A Changeling's Heart

by BlueHeartTattoo

The Truce

After that lovely reunion, nothing much happen here.

Being stuck within a cell doesn’t give someone much room or choices to do anything. A testimony I had learned for being Nameless’ guard keeper from her old prison back at the kingdom. Thinking to it and my situation now, it is very hard to think this is not a coincidence that this happened to me.

The small, barred window near the ceiling is the only view I have of the outside world, though it may be difficult to see through it clearly due to its narrow structure. Still, I would hover for a moment to see how the ponies are dealing with their “losses”.

From my first day here, everything seems where I was left off last time. Guards and civilians working together to pick up the pieces and fix whatever was left from that avalanche. Building inspection, checking for injuries, damage cleanup, etcetera, etcetera. I would often catch a small glimpse of the purple alicorn flying up the sky with a purple and green baby dragon riding on her back.

The second and third day is about the same. Though, there was an occasional emergency that the guards will rush across the fields. I couldn’t imagine what it could be, but I didn’t mind it too much. It could probably be a helpless filly trapped underneath a crushed building or a weak animal stuck in a tree. That’s what most ponies are concerned about, right?

The fourth day, however, seem more alerting. The guards who would rush in and out from the field become more wary in a rather unexpected pace—it was as if something dire has become of the town square. I could squinch my eyes to see the purple princess expressed in stress and terror.

The next few days become crazy as almost every second on the field, pony civilians had been brought forth to the palace in an alarming size. Everywhere I could see, the guards were having difficulty navigating where to put the ponies, whether it be on the same area to wait or to be escorted inside. From only seeing on the ground and partly sky level, it was hard to see how the ponies be in so much trouble.

But from pushing my face near the bars, I could see the ponies are only being carried by stretcher with one end held by nurses. One of the stretchers was put down near the little window, as well as the others that were ordered to stay within the field until instructed otherwise. I gasp at the sight before me.

The ponies’ skin are not only dull, but were covered by a long series of green, glowing lines that grow within their skins with their hooves turning black as ash. Their eyes seem to have the same effects that the veins also glowed green. The pony within my view can only lie there, staring into nothing as if it had always been lifeless. No pony is any different. The size of the group continues to increase by the hour. This has cause me alarm.

What is going on?

I heard some voices coming near my little window outside. Judging from their hooves, I instantly recognized these voices as one of the palace guards.

“This is crazy. Almost half of the city is turning up here!”

“Yeah, can’t believe we have to bring them here after the hospital’s all full.”

“I wonder what is going on here.”

“Well… I may have a theory.”

“What?”

A pause came between them before they start with a whisper. They probably looked around to see no one is eavesdropping on them.

“I bet it was that changeling the Bearers exposed back at the East side of the city.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Well, you know Princess Twilight has been investigating the mountain site and discovered dark magic. Maybe that explosion was a distraction for the changelings to sneak into the city. They might be snatching the ponies’ love right from under our noses!”

I scoffed at this stallion’s ridiculous and incredibly biased judgement. If the changeling were planning to attack, we would’ve done something more strategized than that—not to mention not too bloody (Many will get caught in the crossfire if we plan to transport our soldiers and drones into the city areas where they can get crushed). Plus, if they hadn’t noticed, the side effects when draining of a pony’s emotions is usual on the psychological terms as it weakens them of their magic and their free will.

The foolish stallion and his companion continued.

“Yeah, but their magic usually drains ours with the love we have. I’ve never seen any changeling doing this to them.”

“I wouldn’t be so hesitant. King Sombra was connected to dark magic and look how that turned out for him—enslaving the crystal ponies and turning into some shadow demon!”

“Umbrums,” the second stallion corrected, getting very annoyed with his companion’s allegations, “Sombra is part umbrum. The Bearers found this when they saved the crystal empire.”

“Whatever! The point is that changeling is here for a reason. And I think it’s high time that the princesses do something about her before it affects any more ponies!”

My body grew frozen for a moment. As I didn’t give a crap of my life before, this gave me more reason to think otherwise. It’s one thing to have me as a prisoner within a foreign country—but to be one now accused of a crime I or any from my kingdom never commit….

Even if the ponies truly listened to me or the kingdom for once, they would never show us mercy.

The stallions spoke up again.

“Uh-oh, looks like another dispatch is coming with the patients. But you,” he points to his delusional friend, “better keep your crazy theories to yourself! We don’t want to cause even more panic.”

