6 - Nosce Te Ipsum
Chapter 6: Nosce Te Ipsum
know thyself
Silken motioned at Praegus to stand in front of her, and the changeling did as it was bidden, standing like a statue, looking stoic as ever. I imagined that Praegus felt none of the rising sense of unease that was sneaking up behind the veil of my racing thoughts. I was sure the glance and smile that Silken sent my way was meant to be reassuring, but its wobbly countenance gave the opposite effect, making my stomach churn with worry.
To be honest, I’m not even sure why I was worried when everything was going to be handled by Prageus. Call me overly-anxious, but the niggling twinge of uncertainty tore at my consciousness like a Manticore sharpening its claws against a tree.
As a way to take my mind off my dithering nerves, I decided to ‘check up’ on the others to see how they were holding up.
To my left, Sergeant Wheeler stood by with an unreadable expression, while Smirch and Duft shifted on their hooves, looking both curious and apprehensive. Their bare emotions gave me a measure of relief as I felt sure the same ones were plastered all over my face. Tension spread pervasively around the clearance, diffusing across our expressions like a spreading mould.
Then, in a moment granted by unspoken consent, it started.
Silken lowered her horn towards Praegus, murmuring what sounded like phrases of assurances. Despite the soothing tone somehow calming me down, Praegus didn’t react. Surprised by his lack of response, Silken threw a look back at us briefly. When I could do nothing except shrug, Silken bit her lip and drove forward, her horn glowing with latent power charged with purpose.
Silken’s horn gently brushed against Praegus’ own.
And then everything went wrong.
“Ahh!”
Praegus and Silken collapsed onto the ground. There was no sound from either of them, but Moth screamed in pain. His cry pierced through the woods, sending a shock down my spine as I tried to grasp exactly what in the world was happening. I thought I heard distant screaming chorusing along in a dissonant refrain.
Moth sank momentarily but quickly recovered, staggering to his hooves. I was dimly aware of Sergeant Wheeler saying something.
What did he say? I blinked slowly. Was it important?
I watched in a dreamy daze as Moth stumbled over to Silken’s side, mumbling something incomprehensible. Sergeant Wheeler stepped in front of me, waving his hooves frantically. He was trying to get my attention but I felt distracted. There was a strange disconnect that felt startlingly familiar. Like I was underwater and their voices were muffled and muted. I had felt this feeling before, and it was carrying me away, like I was drifting…
“Princess?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but forgot what I was going to say.
“Princess?” The voice was being so insistent.
“Mmm, yes?” I smiled without a reason to. My mouth felt like it had moved all on its own. I should have felt horror, but instead it felt sickly sweet, painfully pleasurable, a harmoniously discordant chord in the screeching of silence.
“Are you alright?”
Time, which felt like a crawl mere moments before, rushed back into the blistering speed of the present. I blinked at Sergeant Wheeler, concern shrouding his expression, weighing it down. “What?”
“Princess, can you tell me where we are?”
Suddenly, the last few minutes all rushed back. I knew I should be… something. Worried, perhaps? I didn’t feel it. Concerned? Agitated? None of them was what I felt at the moment. I felt... content. So I smiled wider at the Sergeant to put him at ease.
For some reason it only made him more concerned.
His mouth twitched. “Answer the question, Princess.”
“Oh good, you’re assessing my ability to recall long term memory.”
“I told you to call me Twilight, Sergeant.”
Sergeant Wheeler's mouth twitched. “Please answer the question… Princess Twilight.”
Princess… the title evoked something visceral within me. My eyes shifted to Sergeant Wheeler briefly, before losing the power to focus again.
“We’re in…” Something suddenly caught my attention. It was a butterfly, and the way its wings dazzled in the sunlight was mesmerising. What delicate wings. Beautiful was the only way I could describe it. My vision shook. I realised it was Sergeant Wheeler trying to get my attention again. Oh right, he had a question.
“…White Tail Woods. We’re in White Tail Woods.”
I blinked rapidly to banish the blurry edges around my vision. Yes, that’s right, I was—
“Square root of two hundred and thirty-six?”
My eyes snapped back to the Sergeant, my mind reluctantly dispelling that pleasant fog. I shook my head. “Now you’re assessing my mental arithmetic?”
Sergeant Wheeler gave me a strained look. “If it’s too hard…”
My eyebrows drew together. “I’m fine.” I paused for a few moments to make the calculation. “Fifteen point three six two two nine one… uhh…” I sighed. “Okay, I’m pretty sure the next number is a four or a five, but I promise it’s reasonably correct to a definable degree of accuracy.”
Sergeant Wheeler sent a shocked look back at Smirch and Duft who were openly gaping at me. No longer floating, I fell proverbially to the ground and flat on my face. I suddenly heard Rainbow's voice. Way to show how much of a nerd you are, Twilight. Rainbow would feel vindicated. I could see Smirch had written a rough approximation of the answer in the dirt, minus a few decimal points I had added… actually, minus all the decimal points I added. Duft kept glancing at the dirt and back at me. She whispered something I couldn’t make out at this distance, but Smirch just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Wait, if they had the time to make that calculation, that would mean…
“… how long was I out?”
“Ten minutes,” Sergeant Wheeler replied, his brows drawing down. “Any longer and we would have carted you off. I would have earlier, but we were erring on the side of caution.”
I cocked my head. The sergeant struck me as a pony unafraid of taking necessary action.
“Could be contagious,” he answered in reply to my look. The stalwart guard gave me a suspicious once-over. “Nevertheless, I think we should get you to see a doctor. Again. I’ve sent somepony back to alert the precinct and get medical personnel here.”
Thoughts about heading back into the hospital and terrorising the hospital staff again didn’t seem appealing, but blanking out for ten minutes was definitely a cause for concern.
“I think I should—”
“Take it easy, Princess,” Moth finished for me. He looked like he’d crawled out of the changeling equivalent of Tartarus, which was probably Tartarus as far as I knew.
“What happened while I was… indisposed?” I was a little apprehensive of the answer.
Moth looked back briefly, and I followed his gaze. On the ground was Silken, who looked just as bad as her partner. “I don’t know what happened,” Moth finally admitted. “Both Silken and your changeling collapsed suddenly. You blanked out shortly after. I felt a stabbing pain in my skull. After a few seconds, Silken came back, but your changeling…” He shrugged helplessly. Apparently, he didn’t blame me for it, which was a relief. Then his last words hit me.
“Wait, what happened? Is Praegus alright?”
