3. Had to Get Away
Ocellus and Smolder returned to the dormitories with their friends to pack for the trip, get in a last game of jangle poker while they had the chance (Gallus cleaned them out of their spare change once again, as usual), and then say their see-you-laters when Spike came to let them know that the train had arrived. Twilight’s “princess pull” had indeed allowed her to acquire an express train from Canterlot - in fact, her own private train engine and set of cars, which was the first Twilight learned that she even had such. Apparently Princess Celestia had meant to tell Twilight about them, but it had slipped her mind. Ocellus knew just enough about the Solar Diarch to suspect that the “slipped her mind” part was a teasing lie, a bit of a joke on Celestia’s part, and the sudden reveal of the train having been around the entire time was the punchline.
Regardless, it meant that the trip from Ponyville to Los Pegasus was made in luxury. Smolder had quickly claimed a bunk in the passenger sleeping car as her own, putting her bag on the bed and crawling onto it, holding the bag tightly to her chest and keeping her eyes closed as she sat there, tiny wisps of smoke coming from her mouth and nostrils. Ocellus could at least taste that the nervousness mixed with possessiveness was aimed at the bag, it’s contents, and the bunk rather than Ocellus herself.
She elected to give Smolder some space as the train got underway, although there wasn’t too much else to explore. The dining car had a bar, though it’s wall was conspicuously blank, the more adult beverages having been removed. The cooler still contained water and various sodas and juices, though, and the fridge and cabinets were stocked with healthy snacks and a few basic groceries, Twilight having not sent along a dining staff. It would have been embarrassing to Ocellus anyway.
After the dining car was the crew car, then the engine. Both might have been intimidating, since they had the ponies running the train and Ocellus wouldn’t have been comfortable meeting new creatures in her natural form unless she had a friend for assistance, but she discovered to her delight that one of the articles of homework Twilight has left for her was to do a report on the train and the ponies that ran it, and a twenty-question quiz about both. The questions of the quiz and the tyrannical blank essay paper drove Ocellus to actually introduce herself to the crew, and they were glad to show her the train engine and tell her about themselves.
As Celestia set her sun and Luna raised her moon, Ocellus at last ventured back into the sleeping car, now wearing a train conductor’s cap she had been given by the deliciously amicable and knowledgeable ponies that were taking them to Los Pegasus. She found Smolder in much the same position that she’d left her, save that she now had the blankets of her bunk over her head while she continued to clutch closely and occasionally stroke her bag, and a few flecks of gem dust on the sheets that showed that she had eaten.
Ocellus couldn’t stop herself from giggling at the sight of Smolder’s comfy little cave. “Yours?” Ocellus asked.
“Mine,” Smolder confirmed, though she grinned as she did. Ocellus licked her lips, and tasted embarrassed mirth. “It’s not much of a lair. Or even a real one. But...”
Ocellus giggled again, slipping over to the bunk opposite Smolder’s and getting under the covers, wriggling her chitin against the soft plushness of the mattress and the sheets and the pillows. The greed and shame directed her way had abated in her friend ever since Twilight’s speech and Ocellus reaching out to her friend. It was good to be able to talk to her again without wanting to gag. “The Nook will probably have a cubby you can set up in,” she said. “Though if it’s anything like the Badlands Hive there’s probably a communal sleeping chamber.” Her hooves reached out, grabbing one of the pillows and hugging it to herself, and she nuzzled it a little too. “That’ll be nice...”
Smolder shifted. “You get lonely?”
Ocellus looked up, eyes wide at the sudden scent of guilt. “Oh, no! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...I mean, we share a dorm. And you’re great company!” Usually, Ocellus mentally appended. She bit back a low hiss. Secrets were a luxury she was going to have to give up soon. “I don’t think I could sleep in a room by myself. But...you can never have too much of a good thing, right?”
Smolder shrugged, the guilt dissipating - she’d accepted Ocellus’ explanation. The sheet over the dragon’s head slipped and fell off; she adjusted it so it was still around her shoulders. Ocellus tasted a lot more ease and comfort than when they’d first arrived. “I definitely agree with that last bit,” Smolder said. “But I’ll also definitely take that cubby thing you mentioned. Sleep there.” She looked down at her bag, and laughed a little. “This...this is kinda’ ridiculous. I got a few gems in here for snacks and a few bits for whatever, but it’s mostly just school books and paper. That’s not a hoard.”
Ocellus took off the conductor’s cap she’d been given and hung it on a peg on the wall, then used telekinesis to shut off the cabin’s light. The moon- and starlight that came in through the windows was still more than bright enough for either the changeling or dragon to see by, but they were probably going to have a busy next couple days. “Maybe a hoard is whatever you want it to be?”
“It’s whatever I value that’s mine, which I think is starting to say something about what the school is doing to me,” Smolder said. She lay down on her side, hugging her bag still like Ocellus was hugging her pillow. “Not that I regret that. More stuff for me. And less stuff that other dragons will want to take.” She considered, and grinned. “Also the actual friendship and stuff is nice, I guess.”
