Changeling Castle- Library- Apatelodes
I met the others in front of the library after coming up from the nursery. Over the centuries, we had collected quite the mass of literature. I’d even bet our library rivaled that of the two sisters, especially since we had books they wouldn’t dare put out on the shelves. Dark magic in dusty tomes, some written by ponies, many written by other changelings. Even a few written by griffons. Of course, there were the normal ones as well. We had the whole series of Daring Doo for the little ones who enjoyed those types of stories.
Most important of all though was our history section. It contained information on every battle a changeling had been in for the last two thousand years at least, plus more. It was here we hoped to find the information we needed. For once, the others were silent, even Morpheus, and just went off searching through the tomes, grabbing one down here or there with their magic and taking it over to a table to study.
I trotted to the middle of the history section, glancing at titles. A few I pulled down and glanced through, then put them back. No, they wouldn’t do. After around an hour of searching, I pulled one book out, to find another hidden behind it, thin and on its side, covered in a thick layer of dust. Pulling it off the shelf, I blew the dust off, coughing as it filled the air, and brushed the remaining dust off the front cover. A faded picture on the front depicted the Crystal Empire. “Interesting,” I said. It must be over a thousand years old. How it had survived this long, and still in decent shape, I had no idea. I trotted over to a table and placed it down, sat, and opened the front cover. A History of the Crystal Empire by HayFeather, was scrawled in faded red ink. Flipping through the rest of the book, I saw it was all written similarly, by hoof. Turning back to the beginning, I began to read through it.
Don’t believe what those other ‘history’ books say about the Crystal Empire. Sure the basics are correct, many crystal ponies love playing the flugelhorn, we have a nice anthem, etc. But they don’t tell the whole story for King Sombra. He wasn’t always this way, he was a great pony at one time. Sombra was different from us, and it wasn’t until after he began to rule that I found out why. But I’ll explain that all later, as I write I hear the word that Princess Luna and Celestia will soon come to the Crystal Empire. They plan on taking King Sombra down. I must be out of here by then, as far from the Crystal Empire as possible. They don’t know what havoc they are about to bring here. Someone comes…
I pause, curious. Of course, I knew all about when the Crystal Empire returned. Had been shortly after our defeat in Canterlot. Maybe a few months? But had heard little about it since then, let alone why or how Sombra had made it vanish with him. Somechangeling coughed across the room, and I glanced up. All ten of us now sat with at least one book, pages crackling when they turned. Glancing back down at my book, I turned a few pages and continued reading.
…It was his sharp intelligence that corrupted him in the end. I remember when he was a colt, found lost in the snow half dead. He was brought to the hospital, where he healed quickly, but for a colt his age he was fairly quiet. In his sleep, he would sometimes speak the word ‘sombra’ and so that is what he was called. Lacking any mother or father, he was sent to the orphanage. I saw him there once, tossing a ball against the orphanage wall. The other colts and fillies played some type of tag game on the other side of the playground, except for one filly. She was an … odd one. She seemed to talk to the flowers. But then they said she had always been like that. She was a beautiful little unicorn filly and surely would have been adopted with the flap of a pegasus’s wing if not for her behavior.
But not to focus on her, I turned back to Sombra. A few of the little fillies and colts, unicorns all, grew bored with the game of tag. They trotted over to Sombra, and one colt grabbed Sombra’s ball with his magic.
“Give it back Windquartz!” Sombra said, reaching for it.
“As if I would listen to some blank flank,” Windquartz said, laughing, and tossed the ball into the air, catching it as it came back down. “Catch Frostswirl,” he said and tossed it toward a unicorn filly.
“Got it!” She said and caught it in her hooves. This continued, the unicorn fillies and colts tossing it back and forth, laughing as Sombra jumped trying to get it back.
“Oh, you!” He growled, teeth bared. A spark of blue magic expanded from his horn, throwing everypony off their feet around him. He looked shocked, for a moment, then grinned as his ball rolled toward him. “I’ll make you all pay one day,” he yelled, then grabbing his ball ran back inside.
