• Published 22nd Jan 2014
  • 6,409 Views, 474 Comments

Twilights Mane Passion - Darkonshadows



Twilight grows up with a strange passion and it changes her life from how it should have been.

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Cadence walked up to Celestia, the solar monarch was in the middle of drinking some tea.

“Before I get to the true reason I come before you Celestia, do you perchance know the name… Luna?” Cadence ducked as a solid blob of tea shot out of Celestia’s mouth and took out one of the guards from more than fifty feet away. Cadence just stared at Celestia in shock, to be able to spit something as hard as to knock out a guard like that was a reaction worthy of something huge.

“Why, where did you ever hear that name from?” Celestia seemed to be trying to compose herself. The alabaster alicorn was failing horribly at it; even her smile was a little hard to take in as it seemed to be filled with a deep unfathomable pain. Celestia started to drink some tea to calm her nerves, while wondering how it was possible that Cadence knew Luna’s name. She could only hope Cadence didn’t connect it to the mare on the moon, her plan to save her sister would be ruined and she was angling her bets on Sunset Shimmer to succeed where she failed. Celestia hoped Sunset would eventually become a better pony as there was much darkness in her heart and her student was power hungry, she was trying to mother the poor pony and she might have gotten through to her once or twice.

“I got some information from a reliable source that knows about Lulu.” Again tea shot out and another guard went down with a grunt, Cadence really had to watch out when Celestia drank tea from now on. “That’s about all the information I actually know, judging by your reaction something bad happened to that pony didn’t it? Now as to the true reason I’m here…”

The next day…

Twilight and all her friends were on the train home waving off her parents.

Twilight was still being rather morose about how she dealt with Cadence and stared out the window at the passing landscape. Octavia was relaxing after a job well played, though she did ask if Twilight was okay and received a noncommittal answer for her troubles. Vinyl was passed out in her seat with Rainbow lying on top of her in a cute position snoring away. Fluttershy and Tress were watching Twilight with a slight bit of worry that she might have been sinking into a depressive state.

“Why do you think it really bothers her so much?” Fluttershy was trying to understand why Twilight was acting this way and who better to ask then her best friend.

“She said some pretty bad things the other night. Though I think she’s right that magic can’t solve all the world’s problems as trying to do so would end badly. Now just put that into perspective with her special talent being magic.” Tress’s ears fell flat as she looked at Twilights back. “I also think that a part of her wanted to be friends with Cadence despite the hurtful stuff she told us she said. She’s probably one of the bravest ponies in the history of this world for doing what she did, which is probably why Cadence will call her a friend the next time they meet.”

“What is it that she did that was so brave exactly?” Fluttershy just wanted to hug all her friends’ pain away. She knew time would heal those wounds easily enough but some of the mental scarring and memories would never leave.

“She basically stood up to a princess and said that what they were doing was wrong, think about how every other pony in this world worships them to the point of absurdity. I know I’d go crazy if all I ever got every day was praise for doing something as simple as just sneezing, Rainbow would probably enjoy all that attention though.” Looking at her hoof Tress tried to will it to transform and the color of her coat shimmered slightly, still not enough for a body transformation or at least she was just short of it. She could feel that her powers were stronger than ever.

“Yes, I can imagine how horrible it would be to always have ponies looking at you and judging every single action you ever did as a good thing while some of things are actually quite questionable.” Squeaked out a slightly freaked out shivering Fluttershy, she quickly curled up into a fluffy ball of adorable. “None of them will give you any privacy at all, even when you’re trying to go to the bathroom. I think celebrities like Fleur have really hard lives.”

“Yeah, bet that can be a real bummer. Calm down Fluttershy, you’re safe here with your friends and I promise no one will ever force you into something like that if I’m around to hear about it.” Tress patted Fluttershy softly on the back until she uncurled from her fetal position as the patting turned into a light petting.

“Thank you, for always trying to protect me and for everything else.” Fluttershy sat up and stretched out a bit into the slow rubbing hoof of comfort.

“Don’t bother with the thanks, what else are friends for if not to help each other in times of need?” Tress thought she had a pretty good handle on the friendship thing after being around Twilight long enough.

“I’m so glad to be going home with you guys, Canterlot is nuts.” The changeling entered their part of the train with Barb riding on its back snacking on an emerald.

Barb hopped off the changeling and went to sit next to her rather quiet mother; she snuggled into the hoof that quietly wrapped around her in a tender manner.

“Speaking of which, where do you even actually live and… is that hair growing out of your head and tail? Okay what is going on with you? Have you come down with something living maul me sign? You also look slightly bigger then I remember you being.” Tress narrowed her eyes at the changeling.

“Oh that… well apparently my hive had a vote, I’ve been voted to be the next leader for my capabilities in surviving ridiculous hardships. Also because I met you guys and you were friendly to me, alas I’ve become more female then male now as I slowly shed my old appearance to become a hive princess or queen. Depends on how the changeling at the time wants to roll with it should they get the chance to be in the position.” The changeling blushed and rubbed the back of her head ruffling the new short mane. “You could say I’m slowly morphing into a form suited for the job. I’m in the first stage my metamorphosis.”

“So does this leadership position come with a name or do we keep calling you by the title of your daily routine around us. You know, the routine where you usually get mauled horribly by something and end up with Fluttershy having to take care of you.” It was still a wonder to Tress that the changeling was willing to continue being their friend, despite all the pain and suffering she gets from just being around them. “Also, changelings vote?”

“You may call me her ever glorious royal highness, Queen Chrysalis!” She stood with her head proudly raised in a sophisticated poise, she didn’t really come off as regal because she was still only as big as Twilight was. “And of course we vote, it’s not like we would do something stupid as let bloodlines get in way of actual good leadership quality. In a time when we previously had bloodline leaders, they all kind of died out by constantly backstabbing each other. They weren’t very good leaders at all to begin with and we’ve had much better luck with voting changelings into power.”

