Chapter 5: Festivals and Stories
Imperfect
Chapter 5: Festivals and Stories
“Thorax!”
“Huh? What was that?” Thorax looked around, stopping for awhile. He caught a glimpse of a pair of cobalt eyes, hiding in the bushes and looking at him pleadingly. He knew who their owner was.
“Thorax, you coming?” Twilight was almost near the entrance to the hall. Thorax cleared his throat and shouted to her.
“Yes, yes, I’ll be there in a minute!” he looked towards his wife, as she entered the castle, and hesitantly walked towards the bushes. Starlight just threw her hooves around his neck, hugging him tightly. “Star, what is it? Why are you hiding here?” he asked, returning the hug hesitantly. The mare stepped away with a sad smile.
“I just… wanted to tell you ‘congratulations’, so… Congratulations…!” she smiled widely, but Thorax saw in her eyes she wasn’t being honest with him. He looked around to notice that ponies were gathering in the castle, so they had some privacy now.
“Starlight, what’s happening?” he asked with concern, coming closer and using a hoof to raise her head, so she was looking at him. “You were avoiding me for almost a week, you seem so lost in thoughts… Twilight and I are really worried about you.” The unicorn just sighed and looked away.
“Is it… so obvious?” Thorax nodded sadly and she let out another deep sigh. The changeling king noticed how nervous she was, what was happening? She was always so happy and resolute about everything. “Okay… I-I had a talk with Applejack, she told me to be honest with you, so… Well…” she inhaled deeply, looking into the sky to collect her thoughts together, as Thorax waited patiently, even though he was supposed to be on his way to the castle right now. Starlight was his friend, random ponies could wait for him, she was the most important now. Twilight won’t start without him, right? “I…” the mare started, gazing at the grass and brushing it with her hooves. “I like you, okay?” she spat, forcing herself to look into his eyes. Thorax blinked, surprised. He didn’t expect… that…
“Wha-, Starlight, I know that. I like you too, we’re friends!” he said with a genuine smile, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders, which caused the pale violet unicorn to cower a bit and look away.
“...but I like you more… than a friend…” she murmured, blushing furiously. Then Thorax understood what she meant and stood speechless. Seeing his reaction, Starlight decided to continue until she could just run away. “I liked you since we met for the first time, but, after this whole second invasion, when you just offered to cover me, a-and you almost died, I-I saw that I care for you more, than I should… later, in the kingdom, during the attack, I… when you yelled at me… I was heartbroken, I didn’t know what was happening to me, but I started to realize that I have feelings for you…” Thorax just stared at the grass, still in shock. His friend… in love with him? “Then why I couldn’t…?” “I used a few spells on me… I didn’t want you to sense my feelings for you before I was ready to tell you about them…” she explained his moot question.
“Starlight…” he started, looking at her sad smile, not knowing what to say. She had feelings for him, and he asked her to be his best mare at his own wedding! What kind of friend was he?!
“I… I just wanted to tell you that, AJ told me I would feel better after telling you. And she was kinda right…”
“I-I don’t know what to-”
“You don’t have to. You have a wife now… You have new duties… And it seems that ponies are waiting for you in the ballroom…” she pointed towards the doors to the castle and Thorax looked in this direction.
“Oh, right, the dance will start soon, we should-” he froze in place as he felt a quick, warm kiss on his cheek. He blushed and looked at Starlight, who was blushing as well. She was still smiling, but this smile was killing him from the inside now.
“Sorry. Go now, your… wife is waiting for you. I’ll be watching you two dance, then go to sleep, don’t look for me, please… I just need some good rest after all this planning and organizing, you know... Good luck!” then, in a light blue flash of magic, she disappeared, leaving Thorax speechless and lost in his thoughts.
*SLAM!*
Thorax jumped on his seat in the carriage, as the book hit the floor loudly. Twilight rapidly raised her head from his shoulder with a quiet snort.
“Wha-, I-I’m not sleeping, I just… closed my eyes, for a moment…” she murmured, wiping her eyes with a hoof. Thorax used his magic absently to grab the book and give it back to her. “Thank you…” she said, taking it with her own magic and starting to search for the page she finished reading. The changeling king just went back to observing the landscapes through the window. He was retracing this scene over and over again, still in shock. Was it true? Was it just a dream, maybe he was so tired he made this meeting up! “Starlight… in love with me…?” He suddenly shook his head, as he noticed that Twilight was speaking to him. “... -right with you?” he looked in her tired, concerned eyes. He smiled slightly and nodded.
“Don’t worry, I’m just exhausted. We should both get some good rest tonight,” he said, but someling cleared his throat ostentatiously. Thorax blinked and looked at the opposite seat, taken by his older brother, holding a newspaper in his magic aura.
“You meant, we three, I presume. Don’t forget that I was at this wedding too, and only slept three hours, before you dragged me out of my bed without even a proper, ‘Good morning, brother!’” he hissed, looking tired as well. Twilight giggled and stretched her hooves slightly.
“Are we there yet?” she asked, forcing herself not to yawn widely, and Thorax looked out the window.
“We need two more hours, I think…” he said, looking at his wife with concern. She was almost falling asleep again. “Twilight, maybe you can lay down on our seats and sleep some more, I’ll sit with Pharynx,” he proposed, ignoring Pharynx’s murderous gaze when he mentioned taking away his private space. Twilight looked at him with uncertainty, but after a few seconds she nodded and closed her book. Thorax sat next to his brother, and Twilight just laid her head on his former seat, putting her hind hooves on hers. She opened and closed her eyes a few times, the last thing she saw was the front page of Pharynx’s newspaper. “Alliance of Equestria and Changeling Kingdom” said the heading. And just below it, there was a photo of her and her new husband, smiling towards the camera and holding their hooves. She smiled slightly before falling asleep, despite the shaking of the carriage and low voices of two changelings seating near.
“Are you ready, Twilight?” Thorax asked, correcting her tiara on her head with his magic, while she was putting on her golden shoes.
“Yeah, I guess, I feel more rested, but, why do we have to be in our wedding suits?” she asked, folding her wings and putting them carefully in her dress. Thorax and Pharynx were already dressed in, only their helmets waiting on their seats to be worn. The king of changelings looked through the window and smiled widely.
“I want it to be a surprise,” he explained and Twilight rolled her eyes. After few more minutes, their carriage stopped suddenly and the alicorn leaned her head out the window. She saw a few buildings, mostly houses, and an enormous crystal-like castle, but they were still far away from all of it. She turned to the changelings, but Thorax had already opened the door and got off the carriage. She then tried to ask his brother, but before she could, he got off too. Not knowing what was happening, she followed them hesitantly, just to see that another carriage was just in front of them. This one looked similar to those used by princesses, it had no roof and only two comfortable looking seats. It was dark blue but was decorated with many little white crystals. The wheels were big at the end and small in the front. She stood speechless, seeing that it was being pulled by six male changelings… and they looked almost the same! Pale, violet coat, with pale pink necks, golden armors with indigo manes and their tails in the same color. “Ta-dah! Our ceremonial carriage!” Thorax exclaimed, looking proudly at his wife, though his slightly awkward smile almost ruined it. “I know it looks nothing like the Equestrian ones, but we tried.”
“But… when… why-”
“You thought our legation was just relaxing in Canterlot?” he smiled, stretching out a hoof to her and bowing slightly. “My Queen?” Twilight looked hesitant. “Damnit, Thorax, that was so bad what are you thinking!?” he berated himself. The alicorn eventually accepted his hoof before he helped her onto the roofless carriage.
