Unraveling a Rainbow

Machines beeped and hummed with unwavering tempos as the medical staff bustled around their ever mysterious patient. For all their efforts, test after test yielded confounding results less sensible than Pinkie Pie attempting to describe the taste of blue to a potted plant. Magical or otherwise, every method to ascertain Rainbow Dash’s condition had utterly failed. All things considered, despite looking like she’d been to Tartarus and back, she seemed to be responding well to what little they could do. Dash had been a model patient: no rejection of treatments, sporadic heartbeats, violent shakings, or anything to raise the red flag of urgency beyond the current state of emergency everypony had maintained for several frantic hours. She remained perfectly stable, but as to how they could help the poor mare, Rainbow offered no answers from her silent slumber.

As the eleventh hour struck, everypony stayed to give Dash their unwavering loving support. Even Princess Celestia refused to go to sleep, drawing a clear authoritative line in the sand between her and Triage despite his attempts to pull the physician card to prescribe her some much needed rest. After a mildly heated, one-sided debate, the two settled upon her retiring at midnight if there was no change in Rainbow’s condition.

Twilight pressed onward with her fruitless searching for different results, even though she had exhausted every conventional option. Rarity kept herself occupied with the same scans her lavender friend was producing again and again. With a nervous twitch, Twilight produced the fifty-seventh broken wing image for Rarity’s fatigued eyes to examine.

“Twilight, perhaps we should try a different approach,” Rarity offered to her frazzled friend.

“Different? They’ve all been different!” Twilight protested scattering her useless notes into the air. “Every last scan was taken at a different angle, by different ponies, a different resonance, I even moved the wing into a different position! No matter what I do, it always comes out the exact same!”

“Don’t be like that, everypony knows you’re trying your best, we all are.”

“Darn tootin’!” Applejack added proudly while passing out water to the team. “I dunno nothin’ about any of these fancy magical who-zi-whats-its you’re doin’ over there, but even so, we’re all gotta do our best to help Rainbow, ain’t that right Pinkie?”

Applejack motioned to the gallery which Pinkie had transformed into a “Help Dashie Get Well Soon” party room with the princess’s permission. With the farmer’s assistance, the two catered refreshments for the fatigued medical staff and onlookers, keeping their spirits up and alert through the night. Even behind the wall of glass and slight bustling of the party, Pinkie nodded hearing AJ loud and clear.

“Yeah! Even if this party isn’t the funderfullest one I’ve ever thrown, I can’t wait for phase two when Rainbow joins in. Then we’ll have a real reason to par-tay!” Pinkie loudly bubbled as she busily bobbed between blazing Bunsen burners being used to bring the busybodies a bountiful breakfast.

AJ headed to the bedside where Fluttershy was straining her tired voice trying to reach Rainbow. She’d been talking to her nonstop since she sat down with all the love she could muster.

“Here ya go, Sugarcube. Clean and crisp to keep those tales of yours a’ tellin’,” Applejack said setting a cup down next to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy only nodded as she kept her hoof wrapped around Rainbow’s, never leaving her side for a second as she tried rousing a response from her friend. She recalled stories of their past outings and adventures they both had shared with their friends. There were many pauses and corrections as Fluttershy stumbled through the memories, trying to recall every step of the way and apologizing when remembering something incorrectly. It was the only thing they could do as they all waited for a breakthrough. She only took a moment to take a quick gulp to keep her voice fresh from talking so much, something unheard of for the usually timid pegasus.

Meanwhile in the gallery party hosted by Pinkie Pie, Doctor Triage finished his most recent inspection of Princess Celestia’s horn before taking a bite out of his oat and onion omelet.

“Well, despite your best efforts to re-injure yourself, you didn’t strain your horn enough to cause any major damage. However, you’re going to need to keep it under wraps for the next few days. Now promise me, no more magic out of you until you’ve had a good night’s rest.”

The princess beamed a small smile as Triage slowly grew more accustomed to his medical authority over her highness. She thanked him for expertly handling the situation as Nurse Heartthrob wrapped new bandages around the royal horn. Celestia reached out for her cup of…

“That includes levitation, your highness,” Triage added tepidly.

