The Melody of the Heart

by Star Origin

Evolving Perspectives - Part One

Had she managed to get lost in the palace again? Oh, she had most certainly gotten lost. Here she was, trying to find her way to Wishing Star and Astral Rain’s suite if she could call it that. It was so much bigger than anything she had seen before. Melody turned a corner and looked at the hallway that awaited her.

She stopped for a minute, contemplating the seemingly endless corridor that spanned the distance before her. How long would it take her to find that particular suite amidst all these corridors? And here she thought she knew her way around the palace by now. Granted, this was her first time seeking out the bat ponies, rather than them leading her to what they called their home. She remembered something about dual doors when Astral stumbled on her during her first lesson with Shining Armor.

Her left ear twitched and swiveled when she heard the clang of hoofguards coming from the left. She knew almost instantly that it was a guard. Either that or Princess Cadance just so happened to pass through this corridor.

“Are you lost, little filly?”

That was most certainly a guard. Unless Cadance suddenly suffered from a sore throat or something like that, it was a guard standing next to her. She turned around to see the guard sporting the Crystal Guard armor, and who was a Crystal Unicorn. She stared for a brief moment in those gray eyes that regarded her with that apathetic expression.

She shuffled her hooves nervously after a few more seconds passed and she averted her eyes from this guard. He, on the other hoof, just kept on staring at her. Plus, she eventually found it a bit unnerving.

When her prolonged silence spoke for her, and the guard groaned and resumed his round with a roll of his eyes, Melody extended a hoof forward and said, “I’m looking for Wishing Star and Astral Rain’s suite. Could you perhaps direct me to them?”

The guard stopped and craned his head back with that yet again apathetic expression. Were guards all asked to be this way? Were they all supposed to be this stoic when doing rounds like these? Her desire to become a guard slowly dimmed down with each moment she interacted with this guard.

“Who?” the guard asked, his voiced soaked in annoyance. He narrowed his eyes on Melody and turned to face her.

Melody furrowed her brow and rolled her eyes, imitating the guard’s groan to an extent, which brought no reaction from him.

“Bat ponies! Any ideas where I can find them?” She asked exasperatedly. Was this guard playing dumb with her?

The guard nodded to her every word, finally deigning to be reasonable with her by lifting his hoof and gesturing at the hall behind her. “Continue down that corridor and take the first right. Their suite should be somewhere on the right of that other corridor.”

That was not helpful. What was she supposed to do? Knock at every door and potentially disturb palace staff? No, he had to know more. He was just rude. With a slight roll of her shoulders, she looked at the hall behind her and sighed.

She looked back at him and gave her head a slight tilt to the right. “Could you be a bit more specific, sir?” she asked with a soft voice. The last thing she wanted and needed was to make this guard angry

Now it was his turn to sigh. How rude! Was she this irritating to him? Did he somehow know she was a changeling or was it something else? Either way, she wasn’t going to let him demoralize her. She instead frowned and stared at him.

Another sigh. Oh, the nerve of that guard! How dare he act like this with her? She was going to speak with the princess about this one. “Large dual doors down that corridor I told you to make a right at. Can’t miss those doors,” he answered sternly, his voice still grating to Melody’s ears. She lowered them on her head, if only by a bit, and continued to stare at him, nodding at the same time.

Well, at least she knew where to go, and what to look for. It also helped that this guard confirmed what little she remembered from her visit to Astral Rain and Wishing Star’s place. Taking a deep breath to find her center once more from this little moment of near infuriation, Melody turned around and pranced away.

She looked back at him with a smile and chirped, “Thank you very much, sir!”
What was she thanking him for? He had been downright rude to her, and she was just shrugging it off? On the other hoof, holding a grudge against him would amount to nothing, so she was better off reporting his behavior to the commanding officer. Besides, now that she knew where to go, she couldn’t help but feel overjoyed at the prospect of her visit.

Just as she made a right, she saw the guard returning to his patrol, vanishing behind a corner. At least he was out of her life now. She could go back to whatever plans she had for the day, and that was to learn more about her parents.

As soon as she began thinking about that, her memories of her meeting with Queen Glaesi and Princess Gemma sprung forward. As she thought about it, they never set an appointment for their first session. A month had passed already, and she had no clue what was going on with those two. Had something important happened for them to be held back?

