2 - VII - Thank You
Part Two: Recollection
Chapter VII - Thank You
The climb down the Canterhorn had been tiresome. Every so often, Spike or Satomi would portal or teleport them closer to the ground before letting their magic cool down. Once they got off the Canterhorn and onto the flat plains that covered most of Equestria, they took a quick rest.
They all fell asleep within half an hour, though some of those were spent trying to figure out where Rarity pulled her fainting couch from, or where Pinkie Pie got a stuffed plush of Gummy from. Nobody had a valid answer, so they just shrugged and fell asleep. All but two of them.
Satomi sat next to Spike, who was keeping a watch out. The Royal glanced over at the scholar who was staring at her hooves. "Satomi, you should be getting some sleep." He felt her emotions and sighed. "What's wrong?"
Satomi scoffed. "Everything. Last week I was Moondancer, a scholar in Canterlot, studying magic and pottery. Now... I'm a strange shapeshifting bug on the run from the guard. That's the thing, too. 'Moondancer.' Why am I so calm about losing my own name, my entire life in favor of a group of creatures that just attacked Canterlot!?"
Spike looked down and sighed. "I know what you mean."
Satomi frowned. "You do? Really?"
"Well, yeah. I've spent my entire life as Spike the dragon, making sure Citlali is only seen as Twilight Sparkle. Now that Chrysalis attacked, it's all coming apart. I'm sure that the Princesses will support us... but what about the rest of Equestria? We can't make sure they know our story, so they might just assume all changelings are together." Spike sat down. "Point is, you aren't the only one who lost their life, or a name today. And, if it helps, I can call you Moondancer instead."
Moondancer smiled. "I'd like that. Thanks."
Spike smiled back. "No problem. You really should be going to bed, though. We're gonna want to hurry in the morning, so we can meet with Rainbow as quick as possible. She's probably freaking out right now."
The two of them frowned. "Uh-oh."
===<Neighagra Hive>===
Rainbow's eyes popped open. Then squinted. She was not sleeping on a cloud, branch, or specially tested bed. Who in the hay moved her!? Who felt they had the right to displace a sleeping pegasus! Don't they know to let sleeping pegasi lie? Rainbow groaned and slowly stood. She took little notice of the stone walls around her, or the pouch of blue gel stuff next to her bed, and got ready for her morning exercises.
She hopped off the bed, stretched out her legs, then began doing pushups with her eyes still half-closed. It wasn't until she had finished 100 push-ups, and 100 sit-ups, then started on 100 wing-ups that she realized something was off. Her wings wouldn't move down enough to touch the floor.
Rainbow rubbed at her eyes, then looked back at her wings to try and see what the problem was. Two lavender sails sat there instead of blue feathers. She squinted, stood up, and hopped back in bed. She needed more sleep. Dash lay there for a few moments before she blinked. She held up her black hoof in confusion.
After a few moments staring at her hoof, it clicked. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" There was a bursting sound as the door slammed open to reveal... a changeling! Dash pointed a black hoof at the changeling. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The changeling, reasonably spooked by the sudden screaming, panicked. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
This screaming, in turn, allowed Rainbow Dash a full view of the changeling's fangs and forked tongue. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHOUGHCH!" She fell backward off the bed and hit the stone floor. "OW!"
Rainbow rubbed the smooth back of her head before pulled her hoof in front of her, again. She took a few panicked breaths, then covered her mouth as a scream tried to rise up again. The memories of the previous day came crashing down, hard, into a giant fireball. Massive Bang would have jealous.
The changeling, worried by the panicking changeling, walked around the side of the bed. "Are you okay? That looked like a hard fall."
Rainbow looked at the changeling and took a few deep breaths. "Where am I? What happened? Where's Twilight?"
The changeling blinked. "Uh, this is the Neighagra Hive. We took you to a guest room, under the Queen's orders. After you landed on the observation deck, you had some sort of episode and fainted. And... I'm not sure who Twilight is."