Moth didn’t say anything, he merely indicated to the side of him. I could feel my heart being squeezed by icy claws. Praegus was on the ground. Scrambling forward, I came up alongside and knelt beside the changeling. There it was, a weak pulse, shallow breathing, flittering wings, all the same symptoms from before. I shared a look with Sergeant Wheeler and reluctantly recognised what was reflected in his eyes. A faint creeping chill spread through my hooves as it dawned on me.
“Princess,” he whispered, “that looks like—”
“—in the forest.” I confirmed with him as I took a deep breath. “This is serious, we have to—”
Moth’s hoof reached out to restrain me. He hastily withdrew the hoof as Sergeant Wheeler glared at him. Despite that, his face had a dead-set determination that held back the sergeant’s withering response.
“You knew about this?” His voice held a hard edge as he glanced back at Silken. “Before this happened?”
“No,” I said quickly, “but my change—” I stopped myself, shaking my head. He wasn’t my changeling, snap out of it! “—Praegus was like this when we found it.” I shifted the tone of the conversation to where it mattered. “But the joining didn’t work.”
Moth flinched at my tone, then shook his head guiltily. “I don’t know what went wrong. I knew it was a little experimental, but given that the changeling has declared it was part of your Swarm, we thought that it would work just as usual. Your changeling just doesn’t… it doesn’t do… it’s not…” he shrugged, seemingly at a loss of words. Moth rubbed his forehead in sympathetic pain. He didn’t seem to harbour any ill-will to Praegus. If anything, it looked like Moth wanted to take responsibility for the incident. Okay, one less pile of earth on the mounting molehill of a mountain.
“I don’t feel anything.” Silken shakily pulled herself up onto her hooves. Moth rushed over to help prop her up.
“Silken, is there anywhere you’re feeling pain?” he gave her a once-over and then looked into her eyes. “Silken, talk to me.”
“I don’t feel anything,” she repeated desperately, her eyes focused on the changeling in front of her. “Moth?”
Moth looked pained. He slowly shook his head while his own legs shivered slightly. “I don’t feel anything either.”
“It’s like sending thoughts into the darkness.” She shivered. “It isn’t natural. It’s quiet, so quiet.”
Moth whispered something into her ears, glancing briefly our way; it made Silken’s frown deepen. She whispered something back.
What they were saying, I could only guess, but…
“I thought you two could talk to each other silently?”
Silken held her tongue for a long, excruciating moment. “We can’t,” she finally managed to get out. “I keep trying, but there’s no one there!”
“You can’t communicate telepathically anymore?”
Silken’s lips curled in displeasure. “We can’t.” Frustration seeped through her words. “We’ve lost the ability to communicate that way at all. Not only that, we’re blind! We’re even more helpless.”
I was about to say something else, but a weak wing brushed gently against my hooves. Praegus. No. My gaze flickered down towards the changeling as I softly reached out to touch its body. Laboured breathing resounded as Praegus struggled to draw breath. The changeling was on the verge of dying once more. I couldn’t let that happen, not after I had decided to do this. This was my fault. I had to fix this. I couldn’t let this changeling die.
I took a deep breath. “I’m going to do it again. I’ll share a bit more of my magic.”
All three of my guards—silent up until this point—burst into heated objections.
“Princess!”
“Please think about it!”
“Isn’t there another way?”
“No,” I said quietly, quelling their objections with a solemn look. I noticed Silken and Moth staying silent. From the way they were eyeing the changeling, it seemed like they knew a little of what was going on.
“Any ideas?” I shot to them.
Silken hunched her shoulders keeping her peace, but Moth’s gaze came up surprisingly sympathetic.
“Yes, but we have neither the power or resources to attempt it now.” He shifted his holed legs, breaking eye contact to stare solidly at the ground. “There’s a way of sharing magic among changelings, but it looks like you’ll have to do it alone. I don’t… I don’t think we can do it in our current condition.” Interesting, so there was a way to sustain a changeling without resorting to my own methods, but the method wasn’t available right now. I could feel my lip draw down in frustration. It’s not like I want to make everypony worried, but I couldn’t see any other way.
A wry smile graced my lips as I turned to Sergeant Wheeler, Duft and Smirch.
“I don’t think there’s another way.”
Sergeant Wheeler tried to make his inevitable argument. I could tell from the poor sergeant’s expression that he knew it would be futile; he tried anyway. “Princess you just recovered from… whatever the heck it was, you can’t—”
“Sergeant, I can’t let this changeling die, not when we know there’s a way to stop it.”
“There is a way,” he shot back testily, “and it doesn’t involve you.”
“There’s no time and you know it.”
“Princess Twilight, you know as much as me that the luxury of making decisions like this is for other ponies. For—”
“Normal ponies?” I shot back.
“No,” Sergeant Wheeler said patiently. “For those that may not have the weight of other lives burdened on their shoulders.”
That may have been enough to give me pause a few days ago, but I had already made the resolution. “I have to do what I think is right. Are you asking me to abandon this changeling?”
“No.” Sergeant Wheeler stamped a hoof. “I didn’t, you know I didn’t, but you have to consider other options, Princess.”
“I have, Sergeant, but I’m willing to listen to any other alternatives you have in mind?” I held his look with unwavering eyes, sending him a clear challenge along with them.
Sergeant Wheeler licked his lips. “We could wait for a unicorn from—”
“From Las Pegasus?” I cut in calmly. “Even if they could make it here on time, would they know the spell? Would they have the required reserves to pull it off?”
Sergeant Wheeler stared at me, then sighed, head drooping low in defeat. “No, Princess.”
There was no feeling of triumph in winning this trial of wills. I knew his concern for me, but I had to do this. I knew he would never agree to this; his priorities were simply different from my own. I couldn’t back down from this any more than he could. This was the right thing to do, I knew it... but then why did I feel so bad about doing it?
With nerves threatening to undo my façade of feigned clam, I sank by Praegus’ side, putting a hoof on its struggling chest. “This time I’ll put a limiter of my magic. I won’t fall into mage’s malaise with this.”
“Even so…” Sergeant Wheeler’s response faded away as I gave him a small smile.
“I’ll be careful,” I said earnestly. “Trust me.”
That seemed to do it. Sergeant Wheeler nodded, looking resigned. “As you wish, Princess.”
A guilty prick lanced through my heart, but I tried to push it from my mind, taking a quick breath to steady myself. Though I had projected confidence to those around me, the truth was that I was more than a little apprehensive. If something went wrong, I’d end up in hospital again. Or perhaps worse… I shook my head, leaning in, my horn almost touching Praegus’ as I prepared the spell.
