Chapter 9: Eclosion
I watched the scenery slip by as Ponyville drew close, and reflected on how I didn't visit the town nearly often enough.
Even now, I wasn't paying a random social call, though I was unclear on the nature of the visit. Twilight's letter to me had not been very clear on the matter:
-
Dear Princess Celestia,
Please come to Ponyville immediately. There is a matter which concerns us personally that needs to be addressed immediately.
-Twilight
PS: It would be hard to explain by letter. It's better if you just come here now.
PPS: It's not an emergency. Strictly speaking. It may be an emergency. I can handle it if it's an emergency, I think. But you should come either way. It's important.
-Prin
-Twilight
It's about the changelings.
I already said it's not an emergency, so I don't have to say that again.
PPPS: Sorry, Twilight's in a rush.
-Spike
-
Given my limited information – relevant to changelings, not an emergency, personally important, could turn into an emergency – I formulated a few guesses as to what was going on, but I decided to trust Twilight.
Her omission of detail either meant she needed Spike's immediate help with whatever was going on, or she explicitly asked him not to elaborate while she handled it, I figured. If she wanted me to see it for myself before coming to any conclusions, I'd respect that.
I still had the sense to organize a chariot to carry me from Canterlot to Ponyville. I caused enough of a ruckus canceling all of my duties for the day, but I managed to insinuate that there was some kind of bureaucratic mess that had gotten out of hand and needed my immediate – if altogether unenthusiastic – attention.
Everypony was all too quick to roll their eyes at any mention of bureaucracy, and it kept anyone from looking into the assuredly boring details of what was going on at my destination.
Get there quickly, but not as though it's an emergency. I felt it was the right way to handle things.
I disembarked from the chariot, thanking my riders. I almost dismissed them back to Canterlot, not wishing to keep them there as I was unsure how long I would be, but I decided to instead tell them to make themselves comfortable around town.
If sompony might be hurt, or need immediate transportation, having the chariot around could be a vital asset, and a pair of cool-headed, sensible pegasi could be useful in any number of bad situations.
I was probably being over-prepared, but it cost me nothing, and was better than the alternative. The guards seemed pleased with not flying again so soon, anyway.
I took a moment to steel my resolve after knocking on the library door. It would be best to stay calm and neutral until I had all of the facts of the scenario; first impressions can often seem final, but lead to a faulty course of action.
My momentary concern that Twilight was elsewhere (and had forgotten to mention it) was allayed when she promptly opened the door. I scanned her face, a polite smile on mine starting to lose its place.
Fatigue. Stress. A little fear?
Guilt.
I didn't expect that one. Twilight had a look of shame, only kept in check by some sort of grim determination on her part. She showed me in, without a word passing between us, and my eyes came to rest on an odd scene.
A large changeling female was asleep on the floor, resting her head in Pinkie's forehooves. She had a look of pain etched on her face, and Pinkie was gently stroking her white mane, eyes filled with sadness.
I found myself mentally ticking off aspects of her that were 'off' for a changeling – smaller fangs, a long non-black mane, lack of holes – before my eyes fixated on her wings.
I dully realized that I was staring, and I had missed something in the process.
“I'm sorry, Twilight. Could you repeat that?”
My eyes were still locked on the creature's wings.
“I said, that's Cheery. The result of the friendship duplicate spell.”
I felt my entire body tense up as everything started to click into place. This creature wasn't an enemy; it was technically, at least in part, our creation. A result of our actions.
Our responsibility.
I nodded along as Twilight gave me the back-story. Pinkie just nodded along as Twilight told me her experiences with Cheery, still wholly fixated on the sleeping mare.
Energetic, optimistic and idealistic. Friendly and innocent, but sharp and perceptive. She and Pinkie became immediate friends, and grew very close in her time in the Hive.
Pinkie managed to find her voice long enough to tell me that Cheery was afraid of disappearing soon, and asked me whether or not we were going to send her away. I told her not to worry. That things would be fine.
We would take care of her.
I mentally noted more discrepancies about Cheery as Twilight described what happened earlier in the library. I noted the shame in her voice when she described her own behavior, and gently reassured her that, while her actions may have impetuous, they were not entirely unreasonable. It was a bad situation, and she was caught off-guard.
These things get easier with experience. Patience comes more easily.
“... So as you can see, she's resting now. I don't know what went wrong with her wings, and I don't know if there's anything we can do...”
“Twilight, I believe those are moth wings.”
