Parley

by origami

A Changeling and a Note

The Everfree Forest. One of the most dangerous places in all of Equestria. Home to a countless number of dangerous animal species, from petrifying cockatrices to gargantuan manticores. Few dared to enter these woods.

Walking through these woods was another dangerous creature, but this one wasn't native to the forest. It had dark chitin, holes in its legs, fangs, wings, a horn, and two compound eyes. It was a changeling.

The changeling breathed hard as it walked through the forest. No more than five miniutes ago, it had been fighting for its life against one of the most dangerous threats to exist in the forest - Timberwolves. The creatures were literally made of wood from the forest, but hungered for whatever unfortunate creatures happened to cross their path. It had been a group of four, and it took every trick and tactic in the changeling's repetoire to finally elude them, but they were finally long gone.

The encounter didn't leave the changeling unscathed, however. One had gotten their jaws around the changelings barrel and bit down hard, piercing the hard shell and drawing forth green blood. Those wounds were too deep for a healing cocoon. The changeling would have to seek out help from either another changeling or a pony. The latter was a last resort, as ponies typically ran screaming upon seeing a changeling anywhere remotely close to them. The former option was equally as bad, given what he was intending to do.

Eventually, the forest cleared and revealed a village in the distance. Gathering the remaining strength it could, it donned the disguise of a blue earth pony stallion, reflecting its gender. He then checked himself for a note he'd managed to write after stealing a pen and scroll from a hut that appeared to belong to a zebra, based on the decorations inside. Fortunately, nopony was home, so there wasn't an incident. Tucking the scroll away, the changeling headed into town square.

There were ponies all around. Some were shopping, some were eating, some were talking, and some were simply moving about. The disguised changeling was using all its remaining energy to maintain its chosen disguise. It had one goal in mind: a hospital. Surely he would be arrested by the royal guard stationed here, as he had seen them amongst the ponies, but he didn't care. He needed help, and his best bet was to go to the hospital to get it. After all, doctors were supposed to treat patients; Ignoring them would go against their sworn oath to help all in need and do no harm. Plus, he was sure refusing to help him was criminal negligence.

As the changeling made its way closer to the hospital, it entered the town square. There were ponies going in and out of various businesses, and children playing. The changeling was doing its best to maintain its focus, but was distracted by a need it had yet to address: thirst.

Most ponies assumed that changelings only sustained themselves on love, but that wasn't true. They needed water like most any other organism, and the changeling hadn't drank for at least two days. It was thirsty, and the water fountain in town square was too good looking to pass up. He limped over to the fountain and dunked his head in.

The cool water on his dried out throat rejuvenated him, but at a cost. With his thirst quenched, his attention is drawn to the pain from his earlier wounds, and the slight tinting of the water indicated he was still bleeding. He needed to find the hospital, now!

He turned to limp away but was immediately halted by a scream. A mare in the town square pointed her hoof at him, drawing the attention of every other pony there. The changeling looked at his side and saw his green blood oozing out of his coat. "Well, no use hiding it now" he thought as he dropped his disguise.

The town square went into pandemonium. Ponies ran every which way, upturning produce carts, trampling flower beds, and making others outside the square do a 180 and haul off the other way. The changeling started limping in the direction of the hospital, hoping that at least one or so ponies would be merciful and take him there. The pain he felt with each step progressively got worse, and his breathing began to labor. Ultimately, he collapsed from exhaustion. Heavy sounding hoofsteps confirmed what his eyes couldn't: Royal guards were coming into the square to surround him.

In a matter of seconds, the changeling was surrounded with spears pointing at him. He looked up and saw a guard glaring at him. Calling upon the last reserve of his energy, he found his note and presented it to the guard, before collapsing from exhaustion.

The guards closed in and prodded with their appears, getting no response. One guard shouted "He's unconscious!", while others gave each other uncertain looks. The lead guard, a unicorn, walked forward and took the paper in his magic. After opening it and reading it, he ordered the other guards to take it and move it to the hospital.

===

Twilight Sparkle was in what amounted to a rather rare state for the purple unicorn: bored. Normally, she would've been with one of her friends doing any number of things, or studying a topic of interest, or reorganizing her library for the millionth time that month. But, her friends were busy, she had no topics she wanted to study, and Spike would probably go AWOL if she even thought of changing the library around again. She simply sat at her librarian's desk staring at the empty library before her.

