A Change in Darkness

by David Silver

16 - The Glow

"Stop."

Skyline went frozen.

Celestia stepped around him slowly, bringing herself in front of him. "You work for my sister, do you not?"

"I do, ma'am." Skyline bowed towards the solar ruler. "May I help?"

Celestia smiled gently. "I'm glad you're just as eager to serve one sister as the other." She leaned in, neck craning in. "I know what she dreams of, and it seems you're at the center of it."

"Ma'am?"

Celestia raised a hoof under Skyline's chin, ruffling the fur there as she raised it to meet her eyes. "Such a heavy task she's placed on your shoulders. Speak truthfully, Do you consent to this?"

"Ma'am." He turned his whole form towards her, wings fidgeting on his back. "You're being quite direct."

"I am." Celestia glanced across the hall where other ponies slipped around them. "But this is a question that deserves a direct question, and an equally direct answer. If you feel pressured, I will shield you from her. Say the word, and I will give that promise."

Skyline hesitated, conflicted by Celestia's offer. On one hoof, Luna's request weighed heavily on him. But he also did not wish to defy his princess.

"Princess Luna has been kind to me," he said carefully. "I believe her dream could benefit ponykind."

He met Celestia's gaze. "But I thank you for your concern. If I feel unduly pressed, I will seek your counsel. For now, I have volunteered, but the choice remains mine."

Celestia studied him a moment, then nodded. "Luna is dear to me as well. I simply wish to spare you harm." She smiled slightly. "But you are no helpless foal. I will respect your decision."

She placed a gentle hoof on his shoulder. "Know that my door is open, if you need guidance or respite from this burden. Be well, brave one." She looked ready to leave, but hesitated. "You are a changeling." That wasn't a question. A statement. "Why did you leave your hive?"

Skyline pinned his ears against his head, tail lashing once. "Ma'am... I didn't like it there. Most don't... But most don't do anything about it." He dipped his head at Celestia. "Changelings do not have kind and gentle rulers, like ponies do."

Celestia snorted gently, raising her head. "What an indirect praise, but praise none the less. Know that you are one of mine, so I will do my best by you. Come, let's walk." She resumed the walk she had started the conversation with. "I have business, but I would speak with you further."

She brought him to a meeting with a town mayor. They had problems with a migration of beaverish animals. "We'd get rid of them, but your laws say we're not allowed to," complained the mayor with clear annoyance in her voice. "So what do we do about them?! They're everywhere!"

Celestia nodded patiently. "I see... But, you noted, they are migrating."

"Yeah?"

Celestia smiled at the irate local lawmaker. "Then they will get rid of themselves, if you can tolerate them a little longer. Now, are they actually damaging anything?"

The mayor sighed loudly. "Mostly they're in the way. It's like swimming through the things!"

"Inconvenient for your ponies, I could imagine..." Celestia tapped at her chin with a faintly calculating smile. "But... Your problem could also become a benefit. Your town is the only one they cross on their way. For other ponies, they are a rare sight, only visible in text books."

"How does that..." The mayor trailed off, getting where Celestia was going. "Oh! I'm such a foal." She clapped her hooves on either side of her head. "We're sitting on riches and complaining about it! Princess, ma'am, you're a genius!" The mayor hurried away with a happy smile on her face.

As Celestia and Skyline left the mayor's office, Skyline reflected on what he had witnessed. The princess had deftly transformed a pony's negative outlook into an opportunity. Her wisdom and patience were an inspiration.

Skyline wondered, not for the first time, whether he could ever measure up to the expectation placed upon him. Bringing a new tribe into being was a tremendous responsibility. And despite the support of Luna and his friends, doubts still plagued him.

Sensing his unease, Celestia gave him a reassuring smile. "Patience and perseverance," she said kindly. "Every worthy goal has its challenges. But focus on the ponies you will help, and your purpose will guide you." She brought a wing to his back. "There is something that has been... You have something about you."

"Hm?" Skyline backed and turned to face her. "What?"

"It's difficult to put into words..." She tapped at the ground. "I've only felt it from mares, truth told."

Skyline's ears flickered wildly a moment. He was not in a mare's form. He looked himself over quickly to be sure of that. Nope, he was a bat pony stallion. His new default, it seemed? "What did it mean, when you felt it before?"

Celestia walked past Skyline, continuing her route. "Usually, it meant the mare was soon to become a mother. They have a gentle glow around them. It's always pleasant to see."

Skyline was stunned a moment, but scrambled to his hooves and chased after Celestia. "You can see when ponies are... That's a thing?!"

Celestia turned an ear to Skyline, trained on him as she walked with him at her side. "I have been a princess for many... many moons. You pick up a few tricks, especially when it comes to noticing such things. Newly married ponies, ponies bereaving... I'm not reliable on this one, but, sometimes... I can feel when a pony's birthday has arrived." She chuckled to herself with such thoughts. "Rare, but a lovely excuse for some frivolity."

Skyline's mind was reeling as he tried to make sense of Celestia's words. Could she truly detect signs of impending motherhood in him - a changeling? He had agreed to Luna's request in hopes of bringing bat ponies to life, but doubts still lingered.

"Are...are you certain, Your Highness?" he asked carefully. "Forgive my skepticism, but as a changeling..."

Celestia gave a gentle laugh. "I confess it defies all I know as well. But the signs are there - a glow I cannot ignore." She studied him thoughtfully. "Perhaps your union with the bat pony form runs deeper than either of us knew..."

