Pony's shouldn't procrastinate
"Excuse me… Princess Twilight?"
Twilight looked up from her book and realized she dozed off in the park on her favorite bench that had the perfect amount of sunlight to shade ratio for reading. Opening her eyes Fluttershy took up most of her field of view, standing just a few inches from her nose.
"Fluttershy, how many times do I need to tell everypony, it's still Twilight."
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry your majesty. But, I…" Fluttershy rolled her eyes and her hear followed with it to look behind her and avoid Twilight's gaze. "I… was wondering if you any spell about minds….I've got a…. rest…" trailing off, Fluttershy making barely audible noises that nopony could ever hear.
Twilight Sparkle blinked twice, still waking up from her unexpected nap, but her mind was still sharp enough to process most of the request.
"You've got a restless…? A restless animal? Can't stop thinking about something?" Fluttershy bit her lip, standing completely stiff, nervously pawing the ground.
"What's got you so worked up?" Twilight asked, closing her book. Her full attention was on Fluttershy now, and whatever this was, it must've been important enough to Fluttershy for her to come and ask for help.
"I…" was all Fluttershy was able to say before her voice rose nearly twenty octaves, slamming both hooves down over her mouth.
"I'm so sorry." she squeaked as she moved away.
"Fluttershy, you know you don't need to be nervous about asking me for a favor."
"It's…well…um… not important, bye!" Fluttershy quickly said, bolting in the direction of home.
Twilight's expression dropped as she mentally thought 'I should've expected this'. With just a little bit of concentration, a purple aura surrounded Fluttershy and dragged her back through the park. Fluttershy dug in her hooves the whole way, clawing at the ground, trying to latch onto a bench, anything to keep Twilight from bringing her back, but it was futile as she let go and sullenly hung her head as she faced Twilight again.
"What's the problem?" Twilight asked, turning Fluttershy around.
Fluttershy twitched, nervously biting her lip before saying what needed to be said, "I need you to come over in an hour…" Her eyes were clenched shut, wincing before Twilight responded.
"Fluttershy, you need to calm down. I can tell when something is bothering you. I can also tell that if I were to give you that hour, then whatever that problem was, the 'problem' would mysteriously disappear to allow you more time." Fluttershy gasped,
"So, I'll come over right now and we'll nip this problem in the bud together. Alright?" Fluttershy shrank,
"Okay" she whispered, "Wait, no! You can't come over right now!"
Twilight Sparkle already packed her book away into the saddlebag and was on all fours. Fluttershy stood in her way, "My… house is dirty!" she exclaimed,
"Then I'll help you clean it." Twilight said, pressing foreward.
"Angel is sick, and I don't want you to get sick as well!"
"I'll be sure to be careful around Angel then." Twilight rolled her eyes as they reached the edge of the park, Fluttershy was becoming more desperate with her excuses.
"There's no reason you should come over right now." "I'm in the middle of something." followed with "It’s not that important anyway."
"Fluttershy, whatever this is, it's bothering you, you need to take a deep breath and admit that whatever is bothering you, it's only going to get worse if you just delay it."
Twilight said rolling her eyes. As they walked closer to Fluttershy's cabin, Fluttershy finally threw herself at Twilight's hooves.
"Please don’t go in there! You can't look!" Twilight dragged Fluttershy all the way to the door.
"Whatever this is, we are going to fix it." Twilight said, pushing the door open with her magic. Fluttershy wailed a small "no." in protest, but Twilight charged in.
"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight said, spotting the cyan pony awkwardly waving at her as they strolled in. Twilight suspiciously eyed Rainbow Dash and then Fluttershy who was back on her hooves and calm.
"Alright, Fluttershy, what's the problem?"
"Nothing." She said confidently,
"And this restless animal? And as for you, Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?"
"I'm…ugh… picking up some animal food!" "Oh really, what animal do you own?"
"A turtle."
"What's it's name?"
"Tank."
"And what does it eat?"
"Lettuce."
"Then why not buy some at the market in town?" Twilight asked, assuring herself that whatever these two were trying to cover up, she would get to the bottom of it eventually.
"Oh, um, Tank prefers Fluttershy's home grown over store bought. Isn't that right Fluttershy?" She excitedly nodded, running into the kitchen to grab lettuce and some other greens.
"The farmers market?" Twilight asked accusingly as Fluttershy shoved a hoof full of vegetables into Rainbow Dash's hooves.
"Well, if that's it, you really should be going, alright, see you tomorrow." Fluttershy said, pushing Twilight towards the door." Twilght slammed the door shut,
"You didn’t correct Rainbow Dash. Tank is a tortoise!"
Fluttershy's cheeks turned red as she tried to think of something to say. Rainbow Dash quickly said "Alright, thankyou gottagobye!" and flew out of Fluttershy's house before Twilight could protest. Fluttershy heaved a sigh of relief, Twilight turned to face her.
"Whatever it is, it's only going to get worse if you keep delaying it like this." She said, going for the door.
"Sorry to take up your time!" She said, closing the door behind Twilight.
Rainbow Dash looped around and dove down the chimney, "That was close!" She yelled as she crashed into the fireplace,
"I thought you were going to get her to help!"
"I thought you were going to just come out and say it."
"And I thought we both agreed that this wasn't a great plan at all!" Rainbow Dash said,
"We just need a little bit more time until we announce it to everyone, this is going to be a big step." Fluttershy said.
Twilight watched from the window, listening in on their conversation. "What announcement?" she said to herself.
Walking back to the library, Rainbow Dash spotted the familiar lavender pony while soaring over town and stopped just above her friend.
"Hey, Twilight, what's up?" she said, hovering off the ground before touching down.
"What's the big announcement you and Fluttershy have?" Twilight asked, eyeing Rainbow Dash up and down. She stepped back, visibly surprised.
"You know about that?! But we've been working on it for… How did you know that?" She asked incredulously.
"It wasn't hard. Especially when you don't wait more than a few minutes to talk to Fluttershy in private."
"But we were in private! How much do you know?"
