• Published 20th Aug 2013
  • 2,659 Views, 150 Comments

Changeling Places - Foals Errand



Twilight Sparkle's life couldn't be better. Except it isn't really her life. The sequel to Changeling Times.

  • ...
9
 150
 2,659

Anger

“You alright, Missus Sparkle?” Peachbottom asked, concerned about the unicorn beside her that had stopped in her tracks three times already.

“I’m fine, thank you.” Twilight replied quickly.

As with most quick replies, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Twilight was not fine at all. If anything, she could be described as the exact opposite of ‘fine’.

The thought of facing…him again made her sick to her stomach. Even someone who looked like him. The idiot brother that had ruined everything. The one who couldn’t be bothered to tell her he was engaged to her foalsitter. The one who let Celestia and Cadence died. The one who took over the Changeling Hive and took over Equestria, while repeatedly bawling that HE was the one who’d been hurt the most. The mere idea that she would have to act like his sister again…

Twilight shook her head clear, doing the breathing exercise once she was sure Peachbottom wasn’t looking. This wasn’t that brother. He might’ve still been the oaf that neglected to mention his engagement until the last minute, but he wasn’t that…thing. She could do this. She just had to smile, say hello, let Shining give her a noogie or whatever it was brothers would do to their sisters. Maybe not even that. Just pass Peachbottom onto him and ask him to show her around.

She knew that she’d have to deal with him…with Shining Armor sooner or later. He wasn’t going to go away. In time, maybe she wouldn’t be so uncomfortable with the notion of speaking to him. Right now, she had to focus almost all of her attention on not showing how uncomfortable she was. In time, it wouldn’t require a conscious effort on her part just to look casual.

She just prayed to Celestia that nothing would go wrong.


Surprisingly, it seemed like Celestia had answered her prayers…just not in the way Twilight had expected.

As they approached the Crystal Stadium, Twilight had her head down, rehearsing to herself what she’d say to Shining Armor when she faced him. “Okay, hey brother…no, hey Shining Armor…no no no, that’s a little too casual…Your majesty? Buck that, I’m his sister. Were that it not so…huhh, hey Shiny, can you take care of this…er, can you show Ms. Peachbottom around the stadium? She’ll be filling in for Mrs. Harshwhinny as the Games Inspector…can you do your sister a favor? Oh, Celestia give me strength.”

Then Peachbottom had spoken up. “Holy Hallelujah, issat Princess Celestia?” she said in a mortified gasp.

Twilight almost snorted with dismissal. The idea of Princess Celestia just BEING at the Crystal Stadium before the games had even started was absurd. Beyond absurd, it was downright ludicrous. Why would someone like Princess Celestia do that? Peachbottom must have been playing some country prank on her.

But then she heard her voice. Her melodious, beautiful voice, the voice she had not heard in years. “Twilight Sparkle! What a pleasant surprise.”

Twilight’s head snapped up like a spring to see Princess Celestia standing there, smiling. She gaped in shock. This was the last thing she’d expected! What was she doing here and now?!? Princess Celestia, the ruler of all Equestria, the most amazing, regal, radiant, wonderful pony in the world, the pony she would burn Equestria twice over for, was right here, right in front of her, smiling down upon her like the benevolent god she was.

She hadn’t expected this! Not this soon! Not now! She didn’t have any time to rehearse, to prepare, to figure out what in Tartartus she was going to say to her! What was she supposed to do? To say?! This was too soon! Too sudden!

She just stammered nervously for a second, eventually dropping to her knees. “P-P-P-Princess Celestia! Wh-whuh-what are you doing here?!”

Celestia just laughed melodiously. “Oh, Twilight, relax. I thought we were hoping for a casual get-together in the Crystal Empire?” she joked before explaining. “I arrived earlier than I expected, so I decided to check up on Shining Armor before I met up with you and Cadence.”

