Approaching the doors to the castle infirmary, Cabbage felt the weight of destiny press down on her back and impel her down the hall. The walk seemed to be taking forever, and then she was on the other side of the doors before she knew it. The subject of two dozen Changeling stares, her confidence flagged momentarily. She had a speech prepared, the words fresh and clear in her mind, but her tongue felt like it was made of stone, her throat like mushy oatmeal. Queen Chrysalis sat in the center of her audience, wearing an expectant but impatient frown the longer the silence dragged on.
“Speak,” the Changeling Queen said at last.
“I…” Cabbage forced her unyielding throat to utter. That lone sound shattered the spell on her voice box, and more words spilled out. “I did it. I proved I’m right. I win.”
“You proved… what?” Chrysalis asked.
“I proved that Changelings don’t have to steal love,” Cabbage answered. “Turnip can-” she turned to point to her let, but saw nopony there. She looked to the right: no one. “Where’d he go?” Cabbage babbled, “He’s supposed to be here! Turnip! You… you promised to back me up. We were going to…”
Chrysalis laughed, sounding surprisingly strong for someone so love-starved as she should have been. “Foolish,” she said. “Did you think we’d really listen to a pony’s opinion?”
“I’m not a pony!” Cabbage exclaimed, letting a flare of green fire wash over her body.
“That mark on your flank says otherwise,” Chrysalis said. Cabbage turned her head and gasped. Although she was without pony guise, the cutie mark she’d acquired was still visible, the green flames making the black hole-studded heart stand out from her chitin. “Changelings don’t have cutie marks,” Chrysalis said, mocking, “so if you do, then you are no true Changeling. What would you know about us, if you’re just a pony through and through?” Cabbage’s cutie marks flashed, and from them her chitin began to melt and morph into skin covered in a sea-green coat.
“No!” Cabbage screamed, “I can’t… I’m not just a pony. I am a Changeling!” She turned her eyes to Chrysalis, pleading. “I was going to save you.”
“Only one way the prey can save the predator,” Chrysalis said. Suddenly, the Changelings erupted from their places, charging at Cabbage en masse. Without thinking, Cabbage turned and ran out of the infirmary, neither noticing that Princess Luna was holding the door open nor that the hall she emerged into twisted and stretched as she ran. The angry buzz of Changeling wings drew closer and louder as Cabbage ran and ran. Just when it seemed that the swarm was going to snatch her up-
Cabbage burst through another, shining doorway and into the waiting hooves of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell. The three fillies combined managed to bring Cabbage’s headlong charge to a quick stop. Cabbage looked over her shoulder in fear only to see Princess Luna slam a solid door on the nightmare with a firm hoof, silencing the Changeling swarm in an instant.
“Well,” Luna said with a small smile, “it seems Changelings are not immune to common nightmares after all.”
Free of the nightmare’s hold, Cabbage took a moment to take in her surroundings. She and the others were standing on a pathway made of light that stretched beyond view in both directions and was lined with doors on both sides. All around, both above and below, was a sea of stars. Cabbage checked herself over and felt, to her relief, that she still had control over her Changeling magic, including disguise transformation. She quickly took advantage of that power, regaining the comfort of sea-green fur and blue mane. “What… where are we?” she asked at last.
“Oh, you’re dreaming,” Sweetie Bell answered promptly.
“Kinda between dreams at the moment though,” Scootaloo added.
“Huh?” Cabbage titled her head.
“’Tis true,” Luna said. “This is the dreamscape, which connects the sleeping minds of every citizen in Equestria. Here, I watch over the dreams of my subjects and step in to alieve potent nightmares and provide guidance when needed, especially for the younger ponies.” The Cutie Mark Crusaders all nodded.
Cabbage regarded the trio. “So, what are these three doing here?” she asked Luna. “Are they just figments of my imagination or-”
“Nope,” Apple Bloom said, “we’re the real deal. Princess Luna pulled us out of our own dreams ‘cuz she said you might need a little help.”
“But how-” Cabbage started to ask.
“I have worked in the dreams of each of these three fillies in the past,” Luna answered, “and five nights ago I noticed Scootaloo was having a dream that involved you, and so I asked her about it and learned of your mutual friendship. Judging by the content of your nightmare, I thought they’d be the best qualified to help.”
“How so?” Cabbage asked. In response, Luna simply picked Cabbage up in her magic and turned her so the CMC could see her flank.
A trio of jaws dropped. “Oh my goodness!” Sweetie Bell squealed, “Cabbage Patch has her cutie mark!”
“Whoa,” Scootaloo said, “is it real?”
“It’s gotta be real,” Apple Bloom said. “She can’t fake cutie marks, remember?”