I knew how he felt, having been smaller than my fellow hatchlings all those years ago. Some had teased me mercilessly. I looked over to Morpheus and sneered at his back. He had been one of the biggest bullies in our age group. If it hadn’t been for Chrysalis taking a personal interest in me, I don’t know if I’d have made it to adulthood. But that was back then. Eventually, I had hit a growth spurt and was now one of the bigger changelings in the hive. Only a head shorter than most ponies, while many others were lucky if they came to a pony’s chest. I turned through a few more pages and gasped when I paused on a drawing of an amulet. A silver-plated, upside-down triangle, a giant red ruby embedded into it, a red carnelian, round as a bit, in each corner of the triangle. Above, the figure of an alicorn, wings spread out as if in flight, black with the inner feathers a blood red. The alicorn itself was a grey color, a single lowered eye of red. I focused my attention back to the text, excited now.
Pictured above, one of the abominable creations of Sombra. He made two that I know of, but there could be more. Oh, the horror if the evils used to make the two were used to make more! This one he personally used, the other having been a prototype to surmise how to make it perfect. If I wasn’t trying to write out the whole truth, I would never even think to mention all he had to do to make them as powerful as they are. There is a reason, after all, that he is one of the only unicorns left in the Crystal Empire.
Dare I say it? But I must. He calls them ‘the Alicorn Amulets’, and as their names state, they give the wearer the power of an alicorn. They can be used by anypony, but for earth or pegasi ponies, it doesn’t end well. They cannot handle the magical energy flowing from the amulets, and it consumes them from the inside. There are no signs on their bodies at death, the magic leaves no mark. They just keel over, dead. It is different for the unicorn ponies, they are, after all, the most powerful with magic. They enhance a unicorn’s magic, enabling them to surpass their previous limitations in magic and do the impossible, for anypony but an alicorn.
Yet it also slowly corrupts them, the more they use it, the darker they become. I come to the conclusion this is the unicorn's way of dealing punishment to the user, for the evil wrongs it took to make it. Sombra had always been curious about the magic of our world, and after he took over power, began to experiment. All those poor unicorn crystal ponies who died to meet his insatiable curiosity! I know not what gave him the idea, but one day, he decided to examine the properties of the unicorn horn. He cut the horns off half a dozen of them, rendering them weaker than even the youngest earth pony. Even working in the mines would be too much for them, as they were too weak to lift the heavy loads.
Grinding up their horns into a fine powder, he ran tests on it. After some time, and many more… ‘de-horning’s’, he discovered a way to mix the powder with silver, placing the molten metal, ground-up horn mixed in, into a mold, and forming the first of the Alicorn amulets. He used a ruby, for its qualities of being able to store magical energy, and placed it around his neck with a thick cord of steel. It was clear to all of us later, how much his magic improved from that day.
“I think this is it,” I said, and lifted my head, ears perked as the others scooted their chairs back and gathered around me. Pointing to the page, I explained to them what I had read.
“Sombra was even eviler than we imagined,” Morpheus said, bright blue eyes wide with fear. “So then, it was Sombra you saw that night?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure, it sounds like his alicorn amulet, but why would he hide? If he knows he is powerful enough to destroy us, why wait? What does he gain by keeping us alive? And for that matter, how is HE alive? Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, along with that dragon, Spike? Obliterated him. No, I still think it is somepony else.”
“But who? And what are we to do now? Even with the whole hive, can we stand up to that kind of magic?” Chioides, a changeling missing one of his ears said.
“That’s what I still need to figure out.” My stomach growled, and I heard a few others do the same. “Let’s get some dinner first,” I said. “Then I’ll continue to read through this and see if we get our answer.”
They all nodded, and closing the book, I wrapped it in a piece of loose cloth from my saddlebag to protect it, then placed it in the bag. My thoughts whirled about what I had read as we all trotted downstairs to the dining room. I might not care for ponies much, but Sombra doing such experiments on the crystal unicorn ponies? That didn’t sit well even with me. What kind of corrupted soul must he have? What happened to make him that way? I would need to delve further into his past, along with reading more about the amulets.
On the Road- Shiny Whistle
“I think I’m beginning to hate stairs too,” I said as we rested next to an apple tree after our climb. “These are the types of days I wish I were a pegasus.” I rubbed my sore hooves together, and leaned back against the tree.