"Hey, I didn't faint, I just... had been flying for a while and decided that it was a good time for a nap. Shut up." The changeling blinked as Rainbow racked her memories. "Uh, her name was... Citlali! Where's Citlali!"
The changeling nodded in understanding. "Ah, right. She still hasn't returned from her trip to Canterlot. She went looking for her Royal, apparently."
"Alright, then... where are the others? The others that are with Citlali, they were supposed to meet me here!" Rainbow shakily stood on her new legs.
"They haven't arrived, but they are visible on the horizon. Some guards spotted them this morning. They should be here within a few hours."
Rainbow looked back at her wings. "Uh, where's the exit to this place? I'm gonna go meet them. I have more than a few questions."
===<North of Canterlot>===
The group walked in silence, besides the constant pronking of Pinkie Pie. They had left that morning, with hardly any talking. They were still tired from the chaos of the wedding and emotionally spent from all the revelations. Spike knew that they weren't done just yet, however.
He slowed down to a stop after some deep pondering. "Hey Applejack, Rarity, can you two come here for a bit?" The two ponies looked back at Spike, between themselves, then walked back to them. Spike waved to the others. "You guys can go on ahead, this won't take too long."
The others shrugged and continued on. Spike looked at Applejack and Rarity. "Alright. I wanted to wait until we got to the hive to do this but... I figure it'll be best to get it out of the way as soon as possible. I'm going to need you two to drop your disguises." The ponies tensed. "Now, I know, that's a scary idea. The point of no return, I guess. And... no matter if you're covered in chitin, or hair, just remember that appearances aren't everything, that the only you that matters is the you that acts."
The ponies frowned. Applejack nodded and adjusted her hat. "Ah figure you're right, Spike. The longer we put this off, the worse it's gonna be. Alright, how do Ah drop my disguise?"
Spike smiled. "Thanks, Applejack. Changeling magic is primarily based on intent and emotion. You have to want to be a changeling, instead of a pony. Imagine a changeling, then make that changeling you."
Applejack nodded once more, then closed her eyes. After a few moments, a wave of lavender fire traveled down her body, revealing a changeling with a strong build and a stetson. Applejack opened her eyes, then looked herself over. She took a few breaths, closed her eyes, and counted to ten. Another wave of fire traveled down her as she turned into a pony once more. "Alright. I'll go catch up with the others."
Spike blinked. "That's it? No panicking, or existential crises? Just 'alright'?" Spike could feel the strong emotions burning within Applejack that needed to be released.
Applejack stopped. "Ah'm fine, Spike. Like you said, it's not what Ah look like that matters." She trotted alongside the rest of the ponies. Pinkie Pie gave her a big hug.
Spike frowned, then turned to Rarity. "Well, it's your turn, Rarity. Just imagine yourself as a changeling, and the magic will take effect."
Rarity nodded. "Alright," she said shakily. She focused for a few moments before the standard wave of fire took her. When it was gone, Rarity looked herself over, checked her nonexistent mane, then fell over on her side, unconscious.
Spike nodded. "Yeah, that was predictable." Spike picked her up in his magic and placed Rarity on his back. He caught up with the other ponies, who looked at Rarity with worry. "Don't worry, she just fainted. She'll probably wake up before we get..." Spike squinted, picked Rarity back up, and handed her to Applejack.
The farmpony supported Rarity, then raised a brow. "Spike, what is it?"
"I think I see..." A blue dot flashed in the distance. Spike smiled. "Looks like Rainbow Dash finally woke up!"
===<Canterlot>===
Citlali stood in front of a very familiar building, disguised as Twilight Sparkle. Shining Armor stood next to her. That morning, the Queen had immediately woken Vahan up and had planned to leave right then. Celestia had stopped her, however, and invited them to breakfast.
This had proven to be a good time to teach Vahan how to detect different emotions and how to feed upon them. She taught him the basic, core six emotions: joy, fear, madness, sadness, peace, and power. Vahan was a bit confused at the last two, but Citlali assured him that they were actual emotions.
