Inconspicuous and Polite
It was, by all accounts, the perfect lazy Sunday. Most Ponyville citizens were enjoying the last vestiges of the weekend. Some rested, others finished idle tasks that were otherwise impossible to complete during the week.
The sun was shining in the spots between waves of clouds, warming the day enough to be delightfully comfortable to be outside without being too warm.
A cool wind, herald of a coming rain, wisped through the grass and trees. The rustling of the world set a sleepy ambiance across the little town.
Truly, Twilight sparkle thought to herself, it was the perfect day to spend reading in the park.
She waved to several others as she winds her way down the brick paved trail, not wanting to get caught up in any small talk or general Ponyville shenanigans.
Not even a prank from Rainbow Dash could deter her, she reckoned.
She ventured off the path, across a low hill, stopping at the shadow cast by a small tree.
It was no sapling, but it was far from towering over any rooftops. It cast enough shade for a few ponies to sit comfortably against its trunk, protected from the sun or rain.
It had been a spot Twilight had visited several times over the Summer, having found it after a picnic with her friends.
Thankfully, the area was vacant and welcomingly cozy as she approached. Being a princess and minor celebrity, she learned to treasure private moments even more than before.
Wasting no time, she settled into the soft grass, opened her book, and exhaled deeply. Finally.
Unfortunately, her nose didn't get the memo to be completely at peace in the moment. It tickled and twinged, unpleasant sensations creeped up her nostril.
It was a battle none would likely ever truly win, and she knew it. Closing her book, she-
"Achoo!" Her head jerked from the force.
"Gesundheit!" Said the tree.
"Aahh!" She cried and jumped up in alarm.
Twilight spun around in a circle rapidly, ears perked and eyes wide. There was nopony there.
She glanced up into the branches of the tree, but saw no trespasser, rainbow-maned or otherwise. A quick circle of the tree and surveil of the surrounding area yielded similar results.
Perplexed, she sat down at the base of the tree again, wiping her nose with a handkerchief. She definitely heard someone speak just then, right? It wasn't just a trick of the wind or a voice carried from elsewhere in the park.
It sounded like it came from right behind her. And yet, she sat there alone. With Starlight Glimmer around, she wasn’t the only talented unicorn in town anymore. Idly suspecting some sort of prank, she lit her horn and cast a small myriad of spells on the area. No charms of invisibility, no burned ozone from teleportation, no displaced bits of cloud from a winged getaway.
Shaking her head, she did her best to brush it off as a bit of Ponyville weirdness. She reopened her book and settled in again, trying to regain the peace from earlier.
But the feeling would not leave her. The fur on the back of her neck wouldn't lie down, she felt like she was anything but alone.
Snapping her book closed, she teleported several times rapidly. Behind the tree, above the tree, at the top of the hill, across the grassy field, back to her spot.
Nothing.
Frustrated, she kicked the trunk of the tree hard enough to splinter the bark.
Well, it should have splinted and cracked. Instead, it recoiled at her impact and shivered, uttering a pained "Ow…"
Again, Twilight shrieked and jumped away, this time with a target in her sights.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" She shouted, eyes fixed on the tree.
There came no reply.
She marched up to the base again, tapping on the bark.
"Who are you? Answer me!"
There was still no response.
"Why won't you say anything! I know you're in there!"
This time the tree finally spoke again.
"Trees aren't supposed to talk, sorry."
Twilight was dumbfounded. "Trees aren't supposed to talk? If you can talk, you're not a tree then!"
"I am a tree, s'why I'm trying not to talk. But you hit me and that hurt."
"Well I'm sorry for hitting you but you startled me! Twice! And didn't say anything!"
She was arguing with a tree. Which probably wasn't a tree. Probably. She already had one magic tree in her life, so it wouldn't be too terribly surprising if she encountered another. Still, one was enough and that one at least didn’t talk.
As far as she knew. Maybe all trees could talk.
