//------------------------------// // [2] Baby don't huuurt meee~~ // Story: Changing Views // by lllWarHawklll //------------------------------// Celestia considered herself quite fortunate to be a morning pony. ...Of course, she did have an obligation to wake up early, being the one to raise the sun and all, but that was besides the point. While most of Canterlot had been startled awake by the sudden tremor and odd cry of frustration from one of their Princesses, she was already preparing herself for the start of the day. Sunrise was due in a few minutes, thus she took the time to ponder about things. Needless to say, her thoughts immediately went into thinking about the Castle's newest guest resident, Artemis. From what she had managed to gather out of those that thought she wasn't listening, she could easily make out how her youngest niece would be viewed as, if she were to be revealed to the public anytime soon based on the way her ponies talked about and referred to changelings: A disgusting bug. Heartless creature. Foal-eater. Demon. Monster. Parasite. Those who believed otherwise or merely sympathized with the nearly-extinct species were very few and far in-between, preferring to remain quiet about it as far as she could tell. The fact that her little ponies could be so xenophobic greatly saddened her. However, had she not known that Terra was the leader, if not the mother of every deceased changeling, would she still be defending Artemis? Or would she have ended up thinking like most of Canterlot in regards to the changelings? ...The thought disturbed her. She knew she still would've attempted to garner peace between the two species though, regardless of what was done. Nevertheless, steps were already being taken to insure that the reveal of Artemis to the populace would be under a positive light, starting with the book that Miss A.K. Yearling would be writing. Celestia had noticed how glaringly apparent it was that the pegasus had bonded with the little one, despite the adventurous mare's reclusive nature. The Diarch of the Sun could safely claim without a doubt that the next title in the Daring Do series would showcase Artemis as a protagonist, and since the series itself was viewed as being one of the best ones out there, even by those whom considered themselves 'high class', the book would at least end up being read by most and hopefully would make her little ponies more open to the idea that the changeling could be a boon to Equestria. It would still take time for most to accept the shape-shifter, of course. Time that was unfortunately becoming scarce a little too quickly for her liking. Even now, ponies were gossiping about possible reasons for the lockdown of an entire wing in the Castle. Speaking of time, Celestia inherently knew the moment had come to raise the sun. Trotting to the balcony attached to her room, she spotted her sister doing the same from her own tower, though the lunar alicorn seemed to hang her head just a tiny bit lower than usual. Nodding to each other despite the distance, they proceeded with their lifelong morning ritual. In the hopes that Artemis would be watching the sunrise, however, Celestia decided to take her time with its upbringing, just this once. She would certainly be receiving a visit from the committee of daylight management for doing so, but if she could give her niece a good show, it would be well worth the rambling she would have to endure before calming down whomever the group ended up throwing at her. Almost literally, at times. The deed done and the city gradually awakening for a new day, Celestia soon found herself in her private dining room, alone for the moment. She sat down on her usual fluffy seat with her morning meal in tow, patiently waiting for Luna to arrive before she could start eating. Something was up with her sister, whom would no doubt vent her frustration once she'd come for breakfast, explaining what the big deal was all about in the process. It had happened quite a few times in the past, after all. ...Luna seemed to be taking a bit longer than usual to be present for their morning meal, though. Normally they'd already be eating together by then. In the meantime, Celestia's thoughts drifted to her adopted niece, Cadance. She knew that the younger alicorn's psychological state was fragile at the moment, but she also knew that in order to heal, having something to hold on to, or someling in this particular case, could only help the process. Besides, no matter how intelligent Artemis ended up being, she was still nothing but a newborn foal with next to no actual experience with life. Somepony needed to take care of her, protect her from the dangers of both society and the world, teach her what was good and what was bad, and so far Cadance was the best pony for the job, if not the only one available. Not only did the pink alicorn understand the temporary need for secrecy in regards to the nymph's existence, but she also had prior experience on the matter from foalsitting Twilight. 'Speaking' of Twilight Sparkle, Celestia wondered how she was doing at that moment. Her student certainly must've been with her nieces by now... -------------------------------------------- I stared in shock at the paralyzed purple pony laying down on the floor next to me as she drooled with a dopey expression on her face. Everything had been quiet for the past ten seconds or so. Suddenly, it was as if time had resumed. "Oh no, oh no no no!" Lara visibly panicked. 'Shit shit SHIT!' Lara grabbed me, rapidly shaking my entire body with her forelegs. "Artemis! (What have you DONE!?)" "LARA! WHAT HAVE I DONE!?" -------------------------------------------- Her student must've been having so much fun learning about adorable changeling foals! Perhaps she was even teaching Artemis a thing or two with the help of Cadance. 'Oh I can't wait for little Artemis to do the cute sunshine dance that Cadance does with Twilight!' Celestia smiled, resisting the urge to squeal like a giddy school-filly at the mental picture. Luna suddenly warped into the room-- "Tia! We hath once more gazed upon the young changeling within the realm of dreams!" The alicorn exclaimed, almost jumping up and down out of sheer excitement. Celestia blinked in surprise. "Oh?" "But then the dream colla~a~apsed!" Luna cried, throwing her forelegs in the air before slouching on her own seat while her head rested on the table, pouting sadly. "We were this close to finally having the current location of the dreamer revealed to Us with Our spell!" She whined as she brought both her forehooves together, practically in contact with each other, watching very closely to make sure the 'distance' was perfectly accurate. "I'm... sure you'll see her again, soon enough." Celestia cryptically replied, her face devoid of any expression as she hid her grin, reaching for her specially prepared tea with her magic. Luna's eyes widened in disbelief. "B... b-but, Sister! 