Chapter 15
That afternoon, Twilight exhaled and scratched absentmindedly at her foreleg. This stress was not good for her. She was itching everywhere; her coat was starting to thin in places and hairs sloughed off every time she scratched. But she couldn’t worry about that now. Her experiment had begun, and now it was time for assessing preliminary data. “Day one. What's the damage?” she asked. It was often best to start with the unpleasant things.
Bruch flipped through a clipboard held in his green magic. “None so far, unless you count the three fillies getting mildly sick from varnish fumes. Foro also reported an astounding amount of… um…” He squinted, unsure if the words he read were correct.
“Tree sap?” Twilight guessed flatly.
Bruch looked back down at the paper again. “Yes,” he said, surprised that she had managed to guess. “Tree sap.”
“That's par for the course with those three,” Twilight murmured. “How many stayed?”
“Stayed?”
“Yeah. Stayed.”
Bruch frowned. “We’ve all stayed,” he said. “We would not abandon our princess.”
“No, I mean… stayed with the ponies you were assigned to.”
Bruch’s frown deepened. “Why would we do that?” he asked.
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“We always return to the hive.”
It was Twilight’s turn to frown. “But if you’re going to be integrated into pony society, you’ll need to get along with other ponies, right?”
Bruch was silent.
“Right?” Twilight asked, a bit less certain this time.
Bruch licked his fangs. “Princess, may I speak freely?”
Twilight nodded.
“We do not want to integrate. This isn’t our way.”
Twilight blinked. “What?”
“We are changelings. We are outsiders. We will never belong with the ponies, not while they know that we hunt them. We live and thrive in the shadows. While we can change who we are, we can't change what we are.”
“And what are you, Bruch?” Twilight asked quietly.
Bruch shook his head weakly. “We are changelings. I can't explain much better than that.”
“What if integration works, though?” Twilight asked.
“And what if it doesn’t?” Bruch asked quietly.
Twilight opened her mouth, and then shut it again. Friendship always worked, right? Friendship always won.
Bruch realized he might have overstepped his boundaries, and attempted a little bit of damage control. “It was a good idea, even if it failed-”
“No!” Twilight corrected. “I have not failed. I have just successfully found a way that doesn't work.”
Bruch blinked. “So… you failed.”
Twilight waved a hoof. “It's a pony saying,” she said. “I'll just go back to the drawing board and-”
“Princess, we appreciate the effort; but we accepted our fate a long time ago.”
Twilight nodded slowly.
“We are willing to go along with any of your experiments, Princess. We trust you. We love you. We live to serve you. But ordering us to do things against our nature…” His voice trailed off, clearly uncertain about how to continue. “It will be difficult,” he finished.
Twilight exhaled. “Alright. I’ll need to… consider a few things,” she said. She held out her hoof expectantly. Bruch gave her the notes, and then silently watched her leave.
Twilight walked up the stairs, entered her room, shut the door, and then spun around and leaned on it, sliding defeatedly to the ground. She exhaled slowly. This was mildly disheartening.
Spike looked up from his reading. “How go the integrations?” he asked. He had remained mostly in Twilight’s room during his time here. Ever since the incident in the crystal caves, the changelings seemed to be giving him a wide berth, which was frankly quite all right with him.
Then again, he did get a larger basket out of the deal, and two small bony lumps were beginning to protrude from his back right where wings should go, so he couldn’t hold too big of a grudge against them. Besides, when else could he read comics all day without Twilight getting on his case?
Twilight looked over her notes again. “To be honest? Pretty ‘bleh’. I mean, there's Tinder, who's staying with Fluttershy; but that's about it. No changeling really wants to stay permanently; they seem to work like bees, collecting nectar and then going back to the hive.” She froze. “And apparently you’re not supposed to compare them to bees because that’s mildly offensive.”
Spike shrugged. He’d never had a problem with bees; their stingers couldn’t pierce his scales.
“And then I looked over some of the comments from the townsponies. Ponyville seems to be fairly accepting, but on more of a NIMBY status.”
“Nimby? Like the mouse lady?”
“That's Frisby,” Twilight corrected absentmindedly. “NIMBY stands for 'not in my backyard'. They don't mind having them around; they just don't want them around, you know?”
Spike scratched his head. “Maybe?”
