Royal Conversations (Prologue)
In The Beginning, There Were Two Bored Sisters... (Jason)
Equestria as a whole, was at peace; the Changelings were defeated, Sombra was no more, the Crystal Ponies returned, bringing with them powerful Harmonic Magic that Equestria hadn’t seen in eons, and just about everypony was happy….. the key term here being ‘just about’; the aforementioned group had surprisingly not included Celestia. No, the porcelain white Alicorn Princess was not having a good time in any sense of the phrase, so she opted to lay on her bed and try to relax for a little while….. though Luna had other plans in store for Sun Butt….
“Tia, Tia! Hey, Tia! Hey! Listen! Hey!” As one could see, it was very, very hard for Celestia to simply have time to herself, ever. Whenever she wanted to do something, the castle staff came around and did it for her, proclaiming that she was above such menial tasks. If she were to sneak off into the kitchens to grab a slice of cake before it was all gone, the chefs would take it away, and offer every excuse as to why she shouldn’t be eating that ‘junk’, and how it would harm her lovely figure, which she was urged to maintain.
It was any wonder that Celestia hadn’t snapped and used the Royal Canterlot Voice on Luna, who was now getting on her nerves with more gusto than even Discord himself could probably muster. Evidently, her reply to Luna’s constant nagging was through masterfully restrained rage.
“What is it, Lulu? What could be so important that you had to interrupt what would have been the first time I’ve ever gotten a real break in six hundred years?”
Luna deflated a little, but continued nonetheless, “I have come up with the most wonderful idea to curb the evident boredom that adorns your royal visage.”
Celestia blinked, “Oh, is it really that obvious? I mean, our country has been through so much, and yet, here we stand, victorious as ever…… and now that nothing’s happening, it seems that things have just become….. boring.” Celestia laid down on her bed, a thoughtful look on her face, “Maybe this is what Discord felt when he escaped and let chaos just fly everywhere. Hmmmm….”
While Celestia pondered on one of their past enemies, who was now an ally, Luna grew ever more impatient. “Tiiiiaaaaa~,” Luna whined, getting her sister’s attention again. “Yes Lulu?”
“Don’t you want to hear what I had planned on telling you when I first came in here?” Celestia thought for a moment, and then blushed as she realized that she had pretty much brushed off her sister without noticing it until now. “I’m sorry Luna, what was it that was it that you wanted to tell me? Something about a way to relieve the boredom of ruling a peaceful nation?”
Luna nodded eagerly, “Precisely, that is just what I wanted to share with you. Now, as you know, Equestria is a longstanding nation of peace, love, and equality; I thought that maybe we could maybe perform an act of goodwill and bring in a few ambassadors of sorts from other worlds. Think about it, we’d have nations from other worlds to give our wisdom to, and we could maybe also learn from them as well.”
To say that Celestia was pleasantly surprised by Luna’s suggestion of bringing in an embassador from another world would be a very gross understatement. This was the sort of thing that the alabaster Alicorn had been waiting for, and she thought herself a fool for not thinking of it herself!
“Luna, that is by far probably one of the best ideas that anypony has had since making hard apple cider.”
Luna just shot Celestia an accusatory glare, “What? Can’t I have fun and take a break once in a while, and just shake off the royal business for a night?”
"While I do not approve of partaking in such substances, I cannot stop you from doing so. As for the matter of finding someone willing to be an ambassador of goodwill to our nation, I suppose we'll just survey a world's inhabitants until we find the right person for the position.”
It wasn’t another ten minutes of surveying that the two sisters had found a world with suitable people to consider choosing an ambassador from. The only problem now was the choice of who would go. Usually, the more dangerous tasks were Celestia’s job, seeing as she was older, more experienced, and had about one and a half times Luna’s own power, though this time she wasn’t having any of it. No, the younger sister wasn’t going to take this sitting down.
Luna turned to Celestia, a determined look on her face, "Tia, let me go to this world by myself. I understand that you do not wish for me to visit this world without you at least watching over me, but please trust me to be entirely on my own this once!" Celestia pondered her sister's pleas for a full five minutes before giving her an answer. "You may go yourself, but take the utmost care when venturing there."
