//------------------------------//
// Upon the Wings of Freedom: The Hive 
// Story: Phantasmare 
// by Emperor 
//------------------------------//

It was an odd scene in the throne room of Queen Chrysalis of the Badlands hive. The Changeling Queen sat upon a pedestal that wasn't quite proper enough to be called a dais. Several changelings stood around the room, each one at guard and ready to poke a pony at a single command. Meanwhile, Trixie found herself unable to form words, as her mind was still in a daze. She was certainly incapable of answering Chrysalis about her father.

Fortunately, Noire was far more composed. Since Chrysalis had spoken to the two of them in general, she had her own story on hoof. "My birth name is New Moon, but since I have started travelling, I have gone by Noire. My father was Incognito, which he shortened to Cognito upon leaving the hive. Later on in life, he preferred the nickname Cogs. When he left the hive, he worked for a short while in Dodge Junction. Cogs changed towns every few months, using a new pony form every time, learning new skills and picking up on pony culture. Eventually, he went to work in a clock store in Canterlot, where he found that he enjoyed tinkering with mechanical clockworks."

Though they stayed attentive to threats, the changelings were obviously interested in the story of their lost brother, focusing particularly on Noire. Trixie could feel the apprehension in the room, almost like a hum. "While working at the clock store, he was a pegasus. It was there that he met my mother, a bat pony named Frigor. After they went on a few dates, they fell in love. He revealed her true form, and she accepted him for it." Now there was a keen feeling of relief. "Bat ponies are a minority in Canterlot, and to be more easily accepted into mother's family, Cogs ditched his old job and form and became a bat pony. He was accepted by her family, and in the name of unity between bat ponies, they managed to get him a job with Canterlot's Royal Guard."

"Oh? Was he on active duty during the wedding?" Chrysalis interrupted.

Noire shook her head. "Neigh, he was on night shift duties at the time, and he was sleeping during the wedding. By the time his platoon was woken up to repel the other changelings, the fight was already over. There was a lot of paranoia in Canterlot following the wedding, but we had already gone through the detection spells in Canterlot's libraries years ago to make sure he could not be detected by standard methods. After the wedding, some of the unicorns came up with something more advanced specifically keyed for changelings. It took a lot of effort and it wasn't something we could ever scale up for all changelings, but we defeated that spell too."

"We?"

"I, I am a hybrid, your majesty. I wasn't born a unicorn like Trixie was, but I was still able to use magic on a limited basis, even if I didn't most of the time. I joined the Royal Guard as well, following in my father's hoofsteps, and I was out on patrol in east Equestria during the wedding."

"I see. Continue, then."

"Yes. Anyways, Cogs enjoyed working with mechanical objects, and he continued to even after joining the Royal Guard. It was a hobby he found himself fascinated with, and I think he would have eventually left the guard to open his own workshop." Noire paused, and everyone in the room except for Iceheart and Red Wing could feel her trepidation. "Only a few months ago, he was helping somepony replace the shingles on their roof. He tripped, and punctured his specular gland. I don't know if father died instantly, but he was dead by the time I found out about the incident. Because of laws passed after the wedding, my mother urged me to run away or else I risked getting court-martialled. I fled to a rural village where Trixie lived."

The mood in the room changed to one of overwhelming sadness, and Trixie nearly choked on it. Sadness was bitter, and she went down on two knees to support the rest of her body. Working in front of crowds was a thrill when the general mood was one of excitement. However, when Trixie did plays, she never did tragedies, and rarely lingered on the sadder parts of the plays she did do. Positive emotion was easy to handle. Trixie, however, did not have the innate tolerance to negative emotions that a changeling did, and so she risked being paralysed in front of a scene such as was in front of her.

Then Trixie realised that it was the sadness of the changelings at hearing about their brother's death, and she realised that she had yet to tell them about her own father's death. The thumping of her heart in her chest was almost palpable.

"An accidental death is never the way any changeling wishes to go," Chrysalis observed. "Still, I am glad to see that Incognito at least found a happy life, and had a daughter. Given your presence here, little miss unicorn, I assume my other son also had a daughter."

Trixie swallowed as the attention of the room was focused on her. While there were many sets of blue eyes staring at her, Trixie was acutely aware of the pair of red eyes right next to her. Somehow, they surpassed even Chrysalis' green eyes.

She took a few seconds to steady her breathing, before she launched into her own story. "My father was Cicada. Later in life he changed his name to Wooden Chisel. As you would expect, he took to working with wood. It wasn't just that, mind you. He enjoyed creating things, both practical items and artistic items, with stone and metal as well, but wood was his first and greatest passion. He truly loved it, and he built many unique pieces of furniture for the family home. In Manehatten, he met my mother, September Midsummer, a unicorn. Mother was beautiful." Trixie stopped to reminiscence. In life, her mother may have been dead for a decade, but Trixie had many pictures and even her own phantasmal spell to remember her mother's image. "She was a beautiful shade of orange and yellow, almost like the sun itself."

Trixie chuckled. "Father was a little bit unoriginal, though. Changelings have black chitin and shells, and he didn't change colours one bit when he began to live full-time as a unicorn. He had a jet-black coat, a mane only a shade lighter than that, and blue eyes."

"Yes, that does sound a little like the Cicada that I recall," Chrysalis agreed. "Odd that a pony so apparently creative with crafting things would fail to come up with something that was not so bland for his appearance. Besides, ponies are usually quite bright, with many clashing colours. Well, I suppose you are an exception to that, Red Wing."

"I always thought it was the most interesting thing about me," Red Wing said, but left his contribution to the conversation at that.

"Anyways, mother was a frail pony," Trixie continued. "She wasn't sick or anything, she just was never really that healthy either. Mother and father made the decision to move out to Whinnychester. It's a small farming village northeast of Fillydelphia that specialises in growing wheat. It was there they hoped the quiet village life and clean air would help my mother. My parents made friends there, and my father's skills were highly valued. Father, Wooden Chisel built a house, and it was there that I was born. I grew up there, but perhaps I inherited yet another one of father's things. I was restless, and left after I grew up." Trixie omitted the part about how she went to magic school, only for her attendance to be aborted by the one thing she despised about her hybrid status.

"I found a few ponies who taught me how to perform on the stage, and even apprenticed under a playwright for a year. I wandered Equestria, performing both magic shows and acting out plays in front of audiences, both in large cities and small hamlets. By the way, I believe that would be a viable career option for changelings. Any crowd that is satisfied by a performance will generate a lot of emotions," Trixie said as an aside. "Or maybe some are already playing in Manehatten on Broadway?"

"Perhaps," Chrysalis said, not giving a hint as to whether Trixie's guess was correct. There was the mild scent of interest from the crowd, however, and Trixie guessed one or two might even try their hoof at the art, now that she had presented the possibility to them. From what Trixie's father had told her, the hive had a fairly lax policy with its members leaving to achieve their own life goals, though it could have changed in recent years, given the failed invasion. A few minutes in the throne room telling her life's story wasn't enough to tell if that was the case. "But never mind that, carry on."

"Anyways, I traveled. Mostly in Equestria, but I left the nation's borders more than a few times, going to deer and zebra country. I suppose I might have even gone to the land of the minotaurs, but one of my shows went disastrously wrong and I lost my cart and many of my possessions and props with it. I went home at the time. By then, my mother had passed on, so it was just my father by himself in Whinnychester. I spent several weeks catching up with him, as we built a new wagon for my shows." Trixie sighed, dreading her next few words. "I didn't know when I left Whinnychester that that was the last time I would see him alive."

