Ted avoided speaking to the alicorns or the changeling queen that night, still lost in his own thoughts. A father. The little ones he was watching, those adorable little bundles of energy, had taken him as their father. True, most could be just following what they heard the other beings in the temple call him, but at least one of them had made the leap of faith. Gem had passed any pretense of using it as a title, and gone straight to calling him dad.
'Go directly to his heart. Do not pass suspicion, do not collect ire.' He thought with a smile. The little bug was adorable, hell all of them were, Rose being the first to sink her hooks into his heart. The difference was the filly knew her father was out here somewhere, she'd even talked of him so there was no reason for her to adopt the alicorn as such, but she still felt safer in his presence. The few times he'd seen her in nightmares those first weeks, she'd called for her parents. When that didn't work, she'd called Mr. Nightmare. Despite trying to figure out why she was having the night terror in the first place, it had pulled him to action, and he'd picked her up immediately, reassuring the foal that he'd keep her safe, even in her dreams. So it was with all of the children, their dreams being his first and last stops before allowing himself to relax on his own personal beach. It was his current location, laying on a blanket watching the twilight over the ocean, listening to the waves roll in endlessly. He'd felt Luna brush against his dream earlier, but he'd pushed back, not interested in speaking to her anymore. He didn't need any more convincing, and he certainly wasn't in the mood to hear about how glad she was he'd seen the light. He'd probably slap her right out of his dream if he heard anything close to that.
Finally, he felt the familiar tug of wakefulness and, deciding to have some fun, instead left his dream and possessed the armor. Soon his vision cleared giving him a view of two of the youngest children, Gem and Quartz, a unicorn filly with pink fur and white mane, attempting to gain access to him, tugging at the blankets and trying to climb up to him. Grinning, the disembodied alicorn approached them silently despite his armored form, placing a boot below both when they made their leaps and lifting them onto the bed. Both scrambled desperately as they cleared the edge of their goal, before turning to thank whoever helped them. Both sets of eyes then widened in fear before they darted to his sleeping form, burrowing into his blankets and wedging themselves into his side.
The armor sighed. Alien sensations were becoming an expected part of his new role and form, but accepting them didn't make them any less strange. He could feel the kids against his side, even as he watched himself sleep. Hearing a rustle at the door, he turned just in time to catch Mirage open the door, likely looking for the two escapees. The mare's eyes tracked the room before settling on the odd placement of the armor, before she noticed the ethereal glow and wisps of shadow flowing through it. Predicting a panic attack on her part, Ted chuckled.
"Calm yourself, Mirage" His voice echoed strangely, a hollow ring to the words. "It's still me. I am just testing a trick I learned a while ago. I haven't had much time to play with it. You're looking for Gem and Quartz, right?"
At the changeling's nod, he continued. "They're buried into my left side, trying to escape the haunted armor." He chuckled a moment. "Probably not the best idea, approaching them from behind when they're wandering places they shouldn't. Much less in a form they won't recognize."
After a moment of staring at himself, even poking his own nose with a hoof, a grin split his face, before he turned to the changeling, a false sense or irritation lacing his voice.
"Who does this idiot think he is, sleeping in my presence?" He demanded of her. "I aught to belt him, but no, I have a better plan!"
Giggling like an idiot, the armor walked over to the desk, the metal horn glowing faintly, just barely allowing the alicorn to lift a nearby ink pot and quill he kept for note taking. A fanged grin breaking out of the shadows, he approached his sleeping form, before starting to draw on his own face, feeling the sensations even as the quill finished its circle, a perfect monocle over the right eye with a lined wire going up behind his ear. Finally, he added a curly mustache, snickering the entire time. It would probably be difficult to see at a distance with how dark his fur was, but it was noticeable enough up close.
Mirage just watched from the doorway, her jaw hanging open. She probably thought he was insane to do something like this. He'd always wanted to do this, but could never bring himself to ruin someone else's day. Finishing the other side of the mustache, he looked back at the changeling mare.
"Voila! A work of art, no?" He said, making a grand gesture at his now graffitied face. Still barely suppressing his laughter, he walked over to a side of the room he'd set aside for this exact purpose. Laying down on the cloth he'd set on the floor to keep the armor off the stone floor, his consciousness shifted, and he opened his eyes back in his own body. Looking at the Nightmare armor for a few moments, a grin still on his face, he greeted the shape shifter as if nothing was wrong.
