"Would it matter if somepony had... I mean... if somepony was... if her family... something shameful?"
"Oh, Fluttershy!" Twilight reached out and gathered her into a hug. She should've known that Fluttershy would have taken this the hardest of them all (except for Cadance, of course, but she had left yesterday with Shining Armor on their honeymoon up north.) Fluttershy's eyes were wider than she'd ever seen them before, and her wings pressed firmly to her sides. "Come in - Spike's gone down to the mines for some gems; we aren't leaving till tomorrow; we can just sit today." (Or you can help the Princesses, like you said you would,) an annoying voice reminded her.)
Fluttershy sank down on the floor of Twilight's room, looking as exhausted as if she'd flown all the way to Ponyville and back. For a minute, they hugged in silence, but then Fluttershy whispered again, "Would it matter?"
"No," Twilight said. "It doesn't matter what your family was, what you were or what happened to you. Or anypony else. You're our friend now. It doesn't matter if your father was Discord himself." She could feel Fluttershy beginning to slowly relax, and added with a grin, "I guess if you were Discord's foal, it would sort of matter, since it would tell us a lot about him -"
Fluttershy instantly tensed up again.
Twilight tried to catch the pegusus's eyes, but she was staring at the floor. "What's going on? What is it?"
"Would it matter if... somepony was... Would we still be friends if... if I was a... Changeling?"
Changeling! Twilight reflexively scooted away, and a moment later, realized how Fluttershy would take the reflex.
Fluttershy looked up at Twilight, tears starting to fill her large eyes.
"Are you a Changeling?" Twilight asked calmly.
"I - I mean, what if?"
Twilight nervously pawed the floor; she couldn't answer this without giving it an actual answer. "You definitely haven't cast a spell on me or anything. But then, we've just seen the Changelings defeat Princess Celestia herself and try to enslave us all, so..."
"Queen Chrysalis did it. I mean, not all Changelings." Fluttershy didn't look up.
"All the Changelings we've seen."
"And - and before Spike came, I mean before you and Spike came to Ponyville, I'd only seen big scary dragons. But Spike's not big and scary; if I'd run from him, I'd have missed being friends with a little cute dragon, and... and that'd not be kind."
She was right. Logically right. But... "But we know that there's such a thing as a baby dragon. We don't know there's such a thing as a good Changeling."
"Eep." Fluttershy hid her face in her hooves. But she whispered, "Wouldn't it be kind to guess? To think there might be? Rather than... there could be hundreds, thousands of them... brand them all as 'Not Friends'?"
"But... But that's like trying to be kind to Red Haze when he's about to set you on fire."
Fluttershy didn't move. "There're good dragons. And good yaks. And... why can't there be good changelings?"
"Fluttershy, we don't know anything. I was up half the night with the Princesses -"
"I overheard you."
"- and then talking with Luna in my dreams the rest of the night, and they don't know anything! Is there one swarm of changelings? Are there others? Are they living in the Badlands and murdering every foal who shows the least Harmony so the only ones who survive are the evil ones?"
"That's horrible!"
"It would be - but we don't know. Princess Luna posed it with deathly seriousness, and I didn't ask where she got it from, but I'm sure she has her reasons. Or are they one unified mind so the Queen controls every changeling like a hoof-puppet? Or are they perfectly natural creatures - except they live on the other side of the world and the only changelings we'll ever see here are the invasion party? And where did they come from? Were they a lost ancient tribe of ponies? Did Discord make them two thousand years ago? We don't know! We've never heard of them anywhere in history or even in myths or legends! We're seriously considering whether Discord made them just last year, because we just don't know anything!"
Twilight paused to catch her breath. She shouldn't be shouting at Fluttershy, not even now. Twilight looked at her, and saw her eyes... her big, tear-filled, calming eyes... but that suddenly sent her nerves to high alert. Chrysalis had "calmed" Shining Armor.
"Twilight -" Fluttershy put her hoof out toward her, but Twilight stepped back. She wouldn't get caught this time.
"So if you are a changeling - if anypony's a changeling - if you're our friend - if they're our friend - you should come out and help us! Tell us what changelings are; tell us what you know about Chrysalis, and any other swarms, and - and - be a friend! Or be thrown out with Chrysalis!"