“You’re beginning to be a bit of a hooful,” I muttered dryly, brows drawing together in concentration. Instead of feeling my magic surge through me, I felt a strange sensation rise through me. At first, it felt prickly, as if I was sitting in an awkward position a little too long. It washed through me as a hackle-raising numbness. Then it came. It was the familiar rising tide of magic, but instead of surging across the connection like before, it came smoothly like the flow and ebb of the ocean tides. I gasped softly in mute shock, being caught in the current of magic coursing gently, serenely.
It felt surreal.
It felt silky and smooth.
It felt… nice.
A few moments later, I cut off the connection. I was feeling drained, but not dangerously so. It was a pleasant surprise.
“Princess?”
My eyes sharpened into focus. “Wheeler?” The background was swaying. No wait… it steadied. His concerned gaze filled my view. I realised that his hoof had come around to prop me up.
“You look like death,” he commented wryly as he gestured down. “Praegus is getting better, though.”
When I turned around, Praegus’ eyes flew open, startling us all.
“My… Quee—” It blinked a few times. “Princess?”
“Yes,” I said, relief leaking into my strained words. “How do you feel?”
“Functioning,” Praegus replied mechanically, “my Princess.”
Nopony could accuse Praegus of being wordy. I couldn’t care less, simply being glad that the changeling was alive.
“Don’t scare me like that anymore,” I reproached him, “you’re absolutely forbidden from making us worry like that.”
Praegus was silent for a long moment before replying.
“Yes, my Princess,” It finally said. I made to say something more, but Silken interrupted us.
“Do you feel that?” Silken perked her ears as she swivelled around.
Moth twitched. “Yes—Oww!” He held a hoof to his head. “Wha—?”
I shot to my hooves. “Do you hear that?”
Sergeant Wheeler scanned left to right, his ears pricked. He signalled something to Smirch and Duft and they swept the area too, scanning not only the tree line, but the sky above it.
“No…” he said slowly as Smirch and Duft also shook their heads.
I blinked at the sensation. “It’s this ringing sound.”
Moth blinked at me. “You hear it too?”
I nodded slowly. The tone, much like the whine of some of my analytical machines, died down. Instead, a new sound appeared, replacing it, sounding like the faint whistling of a boiling kettle.
“That shrieking sound?” Smirch said suddenly. “Sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.”
I whipped around. “You can hear it?”
“Yeah,” added Duft with a perplexed expression. “I do too.”
“And me,” Sergeant Wheeler confirmed warily. “That sounds like…” His eyes widened as he dove forward suddenly. “Princess, get dow—”
I flinched in shock, letting out an unintentional shriek of surprise. Then I realised it came from above. Too late, I tried to shift my gaze upwards—
Boom!
Dust and dirt went flying up as something struck the clearing between us. I stumbled back from the shockwave, gaping, then immediately regretted it as I practically inhaled a mouthful of soil. Coughing and wheezing, I blinked madly when grit found its way into my eyes, making me grope blindly around for a few tense and helpless seconds.
Sergeant Wheeler stirred beside me and got to his hooves in an explosive movement, undoubtedly trying to protect me from whatever was attacking us. He yelled something to Smirch and Duft as I staggered to my own hooves. As soon as I got my bearings, I casted a spell to bring down the dust and readied myself to meet the unknown assailant, my horn glowing a dangerously dull red. The instant the cloak of particulate matter dissipated, we met the new threat with weapons raised.
Stamp. Thud.
“Back off! And if any of you want to take me, I’ll beat you down!”
My jaw almost came unhinged as I recognised the newcomer.
“Rainbow Dash?!”
I was met with a courageous grin. “Yeah, and looks like I’m in time. There’s a whole bunch of changelings gathering nearby! I’ll distract these two while we get away, Twi’!”
“Uhhh—”
“What are you waiting for?” Rainbow growled as she pawed the ground with her hoof. “We gotta go! Guards? Good. We could use your help! Twi’s hurt, get her away!”
Sergeant Wheeler was still on guard, but considerably more relaxed when he saw my expression. He edged in front of Rainbow Dash and raised his hoof in a calming gesture. “Steady, uhh, Miss Dash? These aren’t the enemy.”
Rainbow shot a look at the changelings, then whipped her head back looking at me. She spotted Praegus standing somewhat unsteadily nearby. The pegasus flicked her tail in feigned nonchalance as she laughed with a perturbed look. “You’re joking, right?”
When nopony said anything, Rainbow finally took the time to peer at Silken and Moth. Both hadn’t moved an inch since she’d arrived. In contrast to Rainbow’s snorts and stamps, they observed the pegasus carefully, looking ready to flee more than fight. Seeing nopony making a move, Rainbow cocked her head in confusion as the silence dragged on.
The brazen pegasus leaned in towards me, talking through the side of her mouth. “Am I missing something?”
I heard another thump from behind me.
“Oh, uhm, hello, Twilight. Rainbow said she had a bad feeling and wanted to fly ahead.” Turning around, I was only mildly surprised to see that it was Fluttershy, equipped with her saddlebags. Owlowiscious hooted and gave me a wave of his wings, looking pleased with himself. The dots were starting to connect, but…
“How did you find us, and weren’t you taking a train?”
“Can somepony please explain what is going on here?” Rainbow glanced around her. “These are changelings, right? They look like changelings.”
I gestured to the changelings present and decided to summarise the situation as succinctly as possible. “These changelings are not the changelings you know. In the beginning, I found this one—” I pointed to Praegus.
The brash pegasus waved her front hooves. “Woah, woah, woah—”
Ignoring her, I continued staunchly. “—almost dead in the forest. It looked like it needed some magic, so I gave it some—”
“What?!” Rainbow spluttered. “What were you think—”
I checked her heated look with cool one.
“—Let me finish. Then we took it to hospital and found out there were more changelings in the forest. Turns out they were looking for this changeling, or something like it, because Chrysalis has some sort of plan to enslave all the changelings into her rule.”
“What?!” Rainbow looked like she was about ready to explode. Her mouth flopped open as she made to speak, but then surprisingly cocked her head and crossed her arms instead. She took a moment before continuing. “But aren’t like all the changelings under Chrysalis’ thingo?”
Moth muttered something that Rainbow heard and that I couldn’t. Rainbow shot him a look but did little more than glare at him before turning back to me.
“No,” I resumed quickly, one of my ears twitching with anticipation, “there are some that just want to live independently. I don’t really have much time to go into the specifics here, but basically it’s related to some sort of magic that connects them to each other. Anyway, we need to know if what we’ve tried did anything.”
“What did you try?” Rainbow pressed suspiciously. I found my gaze wandering to the side as Rainbow’s features darkened.
Sergeant Wheeler tossed his head. “And did what, exactly?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” I grumbled.
“Princess,” Wheeler began, “maybe for now we should get you to a doctor?”