There was apprehension in the chamber, but not as much as there was before. Trixie had to hold in a sigh of relief at that. Perhaps hearing about the death of Cognito had already desensitised the changelings to the potential death of yet another former hive member. Trixie would take it. She did not believe she could fare the full brunt of sadness again that had washed through the room once already.

"Shortly after I left, my new wagon was destroyed by vandals. I'm ashamed to admit it but I, I was afraid of going home to see father again, full of shame that I had let something he had put so much heart and work into be destroyed. Instead, low on money, I went to work on a farm for several months." There was no question about it, Trixie was most definitely going to skip the Alicorn Amulet incident. "After some time, I decided to go perform at general shows where I did not need my wagon and props, as a stage was always provided to me. It took me over a year before I decided to return home to Whinnychester."

Trixie swallowed. Even now, two and a half years after hearing about her father's death from Doctor Morning Star, it still was difficult to think about. Trixie had finally recovered enough to go explore the world, but there was always that little filly deep inside her that raged at the loss of her father. "Following the wedding incident, the Royal Guard combed through most of Equestria to root out changelings. As Noire said, they came up with a new spell that could detect changelings. When they came to Whinnychester, they found one. My father panicked, and fled. I've never really asked for the details, but I was told a guard accidentally killed him when trying to capture him. His body was burned and the ashes thrown into the river some time before I got back to Whinnychester."

This time, there was sadness, but there was also rage. Death by an accidental fall was one thing. To be killed by a pony was something else. Yet despite how the changelings' emotions washed over Trixie rather like a large wave and threatened to drown her underneath, it also felt strangely liberating. Yes, this was what Trixie had needed. Trixie needed a roomful of others mourning her father's death, she needed to be able to really feel it. Perhaps, after time itself, this was the last salve she needed to move on past that fateful day two and a half years ago.

"There have been more than a few changelings who have been forcibly returned to the badlands," Chrysalis said. "So it is not the case that ponies have been indiscriminately killing my children, though they certainly do not seem to understand that not all changelings hail from the Badlands Hive, or perhaps even the concept that there is more than one hive."

So perhaps it had been an accident. Trixie had always assumed as such, but there had always been a niggling thought that the anonymous guard in question had deliberately killed her father. Chrysalis' words didn't settle it either, but now it seemed more unlikely.

"It is sad to hear that not one but two sons who left the hive should both meet unfortunate ends. Still, as it seems was the case with Incognito, Cicada appears to have also led a fairly happy life, if mostly uneventful, and found peace. Both their legacy continues, too," Chrysalis said, looking meaningfully at both Noire and Trixie. "I would much like to hear more stories about Incognito and Cicada, but that shall have to wait until later. Perhaps you will sup with me later. I would be curious to hear about the Crystal pony's life, too. You are the first one I have met, after all, and I was certainly not alive a thousand years ago. For now...Atlas."

"Yes, my lady," said one of the changelings, turning to face his Queen. With a start, Trixie realised it was the same changeling who had led the party that had put her to sleep. She suppressed her embarrassment, being in a room where all but two others could feel it. As she had only a few changelings between her father and her few 'uncles' to work off, it was difficult to tell the difference between changelings.

"All four of them have class two clearance. If they have an escort, the two daughters may enter class three areas. Is that understood?"

Atlas gave a brief bow. "Yes, my lady."

Chrysalis turned to face the pack of four ponies again. "As for you four...Red Wing, you already know as much, but be free with your emotions when you are in the hive! My children thrive off the goodwill and freely-given love of others. We will host you. In turn, we expect something out of it."

Trixie wrinkled her nose, taking a sidelong look at Iceheart. Well, perhaps the Crystal pony would have the chance later on to mention what she had done before leaving the Empire. Trixie was almost certain more than a few changelings would lavish her with hero worship upon finding out she had battled Windigos in the past.

Atlas turned back around to face the ponies. "If you will come with me, I shall show you to your quarters."





The four ponies walked down a tunnel which slowly sloped downwards. Red Wing was at the front, quietly conversing with Atlas, leaving Iceheart, Trixie and Noire to follow behind them, with three more changelings bringing up the rear.

Trixie took the chance to take a look around. The corridor itself was non-descript, having been dug out either out of the side of a hill or underground. More interesting were the ways the walls of the tunnel had been decorated. Somehow, the changelings had produced a luminescent material that they had slathered throughout the hive, with hues of red, blue and green that changed every so often as they continued walking. The sum of several hundred years if not thousands of years of changeling civilisation in the badlands was on display, with disparate pieces of art every few dozen hoofsteps. A vase was followed by a sculpture, then by a painting, by a bizarre piece of metalwork, then another painting. Trixie decided that if she were to ever return to the hive, it would be with a few of her father's remaining pieces. Wooden Chisel's memory deserved no less than for a few of his works to lie in rest at his birthplace.

After a short time, in which Trixie mentally counted the number of diverging paths that lead down other tunnels, easily hitting three digits, Atlas and Red Wing halted. There was a door on either side of where the two stood. The changeling turned around, assessing his companions briefly before he said, "This is where you will be staying while you are in the hive. Mares, on my left, Red Wing, to my right. You may leave your possessions here. Do you prefer a tour now, or would you like to rest up and wait until tomorrow? Keep in mind that Chrysalis is planning to sup with you tonight, so the tour will have to be brief."

Trixie traded looks with Iceheart and Noire. Noire took the lead and said, "We will stay here for now. When would you expect the meal to be at?"

Atlas suddenly let out a series of chirps. A few seconds later, one of the changelings behind Trixie chirped back. She nearly jumped, having just about forgotten about the other three changelings' presence. Atlas then said, "Supper will be in three hours, at seven p.m. There will be a clock in your room for you to keep track of time." Opening the door on his left side, he pointed his hoof inside, directing the mares.

Trixie walked in, following Iceheart and Noire, bemused. Her own father had very occasionally broken out into chirping, but it had always been in his natural changeling form. Considering how rare it was that he dropped his disguise, Trixie had no idea for just how often a changeling might chirp instead of using language as Trixie was used to it.

As she entered the area Trixie and her two marefriends would be living in for deities above only knew how long, Trixie set the saddlebags that she had been wearing since the early morning upon leaving Dodge Junction. Given Atlas' mention of the time, it was about four p.m., so the four had to have been unconscious for a few hours following their being intercepted by the changeling squad in the badlands. It was good to finally be free of that weight. At last, Trixie took a look around the room. There were no windows, but the far wall provided a significant amount of light by its luminescent dust. A curtain rod was installed against the wall. It was clear that at night, they would have to pull the curtain shut to block out most of the light to be able to sleep.

Other than that, the room was fairly spartan, closely resembling those of the hotels Trixie had occasionally stayed in. Four beds were scattered around the room with a large table in between, and there was a small kitchenette and washroom. There were a couple of paintings hanging from the wall. It was clear the changelings did not get very many visitors, and so they emphasised function over form with the quarters.

Noire poked her head out of the washroom. "Well, the good news is we have running water in here. The better news is it's actually warm!"

"Is that standard in this age?" Iceheart asked. "That is, to have warm, running water?"

"In most places, yes. In some smaller villages it's less common," said Trixie.

"I've missed out on so much, then. It truly will be great to see more of Equestria with the two of you," Iceheart mused, walking to the far wall and observing how the luminescent light played off her crystal coat. "Already I have seen the badlands and part of a changeling hive, even if it was just the one chamber and several corridors so far."

Trixie stopped, not daring to move as a full-body shiver washed through her. She had perhaps known it in some way from that first minute she had woken up from the Windigo ice and Iceheart had revealed her decision to leave the Crystal Empire and accompany her and Noire, but it was only now that Trixie was fully internalising it. She had given Iceheart a new lease on life, and the other pony was looking more alive by the day.

