.
And after that? a small part of her asked. Twilight could only purse her lips, and then looked to the sealed door off to her right. I guess after, I'll have to talk to Bakran again.
She wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.