> Deep Cover Confusion
>  by Zerodius
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The... changeling in the moon?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle checked the mirrror. A lavender being with purple eyes with a dark purple striped mane looked back. That was normal. Of course, the reason she was staring in the mirror was because of the slitted eyes, the chitin-like parts on her body, a pair of tiny fangs, and the weird shape of her horn. That, nobody should see, ever. Contrary to what she had read in books that her kind was supposed to do, she was supposed to do a real battery of magical spells to make sure that no one would ever suspect this. Her mom had told her, when she was but a foal, or maybe was it a hatchling? She was not really sure ; no one had ever told her the proper terms for her true species and the books had been less than helpful about that.

Still, as usual, she followed her morning checklist. "Texture charm, check. Anatomical containment charm, check."

Her mother had told her the last one was not necessarely needed. It was only needed if she ever was to have a coltfriend and expected to... ahem... consumate the relationship. However, Twilight was nothing if thorough and she always took the time to cast every single spell before starting her day.

"Visual appearance adjustment spell..." A flash of green fire and the insect-like features disappeared, replaced with the mare that everyone knew. "Check."

Her horn glowed as she unleashed more of her spells. "Permanence field charm, check. Texture readjusment on legs, check. Texture readjustement on head, check. Texture readjusment, internal, check." The permanence field spell was vital, probably the most important spell that her mother had taught her. Most spells tended to drop when its caster was knocked out or seriously injured and of course, few spells could survive the death of its caster, having its source cut off. Twilight knew that she was a deep cover infiltrator from mother to daughter, and had been for... how far do her family tree go, exactly? She wasn't sure. Considering what she knew, it probably was pointless to try and figure it out. But what she knew was that the permanence field was the most important spell. Namely, if she was to be seriously injured, rendered unconscious, or even killed, her disguise would not drop. Likewise, it would protect her from all detection spells designed to remove illusions.

In a way, it was amazing how complex the spell sequence that allowed changelings to be in deep cover among ponies was. The time it must have taken to create it!... and almost all of them are transformigation spells too instead of merely illusions! The lavender pony brushed her left leg against her right one. The hole that was supposed to be there wasn't even there physically anymore thanks to the spell. The spells didn't merely make her look like a pony, it effectively turned her into one and with the permanence field spell, she could technically go through whole weeks without renewing the spells. However, she was nothing if meticulous and whenever she could, spent each morning that she had to herself dropping the disguise and renewing it.

It was a safety measure too, being the princess's student. If her mentor was to learn her true nature, she'd... she'd... well, she'd probably be at least very disappointed in her. Just the thought of her mentor's disapproval made her almost expel all the love she had drained yesterday out of sheer fear. She knew that in theory, she was probably meant to be loyal to some changeling queen but the truth was, she had never ever met, been contacted, or even sensed the presence of one. Sure, she had sensed plenty of minds around but her mom had been very clear that the magic of friendship and the mind link were too similar for one to jump to conclusions. Besides, her mission was a simple one: to bask in pony love and be a beacon of pure love and friendship.

Well, that was convenient since Celestia wanted her to be this and well, everypony wanted her to be this anyway.

With her morning routine done, Twilight nodded to herself and left her room.





Celestia the XXIIIth, twenty-third changeling queen to bear the name of Celestia, was in her personal study. The warded room was teleportation-proof and a very special type of lock had been installed on the door. She was effectively locked in and considering the secrets this room held, it was only a sensible precaution.

The letter that her student had sent her later this morning had disturbed her greatly. She did not know why it did and this was why she was in here, her disguise dropped. To her little ponies, she was Celestia, the immortal alicorn ruler of Equestria, the eternal sun, one of the goddesses of order who stood in opposition to Discord, god of chaos. There was some truth to this. Her disguise was a perfect replica of the ancient alicorn's physical appearance and a complex sequence of spell added physical texture and volume to the disguise, making it effectively as real as it could be. Of course, her little ponies would not care that she truly loved them just as they loved her if they learnt of her true appearance and nature. In particular, she could only think of how crushed her personal student, Twilight Sparkle, would be. To learn that the pony she had looked up her entire life was nothing but a fake, a monster in disguise...

No, she should not dwell upon that fear. In over a millenium of reign, none of the queens were ever discovered and she would not break tradition. Besides, she was not in this room to let her worries flow through her nerves. No... she was here to dive into her greater memories.

Celestia was more than a disguise, more than merely a way to make herself be accepted. It was an idea, a greater whole in which she was but a small part. To merely take over Equestria did not make a changeling queen into the Celestia. One had to bask in the love of the ponies, to truly grasp the magic of friendship, to immerse oneself a power unlike anything else on this world and become one with it. From mother to daughter, memories were transmitted. Within her mind, the combined memories of twenty-two generations of changeling queens lived, a real hive mind within a single mind.

She was still young and to be fair, even now, as she slowly immersed herself into the sea of knowledge, she felt overwhelmed. This mass of memories was, effectively, the true Celestia. She remembered the feelings of Celestia the first, of her guilt, and then of her decision to stop merely impersonating the alicorn her grand-mother had killed and to actually, truly take on her name and responsabilities. She felt the confusion of Celestia the first and Celestia the second as they struggled to understand ponies, to grasp the six concepts of friendship. She felt the pain of Celestia thr third as she sacrificed all she had for beings who would hate her if they learnt who she was and then, the pride she felt at a people she grew to see and love as her own. She felt the sheer surge of emotion that Celestia the fifth had felt as she had fully grasped the power of the Elements of Harmony.

... and most importantly, she reached that particular memory. Among the countless regrets that the Celestia bloodline had felt, the second-greatest of them, behind murdering the original alicorn goddess, was the Celestial War. Of how the shame of overcoming Discord and finally truly understanding the magic of friendships that the ponies felt only for her own sister to be abandonned to let her jealousy.

The tale Twilight had warned her of was no mere tale. The memories of her ancestors did not lie. Celestia, the true Celestia born of her combined bloodline's memories, knew this to be true.

The banishment spell is going to fail. It is imminent now. But the question is... what does it mean?

Luna the third was a changeling queen, as she is. One who fully grasped the power of the alicorn Luna as to effectively become her but changeling queens were mortal. It was why the Celestia bloodline, as the Luna bloodline also did, sacrificed their individuality granted through their nature as queens. They accepted to have their mothers' memories, their entire beings poured into themselves as mere foals, well, maybe was it hatchlings, so that they may effectively continue to be the same being, fooling their little ponies into believing their ruler was an immortal alicorn instead of a procession of queens. In a way, Celestia the XXIIIth was a bit sad that none would remember each of Equestria's queens on their own merit... but then, when all of the queens were so magnificient, loving, and true to the ideal of Celestia as to indeed fuse into the goddess of the sun, then maybe her pride as a mortal pride was but a tiny price for the love of her little ponies.

No, no, she must focus! She must not lose herself into the sea of her ancestors' memories! Celestia the XXIIIth scolded herself mentally and focused more deeply. Luna the third, her banishment, what it meant...

Was the banishment spell's failure truly a threat? Changelings are not immortal ; it is probable that what will emerge from the lunar prison will be a decayed exoskeleton and dust. But then, it is probable the banishment spell act as a stasis spell. If it does... what should she do?

No, what can she do, if Luna the third is truly returning? Luna the third grasped the power of the Elements of Harmony, she was effectively an incarnation of the late alicorn, Luna. A changeling queen, wielding divine power... Sure, Celestia the XXIIIth could raise the sun and the moon, or rather fling them through space but the truth was, she was incapable of using the Elements of Harmony. Though the knowledge of how to use them existed within the collective memories of her ancestors, she was herself too young to do so. She had not truly grasped, personally, as Celestia the XXIIIth, the true meaning of friendship. This was why she trained Twilight Sparkle, in fact! Just as she taught her, she made the ancestral knowledge actually real within her own mind! If Luna the third is truly returning and she is still in the form of Nightmare Moon, her hatred of Celestia the fifth's lack of care fresh on her soul, what can she possibly do? Luna the third fought Discord himself and defeated him. She... she cannot compare herself to such power.

No, no. It's useless to panic. It's not even sure that the banishment spell's failure will send something alive after all. And even if it does, a thousand years is a long time. Maybe Luna the third will have calmed down, seen Equestria from orbit, and forgiven her bloodline? Maybe she'll recognize that she is not her ancestor and that they can mend fences?

She didn't know. She did not know and it terrified her more than anything. She need to learn, she need to be sure. And for that, she need to figure out the date and location at which the banishment spell will fail.

...

