//------------------------------// // Biological Concerns // Story: A Long Life // by pertelote345 //------------------------------// Applejack The intercom beeped. "Miss Applejack? Princess Luna is here to see you." "Send her in!" I said, maybe a little too giddily. I was just excited to do something other than look at spread sheets. For the life of me I couldn't imagine why she would be here. If there was an emergency she would have used my cell, and if it was a social visit she'd have made an appointment. I didn't have to wait too long for answers. She burst into my office with a blue flash of teleportation, carrying a somewhat bedraggled looking pegasus mare in with her. Luna smiled. "Applejack, I hope you're getting some time to rest." I chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm just doing paperwork. It's not what you'd call physically demanding." "You'd be surprised." The pegasus said. She was wearing goggles (pegasi picked up the fashion after they kept losing spectacles to the wind) and carrying quite a bit of luggage. Her cutie mark was a large heart with a thread of electricity running through it. I raised an eyebrow. "And you would be?" She held out a hoof. "Dr. Lightning Heart. I'm a cardiologist out of Canterlot." Oh lord, a doctor... It took all my years of training as a business mare to avoid blanching. "I'm Applejack, it's wonderful to meet you." Lightning Heart nodded. "I understand you recently followed up a myocardial infarction with a.. Gunfight?" She asked, more than a little uncertain. I nodded. "Yeah... I reckon I did... Not that I had much choice in the matter." The doctor winced and pulled out a second file. "I certainly understand that, and your duty to Equestria. However, in spite of your renowned earth pony magic I have to say, seeing you at work this early is a little... Troubling." I nodded. I turned to Luna. "Uhh... Luna, as much as I appreciate all of this I have to say I'm a might busy at the moment for a doctor's appointment." Luna shook her head. "This isn't a doctor's appointment, this is me appointing you a doctor." I blinked. "Beg pardon?" Luna smirked. "Don't you recall our earlier conversation Applejack?" I felt a sinking feeling in my gut. "Luna... What exactly is this?" She smiled. "Dr. Heart works for the National Health Service and your survival is important to the nation. I pulled a few strings and had her moved here as your personal live in physician." What?!! That was inside Applejack of course. Outside Applejack was smiling and nodding. "Of course... I have more than a few spare rooms on the third floo-" Luna glared at me from behind the oblivious mare. I gulped. "Or, I suppose I have a few guest rooms in the pent house." The doctor nodded. "The penthouse would be much better given that I'll want to be nearby in case you have another episode. I'll of course need to do a full physical. Will you have any time today?" Luna nodded. "I think Applejack has been out of bed far too long for someone just recovering from a heart attack. Why don't you take her upstairs and get everything settled?" The oblivious pegasus smiled. "Excellent! Lead the way Miss Applejack." As I was dragged away to my doom I caught Luna mouthing 'you promised". I swallowed my objections, grit my teeth and showed my new lode-stone the elevator. This was going to be a very long day... # Twilight Breakfast was a lot less formal of a meal than dinner had been. I'd nuzzled Spike on the way down and was directed to the kitchen by a bunch of my more early rising insect grand children. The changeling hive was actually more brown and gray than the black and green I'd expected a structure made mostly of stone and Chitin to be. Looking closer at the resident changelings I had to admit they had a bit of color variation too. I wondered if Chrysalises' army had just been painted black, kind of like how our royal guard followed a dye code. Xax was there as promised, as was the changeling that had a notebook out last night. She'd swapped the book for a laptop computer (knowledge of human world technology was serving me well in this strange future) and was nibbling at some toast while she typed some sort of paper. Chell was nowhere to be seen. Xax popped on an apron and tilted his head. "So, what will it be grand matron? We have eggs, cheese, veggies... I can do a mean hash or an omelet if you'd like. We also have tons of cereal! Although I have to warn you we're all sugar fiends around here so our selection of healthy ones is kind of thin..." I smiled. "You don't have to cook you know. If I'm going to live here I should learn to pull my own weight." Xax looked rather deflated. The changeling with the laptop chuckled. "You're better off letting him have this one grand matron. For all his faults, he is good with a skillet." "Thank yo- Jal!" Xax shot the typing changeling a glare. I blinked. "You know, I'm kind of surprised you all eat pony food. It would seem like you'd have different nutritional requirements." The typing changeling (Jal apparently) nibbled at her toast with a shrug. "It makes sense if you think about it. Primitive changelings were ambush predators that needed to blend in with sources of love to survive. We have a physical diet evolved to mimic the creatures we preyed upon." Xax winced. "Jal, could you maybe cut back on the prey talk?" He shot me an apologetic look. Jal looked up from her computer. "Xax, learning about our dark history helps us avoid the mistakes we made in the past. Besides, everyone's primitive instincts are terrible. Griffins ate sentient creatures, ponies lived in domineering patriarchal herds... What's natural is not necessarily what is right." Her words were actually kind of comforting... Even if they made me a bit queasy. Still, it was clearly something she'd spent some time on. I tilted my head, curious. "Are you a scholar?" She nodded. "I'm a graduate student at Ponyville U. Their anthropology and archeology programs are pretty solid, especially given all of the old ruins that are scattered about in this city." I wondered how many of those ruins used to be my friends' houses. Still, it was nice to have another scholar in the family. I turned to Xax. "I'd love an omlette with peppers and onions if it's not too much trouble." He smiled. "Easy peasy! Would you like something to drink? We have tea, coffee, milk, orange juice, krollock nectar..." "Krollock nectar?" I asked. "Coming right up!" I held up my hooves. "No, I mean, what is that?" He tilted his head. "You know... Krollock nectar. Krollocks make it? We're not a farming hive, but we get some good stuff from the local markets. You drank three glasses last night." I was totally lost. "Huh?" Jal sighed, "Xax, she's new here. Krollocks are an animal species native to the changeling homelands. They make nectar for their babies, kind of like how you mammals make milk." She tapped at her keyboard and turned the screen to me. Drawn on the monitor was a picture of large, armor plated slugs drifting around a pool of purple goop while changelings sucked the liquid up with pumps. I felt my stomach turn as I pondered the sweet vanilla flavored purple liquid I'd downed last night. Jal turned her computer back and shrugged. "We did have to eat when we hung out in hives you know." I turned to Xax. "Just tea please."