Chapter 51 - Secrets and Changes
Starlight’s trial had not been the only one on the docket of the Royal Equestrian Court. A hoof-selected group consisting of members of the Guild of Mages and an architect searched Spell Nexus’ mansion where they found a hidden room with several scrolls and two books of spells that included the dark arts. Unlike Starlight, the unicorn mage had been utterly corrupted by dark magic, a subject that he had chosen to study in spite of Princess Celestia’s long-standing prohibition of the discipline. However, just before the trial of the ring leader and his accomplices was about to start, something happened that threw everything on its head.
Princess Cadance had come down to Canterlot to shop for some foal clothes and just possibly show off Flurry Heart. With Sunburst in tow, the new mother had joined all three triarchs to socialize in the Large Castle Sunroom before she planned to head out. A baby-talking Sunburst was in charge of attempting to get food close to the little foal’s mouth while a snickering Starlight had the job of cleaning it up from wherever the little tyke tossed it.
Suddenly, both Cadance and Penumbra looked up and gasped. My bodyguard said, “Major Dusky Wings?!” I turned to find myself a few body lengths away from the most physically fit thestral I had ever seen. If there was any fat on his body, I couldn’t see it. His movements, even in armor, were completely silent and flowed like water.
I recognized him now, or at least his eyes as he hesitantly raised his head and nodded. I had only seen him at night when darkness seemed to pool around him like a cloak. The leader of the Night Guard Special Task Force looked as out-of-place in the daytime as… well… I was tempted to say ‘Pinkie Pie on a rock farm,’ but this was Equestria where highly improbable things happened on a fairly regular basis.
Princess Cadance said, “Major, if I recall correctly, you once said that the only time you would be seen during the day—”
The soldier finished, “… would be right before they closed the coffin. Yes, Your Highness. An unexpected pleasure to see you again.” He sighed. “I’ve already undergone four identity checks just on the way here.”
Trixie gave me a nervous glance then lifted her chin. “Such is the burden of those who establish a reputation, Major. Well, then this must be a matter of great importance! What did you need to say to the three leaders of Equestria?”
The stallion took a deep breath then said, “With regret, Your Highnesses, I must respectfully request that I be immediately relieved as leader of the Special Task Force. I also request an indefinite leave of absence from my military duties.”
All of us paused. Twilight said, “May we learn why you are deciding to do so, and why at this time?”
“I must decline, Your Highness. It is a personal matter. In any event, I do not feel I am capable of fulfilling my duties in the manner they deserve.”
The timing of this stunk to high heaven. I gave Cadance a hard stare then turned to address the bat pony. “Major Dusky Wings, I’m afraid we cannot accept your request at this time. This is not because of your service record, which is impeccable, but because of the unusual circumstances of your most recent missions. However, if Princess Cadance is willing, she is an experienced counselor who holds patient confidentiality in the highest regard. The three of us would consider her recommendation very seriously if you choose to speak with her.”
The soldier’s expression became hard and his eyes showed that same iron determination that I was familiar with.
Princess Cadance walked up to him and said, “It has been a long time since we talked, Major. Would you do me the favor of at least letting us get caught up? If nothing else, I’d like to know if your team discovered anything of interest in the Crystal Caverns in the weeks they were searched after my wedding. I never did get to read that report.”
With a blink, the hardness was gone from the thestral’s face. “Of course, Your Highness. But I don’t want to inconvenience you and upset your plans for the day.”
Cadance had gently guided Dusky Wings to walk with her towards the entrance to the room. “Nonsense, my little pony. It’s a rare treat to speak with you. In fact, I had been meaning…” The rest of the words were cut off by the door closing behind them.
I tapped my hoof on the floor a few times as I gathered my thoughts. “I’d like to delay the start of Afternoon Court today.”
That got me a surprised look from my wife. “Is there something you’d like to share, Dowser?”
I shook my head. “My gut is telling me this is something critical. In fact, I don’t want to start the trials tomorrow until we’ve gotten to the bottom of this mystery.”
Twilight said, “I can take the shift if you and Trixie want to wait until Cadance returns.”
“No, I feel this is important enough for all of us to stick around.”
Twilight and my wife shared a look before Trixie said to a guardsman, “Please inform our petitioners that there will be a two–hour delay to the start of afternoon court and that will run an extra two hours in length if necessary.”
The unicorn soldier saluted. “At once, Your Highness!” She then teleported away.
Trixie turned back to me. “Any guesses?”
“I’d rather not speculate without more information. Let’s take the opportunity to get to know if Little Miss Sunshine back there is a delightful cherub or a rampaging demon.” I smiled. “Frankly, from Shining Armor’s letters, I’d swear he has two different children.”
Over the next hour, all confusion was laid to rest – looked and cooed like a cherub when happy, wailed and screamed like a demon when she wasn’t. For instance, as soon as she realized she couldn’t see her mother any longer. Internally, I wondered how long this would affect my now quite-frazzled wife, whose sleight of hoof tricks and light shows were only aggravating the baby. At least for the moment, I estimated the chance of Trixie asking me to stay with her through the next heat season to be approximately zero. Thank goodness little Flurry’s magic-suppressing mane clip stayed in place – with the help of a few spells, I understood. Otherwise, this time it would have been Canterlot Castle that looked like Swiss cheese.
