Burnt Offerings, Oaken Hearts

Chapters

A Tempting Proposition.
At The Fountain in the Center of Canterlot.
The Corner of Nobel Road, and Star Swirl Way.
Coffee and Wine

A Tempting Proposition.

Sunday, 2/23/14, 4:47 PM, Canterlot Hospital, Third floor, long term care.

Magdalena sat in the chair she normally would during these visits, eyes glued to the white hospital ceiling. The room was filled with the sounds of monitors beeping constantly, and air being forced down a tube. One of the machines gave off an alarm sound and she looked down at it. "Again," she grumbled to herself. "Best medical team in the country and they can't even have somepony around when the machine goes on the fritz."

She got up and looked at the machine's readout on a small screen, and saw that there was a tangle in the line for the IV. She looked around for a few moments and saw that somehow, in his comatose state, Burnt Oak had managed to once again move just enough to pinch one of the lines. She quickly grabbed the line and straightened it out, allowing the medicine to flow into the vein in his foreleg once more. She sighed in relief before sitting down again to continue staring at the ceiling above.

"Miss? Are you still here? I heard the alarms and wanted to see if everything was alright." She looked to her left and saw Katrina, one of the few gryphon nurses that worked at the hospital. Magdalena smiled at her, glad to see one of the more familiar faces in the hospital checking in on Burnt Oak. She knew that despite the harsh face worn by the gryphon, she was a caring and understanding individual.

"Everything's fine. When do you think the doctor is going to come in today?"

"He's still busy with other patients," she said with as much of an understanding smile as she could muster. "But if you just want a summery, I can give it to you real quick."

"No, that's fine," Magdalena replied before leaning back in her seat. "I think I can wait."

Katrina frowned slightly as she adjusted her hat before going back out the door. "Very well, but I really can answer," she stopped and looked down the hall for a few seconds before nodding. "Actually, he's on his way over now. I'll leave you alone." She then stood on her hind legs and pushed the cart down the hall.

Magdalena stayed silent as she waited, allowing her eyes to scan the room in worry and boredom. Her eyes suddenly fell to the small table next to her, as she glanced casually over the small mountain of cards that had been left behind from Burnt Oak's friends, until she finally found herself locking onto a rather plain red journal.

She looked at it for a few moments before picking it up. To almost anypony else, there was nothing special about it at all, something that could be bought at any Filthy Rich's Barn Yard Bargains for a bit. But to her, it was more precious than all the gems in all of Equestria.

She opened the journal, and quickly flipped past the first few pages that Burnt Oak had filled in himself, past the pages she filled out the many progress reports the doctors had already given her, until finally she settled on a blank page almost a quarter of the way to the back. She then grabbed a pen and used some tape to attach it to her hoof, and began to write.

2/23/14,
After spending another restless night here in Canterlot, I came in to see you again. The doctors have been telling me that anything could happen, but it's up to you. I am hoping that today is the day that I'm told an estimate on when you might wake up. I hope that it's soon, because I have to go back to work on Monday, and I hope that you will be coming home soon. I hate leaving you here knowing that you are still asleep, but I've been doing my best to be here whenever I can. Hopefully the doctor has some good news.

She looked at the paragraph and thought it over. Maybe I should add something else? She started thinking of another paragraph when the sound of hooves approaching caught her attention. She quickly took the tape off her hoof and placed the journal and pen next to her exactly as she found it.

"Knock knock," she looked at the door and saw that it was Doctor Offering Heart, greeting her in the same usual way by simply saying, knock knock, rather than knocking on the door at all. "So, how are you doing today Miss Magdalena?" She looked at him with a frown, as if she were questioning him for even asking that question. "Er, right. Well then, I think you wanted an update, yes?"

Magdalena nodded as she folded her forelegs over her chest. "I just want it straight, don't try to sugar coat anything, or feed me a line. I just want the facts."

He paused mid step, and looked down at the brown earthpony laying in the bed. As he did, Magdalena looked the yellow unicorn over a few times impatiently as he fiddled with his doctors coat, then smoothed out his brown hair before replying. "You really don't care too much for bedside manner, do you?"

"Eight months of polite run around is still run around," she said firmly. "Quite frankly, I'm rather tired of it."

The doctor's cropped tail began to whip back and forth nervously as he backed away from her. "Quite," he mumbled, more to himself than to her. "Well then, if that's the case, I think you should come with me." He then turned tail and slowly walked out of the room, and waited for her to follow.

Magdalena raised an eyebrow at the doctor as she stood from the chair. "Why? Are you uncomfortable telling me the news in front of him?" She took a step forward and pointed a hoof at the doctor. "Do you think that he's going to get angry with the news you have to say? In case you haven't noticed, he hasn't done much of anything besides move slightly!"

"Miss Magdalena, please calm yourself! I need to discuss something with you in private, regarding the treatment of Burnt Oak here." The doctor looked at her in frustration for a few moments before giving off a sigh, and pushing his glasses up his muzzle. Finally, he turned his eyes to her, and Magdalena noticed that there was a hint of urgency in his green eyes. "I just don't want anypony interrupting us while we discuss things."

She stared him down with a frown for several moments before finally nodding. "Alright, let's go."

"Why are you going up there again?"

Magdalena looked at Berry Punch with a puzzled look on her face. "What do you mean? I go see Burnt Oak every weekend."

Berry nodded at this as she continued to mash down more of the grapes. "I know that you do, but why? I'm not trying to get into your business or anything, but you only dated for, what, three months?"

Magdalena nodded in reply. "Almost four actually, but what are you getting at?"

Berry Punch thought about it for a moment as she continued stomping the grapes. "Well, I'm not trying to run your life or anything, but aren't you taking this too personally? I mean, it's really sweet that you are still going up to see him, but you aren't exactly married to the stallion."

Magdalena stopped as she thought about it. Why am I doing this still? Is it misplaced loyalty to keep doing this to myself? "Well," she started hesitantly. "He doesn't have any family to see him. I mean, even his friend Mind Matters hasn't been up to see him in a month."

"Exactly that, right there," Berry said as she pointed a hoof at her. "That's what I am getting at. Nopony else has given up, but even they have mostly moved on with their lives, why can't you?"

Magdalena frowned deeply at the question, as if she was insulted. She quickly brushed back her peach colored mane back over her face before opening a valve to fill a barrel up with the wine. "Maybe because I still feel the way I did before he got sick. Maybe because I still feel like it's my fault."

"You mean that he poisoned himself," Berry bit back bitterly. "When are you going to learn that you have to let it go? It was his own fault, not yours."

Magdalena started to reply back, she wanted to try to defend him, but found that she couldn't. "You're right," she backed down from her argumentative stance and lidded the barrel. "I know it's not my fault, but I still feel guilt."

Berry stopped stomping for a moment and put on her best compassionate face. "Listen to me. You knew him better than I did, do you think that he would have wanted you to go on like this? Do you think that he would have wanted you to be sad because of him?"

Magdalena shook her head as she pushed a fresh barrel under the spout. "No, he wouldn't. He always said he just wanted me to be happy."

"Then try," Berry replied. You can't keep going on like this, or it's going to eat you alive."

She looked up at her as she flicked open the valve to pour the fresh juice into the barrel. "Okay, this is the last time I'll go up unless something drastic changes in his condition," she paused as she watched the barrel slowly fill up. After a moment of thinking she finally realized that she had to say just one more thing. "For better, or for worse."

Offering Heart held the door to his office open with his magic letting Magdalena in. "After you Miss." She nodded back to him in thanks as she made her way to the small couch so she may lay comfortably instead of sitting upright in a wooden chair. The doctor then entered and shut the door firmly behind him before sitting in the chair behind his desk. He pulled open a drawer and pulled some files out, and looked over the papers for a few moments. After a moment or two, he finally nodded and snapped down on one of the buttons to his intercom. "Hello, nurses station? Yes, please keep everypony clear form my office for a few minutes. I need some privacy with Miss Magdalena."

