"Pretending you don't even know who I am isn't going to help."
Ocellus: "What... her? Pharynx? Chrysalis?"
Ocellus paces in the Conservatory's storage room, now free of pseudolings, trying to wrap her head around what she's just heard. She catches her Smolder-reflection in a stack of glass panes, seeing her confusion etched into Smolder's features. Dorky stressdragon.
Smolder sits on a crate piled with planters, her legs kicking idly as her eyes follow Smolder-Ocellus.
"Sounds like Chrysalis' daughter tried to usurp her," Smolder says, nodding. "And failed."
With a little more thought, the young dragon adds, "It sounds to me like she tried to rope Thorax's brother into her plot, and instead he ratted her out. I bet Chrysalis banished her and all her conspirators here somehow." The dragon looks upwards. "Maybe with that same mirror Luna had."
Ocellus stares at Smolder, jaw hanging open, surprised that the dragon unraveled all that far more smoothly than she could.
Smolder shrugs with a smile. "Betrayal and usurpation are both pretty common themes in stories at the Feast of Fire."
The weirdness of having herself stare at her gets to the young dragon. She gets up, flapping her wings, and lifts herself to the vent cover. Her claws begin to work the screws.
The top right screw works loose with ease. Smolder twists it until it is dangling from its hole, then gives it a flick, sending the screw on a trajectory to the floor.
The top left screw is less cooperative. It does not want to turn more than a little bit.
Smolder's snort pulls Ocellus from her thoughts. Ocellus can tell her friend is considering just ripping the vent cover off.
"Let me try," Ocellus offers, leery about the noise if Smolder should tear the screws out by force. The Nightmare cannot detect her, and Queen Elytra seems very much occupied with Pharynx. She's more worried about attracting the poltergeist.
Smolder shifts to the side, giving Ocellus access to the left screws while she turns her attention to the lower right.
Ocellus flies up, inches from Smolder. She can feel the dragon girl's body heat warming the frigid air between them as she tussles with the stubborn screw. When her wings brush Smolder's as she hovers, Ocellus can see the dragon blush slightly under her scales.
Ocellus watches Smolder focus on the lower right screw as if looking anywhere else would be looking into cockatrice eyes.
The top left screw refuses to be cajoled.
"You know," Smolder finally says, "You're exactly as strong and nimble as I am right now. You're not going to be able to do it any better."
"There's also skill," Ocellus teases.
"Skill at screwing?" Smolder questions dismissively.
The dragon girl freezes, eyes wide, the blush on her cheeks growing over her face.
Ocellus giggles.
"I did not just say that!" Smolder asserts.
Ocellus sings, "Oh yes you did."
Smolder-Ocellus whistles sinnocently as the upper-left screw finally comes loose.
Ocellus looks about at the collection of black stones on the floor before scooping them back into an empty saddlebag. She's moved everything into the other one, including Pride.
"And when she said she planned to devour your hive, she meant she was going to take all your love, right?" Smolder asks cautiously as Ocellus finishes adjusting the straps of her saddlebags to carry them more easily as a dragon. "Turn you into love-starved changelings like hers?"
Ocellus shakes her draconic head, "No. She meant she's going to eat us."
Smolder blinks, taken aback. "Wait, eat you? Like, eat you. Munch, gnash, swallow... eat you."
Ocellus nods, trying not to imagine her little siblings or her parents or Thorax being consumed. She feels her heart tearing, a burning growing behind her eyes. Hatefully, her mind plays back the sight of her parents and siblings in the Nightmare's tongue. Please stop! she thinks to herself. I don't want to remember them that way!
Smolder looks like she's bitten into something truly foul. "First, yikes! Second, changeling queens do that?" Ocellus bets Smolder is trying to picture Dragon Lord Ember or even Dragon Lord Torch cannibalizing disobedient dragons. "That's horrible! ...no offense."
Ocellus nods, trying not to cry again. She's done too much of that already tonight. Crying won't do any good right now. She's not surprised that Smolder is so shocked. Dragons may be apex predators, but she doubts their Dragon Lord ever ate other dragons. That was really an insect thing.
She looks up and sees how pale her Smolder is beneath her scales. The dragon is more than shocked. Ocellus knows what she is thinking about. She remembers Smolder's dismay: Because if she did, I ate them!
Smolder likewise sees the vulnerability in Ocellus' expression. She pulls herself together, snorting smoke. "Third, don't you worry. That is never going to happen. Even if they do get through, she'd have to deal with Headmare Starlight, and Princess Twilight, and the professors. Not to mention all of us. And I don't just mean your friends. Dragon Lord Ember would never allow Thorax and his people to be conquered and... eaten... by an evil queen."
Ocellus sniffs a bit, feeling Smolder's words like a comforting blanket. She cannot taste anything from her friend (girlfriend now?) -- the cocoon of Smolder's love is still blinding her. But she can hear Smolder's confidence in every syllable.
Ocellus returns that confidence with a thankful smile.
Doubt flickers in Ocellus' mind. If this changeling queen tried to overthrow Chrysalis, why didn't Chrysalis eat her? With any other mother, Ocellus would leap to the hope that it was because she cared about her daughter anyway, or at least succumbed to maternal instinct. But she had a hard time imagining either from her former queen. In the very least, why didn't Chrysalis eat the drones who supported Elytra?