“Where are we going? Why do we need this?” she asked, taking a seat next to Thorax in the second carriage. It moved slowly, with Pharynx walking near it on the left side. They were surrounded by five guards, two in the front, two at the end, and one on the right side. Twilight was starting to feel nervous, what was happening?
“Well, many changelings weren’t able to come to our wedding in Canterlot…” her husband explained. Twilight blinked, a bit shocked.
“Wait, did you organize a second wedding in the Changeling Kingdom?!” she interrupted him. Thorax blinked before shaking his head realizing how it may have looked like he had planned a second wedding.
“Er, no it’s not a second wedding…” Twilight let out a sigh and leaned back in her seat.
“Thank Celestia, I don’t think I could handle any more excit-”
“It’s just a Summer Twilight Festival!” he exclaimed, happy, looking at her expectantly. She blinked slowly and just gazed ahead.
“A Summer WHAT?!” she hollered as her wings shot out in surprise and disbelief. Seeing his spouse’s less than happy response, Thorax’s smile vanished. “Dammit, I misjudged again! Of course, we just had a party, why in the world would she want to have another you idiot! You know Twilight well enough at this point to know she’s not a party animal!
“Oh, just a little festival, you know, a new annual holiday to celebrate your marriage, and the alliance between the ponies and changelings,” Pharynx explained, letting out a laugh. “Named after the great Queen of the Changelings,” he said with mild sarcasm. Twilight turned to look at him with a disappointed frown.
“Changelings want to greet their new queen and savior with a festival, so we organized a festival. Simple, isn’t it?” Pharynx smiled at Twilight and flapped his wings. “Ho-ho! We’re approaching the borders of the capital. Ready to see the creatures over which you will reign now?” he teased with a wry smile. The smile vanished and turned into an eye roll when he noticed his brother glaring at him. Twilight, for her part, wasn’t feeling so well as the situation began to sink in. “How many subjects will I have? Thousands? Millions? I know Equestria has a little over nine million citizens, but I only really ruled over Ponyville with a few hundred ponies in it, and helped the other princesses when they needed it.”
“Uhhh…” she faced forward again, the houses were coming closer, she could see decorations and changelings gathered on both sides of the street they were supposedly going to ride down. She gulped nervously as her breathing became uneven. Checking her hair, dress, tiara, wings… “Oh, sweet Celestia, I’m not ready!” Seeing his wife's nervousness, Thorax rested a hoof on hers. Twilight’s head snapped to look at him with her eyes unsteady.
“Don’t worry, Twilight. We will just ride down the main street to the castle, then we’ll officially start the Festival. Coxa will be your guide, and he’ll guarantee you will be safe, you can freely go anywhere you want.” Thorax smiled in an attempt to reassure the panicking alicorn.
“Y-yeah, just thousands or millions of creatures…” she murmured under breath.
“What did you say?”
“N-nothing… Just… I hope I will be the queen they need,” she turned to him, to see a warm and gentle smile on the changeling's muzzle.
“I already told you, you will.”
“Ugh, can you cut it out, lovebirds? It’s enough that the whole kingdom is decorated as if it was a flower shop, I won’t stand any more cuteness around me, blah!” Pharynx groaned and rolled his eyes when Twilight and Thorax laughed at his comment. It won’t that bad… will it..?
“....BEHOLD, QUEEN TWILIGHT SPARKLE AND KING THORAX!” the voice seemed to be coming from everywhere, changelings were cheering, screaming, jumping with amazement, throwing confetti and flowers in the air, some of them were falling into the carriage and onto Twilight’s head and back. She and Thorax were now standing in their vehicle with their wings regally opened. The alicorn was smiling to her new subjects and waving her hoof to anyling she could! She saw their happy, excited faces, but instead of feeling the same, she was afraid. “They seem so happy, but I don't know if I can be what they need me to be.” Twilight noticed so many foals, looking at her with wide eyes, probably seeing a pony for the first time. The road was so long, they were traveling for almost an hour and it seemed that they just reached the halfway point! “Is the Changeling Capital really so big? How did it grow so fast?” Twilight sat and sighed deeply. She looked at her husband, still on his hooves, greeting the changelings he knew. The queen smiled a little, it was indeed a very good reason to celebrate, the alliance. The changelings could now be seen as equals to Equestria. She looked back, seeing that many changelings were walking behind their slowly moving carriage, following them to the castle grounds, where the festival would begin.
Twilight decided to stand up again and say some more hellos to the changelings to her left, but then something jumped out in front of the guards pulling the carriage - a changeling, who was running rapidly towards Twilight. She froze in place as Pharynx and Coxa, who were marching closest to her, stopped the changeling with a couple of well-placed spears, made purely of their magic, between her and their new queen. The crowd of changelings gasped and became quiet, save for a few whispers permeating the crowd. The carriage stopped suddenly, causing Twilight to regain her composure after she had almost fallen in response to the sudden deceleration. She looked at the changeling that had caused the disruption. She was surprised to see that there was no malice in the changeling’s eyes, but fear.
“Queen Twilight, please listen to me!” she whined trying to bypass the spears of the two guards, but they resisted her.
“Step back, don’t interrupt the parade!” Pharynx hissed at her. Thorax recognized the changeling, however, and stepped closer to his wife.
“Alais, please, we talke-” he started, but the dark blue female flapped her wings angrily and interrupted him.
“Thorax, you said that it wasn’t my fault, but what can I do, when the mare I ponynapped and replaced has now become my queen?!” she shouted, again leaving Twilight speechless. A sudden realization hit Twilight at that moment. She was now the queen of a race that they had only recently been at war with. She had practically been on the front line when the changelings attacked Canterlot, and had been kidnapped in the second invasion. There was bound to be those who felt guilt and maybe others who might still see her as an enemy. Twilight, however, saw an opportunity. It was now that she decided that she would give a bit of a friendship lesson. The alicorn straightened up and put a kind smile on her muzzle, doing her best Celestia impression.
“General Pharynx, admiral Coxa, let the changeling come closer,” she spoke. All three mentioned creatures, along with Thorax and the nearby citizens looked at her with a shocked expression. Coxa glanced at his general questioningly, but he hesitantly nodded and pulled back his spear, which Coxa mimicked. The changeling gulped quietly and took two steps towards Twilight, who was still standing proudly in her carriage and bowed deeply. The silence around was overwhelming, but Twilight already had a plan in her mind. “I may be the Queen of the Changelings, now but I’m still the Princess of Friendship, and it’s still my duty to spread friendship wherever I go.”
“Twilight, what are you-” Thorax whispered to her, but she ignored him.
“What is your name, changeling?” she asked in a kind voice. Using a little bit of magic, she enhanced her voice to carry the sound further, she wanted as many changelings to hear this as possible. The changeling cowered, scared to even look her in the eyes.
“I am…” she started, shaking a bit. “My name is Alais, Y-Your Highness, I was the one responsible for capturing and replacing you during the second invasion. I’m not worthy of living here now, I-I’m here to pay for my crimes,” she finished, bowing so low her muzzle was pressed to the road. Twilight continued to hold her kind and regal posture while Thorax watched his wife with curiosity.
“Then, what do you expect from me, Alais?”