'Tis about what is possibly the last remnant of Terra that We speak of! Surely thou art concerned about the foal's wellbeing!? How can thou calmly sit on thy plushy seat without knowing if the little one is currently safe!?" she stammered. Celestia chose that moment to take a sip of her tea, intentionally making it as noisy as possible. After a short moment, Luna had slowly begun squinting her eyes. "Thou knows something We do not." The Sun Princess gently set her cup down. ...And then levitated it to her lips once more, taking another steady, obnoxiously loud slurp of her brew. "...Would it have anything to do with the restriction of one of my favorite sections of the castle?" Luna asked, getting back on her hooves. "Well it--" "It is, isn't it?" Luna interrupted, horn charging up in preparation for a quick teleport-- "No, wait!" Celestia exclaimed, reaching out to her sister with a hoof. The teleport was canceled, though the lunar alicorn remained ready for another one. "I already told you that I closed the area because I have a... surprise for you, but it's not ready yet!" Luna paused, before her eyes then twinkled with mirth. "Another one of your 'attempts' at a prank, I presume?" She snickered. "That last one was--" "N-no!" Celestia stuttered, a hint of a blush appearing on her cheeks as she looked down at the very interesting floor from remembering what was, indeed, an attempt. "As much as our pranks are helpful distractions that stop me from thinking too much about... Terra," her ears drooped slightly, "this surprise isn't a prank," she muttered. The mention of their deceased sister immediately brought the mood down, both alicorns remaining quiet for a few moments in respectful silence of the sibling they had lost. Luna eventually brought her gaze back up, looking at Celestia questioningly. "Where is she right now, by the way?" she quietly asked. "I... would like to see her again, before going to bed." "...I personally dug out a room in the crystal caverns, right near the secret entrance to the caves from hall D2. She's... in there. Surrounded by a stasis spell for preservation," Celestia answered somberly. Luna thoughtfully nodded in agreement of the tomb's location. "She always did enjoy exploring caves and the underground more than most ponies." "Which is why I thought it would be an appropriate resting place for her. I'm certain it's what she would have wanted..." Celestia weakly smiled in remembrance of times long past. "I took the liberty to decorate the room with the crystal memory shards of our times together." "The ones we had stored in our old Castle within the Everfree?" "Indeed." "I'll... see about bringing the gift that I had been working on for her as well, when I'll go visit." "...You finished it?" Celestia asked, surprised, to which Luna nodded. "I'm sure she would've liked it..." "You know, I can still recall the times when she would skip our lessons with Starswirl to go on her little adventures," Luna added with her own nostalgic smile, "or to simply go and look for somepony that needed help with anything. She loved taking care of others..." "Especially foals. Though, she also had this weird fascination with insects..." Celestia muttered. After a short while of reminiscing, however, Luna lost her sad smile and hung her head a little lower. "Why do you think Discord went after her, of all ponies?" she asked. "T'would've been more likely that she would attempt to befriend him than pose any sort of threat!" Celestia sighed. "You know very well that there's no reasoning with him. The first thing he did when he broke out a few months ago was create cotton candy clouds and rain chocolate milk across all of Equestria!" she exclaimed. "...Well, that is, after he apologized to his pedestal for having stood on it for so long, proceeding to stretch the stiffness out of it, and then having a two-sided conversation with the 'statue of victory' about the 'dreadful weather'." "...That seemed oddly specific for a description of what he did the moment he broke free," Luna remarked. Celestia tiredly brought a hoof against her temple. "He locked me in my room, prevented me from leaving it by restricting the usage of my horn and wings, and finally placed a screen that covered an entire wall, showing me every single detail of his escape - repeatedly, I might add - as well as the progress of Twilight and her friends as they... became the opposite of the elements they represented." Luna cringed. "That must've been painful to observe." "The screen was upside down," Celestia agreed with a nod. The lunar Alicorn stared for a few seconds before applying a forehoof directly on her forehead. "We meant watching the element bearers devolve into chaos." "That as well," Celestia honestly replied. "Fortunately, he hadn't prevented me from sending letters back to young Spike to help Twilight rally her friends. Though, I... might have been somewhat desperate and overzealous in their delivery," she sheepishly grinned. "Spike was a little upset with me when he and his friends arrived in Canterlot for their celebration, what with all the mail he had received." "I'm just relieved I didn't have to face Discord again," Luna confessed. "Still, had I known he had broken free of his imprisonment, I would've returned from my trip to Zebrica as soon as I could've. Nopony should ever have to endure him alone." The Diarch of the Moon then noticed the as-of-yet untouched breakfast that Celestia had brought, and she couldn't hide the mischievous smirk that very briefly occupied her muzzle. "However, I can see that your food has gone cold, Tia." Luna stated. A cake suddenly materialized out of thin air, enveloped by Luna's magical aura as the Princess of the Moon regarded her sister with a deceptively calm expression. "Would you perchance prefer to partake in some cake instead?" she eagerly asked out of the blue. Perhaps a little too eagerly, some would say. Celestia blinked. "Oh, why thank you Lulu--!" she happily beamed before finally registering the alarm bells loudly ringing in her mind. Memories flashed by from back before Luna's banishment, where her sister had taken to mixing 'harmless' potions in her food, one time causing her voice to drop to a deep, baritone tone. For an entire week. No, she would not fall for it this time! "...But I'll have to decline." Celestia continued, forcing herself to keep a straight face as she spoke those words. Words that shouldn't ever be mentioned when cake was involved. "Why don't you eat it? You haven't brought any other food with you, after all." She suggested, resigning herself to begin eating her own cold breakfast. "Art thou-- you certain you don't want it?" Luna quickly asked as if she didn't expect her sister to outright refuse the 'gift', levitating the plate radiating with frosty goodness a little closer to the alabaster alicorn. "I know it's your favorite kind!" she blurted. And it was, to Celestia's dismay. "I... I'm already satisfied with this great, delicious breakfast," she replied, resisting the urge to bite the bottom of her lip in an effort to keep a neutral mask, promptly resigning herself to eat her bland meal with a little more 'enthusiasm' than usual. Luna sagged, then sighed despondently. "Very well." ...Right before she began eating the cake with no side effects whatsoever, chewing as slowly as she could, exaggeratedly moaning in delight at every bite, savoring each and every single chunk of cake to its fullest right in front of her pastry-loving sister, whose left eye almost imperceptibly twitched. "Mmm, I can see why you like these so much!" Luna joyfully exclaimed as she eventually finished eating the entire treat, happily patting her barrel with a satisfied grin. "Such a shame that it was the last one in stock..." Celestia pursed her lips and refused to meet her sister's gaze. 'I-it's fine, let her believe it was really the last one,' she thought to herself. 