//------------------------------// // The Aftermath // Story: Fluttershy's Revelation // by Taco Belle //------------------------------// Twilight groaned, looking over the letter she received a year prior, the memory of Pinkie Pie repeatedly poking the spherical doodads on her little crown as she read the letter somehow still fresh in her mind. It has been a year, since Fluttershy's admittance to being a changeling caused that chain reaction, and resulted in all of them 'coming out of the cacoon' as it were, and Twilight muses to herself that it is still weird using changeling phrases in terms after avoiding them for most of her life... might be why most of the villagers of Ponyville still use the pony versions of the old sayings, but as the representative to pony-kind that changelings are not all sociopathic monsters with delusions of domination, she feels the distinct 'identity' the phrases lends to is rather important for her duty. The letter, of course, is Framed in her palace's main entrance room, which has since become a sort of trophy hall for her achievements in changeling equality, which have not been minor, as the last year has been fraught with challenges of all shapes and forms, from anti-changeling mobs vandalizing Ponyville, to giant red centauric monsters sucking all the magic out of Equestria... Ironic, after all the times they saved Equestria, and all the drives for Equality she pushed for, they only made any progress after she and her friends defeated Tirak. Silver Lining, and all that. Her face turns to a soft smile as her eyes pull away from the letter, and to the one of the many paintings in the hall, this one depicting a recent event; Celestia, Luna, Cadence and herself signing a bill known as the "Changing Love and Tolerance" decree, a copy of which is beneath this image, which grants the members of the Ponyville Hive all the rights and privileges of any other ponyfolk of Equestria. The painting depicts the three Alicorns, and fledgling Changeling Queen, pressing ink-dipped hooves against a fine ivory parchment, with smiling faces. While not everypony supported the bill, the Rulers of the land have all been willing to welcome Twilight's ilk with open hooves, bearing no grudges due to the actions of one insane, radical Hive Queen. Since that day, Ponyville's name was officially changed to The Ponyville Hive, the old name kept as a part of it due to the town having served as a haven for changelings for generations until only recently. Tearing her eyes from the painting, she looks at the room as a whole, the Palace of Friendship, beautiful crystalline walls, accentuated by semi-organic structures and pillers; changeling Decor, of course Rarity had a fit when Twilight began to 'gunk up' the entrance hall for this whole exibit, but again, the young Queen feels its best to wear her race outward to promote acceptance. The rest of the palace is more or less goop-free, however, just because she's a changeling doesn't mean she's a savage that lives in a organic hive-nest full of slime and egg-sacks, thats just gross and primitive, Comparable to a pony wearing animal hide and defending its cave with a spear made from a stick and a pointy rock! Her eyes finally settle on the Painting above the door going further into the Palace, featuring most of the Ponyville changelings, standing with the equine family's that have adopted and raised them as their own before bringing them to Ponyville to live peaceful lives... The Pie's, Granny Smith and Big Mac who lived just outside the town, and her own parents and big brother, standing and hugging their black-carapaced, purple-shelled family, as if their race did not even matter... because, really, it didn't. Twilight was late, nostalgia from a long, hard battle for acceptance fades, as she turns to the exit, Pinkie has found a way to mix joy and love into cupcakes, and she is very eager to try her friends newest attempt to combine pony and changeling cuisine. Outside, the sun shined down apon her own purple shell, a color the entire town voted on to represent their hive in honor of the pony that made it possible, and adopted by all ponies that join or are born into the Ponyville Hive. "Twilight hurry up, before Pinkie eats them all herself!" shouts Rainbow Dash, from the bakery all the way from across town, through the Hive Mind Twilight established for the hive, optional and disable-able for all members of it. "Alright, alright, I'm coming, i was just... remembering is all." she replies, with a physical and mental giggle, before she spreads her membranous wings, and takes to the air. Twilight has a feeling, everything will be just fine.