Twilight sighed. “From both sides, integration isn’t working. I thought for sure friendship would overcome their differences…”
“Well, yeah; but maybe you’re going about this wrong,” Spike said with a shrug. “I mean, you’re friends differently with everypony, right? You’re friends with Pinkie Pie by letting her be her, and by eating her cupcakes. You’re friends with Rainbow Dash by watching her fly and not letting her ego get too big. You’re friends with Rarity by letting her do your mane and… well…” He sighed wistfully and clutched his comic book to his chest. “Actually, anything she does wouldn’t be all that bad.”
Twilight cracked a smile. “I suppose you’re right,” she said. “Maybe I’m trying to force my thinking on them, to make them like me. That’s not friendship, either.”
“So what’s the plan now?”
“I originally scheduled two weeks of this; but if these are my results already, I think we’ll cancel the experiment and head back to Canterlot. Tinder can stay with Fluttershy if he wants, and I’m fairly certain he will.”
“Still in those crystal caves?” Spike asked.
“Yeah.” Twilight exhaled slowly. “And from what I can tell, they’re not exactly happy there, either. Too cramped, and getting in and out isn’t…” 'technically supposed to be possible', she thought; but instead changed it to “-hard; but it’s time-consuming. They’re not used to that.”
“Wow,” Spike said. “So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, Spike,” Twilight admitted quietly. “I really don’t know.”
The hug Spike gave her was deeply needed and profoundly appreciated.
* * *
That evening, there came a knock at the door of the library. Twilight lit her horn and winked into existence right beside the door, startling the changelings playing cards nearby. She opened it and was mildly surprised to see Zecora, flanked by a changeling.
“Zecora,” she said. “What a surprise. Would you like to come in?”
The zebra shook her head. “I’m afraid I cannot tarry; at night the Everfree turns quite scary. I felt the need to walk Scir here home; I didn’t trust her on her own.”
Scir gave Twilight a sheepish smile.
Twilight nodded understandingly. “I’ve learned my lesson about walking through the Everfree by myself,” she said as Scir slunk inside, ears drooping. “Trust me. It's a... rock-hard lesson I won't forget. How did it go today?”
“As you may have well suspected, it went better than I expected. You would be surprised as well how useful is an assistant who cannot smell.”
“Stinkroot helps coats shine. Who'd've thunk?” Scir chimed in.
Zecora gave a wry smile; she hadn’t understood the words. “Though I understand not a word they say, her assistance helped to brighten my day.” She paused. “One question, if I might. Why do you wear your sunglasses at night?”
Twilight adjusted them. “No reason,” she said, her voice cracking a bit more than she'd like.
Zecora cracked a smile and let the matter rest. Then she chewed on her lower lip, as if considering something else. “Another I must ask, if I may be so bold: will they be staying here in the Ponyville fold?”
Twilight grimaced. “Not quite,” she said. “I thought integration was the answer; but it might cause more harm than good on both sides.” She glanced back at the changelings, who were all trying very hard to appear as though they were not listening… and failing drastically; Hrit still had a hoof resting on the draw pile, and one ear cocked to hear the conversation better. She cracked a smile. “Sometimes what ponies think their friends need and what their friends actually need are two very different things.”
Zecora exhaled, relieved. “I felt the stares of judging strong; it would have been tiresome before long.” She glanced up towards Scir, who was clinging to the wall as she listened in, and gave her a smile. “Perhaps you’ll come and visit me again, though perhaps disguised with a zebra’s skin.”
Scir nodded and burst into flame, revealing that she could, indeed, disguise herself as a zebra.
Unfortunately, zebras cannot cling to walls like changelings can, and with a yelp she slid to the ground, landing in a jumble of hooves and fur.
Zecora laughed as she and Twilight helped Scir up. Scir inclined her head respectfully towards Zecora. “Goodbye, my friend. Someday we shall meet again,” the changeling rhymed.
Zecora smiled as she left, disappearing into the night.
Twilight glanced around at the gathered changelings. She crossed a hind leg over and scratched absentmindedly. “So… who’s up for ponopoly?” she offered.
* * *
It was getting close to midnight, but the game was still in full-swing (sometimes literally). Twilight glared at her five property cards, none of which were the same color, and then at the fourteen cards owned by Tinder sitting next to her. The quiet changeling had barely said a word all night—a few times, she had almost been convinced that he had fallen asleep—but he had somehow accrued quite the balance of funds. Not her, though. She had had the worst luck. It was so bad that when there came another knock at the door, she teleported over just to get away from the game.