"Enough." Twilight said, despite not knowing any details at all.
Rainbow Dash moaned, "Agh! The surprise is ruined! Couldn't keep any details to herself could she?" Rainbow Dash took off towards Fluttershy's cabin, leaving Twilight to wonder what the big announcement was suppose to be.
Rainbow Dash started yelling for Fluttershy before she even reached her house "Fluttershy! Fluttershy!" She shouted, bursting through the front door. The frightened response Rainbow Dash expected was instead a blinding flash of light. As the spots cleared from her eyes, Pinky Pie was standing in the doorway.
"How do you like my exploding camera!" she excitedly shouted.
"Needs…work" Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her eyes. Fluttershy looked to Pinkie Pie and then to Rainbow Dash,
"Twilight found out about our secret!"
"Wait, the secret one or the other one?"
"The only one we've been spending months trying to hide! I can't believe she found out!"
"Rainbow, Twilight doesn't know."
"Wait, Huh?"
"False alarm." Fluttershy said, smiling.
"Sheesh! I nearly had a heart attack! I've been flying all over the place to get this thing ready."
"What thing?" Pinkie Pie asked,
"You know, the surprise we've all been working on for Twilight, the one that's going to knock her off her feet."
"You really think so?" Pinkie asked,
"I know so, she won't even know what to think! Oh, and Pinky, did you bring the actual camera?"
"Oh, you actually wanted it? I thought it would be a good time to see how my latest prank turned out."
"So…"
"Well my exploding camera…exploded." Rainbow Dash's wings dropped as she sighed.
"I guess we'll have to save it for later."
"Well, sorry for the false alarm, I thought it was the other thing Twilight found out about." Fluttershy suddenly clasped a hoof over her mouth.
"What thing?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Nothing!" She said, shoving Rainbow Dash outside as well.
Pinky Pie remained, "This isn't going to work" she said in her singsongy voice,
"Especially if you can't trust your friends with this."
"They wont understand."
"Yes they will! I know that Twilight will understand, Rarity will come around. AppleJack and Rainbow Dash will probably put up the most fight, but once they see how amazing you can be with any creature or pony, everypony will start to come around. I mean, you were able to convince Discord to be good, and he didn't even do it willingly!"
"You're right, Pinky Pie. But, tomorrow, I want to think about how I'm going to do this."
"Alright, Fluttershy, but we need to do this in the morning though, I'm not sure how much longer I can wait!"
Author's Note
Much more to come in the next chapter, I just needed to get the intro out of the way because I felt compelled to drop some foreshadowing and see how it felt to write for each character.
It was hours until morning as Fluttershy frantically pounded her hoof on the door to Golden Oaks library. The windows were dark but she could hear heavy breathing inside. With a look of worry on her face, she flew around the house to Twilight's window and knocked louder. The glass made a much more solid noise as purple pony on the bed stirred, then sat upright. Her horn glowed a small but bright light into the window. Frowning, Twilight was blinded by her own light, but pushed open the window open with her magic, and toned down the brightness of her spell, allowing Fluttershy in.
"Fluttershy? It's past the middle of the night! What's going on?"
"Well, you see… um… I really need your help right now. It's gotten worse."
Rubbing her eyes, she was far from wide awake, but she understood.
"Didn't I tell you something like this would happen unless we did something about it?" Twilight lectured, throwing off the covers to her bed.
Tossing her pillow to the headrest, she nearly tripped over Spike and his basket but instead jumped over the beds and expanded her wings, floating down to the ground floor.
"Oh, too fast, too fast! Cramp! Cramp!" Twilight said, swishing her wings up and down. Spike was still lost in sleep and completely oblivious to the world around him.
"Come on, let's go." Fluttershy said, pushing the door open for Twilight with her hoof.
Racing through Ponyville and to the edge of the forest where Fluttershy's cabin resided, both ponies heard moaning coming from the inside.
"Who is that?" Twilight asked, looking up to Fluttershy.
"It's… um…" Fluttershy dropped down in front of Twilight and stopped her from going inside.
"Wait, Twilight. Before I open this door I want you to promise me that no matter what, whoever they are, you will help them." Fluttershy said.
Behind her the moaning was turning into short fits of anguished cries.
"Fluttershy, you dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night. I'm already here, so of course I'll help."
"Pinkie promise?" Fluttershy asked.
"I cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight responded, foregoing the part where she managed to stick her
hoof into her eye as she usually did.
"Okay," Fluttershy said, pushing open the door.
Twilight gasped, looking at the changeling doubled over in pain on Fluttershy's floor. The couch was made up, with a glass of water on the tableside, but the blanket and pillow were both thrown about.
He was the source of the moaning, clutching his temples, rocking in the fetal position.
"Fluttershy!" Twilght yelled, throwing up her wings in defense. "You brought a changeling here?! Why did you bring a changeling here?! They are our sworn enemy!"
"You're wrong Twilight Sparkle! Changelings are kind and gentle creatures who were only following the orders that their queen made them act out. Chrysalis is the one we angered! She is the reason Nyx is in so much pain right now!" Twilight glanced down at the changling, he looked up and saw her, the solid emerald eyes calling out to her.
"Why?" Twilight asked,
"Her voice!" Nyx said between strained moans,
Twilight stared at Nyx who cringed again, opening his jaw to cry out but no sound would come. That moment gave Twilight the needed clarity.
"I'm not sure I know a spell that can stop this." She said, searching her memories that could help the changeling in any way.
"Please." He begged, shuddering.
"Alright, but… you might want to prepare yourself. I'm not sure how this will work." Twilight said. Focusing her thoughts, Nyx was surrounded in a purple aura, feeling Twilight's energy seep into him, then the voice that was constantly invading his thoughts, weighing down on his mind was gone. Nyx's body relaxed, hooves dropping to the side.
"Thank you." He said, closing his eyes. Twilight continued casting the spell until Nyx was fully asleep, but when she lifted the spell, a pained expression returned to his face.
