• Published 10th Aug 2014
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Changeling Mine - Futile Task



One mistake leads to one pony holding the fate of an entire race within her hooves.

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Chapter Thirteen: Important Discussions

Twilight woke up to the sound of shouting coming from her kitchen, yawning loudly as she got up and made her way out of her room. When she reached the kitchen and opened the doors, it was to find her recently appointed head cook, De’ Grand Spatula, arguing with a large and imposing changeling who was holding a several cooking utensils in her magic.

“…In all my life I have never been so insulted, and by a changeling no less. I don’t care if we are supposed to treat you nicely now, if you don’t get out of my kitchen right now I will throw you out!”

The changeling snorted, “With what I have seen you planning for the Queen Mother’s breakfast, I would rather feast on hate then leave her in your care!”

“There you go with that dam title again, I get that she is carrying your new queen, but that does not…”

“And as I told you, because she is carrying our new queen she will have new dietary requirements that you will not…!”

“Enough,” commanded Twilight, causing both the mares to jump as they turned toward her.

“Your Highness…”

“Queen Mother…”

“Quiet,” Twilight said softly, waiting a bit before speaking again. “Look, De’ Grand, I know you have been my head cook for a while now, but because of the eh…” she paused, turning to the changeling with a nervous look. “Um, what do you call your young at this stage of growth?”

“Larva, or larvae if one is lucky enough to be blessed with multiple.”

“I see, thank you miss…”

“Fickle Habits Queen Mother,” she said, “But you may simply call me Fickle.”

“I see,” said Twilight, before turning to her cook. “Now as I was saying, because of the larva growing inside of me, I will have different requirements when it comes to what I need to eat, requirements you won’t know about or more importantly know how to prepare. So until the…larva is born, I think it best that this changeling here begin preparing my meals, and then you can begin cooking for me again.”

“But your highness Princess Celestia is coming today, don’t you think you should have a normal cook to prepare some food before she arrives?”

Twilight shook her head, “I’m sure whatever Fickle can whip up will be fine, so just run along and head to one of the local restaurants, I am sure one of them is going to need help after what we’ve been through.”

De’ Grand huffed but nodded, leaving the kitchen as Twilight turned to her new cook, looking her over appraisingly. “So, you can cook?”

Fickle nodded, “I was once chef to the duchess of prance herself, before I was forced to head to Equestria in order to help in the invasion, as all of us were. It wasn’t exactly the best job for a creature who feeds on love, but we changelings could adapt, and I got nice and fat off of all the envy my fellow cooks felt due to my ability. Now if you would Queen Mother, I would like it if you could leave the kitchen, I have a lot of work to do and I can’t do it all with you in here, but I promise food will be done soon.”

Twilight nodded, and then left the kitchen, heading to the dining hall and sitting down, before a cough caused her to look up.

“Hello Twilight,” said Celestia pleasantly, Twilight’s mind finally registering what her cook had said earlier as the site of her former mentor caused her eyes to widen a bit.

“Princess…wha…why didn’t you send a letter to tell me you were coming, I could have prepared for your arrival.”

“I meant to,” said Celestia with a sigh, “but after talking with your sister in law Cadance, I felt it would be better if I just showed up.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, only to have Celestia place a hoof over her mouth. “We’ll save that discussion for later, but for now, I would like to know how…”

Celestia suddenly stopped as her eyes drifted to the door again, for standing in the doorway was Celestine, who had the look of a lost foal who had finally found her mother.

“Pupa!”

“Mother!”

Twilight watched as the two beings ran to each other, both of them crying as they hugged, for it had been a long time since they had last seen each other.

“Oh my little Pupa, it has been too long, where have you been.”

“I’ve been around mother,” said Celestine through sobs, “and I be sorry I didn’t contact ye sooner, I just felt that it would be better if I stayed close to my daughter in this troubling time.”

Celestia nodded, backing up a bit to get a better look at Celestine, before brushing a hoof through her pink mane. “I know my child, but a mother can’t help but worry, especially one who worries about you the way I do my little Pupa.”

This time Celestine rolled her eyes, “mother stop, that is my hatchling name, and I have told ye repeatedly I prefer to go by my chosen name, for ye know I chose it to honor ye.”

“I know that daughter,” said Celestia sweetly, “but I am afraid us old ponies tend to permanently name their children, and no matter what name you name yourself, I will always refer to you as my little Pupa.”

Celestine grumbled, then relented, nuzzling her mother before accompanying her to the dining table as the doors to the kitchen opened and Fickle walked in, the changeling walking over to place a tray in the middle of the table. “Breakfast is served your majesties,” she said, before taking her leave as Twilight lifted up the tray’s lid.

“My word,” said Celestia as she spotted all the different dishes, “it has been a while since I’ve seen any of these dishes.”

