The past revealed
Chapter 04
*After the failed wedding, Canterlot, at the house Twilight used to live with her parents and brother*
Twilight was passing back and forth in her room, as the events of the last few days played back in her mind over and over. "It doesn't make any sense, I should have seen signs that it wasn't Cadance, why did I feel so comfortable around her? And what's up with that form, she looked so… So... So much like me when Discord changed me…" Twilight thought to herself. "Argh! What's going on here!?" She shouted out to nopony but herself.
She then looked at her own hooves. "It can't be real, can it? Am I really… Like her? But then why don't I remember being like her? I've always been a regular unicorn from birth… Right?" She asked, knowing full well that nopony would respond right now. "Right?" She asked once more as tears started to form at the corners of her eyes.
"No, you can't fall apart Twilight, pick yourself up, we need more information, your not even sure if it actually is real." Twilight told herself, as she wiped the corners of her eyes for any tears that were about to form. "What was it that Discord called them again?" She said as she started to recall past events. "Change… Lings? Changelings, yeah, that’s it… Why does it feel like I heard that recently aswell?" She asked herself before shaking her head. "No, that's not as important right now, information Twilight, infor…!"
Suddenly Twilight remembered that Discord had given her a book, a book she hadn't dared to look at in case it had been some kind of last trick of Discord, one that might even take away her love for books, but now, it seemed like it may just be the only real lead she had. "I need to get back to Ponyville and get that book." She said out loud.
As she was about to leave though, she suddenly heard the front door open and a few familiar voices, she then opened the door to her room as she listened in on them.
Twilight Velvet, Night Light and Spike had just entered the house. "She wasn't at her favorite donut shop, the library or any of the other spots she goes to when she's worried about something, where could she have gone?" Night said as they came in.
"Oh I do hope she's alright, perhaps she came back home and is in her room right now." Velvet said in response.
"I'll go check." Spike quickly said as he started to head up the stairs.
Twilight quickly closed her door, she didn't want to talk to nor see anypony right now, especially not her family, at least till she figured this out. "I'm sorry." She mumbled softly and teleported away just as her door was being opened.
"Twi?" Was all Spike could say as he opened the door, having just seen a flash from the cracks and heard the familiar sound of her teleporting.
Twilight found herself having teleported straight to the station, after looking around and making sure nopony either saw her or had found it odd, luckily she had remembered to put up the illusion over her wings before teleporting, that would have just caused unnecessary attention, she sat down as she had already decided to wait for the next train back to Ponyville, she did find herself wondering if she was really doing the right thing here, but quickly shook her head to clear her mind, she didn't need more stray thoughts right now.
First she needed to know just exactly what was going on, that book might just be the only thing to give her at least some answers, she could always talk to her family once she had enough information, it might even make it easier to talk to them in fact, if she really was some kind of monster, then she would be sure to know just in what kind of way she was one and if it would be dangerous for them to be in the same room in case one of them panicked, only to find some kind of hidden away instinct for preservation to suddenly rise up and lash out at them, no matter how they would react, she did not want to risk them getting hurt by something of herself she didn't know about.
"Right, time to get my book." Twilight said to herself as she entered the train that just stopped at the station, but as it pulled away from the station, she suddenly realize something and her pupils constricted. "Oh no, I forgot to buy a ticket!" She quickly thought, as she wondered what to do when the conductor would show up and ask for tickets.
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The train was nearing the stop in Ponyville, Twilight had sat in her chair nervously all the while she had rode it from Canterlot, amazingly enough the conductor had not yet gotten the chance to get to her cart, she imagined he had likely started collecting tickets one cart over and moved to the other side of the train before going back towards this cart, she quickly thought that she had gotten lucky by going into the first cart, but right now, she suddenly didn't feel so lucky anymore, as the door leading to the other cart opened and a conductor appeared, asking for tickets as he walked towards her.
Twilight looked out the window as Ponyville was in view. "Oh no, we're not there just yet… But I might be able to make it if I teleport… No, I can't do that, that's something bad ponies do, plus they'd likely tell the guards about me then, I'll go to prison and they'll find out I'm something else then them, what if Celestia turns me to stone like Discord? What if…" She was lost in her thoughts, thinking of all sorts of possible bad endings, not noticing the conductor was just a few seats away at this point.
That is, until she heard a certain buzzing in her head for a moment, it reminded her of what had happened before, during the wedding, but at the same time it was different, more… Primal, in a way. She then heard some commotion behind her and watched as a pony suddenly got up, threw something at her and dashed for the door, passing the conductor who yelled for somepony to stop him, but was unable to catch the pony as he opened the door leading outside and jump off the train, Twilight was shocked that somepony would do so, but then realized the conductor was walking her way again as he mumbled 'Crazy bastard.' and then looked at her as he asked for her ticket.
"I… That…" Twilight wasn't sure what to say or do at this point, should she risk it like that other pony just did and dash for the exit? Or the more safe option of teleporting that she thought of before, or perhaps she should make up a lie about having lost her ticket…. No, she would likely just tell the truth and hoped he would understand, but what if he didn't?
The conductor however noticed her worried status, however he took it as her simply being worried about what had just happened and sighed. "Don't worry ma'am, we get passengers like that from time to time, ponies that think they can get lucky and get a free ride, a day in the cell and a large fine usually puts them back in their place… But we do have the occasional runner at times aswell, he should be fine though, we slowed down enough as is for there to not be any real injuries, so I'll just inform the guards when we reach the station." He said as he noticed something on the ground and picked it up. "Ah, you should be more careful with your ticket though, wouldn't want to end up in a cell for no reason, now would you?" He then gave the ticket to her and continued asking others for theirs.
Twilight looked at the ticked with a certain disbelief, where had this come from? She didn't see this on the floor at all during the whole ride, she then looked out of the window and towards the distance where the pony likely had gotten off. "Did he do this for me? But why?" She thought to herself, before remembering that buzzing sound and feel even more conflicted about it all. "Was… Was he one of those changelings? Why did he help me?" She thought as the train entered Ponyville.
Many thoughts went through her mind as she walked towards the library, almost making her head buzz from the amount of them… No, there was in fact an actual buzzing in her mind now, though she was unable to hear anything in it like she had at the wedding, she also wasn't sure it was coming from her own mind or if she was picking it up from another, it was starting to worry her even more the longer it lasted.