'I still have my private stash--' "I wasn't referring to the kitchen's stores, though those have been mysteriously emptied as well," Luna continued, strutting towards the room's exit. "A simple closet is a poor location to stash one's entire 'secret' supply of cake after all, wouldn't you agree?" Luna trotted out of the doorway, the shattering of a teacup from the room behind her sounding like music to her ears as she closed the door. A couple patrolling guards were then watching her prance about the hallway happily, wondering why their Princess was gallivanting like so. The Diarch of the Moon briefly paused as she passed by them. "We suggest thou cover thine ears post-haste." She chimed with an odd grin before continuing on her merry way. They did so without hesitation, understanding immediately dawning on them after hearing the request from that particular Princess. The force of the upcoming shout would end up blasting the nearby door open, revealing a... 'slightly' upset, and very determined Celestia. Suffice to say, the prank war had become official. ============================================== Lara stroked my hair while I buried my face in her fur. "Shhhh, (it's okay Artemis, the scary unicorn won't bother you anymore--)" "I K-KILLED SOMEONE!!" I loudly wailed, tears freely flowing as they stained my friend's coat. Lara kept making shushing noises in the meantime, trying to comfort me as if nothing was wrong. As if the unicorn I had reflexively bitten in my surprise and subsequently injected venom into was somehow fine. "(...So how do you know that Miss Twilight will be alright?)" The pegasus gave a side glance to Cadance without interrupting her calming massage on me. "(I haven't heard of anypony suffering from any sort of changeling venom and I didn't even know that Artemis could do that!)" "I'm a m-murderer!" I bawled. Cadance winced at Lara's words. "(Let's just say I experienced it first-hoof from... Artemis's m-mother, and leave it at that,)" she answered, shuddering in a mixture of fear, sadness and guilt before shaking her head to clear it. "(It's merely a non-lethal paralytic substance, from what I know. Twilight should be fine in a few minutes or so.)" "She's going to die and it's all my fau~ult!" I cried. The unicorn tried to grumble something, one of her hind legs twitching helplessly as she quickly calmed down once Cadance was done speaking. "*hic* I didn't m-mean to bite her!" Everything had happened so fast. One moment she was standing at the entryway with a face that honestly looked deranged, very rapidly gazing back and forth between Lara and I while radiating nervousness as if her next words would determine the fate of the world, and then... then came a series of rapid flashes. I suddenly found myself right in front of her, the world was spinning, she was looking at me with that terrifying expression and she was blabbering rapidly and too close and flashes and I didn't know her and neither Lara nor Cadance were anywhere near not safe danger-- *Thud* Her right foreleg was the first limb to become unresponsive as I injected my venom after a quick tackle. It took me a few seconds to realize that I still had my mouth clamped on it, actually, once I had returned to being able to think rationally. I shuddered at the memory, though no matter how much I wanted to berate myself for what I had done, Lara's soothing and gentle ministrations made it really difficult to stay sad and angry at myself. Cadance then gave a sympathetic glance. To me. Before staring at the paralyzed unicorn with a disappointed expression. She... w-what!? But... but that didn't make any sense! Sh-she should be angry with me! She should be seething in rage at the injustice of it all, or maybe even crying for the friend she was about to lose! She shouldn't instead be looking like she was about to reprimand the crazy purple pony-- "(Did you learn your lesson about being careful around foals?)" Cadance chided, speaking to the purple one. The immobilized mare gurgled something that vaguely sounded in the affirmative, not panicking in the least about her impending doom, instead feeling ashamed and... sheepish? ... I... calmed down somewhat, realizing that they were all more concerned about me than the unicorn that... now that I actually observed more carefully, seemed to be completely fine, aside from not being able to move. Breathing was regular, no discernible sweat, all-in-all there was a lack of symptoms that would point out to something being very wrong... ... Did I just overreact over nothing? ...H-heh, now I kind of felt silly. And relieved. Mostly relieved. "(Are you sure you haven't done any foalsitting before, Miss Yearling?)" Cadance asked as she levitated the remorseful lavender pony to a nearby couch after I slowly stopped sniffling. "(You seem to know exactly what to do to calm down Artemis.)" "N-nooooo, don't stop rubbing my back!" I quietly chittered when Lara momentarily paused, my wings automatically drooping to the sides in order to give her room so that she could continue her 'massage' while I lowered my eyelids in contentment. "Feels too good..." I crooned in delight. "(Well, I... haven't really done any foalsitting,)" began Lara, nuzzling me afterwards, "(but, this... it honestly feels like it's what I'm supposed to do. I didn't even think about what I was doing, or am doing, it just sort of happens, and it feels... right.)" The unicorn got excited, and I saw her horn starting to glow again. One of the notebooks that she had teleported into the room began to light up along with a quill, the aura slowly encompassing the items until her horn quickly fizzled out and everything dropped. She was confused, beginning to panic at the fact that her magic was seemingly disabled, though she still kept trying to levitate those same items over and over again. Cadance quickly noticed the unicorn's repeated attempts. "(Twilight, stop! Trying to use magic while under the effects of the venom will only make it last longer!)" She immediately stopped trying to levitate things, her eyes moving to stare between Cadance and her notebook with huge pupils in a pleading manner, like she wanted the alicorn to do something with it. Cadance seemed to miss the look though, her attention returning to Lara. "(Well, Miss Yearling, now that we're all here, what else can you tell us about Artemis?)" She asked while preventing her giddiness from showing too much. The unicorn was desperately trying to reach her stuff with her forelegs if the slight twitching of her limbs was of any indication. "(Please, just call me Yearling,)" replied Lara, moving me to a more comfortable position as she set her rump down on a fluffy cushion. "(And there isn't really much to say that you don't know already, really...)" "(There has to be something you haven't told us about Artemis!)" Cadance exclai-- Whoa, when did she sit down right next to us? The purple pony whimpered almost inaudibly, redoubling her efforts in her impossible quest to 'acquire notebook', completely unnoticed by my two friends. In the meantime, Cadance was cooing at me and doing cutesy gestures with her forehooves in an entertaining fashion while Lara seemed to go into deep thought, staring at the ceiling. "(...Well, there is one thing,)" she eventually said as she turned to face Cadance, though the alicorn quickly stopped doing her motions before Lara could notice. The unicorn, in a spike of frustration, eventually forced her horn to light up once more and finally managed to