Twilight slowly regained her composure. “B-b-but WHY?! I mean…I-I-I mean I’m giving the Games Inspector a tour of the Crystal Empire right now, and I didn’t…!”

“The games inspector?” Celestia glanced at the quivering Peachbottom with slight confusion. “This isn’t Ms. Harshwhinny.”

“N-n-n-n-n-no, I-I-I-I-I-I’m Muh-muh-muh-muh- Miss Puh-puh-Peachbottom…” The mare stammered, shaking like a leaf.

Twilight decided to interject before she completely embarrassed the both of them. “Ms. Harshwhinny took sick at the last minute, so she’s her replacement…”

As she said this, however, she noticed something. Just behind Celestia, Shining Armor, the stallion she had NOT been looking forward to seeing again, was coming out of the stadium, speaking with a brown mare with a trophy cutie mark…

Miss Harshwhinny. The games inspector.

Celestia turned around to see the two, who were in the middle of a conversation regarding the stadium’s viability. When she saw Harshwhinny, her eyebrow raised in interest. “She does not appear sick to me.”

And just then, Harshwhinny turned to see Peachbottom, Twilight Sparkle, and Princess Celestia, all in the same place at the same time, looking at her. One with surprised terror, one with confused intrique, and another with growing rage. Her jaw dropped and the color drained from her face. “Oh dear…”

“YOU LIED TO ME!” Twilight suddenly spun around and roared at the hapless Peachbottom. Her eyes were pinpricks quivering with fury, her mane looked like it had burst into flames, and her teeth were grinding together and making a sound like nails on a chalkboard. It was enough to put Peachbottom in fear for her life.

The mare tried to back away in panic, but Twilight jumped onto her like a Timberwolf and pinned her down. “YOU MADE ME LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT IN FRONT OF THE PRINCESS! NOPONY MAKES ME LOOK STUPID!”

Suddenly Harshwhinny and Shining Armor were next to Twilight, trying to pull her off Peachbottom. “NO! Don’t hurt her!”Harshwhinny begged.

“Twiley, calm down!” Shining demanded.

“GET YOUR HOOVES OFF ME!” Twilight snarled, sending out a magic blast that knocked all three of them away. She started skulking back towards Peachbottom, murder in her eyes…

”Twilight Sparkle!”

Celestia’s voice snapped Twilight out of her rage immediately, and she spun around to see a less-than-pleased Celestia glaring at her. Twilight wilted under her mentor’s gaze, shrinking back like a frightened animal. Celestia towered over her, clearly biting back anger.

“I am very disappointed, Twilight. I thought you were better than this. Losing your temper and lashing out like this is absolutely disgraceful. You should be ashamed.” She said flatly.

“Buh…but she…” Twilight stammered, her justifications dying on her tongue under her teacher’s glare.

“No buts, Twilight. Whatever has happened, it doesn’t justify threatening Ms Peachbottom like that or lashing out against your brother and Mrs. Harshwhinny. Now please stand aside, so I can get a better understanding of this situation. And think about what you’ve done.”

Twilight reluctantly stepped away, trying not to end up next to Shining Armor, who was nursing a bruise on his face and looking at Twilight strangely. Twilight turned her face away in shame and frustration. She had upset Celestia, and after she had been waiting for this for so long…

Now that Twilight had been taken care of, Celestia turned her attention to Peachbottom and Harshwhinny, who were standing side-by-side and looking up at their sovereign with frightened awe. “Now…I would like an explanation.”

Peachbottom spoke up immediately, stepping between Celestia and Harshwhinny. “I did it! It was me!” she confessed. “I took Harshwhinny credentitals and stuff and I imponated her so I could get a free tour! And free food! A-and a trip to the palace! And the Crystal Palace Rotundas!”