“You’ve seen these before,” asked Twilight, only to facehoof as she suddenly remembered. “Of course you’ve seen these before, you carried a changeling to.”

Celestia giggled at that, then grabbed one of the dishes and served herself up one of the strange dish, before seeing Twilight staring at them oddly and smiling. “Would you like me to explain to you what these dishes are, and more importantly, what they are for?”

Twilight nodded, so Celestia began to explain, falling into teacher mode very easily as she lifted the dishes one at a time. “This-” said Celestia as she lifted the first dish, which held several green orbs which glowed a bit, causing Twilight to shy away. “-is called Sercial, which is made from a special kind of ooze produced in changeling caves. The substance contains vast amounts of protein, which all changelings need, but as they are equine like creatures, they themselves cannot ingest meat. Thus we have these little morsels, which while they do containing high amounts of protein, they can be eaten and digested as if they were plant matter.”

She set it down, and then picked up the second dish, one which looked like a mass of dead purple tendrils. “This repulsive looking dish is called Sleptar, and it is a special kind of plant which is grown from Changeling hive space…”

“Wait a minute,” said Twilight, “hive what?”

Celestine cleared her throat to explain, “Well ye see Twilight, when we changelings begin building our nests, the queens, as well as the drones if there are any secrete this special kind of mucus, which grows over every surface of the changeling cave, even around the cave entrance. This hive space provides many benefits to our species, but the most noteworthy of these features is it is what allows us to grow the food we need for physical nourishment, like this plant.”

Celestia nodded, “exactly, now as I was saying, this plant is very important for you, because it will be one of the only things you will be able to eat during the later stages of pregnancy.”

“What, but why?”

“Because pony food is poisonous to young changelings till they reach maturity, though the changelings only found this out after they began trade with the crystal ponies. Now you are only in the second month of carrying, so your foal’s digestive system hasn’t fully developed yet, but it will be better if we get you used to eating this food now, so that way when her digestive system is fully developed, the only nutrients she will be ingesting are the nutrients provided by this food.”

Twilight nodded in understanding, then pointed to the last food item on the table, which glowed bright pink and was in a dish shaped like a heart.

“Oh that,” said Celestia with a smile, “that dish the changelings call ambrosia, or, if you would prefer its more common name, solidified love.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, “Solidified love…but…but…”

Both the elder mares giggled, and then Celestine spoke up. “When love is in abundance, as it always is when the crystal heart is at work, we changelings are able to condense love into a solid form, which allows others to enjoy it. When our empire was thriving, it was one of our most traded commodities, for while yes it is a food, for the others species who would ingest it, it turned out to be one of the most potent aphrodisiacs in existence, and it still is.”

Celestine noticed the look on Twilight’s face, and quickly continued speaking. “Ye need no’ worry yourself Twilight, this batch has been carefully prepared, and will most likely only make ye a bit more frisky then ye normally would be, but I would recommend ye stay away from anypony ye have…affections for, for it would prove very trying. Still this substance is needed for your child’s growth, for all changelings need love.”

Twilight nodded again, and then they all began to dig in, Celestia showing her how to eat it before beginning to eat her own dish, though Twilight noticed she was avoiding the love. Upon her curious glance Celestia explained, “My mate Anthra has moved into the castle now that news of your new law has been spread, and it has been a long time since we last…well, mated, so I want to make it a memorable experience.”

Twilight blushed at this, still getting used to the idea that Celestia had a sex drive, so instead she decided to talk to Celestine instead, but before she could, Celestia spoke to her instead. “Now back to the subject I wanted to talk about earlier, what has happened to the town, for I distinctly remember the town not being made entirely from trees.”

“That would be my fault mother,” said Celestine, “I acquired the help of some breezies to help rebuild the town…I hope ye will no’ think I overstepped my bounds.”

“You did nothing of the sort my child,” said Celestia with a smile, “and it gladdens my heart to know such magic’s are at work in the world again…so much was lost when your mother’s empire was destroyed.”

“Mothers empire?” thought Twilight, trying to remember what she had been told about Anthra, and realizing she knew very little about the Celestia’s ancient mate. But before she could ponder anything further, she took a bite of love, and immediately her mind filled with sensations of utter content and bliss, causing her to sigh as she savored the unique…experience the food brought her.

They finished their meal quickly, and then Celestia stood up, looking to Twilight before speaking. “Well now that we got food out of the way, I need to talk with you about something Twilight, something very important. Now,” she said, looking toward Celestine as she spoke, “where is Chrysalis?”

“Down in the caves negotiating with the breezies, after our exchange of power they want to make sure they have access to it whenever they wish.”

“Then why don’t you join her, for what I have to speak with Twilight about concerns her…well concerns her actions of late, and I would rather it be as comfortable as possible.”