“Oh, all right,” I muttered, and immediately blinked out of existence.
——————
“I appreciate you coming all the way out here just to give me a check-up,” I told the doctor as she peered into my eyes with pen torch.
“Well, Princess, I won’t lie and say I’m completely comfortable around the changelings, but I’m happy to assist you here since it’s a lot less disruptive to the hospital than the last time.” She chuckled nervously as she took in the stiff changelings wheeling around the edge of both our peripheries. Only the guard stationed nearby prevented her from bolting. “Tackling guards, rampant mysterious creatures and fainting staff is a lot more than we can manage even in a city like Las Pegasus.” She smiled weakly. “That was my first time teleporting, as well.”
I took the gentle rebuke with a nod. “I will be sure it won’t happen again, Doctor.” That was mainly the reason why I had called her all the way out here in the forest. Smirch and Duft had offered to go to the city to get the doctor, but I just settled it with a teleportation spell. If I was a unicorn, the spell would have brought me to my fetlocks, but ever since I had the use of alicorn powers, the spell felt ridiculously easy in comparison.
It felt a little like cheating.
That didn’t stop Sergeant Wheeler from trying to convince me otherwise. His worry was infectious, with my friends growing increasingly doubtful as they shot me anxious-laden looks every once in awhile. I finally convinced everyone by performing a short range teleportation spell several times in a row. Well, if by convinced, you mean met with reluctant approval, then yes, that. Sergeant Wheeler muttered something under his breath about me showing off and overdoing it, but I pretended not to hear.
On the other hoof, while I was being checked out, Rainbow and Fluttershy stood off to the side, staring at the changelings with mixed emotions. Fluttershy was the embodiment of rising curiosity checked with fear, whilst Rainbow was bottled suspicion tempered with unease. With their hardening stances, I knew it was only a matter of time before something happened. I was glad the doctor ended her checkup when she did.
“Well, nothing seems to be out of order. Reflexes are good, magic in tune, peripheral coordination and muscular strength is fine as far as I can tell.” Her hoof ran down my spine as she studied my features. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you are in full healthy form, barring recovery from mage’s malaise.” Her brow drew down as she scowled in a way that could make Discord blanch. “Though attempting a long-range teleportation so soon was a significant risk. I hope you will think carefully before stressing your body to the limit.”
I didn’t really have anything to say in defence, so I meekly nodded instead.
The doctor caught my look and sighed, relaxing her deep frown into a slight smile.
“I don’t know what it’s like to be a princess, but I do know that you won’t live long pulling off stunts like that. Take it easy, alright?” Her gaze flickered to the changelings and then back to me. “Las Pegasus needs you more than ever.”
“I’ll try my best, doctor.” I gave her a firm nod. The doctor studied me for a moment, looking like she wanted to add something else, but evidently decided against it as she simply nodded.
“So you didn’t answer my question,” I prompted Rainbow, diverting her attention away from the silent changelings gathered at the other end of the clearing. Praegus needed a little convincing, but it stood silently, judging the two new ponies with a blank expression. At least… I thought it was judging them. I couldn’t be sure.
“What?” Rainbow looked at me blankly. “Oh, right, yeah, Owlowiscious flew into the train through a window and I almost ate some feathers.” She grinned at Owlowiscious. “Great flying there, buddy.”
Owlowiscious rolled his eyes and hooted at the pegasus, who simply chuckled. “Well, seriously, even I was impressed. It was a moving train.” My nighttime assistant puffed up his chest, making me reflexively grin in return. He flittered from Rainbow’s head to my shoulder, settling in his regular spot with a pleased hoot. I flexed a wing to rub him affectionately, but resolved to talk with him about such a dangerous method of letter delivery.
Fluttershy, on the other hoof, bit her lip, but said nothing. She obviously had concerns for a pet performing such hazardous stunts, but caught my expression and subsided with a slight nod.
“Anyway,” Rainbow continued, oblivious to the look Fluttershy was giving her. “I got this bad feeling and thought you might be in trouble.”
“Bad feeling?” I repeated.
“Yeah, sorta like when you get this shiver and your stomach feels a bit...”—Rainbow frowned as searched for the right word—“off.”
I gaped at her. “You literally acted on a gut feeling?”
Rainbow nodded with a grin, fluffing up her chest very similarly to how Owlowiscious did. Then she saw Fluttershy’s curiously-raised eyebrow and hastily added, “That, and Fluttershy said she saw a bunch of changelings flying towards here.”
“Here?!”
I shot Silken and Moth a look.
“It could be Chrysalis.” Silken sounded doubtful.
“But…?”
“We’re not sure,” she admitted. “I can’t sense anything or feel anything.”
Moth nodded. “Me too, I can’t communicate with Silken.”
Their silent communication hadn’t improved since. I was growing worried.
“What’s going on?” I muttered to myself.
“Silken!” A changeling dropped out of the sky. Instantly, the guards and Rainbow were on alert. The changeling banked slightly, braking aerially and slowing down cautiously as it landed close to where Silken and Moth were. Silken, initially alert, relaxed and then gave me a nod as I sent her a querying look. Tension hung in the air for a few long moments before I waved everypony down.
Silken gestured at the changeling, saying something softly to it. The changeling balked a little, then whispered something back in an urgent tone. Silken nudged Moth but he merely shrugged and whispered something in an indifferent manner. The changeling looked indecisive about something. Intrigued I perked up my ears.
“Don’t worry,” Silken finally said, “you might as well let everyone here know.”
The changeling glanced at us and Praegus briefly, before giving a rather public—albeit succinct—report. “We all lost contact with each other. Then we saw the other changelings. Don’t know which Swarm they’re from. After the link...” It locked gazes with me, adding deliberately, “We were rendered blind.” Ignoring me, it then leaned in and added something in a whisper to Silken that I couldn’t make out. Whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant and Silken added a few stern-sounding words before the changeling quieted. Sergeant Wheeler and I shared a sobering look. Seems like the changelings in the field blamed me for the communications blackout.
“What do you think?” I posed to the guards in corner of the clearing.
Sergeant Wheeler glanced at the changelings, tilting his head. “It’s not a trap, or if it is, it’s a very cleverly disguised one.”
The sergeant judged the situation with a militaristic outlook. I guess he couldn’t be blamed for it, but I suddenly felt like I wanted somepony else’s opinion. I turned to Rainbow and Fluttershy.
“What about you, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy bit her lip as she considered the changelings. “I don’t know, Twilight, they seem well-meaning, but I’m still a little…”
“Scared?”