Trixie truly felt touched. For so much of her life she felt as if she had been drifting, learning and entertaining, but never really being more than somepony that was there. Even the worst incident of Trixie's life, the Alicorn Amulet, was likely to be relegated to history as a footnote, a stepping stone for somepony else. And then, in the space of a month, she had monumentally affected the lives of not one but two others, and was beginning to claw back her own life.

Then somebody knocked on the door, and Trixie was broken out of her reverie.

"I've got it," Noire announced. Testament to her being a pegasus with a hybrid heritage, her body failed to glow even as she cast the telekinesis spell. The result was evident, however, as the door swung inwards.

"Good evening, mares," Red said as he walked inside, nodding his head at each of them in turn. "I hope the accommodations are to your liking? The beds might be a little hard, but it's better than outside at least. The temperatures can drop to near-freezing at night, and the wind sometimes kick up sand and dust into your face when you're trying to sleep. It's always a nuisance to wake up to dry lips. That, and occasionally there's tumbleweeds, those are always a pain to get out of your hair after one runs into you."

"You're rambling, Red," Noire said in a deadpan tone. "Or should it be Red Wing?"

Red winced. "I don't like using that. Just Red is fine."

"This is related to that tornado, isn't it?" Trixie asked, then instantly regretted it.

Red sighed, pacing over to the table, taking a brief glance at a painting, a portrait of an unknown changeling queen, before turning around. "Yes, yes it is. I grew up in Steeds. Have you ever heard of it?"

Iceheart didn't even bother to answer, given her lack of exposure to the demography of the Equestria of present. Noire shook her head. Trixie, however, had. "A small town, southwest of Los Pegasus, isn't it?"

"Yeah, right on the southern border, but far to the west of here. It's a tiny town, really, I'm surprised you've even heard of it."

"I've traveled extensively," Trixie said. "I've never been to Steeds, but I have been to Grassplow nearby."

Realisation dawned on Red's face. "That would explain it. Anyways, I grew up in Steeds. It's a nice little village, but it's too far away from Los Pegasus and too small to really have any dedicated weather service. Pegasi are expected to help with their weight, but only to a point. Nopony expects you to be breaking up tornados alone." Red looked longingly down at his flank, where his Cutie Mark was, a pair of dark red wings enveloping the globe. "I got my Cutie Mark when I broke up my first tornado by myself."

Noire nearly choked. "Seriously? It usually takes at least a half-dozen ponies to dissipate one, often with magical back-up!"

Red chuckled, and he said, "Well, I suppose that it being my special talent helps. At least, that's how I had always interpreted it, y'know? Like a pair of wings protecting the planet below from wild weather. When there were large enough tornados to result in significant property damage and potential loss of life, we always let the weather crew out of Los Pegasus stop it. But small tornados could always cause some damage, and when I was a colt, I decided I wanted to stop even them from happening, before another farmer lost his crops or another family lost their house. Then I grew up and I did it."

As he was talking, Red had begun to pace, walking back and forth, his wing occasionally flicking out agitated. Even if Trixie couldn't sense his emotions, it was clear this was building up to something bad. "Those were the days, y'know? I was practically pampered by the town. How could I not be, when I was preventing so much damage every year by myself?" He sighed, and his lone wing suddenly drooped. "Then I got cocky, and I chased after something too wild for me to even tame. I stopped that tornado, sure, saved a barn at least, but it cost me my other wing."

There was an intense spike of sadness from the red pegasus as he looked at the nub on his left side. "They treated me well even afterwards, I said that before, but lots of them avoided me, especially the other pegasi. I was effectively a cripple. I could use my four hooves, but I would never be as effective as an Earth pony." Red wrinkled his nose, buried emotions playing out across his face before he ended with a scowl. "I took my savings and left Steeds, never to return."

"Then you ended up in Dodge Junction?" Iceheart asked.

"Not at first. Dodge Junction might be almost directly east of Steeds, but there isn't much even for small villages in between. Instead, I wandered through Equestria for a few years, staying in places a few months at a time, working odd jobs. Los Pegasus, Cartisle, Derby, Coltchester, Celestial Springs, Mareborough, and so on. It was when I was moving around Equestria that I realised I had always gotten my Cutie Mark wrong." Red took a look at his Cutie Mark again. "It's not about protecting the land from wild weather. It's about exploring Equestria, neigh, the entire planet. I have to do it on my own four hooves, however. It's a shame that I can't do it aloft on two wings."

"Upon the wings of freedom," Trixie blurted out, before she hastened to explain. "Sorry, it was just something that sort of popped into my mind earlier, and stuck there."

"Upon the wings of freedom," Red mused, repeating Trixie's words. "Not bad, I like it. It sounds poetic, I guess. Anyways, I brought you three here, so can you keep a secret?"

Trixie raised an eyebrow, but it was Iceheart who ended up speaking again. "If it has the potential to cause harm to others, then no. Perhaps large amounts of property damage too. If revealing it would save you in the future, then in that case, we could not expect to-er, I mean, yes, yes we can," Iceheart coughed slightly upon seeing Trixie and Noire's expressions at her, both of them asking Seriously? Her blush was fairly clear against her purple coat.

Red snorted, amused by Iceheart tripping over her words. "Eventually, I ended up in Baltimare. I was only there for a few days, before I was supposedly involved in a crime and they decided to try to take me in." He snorted a second time. "The idiots didn't seem to realise that if the witness spotted me, I have not one but two very distinct features that are impossible to miss in broad daylight." It was then that Trixie realised that even with his left wing removed, the tiny nub that emerged from his barrel still could twitch, and only the lack of a wing kept it from kicking up a gust in the room.

"So what did they do after they took you in?" Noire asked. Being a part of the Royal Guard that was sometimes deployed as a de facto military police, she was trained in civilian arrest, though she had never had cause to actually do so outside of the occasional drunkard.

"I said they tried to. It wasn't my finest moment." Red let out a whinny, before cutting it short. "Sorry, I get frustrated about it still."

"That's alright. What were you about to say?"

"Two guards decided I was a pony of interest who had taken place in a crime because I had a red coat. They got a pair of hoofcuffs on me before I knocked both of them out with my back hooves. Again, it wasn't my finest moment," Red said. "All I could think of at the moment was that if they took me in, I'd be locked up and unable to move around. I yearned to be able to feel the thermals under my wings, but a close second was to be able to go anywhere my four hooves took me. So I attacked them, and fled Baltimare that same day. Yet another place I've never returned to." He looked over at his left side once more. "Of course, even if it weren't for the fact my mane, coat and tail are pretty much all the same colour, I'm still missing a wing. There's no way I could blend in anywhere, so I quickly made my way south to Dodge Junction. Along the way, I dropped half my name and went to simply 'Red' to reduce the chance I might be identified by name alone."

"Where having only one wing actually turned out to be an advantage, in a strange sort of way," Trixie said, finishing his tale.

"Yep. Might even be that one of the sheriffs realise I'm wanted, but the town exists in its own strange equilibrium, and they try not to disrupt it unless it's for something that happens in the town proper. Somepony who knocked out a few guards in a town halfway across the country isn't worth taking in when he contributes to keeping the town stable."

"You make it sound as if the town is one arrested pony or potential changeling away from blowing up," Iceheart said.

Red said, "It's not that bad. I think everybody, yes, everybody, not everypony, is more aware after the failed changeling invasion of our border status with the changeling hive, or at least the only one that's attacked Equestria in hundreds of years. We're still paranoid about if our neighbors are truly ponies or not, but there's a belief that staying friendly and open to them could prevent or mitigate the possibility of another invasion." He sighed, looking weary. "From the changelings I've spoken to, that's even true."