When she finally got to the library and went in, the buzzing was starting to die down, before it completely stopped. "Ugh, finally, now I can think again… Just what's going on anyway? I've never heard any in Ponyville before." Twilight asked herself, before shaking her head. "No matter, I'll get to the bottom of this soon enough… Now where did I put that book?" She asked herself once more as she started to look for it.
It had taken about half an hour of going through the whole library and making a mess out of it, before she remembered that the book in question wasn't on any of the shelves, of course it wasn't, she hadn't trusted that book ever since Discord had given it to her, it was stored away in a metal box in her lab downstairs, in particular behind a fake wall that she had reinforced with magic just in case it would gain sentience somehow and start to cause chaos or something like that.
As Twilight opened the wall she saw the box was still sealed and everything, it made her sigh a bit from relief that it seemed to be fine. "Well… I suppose it's time to find out if it really was all just a prank or not…" She then said as she levitated the box upstairs.
Once opened, the book with the tittle 'Unique and impossible beings of the unknown, by Dar Wing' was laying perfectly still inside of it, it hadn't grown sapient at least, Twilight took a deep breath and opened it to a random page, as she then gasped in horror.
"How dare he!? Who would do such a thing!?" Twilight shouted to nopony in particular, as she looked at the horrified sight of a page covered in doodles and personal notes! "Is nothing holy to him?" She asked and looked it over. "I'll need to restore this book once I'm done… Hmm?" She took a closer look at some of the notes as she noticed something about them, she then read the tittle of the chapter before reading the notes. "Chapter 5, the Crystal Basilisk… Not worth using, not enough chaos potential, too fragile…" This made her think for a moment. "Was Discord planning on using them at some point?" She asked herself.
Twilight checked out another random chapter that was about some kind of snake creature called a Naga, the note said they had potential, but were terribly stuck up when it came to their deserts, something about them not wanting the deserts being turned into desserts. Another chapter was about a creature called a Chupacabra and had a doodle over the face of the creature to give it a pair of googly eyes and a text bubble that said 'I'm a big mean dumbypants', the note next to it said something about it trying to eat him at one point and proved highly treacherous and had to be wiped out completely.
"Huh… I wonder if Discord had planned on letting me know all this." Twilight asked herself as she mused with the idea that perhaps if he hadn't been imprisoned, these notes and such might not have shown up, but since there was no way of knowing, she simply thought he hadn't really cared about that, perhaps it had been just another plan to instill chaos or something, who was to know what he actually thought?
She then wanted to open up another random chapter, this time far into the book, as she did she was horrified once more. "Molten cheese!? Really!? … How is this even still molted anyway?" She asked as she tried to remove some of it, but it seemed dead set on sticking to the page, earning a defeated grumble from her, she did see a tittle though. "Draconiquus… Why does that sound so familiar… ! Wait, isn't that what the statue of Discord was called when it was still at display? Does this mean it's about Discord?" She tried to remove the sticky cheese once more, but it still refused to budge. "Gah! Fine, I'll get to this at a later date then." She said as she looked a the page number that said 565… Didn't Discord tell her she would be interested in this? Why was it like this then?
Shaking her head, Twilight figured it was finally time to check out page 513 and see if it had anything useful, she turned to the page with a heavy heart and looked at the new chapter, slightly shocked and relieved at the same time, as the chapter was indeed about Changelings, she was even more shocked however when she read the note and saw that Discord had thought they offered great potential and could be a very likely ally since their shapeshifting and need to feed could work really well to keep others in line if he took over.
Her heart fell a bit as she read that, not because of Discord thinking they could be allies, but because he mentioned their need to feed, it made her remember those times when she ate meat together with Luna and liked it, what if Changelings ate ponies? What if it was some kind of addictive flavor that once you'd taste you'd do anything for and if that was what Discord had meant? What would she do for it if she ever accidentally tasted it? She already loved the taste of meat as is, would she turn on her friends if this was true?
Twilight felt sick as those thoughts came to her mind, so sick in fact that she ran upstairs to the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach, for a single moment after she did so she wondered when was the last time she ate carrots? Before she went back downstairs and looked at the book from a distance. "Come on Twilight, you can do this, there's no proof that that's what it was… You need to learn as much as you can." She said to herself before swallowing and heading back over to the book, this time to actually read the book and not Discord's notes.
Chapter 396, Changelings.
Changelings are a peculiar race, their a insect like race that looks just like ponies if not for their carapaces, a sharp horn, some gossamer wings and the holes riddling their legs, they also seem to have a hivemind, they hide in secrecy in a hive like structure that almost feels alive on it's own, but they are everywhere amongst us aswell.
So why are they among the most unknown races you ask? Why don't we see them wherever we go if their amongst us?
Well, Changelings evolved to not be noticed, their very being makes it so they can hide from any potential threat through their unique magic as they can turn into other shapes. But don't be mistaken, though other sources of information state that it's because of some sort of advanced illusion spell, this is in fact not the case, I found out by intense studying, that a Changeling does in fact alter it's own body!
They seem to be able to grow fur and feathers on will, and even are able to make their hard carapaces even harder to be able to resemble rock like surfaces, though doing so seems to use a enormous amount of their personal magic, which I will talk about at a later point, I imagine however that it is technically possible for them to imitate even stronger materials like metals or perhaps even some other unknown substances, though the harder it gets, the more magic it will take and a normal drone is lucky if their able to go as far as to imitate a rock of some sort, those that are able to seem to be ranked higher then a normal drone.
Which takes me to their ranking, I have not found out all of them at this point, so if this book is published at this point, then know that a lot of this race still eludes us, but here are the ones I have so far found out about ;
Drone : The lowest rank of the Changelings, they do all sorts of menial tasks and a lot of them never even leave the hive, the ones that do seem to only go out to forage for food and herbs, some of which poisonous to ponies, but it seems they use them to heal, as I once saw them apply some to the wound of a soldier, who was up and about not much later.