Right after Sunburst gave up his last emergency lollipop to briefly appease the monster, the beast’s mother returned with a noticeably more relaxed thestral major. Cadance smiled and came to pick up her now beaming infant. “Oh, look who’s been good! You have, haven’t you?” This was followed by a gentle nose boop that sent the tiny slice of Tartarus into giggling fits. The new mom gave us an innocent smile as if the unkempt looks of everypony that had tried to assuage her daughter were either not obvious or not important. “Major Wings has decided he would like to share something with you, although I must insist that no pony here discuss it elsewhere.” She waited until she got nods from everypony present, including the guards. After Trixie, Twilight, and I resumed our previous seating locations with Sunburst and Starlight behind us, he began.
“Exactly thirty-two days ago, I perceived emotional stirrings of the way I did … well… the way every single thestral did in the approximately two hours that Nightmare Moon had returned to Equestria. You are all aware that she created our race a thousand years ago. Along with that heritage comes the desire to serve her… no, that’s inaccurate. My apologies. Not just serve her, but to give our souls completely. Surrender our free will and be nothing but unthinking meat-puppets – slaves to her whimsy. I will admit it is a seductive call but I’ve been able to ignore it, believing it to be a side effect of being close to the Doomsday Cult members that the Task Force is charged to guard. I’ve assigned to myself the security of Prisoner Zero One named Spell Nexus. Unfortunately, that made me constantly exposed to his nonstop blathering about ‘Her Inevitable Dark and Glorious Rule.” My schedule rolled me off duty for two days of mandatory leave yesterday at sunrise. When I awoke five hours before sundown, I found the disturbing call to be the same, if not stronger.”
He shuffled his hooves and took a drink of water from a glass offered by Cadance. “This morning at ten minutes past sunrise, I sacked out per my standard routine. Normally, I don’t remember my dreams, but I sure as Tartarus did this time. Nightmare Moon flew before me, with all the dark glory and magnificence that Prisoner Zero One had promised.”
I shared a look with Twilight. She nodded, probably following the same avenue of thought. OK, most likely several city blocks ahead of me after having already explored and discarded numerous dead-ends I hadn’t even reached yet.
Dusky Wings said, “Of course, I got over my initial shock and sprang to attack her with my wing blades and vibro-sword, screaming to keep her words from reaching my ears. The apparition swirled away like a dark fog and I was left with nothing but her mocking laughter surrounding me. That’s when I awoke and decided I needed to get my head knocked around and proper stuffing shoved in before going back to duty. Cadan… Her Highness Mi Amore Cadenza convinced me that you five would be the most qualified to identify and eliminate the problem.”
Twilight said, “Starlight? Please scan Major Dusky Wings as we have been doing recently.”
Starlight trotted up to face the thestral and gave a reassuring smile. “With your permission, I’m going to scan you for the magic that your body is holding. May I proceed?” At his nod, her horn let out a wide beam that swept up and down his form. She repositioned herself to his right side, then behind him, repeating the scan. When done, she looked up to her friendship studies teacher. “710 millithaums of Dark Magic.”
I had suspected being close to the cult members over a long period of time had affected him in some way. Trust the Nerd Princess to nail it on her first guess. Her reaction was not one of joy at having a scientific theory validated.
“Blast it all to Tartarus! They aren’t recovering at all. The Dark Magic isn’t dissipating as we theorized. It’s leaking into every pony around them.”
Twilight, Starlight, Cadance, and Sunburst huddled up and started brainstorming. Princess Sparkle teleported in a few standing chalkboards and the magical equations started appearing at a fast and furious rate. Their speech was hardly more understandable as they started discussing tensors, convolution, closed surface integrals, contours, and other terms and names of spells that I did not recognize.
I took the opportunity to walk up to Major Dusky Wings and hold out a hoof. He snapped to attention with a sharp salute, but I just grinned and held my pose. That was fine, I could do this all day. Eventually, he got the hint, relaxed, and completed the hoof bump. I said, “I want to thank you personally for your courage, Major. If you hadn’t spoken up, no pony would have known about this new threat. Now, at least, we can let the eggheads work on the right problem.”
“I am satisfied that I could do my duties, Your Highness.”
I suppose that’s as close to a ‘You're Welcome’ as I could reasonably expect.
Behind me, I heard my wife sigh. She said into my ear, “Trixie thinks she has had enough of these ‘eggheads’ as you called them.” She raised her voice to be heard over the yammering of the brain trust. “If you four are done wasting our time, perhaps we can concentrate on the real problem!”
That brought their discussion to a halt. Twilight said, “But we’re trying to determine the mechanism by which the Dark Magic leaves the body. That has to be—”
“Trixie knows what you are discussing; Trixie’s strenuous exertions at studying unicorn spellcraft let me glean that much from your deliberations. No – we need to concentrate on counteracting the Dark Magic; nullifying it in the host body so it can no longer contaminate others.”
The foursome glanced back and forth. Sunburst said, “That sounds… prudent, but there is no single type of magic that is the direct opposite of Dark Magic. I read through Twilight’s dissertation she prepared for the upcoming trial. Her recent studies confirmed that along with all types of pony magic; dragon, changeling, and even chaos magic cannot nullify Dark Magic.”