… took the cup of tea with her hooves before turning her attention back into the emergency room facing her favorite frayed student fiddling with her sixty-fourth scan.

“Twilight, would you please join me for some tea?” she requested through the gallery speakers.

“But princess,” the dumbstruck mare replied carefully dousing her incredulous tone, “I still have two hundred more frequencies to try to get a better reading! I’m sure I can figure this out if I just—”

“If Rainbow Dash’s stability is any indication, she will still be there after we have finished. Now, please join me before your tea gets cold,” Celestia offered, kindly ordering Twilight to take a break.

Twilight nearly objected until Rarity politely coughed for attention to point out the wall covered in numerous copies of the same broken wing pinned to makeshift backlights. Twilight’s ears flopped down as she looked over her own scrawls of strange figures and conclusions arranged like a conspiracy theorist scrounging unrelated paper clips into a cohesive paranoid mess. With a nervous chuckle, she placed her latest useless image on a nearby stand and walked towards the ER’s double-doors.

She reached a hoof to push into the hallway to the gallery when a familiar midnight blur burst into ER.

“Luna?” Celestia slipped aloud.

All eyes fell upon the disgruntled Princess of the Night clutching the Element of Loyalty in her hooves. She frantically looked around the room, past the nurses and doctors until her furtive glances caught her target, Rainbow Dash.

Luna wasted no time charging to Dash’s side. Bounding over the staff, she nearly tackled Fluttershy as she firmly clasped the element around the unconscious mare’s neck. Celestia galloped in behind her, past the rows of disheveled ponies her brash sister’s entrance had left in her wake.

“Take that off of her! Rainbow Dash is in no condition to be wielding Loyalty!” she chastised Luna as she reached to take off the necklace. A familiar moonlight aura enveloped Celestia’s hooves as Luna tore her away from Rainbow Dash.

“SILENCE!” Luna hissed with her royal voice, raising a lone hoof to her elder sister and anypony else offering an objection. She knew it had been some time since Luna dared to raise her voice to her elder sister’s and hoped it threw her off enough to not question her actions. She could not afford a single interruption, not now.

She did not risk a single blink as her frenzied gaze fell upon the element’s red jewel. Luna ignored the worried stares of her sister and subjects as everypony waited for something from the Princess of the Night. Luna’s face contorted into a furious scowl as the jewel lay still in its engraving. Her suspicions nearly confirmed, she knew she must be quick before her sister could counter the spell she had planned.

Luna’s horn burst brightly, stunning those around her with radiant moonlight. She quickly formed a brilliant translucent shard which quickly coalesced under Rainbow Dash’s chin. Celestia barely managed to utter a horrified gasp as Luna readied a swift slash across Dash’s throat. Just before delivering the deadly blow, Luna stayed her hoof, hesitating upon seeing a pulsation from the gem. Soon the Element of Loyalty beamed its familiar red glow responding to the presence of its rightful bearer. It wasn’t long after a sigh of relief that Luna felt a tree-bashing buck across the face knock her to the floor.

“Oh no ya don’t!” Applejack growled as she lunged for Luna.

“Applejack!” Twilight shouted astonished at the farmer’s assault on the crown.

“And just what the hay do you think you’re doin’?!” she spat at the pinned midnight alicorn.

“Wait, dearest Applejack! I can expla—” Luna again started before interrupted by her sister.

“LUNA!” Celestia boomed in a regal authority unused in modern history, her eyes blazing with solar intensity.

“Land sakes!” Applejack yelped as the pressure of Celestia’s Canterlot voice blasted her away.

“HOW DARE YOU EVEN CONSIDER CASTING SUCH A HEINOUS SPELL!” Her words flowed with righteous anger exploding like a supernova into the ears of everypony. Not a single one was left standing, their princess’s overwhelming presence forcing all to their flanks in respect of her higher power.

“Please, you must listen to me!” Luna pleaded, gathering herself from the floor. “I fear that Rainbow Dash may be in grave danger!”