“I… I do not have the courage to ask for forgiveness. But you are my queen now, my ruler. Then, if it is your will, Your Highness, please give me the punishment you decide I deserve for the crimes I have done against you and your homeland,” she explained, her muzzle still pressed to the ground, she did not feel she even deserved to look at her new queen. Twilight nodded slowly and stepped down from the carriage. Seeing her queen approach her, Alais took two steps back, almost falling to her flank in the process. Everyling was holding their breath, waiting for the queen’s response. “Twilight what are you doing? You're not actually going to punish her, are you?! You're not like that!” Thorax yelled in his mind.
“Do you truly regret the things that you have done during Chrysalis’s reign?” she asked in regal tone, looking at the changeling female from above. She nodded without hesitation.
“I do! I feel ashamed along with those who were also part of the plan to capture the most important ponies in Equestria, they all feel the same way as me! King Thorax forgave us, but he wasn’t the one who was hurt during the invasion!” she cried out, and Twilight’s smile became wider and even motherly. The alicorn lifted her head to face the crowd of changelings. She steeled her nerves and spoke.
“Citizens of the Changeling Kingdom, I, Queen Twilight Sparkle, hereby declare, that every changeling, who took part in Chrysalis’s invasions, in any way…” she began, out of the corner of her eye she could see Thorax looking at her with surprise. “... is officially pardoned of any crimes they committed against me and Equestria!” a few seconds passed in utter silence. Changelings looked upon her with shock and wonder at her words. The entire capital seemed to explode into applause and cheer in reverence of the new queen’s first act. Twilight looked back down and gave a hoof to the now, even more shocked, Alais who hesitantly took the offered hoof. “That was very brave, Alais. To confess something like this in public. You are forgiven. May all of you take this as a welcome friendship lesson from me. I’m not just your queen, your ruler. I’m your friend too. I want to be one. I promise, that I will try to help you in any cause I could, and be a ruler you deserve to have after decades of tyranny!” she was speaking not only to her but to everyone. Alais wiped her eyes and nodded.
“My Queen, if you’ll allow me, I would like to become one of your guards, to compensate for what I have done to you,” she asked in a quiet, trembling voice. Twilight smiled at her.
“Then talk with general Pharynx later. Now, do you want to accompany me and King Thorax on our way to the castle?” she asked her, still giving a genuine smile. The changeling almost sat down with pure shock on her muzzle. She put her hoof to her dark violet chest.
“M-me? B-but I was the one who-”
“Alais, I already forgave you. Try to forget about this and just enjoy the festival. Thorax, you coming?” Twilight turned back to see her husband still standing in the carriage with widely opened eyes. “That mare… she will never fail to amaze me…”
“Wait, do you really want to go all this way on your hoov-” Pharynx started, but Thorax interrupted him, jumping off the vehicle just in front of his brother’s muzzle.
“Sure, take a lead, Twilight!” Thorax exclaimed, forcing himself not to laugh from happiness. Two guards were marching slowly in front of him and his wife, two guards were behind them. Alais was hesitantly trotting next to the royal couple, but after a few minutes, she was walking with a proud smile on her muzzle.
“Make way for the saviors of the Changeling Kingdom!” she shouted. The changelings applauded again, causing Twilight to blush furiously as she realized how much of an impact she just made. She just hoped they wouldn’t start worshipping her like some sort of goddess. Thorax chuckled at his wife’s blush. As they walked, the changelings gathered on the left and right sides bowed deeply as they passed by. And so did other groups, bowing before their new rulers. Twilight smiled widely, her inhibitions were forgotten for the moment.
“Still wanting to kill me for the festival?” Thorax asked her in a whisper, but she huffed with a sly smile.
“The festival hasn’t started yet. I’m looking forward to participating in it,” she answered before waving to a group of little foals. The changeling king smiled.
“I hope so…”
After another hour, they finally made it to the castle. It looked like it was carelessly carved in an enormously tall crystal, with many shades of blue and turquoise. It was even shimmering violet in the sunrays. After the corrupted magic left the place, the palace was rebuilt with magic. Twilight knew from the stories Starlight and both royal changelings told her, that there was a big throne room, many bedchambers, and offices, as well as a meeting room, archives, and a new royal library. Of course, who could forget about the kitchen and other necessary rooms? The alicorn really couldn't wait to see the castle from the inside, but she was already amazed by the look of the building outside - it was almost as tall as the Crystal Empire castle, she noticed many windows and balconies. She blinked a few times when she realized that the crystals were covered with bushes and ivies, and even a few small trees growing out of it! It looked wonderful, it really showed the connection that the changelings had with nature now, letting it go back to their kingdom. The closer they got to it, the more details Twilight saw, just like the white, slightly glowing vines, which were going around the crystals and towers, making beautiful patterns on the stones. It looked like these curves of the vines and circles and ovals of the windows were complementing the sharp, straight cuts of the building and making it whole, “like harmony,” Twilight thought with a smile. The royals and their guard came to a large, wooden podium outside the front gate of the castle's courtyard. A large circular road wrapped around the walls of the castle courtyard. Lining the large circular road was a number of buildings that included shops and stands of all sorts. Multiple smaller, straight roads branched out from the circular one reaching out to the edges of the city.
It was a very orderly design… utilitarian even. Twilight tried not to frown at the thought. As much as she liked things being orderly, her time as the element of magic and being friends with Discord had taught her that a little bit of chaos was good, and that it made things more flexible. Her train of thought was lost as the royal family made its way up to the podium. Their guards surrounded the stage and stood at the ready. Thorax walked up to the podium. He motioned for her to follow him and she nodded. Again Twilight steeled her nerves as she walked beside her husband.
“There are more changelings here than there were ponies at my coronation!” she mentally exclaimed. She swallowed her panic and took a deep breath before releasing it. Thorax gave her a concerned look but didn’t say anything. He faced the crowd before speaking loud and clear.
“Today marks a great day for the changelings and to commemorate it, from this day forward, this date will be known as the Summer Twilight Festival,” he declared. “It is named after the pony who has helped secure our future and independence! I present to you your new Queen; Queen Twilight Sparkle!” he finished and turned to Twilight. He leaned over and whispered to her, “don’t worry, you don’t have to say much, you just need to declare the start of the festival.” He gave her a smile of encouragement before stepping back. Twilight nodded and stepped forward to the podium. Looking out, she could see thousands of changelings filling every square meter of the road and central square. Even more of them gathered on the streets. Twilight took a deep breath, “I can do this. I’ve done this before. I’ve already talked to them and made my first declaration as queen! I can handle this.” A calm filled her chest as her confidence began to grow.
“Hello, every er… Ling?” she had already started stumbling a bit. Not wanting to fall into a panic attack, Twilight pressed on. “I’d like to welcome all of you to the first ever Summer Twilight Festival!” she said with more confidence. “I’d like to also tell you I am humbled to be your queen, and I hope I serve you well in my new role,” Twilight said with confidence. “I wish you all to have a wonderful time at the festival. I will be joining you in the festivities, I ask that you do not see me as anything more than a friend, and if you have any questions for me just ask. With that said, I now declare the start of the first ever Summer Twilight Festival!” she finished with some excitement, and was rewarded with cheering and applause from her new subjects. A smile graced Twilight’s lips, “Maybe things will work out?”
“I feel like I’m being spied on, Coxa…” Twilight whispered to her royal guard, visibly uncomfortable. She forced a smile on to her muzzle, and waved to greet some of the changelings who bowed to her when she passed by. The purple changeling looked around calmly, with no emotion shown on his muzzle, marching slowly next to the lavender alicorn.
