//------------------------------// // Every Action Has an Equal and Opposite Reaction (Twilight) Part 4 // Story: dC/dt ≠ 0 // by I Thought I Was Toast //------------------------------// It took less than half the trip to the entrance hall to fill the girls in. The rest was spent in idle chatter over preparations for the drill. It was a bit unfair for my friends to prepare the town for a surprise drill, but even a Cloudsdale ‘practice’ wild storm could inflict damage if we weren’t careful. As we came into the entrance hall, Morpheus was flying back in through a window. “Thanks for keeping the window open, Castle.” The lights flickered as he turned to me. “You won’t believe what I found, Twilight.” He shed his disguise and the series of green rib-like plates ringing his barrel and back started to shift. A number of cavities were revealed as they folded back with a rather unsettling number of cracking noises, and it was into them Morpheus poked his head. “Eew…” “Oh my…” “That’s not right…” Everypony but Fluttershy turned started to turn green, myself included. Dash snorted. “Yeah, I’m not staying around for this. See ya later everypony!” Giving everypony a hug, she turned to look at Applejack. “And I’ll see you on the farm when I’m done.” A faster than light nuzzle along with a feather in Applejack’s mane followed before Dash rocketed out the window. Morpheus whistled, having resurfaced halfway through the exchange. “Interesting…. Does she even know what that means?” Applejack and Fluttershy blushed while Rarity giggled. “She doesn’t have a clue, darling.” Applejack tried to glare effectively at the prince through her mortification. “And we’re gonna keep it that way, partner. Alright?” I looked back and forth between everypony. “Umm… somepony want to fill me in?” Rarity tittered. “A while back Rainbow came to me for advice on how to give public displays of affection without ‘ruining her reputation.’” Morpheus chuckled. “And you gave her that? That’s a devious prank if I’ve ever seen one.” I rolled my eyes. “But what is it?” Rarity swooned, rearing on her hind hooves and lavishly gesturing to the heavens. “It’s a very old pegasopolan tradition—a token gesture of undying love and fidelity usually used to propose. Only the most brave and daring pegasi knights would gift the very feathers that let them fly to those they hold dear, and it is said that even if lost on the longest night in the deadliest of winter’s blizzards such a token will always—” Applejack stuck a hoof in Rarity’s mouth. “And that’s why we ain’t telling her.” Rarity stumbled and started to fall backwards, but I caught her in my telekinesis, settling her gently back on four hooves. Applejack glowered at us. “Rainbow would freak and think it’s too sappy for her, and—as much as Ah hate that Ah asked Rarity about it, and that Ah’m not telling Rainbow about it—Ah don’t want Dash getting all awkward again. The truth is it’s okay to get a little sappy sometimes, and Dash needs to learn that.” She sighed and slumped her shoulders. “Maybe giving her a chance to do that without realizing she’s actually being sappy will help her see that.” That called for a group hug, and I obliged alongside the other girls. Morpheus returned to his search. “Ve can understand that, although it’s surprising to hear the Element of Honesty say that.” His voice was oddly distorted as his natural echo echoed a second time out of the cavities his head was poked into. Applejack flinched within the pony pile, and he paused for a moment before continuing. “Forgive us. Ve merely meant that all ve know about you suggests you would never approve of such a half-deception.” “Ah ain’t gonna lie about it if she asks!” Applejack bristled. “She just doesn’t have a reason to ask.” Morpheus’ chuckle echoed. “That’s a changeling answer if ve ever heard one.” Applejack sputtered but couldn’t respond. Her right eye twitched twice before she pulled herself from the group hug, and she walked out the door without a word. I raised a hoof to follow, but I hesitated as my charge sighed in the background. Pinkie looked between us before following her. “I’ll go try and talk her down. The last thing we need is a grumpy wumpy Applejack. Besides, I’m sure it was a compliment, right Morpheus?” Morpheus thrummed as he pulled out an object wrapped in a teal cocoon of some kind. “It was more an observation than anything else, but ve certainly weren’t insulting her. The compliment is how wonderful it is she can think like that. More ponies thinking like that would be fantastic. Let’s see now. Is this it?” His hoof shifted slightly. A small point began to gather on the end when he suddenly flinched and hastily shifted back. “Of course that would be considered a weapon by my contract. All I want is the equivalent of a can opener.” Rarity tilted her head. “Contract, darling?” Morpheus and I froze for a second. We looked at each other with the befuddled stares of two ponies trying to figure out who was crazier. He had clearly assumed I had told my friends about the contract—as if I’d actually defy an order from Celestia. I had simply said we had him under control, leaving the specifics vague because I knew it would be enough for them. Luckily, my mind came up with a brilliant answer to the predicament. “I can get you a can opener!” I winced as my voice cracked halfway through the statement He stared at me a second longer and flicked his wings a couple times. “No, I’ll just use my fang I suppose. I guess that’s safe since it’s a natural part of me.” He bit into small cocoon only for a small amount of glistening black-green goo to bleed out. “Blegh… That’s definitely not honey. Carapace cement is much less palatable.” Rarity whimpered and summoned her emergency fainting couch. I felt the little bit of breakfast I ate almost rise back up. Fluttershy