“Mmn,” Ocellus mumbled. Smolder was trying to play it off like it was just a cursory benefit, but she could smell the sincerity and the undertone of contentedness for life in general mixed with affection for the friends Smolder had made...of which Ocellus, as they only one present, was now the target of. She buried her face in the pillow she hugged to hide her sticking out her tongue and licking at the emotions, taking them in and enjoying the sensation of them settling into her heart. A nightcap, she told herself.
“Hey,” Smolder said after a few moments of silence...during which time she hadn't broken eye contact with Ocellus. “I was thinking about something Counselor Starlight said, while I was in here. About how most changelings don't really have useful job skills or whatever.”
Ocellus' tongue froze halfway out her mouth. She slipped it back in, then lifted her head from her pillow. “Yeah?” she asked.
“I mean, I get it,” Smolder said. “Not like dragons are any different. I think we all know that I'm the worst at school with stuff like writing or reading.”
“Your math is good,” Ocellus noted.
“Yeah. Dragon.” Smolder laughed. “But I mean...I think either you or Silverstream are the smartest. And Silverstream's royalty, or whatever, so I guess that makes sense. She has to be smart. But, no offense, everything I've learned about changelings says that you don't have to be. But you definitely are.”
Ocellus closed her eyes, burying her face in her pillow. She'd known that sooner or later one of her friends was going to pick up on this. “There's, um...there's an exception. Chrysalis didn't need warriors or workers to really know all that much. But...the bugs who were expected to go and disguise themselves, infiltrate...”
Smolder let out a surprised laugh. “No way. You're a spy?”
“No!” Ocellus answered quickly, hugging the pillow tighter. She peeked up over it at Smolder. “That is...I was going to be, eventually. If Chrysalis had her way, and if I made the cut. I don't think I would have, I don't think I could ever...” Ocellus paused. She was about to say steal love, but every day she did in fact do exactly that, didn't she? She shook her head. “...hurt creatures to steal love.” That much was true. “But I was being educated better than most changelings. But then King Thorax saved us. I never disguised myself as a real creature, I never stole any love, I never even left the Hive before - ”
“Hey, calm down,” Smolder said quickly. “You don't have to prove anything. You say you didn't do anything wrong, I believe you.” She did, too. Ocellus could smell it. “It is pretty cool, though. But I'm getting a 'don't tell anyone' vibe?” Ocellus nodded, and Smolder shrugged. “So I won't.”
Ocellus took in a few breaths and let them out slowly. “I will tell everycreature. Eventually.”
“Cool. Or don't. I don't think it matters.”
She really didn't. Smolder's sincerity was still on Ocellus' tongue. Confidence. Certainty. It all blended together so deliciously. Ocellus couldn't stop herself from resuming her “nightcap“ with her muzzle hidden safely behind the pillow she hugged. She realized after a moment that Smolder, though she'd fallen silent, still had her eyes open...looking directly at Ocellus, as directly as any creature could look at a changeling's compound eyes, anyway. And Ocellus was holding that gaze as completely as she could, too. She tasted affection again...desire...and a touch of something even more filling...
Then quite suddenly, the flavor shifted, the other sensations overwhelmed by a new taste. The greed had returned suddenly and completely, as Smolder’s eyes narrowed just a little, focusing on Ocellus even more. It didn’t taste bad itself. But then Smolder’s eyes grew wide, and shame returned. Spread through everything. It was vile. Ocellus started coughing and gagging before she could stop herself, tongue snapping back into her mouth.
Worry and concern's scents permeated the air. “Are you okay?” Smolder asked, sitting up and letting go of her bag.
Ocellus waved her off. Doubt joined the other scents, and guilt. “I...I’m fine,” she said, clamping her mouth shut as much as possible save for a tiny bit so that she could still breathe, burying herself in the bunk, wishing she could breathe through her mouth without smelling things like most creatures could, or at least that she could shape-shift herself into one of those creatures without Smolder noticing. Her hind legs writhed and wings buzzed a little in discomfort within her elytra, but she quickly brought both under control. “F-fine. Something I ate for dinner. But I’ll be fine.”
Still more doubt, but also trust. Smolder believed that Ocellus would tell her if it was something that mattered. Ocellus buried herself in her bunk more, cocooning herself and rolling over so she wasn’t facing Smolder. She tasted shame on the back of her tongue...this time, her own. Which meant it wasn’t going anywhere soon. “It’s...going to be a long next few days,” Ocellus hissed from within her cocoon of blankets and pillows. “Goodnight, Smolder.”
“G’night,” Smolder said.
This was going to be a long next few days. For just a few hours, Smolder’s desire to claim a space of her own and hold tightly onto her makeshift hoard had allowed her to ignore and shove aside her desire to claim Ocellus, add her to her hoard. But then the lights had been switched off, and in the dark the changeling’s big eyes and glowed, and she'd shared a secret with Smolder, given Smolder something she didn't have before, added to her hoard. The way Ocellus should be part of her hoard. The moment Smolder had realized what she was thinking, she'd started hating herself again.