“Everypony could see that very well,” Celestia replied, lowering her glower to contempt for witnessing a savage assassination attempt.

“I-I… what we meant was that we…” Luna jumbled trying to find the right words to say that would excuse her hasty actions, but the more dwelled, she realized she had left all rational thought and replaced it with fear and anger. Her actions were reminiscent of her shameful mistake made a millennium prior.

“I did not think she was Rainbow Dash,” she responded despondently.

“Whaddya mean?” a weak voice replied from the bed.

“Rainbow?” Fluttershy quavered, peeking her head up from the floor.

The entire room fell silent as everypony slowly turned to see the groggy Rainbow Dash blink her eyes into a small squint. She grunted as if trying to move, but quickly stopped when rattled by the sharp pains of her numerous injuries.

“Try not to move, Miss Dash,” the nearby Nurse Salve softy spoke, laying a steady hoof across Rainbow’s barrel, “you’ve been through quite the ordeal today.”

Pinkie Pie squee’d in delight, plastering toothy grin from ear to ear. She bolted out towards the gallery to unleash her army party poppers for all to see. She brushed off the jubilant confetti in a safe environment before instantly bouncing back into the sterile emergency room.

Rainbow’s best friends quickly gathered for a careful impromptu group hug. She looked around noticing she had woken up lying in a hospital bed surrounded by her friends, again.

“Okay…” Dash heaved slowly catching her breath, “can somepony tell me how I wound up here?”

Luna noticed a brief look of confusion sweep across Fluttershy’s face before she retook Rainbow’s hoof. She took a step forward as Princess Celestia eyed her with a tense air of caution.

“Rainbow Dash,” Luna started with trepidation, “what is the last thing you remember?”

“I dunno. I think I was practicing my Sonic Rainboom for the wedding when...” Rainbow paused trying to recall the information. “Oh ponyfeathers! Changeling invasion, KO’d Celestia, Queen Chrysalis! What happened?!”

Rainbow roused herself a bit too much, sinking into a bitter coughing fit. Fluttershy offered her some of her water which she downed without a second thought.

“Queen Chrysalis?” Twilight asked with genuine curiosity.

“Yeah, the Mistress of Misery, the Crusher of Kingdoms, Conqueror of Queens...”

“Come again?” Applejack added with a skewed brow.

“Chrysalis! The Changeling Queen of the Badlands!” Rainbow added incredulously as she could with her battered breathing. “She only said her stupid name like a million times!”

“Nuh uh, she was too busy gloating and singing about her perfect day to bother introducing her grumpy meanie queenie-ness, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie corrected.

“No, she did! She said it right after she attacked Nightmare Moon. She told me we’d race another time before Luna— ” Rainbow eyes shrank to pinpricks as her recollection crashed, dragging her explanation to a sudden close as she fell back into her bed, unconscious.

“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted lowering horn to Rainbow’s forehead charged with soothing energy.

As suddenly as she’d fallen back, Rainbow shook herself back awake, nearly butting heads with Twilight as she perked back up off the bed. She sat up shooting panicked glances around the room.

“Wait, where am I?” Dash rasped, trying to regain her bearings, the pain in her voice suddenly gone. “What happened to Trixie?”

“Trixie?” Rarity questioned.

“Don’t you remember? That loudmouth was ranting about how she could make the best cider in Equestria during Winter Wrap Up! I was just about to tell her off, but she somehow catapulted me towards Twi’s library,” Rainbow recalled, trying to recount exactly how she had woken up in a hospital bed.

“What happened after that?!”

Luna’s eyes darted between Rainbow’s disturbed friends as the mixed up mare begged answers to questions that made entirely no sense to anypony. Rainbow’s gaze eventually met Luna’s as she pointed an indignant hoof towards the princess.

“And you! I knew I should’ve listened to Gilda, you cheating windigo!”

Before Luna could question who this Gilda was, Twilight enveloped Rainbow’s head with magic trying to get a read on Rainbow’s mental state. Rainbow quickly pressed her hooves against temples as she bit down on her tongue, negatively reacting to Twilight’s aid. Lavender sparks flickered about as the unicorn fought to get a clear reading.