float her quill and notebook to herself, a giddy grin spreading itself on her muzzle as she quickly wrote a few words on it... but then the energy winked out, and her body kind of looked like it rapidly stiffened as everything fell to the floor once more, not making much of a sound since the stuff landed on a carpet. "(Artemis seemed to be obsessed with fire,)" Lara continued, oblivious to the purple pony's struggles while detaching me from her own chest -with great effort- and setting me down in front of herself, whereupon I pouted at both of them from the severe lack of cuddling. "(She kept trying to touch the flames from my fireplace with her bare hooves, for some reason.)" "(Ohh! So that's why you turned it off in the first place!)" exclaimed Cadance in realization. ...You know, I've been wondering about something ever since I met Cadance. I gingerly trotted up to her while she was sitting on her haunches, reaching for one of her forelegs once I was close enough, all the while being under the watchful gaze of pretty much everyone in the room, though the unicorn did so half-heartedly after giving up on moving altogether. Sheesh, you'd think I was the main attraction or something. The moment I moved or did anything, they'd all act as if everything revolved around me. ... Well, that actually might be the case, seeing as I'm most likely an unknown species to them. There was also the fact that I was kind of a newborn under their care. ...For now. I had almost grabbed one of Cadance's forehooves when she began moving it away from me-- "No no wait!" I quickly chirped, tackling the limb and hanging onto it with my own forelegs, the lower half of my body dangling in mid-air. After a bit of wrestling and maneuvering, I managed to cling to the leg with all of my hooves. "(...What is she doing?)" bemusedly asked Cadance, keeping still once I started examining her fur very closely. 'There's no way this can be your natural coat color...' I thought with squinted eyes while trying to move her fur a bit with my muzzle in an attempt to see if Cadance had actually dyed her entire body pink (minus her... very pretty multicolored mane and tail). To my surprise, the hairs were pink all the way to the base of each individual strand that I could see. "(I... don't really know. Perhaps it's a changeling thing?)" Lara suggested, holding back a giggle. I climbed up her leg and neck to reach her head, then did the same check on her mane. I didn't really know how to figure out if some dye was applied, but as far as I could tell, Cadance's entire coloration seemed to... somehow be completely natural. Envy "(It's kind of cute, though)" Lara added. I mean, I had seen ponies with odd fur coloration at that fortress in the jungle, but I merely assumed then that they had used some sort of paint to give themselves tribal markings and such. However, if ponies could actually have pink coats from birth, I guessed that blue, red and yellow were also possible colorations for their fur, as strange as that was. But, just to make sure... I leapt off of the alicorn, making my way towards the unicorn on the couch while Cadance seemed to be considering whether or not she wanted to fix her mane after my inspection. However, I stopped mid-way and craned my neck around to look at Lara, sensing a decent amount of disappointment flowing out of her. ...Huh, never mind, she's not disappointed, but she's giving me a hopeful smile. Not sure for what, though. I resumed my trotting to the unicorn, ignoring Lara's mood swings for the moment. She could be weird, sometimes. "(Maybe it's something changelings do to those they like! Like a sign of affection!)" Cadance happily proclaimed as Lara slumped a little more before I pounced on top of the purple pony, causing the paralyzed mare to panic. Yeesh, just how long did my venom last? "(...I'm more inclined to believe in the opposite, considering I doubt she likes Miss Twilight very much at the moment,)" Lara soon shot back with a smug smile as I began shuffling... err... ...Okay, I should probably ask for this pony's name at this point. "Is?" I asked Cadance and Lara, pointing at the unicorn that I was proudly standing on top of. They stared at me confusedly with tilted heads, though I was sure I pronounced it right... or, hmm... maybe it was the other word? "Name?" I tried again, to which their faces suddenly lit up in realization. "Oh! *Ahem* Her, name, is. Twilight. Twiii-liiight," Cadance quickly answered with a cheerful grin. "Twilight Sparkle," Lara interjected, putting an emphasis on the second word. Or second name? Either way, I was happy to know what to call the mare and a little more happy about not having to resort to figuring out a nickname for her. "Sparkles!" I cheered with my forelegs up in the air, though I quickly went back on all fours since squishy pony bodies didn't make very stable ground. "Twilight Sparkle," Cadance corrected, shooting a slightly annoyed look at Lara before returning her attention to me. I raised my 'eyebrows' and my mouth formed an 'o' shape at her declaration. I then closed my eyes and nodded sagely, showing that I completely understood what she was trying to tell me. "Sparkles." And with that, I resumed inspecting the fur of the equally annoyed 'Twilight' in search of anything that might show the usage of dyes, paint, or any other sort of color-altering method. Also, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but Lara's laugh was somewhat beautiful and... very satisfying to hear. I kind of made it my mission to keep her happy, if only to keep hearing it. Well, that, and a happy Lara meant more food for me. I stuck my tongue out at Cadance on seeing her pout though, to show that I was just messing with her. I didn't really want the mare to be upset since she was my backup meal, after all. She shook her head in exasperation, turning to face Lara. "(So... fire, you said?)" Lara nodded. "(Yup. She was attracted to it like a moth to the flame.)" Okay, this pony's coat colors were also natural. Made me wonder if there was any sort of racism amongst ponies against certain specific colors. The unicorn was still panicking somewhat, however. Probably because I was standing on top of her while out of her vision range. I'd personally be a little freaked out too if something was crawling around my back, doing... stuff while I couldn't move. Her limbs were beginning to twitch again, though. Well then! Let's see if I could calm her down and make a 'friend' out of her. "(...Do you think you could make a small illusion of a flame?)" Lara whispered conspiratorially to Cadance. I walked up to the top of Sparkles' head and then tripped rolled down her face went muzzle-to-muzzle with her, staring into her large surprised eyes while upside-down. "(I'm pretty sure I can, though I'm not sure how realistic I can make it,)" Cadance 'quietly' answered back. Sparkles' panic was gone, replaced with a bit of worry... an incredible amount of curiosity and... And... ...And that was it. No love, no joy, no happiness to see me, no-- wait, there was something else, but it was very faint. I had to peer deeply into the link to sense... ... Disgust!? I, she... wow. That's kind of harsh... "(It would still just be an illusion, right? No danger at all?)" Lara asked. Still, I was not going to let that deter me from my goal. I would make it so that she would love me, no matter what! Thus, I began my work by hugging her face. There was no way this could possibly go wron-- Oh. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable, and her disgust at me increased a teeny tiny bit. ...Shit. "(Of course I wouldn't risk injuring her by conjuring a real fire! I care about Artemis just as much as you do!)" Cadance shot back, receiving a cocked eyebrow from Lara. Okay, hugging didn't work, uhh... Cute sounds, maybe? "Operation CWAL! The gathering! What's mine is mine! Diabetes get!" I randomly squeaked/chirped while sitting on my haunches in front of Sparkles, tilting my head in order to increase the cuteness factor. Her emotions shifted back into curiosity once more and there was a lot of it for sure, but I still couldn't feel any love from her. ...Shit. I felt some energy to the side, no doubt Cadance doing something magical, however I was too busy thinking of a way to gain Sparkles' affection to see what it was. "(...It's blue,)" Lara deadpanned. "(It's an illusion. Besides, unless you want some real fire, it'll stay like that since I can't really change the color of my aura,)" Cadance replied. How about... a smile? Those were contagious just as well as they were a good source of friendship! I widely smiled at her, easily making it look as sweet and genuine as possible because of Lara and Cadance radiating giddiness for some reason, affecting me through my empathy. It... it was barely noticeable, but the corner of her lips started twitching upwards after a moment despite the paralysis, and... and I could feel a tiny trickle of love! Yes! It wasn't much, but it was there! Baby steps! I happily grinned at the completion of my missio-- Aaand the love is gone. She was looking at my muzzle with worry and nervousness now. Why the heck... Ohhh. She must've seen my fangs. ... ... Well... shit! "Psst, Artemis!" Lara 'whispered' from the side. I turned around on hearing the name they had given me, immediately noticing the little flame on the floor. The little blue flame on the floor. ...That wasn't burning the carpet, somehow. 'The heck?' I jumped off the couch, trying to ignore the feeling of relief coming from Sparkles at my departure, carefully sneaking my way towards the pretty fire. Oddly enough, Lara seemed to be completely nonplussed about it, focusing her attention on me instead with a large grin, though Cadance was sticking her tongue out in concentration-- I leapt back and hissed at the flame when it abruptly jerked towards me before it returned to its spot. Were random ghostly fires a common thing around here!? Instead of being worried about one sitting near so many flammable objects, everyone in the room seemed to be amused more than anything! They were all looking at me, actually... ...Maybe they couldn't see it? It kind of looked a little strange, after all, like it was ethereal-- It started floating away very, very slowly, interrupting me out of my musings as I focused most of my attention on it once more. It eventually sped up a tiny bit and went around the couch, out of my sight. ...I crept around the furniture, trying to see where it went, but it seemed to have vanished completely. And Lara was quietly snickering, holding a hoof to her muzzle. However, I could still feel some energy behind m-- I whipped around, and there it was, flickering to some nonexistent breeze right where I had first seen it, as if it had never moved. I looked back and forth between Lara and the flame, eventually pointing at it with a hoof and chirping questioningly while staring at Cadance and the pegasus since they either seemed to be ignoring it or were completely unaware of it. In response, they just stood there and waved at me. ... Hey, wait a minute, Cadance's horn was-- A blue blur flew by my face and I immediately tried to pounce on it, only for it to dodge and fly just out of my reach, moving back and forth as if taunting me to catch it while I kept my eyes trained on it. 'This has to be some kind of wisp, or something.' I narrowed my eyes, slowly getting ready to attempt another tackle when it would least expect it, unknowingly shaking my rump in anticipation-- It flew away again, and this time I chased after it relentlessly. Over the couch, under the table, around a seat, bouncing on Sparkles who was barely starting to get up, chasing my own tail as it went in circles around me, it simply managed to remain at a frustratingly close distance no matter what I did, easily keeping itself just beyond my reach at all times. Yet, as I chased it up a wall with determination lining my features, I couldn't help but realize that I was having fun, from doing something as simple as running after a little flaming wisp, no less. ...It's been years since I've felt like this and I realized that, in a way, I literally was a kid again, which included almost everything it implied. I would probably be able to spend my time doing what I'd want to, I wouldn't have to work for a good while, I wouldn't have to worry about taxes, money and food, I'd go to school, I'd have actual f-frien-- Damn! I was going to have to go through school all over again. ...Shit. I hadn't noticed I had stopped mid-way up the wall until the wisp landed on the tip of my muzzle for a split second, tickling my nose before it practically urged me to resume the chase as it quickly returned to the ground. ...Meh, I'll worry about that other stuff later. Leaping down to the floor, I chased it for another short while until it abruptly jerked to the side and I jumped after it-- "Oof!" --Only to greet a pink wall of fur. "(Gotcha!)" Cadance beamed, happily embracing me while I wondered where the flame went and why nobody else seemed to have paid any mind to it to begin with. Lara was glaring daggers at the alicorn whom had begun nuzzling me, in the meantime. "(How much longer do I have to wait until I can start using magic again without consequences?)" Sparkles tiredly asked, prompting me to notice that she was actually standing up again, though her wobbly stance showed that my venom hadn't fully left her system yet. Cadance paused her cuddling for a moment. "(Well, you're able to stand on your hooves, so it shouldn't last that much longer now. Give it a minute or two.)" Sparkles sluggishly nodded, slowly making her way towards us. ...No, wait, she was making her way towards me!! I panicked and scrambled out of Cadance's grasp, maneuvering myself to hide behind her back, not wanting to face the wrath of the magical unicorn I had paralyzed. Though, when I took a peek at Sparkles from behind Cadance's shoulder, I saw that her ears were splayed back and her head was hanging a bit lower, having stopped approaching after only a few steps. Overall, she looked disheartened after seeing my reaction to her approach. Practically the opposite of what I expected. "(I really didn't mean to scare Artemis...)" Sparkles muttered, sadly scuffing a hoof along the floor. "(It certainly wasn't the best of first impressions,)" Lara snorted, having scooted a little closer to me without anyone noticing. Then again, I hadn't sensed any anger from Sparkles at all from the moment she arrived. If what I had done had ever happened to anyone on Earth, there at least would've been some sort of resentment afterwards for sure. But... ugh! I couldn't stand watching these ponies being sad. It just... didn't feel right, both literally and figuratively. Sparkles was mainly feeling remorse though, so I could probably make her happy again by merely showing that I was okay with her since she only got