And it didn't escape her notice that almost immediately, Ocellus had started gagging, then turned in. The emotion-eating bug, the moment Smolder's emotions had changed. Smolder may have considered herself stupid, but she wasn't that stupid. Ocellus had smelled, or tasted, or both, Smolder's feelings.
Smolder got up from the bunk, leaving behind her bag and going to the dining car, needing a drink and to put space between herself and Ocellus. Though the fact that she felt safe leaving her hoard behind spoke volumes - she wasn’t worried about Ocellus stealing her hoard because Ocellus was part of that hoard.
She fetched a bottle of water from the cooler and sat down at the bar, drumming her claws on the wood, breathing, exhaling smoke and, after each swallow of water, a bit of steam as well. But even fogging up the windows of the train car didn’t help.
She wanted Ocellus. Needed her, like she’d never needed anything else before. Every other gemstone, every piece of gold, every stupid rock and dumb hunk of metal that she’d ever clutched in her claws was somehow lesser than the idea of taking those same claws and running them across the fuzz of Ocellus’ carapace. Clutching the changeling to her. Feeling her heartbeat and knowing that it beat because it was Smolder’s. Hers. All hers. No creature else’s.
“Heh,” Smolder scoffed to herself. Directly across the bar was a mirror, and Smolder was staring at her own eyes. “Really does sound like I’m in love. Until you get to the ‘I’ll burn any other creature who touches her’ part.”
Dragons didn’t do love, but Smolder had been around ponies enough to know that wanting to keep a creature away from anything else wasn’t love. It was just dumb, brutal draconic greed that was being thrown off by Ocellus. Her natural instincts just weren’t equipped to interpret what willingly letting a living creature into her lair meant. Even two mated dragons keep separate hoards, but Ocellus was in her lair, among her hoard. But she wasn’t stealing her hoard. So she must be her hoard.
Or something. Smolder shook her head. Thinking was absolutely not her strong suit and was getting her nowhere. She finished the water, then stepped back into the sleeping car. With Ocellus buried, Smolder couldn’t tell if the changeling was still awake or asleep. She almost went to just head to her bunk, but something caught her eye - the train conductor’s cap that Ocellus had been wearing when she came in, hanging from a peg on the wall.
It was Ocellus’. It wasn’t Smolder’s. Or that’s what Smolder knew in her head, anyway. The rest of her, however, had her reach out and grab the newest addition to her hoard before returning to her bunk and climbing in. She grabbed her bag and held it close - but made sure to have the conductor’s cap laid out on top.
Smolder closed her eyes tightly and tried to will herself to sleep. She couldn’t stop herself from burying her snout into the cap, though, nor from whispering “mine.”
The following day passed in almost complete silence, which worried Ocellus. Smolder spent most of her time focused on her school work, which worried Ocellus even more. It didn’t help that Smolder had taken her work to the dining car, sitting at a table there; innocuous enough on its own, but Ocellus couldn’t help but think that Smolder was placing herself between the ponies in the engine and the changeling in her impromptu lair - guarding the entrance.
The shame was disgusting, but for her own sanity Ocellus had needed to sample some of Smolder’s emotions. There was small relief there, at least, in that apart from the possessiveness and shame, all of Smolder’s feelings towards Ocellus remained as positive as ever, if tainted by association. But Smolder wasn’t jealous of her, or suspicious, or anything that Ocellus knew to look out for in creatures - ponies, mostly - with boundary issues. Smolder was still no threat to her, would never hurt her. The affection that Ocellus smelled and tasted was completely genuine, not twisted. As odd as it sounded, while Smolder wanted to own Ocellus, there was no desire to control her.
Which just made things more confusing, and Ocellus more desperate to try and figure out what was going on. Unfortunately her previous friendship lessons at the school all said the same thing, basically: just talk to her, silly bug. But that would require Ocellus exposing that she was eating her friends’ emotions, even if only in tiny nibbles. Breaking their trust. Violating the promise her race had made, and probably revealing that almost all changelings around other creatures still did it too. She had no idea how any of them would react, other than with disgust and anger and betrayal. And then they wouldn’t be her friends anymore.
And that thought was so much worse than having to deal with Smolder’s inscrutable emotions.
The second night in the train passed in silence so complete that Ocellus might as well have been sleeping alone. Or lying there alone. She didn't get much sleep, and was relieved when the train finally pulled into Los Pegasus station just a few hours after the sun came up, sliding alongside a passenger train that had just come into the station itself. The two students thanked the train ponies for getting them to Los Pegasus safely, then set out for the ferry that would carry them to Tiatarta.
It was the most awkward walk of Ocellus' life, from the train station to the dock. Smolder had her head down the entire time, but she also stayed right next to Ocellus, keeping a eye on her like she could wander off at any moment. Which, with the wisps of greed and shame Ocellus kept getting, she almost wanted to. But the Cutie Map had called them, and Headmare Twilight had asked them. They couldn't walk away.