Chryssy nodded, yawned, and curled up on her belly next to me. “I swear, the pony or changeling who thought them up must have liked torturing others."
I laughed and gazed up into the leaves of the tree. Small, green, oval-shaped leaves covered it, with tiny green apples scattered here and there. Would likely be quite the harvest come fall. I looked back down when Chryssy sighed and closed her eyes. Her wings curled up against her body, her blue mane blowing softly in the wind. This unique pony she had created, was really quite beautiful. Fur healthy, shiny where the sun hit it, dappling through the leaves. Mane and tail were just slightly curly, enough to give it bounce when she walked. Her face full and tapered, cheeks a little plump, a rosy glow to them. Eyelashes longer than I had seen in most mares, curled gently against her face. A smudge of dirt was on the tip of her nose, and I reached a hoof over to rub it out of her fur.
“What are you doing?” she asked as I touched her nose. I pulled away but grinned as I saw the smile on her face.
“Oh, you have a smudge of dirt on your nose. I was just… trying to rub it off.”
“Not surprised, though I am surprised we didn’t get dirtier than we are coming up those stairs.” She grinned slyly at me. “Go ahead and clean it off if you want to.”
I could feel my cheeks go red in a blush, and Chryssy laughed. Her laugh was so musical in this form. Pulling a cloth from my saddlebag, I rubbed it gently against her nose, loosening the dirt and bringing back that lovely yellow. Yes… a nice lemony yellow.
“Finished staring at me Shiny?” I shook my head, breaking out of my trance, and bit my upper lip nodding.
“I’m sorry,” oh colt was I really blushing now! She seemed to like it though, as another grin spread across her face.
“Oh no need to be sorry, you’re just doing what comes naturally when a stallion sees a pretty mare,” she said and giggled.
And she was teasing me again. Or flirting maybe? I really hadn’t had enough practice with either to tell. “If… if you say so,” I said, and looked down at my bags. My whistle stood out in its little carrying bag on the side, and I levitated it out. “Shall I… play something for you?”
“Oh yes! I would be delighted to hear more.” She stretched out, long legs spread out on the grass behind her, and then lifted her head to gaze up at me. “Whenever you are ready.”
I pondered what to play for a moment, some old pony song, or another changeling song? I had a few more memorized now, and it would be nice to see what she thought of them. “Would you… find it inappropriate to play one of your changeling love songs?” I asked, ears going down and my cheeks feeling warm. “It’s just… there seem to be so many of them, from what I have studied so far…”
She nodded. “You seem surprised we have so many. Whom else would, but those that are masters of seduction? Songs, like food, can be a way to a pony’s heart after all.” Grinning at me, she swished her tail over her back hooves and brushed a strand of mane from over her eye. “Whenever you are ready.”
Oh yeah, she must be flirting with me. Hadn’t my brother Velvet Beat mentioned this before? Just more subtle? He did have all the luck with the mares after all… I shook my head and turned to Chryssy. “Okay, you should know this one,” I said, “Love Me Pony”. I put my lips to my whistle, and began to play, singing along in my head as I did.
Love me pony
Love me strong
Always in my hooves.
You have filled my heart with song
And this only proves.
Love me pony
Love me fine
All my dreams combined.
For my beauty you are mine.
And you’ll always shine.
Love me pony
Love me wise
Never let us part.
Love the sparkle in your eyes
Reach deep to my heart.
Love me pony
Love me fine
All my dreams combined.
For my beauty you are mine.
And you’ll always shine.
Love me pony
Love me close
Hold me through all time.
What we have it clearly shows
It will only climb.
Love me pony
Love me fine
All my dreams combined.
For my beauty you are mine.
And you’ll always shine.
I grinned, my cheeks still a little red, when Chryssy clapped her hooves after I had finished. “It is quite amazing how fast you have learned our songs. Tell me, how many do you have memorized so far?”
“Around seven, working on three others,” I said. “It just… comes naturally to me you could say? And they are all such wonderful songs.” My saddlebag in hoof, I replaced my penny whistle in its case.
“Well, keep up the good work!” She winked at me, stood, and stretched her legs. “We should keep going.”
“Of course,” I said simply, standing and trotting down the path. We needed to make good time.