Soldiers : These can be categorized into two sub sections of guards and offensive forces, they seem to specialize at fighting types of magic and often don't seem capable of altering their appearances, I imagine this is because instead they use this power to turn parts of their bodies into sharp objects or large protective surfaces, like swords and shields for instance. As you can imagine the offensive forces specialize in sharp objects as the guards specialize in protective surfaces, the guards are also the only ones allowed to wear regular weaponry, or rather, their the only ones that need to, afterall, a guard that can protect is fine and all, but without a way to fight off an enemy once it gets close, it would quickly become a dead guard. The guards are also the only ones that can be seen near their ruler mostly all the time, one can recognize them from their slightly bulky carapaces that resemble armor and the weapon they have wit them, the offensive forces however are nearly indistinctive from a normal drone, their faces are slightly sharper, but not much else can be seen at this point, though some seem to wear armor, once in combat however their carapaces seem to grow thicker, yet it doesn't impede their movements either, I suspect this is because of a hidden set of additional muscles underneath, they also grow spikes at the back of their heads that go down their spines and also some that come from their shoulders and legs, likely to prevent any enemy from getting too close without a way to fight back.
Infiltrators : This specific rank is for those that seem to be highly skilled at changing their appearances, to the point that they can even alter their organs, yet still remain functional, and seem to be able to somehow read parts of the memories of others, they are also slightly empathic, they often go to another race to then capture or take out one of said race and replace them, the memories they are able to read seems to be slightly random however, and it's not often that useful, as such they often gain intelligence through some other means, if other infiltrators are close to their target, it seems to work the best, as not only can they get the information of what both of gain through reading their memories, but also because they will have gotten acquainted with their target through the other one, knowing their daily patterns and such can usually throw of most around oneself afterall. Once infiltrated, they gain more intel for the hive, it seems that the hive I have managed to find was especially interested in their architectural knowledge, though I imagine it might be different for other hives depending on their personal ruler. The infiltrators don't stop there however, they look for the perfect targets for their collectors to feed off of, more on those a bit later however, if their prey is hard to reach however, a infiltrator will at times resort to kidnapping the prey so the collectors can collect their food in a safe environment, at extreme cases this means taking them back to their hive, though doing it this way seems to result in less substance. As for their appearances, I have noted that they seem to be slightly taller and sleeker in their natural form, but not much else as of right now. I must say though, I wonder how young they start doing this, or if perhaps a drone can become one over time.
Collectors : These are adapt at changing their appearances, but not as much as the Infiltrators, as they can only change their outer appearances and not their inner organs, much like the drones in fact, this means that if they get too small, their organs are squished together and makes it hard for them to move without damaging anything, they also seem to have a organ that mostly no other Changeling has, with the exception of a mutation or two every so often, and perhaps their ruler, but I have been unable to get close enough to find that out. This extra organ however is crucial as they store the substance that is their prime source of food in there, which they take back to the hive once a prey has been found. They wait near settlements that have infiltrators in them and once they are contacted by them and given all the important information, they instantly head for the target and change into the one their prey loves the most, or in case their prey has been captured, they instead act like they were captured aswell as they still take on the form of their loved one. Why do they change into the one they love the most you ask? It's because of the Changeling peculiar diet, or rather, their main source of food, for you see while a Changeling is an omnivore and can eat nearly anything, this includes things like meats and in some cases inorganic materials like gems, much like a dragon, I presume this is because they have to be able to if they change into them, the one thing they need in their diet that they cannot get through any other means however is, as odd as it sounds, love. It seems they use love as a source of both nourishment and magic, while they also seem to have a natural magic source, love can be burned in their body somehow to increase their magic immensely, but this comes with a risk aswell, as they need said love to stay alive, basically they are burning their life away by doing so, but unlike other races, as long as they hold even just a smidge of it, they can simply restock their reserves, now this may sound like their immortals, but it seems they are unable to keep doing this as they still die of old age, all besides their ruler that is. But this all isn't important to this part, as it's about the Collectors, I had hoped to put this in a different part, but I suppose I'll simply wait till I can revise this, if I get the chance that is. The Collectors seem slightly bloated in their natural form because of this unusual organ they have that stores more love then any other of their kind, they don't seem to be able to use it while its inside there however as its only a storage container it seems, upon death others will either bring the collector back home or if the situation is too dire, collect only the organ and bring it back to the hive, this likely means that their death does not make the love dissipate or render it unusable, it makes me wonder if they turn the love into some other kind of substance or if their organ somehow is magically protected to contain it even on death, it also makes me wonder a few things about love itself, but that's not up to me to speculate.
Magi : To be perfectly fair, I'm not fully sure if this name suits them well or not, I have seen but a few of them in this hive and can only speculate about them, since I was unable to procure any of them, they always seem to have their own personal guard and seem more able with using magic then others, as such I figured their likely some kind of strong mages or hold some kind of other important role in the hive, but they also seem to be suspicious of everything around them, making it hard to get near them to find out more, oddly enough they and their personal guard also seem to deviate from the hive's generic colors with the top part of their mesothorax and in some cases the eyes, I have noticed five other colors so far, it makes me speculate that perhaps they come from another hive, but for what cause I cannot tell. Besides their color change, their horns are a bit crooked, not as much so as their ruler, but notably so, some of them seem to have a different wing type aswell, though they appear to still be gossamer wings and not all of them have a different wing type, so far there's the dragonfly like wings this hive seems to have, some butterfly like wings and one of these Magi seemed to have a single type wing, this makes me wonder if their from another hive even more, as the ruler of this hive has the same dragonfly like wings as the rest of the hive, though bigger.
Princess /prince : A speculation at this time sadly, I have not seen one during my time, but I imagine that if this one exists, it'll likely look like a smaller version of the ruler, though it is also possible that some changes could be found here, perhaps color changes or wing changes, I imagine they would have a similar horn as the ruler, but that may also be different.