A moment of silence passed before a statically voice crackled through the small speaker. "Of course Doctor Heart."

He smiled to himself slightly as he flicked off the switch before leaning back in his chair. Magdalena watched him as he stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, silently moving his lips as he thought of what to say. "Excuse me," she interrupted. "But you brought me here to talk, what is it you have to say?"

He stopped and looked back at her with a frown. After a few moments, he took his glasses off and began pulling papers out of the folder. "Do you know of any immediate, or even distant family that can speak on the behalf of Mister Oak?"

She shook her head at him, already beginning to feel the bad news coming on. "No, he doesn't have any living family."

"I see, and you, you are not married to him?"

She continued to shake her head at him as she answered. "No, we were just dating for a few months when it happened." Offering Heart nodded as he wrote something down on the paper, and Magdalena tried to see what he was writing. "So, I take it the news isn't well if you're asking me this," she said with a hint of disappointment seeping into her voice.

"You told me you wanted the facts straight, and I'm about to give it to you," he said as he continued to write on the paper. "Tell me, are you willing to take on the responsibility of Burnt Oak's life?"

She raised herself higher up at this question and realized what was going on. "By Celestia, you want to take him off life support don't you?"

Offering Heart raised an eyebrow at her when she said this. "That's entirely up to you Miss, by all means if that's what you want to do with his life just tell me. But before you do that, I think you should answer my question, then hear what I have to say."

She looked at him with a hard look, and tried her best to swallow the torrent of emotions within. Finally after a few moments she closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay, I am willing. Now please, tell me what you have to say."

The doctor nodded as he scribbled down something on the paper, then put it back into it's folder. "I'm going to start with the bad news, and as you asked, I won't sugar coat it." He sighed as he leaned forward over his desk slightly, and mentally prepared himself for what he had to say next. "In the past few months, Burnt Oak has made some great progress, his stomach, intestines, liver, heart, and other damaged organs had made a full recovery."

She sighed at the news, thinking that the bad news would somehow be much worse and was about to say something when Offering Heart raised a hoof to stop her. "Please, let me finish. As you may know, we did some neurological scans on him last week after you left, and, I'm sorry to say the results were not promising."

Magdalena shuddered slightly as a short whine escaped past her lips, and she covered her mouth to keep from making any further noises. Hoping to keep in control of herself in front of the doctor. Finally she nodded and lowered her hooves, ready for what was going to come next. "I'm sorry, please go on."

The doctor stood up and took the stethoscope off from around his neck and placed it on his desk. "Before I go on, I have to ask, do you mind if I change? It would make explaining all this easier."

She blinked in confusion at him, taken aback by the question. What is wrong with him? "I, guess. I mean, it's your office."

Offering Heart nodded slightly as he walked around his desk. He closed his eyes as his horn glowed to cast a spell. "I need you to remain calm while I do this, some ponies tend to panic when I change."

Magdalena suddenly felt offended at the statement and spoke her mind about it. "If this is you trying to hit on my mister, you've got another thing-" she was interrupted suddenly as the room filled with a green light from his horn's glow.

The glowing continued as it began to sprout flames, as green as his magic aura. Quickly the flames spread down across his body leaving behind a black exoskeleton. "Now, I think you might be ready for the rest of the news."

She stared at him as he spoke, and couldn't help but notice that his voice echoed slightly when he spoke, as if there were multiple voices behind him speaking all at once. She looked him up and down several times, noting the holes in his hooves, and how his horn curved at a sharp, dangerous angle. "You, you're a. You're a-"

"A changeling, yes I am," he said with a calm tone as he leaned on the front of his desk. "I thought that it would be important for you to know that before we moved on with this talk."

Magdalena stared at him for a second in silence before standing up. "I don't think you have anything more to say to me."

"Come, come now Miss, I need you to be rational for this and hear me out." He pulled forward the folder with his magic and began to search through it. As he did, Magdalena slowly edged her way around the desk, constantly keeping an eye on the changeling before her. "Now let's see here. Ah, here it is. Now, in accordance to-"

Magdalena didn't care to hear what would have come next as she made a leap for the intercom on the desk and quickly slammed down on the same button she watched him use earlier. "Hello! Anypony there? Something's happened to Doctor Heart! I think he might be missing, there's an impostor in here! Come quick!"

The changeling looked at her in shock at what she did as he quickly turned off the power casually with his magic. "You shouldn't have done that, I told you that I didn't want any unnecessary interruptions for this."

"Don't you move. Somepony will be here in a moment, and I'm sure that security is coming soon after them."

"No doubt about it, but you really shouldn't waste our time, I have a very busy day ahead of me and," he stopped as the door quickly flew open. Magdalena looked past the changeling and saw that Katrina was behind the door, along with a security pony, both were breathing heavily. "Ah, that's a pretty fast reply time you have there."

Katrina stepped in, the claws from her talons bared as she looked around. "What's the emergency here Ma'am?"

She blinked at the question as she pointed a hoof at the changeling on the other side of the desk. "What are you blind? Can't you see that a changeling has replaced doctor Heart?!"

The gryphon and unicorn that had burst into the room looked at each other for a moment before the guard rolled his eyes slightly. "Alright changeling, what is your name, and can I see some identification."

The changeling nodded as he pulled a set of paper cards out of his pocket and passed them to the guard. "Certainly, Changeling Drone Number Twenty-seven-three dash five-two-four-nine, Common name, Offering Heart."

The guard looked over the papers closely for a few more moments. "And, to be safe can I see your hooves?"

The changeling nodded as he rolled up the sleeves of his coat with magic. "Certainly," he then stood still with his forelegs raised above his head as the guard looked at all four hooves. "Do I check out?"

"The holes line up perfectly, as always." He passed the cards back to the changeling and left the room. "Thank's for letting security know ahead of time what you were planning today doc."

"No problem," the changeling replied back. "Now if you will excuse me, this mare and I still have a lot to discuss."

Magdalena stood stock still with her jaw wide open as she watched the two leave and close the door. Leaving her once again alone with the changeling. "You, but your a, where's doctor Offering Heart?"

The changeling walked around the desk to a small chest of drawers and pulled a bottle and set of glasses out. "I am Offering Heart," he began to pour some of the liquid out into a glass, then stopped to look at her. "Do you want ice?"

She stared at him, still in a mild state of shock as her brain began to wrap around everything. "I'm sorry what?"

"Ice, you look like you can use a drink to calm your nerves, and frankly I'm famished." She nodded, and he pulled a tray of ice cubes out from a small fridge. After placing a couple cubes in each glass, he poured a strange transparent purple liquid into each glass, and passed one to her.

She looked at it for a few moments, examining it's color before smelling it cautiously. It was unlike anything she had ever smelled before, yet it triggered a familiar feeling in her memory. Like a spring morning when the sun peeks out from the clouds, an evening by the fire with somepony special, and a special moment in time that passes all too quick all rolled into one. She examined it for several more moments before placing it on the desk and pointing at it. "I've worked for two years making all kinds of drinks, and I have never seen anything like this before. What is it?"

Offering Heart poured out slightly more for himself in his own glass before drinking it. "It's euphoria, captured and condensed so pure that it can be liquefied and stored for long periods of time." He smiled at her as she showed pure confusion on her face before he drank again. "In simpler terms, it's highly processed love. It's what I live off of here."

She looked at the glass and shoved it slightly further from herself when she heard this. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

The changeling continued to drink from his glass, and a sly smile grew on his features. "You work with spirits for a living and are scared to try something so rare? I'm sure that your boss would give up her entire business for just a sip of this stuff, and you are turning it down." The mare blanched slightly as he took another long draw from his glass, totally casual about everything. "It's not going to make you into a changeling, if that's what you're afraid of. Just, trust me."