sad after I hid from her. ...Rather, I was okay with her as long as she didn't teleport me again anytime soon. That was the weirdest and most disorienting thing I had ever experienced in my life. Well, both of my lives. "(But how can I tell her that I'm sorry? She doesn't fully understand Equestrian yet! ...Right?)" I slid down Cadance's back and trotted up to Sparkles, whom looked surprised that I was approaching her after all. Stopping right in front of her, I gazed deep into her soul, judging her intently in order to decide if she deserved any forgiveness after her past transgressions with her wicked magicks against my own self, gauging her strength of will against my accusing glare that burned with the strength of a thousand suns. ... Okay, fine, I was intently staring into her eyes with a smile and purposely making her feel a little uncomfortable in the process, just to see what exactly she'd do. "(I, uh...)" Sparkles began, uncertainly looking between Cadance and Lara for guidance before letting out a sigh and bowing her head. "(I'm r-really sorry for scaring you, Artemis. I guess I wasn't really thinking when I came here and then I just wanted to ask so many questions b-but I forgot that you couldn't actually speak or understand us for a moment there and--)" she spoke, blabbering faster the longer she talked. I rolled my eyes and interrupted her speech by pouncing on her. She flinched back and immediately closed her eyes, scrunching her face and bracing herself for any sort of pain. Only to be confused when there was none. "(W-what is she doing?)" Sparkles nervously asked, staying completely still with her eyes still shut. Cadance giggled. "(She's hugging you, silly.)" The unicorn's eyes finally opened in confusion. "(Huh!?)" While she was realizing that I wasn't hurting her in any way, shape or form, I was monitoring the link she had with me very closely as I clung to her, smiling and nuzzling her fur when she finally looked down at me. There was the expected feeling of relief flowing out of her, the disgust was a bit more faint than last time, and... Yes! Love was making a slow return! "You're mine now!" I happily declared. It came out as an adorable squeak to them, though. "(This might seem odd, but, I believe Artemis can sense emotions, somehow,)" Cadance thoughtfully said, holding a hoof to her chin. "(What makes you say that?)" Sparkles asked, horn beginning to light up along with her discarded book before she paused, shooting a quick glance at me and probably remembering what happened last time. "(During our breakfast, Artemis went to... 'comfort' Mis-- err, Yearling, when I seemed to have brought up a bad memory. As if she knew that Yearling wasn't feeling well. Then, she somehow seemed to know that you were behind the entrance door, even from across the entire room, as if she sensed you in some way.)" Cadance explained, though I was playing a bit with Sparkles' hair in the meantime since I had no idea what they were talking about, even if I heard my 'name' somewhere in there. "(And, finally, she came up to you when you felt bad about scaring her.)" Lara seemed to have brightened up, as if she got an idea, but then she frowned and looked down at the floor with her ears folded. Right before she suddenly began feeling very, very, VERY sad. ... ...What!? That made no sense! She was happy a few seconds ago... okay, not really happy, more like jealous and I still didn't know why, but this was a complete contrast to then! "(I don't know...)" Sparkles replied uncertainly. "(That could've just been pure coincidence. We'd need to find a way to test that theory, run an experiment or two...)" she trailed off. She curiously watched me as I jumped off of her and quickly ran up to Lara, immediately leaping upon the pegasus once I was within reach. I couldn't help but notice that Lara seemed to be ready for my tackle though, as if she was actually expecting it. ...And now she wasn't wallowing in sorrow, the link instead brimming with joy and love. I mean, it's what I was aiming to do, but the change from sad to happy was so sudden that it felt... weird. "Stop getting mood swin--mgph!" I commanded, promptly silenced as Lara gave me the mother of all hugs with the most content expression I had ever seen plastered on her cute equine face. Alright, fine. It was hard to be annoyed with her when she was this happy anyway, especially when I was constantly being fed all of this amazing free food. "(Yup, she's an empath,)" Lara declared. "(I thought of... one of my most recent memories, and Artemis immediately came over.)" Now that I thought about it, I wondered just how much more love I could actually store. I wasn't hungry, but I felt nowhere near full, either! I had so many questions about being a changeling, and the most frustrating part about all of this was that I both didn't have and couldn't immediately get the answers to any of them. Hopefully I'd be able to meet my family sometime soon and I could then have everything explained to me. We were already in the middle of civilization, so all that was left was for me to find the appropriate time to sneak away and search for someone I could link to. ... But what would I do with Lara? With Cadance? I couldn't simply leave them behind, just like that... I could probably get my family to make an exception just this once and allow these two to freely walk around the hive since, after all, they were both pretty much radiating love and knew about me. I'm sure Sparkles wouldn't mind being cocooned. While the unicorn floated her notebook to herself and looked at me with a skeptical expression after Lara spoke, Cadance was intently staring at the pegasus cuddling me, glancing in my direction occasionally, eventually looking away in thought as she frowned. Right before... ... Ugh, really!? Now Cadance was the one feeling extremely sad! "(Still, just to double check...)" Sparkles trailed off, gazing up to the ceiling with her own furrowed brows, pondering somethi-- HER TOO!? 'What is this!? National mood swing day?' ... ... "...Why are you all looking at me like that?" I eventually chittered, squirming uncomfortably in Lara's grasp as Cadance and Sparkles both stared at me expectantly with wide eyes and huge glistening pupils, emotionally leaking sorrow that kind of didn't actually feel like sorrow, if that made any sense. It probably had to do with Sparkles still feeling very curious despite the sadness and Cadance having a sort-of large amount of underlying... hope. Lara stared between the two ponies, holding me closer to herself when she seemed to have realized something, subtly glaring at them afterwards. "(Alright! She looks worried for you both, so there's your proof! Now could you please stop making her uncomfortable!?)" Lara demanded, swiveling her body around and hiding me from their view with a protective wing. I couldn't see anything past the wall of pretty feathers, but I could sense the sheepishness emanating from Sparkles while Cadance began to feel ashamed with herself. Cue the sound of furious scribbling. "(Sorry...)" Cadance muttered. I freed myself from Lara and brushed past her wing, leaping towards the alicorn so that I could cling to her chest in order to comfort her. 