Harry Potter and the Prancing of Ponies

by The Guy Who Writes

Rehabilitation, Part 3: Hesitation

"I still doubt you believe me," Riddle said. She might be lying to draw him out. Then again, according to his Changeling empathy sense, her hatred is gone...

"If I didn't believe you," she said mildly, "I would be conjuring flour and covering the room with it."

"Why didn't you do that right away?"

"I did not think of it until just now."

"Fine." He dropped his invisibility and his ventriloquism. "Did you know Changelings can cling to ceilings?" he asked from high above.

"Yes," Luna answered, looking up in amusement. "But I did not know they could vomit pink juices."

"Nor did I," he replied, apparating back down to the floor. "It was an unpleasant surprise."

"It's raw love," thought Thorax. "Could you put it in a jar or something? It would be a shame to waste that much."

"Thorax is requesting we put it in a jar. It's raw nourishment – like a bee's honey, I would guess."

Luna conjured a jar from thin air, then levitated the juices into it with a curious expression. She never was one for squeamishness.

"We're not like bees!" Thorax objected.

"You have a Queen," he pointed out. "And a hive mind."

"And," Luna contributed, "they go out into the world and collect something sweet to eat."

Riddle grinned. He hadn't seen that particular similarity himself, but she is right. "See? Like bees."

"Hmph!" Thorax pouted.

"May I speak with the Changeling?" asked Princess Luna. "You said his name is Thorax?"

"Yes," said Riddle. "I am about to swap our places, Thorax. If a buzz comes through the hive mind, walk me through a proper response."

"Um... will it be like the last time you disconnected me?"

"No. It should be like that time I pretended we were unconscious."

"Oh. Then... yeah. Sure. Can you reconnect me if I say so?"

"Fine."

He swapped dominance positions, like a larger rat allowing a smaller rat to win at a game of wrestling. Thorax resumed control of his own body, though for the first time, Riddle put his own self at the true forefront of the hivemind. Feeling exposed, he put an Occlumency barrier of Thorax, or as much as he could pretend to be Thorax, in place. If he received a Legilimency order, i.e. an order from the Queen, the false personality would utterly comply, but his own self would be safe. If he received a Legilimency probe, i.e. a buzz from a 'fellow' drone, he would consult Thorax on how to respond to it. In either case, he might need to shove Thorax into place if suspicions were aroused. If direct attention came from the Queen, he might need to do it at a moment's notice.

"My," said Luna once the swap was done, but before his host could even utter a word. "Aren't thee the Loyal one?"

"Um... yes, Princess," said Thorax, a bit awkwardly.

"Even as thou plot to overthrow thy Queen?" she asked. Not with criticism or blame, only curiosity.

"I want what's best for everyling," said Thorax, puffing out his chest. "No matter who's our Queen."

"Loyal indeed," Luna nodded approvingly. "We know our fool would disapprove if we asked about the body occupation business, so instead we shall ask where thou art keeping Princess Cadence, and where thou art keeping our fool. If he is separated from his body, we assume it is being kept somewhere?"

"Um..." said Thorax. "Can you promise not to go on the warpath if I tell you?"

"Tell her I concur," thought Riddle.

"And the Court Scholar agrees with me."

"Very well," said Princess Luna. "I promise to refrain from a rescue mission."

"They're in a cage," said Thorax. "In the crystal caves beneath Canterlot."

"How is their condition?"

"Unconscious, but unharmed," said Thorax. "Last I checked, anyway."

"Thy kind hast not drained either of any love?"

"Gossamer tried doing it to the Court Scholar," said Thorax. "But since he wasn't in his body..."

"We see. And Lady Cadence?"

"We're under orders to leave her be," said Thorax. "She's... uh... the Queen says she's a last resort, in case something goes wrong."

Thorax took a few steps back as a burning emotion began emanating from Luna, though it wasn't hatred.

"What emotion is that?" Riddle asked.

"Righteous fury," replied Thorax quietly.

"Why yes indeed," said Luna, her gaze narrowed. "We see the senses of thy species are as sharp as ever."

"No, I was... never mind."

"Our fool wanted you to name what I felt?"

"Only when it became overwhelming to Thorax's senses," said Riddle, resuming control. Now he had control both of the body and the hive connection.

"Will you stop doing that?" thought Thorax. "At least warn a ling first."

"Why did you even need to ask?" asked his employer, her words overlapping with Thorax's. "Shouldn't you be able to tell instinctively, if you are in his body?"

"Yeah," said Thorax. "Why do you need to ask? It should feel close enough to the original emotion."

"The feeling of hatred she exuded wasn't like the feeling of hatred I know," Riddle countered. "Not at all. I was under the impression that all emotions felt differently through your senses."

"You're looking at it wrong," said Thorax. "The sense we got when she hated us is EXACTLY how the feeling of BEING hated is SUPPOSED to feel. Changeling senses just magnify it."

"And the feeling of euphoria before that?" he asked flatly. "I suppose you're going to say that your biological mechanisms do not alter that feeling either?"

"The only 'alteration' is the nourishment," Thorax claimed. "If you ignore that, it's exactly what it's SUPPOSED to feel like to be loved. Ask anyling who's a parent, or a sibling, or has a spouse. We can't get food from each other, but being loved feels the same."

"Perhaps to a Changeling," he allowed. "You have no way of knowing if ponies feel it that way as well."

"Is our fool being obstinate, Thorax?" asked Luna, even though she shouldn't be able to hear the Changeling.

"Thorax is not in control at the moment," said Riddle at the same time Thorax thought, "Yes."

"Did Thorax say yes?" asked Luna with a grin.

"Don't we have more important things to talk about?" asked Riddle. "Like the ongoing and extensive infiltration of your nation, and in particular your military?"

"No," said Luna.

He stared at the co-ruler of Equestria. She had succeeded in stupefying him. "No?" he asked incredulously.

"The situation with the Changelings will almost certainly resolve itself without our intervention," she said without worry. "The Elements of Harmony are attending the wedding tomorrow. I shall tell my sister to recommend they wear their regalia as jewelry, if they do not already intend to wear them. Problem solved."

"Stupid, stupid Queen," thought Thorax.

