I found myself… complete in a way I could not truly put into words. I was comfortable, and what minor troubles and hungers I might have had melted away in the light of my suddenly relaxing body. I settled down, head resting on my hooves as I watched with warm bemusement as Luna flitted about on the other side of this wondrous ring of runes. It was perhaps a full minute before I realized she was talking to me, and another more before I belatedly realized I should respond before panic set in, which would have been at least ten seconds prior. I had been rude, but oh well-
Oh well? Oh well?! That alone snapped me out of my reverie and I jolted to my hooves to see that Luna had been in process of bringing down a large stone on the edge of the ring. “Your Highness, hold-”
To my vast relief, she did just barely manage to twist her actions away from chipping away at the runes to do… Order knows what, but she still managed to just miss the carefully scribed stonework. “Thou art among us again, then? I confess, we are not used to you smiling like a drunken fool and ignoring our questions. Sarcasm we can much appreciate, but insouciance is so unlike you that we deemed drastic measures appropriate. We could feel the magic in the air changing, and it worried us still further. Art thou well?”
“Better than I have been,” I admitted, getting to my hooves again. “In fact, I feel unusually vigorous.”
“Shall I fetch thy personal entomologician?”
“It is ‘entomologist’ and Topaz is not a trained physician in any case. Besides-”
“Thou art still hiding from her, we are aware. Thou ain’t slick,” she grinned at me, but noted my wince. “The mixing of old and new vernacular is a bridge too far?”
“I feel for the Nymph. Cersus. I have done that in lesser fashion, but… regardless. My uncertainties in that regard are…” I shook my head, trying to chase away various fears, dreads and longings, then gave my princess a pleading look. “I need time, and we have other matters to attend.”
“I suppose you do, though I will advise that time does not stop while you worry or attend other matters. Assuredly, she will seek her own resolutions should you delay too long. Now then, to convenient distraction,” she agreed cheerfully. ‘There was clear feeling of something being drawn towards the runes with you at center. How did it feel? Details, stallion, details!” She pulled a tiny notebook heavily decorated with moon and stars, licking the side of a hoof before flipping through it with surprising speed. “Here we are, explain away!”
Not… so convenient. “What should I explain? I feel energized. Whole, almost.” I looked down at the runes, which were still faintly glowing but no longer nearly so charged. “...Less than I did, but still…” I focused on myself, trying to determine what was different. “...I feel… as though I had a slow leak that is now plugged?”
“And I felt something tug at me as soon as you set it off. Can you step out?” I did so at her request, and the sensation of wellness left me almost immediately, and the change was so sudden that it stole my breath. To my vast concern, I felt the ‘leak’ again, and now it seemed painfully obvious that it was simply the ‘normal’ state of changeling being. Tolerable, but now I was aware of it, and I imagined it would bother me for the foreseeable future. “And how do you feel now?”
“The leak is back, but I do still feel vastly improved. Is the ‘pull’ gone?” The runes did seem slightly dimmer, but not much more. Perhaps I had overcharged them initially, or they were simply running low, but the still seemed much more robust than the previous.
“It has not,” Luna frowned, rubbing her chin and levitating her notepad in and out of the circle. “Well, this tells us little.”
And with a small hop, that I tried desperately to prevent, Princess Luna was within the circle. “Your Highness-”
The lunar princess only pulled a sour face. “Peace, friend Idol. Bide a moment. Eugh-” Her face scrunched into several expression of distaste. “This felt good to you? Tis nauseatingly… still.” She took a deep breath and blew it out, as if trying to see something in her breath.
There was… something off, but I could not put my hoof on it. More to the point, I felt the Princess should immediately remove herself from the circle. “Luna, please, I must beg you to exit the ring-”
“Ease yourself, Idol. Tis likely where Cadance was trapped, for several days, and she was no worse for wear. Mostly.” Luna’s horn flickered, then lit. “Intriguing. I feel pressure instead of pull. Tis dense with power, but… harder to use.” Her notepad drifted semi-aggressively at me, and I tilted my head to dodge in consternation. “See? That should have struck you upon the nose. Instead, it merely floats. Tis heavier than it should be,” the princess decided, with a firm nod as she tried to step out… and found herself bound, with the runes appearing to brighten ever so slightly the longer she stayed within.