The changeling nodded and then teleported away, leaving Twilight and Celestia as they left the dining hall, both of them making their way to the grand throne room till Celestia finally cleared her throat to speak. “Twilight, while I do commend you for what you have been doing of late, a certain series of actions has forced me to…well to take some words more seriously than I have been.”

“What do you mean?”

Celestia stopped in front of Twilight’s throne, sighing a bit before continuing to speak. “Twilight, do you remember how my sister acted around you when you first became princess?”

“Of course, she always looked like she never really trusted me, though I never got why.”

Celestia sighed once more, “Luna felt I made you a princess too early, for she felt you still had much to learn and that those lessons should have been done before you were shouldered with our kind of responsibility, but I felt differently. I thought that you were ready then to take on the responsibility of being a princess, and felt that any lessons which you may need could be taught to you on the job…”

She then finally looked up at Twilight, the look on her face one of such sadness Twilight was rendered speechless, allowing the older mare to speak. “However…the events of these past few days have made me realize my sister may have been right, and that maybe I rushed you into your ascension too early so that I could have another princess to help us.”

“But what events are you talking about,” said Twilight, though in the back of her mind she had a suspicion she knew what Celestia was talking about.

“I’m talking about your actions in regards to your brothers actions towards the changelings, which not only lead to the loss of thousands of lives, but it also resulted in the destruction of your town and assault on one of your fellow elements. You and Cadance both knew Shining Armor was mercilessly killing changelings with a rouge group of guards, and instead of stopping him and alerting me of these transgressions; you go behind my back and pardon him of his crimes and confine him to the Castle, which lead to him escaping and attack Ponyville, Rainbow Dash, and then finally you.”

Celestia waited for the information to sink into Twilight’s head, and then continued. “Your response to your brothers actions not only constitutes a grouse negligence in regards to the safety of your own kingdom but your allies, your pardoning your brother for his earlier crimes constitutes a grouse abuse of power, one which cannot be excused.”

“But…but princess he wasn’t himself, he was…”

“Luna wasn’t herself when she tried to kill me and usher in the eternal night,” said Celesita simply, “but I did not let my feelings cloud my mind and stop me from doing what needed to be done, and neither should you have. Because you let your emotions toward your brother cloud your judgment, your town was destroyed and you nearly lost the lives of both your friend Rainbow Dash and the changelings you took into your care.”

Celestia let silence hang between them for a long while, letting Twilight gauge the gravity of her situation. Then, after a few minutes had passed them by, Twilight finally spoke up, “So…what are we going to do?”

Celestia sighed, “I am afraid we have only one option left to us, and it is one which I wish I didn’t have to use. Effective immediately, you will no longer have any say on matters which could affect the safety of our nations, including your own, without first consulting with me or Luna. This restriction will not be lifted till Luna feels you are ready for the responsibility, and if you ever thought I was a hard taskmaster, you will find Luna far stricter then me. To that end, you will require somepony to be by you that can act as my voice till you can handle your responsibilities properly, so I will be sending my personal advisor to you.”

“And…and my other princess duties?”

“They will remain yours, though even those will have to be done under the supervision of my aid. I know it won’t be easy, after all you have been acting independently for a while now, but this is for the best.”

Celestia then got up, walking over to Twilight and lifting her head with a wing, for the mare had lowered her head in shame. “Twilight, while I am disappointed, I will be available to help you, for I do believe you have what it takes to be a princess, but you still have much to learn before you are truly ready.”

“I…I understand princess,” said Twilight, smiling for the first time since their conversation began, moving closer to hug her mentor and receive a hug in return. “Um…about what I need to learn, are you going to be the one teaching me these things?”

Celestia chuckled and shook her head, “I am afraid not Twilight, for my sister feels that seeing as how I rushed ahead your ascension, I shouldn’t be the one to teach you these things, for she fears I might try to rush those lessons as well…which I must sadly say I would be sorely tempted to at this point. Instead, she will be your teacher, and I expect you to behave for her the same you did for me when you were my student.”

Twilight nodded again, then hugged the princess, who hugged her back in comfort before finally backing away, smiling as she looked out one of the windows. “Well I should be going, I still have to get all the paper work sorted out for my aids transfer, and then I have a date with a very beautiful mare.”

With that she vanished, leaving Twilight to sigh as she got up from where she was sitting, knowing she herself had something she needed to take care of.

Author's Note:

I know I said Shining would be dealt with this chapter, but I decided to post pone that confrontation till next chapter, as it will be a very heart wrenching scene. Anyways, lot got explained this chapter, though I do admit I didn't cover everything I wanted to, but more will be covered in later chapters, just be patient. As always guys, I hope you enjoyed the story, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop them on by.

P.S.
Oh and one more thing, yes we will eventually get to go into the changeling hive, but not yet, maybe in a few more chapters once things smooth over.