“But, she’s a Changeling,” Scootaloo retorted.
“It’s real,” Cabbage said. “Real enough, I mean. It should only…” She flared out of her pony guise, but when she checked her flank the black heart and flames were still there. “Oh,” she said, “I guess… that part was true after all.” She sighed dejectedly and hung her head.
“What part?” Apple Bloom asked.
“This!” Cabbage said, pointing to her flank. “Bug-pony with a cutie mark on her exoskeleton. Try and tell me that’s not weird.”
The Cutie-mark Crusaders exchanged a look. “Yeah, it’s weird” Scootaloo said, “but so what? It’s yours. Here, check this out.” She turned slightly and thrust her flank out, showing off the scooter deck emblazoned with a yellow star that now sat there.
“Oh,” Cabbage said, her own concerns briefly banished by joy for her friend. “Congratulations Scootaloo.”
“Cool, isn’t it?” Scootaloo preened. “Wanna know how I finally got it? I realized that, no matter what my talents may be, it’s what I do with them that makes my destiny. I’m really well-coordinated for a pegasus that can barely fly; I could have been a dancer, a gymnast, or even an acrobat like that one pony in your troupe. Ponies have been trying to nudge me one way or another, but once I decided for myself that I love doing tricks on my scooter more than anything and promised to focus on that, BOOM! Cutie mark.” She pointed at Cabbage’s mark and asked, “What’s yours for?”
“Uh,” Cabbage hesitated, glancing at Princess Luna. The alicorn simply nodded, so Cabbage looked back at Scootaloo and the others and said, “It’s supposed to be for… helping Changelings learn not to be nasty, kidnapping, love-stealers.”
“Whooooa,” Apple Bloom said, wide-eyed.
“That is,” Scootaloo paused for effect. “So cool.”
“I guess,” Cabbage mumbled, her eyes drifting to the door she’d emerged from, “but, what if other Changelings don’t… take me seriously because I have a cutie mark?”
Luna reached out a hoof and gently turned Cabbage’s face away from the door. “Do not let worries hold you back from your purpose, little one,” Luna said gently.
Scootaloo walked up and put both forehooves on Cabbage’s shoulders. “Yeah, you know what your destiny is Cabbage,” she said. “Now you gotta own it, and if there is a Changeling that won’t listen to you, or a pony that tries to stop you, just forget them and keep on going until you prove them wrong.”
Changelings don’t have tear ducts, so Cabbage wasn’t sure if it was due to her pony nature or the dreamscape making emotions real, but her undisguised eyes definitely started to tear up. Faced with such optimism from friends who liked – no, loved – her without guile, she couldn’t help but be encouraged. She had brought Turnip around, after all. That was one victory no one, not even the Changeling Queen herself, could completely take away.
Cabbage partially lifted one hoof of the ground, hesitated, and then re-summoned her pony guise before wrapping Scootaloo in a hug. “Thank you,” she said. “I really needed to hear that.”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell dove into join the hug. Once they separated, Apple Bloom said, “I ya happen to need help teachin’ any Changelin’s a friendship lesson, consider droppin’ in ta Ponyville. Between the three of us and Twilight Sparkle, we can probably set anyone straight.”
Cabbage chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”
“I am loathe to break up this moment,” Luna said, “but the morning draws near. You should all return to your own dreams now.”
“All right, Princess,” Apple Bloom said for the CMC. “Thanks for bringing us to see Cabbage.”
“Bye Cabbage,” Sweetie said as the trio trotted away. “Come see us for real sometime.” She, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom ran down the glowing path for a long ways and then disappeared through three separate doors.
Cabbage Patch turned to face her own door with apprehension. Luna laid a reassuring hoof on her back and said, “Do not worry; the nightmare faded away the moment you left it. The only things that await you in there now are pleasant dreams. I will make sure of it.” Cabbage nodded in trusting relief, but when she started toward the door Luna held her back. “One last thing, little Changeling,” the Princess said, “Whatever your plans were for the near future, I must ask you to put them on hold. We need you and your Changeling charge in Canterlot, posthaste.” Cabbage tried to ask, to demand more information, but Luna just herded her back through the door and into a dream.
By the time Cabbage woke up, Luna’s last words had faded into obscure imagery in her memory, and the waking world thrust a new problem on her so quickly that she had no time to dwell on dreams.
“Has anypony seen Turnip?!” Harlequin was shouting from the doorway of the mare’s hotel room.
“Noooo,” Trixie grumbled, giving Harlequin a grumpy, groggy glare from her bed. “Why would he be in here?”
“I don’t know,” Harlequin said, “but he’s not in our room either.”