Well, whatever it was, they had told her that they’d approach her when they were ready. She just didn’t know when they would approach her. Would she have to wait another month, or even longer before they stepped forward?

Caught up in her thoughts, Melody never heard or saw a door swinging open right in front of her. She blinked once, then again when the realization dawned on her that she was now sitting on her haunches with a hoof to her sore nose.

“Oww,” she whined, rubbing her nose before scrunching it up a few times. “Did you have to swing that door so ha—“ She snarled for a moment, ready to give the pony who sent her flying back a piece of her mind, but her expression melted into shock when she saw Wishing Star staring at her with big eyes, her wings flapping at her side. The mare stared at her with widened eyes and with her hooves clutched over her mouth.

She dropped on the floor and helped Melody up as best as she could, thoroughly examining her and prodding her sides and legs, eventually reaching for her left hindleg. She groaned internally, kicking her leg back and taking a step back apprehensively. Hopefully, Wishing Star would get that hint.

Still, she made another mental note about how the pain kept increasing.

With her examination complete, Wishing ruffled Melody’s mane a bit and stopped in front of her, closing that door behind her. “I am so sorry about that,” Wishing said apologetically. She rubbed her hooves together and averted her gaze a bit.

Melody dimly ignited her horn, wiggling her ears. She flared her nostrils a few times. Apologetic and remorseful. Those emotions swirled around Wishing Star as she kept avoiding Melody’s gaze. The filly’s ears drooped, and she felt a bit sorry for Wishing. Apart from the dizziness, she was all right.

“I was just in a hurry because we’re in need of a few things for dinner, and I was going to sprint at the closest store to fetch what we’re missing,” she added, setting her legs down and wrapping her wings around herself. “That wasn’t on purpose.”

Melody nodded and gave her head a quick, firm shake, trying to rid herself of that dizziness that blurred her vision. She groaned and wrinkled her nose. “I'm all right, Wishing. Just a bit disoriented.”

The bat pony heaved a sigh of relief, all the stress accumulated in her body suddenly washing off the mare in a matter of seconds, or so according to what Melody managed to smell.

Wishing shuffled her hooves again, looking at Melody tentatively. Something felt wrong now. Replacing those negative emotions was amusement. What did the mare have in store for Melody, and for that matter, why was she staring at her with that broad grin?

“Thank Celestia, I thought I broke something!” Wishing chirped, her expression softening before she set her eyes deep into Melody’s and smiled. She was plotting something! “Say, now that you’re here, would you mind helping me get those few things I’m missing for dinner?”

Melody tilted her head to the side and gave Wishing Star a quizzical stare. She could lend a hoof, but that disturbing amount of mirth rolling off Wishing worried her. What was she about to get herself into?

“Uhh… Sure, I guess?” she replied hesitatingly, frowning as she contemplated Wishing Star’s widening grin. Well, she didn’t have anything else planned for the day so it couldn’t hurt to help just a little bit.

Or at least, that’s what she thought before Wishing grabbed her, put the filly on her back, extended her wings, and dashed through the corridor in a mix of prancing and gliding, with Melody often protesting and holding as tight as she could. She had not been expecting that.

“Great!” she exclaimed as she took a sharp turn where Melody thought she was going to get hurled against a wall so much she kept being tossed around against Wishing. “Sorry about that, though. I may be a tad late to get the groceries.”

Groceries? Wait, not a few things for lunch, or dinner, whichever it was? What the hay?! Wait a minute, had she been lied to?
Melody was left with no time to dwell on that much. With another sharp turn, she felt nauseous from all this turning around. A hoof shot to her mouth, and she groaned loudly, feeling the bile rolling against her tongue.

“Wishing… I’m g-g-oing to… to…”

----

Melody crossed her forelegs over her chest and glared at Wishing with both her eyebrows furrowed as she helped to unpack the many bags she had helped bring back to their suite. How dare she lie to her so boldly?

“And then she looked up at me, her fur almost as green as her mane, with those giant pleading eyes,” Wishing chimed, her voice shaken by loud laughter. Raine and Astral both looked at Wishing with amused expressions and Raine kept squeezing her hooves against her lips, sometimes letting out a snicker or two by accident. “You should have been there! It was priceless!”