Harshwhinny promptly shoved Peachbottom out of the way and stepped forward. “NO! It was my idea! I was sick of all the platitudes and nonsense I kept being handed out – guided tours of fancy restaurants and castles that meant nothing for the Games, and wouldn’t let me do my job, so I made Peachbottom take my credentials and impersonate me so I wouldn’t get dragged along! This is my fault, not hers!”

Celestia just raised her eyebrow, in contemplation or simply amusement.

Peachbottom got back up and stepped back between her ruler and her friend. “But it was MY plan! I talked her into it! It’s my fault! I’m the one who gave your apprentice the runaround!”

Harshwhinny stepped back in front. “No! It was my plan! I had to beg and threaten Peachbottom to get her to do it! I should’ve taken responsibility and done my job!”

“No! It’s my fault!” Peachbottom jumped between them once again. “I told her to be spontaneous!”

Harshwhinny tried to push Peachbottom behind her. “And I told her she was helping me by doing this!”

Now Peachbottom was in front. “I did it for Roduntas!”

Harshwhinny. “I did it for a HAMBURGER!”

Peachbottom tried to get between them again, only to bump Celestia in the chest with her nose. The two of them immediately backed away from the Princess’ eyes, fearfully awaiting their sovereign’s words, gripping each other in a tight, comforting hug.

Twilight smirked inwardly. <i>There. They confessed. They made an idiot out of me, your prize student. Made me look bad. This was their fault. Tell them.</i>

Shining noticed her smirk and shivered. It felt vindictive, angry, bitter. Was his sister always like that?

Silence hung in the air for a minute as everypony awaited Celestia’s judgement. Everything around them seemed to freeze, like an explosion was imminent. And then Celestia did something that nopony expected.

She laughed.

A soft, melodious, gentle chuckle. The laugh of someone who was quite amused by how things had turned out. Harshwhinny and Peachbottom blinked, relaxing only a little with the assurance that they wouldn’t be sent to the moon. Twilight’s jaw dropped. She thinks this is FUNNY?!

“Oh my little ponies,” Celestia soothed the two ponies at her feet. “You don’t have to worry. I don’t see criminals before me, just two friends trying to help each other. Contrary to what Twilight might have implied, I don’t think any real harm was done today.”

Twilight gasped, completely flabbergasted. “B…But…she wasted my time…the bill…”

“It will be covered, I assure you.” Celestia replied. “And if I’d considered ‘wasted time’ a felony, I would’ve taken action against every recreational activity in Equestria. I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Now fully relaxed, Peachbottom glanced at Harshwhinny. “Phew-wee. Thank goodness fer that, huh, Harshy?”

Harshwhinny still wasn’t too relaxed herself. She could still feel Twilight’s anger from where she sat. “Er…y-yeah…did you enjoy the meal?”

“Not really. You were right about gourmet food being overrated.”

Celestia actually nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean.” She remarked before looking at Harshwhinny. “Though if you felt that way, perhaps it would have been better to just say so?”

Harshwhinny blushed. “Well…um, everypony has these expectations of me and…I guess I have to keep some credibility…I did try to tell the last few cities that I would’ve been happy with Hayburgers, but they just acted like I insulted them.”

Celestia sighed. “I’ll look into that. But let’s not dwell on this for long. I’ve visited Princess Cadence, and she is ready for the inspectors. She’ll be meeting you at the Crystal Palace.”

Peachbottom blinked. “Inspectors?”

“Why not?” Celestia asked playfully. “Harshwhinny seems to think the viewpoint of normal folk is important for the Games. And you did volunteer for the job, didn’t you, Mrs. Peachbottom?”

Peachbottom just blushed and nodded. “Ahehe…yeah, I reckon I did, your Mahesjy. I mean, your Majesty!” She finally stood back up and motioned Harshwhinny to do the same. “C’mon Harshy!”

Harshwhinny stood still for a second, still processing what just happened. Eventually, she just smiled and got back up. “Th-thank you, your majesty.” She nodded before trotting along with Peachbottom to finish up the tour.