When she opened the door, though, she was surprised to see a familiar pony standing there. “Cheerilee?”
Cheerilee nodded, eyes slightly downcast.
“Would you like to come inside?” Twilight asked.
“Thank you,” Cheerilee said, taking a few tiny steps forward. She swallowed as if to steel herself, and then spoke. “May I borrow a changeling?”
Twilight blinked. That was certainly an odd request. “That’s really up to them.” Twilight took a step back and to the side, allowing Cheerilee passage further into her house.
Cheerilee swallowed nervously, but gamely stepped forward towards the nearest changeling. “Um… hello,” she started.
The changeling tilted its head and blinked its pupil-less eyes, as if trying to comprehend Cheerilee. Then she closed her eyes and burst into flame, becoming a pony that looked exactly like Cheerilee, but with her mane and coat colors swapped.
Cheerilee noticed with mild trepidation that he/she/it had even copied her cutie mark. That unsettled her somewhat. And that was quite the accomplishment; she was unsettled enough coming here in the first place.
The disguised changeling tilted her head. “For what?”
“Do I need to answer that?” Cheerilee asked hesitantly.
“A better question might be, what are you looking for?” the changeling rephrased her question.
Cheerilee shook her head slightly. “I'm asking for a foal to spend the night,” she said, a bit confused.
“Are you asking for a foal to spend the night-” here she jerked her head towards the table, indicating a peaceful evening of games, “-or to spend the night?” She dragged out the 'I' sound in the last syllable, and she ran her tongue across the front of her teeth and flicked her tail.
“Wha- no! Ew! Ugh- No! Celestia's flowing tail no!” Cheerilee shuddered and took a full step back. “It's not that at all. I... I...” She took a deep breath, steeling herself for her confession. “I have always wanted a foal of my own, but I... I can't. I am… infertile.”
The changeling winced noticeably. This was a painful issue that traversed species boundaries.
Cheerilee continued, her eyes still fastened firmly on the ground. “I haven't even gone into heat in years. I was hoping I could pretend, just for one night, that I was a real mother.”
The changeling nodded, and then trotted away up the stairs.
Cheerilee watched, confused. “Aren't you going to-?”
The disguised changeling slowed to a stop. “It's more real if you don't see it happen,” she said quietly.
Cheerilee nodded slowly.
Sure enough, within seconds, a little filly emerged from Twilight's room on the top floor. She peered out from the railing and looked around.
Cheerilee felt her heart rate begin to increase. She'd chosen a similar color scheme to her own, and had become an earth pony at that. She hadn’t chosen a cutie mark; she was young and likely still eager to learn.
Her eyes fell upon Cheerilee, and she visibly brightened. She scampered down the stairs and ran right into Cheerilee's forelegs. “Mama! You came!”
Cheerilee instinctively gathered her into a hug and brushed her lips against the top of her mane in a loving, chaste, instinctive kiss. “Of course I did, sweetheart,” she said, the words springing unbidden to her lips.
“I had fun today! Miss Twilight taught us how to play ponopoly, and I was winning!”
“Were you now?”
“Well, second place; but I think Tinder was cheating.” She turned and stuck her tongue out at Tinder, then smiled widely and attempted to suppress a yawn.
Cheerilee knew she was being played, but still, her maternal instincts were stronger. She lifted the filly up onto her back. “Come along, then, little…?” Her voice trailed off. Did she pick a name, or would the changeling choose?
“My name's Chestnut, mommy,” Chestnut said, kneading her hooves against Cheerilee’s mane. “You're silly!”
Cheerilee nodded, feeling a strange tightness in her throat. “Of course, Chestnut. But I love you anyway.”
Chestnut flopped forward, resting her hooves atop Cheerilee’s head. “I know. I love you too, Mommy.” And together, the two headed out.
Twilight poked her head out the door and stared. She knew it was Scir, she had seen that it was Scir; but still, it was a stark contrast to watch a changeling who had previously called down all manner of curses on Tinder’s egglayer and threatened to forcibly shove the board up Hrit’s cloaca suddenly bounding along and babbling like any normal little filly. “She's good,” she whispered, slightly disturbed. “She’s really good.”
* * *
Bright and early the next morning, Cheerilee was woken up by a gentle prodding on her forehead. She groaned… and then froze. Her eyes snapped open. She lived alone. Who was in her house?
“Mommy, we’re hungry.”
Mommy? “We?” Cheerilee rubbed her eyes and sat up.