“I can see noling suspicious, Your Highness,” he answered his queen, but still focused on the behavior of the changelings nearby for any sign of a potential weapon. “I have my eyes and ears opened. You just arrived here, My Queen, it’s no surprise that many gazes are following you. And the changelings are merely talking about your persona. You really have no reason to worry,” these words, however, didn’t calm her down, in fact, they made her even more nervous. She tried to compose herself and behave as her guard. “If I learned anything from these thriller books Rarity lent me, it’s that when the potential victim realizes that they are being spied on or stalked, they start to behave weird - nervous movements, quicker breath, restless eyesight… Then the stalker notices it and attacks! I have to stay as calm as I can!” Twilight took a few breaths that were supposed to calm her down, and this time they really did. She put a regal, composed smile on her muzzle, even though she was still a bit nervous on the inside.
“I-I will trust you with this, Coxa,” she replied to the changeling guard. He smiled proudly, raising his head a bit higher. But the young queen was careful now, too. She tried to focus on her weird feelings, trying to find the reasons behind them. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to clear her mind of the noise of the changelings celebrating as well as the music that was surrounding her all around. Slow, rhythmic hoofsteps… nah, it’s not this. She moved her ear backward for a moment. Many, quick steps. Irregular. There were too many to be made by one creature. Were there more of them? She opened her eyes and looked around calmly. Many voices reached her, one being excited, another calm, another laughing loudly or giggling quietly. Typical for the festival, right? But one wasn’t right. Quiet, nervous whispers. Twilight sighed deeply and prepared herself to be put on the defensive if she needed to. “Behind us,” she whispered quickly to the male next to her, and they stopped momentarily, turned around at an instant just to see… a group of maybe 8 colts and fillies who stepped back suddenly and gasped in unison. The alicorn and her guard looked at the kids for a few seconds, then looked at themselves and smiled awkwardly. They had just mistaken a group of school kids for some assassins or stalkers! Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, and Coxa just cleared his throat and stayed still by her side, watching their surrounding for any real danger. “Hello, little ones! How may I help you?” she asked with a kind smile, focusing on the kids in front of her. Everyone looked similar in shape, but their colors were so unique. She barely noticed the difference between the females and males though, were they just developing in time? She has to note this later, for sure… Scared kids moved closer to themselves, whispering furiously and looking at themselves and their new queen. Was she going to punish them now? She doesn’t look like she would do this…
“Um…” one of the females started, putting her ears down and gazing at the ground beneath her hooves, as the others went silent. “We… We have a question, Y-your Highness…” she murmured, digging her hoof in the dirt. Twilight smiled wider.
“Yes? What is it? I promise I will help you as much I can!” The courage left the little filly, and she pushed her friend in front of her. The young dark crimson male with yellow eyes and tail, wearing little crystals on his neck looked behind and again at his queen, gulping quietly. For how long had these changelings tried to approach her but hadn’t?
“Uhhh… we… we heard from our classes that… that story about… the… the Harmony Elements, Your… Your Highness, and-and…” he was stuttering quietly, but the crowd behind him was supporting him even quieter. Twilight thought that maybe she looked too intimidating and royal for them, so she just brushed her dress aside, ignoring the fact that it would get dirty (thank Celestia, Rarity wasn’t here to holler about that), and sat on the ground. She again mimicked one of the best calm Princess Celestia-like smiles, and waited patiently for the colt to speak. The group was surprised, and so were other changelings passing by and even her guard, but she ignored that. “Um…” the foal continued, a bit more bravely, looking at her, “and we… we wanted to ask, is it true? That story? It just… seems too… I mean, like a legend…”
“Yes!” one of the youngest in the group made a few steps in her direction, looking at her quizzically. “So powerful things like that can’t exist!” she said with so much confidence, it made Twilight giggle a bit. She thought for a moment for the best way to tell the kids the story of her, her friends and the Elements.
“Oh, but they exist!” she exclaimed with a wide smile. She used her magic to create illusions of the elements in between her and the kids. Little, semitransparent, shiny crystals in the shapes of a butterfly, a diamond, an apple, a balloon, a bolt, and a star, in their respective colors were floating in air and rotating slowly. She smiled with pride as she heard the whole group gasp in amazement. They came closer and sat in a half-circle in front of her, looking at the crystal with widely opened eyes. “And they are called ‘the Elements of Harmony.” Each one represents one very important matter for Friendship and Harmony. The first one is Kindness,” pink butterfly shined more and stopped in place. Twilight focused her magic and created a little yellow pegasus figure under the crystal, “it is represented by my dear friend, Fluttershy. We discovered it when Nightmare Moon herself turned into a thorn to anger the manticore, so it would attack us. Fluttershy used her compassion to tame the manticore, and she even got a big hug from it!”
“Wooooah…”
“The next one, the diamond, belongs to Rarity. This is the Element of Generosity…”
“...and then, Nightmare Moon laughed creepily. MUAHAHAHAH!” Twilight laughed, using the illusion to make her eyes mimic Nightmare Moon’s, and add a shiny armor onto her head along with two bare fangs. She jumped towards kids, who jumped back with a scream, but laughed seconds later. “I will make my night last forever! You can’t defeat me, little pony! You don’t have your precious Elements of Harmony, they’re destroyed! HAHAHAH!” at that instant she turned back to her normal look. “Then, I heard my friend’s voices coming from the corridor. They were going to help me, even though I wasn’t nice to them and they had only known me for a day or two! I felt the spark inside me and then I understood, the Elements weren’t the stones, the Elements were my friends and I! ‘HA! You are a fool, Nightmare Moon!’ I shouted. ‘I have the Elements with me! We keep it in our hearts! That’s why you will be defeated!’ And just then, two magical rainbows burst from behind us, made a spiral and just dashed towards the alicorn!” Twilight continued with passion in her voice. Creating a rainbow itself wasn’t so easy, but she could use water and light! The illusion of the rainbow made a spiral and went towards the group of kids, now bigger than before, as her little magic play brought more and more spectators, even adults were stopping by to watch her, so now they surrounded her in a big circle. Many changelings were already in air, because they couldn’t see, and the crowd had gotten so big! Fillies and foals laughed when they were sprinkled with drops of water. “‘NOOOOO!’ Nightmare Moon screamed, as the power of Friendship surrounded her, and in a flash of light, she turned into a smaller alicorn, with blue fur and beautiful feathery wings...”
“Kallen, have you seen Queen Twilight anywhere?” Thorax asked one of the guards he met. He hadn’t seen Twilight in a while and was starting to get worried. The male in silver armor bowed his head to him.
“No, Your Majesty, I haven’t. Though there is a big crowd near the food zone, two other guards have already gone there-” he was interrupted by Pharynx, who literally fell from the sky.
“Thorax, come quick! You won’t believe what’s going on!” he just took his brother’s hoof and pulled him away. Thorax sighed deeply. “I just hope it won’t be a disaster…” As they were approaching the crowd, the young king was getting more and more nervous. What happened? Is Twilight there? He knows that not everyling was eager to have a pony in charge so soon after the war, but… Coxa would protect her… Or would he?! Was she hurt?! No, he could hear her voice, but what was happening?! He opened his wings and just dashed higher in order to fly over the gathered changelings. He had almost stopped in place when he saw her…
“The light almost blinded us when the Sun raised high, after a long night. Just then, Princess Celestia herself flew into the castle through the rays of her Sun, her wings regally opened, her mane flowing.” Twilight used her magic again and used the illusion to make her fur white and tossed her mane so she waved slightly. “And shining brightly, finally free from her temporary banishment on her star. “Thank you all, my little ponies. You’ve discovered the magic of Friendship. But I think there is one more pony, that needs to learn that as well…” Twilight cleared her throat, which started to hurt a little because of her play and voice changes. “She carefully approached laying mare and said sadly, ‘It’s been 1000 years now since I’ve seen you in this form, Luna. We were supposed to rule together, dear sister…’” To Twilight’s surprise, most of her audience gasped loudly, some changelings were whispering to themselves:“Sister? Was she her sister?” Twilight cleared her throat again, getting back all her attention. ““Will you accept my friendship?” Princess Celestia asked her. The younger alicorn looked at the ground and…” she made a dramatic pause, looking around, just to notice how MANY creatures gathered around her, she started to feel a bit nervous now, but a loud voice took her back to reality.