She picked up the glass and eyeballed it carefully once more. Finally she walked around the desk and sat down in a chair, still staring at the drink. "How are you here? I mean, in this city. I thought that you were enemies of Equestria."

The changeling snorted slightly as he leaned against the drawers. "Hardly. I mean, yes but no. We were just hungry." He paused to take another sip, and gave a sigh of contentment. "See, our Queen, she might be able to show compassion for us, and would do anything for her hive, but she has never been good at negotiation. After she was defeated, and tried to take on Celestia's student, we would up trapped in the castle deep in our empire."

Magdalena frowned at him deeply as he prattled on before interrupting him. "Excuse me, but what does this have to do with anything? What does this have to do with Burnt Oak?"

Offering Heart swirled his glass casually as he looked directly into her eyes with his solid green ones. "Everything, if you just let me continue. Now, as a hive, we were getting desperate for food, being cut off from anything we could feed off of. So, we contacted your Princess Luna to negotiate a deal."

"You did that without your queen's consent? Rather strange for giant bugs."

He nodded in reply while taking another sip. "As a matter of fact, we did. And we're bug like, not actually bugs. We're more like you than you think." He paused to pour himself another glass of the liquid, then looked at Magdalena. "You really should have a drink, you'll feel much better. Trust me, I am a doctor."

She looked at the liquid and felt unsure. There was only about a quarter cup worth of liquid sitting in the bottom of the glass, but she still had her reservations. Finally after a moment of thought she carefully took a sip. The liquid spread across her tongue gave off a taste unlike anything she had ever had before, and as she swallowed it down, a warm feeling spread out from her stomach, all the way to the tips of her hooves. "It's good!" she exclaimed in shock. "It's like, like liquid happiness."

The changeling nodded as he took another sip of his own drink. "I suppose that in a way it is. Now, once everything was settled, the agreement went as follows, one hundred changelings would be allowed into Equestria to gather love for the hive, so long as they registered through the government. Told them where we were going, who we were collecting from, and how much we took." He put his glass down finally as he pulled out his cards for her to look at. "As a part of the exchange, we had to contribute something back. I really am a doctor, and some of the knowledge that I have given is invaluable to this country of yours. I've been here for almost two years, caring for patients whether or not they are changelings."

Magdalena took another small sip from her glass as she listened to him drone on. When he finally paused she raised a hoof to signal she wanted to speak. "So, you're telling me that you don't collect, you just heal?"

"Yes, it's my job so long as I'm here. Changelings often rotate in and out as needed when they are collectors for the hive, but there are a few of us that work steady jobs for your country. But enough of this, I need to get to the point of it all, Burnt Oak."

She frowned suddenly as the memory of everything going on came back to her. As reality settled in, she put the glass down on the desk. "Okay, so what is it that you want to do with him?"

The doctor pushed himself away from the desk and fiddled with his bow tie nervously as he began to pace the room. "You see, in a recent agreement between our governments, ponies in extreme cases may qualify for a special treatment. To be blunt, or as you put it, to not sugar coat it, Burnt Oak only has a forty percent chance of coming out of his coma at all."

Magdalena began to feel the tears burble up inside her, and instinctively reached for her drink. When she did, all she found was air. "I'm sorry, but I want you to think straight for the remainder of this talk." He then placed the drink down next to his own and released it from his magic before he continued pacing. "As you may be aware, in normal circumstances I would be asking you if you wanted to keep him on the respirator, or to go ahead and take him off so he may pass on with dignity."

Magdalena nodded, and despite the roller coaster her emotions were going through, kept hanging on to see if there was more. "So that's what you are asking me?"

"Normally I would, but, your colt friend across the hall from us, has qualified for special treatment." He then pulled a piece of paper from the folder and passed it to her. "You may read it at your leisure. You will find that everything is in order."

She looked at the paper, and found that on the top of the page it was embossed with Princess Celestia's and Princess Luna's cutie marks. Her eyes then scanned to the bottom, there she found the seal of the royal sisters. She examined it closely and it read, By special permission of Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, we allow the Changeling Hive to let Burnt Oak undergo a special treatment so that he may live a healthy, and long life. It was then signed by Celestia, Luna, Queen Chrysalis, and the minister of national health.

She scanned it a few times, expecting something to show its forgery but finding no evidence of it at all. She lowered the paper and looked at the changeling before her as a million questions began to spark inside her mind. After a moment of seeing that he still was wearing a kind smile on his face, she decided to ask the most important question she could. "What is this special treatment?"

Offering Heart walked past her and around his desk to sit down once more, and folded his forelegs in front of him on the table. "Well, we will transfer him to another wing of the hospital for changelings. There, we will prepare him for a full conversion into a changeling."

Magdalena was suddenly very thankful that she wasn't drinking anything, or she would have spat it out. "I'm sorry, did you say into a changeling?"

The doctor nodded as he frowned seriously. "I did indeed Miss Magdalena. It's a very simple process, and only takes a week to complete the conversion. You see, if you agree to this, he will be placed in a cocoon similar to how we store ourselves for long periods. The gel within will allow metamorphosis to take place, and he will become a member of our hive."

She stared at him, scanning him for a hint of humor in his eyes, or a secret smile behind the fangs. But all she saw was a neutral frown of indifferent fact. "What," she paused for a second to cough before continuing. "Sorry, um, what changes would be expected of him?"

"You might want to take care of that cough on your way home," the doctor said with a touch of concern in his voice. "Now, as a changeling, he will look much like we all do. He'll have wings and a horn so he'll be able to fly and use magic, but he will also be able to change how he looks. Most ponies that we have converted however, tend to continue using their old pony identity when out in public. It's safe to assume that he would as well."

Magdalena smiled at this, as a ray of hope began to shine through her. "So, in other words, it would be like nothing happened, right?"

The doctor gave a short laugh that startled her, for despite the fact that she had been listening to him talk in the strange double voice that he had, the laugh sounded truly alien to her. "Not quite. You see, once he comes out he will have all the memories that he has now, up until before he poisoned himself. He'll remember you, and his friends, but, as a result of his conversion, his mind will become a part of our hive, and our's a part of his." He then brought the glasses of euphoria back to the desk and placed Magdalena's in front of her.

She looked the glass over a few times before reaching out for it with a shaky hoof. After a moment of struggling with the glass, she grabbed it with both hooves and took another sip. The effect was instant as she calmed down, and grasped the situation for what it was. "Alright, so does that mean he would leave to live with your hive?"

"That's his choice," Offering Heart said with a shrug. "The law states that he will have duel citizenship, with all rights and privileges as a changeling, and Equestrian pony. He might stay close to home where his friends are, where he can have a constant supply of love to feed from. But he wouldn't have to collect for us if that's the case." He then took a sip from his own glass and licked the edge of his mouth to clean it from any residue.

"Well, this is a big decision," she said with a frown. "Can I have some time to think it over?"

"All the time you need. But you must remember that as a Doctor, I take my oath seriously. If you chose not to decide, then I will approve of the conversion myself to save my patient." He then took the folder and put it back in his drawer before pulling out a small card. "If you want some advice, I would suggest you consult these ponies here."

She took the card and looked it over in confusion. "What would I see the Ministry of Practical Chaos for?"

"They have an interesting device that calculates the possible outcomes of what happens if you make certain decisions," Offering Heart said with a small smile. "Now, I'm no expert on their technology, but I would suggest you show them that certificate and they will handle the rest." Magdalena nodded as she stood up and gathered the papers. "One more thing to think of before you go." The doctor stood up and made his way around the table, as he did he changed back into a yellow unicorn. "I spent my whole life as a changeling, born and raised. As such, I know how to block out the hive mind. If you chose to let him go through with this, he might need some time to adjust."