"But... but I've been your friend! Do I need to - to prove -"
"Or are you a changeling who stole away my friend?" Twilight stepped back again, horn lowered.
Suddenly, there was a crash of breaking glass behind Twilight. She whirled about - and saw Rainbow Dash diving to a quick stop between her and Fluttershy.
"Hey, what's up? Why're you glaring at her like this?" Rainbow put her wing over Fluttershy; Fluttershy instantly cuddled up to her almost as if... as if she was drinking in Rainbow's love.
"She came to me talking about changelings, and saying it wouldn't matter if she were a changeling," Twilight said. She took a deep breath.
"And it wouldn't, right? She's still Fluttershy."
"But we don't know anything about changelings! For all we know they're magically-bound to follow their queen and steal away love and -" Twilight drummed her hooves in frustration. "Or you could've told us before all this!"
"She's telling you now."
"But she's not!" Twilight glared at Fluttershy, now almost vanished under Rainbow's wing. "If you are Fluttershy and not a changeling who replaced her last night, and that's why you're suddenly calming me with your gaze now!"
Rainbow put her head in the way of Twilight's stare. "She's been doing that all along, Twi. You know the Stare she uses on all her animals."
Twilight sank down, burying her head in her forelegs. "The animals she surrounds herself with, who all love her."
"Um, yeah?"
"Maybe. But I need to know." She sighed. "To know why my friend's suddenly so weird two days after we encounter shapeshifting bugs who can replace your friends."
There was a long pause. Rainbow shifted uneasily. Twilight stared at the two pegasi.
Finally, Fluttershy's voice whispered from behind Rainbow. "And the other friendly changelings?"
"If we know there can be friendly changelings? Who don't steal ponies' love and hide starving ponies in grim dark caverns?" She threw up her hooves.
"There're friendly dragons." A whisp of pink hair poked out from behind Rainbow. "And friendly griffins and bears and sea serpents."
"But are there friendly changelings?" She pointedly stood to her hooves. "Fluttershy?"
A squeak answered her, and a somewhat-larger whisp of pink hair.
"Fluttershy, I'm sorry. You're my friend - if you are the real Fluttershy, and even if you're not, you've been more friendly than any other changeling I've seen. But we can't just ignore this. I need to know - Equestria needs to know - the Princesses need to know - what's going on with changelings."
A corner of Fluttershy's ear poked out from behind Rainbow's mane. "I didn't mean for this to all be about me. I was trying to just talk about somepony else..."
Twilight swallowed, and she suddenly wished somepony like Rarity or even Applejack was here to say it better. "I'm not Applejack, but it was pretty clear to me you were talking about yourself."
"Yeah, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash interjected. "You're obviously going through something, and it wasn't just being kind to some other changelings somewhere else. What's up?"
There was another long pause. Rainbow shifted uncomfortably. Twilight swallowed, and she suddenly wished someone like Rarity or even Applejack had been here to say it better.
A flash of green light came from behind Rainbow. Twilight held her breath, as a black form emerged from behind the pegasus, sending all her senses on high alert... but she made herself stand still. This was Fluttershy. Or it might be.
She had fewer holes in her legs than the other changelings. The holes she did have were arranged in something close to a line, reminding Twilight of a flute. Her wings were more insectoid now, and translucent, and as pink as her mane had been. And her face was greenish-black, with large fangs in her mouth, but her grey mane curled around just like before.
Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash stared.
Fluttershy the changeling shrank back. "Can... can I change back now?"
Rainbow swept her wing over Fluttershy. "I really wasn't expecting that. But we're friends."
Fluttershy smiled. One could almost forget the fangs hanging out of her mouth. "Thank you. But I really don't like to be like this."
Twilight swallowed and nodded. "Of course."
Half a minute later, a butter-yellow pegasus was crouching under Rainbow's wing.
"So is this it?" Rainbow challenged. "Or what's next? A full family history?" She craned her neck back to look at Fluttershy. "Actually, what is your family like? I never met them."
Twilight swallowed again, but her mouth was still dry. "Actually... we need to figure out whether this's really Fluttershy or a changeling impersonating her."
"Simple," Rainbow said with a grin. "What was the first song they made us all sing together at Flight Camp?"