'Ponies and their high maintenance requirements...' Still, now that I thought about it, I would eventually have to find another way to make ponies love me as well as different alternatives to keep them happy in general. While I had it easy for now, requiring nothing more than a hug to get fed, I wouldn't always be an adorable little happiness dispenser. I wondered how long it would take for this body to mature... "(Thanks, Artemis,)" Cadance whispered to me with gratitude, releasing me afterwards before turning towards Lara. "(Could you stay here with Artemis for a while? I want to go check up on my fiancé, maybe even bring him here to meet her if he's able to walk around.)" Sparkles stopped writing, worriedly looking at Cadance. "(Sure!)" Lara answered in a chipper tone. "(Could you also bring a type-writer when you return? I couldn't find one around here...)" Cadance nodded, getting up to apparently leave-- "(Is something wrong with my BBBFF?)" Sparkles quickly asked. ...Was that a stutter near the end? "Err..." Cadance began oh-so-eloquently, "(...he ended up eating something he shouldn't have from a... special delivery we received,)" she shot a weird look at Lara for a split second, "(and was affected by something nopony had ever seen before. Celestia and I decided to leave him in the hooves of our resident changeling analyst to see if he could determine whether or not anything remained after he got cured.)" She looked to the side, mumbling to herself, "(Or, at least, we're pretty sure he was cured...)" Sparkles wrote a few more words before everything she had brought vanished in a rapid succession of flashes, flashing me an apologetic/sheepish smile afterwards when I jumped back in surprise, having not expected something so sudden. "(I think I'll come with you,)" she said, speaking to Cadance. "(I have to see if Spike sent me the books and items I requested last night anyway.)" Clapping her forehooves together in excitement, she continued: "(Besides, I could compare notes with this 'changeling analyst' you mentioned! Think of all the things I co-- I mean, we could learn!)" Lara didn't look any different outwardly, but internally? She got a whole load happier when Sparkles also got up to leave. Cadance smiled. "(Alright then, let's go. We shouldn't be away for too long, Miss Yearling.)" "(Don't worry about us! Take your time.)" Lara sweetly replied, enthusiastically waving at both of them as they trotted out of the room, leaving the happy pegasus and I alone. ============================================== "So, what do you think about her?" Cadance asked right as they left and closed the door. "She's certainly more casual than I thought she would be," Twilight replied. "...Not that that's a bad thing!" she quickly amended when the alicorn looked at her weirdly. Cadance giggled. "I was talking about Artemis." "Oh," the mare blushed. "Well, she's... different than what I expected." "How so?" Twilight took a moment to ponder as they trotted side by side, staring at the floor with a small frown. "To be completely honest, I expected Artemis to be a little more... violent. That might still be true though, since her first reaction to my... admittedly brash teleport on her, was to bite and inject that venom in me." She shuddered, pausing to look at the two tiny holes on her foreleg that were already healing up, making a mental note about it. "Still, that was mostly my fault, so I guess it doesn't count. Especially since, as Miss Yearling said, she turned out to be pretty affectionate afterwards, even though I had scared her." Smiling faintly, she continued; "Artemis does look cute once you get past the fact that she's a bug, in a certain way." The unicorn's muzzle scrunched in worry. "She's still so innocent and naive, though. You saw how playful she was when you conjured that illusion and made her happily chase it around the room. The fact that she doesn't know that she's potentially the last of her species..." She sighed. "I'm... worried about how she'll take it, about the day she'll eventually find out. It's inevitable. No matter what, she's bound to realize at some point that she's different than everypony." Cadance absently nodded, hoping for obvious reasons that the nymph wouldn't ever find out about who caused the disappearance of the changelings to begin with. "Hopefully Artemis can keep her innocence for as long as possible, though. She shouldn't have to suffer knowing what happened to her... family?--" Twilight asked, looking at Cadance for confirmation, which she received, "--so early in her life. I want to believe that she deserves to have a happy foalhood while she can, at the very least." She winced. "Besides, we wouldn't want her thinking that ponies are evil and eventually have a repeat of the invasion at a later date..." Twilight wisely decided to end that particular conversation for the moment, both because she saw Cadance getting increasingly uncomfortable and because she noticed the guarded checkpoint up ahead that was preventing access to the halls they had just trotted through. A few twists and turns later, they spotted a familiar figure trotting along an adjacent corridor. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight beamed. The Solar Diarch serenely smiled as she approached. "Good morning Twilight, Cadance." "Good morning, Aunty," Cadance happily greeted back. "Oh, by the way Twilight, Spike sent quite a few items not too long ago. I had them sent to your old room, for your convenience," Celestia informed her student. Twilight smiled, nodding gratefully. "Thank you, Princess. Are you headed to see Arte-mphg!?" she tried to ask before a pink hoof was shoved into her mouth, preventing her from mentioning she-who-shall-not-be-named. The Princess of the Sun sadly shook her head as Cadance wiped her hoof clean. "As much as I would love to, day court is about to start. Besides, she will still be here for the foreseeable future, therefore I'd rather focus on helping those that need help now." The unicorn tilted her head. "Are those nobles really that much more important than... her?" she asked. "I'm sure my friend Applejack would argue that family should always come first." Celestia sighed. "While that may be true in most cases, I am a ruler of an entire nation, Twilight. The needs of the many outweigh my own selfish desires and the changeling attack affected much more than just Canterlot. I believe I'll have some free time for a visit during the evening though, but for now," she looked straight ahead, "I must go. My ponies need me." Twilight, while slightly disappointed, bowed in understanding while Cadance nodded. "Alright, Princess. I can't wait to talk with you later!" Celestia curtly nodded, resuming her walk to the throne room. After a few more seconds of quietly trotting alongside Cadance, Twilight suddenly realized something. "Wait, you said my brother was left in the care of the changeling researcher to see if anything remained after he was cured of whatever he was affected with?" she exclaimed. "What exactly did he eat!?" The alicorn scrunched her muzzle. "I'll... tell you when we're there." "He's okay though, right?" Twilight asked, concern lacing her voice. "Other than feeling a bit weird, he claimed he was fine," she answered, stopping in front of a door that had quite the variety of signs on it, displaying warnings of all kinds. "Hopefully the doctor can tell us for sure, by now." Cadance knocked on the door, which flew open barely a couple seconds later with a fuming unicorn standing in its place. "WHAT DO YOU WANT!? YOU ARE INTERRUPTING SCIEN-- Oh! Greetings, Princess Cadance!" he suddenly exclaimed with a happy smile, bowing before