“Fine,” he sighs begrudgingly, “but don’t cry to me when you find that I was right!”

The stallions trotted away from my little window, leaving me with the feeling of dread and uncertainty—the kind I’ve never felt since our kingdom’s downfall.

I didn’t have much time to think over my thoughts as the sound of the entrance to the dungeons echoed through the hallway, along with the hoof steps of several ponies.

The usual two guards took pose on both sides of the cell, as my visitors came to view. To my surprise, it was both Nameless, the Princess Twilight and the Lord of Chaos, Discord. Nameless could give me soft, uncertain glance as Twilight and Discord gave me hard stares. I also noticed for a moment that Nameless stood very close to Discord, as if he was providing her protection from me.

Twilight took a step towards the bars of my cell with the regal grace the Equestrian princess usually shows, “Your name is Gypsum, isn’t it?”

I was hesitant to respond to that question, even with such a feared royal in front of me, but with one pitiful glance from Nameless, I yielded, “it is?”

“Fluttershy has been telling me about you. And if you don’t mind, though unorthodox as this for now, we need to talk.”

“You mean like an interrogation?”

Twilight sighed as I immediately sense the guilt the princess has. Can’t hardly blame her as I imagine this being a difficult situation for her. Would’ve felt bad for her if I knew already that she is going to accuse me anyway.

“I’m afraid so. But I can assure you that you are in no less danger here.”

“Not until you give us reason to.” Discord bluntly stated.

I bitterly scoffed at the draconeqqus, “I’m surprised you remembered me.”

“How could I forget the bug that ambushed and tried to kill my Fluttershy?” his eyes glowed brighter with such intensity.

Nameless touches his shoulder, and the tension from the creature’s body seem to lessen.

“Calm down, Discord,” she gently tells him before she turns her attention to me, “We just need to ask you questions.”

“Is this about the ponies outside?”

The princess’s eyes glanced upward, noticeably behind my back, “You saw that, didn’t you?”

I nodded, “I also heard the guards talking about me…. And dark magic. Is that true?”

It took the princess a moment before she could explain, “There is an epidemic of ponies falling ill with sign of dark magic… consuming them. In my research so far now, there is no direct cause to it. But—”

“You’re asking if I am causing it?”

“Ahh,” the draconeqqus scoffed, “So you’re admitting this now?”

“Discord!” Nameless shamed her fiancée, “She hasn’t admitted anything yet. Gypsum?”

I sighed, “I told you before, Nameless—and I’m going to say it again,” I turn my attention to the princess, “I did not cause that avalanche. And as for the ponies’ ailments, I did not cause that either. I was only on a field mission to harvest love for the kingdom when it happened.”

“I appreciate your honesty,” the princess assured me, even if I am less than assured with their situation. “But what about the dark magic? Is there any way to help them now?”

“I… don’t know a lot about dark magic. I’ve hardly known about its existence until recently when…”

“When?” Twilight asked curiously.

I hesitated for a moment. I shouldn’t reveal such secrets about my kingdom as I fear the princess would use this to bring us to an end. But seeing no other option that would guarantee me safety, I am just standing on thin ice.

With a growling sigh, “I can’t believe I’m sharing this…. The night before the invasion—when Nabis and I discovered Nameless in Ponyville—”

“Her name is Fluttershy,” Discord blurted in defense.

“Discord—” Nameless tried to calm him before I glowered to his direction, “You call her your way—I call her mine.”

“Anyway,” I tried to continue, “When we told our queen about Nameless, she brings us and the general to a secret room in the palace—behind the hallways to our dungeons. It was full of potions and books of Dark magic—something she told that something the past queens had pasted down to her. She also told us… that we were born from dark magic.”

The visitors widen their eyes and stand back in shock. Even the guards let out a small gasp. Twilight stood there motionlessly before she leans towards the bars.

“You mean to tell me that changelings are not only know dark magic for generations, but that you were BORN from it?!” The princess gasped with excitement. It wasn’t something I wasn’t expecting to see a princess like her be gleeful to this news, like it was some unknown land waiting to be discovered. Nevertheless, the enthusiasm she showed was making me uncomfortable.

“Uhhh… yes?”

“I can’t believe this,” the princess exhaled from exhilaration, finally giving me space away from here and then started pacing around in a small space. “This is just like when we found out Sombra was part umbrum! This opens more question about the dark magic and how it functions in Equestria! And you’ve only known this recently?”