Magdalena nodded at him, unsure how to respond. He stuck out a hoof for her to shake, and offered her a genuine smile. She looked at it for a moment before wrapping her forelegs around his neck. "Thank you doctor, for this offer. I'll consider it."

Offering Heart smiled as he pushed her off with a laugh. "Come on now, I just ate. I shouldn't gorge myself." He then sniffled as he straightened out his bow tie. "I hope to see you soon."

She nodded as she headed for the office door. "I'll be back after I see the ponies you recommended. Good-bye!" She then left the office, and looked into the room across the hall. She saw Burnt Oak still laying in bed, and still breathing on the machine, just as before. But now, instead of worry and pure sorrow, a feeling that has been forgotten began to creep into her heart. The sensation of hope had once again kindled a flame in her, and she knew that if fate were a pony, she would be smiling on her and Burnt Oak at last.

Author's Note

This is the sequel to the story Herbs, Roots, and Berries. You don't have to read it, but I suggest that you do.
This was also an idea that I had shared with my mother before she passed, and since she loved the idea, I decided to move forward with it.

At The Fountain in the Center of Canterlot.

Magdalena left through the front doors of the hospital in a vague state, both happy and nervous about the proposed treatment. What if it doesn't work? I mean, it is a chance for him to live, but is this what he would have wanted? What if I'm just being selfish?

She continued walking down the pristine streets of Canterlot's royal district, only vaguely aware of her surroundings. Several ponies milled about, going from one business to another on Sunrise before they would turn off into the central plaza and head down Silk Street to continue their shopping. Magdalena however, was one of the few ponies that didn't stick to this standard plan of attack that almost everypony else followed.

Instead of simply dashing about from one shop to the next, she walked around the grand fountain in the center of the plaza. She looked up at the white marble carving, and smiled as she drank in every detail. It was huge, probably the biggest fountain to grace the city, with a great collecting pool near the bottom filled with crystal clear water, and several small jets of water shooting straight up into the air.

In the center there was a four tiered stack of basins, each with different statues around the basins. On the bottom tier, there were all the different kinds of races that found homes in Equestria doing various jobs, while the next level up, showed some of the greatest Equestrians that ever lived. The next dish up, showed the six ponies that founded Equestria standing with their hooves raised in a great circle around the center of the basin, drawing eyes up to the top tier with Celestia and Luna posed as if casting the spell needed to bring forth the jet of water that shot between them to uphold the delicate heart atop it.

She leaned against the small wall of the fountain's pool, and stared dreamily at it. She found a sort of comfort as she stared at the water, unsure about the future, she just stared at the fountain for a while. She could have been there for hours, days or even years for all she cared, for in the moment she felt peace.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" She jolted out of her dream like state to look to her right, and found a mare had sat upon the ledge of the fountain.

"Yes, it is," she replied casually without once looking back at the other pony, instead concentrating on the fountain. "I stop here every time I'm in Canterlot, it's always made me smile."

"I can understand why," the pony beside her replied. "We don't have such things where I come from unfortunately."

"You must come from pretty far away then," Magdalena commented casually. "Almost everywhere I had been there was at least one fountain or statue."

The pony beside her nodded slightly. "Where I come from, our leader doesn't believe in such frivolities, it should serve a function, and if it doesn't we don't need it."

Curious, Magdalena continued to stare at the fountain, already losing interest in the pony beside her. "How interesting," she said with an obviously disinterested face.

"Well, if I may say so, you would make a lousy changeling with those acting skills." Magdalena blinked and turned to face the mare sitting beside her. "No, please, keep looking at the fountain," she said while touching up her face with make up. "I don't wish to raise suspicion. You're the pony with the lover in the hospital, aren't you?"

Magdalena tried to keep her eyes on the fountain, but couldn't help but take a sidelong glance at the pony beside her. She was an earth pony, like herself. Grey in color with pink eyes and blue and yellow colored mane and tail. She was wearing a frilly dress and wide sunhat as she looked at herself in a compact mirror. "How do you know about that?"

"I thought I said keep your eyes on the fountain," the mare whispered sharply with a slight frown. Magdalena quickly looked back at the fountain, and decided that the carving of Smart Cookie was suddenly more interesting than before. "Better, now I know because every changeling knows. This news flashed through the hive-mind faster than Doctor Heart could keep us out."

"So you're one of them," Magdalena replied coolly. "I suppose that you are here to tell me I should go through with it?"

The pony beside her acted as if she had not heard her for a second, instead she continued to carefully dab blush to her cheeks. "No," she finally replied. "I'm here to tell you what the doctor didn't." She looked around for a few moments, and finally nodded in satisfaction that there was no danger. "I think it's safe, sit down, and try not to draw any attention to yourself."

Magdalena didn't reply, but instead just did as directed. She sat on the edge of the fountain beside the stranger and began to feel some confusion. "I don't understand, why would you go out of your way to tell me this?"

"Be silent, I need to make sure that we aren't being listened to," she whispered in a hissing tone. "My name's Whistler, I'm one of the changelings that gather for the hive here in Canterlot."

"Whistler? No offence but that doesn't sound like a changeling name," she replied with a slight smirk.

"Well what kind of name did you expect? Perhaps you expected something more sinister," she said with a sniff. "Like, Dark Shadows, or Evil Monster Bug Pony."

"That's not what I meant," she said defensively.

The grey pony took her hoof and rubbed the center of her forehead with it as if she were fighting off a headache. "We're getting off track here, let's try this again. I'm Whister, I gather for the hive, and I want to talk to you about what Doctor Heart wants to do to your colt-friend."

Magdalena frowned at the disguised changeling beside her. "Look, I don't know how much of that conversation you managed to look into, but he's already given me a long enough talk about how this works, and that he wouldn't be exactly the same because of the whole hive-mind thing."

"Really," Whistler deadpanned. "Then did he tell you about the ponies from before this was legal? How we avoided doing this for one good reason?" Magdalena looked at her puzzled and shook her head. "I thought not," the mare looked around nervously as Magdalena watched curiously. "Let's set the clock back to about five years, before we attacked Equestria and became more known to the populace. Every once in a while, something would go wrong when we were out. We'd get caught by somepony, or, maybe have to defend ourselves. Sometimes one of us would just find a pony that had been injured, the point is, that in any of these cases, we were ordered to cocoon them, and take them back to the hive."

"So what are you getting at," Magdalena said with a frown. "That you've done this before? That you have a track record of this, that changelings have this down to a science, or that it works?"

"Oh it works, but it's far from a science," Whistler said with a frown. "Us changelings, we're born with the hive-mind. We know how to shut it off and isolate ourselves, we can grow a personality and be individuals with a shared mind. Ponies however," she trailed off suddenly as she looked over her shoulder. "They don't always come out right. Sometimes they would run away and pretend it never happened to them, sometimes they would kill themselves over what they had become. But, the most common thing is that ponies have gone mad from all the voices."

Magdalena looked at the changeling beside her and raised an eyebrow. "The voices, from the hive-mind I take it?"

Whistler nodded, and as she did a horn appeared in the center of her forehead. "I think, it would be best if I just showed you." She leaned forward slightly to press her horn against Magdalena's forehead, then backed away suddenly with a look of concern. "If you don't mind that is."

Magdalena shook her head at the mare beside her. "No, it's fine." Whistler leaned forward again, and touched her horn against Magdalena's head, and she gasped at the intensity of what happened. From the moment her horn touched her, Magdalena's mind was flooded with an innumerable amount of voices all chatting at once. While most of it was gibberish to her, several voices stood out in the crowd.

"Someone new is here."

"Who's this?"

"I think it's Magdalena, someone's let her in!"

"Who's doing this? She shouldn't be here!"