turning to face the lavender unicorn while extending a hoof. "And you must be Twilight Sparkle! I've heard a lot of things about you! Most of which were good, I assure you." Cadance returned the greeting with a simple 'hello!', peeking over the stallion's shoulder to notice Shining Armor lying on a bed in one corner of the room, the captain silently mouthing 'Save me' with a desperate pleading expression, despite looking completely fine. Twilight gave his hoof a shake. "Nice to meet you, Doctor..?" "Lab Coat, at your service!" he cheerfully answered, motioning for them to enter his lab. They had to be careful where they stepped, for papers and miscellaneous items were scattered across the entire room, both on the floors and walls, some even pinned on the ceiling while vials and contraptions of all sorts sat on the various tables spread out around the area. The intact changeling body sprawled on an examination desk with a stasis spell on it was what almost immediately caught the stares of the visitors, however. Lab Coat rubbed a hoof across his mane sheepishly. "I apologize for the state of my lab, but this is merely the only way I can keep track of all of my research, as... unorthodox as it may seem." Twilight quickly put the papers back to where they exactly were, grinning at the Doctor in the hopes that he wouldn't notice that she had begun neatly stacking them. "It's f-fine! I actually have a friend that works in similar conditions, though she does it more for inspiration than to remember things..." Meanwhile, Cadance carefully made her way towards her fiancé, whom had gotten up. "Hi, sweetie! How are you feeli--" "Please get me out of here!" he hurriedly whispered, interrupting her as he set both of his forehooves on her withers, shaking her slightly. "I can't stand his ramblings! I didn't need to know that changelings apparently had heightened senses when it came to feeling pleasure, or that their chitin allowed them to manipulate the size of any part of their body due to being susceptible to a unique kind of transmutation magic that he's trying to figure out, or that--" "O-okay, I get it!" Cadance blushed before leaning in to nuzzle him affectionately. "Still, how are you feeling? Did he find anything wrong?" The captain sighed, setting his hooves back on the ground. "No, he didn't, but I've been getting some odd mood swings ever since I woke up and right now I'm feeling a bit more panicky for absolutely no reason!" The doctor paused his conversation with Twilight on hearing Shining Armor's outburst. "Mood swings? You haven't told me that part! This could mean so many things--!" "NO!" Shining blurted out. "I-I mean, no, I'm f-fine. Really!" His twitching eye showed otherwise. "Nonsense!" Lab coat insisted, "perhaps you've got special hormones running rampant around your bloodstream! I'll just need a few more samples to check..." he explained, levitating more than 'a few' empty, clean syringes next to him as he approached. "M-maybe all he needs is some fresh air!" Cadance interjected, placing herself between both stallions. "He's been cooped up inside for far too long, don't you think?" The doctor pouted, "but--" "I'll keep an eye on him the entire time, just in case," she assured him. "If anything happens, I'll let you know." Lab Coat stared back and forth between the hopeful Captain and the worried Princess, finally relenting after a few seconds. "Oh, fine. But please keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary! Still don't know for sure if anything actually changed with him." Cadance nodded while Shining sighed in relief, both of them making their way to the exit. "Twilight?" the alicorn called, seeing as the unicorn was animatedly chattering away with the scientist. Twilight paused her conversation to face her retreating friends. "Huh? Oh! You two go on without me, I'll catch up soon!" Cadance raised an eyebrow. "Soon?" "Just a quick exchange of notes! It shouldn't take too long!" The alicorn shook her head. "Alright, we'll see you later then. Just remember that the longer you take, the more you miss out on learning about Artemis!" Twilight's eyes widened as her friend and brother left the room. "So, venom, you said?" the doctor asked, bringing Twilight back to their previous conversation. "I... yes, she bit me right... here?" she stared confusedly at the spot where the tiny puncture wounds had been. "...Right! Miss Yearling said something about her cuts healing faster from Artemis's licking." The doctor set a couple filled syringes on the nearby table, levitating an empty vial towards her-- "Were those taken from my brother!?" she exclaimed, pointing at the filled syringes. "Yes, now I want you to bring me samples of Artemis's saliva--" "How? When? What!?" "Up to you, whenever you can, nymph saliva." "..." "..." "Oh, and some venom too, if you can manage it." He levitated another empty container to her with a cheerful grin. -------------------------------------------- "I'm sure you're going to like her! She's so sweet and cute!" Cadance beamed as they trotted together past the checkpoint towards Artemis. Shining Armor nodded, only paying half attention to her due to being a little busy trying to ignore the annoying itch that just wouldn't go away. Must've been a mosquito or something. "Once we actually get married, I want a foal!" He absently nodded. "No, a single foal wouldn't be enough..." He nodded. "I want at least three!" He nod-- wait... "What?" he asked, not sure if he heard right. "Hmm, good point, four would probably be better," she thoughtfully reconsidered. "Uh, eheheh, now let's not get ahead of ourselves honey." Cadance pouted. "But they're so adorable!" "Well, first we've got to reschedule the wedding before we e-- ARGH!" he cried out, clutching his head with both forelegs as he collapsed from the sheer pain of the sudden headache. "Shiny! What's wrong!?" the alicorn stammered, immediately at his side. He gasped for breath, his rapid heartbeats slowly calming down to normal levels as his migraine abruptly disappeared after a few mere seconds. "I... I don't know but, I think I'm fine now..." he huffed, steadily getting back on his hooves. "In fact I... well, I'm not sure why, but I feel really... happy." Cadance stared at him worriedly. "Maybe we should go back to the Doctor? I don't think being happy right after a headache is normal. Yeah, let's head back--" He pointed at the large door at the end of the hallway, "Artemis is in there, right?" "...Yes?" Shining Armor continued walking, Cadance quickly returning to his side. "Pull, the... the pull... remember the pull I... told you about, yesterday?" She carefully nodded, concern for him still etched on her features. The closer he got to the door, the more his smile widened. "It's... the pull... it's leading me to that room. Happy. Why am I so happy?" The instant he opened the door, a tiny blur tackled him with enough force to send him sprawling on his back, whereupon he heard a long series of chirps and squeaks. He gazed down at his chest, spotting a filly version of Daring Do embracing him, the little foal chittering away excitedly. Meanwhile, Cadance peeked into the room, staring at the papers and books scattered everywhere, the overturned furniture, the small indent on the ceiling that vaguely had the shape of a book... And in the middle of the lobby sat A.K. Yearling, both her mane and clothes looking more than a little disheveled. The pegasus awkwardly waved.