So Smolder and Ocellus bought their ferry tickets, boarded, and sat down aboard the S.S. Shoobedoo, a boat that could fit maybe a hundred creatures but on this early morning was looking like it was only going to carry half that number. Both glanced at each other on occasion, Ocellus imperceptibly, Smolder as covertly as possible given that Ocellus literally couldn't take her eyes off of the dragon. The awkward silence was deafening.
Smolder finally broke it, not by talking to Ocellus, but instead glancing across at one of the other passengers on the ferry. “S...so," she said. "First time to Tiatarta?”
The passenger had a brochure for Tiatarta held up in front of her face in an azure glow, and a slightly purple-tinged block of wood in the seat next to her for some reason. At Smolder's words, the brochure lowered at a glacial pace until the blue eyes of a gray-coated unicorn glared back at the two creatures. “I'm. On. Va-ca-tion.”
Smolder blinked. “Um...okay. Sorry for asking, I guess.”
The unicorn glared at Smolder. She turned her head slightly and glared at Ocellus. Then the brochure drifted back up in front of her eyes.
Chrysalis shifted her tongue and throat back to its natural changeling form without shedding her unicorn disguise, and flicked out her tongue behind the brochure, testing the air. From the dragon, she tasted love seasoned with so much greed that the latter was overwhelming the former (typical dragon), and shame over the second emotion since it and the first were directed at the changeling; at a guess, the teenage dragon was in love for the first time and didn't know how to parse it since dragons stupidly convinced themselves that they didn't “do“ love in an attempt to seem tougher. Because they were stupid.
From the changeling, Chrysalis tasted guilt, over something personal but also tied in to her feelings for the dragon. Given how the changeling kept having to stop herself from flicking out her own tongue, probably she had a habit of eating emotions and felt bad about it because Thorax was a weak, insipid fool who had convinced the Hive that emotions should be shared, not taken. There were also stirrings of love for the dragon, faint flickers of it mixed in with the general affection and camaraderie of friendship. But the guilt tainted the love in her as bad as the shame tainted the dragon's own.
Ugh. So, in sum, there weren't going to be any snacks on the trip over to Tiatarta, at least not from these two. Who sort-of looked familiar. Then again dragons all looked the same. For that matter, the Reformed changelings did as well: hideous. Not her, of course. She'd lost the regal majesty of her original form, but she wore the new one well. But all the other bugs? Eyesores. Except maybe Pharynx. Chrysalis had seen a picture of him. Not bad.
The ferry got underway. It was about forty-five minutes from Los Pegasus to Tiatarta and the Nook (which Chrysalis fully intended to avoid like the plague), and the Pegasus Bay was offering placid seas while the sky overhead was cloudless. The ferry was an open-air one; there was a tarp in case of poorly timed weather but it was retracted to let the sun shine down. The Queen managed to make it fifteen minutes before lowering her brochure again to gaze at the young not-couple-because-they-were-idiots. They were dead silent. Actually most everypony on the boat ride - every other creature was a pony - was being quiet, or talking in low voices. Something to do with the early hour, maybe. But if Chrysalis had wanted silence she would have stayed in Grogar's lair.
“Oh for goodness' sake,” Chrysalis said. The two teenagers jumped at the sound of her voice, looking at her. She glared back at them. “Your silence bores me. Talk. That's the only way to get over lovers' quarrels anyway.”
The word choice had the exact desired effect: the changeling's elytra opened wide and wings spread in shock, while the dragon began coughing smoke. Both blushed furiously. “We're...bu...not...” the changeling sputtered uselessly in the face of mere words. Pride of the Hive, this one.
“Dragons don't do love!” The dragon said, inheritor of her race's idiot genes that she was.
Chrysalis allowed herself a grin as she looked over to the shadow's home. She hoped it was watching. “Well, it's a start,” she said. She extended a hoof. Ponies were friendly, and she looked like one. “Nonchalant, relationship counselor.” The obviously false name was so obviously false that it had to be real. Chrysalis enjoyed disguises like that.
The two teenagers had recovered. The dragon reached out, and shook Chrysalis' hoof. “Smolder,” she said. “And this is Ocellus.”
Nope. Didn't ring a bell.
“We, um...we don't need relationship counseling, Miss Nonchalant,” Ocellus said.
“Doctor Nonchalant, I did not go through eight years of psychology schooling just to be called Miss.” In fact Chrysalis had never set foot inside a school in her life, probably, unless one of her victims had taken refuge in a school at some point in a vain attempt to escape her. Might have happened. “And you might not be lovers but you definitely need relationship counseling. Two teenagers by themselves going to a place like Tiatarta shouldn't be sitting silently and avoiding eye contact.”
“We're not - ”
“Why are you going to Tiatarta? No offense, but a dragon and a changeling being friends is a pretty unusual sight. Actually just a dragon or a changeling in general in these parts.”
Smolder and Ocellus glanced to each other for a moment, then looked back to Chrysalis. “We're from Twilight Sparkle's School of Friendship, in Ponyville,” Smolder said. “And the Princess' Cutie Map is sending us to Tiatarta, or the Nook. There's a friendship problem that needs solving.”