"You know, that reminds me of something," Trixie said, then halted. What she was about to ask would be a highly personal question. After a second's judgement, she decided that if it had been aired out in the open, then Red wasn't too worried about others knowing about it. "I heard a little bit of what Queen Chrysalis said when I was waking up earlier. She said pony stallions cannot sire a foal with a changeling, only the other way around. Were you looking to settle down in the hive?"

There was a brief spike of indignation from Red, before it dissipated into the wide ocean of his feelings, leaving a few ripples before it disappeared entirely. "Something like that," Red begrudgingly said. "When the Queen spoke about my mark, that is what she was referring to, my episode in Baltimare. Even living in Dodge Junction still doesn't guarantee me complete freedom, you know. I've been here, to this hive, twice before. Both times, I spoke with Queen Chrysalis. She values ponies like me, who are willing to come to the hive and be cordial to changelings. Sh-she, she, erm, sorry," For the first time since Trixie had met him, the other pony actually seemed to be truly embarrassed, more than when he had whinnied earlier, practically stuttering, "She's tried to set me up with a couple of her changelings too."

Trixie tried to keep a straight face, but after a few seconds, let out a giggle. Trixie's giggle descended into a full-blown laughter, her lungs practically possessed as she let out all the anxiety she had been holding in the last few days. To her gratefulness, everypony else, even Red, joined in, though not as enthusiastically as her. "Ah, sorry Red," Trixie apologised as she calmed down. "It's just, Noire and I haven't even met Queen Chrysalis before. We knew a bit of her reputation from what our fathers told us about her, but other than that all we know was that she invaded Canterlot and was repelled. Finding out something like that was just really unexpected."

Red grinned, having gotten his laugh in too. "Yeah, I still find myself a little unnerved by her, too. But that information, well, it's not the deal-breaker, but I suppose I'd love to have a foal or two in the future to call mine." He sighed, something they had all been doing a lot of in the conversation. "I suppose the mares I've chatted with knew this as well, that I could not sire any, but no matter. I like to think I'm friends with several of them, such as Atlas. I don't know if it's a cultural thing that I simply can't bridge, but almost none of them can appreciate the desire to explore and wander like I do. I could tolerate being here for a few years before Equestria law enforcement forgets about me, but not for the rest of my natural life."

"The changelings that do have most likely left, like my father," Trixie said. "I heard the Queen say that as well. She is always willing to welcome them back, permanently or for a mere visit, but I know my father never returned once he walked out of the hive. If you wait for one of the mares who left to come back, you might be waiting for a while. And if you leave with her, that won't do anything for what Chrysalis wants, which is emotion generated within and retained by the hive."

"I know, I know," Red said, grumbling. "I won't begrudge her that, at least. That's why I have a standing offer to come and live here full-time if I ever choose to, even if it's because Equestria law enforcement finally caught up with me or something. Ha, they'd have to be quick about it. Once I get out into the badlands, even one of the guides would be hard-pressed to catch me."

"While this is all interesting to hear," Iceheart spoke up, looking at her mane in the mirror, removing a few pieces of plant matter that had presumably gotten into it while they were asleep, "Why did you come over here? I doubt it was to talk about you, that was just the way this conversation ended up."

"Oh, right. Thanks, I got sidetracked," Red said, briefly coughing. "Queen Chrysalis said she intends for us to have supper with her tonight. Trixie, Noire, you probably realise this by now, but changelings can survive on a minimum amount of food. Despite that, there are a few other ponies who live in the hive here, and so there will be edible food tonight."

"Edible meaning what? We can live on grass if we have to," Noire said.

Red raised his eyebrows. "Well, the changelings can eat the sage and shrub grasses, but they mostly subsist on plankton and seaweed that grows in underground cavern pools, which they nurture with the luminescent lights. To a changeling it might be palatable, but it's too bitter for my liking. But, um, never mind that. The two of you might have changeling fathers, and wow that sounds weird still to say to ponies. But even still, Queen Chrysalis isn't going to be 'nice'. She's a ruler, and she's still the one who decided to invade Canterlot. She'll attempt to trip you up, and make you say stupid things that reduce your standing in front of you. You have to be careful with your words, but you also can't be too late in responding or else you'll appear slow-witted."

Trixie let out a soft 'hmmm' of contemplation. "I think I should be overall fine. I've had more than a few hecklers in my life that I've easily turned aside. Besides, we only have three hours until we meet her again, that's no time at all to prepare. Although, if Noire and I wanted to get knowledge from her, really important knowledge, how would you recommend we do it?"

Red tapped the floor with his hoof a few times. "Try not to make it seem too much like a request, or else she'll grasp onto it and demand a favour in return. If what you seek could benefit her changelings in some way, impress that on the Queen and she'll be more open to bargaining." He sighed, and said, "I'm sorry I can't help you too much, I might be good at negotiating for fee of passage through the badlands, but the Queen is on a separate level. It's tough, too, when she can sense your emotions."

"Trixie and I can do that as well," Noire confided. "Not as well as actual changelings can, but we have some experience to it. It'll just be like when you and I were young and tried our best to keep our emotions hidden from dad, right, Trix?"

Trixie scrunched her nose at that, forgotten memories coming to the forefront.

Red looked briefly surprised, but didn't feel shocked. It was clear that he had been expecting at least one of the three to be able to sense his emotions since they had first met in Dodge Junction, even if it was because one of them might be a changeling, instead of two ponies who happened to have changeling fathers. "Well, in any case, I'm going to go catch a quick nap. I don't know if you've checked by now, but the quarters here have running hot water. Say what you will about the changelings, but they know their creature comforts."

"Yes, we've seen as much," Trixie said, before her eyes drifted over the beds and she realised something, "Wait, you have four beds all to yourself?"

Red just smirked, amusement radiating off of him as he left their room.





Iceheart was somewhat detached from the going-ons of the conversation as talk bounced between Chrysalis, Trixie, Noire, Red, and the remaining two patrons at the table, a pegasus mare and a changeling stallion. Trixie, Noire, and Red were seated on one side, with Trixie closest to the Queen, while the changeling and pegasus sat opposite. Even though there was an empty space on that side, Iceheart had been seated on the end of the table, directly opposite Queen Chrysalis on the other end.

Part of her apathy was because much of the others' idle chatter was about going-ons of the present day, which Iceheart was still ignorant about. She had felt foolish when she had at last realised that nobody at the table ever called the Changelings' attack on Canterlot 'the invasion', instead preferring to refer to it as 'the wedding', after the royal wedding that had taken place that day. Or perhaps she had been astute to finally realise it, after less than an hour of everybody dancing around it? She had been groomed by Sombra to repel Windigos, not foreign dignitaries.

The other part was that Iceheart had decided to observe the actions of the remaining pair, who were obviously together. Iceheart could not detect emotions like more than half the beings in the room, but it was obvious the mare, a white-coated pegasus named Silver Star, was in an extremely good mood. Given the way Hercules, the changeling stallion, was fawning over the mare and occasionally rubbing her stomach, Iceheart took a stab and guessed she was pregnant.

She hated being in the dark like this. Trixie and Queen Chrysalis especially seemed to be engaged in the royal art of wordplay, and Iceheart could only decipher every fifth sentence they said. Iceheart felt that she was actually doing better than expected, but that only underscored just how far she had to go to keep up, if she even wanted to keep up. After a while, she would grow fatigued of listening in, and turn her attention to the interspecial couple. Iceheart wondered why they were there. Queen Chrysalis must have known of the new foal and brought the two in for something. To show to Trixie and Noire that even now, new hybrids were still being born? As a gesture of friendliness, maybe, or was there a more sinister motive?