Penumbra spoke up. “Well, how about just plain ‘light’ then?” All eyes turned to her. “I mean, as a foal, I was told that Celestia’s poison… uh…. her magic flowed along each beam of light from her sun. Surely Dark Magic can’t like that.”
“Excuse me,” said Dusky Wings. “Are you seriously asking me to…” he shivered and his mouth contorted. “… sun-bathe?”
“Not yet!” said a smiling Twilight. “We have to set up proper testing conditions first!”
The thestral stallion stood in place, blinking in apparent shock. I walked up next to him and clapped a forehoof on his shoulder. “Cheer up, soldier. If I can survive Princess Twilight and her rounds of testing, then you can power through them with little or no difficulty.”
Through my hoof, I felt a few trembles in his body. He muttered, “The shadows will never be my friends again.”
The four magic experts were at it once more, although their discussion did not last long before Starlight began constructing a large hexagonal frame and stand from reddish wooden boards. Meanwhile, Cadance and Twilight continuously applied a spell of some sort to four large clear crystals on the floor in front of them. Sunburst bent over and examined each crystal, which I now recognized as calcite. After a minute or so, he declared the results to be good and the two princesses switched to using their magic to divide the crystals into thin slices, then the slices into much smaller pieces. These tiny stone shapes apparently interlocked because, in a very short period of time, all four crystals had been transformed into a slightly rippling hexagonal sheet of tiny pieces of milky-white stone. Twilight fit the sheet snugly into the now completed frame that was a bit wider than a pegasus’ wingspan.
Cadance came over to encourage the major to put a foreleg into the light streaming through one of the room’s large windows while Starlight levitated the frame to allow every part of the sheet to be exposed to sunlight. The shadow cast upon the screen by the major’s leg made an unremarkable silhouette when viewed from the other side of the sheet. Several seconds later, it began to change. Spots of red appeared and occasionally shifted in the area defined by the shadow. Starlight and Twilight shared a delighted laugh and a high hoof. Dusky Wings craned his head around the frame to see what the fuss was about.
I, however, was confused. “What, exactly, are we looking at here?”
Sunburst said, “Each tiny crystal in the array is detecting the Dark Magic present between itself and the sun.”
Trixie moved up to my side to study the glowing dots. “So like an X-Ray?”
“Yes, but this one updates continuously, though with a few seconds delay.”
Twilight’s lavender aura enveloped the thestral stallion and lifted him slightly off the ground and directly into the sunlight. To his credit, Dusky only hissed once before he got control of himself. Twilight said, “Please relax, Major. Face your body and wings directly at the sun and hold that position.”
Dusky Wings followed his orders, though his breathing was shallow and rapid. Meanwhile, every other eye was staring at the patterns and intensity of the red dots and lines on his silhouette.
Starlight said, “It seems to be fairly evenly distributed throughout the body. The thickest parts have the most Dark Magic, where the sun’s magic has to go through the most tissue.”
“I can see additional definition for the bone structure,” said Sunburst. “It must accumulate in the skeleton, at least a bit.”
The conversation died away and the only sound heard was Dusky’s breathing, slowly becoming more regular, and the scratch of Twilight’s quill as it furiously recorded data and her observations.
After a few minutes, Penumbra said, “Is it my imagination, or is there less Dark Magic in the wings now?”
I said, “I think… you’re right. There aren’t as many red dots and their intensity has lessened.”
By the time Twilight decided to end the trial at ten minutes, very little red remained in the thestral’s wings. Dusky Wings sighed in relief as soon as he was set down in the shade again while Starlight took a fresh scan. After two more scans from different angles, she declared, “704 millithaums.”
Trixie asked, “Was that just from the decrease we saw in the wings?”
Twilight referred to her calculations. “No. That would account for only about thirty percent of the decrease. The formula characterizing the nullification process appears to be a combination of surface area and volume. Another hour of tests should narrow down the coefficients to an acceptable range of values.”
The stallion took a drink from the glass floated to him by Princess Cadance and said, “Let’s get on with it then.”
“Not as bad as you thought?” I asked with a smirk.
He gave me a sheepish look before striding back into the full sunlight and holding his wings out at his sides, waiting for Twilight’s magic to levitate him back in place. “Fairly restful, once I got used to it.”
Over the next hour, while the deadliest thestral alive hung in the air like a bizarre suncatcher, the rest of us formulated a plan. By the following afternoon, we were ready.
Reporters from all of Canterlot’s newspapers were brought to the throne room. Trixie, myself, and Twilight had all dressed up for the occasion in our finest royal vestments.
Twilight had wanted to make the announcement but, after a long discussion, begrudgingly admitted that she was not yet skilled at telling little white lies in a convincing manner. Perhaps that was putting it kindly if her pot of chips at the end of any Royal Poker Night was an indicator. Instead, Princess Trixie took a step forward and smiled. “My little ponies – the triarchs of Equestria have gathered you here to make a Royal Announcement. Only yesterday, our castle medical staff determined all of the Nightmare Cult members are suffering from a magical illness that saps the victim of Vitamin D and causes anti-social behavior. As a result, their trials will be put on indefinite hold until they are deemed cured upon which time they will be re-evaluated.”
