Unexpected Discovery
Twilight felt she had put on a good show at the trial of casting off her bindings but was worried that it might have seemed too much like an act of defiance toward Celestia and to an extent Equestria. She was still so deep in thought about this that she did not notice when the guards had lead her up to the library in Ponyville so she could pack her bag. Finally having looked up and realizing where she was, Twilight went inside to prepare for her exile. One guard remained posted at the front door while another took flight to land on her upstairs balcony just in case she tried to make a run for it.
Twilight ever prepared actually had to do little packing. She had a jump bag waiting just in case she ever had to flee the country due to any reason. She admittedly had expected it to be something like House Blood trying to wipe out her family line or one of the other noble clans making another attempt to kidnap her again but it would serve for this occasion as well. It contained a few things she felt she would need such as some precious metals and gems that could easily be converted to some other form of currency wherever she found herself, some food good for a few days, water purification tablets, a small first aid kit, and a few coat and mane dyes just in case. Even as she did this though she arranged some of her books on a shelf before leaving so as to inform the only resident of the library who was not at the trial where he could find her. A wizard did not travel far without her familiar after all.
Having finished getting herself prepared for her exile as best she could, given that all her property was officially seized by the government and her accounts frozen, she set hoof outside once more. It had barely taken her more than thirty minutes to prepare much to the shock of the two guards. Admittedly they had never had to escort an exile out of the country before but they suspected it would take longer than that to get ready. She informed them that she was ready to depart and they proceeded to escort her from Ponyville and into the air on the way to the Badlands. They all took wing just as the clock struck three in the afternoon.
Ponies all around the small town watched as their princess was escorted away by the guard and had several different reactions. Many were simply confused as to what was happening while a few were genuinely angry to see the local hero being treated in such a way. Even less numerous were the ones happy to seeing her go as that number comprised only two families of merchant stock who had eyes on becoming aristocrats. With the clever minor noble turned royalty out of their town they could get back to business as usual with unfair contracts and skewed business practices well out of sight of anyone important.
The Element Bearers could not bring themselves to return to Ponyville after the trial and as such were staying at the castle for the evening. Applejack was dreading how her granny would react to what happened at the trial and her failure to try and stop it while Rarity just felt too drained by the drama of it all to do much more than drag herself to a bed and sleep. The two pegasi were also out of sorts with Fluttershy being somewhat restless and cagey when directly addressed and Rainbow being far too quite while sitting in a corner pretending to read, an upside down book at that. Pinkie Pie appeared to be her usual self unless one was to actually look in her eyes and then they would see no mirth there only sorrow and shame.
“You think she will forgive us this time?” Applejack asked the others.
“I hope so. We didn’t have much choice now did we? As it was Celestia did all she could to keep it from coming up in the trial as it would have really ruined her chances of ever coming back. None of those nobles need to know what else she did there.” Rainbow answered even as her eyes continued to move as if to prove she was reading.
“Doesn’t really matter if she does or doesn’t, really. We’ll never see her again ourselves. I do hope she stays safe out there.” Fluttershy put in even as she again flapped her way across the room to find some place she would feel comfortable in.
Pinkie observed the others as they tried to rationalize. “The scary thing in this is that Twilight doesn’t remember any of it. You don’t think the stuff they did to her scrambled her eggs too much, do you?” The pink party pony asked while motioning to her head with a spinning foreleg in the universal sign of crazy.
“Nah. I think she was still just sorting through the trains of thought caught in her head during all that. It wasn’t really her doing those things if you think about it. Also, I suggest we all calm down. We know there isn’t anything out there that can hurt her anyway. She took out an Ursa Minor as just a unicorn and now she is an alicorn. Hard to find anything sturdier.” Applejack weighed in on the discussion once more.
Spike and Luna were within the night princess’s room preparing the drake for his first voyage in the dreamscape. He had a place prepared just for him to sleep in since he would be staying with Luna for the near future. Spike hoped in a few years he would be big enough to return to Twilight’s side or that she would have found a way to return to Equestria, whichever would be best for her. Having to be separate from what he considered his mother in spite of others viewing them as only co-workers or siblings was not something he handled easily if he did not know how long it would be for. Normally for something like this he would have stayed with Celestia but since she was the source of the distress he was instead staying with the only other he knew to be on Twilight’s side.
“As you lay down to sleep tonight I will cast a spell that will pull your consciousness to me in the dreamscape and then lead the way to Twilight’s sleeping mind. Be prepared to see strange things though, young one, as the dreamscape makes what Discord does in the real world seem tame at times.” Luna warned the whelp as she prepared her bed to be as comfortable as possible for the coming night ahead. Normally she did not sleep at night save for a few hours which would be devoted to breaking up the nightmares of her citizenry but tonight she felt she could get away with spending most of it in order to comfort a friend and discuss what might need to happen.
“I think I am ready Luna. Given some of my own dreams in the past I think I know some of what to expect. Just warn me if we have to cut through Pinkie’s head first, please. I’m not sure I want to see what is in there at all.” Spike stated while he looked through his little area to sleep before remembering it is not his bed from the library so it doesn’t have his hidden supply of small geodes for snacks.