She nodded meekly, sending them a furtive glance. “We all know what happened with Chrysalis before, but I think maybe give them a chance?” Her little suggestion ended in little more than a squeak when Rainbow snorted and shot her a scathing look.
“I say we can’t trust these changelings,” Rainbow spat out in a crackling undertone. “They’re bound to get us when we’ve turned around.”
I sent a look to Smirch and Duft and they shook their heads and shrugged, seemingly to say that they’d leave it up to me. The reason I was collecting opinions, though, was because I didn’t know what to do! With the complexity of the situation becoming more and more tangled, my thoughts drifted to whether a princess was expected to deal with something like this all the time. I stared into the distance, trying to collect my thoughts and feelings into a decision.
Everypony in the clearing was either wary or neutral to the changelings. In the middle of my deliberations, I could hear the changelings conversing softly amongst themselves. Curious, I wondered if they had the same sort of problems I had. From appearances, it looked like Silken and Moth were both changelings that shouldered the burden of many lives.
What kind of thoughts were going through their heads?
Silken mumbled something back to the changeling that had given the report. In reply, the changeling said something that made Moth unexpectedly hiss. The conversation continued at a more heated tone until finally Silken muttered something quietly, which made Moth and the new changeling straighten up, sending a gaze our way and meeting my own. Silken turned around to look at us but then sighed and shook her head. She waved dismissively at the new changeling who reluctantly backed away, all the while sending us furtive gazes that made the mane strands on the back of my neck stand on end.
A prickling sensation swept over me as I managed to ask them, “What’s going on?”
Silken shuddered before answering. “I don’t know what happened, but we’re cut off from everyone.” She looked at me with a decidedly neutral face. “What are you going to do?”
Silken was worried about the new changelings out and about. Without their special brand of communication, this was already a crippling blow to changelings who were already on the lam from an impending changeling swarm. She was asking for asylum. I was in the position to give it, but should I? There were so many unknowns. Chrysalis. The new changelings. Reports of other changelings. Things were just piling up one by one.
“What happened with the joining?” I said, shifting the topic slightly off centre. Silken caught the clumsy gesture but shrugged and went with it.
“I don’t know,” Silken answered miserably. “It looks like it didn’t work. Worse than that, everyone connected to me has suddenly gone dark. The changelings in the forest are having trouble regrouping.” The changeling near Silken twitched, as if it didn’t expect Silken to reveal that piece of information. It came forward, wanting to say something, but Silken merely gave it a look and it took a couple of reluctant steps back.
“This is…” Silken nodded to the changeling as it whispered something in her ears. “Cilia. She’s coordinating the other changelings in my absence, although now that the link is gone… there’s not much she can do except marshal them physically.”
Whatever we did, it only seemed to make them blind from their own abilities. I bit my lip. This wasn’t an expected outcome, but I did share some of the responsibility for Praegus. I made a decision.
“We need to take a look at the other changelings, but at the same time, work out what happened with Praegus.” I didn’t think it’d be a great idea to bring a whole bunch of changelings into Las Pegasus. With how the first contact with changelings went, I couldn’t imagine a warm reception. The last time it was merely two, but most of the hubbub had died down when they saw the massive contingent of guards surrounding them. We needed to plan, and somewhere away. I glanced around the forest, as if the woods themselves held the answer to my little conundrum…
Then again, maybe they did.
“We need a middle ground,” I announced. “Somewhere where we are both comfortable coordinating together to solve this little problem.”
“What do you have in mind, Princess?” Sergeant Wheeler asked, eyes glinting with curiosity.
“I think this forest could be a good spot, don’t you think?”
I could see Sergeant Wheeler’s mind ticking through the options as he considered my idea. “I think that’s a good idea.” He turned to Smirch and Duft. “You two should head back to Las Pegasus and gather a small party to protect the Princess while she’s on stay here.”
“Yes, sir.” Smirch saluted us before galloping off with Duft.
Silken frowned at me. “You’re going to leave us in the forest?”
“Not exactly,” I tried to clarify. “Let’s make this point a place for the changelings and ponies to negotiate.”
Silken shook her head almost immediately. “Absolutely not. We can’t afford to remain out here in the open.”
“Trust me, being in the forest is only inviting danger. We need a way to make sure the changelings we deal with are the same changelings we met. You understand, right?”
Silken considered this, but still rejected the notion. “Changelings can tell other changelings apart.”
“With what mechanism? Is it tied to your telepathy?” I inhaled deeply before continuing. “I hate to put a fine point on it, but you don’t have that ability anymore.”
Silken glanced back and forth between us, looking torn, but she still held onto her opinion. Surprisingly, it was Moth that convinced her.
“Silken, we don’t have contact with any of the others. The Princess is right; we have to round them up.”
It took all of my composure to suppress the surprise in my expression. This was probably the first time Moth readily agreed to any suggestion I had made.
Silken stared at Moth for an indeterminable moment, then slumped her shoulders in resignation.
“Alright, Princess, can you… do us a favour? I would give you information in exchange, but we have precious little about Chrysalis or any of the other Swarms.”
I shook my head. “Well, we don’t need to rush this and you’re giving us something valuable anyway: Information about changelings themselves.”
Moth tilted his head and flicked his holed tail apprehensively. “What do you mean?”
“Well, we don’t know much about changelings, and that hasn’t really changed ever since Praegus arrived. We’ve done some tests—woah, woah, woah, it’s not what you think,” I quickly added, noting the strange expressions the two changelings wore. “Only very simple cognitive, motor and emotional tests, that’s it!”
Despite looking like she disapproved, curiosity blazed in Silken’s eyes. “So… what were the results?”
I rummaged around my saddlebags, withdrawing the parchment I was about to send to Celestia. As I unfurled the parchment, I glanced through my horn-writing and frowned. Spike’s writing was definitely getting neater than mine. Though I was proud of him, it made me a little ashamed that I had let myself lapse so much. In that small moment, I felt a little tug of nostalgia and loneliness, all at once.
“Princess…?”
“Oh, yes,” I said hastily, then verbally summarised the contents of the parchment copy I had made with my magic. The real one was for Owlowiscious later to bring to Princess Celestia. With his recent effort in recovery, I had to force myself to rein in my jittery anticipation and allow him some well-deserved rest.
Then I’ll ask him to deliver the mail.
———————
When I finished, Silken and Moth were sitting down for some reason. Moth had a blank look until Silken nudged him roughly.
“What?” Moth glanced at Silk. “O-Oh, it’s over?”
My brows drew into a frown. It was rather lengthy, yes, but the findings were very interesting!
“T-That was... thorough, Princess, uhh, thank you,” Silken told me whilst noting my look.