Melody scrunched up her snout and pinned her ears against her scalp, instead burying her nose in the bag she was helping unpack. She flared her nostrils again and extended her senses around and over the family, sensing no malice whatsoever from them. Just earnest fun. So, she wasn't serious about this? Or if she was, she was a tease?

There was a snicker that came from Astral and Melody thought that her pillar of support was going to betray her and turn over to the other side. Traitor. How dare he?! He got up and walked beside her, ruffling her mane with his right hoof and smiling at his wife. “Well, darling, you might want to consider that she was a unicorn before. Chances of her having any flying experience are pretty slim. Give her a chance.”

Finally! Somepony that understood how she felt. Her flying experience so far was only made up of her hovering in place after a very simple lift off.

Wishing stuck out her tongue at him and pushed her hoof at his shoulder before nuzzling against his chest. “Killjoy!” she chirped with a honeyed voice, her eyes half-lidded.

Melody’s cheeks went completely red, and she averted her eyes from the scene, almost sinking in her chair. She didn’t even have to reach out for their emotions to understand what was going on. Her eyes widened each time they darted off to the couple while Raine looked at the whole scene and rolled her eyes.

“Mom, you’re making this awkward for Melody,” Raine said, nudging Melody and flashing a smile her way.

Wishing’s expression turned dull, and she groaned, slowly springing back to the bag she had been unpacking. Melody flared her nostrils a little bit. She smelled amusement and mirth coming from Raine, and a hint of guilt coming from Wishing, whom lowered her ears a little bit.

That was when she noticed that Wishing had already finished unpacking her bag and had put it aside. Melody watched in awe as Wishing then put all of the things she’d pull out of the bag and put them in a basket, unfolding a wing and managing to place the handle over the… nail at the tip of her wing? Was it a nail, or did it have a different name? Didn’t really matter.

It was highly impressive to see the mare lift the basket, despite how heavy it must have been with all the fruits that had been placed there. That was one dexterous wing, that was for sure. But enough of that, a subject change was in order. Think of something else was the thought that rang the loudest in the cacophony of Melody’s mind.

But what could she change the subject to? She couldn’t find anything to make the conversation less awkward. Think! Think fast! She searched her memories as fast as she could while silence filled the room around her, and she found all eyes darting over her. One quick sniff at the air revealed that it was getting awkward for them too.

Nothing came to mind still. With one last hope of saving whatever was left of this conversation, she glanced at Wishing’s basket and her eyes lit up! “Can I ask why you bought all of these? You told me earlier you needed only a few things for dinner tonight?” she asked, her ears perking up once more.

Wishing’s ears perked up as well, and she turned to look at Melody, carefully placing the basket on the counter. She waggled her ears and offered a quick smile. Melody followed the glance she aimed at Astral the next moment and frowned quizzically when she saw him nod. Were they about to tell her something they weren’t supposed to?

Her heart beat faster. Loud thumps rang in her ears, making her twitch them in suspenseful anticipation of what she was about to learn? Was it related to their job? As a matter of fact, what was their job exactly? They’d mentioned Princess Luna once, but that was about it.

She blinked once, twice, and then looked up to see Wishing standing right in front of her with her hooves firmly planted on her shoulders. When had she crossed that gap? She looked into her eyes and saw concern. She sniffed the air and found the same sentiment. She smelled the same thing coming from Astral and Raine, both staring at her as though she were a riveting statue.

Melody shook her head and rubbed a hoof against her forehead, gently brushing Wishing’s hooves away and getting…up? When had she collapsed, for that matter? As soon as she got back on her legs, she was gripped with sudden dizziness, her world spinning around her. What exactly was wrong with her? “Wh-What happened?” she finally dared to ask.

Wishing shrugged and glanced at her husband. Astral did the same and shook his head. He didn’t know why she collapsed either. “You tell me. I was just saying that Princess Luna was bound to visit later this week., hence why I bought—“

One glance at Melody was all it took for Wishing to finally understand what was wrong.The thought of Princess Luna terrified Melody to an extreme. Of all the things that Wishing could have overlooked, the terror lodged deep within Melody’s eyes was not one of them.

“Oh…” was all Wishing could mutter when she found herself staring back in Melody’s golden irises, noticing a few green flames licking at the fur on her nose and chest.

A shiver ran through Melody’s spine, and she stumbled a bit backward, her flanks bumping into a cupboard. Princess Luna? Why was Princess Luna coming to the Empire? What if she found her and decided to evict her, exile her away?