Iceheart let all those thoughts stew in her mind as she nibbled at her food. The main dish was a stringy pasta, lathered in a buttery sauce that had a hint of lemon to it. For the Crystal pony, who had subsisted on bland foods for years, the sauce was rather rich, and she had to space it out with the other dishes, such as a cream of mushroom soup distilled from mushrooms grown in the cavern; grass boiled long enough to remove the bitterness, mixed together with sliced tomatos and chopped onions, with a mildly spicy vinaigrette dressing over top; and a sweet dish of mostly liquid, with a few pellets of dough in the liquid. That last dish had a light brown gleam to it, and the doughballs tasted a little like milk. Iceheart wondered how the changelings had gotten milk when the nearest community was Dodge Junction, or if they perhaps had cows here in the hive as well. 

Maybe the pregnant Silver Star's presence was because of her emotions. All changelings and changeling hybrids in the room would be able to feel the pregnant pegasus' positive emotions, acting as a buffer against any frayed tempers or social missteps. Iceheart liked that idea best of all, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the Queen might have been using Silver Star as a tool to weaken Trixie and Noire, while she herself was relatively unaffected.

Silver Star and Hercules were talking to each other, occasionally taking fond nips at one another, but it was clear there was only one conversation at this table worth listening to. Iceheart turned back to focus on Trixie and Queen Chrysalis.

"I am curious, Queen Chrysalis," Trixie said, having smoothly segued in from an earlier conversation praising the changeling chef who had prepared the meal, though Iceheart had missed all but the last of that topic, "If Silver Star is any indication, your hive will soon have a pony with a hybrid heritage, if you don't already have any living here. How many hybrids do you think there are out there?"

Queen Chrysalis stopped and looked as if she was thinking. Iceheart doubted it was over coming up with an estimate to Trixie's question. "Probably the low hundreds. My hive does not keep close track of those who leave and if they have children, so while I know of two other hybrids, I did not know of your existences until you came earlier today. There are seven hybrids in the hive currently, and with those other two, you would make eleven known living hybrids related to the hive. Then I would guess there are a similar number in each of the other hives."

"I see," Trixie said, before taking a sip of the liquid part of the syrupy doughball dish. "You know, my father always had a little bit of a difficult time in teaching me magic. Externally-shaped changeling magic and unicorn magic are fairly similar, but different in enough ways that I always had to adjust for his lessons. Do the hybrids living here do much of that? Training in unicorn magic, that is. For that matter, training in all three fields of magic."

Queen Chrysalis narrowed her green eyes, and Iceheart reckoned the changeling monarch could see where the conversation was going. Nevertheless, the Queen allowed herself to be led down that path. "Not every pony does. Pegasus magic is near useless for those who are born as unicorns and Earth ponies, outside of easier elemental manipulation and being able to read the weather better."

"That's a shame," Trixie mused, finishing off the last of her pasta dish. "Something I've been working hard on over the last month is self-levitation, and I had wondered if pegasus magic might give me a boost in that field, or if I could do something extra with it once airborne that I couldn't on the ground."

Chrysalis' eyes widened this time, visibly impressed. "Self-levitation? Even I don't know how to use it. I can only recall two of my children who ever did. One did it out of academic interest."

The two were silent for a few seconds, and Trixie fidgeted, seeming to be unsure whether to ask about the other changeling.

Fortunately for her and for Iceheart's curiosity, Hercules turned away from Silver Star's belly long enough to ask, "The other one was the wingless changeling, wasn't it, your Majesty?"

Iceheart tried to read Chrysalis' face this time, but got nothing out of it. "Yes. His name was Icarus. He had wings at one point, and flew many times in his youth. Outside of immortals, he went the furthest into the sky of any being I know."

"Even higher than dragons?" Noire asked, frowning.

"Yes, even higher. He was a proud one, Icarus was," Chrysalis said, and now she was glowing with pride. Her mood didn't last long, as she continued to recount the changeling's tale, "But later in life, he succumbed to a rare wing disease, one that caused his wings to shrivel up and required them to be amputated."

"Wait, he couldn't just transform it away?" Red asked, and all attention at the table turned to him. Ah, of course, Iceheart thought. Didn't he claim before that if he were a changeling, a lost wing would have meant nothing to him?

"That is usually the case," Hercules said, picking up the slack for the Queen. Even as he did, he hugged his pony partner. Iceheart supposed Silver Star, being a pegasus, was feeling a little anxious over a tale about an equine who lost his wings, even if the equine in question happened to be a changeling and not a pony. "There are, however, a few rare magical diseases that affect even our transformation abilities. Some disrupt our capacity altogether. Others, however, are stranger in that they only prevent some aspects of shapeshifting. Perhaps any shape you take will always be colour-blind, or maybe you'll always have freckles, no matter what species or form you change into."

"That is correct," Chrysalis said. "For a changeling, losing one's wings would be humiliating, but he still had his magic. No small number of changelings rarely fly, and it was not as if he could not still be useful as a farmer or an energy-gatherer. However, Icarus yearned to return to the sky. After a few years, he learned to levitate his body, and flew by his horn rather than his wings for the rest of his days." The queen shrugged nonchalantly. "He and the other changeling both wrote down how to do it. The technique involved is fairly novel, but requires a decent amount of time and effort to lose. Since any changeling could turn into a flying creature, no other changeling ever bothered to learn it."

"I would love to be able to read their writings so long as I am here," Trixie said, finally going for the jugular on one of her goals while not leaving Chrysalis too much of an opening.

"Ah, yes. Speaking of which, how long are you planning to stay here?"

"We aren't entirely certain of that yet," Noire spoke up. "When Trixie and I left her hometown, we decided to go travel around Equestria, with the Badlands Hive as one of our first destinations. Before we went, however, we went up to the Crystal Empire."

"They'll be paying me extra for each day we stay over," Red mumbled, though everypony else ignored his comment. Money was not a polite topic to be spoken of at this table.

Chrysalis snorted. It was the first time Iceheart had heard the Changeling Queen do something even remotely undignified, but Chrysalis' words justified the action. "You went to investigate the Crystal Heart, didn't you? When the Empire reappeared, of course I sent a few of my own children. It was a nice idea, but just that: an idea. It gave my agents a moderate ambient boost, but nothing that could sustain an entire hive."

"Perhaps," Noire allowed. "However, while exploring, we heard about a fort north of the Empire that was locked in stasis along with the city proper, where ponies who fought Windigos a thousand years past were stationed."

"Windigos?" Chrysalis asked, perking up and suddenly at attention. "And what did you-oh. Iceheart, was it? You were one of the soldiers there?"

Iceheart nodded. The sudden respect Chrysalis was showing her was not unexpected, going off what little she knew about the old animosity between Windigos and changelings. "I was more than a soldier, however. I was the lead commander on base."

"Truly?" Chrysalis scrutinised Iceheart even closer, giving Iceheart a heavy appraisal. Iceheart didn't mind too much. Outside of the Crystal Empire, where many tarred her name, she doubted there were many creatures alive that would devalue her experience with Windigos. "Well, I wish you had told us earlier. You would have been an honoured guest."

"I had considered it," Iceheart admitted, "But I decided that visiting the hive was more for Noire and Trixie to resolve their own issues."

Chrysalis nodded, "I see. At the very least, however, I will give you the same clearance as they have. Although..." The Queen trailed off, before narrowing her eyes again, "You're obviously no longer up there. What made you decide to leave?"

"I don't know if you've heard of Windigo Ice or not. It's the fossilised remains of Windigo bodies turned corporeal, becoming a substance that strongly resembles ice. It's capable of altering weather patterns in a localised zone around it, causing snowstorms and drastic temperature drops."