Her thoughts jump to the mirror. Luna said that passage to the moon wasn't an easy thing, requiring great sources of power. The Elements, anti-elements... even the mirror drew on the residual power of the Tree of Harmony that lived on in the Treehouse.
With a thin frown, Ocellus decides she is definitely a large step closer, but she doesn't yet understand why there are changelings on the moon. Or, at least, she doesn't understand how.
She catches Smolder watching her with clear concern. She tastes the air only to find again nothing but the delicious, wonderful barrier of cinnimon and rubies.
Why did she do that? Being temporarily bereft of her natural sense, Ocellus finds herself a little surprised just how often she uses it to gain insight into her friend's feelings. Even when there is no need.
Ocellus breaks her quiet. "We should be able to get through to the essence pools where Pharynx is now."
"Right." Smolder nods, looking up at the vent. "You sure we can't just fly?"
"We don't know what happened to our poltergeist," Ocellus reminds Smolder, personally hoping the Nightmare chased it off. "Plus, there are probably a lot more pseudolings in the pools room."
Ocellus reasons, "If we can slip past and strip Wrath away from Pharynx, that will end his control. Wouldn't that be smarter than trying to fight our way through all of them?"
"You only look like a dragon," Smolder teases. "Okay, more crawling. This time, you follow me. I'm tired of looking at my butt."
"I'm not!" Ocellus beams beatifically.
Smolder's cheeks grow rosy again. The dragon girl snorts, thrashing her tail. "Can you say that when you don't look like me?"
Ocellus gives Smolder a mischievous, smug smile. The kind that she knows looks so good on Smolder's face.
"Oh no!" Smolder-Ocellus whines as the two friends stare into the essence pools room through a large vent opening. "I'd forgotten about those."
The room is massive. Six huge pools are spread about the sides and corners of the room, filled with varying degrees of shimmering cerulean liquid that moves and sloshes on its own. Ocellus has seen that shade of blue often enough to know what she is seeing even without all Luna has told her -- raw, extremely condensed dark essence.
Massive pipes snake up the walls before elbowing towards the center of the room. They sweep away from the walls, suspended high above the floor below, and converge on a large central structure built downward from the ceiling -- a control center, Ocellus presumes, or an observational one. The entire suspended structure is enveloped in an oval of sheer, infinite black.
Two more pipes reach back to the wall on either side of the room and descend to arrays of onyx pillars. As they watch, flashes of ethereal white light erupt over half a dozen pillars on the near and far walls, pouring out smoke and oil. Columns of black flame erupt from the capitals beneath, creating cocoons of obsidian fire. The cocoons peel away, birthing new pseudolings.
The room was also absolutely teaming with pseudolings. There are scores standing at attention on the floor below. Groups fly in patrols throughout the room, but the mass of them stand or hover in formations, facing the bulkhead door into the Conservatory. Pharynx has already built an army.
The eight pipes remind Ocellus strangely of insect legs. Combined with the void barrier, the room look vaguely like a giant spider. She wonders if Smolder was seeing the same resemblance.
"Yona would love this room."
Ocellus looks at her friend, unsure if Smolder was being sincere or poking fun. Yona had a strong fear of spiders until she met Spindle. Now she rather liked them.
Ocellus changes the topic, returning to what she had somehow forgotten about. "Pharynx is inside that black barrier. With Wrath."
"You're sure?" Smolder asks.
Smolder-Ocellus nods. "Yes. I've seen this before. We have to look for a white, moon-shaped button."
The absurdness of the task hits Ocellus. In a room this huge, they might never find it even without Pharynx's false hive in the way! "It will be well-hidden and probably really difficult to reach. Think of it like a puzzle."
Smolder smirks. "Are you sure you didn't create this place?"
Smolder-Ocellus rolls her eyes (enjoying just a little the opportunity to do so). "Yeah, because I had this big Nightmare Moon fangirl phase."
Smolder fans out her claws. "Gothcellus!"
The dragon looks out through the vent opening. "I bet I found our button!"
Ocellus' draconic jaw drops as she lets out a Smolder-voiced squeak. "What? How? Where?"
"Right across from us." Smolder points out what appears to be another opening to a vent on the opposite wall. Only instead of the normal grate, this one has heavy bars sealing it.
Ocellus recalls her map. There are only utility rooms on this side of the Conservatory and essence pools. There shouldn't be a duct on the opposite wall.
Ocellus stares at her friend, impressed. "Y-yes, that looks likely." But they'd need to check it out to know for sure.
And what if the moon button is hiding behind those bars? Normally, this wouldn't even be a challenge. She'd just turn into a bugbear and rip the bars off. But not only would that draw the attention of an army of pseudolings, taking any other form would also bring the Nightmare down on them.
As Ocellus contemplates, a small group of pseudolings shift to hover right in front of the bars, making space for the next dozen to be birthed from the pillars.
Because things had to get worse.
"Uhhh, unless you've changed your mind about taking all of them on..." Smolder whispers.
Ocellus sighs. "We wait."
Either the pseudolings would move on their own, or the queen would find her way in here, and then they would move.
Smolder-Ocellus and Smolder recline in the cramped duct and wait for the pseudolings to move.
The crafter artifacts continue to pump out more pseudolings. Each is swiftly enveloped in an aura of red and rises to join the false hive.
They wait. And wait.
And wait...
After almost a full minute passes, Ocellus hears Smolder mumble something softly.
