Burnt Offerings, Oaken Hearts

by Phoenix Quill

At The Fountain in the Center of Canterlot.

Magdalena left through the front doors of the hospital in a vague state, both happy and nervous about the proposed treatment. What if it doesn't work? I mean, it is a chance for him to live, but is this what he would have wanted? What if I'm just being selfish?

She continued walking down the pristine streets of Canterlot's royal district, only vaguely aware of her surroundings. Several ponies milled about, going from one business to another on Sunrise before they would turn off into the central plaza and head down Silk Street to continue their shopping. Magdalena however, was one of the few ponies that didn't stick to this standard plan of attack that almost everypony else followed.

Instead of simply dashing about from one shop to the next, she walked around the grand fountain in the center of the plaza. She looked up at the white marble carving, and smiled as she drank in every detail. It was huge, probably the biggest fountain to grace the city, with a great collecting pool near the bottom filled with crystal clear water, and several small jets of water shooting straight up into the air.

In the center there was a four tiered stack of basins, each with different statues around the basins. On the bottom tier, there were all the different kinds of races that found homes in Equestria doing various jobs, while the next level up, showed some of the greatest Equestrians that ever lived. The next dish up, showed the six ponies that founded Equestria standing with their hooves raised in a great circle around the center of the basin, drawing eyes up to the top tier with Celestia and Luna posed as if casting the spell needed to bring forth the jet of water that shot between them to uphold the delicate heart atop it.

She leaned against the small wall of the fountain's pool, and stared dreamily at it. She found a sort of comfort as she stared at the water, unsure about the future, she just stared at the fountain for a while. She could have been there for hours, days or even years for all she cared, for in the moment she felt peace.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" She jolted out of her dream like state to look to her right, and found a mare had sat upon the ledge of the fountain.

"Yes, it is," she replied casually without once looking back at the other pony, instead concentrating on the fountain. "I stop here every time I'm in Canterlot, it's always made me smile."

"I can understand why," the pony beside her replied. "We don't have such things where I come from unfortunately."

"You must come from pretty far away then," Magdalena commented casually. "Almost everywhere I had been there was at least one fountain or statue."

The pony beside her nodded slightly. "Where I come from, our leader doesn't believe in such frivolities, it should serve a function, and if it doesn't we don't need it."

Curious, Magdalena continued to stare at the fountain, already losing interest in the pony beside her. "How interesting," she said with an obviously disinterested face.

"Well, if I may say so, you would make a lousy changeling with those acting skills." Magdalena blinked and turned to face the mare sitting beside her. "No, please, keep looking at the fountain," she said while touching up her face with make up. "I don't wish to raise suspicion. You're the pony with the lover in the hospital, aren't you?"

Magdalena tried to keep her eyes on the fountain, but couldn't help but take a sidelong glance at the pony beside her. She was an earth pony, like herself. Grey in color with pink eyes and blue and yellow colored mane and tail. She was wearing a frilly dress and wide sunhat as she looked at herself in a compact mirror. "How do you know about that?"

"I thought I said keep your eyes on the fountain," the mare whispered sharply with a slight frown. Magdalena quickly looked back at the fountain, and decided that the carving of Smart Cookie was suddenly more interesting than before. "Better, now I know because every changeling knows. This news flashed through the hive-mind faster than Doctor Heart could keep us out."

"So you're one of them," Magdalena replied coolly. "I suppose that you are here to tell me I should go through with it?"

The pony beside her acted as if she had not heard her for a second, instead she continued to carefully dab blush to her cheeks. "No," she finally replied. "I'm here to tell you what the doctor didn't." She looked around for a few moments, and finally nodded in satisfaction that there was no danger. "I think it's safe, sit down, and try not to draw any attention to yourself."

Magdalena didn't reply, but instead just did as directed. She sat on the edge of the fountain beside the stranger and began to feel some confusion. "I don't understand, why would you go out of your way to tell me this?"

"Be silent, I need to make sure that we aren't being listened to," she whispered in a hissing tone. "My name's Whistler, I'm one of the changelings that gather for the hive here in Canterlot."

"Whistler? No offence but that doesn't sound like a changeling name," she replied with a slight smirk.

"Well what kind of name did you expect? Perhaps you expected something more sinister," she said with a sniff. "Like, Dark Shadows, or Evil Monster Bug Pony."

"That's not what I meant," she said defensively.

The grey pony took her hoof and rubbed the center of her forehead with it as if she were fighting off a headache. "We're getting off track here, let's try this again. I'm Whister, I gather for the hive, and I want to talk to you about what Doctor Heart wants to do to your colt-friend."

Magdalena frowned at the disguised changeling beside her. "Look, I don't know how much of that conversation you managed to look into, but he's already given me a long enough talk about how this works, and that he wouldn't be exactly the same because of the whole hive-mind thing."