A smile of success spread across Twilight’s face as she finally established a connection to Dash’s mind. It was short lived however, her ears flopping down as her eyes shrank much like Rainbow’s. Luna tried to rouse her, but Twilight’s gaze was a million miles away, lost in a shrouded void and nearly catatonic.

“What is all this?” both Twilight and Rainbow echoed in stereo. “Wait, what’s going on, why can I hear myself?”

Twilight’s head whiplashed as her magic was violently repelled back into her horn, knocking her to haunches. Alarm bells rang out of the multitude of machines connected to the batterer mare in bed. Rainbow’s pulse becoming erratic as her brain activity soared off the charts.

Rarity ran to Twilight’s side, helping her to her hooves as Twilight rubbed her horn wincing towards the mare in the bed. She blearily looked at the readings the machines were registering as the rest of the medical staff panicked from the results.

“What did you do?!” Rarity cried as Rainbow somehow stood atop her bed.

“I don’t know, I was trying to help her think straight, but then I was seeing myself in her head and I…” Twilight stopped herself before getting lost in explaining what just happened. “No, focus on what’s important.”

“This is bad. This is very, very bad,” Twilight stammered as she looked over the data that confirmed what she briefly saw in the head of the bewildered pegasus tossing around in her bed. “Rainbow’s brain is a jumbled mess! She’s shuffling through memories randomly like a deck of cards!”

“Ooo! Sounds like fun, like a million-bazillion card pick-up!” Pinkie chimed in, flourishing a poker deck before shoving it back into her mane. “Wait, is that a bad thing?”

Rainbow’s sudden ramblings descended into nonsensical outbursts putting Pinkie Pie’s off-the-wall antics to shame. She shifted madly between emotions and mannerisms, recounting and reliving incorrect memories, passionately debating breakfast foods to her pillow, and laughing at nonexistent punch lines to untold jokes.

“YES!” Twilight and Triage answered back.

By Triage’s command, the nurses scrambled to find something to something sedate her with. However, Rainbow was still somehow cognitive enough to deftly ward off the swarm of terrifying needles coming her way. Her frenzied struggle only froze briefly when catching Princess Celestia in her eyes. An unfettered panicked expression engulfed Rainbow as her pulse jolted even higher to a blistering pace.

“Ahuizotl chortled in victory over his nemesis as the forbidden amulet tightened its vice grip around her neck,” Dash began quoting aloud, her terrified gaze never faltering from the confused princess.

“What in blazes is RD doin’ now?” Applejack shouted over the story-telling pegasus, trying to restrain Dash who began enacting a strange scene from her bed.

“Daring Do looked around for something to loosen the deadly jewelry beginning to strangle the very air from her throat,” Dash choked, thrashing about, trying to remove the Element of Loyalty.

“That’s from Daring Do and the Curse of Sorrow Shoals, right after Ahuizotl forces her to wear the Amulet of Sorrows!” Twilight replied horrified that Rainbow Dash had somehow lifted herself skyward above her bed with a shattered wing.

“‘Get this infernal thing off me!’ Daring… Do—” The story was stifled with Rainbow’s breathless cry. Tears streamed down her face as she strained for a sliver of air.

Fluttershy dove to Rainbow’s rescue, snatching the Element of Loyalty from her throat. She tore the necklace from her friend with her teeth, losing her grip on the necklace which soared across the room. Rainbow’s scream shattered as she beamed light of pure silver, blinding everypony in the room in a flash Luna had seen only once before in a nightmare.

Silence followed the sudden spectacle as everypony gazed at the mare sprawled across the mattress. In Rainbow’s place, a monster had appeared.