I nodded, “Our queen never told us why we became this way. Only that the first clan have discovered it in the beginning of time and that we were… evolved. The past queen had only kept centuries worth of the books and studies when the princesses stopped King Sombra on his first rule over the Crystal Empire.”

Nameless spoke out, “And you never tried asking her why?”

I glanced down in shame, “She said it was best to forget it.” I paused before I spoke out, “I may not know how we are involved with it, but I can safely say that I’m not so sure if the ponies can be saved from it. I’m sorry for your situation, Princess, but I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do to change what’s happened.”

The princess seems to be out of space for a while until I can see a small glimpse of light coming through her eyes. She quickly turned to me, her eyes bright and eager, “You say that room contains books and studies worth centuries of dark magic?”

I paused confused, why does she need to know that? Nevertheless, I answered, “Yes?”

The princess then asked me, “And you still remember where that room is?”

“I… guess?”

The princess' smile grin grew with such a newfound interest. I don’t like where this is going.

“Twilight?” Nameless thankfully shares my thoughts, “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we should go on a road trip.”

I jumped at this, and so did the chaotic couple behind the princess.

“What? You don’t mean going to the Changeling Kingdom, do you?” Discord exclaims, “I know you’re not crazy, but you’re reaching to my levels here!”

“That room may be the only and last place in Equestria to find sources and practices of dark magic!” The princess explains her plans out loud, “If we can find that room and search through them, we may find the answer to cure the ponies! This is the only chance we got!”

This peak my interest a little. There may be a plausible plan to save the ponies—if they do enough careful research along the ancient writing and not to mention the load of potions to detect. Though I doubt the others back in the kingdom would be accepting enough to let powerful enemies into our border.

I scoffed loudly for them to hear, “Good luck with that! We left that castle alone to honor our queen’s memory. There’s no way the others are going to let you into there by yourself. And there’s the fact that they could easily attack you without hesitation.”

“Even when it is a peaceful mission?” Discord asked in offense, “You see, that’s the reason why you can’t trust them! And why they landed where they are now.” He said the last remark with a smirk, adding injury to the wound.

“She’s right though,” Nameless stated, “No matter how manipulative and cunning the changelings are, they are a proud race.”

I was honestly amused on how she came to my defense. This is still very useless if it was meant for me to forgive her.

“They will attack if they see any sign of a threat. Which is why, I think, only a few of us can go…. If being escorted by Gypsum.

“Wait, what?” I didn’t expect her to come up with a plan like this and already I was against this.

“And I think only Twilight and I should go.”

“WAIT, WHAT?!” I also didn’t expect her to say that, along with the princess and the draconeqqus joining in this exclamation.

“Fluttershy, you can’t be serious,” Discord instantly came to her side, “You want to go back to the very place that kept you prisoner for twenty years?! And with the same bugs that tried to kill you?! No! No, no, no, no, no—I refuse to let you go to this! No chance in Tartarus!”

“I'm the only one outside of the changelings that is familiar to the kingdom,” Nameless defended to her case, “Twilight needs me to show her the way around and to keep her safe.”

“I’m kind of on Discord on this, Fluttershy,” Twilight chimed in with concern, “I appreciate the offer, but you were treated badly there, and you almost died because of them. How can we be sure you’ll be safe too?”

It was then Nameless turned to me with determination, “Because we will make a truce with her. If she acts as our guide through the kingdom and let us search through it safely, we will not attack the changelings and they will not attack us."

“A Truce.” I bluntly said. “No. No, no, no! There is no way I will let you waltz into our home! I’ll be branded as a traitor! And we’ll let lending you our secrets so that you can attack us in the future—not unless we do it first!”

Nameless, calmly and surely to my concern, walks towards my cell and looks at me with her wide, sad eyes that are filled with sympathy. I’ve always hated seeing this look on her.

“Gypsum, I hate the thought of going back there and I know this isn’t ideal, but you need to think about what will happen to you and the others if we don’t do this. If those ponies die and that magic spread onto the rest Equestria, your kingdom won’t last.”

That struck me to the core as I never thought about the consequences from this. My hard sneer started to soften with each word coming from this pegasus’ mouth.

“I also don’t want the changelings to be blamed for something they never did. You’ve been through hard enough as it is—let’s not make things worse.”

As I hate to admit it, especially from someone like her—she is right. With no love to hunt and feed for, our existence would surely come to an end like I predicted. And then Nabis comes to mind. Despite that he can’t help being born the way he is, he doesn’t deserve such a cruel fate. And neither do the rest of the changelings who had worked hard for the past year and a half to survived with what we had and scraped for.