Celestia provided basic powerful emotions with pride and faith, as well as fear with feelings of anxiety. Cadence provided both kinds of love (Vahan was quite familiar with the feeling of one of them), Citlali could only show Vahan what sadness felt like with thoughts of her hives fall, and Luna provided a burst of anger as she briefly visited to take an apple.
Celestia, during breakfast, had brought up a very good point. Twilight Velvet and Night Light still thought their children were missing. All members of royalty present agreed that it was important for Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor to talk to their parents about the situation.
So there they were, standing outside of their parents' home. Twilight sighed. "Shining, if you want, I can talk to them first. I'm the reason they're in our lives, it's only right I clear this all up."
Shining pondered for a moment before smiling. "Of course not. You're Twilight right now, which means I am still your BBBFF. What kind of brother would I be if I wasn't there for you?" Twilight smiled thankfully, swallowed, then stepped up to the door.
She stood there for a moment. "What do I say? 'Oh hey, mom, it turns out Shining is my son. Also, we're the same kind of creature that just attacked Equestria and beat the princesses, and I'm hundreds of years older than you.'" Twilight shook her head. "I could have avoided all of this if I had just come to Celestia in the first place. Everyling knows how kind she is, she would have seen my way."
"Sure, but that's all in the past. We're here now, our parents are worried now, so we need to talk to them now. Just knock and everything will fall into place. Our parents are strong, remember when you turned them into plants? There were totally fine afterward, especially once they saw..." Shining trailed off while squinting. "What's up with your cutie mark?"
Twilight looked back at it. "Oh, yeah, that's real. Changeling disguises can get cutie marks, but they're only superficial. Sure, they might show what our special talent is, but they don't provide any real benefit beyond being another layer of integrity for our disguises."
"Oh. So, my talent really is making shields?"
Twilight smiled. "Of course, nopony else I know could sustain a shield around Canterlot for as long as you did. Sure, it was a static spell, which requires less concentration, but it was still impressive." Twilight's smile shifted into a smirk. "It made mommy very proud."
Shining gave an uncomfortable chuckle then nodded at the door. "Go ahead. You've put this off long enough."
Twilight nodded. She raised a hoof and knocked on the door seven times. Any more, and it would seem rude. Any less and it wouldn't sound very urgent. The Power Seven knock, perfect for any occasion.
After a few moments and some scrambling sounds, a very frazzled grey unicorn opened the door. Her eyes were somewhat red, and strands of her otherwise perfect white-and-lavender mane stuck out at odd angles. Twilight Velvet looked between the two of them, then pulled them into a hug. "I thought you were gone. Celestia only told us that something had happened to you at the wedding, that we couldn't see you. I- I- I thought you had some kind of horrible scarring injury, or you had been replaced by changelings, or perhaps revealed yourself to be double agents all along, which now that I think about it, could be an interesting idea for a book, so if you'll excuse me--"
Velvet disappeared for a moment in a flash of fuchsia magic, then returned the next moment holding a pencil and notepad that were writing something down. "Anyways, come in come in! I'll go get Night Light, he's still asleep right now." She disappeared again.
Twilight bowed her head. "Well, she was sorta on the nose with those ideas, wasn't she? And, she's just as ecstatic as ever." They walked into the home and closed the door behind them.
By way of Night Light's wealthy and old family, Twilight and Shining's parents were nobility, and it showed. The entryway was two stories tall, circular, with two staircases on either side leading upwards. The floor was made of a steel grey granite in a square cobblestone pattern, and the walls were colored light grey with white accents. There was a table with pictures of the family resting against the left staircase and a potted plant from the Mareyan Jungle on the right. Twilight figured it was new.
There was some commotion upstairs before the center double doors were pulled open in a pale blue glow. A tired looking azure unicorn with a darker mane leaned over the railing before he ran down a staircase and stood in front of them. Night Light looked at his two kids before pulling them both into a hug. He spoke in a quiet, yet firm voice. "Don't you ever scare us like that again. Especially not your mother." He pulled from the hug. "It's good to see you two."