“The Crown has reserved the entire Celestia Wing of the famous Villa Jodhpurs in the sunny Hebridal Archipelago. The afflicted ponies will stay there until they show no sign of the disease, then stay an additional day as an extra precaution.”
Only after that information had been processed and the murmuring died down did she continue. “The disease has also been found at low but detectable levels in some ponies that are friends, co-workers, or family members of the accused. Those ponies will also be guests at the resort for a minimum of two days at the Crown’s expense. If anypony has had close or frequent contact with the list of ponies I am again providing to the press, please report to the castle so you can be tested.”
She smiled. “With your help, this disease will be eradicated quickly and efficiently. While the threat it poses to a pony’s health is minor, the insidious effects it can have on the psyche make it a high priority for the Equestrian Throne. We will provide updates as we receive information from our medical staff on location. Thank you.”
With that, the three of us left, ignoring the questions called after us.
What we didn’t announce was the exact nature of the “disease,” or that the cult members would receive career counseling. Each would have a chance to get a fresh start at a new profession while on supervised probation. I didn’t expect them all to keep their noses clean, but this was another step towards me embracing the rehabilitation vs. punishment aspect that reflected the spirit of Harmony that made Equestria prosper. As it turned out, all but three of the cultists stayed out of trouble. Garrote Wire, for instance, got a job at a griffon slaughterhouse where his special talent was greatly appreciated.
The ruse to uncover all ponies who might have been exposed to Dark Magic worked a little too well. When the first batch of civilians returned after two days of sunbathing at arguably the ritziest resort in Equestria, the castle was flooded by every ‘business partner’, jilted lover, passing acquaintance, and milkmaid that might conceivably have had contact with one of the accused. For a week, the Crown also reserved two-thirds of the Luna Wing at the resort just to keep up with the crush of infected tropical paradise vacation-seekers.
As for Spell Nexus, his extensive knowledge of all types of magic let him see through our ruse. I understand he vowed to bring about the return of his precious Nightmare Moon with or without her Dark Magic. Fine. Without it is.
The archmage was confined to his own private sunroom at the outskirts of the resort, attended to by a cast of guards that rotated frequently to stay decontaminated. It would be months before he was drained of all Dark Magic, and if Spell Nexus was ever allowed to return to Canterlot, he would be kept under house arrest in his mansion, with multiple horn suppression rings in place. He would never hold a position of authority again.
Our lives settled down into normality for a while, but I have learned that normal was a very transient state in Equestria before something came along to make our lives ‘interesting’ once more. This time, it was heralded by a Royal Guard bursting into the dining room where the princesses and I were having a meal.
This being a Wednesday, there was no afternoon session of Day Court. This was reserved for various activities such as the magic lessons that Twilight gave to both Trixie and me. The alicorn would be doing a Night Court session after dinner although Trixie and I alternated with her each week. Once a week had been found to be adequate to deal with the needs of our subjects who found it difficult to attend Day Court. The length of Night Court varied in proportion to those needs and the presiding royalty made sure they had a good sleep beforehand. Therefore, while Trixie and I had eaten lunch, Twilight had just finished her breakfast when Private Diligent Watch hastily entered the dining room.
The Royal Guard saluted and then rather breathlessly said, “Your Highnesses – Ambassador Thorax’s cocoon is showing activity. We believe he’s hatching!”
Twilight leaped to her hooves and raced for the door.
“Have you informed Queen Carpacia?” I asked as Trixie and I hastened to follow.
“Sergeant Sterling Shield said that he would attend to that detail, Your Highness.”
Of course, he would. The private didn’t have to be aware that Sterling was a Red Changeling to know that he was the official liaison between the Red Hive and Canterlot.
We caused quite a stir as we galloped through the palace to the room where Thorax’s cocoon was kept. We royals were supposed to keep a calm dignity when traversing the castle, although I stretched that quite a lot on many occasions in my constant effort not to end up like the stuffy nobles. Our obvious haste was a cause for concern for many, and I heard Diligent Watch trying to allay their fears. I tripped on my nemesis, the stairs, but caught myself with my wings. It had been a while since I had face-planted thanks to finally getting competent with flying, but it would have been nicer if my klutziness could be dealt with in any way besides turning into Marklestia.
The door guard saw us coming and held it open for us. We found Corporal Keen Eyes watching the writhing cocoon suspended from the ceiling. The Royal Guards were always assigned in pairs to watch over Thorax because it was an extremely boring task. They had permission to do just about anything they felt like during their watches as long as they constantly checked on their responsibility. However, it also meant that one of them could be sent as a messenger while the other remained to observe.
“Report!” Twilight commanded.
Keen Eyes saluted and said, “Ambassador Thorax’s cocoon started twitching approximately a quarter hour ago. That rapidly grew to what you are seeing now, upon which I dispatched Private Diligent Watch to report to you. That is all, Your Highness.”
Twilight frowned. “He should have split the cocoon by now. Why is he still inside?”
“Maybe he’s too weak?” I said.
“Trixie thinks you know what you should do, Princess Twilight. Thorax needs you.”
Twilight nodded and approached the cocoon. She touched her horn to it and it abruptly stilled. There was no glow because she was pouring her love into him, not magic. Then with a mighty heave, the cocoon split and its occupant spilled out with a splash of fluids. The changeling sprawled on the floor, coughing for a moment before he raised his head and his eyes met Twilight’s.