And then her jaw dropped.
Surrounding her bed were no less than five foals, all at varying ages, but all young and all looking at her. Most were earth ponies, one was a pegasus. One looked down, pawed at the ground, and looked up again hopefully.
Cheerilee felt her breath come raggedly. She pushed herself out of her bed, and then gently hugged each of the foals, one by one, pulling them close and just enjoying the close contact. When she was done, she reached up and wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. “Let me get you something to eat, my… my children.”
* * *
Twilight blinked as she heard Scir’s report. “I still can’t decide if that’s cruel or kind,” she finally said.
“She was happy.” Scir shrugged. “Temporary or not, she was happy, and we got fed. I'm really not seeing any downside.”
Twilight found she had no response to this. Even so, she couldn't help but feel that her morality had just become a bit grayer.
* * *
Surrounded by royal guards (and more than likely a changeling or two disguised as a royal guard), Twilight led the changelings back through town towards the train station. Many ponies had come out to see them off, probably more out of curiosity than support.
She waved at Fluttershy, who was standing next to a light blue pegasus with a long flowy mane. The pegasus met Twilight’s eyes and nodded. Twilight cracked a smile. At least one changeling had found a home here.
Now she just had the whole hive minus one to worry about.
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She could always adopt. Right?
7209968
Yeah, I never got the whole blood relation obsession most writers and by extension a lot of characters have, nor how soul crushing it is supposed to be to not have someone related to you to raise.
7209968
Maybe. Aside from Scootaloo (*Rimshot*), how many orphans have you seen on the show? The fact remains that she became a teacher to fill that particular roll.
7209945
You too?
7209968
I had this idea that it's actually difficult to adopt foals in Equestria, because there are a.) not many orphans, and/or more infertile ponies than there are foals able to be adopted.
But what I want to know is what are the long-term consequences, if any, of this temporary parenthood for Cheerilee? I can only imagine what it would feel like to have that little taste of parenthood, but know that it's fake.
You may want to pay attention to that itching Twilight. I think its getting close to molting season for Changeling Queens.
Also like how the change is effecting her psychologically and not just physically
This is just getting better and better. I look forward to reading moe of how things change. Keep it up
As nice as it was the changelings pretended to be her foals, it is only a band-aid on a deeper issue. Will she attempt to adopt Scootaloo? Is Scootaloo even an orphan? Are there any orphans in the area to adopt? I'm certain Canterlot might have an orphanage to her to check if she ever gets serious.
And what about the rest of the hive? Will things go back to the status quo where they woo ponies? I don't see why it's a bad thing as long as nopony ends up in a pod or mind-controlled. Could almost call it an escort service or sorts? Changelings just want ponies to be happy after all. I'm more concerned about Twilight really, she's transforming, slowly, and while it's not quite like the gory 90's movie The Fly, ponies are gonna freak out when she's more bug than pony.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. I wonder what the ponopoly man looks like.
Also, you know there was a monopoly-esque game called 'Totopoly' where each player owned a horse stable and used one side of the board for 'training' - which finished when you got your racehorses all the way round, and the other side for the actual race, which the players could bet on?
What would the pony version be called? And, more importantly, what would they race?
That thing with Cherilee was weird. 'Nuff said.
Arggh! This chapter just felt so incomplete. Oh well, onto the nex... what?!
7210031
How often do you see a changeling suck the life out of someone on the show? Thier not gonna show something mature like that.
7210044
That's heart breaking to think about yeah. But she'll have to come to terms with it as best she can. There might be other ways besides adoption.
7210680
You do know they have monopony
p.s. You could have T.S. have a servis, "have a changeling change into your deceased-lover" And/Or "have a changeling change into the pony that couldn't attend your wedding for the photos"
you know what I mean ?
P.S. If a changeling changes into Big Mac does he become as strong as Big Mac ?
If a changeling changes into R.D. does he become as fast as R.D. ?
and ...
SO. MANY. FEELS.
The part with Cheerily might have been short, but oh so many feels were had, I'm a bit supersized she didn't agree to keep one or two of them.
Perhaps Twilight could offer changeling counseling/graving service? After all how effective would it be for a suffering pony then to see somepony they lost one last time?
7210680 In the IDW Conics #3
Well Twi, if you want integration to work you gotta start with the foals... You don't just reprogram the current generation...
Keep going! ;)
Cheerilee part was a bit dark.