“Trust me when I say we will steer well clear of that. I have yet to even attempt to go inside her dreams out of fear for my sanity. Are you sure you are okay with staying with me? I know Tia used to look after you while Twilight was younger and some are not comfortable with me even now after all these years.”
“Yes Luna, I trust you more than enough to be comfortable staying with you. I hope you just don’t regret letting me stay in your room. I’ve accidentally burned a few of Twilight’s things over the years.”
“Not a worry Spike. I used to have a general that was a dragon so I know how to handle the occasionally accidental burst of flame. He tended to do that a lot when he got angry.” The mare of the moon assured the dragon all would be well.
“Oh? Could you tell me about him? We couldn’t find a lot out about dragons when we were searching for it awhile back and I am curious about my people and how we interact in pony culture.”
That night before bed Luna spent telling Spike quite a bit about what she knew of dragons and in particular an old one who used to be one of her friends. In the process the young drake learned that not all his people were the bullies he had met even if they did all have something of a minor temper issue by comparison to ponies. He also learned of some of the magic his kind could use if not the particulars of how to use it.
As the moon had just cleared the far off mountains in the East Twilight could see that she was about to lose the guards that were escorting her from Equestrian lands. Before the three of them lay what remained of the changeling hive in the middle of the Badlands. She was not aware she could fly fast enough to get to the hive within an evening but it would seem she still had more to learn about her new body. The two guards made sure to land and that she was safely on the ground before they summarily left her without so much as a conversation with her.
‘Must be the massive empty changeling hive giving them the creeps. Or me,’ Twilight though as she stepped into the entrance of the hive proper. She looked around for a moment and a portion of her mind expected to see changelings buzzing about doing their jobs with a few of the warrior class, praetorians her alien memories supplied, greeted her with a salute. After a moment she shook off the expectation while checking the entrance for how much damage her friends might have caused when they stormed the place. She had been in no condition to really note it at the time she had been drug screaming from the hive. ‘Wait, I wasn’t screaming. I was crying wasn’t I? My children were dea… wait that wasn’t me. It was Chrysalis’s mind in my head but she was dead already, right?’
After a moment of trying to sort out her memories she returned to the task at hand and detected no great damage to the entrance that would make it easy for random critters to get in. Stopping an attack from ponies or griffons though might be another matter. As such she began to set detection wards up around the entrance before heading deeper to plan what to do next. After all, she would be having company soon if her calculations were correct. There was no way rival countries to Equestria would wait long to see if they could not petition her to help them. Equestria was not the only country with its problems and an alicorn of magic could be a handy solution to use against such issues. Of course, some could also do without such a creature being out there beholden to no nation or creed either. Already she suspected the international spy network was abuzz with them trying to find her for one reason or another.
‘Griffons or minotaurs to get here first I wonder? Then again I suppose the diamond dogs are also a potential contender.’ Twilight knew though the first race to visit would be ponies. Namely agents of some of the noble houses that would have a vested interest in her never living long enough to see Equestria again. She suspected the same would have happened to Luna if any of their ancestors had a way to reach the moon at the time. ‘Really need to revise the education system as they don’t seem to get that immortality kind of makes that impossible. Then again maybe I’m overestimating their backstabbing natures.’ After a moment she shakes her head. “Nah.”
For now though Twilight needed something to concentrate on so she would not have another fit as she had in her holding cell before the hearing and as such she returned to the room she had been held in. The remains of the resin that had held her to the wall still contained some traces of the chemical that they had used to open her mind to the hive. ‘Perhaps this could be useful,’ Twilight thought as she used her magic to try and analyze the chemical as well as she could. Without her lab with her there was only so much she could do but she would make do for now. Thankfully for her a lot of the chemical remained in the reservoir in the machine that had been used to pump the stuff into her so she would have plenty that had not been exposed to the open air for a proper analysis later once she got settled in.
So intent was she that she did not notice when a drop of it landed on her horn while she was observing the resin’s little vein like distribution network. In that moment she felt something she had not before. Something that felt like tiny little blips of awareness only capable of expressing one thought. Hunger! “What?” She blinked for a moment and then concentrated on the feeling. As she did so a memory not her own flashed through her mind of where the hive kept its nurseries. “This means I might not ha…” The alicorn took off like a rocket toward where her memories guided her hoping against hope that she might find at least a bit of redemption in having not slaughtered the entire race in a single evening.
She slid around corridors and slammed into walls hard enough to leave dents but let none of it stop her as she powered her way throughout the maze like hive toward where her mind was telling her she could find her own personal chance at proving to herself she was not a complete monster. As she smashed into the nursery at first she was shocked. In spite of that feeling of lingering small minds crying out for food the room was empty save for the husks of what were likely the care takers of the nursery and more than a few of the nymphs of the hive. She almost gave into the despair that filled her soul at that moment but felt another flare of those minds. This time they seemed to give off the feeling as if they had been hurt. Realizing it was in reaction to her own feelings of despair Twilight managed to reign in her emotions and make her way through the set of chambers. After what felt like an hour Twilight found a room containing eggs that still seemed healthy under a special green light. There were five in all contained within the room.