“Hello, my love,” he said.
I don’t think he had noticed either Trixie or me staring at him. The changeling had changed. A lot. Gone was the black chitin, replaced by various muted shades of green. As his gossamer wings stretched out, we could see that they were larger with whorls of light green that seemed to glow on their own. He now possessed wing casings of green highlighted in red. A muted reddish mane had replaced the head crest, and while his horn had grown a little, it was nothing like either Chrysalis’ or Carpacia’s. Instead, he had sprouted a pair of pale red antlers. And when he got up onto his hooves, another fact became obvious.
Twilight embraced him passionately. “I missed you so much.” She apparently didn’t care about the leftover goo that covered his form, but my wife did. With a roll of her eyes, Trixie’s horn flashed and all the sticky fluids covering the floor and two lovers shrank and disappeared. Quite a handy trick!
Thorax returned the hug and replied, “I felt your presence every day. But why are you smaller now?”
Twilight drew back just enough to look at his face. She giggled and said, “I haven’t gotten smaller – you’ve gotten taller.”
Indeed he had. While not quite as big as Carpacia, or at least not yet, Thorax had grown quite a lot in stature as befitted a new queen, or a king, in this case, I suppose. Hopefully, metamorphosis hadn’t changed that part about Thorax. I really couldn’t tell although his voice still sounded masculine to me. He also seemed to be very different from anypony’s expectations, including his own. He blinked in surprise as he turned his head to look at himself.
“This is very strange,” he muttered.
Twilight said, “Not even Queen Carpacia was sure what would happen. The mixing of two hives had not been done before even in their distant past. The important thing though is – how do you feel?”
Thorax lowered the leg that he had been examining and faced Twilight. “I feel… different. Good, but strange. I sense a need but I don’t know what it is.”
A voice came from the doorway. “You are experiencing the need to lead other changelings. It is instinctive in all changeling princes and princesses.”
I turned to see Carpacia there with her two familiar guards. Her prompt arrival suggested that she had expected Thorax to hatch about this time and had been staying in Canterlot in anticipation for the rebirth. She strode into the room and started looking over Thorax with a critical eye. We waited patiently for her to be done.
“This is unprecedented,” Carpacia finally declared. “While I had been unsure of what the result would be, it’s fairly obvious that Thorax gets some of his traits from either Red Changelings or Crystal Changelings. However, there are aspects that are a mystery to me. I believe the extent of your changes explains why you needed an extra month of time and a steady supply of Twilight’s love to complete your metamorphosis. The coloration is quite remarkable and I half expected Thorax to emerge as a female, but he has not.”
I thought to myself that the continuance of Thorax’s gender would be a relief to Twi, at least. I turned to her bodyguard who had threatened me soon after Carpacia’s arrival. “So does that mean your queen lost a bet?”
The changeling winced, looked guiltily at Carpacia, then pretended I hadn’t said anything. The other bodyguard tried to suppress a smile while indicating his companion with a slight head nod, then resumed his ‘at attention’ stance.
“It is none of your concern, and please do not badger my guards, Prince Mark Wells,” said the queen.
I smirked. Not afraid to bet and a bit salty when tasting defeat. That sounded like fun to me. I’d have to ask Twi if it was possible to play card games with an emotivore and still keep it fair.
Carpacia continued, “Anyway, I believe my Emergence-Day gift can be modified to suit.” She proceeded to float three items from her saddlebags: a ring, a crown in the shape of a short arc, and a collar. “These electrum pieces are the regalia once worn by my first daughter, Princess Pterostigma.” The jewelry lengthened and warped in her magic. “May you wear these as proudly and fight as nobly as she, Prince Thorax of the Crystal Hive. I look forward to the day you depose the mad queen and become the first true king of a changeling hive.”
Thorax bent his neck down to allow the jewelry to be placed on his horn, between his antlers, and around his neck. When he raised his head again, he indeed looked as royal as his name suggested.
He said, “Thank you, Queen Carpacia. I will endeavor with every fiber of my being to make the Crystal Changelings worthy of becoming friends of both Equestria and the other hives.”
“Good,” replied the queen. “Completely non-standard, but I have come to expect that. Very Good.”
“What about those antlers? Do other changelings possess them?” I asked.
“I have antlers?” Thorax asked, reaching up to his head.
“No, they don’t,” Carpacia replied. “But likewise, there never has been a changeling king before. All previous changeling princes could not ascend because they were sterile. I can only speculate that your antlers and the diamond-shaped bulges on your chest are male traits.”
That made as much sense as anything else. We were probably looking at a being that Equestria had never seen until now, and what that meant for the changeling race, only time would tell.
“So, what happens now?” Trixie asked.
“Thorax must come to my hive to start his training,” Carpacia said.
“What?! No!” Twilight exclaimed. “I’ve only just gotten him back after all these weeks. Besides, I believe he can get all the instruction he needs right here in Canterlot. He can be taught self-defense, pony government, the art of friendship, and learn more about his pony allies.”
Carpacia scowled. “The whole point of elevating Thorax to royalty was to prepare him to take over Chrysalis’ hive. He can’t learn how to run one in a pony city!”
Twilight was not cowed. “Thorax was already learning how to be a leader and he’s supposed to be the ambassador for all changelings. He can’t do that from your hive!”
