A thing or two about changelings and their habits saga

by Young discord

CHAPTER 12 (AKA: Connections)

The afternoon made its way with that slow feel that one gets around that time, the shops were glancing lazily at the trespassers who just as lazily moved on with their lives.
A few fillies and foals could be seen running around, doing what ponies their age do at that time of day, playing.
The entire town was silent… not silent due to the lack of noise but silent with the lack of daily duties that have already been finished by the townsponies.
The silence was interrupted by an occasional applebucking sound that could be heard in the far distance.
Pacifica began to like this place; it’s quiet, calm and the exact opposite of what she had to put up with until recently… this place seemed livable for once.
The changeling shortly toured the town having a look around here and there before returning back home.
Pacifica entered the closed restaurant and was greeted with Mark in pony form talking to a Purple unicorn.
The two stopped the conversation to glance at the expected visitor

“Pacifica, I’m just talking to Twilight here about meeting up with Celestia, comes out that today was so successful that we can already afford to go to Canterlot” informed Mark

“-But we still need to get a few details fixed first” began Twilight

“…”

“It’s OK, we should be done in 5 minutes or so, wait until then, all right?”

“…”

“No problem, come down in about 5 minutes”

“…”
Pacifica made her way back to her room to rest; it’s true what gruncle said about transforming, the first day is always hard.
The unicorn and changeling waited for a few seconds after Pacifica closed the door to resume back to their conversation.

“In any case” began Twilight “I don’t think that simply writing a letter explaining everything is going to work, rather than that I think that it would be a better idea to write a letter requesting I meet with her first then I’ll talk to her about this, I know this might take a while longer but that way you could come with me to Canterlot, after all you can’t go on your own if you've never been there before”

“I… sort of have been there before” replied Mark in a regretful tone

“Oh, you have, when was that?”

“Err… well, how should I put it…” Mark had no idea how to say this but his queen; Chrysalis commanded every changeling to attack Canterlot on that fateful day… not many refused considering how hungry they all were… after all, a changeling that is drowning would go as far as hold onto sharp blades in order to save himself
It took a few moments for Twilight to realize what was really going on and decided to move on as quickly as possible

“I think it would be a good idea for me to escort you personally to the princess myself, the guards tend to be a bit more rigorous these days and if they see a familiar face they might let us through more easily”

“How long do you think it would take for Celestia to receive the letter and write back?”

“Oh, only a moment, Spike is able to send the letters instantly”

“In that case what are we waiting for?” replied Mark in an excited tone
Twilight got up from the stump she was sitting on and proceeded to go back home in order to write the letter but as she was just about to exit she stopped and looked back at Mark with worry on her face

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“It’s really important to me, what happened to Discord is related to my fate and something I’ll do in the future and judging by the reaction of my queen when she saw me I’d rather not find out what that might be until I do it, better safe than sorry”

“I don’t know, it all seems a little risky to me”

---

“Spike, take a letter”
Spike got his quill and parchment ready
Twilight thought this through carefully as what is going to happen next will all depend on what she is about to write.

Dear princess Celestia
When I first came to Ponyville, I saw no sense in making friends, I found something as crazy as friendship ridiculous but with time I made valuable friends and learned many lessons in friendship.
Only now I understand the true value and importance of it and why some call it magic, My friends were always there for me and I always tried to be there for them in return, I trust my friends though at times it seems difficult but that’s what friends are for.
Recently I became friends with somepony who I never thought I could be on good terms with, I thought that I should stay away from him as far possible but my friends managed to do the impossible, they befriended him! I couldn't believe it! I still find it hard to believe it; even though I’m that somepony’s new friend I still have my doubts about this.
I’m doing this for the sake of my friends, because I trust them, if they say that he’s a good somepony and means no harm then I’m willing to help him.
Please, Princess Celestia, listen to what he has to say, I know that he may seem untrustworthy at first but I believe in my friends… and in the magic of friendship.

Your faithful student

Twilight Sparkle

Spike rolled up the parchment

“Are you sure about this Twilight?”

“No, but my friends are and that’s good enough for me, what kind of friend would I be if I wouldn't trust them?”

“I don’t know, this Mark pony seems shady... and kinda scary” Spike shuddered

“I’m sure it’ll all be fine, it’s got to be, now send the letter, the longer I think about this, the less I want to do it”

“Then don’t do it, do you have any idea what the princess might do to us if she finds out who Mark really-“

“SPIKE! JUST SEND THE LETTER!”

“OK, OK! Sheesh! No need to get your saddle in a bunch”
Spike blew away the letter and the very second the last scrap of parchment was gonr, Twilight freaked out.

“Oh Celestia! No! What have I done! Do you have any idea what Celestia will do when she finds out that Mark is a changeling? And what’s worse, that we've helped him recover and even let him open a business!?!”