"What's wrong? What spell did you use?" Fluttershy asked,
"I don't know enough about the hive mind connection he shares with Chrysalis to completely stop it. All I cast was just a simple nullification spell, but the downside is that once I stopped casting it, Chrysalis was able to reconnect, she's probably raving right now by the looks of it."
Twilight recast the spell, and a look of peace returned to Nyx, as he settled down again from his restless state.
"Fluttershy, could run back to the library, and look for a book called "We Think as One"? It should be on the first floor, right hand side of the library from when you walk in, third case from the entrance, eighth shelf up, seventh book from the right. Oh, and "Pony Psychology" should be just above that. Grab that one too."
"Of course, anything else?"
"The advanced copy of "Pony Psychology, Fundamentals, Volume 3, 5, 6, 9, and… just to be sure Volume 12."
"Uh-huh, okay, I'll be right back."
"And Fluttershy?"
"Yes?" She said, stopping inches from the door.
"The complete works of Spells to Ease the Troubled Mind 6th print edition, I've made the most notes in that one. It's at Rarity's house."
"Why does Rarity have it?"
"Actually, she passed it off to the Spa Ponies Locus and Aloe…wait no, they returned it, then Pinkie grabbed it for the Cakes. The Cakes gave it back to Rarity, then I remember Sweetie Bell trying to use it on herself, Apple bloom, and Scootaloo for cutie marks."
"So Rarity's house."
"Yep, I'll stay here and try to give Nyx some rest, then maybe change it up a bit after I've had time to think about it."
After gathering all the books Twilight requested, the sun was barely peaking over the horizon, and Fluttershy froze when the sun touched her mane.
"Celestia!" she screamed in her thoughts. "Oh no, oh no, oh no." Fluttershy said to herself, "I haven't even thought about the princess. How would she react…"
A mental image flashed in her mind of Nyx standing infront of Celestia, judged, then a bright blast of her alicorn magic and Nyx disappearing from all of existence. Fluttershy squeaked out in horror of the thought.
"She would never agree to this!" Tears formed around the edge of her eyes. "But he's so nice!" She said to herself. Fluttershy tried to push the ideas from her mind as she flapped her wings and rose up to peer through the windows of Rarity's house. The fashionista was still asleep, but stirring as the light poured in through the windows.
"WHATCHA doing, Fluttershy?" Sweetie Bell yelled, Fluttershy bumped into Rarity's window and dropped the books onto the ground which nearly crushed the white little filly along with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.
They hardly even flinched when one volume of "Pony Psychology, Fundamentals" nearly crushed Scootaloo. The Cutie Mark
Crusaders only yawned and bent down to help pick up the books as Fluttershy touched down.
"My, I'm so sorry, are all of you okay? I meant to only see if Rarity was awake. What are you three doing up so early?"
"Yeah, she's been sleeping like a rock after she started reading this book Twilight let her use." Sweetie Bell said.
"We were trying to get cutie marks in Mediation…but we all fell asleep in our clubhouse. Still no cutie mark for sleeping either." Scootaloo said with a disappointed face.
"Oh, would that book happen to be "Spells to Ease the Troubled Mind"?" Fluttershy asked,
"Yep, it's right here." Apple Bloom said, pulling out a book from the wagon.
"We kinda got it a little waxy after forgetting about some candles when Sweetie Bell cast the first spell." Scootaloo said.
"Yeah, and having that much patience is tiring." Sweetie Bell said
"Well it's not ma' fault somepony left candles on top of the shelf over the book." Applebloom said, looking at Scootaloo.
"And who's idea was it to leave the incense burning? That scent wont get out of our manes for a week! Rarity won't let me leave the tub once she wakes up!"
Fluttershy finally interjected. "Well, it sounds like you should all get cleaned up and have some real rest, you wouldn't want a cutie mark in arguing or bickering."
AppleBloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo’s faces all lit up.
"Hey! We haven't tried that yet! We could even try to be lawyers!"
"Yes we have, we've already tried that, and we practically do it every other time we decide on doin' something!" Applebloom argued.
"No we don't." Sweetie Bell said, winking.
"Oh!" The other two Cutie Mark Crusaders said in unison, winking back at each other.
Fluttershy quickly grabbed the book from them and left the three arguing out in the open.
Rarity slammed her windows open, eye mask still on and wrapped up in her robe,
"Some ponies are trying to sleep!" she yelled out before shutting them with such a tremendous force that it made the panes rattle.
Hauling all the books was considerably harder with all of their bearing weight, when suddenly she heard another voice in the early morning light
"Hey, Fluttershy! Whatcha dooooin’?" Pinkie Pie asked,
"Oh, good morning Pinkie Pie, I'm delievering these books to Twilight, I can't really chat right now."
"Sounds like something big is going on!" Pinkie Pie excitedly gleemed at.
Fluttershy looked to Pinkie and then forward down the path.
"Ah, no, but you can come by later-. I mean no! Don't come by, it's…" Pinkie was bouncing a little higher with each moment.
"It's, it's, it is… it will be… I can tell it's something big! I was a twitchin' when I woke up! And it's a doozy, like a something's hiding a big secret, doozy!" Pinkie Pie had the starry look of excitement in her eyes, one that was about to discover a surprise.
"I'm so sorry, I'll talk to you later!" She said, doubling her efforts to get back to Twilight.
"Be over soon!" Pinkie Pie yelled, waving as Fluttershy unclenched her mind from the thought of somepony else knowing before they were ready.
Finally touching down inside of her own home, Twilight was on her haunches, hunched over Nyx who was back on the couch with a pillow under his head and a blanket pulled up to his shoulders. They were both asleep, but a small glow of Twilight's magic was around her horn and Nyx's body.
"Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, her horn glowed brighter as she woke up, Nyx woke up as well as the spell broke.
Twilight slowly looked up at Fluttershy, tears were coming down Twilight's eyes and onto the floor. Fluttershy finally noticed the good sized puddle of tears on the floor beneath Twilight's chin.
"What's wrong?" She asked, Twilight looked down at Nyx, coming in close for a hug him while crying.