"Are you sure?"

"It's her, she's with Whistler."

"What's Whistler doing?"

"Queen Chrysalis is gonna flip when she realizes-"

"WHISTLER WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET HER OUT OF HERE!"

"Does she have clearance? How much does she know?"

"That drone had better not have-"

The connection suddenly broke as Whistler backed away from her and quickly gathered her things. "I think you can understand why ponies don't typically last long as changelings," she said with a casual air. "Granted, there are exceptions to the rule, but I need you to consider this."

Magdalena shook her head a few times before attempting to massage the throbbing pain of a sudden migraine that the experience gave her. "That's what he would have to live with, for the rest of his life?"

"Yes, unless he is the exception and learns to block it out, he would live with constant chatter." Whistler suddenly froze and looked behind her. After several seconds, her ears fell flat against her skull and she began to walk away.

Magdalena looked on in confusion for a few moments before getting up and following her. "Hey wait! Where do you think you're going?"

Whistler continued to pick up the pace through the crowd as she turned down Moonbeam Row. "Get away from me, I'm already in enough trouble for this," she hissed at her. "The drone master has summoned me to explain myself."

"Wait, will I ever see you again?"

Whistler nearly tripped on her own hooves at the question before barking out a short laugh. "Maybe, it all depends on what you chose." She then galloped off into a thick crowd of ponies.

Magdalena stood shocked at how suddenly she left her, and quickly went after her. "Hey wait a second!" She tried to break through the crowd, but as she did, she only barely saw the strange changeling duck into an alley. Magdalena quickly galloped to meet up with her, only to find the subtle green glow of the changeling activating a new disguise. As she ran into the alley, the only pony she saw was an orange pegasus, already out of earshot and cutting across the sky, over buildings so that she couldn't be followed.

Magdalena groaned as she stomped her hoof on the pavement before leaving the alley and joining the rest of the crowd that funneled back into the plaza. She looked around and was filled with a strange feeling, almost as if she were falling, or that she were being pulled in some direction. She looked to her left and saw the fountain, still sitting there as peaceful as ever.

Without a second thought, she let her hooves lead her to the fountain, and looked in her small bag for her bits. After a few moments, she found a coin, closed her eyes, and held it in her hoof. Please, let me have clarity so I'll know what to do. She then tossed the coin, and opened her eyes.

The coin flew in a high arc to the top tier of the fountain. She watched as it quickly tapped the stone heart at the top before bouncing off and landing in the pool in the bottom of the fountain. After several moments of frowning at the ripples in the water, she turned away from the fountain, and made her way down Castle View to find the public office of the Ministry of Practical Chaos.

Author's Note

This chapter, has been a bit of a pain, and was planned to be much longer but I decided to cut it in half so I can have something out for you to read.

I hope I didn't bore you all, and I will have something new for you as soon as possible.

Edit:
Art by Aki Neko, will be presented with every chapter, when available.

The Corner of Nobel Road, and Star Swirl Way.

Castle View Drive was a street that promised exactly what it delivered on, a view of the castle and it's grounds. Naturally this view was obscured slightly by the smaller shops and homes on either side of the road. Not to mention the imposing white stone wall that surrounded the castle grounds. Naturally, this meant that most of the buildings were smaller on the side with the wall, and most would have very limited garden space in the back. Assuming that there were indeed ponies living on that side of Castle View Drive.

These facts however were mostly moot to Magdalena as she trotted down the street. All that she seemed to notice about the road, was that on her right, the buildings were much taller than those on her left, leaving her with a good view of the castle's walls and several of it's taller towers.

She kept walking down the road, following it's curved path for several minutes before she came to an intersection. Which way am I supposed to go now? She buried her muzzle into her small bag and searched for the scrap of paper that Doctor Offering Hearts gave her. After a few moments, she found the paper and placed it down on the road before her. Go down Castle View Drive until you reach the corner of Castle View and Star Swirl. She looked around and saw she was there. Okay, check. Now I guess I go down Star Swirl Way for one block, and it should be right on the corner.

After a few moments, she gave a slight nod to herself, as if physically confirming what she already decided to do in her own mind. Carefully she took the paper and held it in her mouth as she cantered down Star Swirl Way. The block seemed to go on forever, and despite the fact that this was considered a main thoroughfare for the castle, hardly anypony was there.

Yes, there were the expected carts, and other ponies going from one business to the next. But the numbers were so few that it seemed alien to her. The businesses here were not the usual set of shops and restaurants either. Instead, they were all public offices. Doctors, lawyers, contractors, warehouses, and public works, just to name a few. Unlike those found in other parts of the city however, these concentrated buildings all had the same symbol on their door, the stamp of a stylized sun and crescent moon, wrapped in a pair of wings, with a horn over the celestial bodies. By Celestia, almost all of these businesses are either approved by, or work for the government, she thought to herself.

The rest of the walk was a blur of signs and post numbers as she tried to find the correct one. It didn't take too long, and when she did Magdalena felt a twinge of disappointment. I don't know what I expected, she thought to herself, but I would have assumed that with Practical Chaos in it's title, this building would be a bit more, interesting.

True to her thoughts, the building on the corner of Noble and Star Swirl was nothing more than a little white building that looked almost like a house. By little, of course that meant by the standards of the rest of the block, because while most of the buildings were at least two stories tall, and large enough to hold several dozen ponies. This building looked more like a large suburban home that was converted to an office at the last second. So hastily in fact, that all they had done was add on a few more square feet of space by converting the garage into another room for ponies to work in. It even had a small porch out in front with a pair of chairs on either side of a glass table.

Magdalena looked at the building for several more moments before giving off a shrug and walking up the neatly manicured lawn. It does look too much like a home, she noted once more. I almost feel like an old stallion's going to come out and tell me to get off his lawn.

The two stairs creaked beneath the mare's hooves as she made her way across the wooden porch. She looked to her left and saw that there was a small sign that read, Public Office for Ministry of Practical Chaos. Below that were the usual numbers indicating the hours they were open, and the seal of the royal sisters. She reached out with a hoof to open the door, when it slammed open so suddenly, that it nearly hit her. "Hey! What'cha think yer doin' walkin on the grass! Do ya know how many tax dollars go into keepen that stuff green?"

Magdalena's ears fell flat against her head as the older stallion stood waiting for an answer. "Ahh, uuuh well, I mean, that is to say, I don't really, but I didn't see a path and..."

"Heh, I'm just messin' witcha mare," the stallion said with a chuckle. "Truth is, I don't give a hang what'cha do to the lawn, I jus' scrub de' inside o' de building!" He then opened the door wider and nodded towards the opening. "Gowan in, dere's some fresh coffee bein' brewed by Gladys, she'll help ya out."

She looked at the strange pony for several more moments as she walked in and mumbled, "thank you."

"No prob'm," the janitor said with a friendly smile, showing all three of his teeth. "'Ey, Gladys! Got anoder one fer yea!" He then laughed a bit before shutting the door and heading off.

Magdalena winced slightly at the slam of the door and stood still for a moment before really looking around. The space she found herself in was a fairly typical waiting room. In front of her was a teal desk, behind which were some filing cabinets. To her right was a flat white wall, and a lone door. The room was small, and the only sunlight that could be seen came through the window next to the door, that would have offered a view of the porch if it weren't for the lacy white curtains that covered them.

After allowing herself a few seconds to soak in her environment, Magdalena trotted forward to the desk. "Hello? Is anypony here?"

"Ugh, I hate that word." Magdalena looked for the source of the voice and saw that somepony was standing on her hind legs behind a filing cabinet. She couldn't see the upper part of her however, due to the angle. All she could see was part of her bottom half, which had a cutie mark of a type writer. "I'll be out in a moment."