Queen : This is the last one at this time that I've actually been able to notice, though I imagine plenty other exist, I have seen shadows in some corners at times that made me wonder, like a giant shadow that I wanted to call a behemoth, but I was unable to find it afterwards, and such a large being could not possible be unnoticed, so I imagine that it may have just been that the shadow only looked that big, but what a discovery that would be. In any case, back to the Queen, this is the ruler of the entire hive and I have yet to see her without an escort of at least six guards, though lately the number has climbed to nine, making me wonder if they noticed something I did, which made me abandon this hive in the hopes that I'll find another elsewhere to gather more information, or perhaps I'll go back to this one eventually, I have yet to decide. In any case, all the Changelings in the hive seem to obey and protect her, like that one time a Manticore had 'somehow' managed to get into the hive undetected and managed to get to her, even the drones that were unable to do much else but menial tasks swarmed to protect her, but my biggest surprise came from the fact that the Queen isn't just a ruler that orders them around, she's also their kind's most fierce warrior it seems, adapt at both magic and unarmed combat, when the Manticore had killed one of the drones she went into some kind of rage, ordering all of them to stand back as she then grabbed the beast by the neck and threw it through the doors, my hiding spot was almost destroyed in the process, after that she send a beam of magic after it so strong that the hairs on my neck stood up, and I'm a magically inept pegasus, such raw magical power reminded me of the time I saw an Alicorn fight for the first time. Unfortunately I can't say much else, as I was never able to get closer then that to their Queen, nor did I want to risk the entire hive swarm me, I can however say she is able to give orders in a split second through their hivemind, as at times I saw her simply look at something and instantly a Changeling started to do something there with utmost precision, as if having given detailed orders, it makes me wonder how fast this hivemind is and just how their able to process it so quickly. The last thing I can say here is about her appearances, she is by far the biggest member of their kind that I have seen, if the Behemoth exists it's likely the only one that's bigger, she also seems regal like and slim like you'd expect from royalty, her wings are the same as any other member of the hive except for the Magi, though she certainly has the biggest ones, her horn is also long like that of an Alicorn, but it's jagged and sharp, I can only imagine that it might be used in combat aswell if she was serious, the queen also seems to be the only one with different eyes, the color is the same as far as I have seen, though that may not be true for every hive, but the most noticeable is the fact that it looks just like the eye of a normal pony, with the exception of the draconic slit inside of it that is, she's also the only one of their kind so far that seems to have an actual mane and tail that resembles that of a pony, the others all seem to have some kind leathery ridge where their manes should be and their tails are similar to that, a closer inspection has proven that its more like the tail of a fish however, but the materials are definitely insect like. Lastly the Queen seems to always wear a crown, but I have reasons to believe that their in fact some kind of antenna, perhaps this is what allows the hivemind to work at such a speed.
Hive : This isn't an actual Changeling as far as I can tell, since it’s the hive itself, but the moving walls sometimes makes it feel like it is, and perhaps it truly is, though I don't know how such a thing could be possible if that’s the case, it certainly is maintained as if it's alive though, I've seen them put some kind of organic pastes on spots that were damaged, or appeared to be anyway, and it quickly went back to normal, it seems to be some kind of fusion between organic and inorganic material aswell, I wonder how it manages to balance the two. Also, this is but speculation, but the Queen might be able to control it to some extend, whenever they got some new architectural information, the hive always seemed to change into a new kind of shape, I'm pretty sure those pillars and arches weren't there when I first got here afterall. Also, it seems to notice where I am and block off my path when I try to go certain places, this makes me wonder what might be in those areas, but I'm glad it seems like it's not sending this information through the hivemind itself, at least I hope that's the case, otherwise either they already know I'm here, or it seems to not know the difference between a pony and a Changeling and I'm simply not allowed access into those parts, I wonder if there's a way to gain access without any of them knowing if the later is the case.
Twilight blinked a few times, as she looked at the other pages in this chapter, but all those had, were illustrations of the Changelings that were mentioned, aswell as some illustrations of their insides and some simple explanations of which part was which and what they either did or what they likely did, Twilight for a moment wondered how he might have gotten this information before realizing what he had likely done to get them and felt sick once more, this time not of what she had though a Changeling could do to a pony, but of what a pony actually had done to several Changelings.
One short trip to the bathroom later, Twilight started to think about the information she had just learned. "Alright, so… First thing's first, while Changelings are omnivores, at least they don't need to eat meat, especially not pony meat and have no odd addiction to it… I hope… Secondly, their main food requirement is… Love? I wonder how that works and how you gather it." She wondered about this and then another thought came to her. "If… If I'm one of them, then have I… Always been collecting love without realizing it? Is that why my magic is so powerful? … No, that can't be, while I don't know if I've been collecting any love, it seems like they need to actively 'burn' it for their power to grow… Perhaps it would explain when I flare up though…" She mused over this for a few minutes.
Twilight then sighed. "I wonder why I don't looked like any of these illustrations during that time though… Well, the Queen one looks similar, but even she has no actual pony parts… Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself here, I still don't even know for certain if I'm one of them… And this doesn't tell me much about their behaviors either, besides their feeding habits… And I'm sure there's more to it then just that, he didn't even say how they transferred the love to any of the other Changelings, or how they drain their pre.. Target of love in the first place." She said as she looked it all over again.
"And where's the part of how their born? Do they come out of eggs or are they born normally? Does the queen do all the birthing? Can they store love in other ways then those collectors? And how do the Changelings themselves live? Surely they can't just keep going day and night, they must sleep at least, right?" Twilight asked out loud, as more and more questions presented them to her.
Twilight then took another look at the book and flipped through some other chapters. "Hmm, some are incredibly detailed… So I guess he never found a new hive or got back to the one he did find." She said and sighed. "If only this had some information about how they transform, then perhaps I could test it out myself and see if it's true." She looks a her hooves once she said that. "But after Discord had done that I tried to transform to make sure if I was one, and nothing happened… So either I'm not one, or there's some other trick to it…"
As her new questions had no current answers and as her stomach began to growl, Twilight decided to go and make some food while letting the information she did get sink in. "I wonder just how complex these hives really are, it sounds like those that he was able to spot were only the tip of the iceberg, if only there was some way to know even more." She said to herself as she took out the ingredients from her refrigerator, including some montre patties she had gotten from Luna
As Twilight placed them down however, she stopped and looked at them, and a thought came to her. "I really am different from normal ponies, aren't I? … Normal ponies don't eat meat, but I love it… I'm an omnivore like this book said Changelings are, perhaps… Perhaps I am one afterall…" She said as another thought came to her "Luna… She knows of my real parents, she said she would tell me when she would be allowed to… I didn't think of it till now but… Does this mean she would know? And how much does princess Celestia know? She's the one who put me in front of my parents doorstep afterall… Why hasn't she ever told me though? Is she the reason why Luna isn't allowed to?" Twilight asked as once more questions started to swirl around in her mind. "Agh! I need to know!" She suddenly shout out loud.