“Miss Queen, what happened? Did she forgive her?” one colt, sitting the closest to her asked impatiently, touching her hoof with his. Twilight looked at him and smiled widely as she dissipated her spells.
“Of course she did! Luna apologized for her previous behavior, and both sisters threw themselves into each other’s arms. Later on, we celebrated Princess Luna’s return, and that’s how the Elements of Harmony were discovered one more time. And until today, they help to defend Equestria and all the other lands!” she finished, and the whole audience burst with applause. Twilight bowed a few times, feeling blushes on her cheeks and a nice warmth around her heart. Thorax smiled proudly, quickly coming back to his brother. “She will be the best queen his kingdom could have ever asked for…”
The audience that had gathered around their new queen began to dissipate, as the show was over. The changelings were talking excitedly with each other, praising their new ruler, going back to their businesses, but the group of kids who had approached her at the beginning were still near her, looking at her as if she was a goddess.
“And it happened because of the Magic of Friendship?” one of the fillies asked, her eyes widely opened, and Twilight nodded with a proud smile.
“Of course. As the great, ancient philosopher, Equicurus, had said, ‘Of all the means to ensure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.’”
“Can you tell us another story about the Elements, Queen? Pleeease?” another filly asked with sparkles in her eyes. The others quickly mimicked her and the wave of “pleases” flooded her. She smiled a bit, and brushed the dirt from her dress with her magic.
“I’m sorry kids, but the festival is still going on, and I want to see as much as I can!” hearing a loud, group of “awwwws,” she came up with another idea. “But, I think I’ll talk with King Thorax to organize some meetings in schools to tell you some other stories, okay?” the foals momentarily cheered up and nodded their heads. “Now, go find your parents and enjoy the rest of the festival!” she smiled to them, but her smile vanished when the little changelings exchanged surprised looks.
“We don’t have parents, we are from the Capitol Orphanage.” one of the oldest kids explained to her with a calm smile. Twilight felt as her heart stopped for a moment, oh, she just failed so much now.
“Oh my, I’m so sorr-”
“Yeah! It’s so great! We don’t have to train or learn about weapons and magic, everyone has their own bed, and we have so many toys!” another, dark green colt added in his squeaky, childish tone, to which the others agreed with him.
“We’re divided into a few groups, but we can still play with each other!” a pale yellow female added. Kids raised their hooves in the air, showing colored bands on their hooves. Twilight thought that they were just a fashion thing that young changelings wore. She knew now that they were just bands, which determined which group in the Orphanage they belonged to.
“We’re in the yellow group!” the two smallest changelings waved their hooves in front of her face. “We have the most toys in our room!” Other groups were showing their bands and explaining her why their group was better than the others - because of toys, books, the most comfortable beds...
“And our caretakers, Miss Tibia and Miss Aorta, they let us have fun at the festival! We just have to find our color balloon, when it’s high in the sky and go to them. They’ll count us and check if anyone is missing.” Twilight raised her gaze into the sky and noticed four balloons, floating in the sky, but tied with a rope. She pointed to them with her hoof.
“Those balloons?” the kids momentarily looked up and gasped - they needed to quickly find them and go back to the festival! They said their goodbyes to Twilight, two of the oldest changelings took the smallest ones on their backs, and the whole group galloped away, chasing after the balloons, which showed them the way to their caretakers. The young queen just stood there, speechless. She was looking around, examining the kids, looking for more colored bands or any other ‘jewelry’ on them. She was shocked how many little changelings were actually orphans. She walked quietly next to her guard with her head high, but gaze focused on the ground, lost in her thoughts.
“It’s better that way, My Queen.” Coxa’s voice caused her to look at him. He was smiling slightly, but again, as a proper guard, as he was looking all around them. “They are happy there. They don’t need parents, they have their caretakers, beds, food, and a place they can call home.”
“Everypon- every creature needs parents. Everyone needs love and care.” Twilight argued back, but Coxa just shook his head, still smiling.
“And they get it there. The caretakers really love their kids, they care for them.”
“But…” Twilight wanted to speak, she couldn’t accept that, but her guard looked at her with a puzzled look.
“Your Highness, I don’t know how orphanages work in Equestria, or how many orphans you have. But you don’t know how they work here either.” They stopped their walk as they reached a park, which was decorated with streamers and ribbons. The foals and adults were having fun playing games here. “Many of the kids, who are in orphanages, were already destined to be a drone, or work for the army. They were learning how to use a weapon, how do magic, how to shapeshift, how pony societies work. Many were destined to die in their youth, because they were considered too small or weak to survive and serve the queen - so they weren’t even properly fed back then.” Twilight looked at him in shock. She knew that the changelings’ lives during Chrysalis’s reign were hard, but… “Kids were taken from their mothers on the day of their birth. You call it, hmm… Kindergarten? Or a nursery? Anyway, there were specially trained females, who ‘took care’ of them. They slept on the ‘beds’ carved in stone, and dozens of kids were stacked together in a small room. No toys, no free time, no playing. What they have now… it’s like heaven to them. Don’t feel pity for them, My Queen. They really couldn’t ask for more…” he finished quietly. He shouldn’t be so open with royalty, but he had to say it. And it seemed that it had somehow broken Twilight on the inside a bit. She sat on the grass, observing the creatures. It was consoling, what Coxa had said, but on the other hoof… how much did the changelings have to suffer under Chrysalis’s reign?
“How about you?” she suddenly asked. Coxa blinked slowly and lost himself in thoughts for a few seconds.
“Me? Simple drone, Your Highness. The weakest from the litter,” he smiled, still looking away from her. “No one believed I’d be able to pass the first exam in order to become a drone. But I did, shocking every changeling, even the queen herself. I wasn’t so well nourished, but they started to give me more food when they saw the potential in me. That successful mission in Equestria helped me to get my promotion, and I started my army training.”
“Did you… take part in the first invasion?” Twilight asked, gazing at the greenest grass she had ever seen. Coxa smiled bashfully.
“First and second, Your Highness. As did every soldier.” The silence rose between them. Twilight was thinking deeply, comprehending what she just heard. Would she really be able to make changelings’ lives better after all that they’d been through? They seem happy now, even if she didn’t agree with the orphanages being enough for kids, she could see the good sides of it. After how these kids had to live, they deserved to have a place they could call home, as Coxa said earlier. Twilight suddenly stood up, taking her guard’s attention to her.
“Admiral, I need something from the castle. Could you bring it to me?” she asked with a smile, and little sparkles in her eyes. Her guard shook his head.
“I can’t leave you alone, Your Highness. Prince Pharynx ordered me to accompany you anywhere you go,” but after he saw the disappointed look on his queen’s face, he smiled slightly. “But, if we meet another soldier on our way, I will ask them to do it for you. What do you need, My Queen?” Twilight’s face brightened up as she smiled again.