“Eh, I’ll continue to call you living maul me sign. It just works better for me.” Tress smiled cheekily at Chrysalis. “If you’re the quality of leadership the changelings now have and it was much worse previously, then you guys don’t really set very high standards at all.”

“You should be so glad that I know you enjoy my company as much as I do yours or else I might have to take offense to that.” Chrysalis just flipped her short blue mane and her faintly green carapace twitched in a slightly agitated manner as she turned to Twilight. “What’s up with her?”

“I’m now thinking she’s upset that she got angry with a princess and that she might have gone too far in dealing with her. That and on top of the earlier stuff I was telling Fluttershy here.” Tress thought Twilight was oddly complicated in oh so many ways despite her love of the simpler things in life.

“Yes, I’m feeling a sense of general confusion from her about life and it’s slowly ebbing away, must be working through it on her own. I swear you ponies are always so overly dramatic. Still though, it’s nice to have friends especially one as love filled as Fluttershy is here.” Chrysalis cuddled up against Fluttershy causing her face to go red. “I like you too.”

“But I didn’t say anything.” Fluttershy wondered if the changeling empathy abilities were capable of being turned off.

“You didn’t have to; it’s kind of adorable how your feelings work around every living thing.” Chrysalis was all smiles in Fluttershy's presence. “It’s almost like you love everything... except stallions.”

“I once sung about loving everything when I was a filly, but even I know it’s impossible to love every single thing in existence.” Though it was hard to imagine, there were things that Fluttershy didn’t like. Full grown adult dragons for one as they were destructive and cranky as all get out. She’s had a bad run in with one or two in her life. She was never going to elaborate to any pony why she was so afraid of them and would never mention it in front of Barb. Barb was the only dragon she could actually get along with and like as a friend.

“So what are you going to be doing now that you’re the leader of your people?” Octavia had been sitting there quietly listening in to the conversation up until this point.

“Actually, I’m just going to be doing pretty much what I always have been doing. The only thing a leader really does that’s new is get involved when the hive needs an ambassador or to do things that involve diplomacy with other races. There are also raid plans I can enact when we get low on food, but that’s not going to be much of a problem thanks to you guys helping us out.” Chrysalis didn’t think she would need to raid any city, town or village considering she was getting pretty high like a kite off of the friendship she had with these ponies. Fleur and Fancy were especially filling when they finally consummated their marriage; Chrysalis got more love from that alone then she ever would have stealing it. Even cocoons couldn’t get that much love out of ponies with happy dreams. She made a note to have changelings just stick around areas where strong couples do things like that all the time, it’s much easier then infiltration and replacement of multiple targets with very little information to go on. All the hoopla and wasted energy of all those stupid kidnapping schemes, to think they’ve been overcomplicating things all these years. It was so simple that there was a much more efficient solution that didn't require a lot of higher brain functions, said functions which a lot of changelings seemed to lack anyway, so it all worked out for the better.

“Well at least that’s a load off my mind, I would have to beat up your entire hive if it invaded Ponyville and I’d feel pretty bad for mauling you personally. Not to mention the conga line mauling from my cat, all of Fluttershy’s animals, every pet owner in Ponyville and just any pony in general that would be able to see through a changeling disguises easily enough. Oh and Fluttershy is friends with all kinds of large creatures, including several species of bears and not just the teddy kind she sleeps with.” Tress could see the shiver pass through Chrysalis as she most likely imagined all of her changeling friends getting the tar beaten out of them by all the animals that live in Ponyville because they messed with Fluttershy. If that wasn’t bad enough she could even see Chrysalis imagining Mrs. Ursa Major sniffing out then destroying their entire hive without a problem.

“Yes, that is very much noted. Invading Canterlot would be more feasible then invading Ponyville at this rate and that’s only because the celestial guards aren’t allowed to have pets on duty and the animal population is much smaller there, but none the less formidable for it.” Chrysalis decided to make a silent promise here and now to never try to invade either place. She just had a feeling it wouldn’t end well for her or the other changelings, they’d just go on vacation to Manehatten if they were running low on food. No large scale invasion required. “Excuse me, Twilight. Can I ask you something?”

Twilight perked up her left ear; she was still staring at the landscape as the train chugged along.

“I was wondering if you’d be willing to let me live with you guys for a while, I’m going to eventually enter a cocooned state for an entire year and I was wondering if I could use your basement during that time.” Chrysalis looked really hopeful; she wouldn’t be getting in the way of anything and would be in a half meditative sleeping state the entire time. She still had some duties to her hive to report in throughout the year even if she’s going through a long sleep phase. “I promise you won’t even notice I’m there when I need to do it.”

“Sure thing Chrysalis, just warn us before you start setting up. I want to be able to see you off before you go into your deep sleep cycle.” Twilight warmed up slightly even as she stared at Canterlot, she wasn’t tuning her friends out and had listened to everything. Every pony was giving her the distance she needed and she’ll probably feel better tomorrow when she gets back to work with helping ponies. “I truly hope Cadence will be okay after it all comes out.”

Author's Note:

Most people probably wouldn't have suspected that 'the changeling' was actually Chrysalis all along. Then again she loves the crisp taste of confidence and even was going to run a raid against Fluttershy of all things with a bunch of other changelings, she also had problems with giving up in spite of all the complications in her path. So don't say this hasn't been a long time coming, even if she's the basis of changeling leadership quality which mostly revolves around survival of the fittest in a democratic/republic based hive related government.

Changelings are just plain weird.