After several minutes passed and Twilight calmed down a little and had the time to think, she realized that she had no real way of contacting either one of them without going back at the time. "Urgh, why didn't I take Spike with me? I suppose I could contact Luna though, but that's likely only during the night through dream walking… I hope I can do it, I haven't mastered it just yet, she usually helps me… And to find another dream walker is likely different then finding a specific dream." She wondered if there was another way to figure out more before then, when a certain line from the book came to mind. "A Changeling is an omnivore and can eat nearly anything, this includes things like meats and in some cases inorganic materials like gems, much like a dragon… Would that mean..?" She said before heading for Spike's hidden cache of gems.
As Twilight looked at the gems, she swallowed, what if she couldn't eat any and chipped a tooth? She wasn't really looking forwards to have to explain this to the local dentist… Then again, what if it actually did work? That would prove without a doubt that she wasn't a normal pony anymore. "Well… Here goes." She said as she lifted the smallest gem she could find, a ruby fragment not much bigger then a piece of gum up to her lips and slowly bit down on it, she was surprised when she actually bit through it, rather then be unable to, but what surprised her more was the flavor she suddenly tasted, she had expected some kind of glass like flavor, but instead it was something completely else, it was delicious and reminded her slightly of cherries, but at the same time completely different, she wondered if this was why Spike loved gems so much.
After a few more tries with different gems, she was certain that she wasn't a normal pony anymore, but then another thought came to her. "Wait, Luna eats meat aswell, what if Alicorns simply are omnivores aswell? And what if they can eat gems? … Arg! I still don't know now!" She said as she ate more gems out of frustration without realizing it, till she reached into the cache and found nothing anymore. "! Oops… I'll have to apologize to Spike when I get the chance, I didn't realize I was so famished… Or that they were so delicious." She said as she put the empty basket back where she had found it.
Twilight then remembered she had put out those patties and some vegetables, so she decided that she should put them back into the refrigerator, she already ate more then enough now anyway, plus it was getting late by now, so perhaps she could go to sleep soon and try to find Luna that way.
=====+++=====
As the moon rose, Twilight went to sleep and found herself in her personal dream palace, Luna had told her that all dream walkers needed a place to focus, a place that would serve as protection from their own nightmares and the monsters that lived in the realm between dreams and nightmares, it should be personal and special to every dream walker, Twilight had made her palace look like a gigantic library without a roof, as the stars were permanently above it with the sky as clear as could be, a large crystal forest surrounded this library and on the sides of the large doors that led inside stood two large statues, one of Luna and one of Celestia.
Luna had also told Twilight that she should only show her own dream palace to those she trusts completely, and that no other could come in without their permission, but Luna had invited Twilight to her own dream palace and shown it, it was a palace much like the palace in the everfree forest, but completely fine and made of crystal, it was also located on the moon, at least judging the surroundings, the stars could be seen through the clear crystal walls aswell, something that slightly had inspired Twilight when she made her own palace, she also noted at the time that there was a broken statue in the middle of the palace, it had been broken so much that she couldn't make out much about it other then it having been of a pony, she also saw a cloth over another statue, the pedestal that stuck out underneath it looked brand new however, but she hadn't removed the cloth as it felt too private.
Twilight now stood in her own dream palace however and looked up at the few stars that she could see at the time, more coming as ponies fell asleep, she however was searching for the moon, a place directly connected to Luna's dream palace when she was given permanent access, even if she wasn't able to travel to it without Luna's help just yet. "Come on Luna, why aren't you there yet?" She said while looking and sighed. "Perhaps she doesn't trust me anymore after today… What if she was fooled all that time ago aswell? What if…" Twilight was about to start listing off more doubts, but then a bright full moon appear in the sky and her eyes almost seemed to grow. "Luna… Please… Please find me, I give you access to my palace."
No sooner as she had said it, did the moon glow slightly and a familiar appearance appeared on it, the mare in the moon, but rather then be still, it seemed to move and look around, before it looked towards Twilight, it then turned into a mist like form and moved towards the front door of her library, and once there the mist turned into Luna, who the proceeded to walk up the steps, open the door and run straight towards Twilight, before pulling her into a big hug.
"I was so worried about you, where did you go?" Luna asked as she kept hugging Twilight. "None of your friends or family know where you went, why did you just leave like that?" She then continued.
Twilight's mind for a moment didn't know how to respond, but eventually she settled for hugging back as tears flowed softly from her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do, I… I don't know what I am anymore, I didn't want to put anypony I care about at risk if I really am some kind of monster." She answered as more tears feel from her cheeks and onto Luna's chest.
Luna replied by first hugging her a bit tighter, before she replied. "Your no monster Twilight… But yes, your also not fully a pony, I think… I think it's time I tell you everything about your parents and your personal history, even if Celestia didn't want me to."
"T-the princess didn't want me to know? Why? Am I dangerous afterall?" Twilight asked in response.
"No, your not dangerous Twilight, at least not inherently, though I suppose you could be if you wanted to, but that would be the same no matter what you are, your just you Twilight, don't ever believe otherwise." Luna replied gently as she put her hoof through Twilight's mane as a way to calm her down.
"Then why? What am I? I'm not an actual Alicorn like you or the princess, am I? Am I a Changeling? And if so, then why was my appearance different from theirs? And why am I unable to transform like they do then? Is there something wrong with me? Is this the reason why I like meat so much? Do Alicorns eat gems? Just what is going on Luna?" Twilight could only keep asking questions, not sure what she found more important or why, as the questions just kept coming to her.
Luna placed a hood gently on Twilight's muzzle to stop her from continuing, as she then looked at her gently but also slightly pained, mostly because she had wanted to tell her so long ago already. "I will answer all your questions as well as I can Twilight, but I think it will be a lot clearer if I first tell you the story of your birth and your parents first." Luna then said, before she thought to one of Twilight's more odd questions. "Why did you ask if Alicorns eat gems anyway? And I don't really know if we can, I never tried it to be honest." She then said.