Chrysalis pursed her chosen form's lips as she thought that over. The School of Friendship at least explained why the two looked familiar; they would be in Cozy Glow's yearbook, and the...Chrysalis was starting to lean towards half-windigo...was fond of showing off the pictures of the students there and describing her planned revenge in exacting detail. It was one of her more endearing qualities. As for the friendship problem...that couldn't be her, could it? On any other day she'd assume the answer was “yes“, but given that she hadn't even arrived yet and that she genuinely just wanted to relax at Tiatarta she couldn't see how that was the case. Surely one or two ponies drained of love and put into comas for a few days as a result didn't warrant Harmony's intervention. Unless, of course, it did. Harmony was petty.
Not that Chrysalis was remotely concerned. Harmony or not, these were a single changeling drone and a dragon whelp. They were no threat to her whatsoever. “So this is in essence a business trip, then,” Chrysalis said aloud. “My mistake, I thought you two were friends.”
“We are!” Ocellus and Smolder both objected.
Chrysalis scoffed a little as she leaned back in her seat. “Friends talk to each other. You two weren't. I call it like I see it.”
“You don't know anything about us,” Smolder objected. Like a dragon would. She also made a fist and pointed a claw at Chrysalis. Like a dragon would. Next would be...a-ha, a snort of smoke, right on time. “For your information, my friendship with Ocellus helped to save Equestria!”
Oh, so these two were from that group of friends that Cozy always went on about! Chrysalis smiled pleasantly. “Really?” She asked. “Well, that sounds like quite a tale! Why don't you tell it? I've heard stories, of course,” terribly biased ones at that from a little psychopath who was almost certainly distorting the facts beyond recognition, “but hearing it straight from the horse's mouth - or the dragon's, or the changeling's - would certainly help pass the time.”
Cue draconic vanity in three, two, one...
Smolder smiled. “Oh, it's great,” she said. “So there we all were, on field trip to Cloudsdale...”
Credit where it was due: the little dragon was a passable storyteller, incredibly animate in her descriptions and with a surprising attention to detail, evincing a keen memory if nothing else. Ocellus more had to be prodded in by Smolder on occasion, although the changeling did speak up once or twice to correct particularly egregious exaggerations. She also occasionally shapeshifted to provide some visuals, such as the various magical artifacts that Cozy had stolen, and once as Cozy Glow herself. The bug would have been a skilled infiltrator, if not for what appeared to be a fairly meek nature. Although a fair part of that could probably be blamed on Thorax's encouragement.
More importantly to Chrysalis, though, the storytelling by Smolder distracted the dragon from her mood, and Ocellus as well. She leaned back in her seat and folded her hooves in front of her mouth, hiding it and the subtle blue glow of her once again selectively transforming her throat and tongue to their true changeling forms. She began lapping up the excess positive emotions. Snacks had been provided, and entertainment with them, and the accursed silence had been broken. Excellent.
They were in sight of Tiatarta when a commotion began at the ship's right side from the ponies aboard. Chrysalis turned to look - which was really too bad as Smolder was getting to the part where apparently the entire school turned on Cozy due to the maybe-filly's own missteps - and saw that everypony was looking at an airship emblazoned with the words "Cloud Spirit's Sky Diving" on its balloon. It was flying close to the water. Very close. Just a few feet. At speeds that Chrysalis was fairy certain were unsafe when it was so low. And also jerking left and right erratically, as though whoever was driving the thing was spinning its wheel back and forth haphazardly.
Although in spite of that it was nevertheless making a fairly straight line directly for the ferry.
Smolder and Ocellus both stood at the sight. “What the...?” Smolder asked.
“It's out of control,” Chrysalis sighed as she stood herself, stretched, and grabbed the shadow's wooden home and her suitcase in her telekinesis.
“It's...it's going to crash into us!” Ocellus exclaimed.
“Well, into the boat, yes,” Chrysalis confirmed, coming up alongside the two and reaching out with one leg. “I'd guess we have thirty seconds. However there's life rafts over here and you two are just amusing enough that - ”
“Come on!" Smolder shouted, launching into the air and then surging forward as fast as her young wings could carry her - towards the airship.
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Well, your friend's abandoned...” she began as she turned to Ocellus. Or where Ocellus was supposed to be. Instead, she found a distinct lack of blue-and-red bug, as the changeling had launched herself into the air after Smolder. Also, heading towards the airship.
“Oh for the love of...”
Smolder was a faster flier than Ocellus, and so reached the airship first. It wasn't very big as airships went, about the size of a fully mature dragon, with a gondola big enough for around a dozen ponies suspended beneath its wide balloon. With it flying so close to the water but swinging so wildly, the safest approach was actually towards the balloon rather than the gondola; Smolder spread her wings wide to stop her forward momentum and lashed out with the claws on her hands and feet to grab the balloon. She tore through the canvas easily, though next to the size of the balloon the rips wouldn't mean much. It did allow her to rapidly climb down the side of the balloon and throw herself onto the gondola, however. A moment after she landed, she was joined by Ocellus, whose changeling hooves allowed her to stand fairly easily on the wildly pitching and swinging gondola the same way she could crawl on a wall or ceiling, while Smolder was reduced to digging into the wood with all four clawed limbs.