Suddenly, a royal guard pony burst through the door panting and out of breath and scaring Twilight. Once he had regained his breath, he took notice of Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle", he addressed her,"Please follow me to the Ponyville hospital."

Twilight instantly went from scared to worried. "Has something happened to one of my friends?!" she questioned him in a slightly panicked tone.

"No ma'am", he replied,"but please come with me". Twilight nodded and followed him out the door, flipping the sign on it from open to closed. A mare walking up to the door gave an annoyed huff. Twilight gave her an apologetic look.

"Sorry", she apologized to the mare,"It's an emergency at the hospital. Hopefully I'll only be gone for a short while". The mare adopted her own apologetic look and nodded, heading back in the direction she came from.

The guard and Twilight began running towards the hospital. Twilight tried to obtain more information from the guard, but he asked her to save her questions for when they arrived. She gave an annoyed huff but relented.

The hospital came into view, and the sight shocked the mare. It looked to be in lock-down, with guards watching all the doors and pegasus guards flying above. One spotted them and called down to a guard by the door. That guard saw them approaching and stopped them at the door.

"It's me, sir", the guard with Twilight addressed his comrade at the door,"Private Halberd". The guard then asked him for a code phrase, which he provided. Once cleared, Halberd walked in. Twilight moved to follow, but the door guard stopped her.

"Sorry ma'am", he began,"but I have to verify your Identity". This caught Twilight off guard.

"My identity?" she asked the guard. He nodded, and then produced a letter with the Royal seal. He broke the seal and opened the letter.

"What was the test you took to be admitted to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns?"

Twilight spat the answer out almost immediately. "I had to hatch a dragon's egg."

The guard gave a nod and stepped aside. "Please follow Private Halberd to the prisoner" he told her.

Twilight stepped through the doors of the hospital and saw Halberd waiting. "Please save your questions until we're past the next checkpoint" he instructed and then turned to walk down a corridor. Twilight was rather confused.

"Prisoner? Security checkpoints?", Twilight wondered to herself,"Just what is going on around here?"

Halberd and Twilight walked down several more hallways before coming to a set of doors marked "Psych Ward". Twilight gulped upon seeing the words. Had they brought her here because a patient escaped and hurt some pony?

One of the guards at the door stopped the two. Halberd stepped forward and gave another code phrase. The guard turned and nodded to the other guard and made a gesture to him. The other guard walked in front of the door and Halberd took his place.

"Please follow me, ma'am", the new guard instructed her,"Our commander would like to speak with you before you meet the prisoner. Save your questions for him please.". He then put his hoof to a wall switch and the door popped open, allowing the two inside.

There were no patients in the common area, which confused Twilight. Wasn't it normal for ponies in the ward to get out of their rooms and socialize? She then noticed a nurse going into a room with a guard standing outside. She had a very nervous look on her face, almost like she could sense a predator nearby. Twilight was starting to grow more concerned as she saw that every room in the ward had a guard posted outside. She followed the guard to what looked like an office for one of the ward's doctors.

"In here, ma'am" the guard instructed, pointing to the door with his hoof. Twilight went inside. Sitting at the desk was a commander looking over paperwork. A subordinate was standing at attention nearby. The door clicking shut caught the commander's attention.

"Please have a seat ma'am" the commander said to Twilight, gesturing to an empty seat. Twilight say down and adjusted to get comfortable. The commander turned to his subordinate, telling him to go outside. The guard left the room, a click sounding as the door shut behind him.

The commander addressed Twilight with a serious tone, which told her whatever he had to tell her was extremely important. "I'm sure you have questions about what's going on, but before I answer anything, you must swear an oath that you will not disclose any information about what you hear here today. If you do, you'll be subject to criminal penalties, including a potential stay in the Canterlot dungeons. Do you understand and agree to keep this information to yourself?"

Twilight looked at the commander in disbelief. Just what was this huge secret that was being kept under such tight wraps? Her curiosity got the better of her. Perhaps it would be a secret for only a little while? The purple mare nodded her head in agreement. "I won't speak to anypony about this" she agreed.

The commander nodded and continued. "The reason for the secrecy is that, about an hour or so ago, a changeling wandered into the town square."

Twilight couldn't believe it. A changeling? In Ponyville?

The commander continued. "We're keeping this a secret so it doesn't start a panic here in town. The witnesses have been asked not to communicate what they saw with anyone until we've had a chance to do a proper investigation as to why it's here. It's a male from what we can tell, and it came in disguised. It was seen taking a drink from the fountain."