“One of the wedding gifts, wrapped in green and violet paper, it’s signed ‘from your dearest number one assistant’...”
One hour later, Twilight was marching proudly between the booths on the main street, using her magic to hover the opened thick book in front of her. Or as it was more appropriately characterized: a journal. It was covered with brown leather, had a big pink six-armed star on its cover and small little white gems on its back. The young queen was rapidly brushing her phoenix quill, which was also a part of this gift, against the paper, trying to note as much as she could. She had already written about Coxa’s past and what the training of the young changelings was like, now she was trying to find the differences between males and females. At first glance, it was kind of hard because they looked almost the same. But the longer she looked at them, the more differences she could see - males were a bit taller than the females, had a bit more massive muzzles and hooves. Males also had these crystals on their neck, similar to what Thorax and Pharynx had. Even the tails, horns and ears were different! The males’ ears were a bit higher, while the females’ mostly flopped down and had no secondary color inside them. The females’ horns were smaller and less curved than the males’, and they could also be smooth instead of forked. Most of the females had their tails long and straight, whereas males’ were shorter and a bit curved up. Twilight sketched two changeling postures, and tried to describe their features on the paper. She stopped for a moment to notice that one changeling sitting at a booth with pastries, waved… to her? She then glanced at Coxa, who smiled and greeted the changeling with the bow of his head.
“Is that your friend, Admiral?” she asked, closing the journal and moving it to her side. She had asked Coxa to escort her to the castle where she found Spike’s gift, and changed her white wedding dress to a simple semi-transparent cape, which was yellow and purple at the ends, and attached to the necklace. It was way more comfortable now, she just had fallen in love with this cape when she first saw it before her wedding. Rarity just wanted to surprise her with her gift from before, so she would have something to wear for regal occasions in the Kingdom. And it was perfect, Coxa smiled at his ruler.
“Yes, Your Highness. Might I suggest patronizing his booth? He makes the best puffy bites in the whole kingdom,” he persuaded, and Twilight eagerly nodded as she changed her direction, approaching the stand. The grey-blue changeling standing behind the counter saw that the new queen was coming his way, and started to quickly correct his stand, moving the pastry and placing more of the food on the counter. When they approached, he gave them a nervous smile.
“Hello, Your Highness!” he said, a bit too loud, but after seeing Twilight’s calm expression he tried to calm down himself. “W-would like to try one of my puffy bites?” he asked, moving a tray with six multi-colored, decorated cupcakes near her. Twilight examined them closely.
“Puffy bites? Why are they called that?” she asked, as she chose one of them and took a bite, her expression changed as she felt the sweetness on her tongue. That was really good!
“Oh, that’s simple. They are just puffy, and you can eat them with just a few bites!” the changeling smiled widely, seeing his ruler’s reaction and feeling very proud of himself. “I know that in Equestria they’re called… cepcakes, I think?”
“Cupcakes, Oboytshik, they are called cupcakes. But I think ‘puffy bites’ are a better name,” Coxa said with a cocky smile. Twilight stealthily licked her lips.
“They’re delicious, Oboytshik, so good!” she said, as she opened her journal and wrote a few words there. “Can I order a dozen of them for tonight after the festival’s end? How much would that cost?” she asked, looking at the confused baker. He looked at her guard quizzically and then moved his gaze to Twilight once more.
“Um… I’m not sure if I could ask you for anything in exchange for this, Your Highness…” he murmured. Twilight shook her head and smiled.
“That’s nonsense, just tell me the price, really. It’s your right to ask for the money for the things you’ve done, it’s your job. I may be a royal now, but I can’t simply take something from you without paying,” she answered him. The changeling thought for a moment and then spoke.
“Well, if you say so, My Queen… it depends, what do you have to exchange for them?” Twilight blinked a few times, before looking at Coxa and the baker with confusion.
“Exchange?”
“Yes, Your Highness, if you insist on paying, what do you have to trade?” Oboytshik elaborated. Twilight gave a confused expression for a moment, until she was hit by a sudden realization.
“You don’t have a form of currency, do you?” she turned to her guard. Coxa shook his head.
“We barter for goods and services,” Coxa explained.
“Yes! For example, I have two jobs, and I’m also a jeweler,” Oboytshik said. “The stand next to me is where I sell jewelry. My nephew, Orran, should be there,” he looked over to the empty stand. “But it appears he’s off enjoying the festival,” he hmphed in slight annoyance, but turned his attention back to the young queen. “Anyway, I sell necklaces and other decorative jewelry in exchange for other things.”
“But what if someone doesn’t have gems to give in exchange for bread, or doesn’t want jewelry in exchange for ingredients?” Twilight asked. Oboytshik rubbed his chin.
“That is a good question, Your Highness. Sometimes I have to take goods that I don’t necessarily want or need, but I know someone else may want.”
“Yes, I’ve encountered this problem once before. I had two friends who had to trade several different items just so one of them could get a book they wanted. It ultimately ended in a trade dispute that resulted in both parties backing down from the final trade.” Twilight explained.
“Ah yes, we’ve had a lot of those lately. I’ll be honest with you, Your Majesty, I do wish there was an easier way of doing things,” Oboytshik admitted. Twilight hummed in thought. She grabbed her journal from under her wing, and began to write a few notes.
“Thank you for telling me this. How about I take your original offer and exchange it for something later?” Twilight offered, and Oboytshik smiled before stretching out a hoof.
“You have a deal, Your Majesty,” Twilight took his hoof and they shook in agreement. The changeling picked up one of the pastries and offered it to the alicorn who took it with a thankful smile.
“Was she like this in Equestria too?” Pharynx said, quietly looking at Twilight with squinted eyes. She was taking part in a 6-hoofed-changeling competition in Capital Park, paired with Coxa. She had her both left hooves tied to both Coxa’s right legs, and they were trying to reach the finish line before five other pairs. Twilight did her best, but Coxa wasn’t much help, as she had thought he would be, and they repeatedly ended up with their muzzles on the ground. When that happened for the first time, everyling gathered nearby gasped in shock, even other participants stopped and looked back, but the young queen just laughed and started to press on her guard to stand up faster and continue their game. Two times in a row they got light pink ribbons as rewards ‘for participating’, but now it seemed that they were going to get a place on a podium!
“What do you mean by ‘like that?’” Thorax answered with a question, observing his wife having fun, standing with Pharynx among the audience, who cheered for their favorites.
“I mean, so much into spending time with the subjects. Would you imagine Chrysalis doing something like that? Taking part in a game and losing to a pair of foals? Is every Princess of Equestria like that?” the young prince specified, examining the area - he was still a general on duty.
“Not as much as Twilight,” Thorax smiled at him. “It’s because she wasn’t an alicorn since her birth, like Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. Oh! and Flurry, Cadance’s daughter. She was a unicorn for most of her life, she lived in Canterlot, as the Princess’s student, then moved to Ponyville, where she became an alicorn… it was mostly her appearance which changed. She stayed the same Twilight her friends and town knew. She still has objections when her friends or ponies from Ponyville call her a ‘princess’, she refused to wear her tiara anywhere she went, only wearing it for royal occasions.”
