//------------------------------// // Every Action Has an Equal and Opposite Reaction (Twilight) Part 1 // Story: dC/dt ≠ 0 // by I Thought I Was Toast //------------------------------// Changing Times’ Notes: Every friendship has its rough spots. As this report shows, even the Elements sometimes fight, but true friendship will always win in the end. Every Action Has an Equal and Opposite Reaction: A Report by Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria The trip to Canterlot was pleasant—my actual visit much less so. Spike and I spent the train ride simply relaxing. We played Eye Spy and talked about his latest comic books. In hindsight, we were both avoiding the issue at hoof, but it was worth it to scrounge up those last few hours of normalcy. Once we reached Canterlot, however, I soon found myself swimming in a sea of half lies. My parents had let the mail pile up again, and missed my letter explaining things, while Shining and Cadance were there on a surprise visit of there own. I had to explain—without actually explaining—exactly why I was forced to leave Spike when he needed me the most. “Tardy. Nothing good ever comes from being tardy.” I flew through the night, wind coursing through my sweat-soaked coat and mane as I hurried home. Dreams of a hot bath and a good book drove me towards the castle on the horizon, and I shivered at the thought of finally finding out what happened after the cliffhanger I’d ended on a couple days ago. Too bad I needed to deal with Morpheus first. Landing on the balcony to my room, I lit my horn and cast a few spells of Rarity’s to freshen myself up. They didn’t actually clean me, but I was presentable for Morpheus, and that was all that mattered. Opening the door to my room, I found myself in one of the hallways. A plain white sign hung on the wall in front of me with an arrow pointing right. The arrow vanished as I blinked in befuddlement, replaced with the neat and tidy cursive I was coming to expect from my— from Castle. “I must beg your pardon, milady, but your presence is urgently needed at the study. There was apparently an issue today, and your friends are arguing over what to do with Morpheus while he works off whatever Pinkie drugged him with.” I shook my head and sighed. “Of course…. Something always goes wrong when I’m tardy. Would you mind making some snacks for us, Castle? It’ll be harder for anypony to put their hoof in their mouth when food is already there.” A flicker of light changed the writing. “Experience from Celestia’s Princess Lessons, milady?” I chuckled as I turned to head for my study. “No, this is from Pinkie Pie’s Hoof in the Mouth special.” The lights flickered again, but I didn’t need to look back. “Don’t ask! It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie!” My ears twitched at the sounds of muffled shouting coming through the thick, crystal door, and I rested my hoof upon it. This was not howI wanted this meeting to go, and Celestia was going to— No. I brought my hoof back to my chest. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Push my worries away, and open the door with a smile. “Why can’t we just wake it up ourselves? I’m sure if it won’t tell us the truth we can—” “Hoof in the Mouth special for Dashie!” My smile grew a little too much as I walked in on a twitching Pinkie shoving a cupcake in Rainbow Dash’s mouth. All the girls turned to stare at me for a moment before they glanced at the snoozing changeling on the desk. Morpheus—sans his disguise—kicked in his sleep, flicking his wings as he let out a low thrumming snore. “I told you to watch out for that combo, Dashie!” Pinkie removed her hoof and licked the extra frosting off. “Hrmm… a little too much lemon, but it’s still pretty good!” Rainbow chewed laboriously for a few seconds and swallowed. “What the hay, Pinkie?! Where’d you even get that cupcake?!” Pinkie’s muzzle scrunched as she contemplated her hoof. “Huh…. Where did I get that cupcake? I didn’t pack any lemon in my stash.” She looked back up, smiling widely. “Anyways! I get you’re mad, but that’s no reason to ignore the Pinkie Sense! You know that ear flop, eye flutter, and knee twitch means look out for opening doors!” “I wasn’t standing by the door!” Rainbow threw her hoof into the air. “Silly filly! Neither was anypony else!” Pinkie giggled, pulling some more cupcakes from places unknown and handing them to the rest of the girls. “I wasn’t warning you about being bonked! I was warning you we were about to have company! I mean, there was like, a bazillion and one percent chance it was Twilight, and if it was Twilight, then she totally wouldn’t like all the interrogation methods you kept suggesting.” There was a microscopic pause as she scarfed her own cupcake down and tapped her chin, smearring frosting underneath it. “Well, she might’ve liked the waterboarding one, but that’s only because I don’t know what that is, and it sounds like surfing which is really really fun. Hey, Twilight! Can we waterboard with the changeling?” “One Hoof in the Mouth special for Pinkie!” With some quick levitation, Rarity quickly stuffed her cupcake in Pinkie’s mouth. The fashionista’s sketchbook floated in front of her, and she had that look of ‘frazzle dazzle.’ As she continued to glance between Morpheus and me, her drawing tools maintained their manic pace. “Well….” I kept smiling and tried not to bite my lip. “I take it you all know?” Everypony nodded except Applejack—who was in the back corner, stenson over her eyes. Fluttershy was curled up next to her, patting her side and occassionally peeking at Dash. “Then you know what comes next.” I nodded as politely as I could given my urge to just shrivel up with a sigh. “Rarity, would you do the honor?” Rarity started looking around the room at anywhere but me. “Oh, we don’t need to do that, darling. I’m sure we would have noticed if you’d been replaced.” There was a snort from the sleeping Morpheus, while Applejack flinched at the lie. I stared at my friends for what felt like an eternity, letting the awkward silence grow. No doubt, they were waiting for me to insist on following the rules like I always did. It was different this time, though, and I shivered a little, saying nothing. They didn’t know, after all. In the back, a blue chitinous eyelid opened to stare into my soul. Morpheus, frowned as he looked at me, but was otherwise quiet. Whenever any of the girls turned even remotely towards him, he started feigning sleep, but he always risked opening his eye back up to look at me. “Come on, girls. You know it doesn’t work like that.” I forcibly relaxed my posture, my mouth curling in that small smile Celestia loved to use on the nobles. Pinkie certainly looked at me oddly, but the others took it in stride. A flash of blue accompanied a tingling sensation over my flank and head, and a sigh of relief escaped Rarity. “She’s clean! No changelings or mind control.” As one, the girls ran to my side for a group hug, pelting me with question after question. They didn’t even give me time to answer, and—while I would normally ask them to slow down—they took my silence as a cue to just keep the hug going. “Hive damn it all! I can’t watch this anymore. Give her some air! Do you have any idea what she’s feeling right now?!” The others froze, and I broke away with my mask barely intact. Morpheus had stood to glare at everypony. Fangs were bared, and wings buzzed as his echoey voice fractured such that the air seemed to swarm with angry hornets. He pointed at me, and I flinched. “That face is a mask—something I’m quite familiar with as a changeling. It is a lie— No. A deception or façade. She’s trying to cover up how she really feels so you all don’t feel bad.” Morpheus stomped, and I swore the floor cracked a little. “Masks are for changelings, though! You’re all supposed to wear your emotions on your sleaves, not hide them! By the Azure Veil, it’s not like you can taste it! How are you supposed to be friends if you don’t share your emotions?!” “I— Ve— You— Argh!” Words failed him as he opened and closed his mouth a few more times before storming into the hall. It might have been just me, but I could have sworn I saw some tears on the carapace as he left. The lights flickered and a tray of cupcakes appeared before me. “Hoof in the Mouth special for all of us.” I dutifully levitated each of the girls and myself a cupcake. “Were— Were we just lectured by a changeling? Because I know he wasn’t lying for any of that.” Applejack tentatively broke the silence after we all had our cupcakes. I slowly nodded. “That is Morpheus. You could call him our changeling ambassador, and I think we all owe him an apology.” Rainbow Dash blew a raspberry. “Why the hay would we do that?” I gazed at the door, biting my lip. “Well, I suppose the best reason for such an apology is he’s not only risking his life but his entire species by trying to negotiate peace with us.” My ears splayed back. “Also… his whole dream of peace only came about because he read our friendship reports.” Rarity tilted her head. “Really, darling? I guess we’re going to need you to explain some things.” Fluttershy gave a squeak of agreement, still shellshocked from Morpheus. “Yeah.” I shook my head and sighed. “I was so focused on Spike’s issues—which I’ll totally tell you about tomorrow—and Morpheus’ first impression that I never even considered the importance of our own….” I sat back on my haunches, mulling over how to explain the last couple of days. “I got it!” Pinkie perked up after a few minutes of silence from me. “Since Twilight clearly needs some time to think it over, we should totally have a slumber party! We can stay up all night until we get her to talk!” “Interrogation by pillow fight?” Dash cocked an eyebrow and grinned. “Totally!” Pinkie’s smile threatened to split her face, and everypony else was quickly joining. Still, a slumber party sounded… pretty good, actually. Just what I needed—not counting the bath. I giggled, pulling everypony into a group hug. “Thank you, girls. I’m gonna need to get to sleep at some point, though. I promised Spike I’d meet him, and ye, I know that sounds odd. Oh, there’s just so much to explain! Castle, prepare the royal bedroom for a slumber party!” The girls stared at me. “Castle?” The complete unison to their befuddlement made me giggle again. “I forgot I need to explain that too…. I can’t believe it’s only been two days! It’s certainly going to be one hay of a month!”