The changeling appeared to be crying as well as he accepted the unconditional love. Their gaze was unbroken as Fluttershy asked a second time, but Twilight refused to look up until a tear splashed down onto Nyx’s face. He reached up, wiping her eyes and nodded towards Fluttershy, finally breaking the silent moment’s they were sharing.
"I was reading his mind, Fluttershy. It was… sad."
Fluttershy quickly grabbed a box of tissues for Twilight and to mop up the puddle.
"Tell me what happened."
"After you left, I levitated Nyx back onto the couch and thought about how I was going to tackle the problem." Casting a weary glance at Nyx, Twilight was on the verge of tears again. "Fluttershy, I can see why you helped him, you saw the pain he was dealing with on inside, on the outside. I couldn't even tell until I saw-" Twilight paused to sob, "To better understand what I needed to do, I figured the best idea would've been to read his mind. Nyx let me, but I finally know. Her voice, Fluttershy, always there, always at the back of your mind, compelling you like the thoughts came from yourself."
“I want to return, beg forgiveness, and make these thoughts go away, but no matter what, I had to come here first, I needed to know about Fluttershy and you five. But, now, it's like she's standing over me. Right here, I can feel her breath, Fluttershy, blowing into my ears!" Nyx said, reaching out to her.
He stopped, shuddering twice before a voice was sent through Nyx. His eyes flashed open into a green glow as his slips parted into a devious smile.
"Is that truly the way he feels, such a clever name too, Nyx."
"Chrysallis! Why did you take control of him?" Twilight demanded to know, Chrysalis sighed.
"Oh Twilight, you've changed, grown, my scouts were right! You looked quite fashionable in your coronation dress as well. Just do away with your odd color scheme and you would be well on your way onto becoming a proper changeling."
"Can it Chrysalis, why are you here?"
"Queen, if you wouldn't mind retaining some proper manners, I'll over look the slip since you are now a princess after all, but the formalities are always welcome." Chrysalis said, ignoring Twilight's demands.
"Queen Chrysalis" Twilight said spitefully,
"Much better."
"Why did you take control of Nyx's body?"
"This subject, Nyx, his memory was very selective on the few things he retained about him while going through the conversion process."
"You changed him?" Twilight shouted, Chrysallis only frowned,
"Then you do not know he came willingly, living in two separate state of minds. One filled with a wicked love was absorbed into the memories of all changelings while the other, not given the respect a pony should give to their inner voice took hold."
"What do you mean, two separate state of minds? And why would he become a changeling willingly?! How are you even able to do that?"
Twilight shuddered at the thought of a pony submitting to becoming a changeling, Fluttershy shook uncontrollably as wave after wave of coldness swept over her. A false hope made her smile awkwardly, telling herself that what the queen was saying was a lie.
"Oh Twilight Sparkle, there are so few things you actually know about our kind. I digress that the pony who came to me long ago was sad, violent, broken, mind split between two realities that constantly fought. However, when one mind dissolved into the glorious pool of our thoughts, the second mind took hold in the brain of a changeling so frightened and worrying of what happened to him. What was this new hunger? Food just doesn't cut it, needing to feed three times a day on food while as love will sustain a changeling for days, weeks if they bring their stored love back to me so it may be dispersed amongst my children."
"Why are you telling us this?"
"Oh, idle chit-chat so that I can direct the conversation to what I truly want for you to do. Right now, I'm in complete control of this changeling. Mind, body, spirit, each I can crush with my thoughts alone if I gave just a little more effort into making sure Nyx feels every agonizing moment of it. That would be amusing, it would reinforce others not to leave, but it's in this moment I offer you a challenge Twilight Sparkle. A test. Break my grip on this changeling's mind and you and the yellow one shall have him. Fail, and I'll let you watch him your life." Chrysalis said through Nyx. The changeling queen smiled as she reclined, watching Fluttershy quiver behind Twilight as she thought of a response.
"I'll need time, Chrysalis. Fluttershy, it's up to us to break Chrysalis's grip, and I have an idea on how we're going to do this." Chrysalis raised an eye to Twilight, doubting her solution already.
Twilight looked over all her books one last time, discerning important information for later and quipping out small details that might aid them in severing the connection with Chrysalis. "All those voices," Twilight said, "They were his brothers and sisters." Twilight commented.
"Yes, my children." Chrysalis said, "They're an active bunch, rebuilding and never batting an eye to a single command. You would make for an interesting changeling Twilight, your knowledge of the world and magic being shared amongst the hive. I daresay you might even keep your individuality. But, ponies who come seeking a different aid, a peace of mind that comes from thousands of others, it's euphoric to feeling your body move without a reason." Chrysalis said, looking around Fluttershy's cabin.
"It never bothered them, I talk to my children as every good mother should, and they're always so willing to please. Just like you Twilight, so willing to please the princess."
Twilight shot Chrysalis a dead look to focus her anger and concentration.
"Listen Fluttershy, I think I know what to do. I want you to trust me, it may feel a little weird, but it will only be temporary."
"That doesn't sound too reassuring."
"Don't worry, I'm confident that this will work." ‘In theory’ She mentally added.
Fluttershy winced, trying to mentally prepare herself.
"All right, Chrysalis, I'm asking you to leave. I'll need Nyx here and ready."
The changeling queen tilted Nyx’s head and shrugged as his eyes faded from blue back to emerald green.
Nyx looked around, fearing what happened as his memories failed to say what happened in the last few minutes.
“Nyx, stand up, and look at Fluttershy. Fluttershy, I want you standing right across from Nyx. Nyx, focus solely on Fluttershy alone,
whatever you do, do not think of any other pony but Fluttershy. Stare into each other's eyes, and imagine saying hello with your minds. Then, mentally shaking each other's hooves, can you imagine it?"
Twilight's horn glowed as the magic began to build up,
"Keep those hooves close, get closer together, as if you're both throwing hooves around each other in a hug."
Twilight's horn became brighter,
"And…" ‘Snip’. Twilight launched a bolt of energy at Nyx, severing the hivemind connection.