"Why good morning Mirage, such a lovely day, isn't it?"
The changelings hooves immediately latched onto her own muzzle, a muffled snort her only response.
"One of the stranger things I've done lately, looking at myself from another position." Pulling aside the blankets, he ducked under his wing, whispering reassurances to the foals, slowly coaxing them out of their hiding place. While Gem was more than happy to take up a new position between his wings, the unicorn filly was wearily eyeing the armor, as if it would come alive and approach her once again. With a grin, Ted grabbed the helmet, levitating it over to himself. The filly panicked at the movement, once again diving below his wing, her muzzle the only thing he could make out before placing the helmet on his own head, the armor growing slightly to accommodate his ever-changing size. Looking at the child, he reassured her and eventually managed to place the helmet on her own head, though it nearly covered her nose to tail, just her legs visible underneath the helmet and a few spots of fur he could see through the nose and eye slits. He smiled, the helmet giggling at him as she tried to move with her new burden, an adorable tank that in all likelihood would bounce off the first obstacle it encountered.
Ted turned to the shape shifter. "I'll watch them, Mirage, I'll meet you at breakfast. If I don't get them back to you by then, I'll wait for you in the nursery with them."
The changeling nodded, preparing to leave, but a question hung in her mind. "Father, if you don't mind me asking... What happened last night? What changed? Everyone here already calls you father."
The alicorn removed the helmet from the filly, setting it back in its proper place, then turned to the mare. "Father is a title, Mirage, it is one that is often used as a sign of respect where I come from. At first I assumed the same from my followers, but I suspect some may not be using it as such anymore." Looking back at the nymph curled up on his back, he smiled. "But dad, dad isn't a title. Its a word we use to describe someone we trust more than any other, someone we believe will be there when we need them most. Someone who will check under our beds for monsters, will make sure we have enough to eat, and will do everything he can to make sure we can live our lives to the fullest. That's a dad, Mirage. And yes, it's possible to be the genetic parent of a child and never deserve to be called a dad. I've heard and seen plenty of examples. I plan on doing my best to avoid those."
The shape shifter tilted her head a moment, processing his words before trotting out the door. Ted chuckled, even as he watched the kids play. She probably would have been able to accept his words as a bit more serious if it weren't for the markings on his face at the moment. He closed his eyes in thought. It was hilarious when he did it, but now he had to figure out what to do while it wore off.
An amused chuckle resonated from his throat a moment later. Barring the changeling butting in, he had a brilliant idea that would probably keep him entertained the whole day as well as let him work on keeping a straight face under straining circumstances. The alicorn completed his morning routine, and picked the children up on his way out the door, pointedly ignoring the looks of confusion on the faces of those he passed in the hallways.
Step one; act like there's nothing wrong unless approached about the markings.
<-(0)->
Breakfast was the usual affair, though he'd gotten plenty of stares during it. He just smiled at the followers though, pretending nothing was wrong. It took a lot of willpower, but he was blatantly ignoring what they were staring at, at one point even asking a follower if he had something on his face. The poor mare's expression was golden, a desperate need to point out the markings warring with her inability to correct Father.
After dropping the foals off with their fellows, most giggling at him as he passed by, he made his way out of the dining hall where he was met by one of the faces he'd been hoping to avoid. Pandinus was scowling at him, walking towards him with purpose.
"What changed?" She muttered darkly. "What changed so much that Mirage and Grift had to come me for assistance in processing enough love to put a true drone into a love-coma for a week? If that clutch nurse was any heavier with it, she wouldn't have been able to keep walking, and that was after filling an entire jar with even more."
"Gem called me dad." He stated simply.
"So what? The rest of the hive calls you their father as well! Why do you do this to me? I swear to aid you, I offer myself to you, what more do I need to do?" She practically screamed, venting her frustration.
"Do you know what love is, Pandinus?"
"Of course I do. It is the strongest and most powerful emotion a changeling can feed on. My mother would have entered your servitude as well if it meant she could be given a few jars of it, much less the possibility of an endless supply of it."