"My own mother indeed heard of it, though I was not born until after the last Windigo left," said Chrysalis, raising her hoof to her forehead. "No, let me guess how this goes. You had this Windigo ice somewhere outside your castle, you decided to stay as the commander so long as it was there, but then it was destroyed, and you felt you could finally leave."

"Wow. That was surprisingly accurate," Iceheart exclaimed. "How did you know?"

"You've missed out on a thousand years of culture, Iceheart," Trixie said, taking a sip from her water. "No offense, but anypony who's read even a moderate amount of fiction could have probably guessed that once you talked about the ice."

"Oh," said Iceheart. Well, that shot down her theory that there might have been a changeling spy that got the news back quicker to Chrysalis than the three mares who had taken a train south from the Crystal Empire to Dodge Junction.

"I am curious, however.  As I recall, destroying Windigo ice required the power of the Crystal Heart, which always caused the dome to fall while the Heart recharged. Yet I have not heard any reports of the dome falling. What am I missing? Was the ice perhaps so small that it did not require as much energy?" Chrysalis asked.

"Windigo ice degenerates naturally over time. I am not exactly well-studied on magic, but I believe that the magical half-life is one of the basic principles of long-term spells. In this block's case, however, it was the second-largest block I have ever seen in my entire life, and even several hundred years did little to cause it to decay," Iceheart said. She struggled to keep her anticipation under control. The three mares had rehearsed for this moment, and it would not do to warn Chrysalis ahead of time by getting excited. "Of course, I was not largely responsible for its ultimate end. It is Trixie over there who deduced a spell to destroy the ice block without taking down the dome in the process, and she actually managed to cast it."

For the first time, Chrysalis was at last taken aback. "Oh, is that true, Trixie?" She asked the blue mare, sitting at her side.

"Yes, it is. It was more of a moment of inspiration than anything, but I had most of the groundwork from another spell that I was able to modify." Trixie paused, looking unsure of something, before she added, "It was the most intense magic I have ever cast in my life. I am glad that I am a hybrid, in many ways. In that moment, the extra magic was the only thing that allowed me to complete the spell, and I even had to borrow some from Noire to fully cast it. But it erased the entire block in the process, not just most of it."

"Curious and curiouser," said the Queen, looking thoughtful. No pony or changeling around the table dared interrupt the queen from her musing. Minutes passed, and Iceheart dared to eat the rest of her food before it cooled off. She had never thought to ask about the changeling palate, though Red had mentioned a little bit about it earlier. The food was good. Was the changeling chef who cooked it able to taste-test it in her natural form, or did she have to change into a pony to appreciate it?

At last, Chrysalis spoke again. "You've been wanting to know about what talents a hybrid has that a regular pony would not, correct?"

And there it was, out in the open. "Yes. I have some talent with illusions. I wonder if I inherited that from my father," Trixie said.

"Hmm. Unfortunately, I cannot help you there too much. It is not as if it was a topic of particular interest, outside of being able to use the magic of all three tribes," said Chrysalis. "But I am sure she would know everything all the hives have collected on hybrids."

Noire shuddered. "You mean her?"

"Yes, her. You would have to go to Colt Springs. She has mellowed out in her old age, but she is still as sly as ever. She likely remembers the Windigos, however, and would be pleased to hear even their remains are gone from this planet."

Iceheart found herself confused. Who was this 'her' they were talking about? The active conversationalists seemed to dance around the topic, dropping tantalising hints, but never outright saying who she was. She supposed this mysterious being was a changeling, an old one by the sounds of it, but nothing more than that.

Trixie sighed, and she said, "I suppose we will have to head west, then."

Noire, Trixie, and Chrysalis took that as the natural end of that topic, each choosing to finish the rest of their meal.

Conversation resumed as a changeling suddenly came in, carrying a tray with seven glasses. Six of the glasses had an identical pale gold liquid in them, while a seventh had milk in it. Ah, Iceheart thought, her suspicion confirmed as the milk was floated down to Silver Star. Chrysalis is being careful about the new foal even now.

"Cheers," Chrysalis said, raising her glass with her magic, "To Silver Star and Hercules and their foal-to-be's good health."

"Cheers," Everybody else said, clinking their glasses together before drinking.





The dawn of a new day found Trixie in the library, fortunately without an escort. The library was fairly voluminous, with a large ceiling dug out combined with some nifty architecture to keep moisture out of the room. The room was nearly circular, with just a slight elliptical curve to it, and Trixie had wandered around the inner sections of the bookshelves past the fiction and the history right into the magic section. It took her a while, however, as she made idle conversation with several changelings on the way there, many who wanted to know more about her travels and her father. There was even a grey-coated Earth pony mare, though Trixie did not know if she was truly a pony or merely a changeling getting some practice in with her pony form.

It was after having to parry an overenthusiastic changeling who Trixie was certain was more interested in Trixie specifically than her adventures or her father's life that she at last made it to the magic section. After a few more minutes of endeavor, she found a copy of Icarus' notes.

"The Wingless Changeling, huh," Trixie said as she held the book, binded in a red cover with gold printing. "Did he come up with the name himself, or did others give it to him? Oh well, let's see," She said aloud as she perused the book. Trixie was not too worried about talking to herself in the library, given the acoustics. Changelings were less bothered by background noise than ponies were, too.

Trixie found herself fascinated by Icarus' book, a combination of a journal, an autobiography, and a guide to his spells. The changeling had created a couple of novel spells in his day, such as a limited echolocation spell. Trixie skimmed over those. While a few of them may be useful in the future, she was more interested in his writing on self-levitation.

After finally getting past his section on how he lost his wings, and having to hold her tears, Icarus at last talked about developing his self-levitation spells. Trixie let out quiet 'ooh's and 'aah's as she marveled at his ingenuity, combining separate spells together to create a new one. Taking the book over to a table, she set it down, and let her mind wander.

There was a subtle difference between changeling and unicorn magic, as she had mentioned at the dinner the night before. One of Icarus' spells, a magnetism spell, had no unicorn equivalent that Trixie knew of. She wondered if there was in fact one that she just did not know of, or if the other unicorns who were capable of self-levitation had come up with alternate routes to creating their spells. High-level unicorns were greedy about spells they developed, usually hoarding them and only teaching them to families and apprentices, if that. One only  had to look at the newest princess and how she refused to share details of the spell that had triggered her ascension.

"On the other hand, maybe that is wise," Trixie mused aloud. "Perhaps if others cast it they would become alicorns too, and goodness knowns the Princesses don't want alicorns to be dime-a-dozen."

"What's that about alicorns?"

Trixie nearly jumped out of her seat, and almost slammed her book shut while she was at it. Looking up, she saw Red standing against the table across from her, and she took a quick breath to calm herself down. "Oh, it's just you."

"Ah, did I scare you? Sorry."

"That's alright. I was just looking at this book and got to thinking," said Trixie.

"About what?" Red asked, looking down at Trixie's book and failing to read the text from his upside-down view.

"About the direction my life has gone, sometimes, I suppose," Trixie said. "I feel as if life was unfair to me."

Red snorted, but kept his voice low, mindful of his location. "Unfair? Sorry, Trixie, but life is unfair to all of us. I-" He broke off, looking at his left wing, "Sometimes life is unfair, and you really can't do anything about it. All you can do is try to move on, and struggle against anybody or anything that tries to keep you down."

"I have," Trixie said. "It, it just feels as if my life has been some cosmic chewtoy at times."

Red sighed. "Do you want to talk about it? I heard about your father, and your mother, too. I suppose it's hard, wasn't it? You couldn't even tell anypony about your father's true identity, and the fact that who they killed was in fact your father, and not a changeling that took his identity."