His jaw dropped, falling forward into Fluttershy. She grabbed him before he could fall to the floor. With a second blast of energy, Twilight bridged Fluttershy and Nyx's mind together. Both of their eyes widened before they both collapsed onto the floor.
It was a fitful hour as Twilight Sparkle waited for Fluttershy and their new friend Nyx, the changeling to wake up from the strenuous event. Twilight hoped that her experiment worked, and smiled as she saw Fluttershy move her wings and lift her head. She looked at Twilight, then Nyx.
"Nyx?" The changling woke up instantly, staring at Fluttershy, he was smiling and they both looked at each other for the longest amount of time before Twilight realized she was missing out on an entire conversation.
"It's a lot quieter, huh, Nyx?" Twilight asked,
Nyx refrained for a moment longer then looked at Twilight.
"It's so quiet." Nyx said, shuttering.
"But I still have someone to talk to, someone I want to talk to." he said, looking at Fluttershy.
She hadn't spoken a word since, and they went back to staring at each other. Nyx could feel Fluttershy's smile, it was gentle as a feather brushing against his own mind. Brought to tears of joy again, Twilight let them keep their silence until they finally broke apart.
"Thank you Twilight. The thoughts me and Fluttershy share bring warmth to my heart."
"I'm sorry for not being clear about this Fluttershy, but I had to break the bond between Chrysalis and Nyx, but I was worried that his mind would try to reestablish a connection with her, so I made sure that when he broke away, the first thing his mind would latch onto was you. And Nyx, this won't be permanent, once I figure out how to loop your thoughts back to yourself, everything you think will be yours alone."
"It's alright Twilight, I enjoy talking with Nyx. When we first met, we had a hard time communicating because of our differences, but now we understand each other perfectly."
"How did you meet in the first place? How did you know about Fluttershy, Nyx?"
'
"It was a thought that was tossed out into the hive mind, one that just passed by all the other changelings, but when I heard it, and saw your yellow coat and pink main, I thought it was funny how you cared for the animals."
"I do not think it's funny!" Fluttershy responded,
"I thought it was funny that there was somepony who cared about others. In the hive, there's nopony like that. The workers build and if they fall, they get trampled and forgotten. If the scouts get captured or are lost, then there's no changeling to come looking for them. The only ones who would even…"
Nyx looked at Fluttershy for a moment to search for the right word.
"Humble themselves into helping others are the healers. We all heal pretty well ourselves, we're able to produce a small amount of green resin that heals and gets us through tougher times, but when we don't take in any food, or love, or anything, the restlessness of one starving changeling spreads to another. We start feeding off each other's emotions, and that's where the real problems begin. I was holding onto this one thought that brought me happiness, something I could look forward to if I broke away. The distant chance that once I put this world behind me, I could find this pony, and she would help me."
Fluttershy gasped as another memory was shared.
"The changelings could tell that love was being stored. They all latched onto me, even the Queen. Our resources become exhausted if we rely too much on them. So the weeks that I held onto this one thing that brought joy into my life, was also killing me."
"I'm so sorry that I was the cause of so much of your pain." Fluttershy said,
Nyx was shook his head, grabbing Fluttershy's fore hoof
"No, don't apologize. I could never be happier, I… didn't want your face to be chipped away, or the thought of your kindness to disappear."
Fluttershy briefly looked at the reflection of herself in Nyx's green eyes, but then noticed a bright pink mane hopping up and down outside on the pathway, coming for her door. Fluttershy gasped, and Nyx instinctively turned as well,
"It's Pinkie Pie!" Fluttershy said, Twilight turned and saw Pinkie get closer with every bounce.
"She'll freak!" Nyx said,
"Quick, change into somepony!" Twilight urged.
"Ugh, uhm…" Nyx stammered, thinking to himself. All three of them heard the knocking of a hoof on Fluttershy's door.
"Fluttershy! It's later! I want to see this surprise you're hiding!" Twilight threw the curtains shut with her magic.
"Well?" Twilight said, looking at Nyx.
"I can't think of any pony to change into!"
"Just a minute Pinkie!" Fluttershy said,
"All right, but I'm counting!" Pinkie yelled through the door, "One, two, three,"
"Well, who was the last pony you saw that wasn't Pinkie, Fluttershy, or me?"
"It would've been Rainbow Dash, she was here yesterday just after you left." Nyx said,
"Then change into her!"
"But what if the pink one has already seen her today?"
"Does it matter or do we want to just come straight out with this?"
"I'd prefer to do it all at once rather than deal with the shock four more times."
"Then change into Rainbow!" Twilight said,
"Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine." Pinkie shouted out loud.
Nyx tried to concentrate, remembering the motions of taking up a disguise. But as he opened his eyes, his hooves were still the same black chitin armor, minus the holes and mane that barely came past his ears.
"Fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four."
"Quick, hold on!" Twilight said, teleporting Nyx away.
Pinkie Pie reached sixty and burst through the door, only to see scorch marks of where Nyx was standing and both Fluttershy and Twilight giving eerily suspicious smiles.
"Hi, Pinkie Pie! We weren't expecting you so soon." Twilight said.
"Well, Fluttershy said she had a surprise, and you know you can’t keep something like that hidden for long, especially from me! So where is it? Huh? Huh? Huh? I woke up twitching, and now it's- zzt!- Oh, it's really close, I can feel it! And a doosy too! Whatcha hiding?" Pinkie Pie was literally shaking with excitement and curiosity.
"Pinkie, I know that you're excited, but we want the other girls to be here when we show it."
"Is it a surprise special event party?"
"No, just something Fluttershy wants to show us." Pinkie wore a determined look in her eyes, wanting to know the secret before everypony else.
"What time?" She asked
"What time?"
"What time are you going to show it off?"
"After everypony has some free time I guess."
"Well that shouldn't be a problem, because I told them to come here as soon as possible on my way here!"
"Gee, thanks Pinkie." Twilight said anticlimactcally, Pinkie Pie excitedly shook her head.