took a different approach and took a step forward to examine it – backing off the instant Morpheus chuckled and started to hoof it to her. The prince slung his head for a second before shaking himself and snorting. Sitting on his haunches, he began rubbing his two fore hooves together – much like a fly or one of Spike’s dastardly comic book villains. While the rest of us regained our composure, the teal substance that composed the cocoon began to appear in his hooves. He carefully layered it over the hole he had made, and then patched it. He once more returned to his search after setting it back in his rib cavities. Fluttershy cast a furtive glance at Morpheus through her mane before turning to us. “I should really get going. Angle can get things ready on his own, but he’s a bit too… assertive….” Rarity sighed. “I suppose I should get going as well. As much as I’d love to stay longer, Twilight, I need to make sure my designs are safe from any horrid water that might sneak its way in.” One last hug was shared, and I wished them well. I momentarily maintained an illusion over Morpheus when the door was opened – just in case – but it wasn’t needed. Closing the door, I made my way to the prince, choosing my words carefully. “That could have gone better.” Morpheus thrummed in thought. With his head in whatever his rib cavities were, what once sounded like a group of bees tuning a double bass melded into something even more surreal. A shiver began to run down my spine as I heard it, but I managed to cut off at the half way point. I refused to let some millennia old instinct interfere with trying to make friends here. One double bass became two then three then four. The sound quickly became its own little orchestra section, and I couldn’t help but grin at the mental image of a bunch of changelings coming together to sing as a living orchestra. I was snapped from my reverie by Morpheus’ answer. “Your mood would suggest things went better than expected, but what do ve know? If yesterday taught us anything, it’s that ve are not a mind reader or master planner. No matter how ve analyze the situation, ve are baffled by how events transpired so poorly but ended with such a positive outcome.” His face was still hidden from me, and the extra distortion to his voice made it even harder to gauge his words. All the same, I could see he needed comforting of some kind. Unfortunately, I wasn’t exactly comfortable with using my normal repertoire of friendly behaviors on him. The typical nuzzle, hug, and other things I might do for my best friends just didn’t translate here. It would be like hugging Discord—which went as horrible as I expected the one time Fluttershy included him in the group hug. So I just stood there, silently wishing I knew what to do. He finally pulled another cocoon out, shifting his sides back into place. The silky object levitated around his head, and I saw the glassy eyed stare I was getting used to when he was lost in thought. I waited as patiently as I could until he finally sighed. “Ve are sorry if what ve are about to say causes you discomfort, but ve simply cannot estimate a series of actions that would avoid such a situation. I did in fact find proof of at least one other changeling in Ponyville. There could be more since I could only run the most basic of scans without you, but this is definitive proof.” The cocoon was cut open and, I stared at its contents. “Morpheus?” I inquired. “Yes?” he returned. “This is candy.” I deadpanned. “Yes,” he replied. I brought my hoof to my face. “Let me rephrase that. Why am I looking at candy?” His face was completely straight as he responded. “They’re Bon Bon’s Honey Drops. The sales pitch literally says they have ‘love in every batch.’” I groaned. “That’s just advertising!” He grinned. “You say that, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.” I noticed his fangs literally shrink as his smile broke out. It wasn’t quite as unnerving as having full-sized fangs bared at me, but it was still a bit off-putting. I looked away. “You don’t mean….” Morpheus chuckled. “Yes, I do. These beauties are made of changeling honey. You’re looking at some of the purest crystalized love ve have ever seen. Looks and tastes like normal honey to the physical senses, but – to an emotivore – each drop of honey this pure tastes like a precious memory.” His voice fractured. “N-not that I pry into the memories. T-That’d be rude. But love this pure is something special.” I barely heard him after the first three words. My mind was still struggling to process the situation. “But Bon Bon passes the monthly changeling detection scans without issue…. I’ve known her for years. It can’t be her.” Morpheus shrugged. “It could be her supplier.” “But she supplies her own honey. She told me herself over lunch with her and Lyra—even showed me her beehives.” It felt like the walls were closing in. I brought my hoof to my chest, pushing it outward and away with a slow deep breath. But it wasn’t a slow breath—only deep—and they kept coming alarmingly fast. I heard Morpheus say something, but I didn’t take the time to understand it. “I-I need some fresh air. Stay in the castle.” Gathering myself together, I leapt for the window Morpheus had entered through. But it was gone. Sighing with far too much force, I slowly eased a small bit of the tension from my legs and carefully managed to not bolt for the door. I shoved my shoulder against it only for it to refuse to budge. “Castle, open the door!” The doors parted with an agonizingly slow rumble. I looked back at the prince. “And don’t leave under any circumstances until I come back.” Running out the door, I took flight. Thunder rumbled in my ears, and I saw a flash of light in the distance. Panicked as I was, it barely registered that the thunder preceded the lightning.