“Wheeee!”
Out of everything Smolder had expected to hear, that was not one of them. The gondola was empty of creatures save the one at the wheel - a yellow-and-green changeling, of all things. But something seemed off about him. His eyes were wide open, yet somehow the way he swung his head around gave off the impression that he wasn't really seeing anything. The fact that he was just spinning the wheel back and forth didn't help. He was also laughing hysterically.
“Changeling passtimes are weird,” Smolder said. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw the ferry still getting closer. Pegasi aboard had already grabbed the ground-bound ponies they could and taken to the air, while the unicorns and earth ponies left behind had made it to the life-rafts on the other side and were beginning to hop in and lower them.
“I think something's wrong with him,” Ocellus said as she started making her way forward across the deck as fast as she could. Smolder followed. Fortunately anything that might have been loose and tumbling on the deck had long since fallen overboard, so the two had an unimpeded trip over to the changeling.
Ocellus tried to get the changeling's attention, horn glowing and waving a hoof, but Smolder had bigger concerns. Hoping that Ocellus wouldn't hold it against her, Smolder stood and pushed the changeling aside, then grabbed the airship's wheel and turned it hard to the right. The airship turned with it, but sheer inertia kept the vehicle also going forward. Smolder was treated to the wonderful sight of the ferry growing ever-closer, She winced and held her breath, grabbing the wheel tighter...
...but the airship just missed hitting the ferry - or rather the airship's gondola definitely clipped it, sending shudders throughout the airship and the boat both, but neither seemed to pick up any permanent damage.
Smolder sighed in relief, looking over the steering wheel. All around it were knobs and leavers, most of which Smolder couldn't even begin to guess the purpose of, but one was helpfully labeled “emergency brake“. She pulled it, and the airship let out a shriek as the propellers in its rear were suddenly stopped. The airship began to drift to a stop.
Having ensured that she wasn't going on an impromptu airship voyage, Smolder turned to Ocellus. She was down by the yellow-and-green changeling, who was still giggling to himself where he lay in a daze. “Flying is fun...” he intoned.
Smolder stomped towards the changeling, snorting smoke. “Yeah? Is crashing?”
“Kinda'...”
Actual flames followed that comeback, but Ocellus was between Smolder and the changeling in an instant before those flames could be directed, holding out a hoof. “Wait!” she exclaimed. She turned to the changeling, and waved a hoof in front of his eyes. It was several long seconds before the changeling acknowledged the motion, head swinging up and down trying to follow Ocellus' hoof, then making a half-hearted attempt to grab it that ended with the changeling falling forward, giggling still. “He's totally out of it,” Ocellus said. “I don't think he knows where he is or what he was doing.”
Smolder snorted more smoke, but crossed her arms and nodded. “Yeah,” she said at length. “Yeah, okay, that's pretty obvious. So...what, did he lick too much salt? Does that do anything for changelings the way it does ponies?”
“I don't think so,” Ocellus responded, getting down on her knees and helping the changeling roll over onto his back. She leaned in to him, opened her mouth and started to breathe in - but then a hoof smacked her on the back of her head.
Ocellus yelped while Smolder growled as she spun. She found herself looking at a gray unicorn mare - Nonchalant. "What the heck?” Smolder asked. “How'd you get over here?”
Nonchalant eyed Smolder. “Good question! The horn on my head is just for show, after all, it doesn't mean anything like, say, that I'm a unicorn with magical powers.” Nonchalant returned her attentions to Ocellus. “Don't eat his emotions. Don't even smell them if you can avoid it.”
Ocellus rubbed the back of her head. “Why not?” She asked.
“Because unless I'm mistaken,” Nonchalant said, trotting forward and tapping a hoof against the yellow-and-green changeling's side, prompting a giggle from him, “that's what got him acting like this. This changeling's been eating false love...that is, love created from a love poison.”
Nonchalant closed her eyes, and sighed. “I'm supposed to be on vacation...”
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Noted science fiction and fantasy author Larry Niven has a rule that many other authors have taken up and refer to as Niven’s Law, though over on TVTropes it’s referred to as Forgotten Phlebotinum. The rule is this: once a discovery has been made or thing has been invented, it must continue to exist in all chronologically later stories in that series. To do otherwise, especially if the thing would be helpful, is just lazy or sloppy writing.
So it follows, then, that if three fillies can brew a potion that makes artificial love in their treehouse, there is really no reason why changelings shouldn’t have entire alchemy labs brewing up gallons of the stuff and pouring it into the water supplies - unless there is a reason, like they can’t eat artificial love, or that it’s actually harmful to them.
We’ve finally reached where I was going to start that Tails of Equestria game.
Ah, so Chrysalis is a meddler. I love that she knew exactly what was going on the moment she met them, and the foolishness annoyed her enough to want to fix it.
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She is more in denial regarding her reformation than either Ocellus or Smolder about their feelings.