"Applejack is the closest, so she should be the first one here, unless Rainbow Dash decided to race AJ. In that case they'll both be here really soon! And Rarity was already done putting on her morning make up when I told her, so she should be right behind me!"
"Really Pinkie, I can't thank you enough." Twilight said, rolling her eyes and raising the amount of sarcasm in her voice
.
Pinkie pie only grinned harder, planting herself infront of the door to hum while she waited for the next pony to knock on the door.
"Hey, Fluttershy." Twilight whispered, "Are you still talking to-" Twilight looked towards the back door to her cottage, Fluttershy nodded.
"And? Why couldn't he change?"
"He said something's different! Like the times before it's always been about changing to get what they want. But to not have her voice in his head was all he wanted."
"Well, tell him that he better want to change, so that we can slowly break the news to everypony, or else just bringing him in as is might scare them."
"Uh-huh. Uh-hm. Yeah, go on." Fluttershy said.
"Fluttershy, you're talking out loud."
"Okay."
"Now what?"
"He says that he's stuck."
"Stuck? Where?" Fluttershy paused for a moment, waiting for Nyx to respond.
"He says it's not that kind of stuck."
"Stuck how?"
"He sortof stopped? Uh-huh, okay, did you try closing your eyes and concentraiting really, really, hard? Really, really, really hard? Well if it hurts then just stop!"
"Fluttershy! You're talking out loud!"
"Oh! I'm sorry, it sounds like he's right next to me, and it just feels so natural to talk out loud."
“Well, keep it down. He's outback right? I'll see if I can help him out."
Twilight looked back to Pinkie who still had her eyes glued to the front door, hoping another friend would arrive soon. Pushing on the back door, Nyx was shaking as he tried to concentrate harder on changing into a pony.
"What's wrong?"
"Have you ever done something so many times that all of the sudden, it doesn't make sense and you can't remember? Like your mind having a mental lapse? That is what it's like for me right now."
"Why?"
"I don't know! It's like, the cutoff made me tired, and…" Nyx's knee's buckled and he fell to the ground.
"Nyx! Wake up!" His head rose off the ground,
"Sorry, just, haven't regained my strength for a while."
"It's from food and love, right? When was the last time you've eaten?"
"Yesterday evening, but I'm not hungry, It's… her."
"Chrysalis?"
"What? No…yes. Maybe, I don't know! It's Fluttershy, I haven't even remotely thought about feeding since I left, especially since I've been feeling the love coming from her. It's unconditional! I've never felt that, it's always been ripped from bodies of unconscious mares and stallions, plucked from their most deepest thoughts that …drain them…of all…life." Nyx looked to the ground, more aware of the depth that the changelings have made on pony's lives.
Inside, Pinkie shouted "Welcome to Casa de Fluttershy, AJ! Twilight's out back, getting the surprise ready!"
"How did she know that? Oh wait, it's Pinkie."
"This better be a darn good surprise, Fluttershy, Pinkie was a hollerin' louder than the rooster, nearly made him quit his job this mornin', poor thing. I convinced him to stay though, no thanks to you, Pinkie." Pinkie crowed like a rooster,
"He's got nothing on this pony! I say let him leave!"
"Twilight, I don’t know what to do."
"Well, plan B is to just come out and say it. We can see what we can do before-"
"Hey Fluttershy! What's the big surprise Pinkie's been blabbing about?" Rainbow Dash shouted, "Is it breakfast? cause Pinkie kinda made a mess in my kitchen when she steered her balloons up through my house."
"Listen, just focus, go through the motions of changing into some other pony. Imagine, the concentration, the way you felt as you changed."
Nyx exhaled and closed his eyes, his chitin hide glowed a bright green, but began to dim.
"Let's see if I can give you a little push." Twilight's horn glowed with magical energy, it spread to Nyx and coated him. Glowing brighter, feathers sprouted over his wings, his mane and tail turned purple and pink as his coat turned lavender.
As Twilight pushed him along, Nyx's eyes shot open, "Stop!" he yelled, the transformation was already complete, but Nyx stumbled backwards away from Twilight.
"Just stop! Keep away from me!" Twilight looked at Nyx in confusion, he was shaking.
"Don't use any magic on me." Nyx said with Twilight's voice.
"What happened?"
"You. Her. that magic is different. I heard her voice."
"But that's impossible, I cut Chrysalis off."
"I still heard her."
"I don't know what's going on, I don't know enough about changeling magic yet to understand, but, if we can get through the next hour-"
"Fluttershy, is that Twilight I heard shouting as I walked up to your door? Where is she?"
"Welcome in Rarity, Twilight's out back, Pinkie sort of forced the 'surprise' up a few hours."
"Well, did it really need to be at the break of dawn then?"
"It's actually eight o' clock, but-" Fluttershy began,
"But- nothing! What is it? Is it presents! A new animal? A coltfriend?" Pinkie pie probed,
"Yeah, common Twilight! We know your back their, hurry up! I'm about as curious as Pinkie Pie on this one!" Applejack said
Twilight moaned, "Just, let me talk for two seconds, then come in." she said to Nyx.
Teleporting inside, Twilight smiled, "Welcome girls, and Pinkie, to Fluttershy's big announcement, you're probably wondering why I'm stalling, but it's mainly because we weren't planning on telling anyone, until after we were sure that everypony wouldn't freak out. But that's out the window, so, I'd like to introduce some pony to you."
Pushing open the door, Nyx walking in nervously as Twilight's double. Every pony, including Fluttershy was shocked,
"Darlin, did you do that magicky, clone spell like Pinkie did a while back? I know your always busy, but we only need one Twilight."
"No girls," Twilight said, looking to Nyx. "Meet Nyx." Twilight said, Nyx smiled awkwardly and waved,
Twilight whispered "change back!"
Changing back into his true self, the green flames that surrounded him seemed much brighter and threatening then they've ever been before. Nyx eyed the six ponies around him, hoping for a positive response.
Rarity screamed, Pinkie screamed because Rarity screamed and didn't want to feel left out, Applejack took up the defensive and charged Nyx, hopped onto her front hooves, pivoting around and bucking him into the wall with enough force to shake the whole house. Rainbow Dash, watching Nyx slide down onto the ground, pinned him to the spot
.