“He’s already feeling the pull of leadership – he needs to be among his kind to hone that skill!”
“You can’t just take away the stallion that I love to suit your preferences!”
“You’re a princess, and you must sometimes sacrifice your desires for the greater good!”
“Don’t tell me how to do my job – I’ve been working toward the greater good with Thorax long before you even knew about him!”
I could see this turning into an all-out bitch-fight and a glance at my wife suggested that she was thinking the same thing. Before Carpacia could respond to Twilight, I bellowed, “QUIET!”
Both Twilight and Carpacia stared at me in surprise. I took advantage of the lull.
“Has either of you considered what Thorax wants to do?”
All eyes turned to Thorax. His ears were laid back against his head and he bit his lip. After a pregnant pause, he finally replied. “I want to be with Twilight, but I undertook this because I understood that I would be the Crystal Hive’s only hope for survival if Chrysalis is caught or killed. I want to learn how to run a hive, but my heart belongs here in Canterlot.”
He gazed with adoration at Twilight and Carpacia and her guards gasped.
“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?” I asked.
She gave me a puzzled look. “Wrong? There’s nothing wrong. Thorax is radiating love energy at a prodigious rate! Where is he getting it from?”
“Trixie thinks it’s obvious – from Princess Twilight, of course.”
“No, he should have consumed all of it to power his metamorphosis and rebirth,” Carpacia replied.
“I may be speaking from a position of relative ignorance,” I said, “but I think we may be looking at something new in the changeling species – something that probably should have happened centuries ago except for your tradition for never interbreeding between the hives. Thorax is a hybrid, and hybrids are known to be healthier, stronger, and possess new traits. To put it bluntly, he is an evolved changeling. I’m guessing he doesn’t just consume love – he creates it too.”
“Such a thing has never been heard of, and yet I cannot deny what I am witnessing.” Carpacia’s expression firmed. “But that just makes it even more imperative that he trains at my hive.”
“But it’s his heart that makes him strong, so that should be nurtured here!” Twilight countered.
‘Here we go again,’ I thought. “Ladies! This is getting us nowhere!” I said sternly.
“Indeed. The Great and Wise Trixie sees that a compromise must be made. Both of you make equally legitimate points, so the obvious course of action is that both of you must train Prince Thorax. If he is to eventually reign as our equal, he must be able to work with both ponies and his own kind.”
I backed up my wife. “There’s no point in maintaining the status quo, so doing everything the changeling way would be pointless, but the knowledge and skills of the past can’t be ignored either. I propose that Thorax spends each alternate week at the hive and at Canterlot. He can swap each weekend. He can start in the hive this Saturday.”
Carpacia said, “Why not now?”
I raised an eyebrow and gave her a level stare. “Surely you’re not proposing to tear him away from Twilight just when they’ve been reunited? That would only foster feelings of resentment towards you. Both of you need to be on good terms to make this arrangement work well.”
The Red Queen looked back to Thorax who was gazing longingly at the alicorn. Carpacia sighed and said, “A fair argument. I will return on Saturday at noon. Make sure he is ready.” She then turned and left without any acknowledgement from Twilight or Thorax.
“Trixie supposes that’s as good as it gets. At least, Twilight will be fully distracted with her stallion and we get to skip class today.”
I grinned and we started to head for the door.
“Not so fast,” Twilight said. “Starswirl’s Compendium of Intermediate Spells, Volume Three, chapters six and seven. Read them! I’ll be testing you later.”
She managed to say this without taking her eyes off Thorax. I groaned. There was no beating the book pony.
Most evenings, Trixie and I would go to her suite after dinner. Unfortunately, while Celestia’s former rooms were plenty of space for a single mare, they were not designed to fit two adults with all of their accumulated stuff. Sometimes I would stay the night – at least the bed designed for the large alicorn was big enough for the two of us. Other times I would return to my chambers, but for the thirty minutes before sunset, I could almost always be found with my wife in her rooms.
This evening, there was a cheery knock at the door. In response, Trixie yelled, “Come in, Princess Sparkle!” The door was surrounded in a lavender energy field and it swung open to reveal a beaming Twilight.
I turned to my wife, “How do you do that?”
She waved a forehoof absently. “Mares are mysterious creatures. We have abilities that no stallion can possibly understand.”
After Twilight pranced inside and closed the door behind her, I changed to my short-maned Celestia form and said, “How about now?”
Twilight sat down next to Trixie and they shared a knowing grin. Twilight just shook her head while my wife said, “Nah. Probably not. Check back in a few years when that disguise has some mileage on it.”
Our co-ruler said, “Mark, I’m glad you’re in that form. Guess what I just got back earlier today?” She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out two familiar spellbooks, a metal box, and a canvas bag.
I asked, “Are those the spellbooks we loaned to the Celestia of the House Path dimension?”
“Yes, they are. Unfortunately, their Celestia was unable to get them open. She kept one in case they get any new ideas.”
Trixie said, “The box is the lead-lined one that we used to transport the dark magic book from the top shelf, I take it? But what’s in the bag?”