That is, if this was a tree. Which it wasn't. Probably. Ninety-percent sure.
"You sneezed, it would have been rude if I didn't say anything."
"That you CAN say anything at all means you aren't a tree. What are you really?" Twilight stomped a hoof, not sure where to look when addressing the not-tree.
"A tree."
"No, you're not! Trees can't talk, or feel pain!"
"You cannot say for certain that trees do not feel pain."
Applejack would probably love this conversation. And Pinkie.
"Regardless, you wouldn't be able to express that!" She had to ask. "Are you a magical tree?"
"I am a tree, and I am magical. So yes?"
She furrowed her brow, staring sternly at the approximate location of the voice's source.
"We're not going to get anywhere with this, are we?"
"Do you believe I'm a tree?"
"No."
"Then no I don't think so."
"Ok. Well I'm going to finish this chapter and leave. Please… don't say anything else."
"I'll do my best. Just don't sneeze."
Despite herself, she couldn't stop herself from chuckling lightly as she sat back down.
It had been roughly a week since that strange meeting, Twilight had not been out to the park since. Yet, it ate at her. In the park, just across town, was a mystery, an enigma, and she wanted terribly to figure it out.
She made the short trek back to the area during some freshly acquired free time. Locating the tree and field in question was no issue, as Ponyville’s park is not very large.
Despite there being a thunderstorm and a number of smaller showers between her last visit, the tree was still there, as immovable as the real thing. She settled down in the grass at it’s roots and tried to read, but she couldn’t make herself forget that this was absolutely probably not a tree. Focus on anything else eluded her.
“Still here, I see.” she remarked to the air. No response came. “I imagine the weather wasn’t favorable.”
Frowning, she scrunched her nose and did her best imitation of a sneeze.
"Achoo!" Went the pony, not quite convincingly.
"Gesundheit!" Said the tree, as annoyingly polite as last time.
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” she asked, snapping her book shut and inspecting the wood for trickery.
“Tree’s aren’t supposed to talk, miss.”
“Yet you did! And still are now, so you are not a tree.” She squinted up into the shallow canopy of branches and scrutinized knots in the bark.
“I’m a magic tree.”
Massaging her temples, she changed her approach.
“Why are you a tree?”
“It’s nice and peaceful.” it remarked, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “Why aren’t you a tree?”
“I’m a pony, I can’t just turn into a tree. Well… if I tried hard enough I might be able to find a way, but I don’t want to?”
“That’s your loss, then.”
She glared at the offending spruce, it made no expression whatsoever, lacking a face and all. It’s answer gave her a little idea, though.
“Were you something before you became a tree?”
“Yes, I was a not-tree before I became a tree.”
She allowed herself to smile slightly, making progress. She continued questioning it, walking in a slow circle around the base.
“What were you?”
“I’d rather not say, to be honest.”
“Did someone do this to you?”
“No, I did it myself.”
“Can you undo it?”
“Maybe, I never tried.”
“Why not”
“I like being a tree.”
She peppered it with other questions, but the answers she received were short, simple, and ultimately unhelpful. She left determined to find clues elsewhere.
She stopped an older couple walking down the path and was awestruck to discover that they knew of the talking tree, and waved it off as harmless magical nonsense.
Next, she stopped a jogger. He also knew of the tree, having rested beneath it once or twice. He shrugged when she questioned how it talked, uncaring. It’s Ponyville, he said, stuff happens.
Her free time almost spent, she festered on a bench, exasperated at everypony’s flippant attitude toward the tree. The not-tree. The kind-of tree.
Was she really overthinking this? Looking into it too deeply? It seemed innocent enough, she couldn’t find any evidence of malicious intent or foul play. It was just a tree in the park that happened to be able to talk.
Except it wasn’t always, by its own admission it was something else before its current circumstance. A change took place of its own design and volition.