She is a dumb, dumb changeling. Of course she knows! The sea of knowledge! Alright, so as Celestia the fifth, she fought her sister on that day, unleashed the spell at that moment... ouch, that hurt emotionally. Hope nopony passed by the door when she experienced that particular memory else it would be awkward to feel that wave of sadness leaking out of the room. Anyway... so the spell was casted on that day, which if one translate old calendar dates to modern ones give...

Oh. Oh horseapples.

That day. And the location is now a thriving, if somewhat small city: Ponyville. If Luna the third comes back alive and still as Nightmare Moon at that particular place, she'll make a fine mess.

Bring the Royal Guard with her? That'd cause awkward questions and probably a mass panic if the knowledge of Luna's return spread.

What to do... what to do...

... of course, this is given Luna the third returns at all. Oh! She got it! She needs someone she trust to verify, to assess the situation. She needs someone who is already in the know and who will thus not make a mess with the senate or the nobility!

... unfortunately, only Twilight Sparkle fit the criteria. Horseapples again.

Oh well. She can always teleport to her student's side if Luna the third comes up and well, if her ancestor could banish her, maybe she won't be as terrible as her memories say she is?

Who is she kidding? If anything else than a corpse or a calmed down Luna the third comes down, she'll get squashed, her little ponies will follow shortly after, and all she love alongside with a legacy of over a millenium in age will be destroyed.

Oh well. Not gonna make a scene, not gonna make a scene, not gonna make a scene... Just put on the spell sequence, act as if nothing had happened, simply send Twilight to Ponyville for some inane reason, and pray everything does not blow up in your face. What could possibly go wrong? Besides an insane changeling queen with the power of a true alicorn wrecking the world?
> Luna and SCIENCE!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna entered her sister's personal study. She found her fellow alicorn, standing by an ornate desk, making a serie of quills float around, signing off forms at a speed that quickly melted down what would otherwise be an unsurmountable mountain of paperwork to mortals like snow under the full might of her sister's sun during summer. The study was rather better protected than during the old days, two millenia ago. Even now, Luna felt the complex array of wards as she walked in and from the thickness of the door and the surprisingly loud slam it did when she closed it, she knew that it was anything but a normal door. And this was rather perplexing. What was so important with the princess's study that it was protected almost as much as the underground vaults?

Hearing her sister enter, Celestia stopped what she was doing and then, put down each of the quills before stepping out of behind her desk. The taller alicorn stared at the smaller one and for a moment, Luna thought she saw something crack with her fellow alicon's expression. For a moment, neither spoke and then, when it seemed that the sun goddess was about to speak, Luna took the initiative.

"I guess that thou has invited us here to address our issue with the strange flow of magic, am I not correct?"

"It is difficult to hide anything from one of the two alicorn sisters, princess. This situation is an extremely strange one, one for which I had not planned. None of my contingencies, even the craziest ones, were designed to deal with one such as this one. I guess..." the white alicorn seemed to hesitate for a moment. "There is nothing to do but to bring you to speed. However, I ask you that you not share any of what I will discuss here with my little ponies."

Luna thought of asking her sister what she was talking about but frankly, she was very confused. Not by what she was saying but... in general. Her awakening had been a strange one and when she had spoken in private with her of her memory problems, she had requested that they discuss this in her study. There was something strange, something about both herself and her sister. And both of then knew it.

"I do not know how it is possible but the fragments of memories you experienced must have been the lifetimes of the members of the Luna bloodline. The Elements of Harmony must have linked them to you and I guess it must be why you were reborn when Nightmare Moon was destroyed."

Reborn, not freed. Luna noticed the wording she used now that none of the little ponies were around. "Do thou means... that the blast of magic we felt in our back, the last clear memory we had before the moment of our return was... us dying?"

"Yes. Murdered and then, replaced by an usurper. What do you remember of the fragments?"

Though the confirmation filled the alicorn with anger, the question brought the fragments into question. They were strange, alien, incomplete. Feelings of ellation, fear, sudden flashes of situations, still images of moments without context. Almost like someone else's memories... and yet, she felt as though they were still hers. And it reminded her of the moon and what she had felt. She had felt... consumed by anger. Literally consumed by anger. Even her brief awakening as Nightmare Moon seemed so... confused. Like she hadn't been truly there until the Elements of Harmony had purified her.

"The Elements of Harmony, one cannot usurp them. We know that changelings can imitate shapes, steal love, become empowered by it but none can steal the Elements. Only through total selfless love as only us alicorns can, can one use the Elements. Effectively, we are the Elements as the Elements are us."

"They understood and they changed."

Luna stared at the taller alicorn, that last statement sinking in. She saw her sister, so strange from two millenia of experience without her, step closer... and then, close her eyes.

"There is a difference between parasiting love and truly feeling it. The usurpers were not ready for what success would truly bring them. They did not understand that the true purpose of the alicorns was to love, not to rule. Discord knew, it was why he struck after the usurpers made their coup. With no understanding of what love truly was, they could not use the Elements of Harmony, for indeed, the Elements are the alicorns and the alicorns are the Elements."

And at this moment, Luna understood. She had always knew of the possibility but if what her sister was saying... "Self-sacrifice. To give everything. To take love into oneself. To channel the love of everypony and become their voice... the usurpers, they did this."

Celestia nodded. "They gave up their dreams of power to become parts of a greater whole, for each member of the usurpers to give up their personal ambition to recreate and keep alive the concept of the alicorns. To become the voice of their love. It was... my ancestor's decision. One I chose to uphold."

And at this moment, before a shocked Luna's eyes, an aura of green flames flashed and the shape of her sister changed. Her horn became longer, jagged, her eyes slitted, fangs poking out of her mouth. The white coat became pure, snow white chitin. The feathered wings became insect-like though retaining a feather motif. Small holes were visible in each leg, near the hooves. Luna was taken aback as the being that had been her sister a second ago looked so similar to a changeling.

She saw her kneel before her, bowing her head all the way to the floor... "In your absence, we have tried to uphold your legacy and to atone for our ancestor's sin. But I realize... that I, like my predecessors, are only fakes. I am sorry, princess Luna, I am sorry for taking your little ponies away, for lying to you. I am unworthy..."

Anger, rage even was tempting, so tempting. A being who was by all means a changeling stood by her, its shape a mockery of the one she had loved. The realization that usurpers had destroyed her body, stolen her life, and effectively even now continued to steal her sister's life...

However, in the rage of Nightmare Moon, even as the six ponies had unleashed their power, the Elements of Harmony had touched her soul, reached out to her heart. She had felt the gentle touch of her sister, of her love. Even if she had suspected that something was off with her sister, her love had been ever so genuine. Though changelings could imitate and mimic many things, love could not be faked.

She walked around the strange one. Even though the alicorn was physically smaller, Celestia XXIII felt like an ant next to a giant. Unknown to her, Luna could see it. Her body was trembling from a fear that couldn't be faked.

"Thou fought Nightmare Moon. Thou stood before the wrath of a goddess, despite knowing thou were not a match for her..." She whispered, slowly looking over her body. And then, her eyes set upon her flanks and more exactly, the sun mark. The disguise was gone but the cutie mark... it was still there. "Thou love them. Thou love our little ponies as if they were yours. Thou were ready to give thy life for them..."

She brushed a hoof against the marked chitin. The magic flowing through did not lie. "Thou haslt bathed in the magic of friendship, accepted it in thy heart. Thou hasth abandonned thy name to claim that of thy sister and become her, to give a voice to the love and adoration for her..."

She walked back in front of her. "Rise."

Celestia XXIII obediently rose. She stared at the alicorn in acceptance of whatever would come next.

"It is good to see you, sister."

Celestia XXIII had expected rage, disgust, to be banished, to be killed, to be tortured. She had been ready to accept it. Since the letter and the knowledge of Luna's return, she had been ready to suffer for her little ponies. Now that the real, ancient Luna had returned, she had accepted that her disguise would not fool the goddess herself, that she would not be able to masquerade as the real Celestia to someone who had known the real thing back then. She had been ready to pay for her ancestor's crime if it meant her little ponies would continue to live, to be happy. But what she had not expected... was forgiveness and even less acceptance.

"I am princess Luna, half of the voice of the Elements of Harmony. My flesh and my mind are a result of our Elements' touch into pony flesh but ultimately, our body and mind are only perception. While thou may not be the alicorn Celestia, you sacrificed thy flesh and soul to the Elements of Harmony, accepting to be their voice. That your flesh may be covered in chitin instead of a coat does not change thy heart. Thy love is true."

"Princess Luna... what my ancestor did to your sister..."