"It was drinking from the fountain?" Twilight questioned. The commander nodded.

"Yes. After he drank, he dropped his disguise and collapsed and fell unconscious. Before he conked out, he gave a guard this note. Please read this". The commander picked up a scroll on the desk and gave it to her. Twilight took it and unrolled it, reading the document out loud.

"To whomever should find me in my unconscious state. My name is Cricket. Yes, I am a changeling, and yes, I am one of Queen Chrysalis's changelings. I am not, however, one of the changelings that attacked Canterlot sometime ago. I was assigned to guard the nursery when that happened."

"I have come to this town primarily for reasons relating to my health. I managed to survive an attack by timberwolves a few days ago, but did not accomplish this unscathed. I ask you to please take me to a doctor or hospital so I can be treated for my wounds."

"As for why I was here, I am seeking asylum. I do not agree with Chrysalis's philosophy regarding our methods of acquiring our means to survive, and have elected to go elsewhere. I had intended to go to the hive of another changeling queen located close to the dragon lands, but the wolf attack has altered my plans. Please do not cause trouble with this queen. Her hive has done nothing to cause harm to ponies, and shouldn't be blamed for the decisions of Chrysalis."

"Since I am making a rather unbelievable claim to you, a show of good faith is in order. At the bottom of this scroll are sixteen addresses for homes and businesses here in Equestria that are, to the best of my knowledge, being actively used by changeling infiltrators either to kidnap ponies to drain love from, or are being used to gather intelligence for a potential future attack."

"I am giving this information to you to show my intentions for seeking asylum to be true, as my giving you the location of infiltrators freely is considered an act of treason. Should word get back to Chrysalis's hive, I will be hunted down and brought before her. She would then personally execute me in a public fashion as a warning to those who would choose to defy her."

"I can only hope now as I write this that you will practice the kindness and compassion that your kind are so openly mocked for in the hive and grant me this asylum. It's a far more desirable alternative to living out my days in a prison somewhere, though I can't blame you if you should choose to throw me in one anyway. I will agree to whatever terms you decide I must abide by if that's what it takes to get the asylum I seek."

Twilight finished reading and looked at the bottom of the page. As promised, there were sixteen addresses written at the bottom of the scroll, each one belonging to a city in Equestria. Half the list was split between Canterlot and Manehattan, and there were no addresses in Ponyville. That fact gave a bit of support to his claim, as if these addresses were actually belonging to infiltrators, the changeling would not want to be near them for fear of bring identified as a traitor.

The commander noticed Twilight had stopped reading and rose out of his seat. "The changeling is still unconscious. We originally believed that his wounds were a ruse, but the doctors who attended him told us that a minute later and we would be burying him in a grave somewhere. They managed to stabilize him and he is resting and unconscious. We had him moved here to the psychiatric ward to make use of a bed with restraints, as well as applying an inhibitor ring on his horn to keep him from using his changeling magic."

Twilight nodded as she processed this information. "Have you told either of the princesses about this?" she asked him.

"Not yet", answered the commander,"We were advised by the mayor that, because of your having been involved in dealing with changelings before, you might have some insight on what course of action we should take. We're soldiers, not policy makers."

Twilight thought for a moment, and then decided she needed to see for herself. "May I see this changeling?" she asked the commander.

He nodded and walked toward the door, gesturing for her to follow him. As they walked down the halls, Twilight took note of guards standing outside of patient rooms. The patients themselves were looking through the glass, frightful looks on their faces. "We've requested the patients be kept in their rooms", the commander spoke,"The guards are here to make sure that no one but staff are allowed into to see them. It's to make sure that if the changeling comes to and frees itself somehow, it won't be able to disguise itself and escape."

"I can appreciate your desire for secrecy and maintaining the peace", Twilight retorted,"but this isn't going to be good for these patients in the long run."

"I'm aware", the commander responded,"but everypony's safety is on the line here, even the changeling's."

Twilight was taken aback by this. "You actually care for his safety?"

"No", the commander replied bluntly,"He would've done everyone a favor by expiring in the town square, save for the ponies that have to clean up his blood from the streets and fountain."

Twilight gave him a rather disapproving look, but the captain paid it no attention.

"Since he is still alive, however", the commander continued,"He is going to be treated like a prisoner. Kept alive and under supervision."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What do you intend to do with him?" she asked.

The commander replied"Whatever you or the princesses recommend."