Changeling Castle- Library- Apatelodes
After dinner, I made my way back to the library alone, book in my saddlebag. It had grown dark rapidly, and I lit an oil lamp, placing it on the table beside me. The red writing looked like blood in the lamplight, and it made me wonder how this pony Hayfeather knew so much about Sombra’s actions. Had they been part of them? Or just been a curious observer? I itched to know but figured they probably wouldn’t reveal their own part. I flipped another page and settled in to read.
The other amulet is the reason there are also few pegasi in the Crystal Empire. Improving on his prototype, he added a flawless carnelian, about the size of a bit, to each corner of the triangle on a new amulet. Three flawless carnelian stones, if placed in an exact right triangle, will create an energy field between them, creating the possibility of a type of harnesser of magic. It took Sombra a number of tries to find the right stone to harness so much power. Starting with Labradorite for its magical properties and powers of transformation, but it couldn’t contain the energy of the carnelian stones and shattered. A ruby was next, but even though it worked well for the other, the addition of the carnelians, when he tried to use it, cracked the ruby and shot a bolt of magic at a window, shattering the glass.
Stone after stone, gem after gem, failed to get the results he was hoping for. Frustrated, he traveled deep into the northern wastelands, searching for some stone or gem he had yet to try. There, deep in an abandoned mine shaft, he came across a deposit of vanadinite. Blood red in color, with varying shades of red streaking through it. He dug it out and wrapped it protectively in a cloth sack. Upon arriving back to the Crystal Empire, he got to work. Polishing up the vanadinite, cutting it down to size, making sure to keep his hooves and muzzle covered to protect from its toxicity, and placed it upon the necklace.
A spark of magical energy flowed between the stones almost as soon as it settled into place, and the entire amulet glowed red. Sombra magicked the amulet around his neck, and grinned, “yes, yes!” he yelled, and laughed. “It’s perfect.” He galloped out of his laboratory at once and started experiments I was even more ashamed to be a part of.
So they were working for Sombra! Was it possibly this pony that I had met? Was HayFeather even their real name? I scratched at an itch on my neck, this was certainly astonishing! But, which amulet had the pony had, the prototype, or this more powerful one? I had to read more. I turned the page and continued.
* * *
On the Road- Queen Chrysalis
As we came closer to the next town, Hoofville, music and laughter floated toward us on a breeze. The feeling of love in the air was almost stifling, and as we rounded a corner, the town came into view. Little white lights were strung between the trees, pink and dark blue balloons tied to their branches. Ponies were scattered all around in a plaza just inside the town. All were dressed in fine clothing. The mares in colorful dresses, and the stallions in sharp black tuxedos.
“Welcome, ponies!” A young earth pony stallion said an almost mustard yellow color with a short curly brown mane and tail, his cutie mark a pulled apart cheese sandwich. He trotted over to us, a huge grin on his face, as we entered the town. “I’m Cheese Sandwich, and you have stumbled on the party of the year! A wedding reception for my good friends Forest Roll and Golden Showers.” He pointed a hoof behind him, at two earth ponies, a handsome chocolate-colored stallion with a forest green mane and tail, cutie mark a daisy sandwich, and a delicate little coppery colored mare, mane and tail sable, cutie mark a gold shooting star.
“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you joining the party, after all, everypony was invited!” He stood up on his hind hooves and clapped the front two together. “I even know where to get you some party outfits! Come with me!” I gasped as he put a hoof around both of us and dragged us farther into town. Shiny and I looked at each other in confusion as he pulled us into a small boutique. “Amethyst! I got two more for you!” He yelled out.
“Oh Cheese, where do you keep finding them?” A unicorn mare, a dark purple with a pale pink mane and tail, cutie mark a pale purple crystal rose, said as she came out from behind a curtain. She turned to look at us and smiled. “Not to be rude dears, it’s just with this wedding already having such a large crowd, I am low on outfits at the moment.”
“That’s fine, we can go without,” I said and turned to head back out the door.
“Oh no, I wouldn’t hear of it! I shall find you both something perfect.” She trotted back behind the curtain, and noises of wheels moving and cupboards opening and closing could be heard behind it. Pausing, I stood listening, looking to Shiny as he watched the curtains she had disappeared behind. Shiny dropped off his saddlebags near the door, stretching as we waited, and I added mine next to his.