"What's the deal Twilight! Why'd you bring him here?" Applejack shouted.
"And what are you up to, Nyx? If that's your real name." Rainbow Dash yelled, pressing her forehoof into Nyx's neck.
"Now stop that this instance! Nyx never hurt you, I invited him in, and this was my idea! You do not get to beat him up just because of what he looks like, or where he's from!" Fluttershy yelled
"He's a changeling, Fluttershy! They already attacked Canterlot, the princesses, Cadence and Shining Armor, Canterlot, us, and their Queen had her heart set on destroying us because we stopped her!" Applejack bluntly reasoned.
"If you put it like that, then you don't see his side, he's different! He's trying to get away from Chrysalis!" Fluttershy retorted.
"Rainbow, put Nyx down, Fluttershy does have a point, we don't know his side of the story except for Fluttershy and Twilight vouching for him." Rarity said.
"Please," Nyx managed to say with his throat closed off by Rainbow Dash.
"So speak up," Rainbow Dash said, letting Nyx drop to the floor.
Rubbing his throat twice, he coughed.
"I was a violent pony before this." Nyx began, gesturing to himself. Their interest peaked, Twilight could tell he was carefully planning his next words as Fluttershy gave him encouragement.
“I knew it!” Rainbow Dash said, everypony quickly shushed her to allow Nyx to keep speaking.
"Before deciding to let myself join the hive, someone else was controlling me. Not Chrysalis, but another inner voice. This one was angry, violent, a changeling by nature that he wanted to feel other ponies fear. But, when I was in control and this voice was asleep. I was always ashamed of what I’d done. Chrysalis offered a chance for me to break away. To get rid of both of my voices. Day in, I’d feel sick from what I’d said. Day-out, Anger and the thought of getting away with something worse made this voice sadder. So I took that offer, and the angry, mean voice was gone." Twilight remembered glimpsing at a shade of a memory, the voices that were always in his head, telling him what to do, think, and feel. Hearing it Nyx's mouth was very off settling.
"Chrysalis does indeed hate every pony here, and a few other’s in Equestria, but we, the workers, soldiers, scouts, healers, we only hate because we learn it. But, hate without reason… just because, it never makes sense. I was there for the attack on Canterlot, and afterward, I thought I understood her anger. But, the more I thought about it, where did it come from before then? Why after so long did it keep growing more, and more, and more. Every moment before this morning, it was all I could hear. It wasn't always angry, directing and rebuilding ourselves, but it reminded me all too much of the first voice. It’s like the voice made hers’ sound different, even though it was already gone. Maybe it was because of this voice’s memories.”
“Finally, I heard a thought from some other changeling, it was about Fluttershy. I saw it, heard it, and then I wanted to feel it. She was kind. Help me, I thought that it was possible. Help, something different than feeling abandoned. I held onto that thought. Something that could make life better, but I couldn't leave without feeling the hunger of a thousand changelings carve apart my emotions until they were raw and scarred.”
Nyx paused to catch his breath,
“It starts with a headache, her voice and a thousand others. Latching on like parasites, I couldn't move, weak and struggling to stay awake, I fell apart. Changelings don't cry, it’s a sign of weakness. But when I was so weak, thrown into the pits, I could only feel tears flowing from my eyes with no way to stop it. Frozen, I couldn't hold them back, I couldn't explain why. Darkness is suppose to crush out that type of hope. Love is light, it's faith, it's hope, so I was forced to forget or die weak and sad that I would never feel something besides an eternal pain. It was an infection, veins of chilled blood that kept pumping to a warm heart. Cringing, I counted my heart beat for three days until I passed out from exhaustion. In that the span of three days it beat 68,012 times, until there were only a few things left in my mind. There was only one escape, submit to the pain, harden my heart and grow cold with the rest of the hive. Dispassionate and unwilling to take pride in personal goals, I forced myself to forget the meaning behind hope and friends, but forgetting something isn't as easy as just not remembering something. I had to rip it out of my memories, become the changeling I was meant to be. So I did, I abandoned hope, giving into hate because hope and emotion is what brought me pain in the first place. I hated you, I hated you, you, you, you, taking revenge on those who fed on the love I held, but even after I dragged myself from the pits, reborn. For the life of me, I couldn't remember why I didn't hate the word Fluttershy."
Fluttershy smiled, tears already very present from having insight to the thoughts and emotions Nyx dealt with during his dark time.
"So, if you forced everything and forgot everything, why did you leave?" Rainbow Dash asked, hovering just off the ground.
"It was the Queen's doing actually, she would vent her thoughts onto us every once and a while. Eventually I was able to put a face to Fluttershy, but no matter how much I was compelled to feel angry, mistrusting, or hateful towards you, I couldn't."
"What then?" Twilight asked.
"It was just a matter of finding you. I had a vague direction of you six lived, in Ponyville, and then I hid until I found Fluttershy."
"But why her? Why not Twi, or Pinkie, or Rarity?" Applejack asked.
"I pieced it together from your reputation around town, and I expected about the same greeting you gave me five minutes ago if I tried to approach anyone but Fluttershy first." Nyx said,
"And Fluttershy made the most sense to approach, I needed someone willing to trust me. After finding out more about each of you, realizing the love you brought to each other, her voice started getting louder, and louder. I couldn't focus, I couldn't fly, I couldn't go more than a few steps without having a migraine."
"So, what are you gonna do now that Twilight's gone and fixed your head?" Applejack asked,
"I don't know. I would like to make a transition into pony society, but… I don't think it will work out as simple as just "showing up into town", unannounced-"
"It worked for Twilight!" Pinkie pie said, "I remember the day Twilight showed up as if it were four-"
"Three" Everyone corrected
"-Three long units of time ago, I was super excited and shocked when I suddenly saw this new pony in town with a baby dragon! I knew right then I had to throw a welcoming party to make her feel at home it Ponyville! I made sure everypony in town knew Twilight was coming right out of the blue and she needed to know that if there wasn't a reason for a party, I'm the one who would say it's time to throw "A party for no reason party"!"