Ocellus turns to Smolder, keeping her own voice low. But not that low. "I'm sorry, what?"
Smolder mumbles again, marginally louder this time, not looking at her.
Ocellus gives her dragon friend a deadpan stare. "Smolder."
Smolder grits her teeth, hissing, "I said, do you want to talk about feelings?"
Ocellus' Smolder-eyes go wide and she stares at her friend, stunned. It takes a moment to make herself believe she heard that. "I thought dragons don't do that," she whispers.
Smolder waves her claws in quick protest. "We don't! We really don't." Turning to face Ocellus, she whispers back, "But you changelings really do. You have a whole Feelings Forum. And I thought... since we have to wait... and with everything that has happened... how badly what the queen said hit you, and what happened back in the clock room, and you having to become like one of them, and not to mention my trying to hoard you..." Smolder stops, realizing she is rambling.
Her friend takes a deep breath. Then offers softly, "I thought that maybe you might need to."
Ocellus continues to stare, but no longer in shock. What Smolder is doing strikes her heart. She's being so kind and sweet. Ocellus feels wetness in her eyes. She finds herself tasting the cocoon of Smolder's love again.
Ocellus whispers back, "Okay."
The lovebug reflects on the mess of her emotions. So much has happened. So much of it is confusing. Too much of it feels heavy and filled with shadows. Some of it might break her to think about. If it did, she knows she can trust Smolder to pick up the pieces. She remembers the dragon waving her lantern in front of her face, bringing her out of nothingness. But she can't go to pieces here; she can't put that on Smolder right now.
Ocellus takes a breath and opts for something lighter. For Smolder's benefit. Just talking will be helpful, even if she doesn't go anyplace too deep.
"So, you told Gallus how you felt about me?"
Smolder blinks, surprised by the question. Then she chuckles a little.
"Yeah. Couple weeks ago." Smolder jabs a claw at Ocellus. "You were there."
"What?" Ocellus starts, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. "No I wasn't! I'm very sure I'd remember that."
Unless, Ocellus thinks, Smolder is pointing at my Smolder-disguise. Meaning that Smolder is saying she was there. But that would be a really odd thing to say. ...okay, Smolder was right. This is weird.
"I'm a bit surprised you don't, but then you were mostly asleep." Smolder smirks. Ocellus gives her a look.
"It was a week ago last Wednesday. You didn't come back to the room, so around midnight I went looking for you. You were in the first place I looked: the library. You'd been helping Gallus study for that big test in Headmare Starlight's class, and you spent so long on it you fell asleep. I found you with your head buried against his side like he was a big, feathery Gallus-pillow."
Ocellus feels herself blushing just a little.
"Gallus saw me staring and asked if I was jealous."
Ocellus humphs. He would!
Smolder rubs her left arm with her right claw. "And I said: yeah, a little."
Ocellus feels the blush growing. She doesn't tease about the "a little" bit. She doesn't want to interrupt. And the cocoon of Smolder's love isn't leaving any question that Smolder was downplaying her feelings.
Smolder looks down. "I think Gallus was feeling a bit lonely. I mean, Yona's been going out with Sandbar for over a year. And now he sees the two of us. So unless he and Silverstream fall for each other..."
Ocellus perks. "Ooh! I'd totally ship them!"
Smolder looks at her with befuddlement. "Ship them where? For what?"
Ocellus sighs dramatically, putting the back of a claw on her forehead."No, no. Ship. Short for relationship. It means I can daydream about them in love."
Smolder stares blankly at Ocellus for several long seconds as she processes that, her mouth opening and closing twice without saying anything. "I suppose it's a given for changelings to be romantics."
I offered you power! A place at my side! But instead of love, I got betrayal!
"I think Pharynx would disagree with that," Ocellus replies.
Smolder looks out at the growing pseudoling military force. "Oh, right."
The two friends are quiet for a few moments, watching the pseudoling squads shift position. Several patrols exit through the utility rooms, weaving their way into the Conservatory, but Pharynx keeps the bulkhead doors shut.
Ocellus wonders briefly about those doors. Why so much shielding between the essence pools and the Conservatory? She supposes it makes sense that Nightmare Moon would want to protect this place. Maybe the reason Queen Elytra's changelings haven't invaded it is because the room is also warded like the Throne Room?
"Anyway, Gallus asked why I fell for you. And how," Smolder finally continues. "I couldn't answer either of those, though. I don't know why or how. It just... happened."
A smile grows on Smolder's face. "But I could tell him why I'm the luckiest dragon ever!"
Ocellus listens intently. Like every changeling, she knows love doesn't always make sense, and that people don't pick who they fall in love with. (Although Smolder's realization probably came from a more wholesome place than a lecture by Chrysalis on Why We Don't Farm.)
"While I do like cute stuff..."
Ocellus feels a jolt, driving her to interrupt. "You told him that?!"
Smolder's eyes widen. Then narrow. The dragon thrusts a claw at Ocellus, snorting a touch of flame. "No! That's still our secret!"
Ocellus feels herself smiling. She likes that being a secret between them. She knows their other friends would be okay with it. (Although Gallus would probably tease Smolder relentlessly.) But Smolder herself still isn't comfortable coming out of that closet to anyone else. And Ocellus finds that makes her feel special. The secret tea parties are their private thing.
Settling back down, Smolder reveals, "What I did tell him is that I hate mushy stuff. Dragons don't do mushy. On the list of pony holidays that dragons don't do, Hearts and Hooves Day is at the top."