Riddle wasn't reassured. "That seems grossly negligent to me," he said. "What about Princess Cadence? I thought you were worried for her safety."

"She is the Princess of Love," said Luna. "It is impossible to drain her of love, so she is safe from anything short of murder, or I suppose torture to get my sister's attention, but I highly doubt that is what 'last resort' means. She is far more valuable as a hostage, and all leverage would be lost if she were killed or hurt. And now that I know her location, I can retrieve her at any time."

"And you are so certain of this that you would rather talk about the nuances of emotion-sensing?"

"Yes, fool."

He stared at her, still incredulous at her carelessness. "Why?"

"Thy improvement is more important to me, and this is an irreplaceable opportunity."

"To do what?"

"Thorax, when he and thou entered the room, when we hugged him, did our fool ask thee the same question about our emotions that he asked about our righteous fury?"

"Yes," thought Thorax, though Luna wouldn't be able to hear him.

"Where are you going with this?" Riddle asked. She would be able to hear that.

A wave of euphoria – of 'love' – hit him straight on, despite the fact that he was not even all that close to his employer.

A consequence of his current body was that he was biologically unable to move away, any more than a moth could avoid a flame, but he could at least stop himself from moving forward unthinkingly. He felt his facial muscles move, though he had a hard time focusing on them. Or anything at all, really.

"This is what you are missing, my dear fool," said Luna. "Every second of every day that you go without improving your emotional state. I would not normally say this, for it is a cruel thing to offer a pony dying of thirst naught but a single drop of water. However, since I am trying to offer you an escape from the desert of apathy, I thought I should show you what is waiting on the other side, when you finally leave your emptiness behind."

The love diminished to bearable levels – he'd almost started throwing up again – and he collected his wits enough to respond. "Pure bliss is not exactly my idea of a good mental state."

"Your smile says otherwise."

Was he smiling? Yes, he probably was. "I have enough control over myself to disregard the euphoria as an external influence, but I cannot stop my body from reacting to it. The smile will fade."

"But that's just the thing," his employer said while shaking her head. "My fool, when you are finally better, it will not be external. The feelings will come from inside yourself, as they should have all along, ever since you were born. What you are feeling now is what you will feel." She held up a hoof to forestall his intended reiteration of I don't want that. "Not all the time, mind you. It's more of a... background feeling, most of the time. As opposed to the stress you feel for your mind always being active. And no, stopping your mind from racing all the time will not make you less intelligent. It is more like... being able to relax."

"I can relax."

"At will?" she asked. "Without forcing yourself to relax? Without your mind going in every direction, even if your body is still? If your mind is hyperactive, if your pre-frontal cortex is working non-stop at every waking moment, then you are not in a state of relaxation."

He thought about the nuance of the argument for a moment. "I repeat," he decided after considering her words, "I can relax. I said I meditated in my absence, yes? Was I lying?"

"Oh?" asked Princess Luna. "It is good to hear that you can get there. But without love, how long did it take you to reach a state of peace? Minutes? Hours?"

He did not reply that it had taken him weeks. "I do not mind the set-up time," he said instead.

"Honestly, Thorax, it is like talking to a brick wall," she addressed his host instead of him. "Canst thou tell him he is being silly?"

"You are being silly," Thorax repeated her words like a parrot. "Really. You are."

"Keep that up and I'm shoving you below consciousness."

"Don't be petty, fool," said Luna. "Now, I believe I have made my point. Please, please, for the love of Harmony, for the sake of magic itself, and for the sake of your own happiness, please consider it."

...

Hm...

Well, it's not like she's asking him to change anything. Just to consider her words.

"Fine," he sighed. "If you consider my advice on military affairs, I will consider yours on emotional ones."

...Therefore, he would make it a fair trade. If she listened to him when it came to his area of expertise, he would listen to her when it came to hers.

"Agreed?" he asked.

"Agreed."

Her lack of hesitation surprised him, but he easily turned it to his advantage. "Good. Now when you fail to heed my advice, you are obliged not to complain when I fail to heed yours."

"Who says I shall fail to heed it?" Luna asked. "If the Changelings have infiltrated us so thoroughly, then you are right. It is rather pathetic. Our subjects really should not be relying on a few powerful ponies to be their miracles. Not in standard military affairs."

"In that case," said Riddle, "I think we should let the raid happen, just to drive the point home to Canterlot's confident defenders, and especially to Celestia herself."

"Thorax," Luna addressed. "Dost thy Queen intend lethal force?"

"No," he answered internally. "Stunners and stasis gel only. How could we get love from ponies if they're dead?"

"He says no," said Riddle.

"Then I will do as you have militarily advised," Luna accepted. "Even if it is the opposite of good military advice."

"If you want me to stop the entire invasion before it even begins," said Riddle, "I can."

"No," Luna sighed. "You are right. Your advice is bad in the short term, but good in the long term, I think. My sister would learn nothing if we stopped it in advance. She would not allow change to be brought to her guard even if I allowed change to be brought to mine. Not until she sees the necessity. Once she has, then we will stop the raid. I shall do my own best to ensure that nopony... and noling is hurt from the scheme."

"You intend to work in the background, then?" Riddle asked.

"Yes," said Luna. "It is the best way to manipulate the chaos of a battlefield, if I can remain undetected."

Riddle nodded. "Do you mind if I focus on Chrysalis in particular?" he asked.

"I do not mind," said Luna. "But why is she your focus?"

"Changelings are physically unable to disobey her orders, no matter how stupid. As Queen, she is the root of the problem. If she is not stopped, more stupidity is inevitable."

"What I meant," Luna said patiently, "was to ask why you care. What is your motive in helping? Have you developed a bond of friendship with Thorax? Or is it for selfish reasons?"

"I told you not to pry."

"This has nothing to do with your secret past," she denied, "and everything to do with your living present."

"Even still," said Riddle, "it involves a secret of mine, one from my past. Therefore my lips are sealed."

"Is it revenge?"

"No," he said honestly. "Now stop asking."

She heaved a sigh. "Fine. I shall not ask after your motives. But I will ask after your means. How do you intend to depose Chrysalis? Send her to the prison Tartarus?"

"Would that prevent her from sending orders through her Hive mind?" he asked evasively.

"No," thought Thorax.