"Has been atoned for. Thou has banished Discord from this plane of existence through stone and gave thyself as vessels for my sister. You are my sister. Though you may be a new incarnation, thou are true. That thou were birthed from an usurper does not matter. After all, we were birthed from Nightmare Moon and you accepted us with all of your heart. Rise. Be true."

Celestia the XXIIIth slowly rose, staring down at the smaller alicorn. A wide smile appeared on her face. Luna knew that the being standing before her was a fellow pony, not a changeling. The gratitude and love that was all over her face did not lie. Though her form was different, her heart was the same.

"Now, you were going to show us more about Equestria, about how our little ponies changed in the two millenia since we last lived. We would like to rely upon the lifetimes we experienced as the Luna bloodline but those memories are blurry to us. May you kindly?"

"Anything, princess."

"Please, you may simply call us Luna."

"In that case... may you please teach us more about the Elements of Harmony? The lifetimes of my ancestors show me how it felt to use them, to channel them but I want to do so as myself, to truly be worthy of the name I bear and the trust you've given me, Luna."

"An acceptable trade."

The two continued to speak, the tension dying. Celestia XXIII explained to Luna about the spell, of how mother transfered memories to daughters to keep continuity from one Celestia to the next and how it had also been for the Luna bloodline. At first, the stories were serious, about Equestria's great struggles and the difficult decisions taken by the Celestia bloodline but as the hours passed, the two begun to share some less... epic concerns, at least in the eyes of mortals.

To Celestia's shock, it seemed two elements remained timeless. The obsession of mares called Celestia with cake and the sheer inanity and boredom of ponykind's court. Of course, Celestia XXIII vehemently denied the former. The combined memories of twenty-two generations of Celestias and Luna's account of the original alicorn unfortunately did little to appease the changeling queen's ego.

Though... it made Celestia wonder. By channelling the Elements of Harmony and accepting to become the alicorns, the Celestia and Luna bloodlines had effectively become them and when Luna the third had finally died, it seemed that she had become the very material through which the original Luna could be reborn. Does it mean that like Luna III, she hold Celestia's essence within her? Does it mean... that her bloodline's continued existence prevent the return of the original Celestia?

That concern, however, she kept to herself.





Scientific reports by griffins on the pony species.

The pony species are one of the most unique life-forms on Gaia. Being somewhat similar to horses in shape are however, unlike zebras and other equines, more insectoid in appearance, with a chitin body instead of a coat. Ponies, however, will never willingly show this appearance and in fact, if ponies are not allowed to groom themselves magically and renew their better known appearance, they will grow hysterical, often even lashing at one another upon witnessing one another's true forms.

This behaviour is extremely perplexing and seems to come from an incredibly deep fear, probably instinctual, of changelings. Though similar to changelings in a superficial manner, ponies are characterized by their extremely varied color schemes, their more varied magical skills (divided between three types, known as earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns), the lack of an insect-style hive mind and society structure, and the presence of cutie marks.

It is theorized that the fear of changelings comes from being the changelings' most common prey and source of food ; ponies produce an immense amount of love, which they use to supplement their diet and to power their famed magic of friendship. It is probably also linked with the ponies' tendency to create strange musical numbers known as "heart songs".

It must be noted that despite their insectoid shape, ponies are far closer to equines than to changelings biologically, with a reproduction system based on fertile individuals marrying into either couples or small herds as opposed to the changelings' queen & drone system. No pony queen was ever discovered though conspiracy theorists continue to claim that Celestia may be secretely a pony queen. This fact was debunked as the way the pony population fluctuate and the relationship between Celestia and her court as observed by both ambassadors and spies go are incompatible with the effects of an insect queen's impact. Likewise, ponies are much closer to equines in terms of mental behaviour, lacking the extreme and nearly irrational paranoia and hostility of changelings.

Ponies are difficult to classify, biologically. They are technically mammals as they indeed feed their youngs the expected way but it was discovered that their youngs are born from eggs, though those eggs hatch within the body of female ponies, leading to the illusion of live birth.

Historical note: It is unknown how the true form of ponies was first witnessed. Due to ponies never revealing willingly their true form to anyone, even to fellow ponies, it is probable that the first sightings of their true forms was either from captive ponies forced to forego their appearance grooming ritual until they reverted to their true forms or from individuals unearthing the corpses of deceased ponies, their appearance reverting a few weeks after death in most cases. Historians cannot agree on which case led to the first discovery.

Even today, griffin psychologists are baffled by the ponies' reactions to their own true forms. To anyone else, the ponies are at best only distantly related to changelings, with one confusing a pony for a changeling being akin to confusing a zebra for a buffalo or a donkey for a goat. Thus, it is not quite well-understood why ponies react so violently to each others' true forms, calling one another or even themselves 'changelings'.

Due to the general hysteria that the subject of theit true forms cause, the knowledge of the ponies' true nature is a restricted subject. Those who know of this subject should be wary of spreading such knowledge without express permission from the empire's cabinet lest they cause a diplomatic incident and expose themselves to serious charges.
> One fine day in Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another morning, another opportunity for fun and adventures. Of course, that means potential parties, of many different types. Humming to herself, Pinkie Pie adjust her appearance. Deep cover has taken its toll upon the bloodlines of the changelings. Or well, that was how some of her ancestors had chosen to word it. Generations of pony interbreeding had made it easier to blend in and even created some rather cool effects. For example, that cutie mark on her flank wasn't faked and was a natural part of her. Something about immersing oneself into pony love and magic long enough to eventually become a natural part of it. Whatever it meant, it wasn't that important. She looked at the stubby, jagged, very short horn on her forehead and to the likewise very small wings on her back. Also a product of centuries of bloodline choices. Of course, she was aware of a few points... but nah, right now, it's time to put on her pony appearance and get ready to party!

Parties are good. They make people happy. And the love from that is delicious! And cupcakes made of love are even more delicious! And make ponies smile! Which makes it even better! What's not to love with parties?

She casted the spells, one by one. True to herself, not necessarely in the right order. For example, the holes in her legs, above the hooves, disappeared alongside with her horn and wings but without actually turning her pink chitin to a likewise colored coat. There were also a few points she kept to herself, points she had never truly disguised, such as her mane. Oh sure, she was in theory supposed to hide her real mane and make it like that of a normal earth pony... but you know what? Bo-ring. Besides, she had found an extremely nice way to disguise her quirks, one more effective than any spell or appearance swap.

As she emerged from her room and headed outside, she saw one of her friends already there. It was quite early and well, she knew it wasn't exactly her best friends but she was friends with everypony in town so, well, who cares? "Hiii there miss Daily Clock!"

"Oh. Hi there Pinkie." said the pony, obviously staring at the changeling's mane poofing up. She was a newcomer to Ponyville and apparently not yet used to her style. That would change in the following weeks, of course! But for now, it was time to get her routine set. "You know... I still can't get used to how your mane does that. How does it do that?"

"I'm a changeling!"

"Yeah yeah, sure. Sure you are, Pinkie. I'll... be on my way." And with that said, she walked away, mumbling under her breath about 'crazy earth ponies'.

Worked everytime. It would have probably saved her folks at the rock farm a lot of blood pressure-related problems if they had believed her that 'refuge in audacy' was a perfectly valid way of infiltrating pony society. Now, it's still a bit early so she have a bit of time before she have to go to Sugarcube Corner and work on-

Instinct buzzed in her mind. She felt a disturbance in the magic of friendship, the minds of unseen changelings and the ponies they were connected to brushing against her consciousness thanks to her special talent mixed with the mind link born from her nature. Her tail twitched, her right eye blinking as the overwhelming feeling of the combined feelings and perceptions of other changelings and everypony nearby touched her. Which meant...

"Eep!"

Clang!

She sidestepped just in time as a bucket of paint fell off of a nearby roof and hit the spot where she had stood a second before. The pink changeling looked up to see a brown pegasus stallion blinking. "Oops!" he said. "Oh! Oh! Pinkie Pie! I hope you didn't get hit with that!"

"Nope! Just don't put that on the edge next time. Splashes of color are fun! But it tend to upset ponies who are hit by them, you know. See ya!"

"Wait! Could you return my bu-"

She was already bouncing away. Oh well. Clumsy Hooves stepped off the roof and hovered down to the ground to recover his paint bucket and what was left of its content. Even after all those years in Ponyville, he still didn't get Pinkie Pie. He had heard that famous student of the princess had almost driven herself crazy trying to understand where the weird powers and mannerisms of the weird earth pony came from. Bah, Pinkie Pie is Pinky Pie. Besides, that must be mysterious earth pony voodoo thing. What do he know? He's just some changeling in deep cover minding his own business and painting houses. Ponies are weird.