"So how lucky am I that my heart feels like this for someone who can sense that? Someone who I never need to be mushy with because she already knows exactly how I feel?"
Smolder's eyes stare into the essence pools room, but focus on nothing. "I don't ever have to say things that I don't know how to say, or that might come out wrong, or that can get all messed up... because you know what I feel better than I can word..."
Ocellus can hear Smolder trying to find just the right way to express this. How ironic is it that right now she can't sense the love coming off of Smolder? But then, she doesn't have to. She is literally wrapped in it.
Ocellus provides the word Smolder needs. "Unambiguously."
Smolder nods, a grateful look in her eyes. Then sighs. "Even this is something I wouldn't want to say except to you. I'm surprised I told Gallus. It could so easily sound like I chose you because it would be easy for me or something."
Ocellus understands. "But I know you didn't. Your love wouldn't taste true if you did."
The two sit in warm silence. Beyond the duct, Pharynx' army grows, preparing for battle.
"What else did you two talk about?" Ocellus finally asks.
"Nothing. You were already stirring from our voices. I really thought you heard us."
Ocellus remembers how quickly and with how much certainty she had realized Gallus knew how Smolder feels because Smolder had told him. "I think maybe I did subconsciously. But consciously I hadn't worked any of it out yet."
Smolder nods. "Okay. Your turn."
Ocellus blinks. "My turn what?"
At Smolder's stare, Ocellus waves a claw. "Hey, I didn't have a conversation with Gallus while you snuggled cutely against him like he was a blue, fluffy Gallus-pillow."
Smolder snorts at her in mild frustration. "Your turn to tell me something that could be taken bad if we didn't know each other so well. That's how the Feelings Forum works, isn't it?"
Not exactly. But surprisingly close.
Ocellus feigns wide-eyed surprise. "Smolder, you were paying attention when I was telling everyone about our Feelings Forum!"
"Of course I was. And that was a dodge. Spill."
Ocellus takes a deep breath. This was going to be awkward.
"I was first attracted to you because you didn't want to be at the school."
Smolder is staring, confused and maybe more. Ocellus quickly clarifies.
"Not romantically attracted. Not then, I mean... I..." She stops, straightening the bookshelf of her thoughts so all the books are in proper order. "It was the first day of school. Thorax and I had flown directly to Ponyville. It was my first time outside the hive since we changed. The first time I'd been around that many non-changelings..."
The look of confusion in Smolder's face is gone. Her friend (girlfriend?) is clearly remembering that day too. Ocellus' voice drops to a Smolder-worthy mumble.
"...not counting when we attacked Canterlot, and love wasn't the emotion in the air then..."
Ocellus pauses as Smolder's eyes go wide. The dragon lifts a claw, then lowers it as she decides not to tangent. Still, Ocellus knows she will have to tell that story sooner or later.
Ocellus's voice returns to her normal whisper. "...and it was overwhelming. Not just the crowd, but the love. You have no idea how many creatures there actually loved getting to be at the school."
Or loved seeing their kids go. Or loved Princess Twilight. Or a dozen other flavors of love that just saturated the air that day.
Smolder coughs into her fist. A cough that sounds suspiciously like "Sandbar".
Ocellus giggles and return-coughs with "Silverstream".
Their eyes meet, identical amusement playing across their faces. As one, Smolder and Ocellus cough "Yona"!
The giggling is brief but good. Ocellus feels better, bolstered to go on.
"There was so much love in that room. Too much for me to handle. And it was everywhere, coming from all directions, except one." She looks into Smolder's eyes. "You were like an oasis. I needed to get closer to you. I was drowning."
"But you were a dragon! I knew ponies had invited us changelings, but I didn't know if a dragon would let a changeling even get close to her. So..."
Smolder finishes, "So you became a dragon."
Ocellus nods. She breaks the shared gaze, looking down at the vines covering the floor of the duct. "Not any particular dragon. Just... me, only dragon. But that's the only way I thought I could be near you."
Ocellus feels Smolder's tail wrap around her. After a moment of quiet, Smolder smiles and speaks up. "We've changed a lot since then. I love being at the school now."
Ocellus blushes. "Oh, I know."
She pauses, related thoughts from earlier in the night crashing in. "And I don't do that anymore. I've never changed into a griffin or a yak..."
She stops, realizing she was about to make two statements, neither of which are true: I've never changed into a hippogriff and I don't change just to be comfortable anymore. She did the first earlier today. For... reasons? And the confidence she had in the second crumbles away almost instantly as she remembers having turned into a dragon without realizing it. Or the times this year she has woken up in the wrong form, despite having told Smolder their first day rooming together that she never does that. How can she say those changes aren't for comfort when she doesn't even know why she's changing?
Smolder says, "We've noticed."
Ocellus blinks, taking a second to remember what she had just said before her train of thought derailed.
"I took the form of a hippogriff today," Ocellus admits to Smolder. "I don't even know why. I don't know why I didn't turn into a dragon. I needed to lift something heavy. A dragon would have been a better choice."
Ocellus can hear a note of worry creeping into her voice. Except when she is trying to amuse her friends, her transformations are always utilitarian. And she already had a dragon in her repertoire. Why did she create a whole new form, one that was less suited to the task? She hadn't even thought about it first.