Frustrated, she returned home to try and forget about it. And she did. Twilight managed to completely rid her mind of the mystery for over a month, as the leaves started to change colors and the winds blowing through town got cooler.
She sat at her desk, mulling over princess documents and some letters from distant friends and allies. A partially scorched page from Ember, a partially crushed paper from Prince Rutherford, a piece of old notebook paper from Thorax, a-
She stood up suddenly, her seat violently pushed aside by her excitably outstretched wings. She hastily grabbed Thorax’s letter and held it up to the light. However, the messy writing style was the least of her interest. She practically flew to her research shelf, pulling out several tombs on magical signatures.
It was only a hunch, but it’s one she was willing to try regardless.
After several days of theory and four hours of practice, Twilight was confident in her ability to form and cast her newest spell. She didn't have the luxury of testing it on a control group, but her calculations were promising.
The sun was shining, clouds were sparse, and a cool wind whipped through her mane and tugged at her scarf.
It was another great day to read, but relaxing was the farthest thing from her mind. Her thoughts were a battlefield, debating whether she should follow through with her hypothesis.
On one hoof, the possibility of finally getting an answer about the Tree. Mystery solved.
On the other hoof, did she really want to unravel this mystery? It had not caused any harm, it seemed perfectly content to peacefully exist and no one really cared one way or another.
Should she leave this as just another Ponyville quirk? Is this the next Pinkie Sense?
Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't realized her arrival at the Tree until she had been standing in front of it for several minutes.
She stared at the Tree, it didn't stare back. Probably. She wasn't quite sure how aware it was of its surroundings.
Steeling her resolve, she started to cast her spell. The branches seemed to rustle anxiously at the lighting of her horn, but it did not deter her.
A blinding flash struck the area, the shallow hills shielded the footpath from the light.
Out of the brightness came a cry. A screech. A hiss of pain.
Blinking rapidly, Twilight's vision cleared and revealed a discolored patch of grass where the Tree once stood.
Writhing in the center of the grass was a black shape, which squirmed and complained.
Her hypothesis was confirmed.
"You're a changeling." She accused, unable to stop a touch of disdain from leaking into her voice.
While she harbored no ill will toward the reformed changelings with Thorax, this particular one was unreformed and allegiance unknown.
"Owww… why'd you do that? That hurts!" It moaned, rubbing it's body and climbing to its hooves.
"Sorry, I wasn't sure it would work, but I had to be sure! You are a changeling!"
"I…" it declared, straightening up and meeting her eyes with its own glowing blue ones, "...am a tree. I've been a tree for a few years."
Twilight was surprised when it plopped back onto its rear, sitting haphazardly. It's limbs splayed as if it wasn't sure what to do with them, which is fair considering how long it claims to have spent with branches instead of legs.
"Please leave me alone…"
She pushed back the memories of the invasion and her kidnapping, doing her best to be objective with the situation. Despite being revealed, it still remained passive and nonviolent.
That was reason enough to give it a chance and not immediately raise the alarm.
She gingerly sat a few lengths away, unsure of what to ask but unable to stay quiet.
"Why a tree?" She broke the silence after a few minutes, curiosity winning her over.
"If I honestly answer your questions, will you leave me be?"
She nodded her agreement.
"And you won't report me to the authorities?"
Another tentative nod.
"Fine. A few years ago I was riding on a train with some other changelings, disguised. We were passing through the desert, on our way to a meeting point past the pony settlement Dodge Junction.
I overheard some ponies on the train talking about a tree, I don't recall the specifics, and one mentioned that they'd like to be a tree… and that got me thinking."
Not wanting to interrupt, she hid her surprise behind a hoof. She remembered that ride.
"I got to wondering what it would really be like to be a tree. I had never really taken the time to think of life outside of the hive, out from under Queen Chrysalis's leadership, until then."
The changeling stared off toward the developing sunset.
"It sounded… it sounded nice. No commands, no tunneling, no kidnapping, no punishment. But I had to follow orders, newfound fantasy or not. Report to meeting point outside Dodge Junction.