“That’s what I said a moment ago” mumbled out Spike rolling his eyes

“No! I've got to trust my friends! It will all be fine”
Twilight was bouncing back and forth again thought Spike… this time he’ll just sit idly and let this one take its course

“But how could it be fine? This isn't like the same time I was tardy with my friendship report…”
Twilight continued the dialogue with herself

“It’s OK, Princess Celestia trusts me, she says I’m her best student after all”

“That’s exactly why this is so bad! I should be an example to other students, not help delinquents!”

“It can’t be, I’m probably overthinking it”

“Am I?”

“It’ll be OK”
Spike burped out a green flame that produced a letter with the royal stamp.
Twilight impatiently opened the letter and read it.

Bring this new friend with you to the palace at once
We need to talk

Princess Celestia

Twilight snapped, she dropped the parchment and stampeded out of the library in tears.

“Here we go again” said Spike.
Where would Twilight be without him? Thought Spike, it’s a good thing that he’s such an amazing assistant.
The purple dragon got ready to alert the rest of the gang, if there’s anything that could help Twilight to snap out of it, it’s going to be her friends.
Rarity was first.
Spike didn't even knock on the door; he just barged into Rarity’s shop without knocking…
…or at least he would have if the doors weren't locked, instead spike just slammed his face into the wood.

“There’s no time to waste, Celestia knows what Twilight might end up doing when she’s like that, RARITY! OPEN UP! IT’S IMPORTANT!”
A few instances later a rather cross Rarity opened up.

“Spike? What is it darling?”

“Twilight’s about to snap again, I need your help to calm her down!”

“OH! Heavens, no! Where is she?”

“She’s most likely at the hill where we usually go picnicking together, it’s where she goes when she wants to be alone, you go get Applejack and rainbow dash and I will go and get Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, we’ll meet at the hill”
The two dashed in their own directions.
Not a minute passed by when the group of friends showed up at the hill where lay a sobbing Twilight Sparkle.

“What happened Sugarcube?”

“I-I’m sorry! I r-really am! I didn't mean it!”
Spike cut in.

“She sent a letter to princess Celestia requesting that she listen to what Mark has to say”
The ponies that circled Twilight tensed up somewhat

“I’m sure that Celestia will be kind enough to listen to him” began Fluttershy

“B-but he’s a changeling!”

“So?” continued Fluttershy
Everypony jumped at the straight forwardness of that statement, it was so… un-Fluttershy
The yellow Pegasus noticed the curious looks of her friends stabbing her body simultaneously and shrank in response.

“I-I mean, what I meant to say was that well, I think that if the princess trusted us with reforming someone like Discord then she might trust us with Mark, I think, maybe, but I could be wrong, I don’t know but…”
Fluttershy’s voice kept growing quieter and quieter as she kept shrinking and slowly retreating out of the circle of friends and ended with a cute yelp.

“Fluttershy’s right” Began Rarity “If we managed to reform someone like Discord then we should have no problem with somepony like Mark and the princess should know that”

“Hold on a second” started Rainbow dash “I don’t know if we should trust this Mark pony, we don’t know anything about him! he might have a secret plan to take over Canterlot again!”

“That’s cuz’ you never met him properly” replied Applejack “Ah met him and he’s a nice pony once your get to know him, he’s hardworkin’ and wants to live in harmony with the rest of the ponies”

“He’s also sophisticated” said Rarity

“Knows how to par-tay” continued Pinkie Pie

“And he’s very kind to everypony” finished off Fluttershy

“Ah know Rainbow that you don’t trust him but we do, and you can trust us when we say that he means Equestria no harm”
The blue Pegasus thought for a second and sighed

“Fine, but I still think that this Mark pony smells fishy to me”
Twilight sobbed quietly reminding the ponies why they gathered on the hill in the first place

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head Twilight, we’ll come with you to Canterlot and solve this mess together” cheered the bucker pony

“B-but what if Princess Celestia-”
Twilight was interrupted by Rarity

“If the Princess will have a problem with this then I’ll give her a piece of my mind, she saw that we reformed Discord so there’s no reason why she shouldn't trust us”

“Girls…” Twilight got up on her 4 hooves and wiped her tears away along with her worries “You’re right, there’s no reason why we should have a problem with this, we’ve been through worse, right girls?”

“Yeah!” the 5 girls replied in unison

“Well then?” began Pinkie “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

The crew gathered inside the wagon of the train what was about to leave their past days of peace forever, but they did not know that yet.
Mark and Pacifica resting on one side of the wagon and the rest on the other.
Mark, curious about how Pacifica’s first day went, attempted to start a two-way monologue between them.

“So… how did your day go today?”

“…”

“Really? No problems then?”