Twilight looked down with a slight blush. "I uh… I read something about Changelings in the book Discord had given me and tried it out… But after I did it dawned on me that if I really am an Alicorn and not a Changeling, then perhaps Alicorns can do it too…" She then said.
Luna blinked a few times. "You mean, you ate a gem? Did… Did you just swallow it whole?" She asked as she rubbed the back of her head. "I can at least tell you that your not a real Alicorn though… Well, no actually, to be honest I can't fully say you don't have any Alicorn powers, but you didn't become one because of Discord, and neither of your parents was one, even if your father was able to use some Alicorn magic."
"I'm fine, I actually bit through it like it was just some candy and… Wait, did you just say my father could use Alicorn magic?" Twilight asked, suddenly more interested in that then herself.
"Some of it, yes, but he was able to use many kinds of magic, he was the only one besides Discord that's ever been able to use chaos magic aswell, though not as much, but without him we would have had a much harder fight on our hooves when Discord showed up." Luna said as she smiled gently.
Twilight pondered on this for a moment. "My father could use other kinds of magic… It almost sounds like he could do what you told me Starswirl could do, that's amazing." She then said.
"It's not almost like that, it is just that… Twilight, your father was Starswirl, you’re his daughter." Luna then stated.
Twilight's pupils became as large as they could, while a twinkle could be seen in them. "My father… Is Starswirl the Bearded? This is… This is amazing! My father was the most powerful unicorn that ever existed!" She practically yelled the last part as she felt giddy from this knowledge, before suddenly stopping and looking at her hooves. "But wait, I thought you said I wasn't a pony, then how come Starswirl is my biological father? Was he something else aswell then?" She suddenly asked.
"No, he was a regular unicorn, even if he was unusually powerful, what you are is more connected to who your real mother is and him at the same time." Luna explained.
Twilight looked at Luna with a worried look. "Why? Was she a Changeling?" She then asked.
"Oh, she's more then that, she's a Changeling Queen, she and your father fell in love in the most unusual of ways in fact, she was but a young queen believing that ponies and Changelings could work together at some point, and he had detected her shape shifting magic, he had mistaken her for an enemy at the time and cornered her. From what I've been told she had been afraid and let her disguise go the moment he asked, and he had fallen for her the moment she did." Luna said and let out a small chuckle.
"So… My mother really was a Changeling then, a queen even… I suppose that means I'm a Changeling aswell then." Twilight seemed both crestfallen and relieved at finally knowing the truth.
Luna frowned. "Yes and no, your part Changeling, but I'll get to that, for now I'll continue the story." She then said as she continued. "I'll spare you the boring details, but since Starswirl was such a good friend of mine, and your mother had become one while in her disguise under the name Celtic Rune, they decided to confide in me about what she truly was. I was quite shocked at first, but that was just because they had kept it hidden for me for so long, I had no qualms with other races just because they looked different, especially since she had actually made an effort to become friends with others, something I can personally vouch for, she also told me her true name at the time, I suspect it's because she wanted to be married to him using her real name, though I also married them with her created form and name, normal ponies at the time were not as peace loving as they are now, and Celestia really didn't like other races at all back then."
Twilight felt a sudden heavy feeling in her heart, as Luna said that, as she realized that besides what happened in the past, Luna had not spoken about her mother in the past sense. "W-what was… Is, her name?" She then asked with a sense of dread.
Luna saw how this pained Twilight. "Before that, do you recall what I told you not long after I started living in Ponyville? About you being stillborn and what your father had done to save you?" She asked gently, not wanting to make things worse.
"I do, he used some kind of ancient and dangerous spell that consumed his own life force… He… He sacrificed himself so I could live…" Twilight replied, as she looked downwards with a sad look.
"There's more to that story actually." Luna said as she raised Twilight's head gently with her hoof. "As I said before, when the staff as I said back then, which I'm sure you realized by now was just another word for her Changelings, had found me holding you in your new chrysalis pod and with your father dead on the ground, they thought I had done it all as some kind of ploy and attempted to take you from me, afraid that they wouldn't listen to me and rip open the pod, which would have undone your father's hard work and likely kill you, I fled with you in my hooves and retreated to the castle, in order to make sure Celestia wouldn't do anything foolish I placed you in a secret location while I would prepare on what to say to your mother…" Luna said before sighing deeply.
Luna then looked away from Twilight and up to the stars. "Unfortunately, fate had something else in mind." She then said and continued once more. "Your mother had gathered her entire hive and barged into our lands, I was about to go talk to her when Celestia decided that it was best to attack them straight away, not even bothering to hear them ask for you back, and I was unable to do anything as a full blown war happened, I couldn't fight on either side either, while the Changelings had been my friends, they would no longer see me as such, but I still couldn't fight them, and while our subjects shunned my night for favor of Celestia's day, they were still our subjects, and Celestia my sister…" She slightly scoffed at that last part when she said it.
Luna took a deep breath and recollected herself, before continuing. "I decided it was best for me to not participate at all and keep you safe while hoping for a chance, no matter how small to be able to talk to any of the Changelings, in the hopes that they would listen… But alas, the only times I managed to get close to one, they tried to swarm me and I had to flee once more, not being able to say anything, eventually Celestia won the war and what little Changelings were left fled away, along with your mother… After that I tried to find some other way to contact them without them attacking me on the spot, I even made preparations to take care of you in case it would fail, but before I could do anything… Celestia had found where I had hidden you…" She sighed deeply after explaining this much. "For whatever reason, Celestia had thought I had taken a egg of the Changelings and kept it as some kind of trophy, perhaps she was spiteful that I had done so without participating in the war, or perhaps she simply wanted a trophy of her own, when I got there after my alarms had gone off, I found her standing in front of the pedestal I had magically placed you on, but you were missing, I demanded what had happened to you, but she decided to say she had destroyed you, an obvious lie seeing you now, but at the time my anger and pend up frustrations boiled over, in my fury I told her that you were my god daughter and that she had made her final mistake, before I turned into Nightmare Moon… I imagine that even though your mother didn't know about this, she likely still thought that you had perished once I got sealed away… So her anger is in the end justified, please don't judge her for what happened after that." Luna asked after she was done explaining.