Night Light ushered them into the kitchen, where they all sat around the table in black and white chairs. "Come on, come on, sit down. We need to hear what happened. The Princesses were incredibly vague in describing what had happened to you two."
Twilight sighed, scratched her chin, then rested her head on both hooves. "Before I start, you must understand that what I'm about to tell you is highly confidential by order of Royalty, and cannot leave this house, unless prompted by a member of Royalty. This does not include Prince Blueblood." The parents chuckled despite the serious air. "I'm telling you that because the disclosure of the information shared at this meeting could endanger your lives, my life, and my friends' life."
Twilight Velvet glanced at Night Light before nodding. "I'm a little spooked by how... formal this is, but... I understand. Our lips are sealed."
Twilight gave a small nod. "Thank you. Twenty years ago, just after those magical fires that claimed a great number of ponies lives, you found Shining and me on your doorstep. You assumed that we were the children of some family that had perished in the fires, that someone had found us but hadn't wanted to do anything with us."
Night Light nodded. "It was the happiest day of our lives. After losing friends in that fire, we gained the one thing we had been hoping for ever since we got married. Twice that, no less!"
Twilight closed her eyes, trying to keep tears from forming. "What you don't know, however, is that... the pony who dropped us off was..." Twilight buried her head in her hooves, fighting off her nausea. "Please understand that Spike and I were the only ones that knew this prior to recent events."
Night Light smiled. "Don't worry. Whatever you say, we'll still love you, no matter what."
"Let's put that to the test." Twilight thought. "The one who dropped Shining Armor and I on your doorstep was a changeling Queen named Citlali." The room immediately fell silent as the parent's gasped. "Her hive was on the verge of going extinct after an attack by Queen Chrysalis, the very same Queen that attacked the wedding, killed her drones throughout Equestria, by overcharging the emotions within them which caused them to burst into flames. Citlali took the remainder of her hive and began placing them under the care of various parents and facilities throughout Equestria."
Twilight could see the recognition spark in her parents' eyes. She choked back a few sobs. "When she had just six eggs left, she knew she couldn't keep track of the rest at that time. Rather than losing track of some children, she hid five of those eggs, hatched the sixth, then looked for somepony to leave him with."
Shining made quick eye contact with his rapidly tiring parents. Twilight took a heavy sigh. "Citlali found a married couple that had just learned they were unable to have children. She had seen how much they would have cared for a child, so she gave her child a disguise, and left him on their doorstep."
"Citlali, however, couldn't leave her last child and just insert herself somewhere into society. She had to be close to at least one of them as they grew, even if she couldn't be their actual caretaker. So, she disguised herself as an infant and stayed there on that doorstep until she and her 'brother' were found. Citlali smiled when she heard the names the couple gave them. 'Twilight Sparkle' and 'Shining Armor'."
The parents scoffed at this news and shook their heads as Twilight covered her face in shame. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I should have told you earlier, I should have told somepony earlier! I've spent 20 years lying to everybody! You three, the Princesses, my classmates here, my friends in Ponyville, and all the Queens I used to know! I feel like every decision I've made has been wrong, ever since Chrysalis attacked me, and even before that! If I hadn't let Pollux get so close to her territory, if I hadn't been using sleepers, if I had just told you the truth from the beginning..."
Twilight took a deep breath. "If I had just been honest from the start, talked the situation over with you before I just left Vahan here, if I had just hidden all my eggs, then spent the rest of my energy looking for the members of my hive that left, I could have solved everything!" Twilight was in such hysterics at this point that her disguise had begun to destabilize, small lavender flames burning across its surface. She stood up and shouted, "I could have had it all!"