"Another fine day, Liarjack..." Applejack sighed as she stared sadly at her own reflection. "Some Element of Honesty ya are..."

Rationally, she understood why she had been chosen. As one who had been raised to live a lie, truth was, alongside her family, the most precious of her possessions. Despite what the mirror told her, Applejack knew that the ponies around here were her family, her real family and that this farm was where she truly belonged. Likewise, she knew that her bloodline had been infiltrating the Apples Acres the moment it had been founded. She was born, raised on this farm. Maybe was it hatched? No, that didn't sound right.

But though she rationalized it all, it didn't keep her from feeling guilty. She wished she could reveal to her grand-mother who and what she really was, come clean with her brother. They deserved to know the truth. Her friends deserved the truth, too. She had considered it seriously many times too. Wasn't she the Element of Honesty, the wielder of some hocus pocus ancient pony artifact that the princess had used long ago against Nightmare Moon? Surely the ponies would accept her as she truly is...

No. No. Her parents are gone. Granny Smith did not say how they died but she guessed, no, she knew that they were discovered. Or at least, her mom was. No, regardless of if her father had been a pony or a changeling, the fact is that they're gone now and they probably are because they were discovered. If everypony was to know what she truly look like... no. Her heart would break if she saw that kind of disappointment, of anger, of pain on their faces. She could not do this to her family. She would not burden them with the knowledge that she is a fake. Her family is more important than the discomfort of renewing her appearance every few weeks.

Ironic. That one who care about honesty so much, who make it her mission to be as honest as honest can be against all the odds, the naysayers, and even what the world has to say against it... is lying to absolutely everypony about her own nature.

Oh well.

Pinkie Pie is preparing some kind of new party, Twilight will probably also try some kind of crazy experiment, and of course Rainbow Dash will be unable to stay put. The changeling had frankly wanted to just stay on the farm today and help out. Helping out made her feel good. To be part of the family, to do good honest work all together. She didn't really care about that whole infiltration thing and considering all the time that passed, she bet the queen who gave her ancestor that dumb mission must be long dead anyway. This farm is her home, always has been, always will be.

Of course she was also aware that as she put on the sequence of spells, green fire replacing her chitin with coat and removing her horn so she could put on her hat, the day would probably not go quietly. This is Ponyville. Things never go quietly. Well, okay, most of her days are indeed pleasant routine but compared to how it went on farms all over Equestria? Changelings in it is far from the strangest thing to happen here.

Not feeling particularly tired, she decided, once her body was in the characteristic shape everyone knew, to sneak out. Just to check outside. Rainbow Dash had promised that she'd get the weather sorted out for today. Applejack was not worried about that, her friend was nothing if true to her word regarding her job. The problem was that her pegasus friend tended to procrastinate until she had to go at sonic rainboom speeds to finish her job in time. That, however, was a problem ; everytime Rainbow Dash did that, it shattered every window of every nearby building. Big Mac was growing mighty tired of replacing the farm's windows and he'd probably be upset if Rainbow Dash shattered them again today.

So needless to say, she frowned as she saw the cloudy cover in the skies. "Eee-yep. There won't be much love in mah breakfast today..."

As if on cue, a rainbow colored trail removed the cloud cover, blowing her hat off her head and shattering every window on Apple Acres farm.
> A crazy dragon's musings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike blinked a few times. With Twilight's permission, he had been allowed to go at that dragon migration thing and meet with those of his kind. It had been quite exciting though there was one significant drawback. Namely, the fact that him being supposedly a baby dragon was thrown at his face even more than at home.

Sure, he is younger than Twilight but by pony standarts, he was definitely legal. He wasn't much taller, true, something about dragons being longer-living but it was incredibly, endlessly frustrating. He had learnt, spent time getting to know things... he think that after all this time, he's more mature. He definitely feel it yet he's treated as a baby all the time. And yet... he knew they were right in many ways. Even as he had explored his feelings, he had realized that his body felt... different. The cravings that ponies of his age went through, he had not went through. Even as he rationally grasped more mature concepts, it felt like his body was lagging behind.

To be fair, he had hoped for that feeling of being two things at the same time to be left behind when he had went to his people. To know, once and for all, if he was truly as much of a baby as everyone said he is. And well... unfortunately, that had not been the case. It had only grown worse. Those three teenage dragons had been the worst. They were over fifty years-old?! How could that be possible when they acted like they were ten? He felt as if he had been surrounded by idiots! To think he had been afraid of what they had thought of him! Yet, it also bothered him. Immature in some ways... and yet so much more mature in others.

The way they'd been talking of impressing females, of their concerns for the future... rationally, he knew about crushes or even about what they led to, despite his adoptive sister's best efforts. But he... it had only made his feeling of not knowing whenever he was too mature for his body or simply destabilized because pony society expected him to advance too quickly for him worse.

Gloomy things. He hate them. And he's not even sure if he hate them because gloomy subjects are not fun or because he's too much of a kid to enjoy them.

Oh well.

He decided to instead focus on an argument. An older dragon, a elder by the looks of it, was talking with a bunch of adults who gave him a look not unlike what Twilight gave him whenever he tried to ask why her horn had been jagged and her eyes, more akin to his during that night five years ago when he sneaked into her room to check if she had been okay due to a weeks-long studying rush for an exam.

"None of you have ever seen a real pony. Ponies do not turn insectoid after a few weeks if they can't renew a magical grooming ritual! Ponies look like colorful horses with a tattoo on their butt!" went the elder.

"Of course they do, after they have groomed. And well, it's not like they look that different without it. All it does is remove the jagged parts, remove the useless bits, and make their coat uniform and smooth." said one of the younger adults, his voice flat.

"Real ponies did not need to do that! They looked like equines all the time!"

"Ponies are equines. They just look a bit strange. Zebras have their weird lines on their coats, donkeys have those big ears, ponies look a bit like insects. That's all."

"You do not understand. They were once permanently like they are post-grooming. I have not seen real ponies in centuries!"

A sigh and a roll of eyes from all the assembled dragons listening to the older one. "And what's the difference, beside the looks, if any of what you're saying is right?"

The elder opened his mouth, paused, closed it, scratched the back of his head, blinked a few times, and then sighed loudly. "They didn't look insect-like at all! What you call ponies are bugs acting like ponies!"

"Bugs that act like ponies, breed like ponies, think like ponies, got pony magic, and are pretty much equines with slightly insect-like looks. Yep, totally don't sound like ponies to me."

"Seriously, grandpa." went another adult. "Ponies hate it when they're seen without their make-up on. Like, they positively freak out. I think it's natural that the ponies of your time would make sure you'd never catch any of them in their true form."

"No! Those ponies did not turn insect-like, ever! You could kill one and keep its body around for weeks and it would stay the same!"

"Grandpa, that's gross! Why would you do that?"

"Well, it could happen!" he said, realizing with embarassment what he had just said as his fellow dragons glared at him. "I wasn't some kind of supremacist wild dragon nut!"

"Then how would you know if a pony back then didn't turn back?"

"A pony fell and broke his neck?"

"And they just left its corpse on the streets for what amounts to a full freakin' month? I'm sorry but no, not buying it."

Collective groans and the argument begun to go in circles. Judging by their expressions, Spike guessed it actually had been going in circles way before he started listening. Hmmm... ponies who don't actually look insect-like? That's... strange, really. After seeing Twilight that way, he had just assumed it was normal and that everyone knew, given how no one ever made a deal of it. Were ancient ponies sometimes stuck in their make-up and unable to get out?

Frankly, he don't get it. He's been raised among ponies his entire life and he still don't get it.

So... zebras are weird, dragons are weird, ponies are weird. Is there any species that isn't weird on this planet?
> Fashion Emergency
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity cringed. It was a fashion emergency, a serious fashion emergency. Sure, Rainbow Dash always complained about those but quite frankly, that rainbow-maned pony didn't have to worry about keeping one's cover as a changeling. It had always bothered her, to say the truth. Her long, purple mane was absolutely fabulous and all her disguise really did was highlight how breathtaking it was. That was not the problem. The problem was those ugly holes near her hooves and the whole chitin shell look of her body. It didn't matter how much she worked out to smoothen her curves and make sure she looked as fantastic as she could, the cold hard truth was that without her disguise, she looked like she was covered in some kind of weird fleshy armor instead of a magnificient coat. That and she far prefered having a reasonably-sized straight horn as opposed to that beetle-like monster she truly had on her forehead.