She was equine in shape, her elongated legs slumped over the side of her bed as she now rivaled Princess Luna’s in size. She shimmered in tarnished silver as the fluorescent light bounced off the patches of miniscule hexagonal scales splotched all over her body. Past the broken edges of her natural armor, the gaps revealed black cracked chitin dotted with sickly golden gooey masses holding her splintered carapace together. Her glossy mane scattered light into a colorful prism of dancing light across her hair, her matching tail followed suit as it drooped over foot of the bed. A menacing horn protruded from her head, dwarfing the fangs set in the forefront of her mouth. Her horn was more akin to a scaled lance, a smooth cone resembling polished pristine marble ending in a lethally sharp tip ready to pierce the sturdiest of armor. However, her most remarkable features were her wings. Despite her left one being broken, the span of her wings was as strikingly elegant as Celestia’s pet Philomena’s beautiful wings. They were armored at the front and spread out into vibrant, translucent feathers which scattered light into colorful rainbows much like her brilliant mane. She lacked any of the holey features of her ilk, but there was no doubt in anypony’s mind. This creature was a changeling.

Doctor Triage was the first to notice their medical equipment had been destroyed from the magical surge, save one. The cardiograph still functioned and was registering erratic pulsations from the lifeless beast in bed. Monster or not, they still had a patient in need of saving.

“Salve, positive. Twilight, negative. Prepare Arcane Defibrillation on my mark!” Triage barked to the two. Triage caught the hesitation in Twilight’s eyes. “Irregular heartbeats are lethal to every other bird and beast on the planet. Unless you have any better ideas, start channeling, now!”

Twilight scrambled to her hooves to prepare the negative half of the paired casting.

“Mark!”

Both unicorns fired a steady bolt through the changeling’s body. The current of electrical magic wove around the area they guessed would have the heart, if changelings had them at all. There was a lingering pause as their patient gave no reaction.

“Again!”

They loosed a second discharge, hoping to rouse some response from the silver shape-shifter, but they were only met with a more erratic line across the graph with arrhythmia seemingly winning out. There was little to do though as the mares, once again, felt the magic being blocked. Twilight wondered if it was an automatic response or if their healing magic just didn’t work on changelings. Seeing Triage about to order a third attempt, they started charging a third time.

“Stay your hooves doctor,” Luna offered, having gathered her bearings from the flash. She approached the strange device with her developing her eye for modern technology. “Tell me, does this machine utilize magic or electricity for its readings?”

“Magic, your highness,” Heartthrob replied.

“I see, thank you nurse.”

Despite the machine buzzing and beeping with panicked activity, Luna calmly trotted over to the changeling’s left side. Everypony watched expectantly as she overlooked the broken wing, admiring its shimmering colors as she felt around scale armored chitin. Momentarily flourishing a smile when finding a tender spot, her face sank into a deep scowl before viciously slamming a foreleg onto her mark.

The changeling’s eyes flared open as she loosed an agonizing tri-tone screech resounding throughout the castle. Her ruse was soundly stripped away by the princess’s more direct approach. The changeling cringed as she flopped back onto the undersized mattress, biting back hot tears of pain.

“Do you have any idea how difficult you’re making my life right now, night princess?” she spat venomously through aching heaves, her scarlet irises burning with resentment. “You ponies have terrible bedside manner.”

“You are lucky you still draw breath, deceiver. Or would you rather I bury you alive myself since you seem to enjoy playing the part of a dying mare?”

“Oh, that,” the bedridden monster huffed looking over at the machine still attached, now sounding a flat lined tone. “You can’t blame a girl for trying. Here, maybe it’d help if I lightened the mood a little?”

With that, the machine buzzed to life. The changeling waived a hoof to conduct as the graph gave a strangely melodic reading.

Doctor Triage’s was one of the best medical minds Equestria could offer. Despite his inability to practice unicorn healing arts, the earth pony held the respected position of Royal Physician for the diarchy, a usually uneventful job given the alicorns’ perceived immortality. He prided himself on his quick thinking, serving as the level-headed commander flawless directing medical teams over the years. Even the worst cases in the world be it pony, griffon, or other, he’d always found a way. However, in the face of all his knowledge and experience, he found himself at a loss for words at the debacle unfurling in his emergency room.

“I’m taking requests. How about May Our Sun Shine Forever?” the unruly patient quipped to her dumbstruck audience. “Some good ol’ Equestrian patriotism for our royal audience.”