“These don’t look like the other eggs did,” Twilight observed as she neared them. One egg had what appeared to be blue veins running along its shell and was a touch larger than any of the eggs she had seen since she had arrived. The other four looked more or less like the usual eggs though they too were slightly larger than average. After looking for a moment Twilight began to remember having seen these eggs in the distant past. The slightly larger eggs were those of the praetorians that would grow up to be guards and soldiers for the hive. The blue egg though she remembered seeing to with care for a long time spending time with it and feeding it lots of love as it was her daughter. A future ruler of her people, one that hopefully would not let a personal grudge continue to harm her subjects even when she knew it was better to let it go. “Not my memories,” Twilight screamed out loud to remind herself that she was not Chrysalis.
“Well, this changes things. How do I feed you little ones?” Twilight asked herself as tears sprang to her eyes. Apparently there was hope for the race she had almost single hoofedly wiped out after all.
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Hmm, very interesting. Some changelings yet remain and twilight doesn't seem to have the whole story, if what her friends said is anything to go by.
More!
Keep it up this just got 20% realer!
I like this story, looking forward to reading more. Also you said 'back' instead of 'pack' in the first paragraph
Al tho there are some of us that do belive that the changlings are looked on as parasites because of what Queen Chrisslis did
Twists and Turns are the Master Plan...
Eventually, Twilight will end up back where she began.
Moarplz.
If I were Twilight in this situation, I would be feeling pretty pissed at Celestia and my so-called "friends". She gets exiled for actions taken in self defense during a time where she was mentally compromised against an enemy that is essentially at war with Equestria, just because of how badly it ended for said aggressor? Wow ...
I will readily admit that genocide is a horrible thing and I am more than happy to accommodate moral systems that place a much greater weight on the taking of lives than our own, but the fact that Twilight was essentially being mindraped at the time (effects of which she is still feeling even now) should warrant consideration of whether she can be held responsible for her actions at the time. You might as well try Shining Armor for treason for failing to stop the changeling invasion with his shield because he was under the Queen's influence.
I have to wonder how the general populace is taking this - I imagine not all are happy with Celestia's decision. As far as everyone in recent memory can remember, Twilight has done much more to safeguard Equestria than Celestia and has saved the country and its citizens on multiple occasions. Even this unfortunate incident essentially removed a hostile and active threat to Equestrian population, which is more than the older Princess can claim to have done as far as anyone can remember. One can only hope it comes to bite her in the flank ...
On that note, wouldn't Twilight simply try and move to Crystal Empire at this point? Since Celestia herself established that the Empire, being another country, has no say in Equestrian matters, the reverse holds true as well. As such, Shining is perfectly positioned to give Celestia the flip and accept Twilight in his and Cadence's country with open hooves.
4167119 Imperfect self-defense is still punishable usually, though exile does seem way too severe.
4170066
I don't believe our laws are strictly applicable to Equestria in this regard - they have actual magic to consider in their daily lives after all, and whatever laws they might have would (should?) reflect that. I mean, mind control is a literal thing there - like literal, magic inducted mind control, something we have no equivalent to.
Twilight was literally being subject to being mindraped via telepathic means - that's not quite the same as "I freaked out and before I knew what was what, the other guy was dead before me, woops" - her mind was literally being invaded and bent under the control of another; she is still somewhat unstable from the after-effects.
Thankfully we don't have to concern ourselves with anything like that, but I would imagine Equestria to have some sort of different rules for crimes committed while under mind-controlling effects ... even if it backfires horribly for the offender.
I imagine there is a reason Twilight felt betrayed by the judgment passed down on her.
4172015
She was outside sovereign Equestrian territory too. I'm unsure if they even had a legal right to try her for genocide. Especially since her act qualifies as xenocide.
And frankly, committing xenocide on the Changelings made the world a better place. They kidnap sapient beings and feed on them. Thats how they survive. They eat people. If humanity survived an invasion of brain eating parasites, as per Canterlot Wedding, it probably would've bought us a few years of world peace as we all joined as one and hunted down each and every bug. One extinction, served hot and probably radioactive.
I expect the more sensible nations to begin sending her 'Thank You' cards and gift baskets.
4182788
It's made even murkier by the fact that the Changelings are, technically, at war with Equestria. And as one of the rulers of the country (while she doesn't normally seem to do much, as per the season opener we know the army reports to her when the other Princesses are unavailable), it should be well within her rights to carry out military offensives against foreign national threats ...
And yet they choose to screw her over despite the circumstances (being under the process of being mindraped at the time) just so they could wash their hooves of the whole thing and retain a squeaky clean image, when Twilight would have actually been in line for (another) medal? (And, like you said, when other countries would probably feel happy about the changeling's demise as well)?
Yeah ... Twi has plenty reasons to feel pissed.
what if twilight died and queen crissy thinks she's twilight?
Jumping for joy to see more, please update soon!
4472858
I should have something up near the start of next week. I won't be home this weekend to work on it, sadly.
Seems like this second chapter actually DO explain most of the OOCs, or at least make possible connections to. First chapter really left too little to insinuate the OOC happening for a reason, tho. The one thing that made me think that something was afoot was the bloody story description!