"Thorax says it would not," Riddle vocalised. "Therefore, the threat of her stupidity would still exist. In fact, it would be magnified. I can't imagine she would become less of a threat when faced with the reality of imprisonment. She would likely command her citizens to attack random ponies and shout that it will never end until she is freed, not stopping until the last Changeling is dead or disabled."

"She would, wouldn't she?" thought Thorax.

"And Thorax agrees with that assessment as well. What would you have me do?" he asked his employer rhetorically.

"What if we found a way to sever her from the Changeling hive mind?" Luna asked.

"I believe that would be worse than a death sentence. Right, Thorax?"

"Y-yeah," confirmed the Changeling who had experienced that trauma not long ago.

"As I suspected," he said aloud for his employer's benefit. "Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best one. Chrysalis is a tangible threat to her own subjects and yours as long as she lives. If you wish to turn the other way when the deed is done..."

His employer stared at him severely for a long time. Eventually, she relented. "Do not torture her," commanded Princess Luna, who had been born to a different time, when wars were waged and death was made necessary more often than in this peaceful era. "No pain. No torment. And do not let my ponies or her Changelings see it, if at all possible."

"I will try to keep it private," he agreed. He'd been planning to do it without witnesses anyway. "And I will not cause her any physical pain if I can avoid it."

"And if the Elements of Harmony solve the problem non-violently," Luna said sternly, "you will not kill her."

"Very well," he agreed.

That just meant he had to intervene before they could. Or disrupt their attempts. He was bound only to kill malicious threats, after all, and he hadn't considered the Elements might get to Chrysalis first. Really, he should be thanking Princess Luna for reminding him not to delay too long, lest the opportunity to make his second allotted Horcrux slip through his hooves.

"What aren't you telling me, fool?" Luna demanded.

"May I have no thoughts to myself?" he asked, growing annoyed.

"Not this time," she said sternly. "On less important matters, I let it slide. On this, you will tell me the honest truth."

He thought of arguing, then thought of something better. "I am not telling you that I am not confident the Elements of Harmony can cure her."

"Not good enough," she denied. "You will promise not to touch her if they do. Say the whole promise, and say it honestly, before I agree to this course of action."

"I promise," he said, "that I will only kill active, malicious threats to the innocent. The exception to this promise is when my own life is threatened, leaving me no other choice, but I try to avoid that situation as much as possible. If Chrysalis is not an active and malicious threat, she will not come to death by my hooves."

"You still aren't telling me something."

"True," he allowed. "But that is as honest as I intend to be... no, I suppose I can be a bit more honest. The promise I just made extends beyond Chrysalis. As long as I am in Equestria- no. So long as I am on the planet Equus, that promise will stand. I shall only kill a sapient life form if it is a malicious threat to other, innocent sapient life forms. I made that promise before I ever met you, and I intend to keep it. I will not kill, torture, or maim any Equinoids, pony or otherwise, unless they are an active and hateful threat to the world. Satisfied?"

...

"So be it," Luna sighed.

"Now it is your turn for a promise," Riddle pointed out. "Since I will not be harming any innocent ponies, you will not be telling your sister unless I say so, as you have Vowed. You either, Thorax. If your Hive asks about the fate of Chrysalis afterwards, you might say that she died, but you will not talk about my involvement. Understood?"

---

To Riddle's frustration, he hadn't quite gotten a handle on the Occlumency barrier between Thorax and the Hive mind before the Queen's next order came through:

Attend the wedding as a groomstallion.

He had two choices. He could try to have his pretended personality accept the order and risk exposure for not getting it exactly right, or Thorax could accept the order and be forced to follow it. He saw plenty of advantages in having a front row seat to the upcoming disaster, so he chose to have Thorax accept it.

Thus, they would go to the wedding as one of Shining Armor's groomstallions. Which meant attending rehearsal as well. Which starts in about thirty minutes.

"Am I ever going to get some sleep?" Thorax whined.

"Good point," thought Riddle, then entered what Mr. Potter calls 'zombie mode' as he walked. He completely suppressed Thorax for the duration, almost completely suppressed himself for the duration, then brought them back to awareness about twenty-five minutes later, once they had arrived where the Queen directed them.

When he came to consciousness again, Thorax just mentally groaned.

"Better?" asked Riddle.

"No," thought Thorax. "Now I feel worse."

"Some rest is better than no rest. Remind me to explain polyphasic sleeping after this. You simply aren't used to it."

"That can't be healthy."

"It works well enough for me."

"Case in point."

"Am I not healthy?"

"Physically?" asked Thorax. "Probably. Mentally? No."

Riddle ignored him, focusing instead on the pink alicorn (Changeling Queen) that was politely walking (marching) towards them.

"Hello," she said in a pleasant (annoyed) voice. "You must be the Court Scholar! I'm so glad you could make it." Hive-mind translation: Why on Equus were you waddling and drooling like that?

"I could hardly turn down Mr. Armor's request," Riddle lied. Thorax replied over the Hive: Staying in character. The Court Scholar sometimes did that.

"Well, thank you for coming." You WILL be demoted after this is done.

"You are welcome." I gathered plenty of love, and Princess Luna won't be a problem. "A wedding gift," Riddle said, floating jars out of his cloak. "Strawberry jam. Home-made."

"Thank you." This doesn't get you off the hook. "Stand over by Shining Armor. You will be told if anything is needed of you."

He did, drawing the gaze of a few of the other ponies, and one in particular.

"Riddle Tome?" Celestia asked, sounding shocked.

"Glad you could make it," said Shining Armor.

The Princess's head snapped to her Guard Captain. "You invited him?"

Captain Armor looked back at her, seeming suddenly confused. "I... uh... thought it would be a good idea?"

Celestia stared at him for a moment. Then she looked back at Riddle. "You ignore my messages for months, and yet you respond to his?"

Months? He must have been down there longer than he thought.

Riddle shrugged. "I owed him for the Vow," he lied, reveling in the fact that it's so much easier without an Element of Honesty around to-

"That there was a bold-faced lie," said Applejack, one of the bridesmares.

Damn it.

"Fine," he half-groaned, half-sighed. "I grew tired of my hiatus and decided to return."

"Better," said Applejack, though she still didn't look happy.