“Huh, interesting…” Pharynx concluded. “Humble Queen of the Changelings. She’s nothing like Chrysalis and her mother…” Thorax only nodded and clapped his hooves together when Twilight and Coxa fell at the finish line, getting the third place in this round. Everyling applauded loudly when they received brown ribbons, but Twilight was also clapping her hooves and congratulating the other pairs, who took part with them. Coxa tried to run away, when Twilight started to drag him at the start line one more time, she seemed to love this game so far! “But, your Hi-” “Coxa, come on, we’re doing so great, we can win this one! Pretty please…? Just one more time...” “...Your wish is my command, Your Highness…”
“Shouldn’t he be guarding her? I don’t know how he’s supposed to protect her now, with tied hooves and his focus on the game…” Thorax said with a bit of accusation in his voice. He couldn’t bear the thought that Twilight could be hurt here, but it could happen, that’s why they assigned Coxa to be her guard. Pharynx snorted.
“My silly little brother, do you really think that only Coxa is watching her?” he asked with a cocky smile. Thorax looked around. He had only seen a few guards, but now that Pharynx suggested this, he noticed that these guards were almost everywhere Twilight and Coxa went, and now, they were glancing over the pair on the route, looking around, searching for any danger. He sighed mentally, feeling more secure and calm now, knowing that Twilight had the protection she needed. “But it’s really hard, with her not-so-royal lifestyle. She likes to be with her subjects, she trusts them… guards should be discreet, so their interactions would be like normal creatures. But then, what if the changeling she’s spending time with suddenly tried to hurt her, with guards keeping the distance from her, even if they were observing her all the time, there wouldn’t be time to react,” Pharynx said, losing his playfulness. He gave a nod to one of the guards who were looking at him at the moment, and just turned back. His surprised younger brother glanced at Twilight for the last time, then followed him out of the Park.
“Pharynx, I know that there are treats waiting for her here, but I also know that you and your guards are more than capable to keeping her safe,” he assured the prince with a smile, but Pharynx didn’t answer him. After few minutes of walking in the silence, the smaller changeling sat down on one of the benches, they were now in the south end of the park. It wasn’t decorated so beautifully as the rest, and there was noling around, so they had some privacy now. Pharynx exhaled deeply, looking at the tree crowns above them, as his younger brother took a seat next to him.
“I’m not so sure about that as you are, Thor. You seem to be as trusting as she is,” Pharynx said, looking at the king with a serious, almost accusing look. The light green changeling cowered a bit.
“You know how changelings treat me sometimes, I just think that when I try to be more open and less regal, like how Twilight is now, they’ll stop seeing me as a second Chrysalis,” he confessed. His brother shook his head slowly.
“Yeah, but you can’t forget that not every changeling was and is willing to have a pony in charge,” he reminded his brother solemnly. Thorax nodded sadly. “Many of our subjects are still under Chrysalis’s ideology, blaming ponies for what they did against us. Even though neither Chrysalis nor her mother told us what it was, or even these changelings know what was Equestria’s fault. But they still have their hatred towards them. Having Twilight, as our new ruler, even just as a co-ruler, your wife…” he ignored the blush that rosed on his brother’s cheeks. “...they think that this is a kind of control ponies threw on us to, I dunno, spy on us, make our lives worse, make our independant kingdom into Equestria’s protectorate. And her kind and open-minded behavior is too believable to be faked just to win our trust and love.”
“But it’s the complete opposite of why we did this!” Thorax argued with disbelief. “And how do you know that?” he added with doubt in his voice and on his face. Pharynx just rolled his eyes.
“Damn, Thorax, I’m the head of the army, just get used to it, please! I have my guards all over the festival to look for any suspicious behaviour. When they overhear a conversation with information like that, they report it to me. Easy. As. Pie,” he explained with a groan, but managed to calm himself after a few moments. “Look, you have to have a talk with her later. Just ask her to always bring at least one of her guards anywhere she goes, okay? She can still be herself with this whole, being with subjects on a non-royal level thing, but she has to have protection and some changelings on the lookout for any danger. I know she’s capable of protecting herself with her magic, but when would she have time to react when the danger is the changeling she’s casually talking to? How much time is needed to magically summon a knife and just push it through the body of an unaware creature? How much time does it take to react, to see it and protect yourself, jump back, ask for help? She has to know that not everyone loves her yet. And this is your job to inform her of that. You understand this, right?” Thorax nodded, lost in his thoughts. He knew that, he knew everything, he just thought that the mare who already did so much for the sake of this kingdom wouldn’t be a target of an attack. Who would want to hurt such a kind and caring princess, now queen, just for doing good things for others?
“I understand… I will talk with her later…” They didn’t have much time left to talk, because a certain lavender alicorn was trotting in their direction, excitedly waving a gold ribbon she got for first place in the air. And just behind her, her royal guard was dragging his legs, still with grass under his armor. Thorax and Pharynx looked at each other and smiled.
“Later. Now just let her, and us, enjoy this little festival… I hope that, in time, everyling will accept her… and the ponies will do the same with us.”
“Now that the prizes for the best kites have been given away, I think that our little festival is coming to an end,” Thorax spoke from his podium, his wife standing by his right and his brother on his left. The sun was setting slowly, and the whole sky was starting to turn dark, as the day was making a place for the night. The crowds gathered on the roads and in front of the castle were a bit disappointed, as always when a fun event has to end. But it was a tiring and exciting day for everyone, and deep inside, everyling as well as the queen just wanted to go to bed and rest for good. “But worry not, the next festival is in less than a year!” the changeling smiled and cleared his throat, magic was carrying his voice to every creature. “Today we celebrated a great day, one worth celebrating. The day when our kind made an alliance with the land of Equestria and its citizens, and the day when we also got a new ruler, who will help us in our development,” he recited, looking at his subjects with a calm expression. Pharynx stood next to him and glanced at his new queen to see that she was looking at Thorax hesitantly, supposedly trying to interrupt him gently to say something before he ended the festival, but the king was too focused on his speech that he didn’t notice it. “So now, I officially declare the festival’s-”
“Last attraction!” Twilight smiled nervously and stepped in front of her husband. Thorax stopped, surprised by her and looked at her quizzically as she sent him an apologetic smile, before turning back to her new subjects. “I just wanted to thank you all for the warm welcome you gave me today. I really am honored to become your queen. And this…” Twilight looked at the sky and smiled proudly, letting the aura of her light-violet magic embrace her horn. “...is my way to show my gratitude to all of you…” she opened her wings and shot up in the air, flapping furiously to get to just the right height. She focused her magic, glancing one last time at the horizon to see the moment the Sun dipped below it, and let the energy burst forth from her. A big, pink-violet star appeared from her horn and flew through the sky, making the effect similar to the one she performed at the Summer Sun Celebration in Canterlot, but this one was different, as it actually stayed in the sky for longer, magically coloring it in twilight colors. She heard the changelings’ gasps, applause, and cheers. She gracefully landed back on the podium, blushing from the pride she felt at the moment. Thorax just smiled at her, after he moved his gaze from the sky to her, and gently pushed her closer to the end of the podium before him. She glanced at him and his brother, but they just nodded in sync. Twilight felt another wide smile appearing on her muzzle as she faced the crowds. “With that, we officially declare the first Summer Twilight Festival’s end!”
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i am now craving another chapter ... also will Queen Twilight be getting changed? because isn't it the job of the Queen to produce drones?
So far so good. Really loving the story
9568774
Changelings in this story reproduce like ponies.
Aw, really? A love triangle between Thorax, Starlight, and Twilight? As if the drama wasn't already feeling unnecessarily forced--it really doesn't need this on top of it all.
Wait...aren't these two from the same faction of changeling military? How can you have both a general and an admiral in the same military? I mean, I guess you're free to play with the ranks as you see fit, but normally the ranks of "general" and "admiral" are basically synonymous in rank for the respective military organization they are in--general for army, admiral for navy, etc. So it just seems jarring to one's expectations of those ranks.