“Yes,” Moth quickly added, “that was… that was—”
“Incredibly boring!” Rainbow cut in with a huff. “Twi’, I can’t believe you read the whole report out to them; we’re wasting time here!”
“Excuse me,” I shot back. “This wasn’t the whole report, it was a summary!”
“That was a summary?!” Silken blurted, then held a hoof over her mouth. “I-I mean—”
“I think we get what you mean.” Rainbow snorted. “Twi’, why’d you have to read the whole thing?”
I frowned at the lack of scholarly appreciation my friend had. “You could have told me if it was boring you so much.” I threw a look at Fluttershy who had appeared to listen attentively through the presentat—I mean, summary. She had even put in a few encouraging gestures!
Fluttershy blushed crimson and pawed at the ground. “We tried, actually. Erm, several times. You were, uhm, very excited so it was difficult to get your attention.”
Now it was my turn to flush crimson. Oh. I finally realised that the waving might have been gestures to stop. I turned to the guards. “Why didn’t any of you try to stop me—what are you doing?”
Sergeant Wheeler was cleaning his pauldron, his gaze fixed at the perimeter, but his hooves moving seamlessly. “What? Oh? You’re finished, Princess? My apologies, I was doing some armour maintenance.”
Smirch and Duft looked up from the grass, they had been playing cards, but hastily cleared them away and tried to look smart when I raked my astonished stare over them.
“Sorry, Princess,” Smirch said, “we were paying attention… in the first five minutes or so.”
I balked at their insinuation. “So, what, did nopony listen to me?!”
Everypony found something incredibly interesting to look at in the bushes.
“Uhm...” Fluttershy gave me a strained, but encouraging smile. “Good work?”
Somehow, that gesture of kindness felt very hurtful.
———————
Soon though, Silken and Moth were persuaded to bring out all the changelings into the forest clearing. Being out in the open, exposed, and with no method of communication other than speech, the changelings were understandably very nervous. Several times I tried to catch a changeling’s roaming eyes and smile at them, but for some reason they avoided eye contact and would stare at the ground or the sky. I prided myself on a winning smile, but they weren’t buying it.
“Twilight, you’re creeping me out with that smile.”
I held the smile, speaking through my slightly clenched teeth. “Do you have a better idea to make them comfortable, Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow shrugged, then added bluntly. “No, except, maybe don’t smile like that.”
I gave up the pretence and relaxed my expression. “Well, I don’t think you glaring at them is helping much either.”
Rainbow pursed her lips, sending an extra-special glare to some of the new changeling arrivals. “Pssh, I sure ain’t going to trust them as far as I can throw them.”
“I think that’s ‘I’m sure going to trust them as far as I can throw them’.”
“What?”
“I think you’ve been spending too much time around Applejack, Rainbow.”
Rainbow pursed her lips as she glared at me. “Excuse me for not trusting a bunch of these guys that happened to ruin your brother’s wedding. Remember that?”
Instead of replying to that, I calmly met her look.
Rainbow caught my look and took it down a notch. “Hey, Twi’, I didn’t mean it like that—”
I squeezed my eyes shut, held a hoof to my face and sighed deeply, reminding myself that Rainbow didn’t know anything coming into here and she was only trying to help. “No, it’s alright, Rainbow, I know how it looks. Right, from the beginning, you know how I told you about sharing magic with this changeling?”
“Yeah.”
“So after that I met these two changelings, Silken and Moth. They were around the forest. They were looking for Praegus—”
“Who?”
“The changeling.”
She looked incredulous. “You named it?”
I frowned at Rainbow. “I’m not just going to call it ‘the changeling’ all the time.”
“Oh, okay, I guess…” She huffed. “Though even Fluttershy knows that when you name a critter, you find it hard to let it go.”
Fluttershy, who’d been silent throughout our exchange blushed under our scrutiny. “Oh, uhm, yes. Yes, that’s happened a few times.”
“You mean like all the time.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You kept a bear cub in your cottage for three years!”
“Harry has been a very good cub.” A reminiscing smile grew across Fluttershy’s face.
“He’s now a full grown bear, you know?”
“Uhm, yes, he is that, but he’s also a sweetie.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes at Fluttershy, holding out a hoof at her. “See?”
“I hardly think I would get attached to the changeling just by naming it,” I countered reasonably. “Besides, it’s gotten a little more complicated than that. You see, I became its Queen—”
“Queen?!” This time both Rainbow and Fluttershy were in unison.
Silken and Moth glanced briefly our way, but when they registered what was going on, they merely sent a sly smile and chuckled. I sighed, turning back to them.
“Yes, but keep it down. It’s meant to be a secret. Well, kind of, at least to the general public. It would be a little hard to explain the town mayor that I was a Princess-Queen-changeling-pony...thing?” I stopped halfway through. I was still a pony, right?
No, of course I was, it would be ridiculous to be anything else.
“Twi’?”
Rainbow looked at me with a strange expression. “They didn't do anything to you, did they?”
“What? No. Of course not!” I cleared my throat. “Well, anyway, so Praegus kind of listens to me now. And something about its ability to protect minds from infiltration was what these other changelings were after. Now, I have to take them into my ‘Swarm’ and—”
“Hang on! You’re going to do what?!”
Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy. “Oh, no, this is worse than I thought. You’re being duped by these changelings.”
I gave them a stare. “What?”
“Don’t you see?” Rainbow pointed in the direction of Silken and Moth. “These changelings are going to convert you into another changeling, or brainwash you, or—”
I laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Rainbow. I’m fine.” My brows drew down. “And I think you’ve been reading way too many horror stories recently.”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “How do we know you’re the real Twilight Sparkle?” Her eyes widened. “Maybe you’re not Twilight Sparkle at all!” She pounced back, guarding Fluttershy.
“What?” I struggled to get a hold of a situation that was rapidly spiralling out of control. “What are you saying, Rainbow? That I’m a changeling?”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “If you’re Twilight Sparkle, prove it.”
“Rainbow, don’t be ridiculous!” I waved a hoof at Sergeant Wheeler who was glaring at Rainbow and tensing. Rainbow didn’t seem the least bit afraid of Wheeler, snorting and stamping a hoof in reply.
Instead of getting angry, I rolled my eyes at her. “And how would you like me to do that, Rainbow?”
“Tell me something only Twilight would know about me!” Rainbow hovered close to me now. We were so close I could almost feel Rainbow’s breath.
“Well,” I tapped my chin with a forehoof as I tried to recall useful memories. “There was the time during a sleepover you sleeptrotted and started trying to make out with—”
“Okay!” she cut in quickly, eyes approaching the size of saucers. “Alright, you’re Twilight.” She chuckled nervously, going an interesting shade of beet-red as Smirch and Duft caught the end of that statement and suppressed their laughter between their hooves. “Just… don’t mention that. Ever again. Ever.”