It may go against everything our Queens has taught us for centuries, but we also can't risk another downfall on what dignity we have left. We may not have any other choice, though I have a feeling this will take a lot of convincing to get the rest of the kingdom on the neutral side for this one time.

Still, just to sure, I need to bring in some kind of leverage.

Reluctantly, I sigh, “Very well. I agree to your terms."

Nameless reaches her hoof through the bars until I stop her, "AND.... so that I can make the others agree with this too-- we expect something in return. New hunting grounds for us to feed on, pony sacrifices, whatever you may have."

Princess Twilight intervenes as soon as she hears my proposition. I can still she looked uneasy by the suggestion but tries to remain neutral and compromises the best she can, "I'm sure we can work something out. But it can't endanger the ponies-- I draw the line there."

"Fine-- it's better than nothing. But I expect all of you to keep your end of the bargain-- otherwise, if you catch my drift."

“You think we wouldn’t?” Nameless asked as she attempts to reaches her hoof through the bars again for a shake in agreement.

“You’d be surprised,” I replied as I shook her hoof back.

“I’m coming, too,” Discord exclaims, “I’m not leaving Fluttershy alone there.”

“No, Discord,” Nameless objects, “With Twilight gone, we need someone to supervise Canterlot with Celestia and Luna and look after the ponies while she’s gone.”

“But there needs to be some way I can do to make sure you’re alright,” Discord whines until a thought came to him. He snaps his fingers, and a flash of light conjured an odd square that had a gleaming, pink cover and a large screen. He hands over the device to her an instruct, “This is an old digital phone I carried back in my dimension-hopping.”

I exclaimed in confusion, “Digital? Phone? Dimensions?”

Discord smirked in my direction, sensing he is satisfied by my reaction, “I’d rather not think too much if I were you.”

With that, he focused back to Nameless, “There should be only one number that directs the lines to me.” He instantly flashes to see another device, only the cover had a silver and red color. “Whenever you want to talk to me or if you need help, just press the button on the side and it will ring me. And don’t worry, I made it simple enough for your hooves to handle.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Nameless held the phone in inspection before looking up to Discord, “Thank you.”

“Anytime, darling.”

Through the exchange and the longing stare they have now, I feel the immense love coming out of those two. Not only did it give me a light snack to feast on, though not intentionally—it also reminded me of the same feeling the other night when Nabis tried to comfort me. I tried pushing this thought away, as it seems stupid to me. But I wonder…

A slight tremor of a headache forces its way to me and I shook it off before I think of anything else.

It’s then that the purple princess chimes in, “Well, I think we got it figured out. We better pack and plan for the trip and get some rest. We can leave tomorrow morning.”

The Princess turns to leave along with the guards and Discord following her. Nameless lingered long enough to glance back to me, “Try to rest, Gypsum. We’ll be out soon.”

She gallops to catch up with her companions, stopping to be beside her fiancée. As they are far away from my sight, I can hear the couples’ small conversation from the echoes.

“I don’t know how to feel about this, Shy,” Discord stated confused, “I’m proud of you for your stand your ground but I’m also worried for you. Plus, there is that rage I have for those changelings!”

“I wouldn’t worry about that, honey,” Nameless said in reassurance.

“How can you be so sure? After all this time?”

“Because I know Gypsum.”

The doors to the dungeons slam shut after them, leaving me alone with the challenge of getting some sleep for tomorrow.

Author's Note:

I know it's weird seeing a cell phone in this before G5, but since Discord is seen using them in "Discordant Harmony" in Season 7, I thought it would be fun using them.

This chapter will expect some writing/editing changes as I realized how rushed and out-of-place it is in some areas. I have to thank Doctor_Den who brought this detail to my attention.

Comments

[Doctor_Den]

It seems to me that this deal does nothing at all for the changeling people and even leaves them finally in a position open to conquest. This information may be the last trump card left for the changelings, and passing it into the hands of the other side can easily destroy the changelings if there are dishonest individuals on the pony's side. If I were a captive changeling, I wouldn't agree to this deal. (Especially after the recent magical warning echo from Chrysalis)

[BlueHeartTattoo]

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You may be right on this. At the time of writing this, it was late, and I needed to write down this part of the story while I had some inspiration. I'm thinking of change the title, to something like 'the truce' because I realize this is essentially what it is, and a few details here so it kind of balance everything out in terms of character.