But of course, normally, all of her woes regarding her looks could be fixed through a copious amount of magic and a keen sense of fashion. This time, her magic was misfiring at the worst moment possible. Did she somehow mix up love in her meal this morning too much and got accidentally drunk? Did she draw in some of Berry Punch's love by mistake yesterday, thus adding an unintended kick to her last dinner?

Regardless of the reason, the very worst thing ever had happened. Sure, she thought this to herself all the time but truly, this time it was for real and she's totally going to be discovered and everypony will hate her and chase her out of town and all of the newspapers across Equestria will speak of the monstrous, terminally ugly bug-like equine that pollute Ponyville's sense of esthetics! Her outfits, she can deal with... but her magic misfired while polymorphing her head and now her ears are slightly pointier, like those... of a CHANGELING! By Celestia, everypony will notice this detail and she will be BANISHED from Equestria! It's terrible!

Worst of all, Sweetie Belle is home and she'd have to drop her disguise entirely to repair that detail! She don't have time for that, she must get to make her new outfits! O-okay... calm down Rarity. You can do this. This is not the first time a fashion emergency happened. Only, it was with just clothes or elements she could easily redo without dropping her disguise. Why? Why did she mess up? She never mess up usually!... well, she only occasionely mess up. Okay okay! She mess up a lot, happy now?!

Of course, the real reason this was a fashion emergency was because it was so late in the morning and Sweetie Belle was here. Opalescence could not speak and even if she could, she did not care about her mistress's true appearance. As long as the cat was showered with affection, she did not care and Rarity was thankful for it. Most importantly, her dear kitten could not tell all of Ponyville that the fashionetta was truly a hideous bug equine. Sweetie Belle could.

What to do, what to do?!

Then as she stared at the mirror, Rarity was struck by the obvious. A puff of green flames and her ears were now just as softly rounded as usual. This was perfect! This was-

She brushed a hoof against her ears and once again, the obvious made itself known. Her pupils were thin and vertical instead of round. How could she forget such a point?!

Okay, you're in freak-out mode Rarity. Regain your composure, think of your manners...

...

Okay, good. It may be a fashion emergency but it's a quick fix, both of them. Just two goofs. Another flash of changeling magic and the second one is also gone. There, it's fixed. That wasn't so hard. To think she almost freaked out for real! As she brought a hoof to giggle at her own silly panic, she noticed she could see through her wrist. In fact, she had that weird feeling under her hooves like she was standing on her actual, weirder legs rather than her graceful pony ones. Oh. Oh no. The polymorph spells backfired. A pair of fangs greeted her, sticking out slightly out of her mouth. Yeah... that is not good.

"Sis? What are you doing sis?" the voice came from behind the door. Rarity found herself with her blood freezing, not literally but well, she cringed.

"Errr... I am coming Sweetie Belle! Just a few more minutes. A lady must look at her best at all time!"

After a short pause, the unicorn filly muttered something under her breath and stomped off to wait some more. Rarity figured that she'd better come up with some kind of solution quickly. Maybe... maybe...

A flash of green fire, a rather large blast of magic and... well, her mane look like Pinkie's now. That... is ungainly. However, it did fulfill its purpose of covering the changeling ears. Taking her brushes with her magic, Rarity attempted to give a semblence of beauty to the now poofed-up hair. Needless to say, she was only mildly successful. And that was just a detail!

"Siiiiiis!"

Serious problems call for drastic measures. Though she hate to use these, she took brightly colored string and then, tied up her mane. It was not exactly braided in an even graceful manner but it would be at least presentable and would keep her ears covered up. Wait! She must make sure her mane is proportioned correctly and all the hairs are covered correctly! Like a pony, her ears do swivel a bit when she feel strong emotion and she can't take chances because else-

Sweetie Belle was knocking on the door now.

Rarity put on socks on each of her legs as fast as she could and curled her lips as to cover the fangs as best as she could. Then, she opened the door, trying to put on a regal, relaxed smile. Judging by Sweetie Belle's expression, it was not convincing. At all. Horseapples.

"Oh. A genuine fashion emergency." she said, eyes widened. Good, good, she had misinterpreted her expression for a moment. "I'll try to tell Rainbow Dash to calm down. She just arrived and she's starting to get kind of impatient. I... I'll try to explain."

Rarity nodded quickly, not wanting to risk exposing her fangs, and the little filly closed the door. Rainbow Dash is here? Oh... oh yeah. Her friends. Her dear friends who had nothing planned for today and thus, were extremely likely to show up and ask her to hang out with them. Which usually she'd love to, given she have quite a bit of free time today. But well... fashion emergency.

She look ungainly in those socks. She needs to find a way to cover those holes in a better way. Gah! Her disguise is swiss cheese today! What a nice day for her magic failing her...

She might as well restart her disguise from scratch!

... oh! Yes! She should! Given nothing is being covered, she might as well do this. With a sigh, her white coat was replaced with white chitin and she concentrated. Her beetle-like horn glowed as she conjured her magic. No mess-ups this time.

A rapid serie of multi-colored fire flashes, alternating between green and purple, and her disguise was on again, correctly this time. Removing the socks, she brushed her left front hoof against her right leg, noticing the lack of a hole. Good. Emergency fixed.

Of course, she's not sure how stable the spells are ; she casted them rather quickly and well, she's not exactly the magical genius that her lavender pony friend is. Still, it should hold given today isn't too rough.

Alright, she left Rainbow Dash waiting long enough. Time to see what she want!

ptoing!

Or maybe not. Apparently, that little hair growth spell on her mane was a bad idea and is now conflicting with her disguise's magic. She now got that big poofy mane again and that will cause more questions than she'd be comfortable anwsering.

Cutting down the mane would be too hard and take too long, especially with Rainbow Dash already in her boutique. This call for drastic measures. Sure, she won't look as fabulous as she could have... but well, her pride can take a hit in this case. She braided her mane quickly, using copious amounts of string to hold it together. It wasn't classy ; she pretty much just brute forced her mane into submission but it worked.

Alright. Good.

Wait... is that a wrinkle? Oh... oh... OH BY CELESTIA! She's too young to have a wrinkle on her neck! Where did this thing come fr-

...

It's the separation line on her shell. Her fur-covered chitin shell.

Is this some kind of joke? Did she do something particularly bad recently to deserve Celestia's wrath like this? Or is the immortal alicorn pranking her? After all, she heard that she occasionely pranked ponies, including Twilight. If so, it isn't funny.

So... polymorph spell to fill up her leg holes. She need to cast it in reverse. On all of her body except her legs. Oh goodie, she's trying to do something that few ponies can do and she's just a changeling!

She found herself sweating from the stress as she concentrated. Don't mess this up, Rarity, don't mess this up don't mess this up don't mess this up!

A flash of pony magic and the separation lines are gone! Excellent! Now she's a perfectly presentable pony! Her tiny, stubby, barely functional insect wings fluttered in excitement!

"Oh come on!" she muttered to herself under her breath. That was unlady-like but at this point, she did not care.

Rarity became the epicenter of a bonfire of mixed changeling and pony magic, the changeling unleashing a flurry of polymorphing and illusion spells. Buck subtlety and grace ; she's brute-forcing that disguise on.

As the hurricane of magic vanished, Rarity turned to the mirror. At long last, her familiar pony self looked back. She brushed a hoof against her face only to see the magic cracks and ripple, the disguise threatening to tear itself apart.

Well, it was to be expected. No way all of those layered spells would be stable or even truly compatible with one another. If her mother was here and saw her disguise, she'd drill her through basic infiltration training so fast her head would still be spinning. Sweetie Belle can probably make a more graceful disguise and she's a real pony!

Oh well, as long as nothing too physically taxing happens, the disguise should hold for the day.

Now, time to relax and go see what Rainbow Dash wants. The poor girl has been waiting for such a long time.

"Hey there, Rarity!" went the rainbow maned pony as she finally left her room. "Sheesh, you sure took a long time in there! Did you mix up shampoos when washing your mane or something? Anyway, I spoke with everypony else and they let me decide what we'll do today! So we're going to go skydiving today!" went Rainbow Dash.

The only reason Rarity's face did not turn white was because it was her natural color.
> Discord story arc ~ part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia XXIII was in her study. It was far less serious a moment as one might expect. She was simply sitting by her desk, telekinesis moving quills as she did paperwork and thought about the next audience. Not a nobility meeting, just a bog standart senate meeting where she'd probably end up using an illusion to make it seem like she wasn't constantly about to fall asleep. Pony magic, no changeling, of course. The door was open and if anyone looked in, they'd the see the alicorn she claimed to be. Though, maybe she really was?