"Really," Whistler deadpanned. "Then did he tell you about the ponies from before this was legal? How we avoided doing this for one good reason?" Magdalena looked at her puzzled and shook her head. "I thought not," the mare looked around nervously as Magdalena watched curiously. "Let's set the clock back to about five years, before we attacked Equestria and became more known to the populace. Every once in a while, something would go wrong when we were out. We'd get caught by somepony, or, maybe have to defend ourselves. Sometimes one of us would just find a pony that had been injured, the point is, that in any of these cases, we were ordered to cocoon them, and take them back to the hive."

"So what are you getting at," Magdalena said with a frown. "That you've done this before? That you have a track record of this, that changelings have this down to a science, or that it works?"

"Oh it works, but it's far from a science," Whistler said with a frown. "Us changelings, we're born with the hive-mind. We know how to shut it off and isolate ourselves, we can grow a personality and be individuals with a shared mind. Ponies however," she trailed off suddenly as she looked over her shoulder. "They don't always come out right. Sometimes they would run away and pretend it never happened to them, sometimes they would kill themselves over what they had become. But, the most common thing is that ponies have gone mad from all the voices."

Magdalena looked at the changeling beside her and raised an eyebrow. "The voices, from the hive-mind I take it?"

Whistler nodded, and as she did a horn appeared in the center of her forehead. "I think, it would be best if I just showed you." She leaned forward slightly to press her horn against Magdalena's forehead, then backed away suddenly with a look of concern. "If you don't mind that is."

Magdalena shook her head at the mare beside her. "No, it's fine." Whistler leaned forward again, and touched her horn against Magdalena's head, and she gasped at the intensity of what happened. From the moment her horn touched her, Magdalena's mind was flooded with an innumerable amount of voices all chatting at once. While most of it was gibberish to her, several voices stood out in the crowd.

"Someone new is here."

"Who's this?"

"I think it's Magdalena, someone's let her in!"

"Who's doing this? She shouldn't be here!"

"Are you sure?"

"It's her, she's with Whistler."

"What's Whistler doing?"

"Queen Chrysalis is gonna flip when she realizes-"

"WHISTLER WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET HER OUT OF HERE!"

"Does she have clearance? How much does she know?"

"That drone had better not have-"

The connection suddenly broke as Whistler backed away from her and quickly gathered her things. "I think you can understand why ponies don't typically last long as changelings," she said with a casual air. "Granted, there are exceptions to the rule, but I need you to consider this."

Magdalena shook her head a few times before attempting to massage the throbbing pain of a sudden migraine that the experience gave her. "That's what he would have to live with, for the rest of his life?"

"Yes, unless he is the exception and learns to block it out, he would live with constant chatter." Whistler suddenly froze and looked behind her. After several seconds, her ears fell flat against her skull and she began to walk away.

Magdalena looked on in confusion for a few moments before getting up and following her. "Hey wait! Where do you think you're going?"

Whistler continued to pick up the pace through the crowd as she turned down Moonbeam Row. "Get away from me, I'm already in enough trouble for this," she hissed at her. "The drone master has summoned me to explain myself."

"Wait, will I ever see you again?"

Whistler nearly tripped on her own hooves at the question before barking out a short laugh. "Maybe, it all depends on what you chose." She then galloped off into a thick crowd of ponies.

Magdalena stood shocked at how suddenly she left her, and quickly went after her. "Hey wait a second!" She tried to break through the crowd, but as she did, she only barely saw the strange changeling duck into an alley. Magdalena quickly galloped to meet up with her, only to find the subtle green glow of the changeling activating a new disguise. As she ran into the alley, the only pony she saw was an orange pegasus, already out of earshot and cutting across the sky, over buildings so that she couldn't be followed.

Magdalena groaned as she stomped her hoof on the pavement before leaving the alley and joining the rest of the crowd that funneled back into the plaza. She looked around and was filled with a strange feeling, almost as if she were falling, or that she were being pulled in some direction. She looked to her left and saw the fountain, still sitting there as peaceful as ever.

Without a second thought, she let her hooves lead her to the fountain, and looked in her small bag for her bits. After a few moments, she found a coin, closed her eyes, and held it in her hoof. Please, let me have clarity so I'll know what to do. She then tossed the coin, and opened her eyes.

The coin flew in a high arc to the top tier of the fountain. She watched as it quickly tapped the stone heart at the top before bouncing off and landing in the pool in the bottom of the fountain. After several moments of frowning at the ripples in the water, she turned away from the fountain, and made her way down Castle View to find the public office of the Ministry of Practical Chaos.

Author's Note:

This chapter, has been a bit of a pain, and was planned to be much longer but I decided to cut it in half so I can have something out for you to read.

I hope I didn't bore you all, and I will have something new for you as soon as possible.

Edit:
Art by Aki Neko, will be presented with every chapter, when available.

Comments

[Biker_Dash]

Well, the plot starts to thicken... It seems that the good Dr was not completely forthright with his explanation of the procedure, and some within the hive dissent because of that fact.

An excellent chapter. This felt about the right length for what was conveyed in this chapter, and it was very well done.

[Perteks]

Damn why there is no pic with Chrysalis flipping table?!