Luna glomped Celestia excitedly, "WE THANK YOU DEAR SISTER FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY THOU HATH BESTOWED UPON US!" Celestia cringed and folded her ears back to avoid having her eardrums burst on her. Again. It's not easy being a deaf princess for five hours. Luna scampered off to the designated area to open the portal, and walked through. When she came out the other side, she was inside what seemed to be a house, but that wasn't all; all around her were beings of all sizes and colors, wearing clothing that covered most of their bodies for some reason. There was loud music playing through speakers that were set up to the side of a platform in one room, where there was a large crowd of people with cups in their hands, which contained some foul smelling liquid that they were drinking. Though the music was loud, and very new to her, Luna seemed to really enjoy the music that was being played. What she failed to notice until now though, was that she somehow had changed into the same form of being that inhabited this world.
Taking a good look at herself, Luna noticed that she was wearing a dark blue shirt, with a pair of black pants made of some strange tough material that was fit nice and snug to her form. She was what seemed to be average height, though that was only her observation. She looked down at herself and noticed something peculiar - it seemed as though her udders had moved from her inner thighs to her barrel, and they were quite large, at least to her. Eventually she stopped checking out her newfound body and went back to her mission, finding someone appropriate to bring back with her to Equestria..... this would have been an easy task, if she had shown up somewhere else instead of a house full of people. She was still lost in thought when one of the partygoers grabbed her arm and proceeded to goad her, "Come on, don't be a stick in the mud, let loose and dance! This is a time to celebrate!" Luna was lost.
"Please excuse my rudeness, but what is it that we are celebrating?"
The girl that had grabbed her gave her an incredulous look, "You don't know?" Luna shook her head, causing the other girl to sigh, "Okay, I'll tell you. We're celebrating my best friend's twenty-first birthday. She's the one standing up on the podium with the DJ," the girl pointed to the two people standing on the platform between the set of speakers, one of them waving their arms and looking like she's having a seizure, the other wearing something on his head and working with something that was sitting on a small table, probably playing the music. They music stopped playing eventually, and the one that was playing the music grabbed what looked like a stick with a ball on it and spoke, his voice coming through the speakers.
"Alright guys, that's the end of my set, but I'll stick around for a while and enjoy the party. I'll leave my laptop to play some more music, but it'll just shuffle the tracks. Have fun, and call a cab if you're going home, I don't want to hear of anyone getting into any accidents on the way home." Luna walked towards the person that now was coming down from the platform, and tapped his shoulder. He turned to her and his mouth dropped. In front of him was the regal beauty of the Princess of The Night, in all her glory.
"Fair being, I am here to humbly request that you come back with me to Equestria, a place of magic, peace and tranquility; a place where evil gets its just desserts, and good triumphs, and where no one has to suffer and barely manage to afford to live. What do you say?" To say that her statement would have been viewed as insane is an understatement - he burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, but it's just that what you described to me sounds like a world that I know of." Jason laughed, "Sorry, but the last time I checked, Equestria was just a fictional world, part of a television series. Tell you what, if you can prove that this world is real, then I'll move there in a heartbeat."
Luna took his offer, "It's a deal. Also, would it be too much to ask if you could bring whatever it was that you used to play your music with you?"
"I don't think that would be much trouble, considering I take that with me wherever I go. Just let me pack it up."
Ten minutes later...
The two of them stood before the portal, about to step through, but they had to address the crowd of people behind them, "People, I'm leaving this world behind in order to start life anew, in a brand new world. Do not follow us, or I will personally see to it that I launch you to the freaking moon," Luna winced at that statement but let him continue, "I'm not kidding. Anyway, we're off." The both of them walked through the portal - the person with him changed from human to what seemed to be a kind of pony, but with a beautiful blue color, with an ethereal mane that looked like the night sky. His form had changed into what seemed to be a cross between a bug and a pony. A Changeling.
'What the hell happened? Why am I a Changeling?' Jason looked up at Luna with pleading eyes, the Princess of The Night looked back down at him with a questioning look, before seeing all the things around him that he had brought through the portal, vouching for his identity. "Strange, it seems as though you have been turned into a Changeling. It saddens me to say this, but it seems that I do not know enough about your race to change you back, and for that I'm very sorry." Luna hung her head, ashamed of the situation. "Are you kidding, this is the best thing ever!" Luna was stunned by Jason's outburst, "It is?" Luna's question was punctuated with a confused face.