The secretary continued to flip through the pages, just fast enough for Magdalena to realize that she wasn't using hooves to do the work. Must be a unicorn, she thought to herself.

"OW! Son of a..." the voice trailed off for several moments before calling out, "Hey, can you bring me a band aide? I got a paper cut."

"Uh, sure." She walked around the desk, and quickly found a box of band aides right next to the type writer. She must be a rather clumsy unicorn if she managed to give herself a paper cut, she thought to herself as she walked to secretary. "Alright," she muffled the word around the box in her mouth. "I've got them."

"Great, bring them over, this one's pretty bad." She walked around to the other side of the cabinet as quickly as she could manage without knocking herself into the rows of cabinets. When she did finally get to the right section, she suddenly realized how the secretary managed to cut herself.

Standing on her hind hooves, was a hippogryph. She was holding one of her talons in the other claw as tight as she could to try to stop the blood flow. "Thank you very much," Gladys said with a smile on her beak. "You would think I would have learned better by now."

Magdalena, rather than simply pass over the bandages just stood there with her mouth slightly agape. "You're, you're..."

"You're... gonna give me those, right?" the hippogryph asked with a tilt of her head.

Magdalena continued to stare with her mouth open for just a moment more before she realized how much she was staring. "Um, oh, I mean OH! Yeah, sure, here!" She couldn't help but feel embarrassed as she picked the box up from the ground that she had let them fall.

Gladys however didn't seem to mind as she simply took the box in her talons and used her nimble claws to wrap one of the bandages over the cut. "Thank you very much miss. Now, let's get back to the desk shall we? Then we can see what you need, hm?"

As Gladys sat down on her rolling chair, she gave a slight sigh of relief, Magdalena made her way around to the far side of the desk. While she did this, Magdalena continued to stare all the while. Despite the fact that the initial shock of discovering that Gladys was a hippogryph, she still had a look of curiosity on her face.

Gladys however, tried to ignore her for a while as she shuffled through a few stacks of papers, and punched in a few keys on her type writer. Finally, after a few moments of awkward silence, she lowered her reading glasses to look back at the earth pony. "Is there something I can help you with, or did you just come to stare at me?"

Magdalena suddenly realized that she had indeed been staring at her without blinking the entire time. "What? Er, oh sorry. I need to set up an appointment."

"Lots'a ponies need an appointment deary," Gladys said with a smirk, as if laughing at her small joke. However, Magdalena's face showed that she didn't find it funny at all, and Gladys cleared her throat to continue. "Right, so, do you have any paperwork? What kind of Practical Chaos are you in need of?"

The mare quickly pulled out a few pieces of paper and began passing it over the desk. "I believe it's for some sort of projection machine, supposed to help me with an important decision."

"Ah," Gladys said as she began thumbing through the papers. "Okay, so you're going to be waiting a while I'm afraid. The, er.. Professors won't be in until next weekend." Magdalena tried not to tilt her head at how the hippogryph said the word "professors", because there was a slight change in tone as she said it. Almost as if she had made up the title on the spot, or felt that they didn't really deserve it at all. "How does next Saturday sound to you?"

"Well, it sounds fine I guess, how much will this cost?"

"Oh not a single bit," Gladys said with a smile as she began typing something down once again.

Suspicious, the mare leaned forward slightly, and stood on her hind hooves while giving her best intimidating lean over the desk. "Okay, what's the catch?"

The secretary took her glasses off the end of her beak and gave her a confused glance. "I'm sorry, what do you mean, 'catch'?"

Magdalena rolled her eyes at the question before responding. "You know, the catch! The part where you say, but it's going to raise my insurance, or something. If there's one thing I've learned working in the spirits business, it's that nothing's free."

"Oh you're a spiritualist? Marvelous," she said with a genuine smile and clap of her talons. "Do you channel the living impaired with incantations, cards, or crystal ball?"

Magdalena looked confused for a moment before she realized what was being asked, and she actually laughed for a moment. "Wha? NO! I don't talk to spirits, no. I eh, that is, I help manage Berry Punch's spirit shop. We make wine, beer, and fine liquors. You know, spirits."

The hippogryph gave Magdalena a dead pan look for several seconds before responding. "Oh." With that, she went back to working on her typewriter. After a couple minutes of constant clacking, she grabbed the paper and swiftly pulled it out and placed it before Magdalena. "Your appointment's Saturday at ten. Be there early, address is on the card."

The pony nodded and placed the paper in her bag with the rest that she's accumulated throughout the day. She then thanked her and turned to leave. She was almost out the door when she was halted by Gladys suddenly calling out, "I hope he get's better by the way."

Magdalena stood in the doorway for a while before nodding. "Thank you." With that, she shut the door and headed for the train station.

Author's Note

Wow, I'm slow at writing lately.
Sorry if all it seems I am doing is giving exposition, but this really is one of the cases where I am trying to find my style as I write, and I want to get things established properly before the major things begin to happen. This story's probably going to have about ten more chapters before it's done, more or less. Don't quote me on that though, I usually am wrong with those kind of predictions.

Coffee and Wine

There was of course a dinner to be had in Canterlot before Magdalena grabbed a ticket back to Ponyville. It was nothing too special, just a cheese and daisy sandwich from a small shop. She was sitting outside, pony watching while eating, and kept a close eye on the nearby station clock tower.

As she slowly chewed her food, and waited for her train to arrive, her mind was a whirl of thoughts. I wonder what's going to happen? Should I talk to somepony about this appointment? She looked again at the appointment slip before her, and frowned deeply. It just seems too fantastic to be real. There's always a catch.

A pony ran by, and for some reason, she felt compelled to watch her as she rounded the corner. I wonder still how many of these ponies are changelings in disguise. The scene around her seemed so chaotic as she tried to keep track of it all, the pony shouting and hawking his wares at a small stand. There was a gryphon entering the small Gryphonian restaurant, while another exited, no doubt stuffed with the flesh of some poor dead creature.

Magdalena's stomach turned slightly before she turned away from that part of the street, and looked down the other way. She had an excellent view of the Canterlot City Park from her table, and she couldn't help but feel a smile creep over her face as she took note of the lovers trotting beside each other down the paths. There were foals playing in the playground, as mothers watched them from a bench.

One of the mares suddenly got up from her bench and made her way across the grass a few steps to scold her foal for eating the grass in the park. "No dear, that grass is not for eating!" The foal of course began to cry as the grass was taken away from him, and his mother placed him into a stroller. "Let's go home, Daddy's gonna be off work soon."

Other ponies continued to mill about, but Magdalena failed to register everything. At this point her sandwich was gone, but for some reason, what that mare had said rung a bell in her mind; like a familiar memory that she couldn't quite put her hoof onto. She glanced back at the train station's clock tower, and saw it was a quarter to seven. It feels like so much longer than that, she mused to herself. Well, time to go. She left a few bits down on her table, and left for the station at a slow canter.

The station was busy, as usual. Porters galloped back and forth with trolleys of luggage, ponies scrambled to ticket booths and train platforms, and several more of them just walked around the little shops inside the station. Magdalena fell right into the crowd, another faceless mare in a sea of ponies.

Somehow, it felt right to her to just simply do exactly that. To blend into the crowd so effortlessly that she became unnoticed. And unlike how she was a year ago, instead of trying to fight the tide of traffic, she now knew how to flow with it to get where she wanted. Like a leaf on a stream, she used the flow around her to get where she needed to be.

And where she needed to be, happened to be the Friendship Express. It's true, the tickets cost her more, but it was either that, or take the regular train to Ponyville, and suffer having to take the old tracks that are shared with other trains that could take her at minimum four hours to wind down the mountain. Longer if it had to stop to let other trains pass.

No, she thought to herself. It's better this way, I'd rather get home on time to sleep in my own bed, rather than try to get a full nights sleep on the train. She nodded to herself in silent agreement with her thoughts, not caring about the indignant look the pony next to her was giving off at the 'strange pony' that nodded for no reason as she boarded the train.