"I'm referring to the connection between two beings, the willingness to do anything for that individual. A trust so deep that you willingly place your life in the care of another. The absolute certainty that no matter what happens, they will do everything in their power to both keep you safe and that almost everything they do will benefit you in some way." The alicorn explained. "And what is this servitude you're talking about? I've given you a home and food, and you complain that I don't give you more. Most would have thrown you out by now, but I'm not going to. Do you know why? Because I've learned a lot watching you, Queen Pandinus of the Changelings. I know that as your name suggests, the first thing you did when we first met was attack me, a sting if you will. I saw you just yesterday acting as one with such a title would be expected to act, leading my followers when I was not here, and I was ecstatic to see that. But you're missing something. I saw a glimpse of it when you laid your first clutch, a second meaning of your name showing through, but it was so faint, it might as well not even have been there."
The alicorn cocked an ear, an idea coming to him. "I want you to throw out the clutch."
A look of confusion at the sudden change of topic crossed her face. "What?"
"You said you are incapable of love, only consuming it. No child should be raised without a loving parent. They're not sapient, you already told me that. It's not like you'd be killing a living thing. Dispose of them." Ted told her, voice devoid of emotion.
"Those are my hatchlings. Sapient or not, they are mine, and I'll be locked in Tartarus before I abandon them!"
"I'm not budging on this, Pandinus. Get rid of them." Seeing the queen squaring herself against him aggressively, he merely sniffed before passing her, headed towards the tunnels. "If you won't get rid of them, I will."
Ted readied himself, even as he approached the door. The moment he opened the door, he heard a clattering of chitinous hooves on the stone floor, and knew she was coming. Ted shifted to a more shadowy form causing the changeling to phase right through him in her lunge. Returning to his physical form, he bucked her into the nearby wall, leaving a crack in it and a dazed queen on the floor, a small bit of blood dripping out of her split muzzle. By now their shouting had drawn several ponies and gnolls, the canines drawing their weapons at what they assumed was the changeling queen attacking their ruler. Queen Pandinus finally returned to her hooves, albeit shakily, and once more squared off against the alicorn, this time noting his reinforcements.
"Will you still fight for them Pandinus? Even knowing you will die?" Ted asked, his voice not betraying anything. The queen merely snarled in answer, lowering her head and drawing power to her horn.
"Put away your weapons." He commanded the followers present, before turning back to the queen. He chuckled darkly as he walked up to the still aggressively posed queen. As he neared, she lashed out, attempting to gore him with the dangerously glowing horn. The alicorn stepped back as she swung wildly before driving a hoof into her upper foreleg's joint, unbalancing her and sending her to the floor where he stomped a hoof on her glowing horn, the charge fizzling out as the painful impact resonated with the active nerves. Leaning down on the weakly struggling queen, he spoke with a soft voice.
"That, Pandinus, is love."
The queens struggles ceased as her brain tried to comprehend what he was saying. "Emotions are not just the energy you intercept or catch that give you energy." He told her, driving each point home with increased pressure on her horn. "They are the interactions between the living that tell us where we stand amongst our fellow sapient beings. That is what I felt for my children last night. That is what I'm beginning to feel for everyone in my home. If you truly want me to accept you, you will love my children as much as you love your own. There is no negotiating this. Love everyone in this nest as your own hatchlings, be another sister to my children, or leave."
He leaned even closer and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, his voice low enough to avoid even the sensitive ears of the canines. "Your pretty, and probably the only one here that I wouldn't have to worry about hurting, but if you try to use my children against me in an argument again, I will kill you."
The alicorn released the pressure on her horn and the changeling scrambled to her hooves, momentarily looking like she was going to take another swing at him, even though he could see her eyes still fogged from her initial introduction to the wall. Then she spun and darted down into the tunnels, likely headed for her nest. Ted took in a deep breath through his nostrils before releasing it in a huff. That had been downright cruel of him, regardless of her own vile tactics. Besides, with how she had cited some of the information she'd given him, he was certain at least half of her own beliefs and motivations were actually her mothers. There had been very few times when they had spoken that it actually sounded like her own ideals being put forth. Pandinus was in a position no queen had likely been in before, at least according to what he'd heard of their species, and was falling back on what she'd been taught. Alas, it wouldn't help her here.
She wanted something more from him? He was going to make her work for it. If she truly wanted it that badly, she'd find a way. After all, there was more to love than loyalty and energy. He'd seen a loveless relationship already. He had no intention of entering into one himself.
'They're called changelings. Let's see how well this queen can adapt to change.'