In a panic, her nightmare still fairly fresh in her mind, Cabbage leaped out of her nest of bedclothes, landed weird on too-long legs – ugh, did I shapeshift in my sleep? – shrank herself back to a manageable size, and ran to the door. “How long has he been missing?” she asked.
“Heck if I know,” Harlequin said. “His bed’s been slept in. I vaguely recall hearing him get up at one point, muttering about a stomachache, but that’s about it.”
“Ok,” Cabbage said, trying to force herself to be calm, “He… he wouldn’t just run off. Not after yesterday. He’s got to be somewhere.” Without another word, she pushed past Harlequin and ran down the hallway, ignoring the shouts that followed her.
Cabbage moved through the hotel floor by floor, mind wide open and silently calling for Turnip. The rest of the troupe finally caught up to her in the lobby and, having no success inside, Cabbage led them out to the lot where the stage-wagon was parked. Cabbage probed the wagon and sighed in relief when she felt a sleepy reply within. “I knew he wouldn’t abandon us,” she said. “He probably just took a walk to settle his stomach and fell asleep in…” She trailed off as Trixie unlocked the door and opened it to reveal Turnip blinking sleepily at the troupe with clumps of large slimy-looking, faintly glowing green sacs hanging from the walls on either side of him.
“What,” Trixie said, eyes twitching, “In Tartarus. Is all this?!”
“Surplus,” Turnip answered.
“Surplus what?”
Turnip yawned and stretched before clarifying. “Surplus love. After the party last night, I realized it would be a good idea to have some physical proof that earning positive emotions works better than stealing it. The Changeling Hive hasn’t seen a real love surplus in-”
“I don’t care about the details!” Trixie snapped, causing Turnip to flinch. “You’ve filled my wagon with goo! I cannot perform on a stage covered in goo!”
“It’s not goo,” Turnip said, weakly. He looked to Cabbage or help, but the little Changeling just shook her head at him. “I… Cabbage and I need this,” Turnip said. “I can actually stockpile excess emotions like this, and the more we have to show to-”
Trixie stomped up into the wagon and shoved her face into Turnip’s. “Not. In. My. Wagon,” she growled.
Cabbage bit her lip, worried about the rising tension and anger from Trixie, but unsure how to defuse the situation. Fortunately, Maggie Pie did have an idea. “Turnip, we can buy you a cart to haul that stuff in if you really need it.”
“Oh, like I won’t look suspicious pulling a cart full of solidified love around,” Turnip retorted.
“So put a tarp over it!” Trixie exclaimed, throwing up her hooves for emphasis. “I don’t care what you do with it; just get it out of my wagon!” She stalked out, pointed at Cabbage and Harlequin with the order, “You two watch him,” and continued stalking away out onto the street. Passerby ponies gave the seething blue unicorn a wide berth, but one white stallion dressed in Canterlot Castle livery dared to approach.
“Uh, Trixie Lulamoon, the Great and Powerful?” he asked tentatively.
Trixie gave him a withering glare. “The title comes first,” she said, “and never at the same time as my surname. What do you want?”
Unflinching, the pony held out a scroll sealed with Princess Luna’s signature dark blue wax and mark. “Urgent summons from Princess Luna,” he said. “An express train has been reserved for you and yours, and equipped to carry your caravan.”
“Just what I needed,” Trixie deadpanned, taking the scroll in her magic. She turned away, opened the scroll, started to read, and her irritation vanished in a blink. “Oh dear,” she said. She galloped back into the lot, shouting over the troupe’s debate of what size of cart to get. “Guys! Drop everything and pack up! We need to go to Canterlot, now!” She paused to catch her breath and levitated the scroll toward Cabbage. “Some of the Changelings are succumbing to starvation and slipping into comas.”
“What?” Turnip exclaimed, bursting out of the wagon to read over Cabbage’s shoulder. “Hang it, I thought we’d have a lot more time. Cabbage, do you know how to make surplus love sacs?”
“No,” Cabbage said slowly.
“Well, time to learn then.” Turnip picked Cabbage up and carried her into the wagon. “You’re more flush with love than I am right now, and we’re going to need a lot more reserves than this.”
“Now hold on,” Trixie started to protest.
Turnip reappeared in the wagon doorway. “We can get a cart to carry it all when we get to Canterlot,” he said. “There’s no time to waste, trust me.”
“Ugh, fine,” Trixie groaned. “But if that gunk stains anything in there, I’m taking it out of your pay!”
Turnip started to nod, but then did a double-take and grinned cheekily. “Does that mean I’m actually getting paid for my time, with bits?”
Trixie only hesitated for a second before answering, “Yes.” She turned to the troupe’s accountant and muttered, “Mags, figure out what part of our earnings from this tour goes to Turnip.”
“Yes ma’am,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes in amusement.