“…”
Mark sighed, of course the first day never goes just fine for anypony

“what was it?”

“…”

“Bullies? They bullied you?”

“…”

“What do you mean, not exactly?”

“…”

“YOU WHAT?!?”
Everypony’s attention undoubtedly swayed towards Mark who turned his voice down to a harsh whisper

“Why did you do that? Do you have any idea how much attention that has brought you?”

“…”
Mark slowly calmed down, he gently put his hoof on Pacifica’s head and patted her lightly

“Well… no harm came of it I guess, but please try to be more careful next time, I know you may not like bullies picking on others but you can’t be stupid about being just, there are other ways you could have done this… but what’s done is done, the important thing is that you’re fine” Mark smiled
Pacifica smiled back

“So anything else happened today?”

“…”

“Really? You've made friends so quickly? I’m impressed, but I don’t think this is a good idea considering you’ll be here for just a few months”

“…”

“You’re right, you can’t just sit idly and do nothing for all this time, I guess a few friends won’t hurt, so who are they?”

“…”

“Really? So one of them is Applejack’s sister and the other Rarity’s? What about the third one?”

“…”

“2 coincidences are good enough I guess, that’s a great thing! This means that you’ll have Rarity and Applejack to help you out with your secret! See? Things are already looking up!”

“…”

“Oh, they have a club?”

“…”

“You refused? Remaining inconspicuous huh? Good girl, I see I taught you well”
Pacifica snickered

“…”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
Mark burst out laughing

“That is the funniest name I ever heard, what do they do?”

“…”
Mark’s face changed at once

“In that case you should join them”

“???”

“This would be a great opportunity to look for your talent and figure out which cutie mark would suit you best! Pacifica you should join them, it’s the perfect cover!”

“…” began Pacifica but was rudely interrupted by Mark calling Applejack this way
Applejack approached the two

“What is it Mark?”

“Hey, I've heard that apparently your sister is in a club… the Cutie Mark Crusaders or something like that?”

“Yeah, why d’ya ask?”

“Well, funny thing is, Pacifica here was saying how excited she was to-“
Pacifica wanted to intervene and say something but was already being held back by Mark’s embrace though she wasn't giving up… and neither was Mark

“…join-“
The two began to wrestle some more

“…their-“
The two were now in serious combat

“…CLUB!”
It was too late, Pacifica subsided in grief
Applejack took a moment to ignore the bizarreness of the last few seconds

“Well, sure thang, ah don’t see no problem, of course you’d have to ask the girls first, ah can tell her if you want”
Pacifica got ready to refuse

“That would be great”
Pacifica frowned, Mark once again out-talked her.
AJ retreated back to her place.

“…”

“Don’t be like that, you’ll love it, besides you said that they’re your friends”

“…”

“OK, NEW friends but still friends, don’t worry if anything happens, Applejack and Rarity will have our backs, it’s better than spending a lot of time with somepony who we don’t know, right?”
Pacifica nodded in silent agreement.
A few minutes of cabin socialization later, they arrived at their destination.
This was it, the glamour of the Castle glazed with the same brightness as the princess of the sun herself, Canterlot filled with just as many guards as civilians, though most of the guards were probably the civilians themselves anyway.
The place was… impressive the changeling duo thought, despite the fact that this little model still waned in comparison to the magnificence of Discord’s shack though the palace does seem to have a certain sense of… grandeur despite its size... it was cute.
The group elevated themselves along the large steps smoldered by the red carpet of royalty.
Mark gulped down the stress, though he believed in his friends and trusted them, a small part of him inside still felt this might be a bad idea, he remembered the last time he was here, along with the rest of his army, desperately attacking any source of food that moves, of course back then they were all so hungry that their brains kicked into auto-pilot and the instincts took over completely.
Mark was ashamed.
They reached the final frontier between them and the princess awaiting them through the tall doors, like a pair of skinny guardians keeping evil at bay from the ruler of this land.
Only now had it occurred to Mark how big all of this was, the whole situation.
Mark’s blood began to skip inside his veins, distributing itself across every possible manometer of his body, his mind began to rapidly erase all of his thoughts dragging down common sense with it.
The chageling began to breathe more and more rapidly, as if getting ready to dive underwater.

“…”
Mark glanced at Pacifica’s calm eyes… she was strong; she had to be for the two of them at least.
Mark stopped for a moment and took a second to exhale most of his stress.