She slammed a hoof against the table, which broke her weakened disguise. A wave of fire spread out from the hoof, pushing her chair away as Twilight Sparkle left, and a very distraught, tired, and defeated Citlali stood in her place. Twilight Velvet and Night Light jumped back as the Queen dropped her disguise, not entirely sure how to feel about their conversation.
Citlali softly shook her head and spoke in recognizable deeper, more mature voice. "Everything is coming apart. My hive is still in shambles, a life I spent 20 years developing is ruined, friends I once played with have passed away thinking I was dead, and Chrysalis is still alive."
After a dozen minutes of silence, Night Light took a deep breath and gingerly placed a hoof on Citlali's head. He idly noted the strange texture of the Queen's mane, then spoke. "Twily. It may be a little... shocking to learn all of this, and I may spend a few nights awake thinking about... everything, but let me make something clear. I cared for you as you grew up for 20 years, which, in my book, means I am allowed to be your dad. You and Shiny both."
Citlali looked up at him with a slitted eye. "And since I am your dad, I will always be there for you. I don't care if you're a unicorn, or a changeling, or a dragon. My kids get cared for, end of discussion. So don't think, because I know you were thinking it, that Velvet and I don't want to be your parents because you could never be further from the truth. And, whatever problems you're facing right now, whatever trials, I know you'll pull through. You're Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic! Queen or not, an Element of Harmony chose you. That's a special letter of recommendation you have there, little star."
Citlali looked up at him, gave a half smile, then shifted back into Twilight Sparkle. "Thank you. You have no idea how it feels to hear that." She chuckled. "I mean that literally. Changelings receive energy from emotions, like a kind of photosynthesis, so that talk just fueled a couple days for Shiny and me."
They all chuckled. Velvet leaned towards Twilight with a mischievous grin. "You do realize that I wanna hear all your adventures now, right? I have no doubt your story would be popular if put to pages, not to mention the fact that it would make ponies trust you a little more."
Twilight chuckled, then laughed, then doubled over as heaving peals of laughter racked her body. The other three ponies looked at each other nervously, then Shining placed a hoof on Twilight's back. "Are you... okay?"
Twilight held up a hoof, then slowly got her laughter under control. "I'm... I'm sorry. It's just..." She shook her head. "I just assumed the worst was going to come out of this chat. We would be disowned, or attacked, or reported to the guard. I just find it hilarious that I thought for even a moment that you two- the best parents I've ever had- could shut us out that easily. I'm just on edge, I guess. If not for Celestia, Luna and the whole of the guard would be coming down on us."
Night Light frowned. "Why would Princess Luna order the guard after you?"
"Princess Luna was courting my grandmother's son, who tried to kill Celestia. Luna tore Aysune's head off, and has kinda been wanting to do the same to me." It was quiet for a moment as they all pondered that small bit of information.
Velvet squinted, turning a thought over in her mind. "How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?"
Twilight turned her head to the side, pondering the question. "I was born sometime around 500 Celestia's Reign, so a little over five hundred. I haven't really thought about it that much. When a Royal or any standard changeling is born, the date isn't recorded. My coronation date and my mother's death are recorded in precise detail. 21st day of Summer, 532 C.R."
Twilight's parents' eyes widened. Night Light whistled. "Well, I have to thank you for making me feel young, at least. You're older than Cadence! Once Shiny gets married, to the real Cadance, mind you, we'll have four ponies older than this street in the family! Speaking of the wedding, Shining..." Night trailed off as he twirled a hoof.
Shining sighed. "Cadance and I talked about it last night. We're going to put it on hold, just until we can be sure we're safe, Citlali has things somewhat stable, and Canterlot doesn't need every hoof helping with restoration. It's going to be a while before ponies can sleep peacefully in their beds."
The mood fell into the somber territory as they were reminded of the fact that many ponies had spent a few hours in slime-filled cocoons, or under guard by changelings. Canterlot was damaged, more than ever before, without any easy way of cleaning up the debris.