Pinkie looked up at me, some mixture of confusion and hope on her face.
“Huh? But they look like leather... ah!”
I nodded silently as Twilight began reciting facts about moths and their wings. Many large silk moths come out of their cocoon with their wings in a shrunken, leathery state. So things might be alright after all.
Pinkie looked relieved and excited, until Twilight cut in with the obvious question.
“It's been a couple of hours. Why haven't her wings unfurled yet?”
“I don't know, Twilight. We're dealing with an unprecedented situation, here.”
That was an understatement. We knew next to nothing about this creature's physiology. Twilight nodded slowly, looking up at me cautiously.
“I'm sure you've come to the same conclusion that I did, by now, but... we clearly made a mistake with the spell formula...”
Twilight trailed off, and I realized that I was glaring at her. I reproached myself internally and softened my expression.
“I wouldn't say it was a mistake, Twilight. An accident, perhaps. But a good accident; after all, it gave us a new... friend, right?”
My voice came out cautiously, but I saw Twilight close her eyes and smile faintly as I spoke. She looked relieved.
“... I'm glad we're on the same page about this.”
“And I'm glad you summoned me. You were right; this was a situation that deserved my immediate attention.”
Twilight and I shared a moment, just watching each other. There was much being left unspoken here, but she could see my resolve and I could see hers.
We would take care of her.
“How do we handle Chrysalis' reaction?”
“We'll figure that out as we come to it. Right now, we should be focusing on-”
I stopped, my ear twitching. Was that... music? I glanced over, and realized that Cheery was conscious. She looked very tired, but her eyes were open a bit, and her horn was softly glowing a deep reddish orange. I realized she was making the music.
Just a simple piano melody, with a violin weeping in tandem.
And like that, staring at the ground, still crying in Pinkie's hooves, she began to sing very softly. She paused between each phrase, the instrumentation accenting her words and providing a counterpoint in the pauses.
~
What now?
What now?
What am I now?
Some pathetic fool, unfit to be queen
An insufferable thing, with a destiny so cruel
I made my journey
Filled with uncertainty
Fear and hope inside me warred
But I never could have imagined, what cruel fate lie in store
Hopes and dreams lie in desolation
My life is lost to me
With this wretched transformation
What am I to be?
~
Pinkie and Cheery tightened their embrace, both crying, as Cheery feebly tried to buzz her wings. Twilight was at Pinkie's side immediately, joining in the hug and comforting them both.
Though I felt a stab of sympathy for Cheery, I couldn't help but smile warmly as I saw the three of them come together. I heard startled exclamations come from Cheery and Twilight when I sat down with them and pulled all into an embrace with my wings.
I concentrated on the fading sound of music, and soon it came back, but lighter, happier, with a violin singing instead of weeping, and a flute providing harmony. I sang softly, as Cheery had, but this time in the tone of a lullaby.
~
Rest now
Rest now
Rest your mind now
Young as a foal, but with burdens so extreme
Living like a machine, takes such a toll
You made a journey
Filled with anxiety
Let fear and doubt be now ignored
For your bravery and kindness, friendship is your reward
Suffer no fear or pain in isolation
Bring it all back to me
With love finish transformation
To what you want to be
~
Cheery looked up at me, some mix of confusion, wonder, and hope. I had already started concentrating on transferring my energy to her, and I felt Twilight follow suit right next to me.
Channeling love energy is an old magic, and one very rarely done so directly, but anyone who remembered the tale of Hearth's Warming – or the changeling invasion – knew the power such magic held.
But such magic can be mysterious and unpredictable to anyone. Our efforts accomplished nothing until I expanded my focus to include Pinkie.
From there, energy began to flow freely, and Cheery began to visibly grow stronger, staring at me all the while.
“But... but why...?”
I glanced at Twilight, and she began to explain to Cheery how she wasn't in any danger of disappearing, or fading away. Through some happy accident of mixing a unicorn spell formula with changeling magic, a real person had been born, with her own mind, her own personality.
Able to make her own decisions.
I kept focusing on the magic, and watching the faint signs of magic emanating from Cheery's horn. Twilight, unaware, continued her explanation, elaborating that – much to Cheery's surprise – Chrysalis' acquisition of the magic had been intentional on our part, though we hadn't realized what would happen.
I saw the two antennae on her head begin to sprout fine, long hairs on the left and right, giving them a fern-like appearance.