“She makes the best outfits,” Cheese said, popping up between us. I jumped in shock, and he just grinned.
“I swear, this pony is worse than that Pinkie Pie,” Chrys growled. “But at least he invited us to the wedding reception, I’m sure we can find some love-struck pony to feed on tonight after the party is over.”
I nodded, at least there was that, the kind of love flowing would be sure to feed us well. But did we really need more already? I felt fine. It wouldn’t do to terrorize another town. We were trying to come in peace to Canterlot after all. If we really wanted Princess Celestia to release Chrys’s friend, wouldn’t it do to be on our best behavior?
“Yeah, you’re right about that. No matter how much I might not like it.” Chrys grumbled. “Perhaps tonight would be a good night to feed on our little friend Shiny then? This town seems like they won’t attack us, at least not on a grand night like this.”
I would have to think on that one. Did we dare try? The squeak of a wheel interrupted my thoughts and I looked up. Amethyst had come trotting back out, pushing a rack of covered material on a clothing rack. “Here we are, these should be perfect.” She motioned Shiny forward, and gulping, he walked toward her. She pulled a black tuxedo from the rack with a powder blue undershirt over him and magicked a mirror in front of him.
I had to admit, he did look handsome. The cut of the suit flowed around his cutie mark, leaving a short tail that ran to either side of his rump. She added a short, black, top hat, which nestled behind his horn, and a light blue necktie. He stepped from forehoof to forehoof, checking himself out in the mirror. “I like it,” he said, his face lighting up with a smile.
“Excellent!” She said and turned to me. “Then it is your turn. Oh, I have the perfect thing to go with your mane!”
“Might as well get this over with,” Chrys sighed and we trotted toward Amethyst. Shiny stepped to the side of the mirror, watching me as Amethyst scrutinized me. She turned, shifted through a few dresses she had on the rack, and pulled out a juniper green dress, a lime green ribbon tied around the middle. She magicked it onto me, tugging at the corners to make them even. It flowed gently down my back to lay comfortably around my back legs. A tad tight around the belly, but the bow draped in curlicues in front of my wings gave off a slight shimmer. My mane was already a little curly, so she simply added another lime-colored bow and tied it up into a half ponytail. Looking into the mirror, I smiled. It did look good, and brought out the lemony yellow of my coat, and made my blue mane look brighter. Shiny’s mouth gaped open as he stared at me, and I held back the urge to giggle. “I don’t blame him, we do look beautiful.” Chrys said, chuckling lightly. “I dare say this pony has quite the fashion sense. I like her style.”
I nodded in agreement. I had never been much for dresses, but this one was quite nice. From what I had seen of the other outfits, we would blend right in with the crowd, exactly how Chrys and I would have it. Better none of them remember us. “We’ll take them,” I said, turning once more, smiling at my reflection. “How much do we owe you?”
“They are on the house, I wouldn’t want anypony to not look their best for the reception after all!” I stared over at her in shock. Free? After all the work she had done? I’d almost think she was Rarity’s doppelganger, but then there could be more than one generous dress designer? “All I ask, is you tell your friends and send them my way,” she said.
“Of course, thank you,” I said, and jumped when Cheese bounced up beside me again.
“See I told you, she is the best! Now let’s get you two back to the party!” Cheese put a hoof around Shiny and me and led us back toward the door.
“Wait, what about our bags?” Shiny asked, pausing where he had left them by the door.
“You go enjoy the party,” Amethyst said, “I’ll keep an eye on your bags.”
“You heard her, time to party!” Cheese Sandwich yelled, and with our bags somewhere safe, we stepped outside.
The party was well underway when we returned. There were still ponies in line to meet and greet with the bride and groom, but most had moved to either the dance floor or the refreshment table, covered with so many sweets even Pinkie Pie would get a toothache from eating them. Cheese placed us at the end of the line to meet the newlyweds. “Enjoy the party!” he said and trotted off to the dance floor.
“Well, this will certainly be interesting,” I said to Shiny, as we took a step forward. Only five ponies stood waiting in front of us.
“Just behave now, even if it gets boring,” Shiny said and tapped me with one of his forehooves. “We don’t want to be ran out of this town too,” he whispered.