Twilight nodded, then stood up. "Well, I can't say how much I've appreciated this chat. It really gives me hope that ponies can be forgiving towards my race in the future. It's nice to not have to worry about losing you two anymore. We do need to get going, though. I told the girls and Spike that we'd meet them at a friendly Queen's hive; they're probably waiting for us. Thank you again for... everything."
As she stood up to leave, Shining sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Actually, Twilight, I'm going to stay here. I just... I've had too much adventure in the last few days, I need to get back to Cadance and my post. Changeling or not, I'm still the Captain of the Royal Guard."
Twilight looked disappointed for a moment, then nodded. "I understand. Stay safe, all of you." The family promised to do so, then watched as Twilight turned around and walked out the door with her head held high.
The moment the door closed behind her, Twilight sat down and cried.
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Dang. That was heartwrenching yet comforting at the same time. Strange to see certain things going well in this story. Here's to more chapters.
I have a feeling Granny Smith already knew about Applejack.
so shit hit the shit has hit the fan and now its time to clean up the mess nice
There were some mistakes I can point out but the only one that struck me as super egregious is Citlali calling her relative who caused Aysune's death her grandmothers son.
Would you call your uncle your grandmothers son? It just reads weird imo.
8604817
??? shit hit the shit has hit the fan ???
1 to many shit has hit there
8604850
i was distracted baka
8604862
it ok I am a little insane
A great story! Please continue on.
I am liking where this is going; i eagerly await the next chapter.
Did you mean "on the nose"? I assume Twilight isn't an English northerner with a cold.
Uh, is this implying Cadance is super old? I've always assumed she's around Shining Armor's age. She looks very young in Twilight's flashbacks, and while the comics aren't necessarily canon, I don't think they would've done that high school arc about Cadance and Shining falling in love if Cadance was meant to be very old. (Not to mention I doubt the show would depict a marriage with such an age difference - it's all sorts of awkward). Unless I'm forgetting some deviation from canon regarding Cadance that was already established in this story?
8605465 Cadance is older in this story. She ascended about halfway through Luna's absence.
8605709
Ah, ok. Thanks for clarifying.
Can someone explain to me why Twilight is crying at the end?
8606061 It's due to a strange mix of relief, stress, and grief. While yes, her friends and family haven't disowned her, she does still have to worry about other hives that would rather she stay dead, Chrysalis, getting her hive restructured, Chrysalis, making sure Twilight Sparkle can remain a pony in the public eye, and Chrysalis.
Essentially, she's having an emotional break.
8606151
Looking forward more chapters.
Okay. That makes sense.
Aaaaaaaaaand smash cut to Rainbow Dash freaking out!
(Which is precisely what you did and didn't disappoint on, so...we're all good there.)
ALL BUT TWO OF THEM
8608204 *kicks paragraph* It's fixed!
a vary powerful chapter this is loaded with emotions and all of them are vary good.
8604848
If you're trying to make it absolutely clear you had -nothing whatsoever- to do with something they'd done? Yeah, you might phrase it that way, to maximize the distance between the two of you.
8606151
Gee, it's like Chrysalis is some major evil pain in the flank instead of the obviously well adjusted saint- like individual she thinks she is.
This story is a blast! Very good take on the changeling Twilight. Keep going
8670588 The next chapter for FB is about halfway done, while the next chapter for D&D is being planned. I prioritize writing what I hope to be a published novel over these stories, so there's no consistent upload schedule.
Great story! Can't wait to read more!
I hope you made them have a good reaction to that.
Now I'm confused, to me that sounds like Cutiemarks are supposed to be anyway. Just a mark on the butt to let them know what they can do and pretend that is everything they are allowed to do.
Well not bad, but somewhat I still need some strong emotions here that aren't hate in this story.
I Think i found the PERFECT song to summerise this intire war.....Also...I Cried Together with Twili- Ern Queen "Citlali" ....And Princess Luna! Why are you Hating so much that apple!? Im Talling Big Mac!
Take Especial Care in the Lyric and What happens in the estory