So I did, and kept following orders as given for a bit. Nothing changed until Canterlot.
I'm sure you know about the failed invasion thing during that love ceremony thing in your city of Canterlot, so I'll spare you the details, but I took part in it.
My job was to fly up really high, fall really fast into the city, break something on impact, and repeat until told otherwise or stopped."
It shrugged.
"So I did. It hurt, but I was made with a hardy outer shell for that exact reason. I went up and down a bunch of times, until everything got really pink and I was tossed really far away. I crashed in the forest outside this town.
Having nothing to do, I sat there and waited to be found and told what to do next. After about a week with noone coming for me, I moved into the town to see if I could find any other changelings who ended up here. But this place was too small to take a pony disguise without being noticed."
"How did you stay hidden?"
It gave her a cheeky, fang filled grin.
"I disguised myself as a tree!"
Purple hoof met purple forehead.
"Of course. But that raises the question, then. Why are you still here?"
It looked away from her, fiddling with blades of grass.
"I… found that I really liked being a tree. I'm technically not disobeying orders, since I never got any new ones. It's peaceful, the weather is nice, most days. I get to just sit and… be."
"How do you survive?" She asked. “I know that changelings need love to survive, but is it sustenance to you? Do you absorb it with your horn, or the fangs? Does it taste good? Do you eat other food?”
"Well, yes, we essentially eat love, but not physically. We can exist just off of love, but I've found a way around that." At her ponderous gaze, it explained. "You see, you ponies naturally give off love, being the squishy prey creatures that you are. It's like a smell, but nothing at all like a smell."
It paused to find the right words.
"Love emits from you like light does a candle. You can see the little circle of light around the flame, but you can't touch it. Normally, this amount of love isn't enough to sustain us, hence the disguising as loved ones and such.
However, disguising as a more inanimate object, like a rock, takes much less energy to do than holding a pony disguise. And since a rock doesn't move, you can hold it for much longer.
I'm not sure how I started it, but I just kinda relaxed. Like really really relaxed. Like so relaxed that days pass between blinks. I was using so little energy that the ambient love you ponies give off became sustainable for me."
"It sounds like you're describing hibernation."
It looked at her quizzically.
"It's a state that some animals go into during the winter to survive until spring. They essentially fall asleep for a few months, their bodies operating extremely slowly, unmoving."
"That sounds similar, yes. But I can be awake if I want to. I stayed awake for almost the entire first year and just thought things and watched. I looked at the stars, watched ponies passing by, and observed the changing of seasons. I thought about anything and everything I felt like.
And sometimes, I just existed. Days and weeks blended together as I was silently present."
"That's incredible!" Having fully gotten over her initial withdrawals about the changeling, Twilight was fully into nerding out and gushing unashamedly. "You were meditating, which some ponies spend years trying to do successfully. You meditated and watched the world, thinking and understanding yourself. Who knows what wisdom you might possess!"
She shifted closer to it, eyes bright and thrilled. "You have to tell me some!"
It tapped its chin thoughtfully for a few minutes, then opened its mouth to speak.
Twilight was moments from summoning paper and a pen to take notes.
"Birds are jerks. Rats with wings, always trying to use me for nest material."
That wasn't what she was expecting, her enthusiasm took a hit.
"Anything else?" She said, her smile strained.
"Photosynthesis is hard, but I feel like I'm close to figuring it out."
Possibly scientific, but likely a fool's errand. Twilight slumped slightly, not sure what wisdom she was expecting from a changeling who disguises itself as a tree.
"Is that it?"
"I only realized one other notable thing."
She raised her head, cautiously attentive. It smiled at her again, green changeling fire enveloping it as a tree once more took its place. A tall and proud spruce, with leaves that weightlessly rippled in the wind. It would have been nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, if not for the cheeky aura it exuded as it uttered a final statement.
"It's nice to be a tree."