Luna was currently sleeping in her room. Not Luna the third, the real Luna. Even now, it was still a shock as to how the millenia-dead embodiment of harmony had appeared from the ashes of Nightmare Moon. She guessed it had something to do with the Elements of Harmony but as much as she'd love to ask Twilight Sparkle and most of her researchers to embark on a great experiment to find out what had happened, it would unfortunately blow her cover and expose the truth about the royal family.

Still, it did make her wonder. Especially regarding the existence of ponies capable of wielding the Elements of Harmony. What did it mean regarding herself and Luna? No, no... Luna had said very clearly when she had asked that the Elements having mortal bearers absolutely does not mean that the mark on her flank and her connection to the sun are fake. Though it was never truly used in the past, Luna did point out that it was perfectly possible to delegate the Elements of Harmony to mortals in a temporary manner. Given she was still young and unable to truly tap into them yet and that Luna had been... well, dead at the moment, it made sense that the Elements would incarnate through mortal bearers for now.

The princess paused for a moment. She thought of the queendom of Equestria, of all her little ponies. And for a moment, she felt a chill. She looked to the door, smiled to herself as she dropped the twelve quills into their containers, and then trotted to the door. She closed the door only to feel the chill again, realizing it had nothing to do with it. She was halfway back to her desk, pondering what could have caused this feeling when she finally found a match for it in the mass of memories of her bloodline and froze in place as pure horror gripped her.

"No, please don't. It's just a friend swinging by to say hello..." an oily, smug, falsely reassuring voice came to her, like a whisper but with the strength of a normal voice.

"Discord..." she glanced back to see the serpent towering over her, his mismatched glowing eyes boring through her, a sadistic smile upon his face. The sheer chaotic aura... she could feel her stomach churning, all ambient love draining away from the room like a cold winter breeze chasing the heat out of the land. "But how? Can't be... it can't... be!"

"Your eyes are not deceiving you, Celesfake. I admit it was a clever trick, channelling the love of all things and then banishing my soul through the void, petrifying my body to prevent me from recreating a new one. Clever indeed..."

She thought of teleporting, of warning Luna, of warning Twilight. If Discord was out, they'd need the Elements of Harmony. Of course, she could not move a muscle as pure terror gripped her. The memories of the god of disharmony painted him as a being beyond horrifying, an entity whose shape drove mortals to madness. As the walls begun to melt and space begun to warp, she understood the memories had not been the result of shock. They had understated what it meant to be in the very presence of the god of chaos himself.

Of course, she could not move a muscle. The floor was now made of what appeared to grape-colored jelly, her hooves having sunk in. No... not sunk in, she could see the floor... move, climb up her legs. She tried to cast a spell...

SLAM!

Only for a wall to appear behind her out of nowhere, Discord slamming his mismatched right hand into her neck, pinning her so solidly against it that she could not move at all. Sher could barely breathe as she felt his claws squeeze slightly, the dracoquecus bringing his face close enough that she could feel his breath on her face.

"Thinking of leaving already? And how rude is it of you not to show me your face, Celesfake. You may fool your subjects... but you can't fool good ol' uncle Discord." He waved his free hand over her body and her disguise fell to dust, the magical energy somehow turned into small snowflakes of dirty, rotten materials. The desk and the nearby chair had merged together behind her before folding together into the back wall, the entire thing moving forward to press against Celestia's back as the god of chaos continued to pin her down by the throat.

"The... the Elements of Harmony..." she managed to choke out.

A cold, mirthless chuckle escaped the serpent. "Oh. Yes. Those things. I am afraid nobody will help you, Celesfake. I have... warped time around your sister. She will wake up by tomorrow morning to take with me. I just made it so that... well, since her dream is so nice, why should it end? Beside, she asked for an everlasting night. I gave it to her..."

Seeing the changeling queen's horror grow. Discord continued. "As for your precious... so-called ponies... I am afraid that Ponyville will see chocolate rain precipitations and that the roads leading to Canterlot will be now nothing but a large swamp. Of course, by the time your little... bearers... come here, I'll just twist time and space and make them loop back home. You know, like a funny groundhog loop movie? Of course, I'm just messing with your subjects. Just a bunch of jokes. A thousand years was a long time and well, all I want is to have some fun. So all I'm doing is pranking them..."

He pressed his face against her own, his mismatched eyes suddenly turning red before splitting into thousands, his eye sockets becoming vortexes through which hatred poured out. A hatred so great that Celestia XXIII suddenly felt like no love she'd ever eat would ever make a dent in the ocean of rage that washed over her. She would have gagged even if Discord's fingers hadn't suddenly squeezed her neck hard.

"You, on another hand, will have the immense privilege of being subjected to my wrath, raw and unfettered. Because of your ancestor, I was forced to endure total immobility and to bathe in the void for more than a thousand years. If it wasn't from emptiness being primal chaos, my original form, I would have gone mad from the isolation and stagnation."

The entire room was catching on fire, Discord's rage causing the ceiling to explode and revealing a vortex of chaotic energy. Unlike the same energies that surrounded most of Equestria as a whole, this one was flowing with black, red, and purple destructive colors, the suffering and hate that fueled the disharmony of all things gathering.

"I wish I could have expressed my grievances with Celestia V for her... actions but you will have to do. After all, you were gracious enough to make yourself a repisotory of all your predecessors' minds. Maybe I can even use them to bring back Celestia V and have my way with her. But I am getting ahead of myself, right?"

"You... you will be stopped." choked out Celestia XXIII in a way that contained far more terror than she would have liked.

"Oh please. You may bear the memories, you may love your... 'little ponies'... but you are not Celestia V. Celestia V suffered for her subjects, she bled for them, she sacrificed everything for them including her body and soul. When she stood before me, she was not so much a fake as the reincarnation of my ancient special friend, an incarnation of hope and love in a changeling shell. You, on the other hand, are just like that disguise you put on every morning. A pale imitation of your ancestor, bearing the name Celestia but not truly understanding its significance. The Elements of Harmony are not just baubles for you or your 'ponies' to wave around like glowy sticks. They are the harmony, the friendship of this world. Effectively, they are what your ancestor was, what you claim to be... and obviously, are not. You are a shadow, a rip-off. But you'll do a nice stress relief ball. As for your little bearer friends... well, that's the drawback with mortal bearers."

He had a smile, one with way too many teeth, all of them sharp and pointy. "You are protected by the memories of your ancestor and her blessing on your bloodline. I cannot make you cooler, unfortunately. But your... precious little element bearers... well, let's just say they're a bit uptight and lame. I'm sure uncle Discord can make them a bit more... how can I say it... interesting?"

He paused to let the words sink in and though Celestia XXIII knew it was exactly what he wanted, she could not keep the fear and the despair from flowing into her. How could it have happened? Why is Discord free? Why is he here?

But other questions tore into her mind and overwhelmed it. She can't call the Elements of Harmony, she isn't like her ancestor. She can't do anything about him ; she is too weak. And if he truly cursed Luna... and if the Elements truly cannot protect Twilight and her friends from being discorded... then... then... what will happen to her little ponies, to Twilight, to... to all that she love? Will... will he torture them, kill them, make them suffer like he did to them during his reign?

"You hate me." His hand had pressed more lightly, allowing her to breathe and yet, she still choked, the changeling's eyes filling with tears. "Torture me, kill me if you must. But please... spare my little ponies. I will accept whatever anger you have for me..."

"You know, that actually sound good. And well, with you pinned to this wall and with me feeling your body could use looking a bit cooler with, you know, a few organs removed and maybe a few extra limbs inserted by force all over your side... I could definitely do that... but well, that would be predictable and I don't do predictable. Now, I have an appointment with your... 'little ponies'. Ta-ta!"

And with that said, he let go of her and with a snap of his fingers, he was gone. Celestia XXIII gasped as she tripped and collapsed, the wall bouncing back into its former position, the furniture uncurling and being sent flying back to their last positions, her hooves slipping out of a floor that was once more solid. Her thoughts swirled. She had to do something. Surely some memory could help her? She had to warn the bearers, she had to... to...

A blank feeling overwhelmed her alongside with a stiff-like sensation on her head and her back. She looked to her wings, on her side... and realized they were drooping off her sides, as if broken. She tried to will them to move... and realized she couldn't. She then tried to cast a spell, to teleport but a blank feeling told her that she couldn't even feel her horn on her forehead. Panic begun to grip her as she approached the door and then tried to open it, only to realize it was now locked. She tried to bring her strength to bear... only to find the earth pony magic refused to come to her. And as she slammed both front hooves on the door, a metallic sound echoed, confirming that Discord had replaced it with a vault door.