I gave her a teasing smile. “But what if we need to prove I’m not a changeling?”
Fluttershy smiled hopefully. “We could always have you repeat that. And, uhm, I’d really like to know what happened between Rainbow and—”
Rainbow waved her hooves madly. “Woah! No, nope, no, no, no, no. All good. Nope. We’re not using that. Nope.”
I grinned at Rainbow, letting her twist in the wind for a few second before deciding to be magnanimous. “Okay, we won’t use that. How about we use a passphrase?”
“Too easy, what if a changeling hears it?” Rainbow retorted.
I bit my lip. “How about this?” I prepped a simple spell. “Hold out your hoof.”
Rainbow cocked her head, but held out her hoof. With my telekinesis, I grabbed it and imprinted a small spell on it.
“This is linked to your cutie mark.” I cast the spell on my own hoof. “Now bump hooves with me.”
As soon as we made contact Rainbow yelped as an electric sensation passed through us. Bringing her hoof back she scowled at me, putting it in her mouth.
“Yeah you’re Twilight alright,” she said sourly. “Always messing up a spell.”
I pouted at her, but didn’t say anything to retort to that. “A mere charge miscalculation.” I changed the spell’s structure slightly and cast it again. “Come on, give me your hoof again.”
Rainbow kept her hoof to her body. “Nope.” She glanced at Fluttershy. “How about Fluttershy, you try this time?”
Fluttershy shrunk back, but hesitantly nodded. “I, uhm, oh okay.”
I raised an eyebrow at Rainbow. I hope she got the meaning. Even Fluttershy wasn’t as afraid. Fluttershy nervously held her hoof out, hunching her shoulders and sticking it out whilst shaking uncontrollably. I was a little hurt at my friend’s lack of faith in my spell casting, but decided to shelve it for another day. With my tongue sticking out from the corner of my mouth, I cast the spell one more time. We bumped hooves, but Fluttershy didn’t receive a shock and neither did I. Instead, our cutie marks glowed sympathetically.
Fluttershy smiled in relief. “Oh good, it worked…” She gave me a searching look. “…right?”
I nodded emphatically. “Yes, there! See?”
Rainbow’s mouth fell open as she stared at Fluttershy’s flank. I suppressed a smile as Fluttershy shirked away from Rainbow’s overly-intense gaze. Rainbow met Fluttershy’s look and stumbled back with an embarrassed look as Duft whistled from the back somewhat inappropriately.
“What did you do, Twilight?” She peered at our flanks with a little less gusto. “That looks like the same thing the castle-map-thing does, you know.”
“I’ve linked us together using the magic embedded in our cutie marks.”
Rainbow’s expression cleared as it dawned upon her. “Riiiight. Where’d you learn that, Twi’?”
“I didn’t,” I replied casually, “made it up on the spot.”
Rainbow and Fluttershy gave me a strange look.
“What?”
“You just made it up?”
I rolled me eyes, exasperation fighting with embarrassment. “Oh it’s really not a big deal. New magic gets made up all the time. Look at Rarity’s gem-finding spell. Or the Flim Flam brothers’ cider machine. Or Pinkie. I’m pretty sure Pinkie’s a spell.” I shrugged. “Truth is, I actually came up with it a while back after the wedding. I knew it would come in handy!”
“So… like… you just made a new spell... all on your own... by yourself.” Rainbow had an eyebrow raised. Something about the angle of that eyebrow and her smile irked me.
“Ye-es,” I answered, trying to keep the blood from rising to my cheeks. “Like I said, it’s not a big deal.”
“Where did you have the time?” Fluttershy interjected. “From what I heard from Rarity, unicorn spells are really hard to make.”
“Well, you know…” I shrugged unconsciously. “It’s not too hard once you get the hang of it. Anypony could do it. Theoretically.”
And then Rainbow asked a question that I didn’t want to answer.
“So how long does a spell usually take to make?”
“About once a lifetime,” I mumbled under my breath.
“What?”
“A long time,” I said louder.
Rainbow rubbed a hoof under her chin with a smarmy grin that would put Flim Flam to shame. “Pretty sure I heard ‘once a lifetime’ and you’ve made, what? How many?”
I licked my lips. “A few…”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “How many did you really make?”
“Is this really the time to be asking me that?” I cleared my throat. “There are changelings and other things to—”
“Twilight, it might sound rich coming from me, but you’re not showing off enough, you know?” Rainbow nudged me with her flank. “Didn’t you learn that it’s not really boasting if you’re actually really good at it? Isn’t this your special talent?”
“Well, yes, but it’s not that great, really. It’s only a few spells here and there.”
“Uhuh.” Rainbow still had that eyebrow raised.
“But it’s not like it’s anything special! Star Swirl made hundreds, no, thousands of spells!”
“I think you’re being too modest,” Fluttershy said, “and I would know a thing or two about that.”
“Yeah, ‘cause Star Swirl was also a Princess and saved the world like a bunch of times, too.”
“He saved the world!” I shot back. “I’m pretty sure… with knowledge!”
“Uhuh.” Rainbow tilted her head the corner of her mouth tilted in that sardonic smile again.
“Really,” I pressed succinctly, “it’s nothing.”
Rainbow’s eyebrow twitched. “Alright, then.”
I relaxed.
“Let’s ask Sergeant, uhm, Whatshisface.”
“Wheeler,” Fluttershy put in (un)helpfully.
“Sergeant!” Rainbow called out. He trotted over with a curious expression. “Do you know anything about unicorn spells?”
“Only what they teach in the precinct, ma’am.” His reply was curt.
“So tell me,” Rainbow drawled, “How hard is it to make a new unicorn spell?”
Sergeant Wheeler let out a low whistle. “Well, they’d be famous for sure. Probably go down in the history books, depending on the application.”
Rainbow nodded genially. “So, say, a new spell to confirm whether or not somepony is a changeling would be impressive?”
Sergeant Wheeler gaped at Rainbow. “Are you kidding? That’d be groundbreaking!”
Rainbow arched her eyebrow again, studying my rapidly inflamed cheeks, no doubt.
Sergeant Wheeler followed her gaze and straightened in surprise. “So, Princess, you’ve…”
Rainbow nodded sagely. “Uhuh.”
He turned to Fluttershy.
“Mhmm.”
He turned to Smirch and Duff who had snuck up on the conversation long ago.
“Yeeeep,” they both said.