Trixie was surprised. He understands me, she thought. Trixie didn't know why. Perhaps it was because she was already deep within a changeling hive, where almost every creature there could sense your emotions. Perhaps it was because given the secrets he already knew about her, revealing more of them wouldn't hurt as much. Or maybe she just felt a shared kinship with Red, each of them knowing both loss and the feeling of wanderlust, the need to keep moving, the excitement of never knowing where your four hooves would next take you. Trixie decided to tell him.

"Do you know what the colour of my magic is?" Trixie asked.

The pegasus stallion blinked. It was a weird motion, Trixie thought to herself, given his red eyes so easily blended into the rest of his red coat and mane. "Pink, isn't it?" He asked. "If you want to be fancier, maybe magenta or something?"

"Just pink. I've never needed to call it anything more than that," said Trixie. Though some of the more vain unicorns I've met have had some fancy colours to describe their aura, she silently added. "A unicorn's magical aura is fixed throughout her life. It never changes, even if she breaks her horn down to the root and it regrows completely."

"Hmm? Yeah, I guess that's true. I don't ever recall anypony I know having their colour change," Red said, speaking his words slowly, not certain where Trixie was getting at.

"My magic was green when I was younger."

Red's head jumped up from his slouched position, looking more at the table than Trixie, to face Trixie directly in the eyes. "What? But how?" Realisation dawned on him before Trixie even had a chance to answer. "It was because you're a hybrid, wasn't it?"

Trixie nodded. "Yes, at least, that's what we believe. My magic changed colours." And it wasn't even the last time it did that, but the less Trixie thought about the Alicorn Amulet, the better. She sighed. "If I had been living in Whinnychester, it would have been a fairly innocuous change. There are not too many unicorns there, and those who do wouldn't even realise the significance of such a change. Unfortunately, I wasn't in Whinnychester at the time. Instead, I was enrolled at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns in Canterlot."

Red's eyes were wide open now. While Trixie didn't expect him to be fully familiar with unicorn magic, he at least appeared to understand the ramifications. "What happened?"

"I was living with Noire's parents at the time, instead of at the school dorms. We lucked out, because the first time I cast magic after my aura changed, I was at their place." Trixie sighed wistfully, looking at the book. She wondered if she would have learned how to do this had she managed to stay for the full time at the School for Gifted Unicorns. "Maybe we were paranoid, but what happened is done now. I immediately dropped out and left Canterlot a few days later. Ever since then, most of what I've learned has been self-taught, with bits and pieces taught to me by other generous unicorns I met on the road."

"Would finding out your magical aura colour changed really lead to others finding out you were a hybrid?" Red asked.

"We don't really know. Like I said, maybe we were paranoid, but it was a case of better safe than sorry. I'm still a little sad, and bitter, however, that I never got to learn any more magic at the School from the professors, perhaps even from the princess herself." Instead, I ended up being used as a stepping stone, twice, for a pony who was trained directly by the princess and became one herself.

Trixie viciously repressed that line of thought. She was willing to admit she was jealous, but there was nothing that could be gained by dwelling on it.

"That wasn't it, was it?" Red asked, and Trixie looked back. "There's more to your tale than that still, right? Again, I heard your story back in the throne room yesterday. You lost your mother when you were young, your father was killed, and you lost two of your carts, one to a show gone wrong, and one to vandals. Huh, that does sound like a rough life." He frowned, tapping the table gently with a hoof. "But there's still something more to it that you haven't mentioned yet."

Wow, he's observant. Maybe his calling should have been as a detective instead of a guide, Trixie thought. She mused idly about his red eyes, indistinguishable in their shade of red from the rest of his body. A unicorn's magic was often the same colour as her eyes. Trixie had thought herself unusual to have green magic, right up until they turned to the same pink as the hue of her irises. There was no doubting what the colour and shade of Red's magical aura would be if he was a unicorn.

"You're right. There was something else," Trixie said. She closed her eyes. It was a weak defense mechanism, but somehow she felt safer reciting this with her eyes closed as opposed to looking ahead at Red. Either way, her ability to sense emotions wasn't something she could shut off, and it would be difficult to repress in something like this. She would know how he felt. "When I was travelling and performing shows, there was a mare. She was at the show that went wrong. Two...colts couldn't tell the difference between a story and a real life, when I embellished tales of myself fighting monsters. What kind of pony in real life outside of the princesses would be able to fend off an Ursa Major?"

"An Ursa Major?" Red said breathlessly. "Aren't they so tall that they reach the stars?"

"That's a myth," Trixie said, waving her hoof. A second later she scolded herself for being so careless, given she couldn't even see where the table was with her eyes closed. "Regardless, a real Ursa Major is so enormous that no normal pony could possibly hope to challenge it. Two colts somehow got it into their head to run off into the Everfree Forest and find an Ursa Major, and lure it into town and get me to fight it off. They didn't even succeed at that, thankfully. What they found was still the size of several houses stacked on top of one another, but you can still look an Ursa Minor in the eye."

"The Ursa was what destroyed your cart?"

"Yes, that's correct. All my props were gone, and it was my living space, so I had to live outdoors for a night until I returned home. I wasn't foolish enough to keep my life's savings in there, but it still took some time to get the paperwork processed to withdraw from my bank accounts again. But anyways, there was a mare there. I had just performed a show earlier, using up much of my magic, and I was in a panic, having just seen my home crushed in front of me. I retreated with the two idiots. But I still had a plan. I'm a hybrid, remember. It's more than just about us being able to sense emotions like regular changelings can, we can also harvest emotions."

"That would be very useful if you were doing plays with magic," Red observed. "Use magic, get the crowd excited, take some of their excitement to stay topped up on magic. Clever girl."

Were Trixie a pegasus, a griffin, or some other creature that was part-bird, she would have preened right there. As it was, she was mildly annoyed at being interrupted, but brushed it aside. "Yes. I planned to turn around and vanquish the Ursa Minor in one blow, expelling it from town and sending it back into the Everfree Forest. The entire town would have been so grateful to me, I could have feasted on their adulation for days." Feeling a slight tinge of disapproval from Red, Trixie added, "You might think it a little manipulative, but I felt like I was born for the stage. Doing little tricks to get them into a low vibe only to pull something out to get them roaring with approval was my sugar high." The disapproval disappeared, and Trixie felt relieved.

"And that didn't happen, by the sounds of it," Red continued for Trixie.

"Yes, that is correct. That mare stepped in, and stole my thunder. She managed to banish the Ursa Minor from town. I was caught flat-hoofed, panicked, and fled." Trixie sighed. "Word got out that I was a coward and a liar, omitting the fact that I was a stage magician and playwright who is supposed to tell stories and that I fought against the Ursa Minor, and my good name was mud after that. I didn't realise that until I attempted to perform again with my new cart, and after a few shows the cart was vandalised and ultimately wrecked. That really hurt me hard, but it hurt even more when I returned home a year later and realised it was the last thing my dad and I ever worked on together." Trixie had to bite her lips and tongue to keep from crying, and she squeezed her eyelids even more shut.

There was a strong, tangy feeling of sympathy from the other pony, and Trixie took what she could get. What emotional energy she had collected since her experiences on the northern ice flats wouldn't have been enough to fill up a magical wading pool. "You don't have to continue if you don't want to," Red said.

Trixie wanted to, oh how she desired it. But she felt she had gotten far enough with telling her life's story to yet another pony that she should take the last step. She opened her eyes, blinking out her tears. "No," Trixie said, keeping her voice steady, "I'll tell it."

"After my second cart was vandalised, like I said, I went to work on a farm. What I didn't mention before was that it was a rock farm."