Twilight thought on this for a moment. The note she read didn't seem like this changeling was trying anything deceptive. Of course, their whole race relied on deceiving creatures so as to be able to steal love from them, so didn't seemwasn't a strong enough reason for her. An idea struck her.

"Commander", she addressed him,"Do you have any objections to me bringing in another pony? One that could help in making a decision on this changeling?"

The commander gave her a stern look. "I would prefer to keep as few ponies in on this as possible, but who did you have in mind?"

===

"Ah Don't know Twilight", came the voice of Applejack, Twilight's friend and the Element of Honesty,"I know how important it is to keep big secrets that could affect all of Equestria, buy y'all know I ain't the best at keepin' 'em when the pressure starts pourin' on like syrup on pancakes."

Twilight gave her friend an understanding nod. "Hopefully it won't be for long", she tried to reassure her friend,"What I'm being permitted to show you is a very sensitive matter, I must admit. But your being the Element of Honesty is going to be really helpful to the current situation."

"Whatever ah can do ta help", Applejack responded, then asked,"What exactly am ah needed for anyways?"

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you yet", answered Twilight,"But I will be able to once we get inside the hospital."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "What are we headin' to the hospital for?" she asked.

"I can't tell you out here", Twilight answered,"But believe me, it's big."

"Okay, sugar cube", Applejack relented,"I'll hold my inquiries until we get there."

"Inside, please" Twilight added.

"Inside" Applejack parroted, rolling her eyes. The farm pony was willing to go along with what her friend was telling her, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

The hospital came into view, and the pegasus guard from before called down to the ones at the door. Once Twilight and Applejack got close, the one from before stopped them.

"Hold it!", he ordered,"I'm gonna have to verify your identity."

Twilight leaned in and gave the pass code honeysuckle, and the guard let her through. Applejack moved to follow, but the guard stopped her. "Sorry ma'am", he told her,"but I have to verify your identity." He moved his hoof to a scroll setting on a small table beside him. He opened it and looked inside, then looked at Applejack.

"Where did you get your hat?"

Applejack was confused for a moment. How could this guard know to ask that question? There were only a few who actually knew the answer. Well, few that cared to remember.

"I got it for winning the Apple Bobbin' contest at the Ponyville fair."

The guard rolled up the scroll and stepped aside for Applejack to go in. Twilight was waiting by the door.

"We have to go down to the psychiatric ward", the purple mare informed her,"I can give you all the details once we're there." Applejack made to protest, but her friend had already headed down the hallway towards that part of the hospital, so she had no choice but to follow her friend there.

A few minutes later, and the two were outside the doors to the ward. Two guards eyed the mares for a moment before the commander came out to usher them inside. Applejack stepped in and saw the absence of any ponies in the commons area, and guards posted outside every room. ,"What the hay is goin' on 'round here?" she asked.

The commander ushered the two of them back into the office, where he repeated the story he told Twilight to Applejack. The orange mare was quite shocked.

"Y'all mean to tell me that one of them changelin' fellers walked inta town bleedin' through his disguise and just passed out by the fountain?" she asked in disbelief.

The commander nodded. "We found this note on him." he added, passing the note to Applejack. "After reading it, we moved him here to the hospital to have him evaluated. His injuries were pretty bad, but he'll eventually recover."

Applejack read over the note, then looked down at the bottom. "Land sakes", she reacted,"Is this feller tellin' the truth about these here addresses?"

"We're verifying that now." the commander answered.

Twilight addressed her friend next. "If this is true, then this changeling will have give us an opportunity not just to prevent another attack like Canterlot, but also the potential to bring Queen Chrysalis and her hive to justice."

Applejack nodded. "That's all fine an' dandy", she responded,"but what about this here asylum talk?"

"Actually, that's why I wanted you here", Twilight responded,"I was hoping you could use your element to fact check him when we're able to question him."

"So, y'all want me here to act like a lie detector or somethin'?" Applejack asked for clarification, to which Twilight nodded.

Applejack looked uncertain at her friend for a moment, but agreed. "I'll lend a hoof so to speak, but I can't guarantee that my bein' the element of honesty is gonna work on a changeling."

Twilight gave her smile and said "I appreciate it nonetheless."

===

Twilight, Applejack and the commander all were standing outside a patient room near the rear of the ward. It was away from the outside, with two guards posted by the door. In addition to them, Twilight sensed a spell to prevent the door from being opened by either magic or hooves.