Also promoting actual love by acting as a counselor.
Imagine Cadence's reaction may she finds out about this:
media.makeameme.org/created/GOTCHA-jvh4ag.jpg
This is fantastic!
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Just found a one shot campaign from Critical Role where they played it. Didn't watch to much but it sounded like they had fun, to bad Nott and Jester didn't make a crossover guest appearance, love those two. :)
I am not one for shipping since I absolutely DESPISE it but it's 100% personal taste and the tag was already written before I started so I won't judge on it.
Anyway , that chapter was very good and I had a good laugh outta it , continue like this , because if the half-week-long featuring didn't already tell you , this story is actually REALLY good !
Careful now, you've been doing such a good job writing this story it might get promoted from following to favorites if you aren't careful.
Someone’s drugging the poor Changelings, or something sinister (love potions are no better than roofies, worse in fact) is going on in this resort and the Changelings are a side effect!
Thanks for the exellent Chapter.
I bet chrysalis has quite a bit of experience with love poisons and weapons that can have an effect against changeling kind in her long long rule heck maybe that "taste" love habit changelings are so ashamed about is to feel out dangers or mind manipulations?
I love the reference to either Dr. Evil or Dr. Ooblek.😏
She knew just enough about Headmare Twilight to know that this wouldn't lead to a bloody coup, but a few more convenient moments of amnesia might.
Using homework to get Ocellus out of her shell... Very clever.
Poor girls. Both of them. It does hint at a future class at the School of Friendship: "Your Instincts and You: Finding Biological Harmony."
Ah, the S.S. Shoobedoo. A traditional nautical name, going back generations.
Makes sense that Chrysalis would have a much more sensitive and refined palate than a drone barely out of nymphhood.
"Nonchalant" is a brilliant pony pseudonym and I love it. Likewise Chrysalis doing the right thing for all the wrong reasons.
Cozy Glow spending time at the Legion of Doom sharing her revenge plans with anyone who will listen makes a terrifying amount of sense. I also love how Chrysalis refuses to believe the filly is actually a pony.
"Okay, how do you know that?"
"Unicorn."
"Unicorns don't work that way!"
"Do you want to help this pathetic waste of chitin or not?"
Eagerly looking forward to more, especially since there are plentiful potential culprits. Being right next to a cloud city means lots of pegasi, clouds, and rainbow radiation.
Having gained the full and undivided attention of both Harmony and Narrative Causality... Well you had better learn to enjoy being forced to be a goodguy.
Given how most people write Chrysalis driven entirely by emotions, seing her give a calm and reasonable assessment (discounting for her personality) is very refreshing indeed.
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She’s supposed to be on vacation! Sunshine! Beaches! Colorful drinks in oddly shaped glasses with funny straws! She’s supposed to be relaxing!!!
I am starting to think they where sent there by the map to have chrysalis solve there friendship problem for them to solve someone else's.
Heh, Chrysalis already acting like a reformed changeling without even realizing it and it will probably only get better/worse for her over time. Hopefully she will rub off on her two compatriots.
Love Chrysi in this. Especially the fact that she is apparently the Holmes of relationships.
It would make sense that changelings can't eat love created by a love poison.
For goodness' sake, it's got poison right there in the name! There is absolutely no reason to consume anything named poi-
i.pinimg.com/736x/92/3b/c2/923bc2c274ead20b8ed861f7a9b8ce94--poison-band.jpg
Well, I guess every rule needs an exception....
This could be subtitled “Denial: Not Just A River”. I’m liking this portrayal of Chrysalis. Chrysalis has been portrayed as a relationship councilor before. It suits her. I too look forward to Cadance’s reaction to this fact.
You mentioned a “game.” Care to elucidate a little on that? If you have already done so, a link please?
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The game is Tails of Equestria, the official Friendship is Magic tabletop RPG. I had wanted to run a session or two at the last Bronycon, but between the game room being chock full of people, my newness since it was also the first Bronycon I went to, and the fact that a lot of my spare time was spent getting together answers for questions for the Family Feud panel I took part in, I never actually got to run it.
This story is, among other things, based on the game I had planned, with Smolder and Ocellus (and to an extent Chrysalis) standing in for what would have been the players’ characters.
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Do you suppose silly straw glasses for unicorns have a loop that goes around their horn?
The plots really getting intriguing and I wonder if Smolder and Ocellus will find a unexpected ally in Chrysalis on this adventure. Frankly I didn't say so earlier but really happy that you've given your first story a sequel, and hope to see this universe expanded more in the future.
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I think you meant “the” first story, since Queen Chrysalis Reforms (Accidentally) isn’t even close to my first story; I’ve been writing stories on this site since 2012. Although in fairness most of my efforts have been directed towards the Lunaverse; I have very few stories set outside of it.
Oh man, these two... all the class lessons are right you know you silly bug, you SHOULD talk. If nothing else, the disgusting flavor is going to be stinking up the whole Nook and it'll be impossible to ignore.