Celestia, after witnessing this exchange, shook her head, perhaps in wonderment. "I suppose my sister shall be happy to hear you are alive and well, if nothing else. Thank you for inviting him, Shining Armor. I never would have guessed that might work."

"You're... uh... welcome, your majesty," said Shining Armor, still seeming a bit confused.

That was when Riddle realised. Was he under a Confundus Charm?

How?

Equestrians don't have the Confundus Charm. Or any equivalents. He had checked that quite thoroughly. The closest things were compulsion charms and mind-corrupting amulets, but those were far less versatile and precise.

Do Changelings have a Confundus charm? Thoughts of future investigation occupied his mind while more wedding introductions were made.

Once the rehearsal went under way, however, his attention was soon occupied by something far more distracting: the walking catastrophe known as Queen Chrysalis.

He only knew that her role was 'The Princess of Love', and that alone was enough to know she was doing it wrong. Her species gave them the ability to mimic voices and appearances perfectly after seeing ponies only once. It did not magically turn them into perfect actors, and her acting was terrible.

Twilight Sparkle clearly thought the same, though the others were all oblivious. Leave it to the trusting nature of ponies to render them all so blind.

Their disbelief at Twilight's suspicions only worked the purple mare up into even more of a fuss. She barely recognized the return of the Court Scholar until her frenzy reached a fever pitch. Only then did she seem to notice him all at once.

"Mystery!" she shouted. "You believed me last time! You have to believe me this time! She's evil I tell you! Evil!"

All eyes, unfortunately, were on him. Including those belonging to the true Element of Honesty and the sun-controlling ruler of this nation. Queen Chrysalis's eyes were not on him – she had pretended to run away crying only moments ago, though no doubt she had Changelings watching him.

He took only a fraction of a second to choose his tactic. "I did not believe you last time," he said honestly. "I never believe anyone or anything. I humoured you last time. I heard out your evidence and saw that you might be right. If you want me to do the same this time, you shall have to give me your evidence."

"I gave you the evidence! I gave everypony the evidence! Just like last time! You have to believe me!"

"Suspicions are not evidence," he said calmly. "They can only point you in the right direction. Nothing else you have said is solid. If the accusation is impersonation, mere behavioural differences do not pass the threshold of reasonable doubt. In a nation of innocent until proven guilty, you need more than what you have offered if you want to convince your peers."

"I have more!" she shouted. "I saw her cast a mind-control spell! On Shining! Last night!"

"Really?" he asked curiously. "I did not know there is such a spell in Equestria. And I searched for one."

If not for the fact that Celestia was more concerned with Twilight, she might have put him under inquisition for that last remark. Instead, she only gave him the evil eye as Shining Armor explained that 'Princess Cadence' had been helping him with his migraines, and the Element of Honesty confirmed that everypony involved was telling the truth, including Shining.

Shining believed he was telling the truth, Riddle mentally corrected Applejack. That doesn't mean he's actually saying truthful things.

Then Riddle paused in realization.

All this time, was a self-Confundus charm all it took to fool the Element of Honesty? He hadn't thought to check that obvious idea.

In Magical Britain's interrogations, it is standard practice for aurors to perform the full suite of security checks beforehand, including Nullus Confundio, and other nations have that practice as well. His brain, it seems, had stupidly discarded the Confundus Charm out of a habit that had been instilled in him from plotting around the various magical law enforcements of Earth. Even though he had used a self-Confundus Charm to fool the Mirror, he had not brought his brain's ingrained patterns about what would and wouldn't work to fool magical interrogation to conscious attention.

It made him wonder what else he might be missing...

Then another implication clicked. So far, the Element of Honesty hasn't suspected the Changeling Queen at all. Did that mean Chrysalis was immune?

Yes, of course it meant that. The real question was whether it was conscious and deliberate, or if it was natural immunity. Were true Changelings immune? Did he not count because he was only an occupant in this body, not its owner? Would he have to sacrifice a Changeling in the fusion ritual to become immune? Or are only Changeling Queens immune?

Or maybe Applejack was simply Changeling-Confunded into blindness about Chrysalis. But then, why would she call him out on his dishonesty when he first arrived?

It seems he has a few questions to ask in his final, private moments with the Queen.

Although... maybe he shouldn't waste the time. It is already too late. If he had been immune from the start, that's one thing. To become immune now, to become 'always honest' now, would raise Luna's suspicions, like it did earlier.

He sighed internally.

He might still investigate; he saw the value in at least asking the question if Chrysalis seemed likely to answer/brag, but it would probably do him little good outside of fooling Applejack. Unless, of course, he was so amazingly fortunate that he gained exact control over what the Element of Honesty could perceive. He didn't think that would happen, though, and he wasn't counting on it.

---

Later that day, Chrysalis launched a full-scale invasion and Riddle successfully blocked all orders to participate.

He wondered if Celestia had actually been defeated, or if she was simply manipulating the Elements of Harmony into facing their next challenge so they could grow stronger. Dumbledore had done similar things, followed prophetic guidance to make Harry Potter the wizard who would save the world's people.

Was he pattern-matching when he shouldn't be? Was Celestia actually that easily defeated? Or was the 'love' stolen from Shining Armor really that strong? Even if it was, did Celestia really have no defenses other than a large beam of light that could be outclassed by a larger beam of light? Is Equestrian magical combat really that pathetic?

He'd seen unicorn duels, seen that it wasn't like that at the lower levels. There were spells that only had specific counters, shields with only a few bypasses, things purely done for distraction. In the human world, combat cleverness only grows more pronounced as the fighters grow stronger and more experienced. Is it the opposite in Equestria?

So far, all the top-tier (i.e. Alicorn) Equestrian combat he's seen has been decided by whoever has the bigger beam of light, with the Elements of Harmony being the biggest. Do more powerful fights become simpler in Equestria, not more complex?

It was an important question that he didn't have an answer to. At the moment, it didn't change much. If any of these idiots tried it on him, their stupidly large and telegraphed beam would hit empty air after he dodged/teleported to safety, then they would suffer a stunner.

"Riddle Tome!" Celestia said after telling Twilight to use the Elements. "Help them!"

"That's not him either!" shouted Twilight. "The real Court Scholar is in a coma!"