“...Now, this is precisely what I feared-”
And then Luna decided she was not bound, by forcing her way through whatever barrier had formed hard enough that the runes beneath her cracked, fading out entirely. “Hmm. Not stable enough to be a true barrier. Likely the crystal was to be the true means of keeping our niece contained. That felt more… unintentional, if effective over time. A side effect, as it were, to the true goal.”
“Which was…?”
“I haven’t the faintest, friend Idol. It draws ambient magic, which no alicorn needs assistance with, but in a way that floods the pony within. It is uncomfortable for an alicorn, yet apparently beneficial to changelings. As a prison, it makes little sense, unless the intent was for a changeling to be within to feed upon Cadance as she weakened, but… tis a most inefficient method. Cutting off a unicorn from usable magic whilst empowering changelings would seem beneficial, and yet… cut off I was not. Hmm. No, I am unfortunately at a loss. We had thought that young Cadance was not the entire intent of the invasion, seeing that she could have been spirited away before we even knew she was missing, but this all feels…” Luna wave a hoof at the cavern.
“Entirely intentional?” I offered. “She did bring Twilight the Younger down here, did she not? Perhaps the intention was to get them to drain themselves enough to let the… Order magic suppress them?”
“Indeed, that could be so, but to what end? Our sister was instead trapped in a cocoon and hung in the very throne room,” she sighed with a shake of her head. “Nay, Idol, I fear your Queen had many irons in multiple fires. I believed her wholly thwarted, but now perhaps less thoroughly than I had hoped. I cannot hazard a guess as to what her intentions were, nor am I certain which goal she sought foremost. What we have here is an incomplete and destroyed chain of rings meant to automate… something to do with changeling magic, apparently. More than that will require much research and study.”
“Perhaps Twilight the Younger would relish such studies?”
“Ah… no. I would not like to come to Twilight as a pauper in this. This may be important, but it is thoroughly derailed now, and my sister’s student has other important tasks to deal with. I would hate to waste her time on something that may prove frivolous until I have more pertinent information.”
“Ah yes. Surely only that, and nothing an emotion-eating bug pony would immediately and suddenly recognize.”
Luna sniffed. “Thou art a cheat and a sneakthief, and we have no idea what you speak of.”
“And a cad,” I reminded her, cheerfully.
“Aye, a cad as well. But possibly our favorite.”
“I shall wear the badge with honor, then.”
One thing that can be said for Luna is that she is an oddly comforting presence. Whilst Celestia is regal and motherly, Luna is regal and… not. There is a certain amount of freedom expected from and by her, and for the most part, she simply wishes those around her to be happy. She was right in that I could not forever avoid conversation with Topaz and full discussion of our… indiscretions.
Order, I was being a colt about this. Changelings did not have such pony views of relations, and I was assuredly changeling.
But then, I am not a very good changeling. Perhaps it was only natural that I delay. I knew what had to be done, but had not yet built the courage to see it through. Rejoiced in my own acceptance of cowardice, I moved on to other more immediately pressing concerns.
Princess Celestia had kept my still-disguised charge entertained well enough, though I disapproved of the method on several levels.
“...Your Highness, is this not a trifle excessive?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” came the royal denial, fork twirling as it delivered maple and pancake in roughly equal measure.
“Your breakfast appears to be trying out for the Equestria games,” I sighed, eyeing first her enormous plate of syrup and then my troublesome charge around her own multicolored mountain of fluff. “Cersus, whipped cream and chocolate are acceptable on pancakes, but only in small quantities, as well you know. This is a clear excess.”
“She said I was allowed! There’s caramel, too. And these are waffles, she says the rules are different!”
The Solar Diarch had the grace to look abashed, even as she delicately treated herself to another sugary bite that made my own stomach protest in purest jealousy. “It’s only one time, Idol. What can it hurt?”
“I would claim to send you the future bill from her dentist, but we are changelings,” I admitted ruefully. “The point remains that you are presuming much of her Highness, Cersus. Perhaps it is time for you to head home.”
“Okay… I do feel better. Thank you Miss Celestia. Princess. Ma’am.” She all but slammed her face down to shove the remains of the more-dessert-than-breakfast treat in her mouth, then made a show of wiping herself with a napkin, surreptitiously using her long tongue to get as much of the remaining confection as possible. Celestia gave me a little wink, and I simply shook my head. Foals would be foals, whatever the species. “...Are you gonna come with?”
“Do not speak with your mouth full. And… no, not yet.”