She was trapped, with no way of escaping, no magic, with Luna unable to help, with the bearers not warned. Her memories swirled and despite her best attempts, she could not prevent herself from accessing them. Confused images bubbled over, showing images of torn families, destroyed homes, of ponies desesperately trying to escape from rolling tidal waves of ground turned liquid, of rains of boiling substances, to try and hide as the very land itself became as a living thing, forests growing heads, claws, fangs, and devouring all things.

Just this morning, Equestria and all of the world had been normal, with everyone just gearing up for another fine day. She had just wanted to do her duties as princess, maybe learn more about her ancestor's connection to harmony with the help of Luna by the evening. She... she had never thought she'd see the end of harmony in her lifetime, even less at the beginning of such a normal morning. Discord had chosen to spare her life, for some reason... but all she could think was of her ponies, of the suffering and death that would happen.

Celestia XXIII wept and sobbed for her ponies. Invisible, Discord licked the tears off her cheeks, feeding on her suffering. Breaking their bodies is easy and boring. Breaking their souls, that's where the real fun is.
> Luna story arc ~ part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was such a strange thing. The dreamscape was so different and yet, so familiar. Celestia had spoken of the power of friendship, of how she and the Luna changeling had managed to connect to the Elements of Harmony, using their hive mind sense to tap into the greater harmony that united all things and thus incarnate her power and that of her original sister. It explained to the alicorn how the dreamscape could be as it was right now, being so... connected, so united. A gigantic network, the dreams of everypony brushing against one another in ways that they never did back during her original existence.

She guessed it was a permanent side-effect of the great blast that had turned Discord to stone. As alien as it was, it made the alicorn of the night feel... proud. That ponykind would grasp friendship to such a level was something she had never dreamed of. If her little ponies were this connected, she guessed it explained how those six young mares had been able to tap into the power of harmony.

Her mind extended, the night flowing through all sleeping souls. For a moment, Luna let go of her mortal essence and feelings, allowing her mind to blend with the peaceful sleep of all her little po-

Wait.

She focused, her alicorn avatar reforming within the dreamscape. A particularly violent serie of nightmares rolled through the dreamscape, forming what could be described in metaphorical terms as a mix of thunderous storm clouds, a tidal wave, and a serie of interlocked explosions. But what shocked the alicorn was the fact that the nightmares, once she allowed herself to approach them, seemed to all have a common theme. It was very unusual for mortals to all have nightmares with a common theme simultaneously. Usually, this tended to show an entire town, or even an entire civilization being taumatized by a society-wide phobia. What could those nightmares be about?

She decided to take a look at the first one.

She instantly recognized to whom the nightmare belonged. Fluttershy, one of the six mares that had defeated Nightmare Moon and indirectly resurrected her.

The pegasus mare was transformed in this nightmare, her wings now taking on a butterfly-like appearance, her coat replaced with soft chitin of a color that matched her coat normally. Slitted eyes replaced her usual ones and a small, barely functional horn was on her forehead, along with small holes in her legs, near her hooves.

Luna figured that the pegasus looked somewhat akin to a changeling, though one that was heavily mutated, having an appearance much closer to an equine, even having a genuine cutie mark on her flanks. Was Fluttershy having nightmares of being turned into a changeling?

"I can't believe you lied to us all those years" She was being restrained by a clearly very angered Rainbow Dash. Her friends were around her, their faces distorted by an unreal anger.

"Did ya really thought ya could fool the Element of Honesty, ya worthless bug?!" Applejack was by her side, glaring at the pegasus turned changeling.

"I-I can explain... please... please..." begged the pegasus, terror gripping her.

"It all makes sense. This is why she was raising all of those animals, taking care of them so much..."

Luna noticed the full scene. It looked like a rather nice day, near a house she assumed belonged to Fluttershy and imitated her real home in the physical world. The scene was pretty nice... except for a detail that instantly bothered her. Corpses. Bunnies, chickens, birds... small animals were laying around in various states of decomposition. Their expression, how utterly skinny they were... it was as if they had been drained of their precious fluids.

"I-I didn't mean to... I... I just..." by now, the pegasus turned changeling was weeping, barely capable of even whispering anymore.

"Ya heartless vampire bug! Ya were manipulating us all! Ya just wanted us as food, to feed from us, like ya fed from those poor things!" Applejack screamed at Fluttershy.

"Don't bother. To changelings, love is nothing but food. She cannot understand the concept. Not like a pony can. Besides, she's just a drone. She doesn't even have a real mind." said Twilight in a cold tone that couldn't possibly belong to the real thing.

Then suddenly, instead of graceful curved yellow chitin, Fluttershy's body turned black, her legs now covered in dozens of holes and her wings shrunk, losing their beautiful butterfly-like quality. A thrill of horror overcame her and she found herself wishing she could faint, black put the terror in any way, form, or shape. But she couldn't, just as she could not move.

"Ya want love?! Then eat this for size!" Rainbow Dash punched her in the face once. Then twice. Then thrice.

Pain shot through Fluttershy's body as Applejack joined in, stomping all over her sensitive wings. Rarity, Twilight, even Pinkie Pie simply stood by and watched impassively. The sounds of hooves slamming against her body turned to sickening crunches and splashes of red covered everything until nothing could be seen anymore.

The dreamscape exploded, the echo of Fluttershy's scream as she woke up from her nightmare ringing through it.

A powerful nightmare. And a very disturbing one. Luna blinked a few times. Why would Fluttershy be so afraid of such a thing? Changelings were always a threat to Equestria, as they had been back when she was alive but Celestia XXIII was extremely competent at flushing any infiltrators out of Equestria. And well, why would she be scared of being a changeling? Why would she be scared of hurting others through changeling powers? She was a pony, she had felt her power through the Elements of Harmony...

Brushing aside the disturbing dream, she decided to touch another nightmare.

A stallion, red in color, was talking with a familiar orange mare, the same one from the last nightmare. This stallion must be related to the mare, either by blood or by feeling, she guessed.

"Ah never ya had so much on yer mind, Big Mac." then, her face darkened. "It's a good thing ya finally decided to speak up."

The stallion found himself taking a step back despite the fact that he towered over his younger sister.

"Yer cover's blown, bug! Reveal yerself!"

His pupils shrunk to pinpricks. He wanted to say anything but before he could, Applejack moved with frightening speed and bucked him right into the chest. Sinking to his knees, he was horrified as he felt a draining sensation and green energy tore itself out of his frame, revealing two stubby wings on his back, a horn that was barely there on his forehead, and a red chitin body instead of his usual coat.

"To think ah thought ye were mah brother all these years!" As if on cue, Applebloom and Granny Smith both appeared, the former crying, the later giving a cold, disapproving stare.

"S-sister-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" screamed Applejack before giving him a second buck, this time to the face, knocking him on his side. Being so much larger and stronger, as well as this being actually a product of his mind, there was no way she could truly hurt him. But the sheer disappointment, the sheer hatred in her voice... it knocked him down more cleanly than any injury could have.

"To think we accepted ya among us! Among our family!"

"B-Big Mac is... is a monster?!" cried Applebloom, retreating to her grand-mother side.

"Don't worry. He can't hurt ya." said the old mare sternly.

"Ah never would have hurt anyone..." he tried to say only to be interrupted by his sister.

"SHUT YER TRAP BUG! Of course ye didn't! We are nothin' but FOOD to ya! Don't think ah now understand why ye always stood by mah side so much after my parents croaked! Ye were takin' advantage of us! Of my little sister! OF OUR WHOLE FAMILY!"

"Pl-please stop sister-" he tried to cry out, unable to keep his tears in.

"YE WERE NEVER MAH BROTHER! OR EVEN PART OF OUR FAMILY!!!"

Luna removed her mind from the nightmare. She had heard enough. Two nightmares. Again, the same theme. Discovery and rejection. She needed to see more of the nightmares, to make sure the pattern was real and not just her misinterpreting things.

But soon, it became obvious that the nightmares were fitting a certain pattern.

In another nightmare, one that belonged to Celestia's own student, she was revealed to be a changeling-like being after draining too much of her magic. Spike screamed at her, running away in fear while her friends hid from her. Her brother, on the orders of her mentor, went to capture her before trapping her in a dungeon where both her mentor and brother took turns trying to beat out of her the location of the real Twilight Sparkler while she begged them to believe her that she was the real thing.

Another nightmare belonged to a blue unicorn mare, a changeling in her nightmare, starving to death in the mud, kicked out of a town after an illusion spell had failed and caused her to be revealed. Without bits and without love, in the rain, she was dying in absolute loneliness.