I had a suspicion what it might contain, which Twilight confirmed. “Do you remember how we authorized their Celestia to try to force books to open? The hope was that the self-destruction spells could be either stopped in their tracks or fully analyzed so the next attempt would be successful. Unfortunately, neither happened and we just have a pile of ashes now.” She looked at the bag sadly. “There is a chance that an object memory spell was cast on the pages inside, and the right incantation would restore the book, but again, she was not able to find it.”
I frowned. “So, another dead end.”
Twilight said, “I’m afraid so. Their Celestia tried all of her ‘common’ passcodes and opening spells with no response. She feels it is unlikely a universal passphrase was used. She believes her counterpart chose a randomized pattern of letters, numbers, and/or words for each book.”
My head shot up. “So that would mean there is likely a codebook somewhere that holds all the passphrases. Even Celestia would not have trusted just her memory to keep track of dozens of randomly created passwords.”
Trixie said, “That book would have to be either in this room or the chamber under Canterlot Mountain. Most likely it’s protected by an invisibility spell or perhaps hidden as code inside one of the volumes in this bookcase. I have not removed any of Celestia’s books.”
We spent the next hour poking around in Trixie’s chambers, interrupted briefly for Trixie to be seen lowering the sun and raising the moon. Trixie even let me apply a coating of magically-glowing sawdust to every part of the bookcase including its contents, the walls, and the floor in an attempt to find invisible or otherwise hidden items. Unfortunately, the second time was not the charm. At that point, I called a halt.
“Ladies, my magic is just about depleted. Maybe tomorrow I can dust the rest of the furniture and see what happens.”
Twilight sighed. “We might as well return the books to their rightful place, then. We can poke around in Celestia’s Chamber as well.”
After finding the hole in the wall with my forehoof, I unlocked the bookcase which triggered the portal behind it. As with every other time we had visited here, I took the lead. Maybe “Celestia” had to go in first to prevent the room’s defenses going off and maybe not, but there was no need to risk anypony’s safety.
We jogged up to the two bookshelves and Twilight levitated the remaining books (and bag) to their previous locations. I had enough glowing sawdust left to coat the insides and outsides of both bookcases. Again, nothing found.
Trixie said, “You also need to check the back of the bookcases as well. Twilight, can you pull them away from the walls?” Twilight nodded and carefully rotated the shelving so that they appeared to be double doors opened from the middle with hinges on the outside.
“What’s that?” I asked. Stepping up to the revealed section of wall, I saw a familiar circular hole nearly at eye level.
“One second.” I cantered back across the room to the hole next to the portal we had used to enter the chamber. I lowered my head until it pointed to the center of the depression. After jogging back to the far side of the room, I did the same to the new opening. “It’s a good six inches lower than the other hole, and this one is a bit wider.” I gently pushed my horn into the opening until it bottomed out, much sooner than it had done with the hole in Trixie’s quarters. After channeling a bit of magic into my horn with no result, I could only come to one conclusion that Twilight said aloud.
“This has to be a portal to Luna’s secret chamber. So it does exist.”
As I removed my horn from the shallow depression in the wall, Trixie said, “And it is tuned to her magic alone, doubtless. Perhaps Nyx can open this for us?”
Twilight shook her head. “I don't think so. I’ve been doing extensive testing with my daughter and had a chance to do a couple of sessions with Luna before she left. Their magical signatures are quite different, though perhaps Nyx’s will mature with her body as she grows up.”
I said, “Twilight… is there anything in Luna’s chambers that might retain a portion of Luna’s magic? Didn’t she make a model of the sun, moon, and several stars rotating around Equus that could be switched on?”
“The orrery you are talking about only moves when magic is applied; it doesn’t have any stored in it. I haven’t run into any charged mana crystals in her chambers, but I’ll go back and look.” Twilight then slowly rotated the bookshelves back against the wall of the stone chamber. “Actually, I know there aren’t any. I just remembered that I scanned for active magic sources in both Celestia and Luna’s rooms after the Elements finally returned from the Crystal Empire.”
“That was shortly after the diarchs disappeared, correct?”
Twilight nodded and we lapsed into silence.
Trixie motioned with her head towards the portal back to her chambers. As was our standard practice, I was the last one to leave.
After Trixie’s bookcase was once more resting against the white marble of her outer wall, Twilight turned to us with a twinkle in her eye. “Well, if you are both not ready to sleep yet, we could get in more magic practice?”
I swear that mare liked to teach almost as much as she liked to research and read books. Not tonight though! I had other plans that only involved my wife. “Say, Trixie, isn’t it Friday? Doesn’t that mean Thorax leaves at noon tomorrow?”
The purple alicorn made a little jump and her smile vanished. “Oh! Ah… actually, I just remembered I have new things to try… I mean things to do.”
Trixie’s stage presence was flawless. “Are you sure, Twilight? I’m kind of in the mood for an hour of magic lessons right now, and that doesn’t happen just any night.”
Twilight had backed up slowly until her rump hit the door. “No, I mean not tonight. You know, Thorax gets lonely and… um… Good night!” She opened the door and slithered through at impressive speed. We heard galloping hoofsteps echoing further and further down the corridor.
My wife chuckled as her magic closed the door again. She put her forelegs around my neck and kissed me deeply. When we came up for air, she said, “So can you think of any new things to try?”
“Hmmm…” I tapped the floor with a hoof. “Well, I don’t have quite the selection of forms that Thorax has at his beck and call, but I believe I can give you a surprise or two.”