Now that everything with the two was settled, Celestia turned back to Twilight, concern in her eyes. “Is something wrong, Twilight? I’ve seen you stressed out, but never this…angry.”

Twilight forced her face to change into a smile. “I’m….I just…it’s been…really…frustrating today. Listen…I need to go find Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Could we discuss this over tea? Please?” she pleaded.

Celestia looked at Twilight for a moment before nodding. “Of course, Twilight.”

Thanking Celestia, Twilight turned around and started running back to the spa. Shining shouted ‘Hey, sis!” after her, but she apparently didn’t hear him. She just kept running away.

Once she was out of sight, Shining turned to Celestia. “Something’s wrong.”

“I am aware.” Celestia mused. “But I cannot put my hoof on what it is.”

“Maybe it’s…no, it can’t be.” Shining shook his head. “They’re all dead.”

“That is true.” Celestia admitted. “Maybe it is just stress, but I’ve never seen Twilight react like that to anything, and she’s been through far worse than a switcheroo gambit…hopefully, I can find out more when we speak later. Hopefully, it’s nothing to worry about.”

Shining Armor nodded in agreement, but he doubted that it would be ‘nothing to worry about’. A stressed Twilight was one thing – he’d seen the damage she could do when she was under too much stress. But an angry Twillight was something else entirely...

----------------
Elsewhere…
-----------------

Applejack stared up at the ceiling lights of her hospital room. Well, she only guessed there were lights. More than one, that is. She only saw one big one. One big, blurry light. Maybe she could ask the Dr. Tenderhooves or Stiches just how many lights there actually were. Maybe it will be a different number than last time. Maybe they actually moved her or her room. Hopefully.

The medicine that dulled her vision also dulled her constant pain. It wasn’t overwhelming pain, or horrible pain, not like some of the other ponies in the other rooms suffering from terrible, debilitating illness or injury, but it was…always there. Never ended.

She knew why it never ended.

The cuts that Twilight Sparkle had inflicted when Applejack called her out on her attack simply wouldn’t heal. Twilight had used some sort of enchantment on her blades that kept them from healing. They just kept bleeding and bleeding and the stitches did almost nothing and the bandages got soaked and they had to hook her up to an IV and put her in a magic barrier to keep her wounds from getting infected and had to constantly give her medication that her feel sleepy and all she could think about was how badly she was doing and...

Applejack groaned. This was getting unbearable. It wasn’t enough for Twilight to just try to kill her. She had to make sure that if her life was saved, she’d never actually have her life back. This hospital bed felt like a prison. No wonder the Changeling King didn’t prosecute her. He didn’t have to.

Her mind went back to that day…

“TWILIGHT! WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA DID YOU DO!”

“We weren’t accomplishing anything, Applejack! Nothing was working! I couldn’t sit around and let those insects ruin everything! They were brainwashing everypony! I had to do SOMETHING!”

“What are ya talking about?! We’ve done plenty! And now yer gonna wreck it all! And you nearly killed our friend!”

“NO! She’s not our friend anymore! Don’t you get it?! Nothing’s been fixed, because we haven’t used enough force! We can’t – “

“Yer outta yer mind, Twilight! Ah stood by you, through thick and thin, but this is too far!”

“’Too far?’ Are you getting cold hooves, Applejack? We knew the stakes when we agreed to stand against the Changeling King! You said it yourself, we had to work hard if we were gonna make things better!”

“BUT THIS WASN’T WHAT I MEANT AT ALL!”

“Then what did you mean, huh?! Did you mean to just bend over to what the King wants once he pretends to listen to us?! To just forget Celestia even existed?”

“Do yah honestly believe Celestia would’ve wanted you to do this?”

And then there was pain.

At least five unicorn specialists had tried to undo the spell, but apparently it was ‘magic-locked’ or something. Twilight’s personal touch. The only pony would could undo this hex was Twilight herself, with her ‘personal magical signature’. Did she hope to have Applejack come back to her, on her hooves and knees, pleading to be fixed, offering to join her once again? Go back to being terrorists, if only she could walk again?

