Things Change

by Goldengriffiness

Twilight Preaches the Wrong Points

Rarity paced.

This is all my fault… What if she wasn't kidnapped? What if she's just hiding from me? Serves me right… We can't even know if she's in danger. Or if the princess is right about the changeling queen taking her.

She was interrupted from berating herself by a thud at the door.

…

Trixie was sick of this.

She was just trying to do a good deed and then she'd be on her way and could leave these Celestia-damned smalltown ponies here and never think of them again. She'd trodden through knee-thick mud, been yelled at by a self-centered zebra, held at the point of a very disturbingly long horn and used as living bait.

She'd tried to talk to Rainbow Splash or whatever it was…and had been kicked in the flank.

She'd tried to talk to Butterfly...and the pony had run away as soon as Trixie had mentioned her name.

She'd found Apple Hack, only to be served a "What in tarnation do you think you're doing here!?" and a slammed door.

Binkie Pie… She shuddered, regretting hearing about her at all. The pink pony had yelled at her for over an hour about how what she did was wrong and to never, ever hurt her friends again. Yada yada yada.

Trixie put her hoof down after knocking on the boutique's door. It jerked and swung open. The pony behind was a mess. Her pearly fur was ruffled, her usually impeccable hair was disheveled and messy, her fake lashes were evident only in their absence, and her make-up had obviously run, creating dark tear-tracks down white cheeks.

For a minute, neither pony said anything.

"YOU!"

The glare was chilling, somehow managing to look more deadly than a pack of Ursa Major. Not that Trixie had experience in the area, but she had a feeling a herd of Ursa might be less likely to maul her.

She gulped. At least it couldn't get any worse than it already was…

…

Twilight paced, reeling back and forth in what little room she had. After remembering the day before, she had recognized that flash of green all too well.

Changeling eyes…

Her eyes.

If she was right, she was stuck in the prison of one of the creatures most likely to slit her throat.

I don't get it. She ground her teeth. "What does she have to gain by keeping me here? If it's revenge she's after, Cadence would be the more likely target. If it's to impersonate me, why? I don't have a coltfriend or anything close to it. Besides, after the changeling crisis and me disappearing, everypony would be suspicious."

"What on earth is she planning? She has to want to impersonate me! It's the only plausible explanation. But there's no power to gain from it…" Twilight murmured to herself.

A cold chuckle filled the room, causing her to jolt to a stop.

"You really think romantic relationships are all we can feed off? Have you ever wondered why I was able to beat your precious princess?"

Turning around, Twilight froze. The black form before her smirked, lips rising over razor teeth. "That idiot pink princess is her niece. Ever since she found her and adopted her into the royal blood, she's helped raise her, probably hoping she was immortal and could replace Luna. Pity, isn't it, that she wasn't? Coincidence that she was given to one of the noble families to raise after dear Celestia found that out? Somehow I doubt it."

By then Twilight was all but snorting steam. "Princess Celestia isn't like that at all!"

At this, Chrysalis shrugged. "I could give you all the proof in the world and still you wouldn't hear a word against your precious princess. But that's not why I'm here."

"Well," Twilight stiffened, raising her head, doing her best to look determined, "I hope you realize that impersonating me is utterly pointless. My friends know me too well. Obviously you haven't thought about that. Without a boost of power, you are incapable of beating the princesses, so when they find out you took me, you'll be helpless. If you want to make this easier on yourself, you'll return me before it gets out of hoof."

Twilight's attempted lecture did nothing but amuse the changeling queen, who smirked. "When you have lived as long as I have, little pony, you will understand that nothing is impossible. And even if it were, there are other ways to gain the same result."

Twilight opened her mouth, but whatever she was going to say was cut off by a pulse of menacing green power. The light flexed, curling around her and pressing in, smothering her. She was trapped, lost, and weary. The light ate at her fur, digging down past her skin and tearing at something private. Something no foreign presence should ever touch.

The power snaked into her magic, her core, and began to tear it apart. Shocks coursed down her legs and turned her joints to jelly. She collapsed. Her eyes clenched tight and, as her blood pulsed and her head pounded, Twilight heard a faint whisper.

"Go to sleep, little pony, you can't fight it for long."

Was she fighting? It didn't feel like it. This power was overwhelming, shattering; she couldn't even remember her own name it hurt so badly. She was drowning in it, drowning in green fire. At last, the magic crackled and Twilight was forced to give in. It clamped down and threw her into peaceful oblivion.

~...~

Trixie would have rather been in a room full of dragons that had been starved for half a thousand years.

She had expected gratitude. How was it her problem the idiots had lost their friend? It was Twilight's stupidity that had gotten her caught in the first place. Don't help your enemies; you'll live to regret it.

Still…she had. Why, Trixie could not fathom. Hearing her scream, Twilight had rushed into unknown danger without a thought for her own safety. In her rush to save Trixie, she'd ignored the obvious danger signs from the Celestia proxy and paid for it.

To her horror, Trixie felt her stomach twist. Oh no. Trixie, snap out of it! You are not…feeling guilty…

But she was. She hated it.

Trixie, you better get through this fast or they'll turn your head to mush for all eternity…

Drawing a steadying breath, Trixie looked at Rarity and told her the story.

The fit of screaming that followed would likely wake ponies as far away as Canterlot.…Nausea woke Twilight with a sickening lurch. Everything hurt. She felt so empty. Why did she feel empty? Like a husk... Unknown power flowed through her, spiraling in a current that felt like it was ripping everything away. Who was she? What was she?

She wasn't even sure anymore…

She was swaying back and forth. It was almost soothing. Her eyes closed as somewhere far away, a faltering voice murmured.

"This day is going to be perfect,

The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small.

Anypony who stands their ground,

As to me their kingdom's bound,

Will find that I'm not merciful at all…"

Comments

[Ralfil]

Nice chapter. Spelling error in the title though. It's spelled Preaches, not Preeches. Unless you did that on purpose.

[Thespurgin]

oh dear... Chrysalis is taking levels in abomination... her "creepy song" skill just scored a crit even...

[Lord_Of_Lagaard]

And there she goes. I do love the emotional drama that arises when some Face Heels.

[THE party cannon]

Who is that changeling on the cover image?

[Lord_Of_Lagaard]

793561
That would be Twilight.

[Lamaar]

You have my attention, I am a sucker for stories with BEST PONI
<grammar nazi>
I did notice a few errors:
Chapter 1:
"I'll make you watch and endure every minute of there suffering."
Should be 'Their'
"You will see everything you love vanishes before your eyes, Princess"
While technically fine, this still reads really weird. I suggest '...see how everything...' or 'vanish'
Chapter 2:
"[...] many fowl things live in Forest Everfree"
Unless you're making a poultry pun, you want 'foul'
Chapter 3:
"likelyest" should be 'likeliest'
"currant" should be 'current', or you lose 12.5 art points.
</grammar>

[Ebonysdagger]

Ooh, Twilight the changeling possibly? I do so love stories with that in it.

[Goldengriffiness]

819760 Thanks!

[Goldengriffiness]

820709 Cool, maybe I'll try for more flashbacks then!

[Evilpresident]

Hey, thanks for directing me here
This is great! Can't wait to read more!

BTW, I have a Changeling Twilight story too, if you want to check it out.

[Goldengriffiness]

845061 I'll look right now!
Thanks!

[Goldengriffiness]

845061 Or I would if Fimfiction would stop glitching out on me! 8*rowl*