He mentally debated the pros and cons of arguing this point. Thorax and Luna already knew, and he had no plans to kill Thorax...

"It is me," he replied truthfully, even as his false 'Thorax' personality informed the hivemind that he would gain the ponies' trust and betray them. "Or am I lying, Applejack?"

"If yer queen can fool me," said Applejack, her Element glowing brightly, "I bet you can too."

Without warning, the gems worn by the Elements of Harmony fired in unison, to the apparent surprise of the ponies wielding them, as if the gems had minds of their own. Riddle's first instinct was to use his broomstick bones to fly away – no good, he wasn't in his base body. His second instinct was to teleport, but that failed as well, and now there wasn't time for an apparation. There was time to snap a portkey, but that didn't work either! His last-ditch effort was to panic air-buck as hard as possible, but he couldn't escape the rapidly expanding blast radius from the elements' collision with Chrysalis. The explosion of colours reached him as well...

To no apparent effect.

He performed an air-cushion to stop his downward momentum, his outward appearance far calmer than he actually felt inside. That had been extremely lucky, and he hated relying on luck. Although at least his guess was right – the Elements of Harmony cannot change a creature's free will.

Also, he now knows better than to draw the wrath of big Equestrian beams. They come with anti-teleportation effects, apparently. He now knew why they were countered with other beams.

He exchanged a glance with Queen Chrysalis, who began laughing victoriously. "See?" she bragged. "With all this love, even the Elements of Harmony cannot stop me!"

"Maybe," said Celestia, "But he can."

Chrysalis only laughed harder. "Who, him? Thorax, be a dear and help round up the wedding guests."

He was beginning to hate this Queen. Why must she be too stupid to see that she should have played along? If he really was Thorax, it would have been to her advantage to keep up the charade.

He sighed internally as his false personality conveyed compliance to the Hive mind, even as the order was ignored, to his host's thrilled delight. But best to keep up appearances for now.

In a flash of green fire, he revealed himself as a Changeling, to many gasps in the wedding crowd. "Should I give them a head-start, my Queen?" he hissed. He still wore his cloak, still wore his glasses, which made the idea that he'd been kidnapped more convincing.

"Oh, why not?" she laughed mockingly. Idiot. "You can run, little ponies, but you can't hide! My Changelings will stop you!"

Once the chase was under way...

"Hold on, are you actually trying to stop them?" asked Thorax.

"If I were actually trying," he thought, "they would have been stunned in the first few seconds."

"You aren't making it easy."

"Should I be?" he asked as he fired another stunner.

"Your Princess said to."

"No. She only said to accept it if the Elements of Harmony cured your Queen. She said that if the problem was solved through non-violence, I was not allowed to press the issue, and I promised to abide by that fiat. I did not promise to promote that outcome in my own actions. I follow the letter of the law-" his stunner was narrowly dodged by the Element of Loyalty "-if not the spirit."

"That's evil."

"Thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment. If they can cure my Queen, I want them to."

"As you've already seen, they can't."

"But they cured Nightmare Moon!"

"No, they didn't. Not in the way you're thinking. Nightmare Moon was the result of an outside, corrupting influence by the name of King Sombra, not just her own pride. That's why the Elements could cure her."

He had put two and two together after reading through Celestia's private library. He had not forgotten the murder that had allowed him to make his first Horcrux, nor the words said by the shadowy pony immediately before its demise. He'd originally thought it had said 'sombre', but in the clarity of lore-augmented hindsight, he now knew that the creature had declared vengeance in the name of King Sombra.

"Chrysalis is different," he continued 'out loud' for Thorax's benefit. "She is entirely herself. I doubt Harmony magic can re-write a being's whole personality. Besides, if I help the Elements now, we'll be exposed." A stunner hit one of the six ponies. Then another. Neither of them were his stunners. "And it looks like it's too late anyway. I gave them a sporting chance. Now we do it my way."

Earlier, he put a trace on the idiot Queen without her awareness. All he has to do now is decide when would be best to do the deed. He didn't even need to retrieve his own body first, though he still might anyway. He can make Horcruxes from inside different bodies – he had tested that while occupying Quirinus Quirrell – it would just be easiest in his own. He only needs a few items which he already has, thanks to Chrysalis's 'wear the Court Scholar's effects' order. In other words, he's ready to make a Horcrux at a moment's notice. Now he just needed the opportunity.

The explosion of 'love' that sent Changelings, including himself, flying in every direction would do nicely. He teleported from the grip of the spell (which surprisingly let him do that, unlike the Harmony beam), going to his base beneath Canterlot. He transfigured his body for easier transport ("What are you DOING to yourself?", "Making myself easier to carry") then teleported to the open air above Canterlot, ready to follow wherever his trace took him.

"How are you doing that?"

"Pegasus magic," he answered Thorax as he bucked himself across the air like that magically-challenged orange filly did – by making air-assisted prance after air-assisted prance, not by powering a long glide. These insect wings do not glide. "Though I am surprised Changelings can tap it. Or perhaps that is only because I am here."

The trip was short. Survivable projectile motion can only take a living creature so far.

"Thorax," commanded the battered Queen on the ground. "Bring me love! Your Queen commands it!"

Riddle grinned through the Changeling's fangs, allowing the extra tooth to float from his mouth. It detransfigured into his pony body – the 'comatose' (i.e. empty) Riddle Tome.

He put Thorax's horn to his forehead; he put Thorax's hoof to his eyes; he said the words "Fal. Tor. Pan."

And he was in his own body once more, Thorax collapsing to the ground behind him. A wordless sleep spell of Somnium – invisible to the naked eye – was cast at the Changeling officer for good measure.

"Will this do?" he asked the Queen, now wearing the grin on his own lips and ignoring the stiffness his body felt.

"You will do nicely," the Queen hissed, her horn glowing green.

Riddle felt magical intrusion and instantly stepped back, raising a shield.

The Queen also reeled. "WHAT?!" she screamed.

Riddle took a fraction of a second to regain the composure he'd lost when it turned out that Changeling Queens could drain love at a distance. Thankfully, it seemed he had lucked out again. He had his own natural defenses, apparently.

"You have no love in you?" she demanded. "None? None at all?!"