"This was before you met Gallus, right?" Smolder susses. "When you thought you were alone up here."
Now it is Ocellus' turn to be confused. How did Smolder know that? And why does her friend seem absolutely not surprised at what she did?
Ocellus nods slowly. "What does that have to do with it?"
"You were alone. Your friends were literally a world away. Of course you would," Smolder replies. "I get it."
Ocellus' head is full of confusion. Whatever Smolder is getting, she doesn't. She wants to ask: well, then could you explain it to me?
Before the young changeling can grow frustrated, Smolders puts a claw to her face. The dragon's eyes tell her that Smolder sees her confusion, and that Ocellus doesn't even have to ask.
"Remember the story I told you at our second tea party?"
Ocellus is surprised at the question. But she absolutely trusts Smolder is leading her where she needs to go. She thinks back. The first tea party was very simple and a bit awkward, and their conversations were pointless. Smolder had been nervous enough about just having a tea party, so they kept it shallow.
The second time, they talked about liking cute things. And that was when Smolder opened up more than she ever had before.
"It's not just that I'm a dragon and dragon society doesn't do cute. There's that, and that's enough to make liking cute things hard. But not to make admitting it a 'greatest fear'," Smolder tells her.
"It wasn't just my environment. I was taught that dragons don't like cute. By my parents. By Dragon Lord Torch..."
Ocellus remembers her surprise at that. She had never imagined the former Dragon Lord spending his time with young dragons, much less teaching Smolder. She was right not to, as Smolder told her.
"It was my first baby dragon hatching season... well, technically my second... and I made the mistake of calling the hatching dragons "cute". Dragon Lord Torch heard me -- it's the duty of the Dragon Lord to oversee hatching season -- and he really let me know my mistake. Dragons aren't cute. Dragons don't like cute. Dragons are fierce and strong. End of lesson."
Ocellus remembers how vulnerable Smolder looked, sitting there in her pretty dress, holding her tea. How quiet she had gotten.
Smolder's claw is still on her face. The dragon girl's voice has a softness Smolder reserves only for her. The touch of her claw seems impossibly gentle. "The first day of school? I was right there. I heard what he said to you."
He? Thorax! Her King.
Stay in your own form! It's the polite thing to do.
"And it clearly wasn't the first time."
We've talked about this. What did I tell you?
Smolder sighs. Love and melancholy dance in her eyes. "You're still the only creature I feel comfortable being cute with. Before the Tree of Harmony made us face our fears? I would sometimes enjoy cute things when I was sure I was all alone. And even then, I felt guilty about doing so. Like I was a bad dragon."
"I think that when a big authority figure that you respect tells you something is wrong, you believe it. And even if you later learn it's okay, there's a part of you that doesn't. So you still don't do it. Or when you do, even though you know it is okay, part of you feels like you're doing something wrong. Something..." Smolder waves a paw, her words trailing off.
Ocellus finishes for her. "Something impolite."
Smolder got it.
Ocellus feels revelation washing over her. She had no problems becoming a puckwudgie or a bat to try to make friends with critters, but that wasn't the same as taking a risk with the creatures close and dear to her. She never became a yak or a griffin... or a hippogriff until today. Because unlike becoming a seapony to save Yona from drowning, the situation never demanded it. And without that, she was uncomfortable taking her friends' forms. They would be fine with it. But she wouldn't, because part of her was irrationally afraid they wouldn't be. She didn't take their forms because...
...I don't want to taint my feeding pool...
...she didn't want to risk making her friends upset.
The interrupting thought hits her like cold water. Oh. Oh wow. She wasn't just being afraid; she was being selfish.
Self-preservation isn't selfish. It's instinctual.
Was her reluctance just part of her facade? Not only letting who she was be determined by how others felt towards her, but who she wasn't by fear of the same? Or was this part of who she really was? The elusive self she feels she has lost. If this is the real her, Ocellus doesn't think she likes herself.
Another thought strikes her, bringing a surge of guilt. "Except I did that with you. I was so desperate to be near you that I didn't care about being impolite."
Smolder shrugs. "That was then. You were in a bad situation, and you didn't know me. And now you do."
"Y-yes. And I still take that form. Because I know it's safe. I know you don't mind... that you kinda like me doing it, even."
Now it is Smolder's turn to blush.
Ocellus whispers, "Still... I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Smolder admonishes warmly. "Ocellus, you are the only person I feel okay being cute with. The only friend who I can really be myself around. I'm happy that I could be your oasis. And I'm happy you can be yourself with me."
Ocellus feels no confidence for Smolder's assertion that she is "being herself". But maybe... maybe Smolder is right? And maybe it isn't so bad, or at least natural.
"Th-thank you."
Smolder sits back, smirking. "For what?" She holds her arms wide. "I literally haven't told you anything you didn't already know."
Ocellus rolls her eyes again. Maybe subconsciously, or deep down, or something. But having the puzzle pieces isn't the same as a completed puzzle, especially when you don't know what the picture is supposed to be. Ocellus opens her mouth, intent on saying so...
DOOM!!
Above the bulkhead doors, the ceiling and far wall of the essence pools room buckles. Cracks spiderweb through the stone. Arcane patterns and eldritch symbols of moonlight flare across every part of the room, from the walls and ceiling to the pipes and pool walls.