Fat chance of that happening, Applejack though to herself. After something like <i>this</i>, there was no way in Tartarus she would ever come back to Twilight’s. No matter how long she’d stay here, staring at the ceiling, bleeding out and having blood pumped back in, waiting for the nurse to change her bandages, waiting for Apple Bloom to come back from school so she could at least keep her company, she would NEVER beg for Twilight’s help.

Even if it meant staying here for the rest of her life…

Author's Note:

Well, here it is at last. Sorry to keep you waiting so long for this.

I'm always open to criticism, so please feel free to tell me what I can fix in this chapter.

Comments ( 33 )

Welcome back!

Although your HTML is showing. It's still in the Deviantart HTML with <>. You need to change those to brackets.

glad to se this isn't dead

Wait, the Changelings are dead in one universe? Why? Did I miss something?

Oh Alt!Twilight, your anger and such is showing, and it's going to get you caught, though of course I think that's what we're kinda hoping for.

3949980 : Yeah, in this story, the Changelings in the normal verse were in bad condition, whereas in the alt verse in this story, Shining Armor took over and made their condition better.

You need to fix some markup tags. Besides that, I see nothing wrong with this chapter. I like where this story is going. Five bits says canon!Twilight has the same magical signature as Terror-light.

I like the sequel better than the original. Twilight was alittle too out of character there. not as much in this one.

I love how sometimes this story has cliffhangers and sometimes it doesn't. It makes me even more interested:yay: get updating!:pinkiehappy:

Hey, it's me. Any updates?

Oh hey, I just discovered this and this is a great story!

...That hasn't been updated in a year.

Dammit.

5344921
I just adopted it recently do not fear ^^

5346510
Expect at least a small update in January ^^

Are there any plans to complete this story? I ask because I am going to favorite this because the plot behind it sounds interesting. HOWEVER, until it is completed, I am going to give it a thumbs down. Because while I may approve of the plot behind the story, I DO NOT approve of the fact that it has been 10 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days since the last update. I mean, I understand that greatness can't be rushed, but needing 308 days in order to update the next chapter means one of three things. A: You've given up on the book (this is the most likely scenario). B: You’re too busy to write any more (this is understandable). Or C: You're dead (this is a scenario with a 50% probability chance, seeing as how people die every day.) If option C makes you feel uncomfortable than that means two things. You are obviously not dead, and I am sorry for having that as one of the three possibilities. Also, don’t give up! Your fans deserve better! I, of course, meant that in the best and most encouraging possible way. (This comment has been copied and pasted for the sake of saving time, HOWEVER the plot behind your story does sound interesting, the only reason that I mentioned the fact that it has been copied and pasted for the sake of saving time is because it is usually used for stories that have been sitting for a much longer period of time, for example, stories that have been sitting for 2 years, 4 months, and 29 days [i only say this in case I sound unduly pushy]).
Never mind. I just found out that we could expect a small update sometime in this month.

5483796
Or option D I just recently adopted this story and am planning how to continue and yes finish it.

5483796 Aren't you just a little ball of sunshine. How about you consider that some of the fine writers on this site have a life outside of providing you with a bit of entertainment? Also, she just adopted this thing, as she said in her reply to you. So, kindly have a bit of patience or shove off. Foals treats her fans just fine. In fact, she just updated another fic. So maybe, just maybe, she's hard at work doing other things.

What do I know? I just chat with her every day.

5483796 So... a story is bad for simply not being updated? You say you like it and yet you downvote it and criticize the author, therefore discouraging her to continue, partially because you are deciding to hate her story for not having updated. What happens when other projects of hers keep her away from it? Are you going to once more switch what you seem to say would be an upvote to a downvote out of spite? If you want a story to be finished, say that, but downvoting because of a lack of updates and then scolding the author about that is probably the single worst thing I can think of that you could do to motivate them to continue.