"Yes, it is. I can change into almost any race at the drop of a hat, I can do magic, AND I can fly. Plus, I can pull pranks on other ponies." Luna was dumbfounded, to say the least. She had just brought a being through the portal to Equestria, that had happened to have been turned into a Changeling by the world's magic for some reason; not only was he not really phased by it, but he seems to be ecstatic about the whole thing, even though ponies and Changelings are not really on good terms, what with the invasion of Canterlot and everything.
Before anything else could be done, Celestia came through the door. Jason found a good hiding place before he could be seen, and waited for Celestia to stop walking. After Celestia had stood in front of Luna, probably about to lecture her about losing those that she had brought through the portal, Jason snuck over to Celestia's side, transformed into her, and began mimicking her actions, complete with mocking mouth flaps. To say Luna had a hard time keeping her composure is an understatement; she began rolling on the floor laughing hysterically for five minutes, before Celestia finally asked what was going on. "Is there something on my face? Am I suddenly bald? Did Discord take my horn and mane, turn it into multicolored cotton candy and take a bite again?" Luna couldn't contain herself long enough to give a legible answer. "Ohahahha-ahaha n-n-n-n-no Tia-hahahahaha, there's another you, copying everything you do-ohooohooohahahah!"
Celestia looked at herself; she tilted her head, and her counterpart mirrored the action exactly the same time she did it, same for lifting her front left hoof (Jason's front right), as well as flaring and folding up their wings. Finally, she spoke, but so did Jason, in stereo with Celestia, "What are you?" "I'm Celestia." "No I'm Celestia!" "This is getting us nowhere." Jason finally replied on his own, "Indeed, this has gone on long enough. Princess Luna brought me here, and when I got here I was a Changeling, so I decided to have a bit of fun, which seems to have paid off," Jason said, pointing towards the still laughing Luna.
Celestia smiled, "Well, if you were going to do anything hostile, you most likely would have done so almost immediately, I presume?" Jason nodded, "Right, if I were hostile, I wouldn't be standing here, talking casually with you."
"It seems that you'll fit right in here," Celestia said, draping a foreleg over Jason's withers,"though you'll have to take another form to actually fit in with the local population." Jason nodded in agreement. "I couldn't have said it better myself, and I know just the form to take, too!" Jason flared up his changeling magic, and changed his form into a unicorn stallion, like this. Celestia and Luna looked at the stallion's new form, though Celestia decided to voice her mind, "Where did you get that form from?" Jason gave them the most horrified look ever, "I didn't take this from anyone, I just thought of it now! You saw that I had just gotten here, how could I have stolen a form from somepony?"
Celestia sighed, "No matter; now comes the matter of what will happen next: you will go to sleep, and we're going to transport you to someplace random." Jason blinked at her, unsure of what he just heard, though before he could react, Celestia knocked him out, and Luna wiped his memories of what had transpired, before teleporting him to Ponyville.... but just before he was winked away, his form changed back into his original changeling body.
Jason awoke in the middle of the field, just outside Ponyville; not only that, but he had a splitting headache, and no memory of where he was. He attempted to lift a hand to his head and massage his temples, but found something odd when he tried to do so..... he had no hands to speak of.... what he did have, however, was a pair of hooves. They were black. They were also chitinous, insect-like, if one were to compare it to something. They were also filled with holes, lots of holes. Jason said the single, solitary thing that his mind could come up with at this very moment, something that only fans of the best anime ever would get.
"Oh, fuck all kinds of duck."
Explanations and Best Friends
That Pony's A Spy!? (Jason)
Jason looked at himself, then looked around him, finding that no one was currently nearby his location, which to him, was a godsend, considering the form he had apparently taken when arriving in Equestria. Jason quickly searched for a hiding spot, where he could think up a form to use as a disguise, as well as plan out how he would integrate himself into Equestrian society without raising too much suspicion. Over about ten yards from his position, was an old, dilapidated building, that looked like it hadn't been used in years, which made a perfect hiding spot for now.