Okay...so I'm guessing a pro-Chrysalis changeling conspiracy against Twilight/Equestria going on here, while Chrysalis proceeds with furthering her plans to take Equestria back in, well, Equestria while Twi is away and distracted. I'd be shocked if that's not actually and largely the direction this is all going in now, with this new data.
I still say setting up Twi as the queen of the changelings is going to backfire epically on Chrysalis, and only prove to be more hindrance than than help for...whatever her exact plans are. If this really is the jist of her plan, then she's not thought it out or executed it all that well. The forced wedding still seems frivolous and only raised red flags Chrysalis should be trying to avoid, as those flags would ultimately only point back to her, the last thing she wants if she wants such a plan to succeed. It really would've been more intriguing to me if the whole arranged marriage was completely unrelated, and, if anything, Chrysalis just chose to make use of the distraction it provided to further her own agenda. Theoretically, you could even do this same sort of story without the wedding altogether. In fact, that tale sort of appeals to me more--Twilight assigned by the Equestrian government to serve as a supervisor of the reformed changelings to make sure they stay in line and adhere to Equestrian interests, and along the way eventually falls for tall, lime-colored, and antlered Thorax and winds up in the middle of a pro-Chrysalis changeling conspiracy. Much more straightforward and less convoluted, while still achieving much of all of the same goals. Also no love triangle junk. It's so cliche and, as I said, just forced drama the story doesn't need. I can't see how it'd really be that important to the story overall anyway--as I see the story at the moment, I think it can do just as well without the love triangle without losing anything terribly important in the process.
That all said, this will probably be the last comment you get from me on this story. I gave it as much chance as I could, but unfortunately, I'm just not getting enough enjoyment out of the story to dedicate the time to keep reading, not with the many other things in life pressing for my attention.
But despite it ultimately not winning me over, I hope the rest of the fic goes well enough for your satisfaction, if nothing else.
9568801
No love triangle really, though it does have some relevance in later chapters. As for the army ranking... yeah I don't know why my co-author did that I wasn't really paying attention to that. This chapter I had the least hand in writing so that may explain some of the weirdness due to my co-author not being a native English speaker (I think English is her third language.) I probably should have been paying more attention to what was going on in this chapter, but I was kind of distracted by other projects.
Sorry, this story hasn't captured your interest. If you are curious about what's going on in the background of the story you can pm if you don't have any intention of continuing but are still curious.
TFW I can see a legitimate possibility of Thorax getting cheated out of his throne and Twilight just plain taking over as the sole leader of the Changeling Empire.
The foundations are already set since it is starting to look like Twilight is becoming more influencial than Thorax himself.
I do not want this to happen.
Man I hope that starlight finds peace
9568798
what about Queen Twilight... will she be changed into a Changeling ( Queen Class ) ?
9569500
9569041
I don't know where you got that impression, but that isn't happening.
I personally think it should’ve been called the Starlight Twilight Festival or just reverse the naming. Yes it was because of Twilight’s teachings that Starlight as able to get her group together and save everybody. But this just feels like it gives Starlight no credit at all.
Kind of weird the love triangle element was introduced in this chapter.
In my opinion, I would have had Starlight miss THorax and have to travel all the way to the Changeling Kingdom to talk to Thorax.
If the love triangle is supposed to have a role later, introducing that plot point now only muddles the impact of the major plot point going on now, which is Twilight becoming the new Changeling Queen.
Nonetheless, a really great chapter. You captured Twilight's character extremely well here.
When's the next chapter my main dude?
9672262
I don't know life has me very busy. It may be some time sorry.
9672316
Sa'll good man
Real life first.
So... It was like 1,5 month since last comment.
Any progress on the next chapter?
9749269
Not, really neither of us have had time to write. I'm trying to fit time in before bronycon, but it's a struggle.
9749455
Well... That is sad.
Have fun at Bronycon!
umm Cadance wasn't born an Alicorn , She turned into one
9794452
AU tag
9860214
Eeeeh I honestly don't know when I'll be able to update. Neither Julunis14 or I have a lot of time and we are both kind of stuck on the next chapter. And even when we finish that one we'll probably not post it until we finish the two after it.
Any updates for us?
10090717
I'll tell her you liked it.
It was actually Julanis14 who wrote most of that part
9672262
I'm hoping to continue someday soon. It's just a matter of me finding time and motivation the latter I'm gaining more of every day, the former I'm, unfortunately, having less of, so we'll see.
10154737
Thank you for pointing it out before I go back to writing this I'll be running the previous chapters through Grammarly to check for mistakes so that it's a little more up to par with upcoming chapters.
10154891
It's actually been started long ago we just got busy with other things so we do have something to go back too.
Very definitely for the best this is canceled. So much stupid going on by literally everyone in the story, and not enough justification for any of it from the authors.
The AU tag is earned. But I feel it's only there to try and justify the story's existence at all, and not to try and draw people in.
It's not even the ship. Which could have worked, and even have the nobles try and take advantage of it. That would've worked better.
10300263
God, you are a huge dick. People put work into stories, and I know this story does have problems, but a shit ton of effort went into it, and you just popping in and going; "Haha, glad this is cancelled!" Is literally so fucking scummy.
10392664
it's fine don't worry about it.
10300263 10392664
The thing is, though? I...sort of agree with morion87 here. I mean, just review my past comments for this fic and you can see I had a lot of issues with this fic's approach. But the author(s) weren't interested in addressing them or trying to fix them, and instead kept persisting with those flaws regardless, and it just...made those problems worse and worse the further they got into it. Honestly, I'm not terribly surprised it got cancelled in the end--a lot of us could see the writing on the wall in that the fic was effectively killing itself refusing to address these problems.
And it's a darn shame it went down that way, too. All told, the premise had loads of potential, which was why I made so many comments about its problems (and why I'm back here now getting back into it regardless)--I saw that potential and I really wanted to see it tap into it because then it could've truly taken off and been a more noteworthy fic, and by addressing the flaws, I was hoping I could help it better itself and get closer to that. Unfortunately, I eventually saw I was preaching to the choir on that and gave it up. Pity.
Oh well, so much for regrets all around, right?
10431872
I would like to address something; the story is dead not from the issues that plagued it in it's writing but from real would problems. I canceled imperfect because Julunis14 and I are not really friends anymore and since and I couldn't bring myself to finish it without her I decided to cancel the story.
I would also like to state that we were very aware of the issues and had the full intent to fix them, the unfortunate thing was we were not 100% sure what we really wanted the start of the story to be. We had a way more concrete idea of how the middle and end of the story was to be written, but the beginning was something that we always intended to change and fix some time down the line to better fit the rest of the story that followed it.
The story is not dead because of the issues with the writing it's dead because of real-world circumstances.
10432284
Understood, so I'll give you that, but as before, the rest of my comments still stand.
10432288
That's fair.
10432284
I think a lot of the problems, for me, are explained now that you say this. Real life is no fun for sure. But the real problem is simple I feel.
Having the beginning be set up to be changed down the line is a very bad idea. Having a concrete, 100% will not change a thing about it, idea at the very beginning is a good idea.
You two set had it set up where people were going to call you out on it when nothing made sense, and there wasn't even a temporary reason for any of it in universe.
I know the story is dead. But reading this comment makes it clear this story wasn't as planned or even well thought out as it could have been at the point it matters the most. The beginning.
Just my two cents. I still like a lot of your stories, so I haven't given up on you as an author.