Celestia’s look was withering. “Idol…”
“Yes, your Highness, I know. But I have duties to uphold and I have put them off enough already. Cersus, I want you to pack your things.”
The little changeling drooped. “Oh. Do I have to move my stuff? Cause… cause I got found out?”
“This is no fault of your own, no. But I have been reassigned. I cannot in good conscience leave you in Equestria without me.”
“...Wha?”
Celestia’s withering look turned to panic, and I was again certain that she had grown attached far too quickly for her own good. “Prince Shining Armor has need of me in the Crystal Empire. I will be leaving immediately.” I hesitated, then looked out the window. The day was still early, but… “-on the next sunrise,” I amended.
“B…but-!” My not-quite-adopted non-offspring protested, and I could see trouble growing on her face and within her heart.
“This is the cost of duty, Cersus. I cannot leave you here, and I cannot stay.”
“Idol, that isn’t completely set in stone-”
“Forgive me, Your Highness, but it is, and well you know it. I can no more disobey Shining than I could my Queen.”
“I could countermand those orders.” It was neither statement nor offer, yet somehow a combination of both.
I met her eyes, feeling a hint of sadness. Luna’s friendship was more… open, but Celestia had cultivated a certain comfortable relationship. She knew her place, as did I, but such lines were never as neat and orderly as all that. “You could. But we both know it is best that you did not.”
Celestia looked away, more forlorn than I had expected. She looked upon Cersus, and the motherliness returned. “You are welcome to come to the castle anytime you wish. I’ll ensure Blueblood has some way of letting you in. I’ll see to it there’s a room for you. Maybe a little hidden one.”
The nymph could no longer meet either of our eyes. Her desire to protest was clear, even in the face of secret castle rooms, but at the end of the day she was changeling, as surely as I was.. “...Thank you, Your Highness.” She gave a small curtsy, and I confess my own pride nearly brought me to bursting.
“Do not be so disheartened. We go to the Crystal Empire. Tis a new adventure, a city unseen in a thousand years. I cannot imagine you will have any difficulty discovering new sources of trouble.”
“...That does sound pretty cool…” came the murmur of approval.
“And you’ll be able to tell your friends all about it, I’m sure. Your own little adventure journals. Perhaps they can make the trip sometime and you can all explore together.”
“Yeah…?” The idea was warming, though tentatively. “...yeah, okay…!”
Celestia chewed her lip a moment, then gave a weak smile. “Perhaps not my place to argue the point… but do you not think it might be wise to inform Shining before you bring a heretofore unknown changeling foal into his new kingdom…?”
“And we’ll get Topaz to come, too!”
Drat. And double drat.
And thus the trip will soon begin.
Eyyy, the wait has been well worth it!~
Amazing, I had *just* finished my rereading of the fic today! You spoil us.
Oh right, he didn't tell Shining that part yet.
Well that's gonna be awkward.
As if Topaz would let you escape to the Crystal Empire.
Funny bug.
*Approximately 15 minutes ago, micromanaging soldiers in 1994 XCOM*
*Blink*
?
*Blink*
"What? Who messaged me?"
*Blink*
"No one? I see no notifica... Noooo... Call back the craft, drop your weapons, tell the aliens to pause the invasion! Someone get the popcorn! ITS HAPPENING! ITS HAPPENING!"
On this day the war for Earth ground to a halt as aliens and humans alike took time to celebrate the arrival of a new chapter. UFOs around the world gathered, aligning their hulls in the sky to form a giant screen as the inhabitants, human, grey or what-have-you read together.
So, the two of them are going to the Crystal Empire?
Prepare for Trouble,
and make it double?
To protect young changeling from exposation
To unite all creatures within our nation
To devour the expression of truthful love
To extend our reach to the north above
Idol
Cersus
Team Changeling blasting off at the speed of trot
Topaz, that's right
... ok, it needs work
Oh boy, we're going to get some Idol X Topaz next chapter!
Yer dooooomed, Idol, DOOOOOOMED!
WHAHHAAHAHAH!!!!
I cannot articulate through text the "Oh f**k it's time!" panic I feel in my stomach whenever this updates out of nowhere. I love it, and I'm happy to see you back in business! I hope to read the next chapter soon!
11572124
Awkward, yes. But this is Idol. When hasn't he made things awkward for Shining? Shining will get over it and I'm sure Caddy will just love the nymph. I'm sure it will be fine. (*snerk*)
Please let that mean what I think it means... But we won't know until he sees Cadence again. 🤞
❤❤❤
You mean to say that Chrysalis actually had a plan? A competent plan?