2/24/14, 9:00 AM, The Punch Bowl in Ponyville, Second Floor, Magdalena's room.

An alarm was ringing in the room, and Magdalena wished for nothing more than for it to stop. "Be quiet,' she mumbled through her pillow. "Just five more minutes..." she faded off before another snore came out of her muzzle. Despite her best wishes however, the alarm kept ringing on it's dresser across the room. It began to shake violently as the hammer clanged quickly between it's bells, causing the mechanical devil to make it's way to the edge.

It demanded her attention, Silence me, or I'll jump! it practically screamed with the bells. It grew dangerously close to the edge, only to have a purple hoof slam it into silence before pushing it back into it's place. "Mags, get up."

Magdalena peeked slightly from under her pillow, and groaned before slamming it down over her face again. "No, I just wanna sleep."

Berry Punch's eyes narrowed slightly as she crossed the room, and quickly snatched the covers off the barely snoozing mare. "I don't have time for this right now," she said in an annoyed tone. "You've got to help me with the store today if you wanna continue to stay here, and I can't afford to have my business partner sleeping all the time."

Magdalena groaned as she slowly creaked out of bed. Wincing as her joints protested with pops and cracks that she could have sworn were new. "Alright, I'm awake anyway I guess," she mumbled, still bleary eyed to the world, and moving no further than the edge of her bed. "What's on my agenda today?"

Berry Punch gave her friend a gentle nudge on her back to send her to her hooves before trotting out of the room. "There's a laundry list of things, but I think you could use some coffee first. And maybe a shower, you look terrible."

Magdalena stretched on the floor for a few moments before standing straight again and grabbing her apron and hat from the peg on the wall. "Hmm, coffee first..." she mumbled before trailing off into a series of grunts and groans that, to be honest, Berry was used to at this point.

She followed the mare down the hall to the kitchen, where a fresh pot of coffee waited for the tired mare. Magdalena grabbed a cup and placed it on the table and stared at it for a moment before adding the black brewed elixir into it. "Oh coffee, tell me lies about all the stuff we can get done together today." She then drank it down in a fast gulping motion that she wouldn't ever do in front of strangers, or most of her friends. Already feeling more awake, she quickly pored another cup of coffee. This time, she opted to add sugar and cream before sipping it politely.

Berry grabbed her own cup of coffee at this point, and sat down at the table across from her friend. She gave her a gentle smile as she dipped a croissant into her cup of coffee. So, you came home late last night, is everything okay?" She grimaced slightly at her own question as Magdalena's expression took a downturn, and she mentally kicked herself for asking, knowing from the look on her face, that the day had finally come, as she knew it would.

Magdalena stared into her cup and watched as the small foam bubbles floated on the top. Not making any sort of real pattern, she still looked at it as if there was one there. "He's dying," she said it quickly, and in a flat voice. As if doing so would detach her from the emotional weight those words carried. It of course, did not.

"Dying?" Berry replied in shock. "But I thought you said that he's getting better, how could he be dying?"

Magdalena winced at her friend and sipped on her cup with pursed lips. "Well, it's more complicated than that, the doctor said he may never wake up..." she trailed off as she sipped on her coffee again, her face locked in a look of intense concentration. "Maybe I was too dramatic with what I said."

Berry looked at Magdalena with narrowed eyes and a deep frown. "Ya think? There's a bit of a difference between not waking up and dying." She took a deep breath and sighed before taking a bite out of her croissant. "Now, what exactly happened last night?"

"Well, the doctor came up to me and said that he was likely to die, or at the very least may never wake up." She spoke in a level voice, but Berry could see that, in fact Magdalena's hooves were shaking as she tried to hold her coffee cup steady. "It's like this, without life support, he would die. With it, he could live for a very long time and never come back to us at all. He... he gave me a set of choices last night, and I have to think about it."

Berry nodded, and gave her friend a compassionate face. As if she understood what Magdalena was going through, despite never being in this same scenario before. "Hey, it's okay if you gotta cry hon, I understand that you don't want him to die. But you just gotta ask yourself, what would he want?"

Magdalena shook her head a few times as tears began to silently drop from her eyes. "No," she said with a crack in her voice. "I mean, I don't know any more. The doctor, he told me that he could save him, but I don't know if it's the right thing to do." Magdalena then pulled something out of her saddle bags, and passed it to Berry.

Poor thing, she must have been exhausted if she slept with those on her back all night, Berry thought to herself as she opened the paper to look at it. It only took a moment for her to read all the information, but once it was all said and done, she now understood why her friend looked more confused than sad. "So, that's how he wants to save him?"

Magdalena nodded as she downed a few more swallows of coffee. "It's all legitimate, I have an appointment with the mop sea to help me on my decision."

"The what," Berry Punch deadpanned.

"Mop sea, M-O-P-C," she said each letter individually as if that were some sort of help. Finally, she groaned and answered with the full name. "The Ministry of Practical Chaos."

"Oh them," she replied with a groan. "That ministry is a joke Mags, they haven't turned out anything for us as a country other than create national disasters, and raised the taxes by point two percent."

"Right," Magdalena said softly as she leaned on the table. "Well, since you know what the doctor wants to do, what do you think? Should I let them make him into a... a changeling?"

Berry almost dropped her croissant and did a spit take, she knew that it was a big decision for Magdalena, but she didn't expect her to ask for advice on it over breakfast like it was the weather. "Uh, umm wow. That's not such a black and white question is it? I mean, it's up to you I think," she said with a shrug. "What I mean to say is that it's not that it's a bad idea, but, don't you think you might be rushing into this? For all we know, he might wake up any day now."

Magdalena nodded a bit as she tried to process all the words her friend had just said. "I guess, it's just that Doctor Offering Heart, he's worried that Burnt Oak might wake up and not be able to function properly, that his brain was without oxygen too long. If he changes him though, then we would know for sure and they might be able to give him a life as a changeling. Or maybe he'll be mentally there still, somewhere and-"

"And you would welcome him home with open arms so he could feed off your love for him," Berry finished with a neutral face. "I'm no expert, but if you think you can handle him like that then do it. But I would suggest you wait a while longer. He may come around."

"May," she echoed the word just to hear it. It sounded hopeful, and dismal at the same time. She chose to hang on to the hope, but couldn't ignore the way that the possibility of a negative outcome was still there. "Well, enough of that," she said with a slap of her hooves against each other. "What's on our agenda today?"

"Well," Berry answered with a smile. "We've still got a few hogsheads of Merlot that we've got to get out of stock, so there's going to be a special on that." She then looked over at the wall where she'd tacked up some notes on a board. "Uhh, today we have a delivery to the Carousel Boutique for one small barrel of our sparkling white zinfandel. Other than that, the usual shop running, and I think we should get started on that vodka distilling before the night is through."

Magdalena nodded numbly to herself for a moment or two and gave a small yawn, as if to kill off the last of the sleepiness that clung to her. "Alright, let's get going."

Things went along pretty slowly that day, but the two mares managed to fill their time by rotating the stock around a little bit. It wasn't until around three in the afternoon that the days monotony was broken by Berry when she took off her apron and gave a bored sigh. "Hey, it's getting late, you mind taking Rarity's order to her shop before you get yourself something to eat?"

Magdalena shrugged before answering, "sure, I don't mind." She rummaged through the shelves behind the counter for a few moments, searching through several orders on hold for the bottles with Rarity's name attached to them. Finally finding the order, she placed them in her saddlebags and headed for the door. "Let me know if something happened when I come back."

"Oh I'm sure you'll know if something happened," Berry replied with a smile. "After all, how hard is it to notice if something turned the shop into a crater. Again."