Twilight explained, tearing up slightly, that though we were surprised by what had happened, we were all too happy to welcome her into our family. She would never want for friends or family again.
I watched her hair slowly stain a deep red, leaving only a streak of white and a streak of black, side by side. It reminded me of Twilight's mane colors.
If Twilight noticed that, she gave no sign. She awkwardly fumbled for words for a few moments before explaining that the spell in question had been altered in a very particular way, based on a prior incident with cloning in Equestria.
She had subtly worked a magical imprint of Pinkie Pie's personality into the scroll. The effect would be subtle, but it would, she hoped, create a happier and more optimistic clone than expected.
“In short... Pinkie Pie is basically your sister.”
Cheery and Pinkie stared at each other, a deep smile forming between them. I gently retracted my wings and slowly retreated, tapping Twilight to do the same. I saw crimson slowly bleeding into Cheery's white wings, which were expanding.
It was Pinkie who finally couldn't contain her excitement anymore.
“I knew it! I knew it! Oh Cheery, this is the best day ever!”
“Sisters! We'll stay together forever!”
The two of them started jumping up and down excitedly, carrying on about all that they would do together. All of the nervous, excited energy in the air was infectious, and I found myself sporting a silly grin to match theirs.
I found myself watching Cheery's wings, but unable to really see them clearly with all of the motion, until she stood up on her hind legs to high-hoof Pinkie. Suddenly, her wings unfurled completely, revealing a brilliant crimson color stretching up from her thorax – which I now noted was red on the top, and alternated crimson and white on the bottom – separated by two almost aurora-like patterns formed by thin stripes of white and black.
“Hyalophora columbia...”, Twilight's voice filled in for me. I realized her voice was off because her mouth was hanging open.
“Very good...”
Then again, so was mine. Moths could have beautiful wings at any size, but seeing it in such large scale was something else entirely.
“Whooaaa... Cheery, your wings look SOOOO pretty!”
Pinkie stared transfixed, as Cheery glanced back at the new appendages. Her jaw slackened, and she looked over at us, blushing furiously. I saw her make multiple fluttery attempts to fold her wings down, ultimately draping them over herself like a gown that reached the floor.
Which just made her so embarrassed she tried hiding behind them. Seeing something so simultaneously regal and adorable made me think of Luna.
Thinking of Cheery as family was quite appropriate, I decided.
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Ahh, Spike wrote the letter. That explains the chaos.
Heh. I guess with her age, she has her own list of failures. And I'm fairly sure she includes the mess with her sister
If she lasts, that is. She seems pretty... unstable
Glad to see that musicalitis is still a common affliction in Equestria!
)
(Though, it helps to know what melody it is meant for. It didn't really fit on the Transistor soundtrack I'm currently listening to
Welp. That's comforting to know, at least. I was beginning to wonder if she'd need magical therapy to keep her alive or something
Cheersamoth?
This explains so much
PP: "Wait till Maud hears of this!"
Ch: "Who?"
PP: "You have more sisters!"
Ch: "Eeeee!"
Shouldn't that be "Hyalophora [some horse related pun on 'columbia']"?
Ah! "Coltlumbia!"
One remark:
> You were right; this was a situation that deserved my immediate attention.
The situation is hardly over, so I feel that should be present tense... "You were right; this [is] a situation that [deserves] my immediate attention."
5531723 I prefer the past tense, as Celestia is reviewing Twilight's decision (in the past), rather than remarking on the current situation.
How exactly are Cheery's wings? Do you have a picture?
6840435 Yes. This is how they look right after the transformation: 1.bp.blogspot.com/_cS6tJzs0vQY/TR6_uC9yb4I/AAAAAAAAABM/CCP6IIofqCo/s1600/lep_columbia_moth071.JPG
And so we finally get a peek through Celestia's eyes. She isn't nearly as intimidating from the inside. There's no omniscient goddess here, just a mare calling on centuries of experience of dealing with people and problems as best she can. She seems a bit slippery with her tenses at times, which makes sense. The years blend together after a while.
The song's rhyme structure is a bit weak, and converting lyrics to pure text rarely goes well, but you conveyed the feeling well enough.
Very nice stuff with the transformation. I looked up that moth species once Twilight mentioned it. Beautiful stuff. Also, mothponies are always neat to see. I think this may be the first time I've seen one on Fimfiction.
Purdy Changeling! Though that resolved rather quickly. I like your take on Celestia. She felt very natural.
Its good this had a happy result BUT Twilight should not get out of this free consequences!