Red choked. "How-how does that even work?" His ears were twitching in a frenzy. Trixie was unsure if it was because of surprise or restrained laughter.

"It was an Earth pony family. They turned over rocks at certain times of the day and in such a manner that they collected natural energy from the planet itself. It's how gems form underground. With some know-how, it's possible to speed up the process and get gems of a large size and more flawless cut. The family was reasonably well-off, and they paid good, but they didn't care to spend two bits on anything that seemed even slightly fancy." 

"I see," said the red stallion, nodding in enlightenment.

"Anyways, it paid well, but it was really boring work. I worked in Whinnychester, a wheat farming village, as I grew up after I left the School for Gifted Unicorns. I wasn't afraid of manual work, and I had come up with many mental exercises over the years to pass the more dull periods. But rock farming was something else entirely, and none of the ponies I worked with made decent conversation. Three of them were completely obsessed with rocks, one of them was always angry, and the other was the shiest pony I've ever met. That was dangerous. It let my mind wander, and all too soon I decided I wanted revenge on that mare."

Red narrowed his eyes, and both distrust and dread leaped to the surface. "What did you do?" He asked, as a touch of nervousness settled in as well.

Trixie brought a hoof up, biting on the side of it for a few seconds before she finally spoke. "With the money I had earned, I went to an artifacts shop, and found a rare magical artifact. A dark magical artifact," She emphasised.

There was a brief spike of alarm from Red, and an increasing sliver of dread, but he stayed silent, waiting for Trixie to continue. "It was called the Alicorn Amulet. It gives the wearer a boost in magical power and makes spells far easier to cast. At long last, all the spells I knew the theory for but could never perform with no teacher to help me, such as age spells or complex transmutation spells, they were no longer impossible. I just thought it, and I could shape the magic and cast them through my horn as easily as casting a basic levitation spell. The world was my oyster, and I used it to embarrass her in front of all her friends, before exiling her from town."

"That was going a little bit too far, don't you think?" Red asked, frowning.

Trixie retorted, "That's why it's called a dark magical artifact! I was hardly the pinnacle of rationality at the time! I'm sorry, that was uncalled for of me."

Red responded with a wave of his hoof, a commonly understood signal to let bygones be bygones.

"Anyways, I went mad with power, and soon had the town remade in my own image. Only a few days later, however, she returned, getting training from a zebra shaman who lived in the Everfree forest of all things. She turned me own flair for trickery against me, and claimed to have found an artifact even more powerful than the Alicorn Amulet. Thankfully, I was foolish, and I-um, did I mention that the only way you could remove the Alicorn Amulet was for the wearer to do it herself? I don't think I did, but that's one of its functions. I was foolish, thankfully, and decided to steal her artifact, a necklace, and switch it out with my amulet. I'm glad for that, because I shudder to think of what I might have done if I had kept the Amulet on any longer."

Trixie rubbed her hooves together, looking down at her book. "But even a few days was enough. Dark magic has a way of taking its toll on a user. I haven't touched another artifact since, or even thought about tinkering with dark magic, but even now, three and a half years later, I still wake up with nightmares in the night."

Red raised an imperceptible eyebrow. "Really? I had heard Princess Luna helps ponies with bad nightmares. I would expect she would make a pony suffering from nightmares caused by dark magic a high priority."

Trixie snorted. "Maybe, but I have my doubts."

"Oh? Why, who was that mare you attempted to take your revenge on."

Trixie sneered, and she said, "She was the newest Princess of this realm, in the two years before she ascended."

This time, Red's dominant emotion was shock, painted out across his entire face, from twitching ears to raised eyebrows to wide eyes to a mouth hanging open. "Wha-uh-uh-" He stuttered, letting out the occasional noise in between moments of awed silence.

"If you leave your mouth hanging open, you'll catch flies," Trixie teased him in an effort to break up the awkward tension resulting from her revelation.

Red shut his mouth, but it took him a while longer to get the rest of his body under control. At last, he spoke again. "You mean Pri-"

"Don't speak her name!" Trixie hissed. "Sorry, but I've tried hard not to even think about it."

"Really?"

Trixie nodded. "Yes, really. I know that sounds petulant, but please, try to look at it from my perspective. I've spent my entire life fascinated by magic, but had my time at school interrupted by something beyond my control. Even then, I struggled to teach myself magic. I sweated, bled, even pushed myself until I fainted from exhaustion sometimes. Later, I found a passion for the stage, which I worked hard at. Those two things were my life. For her, however? I imagine I was a roadblock, something that merited a couple of learning experiences for her on her way to becoming an alicorn Princess."

Red blinked, and Trixie could feel his concern for her. She was done, however. It wasn't anywhere near all of it, but she had expelled some of the toxic loathing she had built up in her venting. One day, she would have to find a more permanent solution, but for now, Trixie felt better already.

"That's a..." Red trailed off, and it was apparent he was trying to be delicate with his words. "That's a fatalistic way to take things. I'm sure it was just a really bad coincidence."

"I agree. I don't like thinking that it was some sort of 'destiny' like some of the upper-class ponies always like to talk about," Trixie said, her voice full of scorn. "Of course, if destiny does exist, I suppose I'd like it in a physical form in front of me right now so I could buck it in the face."

"You wouldn't like being able to blame your actions against Pri-uh, her on destiny?"

"Absolutely I would, but it'd also mean that my bad luck throughout my life was also a result of destiny. More specifically, destiny deciding that every time I get a good thing going, that I would need something disastrous to set me back a few more years," Trixie said. She wished she could stop, but her tongue decided it needed to add one last scathing remark. "The same would go for the loss of your wing."

"Oh. Oh," said Red, and she could feel his exuberance sink like a three-wheel wagon in a large mud puddle. "Yeah, that would do it. I'd be angry at destiny too in that event."

"But I prefer it doesn't exist," Trixie said. "It would mean some of the bad things I did were me own fault, yes, but also that when I bounced back each time, it was all me. I learned magic, I reformed my reputation, and now I'm learning more magic again, this time more advanced than I could ever have dreamed as a filly." She spun her book around to show it to Red.

Red squinted, then gasped. "Is that the self-levitation spell they were talking about last night?"

"The one and same. It's not exactly something I can use, not unmodified at least. I would need to be able to adapt it a little, and turn it into something I could use...is something wrong, Red?" Trixie asked. Over the last few seconds, Red had suddenly started squirming. His emotions were in a flux, and it was too difficult to lock onto any one feeling.

"No, no, nothing's wrong. Sorry, Trixie, I thought I just saw a changeling I recognised walk by. Um, I gotta go, I'd like to talk to her. See you tonight, bye!" Red said in a hurried tone of voice, before hastily moving away from the table.

Trixie watched him go, baffled by what had just happened. All she had done was show him the spell. The self-levitation spell, created by Icarus, the Wingless Changeling.

Oh.

Oh.

Trixie, you idiot, she scolded herself. Why did you have to bring that up to him? Red had been right about one thing. Trixie wasn't the only one to have taken a few hard knocks in life, and for all the many knocks she had taken, Red had received one that could have been a knockout. Trixie had suffered, but she couldn't imagine a life without her magic. Red had been doomed to a life without the ability to use flight ever again, the trademark ability of the pegasus tribe. And here was Trixie, learning how to use magic to perform what was essentially flying, and she had been born a unicorn.

Her ears drooped, and her shoulders sagged. Trixie had grown, and she had honed a silver tongue. She could easily make friends with others, and had helped to turn the lives of not one but two other ponies around in only a few months. Yet sometimes, she still found herself wanting for tact.

Trixie shook her head. It wouldn't do to wallow in guilt. She had still come to the library with a purpose, and she was determined to read the rest of The Wingless Changeling.