Ocellus realizes she was right. The essence pools room is warded. But they won't hold. The magical bulwark cannot withstand the Nightmare. Now she understands why the Nightmare didn't come after her immediately when it invaded the Conservatory. Queen Elytra created It for a second purpose. It is her ward-breaker.
DOOM!!!
Subtle flashes erupt across the arcane patterns as the wards burst and collapse. With an ear-piercing scream of abused metal and unspeakable horror, the Nightmare tears its way into the room, the queen riding high on Its back and a full hive of love-starved changelings swarming in around them.
The pseudolings immediately lift into defensive formations. Blasts of hateful crimson light meet lime-green collision barriers.
The duct is left unguarded.
Ocellus kicks out the vent cover, not worried about adding a little noise to the cacophony of the battle.
"Now!"
One of my greatest gripes with how the Student-6 were handled was that we never really for focus episodes for most of them. I would have loved to see an episode where Ocellus spends a significant amount of time as one of the others, for example.
I’ll admit to genuine surprise that it hasn’t been done before, if that’s the case. Then again dragons appear to be able to eat basically anything, and so oddly cannibalism might just not occur to them.
Jesus these two are cute together. It’s really easy to write for the two of them, isn’t it?
I want to see it now.
What’s hilarious about her saying this is that I can totally see this as a changeling term used commonly around the Hive, that developed from how changelings would obviously have once had a vested interest in shipping.
Farm, no, but changelings should be able to herd love to some extent.
I have a lot of theories about dragons that I want to write out in a story one day. Well, expanded theories developed since I wrote Great Dragon Coronation. Sufficed to say that there has to be some reason why seemingly no adult dragon actually lives in the dragon lands apart from the Dragon Lord.
We got an incoming climax!
10175531 This chapter was indeed a massive amount of fun to write. Thank you for the detailed comment!
10175531
There's a reason this is my only OTP ship in all the show. They are adorable and especially in these last two chapters! I'm a bit envious at all these little insights about how changelings think, or how the two would react to the first day of school. It's so clever and in-depth and I'm continually in awe and a bit jealous of the fact that my own thinking never goes that deep.
Also, I suspect "We Don't Farm" is Chrysalis' take on the words of House Greyjoy from Game of Thrones: We Do Not Sow.
Now this, is going to be a party!
Last one standing wins...
Don’t we all Ocellus, don’t we all.
Another lovely chapter to break up the Intent chaos they’re surrounded by. Also I can imagine Ocellus using her Smolder form for many pranks and teasing after all this is finished.
Next chapter... shits about to go down
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The main problem was they were brought in too late in the game, since their first session was very much setting them all up and how each of their characters now fitted into the show, usually we would then see more growth and more creativity by mixing them up more, like what they did with season 2 and beyond. we kinda got that for the young six with She’s all Yak and Sweet and Smoky,.
Unfortunately that season also had to add in all The finally stuff, Twilight becoming ruler, closure for a lot of characters like CMCs, Big Mac ETC ETC.
If given another season I’m sure we would have got a bit more experimentation, and hopefully will see some more in the season 10 comics fingers crossed.
Which must make the fact that Thorax later came along, tried basically the same thing, and ultimately succeeded seem all the more insulting for Elytra.
Then that raises three questions--A: Did Chrysalis even know the mirror led to the moon, or did she just look at it and go "yeah, this'll probably do" and shove Elytra through it? B: How did Chrysalis power it, seeing the mirror requires power akin to the Tree of Harmony or more? C: How did Luna ultimately get it? Because when she was explaining it to the Young Six just before everything went south, she made no mention of the changelings having anything to do with it, suggesting she was unaware of that previous use when she certainly would've if had come straight from the hive, and since I doubt Chrysalis would just give something like that up willy nilly before her overthrowing, that suggests it's probably exchanged hooves once or more times since Elytra's banishment before coming into Luna's possession.
Oh great, more questions that don't have answers. Like I really need many more for this fic.
Now that's one question we can definitely save for later.
I'm sure that was an exact quote too--I can just hear Torch saying it word for word.
I imagine Gallus and Yona are really starting to wonder what happened to Ocellus and Smolder by now...
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That assumes the show's crew knew with certainty that the show would be ending with season nine, because I'm not so sure they did, at least not when they first devised the Young 6 for the show--I got the feeling the Young 6 had been devised thinking it'd breathe new life into the show and either prolong it for some seasons further or earn the Young 6 a chance to be explored more in a side show akin to that of EqG.
Either way, the bigger problem the Young 6 have is really that the show tried to evenly split attention with them and the Mane 6, so that one wasn't totally replacing the other...and never quite succeeded. Instead, neither cast got quite enough attention that they deserved in those final two seasons. Basically, they tried to have their cake and eat it too, and it didn't quite work out.
Really, what they should've done was spin off the Young Six as a separate show (or like item) that could've afforded to focus more on just them...but I don't think such a project was ever in the cards for Hasbro.
I have a theory about the "why are there changelings on the moon?" question:
Nightmare Moon was only able to escape the moon by trapping someone else there in her place and she chose Elytra. It would explain why Chrysalis didn't' just eat Elytra for her betrayal; maybe Chrysalis was about to do that, but Elytra just happened to be sent to the moon at that moment and so she assumed that it was Chrysalis that banished her there. This would make Luna feel personally responsible for what's happening now and feel a need to fix it; however, she isn't willing to fix it by trapping herself on the moon again because of the fear and isolation of already being trapped there for a thousand years, and is willing to let someone else do it for her so that she wouldn't have to. She knows that this would be extremely selfish and the guilt of that would hit her even harder, which would be why she can't tell anyone else.