“I tire of your games, changeling,” Luna fumed with burning indignation. “Tell us what you have done with Rainbow Dash!”

“Oh? That’s strange,” the changeling looked around the room, mockingly searching for the missing pegasus, “she was right here a second ago.”

Luna boiled from the changeling’s haughty attitude. Never had she been treated with such outright disrespect. Seeing her ire growing by the second, Triage emboldened himself, recalling a nearly disastrous encounter with the minister of the griffon kingdom, to once again perform his duty as a doctor without borders.

“That is enough!” he shouted against his better judgment at the lunar princess. “Regardless of the circumstances, she is still my patient and I will not tolerate you or anypony else harming her!”

The only two astonished by Doctor Triage’s foolhardy outburst more than himself were Luna and his patient. He stood between the two powerful ponies, hoping to dissolve the tense situation before it could escalate. He wished he had a better defense prepared than throwing himself into the line of fire.

“How quaint, it seems your physician is siding with me, night princess.”

“I also agree with Doctor Triage, changeling,” Celestia finally broke her silence to address the situation before it spiraled out of control. “However, know that I will not condone your condescending tone towards my sister or her title any further.”

The shape-shifter responded with a dismissive, but capitulating eye roll.

“And Luna,” she added gazing towards Luna with authority, “we will speak of your rash actions once this is all over. It is not our place to hastily condemn those we find disagreeable. All life is sacred. You would do well to remember that.”

The tense situation successfully defused by her stern words, the kind doctor sighed with a bow, thanking Celestia for her timely interlude. Seeing both parties had backed down from their confrontation, Princess Celestia nodded before taking a more serious tone with the bedridden changeling.

“So shall we start from the beginning?”

Questioning the changeling proved to one of the most difficult diplomatic endeavors Celestia had ever attempted. It was irksome trying to get a straight answer, like solving a riddle wrapped in a lie shrouded by an enigma. Even her name was an answer she couldn’t muster for all her negotiating prowess. For the time being, Celestia settled on calling her Prisma.

The inquisition dragged on with little progress. The mere sight of the battered changeling proved too much for Rarity, having lost patience with what she called an “impudent bedazzled bug.” Pinkie Pie had finished cleaning up the party in the gallery when Rarity stormed out. Seeing how the guest of honor wouldn’t be showing up tonight, she went her merry way on a mission hoping to bring smiles to some other ponies around Canterlot, not even acknowledging the late time of night. Seeing that she wouldn’t be deterred, Celestia offered a few names of some Lunar Guards who might benefit from her cheery company. She knew under that bouncy exterior, Pinkie Pie desperately needed to bring joy to somepony’s night having failed with her friends.

With midnight a distant memory, the other medical staff had been dismissed seeing as they could do nothing for an uncooperative changeling who wasn’t allowing anypony close, despite her injuries. Of course, she could be faking it for all they knew. The others either went to bed after their long day or attended to Cadence and Shining Armor, leaving only Triage, Salve, and Heartthrob to take care of their special patient through the rest of the night.

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Fluttershy remained as well to help in any way they could. Twilight busied herself trying to gather what few clues they had between them. With any luck, they would find out when Rainbow had been replaced so they could restart their search for the missing mare. Applejack stayed more out of stubbornness to hear the changeling “fess up”, but her penchant for brutal honesty didn’t resonate with shape-shifter anymore than Luna’s approach had. Fluttershy kept a safe distance from the group, not too distant, but not too close either. Something was scaring her, more than she would admit to on a deeper level. Her gaze remained fixed on the changeling, refusing to leave for a second.

Trying to get on Prisma’s good side, Celestia had offered her personal medical bed for their larger patient. To everypony’s surprise, once they had retrieved the largely unused mattress for her use, the changeling took to her wings and fluttered over to her lavish new accommodation. Celestia detected a quick flush of magic from the changeling, seeing she used wing power as well as magic to propel her forward. She landed carefully not to disturb her broken legs she refused to let anypony wrap.