Lings hating the taste of guilt and shame also explains why they impersonate loved ones instead of playing succubus.
Love Poison being toxic to Changelings, that's such a great idea. And now we can see just what sinister stuff someone is getting up to with love poison in this city. It could just be getting Lings high, could be much worse.
The homework to get Occelus to meet people, such a great idea.
Chrissi, Harmony is paying attention to you. Your vacations are doomed.
Cozy being a little psychopath is still hilarious. I think Chrissi is wrong though, she's not half Windigo. Then she'd be spreading strife. Not that I can think of any kind of seemingly harmless demon or mythic creature. My theory? She isn't a pony, she's Cozy Glow :p
Or, you know, maybe she's a corrupted hearth spirit or something. Yeah that tracks, a spirit of cozy domesticity corrupted by living in an abusive household until it arranged to be born as their foal to spread misery in the world and I can't believe I went down that rabbit hole.
Dragons are just like Changelings, convinced they can't feel real love because they're monsters. It's very sad.
Similarly, feeling so guilty over the emotional nibbles... you silly bug if you TELL them and they're okay with it that means they're sharing!
And that switches it from Discord to Harmony, which means the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts and you get positive emotional feedback in the mix. Eesh, haven't you been paying attention to Twilight's harmonic dynamics lectures? :p
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They do now.
This is delightful. Excellent work!
the swarm?
something funny is going on around here.
Snarky Chrysalis is such a treat~
Alondro curses, "Someone appears to be using Tactic 107b to destroy the cherngelerngs… they must have gotten a look at my 'Anti-Cherngelerng Conspiracy Plans' notebook!"
Hmmmm... perhaps Chrysalis tried Love Poison before to feed her changelings but it showed a negative effect. Perhaps she views being reform as the same, creating fake love inside reform
ChangelingsI mean BetraylingsTo quote Brock from Skylanders Giants,
Clever.
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Oh, cool! Thank you for the response. I’m sorry you didn’t get to run it, but I’m enjoying this fanfic a lot!
YES! More updates!
I really liked the Smolder-Ocellus bonding on the train. Darn they're sweet! Smolder draping herself with sheets to imitate is a cave is just PRECIOUS.
I didn't expect their first meeting with Chrysalis to come this early or go this pleasantly, but I certainly liked it! Chrysalis trolling the two for emotional reactions was hilarious, as was her commentary. "Pride of the Hive, this one." Also, definitely agree with her assessment of the new changeling look and Pharynx as a rare positive example. Her snark was as funny, maybe moreso, than the dueling letters of Thorax and Pharynx last chapter, even if I as a fan don't think Smolder or Ocellus are dumb. Makes perfect sense why Chrysalis thinks that and it's certainly provides for fine snark opportunities.
That is a really clever use of love potions/poisons and raises the question of why Changelings wouldn't use that to stimulate love that they can feed on. DANG is that clever! I'm envious I didn't think of it. Although, something about an insectoid race getting drunk off a substance and almost causing a ship crash, with (likely) tensions between races to follow, this reminded me of the Dark Nest series in Star Wars.
I love Smolder and Ocellus on the train, and how their two different cultures have them acting. Like Smolder's pseudo-lair. Chrysalis doing that analysis of their emotions was pretty clever, too.
Also, Cozy Glow as part-windigo? Eh... makes more sense than the non-explanation for why she's so friggin' evil that the show gives us!
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Larry Niven also codified a very important law about the efficiency of reaction drives.
You probably don't want to stand behind ANY of them.
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The Kzinti lesson! I brought that up in a non-pony short story I wrote once.
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Things get hilarious when space operas forget that capital ships with fusion drives have the word FUSION in them.
Anyone order a hundred Czar Bombas a second?
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Jon's Law: "Any interesting space drive is a weapon of mass destruction. It only matters how long you want to wait for maximum damage. Interesting is equal to 'whatever keeps the readers from getting bored'".
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AWESOME is directly proportional to the square of the level of danger multiplied by the distance while being constrained to a maximum value by said distance. (That is to say, the deadlier it is, the more awesome it is to see it from a safe distance.)
A hypernova is the most awesome thing humanity has directly observed.
"...Me?"
Dunmo who Cryssy would relate
A love poison, eh? Way to put the “trouble” in “Tiatarta”. Now that our three protagonists have joined up, the real fun begins!
Clever, clever Twilight.
Given how studious she acts I wouldn't be surprised if she couldn't snack on knowledgeableness.
Heh.
I fear Chrysalis is right in every regard here.
Meanwhile:
Considering we are talking about ponies it is basically guaranteed to work.
Be happy he isn't flying an rocket...
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Well, it had to be called a poison for a reason, right?
Perhaps there's a reason why there seems to be only one hive of changelings anywhere near Equestria...
Meddling Chryssie is meddling.
And the plot thickens! For once not Celestia's.
S.S. Shoobedoo - oh god damn it!
'evincing' - evidencing?
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Nope. "To evince" means to reveal the presence of a quality or feeling, or to be evidence of or indicate.
I paid way too much attention in English class to the vocabulary section.