"Right," Magdalena replied with a small laugh. She knew that it was meant as a joke, but at the same time she understood that it could happen. After all, disasters like that seemed to happen several times before to not only her, but pretty much everypony in Ponyville at one point or another.

When she left the coolness of the store, she was immediately bathed in the bright warmth of the noontime summer sun. The walk to Rarity's wasn't a long walk, and even with a wandering mind, it couldn't wander farther than trying to figure out what she was going to get for lunch before heading back to the shop.

It almost didn't register in her head that she'd already arrived at the boutique, and was waiting for Rarity to arrive after ringing the service bell. When it did register, it was only because she realized that she'd been staring at a dress with a thousand yard stare, and Rarity's magic had taken the service bell away so she would stop ringing it. "Yes, I am here, how can I help you Miss?"

Magdalena smiled sheepishly and gave an embarrassed laugh, "Sorry about that, I'm from The Punch Bowl, and I have a delivery for two bottles of Merlot."

Rarity gave a polite smile to Magdalena, and was quick to head over to her register. "Ah, so that's where I know you from, you work for Berry, correct?" Magdalena gave her friendliest smile possible as she nodded. "Yes, I remember now," Rarity said as she opened a drawer, pulling several receipts out. "If I remember correctly, there's supposed to be a small bottle of Cabernet as well," she said while squinting at the paper scrap without her glasses.

"Oh," Magdalena said as she placed the pair of bottles on the counter. "The Cabernet isn't quite ready yet, needs just a tad more time to get ready."

"I see," Rarity said with a nod. "Well, thank you very much for coming all the way out here to deliver my order, is there anything that I could do for you?" She gave the unicorn a small shake of her head and thanked her for her business before heading out the door.

Once left alone to her thoughts, her mind once again started drifting off to Canterlot, and the decision she was still mulling over. Rather than go back to the shop and home, she instead discovered that her hooves had taken her over to Sugar Cube Corner, and that she was already at the counter blankly staring at the cakes in the display case. When did I get here?

She placed an order for an apple cupcake and an ice cream soda, then sat down in a corner by the window to watch ponies go by. Thankfully, the place was mostly empty, and it didn't take long for Pinkie Pie to bring the treats to the table. "Here you go," she said in a cheery voice laying the tray before her.

Magdalena smiled and took a sip from the drink before her, not really paying much attention to Pinkie before going back to looking out the window. She was watching as a trio of fillies tore down the street as the pegasus on a scooter pulled the other two on a wagon, but only with passing interest. Once they were out of sight, she turned back to take a sip, only to find Pinkie was now sitting across from her. "Uhh, hi."

"Hi!" Pinkie almost sang the word before eating a cupcake of her own in one bite. "I'm on my lunch break, and thought you could use the company, you mind?"

She looked back out the window, and watched as a mare with a long pole lit one of the lamps on the street before saying, "No, please join me." She watched as a stallion ran by, stopped to look at a watch on his wrist, then continued to gallop down the road.

The two mares sat silent for a few more minutes before Pinkie finally asked, "What's wrong?"

Magdalena was taken aback by the question, and blinked in shock. "Wrong? Nothing, I mean, not really, why you ask?" She looked at Pinkie with a smile, the same smile that she'd had for the last hour or so, only to feel it melt away under Pinkies gaze.

"I know a fake smile when I see it," Pinkie said with an unusually serious look on her features. "Come on, what's going on? Is it something to do with," she looked around before whispering, "you know."

Magdalena raised an eyebrow at Pinkie, "no, no I don't know." The two of them looked at each other in silence for a few more moments, the rest of the world acting as if nothing were wrong at the moment. Magdalena felt a chill cross her back and she looked away.

Pinkie had a look on her face that Magdalena wasn't sure how to read, it was somewhere between trying to be friendly, but serious, and she was not sure on how to take that. "Burnt Oak isn't coming home, is he?"

There it was, asked out in the open to hang between them. Magdalena took a bite out of her cupcake and gave a small nod. "Pinkie, everypony in town knows that you know everypony, do you remember," she paused to take a sip of her soda before going on. "Do you remember the changelings?"

It didn't take Magdalena long to explain what the doctor had told her, but it did take several more cupcakes and sodas than planned. Even though Magdalena didn't think of Pinkie as her friend, not especially since she was friends with everypony, she couldn't help but to spill everything to her. The hospital visits, the crying, the doctor's reveal and offer, and how she has an appointment the coming weekend with the Ministry of Practical Chaos to use some sort of device to help her decide.

Despite how long it took to explain, Pinkie proved to be a good listener. When she was done, Pinkie picked up another cupcake and chewed on it slowly. "You know," she said before swallowing. "I think you should wait until you see the device at the ministry." She stopped to look at a clock before standing. "I'm sure everything will be fine, but if you want my opinion, I'd ask Twilight for help."

Magdalena thought to herself for a moment, she knew who the pony in question was, who wouldn't? But other than to go to the library for a book now and then, she wasn't really all that close to the pony. "I'll think it over." She then stood up herself and gave her legs a stretch. "It was nice talking with you, but I ought to head off."

Several hours later, just after nightfall, Magdalena found herself sitting on a blue cushion inside the library as the unicorn that ran it pulled several books from the shelves. "According to their biology, the way that they feed off of love is simply fascinating, they can convert the feeling into an energy, and that energy into a liquid to be stored and digested later."

Twilight continued to prattle on about changeling facts that she didn't really care to hear about. Magdalena looked at a clock on the wall and saw that despite how slowly it's been moving, yet another hour had slipped by since she'd come in for advice. Despite all that, she'd yet to still have an answer from the unicorn. "Twilight, it's getting late and,"

"Oh. Yes! The answer," Twilight said as she opened another book. "I'm not saying that he should do it, or shouldn't, but I am curious, how do they convert a pony into a changeling? Is it like, a biochemical or, maybe it's something to do with DNA structure. Did they say that it was a mind transfer?"

Magdalena did not much care for how this conversation was going. Nor did she care much for how time was moving as slow as possible. She looked again at the clock, and saw that only another moment had passed since she last looked at it.

" Twilight," Magdalena said that she raised a hoof to the air. " I don't wish to intrude, but you still have not actually answered my question."

"Oh yes, your question." Twilight looked at her with inquisitive, yet uncertain eyes before a sheepish smile crossed her lips. "What was your question again?"

Magdalena looked at Twilight as if she wanted to shake her hard and scream. Instead, she simply breathed in and out. "Should I go through with it?"

Twilight finally slowed down and looked away from the book that she was currently holding in her magic. She paused, and gave thought for several moments. Finally, she gave an answer, "part of me wants to say yes, because this would be a fascinating study. But on the other hoof, would I want one of my loved ones to be turned into a changeling? That's the crux, I don't think I would."

Magdalena felt just as conflicted as she did before she came to Twilight, and hung her head in dejection. "I suppose then, you don't really have any advice to give on this subject?"

Twilight paused for several moments, she pulled one of the books out of the pile next to her that she was going through and passed it over to Magdalena with her magic. She then took a scroll and quill, dips it into inkwell and started to scratch some riding onto the paper. "I... Think that you should take this note, and bring it to the ministry of practical chaos."

Magdalena looked over the paper with confusion, "I don't understand. What is that supposed to mean?"

Twilight gave a small half smile and stood up indicating that this particular visit was indeed over. "I'm sorry if you don't understand, but I think the ponies at the ministry will."

Author's Note

I started writing this chapter in 2014, if anyone out there remembers this story and was waiting, I am truly sorry for the long wait. I kept plugging at it a few words at a time over the years, struggling to find what happens next.

I almost canceled this story many times because as the show went on, the changelings became more and more fleshed out, so I shall have to add that this is now (obviously) a different cannon than the show.

Things should pick up now that this one is out.