“It would seem that your injuries have been greatly exaggerated,” Princess Celestia remarked warmly.

“Hardly,” Prisma scoffed, “it just takes more than a high speed collision with a brick wall to keep me grounded. Why don’t you try riding a wave of anti-changeling magic hurdling you through a solid stone palace sometime, see how you feel afterward?”

“Well if you are as bad as you claim to be, then why won’t you let us help you?” Twilight asked with irritated concern.

“It’s not that you won’t, it’s that you can’t. Or maybe it’s both," she replied cryptically.

“Doggonit! Then why doncha tell it to us straight?” AJ complained stamping a hoof down, wanting just a single grain of truth from their bedridden shape-shifter. “Honestly, what good’ll come from you keelin’ over on us?”

“Indeed,” Luna added spitefully, being unable to remain silent in royal timeout any longer. “You are in the best care a pony could ask for, casually wasting away in a bed most ponies could never even dream of sleeping in. If my sister has deemed you worth our help, than ask it of us and you shall receive it in kind.”

“I guess some water couldn’t hurt,” Prisma offered with a cough to punctuate her request.

Luna rolled her eyes, her gaze falling to Heartthrob to fetch the requested refreshment. The nurse replied with a curt nod and flew off to gather the drink for their special guest.

Prisma shuffled in bed to get more comfortable, savoring the warm embrace of the sun princess’s royal sheets.  Her eyes shifted between the ponies still populating the room who all were waiting and willing to help in hopes of finding some peaceful resolution to locating Rainbow Dash. Celestia offered a warm smile when their eyes finally met.

“You know, this wasn’t how I thought a meeting with you would pan out, though I’d have an easier time believing that little smirk of yours if you weren’t constantly shifting through emotions, Princess Celestia,” she commented nonchalantly, calling out the mental gymnastics the princess was performing to obscure her emotions. “Rather impressive control you have there, I might add.”

Celestia widened her sunny grin in reply. Slowly but surely she was chipping away at the changeling’s defenses, letting little details sink through the diced words of their bedridden invader.

“Prisma, I welcome all creatures who are willing to speak with me cordially. If any of my little ponies bear hostility towards you, I assure you that I will not allow any of them to act upon their feelings,” Celestia offered, considering the changeling’s hint to her empathic powers. “Tell me, are there any emotions that anypony here bears towards you that would make you feel otherwise?”

Unsettling glee crept across the Prisma’s face like the princess had walked into a well placed trap, a concerning reaction Celestia had not expected. The changeling sat up from her bed, carefully crawling closer to the princess with her good hooves.

“Now that is an interesting question I can get behind. How about we play a game to find out? You pick a pony and I’ll tell you what they’re feeling, cordially of course.”

The princess frowned upon the changeling’s indifference to invading the privacy of another pony’s thoughts. Disgusting as it may be, it would prove a small price to pay if a game would get their conversation finally started. She gave a quick look around the room, seeking any protests against the idea. Nopony seemed to like it, but they weren’t against the idea either with Prisma finally cooperating on some level.

“Great! Go ahead and ask away. Let’s find out if you can keep your promises while playing,” she paused for both the effect and to think of a name for the game, “Mind Your Motions!”

The mock game show began with Celestia pointing a hoof to herself. The battered host stifled a laugh pointing out the princess should already be quite aware of her own emotions. She opted instead to explain the magical method she used to cycle through various feelings both positive and negative without rhyme or reason. Round one ended with an upset reiteration from Doctor Triage, politely pleading the princess not to use her magic until after she had gotten some sleep.

Her next choice then fell to her sister Luna, a selection which the changeling found boring as her feelings were already clear enough to everypony. Moody Moony, as Prisma put it to the chagrin of the princesses, bore a level of loathing held only for the most contemptible of creatures. Normally she would quickly crush the bug under her hoof without a second thought, but a pang of guilty remorse and fear was keeping her down. Before giving too much away, the changeling moved on asking for the next pony.