Yet another nightmare belonged to a pegasus stallion, receiving a letter from an unknown changeling queen who told him that his ancestor's mission was now over... a letter given in front of all his coworkers, leading to a large bunch of royal guards to drag him to the square of the town he lived while an angry mob howled for his execution, his body flashing into the shape of a changeling midway to the way to the square.

The rolling waves of nightmares were consistent. They all involved being transformed into a changeling and being somehow exposed as one with absolutely disastrous consequences. But what really made Luna feel strange was both the feeling of the dreamscape and the true underlying emotions.

She had explored the dreams of changelings long ago, in her first existence. Fear of discovery was indeed real... but the dreams had been simplistic, with the fear of failure or separation from the hive being the true underlying theme. None of them feared rejection or even truly death. Those nightmares... they belonged in what was clearly Equestria's web of dreams and the themes were much more elaborate. They feared discovery itself, not failure. All of those souls feared being rejected and hated by their fellow ponies. All of them were convinced that if such an event was to happen, they'd lose absolutely everything they held dear.

Loneliness. They died alone or were condemned to be live their lives alone. It went beyond fear of mere starvation...

But what disturbed Luna was that she was convinced this was the nightmares of ponykind. Why would her little ponies be afraid of being revealed as changelings? It didn't make sense... unless...

Luna opened her eyes. The night court was empty, most of Equestria asleep. After all, it was how she had found time to immerge herself into the dreamscape in the first place. Trotting out of the throne room, she decided to head to the balcony. For a moment, she felt the fresh air on her coat and just relaxed, clearing her mind. It was easy to misinterpret dreams and ultimately, they were hints, not revelations.

But now, she knew what to look for.

Of course, she would do her investigation slowly. Poking a few points here and there, asking a few questions... it was a good thing she was so unused to the lands, in a dark but fitting way. As much as the culture clash made her sad, it realized that it would help her hide the true intent of her questions. There was probably some secret among her little ponies, one that gnawed at them, and she needed to find out what it is.

... not because it was probably terrible but because it was most probably the opposite. Celestia had been torn apart by the fact that she was a changeling instead of the sister she had known, she had let it consumed her to the point of breaking in front of her. If a secret of that magnitude existed among her little ponies, she needed to learn of it so that she may ease their pain.

Luna felt guilty yet... it was carthatic.

She had seriously wondered... did the world still need the alicorns? With the changeling queens having gained the power of harmony and raising the sun and moon as they once did, was there anymore a need for the divine embodiments of harmony? But now, Luna knew that a great secret was torturing ponykind, one that she was uniquely suited to explore and soothe through her power as the alicorn of the night.

Whatever secret may make her little ponies suffer, Luna would help them with it. She had now found her new purpose for the coming years.
> Luna story arc ~ part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna stood, aware, on the balcony. Underneath, most of ponykind slept. She had finally grasped what had happened. It also shone on a light on why her memories had been so fuzzy.

Millenia ago, the changelings coveted the love of ponykind, their friendship. They had always survived by parasiting it but they wished to make it theirs. Of course, overcoming goddesses was not something even the strongest mortals could... unless they could usurp a power that was just as great if not greater than the divine. The magic of friendship, and in its true form, not merely as energy harvested from unwary ponies.

Mere infiltrators would have never allowed the changeling queens the power necessary to defeat her and the original Celestia. No... the changeling queens needed to tap into the true power of the magic of friendship, to convert it into something that the queens could use. The changelings that infiltrated Equestria so many generations ago, no one ever learnt of their existence because, simply put, they had become ponies. They had willingly assimilated themselves into pony society so that their queen could use the magic of friendship.

An extremely clever plan, one with reasons just as shallow and evil as any other usurper's but the methods had... interesting side-effects.

She finally understood why Discord's reign had happened and how it ended. She now understood why the god of chaos had tried to attack Twilight and her friends, aiming to spite her sister.

The changeling queens of old had aimed to replace Celestia and her, to gorge upon their power. But as they managed to destroy their original bodies, the queens had found themselves robbing the world of the ones who acted as the balance to Discord's power. Without her sister and herself, the spirit of disharmony was free to rampage freely and to rule as lone god of the world.

Faced with the horrors created by Discord's power, the changeling queens of old were forced to wield the power of the goddesses of the sun and moon, to truly grasp their power. But though they could tap into the magic of harmony through their infiltrators gathering it in a form they could use through generations of infiltration, it was still only a little fragment of the true power. To truly gain the power, they needed to become one with it, to immerge themselves into the magic of friendship.

It was why Celestia XXIII was her sister just as much as the alicorn had been. The alicorns are little more than the dominant aspects of their true selves, the windows through which they feel and interact with the world. Though the alicorns are their naturally grown selves, Celestia and Luna are ultimately concepts.

When Celestia I and Luna I took upon their names, it was not arrogance, it was symbolism. They thrown away their bloody past and legacy as changelings to embrace the magic of friendship. Instead of usurpers, they swore to become successors, heirs. They swore to not merely imitate the alicorns but to become them. Instead of using their abilities to steal the ponies' magic, they used their hive mind link to become their voice. To let the dreams and hopes of all ponies flow through them, and even expand it beyond.

Just as the alicorns before them, they became the avatars of harmony itself.

Luna closed her eyes, sitting down and taking on a strange pose, one she had learnt so long ago during her visits in lands owned by minotaurs. She meditated, plunging herself into her memories. As an eternal being, the memories she held were more than the meat of her brain could hold... very literally so, in fact. To not forget, she had to cast out part of her memories, to infuse them into the night, into the very harmony of all things. Her mortal shell would not remember but her night would... and in time, if she needs or wish, she could enter a state of trance, feel the night, and reconnect with those discarded memories.

She did. She let her consciousness wander and flow, the star-filled skies becoming her body, the constellations her eyes. The pony became an anchor, a connection to the world she loved. The memories of the celestial darkness were fuzzy, not all of them being born of a pony body anymore ; Luna knew that these memories came from the changeling queens who had accepted to become her. Their memories were hers, as hers were theirs. They were alien memories, the pony shell incapable of truly grasping them but they existed and the stories within helped bring clarity to her own mortal shell's thoughts.

The changelings of old are no more. Unlike Celestia, the sealing of the entity known as Nightmare Moon had created a hole in the flow of memories but her observations of the dreams of mortals had allowed her to piece together what had happened.

The cold embrace of the hive was blothed out by the warmth of friendship. Within the love of pony society, the changelings of old changed. Just as their queens embraced it, so did their drones. They discovered love, happiness, the dreams born of individuality. They learnt that sharing love was made stronger when every node in the great network of souls was alive with emotion and individual thought. Pony magic had flowed through the changelings and given them happiness and enlightement that they could have barely been capable of conceiving before as mere drones in a hive.

When Celestia V and Luna III called for all ponykind to unite their hopes and dreams to make them into the true incarnations of Celestia and Luna, it was not just the ponies that answered, it was the changelings too. There was no malice toward ponies, no alien feeling of exclusion. Only a desire for unity.

When Discord was banished, the changelings that had once invaded Equestria ceased to be. They cleansed themselves, became something new. And as time passed, they adapted. Pony magic and blood flowed through them and they grown from it. Pony and changeling bloodlines mixed, two species becoming one.

The ponies did not become extinct. They did not disappear. They live on, in blood and in magic, inside of new mortal shells. Her little ponies live in fear of discovery, in fear of being changelings. They are not. They are ponies and she love them, just as she loved them before they changed.

Ponykind changes, it always does. Just as the horses of old became ponies, ponykind had once again taken on a new form.

Luna's consciousness narrowed itself to her pony form... or should she think to herself, horse form. She pondered for a moment if Celestia XXIII was aware that the strangely tall nature of the alicorns and their oddly shaped appendages and heads was a result of their forms mirroring that of ponykind's first, more primitive incarnation. Probably not. It does not matter. Never really did.

The cloud of nightmares came to the souls of ponykind, as it did many nights. She had observed it, learnt from it. It was time for ponykind to sleep without fear, without guilt. Their goddess has learnt their secret and has accepted them for it.

Celestia is not ready. Ponykind is not ready. If she break the illusion right now, their fears may consume them. They are still so hesitant, not unlike the ponies of old. They struggle on their hooves, afraid of tainting a heritage they think themselves unworthy of. She will be patient and silent. She will give them the time they need. And the day they are ready, they will find her, ready to accept them and to love them as they are.

They are, after all, her little ponies, regardless of their shape.