Twilight had pieced together who her mother likely was by now, and even if it was hard to accept, she couldn't help but ask it. "So.. My mother… Is… Is it Chrysalis? The one that pretended to be Cadance?" Once she asked, Luna nodded solemnly and Twilight tried to remember all the moments she had seen Chrysalis act as Cadance, she had treated everypony with respect and even asked her for her opinion on things, and once she dropped her disguise it was before the wedding could be finalized, she could have continued and gotten a much better revenge if she had waited a bit longer, but instead she had acted with respect to everypony, as such Twilight couldn't see Chrysalis as a bad po.. Changeling, sure she had locked up Cadance somewhere and enslaved her stepbrother, but it wasn't like she actually hurt them physically, right? And it made that pained expression Twilight had seen on Chrysalis before she escaped, seem so much more understandable.
"Twilight? Are you alright?" Luna asked after several minutes of silence. "You've been sitting with that same expression for a while now, I know it was much to take in all at once, but you deserved to know the truth, regardless of what Celestia thought." She then said.
"Celestia…" Twilight looked back at Luna at this point. "You said that before, that she didn't want me to know, why? … Didn't she know aswell? Why did she keep me if she was so afraid of Changelings? Was I some kind of experiment to her? Just some kind of tool? Did she ever truly see me as her student!?" She pretty much almost demanded the information by now.
Luna looked sorrowful and couldn't manage to look her in the eyes. "I… I truly don't know, she may have truly cared for you, or she may have kept you as some bargaining chip, she may even have just kept you around to appeal to me, but whatever her reason, she isn't worth the effort anymore, after her not even trying to talk to your mother, and worse, even attacking her once more, I can no longer think of her as my sister, and I asked her to not bother you anymore… Of course, I spoke out of line there and if you really want her to…" As she said this, Twilight interrupted her.
"No… I loved her, I loved her almost like a second mother, but it's clear she never saw me as anything but a tool to get what she wanted now… Perhaps some day, but, not now… You did the right thing Luna, thank you for being there for me." Twilight said.
Luna smiled gently at this. "Anything for my favorite God daughter" She replied.
"Could you tell me more about what I am and Changelings in general? In person I mean, I don't really feel like doing this in the dream realm." Twilight then asked.
"Of course, just tell me where you are and I will come find you." Luna replied in turn.
Twilight thought for a moment. "You can't tell anypony else yet, I mean it's fine to tell them I'm alright, but you can't tell them where I am, I want to know as much about this as possible before I decide if I should tell them or not and how, you have to promise me Luna." She said with pleading eyes.
"If that is what you want, then very well, I will let them know your fine and need some time alone, before I teleport away so they can't follow me" Luna replied with a soft smile on her face. "I'm sure they will already be happy with just knowing your fine."
"Well, alright then, I'm… I'm back at my library in Ponyville, but I think I'll head over to your house, so meet me there." Twilight replied and got a understanding nod from Luna.
"Of course, I'll be there as quickly as I can… But before that, I've wanted to tell you one more thing, but I wasn't certain you would want to hear it before now… Would you like to know your true name Twilight? The one your parents gave you I mean." Luna asked.
Twilight looked slightly confused. "My real name? You mean I'm not called Twilight?"
Luna shook her head slightly, but not in a disproving kind of way. "No, your definitely called Twilight, but I don't think Celestia ever knew your real second name, so she gave you the name Sparkle."
"Celestia named me Sparkle?" Twilight asked, as thoughts of her adoptive family came to her. "So my adoptive parents didn't name me then… What's my real name? I want to know for when I see them again, I want to let them know my true name… And I want to know for myself aswell."
Luna smiled. "It's Starshine, your true name is Twilight Starshine, your father told me so himself before I had to take you with me."
"Starshine." Twilight repeated, a small smile on her face, before it turned into a sad expression. "I'm guessing he told you that before he gave his life for me then huh?" A somber nod from Luna told Twilight all she needed to hear. "I'll take it, my father gave his life to protect me, the least I could do is to keep the name he gave me." Twilight then said and smiled once more. "I'll be fine now, I'll see you at your place."
Luna nodded and left to wake up, Twilight then did the same and headed for Luna's mansion.
=====+++=====
Several hours later, Luna managed to get to her house, seemingly exhausted.
Twilight noticed her and cocked her head from this spectacle. "Luna? What's wrong? You look like you ran a marathon, and I expected you here at least an hour ago already." She then said.
"One does not simply teleport away from Pinkie it seems, it took me thirty separate teleports and flying at high speed in random directions before I was finally able to shake her off!" Luna quickly replied as they went inside, she seemed to look over her shoulder every so often and even close the curtains. "At least I hope I shook her off…"
Twilight grumbled slightly. "That's Pinkie for you…" She then said before sighing. "I suppose if she finds us, I'll just have to ask her not to let anypony know through a Pinkie promise."
"Quite so… Hmm, so what did you want to know first?" Luna asked as she calmed down a little.
Twilight fidgeted a little before she looked at Luna. "Well… I would like to know as much as possible about Changelings, but I think I'd like to know about myself more right now, what can you tell me?" Twilight asked with hopeful eyes.
Luna grimaced slightly, before replying. "Not all that much I'm afraid, all I can say for certain is that you’re a hybrid Twilight, one that shouldn't be possible in fact, we didn't know at the time but pony and Changelings while they look similar have a completely different genetic structure, the two simply weren't compatible I'm afraid, if it hadn't been for your father and his ability to use chaos magic, then likely it would have never worked."
"Chaos magic!? What has that got to do with it? You never mentioned that the spell required chaos magic, am… Am I going to be alright?" Twilight asked slightly worried.
"If it would have had any negative effects, then I'm sure you would have felt it already, it's more likely that if anything, the magic fused itself to your very essence as it was active on you for over a thousand years, you may very well be able to use chaos magic as easily as normal magic because of this, or have natural defenses against it, and it likely also helps that your father was able to use it so well, magic is quite odd that way, it seems to be easier to use further along the family tree, as long as it keeps being practiced, it's likely why you can access Alicorn magic aswell… Or perhaps you really are part Alicorn thanks to that, it's hard to say because your actual horn is a Changeling horn." Luna explained as best she could, while also slightly wondering herself what was the true reason at this point.
"W-what does that make me then? Am I like Discord?" Twilight asked, afraid that the answer would be yes.