“I’ll behave,” I said and chuckled at him as we took a step closer.
“By the way, what did you decide on for a name for this umm… version of you?”
I stared at him wide-eyed. How could I have forgotten something so important? “Um well… my cutie mark is a butterfly and music notes right? Soaring Song?”
Shiny chuckled and nodded. “Soaring Song it is then.” Only one more pony stood ahead of us, and as he moved on Shiny and I stepped toward Forest Roll and Golden Showers.
“Well hello there, I don’t believe we have met before. Welcome to our reception.” Forest Roll said, holding out a hoof to us. I shook it and grinned at them. “What brings you two to our little town?”
“Just passing through on our way back to Dodge Junction. I’m Soaring Song, and this is Shiny Whistle.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet some new folk around here. Been forever since someone new arrived.” Golden Showers said, giving out a lilting laugh. “We’re glad to have you, feel free to stay at Griffon’s Talon inn tonight after the party. We’ve reserved the entire inn for our traveling guests.”
“We will be sure to do so, thank you,” Shiny said, “and congratulations!” We moved on, a dark blue unicorn stallion coming up to talk to the pair behind us.
A new song started playing, and Shiny and I both looked to see an orchestra of ponies playing on a stage. A grey mare with a dark grey mane and tail stood near the front playing the cello, an indigo-colored stallion with blue mane and tail playing the harp to her left, a pastel blue mare, tan mane and tail playing the trumpet also on her left, and a taupe colored stallion, blond mane and tail playing the piano on her right.
Shiny looked over at me and kicked a hoof against the dirt. “Um Soaring, would you… would you like to dance?”
“Aww look at him being so shy,” Chrys said and chuckled. “Been a while since I last danced. Shining Armor and I did it a few times, preparing a special dance for the reception.” She paused, and hummed in thought. “You know, let’s do it. Might as well have a little fun tonight.”
I nodded and stepped closer to Shiny. “Sure, let’s dance,” I said and put a wing around him, then led him closer to the stage where other ponies were dancing. We faced each other, and Shiny Whistle reared up, balancing on his rear hooves, front hooves extended out to me. And that was when I realized, I hadn’t practiced walking around on two hooves, let alone dancing on them!
“You’ll be fine,” Chrys reassured me, “after all, it is the stallion’s job to lead in the dance. Let’s just hope he is a good dancer!” I nodded, gulping and reared up as well, taking his hooves in my own. Taking the first step, I gasped as I lost my balance and started to tumble forward.
“Woah,” Shiny said, and caught me in his hooves, both now wrapped around my back. “Been a while since you last danced, I am guessing?” he asked, muzzle inches from my own as he held me in a dip, then helped me back to my hooves.
“Yeah, not much need for dancing back home, protecting everypony being more important,” I said, as he held me close.
“Well then, guess I better lead a little better,” he chuckled, and led me into the dance once again, catching the rhythm of the other dancers. I stumbled a few other times, but Shiny was quick enough to make it look like he was sweeping me into another dip. “You up for a twirl?” he asked, and I nodded.
He let go of my left hoof and raised his left and my right above our heads, holding my hoof gently. I turned to the right, stepping back carefully, and twirled under our hooves, my mane flowed out behind me, and I laughed as I came back in to grasp his right hoof in my own. What an exhilarating rush, and I hadn’t tripped this time! The lights strung in the trees above us shined down on us, catching little droplets of sweat on Shiny Whistle’s forehead and making them glisten. As the song neared its end, Shiny brought me in for one last twirl, dipping me at the end of it and bringing me up fast enough the blood rushed through my head.
I couldn’t help smiling as we stepped apart and back onto four hooves. “My, my, is he an excellent dancer,” Chrys practically purred, and I let out a little chuckle. He sure was, especially having saved me from falling so much.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Oh nothing, I’m just enjoying being out after being cooped up for so long,” I sighed. The grey mare slid her bow across her cello, soft music flowing out as the bride and groom joined everypony on the dance floor, sweeping across it in their dance.
Shiny’s stomach growled, and he blushed. “Excuse me, guess I am a little hungry,” he said. “Shall we get something to eat?”
I nodded, though I would be eating later, and we trotted toward the buffet table.