7211195 That's what I said ! 7211189
GREAT STORY I want more when possible,
7211189
"Do you have somewhere you don't want to be? Are you too busy to attend to everything you want to do? Then try our Changeling Body Double service! Nopony will know it's not the real you. We promise."
7214366
one of my O.C.s does that. His name is Replacement
p.s. I want to see that in the story
7214379
It's perfect if you think about it. High profile singer/other celebrity adored by the general populace gets to go home and relax while their body double gets all the adoration they can hold while doing the signing. Or the public appearance.
Modeling is also a career Changelings are made for. A single changeling can (in most interpretations) take the form of anyone, meaning they can model anything a designer comes up with.
7214459 Yes.
p.s. Do it !
Another interesting chapter. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
7214595
Changelings are also very useful for undercover police work. Or as private eyes. Getting to the bottom of things since 2012.
With all the possible methods for peaceful negotiation with Equestria and/or integration, the fact that Chrysalis invaded (and expected the then-subjugated ponies to feel love) irritates me. Then again it wouldn't have been nearly as dramatic at the wedding.
7215099 Inspector-Changeling at your servis
7215107
"Close your eyes, would you?"
"O-ok."
Whoosh.
"Wha-wha-wha!"
"Oh, relax. It's just me."
"How did you...?"
"I'm a master of disguise, my dear."
7215123 ... Which one is the Inspector ?
7215126
All the odd lines (1, 3, 5, 7). Counting the sound effect.
7215201
Inspector: "Close your eyes, would you?"
B.G.P.: "O-ok."
Inspector: *Whoosh.*
B.G.P.: "Wha-wha-wha!"
Inspector: "Oh, relax. It's just me."
B.G.P.: "How did you...?"
Inspector: "I'm a master of disguise, my dear."
great chapter, I am happy that the funny stuff is over for now and for more the serious tone at the moment.
7210179
As of this week's episode, i'd like to believed we've been given a "no" to that.
7210680 Oh, and the sight of Tirek sucking the magic out of ponies wasn't around the same level?
So I can, so I can keep track of the visions in my eyes.
I would've gone with Monopony, personally.
I wan't to write a story similar to this. Same concept minus Twilight being turned into a changeling.
Also I was wondering what would happen if a Stallion was bitten by a changeling queen?
Oh.
7214871 Is Deus tecum your signature? You’ve used it for years.
7228829 That was my intent, and it seems I have succeeded.
Cherilee's sideplot: best. Make her keep those lings.
This reference. I like it.
As for the rest, it was very nice and helped wet my appetite for good fiction for the day.
This story has lots of potential and i think it would be Awesomome if it continued.
7290496 Something rather scary has occurred to me since I wrote that comment. How the hell could she even tell they were doing anal? If you think about horse/pony physiology (or any four-legged mammal) it would look exactly the same. So how the f*** could Twilight tell?
7290517
Well either Twilight got close enough for 'scientific examination', or Shining said something crass like "Oh Celestia Cady, your plot is so tight"
Pick your poison.
Awwww... I wish at least one of them would've felt like staying with Cheerilee.
Frisby? Huh, that's strange, I remember it as being Brisby... Then again, maybe I misheard it or something, who knows. *shrug*
7397001
No, you heard right. It's Frisby in the original book; but Brisby in the movie because they didn't want any confusion with frisbees.
I don't see a problem with that. Just like friends don't stay over continually, they go back home. There seems to be a large oversight.
I got this reference.
What was needed was a way for the changelings to be useful. That was shown to be true yet Twilight is ignoring that evidence.
No, this is how you lose friends.
Changelings are related to birds?
But does that mean he is still part of the hive or not?
7290517 Look exactly the same? What? Shiny would obviously be slightly higher up on Cadence's back during anal sex than vaginal. Instead of his cock going into Cadence's vagina, which is under her anus, it would actually be higher up and directly under Cadence's dock. Honestly, it's even more difficult to tell what kind of sex a human is having due to the lack of tail to reveal the exact location of the anus.
Did, did you just make a "Xanth" reference?
I thought it was called Monopony in the MLP universe?
The downside is the sheer psychological damage that did to her, she’s going to miss this feeling and it will destroy her, it’s the same reason mothers of still borns aren’t allowed to hold a child, it’s for their own mental health. Someone needs to walk Cheerilee to the nearest orphanage or she can find a surrogate, either way I think she would make a great mother.