“You’re right, Pacifica, what shall be shall be, worrying now won’t make any sense”

“…”
The doors opened revealing a long hall with the princess sitting down majestically on the other end, it felt like a large family sitting at a long table where the husband and wife both sat on each end far away from each other.
The girls began the most difficult walk in their lives, the changelings alongside them.
Clop
Clop
Clop
The worry began to set in
Clop
Clop
Clop
What if the princess will be angry at them?
Clop
Clop
Clop
She isn’t the ruler of this entire land for no reason
Clop
Clop
Clop
But they made their decision
Clop
Clop
Clop
They should stick to it
Clop
Clop
Clop
They should trust their judgement more, and so should the princess
Clop
Clop
Clop
The worry faded away to be replaced with determination, they’re going to make this work no matter what
The princess stood up from her throne, looked down upon the group and spread her wings as some birds do to appear bigger and strike fear into the hearts into their enemies… it did.

“Well?”

“Princess” began Twilight whilst bowing to her, her voice muffled by the carpet “Have you received my latest letter with my request?”

“yes, I have, and I must say, I didn't expect this from any of you”
The ponies were hit with worry; this wasn’t going the way they were hoping it would, though it was going the way they felt it was going to.

“Princess, I know that-“

“I would like to have a word with Twilight in private” began the princess
A moment of silence occurred, it seemed like an eternity, the princesses’ gaze drilling through everypony in the room, the rest mortified with the upcoming consequences, it’s as if-

“No”
The silence was broken by the gentlest of voices, Fluttershy came up front

“I refuse to leave, Twilight is my friend, and she didn't do anything wrong, if you want to punish her, you’ll have to punish me too”
Applejack joined Fluttershy

“Fluttershy’s right, Ah can’t stand for this either”

“Girls” began the princess

“It is bad manners to not even listen to what Mark has to say”

“Girls”

“If you’ll punish Twilight, I’ll… I’ll… I’ll go on a party strike! No parties until you stop!”

“G I R L S !”
The princess’s royal Canterlot voice reverberated across the hall smashing into everypony’s eardrums multiple times like a jackhammer exciting the neurons in their bodies.

“I’m not angry”

“WHAAAT?!?” replied the herd in unison

“I just want to ask Twilight about the whole story”

“So you’re not going to be a meanie mc.mean meanersmith and punish us?” blurted out Pinkie
Celestia laughed

“No! Of course not!”

“B-but she asked for you to listen to a changeling’s request” continued Fluttershy

“I know, but if you trust this changeling well enough to request an audition with me then so do I”

“R-really?” started Twilight, slowly looking up from the floor

“Of course! But this is still a serious matter and I’d like to talk to you, about this, you’d been very vague about this in your letter, I just want to know the details, that’s all but I’d like to talk with you in private, you don’t have to worry girls, you’re not in trouble, I just want some time with my student”
The herd left obediently along with any other beings within the hall until the student and disciple were one on one.

"I like to have an occasional walk, I find them a great way to start a conversation, don’t you? let's take one and have a breath of fresh air"
The teacher and disciple made their way through the back doors of the throne room and onto a back hallway

“Now, tell me about this new friend you have made”
Twilight began to unravel the story in front of Celestia as they retreated from the hall via a personal exit or as some know it better a “secret passage” down to the Canterlot gardens.
Twilight discovered that the conversation was much easier and pleasant than she thought it would have been, in retrospect Twilight’s worries seemed laughable now.
Once Twilight explained the whole thing to Celestia and reassured her that it is in fact possible to peacefully coexist alongside the changelings the real conversation started.

“I see that you have exceeded my expectations Twilight Sparkle, throughout your life in Ponyville you have grown so much, I couldn’t be prouder of any student…”
Twilight blushed with pride

“…and nothing will test you better than what is about to come in our future”

“Future? There’s going to be a test?”

“Yes, and I am afraid that it’s not one I can give you, this test will be the hardest of all, it will show who you and your friends really are deep down inside, It will not be easy and I’m sorry but I won’t be able you help you”

“What happens if I fail?”

“the consequences will be unspeakable, the great darkness shall soon befall upon us and you and your friends are the only ponies that can save not only ponykind but all beings that live and breathe”

“what will happen?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know but what I am sure of is that the time for change is coming… Our history is coming for us my dear student”

“History? I’m afraid I don’t understand…”

“I am sorry Twilight, I am so sorry for everything that will happen… All I can do is warn you, everything that you have learned about friendship and the good of ponykind will be tested and everything shall hinge on one single thing, if you understand, understand why you have to make that decision… and you, you alone Twilight Sparkle shall have to make that decision much like I had to in my past”

“Well, what did you choose?”

“If I were to tell you, all hope would be lost, in order to save us you cannot know until the moment of the decision comes and then you will either understand, or you won’t”

“Understand what?”

“Circles, remember my dear student, it’s all about the circles”

Things were changing, changing forever.

Author's Note:

You'll be happy to hear that I finally got back to writing this after a long break, a lot of things happened since then in my life but one thing remains unchanged, my determination to finish this story

Comments

[Perteks]

duh need to remember what was that story about uhhh...