5483944
SEE BIO.
Now that that has been said, the fact that the story is incomplete doesn't make it a bad story. The comment was to try and help motivate you to get your butt in gear and write it. This is merely my motivational speech for writers that have not been updating their stories. I'm not sure if this one has the whole explanation about how this motivational speech is for the stories that haven't been updated in the time span of 2 years, 4 months, and 29 days, but even if it is, I still made sure that it came across as motivational as possible. Please explain how I could do better in motivating authors to get their butt in gear and write their story. Thank you. Also, how exactly does my favoriting your story and at the same time giving it a bad thumb not cancel each other out? I would just like to know for future reference. Besides that, if you look at my comment, I said that I didn't approve of how long it was taking the author (that would be YOU) to post an update to the story, not that I didn't approve of the story in and of itself. I also said that it was completely possible that

You’re too busy to write any more (this is understandable, even if highly annoying.)

and I am sorry that I forgot at the time to put this on my list of books to track (I just looked and saw that it was in fact, on my list of books to track, so... disregard the apology that I made about not putting it there), I was just busy trying to paste that comment into as many incomplete stories as possible. I am sorry if the comment made you think that I think that just because a story is incomplete that it is a bad story. I am sorry if my bio made you think that. Neither of those were supposed to do that. The comment was supposed to be a motivational comment, while my bio was supposed to show my annoyance at how many stories there are on this website that go unfinished. Who are you, and why are you responding to my comment? You are not the AUTHOR! BAD READER!

5483818
Thank you for taking my comment the way that it was meant to be taken. I was afraid there for a second that one of the other people on this site (that wasn't the author) was the author and had not taken it the way that it was meant to be taken. I actually didn't know that you could adopt stories on this site!

6180564 Wow, that one got three downvotes, huh? C'mon guys, it's first comment! I KNOW ITS NOT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT BUT IT FEELS LIKE ONE, OKAY!?

This is a surprisingly good story I hope their will be more of this soon...

this story is awesome just trying to wait for the update hope the update is good

I really need to start checking story status before I start reading a story.

Your premise is awesome, the characters are good.. its so sad not getting a conclusion. Owell take care, and my next day off i'll check out some of your other stories so long as they are marked completed.

The mare tried to back away in panic, but Twilight jumped onto her like a Timberwolf and pinned her down. “YOU MADE ME LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT IN FRONT OF THE PRINCESS! NOPONY MAKES ME LOOK STUPID!”

Please realize this isn't the real Twilight.
Please realize this isn't the real Twilight.
PLEASE REALIZE THIS ISN'T THE REAL TWILIGHT.

Harshwhinny. “I did it for a HAMBURGER!”

The fuck is a hamburger?

A soft, melodious, gentle chuckle. The laugh of someone who was quite amused by how things had turned out. Harshwhinny and Peachbottom blinked, relaxing only a little with the assurance that they wouldn’t be sent to the moon. Twilight’s jaw dropped. She thinks this is FUNNY?!

Wow, this Twilight REALLY doesn't know Celestia at ALL.

“I am aware.” Celestia mused. “But I cannot put my hoof on what it is.”

SO CLOSE

Oh no I caught up!

Hope this story continues, it's one of my faves!

Oh, come on. This is such an interesting story. Please continue.

So, Errand. Any news on this story?

Comment posted by SilverDiamond deleted Sep 8th, 2018

Errand, are you there? Any news on this story?

5483818
*in caveman voice* You write. update story. *proceeds to make ape noises*


Or not

So, uhm. Anyone want to take over? Foals, you don't get a say in it, not after adopting, writing many chapters, and then canceling it without conclusion.


If anyone writes a continuation, whether using this word for word, or going with the same idea - I don't care. I want a finish. Thanks.

Login or register to comment