Sergeant Wheeler had a grin so wide, I thought it’d split the side of his face. “An achievement of a lifetime, Princess! You’re going to be famous—I mean, more famous than you already are—”
Grinning in a way that I could only describe as devilishly, Rainbow nudged me again. “Oh Twilight says it’s ‘not a big deal’, I mean, it’s only like one of ‘hundreds of spells’, she’s been creating over the years. It’s ‘easy once you get the hang of it’.”
“I didn’t say it… quite… like… that…”
I wanted to bury myself into the ground. At least a few hundred feet.
“A hundred!”
“Hundreds,” corrected Rainbow, smugly.
“I knew that would bite me back,” I muttered.
Sergeant Wheeler looked like he was about to have a fit. “But—Wha—Y-You’re kidding, right?” He glanced around at the serious faces staring back at him and he suddenly wiped a hoof over his head. “All the more reason for you to get back to Las Pegasus!”
“What? Why?” I spluttered. “What are you saying?”
“This is beyond a royal escort,” he explained, “you’re a national treasure!”
Rainbow was trying very hard to stifle the snorts and giggles behind her hoof. Oh, ha ha, I see the hilarity of it all. Thank you, my so-called friend. I remembered belatedly that pranks were Rainbow’s favourite past time. I didn’t give her enough credit for her ability to do it so subtly. With an exasperated sigh, I glanced at Fluttershy who was innocently trying to hide a smile, but her eyes danced with laughter.
Sergeant Wheeler was also waggling his eyebrows and I stiffened briefly, before lapsing into a hapless smile. Silken and Moth were looking at each other, confused, and with slightly concerned, expressions. They probably thought we’d gone crazy, I mean who wouldn’t in a situation like this? But I needed this. We all needed this.
I took a deep breath and banished the heavy thoughts that had clouded over my mind for the last few days. In the midst of it all, I felt a tug on my shoulder. It was Praegus. The moment Praegus stepped up, everypony’s eyes were riveted to the changeling. Although wary, Rainbow and the rest of the guards only slightly tensed at Praegus’ approach.
“My Princess… better than treasure,” it said haltingly. Praegus stared blankly at me, but there was a hint of admiration in its eyes.
“Erm… thank you, Praegus.”
Satisfied, Praegus nodded and then returned to its spot as Rainbow and Fluttershy sent me amused looks.
“Oh, just—it’s just how it thinks!” I snapped.
“Sure,” Rainbow replied easily. She draped a wing around my shoulders. “Though I could do this all day, let’s deal with the changelings. I’m glad to see a smile, though.”
“You looked a little stressed,” Fluttershy added with a shy smile.
Well, I didn’t really know how embarrassing me so much was going to cheer me up, they did want to give me more credit for my spell. I will admit, I was a little proud of how I came up with it. I gave Rainbow and Fluttershy a quick hug. “Thanks.”
Sergeant Wheeler nodded with a faint smile as I returned to Silken and Moth.
“Sorry about that, things have just been… a little crazy.”
Silken bowed her head, not looking like she harboured any ill-feelings about being temporarily forgotten. “Well, truthfully, we needed a little time to gather the rest of the changelings who were lost anyway. Usually, they would be able to find their way back, but a lot of things aren’t working right now…” She wiped a weary hoof across her face. “Everything isn’t going to plan at all, we… we desperately need help.”
“And I’ll give it,” I told them gently. “We’ll try our best out here.”
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8602182 8650213 9117732 9120609 9140165
My apology comes in the form of a chapter release.
It always boggles me when a fic updates after a long hiatus, the exultant horror of a past gone by rising from the depths of memory.
8585628 The big advantage of an enemy that controls all its minions by mind control is that you can throw all your forces at just killing/disabling/blocking the Controller. Without it, the slaves just mill about mindlessly and you can thrash them.
That was the biggest exploitable weakness of playing against the Computer when it was using Zerg, after all. Same weakness with the Borg and the forces of Mordor. They need that central will to function.
Oh, hello Sunny!
Looks like I'll be waiting another two years for the next chapter.
Aaayy!
It Lives!!!!!
Wow this month has had a number of older stories start up again
He's only gone and done it the absolute madman!
9145556
There's one story I'm very fond of that finished after going dormant for a decade.
Beautiful work, so glad for an update and the fact that it is still fantastic and fun to read. Good job. Hope for more whenever they come.
Another excellent chapter, as always. Been a while, but can't be helped, eh?
Good stuff please continue
9146208 Heya!
9145698 :(
9145802 Ayyy lmao
9146208 Oops, I did it again?
9146813 Oh no, life!
9146931 I'll definitely try!
Nicely done. I just started reading this a couple hours ago and I'm already hooked. It seems like I found this fic at the right time too. Glad the update happened when it did. Anyway, I really liked how Rainbow and Fluttershy helped twi calm down. Wheelie also played along as well which earns him points.
This is a good story because I only had to read the previous chapter to remember all the important things. Looking forward to the next chapters.
excuse me
Please don't wait for over a year for the next chapter.
I had to reread the whole thing to understand what was going on... Time well spent!
The slower pace was only slightly galling when taking into account how long this chapter took to come, it's actually perfectly placed from a pacing perspective though, so kudos! I only really noticed the "problem" (if it can even be called that) after I finished and started looking for it, so it's also fair to say it was an engaging and enthralling read; the character interactions were believable and amusing too.
Overall, I'd say it's an excellent breather chapter and I can't help but be impatient for more!
Omg! It's a miracle! A story being removed from my Story Grave!
9150434
Update, sweeeet . . .
Its nice to see this get an update. I always get worried when fics I like have large gaps between uploads.
MOAR
So, catching up. I think you have a decent premise for the story and it's reasonably written thus far, but I think the action is getting ahead of the central idea so far. Twilight's barely done any analysis on Praegus and what makes him tick, but now we're already getting thrown into a changeling civil war.
please write more the suspense is killing me
any idea when we can expect an update and new chapter?
nice story. too bad it's dead.
i will be keeping track even if the story is dead.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7BjUUv10ko[/embed]copy and paste this until he/she comes back online to continue or cancel his story.
Though it'd more likely to be labeled canceled than continued by looking at the dates the chapters come out. Eh still something
Huh?.. W-where's the rest of it??.. C... clearly it's unfinished, so... Ugh...
Pity the thing is dead. Was a nice story...
11206185
Teasing Murhpy would be is she said she KNOWS they will be OK. Notice how she HOPES they will be OK? It's a wish. "Good luck out there". People might be fired from their job, they can fail the exam, or whatever. Doesn't change that it was not Murphy's law. Just a good wishes stuff.
Clam!!!!!!
Im guessing this one's dead?.. a shame I was enjoying it