Luna however shook her head. "No Twilight, every being has one thing over the other, but that doesn't determine who they are, Changelings in particular have a rather large affinity for just about everything to start with, but they rarely spread out that far as there's no need to do so, or at least, they don't feel like there is." She then said as she places a wing around Twilight. "If their target would be someone like a Draconiquus then they'd likely learn some chaos magic themselves, but for say a normal pony it would be a useless skill to get close to them, in fact it might even scare them off, that does not however mean that it's a bad kind of magic, chaos is more like… A neutral force, it's not inherently evil or good, it's what you yourself do with it that counts, you may for instance learn a way to protect others from it's effect for instance."
Twilight looked down as she thought about it. "I suppose that makes sense, knowing how it works would mean I'd know it's weaknesses aswell, it could be a good protection for ponies in the future if Discord ever escaped again." She then replied as she thought about the possibilities. "Hmm… Perhaps I could even find some way for Discord to cause chaos without causing any problems for anypony."
Luna raised an eyebrow at this. "Why would you want to do that?" She then asked.
Twilight looked down with a slightly understanding and sad face as she replied. "Well, I may not know how it feels to be sealed, but I doubt it was any fun for you, and if he's sentient during all that it can't be fun for him either… I think knowing I was basically sealed for that long without any knowledge and being something that… Ponies might see as a monster or some dangerous being, made me a bit more understanding of the whole situation to be honest…"
"Your not a monster!" Luna blurted out.
Twilight smiled slightly. "I know, but will other ponies think the same? I mean I might actually be dangerous with all these abilities, it's not like I couldn't be dangerous as a unicorn but… I still don't fully know what exactly I am, besides some kind of hybrid that seems to have a connection to chaos magic, which is also the problem, who knows what kind of things I could do that nopony else can, it would frighten ponies if they found out, or if something unexpected happened." She sighed and paused for a moment. "Which is exactly why I want to know as much as possible before I let anypony know, even my parents… I'm not even sure how to spring this on them actually, it might have been easier if I had been just normal Changeling, but being something in between that also apparently has chaos magic at its core, how do I explain that to them? What if ponies start to think I'm the second coming of Discord or something?"
Luna stood up and flared her wings in a regal way. "Then I will stand besides you and make sure they realize the truth! That you are a lovely mare and kind to all, what your potential is does not define you Twilight, nor does where you came from, not that that would matter, your parents were wonderful, and I am sure your birth mother can still be saved from her current mindset once she realizes the truth."
"Even if she can, it won't stop how ponies look at her after the wedding, or Changelings in general for that matter…" Twilight looked slightly crestfallen.
Luna got a small smile as she placed one of her wings around Twilight to hold her. "Do not be so sure about that, it seems that the only Changeling activity was at the wedding itself, I have no doubt she had placed more in the city itself, but it seems seeing you made her rethink her plans and have them retreat, rather then attack, she likely didn't want to risk hurting you in the fight, but as a result only those at the wedding itself even know about them, and they have been sworn to secrecy till a full investigation has been made… I also don't think they think that badly about them seeing as nopony was hurt, even Cadance when she was found seemed fine, if slightly concerned about Shining Armor and you."
Twilight blinked as questions started to form in her head, but one question came to mind the most. "D-do you think Cadance and my brother will accept me for what I am after all this?"
"Hmm, I cannot say for certain to be honest, but I have little doubt that they will accept you in the end, your brother seems to love you through and through, and Cadance from what I heard loves you almost just as much, not to mention that love is literally at her core, once they hear the full story, I am sure they will accept you… Though there is the slight chance that it might be a bit hard at first." Luna replied as she hugged Twilight some more with her wing.
Twilight leaned back into Luna and hugged her tightly as she buried her head into Luna's chest and started to cry softly. "I'm just afraid of that one in a million chance that things don't go like that is all, I know your right and I'm worried over nothing, but what if they actually do reject me? I don't want to lose my family and friends just because I'm not what everypony thinks I am."
Luna gently patted Twilight's back as she cried. "It won't happen, and in the off chance it does, I will still stand with you, even if the whole world were to go against us, I would remain by your side, I promise you that much Twilight."
It made Twilight feel better to know at least one pony would stand by her no matter what, but she still couldn't help but cry from the thought that the family she had known so long and her friends might abandon her, even if she knew they wouldn't, she cried long and hard while being held in a loving embrace by her godmother till she fell asleep, exhausted from her constant worrying.
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needs a quick correction
needs another quick correction
8500088
Thanks for that.
8500153
glad to help
Just like one does not simply walk into Mordor, eh?
Also, a minor thing I noticed, your use of "allot". Here, let me find the definition, so you can see my issue.
verb (used with object), allotted, allotting.
1. To divide or distribute by share or portion; distribute or parcel out;apportion:
To allot the available farmland among the settlers.
2. To appropriate for a special purpose:
To allot money for a park.
3. To assign as a portion; set apart; dedicate.
In the three places it was used, you clearly want to use "a lot" instead.
Nothing else caught my eye this time, which generally means that nothing else got in the way of my reading experience.
8500229
Hmm, really? I was under the impression 'allot' was also used for things like meaning a whole bunch of stuff, are you sure of that? If so I wonder why my friend who's a teacher never told me whenever I made that mistake then... Ah, but that has nothing to do with you, sorry for mentioning it... In fact, I don't know why I'm leaving this awkward part in my message even though I'm just typing it right now and can easily remove it.
8500342
Well, I looked up the definition before I posted, so I am pretty sure. I am no expert, though, and if I am wrong I will accept that.
8500349
Hmm, alright then, I'll ask my friend next time I talk to him, if he tells me the same thing then I'll change the spelling and let you know.
Well, that or if more people tell me of course, I want to make it as enjoyable to read for people as possible afterall.
Thanks for telling me this by the way.
8500355
No problem. And I am looking forward to more, of course.
8500359
Heh, good to hear, I hope you'll like the next chapter that I've got planned for next week then.
Salivating for more
8500359
I haven't spoken to my friend yet, but from what I checked out online, I can only say you were right, so I looked through all my chapters and altered it so it now says "a lot" rather then "allot".
8501997
Heh, I hope to satiate that hunger for more soon in that case.
How have I not found this before?!