She's not wrong--Waffles are loose cannons that play by their own rules.
And pass up the chance of surprising him, Celestia? Heaven forbid!
I'm so looking forward to the Crystal Empire Saga!
There's no escaping the family bonding sitcom. No escape at all. Also, this will be amusing watching Idol explain to Shining that he's bringing his GF and adoptive daughter along. The good news is is Shining won't have to look too far to find out that Cersus protected her friends during the attack.
11572200
I love how we seem to be going completely off-script with Chrissy here. There is so much to unpack with this chapter!
Literally the day I finished it it updates!
Always a good day when a new chapter comes out. Can’t wait to see just what happens between Idol and Topaz
I thought that I was going to bed. I have discovered something more important.
Or more friends
Thanks for another chapter of this delightful tale!
and the adventure continues!
Go on and kiss the colt, Celly.
We know you want to.
...And we know you respect both his comfort and your disparate positions enough that you won't.
(At least, not until the exact moment that doing so would execute a perfect and victimless prank.)
(She can kiss Topaz immediately afterwards.)
11572137
haha I read that in Jessie and James's voices in my head lol.
Idol dad is here to stay
Is, he full?
MUCH too far.
So, a recharge rune?
Order runes?
Turns out, fully rested Alicorn has more magical muscle than an exhausted one. What're the odds?
I love her and Idol's dynamic.
I bet she did.
It is pretty cool.
Amazing.
Oh no, the AU fics of this have polluted my head with false timeliness, I was confused at first why he was deciding on going to the crystal empire when I thought he'd been there for awhile. It seems a reread is due
11572136
"By the Ethereals, it was beautiful."
- A Sectoid Commander
So it's components of the Hybrid Reformation Project? Neat. Wonder when that will come in handy...
Cersus is already accepted by the mother of the pride, the destiny is guiding quite well!
Maybe being in the circle lets a changeling reduce the amount of love energy used in upkeep, if it's a 'the more you have the more you use' type deal. Chrysalis was planning to fight what's basically a god after all.
Running away is not an option, thoust fool.
It's so weird seeing Idol being uncomfortable and awkward compared to his normally oblivious nature. It's something I'll have to adjust to but I like where it is going!
11572327
Pretty sure the point was to siphon Cadance's unique love magic for Chrysalis. So one taking over shed go down and absorb it. Everyone remembers when Chrysalis was "restored" for a brief moment after Cadance blasted her.
I'm glad to see this has updated! Idol will be having the dreaded conversation with Topaz before the move to the Crystal Empire.
Great chapter, look like Idol got a family yet.
Let's hope he keeps unchanged the snuggelbug path ♡
11572339
The -st or -est goes on the verb that comes after "thou". It's equivalent to the -s in "he likes".
They've barely said two words to each other since "knocking hooves" (outside of the brief throne room interaction), and the next time they do talk Idol is going to hit her with what amounts to an 'ultimatum' of either never seeing him again or uprooting her whole life with just hours to think it over?
Yeah, Topaz is going to be calling him far worse things than a "cad" by evening...
Good chapter!
11572398
I think he might be able to arrange separate train rides.
The lengths one goes to avoid what needs to be done, can not be underestimated.
All Idol needs to make the trip complete is to find out on arriving in the Crystal empire, that Cersus picked up Kevin, Brian, and Tiberius.
And in the morning, i’m making waffles!
In this case, we see the future father, Idol, getting the aforementioned 'milk and cigs' and leaving poor Topaz with the feeling that she might have unintentionally made a foal. Regardless of the likelihood between different species.
Being a pony sounds rough
See you in 2030 for the sombra or thorax arc
NEW CHAPTER!!!
Poor little nymph, having to leave her friends behind.
Oh crap, I just remembered that neither Shining, nor Cadance, has any idea that Idol has a daughter!
There's no way that "Cady" doesn't just gush over Cersus. That li'l 'ling gonna get fat off the Princess of Love!
Meanwhile, Idol is sure to receive some more "worse-than-cad" name-calling for hiding her...
Hmm. All I can think of is that it's a box of perfect order. No heat loss due to entropy, no emotions lost due to disorder. Could be anything, though. Who knows.
Thanks for the chapter! : )
SO MANY IRONS IN THE FIRE
Nobody else can cause as much trouble than Idol for just existing