Her previous encounter with the princess had not been a joyous one. Despite the fact that Occento was the one that did the provoking, she still remembered Princess Luna’s venomous voice and her wrathful demeanor. With each stomp that echoed in the throne room, she felt the intensity of the princess and made a mental note to never cross her path ever again.

So why was she coming into her fortress of safety? Why invade what little comfort she had acquired in the past few months?

“W-w-why?” Melody sat down and hugged herself, an endless series of scenarios playing in her mind, almost reflecting in her eyes.

Both Astral and Raine craned their heads to the side and frowned at Melody, sometimes exchanging a few worried stares. Finally, Wishing slid a hoof on Melody’s shoulder and caressed it tenderly. “What do you mean, why? Why what?”

The disguised changeling shuddered and ducked a bit, distancing herself from that hoof. Her mind was hard at work, bending itself around what others would most certainly label nonsensical theories.

She looked around, analyzing her surroundings carefully. With Astral and Raine present, both of them most definitely nimbler than her with their wings, trying to make a run for it was likely out of the question. So that was why they acted so friendly with her! They were working with Princess Luna to place her into the princess’ hooves for her to do as she wished without Cadance intervening!

It all made sense now. It was all a part of the play. They pretended to know her parents. Probably snooped around in the archives and found their files. That’s how they learned about her. The rest, they just invented, crafted with careful deceitfulness.

She shook her head. They weren’t like that! They cared for her, and they seemed to love her? Besides, they couldn’t have known that she was a changeling until they met with the princess after she came back from the Empire.

Maybe, just maybe, she was exaggerating all of this. She took a few deeps breaths. Her chest slowly ceased to rise and sink incessantly. She raised her head to see Astral and Raine gazing at her, eyes wide with concern, the atrocious stench of worry nauseating her. Melody’s legs fell to her side, and she let a whine crawl out of her throat. What was wrong with her? She was repaying kindness with fear and a lack of trust.

All of it, everything, melted away when Wishing’s hooves pulled her close and laced themselves around her small body. Her coat… it was so warm. So comforting. Why? Why was her touch so familiar to her? Why did it seem so natural?

The mare gently pressed her chin on Melody’s shoulder, and she took a deep breath, letting out a sigh before her voice caressed her ears. “Right… Luna is a trigger. Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly, her voice a honeyed coo.

How could she? What was there to say about her encounter with Princess Luna? How could she explain it? Her mind cried to tell Wishing no, but her head just nodded on its own. Another whimper escaped her, and she melted even more against the mare when a hoof began drawing circles on her back.

Finally, Melody lifted her head up, staring into Wishing’s amber eyes and took deep breaths. How would the family react? With a final shake of her head, she drew a breath. “When I met, or rather saw, her, she looked and acted like this agent of wrath, bent on making her foes subjugate to her will. She was cross, aggressive and rude to Occento, the changeling queen that saved my life.”

Astral gave a quick hum and chimed in, “Oh yes, that one. I remember Luna mentioning her once or twice during her outbursts when she returned from the Empire. I don’t know what this queen said, but it left Luna sour.”

Luna? Did they refer to her without her title? How close were they to her? A snicker brought her out of her pensive state, and she frowned at the sight of Wishing giggling silently, stumbling backward. “No wonder she scared you. When Luna gets impatient or is challenged, she tends to be moody. She’s usually a marshmallow, though. Awkward at times, but a marshmallow nevertheless!”

“A… marshmallow…?” Melody asked, her head tilted slightly. A tiny smile crept on her mouth, amused a tad by Wishing’s contagious giggles.

Wishing managed to stop her laughing, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly, wiping the few tears that clung to her eyes. “Oh, right.” She rolled her eyes and slapped a hoof on her forehead. “She’s not like that when she does not tend to court matters. We’ve come to know her as being pleasant, and we very much enjoy her playful nature. She’s like a kid that stopped growing.”

Astral snorted. “And she eats like a glutton.”

Wishing waggled her hoof at her husband and snorted in return. It was there. The distinctive taste of love those two shared. It was the same taste like the one her parents fed her, but their way of expressing it was so… odd. “And she eats a lot, hence the extra food I bought. We’re having her over for dinner later this week to discuss our progress on our job.”