"Perhaps what Pinkie Pie might've been trying to say is that Ponyville is very accepting. There might be a few lookers, but as long as you keep doing what you're doing, proving to everypony else that it doesn't bother you and you aren't a reason for concern, then you'll be making an endless list of friends while you're here."
"
"Nyx, we understand, and I believe you are truly committed to changing your life. But, Fluttershy? As much as I know you think my next idea is going to be a bad idea, it could be-"
"Don'twritealettertoCelestia!" She quickly blurted out, "Sorry for interrupting, Twilight, it's just that I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of letting Princess Celestia knowing without a little bit more time to think this through." Fluttershy pleaded, Twilight saw Fluttershy's eyes widen as she begged for more time,
"Alright, how about this, I'm going to write a letter to Celestia-" Twilight noticed Nyx bite his lip, "And I send it off tomorrow. I will explain the situation as best as I can, but I have without a doubt that Celestia will arrive very quickly to ask you about what you're doing. Double for you Nyx."
The changeling swallowed, thinking about the impending visit.
“Ayah, Fluttershy, why do you keep staring at Nyx?” Applejack asked, noticing Fluttershy’s deep interest in Nyx.
Fluttershy smiled as her wings slowly unfolded in excitement “We can hear each other’s thoughts!” she said cheerfully.
“What?” The other four ponies said in unison, as they looked to Fluttershy and then to Twilight for a possible answer.
Twilight yawned, “After severing the connection between Nyx and Chrysalis, I had a feeling the bond would still exist, desperately reaching out for something to latch onto, so I made sure that Fluttershy was the first thing his mind connected to.”
Rainbow Dash scratched her head, “What?” she asked, still trying to process the explanation.
“Nyx is part of a hive mind, Chrysalis essentially controls the hive mind and knows everything the changelings think, and she can tell the changelings what to think. That’s how she controls them. I had to stop Nyx’s connection with her by switching it over to Fluttershy.”
“But Fluttershy isn’t a changeling!” Rainbow Dash pointed out.
“It’s just temporary. Once I do a bit more research, I’ll make sure that this all works out.”
Their gaze shifted from Twilight back to Nyx.
"Alright Nyx, you may have convinced Fluttershy and Twilight, but I'll still be watching you." Rainbow Dash said, flying right down to be eye level with his face. "And if I see a single hair on Fluttershy's mane out of place because of something you did, I will charge you straight down into the ground, and make you learn to fly through THE DIRT!" she yelled, sending Nyx backwards a few steps. He tripped on his back hooves and slammed into the ground.
"Crystal?" Rainbow Dash demanded to know.
"Clear."
"You'll get the same warning from me too, except you'll be lucky enough to be next season's fertilizer if I can't help it." Applejack threatened.
"Take it easy girls, we all want to keep Fluttershy safe, but I think of this as a similar experience. Fluttershy was able to help Princess Luna when she needed help fitting in, and take down Discord because she knew she could do it."
"It still wont stop me from keeping a close eye on you. Fluttershy, I know you put your trust in a lot of things," Rainbow directed her next words at Nyx, "But don't trust him, until I say so. Got it?"
She nodded just enough to agree with Rainbow Dash, and release some of the tension building in the air. Twilight could sense it easily as every pony still gave him dirty looks and stink-eyes.
"If that's everything for today, Fluttershy, I think I'm going to go home, it's been a long morning, and I think I'm going to try and grab a few more hours of sleep before writing that letter. I'll take some time to write it, but in the meantime, I want you to think about what you're going to say when we do finally bring the Princesses in on this."
Twilight pressed against the door, lingering just a moment longer to make sure Fluttershy and Nyx could handle themselves.
Fluttershy sighed and nodded, "Alright, I'll try. What was that Nyx?" Fluttershy looked over at Nyx again who was sharing a flood of thoughts on how to present his case.
Fluttershy nodded, leaving the rest of her friends out of the loop.
“Fluttershy, dearie?” Rarity asked, “Would you be so kind as to clue us in on your little discussion?”
Breaking away again, Fluttershy relayed the message. “We think Nyx will need to be more sociable. Proving that he isn’t a threat.”
The four ponies looked Nyx over, top to bottom from his emerald eyes, his clear insect wings, to the holes adorning his horn, legs and hooves.
“Well…” Applejack said first. “If you were willing to work a bit on the farm, sell a few things in the market, it would give you a reason to be in town and would make me feel a bit more comfortable getting to know you...”
“Hey Nyx, what do you know about clouds? Can changelings move them like pegasi?” Rainbow Dash asked. “How fast can you fly?”
“And CUPCAKES?!” Pinkie Pie shouted, “DO YOU LIKE THEM?” the pink pony asked, grabbing the sides of Nyx’s face and pressing her eyes to his. He nodded, Pinkie smiled instantly, producing a vanilla frosted cupcake with blue and yellow sprinkles and was about to shove it down Nyx’s throat when he stopped Pinkie and simply said “Yes.”
“I enjoyed them, more so if they’re chocolate ones.” Nyx said plainly, his forked tongue slithered out to lick his lips at the thought.
“Then he’s A-OK!” Pinkie Pie shouted, offering a chocolate cupcake this time.
“Can I have that?” Nyx asked, shaking, attention drawn to the chocolate flavored cream cheese frosting with chocolate chips and chocolate sprinkles.
Pinkie happily shoved it into Nyx’s face, allowing the changeling to swallow the entire thing in one bite. Pinkie’s blind trust seemed to have an effect on everypony else as they offered different takes on what Nyx could do to show his trustworthiness around Ponyville. Stepping away from the door, Twilight head the door click behind her as her hooves lead towards home.
Author's Note
So much writing! So little to foreshadow without making it too obvious as to what direction the story will be heading in.
I've already got the next chapter written, just need to do a critical edit and then if any one out there want's a sneak peek- review and opinions, message me. I'll get back within a day or so.