Fluttershy gave a small smile. "'A Very Minty Cloudsdale.' Wasn't that fun?"
"Far too childish!"
Twilight shook her head. "Any number of ponies could know that."
"The place the two of us flew to by ourselves, on our first day off?"
"Surprise Pancakes." Fluttershy smiled. "A little too loud for me, but I could feel everyone there loved it."
Twilight shook her head again. "You could've been watched. We need something still more sure."
"Oh all right!" Rainbow spread her wings. "Let's just get the Elements of Harmony and have 'em blast the meanness out of her already! Will that shut you up?"
"Actually, that's a great idea! Fluttershy's the Element of Kindness, so if we can use the Elements, this has to be the real Fluttershy!"
"So let's get this straight," said Applejack, the Element of Honesty around her neck. "That Chrysalis didn't even give us time to try the Elements, but you still want to test them now just to make sure she didn't somehow damage them."
"Uh... sort of?" Twilight weakly smiled. "I'll tell you afterwards?"
"Darling," Rarity said with a smile, "we've already apologized a dozen times for doubting you. If you want to be sure our friendship wasn't ruined, there're better ways of doing it."
"Just let her get on with this!" Rainbow Dash raised up Loyalty in her hoofs to catch the sun shining in the skylight. "It's something else, and she'll tell you afterwards, or else I will!"
Fluttershy cringed again.
A few minutes later, they were all standing in a circle. Twilight breathed in, then out, and lit her horn. This would be the moment of truth. The Elements would catch, and she would know once and for all that Fluttershy had been a Changeling all along and hadn't told any of them, and she would take her to the Princesses, and they would know what Changelings were...
... and nothing happened. The Element around Twilight's neck didn't even flash.
"Somethin's confuzzled." Applejack brushed her hoof down Honesty. "Feels the same."
"Ooh!" Pinkie bounced up. "Maybe these aren't the Elements at all! Maybe they're Changelings pretending to be the Elements until we're not suspecting anything and then they'll grab us around the necks and stuff us in cocoons!"
Could changelings do that? Twilight glanced at Fluttershy.
Rarity looked a little green at that. "Pinkie, are you sure that's..."
"True? Of course not! That's Applejack's job!"
Twilight shook her head, but her thoughts didn't clear. If the Elements hadn't ignited, that meant they, the Bearers, weren't all friends. So this wasn't the real Fluttershy. So she needed to expose the changeling right now. But was she sure? When this changeling was acting so much like the real Fluttershy? Was there any other explanation? Was there anyone else who could've been impersonated?
"Sugarcube?" Applejack walked over. "Is there somethin' you want to tell us?"
Twilight shook her head. "You're my friend, Applejack. You're not the problem."
In a flash of rainbow, Rainbow Dash was glaring into Twilight's face. "Yeah. Who was the one who was demanding tests from her friends just this morning?
Twilight's head sank. "Excuse me. I need to talk to Fluttershy."
Fluttershy wouldn't move. After a minute, the other four ponies cleared out instead. Rainbow Dash shot a glare after Twilight as she left.
"Fluttershy?" Twilight said.
Fluttershy didn't move.
"I'm sorry."
Fluttershy looked up, her eyes wide.
"I'm sorry I'm upset at you. You weren't hiding anything. There's no reason for you to have told us you were a Changeling before now. And you did tell me, now."
"It was so hard," Fluttershy whispered. "They were all so mean in the Hive... they were ordering us hatchlings around every moment of the day, and threatening us if we ever stepped out of line... As soon as I ran away, I didn't want to think of it ever again."
Twilight hugged Fluttershy. She could almost feel - or, at least, she thought she felt - a bit of love flowing out of her. But she didn't mind. "Of course. Could... could you tell the Princesses? Or do you mind if I tell them?"
After a moment, Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, if it'd help any other changelings."
"Thank you. And I'll be sure no one knows it was you who told us." She paused. "Do you forgive me?"
"Of course." The pegasus smiled a fangless smile. "That's what friends are for."
"I guess we don't need to try the Elements again?" Twilight said after a moment. "You're clearly Fluttershy; we could just tell everyone -"
"Excuse me? I think a rainbow of friendship would taste wonderful right now."
Twilight smiled. "Of course."