Throwing caution to the wind, Jason leaped into the building through one of the broken windows, thankful for his chitinous exterior, for he landed on top of a bunch of broken glass that obviously hadn't been cleaned up. 'Sweet, not even ten minutes, and this body already saves my life, sort of.' With nothing else to do, Jason thought of what to do next. Though he was a changeling, that alone really couldn't stop him from leading a normal life in Equestria; he just had to figure out how to overcome that one obstacle.
Seeing as there wasn't anypony inside the building, nor around the outside, Jason could think aloud to himself, for which he was thankful, and had decided to take advantage of. Talking to himself helped him think better, after all. No, he isn't crazy, that's just how he is.
"Alright, so I can't necessarily go to Rainbow Dash, cause she would just clobber me on sight, then fly away to warn everyone that there was a changeling in town; Fluttershy would hide in a deep dark corner of her own home and not come out for days; Rarity would probably throw things at me until I left the town. Pinkie, is another story altogether.... she'd just drive me insane right now, and I don't really need that at the moment. Applejack would more than likely tie me up, then ask me a thousand and one questions, only to doubt the authenticity of my answers, until probably a few days later, and by then I'd probably be dead from not getting any nourishment. That leaves Twilight Sparkle, the bookworm; sure, she'd probably ask me a million and one questions, but I could easily win her over with a logical argument, or just trigger her scientific curiosity in order to get her to shut up and listen long enough for me to explain. Okay, Purple Smart it is."
Jason got up to leave the building, only to remember that he was a changeling. "Oh, right, I need a new form, and a name. Jason doesn't really fit in with the rest of the names in Equestria." Jason sat there for a moment, tapping a fore hoof to his chin, before coming up with a form that would suit him, and that wasn't anyone else's real body. "Ah, this should do as a form, now I just need a name.... but first, I think I should try to change into that body." Jason concentrated, bringing forth his new changeling magic, willing himself to change forms into the body that he thought up. At first, there was a tingly feeling, like static, but all over his body, then he felt his body changing into that of a unicorn. This took place in all of five seconds, though it felt like five minutes to Jason.
Jason looked over his new body, seeing that the transformation was exact, from his white coat, green mane and tail, to his eye color and horn, though he noticed something that he didn't think of: he had a cutie mark. This cutie mark that had apparently come out of nowhere, was a reverse single clef, which was eerily similar to Vinyl Scratch's very own reverse double clef cutie mark. Thinking nothing of it, Jason moved on to other matters, namely, figuring out his new name.
"Well, I can't really use a pony name, because there probably would be another pony in this town that already has that name, which leaves me with using names that would fit a changeling, though that wouldn't be too bad. Using a changeling name would mean that I don't have to memorize two names for two different forms. Hmm, I've always had a thing for the night sky, and I kinda like walking around at night, and in darkness.... so, maybe, Erebus? Yeah, that'll work. Cool, I've got a new name."
Jason Erebus exited the building, and upon getting outside, he noticed that the stuff he brought with him was all still just laying on the ground, undisturbed. 'Oh, thank Luna nopony touched my stuff, I would've died if it went missing.' Erebus was about to pick up all the cases with his teeth, but then he remembered that he was a unicorn. Smiling sheepishly, Erebus closed his eyes and concentrated, envisioning the cases floating before him; he opened his eyes, and was surprised to see that they were floating in front of his face. It wasn't until then that he realized something, he never learned how to walk as a pony, yet here he was, walking with as much ease as someone that had been a pony all their life. 'Huh, must be bodily instinct kicking in. Nice. Now, off to Twilight's house.' This was the exact moment that Erebus had realized that in all honesty, that he was lost.
Erebus' ears flattened against his head, "Oh buck me with a rake! You've got to be kidding me, I'm completely lost! Just great."
"What'cha lookin' for," asked a high-pitched, bubbly voice, which came from right behind him. Erebus' only immediate response to being startled like that was to let out the most girliest of shrieks that anyone has ever known. Not only did Erebus jump nearly ten feet in the air, but his stuff went flying all over the place, the furthest flying case was about thirty feet away from him. Erebus looked behind him, finding none other than Pinkie Pie. 'Great, that's JUST what I needed, universe, Pinkie Pie. Thanks a lot, now I have to deal with her all the way to the library.'