Skyline considered this, anxiety and wonder vying within him. If it was true...could he really fulfill Luna's dreams? And what would it mean for him. Would his position as a guard change? Would others look at him differently? Would he look at himself differently?! Would he even survive...?

Celestia seemed to sense his inner turmoil. "Easy, brave one. Nothing is certain yet. But nurture the possibilities, as you nurture those under your care." Her voice was kind. "Whatever comes, you do not walk alone. Now come - we have much yet to do today."

Though his mind still swirled with questions, her words steadied Skyline. Leaving her felt like a non-option. Escorting a princess wasn't a combat mission in the palace, and he'd accepted the task. It was his mission as surely as any other. "Hm. Permission to muse, ma'am?"

Celestia nodded to a passing noble. "I would be delighted to hear your musings. Please."

"Alright." Skyline moved in at her side, matching her pace. Fortunately for him, she had a slow and stately gait, which wasn't hard to match. "If I'm making that egg, that means I'm taking in a lot more love than I can deal with, if the story's right." He trembled softly. "That's a... heady thing to think of. I was starving before I came here, and now I'm... this?"

Celestia hummed gently. "I would not wish any creature of my land, pony or not, to be hungry. But, the way you speak of it... Are you in danger? A pony can eat too much."

"The egg is what happens." Skyline ran a hoof over his belly, where an egg was growing, in theory. "But I have no idea what comes after that. Will I be empty again, or start making a new egg, or just die? I don't know, ma'am."

Celestia considered Skyline's concerns thoughtfully before responding. "Your worries are understandable. To create new life is no small matter." She met his gaze. "I cannot promise this path will be free of peril. But you need not walk it alone. Together we will find a way to see you through, with care for your wellbeing."

Celestia's horn glowed softly. "The legends offer some guidance. When a changeling bears life, it draws deeply from the love that surrounds it. You must be well nourished first." She smiled. "And nourishment you have in plenty, from Luna's radiant hopes, and the steadfast love of those around you. Hold to that light, and it shall sustain you."

Skyline felt his anxiety begin to ebb at her reassuring words. But that crashed suddenly. "Wait! You have legends about Changelings making life?" He circled around ahead of Celestia. "Tell me!"

Celestia came to a rough stop, her path blocked by the suddenly fluffed up bat pony. "Hm? I thought you knew the same tales. That is what you were speaking of, was it not?"

Skyline shook his head quickly, shrinking from a few glares he was getting from ponies going past. He was blocking Celestia. That was something most ponies just didn't do. "Sorry, um... The story I know is a changeling story, shared by changelings. Yours is a pony one, by ponies." He perked his tufted ears. "I thought you didn't know much about changelings."

Celestia walked right around Skyline, continuing her path without a word for his obstruction. "I've heard of them, before your former queen made her appearance. She caught me... by surprise, but I had heard of them. There are stories, myths, and accounts. You've visited the library, I know this."

Skyline nodded as he caught up with her. "Sure... Um, but I wasn't looking that up."

Celestia wore her kindly smile, unphased for his sudden energy. "Then, perhaps... I've given you a new thing to look up?"

Skyline glanced away and back. "Permission to do that?"

Celestia gently waved Skyline away. "Granted. Good luck."

"Thank you." He bowed as low as he could, just to bolt off towards the library.

He crashed into someone he knew on the way, almost literally. He skidded to a halt to not finish the physical meeting. "Oh, hello."

Lemon Patty recoiled in surprise, but it turned into a brilliant smile. "Skyline! I feel like it's hard to see you outside the barracks these days. What are you up to?" She wore the night guard uniform, and thus the appearance of a bat pony herself.

"I was going to the library." He pointed. "Um, it's part of things."

Lemon inclined her head. "Can I help?"

"Don't you have things to do?"

Lemon shook her head. "Not at the moment. If you don't want help..."

"No! No.. Come along." He nudged against her, turning her towards the library. "It's about changelings though."

"You're one of those." She realized a moment later, burying her face in a hoof. "Which you know, duh. Sorry. Um... So... We don't get a lot of chances to just... talk... What's it like, being a changeling?"

"What's it like, being a pony?" He retorted with such speed, one could imagine he'd used that retort no few times.

"Point..." It could be hard to measure something from the inside, as it were. "Let's do some research." They both hastened with smiles to dig through some books. "What are we looking for?"

"Changelings." Skyline curled a wing to point at himself. "Look for changeling books, about changelings. Any book that even mentions them."

"Changeling books..." She veered away to begin the search in the grand library of scrolls and tomes. "Don't you know everything about changelings already?"

"Do you know everything about ponies already?"

Lemon snorted softly. "You have a point but stop that!" Properly admonished, she focused on the hunt for knowledge.

Author's Note:

Is it time for a foal shower?

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Comments

[redmar]

It's good that Celestia gave Skyline some reassurance.

[Gordon_Freemane]

"Don't you already know everything about changelings already?"

I'd remove one of these already's, two is a bit excessive. Either one works fine.

[tsaukpaetra]

Ha, when you're accidentally racist? Hard to tactfully ask how one is different from itself. What's it like, being me?
At least the assumptions are being revealed. Soon enough the records will have new entries! Don't tell bookhorse, not sure what a surge of her energy might bring...

[David Silver]

11754133
Done.

[Eroraf86]

"You have a point but stop that!"

Ask a silly question, get a silly answer. I don't know even close to everything about my own psychology, let alone humans in general.