She smiled. “Would that be the good kind of surprise or the bad kind?”
“How about I let you be the judge?” I switched to my long-maned Marklestia form and began nibbling Trixie’s neck.
“Oh, I suppose.” She shivered when I found a particularly sensitive spot. “Just be prepared to have to repeat the experiment until I’m… Ah! … I’m confident in my conclusions.”
Yep. Even when she was talking nerdy, my wife was awesome.
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Well, thank goodness Spell Nexus has been dealt with. And it's nice to finally see Thorax again.
I think you meant AWESOME Art of Prince Thorax by Evehly
I finally understand the House Path reference. Glad to see those two stories intertwined, even if only slightly
I still don't like the new changling look but I like the way you set it up over the show's
Also, looking good there, T!
9640664
Yeah. Now that is how you make a truly respectable-looking interpretation of Thorax's canon colour scheme.
That's the problem with passwords. You need a book to keep track of them all, but you gotta hide the book so no one can find it and run rampant through your privacy. What do you do when you lose the notebook? Ever think of trying to change the password?
Hmm.... They've only ever been focusing on Celestia, never Luna. It will be interesting to see where this goes.
More changeling fate chrystalist please
Poor Nexus, getting a tougher deal then his counterpart.
And his why that horrible changeling design. His previous form with Crystal wings is much better.
And you are wrong about Nyx she is aiteral one and the fact her Luna couldn't enter her dreams without experience it from Nyx's view. So bull crap in not being able to use her and I would like to see some progress in what happened to the sisters.
9640775
Nyx does not look like a younger version of Luna. Along with Twilight’s DNA that was used in the summoning, traits like her draconian eyes point to her mixed heritage.
9640711
Both Goldfur and I are on record of not being fans of the show’s Sparkly Rainbow Moose design. There are several alternate designs out there but this one was far and away my favorite.
I still say Thorax should lay eggs. Or make Twiggles lay them, either are good
9640817
You are wrong on Nyx still Twilight's blood was used some to fuel the spell. DNA wise she is Luna's twin. Spell Nexus himself said so.
9640870
Well, in the Off The Mark universe, she is not. Frankly, with a vastly different physical appearance and cutie mark, claiming her to be Luna’s twin doesn’t make sense, IMO.
Trixie is a good pony
Why do I get the feeling that I know what this elusive ΄Password΄ is?
9640905
Poor reason considering the word she is from is Past Sins. And Luna can look like Nightmare Moon if she wanted so yes she is a clone. Again this feels like a poor excuse to not have any progress on the missing sisters.
Interesting I wonder if they will visit the changeling hive?
At least Garrote Wire found someone who can truly appreciate those nice neck hugs he gives.
9641613
Waves of mercy, waves of grace, everywhere i look, I see your face! Your love has captured me...
9640935
Cheesecake? Tiramisu? Princest is Wincest?
Interesting that Luna's chambers should be accessed through Celestia's... Unless they're not Luna's at all...
Irradiation via sunlight is ingenious!
Still like Queen Twilight and Queen Rainbow's lings better, though the troubles that got them there weren't so fun.
Keep going! ;)
a grate chapter and the artwork for Thorax is amazing.
Yes, yes you do
9645515
It would be just on the edge of being in one.
I mean, really on the edge--like the event horizon is your next door neighbor in a cheap apartment building with REALLY THIN WALLS!
9645157
Heh... I read the line in John's voice from Robin Hood: Men in Tights. "I have a mole?"
Why I think that Celly's top of stallions have a second purpose of being a "codebook"?
They suffered from lack of Vitamine- D ? ... SEND IN THE STALLIONS
HA-HA! Vitamin-D for royalty at the end of the day
9640674
For the ones who don't have any idea: Which story is it?
9835299
The story is A Different Perspective.
YAY bugmoose!!!
Duz Mark ever turn into a male Celestia or just gain her colors but retain his normal form?
9882610
No, he only ever becomes a female twin of Celestia.
Cant think of a better joke when i read the story first... Changelings... The perfect lover for any taste
The antlers on this worlds/stories Thorax look much better then in show cannon, I mean as I remember it they made him look like a moose; which irked me.
this story's ver of thorax is better than then the shows ver
Hm, I’m a little disappointed that Thorax became a changedling (the design is understandably stupid) but that art more than makes up for it!
10038375
Yeah he looks much more impressive this way than in the show.
Even if, Shapeshifter are quite gender fluid
I would say - perhaps this naming scheme is just a little bit unfair? I mean, naming a pony that kinda dooms them to exactly this sort of thing... It's like naming your kid Murderer, or something. I would likely find a pony serial killer named Fluffy Clouds funny, but it would be much more in-line with reality - murderers aren't born as Murder McKiller, they're born as Jeffrey, Harold, Theodore, Andrea, Jane...
11344803
Perhaps the pony changed his name? I don't think parents would be that silly.
11344952
And pony naming conventions are often affected by talents so GW might simply have gotten the short end of the Harmonic stick, so to speak.
There's another pony writer whose head-canon involves prophetic dreams being behind some of the more on point names, also family names exist.
Name change is as you said a possibility be it his own decision or perhaps something given to him during his work with Spell Nexus.