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I would have loved for the young six to get their own show but I don’t think they would have been popular enough, mainly from only have less then a season of screen time. I know a lot of people that thought they took time away from the mane six, which I get but a lot of the mane six stories had already been done, there’s not much more they could do with them that hadn’t been before
I think I remember Big Jim saying that they had been told that S9 was gonna be the last when they were just after season 7 ended but I Could be remembering that wrong.
Tying in deeper meaning into canon events is really nifty!
So, that massive train of thoughts that have been building for awhile out of the way, lets get on to finding out how right I am, and also figuring out those remaining questions that said thoughts don't clear up if true.
Well, there has been no shortage of Ocellus' feelings so far, but how is that going to relate to what is going on?
Well, another one that really needs context and yet feels oddly right for all this.
Ocellus.exe has stopped working
Pffffftm again, very cute.
The mirror that required being near the Tree(house) of Harmony in order to actually reach the moon, something Chrysalis did not know the location of.
And for most fics that go into how Changelings Queens work as well. So again, it's something that readers are likely inclined to totally go with and yeah, is entirely plausible.
Minus the already noted issues about how Pharynx could be involved and yet Ocellus have never heard of it, especially since it would have had to take place in the year or so (Two at the very, very most and that's highly unlikely at this point.) between NMM's return and Chryssi's attack on Canterlot. Also, once more, How did they get on the MOON! So yeah, more, sounds good but falls apart on thinking it over.
And Smolder is far more used to using digits then Bug-Horse so unlikely to be more dexterous either.
Pinkie Pie, I need you!
Thank you.
Nom nom nom. "Say, can one of you turn into a turkey, and another into some potatoes before I get around to the feast? It would really help out!"
Well, given my idea on what's going on, likely not. Either that's just playing on Ocellus primal fears to further screw with her head, or it's planning on 'consuming them' to use them as it's hosts, consume their minds to puppet their bodies.
So again, what may be a very, very nice touch here if looked at under the assumptions gone over last time with this. Smolder acting in a certain way, with Ocellus' internal thoughts echoing that this is how she thinks Smolder would react.
Again, not likely. But also, hmmm, more cases of the issues other as having tying back into Ocellus' own struggles. Yes, now that the theory is out there, everything is being overtly filtered through that lens.
Yeah, in case you haven't noticed, villains do not exactly have a good track record for success at anything major. So really, now that you know Equestria knows about this, smarter option then the whole 'strand someone on the moon' thing, is just have a small army ready at the other end with an OFC strike on standby.
She was watching her weight? Do you have any idea how many empty calories are in a drone steak?
Yes and the fact the story teases so much and so blatantly plays keep away was a major hint that the answer is some major twist that totally makes everything be seen in a new light, otherwise, why be so direct and blatant in the fact you are keeping it away from us?
You clearly do not have a proper dragon character sheet, no Dragon puts ranks in Stealth!
"So instead, I'll let you stare at it for a while"
Well, Pharynx should be happy, he's got himself a warrior factory.
Hmmm, great minds think alike?
Given it's the most complicated place to get to and the one that's going to be the hardest and cause the most issues trying to, Yes.
Okay, I want to see that!
A place at once very obvious, and yet very hard to actually use. That fits.
How much Nerf Bow ammo do you have?
Roll Credits!
Very sweet, in either case. Either this is Smolder just being sweet, or Smolder's subconsicous is trying to let her dal with things better.
Which is better then your subconscious showing up in your dream looking like a Mirror Universe evil twin, complete with all black ensemble and goatee to try and tell you to stop being so repressed and just go have some damn fun, get laid, stop worrying about saving everyone to the point you nearly get killed on at least a yearly basis doing so, etc... You Harry's got some issues.
And I thought I was overthinking some stuff, just wow....
But still adding in a 'you were there' that Ocellus needs to work on.. hmmm...
D'aaaaaaaawwwwwww Good fluffy birb!
And that is why he is awesome.
So would so, so many others. Also, has Cadance been giving her own lessons at the school? Princess of Shipping and all that?
Eh, more or less.
Well, he's a soldier, the romance training is more for infiltrators.
That didn't stop her from crashing into it later. So why wouldn't she go after this now if she really wanted to get to Pharynx?
Also, on a note, don't think I didn't notice that the one bit of what might have been legit information given to Ocellus she did not know in reference to something outside of this situation was something she expressly could be aware of and just not realized due to the situation until something in her subconscious brought it to mind. This is why I feel confident in applying that theory's lens to all of this now, because it just, keeps, working.
Huh, is it bad I kind of want to hear that lecture?
Buddy privileges.
Can't blame them. They must have a blast with Nightmare Night though, a day dedicated to trying to scare people sound right up their alley.
Huh, interesting take on things. And yeah, something i could see Ocellus thinking about. But, a good point, actually being able to communicate without being limited to what you can find the proper words for, just pure emotion without needing to find a way to quantify it.
Yeah, I see what you are doing here story.
And just being blatant about it, yet in a way that is fully open to other interpretations and works just as well with this being legit if you aren't already considering a certain option as being in play.
"Except for from this one pony, Jet something I think, but it was the greedy kind of love as he started smashing all the windows on his house and breaking stuff on his property, all while cackling something about 'insurance payout'."