"Hello pot," he said. "I'm kettle. Are we not such a lovely shade of black?"

The Queen was utterly confused. "But- but ponies need love! They need happiness! They die without it!"

It took less than a second for him to imagine how she learned that little detail, not that he cared when he saw it. What he did care about...

"How are you alive?!" Chrysalis demanded.

"I lack happiness?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed. "A lack of love, I understand, but-"

"They are intertwined!" the Queen interrupted. "And you have neither! No positive emotions at all!"

Hm... the Queen of magical empaths believes that happiness is intertwined with love? And even worse news, she basically just informed him that he's made absolutely no progress on the problem of happiness, and therefore he has made no progress on the Patronus Charm.

"You are no pony," the Changeling Queen declared with certainty. "What are you?" she demanded.

"That depends," said Riddle companionably, wearing a goading grin as if to convey that she was in like company. "Are you still intent on conquering Equestria and enslaving all ponies?"

Her eyes narrowed, darkly and dangerously. "I will have my revenge. You want in?"

A wordless sleep hex knocked her out cold, just like her officer.

"Then to answer your question," he said to her still body, "I am your murderer."

The will of the phoenix inside him screamed, so he switched to human form and ignored it.

There were two orders of business.

First he floated the Stone of Permanence to his wand and cloned the Queen's body twice, sacrificing two ursae minor.

Next he sacrificed one Changeling Queen clone, giving its power of Changeling supremacy to Thorax.

Then he transfigured the other clone into a false tooth. He had not yet decided to give himself Changeling powers after the incident with the phoenix.

The original version of the Fusion ritual, without the Stone of Permanence, is supposed to be generous in its benefits, as far as rituals usually go, because it is only temporary. In theory, it is not supposed to give you a creature's drawbacks, only its strengths, because it's expected that you'll suffer extreme consequences and maybe die a few hours later, once the ritual wears off. Becoming part-troll had not made him vulnerable to sunlight, for instance. Unfortunately, the 'strengths' of some magical creatures have turned out to be less than desirable, like the 'aura of innocence and purity' from the wizarding world's unicorns. Likewise, the 'fire' that his pony body feels does not seem to him like a strength. It restricts his actions far too much to be considered anything but a weakness.

He could not deny that it was a reasonable price to pay for immortality, unmatched magical healing, and phoenix travel. But he still found it annoying, and he was still hesitant to repeat that mistake.

If he sacrificed the Changeling Queen as a pony, he would almost certainly gain the ability to take on other pony appearances and voices after a flash of green fire, almost like at-will Polyjuice. If he did the fusion ritual as a human, he might simply become a Metamorphmagus. Other benefits might include clinging to walls, access to the Hivemind, kingly power over Changelings, and/or the power to definitively fool the Element of Honesty. None of that bothered him, and in fact much of it was desirable.

The thing that was making him hesitate was that the ritual might consider Changeling 'emotion sensing' to be a strength, not a weakness.

He was pretty sure he would not gain a vampiric hunger for 'love', just like had not gained a ravenous desire for flesh after sacrificing the troll; that's not what was causing him to hesitate. He could even see the benefit of sometimes detecting the feelings of others, like a constantly active form of passive Legilimency that didn't require eye contact. The first Changelings he encountered had noticed him by sensing his emotions, despite him being completely imperceptible by normal means. That has many practical uses.

But he still wasn't sure if he wanted to gain forced empathy in exchange for the benefits.

Even though the emotion-sensing would probably be muted to avoid being the drawback that it had been when fighting his employer; even if it would only apply to his pony form and he could ignore it by switching to his human one; even if it did not come with a hunger for 'love', and he was fairly certain it wouldn't.

Even still, he wondered if it was best to wait before doing something he couldn't take back. He could always change his mind later...

Actually, no. He removed the false tooth, detransfigured the clone, and became a pony again. He can change his mind now. He's willing to accept those costs, after considering them so completely.

He had made no progress on happiness, and if his employer was right, emotion-sensing might be a shortcut, so he could tolerate it in that regard. If it ever became too intolerable, he could leave and turn human for a while. And if the power of emotion-sensing wasn't transferred to him, even better.

But first, he made another clone. If he only acquired the magical abilities that he considered beneficial, he would do the ritual for his human self as well, in the hopes of becoming a Metamorphmagus, or maybe something better.

Once all those preparations were complete, he turned back into a pony and gave himself the powers not just of Changelings, but of a Changeling Queen.

The power of perfect disguise? Yes.

Clinging to walls? Yes.

He even has access to the hivemind, into which a false personality of a simple 'level one' drone was easily placed. He probably had supremacy over Changelings as well, but he preferred anonymity. He already had an excuse prepared if any'ling' noticed him and asked why he was there. It must be an aftereffect of the Thorax business, he would say. He'd probably have to say it to Thorax himself, since a pony in the hivemind is probably the sort of thing that would get promoted to the new King's attention by lower-level drones.

Unfortunately, with every'ling' around him being unconscious, he couldn't confirm if he had acquired emotions-sensing as well, nor could he confirm if he had power over false honesty... not that he really wanted to test either. Being able to fool his employer would raise her suspicions immensely, though he might be able to deceptively and honestly claim that this is also an aftereffect of the Thorax business. As for the other power, it wasn't the wise thing to do, he really should confirm it immediately, but in this case he simply couldn't bring himself to care that he was procrastinating.

He did note that the phoenix did not object to his sacrificing unintelligent clones. Speaking of, he turned back into a human for what would come next. The next sacrificial ritual did target something sapient, the phoenix would object, and the body he wore while he did it made no difference.

But before the victim came the target object.

"Emergus."

During his hiatus, he had decided that his next Horcrux would be the Elder Wand. He had considered doing it to his ordinary wand like Mr. Potter had suggested some time ago. Horcruxing the wand made by Olivander would not add another Dementor weak point into the world because it already was a weak point. But the Elder Wand was simply a better candidate in every way, especially when he considered what he stood to gain.

As a further consideration, he just now realised that if something went wrong, if turning a wand into a Horcrux somehow caused it to stop being a wand, he didn't want to lose his own...

Hmm...

Come to think of it, maybe he should make his base wand the Horcrux after all. He was powerful enough that he was in no real risk of being defeated and subsequently losing the Elder Wand. Gambling such a powerful artifact in this way...