Erebus sighed, and finally responded to Pinkie, "Hey, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Oh well, I can't really do anything about it. You asked what I was looking for, right?" Pinkie smiled, "Abso-diddly-utely!" Thankfully, Erebus smiled. "Well, I'm looking for the library, I have a few things I need to talk about with someone that can understand my predicament." Pinkie started bouncing, "Hey, Twilight lives at the library! Maybe she could answer your questions! Oopsie, I almost forgot, my name's Pinkie Pie, what's yours?" Erebus held out a hoof, which was promptly bumped by Pinkie's own hoof, "My name's Erebus, it's meaning is of darkness, shadows." "Erebus, that's a nice name. Erebus, air-o-bus, arabus, are a bus, are on a bus! Hey, maybe you could drive a bus through Ponyville, that would be great!" Erebus scratched his head with a fore hoof, "Wait, I didn't know that Equestria had vehicles that used fossil fuels." Pinkie merely laughed, "Fossil fuels? How could something use fossils as fuel?" Sighing, Erebus shook his head, "Never mind, let's gather my stuff and head to the library."
After finding all of his stuff, Erebus got Pinkie to lead him to the library without incident, which was peaceful, but odd. He was surprised that she hadn't brought out Gummy, or gasped really loudly and sped away, which is what usually happens when a new pony arrives. No, the pair walked serenely towards the library, and Erebus' stuff gently floated along behind them. Pinkie just hummed to herself the whole way there, probably thinking of what kind of party to plan for the newcomer, though know one truly knows what goes on inside Pinkie's mind.
They finally made it to the library, when Pinkie turned to Erebus, "Here you are, Golden Oaks Library, home of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her trusty assistant Spike the dragon, and royal pet Owlowiscious! See you later, I've got a party to plan!" Immediately after that was said, Pinkie bounced off in a seemingly random direction, leaving behind Erebus, and a party invitation. 'Oh, when did she get the time to make this?' Erebus opened the invitation, only to find that there was another inside that one. 'Wait, there's two... Oh, maybe one's for Twilight and Spike.' Separating the two invitations and closing the one, Erebus knocked on the door, which was promptly answered by Spike. "Hey, is Twilight in? I need to speak to her about some important stuff." Spike poked Erebus in the nose, "First of all, it's Princess Twilight, and yes, she's available, but don't do anything funny, or you'll be sorry."
During the confrontation, Twilight was making her way down the stairs, so naturally she heard the conversation that went on between Spike and the newcomer. "Spike! What have I told you about doing that? You do know that I can protect myself, right?" Spike hung his head sullenly, "Yes Twilight, but I was just looking out for you." "It's alright Spike, I'm not mad. It's just that it's a little rude to treat other ponies like that when they come to the door. You do know that this is technically a public library, right?" "Yeah, I kind of keep forgetting that part, cause we live here." Erebus poked his head in through the doorway, "Um, can I come in? I have a few things I need to talk about with you, Princess." Twilight blinked, "Yeah, sure, come on in."
Erebus walked into the library, "Have a seat over by the table, you can set your stuff down there." Now that he was seated, Erebus was able to take in the view of most of the library. 'It's a bit bigger than I expected, though that makes sense, considering it's a public library.' Any further thought was interrupted by the serene melody that was Twilight Sparkle's voice, "Now, what was it that you wanted to talk with me about?" She was levitating a quill and parchment off to the side, and Spike was just sitting there, looking awkwardly at nothing in particular. 'So, he's too used to taking notes for Twilight that he doesn't know what to do at the moment...' "I'm sorry, but this is kind of sensitive, so could I ask for a bit of privacy between me and Princess Twilight?" Spike just grumbled and went upstairs, entered a room and shut the door.
"Sorry, usually Spike isn't like this. Now, what's on your mind?"
With no way to beat around the bush, Erebus just came out with it in the most blunt way possible. "Twilight, I'm a Changeling."
There was only one response, though it was so undignified of a princess, that if word went out to Canterlot that it came from the mouth of Twilight Sparkle, she would be heckled for weeks on end. A response so repulsive that it border lined on completely asinine. There was only one word that came out of the mouth of Twilight Sparkle. A single, solitary word, that expressed all her thoughts, yet none of them at all. A response that had been used many, many times before by humanity, when they found something that just didn't make sense, and couldn't find anything else to say.
"What?"