The next least offended pony Celestia could think of would be the faithful Twilight Sparkle. Prisma lauded the unicorn for her unbridled curiosity. Even in the face of dread born from the uncertain whereabouts of their missing friend, she still was hungry to learn all she could about changelings while she had the opportunity to observe one. She was equally distraught with the lack of information she was gleaning from eavesdropping while working on her own surface research of changeling physiology. Finally, Twilight beamed with hot embarrassment when the invader finished poking through her egghead.

Celestia’s options had run dry. She didn’t want to pick out another pony to have their feelings exposed so fully in front of everypony. The others in the room weren’t as familiar to her as her sister and student, and she couldn’t bring herself to showcase their inner thoughts in such sickening manner. Then she remembered that playing along would hopefully open up Prisma a little more as well as find out if something was holding the changeling back. Celestia wished their guest would be more honest with her without needlessly dragging her subjects into the mess.

Her pondering was broken as Heartthrob made her way through the wary crowd that had loosely formed around the bed. She carefully placed the cup of water on Prisma’s nightstand, offering a hesitant smile to Princess Celestia, before turning to promptly to leave the rather uncomfortable exchange.

“Getting cold hooves, are we?” the game’s twisted host cooed. “Tell you what, I’ll make your next choice easy with a question of my own.”

Celestia was puzzled by her host’s interjection. Was there really somepony bothering her? She waited for Prisma’s hint while the changeling wrapped the water with a sanguine aura of magic, swishing the water back and forth watching the clear liquid. She nearly took a drink, but decided against it, instead offering the first sip to her regal contestant.

“Tell me,” Prisma started with a damning glare, “if you were in my position, would you drink from a glass of water that took ten minutes to prepare when there was already a perfectly good pitcher waiting in the corner?”

Princess Celestia crooked her head to see a fully assorted spread complete with several paper cups stacked neatly sitting by the door, practically unavoidable if one is leaving the room. Her eyes turned to the nurse who had casually resumed whatever she was preoccupying herself with to avoid going near the bed.

“Heartthrob?” Celestia uttered in disbelief, her mouth hanging ajar.

Nurse Heartthrob happily turned around to answer her ruler’s call.

“Yes, your highne…” she started before noticing the attention she’d garnered while ignoring the conversation. “What’s everypony looking at?”

“Excellent choice, your highness!” Prisma reveled in amusement. “Picking the only mare who would have objected to the game outright? What a bold move.”

“Game? What is she talking about, what game?” the slightly panicking pegasus begged for answers.

“Let’s see what we’ve got here… Oh wow! Not even Princess Luna could muster that kind of bloodlust,” the game’s host chortled with faux-excitement. “Your burning hatred for me is without a doubt beyond anypony else’s in the room. Your disdain is only matched by your shock in finding out that I’m still alive. Nothing would make you happier than to see me shrivel up and die just like—well this is a surprise—just like your former queen did! Bonus points for bringing in a vendetta to pack that extra punch.”

Princess Celestia’s heart sank seeing Heartthrob reel back in horror. The apathetic monster called out her innermost thoughts one by one, each proving, to everypony’s dismay, to be true as fear encompassed the unwitting nurse.

“Oh, but that’s just what’s written on your face. To be honest, I can’t read a single emotion off you which means…” the shape-shifter trailed off to build suspense. She grabbed a hold of the node from the cardiograph which beeped out a drum roll for the added effect.

Before anypony could make sense of what was going on, the changeling shot a fearsome sanguine bolt of magic piercing straight into Heartthrob’s forehead, destabilizing the pegasus’s magic, and sending her flying into the corner. She erupted with an orange flare, burning away the familiar nurse and leaving a mess of black and orange sailing towards the wall. She crashed into the pitcher of water, dousing any fires that would’ve been started by her impromptu switch. The creature formerly known as Heartthrob slowly raised her black hooves to her face to hide, only to see the princess through the holes in her legs.

Prisma took in a deep breath as her chest faintly glimmered with love-fueled restoration. She readied to bellow a sadistic tri-toned congratulation accompanied by a silly beeping fanfare for the royal winner of Mind Your Motions.

“SHE’S A CHANGELING!”