But no. He didn't want to gamble his own wand either, and Horcruxing the other Deathly Hallows had not rendered those devices impotent, nor had his Great Creation destroyed anything else – not the Diadem, nor the Cup, nor the Locket.

In retrospect, it had been incredibly stupid for his young self to Horcrux those artifacts. His Great Creation was tied to his very existence; his ritual might have reacted destructively to any of the magical devices he incorporated over the years, killing him instantly. But after so many successes, even if it had been stupid in the beginning, the proven safety is no longer in doubt. Horcruxing all those devices, and especially the Deathly Hallows, had done nothing but grant him more power. That implied this would work, not destroy or disable the Elder Wand.

Although he should still plan for the worst. On the subjunctive situation where the Wand is destroyed...

In that case, he would still have access to more magic as a pony than he ever did as a human, even as a human wielding the Elder Wand. If some future disaster can only be stopped by a wizard with the Elder Wand – which is Mr. Potter's hypothesis for how that device fits into the 'prevent death' theme of the Deathly Hallows, though Riddle thinks it's the much more straightforward interpretation of 'preventing death during a fight' – he has enough power to stop such threats as a pony, Elder Wand or no.

That would mean he has to abandon his desire to destroy his pony form after escaping the Mirror... but that's acceptable. To abandon this much power for a trivial reason like personal taste would be stupid. He really should keep the body, no matter how much he wants to destroy it and forget this incident ever happened. Especially now that it can phoenix travel.

But getting back on topic, even in the unlikely event that Horcruxing the Elder Wand goes wrong in some capacity, the likelihood of true disaster borders on the infinitesimal.

On the other side of the risk-reward calculation, the Wand would probably increase his raw magical power even further, just as the Cloak had allowed him to become invisible. A straightforward, highly desirable outcome.

There is also the hope that making a wand his Horcrux will allow him to manipulate magic when he's trapped inside of it. Without his connection to the Resurrection Stone, he can't float free of his devices. That's why he needed to enact that convoluted set-up with the Invisibility Cloak. An alternative solution would be much better.

A broomstick Horcrux might work to give him freedom of movement again, as Mr. Potter suggested, but it would probably only work for that one device. It might allow him to physically move around even if he was trapped inside, but that would be too conspicuous. He would have to literally fly the Horcrux into somepony – specifically some unicorn – in order to possess them and use their horn to recreate his body. He disliked the crassness of that idea.

Manipulating magic from inside a wand Horcrux is much more elegant, and it should be more versatile, in theory.

Now, being trapped inside a wand might gave him the ironic but logical drawback of being unable to use wandless magic. It really shouldn't work like that, but it might. He also wouldn't have a mouth to speak incantations, or fingers (or even a hoof) to make gestures, meaning he might not be able to use wanded magic either. Again, it shouldn't do that, but it might. If that really did happen, it would leave him almost completely impotent if he was trapped in the Wand, and it was a possibility he had thoroughly considered while meditating.

Even taking it into account, transfiguration still had a good chance of working. Free transfiguration is wordless. It's gestureless. If he keeps the Elder Wand's tip in contact with a transfigurable object at all times, he should be able to transfigure a body for himself from within the wand, then possess that body right away. And he would not make the mistake of leaving his ideas untested this time around. He would test this resurrection scheme at night, when he was certain Keen Eye was in contact with his other Horcrux. That would also be a good time to test if he could resurrect himself using the powers of a phoenix.

But even on the off-chance that every last one of those ideas failed, Horcruxing the wand famous for betraying its wielders should at least make it loyal only to himself, regardless of future defeats. If he ever experienced any.

The potential rewards certainly outweighed the potential risks in his mind. The rewards were also far more likely to occur, given the proof of history.

Even if they didn't, he would not complain. During one of his private lessons, in which Riddle sometimes played the part of student, Mr. Potter said that if you decide a risk is worth taking, you should not complain when forced to pay the price. Mr. Potter's words had crystallized what had before been a vague sentiment of Riddle's. It was a sensible, self-aware rule that the young Tom Riddle might have added to his list of 37 if he'd thought of it. 'Roll the dice, pay the price,' as Ms. Granger mnemonically put it.

No matter how unlikely it seems in advance, if the Horcrux ritual utterly fails and he loses the Elder Wand as a result, Riddle would not lose his temper or complain. It was a risk worth taking, after all. If that did happen, he would simply take the Elder Wand apart and try to figure out how it was made in the first place.

With all that in mind, he raised his own wand in readiness. Just before he began the ritual's preliminary stages, however, he hesitated.

He had the distant sense that he might come to regret this. His employer recently demonstrated that she is willing and able to ask precise questions about 'truly important matters'. If she pressed him later... but no. If that happened, he would first attempt to fool her with his newly-acquired Honesty falsification, assuming he even got that benefit from the fusion ritual, and if that failed he would end his employment. Simple.

"Avada Kedavra."

That day, the reign of Queen Chrysalis came to an end, and the reign of King Thorax began.

As soon as the Wand became a part of his Great Creation, he could feel the influx of power. He knew without even having to test it that his human form, which he currently occupied, would be able to cast magic at Elder Wand levels even while wielding his personal wand. He might even have that power while not wielding any wand at all.

He did not know if wielding the Elder Wand on top of that would empower him yet further, which is why you still do tests even when you are certain. He also didn't know if wielding the Wand as a pony would make him as powerful as possible. You never know what advantages might be found through curious investigation.

But that last test would have to wait. He was not in his pony form at the moment.

And since he wasn't a pony, he did not feel the tingling that had alerted him the last time. It would take a while, and his employer pointing it out to him, to learn that his 'Cutie Mark' had acquired a new addition. Within the mark's depiction of an open book, the left page was no longer empty. It now showed a wand producing a flash of green light.

Appropriate enough for Tom Riddle, he would later acknowledge. And since the Killing Curse was not known to Equestria, no pony would know what it meant.

It would also take some time to learn that his mane, like Mr. Silver's and Princess Luna's before him, would approach an ethereal-like quality on some occasions. In his case, it would happen whenever his mind was on the topic of death, or whenever he immersed himself in battle, or pushed the limits of his magical strength – limits which Horcruxing the Elder Wand had expanded.