Proof this is a fantasy world.
Okay,yes, her, but.. she loves EVERYTHING! She's probably love going to Linecon.
Huh, interesting take on how things panned out that day and why.
"Why Bug-Friend no turn into Yak! Yak best form to be in!"
Well, that was for utilitarian reasons.
Why not? Do you have any idea how often I'd use that ability just to get a but more comfortable? Imagine being able to turn into a cat, you could get comfortable ANYWHERE!
Hmmmm, yes, why indeed. I do love this story, adding just enough hints that if you look at it the right way, it's so obvious, while still being able to be read fully straight and work, with a bit of lampshade hanging making it feel like there is a legit reason for things.
Yeah, I can totally see this happening.
Sorry, sorry but... I have to....
Well, look on the plus side Smolder, now you have your own personal "Bad Dragon" to get creative with.
Okay story...... yeah..... this feels a bit too deep and introspective to be Smolder, and yet, not so much I can't say it isn't, but at the same time.... see what's already been said. It's not telling Ocellus anything new, but just giving her some added context and thought on things in her own head that she never really noticed before. Yeah, as usual, if I'm right, ohhhh this is so well done.
And it's actually forcing her to confront the source of some of her anxieties and self doubt, get to the root cause of them rather then he worst case scenario fear of why she's doing it, look at what thoughts she never even realized she internalized, come up with the revelation that things are not as simple as she's making it to try and blame herself.... yeah, this is helping her just by making her go over things she knew, but never thought about quite right before or put all together. All by coming from an 'external' source.
And then making my own point for me! At this point, it's starting to feel like the story is rubbing our faces in the hidden subtext, while still being able to miss it if you don't look just the right way. Seriously, good job.
Ah, there she is.
So why did this take so long?
Talking time over, running time now!
Okay, nice little chapter to give Ocellus some introspection...... all with information she already knew.
Yeah, this just feels way too much like her own subconscious talking to her, and even trying to drop it's own hints about what is going on for me not to keep going with the pre-discussed theory.
10196899 As always, thank you very much! I love these!
Given that the Summer Sun Celebration happened in (presumably) summer, and both "Winter Wrap-Up" and Hearth's Warming happened during separate winters, I think it's most justified to say at least two full years passed between the two events, but less than three. You could argue more using "Fall Weather Friends", but I tend to treat that episode as if it was shown out of order.
Wow that's actually a pretty good guess smolder
"Skill at screwing?" Smolder questions dismissively.
The dragon girl freezes, eyes wide, the blush on her cheeks growing over her face.
Ocellus giggles.
"I did not just say that!" Smolder asserts.
Ocellus sings, "Oh yes you did."
Smolder smirks. "Are you sure you didn't create this place?"
Smolder-Ocellus rolls her eyes (enjoying just a little the opportunity to do so). "Yeah, because I had this big Nightmare Moon fangirl phase."
Smolder fans out her claws. "Gothcellus!"
I like how they poke fun of each other so much they like each other so much 🥰
Smolder looks down. "I think Gallus was feeling a bit lonely. I mean, Yona's been going out with Sandbar for over a year. And now he sees the two of us. So unless he and Silverstream fall for each other..."
Ocellus perks. "Ooh! I'd totally ship them!"
Oh heck yeah I do too ocellus 😍😍
Smolder looks at her with befuddlement. "Ship them where? For what?"
Ocellus sighs dramatically, putting the back of a claw on her forehead."No, no. Ship. Short for relationship. It means I can daydream about them in love."
Yeah Seriously smolder Get your head in the game 😅
OK so basically they just had to find a way to stop them but it's really good for them to talk about their feelings even though they had to wait but it looks like the nightmare found them And it's time for the epic battle
Re: changelings eating each other. The whole eating each other's love thing is weird enough, but physically eating each other... that just doesn't sound like a long term sustainable survival strategy. :P
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Preliminary thoughts on why and how there are changelings on the Moon.
• Sending Elytra to the moon, separate from Chrysalis, was part of some larger plan, where sending them there was supposed to fulfill a purpose, and stranding them there was the betrayal.
• The betrayal happened in the middle of the invasion, when the changelings had access to the mirror, and Chrysalis was preoccupied with the ponies.
• Maybe the original plan was for Elytra to banish Chrysalis to the moon, because she knew she couldn't win straightforwardly, but the betrayal made the magic backfire instead.
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With regards to the black dome. If I were suddenly faced with this scenario in a RPG, I think my first crazy plan would be to shape change into a rock, and have Smolder toss me into the pipe. At least, the pipe seems to be flowing through the barrier.
I can already see two major flaws with this crazy plan, but it's the best one I could come up with.
Do ponies have pool noodle technology? I feel like a pool noodle would be a fantastic object to be able to turn into.
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I'm really not up to speed on Smolder's dragon culture, but it honestly sounds like she came from an abusive family? Is that even remotely close?
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Re: Pharynx assembling an army being a sign of no romance. I definitely agree with Ocellus, but I gather some people think war and romance go hand and hand. I can think of a few classical titles, like the Odyssey, where those two themes were deeply intertwined. Though it definitely doesn't seem likely that there's any lovely face launching a thousand pseudolings here.
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The part where Ocellus recounts her first day at school was really touching. Definitely a high point in the story right here. :)
holy crap, pharynx is playing starcraft!