The mare’s eyes almost lit up, and she beamed, glancing at her husband and gesturing to Melody a few times, making a series of signs with her hooves and wings. Melody just stared at them like they’d gone mad, tilting her head and letting her jaw fall. Her eyes darted to Raine, and she gestured the couple to the pegasus. Raine merely shrugged in return. Melody took a deep whiff at the air around her. Bemused confusion seeped from Raine. It seemed like her friend didn’t know what her parents were conveying to each other.

Finally, Astral threw his legs in the air and sighed. With a disgruntled grunt, he set about to move his basket to the refrigerator with a heavy step. “I hope you’re sure about this. I wouldn’t want to upset Luna if at all possible.”

Wishing huffed, puffing her chest and turning to look at him, glaring at the stallion. She found his gaze aimed elsewhere, instead glancing at the refrigerator and safely escorting his basket into its confines. “Of course, I’m sure! Do you have this little faith in me, Astry?”

Astral’s ears drooped, and he turned around to glare at Wishing with an annoyed gaze. She merely replied with a broad smile, those fangs of hers gleaming. He rolled his eyes and left the kitchen with a few flick of his tail and loud steps. A quick check at the surrounding emotions told Melody he was annoyed and a tad angry.

“Now that he’s gone,” Wishing began, stirring Melody out of her thoughts once more. She folded her wings to her sides, lifted Melody’s chin with a hoof and smiled softly, “I have a proposition for you. Why don’t you come over for dinner with your parents so we can properly introduce you to Luna and hopefully put your fears away?”

Melody’s eyes widened, and she gulped loudly. Was she being asked to sit at the same dining table as Princess Luna? But if what Wishing said was true, then she shouldn’t be afraid of Luna, unless she doesn’t appreciate her presence there. What was she going to do? Who was she to decide on that? First and foremost, she’d have to talk about with her parents.

She felt her breathing increasing in intensity again and took several deep breaths, desperately trying to calm herself. Why was she afraid? Why couldn’t she bring herself to tell Wishing? A sigh later escaped her, and she closed her eyes. She inhaled deeply and exhaled softly, and then replied, “I’ll have to discuss it with my parents first if you don’t mind…”

Of course, she wouldn’t mind. That smile of hers was proof enough of that. She hummed quietly and nodded. “Of course!” she chimed happily, ruffling Melody’s mane with a hoof. “Thanks for your help with the groceries today, Melody.”

With everything seemingly in order, Melody picked herself up and began making her way to the door, waving at Wishing and Raine, before she pushed open one of those large doors and stepped outside. As she began to trot away in those almost endless corridors, a thought echoed in her mind, and she gritted her teeth angrily.

She hadn’t even asked them how they were related to her. Dang it! She kicked at the floor, hissing and buzzing her wings when they sprouted forth from her back with a single flick of her magic.

Comments

[Slavenger Karl]

We just got +1 Changeling population of Crystal Empire. Any Chances Thorax ends up as a coordinator of the legal changeling community in your story?

[Star Origin]

7497043 The timeskip from Chapter One to Chapter Two placed the story right at the end of season 3/start of season 4, and I'm building from there. So, as of this current time, there are no plans of including any post S4 premiere content, and that of course means no Thorax.

[Slavenger Karl]

7497072 No way to smuggle him into there, somewhere in the background and pretend the Spike adventure happened much sooner?

[Star Origin]

7497081 Very unlikely. Hive Lapis already exists around or somewhere close to the Empire, as hinted by New Encounters. And considering canon places Thorax under Chrysalis' hive, very, very unlikely.

[Slavenger Karl]

7497105 Hmm, okay. His inclusion would be dodgy to say the absolute least.

[sixkiller5]

7497112 maybe let Star write his story his own way, If you feel you need to have Thorax in a story I would suggest writing your own.

[Slavenger Karl]

7497150 I was asking if it's doable and if it's it's a thing she would make.

[Star Origin]

7497154
7497150

Now, now. Please don't fight over this. It's been settled, and everything's cool.

[Slavenger Karl]

7497168 Why am I always the one attacked for my curiousity?

[Star Origin]

7497230 I can't answer that question. Your question was a legitimate one, though. I'll not deny that. It just doesn't concord with my current world building.

[Skarsnik]

I forgot that Melody is very emotional. At least nothing bad really happen to her this time!