"We're keeping him in here", the commander informed them,"We've used the most secure techniques and spells we have at our disposal to ensure he doesn't escape."

"Thank you commander", Twilight responded,"If you would disable the spell matrices so we may go inside..."

The commander raised a hood. "I can't let you in just yet" he replied. Twilight was about to protest until a pair of necklaces with a quartz-like gem inside were floated over both her and Applejack's head, the farm pony having her hat removed suddenly to allow the necklace on.

"Hey!", shouted Applejack,"Warn a lady the next time ya do that!"

"Sorry ma'am" came the voice of a new pony. They wore a cape emblazoned with the insignia of the Royal guard, but also had a shield shaped patch with twinkling stars and two scrolls on it; one glowing a bright golden color with suns on it, and the other appearing dark blue and covered in small crescents. It was the crest for the mage division of the Royal guard, and this pony was an officer in it.

"What do these necklaces do?" Twilight asked this new pony.

The pony, a unicorn mare, gave a very technical reply. "These necklaces were developed to help us combat changelings should there ever be another attack. The quartz crystal is imbued with a spell matrix that has been painstakingly designed to inhibit a changeling's ability to steal love from a pony."

"That's amazing!" Twilight exclaimed, rather impressed by the accomplishment.

The mage beamed. "Yes, we are quite proud of the accomplishment. We're hoping to find a way to streamline the enchanting process and improve it to be able to use almost any gemstone. If we can accomplish that, we'll have a means to protect all of Equestria from future changeling attacks."

Twilight's curious side was now piqued. "How did you accomplish this?" she asked.

"It was a big effort", the mage began,"We had to study changelings taking love from ponies to understand how the process works."

Hearing this soured Applejack's disposition. "Y'all was using ponies and lettin' them changelings feed on 'em?!"

The mage gave a nod. "We asked for volunteers, and made them aware of what was going to happen to them. We also used stunning spells on the changelings to prevent them from causing harm to any ponies in the experiment" she then stated, hoping to improve the farm pony's mood.

"So, what happens during the, uh, feeding process?" Twilight asked.

"When we first started studying the process, we thought that they were using some kind of magic to just draw the love out of ponies against their will", the mage began to explain,"but what actually happens is the changelings draw the love that is naturally radiated by ponies. Love energy is constantly generated by ponies and is released into the surrounding environment. They use a spell to reverse their thaumic energy fields to create a negative energy flow that draws the love energy into them. The sensation that ponies feel when being fed upon is really just fatigue from their bodies making more love energy to compensate for the energy being absorbed by the changeling."

"So the matrix in the crystal disrupts the structure of their spells and thaumic fields?" Twilight half asked and half inferred.

"That's exactly right!" exclaimed the mare.

"Ahem", came from the commander standing at the door," I've disabled the spell matrix on the door. We can go in when you're ready."

Twilight looked to Applejack and both mares nodded at each other. "Lead the way commander" said Twilight.

Author's Note:

I had the idea for this story while I was writing my other story, Fitting In Is Hard To Do. I thought about what might happen if a changeling approached ponies injured and in need of help, and this is something like how I think it would go. The title comes from the French word that means when two sides come together, using in a conflict and to talk about armistice.

The part about Applejack's hat came from this video:

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Interesting and nice reference with the video. Eager to see where this is going

[Starlight Glimmer1]

I think the guards may be overreacting a bit.

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

i'mvery much enjoying this story so far. it's a great concept. i am surprised that Twilight isn't an Alicorn in this tho. i suppose she hasn't ascended yet

[origami]

10653845
There isn't really a timeframe established, but it's definitely not too long after the wedding, so the security would definitely be more elevated than normal.

[swarm chaser]

where he recanted the story

You probably meant something like restated or reiterated as recanted means he's withdrawing his previous statement rather than repeating it.

[Starlight Glimmer1]

10654038
Still though.

[Nyerguds]

10654046
"Recounted", I assume.

[edit]

origami: small hint for you: if you respond to a comment, do not do it from the story's main index page. First click the chapter title in the comment header, so you open the comment in the chapter where it's posted, then reply from there. The issue is that comments posted on the main page are added to the last-posted chapter, and replies posted in a different chapter than the one you are replying to will never notify the user that their post is replied to. It's a silly bug in Fimfiction.

So if you want people to know you responded to their comment, make sure to post that reply in the same chapter.

[origami]

10655869
Yeah, that is the word I was looking for.