This would reassure him that he was on the right path. Ascension without going down memory lane is certainly possible, and this is the stage his employer had been before she reached her own actualisation. He would become immune to Obliviation soon enough, if he wasn't immune already. That, also, would require testing.

After leaving a note for Thorax and taking care of the corpse, he became a pony again. The internal phoenix screaming was expected, but it went unheeded, which eventually caused it to stop.

With all that business finally concluded, he returned to Canterlot. The weather was pink clouds and brown rain, and the city was in a state of chaos.

Comments

[GrenadierGallus]

So he did absorb Chrysalis. I didn't think it was possible to do so alongside a second horcrux, but I didn't think of cloning like he did for the phoenix.

[Booster Spice]

Achievement Unlocked.

Join the Q?

[The Guy Who Writes]

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Yup. Part of the reason I don't like reading other 'smart' stories, and other HPMoR fanfictions in particular, is because most other writers don't solve problems in smart enough ways. I keep on shouting 'Why didn't he do THIS instead?! It would have been way better!" at the screen.

Like one story where the 'smartest' thing in the opening chapter was having an adult Hermione use a different spell instead of Wingardium Leviosa to propel a bomb away from herself because W.L. is too clunky and wordy when going for speed, and I was shouting "WHY doesn't she know wandless magic at this point? If you're going to have her be the 'angel' of the wizarding world because of her unicorn and troll powers, she should AT LEAST know wordless magic by the time she graduates Hogwarts, and that's way faster than ANY worded spell." And later in the story, during a flashback the author thinks that having her throwing boulders at Azkaban is an effective strategy for 'cracking open the prison to get at the dementors', or something like that, when (1) the central pit of Azkaban has already been established by HPMoR to be exposed to the outside air, (2) throwing boulders large enough to crack metal would just endanger the guards and prisoners, and (3) using a phoenix to collect another rock after each throw shouldn't have worked because there are no fast ways out of Azkaban. If you're only using magic established within HPMoR, you get exactly one teleport, the one that gets you to Azkaban in the first place, and that's it. You don't get multiple teleports once you're already inside the wards, otherwise, in HPMoR, Dumbledore would have used Fawkes immediately after Bellatrix escaped to go to the edge of the wards, cross them, then teleport away, given how urgently he needed to get to Diagon Alley. That was the best scene in the entire fic by far, and it STILL didn't respect HPMoR canon.

You can only write a character to be as smart as you are, and I got tired of reading stories that were written by authors who aren't as smart as Yudkowsky, and who keep neglecting basic established facts about his world. I myself don't think I'm as good as him, but at least I'm not... well, I'll leave it at that.

[Mad Maudlin]

Tom is just traumatizing everypony now a days, isn't he?

[The Guy Who Writes]

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Hm... well, I wouldn't say he traumatized anyone in this chapter. Murder? Absolutely. But the closest to traumatizing others would be Thorax, and I'd say that initial disconnection from the hivemind last chapter was worse than anything done this chapter. That Thorax was conscious to witness, anyway. And Luna wasn't traumatized, just... disappointed, I guess? Or dissatisfied that it had to come to that, and that her fool seemed unbothered by doing it.

[Teikan]

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don't solve problems in smart enough ways

Why doesn't he use clones for Horcruxes?

[mishun]

"I have more!" she shouted. "I saw her cast a mind-control spell! On Shining! Last night!"

"Really?" he asked curiously. "I did not know there is such a spell in Equestria. And I searched for one."

Starlight Glimmer disapproves.

[keybounce]

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(How do you tag a person in these comments without replying to a message from them?)
Yea, I came here to make that same observation -- the lack of mind control magic flies in the face of LOTS of examples given in the series.

Starlight Glimmer might be the patron saint of it, but there's a LOT. She and Starburst list off different spells at one point. Not to mention Hearts and Hooves days where foals make a potion to force feelings of lust on two ponies, or when Cadence forces two ponies that are arguing to kiss and make up.

[mishun]

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i.ytimg.com/vi/Bvra2d1vM6A/maxresdefault.jpg

[The Guy Who Writes]

11362331
That would be my own utter lack of familiarity with the source material (MLP, not HPMoR) showing. I'm very familiar with HPMoR, but not at all familiar with MLP besides what I've read in fanfiction and the wikis. I've never seen the show. I admit this is an excuse. The other fic I referenced in that comment was exclusively HPMoR fanfiction, and when the world's base rules aren't respected, it's like, you have no excuse as an author. You have one job: know HPMoR. Since this is a crossover where I use MLP as a backdrop for an HPMoR fanfiction, I've got two jobs: know HPMoR and know MLP. But I only really know HPMoR.

So if you're shouting 'but what about THIS scene from the show that contradicts the claim' at your screen, you are completely justified to feel the same way about this fic that I felt about the HPMoR fic I was talking about. I'm sorry, but the MLP half of this story just simply is not my priority. Most of the readers of this story are way more competent at MLP knowledge and lore than me, I will freely admit. My writing system for MLP details often goes like this: if the MLP world needs to function a certain way for the story I'd like to write, then so long as it's not utterly at odds with what you'd expect from a world of talking magical ponies, it will be built that way. My understanding of Celestia's character is that she would call mind manipulation magic evil and ban its use, so I wrote the story that way, even if canon details are at odds with that claim.

Now, if I get HPMoR details wrong without explicitly spelling out why I'm changing it, and you're shouting at the screen for THAT reason, THAT'S something I'll address right away.

[Bahamuttone]

"That there was a bold-faced lie," said Applejack, one of the bridesmares.

Hmm this ability of the Element of Honesty is getting troublesome with what happens with Twilight… as she IS completely thruthful in saying that Cadance is bad.

[Fireeaters]

That wand image looks like something from king's quest

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

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To paraphrase someone in one of the "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon" stories, I daresay being murdered severely traumatized Chrysalis. Not for long, mind you, but IMO most people would find it annoying.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

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IIRC, in the show the others just assumed "bridal jitters" & blew off Twilight's warnings.

Of course, this AU assumes the Element of Honesty gives more powers than the show.

The show also completely ignores "Pinkie Sense" outside the episode Feeling Pinkie Keen